December 19, 2025 • 27 mins
In this episode of The Latest with Loren LoRosa, Loren breaks down Charlamagne’s massive $200 million, five-year deal with iHeartMedia and why this moment is bigger than just a headline. From Forbes cover star to media mogul, Charlamagne’s journey shows how leverage, consistency, and cultural impact can literally change the game.
Loren gives behind-the-scenes insight from working at The Breakfast Club, explains how the Black Effect Podcast Network helped drive explosive growth in iHeart’s podcast revenue, and connects the dots between podcasting, streaming, and the future of media. This episode is part inspiration, part industry breakdown, and a masterclass on building real power in entertainment—while keeping the main thing the main thing.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
I'm a homegrowl that knows a little bit about everything
and everybody, you know, if you don't lie about that. Right, Hey, y'all,
what's up. It's Laura l Rosa and this is The
Latest with Laura l Rosa. This is your NELLI Dig
on all things pop culture, entertainment, news, and all of
the conversations that shake the room. Baby now today checking
(00:24):
in behind the scenes of the Grind. I am finally
able to say Christmas Break has been done, Dune don't
then well Breakfast Club Christmas Break anyway, but there will
still be things uploaded over there on the Breakfast Club
digital side to make sure you guys are checking it out.
But we'll be right here with the Latest every single
week day until we get back into the new year.
(00:47):
Let's go on my break. But yeah, so I'm excited.
We are gearing up for a lot during the break,
so I will be taking you guys. Number one, we'll
be recapping the biggest moments of the year, just generally
the biggest moments of the year, and we will be
recapping the biggest moments here on the podcast The Latest
(01:09):
with Lauren de Rosa the podcast, So that is you know,
really exciting because there's a lot to look back on. Like,
I don't know if you guys realize, but we have
been going together since March, y'all, Like it is literally
almost been a year for us here at the top
of the new year. So excited to go through like
number one episode number one, uh, to look some of
(01:34):
the biggest moments, some of the moments I was like, oh,
this is cringe. I don't even want to watch or
hear it is back. But it's just been it's been
a labor of love becoming a podcaster, and it's really
been like a journey. Before I got to the Breakfast
Club and was podcasting and a lot of the things
that you guys met me doing, I was vlogging, and
I've always been really really big on vlogging. We do
(01:56):
recaps and vlogs over on my YouTube channel, Lauren the
Rosa TV. I have a whole playlist full of logs
that document my journey literally from the first day I
moved to la back in twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen. Today
I decided to not be there anymore, come on over
to New York and just some of the things in
between in podcasting, which is so crazy because after my
(02:20):
mom got sick, because I was vlogging that process, like
I've logged all the way up until we found out
that my mom had cancer, because in the beginning she
was just having strokes and we didn't know what was happening.
When we found out that it was cancer and we
found out how serious it was, it was just really
tough to record stuff on camera. There was a lot
of stuff I recorded that we like never posted, I
don't plan to put up, and it became just kind
(02:41):
of triggering. So that honestly made me take a step
back from vlogging. As much as I was like just
documenting my day to day, I was uploading probably like
at least two to three times a week, and then
I took a step back, and kind of once I
came back into it, oh, no, things were just a
little bit guarded a little bit differently, way differently. And
I think it's because I realized how much the content
(03:03):
I was putting online. Although it was meant for good
and my mom wanted to document her journey, that was
like you know, when she like she wanted to do it,
it was triggering, Like it was it was reminding me
of things that like we had already gotten over. And
when I was experiencing that, like people calling me and
talking to me about things that like we were literally
(03:24):
we were good off of it, right, we had moved on,
it would mentally take me back. And at that time,
I was trying so hard once my mom got better,
you know, I was trying so hard to just like
get life back together, move back to LA, get back
to work all that. So I was mentally just like
protecting myself a lot. I was, you know, trying to
protect my mom because people I started hitting her up
(03:45):
about stuff as well too, And I don't know, it
just changed, like my perception of like being vulnerable and content,
like y'all hear me here on the podcast. Y'all know,
I share everything with y'all. I take you guys everywhere
with me. But that deaf changed the journey. But this
podcast journey, I think has really gotten me back into
(04:06):
the swing of that, although still a bit guarded and like,
you know, I just know a lot more now and
I have a lot more that I want to keep
a little bit more closer to the chest, just you know,
as things grow and all. You know, however, many million
of y'all. At that point, I think we're over eight
million downloads, So we have over eight million Low Riders
in our community, yo. Like, starting from like zero listeners
(04:27):
to that, that's just it's been a labor of love
and such a journey that I've enjoyed taking you guys
step by step, y'all learning with me, growing with me.
Like I remember at one point we were doing behind
the scenes of the podcast just to show y'all us
trying to figure it out, because we were really just
trying to figure it out for a while. But in that,
(04:50):
you know, it's like, you guys, the Lowriders, my community
over here, and y'all being kind of like my diary
to a certain extent sometimes has lit that fire under
me again to want to, you know, share, be vulnerable
in things and just you know, open up a bit.
So I appreciate you guys a lot, not only for that,
(05:13):
but as we begin to recap at the end of
this year, you guys will see that I appreciate you
guys because you've been a consistent The Lowriders the latest
with Lona Rosa has been a consistent in this journey
from the day I turned on this microphone. Yeah, I
mean there's there will be a lot to talk through
and a lot to talk about while it's almost been
(05:33):
a year. And I'm also gonna be taking you guys
to Ghana with me. So we'll be going to Ghana
at the end of the year. Bring it in the
new year. I can't promise you, you know, full blown
out episodes because I do want to. I mean, we
will still be uploading, but I don't know exactly how
much I'll actually upload in Ghana. So you know, don't worry.
(05:56):
We ain't going to where you still get your uploads
and your news and all the things. But I'm gonna
be you know, very very very uh transparent and showing
a lot of my journey there because I'm excited to
go to Africa for the first time and I want
to take you guys with me. So make sure you
are subscribed to my YouTube channel, Lauren la Rosa TV
for the vlogs. So we got a lot to do
(06:16):
before the new year comes in, and I am excited.
