The Best Music Podcasts

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Listen: Spotify

Mogul is a podcast that explores hip-hop most iconic and historic moments as told by the people who lived them. The show gives careful, insightful analysis of stories about the impact of the 2 Live Crew on Miami (and the rest of the music world), featuring interviews with some of rap’s heavy hitters like Rick Ross and Trick Daddy. Mogul’s first season was originally hosted by the late Reggie “Combat Jack” Ossé, who sadly passed away from colon cancer in December 2017. Before season two began, there is a special episode that honors his life. After his passing, Complex alum Brandon “Jinx” Jenkins was appointed as the new host. —Jessica McKinney

Listen: Apple / Spotify

Music fans like to throw the word “genius” around to describe their favorite songs, albums, and artists, but what does that really mean? Though not the series’ express purpose, Dissect, hosted by Cole Cuchna, explores albums that have been heralded as “genius,” and allows listeners to decide for themselves whether or not that label fits. It’s a fascinating look into how and why our favorite songs and albums sound the way they do. Cuchna covers everything from instrumentation to lyric interpretation to contextual analysis, with the goal of getting music fans “to respect hip-hop as an art form” and "empathize with artists more." So far, Dissect has provided in-depth analysis of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly, Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Frank Ocean’s Blonde, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and Tyler, the Creator’s Flower Boy. The new season features an in-depth analysis of Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. Listen on Spotify for access to exclusive bonus episodes. —Carolyn Bernucca

Listen: Spotify

Okay, okay—you got us. This one is a partnership between Spotify and Complex, so there’s a bit of a home team advantage here. Plus, full disclosure, it’s written and reported by, uh, me. That said, Infamous is one hell of a listen. It goes deep (trust me, real deep) into all the aspects of the wildest, most outrageous story of the past few years, in hip-hop or anywhere else. Narrated by Angie Martinez, the eight-episode series debuts with the background on a young Daniel Hernandez. And before it’s over, you're treated to a front-row view of his stardom, and of the gang violence that ended it all. —Shawn Setaro 

Listen: Apple / Spotify

Rick Rubin has a podcast. Getting to hear the legendary producer tell stories from his past should be all the incentive you need to subscribe to Broken Record. But if you need more motivation to listen: The podcast is also hosted by New York Times best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell and journalist Bruce Headlam. The second season began on strong footing with a two-part conversation with Questlove, which included incredible stories about Barack Obama, D’Angelo, and the Roots. This is quickly becoming one of the very best (and most informative) music podcasts. Is there anything Rick can't do? —Eric Skelton

Slow Burn’s first season reinvigorated the Watergate story. For season 2, they filled in our hazy memories about Monica Lewinsky. So, seeing the show’s team turn its investigative and storytelling chops to hip-hop’s biggest unsolved mysteries—the murders of Biggie and 2Pac—is thrilling. And they don’t disappoint. The show (with a score by donwill of indie rap legends Tanya Morgan) talks to key players who other tellings have overlooked. And best of all, it also gives us a whole episode devoted to the insanity that is the relationship between Pac, rap music, and C. Delores Tucker. —Shawn Setaro

Listen: Apple / Spotify

Combining the suspense and drama of true crime podcasts with the stories of the most fascinating characters in music's history, Disgraceland is one of the most unique and entertaining shows on this list. Telling stories that range from the sex-crazed, drug-filled life of Rick James to the murder of John Lennon, host Jake Brennan has a flair for the dramatic that separates him from most podcast hosts. This is theater. Disgraceland is the kind of podcast that will suck you in and make you to binge half a dozen episodes before you realize what happened. Play the episode about satanic Norwegian black metal for anyone who claims podcasts are “boring.” —Eric Skelton

Listen: Apple / Spotify

Hosted by Jon Caramanica, Popcast is a music podcast from The New York Times that tackles a range of topics that loosely fit under the umbrella of “popular music.” Reflecting Caramanica's background in hip-hop, the show often leans in a rap-focused direction (shout out the Lil Uzi Vert episode), but you'll also find discussions about A Star Is Born, Ashlee Simpson, and modern jazz. Regularly featuring guests from the rest of the NYT’s writing staff, as well as outside experts on specific topics, Popcast is the place to go for informed opinions on the biggest storylines in music. —Eric Skelton

