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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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.
Episode 233 with Jazmina Barrera Velázquez, Author of Cross-Stitch/Punto de Cruz, and Wise Chronicler of the Vagaries of Friendship and History and their Effects on the World
Episode 232 with Kate Brody, Author of Rabbit Hole and Master of Writing Intriguing and Flawed Characters and Crackling Plotlines
Episode 231-April 13, 2024 Live Event to Launch Jose Vadi's Chipped, a reflective, creative, subtly brilliant essay collection
Episode 230 with Chelsea T. Hicks, Author of the Story Collection, A Calm & Normal Heart, Revitalizer and Student of the Osage Language, and Crafter of Poetic, Timely, and Timeless Stories
Episode 229 with Will Sommer, Author of Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Reshaped America, and Keen and Thorough Chronicler of the QAnon Movement Through The Washington Post
Episode 228 with Jennifer Croft, Author of The Extinction of Irena Rey and Award-Winning Translator, and Master of Worldbuilding, Highly-Allegorical Yet Masterfully-Plotted Fiction, and Nuance
Episode 227 with Gina Chung, Author of Green Frog, a Dazzling Collection of Poignant, Offbeat, Chillingly-Realistic and Fantastical Stories
Episode 226 with Priscilla Gilman, Author of The Critic's Daughter and Skilled and Thoughtful Chronicler of the Universal and the Intimately Personal
Episode 225 with Andrés N Ordorica, Author of How We Named the Stars and Generous Creator of Poignant, Resonant "Love and Loss" Scenes and Utterly Memorable Characters
Episode 224 with Peter Coviello, Enthusiastic and Deeply Knowledgeable Critic and Celebrator of Moving Art, and Author of the Essay Collection, Is There God After Prince
Episode 223 with Sarah Rose Etter, Master Balancer of Surrealism, Realism, Dark Humor, and Themes of Grief and Anxiety that are Timely and Timeless
Episode 222 with Andrew Leland, Author of The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight, and Masterful Chronicler of His and Other Journeys with Blindness and its Intersections with our World
Episode 221 with Martha Anne Toll, Renaissance Woman, Book Reviewer, Creative, and Award-Winning Writer of the Moving, Contemplative Three Muses
Episode 219 with Roxanna Asgarian, Principled and Dogged Reporter, Caring and Clear-Eyed Journalist and Author of We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America
Episode 218 with Melissa Rivero, Author of Flores and Miss Paula, Keen Observer of Modern Corporate Life and Nuanced Chronicler of Grief’s Many Permutations
Episode 217 with Jeff Sharlet, Author of The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, and Sharp-Eyed Chronicler of Impending Fascism and Previous Fighters in The Movements
Episode 216 with Kate Maruyama: Author of Bleak Houses, Master Worldbuilder, and Skilled Observer and Chronicler of Family Traumas, Class and Privilege, and Psychological Horrors Modern and Timeless
Episode 215 with Nick Fuller Googins, Reflective and Dynamic Worldbuilder, Educator, and Creator of the ”Hopeful” Climate Crisis Novel, The Great Transition
Episode 214 with Leah Myers, Chronicler of the Heartfelt, the Specific, the Universal, and the Myth and Proud History of the Jamestown S’Klallam in the Memoir, Thinning Blood
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