LA rapper Blxst is in the midst of a huge breakout after bubbling on the city’s underground scene for the past few years. With the release of his debut tape, No Love Lost, and its star-studded deluxe edition, Blxst has become a household name on the West Coast, with designs on expanding his popularity to the national stage in short order.
To help with that, he’s enlisted the aid of Angyil, a Red Bull Dance Your Style World finalist, to put her own interpretation on the latest single from Blxst’s breakout album. The “No Love Lost” dance video puts Angyil on the picturesque Dakar coast, which provides a beautiful backdrop for her electrifying moves.
Blxst’s highly visual approach to his debut project is part of the reason for its success. Beginning with the video for “Overrated,” several of the videos from the original project tell an overarching narrative that describes a night of LA-style troublemaking, as Blxst and his boys “run a play,” forcing Blxst’s girl to stay up late worrying about him. The narrative concludes in the video for “Pressure,” resolving the plot and establishing Blxst as a master storyteller — which is the biggest part of his appeal.
Tony Hawk is not the same as other athletes. Not because he’s a pro skater, or has a game named after him, or has created multiple tricks, or is in many ways considered the father of the sport becoming mainstream. Rather, the difference stems from the way he carries himself.
Every athlete has a certain level of competitiveness in them, one where they feel that they can do anything they put their mind to. It’s part of what makes them the all-time greats that they are. However, when speaking to Hawk before an Pacifico event where he needed to set a high score in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2, he didn’t give a response that you expect from an athlete with his kinds of credentials.
“I can tell you right now, there will be plenty of people watching that will be like, ‘I can get 10 times the score. What is the deal?’ and that is because they have a lot more time than I do to play it,” Hawk told Uproxx. “And I applaud them. I’m not making excuses. I totally applaud them. Yes, they are better than me. I’ve seen the best players, like I mean literally the best players in the world. I would never get to their level no matter how much time I spent on it.”
This is the person Hawk is, someone who is comfortable with himself in a way that is rare for even the most famous of athletes. This is how someone like him can so freely laugh at the idea of people not recognizing him, an experience that has become common enough to be a regular feature on his Twitter account. Make no mistake, people know who Tony Hawk is, these are just small little snippets into funny moments of his life.
“I think the misconception is that somehow I’m never recognized and I’m always complaining about it and that’s not at all why I share those stories.” said Hawk. “Those are just the ones usually, after the fact that I realized how funny they were or how ridiculous it was and so they’re all true. I guess that’s the bottom line is like you can follow me around for at least two days and you can follow me around for a couple of days and at least one or two times that sort of thing will happen.”
It’s the partial recognition, the idea that he looks like Tony Hawk, but isn’t him that is especially funny. Maybe it’s that fans of a certain age remember a younger Tony Hawk, the one who made history with a 900 in competition, or that younger fans know him chiefly from the video game that bears his name. Hawk said he’d been practicing for the event and was going to need that practice because there are people that live and die with the Pro Skater franchise. People have been waiting for ages for the franchise to return, one that, according to Hawk, was sort of a congruence of events.
“I would say I was the one who planted the seed.” said Hawk. “I was having lunch with the president of Activision, who I’ve known for a long time. We were about to do a 20th-anniversary concert celebration and the concert benefited my skate park foundation, The Skate Park Project. And so I have lunch with him only because I needed to get his blessing to use the name of the game in the event. He was talking about how they’ve had good luck with other remasters and reboots of other franchises. And I said you have no idea how many people ask me. ‘When are you going to remaster the first game?’ And that was it. That’s exactly how it started.”
There have, of course, been attempts to revive the franchise before the remaster of the originals. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 and Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD are two notable attempts that didn’t work out, but something about Pro Skater 1+2 is different. It’s the feeling of the game. The developers nailed it perfectly. While it doesn’t play the exact same way as the original two games, it makes the player feel like it does. The first time someone drops into Warehouse it feels like they’re being teleported back to when the original game came out.
That feeling that the Pro Skater franchise has is so incredibly important. Games like Pro Skater are entirely reliant on feeling and flow. It’s why a trophy exists for getting 10 million points, because when the game flows together perfectly, and if the player is skilled enough, then they can hit that 10 million mark. It’s a feeling that Hawk, a member of the one million club himself, strived to achieve when providing his input into the game.
