Jeffery Lamar Williams aka Young Thug has officially announced the winner of his ‘Hot’ Battle of the Bands Challenge, according to Billboard.
Back in October of 2019, Young Thug and Kevin Liles of 300 Entertainment sent out a call to action to all HBCUs to enter their bands in the “Hot” Battle of The Bands Challenge. The submission required the schools to produce a short video posted to TikTok and shared on social media (Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook) to Young Thug’s “Hot,” which featured Gunna and Travis Scott on the remix.
Florida A&M University’s Marching 100 band is the winner of the challenge and were the recipients of the $25,000 prize.
“On behalf of FAMU’s ‘Marching 100’ band, I’d like to thank Young Thug and Kevin Liles for an outstanding initiative with the HBCU Hot Challenge and the members of Marching 100, who had an absolutely fantastic time designing our formation and the music arrangement by Lindsey Sargent,” Shelby Chipman, director of bands at FAMU, said in a statement to the Tallahassee Democrat.
“We will be eternally grateful to Young Thug, Kevin Liles, and anyone associated for providing HBCUs an opportunity to showcase their talents and creativity. We’re even more excited about the same opportunity to use the award toward band operations, scholarships, and initiatives that will allow us to move the FAMU Marching 100 forward.”
“Florida A&M University, congratulations for winning the HBCU Hot Challenge. You guys won $25,000. That’s very good. That’s very, very, very great. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, but I want you guys to stay good in school. Keep making good grades,” Young Thug tells the FAMU Marching 100 in a video.
Liles posted a video presenting the check on his Instagram account, “#familybusiness on behalf of our families to yours we would like to congratulate the @marching100 band of #famu for winning the #hothbcuchallenge Thanku for your commitment to excellence and good luck in Atlanta at the Honda Battle of the bands… we felt at home today… to all the faculty and staff continue to believe in our next generation of leaders… @thuggerthugger1 @yslrecords @300ent #hbculife“
