G-Eazy, an Oakland native and longtime Warriors fan, shot the video with ESPN’s Features Unit on Sunday, Dec. 13, inside Oakland’s historic 16th Street Station.
Associate producer Susan Ansman, who has been with ESPN for eight years, said of the shoot and concept behind the video: “We started planning the tease on Thursday night in Bristol, had our shoot Sunday in Oakland, and the edit Monday-Tuesday in a hotel room. It was a whirlwind. But by finding such a great location like the historical 16th St. Station, it made coming up with our concept that much easier.”
Behind-the-scenes photos from the shoot are above; an excerpt from the video is at the bottom of the post.
As the Golden State Warriors’ quest to defend their NBA championship continues tonight, when they entertain the Phoenix Suns (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), they now have a musical soundtrack.
Acclaimed rapper G-Eazy and ESPN have collaborated on a #WarriorsRemix of his latest single, “Random.” This special video for this version of “Random,” from his new album “When It’s Dark Out,” debuts on the 6 p.m. ET SportsCenter tonight.
G-Eazy answered some questions before the video’s SportsCenter debut for Front Row.
What was the most interesting aspect about working with ESPN on this project?
Probably just being aware of the reach. ESPN is massive, so being able to put on for my team and my area in that kind of way is crazy.
Why was “Random” selected? What other songs were considered?
The concept behind the original song just made sense, and drew a parallel to the Warriors’ story. I think a lot of people think I came out of nowhere, similar to the way the Warriors surprised a lot of people when they won last year.
What do you think of the resulting video?
I think it came out dope, I liked how they edited in highlight clips back and forth with me performing the song and kept it all in black and white.
What was your favorite part of the Warriors’ season-opening winning streak? How surprised were you by the loss to the Bucks?
It was exciting to watch, I think the craziest part was the point differentials they were winning by, just blowing teams out for the most part. But nah, I wasn’t surprised when they lost. I mean that [seven-game] road trip was insane and they were coming off that double-overtime game in Boston. As a performer,I understand that level of exhaustion from flying around the world to play shows.
What are your favorite ESPN shows and why do watch them?
SportsCenter and SportsNation, just to keep up on everything, and it’s chill to just leave it on in the background at the house.
If you were given the chance to co-anchor SportsCenter, whom would you choose as a co-anchor and why?
Man, that’s a tough one. I might have to go with Steve Levy and Bucci [John Buccigross] or The Swami [Chris Berman] because they have so much history. I also got love for Linda Cohn and my West Coast guys, Neil and Stan [Neil Everett and Stan Verrett]. The dream would be Stuart Scott though. Rest in peace.
If you could produce an ESPN 30 for 30 film, what sports story would you want to tell?
There’s so many! Probably something based off Bay Area natives, though. Maybe something on The Glove [former NBA star Gary Payton]? Or Run TMC [1990s’ Warriors trio of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin]? And even something more recent like how dedicated the Bay Area fan base is and how the Oracle [Arena, the Warriors’ longtime home] was sold out every night even before the Warriors started really winning.
Being an Oakland native, what did you think of the Raiders-oriented 30 for 30 “Straight Outta LA” directed by Ice Cube?
I thought it was good. He did a great job at explaining how influential the Raiders’ brand was on culture worldwide.
