#136: Chuck Inglish
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal we welcome one half of The Cool Kids, the influential producer and rapper, Chuck Inglish to the Upper West Side! Chuck discusses growing up in Detroit the son of an auto worker and a nurse, hearing dice games outside his house that reminded him of rap album skits, seeing Cecil Fielder pull up in a car straight out of a Dr. Dre video, and playing drum...
1hr 34m Sep 12, 2017
1hr 34m
#135: LeCrae
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Lecrae to the Upper West Side! Known for his independent grind, his infamous BET cypher, and of course his faith-based rhymes, we get into his entire, fascinating and relatable journey. Lecrae talks growing up with a mom in the Army, moving around from school to school and reestablishing himself at every stop, lunchroom rap being a common...
1hr 12m Sep 05, 2017
1hr 12m
#134: J.I.D
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Dreamville rapper and Atlanta native J.I.D. to the Upper West Side! Fresh off supporting J. Cole on his 4 Your Eyez Only Tour, J.I.D. discusses his All-American high school football career, following in the footsteps of his brother, and the injury that sent his dreams into tumult. J.I.D. talks leaving the comforts of Atlanta for college i...
1hr 3m Aug 29, 2017
1hr 3m
#133: Mal
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Mal from The Joe Budden Podcast to the Upper West Side! The gregarious Mal, whose put his opinions front and center, has always kept his personal history extremely close to the vest... until today. We talk about his upbringing in the Bronx, what his older brothers have done in the music business, how he got to travel the world as a high s...
1hr 16m Aug 22, 2017
1hr 16m
#132: DJ Green Lantern
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome the legendary mixtape DJ, producer, father, and former paperboy, DJ Green Lantern to the Upper West Side, where he tells two hours of the most amazing stories- a bunch which have never been told before! Green discusses growing up in Rochester, New York, how listening to Led Zeppelin, Public Enemy and Jazz shaped his ears, how producing le...
2hr 7m Aug 15, 2017
2hr 7m
#131: Brocky Marciano
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Interscope A&R Brocky Marciano to the Upper West Side! Brocky talks growing up in Santa Barbara, California with little money but lots of musical influences in his life, cruising through high school with dreams of playing college baseball, and seeing those plans dashed when weed, women and boredom came into the picture. Brocky discusses c...
1hr 25m Aug 08, 2017
1hr 25m
Episode 130: A Waste of Time Live - Celebrating Roc-A-Fella
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we celebrated the legendary record label Roc-A-Fella Records - home to Jay-Z, Kanye West, Memphis Bleek, Cam'Ron, Beanie Sigel and more - with a dozen of the Roc's pillars: founder and partner Kareem "Biggs" Burke, president Chaka Pilgrim, A&Rs Kyambo "Hip-Hop" Joshua and Lenny S, engineer Young Guru, producer Just Blaze, and artists Freeway, Young ...
2hr 22m Aug 02, 2017
2hr 22m
#129: An Actual Waste Of Time - Final Bounce
From the podcast that's brought you the most in-depth, funniest, and inspirational interviews in hip-hop... join us this Wednesday, July 26th, as we celebrate the legacy of Roc-a-Fella Records with Kareem "Biggs" Burke, Chaka Pilgrim, Emory "Vegas" Jones, Jim Jones, Freeway, Young Gunz, Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua, Just Blaze, Lenny S and Young Guru. It's a once-in-a-lifetime event, and you should ...
5m Jul 25, 2017
5m
#128: Nadeska Alexis
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome co-host of Complex News' runaway hit show Everyday Struggle to the Upper West Side! Nadeska discusses her childhood move from Grenada to Brooklyn, her mother's strict rules, being shy and reserved through high school, and begging her way out of town and to the snowy confines of Binghamton University. Nadeska talks early interviews with Wa...
1hr 6m Jul 18, 2017
1hr 6m
127: Datwon Thomas
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome the Editor in Chief of Vibe, and Brooklyn's own Datwon Thomas to the Upper West Side! Day discusses growing up on Air Force bases in Japan and New Mexico before finishing high school back in Brooklyn alongside Junior M.A.F.I.A., trying to pass off instrumentals to Puff Daddy in the club, and interning at Vibe Magazine during their first w...
2hr Jul 11, 2017
2hr
#126: Styles P
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome the Ghost himself, one third of the LOX, and fellow Westchester native, Styles P to the Upper West Side! Styles talks growing up in Yonkers with a chip on his shoulder, meeting Jadakiss and Sheek Louch, spending his high school years as a gentleman and a gangster, giving college a try for one semester, putting in work on the block, in ret...
