Official website of B Hyphen aka Kelen Conley.
In the 17th installment of Deleted Scenes, Marc sells “Little Big League,” Kat continues her lust over Kurt Russell, and Kelen has two words for Ellen DeGeneres and Kevin Hart fans. Also, if you’re reading this, you need to watch Brett Morgan’s “Moonage Daydream,” a film journey through the career of David Bowie.
Marcus “Showinmadlov” Robinson has decided to take an indefinite leave from his blog Marc Rob today, a proud sponsor of Hyphen Nation since 2017. We’ve collaborated over the years to make zero monies but the sponsorship was a success nonetheless.
In all seriousness, it makes me sad to see Marcus stepping away but as someone who’s walked away from many projects over the years for various reasons, I understand (I’m about to end another one soon and no, it’s not Hyphen Nation or Hyphen Podcast Group).
As I make YouTube thumbnails for 170+ episodes of the pod, I came across this photo that may have truly been the moment Hyphen Podcast Group was born.
I had been fired from my job, the pod hadn’t been coming out consistently, and I wondered if the whole endeavor had been a waste of time. Enter Marcus, who I had known for years and was the most consistent responder to my tweets. He had already participated in the questions episode and sent an email that he was a fan of the show by then. He suggested a debate between Kendrick’s To Pimp A Butterfly and Damn. He came to my house, brought beers, and we chopped it up in my basement for about 3 hours. He renewed my spirits after I got canned, made me want to jump back into the podcast, and even rejoined me the following episode to talk about Jay-Z’s 4:44. HPG wasn’t even in the plans, but without Marcus, I wouldn’t have reached out to Errick, Krystal, E, and Anthony to join this podcast network that had one podcast, no money, and no plan.
As he moves on from the blog, and as much as he’s helped me over the years, I just want to say how proud I am of how he’s grown. He was already a great writer but he used the blog to perfect his craft and I looked forward to new pieces. He became my semi-regular co-host on the pod and he helped get the biggest guest in the show to date in Ethan Strauss. He’s contributed to almost every iteration of shows from Hyphen Podcast Group and he’s now the co-host of his own movie podcast with the delightful Kat Chinetti. I know he’ll write again; the great ones always do. I look forward to our continued friendship and look forward to the day we can truly say we’re in business together.
My friends and family are too good for me. That’s all I’m going to say and let Marcus do the rest…
Circa 2006, while getting into random adventures that many college sophomores find themselves in, I bumped into Kelen while hanging with our mutual friend Rheadrea while riding around Morgantown, WV. Throughout the subsequent years, around town I’d catch Kelen hanging with Chris or Greg Flynn, or Moose, or Big Money Ed, or one of the many cast of mid-to-late-2000’s characters that ran through Motown during those easy days.
Staying in contact via Facebook, Twitter and tumblr throughout the years, we established a solid friendship. In 2011, tumblr was the first place where I began sharing my writing publicly and Kelen was one of the first people to read, share and embrace me as a creator. In fact, Kelen, I can say without a doubt, has consistently read my work longer than any other person. He’s always been a champion of fueling the creative spirit and thoughtfully exploring ideas.
Just a little over two years ago, I finally got the balls to ask to come on Kelen’s podcast Hyphen Nation as a guest and I got to be a part of Episode 34: Beers Make The World Go Round. We spent the night in his basement sippin’ brews, chopping it up about sports, movies and music. That conversation cemented our friendship; I am forever grateful to have someone in my corner that continually pushes me to reach greater heights with my craft. Thank you, Kelen.
As a token of my appreciation, I put together a gift. I got a few people together to say a few kind words to show their appreciation. Hope you enjoy, Kelen. Here’s to 100.
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