Victor Oladipo on music, Damian Lillard collab, teaching younger teammates about Tupac and more

Two-time NBA All-Star Victor Oladipo says it’s on his “bucket list” to perform the National Anthem at a game. Indeed, for Oladipo, who has now released three records, including his latest, Tunde, on Friday (February 17), music is in his blood. He grew up singing, doing so both in school choirs and in church. In fact, he says, his family would often ask him to quiet down around the house, he was making so much “noise.”

In 2017, the All-NBA player released his debut album, Songs for You. A year later, he released the LP, V.O. And in 2019, he performed on the second season of the popular singing competition television show, The Masked Singer, as the character, Thingamajig, placing fifth. Starting in 2022, Oladipo began releasing new singles ahead of Tunde, starting with the romantic song, “Symphony,” last fall.

A lover of Afrobeat music, Oladipo, whose family is Nigerian, worked with the producer Harmony “H-Money” Samuels (Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson) on his latest release. His most recent single is the song, “Exercise,” which also features Oladipo’s amorous side. Here below, we caught up with the athlete-musician to talk with him about the relationship between the NBA and music, who in the league he’d like to collaborate with and what he loves most about the art form.