The song isn’t good but at least this video seemed kind of fun.
LiAngelo Ball is really doing numbers off of one song. It’s kind of unbelievable at this point.
His first hit, Tweaker, is one of the most popular songs in the world right now. It debuted at No. 29 on the Billboard charts, which is extremely impressive for ana artist with no prior history.
The Tweaker rampage isn’t quite over yet. Ball just released a new video for the song, featuring his Lonzo and LaMelo Ball, lots of cars and a bunch of partying.
Y’all know where I stand on this song. It’s, uh, not great. At least not to me. But the video looks like they had a good time shooting it.
Is the quality all there? Nah. Not at all. This isn’t one of those high-profile video shoots — the budget probably wasn’t that big.
But it does look like they had fun! That’s what matters most.
On Dec. 14, 2020, LiAngelo Ball was waived by the Detroit Pistons after signing a short-term contract. Fast forward about five years later, and Ball – who has traded in his hooping shoes for microphone – is potentially going to perform live at a Detroit Lions playoff game.
How’s that for a come-up?
The Lions face the Washington Commanders on Saturday night in the second round of the NFL Playoffs, and folks who arrived early to Ford Field saw Ball on the field rapping, seemingly rehearsing for what could be a live performance during the game.
Ball’s hit song, “Tweaker,” was No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 last week. The song is a nostalgia hit that sounds a lot like the popular hip-hop tracks that came out of New Orleans and the greater South in the early 2000s. It’s already inspired memes and landed Ball a record deal with Def Jam.
Here’s Ball rapping at Ford Field on Saturday afternoon:
When you get to the stadium 5 hours before kickoff you get this: LiAngelo Ball rapping pic.twitter.com/JlhqpkeMmW
It’s worth mentioning that Amon-Ra St. Brown and a bunch of other Lions were jamming out to Ball’s hit single after they clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
“I MIGHT SWERVE BEND THAT CORNER WOAAHHHHH”
Lions turning up to LiAngelo Ball celebrating their first ever #1 playoff seed 💀
LiAngelo has worked himself into a pretty great come up off this song. Shoutout to him. That’s excellent news.
But, uh, you guys. Can we be real for a second?
This man just signed a $13 million deal off of one song. ONE. That’s wild. Def Jam, WYD? My guy doesn’t even have an album yet. If he were to go on tour right now, he’d have to play 16 different variations of “Tweaker” and they’d all center around the first 10 seconds of the song.
If you’re wondering what that might look like, don’t worry. I already thought about it. I apologize in advance.
Song 1: Tweaker
This is the moment, man. The crowd is swerving. The crowd is bending the corner. WHOA. OH. We’re living, folks. This is the stuff dreams are made of.
Song 2: Tweaker (Encore)
You thought LiAngelo was just going to give it to them one time? A song this viral? This visceral? This breathtaking? Nah, man. He has to run it back at least one time.
The crowd is still swerving. They’re still bending the corner. It’s still like WHOA. You know the vibes.
Song 3: Tweaker (Reprisal)
YOU THOUGHT IT WAS FINISHED?!? YOU THOUGHT WRONG.
You guys. This is the song of 2025. OF COURSE, LiAngelo had to run it back again. And y’all thought Kendrick did Not Like Us too many times at the pop-out. TUH.
This time he switches the lyrics up a little bit on the back end, but nobody can really tell because y’all don’t know them anyway.
We’re still swerving. We’re still bending the corner. It’s still WHOA.
Song 4: Tweaker (LaVar Ball remix)
Picture this. The crowd is still rocking. They’re still vibing. They’re still tweakin. And then, all of a sudden, a burly silhouette emerges from out of the tunnel.
It’s…it’s…IT’S LAVAR BALL!
HE STARTS RAPPING. WE’RE SWERVING. WE’RE STILL BENDING THE CORNER. WHOAAAAAA. OH.
Song 5: Tweaker (Instrumental)
CAN’T STOP. WON’T STOP. TWEAKER. AGAIN.
This time, it’s just the instrumental version. But instead of LiAngelo rapping, he puts the mic out for the audience to rap the lyrics.
Unfortunately, after the first ten seconds of the song, everybody stops rapping because they have no idea what he says after the WHOA OH part.
Song 6: Tweaker (a capella variation)
Yes. We’re still running it back. But this time the beat is gone. It’s just LiAngelo rapping.
The crowd is staring in confusion. They’ve got a collective look that says, “OH. That’s what he said right there. Huh. Never knew that.” It’s become very apparent that everyone was hitting the back button as soon as the first part of the hook was over.
Song 7: Tweaker Pt. 2 (We still Tweakin’)
Wait, I thought this was part two? Why does it sound like part one? Whatever.
BOUTA SWERVE AND BEND THAT CORNER, WHOA, OH.
Songs 8-16: Tweaker
Honestly, I ran out of different ways to describe Tweaker. So I’m just going to throw a general Tweaker here and hope that it works for you.
But you may need to get used to hearing songs by LiAngelo, the older brother of Charlotte guards LaMelo Ball and younger brother of Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball, far more often.
Following the tremendous success of “Tweaker” last week, Gelo has reportedly signed a massive deal with Def Jam and Universal Music Group. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, his label “Born2Ball Music Group” is now a part of the larger labels.
