Rap podcasts

I can't lie. I never really understood what the point of podcasts were. I'm still not sure I do. So you get to listen to something that is 10 minutes long. And then what? But the longer ones I can dig, and I've been gravitating towards some of the better rap podcasts out there on the web.

Which often brings me to another problem. Mixtapes are too hit and miss - quite frankly I don't always want to listen to a throwaway, unmastered verse over a 10-year old instrumental. But I think I may have finally a found a few podcasts that are consistently worth checking for.

The first, and by far the best, must be Fat Beats radio, as eastvillageradio.com - if you check the May 6 show playlist here you will see what I mean. There's like 15 white labels in a row, including some pre-Illmatic Nas - always guaranteed to get me open. And, at least most of the time, the DJs let the damn song play and don't ruin them with two much deck flexing. Another decent show at East Village Radio is Mark Ronson's one, although sometimes there's all sorts of crazy tracks featuring the likes of M.I.A. and various other head cases.

The other one that I'm listening to is the mixtapeshow.net podcast, which was doing OK before the latest episode, which had no music whatsoever. Instead they gave us a roundtable on the Don Imus affair. It almost sent me to sleep before Willie D suddenly turned up from Iraq, of all places, and started talking about public policy. Now that was one of more surreal experiences of the past week.