What is RTM Podcast?
RTM Podcast is a video podcast launched by Young Spray and Queen Icecream in November 2020. The podcast is primarily an interview platform that highlights musicians and personalities known within the British Black music industry, as well as the wider new online media community in the UK. Episodes are released via YouTube as well as audio-only channels.
Young Spray has stated that the podcast’s aim was to “give flowers” to people from significant cultural figures from his generation (those born in the late 1970s and early 1980s) and this is reflected in the range of interviewees, topics and overall presentation of the podcast.
Notable RTM Podcast guests include Terri Walker, Big Tobz and Frisco. As well as UK musicians, the podcast has featured a range of personalities, including charity founders, podcasters and active YouTube personalities.
RTM Podcast is known for Young Spray’s insensitive outbursts and honest opinions on controversial subject matter.
Since 2023 the podcast has been recorded at Myriad Studios in London.
RTM Podcast Format
RTM Podcast has developed a rough format for all standard episodes. RTM Podcast features a guest on each instalment and tends to involve Young Spray uncovering aspects of the individuals’ life story from their birth to their career highlights.
As time has gone on the length of the podcasts has expanded from around one hour per episode in season 1 to as many as three hours in season 3.
Theme
Each episode of the podcast has different central theme. The conversation for each instalment often goes in many directions, but Young Spray always returns back to the theme as a focus point. These cover various things and previous examples include:
- Beef
- Friends
- Mental Healh
- Rumours
- Charity
RTM Podcast Segments
Segments are used to give the content structure and episodes often include the following:
Quickfire Round
Off the back of the life story-style interview, the podcast usually enters into the Quickfire Round. It is an A or B multiple-choice question section of each podcast to help the viewers get to know the guest and their opinions about music, brands and the opposite sex.
Examples of questions asked during this segment include:
- 2Pac or Biggie
- Jay-Z or Nas
- Drake or Lil Wayne
- Coke or Pepsi
- Audi or Merc
- Car or bike
- Beyoncé or Ashanti
Although it is intended to be a quick-fire section, this often leads to many deviations in the conversations.
RTM Banter
Episodes of the show are sometimes broken up with curated comedy content.
Dilemmas
Viewer-submitted dilemmas are regular feature on RTM Podcast. Individuals submit their scenarios for Young Spray, Queen Icecream and the guest to discuss and potentially offer advice.
Current Affairs
A segment frequently featured on the show involves the hosts and the guest discussing current affairs, news and topics that may have become prominent in the days leading up to the episode recording.
Book Suggestions
Many episodes of the podcast conclude with a book recommendation from the guest and/or Young Spray.
Young Spray’s Presenting Style
General Approach
Young Spray has a laid-back presenting style which provides contrast to Queen Icecream’s more direct questioning. Spray’s approach creates an environment whereby guests feel open to share details they may otherwise not have shared publicly. Young Spray often feigns ignorance of topics to get people to open up on topics that other interviewers may otherwise avoid.
Outbursts
On the podcast Young Spray often goes on self-described “outbursts” where he deviates from conversations to speak negatively about certain topics that may have come up in conversation. His outbursts include homophobic rants, threats of violent and expressing grievances with other individuals including other podcasters, YouTube channel owners and rappers.
Young Spray is known to put guests and his co-host Queen Icecream in difficult situations to either challenge, ignore or attempt not to laugh at the outbursts to prevent implied support for what he may say.
RTM Podcast Topics
RTM Podcast primarily offers a platform for each guest to divulge on notable aspects of their lives and careers. As such, most of the content focuses on those people and the experiences they have been through.
Among the most common themes of RTM Podcast are:
- Character reform
- Black British music
- Romantic relationships
- Family life
- Growing up in a city
- Street crime
RTM Podcast Hosts
Young Spray
Young Spray is a rapper from east London. He grew up in both Leytonstone and Walthamstowe. He has been active since the early 2000s, known first as a member of North Star before continuing a solo career up to today.
Spray has released songs with established UK musicians including Skepta, Giggs and D Double E. Initially Young Spray released a new song to accompany each new podcast episode, but his musical output has reduced since the growth of the podcast.
