shamar wrote:

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Mavado drives Grand Theft Auto launch

Dancehall artist Mavado is set to perform at the launch of the new Grand Theft Auto video game in Manhattan. "Grand Theft Auto 4 is being launched in Manhattan in May and Mavado is scheduled to perform at the launch alongside Busta Rhymes and others," his manager, Julian Jones-Griffith, told The STAR. Mavado's song, Real McKoy, was included in one of the trailers for the new Grand Theft Auto video game developed by Rockstar North.

Grand Theft Auto IV will be simultaneously available for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and will be in stores worldwide on April 29, 2008.

According to Jones-Griffiths, this was indeed a huge step for dancehall music, as millions across the world are purchasers of the Xbox video game. Thus, Real McKoy and other dancehall tracks will be marketed on a large scale worldwide through this venture.

"It's a huge look for Mavado and for dancehall in general, as the trailer and the game reach millions and millions of people all over the globe. I have since spoken to the people at Rockstar Games and they are very interested in licensing more tracks from the Alliance. I am in talks with them about a music production deal for one of their other major titles, as well as getting Bounty and Mavado to appear as characters in the game," Jones-Griffith said.

Fan fiction

But just how did Mavado land a deal like this?

"We were approached by Bobby Konders, who hosts one of the radio shows on the Grand Theft Auto Game that play in the cars the character can drive in the game," his manager said.

"Mavado, as did Bounty Killer, did some specials for Bobby's radio station but I later found out that the founder and many of the staff at Rockstar Games are huge Mavado fans! When Bobby delivered the tracks to them, they immediately used Real McKoy for one of the trailers for the game, which has seven million pre-sold orders already, and the song is a perfect fit for the trailer."

Based on its website, the new Grand Theft Auto is all about what the American dream means today. And 'for characters Niko Bellic, fresh off the boat from Europe, it is the hope he can escape his past. And for his cousin, Roman, it is the vision that together they can find fortune in Liberty City, gateway to the land of opportunity.'

The website, in further previewing what happens in the game, says, 'as they slip into debt and are dragged into a criminal underworld by a series of shysters, thieves and socio-paths, they discover that the reality is very different from the dream in a city that worships money and status, and is heaven for those who have them and a living nightmare for those who don't.'


-- Edited by shamar at 11:16, 2008-05-31

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