HBCU band names fourth woman in its history as drum major

The Jackson State University Sonic Boom of the South, one of the top HBCU bands in the nation, has selected the fourth woman in its history, Senior Ariel Woods from Dallas, Texas, as one of its drum majors for the 2024-2025 band season.

The 300-member Sonic Boom is led by five drum majors every year collectively known as the “Jackson Five.” Ariel Woods will be just the fourth woman to lead the historic HBCU band whose roots go back to the 1920’s.

As one of the top HBCU bands, the Jackson State University Sonic Boom does far more than perform at halftime of games. The Sonic Boom of the South is one of the most in-demand acts in the music industry today, performing at multiple NFL halftime shows, the Motown 30th anniversary special, and was the surprise guest for the opening night of Drake and J. Cole’s It’s All A Blur — Big as the What? Tour .

“Everything kind of just started happening in slow motion. Everybody started coming and started cheering me on and was just really excited that I was going to be the next drum major,” Ariel Woods told Brooklyn Joyner of 19 WAPT News in Jackson, Mississippi.

“I’m getting the crowd hyped. I’m getting the crowd riled up. I’m getting people excited for the band and the football team… A drum major is someone who is a natural born leader, someone who has a real passion to lead the others and make concrete decisions,” Woods continued in the interview.

Ariel Woods is the first woman to be a drum major for the Jackson State University Sonic Boom of the South since DeyShaun Roberts held the role in 2017, where she was the first woman drum major since 2006.

“ I’m a figure for women. I’m a figure for little girls coming up who are in band and who want to be in this position as a drum major,” Woods told WAPT news .

Becoming one of the leaders of the Sonic Boom wasn’t an easy process for Ariel Woods. With no previous ties to Jackson State University of the Sonic Boom of the South, Woods became enamored with the HBCU band by watching videos on YouTube and decided that she wanted to become part of the band history at Jackson State.

“This position is something I’ve been dreaming about for the last seven years now. I’ve always had doubts along the way, but I never gave up. I never said I can’t do this… This is my second time trying out to be a drum major, so it’s nothing short of an honor. It’s nothing short of a blessing being placed in this position as a woman. I just know how prestigious this is. It’s not something that I really can just put into words.”

Something Woods was able to put into words was her desire to further the legacy of female drum majors, “I really want to instill more women being in these prestigious and male-dominant roles because I just love seeing women and female drum majors in middle schools, colleges, and universities.”

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