We’re back. In the second and final part of episode 42, Mr. Allen and I speak about Hip-Hop being the most honest genre of music, the difference between public relations and journalism, why he made the subject of the project turtablism instead of any of the other three elements of Hip-Hop. He spoke about creating a DJ septet as a Hip-Hop re-imagining of a big band, the erasure of the DJ in rap groups, and sending records to space. Please LIKE, COMMENT, & SUBSCRIBE. Words Matter. 

CHECK OUT HARRY'S HARBANGER COLLOQUIUM!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnbDwvCj4vk&t=5413s

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We got another two parter y’all! We have Harry Allen, one of three of the 2024-2025 Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellows from the Harvard Hip Hop Archive. Mr. Allen is a longtime Hip-Hop journalist, media personality, educator, and member of the legendary Public Enemy. Today, we’re here to speak about his fellowship project harbanger. In his own words, harbanger is a turntablist septet, and an experimental hip-hop research project created at MIT in 2020 designed to investigate turntable polyphony, polyrhythm, and polysemantics. This may sound like a foreign language to most so we get into that during this interview. In part one of this week’s episode, Mr. Allen explains how harbanger represents an alternate reality of hip-hop being taken seriously when it was formed instead of initially being written off as a silly fad like most things that Black people create. He spoke about the difference between “art music” and “commerce music,” commercialization of Hip-Hop, what “crossing over” means, his relationship with Chuck D and Public Enemy, what being the “Media Assassin” meant, hip-hop being “reasonable,” and so much more. Stay tuned for part two coming next week. Please LIKE, COMMENT, & SUBSCRIBE! Words Matter.

CHECK OUT HARRY'S HARBANGER COLLOQUIUM!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnbDwvCj4vk&t=5413s

SUBSCRIBE TO WORDS MATTER NETWORK ONLINE!https://www.wordsmatternetwork.com/

APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/words-matter-pod-w-akil-pinnock/id1617394062

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/0YvGpb3HRumh4B6CDtKAom?si=f4272d0c0c644e1a CHECK US OUT ON SOCIALS!

Host: https://www.instagram.com/akngozi/ Words Matter Pod: https://www.instagram.com/wordsmatterpod/ Words Matter Network: https://www.instagram.com/wordsmatternetwork/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/_AkNgozi TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@wordsmatterpod?lang=en

This week’s guest is James Pitt, founder of American Felon TV. American Felon TV is a social media and YouTube platform that documents crimes and landmark events in his life and Rockland County, NY. While I understand many in the comments may interpret the existence of American Felon TV as a platform that’s stuck in the past and glorifies crime, to Pitt, he’s telling these stories as a method to deter youth from a life of crime and incarceration, as well as highlighting and interviewing felons who have turned their life around. Pitt talks about how growing up being poor and the ridicule that comes with that, led to him eventually fighting back which led to a life of crime and violence. We spoke about handling his newfound fame and dealing with online trolls, re-adjusting to the free world, fighting recidivism, the difference between glorification and documentation, what he had to unlearn from prison, and much more. I say this all the time but this was a really great episode and when the American Felon TV Instagram page was brought to my attention, I instantly knew that this was someone that we needed to interview. Relative to the world of crime, these stories aren’t the most unique, but within the context of our hometown of Spring Valley, NY, these are the stories of our community that need to be told. The suburbs experience some of the same hardships that people from the cities experience such as, the school-to-prison pipeline, crime, homelessness, underfunded public school districts, and gentrification. Hopefully this channel and interview can be informative to listeners like you and contribute to everyone understanding each other just a little better so that we can co-exist without judgement. Please LIKE, COMMENT, AND SUBSCRIBE! Words Matter. 

SUBSCRIBE TO WORDS MATTER NETWORK ONLINE!https://www.wordsmatternetwork.com/ APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/words-matter-pod-w-akil-pinnock/id1617394062 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/0YvGpb3HRumh4B6CDtKAom?si=f4272d0c0c644e1a CHECK US OUT ON SOCIALS!Host: https://www.instagram.com/akngozi/ Words Matter Pod: https://www.instagram.com/wordsmatterpod/ Words Matter Network: https://www.instagram.com/wordsmatternetwork/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/_AkNgozi TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@wordsmatterpod?lang=en VIDEO EDIT: https://www.instagram.com/jelaniaswad/INSTRUMENTAL: https://www.instagram.com/hegot_flame/

Welcome back. As promised, we’re back with part two of Crunk as a Resistance w/ Dr. Kevin C. Holt. In part two, Dr. Holt speaks about the Memphis sound of Three 6 Mafia and Miami Bass being the forefathers of Crunk, Atlanta’s local Bass artists becoming local celebrities, how Atlanta’s version of Bass turned into Crunk, Lil Jon being the face of Crunk, Atlanta’s wealth gap, Kendrick Lamar’s last verse on “Not Like Us,” and so much more. Please LIKE, COMMENT, AND SUBSCRIBE! Words Matter 

SUBSCRIBE TO WORDS MATTER NETWORK ONLINE!https://www.wordsmatternetwork.com/ APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/words-matter-pod-w-akil-pinnock/id1617394062 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/0YvGpb3HRumh4B6CDtKAom?si=f4272d0c0c644e1a CHECK US OUT ON SOCIALS!Host: https://www.instagram.com/akngozi/ Words Matter Pod: https://www.instagram.com/wordsmatterpod/ Words Matter Network: https://www.instagram.com/wordsmatternetwork/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/_AkNgozi TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@wordsmatterpod?lang=en VIDEO EDIT: https://www.instagram.com/magnet_vibez/INSTRUMENTAL: https://www.instagram.com/hegot_flame/

