Month: December 2020

In an age where albums are often released with no advanced warning, Dua Lipa has been promoting Future Nostalgia for a long time; Lead single “Don’t Start Now” came out all the way back in October 2019. Between then and now, Lipa has appeared on basically every available promotional/performance platform: She’s been on The Tonight Show, Ellen, The Late Late Show, The Tonight Show again, a virtual prom night, livestream benefits, Jimmy Kimmel Live! (as the host), The Late Late Show again, Miley Cyrus’ new album, FIFA 21, and the AMAs.

Pretty much the only thing she hasn’t done yet this year is an NPR Tiny Desk Concert, but she crossed that one off her to-do list today. During the pandemic, the series has moved away from its usual venue of the NPR offices, so for her performance, Lipa found herself in a different, very orange space. The set was headlined by a funky and somewhat stripped-back performance of “Levitating,” for which she was joined by some background singers, a guitarist, a bass player, and a drum machine.

Meanwhile, Lipa is starting to look beyond Future Nostalgia now. She recently dropped a new single (“Fever” with Angèle), she’s planning on a Future Nostalgia B-sides collection for 2021, and she might already be considering a new album.

Watch Lipa’s Tiny Desk concert above.

Dua Lipa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

2020 XXL Freshman 24kGoldn is having a stellar year. The 20-year-old rapper from San Francisco has ruled the Hot 100 chart with his Iann Dior collaboration “Mood” for the past five weeks thanks to its status as a TikTok juggernaut, as well as a remix from Justin Bieber and J Balvin. But rather than rest on his laurels, Goldn has rolled out his next hopeful hit, this time collaborating with a big-name partner in the form of North Carolina rapper DaBaby on “Coco.”

The second single from 24kGoldn’s debut album El Dorado, “Coco” once again finds him in full-on relationship therapy mode as he wonders, “Oh my God, why is shawty tryna test me?” In this instance, he uses the metaphor of famous French fashion (and noted Nazi agent — look it up!) Coco Chanel to comment on his partner’s volatility. 24k’s Coco, however, is fickle, swinging back and forth between trying to lock him down and wanting to be a free spirit. “Can’t seem to figure out what’s wrong with ya,” he laments. “Checking your temperature, thermometer.”

At the moment, El Dorado has a 2021 release date, although the rapper told Variety he’s “definitely not in a rush.” It sounds like he wants to build up a rollout that will live up to his status as a chart-topping hitmaker, which can only bode well for his future — and XXL‘s predictive abilities.

Listen to “Coco” above.

The Rundown is a weekly column that highlights some of the biggest, weirdest, and most notable events of the week in entertainment. The number of items could vary, as could the subject matter. It will not always make a ton of sense. Some items might not even be about entertainment, to be honest, or from this week. The important thing is that it’s Friday, and we are here to have some fun.

ITEM NUMBER ONE — Listen to me

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Big Mouth is back for another season this weekend and it is just as funny and foul and occasionally sweet as ever. This should not be a huge surprise because Big Mouth is always funny and foul and occasionally sweet. All your favorites are back, and some new ones show up to join the fun. Seth Rogen pops up early on to show his cartoon testicles to you. Paul Giamatti appears as a piece of crap, and yes, I mean that literally, Paul Giamatti voices an animated chunk of feces. Big Mouth remains Big Mouth, in all the important ways.

And guess what: I don’t actually have any bad news. Just more good news. At one point in this season, Maya Rudolph, in character as Connie the Hormone Monstress, says Alec Baldwin’s name, which is not in itself newsworthy, but what makes it newsworthy is the pronunciation she throws on it. The closest I can get in text form is “Alec Bwalt-twin,” with an extra W and a big extra oomph on the T that does not appear anywhere in his name. It’s the best. Just a delight.

What better than Maya Rudolph in Big Mouth? I mean that rhetorically, yes, of course, but also literally. Name me ten things better. Any things. I’ll give you pizza and maybe “sitting outside on a 75-degree day with a big glass of iced tea,” but the list gets dicey after that, real quick. She’s just so good, all the time, delivering a voiceover performance for the ages. It’s great because she goes so huge with everything and it still fits perfectly because of the context. She’s a hormone monstress. She has no filter, no voice in her head telling her to dial it back. On a show filled with great voice work — I would love to see live-action footage of everyone recording their lines in the booth, especially John Mulaney, because he has such a sweet little boy face and his character is a perverted little creep who is practically glowing from hormones ravaging his body — she laps the field. I mean, who can forget this?

It’s the extra syllables she tosses into the stew that makes it. “Bawabbuh bay-eth.” It’s so sultry and luxurious. It almost sounds the way taking a nice hot bubble bath feels. And that’s far from her only notable pronunciation. One of my personal favorites was when Jessie was struggling and rebelling and Connie gassed her up about shoplifting from the pharmacy and turned that last simple word into something entirely different. “Phwaaaarmacy.” It even made me want to steal something from a pharmacy and I’m a reasonably well-adjusted adult who has not shoplifted in decades, as far as the police know.

