The younger half of the O’Neal Boyz duo, Myles O’Neal hopes to build on his father’s influence and achieve great heights as a budding EDM crafter.
Stream: “Work You Out” – Myles O’Neal
Myles O’Neal has a long shadow to emerge from— a 7-foot-one, 300-lb former NBA superstar’s shadow, to be precise.
As the stepson of basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal, his name and family ties may catch people’s attention— but Myles hopes he will go beyond that and really maintain their attention through the skills as a DJ and record producer that he’s spending every day building upon.
“I’m finally moving out of this light of people being like, ‘Oh, this is just Shaq’s son DJ’ing’ or whatever to actually being like, ‘Oh, these songs are cool. He actually cares about the culture and is willing to take his own path’,” he explains.
That path has proven to be very fortuitous. Since formally getting started with music-making in 2023, O’Neal has produced a solid stash of his own singles, along with doing remixes for other artists, as he did for War’s 1972 track “The Cisco Kid.” He’s collaborated and with and supported several notable musicians, including Stanaj, Zedd, and Max Tyler. All the while, he has stayed close to his famous father, who has long deejayed himself under the alias of DJ Diesel. Together, they’ve formed the duo the O’Neal Boyz and performed at several well-regarded music festivals, Lollapalooza most noticeably.
With his latest single, “Work You Out,” having just been released earlier this spring, it’s an ideal time to check in with Myles O’Neal and see what he currently has his sights on with his music career now conspicuously taking off.
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A CONVERSATION WITH MYLES O’NEAL
Atwood Magazine: What were your early influences growing up? What were some of the experiences and exposures you had that ultimately inspired you to pursue DJ’ing?
Myles O’Neal: When I was growing up, there were a lot of different types of music around me. My grandmother sang in the choir, my uncle played the drums, and my dad really put me onto hip-hop music. I didn’t know it was going to turn into a career for me or anything when I was listening to it, but I feel like that’s where a lot of my soulful influence came from. Even learning about Parliament Funkadelic and Kurt Franklin, or Bounce and Biggie and other hip-hop artists– all of it came from just being around the house. Listening to this music kind of shapes you. It kind of becomes the soundtrack of your life as a child. I was very lucky to have a lot of musical influences and listen to different types of music, so I have a very wide range of music that I like.
It’s been about two years since you released your debut track, “Superficial.” How would you summarize that period? What’s it been like getting your career launched during that time?
Myles O’Neal: During that time, I kind of was just trying to figure out what the logistics were behind releasing music. It was very nerve-wracking; I was very nervous just to share something that I’d made with an infinite amount of people. It was different from me performing and DJ’ing, where it’s a quick fix– if I’m playing and say, “This is not the vibe,” I can always just switch it up, you know? But once you put that song out there, it’s just out. So, that was hard.
Once I got good feedback and stuff like that, it was less nerve-wracking, but I would say that for any release, you still get very nervous before it goes out. You just don’t know whether people are going to like it or not. If you do it at a show, will there be this reaction or that reaction, or will people be asking for it after the show, or stuff like that? During that time, I was very relieved just to know that I could put music out and feel confident with my abilities to make songs and tracks.
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You have a variety of songs that are your own creation, as well as some that are remixes of other artists’ works, such as the “Cisco Kid” remix. What do you think is similar and different about each form of production?
Myles O’Neal: I look at remixing other people’s stuff as bringing the music to a group of people who possibly have not already heard the song. I felt the same way when we did “Flashlight” by George Clinton. I would go around after we did the track and ask, “Hey, do you know Parliament/Funkadelic?” and a lot of people, especially in this space, would say “No.” And I would say, “What?”
In my head, I thought it was a very common thing to know funk music and Parliament/Funkadelic and stuff like that. I just realized, “Wow, I have an opportunity to show these people or even the other audience just how important these people were to music that shaped my life, or who shaped the sound of hip-hop music or any other type of genre of music, and created their own sound.” Through the remix track that I made, even bringing people back to the original track or doing stuff like that would allow me to pay homage to the things that they did for me as a child. That’s what was most important for me about making these songs. It is something of my own creation, but I’m not trying to take over the spotlight of these others artists, which I very much pay homage to.
