NBA players have to work relentlessly to make it to the league and stay there, their lives are dedicated to honing their craft and becoming better every season. However, that doesn't mean they don't have different passions, a lot of NBA careers have thriving hobbies and businesses off the court. Shaquille O'Neal recently revealed the extent of his business, and he is also one of the NBA players of the past who has found success as a musician.
Damian Lillard is perhaps the most well-known active player in terms of being a musician. His raps as Dame Dolla are quite popular, with many fans digging his music as much as they enjoy his explosive scoring performances for the Portland Trail Blazers. But he has been surpassed in terms of Spotify streams by none other than Serge Ibaka.
"Serge Ibaka has accumulated a total of 35M plays from his latest song on Spotify. Most ever for an active NBA player."
Ibaka released the first few singles on his album, ART, in 2021, with his production company Ouenzé Music. The album has seen great success throughout and idol.io explained what exactly Ibaka's project is about.
"With his production company Ouenzé Music, the NBA star Serge Ibaka has published a compilation of original tracks that bring African and Afro-descendant artists together around the theme of Africa. In February, the first track, “Champion” in duet with Ninho, was released, and has been certified platinum, and some months later, “LEGGO” with Tayc. The third track, “Rumba” with Guy2Bezbar, has just hit the charts."
This is quite the achievement for Ibaka, it's not always that athletes stepping into the music space find the sort of success that he has. But Serge has always been enterprising, his show 'How Hungry Are You', has some of the most entertaining interviews with NBA players in recent history. With success off the court secured, Ibaka will be hoping to move forward with his game in the same way next season.
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