That Is Dide? Air Information Meets The secret Rapper Exactly who states to try out into the prime League
Dressed as to what seems to be a rather designer that is expensive top, from the neck down the man in front of me certainly looks the part of professional footballer on a day off. Box-fresh white Nikes, baggy shorts over sports tights and gloves complete the look – along with the studded rose that is black hiding their identification.
This is actually Dide, an incognito rap artist just who began music that is releasing earlier in 2023. Why the mystery? Because, he claims, he is also a Premier that is current League.
Strolling A far cry from the multimillion-pound stadiums he says he is used to, he says hello and shakes hands with the Sky News crew before settling down on the astroturf to give his first on-camera interview, his manager and also his own cameraman in tow.
Word spreads quickly and a small crowd of young footballers grows behind us, eager to watch the man in the strange mask, potentially a British footballing hero, in action.
Dide’s across a small city pitch usually reserved for five-a-side games near London’s Waterloo Station appearance gives little away; he’s about 5ft 10in and slender-ish, though the top is loose, pretty much every inch of his body is covered. The voice that has clocked up millions of YouTube views and now spotify plays talking in individual – the feature implies London – is certainly not altered or altered by any means, he guarantees.
There has become speculation that is frenzied numerous headlines written since the release of his first track, Thrill, in April. The song has racked up more than 5m plays on Spotify and Dide has more than 200,000 listeners that are monthly on YouTube, the track provides 2.3m opinions in addition to singer very nearly 80,000 website subscribers.
Image:“stays winning”Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah is probably the names in mix“seeing seven figures”Or, could this all end up being a marketing ploy that is clever? There is no doubt the anonymity has helped create a wave of interest. His lyrics feed the hype, with references to a team that
and players Neymar that is including and Kane, in addition to him
.“No disrespect”Sky Information questioned to confirm Dide’s identification maybe not for book, but he politely dropped. But, as opposed to asking for to generally meet at possibly the less dangerous alternative of a music facility, he did say yes to a football pitch, willing to reveal his skills off – more on this later.
He also doesn’t dodge questions about the stadiums he’s played at or the players he’s faced during his career. Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium has the changing rooms that are best, obviously; surprisingly, looking at these were merely advertised this coming year, Luton Town’s Kenilworth path the worst.
.
Image:
Luton’s Kenilworth Path Stadium. Pic: AP/Frank Augstein
‘I see things from afar’
A glance in the features verifies merely four prime League groups have actually starred Luton community at Kenilworth path this coming year: western Ham, Wolves, Burnley, Spurs. Then there’s the time of your meeting, the of Sunday 22 October afternoon. If Dide plays for West Ham, he has just half an full hour afterward to start up against Aston Villa, at Villa Park. Actually Kylian Mbappe is not that rapid.
Would he actually slim it straight down by that much? Could he end up being an even more Premier that is recent League just who played Luton formerly inside the tournament? Or could their Luton solution be a slip-up?
Image:“Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion,”Pic: BLVCKROSE Ltd“Obviously we made the decision [to be anonymous] and we ran with it. It kind of organically happened. Nothing was really thought out to trick people… The main thing for me is the music rather than the football player. I guess fans and the public ran with all these different opinions, which is cool. But it was definitely not a marketing trick.”
Dide claims he’s the deal that is real. “not being able to go to Tesco or something like that… you don’t really have a life outside of football, there’s always eyes on you” he says. https://statefort.com/category/entertainment/”>CelebrityHe says his favourite player of all time is hero that is arsenal Henry – a clue to their group, possibly? – in addition to best member he’s got show up against is actually lately resigned previous Chelsea and genuine Madrid celebrity Eden risk. The quintessential irritating benefit of getting a Premier League footballer is
. It’s a answer that is fairly standard the worst aspects of
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He speaks slowly, pausing often and considering his responses. He refers to “protects myself, protects other football players as well”, which is Dide and his manager, Shola Akins, one of apparently very people that are few understand their genuine identification. The songs is actually circulated through their unique tag BLVCKROSE Ltd and Akins, who has got formerly worked as a music publisher, states obtained identified one another for a years that are few“It might be about my teammate, for example.”The anonymity “F*** being rich, I’d rather help the poor/ Government’s got no remorse/ And Rishi Sunak couldn’t help the cause/ So here’s Dide spitting peace tryna wipe the floor.”
