Month: February 2021

VanJess has spent nearly a decade working towards to position they find themselves in today. The Nigerian-American R&B duo comprised of sisters Ivana and Jessica Nwokike, earned their first bit of success back in the early 2010s thanks to a viral cover of Drake’s “Headlines.” From then on, the duo would perfect their craft and sound that’s laced with a ’90s touch of R&B and soul. While their talents are certainly undeniable, their rise to success has been one that’s required an ample amount of patience.

In 2013, VanJess independently released their debut EP, 00 Till Escape, and re-released it two years later where it earned a top-ten position on the iTunes charts. Three years later, in 2018, the duo returned with their official debut album, Silk Canvas. The 14-track effort was an impressive collection of songs that touched based on all corners of their wide-ranging musical palette. Contributions from Masego, GoldLink, and Leikeli47, as well as production from Kaytranada and IAMNOBOI, set up the perfect canvas for VanJess to flaunt their silky talents upon.

Nowadays, Ivana and Jess are more like veterans in this R&B world. They’re far removed from the young sisters who sang covers to their growing YouTube audience in their early days. However, the passion and love for music remain the same. VanJess would join Keep Cool’s roster at the end of 2018, and more than two years later, they returned with a new EP, Homegrown. The project hones in on the growth they experience through remaining tethered to their roots and staying patient through it all. With help from Kaytranada, Garren, Devin Morrison, and Elbee from Phony Ppl, VanJess shows that the best growth is rooted in digging right where you stand.

Fresh off the release of Homegrown, we spoke with VanJess about the new EP, how their Nigerian background influences the music they create today, and what makes them and Kaytranada such a great combination, and more.

I just found out that your 2018 album Silk Canvas was actually supposed to be named Homegrown. What made this EP a more fitting project for the experience you wanted to bring with Homegrown.

Jess: At that time, 2016 was very, very interesting for us because it was simultaneously the lowest point in our lives, but also a breakthrough creatively. Our mom had just had a stroke and was in the hospital and we had to take care of her during the day. Oftentimes, we would have to go to the studio, pay out of pocket cause we were independent. During that time, we had to rely on ourselves to create music. We had to stay in our homes a lot of that time and we had to just go bare bones and just rely on ourselves and our own production and our writing. What’s crazy is four years later, last year with COVID-19 and quarantine and everything we kinda found ourselves back with family spending more time with our family than we had since that time and because of that we really just felt like we were going back to that time in a way. We were clear of distractions, we were really focused on our family and what was important. So as we were creating the EP and putting the songs together, we realized wow Homegrown, that’s really what this is, that’s what we’ve always been and that’s what we still are. And so we thought that would be a great name for the EP now.

On Homegrown, there’s definitely some growth to your music and to your sound, so I wanted to ask you both, what is the growth that you’ve seen in each other since your Silk Canvas?

Jess: Since 2016, I feel like she’s a lot calmer in her energy. I think she’s molded into who she is now, and as I was back then, it was a very unpredictable time, a time where we were very new to the industry and going to LA and experiencing that side of things for the first time, I think that there’s a certain level of confidence in calm that my sister has now — as do I — in the sense of not feeling the need to really be in the mix or do things for others. Just doing things for herself and I think that also reflects in the music. I think she’s also in a place of positivity. You’ll notice we’re kind of on the same page with all these things, but I would definitely say that for my sister, that’s what I’ve seen. The growth I’ve seen is I think she has a calm in who she is and that’s important because I think it’s one thing to know who you are, it’s another thing to feel the need to explain yourself all the time, and then it’s another thing to not feel the need to explain yourself but just be that. I think that’s what she has.

Ivana: I think that’s where we both are. Jess and I on our own individual roads to just more inner authenticity. I think that as artists we feel as if we’re currently struggling to be that for everyone, but we forget that we got here based on what we brought. So, I think one thing for both of us has been to constantly keep that authenticity and always come back to it and I think that’s why Homegrown is so special.

I remember with “Come Over,” we wrote that song in 2016 and we were looking for production for it and, it was a pretty back and forth kind of situation just figuring out where to go, but the first track that we heard was the one we chose, but I didn’t feel it, I was like, “I know there’s gotta be something else,” but what Jess said was, “This is us, this is who we are, this is literally us in our core, in our essence let’s go with this track,” and when she gave that perspective, it was just like a light bulb. I think that in itself gave even more of a pathway to us knowing that the EP would be called Homegrown. Everything has been connecting so much, when you’re aligned you start to feel that way because everything is just moving along, you’re not really forcing it, it’s just all going. Some things don’t happen, but you know it’s for the good. It’s great I’m thankful for Jess and her perspective. I think that’s another thing that has just grown. Just her way of understanding and perspective and just keeping true to who she is and what she believes in, what she likes, not getting caught in the noise of things because it is really easy to do in 2020 because we didn’t have anything to do. You’re constantly online searching and scrolling and reading the news and noise noise noise and that in itself is harmful for an artist to create. How did we even create in that time, I mean we’re still here, but how? It’s because we were able to just focus on our family dynamic, focus on each other, and focus on ourselves, our inner wellness.

