Brian Snyder / Reuters

Kobe Bryant says he is hurt and angry by Shaquille O'Neal's new rap song.

updated 1:13 p.m. ET Sept. 14, 2004

LOS ANGELES - The way Shaquille O’Neal sees it, he soars higher than Kobe Bryant, and he’s got the rap to back it up. And the Miami Heat center isn’t crazy about Detroit Pistons center Ben Wallace or the rapper Skillz, either.

O’Neal, when not dominating NBA games, has dabbled in hip-hop over the years. His latest effort is a collaboration with DJ Vlad on the CD “Hot in Here Part Five.”

On “You Not The Fightin’ Type,” O’Neal sets out to even scores with several people: Bryant, who he believes got him traded from the Los Angeles Lakers; Wallace, whose Pistons defeated the Lakers for this year’s NBA championship; and Skillz, whose rap “The Champs is Here” celebrated the Detroit victory.

“I heard your little interview and what Ben Wallace said. I ain’t got no response for spider-web head,” O’Neal raps.

“Even with wings you never as fly as me,” he continues. “You remind me of Kobe Bryant trying to be as high as me ... but you can’t ... even if you get me traded ... wherever I’m at, I’m Puffy; you Ma$e and you’re still hated.”

The latter line is an apparent reference to rapper P. Diddy and his former protege Ma$e, who left hip-hop several years ago to become a minister and criticized the music as violent and sexually degrading. Ma$e returned to the fold this year with a new album featuring clean lyrics.

O’Neal and Bryant led the Lakers to three straight championships from 2000-02. Bryant says he was not responsible for O’Neal’s trade to Miami.

“That upsets me. That angers me. That hurts me,” Bryant said in a story posted on ESPN.com this week. “They did what they had to do. That had nothing to do with me.”

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