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NBA star Dwyane Wade has been mentioned by a few rappers, but he told The Undefeated that being name checked on JAY-Z and Alicia Keys' hit “Empire State of Mind” was a truly stunning moment for him.
“I was in Chicago with my brothers hanging out, and this new song comes on by JAY-Z. I’ve been in songs, but this one was different,” Wade recalled. “I lost it, you don’t even understand. I went up to the DJ like, ‘Play that again. Play that again.’”
The song came out in October 2009, and became JAY’s sole No. 1 hit as a lead artist. On the second verse, JAY mentions Wade and his best friend LeBron James, offering a sly reference to his drug dealing days. He raps:
Me? I gotta plug Special Ed “I Got It Made”
If Jeezy’s payin' LeBron, I’m payin' Dwyane Wade
In an article on The Awl, writer David Cho explained that the lyrics are about different prices for a kilogram of cocaine on the street. The Jeezy mention is in reference to his song “24 – 23,” where he compares the players' jersey numbers to prices he used to pay in his drug dealing days:
Yeah I used to pay Kobe until I paid Lebron
Kobe, Lebron, Kobe, Lebron
24, 23 – y'all niggas remember me
Wade actually shared his thoughts about the song in an annotation on Genius, saying that being mentioned by an artist he respects as much as JAY made him feel like he had finally established himself in the cultural landscape.
Wade has been mentioned on a number of high-profile songs like Kanye West’s “The Glory” and Future’s “First Off.” He is also mentioned by JAY on “Gotta Have It” from Watch The Throne, when he and West trade bars:
Sorry I’m in pajamas but I just got off the PJ
And last party we had, they shut down Prive
Ain’t that where the Heat play? (Yeah)
Niggas hate ballas these days (Yeah)
Ain’t that like Lebron James?
Ain’t that just like D. Wade? Wait
Genius explored the history of JAY-Z’s and Beyoncé’s relationship on wax in the video below.
Read the full lyrics to “Empire State of Mind” and the rest of JAY-Z’s discography on Genius now.