You mentioned “Come Over” was something y’all wrote four years ago, what are some of the more recent songs y’all created that are on this EP?

Jess: “Slow Down” definitely came more recently. Ivana wrote the verses, I wrote the hook at that time it wasn’t even as crazy, but it was just thinking about what was important. The toxic love thing we hear about all the time and it seems trendy and that’s kind of what we’re thinking about, let’s put out a song about positive love, you know, what love is supposed to be? Can we get back to that? That’s how that one had come. “Boo Thang” is one that definitely came in the middle of the pandemic, that was one of the ones that was a collaboration. I guess “Caught Up,” it came together in the pandemic as well. We brought on Elbee from Phony Ppl on the record and that one, the magic of it really came to life during this time last year. It took time, it took awhile for Elbee to get his verse over to us, but it was worth it. We were always very intentional with who we collaborate with, it’s never the label paying someone to be on our song. It’s always artists that we genuinely connect with and work well with. So those were really exciting records to put together for this EP.

Ivana: Yeah, I’m just thankful that Jess and I were always writing. We’re always are creating, we’ve created a lot of songs. It wasn’t really that hard for us to say, “Hey you know what? Let’s put something together. Let’s tie up a little project for everyone.”

Jess: “Come Over Again,” too. That one was originally supposed to be on a different beat and, it’s so funny how it all came together, because M-Phazes, who produced “Come Over,” we were like, alright, we’re gonna do this other version, people love remixes we got it, cool. We always kind of put a lot more into our remixes and this one in particular, we were like maybe we can change the verses up, how are we going to put this together? Our A&R had sent us this beat and the story of it was he was just listening to old, old beats, like beats that like we’re not touched. He realized that this one beat sampled a song called “Come Over” by Faith Evans and we’re like woah that’s so crazy, that just seems so meant to be. We started trying ideas on it and it literally came together in like 2 days. We put the song together and we were like “Yo, this the remix. This is it.” It’s its own song and it ends the EP and that was towards the very end of the year last year that we put that together.

While growth is definitely a theme on the EP, patience comes up as one, too. Being gentle, taking your time, and letting things happen at their own natural pace. What’s the message that you hope fans receive with this theme and the songs that align with it?

Jess: Patience is definitely one. Learning to be patient with people, with partners, with friends, with family. Patience is also being understanding of people you love. Everything ties in and I think that the people we love are the ones we seek understanding from, but also seek understanding from us and those two things have to work hand in hand. I want our fans to embrace love, embrace positivity, embrace understanding, patience, and embrace joy as well and gratitude. We want our music to uplift people, we want our music to help people in that search for joy in this hard time, but we want them to be able to find it in the little things, the things that they don’t think [about]. It doesn’t have to be in the Birkin bag, it doesn’t have to be in having a crazy bank account because a lot of people don’t have that right now. You can find joy in so much more, just in a song like “High & Dry” which is just about having someone in your life that, no matter what, can make you feel better. That’s a blessing, that’s something to celebrate.

I think that’s what we want people to take from our EP, that can use that you can celebrate and find joy in the little things. You can have gratitude and that’s so important and I think because the truth of the matter is that not everybody’s in the same tax bracket, not everyone is fortunate to have the same thing. One thing we can all try to do is find our sources of joy, whether that’s just music — we hope that that music and that people can look into our music and find that. But we hope that that’s having the right people in their lives and if they don’t have that, then finding those people and escaping with like-minded people who also love.

Considering that a lot of our sources for inspiration are gone because of the pandemic, how did you both fill that void over the last ten or so months?

Ivana: I think for us again, it goes back to just being present [and] digging where you stand. We’re fortunate that a lot of the music on this project was already created pre-pandemic, but we did create a lot during this time. I think that going through life together I think being able to talk, being able to share perspectives and reflection — reflection was really important for me in this time when it came to inspiration, a lot of hindsight [too].

Jess: I think what also helped us stay inspired was creating with similar types of people. Just thinking about “Slow Down,” we did that right before the pandemic and I just remember that day, working with a producer and he was so positive and just allowed us to have a really safe space. As everything progressed and we kept creating, that was very important to just kind of be around people that would give each other energy. It’s so important because when you have to be creating in a space where maybe you’re hearing bad news or whatever, you can inspire each other and someone’s spirit and someone’s energy, you can channel that into music and lyrics. I think that for us, that was helpful and because we are also creatives individually, we do that for each other as well. I think being a duo and not just being ourselves also helps because you really are able to get inspired by bouncing back and forth. Ivana sends me an idea and I just get inspired off that, even if maybe I wasn’t inspired before.