Rudolph won an Emmy for the role this year, in the recently created category of Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance. (The original Outstanding Voice-Over Performance category was split after 2013 so narrators and characters could be honored separately.) This was good for a few reasons. Three big ones, mainly. The first is that she deserved it, obviously, and it’s good when deserving people win stuff. The second is that the award had gone to a cast member from either Family Guy or The Simpsons every year since the new category was created (Harry Shearer, Hank Azaria, Seth MacFarlane, Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth MacFarlane), and it’s nice that the voters started watching a new show. The third is that she hadn’t even been nominated before 2020 despite dropping the aforementioned bubble baths and pharmacies and the whole thing had me on the verge of throwing a tantrum in the street. Its good. The Emmys are silly and I do not care much about them, in general, but if we’re going to do them every year (and it sure looks like we are), we should at least try to get it right. Giving Maya Rudolph an Emmy for voicing this character counts as getting it right.

So take some time this weekend and watch a few Big Mouths and appreciate what Maya Rudolph is doing with it. Maybe watch with your headphones in, though. Even if you’re by yourself. Big Mouth remains a lot in only the best ways.

ITEM NUMBER TWO — Okay, fine, let’s talk about the thing

I’m mad. Not necessarily about the news I’m about to share, although that’s not super ideal, either. No, I’m mad because this section was originally going to be about Henry Winkler joining TikTok and posting a video of himself dancing like a loon, which kills me for about 10 different reasons. Henry Winkler is the best. I was hyped to discuss it. But then Warner Bros. had to go and set the entire movie industry on fire yesterday afternoon and I can’t really just ignore it. Ugh. Fine. Here’s the important chunk of the press release.

Today, the Warner Bros. Pictures Group announced that it has committed to releasing its 2021 film slate via a unique, consumer-focused distribution model in which Warner Bros. will continue to exhibit the films theatrically worldwide, while adding an exclusive one month access period on the HBO Max streaming platform in the U.S. concurrent with the film’s domestic release. The hybrid model was created as a strategic response to the impact of the ongoing global pandemic, particularly in the U.S. Following the one month HBO Max access period domestically, each film will leave the platform and continue theatrically in the U.S. and international territories, with all customary distribution windows applying to the title.

Warner Bros. Pictures Group’s 2021 expected release slate currently includes The Little Things, Judas and the Black Messiah, Tom & Jerry, Godzilla vs. Kong, Mortal Kombat, Those Who Wish Me Dead, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, In The Heights, Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Suicide Squad, Reminiscence, Malignant, Dune, The Many Saints of Newark, King Richard, Cry Macho and Matrix 4.

There are a few things happening here, with varying degrees of importance. The biggie is what this means for movie theaters going forward, because movie theaters were already struggling and Warner Bros. basically giving these movies away to anyone with an HBO subscription ain’t gonna help that. (Remember when Disney charged Disney+ subscribers like $30 extra to watch one kind of mediocre Mulan movie? I do!) Some big theater chains might not make it through the next 6-12 months, especially if this proves to be the first domino to fall of many: F9 on Peacock, No Time to Die somewhere else, and all the way down, blockbuster after blockbuster streamed directly into our living rooms. It’s sad and exciting and weird and about four other things at once. I miss movie theaters tremendously. I can’t wait to see a movie in one again someday. I don’t think this will be the end of the entire industry, but I do wonder how much different it will look this time next year. My gut says it’ll be more of a luxury experience, with food and drink and a whole atmosphere about it, a big special Night Out feel. But I don’t know. No one does.

I also respect that Warner Bros. has their hands tied a bit. They can’t really be expected to sit on a whole slate of films just waiting for a green light that might not come for over half a year. And they have this big fancy new streaming service that they want to roundup new subscribers for, one that still has to negotiate deals with the big providers like Amazon and Roku. To whatever degree this stinks (I do not especially want to watch the fourth Matrix for the first time on a screen small enough to fit in my living room, which is another bummer), I can at least rationalize it. A lot of things are going to look really different when we come out of this, not just the movie-viewing experience, and it’s probably good if we all start coming to terms with that sooner rather than later, just so the shock doesn’t send us all on a roller coaster ride of emotions when it’s safe to go do things again.

Uggghhhh. See what I mean? What a downer that became. I regret doing any of it. I should have just stuck to my guns and posted the TikTok of Henry Winkler dancing. Here it is. Go watch that and chill out. There’s no point in worrying about Monday stuff on a Friday, and “will I ever be able to see a movie in a theater again should I survive the global pandemic?” is some extremely Monday stuff. Forget I said anything.

