Chris Wright, Toe Poke writerNov 24, 2021, 07:00 AM ET
Declan Rice has emerged as an unlikely rap sensation on social media this week after he took part in the "Sing Your Dialect" karaoke craze that is taking Twitter Spaces by storm.
The West Ham United and England midfielder popped up and rapped a verse of Vanilla Ice's classic hit "Ice Ice Baby," in which he altered the chorus to "Rice Rice Baby."
It was all part of the "Sing Your Dialect" phenomenon that has gone viral this week, which has seen a slew of famous footballing faces get involved.
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) November 23, 2021Declan Rice's #SingYourDialect by numbers:
76,819 listeners
100% lyric completion
10/10 on the Vibe-O-Meter
1 standing ovation from @jacobbmc2@_DeclanRice, Rice, Baby. 👏https://t.co/I1h7jJOOUs pic.twitter.com/MoDg6UAi52
The Sing Your Dialect karaoke party was launched on Twitter's new Spaces function on Monday, the creation of Jacob McLaughlin, an 18-year-old from Manchester who by his own admission had "100 Twitter followers and nothing else to do."
McLaughlin initially invited just four of his friends to perform but the link soon went viral as 150,000 eager fans flooded in from around the world.
"Sing Your Dialect was [started as] karaoke for everyone," McLaughlin said. "No matter whether you're big on Twitter or little, everyone can have a go.
"Everyone's on the same level. It's fun, we're not here to be serious. It's just a joke."
However, it wasn't long until the joke spread around the world, with a host of football clubs from the Premier League down to the non-leagues, individual players, and fans jumping on board.
There were scores of celebrities spotted in the audience including various Youtubers, television personalities, pop stars, professional footballers ... oh, and Barack Obama, the former President of the United States, who sat and listened intently as the Shrewsbury Town squad sang ABBA.
Turns out last night wasn't a dream. #SingYourDialect https://t.co/JgOXj9J7b1
— Shrewsbury Town FC (@shrewsweb) November 23, 2021
Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale also got involved, with Bruno Fernandes, Gabriel Martinelli and former Manchester City defender Micah Richards also noted guests among the listening public.
A strong showing from the English Football League was exemplified by the entire Morecambe FC defence, who proved just how tight a unit they truly are by teaming up to sing "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" by The Script.
— Melissa Reddy (@MelissaReddy_) November 23, 2021Me wondering what #SingYourDialect is all about...
The @ShrimpsOfficial back four coming in like: pic.twitter.com/SjBM1qiHNI
Former Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers defender David Wheater surprised everybody with a choice blast of "Disco 2000" by Pulp.
— Sanny Rudravajhala (@SannyR1985) November 23, 2021David Wheater: "I used to play for Middlesbrough, Bolton and Oldham youth team." 😂😂😂
Wheatz busts out Disco 2000 with a nod to the #oafc owners with his intro.
#SINGYOURDIALECT #bbcefl #bbcfootball #efl #bwfc #boro @BigWheatz31 pic.twitter.com/jJVXuvdhC5
Sing Your Dialect and other Twitter Spaces basically function as a group phone call where the host controls who speaks at any one time. Jacob duly turned master of ceremonies as people lined up to perform karaoke versions of their favourite songs.
Rice was first spotted listening in on opening night, even hinting that he would be prepared to get involved and sing a song himself.
Rice Rice Baby🎶😂 #singyourdialect
— Declan Rice (@_DeclanRice) November 23, 2021
Sure enough, the 22-year-old plucked up the courage for Tuesday's Sing Your Dialect party, much to Jacob's delight.
IVE GOT DECLAN RICE SINGING RICE RICE BABY THIS IS CLASS AHAHAHAHHAHAA
— jacob (@jacobbmc2) November 23, 2021
Rice's version of the 1990 global smash hit was performed in front of an audience of over 75,000 people -- including several of his West Ham teammates such as winger Arthur Masuaku.
This guy 🤦🏿♂️🤦🏿♂️🤦🏿♂️🤦🏿♂️🤦🏿♂️ https://t.co/bhgor3yYbR
— Arthur Masuaku (@ArthurMasuaku) November 23, 2021
The Hammers themselves sat up and took notice of their young star's impressive karaoke chops, as did the England national team.
'Rice Rice, baby'#singyourdialect pic.twitter.com/A1CVaTzbCu
— West Ham United (@WestHam) November 23, 2021
Rice, Rice baby 🎶 pic.twitter.com/GLTotXK3Xs
— England (@England) November 23, 2021
Rice's energetic vocal performance was warmly received by former England internationals like Jamie Carragher and Peter Crouch, and became a trending topic on Twitter to rival that evening's Champions League action.
Brilliant 😂😂😂
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) November 23, 2021
What a man
— Peter Crouch (@petercrouch) November 24, 2021
Reece James scores against Juve in the Champions League but Declan Rice is closing in on him because he's singing Rice Rice Baby on Spaces. 🤷🏼♀️😂 pic.twitter.com/PdkRT8ZHKs
— Kelly Cates (@KellyCates) November 23, 2021
We can't wait to see which famous names from the football world and beyond tune in for the next Sing Your Dialect party.
