He's worked with the likes of Jay-Z, Usher, and Kanye, and now Just Blaze is working with a new superstar, NBA Ballers: Chosen One. We talked with the Grammy-nominated producer about the game, the state of music and bad wardrobe decisions.

So how does a guy like Just Blaze get involved with NBA Ballers?
I had this random encounter with Johnny V one day. I was coming from a photo shoot and we just happened to be in the same circle of people. And my kind of thing is, I can't really work with people I don't get along with. I just won't do it. So he seemed like a cool dude, we kicked it, he told me what his vision for the game was, and I dug it.

They got a lot to prove right now, being that they have to alternate the license between NBA Street and Ballers, so now it's their shot.

How do you think the game turned out?
I'm really digging where they're gone with this in terms of really making it an overall experience. I think they really have figured out the right marriage of the gameplay as well as the storyline and the lifestyle and how it all ties together.

Did you get to see the game development in progress?
Basically, I was working alongside them on the music while they were developing. When I first started working on it, the animatics were literally stick figures. There was no animation, it was just sticks on a basketball court, walking in the club, and getting on a helicopter.

It's kind of like actors that you see act on greenscreens, and they have to pretend that something's there that's not there. So with music, you have to think, "Okay, there's this many people here. They're just not there yet. I've got to treat this like it is." One of the effects was that during gameplay, music changes depending on which player is in the lead. In certain game modes, the music will completely change, which makes it more of a challenge to compose.

[Distracted by TV, where a trailer for Call of Duty 4 just ended]
Oh wow.

You a Call of Duty fan?
Best game ever. I kind of stopped playing games for the most part, but Call of Duty gets me. No like, it gets me really bad. Put it this way - if I play and then I go to bed, I still see it. I think it's kind of like what the vets go through, like shell shock or post traumatic stress disorder? I still see flashing lights. I still see the helicopters. And I'm like, "I gotta stop playing."

That, and Rock Band. I play drums. My assistant plays the guitar. And I've actually experimented with trying to sing and play drums at the same time. Our mission is to get 100% on The Strokes' song, Reptilia. I'm up to 99% with a 700-note streak. My singing - dude, the way he sings, it's like he's so straightforward and then he gets to the hook and it's just like, "What are you saying?" He had to be on some kind of drug.

Do you think they'll make a hip-hop themed Rock Band?
They /have/ to, at this point. You can't not do it. I was walking down the street the other day and I saw three mid-20s girls walking around with Rock Band guitars in their backpacks. And they have to do 80s Rock Band. It's like, I'm sitting here playing it, and I knew all the classic songs, and some of the new songs like the Killers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but some of them I was just like, "What? Who? Huh?" But like, if they did an 80s one? Oh my god, that'd be it.

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