ITEM NUMBER THREE — Hmm… yes, this counts

Here’s the thing: I am bad at Star Wars. Just terrible at it. I am not a big sci-fi guy and I’m not even really a big “space” guy, in general, unless you count watching The Martian 600 times on basic cable and finding it 11 kinds of funny that the Fast & Furious franchise is allegedly headed there in the very near future. It’s just not my thing, which is fine, as I’m sure I like lots of things you don’t. It does make it awkward when a show like The Mandalorian comes along, though, especially when it starts catering directly to me. Look at what it’s done in the last few weeks alone. We’ve had a Timothy Olyphant sighting (Raylan!), a Titus Welliver sighting (Bosch!), and a mix-up where some dude in jeans was just hanging around in the background of a shot. I love all those things.

And then last week the show really went and did it, dropping a slightly modified “we’re not so different” scene right in the middle of a climactic battle. I love when that happens. It’s one of my favorite things. I don’t know why I like it so much. But I do. I talk about it all the time. I talk about it so much that now my Twitter mentions light up any time it happens in a show or a movie, because so many people know how much I love it. This is not a complaint. Far from it. I hope it never stops. Let me put it this way: a reasonable argument can be made that the only reason I’m still watching Westworld — a confusing show I barely like — is because it has at least one “not so different” scene every year, and that makes me happy.

So between that and the thing where this is the actual, adorable, borderline-manipulative-but-whatever subtitle they use when Baby Yoda makes his little sounds…

… the show has won me over despite how terrible I am at Star Wars. I still think they should have made Baby Yoda’s name, like, Randy Yoda instead of Grogu, but that’s an issue for another column. Which I almost wrote this week. I was not lying about being bad at Star Wars.

ITEM NUMBER FOUR — Nathan Fielder is a maniac

How to With John Wilson was a good show. I think it would be good to get that out of the way first. I did not expect to be moved close to tears while watching an episode about scaffolding, or to be moved to actual tears while watching an episode about making risotto. And yet, there I was, feeling things, often like 90 seconds after laughing very hard at something very dumb. A real ride, that show. Highly recommended.

If you watched it too and found yourself thinking “hmm, this feels kind of like a Nathan Fielder production,” there was a good reason for that: it was a Nathan Fielder production. Like, he was an actual producer on it. Which he explains in this video. Briefly. Before everything takes a hard and progressively dark turn. I did not see where this was heading until it was most of the way there, and then I was kind of laughing and cringing and remembering that Nathan Fielder is a genius. He’s a maniac, for sure, and I’m a little terrified of him and the way his brain works, but he’s also a genius. I guess I’m trying to make two points here:

• How to With John Wilson was an incredible slice of television and not entirely like anything I’ve ever seen
• It is good to have Nathan Fielder making television and weirdo disturbing YouTube videos

Yeah, that about sums it up.

ITEM NUMBER FIVE — Being famous seems awful

It is the position of this column that the ideal situation in life is being rich and anonymous. It’s the best of both worlds. All the money you could ever want and none of the hassle. My colleague Josh Kurp pointed out that the bassist for U2 is worth like $300 million and I wouldn’t know who he was if he walked into my kitchen and introduced himself by name. That’s a nice gig. After Rich But Not Famous, I suppose we go Rich And Famous, then Not Rich Or Famous, then Famous But Not Rich, but things start getting dicey there really fast. Being famous does not seem very fun.

Take, for example, Millie Bobby Brown, star of Stranger Things and Enola Holmes, who recently deleted her TikTok and posted a tearful Instagram story after a fan harangued her for a video while she was out minding her own business. We pick up the story after she had already told the fan once that she did not want to be filmed in that moment.

But the fan wouldn’t leave her alone. Millie continued her story, saying, “I was paying and she walked past me and began to video me again. And I said, ‘I’m a human being. Like, what more can I ask from you?’”

She began crying, telling fans through tears, “She said ‘So I can’t take a video of a human being?’ And I said, ‘No, not when I said no.’ It just makes me upset when people try to push the boundary, and I just wish people were more respectful.”

The actress then stood up for herself and demanded to be treated better. “I’m still trying to navigate this all and it’s still overwhelming… Where are my rights to say no?” Millie questioned.

This stinks! Leave people alone. At most, if you see a famous person you like out in public, and they aren’t eating dinner or trying to wrangle their children or are otherwise engaged in the type of activity you would not like to be bothered by some goofball during, maybe say like “Hey, sorry to bother you but your work means a lot to me” and then TURN AROUND AND LEAVE. Just walk away! It’ll be fine! You don’t need a picture or a video to document that you met someone, unless they offer or say yes if you ask very nicely. Sheesh. Don’t be a weirdo. Try not to be a weirdo. Try to be cool, for once. Come on.

READER MAIL

If you have questions about television, movies, food, local news, weather, or whatever you want, shoot them to me on Twitter or at [email protected] (put “RUNDOWN” in the subject line). I am the first writer to ever answer reader mail in a column. Do not look up this last part.

