E-40 called his superstar friends to flaunt their “Bands” for his new video, which dropped on Friday (March 24). Shot at the renowned HBCU Grambling State University, E-40 shined over the truck-rattling anthem alongside the marching band.
“Most people don’t know that I was part of a marching band for most of my childhood, so I definitely connected with this beat,” 40 tells Billboard. “But I just wanted to create another slap for my fans sprinkled in with a double entendre for everyone working hard to earn those bands. Shout-out to everyone at Grambling involved in making this video come to life.”
The star-studded cast features Floyd Mayweather, Future, Lil Baby, 50 Cent, Meek Mill, Offset, Gucci Mane, Lil Durk, Moneybagg Yo, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, and Kodak Black flexing their exorbitant bands of wealth. While on campus, the Bay Area artist also showed off his altruism when he donated $100,000 to bolster the university’s marching band and build a recording studio. Grambling State then named the studio in his honor: Earl ‘E-40’ Stevens Sound Recording Studio.
Earlier this year, Billboard named E-40 one of the 50 Greatest Rappers of All-Time. Billboard credited the West Coast polymath, who clocked in at No. 41, for his longevity, noting, “His flamboyant rhymes helped him become one of the first West Coast rappers to sign a major deal when he signed with Jive Records in the early ’90s. And he hasn’t gone more than four years without releasing an album since 1993. E-40’s contributions, including his 2006 top 10 rap hit and hyphy movement anthem ‘Tell Me When to Go,’ helped bring the Bay Area into the hip-hop’s mainstream.”
Watch the music video for “Bands” below.