Seasoned veterans of the music industry Chris Stapleton and Snoop Dogg have united this week for a cover of “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins, which will serve as the theme for Monday Night Football throughout the rest of the 2023 NFL season.
A New Take on a Classic Rock Staple for Monday Night Football
The 50+ year-old gridiron showcase, now an ESPN property, really needs no introduction. Once the crown jewel of the weekly NFL slate, it still remains a massive draw for the network, and the new accompanying track certainly lives up to that titanic billing. Phil Collins’ original rendition was not lacking in emotional punch, but somehow Snoop & Chris’ version ups the ante, adding in power rock guitars and increasing the presence of those iconic drums in the mix.
Snoop’s verse, which comes in midway through the track, wouldn’t sound out of place on a Madden soundtrack—the West Coast rapper evokes concepts of hot-blooded rivalries, fights for survival, and, of course, the us vs. them mentality. Though not given the same top-line treatment as Snoop & Stapleton, storied jazz & rock drummer Cindy Blackman is also featured here, adding to an impressive list of collaborators that already includes Lenny Kravitz, Pharaoh Sanders and her husband, Carlos Santana.
This is the second year of the new iteration of Monday Night Football, which experienced a massive transformation in the 2022 season when broadcasting veterans Joe Buck & Troy Aikman took over the play call. To match that added star power in the booth, ESPN enlisted Marshmello for an EDM remix of the classic Monday Night theme “Heavy Action,” which led off every installation of the weekday night showdown.
Snoop Dogg & Chris Stapleton’s Relationship with the “Shield”
Himself heavily involved in the world of football, (the father of two college standouts and big league hopefuls), Snoop is becoming more and more a part of the NFL fabric as time goes on. Though his fandom for the Pittsburgh Steelers led to plenty of social media moments, the rapper earned his first official co-sign from the shield when he took the field in LA for Super Bowl 52’s banner halftime show. Stapleton too was in attendance for that night’s game, performing the National Anthem shortly before kickoff. This Monday Night Football rendition, the first official collab between the two artists, only further cements a budding relationship between them and the league.
While Snoop Dogg remains a constant media & business presence no matter where you look, it doesn’t seem like this appearance is building towards anything mounting in his solo career. The opposite is true for Stapleton, who recently announced his upcoming 5th studio album, Higher. If you’re looking for more of the country singer, he released the lead single from that project a few weeks back. You can find that track, “White Horse,” on streaming platforms now.
