Nostalgic af.
Twenty years ago, NBA Live by EA Sports released their annual soundtrack; comprised of the hottest singles from the year. From Black Eyed Peas to Clipse, Da Brat, Lil Flip, OutKast and Mobb Deep, the soundtrack was a true representation of the feel-good, Hip Hop party vibe coming out during the early 2000s. Also on that soundtrack was Chingy’s breakout single, “Right Thurr.”
The single defined the party scene during my junior year of high school–where us girlies were busting out the “chickenhead” on every dance floor. It was the new wave, at the time, and grew exponentially in popularity as the year went on. So much so it landed on the NBA Live 2004 soundtrack.
The long-running NBA Live series made its debut in 1994 as a competitor to 2K’s “NBA 2K” series. With each NBA Live video game drop, an accompanying soundtrack was released. In the early releases, the soundtracks consisted only of instrumentals with occasional vocals. It wasn’t until 2000 where the games included tracks with some of the top recording artists. It was truly an ode to the crossover, or relationship, between Hip Hop and basketball, as the NBA Live soundtracks mainly featured Hip Hop artists.
This year marked the 20-year anniversary of this particular “NBA Live 2004” soundtrack and holds significance for Chingy who had his breakout year at the time. While he has been at least two decades removed from the mainstream music scene, Chingy is making return in 2025.
It was recently announced that Chingy would be a part of the “Where The Party At” Tour featuring Ja Rule, Nelly and Eve. The St. Lunatics and Jermaine Dupri are also set to join. Delivering electrifying performances across North America, Australia and New Zealand in 2024, the tour kicks off in Auckland on March 21, 2025.
See full tour dates here.
