Would you venture through dense untamed jungles, harsh deserts, and freezing temperatures in a race to a random buoy in the middle of the ocean with a group of your adventure-seeking buddies in the hopes of winning a cool $1 million? While the idea of a globe-spanning adventure (and a freaking million dollars) sounds endlessly appealing after a year in which the most exciting journey most of us have taken was to the kitchen for more snacks, NatGeo’s newest competition series, Race To The Center Of The Earth, reminds us that epic quests are rarely easy.
Race To The Center Of The Earth is a new seven-part series created by the same producing duo that brought us The Amazing Race and pits four teams of three friends each against one another in a nonstop race for the $1 million prize. What makes each episode of Race to the Center of The Earth unique is that the four teams are each starting from four different corners of the planet — South America, Russia, Canada, and Southeast Asia — which helps to ensure that every scene following each team offers something new, interesting, and totally unique.
There’s a lot to like about the series, but our favorite part of the show has to be watching how each team struggles to keep things civil as their friends become literal roadblocks on the path to winning. The moment featured above reveals one such moment from the series’ third episode (of seven), showing Team Russia as they struggle to board a train to Kuanda all because Chris (freaking Chris) oversold his ability to speak the language.
“I won’t say he inflated how well he speaks Russian when he talked to Angie and I about it, but certainly my expectations were higher,” says teammate Jeremy. This is all after the team is already running behind schedule after suffering a flat tire.
Chris, Jeremy, and Angie are all members of the Anchorage Alaska police force. The trio fishes and hunts together, fight crime together, and even attended each other’s weddings. But after this? Chris might be spending some lonely lunch hours when the crew gets back to Anchorage.
“I think we have tickets that are going where we want to go, we’ll see when the train stops on the other end.” Yeah, let’s hope, Chris!
Check out the exclusive clip for Race To The Center Of The Earth above. The full episode when it airs tonight at 10 pm ET/PT on NatGeo.
For much of his career, Sylvester Stallone has been one of the more openly Republican members of Hollywood. He’s never been a James Woods or a Jon Voight, mostly keeping quiet when it comes to politics. So when Page Sixreported that the actor had joined Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s longtime resort and post-presidency home, people couldn’t help but be disappointed, even if they weren’t surprised.
Perhaps everyone should have known. Stallone attended a 2016 New Years party at the beachside getaway, not long after its owner had won his first and only presidential election. Perhaps one reason he shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars for a membership is because he recently bought a lavish compound in nearby Palm Beach, Florida. Since then he’s been posing with Mar-a-Lago guests, flashing his customarily boxing pose.
The news comes less than a week after it was revealed Stallone wouldn’t be returning as Rocky Balboa for the third go in the spin-off series Creed. Michael B. Jordan, the threequel’s star and director, recently said the series would focus exclusively on his character, Adonis, who had been trained and mentored by Rocky. It looks like this is one way the legendary actor and filmmaker will spend his time not shooting on the streets of Philadelphia.
When news broke of his new membership, people couldn’t help but feel let down that Stallone would go the full-Trump.
I just heard that Sylvester Stallone is a big-time trump supporter. I didn’t have him pegged as a worthless, racist has-been like James Woods, Scott Baio, Jon Voight, Ted Nugent, or Chuck Woolery but there it is. Sad!
At least Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of his big ‘80s rivals, knows not to give Trump any money.
Sylvester Stallone joined Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort
…so we finally know where he stands.
In the country-over-party camp, at least there’s still Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger — commenting here on Trump’s traitorous Helsinki press conference.pic.twitter.com/v16WhdL1r1
— President Biden At Last (@StevenReyCristo) April 12, 2021
As the early March NBA All-Star break approached, the Atlanta Hawks sat at 14-20 and had just fired head coach Lloyd Pierce as they sat at the bottom of the play-in picture, a far cry from where expectations had been set in the offseason after some big spending in free agency.
Injuries played a significant role in the Hawks early struggles, as they were without many of those big signings, with Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo, and Kris Dunn all missing significant time (and Dunn having yet to make his debut), as well as some of their young core pieces, most notably De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish. All of that, coupled with being one of the league’s worst fourth quarter teams, spelled disaster and eventually led to Nate McMillan being elevated to interim head coach. Given the way the team has responded to the former Blazers and Pacers coach, one would think he will have a great chance of having the interim tag removed at the end of the season and be given a contract as the full-time head coach.
The Hawks are 15-5 since the coaching change, and while some of that is the result of a soft schedule early in his tenure, the recent results prove this is more than a team taking advantage of lesser opponents. Atlanta has won 7 of their last 10 to climb to fourth in the East, a half game clear of the division rival Heat for homecourt advantage in a first round series.
Getting healthier has been a big help, with Bogdanovic providing a significant lift over the last month-plus as he’s been the sharpshooter they hoped they were getting when they inked him to an $18 million a year deal in free agency. The former King is now shooting 40.1 percent from three on the season, including a preposterous 51.7 percent so far in seven games in April, as he finally looks fully healthy. Bogdanovic gives the Hawks a much-needed go-to scorer when Trae Young isn’t in the game — as was the case in their win without the star guard on Sunday in Charlotte — and while the two are still working out exactly how to work best together, you can see how Bogdanovic’s presence can take advantage of the gravity Young creates.
