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It could be unfair to the handfuls of artists who’re specializing in their health to be in contrast bodily with music newest sensation, Marquette King. Best recognized all through the soccer world as an All-Pro punter, King now has a brand new music—“I Can Kick a Ball”—which may double as a lyrical résumé of health abilities. The music, simply launched on Jan. 12, equally showcases the athlete’s transition to crossover artist.
“I don’t know any other musicians that work out as hard as I do,” he says, “so yeah, I might be the fittest musician.”
It’s not King’s first try at increasing his model from sports activities to music. In 2022, King caught the eyes and ears of music followers with “Sweet Tea,” a pop, EDM, and nation mashup that celebrated kicking again and having fun with life. The music elevated King’s standing as a severe musical artist, cracking the Country Radio high 200, producing 800,000 hits on YouTube, and catching the eye of stars corresponding to Dwayne Johnson.
However, King isn’t giving up launching footballs for dropping beats, each are equally sharing his consideration lately. Playing for the defending champion Arlington Renegades, King’s at present getting ready for the season opener of the newly created UFL—a merger between XFL and the USFL—which kicks off its season on March 30.
At the identical time, he’s additionally getting ready for extra dwell performances in 2024, to assist promote his new album which is scheduled for early 2024. It shouldn’t be too laborious a swap from area to stage for this bodily specimen. However, King admits to overlooking the bodily calls for certainly one of his first concert events required, an occasion hosted by NFL Hall of Famer Charles Woodson.
“I was moving on stage so much that I started getting winded,” he remembers. “I was like, damn, I need to run a little bit more.” The second time, nonetheless: “It was cake,” he says. “I had so much wind I was ready to run sprints in the Vegas casino.”
To keep bodily prepared for each disciplines requires King to be slightly extra disciplined but eclectic along with his coaching. Hitting the weights, sprints and hoops, together with some boxing go along with his kicking routine. He wouldn’t describe his exercises as overly technical, however to remain match requires a combination of fixed preparation and repetition.
“Nothing has to be that hard,” King says. “You either got the talent or you don’t. And if you don’t, work on it a little harder.”
Marquette King Trains Like No Other Musician
King offers props to different artists who present a aptitude for health, corresponding to rappers Nelly and Snoop Dogg, in addition to Wiz Khalifa who is understood for enthusiasm for MMA-style coaching. To be honest, King doesn’t actually give a lot thought as to who’s the fittest in his new area of labor. “I’m a professional athlete,” the previous Raiders punter says.
According to King, who averaged 48.9 yards as a rookie with the Raiders in 2013, a punter is like being “being an Avenger”—no two punters are alike or share the identical skillsets. When kicking, some excel at excessive flies or low line drives or putting the ball out of bounds. King, nonetheless, can hit it each excessive and lengthy in addition to perfecting the artwork of burying the opposition deep inside their 20 yard line, as he did 40 occasions out of 70 kicks in 2015.
Where the 2016 second-team All-Pro stands out from different punters is his athleticism. His days as a large receiver in highschool and school at Fort Valley State had been on full show throughout a single play final season with the Renegades. With the foundations not permitting for kicks out of bounds, King launched one to the sky, excessive sufficient that he was in a position to race downfield to down it on the opponent’s 10-yard line. Despite its distinctive show of athleticism, King is left unfazed by the soccer feat. Plays like which can be the results of a coaching routine that makes him nonetheless top-of-the-line at his place.
“I do the things a lot of punters don’t do,” Marquette King says. “I’ll do skill position work, wide receiver stuff, like explosive workouts, ladder drills, hurdles, and agility work. Stuff that works the fast- twitch muscles.”
A traditional day for King has him waking up at 5:30 and heading straight for the for the fitness center or Arizona’s AZ Kicking and Training, the place he’ll carry out kick after kick after kick. “Repetition, repetition, repetition,” he says is without doubt one of the secrets and techniques to punting.
King says his exercises vary from heavy lifting a number of occasions every week with a view to keep the energy and muscle to not solely make it by a grueling soccer season, but additionally to keep up a musical look when the decision for a music video is scheduled “I still have to look good,” he says.
