Krept and Konan to create football anthem for the Euros

Rap duo Krept and Konan have signed up to create an England football anthem for the upcoming European Championships.

The South London artists, real names Casyo Johnson and Karl Wilson, follow in the footsteps of comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner, who had a hit in 1996 with Three Lions featuring The Lightning Seeds.

BBC Three will document the pair for an hour-long special as they meet with stars from the footballing world and formulate the new track, up until the final on July 11.

According to show bosses, the changing rooms of today’s top teams “move to a whole different beat than the Three Lions anthem of Euro 96”, and Krept and Konan will be setting out to explore “what Englishness actually means in 2021”.

Players including Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings and West Ham’s Declan Rice will help them make key decisions about the song.

Krept and Konan will also meet with England manager Gareth Southgate to ask him what elements he would like to see included.

Elsewhere, the pair will seek advice from fellow artists including Manchester rapper Aitch and west London rapper and TV presenter Big Zuu.

In 2019, Krept and Konan created and hosted the first series of The Rap Game UK alongside DJ Target, in which rappers battle for a single record deal, and they also co-founded the Positive Direction foundation at Harris Academy South Norwood, Krept’s old school, providing workshops in music production, engineering and songwriting.

Fiona Campbell, controller of BBC Three, said: “This film explores the idea of cultural and national identity through music and sport – all of which is at the heart of what’s important to our audience.

“Krept and Konan have been fundamental to the success of The Rap Game and we’re really excited for BBC Three viewers to get an exclusive preview into the making of the track as well as exclusive access to football talent at the top of their game.”

Executive producer and acme films creative director Jaimie D’Cruz said: “We’ve come a long way from the lad culture of ’96 and now live in a nation where our young ballers and rappers represent the very best of us: Krept and Konan are what national pride look like and sound like in 2021.”

Krept and Konan: We Are England will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer from June.