Shaquille O'Neal has joined the long line of artists aspiring to take part in the NBA 2K15's soundtrack.
Releasing a video petition addressed to Pharrell Williams, the executive producer of the said soundtrack, O'Neal's clip showed the former Los Angeles Laker spitting out a freestyle rap. One of the verses sputtered by the NBA star is as follows:
"Yo, Pharrell, this is Shaq/Put me on the 2K15 track/I won't let you down, that's just dumb/Me and you both went platinum."
In the '90s, O'Neal was recognized as a highly successful rapper. In fact, his debut album, "Shaq Diesel", achieved platinum. His album featured his popular singles "I Know I Got Skillz" and "I'm Outstanding".
Feeling the pressure from his predecessors, Jay-Z and LeBron James, Williams recruited a group of women to help him complete the soundtrack.
"There are girls that play the game, and there's a lot of girls that are around it . . . so I thought it'd be such an interesting twist to have girls weigh in on the song list, because they listen to it just as much," said the creator of the hit single "Happy" in an interview with Billboard.
"I tried to pick an alternative approach, because how do you follow up LeBron and Jay? I gotta take a different route. When we finished looking at the list, it felt right," Williams added.
Despite having been chosen as the executive producer for the soundtrack, the inclusion of Williams' hit song "Happy" was immediately ruled out.
Careful not to spark more outraged reaction from the gamers, NBA 2K15′s community manager Ronnie2K quickly took back his joke of including "Happy" in the soundtrack. In a Facebook post, he announced the following clarification:
"Guys I was kidding. Happy is not on the #NBA2K15 soundtrack. #CalmDown"
NBA 2K15 is set for release on October 7, 2014. The game will be available on Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC.
