Canadian rap musician who first gained fame as an actor on the acclaimed TV teenage drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation and went on to a successful and influential music career, Drake enormous Spotify success will be on full display during this weekend’s “El Clásico,” one of the biggest fixtures in the global soccer calendar.
In January 2021, it was reported that the OVO hitmaker had amassed an astonishing 50 billion streams on Spotify across all credits, becoming the first artist to reach the milestone, according to HipHopDX.
Now, almost two years later, Drake’s historic achievement will be honored when Spanish soccer giants FC Barcelona and Real Madrid face off against each other at the Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday (October 16).
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Barça, whose main kit sponsor is Spotify, announced on Friday (October 14) that their players’ jerseys will be adorned with Drake’s OVO owl logo to commemorate his streaming record.
According to Spotify, From the start, we’ve had big plans for our partnership with FC Barcelona. We want to create a platform for artists that taps into the club’s massive global fan base. So as part of FC Barcelona upcoming El Clásico showdown—one of the most iconic events in all of sport—we’ve teamed up with Drake and FC Barcelona to create a limited-edition kit.
Emblazoned with the signature OVO owl logo, these shirts reaffirm our commitment to bringing the worlds of music and football together.
“Our alliance with Spotify goes beyond a mere commercial relationship. It is a strategic relationship through which we seek to bring together two worlds that can arouse emotion, namely music and football,” said Juli Guiu, Vice President for the marketing area of FC Barcelona. “This initiative is another example of this desire and the innovative spirit of our collaboration.
“For the first time in our history, we are replacing the name of our main sponsor on the front of the jersey with an internationally acclaimed artist, Drake. This initiative shows our potential to become a unique platform to offer experiences that help bring us closer to our fans while reaching out to new audiences around the world.”
These shirts also celebrate an important milestone for Drake: He’s the first artist to have his tracks streamed 50 billion times on Spotify. And to give fans a glimpse of what to expect this Sunday, Drake had the honor of unboxing the first shirt, complete with the number 50 on the back to signal his achievement.
As October’s Very Own, what better match for Drake to debut the shirt than at this October’s El Clásico? To celebrate Drake and his impact on music, the men’s squad will be wearing the shirts when they step onto the pitch this Sunday. And before the match, they’ll warm up in training jerseys with “50” on the back. Even beyond Drake’s record-setting numbers and FC Barcelona fandom, we couldn’t imagine a more perfect fit for this collaboration. From the release of Thank Me Later in 2010 to this year’s Honestly, Nevermind, Drake has been a defining artist of the streaming era.
“We were really excited to celebrate one of the biggest games of the year and mark Drake’s milestone as the first artist to reach 50 billion streams,” Marc Hazan, Spotify VP of Partnerships, told For the Record. “We’ve always said that we want this partnership to be a celebration of fans, players, and artists on a global stage—and there’s no bigger stage than El Clásico.”
And because his passionate fans have played a vital role in his reaching this mark, Spotify will be thanking them—and select FC Barcelona members—with a giveaway of these special-edition FC Barcelona jerseys.
Drake is no stranger to the world of soccer having attended games and repped the attire of clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea and Juventus (although his multi-team fandom has been a source of amusement amongst fiercely loyal European soccer fans).
The Toronto native has also name-dropped ballers like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and David Beckham in his music. “Take her to see Cristiano, fuck her in that Benz Viano / Champions League shit, there’ll be a driver for you on arrival,” he bragged on Future’s I Never Liked You track “I’m On One.”
Spotify’s mission is to help artists unlock their creativity, connect with their fans, and make a living off their art. And whether it’s through experiences such as the FC Barcelona summer tour, pitchside ads, or the OVO shirt swap, we believe this partnership creates many opportunities to deliver on this mission in unique, imaginative ways.
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Sources: HiphopDX, Spotify
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