Their other big signing who is still in town, Danilo Gallinari, has also come to life over the last two months. After a dreadful February, the veteran forward has likewise morphed back into a lethal offensive weapon (16.1 points per game on 46/43.4/93.5 shooting since March 1), and the Hawks are bludgeoning opponents when he’s on the floor. Since McMillan took over, the Hawks have a +12.6 net rating when Gallinari is on the court (114.9 ORtg/102.3 DRtg) compared to a +0.4 net rating when he sits (115.8/115.4). Given Gallinari looked awful defensively early on, it’s rather stunning to see how much better they’ve been with him on the floor, but he’s moving much better than he was early on when he had nagging injuries and seems to be much more comfortable with what he’s being asked to do.
On offense, he’s doing exactly what the Hawks need him to do, which is to put immense stress on defenses in pick-and-pop action, particularly with Young and Bogdanovic. When defenses overcommit to Young or Bogdanovic, Gallinari ends up with a wide open three and now that he’s hitting those at well over 40 percent, it makes life incredibly hard for opponents.
Maybe most importantly, the improved play of their veterans — which also must include other less-heralded offseason additions like Tony Snell (the NBA’s best three-point shooter this season at 57.1 percent) and Solomon Hill — has allowed the Hawks to succeed even when Young doesn’t play, something that hasn’t been the case since the third-year guard arrived in Atlanta. Young has always been the sun, moon, and stars for the Hawks, and when he sat, the team often bottomed out. Their desperation for a capable offense when Young wasn’t playing was one of the chief reasons for the moves they made this past offseason, and also why Rondo was flipped for Lou Williams at the deadline after his early struggles in Atlanta. Over the last 20 games, that’s paid off as the Hawks, for the first time ever, boast a positive net rating even when Young leaves the floor. The offense gets worse, no doubt (119.5 to 108.3) but the defensive improvement makes up for that (113.1 to 104.0) to allow the Hawks to hold on to any advantage they build when their star isn’t playing.
However, no one has had a bigger impact on the Hawks recent run than Clint Capela, who has been nothing short of sensational for the Hawks all season. He has been the defensive anchor for the Hawks all season, and the way he elevates lineups loaded with offensive talent into being not just passable bout downright good defensive lineups is incredible. Hawks fans have, rightfully, called on Capela to be in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation, and while he may not earn those honors his work on the defensive end of the floor, particularly during this run has been nothing short of terrific. His instincts on when to rotate and contest are among the best in the league, illustrated beautifully by this denial of a lob to Zion Williamson, a man few are successful at deterring at the rim.
Trae Young gets completely taken out of the play by a great screen from Zion, left in chase mode as he scrambles back to Bledsoe who draws Solomon Hill on the rotation and tosses a lob to Williamson who has no one between he and the rim on the baseline. At the moment the lob goes up, Capela has his foot on the far side of the restricted area, preventing a lob to Adams from the dunker’s spot. This is, against most teams, a thunderous Zion dunk.
Twitter/ATLHawks
However, Capela rotates over with an efficiency of movement to take one step across the restricted area and jump off two feet, with near perfect verticality, to stuff Zion before he can cleanly make the catch and go for a dunk. That ability to erase mistakes made on the perimeter at the rim is something the Hawks were banking on when they went out and signed offense-first players this offseason, and Capela is making good on the promise he showed in Houston prior to his heel injury. His help defense has always been a known commodity, but where he really helps the Hawks is in the pick-and-roll game, where he’s agile and quick enough to play higher in drop coverage to at least present himself to the ball-handler and long enough to drift back to his man to take away the lob while also being capable of protecting the rim should the ball-handler go for a layup. This play against Zach LaVine illustrates that ability beautifully.
Capela is, simply put, putting forth a sensational defensive effort this season, leading the team with 2.2 blocks per game. However, he’s not just lording over the paint on the defensive end, but giving the Hawks terrific two-way play as well. On offense, the vertical spacing he provides as a roll man and lob threat fits perfectly with the Hawks perimeter options. When Capela shares the floor with any two of the Hawks’ best, healthy perimeter players — Young, Bogdanovic, Gallinari, and Huerter — the Hawks boast an offensive rating of at least 120, which is stupendous. He’s an excellent screener, creating space for Young to get downhill where he is a nightmare for opponents because of his ability to finish floaters, toss lobs, pass to almost anywhere outside the arc, or create contact to get to the free throw line.
On top of being an elite lob threat, Capela also is the league’s best offensive rebounder at 4.7 per game, extending possessions and converting putback opportunities at a great clip.
Those three are the new additions to this year’s Hawks having the greatest impact, and it’s allowed Trae Young and John Collins to continue to do what they do best. Collins’ fit with the new-look Hawks was a question mark entering the season and led to trade rumors up to the deadline, but throughout the uncertainty about his future in Atlanta as he heads into restricted free agency summer, he’s plodded along playing great basketball. He’s currently sidelined with an ankle injury and has missed the last seven games, but prior to that he was still shooting from the perimeter at a great clip (38 percent from three) and while Capela eats up some of his space at the rim, thus dropping his two-point efficiency, he adjusted well to a different role and continues producing (18.2 ppg).
Young is also posting nearly identical numbers to last year in everything but points and shots, as he’s ceded a few shots (and thus points) each game to Bogdanovic and Gallinari for the betterment of the team. He is almost the exact same offensive player as a year ago, just with a better supporting cast and, shockingly, that makes both he and the Hawks look suddenly much better. Young’s abilities as a facilitator open up opportunities for everyone else, and the attention he receives necessitates that he be quick in his decision-making to find the open man when teams double. Happily for the Hawks, he’s tremendous at that and often gets his teammates high percentage looks both inside and out.
