O.J. Simpson has been one of the most polarizing figures in pop culture, but rappers have continued to show him love over the years in different ways. His sports career and personal life, namely the infamous murder case (officially listed as the People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson) involving his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and waiter Ronald Goldman have all been well-documented. On April 10, O.J. Simpson died at the age of 76 after a battle with cancer.
In 2016, there were two special televised programs that profiled O.J. Simpson in new and creative ways. FX premiered The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, a miniseries that detailed the case that rocked the world in 1994. He was acquitted after an 11-month trial. That same year, ESPN premiered O.J.: Made in America, a five-part, eight-hour documentary focused on Simpson’s entire life up until his imprisonment for robbing Bruce Fromong, a sports memorabilia dealer, in Las Vegas in 2007. For that crime, Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison in 2008. He served nine years and was released on parole in 2017. Four years later, he was granted early discharge from parole, leaving his legal issues behind him.
When it comes to hip-hop, O.J. Simpson, who was once an NFL player with the Buffalo Bills, has been connected to the culture through the many rappers that name-drop him as well as the trial in their rhymes. Let’s also not forget the rap song “Get Juiced,” O.J. made after he was sentenced to 33 years in prison. Jay-Z famously mentioned the Hall of Famer on the 2017 track “The Story of O.J.”: “O.J. like, ‘I’m not black, I’m O.J.’ …OK”
In 2023, O.J. addressed Hov’s lyrics, and revealed the MC misquoted him. “Well, first of all, [Jay-Z] didn’t say it right,” O.J. said. “When Johnnie [Cochran] was talking to me about it, and all that was going on was ‘Black, Black, Black,’ I said, ‘Man, f**k being Black. This is me. This is about O.J.,’ you know?”
Here’s a look back at some more rappers including Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Future and Tyler, The Creator, among others, that name-dropped O.J. Simpson in their lyrics over the years.
