Gaming

The Weeknd Credits ‘Grand Theft Auto: Vice City’ For His ’80s Music Influence

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Billboard recently declared that The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” is the top song in the long history of their storied Hot 100 chart. The song is heavily inspired by synth-forward ’80s music, and in a new Billboard interview pegged to the Hot 100 news, The Weeknd gave credit to the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for fostering in him an interest in ’80s music.

In the piece, co-producer Max Martin notes of the song, “Abel came with the vision of what the song should be, which was a very different tempo and vibe than what is usually done. He took a risk, and that was very impressive to us. We all felt this song was very special even early on in the process.” The Weeknd then added, “GTA: Vice City really opened my eyes to a lot of ’80s music, so there was a nostalgia for when I was a kid playing video games and listening to Hall & Oates and Michael Jackson while driving through the city.”

The Grand Theft Auto games are well known for their soundtracks, which players experience through in-game radio stations. Vice City has nine stations and they all cycle through their own playlists of about 15 songs each (except for the one station that doesn’t play music). Since the game is set in 1986, all of the songs included are from that year or earlier. Hall & Oates has one song in the game, “Out Of Touch,” while Jackson has two: “Billie Jean” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.”

Check out the full interview here.

‘Verzuz’ Expands To The Gaming World With A ‘Bigs Vs. Lils’ ‘Call Of Duty’ Tournament

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After over a year of dominating the live music and live streaming spaces, the Verzuz brand is expanding to encompass live streaming video games with the next evolution of its competition format, Verzuz Gamez. While the musical hits battles have always been more about celebrating the legacies of those performers who have had a huge impact on hip-hop culture throughout the years, this time, the battle will be a straight-up fight to the finish as the inaugural edition of Verzuz Games will pit a pair of “big” rappers against two “lil” ones in a Call Of Duty: Vanguard tournament.

On Wednesday, November 3 at 6 pm PT, Big Boi and Big Sean will face off against Lil Jon and Lil Tecca for gaming supremacy in a three-hour, multi-round tournament format hosted by T-Pain with a performance by Migos. Aside from having a pretty cool theme, the teams also seem pretty well-balanced, what with pairing the oldest contestant with the youngest (you gotta handicap the zoomer, who was forged in the fires of online multiplayer chaos, by sticking him with the one guy who was around for Pong, otherwise Tecca would definitely run amok and clean up the field). Meanwhile, we’ll have to see if Big Boi and Big Sean can share chemistry as well as a misnomered moniker against one of rap’s first Twitch streaming adopters (Lil Jon — forever ahead of his time).

Tune in tomorrow night at 6 on Instagram, Triller, and Fite network.

Twitch Announces A Streaming Partnership With T-Pain With ‘I’m Cool With That’

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T-Pain was on Twitch well before it was cool. While Twitch had been in use for years among video game fans, it was not a place that celebrities typically hung out like it is now. These days it’s not uncommon for famous athletes, actors, or musicians to be seen hanging out on Twitch playing a game and interacting with their community. T-Pain, on the other hand, was doing it originally as just something to do in his free time. He’d play games, show off new music, and just hang out.

These days, Twitch is almost as much of a job as his music career for him. He’s an extremely popular streamer with thousands of people tuning into his streams live or watching the VODs after he’s wrapped up. Twitch saw his popularity and got in contact with him. Now, T-Pain and Twitch have formed a partnership where his presence on the site will be even more visible. He’s kicking off his partnership with an exclusive listening party on his Twitch channel for his new single “I’m Cool With That.”

“This partnership means that I have been seen,” T-Pain said. “With so little representation on the service previously, the fact that Twitch came to me means that they actually see our community and understand the value of our contribution to the streaming world. We’ve been hosting beat battles and collaborative sessions for years… ‘I’m Cool With That’ is a combination of some of those efforts and was the first song created and released with my community, and I hope this is just the start of a journey Twitch and I are about to go on to uplift and strengthen the music community on Twitch.”

