ESPN signs hip-hop artists for NBA 2K5

ESPN has announced some of the artists that will be featured on the soundtrack for the upcoming ESPN NBA 2K5. The basketballer will include the work of 22 hip-hop groups when it is released this fall for the Xbox and PlayStation 2.

The soundtrack, which featured more than three dozen songs, will be packaged into a CD that will ship with the game. While most of the soundtrack will be licensed tracks, several groups, including Truck & Mack, will provide original material for the soundtrack. The artists announced so far are as follows:

• Aceyalone & Madlib
• Aesop Rock
• Del the Funky Homosapien
• Hazen Street
• Hieroglyphics faturing Goapele
• Holla Point
that
• KillRadio
• People Under the Stairs
• The Roots
• Skillz
• Truck & Mack

In addition, ESPN is planning a 45-date tour that will feature some of the acts from the soundtrack. Footage of the tour will be released on DVD next year. The Champion Sound tour will begin October 13 at the University of California, Santa Barbara and will end November 14 in San Francisco. ESPN will provide a full list of dates, as well as the entire soundtrack, as the game nears completion.