A bunch of new artists make debuts this week, while a pair of veterans continue to certify themselves within their given niches. Meanwhile, a fallen heroine makes a posthumous comeback, New York drill continues to establish its foothold, and the new wave of LA party rap favorites expands its influence.

Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending February 19, 2021.

Albums/EPs/Mixtapes

CJ — Loyalty Over Royalty

Staten Island drill newcomer CJ arrived with a splash last year thanks to his hit single “Whoopty.” He followed up earlier this year with “Bop,” proving he wasn’t just a one-hitter quitter. Now, he’s got a deal with Warner Records, and the eyes and ears of the world firmly focused on this debut EP to see if he can really stick.

Ghetts — Conflict Of Interest

UK grime mainstay Ghetts is on his third studio album, released under Warner Records. Featuring fellow British superstars Dave, Giggs, Skepta, Stormy, and Wretch 32 — talk about “star-studded” — his latest album is his most earnest and personal to date.

Lexii Alijai — Come Back Soon

After passing away last year at just 21 years old, Lexii Alijai’s posthumous project arrives with much less fanfare than some other late, rising stars’ debut albums, but it’s just as appreciated by fans of her work, which included appearances on two Kehlani albums. Kyle Banks, P-Lo, and Wale make appearances to give a fond farewell to a powerful talent taken far too soon.

Lil Zay Osama — Trench Baby

Balancing tough trench talk and plainspoken vulnerability, Lil Zay Osama’s major-label debut (he signed to Warner in 2019) is replete with respected guest stars but offers a self-confident look at an artist who already has a strong sense of who he is and where he’s going. While Doe Boy, G Herbo, Jackboy, and Lil Tjay provide poignant counter perspectives to Osama’s, the story belongs to him alone.

Nef The Pharaoh — SINsational

At this point, Nef The Pharaoh album releases have become an annual occurrence, as the Bay Area rapper maintains the consistency of his Vallejo mentor E-40. Here, he continues to walk the line between late-night function background music and truculent fight tunes.

Trippie Redd — Neon Shark vs Pegasus (Deluxe: Presented by Travis Barker)

Trippie wants to be a real rockstar and with the monstrous deluxe version of his already massive album Pegasus dropping today, he’s as close as he’s ever been. That’s thanks in part to Travis Barker, who produces the rock-heavy first half of the album, giving fans 14 all-new songs along with a pair of appearances from fellow Ohioan rapper turned rocker Machine Gun Kelly.

Singles/Videos

24kGoldn — “3, 2, 1”

After going to No. 1 on the Hot 100 with “Mood” in 2020, San Francisco sing-rapper 24kGoldn sets his sight on the chart once again with another bouncy, catchy, borderline schmaltzy tune designed to appeal to teenage emotions everywhere. Personally, I like a little schmaltz, and what 24k may lack in lyrical depth, he makes up in a gift for melody and genre-blending with a cross-demographic appeal.

BlueBucksClan — “Horace Grant”

Los Angeles party rap at its disrespectful, conversational, beat-jumping finest. The duo has rapidly developed up a reputation for turning things up and they live up to it here.

CJ — “Politics”

Smartly dropping another new single on the same day as his debut EP, Staten Island’s newest star continues to excavate new pockets for drill, filling them up with his slickly-worded boasts and distinctive, perfectly modulated voice.

Dusty Locane — “Intro 2 Me, Pt. 1”

If CJ is competing for drill’s still-vacant throne, Dusty might be his number-one rival, thanks to his polished storytelling and his voice, which is frighteningly similar to the throne’s former occupant’s. That voice is the primary draw on this drumless production, that lets him introduce himself clearly and concisely.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Last week, Meek Mill was leaving a club event and heading back to his car when he ran into Tekashi 69 and his crew. Upon seeing Meek, Tekashi began hurling insults and attempted to push past his security in order to start a fight with the rapper. The whole skirmish was caught on video and the footage went instantly viral, with Meek theorizing that the whole thing was just a publicity stunt. But Tekashi took things one step further with his new track “ZaZa.”

Tekashi debuted the track “ZaZa” Friday, which features a hard-hitting beat and the rapper’s boastful verses. But halfway through his song, Tekashi references his tiff with Meek. Instead of name-dropping the rapper through lyrics, Tekashi inserted a 10-second clip of the actual fight while the track’s video zooms in on Meek’s surprised face.

“ZaZa” arrives shortly after Meek revealed that he’s working on his own version of a diss track. The rapper shared a snippet of the upcoming song in a teaser posted to his social media. “You a b*tch, he a rat / You on the ‘Gram, like, who is that?” he raps in the preview.

Watch Tekashi 69’s “ZaZa” video above.

Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music group.

Courtney Love was at the height of her career in the ’90s. Not only was she the vocalist in the renowned band Hole, but she was picking up a few roles in acclaimed films. Her supporting role in the 1994 drama The People vs. Larry Flynt even earned a Golden Globe Award nomination. But Love quit acting for nearly two decades shortly thereafter, and she just revealed the reason behind her decision: the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault in the film industry.

Sharing a photo of her at the Golden Globes in the late ’90s, Love described why she walked away from film. While she didn’t go into detail, Love described her experiences by name-dropping the viral #MeToo movement:

“For a few years, because of Milos Forman, I was a professional actress and a movie star. It was fun as hell. I was nominated for best actress, for a Golden Globe. One day I might talk about it. I love acting… I stopped being capable of it after a bunch of #metoos. No one would believe me, and it wouldn’t stop. So I left, and it left. And I’m good with it. Maybe, in my next life I’ll be stronger & able to endure it. I tip my hat to those who can.”

Elsewhere in the post, Love lamented about leaving the big screen behind. “I love it here in England,” she added. “But I sure do miss acting sometimes. To the tune of a great director. One of the greatest experiences, as a woman you can have, I think. All the glamour that comes after that is fun, flamboyant, gorgeous!”

See Love’s full Instagram post above.

Hulu ushers in the month of March with a handful of new series and films that should keep us busy — at least for another month or so.

Nat Geo’s latest season of Genius tracks the life of soul icon Aretha Franklin. Solar Opposites returns for another season of otherworldly chaos. And Frank Grillo gives us a time-defying action movie. Here’s everything coming to (and leaving) Hulu this month.

Solar Opposites: Season 2 (Hulu original streaming 3/26)

Season two of this animated sci-fi series from the guys who created Rick & Morty follows the same alien crew trying like hell to get off this godforsaken rock. (Honestly, same.) A quick teaser for the new season shows Korvo practically giddy at the news that the ship is fixed and they can go home, but they quickly crash-land back in their corner of suburbia, which means fans can expect more Earthly hijinks this season.

Boss Level (Hulu film streaming 3/5)

Frank Grillo stars in this time-looped action thriller, playing a special forces soldier trying to uncover a government conspiracy and figure out how his “death” led to him being stuck in a bloodier version of Groundhog’s Day. Mel Gibson plays a shadowy criminal kingpin and Rob Gronkowski — yes, that one — features somewhere in the mayhem.

Genius: Aretha (series streaming 3/22)

The latest installment of Nat Geo’s Genius series focuses its eight episodes on legendary singer and civil rights activist Aretha Franklin. Cynthia Erivo has been tapped to play the “Queen of Soul” as she teaches herself to read music, crafts an iconic career, and uses her voice to fight for equality.

Avail. 3/1
The 13th Warrior (1999)
50/50 (2011)
A Very Brady Sequel (1996)
As Good as It Gets (1997)
Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader (2012)
Attack the Block (2011)
Beloved (1998)
Blow (2001)
Brooklyn’s Finest (2010)
Charles and Diana: 1983 (2020)
Cocktail (1988)
Demolition Man (1993)
The Descent (2006)
Dolphin Tale (2011)
Dolphin Tale 2 (2014)
Employee Of The Month (2006)
Enemy Of The State (1998)
The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
The Ghost Writer (2010)
The Great Debaters (2007)
I Can Do Bad All By Myself (2009)
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
In the Line of Fire (1993)
Judge Dredd (1995)
The Last Face (2017)
Malcolm X (1992)
McLintock! (Producer’s Cut) (1963)
The Nanny Diaries (2007)
Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006)
The Ninth Gate (1999)
Pandorum (2009)
Patriot Games (1992)
Predators (2009)
Pretty Woman (1990)
Priceless (2016)
Rushmore (1999)
Scrooged (1988)
Shine a Light (2008)
Silverado (1985)
Sliver (1993)
The Social Network (2010)
The Spirit (2008)
Stargate (1994)
Starsky & Hutch (2004)
The Terminal (2004)
Tokyo Rising (2020)
The Tourist (2010)
Traitor (2008)
Vertical Limit (2000)
Wedding Crashers (2005)
The Whole Nine Yards (2000)
Young Frankenstein (1974)