The upcoming listening party will be where T-Pain further breaks down the new track and shares details about other aspects of his partnership, such as monthly “Post Ya Song” and “Post Ya Beat” reviews from community producers. It’s really cool to see this kind of opportunity for T-Pain considering that he was one of the first well-known names to really embrace Twitch. Now he has a partnership and his community gets to watch his streams become even bigger.

This is another big step for Twitch as well, as the platform continues to try and show it’s for more than just video games. Twitch will always be about video games first and foremost, but the platform has not shied away from growing to become something even bigger. Lucky for them, T-Pain not only represents the video game side of the platform but the music side as well. He’s the perfect choice for this partnership.

Wu-Tang Clan Is Reportedly Working With Xbox On The ‘Project Shaolin’ Video Game And Soundtrack

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Back in 1999, Wu-Tang Clan: Shaolin Style dropped on PlayStation and hip-hop heads were hyped to play a tournament kung-fu fighting style game with their favorite members of the Clan. Heck, ODB fought in a drunken fist style, while Ghostface and Raekwon were bare-knuckle boxers, and Method Man wielded a warhammer. While the game had its limitations, it was the first four-player fighting game on PlayStation, so you know it got wild when everybody had a controller.

But that was over 20 years ago (Supreme Clientele would be released the following year, for context) and now according to Windows Central and the GamesBeat Decides Podcast, Wu-Tang Clan is rumored to be working with Xbox and Brass Lion Entertainment on a new game, called Project Shaolin, that’s an action RPG style game. The story is set to be framed around Shaolin lore and while the role of Wu-Tang members within the game is still up in the air, Windows Central indicates that Wu-Tang will be at the helm of the soundtrack. They added more details on the gameplay:

“The campaign is planned to run for a couple of dozen hours, complete with a rich endgame comprised of seasonal content drops and other updates. You will be able to obtain loot, weapons, gear, and so on, in both procedural endgame dungeons and more tailor-made events. Also, it appears that legendary hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan themselves will be heading up the game’s sound track”

What’s cool about Brass Lion Entertainment, is that the Skyrim and Fallout vets dub themselves as “an entertainment studio focused on creating original fictional universes that center on Black, Brown, and other marginalized characters, cultures, and stories.”

Who better to keep pushing forward the legend of the Wu? More updates are sure to come on this one.

The post Wu-Tang Clan Is Reportedly Working With Xbox On The ‘Project Shaolin’ Video Game And Soundtrack appeared first on UPROXX.

Vince Staples Breaks Down His ‘Pokemon 25’ Song ‘Got ‘Em’ With Help From Snorlax

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Vince Staples might be best-known for his sardonic social media personality and scathing, nihilistic gangsta raps, but he’s also quite the pitchman — remember his hilarious Sprite commercials? The Long Beach native puts all three skills to use on Pokemon 25: The Album, a companion compilation of tracks celebrating the generations-spanning multimedia franchise’s 25th anniversary. Vince contributes “Got ‘Em” to the album, which also features such names as J Balvin, Lil Yachty, Post Malone, and Tierra Whack and drops October 15.

Above, in a rare glimpse of earnestness from Vince, he breaks down the “evolution” — hehe — of “Got ‘Em” along with some “help” from Snorlax. Of course, if you know anything about Pokemon — which, as Vince points out in the video, you probably do — Snorlax’s assistance amounts to basically napping in the corner while Vince recounts his experiences playing the video game and watching the cartoon growing up. As he puts it, “It’s important to tap into your inner child or just not be jaded. There’s always room for excitement or fun or optimism if you can keep hold of the things that were important to you in childhood, it’ll put you into a good place.”

If that feels like a big swing from the rapper’s usual stance on such things, it might be time to go back and review his old work — despite the running thread of fatalistic acceptance of his dark surroundings, there have always been glimpses of optimism as seen through his mischievous sense of humor. That humor pops up in his Pokemon explainer, too; the latter portion of the clip consists of Vince comparing his “nap ability” to Snorlax’s and determining that despite being an expert in catching 40 winks whenever possible, the rotund road napper has a lot more experience in sawing logs at a moment’s notice.

