Grits and Eggs Podcast

Host: Deante’ Kyle
Episode: 97 - Bam Sparks
Date: November 4, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features Deante’ Kyle in candid conversation with William “Bam” Sparks—Atlanta native, Grand Hustle affiliate, Trap Music Museum co-founder, and now the founder of Culture Wireless, a Black-owned internet and wireless services company. The discussion ranges from Bam’s Atlanta roots and music industry journey to the origins, obstacles, and vision fueling Culture Wireless—a movement for tech equity, community investment, and digital empowerment in underserved neighborhoods. The two also share thoughts on building Black generational wealth, the power of collective action, digital redlining, and the entrepreneurial grind.

Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. Bam’s Atlanta Origins & Early Career

• Background (04:38): Bam grew up on Atlanta’s Westside (Zone 1/4). Shoutouts to local landmarks, schools (Frederick Douglass HS), and the significance of Atlanta’s divided neighborhoods.
• Education & Pivot (05:03–05:29):
  • Started at Albany State, then transferred to Georgia Tech, majoring in chemical engineering.
  • “I literally got a call...my cousin Doug hit me up...wanted to start an agency. So he's like, bro, you know sports, you played ball with all these guys growing up. We need some help. And that was it. I left Georgia Tech that day.” — Bam [05:29]
• Sports Agency Era (06:09–06:43): Key connections with athletes, transition from engineering to creative careers, and how his sports/music networks paved the way for later ventures.
• Trap Music Museum (08:38):
  • Originated from a casual ‘aha’ moment—wanting an escape room based on trap themes.
  • “Everybody kind of turned around. It was that aha moment.” — Bam [08:50]

2. Birth of Culture Wireless—A Tech Movement Rooted in Necessity

• Inspiration (10:23–11:55):
  • Realized digital inequity after seeing his cousin “bootlegging fiber” for high-speed internet in underserved Atlanta neighborhoods.
  • “He had his whole circuit...the most niggering I've ever seen. But it was the fastest Internet in the city...How can we get Vine City, the bluff, English Ave lit up, AUC?” — Bam [10:23]
• Startup Journey & Impact (12:02–12:36):
  • In business since 2021; won contracts for Atlanta’s BeltLine and LA’s Destination Crenshaw (free internet for Crenshaw in Nipsey Hussle’s honor).
• On Digital Redlining (13:24):
  • “It's a digital red line.” — Deante’ [13:25]
  • Discussed systemic disparities in mobile/service quality across zip codes; connection to historic redlining.

3. Obstacles to Building Black Tech Infrastructure

• Funding Barriers (13:43–15:01):
  • Challenges raising capital—personal investment of $1M, need for federal/state support; cities were supportive but population displacement (gentrification) stunted density and reach.
  • “To build an ISP cost. I mean, we put a million dollars of our own money into the company and needed to raise more.” — Bam [13:50]
• Technical & Market Hurdles (15:01–16:40):
  • High costs of laying fiber. Leveraged wins + partnerships (e.g., T-Mobile, Andreessen Horowitz).
  • Expanding beyond fiber to become an MVNO (wireless phone plans).

4. Breaking the Mold: Community Investment & Equity Crowdfunding

• Ownership for the Community (17:10–18:35):
  • “I've been really boots on the ground doing most of this on my own...I think eventually people will see what I'm doing. But it's that not understanding how your phone works anyway.” — Bam [18:11]
  • Equity crowdfunding: inspired by successes like Isaac Hayes (Fanbase) and Ryan Reynolds (Mint Mobile), pushing for direct community ownership (WeFunder campaign for Culture Wireless).
  • “If you were able to come in at an early phase seed round and you put in a thousand dollars, that would have got you, I'll probably say, somewhere around a million dollars return.” — Bam [23:05]

5. Building Generational Wealth & The Power of Reinvesting Locally

• Changing Our Investment Mindset (24:14):
  • “We can support other Black owned businesses...so we own our own infrastructure. That's been what I've been pushing.” — Bam [24:45]
  • Discussion on community priorities, instant gratification (e.g., spending on clubs vs. investing), and long-term wealth.
• Brand Loyalty vs. Selling Out (25:59–27:04):
  • Balancing community expectations for ongoing Black ownership vs. strategic business exits.
  • “The ultimate strategy is always to sell...But we can always maintain some sort of ownership.” — Bam [26:20]

6. Digital Redlining & The Inequity of ‘Data Rich’ and ‘Data Poor’

• Framing Internet as a Utility (39:15):
  • “You have to have Internet. It's like having water, like having power.” — Bam [39:26]
  • Real consequences of government program cuts—a gap in access to education, jobs, healthcare.
• Innovative Data Sharing (36:06–37:34):
  • Bam’s “aha” moment: “I wish I could share some of my data with them, because I never go over.” T-Mobile called it 'genius'—a disruptive proposal for a peer-to-peer data-sharing model.
  • “Data is all in one big pool....AT&T, Verizon have really been getting over for years because they just resell what you didn’t use.”— Bam [36:44]

7. Collective Action, Tech Ownership & Black Economic Power

• The Potential of Unified Support (45:42–46:18):
  • “There's 45 million Black people out in the US. If we were all to take a stance today and say we're all switching to Culture, what would happen?...It'll change everything.” — Bam/Deante’ [45:42–46:18]
• The Real Value of Black Creation (50:14):
  • “Oftentimes, like you said, we give away the culture, but we give away creation more than anything. I think the biggest aspect of black culture is creation and invention.” — Deante’ [50:15]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Entrepreneurial Risk:
  “The first investment you made was with your time...I remember you had a sure-fire, you know, I mean, a chemical engineer, that ain't nothing to sneeze at.” — Deante’ [40:49]
• On Digital Divide:
  “We think WI fi is WI fi. It's not.” — Deante’ [30:12]
• On Investing in Community:
  “How can we, instead of putting $2,000 to go to the club and get a new fit...reinvest into the community?...So we own our own infrastructure.” — Bam [24:14]
• On Data Equity:
  “That's why I call it the data rich and the data poor.” — Bam [38:35]
• On Black Economic Power:
  “Culture is our biggest commodity and we give it away every day for free, Period. And I felt like, how do we stop that? We got to build generational wealth.” — Bam [43:35]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Bam’s Atlanta Background: 04:38–06:09
• Trap Music Museum Origins: 08:38–09:24
• Inspiration & Creation of Culture Wireless: 10:23–11:55
• Digital Redlining Discussion: 13:24–15:01
• Obstacles and Growth of Culture Wireless: 13:43–16:40
• Equity Crowdfunding & Community Investment: 18:10–19:40, 23:05–24:45
• Brand Loyalty vs. Exiting Big: 25:59–27:04
• The Data-Sharing Innovation: 36:06–37:34
• Generational Wealth & Economic Power: 39:15–44:23
• Call for Collective Action: 45:42–46:18
• Closing, Contact, Ways to Invest: 52:04–52:11

How to Support & Connect

• Invest: wefunder.com/culturewireless
• Follow: @culturewireless on Instagram & Facebook

Summary Tone:
The episode stays raw, playful, and Atlanta-centric—packed with inside jokes, local pride, and blunt real talk about technology, community responsibility, and what it takes to build Black-owned infrastructure in America. Deante’ and Bam riff on the history and future of economic resistance, the importance of tangible ownership, and the untapped collective power in investing in our own.