A former Pittsburgh Steelers star running back announced on Twitter Sunday in a long series of tweets that during his 2014 season he'd recorded a verse for Snoop Dogg as had a passion for rap hip/hop. It has never been released. Bell said it was a track on SoundCloud that he'd released that caught the interest of the rap legend, but his well-known fandom for the team probably also was in Bell's favor.
Pittsburgh Steelers running back, Le'Veon Bell answers questions at a post-game press conference with reporters during the 2017 NFL season. | Photo Credit: Fred Vuich / AP
His rant began talking about the alleged song.
I never dropped the snoop track because I was always felt I had to drop the song at the perfect time .. and playing football at the time, being on the steelers, it was so much pressure on me being a young player to just “play football” so I never found that “perfect time” to drop
— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) July 9, 2023
In his second season, Bell was fully established as the Steelers starting running back and compiled 1,361 rushing yards with eight touchdowns along with 854 receiving yards and three scores. He earned First Team All-Pro honors and was nominated to the Pro Bowl for the first time. He also finished fourth in the AP Offensive Player of the Year award voting behind teammate Antonio Brown, Aaron Rodgers and winner, DeMarco Murray. Bell didn't reveal exactly when the collaboration happened, but he had a lot on his plate that season.
Though Bell hasn't officially retired, he told the Steel Here podcast that he'd love to try a preseason return to Pittsburgh. He hasn't played professional football since he split 2021 with the Baltimore Ravens and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bell said in a previous tweet that Snoop Dogg was a fan of a song. He'd released on SoundCloud called "Rubberbanz." He then agreed to do a track for Bell for free. It, along with some other tracks with artists Bell called "industry rappers", remain unreleased for various reasons.
Some of the tracks Bell said he paid for he hasn't released because he didn't like verses. He felt like they were done hastily. Bell says that the "perfect time" for a release of the track with Snoop Dogg is still coming.
meanwhile, trying to find that “perfect time” I’m still recording music, making a bunch of songs, gettin better at making music, so the song with snoop grows old to my ears eventually because I done made SO many songs since then .. but snoop, RESPECT! at some point we’ll drop it
— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) July 9, 2023
Former Steelers Star's Mysterious And Not So Mysterious Entrance Into Rap Concert Game
Getty Images
Steelers Running Back Le'Veon Bell trying to make a move in the open space
Bell has been releasing tracks online since a 16-song debut album under the name "Juice" on SoundCloud in 2017. It is no longer available on the streaming service, but one of the songs got Bell into a bit of a feud. The track titled "Shrimp Bayless" includes multiple clips of Undisputed stars Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe talking about the former running back and Bell rhyming off verses against the criticism.
Bayless called for Bell to respond during the defense of his take during a show that aired live from Houston during the week of the Super Bowl in 2017. He said he'd heard Bell was there and that he should come to the set for a face-to-face discussion. Bayless argued during the segment that Dallas Cowboys running back, Ezekiel Elliott was superior. He brought up their head-to-head matchup the season prior, where Elliot scored three times and Bell twice as his proof. He finished his self-defense with a call to Bell to write a diss track about how he was a better back than Elliott.
Matt Freed / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Dallas Cowboys Ezekiel Elliott runs into the end zone for a touchdown in front of Steelers Mike Mitchell in the fourth quarter Sunday at Heinz Field in Nov 2016.
Bell never wrote that diss track, but according to another tweet, is serious about expanding a previous passion. Bell has announced his first show through his Threads account which will be on September 1st at The Forum in Colombus, OH, but might have hinted at another via his pinned tweet.
July 29th 🔥@SnoopDogg @MELOD1P @ZO2_ pic.twitter.com/oCEfoERqvZ
— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) July 3, 2023
Tagged in the tweet are Bell's former collaborator Snoop Dogg, Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball, and brother, LaMelo Ball, who have had their own little foray into the rap game. Who knows what is dropping on July 29? Maybe it isn't a live show, but a partnership of these names sure is interesting.
Do you still follow Bell in his post-Steelers career? Have you listened to his music? Comment below!
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