The boys are back and the crew opens up talking hoops, the World Cup, and why American sports broadcasts hit different. From there it's straight into a milestone: Vinnie's debut solo album, Season of the Assassin, just passed its 16th anniversary, and the guys sit down to break down how it actually came together.

Vinnie gets into why he waited as long as he did to go solo, the uncertainty of stepping out from Stoupe and the JMT sound , and the real story of the album's original title before it became Season of the Assassin. He walks through building the record from scratch, tracking down producers he grew up idolizing, and a session at a legendary New York studio that made the whole thing feel real. They dive into how the features and production actually got picked and, sixteen years later, we get Vinnie's take on what it means to him today.

Pop the Trunk with Vinnie Paz streaming on all DSPs and your favorite podcast app. @popthetrunk.pod

Vinnie flies solo this week to break down Jaron "Boots" Ennis's dominant, multi-knockdown stoppage of Xander Zayas that unified the 154-pound titles at the DAZN’s Barclays Center PPV.

He also covers the rest of that card (Jahi Tucker's win, a controversial Ben Whitaker stoppage loss), runs through news and notes — Usyk vacating his heavyweight belts, Floyd Mayweather's exhibition falling through amid his financial troubles, the WBC's questionable 154-pound rankings — and previews the July 4th weekend card topped by Abdullah Mason vs. Albert Bell.

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Vinnie and Billy hold things down two-man-band style with Brendan out this week, and crack open the mailbag for a round of listener mail and recommendations — including no shortage of opinions on the top 50 list they've got cooking. They also bring back a beloved segment from Broad Street Breakdown and things get weird from there: a debate over psychics and mediums, an unexpected detour into a heavier real-world topic, and the usual cast of internet oddballs that keep this show interesting.

Pop the Trunk with Vinnie Paz streaming on all DSPs and your favorite podcast app. @popthetrunk.pod

Boots Ennis and Xander Zayas finally collide for two junior middleweight titles, and the boys can't wait any longer to break it all down. From the questionable promotion (thanks, Knicks playoff run and World Cup chaos) to the undercard sleepers worth watching, no angle gets left on the table — including a few overdue predictions on exactly how this one ends.

Plus: news on Joshua-Fury's bizarre venue problem, Tank Davis' next move, Floyd Mayweather's legal troubles, and a friendly wager that might leave somebody's hair a very different color by the weekend.

Hip-hop runs on competition and nothing fuels it like a good beef. In this episode, the fellas do a deep dive into the genre's most legendary rivalries, tracing the lineage from the earliest battles through the records, subliminals, and feuds that shaped rap history. Some squashed it, some didn't get the chance to. We break down who we think really won.

The boys are back, and this week there's an elephant in the room the size of Madison Square Garden. Vinnie and Billy are doing their best to ignore it, but Brendan isn't making it easy. The Knicks just won the championship and someone in the studio is way too happy about it — and it isn't the Philly guys. The debate over whether Wu-Tang's halftime performance had anything to do with the outcome is very real, and very heated.

From there the conversation shifts to something that's been brewing for a while — the guys announce plans to put together their own Greatest 50 Rappers of All Time list, a direct response to the clickbait list culture dominating hip hop media. Names get floated and opinions get spicy. Don’t miss this one!

The crew weighs in on the NBA Finals and what it really costs to be a New York Knicks fan these days. From there, the conversation shifts into hip hop beef culture and where the line is between sport and disrespect.

Then Vinnie tells the story of a journalist interview that spiraled into something far more serious — and why federal agents ended up at his show because of it. That leads to a discussion on cancel culture and why nobody is actually getting canceled in 2026.

The crew kicks things off with a tale of restaurant frustration that snowballs into a broader conversation about bad service, false promises, and the unwritten code between businesses and their customers. From there, the episode digs into Complex's viral Top 50 New York Rappers of All Time list — and the crew has plenty to say.

They debate whether the list is a legitimate ranking, deliberate rage bait, or a mix of both, unpacking the criteria, questioning some of the inclusions, and making the case for the names that got left off entirely. From legends who should be higher to modern acts that have no business being on a "best ever" list, it's a deep, opinionated ride through New York rap history.

Vinnie holds it down solo while his co-hosts sit this one out in lieu of other shenanigans. He runs through a loaded boxing news cycle — Lomachenko's retirement reversal, Canelo's next move, the Wardley-Dubois rematch situation, and more — before breaking down the main event everyone's been arguing about: Usyk vs. Verhoeven at the Pyramids in Giza. Was Rico closer than anyone expected, or did the crowd and the rounds fool people? Vinnie's got a take.

He also weighs in on Frank Sanchez packing up Richard Torres (told you so), Hamza Shiraz's breakout belt win, and previews a deceptively busy weekend headlined by Bevo's return and O'Shay Foster vs. Raymond Ford for the WBC 130 title — a fight Vinnie's not exactly hyped for, but picks anyway.

The mailbag is back! The crew gets into the creative process behind writing rhymes, whether a perfect album is a perfect album regardless of genre, and what happens when ego convinces someone they're an expert in everything. Billy's history with Heelys comes out, fan art makes its way into the studio, and a listener writing in from Berlin has some catching up to do. Tune in for Episode 15 of Pop the Trunk, with Vinnie Paz!