Hip-Hop Fridays: My New Love For Hip-Hop by Spencer Haywood

Well it looks like I have a new love in the music world. Jazz will always be #1, but look out everyone, there’s a new genre of music that has grown on me – hip-hop! My daughters recently told me to watch two specials on the History of Rap, and I must tell you, it changed my outlook. It took me a good year to get a better feel for it, but it has grown on me.

I started grooving to Tupac, Biggie, Snoop, NWA, KRS-One, the Roots, Outkast, De La Soul, David Banner, Eminem, Common, Akon, Nas, Twista, Kanye West, P-Diddy, Jay-Z, Eve, Ludacris and a few others. On the softer R&B side, I’m really feeling Robin Thicke, India Arie, Justin Timberlake, R. Kelly, Mary J. Blige, and last but not least, Beyonce and Shakira (shhhhhh…I can’t say the word here, but you know what I mean if you saw the Beautiful Liar video).

I was always open to it when my kids played it, but now I have all of them on my IPOD Nano. I have not 271, not 273, but exactly 272 different tracks on my IPOD baby! I was in the gym working out, bobbing my head and this young kid looked at me and said, “What are you jamming to?” I gave him the headphones, and he couldn’t believe I was listening to Tupac. I think I scored some cool points with that kid.


Spencer Haywood has had a powerful impact, both on and off the court. He was named the ABA’s MVP and Rookie of The Year in 1970. Then, during his 12-year NBA career, he was a four-time All-Star and an NBA Champion with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1980. His 1970 legal case paved the way for undergraduates to enter the NBA. The Seattle Supersonics retired his number, 24, on February 26, 2007. Visit His Blog (where this post was published on June 20,2007) At: https://www.nbrpa.com/news/featurearchive/Spencer_Haywood_Blog.aspx

Spencer Haywood

Friday, June 22, 2007