“In the past, I was very involved because I had to give the developers a crash course in skateboarding and skateboard culture and tricks and everything else,” Hawk says. “So those first four years I was hands-on the whole time. I didn’t have to be so much in the later games because they already understood it and then this time around it was more about capturing that actual gameplay from the first two. So the input I had beyond say trick names and things like that was more about the feeling of the tricks and how they react and how they look in the air because there was still a lot of work, but we did have a great foundation to start from.
Trick names in particular are something that Hawk had quite an impact on in Pro Skater 1+2. He played a role in the change of the “Mute grab” now known as the “Weddle Grab.” The reason for the change was because the trick creator, Chris Weddle, was deaf and not mute. It had always bothered Weddle, and with the Pro Skater series being where so many people learn trick names from, then why not change it?
“I didn’t have some great master plan,” said Hawk. “I realized, especially when we release this new remastered version of the first two games, that I could affect change because a lot of people know the skate names of tricks through our video games. And so if there was ever a change to be made that would be a huge catalyst for it. … I didn’t think like I was taking some great stance. It was more like I wanted Chris to be excited about it.”
For Hawk, it was never about making a statement or being seen as someone trying to make a change in the culture of skateboarding. He just felt it was the right thing to do and he did it, a personality trait that fits right into the culture of skateboarding as a whole these days. The sport is more diverse than ever, and you can see it across the many new skaters that Vicarious Visions and Hawk worked to put into Pro Skater 1+2.
“[Skateboarding culture] has evolved greatly in terms of well for one acceptance and two just how diverse it is and how inclusive it is,” said Hawk. “I think that’s probably the biggest change. It was always a place for outcasts but these days it’s much more of a level playing field. Anyone can participate, everyone’s welcome, and you’re only judged on your style of skating. You know what I mean? You’re not judged on your race or your background or your nationality. It’s more like, ‘let’s see what you got,’ and I love that. I’ve loved that and I loved that about skateboarding all along. But the fact that now there are more parks than ever. There is more opportunity than ever. It’s more diverse than ever because of that.”
Tony Hawk has been the face of skating culture for so long that it’s not surprising that with an ambassador such as himself, who tries to be welcoming and carries himself not too seriously, that this is where skateboarding has come. It’s become a place that everyone can be. For many, it’s a home. A place they can be themselves. Hawk is still extremely connected with the sport today. He’s a regular on the broadcast at X-Games events and he still skates all the time. Even at 52, he can still hit a 720. For him, skateboarding is his daily exercise. While the average person may go for a run he’s out there skating.
Hawk never did hit a million during his event for Pacifico. He topped out at 871,000, but there was a moment during it where that classic competitive spark came back. The producer’s off-camera told him that he had time for one more run. He told them he would do two more, but those runs didn’t meet his satisfaction. Then, just like when he was attempting the 900 back in 1999, he gave himself one more run. That competitive spirit never does go away. Hawk just carries it differently. He carries it like a skater.
UK pop singer Rina Sawayama released her sophomore album Sawayama to widespread critical acclaim (including a cosign from Elton John) last year. But even with the project’s success, she wasn’t eligible for the Mercury Prize or the Brit Awards, two of the UK’s biggest music awards, because of her citizenship status. However, after publicly calling for a change in the rules, Sawayama was successfully able to convince both awards to alter their eligibility rules.
Sawayama has been living in the UK for 25 years on an “indefinite leave to remain” visa because her birth country of Japan doesn’t allow dual citizenship. Until Sawayama’s campaign last fall, both the Mercury Prize and the Brit Awards were only available for musicians with UK citizenship. But after the singer spoke with the heads of the BIP (British Phonographic Industry), the Mercury Prize and Brit Awards have officially expanded their rules to include musicians who have lived in the UK for just five years.
Announcing the exciting win on social media, Sawayama thanked her fans for first starting the viral #SawayamaIsBritish movement:
“I’m over the moon to share the news that following a number of conversations the BPI has decided to change the rules of eligibility for all nominees for the BRIT awards and Mercury Prize. Starting this year, artists (like me) will be eligible for nomination even without British citizenship. The rules have broadened to include those who have been a resident of the UK for 5 years.
