NBA’s Dwight Howard tries to score with kids’ CD

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NEW YORK (AP) — Dwight Howard may be the NBA’s Superman, but when it comes to making music, he’ll admit to having at least one flaw.

“I’m not good at rapping, I’ll say that,” he says. “But singing, I can hold a note. I’m pretty good. If I had to sing in front of a big crowd, I don’t think I’d be that shy.”

There’s nothing timid about the Orlando Magic star’s musical CD debut. This week, as the league opened the NBA season, he released “Shoot for the Stars,” a CD for kids that has the center singing songs by Michael Jackson, Harry Belafonte and the Black Eyed Peas and even rapping MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This.”

By releasing a CD, Howard follows in the footsteps of NBA stars like Ron Artest and the league’s original Superman, Shaquille O’Neal, who has a platinum disc to go along with his championship rings.

Howard says he didn’t intend to follow their path.

“I didn’t want to do the normal thing with everybody getting an album and all that stuff,” he says. “I always wanted to have a production company, being involved in music, but not as far as me singing or rapping or doing any of that stuff.”

But he got more interested when he found out a portion of the funds from the CD, put out by Razor & Tie’s Kidz Bop series, would go to the BETA center, a foundation dedicated to supporting families in Orlando, Fla.

That’s why most of the songs are either upbeat or uplifting, he said.

“All of the songs are very inspirational, just being together, being a family, things that bring people together,” he says. “It’s just inspiring kids to do more, be more and dream big.”

The CD has at least one fan in his toddler son: “He wants to dance, so I just try and play music that he can dance to,” Howard says.

Howard has already played the album for a couple of teammates and said he got positive feedback. But he knows he’s in for a ribbing if the songs ever get played during a game at the Amway Center.

“I know the first time my teammates hear it in a time-out or something like that, they’re gonna laugh,” Howard says. “It’s going to be weird.”

Still, Howard can see himself performing in front of the crowd, and perhaps even doing the national anthem — though not the one you think.

“For some reason, I like to sing the Canadian national anthem,” he says. “I think I sound better singing that one.”

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.