Points on the Board

Not every performer can make a hit, let alone land a few that make waves on the charts.

In an era where music heads consume, create, and demand quality music all the time, it's difficult to let songs that could stand on its own, time to grow. 

Singer-songwriter Elle Varner's never had that problem. Debuting in 2012 with a pair of R&B hits that were a breath of fresh air for the genre, the LA native is back with Ellevation, an EP project that was made on her own terms. 

Varner stopped by the POTB set to chop it up about her approach to crafting a hit, and what's required to be consistent. 

"It doesn't matter if you have all these co-signs, or if someone 'hands it to you', it doesn't matter. You can't cheat the hard work," Varner said about staying loyal to your craft.

"So the ones that will last, the ones that will stand the test of time, they must ride peaks and the valleys. There's no way around it." 

Highlights

How has her writing process evolved over her career

Adopting Kobe's winning mindset to her live shows

The state of women in R&B

Serena Williams' impact on Compton

What's required for her to get into her "Flow state" 

Crafting songs for your core audience, b side tracks

Defining success as an artist on her own terms

The first hip hop, r&b albums you give your kids

The greatest songwriters to study

Her musical family

Versus: The greatest 90s movies soundtrack of all time.  

And more. 

On The Points On The Board podcast, we interview the closers and finishers from every discipline. Each week, digital producer, journalist Kyle Harvey sitdowns with rising athletes, sportswriters and creatives to breakdown the lessons they learned from the field of competition and how they applied to dominate it their crafts. Subscribe here for the latest episodes.

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On The Points On The Board podcast, we interview the closers and finishers from every discipline. Each week, digital producer, journalist Kyle Harvey sitdowns with rising athletes, sportswriters and creatives to breakdown the lessons they learned from the field of competition and how they applied to dominate it their crafts. Subscribe here for the latest episodes. 

Since Colin Kaepernick took a knee, the terms "stick to sports" and "shut up and play" are often regurgitated by those who are willfully ignorant or want to remain in the dark about the undeniable and current connection between politics and athletics.

Coming off the heels of last week's twitter meltdown directed towards the World Cup-winning US Women's National Soccer Team and his latest rant against 4 congresswomen of color, there was no better person to talk about Trump and his historic insecurities against the "other" than MSNBC's Joy-Ann Reid.

A consistent MSNBC on-air presence since the killing of Trayvon Martin, Reid puts points on the board for challenging, debating and exposing the hypocrisy of those who profit off spreading fake news.

In an hour-long discussion at the Shadow League office with host Kyle Harvey, The Man Who Stole America author, compared 45's warped brand of American demagoguery to an 80s villain among other things, specifically the Batman's eternal nemesis the Joker.

"The reason why I open the book up by calling him the Joker is because most of the time, the Joker is this really rich guy, who's angry about the existence of Batman," Reid begins at 15:15 min mark. "The two are both rich, both angry, and what Batman decides to do with his anger is to fight criminals.

"He doesn't like the fact that people are abusing the 'little guy'. And what the Joker decides to do is fight Batman. In fact, doesn't really kind of doesn't exist without Batman. There's no real purpose for the Joker other than messing with Batman. He hates the fact that Batman is popular, that people love him, he just hates him".

Every villain needs a foil. If Trump is just a clown with an agenda, its not hard to figure out who Bruce Wayne is. 

"Obama could be his Batman, the culture could be his Batman...like all these things he wanted for himself, like growing up in Queens and wanting to be respected by the Anna Wintours of the world, they never let him in," Reid elaborated on Trump's view of fame.

"So now he hates that. He started hating the thing he wanted the most." 

Do you agree? Check out full podcast here and let us know what you think in the comments below

Highlights

Reid's time as the managing editor at theGrio

Trump's WWE Bravado

Covering every major black death (Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Jordan Davis) as a black mother for cable news

The art of politely eviscerating ill-prepared political talking heads

The greatest hip hop activists of this generation

Why Heath Ledger is the greatest Joker of all time

The first hip hop, r&b albums you give your kids

Versus: Dru Hill vs 112

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On this episode of POTB, No Limit's own Master P stopped by to put some points on the board.

