Whopper hot dogs, dads playing catch with their kids and an American commentator blaring across Crystal Palace Park: “This has been so badass y’all’’. On Saturday, Major League Baseball had come to the big smoke for a Home Run Derby, where US sporting legends took turns batting with local amateurs in a day billed as “festival vibes” – with AJ Tracey rounding it all off as a star headliner.
On the surface it seemed like a sensible billing. The big-ticket UK rap and grime performer has long made clear that he is a fan of American sports, even naming last year’s album, Flu Game, after basketball legend Michael Jordan. His song Thiago Silva also compares life on the streets in West London to the battlefield of the football pitch.