Young Spray has been to prison several times since he was 16 and often touches on character reform on the podcast.
Queen Icecream
Queen Icecream is a rapper from Harlesden in north west London. She has been an active rapper since 2010, when she released music as part of 1Up Empire before her work in a duo with her sister as Diva Twins.
Prior to the podcast she was one of the first signees to Young Spray’s self-funded RTM Records label. Queen Icecream urged Young Spray to create the platform and has been the co-host since its formation in 2020.
Guest Hosts
Chronik
Chronik is an east London Grime MC known for being a member of Slew Dem Crew (and later Slew Dem Mafia) with artists including Esco, Tempa T and Pit. He has featured as a co-host for selected episodes of the podcast since 2023.
Trina
Trina hosts Honestly Speaking podcast and stepped in from 2024 while Queen Icecream was on maternity leave.
RTM Podcast Example Episode
The following is an example episode of RTM Podcast featuring Young Spray and Queen Icecream in conversation with Mike GLC, discussing aspects of his life and future plans.
RTM Podcast Guests
Young Spray has been an active musician since the early 2000s. As such he has connections to other musicians from a range of generations of Black British music, as such the show has featured artists that he has a personal relationship with and were active in the prime years of UK Garage, Grime and UK Rap.
RTM Podcast also features a number of other personalities, including content creators, sportspeople and notorious reformed criminals.
The complete list of RTM Podcast guests is as follows:
- Faron Alex Paul
- Wastlane Wez
- Boss Baff
- Bouncer
- Lady Fury (Coelle)
- Marvin Herbert
- Terri Walker
- Mac Ferrari
- Lippy (For the Culture Podcast)
- Skinnyman
- Nile Ranger
- Chuckie Online (HC Pod)
- Miss Gucci
- Ben Hatchett
- Big Tobz
- Bate Nate
- Jaydah Styles
- DJ Big Ryde
- Alf (Cherry Orchard)
- James Ellington
- Frenzo Harami
- Dirty Money UK
- Bushkin
- Maxwell D
- SP (Delinquent Nation)
- Durrty Skanx
- Dizz
- Frisco
- Jordan F. Stephens
- Franklin Boateng
- King Aggi
- Alhan Gençay
- George the Poet
- Stana
- Kele Le Roc
- Bobby Kasanga
- Jaja Soze
- Crimer
- Ozzie B
- Neeko
- Mike GLC
- Hitz
- Zimbo
- Mic Righteous
- Jack Jones
- Tommy Bones
- President T
- Alison Cope
- Robbahollow
- Don Strapzy
- Size
- Flow Dan
- Solomon Smith
- Shotta D
- Shower Malik
- Flirta D
- Raspect
- Swiss
- Lewis Clark
- Chronik
- Kevin Emmons (21 Savage’s father)
- Dizzle Comedian
- Rodney P
- Claira Hermet
- Tommy Robinson
- Ribz
- Jojo (GL7)
- SafOne
- Yung Meth
- Mr 10 Gears
- Remerdee
- Mr Stoned Island
- Wack 100
- Kemzi
- Madix
- Expressions Oozing
- Starboy Nathan
- DL
- Little Torment
- Billy the Goat
- Rix
- ASB
- B Dubble
- Yankee
- Barry (Ice Cream Cartel)
- Justin (United Borders)
- Poet
- Novelist
- Rare Talks
- DJ Limelight
- Firebarz
- Paper Pabs
- Clue
- Monster Marv
- Megaman
- Funky Dee
- Mafiella
- Chris Sibia
- Sharky Major
- Jordan McCann
- Action
- Troopz
- Snowy Danger
- Afua Rose
- Fredi Kruga
- Saskia
- Cleeshay
- Manga Saint Hilaire
- Dwaine Patterson
- M Dot R
- Zee Zilli
- Show Shallow
- Malik MD7
- Xtreme
- Itsjusreal
- Ginga Jay
- Pariz 1
- RA
- Justo
Key RTM Podcast Episodes
Queen Icecream (July 2022) – Young Spray interviewed Queen Icecream in a special interview to give viewers an understanding of her background and her association with Young Spray.
