When you mention podcasting, the first person that usually comes to mind is Joe Rogan.
Before Spotify, he built his presence on YouTube with the Joe Rogan Experience (over 9 million subscribers), and before that, if you’re a Millennial, you’ll remember Joe Rogan as the host of Fear Factor.
While many may attribute podcasting, and even the adoption of podcasting to Joe, there was someone else who made podcasting mainstream; A man by the name of Reggie Ossé, whom most hip-hop heads know as Combat Jack.
It was Combat Jack who created a world between radio and journalism, and it was Combat Jack who showed the world that podcasts were a viable way to build an audience (and make money while doing so).
Before Combat Jack? Podcasting was cool. niche. A thing people did. But after Combat Jack? It was a lane. A living. A Career.
For many people, myself included, Combat Jack was the introduction to a world of culture, entrepreneurship, and hip-hop that previously went undiscovered. It showed that there was a world between radios and blogs – one where you got just enough underground with a dash of mainstream interests *chefs kiss*
THE ORIGIN STORY
After graduating from Georgetown Law1, Combat Jack aka Reggie Ossé worked at Def Jam Records as an entertainment lawyer, and even represented JAY-Z early in his career when he was shopping his demo (think the early 90s).
Within a few years of working a desk job, Reggie eventually grew bored with corporate life and started penning articles under the name Combat Jack. He began writing for the “urban” blogger Byron Crawford and eventually for the Source Magazine, where he became an editor.
With time, Ossé’s pen name began to garner a following in hip-hop circles, partially because of his storytelling, where he’d recount tales of riding around with Dame Dash and JAY-Z back in the day.
And as his acclaim grew, so did his reach. Eventually, Jack started an internet radio show before pivoting to podcasting full-time. And that’s where the real story begins…
THE COMBAT JACK SHOW
In 2010, Ossé made his foray into podcasting with the Combat Jack show. And while some users lament how the audio quality was back in the day, they do so fondly. It was a place like no other especially given the era. Ask yourself…
What else was happening during 2010?
That’s right. It’s The Blog Era.
According to an Interview Jack did with CJR, he got into podcasting by chance – he felt like the end of the Blog era was in sight and wanted to try something new:
I started the Combat Jack Show on a whim in August of 2010. And then I found out that I liked it, you know? It wasn’t initially like an interview show as much as it was me and my gang. Dallas Penn was my co-host. We would just talk; we just sit around and talk, caca all night. You know what I mean? And this thing started catching a buzz, we started getting interviews. 2
As such, Combat Jack’s podcast was where musicians on the cusp and even Black entrepreneurs could go to talk about their journey, philosophy on life, and everything in between. Jack wasn’t just a podcaster: he was Hip-hop’s Oprah.
Everyone from the late Nip$ey Hussle to Tristan Walker, who founded the Black shaving brand Bevel, appeared on his podcast to talk shop. The show was so successful it even had a stint on Complex TV (seen below).
THE LOUD SPEAKER NETWORK
The Combat Jack show’s impact on the culture was so strong that it eventually caught the attention of Alex Blumberg at Gimlet media. For those unaware, Gimlet is a huge podcasting company – one that was acquired by Spotify in 2019 for $250million when they decided to go all in on podcasts over music (a story for another day)
Nevertheless, Gimlet struck up a deal with Jack and Morrow that allowed them to expand their reach and create room for other podcasts to join their network. And thus, The Loud Speakers Network was born.
You might’ve heard of it, but if not, Loud Speakers is the home of Brilliant Idiotz with Charlamagne the God and Andrew Schultz, and “The Read” with Crissle & Kid Fury.
THE LEGACY SPREADS
While many shows on Loud Speakers Network are each popular with their respective audience, their impact comes to a head when you consider the success of one particular show that led to a cascade of hip-hop podcasts: Tax Season
The Tax Season podcast starring Tax Stone was the first true podcast phenomenon to happen in the world of rap and clips from the show routinely found their way to early iterations of Black Twitter.
Though the creator is unable to create new episodes, the Tax Season podcast was proof of concept for others in hip-hop who were considering making a run at the world of podcasting, and it is still widely referenced by many of today’s hip-hop podcasters.
It was after Tax Season that we start to the Joe Budden Podcast – and from there we see an increase in the interest in podcasting overall. That popularity attracted Spotify who Fun Fact – offered a huge deal to the Joe Budden Podcast crew BEFORE Joe Rogan. Though they turned it down after disagreement over payment/ownership, etc. it set the stage for what was to come: A boom in the podcast industry.
THE AFTERMATH…
Combat Jack’s legacy is still alive today, and he’s the reason many podcasters know the viability of the market.
Media figures like Adam22 who runs a platform called “No Jumper,” says that Combat Jack inspired him to continue in the media game, and he eventually had a stint on Loud Speakers Network. Hell, it might even be fair to say for other podcasters like Joe Budden (who has an episode on the Combat Jack Show) was inspired by Jack’s show.
One thing is for sure.
There would be no Gimlet deal, or $300million podcasting deals with Spotify, or sponsorship deals without The Combat Jack show, and though he’s no longer with us, he leaves an incredible legacy. Think about that while you listen to your next podcast.
Peace.