The Hype Man for Flo Milli

Before he takes the Bender Arena stage at 8 p.m. on Thursday to open for Flo Milli, Rayyan Al Romaih, Kogod/BS '25 expects he'll feel what he does two hours before any gig-butterflies.

"I'll usually get a little nervous before my sets," the DJ who goes by Rayyan said. "But the second I click play, I lock in all of it goes away."

Rayyan has performed around the globe, from Mykonos, Greece, to Madrid, Spain, and London, to Saudia Arabia, where he grew up. He's rocked all but one house club in DC, Echostage, where he'll have his debut show with Cloonee on November 11. He was also one of 40 artists who performed at local music festival Project GLOW last year.

But he admits, playing before an estimated crowd of 3,400 Eagles at the Kogod Fall Concert will be the biggest performance of his budding music career. "I'm ready for it," he said. "I'm excited."

The business and entertainment major will pump up the crowd before rapper Flo Milli takes the mic.

"Music itself is a sound, but when you play on massive speakers and there's a lot of bass, it becomes a physical feeling. You feel it in your chest," Rayyan said. "I love seeing that in action, when the bass hits and everyone's like, 'woah!'"

Rayyan taught himself how to DJ during the pandemic, mixing sounds and tinkering over and over on rekordbox software. He soon built up the confidence to take his house music to the masses.

When he came to AU, Rayyan got connected to the music scene in DC and started playing a few gigs a week. He quickly fell in love with how his music could make strangers dance.

While at AU, Rayyan and Oliver Berg, Kogod/BSBA '25, cofounded Boom Room, a face for their house music events that helps market Rayyan's music. From taking over Union Station to international performances, they still can't believe how one memorable show has led to the next.

"What fuels all of this is we keep getting these moments where it's like 'Who let us do this?' Berg said.

That question came to mind again this fall when Rayyan was booked to open for a rapper with 14 million monthly listeners on Spotify by students in the Kogod course, Representing Talent.

Berg, Rayann manager, is in the experiential learning course taught by John Simson, and pitched his classmates on the idea. Everyone agreed, and Rayyan was in.

During the course, Simson, an entertainment lawyer and director of the business and entertainment program, focuses on industry fundamentals. Students put those lessons into practice by planning every aspect of the concert sponsored by the Veloric Family.

"We have amazing speakers that come in every week," Berg said. "It covers every aspect of the business," including all those who work with an artist, like a manager, business manager, agent, and lawyer.

While Rayyan never got off the waiting list for the signature course offered by a top music program recognized by Billboard, it did lead him backstage.

Jitters and all, AU's DJ will take the stage at 8 p.m. and play from an endless selection of remixed hits and unreleased tracks. Beat by beat, he'll build the suspense for a night he hopes AU students will never forget.

"It's a really nice way to conclude my college career," Rayyan said. "It's a nice goodbye to my school. I've worked for four years, and I finally get to play in the arena in front of my school. That's pretty cool."