We’re closing in on our second year of the pandemic era, and it’s been a wild ride for conservatives. First they, led by then-president Donald J. Trump, tried to ignore it. Then they downplayed it. Then they attacked all the life-saving measures (masks, vaccines) that could bring it to an end. (Some even told their followers to harass people wearing masks.) How could they ever top opposing an actual cure to a highly contagious disease? One far right pundit seems to have come up with a solution: Get COVID on purpose. That’ll own the libs.
As per The Daily Beast, conservative radio host and commentator Dennis Prager — who’s 73 and who sometimes teams up with libertarian comic Adam Carolla, including on one of those right-wing documentaries that occasionally come out — revealed a couple things on Monday. One, he tested positive for COVID, and without a vaccine in his system. Two, it was all part of his master plan.
“It is infinitely preferable to have natural immunity than vaccine immunity and that is what I have hoped for the entire time,” Prager asserted on his show, which he recorded at home as he quarantines. “Hence… I have engaged with strangers, constantly hugging them, taking photos with them knowing that I was making myself very susceptible to getting COVID… [It is] what I wanted, in the hope I would achieve natural immunity and be taken care of by therapeutics. That is exactly what has happened.”
How did Prager ensure that he would catch a highly transmissible and fatal disease whose severity can be largely eliminated by taking a free and widely available vaccine? By hugging “strangers in the thousands, literally in the thousands, while not being inoculated.”
He then rattled off the army of sometimes questionable medication he’s been taking, including, yes, ivermectin, the horse medication that can be taken by humans but which is not proven to combat COVID. He’s also taking what has become known as “Zelenko Protocol, the cocktail of dodgy medications that includes the Trump-shilled hydrocloroquine (which is also not proven to combat COVID). He was also administered monoclonal antibodies, which is more expensive, more time-consuming, and less effective than, you know, taking one of the three COVID vaccines.
Prager told The Daily Beast he was “not comfortable getting an experimental vaccine produced with brand-new technology that had never before been deployed in humans on a mass scale without long-term safety data.” What he was comfortable doing, however, was taking medication that has only been approved for emergency use by the FDA (monoclonal antibodies) and a pile of other questionable medications that have been compiled by one Vladimir Zelenko, a family practitioner and conspiracy theorist.
“I certainly don’t gamble with my health,” Prager told his listeners. “But I so believe science and the science of ivermectin, not the lies of The New York Times.” (Again, the “science of ivermectin” is that it doesn’t treat COVID, even according to the company that produces it, partly as a dewormer for farm animals.)
Anyway, hope listening to conspiracy theorists and not doctors was worth it. Prager told the Beast that after testing positive, he experienced “a great deal of chills. Also he and his wife have both lost their taste of smell.
Prager’s decision to put his life in danger was seen by some as the next step in COVID denial.
Dennis Prager saying he got covid on purpose is a sign conservatives are beginning to enter the “covid is actually good” stage of derangement https://t.co/74QOuEpUM5
Others reminded him that monoclonal antibody treatment is more “experimental” than FDA-approved vaccines.
So … Dennis Prager who rages against the Covid vaccine, was fine receiving alternative monoclonal antibodies that have only received EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) from the FDA??
Rich white conservative men like Rogan and Prager refuse vaccination, get COVID-19, and then reveal they’re taking every drug known to man to get healthy—including some only the rich can get, some the FDA hasn’t greenlit, some that do nothing. Then they recover and sow confusion.
And others pointed out that Prager is endangering the lives of all of his gullible listeners, who may not be able to afford the army of medication that he (and Joe Rogan) put into their bodies.
There are now roughly 90,000 people in graves because they have followed people/counsel like this. What an awful, lethal legacy to leave. https://t.co/H8HdBSxo7n
Like you, we love burgers. We’re so crazy about them, in fact, that we’re willing to rank fifteen against one another. We’ll even go so far as to debate burgers down to the patty. At this point, we’re certifiable burger pros ready to gorge ourselves with the best of them. Eat your heart out, Alvin Cailan.
But just when it felt like we’d ranked all the fast food burgers out there, we realized that one category was still slipping through the cracks. A certain type of burger that until now has defied categorization, calling out to be ranked.
No, not plant-based burgers, we hit those; in fact, we’re talking about the polar opposite of those clean new-age meat alternatives. We’re talking about mouthwatering meat bombs that promise indigestion. The gaudiest, wildest, most overloaded, and indulgent burgers in the entire fast food space.
