Sha Money, Lloyd Banks Soundtrack Street Hoops Game

[Damien J.]

The success of Sha Money XL's custom mix for the bonus DVD soundtrack for Vivendi Games' "50 Cent Bulletproof" videogame led to an encore for the just-released VG/Sierra Online "FreeStyle Street Basketball."

"When [Vivendi Games] came to me last September about doing the music, I tested the game and was really excited about the possibilities," Sha tells Billboard.com.

"The real challenge was matching music with the game play, so I went into my lab to come up with exciting, energy-driven beats to fit the mood of action. You've got to have them really pulsated to match the fast face of street basketball.

G-Unit's Lloyd Banks provides the theme track, "Go Hard or Go Home." The track features Riz, who is signed to Sha Money's Money Management Group and is working on his debut album.

Young Hot Rod has another original song in the game, "Ball Above All," and Sha custom mixed seven instrumental themes for various parts of the action.


Sha also produced a video for Banks' theme track, available as a bonus online to "premium" players. With 30 million players already signed up in Asia, the U.S. version of "FreeStyle Street Basketball" is a fast-paced massively multiplayer online PC basketball game where players meet on virtual courts to challenge each other in a dynamic pick-up game environment.

Anyone can sign up online to play the game for free, with a "premium account" via retail or digital download for $19.99. Premium players have access to unique items and all 45 levels of gameplay; and have the ability to gift items to other players and purchase additional character slots.

Sha is also busy getting ready for the Young Buck & Rich Tour, which kicks off July 5, "with Mims possibly joining the artist list," he says.

This report is provived by Billboard.com