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5 Afrobeats artists who wanted to become footballers

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afrobeats artists football
Burna Boy. Photo/GQ
  • Ghana and Nigeria are synonymous with afrobeats music
  • While music pays handsomely, football is also huge in West Africa
  • Some decorated artists from Ghana and Nigeria always dreamt of playing football professionally

Ghana and Nigeria are synonymous with afrobeats music and it turns out that some of her big artists harboured football ambitions.

While music pays handsomely, football is also huge in West Africa. There are many footballers players hailing from this part of Africa who are still playing or played internationally. They include the following:

  • Sadio Mane (Senegal)
  • Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
  • Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)
  • Michael Essien (Ghana)
  • Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria)
  • Abedi Pele (Ghana)
  • Jay-Jay Okocha – Nigeria
  • Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast)
  • Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo)
  • Thomas Partey (Ghana)
  • John Obi Mikel (Nigeria)
  • Bukayo Saka (Nigeria)

Inspired by the success these players got from football, some artists dreamt of football but for some reason, they ended up in afrobeats music. Who are they?

KIDI, GHANA

Afrobeats artists

KiDi. Photo/MyJoyOnline

KiDi is popular for his ‘Touch It’ hit that rocked Africa, Europe and Asia. It was one of the top-charting afrobeats songs in India. However, music wasn’t something he always thought about. While KiDi made a name for himself through music, his heart was into football but his parents’ strict nature and beatings made him reconsider his choice.

Speaking on Doreen Avio Show on Joy Prime, he painted a picture of a very stubborn kid who defied constant beatings and did every cheeky thing he wanted. He loved football and he would tear his pairs of socks to make a ball with the hope of playing for Black Stars and eventually Arsenal.

But his parents always gave him a big beating for using his socks to make a ball and this sort of discouraged him from pursuing his football ambitions.

“At home, I play football with my socks. It will tear and they beat me. Looking back, I feel like if they hadn’t beaten me, I’d be playing for the Black Stars, maybe the Arsenal, or something,” he disclosed.

FAMEYE, GHANA

Fameye is a multitalented artist from Ghana with footprints in afrobeats and hiplife music. He is among the award-winning artists West Africa has but it is after flirting with football dreams for years. Choosing music over the pitch remains his biggest sacrifice.

For those who do not know him, they mistake his stature for that of a soccer player. However, he gave up playing football because he understood that there was more to life than sport.

Further, due to his resemblance to former Cameroonian footballer, Samuel Eto’o, some people fondly call him ‘Eto’o.

“I [used to] play as a defender but they nicknamed me Eto’o…I had a shirt and with paint on a paper. I inscribed his name at my back,” he said during an interview with Doreen Avio, the host of Accra-based Hitz FM.

BURNA BOY, NIGERIA

burna boy performing at uefa

Burna Boy perfoming in Los Angeles in the past. Photo by Maury Phillips/Getty Images for BET

Grammy Award-winning king of afrobeats, Nigerian artist Burna Boy was an astute goalkeeper. He loved football and still does. But he was always conflicted as to what, between music and football would make him feel important.

He chose music for this reason and it never disappointed him. The fame and success he gets from music makes him feel important.

“I love football. I was good at playing football but the wickedest thing was that I was good at goalkeeping. That’s why I just stopped because [goalkeeping] was dead. I didn’t feel so important. I just didn’t feel like I was needed like that. I felt like without me the team will still be alright. I don’t want to spend my life like that,” he told Julie Adenuga, a British Nigerian media personality.

P-SQUARE, NIGERIA

P-Square football music

P-Square. Photo/Capital News

Nigerian musical duo, the P-Square twin brothers Peter and Paul Okoye always wanted to be footballers but gave up their dream a little too early for music.

The duo said football was always enchanting for them in Jos, Plateau State where they grew up. Here, football was a way of life and they played at the Pepsi Academy together with legendary footballer Mike Obi.

Paul narrated that he was a goalkeeper while Peter was an outstanding player. However, age and the allure of music always played out and it made them international celebrities

They chose to do music instead, a decision they don’t regret years later. P-Square got fame internationally through music.

Teresa is a journalist with years of experience in creating web content. She is a wanderlust at heart, but an outgoing sports writer with focus on tennis, athletics, football, motorsports and NBA.

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