From the likes of Jay-Z launching Roc Nation’s new sports agency to Drake becoming a global ambassador for the Toronto Raptors, it’s safe to say that sports and the music industry are beginning a partnership. Hip hop is starting to make its way towards the sports arena and basketball seems to be the sport that it targets the most.
Jay-Z started the movement. He became part owner of the New Jersey Nets in the mid 2000s. He made plenty of moves to help the franchise grow and eventually moved the team from New Jersey to Brooklyn; his hometown.
After buying a portion of the Nets’ franchise Jay-Z began to make his own brand of hip hop and basketball and made the two mesh together. In 2009 he came out with a music video for the song, “Death of Autotune.” It had a clip that featured Jay-Z and LeBron James playing a game of one-on-one.
That was seen as a sign of great things to come between both professions. You have Jay-Z, the best rapper alive and LeBron James the best player in the NBA, bringing together their star power to make hip-hop and basketball it’s own tandem.
But Jay-Z didn’t stop there; he intertwined hip-hop and basketball in a different way that appealed to sports fans everywhere. NBA 2k is the most popular basketball video game company right now.
Jay-Z teamed up with NBA 2k13 and was named the executive producer for the game. Throughout the video game he had his favorite hip-hop songs that played as well as many of his own.
The hype surrounding the game was like none other as gamers camped out at night impatiently waiting for Jay-Z’s version of NBA 2k. The game had his face plastered throughout it with video recordings of his performances edited into the game.
However he has taken on a new project. Selling his part ownership of the Nets, Jay-Z has started his own sports agency in which he signed Kevin Durant, this years’ NBA MVP. Let’s just say that’s a major power move for both sports and hip-hop.
Jay-Z seemed to be the trendsetter with hip-hop in sports and wherever there is a trend, others tend to try putting their own stamp on it.
There are cases where rappers don’t own teams but are still finding a way to collaborate with sports.
For example you’ll see rapper Lil Wayne courtside at NBA games. His music label Young Money tried to make their mark on intertwining sports and hip-hop by signing athletes to the group as well. They started off by signing former sixth-man-of-the-year award winner, J.R. Smith, and All-Pro running back Chris Johnson.
Drake is another example of how the music industry is trying to team up with sports. The Canadian-born rapper is now a Toronto Raptors’ ambassador. With millions of fans ranging from the United States and Canada, Drake seems to be exactly what the Raptors needed to become relevant again.
Drake has really made his hip-hop presence felt this past season as the Raptors elevated their game by making it to the playoffs for the first time in six years. Drake connected his OVO music label to the Raptors by creating OVO Raptors t-shirts that said, “We the North.”
With Drake and the help of his creative t-shirts and large fan base, the Raptors’ fans and the Raptors themselves embodied the slogan and gave the city of Toronto much pride.
More can be said about the famous rapper and superstar college-standout quarterback, Johnny Manziel. Drake and Manziel are close friends and Drake has gotten Manziel to represent his OVO label by wearing OVO clothing and using OVO hand gestures.
Drake has created clothing apparel with Manziel on it and has worn it and showcased it to the world. Drake could be considered arguably the hottest rapper out right now. So if you combine that superstar status with the likes of Johnny Manziel, that’s creating a brand in itself.
Drake said it best on his song, “You can thank me now.” During the song Drake had a verse that said “Sports and Music are so synonymous because we want to be them and they want to be us.”
In other words it seems like the bond between hip-hop and sports is growing because both sides have great respect for each other. At a professional sports game you will see players warming up in Dr. Dre Beats headphones listening to hip hop music as a means to focus on the game.
Then you will see famous rappers sitting courtside cheering on their favorite players, who they’ve mentioned in songs and worn their paraphernalia. Drake’s verse has a lot of truth to it considering the players look up to the rappers, while the rappers are just as star-struck when meeting the athletes.
Rick Ross is another rapper trying to make his mark in the sports world. Even though he won’t have much success, he has been in the discussion to buy the Los Angeles Clippers organization after the Donald Sterling incident.
Before we had rappers becoming businessmen, hip-hop and sports were usually considered as two separate businesses. However with the star power of Jay-Z, Drake and other artists teaming up with the NBA, more can be said about that. Now sports and hip-hop are becoming a package deal and the NBA has embraced it because now both sides are benefiting from it.
Rappers are bringing in more revenue to sports organizations considering how much of an impact their promotions have on fans. And rappers are benefiting because they are making money while living out their dreams of being involved in professional sports.
Music and sports are indeed very synonymous today. This is only the beginning and due to the immediate success, we can look forward to more innovation between music and sports in the near future.
