What's up, South End?
I've been quiet about this for months, but now is the time to finally get loud. I need y'all to say it with me: Sea … HAWKS!!!
I let the off-season be the off-season. I didn't watch HBO's Hard Knocks, which followed the Seahawks training camp. I didn't give any reactions to draft day. I didn't panic when the team sold (though I do plan on doing some coverage of the owners).
I simply enjoyed the off-season bliss of our team being Super Bowl champs and everyone else scrambling to catch up. I felt good.
But we're here now. Week 1. And we started off with a BANG. Yes, our quarterback Sam Darnold got hurt immediately — and that only made the victory sweeter. We faced adversity like the true champions we are. Jaxon Smith-Njigba made the big play he's known for making, and our defense closed the game with three interceptions in the fourth quarter.
That's Seahawks football, baby. You gotta love it.
This week, I want to kick off football season with a certified superfan. Rapper Draze literally made the Seahawks anthem last year with his hit "The Dark Side." He even performed it at the Super Bowl celebration party and at Lumen Field before the NFC Championship game. He says this year's team has been playing the updated version, "The Darkside 2.0," at training camp.
I spoke with Draze about the update to the anthem, how it feels to go from superfan to performing at Lumen Field, and his prediction for the upcoming season.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
MD: Last year, when you first dropped the song, you came here and we hyped it. It's become the official anthem. As fans, we all feel part of the Super Bowl run, but what was it like for you, as a self-proclaimed Seahawks fanatic, having your song resonate that way?
Draze: It's still going. It had thousands of views in the off-season. I got to perform at Lumen Field for the championship ceremony to a sold-out crowd. I've done some big stuff, but never anything that big.
Now everywhere I go, when I'm in Seattle, somebody walks up to me and wants to talk about "The Dark Side," or they just walk up and say "M-O-B, M-O-B." It's definitely taking the recognition beyond anything I could have ever imagined.
MD: When I saw you tweet there was a "Dark Side 2.0," in all honesty, I was worried. We had the anthem and won the Super Bowl. Why jinx it?
Draze: I feel like you. When you make a Picasso or something great, you don't mess with it. So, honestly, it was a lot of time and thought. "The Dark Side" is the anthem for the Seahawks, right, and the real stories behind them is how I created it. So, I got it to the Seahawks first, and they started playing it in training camp.
I kept it really simple. Same beat. I just took out K-9 [Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker, who now plays for the Kansas City Chiefs], that line, and added Sam Darnold's name in a line. And this is it. There is no "Dark Side 3.0" coming next year. The song is locked and loaded.
MD: OK. Then is it OK for us to call it an update instead of a remix?
Draze: It legitimately is an update. That's all it is.
MD: All good. Now, for the football. What was your takeaway after Week 1?
Draze: Championship medal. We're built different. We really are everything that we talk about and that the song "The Dark Side" talks about, we embody 12 as one. When your quarterback goes down on the first drive of the game, you're gonna need 12 as one to get through this thing.
When you're down, and you need to play, it's [Jaxon Smith-] Njigba. When your running back decides to go to KC, Jadarian Price starts cooking. And then, last but not least, in the end, we needed defense to close out the game. And in the fourth quarter, we got three interceptions from the Dark Side.
MD: What's your prediction for this season?
Draze: I really believe we can run it forward. I mean, health has to be on your side, because this is football. But here's the reality: We're more than likely going to the playoffs. And once you're in the playoffs, I mean, it's one game at a time at that point. And nobody wants to play us. We have a tough schedule this year, but nobody wants to see us in the playoffs.
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This is an abbreviated version of The Roundup newsletter. To get the entire newsletter, including a weekly list of events to check out and my shout-out to South End Gems, subscribe here. See you next week!
Mike Davis is the newsletter editor and Voices editor at the South Seattle Emerald. Born and raised in Seattle's South End, Mike is a longtime journalist who's covered everything from arts and culture to sports to politics.
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