2 Philly Native Lives His Dreams at BET

By: Marvin DeBose

September 18th, 2013

Frank 'Franky J' Jenkins, BET Correspondent

The lights are on, the cameras are rolling, and a young man with the tall, lanky build of a basketball player, clad in a retro, red 76ers snapback cap and a blue polo shirt, takes the stage—not an actual stage though. In this case, the stage is a street corner.

“This is BET’s 106 and Park top ten countdown, we’re going into another video right now, stay tuned,” the energetic young man says.

He is animated with lively body language as he announces the next video, pausing between phrases and using his hands to accentuate nearly every word, “Lotus Flower Bomb, Wale, Miguel, let’s go!”

But this is just a YouTube video, more specifically, it’s 24-year-old Frank “Franky J” Jenkins’ audition video for the popular BET music video show, 106 and Park back in 2012.

The video has about 1,800 views, far less from what Franky J was expecting.

“My video was not popping,” he says, with a mixed tone of both reflectiveness and humor. He didn’t make the cut for the auditions, yet, that wouldn't be the end of his journey.

Franky J wanted to be a host in some capacity ever since he was a kid. He grew up in North Philadelphia, around 7th and Diamond Sts, gaining inspiration from former 106 and Park host AJ Calloway, as well as Philly DJs and radio hosts such as Pooch Man, Tasha McKee, Mikey Dredd and Uncle O.

He reminisces on how his upbringing in a tough city like Philly shaped him and pushed him into his career.

“It could be discouraging… sometimes people don’t see your visions and your dreams,” he says. “But, it played a big role in my motivation because I wanted to see better and I knew there was better.”

Franky J’s motivation pushed him to pursue his dreams at all costs. At the young age of 17, he was already a host for a local Philly music show, Urban Xpressions.

During his time as a young host, he experienced many of the hardships of the business which further molded him.

”I remember not having the money to go [and cover] shows,” he says. “I used to walk to shows, nothing could stop me from going to a show.”

Franky J went even further in pursuing his dream when he attended Community College of Philadelphia, where he majored in Communications. There, he polished his writing skills, which he sees as an highly significant skill in his career.

“My writing wasn't on key so I would jot things down on pieces of paper until I knew how to set them up [properly],” he says.

Honing his ability to write in a structured manner sparked his growing interest in writing TV shows. It even led him to write the format for Kitchen Music, a cooking show which was one of the first shows he ever wrote.

Yet, Franky J still had dreams to make it big, after he submitted his video to BET for the 106 and Park host audition in 2012 to no avail, he thought he’d have to get back to the drawing board and rework his strategy, but eventually, he'd see things change.

In January of 2013, he received a message on his Twitter account from a woman who left her number claiming to “have an opportunity” for him.

Franky J called her number, yet there was no answer, nor was there a voicemail message. However, the number soon called him back, and on his caller ID, he saw: BET Networks.

“I was still in shock that BET called me,” Franky J says. “[The BET executive] said ‘drop what you’re doing, pack up, we’re gonna bring you out to New York’."

He had been selected to audition for a new BET show, set to premiere in 2014.

After his audition, Franky J finally got the news from the executive. “She told me, ‘You’ve got the job, you aced it,'” he recalls.

Yet, the next thing which he would hear would blow him away even more.

“She asked me, ‘Why are you so nervous, you don’t look nervous in your video?’“ Franky J says,  “I said, ‘What video?’”

It turned out that someone at BET had got a hold of his audition video from 2012 and got it into the hands of some powerful people.

“She said, ‘My boss [Stephen Hill, BET president of programming] saw your video and requested for you to come here,” he says. “She told me that [Hill] said, ‘I don’t know why, but I like this kid.’

Since then, Franky J has been signed to work as a host/correspondent for the BET show, for which he auditioned, that is set to premiere in 2014.Yet, In the short time that he’s been with BET, he’s already had some quite unforgettable experiences, one of them happened early this year.

On the day of the New York premiere of Beyonce’s autobiographical documentary, Life is But a Dream, in early 2013, BET was looking to get correspondents to cover the event. Yet, most of their hosts had already left for the day, except for Franky J.

The BET staff got him dressed up and ready for the star-studded Red Carpet, where he’d get his first real taste of what it’s like to be a BET correspondent.

“My first interview was with [producer and R&B star] The-Dream,” a fact which he saw to be ironic in itself. “I was interviewing The-Dream, while living my dream, all on the red carpet for Beyonce’s Life is But a Dream.”

That night, Franky J got to interview a variety of celebrities from Russell Simmons, to even Beyonce herself.

Franky J interviews Beyonce at the premiere for Life is But a Dream 

Yet, he'd run into one star whose presence presented a once in a lifetime opportunity; Oprah Winfrey.

“She was finishing up with her last interview and security was trying to sweep her away,” Franky J says. “But I yelled to her, ‘Oprah, let me get 2 seconds of your life!’

That phrase caught Oprah’s attention and allowed him to get an interview with one of the most well-known people in the world.

Of course, Franky J credits occurrences like these, and much of his success, to years of hard work and determination, but he also attributes much of his success to his faith.

“God is everything,” he says.  “I wouldn’t be anywhere without him and I couldn’t get through anything without him.”

These days, Franky J, the once local teenage TV host from North Philly, lives in Brooklyn, NY., and has goals such as hosting the BET Awards as well as writing and producing shows.

Despite his already impressive experiences, he says the fact that he’s beginning to live his dreams hasn’t really hit him yet. Yet, he stresses the importance of having a dream.

“Believe in your dreams, we get these visions for a reason, it’s because that’s what we’re supposed to be doing in life.”

Follow Franky J @TherealFrankyJ on Instagram & @TherealFrankyJ1 on Twitter

Follow Marvin DeBose @TheMindofMarvin