Every at times, Marquette King will combine in some boxing to go together with weight coaching, however he says certainly one of his favourite methodology of conditioning is hitting the basketball courts three days every week for some hoops motion.
“I feel like basketball is really good at like working with quickness just getting all over it over overall shape,” he says.
Big issues my man 👑
Keep doin’ it sturdy and congratulations on turning into champions this weekend!
Digging ‘Sweet Tea’! Cool vibe & catchy. @XFL2023 @XFLRenegades https://t.co/pihdu1hQId— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) May 16, 2023
Marquette King Mixes Music for His Mental Health
The finish of his morning exercise signifies that King’s day is simply starting. In addition to getting ready for the UFL season, King additionally splits his time specializing in his music profession. Making music might not be an on a regular basis factor, he says, however on most days, King says if he’s not within the recording studio getting ready songs, he’s at residence listening and learning beats and on the lookout for lyrical inspiration.
It was across the 2015 soccer season that King found each his expertise and keenness for music. On a whim he got here up with “I got the Cup,” a music primarily based round partying on the membership, which turned a unusual cult favourite amongst King fanatics (he has over one million followers on Instagram), producing he says practically 20,000 downloads.
“The excitement that I have into it and a lot of people downloaded the song,” Marquette King says. “And I was like if people like this, then the stuff I’m making now…it would be ridiculous.”
Today, King’s crossover profession is certainly rolling. In addition to the latest debut of “I Can Kick A Ball” and his upcoming album, in December, his video for an additional music, “Summer Nights” was dropped as nicely.
King calls his type a a mix of EDM, pop, and a few nation. Inspired by artists like Calvin Harris, proper now his pursuits lie in deep home music and R&B, with artists like Jill Scott, Erykah Badu and others on steady loop in the intervening time.
“I bounced between all of those genres,” he says. I really feel artists shouldn’t be boxed in a single factor… it will possibly sort of be laborious to be to push music out within the U.S. as a result of folks solely see me as an athlete. And I really feel like as an artist, you must have the ability to paint your type on several types of beats since you’re artists—except you need to constantly do the identical factor.”
Being artistic additionally has been a welcome antidote for Marquette King’s psychological nicely being, he says. He admits he fights off battles with ADHD and says certainly one of his keys to maintaining his thoughts proper is to place lyrics to music. He hopes others get some inspiration from his work.
“Sometimes I have days where I don’t have people to talk to sometimes,” he admits. “And the best way I can get I feel out is putting it in a song and it’s like it’s so many people in the world. I’m sure it’s somebody in this world is going through the same thing that I’m going through. So maybe they like the song or it’s a way to just get it out and once I talk about it, put it out there then I’ll think about it and deal with it no more.”
Mixing Music and Football is the Perfect Therapy
As an artist, Marquette King’s aim isn’t simply to be acknowledged worldwide, it’s additionally to achieve and entertain an viewers by his music, particularly impacted with psychological well being points.
“I’m focused on being one of the most well-known artists in the world,” he says. “I want to use music to impact people, help them out with mental health and just bring a good time to any to any place anything you don’t want to bring a good time there, because life’s too short.”
He hopes to get the decision again to the NFL, however for now’s relishing within the free-spiritedness life within the UFL has been providing the Phoenix resident. As a member of the XFL champion Renegades a season in the past, the league provided King the chance to share a little bit of each his athletic and inventive worlds, by performing after a sport. He nonetheless appreciates the gesture from the upstart league.
“They asked me to perform at our last home game in Dallas, I got to perform in front of like 2,000 people,” Marquette King says. “That was cool. That may have never been done before, but they encourage you to be yourself.”
Although his music profession is on a quickly inclining trajectory, there’s nonetheless room on Marquette King’s schedule to stay an celebrity performer on the soccer area as he’s confirmed season after season.
“Punting has been very therapeutic for me and has always been fun” he says. “I like watching the ball go up in the air really high. When you’re kicking a ball in practice, you may feel like you’re by yourself, but you’re actually doing something that can benefit your defense and put them in a position to win a game or dominate that series. It’s one of the best feelings in the world for me.”