This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome one of the most prolific rappers of our generation and our friend, Smoke DZA, back to the Upper West Side! DZA talks his new collaboration with Benny the Butcher, Statue of Limitations, meeting Rihanna at Rolling Loud, getting on a song with Fat Joe and Bun B and Statik Selektah, growing up battle rapping, standing outside Hot 97 waiting to give DJ Kay Slay a CD, asking Bodega Bamz's mom to call his job and tell them he was quitting, spending time in the Hamptons with Jonny Shipes, Ev Boogie and Scott Disick, where he ranks amongst basketball-playing rappers, cooking up at Dame Dash's TriBeCa dojo alongside Curren$y, Ski Beatz, Jay Electronica, when he wears Uptowns, when he wears all white outfits, how easy it is to give up and what's kept his creating through the years, getting to a place where his business is all the way good, what he's got in the stash and when we'll hear it, hinting at diving into the podcast game, and much, much more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#278: The Return of Smoke DZA

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Music

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 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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Blog Era!!!

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we get on the phone with our best friend, musical partner and third creative partner in ItsTheReal, Greg Mayo! Greg discusses growing up in a creative household, the son of a painter mother and a touring musician father (who played with, among others, Hall & Oates, Foreigner, Aerosmith and Peter Frampton, most famously on Frampton Comes Alive), how he initially shunned his musical side to focus on baseball, what it meant when his parents divorced, how listening to ONYX, Cypress Hill and LL Cool J informed his rhythmic thinking, how being competitive with his brother took his learning guitar into overdrive, how he focused his musical ambitions through high school bands and into studying jazz composition in college, and the unforgettable weekend his dad flew in to feature on a handful of tracks on Greg's first solo album. Greg takes us back to the phone call he got his sophomore year at Purchase College informing him that father passed away in Europe on tour, how he's moved forward in living life, the advice that his dad left that carries through to everything both work and personal, and how he's since responded when dealing with the loss of other close family members, including his brother. We reflect on our collaborations through the years, from writing and recording mixtapes as teenagers in Greg's basement to dreaming up sketches to give to the internet to stepping on stages we never could have imagined, the core values and good energy that surrounds that creativity, and how that same passion to make each other laugh is what we strive for today. All that, plus how's Greg's gotten into doing film scoring, how he became a staple at NYC clubs like Rockwood Music Hall and The Bitter End, who he leans toward between The Neptunes and Timbaland, why he didn't attend his high school reunion, where life could have taken him in a sliding doors moment, another classic Greg Mayo car story and so much more! Wanna collaborate with Greg? Go to GregMayo.net Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#318: Greg Mayo

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal we welcome back podcaster, businesswoman and NYT best-selling co-author of Big Friendship, our friend Aminatou Sow! With Amina on the phone, we discuss the expectations when signing a book contract, the relationship between authors and the publisher's editor, the benefits of bringing on an additional editor, who exactly Ann and Amina wrote their memoir for, what they learned about friendship overall and specifically in a quarantine, and the feelings that come with presenting art to the public. We talk about Trump's disastrous response to COVID-19, his disastrous presidency and his meaningless game show Celebrity Apprentice, the pod family Amina has lived with over the last six months, the must-watch elements of Tik Tok, how NYC has changed during this crisis and how disappointing Bill De Blasio has been as mayor. All that, plus DJ Khaled, Rick Ross, Logic, MTV, Nick Cannon and much more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#317: The Return of Aminatou Sow

In this special episode of A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we speak with Yusuf Abdul-Qadir, Director at the New York Civil Liberties Union, who recently went viral, thanks to his powerful message about police policies, spending and officer accountability concerning his hometown of Syracuse, NY. We speak about bringing meaningful change to the local level, the national level and the transnational level, how a message is disseminated and the role media should play, and whether Syracuse's current leadership can be trusted with enacting forward movement. Yusuf discusses growing up the youngest of eight children, the differences in being raised in The Bronx vs. Rockland County, the full effect his father's loss had on his life, and the joy he's found in raising his own young daughter. We get into Yusuf's time as an undergrad at Syracuse University, the Islamic faith's belief that one should lead when called upon, how he found activism and took it global, and why he came back to raise his family in the city of Syracuse. All that, plus the challenges in running for high school and collegiate office, whether this country will ever even the playing field for children regardless of where they grow up, if there's any light fare he can watch to get his mind off of things, and much more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#316: Director at New York Civil Liberties Union Yusuf Abdul-Qadir

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal we're celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Rick Ross' classic album Teflon Don by reliving the making-of with Rozay and his collaborators Jadakiss, Styles P, Lex Luger, Spiff TV and Chris Atlas as well as analysis from The New York Times pop critic Jon Caramanica! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#278: The Return of Smoke DZA

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