E, so you was all over the internet.
I heard something happened to you on Friday.
Do you want to tell the people what happened to you Friday?
I think it was like Thursday or Friday.
Yeah, but Friday's when the news went out.
Yeah.
Well, the company that owns Hot 97, they didn't want to do the Ebro in the morning anymore.
How do you feel about that?
I mean, I had talked about it a lot on the air over there.
But how do you feel about it now?
I feel great.
I mean, look, I
I'm a family man.
So I think the part that hurts is the connection.
Like a lot of people that's watching this, they don't listen to morning radio.
They on the internet.
And if they do listen to morning radio, salute.
But a lot of people that's on the internet and social media, they're not like radio listeners.
And I'm a radio kid.
I grew up in radio.
I've been in radio since I'm 15 years old.
And I've been at Hot 97 since 2003 in many different capacities.
And I think, you know, that audience that listens to morning radio, they're not on social media.
That's the 9 to 5 blue collar.
They might, if they, listen, these are teachers and firemen and construction workers.
Nurses.
And like working class people who wake up in the morning and they just trying to get a little piece of something, a song or two.
Talk some shit, laugh.
Know what's going on in the world.
And they might have, you might have them for 15 to 20 minutes max.
They dipping in and out, you know.
Listening to traffic, weather, and all that type of shit.
So you know look, I think that's the part of me that's like damn, those people really meant a lot to me, because that's one of the reasons I kept doing it.
And if you're from New York City, you know what that radio brand means to this city.
Like, there was a certain...
Cash in.
Well, not just a pride that we all have at Hot 97 with the service that we provide over the years to the city.
Beyond the music, right?
It's really a community thing.
Commentary.
Yeah, but even more than that, everything from the tickets you give somebody to the club nights, to the.
You know, like I said, getting people, just getting them to work, letting them know what's going on in the city, letting them know that you know what's going on in politics, letting them know about the corruption in the NYPD, letting them know about
Letting them know the truth about politicians.
You know what I'm saying?
But that's We living in a time right now man, where that's They don't want those voices continuing to shed light, especially in local scenarios.
I think if you look around the country right now, how many local...
Voices.
Influential voices are being platformed, because local politics is really where the shit happens, man.
I know we spend a lot of time talking about the president and all this other type shit.
Local politics is really where the shit happens that could affect your life.
Ground zero.
Right.
That could affect Eddie's life and his ability to put up the gate around his yard.
You know what I'm saying?
And potholes getting filled in and schools being good.
You know what I'm saying?
And like making sure kids have what they need and elderly have what they need.
And, you know, that type of shit.
So that's the that honestly is like one of my passions in real life.
So that's why I still did that show.
Right.
And so it wasn't like it paid most of any of my bills, really.
It was more so nurturing for the community.
That part, and it's rare that a morning show me Rosenberg, Laura Stiles, Shawnee Juanito Griff, Hassan Cass, Actually like hanging out with each other.
So when you wake up at 5 a.m.
You with them for like four or five hours.
And you're hanging out with people you actually like and that you care about.
You care about their families and you care about the city that you live in.
Like that shit is a blessing, bro.
That shit was an honor.
So I think that's what I think about the most.
I want to ask you something man, because you know I just want to be real bro, because you kind of have this thing, a narrative that a lot of times we see with online personalities or famous people, and you're online constantly.
So you see the narrative and when you get let go, There's a portion of the internet that likes it right.
Of course, as they should.
I like it.
They love it.
You know what I'm saying?
That shit, they was lit.
And they were very blisterous.
The narrative that goes around, and I'm going to say some of them to your face, and you see them.
I just want to say it so people on the show know we know about it.
You ruin New York hip-hop.
And then another thing says you're always hating on new artists.
Those are the main two I see when I, because you're my man.
So to me, I'm taking it kind of personal, but I'm not going to get in with strangers online.
But I mean so the whole New York hip hop shit.
If people really do the math on that, I accuse 50 Cent of that.
Which I was about to go into that.
That was an accusation I leveled at 50 Cent yesterday.
What was that, 2000?
I don't even know how long ago.
That might have been a decade ago now.
Which is now your narrative, but what happened?
Because he spun it.
He was like, in the debate, I was like, yo, you ruined New York.
He was like, you ruined New York hip hop.
I was like, no, it was you because nobody wanted to work together.
And when you was at your hottest, at the peak, nobody in the city was working with you either.
