This Dolphins standout isn’t just in the latest Madden game – he’s on the soundtrack, too
For Dolphins fans who are gaming enthusiasts, the release of the latest Madden video game is another opportunity to play as their favorite team — whether it’s exhibition matches with friends or building a dynasty in Franchise mode.
And in Madden NFL 24, they can also hear one of the team’s standouts on the soundtrack.
Left tackle Terron Armstead is featured on the soundtrack, appearing on a six-song project with other NFL players and music artists.
The Crowd Control extended play, released Tuesday, is a first collaboration among the NFL, Interscope Geffen A&M Records and EA SPORTS. It’s the first time music has been created and performed by NFL players and featured in Madden NFL franchise history.
The project’s origins come from an NFL Career Tour event, the league’s developmental program to introduce active and former athletes to opportunities in other industries. Interscope hosted 20 active and retired players for a day-long session at its headquarters in Santa Monica this past spring, giving the athletes a behind-the-scenes look at the music industry.
Grammy Award-winning artist Derrick Milano, who was assisting with the session and served as executive producer of the EP, told the Miami Herald the aim was to teach the athletes about the business of music. But players then wanted to leave the event with a song. One of them was “Sweep,” which was originally recorded by New York Giants tight end Darren Waller and appears on the EP.
The event was a hit and the NFL began to reach out to active players who might be interested in making an entire project of songs that could be used not only in the Madden video game but league programming throughout the season.
Armstead wasn’t at the Career Tour event but the NFL contacted him about the project and he was excited to contribute. In June, the athletes, rappers and producers met at Interscope’s headquarters again to begin to work. Waller, former Dolphin Melvin Ingram, Ray-Ray McCloud and DJ Chark are the other players featured on the project.
In a recent interview with the Miami Herald, Armstead said the studio session started with each person playing their music, some unreleased tracks, to get a sense of everyone’s style. Rappers Jay Rock and EST Gee are among the artists and producers who had a hand in the project.
“And then we started to cook,” Armstead said.
Milano, born Derrick Gray, said it took about a week to record the EP and then finish the audio engineering process. Within the next month, all the licensing and business aspects of the project were finished. Armstead said he recorded verses for seven songs in one day because he had to fly out the next morning.
“The experience was second to none,” said Armstead, who added that they used the Grammy Award-winning producer Dr. Dre’s original soundboard.
Said Milano: “Everybody was creative, and everybody’s dope at what they do. So the collaborative process made the process easier because everybody was able to shoot off ideas, brainstorm. The mic was right there, so everybody was able to go in and out of the booth and do stuff.”
Armstead is featured on five of the six songs. On “Cold Now,” one of his favorite tracks from the project, he gives a shoutout to his current team, rapping: “In Miami, Hard Rock jumping like a rock band/You know me, I love my green and cheese like a Packers fan.”
“One thing that I like about Terron, I like his delivery,” Milano said. “But I also like his voice. When he comes on a record, he kind of demands the track.”
Milano thinks the body of work is strong enough that they could do another project in the future, with more features from rappers and producers. Armstead hopes to continue working with Milano, possibly meeting in Miami to collaborate on more music.
For Armstead, the experience was an opportunity to build on a hobby he started as a teenager. He began making music in high school and picked it back up a few years ago, releasing an album in 2020. Shortly after signing with the Dolphins in the 2022 offseason, he dropped a track titled, “Intro to Miami.”
His in-house producer, Abby “Samir” Urbina, has worked with Lil Wayne and NBA Youngboy, and that relationship has opened his eyes to the complexities of the music industry.
“He taught me a lot about the business, a lot about the creation of music,” Armstead said. “How we start off with a blank canvas, then we create the art. And now you’ve got to promo the art and you’ve got to distribute the art. So, there’s a whole world to it that I really had no idea.”
Armstead plans to get physical copies of Madden soon to commemorate the feat. “We broke some barriers as athletes, especially being active players, so it’s a big moment and we would like to cherish it,” he said.
As for his next release, you may have to wait a while for that.
“I’m locked in on my day job,” he said with a laugh. “We got the season starting. We’re locked in, the next six, seven months, trying to get something done and make a memorable Miami Dolphins season. I really don’t touch music during the season. I have a ton of music already done during the offseason, so I don’t even have to get into it at all. We’re just locked in on the game.”
This story was originally published September 7, 2023 at 1:31 PM.
