ItsTheReal, also known as Jeff and Eric Rosenthal, are two brothers from

Harrison, New York Harrison is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States, northeast of Manhattan. The population was 28,218 at the 2020 census. History Harrison was established in 1696 by a patent granted by the British government to John Harrison a ...

, who have been active in the hip-hop music scene for over a decade.

Prior to ItsTheReal

Eric was Kanye West's videographer at the 2005 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, CA. Jeff worked for the HBO and AOL comedy website ThisJustIn.com

Hip-Hop Sketch Comedy Videos

The Rosenthal brothers began self-releasing their weekly sketch videos in 2007 after an idea for a half-hour show based around interviews, sketch videos and live performances was turned down by multiple media companies. Their first video was titled "Deconstructing Biggie" and was featured on Complex, as one of the best viral videos of the 2000s, as well as Pigeons and Planes. Cameos on the program over the next three and a half years included

Cam'ron Cameron Ezike Giles (born February 4, 1976), better known by his stage name Cam'ron, is an American rapper, record executive, and actor from Harlem, New York City. Beginning his career in the mid-1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed to Lance "Un" ...

, Max B,

Slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

Bun B Bernard James Freeman (born March 19, 1973), known professionally as Bun B, is an American rapper. He is best known as one half of the southern rap duo UGK (UnderGround Kingz), a group he formed in 1987 alongside Pimp C. Aside from his work with ...

Clipse Clipse, also known as The Clipse, is an American hip hop duo, chiefly active from 1994 to 2010. It consists of brothers Gene "No Malice" and Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton. Pusha T was known as Terrar during the group's early years, while No Mal ...

, Pete Wentz, Travie McCoy,

Amanda Seales Amanda Ingrid Seales (born July 1, 1981), formerly known by the stage name Amanda Diva, is an American comedian and actress. Since 2017, she has starred in the HBO comedy series '' Insecure''. In 2019, HBO released her first stand-up comedy spe ...

, Nick Cannon and more.

Podcasts

After spending more than 3 years working on sketch comedy, putting out videos almost every Monday, the duo moved into the realm of interviews, working for MTV. They joined forces with

Jensen Karp Jensen-Gerard Karp is an American producer, writer, actor, podcaster, gallerist, and former rapper. Previously known by his stage name Hot Karl, he signed a record deal with Interscope in his early 20s and has gone on to produce and write for te ...

to host the podcast "Hypemen" which ran from August 2010 until July 2011. In May 2015, the brothers returned to podcasting through a deal with Sideshow Network. Their new podcast "A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal" would feature Eric and Jeff engaging in authentic and hilarious conversation with rappers, tastemakers, and industry veterans, all from their Upper West Side apartment. Guests have included

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as ...

Trevor Noah Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is a South African-born comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and former television host. He was the host of ''The Daily Show'', an American late-night talk show and satirical news progra ...

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...

, John Legend, Lil Uzi Vert, Wiz Khalifa,

Jemele Hill Jemele Juanita Hill (; born 1975) is an American sports journalist who writes for ''The Atlantic''. She worked nearly 12 years for sports conglomerate ESPN. She wrote a column for ESPN.com's Page 2 and formerly hosted ESPN's '' His and Hers''. ...

Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known professionally as Mac Miller, was an American rapper and record producer. Miller began his career in Pittsburgh's hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of fifteen. In 2010, h ...

Jerrod Carmichael Rothaniel Jerrod Carmichael ( ; born April 6, 1987) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and filmmaker. He has released three stand-up comedy specials on HBO: ''Love at the Store'' (2014), ''8'' (2017), and ''Rothaniel'' (2022). He ...

Rembert Browne Rembert Browne (born 1987) is a writer who primarily focuses on pop culture, politics and sports. Previously Browne wrote for ''Grantland'', then for ''New York Magazine''. Early life Browne grew up in Atlanta and attended The Paideia School, ...

, Angie Martinez, Director X, Swizz Beatz, and many more over their first 300 episodes. The Rosenthals worked with Fullscreen from June 2016 through November 2016 on simulcasting A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal on Fullscreen's new video platform. In December 2016, the Rosenthals announced a new partnership for the podcast, moving to the

Loud Speakers Network Reginald Joseph Ossé (July 8, 1969 – December 20, 2017), known professionally as Combat Jack, was a Haitian-American hip hop music attorney, executive, journalist, editor and podcaster. He was the former managing editor of ''The Source''. H ...

. ItsTheReal went independent in 2018. In November 2017, ItsTheReal partnered with Styles P and

Sheek Louch Sean Divine Jacobs (born September 30, 1976), better known as Sheek Louch, is an American rapper best known as a member of The Lox, The LOX and founder of D-Block Records, along with Styles P and Jadakiss. Personal life and career At around ...

of The LOX on a new podcast called "2 Jews and 2 Black Dudes Review the Movies." Each episode is a dynamic conversation between two sets of best friends who all grew up ten minutes from each other, but under completely different circumstances; the discussions - based around viewings of movies like Coco, You've Got Mail, Trading Places,

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...

, The Last Dragon, Home Alone, etc. - touch on deep, thoughtful and utterly ridiculous subject matter and bring up the most random and fascinating stories.

