Dwyane Wade unveiled a new line of clothes at Saks Fifth Avenue this week, and Sports Illustrated was there for a Q&A with him. They asked the Chicago Bulls former All-Star and future Hall of Famer what his favorite rap lyric that mentions his name is. 

His answers was the obvious one, from Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” featuring Alicia Keys: 

RN: What’s your favorite rap lyric mentioning Dwyane Wade?

DW: Jay-Z, when he said “If Jeezy’s paying LeBron, then I’m paying Dwyane Wade.” That wasn’t my first rap song that I was in, but that was mainstream.

RN: That’s, uh, about drugs.

DW: I know. Definitely. I like the wordplay. But another one that I have to give homage to, it never became like a huge song like that, but it was Kanye West.

RN: “The Glory!”

DW: “In two years Dwayne Wayne became Dwyane Wade.” That’s a good one.

RN: That’s a very underrated song.

DW: Very underrated, man.

[Via Dwyane Wade Q&A: How The NBA Star Took Fashion By Storm | SI.com. ]

The lyrics, via Rap Genius:

Eight million stories out there in the naked city
It’s a pity half of y’all won’t make it
Me, I gotta plug Special Ed “I Got It Made”
If Jeezy’s paying LeBron, I’m paying Dwyane Wade.

It actually turns out that Rap Genius had Wade provide his own commentary for the lyrics. Here’s what he said: 

This is when I felt like I made it in pop culture. Once Jay Z did it, I felt like I was on that respect level of artists that I respect. I remember where I was, I was with my guys and we were hanging out and somebody texted me like, “Yo, listen to this song.” So I listened to it and then when I heard it, I’m like, “Did he just say what I think he said?”

It’s a lot of different references and obviously Jay Z has his own. Some people from the street have a street reference to it. So I don’t really know. I just know Jeezy came out with that song about Kobe and LeBron, “23, 24” and then he came back and said that. So I didn’t care what it was about. I was just glad that my name was associated in a big song like that, for the city of New York. It’s huge.

You know, when you’re young, you put your name in songs. You’re like “Oh, my name would sound right, there.” So when I first got in the league, I was like, “If I could just get one big artist to say my name, that would be so cool. That would be dope.” And I got a few not only just mention my name, but really be punchlines in songs and I think that’s the dopest part of it. For someone to sit down and write a classic that is going to be a hit, and think about putting you in there as a punchline, that’s pretty special.

[Via Jay Z – Empire State of Mind Lyrics | Genius Lyrics.]

Not a bad recognition of the man’s fame, even if the lyrics are about selling drugs.