PAY YOUR FRIEND$ with Cipha Sounds

Cipha Sounds has comedians Julio Diaz and Kevin Dombrowski in the studio, and Julio comes prepared with bullet points so he actually gets a word in this time. The three of them get into how little Julio knows outside of New York (sports, geography, which countries are actually countries), road stories from opening for Ralph Barbosa, why cruise shows are the best thing going right now, and the usual run of Ciph name-drops. Catch Julio Diaz at JulioDiazComedy.com and the Comedy Cellar, and Kevin Dombrowski at KevinDombrowski.com. Cipha’s Don’t Get Gassed reunion hits the Stand West on November 10th.

Comedians Jon Laster and Alex English join Cipha Sounds for a long one that covers a lot of ground. Ciph gets into the Jamaican shower posse and Dudus, how the latest prison news connects back to him, and why he refuses to let people rewrite who Diddy was to an entire generation. The three of them trade stories from the come-up, back when comedy clubs were still trying to sell bottle service at stand-up shows, and get into the hood-to-alt-circuit jump, the To Catch a Predator documentary, and why the people who raised the block never get the credit they deserve. Jon Laster’s Black-owned business app Blap is out now (drop five stars). Catch Alex English on the iHeart podcast Look Back At It with Sam Jay, and at Skank Fest. Cipha’s Don’t Get Gas reunion hits the Stand West on November 10th.

Keith Robinson has mentored half the comics working today. He pulls up with Reggie Conquest and Matt Richards to tell Cipha Sounds what the next generation is getting wrong. The group gets into why everything now bends to the algorithm, how marketing and slang keep chasing the youngest people in the room, and why that’s the wrong instinct. Keith makes the case that the kids should be learning from the people who came before them, not setting the terms. They talk about the death of the gatekeeper and what it actually did, the difference between guarding the gate and opening it with some knowledge attached, and why mentorship is the part of comedy that’s quietly disappeared.

Cipha Sounds hangs out with blues musician Seasick Steve and Matt Richards for a warm, loose conversation that turns into something special. Seasick Steve talks real music, the blues, and life in Norway, then picks up one guitar and plays a song that stops the whole room and gets Ciph emotional. Matt Richards makes live art right there in the studio. Along the way they get into Dave Chappelle's cornfield jam sessions, the Biggie breakfast debate, McDonald's fries, and the time Ciph told Bootsy Collins how funk really works.

Cipha Sounds hangs out with producer Statik Selektah, comedian Julio Diaz, and SiriusXM host Destroy for a loose, wide-ranging conversation. They get into Statik's new album and its stacked features, why real hip-hop travels further than any other genre (from New York to a club full of Japanese fans in Fukuoka), reggaeton and bachata's roots in hip-hop, Irish and Puerto Rican heritage, Star Wars versus Star Trek, and plenty of unfiltered New York stories along the way. Catch Statik Selektah's new album out November 13th on Mass Appeal, Julio Diaz on YouTube (Ralph Barbosa Presents Julio Diaz), and Destroy on SiriusXM.