Avail. 3/2
Debris: Series Premiere
The Voice: Season 20 Premiere
Top Chef: Complete Season 17

Avail. 3/3
New Amsterdam: Season 3 Premiere

Avail. 3/6
Storks (2016)
Triggered (2020)

Avail. 3/7
Proxima (2019)

Avail. 3/9
Absolutely Ascot: Complete Seasons 1 & 2
Dress to Impress: Complete Seasons 1 & 2

Avail. 3/11
Game of Talents: Series Premiere

Avail. 3/14
Buddy Games (2019)

Avail. 3/15
1 Night In San Diego (2020)
Constructing Albert (2017)
Here Awhile (2019)
Intersect (2020)
Missing 411: The Hunted (2019)
Naughty Books (2020)
Pink Wall (2019)
Sister Aimee (2019)
The Pretenders (2018)
The Relationtrip (2017)
The Stand: How One Gesture Shook The World (2020)
Tracks (2019)

Avail. 3/17
Mayans M.C.: Season 3 Premiere

Avail. 3/18
Trolls: TrollsTopia: Complete Season 2
Identity (2003)

Avail. 3/20
Catfish: The TV Show: Complete Season 8

Avail. 3/22
Genius: Aretha: Complete Season 3

Avail. 3/23
Breeders: Season 2 Premiere
100% Wolf (2020)

Avail. 3/25
Collective (2019)

Avail. 3/26
Solar Opposites: Complete Season 2
Into the Dark: Blood Moon: Season 2 Finale
Fire Force: Complete Season 2 (DUBBED)
The Hurricane Heist (2018)

Avail. 3/30
Vikings: Complete Season 6B

Avail. 3/31
Pooch Perfect: Series Premiere

Leaving 3/16
Pigeon Kings (2020)

Leaving 3/30
The Cooler (2003)

Leaving 3/31
A Very Brady Sequel (1996)
American Gigolo (1980)
As Good as It Gets (1997)
Attack the Block (2011)
Austin Powers In Goldmember (2002)
Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery (1997)
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
Blade Runner: The Final Cut (2007)
Blood Diamond (2006)
Boogie Nights (1997)
Bully (2001)
Chaplin (1992)
Charlotte’s Web (1973)
Coneheads (1993)
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Demolition Man (1993)
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993)
Employee Of The Month (2006)
Enemy Of The State (1998)
Eve’s Bayou (1997)
Firewalker (1986)
Foxfire (1996)
Frozen (2010)
Good Luck Chuck (2007)
Guess Who (2005)
Hondo (1953)
Hot Shots! (1991)
I Can Do Bad All By Myself (2009)
Igor (2008)
In the Line of Fire (1993)
Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
Love And Basketball (2000)
Mars Attacks! (1996)
More Than a Game (2008)
New In Town (2009)
Night at the Museum (2006)
Push (2009)
Rushmore (1999)
Silverado (1985)
Sliver (1993)
Species (1995)
Stargate (1994)
Starman (1984)
Stephen King’s Graveyard Shift (1990)
Superbad (2007)
The Arrival (1996)
The Brothers McMullen (1995)
The Chumscrubber (2005)
The Duff (2015)
The Mexican (2001)
The Rules Of Attraction (2002)
The Three Musketeers (2011)
The Tourist (2010)
The Truman Show (1998)
Tooth Fairy (2008)
Triumph of the Spirit (1989)
Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)
War (2007)
Wayne’s World 2 (1993)
Wedding Crashers (2005)
West Side Story (1961)
Zappa (2020)

Sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey may have gotten their start in television before eventually forming their acclaimed music group Chloe x Halle, but their musical success has earned them the opportunity to take on more creative projects. The two are now in front of the camera once again, but this time it’s not for television. Rather, the two appear in a short film that visualizes a Nigerian folktale.

The project was shot as part of their cover story for the March 2021 issue of Vogue. The short is filmed on a rocky beach, depicting the two sisters frolicking in the sand and wearing elegant gowns. Chloe provides a narration of the fable titled “Why The Sun And The Moon Live In The Sky,” which describes origins of the sun, moon, and water.

