Forgotten former Newcastle star who swapped national teams now a RAPPER after leaving Saudi minnows

A FORMER Premier League star-turned-rapper has switched hitting crossbars to spitting bars.

The 35-year-old has gone from being released by Saudi Arabian minnows Al-Orobah to releasing his fourth single earlier this year.

PA:Empics Sport

Dreams Never End Records

The midfielder now balances football with rapping[/caption]

Vurnon Anita is best known for the five years he spent at Newcastle.

But he is now going down a different path under the pseudonym JR.

He has gone from getting on the ball in midfield to picking up the microphone, having launched a career as a rapper.

Anita’s biggest hit “On Top” has amassed 600,000 listens on Spotify and he averages 3,000 plays per month.

As a player, he featured 155 times for Newcastle and won the Championship title with the Toon in 2017.

The Ajax academy graduate also had a brief loan spell at Leeds the season after.

Since leaving England, he has played for Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia, Willem and RKC Waalwijk in Holland and Al-Orobah in Saudi Arabia.

He is currently without a club but is keeping busy in the music studio.

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Anita was capped three times by Holland and was included in their provisional squad for the 2010 World Cup.

But he has since changed his allegiance represent Curacao.

The country is a Caribbean island just 37 miles away from Venezuela that classes itself “within the Kingdom of the Netherlands”.

Their national team, ranked 90th in the world, are managed by ex-Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat.

Former Aston Villa star Leandro Bacuna and ex-Southampton defender Cuco Martina are their top two-capped players.

Anita is not the only footballer with Dutch descent to try their hand at rapping.

Memphis Depay, Ryan Babel and Royston Drenthe all had spells in the Prem and in the charts.