I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for sharing the #SAWAYAMAISBRITISH campaign worldwide and igniting this important conversation about Britishness.
Without your collective voice this wouldn’t have happened. In my 26th year of living in the UK I’m so proud that I can help make this systematic change for future generations, so that in years to come we can see a more diverse definition of British musical excellence.”
Further speaking about the rule change in an interview with BBC, Sawayama said she was at first worried to speak up over the fear of getting “blacklisted” from the music industry. “Part of me worried that I was going to get blacklisted from the music industry for bringing this up. But I’m glad I did and actually, they went above and beyond by including those who were born in the UK as well. I was expecting maybe ten years of residency here as a rule, but five years is amazing.”
Rina Sawayama talks to @BBCWorld about The Brits and the Mercury Prize changing their eligibility rules after she fought it:
“Part of me worried that I was… going to get blacklisted from the music industry for bringing this up. But I’m glad I did.” pic.twitter.com/tX2HhyJGI3
There are some questions you should ask when picking a white wine. Is it light and refreshing, as delicate as flower petals? Or rich, golden, and weighted like liquid butter? Does the bright acidity wake up your tastebuds? Will you need a platter of oysters to pair with all of its crispy deliciousness? What about the aroma? Does it smell like a vacation, with fruity or perhaps even oaky fragrances? Is it light in alcohol and easy to drink?
The characteristics of white wine vary from grape to grape, but, on the whole, these wines are typically lighter in body when compared to reds. They also display different fruits — think apples, pears, citrus, and melon. They almost always show acidity on a greater level and rarely are they higher than 14.5% ABV.
Within those constraints, there’s plenty of room for variation. The permutations are literally endless.
There is one thing a white wine doesn’t need to have to be considered great, though. An expensive price tag. For every high end bottle of good white wine, there’s a more cost-effective one just waiting to be purchased for the low low. And you can find a solid few of them at our old pal Trader Joe’s.
Today, we’ve rounded up 10 white wines that are valuable in price and quality and worth checking out ASAP. None of the bottles featured on this list cost more than $25 and they’re all currently at TJ locations across the country. We’ve also linked to online stores where applicable.
Produced in Oregon, A to Z was launched in 2002 by wine industry veterans and friends Deb Hatcher, Bill Hatcher, Sam Tannahill, and Cheryl Francis. They started out just making a pinot noir, which has since been dubbed one of the Best American Pinot Noirs under $20 by Food & Wine. The foursome expanded their vino ventures when they teamed up with fellow winemaker Michael Davies and NBA coach Gregg Popovich in 2006.
Now the group sells chardonnay, riesling, rosé, sparkling rosé and this outstanding pinot gris.
Tasting Note:
This wine features the scents of lemon trees, quince, and a faint hint of honey. The sip starts with a splash of acidity but the palate is actually soft and layered with notes of pineapple, lime, yellow apples, and white flowers. This wine is thoroughly refreshing and light with a smooth lingering finish.
Bottom Line:
This is a versatile white wine that is just as good with food as it is all by itself.
Produced in California, this wine is comprised of grapes from two different areas of the West Coast’s wine region to create a juice that is fruity, floral, and jumping with acidity. The 80 percent Chenin blanc used for this wine comes from the Clarksburg appellation — AKA the Gem of the Delta — and gives the wine its fresh fruit character, while the 20 percent viogneir from Lodi gives the wine its floral and spicy nature as well as some viscosity.
It’s a light and bright white wine, but it’s also got a body that you can feel.
Tasting Notes:
Floral fragrances jump out of the bottle along with smells of yuzu, peach, and ground ginger. As for the acidity on the palate, WHEW! It’s smacks the tongue like a load of concrete and yet the tastes of honeyed apples, lemon curd, and lemongrass are just as noticeable. There’s a creamy, almost yogurt-like softness on the backend of the wine that rounds it all out while the acidity continues to dazzle the tastebuds in the finish.
You feel every bit of this wine from the moment it first hits your lips ’til it settles in the pit of your stomach.
Bottom Line:
Is it summer yet?
