Music

Ajax's Number one

Dutch rapper and Ajax supporter Sevn Alias explains how his song Herres became the unofficial anthem of an unforgettable European campaign

Interview Remy Wigmans | Photography Delica Celik
Issue 01

New signing Quincy Promes should be a good fit at Ajax. Quick, technically gifted, has a nose for goal – and loves to rap. The 27-year-old teamed up with Memphis Depay in 2017 to record a song and release a video, and his arrival at the club is good news for Ajax fan and Amsterdam rapper Sevn Alias. “I know that Quincy Promes does some rapping every now and then,” Alias says. “I think he’s the best rapping footballer.”

High praise, but Promes will have competition at the club. Alias’s Ajax rap Herres was a hit in the changing room and in the stands during their run to the semi-finals last season. Pretty much every player gets a namecheck, with David Neres taking the chorus. “Ik zet herres, ik zet herres, Opdie flank als David Neres” (I create chaos, I create chaos – on the flank like David Neres). One of the catchiest lines goes to the Argentinian left-back: “Do it for my team – I got your back like Nico, Nico Tagliafico.”

The video of the track has passed 3 million views on YouTube, but Alias was initially taken aback by its popularity. “I got tagged on Twitter at some point in a song. It was about PSG and was by a French artist, I believe. They said I should do a similar song for Ajax. I saw it and kept it in mind but wasn’t ready at that stage to get down to it and come up with a song about Ajax. I was in the studio three or four weeks later thinking about what other songs I could produce. That’s when I remembered what they’d said about doing the song, so I got started on it. I made a video, put it on Instagram and the rest is history.”

New signing Quincy Promes should be a good fit at Ajax. Quick, technically gifted, has a nose for goal – and loves to rap. The 27-year-old teamed up with Memphis Depay in 2017 to record a song and release a video, and his arrival at the club is good news for Ajax fan and Amsterdam rapper Sevn Alias. “I know that Quincy Promes does some rapping every now and then,” Alias says. “I think he’s the best rapping footballer.”

High praise, but Promes will have competition at the club. Alias’s Ajax rap Herres was a hit in the changing room and in the stands during their run to the semi-finals last season. Pretty much every player gets a namecheck, with David Neres taking the chorus. “Ik zet herres, ik zet herres, Opdie flank als David Neres” (I create chaos, I create chaos – on the flank like David Neres). One of the catchiest lines goes to the Argentinian left-back: “Do it for my team – I got your back like Nico, Nico Tagliafico.”

The video of the track has passed 3 million views on YouTube, but Alias was initially taken aback by its popularity. “I got tagged on Twitter at some point in a song. It was about PSG and was by a French artist, I believe. They said I should do a similar song for Ajax. I saw it and kept it in mind but wasn’t ready at that stage to get down to it and come up with a song about Ajax. I was in the studio three or four weeks later thinking about what other songs I could produce. That’s when I remembered what they’d said about doing the song, so I got started on it. I made a video, put it on Instagram and the rest is history.”

Read the full story
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It was quickly picked up by the club, and footage of Neres and his team-mates singing in the changing room went viral. “It was a party and was so nice to see that all the players really liked it,” Alias says. “It wasn’t planned. I just posted the video on Instagram and things just took off really fast from there. Ajax interacted on the same day, within an hour or so. The fans definitely helped make it the success it is. Everybody supported the song and sung it in the stadium, which was really strange but great for me to see.”

For Alias, like any Ajax fan, last season was an unforgettable ride. “I followed it closely, as everyone did. It was very exciting and, for me, the Real Madrid game was the highlight – that was the Ajax we all love. It gave me real joy to see Ajax playing like that.” With the likes of Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong leaving, it may be too much to hope for a repeat this season, but Alias is confident. “They’ve added some new faces and they’ll need time to gel, but Ajax have a solid set-up in place.

He cites Hakim Ziyech – “he’s just my type of player” – and Dušan Tadić as his favourites, but saves a special shout out for Donny van de Beek, one of the few players not to get his own line in Herres. “There’s no special reason why. I just write what comes to me. I just didn’t come up with a line with Donny van de Beek in it. But this is a shout out to Donny now, because I’m a supporter.

New signing Quincy Promes should be a good fit at Ajax. Quick, technically gifted, has a nose for goal – and loves to rap. The 27-year-old teamed up with Memphis Depay in 2017 to record a song and release a video, and his arrival at the club is good news for Ajax fan and Amsterdam rapper Sevn Alias. “I know that Quincy Promes does some rapping every now and then,” Alias says. “I think he’s the best rapping footballer.”

High praise, but Promes will have competition at the club. Alias’s Ajax rap Herres was a hit in the changing room and in the stands during their run to the semi-finals last season. Pretty much every player gets a namecheck, with David Neres taking the chorus. “Ik zet herres, ik zet herres, Opdie flank als David Neres” (I create chaos, I create chaos – on the flank like David Neres). One of the catchiest lines goes to the Argentinian left-back: “Do it for my team – I got your back like Nico, Nico Tagliafico.”

The video of the track has passed 3 million views on YouTube, but Alias was initially taken aback by its popularity. “I got tagged on Twitter at some point in a song. It was about PSG and was by a French artist, I believe. They said I should do a similar song for Ajax. I saw it and kept it in mind but wasn’t ready at that stage to get down to it and come up with a song about Ajax. I was in the studio three or four weeks later thinking about what other songs I could produce. That’s when I remembered what they’d said about doing the song, so I got started on it. I made a video, put it on Instagram and the rest is history.”