I saw some influences of African print on your single artworks. How does your Nigerian background and its culture influence the music you create, because it’s not put out in plain sight for listeners, and as well as the way you approach topics?

Jess: I think for us, first and foremost, we never wanted being Nigerian to be a costume. With Black Panther, [for example], there’s been a lot of like trendiness to being African and I think that for us it’s been really important, first and foremost, to never try to force people to be like, “Hey guys we’re Nigerian look!” It is a part of us, we’re Nigerian American and so because of that, we really wanted to find a way to wear that proudly and very obviously in a way that our people would know. Not just going on Google and wearing some dashiki print, but subliminal things that we could do that only Nigerians would pick up on and that they would see and would appreciate and they would feel represented. One way we thought to do that, and it also tied into the Homegrown story, the idea really started in pandemic zoom meetings. We were talking with our team and we basically said if we were quarantined in 1970 Nigeria, what would that look like? How would we be dressed? We were looking through our parents’ photo albums, getting inspired and we decided we wanted to really represent that in our artwork. It was really important to us to really step out this time around and tell our fellow Nigerians, “Hey, we’re Nigerian,” but not do it in a way that was performative or inauthentic, but true to us and our own story being Nigerian Americans having parents that were young in the ‘70s.

In our music, we’ve always tried to represent the Nigerian side organically, like on Silk Canvas, the “Control Me” record, that was something Ivana kind of naturally fell into when she listened to that beat and because of that, we were like this is the perfect time to use pidgin English and throw a little Yoruba in it even if we’re Igbo. With the music, we’ve always done it more organically. When we listen to a beat [or] when we listen to a record, if we get inspired to channel that side of us, we do and if not then, we don’t force it and that’s the way do it when it comes to representing our Nigerian side, but it’s really important for us to showcase that identity and we’re glad that people have started to see it not just in our aesthetic, but our story.

You and Kaytranada are 3/3 at this point with “Another Lover,” “Taste,” and “Dysfunctional.” How is it working with him and what do you think makes y’all a great combination?

Ivana: We’ve been following him for many years. I think I remember I sent him a message on Soundcloud like, “Hey, it would be really great to work together,” way back in the day, definitely shooting that shot. It’s actually amazing that it happened. It’s fun to work with him and it’s just a vibe, I think the first time we ever worked together was actually a sort of impromptu situation with “Dysfunctional.” Tunji [Balogun] was like, “Yo, do y’all wanna get in with Kaytra, Mary J. Blige didn’t show up,” and Tunji was like, “You, you wanna get in with VanJess?” and [Kaytra] was like, “For sure.” We hopped in an Uber from Fontana, which is like 45 minutes away, headed down to LA and did that.

Jess: He literally played “Dysfunctional” and was like, “I don’t know guys, tell me if you can write something to this,” and we’re like okay! He popped it on and it was just mumbles, we put it together, and then we were like, “Why don’t you sing the hook?” and he’s like, “No, oh my gosh,” and then he sang it and we wrote the verses. After that, we were in good graces so that’s when we’re like, “Heyyy, we’ve been writing to some of your beats, can we use this one too?!” and that’s where it formed from there. He’s also very specific, it’s not about the clout for him, I think that’s what we take pride in, like he really does respect us artistically. So when he was putting together his album, he sent us a beat pack and we wrote “Taste.” Actually, we wrote it to another beat originally and he loved the song so much that he would like, “Okay I’m going to reproduce this,” and then he’s like, “Okay just rewrite the second verses.” We did that and it came together and it’s the “Taste” that everyone hears now.

I think that musically, we’ve always been inspired by the same thing and when you’re inspired by the same things when grew up in this very eclectic sound palette, then I think that’s really why, not just us, but the artists like Kay, I think that’s why it just makes sense. Whether it’s an artist like a Tinashe or a Masego, when you look at artists, the sounds in their own music outside of Kaytra, it’s always very eclectic. I think that you have to kind of have an expansive musical kind of — just outside of R&B, but R&B or soul being the core. It’s just good vibes, good music, music with feeling, tempo sometimes is nice and he does that you know.

Another feature I really enjoyed was Devin Morrison’s.

Jess: He’s the only person that’s been able to vocal produce us. We usually vocal produce ourselves, so nobody can tell us anything we do everything right? He, oh my gosh, his ear, he’ll be like, “Try this harmony,” and we’re like, “Come again? What? Do what?” He’s incredible, genius. It was a song that [he] wrote and we heard in the midst of a pandemic, funny thing about it: We had a session with him before everything went crazy, I couldn’t go because I was having tonsillitis at the time. Ivana started a different record from scratch, that one’s still in the works. Kind of as fate would have it, he sent us this record that we really loved and we wrote our own verse and made it a collab.