Music

Right before Election Day 2010, ItsTheReal released a song called "My Girl's a Republican," which gained notoriety from the clever one-shot music video, as well as for the Tea Party's opposition to it. In 2013, the Rosenthals worked with DJ Drama and released their first mixtape, Urbane Outfitters. Urbane Outfitters featured the singles "Beef Wit Us" featuring Maino and "Girls With the Dirty Souths" featuring Bun B. Also on the mixtape: Lil Jon, Freeway and

Hannibal Buress Hannibal Amir Buress ( , born February 4, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, producer, rapper and writer. He started performing comedy in 2002 while attending Southern Illinois University. He starred on Adult Swim's ''The Eric Andre Show'' f ...

. The street single "Jews for Jesus Piece" hit the e-streets soon thereafter. The album resulted in the duo making the front page of the New York Times Arts section. ItsTheReal released their second music project, the full-length Teddy Bear Fresh on May 26, 2017. The street singles "Dave Matthews Bands" and "Fire in a Crowded Room (Get the Hose)" featuring Michael Christmas were followed by "Waco." The album, which NYLON called "not only killer comedy, but also one of 2017’s more complete and enjoyable rap records thus far," was produced by Greg Mayo and features appearances from

Curren$y Shante Scott Franklin (born April 4, 1981), better known by his stage name Currensy (often stylized as Curren$y), is an American rapper. In 2011, he founded the label Jet Life Recordings. Music career 2002–2008: No Limit and Young Money ...

, Smoke DZA,

, Tunji Ige,

Jazz Cartier Jahmarie Wishart Adams (born March 19, 1993), known professionally as Jazz Cartier, is a Canadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for his mixtapes, ''Marauding in Paradise'' and ''Hotel Paranoia''. He has twice been a long lis ...

, Michael Christmas, Angie Martinez, Just Blaze, Combat Jack, Scott Rogowsky, and Sway Calloway.

Live Performances

ItsTheReal performed twice at the 2012 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Eric and Jeff headlined their own concert at Gansevoort NYC on September 17, 2015, called The YOLONO Tour (You Only Live One Night Only) where their performed their own songs, told stories from their career, and brought out special guests like

Joell Ortiz Joell Christopher Ortiz (born July 6, 1980) is an American rapper and a former member of the group Slaughterhouse. Ortiz grew up in the Cooper Park Houses in the East Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, formerly signed to Dr. Dre's Afte ...

Bridget Kelly Bridget Kelly (born April 8, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter from New York City. In 2008, Kelly, a pop and R&B recording artist, who has written songs for fellow American singers such as Kelly Clarkson, secured a recording contract ...

, DJ Clark Kent,

Miss Info Minya Oh, professionally known as Miss Info, is an American radio personality and journalist. Early life and education A native of the North Side of Chicago, Oh is the daughter of Korean immigrants. Oh graduated from Columbia University. Ca ...

, MC Jin,

Torae Torae L. Carr (born March 18, 1977), known mononymously as Torae, is an American rapper from the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York. He has released a number of solo albums and collaborative works, and operates the independent record la ...

and Smoke DZA. ItsTheReal sold out their headlining show at New York City's famed music venue

SOB's SOB's is a live world music venue and restaurant in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manhattan. S.O.B.’s is an abbreviation of Sounds of Brazil. Larry Gold started SOBs in June 1982, and he currently still owns the space. Gold opened the ven ...

, called "Your Girl's Tour," on February 23, 2017. OG Chase B served as the opening DJ, Just Blaze DJ'd during ItsTheReal's set, and Freeway performed as a special guest. On July 26, 2017, ItsTheReal sold out

Highline Ballroom The Highline Ballroom was a music venue and nightclub located at 431 West 16th Street in Manhattan in New York City. Description Primarily featuring musical acts, its capacity was approximately 700 people hosting diverse concert programming fr ...

in New York City, for
live podcast celebrating the legacy of Roc-A-Fella Records
bringing together Biggs, Hip-Hop, Lenny S, Chaka, Just Blaze, Young Guru, Jim Jones, Young Gunz and Freeway, all on one stage. ItsTheReal made their international live event debut by interviewing acclaimed DJ Semtex in front of a sold-out crowd at London's Hoxton Sq. Bar & Kitchen on September 6, 2017. They have since performed in Los Angeles and returned to the SOB's stage in January 2018. ItsTheReal played the 2018

Roots Picnic The Roots Picnic is an annual music festival created and hosted by hip hop group, The Roots. Co-founder, Shawn Gee, and manager of The Roots serves as executive producer of the festival. The festival is held in Philadelphia, their hometown at the ...

. ItsTheReal returned to Highline Ballroom with The LOX on October 3, 2018, in the first live performance of 2 Jews and 2 Black Dudes Review the Movies. Jadakiss - a part-time co-host of the podcast - joined Eric, Jeff, Styles and Sheek in watching and debating the 1993 blockbuster movie Jurassic Park along with a packed house of movie fans, LOX fans and humor fans.

Television

Eric and Jeff sold a scripted TV show to

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

in October 2015.

References

{{reflist, 30em American musical duos Sibling musical duos