“My Fiancé at That Time Liked Justin Timberlake Too Much”: Shaquille O’Neal Shares the Origin Story Behind Kanye West’s Iconic Grammy Award-Winning Song

Even though Kanye West has been embroiled in controversies for a long time now, there is no denying his musical genius. The 22-time Grammy Award-Winning artist has definitely left his mark on the music industry. One of his most popular and critically acclaimed songs is ‘Stronger’ from 2007. The song won Kanye the ‘Best Rap Solo Performance’ award at the 50th Grammy awards. However, the story behind the ‘Diamond’ certified song is even more interesting. Shaquille O’Neal recently shared a clip of West talking about the origins of his hit song on Instagram.

Shaq shared a clip from November last year that was posted on Timbaland’s official Instagram page. Talking about why he made ‘Stronger’, Kanye said, “I did it to compete with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake because my fiance at that time liked Justin Timberlake just a little too much.” At that time, West was engaged to Alexis Phifer. However, their engagement came to an end after 18 months.

The song blew up upon its release but Kanye still had one issue with it. “I play it in a club and it sounds muddy. It doesn’t sound the way ‘Sexy Back’ sounded in the club,” he said. In order to make changes to the beats, West went to famous artists Pharrell Williams and Swizz Beats but it still sounded like a different record to him.

Timbaland to the rescue

While he was competing with Timbaland and Timberlake at the time, Kanye still went to the iconic record producer. He said, “I go to Timbaland, the person who did ‘Sexy Back’ and he did it in five minutes and then spent the rest of the hour talking about how nobody could have done it except for him.”

“I’m the best. No one couldn’t. That’s why he had to go to me. He had to go the king,” proclaimed Timbaland, according to West. The host asked West what made a song muddy. Ye replied, “It was in the drums. It was some that Timbaland had in those drums.”

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‘Stronger’ went on to become one of Kanye’s most successful songs ever. It earned praise from critics and fans alike. Along with the Grammy, it topped the charts in four different countries. According to Hiphophero, ‘Stronger’ proved to be a pivotal song in the revival of disco and electro-infused music in hip-hop.

Shaquille O’Neal easing up on Kanye West?

While Shaq and West were involved in a Twitter spat a few months back, the 4x NBA champion seems to have eased up on the rapper. He has been constantly sharing West’s stories on Instagram.

Just a couple of days back, Shaq shared a viral clip of Kanye’s conversation with the paparazzi. He has always been a fan of West’s music and has praised the polarizing rapper on many occasions.

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What are your thoughts on the origins of one of Kanye’s most famous songs ‘Stronger’? Let us know in the comments.