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Shaquille O'Neal is known in the world of electronic dance music as DJ Diesel. The NBA legend has been DJing since 2015 and has performed in front of thousands since. Shaq had a successful rap career in the 1990s and has taken the EDM world by storm over the past several years.
The 49-year-old basketball Hall of Famer will be part of Steve Aoki's first single of 2022 called "Welcome to the Playhouse." The single is scheduled for release on Friday and Aoki teased on his Twitter account that Shaq will "go hard on the mic" for their collaboration.
"Welcome to the Playhouse" will probably be about Aoki's Playhouse, the mansion of Aoki located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The mansion has a recording studio and all the spaces needed to be creative. It also has a lot of artsy stuff, a swimming pool, a foam pit and a halfpipe.
In a teaser video posted to his Twitter account, Aoki and Shaq recorded the single at the Las Vegas mansion. Aoki can be heard praising DJ Diesel's verse on "Welcome to the Playhouse." It should be noted that O'Neal moved to Las Vegas last year, possibly making the logistics of the collaboration much easier.
"Yo! That's fire, dude. That's fire. All of it. That boom in it like repeating at the end, it's perfect. F**k yeah, dude. F**king nailed that s**t," Aoki told Shaq.
A history of Shaquille O'Neal's music career
Shaquille O'Neal is one of the greatest basketball players that ever lived. Shaq has won four NBA championships as a member of the LA Lakers (3) and Miami Heat (1). He was also inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016. Outside of basketball, O'Neal has a successful career in music that started way back in the 1990s.
Four albums in the 1990s
Shaq released four rap albums in the 1990s including his debut album "Shaq Diesel" in 1993. It was certified as platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America or RIAA after reaching 1 million sales in the United States. However, his next three albums were not as successful as his first one.
Collaborating with some of the biggest stars in music history
In 1995, Shaquille O'Neal collaborated with Michael Jackson for his album "HIStory." He was a guest rapper for the song "2Bad." He also worked with the likes of Jay-Z, Method Man, RZA, The Notorious B.I.G. and Redman.
Shaq as DJ Diesel
Shaq's career as a DJ started in 2015 and went on to have a "Summer of SHAQ" tour three years later. He was inspired to take up DJing in 2014 after attending a TomorrowWorld event, but has been doing it back in college at LSU.
