Barcelona to wear kit with Drake’s OVO logo against Real Madrid

For yet another riveting El Clasico clash on Sunday 16 October, FC Barcelona has announced they will be sporting Grammy-award-winning musician Drake’s OVO (October’s Very Own) owl branding on the front of their home kit.

Making the announcement on Friday 14 October, the Spanish football club celebrated the rapper’s milestone of becoming the first artist to achieve 50 billion streams on Spotify.

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BARCELONA TO HONOUR DRAKE

Earlier this year, Barcelona struck a deal with streaming music platform Spotify to become their main kit sponsor, therefore replacing Rakuten.

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According to Barca Universal, the deal also included an agreement that every now and then special editions of kits with brandings of artists featuring on Spotify will also be worn by the Catalans.

With Drizzy Drake being the first artist to reach 50 billion streams on Spotify, honouring the Honestly, Nevermind rapper — and a few days before his 36th birthday on 24 October — is befitting.

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Dake’s famous OVO logo will be at the front and centre of the Barcelona kit in the prestigious El Clasico clash at the Santiago Bernabeu against arch-rivals Real Madrid.

“Our alliance with Spotify goes beyond a mere commercial relationship. It is a strategic relationship through which we seek to bring together two worlds that can arouse emotion, namely music and football,” said Juli Guiu, VP for the marketing area of Barcelona.

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THE ‘DRAKE CURSE’

Barcelona’s decision to honour Drake on Sunday has come with lots of banter and excitement.

While many Drake and Barca fans love the partnership and are ready to purchase the jersey, others (who are also Real Madrid supporters) have taken the time to dig up some history, reminding fans of the “Drake Curse”.

The “Drake Curse” is a phenomenon (and superstition) that sees teams and individuals lose matches in the wake of any sort of association with the rapper who is also known as Champagne Papi.

Some of the “victims” include England international Jadon Sancho who shared a photo of himself with Drake in March 2019 and three weeks later, his team, Dortmund, lost 5-0 against Bayern Munich.

Then there was current Chelsea footballer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who attended one of Drake’s gigs in London (while he was still an Arsenal player) and later presented him with his jersey. Not long after, the Gunners suffered a 1-0 loss at home to Everton.

English Premier League champions Manchester City also suffered the “Drake Curse” when they exited the Champions League in 2019 against Tottenham in the quarter-finals with Sergio Aguero missing a penalty in the first leg shortly after an encounter with the rapper in March.