Winnipeg Blue Bombers #37 Brandon Alexander
This is how Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Canadian Football League fans have come to know Brandon Alexander…
He is the hard-hitting versatile defensive back roaming the Bombers air defence, and a man who helped set the tone in the 107th Grey Cup with an interception on the first pass attempt of the game. He is a highly respected leader whose back story – a walk-on at Central Florida who wedged his foot in professional football’s door by standing out at a Bombers free agent camp – is just part of what gives him such a unique perspective in the locker room.
And here is the Brandon Alexander some may not yet know – the aspiring musician who is writing his own lyrics and beats and one day hopes to be also known by his stage name, ‘King Alex.’
“I’ve always loved music. It’s something I grew up on and it has always intertwined with sports,” began Alexander in a recent conversation with bluebombers.com from his offseason home in Orlando, Fla. “I really started to get into it last fall after the Grey Cup. I’m a big gamer, always playing Xbox, 2K and Madden. I had been doing music, in terms of rapping, since college but had never taken any action in terms of just doing it. So, I sold my Xbox and after that I was so bored wondering what to do with myself. I don’t watch a lot of TV and even when I was getting on the game I was just looking at the screen.
“I asked myself, ‘What do I love to do?’ I tried cooking, but it wasn’t what I wanted. I came to the realization that anytime I was doing anything, whether it was cleaning the house, cooking, playing football the one thing I was always doing was listening to music.
“I sold my Xbox and went and got a computer and told myself, ‘This is going to be my new Xbox’ and I’ve been working on beats since.”
Alexander said his days – especially now with the COVID-19 pandemic – are filled with training and then working on making beats and music, adding “Both of those things make me happy, keep me satisfied.”
Alexander’s first introduction to music came through his father, who was in the military and was once stationed in California. He introduced his son to artists like DJ Quik and Suga Free and Alexander lists Lil Wayne, The Game, Dom Kennedy, Nipsey Hussle, Jay-Z, Nas and 8Ball & MJG as some of his influences.
“I love all genres of rap. I don’t want to put myself in a box because I feel like I can do everything,” he said. “But in today’s modern time I’m more of a Jay Cole, Kendrick Lamar type… people that speak with substance. I put motivation behind my music, like Nipsey Hussle was doing with the West Coast and bringing those guys together. That’s something I want to do. I’m passionate about that as well.
“I rap about real life things, things I’ve been through. I rap about being in relationships, things that have happened to me, going to college and being a walk-on, chillin’ with the home boys. I’ve written about things that have happened to me in Winnipeg with my boys. Real life stuff. It’s always going to be true. I like to put in messages that revolve around ‘if I can do this, you can do this, too.’ There was a point in time where I wasn’t playing football and I had to work hard before I got this opportunity. That’s in my music.”
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Yes, Alexander knows hard work. That’s what the Bombers first noticed about him when he attended a free agent camp in Florida when he jumped in front of other prospects to get more reps in a drill. That daily work ethic continued through his first training camp and his rookie CFL season, and he is now among a collection of players in the locker room who are always studying, always working on their craft.
That dedication is there, too, with his music.
“Is talent born?” Alexander said. “Sometimes it is because of what your parents did and so on. But if you’re really true and genuine about something, talent can be made. You can fall in love in something, don’t know how to do it at all and end up learning how to do it and actually be good.
“There was a point in time where I could not rap on a beat. I just couldn’t. Then a guy I went to college with, Bruce Dukes, showed me how to rap on a beat and I got better at it. Now I’m making beats all the time. I wouldn’t say it’s the best beats, but it’s way better than when I started in November and December. Now I sit on the computer and watch everything. I’m trying to perfect what I do. I watch YouTube videos. I call producers and ask how they do things. It’s the same thing in football. If I don’t understand or know how to do something, I have to go ask a coach or a player who does know so I can sharpen my tools and be as good as I can be.
“I want to be able to intertwine football and music together and show you can do both and be good at both. This is what I love to do: I love playing football. I love making music. I love listening to music. Why not do it?”
“I’m loving it.”
