What better way to celebrate athletes, sports, and sporting events than with a playlist! Here are 10 sports-related songs from 2017.
Ah sports and sporting events ā nothing better! Cutting straight to the chase, the 10 songs selected for this playlist center around athletes, sports, or a specific sporting event.Ā Artists gracing our esteemed compilation include The Killers, Mansionz, and Weezer among others.Ā Without further ado, here are 10 Sports-Related Songs from 2017!
1. The Killers, āTyson vs. Douglasā
Album: Wonderful Wonderful
Island
Las Vegas band The Killers earn the crĆØme de la crĆØme of sports-related songs with āTyson vs. Douglas.ā āTyson vs. Douglasā is incredibly clever, using a famous boxing match to fuel its fire.Ā The match is explicitly mentioned on the irresistible chorus:
āWhen I saw him go down / Felt like somebody lied / I had to hold my breath ātil the coast was clear / When I saw him go down / Felt like somebody lied / I had to close my eyes just to stop the tears.ā
The verses focus on a bigger picture, more personal and pertinent to Flowers.Ā The bridge specifically sheds light on Flowersā feels:
āLookinā out the window out on the street / My boy and his mother / And I think of me / Feelinā the slip again / Donāt wanna fall / You said it was nothing, but maybe youāre wrong.ā
2. Mansionz, āDennis Rodmanā
Ft. Dennis Rodman
Album: mansionz
Island
Unfortunately, the blackbear, Mike Posner collaboration mansionz didnāt get the attention (or commercial sales) it deserved.Ā Nonetheless, the album has a number of intriguing moments, including āDennis Rodman.ā Appropriately, the song features Dennis Rodman on the outro. It embodies spirit of the flamboyant former NBA star.Ā The bigger picture is that it embraces free-spiritedness.
The final verse offers a perfect moment of this free-spiritedness:
āYeah, Iāma wear a dress if I want to Green hair, fishnets if I want to Smoke, drink, do drugs if I want to I aināt really trying to impress you Iāma be as bad as I wanna be You can be as mad as you wanna be.ā
3. Andy Mineo & Wordpslayed, āDunk Contestā (Magic Bird)
Album: Andy Mineo and Wordsplayed Present Magic & Bird
Reach
When Christian rappers come together, you donāt expect the concept or topic of choice to be basketball.Ā In the case of Andy Mineo and Wordsplayed, basketball fuels the fire throughout their mixtape, Magic & Bird.
āYeah, this that, this that, this that Penny with the Shaq / Yeah, if heās passinā me the rock, they might not get it back.ā
āDunk Contest (Magic Bird),ā the ātitle trackā of sorts, is āda bomb.āĀ The production is superb, while both rappers drop strong rhymes, and an infectious, ballinā hook.
āI just threw it off the backboard / Game winner, Iām the one they ask for / Magic Bird, Magic Bird, Magic Birdā¦ā
4. Wale, āRunning Backā
Ft. Lil Wayne
Album: Shine
Atlantic
Wale didnāt play a great game this year.Ā Shine was one of the yearās flops.Ā However, the album had its moments, including a nod to football on āRunning Back,ā featuring Lil Wayne. Ā While āRunning Backā is atypical of what we hear from Folarin, itās slick AF and ends up working out well.Ā Essentially, this standout is a hard-hitting, flex-fest for both rappers.Ā Wale is on autopilot, using football-speak to his advantage:
āB*tches want money stacks, I just want my percent / She told me to hit the hole, I used to play running back / You n*ggas be fumbling, donāt give āem no gun again / These b*tches be flying out, yeah, ācause money be coming in.ā
The part about hit the hole is just what you think it is.
5. Weezer, āQB Blitzā
Album: Pacific Daydream
Atlantic
Weezer isnāt the first artist one would associate with sports.Ā However, on their 2017 album Pacific Daydream, Rivers Cuomo schools us about football on āQB Blitz.ā Ā In the context of the album, āQB Blitzā continues to feature solid production work.Ā The lyrics are āemoā to the nth degreeā¦ yeah, this isnāt really about football! The chorus is catchy, if incredibly corny:
āThis intercom is broken into pieces / I gotta call my QB Blitz, blitz / Out on the ice fields of Hoth / I’ll be / I’ll be missing you like oxygenā¦ā
6. Offset & Metro Boomin, āRic Flair Dropā
Album: Without Warning
Epic / Motown / Capitol / RepublicĀ
Without Warning ā thatās exactly how Without Warning, the collaborative album/mixtape between 21 Savage, Offset, and Metro Boomin arrived on October 31, 2017. Offset goes solo on the short and sweet āRic Flair Drip.ā Ric Flair is a retired, renowned pro wrestler of course, who recently had a colorful ā30 for 30ā documentary about him on ESPN. But back to the song, which is more about flexing than wrestling.Ā That said, Flair plays a role in that swagger as well, at least in regards to his sexually outlandish ways.
