This story appears in ESPN The Magazine's Feb. 2 Music Issue. Subscribe today!
SPORTS WAS MY catapult. It began with my song for Avicii, "Wake Me Up," which is now played at every sporting event in the country. One night I was watching the Lakers in Dre's suite, and he's like, "What you've done is cool, but I think you can do better." I thought, "What would make Dre roll down the street, smoke indo and sip on gin -- and juice?" I came up with "The Man."
It's a blues song to a hip-hop beat about an underdog who's seen the last of his losing days. You can't write a sports song, but you can write a song about struggle and -- motivation that will probably end up being used by sports networks like ESPN, which used "The Man" for its NFL draft coverage last year. And horns help. I played trumpet in middle school, and you can't have heavy, triumphant music without horns.
The Beats by Dre spot defined the spirit of the song. I should've sent Christmas cards to Kaep, Richard Sherman, Cesc Fabregas and KG, who's the best example of the song. But I vote to retire "The Man." I think it was overkill. It takes the artist to say, "This is too much."
If I had to write a song about a team for my next album? It'd be about my Lakers. The title would be, "Wake Me Up ... When It's All Over."