Music

Ajax's Number one

Dutch rapper and Ajax supporter Sevn Alias explains how his song Herres became the unofficial anthem of an unforgettable European campaign

Interview Remy Wigmans | Photography Delica Celik

Text Link

New signing Quincy Promes should be a good fit at Ajax. Quick, technically gifted, has a nose for goal – and loves to rap. The 27-year-old teamed up with Memphis Depay in 2017 to record a song and release a video, and his arrival at the club is good news for Ajax fan and Amsterdam rapper Sevn Alias. “I know that Quincy Promes does some rapping every now and then,” Alias says. “I think he’s the best rapping footballer.”

High praise, but Promes will have competition at the club. Alias’s Ajax rap Herres was a hit in the changing room and in the stands during their run to the semi-finals last season. Pretty much every player gets a namecheck, with David Neres taking the chorus. “Ik zet herres, ik zet herres, Opdie flank als David Neres” (I create chaos, I create chaos – on the flank like David Neres). One of the catchiest lines goes to the Argentinian left-back: “Do it for my team – I got your back like Nico, Nico Tagliafico.”

The video of the track has passed 3 million views on YouTube, but Alias was initially taken aback by its popularity. “I got tagged on Twitter at some point in a song. It was about PSG and was by a French artist, I believe. They said I should do a similar song for Ajax. I saw it and kept it in mind but wasn’t ready at that stage to get down to it and come up with a song about Ajax. I was in the studio three or four weeks later thinking about what other songs I could produce. That’s when I remembered what they’d said about doing the song, so I got started on it. I made a video, put it on Instagram and the rest is history.”

New signing Quincy Promes should be a good fit at Ajax. Quick, technically gifted, has a nose for goal – and loves to rap. The 27-year-old teamed up with Memphis Depay in 2017 to record a song and release a video, and his arrival at the club is good news for Ajax fan and Amsterdam rapper Sevn Alias. “I know that Quincy Promes does some rapping every now and then,” Alias says. “I think he’s the best rapping footballer.”

High praise, but Promes will have competition at the club. Alias’s Ajax rap Herres was a hit in the changing room and in the stands during their run to the semi-finals last season. Pretty much every player gets a namecheck, with David Neres taking the chorus. “Ik zet herres, ik zet herres, Opdie flank als David Neres” (I create chaos, I create chaos – on the flank like David Neres). One of the catchiest lines goes to the Argentinian left-back: “Do it for my team – I got your back like Nico, Nico Tagliafico.”

The video of the track has passed 3 million views on YouTube, but Alias was initially taken aback by its popularity. “I got tagged on Twitter at some point in a song. It was about PSG and was by a French artist, I believe. They said I should do a similar song for Ajax. I saw it and kept it in mind but wasn’t ready at that stage to get down to it and come up with a song about Ajax. I was in the studio three or four weeks later thinking about what other songs I could produce. That’s when I remembered what they’d said about doing the song, so I got started on it. I made a video, put it on Instagram and the rest is history.”

Read the full story
Sign up now to get access to this and every premium feature on Champions Journal. You will also get access to member-only competitions and offers. And you get all of that completely free!

It was quickly picked up by the club, and footage of Neres and his team-mates singing in the changing room went viral. “It was a party and was so nice to see that all the players really liked it,” Alias says. “It wasn’t planned. I just posted the video on Instagram and things just took off really fast from there. Ajax interacted on the same day, within an hour or so. The fans definitely helped make it the success it is. Everybody supported the song and sung it in the stadium, which was really strange but great for me to see.”

For Alias, like any Ajax fan, last season was an unforgettable ride. “I followed it closely, as everyone did. It was very exciting and, for me, the Real Madrid game was the highlight – that was the Ajax we all love. It gave me real joy to see Ajax playing like that.” With the likes of Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong leaving, it may be too much to hope for a repeat this season, but Alias is confident. “They’ve added some new faces and they’ll need time to gel, but Ajax have a solid set-up in place.

He cites Hakim Ziyech – “he’s just my type of player” – and Dušan Tadić as his favourites, but saves a special shout out for Donny van de Beek, one of the few players not to get his own line in Herres. “There’s no special reason why. I just write what comes to me. I just didn’t come up with a line with Donny van de Beek in it. But this is a shout out to Donny now, because I’m a supporter.

New signing Quincy Promes should be a good fit at Ajax. Quick, technically gifted, has a nose for goal – and loves to rap. The 27-year-old teamed up with Memphis Depay in 2017 to record a song and release a video, and his arrival at the club is good news for Ajax fan and Amsterdam rapper Sevn Alias. “I know that Quincy Promes does some rapping every now and then,” Alias says. “I think he’s the best rapping footballer.”

High praise, but Promes will have competition at the club. Alias’s Ajax rap Herres was a hit in the changing room and in the stands during their run to the semi-finals last season. Pretty much every player gets a namecheck, with David Neres taking the chorus. “Ik zet herres, ik zet herres, Opdie flank als David Neres” (I create chaos, I create chaos – on the flank like David Neres). One of the catchiest lines goes to the Argentinian left-back: “Do it for my team – I got your back like Nico, Nico Tagliafico.”

The video of the track has passed 3 million views on YouTube, but Alias was initially taken aback by its popularity. “I got tagged on Twitter at some point in a song. It was about PSG and was by a French artist, I believe. They said I should do a similar song for Ajax. I saw it and kept it in mind but wasn’t ready at that stage to get down to it and come up with a song about Ajax. I was in the studio three or four weeks later thinking about what other songs I could produce. That’s when I remembered what they’d said about doing the song, so I got started on it. I made a video, put it on Instagram and the rest is history.”

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