Take these two passes against hard doubles, one to Capela at the rim and the other to Gallinari behind the three-point line, both from the same game against the Bulls.
On the first, Young stretches the defense as far as he can, drawing three defenders towards him and pulling Nikola Vucevic out beyond the three-point line, but has the strength (maybe the biggest upgrade we’ve seen from Young this season) to push past Vucevic to create the angle to rifle a pass to Capela, as Lauri Markkanen has to stick at the top of the key to prevent a pass to a shooter. The next play, which came shortly after the first, shows why you have to protect against that, as Patrick Williams and Markkanen double Young off the pick-and-pop on the elbow and he fires a perfect behind the back dime to the popping Gallinari.
Young can be an exceedingly frustrating player for opponents, as no one is better at getting themselves to the foul line — and as such, opposing fans have soured on him — but he has grown more trusting in his teammates as he’s logged more time with them. Young is averaging three points fewer per game under McMillan than he did under Pierce, due in large part to having his co-stars healthy, and having more options around Young has provided a much needed boost to the Hawks fourth quarter production.
Since March 1, the Hawks have a +16.2 net rating in the fourth quarter, a dramatic turnaround from the -8.2 net rating they had in the first half of the season. That improvement is, in part, because in the fourth quarters of the last 20 games, Atlanta is shooting 42 percent from three-point range, up from 34.8 percent from deep in the fourth quarter over the first 34 games. Their hot shooting late in games understandably garners the most interest, but they have the second best fourth quarter defense since March 1 (103.6 DRtg), trailing only the Sixers, as they have figured things out on that end. Where Pierce had seemed to be tuned out by the Hawks by the time he was let go, McMillan has their full attention and is getting them to play with maximum effort on that end. Part of that comes with simply getting more time on the court together and a comfort in rotations and knowing who will be where and how to execute the defense, but sometimes having a different voice, even if what they’re being asked to do isn’t wildly different, can make a big difference.
The answer to “how are the Hawks doing this?” isn’t one thing, but the combination of a lot of players finally being healthy, comfortable in their roles, and playing their best basketball.
The adjustments for veterans like Bogdanovic and Gallinari to playing with someone like Young are pretty big, but they’re showing now how they can all fit together in this puzzle — and most impressively, doing so on both ends of the floor. The depth they had created this offseason but was stripped away due to injuries is finally showing up, and allowing them to be much more consistent no matter what group is on the floor. They have a legit offensive superstar in Young, a defensive centerpiece in Capela, and plenty of capable, talented players learning how to orbit those two one each end of the floor.
The Hawks won’t be favored whenever they match up with one of the East’s top 3 squads, but after an offseason of hype and the first half of disappointment, this is a team that suddenly looks dangerous. They have the pieces to make anyone sweat in a series, and if the shots keep going in, who knows how far they can go.
Monday night starts the second week of Aaron Rodgers guest hosting Jeopardy! and the first five shows were any indication, there will be plenty to keep an eye on while the Green Bay Packers quarterback has control of the board. Rodgers is a serious student of the game, and he’s even said he wants to be in the running for hosting the show full-time. And if you believe the people at Jeopardy! that’s far from impossible.
Deep into Peter King’s Football Morning In America column is an interview that details a bit more about Rodgers’ time guest hosting the legendary game show. We’ve already heard a lot about what Rodgers did to get ready for the gig. But as executive producer Mike Richards told King, no matter how much you prepare for the role, the “real game is totally different.”
“The intensity goes up in the real game, which Aaron found out,” Richards told me from California on Friday night. “You can see, even with the second show, his voice got better, his command got better, he started to enjoy it and have fun. But the truth is, you never truly relax. You’ve got the open, introducing the categories, 15 questions, the short interviews with the players, 15 more questions, 30 questions in Double Jeopardy, sum up, introduce Final Jeopardy, then do that, and through it all, you’re the arbiter of every question.
“And,” said Richards, “there’s no huddle.”
Richards would know, as he pulled guest hosting duties after Ken Jennings’ run finished earlier in the year. The interview also detailed a bit more about the schedule Rodgers would need to sustain if he actually wanted to pull double-duty and both play football and host the show. The shoot for two weeks-worth of shows took three days, with a rehearsal and then five shows filmed a day after that. Richards said that Rogers was “exhausted” after the grind of the show’s schedule, but noted how complimentary he was to everyone on the show and that “we hated to see him go.”
It will be Richards that plays a part in picking who the next permanent host is once Rodgers and the other guest hosts finish up. And Rodgers told King that, whether the Packers quarterback gets the job or not, the future is bright for his TV career if he’s interested.
“What I find fascinating about Aaron,” said Richards, “is his second career could be better than his first.”
Richards also teased another fun Packers-related moment for Rodgers sometime in this week’s episodes. Hopefully it’s not something about the way last season ended and is a bit more fun for the quarterback to think about over the long, but eventful, offseason.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s divorce is proceeding relatively smoothly, all things considered. According to TMZ, Kanye has filed a response to Kim’s divorce petition, and it appears they are on the same page. Kanye asks for joint custody of their four kids, as both remain committed to co-parenting. Kanye also wants to ensure that neither party receives spousal support and both pay their own legal fees. Considering both have had headlines valuing them at a billion dollars each in recent months, they should both be able to manage without it — even after taking iffy accounting into, well, account.
