Motown Records is getting ready to launch Motown Games.
No, it's not an Olympics-style sports or endurance event. It's a new interactive and video-game division of the Detroit-based label.Using its years of experience in urban music and film, Motown (in conjunction with Mandingo Entertainment, Polygram and Philips Media) will create and market entertainment software combining music and black culture.
The new division's first release, due in February, will be "Rap Jam, Volume One." Available first in the Super Nintendo format (with Sega/Genesis and CD-ROM versions expected to follow), the street basketball video game will use rap stars and their music.
Among the acts will be Public Enemy, Warren G, Naughty By Nature, LL Cool J, Coolio, Queen Latifah, House of Pain, Easy E (in Genesis), Yo Yo and Onyx, who collectively have sold more than 25 million records.