From Anne Marie:

I’m heeding your call for more hidden TV gems, though this one would probably require getting a hold of a Season 1 DVD. (It’s not on YouTube or AppleTV, last I checked.) Lo, the Ad-Rock ep of Edward Woodward’s The Equalizer is a true 1985 delight to behold.

Some highlights:

1. 19-year-old Ad Rock’s unapologetic Noo Yawk accent, though his parents are played by Christine Baranski and fricking Jim Dale, MBE.

2. Christine Baranski! Jim “All The Harry Potter Books” Dale! Alex Winter! Bob “The Last Thing That Went Through His Head” Gunton! Edward Woodward, OBE!

3. One of Ad Rock’s lines to Edward Woodward, OBE is “You just want to get next to Moms, that’s where it’s at.”

4. The ep is called “Mama’s Boy.” (Or as I like to think of it, Moms’s Boy.)

But the real hoot is Eugene Benton, the allegedly “dangerous drug dealer” who has Ad-Rock under his sway and prompts Christine Baranski to desperately seek some quality equalizing. Hahahahahahaha. Eugene would blow away if you pulled a Kleenex from a tissue box near him. He wears super short NBA throwback ‘80s shorts. He’s an Ivy League grad. He practices some type of martial arts involving swords, only the swords are accessories for awkward close-talking and it’s really just an excuse to wear half-open robes. His name is *Eugene*. He preens, he flashes his eyes, his idea of a threat is “… or I might have to change my orientation towards you.”

This last line is highly relevant, because I truly believe that whoever wrote the script* wanted to see how much gay subtext they could sneak onto a mid-eighties primetime network show. The piece de resistance is, of course, the alleyway fight scene; the dialogue could double as ADR for softcore porn. I defy you to watch it, with its “Harder! Harder!” and primal grunting, and tell me I’m wrong. Also, Mark Soper is perfect in the role, but I can’t help envisioning a Deadfall-era Nic Cage in it instead.

This is just a fantastic email. I know I say that about every email but this time I mean it. (I mean it the other times, too.) Look at everything we have here: Ad-Rock from Beastie Boys appearing in a network procedural just before breaking big as a rapper, Christine Baranski, swords, I mean, come on. The best part is that I found this episode on NBC’s website and watched it in chunks over the last week and can confirm everything Anne Marie said. Not that I assumed she was lying. It’s just… there’s a lot going on here.

Please consider this your reminder that the Beastie Boys Story documentary is still on Apple TV and is still great. As is this recent essay by comedian Josh Gondelman about listening to Paul’s Boutique a lot here in 2020. As is the song “Shadrach,” which I will now embed, driving home, once again, the fact that this was a very good email.

AND NOW, THE NEWS

To sunny California!

Police in California responded to a report of a suspected burglary in progress and arrived to find the cause of the ruckus actually was caused by about a dozen brawling raccoons.

Okay, first of all, I love it. The are few things in this world better than sentences that take a dramatic swerve at the end and few swerves are more dramatic than “the ruckus was actually caused by about a dozen brawling raccoons.”

The Richmond Police Department said two officers responded to the City Corporation Yard after an employee called authorities to report a banging on the administration office door that sounded like a burglar attempting to break in.

I’m sorry. I can’t focus yet. It’s going to take me at least one more paragraph to get past “about a dozen brawling raccoons.” Take a second and try to get a visual on that. It’s harder than you think. What does a dozen brawling raccoons even look like? I’ve been cranking away on it for days and the best I have is a cloud of dust and claws and screeching little beasts tumbling around an alley with one of them up on top of a trash can diving back into the fray. I think I’m close.

“Although mentally prepared to take action for an in-progress felony, the crime-fighting duo were surprised to find approximately one dozen raccoons in a physical altercation,” police said in a Facebook post. “When challenged, all but one fled westbound.”

Big shoutout to the one that stayed to take the fall for this. Very honorable. I’m proud of him.

The beginning of every NBA season leaves everyone fantasizing about their favorite players improving, winning a championship or sometimes even changing teams. Late at night on Thursday, reigning NBA Finals MVP LeBron James joined in on that dreaming by retweeting a viral tweet asking who in the league would take a “massive leap” this upcoming season.

James’ answer? His young teammate, Kyle Kuzma.

In his first year adjusting to the championship pedigree of the Lakers’ roster, Kuzma improved as a three-point shooter over the previous season and his advanced defensive statistics, such as Defensive Player Impact Plus-Minus, trended upward as well.

The biggest thing to watch for when it comes to Kuzma is how he continues to learn how to play off of James and Anthony Davis. Now that starting wing Danny Green is gone from the Lakers, Kuzma is the only player aside from James who has the size on the wing to defend bigger play-makers like Kawhi Leonard or Luka Doncic in the Western Conference.

There is still a solid chance Kuzma emerges as a 3-and-D option at forward for the Lakers over the next few years, and as he works toward an extension in Los Angeles, that’s what this team needs from him.

