Young Thug and Kevin Liles Announce a $25,000 HBCU Battle of the Bands Challenge

Let’s keep up with the ole college spirit! Young Thug and Kevin Liles are calling all HBCUs to enter their bands in the “Hot” Battle of The Bands Challenge.

The digital campaign is inviting all historically black college and university (HBCU) marching bands to produce a short video posted to TikTok and shared on social media (Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook). They are encouraged to showcase their school spirit and talent with their best marching band rendition of Young Thug’s “Hot.”

The contest takes place after Young Thug’s recent performance of “Hot” ft. Gunna and Wheezy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The performance featured members from Temple University’s Diamond Marching Band.

Campaign Rules

• Participating school bands and/or student band members must create a TikTok Account  
• For valid entry, participating School Bands must post video to School’s Tik Tok using valid Hashtags. (Schools can share Tik Tok video to additional social media platforms)
• Campaign reward of $25,000 open only to HBCUs
• Campaign Start: October 22nd
• Campaign Deadline for Entry: December 1st

Official Hashtags 

• #HotBOTBChallenge
• #HBCUBattleofTheBands
• #HBCUHotChallenge
• #EverythingLitty

The school that receives the highest engagement on their Battle of the Bands video will receive a $25,000 donation to the winning school’s music department/Band Program from Young Thug’s record label Young Stoner Life Records and Kevin Liles and 300 Entertainment.

“I come from an HBCU; I started out at the school of engineering at Morgan State University and there would be no me without my experience at MSU. Homecomings and the power of their marching bands have always been at the core of an HBCU’s school spirit,” said Liles in a statement. “Our commitment from Young Thug and 300 is to support those very creatives who give their all and inspire us to build upon the HBCU communities. On behalf of Young Thug and I will always commit to putting the arts at the front of our philanthropic efforts.” 

Young Thug is currently on ‘The Justin Bieber Big’ Tour across North America with chart-topping rapper Machine Gun Kelly. The tour kicked off Monday, Sept. 30, in Toronto and wraps on Nov. 18 in Los Angeles.