One of the best parts about attending a baseball game is listening to which songs your favorite players have chosen to announce their arrival at the plate.
Most major-leaguers choose a song off the top 40 list or decide to revive a classic hit. Not Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder though, who has taken his at-bat swagger to the next level by having an up-and-coming rapper create music specifically tailored to the slugger.
Enter Prote-J, a talented rapper/producer/songwriter from the 3rd World Country, Papua New Guinea. Fielder bumped Prote-J’s “Heir to the Throne,” in 2010 and is now walking up to the plate at Miller Park to a new track entitled “Prince of the Game.”
I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Prote-J and ask him about working with the hard-hitting first baseman and what kind of rapper he strives to be.
By: Nick Grays
It all started back in the 2008-2009 season when Fielder invited Prote-J and his manager, Ben Witherspoon, to a few games while the Brewers were on the road. In addition to meeting the Prince, the trip turned into an opportunistic business proposal for the young rapper.
“Prince is a fan of my music, so during the trip he said he wanted me to make him a walk up song, mainly to help me get more exposure as an artist. When I got back home, I made his first song, ‘Heir to the Throne,’ and it turned out to be a success,” said Prote-J. “On top of being played at Miller Park, it was also featured all over the web, including MTV.com.”
The huge success of “Heir to the Throne,” led to another dope beat and lyrics centered around Prince for the upcoming season.
“This season he asked for another song so I made “Prince of the Game.” First I made the beat and sent it to him for approval, he said he loved it so I went ahead and wrote the song,” exclaimed Prote-J.
Prote-J describes the feeling of having his songs played at Miller Park hundreds of times a year as “crazy.”
“Opportunities like this don’t come by everyday, and being an up and coming artist, it’s a really awesome situation for me. I can’t thank Prince enough for helping me get the exposure.”
Even though Prote-J shows excellent baseball knowledge in his crafty lyricism, he admits he’s more of a basketball fan when it comes to sports. That doesn’t stop him from keeping up with the Brewers though.
“I like baseball but I honestly don’t keep up with it much, I’m more of a basketball fan. I do keep up with Prince and the Brewers though with my Brewers app on the phone. With the way Prince is playing right now, I think the Brewers have a good chance to make the playoffs this year,” said Prote-J.
Brewers fans everywhere hope Prote-J is right in his prediction.
If you want to here more of Prote-J’s work, take a break from wack rappers and download his mixtape “Dope Raps & Kit Kats,” by clicking here!
Prote-J is blowing up in the Orlando, FL area and has aspirations to be an artist who “consistently puts out good hip hop.”
“Good hip hop to me is lyrical content, great production, and of course catchy hooks. Most popular hip hop songs usually have great beats and hooks, but the lyrics all sound the same and there’s not much depth. I want to build my career similar to artists like Kanye, Eminem, and Jay-Z. They always shine creatively and appeal to the masses without having to dumb things down,” said Prote-J.
Here at The Sports Bank, we say good luck to Prote-J and wish him great success in the future. Follow Prote-J on Twitter (@ProteJ) or on his Facebook fan page.
What do you think of Prote-J’s music and more specifically Prince Fielder’s at-bat music? Let me know by commenting below!
Nick Grays is a senior editor at the Sports Bank where he covers the Wisconsin Badgers, Green Bay Packers, and Milwaukee Brewers. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here or visit his blog Nick Knows Best.