Bringing Hip-Hop To Your Living Room

Certain songs we just know by heart. Myself, in particular, I’ll know the words to “Dear Mama” for as long as I live. Whether in your car, in front of a mirror, walking with your iPod or at an actual concert, at some point in life, we’ve all given a full fledged rap performance. The energy mixed with the passion and timeless quality of certain records make it damn near impossible not lose yourself in song. Def Jam Rapstar looks to capture those moments with its October 5th release.

The ultimate emcee experience for video game consoles, Def Jam Rapstar is the only music game that focuses exclusively on Hip Hop, you and your social networks. With more than 40 of the greatest Hip Hop songs available at release, from Public Enemy’s powerful “Fight The Power”, to Nas’s “Hate Me Now” and DJ Khaled anthem “We Takin’ Over”, Def Jam Rapstar allows YOU to be the star by rhyming, using your console camera, and uploading your video to the fully integrated Def Jam Rapstar community at www.defjamrapstar.com.

Def Jam Rapstar is also pleased to announce that Danja and Nitti Beats join the likes of DJ Premier, Just Blaze, Cool & Dre and DJ Khalil as producers providing exclusive instrumental beats for Def Jam Rapstar’s Freestyle Mode, which allows the aspiring emcee a chance to deliver their own original rhymes over never before heard tracks by some of today’s hottest producers.

Video games have never been my calling card, but if this is anywhere near as entertaining as Guitar Hero, chalk it up as a ‘W’ for Hip-Hop. Let’s be serious here for a minute if we can. This may actually be a good idea.Think about all the people who coin themselves “rappers” and how most of their music make for disposable material to be Frisbee’ed after a few listens. Well, Def Jam Rapstar may potentially eliminate the wasted studio hours and allow them to fixate their talents on performing other people’s songs instead of crafting their own. That’s a win-win for everybody.

Behind-the-scenes: It’s no secret rap and basketball have always been first cousins. The old adage “rappers want to be ball players and ball players want to be rappers” has been brought to life several times with less than stellar results. Thankfully, this was all in fun and Al Harrington, Tracy McGrady and Dahntay Jones are not looking to change careers. Nigel secured this video of of the trio testing out the game. Again, the energy was there as well as the obvious passion for the music they grew up on. And say what you want, but it was rocking in there when “Big Poppa” was playing.