Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.
This week saw Nicki Minaj linking up with Lil Baby, as well as Dr. Dre officially releasing his GTA Online songs. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
Nicki Minaj and Lil Baby — “Do We Have A Problem?”
Nicki Minaj has some people she just won’t work with, but Lil Baby clearly isn’t on that list, as the pair dropped “Do We Have A Problem?” last week. To accompany the hard-hitting, synth-driven number, Minaj and Baby came through with a cinematic video, that runs for nine minutes and is inspired by Angelina Jolie’s Salt.
Dr. Dre and Eminem — “Gospel”
Late last year, Dr. Dre dropped a handful of new songs as part of GTA Online: The Contract, but the only way to hear them was through the game. Now, though, the tracks have been made available on streaming platforms, and a highlight is the Eminem collaboration “Gospel,” which also serves to drum up anticipation for the duo taking part in the upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Rosalía — “Saoko”
After sharing her Motomami cover art, on which Rosalía is completely nude save for a helmet and strategic hand placement, Rosalía dropped “Saoko,” which is heavily based on Daddy Yankee and Wisin’s 2004 track “Saoco.” Therefore, it’s driven by a reggaeton rhythm, but with Rosalía delivering rap-sung lyrics instead of the reggaeton pioneers.
Mitski — “Stay Soft”
After some personal trials, which included almost leaving music behind, Mitski returned last week with Laurel Hell, as well as a video for “Stay Soft.” Uproxx’s Caitlin White notes the song feels “like it swings between two poles, a rollicking synth-pop melody and Mitski’s always-pristine alto vocals, but even when the song hits a crescendo on the chorus, it never really opens up to anything.”
Lucy Dacus — “Kissing Lessons”
Lucy Dacus has shown on many an occasion that she’s one of music’s most engaging storytellers, a skill she showed off last week with “Kissing Lessons.” This isn’t a traditional verse-chorus-verse-chorus ordeal, as it’s pretty much a straight-shot run through a tale of a formative childhood experience.
Saba — “Still” Feat. 6lack and Smino
Saba fans are eating as Few Good Things is out now and an immediate highlight is “Still,” which features 6lack and Saba’s fellow Ghetto Sage member Smino. Uproxx’s Aaron Williams notes of the song, “In Saba’s verse, the Chicago rapper touches on his love for his work and how it conflicts with his love for his significant other, while on Smino’s verse, the soulful St. Louisan offers a scintillating take on a long-lost relationship, wondering if she kept his things around. 6lack’s chorus brings things full-circle, as he contrasts his superstar lifestyle with the toll it takes on his home life.”
YG — “Scared Money” Feat. J. Cole and Moneybagg Yo
While J. Cole has an up-and-down relationship with collaborations, he’s in an up phase right now, as he and Moneybagg Yo joined YG on “Scared Money” last week. As the title suggests, the track sees the rappers discussing wealth, how they acquired it, and how they’re hanging onto it.
King Von and 21 Savage — “Don’t Play That”
It’s been a year and change since the passing of King Von, and some posthumous tracks from the rapper have emerged since then. The latest is “Don’t Play That,” on which he’s joined by 21 Savage. Uproxx’s Wongo Okon says of the song, “The track serves as another example of Von’s straight-to-the-point raps which left little to no room for any fun or games.”
Tate McRae — “She’s All I Wanna Be”
Tate McRae saw her stock rise big time as she continued her emergence as a name to watch in the pop sphere. Further evidence of that came last week with “She’s All I Wanna Be,” a propulsive pop anthem with a bit of the pop-punk edge that has been all the rage lately.
Machine Gun Kelly — “Emo Girl” Feat. Willow
Most of the time Machine Gun Kelly pops up in the news, it’s because of some sort of antic, whether it’s related to his relationship with Megan Fox or his quickly outdated tattoos. Those who aren’t paying attention to his musical output, though, are missing on some solid pop-punk. He busted out another example of that last week with “Emo Girl,” a nostalgic-sounding link-up with fellow pop-punk revivalist Willow.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
After 23 years, China decided it was high time to censor the ending to Fight Club, and so it did just that, sparking headlines (and a Ted Cruz take) all over the globe as fans became aware of the alteration to the cult classic David Fincher film starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. In the new version, a title card cuts the movie short and reveals that the police captured Tyler Durden before he can blow up several buildings belonging to major credit card companies. He’s placed in a mental asylum and later discharged in 2012 to live a happy life.