Listen: Apple / Spotify

Dissecting music too granularly can sometimes ruin the magic of the artform, but Hrishikesh Hirway’s Song Exploder maintains the thrill of the sum while making you infinitely more informed about how the parts came to be. Both an artist and a composer, Hirway is able to explore the narratives around songs (Moses Sumney’s story about performing on a cruise for marine biologists is a must hear) and the technical aspects (TOKiMONSTA integrating the Korean gayageum instrument into a more traditionally Western scale) with deftness and an infectious curiosity. And as the podcast has grown more popular, he’s been able to get bigger and bigger stars to dive deep into their tunes, with recent episodes featuring Janelle Monáe, Blood Orange, and Cat Power. —Grant Rindner

Listen: Apple / Spotify

It's a complicated time to be a Kanye West fan, but he remains one of the most talked-about, polarizing figures of our time. Naturally, there's an entire podcast dedicated to breaking down his every move and attempting to make sense of it all. Watching The Throne is a Kanye-focused podcast that has set out to analyze each track of his discography, while taking the time to discuss the headline-making controversies that he often finds himself in. The show's "My StorYe" episodes also give fellow superfans the chance to call in and share personal anecdotes about their own experiences stanning for 'Ye. Watching The Throne is the place to go for thorough, thoughtful analysis on all things Kanye. —Eric Skelton

Listen: Apple / Spotify

If you're looking for long, deep-dive conversations with the producers, composers, and engineers behind your favorite songs, Couch Wisdom is for you. Pulling from Red Bull Music Academy's lecture archives, the weekly podcast highlights fascinating conversations with music-makers like Mike Will Made-It, Hudson Mohawke, and Syd. Described by Questlove as "Inside The Actor's Studio for music," Couch Wisdom is the place to go for entertaining, educational conversations that aren't afraid to explore the nerdiest corners of the creative process. This is required listening for any musician hoping to improve their chops by gleaning wisdom from the best to ever do it. —Eric Skelton

Listen: Tidal

Two of hip-hop's most well-respected journalist, Elliot Wilson and Brian “B.Dot” Miller, have figured out the perfect formula for getting artists to let their guard down and reveal sides of themselves that aren't normally seen on the Rap Radar podcast. Hip-hop heavy weights, moguls, and up-and-coming artists discuss everything from new found fatherhood to competition in the game to the album process and politics. The long-form podcast has had every notable guest you can imagine over the years, from Will Smith to Jay Z. You can can stream all episodes on Tidal now. —Talia Smith

Listen: Apple / Spotify

Every Wednesday and Saturday, Joe Budden sits down and discusses the biggest topics in hip-hop (and whatever else happens to be on his mind) with co-hosts Rory and Mal. Some episodes, the three might spend 30 minutes giving each other shit about making wishes at 11:11. Other times, they'll land a major guest like Pusha-T for three hours of dramatic, news-making soundbites. No matter what happens, it's rarely boring. They announced a new partnership with Spotify this summer, but the show has thankfully held on to the loose and unpredictable edge that made it so great in the first place. Come for Joe Budden's headline-grabbing outbursts, stay for the unique chemistry that exists between these three. —Eric Skelton

Listen: Pandora

Questlove has a podcast. Honestly, that's all you should really need to know before giving this one a chance. The legendary multi-instrumentalist, DJ, and producer sits down every week on his Pandora show Questlove Supreme to speak with everyone from Randy Jackson to Chris Rock. Each conversation is filled with entertaining behind-the-scenes stories you've never heard from the guests, plus gems of wisdom from Questlove himself. Having already conquered career side missions like music journalism and teaching, Questlove can now add “successful music podcaster” to his list of accomplishments. What can't this guy do? —Eric Skelton

