Lobbing Scorchers' Noah Riffe welcomes Seattle artist, photographer, and lifelong Sounders fan Sol (Solzilla) to the show for a conversation about the 2026 World Cup through a Haitian lens. Sol's mom was born and raised in Port-au-Prince, and Haiti is making one of its rare World Cup appearances at a moment when the country has been unable to even host its own home qualifiers.

Lobbing Scorchers digs into why Seattle is making the case for itself as the perfect American host city. Light rail ridership records were shattered the night of the USMNT match, Pioneer Square is buzzing again, the waterfront investment is finally paying off, and downtown has felt more alive than it has at any point since before COVID. So how does the city actually hold onto this energy after the tournament leaves town?

Noah and Sol round out the show with stories from Sol's career as a Seattle hip-hop artist, including the time he did Scarves Up at the Sounders match the week COVID shut everything down. Plus he talks about how seeing Wyclef Jean and the Fugees on screen shaped his identity as a Haitian American kid in Seattle, why his Brazil connection started with watching the jogo bonito of R9 and Ronaldinho at the World Cup, and the case for keeping community and culture at the heart of a fast growing city.

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Seattle Artist Sol Talks Haiti, Hip Hop, and the World Cup

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About Lobbing Scorchers

Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer’s Ari Liljenwall and Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.

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Ari Liljenwall

A soccer columnist and journalist for Major League Soccer covering soccer in America’s top flight league. Liljenwall has over ten years of experience reporting on the Seattle Sounders, beginning his career as a beat writer in 2014. Liljenwall is a graduate of Western Washington University and hails from New Mexico.

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Noah Riffe

Director of Content for Sounder at Heart with roots in traditional reporting. Riffe began his career covering FC Dallas in 2015 before interning with Sporting Kansas City in 2018 also making a career at The New York Times and USA Today. A Seattle native and lifelong Sounders fan, Riffe brings nearly a decade of experience in soccer storytelling across multiple MLS markets.

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