What defines an “overly decadent” burger? It’s like that famous ruling on porn, “I’ll know it when I see it.” It’s a sandwich so excessive in its construction that eating it feels like a borderline dare. Seriously, we’re not sure these burgers are actually functional fixtures on the fast food menus they appear on. They’re “sometimes” orders.
But nevertheless, someone has to rank them. Clearly, it should be us. So without delay, here’s our ranking of the best overly decadent fast food burgers, from complete trash to fast food gems.
9. Burger King — Garlic Bacon King
Burger King
Calories: 1137
Total Fat: 74.8g
The Burger
See why this burger ranking is so vital? How else would you find out if Burger King’s Garlic and Bacon King was worth ordering? It defies categorization! It’s bad. Grabbing our last place spot, as they often do, Burger King’s Garlic and Bacon King is one of the weirdest fast food cheeseburgers I’ve ever eaten.
The burger features two quarter pounder meat patties with two slices of cheese sandwich between them, a few strips of bacon, and chopped chunks of garlic topping the thing, which sits on mayo-slathered sesame seed buns. The garlic is, as you might predict, incredibly fragrant. But not in a good way, this stuff f*cking stinks. The texture of the garlic is also puzzling, it’s mushy, yet dry; chewy but not crunchy.
No joke: it’s the worst use of garlic I’ve ever tasted in my life.
The Bottom Line:
Burger King already has a Bacon King sandwich, why they thought it needed a serving of weird chopped garlic is beyond comprehension. We think they were going for something gourmet here, but it tastes more like the sort of burger you’d only find in nightmares.
8. Jack in the Box — Bacon Cheddar Loaded Double Cheeseburger
Jack in the Box
Calories: 910
Total Fat: 37g
The Burger
Leave it to Jack in the Box to give us not one, two, three, or four, but five different bacon cheeseburger options. If you ask Jack in the Box what’s in the box, they’d simply reply “bacon.” To be honest, I’m not psyched about this burger, I’m only including it because the sandwich that I wanted to include, the Stacked Bacon Breakfast Sandwich, isn’t actually a cheeseburger — so I had to disqualify it.
That one is definitely worth eating. This one, on the other hand? Not so much.
Featuring two beef patties, bacon, cheddar cheese, lettuce (on top of the burger, blasphemous) and cheddar ranch sauce on a cheddar ranch bun, the Bacon Cheddar Loaded Double Cheeseburger looks like it promises big flavor, but instead it’s — and I can’t believe I’m saying this — too cheesy to be enjoyable.
The cheddar ranch sauce is sharp and sour, I never want to eat it again, and while the cheddar bun is at the very least interesting, it found it more distracting than anything else. It’s rare that I’ll ever find anything too cheesy to enjoy, but Jack in the Box accomplished the impossible.
Too bad that’s not a good thing.
The Bottom Line:
Jack in the Box already has four other bacon cheeseburgers and this is the best they could come up with? Take it back to the lab Jack.
This burger is a frustrating one. On one hand, you can’t deny its decadence, three patties of 1/2lb beef is decadent by every measure of the word. But at the same time, it’s sooooooo boring. No bacon, no strange sauce, no premium gourmet ingredients to set it apart as something special, it’s just a big-ass triple cheeseburger. Most frustrating of all, it’s actually pretty damn delicious too.
Fat Burger’s meat is juicy and very flavorful, seasoned with what tastes like a mix of salt and black pepper, but that’s all we can say about this burger.
The Bottom Line:
It’s good, not great, and not interesting enough to head out to Fat Burger for. We know Fatburger has it in them to create something truly next level, but it seems for now they rather put that power in your hands than take up the task themselves.
6. Carls Jr. /Hardee’s— Western Double Bacon Cheeseburger
Carl
Calories: 1020
Total Fat: 54g
The Burger
We have a lot of respect for Carl’s Jr’s Double Western Cheeseburger. It’s been around for so long that it’s arguably the burger that put the idea of the overly decadent burger on the map. The Double Wester Bacon Burger walked so Smash Burger’s Smoked Brisket Burger could run.
This burger is constructed with two charbroiled patties, two crispy strips of bacon, two slices of American cheese, two large panko-breaded onions rings, slathered on both sides with tangy barbecue sauce. It’s one of the crunchiest and messiest burgers in the game and it’s addictive and delicious enough to be your favorite burger from Carl’s Jr. but it’s held back by being, well… from Carl’s Jr.
Better meat patties would go a long way in pushing this burger up a few spots on our ranking. Unfortunately, Carl’s Jr’s charbroiled patties aren’t the greatest. They’re dry and strangely grainy with a dirty-burnt flavor that tries to masquerade as charbroiled but tastes more like someone burnt the patty in a toaster oven.
