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With its spirited conversations, passion for the music and guests appearances by R&B stars, the fun “I Only Listen to ‘90s Music” podcast is quickly finding its niche.
Hosted by St. Louisans Scott Hilliard, Stacey Stringfellow (in Texas) and Darryl Frierson, the show grew from a Facebook group called “I Only Listen to ‘90s R&B.”
Stringfellow and Hilliard started the group in 2019, and in March 2020, Frierson helped create the podcast. He and Matt Whitener were building their own podcast network, SOLC. The slight name change helped broaden its appeal, mostly adding hip-hop to the mix.
“I started doing it, and it really gained traction,” Frierson says. The podcast gained some early notoriety when Omar Wilson noted that the show had joked about his remake of Quincy Jones’ 1990 classic, “The Secret Garden. The original featured Barry White, AL B Sure, James Ingram and El DeBarge; Wilson’s remake featured Sisqo, Shawn Stockman and Raheem DeVaughn. Wilson did an interview with the podcast before the song’s release.
“He let us get his first interview, for real,” Frierson says. “That’s what made it blow up.”
One week singer Garfield Bright (of Shai) left Stringfellow stunned by a surprise appearance.
“She couldn’t talk the first five or 10 minutes,” Frierson says. “She was just sitting there listening.”
“Staci and Scott run the engine,” he says. “They’re so good at what they do — the concepts, contacting people. They come up with things. They know their stuff. I’m just there.”
More than a dozen shows are part of the SOLC podcasting network, including “Common’tary,” “Politics as Usual,” “The Scenario,” “Scenario Sports,” “Just Kickin It,” “Soccer Cast,” “Mic Checka,” “Headz or Tailz” and “Hiphopcracy.” “We Comin’ for You,” a wrestling podcast, is the most popular in the network. A show with St. Louis hip-hop legend DJ Charlie Chan Soprano with Rhashad Whittier is in the works. By Kevin C. Johnson