By Mitch Rice
Over the last 40 or so years we have watched sports stars become full-fledged, worldwide celebrities. Many of them are gigantic pop-culture icons and many of them feature heavily in all kinds of media and industries away from sport, sometimes even secondarily. One of the best examples of this is in music where their names often pop up in lyrics from some of the biggest artists in the world. NFL stars of today have started to work their way in to pop culture and with NFL odds favoring the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl we could see Pat Mahomes become your favorite rappers favorite player. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest American sports stars to feature.
Michael Jordan
Beginning with arguably the biggest star in American sporting history, Michael Jordan is still being referenced in music some 20 years after his retirement from the NBA. He has been mentioned by some of the biggest Hip-Hop stars of all time with the likes of Biggie Smalls, Tupac, Kendrick Lamar and Drake drawing inspiration from Jumpman. The latter even penned a single featuring Future named after Jordan with ‘Jumpman’ which reached 12 on the US Billboard 100. However, one of the best examples of his likeness being used lyrically comes from Jay-Z. In his 2003 single ‘Encore’ from The Black Album he raps: “Jay’s status appears to be at an all-time high/Perfect time to say goodbye/When I come back like Jordan/Wearin’ the 4-5/It ain’t to play games witchu/It’s to aim at you.” Two absolute juggernauts of their craft, Jay-Z is the heir apparent of a star like Mike.
Kobe Bryant
Sticking with basketball, Kobe Bryant is actually the most referenced athlete in music history. A 2020 study found that the late LA Lakers legend has been referenced over 1100 times in songs. His rise to superstardom in the NBA coincided with Hip-Hop’s mainstream peak, meaning we saw some of the greats name drop him in their records. One of the best comes from rap royalty Lil Wayne who penned a song around Kobe with lyrics such as: “Kobe doin’ work/ Two four on my shirt/ He the greatest on the court/And I’m the greatest on the verse”. He has stayed within mainstream media texts far beyond his retirement and untimely passing with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott and Drake all paying homage to the icon.
Odell Beckham Jr.
Switching over to football, in recent history OBJ’s emergence as a pop culture figure has seen him feature in many songs. His close friendship with Drake has seen this on show the most and he has even appeared in a music video of the Canadian rappers with “Cry now, laugh later”. One of Drake’s biggest songs of the decade came with his single ‘Fake Love’ in 2016 from his Number one album More Life. In it he raps: “No you can’t son me, you won’t ever get to run me/Just when sh*t look, outta reach, I reach back like one, three/Like one, three, yeah”. This references two things in OBJ’s career: “one, three” referring to his famed shirt number and “reach back” to his incredible catch during his 2014 season, a one-handed catch falling into the endzone.
Joe DiMaggio
Though not referenced quite as many times as those mentioned previously, MLB stars still have their fair share and Joe DiMaggio is one of the most popular. He has been referenced in songs by artists in multiple genres with the likes of Michael Jackson, Nas and Jennifer Lopez mentioning the famed centrefielder. However, the two most notable mentions of his name came in songs by Simon and Garfunkel and Billy Joel. Mrs. Robinson, one of the formers biggest hits, names DiMaggio in the closing verse saying “Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?/Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you”. Joel also names DiMaggio among a host of pop-culture icons with arguably the biggest single of his career, reaching number one in the billboard US 100 in 1989.
Steph Curry
As arguably the best shooter of all time, Steph Curry has become one of the biggest stars in the NBA today. Due to his popularity, the Golden State Warriors Point Guard has been namedropped a ton in Hip-Hop just like his peers mentioned above. In fact, he is such an incredible shooter that his technique has been referenced, such as Drake when he said “If I ain’t the greatest then I’m headed for it/That mean I’m way up/The 6 ain’t friendly but it’s where I lay up/This shit a mothaf****n’ lay up/I been Steph Curry with the shot” in his 2015 track 0 to 100.
