The walls of separation between disparate parts of people’s lives are quickly disintegrating in this generation, and the arrival of 17’s new extended play, ‘More To Life,’ holds further proof of that evolution. For much of his life, the Nigerian-British star, more popularly known as Alex Iwobi,  has been judged by what he can do on the football pitch, but he’s keen to show that there’s more to him than we know. 

It’s a moment that has long been in the works, with the rapper starting to release music in 2024. Since then, he’s sharpened his voice and vision, setting the stage for the arrival of his debut project, ‘More To Life,’ where he’s letting listeners into the minutiae of his life as a young and gifted black man navigating the parameters of his stardom without losing sight of his priorities.  With features from Fido, 24AM (fellow footballer, Amadou Onana), and TeniolaTime, 17 is stepping out to tell his story on his own terms. 

We hear that you love padel?

Of course, everyone knows that I like my football, I like my music.  Then, even recently, my friends and I have been trying to get into things like padel. I’ve played twice, and I’m already trying to book my next session. I’m actually enjoying it. So, whatever we try to like, we think, oh, let’s test it and see what we can do, we just try to enjoy ourselves. So the reason why obviously ‘More to Life’ is the best way to describe everything is that with my friends and me, with my family and me, we always say there’s more to life.

Why did you start releasing music?

I’ve been going to the booth with my friends for over like 15 years. So like, it’s always a hobby that my friends and I like, we just like to go in the booth, just talk about our lives, talk about what’s going on with us. Literally, whatever comes to mind, we literally just lay it into some lyrics and just put it on the mic. But then, only I’d say like four years ago, towards the end of my career at Everton, we said, “Ah, like, maybe we should put out your music. Like, what do you think?” And I thought, “Yeah, you know what? I think it’s time.” I think it’s time, like, of course, everyone knows Alex Iwobi the footballer, but I feel like it’s time, people see that I have more than just football hobbies, that I like to indulge in a lot of things. And obviously, music is one of them.  I don’t want people thinking I’m distracted with my music because, at the same time, football is my main profession. I feel like ever since I had the move to Fulham, it’s been the right time. My manager gives me the license to go and express myself outside the football pitch. My friends are giving me that freedom, and my family gives me that freedom. So when a lot of people are giving me that green light, I feel confident just to express myself through music. 

How did you approach making the opening track?

It’s an introduction to showcase what you’re going to hear for the rest of the tracks, to just hear like, and to understand that you’re going to hear about my life, you’re going to hear about what I go through, my experiences. And obviously, it’s called “Track Zero” because I’m giving credit to E-Man, he tried to be different. He didn’t want it to be just an intro. He said, “Let’s do something different.” I literally just started talking about me and how I see things, my vision on life. And obviously, the last bar, “there’s a whole new person just unleashed”. So with this EP, it’s time for me to come out of my shell. You’re going to hear my sounds.

How did you discover Amadou Onana could make music?

So with Amadou, that’s like my little brother, even though he’s like 24 inches taller than me. We went bowling once, and then after we went karaoke, and you know, when you go karaoke, normally it’s just like a bit of fun, you’re not expecting people to sound good. He started singing, and everyone was like, “Oh my god, he can sing.” So that’s the first time I thought, “Wow, you can actually sing.” So, I spoke to him. I said, “You actually like to do music?” He said, “Yeah,” he writes his own music. And I said, “Oh, like maybe one day we should link up and go to a studio. I have to give a shout-out to a group called Footballers’ Fits. They organised the session, and we created two songs. But one of the songs is obviously on the EP. Amadou is a talent. He’s another one who’s doing well with his football, but he can sing, and he’s got more to give as well. There are projects from him that are on the way as well.

How did you make “Bussdown?”

So my boy AT, Alex Teniola, obviously, he’s in a relationship. All of us were just talking about how we feel when we’re with girls, like what goes through our minds, and obviously, we like to be confident. So, it’s a smooth one, it’s a nice one, and it’s how I felt in the moment. We made the song, I think, like two, three years ago when I first signed for Fulham, so I was number 22. So, there’s a bar I say about the 22 in it. I was literally talking about the time when I was like, there were people, or like I had a certain someone that I was with at the time, and she was like, “Yeah, like 22,” and like it was nice, man. Everyone was talking about how they really feel in the time.

Are you the first footballer to release music?

Potentially, but my uncle did release a couple of tracks on YouTube, I believe. So I mean, obviously, he wasn’t known for his music, so maybe I might be able to take him up on that.