Ex-Ghana winger Quincy Owusu-Abeyie has quit football at age 33 to become a rap star and has released a solo mix tape.

The former Arsenal man, who now goes by the name Blow, has been recording tracks for years now.

Abeyie, now Blow, raps about his upbringing in the tough Dutch neighbourhood of Biljmermeer, where he used to see drug-taking and crime on a daily basis as a child.

He expalins his stage name comes from the fact that he used to "blow all his money" from leading a "flashy lifestyle".

On the cover of the EP titled New Chapter, he is seated with an Arsenal shirt hung up with "Quincy 54" on the back.

Speaking to Vice about his stunning switch to the music world, Owusu-Abeyie said: "I have thought about it for a long time.

"Now that I am releasing my first solo mix tape, I want to show the world: this is me. This is what I am doing now.

"There was no Ronald de Boer type around in our neighbourhood who said 'With football you have a future'.

"My role models were the money makers of the block. The street men driving around in horrible cars. "That was then the s*** for me, later I grew older and I made other choices.

"I hope to make the people from the neighbourhood proud. First as a footballer and now as an artist."