Award-winning rapper Drake is celebrating becoming the first artist to get to 50 billion Spotify streams with the help of FC Barcelona. During this weekend’s El Clásico, Barca will be wearing a special version of their kit with Drake’s OVO owl logo on the front of their jersey as part of a partnership with Spotify.
“This doesn’t feel real but it is,” Drake said on an Instagram post.
Drake is a well known sports fans, often seen at sporting events in including NBA games, the Kentucky Derby and of course soccer — which this weekend should be referred to as fútbol.
“We were really excited to celebrate one of the biggest games of the year and mark Drake’s milestone as the first artist to reach 50 billion streams,” read a statement by Spotify VP of Partnerships Marc Hazan. “We’ve always said that we want this partnership to be a celebration of fans, players and artist’s on a global stage—and there’s no bigger stage than El Clásico.”
Barça and Spotify made their partnership public on March 15, reaching a four-year deal worth $310 million. Spotify got the naming rights for Camp Nou, the team’s stadium since 1957. This weekend will be the first time an artist’s logo has been on the front of the FC Barcelona jersey instead of the name of the main sponsor.
Vice-president for the Marketing area of FC Barcelona Juli Guiu said in the press release that featuring four-time Grammy Award winner Drake in their kit was a way to reach out to new audiences around the world because his music is popular at the international level.
“Our alliance with Spotify goes beyond a mere commercial relationship,” Guiu said in a statement. “As we have stated on numerous occasions, it is a strategic relationship through which we seek to bring together two worlds that can arouse emotion, namely music and football. This initiative is another example of this desire and the innovative spirit of our collaboration.”
Sunday will mark the 284th time FC Barcelona and Real Madrid face each other. They two Spanish giants are currently tied at the top of the La Liga table with 22 points each, with Barça in first because of goal differential. Real Madrid enters the match undefeated this season. The game is set for 10:15 a.m. ET on Sunday, streaming on fuboTV (try for free). For more on this weekend’s El Clásico, click here.
