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Chris “Speedy” Morman came to a crossroads when Complex offered him the weekend news host position after his second summer interning with the media company. The rising broadcast and digital journalism senior contemplated how he would manage the job that required him to be in New York City while finishing his studies at Syracuse University.

That school year, the senior commuted six hours on Fridays to NYC, hosted the news show on Saturdays and Sundays and then hopped back on a Greyhound bus to Syracuse on Sunday afternoon. In an interview last year on the radio show “The Breakfast Club,” Morman said he graduated on Sunday and started working full-time for Complex on Monday. Morman, who is 27 years old, is still grinding at Complex, and last Summer he began hosting a street wear design show called “The Hype” on HBO Max.

The Newhouse School of Public Communications graduate has seen more career success than most journalists will throughout their entire career, Dean Mark Lodato said while introducing him in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium on Wednesday evening. Morman returned to Syracuse Wednesday to speak to students, faculty and staff about how he carved his own path to success.

The Daily Orange interviewed Morman prior to his “Leaders in Communication” speaking engagement hosted by SU junior Jordan Pierre. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Daily Orange:

Who was an influence on your fashion style when you were younger?

Speedy Morman

I would say most of my influences came just from people around my neighborhood, born or raised in New York. You see other people that are fly, you see other people with good fashion sense and good taste, and so you automatically gravitate towards that. But then I was also lowkey inspired by my sisters just because both of them collected sneakers as well at that time, and you know, seeing them get the new Jordans, or the new Dunks or Air Force 1s or whatever, that kind of motivated me to get after it as well.

D.O.:

It’s funny. It’s like the older siblings walk-

S.M.:

And then we run after them.

D.O.:

Talking about shoes, if you were to go on Complex’s “Sneaker Shopping” what would be like the first three shoes that you picked up?

S.M.:

If I went on “Sneaker Shopping” I’d probably buy as many pairs of just white Air Force Ones as they had in stock. Because this is the perfect shoe, and it’s the shoe I wear almost every day. I would buy 10 pairs of this shoe that I’m wearing right now. This white is the whitest they will ever be. Those that you have on are Air Max 97, like you can clean those right? And you’ll be aight. These cannot clean. They just never look good.

D.O.:

Did you get accustomed to wearing beaters when you went to SU?

S.M.:

Yeah, I was heavy on the beaters, man. I had a pair of Last Shot 14 Jordans, Nubuck black 14, that I used to wear. I didn’t have the luxury of cycling that many shoes in and out but I used to wear this pair of black Nubuck Lash Out 14s very often. I beat those up, then I used to wear classic Timbs Constructs, and then I had a pair of UGG boots — with the fur on the inside — for when it was super snowy. That was like my rotation. Then when I was going out at night for parties, then I would get fly and just try to be careful with the weather.

D.O.:

So you’ve interviewed hundreds of celebrities, some stylish celebrities and some maybe not so stylish celebrities. Who would be the most stylish and least stylish celebrity that you’ve interviewed?

S.M.:

I would say stylish is very subjective, so for me the celebrity who I like the way they dress the most has to probably be DJ Khaled. He is not at all like a fly person, but he does wear a lot of tracksuits. And I’m like, “sweatsuit Speedy,” like I wear a lot of tracksuits and sweatsuits and he does have a great collection of tracksuits.

The least stylish person I’ve ever interviewed, judging them based only on the outfit they wore while I was interviewing them, has to be President Barack Obama. Because he had on slacks, a button down, and some shoes. Which for him is great because we always see him in a suit, but compared to everyone else in terms of being fly, he was definitely the least fly person that I’ve ever interviewed.

D.O.:

I was thinking though he’s like, arguably, maybe objectively, the most stylish president we’ve ever had.

S.M.:

Presidents, I mean, the bars on the floor. I mean, we’ve never seen a president wear a tan suit, and he killed that outfit. So shout out to him for that tan suit.

D.O.:

What was it like 24 hours before you got to sit down with President Obama?

