The League of Legends European Championship (LEC) has announced a collaboration with American pop rock band Against the Current.
As a result, the band has released its latest single ‘Wildfire’ in collaboration with two of the LEC’s casters, Andrew ‘Vedius’ Day and Daniel ‘Drakos’.
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According to the release, the track is tied to Riot Games’ exclusive cooperation with Warner Music Group. The partnership, led by Warner Music Central Europe, marks the first time that a music artist has collaborated with esports talent from Riot Games for a song.
Andrew ‘Vedius’ Day, Caster for the LEC, commented: “The LEC team has had a lot of fun producing music videos in the past but to partner up with Chrissy and her band Against the Current was extra special for us. They’re so well known in the world of esports for their massive hit Legends Never Die, so to collaborate on a song with them was a bit of a ‘pinch me’ moment.”
The collaborative track includes vocals from Vedius and Against the Current’s vocalist Chrissy, as well as a rap interlude from Drakos. The music video was filmed in Los Angeles, California.
Chrissy Costanza, Vocalist for Against the Current, said: “Bringing ‘Wildfire’ to life was a surreal experience from beginning to end and any opportunity we have to be involved with the League of Legends world is incredible.
“We’re so excited to be the soundtrack to LEC 2022! Shooting the video was one of the biggest productions we had ever been on so it was a crazy experience. We had never done overnight shoots or worked with so much pyro. The team behind it was awesome and we had an absolute blast”
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Last year, the LEC produced ‘Reckless With My Heart’, an emo-inspired tune that received a nomination at this year’s Esports Awards for Creative Piece of the Year. The team have also produced multiple rap battles in the past, with its most recent – Mediocre Rap Battle of the LEC – totalling more than 400,000 views.
Against the Current teamed up with League of Legends for ‘Legends Never Die’ in 2017, which was the theme for that year’s LoL World Championship.
Esports Insider says: It’s not unusual for Riot Games and League of Legends to collaborate with solo artists or groups to release music. However, this is the first time esports talent from the organisation has teamed up with a music artist to release a song. It will be interesting to see whether this creates more opportunities for future music drops by esports personalities.