Hey guys! Remember the podcast we did for five years straight where all of your favorites would stop by our apartment for a 90-minute deep dive conversation? Well, the pandemic brought that to an end... as we're sure you noticed! But ever since then, we've been quietly and dutifully at work on a larger concept - an elevation of A Waste of Time... called The Blog Era. 

It's a fascinating look into how the music superstars of today were put on by a small group of kids behind keyboards. This 10-part docu-style audio series - which traces the rollercoaster&nbsp;ride of 2007-2012, when hip-hop met the internet - features stories from 150 influential voices, including Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y, Joe Budden, Bun B, The Cool Kids, and many, many more! 

If you liked A Waste of Time, you're going to love The Blog Era! The first two episodes are available RIGHT NOW - search The Blog Era wherever you listen to podcasts!


The Blog Era!!!

This week we welcomed the legend DJ Clark Kent to our Upper West Side apartment. Known for discovering Biggie and Jay Z and for working with everyone from Michael Jackson to Missy Elliott, he dives deep into stories about Puffy, 50 Cent, Dame Dash, Nas, Mobb Deep, Foxy Brown, Dr. Dre and so many more. As the man who DJed behind Jay Z on the infamous Summer Jam stage, he gives his take on the Drake/Meek Mill battle, discusses every element of ghostwriting, and makes it clear why no one should go at Pusha T. Clark also shares why Pharrell is the greatest producer ever, what happened when he introduced Shyne to Jay Z, and how in the world he signed 98 Degrees to Motown Records! Enjoy this amazing conversation with the amazing DJ Clark Kent.

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#12: DJ Clark Kent

For Episode 16 of "A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal," we hit the road and headed on down to Brooklyn to visit our good friend Mac Miller at his new apartment. This episode is both hilarious and candid: we talked in great detail about his time detoxing at Rick Rubin's house, why he called Rick from Europe in the first place, and the new path he's taken in his life. Mac shared never-before-heard stories about his unreleased projects with Pharrell, Nas and Cam'ron. We discussed meeting Eminem in Japan, taking the subway around New York City, how Ab-Soul used to stay at Mac's LA house for weeks at a time, how he courted each record label when he was a free agent, that his song ended up on Travis Scott's new album, and so much more!

#16: Mac Miller

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome New Orleans' own R&B superstar August Alsina to the Upper West Side! August talks in great depth about recovering from the recent surgeries that saved his eyesight and his breathing, he discusses his friendships with Curren$y, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown and Kelly Rowland, and how exactly he writes his songs. August also speaks on his own trust issues, being the only singer on the XXL Freshman cover, whether his neighbors know what he does for a living, and what it was like to jet ski with DJ Khaled!

#26: August Alsina

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome our fellow podcaster Adam22 from the Downtown Los Angeles-based No Jumper podcast. We talk how he went from riding BMX bikes and doing graffiti in a tiny New Hampshire town to committing credit card scams and trafficking drugs throughout the Northeast, and how he then transformed himself into a legitimate business-owner with an enormous platform for internet hip-hop. All that, plus discussions about his father's Presidential pardon, Desiigner, online poker, Boston's hardcore scene, living in a commune, and so much more!

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#49: Adam22

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome our friend and brilliant writer Mary H.K. Choi to the Upper West Side! In this hilarious episode, we talk about her experiences with Rihanna, moving from Hong Kong to Texas at age 14, her time at Mass Appeal and XXL and Missbehave and the NYTimes, how emojis deepened her relationship with her parents, interviewing Khloe Kardashian, the time she visited 50 Cent's mansion, her awesome podcast "Hey, Cool Job!" and so much more! 

#51: Mary H.K. Choi

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome TDE's own Isaiah Rashad to the Upper West Side! Isaiah talks about growing up in Chattanooga, giving college a try, returning home and working retail jobs, flying to LA for the first time, signing to Top Dawg Entertainment (home of Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolBoy Q, Sza and more), going creatively bankrupt, and what it took to bounce back. All that, plus Usher, catfishing, whether Isaiah could be a XXL Freshman again, burning his hair, and so much more!

