Last night (Oct. 28), VH1 premiered the modernized version of Nick Cannon's box-office hit, "Drumline 2: A New Beat." The new take on the becoming of age story follows Dani, played by Alexandra Shipp, on her quest to become Atlanta A&T's first female section leader. After 12 years, Nick Cannon and his team partnered up with VH1 to show that this story is just as good when a girl is at the forefront.

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But, similar to any sequel, the cast had to deal with backlash and doubt from the films' original fans. "We had to exceed expectations," lead actress Alexandra Shipp told us, exclusively. She and Jordan Calloway, who played her love interest Jayven in the VH1 original film, also admitted that it was very difficult to get into shape.

They vigorously trained to make sure that their chops were up to par with the off-screen HBCU marching band members they portrayed. Alex recalled that during the film, "I got super skinny... I was like, 'Where did this body come from?"

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 Still, the most important part of last night's premiere was the interactive social media component that used the hashtag #PasstheBaton. As HBCU's (historically black colleges and universities) continue to struggle with finding financial backing to support all of their programs, they have come up with innovative ways to change get alumni and those outside of the network to give.

Nick Cannon and VH1 teamed up with the United Negro College Fund to get people to donate to fund during the "halftime" movie premiere. VH1 explained the rules in a statement released by before the film. "#PassTheBaton is a social-powered 'halftime show' for music education driven by the nation's top university and college bands, viewers and fans. Bands are invited to upload their top drum routines to YouTube and 'pass the baton' to a rival school to encourage them to top their performance."

According to a commercial released during the film, VH1 and UNCF raised over $20,000.

Congrats to the cast and producers! What did you all think of the movie?

Keep up with the cast on Twitter, @LetoyaLuckett, @AlexShippp and @JordanCalloway1.

Tags: drumline 2 drumline a new beat vh1