So not only did you make it so people didn't want to work together, but you made it so that the hottest emcees at that time
That you didn't like.
That you didn't like was in your line of sight.
Right.
And that coincided with the demise of the record industry in general, because I was downloading and switching over to blogging and all these other business things were actually happening.
But I just blame 50 Cent.
I was on the phone with 50 Cent last week.
50's my guy.
We still do this skit with each other.
But the internet... is going to latch on to something that's going to get engagement.
And that narrative is something that's going to get engagement.
So, I mean, I don't give a fuck if people run with it or not.
Because the artists people who is actually popping and people who actually are popping in New York as artists
They know what I've done to help music in this city, artists in this city, even before Apple Music and even more so since I've been at Apple Music.
Most people don't even know, because they talking about Hot 97.
They don't even know that I'm on Apple Music every day at 3 o'clock.
They think you're done.
They're like, oh, cool.
We got Ebro out of here.
They're going to see this video like, yo.
Wait, what?
They was coming for us, too.
Yeah, they said we're next.
I'm like, I didn't do nothing.
They said we were next.
Y'all don't even work here.
I said we're next.
Nah, it's a good time.
But y'all got to love this.
And there's got to be a piece of where.
Ain't nobody worry about them motherfuckers.
No, no, no.
But that's why I said y'all got to love it.
Because I don't know.
I'm like this, though.
Right.
To me, it's all a sociology experiment.
This shit is all... You get to learn about people in these moments.
Like, that's the value here.
You get to see who stands for what.
Their logics.
You get to see how they think, right?
Are these people on social media even real people?
And it also is glaring.
Most people don't even know how this shit works.
They don't even know that they think their world is the end-all, be-all.
Meanwhile...
They don't even know the different worlds that I'm in.
What about the other narrative that you hate on all new artists?
This is just the thing they say.
You hate on all new artists.
I mean, you would have to ask all the new artists that I support.
Well, yeah.
Can you name anybody that he hates on?
Listen, bro.
I'm just being the other side of it.
I understand you're playing the other side of the pillow.
What I will say to your credit, for instance, there's one super famous.
I'm going to leave this for everybody.
The only motherfuckers complaining usually is the motherfuckers that don't make it, bro.
That's that's a constant.
The only motherfuckers complaining about you know not getting on or they not as big as they should be, is because you don't want to accept the accountability for the fact that either a you're not that great at your craft.
Or B, you're not willing to do the things that it takes.
Let him go, let him go, let him go, let him go.
Or you're not willing to do the work that it takes to be a part of the mainstream consumption.
By the way, that's a choice.
Yeah.
There are people who want to play the mainstream game.
Which is the conversation we've been having.
And they want to be on charts and they want to be on the clubs and they want to make records that align with the most popular records, et cetera, et cetera.
We've had these conversations, Eddie.
Then there's people who are like, yo, I'm not...
I'm not doing that.
I'm not acquiescing to all of that.
And I'm going to do my own thing.
If you decide to do your own thing, maybe the world comes to you.
That's what happened.
That's the real thing.
But we've seen you do it.
Like we've seen you be aggressive to Yachty to his face.
Like we've seen you be aggressive to you, to Uzi.
Like these are facts.
Like these are things.
Now what I will say.
And I was listen, let's be.
I'm aggressive because I feel like motherfuckers show up.
And they want to dictate the way they want the game to go.
And that's fine for them.
I feel like you should have some respect for the way the path that was laid before you.
Yachty, people don't even know me.
I've known Yachty. since he put out his first record.
I was the motherfucker that brought Yachty on Apple Music to talk about the hip hop that he had not heard, so that we could sit and talk and learn about the hip hop that he didn't grow up with.
And the first time he heard Pac and the first that interview happened on Apple Music, on my show on Apple Music.
But shit, when was we at Jungle Studios?
That was 2017.
When did we get our studios on Fifth Ave?
2018, 2015, it was probably like 2017, bro.
I've been supporting Yachty since then.
Okay, but E, here's the thing.
What I know about you behind the scenes and your reality online are two different things.
What you're saying is true.
You support, like even the Uzi thing, when Uzi clowns you with the fake track listing and called you E-bro's a hater or whatever it was.
I know behind the scenes you and Uzi are cool.
What circulates It's all those old clips.
But if everybody knew that my old 50-year-old ass and Uzi Vert was cool, that ain't no fun.
