When the Knicks take the court tomorrow night for their season opener, they’d like you to forget the franchise’s last regime or two ever happened. And since a winning season before 2010 isn’t too likely, they’ll instead do so by unveiling a new version of their nineties-era team song, “Go NY Go,” to be performed live by rapper Q-Tip. In a way, it’s a perfect match: Q-Tip last released a solo album in 1999, approximately the same time the Knicks were last relevant, and with a new album out next week, the long-dormant rapper is poised for a comeback — no easy task in the fickle world of rap music.
Plus, you likely think of them in much the same way: You may have been a fan at some point — perhaps you have fond memories of “Vivrant Thing”/Larry Johnson’s four-point play — but you hadn’t thought much about them for a while. Then they reunited with A Tribe Called Quest/replaced Isiah Thomas, and you decided to give them another chance. We also like the idea of a team tailoring its musical entertainment to the good times they’d like to recall, even if, let’s be honest, Q-Tip probably wasn’t their first choice. At least that would explain the mystery of why the Islanders, who haven’t won a playoff series since 1993, had Seven Mary Three perform at their Opening Night this year.