1hr 40m Jul 03, 2017
1hr 40m
#125: Hip Hop Mike
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Hot 97 and Dash Radio personality Hip Hop Mike to the Upper West Side! In this hilarious and crazy episode, Mike details his parents leaving him to be raised with his grandmother in Queens, his father going to jail, becoming a stick-up kid, being sent to Florida to live with his well-to-do cousins and learning to sell weed, coming back to...
1hr 20m Jun 27, 2017
1hr 20m
#124: Vado
his week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Harlem native Vado to the Upper West Side! Vado talks growing up on 142nd and Lenox Avenue, going to school with Juelz Santana, seeing Mase, Jay Z, Fat Joe, the Ruff Ryders, Aaliyah, and more come through the block, battle rapping all around Harlem, going on a ski trips with Teyana Taylor, dropping out of school, forming the UN with Cam'Ro...
1hr 4m Jun 20, 2017
1hr 4m
#123: Irv Benitez
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal we welcome Queens native and founder of the Brunch Bounce party series / The Greatest Day Ever, Irv Benitez! Irv details his early days wanting to be a part of the music industry, meeting Just Blaze while working at Foot Locker, interning at Roc-a-fella Records twice, and just-about giving up on college when his father unexpectedly passed away. Irv d...
1hr 13m Jun 13, 2017
1hr 13m
#122: Statik Selektah
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 Stre...
1hr 15m Jun 06, 2017
1hr 15m
#121: Rory Farrell
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, be...
1hr 41m May 30, 2017
1hr 41m
#120: Killer Mike
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, one half of Run the Jewels, Killer Mike, welcomes Eric and Jeff into his Atlanta, Georgia home! In a conversation surrounding ItsTheReal's new album, Teddy Bear Fresh, which drops on May 26th, Mike talks with the brothers Rosenthal about their family, growing up on Jay Z and Biggie, diving into a career of hip-hop sketch comedy, and the persistence,...
1hr 36m May 23, 2017
1hr 36m
#119: Dallas Martin
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we stop by Atlantic Records to sit down with their SVP of A&R Dallas Martin! We discussed growing up humble in Flint, Michigan, turning down the safe in-state option and going to Clark Atlanta University, promoting parties around the city and meeting Don Cannon, DJ Drama, and DJ Sense, getting an internship with the man who signed Jeezy and Rick Ros...
1hr 53m May 16, 2017
1hr 53m
#118: Jena Luckman
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome our hilarious friend online and IRL, Jena Luckman, to the Upper West Side! Jena talks about online dating, growing up as a competitive dancer, dumping a future poker champion, and why Flo Rida doesn't find her particularly funny. We discussed her surviving cancer, surviving getting mugged in New York City, and surviving getting catfished ...
1hr 33m May 08, 2017
1hr 33m
#117: Johnny Nunez
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome longtime music scene photographer Johnny Nunez! Johnny talks getting Warren Buffett to throw up the Roc, traveling the world with Dame Dash, and sneaking into Nelson Mandella's house. We discussed the racism Johnny experienced as a child in Brooklyn, his family's escape to Long Island, getting kicked out of medical school just short of hi...
1hr 25m May 02, 2017
1hr 25m
#116: Mack Wilds
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome singer/actor Mack Wilds to the Upper West Side! Mack talks growing up on Staten Island, meeting future co-star of The Breaks, Method Man, at his father's barber shop, commuting to Manhattan for casting calls, landing a Spike Lee TV series as a freshman in high school, and promptly leaving high school to work on The Wire. We discussed Mack...
1hr 15m Apr 25, 2017
1hr 15m
#115: David Cho
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we finally welcome former publisher of Grantland and The Awl, as well as our great friend, David Cho to the podcast! David talks being in the studio with Justin Timberlake, Pharrell and Timbaland, listening to Kanye complain about his dentist, playing Jenga with Jay Z, and going to dinner at Tyrese's personal backyard Benihana. David discusses growi...
2hr 9m Apr 18, 2017
2hr 9m
ITR Kay Slay - Final Bounce
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we are honored to welcome the legend himself, DJ Kay Slay, to the Upper West Side for an amazing conversation! We talk with the Hot 97 and Shade 45 DJ about how he found graffiti in the early 1980's and became "King of the 1 and 3 Trains" by age 16, how he was break dancing and DJing parties at age 11, and navigating the streets of Spanish Harlem th...
