How rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again's music has influenced the Memphis Grizzlies' success

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It’s pregame at FedExForum as the Memphis Grizzlies come out jogging to the court in their light blue warmups. Players are in two lines, passing and taking shots while the tunes of Baton Rouge rapper Kentrell Gaudin, better known as YoungBoy Never Broke Again, blast from the high-up arena speakers.

The song "How Ya Kno" is playing while Ja Morant and De’Anthony Melton start moving their lips in sync with the words while bobbing their heads to the rhythm of the beat. Shortly later, more players are joining in singing the words while taking layups.

Then, another YoungBoy songs plays, and another. Even the team’s introduction video is played over the YoungBoy song, "No Switch."

The Grizzlies’ pregame playlist, created by the players, is dominated with tunes from the 22-year-old Grammy nominated rapper, YoungBoy, who has been one of the most streamed artists since his debut in 2015. His hyper, energetic and passionate music mixes well with the Grizzlies’ personality.

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“That’s probably why we have won so many games, honestly,” Jaren Jackson Jr. said. “Everybody is on the same page, everybody knows the words. At this point, everybody listens to it. We all know the words. The whole team.”

And it's not just happening at FedExForum. In Denver, Nuggets coach Mike Malone walked to the podium to do his pregame press conference and as he started talking, he stopped. There was music blasting loudly from the opponent's locker room.

“Whose playlist is that?” Malone jokingly said before answering questions.

Of course, it was the Grizzlies listening to YoungBoy's song "Around," and it's hard to imagine the speakers could have been any louder.

“It gets us hype,” Ziaire Williams said. “It gets us a lil pumped. It’s just fun. We can all vibe to it. It’s cool just to kind of see our young culture grow and kind of translate it over to the fans of Memphis.”

Even when the Grizzlies are on the road and can’t jam on the arena speakers, the locker room can turn into its own juke joint.

"With sport, you want to listen to a high energy beat, something that's fast pace and going to pick you up, so that you can translate that energy onto the court," professional counselor and life coach Eric Capehart said. "Music triggers feelings and dictates how you feel, which then in turn dictates how you perform."

Memphis Grizzlies' Ja Morant, from left,  De'Anthony Melton and Jaren Jackson Jr. pose on center court after their 118-105 win over the San Antonio Spurs at FedExForum on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022.
Memphis Grizzlies' Ja Morant, from left, De'Anthony Melton and Jaren Jackson Jr. pose on center court after their 118-105 win over the San Antonio Spurs at FedExForum on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022.

Morant, Jackson and Brandon Clarke are three of the players known to be in charge of the pregame playlist.

Music can be an important connector for team chemistry, especially a group as young as the Grizzlies. Melton, 23, and Morant, 22, came to the Grizzlies together three seasons ago, and YoungBoy’s music is one way how they have built a bond.

Williams, a 20-year-old rookie and a Southern California native, is another example. Williams has been listening to YoungBoy since he was in middle school, so the music has been welcoming in a new city and helped him settle into a role where he’s been relied on as a starter and important piece off the bench.

“It reminds me of home,” Williams said. “All my cousins used to blast it on the ride coming back from school and stuff. Glad we kind of get to translate it over to the league a little bit.”

The Grizzlies played a lot of YoungBoy the previous two seasons, but they took it to another level this season. Almost 10 YoungBoy songs can be played in an 90-minute window during pregame warmups. Jackson said sometimes, they scrap everything else and listen to as many as 50 consecutive YoungBoy songs.

“This year we played way more, which is hard to imagine,” Jackson said. “Sometimes it’s only that. That’s just what we need now. That’s like antidote.”

On Top the Mountain

One of Youngboy’s most popular songs released in 2021 is called "Black Ball," which is played before every home game. In the song, YoungBoy talks about how the music industry tries to blackball him, but he still perseveres.

Sounds familiar?

Even though the Grizzlies showed signs the past two seasons of a young team that was on the rise, they didn’t receive much national attention. At one point in January, the Grizzlies had one of their few national TV games removed from ESPN.

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While Jackson was talking about the lyrics to "Black Ball" after a practice, Morant walked in front of him with his fist balled as if he was holding a microphone to interview Jackson. As Jackson talked about the song, Morant walked off, singing loudly, “On Top the Mountain,” which are the intro lyrics to the song.

One of the biggest wins this season came against the Phoenix Suns, when the Grizzlies beat the Western Conference's top team without four starters. The Grizzlies played "Black Ball" over and over in the locker room after the victory.

“ 'Black Ball' is like a anthem,” Jackson said. “We just embody that.”

YoungBoy is the main artist of choice, but Dillon Brooks and Kyle Anderson are known to play a lot of hip-hop artists like Future and Lil Baby. There’s also the connection to the Memphis rap scene. Jackson named Pooh Shiesty and Big 30 as two he often plays.

"Music brings us together," Capehart said. "If we know the words, then we're all on one page and we're just vibing together. And then we go into the game, and we play as a team."

The Grizzlies are embarking on their playoff journey just in time for some new YoungBoy music. He is releasing a new album soon and has already released 11 songs. The new project is called "The Last Slimento."

It won’t be much longer before those songs are playing during the playoffs at FedExForum.

“We’re going to be in great hands,” Jackson said.

Contact Damichael Cole at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com and on Twitter @damichaelc

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: The Memphis Grizzlies, Ja Morant are big fans of NBA YoungBoy's music