Back to this game, what do you think it is about hip hop and basketball that makes them conducive to one another?
I mean, let's be realistic. It probably has to do with the fact that 65-70% of players are minorities. That being the case, you have the fact that hip hop has pretty much become the voice of young America. In the past, you had rock, heavy metal, and it all goes in cycles. Right now we're kind of in the hip hop cycle, which actually seems to be getting a longer run than the other genres have.

What about the themes of hip hop songs?
There's a certain agression there that you're not going to necessarily find in other forms of music. You're not going to be play ball on the street with like... Hank Williams. There's no disrespect to him, it's just that that's not the type of music at all. When you're playing sports and listening to music, it's always something really hard, really edgy. So usually it's either hip hop or rock. From NBA Ballers to Tony Hawk, it's all rock and hip hop. It's the same thing. It's socially relevant right now, and the companies have to latch onto that.

The NBA has a lot of restrictions and rules - I wish I could remember some of the artists they suggested putting in the game. It just made no sense in terms of reality. It was like, country artists. I was like, "You really expect us to put /that/ in a basketball game?"

Go to any street ball court - in the world, probably. You're not going to see kids rocking out to easy listening music. So why would you put that in this game, a game that's supposed to be relevant to the lifestyle?

What's the appeal of this game?
It lets you live the fantasy. You have the regular NBA 2K8 game, and it's a simulator. All rules and regulations apply, that's it. Something like this, it's greatly exaggerated, with flashy outfits. You're buying cars, planes, helicopters. It's about virutally living that fantasy. And it's more of an arcade-paced gameplay. Kind of like NBA Jam - it was a classic 2-on-2 arcade style, the originator of what we're seeing today in Ballers. The whole thing about it was that there was no rules, no fouling, anything goes. It was very much rooted in the lifestyle of basketball.

Would you consider doing more video game scoring?
I've done a few video games before. But my thing is, in the ten years I've been doing this, I never really had a plan. I kind of just go where it takes me. I am definitely looking towards movie scoring, just because overall the music business is not what it used to be. Sales are a lot different now than they were when I started. But I enjoy doing this as well; one of things I like about Ballers is that it's always open - no two games are the same. Being that a lot of our music in this situation is tied to the game, it makes a different experience every time. [looks at TV] Oh my god -

Oh my god what?
You missed it. Some football player, he was on Dancing with the Stars. And whatever he had on, he shouldn't have had it on. It was very tight and silky. Lots of skin showing.

So yeah, I definitely turned down other offers for games, only because I have to feel personally connected to what's happening with the game. In this situation, it kind of reminded me of NBA Jam, which I used to play as a kid, and John was a cool guy, we got along really well. And I really just felt like rooting for underdog since we've got so much to prove.

Thanks for talking with us. Good luck with your music!