Shabazz Kwame Kussie Baidoo (born 13 April 1988) is an English former professional footballer.

Football career

Born in Hackney, as a youngster Baidoo played at first for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or Sports league, league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team (a ...

and then with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. He later left Arsenal and had a trial at

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

before signing up for

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

. Baidoo burst onto the scenes rather prematurely, during an injury crisis for

Ian Holloway Ian Scott Holloway (born 12 March 1963) is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who is the manager of club Swindon Town. A midfielder, he notably played in the Premier League with ...

's team towards the end of the 2004–05 season. He made his club debut aged just 16. The following two seasons saw Baidoo feature slightly more regularly, scoring four goals and making numerous substitute appearances and a few starts. However, with John Gregory becoming manager, Baidoo had been used sparingly and out of position, on the wing. Baidoo went on loan to Gillingham in December 2007, but failed to make an appearance for the club, returning to

Loftus Road Loftus Road, currently known as MATRADE Loftus Road Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, West London, Greater London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers Football Club, w ...

in the New Year. Altogether Baidoo made 33 appearances and scored four goals for QPR. On 17 January 2008, Baidoo's contract was terminated by mutual consent by QPR. On the same day he 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 a deal that lasted until the end of the 2007–08 season. In September 2008, he joined

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

club

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

on a monthly contract and was released from the club afterwards. In October 2008 he moved on to Croydon Athletic. During the summer of 2013, Baidoo left Croydon to link up with Biggleswade Town. Around the same time, he had been working as a car trader.

Musical career

As well as his career as a professional footballer, Baidoo has a music career under the stage name Terminator (otherwise known as ''T'' or the ''Darkside Pioneer''). According to his GrimeForum page, Baidoo's musical career is secondary to his footballing and is a recreational activity. However, since the end of his football career, his output has been more sporadic and he prefers to be an unsigned artist. Baidoo is said to have created his own musical subgenre within

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust Music * Grime music, a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * "Grime", a 2023 song by Macklemore from ''Ben'' * "Grime", a 2024 song by Kittie from ''Fire ...

known as "darkside", which predominantly involves a "sluggish flow" coupled with violent lyrics. Some of his musical techniques include rhyming words with themselves and holding one syllable for an extended amount of time to allow a bar to pass. Sometimes Baidoo will even make use of one word lines in his lyrics. On 19 December 2013, Baidoo released ''Darkside Pioneer''. On 2 November 2015, Baidoo released ''Darkest Facts of Existence''. In March 2019, Baidoo released a surprise project, his third album, ''Darkest Facts''.

Discography

Albums

*''Darkside Pioneer'' (2013) *''Darkest Facts of Existence'' (2015) *''Darkest Facts'' (2019)

EP

*''Friday the 13th'' (2013)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baidoo, Shabazz 1988 births Biggleswade Town F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players English people of Ghanaian descent Sportspeople of Ghanaian descent English people of Montserratian descent Croydon Athletic F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players English men's footballers Ghanaian men's footballers Gillingham F.C. players Lewes F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Hackney Queens Park Rangers F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football forwards 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen Grime music artists Black British male rappers Rappers from the London Borough of Hackney 21st-century British male musicians 21st-century British rappers