Cam'ron and Mase had an interesting discussion on how some athletes and rappers would love to switch lifestyles and those who were able to be successful in both fields.
On the Sept. 26 episode of their It Is What It Is podcast, the Harlem natives shared their thoughts on the athletes vs. rappers comparison. Their guest, Dallas Cowboys icon Michael Irvin, joined the conversation, noting that both rappers and athletes have a lot of similarities when it comes to reaching the heights of their careers like money and popularity.
“Everybody always says it's green on the other side,” Irvin explained. “We're looking for money and fame, and all those things are attainable in those two fields … and then we would like to interchange.”
While there are icons respectively in both fields that never switch or dabble in one or the other. A small percentage of athletes have achieved success in both. Cam, Mase, and Irvin discussed that Shaquille O’Neal and Deion Sanders are two athletes who were also successful in music.
“Shaq sold more records than rappers, man,” Cam said. “That's what it's about, taking advantage of the opportunity.”
Shaq is a four-time NBA champion but has also made a name for himself as a rapper and an international DJ. They also pointed to Sanders, who mastered both the MLB and the NFL, along with making the hit “Must Be the Money.”
Master P, Damian Lillard, and Iman Shumpert are also some athletes who have found success at rappers. Allen Iverson who attempted to have a career in hip-hop actually honored Mase and Cam during his 2016 Basketball Hall of Fame induction speech.
“All the coaches he played and played for, all the players he played against […] Thompson, Georgetown, everything that helped him be a Hall of Famer he took time out to those musical artists that helped him be a Hall of Famer and me and Mase were two of the artists […] Think about that. We in the Basketball Hall of Fame,” Cam said.
Allen Iverson's failed rap career amid Cam'ron conversation
Iverson spoke about his failed rap career that caused tension between him and the late NBA commissioner David Stern.
“It wasn’t a great relationship when I did that terrible rap album,” Iverson said told Kevin Hart during his Cold as Balls series back in 2023. “When I did that bulls—, that’s when I had a problem with David Stern.”
The 11-time All Star was supposed to drop Misunderstood, his debut rap album, but it was scrapped after his lead single “40 Bars” was criticized as homophobic and sexist.
“I remember going into the office, and he was reading my lyrics, Kev,” he said. “Like, David Stern was actually reading ‘40 Bars‘ off a piece of paper, and me and (Sixers star) Theo Ratliff — I was trying not to laugh, because I knew how serious it was. And the s–t I was saying, obviously, you know … So to hear David Stern rapping it, it was crazy. It was embarrassing.”
“It was not a good idea. It looked so bad,” he continued. “A lot of people tell you what you wanna hear, as opposed to what you need to hear. And I dealt with that.”
