Unscripted, uncensored and unradio definitely describes a few of the various elements that make up the Fort ‘Nyt Hustle (FNH). The FNH on KFM is a phenomenal, youth-oriented, social, expressive, vibrant and cultural podcast that has just scored a spot on Cliff Central, every Wednesday at 17:30.

Founded by three very articulate and crazy-a$$ gentlemen, Ngunda Phiri a.k.a  @Guurd and Nhlakanipo Nhlapo a.k.a Hippo/@SirNhlapo serve as the hosts of the show while Prince a.k.a @kookfoodmusic holds it down as the show’s producer. Fort ‘Nyt Hustle came about 3 years ago when Hippo had to complete a radio assignment. He subsequently came up with the concept of the show as well as the idea of recording it as a podcast.

”Aiming to create the pre-eminent ‘infotainment’ online content hub. It’s about sharing in real conversations – everything that happens in our world, everything we all experience every day, what makes us think… makes us laugh… makes us cry… makes us angry… inspires us… what makes us human.”

The podcast focuses on emerging artists from the East Rand (eg areas such as Tembisa, Norkem Park,Birch Acres and so forth). The drive behind FNH is the idea of a youthful, explicit and expressive platform. “We are creating a social culture through music and opinions. We saw a gap in the radio market and realised that commercial radio stations aren’t what they used to be. There was a time where most listeners would be able to really resonate with the hosts and the type of music they used to play- FNH can relate to hardcore fans of the artists we feature, we also try and always find new and upcoming talent on the regular,” says Hippo.

Hippo first approached Prince and pitched the concept to him. Prince – who had already started his own record label Kook Food Music – says, “I was very intrigued and excited to start with the project because our target markets linked and I was very confident about getting artists who were trying to get exposure and a platform to showcase their music and talents.’’ Kook Food Music is part of the production umbrella that houses FNH. Prince has served as both their producer and music scout. “It’s absolutely insane how Kook gets to meet up with a variety of artists and unlike any [other] music listener, he is a producer and his has somewhat of a “third-ear’’ and [he] knows which artists would be best for the show,” adds Ngunda

“We knew that reaching our target market in the beginning wasn’t going to be much of a challenge – considering the work we put into compiling the show, we already know what our listeners want to hear. We acknowledge the importance of having a radio podcast people will actually like. ”explains Hippo. ‘’Social, expressive and vibrant culture…’’ What are those exactly? Honestly, the first time I heard their show, it took me back to the times when Rude Boy Paul and Khabzela used to be on radio. A time when real opinions about real issues that resonated with young people were discussed. Not in a dictatorship sense, but a sense of inclusion and community.

From being inspired by them and their aspirations from a young age to being in awe of their ability to use a podcast to create a social hub, Hippo and Ngunda have always sought to expand on ways to connect with people across Johannesburg. FNH manages to interact with the youth of our time and their experiences with each other.

In studio, their dynamic and explosive personalities come to life – and it’s where the 1619 take over happens. 1619 is kind of like their ‘’frequency’’ on internet radio and it doubles up as the postal code for their neighborhood.

”Like we said earlier, when this project started, we wanted to just focus on the East Rand as a social movement, but we then realized that people in the East Rand themselves are too open and that if we just stuck here, they would lose interest. [We] therefore started at looking at how we could put Johannesburg on the map as a whole and interlink the North, East, South and West. If you go across all those parts of Joburg you are sure to find people aspiring to be artist in all forms. That allowed us to grow the idea and conceptualise further,” explain the trio.

During this interview I managed to get two shows for you guys (the Live readers) to listen to. The first show gives you a sense of what type of podcast the FNH is. Be warned: it’s all rap and explicitly compiled. They also did a feature for Live Magazine called Live Future Sounds. Let me just tell you now, I was blown away with the content and varied sounds that you get to hear during the show.

After hanging out with the guys – and not just on a social tip but actually finding out what inspires them and what they aspire to do with the project – there is no doubt that they could be the biggest thing to come out of the internet radio movement. ”In 5 years FNH , will be a household name and we no longer just want to do this for fun – it will be work for us. We want to get recognition from abroad and see if we could collaborate with our established and aspiring radio jocks, artists and producers.” FNH on KFM in my opinion is a cool factor. Where you can kick back, jam and laugh – it sets a good vibe within their shows that show you what could be on radio.  Check out our Soundcloud link and tell us what you think of the Fort ‘Nyt Hustle (soundcloud.com/LiveMagSA)

Tumblr:  fortnythustle.tumblr.com 

Facebook: FNH on KFM

Twitter: @FortNytHustle

Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/fnhonkf1619

Please do check their show out and groove through on FNH on KFM only at 1619.

Follow me @KCSeshibe for my perspective on social culture and expressiveness.