By Braden Murray | LTVN Sports Director
For the longest time, I was an avid Michael Jordan over LeBron James guy when it came to GOAT conversations. But since coming to Baylor, I have switched to firmly being in the LeBron camp.
To paraphrase former Lariat Sports Editor Michael Haag, Michael Jordan is the greatest of all time, but LeBron is the best basketball player of all time. What does that mean? I have no idea, ask him.
We can debate accolades and impact on the game all day long. But when it comes to who has the best fan base on TikTok, LeBron James wins hands-down. Over the past month, fans from across the globe have begun making parodies of popular songs and replacing the lyrics with pro-LeBron propaganda. This trend has come to be known as the LeBronaissance.
I would argue that this trend began back in March 2023, when fans began posting heavily edited pictures of LBJ accompanied by “You Are My Sunshine.” I even got in on the trend myself, featuring a frame from the Martin Scorsese movie “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
The most recent iteration of the LeBronaissance began on March 4, when @itsokayspade posted the original LeBron song. I stumbled upon this video quite early, and knew it would take off very quickly. The caption of the video reads, “POV: You try to make a song about LeBron but you can’t even sing nothing else but his name because he da goat and stuff.”
Soon afterwards, people began making their own LeBron songs. I’ll share with you some of my favorites. It was easy to find the original creator of the first song, but is much more difficult for some of these, so apologies to the creators if they see this article.
One of the earliest videos to hop on the trend, this parody of “Promiscuous” by Nelly Furtado, has remained firmly stuck in my head since the day I saw it. The simplicity of the lyrics here makes it so special
This might come as a shocker, but at my core, I am a theater kid. As any good theater kid should, I love “Hamilton.” This ode to LeBron’s performance in the 2016 NBA Finals is a parody of “Non-Stop,” one of my favorite songs from the musical.
This parody of “1979” by the Smashing Pumpkins is less of an ode to LeBron James and more an ode to the Los Angeles Lakers. It remains a banger nonetheless.
You can never go wrong with some Johnny Cash, and this parody of “Folsom Prison Blues” is a standout of the trend, especially because the song is being played live in the video and not played over b-roll like many of the other videos.
“LeBron, You Should’ve Come Over“
Jeff Buckley’s classic “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” is about a failed relationship and the regrets surrounding it. This parody is about the artist’s unrequited love they have towards LeBron. The vocals on this alone should earn it a place in the LeBronaissance Hall of Fame.
This is without a doubt the best LeBron Song; the passion with which @imakeparodyzz sings the chorus is worthy of a LeGrammy Award. Baylor Men’s Choir posted their own cover of this song on Instagram, which currently has over 470,000 likes.
When asked about the trend, LeBron mentioned the BU Men’s Choir version specifically, which feels like a win for the university in general. And if Michael Jordan fans want to keep pressing about how good he is, then maybe they should start making songs too.