You gave fans a little bit of everything on this project. There’s moments to dance and there’s moments to lay back, but it’s still a cohesive project. Was this experience something you intended to bring with the project?

Jess: We don’t ever say, “Hey let’s do this,” or “Hey let’s make it sound like this and then go this way.” We just create and then it just comes together.

Ivana: Yeah, we make our music, it’s our project. We’re experiencing, we’re living life and going through it creating songs and a thought might come like, “Hey what about this,” and we’re really close to our A&R too and we just have a really good dynamic together with our team, so it’s always a smooth flow of ideas running like “Oh, this would go great after this or what about that.” It always comes smoothly. A lot of these songs we had [for awhile], so to put them together, who knew they would work? It just did.

Jess: And we have a lot more. The thing is we’re constantly writing, we’re constantly creating, so — I don’t know if this is gonna excite people too much — we have so much music, we have projects for days at this point, but it’s kind of like when we’re putting a project together, obviously there’s working with Tunji on sequencing and whatnot, but that wasn’t even the conversation when we were deciding the singles. We had the music that we wanted to put out, we put it out, and we’re like, “Alright, let’s put it together.” We didn’t know what’s going to work the way it did. It’s crazy because even with releasing “Come Over” and “High & Dry,” right?. We originally wanted to put out “Caught Up” before “Slow Down,” and we all were talking and we’re like you know we feel like the world needs more R&B VanJess in this moment, so let’s go with that. I think the best thing I could say is a pro for us is that we really just have no rules when it comes to the sound because we always are in the core VanJess. Because all the music is us no matter what, when you hear it, it just makes sense. You don’t know why, but it just does. I think it’s just because we know who we are so no matter what sonically is happening. It’s just VanJess.

Homegrown is out now via Keep Cool/RCA. Get it here.

Lou Dobbs found himself abruptly taken off the air last week following a $2.7 billion lawsuit filed by Smartmatic voting software company against Fox News, Dobbs, and other media figures who have spread false claims about the 2020 election. Despite Lou Dobbs Tonight being one of the highest-rated shows on Fox, the network canceled the show not even 24 hours after the Smartmatic suit. The cancelation was an obvious sign that Fox News is concerned that leaving Dobbs on the air could expose them to further liability even after airing a segment back in December that completely contradicted every election theory he’s shared on his show.

In a tongue and cheek “tribute” video to Dobbs on his departure, The Daily Show made it clear why Fox News has every reason to be concerned that the anchor could spell more trouble. In several clips during the “tribute,” Dobbs is a never-ending source of glowing compliments for Donald Trump and has no qualms parroting everything the former president says. At several points, Dobb refers to Trump as “sent by god,” the greatest president in American history, and a beam of pure sunlight who causes radiant smiles in everyone around him. It’s also clear by the video that Trump loves parroting what Dobbs says about him, and he has no qualms repeating every sycophantic comment from the Fox News host.

After 90 seconds of Dobbs’ freakish obsession with Trump, The Daily Show tribute ends with a fitting goodbye: “Farewell to the most North Korean broadcaster America has ever seen.”

(Via The Daily Show with Trevor Noah)

For a lot of music obsessives, in the beginning, there was one song or one album that sparked their interest in the medium in a major way. Everybody has to start somewhere, and Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl has given kids a strong launch pad by naming three albums he thinks children should listen to.

During a recent chat with BBC Breakfast, Grohl was asked to choose three albums that he thinks all kids should listen to as a way to learn about music. He responded with classic releases from The Beatles, ACDC, and the Bee Gees:

“Well, you’re going to want to get The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s [Lonely Hearts Club Band]. One reason is because that album still connects the way it did the day it came out. Now if you want to be a drummer, you’re going to want to get the ACDC album Back In Black. That is rock and roll drumming 101. A third album… I like myself a little party every now and then. I do like to dance. I mean, come on, let’s just go with Saturday Night Fever. If you put Saturday Night Fever on, it’s going to feel like Saturday night, but it could be a Monday morning. So, I would have to go with those three albums. It’s a good way to start.”

Elsewhere during the chat, he was asked how homeschooling is going, and he said that he may not be the best academic role model: “My kids know who I am, OK? I’ve read my report cards to my kids before, so they’re not necessarily going to come to me for anything academic. They just don’t. I could be a cheerleader, I could make you a great breakfast, and I could make you smile before you start your day, but you don’t necessarily want me in your history lessons. You don’t necessarily want me helping you with trigonometry.”

Watch the interview clip above.

Giveon opened his heart with his brief, four-track EP When It’s All Said And Done last October. The project arrived just a few months after his debut effort Take Time, but a lot had changed in the world since the LP’s late-March release. Now, Giveon showcases his soulful songs from both projects with his performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series.