This is the white wine you want to sip on a scorching hot day. Or pair it with spicy dishes in the thick of winter. This wine will cool down all the heat no matter the situation.
MBALI Chenin Blanc/Viognier
Zielda Wines
ABV: 13% Average Price: $5
The Wine:
Now here’s another chenin blanc and viognier blend that has similar density to the one above, but this South African gem is much more tame in acidity. Sweet tropical fruits dominate. No wonder there’s a colorful image of a Protea cynaroides on the bottle — this wine is just as soft and pretty as the petals of the country’s national flower.
Tasting Notes:
The fragrance of raw honey, honeysuckle and melon lead on the nose of this wine, but on the palate the tropical fruit flavors are undeniable. Passion fruit collides with notes of cantaloupe, lychee, and golden plum for a nearly weightless wine that floats across the palate gracefully.
Acid? Where? Not in this wine. It is supremely soft and light from the first sip to the finish, which lingers with a dousing of honeydew.
Bottom Line:
This wine here is what we like to call a porch pounder, but it can also be enjoyed solo on the couch.
Joseph Händler Riesling
Vivino
ABV: 10.5% Average Price: $7
The Wine:
This wine hails from Pfalz, Germany, one of the biggest producers of the grapes in the world. German rieslings have a reputation of being on the sweet side, although not all of them are. The residual sugar is certainly noticeable in this bottle, but it wraps up clean and polished.
Tasting Notes:
This wine smells like perfume rollers, sweet-scented lotions, and fruity candies at the bottom of your grandmother’s purse. It’s a truly delicate white wine that tastes like the zest of lime and candy-coated fruit on the palate. There’s glace apricot, dried mango, and sweet, hard-candied pineapple — all on the sip.
As for the finish, it’s not all that long but does include a welcomed dry note on the back end.
Bottom Line:
Got chicken? Then get you some of this riesling to go with it. Whether you’re braising, grilling, roasting or frying, this white wine is going to compliment the white meat.
Produced in the heart of Sonoma County, California, this sauvignon blanc is comprised of grapes from a variety of vineyards across the region including Dry Creek, Alexander and Russian River Valleys. While majority of its fermentation is spent aging in stainless tanks, a bit of it spends time in oak barrels, which provides the wine with more complexity and depth.
Tasting Notes:
Floral, grassy and citrus on the nose, this wine tastes like a fruit bowl full of tangerine, peach, melon and grapefruit. There is some fresh minerality that evolves throughout the sip, while a barely-there hint of oak gives the wine body and character.
Bottom Line:
This wine has a lot of lively flavors that make it good for pairing with a variety of foods like fish, baked chicken, veal, or pork. Is spicy pork ramen on the menu? This fresh suav blanc can cut through fat and tone down hot peppery flavors, too.
It shouldn’t take much to guess where this vibrantly pale-gold wine comes from. Yup, another Sonoma gem has found a spot on the top shelf at Trader Joe’s, and rightfully so. It’s an excellent chardonnay with personality and pizzaz that will have you pouring glass after glass.
Tasting Notes:
Is this wine or fresh squeezed nectarine blended with apples, melons, peaches, butterscotch and spices? It’s hard to tell from the bounty of aromas pulsating out of this bottle. On the palate, this medium-to-full-bodied wine radiates with flavors of peaches and pears and a shock of bright and unexpected acidity. The finish is just as sunny and rounds out long and silky, with hints of clove and vanilla spice.
Bottom Line:
This is a chardonnay with some finesse that deserves a spot on the dinner table. Roast a chicken, sear some scallops, make risotto if you’re feeling fancy — any of those dishes can take on the body and complexity of this white wine without overpowering it.
This wine hails from Napa Valley, California, and is produced by a team of folks who believe wines are made to be easy-going and approachable. This buttery, oaky chardonnay is definitely that.
Tasting Notes:
No surprises here — this wine tastes exactly like its name says: bread and butter.
Notes of vanilla and almond hit hard on the nose while the sip leans into its creamy, buttery croissant character. The slight touch of acidy taps the tastebuds mid-sip but the wine evolves back to its creamy nature in the long and lingering finish.
