"Basketball"
A generic label with the iconic "Polydor" logo on the top of the label. The rest on the label contains credits and factual information about the product itself.
Side A of the 12-inch US vinyl single
Single by Kurtis Blow
from the album Ego Trip
Released1984
Recorded1984
GenreHip hop
Length6:22
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • William Waring
  • Robert Ford
  • Kurtis Blow
  • J. B. Moore
  • Jimmy Bralower
  • Full Force
Producer(s)
  • J. B. Moore
  • Robert Ford
Kurtis Blow singles chronology
"Ego Trip"
(1984) 		"Basketball"
(1984) 		"America"
(1985)
Music video
"Basketball" on YouTube

"Basketball" is a rap song written by William Waring, Robert Ford, Kurtis Blow, J. B. Moore, Jimmy Bralower, and Full Force and recorded by Kurtis Blow, released in 1984 from his album Ego Trip.

Song history

According to Blow, the idea for the song came from his then-girlfriend (whom he later married), who told him, "You need to make a song about basketball, it's the No. 1 sport for African-Americans and nobody has done it yet."[1] Twenty-five famous basketball players are mentioned during the recording.[2] Waring was primarily responsible for choosing which players would be mentioned in the song, but Blow specified that his favorite player, Julius "Dr. J" Erving, would be mentioned first.[1] Blow said in 2013, "We wanted the guys we grew up watching who were all out of the league by the time the song came out, and the best of that time."[1] The lyrics consist of rhymed couplets, a structure which has been described as "typical of early-1980s rap".[3] The song's hook was sung by Alyson Williams, who later had hit songs of her own on the R&B chart.[1][4]

The music video for the song was directed by Michael Oblowitz, who had a $25,000 budget.[1] The video included cameos by rappers The Fat Boys and Whodini.[1] Although Blow had wanted the video to include footage of the players mentioned in the song, the National Basketball Association would only provide clearance for use of still photos of Micheal Ray Richardson (who is not mentioned in the lyrics).[1]

Nevertheless, the NBA later took an interest in Blow's song and played it at games, as well as creating its own video that featured clips of every player mentioned in the song.[5] Blow said, "When the song was peaking, the NBA started flying me around to do shows. ... I would do a live performance right after the game to fill the arena."[1]

The video game NBA 2K12 used the song during the introduction.

Charts

Chart (1984-1985) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 71
US Billboard Hot Black Singles[7] 29

Lil’ Bow Wow version

"Basketball"
Single by Lil' Bow Wow featuring Jermaine Dupri, Fabolous and Fundisha
from the album Like Mike: Music From the Motion Picture
ReleasedJune 24, 2002
Recorded2001
Genre
Length3:18
Label
Songwriter(s)Jimmy Bralower, Robert Ford, Paul Anthony, Brian George, Lucien George Jr., Junior Clark, Curt Bedeau, Gerry Charles, James B. Moor, Kurt Blow, Shirley Walker, William Waring
Producer(s)Jermaine Dupri, La Marquis Jefferson
Lil' Bow Wow singles chronology
"Take Ya Home"
(2002) 		"Basketball"
(2002) 		"Let's Get Down"
(2003)
Fabolous singles chronology
"Young'n"
(2001) 		"Basketball"
(2002) 		"Automatic"
(2002)
Jermaine Dupri singles chronology
"Welcome 2 Atlanta (Coast 2 Coast Remix)"
(2002) 		"Basketball"
(2002) 		"Too Hood"
(2002)

Lil' Bow Wow covered the song in 2002, featuring Jermaine Dupri, Fabolous and Fundisha for the Like Mike soundtrack.

Charts

Chart (2002-2003) Peak
position
Germany (Official German Charts)[8] 81
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[9] 53
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 44
US Billboard Hot Rap Singles 25

In popular culture

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Sauer, Patrick. "They're Playing Basketball". SB Nation. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
  2. ^ Jenkins, Sacha; et al. (1999). Ego Trip's Book of Rock Lists. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 204. ISBN 0312242980. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
  3. ^ Adams, Kyle (September 2020). "Harmonic, Syntactic, and Motivic Parameters of Phrase in Hip-Hop". Music Theory Online. 26 (2). doi:10.30535/mto.26.2.1. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  4. ^ Brown, Ann (December 18, 2020). "Celebrated R&B Singer Alyson Williams Jazzes Things Ups". New York Trend NYC. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  5. ^ Zirin, Dave (2007). Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports. Chicago: Haymarket Books. p. 107. ISBN 9781931859417. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
  6. ^ "Kurtis Blow Basketball Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  7. ^ "Kurtis Blow Basketball Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  8. ^ "Lil Bow Wow feat. Jermaine Dupri, Fabolous and Fundisha – Basketball" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  9. ^ "Lil Bow Wow feat. Jermaine Dupri, Fabolous and Fundisha – Basketball". Swiss Singles Chart.
  10. ^ Adam F.Goldberg [@adamfgoldberg] (April 7, 2016). "We used Basketball by @KurtisBlow1. And then hired him to do a new version all about D&D" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 April 2016 – via Twitter.

External links

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