Last week, longtime radio host Ebro Darden announced the end of his tenure at the New York radio station Hot 97, where he’s been the host of the morning hip-hop show Ebro in the Morning alongside Laura Stylez and Peter Rosenberg since 2012. In a video posted to Darden’s Instagram after the announcement, the host alluded to his progressive politics as the reason for the show’s cancellation. He specifically pointed to the owners of Hot 97’s parent company, MediaCo. “Bro’s a casino owner. You know the three licenses they got in NY for the casino? The guy that owns the shit owns one of the casino licenses,” Darden said in a video posted from his car last week. “He’s gotta raise half a billion dollars. They need my shit-talking, anti-Netanyahu, anti-government, progressive shit out of the way, bro. They need me out of the way.”
Known for his pointed commentary on rap’s newer generation, Darden had his share of detractors, many of whom quickly posted gleeful celebrations of his exit. Streamers like Akademiks devoted airtime over the weekend to mocking Darden’s social media posts about the show’s end, suggesting instead that it was cancelled due to low viewership. The popular Twitch streamer claimed to have insider knowledge and alleged that people at the station had told him Darden and his co-hosts had gotten “lazy.” Darden’s co-host Laura Stylez pushed back on the narrative, claiming they began shooting episodes remotely to avoid the supposedly roach-infested Hot 97 studios.
Drake, who’s been the subject of criticism on Darden’s show, left a comment with an axe emoji under an Instagram post about the show ending. This week, the Ebro in the Morning team launched an independent podcast on YouTube called Ebro, Laura & Rosenberg, where, in the first episode, Darden shared alleged screenshots of Drake telling the host to “die slower.”
In a clip from Darden’s new show that started circulating on Tuesday, he addresses the longstanding narrative that he infamously “banned” 50 Cent from airplay on Hot 97 in the 2010s. Many believe this negatively impacted New York’s hip-hop scene, as one of its biggest stars wasn’t getting radio play. “I told 50 he ruined New York hip-hop. He spun it back around on me, talking about I ruined New York hip-hop, and then all of his fans and fanatics ran with that,” Darden said. “But first, it was 50 Cent who ruined New York hip-hop. Y’all know nobody wanted to work together. People who was already popping in the city, everybody was hemming and hawing and soft-shoeing because nobody wanted to work together because 50 Cent was so popping. That’s where that narrative comes from.”
Taking a page out of Drake’s playbook, 50 posted the clip to his Instagram on Wednesday, with the caption, “That’s why I put a word in to have your show taken off the air, you can’t just go around saying nasty things about people.”
Meanwhile, rumors have started swirling about who might replace Darden on Hot 97. The legendary radio DJ Funk Flex is currently filling in for the morning time slot, and commentators have suggested that Complex’s Speedy Morman is among the names floating around as potential Ebro in the Morning replacements, as are beloved hosts Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, both of whom are famously New York natives.
The shakeup at Hot 97 also comes as the hip-hop media landscape undergoes major shifts. Last month, longtime hip-hop commentator Elliot Wilson announced the end of his podcast The Bigger Picture, which he hosted with DJ Hed, after one year on the air. Meanwhile, Netflix announced this week that it entered a multiyear exclusive deal with iHeartMedia to bring video episodes of Charlamagne tha God’s long-running show The Breakfast Club to the streaming giant starting in early 2026. “I’m excited for this new chapter and for fans to experience this show in a whole new way,” Charlamagne said in a statement about the deal. As part of the iHeartMedia deal, Netflix will also host episodes of the popular Rory & Mal podcast.
In the broader context of hip-hop media in 2025, Darden’s exit feels less like an isolated personnel change than a marker of a broader generational changing of the guard. Once defined by a handful of gatekeepers controlling radio airplay and commentary, the ecosystem has fractured into podcasts, Twitch streams, YouTube channels, and social feeds where influence is more diffuse and more volatile. For Ebro, whose career was built on occupying the center of New York rap discourse, the move to independence mirrors the path many veteran voices are now taking as legacy platforms continue to recalibrate.
Joe Budden recently told Rolling Stone about his decision to take The Joe Budden Podcast independent on Patreon instead of re-upping his contract with Spotify. He called the move “scary but empowering,” noting that his experience in the music industry was a big part of his motivation. “I won’t allow myself to be treated the way I was treated yesterday, so tomorrow has to be different,” he said. Whether Ebro’s next chapter carries the same weight as his reign on Hot 97 remains to be seen, but his departure is more proof that we’re witnessing a tectonic shift in which hip-hop voices carry influence to the current generation of listeners.
