Following Sunday’s loss and the subsequent backlash over the Atlanta Falcons’ season opener song, singer Rotimi had some things to get off his chest. You may recall, fans, fellow celebrities and Atlanta locals slammed the Falcons for enlisting a non-Atlanta native to perform their team’s new anthem, ‘Rise Up.’ Notable names such as T.I., Jermaine Dupri, and even J.I.D shared their unsavory thoughts about Rotimi, a New Jersey native, being tapped for the Atlanta Falcons promo.
Over the weekend, the Atlanta Falcons football organization caught a lot of flack after they revealed the team’s music video for its new theme song. The hopes for the team’s new anthem was not only to bring some excitement ahead of the 2022 season opener, but to bring the city together as well. Although the city did come together in agreement over their feelings for the track, it wasn’t in the way the Falcons expected.
Rotimi initially took the criticism in stride, however, the former Power actor felt it necessary to clear the air about how the collaboration with the NFL organization went down.
On Monday, Sept. 12, the R&B singer/actor called in to Atlanta’s The Big Tigger Morning Show on V-103 to set the record straight following the heat he’s been receiving from critics for repping the team and city, according to Audacy. It had been assumed that he presented the Falcons with this season’s promo idea, so the hosts were surprised to learn that it was actually the Falcons organization that reached out to Rotimi after seeing him perform live.
“They called me,” Rotimi explained. “Someone from the Falcons organization came to a show that I was performing at, and so they saw whatever, and they reached out to my team. They were like, ‘Yo, we would love Rotimi to do the anthem. We’d love him to do all the promo stuff for the Falcons this season.’”
Rotimi went on to share why he decided to accept the Falcons’ offer to do the anthem, noting that not only was this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but he genuinely considers Atlanta home.
“Not every day a billion dollar company is calling you to do something,” Rotimi said. “Secondly, I actually live here. I’ve been living here for the last four years straight. I’ve got two homes here, my son was born here. I’ve been around the Falcons chilling for years. It was always my second home. Thirdly, I love the city genuinely. … I’m like, ‘hell yeah, let’s do it!’ … We got compensated for our work, so for me, it was definitely a great thing.”
When asked if the negative response to the anthem bothered him, he said nonchalantly, “I don’t really get touched by that stuff.”
