Sophomore wins first place, $1,000 at DJ competition
By: Shaughn Phillips – Staff Writer
You and your friends are cold. Cincinnati’s nighttime autumn wind makes you shiver as you walk down East 7th Street. Then something makes you rethink those shivers You feel a bass go through your body as you approach the next building. You see a mixture of blue, green and red lights flashing through the door. You are shaking in excitement now. It’s Thursday night, after a long and stressful week of school and work. It’s time to Play.
As you walk into Play Nightclub you are no longer cold. The warmth of hundreds of other people radiates against your body. That faint bass you felt earlier makes your whole body vibrate as the warm-up DJ spins. Her music is synced with lights that blind and mesmerize you, rotating and strobing as she builds up for the drop. And boom! The bass is amplified and the crowd continues to dance. But this is only the beginning of the night’s excitement.
DJs from around the region came together Thursday, Oct. 17, for Red Bull’s Thre3style University competition to show their skills and captivate the crowd. The DJs from the University of Cincinnati, The Ohio State University, Northern Kentucky University, Miami University, and the University of Dayton made the”YouTube” DJs at Timothy’s Bar and Grill look silly. DJ Web, also known as sophomore industrial engineering major, Will Blount, represented UD.
Blount said he has been DJing for about five years and is a resident DJ at The St. Clair in Cincinnati. Blount said he spent roughly a month and a half working on his set for the competition, where he had 15 minutes to “wow” the crowd and judges. Based on skill, originality, creativity, track selection and stage presence, DJ Web blew the first two DJs out of the water with his set. He started with a little big band tune that suddenly spun into a Lil Jon introduction that praised Cincinnati, driving the crowd crazy. Blount’s transitions were crisp and he never spent too much time on one song. Blount was able to do what every DJ strives to do – he took the crowd out of themselves and into the music for 15 minutes. He controlled the crowd and the atmosphere successfully. When he ended his set 15 seconds shy of his allotted time, the crowd wanted more.
The last two DJs were good as well, but at the end of the night, they were coming up to Blount and congratulating him before the judges had even made their decision.
When DJ Web was announced the winner of Red Bull’s Thre3style competition, the crowd went crazy again, highlighting the UD presence. Besides the title of the best-rocking DJ on campus in the area, Blount won $1,000.
He said he sees himself working with music on the production side on the west coast, but in the meantime, he will continue to dj primarily in the Cincinnati area. If you are looking to hear some great music to dance to with your Red Bull and vodka, you can find the top college-enrolled DJ in the region, spinning on the weekends at The St. Clair.