BIOGRAPHY
From a young age, Desmond Powell always had a joyous and energetic personality. From basketball to football, and football to baseball, he gravitated towards sports instantly, but it was clear that basketball had a special place in his heart. As he got older, whether it was playing basketball or listening to his favorite emcees, he knew it wasn't enough to merely be a fan of what he was interested in---the rush of excitement came as a participant. Once he started his college career at Olivet Nazarene University, he realized that while his hoop dreams might have passed him by, he didn't have to let go of them entirely.
After deciding to switch his major from Physical Education to Multimedia Communications, Desmond chose to pursue a potential career in radio after discovering his love for Hip-Hop. It was during this time as a radio student where he gained three years of experience as an on-air personality for ONU's student-run Christian Hip-Hop station Spark HD. It was also the period of his career where he became inspired to start podcasting during his last semester of school. In February 2021, he launched Hip 2 Da Games in the effort to emphasize positive discourse in both basketball & Hip-Hop culture. This quickly became more than just a creative endeavor for Desmond. While struggling to find a job post-graduation, he saw his podcast as an opportunity to build on his experience, master his skills, practice new ones, and quite frankly, hire himself. He approached his end-to-end production as if it was his life's work. Whether it was developing scripts, ensuring good audio quality, thorough video editing, interviewing guests, or social media creation, he didn't want to leave any stone unturned, and his work eventually led to his show being nominated for "Best Basketball Podcast" for the 2025 Sports Podcast Awards.
Desmond credits his Christian faith, family values, and love for the craft for his diligence. He takes pride in being a faithful steward of his work and always seeks to connect with his audience in a way that goes beyond the surface. Whether that was displayed by talking about professional athletes like the human beings they are, or bringing clarity to passionate yet misunderstood Hip-Hop lyrics, Desmond takes an immense amount of pride in showing up authentically to help bring the world closer together, even if it's just his small corner of it.
As Desmond continues his multimedia career, his mission will remain the same: to spread joy and kindness in the midst of entertainment through passionate, diligent, and purposeful work.