I’d like to believe that the timing of this announcement is because someone in 2K’s press relations department has a sense of humor.
2K Games has announced that Pharrell Williams will “curate” the NBA 2K15 soundtrack. Previously, this job has gone to LeBron James (NBA 2K14) and Jay-Z (NBA 2K13). Pharrell is best known for unleashing “Happy” on the world as well as singing background vocals on Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and producing Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.”
“It was a cool experience. I tried to curate songs that were diverse but yet still proved to be motivational to gamers,” said Pharrell. “It was important to me that the music complemented the on-court action of NBA basketball in NBA 2K15. I hope everyone enjoys it.”
Pharrell’s NBA 2K15 soundtrack will be revealed later this Summer, but in a wonderful bit of synergy, “Weird Al” Yankovic released his latest album, Mandatory Fun, today. In addition to making “Blurred Lines” 100% less rapey with “Word Crimes,” Yankovic turns “Happy” into “Tacky” and he enlisted Aisha Tyler, Margaret Cho, Eric Stonestreet, Kristen Schaal and Jack Black to help with the video. It’s a thing of beauty.
I’m sure Pharrell’s NBA 2K15 soundtrack will be just as interesting when the game is released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on October 7. Um… maybe not.