Flau’Jae Johnson won a basketball title and then teamed up with Lil Wayne

When Flau’jae Johnson helped lead the Louisiana State University women’s basketball team to a national championship last April, she rose to the top of the sport in her first season with the team. The win, the school’s first title, also propelled her to status as a hip-hop artist, helping her build a career collaborating with rap royalty.

At least twice in the past year, Johnson scheduled rap performances within 24 hours of a game or practice, in one case opening for chart-topping rapper and singer Rod Wave in Atlanta after traveling from Louisiana on a day off from court. She walked off stage with body cramps after another performance in November; she had scored 17 points in a match hours before her show.

“I know this is what I have to do,” said Johnson, 20, a sophomore guard who averages 14.2 points per game and has more than 62,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. “If you want to become a legend at something, you have to do something no one has done before and execute it at a high level.”

Johnson’s two careers took off this past year, and she’s balancing both as LSU prepares to defend its title in the NCAA Tournament, starting with Friday’s first-round game. That same day, Johnson plans to release “AMF (Ain’t My Fault),” her new song with rapper NLE Choppa, who asked her and her LSU teammate Angel Reese to appear on the show last year. video for his single “Champions”; they made cameos alongside other top athletes, including boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Mike Tyson. Johnson then tapped NLE Choppa to collaborate on “AMF,” which will premiere on Snapchat through a partnership with the social media platform.

“She is redefining and presenting the renaissance and revolution possible in women’s sports,” said Ketra Armstrong, professor of sports management at the University of Michigan. “She not only shows how to do it, but also how to do it masterfully, without making concessions to others.”

Kia Brooks, Johnson’s mother and business manager, estimated that the rapper-hooper has made nearly $3 million from endorsement deals involving her name, image and likeness, including partnerships with audio equipment maker JBL and sports drink brand Powerade. Johnson also has a distribution deal with Roc Nation and is coordinating a music video for an upcoming song with Lil Wayne, who became an enthusiast during the 2023 basketball tournament. Since late last year, camera crews have been following Johnson for an Amazon Prime Video documentary that will profile her and other star LSU athletes.

Johnson started rapping at the age of seven – about a year after he started playing basketball – partly inspired by her father. Jason Johnson, a rapper known as Camoflauge, was fatally shot in Savannah, Georgia, in 2003, just months before Johnson was born, but she said she feels his presence every day. Her first name (pronounced FLAW-zhay) is derived from his stage name, Brooks said, and Johnson often mentions him in her songs. She sang a song about gun violence when she participated America has talent at the age of 14. In an introspective freestyle set to the Fugees’ “Ready or Not,” Johnson raps, “They got killed by dad while my mom was pregnant, how am I supposed to feel?”

“He is definitely my biggest inspiration,” Johnson said. “I get all my swag from him.”

While in high school, she posted her music to YouTube, building a following that grew alongside fan interest in her plans as a top recruit: She publicly announced her commitment to LSU in a video that also promoted the release of a new song.

Her two-bedroom off-campus apartment doubles as a recording studio, complete with speakers, microphone and monitors. Her jerseys hang on the wall and the home studio also houses her championship ring and pet lizard. She often composes lyrics during flights to away matches and records in her spare time. Fans at her shows hold up four fingers as she performs – a reference to her jersey number.

“I’ve been rapping and playing basketball my whole life,” Johnson said. “Now that they see me on different stages, they always ask: ‘How do you do that?’ But it’s like I did it. Come over in the summer, play basketball during basketball season and then go about my day.”

But now the victory lap for last year’s title is over. And just as she faces challengers on the court, Johnson has seen social media commentators try to discredit her rapping skills. “Go to the gym,” is a common comment, she said. But she said those shots are only for motivation.

“You can be talented at multiple things and I don’t think people are used to that,” she said.