HONDA

The Honda Battle Of The Bands Will Invite HBCU Marching Bands To Los Angeles For Its First-Ever West Coast Showcase

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Honda Battle of the Bands 2023, Morgan State University
HONDA

For the last 20 years, the Honda Battle Of The Bands (HBOB), an invitational showcase that spotlight some of the best HBCU marching bands across the country, made its home on the East Coast. Annual showcases from its launch in 2003 to 2020 (except for a one-year hiatus in 2019) were held in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. After a three-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HBOB returned in 2023 and Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama was selected as the first HBCU to host the invitational. Another break came in 2024, but now the HBOB is back as they confirmed a showcase will take place in 2025. Here’s the twist: They’re going west for the first time ever.

The HBOB will take over SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on Saturday, February 1, 2025 for the 19th showcase in its history. Six bands will receive the honor of participating in the invitational for its West Coast debut. The bands for the showcase will be selected through a voting process that includes HBOB fans, HBCU band directors and students, and Honda representatives. Voting begins on July 15 and fans can cast their vote on the HBOB website. Tickets for HBOB 2025 go on sale on May 15 on the HBOB website.

“Honda continues its commitment to powering the dreams and success of HBCU students by providing experiences and opportunities like Honda Battle of the Bands,” said Yvette Hunsicker, vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility and Inclusion & Diversity at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “Bringing Honda Battle of the Bands to California will provide a platform for these young musicians while expanding awareness of the rich legacy of HBCU schools.”

Ahead of HBOB 2025, Honda showed its commitment to HBCU music education with a $50,000 grant to Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The grant is dedicated to “awarding scholarships that will power the academic ambitions of HBCU student-musicians across the country,” according to a Honda press release. More information about the scholarship program can be found on the Thurgood Marshall College Fund website.

88rising And Honda Reveal Their 88 Type R Merch Collection Ahead Of Head In The Clouds Festival

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88rising honda apparel collab
88rising / Honda

This weekend, the self-styled “hybrid management, record label, video production, and marketing company” 88rising returns to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena for its fourth annual Head In The Clouds Festival. It also continues its partnership with Honda. In addition to sponsoring the Double Happiness Stage, which will host performances by Eyedress, Phum Viphurit, Spence Lee, Stephanie Poetri, and more, Honda is also teaming up with 88rising for an exclusive apparel capsule, “88 Type R” — a nod to Honda’s high-performance Civic model which is favored among California’s import tuner community.

The collection drops August 5 — the first day of the Head In The Clouds Festival — at both the festival grounds and on the 88rising online store, 88nightmarket. In a statement, 88rising’s senior vice president of brand partnerships, Jason Ve, said, “88rising’s mission is to celebrate Asian creatives. We’re appreciative of our partnership with Honda, as it puts a spotlight on the most exciting artists and allows us to share their stories with the world.” If you know, you know, but sometimes a brand partnership just makes perfect sense.

In addition to the artists mentioned above, this year’s HITC Festival also features DPR Live, DPR Ian, Jackson Wang, NIKI, Rich Brian, and Rina Sawayama. Check out some samples from the Type R collection below.

88rising / Honda
88rising / Honda

88rising honda type r collection
88rising / Honda
88rising honda type r collection
88rising / Honda
88rising honda type r collection
88rising / Honda

FKA Twigs Floats Through City Streets In Her Tempting Video For ‘Honda’

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Nearly three years after she released her second project Magdalene, FKA Twigs kicked off 2022 with her third effort Caprisongs. It’s a project that she teased as 2021 came to a close and one she described as “really deep emotional and honest but hopefully more golden tears than blue i channeled my melancholy differently this time and it was so amazing.” In January, Caprisongs arrived with 17 songs and features from The Weeknd, Rema, Daniel Caesar, Jorja Smith, and more. While a few months have passed since the project’s arrival, FKA Twigs continues to promote it with a new video for “Honda.”

The new visual is a rather short one as the song’s length is cut in half to make for a video that falls a bit short of 90 seconds. In it, FKA Twigs rides a motorcycle through the streets of London, but due to the way the visual is shot, it appears as if she’s floating through the city. “Yolo, like with me it’s just anything to get the shot,” she said about the visual in an interview with Rolling Stone. “‘Honda’ for me is like a perfect definition of a caprivid because it’s super short and cheeky and it leaves you wanting more.”

“Honda” is the latest track from Caprisongs to receive the visual treatment as it joins “Papi Bones,” “Bliss,” “Jealousy,” Meta Angel,” and “Tears In The Club.”

You watch the video for “Honda” above.

Caprisongs is out now via Atlantic Records. Get it here.

FKA Twigs is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.