"Melo Ball 1" is a

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

single by American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player

Lonzo Ball Lonzo Anderson Ball (born October 27, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A point guard, he played college basketball for one season with the UCLA Bruins, earni ...

, featuring singer Kenneth Paige. Released on September 8, 2017, it is Ball's first official song and is about his younger brother

LaMelo Ball LaMelo LaFrance Ball (born August 22, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Hornets with the third overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft. ...

and his signature

Big Baller Brand Big Baller Brand (BBB) is an American company that designs, manufactures, and sells clothing and shoes. Launched in 2016 by Alan Foster and LaVar Ball, it has most notably produced signature shoes for the Ball brothers—basketball players Lon ...

shoe, the Melo Ball 1 (MB1). A segment of the song first appeared in a video published by ''

SLAM Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements * S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe * SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...

'' magazine that debuted the MB1 shoes. The song was produced by 80's Baby Entertainment, Inc. under his family-owned

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

Big Baller Music Group.

Background

In the weeks before releasing "Melo Ball 1", Ball increased his presence in the hip hop community. On

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, he claimed that

Issa Album ''Issa Album'' is the debut studio album by rapper 21 Savage. It was released on July 7, 2017, through Slaughter Gang and distributed by Epic Records. The album features production from frequent collaborator Metro Boomin, alongside Southside, Pi' ...

21 Savage Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph (born October 22, 1992), known professionally as 21 Savage, is a rapper based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Born in London, he moved to Atlanta with his mother at age seven. He became known after releasing two m ...

is better than the

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

album 4:44. On his

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

reality show ''

Ball In The Family ''Ball in the Family'' is an American reality television series that premiered on August 29, 2017 on Facebook Watch. The show documents the personal and professional lives of the Ball family. The sixth season premiered on October 18, 2020. Cast ...

'', Ball also said, "Don't nobody listen to

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

no more. Real hip-hop is

Migos Migos () is an American hip hop trio from Lawrenceville, Georgia, founded in 2008. The group was originally composed of Southern rappers Quavo, Takeoff, and Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia; Offset and Takeoff were born and raised in Law ...

Future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...

." The comments caused backlash from many hip hop figures, including rapper T.I. and Nas' manager Anthony Saleh. Rapper

Lil B Brandon Christopher McCartney (born August 17, 1989), professionally known as Lil B and as his alter ego The BasedGod, is an American rapper. Lil B has recorded both solo and with Bay Area group The Pack. His solo work spans several genres, ...

tweeted: "Lonzo ball is a few seconds away from being cursed his rookie year on the lakers. ic On August 31, 2017, a portion of the song was featured in a video by ''

'' magazine announcing the release of LaMelo Ball's signature shoe the Melo Ball 1 (MB1) by

. On September 7, Ball tweeted that he would officially release the debut single in the following day.

Reception

A month after the song was released, a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

video featuring it received more than 5.04 million views.

References

{{authority control 2017 songs Lonzo Ball songs 2017 debut singles