Justin Hunte ’03 was studying abroad in Amsterdam on Sept. 11, 2001. A finance major, he was taking a painting class at the suggestion of an art history professor as a way to more fully appreciate art.

“Discovering that way of diving deep into a subject combined with studying abroad at an outlier point in history led me to a real exploratory space in my mind,” says Hunte.

It’s a space he continues to expand as head of video production and development for Ambrosia For Heads, director of content and strategic marketing for Empire Distribution, developer of BreakdownTBD and a weekly contributor on Shade 45’s All Out Show on SiriusXM.

“Dr. [Jim] Proctor always said at Wofford that every business has to know what they sell,” says Hunte. “I sell perspective. I sell a way to look at things. My perspective is only as valuable as the information I have. That means always learning.”

For Hunte, learning is a family expectation. His grandmother, Ernestine Powell, born in 1926 in Rocky Mount, N.C., graduated from Elizabeth State Teachers College in Elizabeth, N.C., in 1944. His mother, Shantel Hunte, graduated from North Carolina A&T and became a teacher as well. His father, Harold Hunte, is an engineer turned businessman with a degree from Northwestern University. It was no surprise when Hunte, who participated in Boys State and was a member of the first class of the Milliken Summer Leader Institute before enrolling at Wofford, took a position with Milliken and Co. in Manhattan right after graduation. Within three years, he was working as a vice president in the field of investment banking. Climbing the corporate ladder, however, didn’t stop him from diving deep again — this time into the poetry and rhythms of rap music.

“I started writing raps, then recording them in my cousin Shakim’s apartment,” says Hunte. He developed a new appreciation of the genre and a critical lens through which to listen. The work of Lupe Fiasco inspired him to share “daily quotables” from the artist, which became a blog. “It was the first time I ever contextualized something I was passionate about. I would go home after work and try to write album reviews or editorials. Eventually I started benchmarking what I was creating against what I was reading.”

That’s when Hunte became “The Company Man,” an alias he created while working at the bank to foil accidental dream killers.

In 2007-08 with the crash of the stock market, Hunte volunteered to take a buyout to start a career writing about the music of his generation. The journey took him from unpaid contributor for Brooklyn Bodega to radio host to editor-in-chief of HipHopDX in Los Angeles. Hunte values every experience — both paid and unpaid — because each gave him the opportunity to “get reps” and prepare for the next opportunity to learn something new.

He developed HHDX’s video platform and YouTube channel. He experimented with video programming and hit the jackpot with The Breakdown, an in-depth podcast on a single industry event. It was a major departure from conventional wisdom regarding video content and length.

“We went light on news and heavy on perspective, and audiences responded by blowing up the channel,” says Hunte. “After that we also found ways to work social issues into conversations about rap music — life through the lens of hip-hop. It became part of my brand and led to new avenues I didn’t expect” … like being invited in 2017 by The Oxford Union (Oxford University, England) to debate whether Kanye West is more relevant than William Shakespeare. Hunte and his teammates argued for Shakespeare and won.

“It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done,” says Hunte, who now gets several calls each week from college students who want to interview him about his work. “I got back from Oxford with more confidence than ever. I knew it was time to tackle new giants.”

Hunte left HHDX and began his own YouTube channel with 85,000 subscribers. He has just signed his first artist — Willie Jones — to the EMPIRE Distribution label and is taking EMPIRE into the world of country music.

Hunte believes he’s had a series of dream jobs and has a hard time narrowing down his favorite experiences and interviews — Quincy Jones, P. Diddy, Master P, Wu-Tang Clan, Martin Shkreli while he was being investigated by the FBI (Hunte’s interview was used as evidence in the case), Snoop Dog in the Westlake Studios’ Bubbles Room, where Michael Jackson’s chimpanzee stayed while Jackson was recording “Thriller.”

“I know a lot of people whose passions are their paychecks. It’s not necessarily separate, but when you try to chase money exclusively, you may miss out on life. I’ve never had a check that made me cry, and I’ve never felt satisfied professionally solely because I got paid for it,” he says.

As usual, Hunte is articulate, wise and ready for his next deep dive … whatever that may be.

By Jo Ann Mitchell Brasington ’89