After opening his set with a smooth rendition of the track “The Beach,” Giveon introduced himself: “Thank you guys so much for having me. For those who don’t know, my name is Giveon. I’m from Long Beach, California, and that’s what this song is about. This moment means a lot to me so just bear with me while I just enjoy this and soak it in.”

Before launching into his shuffling track “Like I Want You,” Giveon described why performing the Tiny Desk concert during Black History Month: “Any moment to do this would be special. But I think Black History Month, it’s the moment to celebrate Black creatives, like what I have on the wall and just my all-Black band. And Black politicians and Black activists… just celebrating Black culture for this month, I’m really excited to get to do this on this platform. Any month would be good, but also another special thing about this month is it’s my birthday month. And yes, if you’re wondering, I am a Pisces and we are emotional. Maybe that’s why I make songs like this.”

Watch Giveon’s Tiny Desk concert above.

When It’s All Said And Done is out now via Epic. Get it here.

Piers Morgan has been known to say plenty of not-so-nice things, but when it comes to Piers talking U.S. politics with former VP candidate Sarah Palin, Piers definitely comes out looking like the more civilized of the two prolific ranters. Palin must have felt that her far-right thunder is currently being duplicated in the halls of Congress because she’s making the rounds, including as a guest on Good Morning Britain.

Palin was on hand to cheerlead for Trump (at the onset of his record-setting second impeachment trial) and defend him against what she (wrongly) believes are unfair accusations that he incited his MAGA followers to riot at the U.S. Capitol (which he did). Then, of course, the subject turned to Palin’s insistence that Joe Biden stole the election though rampant voter fraud (despite all U.S. courts who confronted the issue finding no evidence), and this got ugly with Palin insisting that “dead people” voted for Biden.

“No one will convince me, nor anyone else with common sense or a sense of justice,” Palin raved. “That there were not shenanigans going on… How many polling areas had to produce their voter rolls and they showed that there were more votes than there were voters in certain districts?”

“Those are not facts. There was no fraud. Where’s the fraud Sarah? Where has a single court in America upheld fraud?” Morgan shot back.

“What about all the dead people who voted?” asked in a dead-serious way.

“Sarah, we like having you on the program, we normally have a good, two-way, robust debate but today you’ve just come on and you’re just talking nonsense,” replied Morgan. “I say this with the utmost respect to you, you’re sounding totally bonkers.”

Watch the full video below.

Welcome to Streamer Smackdown, where we’ll crush dreams, so that you, the fans, can find the platform that fits you. We’re looking at everything from content to pricing to whether you can find that beloved animated movie from your childhood that, looking back now as an adult, you realize was incredibly inappropriate and far too mature for you to be watching as a kid.

This third round is going to be rough. We’re pitting two fairly young streamers against each other: HBO Max vs. Disney+, and tasking ourselves with effectively knocking one down before it’s even gotten the chance to live. Or get to a second season, as they say in the biz. Let the games continue!

The Case For HBO Max

We’ve already established HBO Max as the underdog in the streaming wars — yet they did just enter the game, and their catalog of blockbuster franchises really makes us want to see them get a win. The platform’s got a lot going for it: a deep lineup of prestige HBO dramas carried over from the network’s older streaming service and a mind-boggling lineup of films that includes the DC Universe.

The pricing for HBO Max isn’t as flexible as enticing as what Disney+ is offering with $14.99 a month only nabbing you three simultaneous streams. But if the money’s not as much of a concern, you’ll be rewarded with dozens of kick-ass TV shows — think Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, Succession, Euphoria — and the kind of blockbusters you’d normally pay to rent for a movie-night watch.

And let’s not forget the industry shakeup that HBO Max delivered after just one year in the mix. Warner Bros set a precedent when it announced that, because of the current pandemic, the studio would be releasing new movies in theaters and via streaming on the same day. We’ve already seen how that works with Wonder Woman 1984 (spoiler: it’s insanely convenient) and with buzzworthy titles like Dune, the Matrix 4, Godzilla vs. Kong, and James Gunn’s Suicide Squad set to drop this year, there’s really no better argument for subscribing if you’re a film junkie.

Pros: A massive library of guaranteed-to-be-good shows and a lineup of theatrical releases coming this year.
Cons: The original content is lacking, so if you’ve already seen older series, there’s not much on the TV side to sway you here.

The Case For Disney+

Sure, Disney+ is technically just a few months older than HBO Max, but when you’re a studio that sports decades of beloved movies and popular TV shows, can you really be called a “rookie?” We think not. Disney has some of the biggest franchises and comic book IP under its very large umbrella, and it’s not afraid to leverage that library to gain more subscribers.

Right now, you’re only paying $6.99 a month — though that price will inch up to $7.99 per month in March of this year -– to gain access to nearly every movie in the Marvel catalog, including hyped spinoffs like WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki. The streamer is basically catnip for MCU fans.

