A very special and very Aussie collaboration between NBA 2K23, 2K and Universal Music Australia has just been announced. Court in Session features some of Australia’s best hip-hop artists — Chillinit, Sahxl and Barkaa — as they rap over “beats created from the self-expression of the basketball players within the basketball video game, NBA 2K23.”
According to 2K, NBA 2K’s influence within the hip-hop community, especially when it comes to the yearly soundtrack, has made it an annual “greatest hits.” Today, NBA 2K moves further into the local scene with Court in Session.
Each of the three Aussie hip-hop stars appear in their own video, on a basketball court, performing a rap inspired by NBA 2K23. Each will rhyme over beats created from the sound effects in the game; “Ball bounces become beats, bleacher stomps become heavy drums and shoe squeaks become record scratches across the three original tracks.”
NBA 2K23 Court In Session
The three music videos have all been directed by “acclaimed twice ARIA-nominated music video and commercial director, Gabriel Gasparinatos.” Gasparinatos has recently worked with Adidas, Beats by Dre, Google, Spotify and the A-Leagues.
Gasparinatos said, “It’s been so fun getting back to my rap video roots on this project, it’s highly technical with massive LED screens, an enormous lighting set and motion control rigs but working with DOP Tyson Perkins and bolt operator Max Pepper from Cinoptix on it has been super rewarding. Pulling inspiration from 2K gameplay highlight reels and modern rap clip sensibilities we had a blast pulling these individual videos together. It’s so cool to see such exciting, global brands willing to invest in & give a platform to Australian hip hop artists.”
Sydney rapper Chillinit said, “I have always been a huge fan of the NBA and the video game, as a kid I would play for hours, then fast forward years later to see my own billboard within the game while I play with my own little brothers is surreal. It’s been such an honour to work with the team at 2K and to be a part of a game that I genuinely love and grew up playing. I can’t thank the team enough and can’t wait to welcome you all to the 2K with ‘Big Swish’.”
GQ Magazine’s “matriarch of Australian Rap” Barkaa is “a Malyangapa, Barkindji woman from Western New South Wales, now living in South West Sydney on Gandangara land.”
“The song “Ball On ‘Em” is a track that I wrote that was intended on amping people up and a shout out to haters that they couldn’t stop nothing. Referencing brother Patty Mills this is dedicated to him for defying all odds, somebody we as a First Nations community are constantly inspired by and in awe of. The lyric “pass it to them young ones, they gon’ run the game strong” is saying that this is and has always been bigger than us… We got to pass that torch over to our youth when our time is up and know that our future is in good hands, I’ve got to give a massive shout out to Rhyan Clapham (DOBBY) for going ham on the beat, we had so much fun in the studio working on this track,” said, Barkaa.
Barkaa debuted in 2020 with her single “For My Tittas” and since then has “climbed to the top as one of Australia’s most respected voices.” Recently, Barkaa was announced as part of the #YouTubeBlack Voices Class of 2022.
19-year-old Sahxl is the third member of the collaboration and has been hailed “as one of Australia’s next breakout stars.” 2K says Sahxl is “teetering the line between R&B and Hip-Hop with brazen conviction, honest story-telling, and undeniable melodies.” Sahxl caught the attention of APRA Billion Stream award-winning producer Khaled Rohaim (Rihanna, Polo G, The Kid LAROI, OneFour) when he was 13.
Sahxl says, “When I collab with brands, it has to be authentic. I play NBA 2K all the time in the studio, so for me this project just made sense. It was a bit of a challenge producing the beat with my producer Sid Mallick, as it was our first-time using basketball sound effects to put together a song, so it was a really different process. The final track sounded dope though, and it was fun experimenting with new experiences and themes to help this song come together. It was a pleasure being invited!“
NBA 2K23 is available now.
