WMPR’s ‘Mr. Sock It to You,’ Randy ‘Wild Man’ Brown completes degree started 48 years ago – Internship at The Mississippi Link newspaper and We Believe Digital Broadcast Streaming Network amongst final coursework

By Jackie Hampton,
Publisher,

The man known to some as ‘Mr. Sock It to You’ and others as Randy ‘Wild Man’ Brown, is really Rander Phillip Adams, a 2023 graduate of Jackson State University.
Adams received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Journalism and Media Studies from Jackson State University December 8, 2023, fulfilling a dream he started in 1975.
In a Facebook post he stated, “I thank my wife Janice D. Adams, “Miz Wild” for keeping my eyes and energy focused on the goal. I thank God for picking me up and carrying me through this valley as always.”
Adams, a 1971 graduate of Lanier High School in Jackson shared some of his journey in an interview with The Mississippi Link. The first question being, how did you get the names Randy ‘Wild Man’ Jones and Mr. ‘‘Sock It to You’?
Adams said while at Lanier high school, on what was considered Tacky Dress-Up Day, he cut his mother’s bed spread in half and made a poncho and wore a really big wild afro. His classmates called him Randy Wild Man Jones and the name stuck. He gave himself the name ‘Mr. Sock It to You’ working in the radio industry.
After receiving his high school degree, Adams enrolled at Tougaloo College having received a full choral music scholarship; however, after two years he moved to Detroit, Michigan.
In 1975 he returned to Jackson and enrolled at Jackson State University. After completing his junior year, he dropped out, and started a 45-year career in commercial radio.
Throughout the years, Adams continued his dream of obtaining a college degree. While still working, in 1986, he returned to JSU but told The Link, “I bombed out. After just one year, I bombed out.”
It was in 2021 that Adams once again enrolled at JSU. “I went non-stop until the summer of 2023,” he said. After the summer break, he registered for the fall semester. He only had a couple more classes to take, one being an internship class where one of the requirements for graduation was to work with a company in his chosen field of journalism. He was getting excited and could see the end result. After working for over 45 years as an on air personality, Adams could visualize getting his college career, in a field he had already been working in.
He spent his final semester working with The Mississippi Link newspaper and We Believe Digital Broadcast, both in the same building, located on Livingston Road in Jackson, MS.
He said, “I turned 70 years old on Thanksgiving Day and I finally got my degree December 8. Adams received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Journalism and Media Studies, presented to him by the new Jackson State University President, Dr. Marcus L. Thompson.
As his internship ended, Adams wrote in his daily diary, “The Mississippi Link, in combination with We Believe Digital Broadcast Network, has proven enlightening and essential to the development of my intellectual skills. It has provided me with requisite insight to enter a modern-day media field, where the sky is the limit to that which one can achieve, when you allow your imagination and vision to exceed your comfort zone. I wholeheartedly thank We Believe Digital CEO Socrates Garrett, The Mississippi Link Publisher Jacquelyn Hampton, JSU Interim JMS chair, Professor Don Spann, Chelsea Thomas and Pertis Williams of We Believe Digital, and many others who provided their support through this process to finish the job. I hope and pray this internship creates an indelible relationship between all exhibited herein.”