*Shaquille O’Neal is gearing up to host his annual pre-Super Bowl party, Shaq’s Fun House, for the sixth year.
According to the news release, “O’Neal is bringing Shaq’s Fun House 2024, his larger-than-life personality, and over-the-top music festival experience to Big Game Weekend Las Vegas. Shaq’s Fun House will offer a legendary fan experience that includes an immersive carnival with rides and games, incredible live performances including Lil Wayne, Diplo, and the big man himself, DJ DIESEL.”
The event will go down at Las Vegas’ XS Nightclub at Wynn on Feb. 9, two days before the Big Game. Tickets start at $99.99 and can be purchased online at WWW.SHAQSFUNHOUSE.COM, and VIP tickets are also available.
“I’m a jealous competitor. The reason why we’re doing Shaq’s Fun House? I want people to say that’s the best party ever,” the retired NBA icon explained in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“It’s competition. We got into this because I got tired of going to parties and spending a lot of money and not having any fun. $60k for the plane, $50k for the rooms for me and my boys. [You] got to call people and get passes when you get there. It just was a nightmare,” he continues. “So I was like, ‘We need to create our own thing.’”
Over the years, Shaq’s Fun House has welcomed more than 25,000 fans and celebrity guests, including superstars Patrick Mahomes, Jack Harlow, Travis Kelce, Jeremy Renner, Adam Levine, Jamie Foxx, Tiffany Haddish, Nate Diaz, Rob Gronkowski, Floyd Mayweather, Migos, Allen Iverson, and many more, according to the news release.
In the THR interview, O’Neal explained why he booked Lil Wayne for this year’s event, and recalls making music with Kobe Bryant. Below are excerpts via THR.
What makes this year’s Shaq’s Fun House special?
I’m dropping my prices to $99. Yeah. Shaq does not take advantage of the people. I never want to take advantage of the people. We know it’s going to be a lot of people there. We know it’s going to be competition there, but I’m guaranteeing nobody dropping their prices. That’s what’s going to make us stand out. It’s going to be a great event.
Lil Wayne for $99 is not bad. Why is he the perfect performer for this event?
I actually been knowing him since he was a youngster in Louisiana. Icon. [He’s the] Michael Jordan, LeBron, Kobe of hip-hop. Don’t like to use the word “crossover,” but everybody loves him. I was at the L.A. Super Bowl with [Dr.] Dre when they were performing, and you always think that’s us, and I look over at my white friends [and they’re singing] offbeat, “Ain’t nuthin’ but a G…” Like, no, you’re offbeat. So any Lil Wayne song, people are going to know the words. And he’s a great performer.
You and Kobe recorded music years ago. Do you remember that session? What was that like?
He came in, knocked it out in 10 minutes and left. It was me, him and DJ Clark Kent. He came in, knocked it out. Kobe’s smart. Don’t let that mamba fool you. Kobe is very super intelligent. And this is when you could put a lot of words in the rap, he came in with the big words and we didn’t really promote it. We didn’t want to really promote it like that, but it’s still out there.
You also recorded with legends like Biggie and Jay-Z. What do you remember about those sessions?
So that’s why I actually signed my record deal. Look, I never wanted to be a rapper. I did The Arsenio Hall Show with Fu-Schnickens. My agent called me the next day. He said, “Man, you want me to entertain this?” He’s like, “They’re offering you a three-album record deal for $10 million?” I said, “What? $10 million for three albums?” I was like, “Say that again.” Yeah, $10 million for three albums.
And one thing I have, I’m realistic. I’m like, “I can’t do fucking three albums by myself.” So then I said, “OK, tell them I want to do collabs with my favorite artists and if they don’t accept that, I’m not going to do it. I ain’t going to put myself out there. I’m not a rapper.” So that was my whole thing. And then I was a kid that was chasing dreams. So I was like, “Hey, Redman’s from my neighborhood. Call him up. “Red, this Shaq.” “Oh man, what’s up?” “Hey man, I’m doing an album, you think you can get Erick Sermon?” “Let me call you back.” They called me back, they’re like, “I got Fu-Schnickens, got Erick Sermon and Redman.” “Hey, you know Puff?” “Yeah.” Hollered at Puff and said, “OK, we’ll get Biggie.” “You know Fat Joe?” Because all these guys were basketball fans, a lot of them said yes.
But what they did to secure their integrity, I had to try out. So when Erick Sermon came, I had to rap so they made sure it wasn’t gimmicky. But see, they didn’t understand that we’re all the same people. I was doing it just as long as them. And when they were coming out, I had their style, I had that flow. I was a master freestyler … I was always quick at that. So every producer that came in, once I rapped for the first time and they saw I was serious, they said, “OK, that’s dope.” And then they would just fine tune it up.
Read Shaq’s entire THR Q&A here.
READ MORE: Shaquille O’Neal Releasing New Hip-Hop Track to Celebrate NBA Playoffs
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