A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal

#71: Isaiah Rashad

Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Dallas, Texas' own, Post Malone, to the Upper West Side! We discussed learning to play guitar from Guitar Hero, joining garage bands on his street, playing around Dallas, why he could never be fired from Chicken Express, his video game talents, moving to Los Angeles and living like a hermit, meeting FKi 1st and connecting right away in Atlanta, linking with Lil Uzi Vert, Justin Bieber inviting him on tour, seeing David Blaine's magic tricks first hand, getting one thousand Bud Lights delivered to his house, having Kanye introduce himself at Kylie's birthday party, getting a visit from Andy Milonakis in the studio, plotting with Guy Fieri and so much more!

Eric Rosenthal's Album

#92: Post Malone

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome the Garden State's own, Jersey Jinx, to the Upper West Side! We talk with the Complex News host about growing up listening to Blink 182, Joe Budden and anything that was on TRL, selling 50 Cent and Fabolous mixtapes in school, heading to Morehouse to study marketing and advertising, leaving a voicemail for music and advertising kingpin Steve Stoute to speak at a college seminar, and then having Stoute offer up a summer internship in New York City. We discussed how Jinx's parents convinced him to leave the internship and work for Nestle as a midwest sales rep, driving alone through Pennsylvania and Ohio selling chocolate chips, Hot Pockets and dog food, quitting that job and starting over at Decon Records and Mass Appeal magazine, getting courted by Complex, and establishing himself as one of the most trusted young voices in online news thanks to coverage like his 11 days in Ferguson, Missouri. All that, plus Birdman falling asleep in an interview, ridiculous barber stories, the greatest metaphor for Jinx's internships, and much more!

#95: Jersey Jinx

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, it's only right that for our 97th episode, we welcome Hot 97's own DJ Bobby Trends to the Upper West Side! Trends has one of the best stories we've heard in all our time podcasting: we talked about growing up in the streets of Newark, NJ, fighting off home invaders, tagging rooftops with KAWS, trading a switchblade for his first turntable, getting recruited by Menudo, going to NYC clubs at 15 years old with his best friend AJ Calloway, passing out fliers in Washington Square Park, joining Funkmaster Flex's street team, getting fired from Flex's street team, Cipha Sounds re-introducing him to Flex, helping Jay Z and DMX and Jim Jones get into The Tunnel, attempting to DJ on the air at Hot 97 and getting shut down by Ebro, helping A&R French Montana and Dipset records, joining DJ Khaled's We the Best crew, fronting on Chamillionaire when he tried to hand him a mixtape, going back to Newark to teach at his old high school, and so much more!

#97: DJ Bobby Trends

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome The Breakfast Club's own DJ Envy to the Upper West Side! We talk with Envy about growing up in Queens, riding bicycles with DJ Clue, sharing one turntable with another DJ, spinning at school dances, being the first person in his family to go to college, graduating with a marketing/management degree, the motorcycle accident that changed his life, stealing records for his mixtapes, getting calls from record executives who were not happy, getting calls from Rick Ross who didn't mind Envy hacking his email, how he invented the double and triple-booking, filling in for a pregnant Angie Martinez at Hot 97, doing mornings at Hot with Miss Jones, why he never joined a DJ crew, how he came to the decision to leave for Power 105, what really went down with Birdman, why Cam'ron wanted to fight, his choice for best mixtape of all time, how he feels driving down Canal Street in 2017, and so much more!

#98: DJ Envy

Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome the popular music engineer Alex Tumay, who's worked with Young Thug, Travis Scott, Kanye West, Metro Boomin, Southside, TM88 and many more, to the Upper West Side! We talked how his parents disguised a cross-country relocation from him, playing in garage bands and surfing as a teen in Florida, going to college with the intention of designing videogame soundscapes, moving to Atlanta and ending up as a studio intern with a side hustle in poker. We discussed how he put himself on through hard work and filling a studio room full of the hottest producers in the business, how he became the preferred engineer of Young Thug, what Birdman is like on a personal level, his experiences on the road with Travis Scott, which producer Facetimes him the most, who had the best mansion to visit, and so much more!

