Pro Athlete Community, an organization launched to help pro athletes navigate life beyond sports, has opened public voting to help select the collaborator who will co-write and release an official single Aloe Blacc.The song, titled ‘First Round,’ will ultimately pair the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter’s original melody and chorus with a verse recorded by one of PAC’s own members.
The organization, which counts Blacc as an artist-in-residence, contains more than 3,000 current and former professional athletes.Blacc told OffBall Newsletter the idea for ‘First Round’ came to him after seeing a commercial about an upcoming draft, which got him thinking about the phrase “first-round draft pick.” He said he built the track around triumphant trumpets to match that energy, drawing on the same sound that powered his 2014 hit ‘The Man,’ which had already found a following as a sports anthem both on TV and in arenas.
He’s also known for singing and co-writing Avicii’s generational dance anthem ‘Wake Me Up,’ which recently crossed 3 billion streams on Spotify.In addition to the exposure, the selected collaborator will retain 40% of the song’s gross revenue, according to PAC, with another 10% routed to a designated charitable fund.
The release will also credit the collaborator as a co-primary artist alongside Blacc rather than in a featured role.13 entries currently appear on the voting page, including submissions from Olympic pole vault silver medalist Sandi Morris and former NBA guard Troy Hudson, among others.
Public input will help narrow the field, though the final call belongs to Blacc.“We’re going to use a little bit of the fans,” Blacc added.
“So when an athlete records and uploads their recording to their social media, there’s going to be some follows, some shares, some likes.We’re gonna use all those metrics, but that won’t be the final decision factor.” Scroll to continue more from edm ...