(AllHipHop News) The 2012 Olympic Games commenced on Friday (July 28) in London, with an epic opening ceremony featuring a number of famous musicians, including rapper Dizzee Rascal.
During the first weekend of the Games, AllHipHop.com caught up with U.S. Olympic champion, Michael Johnson, who competed in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics and won four gold medals.
During the Atlanta Games in 1996, Johnson created a new world record in the 300 meters and 400 meters which he still holds. Johnson famously broke the world record by wearing a pair of golden shoes and sprinting with an upright stance.
After the Atlanta Games, he went on to partner with Nike to release his golden shoes. In 2004, Johnson was elected to the United States Track and Field Hall of Fame for his 200 m performance at the 1996 Olympics.
According to Johnson, when he is training, he listens to a variety of music.
“My musical influences are pretty much anything R&B,” Michael Johnson told AllHipHop.com. “Sixties and 70’s R&B, a little bit of Hip-Hop, probably some Jazz. [It’s] a very eclectic mix of music.”
When he was actually competing in the Olympics for his gold medals, Michael Johnson revealed that it was the music of Tupac Shakur and Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace that inspired him the most.
“The Hip-Hop I listen to is mostly 1990’s, 2000, Tupac. I’ve gotten too old for new music,” Johnson laughed. “But it was mostly Tupac and Biggie,” who revealed that his favorite song by Tupac is the rapper’s 1993 classic “Me Against the World.”
Michael Johnson is currently in the UK covering the London 2012 Games for the BBC.
Check out the exclusive clip below: