Shaquille O’Neal shows off INCREDIBLE success in new career, draws 115,000 people to latest show

Shaq a.k.a. DJ Diesel is often seen at nightclubs and at concerts DJing.

Shaquille O’Neal shows off INCREDIBLE success in new career, draws 115,000 people to latest show

Shaquille O'Neal Djing (Image via Getty Images)

The big man, Shaquille O’Neal, known for his basketball prowess, seems to have found a new hobby – DJing. Under the moniker DJ Diesel, he performs 40+ shows in the summer and has recently completed a Europe tour. Ever since leaving the NBA, he has ventured into a lot of things – an in-studio analyst on TNT’s Inside the NBA, a commercial spokesman for a host of brands including IcyHot pain relief cream and The General Insurance, a business owner at the Big Chicken, and as a movie and reality TV star.

The most notable of his hobbies, however, is DJing, as he is often seen at nightclubs and at concerts, playing his DJ sets. Recently, he was seen playing his set to a 1,15,000-plus crowd at the Lollapalooza 2023 in Chicago, which is one of the biggest music festivals in the world. Ever since Shaq announced his own music festival, he has been under the spotlight by the DJ community as he looks to foster and promote it.

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DJ Diesel, while giving an interview before his set at the Lollapalooza, said, “I’ve been DJ’ing for about 4-5 years and it gives me the same energy as being in a Game 7 versus Michael Jordan in the Chicago Bulls arena. Not the new one, but the old arena, where you had to walk up the steps. So it’s going to be a lot of great energy and I look forward to it.” Known for his love for the community, Shaq stopped at a Big Chicken outlet before his set.

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Shaq’s music journey so far

Shaquille O'Neal Djing
Shaquille O’Neal DJing (image via Getty Images)

Shaq’s lovely relationship is not just something new that is linked to DJing only, it is a decade-old one. From his childhood days, he has tried to fit into the DJing world. He was inspired by the old-school hip-hop beat producers and bought himself a $200 setup, adding up money from cutting grass and washing cars. He taught himself DJing to earn money; he played gigs throughout high school and college. In the 1990s, although, he took a break to focus on rapping, but still did not leave DJing as a whole.

After getting drafted into the National Basketball League, O’Neal signed with Jive Records to release his debut rap album, Shaq Diesel, in 1993. The album, at its peak, was number 24 on the Billboard Top 200 album, and his soundtrack, “What’s Up Doc?” was at 39 in the Billboard Hot 100 singles. He now has his own festival and does more than 40 gigs each summer.

The first time when O’Neal performed as DJ Diesel though, was at TomorrowWorld 2015 in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia. Even though the festival was a spinoff of the Belgian festival Tomorrowland, it was still a big deal. And ever since then, it’s only been an upward journey.

“Dubstep is the hardest form of EDM and I played the hardest form of basketball, which is physical, so the kids get out there and be very physical and get into the mosh pits and they just have a good time.” This is what Shaq had to say when an interviewer asked about his passion for DJing.

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