Flau’jae Johnson Is on Top of the World

It’s Friday afternoon, three days before the WNBA draft, and I’m standing on the 103rd floor of the Empire State Building watching Flau’jae Johnson film the video for her new song, “Woah.” As the music begins to thump from a huge JBL speaker (“Rapper and a baller, baby, it’s no other fo’ / Millionaire straight out of college baby, I been bout my dough”), Johnson explodes from the door onto the private outdoor observation deck and begins bouncing, dancing, and lip-synching to the tune as a drone flies around capturing it all.

To say Johnson is on top of the world is an understatement. The Savannah-born shooting guard, known as “Big 4” after her jersey number, started 139 of 141 in college, propelling Louisiana State University to a 29-6 record in her senior season and to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, before the team lost to Duke in a buzzer-beater in the Sweet 16.

As if that wasn’t enough, Johnson was also just 18 years old when she was signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation in 2022. She has since released three rap albums, all while completing her college degree, earning a championship title as a freshman, and landing major brand deals, including Puma, as a pioneer of the NCAA’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) provision (which allowed college athletes to earn major money for the first time). And now, just as Johnson is expected to be drafted into the WNBA in the first round, she will also drop the video for her new song. Woah, indeed.

After the shoot, as we make our way down to the greenroom for our conversation, Johnson says, “Top 10 life experience” a few times, marveling: “It makes me feel different about the world—being on top of it.” Read on for her thoughts on saying goodbye to LSU, balancing music and the WNBA, and what she’ll be wearing to the draft (“I want to look very good,” she teases, “you only get drafted once.”)

Filming a music video on top of the Empire State building a few days before you’re going to be drafted into the WNBA is pretty epic. What does it mean to you?

A lot. I never even knew what this building was. I mean, I knew it was the Empire State Building, but now I’m learning the history and seeing all the photos of the celebrities that came here and did their thing. I am pretty fired up to be in that group of people. Not everybody gets to come up here so that’s cool. It makes you see everything different.

Tell me about your new song and the inspiration behind it.

It’s called “Woah,” and it’s something I wanted to drop because this is a new beginning. It’s these exciting times. I was like, “‘Woah’ sounds cool and it’s how I’m feeling right now.” The beat is something to get me hyped for training camp and draft day for sure.

And to drop it timed to the draft—what a moment!

What a moment. Yesterday, I was like, “Dang, I went from being unranked and unknown in the basketball world to being drafted.” It don’t get much better than that. That’s why I’m kind of just living in the moment. People ask me, “How do you feel? And I keep telling them I’m not nervous because I’m not. I’m just like, “I want to be in it. Present.”

What are you most proud of when you look back on your college years?

The commitment. Even just like staying all four years, a lot of players, they don’t do that now. The transfer portal is jumping. So just the commitment to excellence every day. That’s why I wasn’t sad when I left LSU, because I really gave everything I had. I worked hard. I was in the gym every day. I didn’t even really have a social life, for real. I was so focused on what I wanted and my goals.

I heard you say college is four years to set up the next 40, and I feel like you did that.

Yeah, I did. I always tell people, use these four years to set up your next 40 years. Especially with NIL, that’s a blessing for us. For us to be able to have access to that type of money and those types of opportunities that players haven’t had in the past is huge. And I also feel like you got to leave it better than you found it. Like, doing business the right way. Treating the brands right. Keeping a good space, because it’s going to be so many young women who come behind us. So that’s like taking advantage of that opportunity. We definitely did that.

What would you say to the players coming up behind you?

The number one thing [is to] just be smart financially, right? Get somebody to help you with your money, not just your family members—get a professional. And then I would say, “Don’t get lost in the sauce.” It’s easy to get these millions of dollars and forget why you play. I always kept the main thing the main thing. I’m like, “Without basketball, none of this is going to work around me. Who would want to pay me for NIL if I’m not on the court?” So that was my mindset—keep the main thing the main thing. Everything else is going to come. I feel like kids need to know that.

How do you feel about leaving LSU behind?

It’s exciting. It feels like the end of a book. It’s sad, but I kind of came to terms with it yesterday when I made my goodbye post [on Instagram]. I was sad writing it, like, Wow, this is really over. But I left a mark. There are 30,000 students on that campus every year. So over the four years I was there, that’s what, 120,000? Out of all of them, I was able to really leave a mark. My name will probably never be forgotten.