We got another two parter and it’s very nerdy! Today’s guest is Dr. Kevin C. Holt, Assistant Professor of Critical Music Studies at SUNY Stony Brook University,  one of three of Harvard Universities 2024-2025 Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellows, and author of I Bet You Won’t Get Crunk! The Performative Resistance of Atlanta Hip-Hop Party Music. In part one of this interview, Dr. Holt and I speak about the enormity of a Harvard fellowship being named after Nas, the elitist nature of Hip-Hop analysis in academia, Crunk as a resistance to the status quo, it's connection to Freaknik, and Hip-Hop helping change the perception of the south. After listening to this podcast you can see why Dr. Holt is who he is. Not many can make the connections he makes to understand the things you may consume passively on a daily basis. He’s a wealth of knowledge and I hope that whoever listened or watched part one of the interview can leave with a different perspective on what we’ve discussed, specifically Crunk music, it’s origins and what it represented. If you enjoyed part one of this interview, then you’ll enjoy part two next week. Please LIKE, COMMENT, AND SUBSCRIBE! Words Matter 

SUBSCRIBE TO WORDS MATTER NETWORK ONLINE!https://www.wordsmatternetwork.com/ APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/words-matter-pod-w-akil-pinnock/id1617394062 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/0YvGpb3HRumh4B6CDtKAom?si=f4272d0c0c644e1a CHECK US OUT ON SOCIALS!Host: https://www.instagram.com/akngozi/ Words Matter Pod: https://www.instagram.com/wordsmatterpod/ Words Matter Network: https://www.instagram.com/wordsmatternetwork/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/_AkNgozi TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@wordsmatterpod?lang=en VIDEO EDIT: https://www.instagram.com/magnet_vibez/INSTRUMENTAL: https://www.instagram.com/hegot_flame/

Today’s guest is Brian ‘Z’ Zisook. Co-founder and Senior Vice President of Global Operations and head of Artist and Label Services at Audiomack, an artist first music streaming platform that allows artists to upload music and fans to stream and download songs. He is also one of the founders of DJ Booth, a mixtape hosting streaming service and later, an industry leader in music journalism that entered into a content partnership with Audiomack in 2020. Z and I discussed the platform he’s created for himself on X (formerly known as Twitter) as a beacon of music business education, being a true advocate for artists and attributing that to why he’s never wanted to start a label, what his intentions were when creating Audiomack, carrying yourself with integrity as a white person in Hip-Hop, fans focusing heavily on sales and accolades, and more. Please LIKE, COMMENT, & SUBSCRIBE!

SUBSCRIBE TO WORDS MATTER NETWORK ONLINE!https://www.wordsmatternetwork.com/ APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/words-matter-pod-w-akil-pinnock/id1617394062 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/0YvGpb3HRumh4B6CDtKAom?si=f4272d0c0c644e1a CHECK US OUT ON SOCIALS!Host: https://www.instagram.com/akngozi/ Words Matter Pod: https://www.instagram.com/wordsmatterpod/ Words Matter Network: https://www.instagram.com/wordsmatternetwork/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/_AkNgozi TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@wordsmatterpod?lang=en VIDEO EDIT: https://www.instagram.com/magnet_vibez/INSTRUMENTAL: https://www.instagram.com/hegot_flame/

In part two, Dr. Boyd and I discuss the complicated legacy of Sylvia Robinson, founder of Sugarhill Records and if The Sugarhill Gang are “industry plants,” the kinship between hip-hop and jazz and why ultimately, hip-hop will be heard in the same prestigious cultural venues as jazz music. He also spoke on why MCing and DJing are the only elements of Hip-Hop that can be commodified, lyrics being used to incriminate rappers, hip-hop being aspirational, why people should read Rappers Deluxe, and much more. Please LIKE, COMMENT, AND SUBSCRIBE. Words Matter 

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For the second time, we have Blvk H3ro. By the time this episode is released, H3ro will be on tour for his debut album, On A Mission, so I was happy he was able to sit down with Words Matter Pod before he got super busy on the road. In this week’s episode, we spoke about what it feels like to release your debut album, his music reflecting his personal growth, bridging the gap between the younger and older generation of reggae artists, the significance of the Grammy’s to Jamaicans and so much more. It’s Always good to sit down with H3ro and get his unique perspective. On A Mission out now on all DSP’s. Words Matter.

It’s good to be back! This week we have licensed psychotherapist, public speaker, podcaster, stand-up comic and author of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy with Clients Managing Trauma, The Solution Focused Marriage: 5 Simple Habits That Will Bring Out the Best in Your Relationship, Solution Building in Couples Therapy, The Art of Solution Focused Therapy and the Solution Focused Brief Therapy Diamond, Elliott Connie. Connie spoke about his tough upbringing, being s*icidal as a child, normalizing psychotherapy in the Black community, children advocating for themselves, solution focused people vs. “woe is me” people, and of course, much more. I had a lot of insightful fun listening to Mr. Connie’s perspective. It’s a breath of fresh air to speak to a person with what some would consider unconventional ideas have the knowledge and credentials to back their theories. Much respect to Mr. Elliot Connie. Please LIKE, COMMENT, AND SUBSCRIBE. Words Matter.

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