Photo by Steven Overly/The Diamondback
Before starting a new Diamondback beat, I like to get a handle on the players I will be covering. Scouring www.umterps.com is always a good place to start.
This October, examining the Terrapin men’s basketball team’s individual player profiles yielded minimal interesting information.
Dino Gregory likes chess. Jordan Williams wishes the basketball season was longer. Sean Mosley would have Chris Rock play him in a movie. Standard stuff.
But Landon Milbourne’s profile contained perhaps the most interesting nugget: “enjoys making hip-hop beats in his free time.” When the Cameron Crazies’ cheer sheets for the Terps’ Feb. 13 trip to Duke mentioned Milbourne’s lack of Myspace Music fans, I was definitely interested.
And when I went to interview the Terp forward last week for a profile, published in today’s ACC Tournament tab, I kept it in mind. In fact, on a day when my primary motive was talking about overcoming his tough freshman season and how his body was holding up during his senior season, it was the first question I asked Milbourne.
“It’s nothing serious,” said Milbourne, who has some of his creations posted here. “It’s just something I do in my spare time—on my computer or whatever. I just play around. Been doing it since like 8th grade. It’s not really a big deal. I’m not trying to go anywhere with it. It’s just something I do with my spare time.”
It seems the music really is a labor of love for the Georgia-native. According to Milbourne, several area rappers have laid tracks over his beats. Milbourne doesn’t charge and beyond his MySpace, which uses the domain name lamilionproductions, he doesn’t do a lot of self-publicizing.
In other words, when the player who has several musical notes integrated into one of the tattoos on his right bicep was asked to list a hobby for his player profile, he naturally thought of his music-mixing.
That’s what piqued my interest. And if there are any fledgling rap artists in the College Park area who need some assistance, Milbourne would be happy to help.
“I let people listen to them or whatever,” Milbourne said. “If they like them, they can have them and do whatever they want with them.”
Eric Detweiler is The Diamondback’s Terrapin Men’s Basketball Team beat writer. He can be reached at edetweilerdbk@gmail.com. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/edetweiler.