And we can’t forget about the mythic Disney vault. Holding us hostage with threats of never again being able to enjoy the quirky chaos of the Emperor’s New Groove or the fist-pumping feminist fairytale behind Frozen might be diabolical on the studio’s part, but dammit, it worked.

But if animated fairytales and superhero team-ups aren’t your thing, Disney+ has a place for you too because they’ve also acquired Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox (and all of the films that come with both). Yes, that means the entire Star Wars collection, and the X-Men universe, and Deadpool, and all of the Fantastic Fours, and Baby Yoda, and… you get it, right?

Pros: A massive library of animated classics, superhero sagas, and sci-fi space operas.
Cons: As of now, WandaVision and The Mandalorian are the only original series worth your time.

The Verdict: HBO Max Wins. Don’t Come For Us, Disney Overlords.

Here’s the tea: the MCU, as it stands now, is just a better draw than the DC Universe, even with Zack Snyder’s overpriced Justice League reshoot coming. And if WandaVision is anything to go by, Marvel’s plans for its TV spinoffs are in good shape too.

But, if we take away the superhero component, then really we’ve just got a Star Wars show and some classic movies vs. dozens of award-winning TV series and a host of Warner Bros. films. Look, we love Baby Yoda too, but those J.J. Abrams sequels don’t fill the void left from that season two finale. You know what does feel good though? Knowing you can stream Succession and Game of Thrones and Lovecraft Country before embarking on a Lord of the Rings marathon and exploring the Studio Ghibli collection.

For bourbon fans, the thought of being paid to taste the brown nectar for a living sounds like a dream job. There’s no caveat coming — it’s a pretty sweet gig for any true aficionado. And Old Forester’s Master Taster, Jackie Zykan, is living that exact dream.

The road to getting paid to taste whiskey wasn’t always a straightforward one. Prior to working with Brown-Forman’s Old Forester, Zykan studied biology and chemistry while supporting herself as a bartender in St. Louis, Missouri, with plans to attend medical school. After graduation, she relocated to Louisville, Kentucky, where she took on bartending gigs for big-name whiskey brands like Four Roses and Woodford Reserve, amongst others.

Her energy and talent soon caught the attention of Brown-Forman staffers who frequented the venues and events Zykan bartended at. The company hired her initially as a master bourbon specialist before she was promoted to master taster. Working alongside Old Forester’s Master Distiller, Chris Morris, Zykan now assists with limited-edition releases while also operating the single barrel program.

This week, I spoke with Zykan about her beginnings in the industry, how to taste bourbon like a pro, and combating the obstacles that come with being a woman in the whiskey world. Read our conversation below!

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What was your first introduction to bourbon?

Honestly, I didn’t really start getting into it until I moved to Kentucky from St. Louis. That was about 11 years ago. I moved to Louisville and just realized very quickly that there was such an expanse of products. I knew absolutely nothing about it and went in headfirst. It’s been an interesting road — I studied biology and chemistry while working as a bartender back in Missouri. And then when I relocated to Louisville for my first husband’s job it was just kind of like love at first sight with all these bottles.

When did you discover you wanted to pursue a career in the whiskey industry?

I was working more on the bar side of things and more cocktail focused, and different opportunities kept coming up. There are different brands based here in Louisville and they would come in and have a dinner and say, “Oh, can you create a specialty cocktail for us?” “Yeah, sure, no problem. I got you.” It was just this constant state of “yes” to all of these tiny little opportunities that really kind of made me realize that I have a passion for this, and I have a passion for sharing it with people.

And so it was just sort of addictive, really.

I had experience with a whole bunch of different brands that are based here in Louisville and around Kentucky. And the day came that Old Forester just kind of needed somebody who had both cocktail experience and could understand the science behind it all. And I had already built up a name for myself as someone who would show up on time and get things done, so I got a phone call and here I am.

With somebody who didn’t grow up around bourbon, it’s a totally different perspective that I have as an outsider. It’s not like, “Oh, grandma always had a hot toddy” and all these bottles on the back bar, in the basement, and all these other things. It’s very fresh to me and I look at it with different eyes. There’s so much intimacy that goes into that setting of tasting whiskey with other people. You have to bring your most vulnerable self because the sensory details that you’re applying to your tasting are things that are based on just your experiences in your own personal perspective.

I really love that people are willing to just open up and expose all of these wonderful memories that they have during it. Once that all started, there was no turning back whatsoever.

That’s exciting. And you brought out some interesting points as well. So, kind of going back to when Old Forester first contacted you, was it by word of mouth, or did you actually do some of their cocktails for them at an event?

