Snot, who is just 24 years old, earned himself a healthy amount of attention in 2020 with the release of his debut project Beautiful Havoc. Earlier this year, he followed up that project with his sophomore effort Ethereal. It was led by two singles, “Go” and “Doja,” with the latter causing a bit of controversy thanks to a line that was misunderstood by many, even Doja Cat herself. Ethereal arrived with 14 songs and guest appearances from ASAP Rocky, Trippie Redd, Kevin Abstract, Juicy J, Joey Badass, and Teddi Jones. Nearly two months after the project’s release, Snot returns with a new visual for folks to enjoy.
A new video for “Benzo,” one of the standout songs from Ethereal has arrived. In it, Snot sits on a car as it pierces through daytime city traffic while his crew cruises on motorbikes beside him. Things calm down for a brief moment when Snot stops by a friend’s house, but the party continues once he steps inside the house.
The video arrives after Snot received some flack from Snot The Band after they dissed nu-metal band Limp Bizkit. It came after Limp Bizkit’s decided to bring the young rapper on their upcoming Still Sucks Tour rather than Snot The Band.
You can watch the video for “Benzo” in the video above.
Ethereal is out now via 300 Entertainment. You can stream it here.
Snot is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
If there’s one person who could save us from ourselves, it’s probably Dolly Parton. The legendary singer/songwriter/actor/philanthropist/novelist/goddess is also quite the philosopher, and has a way of seeing the world that somehow makes everything clear.
Take, for example, the very complicated and geopolitical matter of climate change. Just ahead of Earth Day, the Tennessee native sat down with National Geographic to chat about her love of the Great Smoky Mountains she grew up surrounded by, calling her home state “one of the most beautiful places in the world.”
Parton is putting her money where her mouth is, too. The American Eagle Foundation, a nonprofit organization that rescues, rehabilitates, and educates the public about eagles, owls, vultures, and other birds of prey, counts Dollywood—Parton’s iconic theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee—among its largest sponsors, and operates a bald eagle sanctuary from the park. Through her partnerships as well as her own actions, Parton hopes to encourage others to feel the same sense of stewardship over not just the places they live, but the world at large.
Respecting the music, the land, the people—all that lies at the heart of Parton’s hopes for the future. Parton is unafraid to stomp her glittery heel when it comes to caring for the environment—her message is clear and she is increasingly amplifying it wherever she travels. How can she be wrong?
“We should pay more attention. We’re just mistreating Mother Nature—that’s like being ugly to your mama,” Parton says. “We need to take better care of the things that God gave us freely. And that we’re so freely messing up.”
This week on Top Chef Houston, it was time to celebrate Houston’s greatest export: the girlboss. It was a themed challenge in which the chefs were to prepare dishes meant to celebrate five Texas trailblazers.
And what better way to honor a girlboss than with a themed cooking challenge? What would Eleanor Roosevelt eat? What would Joan of Arc eat? What would Kris Kardashian-Jenner eat? Waiter, I shall have your finest BOSSFOOD, extra femininely, of course.
Ah, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Girlboss Cuisine was for the Elimination Challenge. Before we get to TALENTI GELATO that, I should TALENTI GELATO explain the Quickfire TALENTI GELATO Challenge, in which the TALENTI GELATO chefs, working in TALENTI GELATO teams, were tasked with TALENTI GELATO combining salty and sweet TALENTI GELATO flavors they’d chosen, in the TALENTI GELATO hopes of creating a TALENTI GELATO salty and sweet dessert that could TALENTI GELATO inspire the next TALENTI GELATO flavor of Talenti Gelato.
Which would win them ten thousand TALENTI GELATO cream dollars.
Did I mention this challenge was sponsored by Talenti Gelato? I feel like I should because the sponsor mentions were so subtle and seamless that you could barely tell. Meanwhile, Padma wore this:
NBC-Universal
Hmm, collar, epaulets, belt, and four pockets? Seems… a bit much. Is that a cargo dress? As Coco Chanel once said, 0ne should always remove at least one set of pockets before one leaves the house. It looks like she’s heading to The Matrix for the first time and wanted to make sure she had room for all her stuff.
Anyway, that challenge was introduced by lovable former competitors Kelsey Barnard Clark (season 16 winner) and Nini Nguyen. Aw, remember season 16? I had so much nickname fodder then.
NINI: On this side of the kitchen are 10 food items that are salty, like me.
KELSEY: And on this side are 10 that are sweet, like me.
I really feel like they could’ve played up this joke a little more. If Kelsey has never hucked an empty beer car in the direction of a cop I’ll eat my shirt (God, I miss her).
