Vinnie Paz and Brendan Long
236 episodes listed below
Music talk with boxing-room nerves.
Pop the Trunk runs on basement-table energy: half music talk, half boxing argument, with plenty of neighborhood texture in between. The show moves quickly from diner jingles and old streetwear to title politics and blunt reads on fighters.
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Pop the Trunk is a loud, fast-moving hangout built around music, boxing, and the kind of side stories that only make sense because the room trusts itself. It begins wherever the spark is. That might be an ODB award-show moment, a Melrose Diner jingle, a riff on old high school fashion, or a boxing corner speech used to announce the return of Knock Em Out the Box. From there, the conversation sprawls. Rap legends, punk-band money, Philly slang, skate culture, cheesesteaks, family parties, and the economics of touring all sit close together. The show is not tidy. That is the point. Its rhythm comes from interruption, callbacks, correction, and the pleasure of hearing people chase a thought until it turns into a better one. The music talk is personal without becoming precious. Childhood assumptions about gold records and punk venues become a practical lesson in how little money art can actually pay. The boxing talk is more direct. Fighters are judged by style, ambition, resume, and entertainment value, with little patience for empty titles, sterile venues, or commentary that sounds bought. Episodes tied to Knock Em Out the Box carry a stronger fight-news spine, moving through names like Tim Zoo, Errol Spence, Shane Mosley Jr., Sergey Boachuk, Devin Haney, Shakur, Brian Norman, Jai Opetai, Benavidez, Zerdo, Max Kellerman, and Zufa. Even there, the room keeps its local temperature. Analysis arrives inside jokes, mock disgust, sudden detours, and loyal shout-outs to people who kept asking for the boxing show to come back. Pop the Trunk works because it refuses the clean division between culture talk and sports talk. It understands that music memory, neighborhood taste, food arguments, old clothes, and fight opinions often come from the same place. The result is rough-edged but knowledgeable, funny without feeling packaged, and sentimental when it least wants to admit it.
Made for: For listeners who like rap, punk, Philly texture, and boxing talk delivered through fast banter instead of polished panels. It especially suits people who enjoy strong opinions, callbacks, and cultural side roads.
What sets it apart: The show’s edge is its collision of fight analysis with lived-in music memory and neighborhood specificity. It can roast a boring fighter, explain touring economics, and argue about cheesesteaks without changing rooms.
Everyone has a podcast, but Vinnie Paz finally has one about the thing that changed his life: Music. “Pop the Trunk” is Vinnie’s first podcast where he’s actually going to talk about music and all the different realms it touches from pop culture to sports, movies, books...it’ll be a free-flowing conversation from his scattered brain. So, come join Vinnie , Brendan, and Billy for what’ll be an unhinged tour through a wide range of topics that all started with a career in music that is one of the more unlikely DIY success stories.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Pop the Trunk makes boxing's matchmaking, money, rankings, and career risks legible through detailed, argumentative conversation.
Pop the Trunk treats boxing as both competition and business, following the money, contracts, matchmaking, rankings, injuries, and weight requirements that shape what happens in the ring.
Vinnie Paz brings your inner accountant ringside when a fight purse meets a weigh-in.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A loose, joke-heavy conversation that keeps running into the math of what bands actually make.
Pop the Trunk starts with a long, loose riff on Puerto Rican and Italian identity, with the language gap, crime, loudness, hand gestures, fighting, and crowded family parties all getting folded into the same stretch of conversation.
A grateful return that turns boxing chatter into a lively, unruly hangout.
Pop the Trunk comes back with the easy gratitude of a crew pulled back to the mic by listener demand. Episode 206 centers the boxing talk fans kept asking for: Tim Zoo, the bad cut, summer chatter around Errol Spence, and a 154-pound picture crowded enough to make every name…
A scrappy boxing-room argument about money, leverage, and the sport's odd contract logic.
The episode does a solid job of showing the rough economics beneath boxing: who gets paid, why some deals look like real money, and why a fighter can seem underpaid once the sport's risks and incentives are laid out.