The whole thing was very weird, and apparently, China’s biggest streaming service Tencent Video felt the same away because Fincher’s original version has been quietly restored with “no explanation of the reversal, nor who was responsible for the previous amendment to the 1999 film,” according to Variety, who cites online pressure and the negative coverage across the globe as a potential reason.
While this is an obvious win against censorship, Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk threw a wild curveball during the ordeal by actually praising the Chinese edit for being more faithful to the source material
“The irony is that the way the Chinese have changed it is they’ve aligned the ending almost exactly with the ending of the book, as opposed to [director David] Fincher’s ending, which was the more spectacular visual ending,” Palahniuk told TMZ. “So in a way, the Chinese brought the movie back to the book a little bit.”
Master Distiller Caleb Kilburn is barely north of 30 and he’s already one of the most respected distillers in Kentucky. Kilburn started on the ground floor of Kentucky Peerless Distilling back in 2014… literally. He got a job, fresh out of college, shoveling gravel from the warehouse shell that would become the new home of Kentucky Peerless Distilling on the far west end of Louisville’s famed Whiskey Row. By March of 2015, Kilburn distilled Peerless’s first batch of rye whiskey. Two years later, the awards started rolling in and haven’t stopped.
Over the past seven years, Peerless has also released award-winning bourbons from its efficient, almost cozy home base, and Kilburn‘s leadership and creativity continue to wow the industry. So I was extra keen to sit down with one of whiskey’s youngest guns to talk about making both a rye whiskey and bourbon whiskey, the differences in everything from fermentation to aging, and what defines both rye and bourbon in his thinking.
It was a free-wheeling conversation that highlights how a Master Distiller thinks and operates. We also dispel some rye myths, break down a sweet mash vs. a sour mash, and talk about what a “sour” flavor note really is. Enjoy!
What is the fundamental thing that you love about making rye whiskey?
Well, the thing I love about making rye is the end result. It is not necessarily the product, but the impression it makes on the public. When we get someone who previously maybe didn’t like rye whiskey or maybe had always heard about “harsh” or “pepper” or “spice” and they had assumed that it wasn’t for them, and then you see a twinkle in their eye when we pour them that first sample of Kentucky Peerless Rye and you can just see a light bulb go off and it completely shifts their own definition for whether or not they like rye.
It just expands their horizon and, for me, that’s the most rewarding part of making rye whiskey.
Right on. I like the expanding of horizons. So talk to me about your love of bourbon.
Well, when it comes to bourbon, I mean it is the state’s signature spirit. In fact, it’s the U.S.’s signature spirit. To be able to craft our own space among the greats and come out with what we feel is a really high-quality whiskey, it’s equally as rewarding. It doesn’t quite have as much shock and awe as when you change someone who wasn’t a rye person to a rye person. Most people who love bourbon know what they’re getting, so it is really more or less about recreating Peerlelss’ heritage in spirit form by way of bourbon.
You’re in a very unique position in that you work in a very compact facility.
Yes.
You simply don’t have a lot of room to do whatever you want and just see what happens. How do you balance out the process of making both bourbon and rye, especially when rye is what you became known for?
So really when we’re deciding how much bourbon versus how much rye to make, generally what you’re doing is forecasting what you anticipate the demand will be X number of years in the future. For us, we thought that we were going to make a good impact on rye and we thought the bourbon was going to be very popular. So we worked accordingly. We were very fortunate that prediction has turned out to be the case.
Let’s talk about some practicals of shifting from making rye to making bourbon. What’s the process in that you’re working with a few fermenting tanks that always need to be working?
The good thing, first and foremost, about us doing the sweet mashing process is there is very little carryover. When you talk about a sour mash whiskey, in contrast, you’re always using a starter from the prior batch. So, inherently, when you switch from rye to bourbon, you end up either switching to a sweet mash to start the new batch in the sour mash facility, which introduces a lot of variables, or you use the prior mash bill as the starter for the next one and you get into some real gray areas as far as the product line.
But starting with fresh ingredients every single time, as we do with a sweet mash, eliminates any crossover between the two. So there’s intrinsically a cleaner break doing a sweet mash than there would be if we were doing a sour mash. That makes us a little more nimble as far as being able to switch between products and remain consistent because the first cook of a sweet mash should be, in theory, nearly identical to the hundredth.
Whereas if you’re doing sour mash, you have to start with a piece of a prior fermentation. So if it is day one after doing bourbon, either you’re choosing to break from the sour mash and do sweet mash or you’re choosing to use the bourbon spillage to start your rye. You end up with a lot of gray areas as far as one batch to the next, to the next, to the next…
Kentucky Peerless Distilling
I still remember the first two-year-old rye you dropped, made with a sweet mash, which kind of came out of nowhere and was phenomenal — like blew the lid off of things twice, three times, four times as old. How do you attribute that? Was it the focus on the ingredients? Was it the focus on the atmosphere? What do you feel like was the special sauce there?