Bottom Line:
Bring on the creamy pastas and soups. You’ll want to pair this with decadent and rich dishes.
Vignobles Lacheteau Vouvray
Bottle Bargin
ABV: 12% Average Price: $10
The Wine:
What’s tart and sweet at the same damn time? This chenin blanc from Vouvray, Touraine within France’s Loire Valley, that’s what.
Tasting Notes:
This shiny, nearly-yellow wine has an interesting nutty aroma, like pecans and almonds, unsalted, unsweetened just raw, and in their natural form. The palate is juicy and sweet, with pear flavors before it blossoms into a tarty green apple with an almond underlining. The finish is quick and soft with a dash of residual sugar that will leave you licking your lips.
Bottom Line:
This wine will go well with the stinkiest cheese you can find.
Villa Sonia Pinot Grigio
Publix
ABV: 12% Average Price: $6
The Wine:
Here is a light, fruit-forward wine that may make you yearn for summer. It’s comprised solely of pinot grigio grapes grown in Veneto, Italy.
Tasting Notes:
This almost-clear white wine smells of citrus fruits but displays more rounded notes of green, yellow, and orange melon flavors in the sip. The finish is super short but there is a hint of lemon on the very back end of the wine. Overall, this pinot grigio is really soft and has barely any weight to it, making it incredibly easy to drink.
Bottom Line:
A tower of chilled langoustine, clams, scallops, and oysters on the half shell will go a long way with this wine.
This is pinot grigio is from Italy’s Trentino region. The properties owned by Mezzacrona extend from the Adige Valley to the foothills of the majestic Dolomites. All that mountain air makes an impact on the juice, giving it a little more body than the style above and a lot more minerality too.
Tasting Notes:
This is an aromatic white wine with scents of green apple, Asian pear, and wildflower. Golden Delicious apple shows up on the sip and is greeted with a zippy splash of citrus and fresh minerality that lasts throughout its elegant finish.
Bottom Line:
This is the wine you drink to start the night. It’s easy-going and will pair with a bounty of appetizers as well as light salads, pastas, chicken, and fish.
Days after a much-publicized appearance on The Dan Patrick Show in which he criticized Seahawks management and said he wanted for more involvement in the team’s decisions, Russell Wilson reportedly has “broached trade destinations” with Seattle and could be traded “in the near future.”
That comes via a detailed new story from Michael Shawn-Dugar, Mike Sando, and Jayson Jenks at The Athletic. They list Miami, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and the Jets as possible destinations for Wilson, and report that a deal could come either this offseason or shortly thereafter.
According to the story, the rift has developed over time as Wilson has felt boxed out in high-level team discussions, including about the investment in the offensive line. In the time since the Seahawks’ last Super Bowl appearance in 2015, Wilson has mostly played well, but as any team would, the Seahawks have poked around the quarterback for an eventual replacement for the 32-year-old Wilson. They planned to potentially draft Patrick Mahomes in the late-first round, according to The Athletic, and discussed a deal with Cleveland centered around the No. 1 overall pick in 2018.
At the same time, even as he’s enjoyed the organizational trust and fortunes of being a star quarterback (including signing a lucrative new deal in 2019), Wilson has privately been frustrated with the team’s inability to protect him. Former Seattle receiver Brandon Marshall told The Athletic this situation comes in large part from the fact that Wilson is on pace to be the most sacked quarterback ever, and last season, Wilson was sacked 52 times, the most in the NFL.
No matter what the initial issue was for Wilson, he seems to be strongly considering a departure for the first time, and based on the large packages we’ve already seen in the NFL this offseason for franchise quarterbacks, as well as the continued availability of Deshaun Watson, this from Wilson adds to an incredibly busy NFL offseason.
Flo Milli is the latest partner for Spotify’s RADAR emerging artist program and the subject of a new mini-documentary about her life before rap courtesy of RADAR. The documentary focuses on interviews with the rising rapper’s family and closest associates, including her hairdresser Carlos Giles, her mom, her grandma, and her aunt. The matriarchs reminisce with Flo in a diner about her impressive academic achievements — her grandma notes that she graduated with honors and advanced diplomas — telling her that she sets a good example for young Black girls.
