Episode 220 with Aniefiok Epoudom: Keen Chronicler of Hip-Hop, Football Culture and Pop Culture in the UK, and Savvy and Nuanced Master of Telling Personal Stories; Author of

Notes and Links to Aniefiok Epoudom’s Work

 

   For Episode 220, Pete welcomes Neef Epoudoum, and the two discuss, among other topics, his early reading and writing, varied fiction and nonfiction writers and their influences on him, the pull of creative nonfiction on him as he discovered favorite writers and their favorite writers, the ways in which he engenders trust with interview subjects, and salient themes and topic from his book, including the UK's Windrush Generation, the ways in which UK grime and rap have grown together and separately, the racism and classism that has shaped so much of modern UK grime and rap, the standout artists who have carved their names in UK music folklore, how these people are shaped by societal forces, and more.

   Aniefiok “‘Neef” Ekpoudom is a writer and storyteller from South London whose work documents community and culture in contemporary Britain. His debut book Where We Come From: Rap Home and Hope in Modern Britain is a social history of British Rap. It will be released via Faber & Faber in August 2023.

As a journalist, he writes longform essays and profiles for The Guardian, GQ and more. From charting a history of Black Football culture in South London to mapping the forces of migration and music that formed J Hus, his writing weaves social, cultural and narrative history to explore the current, lived realities of peoples across the UK.

Aniefiok’s writing has featured in a number of essay collections and anthologies, including #Merky Books titles Keisha The Sket (2021) and A New Formation: How Black Players Shaped The Modern Game (2022), as well as SAFE: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space (Trapeze, 2019).

Aniefiok was named on the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 List for Media & Marketing. He is a British Journalism Award winner for his work with The Guardian. He has also been named Culture Writer of the Year at the Freelance Writing Awards, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

He has worked with Nike, Netflix, Google, BBC, the Premier League, adidas, YouTube, Metallic Inc, COPA 90 and more.

Buy Where We Come From: Rap, Home & Hope in Modern Britain

 

Aniefiok's Website

 

 

At about 3:20, Neef talks about his mindset being two weeks away from his book’s publication and shares his experience in narrating the audiobook 

 

At about 6:35, Pete shares glowing blurbs for Where We Come From from Caleb Azumah Nelson and Musa Okwonga

 

At about 7:15, Neef discusses places at which to buy his book, like Pages in Hackney, Seven Oaks Bookshop, and Libreria Bookshop

 

At about 8:05, Neef talks about his language and reading lives during his childhood

 

At about 10:50, Neef talks about the impact that US and UK rap had on him as a kid

 

At about 14:45, Neef talks about the ways in which US rap and its genres and subgenres were/are viewed in the US, and how UK rap has been blended with Jamaican Sound System and US hip hop

 

At about 17:00, Neef responds to Pete’s question about his formation as a writer 

 

At about 18:15, Neef traces his return to heavy reading in university and his exposure to creative nonfiction/New Journalism legends like Gay Talese and Joan Didion

 

At about 21:20, Neef talks about the contemporary writers who thrill him and challenge him, like Wright Thompson, Hanif Abdurraqib, David Finkel, Gary Smith, and Jacqueline Woodson 

 

At about 26:25, Pete inquires about how Neef engenders trust from his interview subjects for his profiles 

 

At about 29:30, Neef discusses his evolving goals that informed his book

 

At about 32:25, Neef responds with why he started the book at a show for Giggs

 

At about 36:35, Neef explains the importance of UK grime as using 140 beats per minute, as well as some forebears of UK rap and grime-the Windrush Generation and Jamaican Sound System 

 

At about 42:30, Neef gives background on the amazing story of Cecil Morris and “Pirate Radio” 

 

At about 47:05, Neef describes So Solid’s garage music as a forebear of darker grime music that was to come 

 

At about 49:30, Neef and Pete discuss parallels between more raw, honest American rap and some years later with Despa and in UK grime

 

At about 51:45, The two discuss the immigrant communities of South Wales that Neef so expertly charts when writing about Astroid Boys 

 

At about 56:50, Neef gives background on how class often manifests in British life, and how writing the book changed the ways he saw class functioning

 

At about 1:00:33, Neef discusses the fusing of rap and grime and Cadet’s and Despa’s and others  

 

At about 1:02:00, Neef talks about the power of Despa’s “Meet the Artist” show

 

At about 1:04:30, Neef speaks to the legacy of Cadet after his tragic death in an auto accident

 

At about 1:09:20, Neef and Pete highlight how music helped with Pa Salieu’s anxieties

 

At about 1:10:00, Neef and Pete discuss the book’s last few chapters and the ways in which Neef depicts the ways in which music has changed 

 

At about 1:12:35, Neef speaks to what he sees for the future of grime and rap and other UK music forms and highlights strong signs of continued substance in the music of current stars

 

At about 1:16:00, Neef speaks about “lower barriers to entry” in current music for women and others, “flattening the playing field” for those often ignored 

 

At about 1:17:00, Neef speaks about exploring new projects, probably in fiction, and continuing to explore storytelling about contemporary 

 

At about 1:18:00, Southampton FC shout out!

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   I am very excited that starting in late January with this episode, I will have two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review-I’m looking forward to the partnership!

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   Please tune in for Episode 221 with Martha Anne Toll, whose debut novel, THREE MUSES, was shortlisted for Gotham Book Prize and won the Petrichor Prize for Finely Crafted Fiction; has worked as a critic and author interviewer at NPR Books, the Washington Post, Pointe Magazine, The Millions, and elsewhere. Martha publishes short fiction and essays in a wide variety of outlets; member of the National Book Critics Circle. 

   The episode will air on January 24.