Jackson State University Sonic Boom of the South (2023-2024)


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Jackson State moves to top of ESPN Band of The Year for November​

The Jackson State University “Sonic Boom” of the South had the highest marks in ESPN Band of The Year rankings for November. Full list is here:

The latest rankings for the ESPN Band of The Year HBCU band championship are in and the Jackson State University Sonic Boom of the South has made the leap to no. 1.

JACKSON STATE KEEPS INCHING HIGHER​

The “Sonic Boom of the South” was ranked No. 4 in the September band rankings, and moved up to no. 3 in the October band rankings. HBCU Gameday received the exclusive Band of The Year rankings on Monday afternoon. Jackson State is ranked no. 1 in musicality and top three in drum major and auxiliary categories.

Another SWAC band comes in just behind Jackson State University as Prairie View A&M’s “Marching Storm ranked second in November. The Marching Storm was ranked ninth in the September rankings and moved to no. 4 in October.

10. Grambling State University “World Famed Tiger Marching Band”

9. South Carolina State University “Marching 101”

8. Texas Southern University “Ocean of Soul”

7. Norfolk State University “Spartan Legion”

6. Florida A&M “Marching 100”

5. Southern University “Human Jukebox”

4. Tennessee State University “Aristocrat of Bands”

3. North Carolina A&T “Blue and Gold Marching Machine”

2. Prairie View A&M University “Marching Storm”

1. Jackson State University “Sonic Boom of The South”
hbcugameday.com

Jackson State moves to top of ESPN Band of The Year for Nov.

The Jackson State University
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View: https://twitter.com/BennieGThompson/status/1728094918600536569
 
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On Friday, Jackson State University’s marching band will be dancing, strutting and grooving at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in a head-to-head competition with North Carolina A&T University.

But The Sonic Boom of the South’s clash with The Blue and Gold Marching Machine isn’t a typical battle of the bands. The winner of this battle will crown the “Band of the Year” among historically Black colleges and universities, at least according to ESPN.

The contest marks the first time that the sports network is hosting the competition “to establish a competitive platform for HBCU marching bands and crown a season-long national champion of Division I and Division II bands.”

Jackson State and North Carolina A&T are the two Division I bands selected for the competition. The two bands gunning for the top spot in Division II are Florida Memorial University’s The Roar and Virginia State University’s Trojan Explosion. Roderick Little, band director for Jackson State, said he is grateful for the opportunity to showcase The Sonic Boom of the South.

“It was just immense gratitude for my students and the work that they do,” Little said.

Little, who is an alum of Jackson State, believes this competition can be a showcase for anyone who may have never seen their band — or any HBCU band — before.

“What I’m hoping people get from our performance is the best version of The Sonic Boom of the South that they’ve ever seen,” he said.

www.mpbonline.org

Jackson State’s Sonic Boom of the South is ready to prove it’s ESPN’s ‘Band of the Year’

The Sonic Boom hopes the inaugural competition to crown the best bands in the nation will expose a wider audience to the rich culture of HBCU schools.
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NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with Jackson State University's band director Roderick Little about the HBCU Band of the Year competition.

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

Today was college football's Celebration Bowl, the de facto national championship for historically Black colleges and universities. There were some other Black national championships decided last night as well.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

DETROW: On the eve of the football game, Atlanta hosted the inaugural HBCU band of the year competition, featuring four of the country's top marching bands. One of the finalists was Jackson State University's Sonic Boom of the South, led by band director Roderick Little, who joins us today from the bus on the tail end of the drive back to campus from Atlanta. Dr. Little, welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.

RODERICK LITTLE: Oh, thank you for having me. I'm excited to be on.

DETROW: I've got to start by letting the audience know that that you all did not win band of the year in your division for bigger schools. You were edged out by North Carolina A&T, and the winner wasn't announced until this afternoon. You all just found out. How are you all feeling?

LITTLE: Overall, we're doing good. You know, of course, we would have liked to come out on the winning side. But, you know, one thing that we discuss to our students at length is that, you know, we don't need anybody or polls or adjudicators to validate what we do in our program. And so as long as we are better than what the previous Sonic Booms were in the past, which is our dial to basically gauge how we're doing as a program, then we're fine.

View: https://www.npr.org/2023/12/16/1219853262/the-competition-for-hbcu-marching-band-of-the-year
 
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