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How did Angie Martinez become The Voice of New York? She remained true to Angie Martinez.
After beginning her tenure at HOT 97 as a teenager answering phones, Martinez skyrocketed to fame with “The Angie Martinez Show.” Interviewing hip-hop icons such as The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z, the show quickly became one of urban radio’s most influential programs. Martinez has continued at Power 105.1, her “Voice of New York” nickname hard won after years of being as authentic as possible within radio’s parameters. On June 2, Martinez took the leap into podcasting to break out of those parameters. Titled IRL, the new pod aims to further expand on the radio host’s signature brand: Exploring the human truth that binds us all together.
“What is the truth of that?” Martinez tells me over Zoom. “It sounds basic and simple, but [that question] really is what motivates me and pushes me. That’s the button I’m always looking to hit. What’s real here? What can we really get into?”
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While IRL was initially a grassroots-led effort via Martinez herself, she has now joined forces with The Volume to take this self-financed passion project to the next level. Having helped create some of hip-hop media’s most successful podcasts (Club Shay Shay, Joe and Jada, Rory and Mal), The Volume will turn Martinez new pod into a weekly endeavor, with a big budget and even bigger expectations.
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“I’ll be honest, it is a little scary,” Martinez admits. “Cause I don’t ever wanna not give it the full effort that I’m giving to them now. There will need to be a little more time and effort to make sure every episode delivers in the same way, at a higher volume.”
Regardless, Martinez reaffirms that she’s up to the challenge. Below, Billboard talks with The Voice of New York about her new pod, some of her favorite interviews so far and how reflections on her own mortality inspired her to enter the crowded podcasting sphere.
How did IRL come together and how are you feeling about podcasting so far?
It’s been exactly what I wanted it to be. I started quietly and was self-funding it at first because I really wanted to control the creative and the narrative because it was special to me. I really wanted to have meaningful conversations. I had a really bad car accident five years ago and, you know, when something like that happens and you’re reminded of your mortality, you ask yourself those important questions: “What do you really care about?” “What do you really wanna do?”
I just wanted to have more meaningful conversations on that level. So that’s why Lauren London was my first guest. She set the tone of the type of conversations I wanted to have, and people really resonated with it. I just did it from a place of purpose.
That’s interesting what you said about having authentic conversations, because to me that’s been the Angie Martinez brand for years now. How have these conversations been different from the ones you have on radio?
Any conversation I have whether on the podcast or radio or in my real life I’m always searching for authenticity. That’s the core of who I am, so that’s gonna be with me no matter where my conversation is, but the difference is radio is more about what’s happening today. What is current? What is trending? What is the news story of the day? It’s very current, and I love that!
But the conversations on the podcast are specifically designed to be tools for people in their real life. So yes, somebody happens to be really famous or talented, but these are the things real life has taught them. It’s a very specific conversation that’s different than what we’re doin on the day to day with radio.
How have you navigated the challenges of carving your own lane in the podcast space? It feels like everyone’s got a podcast.
It really has gotten bloated, even from the time we launched to now! But you can’t worry about that. It’s the same thing as music. There’s a lot of music out, but there’s podcasts of certain things people need from certain artists. I just think people who know me and know my brand they know what they’re gonna get. Actually — how’s this for a name drop? — I was talking to Michelle Obama the other day.
Casual.
That might be the coolest thing I’ve ever said! She was calling into my show, because she has [a show too] and she told me there’s always white space, there’s always a need. There’s always people out there — even though it’s busy in a lot of spaces. When you have a unique perspective and viewpoint, there’s space for that. So I try not to [overthink], I’m gonna let the Volume deal with that. When I get in the chair I just try to make content that matters to someone.
Tell me more about this deal with Volume, how is this gonna bring the podcast to the next level?
We’re definitely gonna be regular now. [IRL] kinda just came when the wind came and we had time to shoot it, now this will be a weekly podcast, for sure. You’re gonna know when to expect us.
After all your years talking to people, what do you think the key is to conducting a good interview?
I don’t think there’s one thing, but I think it starts with listening. Sometimes you can have an agenda, or a thought like, ‘Oh this would be a really cool thing to talk about with this person.’ That person sits in the chair and that’s not where they’re at in their life! Or they just had something happen in their life the day before — which, if you’re not paying attention to them, listening to their story or being present with them, you could miss it.
But also, I find my best interviews are when there’s something going on in my life that connects. I try to find the common denominator, the little piece of life that this person and I can look at and see each other. It goes back to meeting people at an honest place.
What are a few of your favorite moments on the podcast so far?
