Rim-rocker, mix-master and general cash cow Shaquille O'Neal could dispense a few entrepreneurial tips to his dissed mentor, former Laker Magic Johnson.|

Just days after The Magic Hour announced it would soon stop tormenting viewers, the Lakers' center-of-attention and his gold-chained, cell-phoned posse moved their press junket from Philadelphia to Chicago to spread goodwill and good hype about his forthcoming hip-hop album, Respect.

Due out Sept. 15, Shaq's fourth major-label release will debut on Twism Records -- an A&M Records-distributed independent label that Shaq recently founded. Now affiliated with more than fourteen corporations, including Interscope Pictures and Pepsi, the multitalented Shaq-Daddy is also spreading the wealth with a series of eleven all-star basketball games designed to benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, among other charities.

"There's many definitions of the word 'role model,'" he said during his Windy City stop. "My role models to this day are still my parents. [New York Jets linebacker] Brian Cox made a great statement when he said, 'If you want me to be a role model because I'm a great citizen, all right that's cool. But if you want me to be role model because I'm on TV and I make a lot of money, I'm not cool with that.'" Of course, Shaq was paraphrasing Cox, who was paraphrasing Ken Griffey, Jr., who was probably paraphrasing a fortune cookie.

Regardless, Shaq-Fu continues to supplement his elephantine NBA salary in true Puff Daddy style. His upcoming album features cameo rhymes from Big Pun, Fat Joe and Peter Gunz, whom O'Neal has already signed to Twism.

The gentle giant has compared his MC skillz to those of more wholesome rappers Heavy D and Will Smith. "You know, the clean-cut party albums," he says. "I don't be talking about gangs and stuff."

Though the gangsta-flavored Snoop Doggy Dogg took the music industry by surprise this week by bumping the Beastie Boys out of the top chart position, Shaq seems confident that he can compete with two of the biggest-selling rap artists in the world. Already, he's enlisted blue-chip artists Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and Grace Jones to appear in the music video for Respect's first single, "The Way It's Goin' Down," which Shaq directed.

"Hopefully, if I become sort of legendary," Shaq boasts. "I can do more movie directing." Or perhaps hit a free throw. (Anni Layne)