The Bottom Line:
As decadent as they come but this sandwich is held back by the quality of its meat. If you love Carl’s Jr, you’ll love this, but if you’ve never been, it’s not a reason to go.
Calories: 670 (For A Regular Double Double, In-N-Out doesn’t have Nutritional Facts for Secret Menu Items)
Total Fat: 41g (For a Double Double)
The Burger
We debated whether we should include In-N-Out’s Animal Style burger, or the gargantuan 4×4, which utilizes four meat patties stacked with four layers of American cheese. Considering any burger can be ordered Animal Style at In-N-Out, we’re just going to go ahead and lump these together.
In-N-Out’s small and unshifting menu is arguably one of the chain’s many strengths. But while the Animal Style is good, and a favorite amongst many, it doesn’t really capture that mad burger decadence we’re looking for — so this is probably the lowest-ranked an In-N-Out burger will ever be scored by us.
The Animal Style consists of extra spread smeared across both buns joined by all the usual burger fixings: lettuce, tomato, and cheese, with a hefty serving of grilled onions, pickles, and a mustard-cooked beef patty. It ups the flavor to a considerable degree with a powerful mix of salt and tang in each bite, followed by a bit of sweetness from those grilled onions and so much sauce that it’ll drop in globs from your burger to the tray (don’t eat this in a car).
For a hack that takes this already excessive burger to the next level, ask them to add chopped chilis on top.
The Bottom Line:
Whether you’re keeping things light with a single or going HAM with a Double Double, 3×3, or 4×4, Animal Style makes each burger a substantially more filling and delicious meal. Still, it’s not quite as excessive as we’d like.
For Wendy’s, we had to choose between the triple-stacked Bourbon Bacon Cheeseburger or the triple-stacked Big Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburger. Both are so insane that they’ll make your heart explode just looking at them, but we’ve got to give the edge to the Bourbon.
Bourbon beats Cheddar, that’s not even debatable.
This triple cheeseburger features three quarter-pound patties of meat, three slices of American cheese, crispy onions, and a bourbon bacon sauce that tastes like a sweeter, smokier and more complex version of bbq sauce with a much thinner consistency. Wendy’s used real bourbon for this sauce and we appreciate the commitment.
Overall the burger tastes like a leveled up version of Carl’s Jr’s Western Bacon Cheeseburger, the crispy onions are battered in a deliciously seasoned batter, which tastes iike a mix of black pepper and paprika to my taste buds — though, to be honest, it’s a little hard to pinpoint the flavors of this burger.
Regardless, this packs a whole lot of sweet and savory flavors, and everything compliments one another. This is a real winner.
The Bottom Line:
One of Wendy’s best cheeseburgers. It’s excessive, yes, and big enough for you to share with up four people. This is the type of burger you go out on if you’re planning on giving up eating meat for a while, which after this article, might be us. What a way to go.
Shake Shack’s Double Black Truffle Burger is a new limited-time menu item at the Shack and it’s dangerously close to becoming our current favorite fast food burger, regardless of category. In fact, the only thing keeping this burger from scoring our number one pick is the fact that despite its use of black truffle sauce and deep-fried shallots (not onion rings), it isn’t that decadent.
A few more layers of random meats would probably do the job, but let’s not mess with perfection. Creamy and salty Gruyere cheese works in harmony with the Shack’s savory meat and umami truffle-packed sauce, with the crispy shallots acting as some much-appreciated crunch with a subtly spicy aftertaste that lingers nicely between bites.
Black truffle-based sauce and crispy shallots are the sorts of premium ingredients that Shake Shack’s gourmet meat always deserved. Here is hoping this remains a permanent menu item.
The Bottom Line:
Black truffles and crispy fried shallots, is this a Michelin Star restaurant or a fast-casual joint? We’re happy that Shake Shack is blurring that line.
Now, this is what we’re talking about! Eating this burger and being able to talk about it is all the justification we need for creating this ranking. This is decadence at its finest: a tiny four-ounce smash patty is joined by gochujang marinated pork belly, Korean slaw, pickles, and Umami’s signature sauce.
Yes, you read that right, f*cking pork belly on a burger!
This is one of the juiciest burgers I’ve ever tasted, each bite of savory goodness is greeted with a blast of spice and tang that settles into mouthwatering umami-induced sensations across your taste buds. A four-ounce patty might sound unsatisfying, but any more beef would push this burger into the unpalatable territory.