Listen: Apple / Spotify 

Lost Notes is put out by KCRW, home of the influential radio show Morning Becomes Eclectic. That fact alone should be enough to get music fans to add the show to their podcast feeds immediately. On top of that, the show offers some of the best music journalism anywhere. From Donnell Alexander delving into the mysteries of why the Boston-based New Edition would film a video with the Lakers to getting Susan Orlean’s take on the Shaggs, each episode gives you an in-depth view of a story you had no idea was so essential until you start listening. —Shawn Setaro

Listen: Apple / Spotify

If you don’t have time to watch Nadeska, Wayno, and Akademiks debate the issues of the day on YouTube, you can catch up every Thursday with Everyday Struggle: Weekly Edition. The podcast includes all of EDS’ best segments of the week, helpfully tied together with narration by co-host Nadeska Alexis. It’s a great way to keep on top of everything you need to know in hip-hop, and there’s fun to be had in imagining the angry faces the three hosts are making at each other during particularly heated moments. —Shawn Setaro

Listen: Apple / Spotify 

Brothers Eric and Jeff Rosenthal co-host A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, and it’s a goofy, good time. Straight out of their Upper West Side apartment in NYC, they interview not only hip-hop artists (like an on-the-rise Cardi B), but also a number of people who touch the rap industry in various capacities (like Charlamagne Tha God and Kid Mero). They also have a mini-show within the show, 2 Jews and 2 Black Dudes, which they co-co-host with Styles P and Sheek Louch of storied Yonkers group the Lox. Together, the Rosenthals give off an affable energy, which lulls their guests into a comfortable space, and produces some of the most interesting, unheard stories in hip-hop. —Kiana Fitzgerald

Listen: Spotify

Now distributed by Spotify, Microphone Check got its start in 2013 under the NPR umbrella. The show's co-hosts, journalist Frannie Kelley and the legendary Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest, bridge the gap between a student of the game and a creator in the culture. The balance of the two creates an environment free of chaos, negativity, and gossiping—and full of genuine questions that gently interrogate the artistry of the visiting musicians. The guests fly both above and below ground, ranging from Scarface to Dev Hynes to Denzel Curry. Because of the high level of trust the hosts are regularly able to build, each visitor invariably crosses over into territory they were previously hesitant to venture on any other hip-hop podcast or interview show. —Kiana Fitzgerald

Listen: Apple / Spotify

Songwriter Ross Golan uses his podcast And the Writer Is… to explore the relationship between songwriters and singers, while working to give credit to the important people behind the scenes. Golan, credited on successful tracks from the likes of Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, and Flo Rida, spends an hour per episode dissecting all aspects of what it's like creating a track through interviews with creators such as Mike Posner, Justin Tranter, and Charli XCX. Golan works hard to highlight the intimate and introspective process of writing a song—bringing listeners behind the scenes to examine how a track is really made. —Alessandra Maldonado

Listen: Apple

Known for his work behind the boards for Drake, Bryson Tiller, and 2 Chainz, !llmind has also made it a priority throughout his career to help rising producers navigate a sometimes trying and confusing industry. He founded a website, BeatThread, which serves as an online community where producers can interact with one another and receive feedback on their tracks, and also hosts BlapChat, where he and other beatsmiths share stories and dispense wisdom. The topics may seem niche, but BlapChat is always interesting and insightful—whether you’ve been doing five beats a day for three summers or are simply a big hip-hop head. Episodes cover concepts like developing your own “signature sound” and finding the right manager, while the recurring “Blap or Crap” segment is always good for a laugh. Notable guests include Taz Taylor of Internet Money, Migos beatsmith Buddah Bless, and Insecure music supervisor Kier Lehman. —Grant Rindner

Listen: Spotify

With more rappers becoming podcast personalities every day, N.O.R.E.’s pivot into the podcast world has yielded so many positives for hip-hop culture. Launched in 2015, Drink Champs is a weekly, two-to-three hour talk session that brings together the gregarious Queens rapper with Miami hip-hop pioneer DJ EFN. Each episode, they interview guests in front of an audience as they sip drinks and trade war stories about their careers in hip-hop, while offering veteran insights. N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN are constantly finding new approaches to uplift hip-hop’s forefathers, interviewing legends like Marley Marl, KRS-One, and LL Cool J to give rich details on history that listeners have never heard before. “We want to interview legends, and we want to give people they flowers when they can smell them, they trees when they can inhale them, and they thoughts when they can think them, and they drinks when they can drink them,” N.O.R.E. has said. All facts. —Eric Diep

