English senior Maurice Rankins went from being forced to play music at a pool party to opening up for “56 Nights” producer DJ Esco.
Rankins, better known as “DJ MOxSWAG,” began performing in 2011. He got his start at a pool party when his friends asked him to control the music. The same year, he had his first club performance at local night club Vibes 2.0.
“DJing is just who I am right now,” Rankins said. “I just love entertaining people, and I know for a fact that’s what I’m good at more than anything.”
While he dreams of becoming a traveling DJ, 24-year-old  also balances his studies with the duties that come with owning the nightclub Vice Nightlife.
MOxSWAG became the owner of Vice Nightlife in December 2015. He took the opportunity on as a challenge after he and his promotional group #TheWave held many successful events in the Baton Rouge area.
#TheWave began as a friend group that attended parties together. In 2013, they officially branded themselves as #TheWave, a promotional group for events and parties.
“Imagine you hired me to come DJ and I tell all my friends,” MOxSWAG said. “So all my friends post it on their page and we all show up, it’s like 15 or 20 of us. Because we’re all there and we all have friends, we tell everyone else to come. Now your party is lit because you’re telling MO to come DJ and he told all his friends.”
Using social media, videos and fliers, #TheWave’s goal is to attract people to particular events.
As a student, MOxSWAG attends classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. His Fridays are booked at Vice and, in between, his phone buzzes from emails, text messages and Twitter notifications.
However, disc jockeying remains MOxSWAG’s top priority. His favorite memory from his career was when he opened up for DJ Esco at Republic NOLA in New Orleans. Performing from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., he said it was the longest performance he’d ever been asked to do.
“DJing for four hours by yourself is hard,” MOxSWAG said. “If you’re a DJ and you can honestly DJ a whole set for four hours straight, not really play a certain song more than once and you rock the crowd continuously — that’s amazing, that’s hard.”
MOxSWAG mixed all genres of music during his performance, he said. The audience consisted of people from different nationalities, allowing him to cater to different fans and try new sounds.
That February night was one he would never forget, not only because of his memorable performance, but also because his best friend Damarcus Pitts, co-creator of #TheWave, died in a car crash the same evening.
Since then, the members of #TheWave keep active and have each delved into their own ventures.
MOxSWAG plans to be a full time student in the spring while continuing his ownership of Vice and expanding his DJ career.
“Nothing turns me up more than a big crowd … nothing,” MOxSWAG said.

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Cynthea Corfah

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