Offset offers up a catchy chorus that serves as the crowning achievement of the record.
āGoing to the jeweler, bust the AP, yeah / Slide on the water like a jet-ski, yeah / Iām tryna f*ck you and your bestie, yeah / Chopper with the scope so do not test me, yeah / Ric Flair drip, go āwooā on a b*tch / Fifty-seven ninety, split the coupe on my wrist / Multi-million dollar, Iām a fool with the hits / Hop up in the Lamb and drop the roof, show the t*ts.ā
Even so, heās slick and chocked-full of game on the verses.Ā The production, handled by Metro Boomin and Bijan Amir, is smooth and luxurious ā in a southern-rap sort of way.
7. Bleachers, āDream of Mickey Mantleā
Album: Gone Now
RCA
On āDream of Mickey Mantle,ā the opening song from Bleachersā sophomore album Gone Now, Jack Antonoff references Mickey Mantle. During the chorus, the death of the legendary baseball player is mentioned, rather implied.
āRolling thunder had cursed my bedroom / Heard from your mother, she donāt recognize you / Now Mickey Mantle left on a Sunday / And all the neighborhood rushes home to play.ā
āDream of Mickey Mantleā is also interesting in a number of other regards.Ā Antonoff cites two additional songs from Gone Now in a particular lyric ā āI Miss Those Daysā and āDonāt Take the Money.ā He sings:
āI miss those days so I sing a donāt take the money song.ā
If nothing else, it kicks off the effort with an alternative bang.
8. Lil Pump, āD Roseā
Album: Lil Pump
Warner Bros.
SoundCloud rappers are everywhere these days, sigh. Lil Pump is among the crop, experiencing success with his first official project, Lil Pump.Ā āD Rose,ā as in Derrick Rose, is among the songs appearing on the album. āD Roseā is less about the pro basketball player than it is about flexing.Ā Over and over, āD Roseā is repeated, when Lil Pump isnāt rapping, ā100 on my wrist, 80 on my wrist.ā His cockiness continues at an all-time high as he asserts, āLil Pump never spendinā money on a b*tch.ā
9. Andy Mineo & Wordpslayed, āāLay Upā
Album: Andy Mineo and Wordsplayed Present Magic & Bird
ReachĀ
To reiterate, when Christian rappers come together, you donāt expect the concept or topic of choice to be basketball.Ā In the case of Andy Mineo and Wordsplayed, basketball fuels the fire throughout their mixtape, Magic & Bird. Ā Moving on. On āLay Up,ā the lay ups arenāt ābuckets,ā even though itās used metaphorically.Ā This is about surefire things in life. Mineo uses his wife as an example on the first verse as a layup.
āāShe fly, love God, and sheās got a good mind / Oh boy, thatās a layup!āā
Wordsplay drops hot rhymes as well, with his swimming, He Got Game lines shining.
āColored folks still canāt swim / But Mike Phelps couldnāt walk the water / Pastor said that we need Jesus / Big State was his alma mater.ā
10. Migos, āMotor Sportā
Ft. Cardi B & Nicki Minaj
Motown
Migos have had a huge year in 2017, period.Ā They instilled Culture into the music industry, and the industry hasnāt looked back since.Ā They return with a new, athletic single, āMotorSport,ā assisted by Nicki Minaj and Cardi B. Ā The key word being sport, cuz thatās about the only thing sports-related about this joint.Ā The production work is a beautiful combination of luxury and the trap.Ā Migos continues to drop triplet-packed rhymes like its nothing.
Quavo uses sports metaphors (fittingly) and also references some prescription drugs. Offset drops lines about a Lamborghini, Patek watches, and references āBad and Boujee.ā Later, Takeoff references the ākitty,ā Percocet, and his Richard Mille watch. In between, Cardi B is fierce ā sexed up and unapologetic ā on her verse. Ā As for Nicki Minaj, she informs the world:
āWatch your man, then you should watch your mouth / B*tches is pressed, administer mouth to mouth.ā
She also drops her beloved āB*tch, you my sonā line.Ā What an experience to say the least.
Photo Credits: Island, Reach, Atlantic, Epic, Motown, Capitol, Republic, RCA, Warner Bros.