Big Boi, B.o.B. Talk ‘Army of TWO: The Devil’s Cartel’ — Exclusive Interview

The history of rappers and video games is a long and storied one. Big Boi and B.o.B. are looking to add to it tomorrow (March 26), when Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel finally hits stores.

The third installment in the franchise (following 2008's Army of Two and 2010's Army of Two: The 40th Day) finds players on the streets of Mexico, guiding operatives Alpha and Bravo through a drug war. Players who order the game early, though, are allowed to play with other characters -- namely Charles 'Chuy' Rendall and Anthony 'Baker' Barnes -- who are played by Big Boi and B.o.B., respectively.

"This was my first time being introduced to [the game]," Big Boi said last week during an exclusive interview with TheBoomBox. "My kids however were fans of the game so it was like, 'you gotta do that daddy.'" And thus the decision was made.

Not only were the rappers' likenesses used for the characters, they also collaborated on "Double or Nothing," a song made exclusively for the game.

"We walked in the night of, played the beat," explained B.o.B. of how the song came together. "I was like 'Big, what you think?' He was like, 'Bob, go in there and rap a chorus.' [And] song came out."

"We were just tossing it back and forth," Big added. "It's like we like to say it's organically created, never genetically modified. The chemistry itself is pure and the song's so dope that we wanted to keep it for our own albums."

Indeed, "Double or Nothing" is a strong record which finds the two ATL natives displaying a great deal of musical synergy. The pair previously collaborated on "Night Night," from Big's Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, and "Shoes For Running," from his Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors LP. It's enough to have you think there may be more in store -- like an EP, or something to that effect -- from the duo.

"When we leave here I'm going to play him my album and try to collaborate," B.o.B. said. "Keep on collaborating on some shit, take it further."

Big Boi seemed excited about that prospect.

"I can see a lot going on when we get back to the lab," explained. "It's all about music. It's all about putting the creative energy on this stuff."

But back to the game. In addition to the song, there was that hilarious viral video Big collaborated with Kate Upton on dubbed "Take A Supermodel To Work," which helped drum up interest.

"[Kate Upton's] definitely cool," Big said. "I hung out with her for a whole day, she's funny."

Sometimes body language reveals more than actual words, and without speaking Big alluded to being impressed by more than the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover girl's acting skills.

"She's hilarious," he demurred, between laughs. "Kate's cool."

But aside from their involvement in Army of TWO: Devil's Cartel, the rappers shared that they're not exactly hardcore gamers. Well, at least not when they're trying to maintain active recording careers.

"You got to have a lot of time on your hands," B.o.B. said. "You can't be recording an album, making a video game and trying to play a video game."