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Tag: Declan Rice

  • ‘Declan Rice’ most global Nigerian song with impact – Odumodublvck

    ‘Declan Rice’ most global Nigerian song with impact – Odumodublvck

    Rapper Odumodublvck has reaffirmed his impact on Nigerian hip-hop, citing the cultural significance of his song featuring the viral line “Make the good devil wells white with Larry Gaga”.

    In an interview on Beat FM, he challenged detractors to provide metrics to measure cultural impact, referencing the song’s substantial digital presence.

    Odumodublvck drew a comparison to Declan Rice’s signing with Arsenal Football Club, emphasising the song’s reach.

    He expressed frustration with those questioning his rap credentials, vowing to respond through his music.

    According to him, he remains confident in his artistry, feeling underappreciated despite his influence.

    Read Also: Odumodublvck hails Rema over N40m donation to support record

    Odumodublvck said, “You start rapping and you try to sound like Odumodu. They will say, hey, brother, hey, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. Yeah. But make the good devil wells white with Larry Gaga, I deliver this A1 verse. You know, A1. So many other verses. We’ve done it in English. We’ve done it in vernacular. We’ve done it in everything, but they want to talk now about it because they feel intimidated by which line has had more cultural impact than that line on the cast.

    “Which hip-hop song has had more cultural impact in the last 20 years? In the history of Nigerian hip-hop, no Nigerian song has had more impact in the world than Declan Rice. It is the biggest digital asset in Arsenal Football Club ever on Twitter, ever on Instagram. Declan Rice signing, check it, since the history of the club. What metrics are we using? What metrics? They should bring it out. As we speak now, when you say that the guy is not a rapper, fallacy; that’s ungrateful. I’m going to punish all of them”.

  • DECLAN RICE: I’ve always wanted to be a footballer

    DECLAN RICE: I’ve always wanted to be a footballer

    Declan Rice on how his footballing upbringing resulted in the all-round midfielder we see today.

    Declan, what do you remember about your very early years being coached?

    At that age, about eight, nine or ten, I was training three times a week with a game on Sunday when I was at Chelsea. We trained Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with the matches on the Sunday. At that age it was all about enjoyment for me. There wasn’t much tactical aspect to it, it was about developing, getting better, meeting teammates, creating friendships. Training was very different to what it is now. There used to be a lot of circuit work and working on individual areas.

    What were the main lessons back then that have stuck with you ever since?

    Every Tuesday and Thursday we would train in the dome, and it would never change – it would be 6pm until 8pm, the dome split into four areas, and in each one you worked on something different. It could be 20 minutes just working on your left foot, then 20 minutes on a passing drill, 20 minutes of finishing and 20 minutes of defending. Then every week it would be a different theme for each square. I think that made me learn and develop so much quicker because we were learning all different types of the game. A lot of the players I was playing with then have since gone on to have good careers and I think those sessions stood us in good stead.

    Who were the players you looked up to back then?

    Back then I don’t remember watching much football, but I was at Chelsea so we would go to those games. John Terry was the captain, and I was a centre back so I watched him all the time. How he played, how he was a leader, how much he cared, how he set good standards. Then as time went on, and I went to West Ham, I learnt from senior pros like Mark Noble and Aaron Cresswell. People who had played throughout the leagues and really helped me. Having good influences and looking up to people who had such good careers, really helped me out.

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    Have you thought about what you want to do after your playing days?

    I don’t know where my career is going to go, but ever since I started playing from when I was a kid, I’ve learnt so much – on the pitch and off it, from different players and coaches, so I probably would like to learn something different to do with football. With the schedule we have now that’s impossible, but definitely somewhere down the line. Football is such a big world, and there is so much you can do, that I wouldn’t want to waste my career and not stay in it when I finish playing.

    What would your footballing philosophy be?

    I’ve learnt so much from different managers, especially Mikel. It would take forever to tell you everything about the knowledge this guy has on football. How he thinks about the game, how he allows us to go out every week with every detail on how we can beat the opposition. If I was a coach, I would like to embrace some of that philosophy. Any player who gets to work with him during his managerial career will tell you what they have learnt from him and what a great coach he is.

    Who in current squad would make the best manager, and why?

    Probably Jorginho. I’ve played against him and with him for years, and seen him play for Italy, and I would say that out of everyone I’ve ever played with, he’s in the top three football brains I’ve ever seen. The way he thinks about the game, his knowledge, I just think he’ll go on to have a really good managerial career because of how he sees the game.

  • Odumodublvck’s ‘Declan Rice’ rose to 200% streams after Arsenal’s win

    Odumodublvck’s ‘Declan Rice’ rose to 200% streams after Arsenal’s win

    Hip-hop star Odumodublvck’s song “Declan Rice” saw a significant surge in streams after the Arsenal vs Real Madrid match, where Declan Rice scored two stunning free-kick goals, leading Arsenal to a 3-0 win.

    The song’s streams jumped by 200% following the match as fans celebrated Rice’s impressive performance.

    He said: “Yesterday Declan Rice went 200% on streams. Make una use footballer name sing o”.

    “Declan Rice” was a major turning point for Odumodublvck, released in March 2023 as part of his project “Eziokwu”.

    The song enjoyed huge commercial success, including a Rap Song of the Year win at the 16th Headies Awards.

