He’s already home. Mikel Brown Jr. will tell you that, he’ll tell Tracy McGrady that, he’ll tell Vince Carter that — and next, he wants to let Jay-Z know.
When the Brooklyn Nets drafted the Louisville point guard sixth overall, they didn’t just get a long-sought guard to run the offense. They brought in an 18-year-old who was raised on the borough’s soundtrack long before he ever put on the jersey.
Appearing on a recent episode of the Cousins podcast alongside NBA legends Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter,
the rookie gave Nets fans an intimate look into his connection to Brooklyn’s Finest.
Despite being born in 2006 — a full decade after Jay-Z released his seminal debut album Reasonable Doubt —Brown Jr. made it clear that his knowledge of Hov’s catalog isn’t a surface-level trend. It’s a lifestyle passed down from day one.
Passing Down the Blueprint
During a recent sit-down on Cousins, the conversation drifted away from summer workout routines and straight into hip-hop. McGrady brought up a detail that caught him off guard given the rookie’s age.
“We was talking about some music and you said Jay-Z was your favorite artist,” McGrady said. “And I want to know how, because you a young fella. When you were born, what year were you born?”
“2006,” Mikel Brown Jr. replied.
“Oh my gosh, yeah,” McGrady said. “Jay-Z had been out 10 years already. So how you got involved, how you got connected and hooked up with Jay-Z, bro?”
“My father, pops put me on,” Brown Jr. said. “Car ride, car ride, me in the front seat at the age four or five, blasting Hov, blasting Blueprint, blasting Reasonable Doubt, Black Album, Blueprint 3, all of it, Kingdom Come, all of it.”
McGrady stepped in to test the young guard’s catalog knowledge: “What is your favorite album from Hov?”
“The best album is the Black Album,” Brown Jr. said. “My favorite album, because I mean it came out in 2009, Blueprint 3 is my favorite album.”
“What’s your favorite cut on there?”
“‘Already Home’,” Brown Jr. replied instantly. “‘Already Home’. ‘Already Home’… Every time it comes on, like if I’m shuffling my music and it comes on, I’m already like I start jamming, I promise you I start dancing.”
McGrady started and Brown Jr. joined:
“They call me a camel”
“But I mastered the drought, what the f— I’m an animal”
“Half-man half-mammal”
“My sign is a Sag, this is just what I plan to do”
“Oh he a fan, he a fan,” T-Mac said.
He didn’t stop at the lead single. MBJ began running through his tracklist rankings.
“You know that it got ‘Already Home’, ‘Reminder’, ‘A Star is Born’… ‘Real as It Gets’ is the most underrated song on that album,” MBJ mentions.
“No, it’s the BEST song on the album!” McGrady insisted.
“You think so?” asked MBJ
“Him and Jeezy…” McGrady said.
“They don’t miss though, them two don’t miss,” said Brown Jr., before T-Mac brought up the duo’s reunion at the Extra Innings Show on July 12.
“Don’t even get me started, cuz I’m gonna get mad now. Don’t even… I’m get mad, bro, I’m gonna get mad, bro,” MBJ said.
“Duty calls, man. Duty calls in Vegas, young fella” T-Mac emphasized as the trio laughed.
For the incoming guard, the full-circle moment of landing with the franchise Hov once helped bring to the borough isn’t lost on him.
“It’s crazy, what a coincidence, me getting drafted in Brooklyn and Jay-Z being my favorite artist,” Brown Jr. said. “It’s… it’s nuts.”
“You going to get a chance to meet Jay, bro,” McGrady said.
Nets legend Vince Carter closed out the segment with a promise that every rookie landing in Brooklyn dreams of hearing.
“He gonna be there, especially when he gets wind of this, oh yeah. We’ll make it happen for you regardless.”
MBJ understands the culture and the soundtrack of the borough he now calls home. If the Knicks currently own the heart of the city, then No. 0 is walking into Barclays with his own blueprint. We’ll see if he can help get the Nets there — with or without Jay-Z watching court side.