So that's been you know, my feeling all day of
just like okay, how they break over at the breakfast club,
but like now we get to really leaning and just
focus on let us with Laurena Rose the podcast y'all. Yes, okay,
all right, y'all. So it was announced today that Charlemagne
the God got two hundred million dollars to sit up
(06:38):
there on that mic and spit. I know the mike's think,
but baby, he has paid. Let's talk about it now.
Speaking of podcasting, today it was announced this guy y'all
may know him a little bit, Charlemagne the God. He
covered Forbes Magazine. The title of the cover it's this
(07:01):
daily cover How Charlemagne became a media guide radio personality.
Charlemagne the God recently signed a two hundred million dollar
deal with iHeartMedia. Now he has ambitionous, ambitious plan to
turn his Black Effect Network shout out to the Black
Effect podcast network where y'all are listening to me at
into the beet of podcasting. So damn, Like, I don't
(07:23):
even cussle the podcast, but yo, let me just tell
y'all first of all, like working with Charlemagne and working
with Envy has been one of the most inspiring things
I've ever ever ever experienced in my life. Like I've
gotten to work with a lot of people and I
tell people this all the time, you know, good to bad,
when lose to draw. I don't know how he might
(07:45):
feel about me at this point, but I even give
Harvey Levin from TMZ his props often because I tell people, like,
you know, there was a lot that I learned there,
Like I became really polished about certain things at TMZ,
but most importantly watching him get up every single day,
you know, three four o'clock in the morning, seven days
(08:05):
a week, actually work, you know, like he's not just like, oh,
this is cute. I own this little media company. He's
in there, he's working, he's calling sources, he's breaking stories,
he's doing all of that. Right. That was very inspiring
to see. And I learned a lot about like discipline
and what it takes to keep something working. Like if
you want a well oil machine, you have to be
(08:27):
in the machine. You have to understand the inner workings
of the machine, the people who were at the machine,
which you need, what you don't need, what's working, what's
not all? Everything? Okay, eyes closed, Right, But when I
went over to the Breakfast Club and I started working
with Charlemagne and DJ Mvy, like, it was a different
type of inspiring that I've never experienced that up close
(08:48):
to my life because number one, of course they're black,
Like it's completely different than watching the Harvey No Jade,
but it's just the honest truth. It's just different. And
then also too, they come out of the hip hop space.
Like so you know, I remember when I moved to LA,
my goal was like, Okay, I want to be able
(09:09):
to act and talk show and all these things. And
I'm just really interested in like pop culture and television
and music and everything. Black is what I know because
it's what I grew up on. It's not even like,
you know, I was purposely just only trying to talk
about black news and black music, but it's just like,
these are the things I know for real. I could
talk about it in my sleep. I can talk passionately
(09:30):
about it. It's natural, it's me, it's you know what
I mean. So in doing that, I remember being told like,
don't go be the black girl at the black outlet.
It'll pigeonhold your career. You'll never be able to get anywhere.
You'll be in a box. Don't do it. When I
come to the Breakfast club and I see Envy, and
I see Charlottatne and I see how successful they are
(09:50):
come and I was gonna say coming out of the
hip hop media space, but they're still in it. And
I think that's what people don't understand, like when you
look at the big names like in this article. Just
to put it in perspective of how major Charlamgne's deal is,
and I'm gonna break down as much as I can,
there's not a lot of details about how to deal
(10:11):
with structure. I was surprised that this number was even
in here. The way Charlotte Mage like he won't tell
them like nothing about nothing. I was surprised that this
number was in here. But I will talk a bit
about that as much as we can. But to put
it into perspective, Forbes talks a bit about how Joe
Rogan recently signed a deal for two hundred and fifty
(10:32):
million dollars. There are reports that I'm looking at from
back in July of twenty twenty five. Joe Rogan, hosts
of the world's leading podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, is
said to a return to YouTube after inking a new
deal with Spotify were two hundred and fifty million dollars,
signaling a shift in the streaming services. Podcast strategy. He
(10:53):
captured the post. I am very happy to announced that
I will send my partnership with Spotify, the largest podcast
platform in the world. Deal which spans multiple years, includes
an upfront minimum guarantee and a revenue sharing arrangement based
on advertising sales. So that's normally like the back end conversation.
Under the terms that the new licensing deal, the audio
streaming giant will broaden the distribution of the Joe Rogan
(11:13):
experience beyond its previous exclusivity on the platform. The show
will now be available on various podcast platforms, including YouTube, Apple,
and Amazon. Here goes that streaming again. We just talked
about Breakfast Club expanding to streaming and Netflix. I don't
know if y'all see what's going on here. You have
Breakfast Club that does this deal with Netflix. After all
the news about the streamers and the podcasting market coming
(11:37):
to streaming, and then Charlemagne en out with the two
hundred million dollar deal. Do y'all see that is becoming
the ABC of podcasting? Like of course, we know traditional
television is out the window. We just talked in our
last episode about the fact that the oscars right after
over fifty years on traditional television on ABC is having
(11:59):
to create partnership with YouTube. The world is shifting, in
the world of podcasting is shifting, and people make it
seem like podcasting is like dying out and you know,
the money he's all messed up. No, it's there. You
just have to understand where to go get it and
how to position yourself. And if you're watching a playbook,
I'm watching You Got the Joe Rogan you know playbook.
(12:21):
It's the streaming with the deal where you can see
him and hear him as many places that make sense,
and then the money comes in, and the money he
has the minimum guarantee, which he's gonna use it just
like keep up in his business. The deal on the
back end, so I'm sure he probably the minimum guarantee
is probably nothing crazy. I mean, it's crazy compared to
what you or me would be making, right, but for
(12:43):
a podcast as large as Joe Rogan's is, I'm assuming
I don't know this for a fact, but I'm assuming
that his upfront guarantee would be something that isn't too crazy,
so that that back end situation that he has figured
out on the advertising side, and you know, the promotionals
he's gonna yo the way that he is going to
(13:04):
clear profit off of that deal easily because of how
big he's built up the podcast, in how readily available
to your eyes and ears he now has positioned it.
