
With the battle of the best basketball games commencing this week, everybody has their favorite that they're standing behind. So I reached out to my man Braille, a rapper hailing from Portland, Oregon whose song, "The IV," was featured in one of NBA Live 09's debut trailer, to get his take on the battle.
For those unaware, Braille has released three albums as a solo artist and a couple more as part of the group Lightheaded. He also toured with everyone from Blackalicious and De La Soul to Murs and Kidz in the Hall to a bunch of other underground rapper you probably never heard of.
So anyway, this is what he sent me:
"So the 2009 basketball games are on their way and this year it's more exciting than ever. At least from my perspective, this year is historical because one of my songs "The IV" is being used in NBA Live 2009. Below are my top five reasons why people should get NBA Live 2009 instead of NBA 2K9.
1. So my first argument is that my song "The IV" is featured in the game.
Maybe I'm bias but I remember playing NBA Live back in 1995 during middle school. It's crazy to be featured in the game 13 years later.
2. The rapper Common referenced NBA Live in one of his lyrics saying that he would "whoop anybody in NBA LIVE". Have any rappers ever mentioned 2K in a song?
3. Tony Parker is the cover athlete for NBA Live 2009. He was the MVP of the NBA finals but if your not convinced that he deserves the cover then maybe he gets it based on cool points alone. First of all he's from France. Have you ever been to France? If not then he's already cooler then you. Second, isn't he married to Eva Longoria? I think he's a good choice for the cover.
4. NBA Live has this cool feature where you can create your own player. I know it's not a new feature but I love creating myself and sinking 3 pointers. You can create yourself in 2K as well but in 2K you won't be able to play yourself and listen to my song at the same time..... unless you upload the song to your xbox or play it from your ipod, but that's way too complicated. You should buy NBA LIVE, create yourself as a player and sink a 3-pointer while my song is playing.
5. Hasn't NBA Live been around longer? Show some love to the veterans!!!"
Check out the NBA Live 09 trailer featuring "The IV," here: