Michigan Basketball Star Bridges Gap Between Rappers and Athletes
Many of us know basketball star Miles Bridges, but we don't all know him for the same reasons. Some remember him from a young age, playing sports and attending school together, others while he was playing basketball at either Huntington Preparatory School or Michigan State University. Now playing professional basketball with the Charlotte Hornets, he's made a name for himself on and off the court.
Bridges is from Flint, Michigan where he was born and raised before moving to Huntington, West Virginia where he would attend Huntington Prep School, a basketball-focused college prep school. I don't know if he missed home or if he truly felt like Michigan State was the best place for his talents. Either way, he would return to the mitten to play college basketball before being drafted in the first round of the 2018 NBA draft by the Hornets with the 12th pick. He may have moved down south again, but Michigan will always be his home, and now a place for a new hobby.
NBA: Not (just) Basketball Athletes
NBA fans all across the country are no strangers to their favorite players dabbling in music. We saw Shaq perform before the NBA finals, and since retiring he has continued his career as a DJ, Percy "Master P" Miller spent some time in the NBA before focusing solely on his entertainment career, and even Allen Iverson stepped into the booth under the rap name "Jewelz".
Looking back a few years ago while Lebron James was in Cleveland there was a viral video of him singing along to "First Day Out" a single by Tee Grizzly, a Detroit based rap artist. We've heard Damian Lillard rapping on a Hulu commercial and even got an album release from Lonzo Ball. The NBA has ties to Hip-hop/rap music, including team stakeholders in Jay-Z and Nelly and Bridges is the latest to join the party.
Motown Music
Everyone knows Detroit for a few things, obviously their sports teams whether for good or bad. General Motors made a name for themselves and the city with steady income, and even Coney Island has given Detroit some clout, but everyone knows Motown Records, the music they produced, and some of the artists who's career took off in Detroit. Music and basketball are two things that are near and dear to the hearts of Detroit Natives, and Bridges has both. After popping out on the scene with nationally known Detroit Artist Sada Baby many have been waiting to hear Miles ride a beat.
Musical Miles
Yes, he is a basketball player, but no we aren't about to watch or talk about his hoop mixtape. We're talking about Miles making music, as many remember in 2020 the entire world was put on pause, including professional sports. The NBA would return in the latter months of the year to finish their season in the bubble but Bridges' Hornets were not apart of the bubble, leaving him like the rest of us, with nothing to do. I'm sure he found a place and time to workout and shoot hoops to stay ready for the NBA, but he spent a good portion of his time in the studio.
Mixtape Miles
Miles has joined a rap group known as RTB(Real Trench Baby) and his rap name is RTB MB. RTB Entertainment is based out of Flint, Michigan, Bridges' hometown, and is responsible for producing most of his music. He has collaborated with prominent artist such as YN Jay and Sada baby, and has tons of individual tracks. He dropped a mixtape titled "Halftime" in September of 2021, a 12-track mixtape that has 6 featuring artist. His most recent project is a music video he released on YouTube on Christmas day titled "Intro" and he has a plethora of music to stream.
Where to listen
Streaming music has become as easy as the click of a button or screen with your hand, and boom you have just about any song you want downloaded onto your device. There are also what seems like an endless amount of applications to stream music and Miles has uploaded his music to a ton of them. Searching RTB MB on Apple music, Spotify, YouTube, Soundcloud, and Tidal will bring up whatever tracks are available on that app.
I think the NBA will be one of the professional leagues that will forever have a relationship with hip hop and rap music whether they decide to continue to play other genres of music inside of their arenas. Much like other sports, players use music to hype themselves up and even quoting song lyrics as captions on social media, leading to personal relationship with artist. So the next time you're watching the NBA, there may be as many musicians on the court as normal athletes.
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