- LiAngelo Ball’s song ‘Tweaker’ is a hugely popular rap hit
LiAngelo Ball’s new song “Tweaker” has become a viral sensation — and now the former UCLA and G-League basketball player has scored a massive new recording contract.
According to ESPN’s Shams CharaniaBall has signed a deal with Def Jam and Universal Music Group for a guaranteed value of $8 million – with the deal potentially reaching $13 million.
Additionally, Ball will have his own label – Born2Ball Music Group – and own all of his music.
Ball’s new song, released under the moniker G3 Gelo, has racked up more than 15 million listens on Spotify since it was posted to the music streaming platform on January 3.
And the song is also proving to be a huge hit with NBA players, just like his brother Lonzo was seen dancing to the number the Bulls locker room. His youngest brother La Melo and his Hornets teammates were also given the task completing the text from the song’s chorus during a video from the Hornets’ social team.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were also featured playing the song in their dressing room right after it came out.
LiAngelo Ball is seen warming up for the G League’s 2022 Greensboro Swarm
Donald Trump was credited with freeing Ball and his teammates from a Chinese prison
Ball speaks to the media after being arrested for shoplifting in China while studying at UCLA
Ball’s status as a hit rapper comes eight years after he and two UCLA teammates were detained (and briefly jailed) in China on suspicion of shoplifting prior to a game there.
Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill were released the next day and Donald Trump – then in his first term as US president – credited himself with freeing the trio.
“It wasn’t the White House, it wasn’t the State Department, it wasn’t Father LaVar’s so-called people in China who got his son out of a long prison sentence – IT WAS ME,” Trump said. tweeted.
The players’ arrest came a day before Trump was due to arrive in China to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The US president told reporters that the pair had had a “great conversation.”
Ball’s father, LaVar, told the ‘TODAY’ show at the time that there was no reason to thank Trump.
“I don’t just say thank you because someone said they did something,” LaVar said. “And if they did it, you should really come up to me and say, ‘Boy, you better thank me?’
LiAngelo and his teammates were subsequently suspended from UCLA, leading to a nomadic basketball journey that began when LaVar pulled his middle son from the team.
Along with younger brother LaMelo, he played in Lithuania and in the JBA league founded by LaVar Ball before playing in the NBA G-League and in Mexico.
Ball also had stints with the NBA’s Pistons and Hornets, but never appeared in a regular season game (he played for the latter in the 2022 preseason).
Now, however, LiAngelo seems to have found his calling in music.