Much as we might seem to take music for granted sometimes – it can just be going on in the background in a barely perceptible way in certain situations – there are occasions when it can positively demand to be heard. Hip hop is certainly in this category. Its insistent beat, lyrics full of meaning and urban cool all make it music that just can’t be ignored.
The fact that its history also closely coincides with that of video games also means that the two have become inextricably linked in a number of ways. For example, many games heavily feature hip hop in their soundtracks ranging from NBA to GTA. Similarly, plenty of hip hop stars and rappers have featured lyrics directly referencing games in their songs from Lil’ Wayne naming Mortal Kombat characters in his 2007 song “Dough is what I got” to Beefy singing about his love for playing Street Fighter.
Record breakers
More recently, the worlds of gaming and hip hop have moved even closer together with the Twitch battle between Drake, Travis Scott and streamer Ninja for an epic game of Fortnite that was watched by an incredible 600,000 viewers.
But, to go back to the very beginning, it was probably Notorious BIG who first mentioned games in his huge hit Juicy. He referenced owning both Nintendo and Sega machines very proudly – especially notable for its humility when most other stars were singing about expensive cars, designer label clothes and cash.
Another iconic moment in the relationship between hip hop and gaming came in 1999 when the legendary Wu-Tang Clan featured in, and provided the music for, a Shaolin style video game in which band members had to battle their way through 36 chambers. The use of the Clan’s music proved to be the perfect soundtrack for the game which also was one of the very first to involve four-player matches.
Singer as video game star
Fast forward to 2005 and an evolution of the rapper-led video game came in the form of 50 Cent: Bulletproof. Featuring the star as the main protagonist with the G-Unit squad at his side, the action was set in New York. The greatest aspect of the game for fans was the fact that the star’s entire music collection was playable within the game. This undoubtedly had an effect on generating the 12 million+ sales the game achieved.
Games developers of other franchises have also seen the wisdom of getting major stars involved in production. This was what led to Jay-Z becoming the executive producer on NBA 2K13 in which he curated the score and included music from Kanye, Nas, Busta Rhymes and many more. His love for the game of basketball, and the franchise in general, meant he also made many more contributions to this, one of the most successful in the NBA series.
Cards on the table Poker and music have always had a special relationship, as long ago as 2006 there were plans to launch a network show with the working title “Hip Hop Hold’em”. The idea was to combine hip hop, interviews with stars and poker in a mash-up designed to capitalise on the number of people who have a love for poker and music. In total, eleven episodes wererecorded including performers like Ludacris and hosted by Ed Lover but just a single episode was ever broadcast before the budget was cut and the show mothballed forever.
Perhaps also inspired by the previous dabbling with the gaming world, this was also the year when Ghostface Killahof the Wu-Tang Clan created a site called GFK Poker which aimed to unite poker and hip hop. The site’s official song was the track “Pokerface” – a far cry from the Lady Gaga version – but despite his high profile, this was also a short-lived enterprise that folded after a few months, having failed to make the hoped-for impression on the world.
Cornell Haynes, a.k.a. Nelly, is another artist who was drawn to try and bridge the gap between the poker and the hip hop worlds. Even though he is a multi-million album selling artist and wealthy in his own right, he has tried to establish himself as a regular on the professional circuit. This has included playing in a number of WSOP events, as well as at a number of pro-celebrity tournaments.
Of course, plenty of other artists have also created anthems to the game including Rulah Divine whose 2019 release“Eye of the Grinder” was a homage to the two things that he claimed were most important in his life, hip hop and poker.
Turning the tables
Finally, to turn the subject on its head, there has even been a poker professional who decided to swap the green table for the recording studio when the Californian PrahladFriedman put out a song called Hazy Eyez a few years ago. It turned out, however, that Prahlad might be able to bluff it with his card playing but he was fooling no-one with his musical talent, or lack of it.
So, false efforts like this notwithstanding, it’s certain that into the future hip hop will continue to have close links not just with games like poker, but all video games. And who knows, maybe those links are destined to become even closer still.