“I see things from afar and I feel like, especially at the moment, there’s a lot of stuff going on, a lot of people need support,”, Dide says, because his lyrics don’t just tell his stories that are own. “A lot of the communities and the young people, some people don’t have places to live. The economy at the moment ain’t great, prices are rising. And I feel like Rishi Sunak and the government, obviously they’re responsible for that. I think that specific lyric was more of a cry out for help for our community.”
‘Footballers are human beings – we do have feelings’
additionally they ingest politics, with Thrill knife that is tackling and poverty:
according to him.
Image:“Every game we get criticised, when we win, when we draw, whether you play bad, whether you play good. Adding something outside of football is just adding more [potential for] criticism. So it was easy for me to make that decision to try and keep the music separate. And, you know, they’re two different things. My effort and my concentration towards football is 100%.”
Pic: BLVCKROSE Ltd“let it all out”Players can frequently deal with feedback on / off the pitch, according to him, providing one more reason for their mask. Dide states he’s got started to see music that is making a form of therapy, a way to . Is mental “I don’t want to seem like we don’t get support because we do,”Health“Obviously the PFA are big on mental health and supporting the players… but definitely mental health is a big thing in football.
“A lot of people don’t really get to see what goes on behind the scenes… whether you’re playing one minute and you’re dropped, whether you’re injured for however many weeks. People don’t really see how that can affect you as a human being. That’s definitely one of the main topics I want to touch on in the music, because people need to understand that footballers are human beings as well… we do have feelings, we do have things we’re going through outside of football as well.”
an issue in the sport? “spread a positive vibe” he says. “the highs and lows”Dide says he hopes to motivate younger footballers and fans, “I feel like Dide is a voice for football players, for the sport.”
, as well as detail “first love”. Following the release of his first mixtape, Who Is Dide?, featuring tracks including Derby Day and Tactical Foul, in September, how does he answer the question that is titular? “One day we had training, we had the day off the next day, me and my teammates thought: why not? Let’s go studio… It kind of just progressed into what it is. It wasn’t really something I planned to do, but it’s just another way of expressing myself.”
He has got obviously already been playing baseball, their “A lot of us go into the studio just for fun, but no one really knows how far it’s gone.”, it is all he has ever considered as a career since he was six, says. Music, he reveals, is a passion for a complete lot of users behind the moments but was actually never ever one thing he usually wanted to go after severely. “They ask me, like, ‘Oh, is it you?’… But just the same way that it can be me, it could be someone else. So there’s no real one thing that would make it be, you know, one football player.”
Clarifying, according to him their teammates stay static in the black. “As the music comes out, it will kind of make sense… Maybe I might reveal myself in the future. Who knows?”
however some of those have actually their unique suspicions. “depending on if we win or get a good result”The mask has flowers because their favorite color is rose silver, according to him, which truly seems like a answer that is credible someone who could afford rose gold jewellery. Both the mask and the true name dide contain clues to just who he’s, he includes. “when you’re at home chilling by yourself, or with your family, whatever. That’s when I start writing music… or playing FIFA with my teammates. It’s not something I have to go out my way to do because I’m at home anyway”Some have actually interrogate just how a footballer that is professional dedicate so much time to another venture. Dide admits he has just one off a week, sometimes two,
day. Their time that is free comes the night
.
What carry out the specialists state?
Image:Could Dide be England and Arsenal celebrity Bukayo Saka? Pic: Europa hit via APTrying to make the journey to the base of all of it, we talked to a baseball publisher, a songs specialist and an coach that is accent get their thoughts.https://statefort.com/category/news”>UniversityBritish grime DJ and hip-hop expert Alex de Lacey, an assistant https://statefort.com/category/entertainment/”>EntertainmentProfessor
“You saw it in the ’90s, some kind of engagement between Britpop and football and this kind of conflation in culture. But UK rap and drill and football is much more tied together… there was the grime clash between Bradley Wright-Phillips and Yannick Bolasie. And now what we’re seeing is musicians and footballers hanging out, socialising, and this sense of proximity is much more pronounced than it was before.”