Let’s talk about your new single, which is “Work You Out.” How did this song come together and how does it represent a stride forward for you artistically?
Myles O’Neal: We made that song, the original version, around the same time that we did “Superficial.” So, we’ve had that song for a long time. For me, I was happy to finally put it out because I’ve had that song for years now. We just couldn’t find a label to put the song out. I feel like a lot of the songs that I made a while ago are now starting to get more listeners. Maybe I’ll make a few tweaks here or there just to get it more up to date, but it was very organic with that song. We just did the lyrics randomly and my homegirl Aleshia did the female part of the song, and I did the male part of the song. I just freestyled the lyrics from the song and said, “This actually sounds kind of cool.”
We made my voice sound deeper and Aleshia’s voice sound sexier for the track. At the shows recently, we’ve gotten people singing the lyrics back to us– it’s usually the girls singing the girl’s part more than the guys singing the guy’s part, but I guess that makes sense!
You’ve got some tours and festivals coming up as well. What are your hopes for them?
Myles O’Neal: I’m just happy to finally be in this position. Last year, I did a few sets at EDC Las Vegas and I did Lollapalooza, but to be considered [a part of the] festival circuit finally now… feels like another stepping stone to a little more validation here and there. I’m just happy to be int his festival circuit. I don’t care if I play in the opening slot– put me in the lineup and I’ll start off at the bottom again and work my way up to the headline spot. That’s just how I look at it.
Shout-out to Breakaway – all the guys over there, they’re amazing. Shout-out to Insomnias; that was the first festival I ever played. Lolla– the Lolla people, they’re all great as well. I’m from California, and so Coachella is the one I’m really ready for. I feel like if I keep working hard and doing what I’m doing, keep trying to grow and grow, I’ll reach that point.
Let’s talk about your family ties with the man of many nicknames – but here, we’ll call him DJ Diesel. What are some ways in which DJ Diesel has influenced you artistically and what does it represent for you to be one-half of the O’Neal Boyz duo along with him?
Myles O’Neal: The main reason why I even got into playing and producing and stuff like that is because my dad started DJ Diesel. He asked me to come on tour with him. None of us really knew what we were doing, so we all kind of were there trying to help him. That turned into me helping onstage and on the road, and then that turned into me learning how to use Ableton and the mixer and being able to play. Then my dad said, “Yo, you should play for fun or go around and see what happens.” I told him, “Well, I don’t want to play dubstep music,” and he said, “Bro, you don’t have to play dubstep music.” It was like a click in my head; I said, “I don’t have to, you’re right!” He said, “Find a DJ that you like and basically just model yourself after him.”
At the time, I was a really big Fisher guy and would watch all his videos and find his music. I was going around L.A. and playing music at my homies’ spots. I know a lot of people out here that own clubs and bars and stuff, and I was just playing for fun. Then, people started asking me to come perform out of town and I realized that I would need to have a manager, and I’d need to learn how to make music, and I’d need a booking agent– it just kept building and building up. It all happened very organically, but it all just stemmed from my dad calling me and asking for help on the road and saying, “Hey, can you help me to figure out this DJ Diesel project?”
Are there any more musical projects that you’re eyeing, such as new singles and so on?
Myles O’Neal: Next month, I have a song coming out with my good homie Justin. He’s from here as well; he actually lives down the street from me. We have a song called “Make You Wait” coming out next month. Right now, I’m in a place where I’m trying to do more collabs. I just did one with Proppa and one of my good friends, Chase West, we’re working on something right now. This year, I want to work a lot more with my friends and get some tracks out and ideas started with everybody. Max Tyler, the Experts Only crew, Catch and Release, people like that.
I feel like I’m in a place where I’m finally moving out of this light of people being like, “Oh, this is just Shaq’s son DJ’ing” or whatever to actually being like, “Oh, these songs are cool. He actually cares about the culture and is willing to take his own path.” I could have just become a dubstep DJ and money-grabbed if I wanted to, but that’s not what I was passionate about. I feel like it’s finally paying off and I can get some of these collabs going, send them over, and actually have people enjoy them.
Anything else?
Myles O’Neal: Watch out for Myle O’Neal coming out this year, next year, and the year after. Check out my music on Spotify and if you see me in the street, never hesitate to say “What’s up?” I’m a really friendly guy.
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