For me, I like to think of products as a chain. No one link, no one step in the process makes it strong, but any weak link can knock it all off balance. It can make it useless. So for us, we didn’t start necessarily with this horizon in mind that we want to have the “best two-year-old rye whiskey in the world.” It was, we want to make a really, really, really solid rye that is transcendent of time. It wouldn’t predicate itself based on “oh, it’s going to serve well as a young spirit” or “it’s going to serve well as an old spirit.” But rather, we just wanted to do what we felt were the right steps all along the process and to trust the process. And then what wound up happening was we created a really good rye whiskey and it held up. It obviously made its mark as a two-year-old but it won us a lot of awards as a three-year-old. And now that we are beyond the age statements into the four-plus age year range, it is not slowing down and the product’s only getting better.
As far as attributing the misconception that young spirit is often bad or why ours was actually quite palatable and quite nice, it was the collection of these different practices that we employed here at Peerless. I already introduced using sweet mash, which is where we’re going to start with fresh corn, fresh rye, fresh barley, and first-generation yeast. We’re avoiding that traditional sour mash note, producing a very sweet, very floral beer that when we distill. Which then becomes a very sweet, very floral distillate.
It’s just a different beast than a sour mash.
By not having that sour mash note in there, you don’t really have to wait for that to tame down while it’s in the barrel. So, intrinsically, it’s a lot more palatable coming off the still by virtue of it being a sweet mash.
Couple that with the fact that we use a very low barrel entry proof to really, really make an efficient extraction of caramels, vanillas, the sweet barrel characters of baking spices, and that we actually leave everything in barrels to drink, it’s just a really nice way to get a very dense flavor palate that really doesn’t have a whole lot of negatives to it.
Some people treat the barrel like it’s a cure-all where you can take distillate that may not have been quite as pure or clean as one would desire and the barrel given X number of years is just going to fix that spirit and it doesn’t really matter what you put in. That’s not a philosophy we ascribe to. We believe that if you put it in really good, it’ll come out really good.
Are you doing the same thing with the bourbon — using lower proof when filling, etc. — so that you’re getting the same type of extraction?
Yes, sir. As far as the core fundamentals of our processes here, we largely treat bourbon and rye very much the same. But it’s the results that vary differently based on the mash bill and what different steps along the process unlock. The other part that’s going to change is when we’re actually tasting the product. Once we’re at the point where we’re grading and evaluating, that’s where we really lay the groundwork for what our small-batch bourbon and rye products are going to taste, feel, and look like.
How so?
When you talk about rye whiskey, it’s very much predicated on these grasses and herbs and molasses. It’s very dark, herbal, and fun. There’s sweet grass. The notes in our rye are so complex. If you follow all the exact same processes and then show up with the bourbon mash bill instead of a rye mash bill, you end up with a much higher and brighter barrel. You end up with a little brighter sugar, more like a confectioner’s, because there isn’t quite so much herb and spice and grass from the rye grain. Now, suddenly, it allows the barrel to shine through a little more, showing a little bit more of the sweet oak, the spicy oak, the savory, mild smoke, the leather, things of that nature. Even though we can treat them very similarly through the whole process, it’s the end result and the curation through the palate that really defines the product line.
Kentucky Peerless Distilling
Do you notice if rye or bourbon takes better to certain placements in the warehouse? Or do you feel like it’s just a crapshoot of every barrel is going to be unique?
Yes and no. When you look at our rickhouses, both are only single-story rickhouses, so it’s not something where there are massive different climates at the bottom of the facility versus the top the way you would see in a seven- or six-story warehouse. We have maybe 16 feet separating top and bottom where those bigger warehouses may be operating with a hundred-foot difference. Because of that, there’s going to be cool, fresh air at the bottom and very hot arid air at the top. We don’t see that sort of difference.
Now that being said, even though it is a very similar climate, each barrel is going to be unique. It doesn’t matter if it’s the same mash bill, if it’s the same day of filling, if they were filled side-by-side, or if they were stored side-by-side, at the end of the day, each barrel is going to be unique and different, which is actually awesome.
It makes it really rewarding and it really takes away this notion that you can just taste one barrel and apply those tasting notes to the whole lot. Or you can say, “Okay, well we had this acceptance rate, we can just take these barrels, these barrels, these barrels and make a batch from it.” That’s not something we prescribe to. If you’re at a facility processing thousands and thousands of barrels you may be able to do that.
