Dedication. This is one word Tyrone Williams lives by.
Williams DJs during the Mizzou football games. His job requires the ability to multitask; he has directions to listen to, music to play, and has to cue the next song all at the same time. Most importantly, he gets the players and fans excited for the game.
The dedication people can see in Williams is shown at every home football game with his usual setup outside. Even when the weather is bad, Williams is always there. And often, Missouri weather is bad.
“There was one game where I literally couldn’t feel my fingers,” Williams said. “I don’t know how cold it was, but it was freezing.”
Despite the cold, Williams continued to play music for the players and the fans. The freezing cold isn’t the only element he’s faced. Sometimes it rains, and sometimes it rains hard — like _Forrest Gump_ hard.
“One time, I knew it was going to rain, so I bought a bunch of painter’s plastic,” Williams said. “I ended up making a plastic hut over my DJ station.”
This was no light sprinkle either; Williams described it as the type of rain where you can “barely see in front of your face.”
Luckily, the DJ equipment wasn’t harmed by the rain, and neither was Williams’ spirit. He takes his job seriously and often goes the extra mile to make game day a good experience for everyone.
This is just his second year on the job, but his love and interest in music started when he was 8 years old and he had a strong passion for drums but unfortunately didn’t have any.
“I was always drumming on something,” Williams said. “I never had drumsticks, so I would just use colored pencils or something.”
His love for music grew. He would take control of music at house parties, turning the atmosphere around. Then one day, he decided to compete in a beat-making contest on a whim.
“Normally, I would never have entered,” Williams said. “But that day, I was like, ‘eh, why not?’”
Williams ended up winning first place. That sparked his career, and now he’s better known as DJ Beatz.
In order to play a certain song he knows will be perfect for game day, he’ll sometimes spend hours editing. His focus is to make sure the songs are appropriate for fans.
“I spend hours before editing out words on certain songs that I would love to play,” Williams said. “It’s very tedious, but you want people to have the music they want.”
Now entering his second year on the job, he has some new goals laid out.
“This year I’ll be playing a level up,” Williams said.
He plans to play even more hype songs featuring Waka Flocka Flame. But, as always, he will be playing a mix of everything.
“I just really hone in with the players and with the student section,” Williams said.
Williams is always open to requests for the game day playlist. Those who have a request can reach him through his Twitter account [@DJBeatz](https://twitter.com/djbeatz).
Williams dedication to his job can be attributed to a deep love for music.
“Music is life; it’s energy. Music can channel how you feel,” Williams said. “It can change how you feel, but it’s invisible. You can feel music in a number of ways … but you can also feel it within you. It’s powerful.”
_Edited by Katie Rosso | krosso@themaneater.com_