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In a recent Instagram story, Canadian rapper Merkules announced that he is collaborating with Shaquille O'Neal for a new album. The NBA legend reposted Merkules’ story.
Most recently, Shaq has been touring all over the world to perform as a DJ, known by the stage name DJ Diesel. After releasing his last album in August 2023, O’Neal is already on track for another journey.
“Man this new record with Shaq for my album is crazy. I can’t wait for y’all to hear it,” Merkules wrote on IG.
In December 2023, Merkules, who has a net worth of around $1 million, announced that he had O’Neal in his new album. Putting a picture with the former Lakers star, Merkules captioned it,
“My big bro Shaq just got on my new album, you guys excited to hear it?”
The details of the album are not out yet. It is exciting news for rap and NBA fans since this is not the first time Shaq and Merkules collaborated on a record. O'Neal was featured in Merkules’ “Want That Smoke Freestyle” song a few years ago.
Shaquille O'Neal and his music career
Shaquille O’Neal started his rap music career in the 1990s. Right after he was drafted into the NBA, it took Shaq not more than a year or two to drop his first album.
In 1993, Shaq dropped his first album, “Shaq Diesel,” which had 12 tracks and featured A Tribe Called Quest’s Phife Dawg. The album went as high as 10 on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and 25 on Billboard 200. The album was certified as platinum by RIAA the same year and sold over one million globally.
A year later, O'Neal returned after collaborating with Jive Records with Shaq Fu: Da Return. The album featured legends from the industry, like hip hop duo Method Man & Red Man and Warren G. However, the album was not as successful as the first one.
In 1996, Shaq released “You Can’t Stop the Reign.” The album featured rap GOATs like The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Bobby Brown, Mobb Deep and Rakim.
In 1998, Kobe Bryant, who was Shaq’s teammate with the LA Lakers, featured on the song "3 Xs Dope" on the album, “Respect.”
Since then, Shaq has been DJing mostly all over the world. What is largely unknown is that Shaq has always been a DJ first but left it because of the music deal he got in the 1990s.
The Lakers legend recently dropped a video of his freestyle rap on his Instagram and said he was still No. 1.