The doc also includes old performance footage of Flo turning up her high school assemblies, and features a fun story from the star herself about her first show. She booked the concert in Atlanta when she was just 16 years old but didn’t want to tell her family because she thought they might disapprove. Initially planning to catch the Megabus from her home in Mobile, Alamba to Atlanta, Georgia, she worried that something might happen to her so she told her mom — and got a ride from her supportive matron.
Flo Milli rose to stardom in 2019, thanks in part to the popularity of her songs “Beef FloMix” and “In The Party,” signing to RCA Records at just 19 years old. Her debut mixtape Ho, Why Is You Here? took the internet by storm in 2020, making her appear to be an overnight sensation to those who weren’t in the know. However, as the Spotify RADAR documentary shows, she put in the work to make it and has the pedigree and support to make it.
The Boston Celtics are in the midst of one of the weirdest seasons of any team in the league. Boston currently sits at 15-17, putting them in ninth place in the Eastern Conference and on the cusp of falling out of the play-in tournament altogether. For a team that entered this season with sky high expectations, it’s not hard to label the Celtics as one of the NBA’s biggest disappointments this season.
Of course, that lacks a ton of context. The team has been thrashed by injury absences, whether they’re related to COVID-19 or otherwise, and they were unable to find a way to replace Gordon Hayward in free agency. But according to team CEO Wyc Grousbeck, one under the radar problem has been that the team lost Kyrie Irving to the Brooklyn Nets two offseasons ago.
“We had hoped Kyrie would stay forever and lead us all the way,” Grousbeck recently told NBC Sports Boston. “He’s on maybe the best team on the league right now and so that’s that. That change touched off a lot of stuff because he left, we weren’t maybe able to recruit free agents in the same way, and a bit of a domino effect. But it is what it is. We went for it with Kyrie. We had a good year with him. He tried hard and then he moved on.”
It is easy to view this as “we lost Kyrie and now we are bad,” but what Grousbeck appears to be saying is far more nuanced than that. Losing a player of Irving’s caliber made it more difficult to build a team over the course of multiple years. Boston still has the luxury of having two young All-Stars under long-term deals, but both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are younger dudes going through growing pains. And of course, in addition to losing Irving, the Celtics didn’t retain Al Horford, leaving a hole in their frontcourt that has been an issue this season.
Again, the good news for Boston is that if it needs to do any sort of tearing down, it would more be on the edges than with its core, because having two guys of Brown and Tatum’s caliber would make that exponentially easier to pull of successfully. But it’s hard not to wonder how things would have played out with the team if Irving stuck around instead of leaving to join the Nets a few summers back.
Questlove is commonly regarded as one of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to music and its history. Now, the drummer for The Roots (to grossly simplify everything he does in and beyond the group) is sharing some of his insight with a new MasterClass focused on music curation and DJing.
MasterClass has shared a trailer for the class today, and the description says students of the class can expect to “explore DJ techniques, expand your musical vocabulary, and learn how to glide from genre to genre — including hip-hop, neo-soul, jazz, R&B, and more — to curate your own perfect playlist.” Questlove says in the trailer, “To be honest with you, not drumming in the world’s funkiest group, not the book-writing, not being on late-night television… my first love is records. I’ve been listening [to] and analyzing records since the age of 5. I’ve never shared the method to my madness or my secrets or my creative process in DJing until right now.”
In a statement, Questlove also says, “It’s one thing to listen to music, but it’s another thing to embrace it and have it come to you. Nothing will take the place of the passion that I feel for music, and I hope my MasterClass will open up a portal in your heart so that you learn to love music, find it, and appreciate it.” MasterClass founder and CEO David Rogier also notes, “Questlove’s storied career and unparalleled knowledge and passion for music has made him a music icon and one of the most influential individuals in the industry. In his MasterClass, members will gain a deeper understanding of how to listen to and absorb music so they can deconstruct songs and gain a deeper appreciation of everything they hear.”
Check out the trailer for Questlove’s MasterClass above. The class is available now, so learn more about it here.
