Tiger tunes: Cassie Stevens cuts Olympic floor music for Auburn teammate Suni Lee

AUBURN, Ala. – When music plays while Suni Lee competes on floor in Thursday's all-around final at the Paris Olympics, her former Auburn teammate Cassie Stevens will know every note by heart. 

Cassie the Creator edited Suni’s floor music. 

For Auburn’s gymnasts, head coach Jeff Graba typically edits the music for their floor routines, until last year, when Stevens switched into DIY mode.

“I’m a ‘how hard can it be?’ kind of person,” Stevens said. “I thought, I want to try it myself. If you want something done a certain way, you’ve got to learn to do it yourself.”

A media class in her senior year of high school provided the basics. Stevens did the rest on her own, learning how to use Adobe Audition to edit digital audio. 

“Just started playing with it for my music,” she said. “YouTubed what I didn’t know. Ended up making music for myself that I really liked.”

Thus began Stevens’ career as a DJ Cassie, go-to music editor for Auburn gymnastics. 

To thank teammate Gabby McLaughlin for doing Cassie’s choreography on floor, Stevens edited McLaughlin’s floor music. 

“I did really well with hers, I’m not going to lie,” Stevens said, smiling. “After that everyone started turning to me.”

After all of Auburn’s gymnasts were satisfied with their audio, Graba asked if Stevens could edit music for one more gymnast. 

“I was trying to think to myself, who is he asking about?” Stevens said. “It ended up being Suni.”

Lee selected as-yet-unreleased music from violinist Lindsey Stirling, for which Stevens received clearance to download. 

When Lee competed her floor routine at the USA Gymnastics Olympic Trials in late June in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Stevens watched – and listened – intently. 

“I was almost singing along,” Stevens said. “I knew the beats and when it was going to change. It was fun to follow along.”

After Lee showcased her floor routine, Stevens posted on X, formerly Twitter. 

“Cool new floor music @sunisaee,” Stevens wrote. “Who cut it?” 

“SO GOOD,” Lee replied 90 minutes later.

SO GOOD

— Sunisa lee (@sunisalee_) June 29, 2024

“That was cool for her to respond,” Stevens said. “I thought she would be too busy with all of her Olympic things. It was cool to know that she and Jess (Graba, Suni’s coach and Jeff Graba’s twin brother) trusted me to be able to do that. It was special to play a small role in all of it.”

Lee competed for the Tigers for two seasons, winning an NCAA title on beam and an SEC title on bars in 2022, and finishing as a 10-time All-American, helping Auburn sell out meets at home and on the road.  

“It’s cool to see how it’s affected this program in such a positive way,” Stevens said of the Suni Effect.

Stevens also affected Auburn’s program positively, earning consecutive SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards in 2023 and 2024 while hitting 98.6 percent of her routines during five stellar seasons that included the 2023 SEC vault title. 

Now a graduate assistant coach at her alma mater, Stevens welcomes additional opportunities to showcase her newly acquired skills. 

“Anyone who needs floor music cut, they can send it my way,” Stevens said. “Nice little side hustle.”

Lee, the reigning Olympic All-Around gold medalist, inspired gymnastics fans worldwide with her comeback after an illness ended her second season at Auburn after eight meets and threatened to end her career.

“It means so much more when you’ve been through something like that, when you know how hard the road was for someone,” Stevens said. “It makes it more special. It means that much more when it finally comes to fruition. 

“We could all see watching on TV how emotional she was, knowing what she had been through and what it has taken to get back to that point. To see her overcome the challenges and obstacles she went through, and to grow from it and bounce back in such an incredible way. 

“When you consider all she’s been through, it’s all the more inspiring.” 

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer