The 2017 MLS regular season is so close you can almost touch it. So if you're pumped, just think about how the players themselves feel. With titles and trophies -- and reputations and bragging rights -- on the line, no doubt everyone is trying to bring their best. So how did they get themselves hyped for pre-season training and matches, and in the lead-up to matches this weekend? Naturally, with some carefully selected music, of course.
We asked each team to submit their collective favorite songs for the locker room, warm-ups, and any other time. Those submissions were then whittled down into two official MLS March to Socccer Spotify playlists, one for the Eastern Conference, and one for the Western. You can check them out and listen below, but here are some of the biggest findings from our not-too-scientific data-gathering:
Most Popular Genres:
Hip-hop, urban Latin, EDM, and the occasional guitar-based banger. If you've been around a locker room any time soon, you'll know the likes of J Balvin, Chance the Rapper, and Lil Yachy have to make a final cut. But high-energy indie rock -- and even some country a la the Zac Brown Band -- occasionally makes an appearance.
Most Popular Artist:
On the final playlists, multiple entries came from Migos, Kanye West, Big Sean, and the Zac Brown Band.
Most Popular Song:
It will probably surprise no one that "Danza Kuduro" by Don Omar feat. Lucenzo, and "Bad and Boujee" by Migos garnered multiple votes across teams. Drake showed up on almost everyone's raw lists, but there wasn't really a consensus on one specific song.
Gentlest Pick:
Someone's getting in their soccer feelings to Sia's "The Greatest" -- though, to be fair, the version featuring Kendrick Lamar.
Old Classics That Rock On:
Besides the aforementioned "Danza Kuduro," the otherwise hazily remembered garage rock act the Hives lives forever through "Hate to Say I Told You So." Another vote came for the late legend Jimi Hendrix, too, with "Fire." Finally, we already know that the international soccer world is married to the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army," so yes, that makes a final appearance on these playlists too.
Check out the full Eastern and Western Conference playlists below.