The story begins by Chloe introducing the characters of water and sun, detailing how they came to meet:

“It is said many, many years ago, the sun and the water were great friends and both live on the earth together. The sun would often visit water, but water never visits sun. The curious sun asked, ‘Why?’ The sun replied, ‘If I visit you, my friend, I will drive you out of your house because I go everywhere with my large family.’ But sun insisted that water should visit, and water therefore warned sun to build a very large house to accommodate his enormous family.”

The short film was directed by Julie Dash, who noted that the two singers were up for anything. “The filming was physically grueling,” Dash said. “Chloe and Halle had to walk half a mile across a stoney beach, wearing long gowns, in the cold morning and later in the heat. I don’t think they knew they were going to get wet, too. They never complained. I was very familiar with the sisters, but did not know how sweet they were!”

Watch a clip of “Why The Sun And The Moon Live In The Sky” above.

I love French fries so much that I often grab fast food simply as an excuse to eat them. In fact, I find that my “where to go” decision is more often about the fries than anything else on the menu. If you ask me whether I want Chick-fil-A or Popeyes, I’m going to consider who has better fries, not who has the most cult-beloved chicken. I can’t even choose a favorite style, I love shoe-string fries, home fries, cajun fries, curly fries, steak fries, fries with the skin on, and yes, I even think there’s a place for the divisive as In-N-Out fries.

In other words, I’ve never eaten a fry I didn’t like. But that doesn’t mean I can’t recognize the good from the… less good. So I went on a quest and changed my diet to one that consisted of mostly French fries in order to develop what I consider to be the most definitive ranking of french fries in the entire fast-food universe. There are a lot of fries out there, and while I think it’s inevitable that the comment section on this article is going to explode with differing impassioned opinions, I think it’s pretty hard to argue with the top five here.

Let’s jump in!

15. Shake Shack Crinkle Cut Fries

I figure I’ll get some haters coming after me in the comments for this one but I seriously do no get these fries. When I first embarked on this journey, the thought of giving any of these fast-food restaurants the bottom spot was unthinkable, but Shake Shack deserves to be at 15. There is absolutely no excuse — let me repeat: No. Excuse. — for a restaurant that serves such delicious high-quality cheeseburgers to have fries that resemble and taste like Ora Ida frozen crinkle-cut fries.

Get this, Shake Shack actually made an attempt in the past to up their fry game and started serving fresh fries, and then they caved to a crazed audience who missed these ridiculous things. Dumb. These are way too salty and overly crispy to the point where the inner potato is almost non-existent. They’re sharp enough to cut the rough of your mouth if you aren’t careful.

Seriously, f*ck these fries.

The Bottom Line

The worst. An insult to everything else on Shake Shack’s menu.

14. Burger King French Fries

People really seem to hate Burger King fries. They’re not that bad, but they’re not very good either, so I get it. They have an odd thickness to them, but they’re not thick enough to be steak fries, or even enough to be called thicc really.

Make up your mind Burger King, this medium width fry shit is weird.

They’re very salty, with thick noticeable salt crystals caked randomly in odd clusters and their weird thickness soaks up grease like a sponge. Don’t let these fries sit, eat them while they’re hot to get the best experience.

The Bottom Line

Too wide. Yeah, it’s a weird thing to complain about, but order some and tell me these things aren’t too wide. Solid in a milkshake, though.

13. KFC Secret Recipe Fries

KFC’s new Secret Recipe Fries are fairly new, dropping at some point to little fanfare last year, and they make me so very sad. KFC’s potato wedges were one of the chicken chain’s best menu items and they’ve replaced them with these lightly battered overly greasy French fries. Like the Shake Shack fries, they’re inexplicably sharp, if you’re ever in need of a makeshift weapon, just bring along one of these fries — they’re lethal.

As far as flavor goes, the Secret Recipe fries are good, and while the batter seems excessive, the crispy bite of each fry is actually very addicting and holds its crunch once dipped in the sauce of your choice (or you know, honey). But they’re such a downgrade from the wedges.

The Bottom Line

Crispy battered French fries that are good, but not nearly as good as the potato wedges that had to die so they’d live.

