Shaquille O’Neal – Interview

Wiping my sweaty hands on my pants I waited for a one on one interview with surely the biggest man in sports. Since I’m a bit of a veteran I found it odd that I was nervous. Why be anxious? Shaq is just a man after all. I tried to play a few tricks with my mind hoping to calm down, none of it worked.

It’s been only one week since Shaq pulled off his second straight NBA Championship, safely securing his place as one of the greatest to play the game. What makes the man larger than life is the amount of work he puts into all he does. He wasn’t satisfied with being on the best team, no Shaq went out and won his second straight Finals MVP award proving him the best of the best.

I was getting even more anxious, but the moment was upon me.

“Sorry I’m late, traffic is crazy out there” says the giant. You never quite realize that a man like Shaquille O’Neal has to put up with all the same crap as the rest of us, including traffic. We make such stars out of athletes that they end up turning into god like figures. Shaq is human and he has to suffer through traffic like the rest of us common folk. Go figure.

Anyone who has heard him talk knows the man’s voice is as distinct as his 7-foot-1 frame. When you hear it you know who it is. You know the confidence, but do you know the smile and infectious laugh? If not you should. Shaq can be serious, although clowning is your best bet to getting him to open up. Talking smack about basketball doesn’t peak interest as much as talking music the most beloved of topics not only because he is a fan, but because he wants to be known as an artist as well.

Shaquille O’Neal Presents His Super Friends is the title of Shaq’s latest album. It’s his fifth album, sixth if you count his greatest hits album, to be released in the last eight years. Considering the life this guy leads, with people pulling at him from all sides for his time, how the hell does he pull it off? Shaq wants all of us to know he likes to work and work hard. “Got to work brother, got to work,” seems to be his motto.

There is a reason why Shaq called his latest release Super Friends as the list of notable artists involved is to long to add here. Putting together this album was no easy task. One duet is hard enough to pull off thanks to hectic schedules and conflicts. How Shaq found it possible to pool together a few dozen folks, super friends if you will, to come and record an album with him is beyond me. Super Friends was recorded over the span of the NBA season and playoffs while getting the occasional artist down when ever possible. There was a little more that went into organizing this than calling people up and asking them to hang out for a few days. A good amount of effort, money, and thought had to go into this task. “I just called them up and when they had time I flew them down, we’d hang out, vibe and then we did it. One time we had a long home stand and I brought down Common, Black Thought (the Roots), Angie Stone, and we knocked it all out in one day.” It seemed to be worth every dime. Think about it. Who wouldn’t want to have Shaq call them up, fly them to his pad, and hang out only to do what comes natural?

It has to be a trip to know that you can get artists you admire over your house and into the studio just because you asked. And that is pretty much what happened admits Shaq, “I’m a huge music fan so when I’m rolling around and hear something I like I’d be like ‘yo, I want to do something with him’. It’s all my favorite artists.” (I’m not sure how to incorporate the next quote or if I should). “Honestly I just realized that they are all hard workers like I am. They work very hard and I think they were more surprised working with me than I was working with them. They know I’m a basketball player, but they don’t know how much hard work I put in and once we get in the studio and they see I’m a natural at it they respect me a little bit more,” he admits.

Music isn’t completely unlike Basketball. You bring a team together in hopes that there will be a certain amount of chemistry. If it doesn’t vibe it won’t work. Shaq isn’t stupid and he knows how important this connection is, “actually I connect with everybody because I have no arrogance. You know?” Shaq stops to think, “everybody knows I’m cool and I’m there to have fun and work hard. I think they respect me more and wonder ‘here is a guy who can have everything and doesn’t really have to do this?’ I’m sure some MC’s wonder ‘why is he doing this?’ And the answer is because I love it.”

