JJ Redick Compares Self to Eminem and Nas as Unknown Details of Past Rap Career Come to Light

JJ Redick is a rap legend. This is something that most people have not heard of. But behold, Redick’s lesser-known career before he became a professional basketball player: Channeling his inner Eminem, Redick had a lyrical flow, which even earned him a spot in a rap group in his younger days. During a recent episode of the Point Forward Podcast, Evan Turner put Redick in the spotlight by asking him about his rap career.

“I had retired from rap at some point in college. I had a brief return to the game around 2009, 2010. Ryan Anderson made a beat for me, and I wrote a couple of verses and may have recorded the first verse in his house or something, but I don’t know,” said the former Blue Devil.

During Redick’s younger days, he was extremely influenced by hip-hop. He eventually became so passionate about it that he started writing his own lyrics and even started freestyling. This then led to him joining somewhat of a rap group called ‘PDF‘ during his AAU runs and later joining ‘44th Chapter‘ during his time at Duke. Even Deandre Jordan has once crowned Redick as the best rapper on the Clippers.

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After getting arrested days before his NBA draft, Redick has solely focused on basketball since then. But the Orlando Magic legend made a return to his other passion during the 2009–10 season when his teammate Ryan Anderson brought him a beat to rap on. Having a similar flow to “Nas, Talib Kweli, and Eminem,” Redick decided to spit some verses on the track.

JJ Redick was serious about rap in 2009

Although Redick might have played it cool during the podcast with Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner, Redick was more than ready to make an album in 2009. Redick released a statement during his time with the Orlando Magic that he is in the works of making his own hip-hop album with three other members.

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Back in 2009, it was also reported by Bleacher Report that he had the first verse ready for his song ‘Waste Management‘. This could be the verse he recorded with Ryan Anderson which he mentioned during the podcast. But we may never know how the song or the album turned out because in the end, the album was never released.

Do you think JJ Redick should have released his rap album? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!