Mike GLC (July 2022) – Mike GLC returned to RTM Podcast to detail his grievances with Link Up TV, particularly Rashid Kasirye and Joey Clipstar, off the back of previously praising them on RTM Podcast for their work in assisting him on a now indefinitely shelved project.
Young Spray (August 2022) – Queen Icecream interviewed Young Spray in a special episode of the podcast. In it he detailed his life story, including the events that led up to his first prison sentences. He also went depth on what happened when was involved in an altercation to the GRM Rated Awards in 2018 that led to him receiving knife wounds.
Kevin Emmons (December 2022) – The podcast hosted a conversation with Kevin Emmons, the biological father of 21 Savage. Over the course of the discussion he talks about 21’s upbringing in east London and north west London, as well as the rapper’s family in Brixton in his younger years. He also goes on to talk about how communication broke down between the two over the years.
M Dot R (January 2024)
The UK-born Dancehall artist M Dot R was brought on after Shizzio (The Shizzio Show) facilitated a connection between the two. The responses to back-and-forths between Icecream and M Dot R about how Jamaican he was, compared to other people of Jamaican heritage, led to social media fallout.
RTM Podcast’s Rivalries with Other Podcasters
A common theme running through RTM Podcast episodes is Young Spray’s rivalry with other individuals that also host podcasts. This has been especially apparent since 2022 when the reasons shifted from being historic, gang-related qualms to content-based issues.
These individuals facing much of Young Spray’s animosity includes:
- Tricky (For the Culture) former Mashtown member that has recorded music threatening Young Spray with murder
- Loons (No Behaviour) former Mashtown affiliate who dissed Young Spray as host of their mixtape
- Margs (No Behaviour) former Mashtown member
- Big Doug (Winners Talking) who frequented Unit 10, the recording facility used by SN1 in the late 2000s
Most of these people choose not to publicly comment on the situation, although Tricky has touched on it on Big Ego Podcast and Winners Talking Podcast.
It can be difficult to gauge how serious Young Spray is when he airs his grievances, based on his past experiences, being the victim of a stabbing at an entertainment industry event (at the 2018 Rated Awards) and his jokey personality on the platform. He often bigs up people directly after insulting them.
It is even more difficult to establish how serious the rivalries are because RTM Podcast has hosted interviews with other people associated with the rival podcasters, including:
- Lippy (For the Culture co-host)
- Chuckie Online (hosts Champions League of Everything which features Margs)
- Don Strapzy (SE Dons owner which includes Big Doug)
The rivalry with Winners Talking Podcast appears to stem from their decision to pivot towards a guest driven podcast format (like RTM Podcast), for hosting an interview with his rivals Giggs and Buck, and for their role in Mike GLC and Kasirye’s disputes.
RTM Podcast Sponsors
RTM Podcast has been sponsored by LDN Pop Tops.
RTM Podcast FAQs
Why does Young Spray have a problem with Mashtown?
Young Spray has expressed a longstanding feud between individuals associated with himself and those within the Hackney-based Mashtown. This history spans back to the times when North Star was a more active collective and diss tracks were exchanged between the two collectives.
Much of the disagreements are a direct result of Young Spray’s association with prominent Tottenham Mandem members including NorthStar’s C1.
Tricky and Loons have recorded music which directly names Young Spray as an adversary. Young Spray’s song Round Here on Realer Than Most Vol. 2 directly addresses Mashtown.
Despite the history, Young Spray has mentioned multiple times that he has watched No Behaviour Podcast content and enjoyed it due to the similarities between himself and the podcast’s hosts.
What does the RTM in RTM Podcast stand for?
The RTM in RTM Podcast stands for Realer Than Most. The phrase ‘Realer Than Most’ has been used by Young Spray as the name of many of his projects, including his record label and clothing line.
Who is the woman on RTM Podcast?
Queen Icecream is the co-host of RTM Podcast, along with Young Spray. She was the person to propose the idea of the podcast to Young Spray. Before the launch of RTM Podcast Queen Icecream was known as a rapper. She has released music since 2010 as part of 1Up Empire, Diva Twins and as a solo act.