Imagine it if you will. You’ve got some of your friends over, your vibing and life is good; did you forget about the songs? Let’s not overlook the reason why everyone’s there. Shaq doesn’t just think about lobbing a globe on apposing teams domes all day long. Who knows, it might have been when he was tearing open a hole in Dikembe Mutombo’s mouth that he came up with the song “Psycho”, a track performed with 311. It’s hard enough defending him now, just imagine you have to look in his eyes knowing a song entitled “Psycho” is dancing around his head. Scary. Shaq didn’t just invite 311 down to light a flame under his song “Psycho”, he found the time to join them in their video for “You Wouldn’t Believe”. For the first time Shaq turned the tables and I was on the other side of the question as we discussed Shaq’s desire to do a rock song and chatted about “Psycho”. “You heard it?” asked Shaq.

“Yeah.” I replied.

“Yeeeeeeeah,” Shaq says with a grin only to continue, “You like it?”

“Yeah,” I continued. We were vibing and I was going with it.

“Sounded cool right?” Shaq with confidence and huge smile intact.

“Yeah,” I lied. How could I confess at that point that I’d never heard the song before? I’m a little embarrassed about it now, but I was caught in the moment. I’m glad I wasn’t busted lying; can you imagine the humiliation of that? Now at least I can put it off a little longer until Shaq reads this. I might have to change my number. Oops.

I’m glad Shaq is a different man on and off the court or else I’d have been in serious trouble as he told me “when I’m rapping I’m a little more arrogant, when I’m balling I’m mean, and as a person I’m none of those.” Thankfully the nice guy is the one who showed up, and hopefully it’s the same one who reads this interview.

Shaq dominates pro ball so who dominates hip-hop like he does on the court? Shaq admitted that “Jigga (aka Jay-Z) and Eminem” are kings, but there are others who dominated the game long before them who inspired little Shaq growing up like “Afrika Bambataa, UTFO, Big Daddy Kane, Fat Boys, and Run-Dmc.” Speaking of the old days. I couldn’t help but put a spin on that as I asked Shaq which old school ball player would have been a good rapper? “I’d have to go with Dr. J [Julius Erving]. Dr. J had some style and Earl ‘The Pearl’ [Monroe].” Perhaps if Shaq would’ve been born a decade or two earlier they could have shared the court and the mic? Doubtful, I can’t imagine an Iverson/O’Neal duet. Can you?

After a few good laughs Shaq’s people wanted us to “wrap it up”. Shaq is a busy man after all and I wasn’t the only one looking for a little of his time. This interview was beginning to feel like a race and time was going to win

I often wonder who a celebrity would want to be for a day, or maybe a little longer. So for a day who would Shaq, a man with everything, want to be? “No one,” Shaq said without hesitation. “Waaaaaaaaaaait, wait, wait, I take that back, I’d like to be Bill Gates.” Why Bill Gates? Did I need to ask? He did make something like $120 billion dollars in the past two years right? “Yep” Shaq acknowledges. I found it interesting considering Shaq isn’t wheeling chump change. I guess it’s a lot more fun spending someone else’s money. I confessed that I’d spend the hell out of Bill’s scratch. Shaq didn’t hesitate to say “I sure would” too, breaking off a laugh. Think how funny it would be seeing Shaq invading Bill’s vaults.

I wanted to end with something fun, something different. Yet in a time when no one in the world wants to be a role model I knew here was man that never balked at that challenge. There is something important and rewarding about being a role model and those who fill such massive shoes.

Shaquille O’Neal wants everyone to know he can be serious especially when it comes to being a man every kid looks up to. “I would tell them to be leaders not followers. And I’d tell them not to try to be like me, but to try and be better than me, or whoever it is they look up to. That is why I call myself a ‘real model’ because I like you to see me in my realness and you can decide whether you want to be like me or better than me. When you get to the word role model there are a lot of guys playing roles. A lot of guys in the NBA who don’t really like giving there money to a hospital, but they’ll give it to these agents and shit and they do it for the so-called image thing. But image is reality.”

+ charlie craine