This fall, Shaq is returning to his old stomping grounds, but it has nothing to do with basketball. He’s coming to San Antonio and other Texas cities to drop the bass as DJ Diesel at select nightclubs across the state.
The Texas Tour was announced on July 14 and includes stops at 11:11 in El Paso on September 17, San Antonio’s 1902 on September 18, Ductwork in Houston on September 19 and Silo in Dallas on September 20. “I usually come to Texas once a year for my festival… but this year we’re mixing it up and doing a full Texas Takeover. See you in September on the road to @shaqsbassallstars,” the four-time NBA champion wrote on Instagram.
He couldn’t have picked a more fitting stop in San Antonio. O’Neal moved here in 1987 and spent some of his high school years in the Alamo City, attending Robert G. Cole High School and taking the Cougars to a state championship in 1989. In its own right, 1902 is the spot for an event like this. The club inside a historic train station frequently hosts celebrity guests such as Love Island USA’s Jeremiah Brown, musicians like Travis Scott, Kodak Black, and Playboi Carti, and streamer Duke Dennis.
Tickets are on sale now and start at $49.37. The show (18+ only) starts at 10 p.m., and the dress code is “relaxed” with tennis shoes allowed, but no shorts or jerseys, according to the promoter’s website.
Find it: 1174 E. Commerce St., San Antonio, TX 78205
If you didn’t know the lore, Shaq has been DJing since he was 14, his passion beginning after seeing Public Enemy live. That’s obviously not the path that boosted him to stardom, but in 1993, he released a rap album, Shaq Diesel, which sold over a million copies and peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard 100, according to EDM event promotion company Insomniac. That makes him the only athlete with a platinum album, although others have released their own music (including Tony Parker). 2014 marked his debut as DJ Diesel at the Tomorrow World festival, and the rest is history. He releases music under that moniker from time to time.