Championship weekend in downtown Atlanta now has a soundtrack. The College Football Playoff has named the performers for its AT&T Playoff Playlist Live concert series, and the two-night run will take over State Farm Arena on January 18 and 19, in the days before the national title game comes to town.
Night one leans hip-hop. Lil Wayne and GloRilla share the bill on January 18. The following evening hands the stage to a trio of singers, with Camila Cabello performing alongside Myles Smith and Knox on January 19.
The concerts set the table for the College Football Playoff National Championship on January 20. That date carries plenty of weight on its own: it is also the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and the day of the presidential inauguration, so the game will share the calendar with two other major national moments.
AT&T, whose name is on the series, framed the lineup as a fit for a city where sports and music go hand in hand. Mark Wright, the company's vice president of media services and sponsorships, said the shows are meant to open the championship weekend and keep fans energized regardless of which team has their loyalty.
The music does not stop once the weekend turns to game day. Country artists Kane Brown and Ashley Cooke are slated for the Allstate Championship Tailgate, which opens the festivities on January 20 outside Mercedes-Benz Stadium. That set will play out across Georgia International Plaza and The Home Depot Backyard, and anyone holding a ticket to the championship game can get into the tailgate concert.
For the arena shows, tickets go on sale November 25 at 10 a.m. Eastern. Put together, the arena concerts, the tailgate stage and the title game give fans three straight days of reasons to be downtown.
The series has a track record of booking big names. Earlier editions brought Lenny Kravitz, Jack Harlow, Latto, Saweetie, Pitbull, Doja Cat, Usher, Meghan Trainor and Sting to the stage, and this year's group adds hip-hop headliners, a slate of singers and a country tailgate set to that list.
For background on the game itself, downtownATL previously reported Atlanta to Host First College Football Playoff Championship Under Expanded 12-Team Format. The concert lineup fills in the entertainment side of the weekend around it.
Original reporting by Associated Press for GPB News.