NFL Street Has The Greatest Video Game Soundtrack Of All Time

What comes to mind when you think of the greatest video game soundtracks? Is it Ocarina of Time’s soothing melodies? Akira Yamaoka’s brooding, unnerving Silent Hill? Or are you preferential to the simplicity that is the Tetris theme? Most cases for these canonizations come from broadly lauded games, games that have already taken their place in the pantheon of history. I posit something different. NFL Street, a childhood favorite, has wormed itself into my brain because of the X-ecutioners’ unbelievable score accompanying its gameplay. Not only that, but it is unique in its brilliance, showcasing how lively and fun both 00’s sports games were, and how composers in this era were allowed to take risks for big budget games. For my money, this is the greatest video game soundtrack ever.

For context: The X-ecutioners are a turntablist group from NYC, comprised of Rob Swift, Total Eclipse, and Roc Raida (RIP) at the time of the creation of NFL Street. They were prevalent enough in the early 2000s to have featured in Need for Speed: Underground, Amplitude, SSX3, and Gran Turismo. These guys were no fucking joke.

In that vein, EA Sports Big knew that the football version of the Street series could use that heat in their new entry. I don’t know what was in the air in the 00s, but studios LOVED instrumental hip-hop. EA’s conglomerate of sports releases, SEGA, Rockstar, these companies were entranced by swaggy beats and record scratches. Blessings be that EA Tiburon were X-ecutioners fans, because their taste begot an unforgettable soundtrack.

Before you got into a game, the licensed menu music featured 2 X-ecutioners remix songs. These songs are kind of corny, but utterly charming if you were there. The first is a ska pop-punk song featuring Good Charlotte? (idk they were doing anything back in this era) and the second is supposed to be a tough rock song with B-Real from Cypress Hill that comes off as an 8 Mile outtake. It’s unfortunate that our heroes have some of the worst tracks of the bunch in comparison to hitters like Jakk Frost’s This Man (budget Biggie) and Lil Flip’s What’s My Name.

Nevertheless, the X-ecutioners show up when it matters. When the intro cutscenes play showing the field and the banter before the game, it’s fucking business time. Sports games are first and foremost about making you hype, immersing you into the action, and they fucking nail that feeling from the jump. This soundtrack is one fucking head-nodder after another, enticing you to keep delivering those big hits, keep breaking tackles, keep sending that shit.

I mean, come on. Are you fucking kidding me with that bassline? With that vocal sampling and scratching? This is primo stuff. Brick wall ran through even. But the most impressive part of the soundtrack is the switch-ups. Listening on YouTube doesn’t give it justice. All the different cuts are set to when you get big plays; turnovers, touchdowns, GameBreakers, etc. To so effortlessly do this as turntablists is extremely charming; it’s like pivoting mid-conversation without a hitch. There is just so much to love here.

“YES Y’ALL” has occupied a nook of my brain for the better part of 20 years. “#9” is to me, the star of the show, a driving, pulsating force that says win or Die. The OW! and YEAH! scratching is so elite, climaxal pinpoints energizing the player with aplomb. And man, those guitar riffs. I wouldn’t confess to being a turntablism expert, but the X-ecutioners must’ve been at the height of the medium, flexing and peacocking like they were kings.

Of course this all hinges on if you’re into sports. If you’re not, shit, it’s hard to compel anyone to play an arcade sports game with bombastic flair and mechanics. But even so, give it a chance. This game has heart, it has swag, it has conviction. And the X-ecutioners give it a sophistication and cool that has almost never been matched across any game. Most sports games have straight licensed soundtracks, and the ones that don’t are usually boilerplate compositions from composers that could care less. These guys absolutely sent it—staying true to themselves while suiting the game to a tee.

It’s a contentious topic—I doubt I’ll convince anyone whose favorite game is Minecraft, Donkey Kong Country, Earthbound, or Halo to be swayed to my side of the fence on the argument. But for sheer coherence to the sport, for perfectly soundtracking every possible tide and sway that a chaotic football game can have, NFL Street deserves to be put up there with the greats, an utterly irresistible set of tracks that turn a good game into a great game. Now if only EA would give the new generation a taste.