Europe is currently gripped by the 2012 European Soccer Championships and to celebrate Bwin (www.bwin.com) have asked us to get at some of your favourite artists to pick their all star Hip-Hop and R&B soccer team to challenge the likes of Spain, Germany and England at this year’s tournament. Yo! Raps caught up with Tyrese Gibson, Chrishan, Yung Berg, Dubb and SAS to see who would make it into their 11 man team.

Actor and soul singer Tyrese Gibson opted to pick an elite group of musicians for his team who he believes have all had a massive impact upon the industry:

1- Teddy Pendergrass

2- Stevie Wonder

3- Donnie Hathaway

4- Luther Vandross

5- Anita Baker

6- Marvin Gaye

7- Tupac Shakur

8- The Notorious B.I.G.

9- Run DMC

10- R. Kelly

11- Al Green

The Transformers and Fast and Furious actor told us "each player in my team have all created new standards in music as we see, hear and experience it today!"

Chicago born rapper Yung Berg opted for a mix of Hip-Hop royalty as well as artists who he says have influenced his career:

1- Jay-Z

2- Nas

3- Lil Wayne

4- Notorious B.I.G.

5- Eminem

6- Drake

7- Twista

8- Tupac Shakur

9- J. Cole

10- The-Dream

11- Rico Love

"This is my team and who I would run with. It’s in no specific order but all of these artist have helped me build my craft and are very influential in what I do today. I included The-Dream and Rico Love because to a certain point they are rappers, they remind me of myself; someone who knows how to put great melodies together while also arranging things similar to a rapper!"

Singer and songwriter Crishan took a sporting approach to selecting his team whilst ensuring it had an international flavour with a couple of European additions:

1- Kevin McCall

2- Kid Ink

3- Chris Brown

4- Lil Wayne

5- Jernade Miah

6- Tinie Tempah

7- 2 Chainz

8- Kanye West

9- Wiz Khalifia

10- Big Sean

11- ASAP Rocky

"They say the captain puts the winning team together, so if I had an all-star team I'd have to say Kevin McCall because he was a big athlete before he got big as an artist. Then, it would be the homie Kid Ink, Chris Brown and Lil Wayne. After that I gotta' take it to London and get my bro Jernade Miah and Tinie Tempah. Then it's gotta be 2 Chainz, Kanye, Wiz Khalifa and Big Sean who actually went to high school with my uncle, NBA player Chris Douglas-Roberts. Last but not least...ASAP Rocky, let's just call it the Trill-factor!"

Former Yo! Raps Next 2 Blow emcee Dubb took a tactical approach to his all-star squad ensuring that each member would bring something to the team:

1- Tupac

2- Notorious B.I.G.

3- Jadakiss

4- Ice Cube

5- Eminem

6- Nas

7- Dr. Dre

8- Ludacris

9- Jay-Z

10- Ne-Yo

11- Michael Jackson.

"I feel that Tupac was a natural born leader who had the ability to make everyone around him better at what they do. Football is a team sport and players like David Beckham, Michael Ballack and Pele all made their team mates better. I feel that every good team needs a good coach or a team captain and I feel that Dre would be both. He is a man of great visionary and really knows how to put things together!"

Finally, London rap duo and former Dipset affiliates SAS chose to fill their team with legends whilst mixing it up with a couple of surprise picks:

1- Michael Jackson

2- Notorious B.I.G.

3- Mary J. Blige

4- Jay-Z

5- Nas

6- Tupac

7- R. Kelly

8- Bob Marley

9- Fela Kuti

10- Slick Rick

11- Whitney Houston

"Fela because not only was he fluent in all types of instruments as a musician he was a composer. Then if that wasn't enough to top it all off he was also a human rights activist that just so happened to be from…  yeah, you guessed it, Flygeria! Whitney because she had this massive cross over appeal without having to compromise her sound and prolific vocals that sounded dope on anything from a ballad to a dance track. She evolved over the years with a classic sound that is truly timeless. Finally, Slick Rick because he is the original storyteller, born and raised in London. He influenced everybody from the likes of Biggie and Nas to Snoop Dogg -- a living legend achieving so much when rap was still looked upon as just a fad that would come to pass!''

Which artist chose the best team? How would your team look like? E-mail your all-star Hip-Hop and R&B soccer teams to jdavid@yoraps.com

- By J David