#107: Alex Tumay

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Rory Farrell (co-host of The Joe Budden Podcast and General Manager of HennyPalooza) back to the Upper West Side for his own episode! Rory discusses growing up a problem child, taking the Peter Pan bus by himself up and down the East Coast, drinking heavily in high school, miraculously receiving a college scholarship for running track, being an Irish kid in a traditionally African-American fraternity, getting kicked out of school twice, and finding himself through an internship at Def Jam. Rory shares an amazing stories about Kanye playing Def Jam My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy for the first time, the original name of the album, the original vision for the album, and his over-the-top presentation. We discuss Joe Budden's game nights, booking Drake for a college performance, sitting in an office cubicle across from Lyor Cohen, producing a game show for MTV, shooting music videos for The-Dream, Fabolous, Ludacris, and so much more!

#121: Rory of The Joe Budden Podcast

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome celebrated producer, satellite radio mainstay, and all-around dope DJ Statik Selektah to the Upper West Side! Statik discusses his upbringing in the Northeast, falling in love with hip-hop at a family Thanksgiving, doing Emerson radio even though he wasn't a student there, taking the Fung Wah bus down to NYC to sell mixtapes on Canal Street, and knowing when to uproot and move out of Boston. We talk Statik's work with Joey Badass, 2 Chainz, Action Bronson, Kanye West, Nas, Mac Miller, Bun B, Talib Kweli, Eminem, Sean Price and more. Statik breaks news on Joey Badass, shares the name of the 2 Chainz single off Statik's upcoming album, discusses hanging out with Puffy, Mariah, Nicole Kidman, Derek Jeter and so much more!

#122: Statik Selektah

Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, Day 6 of the #12DaysOfPodcasts, we welcome Long Beach, California's own, O.T. Genasis to the Upper West Side! O.T. discusses his come up, failing the written portion of his driver's test, yet stealing cars, attending more than a handful of high schools, listening to Cam'Ron, T.I., G-Unit, Snoop and more growing up, devoting himself to music and mastering his live performances around the Los Angeles area. We talk about signing a single deal with 50 Cent, leaving 50's camp and dedicating himself to selling his own music, never using his Long Beach connections to even let Snoop know that he was rapping, and finally getting the attention of Busta Rhymes, who brought him to Atlantic Records and gave him a bigger platform. All that, plus the difference between his live performances and others, touring with Chris Brown, Crip walking in front of the White House, why editors are the key to music videos, stories behind his songs "Coco," "Cut It," "Everybody Mad," "Thick," "Push It," "Touchdown," and much more! PS: Be sure to check out JeezyShop.com for all things Jeezy: his tour, his merch and his new album, Pressure, available now!

#155: O.T. Genasis

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we traveled to Los Angeles for an epic sit down with J. Cole's manager and Dreamville president Ib Hamad! Ib talks about moving to Queens from Paris, the second youngest of five children, with English his third language, finding his voice on the New York City basketball courts. We discuss coaching youth basketball, studying SportsCenter highlights each morning, fleeting thoughts of playing Division 1 college basketball, but ultimately ending up at St. Johns where he'd chase girls and befriend future multi-platinum rapper Jermaine Cole, who at that point barely admitted that he had rhymes. Ib goes through the early days, supporting his friend's musical ambitions at open mics, getting jobs together at call centers, knowing that they had album-ready songs, and eventually capturing the interest of the music industry: meetings with 50 Cent, Shady Records' Paul Rosenberg, and of course, Mark Pitts and Jay-Z. Ib takes us through how the "Dollar and a Dream" campaign started, how Dreamville started, the power of Cole's mixtapes, the many starts and stops Cole's early major label career went through, acting as a push-button DJ for Cole, the differences between the first and second albums, what the HBO series meant, and how exactly 2014 Forest Hills Drive came to be. All that plus stories about JID and Earth Gang, Bas and Cozz, why Interscope was the perfect label partner, who's nicer on the court between Cole and Ib, and much, much more!

