Pen Densham's love of making images started with his father, a cameraman who made short films for British theaters. At four, Pen rode a live alligator in one of them. In this episode, Justin and Pen go back to where it started. He left school at 15 and started selling his photographs, including shots of the Rolling Stones for the BBC. At 19 he moved to Canada, where his films went on to win more than 60 international awards and two Oscar nominations. Norman Jewison was so impressed by Pen's first drama as a solo writer/director that he mentored him into Hollywood.

Pen talks about the parents who shaped him and the moral code that has guided his work. He also explains why he wrote Azeem, a Black Moorish warrior played by Morgan Freeman, into Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. That choice changed who gets to be a hero in one of the oldest legends in the Western world. From there the conversation moves to myth and legend, why we keep retelling these stories, and who gets to tell them.

They close on Pen's new chapter. After a celebrated film career, he has turned to experimental fine art photography that captures the emotional essence of nature rather than the landscape itself. His book Qualia collects his most striking images, from swirling koi ponds to kaleidoscopic "Organic Mandalas," capturing feelings that words can't describe. businessnewsthisweekbusinessnewsthisweek

It's a conversation about legacy, courage, and creative freedom with a filmmaker who has spent his life riding the alligator.

Before the culture had a mainstream stage, one man in Queens pointed a camera at the streets and hit record. This week on The Trend with Justin A. Williams, I sit down with the legendary Ralph "Uncle Ralph" McDaniels — DJ, VJ, director, archivist, and the co-creator of Video Music Box, the first television show in the world built for hip-hop, and still the longest-running music video program ever made.

Since 1983, Ralph has been the eye behind the culture. He put Jay-Z, Nas, Biggie, and LL Cool J on screen before the world knew their names, directed over 400 music videos, co-produced films like Juice, and quietly built an archive of more than 20,000 hours of footage that amounts to a living record of hip-hop history. He even coined the on-air shout-out. If you grew up on New York rap, you grew up on Ralph — whether you knew it or not.

We get into the origin of Video Music Box, what it took to document a movement in real time, the ascent of AI usage and why Ralph believes the pioneers themselves need to be the ones teaching the culture. This is a conversation about vision, preservation, and building something that outlasts you.

Tap in. You're watching the blueprint.#Trend with us

Some voices don't just perform — they minister. On this episode of The Trend with Justin A. Williams, Justin welcomes Khristian Dentley, the baritone of Take 6, the most awarded a cappella group in history and a defining voice in modern gospel. Khristian traces his journey from singing in church as a boy to joining a group whose harmonies have shaped generations, reflecting on where his gift began and what has kept it alive. But this conversation reaches beyond biography. Khristian and Justin dig into music as something deeper than entertainment — a force meant to be felt, to teach, and to endure. They talk about how song can hold us through our deepest pains and still point us toward hope, healing, and good. Whether you come for the gospel legacy or the philosophy of sound, this is an episode about why music matters, and why it lasts.