Shaquille O’Neal Breaks Down Each Track and Feature On His New EP & Dubs One Collaborator ‘The Bass Music Steph Curry’

One of the true pleasures of dance music over the five-plus years has been watching Shaquille O’Neal forge a post-NBA career path straight through the bass music scene.

DJ Diesel hasn’t been a vanity project, but a committed endeavor that’s established the four time NBA champion as a sizable (pun intended, of course) force in both live shows and releases. His Shaq’s Fun House and Shaq’s Bass All Stars Festival have become staples of the bass circuit, and he’s a regular at genre festival like Lost Lands, with his summer dates including Elements Music & Arts Festival, two editions of the traveling festival Breakaway, Miami’s hedonist club E11even and many more.

This month also marks the six year anniversary of him being famously spotted moshing in the crowd at Tomorrowland 2019, with O’Neal later telling Billboard that he simply loves the “game seven energy” of bass.

O’Neal’s latest project is his M.D.E. EP, with the project’s name being an acronym for “most dominant ever.” Out today (July 18) on Monstercat, the nine song release features collabs with a collection of hard-hitting bass mongers including Virtual Riot and Ivory. Here, O’Neal shares a bit about each track and collaborator.

“M.D.E.” (with Rzrkt)

This record came together when I went to Rzrkt and asked him to help me produce an epic show intro. It needed to be cinematic, as if it was the beginning of a war movie. I wanted to feel like I was going into battle; something that was slow with nice plucks in the beginning, then ramping up into high intensity. Once I witnessed how crazy the crowd went when they heard it live, I knew it would also be perfect as my EP intro. I really love the female vocal that lies behind it all. This is probably the most dominant record on the project.

“Animal” (with SampliFire and Ivory)

Andy [Ivory] and I have produced some of my biggest records, “Run It”,  “Moshpit,” now “Animal,” and a bunch of unreleased music coming soon. We are constantly cooking up new stuff from WIPs, to live edits, to even a joint sample pack that is on the way. Sammy (SampliFire) and Ivory are super close friends, so when we were all at Lost Lands, I told them we all needed to get in the studio together ASAP. Fast-forward two years later and now “Animal” is on this EP. For what it is worth, if you think Ivory and SampliFire are good bass producers, you should hear some of their new hip-hop beats.

“Damage” (with Virtual Riot)

I think everyone knows that Virtual Riot is a legend in the bass scene. After meeting for the first time at Electric Forest, we stayed in contact and started sending each other new music. Only a little time went by before VR came to me and suggested doing a drum n’ bass record, which I had never done before. Somehow, to even my surprise, we struck magic and put out one of the most sonically eclectic records in my discography. Even though this record is already released, we still send each other new music regularly.

“Run It” (with Ivory)

Ivory is the only collaborator to have multiple songs on my EP. That is probably because he sends me so many of his IDs and he never misses. He is the bass music Steph Curry… and I love Steph Curry.  “Run It” came together after I heard one of Ivory’s drum n’ bass IDs that had a really old-school hip hop intro. It spoke to me and I instantly knew I had to hop on this instrumental, which is why I made the first lyric of the song “Hop on the instrumental with ease.”  This is another record on the EP where the second drop is insane. The sound design is incredible, and is something you will hear across all Ivory songs.

“Pay Respect” (with GorillaT and Fraxure)

The minute I first heard of and saw GorillaT I knew he was special. I love his unique sound and contagious energy.  GorillaT also introduced me to Fraxure at Red Rocks, all I can say is this dude is a beast of a producer.  It was at that moment we knew we needed to make a song together. I wanted to try something aggressively wonky that’s  a perfect hybrid of our sounds.  I think “Pay Respect” does just that.  On our  second drop, we even dabbled into a bit of UKG.

“Bring the Pain” (with Layz)

Ahh yes, Layz, the bass meteorologist! Layla (Layz) and I have been friends since I entered this bass world. She has always been an avid fan of the DJ Diesel brand. And when we realized that it wasn’t going  to fly, that we didn’t have a record together, so we sat down and tried to produce the hardest song possible. Our goal was to bring the storm to the moshpit. I think, mission accomplished. Also, Layz, is the only person who has the audacity to pour a bag of chips on my head without consequences. If you don’t know what I am talking about, go to my @DJDiesel Instagram.

“Fadeaway” (with Benda)

Benda’s music has been a staple in my set since day one. In my opinion he is one of the best producers in the game. As you can see in “Fadeaway,” he is a phenomenal songwriter. The guy’s had me feeling like Travis Scott on this track. This dude is one of my ride-or-dies, which is why we got that line into the lyrics. Benda is yet another producer who crushes hip hop so we wanted to add that vibe into the song… I am a very busy man but I make time for the things that matter to me, hence the lyric, “I got time today.”

“Throwin’ Bows” (with Perry Wayne)

This collab with Perry Wayne has been long overdue. “Throwin’ Bows” actually started off as a remix to my record “Moshpit,” but after hearing the first version I knew I needed to jump on this and make it an original with my boy Perry. The dude has a very unique brand and produces very aggressive music which I absolutely love. I wanted to keep the vocal minimal so we could let the song shine. Perry has been on multiple of my shows including my Shaq’s Bass All Stars Festival, and I can testify that he’s as violent in the studio and on the decks.

“Show Em” (with Neotek)

Another song that has been in the making for a long time. Neotek is one of the best upcoming artists in my opinion. He is young and hungry, something that I completely understand and appreciate. The dude moved across the world from Australia to the bass capital, Denver, to pursue his dream. That is real dedication. This song has been supported by some of the biggest acts in bass music, including Excision and Sullivan King. Neotek has an arsenal of unreleased music. I am lucky enough to have access to these bangers, and play them in my sets all the time.