Muhammad Ali’s story has a new HBCU soundtrack. Virginia State University’s Trojan Explosion Marching Band recorded music for the official promotional trailer of The Greatest, Prime Video’s eight-part biographical drama about the boxing legend.
The collaboration puts the sound of Virginia State behind a production whose executive producers include Michael B. Jordan, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, and Ali’s widow, Lonnie Ali. It also gives student musicians and aspiring audio professionals a credit that reaches well beyond the halftime field.
Virginia State announced the collaboration Nov. 5, adding another national platform to the HBCU band’s growing résumé.
An HBCU recording session with Hollywood reach
Under director Dr. Taylor Whitehead, the Trojan Explosion worked with California-based composer Mic Ferrante, who composed the trailer’s music and traveled to VSU’s campus in Ettrick, Virginia, to collaborate with the students.
Kieran Casey, a Richmond native and Los Angeles-based film composer and ethnomusicologist, made the connection.
Meanwhile, VSU’s Department of Music handled the recording on campus. Department chair Dr. Samuel Rowley and Dustin Painter, assistant professor of music production and technology, worked alongside students studying audio recording and production.
That gave the opportunity two layers. Band members performed music for a major entertainment campaign, while students behind the recording gained experience bringing that performance into a professional production.
“I am proud of the students of the Virginia State University Trojan Explosion,” Whitehead said in the university’s announcement. “Opportunities like this are a reflection of their hard work, talent, dedication, and commitment to excellence.”
What is The Greatest?
The Greatest stars Jaalen Best as Cassius Clay, the young fighter who became Muhammad Ali. The series follows his early rise, including his Olympic breakthrough and pursuit of the heavyweight championship.
The cast also includes Omari Hardwick as Cassius Clay Sr., Dana Gourrier as Odessa “Bird” Clay, Amin Joseph as Sonny Liston, and Michael Ealy as Malcolm X.
Creator and showrunner Ben Watkins leads the project, with Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society among its producers. Amazon describes it as the first authorized scripted series about Ali’s life, made with access to his estate.
All eight episodes are now streaming on Prime Video. Virginia State contributed the music for the promotional trailer, giving the HBCU band a role in introducing audiences to the series.
A band legacy built for bigger stages
The Trojan Explosion’s latest credit builds on decades of visibility.
According to VSU’s band history, Harold J. Haughton Sr. took over the program in 1984, when only 17 students arrived for the first practice. He renamed the band the Trojan Explosion and helped rebuild its identity.
Under Dr. Mark W. Phillips, the band earned nine consecutive Honda Battle of the Bands selections. Its drumline also performed at the White House for President Barack Obama in 2010.
The White House connection continued in 2023, when Virginia State University received an invitation to provide arrival music for President Joe Biden’s Black History Month program. The university described it as an unprecedented assignment for a university marching band at that event.
Under Whitehead, the Trojan Explosion finished as the Division II runner-up at the ESPN Band of the Year National Championship in both 2023 and 2024. VSU now reports more than 200 members, the largest band in school history and the CIAA.
Muhammad Ali’s HBCU connection runs deeper
The collaboration also invites a look back at Ali’s own presence on HBCU campuses.
On Nov. 23, 1966, Tuskegee Institute’s student government brought the heavyweight champion to Logan Hall before the school’s football matchup with Alabama State.
Tuskegee University’s archives preserve the recording. Ali discussed boxing, his name change, the Nation of Islam, and the civil rights movement. He even showed off the trademark Ali Shuffle.
Then, on April 22, 1967, Ali spoke at Howard University, emphasizing Black pride just days before refusing induction into the Army during the Vietnam War.
WETA’s Ali in Washington documents how that visit helped inspire student activism. Howard students were already debating the war and their university’s identity; Ali brought a powerful national voice into that conversation.
Those visits give VSU’s new contribution a historical resonance. HBCU campuses offered Ali space to speak about identity, conviction, and life beyond boxing. Decades later, Virginia State students are helping introduce his story to another generation.
For the Trojan Explosion, that means a new audience for its sound—and another example of where an HBCU music education can lead.