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You can watch Vince Staples talk up Pokemon 25 above and pre-order the album here.

Lil Nas X Is Hyped Up About 100 Thieves Competing In The ‘League Of Legends’ World Championship

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The 2021 League Of Legends World Championship has been taking place and the matches have been really exciting so far. One person, that’s been really enjoying them? Lil Nas X. His enjoyment of video games isn’t a secret. He’s a huge fan of Sonic The Hedgehog and did a livestream concert inside Roblox.

Lil Nas X is also a big fan of the League Of Legends team 100 Thieves. He’s so much of a fan that he decided to do create a hype video to celebrate the 2021 League Of Legends World Championship featuring a completely unique compilation of Lil Nas X’s hits “Thats What I Want” and “Industry Baby.” The result is a great hype video featuring 100 Thieves member JhbTeam dancing around with visions of Lil Nas X performing inside the LCS Championship trophy. The behind the scenes footage from the shoot is also quite enjoyable.

Anyone that wants to check out 100 Thieves in the League Of Legends World Championship can find them competing online at Lolesports.com They’re currently in the group stage, coming off a loss to Edward Gaming, but they’ll get a second shot at getting a win on Tuesday when they take on FocusMe.

If they manage to make a title run maybe we’ll get an opportunity to see Lil Nas X celebrating it. We’re also going to eagerly anticipate more crossovers with him and the world of gaming.

Deadmau5 Music Video For ‘When The Summer Dies’ Was Created In ‘Core’

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Not too long ago, deadmau5 announced that he would be partnering with the community around the video game Core to create his next music video. This was a really unique and cool opportunity for fans and deadmau5 to do something unique. It was also yet another example of someone in the music space embracing video games.

On Thursday, the music video that deadmau5 and the Core community created was released. It’s a pretty neat video considering how it was made and the efforts that went into it. The music video does a cool job of not only showing what Core is capable of but representing the community aspect that this video is about. We get to see deadmau5 taken across many different landscapes and scenarios and since all of this was made inside the game it feels like the community of Core is showing deadmau5 around so they can see everything they’ve made for him.

“I’ve been experimenting with the confluence of music and tech for a long time, and now with games, I’m able to take it to a whole other level,” said deadmau5. “Typically it takes months and hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of dollars to make a music video. In this case, we were able to pull together a video with stunning 3D worlds in just a couple of months by crowdsourcing the creation to the Core community and deadmau5 fans. The quality of the interactive experiences and the speed with which they were made was unbelievable and demonstrates why more artists are seeking out unique opportunities inside of games to extend new experiences to their audiences.”

It’s incredible that deadmau5 gave everyone from Core an opportunity to contribute to his music video like this. The results of it were even better than expected and maybe this will spark other people in music to do the same. We’ve already seen artists embrace games like Fortnite to host virtual concerts. Maybe now we’ll see a trend of gaming music videos. The potential for creativity has no limit in video games like Core.

Billie Eilish Songs Like ‘Happier Than Ever’ And ‘When We Fall Asleep’ Are Now Available On Beat Saber

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One of the biggest stars in the world right now is Billie Eilish. Fresh off her appearance at the Met Gala, there are few people in music as big as Eilish. It’s not a surprise why. She creates great music, has a personality that’s easy to cheer for, and has an extremely interesting backstory.

Among the details of her backstory is she has a really interesting relationship with video games. Eilish grew up playing the puzzle game ilomilo, and even named one of her songs after it. Not only that, her mother Maggie Baird is the voice actress for Samara in the Mass Effect series. Now, Eilish will be forming her own relationship with gaming by having 10 of her songs appear in the VR rhythm game Beat Saber. These songs include:

  • all the good girls go to hell
  • bad guy
  • bellyache
  • bury a friend
  • Happier Than Ever
  • I Didn’t Change My Number
  • NDA
  • Oxytocin
  • Therefore I Am
  • you should see me in a crown
Beat Saber

This is a strong list of songs that all will complement the energetic and sometimes exhausting gameplay of Beat Saber. Anyone who’s played it knows how addictive Beat Saber can be. Spend a few hours jamming out to some great music and before you know it you’ve been at it for two hours and can’t lift up your arms anymore. Adding Eilish’s songs to the game is only going to enhance that feeling of “Just one more song?” that every Beat Saber playthrough has.