But you do understand the narrative and the rhetoric that he bleeds off that.
But you kind of lost.
He literally just said it.
Listen, I'm going to tell y'all something.
If you go back and look, in 2012, when I first decided, you know what, I'm going to go on.
I wasn't even going to give a fuck about social media before 2012.
By 2012, 2013.
That's when we got to it.
Yeah, because you were an idiot, too.
You finally grew up.
But I started trolling.
There was a lot of artists that I loved that was my friends that are phenomenal MCs.
This same complaint about, oh, mainstream radio, Ebro, you hating on artists, all this shit.
This shit been going on since the 90s, bro.
I've been dealing with rappers and all this stupid shit since the beginning of all of this shit.
And so I started going at niggas.
You might remember this.
Telling niggas they minor leagues.
You told me that. literally to my face.
Shout out to Jazz Fly.
Rest in peace.
Yeah, you told me that to my face.
I was like, you minor league.
You niggas is minor leagues.
Now, the reason I did that was because it gave people a conversation piece.
And really challenge people to try to look at who are.
Quote and I just use minors and majors honestly, because it came from this article at the time where people were talking about the best basketball players ain't in the NBA.
And some of the best baseball players ain't in the major leagues.
And that's because either A, they don't have the desire to fit in to basketball.
What that construct is and what's required of you if you want to be a part of that construct.
From a business side.
How you carry yourself, how you everything like literally, how you move, full stop.
And so I was like, listen, this is this is applicable to hip hop.
There are people who want to make their art and they do not want to fit in to what this mainstream.
The natural scheme of shit.
Just the way you got to move in the politics of going to every radio station and meeting the program director and getting along with the DJs and showing up to the clubs and doing the concerts and giving away tickets and doing the meet and greets and signing autographs and showing up for taking photos.
They just don't want to do that shit, bro.
They want to make their art and be done with it.
That's fine.
But then don't be mad when that world that you don't want to participate in.
You're excluded from.
Ain't embracing you.
But because you're so vocal about that, you you might have lost a whole generation of consumers, because that's their perception of you.
Like how many young rap consumers.
But I'm OK with that.
But here's the thing.
I'm OK with that.
I'm not trying to be liked by everybody.
But who's I'm trying to have honest conversation regardless of how people feel about it.
That's my commitment to myself and to the game.
I would rather.
And by the way, and I'm OK being wrong.
I encourage people to prove me wrong.
Uzi Vert.
He's a he's a rock star.
I disagree.
Prove it.
Right.
Prove it.
Did he?
Y'all tell me.
But don't you think there's a better way?
Then people say, well, you're not looking at it the right way.
You're supposed to look at it like this and like that and like that.
Oh, so now you want to change to fit your narrative.
Cool.
Once again, cool.
I disagree.
But don't you think you could have done it a different way?
Like, there's a way to embrace all of it.
You could have still been E. You could have still did the things you do.
But along the way, there became a disconnect.
Like, I don't think you had a disconnect.
You could have still did the same thing.
You could have been the same person.
But the perception is you just don't embrace younger people.
You want more likability from him.
Who?
No, no, no.
That's not what I'm saying.
That's what it sounds like.
Who?
No.
What I'm saying is there's clearly a generational—
Gig has something to do with artists?
In what context?
Like do you think that, like this narrative, this internet narrative, has something to do with like, artists and shit?
Is that what you think?
I think a lot of those clips that I see that people use are from Hot 97.
They're not from Apple.
It must have been working.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have been there for the last... 13 years.
However long it's been in that capacity.
But there's no culpability on your side that you might have helped with this narrative of a generational divide within hip-hop.
Oh, no, no, no.
I fed the narrative.
I pour fuel on it.
When it was hungry, I invited it over for dinner and cooked it an eight-course meal.
So who does that help?
What does that help?
I asked the narrative, do they want it rare or well done?
What do you want on the side?
Are you thirsty, sir?
I'll give you more.
Like, that was me.
I was the maitre d' of this shit.
I was the hostess.
I was the restaurant owner who was your sous chef.
Okay, so outside of ratings.
I was the sommelier of the.
I mean, what kind of wine pairings do you want with your anger and disdain for me?
Okay, so E. I'm all in, bro.
I wasn't, yo, this wasn't like, I wasn't trying to be liked, bro.
That's, I don't give a fuck.
