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Rafael Leao and Moise Kean are friends off the pitch and share a lot of common interests, but in Milan-Fiorentina they will be opponents.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport reports, it is not 100% certain that both will start tonight’s game at San Siro. Leao should make his first league start after finally shaking off a calf issue, but Kean is struggling to recover from the ankle injury he sustained in Estonia with Italy.
They are opponents on the pitch but great friends off it, with more than one shared passion beyond football. Above all, music, each with their own style and stage names: Way 45 and KMB. Both have transformed their passion for trap music into a public alter ego, bringing it to the studio and streaming platforms.
Beginnings in music
For Leao, music is a family affair. His father Antonio sang, his uncle was a DJ. During lockdown, he created a mini studio at home, starting to write and rap: a pastime when time stood still due to Covid. Those close to him encouraged him to believe in it, leading him to record his life.
At 26, he already has three albums under his belt. In 2021, his first solo album, ‘Beginning’, features seven tracks in Portuguese and English, ranging from trap to drill, telling his story from sacrifice to success. In 2024, his second, ‘My Life in Each Verse’, contains 17 tracks, one also in Italian, ‘Fede’. On September 5, ’12:12′, his latest album was released.
For Kean, however, his passion for music began on the sidelines. As a kid, during games with friends in Asti, while some played, others stayed aside freestyling, and sometimes he joined them to rap. While he had already appeared in a video by Turin rapper Boro Boro in 2019, his first real work under the name KMB dates back to 2023, when he was still playing for Juventus.
With ‘Outfit’, featuring the group 19F, he became a hit on TikTok. In December 2024, he released his first album, ‘Chosen’, before returning to activity in 2025, first with the single ‘Bombay’, chosen by EA Sports for the new FC 26.
He was the first footballer in FIFA history to have his own song featured on the game’s soundtrack. Then, Kean has ‘Non voglio ritorno broke’, a song released just a few days ago, on September 15.
Neighbourhood connections
Leao’s stage name captures his roots: ‘Way’, like the winding road he took to achieve success, and ’45’, like the postal code for Barrio Jamaica, where he grew up. A reminder to always remember where he started, before being discovered by a chance scout looking out the window.
KMB, on the other hand, is the acronym for Moise Bioty Kean’s full name. But even for the Viola striker, there’s no shortage of references to his childhood: the 19F Gang, of which he is a member and where he began taking his first steps as a rapper, takes its name from the ‘blocco 19’ neighbourhood of Asti where he spent his days as a child.
Leao’s musical heart beats overseas, especially in America: the Portuguese listens to artists such as Migos, Travis Scott, 6ix9ine, Da Baby, and Roddy Rich. He also listens to Meek Mill, who he shares with Kean: the Philadelphia rapper’s ‘Championships’ is his all-time favourite album.
Kean’s playlist also features Tupac and Bob Marley, his musical idols, whom he paid homage to in December 2024 by having their faces printed on the boots he wore in the Coppa Italia match against Empoli.
The reggae legend is a source of inspiration in Moise’s life, as he listened to cassettes his father brought home as a child, so much so that he named his son Marley. Among their mutual friends are Lazza and Capo Plaza: Italian rap stars have repeatedly praised the two players’ musical prowess.
If we look at the numbers, the Italian dominates the battle with nearly 280,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, while the Portuguese forward doesn’t even reach 30,000. KMB’s most-streamed song is ‘Outfit’, with over 5 million streams (Bombay has nearly 2 million). Way 45’s is ‘Escholas’, with 676,011 streams.
Considering that 1 million streams on Spotify can generate an estimated earnings of between $3,000 and $5,000 (though the exact amount varies based on various factors), for now, music remains a side job, far removed from the on-field income.
While we wait to hear their featured track, which apparently is already ready and just waiting to be released, the battle shifts to the pitch at San Siro. There, where they really know how to do tricks with the ball.
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