You have to dig in.
We actually go in and we taste every single barrel.
And who’s helping you do that?
It’ll be myself, Nick Klee, who is our morning distiller, and John Wadell, who is our kind of do-it-all gentleman who also does our single barrel program. The three of us are the palates that taste every one of these barrels and determine first off, is it ready to be a Peerless barrel? And then beyond that, is it a small batch? Is it single? Where does it fit within our portfolio? And that’s where it gets really fun.
Have you ever pulled a rye barrel that tastes like bourbon or a bourbon barrel that tastes like rye?
Absolutely. It’s not so much that it’s indistinguishable, it’s just that it does a really good impression.
What’s your process for deciding whether these unicorn barrels become single barrel releases or layered into a small batch?
We figure it out as we go. For us, the barrels of rye that are very similar to our small batch but maybe they don’t go out on any limbs — there’s nothing bad about them, they just don’t separate themselves from the pack — those are ones that we mingle. But if you did have a barrel that just was crazy different than the standard profile and it is also really technically sound — it has a beginning, middle, end, the nose, the palate, the mouthfeel, it has a very dense flavor profile — those are ones that we promote as single barrels.
Everybody finds a home, so to speak.
The only ones that haven’t, that don’t really have a home, are ones that are not mature yet. Ones that maybe haven’t turned that corner or maybe they still have a note that’s yet to develop or maybe a note that we’re hoping goes away, those are ones that’ll stay within our rickhouse for another year, and then we’ll try them again. And it’s not that the barrel’s bad, it’s just that it hasn’t had time to mature. It’s a late bloomer.
Kentucky Peerless Distilling
What do you think people mistake the most about rye whiskey and what would you correct that might have falsely imprinted in people’s minds about rye?
Well, there’s a lot of rye out there that follows a very narrow flavor profile. For most people, when they think of rye whiskey, not knowing how it’s made, not knowing the mash bills or the proofs or the ages or anything, they likely follow the standard sour mash 95 percent rye. That’s the one that’s barreled at a high-strength and proofed down where the main characters that come through are very spicy, very peppery, and has that sour mash note. People understand rye whiskey as a very narrow flavor profile and, as a result, if they like it, they love “all” rye whiskey in their mind. If they don’t like it, which is more predominant, they just write off the whole category saying, “Ah, that’s not for me.” It makes for very loyal rye fans and it scares a lot of people off.
The biggest thing I would say as advocacy for rye is be willing to understand that there are new horizons or different flavor profiles and different people making different whiskeys that are still very much rye. It’s still anchored as being “rye,” but maybe show off some different complexities. For instance, we have a little bit of corn in our rye mash. It produces a sweeter, more floral rye whiskey. We use our sweet mash, we use our low barrel entry proof, and, at the end of the day, we have been coined a bourbon drinker’s rye.
And it’s not so much that it tastes like a bourbon, but you get the complexity, the flavor, diversity, the depth of character that you’re used to seeing within a bourbon, but it’s rye. And so my biggest thing to tell people would be, ‘be willing to expand the horizons and revisit the category. They all don’t taste alike.’
The last question. When you say a “sour mash note,” can you explain that as a flavor profile?
The best way I could describe it: When you have a slice of sourdough bread or French bread, for instance, you know how it has that little bit of tartness within the bread, that little bit of bite if you will?
Sure.
When you have a sour mash, it’s like you’ve taken that note and you’ve applied it to a whole batch of beer. But when you go to distill it, it becomes ultra-concentrated and it can be off-putting if you distill it at too low of a proof. If you do certain things like you don’t give it enough time in the barrel, it can be off-putting. There’s a lot of really good sour mash whiskey out there and that sour mash note can be very favorable in many different scenarios. But for us, we felt that it caused us some collateral damage. If you were to do a sour mash, you have to clean up that sour, gritty note.
If you distill at a high proof to avoid concentrating that note, then what happens is a lot of the fruits, florals, grasses, herbs, the grain, things that would have been very good at that lower proof, now have been stripped out along with that sour note. So you end up removing some of the character from the whiskey that we really wanted to hold onto.
Over the years, Jason Isbell has been open about his journey with addiction. Now, he’s celebrating a major milestone on that front: he’s been sober for ten years, which he revealed on Twitter.