After that, it was time for the Elimination Challenge, which, as previously mentioned, paid tribute to famous Girlbosses throughout Texas history. Specifically, the chefs were tasked with creating dishes “in honor of five trailblazing Texas women”: Ann Richards, Selena, Barbara Jordan, Babe Didrikson-Zaharias, and Bessie Coleman. Ah, yes, good, there’s nothing I love more than receiving a history lesson from my reality cooking show contestants.
That also meant that it was TIME TO GET CONCEPTUAL, Y’ALL!
This whole challenge reminds me of that old Mitch Hedberg bit, about how in Hollywood, people are always asking if you can do other things. All right, you’re a stand-up comedian, can you write us a script? That’s not fair. That’s like if I worked hard to become a cook, and I’m a really good cook, they’d say, “OK, you’re a cook. But can you also farm?”
This is sort of like that, but even better. “Okay, you’re a cook, but can you also metaphor? Fix me up a seabass in the style of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s iconoclasm.”
RESULTS:
Quickfire Top: Nick-Ashleigh*. Damarr-Monique. Jo-Evelyn. Quickfire Bottom (as implied by they’re not being in the top): Luke-Buddha. Jackson-Jae.
When it came down to Luke and Stretch in the final two, I was convinced Stretch would be saved by virtue of not being a white guy. Surely they’re not going to eliminate a female chef on the Girlboss episode, are they?? They did!
Not a criticism, by the way. Monique here has had her ups and downs throughout the show, and for her dish honoring Barbara Jordan, the first Black politician elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction, Monique took the fairly straightforward approach of trying to use ingredients that would’ve been popular/available in Barbara Jordan’s neighborhood growing up.
This took the form of a fried oyster over beans in pancetta broth with pickled okra. I love a fried oyster and beans are whatever, but this presented several logistical issues. Would the watery broth turn the nice crispy oyster soggy? Would the oysters be too big? These were apparently Monique’s biggest concerns, which she “solved” by cutting the oysters in half (losing all the juice in the process — Tom was AGOG over this one) and skimping on the broth. Leading to a dish of bland dry beans topped by a dry fried oyster.
Beans and oysters? I dunno, man. Feels like a poorly thought-out dish. Girlboss or not, it seemed like she deserved to go home for that one.
One thing left unsaid: when this challenge was introduced, they noted that the winner would be decided by an even vote from all the attendees. Was the loser chosen this way too, or did the main judges hash it out amongst themselves like normal? A benevolent dictatorship is very ungirlboss.
Notable Critiques: “Did anyone else get a half-cut oyster in their bowl?” “The oyster was nicely fried.” “It didn’t wow me, and Barbara Jordan was a wow.” “It reminded me of a three-bean salad out of a can.”
9. (+1) Ashleigh Shanti
NBC Universal
AKA: Moon Juice. Sugar Hillcountry.
I love that the judges pulled Ashleigh out of Last Chance Kitchen purgatory at the beginning of the show and then had her crying from their cruel critiques by the end. That kind of brutal culinary capriciousness is what keeps me watching this show.
Ashleigh opened the show strong, teaming with Nick for the gelato challenge, for which their ginger-pork rind crumble cake thingy won top honors. I think it probably helped that they had Alabama-bred Kelsey and New Orleans-raised Nini judging the dishes. Those are two girls who probably don’t mind a little pork skin now and again. “Ginger-Pork rind” honestly sounds like a pretty good combo, dessert or not.
That won Ashleigh $5,000 and immunity, flying high heading into the elimination challenge. As the producers illustrated by showing Ashleigh freestyling into the mirror. I physically recoiled as soon as the mirror rap began, but it’s a credit to Ashleigh that it wasn’t nearly as cringe as you’d expect a Top Chef contestant freestyling into a mirror to be. Takes a high degree of natural cuteness to pull that one off. Still, freestyling on a reality show is a bit like cooking chicken breast — if you’re insanely talented it might not suck, but not-sucking is about the best you can hope for out of it.
Ashleigh stuck to her “Afro-lacchian” brand in the elimination challenge, cooking candied pork with “killed lettuces” (lettuce wilted in bacon grease, which sounds pretty good, actually) and salt-and-vinegar potatoes. That all sounded so good that if this episode had been a menu, this is the dish I probably would’ve ordered. Unfortunately, it was apparently so bad that it had a blind lady complaining about the texture and prompted a ballerina to say, “Sometimes you have to be able to see someone’s baby and be able to say, ‘I’m sorry, your baby is ugly.’”
Note to producers: bring that Ugly Baby lady back as a guest judge, she rules.
They were so harsh that they made Ashleigh cry, and she wasn’t even in the room to hear the part where they compared her dish to an ugly baby. She probably would’ve gone home, except, oops! She had immunity. That was a fun twist!
8. (even) Luke Kolpin
NBC Universal
AKA: Liddell. Die Hard. Meekus. Eurotrip. Noma… Noma… Noma gonna be in this competition much longer, anyway.