#169: J. Cole's Manager and Dreamville President Ib Hamad

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome the amazing rapper, actor, producer, podcaster, and personality Phonte - whose new album No News is Good News is available for streaming everywhere now - to the Upper West Side! We discuss Phonte's youth in Greensboro, North Carolina, his East Coast musical influences, what Biggie's Ready to Die album and Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle album meant, being bused to a mostly white high school, focusing on sports, performing with his first rap group, The Fu-Tang Clan, making beats on a TASCAM four-track recorder in his room, how his creative writing developed significantly in 11th grade, and attending college, where he met Big Pooh and 9th Wonder. Phonte talks about how he and 9th and Pooh were friends way before they were making music, giving up football, joining the school's drama program, starting a college rap group G.I.M.M.E. (God, I Murder Many Emcees), watching in awe as 9th made beats on Cool Edit Pro, and making records on records on records until they felt their song "The Finest" was about to hit. Phonte speaks on having a child right out of college and balancing his 9-5 at Blue Cross, Blue Shield with the freedom that his budding music career brought, moving forward as Little Brother, the power of the internet and specifically Okayplayer, touring California, taking meetings with Jive Records, ultimately signing with Atlantic Records, what it's like to turn in an album like The Minstrel Show, and how quickly their support system at the label fell apart. We get into the expectations, the environment, the fallout, the bounce back, and ultimately the dissolution of Little Brother, and how Phonte found himself in a place in 2011 where he was ready to create and release a solo album. Phonte talks Foreign Exchange, doing 80's covers, losing loved members of his family, getting married, producing music and TV, writing music and TV, and championing others, finally determining that he had a second solo record ready for public consumption in 2018, and the overwhelmingly positive reactions it's garnered. All that, plus stories about Kanye, Drake, Jeezy, Combat Jack, Oprah, Danny Glover, South of the Border, Petey Pablo, The Source, BET, The Breaks, Sesame Street, and so much more!

#176: Phonte

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome East Harlem's own Jim Jones to the Upper West Side to talk Dipset Christmas, why he didn't do a solo deal at Roc-A-Fella, random remixes, sneaker shopping, being in the belt business with A$AP Ferg, Funk Flex's car shows, working with Rsonist of The Heatmakerz, being the fashionable kid in high school, bringing 100 people with him to The Tunnel, the effect he had on the music industry by engineering his own sessions, blowing budgets at the club, his love-hate relationship with his song Ballin', what he thought when 50 Cent called Koch Records a "graveyard," not signing J. Cole, his own Broadway show, how Mona Scott stole his reality TV show, being the NYC tour guides for visiting artists, and much, much more! This episode is presented by Martell, the legendary maker of the world's finest cognacs, including Martell Blue Swift and VS Single Distillery.

#181: Jim Jones

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome British rapper Dave to the Upper West Side! Dave, AKA Santan Dave, talks about his breakout hit Wanna Know, how Drake reached out to appear on the remix, how OVO did right by him, and what that one song meant in terms of radio, festivals and recognition. We discuss Dave's youth in South London, not having much of a relationship with his two older brothers when they were growing up, and what it was like to visit his siblings throughout their stops in the prison system. We dive into Dave's proficiancy at piano, his early attempts at rapping, how movie soundtracks opened his ears in a new way, the inspiration in Meek Mill's music, and how his own freestyles on Blackbox and Fire in the Booth launched him into a legitimate career while trying to balance his studies at university. We talk about his collaborations with J Hus, AJ Tracey, Fraser T. Smith, how he started doing his own production, what spurred him into getting political in his own rhymes, and how his powerful song Hangman came about. All that, plus traveling with his new puppy, shooting music videos in Europe, football referees, dreaming of Aston Martins, touring around the world, and the confusion that comes with being a rapper named just Dave.

#188: Santan Dave

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Chicago's own clothing designer and entreprenuer Joe Freshgoods to the Upper West Side! Joe discusses his start on Chicago's West Side, ironing images onto t-shirts and selling them in high school, getting fired from Niketown, dropping out of college, working at Leaders 1354 while selling his own t-shirts in the style of a drug dealer, receiving a cease and desist for using the word "dope," reimagining his brand, experiencing SXSW with the Illroots crew, getting high and creating his infamous Rihanna hat, getting checks from Karmaloop, opening a store up out of his apartment, teaming up with Chance the Rapper and Vic Mensa, printing Kanye-related material, developing Obama-related material, and ultimately partnering up with brands like McDonald's, Nike, Adidas, and always maintaining credibility and cool. All that, plus why he hates the term "fast fashion," what Don C means, how hard it is to run a clothing store, why narratives matter, who wore his legendary tye-dye sweatshirts, working at Subway, seeing his face on giant photos at Nike, and much more!