A Tokyo Dome fight, a live test, and blunt stakes-first boxing talk.
Pop the Trunk keeps its focus on the fight that matters most: Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani at Tokyo Dome in Japan. The panel makes a solid case for why that matchup feels so large, and why Nakatani can be read as the kind of style that could hand Inoue a first loss.
A ringside argument about risk, legacy, and boxing’s polished-up business.
Pop the Trunk is about a boxer making a blunt tradeoff: take the world-title shot against a dangerous champion, accept short money, or walk away and maybe miss the moment.
This one starts with family noise and identity math.
They come back loud.
This episode humorously discusses the Melrose Diner in Philadelphia, its jingle, and includes off-air banter about workplace harassment.
The hosts discuss the decline of distinctive youth fashion compared to past decades, using skateboarding, Philly slang, and rap legends as cultural touchpoints.
This episode explores how shifting from outcome-focused to process-focused thinking transformed the speaker's acting career, emphasizing hard work and passion.
Vinnie Paz and co-hosts discuss music, pop culture, and random topics, starting with a rant about Wu-Tang Clan.
A discussion about potential boxing matchups, title fights, and critiques of fighters like Devin Haney and Shakur Stevenson.
Vinnie Paz and co-hosts critique a recent boxing event promoted by Zufa, discussing the lack of excitement, biased commentary, and generic presentation.
A discussion about upcoming boxing matches, including potential fights for Jaron Ennis and the state of boxing promotion.
The hosts discuss a recent boxing match, analyzing the fighters' performances and controversial scorecards.
The panel kicks around what people in Australia said about a fighter's pay and why it feels less shocking once the context comes through.
The room opens on a detour.
Hosts discuss the upcoming boxing match between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou, analyzing the fighters' motivations and risks.
The hosts critique the launch of TKO, a new boxing promotion, and discuss the lack of announced fights, comparing it to traditional boxing promotion.
Discussion about the biggest potential American boxing match, including venue options and controversy over a failed drug test linked to a past death in the ring.
This episode analyzes Devin Haney's boxing performance against Norman, discussing his underrated dismantling style and the psychological impact of recent fights.
This episode discusses the challenges of fame for lower-weight boxing champions and analyzes a high-profile fight opportunity against Jake Paul.
A boxer discusses his recent fight victory, homesickness, missing his newborn son, and his aspirations to become undisputed champion.
The hosts analyze an upcoming boxing match between Devin Haney and Brian Norman, discussing fighting styles, confidence, and potential drug testing concerns.
Vinnie Paz and co-hosts discuss Devin Haney's boxing career and allegations of UFC fight fixing.
The hosts discuss a heavyweight boxing match, debating the referee's stoppage and analyzing the fighters' performance.
Boxer Vontae discusses fan criticism of his fight choice and addresses potential future matchups.
Vinnie Paz and co-hosts discuss boxing politics, fighter call-outs, and WBC mandatory rules.
The room locks onto Josh Kelly and the ugly math of a world title shot.
The hosts discuss recent boxing events, criticize Gervonta Davis for avoiding tough opponents, and pay tribute to Ricky Hatton.
The host criticizes Dana White and TKO's influence on boxing, arguing they are changing rules and legislature to exploit fighters, while defending the Ring Magazine championship as the true world title.
This episode discusses boxing prospects, focusing on Jaron Ennis as a potential pound-for-pound number one and criticizing Davis for avoiding tough fights.
The hosts debate whether a boxer should retire or get a new trainer, using examples like Floyd Mayweather and Ryan Garcia.
This episode discusses the lack of respect in boxing, focusing on fighters like Canelo and Tank Davis, and critiques how narratives change only after extraordinary achievements.
The hosts discuss the Canelo vs.
The hosts discuss Terrence Crawford's historic win and analyze the fight, debating weight class advantages.
Boxing post-fight analysis with interviews discussing the fight and its implications.