QUESTION: Is expensive rum (climbing into the hundreds of dollars) really that much better than mid-shelf expressions?

ANSWER: Yes and no.

Rum, like most other booze, gets better with age. That being said, rum doesn’t demand decades spent in the barrel to reach well-aged, nuanced heights — thereby making it all-around more affordable. Yes, there are some very expensive rums out there, but those are typically priced (at least in part) for their exclusivity, packaging, and backstory.

For this exercise, I’m blindly tasting eight dark rums. Four of the expressions are in the $20 to $40 range, which is very affordable. The other four expressions range from $65 to $200, a little more pricey (though not stratospheric). Since this is a blind tasting, I’m going to guess whether these rums are expensive or not, solely on taste.

I have to admit first off, there are some mile-markers in dark rum that usually give it away. Spicy tobacco often denotes long age while butterscotch reveals the opposite. Plus, Caribbean rums have a very distinct feel to them. Bacardi, for instance, smells like Bacardi. Jamaican rums often have a very particular funk to them or “hogo.” One of the rums I tried was very sweet, which gave the brand away immediately. However, I still called it wrong when it came to price. In fact, I actually called three rums incorrectly — which I’m telling myself is more a testament to dark rum’s depth and affordability than my own failings.

(That reasoning is working… for now.)

Here we go!

Part I — The Blind Taste Test

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

This is smooth, smooth, smooth. There’s a bourbon edge that leads towards a Cognac fruitiness. There’s a clear spicy tobacco vibe with hints of vanilla and Christmas cake. Then you get an almost salted caramel counterpoint on the long and warming end.

Botton Line:

This is delicious. It’s also clearly old and expensive. You can drink this stuff neat. It’s so velvety, I don’t even think it needs water.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

Peaches and pears meet vanilla pudding and brown sugar in butter. There’s a spicy edge that’s a little grassy and tobacco-forward. I think there’s a hint of banana on the end that mixes with the vanilla pudding to give a banana cream pie feel to this sip.

The end is long, warming, and pure silk.

Botton Line:

This is 100 percent on par with the last dram. It has to be expensive. Again, this is a killer served neat, though I’m sure a rock or water would open up a lot more lurking below the surface.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

Vanilla, molasses, butterscotch, heat, spice — this is Black Seal. There’s even an old plastic Christmas tree sense to this which, inexplicably, works.

Botton Line:

This is cheap rum that tastes perfectly good, but it’s clearly a mixer. Now, where’s that ginger beer?

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

This is a Christmas cake teeming with dried and candied fruits, spices, molasses, and nuts in a glass. It’s almost unbelievably soft and light while packing in serious notes of dark chocolate and orange oils next to all that Christmas cake depth and tobacco-y spice.

Botton Line:

This has to be expensive. Final answer. It’s so, so easy to drink yet so full of dialed flavors.

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

This is interesting. There’s that fruit/nut/spice matrix as with the last dram. But the sweetness is edging towards butterscotch for me. Still, it’s grassy and has hints of banana, pineapple, and vanilla with a svelte mouthfeel.

Botton Line:

I’m going with this as expensive and well-aged, perhaps blended with something younger to add that little bit of butterscotch-leaning-towards-toffee.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

Okay. This is Bacardi. It’s spicy, sweet, and smells like, well, Bacardi. It’s light and a little thin but still carries a nice depth of vanilla, oak, caramel, and spice.

Botton Line:

This is a great mixer but definitely cheap.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

Just from the look, I know this is Don Papa. It’s so sweet, fully in a butterscotch way. There’s a bit of dried fruit, nuts, and spice somewhere under all that sweet but it’s hard to find.

Botton Line:

Don Papa has its fans. But, wow, it’s sweet. Because of that, there’s been a lot of debate as to whether there are additives. Regardless, it’s squarely in the “affordable” camp.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

There’s that Jamaican funk. This sip has a nice candied fruitiness next to nuts and a bit of ginger spice. There’s a nice grassiness too, next to subtle whispers of vanilla and oak.

Botton Line:

This is light and easy but it’s definitely not expensive rum.

Part II — The Answers

Papa Seal (Expensive/Correct)

ABV: 41.5%
Average Price: $210

The Rum:

Bermuda’s Goslings is a classic blendery. This expression is a marrying of single barrels of rum that were aged seven to 21 years in ex-bourbon barrels. The juice is then finished for two years in Bermuda in new white American oak.

Bacardi 10 (Inexpensive/Incorrect)

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $40

The Rum:

This is Bacardi’s high-end expression that’s crazy cheap. The rum is aged for ten long years in lightly charred oak before it’s charcoal filtered and brought down to proof, creating an ultra-refined expression.

Goslings Black Seal (Inexpensive/Correct)

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $20

The Rum:

This rum is a blend of Caribbean rums that were aged for varying years in ex-bourbon barrels. The blend is specifically designed to be mixed but can work as a sipper. Really though, this is known as the base ingredient in a Dark ‘n Stormy and that’s really the best use for it.

