Unreleased Kobe Bryant Rap Album Featuring Black Thought, 50 Cent And Others Surfaces Online

Kobe Bryant recorded Visions — what was supposed to be his debut album — between 1999 and 2000.

Visions, the album the late Kobe Bryant recorded between 1999 and 2000 that was supposed to serve as his debut as a rapper, has surfaced online over two decades later.

News of its surfacing came via On Thin Ice, which shared a link to download the album on its Discord account Wednesday. The 16-track album includes features from Destiny's Child, Black Thought, 50 Cent, Tyra Banks, Broady Boy and more. And although On Thin Ice shared a tracklist that lists Nas as a feature on a track titled "Thug Poet," the rapper isn't actually on the song. Instead, it's a sample of the Queen's MC.

Visions was supposed tobe Bryant's proper foray into being a professional rapper. The album was supposed to drop in spring 2000, but after the first single — "K.O.B.E." featuring Tyra Banks — didn't do well, the album was never released. As Grantland wrote in a 2013 piece on Bryant's rap career:" "By the end of 2000, Sony had dropped Bryant from the label. Kobe Bryant has never revealed what went wrong."

Last February, LL COOL J shared how he listened to Bryant's album with him.

"We talked about rap," LL recalled. "He played me this gangsta rap album and I was like, ‘Kobe, come on dog. That’s not what you need to be doing. He played me that album, we’re sitting in a parking lot. I was confused. I was sitting there like, ‘what are we doing? You got endorsements, what are you doing? It had to be the funniest moment of my life."