Was there anything Kobe couldn’t do?
Run-DMC was one of many artists at the 2020 Grammys to pay homage to Kobe Bryant in the wake of his tragic death earlier that same day. However, the rappers’ tribute held special significance as they reportedly recorded unreleased tracks with the late basketball legend, according to Rev Run, who dropped the bombshell while promoting his new book “Old School Love: And Why It Works.”
“Years ago, somebody connected [Run-DMC] to Kobe Bryant, and we were going to make a record together,” the 55-year-old told Yahoo Entertainment.
Rev Run, whose real name is Joseph Simmons, said he met Bryant at the group’s LA studio as “Kobe at the time had a relationship with Adidas, and we had that big record ‘My Adidas.’ ”
The NBA star and group “hung out all night and discussed options of how we should make the record,” according to the hip-hop trailblazer.
While the unlikely collaborators never ended up finishing their crossover hit, Simmons said, “it was just beautiful hanging with Kobe.”
“He liked to rap, we knew he was a good basketball player that wanted to rap with us, and we had a great night, took pictures,” he recounted of their friendship. “He was excited to meet us, and we were excited to meet him … and [start] to record a record that we never finished.”
Simmons spoke of his backstory with Bryant, who died Sunday in a helicopter crash at age 41, just hours before Run-DMC performed at the Grammys with Aerosmith. During the reprisal of “Walk This Way,” Rev Run held up a Bryant jersey, calling his tribute “pretty cool.”
This wasn’t the former Los Angeles Lakers legend’s first foray into hip-hop, either. Before being drafted into the NBA, Bryant was part of a hip-hop group in high school called CHEIZAW and signed to Sony Entertainment, according to Yahoo, and he also released a track for Sony called “K.O.B.E.” with vocals by supermodel Tyra Banks.