On Saturday, May 1, Atlanta’s Morehouse College will play host to what is likely to be the fiercest music-themed basketball competition the school has ever seen.

It’s a showdown between artists from a number of Atlanta’s music scenes, including Jermaine Dupri, Shawty Lo, OJ Da Juiceman and Jim Jones and punk rock band “the Black Lips” to name a few. Upping the ante as the event draws near, the Black Lips have taken their trash talk to the next level. They’re not only sure they can out-score competitors such as the rappers; they’re planning to out-donate them, too.

The Converse “Band of Ballers” basketball tournament doles out $5,000 to each participating band or artist. The Lips have opted to give their cut away to the Auditory Verbal Centre Inc., an organization that helps rehabilitate deaf children and even outfits some with cochlear implants so they can play music. Not content to stop there, “the Black lips” challenged their competitors to make charitable donations of their appearance fees as well.



No word yet on whether the other folks will take the challenge, but fans in the Atlanta area have a few chances to score tickets and see how it all shakes out at Morehouse on Saturday. The first 30 fans at Criminal Records in Atlanta (1154 Euclid Ave. NE) will have their names added to the guest list. Once that fills up, there are always ticket giveaways via the Lips’ Facebook page or through V103 Radio and various Atlanta music blogs.