This weekend saw Australian music's biggest day of the year, with the annual Triple J Hottest 100 taking place.
And while house parties all across the country were celebrating the results, or arguing about its controversial winner, there were many more who couldn’t name a single song.
If you’re one of these people, who prefer Kyrie to Kanye, or Sam Kerr to Spacey Jane, then this list has all that you need to know about the athletic exploits mentioned in song.
In keeping with tradition, we will start at the end and count our way down, as we look at every sports reference in the 2021 Hottest 100.
Song 93: FAMILY TIES - Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar
“It's a headshot, Damien Kane, woo them guys”
Our first entry comes in the early ’90s, from rapper Baby Keem in his song with Kendrick Lamar: ‘Family Ties’.
Keem references former pro-wrestler, Damien Kane, and the team ‘The Headhunters’, which Kane managed.
Song 88: MY MIND - Baker Boy feat. G Flip
“Beat me to the punch line, either that or she packin' it, we let our guards down, round one, round two, round three”
It might not be treading new ground, but Australian rapper Baker Boy employed a reference to boxing/combat sports in his song ‘My Mind’.
Baker Boy compares his blossoming romance to a competitive fight, a fact that I’m not sure his partner would have appreciated in its entirety.
Song 82: PRAISE GOD - Kanye West feat. Travis Scott
“Six, I'm like Mike”
Neither West nor Scott are unfamiliar with Michael Jordan, having both worked with the brand and the player during their careers.
Scott, who has a number of personal colourways of Jordan shoes, draws a parallel between himself and the NBA icon to begin the song ‘Praise God’ on Wests’ album ‘Donda’, equating his six albums to Jordan’s six NBA Championships.
Song 79: CLASH - Dave feat. Stormzy
By far the most sport-conscious song of the Hottest 100, ‘Clash’ by English rappers Dave and Stormzy features a multitude of references across different sports.
“Jordan 4s or Jordan 1s”
Simple. Elegant. To the point. Simply two of the best shoes to ever exist. No wonder they’re struggling to choose.
“I got the Jordan 4s and Jordan 6s, all I need now is Jordyn Woods”
Again, flexing the shoe rotation has to be respected. This line adds another layer of flair, however, claiming that the next ‘Jordan’ Dave needs is the American model, who is also the partner of current NBA player Karl-Anthony Towns.
“I’m Pep, I ball with flair”
Switching from basketball to football, Stormzy likens himself to famed manager Pep Guardiola, who is the current manager of Manchester City.
Song 63: CHEMTRAILS OVER THE COUNTRY CLUB - Lana Del Ray
“Drag racing my little red sports car”
While not *technically* about professional sports, Lana Del Ray shows a keen interest in amateur motorsports in her song, speaking on her tendency to take on strangers in drag races.
Everybody needs a hobby.
Song 59: LOVE RACE - Machine Gun Kelly feat. Kellin Quinn
“Love is a game and they were kissing in the bleachers”
Here, Machine Gun Kelly turns love itself into a sport and then uses the imagery of bleachers to help sell his point.
Song 57: THE MAN HIMSELF - Gang of Youths
This song does not explicitly contain sports-related lyrics but is undoubtedly the most sports adjacent song in the 100 - Australian F1 driver Daniel Riccardo having a credit on the song for playing the drums.
Song 52: UP - Cardi B
“Racks stack up Shaq height”
Shaquille O’Neal is approximately seven feet tall.
A rack (ten $100 bills) measures in at 0.043 inches thick.
Following this logic, Cardi B would need 1,953 racks to reach Shaq's height, which is approximately $1,953,000.
Considering the New York rapper boasts a net worth of $40 million according to ‘Celebrity Net Worth’, Cardi B’s racks could stack up 20 Shaq heights.
Song 44: HURRICANE - Kanye West feat. The Weeknd, Lil Baby
“Bro told me the way to beat the game was on the defence”
Another line that does not relate to a specific sport, but rather adopts sporting lingo to talk about other issues.
It is possible that Lil Baby is referencing Bear Bryant’s quote “offence wins games, but defence wins championships', but the truth is probably closer to the rapper making a generalisation about his path to success.
Song 34: GET INTO IT (YUH) - Doja Cat
“Turn that b***h into a soccer ball and rocka, rocka, rocka”
In what is a fairly inventive threat, Doja Cat uses her song ‘Get into it (yuh)’ to tell her unspecified female opponent that she will transfigure her into a soccer ball (football), before supposedly delivering an extremely powerful kick to said ball.
It is unclear what the woman-turned-soccer ball did to deserve this treatment, but any threat that is made by also invoking ‘The Lords of the Underground’ (the rap group whose song ‘Chief Rocka’ Doja references) cannot be taken light-heartedly.
Song 31: NEED TO KNOW - Doja Cat
“Hold up I’m going wide, we could just start at ten, then we can go to five”
Doja Cat goes back-to-back here, this time taking on the persona of an NFL wide receiver, giving directions to his quarterback, and discussing the game plan.
That’s all this line is about, nothing else, and we’re moving on.
Song 20: TOUCH BACK DOWN - Ocean Alley
“Well, I should probably go surfing”
This one feels pretty self-explanatory.
Song 16: SEVENTEEN GOING UNDER - Sam Fender
“Locker room talking lads lads”
Easily the most negative of the sports-related lyrics from this list, Sam Fender uses ‘locker room talking’ as a shorthand to describe a certain type of men who speak inappropriately and disrespectfully behind the closed doors of locker rooms.
Song 8: INDUSTRY BABY - Lil Nas X feat. Jack Harlow
“Say your time is coming soon but just like Oklahoma, mine is coming Sooner”
It was perhaps inevitable that Jack Harlow would be the one to bring this list home, given his prior sports references that have littered his discography.
Harlow references the University of Oklahoma sports teams, known as the Sooner’s, to speak on his ascension in the music world.
Having previously claimed he was sharing a section of a club with the Louiseville Cardinals, and having a full song centred around his friendship with Miami Heat player Tyler Herro, there was truly no one better (besides perhaps Action Bronson) to make the highest ranked sports reference in the 2021 Hottest 100.
