Photo Credit: Amanda Lee Coffey

Each month, we will speak to an athlete, celebrity, or non-Hip Hop entertainer about what Hip Hop means to them. This feature is intended to showcase how far-reaching the influence of Hip Hop culture has grown in the past 50 years and how much the culture means to so many.

This month, we spoke with Donnovan Bennett

A member of the Sportsnet team since 2013, Donnovan’s work as a producer, host, and radio host often touches on intersections between sports and race, politics, gender, and pop culture. He has been nominated for numerous broadcasting awards and is considered one of Canada’s foremost sports broadcasters.

He is also the host of the popular ‘Going Deep‘ podcast.

So DONNOVAN BENNETT, what does Hip-Hop mean to you?

“Hip Hop is the soundtrack of my life. I use it in my storytelling as a content creator, both personally on social media and professionally in linear broadcast television production. I have a Hip Hop playlist to hype me up before a meeting, a playlist to get me through a run, and a playlist to play when hosting family and friends. It impacts everything from the way I dress to the way I handle stress. Even when I’m reading “Llama Llama Red Pyjama” to my kids at night before putting them to bed, I try to add some flow to it to give them some entertainment value.

No other art form has had a more profound and consistent impact on our culture than Hip Hop. It’s now worldwide and has been commercialized and copied, but it can’t be co-opted as it constantly evolves. The best meal I’ve ever had was at an expensive steakhouse in Las Vegas, and when I walked in, they were playing Biggie’s “Ten Crack Commandments.” You can’t escape Hip Hop, as it’s everywhere and ever-lasting, which is why its essence needs to be respected and protected at all costs. And not just the music, but all the pillars that make Hip Hop culture undeniably multidimensional.”

Follow Donnovan Bennett on Instagram.