NIU fans do a lot to show love for their teams.

At the football games, fans paint their faces red and black. Or they skip their faces and go shirtless to try and pump up the Huskies.

But those are not the only methods for support. NIU student and die-hard Huskie football fan Damone Shinault has another way to express his love for the sports on campus — through music.

For as long as he can remember, Shinault has been making music.

“I wanted a way to get my music heard by the public,” Shinault said. “I wanted to get noticed. There are a lot of people that rap on campus, and I wanted to do something that set myself apart from them.”

Getting your music played to more than 25,000 football fans will set you apart.

So Shinault wrote and sang the song “Huskie Country.” And after getting his CD to a member of the sound crew at Huskie Stadium, the song was played over the loudspeakers during NIU football games last season.

The success of “Huskie Country” prompted Shinault to write another song. This time, it was for the women’s basketball team.

“It’s in the Bag” was Shinault’s way of letting the team know somebody cared about its turnaround season.

The song was never played over the loudspeakers of the Convocation Center, but the team heard it.

“It was a good song,” NIU guard Stephanie Raymond said. “I like how the song said everybody’s names on the team. Next time I’m going to ask him to make a song for our pre-game warm ups.”

While his second song didn’t get a chance to be a appreciated by NIU fans, it was appreciated by the team, Raymond said.

So when Shinault had a request for Raymond, she was more than happy to oblige.

Two local high school students e-mailed Shinault about the possibility of meeting Raymond in person.

So after the Huskies played Ball State Jan. 21, Shinault helped the boys fulfill their dreams by introducing them to Raymond.

“These boys’ role models happened to be people I was close to,” Shinault said. “It’s just something I like to do. It’s always good to help out the young people.”

Afterwards the two boys thanked Shinault and left with their dreams fulfilled, all thanks to a fan with a gift a little larger than painting his face.

“Huskie Country” and “It’s in the Bag” can be heard at dmsmusic.com