Appleton Estate 21 (Expensive/Correct)

ABV: 43%
Average Price: $135

The Rum:

This rum is made all in-house from the growing of the sugar cane to the special yeast used to ferment the juice. This expression is a blend of at least 21-year-old rums that each have the best textures and flavors in the barrel.

Santa Teresa 1796 (Inexpensive/Incorrect)

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $45

The Rum:

The Venezuelan rum is a blend of rums aged from four to 35 years in former Spanish sherry and brandy barrels. Those key barrels are hand-selected for their depth and then married into this masterful rum.

Bacardi Añejo Cuatro (Inexpensive/Correct)

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $20

The Rum:

This is Bacardi’s new entry point aged rum. The juice is blended with a minimum of four-year-old rums with a distinct purpose for working as a mixer in the Tiki revolution (and Cuba Librés).

Don Papa 10 (Expensive/Incorrect)

ABV: 43%
Average Price: $65

The Rum:

This Filipino rum is made from locally grown sugar cane and then cut with a bit of molasses, making it a very dark (almost black) rum. The rum is then aged for ten years in ex-bourbon casks before cutting down to proof.

I knew the brand, but assumed it was their entry-level expression.

Appleton Estate Signature Blend (Inexpensive/Correct)

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $22

The Rum:

This entry-point rum from Appleton Estate blends 15 different rums that were barreled in a variety of methods and aged for around four years. The blend is designed to be a mixer and a sipper that won’t break the bank while introducing the drinker to that signature Jamaican funk.

Part III — Final Thoughts

That Don Papa really threw me. As for the Santa Teresa and Bacardi 10, what can I say? It’s really f*cking delicious rum that’s very affordable.

If I had to rank these by which ones I want to drink again, it’d go something like this:

8. Don Papa 10
7. Black Seal
6. Bacardi 4
5. Appleton Signature
4. Santa Teresa
3. Appleton 21
2. Bacardi 10
1. Papa Seal

That Papa Seal is just so. damn. good. I’m still thinking about it, hours later. The price is high but I really don’t care. It’s that type of spirit. That being said, the Bacardi 10 is pretty much a tie for me, especially given the amazingly accessible price point.

If you need a bottle to trot out for guests (when guests are a thing again), that’s the pick.

The 11th and final season of Shameless premieres this Sunday, meaning there are only 12 more opportunities for Emmy Rossum to return. Her character, Fiona, has been absent since leaving the Showtime series in season nine. In a normal world, Rossum making a cameo would have been difficult, but there is nothing “normal” about 2020.

Might she be back?

“Emmy is doing Angelyne, a show for Peacock, and they had to shut down in the middle of it and they’re not sure when they’re going to go back. She and I have talked, and I think she would like to come back for a brief something,” showrunner John Wells told Entertainment Weekly. “Whether or not that will be possible given what our shooting schedule is and what her shooting schedule is and where she’s going to be in the country, I have no idea. Again, not trying to be clever about it or anything. It will be based on circumstances when we’re ready to shoot, whether or not she’d be able to. But would love her to, I think she would like to, not sure it will be possible.”

The thing is, it’s not as easy as Rossum dropping by the set if she has a free day. There are COVID-restrictions and social distance guidelines to consider (the final season will tackle the pandemic). But if she can swing it, a “brief something” is better than nothing.

Especially if Fiona is the one who kills Frank.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

CNBC hosts Rick Santelli and Andrew Ross Sorkin went at it on Friday morning in a downright shouting match over COVID restrictions. Santelli, who’s known for his infamous 2009 rant that helped launch the Tea Party movement, kicked things off by launching into a fiery screed about how it’s not fair that “big box” retailers can be open, but restaurants are being closed as coronavirus cases continue to surge. Santelli was adamant that it makes no sense why parking lots are allowed to be jam-packed with shoppers, but dine-in seating has to be restricted.

“You can’t tell me that shutting down, which is the easiest answer, is the only answer,” Santelli argued. However, when Sorkin tried to explain that there is a very significant issue between the two (namely that shoppers are masked and largely silent while people eating in restaurants are not for extended lengths of time while also having extended conversations with dining companions), he was repeatedly interrupted, and the situation only devolved from there as Santelli refused to believe the science that packing restaurants is dangerous. Via The Hill:

“Well you don’t have to believe it, but you’re doing a disservice to the viewer,” Sorkin replied, before Santelli said, “You’re doing a disservice to the viewer. You are. You are.”

“I’m sorry, I would like to keep our viewers as healthy as humanly possible. The idea of packing people in restaurants,” Sorkin said before Santelli talked over him: “I think our viewers are smart enough to make part of those decisions on their own.”

CNBC’s Steve Liesman then asked: “How’s that working out for you Rick, look at the numbers.”

This incident is the first time that Santelli has run afoul with his thoughts on the pandemic. He was forced to apologize back in March after suggesting that it’d be “better off” if everyone got the virus to help preserve the economy. “It was just a stupid thing to say,” Santelli said during his show. “It is not appropriate in this instance, and we are resilient, both in the United States and in the globe, and that resilience will get us through. The idea of something so absurd, I just apologize, and I apologize to everyone on this segment and all my peers at CNBC.”

(Via The Hill)

Chance The Rapper and Jeremih’s 2016 holiday mixtape Merry Christmas Lil’ Mama is an odd bit of internet ephemera. It’s a fan favorite, yet fans can only stream it sporadically, as the two uploaded the project and its follow-up to SoundCloud originally but not to more mainstream services like Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal. While Jeremih is currently recovering from a bad case of COVID-19, Chance decided to spread a little holiday cheer by releasing the video for one of the project’s songs, “Are U Live,” after holding onto it since 2017.

The video was directed by Cole Bennett (no relation to Chance or his brother Taylor) of Lyrical Lemonade at the start of his rise as one of hip-hop’s most sought-after video shooters, while the track itself was produced by ChaseTheMoney, a SoundCloud rapper go-to who has since produced for Dreamville and J. Cole on Revenge Of The Dreamers III and JID’s DiCaprio 2. Like plenty of Cole Bennett’s previous works, the video blends a low-fi aesthetic with a simple concept, as well a cheeky sense of humor with on-screen captions pointing out a failed “successful dap” and more. He even appears in the video, although you’ll have to have a sharp eye to catch his cameo.

The song isn’t what you’d call a traditional Christmas song, with its call-and-response, sparse beat, and the artists’ rap athletics. But the video displays their festive mood, with Santa caps and fairy lights aplenty decorating their red cup turn up.

Watch “Are U Live” above and listen to Merry Christmas Lil’ Mama below.

“I love all genres, but specifically, when it comes to indie rock, there is very much a simplicity to it. It’s very close to home, the culture of it,” KennyHoopla replies in response to a quote he’d shared on the aura of indie rock music. “A lot of people in the culture dress simple or very much themselves, not trying to overextend their personality. Even though that might not make sense or it might sound stupid, but I think that reflects in the music, and I feel like you probably know what I’m talking about.”

KennyHoopla talks about his style the way he makes his music — pointedly, thoughtfully, with a bias towards simplicity and (in the case of his favorite pair of Vans) literal Authentics.

When I share my plan to steal the phrase “overextending your personality” for future use, he ties it back to style, adding, “Once again as dumb as it sounds, it comes back to even just Vans, simple growing up in the neighborhood shoe. A neighborhood staple.”

Back when the Midwest born and bred indie artist was still answering to Kenneth La’ron and long before collaborating with artists like Travis Barker and sold-out shows was the norm, he was just a kid in the neighborhood. He cut his teeth on a wide range of music and fits, and, much like his sound, recalls his style coming together organically.

“It’s kind of what I had grown accustomed to. Growing up in a Black family around Black culture, and then my best friend at the time was this super emo Asian kid who wore headbands and multi-color socks and skinny jeans. Just all of my influences coming into one,” he reflects. “I feel like I’m multiple people, but I think that’s me. A lot of people seem like they’re just one thing, but I’m literally all over the place. Some days I’ll wear more of a baggy fit, but then some days I’ll just go put on some of my Hot Topic skinny jeans, some Authentics, and then the next day, some nice dress pants if I want to come off presentable, and some nice dress shoes but that’ll have a studded belt on it.”

He shares that embracing the limits of his humble upbringing with gratitude and creativity manifested into his unique aesthetic.

“Growing up I had clothes that didn’t fit me,” Kenny explains. “My mom picking my clothes out for me in the morning and me styling them and just having my take on them and just dealing with hand-me-downs. You have no choice but to adjust because you’ll have a sweater that isn’t big enough but then like pants that fit just slightly right and colors that are all over the place. All this stuff is just kind of thrown at you.”

Earlier this year, he released his critically acclaimed How Will I Rest In Peace If I’m Buried By A Highway?// EP, the success of which has pushed him to the top of multiple alternative radio lists and Billboard charts, thrusting him into a spotlight he seems cautious but grateful to step into.

“I think I’ve gained a lot of humility and gratefulness to my life, so that is something that I like to come across when I’m dressing. Very rarely do you ever see me flexing or wearing anything expensive,” he laughs. “I still can’t even afford anything crazy expensive.”

That desire to just be himself is not only innate, but grounded in his intention to be the kind of example he wishes existed when he was growing up.

“Everyone wants to be this figure, but all I’ve ever wanted to be was myself and the greatest, biggest, strongest version of myself,” he says. “So, it’s very important for me to be wearing Vans and dressing almost, you can call it normal, but myself, and expressing that. I know that a kid that felt just like me is going to be watching that and they’re going to be like, ‘Oh, I don’t have to have on leather pants and all this crazy sh*t.’ I know how that felt. Being like, ‘Fuck, I can’t afford that, but that is me, but I don’t look the part, or it’s not believable.’ But we’re changing that now.”

