In the week Newcastle Jets attacker Joey Champness put his football career on hold to pursue a music career in the US, there’s another young footballer making waves in the music world.
Meet 17-year-old Mali Jose.
The teenager is not only a rising star of Perth Glory’s academy, he’s also a talented rapper and songwriter.
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Teaming up with fellow 17-year-old Oskar Johns Carpenter (producer), the pair have teamed up and are an emerging hip hop force in WA known as Mali Jo$e.
And together they are doing some pretty impressive things, with their track ‘Mistakes’ seeing them named a finalist in the Triple J Unearthed High competition.
“Music has always been a big part of my life. My parents have really influenced me to love music,” Jose told www.a-league.com.au.
“I do a lot of things with music, homework, schoolwork, I get ready for games. It’s a big thing for me.
“It’s a big stress relief to have that balance to have soccer and music. It takes up a big part of my life without me even knowing just using it every day.
“When I make [music] I feel free, the same way I feel on the field. It’s a great outlet.”
As well as juggling his music and football commitments, where he plays as a wing-back for Glory’s youth team, Jose is also in Year 12 at John Curtin College Of The Arts.
It would be a lot for any individual to deal with, let alone a 17-year-old.
But it’s values learned since joining the Glory set-up in 2016 that have held the gifted youngster in good stead.
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“Glory has taught me a lot of things not just football-wise but in terms of life lessons already that some people may not get to learn until a later in their lives,” Jose explains.
“Like how to take criticism, having discipline, having structure and routine, working to the best of your abilities and knowing you can really reap the rewards of success if you work hard.
“That’s been the biggest thing I can take from this football journey with Glory. And whatever passion you choose in life, as long as you love it, you can never go wrong.”
Jose has been with Glory’s academy for almost four years and was a part of the group that travelled to Europe last year and played matches against the youth teams of Manchester City and Barcelona.
“It was one of the best experiences…something I’ll remember it for the rest of my life,” Jose says.
“To play against Manchester City and Barcelona, people wish to do those things and I got the opportunity to do it.
“And we actually gave them a good run for their money, it was very competitive, we trained a lot for that. it was great…I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.”
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Like Champness, Jose clearly has a special gift in both football and music and is well aware he could be forced to make a hard decision between the two down the track.
“It’s on and off…every day it’s always different. I haven’t fully come to a decision yet,” he admits.
“But either way, if I chose football I would always love music and if I chose music I’d always love football.
“It’s a win-win situation, I really don’t see a loss in both choices. I’m going to go as hard as I can no matter which one it is.”
