Barcelona's partnership with streaming giants Spotify now sees Africa take centre stage with the release of their new playlist.
Football and music has always had a symbiotic relationship, and for footballers, it acts as a getaway from all the noise and pressure that comes with training and live games.
For Spotify, this symbiosis is best shown in the partnership with FC Barcelona, part of which birthed the Barça African Connect playlist, combining football from FC Barcelona and music subcultures from Africa.
16:22 - 17.08.2023
Spotify partners with Giants of Africa to inspire Nigerian Youth basketball team through music
Spotify has partnered with Giants of Africa for its 20 year anniversary to bring together music and sports, as a way to inspire the next generation of African youth.
Spotify announce Barca Africa Connect Playlist
The playlist is made up of top African tracks that help Alejandro Balde, Jules Konde and Lamine Yamal get game-day ready.
These three footballers are not only some of FC Barcelona’s key first team players, they are also of African descent.
Barcelona’s highly-rated wingback Alejandro Balde, who recently visited Guinea Bissau was born in Barcelona to Guinean and Dominican parents, while French defender Jules Kounde was born in Paris to a French mother and a Beninese father.
The Catalans’ teenage sensation - Lamine Yamal’s father is from Morocco and his mother is from Equatorial Guinea.
Spotify also confirmed that the Barça African Connect is updated weekly, since it was launched on 14 September.
Odumodublvck, Teni headline Barca Africa Connect Playlist
The playlist features different genres of music including Afrobeats, Amapiano, Afro pop and more.
In addition to the tracks that motivate the players, the playlist also has songs from multi-platinum South African singer Ch’cco, Multi-award-winning Nigerian songstress Teni, as well as the highly-rated Nigerian rapper Odumodublvck and South African songstress Pabi Cooper, who are all part of a campaign to further showcase the synergy that exists between FC Barcelona and music from the African continent.
You can check out the full playlist here.