Last night, Isbell shared a photo of a tattoo on his right forearm, of ten tally marks, and wrote, “Ten years sober.” Ryley Walker, who has discussed his own struggles with addiction, asked, “How did you do it?” Isbell responded, “A conscious effort to be as grateful as possible, and the luck of having good people around me. Then eventually I started spending my addiction money on guitars and it got a bit easier.” Walker then offered a pat on the back, responding, “Good work homie.”
A conscious effort to be as grateful as possible, and the luck of having good people around me. Then eventually I started spending my addiction money on guitars and it got a bit easier.
In a 2020 interview with Uproxx, Isbell explained how being sober has impacted his creativity, saying, “When it came time to write Southeastern, I didn’t have anything else to do. I was sober and I didn’t have any kids and my day was my own. I had a lot of space to fill and I filled it by just sitting there writing, and working really hard on each individual lyric, and trying to make everything as perfect as I could. So when I went into the studio with that, I went in with a bomb strapped to my chest.”
In a 2019 Uproxx interview, Walker discussed what life on the road is like while sober, saying, “I have a routine now because before tour was about no routine. Tour was about, ‘Hey, let’s see what trouble we can get in. Let’s let our feet do the walking instead of our brains doing the thinking.’ I was always led by vibe. Now, the vibe is: I’m going to do this for my own benefit for once, instead of trying to impress anybody else by how much cocaine I can shove up my nose in one evening. I just go to a meeting every day. I used to look for crazy people like me in dive bars and now I look for crazy people like me in recovery meetings.”
The Super Bowl lands in LA this Sunday, February 13th at SoFi Stadium. If LA wasn’t already going to be a mad house, the fact that one of its home teams is playing adds a whole other level of excitement to the already buzzing city. Between loyal LA Rams fans, Bengals super fans in town from Cincinnati, and the die-hard football fanatics flying in from all around the United States, it’s safe to say things will be pretty damn insane in the country’s second largest city during America’s most-watched game of the year.
If you’re heading to LA for the momentous weekend full of football, beer, and rowdy, jersey-wearing fans but you don’t have game tickets, read on. I’m sharing where to celebrate and watch Super Bowl LVI, including the best sports bars in the city along with the most epic Super Bowl weekend events.
SPORTS BARS
Busby’s West — Santa Monica
Busby
Busby’s West is personally one of my favorite sports bars in the city — I’ve spent scores of Saturdays here watching my beloved Oregon Ducks (scooooo Ducks!) play. What looks like a dive bar from the outside is actually an incredibly spacious sports bar, with several rooms and lounge areas, TVs everywhere you turn (50 TVs total), and three bars. No matter what games are going on, you’re sure to find a lively crowd at Busby’s — so I can only imagine what it’s going to be like during Super Bowl weekend.
As far as bar food goes, Busby’s is some of the best I’ve had. They serve your classic greasy favorites like nachos, wings, pizza, and burgers, but they also have vegan options available upon request. There’s no shortage of beer at Busby’s (an essential for watching the Super Bowl), but they also offer a selection of signature cocktails. I recommend the “Sage Against the Machine,” a mixture of Botanist Gin, St. Germaine elderflower liquor, lime juice, sage, and cucumber.
I never thought I would say “trendy” and “sports bar” in the same sentence, but that’s the best way to describe 40 Love. The bar’s interior is designed with sophisticated wood paneling, while the patio is filled with chic white brick and greenery that make it feel more like you’re walking into an exclusive country club. Instead of posh, polo-wearing country club members, you get tipsy sports fans cheering at the property’s 25 flat-screen TVs.
Just like the general ambiance of 40 Love, the menu is more elevated than your usual sports bar grub — don’t worry, chicken wings and loaded nachos are still on the menu. But it’s hard not to opt for crab cake sliders, caviar with potato chips, and wagyu hotdogs when you see such elevated comfort food on the menu. As for drinks, you can order from the draft beer selection, the wine list, or the selection of signature cocktails.
If you’re flying out to LA for Super Bowl weekend and don’t want to miss out on the classic California beach experience, head to BREWCO in Manhattan Beach. It offers everything you love about a classic sports joint — 10 flat-screen TVs, memorabilia, tasty pub-style food — but with the added luxury of an ocean view.
BREWCO’s beer and whiskey menus go above and beyond. They offer a selection of 48 unique rotating taps and over 50 beers by the bottle. It’s also got a whiskey library with over 130 Premium bottles. Whether you opt for a brewski or an old fashioned during the game (or both), you’re sure to find drinks to your liking.
Peruse BREWCO’s dining menu and rotating craft beers menus here.
