YouTuber Brian “B High” Hightower tells the story of Atlanta while staying true to his roots

“Then I thought maybe this isn’t the best place to see celebrities come and hang out in the middle of this damn neighborhood. So let me make sure I have a safe, secure place, so that when TI comes in, he can park his car, come straight in and no one knows he’s in the building or he’s in the center- city.

This is not hypothetical; Clifford “TI” Harris was a guest on an episode of B High TV in January.

Hightower, who also employs a small team of three to four people, adds: “It plays a role in how content comes out when (guests) enter a room…They feel safe so they can open up and talk. . So I have to look up to it.

Born at Crawford Long Hospital (now Emory Midtown), he spent his early years living near the famous Blue Flame Lounge strip club on Harwell Road. He grew up in the Ben Hill community and says his parents used their relatives’ addresses in Adamsville and the Cascade neighborhood so he could attend Collier Heights Elementary School and Southwest Middle School.

He is also the grandson of the founder of the Greater Elizabeth Missionary Baptist Church, Rev. Dr. James E. Hightower. And after graduating from Mays High School, Hightower earned a degree in mass media arts from Clark Atlanta University.

With a fully stamped Atlanta passport and an ATLien accent straight out of an OutKast album sketch, it’s clear why Hightower’s YouTube catalog sounds like a classic Atlanta-Southern hip-hop mixtape. He doesn’t just play the part; he saw it.

Hightower’s video interviews have included many high-profile journalists representing hip-hop culture in Atlanta and beyond. There are conversations with underground Atlanta rap royalty like Raheem the Dream, Southern rap statesmen like UGK’s Bun B, Memphis legend Playa Fly, ATL’s eternal ambassador Killer Mike , as well as today’s A-Town rappers like Lil’ Baby and 21 Savage. – especially before achieving fame.

You’ll also find interviews with controversial figures like conservative activist Angela Stanton-King, former drug lord Andre Willis, a defendant in the trial of former Atlanta lawyer Fred Tokars, and incarcerated or fallen rappers like YFN Lucci, Trouble and Bankroll Fresh, making the channel a sort of storytelling time capsule.

“I went to school with killers, drug dealers, thieves, pimps and prostitutes, but I also went to school with lawyers, doctors, engineers, pediatricians and people who work regularly,” Hightower says of the wide range of people he invites for his activities. interviews. “That’s how I was raised, I talk to everyone the same way.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8LITBwe95A

Hightower’s rise didn’t happen overnight, although it kind of did. His career began in 2005 with an internship at Atlanta radio station Hot 107.9 FM while studying at Clark Atlanta. From there, he became a board operator, handling broadcast equipment in the station’s studios and progressing to his own late-night show, from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m., in 2008 .

Later in 2010, he became a producer for Gangsta Grillz Radio, a program hosted by influential hip-hop DJ DJ Drama. It was around this time, between 2010 and 2011, that Gangsta Grillz co-host Trendsetter Sense advised him to start doing interviews to differentiate his show.

“At first I was like, ‘I’m spending the night.’ No one wants to do or hear any interviews overnight,” says Hightower. Yet he developed a strategy of recording interviews during business hours and airing edited versions during his graveyard show, reasoning that club-goers might still be tuning in.

“The Atlanta nightlife was still there back then and people were listening to the radio on their way home, so I thought I’d give it a try.”

Credit: Courtesy of B High TV

Credit: Courtesy of B High TV

Hightower admits he was frustrated in the past by what seemed like a lack of support from his superiors and peers at the radio station, who didn’t understand his vision. But this lack of attention allowed him to try new things without anyone watching.

He began spending his own money to hire videographers to record his interviews, upload them to YouTube, and turn the audio into podcasts. This was in 2012, long before such programming strategies were common in the radio world, particularly in Atlanta, which made Hightower a pioneer.

He remembers interviewing veteran artists and giving them their flowers long before today’s popular shows, like rapper Noreaga’s boozy talk show “Drink Champs,” made the concept acceptable. “I’ve always been a history buff and really wanted to tell everyone’s story. And I wasn’t going to stop until every story was told,” he says.

“(There’s) not a podcast that really got this town moving without coming and sitting down with me at some point and having a damn game,” Hightower says looking back.

Being an early adopter had other benefits. Some of Hightower’s first guests were then little-known rappers, such as Future and Rich Homie Quan, who have since turned local buzz into international recognition, fame and success.

In 2014, as Hightower began to build a following, he was fired. He remembers being stung by the unfortunate timing, but luckily he was rehired at the radio station two weeks later, returning to his duties as board operator before securing an early evening slot , from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

With a second chance, he gave his mission a boost. “I took it upon myself to move a lot of these Southern stories to the internet that didn’t have a place,” says Hightower, who parted ways with the radio station and launched his own platform in 2020.

The story Hightower says he really likes to tell is that, contrary to popular belief, Atlanta can be a lucrative media hub.

In 2018, tech entrepreneur Issac Hayes III caused a viral stir with comments suggesting that Atlanta had no equivalent to shows like “TMZ” or “The Breakfast Club,” despite being considered the core of black culture and entertainment. This has compounded the long-held idea that local talent seeking success in media should leave Atlanta for the greener career pastures of New York or Los Angeles.

It’s an idea that Hightower says is outdated. He has been approached about expanding his platform to larger media networks, but he says he prefers to run his own ship, without any corporate influence. And Hightower cites the late Atlanta media pioneer Arnell Starr, whose local video program American Music Makers inspired him to stay in the city.

“We praise affiliation but hate ownership,” Hightower says when asked about those inclinations and why B High TV is in the first place.

“In Atlanta, it’s still the independent platforms that are really doing the work and really getting the message out.”