#199: Joe Freshgoods

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Def Jam A&R, Tyga's consigliere and the Bay Area's native son AE to the Upper West Side! One of the best personalities and most genuine young souls in the music business, AE discusses growing up fast in North Oakland and going to school in East Oakland, sharing a room with his sister, playing basketball with bigger aspirations, skating through high school, doing Costco runs with the principal, his group The A'z, winning Battle of the Bay on KMEL, meeting B2K and joining them on tour. We talk about how B2K put the group to work, and how AE set himself apart, the deals that record companies and TV channels offered, how executives were afraid of face tattoos, their popularity all over the world, tensions between group members and management, and why they ultimately broke up. AE gets into meeting Tyga before he was rapping, how Tyga's good energy and his BBC collection made him stand out, how they reconnected after eight or so years when AE was walking in Hollywood and looked above for a sign. We go in depth about rehabilitating Tyga's career, how trusting their friendship is, how Taste - arguably the song of Summer 2018 - came about, and how that led to Def Jam hiring him as A&R. All that, plus his experiences with Young Thug, YK Osirus, Bria Myles, Kanye West, Wyoming, Ryan Coogler, Steven Victor, Valee, Smash Mouth, where he was when the Pusha-Drake beef went off, how he operates as a new music executive, what he's looking for in artists and producers, how he uses emojis in 2018, and much, much more! Yadadameeaan!

#202: Def Jam A&R AE

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Louisville, Kentucky native, Atlanta, Georgia resident, Mean Streets fixture and future of Generation Now, Jack Harlow to the Upper West Side! In addition to discussing his uncanny resemblance to ItsTheReal, we talk about committing to music in middle school, knowing that he wasn't college material in high school, bodying his Sway freestyle, his aversion to being challenged by producers, the difference between before and after his Dark Knight project, meeting with Quality Control, signing with DJ Drama and Don Cannon, why his crew is called Private Garden, why he's taking hair medicine at his age, his parents' sign business, Cardinals vs. Wildcats, how he performs in new cities, how he doesn't write rhymes down any more and if he ever gets writer's block, glasses vs. contacts, his new project Loose, plus stories about Natasha Bedingfield, Lil B, Lil Uzi Vert, Fetty Wap, a man named Randy from Atlanta, and so much more!

#210: Jack Harlow

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome arguably the producer of the year Kenny Beats to the Upper West Side! Kenny talks growing up in Connecticut always the tallest kid in his class, taking breakdancing classes, noodling on the guitar, the moment his mind awakened to music production, and the days he'd spend in a beat-making program recreating Timbaland beats he'd heard in the Jay-Z documentary Fade to Black. Kenny talks about his high school internship at RCA, his off-the-books internship for Jonny Shipes, going off to Berklee College of Music, getting ahead of his peers, becoming a staple of the hip-hop scene in Boston, trading his own supply of weed for the opportunity to hang with Ab-Soul, how that friendship got his first beats placed with ScHoolboy Q and Smoke DZA. We discuss transitioning into the EDM scene, touring the world as the DJ LOUDPVCK, putting on elaborately produced shows, how his beats weren't a huge departure from his hip-hop catalog, how ultimately his heart wasn't in the EDM world and the dark results it had on him physically, mentally and emotionally. Kenny talks giving up the DJ life, his reset, being down to his last $1k, locking himself in his room and composing records he truly cared about, and how he reintroduced himself into hip-hop through his work with HoodRich Pablo Juan, Key!, Rico Nasty, Lil Wop and more. All that, plus how he separates himself from other producers, why he prefers being in studio with an artist, how he stepped up his vocal production, what working on full projects with Vince Staples and 03 Greedo mean to him, his special collaborative album with ALLBLACK, how he knew his beats were winning, and so much more!

