No genre incorporates pop culture as much as hip-hop and few genres of music embrace professional sports as much as hip-hop (shout out to '90s rockers representing Seattle and Los Angeles). Few rappers have catalogues as deep as Jay Z's, so ESPN decided to track down every reference made to an athlete across Jay's discography and graphed it out for viewers. No surprise that Michael Jordan is the most popular topic.
"Jay Z has dropped more athlete names than any Sportscenter anchor on a good night," humorously notes the description posted by ESPN.
As we mentioned, no athlete comes near to the 14 total references Jordan received, ranging from Reasonable Doubt during 1996 to Magna Carta Holy Grail in 2013. In fact, the only two albums that the Chicago Bulls great hasn't been mentioned on were The Dynasty: Roc La Familia and American Gangster. We don't have the data to back this statement up, but there's little doubt Jordan is the most popular athlete in hip-hop history, and that's not even counting references to "Jordans," his shoe line from Nike.
In terms of albums that come especially hard with the athlete references, Watch The Throne takes the cake. One of our favorite lines from that album, featured on "Niggas In Paris," is Jay's "I'm liable to go Michael/ Jackson, Tyson, Jordan/ Game Six," a line that features both Jordan and boxer Mike Tyson (who has four total references in Jay's discography).
It helps that by the time he released Magna Carta Holy Grail, he had launched his own sports management company, Roc Nation Sports, which leads to shout outs to Kevin Durant and Robinson Cano on the album.
Our favorite reference, from "Honey" off of Best of Both Worlds: "Take a lost rebound like Outlaw," a reference to then Magic player Bo Outlaw, a journeyman with excellent athletic shades.
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