C.J. Miles Cures His Summertime Blues By Making Music
By Ben Gibson
C.J. Miles talks about his musical endeavors with The Source.
C.J. Miles has done two things his entire life: Play basketball and make music.
It is no surprise that as the dog-days of summer roll on that he’s spending time working on the latter.
Miles talked to the Source’s Omani White about making music, his current project, Mo Better, and who he would compare his rapping style to in the NBA.
More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds
- 2 Studs, 1 dud from gut-wrenching Indiana Pacers loss to Charlotte Hornets
- Handing out early-season grades for Pacers’ Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin
- 3 positives, 2 negatives in Pacers In-Season Tournament win vs. Cavaliers
- 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
- Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?
"You have an upcoming project called Mo Better. What’s the concept of this project?Well, this latest project called Mo Better is pretty much inspired by me watching the movie Mo Better Blues over and over and over again. I got a lot of ideas from it and I remembered just writing song idea in my book throughout the season. A lot of the concepts I wrote from the project I came up during the season while I was on the road. During the season, I would write a lot of songs then put some music together. Then we would get together in the beginning of the summer and I combine it music I already made with new content, new instrumentals so it’s a mixture of new and old. But the purpose of Mo Better is inspired by being more better at whatever it is.We going a little bit off topic but this question has to be asked. Who or what NBA baller or NBA legend would you compare your lyricism towards?That’s a good question [laughs]. No one ever asked me that question but because of the music choice since I am pretty much jazz influenced, laid back and cool, I would say Ray Allen. Straight to the point. No extra stuff. But it’s effective."
We know C.J. loves music and keeps up with the latest releases, but he isn’t just a fan. It is a short interview, but Miles doesn’t sound like your typical NBA rapper.
It isn’t like he just wants to rhyme over some beats from time to time. It sounds like he’s got a process for writing lyrics and creating music. C.J. plays the piano as a hobby and wants to make an earnest attempt at a music career when he’s done with basketball.
I’m not an expert, but he sounds like he knows what he’s doing if you ask me.
Here’s a song he released two years ago when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers called “Take It Back”.
Last year he released a song called “The Thrill”, and you can find more of his current music on Soundcloud.
He also mentioned in the interview that he’s interested in working with Damian Lillard on something in the future as well, but the two haven’t made any solid plans to do so.
Next: Analyzing the Pacers Spacing and Defensive Challenges
It is easy to make fun of another NBA player wanting to be a rapper, and he isn’t the first Indiana Pacers player to release a song either, but Miles has a passion for it beyond just wanting to throw the title rapper on his resume.