SOHH Official

This morning I stopped by Jay-Z's 40/40 club in NYC for Midway's press preview of NBA Ballers: Chosen One. As SOHH previously reported, Midway tapped Just Blaze and Chuck D to contribute to the game.

I sat down up with the Public Enemy front man to find out how he ended up being the announcer for the Ballers. Here's what Chuck D had to say:

"I was asked by Midway to incorporate my voice inside of the the new NBA Ballers game. As a young kid I wanted to be a sportscaster, a play by play sports announcer. I grew up in the New York area so I was a big fan of Marv Albert, great announcer. The music bug and hip-hop bug bit me in the late 70s and early 80s so that's where I used my voice.

It was something that I was always training myself to do but I never thought I would actually be doing play by play. What NBA Ballers is doing is combining the stylistic sides of the NBA and also hip-hop sensibility/lifestyle. I'm glad I could be the voice to cover that bridge."

Super-producer Just Blaze provided the score for NBA Ballers but don't expect it to be your standard video game soundtrack. Just created "beat beds" for each match up and gave each player his own instrumental track. When a player is dominating the game his music takes over.

Other hip-hop touches include intro sequences which were inspired by hip-hop videos. One sequence took camera angles from Bow Wow's "Fresh Azimiz" while Kobe Bryant's intro was based off of Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin.'" Kobe even arrives behind the wheel of a massive white yacht.

NBA Ballers: Chosen One is in stores April 21st.

Check out a trailer and some screenshots below: