Musicians have always had an affinity for dropping names of popular footballers in song lyrics.
2014 hit track “Zinedine Zidane” by Australian funk band Vaudeville Smash made a name for itself by having a large chunk of the lyrics consisting of just names of famous footballers. While the song focused on the French footballing legend, it also included names of an entire array of stars such as Gianluigi Buffon, Xavi, Iniesta, Didier Drogba, Eden Hazard etc.
Another song following up on this trend was the 2017 track by AJ Tracey titled “False”, which named stars such as Carlos Puyol, Luka Modric, Mario Gotze and Luis Figo.
With their favourite stars being a part of it, these songs have been immensely popular amongst football fans over the years. This positive reception has also encouraged artists to continue this tradition of linking household names into the lyrics.
With these two songs standing out from the last few years, it looks like this phenomenon has also been embraced by other popular artists as Canadian rapper Drake has gone and done exactly this in the new rap album composed by American artist Future.
In the latter’s new album, I Never Liked You, he collaborated with other rap artists such as Drake, Kanye West and Kodak Black.
In the song, “I’m On One” by Future and Drake, the lyrics have namedropped footballing GOATs Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and football fans on Twitter have been quick to spot the references.
The references to these footballing icons and football’s most competitive club competition Champions League come in the second verse of the song.
“Take her to see Cristiano, fu*k her in that Benz Viano Champions League, sh*t, there’ll be a driver for you on arrival.”
“I’m just all about my goals like I’m Messi, what Bein’ messy, sh*t do not impress me, what I could never be your man, I’m your bestie…”
Football fans were surprised to hear Messi and Ronaldo’s names in a rap song but make no mistake Drake is a huge football fan, who regularly follows the Canadian Men’s National Team.
The Drake x Future collab also features other athletes such as Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps and Russian ice hockey star Alexander Ovechkin. The new album consists of 16 songs and “I’m On One” is the penultimate number on the collection.
With these very direct references to Messi and Ronaldo, Future and Drake can count on football fans from across the world to check out the new track, which is now available on Spotify.
