Manchester United caused a stir on Thursday night when they posted a picture of Kanye West (looking less than delighted) adorned in some of the club’s training merchandise.
Ignoring the controversy that surrounds Yeezy right now, this got us thinking of all the other hip hop icons who have donned the colours of football’s greatest clubs.
Here’s some of the best…
‘Ye’
We should start by apologising profusely for calling the man formerly known as Kanye West by his former name in the intro. It’s just ‘Ye’ now.
To be fair, you could forgive us for momentarily forgetting this fact, seeing as the guy himself has seemingly done so with the insignia on his snazzy United jacket. In any case, the 41-year-old Trump supporter looks every bit the part in his Man United gear, in that he looks thoroughly glum. Sign him up.
Snoop Dogg
Another man who’s had several name changes, but we won’t go further down that rabbit hole, because there’s far (gin &) juicier things to talk about when it comes to Snoop and the beautiful game.
The man is a club polygamist, and you can’t really blame him. I mean, if you had to choose between Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Norwich City you’d probably end up doing the same thing. Why can’t we just enjoy all three… and more?
Desiigner
You can’t have forgotten Desiigner’s wondrous collaboration with Paul Pogba and Manchester United for his music video of the song “Outlet”. Filmed inside Old Trafford, with both of them kitted out in United’s newly unveiled third kit, it was, quite simply, unforgettable.
The New York native, who is still only 21, rose to prominence with his debut track “Panda”, in large part thanks to Kanye’s inclusion of the melody on his own song “Father Stretch My Hands Pt 2”.
As you can imagine, the two are regulars together down the Stretford End.
J Cole x Bas
The Dreamville collective have been long, long-time Paris Saint-Germain fans – not at all jumping on the Neymar and Jordan/Jumpman imbued hype.
Indeed, such is there affinity for the Parisian club, that they only reserve the jersey for their best tunes. Clearly, the added influence of Kylian and co is motivational for the duo, and who can blame them?
Drake
Story One: Drake lives, breathes and eats all things Bianconeri. The man is Juventus obsessed, even using his first paycheck from way back when to get himself a ticket for a midweek trip to Chievo away.
Story Two: Drake is about as loyal as Snoop, having been pictured in Manchester United gear with Rio Ferdinand, Liverpool threads with Daniel Sturridge and Chelsea merch with Didier Drogba.
You decide.
Tyler, The Creator
Finally, a real fan of the Old Lady. Although the 27-year-old has owned up to being pictured wearing a Barcelona shirt, he was in Barcelona, and at least the two clubs are in different countries.
To be fair to Tyler, he has been seen numerous times with the Bianconeri strip on his back, and was even inspired to recreate a similar jersey for his own clothing line, with “GOLF” insignia placed where the normal logos would be. Now that’s fan love… sort of.
Loyle Carner
In Loyle Carner, we have a bona fide, loyal football fan. Who would’ve thought it, eh?
The South London born rapper has been a Liverpool fan ever since he can remember, and even offered fans the chance to get into one of his sold out gigs if they could offer him vintage shirts, with the 1994 away kit and 1998/99 home kit a couple of the many classics he has accrued.
AJ Tracey
To bring it home, it’s another genuine loyalist. English lyricist AJ Tracey is such an avid Tottenham fan, incorporating his beloved Spurs in many of his tracks, that the club asked him to perform at the release of their 2017/18 home kit.
The 24-year-old from Ladbroke Grove has remained deeply connected to the club, and has even paralleled his rise with that of his Lilywhites in recent seasons. In that case, expect the rapper to exceed his own expectations for years without ever quite getting that number one album.
Sorry AJ, cheap shot.