The couple signed a prenuptial agreement, so TMZ doesn’t foresee any issues dividing their respective assets. And while Kanye’s filing is a little late — Kim filed her documents back in February — there won’t be any problems there either. In the wake of Kim’s filing, People reported that Kanye attributed her decision to his failed presidential campaign, although it was clear in hindsight that trouble had been brewing for a while. Kanye’s outburst at a South Carolina campaign rally came after several social media explosions, including one in July of 2020 in which he claimed Kim tried to “lock me up” and called out her mother Kris, and similar rants in 2018 in which he seemed to draw a link between Kim and their neighbor/Kanye’s rival Drake.
Dozens of “White Lives Matter” rallies were scheduled to take place across America on Sunday. The events were scheduled in semi-private, encrypted chats on the Telegram app between Nazis, Proud Boys, and other right-wing extremists.
The organizers said the rallies would make “the whole world tremble.”
However, the good news is that hardly any white supremacists showed up. In fact, the vast majority of people who did show up were counter-protesters.
The events were supposed to be the first major white supremacist rallies since 2018. With a showing like this, they might end up being the last for the foreseeable future.
It’s believed that in part the rallies were an incredible flop because the extremists are afraid to be seen in public. After the Capitol riot on January 6, over 275 people have been arrested for participating in the insurrection. Another 540 have been identified by the FBI.
Many others have lost their jobs, businesses, and relationships after being exposed in photos and videos taken at the event.
The events could have also been a failure because of the disastrous 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in which a counter-protester was killed. Many of the white supremacists at the event were also exposed on social media and faced consequences for their behavior.
The failure of people to show up is further evidence that the work being done to drive the extremists underground has been a success. Over the past few years, extremist groups have been de-platformed on social media and infiltrated by informers, and law enforcement.
So, what does it all mean? The rise of domestic terrorism is a real threat according to the FBI’s own statistics. At the same time, media attention on fringe groups like the Proud Boys is often a self-perpetuating cycle of hyping up interest in such groups, which encourages others join their ranks, which results in more media attention amplifying the problem. It’s probably not a coincidence that these so-called “rallies” received less attention from mainstream and corporate media in the days leading up the scheduled event and less people ended up coming out to attend. If cutting off the oxygen is the best way to put out a fire, maybe the same comparison applies to these white nationalist groups.
That said, properly calling out these groups for being ridiculously dumb, along with being hateful, is a pretty effective strategy as well. For example, in Philadelphia there was plenty of pizza, but not a Nazi in sight.
Philly pizza party picnic?
Check!
TastyKakes?
Check!
Philly White Lives Matter Nazis?
No shows.
This is what… https://t.co/rAWV1L73R9
— Gwen Snyder is uncivil (@Gwen Snyder is uncivil)1618160864.0
In New Mexico, hundreds of counter-protesters were joined by one white supremacist with an “All Guns Matter” sign.
APD just showed up and is protecting this lone guy with the “all guns matter” sign https://t.co/7akchkmF3v
A whopping three right-wing extremists showed up in Fort Worth, Texas.
One of the organizers of the White Lives Matter rally is now outside Fort Worth City Hall. She said others are on t… https://t.co/cpOV0mhxLr
— steven monacelli (@steven monacelli)1618164803.0
The lackluster attendance prompted anti-fascist protesters to victoriously carry a sign that read: “WE ACCEPT YOUR SURRENDER.”
Leaked messages from Telegram shared by Newsweek, showed how disappointed the extremists were with the turnout. “Welp, I was the only person to show up and after being here an hour and a half for nothing I’m going home,” one lonely Nazi in Nashville, Tennessee wrote.
An extremist at the rally in Norfolk, Virginia wrote, “Well that was pitiful.”
Another Telegram user complained that they “sat around the area” of the protest but “no one showed up” on Sunday.
The only place that had a substantial turnout was Huntington Beach, California. Huntington Beach has had troubles with white supremacists and right-wing extremists for decades.
A few of the pro-White Lives Matter protesters squabbled with counter-protesters — which came by the hundreds — leading to 12 arrests. After about 90 minutes police broke the event up deeming it an unlawful assembly.
Supporters of Black Lives Matter here at PCH & Main in Huntington Beach. This gathering is held the same day rumore… https://t.co/UgCycLI6iI
— Eric Anthony Licas (@Eric Anthony Licas)1618165618.0
The extremists’ collective failure at organizing rallies shows just how successful tech companies, law enforcement, and anti-fascist groups have become at tamping down extremist movements. It’s clear that the ability to organize counter-protests has also had a stifling effect on extremists’ willingness to engage with the public.
The failure is also further evidence that extremists have a real fear of being exposed on camera for who they are and having to suffer consequences whether legal or professional.
The failure of these events to materialize shows that fighting back against extremists can be effective, it just requires vigilance.
Michael Cera has had a rich and diverse life outside of Arrested Development. He’s done Broadway and been nominated for a Tony. He shown his dark side in This is the End and also the indie The Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus. He channeled Brando for David Lynch in Twin Peaks: The Return. What he hasn’t done is return to TV full-time, outside of occasional Arrested Development reunions.
