Crossover Chronicles is a relatively new blog, so we decided it was a good idea to introduce you to the crew. We’ve been doing that in a new feature called “Writer-Palooza.” Over the past few days, we’ve featured one writer, introducing him to you via an original piece, his favorite basketball video, and a wildcard post on any topic that he wants.
We conclude the series today with Managing Editor John Karalis. You can find him on Twitter here.
Every time you turn around, another baller is trying his hand at rapping. And listen to enough hip hop, and you’ll hear enough basketball references to fill a few of these pages. For decades now, basketball and hip hop have been intertwined. Having grown up with the game, I’ve seen a lot of just how infused both cultures are. Like branches sprouting from the same tree trunk, hip hop and basketball are forever hand-in-hand.
When you play basketball on a court in the city, you play to a sound track. I found that out when I was a kid growing up just outside Providence, RI. When I was finally good enough to get out on those city courts, I became immersed in the culture of hip hop and basketball. I had no choice but to become part of it… to come to appreciate why both are so part of one another. Ultimately, both have become important elements of my life.
I met new teammates because we loved the same sport. We became friends, though, when we bonded over music. When you really think about, music makes sports better.
We humans, since we first somehow figured out that banging on an animal skin stretched out over a bowl was fun, have moved rhythmically to a beat. It’s impossible not to. Put on a song that you find appealing and your head, your hand, or your feet automatically move with the beat. Music energizes us. It lifts us out of the blues, helps us get over ex-loves, sets the mood for certain… occasions… and it get us pumped up.
Can you imagine a basketball game with no intro music? Can you imagine a time out without a song playing? Can you imagine a highlight’s package without track?
Hip Hop and the NBA of the past few decades go hand-in-hand because, quite honestly, they have the same roots. The best rappers and ballers came from the same neighborhoods. They shared life experiences. The game of basketball spoke to rappers and the raps spoke to the ball players. The rhymes, the rhythms, the stories… everything… are related. In a sense, basketball and rap music are cousins.
Rap may trace its roots, at least in the public forum, to 1979’s “Rapper’s Delight”, but rap’s emergence didn’t truly come until the mid 1980’s. Rap acts like Boogie Down Productions, MC Shan, LL Cool J, Big Daddy Kane, Gang Starr, EPMD, Run DMC and countless others burst onto the scene with endless flowing lyrics over expertly mixed beats. The genius, much like basketball, was an outward simplicity (an MC and a microphone and a DJ with two turntables) that covered an inner complexity.
As rap music rose, the NBA’s hip hop generation was hitting an influential age. Allen Iverson, perhaps the face of the NBA’s pinnacle of hip hop infusion, was born in 1975. Somewhere right around seven or eight years old, Iverson’s generation (of which I am a part) began hearing the soundtrack that would play long with the rest of their lives.
After Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were gone, and as Michael Jordan bridged the gap into a new generation of baller, the culture began its monumental shift. Many young ballers spent their newfound wealth living the lives of rap personnas. As they became stars and teams catered to their preferences, which, of course, included hip hop music everywhere. Before long, the NBA culture and the hip hop culture combined to create a new breed of basketball atmosphere.
It’s a perfect fit, really. The rhythm of basketball just fits hip hop. Nike captured it better than I’ve ever seen when they mixed basketball sounds into a hip hop beat for a commercial.
We always want to be what we’re not. That’s why big men want to dribble and little guys want to dunk. Basketball players want to try their hands at the other side of this culture and rappers want to do the same. And since they’ve got the money, they can give it a shot.
Personally, the combination of hip hop and basketball has given me the greatest gifts of my lifetime. I met my best friend in life in college on the basketball court. We didn’t know we were best friends until he followed the sound of my blasting rap music up two flights of stairs, and we created an instant bond.
My friend, Del, and I grew as students of basketball and rap. And even though he, a Lakers fan, and I, a Celtics fan, had differences, our love for basketball and music bridged the gap. Del is no longer with us, but as long as basketballs bounce and music rings through the rafters, he is always around.
On this Valentine’s day, let’s celebrate the perfect match of hip hop and basketball. The rhythms and the poetry of both are ultimate combination for all of our senses. They are right for each other. And we should enjoy that.