Listen: Apple / Spotify

Folks who miss Stretch and Bob’s freewheeling radio partnership, or Bobbito’s long-running “Soundcheck” column in Vibe, should be ecstatic with NPR’s What’s Good With Stretch & Bobbito. The show consists of the titular hosts, chemistry intact, interviewing an array of guests from the showbiz and culinary worlds. The show is at its best when both hosts and guests get just a little bit lost and allow the unexpected to happen, as in the exceptional Lenny Kravitz episode, which spent a blessedly long amount of its runtime on the singer’s mind-blowing childhood run-ins with the likes of Duke Ellington. Plus, “Soundcheck”—renamed the “Impression Session” here—is fantastic. The central conceit of surprising someone with a song and capturing their in-the-moment reaction pays as big dividends as ever. —Shawn Setaro

Listen: Apple / Spotify

Adam Grandmaison (a.k.a. Adam22) is an underground hip-hop tastemaker who created No Jumper, an influential podcast and video series that features emerging rappers, established artists, and anyone else he finds interesting (like Dennis Rodman). Despite being mired in controversy surrounding alleged sexual assault claims, Adam22 has become the go-to guy in this space, securing the first major interviews with the late XXXTentacion, Lil Yachty, and more. Each episode is a loose, open-ended conversation that can go anywhere, allowing his guests to be more comfortable expressing themselves in a genuine way. No Jumper covers the underbelly of hip-hop that often gets overshadowed by the mainstream, and Adam22 has successfully used his brand to give those artists a voice. —Eric Diep

Listen: Apple

The conceit of Heat Rocks is so stunningly simple that it’s amazing it didn’t exist prior to the show’s debut in October 2017. Two incredibly smart hosts, music supervisor Morgan Rhodes and writer/professor/DJ/Complex Best Producers contributor Oliver Wang talk about a different classic album every week—joined by a notable guest for whom the record has a particular resonance (Meshell Ndgeocello talking Purple Rain, for example; or Afropunk director James Spooner on Minor Threat’s eponymous album). The setup leads hosts and guest into beautiful, surprising places, and will leave you hearing even your most beloved albums with new ears. —Shawn Setaro

Listen: Apple / Spotify

If you've ever enjoyed flipping through the pages of Rolling Stone magazine, the storied publication's podcast Rolling Stone Music Now is worth subscribing to. Echoing the diverse coverage found in the magazine itself, podcast episodes range from in-depth interviews with artists like Alice Cooper to of-the-moment conversations like “What is 2018's Song of the Summer?” Hosted by writers and editors of Rolling Stone, the podcast features insightful opinions and top-notch reporting from some of the most well-respected journalists in the business. —Eric Skelton

Listen: Apple / Spotify

All Songs Considered is the OG of music podcasts. The NPR-based program was born nearly two decades ago, in January 2000. Since then, the show (founded by Bob Boilen and co-hosted by Boilen and Robin Hilton) has continually evolved. The format morphed from a provision of basic information about audio used as music bumpers during NPR flagship radio show, All Things Considered, to a podcast that also presents itself as a daily blog and live-show vehicle. All Songs Considered tends to skew toward the indie/alternative end of the musical spectrum, but special guests are invited aboard, like NPR hip-hop staff writer Rodney Carmichael, who dives into the latest offerings from rap’s elite. —Kiana Fitzgerald

Listen: Apple / Spotify

Influential hip-hop podcast host Reggie Ossé passed away in 2017, but the impact of The Combat Jack Show is still felt today. Creating a lane for many of the other podcasts on this list, the show's archives include legendary interviews with artists like Ice Cube, Kool Herc, Pusha-T, and many more. We had to make an exception to our own rule that this list could only include active podcasts that are continuing to produce new episodes, because the vault Reggie Ossé left behind serves as important documentation of hip-hop's storied history. —Eric Skelton