The music industry has kept close ties with football players for the longest time, given that stars from both these fields often share common social circles.
Over the years, popular artists from various genres such as Rihanna, Ed Sheeran and Drake have often publicly announced their allegiance to European clubs (usually by sporting the team kit) and have also on various occasions attended games of their favourite teams.
Similarly, footballers have also responded in kind by linking up with artists and making appearances in their latest music videos. Some of the most notable collabs from the past have featured high-profile names such as Alessandro Del Piero appearing in an Oasis track or Cristiano Ronaldo popping up in RedOne’s “Don’t You Need Somebody”.
Recently, footballers have also tried their luck in breaking into the hip-hop scene with players such as Memphis Depay and Ryan Babel having a go at producing their own rap tracks.
Similar to Depay, it appears his compatriot and Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk has also revealed his own collaboration with the rap industry after the Dutchman appeared on English grime artist P Money’s latest song “Outplayed.”
The South East Londoner has been an active MC and rapper since 2009 and is presently a hip name in the grime scene in the English capital. Given the 34-year-old’s experience in the genre, P Money was the chosen one to compose the ‘first ever grime gaming song’ in collaboration with Tundra Esports which is a London-based professional esports organization.
As per reports, P Money is an ambassador to Tundra and being a fellow gamer himself it appears he agreed to produce this gaming anthem.
The references to the track being a gaming anthem appear right from the beginning as the lyrics contain mentions of games such as FIFA and gaming lingo such as GG (good game).
Alongside P Money and Tundra, Van Dijk was also roped in to contribute to this project thanks to the Dutchman’s own past interest and activity in the rap industry.
Back in March, the 31-year-old defender collaborated with JBL and Dutch rapper Winnie Bergwijn to work together and provide more opportunities to up-and-coming rap artists.
In “Outplayed”, VVD himself appears in the music video as the Dutchman is introduced by P Money towards the end of the song. The Liverpool man can be seen sporting a Tundra Esports hoodie in his much-anticipated cameo.
Following the release of the track on Thursday, Tundra also announced that VVD would be joining them as an ambassador as well as a shareholder, which suggests that the Liverpool man could be spotted in future collabs headed by the Esports organization.
As P Money has revealed himself to be an ardent Gunners fan in the past, this Arsenal-Liverpool collaboration with Van Dijk has certainly created a buzz within the footballing community, especially for those supporters who are also diehard gamers.