12. Del Taco Crinkle Cut Fries

Del Taco’s crinkle-cut fries are leagues better than Shake Shack’s. Del Taco. Let that sink in. What makes Del Taco’s fries superior is the softer outer, it’s still crispy but you get much more potato on the inside, with — and I can’t believe I’m writing this, it feels so ridiculous — a tamer crinkle that results in an overall smoother, more pleasing mouthfeel.

Del Taco goes a little nuts with the salt though, so I’ve never enjoyed them plain as is. Squirt your favorite Del Taco hot sauce on top, dust them with pepper, or stuff them in your beef or chicken soft taco to make the best use of these fries.

The Bottom Line

A great addition to your taco or burrito and a significant step up from the hard-as-rocks Shake Shack fries.

11. Wendy’s French Fries

I really wish Wendy’s fries were better. They know how to nail a burger, giving us one of the best-tasting fixtures in the fast-food universe (the Baconator baby!), their chicken sandwich game rivals heavy hitters like Chick-fil-A and Popeyes, they have baked potatoes and chili bowls, and yet their fries are middling. At best. They’re often overly salted, though we love the inclusion of sea salt, often limp and soggy, and they have a sort of dirty taste to them, probably as a result of the potato skin that’s left on.

Wendy’s deserves better but if the company ever proposed a refresh, I think their fan base would freak out. Still, sometimes you gotta push against the masses, or you end up in a Shake Shack situation.

The Bottom Line

One of Wendy’s weakest menu items, which is really a shame. Order a side of spicy nugs instead.

10. Jack in the Box Curly Fries/Regular Fries

I’m just going to go ahead and stick these two together. I’ve noticed that almost everything at Jack in the Box that is fried kind of has the same flavor. Whether you’re getting regular fries, curly fries, chicken strips, jalapeno poppers, mozzarella sticks (they keep discounting these for some reason), or cinnamon churros, they all have this distinct grease flavor lurking beneath the more obvious flavors.

I love the semi-spicy onion and garlic powder flavor of the curly fries, but I have a fear of ordering above a small size because they’re so damn greasy.

The Bottom Line

Don’t go to Jack in the Box when you’re of sane mind, instead go when you’re baked out of your mind. This is stoner food.

9. In-N-Out French Fries

I’m sure there are a few of you who are outraged that I’d put In-N-Out fries somewhere in the middle of this list, but here we are. These fries are super divisive for some reason — as if the idea of potatoes being peeled and sliced before your eyes before being dumped in sunflower oil could ever be a bad thing. Sure, they could’ve used peanut oil, but these are some high-quality fries. Don’t like them? Put salt and pepper on them, why is it that every fast food employee looks at me like I’m insane for asking for pepper, do people not season their food or something?

I will admit that they can be hit or miss. In-N-Out gets so busy that sometimes fries will come out over-cooked or a little soggy, but when they’re good, they’re delicious. They also make a great base for Animal Style fries. If you can’t like fries with Thousand Island dressing, grilled onions and melted cheese on top of them, there is straight-up something wrong.

The Bottom Line

Salt, pepper, special sauce, cheese, ketchup, grilled onions, chopped chilis, really if you go to In-N-Out and complain about the fries, you’re not doing enough to make them taste good.

8. Rally’s/Checkers Seasoned Fries

Rally’s (it’s known as Rally’s in my hood) has the same problem as Jack in the Box, there is a noticeable grease after-taste in these fries, but Rally’s gets a pass because these taste so much better. They use the same garlic powder, onion powder, paprika seasoning as Jack in the Box’s curly fries, but the outer is a lot lighter and crispier. The fries are easily the highlight of the entire Rally’s menu.

The Bottom Line

A must order at Rally’s, shockingly similar to Jack in the Box’s curly fries but with a lighter crispier outer.

7. Raising Cane’s Crinkle Cut Fries

See this is how you do crinkle cut fries! They’re crunchy on the outside, but not hazardously so, but the inside reveals hot buttery potato. Sprinkle these with salt and pepper to take them to the next level and dip them in that Cane’s sauce that comes on the side of your meal. The crinkle-cut fries Cane’s sauce combination is so good that we strongly advise you to ask for extra Cane’s sauce, as you’re going to want to dip your chicken in it too.

I’ve inquired whether Raising Cane’s fries are frozen or fresh, they’re frozen, but they are made so attentively that they’re always fried to perfection. If you dig the crinkle-cut, Raising Cane’s is the move.

The Bottom Line

The fast-food frozen crinkle-cut fry perfected.

