HBCUs may not have made the cut for the College Football game, but here’s an interesting twist: “Neck,” the revamped version of Cameo’s 1982 hit “Talkin’ Out The Side of Ya Neck,” an HBCU band stadium staple, is set to pump up the crowd in the College Football 25, according to reporting from Matt Brown of Extra Points.
“Neck is in the game,” Brown tweeted on Wednesday. “I saw the sheet music for it and everything.”
The song will be featured in the College Football Game, accompanied by distinctive fan chants, as reported by The Athletic. According to HBCU Gameday, EA went all out, acquiring thousands of assets from schools. They reportedly even had staff members recreate the cheers for recording purposes.
Over the past two years, recordings were made of 41 actual game crowds, spanning programs of various sizes.
Among them is LSU, whose renowned “Golden Band From Tigerland” frequently performs the song, despite its banishment nearly fifteen years ago. The track was barred from Tiger Stadium back in 2010 due to the crowd’s profane response.
Social media erupted online at the announcement. “Neck” is HBCU band culture,” one user wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Having Neck being played in the video game is so disrespectful to HBCU schools that aren’t even in the game,” another user wrote.
Of course, HBCUs have been jamming to the song since its original release in the mid-1980s. There’s been a running debate over whether Norfolk State’s Spartan Legion or Texas Southern’s “Ocean Of Soul” band struck the first chord.
What’s indisputable, though, is that the tune has been ingrained in HBCU culture for three decades, and now it’s making its way to College Football 25.
Set for release on July 19th, the game will initially feature only FBS teams, but fear not! The TeamBuilder function allows for the creation of up to 32 additional teams.