Howard Simmons/News
Amar'e Stoudemire is thinking beyond the basketball court - and into the fashion and music realms.Amar'e Stoudemire is diversifying.�
Now that the Knicks power forward doesn't have to worry about basketball until the fall, sources tell us he's hoping to add the music business to his mogul portfolio.
The stylish Stoudemire has already established himself in fashion by launching a line with designer Rachel Roy that will debut at Macy's in September.
Now, we hear that the 28-year-old basketball star hopes to parlay his friendships with some of hip hop's most successful performers and producers into a recording career.
Producers "will be giving him the beats" and Stoudemire "will be rapping on the tracks," says the source.
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He has the connections to get the job done. Stoudemire is dating sexy songstress Ciara and counts artist and producer Swizz Beatz among his good pals.
Beatz, who's married to Alicia Keys, was commissioned by the Knicks to remake the team's theme song, "Go New York Go." The song's video features Stoudemire and newly minted Knick Carmelo Anthony.
Our first source says Stoudemire certainly intends to discuss his musical aspirations with Beatz, but is not sure how far the conversation has gone. A second source says, however, that Stoudemire has yet to breach the topic with his "close friend."
The b-baller has other talents he'd like to consult as well.
Our first source tells us Stoudemire is eager to get better acquainted with rapper Lil Jon, who has produced hits for Usher, the Ying Yang Twins and Petey Pablo.
"He's been telling people he'd love to work with [Lil Jon]," although he hasn't found the right time to sit down with him, the insider says.
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We suspect Fabolous may be part of Stoudemire's Dream Team, too.
On Thursday night, a source tells us, the Knick arrived at The Ainsworth in the Flatiron District in a white Maybach with three pals and sat at his "usual table," where he was joined by Fabolous.
The source tells us that Fab had Stoudemire's undivided attention, much to the dismay of a scrum of female fans jockeying for the NBA player's attention in the hopes of becoming Ciara's replacement.
Fab, Stoudemire and his crew then headed West to 1Oak.
Let's hope, for the sake of our tender eardrums, that Stoudemire can amass the right artistic support to make his efforts more memorable than the many NBA players before him ? including Shaquille O'Neal, Allen Iverson and Ron Artest ? who've demonstrated that impressive basketball� stats do not necessarily make memorable hip-hop artists.
A spokeswoman for Stoudemire did not get back to us before our deadline.
Contact Gatecrasher:
Frank DiGiacomo: fdigiacomo@nydailynews.com
Carson Griffith: cgriffith@nydailynews.com
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