Yung Joka/YouTube Kadarius Toney (AKA Yung Joka) in his new music video "Play With Me."
Kadarius Toney is one of the NFL’s most intriguing young characters. On the field, he’s a flashy wide receiver with a ton of potential for the New York Giants. Off the field, he’s trying to make a name for himself as a music artist under the pseudonym “Yung Joka.”
On Monday, Toney (AKA “Yung Joka”) released a new music video titled “Play With Me.” The video was uploaded on his YouTube channel at noon ET and has a little over 2,000 views in just under 24 hours.
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***WARNING: NSFW Lyrics***
Full lyrics are not yet available, but it does not sound like Toney makes any overt references to his NFL career or playing for the Giants in the song. Most of the video is shot at a gas station in front of a blue sports car.
Toney promoted the video on both Twitter and Instagram.
Toney disabled replies on both of those posts, but the comments on YouTube are mostly favorable.
“KT imma huge fan of the music the play on field and the action off field [sic],” one YouTube commenter wrote. “u r my favorite rapper and giants player. (my favorite team is the giants)”
“Super underrated!!! Keep up the grind!” another commenter wrote.
“Shiftiest receiver in the nfl” a third commenter posted.
The song was produced by Thomas Swanson, an independent music producer known as “SwanBeatz” with nearly 32,000 followers on Instagram. The music video was produced by Cody Roberts, a director/editor who recently graduated from the University of Florida (where Toney went to college).
Brian Daboll is Becoming a Fan of Kadarius Toney
Toney did not have the best rookie season under former head coach Joe Judge. He only had 420 receiving yards and scored zero touchdowns on 39 receptions. He also struggled to stay healthy, appearing in only 10 games (four starts).
Since Toney was drafted by former general manager Dave Gettleman, it was not immediately clear how he would mesh with new GM Joe Schoen and new head coach Brian Daboll. Although Daboll said Toney had a “clean slate” back in early April, the relationship got off to a rocky start shortly after that. Toney did not report to the start of voluntary minicamp and was suddenly the subject of trade rumors (via New York Post).
Toney reported to practice shortly after the trade rumors started, and since then the Giants have had nothing but good things to say about him.
Brian Daboll says Kadarius Toney has not missed anything since arriving to the off-season program. “He’s been a pleasure to be around,” Daboll said.
“He’s been a pleasure to be around,” Daboll said of Toney earlier in May, per Paul Schwartz of the New York Post.
How Will the Giants Use Toney in 2022?
Toney currently projects to be one of New York’s top three receivers with veterans Kenny Golladay and Sterling Shepard leading the unit. The former first-round draft pick will face some competition for snaps, though.
The Giants selected another shifty wideout in Wan’Dale Robinson with their second-round pick in this year’s draft. Robinson’s skillset overlaps with Toney’s, and Robinson may have a slight advantage over Toney since he was drafted by the current regime.