Aside from having pork belly in this burger, this is one of the easier burgers on this list to eat. You’re not going to feel like your stomach is going to explode after eating this thing, it features a surprisingly small form factor, think a slightly bigger White Castle slider with premium ingredients. Since it’s one of Umami’s newer menu items, we don’t currently know how many calories and fat are in a single burger, but we’re willing to bet it’s nowhere near 1000 calories, as some of the monsters on this list.
The Bottom Line:
A must-order — it’s f*cking pork belly on a cheeseburger, need we say more?
Hearing about this new burger from Smash Burger gave us the idea to write this article in the first place, so it’s only fitting that when we finally tasted it, it managed to snag the top spot. Featuring two Angus beef patties, smoked cheddar, bacon, pickles, BBQ sauce, and layers of tender smoked brisket on a brioche bun.
First of all, let me just say, brisket on a burger? Genius move. Smashburger’s brisket isn’t even that mind-blowing, it’s bursting with smokey and sweet flavors, the texture is a little drier than I’d like it to be, but it doesn’t even matter because overall the whole thing tastes so damn delicious that it doesn’t even matter that you’re not getting the best brisket in the world.
The cheddar has a nice balance of sharp and nutty flavor and is perfectly layered between the patties as well as the brisket and bacon. Each pickle is thick and full of sour tang, and if the thing couldn’t get any more smokey, it’s also topped with sweet barbecue sauce. This burger is so packed with umami that Smash Burger might as well change its name to Umami Burger.
Be warned though, this burger edges towards dangerously sweet territories, if you can’t handle sweet with your meat, look to our tangy second choice instead.
The Bottom Line:
Decadence at its finest. Smokey, complex, with a flavor so damn addicting that it’s enough to make you forget that you’re going to instantly regret eating this burger once you’re done with it. This is fast food’s most decadent burger, hands down.
Kevin Durant is going to go down as one of the greatest basketball players of all time whenever his career ends. Before that happens, though, Durant received an award for the level of excellence he has achieved as a player in the Association by making it to the 75th anniversary team that the league is announcing this week.
While the list will be revealed over the next three days in segments of 25 players each, Durant was among the players who saw their names included on Tuesday before the season tipped off on TNT. In the aftermath, Stephanie Ready of TNT caught up with Durant to ask him his thoughts on being named one of the 75-best players to ever step on the hardwood.
“It means everything to be honest. … To be amongst the greatest that this game has ever seen, just to be in the same company is pretty sweet.”
“It means a lot, it means everything, to be honest,” Durant said. “You wanna leave your mark in this league, in the game of basketball itself. And to be amongst the greatest that this game has ever seen, to be in the same company, it’s pretty sweet, so. As a kid, I’d seen the 50th anniversary [team], and always dreamt of having one of those jackets on and being amongst that group, and being in that brotherhood. So, it feels good to be a part of it.”
Durant will look to follow up his inclusion in the team with a big performance in the first game of the 2021-22 NBA season, as he’ll lead the Nets into Milwaukee to take on the defending champion Bucks.
The lead-up to the NBA season has been dominated by the Philadelphia 76ers and their ongoing standoff with Ben Simmons. Things appeared to go to another level on Tuesday, as Simmons was suspended for conduct detrimental to the team after kicking him out of practice. From there, Joel Embiid seemed to let his frustrations boil over by saying it’s not the job of anyone on the team to babysit Simmons, among a number of other things that serve as a reminder that this is more than just a staring contest between a front office and one player who wants a fresh start.
Unsurprisingly, a Simmons conversation took place during TNT’s pre-game broadcast on Tuesday evening. Charles Barkley, who has not been shy about how disappointing he finds this entire situation, expressed his belief that everyone in Philly is at fault for how things have gone, even though “Ben Simmons deserves No. 1 [of] the blame.”
“The Sixers deserve some blame because they already let this guy not improve and get one coach fired,” Barkley said. “So they deserve some blame for that. They threw Brett Brown under the bus. And the third thing is, Doc Rivers. Last year, we had him on — ‘You guys want me to take Ben Simmons out the game?’ Yeah, we do! If he’s just gonna stand around and not shoot the basketball, then yes we do.
“So there’s plenty of blame to go around,” Barkley continued. “But the No. 1 blame goes to Ben Simmons. Kenny, Shaq — your coach, your mom and dad, you should want to be a better basketball player because that’s your profession, that’s your job. Your coach is important, your mom and dad’s important, but I wanted to be a great basketball player for myself, first and foremost.”
Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal have made clear their disappointment in Simmons throughout this offseason, citing how he’s not as interested in improving as they want him to be.
In advance of the 2021-22 season, the Sacramento Kings largely retained the key pieces of their 2020-21 roster. De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton headline the squad in the backcourt alongside lottery pick Davion Mitchell, and the Kings have solid pieces in the frontcourt with Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes. At times last season, Sacramento was feisty and competitive and, on the right evening, the Kings looked to be a team on the rise. However, much of the team’s progress took place in the relative absence of former No. 2 pick Marvin Bagley III, who is set to enter his fourth season in the NBA.
With that in mind, the Kings are in an interesting position with Bagley III, particularly after retaining Holmes and spending resources to land depth in Tristan Thompson and Alex Len up front. Many have wondered what Sacramento’s plan is for Bagley III, who is scheduled to earn more than $11 million this season before hitting free agency, and Bagley III’s agent Jeff Schwartz didn’t hold back in addressing the situation on Tuesday.
Schwartz, in a statement released by Excel Sports Management, ripped the Kings for their “mismanagement” of Bagley III, and he also revealed that Sacramento does not plan to deploy Bagley III in their rotation to open the season.
“Sacramento has informed Marvin Bagley he is not in the opening night rotation, which is completely baffling,” the statement reads. “It’s clear they have no plans for him the future, and yet, passed on potential deals at last year’s deadline and this summer based on ‘value.’ Instead, they chose to bring him back but not play him, a move completely contradictory to their ‘value’ argument. This is a case study in mismanagement by the Kings organization.”
On one hand, Schwartz has a clear and vested interest in Bagley III seeing the court, particularly as the former Duke standout attempts to find his next contract after the season. Through that lens, it is easy to see the frustration that might set in, particularly amid various reports that Bagley III has been on the trade block at multiple times over the last several months.
At the same time, this is a step that isn’t often taken in a public setting by an agent, as Schwartz was very aggressive in criticizing the Kings. Bagley III has clearly disappointed on the floor when compared to expectations and, with an eight-figure salary, it isn’t necessarily an automatic that he could moved in the near future. Perhaps the goal is to push the Kings into dealing Bagley III but, in the process, Schwartz also may hurt Sacramento’s leverage by bringing to light that Sacramento seemingly doesn’t see a present or future between the two parties.
Los Angeles’ David Sabastian is the latest artist to take over the UPROXX Sessions mic, bringing an upbeat performance of his song “Bad B*tch Holiday” to life. Decked out in black leather and shades, the rapper/part-time fashion designer switches from clipped, energetic rapping to full-throated crooning on the song, which he also released a video for earlier this month featuring narration by none other than Saweetie.
Sabastian has lurked Los Angeles’ underground scene for some time, designing for prominent stars of the music industry and producing music independently before being picked up by Warner Records in late 2020 and announcing his debut EP, Sistas, aiming for release this Friday, October 22. Get familiar now.
Watch David Sabastian’s UPROXX Sessions performance of “Bad B*tch Holiday” above.
UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.
David Sabastian is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
While there’s no shortage of love and appreciation for late comic book legend Stan Lee, fellow icon Jack Kirby hasn’t always been so lucky in regards to getting the attention he deserves. Despite creating many of the world’s most famous heroes and supergroups (The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, Captain America, Black Panther, Thor, and The X-Men, for starters), compared to his colleague, Kirby has always been less of a household name for folks who aren’t deeply committed to comics. However, at last night’s Eternals premiere, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was quick to give credit where credit was due.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Feige reportedly told the outlet Marvel’s latest film is a “love letter” to the late and great Kirby, and what “one man was able to do with a pencil, sitting at a little desk on the east coast.” Feige continued to gush about the creator as well as Eternals vision, telling reporters:
“We are very, very proud of it [Eternals].Yes, it’s ten characters nobody has heard of. But it is the heart and soul of what Jack Kirby brought to our universe.”
Feige’s love of Kirby comes as no surprise considering the first Marvel film Feige ever worked on was 2000’s X-Men, the first major film adaptation of one of Kirby’s works. However, in a world where Marvel and comic creators haven’t had the greatest of relationships as of late, it’s nice to hear one of the studio’s biggest names paying respect to an artist.
