A brief article about the best bars referencing ballers from South Florida

Inspiration

This piece was inspired by 100 Ms by Dave X SG Lewis which dropped this week and had multiple references to the current Manchester United roster. Dave is an 18 year old rapper who has been blowing up in the UK and recently had Drake feature on his song Wanna Know (the version without Drake is better). Dave name drops Man Utd’s young striker Marcus Rashford, along with defensivebacks Luke Shaw and Eric Bailly. He also makes reference to Tottenham signing Delle Ali. Video can be found below which also features a cheeky Sam Smith cameo.

Parameters

Like any good list, we need parameters. I’m looking for artists that are name dropping a South Florida pro athlete while they were a South Florida pro athlete. For example, this list could be super boring and I can run down the 2.2 billion Lebron James references in rap music. 1. That’s boring af 2. Most of them are repetitive 3. A majority of them happened while Lebron was not playing under the Godfather. As always the songs will be selected by what’s on my iPod, which is celebrating his 12th birthday this week.

Miami/Florida Marlins

DEJA VU — BEYONCE FT JAY Z — JUAN PIERRE

“I used to run base like Juan Pierre/Now I run the bass, hi-hat, and the snare”

The Marlins are a bad organization. Jeff Loria is a bad hombre. Amazingly, we’ve somehow been granted the pleasure of seeing two World Series titles with this franchise. Thoughts and prayers to the cursed teams who have waited eons to get titles as the Marlins fall ass (tail?) backwards into championships. Oh you have a curse? We have a dude that systematically tries to undermine the Marlins, the MLB, and most despicably — the 305. Miami is certainly cool, but most rappers prefer to shoutout players from storied franchises like the Yankees and Red Sox. Along came Jay-Z on Deja Vu. Now at first glance this shoutout seems pretty subdued compared to the rest of the list. But since it is involving the Marlins it somehow will become a ticker tape parade.

It was Beyonce’s second album following her wildly successful solo debut “Dangerously In Love”. She had just finished her final album with Destiny’s Child and this album, “B-Day”, was set to release alongside her starring role in the Oscar nominated film, Dreamgirls.

Low-key huge Beyonce fan

This was a huge stage for Beyonce but let us not forget about our star Juan Pierre. Juan Pierre was the lead off hitter for the Marlins for 3 seasons, including the 2003 championship team. This song was the lead single and the first song on the track list for Beyonce’s album. Not enough for you? The very first verse and voice you hear on the song is Jay-Z singing about Juan Pierre. Juan Pierre literally hits lead on a Beyonce album. In keeping with appearances, Juan Pierre was promptly sold the following season. #LoriaOut #WengerIn

Miami Dolphins

502 COME UP — BRYSON TILLER — DEVANTE PARKER

“Woke up in the hills this morning/Asking myself, how did I get here this morning?/‘Vante Parker in that teal and orange/And Russell in that gold and purple/Youngest from the ‘Ville, imported”

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. My dad took me to two games during the Miami Dolphins 1–15 season. Neither was the game we won. I own a Daunte Culpepper Dolphins jersey. My relationship with the Dolphins is insane. Every year I arrive filled with hope and wonder. Each time I am met with stagnant offense and an abrupt end to the season. This was all…until Adam came along. Adam swept me off my feet and made me feel young again. Last year was a blast and I’m not afraid to say…I caught a case of the Gase. Adam Gase and the Fins have found a treasure in their 2nd year receiver DeVante Parker. Dude is built like a small forward and proves it by grabbing anything thrown in his airspace. Unlike others on the Fins.

Dammit Kenny!

Bryson Tiller sounds like PartyNextDoor with less ethereal beats and more bass. Bryson also uses the pseudonym Pen Griffey which is undeniably sweet and had to be brought up in this article. Tiller loves his sports and his brothers from the 502. In the opening bars of 502 Come Up he shouts out DeVante Parker and DeAngelo Russell who not only have random capitalization in their first names but are also from Louisville. Bryson even emphasizes that Parker is now playing “in that teal and orange”. I don’t think you realize how important it is to me that he said teal instead of blue. Thank you Pen Griffey.

