Angie Martinez Speaks on Her New ‘IRL’ Podcast and the Importance of Vulnerability in Her Interviews

How did Angie Martinez become The Voice of New York? She remained true to Angie Martinez.

After beginning her tenure at HOT 97 as a teenager answering phones, Martinez skyrocketed to fame with “The Angie Martinez Show.” Interviewing hip-hop icons such as The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z, the show quickly became one of urban radio’s most influential programs. Martinez has continued at Power 105.1, her “Voice of New York” nickname hard won after years of being as authentic as possible within radio’s parameters. On June 2, Martinez took the leap into podcasting to break out of those parameters. Titled IRL, the new pod aims to further expand on the radio host’s signature brand: Exploring the human truth that binds us all together.

“What is the truth of that?” Martinez tells me over Zoom. “It sounds basic and simple, but [that question] really is what motivates me and pushes me. That’s the button I’m always looking to hit. What’s real here? What can we really get into?”

While IRL was initially a grassroots-led effort via Martinez herself, she has now joined forces with The Volume to take this self-financed passion project to the next level. Having helped create some of hip-hop media’s most successful podcasts (Club Shay Shay, Joe and Jada, Rory and Mal), The Volume will turn Martinez new pod into a weekly endeavor, with a big budget and even bigger expectations.

“I’ll be honest, it is a little scary,” Martinez admits. “Cause I don’t ever wanna not give it the full effort that I’m giving to them now. There will need to be a little more time and effort to make sure every episode delivers in the same way, at a higher volume.”

Regardless, Martinez reaffirms that she’s up to the challenge. Below, Billboard talks with The Voice of New York about her new pod, some of her favorite interviews so far and how reflections on her own mortality inspired her to enter the crowded podcasting sphere.

How did IRL come together and how are you feeling about podcasting so far?

It’s been exactly what I wanted it to be. I started quietly and was self-funding it at first because I really wanted to control the creative and the narrative because it was special to me. I really wanted to have meaningful conversations. I had a really bad car accident five years ago and, you know, when something like that happens and you’re reminded of your mortality, you ask yourself those important questions: “What do you really care about?” “What do you really wanna do?”

I just wanted to have more meaningful conversations on that level. So that’s why Lauren London was my first guest. She set the tone of the type of conversations I wanted to have, and people really resonated with it. I just did it from a place of purpose.

That’s interesting what you said about having authentic conversations, because to me that’s been the Angie Martinez brand for years now. How have these conversations been different from the ones you have on radio?

Any conversation I have whether on the podcast or radio or in my real life I’m always searching for authenticity. That’s the core of who I am, so that’s gonna be with me no matter where my conversation is, but the difference is radio is more about what’s happening today. What is current? What is trending? What is the news story of the day? It’s very current, and I love that!

But the conversations on the podcast are specifically designed to be tools for people in their real life. So yes, somebody happens to be really famous or talented, but these are the things real life has taught them. It’s a very specific conversation that’s different than what we’re doin on the day to day with radio.

How have you navigated the challenges of carving your own lane in the podcast space? It feels like everyone’s got a podcast.

It really has gotten bloated, even from the time we launched to now! But you can’t worry about that. It’s the same thing as music. There’s a lot of music out, but there’s podcasts of certain things people need from certain artists. I just think people who know me and know my brand they know what they’re gonna get. Actually — how’s this for a name drop? — I was talking to Michelle Obama the other day.

Casual.

That might be the coolest thing I’ve ever said! She was calling into my show, because she has [a show too] and she told me there’s always white space, there’s always a need. There’s always people out there — even though it’s busy in a lot of spaces. When you have a unique perspective and viewpoint, there’s space for that. So I try not to [overthink], I’m gonna let the Volume deal with that. When I get in the chair I just try to make content that matters to someone.

Tell me more about this deal with Volume, how is this gonna bring the podcast to the next level?

We’re definitely gonna be regular now. [IRL] kinda just came when the wind came and we had time to shoot it, now this will be a weekly podcast, for sure. You’re gonna know when to expect us.

After all your years talking to people, what do you think the key is to conducting a good interview?

I don’t think there’s one thing, but I think it starts with listening. Sometimes you can have an agenda, or a thought like, ‘Oh this would be a really cool thing to talk about with this person.’ That person sits in the chair and that’s not where they’re at in their life! Or they just had something happen in their life the day before — which, if you’re not paying attention to them, listening to their story or being present with them, you could miss it.

But also, I find my best interviews are when there’s something going on in my life that connects. I try to find the common denominator, the little piece of life that this person and I can look at and see each other. It goes back to meeting people at an honest place.

What are a few of your favorite moments on the podcast so far?

Some of my favorite conversations so far have been one’s where it’s not an interview at all. I did an interview with Kelly Rowland, [she] had a very similar situation where she grew up without her father, reunited with him later in life. I shared an experience with her that I just recently had where I found out my father was alive when I thought he was dead. The way Kelly saw me, it became two women talking about a situation we both felt deeply and could understand. There’s so many great ones, Kelly Clarkson was great. Lauren London taught us so much about grief and how to survive on the other side of that, because I was coming off of having lost some family members while I was launching this pod. So talking about that was really the blueprint for how I wanted this show to go.

I had an interesting conversation with Mike Tyson about anger and rage, Mike was telling me they did a scan of his brain and you could literally see rage in his brain. Something about knowing that you can see the rage inside Mike Tyson on a brain scan, it made me look at him in a different way. Knowing he walks around life trying to manage that.

On other radio programs like The Breakfast Club, there are other people to bounce off of in these environments. But it’s been just Angie Martinez the whole time. With people coming to IRL specifically for you and your takes, how do you make sure the goal of the pod gets met while also keeping your personal boundaries stay in tact?

Yes, thank you for noticing that! Honestly, If I take anybody to a certain place, I have to be prepared to go there with them. We’re in the boat together, and it’s come up a lot more in the pod. But at this point in my life, I’m not afraid to share, so I feel the pod is giving me that opportunity to dig into that a little more…you’re either in it or you’re not, and I’m in it! If not me, then whom — and if not now, then when?