One of the most iconic forces in all of Hip-Hop history joins us at the Hard Rock Hotel New York, as Chuck D sits down for an Audacy Check In to talk about the making of his new album, 'Chuck D Presents Enemy Radio: Radio Armageddon,' his journey through Hip-Hop, and much more.

The Public Enemy frontman remains one of the most important voices in music, and he has returned with more wisdom on wax for his latest offering. According to Def Jam, 'Chuck D Presents Enemy Radio: Radio Armageddon,' is "the return of the voice that never left. Chuck D delivers a seismic broadcast of truth, rhythm, and resistance—uniting Hip-Hop’s pioneers and new generations alike in a fearless soundtrack for the times."

During his talk with DJ Scratch, Chuck confirmed, "when you hear me actually on the record as an MC, it's not like a Public Enemy record. It's more like I'm MCing rappers coming in."

"'Radio Armageddon' has no beginning and end to it," reveals Chuck D. "It's not really like an MC record as opposed [to] like, it's damn near like a radio station with acid poured on it."

The legendary rapper did take it back to the beginning during his talk with DJ Scratch, looking back on his first moments on the mic at Adelphi. "I was rhyming at my college, Adelphi, just to shut people up from grabbing the mic cause I wanna get my dance on."

"They had an open mic and everybody from Brooklyn, the Bronx, cause that's where Adelphi was. Everybody from all over, they thought automatically that, what they heard in the summer, people getting on the mic and rocking it, they thought that cause they was from the place that they get on the mic too, and most people on an open mic was terrible."

"So I was like, you know what, 'that mic is gonna be open. I'm gonna get on that mic, and I'm gonna sit everybody down.' So there'd be a long line trying to get the mic. They'd be playing 'Love Is The Message,' 'Good Times,' or whatever. I get the mic sure enough, there's nobody behind me. Nobody wanna touch the mic after I'm on it."

From college parties to the biggest stages around the world, the link between was Public Enemy, as D also reflected on his first meetings with Flava Flav and Terminator X. "We were all participants on WBAU and Adelphi Radio, and we was the first to actually integrate ourselves in radio playing Rap records, playing Rap records and talking about them. We were very scientific about it. And we became the radio station that Run-D.M.C. listened to because it was right over in Hollis, and then Curtis Blow and all, we were doing our thing in Long Island and in the city they wasn't playing Rap as much as us and breaking it down."

"We didn't wanna make records, but when we made records... I wanted to emulate World's Famous Supreme Team, cause I thought what World's Famous Supreme Team was doing at WHBI... I thought that that chaotic, everything was something, that's something that turned me on."

Hear much more from our deep dive with Chuck D and DJ Scratch in the full Audacy Check In above.

Five Finger Death Punch are on the verge of a major milestone, and joined us for an Audacy Check In to talk about it, along with the release of their updated version of "I Refuse," featuring Maria Brink of In This Moment.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Las Vegas band, and they are celebrating by releasing, 'Best Of – Volume 1,' a collection of re-recorded versions of their biggest songs, with "I Refuse" being the first taste for fans. The project is also a direct response to the recent sale of the band’s original master recordings by their former label.

"You live in those songs. There was no problem with the song to begin with. So that's a challenge to like, 'whoa, it was already great' in my opinion. All these songs, we are proud of them," explains guitarist Zoltan Bathory to Audacy's Abe Kanan. "So that's a challenge. How do we reimagine it for 2025? How do we do this? And you'll hear it. We put the work in."

FFDP had their masters sold by their label, so Zoltan and company went to route of Taylor Swift and re-recorded their own versions of their biggest songs. "From business perspective, from the record label side, it's a move on the chessboard, right? And now this is our move now, you know."

"It's gonna be the anniversary version. It's a 2025 anniversary version, so that's what we want to call them, 'the anniversary version,'" Bathory shares. "Taylor Swift has a rabid fan base, right? A very hardcore fan base. So when she put [out] the new songs, the fan base just simply switched to the new streams. It just happens so that we have probably the craziest fans on the planet. I mean, these guys are with us since day one, literally, and they're hardcore. It's the most loyal fanbase, so probably the same thing gonna happen."

'Best Of – Volume 1' will be available across all streaming platforms on July 18, and will also be released worldwide in physical CD and vinyl formats.

To hear so much more from Zoltan including a look into his Jiu-Jitsu Castle, and his philosophy on life, check out the full Audacy Check In conversation above.

Life has been anything but "Ordinary" for Alex Warren these last few weeks, as our Audacy 'LAUNCH' artist continues to rise with his hit topping the Global Billboard chart, as well as on the verge of potentially being the number one song in the country. During an Audacy Check In from the Hard Rock Hotel New York, Warren weighed in on his success, and the high praise he has received from artists like Ed Sheeran.

'It's definitely terrifying a little bit, but it's just exciting," Alex admits of the ubiquitous nature of his song. "I think I wrote these songs in my bedroom with my friends and to be able to hear them everywhere and see people apply them to their real life is, it's feels special."

After a string of ups and downs, success has landed squarely on Warren, who credits the tough times to be able to meet this moment, both as a person and a songwriter. "I do think that everything I've gone through has allowed me to be able to handle this, but also write about it," he tells Audacy's Emily West. "I think I've just been able to turn a really bad situation and turn it into something beautiful that can help people."

Along with the accolades from fans, there's been a few famous faces to vocally show support for Alex Warren, including Joe Jonas and Ed Sheeran.

"A lot of people ask me about like 'I made it moments' and I think with Ed, for people who don't know Ed is the reason, a lot of the reason, why I started writing songs. I've been so inspired by all his music and when I go in to write songs, I'm always like, 'I wish I wrote a song like that,' and it's so flattering for him to say that, he wished he wrote a song like mine."

"I'm blown away by it and it does not feel real and I'm waiting for someone to slap me in the face."

Since their moment singing together, Ed has continued to keep in touch with Alex. "He's like the most supportive person, we email every day," Warren says of the notoriously phone-free Sheeran. "I feel bad. I'm bothering him every day and he just responds. I'm like that kid who won't stop pestering him."

Don't miss our full Audacy Check In with Alex Warren above.

98 Degrees are back and taking control, re-recording their biggest hits and offering fans new music with their new album, 'Full Circle.' As part of the celebration, they stopped by the Hard Rock Hotel New York to talk all about it with Mike Adam.

With over 15 million albums sold worldwide, 98 Degrees are one of the most successful vocal groups of all time, and now they are entering a new era where they own their own work, and work to build a new chapter for fans across every generation.

'Full Circle' features 5 new tracks alongside re- recordings of their biggest hits. "We wanted to kind of give back to the fans what they fell in love with in the beginning, and that was how those songs sounded," Jeff Timmons says of the re-recording process. "They sounded like that for a reason. Now, obviously, throughout the years, our voices have changed and, we've performed them so many times with new inflections on them and we try to change them up, but I also remember being a fan and going and seeing concerts and I would hate when the artists would do that. So we tried to keep the integrity of the originals. And it wasn't easy because times have changed, our voices have changed, production has changed, but we feel like we accomplished it on these."

"And that's the challenge, right? Vocally it's a challenge because we don't sound, as Jeff said, we don't sound like we did back in 1997," says Nick Lachey, "but recreating that track and trying to match that track and find those sounds, and it's trickier than I think we thought it was gonna be going into it. It was definitely a challenge to make it happen, but Jeff said, we're really proud of how it came out and proud of how close we got to those originals."

Hear more about the album and what the four members have been up to during our Audacy Check In with 98 Degrees above.

Hot off the release of his new album, 'blame the chat,' DDG is with us at the Hard Rock Hotel New York to talk about it all, sitting down with DJ Buck and Big Regg for an Audacy Check In.

Featuring guest spots from Ty Dolla $ign, Rich the Kid, Offset, Rob49, BIA, Wiz Khalifa, DaBaby, Queen Naija, and Shenseea, 'blame the chat' is star-studded and blasts the artist to new heights. "I just rock with who rock with me," DDG reveals. "I don't like to force collabs, I don't like to force features, none of that. I just like to keep everything organic. Whoever rocking with me that's who i wanted to walk through the door."

That door was to DDG's 7 day live stream "Hit-A-Thon," which saw the rising rapper putting together his latest effort in real time. "It's more fun, I would say, to create live. You're getting live feedback. They know what they're getting right then and there," he shares. "Even with my album, most of the people that watch the 'Hit-A-Thon,' they heard me make the song, but even when I drop the album it still sounds refreshing, it still feels new, because when you make the song it ain't mixed, it ain't mastered, it ain't got that them extra drums. It's something new still, so it's cool."

"I feel like I'm just all around more of a polished artist," DDG says of his evolution since first landing on people's radar. "I just think more technical these days about how my music come out."

"The chat" is a big part of DDG's come up into a new level, and it's not something he takes lightly, saying he "cracked the code" by involving those fans in the way he makes music. "I used to make music for people that didn't listen to me, that was my problem. Now I make music for people that listen to me and then I will let them be the ones to advocate for me."

"I feel like a lot of my music career I was chasing the streams and the support from people that don't want to like me no matter what, but now I'm set, like if I only got a thousand streams on a song, I'm gonna make music for those people that stream, that thousand, and then eventually it's gonna grow."

Don't miss more from DDG, check out the full Audacy Check In above.

