Matt Linder & Krystal Nylle Roberts Interview (Flickers)
Matt Linder is a hip-hop scholar, freelance podcast producer, and the creator of Flickers, a podcast exploring the work and lives of musicians who incorporate spirituality in their music. The newest season is all about Lauryn Hill, which is why Matt brought on Krystal Nylle Roberts, a writer and self-described “Lauryn Hill researcher.”
How did you get to where you are today, professionally?
Krystal Nylle Roberts: I left to go to college at age 17 with the idea of majoring in business so that I could start my own recording label and write songs for my artists. Four years later, I came out with a degree in business administration from Florida A&M University expected by everyone to enter corporate America, and that’s what I did—begrudgingly. The dream of my label and a songwriting career was dead because I had to make money and I hadn’t learned enough about entrepreneurship to sustain myself and build a damn record label.
Instead, my songwriting became just a hobby, but writing poetry and performing spoken word became a passion. I spent time on the spoken word scene in Atlanta where I developed confidence in my voice, and where I really regained my burning passion for writing. Over the past 17 years, I’ve worked in corporate America on and off as I’ve quit many jobs periodically to pursue different things. I was an open mic host for a while. I quit to try to start my own digital marketing company. I quit to attend graduate school at the Savannah College of Art and Design where I got my MFA in professional writing. I quit to become an Adjunct English teacher for a year and a half before COVID hit. That’s just to name a few. I’ve published some poetry and an essay in between and traveled the East Coast by Amtrak, just to document life and figure out my path.