That aforementioned EP, led by an eponymous track that goes off audibly the way oscillating momentum laced with nostalgia would sound pressed through a speaker, has pundits scrambling to define his early-aughts post-punk slant as genre-bending. However, there’s nothing overly derivative about his sonics. What we seem to be hearing is just Kenny showing up as himself because, as he acknowledges, “When you’re being yourself, whether that’s positive or negative or whether you’re a faulty person or a very good person, you will be offering something new to the world.”

He takes a similar approach to his style, taking pieces that could be defined as rock staples and making them his own.

“Even something as little as bar lacing my Vans,” he notes. “I used to be super excited about them because I couldn’t afford them. And then I got a pair probably my junior, sophomore year of high school, and I have always been obsessed with bar lacing them or writing on them, or sometimes I’ll just put different shoelaces in them. A lot of times I put a yellow shoelace in one and a black one, but I’ve always looked at all the pairs of my Authentics as stories.”

Throughout our conversation, his Vans Authentics find themselves at the center. He talks about them with near-religious devotion, making it clear we’re discussing more than just shoes.

“I’ve just always been connected to the shoe. I think that’s how I make it, living in them, like truly experiencing in them.” When he stops at this point, lamenting that he “might sound stupid,” I interject that he doesn’t, but he may be psychic because my next question was whether or not he had a piece of clothing that makes him sentimental for a certain place or time.

“Yeah. It’s definitely the Vans Authentics,” he reiterates confidently. “They’re just classics, they’re a staple in my life. It’s one of my favorite silhouettes of a shoe ever. A lot of shoes or just tennis shoes are so extra or not enough at the same time, but I feel like the Authentics are very to the point and the shoe stays flat and it morphs to however you are. The more you wear them, the prettier and I don’t know, spiritual they get. I think it also speaks to not being impressed, not impressing. Just them being dirty and living through them. You walk into a room and it’s kind of like, I’m not trying to be perfect. I’m not trying to be clean. That’s always been how I present myself, I don’t have on this extremely clean outfit. And, if I do, the shirt is probably wrinkled. I feel like the Authentics are a very good shoe to do that with they’re very to the point.”

Kenny also reveals that his style gives him the opportunity to communicate when he can’t find the words.

“I think even having,” he pauses before continuing, “Okay, mental illness or whatever, that I’ve always looked at clothes as a second way to speak when you don’t want to use your voice. It’s just a second presentation, which is super fire. I look at it the same way as music. It’s art. You literally get to put yourself together and be whoever you want and express yourself however you want.”

Like many artists, Kenny was set to go on tour when lockdown canceled those plans in early March. Luckily, he’s set to make up for time lost with an international jaunt in 2021, and his packing list for tour doubles as both on-stage and everyday outfits.

“Definitely some Ksubi skinny jeans and a white tee, a nice boxy white tee,” he says. “I need some cargo pants. A nice hoodie, I just need that essential hoodie. Probably a more skinny black pair of pants. I have a problem with trying to get one of everything. I’m actually trying to work on making my own clothes right now. I’m on this mission to find what fits me perfectly.”

Despite his dalliance with slim-fit denim and straightforward shoe wear, Kenny’s propensity towards simplicity is also inherent in his beliefs about his music. Beyond the videos, merchandise, marketing, and even style, he recognizes his sound as the only true cornerstone.

“A lot of industry people, they’re like you have to drop a video with your song and everything has to have all of this stuff that comes around it, which I mean, I understand,” he says. “But, at the core, I’m someone that believes the music can live [on its own]. No matter how the cover art looks or however the rollout is, the music is what’s going to be there 50 years from now. No one’s going to be thinking about how it was rolled out, it’s just going to be the sound.”

“I see it as fun. I wish I could think of a more elaborate word, but I see all of this [as fun] because music and art is fun. I just see that as a chance to keep building on to the world,” he stops, before continuing, “But, you asked me how important it was, correct?”

Throughout our conversation, I notice breaks like this, to either request that I clarify my question or to give him space to clarify his point. However, as he explains the root of his preference of communicating through style and music over spoken words, that urge for transparency and authenticity makes perfect sense.

“To be honest, not that I was lying before,” he laughs, “I think that’s just what I have had to do. Everything feels so natural for everyone. I get envious of it and that’s why [what] I want to get out of my music is a community of people. I see all of these artists, I’m just talking from my heart, it seems like everything came together naturally for them. They met everyone around them naturally. For me, I feel like I’ve had to fight for everything and fight for people to just stay around me. I guess I’ve always been alone or in my own world. So, I kind of had no choice. I still don’t have amazing music videos, I’m not in love with any of my merch or anything. So, I guess it’s a blessing and a curse at the same time that I’ve just made sure that the music is as honest as it can be.”