But that’s changing now. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the onetime George Michael Bluth is joining Amy Schumer in the Hulu series Life & Beth. Created and to be written, directed, and executive produced by its star, it’s expected to bow at some point this year. Here’s Hulu’s description:
“Beth’s life looks pretty great on paper. Impressive to everyone she grew up with. She makes a good living as a wine distributor. She’s in a long-term relationship with an attractive, successful guy and lives in Manhattan. When a sudden incident forces Beth to engage with her past, her life changes forever. Through flashbacks to her teen self, Beth starts to learn how she became who she is and who she wants to become. We’ll go on her journey toward building a more authentic life. Learning to express herself and living in an intentional way. A trip down memory lane is a strong source of trauma, comedy and moving forward.”
Cera is set to play John, a farmer and chef who is unfailingly honest, presumably to a fault.
It’s not as though Cera has been absent the small screen. He’s done three stints on Drunk History, appeared on the likes of Burning Love and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp and At Home with Amy Sedaris, and his voice can be heard on 63 episodes of Children’s Hospital. Still, welcome back!
CHAOS! That’s AG Club — short for Avant-Garde Club.
The Bay Area group’s music is made of the weird things that only happen in your dreams — a place where weird things actually make sense. Holding a conversation with them means sorting out fact from fiction, truth from jokes, and a line of clear logic from the chaotic input of four members all on different trains of thought. Their debut album F*uck Your Expectations exemplifies this bewildering effect. From the acrobatics heard on the rhythmic “A Bitch Curious” to the aggressively blaring “Columbia,” AG Club shows they have the range to be the elite rap band that they are primed to be.
Meeting them in person, their music suddenly makes sense, even if nothing else does at first. The titles of their songs may or may not have anything to do with the song’s content, and as the group’s members take listeners on storytelling journeys, it’s done with distorted sonics reminiscent of early A$AP Mob and Odd Future. They got some buzz last year with their breakout track “Memphis” off their EP Halfway Off The Porch — which received love from NLE Choppa and A$AP Ferg on the remix — and now it’s just about keeping the momentum going.
The group consists of Jody Fontaine, the unofficial spokesperson of the group and also the lead rapper of the unit; Baby Boy, who also serves as a lead vocalist; and Manny and Ivan, who serve as the all-encompassing creative directors of the group. Their mindset is all about never overthinking. Their brand of chaos taps into emotions, not logic, on FYE. Uproxx caught up with the guys to discuss the project and their influences.
Check out our fun conversation with AG Club to get a full grasp of their personalities and everything they have to musically offer below.
I’m excited that there’s a whole new group of younger kids that are tapping into that ASAP Mob, Odd Future energy. Just being from the Bay and getting a co-sign from A$AP Ferg, would you say he’s taken you guys under his wings?
Jody Fontaine: I mean, we haven’t really talked to anybody outside of Ferg, but Ferg showed so much support, it’s crazy.
How did you guys meet Ferg?
JF: He heard “Memphis” and he wanted to hop on the remix and he liked it. I think it was through someone who works with us from AWOL and they told us about it and we were just like that’s fire. We kind of went crazy for that. It had to happen. He came to the studio and he did the verse and we talked to him a lot. We showed him some videos and then he showed us a bunch of unreleased music, some stuff that hasn’t even dropped yet. He just gave us a bunch of gems, he’s really fire.
What’s a gem that he gave you guys that you can remember?
JF: I remember we were in the car when we were doing the shoot and he was just like, “You know, you guys are in a squad, you guys are in a crew so, you guys have to remember that no matter what happens and where you get in the lifestyle, always stick together.
What made you guys want to not go with the known Bay Area, West Coast sound.
JF: I think it was kind of, I don’t think it was really a conscious decision as, whereas it was just like, we would kind of make music that’s inspired by the music that we’re into? We’re from Antioch, California which is like East Bay. We’re not from the big city, like the big hotspots. Everything we got, trickled down. So a lot of our inspiration, we got off the internet as opposed to being down the street from all these rappers, you know what I mean? It’s like we saw that, but it wasn’t really a part of us as much, to the point where we would make that type of music. When we first started making music, we needed to know how to make that type of music.
Baby Boy: So pretty much growing up, I had a mix of very different genres. My grandma used to play Michael Bublé all the time in the house. I really f*cked with Mike. my mom used to play a lot of reggae, so I’d be dancing around with that. When I started to get my own ear for shit, I didn’t have an iPod or whatever it was back then. So, I was just listening to whatever was on the radio. Then my cousin showed me Odd Future, and then I started to really take to that. I really want to create sh*t with me and my brothers. I feel like my taste for music grew from there. That was 2012 and then on, I started getting into music.
The reason why I asked is that, as I said, the music to me, it sounds like somebody has to be very into music, a little bit deeper than the average person.
JF: I mean, I feel like the trick is just listening to everything. There’s good music everywhere. The sh*t you wouldn’t expect is what gives you the ideas, to me. I listen to all genres. I’ll dabble in a little country music, I’m not mad. When you’re in the booth or when you’re trying to make a beat or something, you have more shit to draw from, you have more shit to reference. You got to fill your mind with as much information as possible when it comes to music.
What can fans and new listeners expect from F*ck Your Expectations?
JF: I feel like we tried a lot of sh*t on there. It took us like a year to make. We try to a bunch of stuff, just a lot of different ideas and we worked with some cool people too, really dope people. I don’t know when this is coming out but worked with this dude named Renville, he’s tight. We’ve been working with this guy named Sam Truth, he’s our homie and he’s really fire. We worked with this rapper from LA named ICECOLDBISHOP, and he like dashed. We worked with some pretty cool producers and I feel like on that project, we just tried to make every single possible type of song good.
