UH Hilo Vulcan basketball power forward Brandon James was 13 years old when hip-hop music became his passion. He and two friends used the digital audio program “FruityLoops” and taught themselves to mix various instruments and percussion to create their very own hip hop music.

Ask fans to define hip hop and their answers will mention rap, 'scratching', R&B and DJing. To the uninitiated hip hop instrumentals can be surprisingly musical – an orchestrated mix that can include strings and horns, for example, with the steady four/four beat of percussion. Hip hop can be fast or slow and even have a Latin flavor.

When Vulcan Sports Information Director Kelly Leong learned of James' hip hop talent he asked the 6-foot-6-inch Southern California native to put that talent to work for the sports program.

“I thought he was kidding,” James confessed when Leong first asked him to write a custom beat for the Vulcans. “But hip hop is a natural for sports, especially basketball, because of the 4/4 beat,” he said.

While hip hop is his current favorite, James (known as “B” to friends) likes all kinds of music: classic, rock, R&B, reggae, some Beatles and even the local Jawaiian.

James has never had formal music training. He writes music by ear. “FruityLoops and similar programs let you choose the instrument, the beat and you mix them in tracks and create your own beats.”

At first his family accepted the teenager's hip hop music writing as a nice hobby. But as he and friends mastered FruityLoops and produced professional 'beats', James said “They could not believe that we did the music – they thought it was made professionally.”

“Hip hop is an important form of music that is now taken seriously around the world. But a lot of artists today don't focus on the message.” James admires musicians who include the social conscience message of their music, such as Common, Mos Def and Tupac. He finds it ironic that the same people who criticize the explicit language and references to sex and violence in hip hop music will accept the same themes in popular movies and TV shows.

Hip hop began in the 1970s in New York among mostly African Americans and Jamaican Americans. You can find categories of hip hop as diverse as Christian hip hop, Native American hip hop and 'instrumental' hip hop. James used to write lyrics and rap, but now concentrates only on the beat or instrumentals.

Where James grew up hip hop and basketball are synonymous. “Guys that played basketball are also into hip hop. And guys into hip hop played basketball. They went together.”

As James went on to college and basketball his two music writing friends --now known as Justin 'SwizZz” and Marcus “Hopsin”-- signed with Roofless Records (“with a huge bonus”) and eventually started their own FunkVolume record label.

You can sample their "beats":http://www.myfunkvolume.com/beats_available.php. The one entitled “Triumph” is a style James said could be used for a team introduction. “It has to be inspiring, a beat to get the players hyped up to play – and let the crowd get into it too.”

U H Hilo teams already use hip hop, R&B and other fast paced music during warm up. Fans were treated to a 'Flash Mob' dance during half time of men's basketball this season. About 100 students danced onto the court to “I Gotta Feeling” by hip hop group Black Eyed Peas. (See it on "YouTube":http:www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUE6Di6Adxw or at "Big Island Toyota's":http:www.bigislandtoyota.com/youtube.cfm.)

Now that he knows Leong is serious about writing a custom hip hop Vulcan theme song, James will compose it over the summer break. “Coming up with one beat or variations on the main beat for each UHH sport will be a challenge.”

[[i:1881:n:l]]A 2005 graduate of Monroe High School in North Hills, California, James' journey to Hilo, Hawaii began when he met Vulcan men's basketball Coach Jeff Law through assistant coach Andy Ground. “Law is a friend of Ground's and was in California scouting. He invited me to join the Vulcans that next year.” But James instead played basketball at Saddleback Junior College in Orange County where he graduated with an AA degree in psychology.

He was recruited by Division I University of California Irvine as a redshirt giving him time to fine tune his basketball skills. But completing his BA at UC Irvine was not to be. He left college after one quarter to help out at home when his father became ill. During that time he worked in security and as a bouncer (“because I am big”). He also continued music writing, even selling a few beats for a few hundred dollars. “But I always knew I'd eventually get back to college and basketball.”

