On a sunny afternoon in DePaul’s Lincoln Park Quad on Tuesday, Sept. 9, crowds of freshmen gathered to celebrate the annual Blue Demon Welcome. Students flocked to booths set up around the perimeter of the Quad to collect merchandise and free food.
Overlooking the swath of students still clad in their complementary navy blue DePaul t-shirts was a large metal wire stage. On that stage stood DJ Trizzy Dollaz, microphone in hand, with two men operating DJ decks on either side of him. Dollaz shouted out into the crowd an enthusiastic “What’s up DePaul?!” and received rapturous applause.
DJ Trizzy Dollaz, known on a day-to-day basis as Tremaine Simpson, is the co-host and emcee of Aux Cord Wars, a game show/performance troupe that frequently tours college campuses around the world. The event pins two audience members against one another to see which amateur DJ can get the crowd moving with a set they put together on the spot.
Aux Cord Wars officially began in 2018, headed by CEO and host Jay Dukes, where Simpson originally began as a patron of the event back in 2019.
“There was an Aux Cord Wars going down at my undergrad, University of North Carolina Greensboro,” Simpson said. “I didn’t know what it was, but Jay Dukes was in my fraternity, so I wanted to go see what it was about.”
Simpson enjoyed the event and tagged back along a few months later when Dukes held it again at Winston-Salem State. Thanks to his own ability to “turn up with his bros,” Tremaine says that Dukes then brought him on in a more official capacity.
“I’ve always been a ‘hype’ energy guy. Back in college, people would ask ‘when would we stop turning up?’ And I just didn’t know there was a limit on it,” Simpson said. “Back in middle school and high school I was always the class clown. The only difference now is I get paid for it.”
Since Simpson joined, Aux Cord Wars has been a staple of many universities across the nation, and DePaul is no exception. This past Tuesday marks the second time the group has graced our grounds, the first being at the DePaul Activities Board’s DemonJam in 2024.
“(Aux Cord Wars) was an extremely popular experience and has been one of the most requested acts that our students have asked for us to bring back to campus,” said Courtney James, senior director for the Office of Student Involvement. “We were able to bring them for Blue Demon Welcome this year, and they helped to bring wonderful energy to the event as we kicked off the year.”
To pop off the two hour event on Tuesday, Simpson hosted a Kahoot quiz covering pop music trivia with a cash prize of $100. A student named Josiah won, snatching the cash from the host and running off into the crowd.
Moving into the main event, Dukes joined Simpson to host the event. The competition saw two to four students called up to the stage and build a set of three songs to get the crowd moving.
Whoever received the most cheers at the end of the sets were given the option to win a cash prize or be given the choice of the mystery box. In said box there was a variety of Beats By Dre headphones or speakers.
Keion Priett, a freshman DePaul student, was the winner of the first competition, coming home with $50.
“This gave me the opportunity to get out there and make some friends,” Priett said. “I was lowkey nervous, but being in the crowd and seeing my friends gave me confidence.”
The largest of the giveaways were two $500 dollar scholarships. All contestants during the show were entered into a raffle to randomly choose two winners.
Freshman Aubrey Cherry was one of the recipients of the scholarship.
“I stuck around (after Blue Demon Welcome) because my friends thought it’d be fun,” Cherry said. “I love doing karaoke at home and this just felt natural. I had to try and participate.”
Simpson believes that bringing people together is the core tenet of Aux Cord Wars.
“One time we was at Radford University in Virginia, and after the show one of the students was like, ‘Y’all made me want to stay at school.’ That’s a big statement,” Simpson said. “We’re always looking to build the community vibe where students have a safe space to come together.”
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