Football and Music

Sorry… there’s a tear in my eye…

I can carry on… Give me a second…

You cannot believe how happy I am at the moment.

At the moment it is the football version of Christmas…
(In case you are reading this in the future: the 2014 World Cup)

And then today the football version of Father Christmas visited and left this:

That’s right James Dart is our Santa Claus, if you follow him on Twitter he delivers these presents all the time.
But today was special because of the announcement.

Clint Dempsey – aka Deuce is a footballer I’ve admired for many years. Because of his drive and ambition, because of his football and of course, because of his singing.

When he was in high school in his yearbook he had to say what he would be doing in five years time. He put:

And he did that. With (sorry to use a football cliché) aplomb. Not only played in Europe, but also in the Europa League final – and on the way there scored this wonder goal against Juventus.

As an international he is feared by defenders because of his striking prowess. Capable of scoring from anywhere at any time.

Clint is in his third tournament now. Before the 2006 World Cup, along with Big Hawk & OX, under the alias of Deuce he released the single Don’t Tread, in which he paid tribute to his late sister Jennifer.
But unlike all the other songs footballers record, this one was actually good.

I was hoping that he would release another record, but it seemed that it was going to be his only outing.
Until as you’ve seen above. Until today.

There’s an extended article in the Wall Street Journal about Dempsey and the recording of the album:

This is a big summer for U.S. soccer team captain Clint Dempsey. Not only is he leading the team in his third World Cup: he is releasing his debut album.

Unbeknown to his fans and teammates, the 31-year-old Mr. Dempsey spent two weeks in Los Angeles during the off-season recording a 13-track album, “The Redux,” which he and his friend, the rapper XO, plan to release in the months ahead…

…”We just were having fun with it and it ended up being an album,” said Mr. Dempsey, who collaborated with rappers and producers from his hometown of Nacogdoches, Texas…

…In one song from the album, “All Night,” for example, he suggested rhyming the line “My game face won’t never flinch,” with “I’m beast mode, Marshawn Lynch.”

“I had no idea [that NFL running back Marshawn Lynch’s nickname was Beast Mode] and it ended up being perfect,” said rapper-producer XO, whose real name is Steven Molanders. “The Redux” is dedicated to their rapper friend Big Hawk, who died in 2006, as well as to Mr. Dempsey’s sister Jennifer, who died of a brain aneurysm at the age of 16, he said. A portion of the proceeds from the music will go to the East Texas Food Bank.

» Here’s a preview of the first single from the album – It’s Poppin:

[stream only]

Download it at Deuceandxo.com