LeBron James is in his 22nd season in the NBA, and has been part of the national basketball consciousness since he was, at least, a junior in high school. His presence as one of the most prominent figures in basketball hasn’t just meant he’s been part of the sports conversation for the last quarter century, but he also became the reference point for basketball in the music world as well.
Similar to Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Allen Iverson, LeBron has been regularly mentioned by artists in the hip-hop world and beyond. You can find hundreds if not thousands of songs that name-drop LeBron, both positively and negatively, and here we wanted to look at 23 notable examples of LeBron’s impact on the music world by way of the lyrics that shout him out, starting from 2003 all the way to 2024.
“Gangsta Sh*t” — G-Unit (2003)
I keep a holster on my shoulder like I’m John Wayne/Shooting these n****s lights out like LeBron James
One of the first LeBron mentions on a track came early in his rookie year in 2003, when Young Buck says he’s shooting like LeBron, which I have to note is a little funny given shooting was the one thing LeBron rather famously wasn’t very good at as a rookie.
“Gettin It In” — Jadakiss ft. Kanye West (2004)
N****s tryna figure out, since Kan’ came/Who the rookie of the year, me or LeBron James?
Kanye West, fresh off the release of “College Dropout” earlier that year, boasts his rookie season is as strong as LeBron’s in his verse on this Jadakiss track.
“Dough Is What I Got” — Lil Wayne (2006)
When it comes down to this recording/I must be LeBron James if he’s Jordan/No, I won rings with my performance/I’m more Kobe Bryant of an artist
Lil Wayne wouldn’t release “Best Rapper Alive” until 2008 on Tha Carter II, but his remix of Jay-Z’s “Show Me What You Got” two years prior asserted that position in the midst of his iconic mixtape run. To illustrate that fact, he made a reference to LeBron but became one of the first artists to use that as a bit of a jab, saying he’s more Kobe than LeBron because he “won rings with my performance.” I’m not sure what the first RINGZ argument was to be used against LeBron, but I have to imagine Lil Wayne doing so three years into James’ career was one of the earliest.
“Make Tha Trap Say Aye” — OJ Da Juiceman ft. Gucci Mane (2008)
Banana donk Chevy interior like the Lakers/LeBron James wrist when I’m f**kin’ with that caper
What did OJ Da Juiceman know in 2008 when he referenced the Lakers and LeBron James in back-to-back lines??? An aside, OJ Da Juiceman is an underrated Atlanta artist, and this isn’t even his best NBA reference off this album (“Nah Ming” is a classic).
“Empire State of Mind” — Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys (2009)
Me? I gotta plug Special Ed, “I Got It Made”/If Jeezy’s payin’ LeBron, I’m payin’ Dwyane Wade
Probably the LeBron reference that pops into most people’s heads first when it comes to a rap lyric. By this point, LeBron had passed Michael Jordan in terms of being synonymous with the number 23 in pop culture. The reference is to Jeezy’s “23, 24” in which he says “I used to pay Kobe (24), but now I pay LeBron (23)” in the chorus, with Jay-Z noting that if Jeezy’s paying 23, he’s just paying Dwyane Wade (3). I have to say, there’s no way this was a profitable venture for Jay-Z’s plug if he was getting bricks for $3,000. Also, in hindsight, it’s kind of wild Jay-Z put this bar down a full year before LeBron left Cleveland for Miami to play with Wade.
“Dead Presidents II” — J. Cole (2009)
I’m nothing like these ho-like rappers, my whole life practice/To be the one, what’s it like to be LeBron
Another artist who has frequently made mention of LeBron (and plenty of other NBA stars), J. Cole compares himself to LeBron with shouldering expectations to be the greatest in this track off 2009’s “The Warm Up”.
“Popular Demand” — Clipse ft. Pharrell and Cam’Ron (2009)
Used to have this white b**ch, she looked like Madonna though/Heard that she f**king LeBron, but s**t, I don’t know/Like that, Bron-Bron? I had that long time ago
As mentioned in the intro, not every LeBron reference was the most positive and this was the time where LeBron fatigue had set in a bit. This one, however, had nothing to do with James’ failures to land a ring by 2009, but instead Pusha T offered up some allegations of impropriety in what I have to imagine is one of LeBron’s least favorite mentions he’s ever gotten.
“Gotta Have It” — Jay-Z and Kanye West (2011)
West: Sorry I’m in pajamas, but I just got off the PJ/And last party we had, they shut down Prive
Jay-Z: Ain’t that where the Heat play? (Yup)/N****s hate ballers these days (Yup)
West: Ain’t that like LeBron James?
Jay-Z: Ain’t that just like D-Wade? Wait
We probably could’ve pulled 23 references about LeBron just by these two, but in their triumphant track off “Watch The Throne”, Jay-Z and West go back-and-forth with a shoutout to the two stars of the Miami Heat at the time.
