Sophia Michaels
Soccer’s the common denominator here. The “intoxicating and infectious” energy of Los Angeles Football Club brought System of a Down’s Shavo Odadjian and Cypress Hill’s B-Real to link up for a “banger” produced by DJ Flict. Rolling Stone premieres the video for “Reppin’ the City,” the amped-up soundtrack for the L.A. team’s playoff run.
“It all starts with the will to win/Settle in/We on a quest to be Champion/Let’s begin,” B-Real raps over an EDM-meets-hard rock beat as he incorporates the Spanish stadium chants into the song’s lyrics. “Dale! Dale! Dale! Black and Gold. There ain’t nothing like the fever when we lose control.”
Odadjian, B-Real, and Flict have followed the club closely since its first MLS season in 2018 and have since become staples at the Banc of California Stadium during games. This season, LAFC, the team led by Carlos Vela, comes into the playoffs No. 1 in MLS’ Western Conference.
“It’s an easy collaboration when you got guys that you respect and you love their work,” B-Real tells Rolling Stone. “We’re coming together for a team we love and support.”
B-Real previously lent a rap verse on the team’s “Do It For LA” with Kid Ink. Now, the new song has System of a Down bassist Odadjian for a fresh take on amping Los Angeles ahead of their playoff run.
“I’ve loved soccer as a sport for years and found a bond with LAFC from my first match,” says Odadjian. “[B-Real and I] are friends first and have great mutual respect for each other. Working together was a joy.”
As for DJ Flict, the producer was a season ticketholder before he started making music for the club, which he credits for “singlehandedly making soccer cool” in the U.S.
“This song has one purpose, it’s to get the fans and team hyped. Shavo and I went in on the production and made sure it went hard,” Flict says. “The only artist we thought that would murder this rock/hip hop style record was Cypress Hill. And of course, B-real, Sen Dog, and Bobo put in their distinct, signature sound to make it a crazy anthem.”
LAFC is set to face off against the winner between Nashville SC and LAFC’s crosstown rivals LA Galaxy during the Western Conference semifinals on Oct. 20 and 23.
System of a Down recently reconnected in 2020 to release new music and support Armenia amid its conflict with Azerbaijan. They dropped a pair of songs, “Protect the Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz,” that year.
“This is gruesome shit that’s going on,” Odadjian told Rolling Stone at the time. “There’s nothing humane about it. They’re not saying, ‘Oh, leave our lands. We’ll be so polite to help you leave.’ They’re massacring people and doing all sorts of cowardly, disgusting things.”
As for Cypress Hill, Showtime premiered a documentary about them in late April.