of popular music at the
. The puzzle encompassing the reported prime League member identification is actually “a reflection of this increasing overlap between football, music, entertainment”, but* that is( he says. “They’re also very hot on their music partnerships, they had Pusha T in the third kit recently. But it’s all just conjecture – which I guess is the point of it.” He says Dide’s real identity actually doesn’t matter as much as what he represents – “A lot of young men and women growing up in London, in the inner city… they have a proximity to this culture in a way that means they probably did rap when they were kids. So they kind of grew up rapping, listening to the same tunes, playing football… they say the main way to succeed is through football or through rap. I think that’s something which has been cultivated over the past 20 years with young people in their everyday social life. So the likelihood of this happening more and more just seems pretty apparent.” – and the point at which people find out “multicultural London English”. As an fan that is arsenal nonetheless, according to him it will be interesting to find the rap artist is actually a Gunner. He goes on: , he says, which is influenced by east London as well as the Caribbean, Africa and India, and now heard mainly in south London but afield that is also further the money along with other elements of the UK.
Image:“I think it could be his voice… Dide’s voice is quite far forward, there’s a very light and open quality to his rapping. And I think Bukayo’s voice lends itself a bit more towards that.” Alex Iwobi relocated from Everton to Fulham in Sep. Pic: AP Photo/Jon Super“Given how much fans Study players these days, given how nothing is secret in football, I think it would be very, very unlikely to be a Premier League footballer,”There are unexpected intonations in Dide’s rapping that will advise influence that is jamaican heritage, which might suggest Michail Antonio or even Raheem Sterling, he says. However, this could also be down to the difference between Dide’s voice that is speaking rapping sound, he includes, because there are a distinction.“I might be wrong, but if Dide is actually a Premier League footballer, I’ve got the feeling he’s had to throw people off the scent with his lyrics a little bit.” But You also have to listen to the rhythm and placement of someone’s accent as well, which he says makes him rule out Antonio. Iwobi and Ojo are possibles, he says, but Saka is most similar. “But it feels like that would be too good to be true, if one of the best players in the world at the moment was also moonlighting as a rapper. I think that would just be too exciting.” So what do football experts think? Mark White, a writer for the FourFourTwo website and magazine, is actually sceptical. according to him. light has actually fulfilled Nketiah and really does believe he is n’t the man behind the mask. Of all the theories, like our voice coach he thinks England star Saka’s speaking voice is the match that is closest. So… can Dide just take a penalty? “If anything [the music is] a positive. I’m trying to inspire other people, inspire other football players to come out and speak their truth… and just express themselves. Obviously, football is the main priority and if I was coming in late to training or whatever, then obviously that would be a problem. But I like doing music in my spare time. To me, it’s better than going out clubbing or whatever.” After we chat, Dide swaps his trainers for baseball footwear and leaves golf ball from the spot – pointing out of the issues in this way while putting on their mask. The couple that is first of are easily saved by one of the young boys from the crowd who has happily offered to play goalie, but he soon gets into his stride.“To me, that’s funny. Obviously I know Harry Maguire quite well… but I don’t really look at social media too much.” Is he convincing? I definitely want to believe it – and there’s no reason why a professional footballer couldn’t also be a rapper that is talented. Considering their abilities? It’s hard to express, that he doesn’t appear to be treating his shots with the gravitas of, say, a cup final although it’s worth noting the mask once again, the small five-a-side goal, and also. Plus, he wouldn’t be the English that is first player overlook a penalty – though we don’t think of the stress of scoring right in front of a Sky News team is fairly just like a-game seen by hundreds of thousands.“main happiness”As for what’s then for Dide, you can find obviously intends to perform shows that are live some point, working around his schedule. And there is nothing in his contract that would stop him from releasing music, he says, he says the strangest theory he has come across is that Dide is Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire. (*)Instead, his (*) comes from the positive reaction and (*), he says whether he ever reveals his identity or not.(*)On the speculation. (*)Are we any nearer to responding to practical question: that is Dide? Possibly a tiny bit. It appears like the puzzle shall remain live for some time yet.(*)
Voice and coach that is accent Howard had a listen to Dide’s tracks and speaking voice to see if he could shed any light on his identity, analysing his music and speech against the speech of some of the frontrunners. The rapper’s accent falls into the category of 