Beat Saber is one of the best games on VR right now and a must-get purchase for anyone that owns a headset. Adding Eilish to its already vast discography is another example of that. The pack for her complete list of songs will be available to players at a price of $12.99 while individual songs will cost $1.99. If you’re still not sure we suggest giving “Happier Than Ever” a try first try and seeing how it goes.

Billie Eilish Songs Like ‘Happier Than Ever’ And ‘When We Fall Asleep’ Are Now Available On Beat Saber

by

One of the biggest stars in the world right now is Billie Eilish. Fresh off her appearance at the Met Gala, there are few people in music as big as Eilish. It’s not a surprise why. She creates great music, has a personality that’s easy to cheer for, and has an extremely interesting backstory.

Among the details of her backstory is she has a really interesting relationship with video games. Eilish grew up playing the puzzle game ilomilo, and even named one of her songs after it. Not only that, her mother Maggie Baird is the voice actress for Samara in the Mass Effect series. Now, Eilish will be forming her own relationship with gaming by having 10 of her songs appear in the VR rhythm game Beat Saber. These songs include:

  • all the good girls go to hell
  • bad guy
  • bellyache
  • bury a friend
  • Happier Than Ever
  • I Didn’t Change My Number
  • NDA
  • Oxytocin
  • Therefore I Am
  • you should see me in a crown
Beat Saber

This is a strong list of songs that all will complement the energetic and sometimes exhausting gameplay of Beat Saber. Anyone who’s played it knows how addictive Beat Saber can be. Spend a few hours jamming out to some great music and before you know it you’ve been at it for two hours and can’t lift up your arms anymore. Adding Eilish’s songs to the game is only going to enhance that feeling of “Just one more song?” that every Beat Saber playthrough has.

Beat Saber is one of the best games on VR right now and a must-get purchase for anyone that owns a headset. Adding Eilish to its already vast discography is another example of that. The pack for her complete list of songs will be available to players at a price of $12.99 while individual songs will cost $1.99. If you’re still not sure we suggest giving “Happier Than Ever” a try first try and seeing how it goes.

Outkast Drop An Animated Video For ‘Two Dope Boyz’ To Celebrate Their 25th-Anniversary ‘ATLiens’ Reissue

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This Friday, August 27, the iconic Atlanta-based rap duo who put the Dirty South on the map with their cosmic slop-washed ethos is reissuing the album that saw them break through to the mainstream 25 years ago. Andre 3000 and Big Boi, better known as Outkast, are putting out a 25th-anniversary edition of ATLiens and to celebrate, they’ve shared a new Rafatoon-directed animated video for the album’s fan-favorite track “Two Dope Boyz (In A Cadillac).” The psychedelic visuals capture the duo in their mid-90s aesthetics (you know, before Andre started dressing like a mid-century dandy) and yes, cruising in a Cadillac convertible.

The ATLiens reissue will come with newly mixed, hi-res 24-bit sound with the previously unreleased instrumental tracks, in multiple formats. Legacy Recordings is dropping a limited-edition four-LP version, Get on Down’s version will come with a custom gatefold jacket and a glow-in-the-dark 45rpm single of “Elevators,” and Vinyl Me, Please has a two-LP neon green and blue galaxy vinyl. You can find out more here.

In addition to the collector’s edition vinyl re-releases of ATLiens, the boys will celebrate their breakthrough classic with a mobile video game being produced by F That digital agency that will find them defending their hometown from — what else? — an alien invasion. The release date is still TBD.

Watch the “Two Dope Boyz (In A Cadillac)” video above.