Footballer turned into rappers: from Moise Kean to Djorkaeff

KMB, the acronym used by Moise Kean for his music career, has released a new single. "Non voglio tornare broke" ("I don't want to go back broke") is a song that moves slightly away from the trap sphere that the Fiorentina forward had fully embraced for his previous single "Bombay", the song that allowed him to become the first footballer to have his own track in a football video game, namely EA SPORTS FC. The piece released on October 14 opens with old school sounds that recall the Italian scene of the early 2000s, in the style of "Mi Fist" by Club Dogo, then gives way to a more modern backing beat interrupted by Caribbean sounds with trumpet and keyboard loops on which Kean asserts his success, "people don't like me, it's normal — I'm a winner", underlining that he has no intention of stopping but rather looks ahead as the chorus goes "I level up, I level up, I don't want to go back broke".

Kean is without doubt the contemporary footballer who has been able to cultivate the best musical career, managing to replicate on the mic the rise he has had on the pitch over the last two years where, in addition to becoming one of the top strikers in Serie A, he has consistently entered the national team picture. In the recent past there were Rafa Leão under the pseudonym Way45 and Memphis Depay who gave free rein to their musical passion. Going further back in time, Clint Dempsey used the stage name Deuce to put his signature on "Don't Tread", the soundtrack of a Nike commercial for the 2006 World Cup. Jay Jay Okocha in 1994 jumped on the dance current of those years and recorded "I I Am Am J J", a song whose title played on the claim that accompanied his career — that he was so good they named him twice. There would be many other examples but none of them managed to replicate on the mic the same swag shown on the pitch like Kean. All except one: Youri Djorkaeff.

Vivre dans ta lumiére

When we interviewed Djorkaeff for Les Vêtements de Football – The Golden Age of Football Jerseys, we made a discovery that left us astonished: the former Inter player in 2000 released "Vivre dans ta lumière", a rap composed together with Paul Tordjmann with funky sonorities enhanced by the bassline, a Nile Rodgers–style guitar riff and a chorus of female voices that in the refrain harmonically claimed a happy, vagabond life for Djorkaeff. A hit. There is no other way to describe it. A song that captivates at first listen and that you play on loop all afternoon. A masterpiece in which Djorkaeff at the microphone was able to return the same feeling of pure technique and mastery of the moment that he used to deliver on the pitch. If today it seems normal that a footballer has a parallel career to the pitch, whether in music or fashion or any other sector, in 2000 the situation was completely different.

A gesture like Djorkaeff's was unusual if not outright disapproved of. All the more so since we are not talking about an ordinary player but a footballer who, in addition to having won international trophies with PSG and Inter, had been part of France, world champions in 1998 and European champions in 2000. Two iconic moments in football history with the Blues who in 1998 defeated Brazil led by Zinedine Zidane's brace in Saint-Denis and then in 2000 beat Italy in the final in Rotterdam thanks to David Trezeguet's golden goal. One of the strongest teams ever, the first true generation of superstar footballers, of which Djorkaeff was part. And yet despite this notoriety, or perhaps precisely because of a sense of contentment derived from sporting victories, Djorkaeff decided to challenge himself in a field seemingly far from him. The result was a masterpiece of swag.