While we spend the bulk of our time at FUXWITHIT listening to and searching for new music, every so often we like to mix things up and listen to a few podcasts centred around music. Like any high interest topic there is no shortage of music related podcasts vying for our ears’ attention. How do you know which podcasts are actually worth your time and which will put you to sleep? Don’t worry, as always your friends at FUXWITHIT have you covered. We’ve rounded up the 7 best music podcasts below and highlighted what makes them special.
A Waste Of Time With ItsTheReal
Comedians, rappers, podcasters and real life brothers, Eric and Jeff Rosenthal are ItsTheReal. The crown gem in their wide-spanning creative endeavors is their hip hop podcast A Waste Of Time. Recorded in their New York apartment, the duo prove to be the perfect hosts, balancing their humour and hip hop knowledge for episodes that are always engaging with some of hip-hop’s most important figures, both in the spotlight and those behind the scenes. Despite their humorous approach they can tactfully move between making jokes at one point and getting serious on issues spanning from surviving cancer, to racism, politics and more. Guests range from rap royalty, to up and coming stars, producers and DJs, as well as key figures in the music industry. Standout episodes include ‘#215: The Return of A-Trak,’ ‘#204: Co-Founder of The FADER Rob Stone’ and ‘#169: J. Cole’s Manager and Dreamville President Ib Hamad.’ And that’s just a small sample of the 260+ episodes that A Waste Of Time has to offer. Don’t let the name fool you, listening to this podcast is definitely time well spent.
Back To Back With Willy Joy
While the hip-hop space is overflowing with quality media in all forms, I’ve always felt the electronic world was a little bit underrepresented, this is especially true in podcast space. Before producer, DJ and now podcaster Willy Joy, through his hat in the ring there wasn’t a lot of options for long-form, quality interviews in the EDM world. With the first ten episodes featuring Diplo, Grandtheft, Boombox Cartel, Flosstradamus, YehMe2 and several other heavyweights, Back To Back quickly became the EDM podcast we’ve all been waiting for. With over 120 episodes in just over 2 years, Willy’s commitment has given us a wealth of incredible episodes for fans to dive into. Name almost any major DJ in the space and chances are there’s an incredible Back To Back episode with them as a guest. It’s not just the star power but also Willy’s talent as a host. He’s friendly, likeable and down to earth, characteristics that play well with guests and listeners alike. On top of all this, his years of experience as a DJ and producer make him knowledgeable and instantly relatable to guests, allowing the conversations to flow with ease. If you’ve been looking to get to know your favourite DJs and producers better, Back To Back is your ticket.
Behind The DAW
Salt Lake City’s Wyatt Troy has adopted an avant-garde approach for Behind The DAW; a music podcast hosted via SoundCloud, Spotify, and Apple Music that aims to breakdown the traditionalized format of talk shows, providing novel behind-the-scene glimpses into the at times abstruse world of electronic music. Rather than toiling through an arduous list of dull, nondescript interview questions, Troy livens up the approach, providing first-hand learning opportunities in sound design, marketing, and production alongside veteran names and key influencers within the industry. Learn Ableton sound design techniques with Au5, listen to TYNAN discuss the vision and approach to his steaming single ‘Dang’, or refresh yourself on the journey of Portugal’s Holly, the Behind the DAW Podcast is your go-to for practical guidance and useful knowledge from the mind and eyes of some of EDM’s greatest.
Creative Control
Creative Control isn’t so much a music podcast as it is a music industry podcast. Helmed by the minds behind Control Forever, Creative Control pulls back the curtain on music industry while showcasing success stories and unlocking creative secrets. Guests range from well-known artists like GTA, Willy Joy, JayKode & Wax Motif, to fashion designers, A&Rs, event promoters and digital marketers. Each guest tells their unique story and blesses listeners with gems. Standout episodes include ‘Digital Marketing Hacks With Alex Bonavia,’ ‘How To Throw Your Own Music Festival With The One And Only Gary Richards,’ and ‘GTA: The Art of Flow’. With season one wrapping up in like 2018, we’ve been eagerly anticipating their second installment.
Rap Radar Podcast
Created by veteran hip-hop journalists Elliot Wilson & Brandon ‘B.Dot’ Miller, Rap Radar Podcast gives listeners an inside look into the minds of some of hip-hop’s brightest stars and some of the greatest to ever do it. The hosts’ combined love for hip-hop coupled with their wealth of industry knowledge make their conversations deeper and more engrossing than your average rap podcast. Originally part of CBS’ Play.it network the podcast is now at home at Tidal. Thankfully for non-subscribers, you can still catch a lot of the episodes on YouTube. Their guests are titans in the rap world including Snoop Dogg, Wale, JID, Black Thought, Fabolous & Jadakiss, Will Smith and more. While all those episodes are impressive, none touch their most iconic to date, a two part, two hour interview with the GOAT: Jay-Z.
Wide Awake Stories
Broadcasted from the Insomniac HQ and hosted by the Insomniac editorial team, Wide Awake Stories takes listeners into the wonderful world of dance music. The structure and number of interviews varies with each episode but the range of guests is always on point. From in-depth conversations with Alison Wonderland, to an episode with two of the worlds greatest DJs in Craze and Z-Trip, to a Memorial Episode for Keith Flint of The Prodigy, regardless of the format, it’s always an interesting listen.
Water & Music
Created by the formidable Cherie Hu, Water & Music has not yet celebrated its first anniversary but it’s already a must listen podcast for anyone who is interested in the intersection of music, media and technology. Each show features an interview with insiders who help Cherie to unpack different topics (AI, music marketing, business’ paradigms, etc.) in order to better understand how and in which direction our industry and culture are evolving. While a single episode is already a gold mine of knowledge and insights itself, it’s extremely fascinating to see how this podcast, through its in-depth analysis, helps you to open your mind and get the bigger picture. The guests, the likes of Boomy founder/CEO Alex Mitchell, WAVO‘s Head of Business Development Alex Bonavia and Patreon‘s SVP Product Wyatt Jenkins, are always carefully selected among a range of leaders, innovators, artists and thinkers from across the music business. On the production side Water & Music might not be flawless, but Cherie’s wide experience as writer, speaker and speech moderator manages to keep the hour-long episodes enjoyable for anyone interested, English native and not.
Words by Alessio, Colin & Sam.
