​Knowing the passion the creative team had for the project, coupled with our love for the game of basketball AND KFC, we felt the need to go beyond just finding an instrumental piece of music that would fit the challenged budget. We had to get creative if we wanted to make something different. As a company, we have been actively searching for young talent from all communities to not only mentor in making music for advertising, but also raise awareness to our industry and its many opportunities. We felt that this was the perfect opportunity based on the creative music brief, and the openness of our clients to collaborate and support up and coming talent to tap into our network. We commissioned a track from duo, Thelonious and CABBIE96, for whom the music direction resonated creatively right away. Once the agency heard the track, they unanimously picked their song and took it straight to the client, who was instantly in love. Rarely has any project been this smooth. This was a win-win for all involved. This song is now available to be licensed over and over again, and we get to smile each time it does--knowing that we’ve introduced this young creative team to a thriving industry.

​When it came to the actual track, we had to capture that edgy bounce synonymous with basketball - the grit, the growl, and the swagger that makes you want to go hard in the paint. Since we had no voiceover to contend with, we took that opportunity to pen some lyrics that felt like a natural fit. We instructed the duo to not think of this as a commercial, but to just write something that gets you amped up during warm-ups just before jumping on the court for the next pickup game. That was all they needed to hear to run with it (“We gonna run it up like…”). Just giving these writers the freedom to do what feels most natural to them was our instruction--leaving room for our role as collaborators and directors to guide what works specifically for the spot.​