University mail room employee’s song featured on WMMR’s Preston & Steve radio show

Updated March 3, 10:38 p.m.

A Saint Joseph’s University mail services employee was featured on WMMR’s “The Preston & Steve Show” during their annual “Black Listna Party” last Friday.

“The Preston & Steve Show,” featuring radio personalities Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison, gained national recognition in addition to leading the Philadelphia ratings board for several years. Their “Black Listna Party” features African-American guests who give funny interviews and unique musical performances during the show.

On Friday morning, between 8 and 10 a.m., Craig Liggeons reprised his role as the “Black Listna.”

Liggeons earned fame on the airwaves for his song “Black Listna,” which parodied one of the show’s popular punch lines and became a listener sensation in 2008.

“It was my ‘Jagged Little Pill,’ my ‘Thriller,’” Liggeons said.

“You know, it’ll have a lot of fried chicken and watermelon,” Liggeons joked as he described the event.

Liggeons, who had never written a song or rapped before, initially submitted the song to promote his one-man stage production, “My Life In 19 Inches.”  To Liggeons, the unexpected success of “Black Listna” came as a surprise.

“What you’re saying is going out to the world,” he said.  “You don’t know the people, but the people know you.”

Liggeons will perform his production, “My Life In 19 Inches,” again during a two-week stay at the Freedom Theater in July.  The show describes how television shaped his life growing up in West Oak Lane, Philadelphia, and focuses on changes in television and how we look at it. Liggeons began working for mail services in December, and currently lives in Center City.

“My Life In 19 Inches” has been well received by viewers, including Preston Elliot.