Talib Kweli Featured In New Video Game

Lyricist Talib Kweli is on board to play the voice of Trane, the lead character in Atari’s new video game, "Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure," Atari, Inc. announced yesterday (Jan. 11). An urban revolutionary, Trane is an outcast and rebel who wishes to prove his credibility in the tyrannical city of New Radius. […]

Lyricist Talib Kweli is on board to play the voice of Trane, the lead character

in Atari’s new video game, "Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure,"

Atari, Inc. announced yesterday (Jan. 11).

An urban revolutionary,

Trane is an outcast and rebel who wishes to prove his credibility in the tyrannical

city of New Radius.

"There is

no better artist to help challenge the video game status quo and personify Trane

than Talib," Marc Ecko, Executive Creative Director for "Getting Up,"

said in a statement. "We are excited to be adding his respected talent

to our video game."

Ecko, an urban

clothing designer and proclaimed ex-graffiti artist, supplies the characters

and story line for the video game, which professes to pay tribute to graffiti

culture.

With stealth and

street fighting skills, game players scale the perilous city as they inform

the masses through revolutionary means.

"Because a

video game has a hip-hop soundtrack doesn’t automatically make it a true representation

of urban life," Ecko said. "The urban reality is about making your

voice heard."

"Getting Up:

Contents Under Pressure" is scheduled for release in September 2005 for

PlayStation 2 gaming systems.