Young Thug and Kevin Liles Gift FAMU with $25K For Winning HBCU Viral Challenge

Last night, Young Thug and Kevin Liles announced that the winner of the “Hot” Battle of The Bands Challenge – Florida A&M University (FAMU) will receive a $25,000 donation total to the school’s music department/Band Program from Young Thug’s record label Young Stoner Life Records and Kevin Liles and 300 Entertainment. Liles would also surprise the band by presenting them the check on campus.

The digital campaign … dubbed the “#HBCUHotChallenge”, launched in October 2019, invited all historically black colleges and university (HBCU) marching bands to produce a short video and post it on social media showcasing their school spirit and talent with their best marching band rendition of Young Thug’s Hot.

Dr. Shelby Chipman, Director of Bands at FAMU offered this statement in regards to winning the award:

“On behalf of FAMU’s ‘Marching 100’ band, I’d like to take this opportunity 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. 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 towards band operations, scholarships, and initiatives that will allow us to move the FAMU Marching 100 forward. We look forward to showing up this weekend at the Honda Hot Battle of the Bands in Georgia.”

Kevin Liles also offered up a statement of his own:

“On behalf of YSL and 300 Entertainment, Congratulations to all #HotHBCUChallenge participants – your creativity is inspiring, and to FAMU continue to make us proud as you are the official winners of the Challenge. Our support of the HBCU creative community will never waiver. They are our future leaders, engineers, artists, entrepreneurs, and we recognize the importance of a collaborative environment that understands their social dna, while at the same time challenges them to dream bigger, work harder and focus on what really matters. Education is power, entrepreneurship is key, and ownership should be our driving force.”