Vikings

Antone Exum's Music Is Actually Pretty Good

EXUM YouTube channel screenshot

You may remember Antone Exum Jr. as the backup safety behind Harrison Smith in 2014 and 2015. Exum made two starts for the Minnesota Vikings and played three years with the San Francisco 49ers before retiring in 2020. Then he started making music. And it’s not bad. In fact, it’s pretty good.

The Vikings selected Exum out of Virginia Tech in the sixth round of the 2014 draft. It was Mike Zimmer’s first draft as head coach, and an important class for Minnesota that included Teddy Bridgewater, defensive cornerstone Anthony Barr, and Jerick McKinnon. They took a flier on Exum to be Smith’s future partner in crime.

I always had high expectations for Exum. Looking back, I’m not sure why, but I’ve always had a fondness for safeties, and the Vikings need to find a special one to pair with Smith.

That’s not the only reason I wanted Exum to succeed. He was a promising prospect in college. At 6’0″ and nearly 220 lbs., he’s pretty big for a cornerback, the position he played at Virginia Tech, so Bleacher Report’s Ian Wharton scouted him as excelling in a role like Kam Chancellor or T.J. Ward. That alone is exciting for a projected second- or third-round rookie who fell due to injury.

Exum tore his ACL and missed time during his senior year. Before that, he was regarded as a shutdown corner. He had five interceptions and 21 passes defended the year before – his first season as a true cornerback.

Exum never fully returned to form in the NFL. Is it because he wasn’t playing corner like he did in his best season in college? Did injuries diminish his abilities? Did he just have a passion that wasn’t on the football field? I suspect it was a combination of all three.

After football, Antone Exum Jr. became EXUM. I followed the former safety on social media throughout his career because, as I said, I have a soft spot for late-round safeties. Once the Vikings put him on IR and waived him, it seemed like his public profile shifted. He was posting artistic, uncanny, and surreal imagery on Instagram — an odd shift for a player who was just a free agent from a fan’s point of view.

He started recording during his time off after suffering an injury in 2016. He met producer Erik Samkopf in 2018 and started sampling music. “I was emailing him demos over beats I found on YouTube, then he’d strip the music out and produce over the lyrics,” EXUM told The Guardian.

Now he has two albums: Xardinal Coffee and Tickle Pink Hotel. He also has music videos available on his YouTube channel. His first single, “Dark Kept Secret,” is his best music video.

EXUM has a sound influenced by the rock-and-roll side of Kid Cudi while including surrealism, funk, pop, and R&B. It’s great on a drive or if you want some background noise that’s not too obnoxious. Kids would say it has a vibe, no doubt.

I was immediately impressed by EXUM’s production value. He has some really polished beats and lyrics. It’s never corny like you might expect from a pro athlete turned rapper (think Le’Veon Bell, Deion Sanders, Shaq, etc.).

EXUM isn’t just a rapper, though; he’s an artist. His unique videos look like they’re processed through an old VCR. He has a very ‘80s Miami vibe on his most recent album.

Late in his football career, Exum found a role in San Francisco and finally got some actual playing time there. Much like his playing career, he’s a grinder behind the mic, and EXUM’s music is underappreciated. I’ve dug it since his first album, but he hasn’t gotten much recognition for his talent yet. His second album dropped this year, and it’s even better than his debut. It’s fuller, more polished, and sounds even more like a dreamscape on a retro-futuristic beach.

Exum ended his playing career with one interception, two forced fumbles, and 65 tackles, but his music career is just starting to take off.

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EXUM YouTube channel screenshot

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