Billy Rockefeller and Cole James demonstrate multi-faceted skills, to say the least. Rockefeller, also known as DJ B-Rock, juggles his schoolwork with his up-and-coming DJing career. Rockefeller, a third-year marketing and management student, called on second-year criminal justice student James, a childhood friend, to combine his career aspirations with some part-time DJing. The two have been working on their musical careers for several years now, which has been yielding some very promising results.
“We did seven events in nine days,” Rockefeller said. “I want this to be my full-time job, growing business here and upstate as well."
Ever since Rockefeller performed to a country-loving audience several years ago, he knew he wanted to pursue a career as a DJ. His aspiration to depart from his marketing credentials doesn’t seem too far off considering that the DJ duo has already performed at weddings, birthday parties ranging from sweet sixteens to twenty-first celebrations, sorority functions, fashion shows and other events put on by local organizations.
Rockefeller has implemented tools from his business background to create a brand for DJ B-Rock. The two have produced T-shirts, stickers, koozies, bags, business cards and more merchandise. The balance of business and music might just be their key to success.
For now, James is standing by his plans to pursue criminal justice, but his future is unpredictable.
“It depends if DJ B-Rock grows to where I can be financially stable,” James said.
Perhaps the most notable thing about DJ B-Rock is the absence of any music school or guidance throughout their lives. When asked if either of them were trained musicians, Rockefeller and James were proud that their rise to success was all a process of trial and error after Rockefeller received a DJ set as a high school graduation gift.
Rockefeller and James have flourished in USC's close-knit and interactive community. Rockefeller and James have contributed to our community here at USC by performing at charity events and many events hosted by the Greek community.
“We usually do the 5K breast cancer awareness run for ZTA here and we’ve done an event for Alpha Gamma Deltas diabetes awareness event," Rockefeller said. "We also DJ the wedding that the Student Wedding Society at USC puts on every semester."
The passionate student musicians are eagerly making a name for themselves at the ages of just 19 and 20. They’ve preserved their optimism despite the challenges of pursuing an education and a musical career.
“There’s always that one person that doesn’t like what you're playing," Rockefeller said. "Everyone else in the room can be dancing on the floor ... and it’s difficult to deal with those kind people, you try to deal with them as well as you can."