Some of my favorite conversations so far have been one’s where it’s not an interview at all. I did an interview with Kelly Rowland, [she] had a very similar situation where she grew up without her father, reunited with him later in life. I shared an experience with her that I just recently had where I found out my father was alive when I thought he was dead. The way Kelly saw me, it became two women talking about a situation we both felt deeply and could understand. There’s so many great ones, Kelly Clarkson was great. Lauren London taught us so much about grief and how to survive on the other side of that, because I was coming off of having lost some family members while I was launching this pod. So talking about that was really the blueprint for how I wanted this show to go.
I had an interesting conversation with Mike Tyson about anger and rage, Mike was telling me they did a scan of his brain and you could literally see rage in his brain. Something about knowing that you can see the rage inside Mike Tyson on a brain scan, it made me look at him in a different way. Knowing he walks around life trying to manage that.
On other radio programs like The Breakfast Club, there are other people to bounce off of in these environments. But it’s been just Angie Martinez the whole time. With people coming to IRL specifically for you and your takes, how do you make sure the goal of the pod gets met while also keeping your personal boundaries stay in tact?
Yes, thank you for noticing that! Honestly, If I take anybody to a certain place, I have to be prepared to go there with them. We’re in the boat together, and it’s come up a lot more in the pod. But at this point in my life, I’m not afraid to share, so I feel the pod is giving me that opportunity to dig into that a little more…you’re either in it or you’re not, and I’m in it! If not me, then whom — and if not now, then when?
Can Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” hold on to No. 1? Tetris Kelly: This is the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 for the week, dated June 14, “Nokia” drops to No. 10, as “Beautiful Things” is up to nine. “Lose Control” stays at No. 8, so does “Die With A Smile” at seven, and “A Bar Song […]
When you have a cerebral rap savant like Kendrick Lamar in your Rolodex, who wouldn’t take advantage of that? Ray Vaughn revealed that he sought out Kendrick’s guidance on certain tracks during his battle with Joey Bada$$.
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The Top Dawg Entertainment rapper stopped by The Bootleg Kev Podcast on Friday (June 6), where he opened up about what advice he received from Lamar.
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“I can call him,” he said of Lamar. “I’m on the phone when I’m going at Joey [Bada$$], ‘Ay, do you f–k with this?’ I always get feedback. It still got a protocol.”
Vaughn said some of the advice he got from Lamar was that less is more at times, as K.Dot suggested he remove ad-libs from tracks.
“If anything, it’s take something out. Like ad-libs, take some ad-libs about,” he continued. “Or if it’s not, it didn’t come out… It’s still the way we run TDE, it’s still the same thing. You’ve got to go down the line. When they post it, it’s going on TDE’s page. N—a, you speaking and it’s coming from our side, come correct.”
The Long Beach rapper also confirmed that he received advice from TDE’s Ab-Soul, but stated that he “couldn’t go too far” due to the nature of Soul’s relationship with Joey.
Joey Bada$$ continued to bait Kendrick Lamar by taking swipes at the Compton MC, but Lamar never ended up issuing an official response.
After a series of jabs earlier this year, Ray Vaughn lit the fuse with his “Justin Credible Freestyle” in May, which sparked over a dozen diss tracks being heaved back-and-forth with drops from Bada$$, Daylyt, Ray Vaughn, Reason, Az Chike, Kai Ca$h and even Ab-Soul and YG.
Vaughn contributed plenty of fuel to the fire with “Crashout Heritage,” “Impossible Patty,” “Hoe Era” and “Golden Eye.”
He clarified to Bootleg Kev that there’s “no real beef” with Joey and claimed, “It’s good for the sport.” “We got all the podcasters [and] hip-hop media talking about hip-hop. Not who’s texting who, not who’s f—ing who,” he added. “We pushed hip-hop to the forefront again.”
Watch Ray Vaughn speak about Kendrick Lamar below.
Just one day before the 2025 BET Awards are set to take over Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater on Monday night (June 9), a slew of the most prolific songwriters and producers across R&B and hip-hop convened at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons for the 2025 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards on Sunday (June 8).
Decked out in a floor-length, figure-hugging brown dress, Cardi B graciously accepted the Voice of the Culture Award as her fellow songwriters and artists looked on.
“My voice has always been a reflection of what I live and what I’m living, which I feel is a true reflection of the people, the culture, my friends, my family, and the environment that I grew up in,” the Grammy-winning rapper said while accepting her “big girl” award from ASCAP executive vice president & head of creative membership, Nicole George-Middleton. “I like to put that in my music — my joys, my pains, my drama, everything.”
