From the beginning of hip-hop, sports has been a source for inspiration. For modern day athletes it has become a status symbol of sorts to be referenced in a rap song. It’s a sign that you’ve made it and are officially part of the cultural lexicon.
In 2016 this trend not only continued, but exploded. As we look back on 2016, one of the best litmus tests is lyrics to our favourite songs.
Along with fellow sportsnet.ca resident hip-hop gurus David Singh and Luke Fox, I’ve set out to make a (not so definitive list) of the best sports references in hip-hop lyrics in 2016.
On the top of the list was a song mentioning Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry. It’s no coincidence that when recently shown our list, Lowry agreed with it.
“Yes, Tory Lanez. I have a few features now in my life. He did that one and I was excited when I heard that. I appreciate that. Trust me, I did.”
Despite being mentioned in the No. 1 song, Lowry takes a backseat to his backcourt partner DeMar DeRozan, who is mentioned in three songs.
“No, DeMar has had like three songs. We keep track of that it’s like 3-2 now.”
Which song and athlete mention do you think was the best marriage between sport and music? Have your say in the comments section or hit me up via Twitter @donnovanbennett .
1. Makaveli – Tory Lanez
On God, boy right now, I own heat, no Pat Riley
Made a million dollars rap touring
I ain’t talking no Kyle Lowry
• Lanez has a song that easily could be on this list entitled “Blue Jays Season” but for this reference he pulls off the “Rap-touring” (sounds like Raptor-ing) play on words before mentioning Toronto’s favourite point guard. Although Lil Wayne has already used “more Heat than Pat Riley” concept this song stands out as he drops three sports references in three bars. The fact that a Canadian artist is mentioning a basketball player for Canada’s team in a big record and nobody thinks twice about it shows you just how far both have come. (-Donnovan Bennett)
• This was the leadoff track on Lanez’s mixtape The New Toronto. That’s a fitting moniker to describe the city’s sports landscape in 2016. With the Raptors and TFC reaching new heights, the Blue Jays continuing their swaggerific success and the Leafs generating positive vibes, it really does feel like a “new” Toronto. (-David Singh)
(Ed Note: Though this song was released as part of Lanez’s Dec. 25, 2015 mixtape, we’re counting it as a 2016 track.)
2. I got the Keys – Jay Z
I been speedin’ through life with no safety belt
One on one with the corner, with no safety help
I perform like Josh Norman, I ain’t normal
• Jiggaman recalls his wild (and successful) drug-selling days as a lone wolf on the corner to Washington All-Pro cornerback John Norman, who can get the job done without assistance from his safety. (- Luke Fox)
• Jigga’s in a financial stratosphere that no rappers and few athletes can even dream of approaching. That’s why he doesn’t just shout out anybody in his precisely calculated lyrics. It’s good news for Norman, who now, after signing a $75-million deal in April that made him the highest paid cornerback ever, has made it onto Hov’s radar. (- David Singh)
3. Dis Generation – A Tribe Called Quest
Handle rocks with the capital G, ball on the beat
Status, Chris Paul and John Wall in the league
Grabbin mics till the knuckles would bleed
Imbibing on impeccable grass
I be in NYC waiting for that law to pass
Pass s%^t, been waiting for a Jet’s title since last
Richard Todd, Todd Bowles, gang green on that ass
• Perhaps in a nod to fallen Tribe member and well-known sports junkie Phife Dawg, Q-Tip and Jarobi open “Dis Generation” by comparing themselves to two of the NBA’s premier point guards. Later, Jarobi compares his wait for the legalization of marijuana to the wait for the Jets to follow up their Super Bowl III victory in 1968, referencing former coach Richard Todd and current bench runner Todd Bowles. Anyone who’s seen Gang Green play this season knows the wait will continue… (- Luke Fox)
• Tribe is known for sports references and nobody was better than their fallen member Phife Dawg. The legacy continues. Most listeners probably have no idea about the Jets alumni that is referenced (Richard Todd) or even the under fire coach (Todd Bowles) but they know the lyric sounds hot. (- Donnovan Bennett)
4. Have Mercy — French Montana
Warning: Explicit Lyrics
Shawty knees weak like Derrick Rose
Baby I’m the one like four quarter
• My favourite sports lyric of 2016. Simple, yet so beautiful. Rose is one of basketball Twitter’s favourite targets and Montana crystallizes that fact with a superb punchline. I’m hoping to incorporate it into at least one ’17 conversation. (- David Singh)
• Next year will it be back weak like Derrick Rose? Or knees weak like Blake Griffin? Either way I’m all for using injury history to make a point. (- Donnovan Bennett)
5. Do You Mind – DJ Khaled (Feat. Nicki Minaj, Jeremih, August Alsina, Chris Brown & Future)
“Yo, he ain’t messing with no average chick, pop, pop/He got Nicki, he know that he hit the jackpot/Every baller tryna score, check them shot clocks/ But I hit ’em with them ‘Bron-Iguodala blocks”
“Eat the cake and he suck on my toes, yes/Hitting them home runs, I’ll be like “Go Mets!””
https://twitter.com/hockeyboy_888/status/810593247001124864
• The bats of Nicki’s Metropolitans exploded for 218 dingers (fifth overall) but grew silent in the wild-card game this fall, as they were shut out 1-0 in the one-game showdown with San Francisco. The reference to LeBron James’ infamous hunt-down block on a fast-breaking Andre Iguodala in Game 7 of the NBA Final serves as a warning to any potential suitor: Unless your name’s Meek Mill, you’re gonna get emphatically turned away. (- Luke Fox)
• I was surprised by the depth of online responses I received referencing this song. I think it says less about Khaled as a producer or Nicki Minaj as a wordsmith and more about how much that LeBron James chase down block is still a sports moment from 2016 that is vividly in our memory. (- Donnovan Bennett)
6. Really Doe – Danny Brown featuring Earl Sweatshirt
I’m at your house like, “Why you got your couch on my Chucks?”
