[Seoul=RNX News] Hyunjae Hoon Reporter = Dynamic Duo reunites with global sports game users with ‘AEAO’.
On the 17th, the agency Amoeba Culture announced, “Dynamic Duo’s ‘AEAO’ is included as the original soundtrack in the latest American NBA basketball game NBA 2K26.”
NBA 2K is a basketball game series using the license of the world’s top professional basketball league NBA. It releases a new season every year and is beloved as the best-selling sports game in the United States.
In particular, the soundtrack, composed of the music that can be enjoyed during game play, is unveiled every new season as the NBA 2K playlist, and it exerts an extraordinary influence on the entire culture.
Dynamic Duo’s title song ‘AEAO’ from the collaboration album with DJ Premier in 2014 will once again decorate the NBA 2K26 playlist this year, about 10 years after being tied up with NBA 2K16.
This is the first time for a Korean artist’s same song with Korean lyrics to be inserted into the original soundtrack of the NBA 2K series twice, setting a precedent for Dynamic Duo.
In particular, having the same song inserted more than once is an extraordinary case worldwide, applying only to a few artists including Dynamic Duo, Bad Bunny, Doja Cat, and Megan Thee Stallion, which demonstrates Dynamic Duo’s influence.
The news of ‘AEAO’ being included was dramatically announced through the NBA 2K official SNS on this day and is receiving a hot reaction.
‘AEAO’, which once topped the playlist during NBA 2K16, received great praise from overseas users as a ‘song that brings back memories’, drawing interest in its activity in NBA 2K26.
‘AEAO’ retroactively climbed the charts, riding on a challenge craze on the global mobile short-form platform TikTok in 2023, nine years after its release.
It not only ranked in the TikTok 2023 ‘Summer Song of the Year’ TOP10 and topped the Korean regional popular weekly chart, but also achieved its best performance on various charts including Spotify’s Daily Viral 50 Global and Korean region chart, Apple’s Daily TOP 100, Hip-Hop/Rap genre top track chart, and Shazam, the world’s largest music search platform.
In response, Dynamic Duo actively interacted with the heated fan reaction by opening a TikTok channel and appearing on music shows after a long time. They also provided more diverse entertainment by releasing Sped Up and Slowed versions of ‘AEAO’.
Amidst this, ‘AEAO’, predicted to rise again through NBA 2K26, heightens expectations for Dynamic Duo’s global trajectory.
Meanwhile, in the first half of this year, Dynamic Duo successfully released the new song ‘Take Care’ with Gummy, and in March, they held a successful solo concert ‘See You Frequently’ in Japan.
Throughout the summer, they delivered passionate performances at various music festivals, and last month, they released the collaboration single ‘Boss’ with the main actors of the movie ‘Boss’ – Jo Woo-jin, Jung Kyung-ho, Park Ji-hwan, Lee Kyu-hyung (TEAM Boss).
Member Gaeko is appearing as a producer in the Mnet Korea-Japan joint global hip-hop girl group project ‘Hip Hop Princess’, which aired its first episode on the 16th.
Dynamic Duo plans to continue their hustle with various performances and music activities in the second half of the year. After selling out their year-end concerts for two consecutive years, 2023 and 2024, anticipation grows for what new performance Dynamic Duo will bring at the end of this year.[Photo = Provided by Amoeba Culture]