And in boom, Charlemagne goes and does the same thing.
That's the new playbook and I'm I'm let me tell y'all,
I'm paying attention. So forubes continues. Right, So they're they're
(13:28):
talking to Charlemagne. He is in like a comic bookstore,
and they're basically like going through, you know, just some
of what has made him who he is today in
the media space. This is what John Store from The
Daily Show says about Charlamage. He says, no fear. He
has an incredible ability to steal conversation to its salient center.
And it's not all about clicks, it's real. Bob Pittman,
(13:52):
who's the CEO of iHeartMedia, says, does he say stuff
that a lot of people don't agree with? Of course,
but that's Charlemagne being true to Charlemagne, and he has
consistently been rewarded for that outrageousness. Now, this deal that
Charlemagne signed actually took place from what we're learning today
because there were also reports out there that he hadn't
(14:15):
signed the deal yet and I'm still right next to him,
and I ain't know what was going on, if I'm
being honest with y'all. But again, this is not stuff
that they just like readily, like you know, anybody just
whatever if I if I need a call en vi
Charlemagne and say, hey, what do y'all think about this?
Money wise, this whatever whatever. When you were at this
point of your career where I'm at, would you have
done it? Like anytime I need to? But I don't
(14:35):
be all in the business like this. I know these
AIG's doing well, but like damn okay, So they didn't
get into kind of some of the specifics. So back
in August this Charlemagne signed a five year, two hundred
million dollar extension with iHeartMedia. So this deal, now, this
is the only breakdown that we have. This deal means,
of course, he'll stay on the breakfast club, which Charlamagne
(14:58):
always tells me, keep the main thing, the main Okay.
He is keeping the main thing, the main thing, and
it is allowing him to walk away with two hundred
million freaking dollars. Okay. Heard you. So it'll extend his
time of the Breakfast Club for the near future. It
puts him in the same league with Joe Rogan. Again.
I told you guys that they did that comparison because
of the amount of money that Joe Rogan just signed
(15:20):
his deal for last year, and they don't say this,
but realizing what Joe Rogan did and reading and researching
for this episode, I'm like, oh, the deals are kind
of the same. You got the streamer, the structure, all
the stuff, but even more vital to this deal. And
what I think people don't even realize is happening right
(15:40):
in front of their face is Charlemagne is literally using
iHeart medium. When I say using, I don't meet it
in a disrespectful way. I mean it in the most
respectful way. Because business is a give and take. It
is a two way street. It is in exchange. You
take care of your people, they take care of you.
So Charlemagne is using his position in the leverage that
(16:01):
he's built at iHeart from his sweat equity, right, so
all of the time energy, brand building, notoriety type of
leverage he's brought to iHeart. He went back to them
during the pandemic and said, Yo, we need to start
this podcast network called the Black Effect Podcast Network. Right,
The Black Effect Podcast Network has been on or in
(16:21):
partnership with iHeart since And let me okay, let me
just say this as well. When one of the things
that I've learned too from working up close and personal
with a Charlemagne or with the Envy, it's not just
about give and take in the sense of Okay, I'll
work here, so I need to run it up on y'all.
(16:41):
I need to get as much as I can out
of this. It's about the quality in the substance of
what you're bringing to the table as well too. And
I think you know, you know, we talk about recap
in the year one of the this has been a
crazy year for me. Like man, I could have never
imagined some of the things that God allowed me to
just literally gracefully walk into and to fall in my lap.
(17:05):
And you know, all I had to do was be
ready and preparing. Even on days where I slipped and
I didn't do the best, God was right there and
I was so clearly able to hear him say up,
tighten up, up, discipline up. One of the things that
I've been honestly able to learn up close with them
is again, it's the substance piece. It's like anybody can
(17:25):
pull up a seat to the table. People talk about
I want to see at the table. I want to
build my own table. Sometimes building your own table starts
with pulling up a seat to the table to even
be able to break bread with people who are doing
things the way that you want to do them, or
even if not the exact same way, but like on
the levels you want to do them on, or sometimes
on the levels or you don't want to do them on,
(17:46):
or doing things you don't want to do so that
you're able to learn. But you're at the table, you're learning,
you're in the conversation, you're in the room, and then
from there you're able to go off and build your
own tables. I've watched them, you know, not build. I
mean they're still actively building their their own tables. Because
another thing y'all need to realize is this is just
Charlemagne's day job. Like when I was reading this article,
(18:09):
like we joking, we play around all day, like y'all know,
you know me and Charlemagne got it's like a very
like you get on my nerves, but love you to death,
and no one could tell me anything about the guys
like you cannot tell me anything about envy or anything
about Charlotte at all, period, won't ever let you. And
it gets on their nerves too that I defend them
so much, But it's because I see how much work
(18:31):
and effort they put into building their lives outside of
the breakfast club. And then people see numbers like this
and they're amazed, and I'm like, y'all don't get it.
I get to see that every day, two hundred million
dollars and it is just your day job. We're not
even talking about because you know, in this article they
mentioned Black Effect, right, and I told you guys, people
(18:52):
will not even keep a game that Black Effect is
literally like it has built so much over the time
that it came up under iHeart. In the podcast Space
Charlemagne started Black Effect with Dolly Bishop. Shouted the Dolly Bishop,
who is the president of development and production, and basically like, okay,
(19:13):
Dolly gonna make sure you need something done, honey, Dolly
gonna get it done. Okay. She is the girl, not
a girl, girl, the girl like, don't play with Dolly,
but Charlemagne and Dolly built this network right and when
you think about it, on a just a small scale.
So they brought in podcasts. They wanted to build these shows.
They wanted to house, you know, things that Charlemagne was
already doing. They did that. From there, they then begin
(19:36):
to be like, Okay, how can we look out here
in the world and build other podcast networks under Black
Effect Podcast Network to do exactly what we did. They've
now began doing that with Drink Chimps, Noriega and Drink Champs.
