“Cross the blue line on attack / P.K. Subban for the children.” — Waisu, “P.K. Subban”
Wasiu feels like he’s P.K. Subban the way he’s putting the city on his back.
After watching the star defenceman take blame for the Montreal Canadiens‘ disastrous season, the local MC decided to lead off promotion for his forthcoming mixtape, MTLIENS 2, with “P.K. Subban.”
The rapper hopes the anthem, produced by Noah Barer and Cavewerk, will do for Montreal what Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow” did for Pittsburgh or Drake’s “Know Yourself” did for Toronto.
Listen:
“The Canadiens had a bad season, and local media pointed the finger at P.K. It’s funny though, because he’s the best player and we all know he isn’t the problem. Same way when there’s violence that occurs at a club or in general, the thinking is to go check on the black people first because they look like they ‘fit the description’—even if they weren’t the ones to start any problems.
“In many ways I feel like P.K. and instead of making a song talking about racism, I made a song celebrating him,” Wasiu explained in a press release. “People are going to have to accept that the face of a white, French city is a black man—whether they like it or not.”
Toronto rap icon Saukrates more subtly but just as proudly used Subban as inspiration for his 2011 jam “Say I.” The ties to the hockey player are more explicit in Waisu’s anthem.
Subban has heard the song and approves:
Asked @PKSubban1 about @AfroWasiu 's banger "PK Subban". He laughed "That's pretty funny." #banger snapfred_bf pic.twitter.com/JEx8l5cnyT
— Fred BF (@fred_bf) May 26, 2016
“This song is lowkey about empowerment and flossing black power by bigging up all of Subban’s work. He donated $10 million to the Montreal Children’s Hospital, and they built an atrium in his name. The kids love him,” Wasiu explained. “Sorry, white people, but a black guy represents you—after this song, I hope he’s the first person people think of when they think of Montreal.”
Wasiu wrote a short essay explaining in further detail why he wrote the song. It’s worth reading.