The Hilltop Glove Podcast

Send us Fan Mail The spotlight moves fast, but real creativity has to last, and that’s where this conversation with Syxxteen King hits hardest. We sit down with the Aiken County, South Carolina rapper and independent creative to talk about what it looks like to keep building in Carolina hip hop when you’re not chasing a viral moment. He breaks down how watching serious studio work changed his stan...

Send us Fan Mail You can hear an artist’s whole backstory in the way they build a song, and Anawetha makes that real. We start with the roots: growing up around church, having strict “what you can listen to” rules, then catching a wider world of radio hits and internet-era influences that shaped his ear. From The Temptations and Michael Jackson to the unexpected lane of Linkin Park and early 2000s...

Send us Fan Mail A faceless portrait can say more about you than a selfie if the artist knows how to leave space for your story. We talk with Lenayah Rayford , a rising mixed media artist whose path runs from childhood sketchbooks and moving between Newburgh, New York and South Carolina to finding momentum through mentorship, volunteering, and a personal rule that changed everything: say yes more...

Send us Fan Mail A 12-year-old rapper shouldn’t be able to explain storytelling, fame, and money better than most adults, but Rylie Dae does. We talk with Rylie, a young artist from the Charleston, South Carolina area who’s grown up around music and creativity, and she brings a clear point of view: if your lyrics aren’t real, people can feel it. She shares her earliest music memories, what it was...

Send us Fan Mail Church culture can make people laugh, wince, and rethink everything they’ve been taught, sometimes in the same minute. We sit down with Elijah Bradford from Sumter, South Carolina, the creator of Mr. Thaddeus, to talk about why comedy can be a real form of ministry and why a stage play can reach people that church language pushes away. We get into Elijah’s creative pivot from a de...

Send us Fan Mail You can hear it in the way he talks about the work: Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon is not chasing a moment, he is building a system. We sit with the Charlotte-based hip hop artist Jahmonte Lyde to trace the full arc, from writing at age 10 in Akron, Ohio to shaping a sound that cuts through the Carolinas and travels far beyond it. Along the way, we dig into why certain songs earn repeat lis...

Send us Fan Mail Control does not always look like violence at first. Sometimes it shows up as “Where are you?” “Who are you with?” surprise pop-ups, phone checking, and the slow squeeze of isolation until you barely recognize your own life. We sit down with Kandace Kelly and Sharon Herndon (Amber's Sanctuary of Hope) to name those early domestic violence warning signs clearly, especially the...

Send us Fan Mail Culture doesn’t just live in playlists, it lives in places, families, and the choices artists make when nobody is watching. Skip sits down with J00Ny3r, a Charleston-based MC who’s carving out a lane in independent hip hop while still calling himself “aspiring” for a reason: he’s more interested in getting better than pretending he’s already arrived. We talk about a military upbri...

Send us Fan Mail One day you’re sketching superheroes in the margins just to get through a meeting. The next, you’re using paint to pull yourself back into your own life. We talk with Barry White , also known as Typheadamus, about the long road from childhood art sparks to a grown-man decision that changed everything: stop shrinking and start being seen. Barry opens up about growing up Jehovah’s W...

Send us Fan Mail Something wild happens when art looks sweet enough to eat, then hits you with a ghost, a spider, or a hard truth you weren’t expecting. We sit down with Jackie Bobo , a self-taught Columbia, South Carolina artist whose signature style is “happy spooky” bright, funky color paired with whimsically macabre motifs and a whole lot of heart. Her story starts with an interactive-art chil...

Send us Fan Mail You can hear it right away: Vitus Shell doesn’t treat art like a mystery. He treats it like a practice built from choices, community, and a long memory. We talk with the Monroe, Louisiana born mixed media collage painter and University of Louisiana Monroe professor about how he plans his career with real intention, how his time in music taught him to read the room, and why writing...

Send us Fan Mail Columbia is overflowing with talent, so why does it still feel hard to connect the dots between artists, events, resources, and real support? We close out Season 6 by getting in the weeds on what we’ve learned from years of building a grassroots podcast that’s here for the community first, while still caring about quality, consistency, and craft. You’ll hear us shout out the peopl...

Send us Fan Mail The world keeps telling us to move faster, produce more, and optimize everything, but your body is keeping receipts. Andrea “Digital Draya” Lashay and Rockelle Love join us to talk about what happens when we treat creativity as a luxury instead of a basic human need and how that mindset quietly fuels stress, isolation, and burnout. We dig into the surprising relationship between a...

