Shaq Opens Vault To Give Fans Unreleased Jay-Z & Nas Collab
The original version of Shaquille O’Neal’s “No Love Lost” featuring Jay-Z, Nas and Lord Tariq will finally drop on Friday (June 28). Shaq brought the unreleased song out of the vault for his You Can’t Stop the Reign album’s streaming release.
“You Can’t Stop the Reign coming to DSPs Friday,” he wrote on Instagram. “Unreleased Jay-Z + Nas track included.”
Shaq’s “No Love Lost” was meant to be Jay-Z and Nas’ first collaboration, but Nas didn’t appear on the song when You Can’t Stop the Reign dropped in 1996. Shaq explained Nas’ absence in a 2022 interview with Drink Champs.
“People didn’t clear it,” Shaq said. “Look, I didn’t take it personal ‘cause … me being in the studio with Nas, I’m happy. I get to call my boy and be like, ‘Hey, come over, Nas cover.’ I get to call my boy and say, ‘Jay in here.’ I get to call my boys and say, ‘Yo Biggie at the house. We ‘bout to jump on the Sea-Doos.’ That’s what it’s all about.”
Another Shaq collab with a Hip-Hop legend was shelved when Ice Cube blocked the former NBA star from releasing a song with Dr. Dre. Shaq revealed why the track never saw the light of day on The Big Podcast in June.
“Cube was executive producing one of my records,” Shaq said. “And he put me in the studio with Dr. Dre. I did a song called ‘That’s Gangsta.’ Cube heard it and was like, ‘Nope. We’re not releasing this.’ Dre did the beat “I thought it was nice … And then I played it for Cube … He was like, ‘Shaq, you’re a f###### Laker, bro. I don’t want you talking about nothing gangsta. We not doing none of that s###.’ And it never came out.”
Listen to Shaq’s previously unreleased version of “No Love Lost” below.