DJ fin is a podcast network Black Effect iHeart moving
(19:58):
for They in this Forbes article, they mentioned that they
want to bring on ten more shows just in twenty
twenty six, but not even just shows, like there's so
much business to be done in iHeart is leaning all
the way in, not just because again of the give
and take. It's like, Okay, he's giving us, you know,
the leverage, the notoriety, good business, but the fact that
(20:18):
it's good business. Let me tell you, guys, the numbers
that they mentioned in here. So this is one of
the biggest things I've learned from from the Unk squad.
That's what I call DJ Envy and Charlemagne It's not
just about that transactional give and take. It's like, yo,
when you pull up, I don't care for nobody giving
you nothing. Make sure if you're in the room, it's
why am I here? You always asking why? And if
you can add value? Add that bitch, like, don't add it? Okay?
(20:42):
So the Forbes article says, since twenty twenty, Forbes mentions
that Black Effect has launched over sixty shows. Right, they say.
iHeartMedia reported podcast revenue a four hundred and forty eight
point eight million dollars in twenty twenty four, So this
is four years after the Black Effect was active, up
from two hundred and fifty two point six million dollars
(21:03):
in twenty twenty one and one hundred and one million
dollars the year prior. So what this means is in
twenty twenty, when the Black Effect Podcast Network began partnering
with iHeart, who was already doing podcasting, The Breakfast Club
and the Black Effect podcast Network contributed tremendously to a
(21:26):
lot of the popular podcasts and culture and our culture
being on this network. So in twenty twenty they made
one hundred and one million dollars in their podcasting space.
Revenue wise, in twenty twenty one, iHeart made two hundred
and fifty two point six million dollars in their as
far as revenue in their podcasting space. So in twenty
(21:49):
twenty one, Black Effects would have been with them for
a year. In twenty twenty four, Black Effects would have
been with iHeart on the podcasting space for four years.
With the help of the Black Effect, I Heart grew
over two hundred million dollars in revenue in podcasting as
long as one ninety six. So just with that being said, right,
(22:12):
think about it, I create this podcast network. I'm like, yo,
come over here, believe in culture, believe in podcasts, and
believe in the black man that got these shows on
his back his black bag. WHOA, that sounds a little racist,
but I'm black, so I can say that got these
shows on his back that wants to come over add
to your yah. I'm pulling up with CTA table. I
done been at the breakfast club. I'm in the mix
(22:33):
of it. I see how things work and I want
to add to it. So I come with my shows.
In the matter of a little over three to four
years of my network being a part of your conversation,
your revenue conversation. When it comes to podcasting, you guys
are seeing an increase of over one hundred and ninety
million dollars that alone. Like people are like blown away
(22:55):
by this two hundred million dollar number. I am, too shit,
But when I read the rest to this article, I'm like,
y'all don't understand. Leverage is gooder than gold and that
is exactly what the Black Effect podcast Network is doing.
And then Charlottage is still walking away, but he's two
hundred million dollars on his day job. So hard for him. Okay,
(23:16):
rumble black man, and rumble like this is so inspiring
as much as that man gets on my nerves, oh
my god, and he is so tough on me, and
I'd be having bad days like It'd be days where
like I feel like I'm not as prepared as I
should be, and I feel like you could tell it.
There are days sometimes where you know, life is happening
and I'm still learning how to like you know, experience
(23:37):
that and still you know, show up and personality turn
on and they're so good at it. Yeah, there are
just days where I'm not even motivated to talk about
the things that are going on, and I might not
have been able to produce anything exclusively the night before.
So I feel like the way I talk about things
isn't as like, you know, I'm just not always fully there, like,
but there are days where I hit it out the park.
(23:58):
There are days where and I mean every single day,
don't care if it's a good or bad day. I'm
not backing down. I'm gonna continue to show up. And
this is why, because I see things like this every day,
and I see what happens when you continuously build. In
the best part of all of this that I've been
thinking about this whole freaking day, y'all, this man loves
(24:18):
his job. They love what they do, like they sincerely
love what they do in every aspect, I mean inside
of the studio and outside, so all of the side
ventures and side quests and because we didn't even get
to the production companies with Kevin Hard and the book
and prints and this is insane, but I love to
(24:42):
see it. I love y'all. I don't even know who
is the last person in the space in the hip
hop like really from the hip hop space, because that's
another thing too that I'm so proud of. It is
like they really from it like they're really from the
space of like culture us and they outside with it. Okay,
(25:04):
I don't know the last person that I can point
to here, like you know, you know, number wise, like
this is like NBA contract numbers US black US. Shout
out to the guys. Congratulations Charlemagne. I know you probably
gonna watch this or listen to this and you're gonna
(25:25):
be getting on my nerves. But congratulations though. And that
Forbes article is now live. You guys can take a read.
If you're not familiar with Charlemagne's background story, they do
mention a bit of it here. But I was also
talking today to one of our producers, Sam who just
recently got promoted to music director of Power one on
(25:45):
five to one, which is the radio station at Breakfast
Club is on in New York, which is a major
thing because New York is number one market, you know,
in the space. And she's young. That's my that's that's
my dog. Okay. But I was talking to her day
and we were talking about how reading Charlemagne's first book,
Black Black Privilege, that was probably one of the first
(26:06):
books I read as an adult where I was like, oh, okay,
you know this song whose world is this? The world
is just like it made me feel like I was
in that song. Like, Yo, everything I'm experiencing is not
happening to me, is happening for me, and it's my privilege.
Like showing up with all of this blackness and this
(26:27):
experience in this non experience and culture, that is my
asset in the room. That is what's gonna make my
businesses successful compared to somebody else's and spo y'all. Now,
at the end of the day, there's a lot to
talk about, and yo, if two hundred million dollars is
on the table to talk about it, when I get
(26:49):
to that point, it'll be more. Though it'll be more
because the the market will be so different like we
we we're in how you consume the podcast and everything
will be different. Wherever where it's gonna be, we'll be
there and we gonna be leading the space I market,
mark my word. Okay, we will be leading that space.