    Interestingly, the song was also linked to Declan Rice’s transfer from West Ham to Arsenal for a club-record signing fee of £100 million.

    Read Also: Why I kept my children off social media, by Odumodublvck

    Following the transfer announcement, the song’s streams surged by 605% on Spotify UK, showcasing the strong connection between the song and the football star.

    Odumodublvck has been gaining recognition for his music, with his recent project “The Machine Is Coming”.

    He’s also been nominated for several awards, including eight categories at the 17th Headies Awards.

  • UCL: Declan Rice scores two free-kicks as Gunners smash Real Madrid

    UCL: Declan Rice scores two free-kicks as Gunners smash Real Madrid

    Declan Rice scored two excellent second-half free-kicks as Arsenal stunned Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals at Emirates Stadium to take a three-goal advantage into the second leg.

    Mikel Arteta had asked the Arsenal fans to arrive early to create an impressive atmosphere inside the stadium, and the team responded by starting the game quickly with a number of dangerous crosses into the Madrid penalty area.

    It took until the 20th minute for Madrid to have their first real chance, when Vinicius Jr curled an effort wide.

    But Rice took control of the tie for Arsenal in the second half.

    The Gunners were the better side all evening and took the lead in the 58th minute, when Rice curled the first of two excellent free-kicks round the Real Madrid wall into the corner of the net past Thibaut Courtois.

    Rice scored his second of the night with a free-kick of equal quality 12 minutes later, bending another long-range effort into the top right-hand corner to leave Madrid stunned.

    Read Also: EPL: Declan Rice sent off as Brighton hold Gunners

    Mikel Merino then made sure it was a memorable night for Arsenal when he curled a shot into the bottom corner from inside the area just five minutes later.

    Things only got worse for Madrid when Eduardo Camavinga was sent off in stoppage time for picking up a second yellow card.

    Arsenal have not reached the semi-finals stage of the Champions League since the 2008-09 season, but they have given themselves a huge chance of progressing to the last four with this result.

    BBC

  • DECLAN RICE: We’ll keep pushing and fighting

    DECLAN RICE: We’ll keep pushing and fighting

    Dropping their first match against Bournemouth last weekend, Arsenal forward Declan Rice spoke about the desire of the team not to give, and to keep pushing and fighting in the English Premiership League.

    Rice gave an honest assessment of the 2-0 defeat on the south coast, informing that going down to 10 men affected their approach to the match.

    “I could say a million things,” he said. “But I think I’m proud of the players to be honest. I think the way we reacted again, going down to 10 men was not ideal, we knew that as a group of players, we’ve just said in there [the dressing room], that’s three times in eight games that we’ve let our standards slip and if you want to compete at the top you cannot let that happen.

    “But again, the reaction we showed to that and the belief, even on the pitch at half-time, that we could go and win the game and the chances that we had. I’m proud of these boys and I’m proud of the mentality that these boys and the club show.

    “We’ll keep pushing, we’ll keep fighting on, I think that’s the most important thing. The fans were amazing. It’s so disappointing because we wanted to stay unbeaten, we wanted to win the game, but this is football and it’s a real rollercoaster, it was never going to be perfect, there’s ups and downs but we need to stick together because there’s another six or seven games coming up this month so plenty of positives to look forward to.”

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     “It affects it massively, if the game stays 11v11 for sure it tends to open up and we go on to win the game because with 10 men we still created some amazing chances,” Declan explained. “They were throwing everything at us and leaving big spaces, but this is football, you can’t wish for it or gamble for it, you need to earn it and in the end, with the two mistakes we made at critical times, it wasn’t enough tonight. That’s the best way to describe it.

    “These supporters were full in the stadium even before we came out to warm up, singing our names, chanting and then we go down to 10 men; the support, you feel that, you hear their voices and you want to do so well for them and perform for them because they pay their well-earned money to come and watch us and to travel down here so to not win is disappointing but we thank them and we have two big home games, Shakhtar and Liverpool, so I know they will be behind us for that.”

  • EPL: Declan Rice sent off as Brighton hold Gunners

    EPL: Declan Rice sent off as Brighton hold Gunners

    A second-half goal from Joao Pedro saw Brighton come from behind to draw after Arsenal had Declan Rice sent off in an entertaining game in north London.

    It looked as though the Gunners were going to continue their perfect start to the season when Bukayo Saka played through Kai Havertz, who lobbed Bart Verbruggen in the Brighton goal for the 38th-minute opener.

    However, the game completely changed after Declan Rice was sent off for a second yellow card in the 49th minute for delaying a free-kick being taken by Joel Veltman. The Seagulls defender could also feel lucky to have got away without picking up a card himself.

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    Brighton piled on the pressure after that point and drew level in the 58th minute when Yankuba Minteh’s shot was parried into the path of Pedro by David Raya and the Brazilian striker slotted the ball under the keeper.

    Havertz then had a good chance to win the game when through on goal, but his effort was saved by Verbruggen, before Seagulls substitute Yasin Ayari had an effort saved by Raya late in the game.

    Brighton continued to push for a winner and brought on new £39.5m signing Georginio Rutter as they looked for a magic moment, but he mistimed a header as they could not find the decisive strike.

    BBC Sports