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With Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers like “Bodak Yellow,” “I Like It,” “WAP” and “Up,” to her name, Cardi B has helped keep female rap at the top of the Billboard charts ever since she first broke through in 2017. Her resounding commercial success and cultural impact make her a natural successor to Usher, who received the same award last year. The Voice of the Culture Award is presented to ASCAP members who have had a major influence on music and culture, recognizing their success as creators and changemakers. Additional past recipients of the award include Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, D-Nice and T.I.
“I hate the idea that if you don’t write every line on your own, it makes what you have to say not real. Music is a collaboration, it has always been. The biggest hits [and] the greatest records come from teamwork,” Cardi continued. “They come from sharing experiences, energy, pain and joy. It’s not about ego, it’s about impact. I write, I co-write, I rewrite. I speak to what’s true to me. My pen, my mind and my feelings are in every verse and in every hook. I respect every writer who brings their magic to the table. This award is not just for me, it’s for the culture.”
Cardi, who also picked up an ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Award for her 2024 Hot 100 top 10 hit “Enough (Miami),” made history in 2020 as the first woman to receive the esteemed ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Songwriter of the Year Award two years in a row. She has earned eight ASCAP Pop Music Awards and 23 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards. At Monday night’s BET Awards, Cardi will be vying for her third consecutive win for best female hip-hop artist, which would mark her first victory in that category this decade. Last week, the rapper dominated headlines after making her relationship with New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs Instagram-official.
Kendrick Lamar’s cultural juggernaut “Not Like Us” was named ASCAP R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap Song of the Year. Co-written by Mustard, the searing Drake diss spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, swept all five of its Grammy nominations, and became the first-ever rap song to spend 52 consecutive weeks on Billboard’s marquee singles chart.
Lamar leads this year’s BET Awards with 10 nominations, including album of the year (GNX), video of the year (“Not Like Us”) and best male hip-hop artist.
Swiss songwriter OZ earned this year’s ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Songwriter of the Year honor, commemorating his contributions to hits like Drake and J. Cole’s “First Person Shooter,” Jack Harlow’s “Lovin On Me” and Travis Scott’s “I Know?” Cece Winans’ “That’s My King,” co-written by Taylor Agan and Kellie Besch, earned the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Gospel Song of the Year title, and Sony Music Publishing was named ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Publisher of the Year.
Some of Sony’s biggest 2024 hits included Hot 100 chart-toppers like Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” and Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” as well as year-defining tracks like Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby,” SZA’s “Saturn,” Sexyy Red’s “Get It Sexyy,” Muni Long’s “Made for Me,” Chris Brown’s “Residuals” and “Sensational,” Lil Baby and Central Cee’s “Band4Band,” Cardi B’s “Enough” and GloRilla’s “Yeah Glo!”
Additional 2025 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Award-winning songwriters include 21 Savage (“Prove It,” “Redrum,” “Surround Sound”), Offset (“Worth It”), Lil Uzi Vert (“Everybody”), Tee Grizzley (“IDGAF”), Playboi Carti (“Carnival,” “FE!N,” “Timeless”), Tasha Cobbs Leonard (“In the Room”), and Tye Tribbett (“Only One Night Tho”).
The ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards recognize the songwriters and publishers of the most-performed songs of the past year based on Luminate data for terrestrial and satellite radio and streaming services, as specified by the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards rules.
The Clipse are hitting the road. In support of their eagerly anticipated fourth studio album, Let God Sort Em Out, duo Pusha T and No Malice announced the dates for their first U.S. tour in 15 years on Monday morning (June 9). The Let God Sort Em Out tour is slated to launch on Aug. […]
Given the ramp-up to tonight’s BET Awards — Kendrick Lamar leading the charge with 10 nominations; Lil Wayne, GloRilla, Playboi Carti and Leon Thomas performing; a salute to video countdown show 106 & Park and not one but four Ultimate Icon Award honorees: Mariah Carey, Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg and Kirk Franklin — no doubt more than a few people will be tuning in as “Culture’s Biggest Night” celebrates its 25th anniversary.
And that should come as no surprise. Because in the last 25 years, the BET Awards show has lived up to that lofty tag line while, in turn, cementing the show’s venerable legacy.
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As Connie Orlando, BET’s executive vp of specials, music programming and music strategy, noted in a 2021 Billboard interview, “If you look at the BET Awards — ‘culture’s biggest night’ — it’s big. It’s Black excellence. It’s the best of the best. We want to thunder home a message about music, culture and everything.”