So, I had worked with a lady who was then working with Old Forester, but before that she was working for the Kentucky Derby Museum and I worked with Four Roses and her on a virtual bartender exhibit that they had. So, she was in the room and raised her hand and was like, “You got to know Jackie!”…And then there were a couple of people at Brown-Forman who I worked with Jack [Daniel’s] or had worked with another little side gig. Honestly, Louisville is such a big, small town. There are so many people at Brown-Forman that knew me just because they were bar regulars at any of the restaurants. And so I just sort of had this built-in support network already that I didn’t even know I had. That’s really kind of what drove that I think.

For those who are new to bourbon, what advice would you give them on “tasting notes”?

I would definitely say — and I say this all the time — it is not a competition and there is no prize at the end of it based on the number of notes you can identify. There’s always that one person in a tasting that’s like, “I’m getting apricots, but also… vanilla” and everyone else is just kind of like, “Wow, okay.” It can be intimidating sometimes for folks if someone else that you’re tasting stuff with is picking up on notes that you aren’t, but it is literally whatever you get out of it is the right answer.

Step one, just relax with it. There is no right or wrong here, whatever you get is what you get. You’re only going to pick up on notes and articulate things that you’ve already had experience with.

If you’ve never smelled cinnamon, you’re never going to smell a glass of whiskey and go, “I’m getting cinnamon” because you haven’t made that connection in your sensory bank yet. So a really great way of really prepping yourself for tasting things — and this was not just with whiskey, it’s with wine, it’s with anything — is to just make time and be mindful of exposing yourself to everything. Smell things at the grocery store. I do. I’m that weird person walking through sniffing stuff left and right.

Smell different candles, different fragrances, start to lock in what those words are with those scents that will help you to articulate what’s going on. Don’t feel like you have to start with high proof. The lower the proof, the easier it’s going to be to decipher this stuff on the front end. That’s especially important for those that are new to the category.

Just don’t feel like you have to jump all the way into barrel strength. Because that high alcohol content can really anesthetize your senses and you won’t be smelling much after that. And then at the end of the day, guess what? If you don’t like drinking it neat – don’t. Drink it in a cocktail. You don’t like that either? Don’t. Life’s just too short to be drinking and sniffing and tasting stuff that you aren’t happy with. So, no pressure on it whatsoever.

When I first got started, I was hung up on, “Oh, I don’t really know how to articulate what I’m tasting” or “I need to be this expert already!” because, like you mentioned, it can be a little intimidating when you’re around others who are experts. On that note, I’ve written a lot about the dynamic faced by women in whiskey. I’ve interviewed Becky Paskin and Marianne Eaves, among others, and have gotten their feedback on how they’ve been able to beat stereotypes in whiskey.

Have you faced challenges that felt specifically related to being a woman in whiskey?

Oh, for sure. I mean, we don’t have enough time to go through all of it. [Laughs] In general, I can say that I have had my absolute fair share of people doubting what I have to say, questioning me constantly, ignoring me. I’ve done so many tastings where literally not a single person stopped talking and I just had to scream at the top of my lungs. And then, eventually, I just stopped talking and waited ‘til it was awkward – and then they stopped.

There are people who are handsy. There are people who don’t want to talk to you if you don’t look just like the promo model that you’re forced to stand next to behind the tasting booth. There’s a lot of interesting things that happen in this industry, but at the end of this day, I choose to release all of that pretty readily.

You just keep going and you just keep showing up. I’m not doing what I do because I’m a woman and I have a point to prove, I’m doing what I do because I love what I do. And I work for a great company and a great brand and I’m happy. So I think the more and more it’s important to address it — and it’s important to know that there are still struggles out there with it — but the more you really sit around and think on it, the more energy you give it. And you just have to release that.

It doesn’t just come from men. It comes from women as well as — from all different sides. But it’s just part of the changing landscape of what aged spirits are, you know? For the longest time [in] whiskey, women weren’t as involved in the marketing and advertising. So a lot of what the consumer was painted to be was really a projection of self-interest. And now that a shift has occurred, I think we all just need to hang in there and trust that in due time it will level out and it will be much better.

Just staying present in it and not letting it bog us down is really kind of the only thing we can do.

That’s very well said. Thank you for your transparency too. It’s something that’s definitely a hurdle, but you have such a great attitude about it. What would you say has been the biggest highlight of your career?

Considering that I just sort of flowed with a current into where I am now — and that’s not to say that I didn’t put in a hundred hours a week of work prepping for it — but the first step that I remember from this position where I actually identified like, “Oh, wait, this is an opportunity. And I’m going to get it, and I’m going to do this.” It was the transition from what my job was before, which was the master bourbon specialist role, which is similar but different. It wasn’t production involved. It was more mixology and PR and things of that sort. But when I definitively said to Campbell Brown, “By the time that new distillery opens, I will be the master taster for this brand.” And he was kind of like, “Whoa, okay, that’s a little forward, but all right.”