Miami Heat

17.5, same color T-shirt

GOTTA HAVE IT — KANYE WEST X JAY Z — DWYANE WADE/LEBRON JAMES

“Sorry I’m in pajamas but I just got of the PJ/And last party we had, they shut down Prive/Ain’t that where the Heat play?/Yep, niggas hate ballers these days/Ain’t that like Lebron James?/Ain’t that just like D-Wade”

Rappers love Miami and they certainly love referencing basketball stars. The 2011–2014 Miami Heat seasons were the golden era for rappers to name drop Heat players. However, nothing quite captured how sweet it was to have the greatest basketball team ever assembled (not hyperbole, go fly a kite Cleveland/Golden State) than having the two biggest rap names validate it. Dwyane & Lebron are no strangers to rappers name dropping them. Dwyane is referenced multiple times in early work by Kanye as both are from Chicago and both probably have plaques in their homes with their names spelled wrong. Lebron was the wonder kid from Akron who was undeniably the best basketball player for the last decade. Bravado and competition are staples of rap music which means I’ve heard about every word you can rhyme with Lebron already. Watch the Throne was the Miami Heat. Two super friends, teaming up to lay waste to everyone in their path. The best part? Nobody was humble about it. The following are actual quotes from Jay, Ye, Wade, & Bron.

“Not 1, not 2…”

“No team works out teamwork.”

“I’m planking on a million”

“People hate ballers these days”

Everyone was very aware who the two best basketball players and who the two best rappers were at the time. There was no doubt or fake humbleness. Everyone was competing for 2nd place in basketball and hip hop. The Miami Heat were the Throne. Of course with any major success there will be imitators. Drake & Future have tried to recreate the magic, and so have the Golden State Warriors. Unfortunately for both, no one will ever choose Jumpman over Paris… and Steph Curry has weak ankles.

Florida Panthers

THE FEATURE HEAVY SONG — WALE — RICHARD ZEDNIK

“Do it for the Capital/Wale Ovechkin/SB hundreds/Yes dear, I’m on that venison/More or less Lindros/Flyer than the rest of them/Mind my intentions/They ain’t nothing similar/Sideways talking out your neck like Zednik”

This is probably the only name drop on this list that is here for less than stellar reasons. I’m not a big hockey guy, but I know about Richard Zednik. For those who may have forgotten…

Oh tight! Now you remember! Zednik’s survival of the modern day guillotine led him to be on what is probably the best hockey rap verse to date. I’ve heard multiple rappers shoutout Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, shockingly no PK Subban, but few have ventured any deeper than that. Until Wale let off a litany of hockey bars that included Eric Lindros, Nearly Headless Nik, and of course his hometown hero Alex Ovechkin. Wale also shouts out their respective teams stating he’s doing it for the ‘capital’ (Ovechkin) and ‘flyer than the rest of them’ (Lindros). Unfortunately there’s no sweet metaphors about the Panthers. Panthers are low-key ferocious Wale. I need some panther-based bars in the future.

BONUS

*JAMAICAN AIR HORNS*

The Godfather

TRIPLE BEAM DREAMS — RICK ROSS FT NAS — PAT RILEY

Chorus: “Dope been comin’ so you know the income major/Rule number 1: I can’t do business with a stranger/Contract killers comin’ when I feel endangered/Early 90s reminiscin’ when I had a pager/Triple beam dreams, now Pat Riley my neighbor”

Ricky Rozay’s best work is from his mixtape Rich Forever. Closer to an album in theory, it includes features from Drake, 2 Chainz, Wale, Pharrell, French Montana, John Legend, Future, Diddy, & Meek Mill. It gave us the best use of French Montana’s confused voice in Stay Scheming (DOH?!). Most importantly, Rick Ross made a play for his candidacy to be on the Miami Mt Rushmore by saluting the don Pat Riley. This is huge. Pat Riley has transcended from just being a towering front office figure into a rap reference. Do you know who the president of the San Antonio Spurs is? Why not? Because he’s not the godfather. He’s not playing the free agent market like a grand piano. It’s one thing to acquire talent and have people want to work with you. It’s another thing to have rappers idolize your machinations like you are a drug kingpin. Salute to Pat Riley and another season of bringing dope to Miami.