S.M.:

I knew something special was about to happen that day. It was just a really intense research session and then traveling down to DC. We also shot that in the height of the pandemic, so that was interesting, because we had to stay a certain distance and we had to jump through a lot of hoops with the Secret Service. We had to get COVID tested before and I was praying that I was negative — thank God I was. I was just thinking about making history and it’s not every day that I get a call from one of my producers that says, “Barack Obama wants me to do an interview with you.” So like, it’s a moment I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.

D.O.:

Where do you see style in hip-hop going in the next few years?

S.M.:

I think we’re starting to see a renaissance. Hip-hop and music have always kind of gone hand-in-hand with style, but we’re starting to see a lot more crossover, especially when it comes to high fashion. Rest in Peace to Virgil Abloh, but he had hip-hop artists, like the Migos, walking in Louis Vuitton fashion shows, so I think we’ll start to see a bigger integration of high fashion and hip-hop.

On a smaller level, streetwear is kind of the clothing of the youth and the clothing of the people. And so, I think we’ll start to see a bigger embrace, when it comes to artists, and streetwear and like galvanizing the community to be confident in the streetwear clothing that they wear.

D.O.:

What advice would you give SU students in the fashion program who are developing their style and brand?

S.M.:

I would say use the internet man, like the ability for something that you post here in Syracuse, New York, to be visible to someone in Los Angeles or in Paris is not a tool that any other generation has had. So I would say just maximize your brand awareness by utilizing the internet. You can post something right now and someone on the other side of the world can watch it, right now. And you got to tap in with the community to like tap in with other people who are doing the same thing as you. It’s important to not always look at everyone as competition.

D.O.:

I mean, any plans in the books for your streetwear brand?

S.M.:

Yeah man, we’re working on a little something. You know, I’m a comfy guy and so comf is a lifestyle that I live. COMF. Take the Y off comfy. I think it’s important to like to be comf in life, like less about just the clothing. But be in situations and environments where you feel comfortable. No matter where you are, no matter what room you’re in. I’ve sat in multimillion dollar meetings with my hood on and I’ve sat down across from a president in a sweatsuit. It’s important to be comfortable and so if I ever did start a brand, it would be something like that.

D.O.:

Your summer going into senior year and your senior year sounded like it was the grind that you were kind of always leading up to. Could you talk about what that lifestyle was like for you at that time in your life? What was it like working seven days a week during senior year?

S.M.:

Dawg, it’s tough.

D.O.:

What did you miss at that time?

S.M.:

Everything. I missed everything. I missed everything that there is to know about being a senior in college. Youth, parties, dating, hanging out. But it was an investment and it was something that I had no choice but to do and it kind of paid off. So I’m grateful that I did it. But yeah, I definitely missed the social side. It was no fun. It was business only. But because of the business that I did then it’s a whole lot of fun now.

D.O.:

Who in your life at that time was supporting you?

S.M.:

Everyone. I only keep people around me that support me. I don’t have people around me not providing something, not that I’m using anyone, but if at the minimum you’re not providing support, you ain’t got to be around me. And if you wasn’t supporting me, I just wasn’t gonna f*ck with you. We’re here for a finite amount of time, I’m not going to use my precious minutes on somebody who doesn’t support me. Not gonna happen.

D.O.:

Where do you think the programs here can improve?

S.M.:

I always say listen to the students because the students are the future and are going to be the ones sitting in the seats of the next big anchor. And so, you got to stay abreast of the trends and I feel like the program while I was here was pretty antiquated and kind of set in one particular way and it groomed people for that role very, very well. But if you were outside of that, it didn’t do the best job. So I would say make modifications because obviously it’s a very well-oiled machine here and it has a very high level of success, but it can be more successful.

D.O.:

Anything specific for how the school from your point of view can improve to see that more students that look like you and have the same ambitions as you get here and feel welcomed and succeed?

S.M.:

I think that a big reason why a lot of students aren’t able to come here is the very obvious financial burden that comes with a major university. So I think being able to offer resources financially, help kids get here and (offer) options that aren’t taking on a quarter-million dollars worth of debt when you get out of here. Finding ways to help people with that burden is a start.

Published on March 3, 2022 at 12:48 am

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