Let me tell y'all something. There's a lot to talk
(27:10):
about every single day, and baby, if people are here
making twenty million dollars to do it, I am going
to keep on, yappings. I appreciate you guys for being
right here with me to talk about it. As always,
I tell you guys that every single episode with my Lowriders,
I'm laying La Rosa. This is the latest with Lord
de Rosa, and I will catch you guys in my
next episode. They inspired say black if you are black,
(27:31):
if not, don't try, just leave it. Uh. I'll tell
you soon
I'm a homegrowl that knows a little bit about everything
and everybody, you know, if you don't lie about that. Right, Hey, y'all,
what's up. It's Laura l Rosa and this is The
Latest with Laura l Rosa. This is your NELLI Dig
on all things pop culture, entertainment, news, and all of
the conversations that shake the room. Baby now today checking
(00:24):
in behind the scenes of the Grind. I am finally
able to say Christmas Break has been done, Dune don't
then well Breakfast Club Christmas Break anyway, but there will
still be things uploaded over there on the Breakfast Club
digital side to make sure you guys are checking it out.
But we'll be right here with the Latest every single
week day until we get back into the new year.
(00:47):
Let's go on my break. But yeah, so I'm excited.
We are gearing up for a lot during the break,
so I will be taking you guys. Number one, we'll
be recapping the biggest moments of the year, just generally
the biggest moments of the year, and we will be
recapping the biggest moments here on the podcast The Latest
(01:09):
with Lauren de Rosa the podcast, So that is you know,
really exciting because there's a lot to look back on. Like,
I don't know if you guys realize, but we have
been going together since March, y'all, Like it is literally
almost been a year for us here at the top
of the new year. So excited to go through like
number one episode number one, uh, to look some of
(01:34):
the biggest moments, some of the moments I was like, oh,
this is cringe. I don't even want to watch or
hear it is back. But it's just been it's been
a labor of love becoming a podcaster, and it's really
been like a journey. Before I got to the Breakfast
Club and was podcasting and a lot of the things
that you guys met me doing, I was vlogging, and
I've always been really really big on vlogging. We do
(01:56):
recaps and vlogs over on my YouTube channel, Lauren the
Rosa TV. I have a whole playlist full of logs
that document my journey literally from the first day I
moved to la back in twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen. Today
I decided to not be there anymore, come on over
to New York and just some of the things in
between in podcasting, which is so crazy because after my
(02:20):
mom got sick, because I was vlogging that process, like
I've logged all the way up until we found out
that my mom had cancer, because in the beginning she
was just having strokes and we didn't know what was happening.
When we found out that it was cancer and we
found out how serious it was, it was just really
tough to record stuff on camera. There was a lot
of stuff I recorded that we like never posted, I
don't plan to put up, and it became just kind
(02:41):
of triggering. So that honestly made me take a step
back from vlogging. As much as I was like just
documenting my day to day, I was uploading probably like
at least two to three times a week, and then
I took a step back, and kind of once I
came back into it, oh, no, things were just a
little bit guarded a little bit differently, way differently. And
I think it's because I realized how much the content
(03:03):
I was putting online. Although it was meant for good
and my mom wanted to document her journey, that was
like you know, when she like she wanted to do it,
it was triggering, Like it was it was reminding me
of things that like we had already gotten over. And
when I was experiencing that, like people calling me and
talking to me about things that like we were literally
(03:24):
we were good off of it, right, we had moved on,
it would mentally take me back. And at that time,
I was trying so hard once my mom got better,
you know, I was trying so hard to just like
get life back together, move back to LA, get back
to work all that. So I was mentally just like
protecting myself a lot. I was, you know, trying to
protect my mom because people I started hitting her up
(03:45):
about stuff as well too, And I don't know, it
just changed, like my perception of like being vulnerable and content,
like y'all hear me here on the podcast. Y'all know,
I share everything with y'all. I take you guys everywhere
with me. But that deaf changed the journey. But this
podcast journey, I think has really gotten me back into
(04:06):
the swing of that, although still a bit guarded and like,
you know, I just know a lot more now and
I have a lot more that I want to keep
a little bit more closer to the chest, just you know,
as things grow and all. You know, however, many million
of y'all. At that point, I think we're over eight
million downloads, So we have over eight million Low Riders
in our community, yo. Like, starting from like zero listeners
(04:27):
to that, that's just it's been a labor of love
and such a journey that I've enjoyed taking you guys
step by step, y'all learning with me, growing with me.
Like I remember at one point we were doing behind
the scenes of the podcast just to show y'all us
trying to figure it out, because we were really just
trying to figure it out for a while. But in that,
(04:50):
you know, it's like, you guys, the Lowriders, my community
over here, and y'all being kind of like my diary
to a certain extent sometimes has lit that fire under
me again to want to, you know, share, be vulnerable
in things and just you know, open up a bit.
So I appreciate you guys a lot, not only for that,
(05:13):
but as we begin to recap at the end of
this year, you guys will see that I appreciate you
guys because you've been a consistent The Lowriders the latest
with Lona Rosa has been a consistent in this journey
from the day I turned on this microphone. Yeah, I
mean there's there will be a lot to talk through
and a lot to talk about while it's almost been
(05:33):
a year. And I'm also gonna be taking you guys
to Ghana with me. So we'll be going to Ghana
at the end of the year. Bring it in the
new year. I can't promise you, you know, full blown
out episodes because I do want to. I mean, we
will still be uploading, but I don't know exactly how
much I'll actually upload in Ghana. So you know, don't worry.
(05:56):
We ain't going to where you still get your uploads
and your news and all the things. But I'm gonna
be you know, very very very uh transparent and showing
a lot of my journey there because I'm excited to
go to Africa for the first time and I want
to take you guys with me. So make sure you
are subscribed to my YouTube channel, Lauren la Rosa TV
for the vlogs. So we got a lot to do
(06:16):
before the new year comes in, and I am excited.
So that's been you know, my feeling all day of
just like okay, how they break over at the breakfast club,
but like now we get to really leaning and just
focus on let us with Laurena Rose the podcast y'all. Yes, okay,
all right, y'all. So it was announced today that Charlemagne
the God got two hundred million dollars to sit up
(06:38):
there on that mic and spit. I know the mike's think,
but baby, he has paid. Let's talk about it now.
