Nicki Minaj Raps With Shaquille O’Neal

The promotional cycle can be a grind—endless press junkets, TV and radio appearances and grueling travel. And sometimes, you have to follow Shaq in a cypher.

Last night (Dec. 18) on TNT's Inside The NBA, hosts Ernie Johnson, Kennie Smith, Grant Hill, and yes, Shaquille O'Neal played host to Nicki Minaj, whose The Pinkprint came out earlier this week. At the show's end, the guys gathered around and invited Nicki to join in what they called a BET-style cypher. Johnson repped Queens and Hill read from a piece of paper. Shaq, who went platinum with 1993's Shaq Diesel and rapped alongside Biggie, Jay, Mobb Deep, and Rakim on You Can't Stop The Reign, demanded a beat change before he took the microphone. (Unfortunately, Charles Barkley was not there to lend some menace.)

Nicki, however, killed the beat entirely, preferring to rap a capella. Her verse, percussive and tongue-twisting, was a reminder of the lyrical and vocal dexterity that landed her a Cash Money deal in 2007.

The Pinkprint is available now.

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