Why FC Barcelona will wear Drake’s OVO owl on shirts as they face Real Madrid in El Clásico this weekend

Drake has amassed over 50 billion streams thanks to collaborations with Rihanna, Kanye West, Eminem, Chris Brown and more

FC Barcelona will celebrate Canadian rapper Drake becoming the first rapper to surpass 50 billion streams on Spotify by wearing his October’s Very Own (OVO) logo on the front of their tops as they prepare to take on Real Madrid in the El Clasico on Sunday (October 16).

Regarded as one of the biggest clubs in world football, Barcelona are sponsored by Spotify, but will briefly replace the streaming service with the brand logo of Drake’s OVO. It is part of Barcelona and Spotify’s aim to ‘bring music and football together’.

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Taking to Instagram, Drake said “To celebrate being the first artist with 50 billion streams on Spotify, FC Barcelona will wear the OVO owl at El Clasico on Sunday. This doesn’t feel real but it is.”

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It’s an incredible achievement for what some people regard as the greatest rapper and musician of all time. One of his biggest hits, ‘One Dance’ released on his 2016 album ‘Views’ has over 2.4 billion streams, and ‘God’s Plan’ also has over two billion streams.

Barcelona players, managed by Barcelona legend Xavi will also honour the Take Care artist prior to the game, as they will don warm up shirts that have ‘Drake 50’ on the back, and their usual Spotify sponsor on the front.

Juli Guiu, Barcelona’s marketing vice-president, said “Our alliance with Spotify goes beyond a mere commercial relationship. It is a strategic relationship through which we seek to bring together two worlds that can arouse emotion - namely music and football. This initiative is another example of this desire and the innovative spirit of our collaboration. For the first time in our history, we are replacing the name of our main sponsor on the front of the jersey with an internationally acclaimed artist, Drake.

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"This initiative shows our potential to become a unique platform to offer experiences that help bring us closer to our fans while reaching out to new audiences around the world.

Spotify’s vice-president of partnerships, Marc Hazan, said: "We were really excited to celebrate one of the biggest games of the year and mark Drake’s milestone as the first artist to reach 50 billion streams. We’ve always said that we want this partnership to be a celebration of fans, players and artists on a global stage - and there’s no bigger stage than El Clasico."

The El Clasico is by far the biggest domestic game to take place in Spain’s top flight. It pits Barcelona and Real Madrid against one another - two of the biggest teams not only in Spain, but in the world.

The game showcases the biggest talents in world football. It has previously featured the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Xavi, Neymar, Andres Iniesta, Gareth Bale, Johan Cryuff and more. Some stars that will take place now include Vinicius Jr, Luka Modric, Frenkie De Jong and more.

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