You don't have to tune into the continued struggle of the blue and white until Wednesday, so let's focus on the latest surrounding Ontario's more entertaining NHL hockey club: the Weeknd has reportedly emerged as the third celebrity involved with a group bidding to acquire the Ottawa Senators.
Per the Ottawa Sun, the immensely decorated artist has partnered with Toronto billionaires Jeffrey and Michael Kimel of the Harlo Capital Group in their bid to purchase the team, making a "commitment to be involved financially."
News of the Weeknd's involvement in a bid for the Senators follows last week's reveal that Snoop Dogg joined a consortium led by L.A.-based entrepreneur Neko Sparks, rivalling the respective billion-dollar bid involving Ryan Reynolds.
The Sun's report cites a source close to the Weeknd, who shares, "He's going to be a great partner for Ottawa and the NHL. The team he works with grew up in Ottawa, so they know the market really well, but he's the largest musician (on the) planet right now. He has the most views, the most streams and he's a hockey guy."
"The team he works with" ostensibly includes the Weeknd's recurring collaborator and XO Records artist Belly, who was living in Ottawa at the time the Senators were annually dominating regular season play with some of the best-constructed teams of their modern era. Naturally, this inspired the budding recording artist to pen some Sens-inspired raps to spur the franchise to the Stanley Cup glory, cementing himself as a "hockey guy" in the nation's capital in the process.
Let's rewind to the 2006–2007 NHL season: the Senators finish with a 48-25-9 record to secure a playoff spot, and Belly hits the booth to record the anthemic "Go Sens Go" to soundtrack the playoff push — a little under a month ahead of making his debut with 2007's double album The Revolution, led by the Scott Storch-produced single "Pressure."
A first version of "Go Sens Go," tracked at Belly's studio in the city's Greely community, saw late Senators goaltender Ray Emery tee things up with a spoken word intro: "We go hard, we win. Ottawa Senators. Champions, baby." As reported at the time, the two bonded backstage earlier that year during a performance in the city at which Belly opened for Snoop Dogg.
Belly expertly weaves a slew of Senators fan favourites into his verses, highlighting the offensive talents of stars like Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley ("Nobody can beat us / The league-leaders / That's why we call Heatley the Heater"), and the fists-first approach to the game of skaters like Chris Neil and Brian McGrattan.
Initially exclusive to local FM station Hot 89.9, "Go Sens Go" soon found a wider audience online, and its lyrics were altered for new versions with each round the Senators won on their way to facing the Anaheim Ducks in the 2007 Cup Final. A version of the song aired during one of those finals games charted Ottawa's journey to the top of the mountain: "Pittsburgh? Gone. / [New Jersey]? Gone. / Buffalo? You know we had to send 'em all home."
Unfortunately, the Senators were defeated by the Ducks in the 2007 Stanley Cup final, but with some extremely promising players now leading the charge to bring the team back to prominence, it would be wise for new ownership to consider Belly's experience in writing some unforgettable playoff pump-up music. What rhymes with Tkachuk?
Belly is set to deliver new mixtape Mumble Rap 2 on May 19 via XO / Roc Nation. Following 2021 LP See You Next Wednesday, the sequel to the artist's 2017 tape Mumble Rap features appearances by Gucci Mane, Rick Ross, NAV, Hit-Boy and the late Gil Scott-Heron.
Per the Ottawa Sun, the immensely decorated artist has partnered with Toronto billionaires Jeffrey and Michael Kimel of the Harlo Capital Group in their bid to purchase the team, making a "commitment to be involved financially."
News of the Weeknd's involvement in a bid for the Senators follows last week's reveal that Snoop Dogg joined a consortium led by L.A.-based entrepreneur Neko Sparks, rivalling the respective billion-dollar bid involving Ryan Reynolds.
The Sun's report cites a source close to the Weeknd, who shares, "He's going to be a great partner for Ottawa and the NHL. The team he works with grew up in Ottawa, so they know the market really well, but he's the largest musician (on the) planet right now. He has the most views, the most streams and he's a hockey guy."
"The team he works with" ostensibly includes the Weeknd's recurring collaborator and XO Records artist Belly, who was living in Ottawa at the time the Senators were annually dominating regular season play with some of the best-constructed teams of their modern era. Naturally, this inspired the budding recording artist to pen some Sens-inspired raps to spur the franchise to the Stanley Cup glory, cementing himself as a "hockey guy" in the nation's capital in the process.
Let's rewind to the 2006–2007 NHL season: the Senators finish with a 48-25-9 record to secure a playoff spot, and Belly hits the booth to record the anthemic "Go Sens Go" to soundtrack the playoff push — a little under a month ahead of making his debut with 2007's double album The Revolution, led by the Scott Storch-produced single "Pressure."
A first version of "Go Sens Go," tracked at Belly's studio in the city's Greely community, saw late Senators goaltender Ray Emery tee things up with a spoken word intro: "We go hard, we win. Ottawa Senators. Champions, baby." As reported at the time, the two bonded backstage earlier that year during a performance in the city at which Belly opened for Snoop Dogg.
Belly expertly weaves a slew of Senators fan favourites into his verses, highlighting the offensive talents of stars like Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley ("Nobody can beat us / The league-leaders / That's why we call Heatley the Heater"), and the fists-first approach to the game of skaters like Chris Neil and Brian McGrattan.
Initially exclusive to local FM station Hot 89.9, "Go Sens Go" soon found a wider audience online, and its lyrics were altered for new versions with each round the Senators won on their way to facing the Anaheim Ducks in the 2007 Cup Final. A version of the song aired during one of those finals games charted Ottawa's journey to the top of the mountain: "Pittsburgh? Gone. / [New Jersey]? Gone. / Buffalo? You know we had to send 'em all home."
Unfortunately, the Senators were defeated by the Ducks in the 2007 Stanley Cup final, but with some extremely promising players now leading the charge to bring the team back to prominence, it would be wise for new ownership to consider Belly's experience in writing some unforgettable playoff pump-up music. What rhymes with Tkachuk?
Belly is set to deliver new mixtape Mumble Rap 2 on May 19 via XO / Roc Nation. Following 2021 LP See You Next Wednesday, the sequel to the artist's 2017 tape Mumble Rap features appearances by Gucci Mane, Rick Ross, NAV, Hit-Boy and the late Gil Scott-Heron.
