Listen Live
97.9 The Beat Featured Video
CLOSE

Fabolous will rep Brooklyn ’til the death of him, especially where basketball is concerned.

The Bed-Stuy native recently sat with Rolling Stone for the last installment of The Die-Hards, a four-part video series that aims to bring together athletes and musicians “to celebrate fandom in all its forms.” While talking about the connection between basketball and his upbringing, Fab also discussed the art and passion behind b-ball and its relation to his music.

The proud dad expounds upon his respect for Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson, who he says “broke the mold of the Magic Johnson/Larry Bird era.” Check out a few highlights below, plus the chat in its entirety via the clip above.

On being linked to the Brooklyn Nets through music:

Just seeing the words ‘Brooklyn’ on the jersey, the people there in the stands, the people of Brooklyn, and the people working there – I’ve seen people I grew up with working in the stadium – it’s dope they kept it in the community,” he says. “There’s a chant I started on a song, maybe in ’04, it goes ‘Brook-lyn! Brook-lyn!’ and they actually use that chant to rile the crowd up. It’s really dope to hear that.”

On Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, and Stephon Marbury transcending NBA culture:

Basketball has a culture to it, it has a swagger to it. Michael Jordan broke the mold of the Magic Johnson/Larry Bird era – he came in and he had a gold chain, he wore longer shorts and his sneakers were a different style,” he explains. “It translated through, and we got to where Allen Iverson was, where he looked just like some of the guys you’re hanging out with. A lot of streetball guys started being able to navigate their way to the NBA, too. Stephon Marbury actually played at my housing project, so it’s a deeper connection.

On the art of basketball:

“There’s an art to basketball; there’s a passion to it,” he continues. “I relate it to everything I’m doing; I’m a student of hip-hop. Every day you learn something and you want to teach it to somebody else. Keep everybody learning.”

You’ve got to love him.

SOURCE: Rolling Stone | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

The Die-Hards: Fabolous On His Connection To The Brooklyn Nets & Relating Basketball To Music  was originally published on globalgrind.com