Court is in Session as Hip Hop Celebrates NBA® 2k23

L-R – BARKAA, Chillinit, Sahxl    Photo Credit: Cole Bennetts

NBA® 2K23 the latest iteration of the top-rated NBA video game simulation series of the past 21 years* is partnering with Universal Music Australia to support the local Hip Hop scene with the launch of its new cultural platform, Court in Session.

The campaign, released by BRING Universal Music for Brands, brings the rhythm of the basketball court into the world of music by leveraging the sounds of the game itself and turning them into modern beats for the musical talent to MC over. The bouncing of the ball becomes the beat, bleacher stomps become heavy drums and shoe squeaks become record scratches across three original tracks. The three artists were challenged to create their tracks using the same sound effects from the game. The result is three distinct songs with each artist interpreting the themes of this year’s game and turning them into bespoke lyrics to accompany their beats.

The collaboration in Hip Hop comes off the back of a bespoke study by BRING into the streaming habits of the brands target market, Gen Z males. They found that a staggering 33% of all streams of their target demographic were from the genre, making it the number one loved genre for a new generation of fans. In addition to this, 58% of Gen Z males follow music artists on social media, more than any other celebrity.

The Court in Session platform brings together three of the country’s most hyped Hip Hop talent, selected to give the campaign mass appeal. Australia’s most streamed solo Hip Hop artist, Chillinit leads the trio with the release of his song ‘Big Swish’. Rapper and ​​Malyangapa, Barkindji woman, and recent face of #YouTubeBlack Voices Class of 22, BARKAA releases her original song, ‘Ball ‘On Em’. Finally, 19-year-old vocal prince Sahxl, one of Australia’s next breakout stars releases his basketball infused anthem ‘The One’.

Says Chillinit, who was nominated for best Hip Hop album at this year’s ARIA’s; “It’s been such an honour to work with the team at 2K and BRING 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 2K with a Big Swish.”

Full length performance content becomes the heartbeat of the campaign. Produced by Entropico, the Court in Session performances bring the idea to life on a grand scale. As each artist performs atop the court (their stage), four giant LED screens display meticulously synced footage of the videogame, with each of the unique beat sounds being brought to life around each of the artists through vision. The result is a visual spectacle designed to showcase local Hip Hop on the global stage.

“Right from the start, our strategy led us to Hip Hop.” Said James Griffiths, executive creative director, BRING, “We knew that if we could land an original concept that leveraged both the equity of the game and the artists that love it, we would be onto something special. With Court in Session, we believe we have a truly unique platform that no other brand could own, and for us that’s the sweet spot. Fusing gaming culture with basketball and of course music, we have created a one-of-a-kind stage for artists to express themselves. We’re thrilled with what the talent have created here, and the enthusiasm they have brought to the project. We can’t wait to see how the fans react to the music.”

In what is a truly integrated campaign, the tracks will be made available through streaming partners and the artists will appear via virtual billboards in NBA 2K23 globally, connecting music and gamers.  This is the result of a year-long process led by BRING, engaging all commercial parties ensuring all elements of the collaboration were deeply integrated to drive maximum value for the brand and artists, whilst maintaining maximum relevance for both gaming and music fans.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with such great local talent and to be able to be facilitators of taking them to a global audience through our game” Said David Kelley at 2K Games, “NBA 2K has always prided itself in being central to Hip Hop culture and with Court in Session  in collaboration with BRING, we are proud to have created a platform that majestically combines our game, Hip Hop and basketball in a truly authentic & ownable way to appeal to a new audience.”

The track releases drop today to drive awareness of the video game at a key retail moment. In addition to the hero performances, BRING has created a number of ways for fans to engage with the campaign. The songs were first aired exclusively on CADA, Australia’s home for Hip Hop & R&B. A media partnership with The Brag touches a wider audience, and finally content will be amplified through Universal Music’s first party social targeting.

LBB's Delmar Terblanche spoke with ECD James "Griff" Griffiths at BRING to get more insight into how they pulled off this spectacular series of songs.

LBB> What would you hope is the key takeaway from his campaign

Griff> Whenever you are making a piece of comms, it’s really important that the brand sentiment is not lost. For NBA 2K23, the global positioning is ‘Answer the Call’. This is about stepping up, seizing the moment and not letting anything get in the way of success. Something players of the game (both real and virtual) of course can relate to, but also a sentiment shared by artists when they step out to a crowd. It’s all about winning, of not being afraid to hold back. Hopefully through both the lyrics of the songs, and the vibe of our music videos we’ve managed to capture this sentiment in a pure way for fans.

LBB> This is part of a year-long process - what makes it so involved?

Griff> Anyone in agencies who knows what it takes to drive ground-breaking work through will empathise here. Sometimes even things that seem so simple, take time to come to fruition. On the face of it, a project like this may not seem that complex, but with various rights holders involved on both the brand side and music side, it was quite a drawn-out process, taking over 12 months to come to fruition.

Something like this had not been done before – we were all learning along the way, trying to find the best ways to make it happen. It’s important when creating work like this that it works for everyone involved – especially the artists. The partnership is multi-faceted, with songs released in game, billboards in the virtual world promoting it – making it a global opportunity for our local artists to be seen by fans around the world. Maximising the value of this idea for the artists took time to pull off – but I’m glad we did it, it takes the campaign from a simple music video to something bigger, something more integrated.

LBB> How did you guys come up with the idea of using the court sounds as the basis for the tracks?

Griff> We knew from the start we wanted to find unique synergy between the NBA 2K23 game world and music. When you watch the game in motion there’s a natural rhythm on the court. This sparked an idea. What could some of today’s most exciting artists do with this rhythm? How would they Answer the Call and step up to the stage? Court in Session gave us a unique platform for the brand, one grounded in Hip Hop culture – arguably one of the most expressive forms of music – where the freestyle nature of its artists match the free flow nature of the sports stars.

It all started there. With a simple idea. Then once we started to build out the songs and the visual world, it really took on a life of its own. Hopefully through the three unique tracks generated for the campaign, we have created an exciting space for artists to show their self-expression, as well as a celebration of the collision of three worlds – Gaming, Music and Sport.

LBB> What did each of the three brilliant artists you worked with bring to the project?

We knew an idea like Court in Session was bigger than a single artist. We wanted to take it further by seeing what many could do given the same building blocks. Each artist was given the same brief, the same catalogue of sounds to work with – what they did with this was in their hands. With the three distinct tracks and three different artists stepping up to the court, we were able to showcase the essence of the videogame through music – that each and every game can be different if you simply make it your own.