Meet Itty, The Podcaster Telling Real Stories On Bae Gist

Podcasts are quickly becoming a pop culture staple and an interesting way to have relevant conversations on the go. The medium, which has grown in popularity in the past couple of years has gone beyond a mic and opinionated individuals to properly produced shows in studios, with a fanbase that is more than eager to hear what their hosts have to say. 

We caught up with Itty, co-host of the VerseFive podcast Bae Gist and in this insightful conversation, we discussed his motivations for starting a podcast and what it feels like to host one. 

Did you always want to be a content creator?

Honestly it just happened. Me and Tosin, that’s the person that I co-host with just always had so much to say. We’ve been friends for about seven years and since we met each other people have always said we would do so well together on a show, but it never really struck me that it would be a podcast. So no, I didn’t always want to be a content creator. 

You and your co-host Tosin compliment each other really well, did you always know she was going to co-host Bae Gist with you? Or was there a selection process?

So Bae Gist is produced by a company called VerseFive. I had a conversation with the owner of VerseFive about starting a relationship podcast, basically what Bae Gist is right now. He brought up the idea of me doing the podcast with someone else, a babe precisely, and I was like which babe do you think will fit in perfectly? We had two options but to be honest we just knew it was going to be Tosin. At some point we decided to stop lying to ourselves and just go with Tosin because she was the perfect person. We told her and she was really excited because it felt like we were finally going to have a show together, she jumped on it and Bae Gist happened. 

There are different directions that a podcast could go in, why did you choose relationships?

Because for some reason relationships were what we knew how to talk about the most at that time. Tosin had just gotten out of a very messy relationship and she had so many things to say, I, on the other hand, have never been in a romantic relationship but I’ve had so many people around me in relationships come to me in for advice and it’s really ironical because I’m supposed to be the person with the least experience and we just decided to make this a thing after Tosin mentioned that coaches don’t play in soccer. We decided to go for it and that was how we opened the very first episode.

How did you come up with the name Bae Gist? 

After we settled on making a relationship podcast, Kingsley, who is the owner of VerseFive suggested that we call the podcast “Boos and Baes” since we would be talking about relationships. I didn’t like the name and it sounded like something someone somewhere had already thought about and probably used. The next option was “Bae Chat”, since we were going to be talking, then Kingsley had a lightbulb moment and just said “Bae Gist”. I liked how it sounded and I googled it to be sure no one else had used the name, and surprisingly no one had, even though it sounded like something somebody could have come up with already. 

What’s one thing that you think people misunderstand about you a lot? 

Actually, I have a lot of those but I’ll just say two of them. First, people who do not know me outside Bae Gist assume that I’m always sanguine, that is not wrong but that is not the only side of me. I could be a very melancholic person as well, there are times where I just want to be alone and I don’t really feel like talking but then someone comes and says “hi Itty! I know you from Bae Gist” and I have to fake a smile or have to be warm because people think I’m always in the mood to talk. And another thing has to be how people think that I’m a hoe, but in reality, I’m actually a very soft boy and the direct opposite so I try to mention it sometimes on the show but somehow even if I say it a million times people never believe and that’s fine, people can think whatever they want about me. 

If I asked you to describe yourself in 5 words off the top of your head, what words would you choose? 

I’m a lot, but if I had to put it in five words, I would say creative, really good looking, God-fearing has foresight, and is good with people. 

If you could pick any three people to come on the podcast who would they be?

I think first would be Rema because I think he’s living the life I’m supposed to be living and I have a lot of questions to ask him regarding that. Blaqbonez is the second person I’d like on the podcast because I feel we have the same ideas when it comes to relationships and he’ll definitely be on my side. For some reason, the third person I’d like to have is Justin Bieber because he’s a loving guy so I think Tosin would want him on the show. 

What is the biggest compliment you’ve ever received about Bae Gist?

The biggest compliment I’ve ever received about Bae Gist is that it’s real. Nothing is scripted on the podcast, it just how the vibes flow. In season two, for instance, it’s just Tosin, I and the guests talking and having a good time even before the camera starts rolling, then someone says “Oh we are about to start recording,” we give them the go-ahead and just carry on with the conversation. People saying Bae Gist is real is one of the biggest and most common compliments that we receive because there are so many podcasts in the world today and some of them are scripted, they try really hard to paint a picture of what they are not, but on Bae Gist we are just chilling with our friends and keeping the convo as sincere as it comes and if it resonates with you, fine, if it doesn’t, that’s also fine even though we really hope it does. 

Where do you record the podcast? At home or in a studio?

That question is tricky because it’s both. We record in my house and at a studio because there’s a studio in my house so both.

Do you go back and listen to recorded episodes?

I love the sound of my voice. I hear so many people talk about how they don’t like to hear their recorded voices but i can’t relate because I really love my voice, I think I have a great voice so I love listening to myself talk. Initially I couldn’t re-listen to the podcast because it felt cringe. I had to hear Tosin say the same things she’s said before and I didn’t like that because Tosin is constantly in my ears outside the show, she’s always present and it felt like I was bringing her closer by listening to the podcast. But people began coming to me with so many compliments about the podcast and I was like what are they hearing? I wanted to hear it too and I went back to listen, now I’m Bae Gist’s biggest fan, I’m Tosin’s biggest fan, I love how she sounds on the show and I love how we sound together. 

What’s your favorite podcast? And you can’t say, Bae Gist

Ok there’s this podcast called MILF ‘n’ Honey podcast, it’s an American podcast and I think it’s really funny, I never miss an episode of it.

Other than podcasting what else do you like to do? 

I really love to make music, not sing but I play lots of musical instruments. I also like to write even though now that I think about it, I don’t exactly like to write, I do it for money and I like money so that means I like to write. I also love hanging out with people that make music. 

What are your plans for Bae Gist? 

There is so much in the works for Bae Gist, we plan to have a live show towards the end of the year, this is actually a spoiler but it’s fine. We also want to have more seasons with guests who can tell better stories. I’m really looking forward to season three because it’s a whole different level of storytelling and I’m really excited about it. Merch is also in the works, as well as live shows across the country, basically, there’s nothing in the plans that aren’t great!