I read that Baton Rouge literally named a day—April 4—after you, so yes, I think it’s safe to say you won’t be forgotten.

Yeahm that was…wow. When you look back, and you know your name is forever etched in a city you’re not even from, but they adopted you, it feels good. No cap.

People always ask you how you balance basketball and music, but you clearly are doing it just fine. How will you continue to manage the two when you’re in the WNBA?

You just got to rise to the occasion. I feel like in life, if you have the same type of tribulations and trials, I feel like you’re going in circles. If you have the same level of hurdles, how do you know how high you can jump the next time? I feel like you’ve got to fall to be like, “Okay, now I know how high I got to jump.” And you train to that level, and you get to that level, and you dominate, and then it’s going to a new level. And that’s kind of how I look at life. That’s why I’m not sad about my time at LSU coming to a close. I’m just grateful that I was able to go up another level to prepare me for this one.

It’s going to be a new level, but I feel like it will actually be better for me because I won’t have as many restrictions as I had in college. You get to move a little bit more freely as a pro. I won’t have classes, all that shit. I’m so glad I ain’t got to do that no more. It’s a lot more freedom, so I’m excited that I’ll be able to do more with my music. Say I have a game in L.A., maybe I could go get in a studio with a producer while I’m there. It’s more access than I have now. So I’m excited.

Looking ahead to the draft, what are you thinking about? What are you wearing?

Just wait until you see the outfit I have planned. I have my final fitting, so I haven’t landed on a particular dress yet, but the options I have are beautiful. My stylist Elliot is super dope. I told him I want to go elegant. I said, “For this dress, act like at 6 P.M. we have the draft, and at 6:30 P.M., we have the Met Gala. I want to look very good. You only get drafted once. My glam is always on point, but the glam’s going to be amazing.

I’m just very excited. It’s one of those moments that you dream about. They’ll say, “The number whatever pick from LSU…” and my name’s going to be called like, What?! My heart is going to beat out my chest, but it’s an honor. It’s nothing more than an honor—being one of the best of the best.

You’ve said when you came to LSU, the coaches were very supportive of your music career. Are you expecting that to be true of your team in the WNBA as well?

Yeah. I’ve been interviewing with teams and they love it. They really just like, “How the hell do you balance it?” But they’re cool with it because they’re like, “Shoot, we’ve seen you manage it all the way through college.” And I tell them, “I handle my business.” And I have a team—I literally run a company and I have like six or seven employees. So it’s a thing that comes with me. Everybody already kind of knows that, but it’s just going to be about me setting that precedent of who I am as a player and a hard worker.

I saw you started playing basketball when you were 4. What would that little girl think of all of this?

She would be so proud. Back then, I just wanted to be better than the boys, and it’s just taken me so far. I think she’d be proud of my discipline and my consistency, because at one point it was just a dream, and now it’s like, Wow, like you really did everything you took to make the dream happen. So I feel like younger me would definitely be super proud.

And I couldn’t help but think as I was watching you film your music video of what your dad [a rapper, who she was named after and who was murdered six months before she was born] would think of all of this too?

I think he would be super proud just because of my independence and the mindset more so of anything that I have. I feel like he’s proud. And it’s made me proud too as well, because when I first started rapping, all I wanted to do was fulfill his legacy and let people know his name through mine. And I feel like I’ve been doing that and building my own legacy. So [I’m] killing two birds with one stone, and it’s been great. It’s been a blessing and an honor to carry that torch.

What do you think of the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement and the new opportunities it presents players?

It’s so exciting. I just keep seeing everybody on my Twitter [now known as X]. Super Max, Super Max, million dollar, million dollar. I’m like, “This should have happened long ago,” but it’s beautiful that it’s happening now and the women are getting their flowers. I’m going to be one of those women hopefully for sure. And it’s just beautiful to be in a league where women get paid what they deserve and what they’re owed. I’m thankful to be coming in at this time to reap the benefits, but also, you got to leave it better than you found it. So it’s our job to increase that pay for the younger ones coming out of high school and middle school so they can believe in this dream, too.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.