Over the past few weeks, Spanish global football powerhouse FC Barcelona have been running various ads on Instagram featuring amapiano stars Ch’cco and Pabi Cooper.
While it wasn’t immediately clear what exactly was going on between the two artists and the club, an image of a new billboard in New York shared on Instagram revealed that the ads are part of a new campaign with Spotify Africa.
The two artists shared an image of the billboard on Instagram, “When music and football come together. God is gooood. Visca Barça & @spotifyafrica 💙❤️.”
Barcelona also shared the image of the billboard on Twitter.
It was also revealed through a press statement that there’s an ongoing paid partnership between the two companies in a bid to show some love to African musicians who are proud Culers (FC Barcelona supporters).
“Spotify is transforming Camp Nou into a vibrant space that celebrates artists from around the world while connecting FC Barcelona fans with their favourite creators and players,” read the release.
The two South African amapiano vocalists were also joined by Nigerian stars Odumodublvck and Teni.
These artists also feature on the ‘Barça African Connect’ playlist, which showcases different sounds and other artists from the continent.
The playlist also features music from the likes of Focalistic, DJ Maphorisa, 2woBunnies, Tyler ICU, Mellow & Sleazy, Mawhoo and Tumelo_za.
This isn't Cooper’s first taste of global recognition. Back in June, Cooper was nominated for Viewer’s Choice: Best New International Act at the BET Awards.
She’s also been touring the world for the past few years.
Previously, the two brands teamed up to advertise SA rapper A-Reece’s latest project, ‘Deadlines: Free P2’.
The album was promoted during one of Barcelona’s home fixtures last October. “thank you @spotifysa & congratulations to @fbarcelona for the win! | #FREEP2,” he shared.