LiAngelo Ball wants it to be known that there are layers to his talents.
In recent years, the former basketball player has ventured into the music industry under the artist name Gelo, with his breakthrough viral hit “Tweaker” landing him a spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2025.
“I would say it’s a good influence,” he laughed when asked where his inspiration for rap stems from. “I was probably in the first or second grade, and my dad always played DMX, 50 Cent. When I was young, I was hard. I used to wear Timbs in school, all the big sweatsuits and stuff, so, it’s like, I don’t know, it just stuck with me. I always loved hip-hop culture, rap, since I was a young kid. I used to rap with my cousins and freestyle and all of that. I did that as a youngin’, it just got more serious as I got older.”
On the difference between his approaches to basketball and music
Ball stems from quite the athletic family and gained notoriety when his father, LaVar Ball, rose to fame in the late 2010s by branding his three sons as basketball superstars, well before they were seen as such.
While some praised the move as a bold marketing strategy, others criticized LaVar’s “billion-dollar” brand, otherwise known as Big Baller Brand. Between LaVar and his sons LiAngelo, Lonzo and LaMelo, the family has been met with quite a bit of media attention. It continues to work in their favor, as Ball recently partnered with the candy brand Twix to showcase the duality of his passion, which is split between music and sports.
“What I’ll say a lot of people don’t know: As an athlete, it’s you, and then a team game,” Ball told Blavity. “You work, you play with people, you’re around dudes every day, so it’s a team sport. You’ve got to listen to your team, [general managers], and all of that. I feel like it’s a team sport, and music is just you. You’re gonna get help as far as A&Rs, a team and your beats and all that, but I feel like when it’s time to perform, it’s just you out there. Everything lies on you at that point for real. I feel a lot of people get that confused. I could do anything I want in my music life, and it’s only gonna affect me, and do things for me, but in basketball, you gotta look out for the team.”
Leaning into dual talents and what this next chapter in music looks like
Twix has always leaned into the idea of duality, or layers, which is something Ball said makes them the perfect pair.
“When ‘Tweaker’ dropped, I noticed I had dual talents, just like Twix,” he said. “So when they called, I thought it was the perfect collab. They‘ve got little dual talents too, with the creamy, crunchy Twix Bits, so I thought I’d team up with them because I rap and I do basketball too. It was the perfect fit.”
To celebrate the launch of Twix Bits, Ball has landed his first-ever Two-Way contract to champion the unexpected two-ness that lies within himself, and us all. The partnership extends to fans who will have the chance to win their own Two-Way contracts with the brand, along with $2,000 to fund their own dual talents.
“I got a song that just dropped, it’s called ‘Aye,’ and the music video is dropping today,” Ball said, reflecting on his own dual talent. “I feel like it reflects a lot of my lifestyle, I would say. It’s in my family basketball gym, my dad’s gym. My brothers are in — or Lonzo’s in it and they got some young actors acting as us three as kids. So, it’s a cool, family vibe. The other music I’m about to put out is all turnt. It’s all feelings and stuff. I make that stuff out of my life and my experiences.”