Chance The Rapper and his brother Taylor Bennett talk about being unsigned and their plans to collaborate on Facebook Watch’s Forward: The Future of Black Music. In the exclusive preview clip below, the Chicago-born brothers sit on a bean bag couch and play video games while Taylor describes his new work with Motown Records-signed artist TheHxliday, while Chance thanks Taylor for some of the advice the younger Bennett has given over the years. You can watch the exclusive clip below and check out the full episode on Facebook Watch Friday, February 26 at 12 pm PT / 3 pm ET.
Previous episodes of Forward: The Future of Black Music have seen discussions with Chance and Taylor’s fellow indie rap stalwarts D Smoke and Tobe Nwigwe, who shared chats with John Legend and Erykah Badu, respectively. The idea was originally influenced by the TV series Iconoclasts, aiming to make viewers a “fly on the wall” for these intimate, insider discussions.
Chance recently reunited with his fellow Windy City rapper Vic Mensa on their new song “Shelter,” the first collaboration between the two since the early days of their parallel rises to stardom. Meanwhile, Taylor is about 18 months removed from his last EP, American Reject.
Watch Forward: The Future of Black Music with Chance and Taylor 2/26.
Amatriciana sauce is one of the easiest pasta sauces in the world. It’s also one of the most often butchered — typically by someone adding too much to it. It really is simple, centered around three ingredients: bright red San Marzano tomatoes, funky pecorino cheese, and fatty cured pork cheek, known as guanciale. If you’re staying traditional, that needs to be pretty much it.
The beauty of a great salsa or sugo like this is that it allows each ingredient to do its thing and shine. The tomato is super bright and almost tart. The pecorino adds a creamy edge and a slight cheese funk. And then there’s the guanciale. It has a cellared funk, is super fatty, and offers the flavor of unsmoked bacon turned up to eleven. Those three elements combined and tossed with some hefty pasta are the epitome of a chef’s kiss.
The best part is that you really don’t need a lot of experience to create this dish. It’s easy for dates or after work. The most difficult part will be sourcing some guanciale. In a pinch, you can use pancetta, but you’ll be losing some of the deeper tastes a guanciale holds. The fat won’t be quite the same, but it will work.
Other than that, if you can fry bacon, you can make this dish. Let’s get to it!
You’re going to be tempted to add onions or garlic to this sauce. You truly don’t need it. Trust in the ingredients and the power of good food working together. As with a lot of great Italian cookery, simplicity is often where you find the highest highs.
As for the pasta, it’s pretty common to get this with bucatini around Rome. I’ve seen it with rigatoni or even hand-torn pasta. The point is to use a large format that can hold a lot of sauce.
Zach Johnston
What You’ll Need:
Large pot
Large saucepan
Tongs
Kitchen knife
Bowl
Box grater
Zach Johnston
Method:
Fill a large pot with water and add in a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil. Add in pasta.
Cube the guanciale and add to the cold saucepan. Put the pan on medium-high heat.
Fry the guanciale until it’s browned.
Drain off most of the excess fat (there will be a lot) leaving a thin layer of fat in the pan.
In the meantime, empty the cans of tomatoes into a bowl and crush them with your hands.
Add the tomatoes to the saucepan with guanciale. Hit the sauce with two big pinches of salt and white pepper. Stir.
Simmer the sauce until the tomato just starts to reduce (less than ten minutes).
Once the pasta hits al dente, use the tongs to transfer the pasta to the sauce.
Add about 1/4 of pasta water to the sauce along with the grated cheese.
Toss the pasta well with tongs until it’s fully coated. Kill the heat and let the pasta rest for two minutes or so.
Plate up in a pasta bowl and grate some more pecorino over the top and hit with a few cranks of the black pepper mill and garnish with a basil leaf.
Serve.
Bottom Line:
Zach Johnston
This is so bright and light while holding some serious depth, thanks to that fatty and funky guanciale. It was really hard not to eat two bowls the second I served it up. Also, it takes under 20 minutes to make — seriously. All you’re really doing is boiling some pasta, frying some pork cheek, and simmering a sauce for maybe ten minutes.
That means a lot of big flavors for very little effort. The tomato is just lovely and the cubes of crunchy, fried pork cheek are like little morsels of pure bliss. Looking for something easy, new, and delicious as spring gets kicking? This is a perfect pasta to expand your repitoire with.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
