Djibril Cissé Talks About Life After Football, DJ’ing For Mariah Carey

For all intents and purposes, Djibril Cissé retired in the fall of 2015. After leaving Ligue 1 outfit Bastia, he signed a one-month deal with JS Saint-Pierroise on Réunion, a small island and French territory near Madagascar, Cissé finally gave up the ghost and walked away from his playing career.

Earlier this month he re-announced his retirement from football, which was, for the sake of transparency, a means to get the media’s attention so he could build some hype for his new career— as a DJ and the proprietor of Mr Lenoir, a high-end clothing line.

His new life seems to be working out pretty well for him. In an appearance on Sky Sports’ Soccer AM, Cissé talked about one of his biggest opportunities to date— opening for American pop star Mariah Carey at a show in Paris last year.

“I was DJ'ing for 20 years, but now I've got more time to DJ [since retirement]. It depends what I play, some hip hop, some trap, EDM a lot at the moment. I wasn't allowed [to play any Mariah Carey music]. It is a part of the deal. You have to let 'the Queen' do what she does best. So all of her tunes are just for her [to perform].”

I always respected Cissé for his hustle on the pitch. I think I respect his hustle even more now.

As the modern philosopher Tom Haverford once observed: “sometimes you’ve gotta work a little so you can ball a lot.”