Berkshire House — Mid City
Berkshire House
Berkshire House is like a cocktail lounge and sports bar hybrid. It’s got some swanky velvet-lined decor and leather furniture, but the classy ambiance doesn’t mean it’s not a lively and jam-packed spot to watch the Super Bowl. There’s a TV visible from every table and plenty of beer to keep the good vibes flowing, even if your team is losing.
The drinks menu serves a variety of draft beers, an extensive selection of whiskeys, as well as the various spirits and cocktails you’d expect to find at any bar. The Berkshire House’s specialty is authentic NYC-style pizza, so you’re definitely going to want to get one (of every kind) for the table.
Barney’s Beanery is a long-time favorite sports bar among local Angelenos. So much so that it now has five different locations throughout the city — West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Burbank, and Westwood. The original West Hollywood location opened its doors more than a century ago, in 1920, and it’s been a welcoming hub for sports, booze, and good times ever since.
Barney’s Beanery has a full bar with over 40 beers on draft, as well as a food menu packed with all the traditional game-day fixins like hot wings, mac ‘n’ cheese wedges, signature burgers, and various pizza options. And make sure to try the famous three-bean chili!
Learn more about the legendary Barney’s Beanery here.
SUPER BOWL WEEKEND EVENTS
Bullseye Event Group Presents The Players Tailgate
Bullseye Event Group
If you want to be immersed in all the game-day action without actually going to the game, you’re going to want to attend the 2022 Players Tailgate. Starting on February 13th at 11 a.m., the event is located near SoFi Stadium at the Hollywood Park Casino property. It’s an open-air venue that’ll come complete with red carpets to make you feel like you’re one with the stars.
Speaking of stars, there will be 50 active NFL players and celebrities in attendance, including the tailgate’s host and celebrity chef for the event, Guy Fieri. He’ll be serving crispy fried all-natural tenders with his signature sauce bar. The tailgate will also feature tasty eats from eight more renowned chefs — serving everything from king crab and fresh oysters to brisket short rib burgers and a boozy ice cream sundae bar.
Purchase tickets for the 2022 Players Tailgate here.
Sports Illustrated The Party
Sports Illustrated
Start Super Bowl weekend with a night of music and dancing at Sports Illustrated The Party‘s epic kick-off event. The legendary sports magazine is joining forces with Palm Tree Crew to bring together some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment the night before the big game, February 12th, at Century Park.
The event will feature musical performances by Kygo, Jack Harlow, Frank Walker, David Solomon, and DJ Irie. With the incredible shows combined with a neverending stream of Patrón Tequila (the official tequila partner of the event), you’re sure to have an unforgettable (but slightly forgotten) good time.
Purchase tickets for Sports Illustrated The Party here.
If you want to experience Downtown LA’s Crypto.com Arena while rocking the hell out at concerts by your favorite music artists, get yourself some tickets to the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest. The three-night festival, happening February 10th through 12th, is the perfect way to start your Super Bowl weekend in LA. Performers include Halsey, Machine Gun Kelly, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Green Day, and Miley Cyrus. Yeah, it’s going to be a downright good time.
Get tickets to the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest here.
Shaq continues to amaze. The pro basketball-player-turned-house-music-DJ is throwing a Super Bowl bash that sounds more fun than the game itself. Shaq’s Fun House is going down at The Shrine on February 11th. The over-the-top, carnival-themed rager will include performances by the man himself, DJ Diesel, as well as Lil Wayne, Zedd, and Diplo.
In addition to the live music, the event will feature classic carnival games, food courtesy of some of LA’s most popular restaurants, and six hours of an open bar — all of which are included in your ticket!
For the ultimate football fanatics, the NFL Super Bowl Experience is from February 10th to February 12th at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
At the event, attendees can get autographs from current and former NFL players, play games like a 40-yard dash contest, attend youth football clinics, shop NFL merchandise, snag photos with the Vince Lombardi Trophy, and check out an exclusive display that showcases all 55 Super Bowl rings.
Buy tickets to the NFL Super Bowl Experience here.
Alexa has made life easier, but it’s also made it creepier. The smart voice assistant is always listening (and always ready to put Frosted Flakes in your shopping cart because you mentioned the words “sugar” and “cereal” once four months ago). For the seventh consecutive year, Amazon will attempt to humanize the robot eavesdropper with a knowing Super Bowl commercial.
Last year, it was Michael B. Jordan. This year, it’s Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost. It’s like Alexa can “read your mind,” the real-life married couple say at the same time in the spot above. What follows is a mini-Black Mirror episode, with Alexa suggesting they order fresh mint mouthwash when Jost smells Johansson’s breath in the morning, and setting a reminder for the Staten Island ferry owner to fake his own death on the day that her play opens. Ultimately, they agree that it’s better for Alexa to not read minds.
