During his nine-year marriage to Shaunie Henderson, Shaquille O’Neal, played a father figure role to her oldest son, Myles, from a previous relationship, whom he adopted.
The two have formed a special bond over the years, so much so that the 26-year-old followed in the former NBA player’s footsteps of becoming a DJ.
Since ending his successful basketball career, Shaq has ventured into various other career endeavors. He began taking his craft seriously in 2017 and formerly introduced his music alter ego, DJ Diesel. The name is taken from his 1993 debut album, titled “Shaq Diesel.”
During a recent interview with People Magazine, the self-proclaimed “Dubstep Dad” said he enjoys trading songs and “practicing” with Myles.
“I remember when I just bought him his first DJ set,” said Shaq. “He’d be in a room, and I’d try to let my kids do everything on their own, so he’d come in, and I’d say, ‘Figure it out,’ and he’d come back with it figured out.”
He continued, “I’ve seen him perform many times and he’s really good. I’m actually jealous, he’s really good.”
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The former Los Angeles Lakers player, who sports a bald head, claims that Myles has “something I’ve never had.”
“He has that DJ hair,” Shaq joked about Myles’ head full of locs. “I don’t have the DJ hair.”
“I’m so proud of him because he did it the same way I did it,” Shaq added.
Myles performed at the HARD music festival in Las Vegas earlier this month, the same weekend 51-year-old Shaq performed as DJ Diesel at Chicago’s Lollapalooza. They took the stage together at Fred’s Bar & Grill at Shaq’s alma mater, Louisiana State University.
The young entertainer said he’s grateful his father took a chance on him early on in his career.
“I got into the world of deejaying through my dad. He was doing his DJ Diesel project, and he just brought me on with no experience in the music industry at all,” said Myles during an interview in June. “And I started working for him. I started in the background as a stage manager.”
Myles also recently wrapped his Naked Summer Tour last Saturday, Aug. 26, one week after releasing his song “Naked” featuring Albanian singer Stanaj. In carving his own path, he’s has since performed at clubs and venues all over the world and built partnerships with Bacardi.