Unfortunately, Kirby passed away back in 1994, shortly before the premiere of X-Men and long before the birth of the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” as we know it. Feige says the fact that Kirby was unable to see any of what the Marvel Universe had become is one of “the current timeline’s” biggest “bummers.” However, it feels like we can safely say that Kirby — a man known for encouraging diversity in comics and creating groups of characters frequently viewed as “outsiders” by society — would most likely be all about the Eternals movie and Marvel Studios taking a chance on “ten characters nobody has heard of” to make a different kind of superhero movie.
Eternals, the latest entry in the MCU boasting a star-studded cast featuring Gemma Chan, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Kit Harrington, and more, hits theaters November 5.
We’re still learning new things about what happened on Jan. 6, and each one suggests there’s a lot more damning intel to be found. There’s a new piece by The Washington Post about Tommy Tuberville, the college football coach-turned-senator, who, on his first full day on the job, was one of 13 Republican senators who voted against the certification of now-president Joe Biden’s election. And among the details are this: Tuberville also sneaked away to a closet for a meeting with other senators looking to jeopardize democracy.
After the mob of violent Trump supporters broke into the Capitol building, sending congress members into hiding, Tuberville joined the likes of Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and other GOP senators in a storage closet inside a bunker, hiding not only from the mob but from their colleagues. It was a mix of die hard Trumpists, the like the Texas senator whose wife Trump had called “ugly,” and more reasonable Republicans, who were worried that voting against Biden’s certification after rioters inspired by their words had infiltrated the Capitol might look bad:
“There were 12 of us gathered to talk about what happens now [and] where do things go from here,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.).
The mood was “very heavy,” remembered Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.).
“I do remember saying we have to pull the country together,” said Lankford, “We are so exceptionally divided that it’s spilling into the building.”
“I didn’t really listen to them,” Tuberville said about the closet colloquy.
Tuberville recalls that some senators had a change of heart, deciding to abandon the plan to try and overturn an election based on insufficient or even nonexistent evidence. He was not one of them. Why did Tuberville vote against certification, thus ensuring his name would forever be connected to that infamous day?
“I wasn’t voting for me, I was voting for the people of Alabama,” Tuberville told The Post. “President Trump has an 80-percent approval there. I told them, ‘I’m going to vote how you want me to vote.’” (Also, Trump helped get him elected.)
Since that day, Tuberville has not gone full Trump firebrand, like Cruz or Hawley or like fellow first year congresspeople Marjorie Taylor Greene and Madison Crowther. But he also says he has “no regrets” about that day, and even appeared at a rally in August with Trump, where he claimed, without proof, that Biden’s win was part of the “most corrupt election in American history.”
When you think “LA hip-hop,” the mind is quick to conjure images of Pac, Snoop, and N.W.A.. But true rap heads have always known that the LA scene is vastly more diverse than those legendary names might indicate. Yes, gangsta rap and g funk made massive waves, but there’s always been a thriving underground hip-hop scene in the City of Angels.
Planet Asia, Evidence, Chali 2na and his crew Jurassic 5… there’s no shortage of names who carved their own paths while Death Row was taking up most of the Los Angeles airspace. And just like what my team and I built with Rawkus Records out in New York, the music that came out of the West Coast’s independent scene stands the test of time. Over the past two years, Verzuz and our show, People’s Party with Talib Kweli, have helped legends of the culture get their flowers; now a new documentary is helping tell the story of the LA underground and give its pioneers some love.
Where We’re From: The Elements Documentarytells the story of the famed Elements Entertainment events, some of the realest and most revered rap shows, freestyles, and battles in hip-hop history. It’s told through the lens of Element’s co-founders DJ Bonds and DJ Breeze (who co-directed the doc) and Damon Bonds (who exec-produced it) and features all of the aforementioned names, along with Talib Kweli, Cut Chemist, Devine Styler, and so many more.
To celebrate the launch of their documentary, share stories, and learn more about the LA underground scene, I sat down with DJ Bonds and DJ Breeze. Our conversation is sure to interest anyone who loves the voices, energy, and vibe of that magical era in hip-hop culture.
Where We
Culture goes in cycles, as we know. Why do you think right now we’re at a cultural moment where people are looking back at some of these jewels and gems from hip-hop culture and really wanting to shine a light on it?
DJ Bonds: I have these conversations with Anthony Marshall of The Lyricist Lounge. We talk about legacy. We talk about the things that you’ve done as a youth, in your 20s, and what mark you may have left, but it doesn’t mean really anything unless it’s documented and if you don’t tell your story. So I think as I saw Straight Outta Compton coming out, and another Tupac movie and a who killed Biggie movie, there were a lot of movies coming out about the same kind of stories. I was like, “man.” Much love to the legends, but there are more stories in hip-hop than just Death Row and Bad Boy. There are more stories out there that need to be told.
