Competition provides a playground for creativity to thrive, and that’s why a soundclash is so exhilarating – it’s a musical battlefield. Apple Music embraced this cultural staple at their London radio headquarters, where they held their third annual soundclash hosted by multitalented presenter Dotty, and judged by an all-star line-up of DJ AG, Chip, Cristale and Ebro. GRM pulled up to the turnstiles, represented by our very own Posty, going head-to-head with Chop Daily and Bossy LDN.
Before going to battle, we got to sit down with judge and American radio host legend, Ebro, for an exclusive conversation. If you don’t know much about Ebro, then let today be your education. From interning at local Californian radio shows in the early 1990s, to having his own headline shows on Apple Music and Hot 97 today, Ebro has massively evolved from the curious 15-year-old that he was when he started out.
Now Ebro stands as a highly influential voice in hip-hop and popular culture and an icon in US radio. He has witnessed, commentated on and contributed to the rise of the biggest global stars of today – from Drake to Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj to Kanye West, Eve to Snoop Dogg to Pusha T; from Burna Boy to Davido, and Giggs to Skepta, you name it. Ebro has grown with the industry and the artists within it, and he has all the lessons to show for it. As you can imagine, his stories and pearls of wisdom are as precious as gold; he’s a veteran in the game.
Surrounding the clash, Ebro took time to share cross-genre deep-dives, thoughts on hip-hop history and industry anecdotes, as well as discussing culture, politics and life itself. Take a look through this window into our unforgettable conversations with the man himself.
Welcome back to the UK, Ebro! What’s your favourite thing about being here?
“I love coming to London, I always have a good time. There’s a level of calm in the UK and Europe that you don’t have in America, but I think London is culturally very similar to New York City.”
You always show a lot of love for our UK talent when you’re visiting. What excites you about the UK industry?
“For a while, I’ve loved the way the hip-hop and the Afrobeats music meld together. I love a lot of the music that comes outta here, like the house music, and the R&B coming outta the UK is pretty consistently incredible.”
And are there any new UK artists that you’ve been introduced to more recently?
“Obviously everybody’s raving about Olivia Dean right now – the whole project [The Art of Loving] is great. I really like what Fred Again and Skepta just put out [Skepta .. Fred]. I love what Strandz just did with the Diaspora Dance Music mixtape. And I love how Knucks has matured into this most recent project he’s about to release, it’s incredible. Listen, even going back to Pop Smoke – he had a UK drill producer. I’ve always talked about the quality of production and execution in London and around the UK – I think there’s an emphasis and appreciation for quality of production.”
In some ways, it feels that our biggest UK music doesn’t resonate as strongly across the pond. Why do you think that is?
“I think there’s a good bridge being built between the US and the UK on the R&B side but I think there’s a barrier when it comes to the hip-hop. A lot of the building blocks of Black communities here in the UK are different – you have strong African and Caribbean identities and communities, and that cultural dynamic is different. But New York City has those same building blocks and maybe Philly, Boston, that part of the United States. If you get outside of that, then the building blocks of culture are really based on the Black American musical experience. So they don’t really understand the patterns and the slang and the beats. I often tell artists who are coming over from the UK that the best places for you to focus your energy are mainly New York City and Miami. It takes some strategic thinking.”
You’re one of the most influential voices in the game – from your perspective, what’s one of your main concerns about the current music culture?
“I feel like we’re in a cycle where there’s quantity over quality. People are chase streaming and I feel like a lot of artists think that to stay relevant, you gotta put out more songs instead of finding new ways to tell stories with the remarkable songs that you already have. I think we move too fast through the music sometimes. We don’t really give it time to marinate.”
And what about your thoughts on the role of social media and streaming culture?
“I think there’s both good and bad. But when it comes to the bad… there’s too much music being put out. I also think there is no discernment between good and great. People can be too focused on trying to play the algorithm and get attention. I don’t think that the way the labels are paying artists and the way you get paid from streams is a good model.
