Def Jam Rapstar!

“Somebody take me back to the days
Before this was a job, before I got paid
Before it ever mattered what I had in my bank
Yeah back when I was tryin' to get into the subway
And back when I was rappin' for the hell of it
But now a days we rappin' to stay relevant”…”Airplanes”…B.o.B.
Def Jam Rapstar!...Can A Video Game Save Hip-Hop?
By David L. “Money Train” Watts
FuTurXTV – www.MiddleClassCrunch.com - www.JLKingPublishing.com – E3 Expo 2010 Report
August 15, 2010
KonsoleKing: “Is this what you always kinda envisioned with the Def Jam Brand and
video games?”
Russell Simmons: “I thought Lauren and Kevin and the people at Def Jam have done a
great job at developing video games. But they have made video games based in the same
ideas and same culture that video games have been in and they been very creative.
They’ve been good games. But the fact that we walk around a $60 Billion dollar business
and there is no Hip-Hop. Look how big the industry is and look how little representation
for Hip-Hop there is? It’s nutty that the space is so big. But that people who are suppose
to be innovative and trying to find new ways to penetrate culture don’t realize the cultural
impact of Hip-Hop. And have left us alone in the space to do what we gonna do. It’s
ridiculous they’ve overlooked us. Maybe is a lack of diversity in the senior people. Or lack
of creativity. Or maybe they’re nerds and didn’t like Hip-Hop. Or something. But cool
kids like Hip-Hop all over the world. And they need this game.”…KonsoleKingz.com 6.23.2010
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Def Jam Rapstar At E3 Expo 2010
As incredible as seems I can rest the fate of the multi-billion global Hip-Hop Industry to a single
video game release. I can make this statement and analysis because Hip-Hop is at major crossing
roads in turns of declining album sales. Touring is way down for rappers unless their names are
Drake, Jay-Z, and Eminem. And Hip-Hop lost its cultural relevance among 80 Million Millennials who
are the first “Download Generation”. This downer attitude for Hip-Hop in general was best exemplified
when Nas’s now historic and much misguided “Hip-Hop Is Dead” song and mantra back at the end of
2006. The press eagerly jumped all over that cue for the next 3 years with stats about major Hip-Hop
stars struggling to sell records and struggling to pay their bills. The “Hip-Hop Is DOA” stories began
dying out just around the same time 4mm Games took a super leap of faith at E3 Expo 2009 and
declared Hip-Hop had been reborn in the new form of a Def Jam Rapstar (DJR) video game. 4mm
Games CEO and DJR front man Jaime King always stresses the three main selling points of Def Jam
Rapstar are “It’s About Hip-Hop”, “It’s About You Being The Star” and “It’s About Community”.
It is nutty to me that Russell Simmons does not understand that nerds, even Black nerds, do like
Hip-Hop and the $60 Billion gaming Industry does not actually need Hip-Hop to be a highly profitable
worldwide enterprise, to impact the lives of tweeners, teens and youth adults and be a major trend
setter on global media and culture. That is what Hip-Hop always was and hopes to be again one day.
“Hip Hop is a global phenomenon that has permeated pop culture to become the most
important youth movement of our generation. We are proud to deliver the first authentic
Hip Hop music experience to gamers that will undoubtedly change the way music games
are played,” added Kevin Liles, President and CEO of Def Jam Enterprises. “It is an
incredible opportunity to work with the Konami, 4mm Games and Terminal Reality
teams in developing Def Jam Rapstar. Our partnership with Konami ensures that
everyone around the world will have an opportunity to compete with the best of the best.
So show us what you got!”...Def Jam Rapstar Press Release 8.4.2010
The official teaser trailer for Def Jam Rapstar is called “It’s A Movement”. It had a various upcoming
indie rappers like ATL’s Pill and Donnis, Brooklyn duo Misnomer, Harlem’s Esso, A Kid Milli, etc., all
with swagger declaring they are a “Def Jam Rapstar” and the world is their stage. Then 4mm Games
created some individual freestyle clips from these same rappers from the teaser trailer. And the first
official DJR trailer was random folks shown lip synching Jeezy’s “Put On”. So all the vial videos after
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E3 Expo 2009 was used to promote the experience of being a Def Jam Rapstar rapper as opposed to
focusing on playing the DJR game or gameplay footage of Def Jam Rapstar. After E3 Expo 2009, I
had a better chance beating Salt and Jason Bourne with my hands tied behind my back than to find
any downloadable Def Jam Rapstar launch trailers or gameplay videos from DJR gamer press sites.
