LOS ANGELES \u2014 When rapper-actor Common was a kid, he carried towels and sneakers as a Chicago Bulls ball boy who was close enough to hear the squeak of shoes and the roar inside the arena.<\/p>\n
Decades later, Common is helping set a different kind of tone for basketball: He has teamed up with his longtime collaborators to compose \u201cVictory\u201d as the official theme for NBA on Prime, the streaming platform announced Thursday. He worked with Karriem Riggins and James Poyser on the song, which will be a part of Amazon\u2019s first exclusive season of NBA coverage.<\/p>\n
Common said he drew some inspiration for the song by watching basketball.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasketball has a soul to it,\u201d said Common, a three-time Grammy winner, who has also won an Emmy and Oscar. \u201cIt\u2019s nostalgic but forward. The rhythm, the harmony, the movement, the teamwork, the star player. We wanted to capture all that in sound.\u201d<\/p>\n
After learning Amazon wanted him as a composer, Common said one of his first calls was to his mother to share the news. It was a moment he described as a perfect partnership from the start.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never know where God is going to lead you,\u201d Common said. \u201cYou just got to stay open and be true to your craft, because now I feel like I\u2019m part of the NBA in the way I\u2019m supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The song will serve as the signature sound of NBA on Prime each week starting with the upcoming season. It was recorded with a 70-piece orchestra at a studio in Nashville.<\/p>\n
The trio \u2014 whose credits span hip-hop, jazz and soul \u2014 produced three versions of the score including orchestral, hip-hop and rock.<\/p>\n
Manny Marroquin, a Grammy-winning engineer, will mix the final recordings before the theme\u2019s Oct. 24 debut during Prime Video\u2019s opening-night doubleheader featuring the Boston Celtics at the New York Knicks and the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n
Poyser said it was important for the team to create a melody that could live in fans\u2019 heads long after the broadcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew it had to be something that you could just hum,\u201d said the three-time Grammy winner. \u201cLike when you hear it, you got to be able to remember the melody.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you hear the orchestra hit and those drums drop, it just feels like the game,\u201d added Riggins. \u201cIt\u2019s got soul, energy and motion. Just like basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prime Video executive Amina Hussein said the streaming platform wanted a \u201csonic identity\u201d that felt true to the culture of the game.<\/p>\n
For Common, the project felt like destiny fulfilled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up wanting to play basketball, became a ball boy for the Bulls and was there for Michael Jordan\u2019s first exhibition game,\u201d said Common, whose late father, Lonnie Lynn, played in the American Basketball Association. \u201cBut as a musician now, I feel like I\u2019m part of NBA history in the way I was meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The collaborators hope \u201cVictory\u201d resonates for many generations \u2014 much like NBC\u2019s \u201cRoundball Rock\u201d \u2014 and opens doors for more artists of color in sports scoring.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree Black men creating a theme song for the NBA on Amazon. That\u2019s unprecedented,\u201d Common said. \u201cWe hope some kid grows up hearing this and thinks, \u2018We can compose too.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n