music

The story behind the weekly Atlanta United FC rap recap series

Kyle Conarro

Kyle Conarro

— 6 min read

This past January, I had the privilege of watching the Falcons beat the Packers in the NFC Championship Game in person. The final game at the Georgia Dome (…or maybe not), it will go down as the best game I’ve ever attended.

January 22, 2017 — NFC Championship Game: A view from the not-so-cheap-but-still-cheapest seats

Coming off such a big win, I was inspired. I borrowed a rap instrumental and created a sort of recap/celebration rap, “Atlanta’s Moment”, to commemorate the win and hype the upcoming Super Bowl. Atlanta is a hip-hop hub. The city was rallying behind the Falcons. The rap + sports fusion just made sense.

When the dust settled on February 6, the city was quiet. Atlantans tacitly agreed not to speak of what had happened for a while. The sports talkers didn’t make it any easier. But there was something new on the horizon, something years in the making. Something we could get excited about. Something we could redirect our energy toward.

That something? Atlanta United FC, our very own Major League Soccer team.

March 5, 2017 — Home opener vs. New York Red Bulls: The view from my section

As a founding member, I’d plunked down my $50 as a sort of micro-commitment two years prior. And now, in March of 2017, it was finally here. What better way to kick off the inaugural season than with another rap track?

Repurposing Outkast’s seminal hit “Player’s Ball”, I put together a track to hype the opener and run through the team’s roster. The song got a bit of circulation among fans locally, and I had fun making it. Atlanta’s debut game came and went, and that was that.

All the players came from far and wide
from across the Atlantic, down to Paraguay
flew to Atlanta to unite
and conquer MLS wearing five stripes

Week two of the season saw Atlanta travel to Minneapolis to play the other 2017 expansion club, Minnesota United FC. The week before the game, someone suggested I do a follow-up song using a backing track by a Minnesota rapper. So I did. This time I took P.O.S’s “Bleeding Hearts Club (Mpls. Chapter)” and fashioned it into a recap of week one + preview of week two.

And so began my weekly rap series, “Kickin’ it with ATL UTD”.

In keeping with the origins of the series, each week I repurpose music by artists from Atlanta or from the city of the upcoming opponent. Below is a breakdown of each track in series so far.

You can check out the entire album here and watch all videos in the series here. Subscribe to catch each week’s track as they get released!

Soccer Player’s Ball

Hype track for the first-ever MLS game in Atlanta vs. New York Red Bulls. Names every player on the roster (at the time).

Week 2 (Mpls. Chapter)

Audio of “the first-ever goal in Atlanta United history” in the tough loss to RBNY. High/lowlights from the week 1 match of fellow expansion team MNUFC.

Birthday Song (Week 3) ft. Gonzo

My birthday (and Gonzo’s) was within a week of this game, so this was a true birthday wish. Showcases the snowy scoring frenzy from the Minneapolis game. First week with video.

Can’t Hold Us (Week 4/5)

Highlights the first home win in team history, a 4–1 rout of Chicago. Previews week 5 match against the Seattle Sounders.

Hold On, We’re On The Road (Week 6 in the Six)

Covers the nil-nil draw vs. Seattle. The first medley in the series. Lots of bars. No video this week (not much to highlight…)

À Montréal (15/04/2017)

Another medley. Recaps the epic 2–2 draw vs. Toronto at BMO Field. Had to dig for Montréal rap tracks…

Headin’ to Salt Lake (Week 8)

Highlights the tough 2–1 loss to Montreal, as well as the continuation of the red card saga (LGP this time). A detour from rap, this week features a weak attempt at singing (as well as a closing rap verse).

Back to Bobby (Week 9)

Another two-song medley/mash. Recaps the 3–1 road win over RSL and celebrates the return to Bobby Dodd Stadium to face D.C. United.

All The Way Up (Week 10)

Weak showing in a 3–0 loss in week 9, not a lot of good highlights this time ‘round. Previews the week 10 road game in the Bronx vs. NYC FC.

Timber / We Unite (Week 11)

Another shaky outing led to a loss at NYC. Tries to maintain optimism that our attack will return (and maybe Josef Martinez one day, too).

International Players Anthem (Week 12)

Repurposes a song about an “international player” into one about Atlanta United’s international players. See what I did there? Had fun with this one, especially the video. Intro verse follows the original André 3000 flow pretty closely.

Hypnotize (Week 13)

Celebrates Miguel Almiron’s first hat-trick with the Five Stripes in a 3–1 trouncing of Houston at home. The “Biggie” to “Miggy” conversion was too good to pass up.

Southern Touch (Week 14)

Highlights another 3–1 win at home and warns the Vancouver Whitecaps that the Stripes are comin’ their way.

Up in the CHI (Week 15)

Tough 3–1 loss in Vancouver after taking an early 1–0 lead. Recaps the loss, hopes for more in the upcoming game against Chicago.

Whew! That’s all for now, but don’t forget to subscribe on Youtube, follow on Soundcloud, and/or follow on Twitter to keep up with the series.

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