Speaking of podcasting, today it was announced this guy y'all
may know him a little bit, Charlemagne the God. He
covered Forbes Magazine. The title of the cover it's this
(07:01):
daily cover How Charlemagne became a media guide radio personality.
Charlemagne the God recently signed a two hundred million dollar
deal with iHeartMedia. Now he has ambitionous, ambitious plan to
turn his Black Effect Network shout out to the Black
Effect podcast network where y'all are listening to me at
into the beet of podcasting. So damn, Like, I don't
(07:23):
even cussle the podcast, but yo, let me just tell
y'all first of all, like working with Charlemagne and working
with Envy has been one of the most inspiring things
I've ever ever ever experienced in my life. Like I've
gotten to work with a lot of people and I
tell people this all the time, you know, good to bad,
when lose to draw. I don't know how he might
(07:45):
feel about me at this point, but I even give
Harvey Levin from TMZ his props often because I tell people, like,
you know, there was a lot that I learned there,
Like I became really polished about certain things at TMZ,
but most importantly watching him get up every single day,
you know, three four o'clock in the morning, seven days
(08:05):
a week, actually work, you know, like he's not just like, oh,
this is cute. I own this little media company. He's
in there, he's working, he's calling sources, he's breaking stories,
he's doing all of that. Right. That was very inspiring
to see. And I learned a lot about like discipline
and what it takes to keep something working. Like if
you want a well oil machine, you have to be
(08:27):
in the machine. You have to understand the inner workings
of the machine, the people who were at the machine,
which you need, what you don't need, what's working, what's
not all? Everything? Okay, eyes closed, Right, But when I
went over to the Breakfast Club and I started working
with Charlemagne and DJ Mvy, like, it was a different
type of inspiring that I've never experienced that up close
(08:48):
to my life because number one, of course they're black,
Like it's completely different than watching the Harvey No Jade,
but it's just the honest truth. It's just different. And
then also too, they come out of the hip hop space.
Like so you know, I remember when I moved to LA,
my goal was like, Okay, I want to be able
(09:09):
to act and talk show and all these things. And
I'm just really interested in like pop culture and television
and music and everything. Black is what I know because
it's what I grew up on. It's not even like,
you know, I was purposely just only trying to talk
about black news and black music, but it's just like,
these are the things I know for real. I could
talk about it in my sleep. I can talk passionately
(09:30):
about it. It's natural, it's me, it's you know what
I mean. So in doing that, I remember being told like,
don't go be the black girl at the black outlet.
It'll pigeonhold your career. You'll never be able to get anywhere.
You'll be in a box. Don't do it. When I
come to the Breakfast club and I see Envy, and
I see Charlottatne and I see how successful they are
(09:50):
come and I was gonna say coming out of the
hip hop media space, but they're still in it. And
I think that's what people don't understand, like when you
look at the big names like in this article. Just
to put it in perspective of how major Charlamgne's deal is,
and I'm gonna break down as much as I can,
there's not a lot of details about how to deal
(10:11):
with structure. I was surprised that this number was even
in here. The way Charlotte Mage like he won't tell
them like nothing about nothing. I was surprised that this
number was in here. But I will talk a bit
about that as much as we can. But to put
it into perspective, Forbes talks a bit about how Joe
Rogan recently signed a deal for two hundred and fifty
(10:32):
million dollars. There are reports that I'm looking at from
back in July of twenty twenty five. Joe Rogan, hosts
of the world's leading podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, is
said to a return to YouTube after inking a new
deal with Spotify were two hundred and fifty million dollars,
signaling a shift in the streaming services. Podcast strategy. He
(10:53):
captured the post. I am very happy to announced that
I will send my partnership with Spotify, the largest podcast
platform in the world. Deal which spans multiple years, includes
an upfront minimum guarantee and a revenue sharing arrangement based
on advertising sales. So that's normally like the back end conversation.
Under the terms that the new licensing deal, the audio
streaming giant will broaden the distribution of the Joe Rogan
(11:13):
experience beyond its previous exclusivity on the platform. The show
will now be available on various podcast platforms, including YouTube, Apple,
and Amazon. Here goes that streaming again. We just talked
about Breakfast Club expanding to streaming and Netflix. I don't
know if y'all see what's going on here. You have
Breakfast Club that does this deal with Netflix. After all
the news about the streamers and the podcasting market coming
(11:37):
to streaming, and then Charlemagne en out with the two
hundred million dollar deal. Do y'all see that is becoming
the ABC of podcasting? Like of course, we know traditional
television is out the window. We just talked in our
last episode about the fact that the oscars right after
over fifty years on traditional television on ABC is having
(11:59):
to create partnership with YouTube. The world is shifting, in
the world of podcasting is shifting, and people make it
seem like podcasting is like dying out and you know,
the money he's all messed up. No, it's there. You
just have to understand where to go get it and
how to position yourself. And if you're watching a playbook,
I'm watching You Got the Joe Rogan you know playbook.
(12:21):
It's the streaming with the deal where you can see
him and hear him as many places that make sense,
and then the money comes in, and the money he
has the minimum guarantee, which he's gonna use it just
like keep up in his business. The deal on the
back end, so I'm sure he probably the minimum guarantee
is probably nothing crazy. I mean, it's crazy compared to
what you or me would be making, right, but for
(12:43):
a podcast as large as Joe Rogan's is, I'm assuming
I don't know this for a fact, but I'm assuming
that his upfront guarantee would be something that isn't too crazy,
so that that back end situation that he has figured
out on the advertising side, and you know, the promotionals
he's gonna yo the way that he is going to
(13:04):
clear profit off of that deal easily because of how
big he's built up the podcast, in how readily available
to your eyes and ears he now has positioned it.
And in boom, Charlemagne goes and does the same thing.
That's the new playbook and I'm I'm let me tell y'all,
I'm paying attention. So forubes continues. Right, So they're they're
(13:28):
talking to Charlemagne. He is in like a comic bookstore,
and they're basically like going through, you know, just some
of what has made him who he is today in
the media space. This is what John Store from The
Daily Show says about Charlamage. He says, no fear. He
has an incredible ability to steal conversation to its salient center.