“Martians vs. Goblins” — The Game ft. Tyler, the Creator and Lil Wayne (2011)
Fall back like LeBron’s hairline against the Mavericks…he lost
Leave it to Tyler, the Creator to have one of the funnier bars about LeBron James, making both a hairline joke and a Heat losing to the Mavs in the Finals joke all in one line on this track with The Game.
“Believe It” — Meek Mill ft. Rick Ross (2012)
I ball hard like LeBron James/And Rozay D-Wade n****
The LeBron/Wade pairing made for a lot of song references in their time in Miami, this time with Meek Mill comparing he and Rick Ross to the Heat duo — these two also are frequent LeBron name-droppers.
“Timber” — Pitbull ft. Kesha (2013)
Club jumpin’ like LeBron now, Voli/Order me another round, homie
One of the biggest songs in terms of popularity to feature a LeBron reference, courtesy of Mr. Worldwide (formerly Mr. 305), who shouts out the then Heat star in one of his biggest hits.
“LeBron James” — Yo Gotti (2013)
I’m LeBron James, you a f**kin rookie
There are a lot of songs that name-check LeBron but Yo Gotti was one of the first major artists to release a song with James’ name as the title, using his name as a main part of the chorus.
“Bitch Better Have My Money” — Rihanna (2015)
Pay me what you owe me/Ballin’ bigger than LeBron
Rihanna was once a regular courtside at NBA games and a noted LeBron fan, so it came as little surprise when she mentioned James in the opening verse of her 2015 hit single.
“Sleep Walking” — Migos (2015)
I’m a fool with the rock like LeBron James
For a time there were few groups that were more prevalent at NBA games and All-Star Weekends than the Migos, and Offset led off their 2015 track with a LeBron mention in the opening verse.
“Trap Trap Trap” — Rick Ross ft. Young Thug and Wale (2017)
Renzel got me all day, I’m Kyrie, he LeBron James
By 2017, the references to James and a fellow star teammate had flipped from Dwyane Wade and LeBron to Kyrie and LeBron, which pops up in another Rick Ross track, this time in Wale’s verse.
“Nonstop” — Drake (2018)
Catch me cause I’m gone (Outta there, I’m gone)/How I go from 6 to 23 like I’m LeBron?
Another artist with plenty of references to LeBron in songs through the years, Drake’s 2018 hit is probably the biggest with a LeBron mention, as he plays off both of LeBron’s numbers from Miami and Cleveland (and L.A.).
“RNP” — Cordae ft. Anderson Paak (2019)
Cordae: I bought a Moncler coat for the times we were broke
Paak: I’ma wear it in the summer on LeBron James’ boat
This might be one of my favorites because it has nothing to do with basketball, it’s just Paak flaunting that his life is dope enough he might get invited to hang out on a yacht with LeBron.
“Disco S**t” — 03 Greedo and Kenny Beats ft. Freddie Gibbs (2019)
Dope game, brought the kilos on the plane/23, LeBron James, got my package on the airline, yeah, now
A decade after Jeezy’s “23, 24” and Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind”, LeBron remained the go-to reference for the number 23 in rap, as Freddie Gibbs proved again on his verse here.
“Está Cabrón Ser Yo” — Bad Bunny and Anuel AA (2020)
LeBron James, cabrón, yo juego toa’ la’ posicione’/Michael Phelps tirao’ pa’ atrá’, nadando en mi’ millone’
LeBron’s influence in the music world isn’t stateside, as he has been regularly mentioned by Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, including in this 2020 track (along with Michael Phelps).
“All In” — Lil Baby (2020)
I go LeBron when it’s crunch time, it ain’t no holdin’ me
One thing you notice when you lay these lyrics out chronologically is how the narrative around LeBron changed constantly. If someone had rapped “I go LeBron when it’s crunch time” in a song in, say, 2009 it would’ve had a wildly different meaning than in 2020 when Lil Baby said it boastfully.
“Dynamite” — BTS (2020)
Sing-song when I’m walkin’ home/Jump up to the top, LeBron
Further cementing LeBron’s status as a global superstar, he found his way into one of the biggest K-Pop hits with a reference in the opening verse of BTS’ massive 2020 hit.
“The Scenic Route” — Dr. Dre ft. Rick Ross and Anderson Paak (2021)
Ross: In them funny pants, I had a gun in mine
Dre: LeBron James numbers, go ‘head, analyze ’em
By 2021, LeBron had climbed to the top of most pages in the NBA’s record books which Dr. Dre referenced in his boastful track going back-and-forth with Rick Ross.
“Meet The Grahams” — Kendrick Lamar (2024)
Hey, LeBron, keep the family away, hey, Curry, keep the family away
The most sinister of the LeBron mentions comes on Kendrick Lamar’s scathing diss track on Drake from this year, in which he leaves no doubt his feelings on the Toronto star and warns LeBron, Stephen Curry, and others to “keep the family away.”
