Sports

Marcus Stroman is a rapper now

by Luke Ottenhof

Toronto’s rap scene exploded when Drake exploded, and since then, the city’s enjoyed a new kind of celebrity status; from being affectionately (if annoyingly) termed the 6ix, to the runaway-success of the “We The North” Raptors campaign, to the revival of people outside of Toronto actually giving a fuck about the Blue Jays, Canada’s biggest city is doing pretty damn well these days. And now, there’s a new rapper on the scene…

…It’s Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman.

Stroman and his collaborator, Mike Stud, dropped their newest track, “Shine,” earlier this week, after Stroman teased that something was in the works. The coolest part about this production (besides how iconic ‘Stud and Stroman’ sounds) is that the duo went to school together at Duke, and they both pitched for the Blue Devils baseball team. After career-ending surgery, Stud focused on rapping, while Stroman went on to two American League Championship Series with the Jays. Same thing, right?

As it turns out, Stroman is kiiiiind of a nerdy baseball rapper. He spits on the track, “50,000 when I’m dealin’ in the 6/And you know they locked in on every pitch,” referencing a full-capacity home game at Rogers Centre. Later, he boasts he’s “still makin’ plays even when I’m out of bounds.” Get ’em, Marcy Marc.

Give the track a listen: