It is not often that the audience chooses the opening music to a concert. But at OzFest 2023, Aux Cord Wars handed the show to SUNY Oswego students.

For each round of the Aux Cord Wars, hosts Jay Dukes and Trizzy Dollaz picked two students from the audience to go head to head in a battle of who has the best songs. 

“I enjoyed it. I liked how interactive it was and how it made the crowd more energized. Though, I feel like the songs were a bit dated,” said Sarah Garcia, a sophomore. 

The genre was chosen through a randomizer, with genres like pop, best songs from the 2000s and best dance songs being chosen. At the end of the battle, the audience was asked to cheer louder for the person who they thought had the best songs. 

The winner of each round had the choice of $50 or picking one out of the three mystery bags brought out. Most walked away with $50 while others walked away with new Airpod Pros and a bluetooth speaker. 

“I was kind of amazed at how everyone who went up on stage kind of adopted a character of their own and how they were feeling the songs,” said Jordan Thomas, a sophomore. 

At the end, both students who went on stage ended up going home with something. The winner picked one of the bags and found a fork inside. However, the hosts made it up to the winner by giving them $100 and another $100 for a friend of their own choosing. 

With the help of DJ Smeezo, DJ 7Tre and drummer Steven Young, the group gave the songs a twist. The audience gradually became energized, with loud cheers and many singing along to the lyrics. When prompted or asked, the audience responded with equal amounts of enthusiasm and active participation. 

Show producer E. King described Aux Cord Wars as “‘The Price is Right’ meets ‘Lip Sync Battle.’” The group advertises the show as an “old-school DJ competition,” but with a twist: instead of DJs, audience members compete for the chance to win money or prizes.

King said their goal is to become household names, whether it is on TV or touring city to city.

“We want them to say, ‘Hey, PARTYNEXTDOOR was great, but Aux Cord Wars, man, when can they come back?’” King said. 

But the group is honored to be openers, King clarified. Unlike the show, “it’s never a competition.”

King attributed the success of a show to the energy of a crowd.

“What makes a good show is the energy, the crowd, the music that’s being played,” King said. “If you’re playing banger after banger after banger, it’s never a turndown moment through the whole show.”

Most of Aux Cord Wars’ shows are at college campuses; typically they book 35 to 40 campuses a semester. 

“College students in this demographic, 18 to 24, that’s your generation that’s really pushing the culture, really pushing what’s hot and what’s not,” King said. “I think this is a good market to show who’s doing good, who’s doing great in terms of music.”

Smeezo said that college students have a “natural energy.”

“When you do stuff with older people, they need a lot more space for them to get lit,” Smeezo said. “Lot of times with college students they don’t need any fuel to start that fire. They come in already 100 percent.”

Aux Cord Wars began as a virtual project on Instagram Live in which participants joined the live and pitted two songs against each other. However, after Instagram began kicking people off the livestream for playing copyrighted music, the group had to figure out how to maintain the project.

The group tested out a live version of their show at the 2018 conference for the National Association of Student Affairs Professionals. They booked a show with Norfolk State and according to King, “the rest is history.”

King met host Jay Dukes in college at Claflin University. King’s background is actually in biochemistry; before Aux Cord Wars, he worked in a lab testing carbon fiber composite materials. Once the project started taking off, he quit his job and took on as part-owner full-time.

Smeezo got involved with the group when they performed at Lincoln University in Missouri. The group needed a DJ and Smeezo was the last one available in the area. He is still a DJ in Atlanta, but he appreciates the touring experience with Aux Cord Wars.

“This gives me more of the travel aspect than just DJ-ing in one city,” Smeezo said.

The group is trying to expand its market past colleges. They are set to perform at the ESSENCE Festival of Culture in New Orleans, which will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of hip-hop starting June 29.

Image from Aux Cord Wars Live via Twitter