HOT CORNER

A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, heard, observed, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here. One exception: No products will be endorsed.

What: “Hip-Hop -- The Game! The Hip-Hop Trivia Board Game to Money, Power & Fame.”

Produced by: Underground Enterprises Inc.

Price: $27.99.

In case you haven’t noticed, the hip-hop culture has crossed into the world of sports. The NBA first caught the rap bug in the 1980s when some of the league’s stars became common subjects in hip-hop songs. Here’s a phrase from rapper Kurtis Blow’s hit 1984 single “Basketball”:

“I used to go to dinner, and then take the girl; To see Tiny play against Earl The Pearl; And Wilt, Big O and Jerry West, to play basketball at its very best. Basketball has always been my thing; I like Magic, Bird and Bernard King; And number 33, my man Kareem, is the center on my starting team.”

Now, you can rarely watch a sporting event that’s doesn’t have a hip-hop flavor. Even during this year’s Stanley Cup finals, ABC featured hockey highlights set to rap music.

“Hip-Hop -- The Game!” is a board game for hip-hop fans, who know that MC Hammer’s real name is Stanley Kirk Burrell and that he’s a former batboy for the Oakland Athletics who got his nickname because he resembled Hammerin’ Hank Aaron.

The game contains several hundred questions about hip-hop trivia, everything from artists and their songs to the culture and its history. Targeted for the preteen market, the game translates money into Benjamins and gets players to acquire real estate and play the stock market while picking up board positions in hip-hop terms.

Brothers Gregory and Brian Hughes co-created the game, based on the music industry. With board position purchases designated by CDs, you improve your chances for winning by trading CDs into gold and platinum spaces.

“Hip-Hop -- The Game!” is available at Toys R Us and selected Tower Records and Kmart stores.

-- Lonnie White