Ang: Uncensored and worth a listen
THE only time I signed up for Tidal was because Beyoncé had just released
Lemonade and that was the only place I could watch the audio visual masterpiece. Then just shy of my three-month trial expiring, I cancelled the subscription.
In that time, Lemonade had been the only work I was interested in hearing or watching from the streaming service spearheaded by Bey’s philandering husband and greatest rapper alive, Jay Z. But now, the service has just launched On Air, a string of podcasts by high profile people in America’s entertainment arena.
They are gunning for Apple’s Beats 1 platform – which has people like radio personality, Zane Lowe and rapper, Drake, as hosts of their very own shows.
But will Tidal catch up? This streaming game is a marathon not a sprint – see what I did there? So, while I know I can’t get a retrial period for Tidal, I am toying around with the idea that maybe I should just bite the bullet and subscribe. Why?
Because Angie Martinez has her very own weekly podcast. Sure, she co-hosts it with Miss Info – who is iconicised for giving Nas’ debut, Illmatic, five mics in the once-legendary The Source magazine – but still. That’s Ang. And she is unfiltered, uncensored and worth a listen. But is she worth that subscription though?
To be honest, no. Hear me out. Why should we pay a fee to get this podcast first if In Real Life, Angie’s podcast, is then hosted on SoundCloud a few days later? So guess what I did? I hopped on over to SoundCloud.
In the first episode of In Real Life, I was surprised to know that Angie and Miss Info don’t share the same views on the Remy Ma and Nicki Minaj beef.
They both had valid points – and I won’t spoil the podcast for you – but it’s nice to know that they are not afraid to spar with each other even though they’ve been friends for longer than some people have been alive.
They also discuss having a beef with someone then forgetting you have a beef with them and then greeting them on a random day only to remember a few moments later that you have a beef. Sheesh. That’s a lot of work but who hasn’t that happened to?
That’s the thing, In Real Life is relatable even though the pair are famous and their humble brags are next level.
So while I won’t be mulling over whether I want to hand my gold card over to Tidal, this is just one of many podcasts that are definitely worth loading on to your iPod for when your colleagues are annoying you or just download them so you can play them on your commutes.
Lawd knows the Jozi traffic needs a break in monotony.