6. Arby’s Curly Fries

Arby’s gets a bad rap. A lot of people grew up watching Jon Stewart who used to mercilessly mock the brand when he anchored The Daily Show, and then Arby’s has their whole meathead, “We got the meats” anti-plant-based meat stance, so they often find themselves as the butt of a lot of jokes. But Arby’s curly fries are arguably the reason that curly fries are even a popular thing. These were the original, and they taste delicious!

The battering isn’t too crazy here, giving you a better ratio of outer to inner, with a focus on a flavor that perfectly marries buttery potato, onion, and paprika.

The Bottom Line

Take the advice of Uproxx’s Chris Osburn, “Pair them with their cheese sauce and you don’t even need to waste your time on their sandwiches.”

5. Carl’s Jr. Criss-Cut Fries

At one point while conceiving this article I thought it might be a fun take to give Carl’s Jr’s Criss-Cut fries the top spot. That’s never been done before. I used to love these things, but there is a reason they’ve never topped a list — they’re good but not that great. Maybe in a fast-food landscape that consists only of McDonald’s, Burger King, and Jack in the Box, these things are pretty interesting, but we don’t live in that world. 2021 has endless options.

The Criss-Cut fries have a great crispy exterior and are well seasoned but taste better shoved in a burger than they do on their own.

The Bottom Line

Carl’s Jr’s best french fry option, but the best waffle fry award goes to…

4. Chick-Fil-A Waffle Fries

Chick-fil-A’s fries come out perfectly. They’re crispy on the outside, but buttery and soft on the inside, likely a result of the hot peanut oil they’re fried in. And they’re modestly dusted with sea salt in a way that doesn’t make them inedible the way the fast-food restaurant prepares them (take note Wendy’s). My only gripe, and I hate that this bothers me, is that Chick-fil-A gets real… relaxed with the way they load up the fries in the box. Seriously I’ve dumped out a small order and counted — again, I hate complaining about this — eight waffle fries.

That’s not enough fries, I’m sorry.

The Bottom Line

Oh, you don’t like Chick-fil-A’s sandwich huh? Have you tried the one where you take a nugget and fold a waffle fry around it? Taste that and circle back.

3. Popeyes Cajun Fries

I’ve seen these ranked waaaaay too low on other french fry rankings. How? Why? These fries are nearly perfect with a light exterior seasoned with onion and garlic powder, paprika, and black pepper that is good crispy and hot and tastes even better after they chill in the box and get soggy. Easily Popeyes best side on a menu that includes some great sides like red beans and rice, Popeyes cajun fries have an appetizing smell and, best of all, don’t include that weird greasy aftertaste that all of the other fries seasoned in this style have.

Pour ketchup on them, douse them in honey, dip them in sauce, or eat them on their own. These fries are perfect.

The Bottom Line

People go crazy for that Popeyes Chicken Sandwich, but the cajun fries are really where it’s at. Shove them in your Popeyes Chicken Sandwich and thank us in the comments for making a good thing even better.

2. McDonald’s French Fries

It’s hard to beat the best. Just ask our own Zach Johnston.

McDonald’s used to fry their French fries in beef tallow, and a lot of people seem to think that made them better. Does it really matter? McDonald’s fries are still the GOAT. Few things beat an order of fresh fries from McDonald’s, they’re crispy, salty, and — I swear — they must have a sprinkling of sugar on them to make them all the more addictive. McDonald’s is probably the first major fast food place that ever sold an order of fries in one of their large cups of soda for the especially french fry obsessed (they don’t do this anymore) and even if you’re someone who avoids McDonald’s at all cost, you’ve probably found yourself either craving an order, or saying to someone picking of McDonald’s, “just get me a larger order of fries.”

I asked my Uproxx colleagues what their favorite fast-food fries were, and they all unanimously agreed that nothing beats McDonald’s. I didn’t listen to them of course, but it’s hard to argue that anything could beat french fries this good, as cliche as it is to admit.

The Bottom Line

On some days, easily the best french fries in the fast-food universe, forever and always. And some days…

1. Five Guys Burgers & Fries

A lot of people are going to fiercely disagree with me on this one and I get it. These fries can be hit or miss, but they basically take In-N-Out’s concept of using freshly peeled nonfrozen potatoes and prepare them the right way, giving them a thicker cut and using a par-fry method that gives them the perfect crispy exterior with molten hot Idaho potato inside. I know why these french fries are so divisive for some people too, so allow me to improve your life non-believers:

Do not, under any circumstances, order the cajun fries.

