NLSC Your source for basketball video games.
We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some thoughts on how I miss original tracks and hoops-themed remixes in basketball video games.
When Dee and I were discussing the best and worst music in basketball video games, we noted our fondness for original tracks and remixes with new lyrics referencing hoops and the virtual hardwood. It’s a staple of soundtracks that we’ve unfortunately lost over the years. That’s not to say that basketball video games haven’t licensed some great tracks and indeed introduced us to new songs and artists. Commercial songs also make basketball titles feel culturally relevant when they’re released, and can eventually contribute to their nostalgic appeal as well.
Still, there was something special about the original tracks and remixes that were once more common in basketball video games. Look, you should never want to be that curmudgeon ranting about the music of today, and wondering why hits from twenty years ago aren’t being featured in anything that’s aiming for a younger demographic. Besides, it isn’t as though basketball video games from the past ten years or so haven’t included some classic songs! However, between songs that are a poor fit, songs that need to be heavily censored to appear in a family-friendly game, and the creativity we once heard, I do miss those original tracks and remixes in modern basketball games.
Let’s talk about original tracks first. I’m referring to the music that was found in many basketball video games of the 80s and 90s. From Traz Damji’s iconic soundtracks for the early NBA Live titles, to the upbeat scores of the original NBA Jam and NBA Jam Tournament Edition, to countless other original compositions, this music contributed to the atmosphere on the virtual hardwood. Whether they mimicked network themes for a TV-style presentation, or tried to capture the spirit and excitement of basketball through an assortment of genres from jazz to rock, those original tracks had our heads nodding as we prepared to play; and in some cases, after the game was underway, too.
There has been much discussion over the years as to whether video games are art. I would argue that they certainly are, given what goes into game design and how the medium has grown over the decades. If nothing else though, considering that music is an art form, I would suggest that composing music for video games must undoubtedly counts as art! Not only that, but when you take into account the limitations of console and even PC hardware some thirty years ago, the iconic tracks of classic video games reflect an impressive combination of musical artistry and technological achievement. To put it another way, even with primitive tech, so many of those songs went hard!
I’d also argue that even though they represent the time a game was released, there’s also a sense of timelessness to them. It helps that we can’t associate those tracks with a specific year in the billboard charts, or a band or recording artist whose pop culture relevance has since faded. Moreover, unlike commercial songs that basketball video games have licensed, we generally didn’t hear those original tracks played elsewhere. They were produced specifically for those games, and so they’re the backdrop to our fond basketball gaming memories. There’s cosiness to the nostalgia for those original tracks that isn’t always there with commercial songs that weren’t exclusive to games.
At the same time, there’s plenty of nostalgia in those licensed tracks as well. They still take us back to a specific point in our lives, and remind us of time spent on the virtual hardwood. There’s also the novelty in hearing a song and recognising it from a game’s soundtrack. I recall being out at a club with friends circa 2014 and noticing that the last three or four songs that the DJ played were all featured in NBA 2K14. Granted, it wasn’t until much later that I really came to be a fan of that game, but it was still fun to make that connection. It also happened at my friends’ wedding back in 2022 with “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd, which was featured in NBA 2K21’s soundtrack.
That brings us to remixes of licensed songs, with their lyrics rewritten to reference basketball and video games. There are so many memorable examples from the early 2000s, particularly NBA Live 2003 and NBA Live 2004. “Right Thurr” by Chingy went from being an explicit song about…well, let’s say admiring attractive women, to a basketball anthem. “Ballin’ Boy” by No Good is an interesting example in that the title would seem to make it a thematic fit, but the explicit lyrics and subject matter definitely do not! However, change those lyrics to naming NBA teams and boasting about your skill on the court, and suddenly it’s suitable for a G-rated basketball game.
It was a sensible compromise that allowed basketball games to kind of have their cake and eat it too when it came to their soundtracks. They were able to feature popular artists and hit songs that were recognisable and appealing to the key demographic, but were able to retain their family-friendly rating with lyrics that now celebrated hoops. It was a more creative and enjoyable way of cleaning up songs than the usual radio edits featuring so many cut lyrics that they might as well have used an instrumental version, or not included the song at all. To that point, NBA Live 2002 did actually use instrumental versions of commercial songs to avoid any issues with explicit lyrics.