So then within a year I hunkered down and knocked out all of the training that needed to happen and sort of really led the charge. And I remember sitting at lunch with him [Brown] and my PR manager at the time when he told me, “So, congratulations. We’re changing your title over to this.” And I just started crying. I don’t know why, but it was sort of the first purposeful mission that I had in this role. And then, there’s been so many little ones along the way. But really vocalizing, “I’m going to do this,” and then sitting there at that moment, realizing I had done it was very empowering.

With just three days to go until the release of his highly-anticipated sophomore album, Slowthai shares one last video from the upcoming project featuring Skepta and a whole lot of horror film references. In the video for “Cancelled,” Thai and Skepta revisit the “Wazzup?” gag from Scary Movie, the infamous axe and face peel scenes from American Psycho, and reinterpret Candyman, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Nightmare On Elm Street.

Talking with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about the new track, Thai revealed its antsy, tense energy was inspired by his own bad mood the day they recorded — and some hallucinogenic mushrooms. “Yeah, we were on shrooms,” he admits. “Like, you’ve got to refresh the mind sometimes. It gives you an insight into yourself… So I’m sitting down and I’m just in a negative place, I was being negative. You know when you’re just that one bad apple in the room? Yeah, the energy is off… And it was that none of us wanted to go on the first bit, but then Skep was coming like, he’s like, ‘Yo, what we should be like? We should come like this. This is how we go about it.’”

Slowthai debuted “Cancelled” last week on The Tonight Show with an eerie pre-taped performance teasing the dark undertones of the video to come. Meanwhile, his Tyron rollout has also included high-concept videos for “Feel Away,” “NHS,” and “Mazza.”

Watch Slowthai and Skepta’s “Cancelled” video above.

Tyron is due 2/12 via Method / AWGE / Interscope Records. Pre-order it here.

We are approximately a third of the way into the 2020-21 NBA season, and for many, the MVP race has already been narrowed to a few top candidates. LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, and Joel Embiid are the three most discussed for the award, while others will include Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Curry, and others.

However, Magic Johnson is not ready to narrow the field so dramatically just yet. The former Lakers president, who famously resigned suddenly in part because he couldn’t take not being able to tweet about other players in the league without getting fined for tampering, has his own MVP tier system and he sees 14 candidates still existing for the league’s highest individual honor, broken into Tier 1 and Tier 2.

I like to believe, somewhere, Magic has a full list of the entire NBA tiered out, and this is how he made decisions during his time in L.A. — I also desperately would like to see this list. I choose to believe this because Magic loves making lists, as we learned last year when he listed his 60 favorite movies and TV shows of all time just for the fun of it, like he’s a 2010-era blogger.

In all seriousness, it’s a really solid list of MVP candidates and I appreciate him casting a wide net because there has been some incredible play in the NBA this season and while we tend to get bogged down in the MVP debates, it’s nice to just appreciate how many great players having great seasons there are. While his tweeting style has become something of a running joke, it is genuinely the thing I love most about Magic. His earnest positivity and sheer enjoyment he takes in watching basketball is something all of us who find ourselves getting a little too serious about some of this stuff could learn a lesson from. No one thinks basketball is more fun than Magic Johnson, and even as someone who was one of the best to ever do it, he can always appreciate greatness in a way few former players seem willing to.

Hayley Williams didn’t give much warning before releasing her sophomore solo LP Flowers For Vases / Descansos, which she announced just one day before its debut. Williams takes a vulnerable approach to songwriting on the project, touching on themes of mental health and self discovery. Further explaining how her life’s experiences shaped her songwriting, Williams says that she’s beginning to unpack how she’s been impacted by generational trauma.

Williams sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe for an interview about the Flowers For Vases / Descansos album. After touching on things she’s learned in therapy, Williams said she’s been examining the generational trauma passed down through the women in her family:

“My mom and I have been talking a lot about the effects of generational trauma and generational prayer. And I think generational trauma has come up a lot because of what we talked about over the last year. Finally, more people are willing to talk about systemic racism and what this has done to a lineage of folks. But for me even, just in my own family story, women went through a lot of sh*t way before I was an idea, and certainly before I was born. I think I just picked up on that at a young age. We actually ran to Nashville two times. The first time we kind of got found. […] I think my mom is a super brave and super resilient person.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Williams explained how writing the album was cathartic for her. “It’s such a culmination of the lessons I’ve learned throughout multiple relationships that just felt like my own body was eating itself,” she said. “I just haven’t had a good enough relationship with myself to receive pure and simple stuff, like romantic relationships. I’ve been in therapy now since we got home from [touring in support of Paramore’s 2017 album] After Laughter, and I still go every week.”

Watch Williams’ conversation with Lowe above.

Flowers For Vases / Descansos is out now via Atlantic. Get it here.

Hayley Williams is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.