1hr 52m Apr 11, 2017
1hr 52m
#113: Tuxedo (Jake One + Mayer Hawthorne)
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome singer Mayer Hawthorne and producer Jake One collectively known as the funk outfit Tuxedo, to the Upper West Side! We talk Jake's roots in Seattle, his work with G-Unit and Rick Ross and Future, beat tapes being jacked, the importance of the late J. Moore, growing up playing basketball with Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament, bandwagon Seahawks fans,...
1hr 16m Apr 04, 2017
1hr 16m
#112: DJ Kast One
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome The Bronx's own DJ Kast One to the Upper West Side! A Hot 97 staple for the last decade, Kast talks about fighting his way through the Bronx, doing graffiti in subways and on rooftops, joyriding cars at a boarding school in Pennsylvania, cleaning airplanes at LaGuardia Airport, and his mother signing him up for college without his knowled...
1hr 45m Mar 28, 2017
1hr 45m
#111: Live At SXSW With 24hrs And Danny Brown
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we took the show down to Austin, Texas for a wide-ranging talk with rapper/singer/DJ/producer 24hrs and rapper/comedian Danny Brown in front of a live audience from the official SXSW podcast stage! We discussed cats, pedicabs, FaceTime, Jermaine Dupri, AirBNB, living with Tony Yayo, random run-ins from years ago & so much more!
1hr 9m Mar 21, 2017
1hr 9m
#110: Casanova
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Flatbush, Brooklyn's own Casanova to the Upper West Side! We talk growing up in a pre-Barclays Center Brooklyn, robbing people for their Air Jordans, giving up on school football when no one from Casanova's family would attend his games, and going in and out of jail as early as 14. We discuss what a judge said and what his mother did to m...
1hr 3m Mar 13, 2017
1hr 3m
#109: Kyle
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Ventura, California's own, Kyle, to the Upper West Side! In this hilarious conversation, we talk about reinventing yourself after switching to a new high school, putting sports to the side for drama club and improv classes, recording at run-down studios after school in Los Angeles, paying to perform at a shoe store during regular business...
1hr 18m Mar 07, 2017
1hr 18m
#108: Charlie Wilson
his week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, it's our honor and pleasure to welcome the legendary singer Charlie Wilson to the Upper West Side! Uncle Charlie took time from his nationwide tour to sit down with us and talk about Kanye (who exactly suggested Rihanna be on All of the Lights, knowing Ye's Tulsa family growing up, where his version of Flashing Lights is, Rosewood), Snoop Dogg (how S...
1hr 12m Feb 28, 2017
1hr 12m
#107: Alex Tumay
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 ...
1hr 25m Feb 21, 2017
1hr 25m
#106: Jazz Cartier
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Toronto's own young gun Jazz Cartier to the Upper West Side! We talk growing up in a military family, moving from Canada to Idaho to Georgia to Kuwait to Connecticut, always on the move. We discuss his mom putting him onto classic records but not letting him wear bandanas like Juelz, getting kicked out of boarding school, playing high sch...
1hr 13m Feb 14, 2017
1hr 13m
#105: Mike Carson
Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Big Sean's creative director, Mike Carson to the Upper West Side for his first real interview! We talk with Mike about his upbringing in Chicago, his early start with shooting and editing videos, doing lighting direction for high school plays, linking up with Mike Waxx at Columbia College to bring video content to illroots.com, dropping out o...
1hr 26m Feb 10, 2017
1hr 26m
#104: Nigel Talley
Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome acclaimed A&R Nigel Talley to the Upper West Side! We talk about Nigel's roots in the Bronx, going to a high school straight outta "Lean on Me," finding a purpose in life after meeting Rosie Perez, finding his way into the music industry, and dropping out of college at the request of Puff Daddy, so that he could join the No Way Out tour. We d...
1hr 48m Feb 09, 2017
1hr 48m
#103: Kameron McCullough of HennyPalooza
Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome HennyPalooza founder Kameron McCullough to the Upper West Side! We talk growing up in Buffalo, NY, getting kicked out of elementary school, his time in Catholic school, high school football getting his D-1 scholarship offers, and seeing those pro football dreams evaporate in a split second. We discuss rebranding himself as a party promoter in...
1hr 30m Feb 08, 2017
1hr 30m
#102: DJ Jubilee
Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome South Florida's own, DJ Jubilee, to the Upper West Side! We talk about growing up in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, nd Orlando, and how the Florida heat, beats and streets helped shape her as a person and as a musician. We discuss going on Disney World rides under the influence, doing grunt work for radio stations, waitressing at Bennigan's, moving ...
1hr 31m Feb 07, 2017
1hr 31m
#101: Wyclef Jean
Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome the legend Wyclef Jean to the Upper West Side. In a wide-ranging conversation, we talk about his collaborations with The Rock, Kenny Rogers, Destiny's Child, Jin tha MC, Mary J Blige, Canibus, Daryl Hall and more. We discussed stealing cars outside his father's church, playing upright bass in his high school jazz band, performing at Carnegie ...