#219: Kenny Beats

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Houston, Texas rapper, newest signee to 300, Instagram legend and current student at Texas Southern University, Megan Thee Stallion to the Upper West Side! Megan discusses growing up loving school, getting trouble for cursing at a young age, making best friends during a food fight, always being the tallest in her grade, trying every sport and giving up, why she'd be a Plastic in her version of Mean Girls, and how she didn't win Prom Queen but still ended up bodying the night. We talk about secretly writing rhymes during high school, how shy she was as a teen, going to college with plans to be a nurse, putting stress aside and forming a new persona, finding beats on YouTube and starting a rap career on campus, when she found out her mother was a rapper, and the skepticism when her mom found out she rapped. We get into her debut show at SXSW, why she won't perform in a skirt anymore, her viral freestyle over Tay K's The Race, Missy Elliott shouting her out on Twitter, Q-Tip reaching out to offer advice and support and encouraging her ratchetness, Drake and The Migos throwing money to her song in a Houston strip club, what it was like when Kevin Liles walked in the room to sign her to 300, how much her mother likes her raunchy lyrics, and the surprising song that her mom feels she should emulate. All that, plus how her grandmother lurks on IG, practicing what it will be like when she finally meets Beyonce, how she's waiting for a dude to approach her in real life instead of DMing emojis, her southern accent, the dumbest way she's broken a nail, her upcoming project Fever and much more!

#222: Megan Thee Stallion

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal we welcome Variety's 2018 Manager of the Year Dre London to the Upper West Side! In this wide-ranging and personal conversation, we discuss everything from becoming a trusted member of French Montana and Max B's inner circle a decade ago to helping guide Post Malone into uncharted streaming territory throughout 2018, the aftermath of being kicked out of high school in South London at age 15, hustling to get by, moving to the United States with no connections and no green card, leading with his gut instincts, studying the game, moving to Los Angeles, meeting a young, video-gaming, super-talented genreless musician and joining him on a ride that has them currently selling out arenas, and for the first time, talking about what it was like in the troubled private plane with Post on their way to England, when they had to prepare for the worst. All that and so much more in this very inspirational and very funny episode!

#235: Variety's 2018 Manager of the Year Dre London

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal we welcome super-producer Hitmaka to the Upper West Side to detail the ups and downs of his one-of-one journey as a chart-topping rapper, a hustler, an aimless creative, a ghostwriter and ultimately the most surprising bounce back story and rebrand to become the most in-demand producer in the business. Hitmaka discusses his Chicago upbringing to well-off parents, dropping out of school as a young teen to chase down his hip-hop dreams, linking up with street management which led to opportunities to spit over Kanye West production, rap for Jay-Z, meet Aaliyah, and end up signing to DMX. Hitmaka describes his fallout with his family, his exile to a Montana boot camp which led to his fallout with DMX,&nbsp;reconnecting with childhood friend Shawnna as her career began to take off, getting into Chicago street life&nbsp;to get by, moving to Los Angeles to write for an artist signed to Eve, running around with young Hollywood types, taking a flyer on some young producers and convincing them to join him in LA, and writing the music that would get him - Yung Berg - signed as an artist to Epic Records. We talk about linking up with Ray J, getting bailed out of jail by Shaq, what it was like touring the country as his record Sexy Can I shot to the top of charts,&nbsp;the difference of opinion he and his label head had over follow up record, how his time at Epic came to an end, and how NFL offensive lineman Bryant McKinnie gave him a lifeline. Hitmaka talks about how important his friendship to Jeremih has been, how he began to use his talents for building a hit song to help other artists like Nicki Minaj, 2 Chainz, Meek Mill, Ty Dolla $ign, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, King Louie&nbsp;and any artist you can think of, and how he holds no grudges at anyone in business. All that, plus stories about Joe Budden, Mike Caren, LEP Bogus Boys, Troy Carter, Bri Steves, his Transformer chain, his hugely anticipated upcoming album and much, much, much more! Listen now wherever podcasts are playing!


#238: Hitmaka

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we went out to LA to sit down with the legend himself, John Monopoly, to talk about being the at the epicenter of the Chicago music scene for almost thirty years! Known most notably for his work as Kanye West's manager, we talk about his upbringing in Chicago's Johnson family, his early Soul Train memories, going to grade school with Common and No I.D., promoting shows and making beats and getting money in high school, meeting Kanye back in 1990, why he decamped for Atlanta and why he returned home and what Jay Boogie means to the city. We discuss Mnop meeting his cousin Don C and how they took over the night life scene in the Windy City, how they got The Beatnuts to town, the story behind bringing Jay-Z and Foxy Brown to the Chi, and of course, the city's most notorious party celebrating the hottest rapper on the scene, Da Brat. John goes into detail about trying to break the Go Getters and Kanye West records, attending the Mixshow Power Summit, making and maintaining relationships, how Chris Lighty recruited Mnop to work at Violator Management, and what it felt like to leave Chicago for New York. We reminisce on Kanye's chaining day, how he got the news of Kanye's car crash, the initial struggles of Through the Wire on the radio, how Syleena Johnson ended up on All Falls Down, the highs of The College Dropout and The Grammys and ultimately what led to his parting ways with Ye in 2008. We discuss John's work with Valee, Z Money, Hitmaka FKA Young Berg, Dreezy, King Louie, his nephew London on Da Track, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott, Dirtbag, Cool &amp; Dre, G.O.O.D. Music, Mona Scott, Todd Moscowitz, Puffy, Cam'ron and Jim Jones, his being diagnosed as bipolar, the value in discussing mental health, and much, much more!


