It’s the collab everyone didn’t know they needed. Two rap icons dispelled every feud rumor to come up with the most legendary track as part of a memorable album. They turned it up a notch by bringing two of the best hoopers with rap mettle in a remix. Inside the NBA served the stage for the world premiere of Shaquille O’Neal and Damian Lillard‘s first collaboration ever in music. Now the hip-hop greats who made it happen are dishing the backstory behind it.

Along with that, Da Boss had a special souvenir for Shaq who is both the artist and muse of the new song. Big Diesel accepted the honor in his authentic style.

Build-up to Shaq’s collab with Damian Lillard

Shaquille O’Neal, who’s now the biggest thing in EDM, returned to his rap roots with his old friends. He joined Damian Lillard to remix Rick Ross and Meek Mill’s new song, “Shaq & Kobe” which iconizes his career alongside his friend. The rappers themselves showed up at the TNT studio to premiere the song and bestow some bling on the OG.

MMG is Ross’ label with parent company Warner Music. Apart from Rick Ross himself, rappers like Wale and French Montana, and producer DJ Khaled are signed to it. After the label founder worked with the 4x NBA Champion, he bestowed him with a massive spinning MMG necklace to commemorate this collaboration. In true Shaq style, he accepted the extravagant gift with some wit.

“I’m about to kill ’em at the hookah bar with this,” he hollered, strutting with his new necklace. Fellow Inside Guys suggested other places he could wear his bling, including the movies.

Everyone is, of course, dying to know how this came to be. Only days before the NBA season began, Shaq was dismissing Lillard’s athlete-rapper career. According to Rick Ross, it was the hoopers themselves that made it happen. Soon after the song premiered, Ross went on The Morning Hustle to give all the credit to Shaq and Dame. “Dame and Shaq dropped that smoke on this,” the MMG mogul declared.

READ MORE: “Whyyyyyyy”: Less Than a Second After Ultimate Honor, Shaquille O’Neal Faces Heart Break Courtesy of Lil Wayne

It was a given that O’Neal had to join in on the song as he’s one of the namesakes in it. He’s Da Boss’ neighbor and they tend to hang out in the recording studio a lot. One of their producers had the idea to bring Dame Dolla on. Apparently, it wasn’t hard to convince the reigning hooper in the rap game to join in.

Dame has also earned the Grammy Nominee’s immense respect. His MMG medal is still pending though. Regardless, Rick Ross is advocating for respect for two of the best athlete-rappers ever.

Shaquille O’Neal lives up to Da Boss’ hype

While Lillard impresses on SoundCloud and his 2020 tribute to Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal debuted in hip-hop simultaneously as a rapper. Even Rozay affirms that these two artists born from the “culture” shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Shaq is perhaps the only rapper who can say their first songs featured Jay-Z, Nas, and Notorious B.I.G. He brought back that same iconic energy, spitting bars like, “I find ’em and remind ’em, ’cause y’all the kind to forget/How I kept the show on the road all the time, but I got my kicks/I did it my way, that got me rich.” You can tell Shaq was serving that Big Aristotle energy in the studio.

WATCH THIS STORY | Shaquille O’Neal Proposes a Vital Presidential Policy to Protect His Life-Saving Profession as Protests Vouch for a Ban

Whether it’s calling basketball games on TNT, accepting praise from a friend, or writing his rhymes, Shaq’s injecting his inescapable style everywhere. Listen to his verse on the “Shaq & Kobe” remix and share your favorite reference from it in the comments.