So this time when I went to E3 Expo 2010 I was glad that 4mm Games picked up Konami as its major
video game publisher. Russell Simmons came out during Konami’s E3 Expo 2010 presentation and
proudly talked about how Def Jam Rapstar is going to be a “trail blazing game” and certainly in the
music space “the most innovative game”. He mentioned “Hip-Hop being ignored” in the gaming biz,
so there is “such a big white space”. And Russell stressed that Def Jam Rapstar will be a video game
that speaks right to this generation. “Something that speaks to their hearts, but for some reason the
establishment has not really addressed it”. I assume Russell had a chip on his shoulder or a bone to
pick with the $60 billion gaming Industry at E3. But I got the overall impression that he had never
been to E3 Expo before or he was clueless to what EA did with its four Def Jam fighting video games.
No one is a better ambassador, articulate spokesperson or more passionate and vocal champion for
Hip-Hop culture than Russell Simmons. I just wish while he goes about promoting Def Jam Rapstar
he give some insights into how the Def Jam Interactive Hip-Hop lifestyle and fighting games were
being done without his supervision or input. Then I could put into proper context why he firmly
believes Hip-Hop has been ignored or greatly under-appreciated in the gaming biz. At Konami’s Def
Jam Rapstar Presentation they showed a mashup-video of the Kanye West “Stronger” DJR gameplay
trailer and Method Man and Redman’s “Are You A Def Jam Rapstar?” promotional viral video trailer.
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Konami built a huge performance stage for Def Jam Rapstar at their booth. They hired DJ Clinton
Sparks and some hot dancer booth babes to keep the E3 gamers pumped about Def Jam Rapstar.
George Lopez was brought in to actually rap live to the large crowds of curious gamers Biz Markee’s
“Just A Friend” game demo. And Konami spared no expense by giving everyone at E3 a chance to
see a free concert of Def Jam Rapstar’s Method Man and Redman. That was clearly the highlight of
my own Def Jam Rapstar experience at E3 Expo 2010. The only bad part of E3 Expo 2010 for 4mm
Games was that Gamespot.com posted a few anti-Def Jam Rapstar reports. Gamespot.com E3 Expo
Host Tim Surate was at the Method Man and Redman concert barely even commenting on the game.
Then Tim started blatantly lying at 3:47 in his "hater" video that "white folks were fleeing the area".
I was there during the whole performance and it was packed with multiracial gamers and fans. And
there was no mass exodus of white gamers or white Hip-Hop fans leaving until Meth and Red
stopped performing. And even then there were still people of all colors hanging around trying out all
Konami’s new video games. And to make matters worse Gamespot.com posted a second clip at the
Konami’s Def Jam Rapstar’s stage where Tim spends the majority of his "hater" segment clowning
George Lopez. Tim never even clearly mentions Def Jam Rap Star and acts like George Lopez, who
regularly acts in major Hollywood films like Valentine’s Day ($52 Million opening weekend), has his
own nationwide late-night show on TBS and will be promoted heavily with Conan O'Brien in the Fall,
is not even worthy of being on a Konami stage rapping Biz Markee's "Just a Friend" classic Hip-Hop
song with Def Jam Rapstar. So I don't know if Gamespot.com's Tim Surate E3 Expo 2010 focus was
to be intentionally satirical, hostile or dismissive. I just know that Konami was one of the few top video
game publishers at E3 Expo 2010 that went way out of its way to have a major multicultural presence
at its booth to promote one of the biggest multiracial Hip-Hop video games of this year. What a gamer
or potential music game consumer may falsely get from watching the E3 Expo 2010 Konami booth
footage on Gamespot.com is "Don't Believe The Hype" about Def Jam Rapstar and George Lopez.
I am not going to get into a repetitive review of playing Def Jam Rapstar because anyone will easily
find out that the rap-karaoke part of the game is either a single person or a duo spitting lyrics that are
scrolling under a radio friendly or censored music video. The better you can rap a song the higher the
points you will get. DJR is pretty simple to grasp. And at E3 Expo 2010 it was not clear how or when
Xbox 360’s Kinect peripheral would work with the game, but I am sure that will be figured out soon or
maybe by Def Jam Rapstar 2 at E3 2011. And it was a no-brainer to use music videos in the game
that have already aired on BET or MTV. That way Konami easily got a Teen ESRB rating for DJR and
skip any silly drama or possible boycott for having uncensored rap videos being exposed to little kids.