The show had accomplished just that the year before Orlando’s above-referenced comments when it went virtual in June 2020 — exceeding expectations and garnering fans’ and critics’ praise despite the challenges presented by COVID-19. In setting the show’s culturally empowering tone, host/actress Amanda Seales delivered a searing monologue about the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor while questioning renewed white fervor for civil rights in the wake of Juneteenth being designated as a national holiday: “…Y’all don’t let them Cinco de Mayo our day. If we ain’t watchful, every June 19th, folks going to be at the bar wearing Frederick Douglass wig hats, ordering ‘Harriettinis’ off the drink special.”
But that wasn’t the only reason that 3.7 million viewers tuned in that evening. The riveting performances and special awards were just as memorable. There was Megan Thee Stallion revving up an ATV in the desert — along with her formidable twerking prowess — for “Girls in the Hood” and “Savage (Remix),” riveting tributes to late pioneers Little Richard and Kobe Bryant and former First Lady Michelle Obama presenting that year’s Humanitarian Award to Beyoncé in recognition of the star’s charitable endeavors and fight against sexism and racism.
Other social media and water-cooler moments spring to mind as well. Like Michael Jackson trading fancy footwork (to rabid audience screams) with his idol James Brown before presenting the Godfather of Soul with BET’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. Or Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett being the first married couple to host the show in 2005. Then 19 years later Smith returned to the BET Awards stage last year for his first solo performance on a major awards show since his infamous Oscar slap in 2022 that got him banned from Academy Award events for 10 years.
Let’s not forget Jamie Foxx’s compassionate yet joyous turn as host for the 2009 ceremony, just days after Jackson’s untimely death. In a rousing tribute to the singer-songwriter, the Oscar winner donned a red jacket and one jeweled glove to perform “Beat It” before being joined onstage by an emotional Janet Jackson. “We’re going to celebrate this Black man,” Foxx declared at one point during what became one of the highest-rated BET Awards shows ever with more than 10 million viewers. “He belongs to us, and we shared him with everybody else.”
And the list goes on. Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar opening the show in 2016 with an astonishing, splashy performance of “Freedom.” Prince hoisting one of Patti LaBelle’s high-heeled shoes in the air after her stirring interpretation of “Purple Rain” during his 2010 lifetime achievement induction. Charlie Wilson’s own bar-raising lifetime award presentation featuring Snoop Dogg, Pharrell and Justin Timberlake in 2013. Chris Brown’s electrifying dance moves in tribute to Jackson in 2010 and again in 2011 before taking home four statuettes as that year’s top winner. Not to mention illuminating performances in salute to lifetime achievement queens Chaka Khan and Mary J. Blige in 2006 and 2019. Not to mention surprise reunions over the years like New Edition and En Vogue.
Such memorable moments haven’t been limited to artist performances or the colorful cast of hosts along the way, including Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Hart (marking his second time as emcee tonight) and Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross. Actor Samuel L. Jackson was at the helm in 2016 when Grey’s Anatomy star and activist Jesse Williams’ impassioned speech after accepting BET’s Humanitarian Award literally stole the show. “We’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us,” Williams declared in part, “burying Black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil — Black gold! — ghettoizing and demeaning our creations and stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit.”
Like other award ceremonies, BET has also endured its share of bumps and bruises in the ongoing tug of war between captivating audiences in a 24/7 media world and lower ratings. In 2022, Lil Nas X tweeted his dismay (“Thank you bet awards. an outstanding zero nominations again”) and even released a song, “Late to Da Party,” about the matter. In a statement, BET cited his 2020 nomination and performances on the show in 2019 and 2021 and added in part, “We love Lil Nas X … At BET, we are passionate advocates for the wonderful diversity that exists within our community.”
Speaking of ratings, the 2024 BET Awards claimed bragging rights as the No. 1 cable awards show, drawing more than 3 million viewers, according to Nielsen — and its highest viewership in the coveted 18-49 demographic in five years. In addition to Usher receiving the lifetime achievement award, the boost was further propelled by Will Smith’s first performance on the BET stage and country artists being spotlighted for the first time as well with performances by Shaboozey and Tanner Adell. “This groundbreaking inclusion of country music highlighted Black music’s rich history, diversity and landscape” and “celebrated the fullness of Black music,” BET said in a statement.
Ultimately, it’s the cultural impact that stands at the heart of the BET Awards’ legacy, not ratings. As BET itself marks its 45th anniversary at a time when diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are being erased, books are being banned and revisionist history is becoming a popular pastime, it’s imperative that Black voices not be silenced but celebrated and chronicled.
