My First Two Loves

Something that I've always reflected upon and thought of was the collaboration of my first two loves Soccer and Music (Hip-Hop/Rap nonetheless). Yes I know the two are very uncommon and have yet to be showcased together on a major scale. But there have been instances where the two have been highlighted. To me I think they can go hand and hand. The rhythm-like move movements of the game easily can go with a beat. It's been about 4 years and I still listen to Cam'ron and Kanye West's-Down and Out before every game I play. I've found an appreciation for Spike Lee because of his interest in the sport being that he is a big influence to the urban community. 

Spike on Soccer:

I’m a fan, but I’m not like a… I don’t know it like football, baseball, and basketball, but I can see the beauty of the game. Soccer is a great game, man. Hopefully it will grow here in the States. I follow it as much as I think I can. I got the satellite. It’s hard. You watch ESPN, and you don’t even get the scores. So what, it’s going to be every four years? But I look forward to going to Europe or South America. Just going to games is exciting. I went when Baggio missed that penalty kick. I’m hoping to go to Germany, but when I go, I roll Brazil. I mean, look. I know I’m African American, but I got a little Brazil. I’m not with the winners, I just love the way they play. You look at Italy, and I hate the way they play. I hate anything or athlete where you don’t play to win, but you play not to lose. I don’t like that. But I love soccer. My kid plays. Jackson. He’s eight. He plays at Chelsea Piers. I’m the assistant coach. We’re undefeated so far. Our team is Arsenal.

Soccer might not be thought of as a sport played in the urban community, when in fact the sport does have ties to the same struggles that hip-hop artists praise in the rhymes now that they are famous. Here's a selection from a article I ran across one day on Hip-Hop and Soccer.

As soccer and hip-hop are romanticized, they become a means by which the disenfranchised can rise against op-
pressive power structures and find lasting success, a trope that is reinforced by the traditional “rags-to-riches” stories
that they spawn. In hip-hop, this notion is unavoidable to the point that it has become cliché—every rapper has his re- spective story to tell about how he “came up” amidst the suf- focating environs of his background, which is almost exclu- sively depicted as the poverty-stricken, black and Latino populated, “ghettos” of America’s inner cities.i Although
soccer’s manifestation of this concept is less overt, it existsboth an individual and national level. Shoeless children
in the slums of Rio de Janeiro kick a dusty ball around with hopes of becoming the next Péle or Ronaldinho, and tiny nations like Togo shed their collective inferiority complex as their native sons compete in the international spotlight
of the World Cup. This is the established, idealized image of soccer and hip-hop, a globalized version of the
“American Dream,” and is thereby the standard by which self-proclaimed purists within these communities measure the “authenticity” of participators.

You can read the rest of the article here: Midfielders, MC's and Mediascapes

One high school I read about on a blog (This Is American Soccer) featured on my page, was Martin Luther King High School in New York City.(MLK Soccer Story Here) Its a very inspiring piece that made me realize what the sport has and can do for the urban community. One of my favorite African-American soccer players from the US is Eddie Johnson also reflects the story of those from MLK high school.

Eddie on his hometown:
"I come from a small city called Bunnell, FL, which isn't even known for soccer. Soccer turned out to be just one of those hidden, god-given talents that I happened to find within myself. I grew up in the inner-city, and know a lot of inner-city guys who can kick a soccer ball around for an hour and start juggling it and pick the game up really quick. Growing up in the inner-city, you're always active. You're either playing basketball or racing in the street to see who's fastest, or you're playing tackle football in the back of the projects. You're always getting into something, trying to stay out of trouble. I think I made it out simply because I had an opportunity.

Eddie Johnson - The top video clips of the week are here

His fellow teammate Clint Dempsey on the US National Team recorded a rap song with Texas artist Big Hawk, it wasn't like this song was a big hit or anything but anyone who appreacaites soccer and rap in the US has heard this song.