Twenty years ago, John Cena went from the ring to the recording studio with the release of his You Can’t See Me debut album.
Unfortunately for fans of Cena on the mic, there was never a follow-up to the Platinum-certified LP. Decades later, the wrestling icon reflects on his rap career and his connection to hip-hop in an interview with Tom Rinaldi, which Billboard is exclusively premiering a clip from on Monday (Dec. 8).
“My affinity for hip-hop came to me through teenage rebellion,” Cena explained. “When someone says ‘F–k tha police,’ my parents are the police — ‘F—k them.’ It was exactly what I needed as a teenager. I loved the rebellious nature of hip-hop and that’s how I became an unlikely source connected to that. I loved the bravado and the strength and the truth in the message.”
Cena said that he essentially fell into rapping by “accident,” since the WWE superstar felt he could record something better than what was being used as his theme music at the time, which led to “Basic Thuganomics” and his eventual theme song, “The Time Is Now.”
It remains his entrance music heading into his final match at Saturday Night’s Main Event against Gunther on Dec. 13, and “The Time Is Now” served as the lead single for his May 2005 album You Can’t See Me. “Only Platinum artist to never have a follow-up,” Cena quipped.
Emblazoned with his custom WWE Championship spinner title belt on the cover, Cena’s You Can’t See Me debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 with more than 43,000 copies sold in the opening week.
While the 48-year-old has no plans for a follow-up album, Cena revealed that he had more than 70 “lost tracks” from the time of recording You Can’t See Me with his cousin Tha Trademarc.
“It is a young man’s game and I’m not in it anymore,” Cena said. “The rapping thing was an accident. I listened to the music they played for me and I’m like, ‘I can do better than this — wait I could do better than this.’” This all led to the 17-time world champion recording “Basic Thuganomics” for $10,000.
“There’s like 70 lost tracks of the album that never made it out,” Cena added, while shutting down Rinaldi’s prying for a sophomore LP. “I was able to shave off the ones that shouldn’t make and give you the ones that should, and I’m lucky to get that.”
Watch the clip below and tune into John Cena’s full sit-down with Tom Rinaldi, which premieres after Monday’s (Dec. 13) RAW.