Medy Ekofo Elito (born 20 March 1990) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Born in Zaire (now DR Congo), he represented England internationally at youth levels U17 through U19. Elito is also a

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

who performs under the name Don EE.

Club career

As a teenager, Elito played in the

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. He signed a professional contract with the U's in May 2007, having already played for the U's at youth and reserve team level. He was given the number 30 shirt for the 2007–08 season and made his Colchester debut as a substitute in a 4–1 defeat away at

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

on 4 March 2008. On 29 March 2008, he scored his first professional goal, against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

. At the time it gave Colchester a 2–0 lead, although following a half-time substitution, Elito was helpless as they went on to lose 4–3, and eventually lose their Championship status. On 4 September 2009, he signed a new two-year contract with Colchester United. Elito signed a monthlong loan at

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

on 5 March 2010, and made he debut against Chesterfield a day later. After increasing that loan to the end of the season, Elito scored goals against

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

as well as a well-timed strike from the edge of the box against

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

, in the 6–5 win. In November 2010, Elito joined

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

on loan until 3 January 2011. He made his debut for Dagenham and scored on 13 November in a 3–1 away win against

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil, a town in Somerset, England, with a council named Yeovil Town * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town W.F.C., an English women's football team affiliated with Yeovil T ...

. On 25 February 2011, Elito signed on loan to Cheltenham until the end of the season. On 28 April, Colchester announced that he would be one of three players who would be released at the end of the season. On 28 June 2011, Elito signed for League Two side Dagenham & Redbridge on a two-year deal. On 7 January 2013, Elto signed a two-year contract extension. In the summer of 2014, Elito was released from his contract at Dagenham & Redbridge at his own request and was transferred to Dutch side

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch association football, football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutc ...

in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

, the second tier of Dutch football. On 25 June 2015, Elito signed for League Two club Newport County. He made his debut for Newport on 8 August 2015 versus Cambridge United, missing a penalty in the 72nd minute in a 3–0 defeat. Elito scored his first goal for Newport on 19 April 2016 against Oxford United. He was offered a new contract by Newport at the end of the 2015–16 season but the offer was withdrawn and he was released after he failed to accept the contract by the deadline of 10 June 2016. Elito signed for

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

on 13 June 2016. He scored his first goal for Cambridge in a 2–1

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

loss against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

on 23 August 2016. He was released at the end of the 2018 season. Elito joined

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

on a two-year deal on 27 July 2018. He left the club at the end of the 2019–20 season, having scored twice in 55 games. After a year out of football, Elito signed for

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow, London, Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont, Harrow, Belmont and Kenton, London, Kenton, ...

in August 2021. On 11 September 2021, he scored his first goal for Wealdstone, a 101st minute winner from the penalty spot against

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

. On 27 July 2022, it was announced that Elito left Wealdstone after his contract was not renewed. Elito joined

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The most prominent aspect of the club is its men's first team, who play in the , the seventh level of the E ...

for the 2022–23 season. In July 2024, following a season with

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

, Elito joined fellow

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

South East Division side Hythe Town. Just one week into the season however, having failed to make an appearance, he returned to Ramsgate on 16 August 2024, before departing again two months later in search for more playing time.

International career

In the summer of 2007, he was selected to represent England at the FIFA U17 World Cup in Korea, having previously represented them in the Algarve Tournament, a round-robin tournament held in Portugal. He made a substitute appearance in England's 5–0 win against New Zealand, winning praise from the U17's Head Coach, John Peacock, and also made an appearance in the tournament in the quarter final game with Germany. He received further praise, this time from ex-Us player

Perry Groves Perry Groves (born 19 April 1965) is an English former professional footballer, best known for his time at Arsenal. A fast-paced player who usually played as a left winger and occasionally a striker, Groves also played professionally for Colche ...

when he was selected for the England U18 side to face Ghana in November 2007 at Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium, a match in which he came on as a half time substitute for Nathan Porritt, the final result being a 2–0 England win.

Music career

Performing as Don EE, Elito first emerged on the music scene in 2011, when he first featured on Mover's Ouchchea Vol.1 mixtape on the song 'Weather's Not Nice'. He also featured on Mover's 2nd mixtape Ouchchea Vol.2, singing the hook of song 'Goodman Move'. However, his first musical breakthrough was when he released his first single, with Pascoli, named "Balenciaga" alongside

Kojo Funds Errol Kojo Bellot, known professionally as Kojo Funds ( ; born 30 March 1995), is an English singer, rapper and songwriter. His music blends West African and Caribbean sounds with road rap, dancehall and pop. Kojo Funds featured on Yxng Bane ...

, gaining local success. However, Elito is widely known for his single, "You Alright Yeah?", which was released in 2017. The song gained traction after being shared by

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

. He has also released tracks featuring

Davido David Adedeji Adeleke (born November 21, 1992), known professionally as Davido, is a Nigerian American, Nigerian-American singer, songwriter and record producer. Davido was born in Atlanta, U.S, and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. He made his mus ...

and

Ms Banks Thyra Kigho Deshaun Oji (born 14 April 1994), better known by her stage name Ms Banks, is a Nigerian-British rapper, singer and songwriter. Oji has released three mixtapes as Ms Banks. In 2014, she released her first mixtape titled ''Once Upon a ...

, and performed at

Wireless Festival ''Wireless'' Festival is an annual rap and hip-hop music festival that takes place in London, England, which is owned and managed by Live Nation Entertainment, Live Nation. Debuting in 2005, the festival's earlier years primarily featured rock an ...

and

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

.From 4-3-3 to 808s: When Football and Rap Music Collide
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Career statistics

References

External links

*

at cu-fc.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Elito, Medy 1990 births Living people Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to England Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers English men's footballers English people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Footballers from Kinshasa Men's association football midfielders England men's youth international footballers English Football League players National League (English football) players Eerste Divisie players Isthmian League players Colchester United F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players VVV-Venlo players Newport County A.F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Ramsgate F.C. players Hythe Town F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people English male rappers 21st-century male rappers 21st-century British rappers English male songwriters Rappers from London 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo sportsmen