The Hilltop Glove Podcast
The Hilltop Glove Podcast is where culture meets economics. Based in the Carolinas, THG explores Southern creative life through candid conversations with artists, entrepreneurs, musicians, organizers, and cultural leaders. We talk about hip-hop, art, business, politics, identity, community, and the forces shaping the South—but underneath every conversation is a bigger question: Who creates the culture, who owns it, and who gets to benefit from it? The Hilltop Glove: Where Culture Meets Economics.
Episodes
203 episodes
Hector Vaca Cruz: Why Images Can Build Solidarity
A lot of photography is about what we see. This conversation is about who gets to be seen and what it costs when people are pushed into silence. We talk with Charlotte-based documentary photographer and community organizer
Syxxteen King: You Can Reinvent Your Sound At Any Age
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...
Anawetha: The Pawn Shop Snare That Beat Everybody
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 ...
Lenayah Rayford: No Face No Case In The Gallery
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...
Rylie Dae: A Young Emcee Explains Why Real Stories Matter
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,...
Elijah Bradford: How A Church Kid Built Mr. Thaddeus On Stage
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 Carolin...
Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon: Stop Rapping Like You Texting
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 Lyd...
Understanding Domestic Violence Red Flags: Amber's Sancutary of Hope
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 Ka...
J00Ny3r: Can Independent Hip-Hop Survive the Social Media Era?
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 h...
Barry White: Drawing In The Watchtower Margins Paid Off
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...
Jackie Bobo: What Is “Happy Spooky” and The Art of Being Black, Queer & Unapologetically Yourself
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 Col...
Vitus Shell: Black Art, Hip-Hop & the Politics Behind His Work
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 mi...
Season Six Wrap-Up
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 grassroot...
How Art And Farming Heal Isolation And Stress
The world keeps telling us to move faster, produce more, and optimize everything, but your body is keeping receipts. Andrea “Digital Draya” Lashay and
Luciid Soul On Building Your Own Sound
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 ...
If AI Can Mix Your Set, What’s Left?
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...
Gumbo Sound: Alexis "AP" Pipkins Jr.
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 li...
Stop Asking Artists To Draw You For Free
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 wor...
The Musical Mind Of Maxx Good$
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 s...
Clean Stories Through The Lens: Gavin Boulware
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 th...
What Happens When A Culture Loses Authenticity
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, S...
Doula Support That Actually Helps
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 ...
How Russell Earle Jr. Turned Six Months In South America Into A Book
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,
A Flash Flood Took Everything, And She Rebuilt With Kindness
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 shar...
How A Multidisciplinary Artist Turns Sound, Ritual, And History Into Collage
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, comm...