Kiera McGuire

Features Editor

On Saturday, Feb. 1, students gathered at the Scot Center to party and compete in the live musical game show “Aux Cord Wars,” hosted by Black Student Association (BSA). “Aux Cord Wars” kicked off Wooster’s Black History Month celebrations and paved the way for upcoming events and celebrations.

Hosted by Jay Dukes, American actor and comedian, and Trizzy Dollaz, trivia moderator, with producer by E. King, “Aux Cord Wars” provides an engaging and party-like atmosphere where students can participate in music genre competitions to have the chance to win cash and other prizes. Official “Aux Cord Wars” videographer Boom was in attendance, capturing pictures of students as they danced on the brightly-lit LED floor while holding glow sticks and sporting LED hair clips and glasses. St. Louis rapper AGAME was also in attendance, performing songs and guiding music wars throughout the night.

Kicking off at 9:30 p.m. with Ace, a DJ for “Aux Cord Wars,” and attendees exclaiming, “I got to know the music,” students scanned a QR code on the screen behind the DJ console to enter into the competitive game pool and prepare for the music wars up ahead.

However, before the musical wars began, a friendly game of Kahoot was played, testing the audience’s knowledge of music. Question prompts such as “This artist was caught in a Bad Romance” and “Sexxy Red said ‘Bae I love you you’re my’ what,” geared up the audience to compete in the real competitions.

The goal of these music wars is to see “who can move the crowd by playing the best songs,” according to the “Aux Cord Wars” official website. To start, a music genre is picked from a rotating list on the screen, along with two (or sometimes two teams of two) individuals from the crowd. These teams then pick three songs within the genre and play part of it out to the audience. Whichever team receives the most applause at the end of the round wins a prize, ranging from cash, t-shirts to a Bluetooth speaker. 

“It was really fun to watch my friends win the [musical genre] game, especially my friend, Emily Nyeswa [’26], who got $300 that night,” Mariah McKenzie ’26, BSA treasurer, shared.

The genres of music played included “Best R&B Classics,” “Best Pop Songs” and “Best Dance Songs.” The individual music comprised of “Boo’d Up” by Ella Mai, “Baby” by Justin Bieber, “Tiktok” by Ke$ha and “Cupid Shuffle” by Cupid amongst many others, creating a vast array of songs for the audience to dance along to.

“I heard some of my favorite songs and some great songs that I had not heard before,” Victoria Finizio ’27 said about the event. “It was really cool to hear lots of genres of music.”

Later in the evening, “Aux Cord Wars” brought MTV’s “Wild ‘n Out” celebrity guest Emmanuel Hudson on the stage to mingle with students and participate in the “Best Dance Songs” music war. 

 “Wooster doesn’t really have many chances to interact with Black American culture, especially outside of the frame of academia,” McKenzie expressed. “I believe a high energy event like this is a really great way to kick off Black History Month.”

Attendees agreed with the sentiment. Kaitlyn Shane ’27 said, “I hadn’t gone last year but I loved the mix between party-style and the games. I would definitely go [to this event] again!”

For more information on “Aux Cord Wars,” visit https://auxcordwarslive.com/#tour. For more information on BSA events and Black History Month celebrations at the College, look at postings in the POT and follow BSA on instagram @woosterBSA.