I get it, why wouldn’t you order cajun fries over regular fries? Who doesn’t want more seasoning?

True, but Five Guys’ whole ethos is to go nuts, so they haphazardly dust your fries in way too much cajun seasoning — making some fries in your order completely inedible. Instead, order the regular fries, they come unseasoned. Ask for a side of cajun seasoning, grab salt and pepper, and season to taste. Yes, you’ll have to put some work into it, but when you control the seasoning, Five Guys fries become a delicious blank canvas for you to do whatever you like with them.

Toss them with some malt vinegar, dip them in BBQ, these french fries are as good as you want them to be, and I’m always going to prefer that approach. I know it burns McDonald’s, but I have to be true to myself here. Hate on.

The Bottom Line

I know they’re not McDonald’s but when seasoned right they’re the best french fries you can ever hope to get in a brown paper bag.

Optical illusions are always fun to play with, and the paintings of Sergi Cadenas are no exception.

If you walk up to one of Cadenas’s portraits from one direction, you’ll see a face. If you walk up to it from the opposite direction, you’ll also see a face—but a totally different one. Sometimes it’s a young face that ages as you walk from one side to another, like this one:

Or this one:

Sometimes it’s a face that has the…um…face part removed.

And sometimes it’s a face that simply becomes another face.

He can even turn Marilyn Monroe into Albert Einstein.

You can see that the painting is created in verticle 3-D lines of some sort and surmise that the two different faces exist on opposite, angled sides of those lines. But how? It almost feels like magic, the way the paintings transform as you walk past them.

This image of one of Cadenas’s paintings up against a mirror lets you see both sides of it at once, which is super cool.

What’s particularly impressive about Cadenas’s art is that he is a self-taught artist who didn’t even become a painter until he was 30. He got the idea for his dual-image oil paintings from “flip images” he’d seen when he was a kid. He creates his works in his home studio in small village in the Catalonia region of Spain and uses friends, family, and neighbors as models. It takes him about a month to complete one of his paintings.

How does he create the dual images? He fills an icing bag with painter’s paste and uses a decorator tip to create verticle relief lines with two 45 degree angles. (Watching a neighbor who was a pastry chef gave him the idea.) Then he sketches out the basic facial features with pencil before painting the different faces from the two different sides.

“You have to get used to the lines being broken and not continuous on the canvas,” Cadenas said in an interview with dw.com. But other than that, it’s like any other painting. He completes one side, then completes the other.

“It’s the magic, the surprise effect that I like best,” he said.

Much of Cadenas’s work hangs in people’s private collections, though some museums and galleries such as the Galeria Jordi Barnadas gallery in Barcelona have some of his pieces on display.

Artist Makes Portraits That Age As You Move Around Them

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Such great creativity and innovation, not to mention sheer talent. Here’s to the artists who enrich our world with their incredible work.

As millions of Texans have suffered through a disastrous winter weather crisis this week, people around the country have rallied to offer support in any way they can. Northerners who are accustomed to winter power outages have offered advice for staying warm, volunteers around the country have participated in welfare check phone calls to seniors around the state, and Americans of all political persuasions are donating money to aid organizations on the ground trying to get people’s basic needs met.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stepped up with her team to assist in that effort yesterday, and ended up raising a whopping $2 million in less than 24 hours. The money will be distributed evenly between the following aid organizations: Feeding Texas, The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, North Texas Food Bank, ECHO (Ending Community Homelessness Coalition), Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley, Corazon Ministries, Central Texas Food Bank, Family Eldercare, and Houston Food Bank.

AOC has also announced that she will be flying to Texas to meet with Houston Representative Sylvia Garcia and highlight what’s happening there and “amplify needs and solutions.”

Meanwhile, the Biden administration immediately approved requests from the state for FEMA assistance, and did so without any jabs about being a red state or criticizing Texas leadership. The White House has reached out to more than a dozen mayors of cities throughout Texas to see what they need the most, and federal assistance already sent has included generators, fuel, blankets, and water.

