N.O.R.E. and Joe Budden have shared a laugh about the way their current success, particularly as podcasters, has outpaced that of their contemporaries.
On a new episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, the Drink Champs co-host was asked whether he felt that “podcast money” was better than “rap money.” After answering that podcasting is an easier source of income, N.O.R.E. offered his perception of rappers who came up around the same time as he and Budden, and are now having a hard time transitioning their careers.
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“You know what’s crazy? I’m looking at these rappers trying shows now, rappers from our era,” N.O.R.E. stated, “and they are so failing. They doing sports shows, they doing comedy shows … They talkin’ about, ‘Yo, I’m up. I’m just doing this for fun.’ No you are not!”
“Tell the truth: it’s great to see people fail,” Joe Budden interjected while N.O.R.E was speaking. “You can’t take the blueprint and hire different contractors. They sellin’ ass out here huh?
The Capone-N-Noreaga rapper continued: “It’s true because, like I said, when Lyor [Cohen] called me the other day, he kept enforcing to me: the transition is everything. It’s not been a lot of people to do this. You know who’s the only person that’s been able to do this, other than me, you, and a couple of others? It’s LL! Ice Cube… This shit is not easy.”
As he continued speaking, N.O.R.E. — who launched Drink Champs with DJ E.F.N. in 2015 — offered that, what might be preventing some other artists from achieving the same level of longevity is that they enter the podcasting space without a clear plan.
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“They go get a computer, they get two cameras, and they get a white guy, no offense to anybody here. And they just think: tell a couple of funny stories, and it’s just gonna work,” he explained. “Then they come out for three weeks. No they do six episodes. When the six episodes don’t work, they start to rethink it.
“Then you know what happens?,” he added. “They come out with another show. And then that’s trash. And then they start cooking. And then that’s trash. And then they do a shopping show. They trying anything out here.”
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In January, N.O.R.E. and EFN inked a new distribution deal with Warner Music Group, bringing the audio version of their Drink Champs series to the label’s in-house podcast network.
The show is now distributed by Warner’s Interval Presents platform, joining a growing number of culture driven podcasts. The newly formed network is also home to the Rap Radar Podcast and upcoming projects by Lupita Nyong’o and Jason Derulo.
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Drink Champs‘ premiere episode on the Interval Presents network arrived on streaming services on January 27. The popular interview series was previously distributed via The Black Effect Podcast Network, Charlamagne Tha God‘s joint venture with iHeartMedia.
The visual edition of the show continues to be distributed via REVOLT both on cable and on YouTube.