• Earl drops a pearl here, referencing Raptors all-star Kyle Lowry’s pump fake while employing the shooter/pump double entendre that mixes basketball with guns. Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton would approve. Even better is Sweatshirt’s follow-up line, a reference to the Dave Chappelle sketch in which Rick James cares not for taking off his shoes before plopping on his host’s couch. (- Luke Fox)
• Lowry does have a killer pump fake so first and foremost the song is accurate. More interesting is the revlelation that Kyle Lowry might be the best south paw basketball player in the world. Who else would even be close on the list? (- Donnovan Bennett)
7. Weston Road Flows – Drake
I used to hit the corner store to get the Tahiti Treat
Now the talk of the corner store is I’m TBE
The best ever, don’t ever question, you know better
To talk loosely, I really do this
Been flowin’ stupid since Vince Carter was on some through the legs arm in the hoop s*^t
https://twitter.com/JoeyBatFlips/status/810165714292244480
• So much to digest here. The love for number 35 in KD was slick but also the nod to the past and Vince Carter was paramount for Canadian fans who like Drake grew up idolizing Carter and his dunk context exploits. The TBE reference to Floyd Mayweather’s clothing line referring to himself as being anointed“The Best Ever” might be his best line ever. (- Donnovan Bennett)
• “Drake’s my favorite rapper,” Kevin Durant told genius.com about this name drop. “When you get a shout out in a song you look around and see if anyone else heard it. You feel, ‘somebody recognized me.’” First off, it’s crazy that megastar KD is surprised people recognize him. Love the humbleness. Second, I’m the same age as Drake, meaning we were both 13 when Vince threw down in the dunk contest. If Drizzy was flowin’ stupid in 2000 — a year before he first appeared as Jimmy on Degrassi — then props to him. (- David Singh)
8. Still Here – Drake
Warning: Explicit Lyrics
I gotta talk to God even though he isn’t near me
Based on what I got it’s hard to think he doesn’t hear me
Hittin’ like that 30 on my jersey man I’m gifted
• The Raptors’ global ambassador bypasses Lowry and DeRozan to compare his God-given talent to Golden State Warriors three-point monster Stephen Curry, whose jersey number is 30. Drake also brought up Curry in “0 to 100 / The Catch Up,” when he raps, “This shit a mothafuckin’ layup/ I been Steph Curry with the shot/ Been cookin’ with the sauce, Chef Curry with the pot, boy.” (- Luke Fox)
• “Golden State running practice at my house, what am I about” from “Summer Sixteen” is probably the Drake line I’ll remember most because I can actually imagine the team doing the lay up weave drills at his place in Calabasas. He clearly has a fascination with the Warriors as he is often court side at Oracle and has even travelled with them on their team plane. But this was the Warriors related line that he delivered the best because you had to know the 30 jersey reference to his friend Curry to truly get it. (- Donnovan Bennett)
9. No Problem – Chance the Rapper featuring Lil Wayne
https://youtube.com/watch?v=gQSN2M-pmOY
And if Cash Money try to stop me
I’ma let’em rob me…year right, like Ryan Lochte
• Lil Wayne cleverly updated his “No Problem” guest verse during a performance of the track on Ellen, taking down his estranged employer Cash Money—with whom he’s still embroiled in a financial dispute—and embarrassing U.S. Olympic swimming star Ryan Lochte in one swift swoop. (- Luke Fox)
• This just goes to prove that nobody like Ryan Lochte. The line doesn’t even really make that sense but it popular because it takes a swing at the fallen swimmer. (- Donnovan Bennett)
10. All the Way Up Remix — Meek Mill, Fabulous
Meek Mill:
I came back like I’m Mike wearin’ 45
Ever seen 50 grand when it’s all in 5s?
But I’m shootin’ like the Warriors’ startin’ 5, swish!
Fabolous:
If she for everybody, don’t you let her claim up on you
Now listen, you gave up on me, I came up on you
Took my talents somewhere else, LeBron James up on you
I was Kyrie with the rock, the crack game number 2
Now I’m older, still ballin’ like my name Uncle Drew
• Meek Mill’s lines are nice, but hardly original. Fab, on the other hand, delivers lyrical ankle breakers with clever mentions of two Cavaliers and one alter ego (- David Singh)
• The depth of lyrics by multiple people on the record make it more impressive than any of the individual lines. I’m numb to Michael Jordan references since Jay–Z on “best of you” because there have been so many but multiple references to Kyrie Irving is pretty funny. (- Donnovan Bennett)