With Indiana acquiring all star point guard Jeff Teague, the Pacers are one of the sleeper playoff contending teams the NBA should look out for. They have a bright future in Myles Turner and Paul George is already being dubbed as an MVP candidate for next season, the Pacers have many weapons they can turn to to make some noise in Hoosier town. Amongst the weapons they have in their arsenal is talented forward CJ Miles. Miles had a solid season for the Pacers as he averaged 11.8 points per game last season. He showed flashes of greatness during the season when he broke out for 32 points in his teams 123-106 win over the Washington Wizards. When Miles is not giving team buckets on the court, he’s on the road writing music. The Source Sports was able to catch up with Miles as he prepares for the upcoming 2016-2017 NBA campaign.
The Source: What inspired you to try your hand with music?
CJ: Other than playing ball, I always enjoyed making music. I wrote for a long time and I didn’t take it serious until I met Ty (CJ’s manager). Once Tye heard my music and brought me to my first studio, I started linking up with him their every summer and began working on new tracks. He put on with DJ The Great and we just been making alot of music. I just been doing it for the love and I think all of the content is different from what you are hearing on the radio today. Everything is trap and party heavy which is nothing wrong with it because it’s a time and place for everything. I believe that it’s a lot of stuff that needs to be said.
What are some of the inspiration you turn to when it comes to making music?
It’s usually just what’s going on around me and what I see, the conversations I have with friends and family, and what going on in the world. These thoughts and ideas always hit me like a ton of bricks. I have times when I can write 2-3 days straight then I have days when writers block kicks in and can’t think of nothing. Usually when the inspiration comes, it usually comes from riding around in my car and what I see on a daily basis.
What would be your dream collaboration?
My dream collaboration would be with Lauryn Hill. She was one of my favorite artists growing up. Ever since I was a kid and when I saw Sister Act 2, it was over after that [laughs].
What rappers are catching your eye that you think would be dope for you to work with?
I think a artist by the name of Smino from St Louis that I listen to that I think is dope. Me and Tye have been thinking about working with Dame Lillard [Portland Trailblazers]. I haven’t really thought about it. It’s a lot of good music to be made and I never really thought about “oh someone would sound dope on this song”. I just make the music on how it feels and on how it goes.
You have a upcoming project called Mo Better. What’s the concept of this project?
Well, this latest project called Mo Better is pretty much inspired by me watching the movie Mo Better Blues over and over and over again. I got a lot of ideas from it and I remembered just writing in my book throughout the season. A lot of the concepts I wrote from the project I came up during the season while I was on the road. During the season, I would write a lot of songs then put some music together. Then we would get together in the beginning of the summer and I combine it music I already made with new content, new instrumentals so I can get a nice mixture of new and old. But the purpose of Mo Better is inspired by being more better at whatever it is.
We going a little bit off topic but this question has to be asked. Who or what NBA baller or NBA legend would you compare your lyricism towards?
That’s a good question [laughs]. No one ever asked me that question but because of the music choice since I am pretty much jazz influenced, laid back and cool, I would say Ray Allen. Straight to the point. No extra stuff. But it’s effective.
As the summer continues to heat up with incredible music being released left and right, be on the look out for Miles to release content from his upcoming project. You never know you may just get a power NBA collaboration hitting you in your ear drums between Miles and Dame DOLLA aka Damian Lillard.