1hr 9m Feb 06, 2017
1hr 9m
#100!
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we celebrate our 100th episode by answering listener-submitted questions about our history, profession, taste in music, guests, process, AKAs, trash vs, gawbage, whether cereal is a soup, and much more. All that, plus we dig up a fascinating clip from a never-aired episode with Young Dro!
1hr 21m Jan 31, 2017
1hr 21m
#99: Cardi B
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome The Bronx's own Cardi B to the Upper West Side! We talked her super-impressive new mixtape Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 2, growing up in the Highbridge section of the The Bronx, her high school reputation, sneaking out to go to parties, how she hated math yet worked as a cashier, her brief time in college, how her boss at an Amish market in N...
1hr 1m Jan 24, 2017
1hr 1m
#98: DJ Envy
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 hi...
1hr 31m Jan 17, 2017
1hr 31m
#97: DJ Bobby Trends
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 r...
1hr 37m Jan 10, 2017
1hr 37m
#96: Ev Boogie
This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal we welcome UpNorthTrips founder and hip-hop curator Ev Boogie to the Upper West Side! Ev discusses growing up the son of a small town mayor, his mother tearing the tape out of his rap cassette, meeting Jonny Shipes in college, working the cash register at the famed Hamptons' hot spot The Star Room, an infamous run-in with Dame Dash, what really went ...
1hr 42m Jan 03, 2017
1hr 42m
#95: Jersey Jinx
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 St...
1hr 18m Dec 27, 2016
1hr 18m
#94: Peter Rosenberg
Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome our old neighbor, friend and Hot97/ESPN radio personality Peter Rosenberg back to our part of the Upper West Side! We discuss Trump in great detail, how Peter celebrated Obama's first Inauguration, Washington's professional football team, buying a Christmas tree, the wrestler Goldberg and how in the world Peter missed out on the golden era of...
1hr 43m Dec 24, 2016
1hr 43m
#93: Jonny Shipes
Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome the man behind Cinematic Music Group, co-founder of The Smoker's Club Tour, and manager to Joey Bada$$, Jonny Shipes to the Upper West Side! We discuss his wild youth, getting kicked out of military school, finding himself living out on Eastern Long Island, going from throwing a party that led to an actual riot to promoting the hottest clubs ...
1hr 28m Dec 23, 2016
1hr 28m
ITR Post Malone Final Bounce
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 Atlant...
1hr 8m Dec 22, 2016
1hr 8m
#91: Chase B
Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome our former neighbor and one of the best DJs working right now, Chase B, back to the Upper West Side! We discuss his upbringing in Houston, Texas, knowing Travis Scott since they were nine years old, his career in track and field, going to school at Howard University, practicing DJing on one CDJ, bombing in an audition for DJ Clark Kent, estab...
1hr 9m Dec 21, 2016
1hr 9m
#90: YesJulz
Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome the Director of Vibes herself, YesJulz, to the Upper West Side! We discussed her growing up in Tampa, bouncing around the foster care system with just a garbage bag of her belongings to her name, finding her birth parents and extended family, leaving her job at LIV in Miami to run around Europe in a quest to find herself, coming back to the U...
1hr 27m Dec 20, 2016
1hr 27m
#89: Flatbush Zombies
Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome Brooklyn's own Flatbush Zombies to the Upper West Side! We discuss getting fired from Foot Locker and Guitar Center, getting kicked out of high school, suspect teachers and principals, meeting A$AP Yams on internet rap forums, hearing Yams rap, the ridiculous things they heard when they were courted by major rap labels, getting recognized in ...
1hr 12m Dec 19, 2016
1hr 12m
Episode 88 with Premium Pete
Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome shoe aficionado and host of The Premium Pete Show, Premium Pete, to the Upper West Side! On this hilarious and inspiring episode, we discussed his recent re-connection with Combat Jack, podcast beef, growing up on Coney Island, delivering newspapers to John Franco, stealing his mother's car, skipping out on high school classes, getting into f...
1hr 39m Dec 18, 2016
1hr 39m
87: Christylezz
Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome host of the traveling party Hennypalooza and of his popular podcast Trappin Anonymous, Christylezz, to the Upper West Side! We discuss Chris' upbringing in Brooklyn, each and every job he got fired from, how he turned his life around in community college, and got a job as an assistant teacher for children with special needs... while he lived ...
1hr 2m Dec 17, 2016
1hr 2m