So would you say that this next project, are you guys off the porch yet?
BB: We’re off the porch and we just got hit by a bus.
Are there any features you guys can talk about on here?
JF: Yeah, we got Adele on here.
What?
JF: I’m going to shut the f*ck up. That’d be tight.
BB: Redveil, Sam Truth, ICECOLDBISHOP. Those are our three features.
JF: And Kelly Clarkson.
How crazy would that be? Has there been an artist that’s reached out to you guys like, “Yo, I f*ck with you,” but you guys were shocked?
Ivan: I mean, this is not one that was like, “Oh sh*t, no way” but like Lil Xan followed us, and we were like, what? The best person to ever interact with us or follow us was Tay Zonday, who did “Chocolate Rain.” That tops everything else.
Who is that?
JF: Tay Zonday, the dude who made the YouTube video, however long ago where he sang “Chocolate Rain”? He’s a legend. You got to look him up. He’s bigger than Drake, for real.
You guys also have a fire song called “Memphis.” Ferg hopped on it. You have NLE Choppa on it. Tell me about the inspiration behind the song and its connection to Memphis.
JF: That song just came when…I was going to say some sort of dumb sh*t I guess I’ll tell the truth. Basically, we were in the studio and we’d almost finished our album Halfway Off The Porch, and it was super late at night. It was four in the morning. This producer that we were working with at the time, was playing the sample and it was like “North Memphis n****s North Memphis n*****s.” He’s trying to f*ck with it for a minute, and then he just didn’t like what he was doing. He was going to trash it and I think it was just me and him awake at the time. I was like, “You got to keep using that. That’s dope. Try something else, try something different.”
He got the loop right and chopped it. I was hearing the “North Memphis n****s” but all I could hear in my head and just “know, let these n**** know, let these n**** know.” I was just like, “f*ck it, let me just record this real quick.” I recorded that. After that it was like a wrap, we just started writing and just putting verses on. When it came time to name the song, we don’t try to think too much about the titles. We don’t try to get like mad OCD about what the title is and how deep the meaning is and sh*t. It’s either going to be funny as hell or something that came with zero effort or something like that.
JF: When it came time to the name of the song, it was just like, f*ck it, let’s name the song “Memphis.” Like the sample says, “North Memphis” and you know, it can kind of be a shoutout to Memphis. We didn’t know that it was going to be what it ended up becoming. We were just kind of like, whatever nobody’s going to know, nobody’s going to care.
A lot of people care.
JF: Now we got people in our YouTube comments talking about, “Y’all not even from Memphis, y’all can’t come to Memphis — blah, blah, blah.”
BB: “Why do they all have nose rings?”
You guys were talking about weird titles. I thought the “Youtube2mp3” title was very, very funny. It has nothing to do with the song at all.
BB: It’s because we’re thieves, we steal internet stuff for free.
Using a YouTube downloader.
BB: We’re pirates, literally. I can’t think of why we named it that.
JF: I think when we were in the studio making that song, we made another beat after and we used a sample and we downloaded the video from YouTube. Then at the end of the night, one of our producers, always asks us, “What do you want to name the song?” So I’m pretty sure YouTube2MP3 was open on the computer. So we were just like, “Youtube2MP3.”
What are your favorite songs that you guys are excited about? Your fans might like something else, but you want them to listen to this?
BB: We got this one song called “A Bitch Curious”. My wife wrote some of it and she’s featured on it. Her name is Cam. She’s going crazy, she’s on come the up for sure. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album.
She’s getting her points.
JF: We’ve got this song called “Queso” and I really like the verses on it. We made this song called “Queso” right after the last album Halfway Off The Porch came out. We made it in March 2020, and I just really like the verses on that. It almost didn’t make the project, but it’s on there as a bonus and that’s kind of cool.
BB: “NoHo” with ICECOLDBISHOP is going to go crazy.
JF: Oh yeah, ICECOLDBISHOP gave the most insane, alien verse. It was like out of this world, he tapped into a different universe, it’s insane. It’s the craziest double, triple time [verse] I’ve ever heard in my life.
I love how chaotic you guys are. What else should your supporters be looking out for with you guys? We are about to open up outside. Going on tour? What’s good?
BB: Eat at Arby’s.
Arby’s?
BB: You know Arby’s, ask for the God Meat sandwich. It’s the secret menu items.
JF: Facts. Arby’s and Del Taco are the sponsored restaurants for AG Club. We’ve never been to Arby’s, but it would just be funny if we did. Arby’s is the chum bucket, but if they sponsored us, that would be sick.
BB: I still wouldn’t eat there, they have to give me a McDonald’s sandwich. I’d eat a lot of things before I’d eat Arby’s.
JF: We love the fans, we love everybody that supports us. Thank you to everybody that is holding us down. We got a sh*t load of videos that’s coming. We got a TV show in the works, we got some films we want to drop. The press is going to go crazy with the pieces. We have so much planned for this year and next year outside of music. It’s going to be crazy. It’s just the beginning. F*ck Your Expectations is just like the pistol start. The race is about to commence.
