Music and basketball are more related than one usually thinks. Each men’s basketball game at the OU Credit Union O’Rena consists of dramatic and exciting highs, marked by contemporary songs that get people up and hyped.
With the recent success of the men’s basketball team and their recent NCAA tournament berth, there is now a ton of media attention on them. Instead of using the increased opportunities to talk to some of the players about important topics — as an arts journalist, I asked them about music.
More specifically, what song or musical artist gets them hype.
For some players, one song was just not enough. They like to listen to an entire artist — but different players have different reasons.
Chris Conway, Blake Lampman and the Horizon League Player of the Year and tournament MVP Trey Townsend all agreed on one thing — Drake is the GOAT.
Both Townsend and Conway listen to Drake to be in a more relaxed mood, but Lampman prefers to listen to the 37-year-old, Toronto-born hip-hop and RnB icon to get hype for games.
“Anything Drake gets me in the right mindset — it’s different every game — I have a good playlist though,” Lampman said.
Since none of those players listed specific songs, I have some suggestions for readers who want to get as hyped as three of the starting lineup for the Golden Grizzlies.
“Over” by Drake, which came out in 2010, has been a hype song for over a decade. The horns at the start, Drake’s effortless rhymes and flows over the production — headed by Boi-1da and OVO 40. The song has been featured in past NBA 2k games and has been the soundtrack for many basketball fans for the last 13 years.
One more Drake suggestion from me is the recently released J. Cole collab, “First Person Shooter.” One of the best rap songs from last year, “FPS” features a music video that matches the track’s energy exactly — in your face yet stoic and uncaring. The mechanical yet soulful production, paired with Drake and J. Cole trading flows will always put a smile on my face and get me hype.
Tone Hunter’s hype game day artist was Lil Durk. There are a lot of Lil Durk songs that get me hyped personally, but for watching and playing basketball, there’s no competition against “Still Trappin’” featuring King Von. It’s a pretty straightforward trap banger with tough aesthetics, perfect for getting in a competitive mindset.
“Praise Jan In The Moonlight” by YG Marley is Jack Gohlke’s pick for a hype game day song. YG Marley is Bob Marley’s grandson, and his influence is apparent in this upbeat reggae song. In my opinion, this song is perfect to get into a positive outlook before starting any game.
DQ Cole and Rocket Watts both agreed upon “B**** Let’s Do It” by Youngboy Never Broke Again — or NBA Youngboy for short. Much like Lil Durk’s music, NBA Youngboy makes southern trap music, but he is clearly influenced by where he grew up — New Orleans, Louisiana.
Finally, Osei Price listed “Get In With Me” by BossMan Dlow as his pick for a hype day game song. Personally, this pick surprised me as it is not a super popular song and BossMan is not a super popular artist, however, it does not distract from how hype the song gets not only Price, but it gets me hype as well.
Even though the range focused mostly on hip-hop, each song and artist demonstrates the personality and the likeability of the men’s basketball team. With the first game of the tournament tipping off Thursday against Kentucky, let’s hope that both the music and talent of the team can carry them to success.