LiAngelo Ball has signed a deal with Def Jam and Universal Music Group, a representative from his label Born2Ball Music Group says. Sources said the deal is worth as much as $13 million, with $8 million guaranteed, and gives Ball full ownership of music and his own record label.
The former high school basketball star will retain “full ownership” of his music and his record label.
This is fantastic, exciting news for LiAngelo and his family. The song is legitimately good, although even the biggest fans would likely agree that it is mostly successful for the 10-second period when he sings “I might swerve, bend the corner, whoah-oh-oh” more than anything else.
Catchy though it may feel, it is unclear whether or not Gelo can replicate that success on future tracks. If he can, this is a wise investment for Def Jam and UMG.
If not, however, it could end up as a very expensive risk for the long-term.
Damian Lillard is the ambassador of hip-hop in the NBA. Plenty of dudes in the league can rap, but he’s very clearly the best of them.
He’s got legitimate albums with legendary features attached to them. The dude has also beefed with Shaq. It’s safe to say that Lillard has his stripes when it comes to rapping.
So it definitely means something when he has some high praise for LiAngelo Ball’s new viral song, “Tweaker.”
“I been hearing it a lot. It gives me that 2003, 2004 vibe. I rock with it… It’s a slapper, you know? As an artist, you’ve got to respect other people’s artistry. When something is going, it’s going.”
There you have it, folks. Lillard loves it. LiAngelo has something big on his hands.
LiAngelo, the older brother of Hornets guard LaMelo Ball and younger brother of Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball, has inspired so many great memes with his catchy new track “Tweaker” as it has become a viral trend.
In case you’re unfamiliar with his game, Gelo, who now raps under the name G3, dropped his new track just days ago, and it’s got everyone feeling like they’re about to take over for the ’99 and the 2000s.
It’s got all the elements of a club banger, but it’s smooth enough to play in the car or be used for an unholy amount of TikToks. There’s a catchy phrase from “Tweaker’s” hook — I might swerve, bend that corner, whoah-whoah — that’s got so many people, well, hooked. Now, it’s become an instant meme. Here’s what we mean.
Former high school basketball standout and Facebook reality show star LiAngelo Ball is not the first musician that I expected to write about in 2025.
LiAngelo, the older brother of Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball and younger brother of Bulls guard Lonzo Ball, earned the coverage though.
While he had a great high school tenure his collegiate basketball career did not work out at UCLA. He had a few legitimate attempts with the Hornets in training camp and the G League, a brief look from the Pistons, and some flirtatious overtures from the Lakers.
But his basketball career never took off in the NBA, either. Fast forward a few years, though, and LiAngelo has made some waves in a different way. (Caution: The following song contains lyrics that might not be safe for work. It might also get you bopping your head, though.)
Now a musician who wraps under the name G3, his latest track “Tweaker” is legitimately good.
Already played in NBA locker rooms (including the Bulls and Cavs) as well as NFL locker rooms (including the Lions), this song has garnered more than 2.7 million listens on YouTube since it debuted on WorldStarHipHop.
It is the number one trending song on YouTube music (ahead of artists such as Tyler, The Creator as well as Lil Baby, Bad Bunny, and Drake).
There is a deeply nostalgic feeling to this track that is reminding many listeners of what hip-hop sounded like in the early 2000s, which is one of the reasons it is such an immediate hit.
LiAngelo, whose older brother is Bulls guard Lonzo and whose younger brother is Hornets guard LaMelo, went undrafted in 2018. The 6-foot-5 guard has previously had opportunities with the Pistons and the Thunder, but he has still yet to appear on the court during an NBA game.
Charlotte’s G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, selected LiAngelo in the 2021 NBA G League Draft. He played 28 games last season, including 6 in the starting lineup. He averaged 4.5 points and 0.2 assists per game.
LaMelo described how it felt to have his brother so close to him in Charlotte (via Charlotte Observer):
“It helps for sure,” Ball said. “That’s the dude I grew up with. I see Melo every day, talk to him every day. So that’s still my brother at the end of the day even though he’s in the league. But yeah, it’s cool having him there, man. “S—, feels like home for real. I don’t know how to describe it. It feels like home. When I’m in Charlotte, I’ll be kicking it with him, playing basketball, doing all that stuff. It’s always good having a brother in the NBA.”
LiAngelo played for the Hornets once again in NBA 2K23 Summer League, and it didn’t go as well. He shot just 18.2% on 3-pointers over the course of his three games in Las Vegas.
It is unlikely that LiAngelo will make the official roster for Charlotte next season. However, even though he has made headlines since his time at Chino Hills High School several years ago, he doesn’t turn 24 years old until later this year.
While the path to the NBA is much harder the older a player gets, there are plenty of players who have recently found their way to the floor in the pros at that age or older.
Chicago’s first-round pick led all scorers with 20 points in Thursday’s win.
The Chicago Bulls got their third victory during Las Vegas Summer League on Thursday against the Charlotte Hornets, 89-73.
Chicago was led by 2022 first-round pick Dalen Terry, who led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting along with 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.
Marko Simonovic notched another double-double, finishing with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 assists.
The Hornets were led by 2022 second-round pick Bryce McGowens, who finished with 15 points, despite shooting a poor 4-of-18 from the floor.
LiAngelo Ball finished with 6 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists in 17 minutes of action.
The Bulls close out their summer league schedule on Saturday against the 76ers while the Hornets take on the Timberwolves.
