Breaking Beats: I wish I was a baller

Published in

AJ+ Remix

3 min readDec 5, 2015

It’s the end of an era. Kobe Bryant announced his retirement from basketball Nov. 29 and fans everywhere are showing their respect. From Drake to Gigi Hadid, people are remembering how Kobe inspired them.

To bid his farewell Bryant released a poem:

From the moment
I started rolling my dad’s tube socks
And shooting imaginary
Game-winning shots

Bryant showed his love of hoops with a few lines. With this playlist, I show how the game has inspired other musicians. Think about it, we wouldn’t have rappers everywhere yelling “BALLIN’’” without basketball.

Drake & Future — Jumpman

Anyone who follows Drake knows he’s a huge basketball fan and uses b-ball references on the reg. Straight off What a Time to Be Alive, Drake and Future chant “Jumpman” in reference to Michael Jordan’s infamous logo. They even mention Jordan in the song “Chi-Town, Chi-Town, Michael Jordan just had text me, woo.” Also there’s a game inspired by this track, woo!

Post Malone — White Iverson

This song is basically all basketball references. I mean “White Iverson,” LOL. I love the vibes of this track. It makes me want to sway my shoulders left to right like it’s nobody’s business.

Aaron Carter — That’s How I beat Shaq

As if A-A-Ron…

Kurtis Blow — Basketball

Classic basketball song, right? It was hard to choose between this and Bow Wow’s, “Basketball.”

2 Chainz — Watch Out

Fun fact: 2 Chainz played a full season of Division I ball at Alabama State University. It look me awhile to get into Chainz’ style of rapping. It wasn’t until I saw him open for Nicki Minaj’s 2013 tour that I realized this is actually rap and not just some dude yelling his name.

Shaquille O’Neal — (I Know I Got) Skillz feat. Def Jef

You got skills Shaq, but rapping might not actually be one.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis — Wing$

Just like me, Macklemore has been holding it down for the Pacific Northwest for years. A fellow Seattle native, Macklemore was devastated by the departure of the Seattle SuperSonics in 2008. I guess we have the Seahawks to care about…

Jam — Michael Jackson

This was the theme for the 1992 Chicago Bulls, starring Michael Jordan (the other MJ). I wonder if Michael Jackson (The OG MJ) even enjoyed basketball.