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.

Cipha Sounds sits down with his brother Maino — Brooklyn rapper and co-host of the hit podcast Let's Talk About It — to talk about a friendship that goes back more than 15 years.

Maino shares the best advice for surviving your first day in jail, plus how he and Ciph really met (fresh out of a 10-year bid), his come-up to hit records like "Hi Hater," why elevation and reinvention are the real flex, and the pushback against rappers doing podcasts. It's two old friends talking real, unfiltered, and funny.

Catch Maino live at the American Dream on October 6th, and on Let's Talk About It.

Cipha Sounds hangs out with comedians Brendan Sagalow — hip-hop head and host of Sagdaddy the Pod — and Andre D. Thompson, recorded on 9/11.

Ciph takes them behind the scenes of the night before: DJing the NYC Still Rising 9/11 benefit at Madison Square Garden for John Stewart and Dave Chappelle, with Machine Gun Kelly, Pete Davidson, Bill Burr, Nikki Glaser and more. He breaks down the art of reading a comedy crowd on a somber night, secretly running the room from the DJ booth, and picking the right songs when you can't play half your set. From there it goes everywhere: retiring shirts after one photo, mistaking Chris Rock for a barback, surveillance culture, philosophy, and who really gets the credit for it.

Catch Brendan on tour at brennano.com and on Sagdaddy the Pod and Fart Carnival, and follow Andre D. Thompson everywhere @AndreDThompson.

Comedian Talia Romina shows up to the studio with a face full of facial oil after double-dosing NyQuil the night before, squeezing in a workout, and running straight from a 90-minute facial she thought was 50 minutes. Cipha gets the full story. Plus: the war on entitled cyclists in New York, whether being friendly to a waitress counts as flirting, the ultrasound tech who hits on Talia every six months during her liver checkup, and Cipha's case that he never gets hit on — which Talia spends the rest of the episode dismantling.

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Comedian Rahul Pandya lasted three days at a healthcare tech startup before getting fired over a Luigi Mangione joke his boss dug up on his social media. Cipha gets the full story. Plus: Cipha reveals he spent 20 minutes charming a woman at a Hollywood Hills party before finding out it was Charli XCX, Tom Cruise tracked him down in a green room to compliment his DJ set, the origin story behind Drake's "Shut Up Janice," why Jay-Z's post-retirement catalog doesn't hold up, and the eternal first date debate — drinks or dinner?

Cipha Sounds sits down with Bay Area rapper and producer P-Lo — in New York promoting his new album Out the Box — with comedian Salma Zaky in the room.

They get into what it really means to rep the Bay, the region's hip-hop culture and "same squad" spirit, coming up with HBK and Kehlani, how tech changed the Bay the way gentrification changed New York, and the time Dave Chappelle brought P-Lo out at a Super Bowl show.

Out the Box is out now, featuring E-40.

Cipha Sounds and Rocky Powell break down what actually went down backstage at the Lauryn Hill festival — the Fugees' 30th anniversary reunion with Wyclef Jean, Erykah Badu, Dave Chappelle, Giggs, and more.

Ciph tells the full story: flying to London for Dave's shows, thinking he was hosting, ending up playing dominoes in the crowd — and then getting rushed on stage with zero DJ equipment when Lauryn's setup ran long, tearing the whole thing down off a headphone jack while Dave hyped him up as a hip-hop legend. Plus the viral moment when they cut the sound, halal pepperoni, New Haven pizza in London, and why all of it has Ciph officially coming out of DJ retirement.

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Cipha Sounds links up in London with Seepa and Hugo — the guys behind pirate radio crew Kurupt FM from the BBC series People Just Do Nothing — for a deep dive into UK music and why it connects to New York more than Americans realize.

They break down the whole family tree — jungle, garage, grime, drum & bass, funky house, drill — and trace it all back to Jamaica and the Jamaica-London-New York-Toronto pipeline. Plus how Afrobeats crossed over, why UK actors keep taking the hood roles in American movies, London vs. New York on slang, food, and air conditioning, and the story of how Ciph ended up DJing for Jay-Z at Notting Hill Carnival.

Kurupt FM's new EP Goodma drops August 21st.