#240: John Monopoly

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Miyayo's own, CEO of Maybach Music, the biggest boss, Rick Ross to the Upper West Side for a deep, hilarious, revealing,&nbsp;and very meaningful conversation!&nbsp;


#265: Rick Ross

Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we revisit our January 2016 interview with Lil Uzi Vert, before he set streaming records and took over the world! Listen to a young Uzi talk about A$AP Yams, Young Thug, Steve Aoki, as well as why he hated Michael B. Jordan. We also discussed touring with Fall Out Boy, being friends with Wiz Khalifa, and why hoverboards were a thing of the past. And since we had our friends DJ Drama and Don Cannon visiting too, we brought them in on the conversation and talked about a bunch of things, most importantly Philly vs. Atlanta.


ItsTheReal Classic: Lil Uzi Vert

Today on Episode 22 of Quarantine Radio, we make calls from our Upper West Side apartment to check in on the young legend, music producer Kenny Beats to talk about going to Hawaii to meet Rick Rubin, working at Shangri La, and what exactly he's cooking up next. We  call the younger legend, music producer Murda Beatz to talk about the AirBNB he's currently stuck in, his interest in street racing, and how he's been long-time friends with Conway the Machine from back in Buffalo! And we also check in with the OG legend Lake Sheezy, co-founder and co-president of Generation Now (Lil Uzi Vert, Jack Harlow, DJ Drama) about family, business and oh yeah, THE TIME HE BOUGHT A MONKEY FROM JOE EXOTIC FOR UZI AND THE TIME NBA YOUNGBOY BROUGHT HIS TIGER TO THE STUDIO!!!


QUARANTINE RADIO with Kenny Beats, Murda Beatz and Lake Sheezy

Today on Episode 47 of Quarantine Radio, we make calls from our Upper West Side apartment to celebrated audio engineers Leslie Brathwaite, Alex Tumay and Anthony Cruz! First we jump on the phone with legendary mix engineer and multiple-Grammy Award winner Leslie Brathwaite to discuss his work with TLC, Beyonce, The Carters, Pharrell, Outkast, Jeezy, Lil Uzi Vert, Jack Harlow, Madonna, Cardi B and more, how he rests his ears and his soul, his relationships with artists and executives, what album made him sit up straight and open his eyes, what he believes sets Michael Jackson's Thriller album apart from the rest, the incredible creativity he's applying to his mixing environment since quarantine went into effect, the bird that attacked him while we were recording this very episode, and so much more! Then we call to the Lower East Side to catch up with the great Alex Tumay to discuss his bout with COVID-19, how crippling it was, his efforts in combating it, how it's changed the way he operates even after recovering, how it effected his work, why he and Kenny Beats collaborate so perfectly together, what a terrific experience it was to mix with 40 and PartyNextDoor on his latest project, and so much more! And finally we dial up Meek Mills' personal engineer Anthony Cruz to break down how he's spent the last two months, how fatherhood has been treating him, what it was like when he and Meek first listened to Jay Electronica's album in the studio, being a resource for artists who are at home learning to engineer themselves, trying to skip out on Zoom birthday parties, order studio equipment to his in-law's place and much more!


QUARANTINE RADIO *Engineers Edition* with Leslie Brathwaite, Alex Tumay and Anthony Cruz

The most fun interviews in hip-hop: comedian brothers Eric and Jeff Rosenthal, better known as ItsTheReal, engage in authentic and hilarious conversation with rappers, tastemakers, and industry veterans, all from their Upper West Side apartment.

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