But I also think that people need to do the work to connect with listeners in real life, and not just depend on these algorithmic platforms on social media. There’s sometimes a disconnect: yes, I saw your post, but did I go listen to the song? I think often we’re just measuring awareness – we’re not measuring behaviour. A hit is made through multiple instances of you interacting with the same piece of music, and it fitting a moment in time that’s memorable and impactful for you. It’s really up to the consumer though. We could sit and talk all day about what we wish for, but the people consuming the music are the ones who make the ultimate decision.”
And in that same vein, let’s talk about the role of radio. In your eyes, what is the value of radio in the context of today’s streaming culture?
“I feel like if we’re doing our jobs – as people who have these platforms that reach people for free and in mass – our job is to pick the best of the best and give context. Day in, day out, consistently. If you think about your own streaming habits and how you interact with music, there’s ebbs and flows. There are days where you have time to go pick, and choose, and find, and reminisce, and curate your own experience. And there are days where you just want to put something on, lean back, and hope somebody can provide you with the best experience. So that’s our role.
Radio is not gonna beat the internet, it’s not gonna happen. That was never a thing. Even before streaming, you weren’t gonna beat the internet. I’ve been in radio since before Napster – you wasn’t beating Limewire and all that, you just wasn’t getting to the song first. But lots of people don’t have time to be sitting around on their computers all day scouring for music, and those people have jobs, and children, and homes, and commutes, and they’re looking for someone to help them. That’s our job.”
You’ve interviewed countless stars so it’s really an honour to turn the mic around and ask you the questions. Tell us something that people wouldn’t know about Ebro.
“That I don’t do a lot of interviews! I do the interviewing but I don’t do a lot of interviews. I got into this business to play the music. Doing interviews is just a part of playing the music, but having these longer, philosophical conversations manifested more as I got older.”
Did you always know that this is what your life and your career would look like?
“No, I had no idea. I started doing this when I was 15. I just liked the music and I got an internship at a radio station. I was working in call-out research at the radio stations back when they weren’t owned by these big conglomerates. At that time it was TV, radio, CDs, and tapes. I was prepping the studios for shows, and in my own dream world, I thought I was a DJ. I just kept working and learning and, you know, it was better than being outside ’cause my friends were getting in trouble and I didn’t want that. When I got my first internship I was in Sacramento, California.”
And could you share a bit more about your heritage and how your cultural roots shaped you?
“Yes, so the Bay Area, Oakland, Berkeley, Northern California is very Pan-African. It’s very activist-oriented, very pro-black. And in that environment, it was very multicultural. My mother’s Jewish, my father’s black, they were both activists coming at the same issues from different angles – my mum’s a feminist, my dad was a Black Panther.
I was raised in a Pentecostal church, but I also went to Hebrew school, and then I have cousins who are Nation of Islam. I went to school with Rastafarian kids, and kids who were Hare Krishna and Buddhist and Hindu and Hasidic… It made you curious, made you ask questions, and made you wanna learn to understand people’s different experiences. And then when you’re a mixed race kid like I was, you have to understand how you fit into the ecosystem and why your existence is political. So I think that shapes you.”
And if we bring things back to today – how does it feel when you look at where your career has brought you?
“I feel honored and I’m appreciative and lucky. All the things. I always walk up to that turnstile, and I’m like, ‘Yo, my path still works?’ Yeah, I’m in the building!”
And finally, when people engage with your shows and hear your voice, what impact do you want to have? What do you want people to say about Ebro?
“That he contributed positively to culture and hip hop. That he was trying to make sure that people appreciated the music and what it represented. That’s it. You know, we’re all standing on the shoulders of giants, people who came before us, so it’s our job to put a stone in the wall, a brick in the building, keep the foundation solid and hopefully others can benefit also.”
Listen back to The Dotty Show Soundclash 2025 HERE. Listen to The Ebro Show every Monday-Thursday at 8pm BST and listen back on demand with an Apple Music subscription HERE.