It is officially the week of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament. The CIAA is the first African-American athletic conference in the nation and in celebration of the 75th anniversary of its basketball tournament, the conference has stacked a promising lineup of recording artists for entertainment.
The live stage at the two-day CIAA Toyota Fan Fest is headlined by Mr. “I Wish” Carl Thomas and SWV. Inside the arena, Musiq Soulchild will be ready to perform all his love ballads while lyrical powerhouse and North Carolina’s own Rapsody will hit the stage during the tournament inside the Spectrum Center.
Also on stage will be Layton Greene at the Toyota Fan Fest, kicking off the huge shows that will go down at the Charlotte Convention Center. Greene’s career took off when her “Roll in Peace Remix” exploded across the Internet and garnered over three and a half million plays shotting her up the Billboard Hot R&B Songs Chart.
Also on tap for the tournament is Brooklyn Queen who will headline Lowe’s Super Saturday morning event at the Toyota Fan Fest on Saturday Morning at 11 a.m. The 14-year-old rising star is running up the numbers on her YouTube channel after the success of her “Keke Taught Me” single in 2017.
Joining Thomas and SWV on the Fan Fest stage Saturday afternoon will be gamer turned rapper Krypto9095. You may have caught him on TikTok after racking up two billion views for his single “WOAH.” If that’s not enough to keep tabs on the young star, how about an additional 50 million views on Youtube and 25 million Spotify streams? Crazy, right? He will be on at 3:00 pm with Thomas and SWV hitting the stage at 7:00 p.m.
The championship games will not only feature Musiq Soulchild and Rapsody but also Avant. You can catch Musiq at halftime of the women’s basketball championship game that will tip-off at 1:00 pm. Rapsody will have halftime of the 4:30 pm men’s battle. Avant will appear at halftime of the Friday, February 28 game that starts at 9:00 pm.
Tickets are required for entry into the Spectrum Center and can be purchased at the Spectrum Center box office and Ticketmaster. Other in-arena entertainment will come from DJ Shogun, Mike Phillips, LeVelle, Yvette Simore, and DJ Tramare.
In addition to the musical lineup, the free Toyota Fan Fest features interactive sponsor activations, dancing, cheerleading competitions, sponsor activations and giveaways and other family-friendly entertainment events as part of the CIAA Tournament Week.
Additional events in the Fan Fest include a High School Band Competition, a Cheerleading competition, a step show and the crowning of Miss CIAA presented by Food Lion.
The tournament will be a 22-game set that will begin in Bojangles Coliseum on February, 25 and wrap up with the championship finals at the Spectrum Center on Saturday, February 29.
Be sure to keep up with all CIAA events on their Twitter and Instagram. You can also receive information at CIAAtournament.org.