With "I Got The Hook Up 2" dropping this month, P came through to talk hoops, Toronto Raptors, his time in the NBA, and why building a record label/business is like coaching a team.

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After a wild 2019 NBA Draft, NYC hoops coach Randy Millard stopped by to put some Points On The Board.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Coach Millard’s a proud Brownsville native with ties to VA due to his time at Norfolk State. With written bylines at Bounce and other hoops hubs, Millard’s active on the court and a historian of NYC hoops culture.

We just witnessed the most important #NewYorkKnicks draft in a generation with the #3 selection of RJ Barrett, so it was only fitting to bring Millard by #POTB to unpack the state of NYC hoops as a whole.

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Salaam Remi told us the flyest emcees hail from Queens. He would know.

The Grammy-nominated instrumentalist's discography is disgusting, having worked with everyone from Kurtis Blow, Nas, The Fugees, the late Amy Winehouse, and Miguel. 

Always working, Remi dropped by #PointsOnTheBoard to talk about his new music, his creative process, and how he plans on celebrating his #BlackMusicMonth.

Points

New Single, Shake Dat Je'llo, with Joell Ortiz

Breaking down the essential ingredients of a hit.

DJ Khaled Vs Billboard Take

What does producing mean in 2019

The hip hop album you'd give your future child

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On this episode of POTB, Host Kyle Harvey sat down with NYC based creative Jordan Page. The High Point, NC native broke down his career path from the halls of North Carolina A&T to Brooklyn, NY.

POINTS

- Creator of 90’s Streetwear account @veryadvanced

- Calling out culture vultures for pilfering from black creatives

- DJ, producer, stylist, placements include Reebok, 2Chainz, @Fader

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Journalist, commentator, and host of BuzzFeed's Hella Opinions, Sylvia Obell stopped by the office to put some points on the board.

You've probably seen her byline online or in print, but Sylvia's rise in the new media space wasn't overnight.

The New Jersey native reflects on the stages of her career that have shaped her editorial voice and ability to secure written opportunities.

Highlights include:

Obell's time at North Carolina A&T

Learning her craft as a writer/reporter in Kentucky

Fly Eagles Fly

How she broke the internet/black twitter with her Black Chyna / Kardashian profile

How to maintain authenticity on social media, on camera, and in the written world

The responsibility of hosting Hella Opinions

Her latest byline, Lizzo interview for Essence Magazine.

The Greatest HBCU homecoming of all time

And more.

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Black Enterprise’s Selena Hill returns to #POTB to discuss the historic donation to cover the tuition of the 2019 graduating class of Morehouse.

The Black billionaire, Robert F. Smith, and his family promised to pay over $40 million in student debt to set these young men on what could be an incredible financial path. Selena schools us on what this means for future HBCU classes and more.

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We can’t believe it, home team. It is our one year anniversary for Points on the Board.

On this special episode, Bryon and I are going to take a look back on past of our favorite guests and moments that stood out.

The mission of points on the board was to put on display and show how sports and culture and the leaders in both industries are forever intertwined for their love of competition. And the POTB clips we dropped in this episode most definitely reflect that.

Guests featured on this episode

Kareem Biggs Burke

Eboni K Williams

Freeway

Coodie and Chike

Taylor Rooks

Maude Arnold

And more.

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Points On The Board is a podcast where managing editor, Kyle Harvey, Shadow League contributors, and guests break down the top stories from sports, culture and more.

The low key OG director duo Coodie and Chike stopped by during the Tribeca Film festival to talk about their latest project on Stephon Marbury - A Kid From Coney Island. A New York basketball great and a legend in China, Marbury’s story is one that sheds light on mental health, failure and success, and overcoming adversity.

The guys also reflect on what it was like making "Benji" for ESPN's 30 for 30 film series.

Highlights include:

Early Kanye West stories

Gaining Stephon Marbury’s Trust

Similarities in Benji and Nipsey Hustle’s death

Music videos they would have loved to direct

The most important sports jerseys in Chicago and New Orleans

And more.

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