The Balvenie/Talisker/Glenlivet/Ardbeg/iStock/Uproxx
If you’re a fan of Scotch whisky, you’re probably well aware of the popularity of aging and resting in sherry butts and sherry seasoned casks. The Macallan, Glenmorangie, The Balvenie, and GlenDronach are well-known for utilizing the sweet, dried fruit flavors imparted by remnant sherry during the secondary aging process. But as that trend has become commonplace, distilleries have searched to find the next big thing.
By most any measure, it seems they’ve found it — aging and resting their whiskies in barrels that formerly held rum. Rum cask finishing imparts a wide array of aromas and flavors (and a general “tropical vibe”) into Scotch. Molasses, vanilla essence, rich milk chocolate, and tropical fruits are only a few of the unique notes this process typically (but not always) adds to Scotch whisky expressions. These added flavor notes help to round out some of the rougher edges some drams might otherwise have, like tamping down the campfire smokiness of peated scotch, for example.
With spring putting us in a tropical mood, we decided to share eight of our favorite rum-centric Scotch whiskies on the market. Check them out below.
A favorite in the bartending community, The Balvenie 14-Year-Old Caribbean Cask begins its life like a regular 14-year-old single malt. It’s aged for 14 years in traditional oak casks. It’s then finished in casks that once held a blend of rum from the West Indies.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find aromas of dried cherries, brown sugar, molasses, and cinnamon. On the palate, you’ll be treated to flavors of buttery caramel, crisp apples, citrus zest, vanilla beans, and subtle spices. The finish is long, warming, very dry, and ends with a nice combination of sweet vanilla cream and cinnamon sugar.
Bottom Line:
If you’re only going to purchase one bottle of rum-finished scotch, make it this one. It’s my favorite on this list and one of the first to hit the market.
When it was first released in 2002, it carried the name “Havana Reserve,” but due to an embargo with Cuba, the name had to be changed to “Gran Reserva.” It still consists of a Glenfiddich single malt that was aged for 21 years in traditional oak casks before spending the last four months of the aging process in Caribbean rum barrels.
Tasting Notes:
Take a moment to breathe in the aromas of clover honey, maple syrup, caramel apples, and spicy cinnamon. Sipping this whisky will immerse you in a world of caramelized sugar, charred oak, toasted vanilla beans, and citrus zest. It ends with a warming, mellow ride off into the sunset, flecked with toffee candy and spice.
Bottom Line:
This is a reasonably expensive bottle of scotch. It’s likely not a bottle you want to purchase the first time you dip your toe into the rum finishing world. Start with one of the cheaper bottles and work your way up to this complex pick.
Released as part of Diageo’s 2020 Special Release Collection, this whisky was first aged for eight years at the Talisker Distiller on the Isle of Skye before finishing in pot-still Caribbean rum barrels. While the final months spent in the rum cask impart extra, sweet, tropical fruit flavors, it’s also bottled at its natural cask strength of 57.9% to give it an added, bold kick.
Tasting Notes:
Give this whisky the nosing it deserves and you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to the craggy island on which it’s distilled and aged. The scents that swirl around your nostrils are those of ocean brine, iodine, smoked bacon, and sweet vanilla. The palate is where the rum comes on in full — with tropical fruit flavors and buttery caramel. The finish returns to Skye, with a nice combination of spicy pepper and woodsmoke at the very end.
Bottom Line:
If you prefer your rum-finished whisky to have just a kiss of smoke and salt air, this is a great choice for you. Enjoy a dram as you imagine sitting by the Scottish seaside on a surprisingly warm spring day.
Springbank might not have the greatest looking labels, but it’s what’s inside that really matters. This non-chill filtered single malt expression spent all 15 years of its aging process in rum casks. This is slightly different than most of the whiskies on this list — most of which began their lives in ex-bourbon casks before being finished in rum barrels.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find aromas of charred wood, molasses, dried fruits, and just a hint of ocean brine. Take a sip and you’ll be greeted with sweet cane sugar, dried ginger, vanilla beans, and peat. The finish is long, warming, and ends with a nice combination of ocean salt and peat smoke.
Bottom Line:
You’ll find a few smoky, rum-centered whiskies on this list. But you won’t find one with a better ratio of smoke to sweet, rummy flavor.
There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of the Spey River brand of whiskies. Named for the famous river located in Speyside, this brand is a collection of single malt whiskies from the region. They don’t disclose which distilleries they get their whisky from, but this offering was first aged in American oak barrels before spending a secondary maturation in former rum casks.
Tasting Notes:
Before sipping, take a moment to breathe in the scents of butter cookies, dried fruits, and spicy cinnamon sugar. Sip this whiskey and you’ll find flavors of charred oak, toffee, nougat, brown sugar, and dried fruits. It all ends with a nice, warming combination of caramel candy and subtle cinnamon spice.
Bottom Line:
If you can find this bottle, buy it. It’s a highly flavorful, easily sippable whisky that is way cheaper than it should be. Just don’t let the folks at Spey River in on this fact.
Dewar’s is one of the biggest names in the blended scotch world (along with Chivas, Famous Grouse, and Johnnie Walker). Its fairly new Caribbean Smooth expression is a blend of 40 single malts and grain whiskies. All have been matured for at least eight years. The blend is finished in former Caribbean rum casks for six additional months.
Tasting Notes:
The nose makes you believe you’re definitely not imbibing a cheap blend. It’s ripe with molasses, vanilla beans, charred wood, and citrus. Your palate will be dancing with notes of candied orange peels, mint, buttery caramel, and dried fruits. The finish is sweet, warm, and ends with a nice dollop of creamy caramel.