“For 25 years, the BET Awards has stood as the most coveted and authentic stage for celebrating Black culture; not just in music but in all its dynamic expressions,” Orlando tells Billboard ahead of tonight’s show. “No other award show carries the same responsibility, resonance or expectation. [The audience] comes for joy, for protest, for healing; to see Black Excellence in all its complexity, creativity and power. That’s what makes the BET Awards unlike anything else — and why it continues to matter so deeply.”
So stay tuned for what “Culture’s Biggest Night” has in store this time around.
Lil Wayne affirmed living legend status on Friday (June 6) night when he took New York’s Madison Square Garden stage for the first time as a solo headlining act. The show doubled as a victory lap for Wayne, who dropped Tha Carter VI hours earlier, and kicked off his Tha Carter VI Tour in grand […]
After a sweltering first day at the 2025 Governors Ball on Friday (June 6), Tyler, The Creator made sure to remind everyone multiple times throughout his explosive closing set just how hot it really was. With sweat pouring down his face, he paused his music a few times just to comment on how he was […]
Rocking a signed Britney Spears shirt, Lil Wayne kicked off his Tha Carter VI Tour in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden (Wayne’s first time as a solo headliner at MSG) on Friday night (June 6). Weezy took a well-deserved victory lap, with Friday also serving as C6 release day, which called for a […]
The fourth week of Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ sex-trafficking trial featured dramatic testimony about the rap mogul dangling a woman from a 17th-floor balcony and buying damning surveillance footage with $100,000 in cash in a paper bag, while a former girlfriend using the pseudonym “Jane” got emotional on the witness stand as she described being forced to participate in marathon “freak-offs.”
Combs is accused of using violence, money and blackmail to force women to participate in elaborate, drug-fueled sex shows called “freak-offs” — charges that Combs denies, saying his sex parties were consensual. Federal prosecutors have been presenting the case to a jury in New York since early May.
The trial’s fourth week began on Monday (June 2) with the cross-examination of Combs’ former assistant, who’s using the pseudonym “Mia” in the trial. Mia testified that Combs sexually assaulted her numerous times during her employment, according to reporting from the New York Times.
On Tuesday (June 3), a security officer at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles told the jury that Combs gave him a brown paper bag full of $100,000 in cash in exchange for now-infamous surveillance footage of the rapper violently beating his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura. That video is a centerpiece of the prosecution’s case against Combs.
“He said not to make any big purchases,” testified the security officer, Eddy Garcia, according to the Times.
Prosecutors will likely point to Garcia’s testimony to back their claim that Combs used money and the power of his businesses to obstruct justice, a central piece of their racketeering conspiracy charge, while Team Combs has said he was merely trying to prevent bad publicity in buying the footage.
Wednesday (June 4) brought more dramatic testimony, this time from Ventura’s friend Bryana Bongolan. Bongolan alleged that Combs dangled her from the 17th-floor balcony of Ventura’s apartment in 2016, an incident that Ventura previously chronicled in her civil lawsuit that sparked Combs’ downfall.
“I have night terrors and paranoia and scream in my sleep at times,” Bongolan testified about the lasting psychological impact of that night, according to CNN.
Bongolan also told the jury that she once witnessed Combs throwing a knife at Ventura, who gave lengthy testimony at the beginning of the trial about years of alleged abuse. Another time, Bongolan said, Combs threatened her life at a photoshoot.
“He came up really close to my face and said something around the lines of, ‘I’m the devil and I could kill you,’” Bongolan said.
Jurors spent the bulk of both Thursday and Friday (June 5 and June 6) hearing from an anonymous former girlfriend of Combs using the pseudonym “Jane,” the Washington Post reports. In emotional and at times tear-filled testimony, Jane said she felt obligated to participate in Combs’ freak-offs because he paid her rent and other bills.
The jury also watched videos of the freak-offs, in which Jane said Combs forced her to have sex with multiple male escorts over the course of more than 24 hours at a time. She said Combs rejected her requests to use condoms and wouldn’t let her take breaks when she was in pain.
Jane’s testimony often mirrored that of Ventura; notably, both women claimed that Combs coerced them into performing sex acts that the rapper’s defense lawyers insist were consensual. This came through in text messages between Jane and Combs that were entered into evidence.
“I don’t want to play this role in your life anymore. It’s dark, sleazy and makes me feel disgusted with myself,” wrote Jane in one message. “I don’t want to feel obligated to perform these nights with you in fear of losing the roof over my head.”
“Girl stop,” Combs replied.
Jane is set to return to court on Monday (June 9) for more testimony. The trial is scheduled to continue for up to another month.