Okay, but outside of ratings, how does that help hip hop culture?
By creating discussion.
We have to have dialogue.
Everything can't be a go if we're going to protect this culture.
Everything can't be a green light if we're going to protect.
I don't believe that.
I don't subscribe to this being a thing that everybody get.
Yo, man.
Literally, everybody knows somebody in their family that's a rapper, bro.
Like, everybody, bro.
Like, think about that.
Everybody knows somebody who thinks they're a rapper, bro.
That is a fucking problem.
To the point where when someone gets arrested, they'll be like, rapper so-and-so is known for.
How you a rapper?
You don't have no fans, man.
Like, what are you talking about?
This aggravated murder, whatever the charge.
Yo, bro, there's rap songs on streaming services that don't have one play.
That's crazy.
That means the person who made the song doesn't even have it in them to go play their own shit.
Okay, and I understand it.
This shit is way overblown, bro.
People need to fucking wake up, man.
Get a job.
But there's a way you could have did the exact same thing to embrace younger rappers in younger portions of the culture.
That shit ain't fun to me, bro.
Get a job.
Straight up.
I wouldn't have had no fun with that.
I'm not from that era.
I'm from the era where when your shit, when you get on stage at the Apollo, your shit trash, you get yanked.
Sandman, fuck out of here.
I'm from that era.
I'm from that era where a nigga walk up to you at the club and be like yo check this out, my nigga.
Yell, yell, yell.
But that's why the people in the comments, because of that energy.
That's why people in the comments do the thing that they do.
What's wrong?
Hold up, though.
Eddie, I love you, too.
All right.
Because what Eddie's articulating right now is you, my brother, and I hate seeing motherfuckers come for you.
And that's really what you want to say to me.
I don't.
You don't like what's happening.
And I love you, too.
But don't worry.
There's people watching this right now didn't even know this show existed.
And it's all because of that shit you talking about.
Because they ran their play over there with that corporation, and now they tuned in over here.
Touche.
OK.
And so, if they got time, if they don't, if they bro, yo bro.
You know what's the craziest part, son.
No, no, no.
No, it's crazy.
Your heart, your heart, your heart, your heart.
No, no, it's crazy.
Just your heart.
Yo, five years ago, people used to tell me like, yo, radio don't matter.
Nobody listen to that shit.
Bro.
Yo, I put up a video burning a spliff just in the whip.
That shit was on TMZ.
I thought y'all didn't care, bro.
Like, what are we talking about?
That's crazy.
So here we go.
No, I got to hold you to the fire.
I got to hold you to the fire.
Why'd you delete it?
No, I took it off because I put it on the new YouTube channel because I wanted people to go over here.
Monetization.
Monetization.
He said it too.
You gotta go Ebro, Laura Rosenberg.
That's over there.
Full circle moment.
The whole reason why we had to come to work on a day.
I'm supposed to be on vacation for three weeks.
Ebro, thank you so much.
I gotta ask.
You gotta let go from Hot 97.
They've moved on.
What's the next move?
What happens now?
I'll be on at 3 o'clock on Apple Music.
Like, what are you talking about?
I'm right here every week.
I didn't ask.
Apple Music.
Like, why?
Why?
Wait, what?
No, he asked.
I didn't ask.
Yo, y'all ain't going to listen to Hot 97.
Y'all ain't worried about Hot 97, bro.
I do.
No, my sister was upset.
Yeah, but she has a job.
Yeah, I know.
You?
No, you don't work here.
All right, cool.
So are we going to get two Rap Life Reviews a week now that you got time?
You want to do more?
We got time.
Well, you got time.
Why not?
Nah, I still got my regular work to do, man.
OK, you're right.
I feel good.
So is this the last episode of the year?
Of this one?
Rap life.
Rap life.
Not unless y'all want to come back next week.
No one wants to come back.
No one wants to come back.
But y'all can also, if you want, make sure you subscribe here.
Ebro Laura Rosenberg on YouTube also.
Them shows will be up every day.
So it'll be some things going on, man.
Yo, Eddie, happy holidays, brother.
Happy holidays, Lo.
Happy holidays, E. Yo, happy Hanukkah, everybody.
Happy holidays.
Happy Christmas.
Happy Kwanzaa.
Shout out to all our people behind the scenes that be working hella hard that you never see.
It's Rap Life Review, man.
Happy holidays.
Happy New Year, man.
What's up?
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