Meet DJ Fa’dorah, the Buffs’ locker room beat master
Fairview grad is the pulse behind the players, boosting team spirit with dynamic style
Inside Uchealth Champions Center, down a couple of dark hallways and past a pair of sleek black double doors lies the hottest club in all of Boulder right now: The Colorado Buffaloes locker room.
Like all popular clubs, the CU Buffs locker room possesses several characteristic features: Recessed lighting. Sophisticated and sultry decor. Celebrity clientele. An exclusive guest list. An air of secrecy, bolstered by the fact that the media is not generally allowed inside.
All that’s left is perhaps the most important part of any sort of club: the tunes.
That’s where Kent D. Ware II — who goes by his professional name DJ Fa’dorah — comes in. This season, Fa’dorah was made the first-ever CU Buffs official locker room DJ.
Fa’dorah’s appointment is more than just adding music to the locker room on game day — it’s a strategic move designed to enhance team spirit and performance. Studies have shown that the right music can boost morale, increase energy levels and improve focus — benefits that the Buffaloes are now leveraging to their advantage.
Now, Fa’dorah — a rising star in the Denver nightclub community known for his dynamic style and diverse playlists — is the pulse of the locker room. His role goes beyond playing music; he’s an ambiance creator, a mood setter and a vital part of the team’s preparation ritual.
Born and raised in Boulder — Fa’dorah played football at Fairview High School — this position is a full-circle moment for the DJ. We caught up with Fa’dorah to learn what it’s like to be a part of the Coach Prime movement with Deion Sanders, how to create the perfect gameday vibe and why Ralphie is the best mascot in college football.
Win or lose, with DJ Fa’dorah on the decks, the Buffaloes are not only redefining their pregame rituals but are also demonstrating how blending sports with modern entertainment elements can create a more engaging and dynamic team environment. The future looks bright — and sounds even better — for the Buffs.
Q >> Walk us through a typical game day for you. A >> As much as I add energy and a vibe to the locker room, you have to understand that football is the main thing going on. So I try to stay as much in the background as possible. I’ll get to campus for a morning game at least around 4 a.m. When I show up to the locker room, it’s me and the guy who’s vacuuming the floor. I’m literally the first or second one there. I set everything up,
I test it to make sure we’re on the right track. Each day is a little different, but I’m just hands-on, helping in whatever way the situation calls for. As soon as the team starts arriving, I’m playing music. Then I’ll get a cue that Coach Prime is ready to come in, I’ll play his song, and cue him up. He’ll give a speech, and then I’ll play our theme music and then the team will go out. But the best part of the whole day is that I get to watch the game from the sidelines. I’ll watch a little bit of the game, and then when everyone comes back in, I’ll spin in there until everybody leaves. Sometimes there’s family back there, some friends and sometimes some artists perform — but it’s always a massive party back there.
QAWhich artists?
>> Oh man, like Offset and Key Glock performed one time…
What?!
>> Yeah. I was preparing for the day and getting all of my records together for the game, and I was kind of focused on my gear and everything and I heard a voice say “Hey, DJ!” By the time I looked up, I was face to face with Offset. And he gives me love and introduces himself. It all happened so fast that by the time it was over, I was like, “Did I just meet Offset?” And later in the day, I literally saw Offset playing Ping-pong against Master P. It was a crazy, “This is my life!” moment for me. I had the people that I looked up to and grew up listening to just an arm’s length away from me. You gotta kind of pinch yourself in those times because, as we know, Boulder has never been like this for us. The cultural moment and cultural impact that Coach Prime is having on Boulder is something that we will forever cherish. He’s changing the face of college football in so many ways. And not only football — people don’t understand, it’s so much bigger than the game, it’s about the entire force he’s created.
: OK, so what is the vibe like back there before the game starts, exactly?
>> For me, there are two words that describe it: Go mode. I can honestly say with all of my training, with all of the things I’ve learned, it takes every fiber in my body to be in tune with what’s going on back there because things are ever-evolving. You may get back there and someone will say, “Hey, we have such-and-such here in the building today,” and so intrinsically, as a DJ, if we have someone that’s back there that is also an artist, I try to incorporate some of their records into what I play. But there’s definitely a standard. From the onset, if you just walked back there your first time, it would maybe seem intense because everybody is focused and kind of getting ready, but everybody prepares differently. There are players that are inherently serious and so they’re sort of staying quiet, and then there’s other guys that need to get loose and have fun and then lock in. So the vibe is just high energy. You look at a football game in the sense that it’s like preparing for battle, and so it very much feels like we’re going to war back there. I mean, the music back there will get you so hyped that you’ll wanna get out there and put the pads on yourself.
