John Cena Reveals What Sparked His Rap Career

WWE superstar turned actor John Cena opened up about his love of hip-hop while visiting Shannon Sharpe at Club Shay Shay.

While growing up in West Newbury, Massachusetts, Cena admitted to rebelling as a youngster in the predominately white small town. “I was one of five boys, and I had a lot of angst with how the household was being run. I was a rebel. That music found me at the right time,” Cena said around the six-minute mark. “So, even though a song like ‘F—k tha Police’ might have been an anthem for the state of the social well-being in South Central Los Angeles — to a 13-year-old kid the police are my parents, and it was me who was like, ‘Well, f—k that.”

He then talked about his iconic entrance song “The Time is Now” and his only rap album You Can’t See Me, saying he decided to make his own rap music because he wasn’t feelin’ the “stock rap music” the company had to offer.

“At the time, WWE was a rock and roll company. They didn’t have any depth of field for hip-hop, and I listened to my own music being like, ‘I could do better than this,’” he said. “I called up a friend who knew a friend who had a studio. We got some beats and we made an album. And that was it, that was it.” His debut album, released in 2005, peaked at No. 15 on the 200 chart.

Cena also named his top three athlete-rappers and his Mount Rushmore of Rap. Shaq, Kobe, and Master P made up the former, while Rakim, Jay-Z, Nas, and Eminem rounded out the latter. “Everyone has their bias and I know that list is obviously going to incite riots,” he admitted. “We all have our bias. We all have our favorites. That’s what makes music special. That’s what makes creativity. I was brought up in the East Coast boom bap. I love wordplay, I love poetry, that’s what I based my character on. So I think all that’s super clever.”

His signature “You can’t see me” hand gesture he often did in the ring was inspired by the G-Unit’s Tony Yayo. In 2022, the Queens rapper posted a clip of Cena explaining where he got it from while making an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

You might be able to see who Shannon Sharpe is talking to, but you can watch the full episode here.

This article was originally published by Billboard U.S.