Nas, Snoop Pick Sides in Shaq/Kobe Rap Battle

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Shaquille O' Neal's hilarious Kobe Bryant-trashing freestyle at a New York club on Sunday night has escalated into a proper rap beef. First, the former Los Angeles Lakers center/Fu'Schnicken guest was asked to turn in his Sheriff's badge — Shaq Diesel volunteers as a police officer during the off-season — for using vulgar language, including the now-infamous "Kobe, tell me how my ass tastes." The freestyle also had after shocks in the hip-hop community, with rappers quickly taking sides. Nas joined Team Shaq, saying "Shaq is my man, fuck Kobe." Even Snoop Dogg calls the new Shaq/Kobe feud "beautiful," hoping the fight would lead to a better rivalry on the court. Snoop, despite being a Lakers fan, said he wouldn't write some comeback verses for Kobe because he "couldn't disrespect Shaq." He did offer to help find Kobe someone who would, however. Bryant, who made his own rap album that was supposedly so terrible it was buried for good, has yet to formally respond to O'Neal's verses.

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Song Stories

“Everyday People”

Sly and the Family Stone | 1968

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.

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