While I did enjoy that approach – even though it did make Swollen Members’ “Lady Venom” a little weird – the basketball remixes are more fun. Again, they’re far more creative than just silencing swear words and risqué content, adding to the character of the games in the process. Of course, I can’t deny that they may come across as corny to some people, especially if you’re familiar with and a fan of the original version. It may seem childish, pandering, or disrespectfully commercial; like rewriting an iconic pop song for an advertising jingle. That approach may not be as popular today, where cynicism reigns, enjoyment is often ironic, and everyone is fearful of being “cringe”.
The same goes for original tracks that were recorded by popular artists, such as Snoop Dogg’s themes for NBA Live 2003 and NBA 2K11. Some of Snoop’s most famous songs have been included in basketball video game soundtracks over the years, but I don’t think any of them have resonated with gamers quite like the original tracks he provided for those titles. It was a novelty to hear him specifically rapping about going to the NBA Finals, and especially adjusting sliders and attributes! Once again though, maybe that would be seen as too corny nowadays; a clumsy, “How do you do, fellow kids?” attempt at being trendy, when simply including popular songs would suffice.
Mind you, I’m sure that some people found it just as lame – just as “cringe” – when games did it back in the day as well. In all fairness, it certainly is amusing to compare the “NBA Livestyle” remixes with their lyrics about basketball and video games with the far more risqué material of the original tracks! I did enjoy it though, and I’ve come to miss it. If that makes me corny, so be it! Besides, I’d suggest that it’s far cornier to butcher licensed songs by cutting out so much of them that they’re left with lengthy instrumental sequences and barely coherent lyrics. I’ll take the cheesiness of making a song into a G-rated track about basketball over censoring words every second line!
Since it’s impossible to wax nostalgic these days without someone smugly saying “you’re not missing anything good, it’s the carefree days of childhood that you really miss” – or words to that effect – allow me to address the elephant in the room. I can’t and won’t deny that that is a part of nostalgia for anything. These original tracks and basketball remixes are found in games that we not only have countless fond memories of, but were made for my generation. They appealed to us then, and in turn captured a cultural zeitgeist that is nostalgic and even comforting to us now. It isn’t aimed at the youth of today. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the concept was actually terrible.
Indeed, with the way that other 90s and early 2000s trends are seemingly coming back into vogue, maybe this is something that future games could do. After all, NBA 2K has achieved unprecedented pop cultural relevance, thanks to multiple generations of NBA players who grew up with video games, and with 2K as the premiere brand (or the only hoops game on the market, for that matter). 2K versions of contemporary hits from top acts would underscore its popularity and relevance, just as it did for NBA Live once upon a time. They already have deals with many of the hottest recording artists, so it’s not unthinkable that they could collaborate on some “hoopified” songs.
Now, obviously this is and should be a low priority. NBA 2K’s soundtracks seem to be generally well-received, and if you’re not that fond of them, they do just tend to fade into the background after a while. Maybe there are a couple of tracks that you really can’t stand, but you can either remove them from the playlist or just tune them out whenever they come on. Furthermore, it’s not as though NBA 2K needs to fill its soundtracks with basketball remixes and original music to be successful or relevant. Also, considering how disposable games have become, the notion of adding songs or any kind of content that will one day make them nostalgic is sadly an antiquated idea.
Nevertheless, original tracks and basketball remixes are something that I do miss. Not because I’m pining for the carefree days of youth or any other such psychobabble, but because I admire the creativity of those compositions. When it comes to including any songs that were originally explicit, I think that rewriting their lyrics to be thematically appropriate is more entertaining than having to heavily censor them. As for original tracks, video game composers have long been able to produce work that we can fully and truly appreciate the sound of. It’s far from the most important issue in basketball games, but original tracks and basketball remixes would definitely make them a vibe.