And it's not all about clicks, it's real. Bob Pittman,
(13:52):
who's the CEO of iHeartMedia, says, does he say stuff
that a lot of people don't agree with? Of course,
but that's Charlemagne being true to Charlemagne, and he has
consistently been rewarded for that outrageousness. Now, this deal that
Charlemagne signed actually took place from what we're learning today
because there were also reports out there that he hadn't
(14:15):
signed the deal yet and I'm still right next to him,
and I ain't know what was going on, if I'm
being honest with y'all. But again, this is not stuff
that they just like readily, like you know, anybody just
whatever if I if I need a call en vi
Charlemagne and say, hey, what do y'all think about this?
Money wise, this whatever whatever. When you were at this
point of your career where I'm at, would you have
done it? Like anytime I need to? But I don't
(14:35):
be all in the business like this. I know these
AIG's doing well, but like damn okay, So they didn't
get into kind of some of the specifics. So back
in August this Charlemagne signed a five year, two hundred
million dollar extension with iHeartMedia. So this deal, now, this
is the only breakdown that we have. This deal means,
of course, he'll stay on the breakfast club, which Charlamagne
(14:58):
always tells me, keep the main thing, the main Okay.
He is keeping the main thing, the main thing, and
it is allowing him to walk away with two hundred
million freaking dollars. Okay. Heard you. So it'll extend his
time of the Breakfast Club for the near future. It
puts him in the same league with Joe Rogan. Again.
I told you guys that they did that comparison because
of the amount of money that Joe Rogan just signed
(15:20):
his deal for last year, and they don't say this,
but realizing what Joe Rogan did and reading and researching
for this episode, I'm like, oh, the deals are kind
of the same. You got the streamer, the structure, all
the stuff, but even more vital to this deal. And
what I think people don't even realize is happening right
(15:40):
in front of their face is Charlemagne is literally using
iHeart medium. When I say using, I don't meet it
in a disrespectful way. I mean it in the most
respectful way. Because business is a give and take. It
is a two way street. It is in exchange. You
take care of your people, they take care of you.
So Charlemagne is using his position in the leverage that
(16:01):
he's built at iHeart from his sweat equity, right, so
all of the time energy, brand building, notoriety type of
leverage he's brought to iHeart. He went back to them
during the pandemic and said, Yo, we need to start
this podcast network called the Black Effect Podcast Network. Right,
The Black Effect Podcast Network has been on or in
(16:21):
partnership with iHeart since And let me okay, let me
just say this as well. When one of the things
that I've learned too from working up close and personal
with a Charlemagne or with the Envy, it's not just
about give and take in the sense of Okay, I'll
work here, so I need to run it up on y'all.
(16:41):
I need to get as much as I can out
of this. It's about the quality in the substance of
what you're bringing to the table as well too. And
I think you know, you know, we talk about recap
in the year one of the this has been a
crazy year for me. Like man, I could have never
imagined some of the things that God allowed me to
just literally gracefully walk into and to fall in my lap.
(17:05):
And you know, all I had to do was be
ready and preparing. Even on days where I slipped and
I didn't do the best, God was right there and
I was so clearly able to hear him say up,
tighten up, up, discipline up. One of the things that
I've been honestly able to learn up close with them
is again, it's the substance piece. It's like anybody can
(17:25):
pull up a seat to the table. People talk about
I want to see at the table. I want to
build my own table. Sometimes building your own table starts
with pulling up a seat to the table to even
be able to break bread with people who are doing
things the way that you want to do them, or
even if not the exact same way, but like on
the levels you want to do them on, or sometimes
on the levels or you don't want to do them on,
(17:46):
or doing things you don't want to do so that
you're able to learn. But you're at the table, you're learning,
you're in the conversation, you're in the room, and then
from there you're able to go off and build your
own tables. I've watched them, you know, not build. I
mean they're still actively building their their own tables. Because
another thing y'all need to realize is this is just
Charlemagne's day job. Like when I was reading this article,
(18:09):
like we joking, we play around all day, like y'all know,
you know me and Charlemagne got it's like a very
like you get on my nerves, but love you to death,
and no one could tell me anything about the guys
like you cannot tell me anything about envy or anything
about Charlotte at all, period, won't ever let you. And
it gets on their nerves too that I defend them
so much, But it's because I see how much work
(18:31):
and effort they put into building their lives outside of
the breakfast club. And then people see numbers like this
and they're amazed, and I'm like, y'all don't get it.
I get to see that every day, two hundred million
dollars and it is just your day job. We're not
even talking about because you know, in this article they
mentioned Black Effect, right, and I told you guys, people
(18:52):
will not even keep a game that Black Effect is
literally like it has built so much over the time
that it came up under iHeart. In the podcast Space
Charlemagne started Black Effect with Dolly Bishop. Shouted the Dolly Bishop,
who is the president of development and production, and basically like, okay,
(19:13):
Dolly gonna make sure you need something done, honey, Dolly
gonna get it done. Okay. She is the girl, not
a girl, girl, the girl like, don't play with Dolly,
but Charlemagne and Dolly built this network right and when
you think about it, on a just a small scale.
So they brought in podcasts. They wanted to build these shows.
They wanted to house, you know, things that Charlemagne was
already doing. They did that. From there, they then begin
(19:36):
to be like, Okay, how can we look out here
in the world and build other podcast networks under Black
Effect Podcast Network to do exactly what we did. They've
now began doing that with Drink Chimps, Noriega and Drink Champs.
DJ fin is a podcast network Black Effect iHeart moving
(19:58):
for They in this Forbes article, they mentioned that they
want to bring on ten more shows just in twenty
twenty six, but not even just shows, like there's so
much business to be done in iHeart is leaning all
the way in, not just because again of the give
and take. It's like, Okay, he's giving us, you know,
the leverage, the notoriety, good business, but the fact that
(20:18):
it's good business. Let me tell you, guys, the numbers
that they mentioned in here. So this is one of
the biggest things I've learned from from the Unk squad.