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Cipha Sounds hangs out with Brooklyn legends Smif-N-Wessun — Tek-N-Steele, aka the Cocoa Brovaz — for a real conversation about old New York, the culture, and staying true after 30 years in the game. They get into the Decepticons and growing up between Brownsville and Bed-Stuy, Sunday rituals and the legendary Tunnel nightclub, how gentrification changed Brooklyn, why the Knicks run brought that old New York energy roaring back, and what it really means to say "I am hip-hop." Plus stoop sets, outfit architecture, and always showing up for your friends. Catch Smif-N-Wessun at City Winery (Pier 17) August 31st, and at the Smif-N-Wessun Day block party in September.

Cipha Sounds sits down with his longtime friend, comedian Derek Gaines, to talk about his new special Goodlum and being "cul-de-sac black" — a good hoodlum from the suburbs who loves hood culture but grew up on the quiet streets.

They get into Derek's road from cleaning toll booths on the Garden State Parkway to the Comedy Cellar, the time Bradley Cooper pulled them into his movie outside the club, why kids are dancing and buying CDs again, and plenty more.

Check out Derek's new special, Goodlum, on Tubi

Cipha Sounds sits down with Rick Ross to celebrate 20 years of Port of Miami and the new album Set in Stone. They get into how "Hustlin'" broke on Hot 97, why you've got to go broke a few times to become a real boss, old Miami, and Ciph's ongoing campaign to get Ross to franchise him a Wingstop.

Set in Stone is out now.

Comedian Rob Haze (Atlanta-raised, LA-based) pulls up to the studio and Ciph breaks out the Trump umbrella he jacked 15 years before anybody thought Trump could be president.

They get into riders and the mythology of one-time Air Force Ones, why funny makes you better looking, Jamaican patois and dancehall's problematic hits, the masked white nationalists on the DC bus, doxing, Mamdani's first months, the Knicks' championship afterglow, Alvarado's Brooklyn energy, and the time Ciph sang a song he didn't understand to a waitress in Charlotte.

Serious things, the silly way. How have you helped a friend today?

Comedian Ian Lara joins Cipha Sounds and Rocky Powell for the first LIVE episode of PAY YOUR FRIEND$. They get into the Knicks championship run, why old-school NYC energy is back, jazz clubs, dead nightlife, and why Summer 2026 might be the best one yet — plus Ian's confession that he hates all animals.

Cipha Sounds sits down with London-born, NYC-based DJ and producer Snips (aka Todd Worsnip — founder of Barbershop Records and Livin' Proof) for a deep dive into UK music and how it really connects to New York.

Ciph has been championing UK and Caribbean sounds since 1999, and the two of them get into why it never quite breaks through in the States — plus the Jamaica-to-London-to-Brooklyn pipeline that built so much of what we call hip-hop. With Rocky in the room taking guesses, it goes everywhere.

On this episode of the "Pay Your Friends" show, host Cipha Sounds brings old and new friends together for an energetic discussion on the many faces of anger. Comedians Nathan Macintosh and Reggie join Cipha to recount their past "on-sight" beef from 2014 and debate everything from the current state of hip-hop and R&B to the frustrations of airline food. Whether they are analyzing viral plane confrontations or discussing why some people just can't get a birthday invite, the trio dives deep into what makes them "crash out."

PAY YOUR FRIEND$ is back and comedian Salma Zaky is back for her third appearance — this time to get a full hip-hop education whether she wants it or not.

Cipha quizzes Salma on everything from Jay-Z's name origins to the four pillars of hip-hop, and somehow she keeps landing answers through pure energy and Brooklyn osmosis. Along the way they break down Nas lyrics line by line, decode rapper nicknames, and get into the current state of the culture. In this episode: • Jay-Z's "Reasonable Doubt" 30th anniversary at Yankee Stadium + the "Blueprint" 25th • Why he's called Hov, and the "water to a well/whale" mystery (he texted back "yes") • The four pillars of hip-hop — and why Cipha wants a fifth • Nas, "N.Y. State of Mind," and reading Illmatic like poetry • The Griselda situation: Westside Gunn, Conway & Benny the Butcher • The Pooh Shiesty / Gucci Mane case • Knicks fever, old NYC vs. new NYC, and more Serious things, the silly way. How have you helped a friend today? 🎧 Listen everywhere you get podcasts. 📲 Subscribe, like, and share. #CiphaSounds #PayYourFriends #SalmaZaky #HipHop #Comedy #JayZ #Nas #Griselda #NYC #Podcast