1990's Albums by famous American athletes

Chocolate Strawberry is unfortunately a few years too early to qualify.

I haven't heard all of these but I would be pretty surprised if any of them are worse than the Super "Boys".

There was a cassette copy of Shaq Diesel in my household growing up, it wasn't mine and I don't remember it too well but the one song I listened to just now is not as terrible as expected.

I never heard Alexi Lalas's music, but I first read about Shoes and the Rubinoos in a review of his 1996 album so that's promising.

I was immediately like WHERE'S BERNIE WILLIAMS but his first album came out in 2003 it seems.

the Shaq CD with "Biological Didn't Bother" provided a lot of laughs when I was growing up

The Wayman Tisdale albums were perfectly fine smooth jazz if you were into that for some reason

wow I always thought shaq's rap career was based off a one-off novelty album, i had no idea he released 4 records

You can thank the Fu-Schnickens for getting that ball rolling.

So weird that you started this now, as I've been working my way through mid-'90s Billboard singles over the last couple of weeks so I'm only just now encountering solo Shaq cut for the first time.

Don't forget Alexi Lalas - Pocket Full of Kryptonite (1991)

Lalas has also released seven solo albums: Far from Close (1996), Ginger (1998), So It Goes (2010), Infinity Spaces (2014), Shots (2016), Sunshine (2018) and Look at You (2019).[21]

ahahahahaaha waht

so the first Shaq album is legit not terrible, only because he has some dope guests (Phife, who drops some of the worst verses of his career, Def Jef, Fu Schnickens), and the beats are pretty good. also there are some hilariously terrible lyrics that I still remember.

my summary of this album

Intro - i don't fuckin' remember

(I Know I Got) Skillz - a song about Shaq's incredible skills on the mic and with the basketball. he re-uses a Chuck D line and changes it to "all you jealous punks can't stop my dunks". Groan worthy line - "I treat you like Spielberg - you get jur-ass kicked in the Park". Jef's verse is fire though.

I'm Outstanding - He's outstanding.

Where Ya At? - Featuring Phife Dawg. pissed off Tribe fans because one of his guest lyrics is "Pissin' and a-fartin'", which was seen as beneath him.

I Hate 2 Brag - he doesn't, really. at the beginning, he uses a nasal voice, calls somebody asking for Def Jef, then says "I'm not talkin to you, musty underarm odor bref". Groan-worthy line - "i can flow like pee, coming out you know what/or some dookie diarrhea coming out your butt".

Let Me In, Let Me In - possibly contains rap's only reference to star-69ing somebody that wasn't a double entendre.

Shoot Pass Slam - the chorus literally goes "do you want me to shoot it? NOOOO. do you want me to pass it? NOOOO. do you want me to slam? YES". explains why Shaq had so many turnovers in his rookie season.

Boom! - this song is legit dope but only cos of Fu's contributions. Chip-Fu's verse is hyper-energetic, and the transition to Poc-Fu's verse is nice.

Are You a Roughneck? - I just remember the chorus, something like "ARE YOU A ROUGHNECK? check me out 1-2". came out around the same time as MC Lyte's far superior "Ruffneck".

Giggin' on Em - another Phife guest. no memory of this song.

What's Up Doc (Can We Rock?) - Fu verses are dope, Shaq just raps about basketball and drops groan-worthy word play like "I'm the hooper/the hyper/protected by Viper/when I'm out to hoopin', yo you better decipher/in other words you better make a funky decision/cos I'm gon be a Shaqknife and cut you with precision/Forget Tony Danza, I'm the boss/when it comes to money, I'm like Dick DeVos"....

Game Over - the album has ended, one hour later. enjoy a latte.

the second Shaq album was pretty unmemorable other than the one song with Warren G about him wanting to fuck his mother or something

I've not heard any of these, but I am voting for:

Deion Sanders - Prime Time (1995)

because, lol, of course that is what the 1995 Deion Sanders album would be called.

i only heard a snippet of one song (he was performing it live on tv) and it went something like "come on baby, sing my song"

I'm imagining the Alexei Lalas album sounds like Wookiefoot.

The Encore Remix is a remix album by Sanders in 2005 on Bungalo Records. It featured a remix for every song Prime Time. The album featured the song "Straight To My Feet", and two versions of Sanders' song, "Must Be the Money".

haha that sounds like the most pointless thing ever

is "Straight to My Feet" about fumbling, or how he misplayed fly balls?

"Time for Prime" – :30
"Prime Time Keeps On Ticking" – 4:09
"Y U NV ME?" – 4:15
"Must Be The Money" – 4:17
"It's All Real" – 4:24
"2 B Me" – 3:52
"Say Hi to the Bad Guy" – 4:17
"We Can Roll" – 4:10
"House of Prime" – 4:06
"It Ain't Ovr Yet" – 3:31
"Movin'" – 3:51
"Heidy Heidy Hey" – 4:02
"Papa San" – 5:16
"Sum'n About That Woman" – 4:48
"It's On" – 3:54
"Time for Prime (Reprise)" – :30

im gonna go out on a limb and assume that "Papa San" has aged really well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ36TNHqNAE

if nothing else, proof that warren g was a better producer than he gets credit for.

lol I forgot Ceballos did the rap thing too. "blindfold dunk man".

true that, Warren G was dope.

