Annie Hoffman

Special to FoxSportsBiz.com

Jock JamsSports stars hitting high notes in music industry
June 12, 2000

Kobe Bryant, Oscar de la Hoya and Carl Lewis all have a dream. Not an NBA championship, belt or medal. They want to carry a tune, and have money and access to try. Now, more than ever, athletes have opportunities to cross over to the music industry.

Bryant has a soon-to-be released rap CD, featuring a song with model Tyra Banks, inspired by his teammate Shaquille O'Neal's success in the music business.

Four-time world boxing champion de la Hoya is taking singing lessons in preparation for an album of ballads in both English and Spanish, hoping to cash in on the Latin pop craze fueled by the success of Ricky Martin and Marc Anthony. De la Hoya's CD is slated for a September release.

"Sports and entertainment are all the same thing," said Lewis, nine-time Olympic Gold-Medalist and one of the first high profile athletes to release a successful album. "Sports is just a different faction, like acting is from singing and music. I think once you get involved in one, you like to try the different things. This is a natural to many people."

While there aren't any entertainers who are going to challenge athletes' world records, these artists are being challenged by athletes like Lewis who are creating musical records of their own.

Some athletes have chosen to stay behind the scenes, creating their own record labels and nurturing hand-picked artists. Some athletes can afford dabble in the music production on their own terms with the huge salaries select superstar athletes earn.

Former three-time heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield is the President of Real Deal Records, founded in October 1998. In less than twenty months, Real Deal has released albums by five artists, four of whom have landed in the top 75 on the urban, Christian, gospel, adult contemporary and smooth jazz charts.

"We have the time to spend on each artist," Oscar Fields, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Real Deal Records explained. " We are not too big so we can give them preferential treatment. We want to make sure our artists have the proper base so they can be successful."

Holyfield feels hiring Fields has been the key to the label's success. Fields experience as a record executive with Motown, Warner Brothers, Electra/Asylum and Epic has proven invaluable to the company. "I'm not self-made." Holyfield emphasized. "I had good coaches. If you want to be successful in things you get people who have the knowledge of it and you learn from them. But you fund it. It can't go without the money, either. You're a big part as investor. You've got to have good artists, but you also need good promotion and have a good management staff. "

Fields is impressed with Holyfield's extraordinary devotion to his record company. "Evander takes this very serious. He is hands-on and signed the first three artists himself," said Fields.

Holyfield's financial success in the boxing ring affords him the luxury of not worrying about turning a profit in the record business. The absence of a financial burden allows him to concentrate on releasing only positive music. "The goal is to give people another alternative. You just make a choice to not curse or put someone down. I don't feel that to make a lot money I should poison people in one sense or another or point them in the wrong direction."

Despite his dedication to Real Deal, don't look for Evander's voice on a record anytime soon. "I like singing, but my singing is for my own pleasure," he said.

Other athletes do it all.

The Lakers' O'Neal scored points with gold and platinum records - "Can't Stop The Reign," "Shaq Diesel," "Shaq Fu-Da Return" - released by his own record company, T.W.I.S.M. (This World Is Mine).

And sometimes athletes collaborate for a good cause. In March, "Big League Rocks" featuring eleven Major League Baseball players performing pop, rock, alternative, gospel, jazz, country and Latin songs hit the stores. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Major League Baseball Players Trust for Children.

"This is the novelty of it: people love baseball and seeing their heroes do different things. It sounds like a real album, musically it's strong. People Magazine gave it a thumbs up," said Loren Harriet, executive producer of the project.

Harry Edwards, who teaches sociology at University of California says and serves as a special consultant to the San Francisco 49ers, says that he "thinks athletes are attracted to two great aspirations. Many of them are not going to be great actors - music appears to be more accessible to them. Athletes grow up mimicking their favorite singers. They have the money, the access, the time and the inclination, so a specific number of athletes are going to try a singing career. This is how sports will look in the 21st century: The greatest point guard will be known as a great basketball player and as a great entertainer."