In late 2008 he learned Coach Law was losing six seniors and was bringing in six new players. “I called him several times to keep in touch. He was easy to talk to.” James accepted Law's scholarship offer and in August 2009 arrived on Hawaii Island.

“I did not know what to expect. When I landed in Hilo, I did not know anyone. But I did notice how green and pretty Hawaii is. How nice the people are. When someone gave me the 'shaka' I did not know what it meant”.

He had read a little about the campus and while it appeared huge from the aerial photos he saw, “it is really not that big. It is a friendly campus."

James has an easy going manner and that no doubt helped him adjust to the slower pace of the islands. While he misses the good Mexican food of California, he likes mostly all the food in Hawaii. “I never ate so much rice in my life!” He was almost apologetic when he added, “But I don't like poi.”

Once back in college for the U H Hilo fall 2009 semester James got right into basketball – playing 5 on 5 with team mates. October was the start of team conditioning. Pre-season games began in November.

“It felt good to be back on the court, but I felt my skills were not real sharp. I weighed 225 when I left U C Irvine, but taking a year and a half off basketball, my weight got up to 280.” He has since dropped to 250, but even at 6-foot-6, that's too much weight for the speed, agility and stamina for results he wanted out of himself. James said he understands why Coach Law did not use him much last season – because that extra weight slowed him down.

“A power forward needs to be big. People do not realize how much physicality is in the game.” James notes that one of his basketball heroes -- Shaquille O'Neal (who is also a rapper) is 7-1 and weighed 290 at his prime. “He is way over 300 pounds now.” James is committed to losing that extra 25 pounds during the summer break.

James' family nurtured his interests in sports and music. He is the middle child of Kim (a registered nurse) and Dennis (a long-haul, big rig truck driver for UPS). Brother Josiah, 25, (“we call him Joe”) is an amateur boxer who trains and competes in Southern California. Sister Jocelyn, 21, (he calls her Juice) is a dance instructor in Van Nuys. (James has an open invitation to study with his uncle Benjamin Wright - a studio string section recording conductor based in Los Angeles.)

“My Mom grew up in Montana where she loved the outdoors – running and skiing. My Dad was born and raised in Mississippi. He was recruited to play Division II basketball at a Montana College. He even competed for a professional basketball career, making it to the final two in tryouts for the Los Angeles Lakers.”

James thinks his father's tryout for the Lakers was one factor in their relocation to California. “My parents met and married in Montana, but I think they moved to Los Angeles in part because they are a bi-racial couple. My Mom is white and my Dad is black. And that was not as accepted in Montana as it is in California.”

His mother's background is French, Irish, German and Italian. She is the one who most actively encourages Brandon to get his college degree and keep up his Christian faith. “She brought us up in the Foursquare Church back home and I've been invited by a student to attend Christian worship services in Hilo.”

James' father Dennis is African American and Cherokee. “He was born and raised in Mississippi and never knew his own father.” James has visited his Montana relatives often but has only met his paternal grandmother once.

High school and college basketball gave James opportunities to travel across the United States. “I've been to Montana, Nevada, Indiana, Texas, Washington, Arizona, and Utah…” But he could see more of the world if he is offered a chance to play with an overseas basketball team after graduation.

James is studying psychology at UH Hilo as a step toward a degree and possible career in sports psychology. “We had one (a sports psychologist) at Irvine. They study the mental aspects and science of sports to help athletes perform better and get through any rough times.” This semester his classes include courses in cognitive and abnormal psychology, statistical theory and techniques (also a psychology course) and English literature.

Summer 2010 will find James back home in Van Nuys, where he will get a job, continue physical conditioning to lose that extra 25 pounds and compose the Vulcan hip hop entrance song.

Attend a Vulcan game from next year and listen carefully as teams make their entrance to a custom 4/4 'beat' written by fellow Vulcan Brandon James.