Trace McSorley and Other Athletes With Rap Songs Named After Them

“I’m your favorite quarterback, They call me Trace McSorley”

Remember when Mo Bamba came out a few years ago? It was instantly a song played at every party and sporting event. Sheck Wes was paying homage to his childhood friend, who is now a center for the Orlando Magic. Bamba asked him to put his name in the song. Bamba ended up becoming the topic of it.

Watching Trace McSorley throw a long TD pass to Hollywood Brown last week got me thinking. Why not write an article that lists off athletes that have had rap songs named after them. McSorley himself got a track from a Penn State alumnus named Matt Freiler, AKA Matty Fresh.

The song now has close to five million views. So, how many other athletes have gotten the McSorley or Bamba treatment?

This will not be a ranked list. Rather, just acknowledging some greatness.

Barry Bonds – Kanye West Ft. Lil Wayne

Kanye West’s Graduation was an instant hit. The album produced a lot of classics, including Stronger and Homecoming. It also featured a song named after one of the best (and most controversial) baseball players of all time. It was truly only a matter of time before Bonds got his chance.

The chorus ends with the line “And here’s another hit, Barry Bonds”. The song has a lot of flow, but fun fact here. Bonds never had 200 hits in a season. Wouldn’t it have been cooler to have Ichiro or Pete Rose here?

All the credit in the world to Kanye and Lil Wayne here for making this, but still, you’ve got to check the facts. They could have mentioned home runs. Then, nobody is better than Bonds.

Barry Sanders – Wale

Wale’s tribute song to one of the greatest running backs of all-time was a good one. In fact, it was so great that 2009 NBA Draft selection Hasheem Thabeet was even mentioned. To rhyme something with Thabeet, the biggest bust of his class, that takes talent. He even name-dropped Michael Olowkandi!

Wale is clearly a huge sports fan. The line mentioning Sanders himself was this:

“I’m Michael Jordan Major, you homies Harold Miner

***** be on all on me we way too young to be romancing

My homies never block, I think I’m Barry Sanders.”

Sanders was always a guy you had to hand the ball off to, then just stare, and admire what he would do with it. He wouldn’t be asked to block. Hats off to Wale.

Kobe Bryant – Lil Wayne

First things first, RIP Kobe. I still haven’t gotten over your tragic death, which now happened almost 11 months ago. And major shout out to rap legend and longtime Lakers fan, Lil Wayne for this.

The song was written before game one of the 2009 NBA Finals, between the Orlando Magic and LA Lakers. It’s been out for a long time now. And Quinn Cook was rapping it in warm-ups before the Lakers first game after Bryant’s death last season.

If this were a power-rankings article, this song would be at the top, no doubt. There is a full verse from Stephen A. Smith, talking about Kobe’s greatness. There are multiple LeBron quotes. And Mickael Pietrus even got in there. Wayne’s lyrics have always been as good as anybody’s and Kobe Bryant is some of his finest work.

Wayne changed some of the lyrics and performed another version of the song after Bryant’s tragic passing. Thank you, Dwayne Carter Jr.

Other Titles Worth Mentioning

There are plenty of other songs named after athletes than the five mentioned in this article.

Killer Mike wrote a song called Ric Flair. The Cool Kids wrote Penny Hardaway. Kendrick Lamar teamed with Schoolboy Q to write Michael Jordan.

There are plenty of other times where athletes are name-dropped, too. Do some exploring. It’s a great thing to know.

How cool will you sound in a conversation if you can find a song where a guy like Caron Butler is mentioned? The answer? Pretty, pretty cool.