One unique aspect of this particular ad is that Jost, an SNL writer, contributed to the script, although Bodily noted writing ads and comedy sketches are slightly different skill sets.
“Colin would come up with something and the team on our side would be like, ‘OK, that’s really funny, but how do we get that into a 90-second ad?’” [Louise Bodily, business director of Lucky Generals] says. “So it was really, really interesting but something that we haven’t done before on the set of a Super Bowl ad.”
The “Mind Reader” ad will air during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, at which point Alexa will automatically order you a copy of We Bought a Zoo on DVD.
Euphoriajust delivered its Uncut Gems-style episode, taking fans on a wild, unpredictable run that left us with a serious case of emotional whiplash.
Of course, we’ve got about a week to stew on all the insane plot twists thrown our way in Season 2, Episode 5‘s “Stand Still Like The Humming Bird,” but fans are already theorizing on what’s next for the show’s most at-risk characters. We’ve rounded up some of the more intriguing theories about where the show is heading in the back-half of its season, and we feel it’s only fair to warn you now: If you thought watching Rue’s withdrawal-fueled downward spiral was hard to watch, buckle in because things are going from bad to worse.
Here are the best Euphoria fan theories we’ve seen after episode five.
HBO
Maddy’s Got “The Tape,” And She’s Going To Use It: The tape — yes, that tape — hasn’t really been mentioned much this season save for a passing comment by Nate after his dad questioned him about that brutal confrontation with Fez. Nate revealed he knew Cal was sleeping with Jules, leading his dad to believe Nate had the secret tape he filmed during his hotel rendezvous with the teen. Of course, Nate doesn’t have the tape anymore — Maddy took it when they were still together. It’s likely she’s watched the thing but before now, the possibility of her using it against Nate seemed fairly low. She’s friends with Jules after all and, unlike most of the other kids on this show, Maddy’s actually a decent human being. That said, she’s also out for revenge after learning her best friend has been boinking her ex-boyfriend behind her back. That level of betrayal can push even the saintliest of women to do terrible things. In the promo for episode six, Maddy can be heard threatening to literally kill Cassie — which, fair — but she ominously hints that she’s got other plans for Nate before the camera cuts to the burned CD. Someone warn Jules, please.
HBO
Nate Will Hold Maddy At Gunpoint: Again, this sex tape is causing all kinds of trouble in next week’s episode. In the promo, a very determined Nate can be seen working out and prepping himself to do something … serious. He warns someone he’s “not going to apologize” and though the camera pans to Cassie’s face when he says this, the background of the scene looks to be in Maddy’s room — the pink, floral wallpaper is pretty recognizable. There are also clips of Maddy crying along with a shot of the gun next to the CD, both sitting on what looks like a leather car seat. So, here’s the theory: Nate is going to threaten Maddy to get the tape back. Some fans think the only reason Nate was trying to get back into Maddy’s good graces is because he wanted video but now that that bridge is burned, he’s going to take drastic measures.
HBO
Nate And Jules Will Reconcile:Euphoria’s second season seems to be obsessed with the idea of redemption, especially for its problematic white men. They’ve spent a lot of time diving into Cal’s journey as a closeted gay man, and Nate has morphed from a violent abuser of women to a more quietly-menacing lovesick idiot. In the latest promo, Jules can be heard asking if someone can “became a good person.” The assumption is that she’s talking to Rue, who seems to be trying to get clean again, but she could also be talking to Nate. Jacob Elordi posted a photo of himself and Hunter Schafer in the front seat of Nate’s car. Could Nate be returning the tape to Jules and trying to make amends for how terribly he treated her in season one?
HBO
Fez Is In Trouble: There are no new glimpses of Fez or Ashtray in the promo for episode six but we do see a shot of Faye taking out the trash at Fez’s house. Faye’s staying there to avoid attention from the police after pushing that hotel manager off the balcony which means she’s been observing everything going on in that house in the background. She knows about Mouse’s murder. She knows about Fez dealing drugs. And just a couple of episodes ago, her boyfriend Custer came to Fez freaked out because Mouse’s baby mama was asking questions. Fez has a lot of heat on him right now coming from many different sides and it feels like his storyline is a bit of a ticking time bomb. Sorry Lezco fans.
Over the weekend, Pearl Jam seemingly responded to some criticism from Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx, but the story actually starts a few days ago.
