So now that the Olympic games are done folks like to look back and pick the true champions of the games.  However this year without a doubt Michael Phelps, the Baltimore swimmer trumped all taking home an unprecedented 8 golds and becoming the most decorated Olympian in the history of the modern-day games.

If you were like me you watched in anticipation every time dude entered the water cube with his warm up and his iPod on.  But what exactly was he listening to.  Phelps, a (commercial) hip hop head recently said it was Young Jeezy whose tracks “I Got What it Takes” and “Go Getta” with R. Kelly provided the  inspirational soundtrack that he bumped before every race at the Olympics in Beijing.

“It would be great if I could holler at Phelps,” Jeezy told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Peach Buzz column. “And it’s a compliment that the man found inspiration in the music I do for the streets over here, over there in Beijing.”

In last week’s profile by the New York Times, Karen Crouse wrote that the “The hip-hop beats have a hypnotic effect on Phelps, who sometimes, after a race, is unable to recall the songs that locked him into his groove.”

Here’s Phelp’s officially playlist (as provided by Yahoo!)  If Apple was smart they’d sell and promote the playlist as a compilation on iTunes.  I’d imagine that there are enough Phelps fanatics out there that are so inspired but this dude that they’re willing to buy anything he endorses.  But his music above all is so personal and emotionally affects us each in such different ways that by listening to the playlist some might be able to gain just a bit greater insight into how Phelps felt moments before swimming for gold.  That’s the most personal memorabilia one can own.

1. “Overnight Celebrity” - Twista
2. “Burn” - Usher
3. “Roses” - OutKast
4. “Till I Collapse” - Eminem
5. “Smile” - G Unit
6. “A Milli” - Lil’ Wayne
7. “Hustlin” - Rick Ross
8. “Hello Brooklyn 2.0″ - Jay-Z (featuring Lil’ Wayne)
9. “I Got What It Takes” - Young Jeezy