Royel Otis has a big 2025 lined up, and starts now with their new song, "moody." The duo joined us in Los Angeles for an Audacy Check In to talk about the new track, what to expect on their upcoming tour, and more.

Earlier this week, Royel Otis announced the meet me in the car tour, that will see the two playing venues and select music festivals across North America including Governors Ball, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Outside Lands. But first, it's "moody" to set things in motion for our Audacy LAUNCH artists.

"We were in the studio with Blake Slatkin and Amy Allen, two very, very talented people," shares Royel Maddell about the making of "moody" during the band's conversation with KROQ's Miles The DJ. "We were just like throwing chords together and stuff, and that's what ended up coming out of it. All in a day's work. It was amazing."

"moody" is part of the next chapter for a band that took Alternative music by storm last year, and according to Roy it's part of a bigger jump for the next LP. "I think it's, I don't know, sonically a bit larger," he says of the upcoming album. "I think there was more thought after playing all the shows live last year. I think there was more thought into like how this song would go if we played it live as opposed to just like how it just sounds on the record. I think there was a bit more thought into that, but other than that, I, I just think it was just whatever came out."

Next month the band starts a run of festival dates, before launching their own headlining tour. After seeing them a few times in Los Angeles, Miles couldn't help but notice the connection that Royel Otis has with fans, already so solid and intense, still early on in their career. "I think we've always taken that so seriously as well," Maddell admits, "like connecting with fans and always trying to make sure they know they're a part of it and a big reason why we're doing what we're doing sort of thing."

That feeling's coming around, and it can only mean one thing. ROLE MODEL is with us for an Audacy Check In at the Hard Rock Hotel New York to talk about his hit, "Sally, When The Wine Runs Out," his upcoming return to the road with Gracie Abrams, and much more.

"It's funny on Wikipedia you are listed as Bedroom Pop," Mike Adam explains. "Do you know what that means?"

"I feel like that was the whole first half of my career, was that word Bedroom Pop," laughs ROLE MODEL. "That was the scene that I feel like I like made my way into when I first started making music under the name ROLE MODEL, and it was like Clairo, Gus Dapperton, Cuco. There was this very cool community of artists that were all kind of in this Bedroom Pop thing and it was just like DIY. Kind of low-fi Pop music."

"Very misleading," he adds, after Mike notes it's not sexy time music. "Also probably like the least sexual music ever."

Turning heartbreak into hits, ROLE MODEL has used his album 'Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye)' to both grief a formative relationship and catapult himself into another artistry atmosphere. His run opening for Gracie Abrams is about to restart as she heads out on the deluxe dates of her sold out tour, which ROLE MODEL will join between festival shows throughout the summer.

"I just like her relationship with her fandom at these shows, and also outside of shows, and how inclusive she makes it," ROLE MODEL says on what he's learned from watching Gracie on tour. "I took mental notes of just how she makes everyone feel seen at her shows, no matter how big the venue is, or how many people there are, she makes everyone feel seen and heard at her shows, and I think that's a very cool thing to take note of for me and my own shows."

After lots of talk about ROLE MODEL's home state of Maine, Adam asks about the folks back home and the moment Mom is most proud of. "She just came on stage in Boston, for my biggest, it was the last show of tour, but it was also happened to be like my biggest headline, and it was like technically a hometown show, and she came on stage for that and we made her Sally at the end of the show," he shares. "I think that was like a very cool moment, not just for her to see of me, it was like a cool thing to have together now."

To hear more from ROLE MODEL check out the full Audacy Check In above.

New music from Mammoth is here, after the band and Wolfgang Van Halen spent the week teasing fans with a countdown across socials. Now we have "The End," another scorching eruption of Rock, featuring furious fretwork and another sky-high solo. Here to talk about it is the man himself for an Audacy Check In with Abe Kanan.

"I had this idea a while back and I felt like maybe it was a little too over the top, but then I came back to it and I thought it would be fun to try and make it into a song," WVH shares about the blistering new song. "It was a fun little process. It's a tough thing to balance where it's like the centerpiece of the song is this sort of soloy thing, but I think the aggressiveness and the over-the-topness of it is sort of what makes it so exciting."

The guitar is all the way in Rock and beyond, with Wolfgang leading the charge in a lot of ways, even if he's reluctant to embrace that role himself. "I think, even in Pop, you see, they have full bands with guitar and everything. It's definitely on its way back for sure, you know, comparatively to where it was say 10 years ago."

Not able to divulge much about Mammoth's upcoming 3rd album, the excitement is obvious when hearing WVH talk about new music. "I'm very excited with the direction that everything's headed in for sure."

For more on his upcoming tour, his time playing with Van Halen, and WVH's message to fans, enjoy the full Audacy Check In with Wolfgang Van Halen above.