An NBA Hall of Famer with multiple accolades on the court and has built a $500 million empire off the court. Apart from being a serial entrepreneur, Shaquille O’Neal also found immense success with his music career. His Shaq Diesel debut album went on to sell more than a million copies! Thus making him the only professional athlete with a platinum album. However, for the love of the game, the Lakers legend has been performing as DJ Diesel and recently shared his success, which meant more to him.
He added a story on his Instagram account under the DJ moniker: “Some accolades mean more than others.” The 4x NBA champion shared he has hit 50,000 followers on his Spotify! That’s not his rap music account, but his Diesel profile, which has achieved this accolade. That’s why he added, “Thank you.” An ode to his fans who continue to support him, even though this career was not a profit making one.
Last year on The Big Podcast, he listed out big plans and admitted he’s nowhere at par with dubstep veterans earning big bucks. Shaquille O’Neal further added that he loses money playing at each DJ gig. “Cause I’m not in the top tiers yet. Like some top DJs make half a million a show.” However, Shaq added he wasn’t far behind.
“I’m close. But let’s just say it’s a show I want to do. It’s going to be like 30,000 people at a festival, their budget may be $50,000.” As per reports, Steve Aoki earns $500,000 per show, while Calvin Harris reportedly gets paid $400,000 per show. Although the financials may have changed in a year, Shaquille O’Neal is still proud of his DJ career. On his Spotify, his monthly listeners stand at 383,967. Which is not bad considering his rapping/music profile has 539,918 monthly listeners.
Why is DJing close to Shaquille O’Neal’s heart?
When the NBA icon retired from the game, he was still missing the rush to perform in front of people. Even though he continued his off-court ventures with commercial, analyst gig with TNT, it still wasn’t enough. “I started DJing because it gives me the same adrenaline boost that a championship game would give me.” But early in his career, it wasn’t as easy a transition.
Shaquille O’Neal, also known as DJ Diesel, performs during his Shaq’s Bass All-Stars show at Skydeck on Broadway in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, March 29, 2024.
“When I first started deejaying for the people, I was fuc-ing bombing. BOMBING! Terrible. He came over. He was next to me, he was like, ‘Play this, play this.’” Once Shaquille O’Neal revealed that it was DJ Whoo Kid who guided him early on for having his back. “If he wasn’t there, I would have fuc-ing bombed. So, Whoo Kid, thank you for having my back.”
Now, there are no such issues, as he sells out iconic venues and performs at major festivals. Let’s not forget that he also performs with his son Myles as ‘O’Neal Boyz’. Plus, Shaquille O’Neal does ‘Shaq’s Bass All-Stars,’ which is the largest bass music festival in Texas.
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