INGLEWOOD, Calif. – There may be 70,000 empty seats every Sunday at SoFi Stadium, but that doesn't stop two people from bringing the energy to a crowd of none.
Jamal McCoy, better known as DJ Mal-Ski, has been the Los Angeles Rams official DJ since 2016 — his job description is to inspire and incite fans with a little in-game entertainment.
“Generally, it goes like this," he explained. "I incite the crowd, the crowd incites the players, the players play harder and are inspired."
Working with several of Los Angeles' professional and collegiate sports teams, he's developed a set strategy for creating playlists that are unique to every game, every crowd, and every opponent.
“Normally it’s a routine thing." Mal-Ski said. "You go through understanding the players, understanding the target demographic for your crowd and you build out from there.”
But this year building out the perfect playlist has taken on new importance.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there will be no fans inside SoFi Stadium for the foreseeable future, meaning no "12th man" to inspire their favorite players or distract the visitors.
Instead, Mal-Ski and guitarist Nita Strauss have had to become the Sounds of SoFi, responsible for playing to the team and creating a home field advantage.
“Every single team I try to find an advantage. I dig into the storylines, the background of each team and try to find some sort of advantage that can lead to a distraction," he said.
"“The goal is to create an incredible atmosphere for the players," Strauss echoed. "It’s not so much about the crowd, it’s about the team, creating that space, that energy for the guys to feel like there’s a huge crowd here.”
To do so they take special care in creating playlists for different drive and down situations throughout the football game.
Mal-Ski also inquires about the player's favorite music styles. After all, everyone has their own triggers.
"I’ll give you a secret," he said with a laugh. "Aaron Donald’s secret song that gets him going is 'Wipe me Down.'”
It's in this way that the duo takes on the job of thousands of Rams fans with their roles more important now than ever before.
“Today’s target is our players. Since you all are not there, we have to take your job and incite directly to the players," Mal-Ski said.
With a goal of making sure the Rams House still feels like their home, even with no fans inside.