Press Releases
Battle of Troy
University of Southern California, Los Angeles (March 26, 2005)- Last Saturday evening thousands of students gathered around McCarthy Quad to watch and cheer on their classmates while they competed for a $5,000 dollar grand prize donated by Troy Music. A helicopter circled around the spectacle as the bands played their music so loud that it brought out the surrounding community to watch.
Battle of Troy is USC’s most exciting event of the year. It was created by four former alumni of USC who are now executives of Troy Music. After an initial screening process, bands play for a panel of judges made up of top music executives- Jennifer O'Niell; Andre Young (credited with signing Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg); Manthony Blad (A&R for Def Jam); Peter Torres (A&R for Elektra Records); and Joe Kara. The record executives pick five top bands to compete in Battle of Troy. Among the bands competing, the top five were Metal Mouth, Break Down the Sky, Skratch Lyriks, Fertile Soil, and Orange Saran. Joe Kara, Director of Artist Development for Island and Roadrunner Records said, “I am amazed by the amount of talent these bands have. I am definitely going to keep an eye out for Skratch Lyriks and Metal Mouth.”
On Saturday night, the five top bands from Friday night competed in front of the school in McCarthy Quad. At the end of the performances, the audience voted for their favorite band by giving a one dollar donation to the Local Music Foundation. Troy Music exceeded last year and raised fifty thousand dollars for the surrounding neighborhood school music programs.
The evening ended by the announcement of the winning band, Metal Mouth, and
the runner up, Skratch Lyrics, followed by a special performance by Talib
Kweli.
At around ten o’ clock, Talib Kweli’s fans demanded an encore
in which he sang a new song coming out on his next album, “Beautiful
Struggle.” The host of the event, Troy Music, passed out T-shirts and
had contests during the show. At the end of the show, students were interviewed;
one student commented that he couldn’t wait to try out for next years
Battle of Troy!
For more information please contact Jennifer Barlese at (213)422-4218
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