I felt a certain responsibility of telling more stories, not just ours. We pay homage to other clubs and spots and different things that we felt we needed to uplift and shine a light on. There are people in our film that are no longer here. Tomorrow’s not promised and so we need to basically make sure we are shining a light on them while they’re here. So I love the fact we got a chance to shine a light on Planet Asia, and Dilated, and J-Five, and the Beat Junkies, and basically friends and that synergy that we have. I hope it inspires people to do the same, to tell your story, document your story, and push out that culture.
Our culture is dope and our culture is more than just gangster rap, at least for LA. I’m sure the culture is a little bit more than Bad Boy out there. Again, much respect. I’m not trying to diss anybody, but there’s a point to tell more stories in hip-hop culture.
I don’t know if you guys read the Beastie Boys’ book, but I often tell people if you want to understand how a DIY scene works, strategy-wise, read that book. Your documentary also is a testament to the power of the DIY scene. What did you feel like your responsibility was as curators of that scene?
DJ Bonds: Honestly, just not to put on anything whack. I can’t tell you how many times rappers and labels will say, “I’ll pay you to put an artist on.” You can’t pay me enough money for no whack shit on my stage. Fuck that. It’s straight up and down. It has to be dope. It has to be the essence of hip-hop. So when you come into the club, you’re going to hear four turntables, two DJs behind it getting down, going crazy, playing some dope-ass hip-hop. You’re going to see a circle and incredible dancers going back and forth. I might give them a hundred to $200 that night for a dance competition.
You paid the dancers? That’s dope if you did. Dancers should be paid to create the vibe.
DJ Bonds: Well, we would do competitions.
So we’re having this interview on the 30th anniversary of The Low End Theory. Obviously an incredibly important album, one of the greatest albums of all time in any genre. I think people were surprised to find out that Tribe Called Quest was such a big deal also on the West Coast. And by the way, you’re wearing a Tribe Called Quest shirt right now with an LA hat. Break it down.
DJ Breeze: You couldn’t go anywhere in LA without hearing that album. We embraced a lot of that stuff coming up from back east. I remember vividly one time at a red light, I’m in my car bumping the Gangstarr Hard to Earn album. There’s a couple dudes, they look like my age, they were just crossing the street. As they’re walking in front of my car, they start reciting the lyrics for the song that I’m playing.
LA has always embraced hip-hop. It didn’t matter where it come from, as long as it was dope.
Do you think West Coast artists from your scene got their due?
DJ Breeze: Earlier, we brought up Evidence and Planet Asia. These guys are still relevant today. These guys came out 20 years ago and not too many people can say that, that they’re still relevant 20 years later in music. Not only does Element’s story need to be told, but their story needs to be told. It’s almost like a slap in the face to an example like Asia or Ev who’s still touring and selling out shows.
How can you ignore that? The story needed to be told.
Where We
So speaking of stories that need to be told, the story of hip-hop is one that’s pretty much tied, hand in hand, the story of overcoming adversity through creativity. I think that’s very much the story in this documentary about what y’all did and I’m specifically talking about institutional racism in the LA club scene. How did that affect you and what was the outcome?
DJ Bonds: It’s images on TV of violence and images and soundtracks of gangster rap. So this perception that is had by owners of these venues, that’s all they think about. They think that we’re going to fight, and wild out, and kill each other, and so on and so forth, but it was anything but that. Hip-hop culture, we come from and what we do, we embrace DJ-ing and break dancing and emceeing. So it was anything but fighting. So that perception really was there and as I looked back in hindsight, I wish I had the foresight to get 10 guys together and buy our own club. Maybe our own House Of Blues chain.
Can you explain what hip-hop insurance is? It was a tax on what? Let’s be honest.
DJ Bonds: It was a tax on a kind of music. They would ask you, what kind of music are you playing? If you said hip-hop, then you had to take out an additional liability because the perception was that it was more dangerous to have that event at your venue. So I would have to go get liability insurance or I would have to, well, they would say pay more because you’re a liability to my venue.
So I assume that there was a similar thing for punk shows?
DJ Bonds: No.
No? Interesting.
DJ Bonds: Well, let me not misspeak. Let me not because I’m not a punk promoter. So let me not misspeak. Any punk promoters out there, you want to chime in, you can. But from my knowledge, the white boys weren’t having to pay no fucking insurance like I was. From what I know, they didn’t have to do that.
I would have to go get someone who was associated with Golden Voice to get other venues.