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The official release date of Def Jam Rapstar is October 5th and the UK, German and French versions
the game will be dropped a month later on November 4, 2010. The game basics from the official Def
Jam Rapstar fact sheet and official Def Jam Rapstar music track since August 5, 2010 is listed below:
•
Def Jam Rapstar is the first music game fully dedicated to Hip Hop
•
With over 40 songs spanning the history of Hip Hop, Def Jam Rapstar offers a diverse track list
with some of the biggest songs in Hip Hop from all music labels
•
Unlike most other microphone-based games, Def Jam Rapstar features custom, proprietary
voice recognition technology that judge’s lyrical accuracy. In addition to lyrical accuracy, Def
Jam Rapstar also measures players pitch and timing to provide your complete score in real time
•
Utilizing the Xbox Live Vision camera or PlayStation Eye, Def Jam Rapstar allows you to
create a video of the performance starring yourself, edit, and then upload to
www.defjamrapstar.com, a fully integrated online community where players can share their
videos with the world to gain global recognition and become a bona fide rapstar!
•
Freestyle mode allows MC’s in the making to kick your own lyrics over well-known producer’s
beats, offering a chance to show and prove that you have what it takes
•
Battle Mode allows you to compete locally head-to-head for the highest score, and Duet mode,
where both players sing and rap together to achieve the highest combined score on any given
song
•
Compatible with all 3rd party microphones on the market
Def Jam Rapstar Music Track List:
2 Pac
I Get Around
50 Cent
I Get Money
A Tribe Called Quest
Scenario
Absolute Beginner
Hammerhart
Big Pun
Still Not A Player
5
Biz Markie
Just A Friend
Chipmunk
Chip Diddy Chip
Das Bo
Diddy (Featuring The Notorious B.I.G., Lil’ Kim & The
Lox)
Türlich, Türlich
It’s All About The Benjamins
(Remix)
DJ Khaled (Featuring Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Baby &We Takin’ Over
Lil’ Wayne)
Dizzee Rascal
Fix Up, Look Sharp
Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg
Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang
Drake
Best I Ever Had
Ice Cube
Today Was A Good Day
Jim Jones
We Fly High
Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx
Kery James
Kool Savas
Gold Digger
Banlieusards
Futurama
Lil Wayne
A Milli
LL Cool J
Mama Said Knock You Out
Ludacris
Stand Up
Method Man (Featuring Mary J. Blige)
You’re All I Need / I’ll Be There
For You
Nas (Featuring Diddy)
Hate Me Now
Notorious B.I.G.
Juicy
NTM featuring Lord Ko
Ma Benz
Nelly
Hot in Herre
Onyx
Slam
Outkast
So Fresh, So Clean
Oxmo Puccino
Mama Love
Pete Rock and CL Smooth
They Reminisce Over You
(T.R.O.Y.)
Peter Fox
Psy 4 De La Rime
Schwarz Zu Blau
Le Monde Est Stone
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Public Enemy
Fight the Power
Redman and Method Man
Da Rockwilder
Run D.M.C.
Run's House
Salt-N-Pepa
Push It
Sefyu
Molotov 4
Slick Rick
Children’s Story
T.I. featuring Rihanna
Live Your Life
Tinchy Stryder feat. N-Dubz
Number 1
Tinie Tempah
Wiley
Pass Out
50/5044
Wu Tang Clan
C.R.E.A.M.
Young Jeezy featuring Kanye West
Put On
Young Joc
Its Goin' Down
“For 30 years, Hip Hop music has re-defined the sound, boundaries and culture of
popular music,” said Kunio Neo, President, Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH. “We
look to explore that ambition by pushing the boundaries of music games with Def Jam
Rapstar. The combined power of 4mm Games and Def Jam Interactive will bring a music
game experience like no other seen to date, and we are excited to be a part of such a
unique game.”…Def Jam Rapstar Press Release 8/4/2010
The Def Jam Rapstar track list of featured songs will be either one of best selling parts of the game or
lead to its downfall. When one sees the final box art or the last updated track list press release for Def
Jam Rapstar it will be an immediate gut reaction as a Hip-Hop fan or a Hip-Hop gamer whether you
want to pre-order it right away or wait a few months until Christmas. There will be a great interest and
demand to play the game, but there is a wide variety of major, upcoming, influential, popular selling
and lyrically gifted Hip-Hop artists that are not already featured on Def Jam Rapstar. The Fugees’s
“The Score” and “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” sold over a combined 36 million CDs worldwide.
Why shouldn’t DJR have songs from two of the most widely respected and honored Hip-Hop albums?
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