In late January, in an interview with The New York Times Magazine, Eddie Vedder expressed his disdain for Mötley Crüe, saying, “You know, I used to work in San Diego loading gear at a club. I’d end up being at shows that I wouldn’t have chosen to go to — bands that monopolized late-’80s MTV. The metal bands that — I’m trying to be nice — I despised. ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ and Mötley Crüe: [expletive] you. I hated it. I hated how it made the fellas look. I hated how it made the women look. It felt so vacuous.”
A couple days ago, Sixx caught wind of the Vedder quote and took to Twitter to respond, writing, “Made me laugh today reading how much the singer in Pearl Jam hated @MotleyCrue. Now considering that they’re one of the most boring bands in history it’s kind of a compliment isn’t it?”
A fan responded with a joke about Pearl Jam’s music being boring enough to put babies to sleep, to which Sixx replied, “Or just sing to the baby with marbles In your mouth…Very zen.” Then, in response to a user who didn’t love Sixx’s Pearl Jam criticism, he tweeted, “You’ll be fine. Remember there were zillions of brown haired bands for brown haired fans…..Go find them. You will know them by the bored look on their face”
Made me laugh today reading how much the singer in Pearl Jam hated @MotleyCrue. Now considering that they’re one of the most boring bands in history it’s kind of a compliment isn’t it?#TheStadiumTour#RocknRoll
You’ll be fine. Remember there were zillions of brown haired bands for brown haired fans…..Go find them. You will know them by the bored look on their face
Pearl Jam latched onto Sixx calling their fans “bored” and used it against him yesterday, when they shared a 40-second video from one of their concerts, which shows an excited and participatory crowd that doesn’t seem to include any bored folks. “We [love] our bored fans,” the band wrote alongside the clip.
In the waning days of Donald Trump’s presidency, he still made time (despite the mounting pandemic) to sing the praises of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He actually tweeted to deny reports that the dictator was ailing and added, “Never underestimate him!” It was the latest in a weird saga that included Trump claiming to have received a series of “love letters” between the two world leaders. Bob Woodward’s Rage book reported how dozens of these letters existed, and now, the Washington Postfurther confirms their existence, given that they were in a pile of documents seized from Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida.
That’s wild, of course, given that Trump bragged about those letters for years, going back to a 2018 rally in West Virginia, where he called the letters “beautiful.” From WaPo, yup, these letters totally exist, and “boxes” of the correspondence exist, among the other documents that Trump chose to cart off to Mar-A-Lago, rather than turn them into the National Archives and Records Administration as required, since these are officially “Presidential records,” as defined by the Presidential Records Act.
What’s even more disturbing, however, is that the “love letters” were only some of the recovered documents, which also apparently included documents related to the January 6 failed MAGA coup. Those documents were reportedly put into the hands of the House Select Committee on Jan. 6, according to Axios. In other words, the “love letters” are highly amusing, but Trump carted a whole lot of presidential business away to his private residence after leaving office.
Previously, the Washington Post also relayed how (via Bob Woodward’s Rage book) Trump was so excited about Kim respecting him, and that Trump bragged about how “Kim ‘tells me everything,’ including a graphic account of Kim having his uncle killed.”
“Hi, I’m Johnny Knoxville, welcome to the number one movie in the country.”
Jackass Forever made underwater fart history to the top of the box office this weekend after earning $23.5 million on a reported $10 million budget. It’s only the second time since early December that a movie other than Spider-Man: No Way Home finished in first place; the other was Scream. This is a win for everyone who enjoys the theatrical experience, full frontal male nudity (SO much nudity), and guys named Poopies.
Ticket buyers were overwhelmingly male at 68%, while 25% were over the age of 35 and 67% were between 18 and 34. “In a business that doesn’t surprise all that often, it’s sure nice to know that surprises — good ones — can still happen,” says Chris Aronson, Paramount’s president of domestic distribution. “I was heartened by the percentage of moviegoers over 35. Who knew?”
Jackass Forever has an 85 percent “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to 49 percent for 2002’s Jackass, 64 percent for 2006’s Jackass: Number Two, and 66 percent for 2010’s Jackass 3. That’s what we call societal growth, folks.
In a glowing review, our own Vince Mancini wrote, “Did we really need for this Jackass to be the ‘best Jackass ever?’ This merely reveals the basic truth that Jackass is still Jackass‘s only competition. I was more than content for the new Jackass to merely be what Jackass has always been: a good hang.”
What was your favorite Jackass Forever stunt? I’m partial to “Vomitron.”
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(@NikkiSixx) 
our bored fans. 
