Antonio Brown may be fresh off the release of his debut album, Paradigm, which finds the former NFL wideout-turned-rapper flexing his talents alongside stars like DaBaby, Young Thug, Fivio Foreign, and Keyshia Cole. But he’s already preparing for a follow-up effort, which AB says will see him taking a different approach in terms of collaborators.
During a run-in with TMZ, Brown revealed his intention to use his next album as a platform for other athletes with aspirations of showcasing their artistry. “We want to give every athlete a chance to be creative,” Brown said, noting that his next album will solely feature athletes and will be in stark contrast to Paradigm, which boasted a star-studded list of rap and R&B acts. “We just want to give premier athletes the opportunity to express themselves, be themselves. I know a lot of players that do it on their own that may not put it out.”
When the interviewer makes a comparison between AB’s aspirations to merge the sports and Hip-Hop worlds with NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal’s own successful run as a rapper, the former All-Pro is in full agreement with the assessment. “Absolutely,” Brown says in response. “Shaq was the only athlete that made a successful album that actually went platinum. And he still was a great player. He changed the fact of athletes being one-dimensional.”
Read our review of AB’s Paradigm album here.