There's been a connection between the Detroit Lions and music for a long time. Back in 1968 the great Marvin Gaye tried out for the Detroit Lions. While he didn't make the team, he did wind up working with Hall of Famer Lem Barney and running back Mel Farr on one of the greatest songs of all time.
Barney and Farr sang backups on What's Going On? by Gaye. Since then, the connection between the Lions and music hasn't stopped.
Today one of the Lions' current stars has a music career going on the side. That's defensive tackle Alim McNeill. He goes by the name of Dream.
He's been rapping since he was a little boy in Raleigh, North Carolina. His dad would beat box and he and his brother would rap along to the beat. One night in particular McNeill got to put on a concert in the basement and that was night the love of making music really hit.
"I remember this one specific night that he was doing it. We were downstairs in the basement, it was me and my little brother rapping back and forth. But we had did like a show. So he cut the lights off, I was in the bathroom, like I was getting ready for a performance or whatever. And then ever since then, I don't know. The music just kind of clicked for me.
McNeill started making songs with his friend Justin Dunn in high school, but he started to get really serious about things when he linked up with North Carolina State defensive end Dante Johnson during his sophomore season. McNeill would supply the lyrics and Johnson would supply the beat.
McNeill took some inspiration from artists like Big L, Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J, Don Toliver and Travis Scott. I asked about North Carolina rapper Petey Pablo and prefaced it with telling him I'm older than him, but he laughed and said he knows who that is and that Petey Pablo is a legend, but he didn't take any inspiration from him.
McNeill isn't the only player in the league that makes music. Former teammate C.J. Gardner-Johnson is also a rapper by the name of SOG Ceedy. Darren Waller makes music with funny videos, Melvin Ingram raps as well. Then there's guys like Deion Sanders, Arian Foster and Le'Veon Bell who made music too. McNeill believes he's the best though.
"Me, I think I'm the best out of everyone in the NFL. Just because of the messages I try to give. Everything's clean. There's no curse words, no, nothing. I'm not talkin nothing crazy in my songs because my little cousins and my parents listen to it and everything. So that's why I feel like I'm the best. I'm able to use my vocabulary to be able to get a message or a point across through the music, so I feel like I'm the best. Best beats, production, everything."
McNeill has a new album out now called Dream, Pt. 2. This is his fourth album and you can find it wherever you stream music. It's all worth a listen. He does have something coming out pretty soon with teammate Aidan Hutchinson, but he was pretty tight lipped about it.
"I can't tell you, but well, I'll say it's happening. But I can't tell you when." When asked if Hutchinson was singing or rapping, McNeill said simply "Hutch is Hutch." He also said it might be more than one song. We'll see where that goes in the near future. Until then, here's my personal favorite from McNeill.
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