Noted, but I suspect that Ceballos's track is a cut above those of others on B-Ball's Best Kept Secret which do not feature Warren G.

Neanderthal's track-by-track is very helpful thank you, I totally remember, uhh, some of those things.

Don't forget Alexi Lalas - Pocket Full of Kryptonite (1991)

Lol

I haven't heard all of these but I would be pretty surprised if any of them are worse than the Super "Boys".

So I have listed to at least one track from each of these albums so far and while a couple of them are not good, it's not even close.

Mark Price and Lifeline's song sounds like Carry On My Wayward Son, only super Christian.

Deion Sanders - Prime Time Keeps on Ticking is a Fly Like An Eagle rewrite (as the title suggests), and it's not good.

Compared to Everybody Wants to be a Cowboy, they are both motherfucking symphonies.

Shaq acquits himself reasonably well, I would't say his stuff is good, but i'm p confortable with 'not that bad'

Alexi Lalas- I totes hear the Shoes and Rubinoos comparisons, I wouldn't say his stuff is great, but i'm pretty comfortable with 'good'

'not bad' 90's hard rap > 'good' 90's powerpop, possibly. Round 1 Ceballos tho.

It's between Extendagenda, Shaq Diesel, B-Ball's Best Kept Secret, Far From Close and Ginger. I'll try to listen to those albums in full this month, but I don't really want to.

Troy Aikman is the single worst singer I've ever heard.

His voice makes you ache, man

Scott Radinsky, an MLB relief pitcher from 1990-2001, was lead singer of legendary Nardcore band Scared Straight from 1984-1993 but then more topically he was lead singer for the melodic-punk/emo band Pulley (on Epitaph Records) from 1994-2016:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_argjwBJJI

RIYL Seaweed, Face To Face or Bad Religion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL_q3X-9S_o

rip

this is technically disqualified depending on your concept of time (and the fake, incorrect and ultimately unknowable concept of "space"), but just want to highlight Randy "Macho Man" Savage's 2003 international chart-topper "Be a Man Hulk"

Shaquille O'Neal - You Can't Stop the Rain (1996)

i like that the typo in this title makes it seem like Shaq made a very different album than he did in reality

i mean, make fun of me but this is my life and i've lived it, but i unironically jammed this back in summer of 96:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFc0iVlCEPY

not to mention, he got rakim to come out of semi-retirement, which was just crazy at the time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3obT1A-7Gr0

no doubt it was due to his surely ridiculous budget, but shaq had some legit jams, idc what anybody says.

this is shaqs best song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVel7wI33oU

year 2000 but..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2skYVPGExgY

man, i remember hearing that song the first time and just thinking, "i guess it's somewhat comforting that he's as disappointing in the studio as he is on the court."

Hush your mouth.

where's your ring then, jewels???

You didn't hear Austin? They gave him two rings for "we talkin' about practice" alone. He's also one of the 2 or 3 most influential players of the post-Jordan era. #cruthik

this is technically disqualified depending on your concept of time (and the fake, incorrect and ultimately unknowable concept of "space"), but just want to highlight Randy "Macho Man" Savage's 2003 international chart-topper "Be a Man Hulk"

1995's Hulk Rules, on the other hand... https://www.discogs.com/Hulk-Hogan-And-The-Wrestling-Boot-Band-Hulk-Rules/release/929718

They gave him two rings for "we talkin' about practice" alone.

those were decoder rings to help him decipher the practice schedule.

(i'm totally joking btw, iverson was amazing on the court and deserved a better shot at a title)

Honestly, I've never followed sports at all but i was really into pro wrestling ca. 1990-92ish. I would have loved to include Hulk Rules and it's an incredible masterpiece or something but with the competitive element in that particular sport being scripted, it just seemed best not to fuck with wrestling.

(i'm totally joking btw, iverson was amazing on the court and deserved a better shot at a title)

It's all good. As a Sixers fan, I recognize his failings. I just unreservedly love the guy, too.

you're talking to a lifelong trailblazers fan, so i totally get loving mvp calibre players that struggle in the postseason.

Uhhhhh why the fuck didn’t anybody tell me B-Ball’s Best Kept Secret was so good?? The production is incredible!!

Honestly, I've never followed sports at all but i was really into pro wrestling ca. 1990-92ish. I would have loved to include Hulk Rules and it's an incredible masterpiece or something but with the competitive element in that particular sport being scripted, it just seemed best not to fuck with wrestling.

lol I have this CD and every time I get to "Hulkster in Heaven" my jaw just drops. it's practically a masterpiece of outsider art. I also legitimately love "I Want to be a Hulkamaniac" though that song isn't on the album, sadly.

Hogan was a bass player before he was a wrestler, but not having heard that CD I couldn't say what bearing his musical experience had on the results

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I don't know his music, but Replacements fan and Cy Young award winner Black Jack McDowell cut a bunch of albums in the '90s, and I remember Jim DeRogatis reminiscing about his appearance on an early Sound Opinions, claiming he preferred to play music than baseball.

Also this from Wikipedia:

In 2008, musicians Scott McCaughey (of The Minus 5), Steve Wynn, Linda Pitmon, and Peter Buck formed The Baseball Project to pay homage to America 's greatest pastime. Their album Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails contains the song "The Yankee Flipper," a tribute to their friend Jack McDowell and a confession that a long night of drinking with the musicians may have led to the infamous finger to the crowd.

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