That's what I call DJ Envy and Charlemagne It's not
just about that transactional give and take. It's like, yo,
when you pull up, I don't care for nobody giving
you nothing. Make sure if you're in the room, it's
why am I here? You always asking why? And if
you can add value? Add that bitch, like, don't add it? Okay?
(20:42):
So the Forbes article says, since twenty twenty, Forbes mentions
that Black Effect has launched over sixty shows. Right, they say.
iHeartMedia reported podcast revenue a four hundred and forty eight
point eight million dollars in twenty twenty four, So this
is four years after the Black Effect was active, up
from two hundred and fifty two point six million dollars
(21:03):
in twenty twenty one and one hundred and one million
dollars the year prior. So what this means is in
twenty twenty, when the Black Effect Podcast Network began partnering
with iHeart, who was already doing podcasting, The Breakfast Club
and the Black Effect podcast Network contributed tremendously to a
(21:26):
lot of the popular podcasts and culture and our culture
being on this network. So in twenty twenty they made
one hundred and one million dollars in their podcasting space.
Revenue wise, in twenty twenty one, iHeart made two hundred
and fifty two point six million dollars in their as
far as revenue in their podcasting space. So in twenty
(21:49):
twenty one, Black Effects would have been with them for
a year. In twenty twenty four, Black Effects would have
been with iHeart on the podcasting space for four years.
With the help of the Black Effect, I Heart grew
over two hundred million dollars in revenue in podcasting as
long as one ninety six. So just with that being said, right,
(22:12):
think about it, I create this podcast network. I'm like, yo,
come over here, believe in culture, believe in podcasts, and
believe in the black man that got these shows on
his back his black bag. WHOA, that sounds a little racist,
but I'm black, so I can say that got these
shows on his back that wants to come over add
to your yah. I'm pulling up with CTA table. I
done been at the breakfast club. I'm in the mix
(22:33):
of it. I see how things work and I want
to add to it. So I come with my shows.
In the matter of a little over three to four
years of my network being a part of your conversation,
your revenue conversation. When it comes to podcasting, you guys
are seeing an increase of over one hundred and ninety
million dollars that alone. Like people are like blown away
(22:55):
by this two hundred million dollar number. I am, too shit,
But when I read the rest to this article, I'm like,
y'all don't understand. Leverage is gooder than gold and that
is exactly what the Black Effect podcast Network is doing.
And then Charlottage is still walking away, but he's two
hundred million dollars on his day job. So hard for him. Okay,
(23:16):
rumble black man, and rumble like this is so inspiring
as much as that man gets on my nerves, oh
my god, and he is so tough on me, and
I'd be having bad days like It'd be days where
like I feel like I'm not as prepared as I
should be, and I feel like you could tell it.
There are days sometimes where you know, life is happening
and I'm still learning how to like you know, experience
(23:37):
that and still you know, show up and personality turn
on and they're so good at it. Yeah, there are
just days where I'm not even motivated to talk about
the things that are going on, and I might not
have been able to produce anything exclusively the night before.
So I feel like the way I talk about things
isn't as like, you know, I'm just not always fully there, like,
but there are days where I hit it out the park.
(23:58):
There are days where and I mean every single day,
don't care if it's a good or bad day. I'm
not backing down. I'm gonna continue to show up. And
this is why, because I see things like this every day,
and I see what happens when you continuously build. In
the best part of all of this that I've been
thinking about this whole freaking day, y'all, this man loves
(24:18):
his job. They love what they do, like they sincerely
love what they do in every aspect, I mean inside
of the studio and outside, so all of the side
ventures and side quests and because we didn't even get
to the production companies with Kevin Hard and the book
and prints and this is insane, but I love to
(24:42):
see it. I love y'all. I don't even know who
is the last person in the space in the hip
hop like really from the hip hop space, because that's
another thing too that I'm so proud of. It is
like they really from it like they're really from the
space of like culture us and they outside with it. Okay,
(25:04):
I don't know the last person that I can point
to here, like you know, you know, number wise, like
this is like NBA contract numbers US black US. Shout
out to the guys. Congratulations Charlemagne. I know you probably
gonna watch this or listen to this and you're gonna
(25:25):
be getting on my nerves. But congratulations though. And that
Forbes article is now live. You guys can take a read.
If you're not familiar with Charlemagne's background story, they do
mention a bit of it here. But I was also
talking today to one of our producers, Sam who just
recently got promoted to music director of Power one on
(25:45):
five to one, which is the radio station at Breakfast
Club is on in New York, which is a major
thing because New York is number one market, you know,
in the space. And she's young. That's my that's that's
my dog. Okay. But I was talking to her day
and we were talking about how reading Charlemagne's first book,
Black Black Privilege, that was probably one of the first
(26:06):
books I read as an adult where I was like, oh, okay,
you know this song whose world is this? The world
is just like it made me feel like I was
in that song. Like, Yo, everything I'm experiencing is not
happening to me, is happening for me, and it's my privilege.
Like showing up with all of this blackness and this
(26:27):
experience in this non experience and culture, that is my
asset in the room. That is what's gonna make my
businesses successful compared to somebody else's and spo y'all. Now,
at the end of the day, there's a lot to
talk about, and yo, if two hundred million dollars is
on the table to talk about it, when I get
(26:49):
to that point, it'll be more. Though it'll be more
because the the market will be so different like we
we we're in how you consume the podcast and everything
will be different. Wherever where it's gonna be, we'll be
there and we gonna be leading the space I market,
mark my word. Okay, we will be leading that space.
Let me tell y'all something. There's a lot to talk
(27:10):
about every single day, and baby, if people are here
making twenty million dollars to do it, I am going
to keep on, yappings. I appreciate you guys for being
right here with me to talk about it. As always,
I tell you guys that every single episode with my Lowriders,
I'm laying La Rosa. This is the latest with Lord
de Rosa, and I will catch you guys in my
next episode. They inspired say black if you are black,
(27:31):
if not, don't try, just leave it. Uh. I'll tell
you soon
Host
Loren LoRosa
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