Merrick Studios Debuts with Bun B, Jeffrey Sledge, and a Full Lineup of Culture-Driven Podcasts

Excerpt from HBCU on SI.com - Originally published on 9/11/25 by Kyle Anthony Mosley

Podcasting is crowded, but Merrick Studios is betting on something different: collaboration over competition. Co-founded by Bun B, Jeffrey Sledge, and Tom Frank, the new network launches with a stacked lineup and a mission to change the game.

Houston legend Bun B is already a hall-of-famer in rap, an educator at Rice University, a sneaker collaborator, and a burger kingpin with Trill Burgers; you’d think his plate is full. But today, he’s adding another title to his resume: podcast boss. Bun has teamed up with music industry veteran Jeffrey Sledge, a proud Morgan State University alum, and marketing executive Tom Frank to officially launch Merrick Studios, a culture-forward podcast network that’s trying to flip the script on how people create and share shows.

Most podcast networks? They start with one or two hosts, pray they can find an audience, and try to scale up. Merrick? They came in day one with a full lineup of shows, big-name guests, and a creator-first system that feels more like a community than a company.