: Do you take requests from the team?
>> The thing that I love about the job is that music is a universal language. So I may play a record that will inspire another player to wanna hear another record. My setup is state-of-the-art, so I can grab songs on the spot. I’m there for the players — whatever needs to be played or whatever they want to hear is absolutely priority No. 1. The beautiful thing about it is that I make a game plan every week. When I go home from game day, I’ll rearrange all of the requests that I received and put them into our team playlist. I just kind of build upon that, and that right there, in and of itself is a relationship. I think the guys had to warm up to me, and now that they have, they all know that if they want to hear something, they just gotta ask, and I’ll play it for them.
Q: Is there a certain song or record that you’ve played that you say would encapsulate the vibe of the Buffs?
A>> So, what a lot of people don’t know is that Deion Sanders Jr. is an artist. He raps — he has this record called “Mary Had a Lil Lamb.” Even the title itself — c’mon, I mean
“reasonably likely” that the account plus link combination could be construed as a defamatory statement.
Second, according to the filing, Budd’s petition argued the Court of Appeals had not ruled on whether Budd could be deemed a “content provider” based on his actions. Under Section 230 of the Federal Communications Decency Act, “interactive computer services” such as social media sites are immune from liability for third-party content published by “content providers.” However, content providers can be held liable for the content they post. But the Court of Appeals did rule that Budd could be classified as a content provider, the filing stated.
And third, the filing read, Budd claimed he had “a First Amendment privilege to use (Rosenblum’s) name” for reasons of “newsworthiness” because Rosenblum’s candidacy for office was a matter
Saturday as the Buffs celebrate senior day.
“The tradition of Ralphie running is the best in college sports and is justifiably sacrosanct to CU fans worldwide,” Hurlbert said.
“Since Saturday will be her last run of the season, she’s looking forward to hearing the roar of the Folsom faithful one last time before starting her rigorous off-season regimen of eating, playing and napping.” it’s catchy. But the record is so amazing because it also gives you that great energy. That record, in particular, will always be a staple and a life memory for me because when we beat CSU, that was the record that everyone came back into the locker room to. That game was a nail-biter, very close. And, of course, it’s a rivalry, so it was a big moment. What people don’t realize is that I’m preparing both ways, right, because the game was so back and forth, they could win or it could go the other way. I was out on the field watching, and all I could think the entire time was “OK, what’s the right record here to play for this moment?” I remember getting that final touchdown, and I ran off the field back inside before the game was over and I was frantically trying to find the right record. And “Mary Had A Lil Lamb” just kind of came to me. It was like it chose me. If you see clips of the footage of the team coming back into the locker room that day, then you know the vibe was an absolute party. And I mean, you can’t write a better story than that.
: If they lose, what do you play then?
>> It’s like how I approach the dance floor. The dance floor is a living, breathing thing. Just like kindling a fire, you need to know when to put some more in, or when to take some out. It’s one of those things where in the moment, the moment just guides you.
Q: What’s it like being a part of this incredible cultural movement that Coach Prime is bringing to Boulder?
A>> Coach Prime could have anybody that he wanted to right now, and the fact that he chose me — this kid that went to Fairview High School, that used to eat Dairy Queen on The Hill when it was still there — that I am literally in the locker room with these guys, it’s such a blessing. You have times in life when the universe will let you know that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be, and that’s how I feel right now. As you know, it’s not easy being an artist or being a full-time DJ, but what it comes down to is that I’m extremely grateful.
Q: Lastly, do you ever get to hang out with Ralphie?
A>> I do. I never grew up with animals, so I’m scared to death of Ralphie,
of public interest. Again, the filing stated, the Court of Appeals already ruled that the “newsworthiness” privilege did not apply in this situation because Budd “engaged in impersonation.”
The Colorado Supreme Court will decide whether to review the lawsuit. If that does not happen, the case could go to trial.
but I’ve seen Ralphie around and have talked to some of her handlers. I think it’s just the most insane job in the world. I mean, there’s just like, no way I’m running next to a buffalo — you couldn’t pay me to do that. It’s just not happening. But yeah, I’m very afraid of Ralphie, but I’ve definitely been up and close to her. I have major respect for Ralphie, she’s huge and terrifying, and she’s the coolest mascot in the whole world. It’s so crazy how going to a CU football game right now, it’s the peak of entertainment. It’s the hottest ticket in town. And it’s absolutely worth every single penny.
“God-centered Attention”
“Transforming, From Fretting to Letting!”