This is what that elusive idea of “unity” actually looks like. By definition, to unite means to come together around a common purpose. It doesn’t mean to always agree, it doesn’t mean to compromise on injustice, and it doesn’t even mean to always meet in the middle. Unity means seeing the needs and working on meeting them in ways that do the most good for the most people. It means setting aside petty political bickering and taking care of what needs to be taken care of. It means seeing people as Americans first, not blue or red, liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican.

There are many people in Texas who have viciously attacked AOC for her politics who will now be directly helped by the fundraising she organized for them. There are many in Texas who badmouth the federal government and think Biden is a demonic baby eater who will be directly helped by the aid being sent by his administration. It doesn’t matter. The people of Texas are Americans who are suffering, and the whole country is reaching out to help them. That’s unity, no matter how many partisan barbs people throw around at one another.

Mister Rogers said to “look for the helpers” in a crisis, and helpers right now are coming from all sides of the political spectrum. While there are legitimate debates to be had about Texas political policy leading this disaster, right now Americans are suffering and need immediate assistance. Let’s unite around that need, offer genuine gratitude to everyone who’s lending a hand, and recognize real unity when we see it play out.

Then let’s apply that same idea of unity to the multiple disasters we’re facing as a nation, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the economic crisis to the looming environmental impacts of climate change. We can disagree on how best to meet those challenges, but we can’t deny that they exist or pretend that the needs are not dire and immediate. We’re watching the whole country unite around Texas—there’s no real reason we can’t apply the same energy to the country as a whole.

One of 2020’s best new shows was Mythic Quest, the Apple TV+ series about a video game company created by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star and all-around fascinating guy Rob McElhenney. The comedy also had one of the only good quarantine episodes. Point is, you should watch Mythic Quest if you haven’t already (and while you’re at it, give Ted Lasso a chance, too). You have until May 7 to catch up, because that’s when the show returns for season two.

The new season brings back Ian (McElhenney), Poppy (Charlotte Nicdao), Brad (Danny Pudi), David (David Hornsby), Rachel (Ashly Burch), Dana (Imani Hakim), Jo (Jessie Ennis), and C.W. (F. Murray Abraham), but it doesn’t bring back the Blood Ocean, as creative directors Ian and Poppy are working on a new expansion. It might be set on land, it might be set in the sea, but one thing’s for sure: I can’t stop staring at McElhenney’s horseshoe mustache. He looks like every relief pitcher from the 1990s. I respect it. Also, Snoop Dogg’s in the teaser above. Does that mean the Mythic Quest team is re-mastering Def Jam: Fight for NY? Probably not, but you never know. It’s been a long quarantine.

Here’s more:

With the quarantine finally over, the new season of Mythic Quest finds everyone back in the office (well, almost everyone), attempting to build upon the success of Raven’s Banquet by launching an epic new expansion, but Ian and the newly promoted co-creative director, Poppy, struggle with the game’s direction. Meanwhile, C.W. reconciles some unresolved issues from his past, the testers test the bounds of an office romance, and David loses yet another woman in his life as Jo leaves him to assist Brad.

For more on Mythic Quest, read our interview with Rob McElhenney.

Edgar Wright is reportedly locking down a deal to develop a new adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man for Paramount Pictures. The Shaun of the Dead director will helm the new movie and help screenwriter Michael Bacall with the story, which will be “much more faithful” to King’s 1983 dystopian novel that he originally published under his Richard Bachman pen name. When asked in 2017 if he’d ever considered directing a film that wasn’t his original creation, Wright surprisingly said that he’d love a chance to remake The Running Man, and it looks like that day has arrived. Via Deadline:

Paul Michael Glaser directed the original, and Schwarzenegger starred with Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown, Jesse Ventura, with the late Richard Dawson playing the over-caffeinated and manipulative game show host who narrated a battle to the death where contestants went against paid gladiators, in the backdrop of an oppressive government sending dissidents to their death for huge ratings in hi-tech gladiator matches.

Wright’s take on The Running Man is a “top priority” for Paramount as studios scramble for blockbuster hits to recoup losses from the pandemic. Of course, adapting King’s work is always a tricky proposition. While there have been recent successes with the It films and HBO’s The Outsider, the CBS All Access reboot of The Stand has led to mixed results. Adapting King’s magnum opus The Dark Tower into a feature film starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey was also a notable flop. However, given Wright’s signature style and his very selective choice of creative projects, The Running Man is looking like one of the more promising Stephen King films.

(Via Deadline)