Send us Fan Mail A great voice is only part of the story. We’re joined by Shanisha Watkins, aka Luciid Soul, an R&B artist, professional audio engineer, filmmaker, and Air Force veteran who breaks down what it really takes to create music that feels honest and sounds polished, even when you’re recording at home. We talk through her roots in Winnsboro, South Carolina, the church choir foundatio...

Send us Fan Mail A DJ set can look “fine” from the booth and still be falling apart in the crowd. We talk with Clif Tha Supa Producer (CTSP), a DJ, producer, and musician from Hopkins, South Carolina, about the part of the job nobody can fake: creating a feeling in real time and keeping it alive for hours. Cliff takes us from growing up around vinyl records, band rooms, and strict-but-loving paren...

Send us Fan Mail A band can sound amazing and still fall apart if nobody owns the vision, the structure, and the hard conversations. We sit down with Alexis Pipkins Jr. (AP) to unpack what it really takes to lead a creative team and why he treats bandleading like management, not vibes. From his Florence, South Carolina roots to building AP & Soulful Touche in Columbia, AP shares how early chur...

Send us Fan Mail A shoe polish drawing on a grandfather’s door turns into a lifelong blueprint for confidence, craft, and calling. We sit down with Shaneka Jackson-Kinsey, a South Carolina mixed media visual artist and art teacher known for soulful portrait work and bold self-portraits, to talk about how belief at the right moment can shape an entire creative life. We get into why eyes are her fav...

Send us Fan Mail A lot of artists talk about “the grind,” but Maxx Good$ breaks down what the grind actually looks like when you are an artist, producer, and self-taught audio engineer building your sound from the ground up. We kick things off with his story, born in Brooklyn and moved to upstate South Carolina, and how his mom’s weekly adventures to libraries, museums, and plays shaped the way he...

Send us Fan Mail You can tell a lot about a photographer by what they think the job actually is. With Gavin Boulware , the answer is clear: the camera matters, but trust matters more. We sit down with the Charlotte, North Carolina photographer to trace his path from an $89 point-and-shoot and “trash” early photos to weddings, portraits, and a reputation that makes clients feel safe before he ever...

Send us Fan Mail Fame can hit overnight and disappear even faster, so we sit down with DJ Chuck T to talk about what actually lasts: respect, skill, and a real name in your community. From Charleston, South Carolina to the Carolina hip hop scene, Chuck shares how a military household, an educator’s mindset, and deep church roots shaped his discipline, his voice, and his ability to lead rooms long...

Send us Fan Mail Birth prep gets marketed like a checklist, but the hard parts usually show up in the gaps: the first painful latch, the exhaustion at 2 a.m., the moment you realize you do not know the right question to ask a nurse or doctor. We wanted to talk about the real experience, so we brought on Shannon Allen, a postpartum doula and lactation care provider and the founder of Desires of the...

Send us Fan Mail We sit down with Russell Earle Jr . to trace how a six-month solo trip through South America and a daily journaling habit turned into his debut memoir, Until I Came Home . We also get real about the craft and business of being an author, from editing and audiobooks to reviews, distribution, and showing up consistently.  Make sure to visit https://russellearlejr.com/ to learn more...

Send us Fan Mail We sit down with Tanisha Hall aka Queen It Shall Be to talk about choosing kindness as a daily practice and turning creativity into something your whole community can feel. She shares how family history, honest parenting, and building culturally rooted games help her rebuild after loss and keep showing up as the light.  • Growing up between Brooklyn and South Carolina while becomi...

Send us Fan Mail What if your reflection could show more than skin and bone—what if it revealed your higher-dimensional self? We sit down with multidisciplinary artist Dogon Krigga to trace a path from DIY hip-hop forums and GIMP downloads to museum walls, community residencies, and a practice that treats collage like choreography and sound like sculpture. Dogon shares how mentors Tom Feelings and...

Send us Fan Mail What if the thing you lacked most became your greatest superpower? That’s the thread running through our conversation with self-taught muralist Ija Charles, whose first “supplies” were berries, dirt, and rhinestones pulled off jeans—and whose work now lights up schools, galleries, and whole city blocks across South Carolina. We dig into the choices that shaped her: staying rooted...