Where We
By the way, they were punk promoters.
DJ Bonds: There you go! Again, respect to Paul Tollett, we threw an amazing festival together. We did multiple events together. I love Paul. For folks who don’t know who Paul Tollett is, he’s the mastermind behind Coachella. He was one of the first owners, if you will, of Golden Voice and we did some work together. But I had to reach out to him to help me get into venues, which is fucking crazy. I get passionate about it because when you really go through it, when you really see racism in your face and you’re just trying to do something to put positivity out there, especially in LA, growing up in LA in the ’90s where you’re getting fucked with by the gangs all the time.
I’m not a gang member at all whatsoever. You’re getting fucked with by the cops because if you walk in a group of four or five people together, you’re a gang. It was a gang ordinance kind of thing. We’re wearing cross colors and we’re no way near gang-affiliated, but we were always getting fucked with.
We just wanted to do hip-hop. That’s all we want to do.
When you try to throw your hip-hop shows, you’re getting hit with a gang tax basically.
DJ Bonds: Yeah, yeah. So it’s frustrating and I’m probably not speaking well to it.
No, I felt it. I felt it in the film, really the frustration of it and the unfairness of it. It really jumped out. I know there were a lot of things that affected your ability to not last longer, but that felt like the strongest contributing factor.
DJ Bonds: What’s scary is when you really think about it right now how many clubs are owned by Black and Brown of our culture. So if anything, it’s a wake-up call for a lot of us who love this culture of hip-hop. That we need to own more venues, we need to do more for ourselves. So we have this incredible independent scene that got created. I don’t know why, but for some reason, we didn’t take it a step further and take actual ownership of venues, and hopefully, someone will hear this and get inspired and make something happen in your city. They’ll go own a venue, they’ll own a bar, create an avenue for those kids to have something that they can do outside of being on the streets and getting into trouble.
By the way, I want to thank you guys for allowing me to have played a small role in this film. I remember so well that Fat Beats anniversary show that Elements did with Tash and Everlast, but also Reflection Eternal and Pharoahe Monch, and thinking, “we’re a big label now.” How did you guys feel about that moment?
DJ Breeze: Bonds and I knew we had something — like we had gold.
Where We
Absolutely. And before we sign off, can you explain to people who may not think that they need to know about the history of LA’s underground hip-hop culture, why this documentary is important and why they should watch it?
DJ Breeze: First of all, it’s just a great story about friendship and two guys who had a historic run in LA hip hop. Not only that, but it’s also breaking down that misconception about Los Angeles and that every time Los Angeles is brought up, it always seems to be just gangster rap. That type of culture, which is essential and it’s a beautiful culture and it’s cemented here, but it’s not all we’re about. We didn’t want people to walk away thinking that, that’s all Los Angeles music is about. So we wanted to break that stereotype down.
The NBA’s 75th anniversary celebration began well before the start of the 2021-22 regular season, but the campaign tips off on Tuesday night with great fanfare. In advance of the opening night doubleheader featuring the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, and the reigning NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks, the folks at TNT released a six-minute video featuring some of the league’s current stars recreating iconic moments from decades past.
The video is full of memories entrenched in the minds of basketball fans, narrated with the NBA’s present-day standouts sharing their thoughts on those that came before them. The nostalgia is significant, much in the way the league presented with its short film “NBA Lane” earlier this month, and the idea is also spot-on in putting the current stars in position to be captured in a reverent way.
Throughout the video presentation, superstars dress in throwback fashion, replicating some of their idols. For example, Kevin Durant stands in the shoes of Spurs legend George Gervin, to whom he is often compared due to a slender frame and smooth style. Elsewhere, Rudy Gobert recreates an iconic Bill Russell moment after a gripping rebound, Chris Paul models Bob Cousy as one of the game’s legendary point guards, and Kawhi Leonard puts together an iconic scoop shot from Dr. J.
One moment that stands out is Jayson Tatum as Kobe Bryant, with Tatum stating plainly that Bryant is “the reason I fell in love with basketball” back when Tatum was in sixth grade. There are several additional scenes, including Draymond Green as Dennis Rodman, Trae Young bowing to the crowd as Reggie Miller, and Luka Doncic recreating a Dirk Nowitzki fadeaway that is sure to bring feels to those in Dallas.
The league will be releasing a 75-player list of the game’s greats, in addition to work from ambassadors like Bob Pettit, in an effort to promote the history of the NBA and grow the game. This video is another intriguing step to that goal, and any long-time basketball appreciator will have memories jogged throughout the presentation.
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