Photo: Shamus/Getty

Houston Rockets basketball player, brawl catalyst and part-time rapper Ron Artest will showcase his ability to shoot rhymes on a new mixtape. Artest is backed by notable mixtape mastermind DJ Drama, automatically elevating Artest’s cred. Artest brings his tenacious on-court personality off the court, criticizing rappers like 50 Cent and Nas and saying “Hip hop has been heavily watered down and knocked off course by the big money makers. There are many artists who are scared to make music for themselves and they cater to the boss with grey hair or light skin who never ever been caught in a cross fire, or been racially profiled, or cut in the face, or been face to face with multiple crack heads.” The cager also samples Coldplay’s Viva La Vida cut “Lost!” on a track with the same name.

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