Bottom Line:
Many scotch drinkers stick to single malts. But you’d really be missing out if you didn’t give this highly complex, sweet whisky a chance to shine.
Released in 2019 to celebrate Ardbeg Day, this limited release single malt was created to bring a little bit of the tropics to the North Atlantic. This fully matured, peated single malt from the renowned Islay distillery is finished in casks the formerly held rum. What came out was a magical combination of vanilla, tropical fruits, and the peat smoke the distillery is known for.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll get aromas of tropical fruit flavor, sugar cane, dried fruits, and pleasing peat smoke. Take a sip and be greeted by notes of cinnamon sugar, ginger candy, buttery caramel, sweet vanilla, and more campfire smoke. The finish is warming and filled with a tad more peat smoke alongside milk chocolate notes.
Bottom Line:
Some of these whiskies appeal to fans of single malts or blends that appreciate extra sweet vanilla and caramel flavor. This is the whisky for drinkers who also appreciate bold smoke bombs. It’s on par with pairing a glass of rum with a fine cigar.
This unique, tropical fruit-centric whisky comes from the folks at Glenlivet. It holds no age statement, but a portion (not all) of the single malt whisky included was finished in barrels that formerly matured Caribbean rum. The result is a subtly fruity, malty expression perfect for slow sipping or mixing into a cocktail.
Tasting Notes:
Give this whisky a nice nosing before taking a sip and you’ll find notes of juicy peach, ripe bananas, molasses, and toasted vanilla beans. The palate is swirling with dried fruits, cinnamon, sweet treacle, and butterscotch candy. It ends the way it began: with a mellow, fruity flourish.
Bottom Line:
This is the expression to try if you’re a fan of rum. It’s complex, rich, and filled with caramel, vanilla, and tropical fruit flavors that should appeal to the most ardent rum aficionados.
As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.
The best new hip-hop this week includes albums, videos, and songs from Brockhampton, CJ, and more.
The self-declared boy band called their latest release, Roadrunner, the first of two in 2021 and their penultimate release as a group. Meanwhile, Staten Island standout CJ capitalizes on the success of his breakout hit “Whoopty” with a deluxe version of his debut EP Loyalty Over Royalty. Lastly, Quality Control’s newest roster member Lakeyah brings the feminine energy this week to keep the wave of fresh voices in hip-hop building with a brand new full-length.
Friday saw the releases of Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More,” Polo G’s “Rapstar,” and Saweetie turning in a show-stealing feature verse on Gwen Stefani’s “Slow Clap” along with the releases listed below.
Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending April 9, 2021.
Albums/EPs/Mixtapes
Brockhampton — Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine
After taking the world by storm with their Saturation trilogy and a pair of strong follow-ups, it seems Brockhampton feels they’ve run out of road. Their penultimate release is more personal and less chaotic than their previous ones, so how you’ll feel about it depends on what you wanted from the band in the first place.
CJ — Loyalty Over Royalty (Deluxe Edition)
Talk about striking while the iron is hot. Not only is CJ forging ahead with a deluxe version of his debut EP, including new single “Lil Freak,” but he’s also stoking the flames that generated the buzz around his name in the first place, centralizing his multiple “Whoopty” remixes and showing that he’s even more versatile than anyone could have thought when he kicked in the door.
Lakeyah — In Due Time
Less than a year after making her debut with Time’s Up, the Milwaukee-born Atlanta transplant follows up with another fresh collection of songs showing off her Swiss precision flow. This time, she’s revealing a bit more about herself while still retaining that boastful edge, bringing along veteran trap pioneer Gucci Mane and burgeoning talent Yung Bleu along for the ride.
MO3 — Shottaz 4Eva
The Dallas rapper — who met his untimely demise last year after being shot and killed on Interstate 35 — was building an impressive collection of independently released mixtapes that saw him garnering attention and co-signs from the likes of Boosie Badazz and Moneybagg Yo. His posthumous release includes features from Boosie, Foogiano, and YFN Lucci.
Onyx — Onyx 4 Life
This is my Elder Millennial Nostalgia inclusion. Onyx hasn’t lost a step lyrically since their “Slam”-backed heyday, and while their gritty approach to menacing New York hip-hop has become less trendy, there’s still a granule of authenticity at the center of their threatening raps and a youthful glint to their delivery. It’s worth checking out, especially if DMX’s passing has you wondering where all the tough-guy rap has gone.
Singles/Videos
Angelo Mota — “First Gear”
A New Jersey rapper with a gift for catchy hooks and an ear for hypnotic beats, Angelo is well-worth keeping an eye on.
Bankroll Freddie — “Active”
Freddie’s latest is a glaring warning to enemies, with a trunk-ready beat and rapid-fire delivery from Freddie replete with detailed threats and boastful declarations of realness.
Shordie Shordie & Murda Beatz — “Seattle”
Captain Hook applies his gifts to a comparison between himself and a former lover’s new paramour.
TruCarr — “Bout Mine” feat. Sada Baby
Watts rapper TruCarr displays some intriguing chemistry with lyrical Michigan machine gun Sada Baby.
YXNG K.A — “Why Would I” feat. Lil Durk
Chi-Town vet lends some assistance to young Philadelphia upstart YXNG K.A on an upbeat track that sees them bragging with singsong flows.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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Scary Larry 
(@StompTheGOP) 
(@ImSpeaking13) 
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