Emerson Royal has found a new lease of life in England ever since signing for Tottenham Hotspur.
Having failed to earn a place in the Barcelona squad after impressing for fellow La Liga side Real Betis, Emerson is a trusted squad player under new Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou, and the Australian coach has turned to the Brazilian wing-back at a time when his team is hit with injury crises.
Not just that, but he has been in the national mix as well, earning nine of his ten caps for Brazil since joining Spurs. Moving to London has definitely turned out to be a good gamble for the player.
While he is certainly a decent footballer, his talents are not limited only to the football pitch. The 24-year-old recently decided to showcase his rapping skills by releasing a rap track in his native language. In the song, the footballer talks about racial discrimination.
Footballers in the modern era have a celebrity status. Their actions – both on and off the pitch – have the ability to influence youngsters and the upcoming generation. As such, given the power that they possess, footballers are taking stringent actions and shouldering social responsibility.
Take Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, for example, who has been appointed the head of FIFA’s Anti-Racism committee of players by FIFA president Gianni Infantino. The 23-year-old left winger has been subject to a lot of racial abuse in Spain, with opposition fans leaving no stone unturned to fire personal attacks at the player before, during, or after the match.
Emerson, being a fellow Brazilian, has the right intentions to spread awareness through his music. But, with all due respect to the Spurs man, the rap is, objectively speaking, a cacophony. While I respect him for speaking about an issue as huge as racism, the execution of his song leaves a lot to be desired.
The rap doesn’t seem like a rap but just a series of words stringed together and blended in a sea of autotune. At a point of the rap, Royal sings this bit ‘Discrimination is social/Intellectual or racial/Not rational’. While the ingredients are respectable, the final taste is not delicious.
Just as I had feared when I first heard this rap, the message that Emerson is trying to deliver will be overlooked and this move will backfire as the football fans will make fun of his singing ability.
This isn’t the first time that a footballer has turned to music. Romelu Lukaku, Jackson Martinez, Memphis Depay, and Jese Rodriguez to name a few have already tried their hands (or rather, mouths) at singing.
Regardless of how terrible the singing was, it takes a lot of courage and strength to deliver such a message. He deserves praise for his intentions, even though he might not deserve the same for his voice.
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