Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler revealed that he’s working on a country album and already has about 60 songs in the vault.
Butler has a lot of off-the-court interests, including his coffee company which is set to debut a brick-and-mortar shop this spring in Miami.
Music is another one, and Butler has been working on his country album for more than a year.
“In what could be reasonably interpreted as Butler’s own personal quest to be ‘good at almost everything,’ the avid country music fan – he’s from Tomball, Texas, a small town on the outskirts of the Houston metropolitan area – is adding ‘musical artist’ to his rapidly growing resume,” The Guardian’s Claire de Lune wrote. “He’s been quietly working on his own country album for over a year, he says, and while he’s already amassed about 60 (!) songs for the project, he aims to have recorded around 200 to choose from when all is said and done.”
Butler clearly seems to be taking the project seriously, as 200 songs is quite a large catalog to choose from before he decides to release an album. The Heat star shared that it has been a humbling experience for him to get into the music space.
“There’s so many people out there, and I’m one of them, that are like, ‘Man, I can do that,’ and you really don’t know how difficult it is to make a No. 1 song, how difficult it is to have all these songs on the back burner,” Butler said. “And you got to pick the right ones. And it’s fun, and I do love it, but my goodness, it’s difficult. It’s stressful – it’s completely different from basketball. I’m not saying basketball’s easy either, but just for people to be able to think they can just go do this or that – it’s like, man, look. Humble yourself. It is incredibly fun, I’ve had a blast while doing it. But I will tell you that it’s not easy.”
While Butler is learning that it’s difficult to create an album, there is a large population that can’t even fathom what he does on a basketball court.
The six-time All-Star has really turned the Heat into perennial NBA Finals contenders, with the team reaching the Eastern Conference three times in his first four seasons in Miami. He’s also led the Heat to the NBA Finals twice.
This season, Butler would love to get the team back into the NBA Finals after the Heat lost to the Denver Nuggets in the championship series during the 2022-23 campaign.
For Heat fans expecting to hear Butler sing on his country album, they may be a little disappointed. Butler sees himself playing more of a DJ Khaled-esque role.
“He’s a crazy talented individual,” Butler said of DJ Khaled. “To bring all these artists together and to have them be able to maintain the egos and be like, ‘Yo, look, this is what we’re trying to get done here,’ he’s mastered it. I freaking love DJ Khaled. ‘We are the best,’ as he would say.”
It’ll be interesting to see how well Butler is able to select songs whenever he decides to release his country album, but for now, he has to focus on the Heat and the 2023-24 season.
This season, Butler is averaging 21.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game while shooting 47.1 percent from the field. He’s missed time for the Heat – playing in just 25 games – but he returned to action on Monday after an extended absence.
There’s no doubt that Butler is one of the most interesting players in the NBA for both his on-court skills and off-court interests.