How the f*ck is this dude still in the competition? It seems like he finishes second to last every episode!
Luke teamed up with Buddha for the quickfire, thinking their combination of miso and honey was a classic one. Yet I’ve noticed on this show that team challenges tend to go better when you team a conceptual weirdo like Luke with a homestyle chef. That way the space food wizard can up the homestyle chef’s plating game and the homestyle chef can edit the wizard’s ideas when he strays too far from Earth food. Putting Luke and Buddha together is concept-on-concept, and even after sculpting leaves out of miso gel or some shit and serving them inside a miniature zeppelin filled with liquid nitrogen or whatever, the two failed to crack the top three of five teams.
Luke drew Bessie Coleman in the elimination challenge, and after revealing his learning disability, took his inspiration from the fact that Bessie Coleman had moved to Europe early in life to pursue her career in pilotry. Hey, that’s just like how LUKE moved to Europe early in HIS career! Wait, has Luke lived in Europe? I hadn’t heard.
For his dish, Luke “cured” a salmon in seaweed and cilantro (to honor Coleman’s Native American forebears, who introduced cured salmon to the colonists) and served it with “chicken fudge,” which is apparently a compound butter made from chicken fat. There was also some sort of crumble in there. That actually sounded fairly appetizing for a Luke dish (much better than room-temperature pumpkin, certainly) but apparently, it was once again bland. Tom was all, “THERE’S NOT ENOUGH CHICKEN FUDGE HERE, IDIOT! DADDY DEMANDS FUDGE!”
Something like that. Anyway, I can’t believe Luke is still here, he never goes more than three challenges without being on the bottom.
7. (+2) Jo Chan
NBC Universal
AKA: Sarge. Smiles.
Jo got lots of monologues this episode about how this Girlboss challenge was just so important right now, in this time and this place — one of those clichés that has become basically an instant groan from me. Amazing how the “this is the movie/show/dog food brand/condom America needs RIGHT NOW!” has seemed to crop up once a week for the past 10 years.
Not everything can possibly be this important for this long. We need to start triaging some shit before I lose my mind. Also, I don’t know about you, but a reality cooking competition show isn’t something I watch because it’s important.
Aaaanyway, they probably ginned up a soundbite like that from every contestant this week and it just so happened they used the one from Jo.
Jo drew Ann Richards, who apparently loved Thai food (a type of food that’s just so, so important right now), inspiring Jo to prepare a Thai-style gulf shrimp. To mixed reviews, unfortunately.
Notable Critiques: “It’s unfortunate that it was so sweet, because sweet isn’t what I think of when I think of Ann Richards.” “She could’ve pumped up the flavor a lot.”
6. (even) Jae Jung
NBC Universal
AKA: Noodles. Jae West. Hilaria.
Ah, Jae, I love this weirdo. In a season lacking in eccentrics, Jae teamed with Jackson for the Quickfire Challenge, describing him as “like a little horse.” Because he’s “always jumping around. You know, like a little horse?”
Yep, horses, definitely the first animal that comes to mind when I think of a person who jumps around. Hey, are you guys enjoying the bounce house? You’re like a herd of little horses in there!
Sadly for Jae, this was an elimination challenge that prized metaphors and confident bullshitting above all else, leaving Jae at a distinct disadvantage, both as a non-native English speaker and a person who seems to speak in confusing riddles. Jae drew Babe Didriksson-Zaharias, and as she explained it to the camera, Babe was a fighter, which reminded Jae of her first boss, Leah Chase, who taught Jae to cook gumbo. That was a bit of a stretch, but a fairly coherent story!
Unfortunately, when Jae got up to try to repeat it in front of the Top Chef judges and a roomful of legends, she dissolved in a puddle of tears, and one of the few parts of the story anyone could make out was how “Leah used to tell me that if I screwed up the gumbo she’d punch me in the face.”
Haha, great story, Jae!
Notable Critiques: “I’m obsessed with this okra kimchi.” “I do feel like it lacked a bit of that depth of flavor you expect from a gumbo.”
5. (-3) Nick Wallace
NBC Universal
AKA: Domingo. Chocolate Mormon. The Count.
I feel reasonably confident about the bottom of these rankings, but the top five are turning into a pick-’em. Nick drew the pork rinds at the top of the episode. He tried to sandbag himself like a pork rind dessert was going to be beyond him, but c’mon, Nick, no one’s buying that shit. You’re a chef from Mississippi, people expect you to know some damn pork rinds.
Naturally, he did (though technically he let Ashleigh handle the actual pork rinds) and they won, earning, as Nick charmingly described it “Five one thousand dollars.”
The Chocolate Mormon (remember, Nick has six children whose names all begin with N) drew Ann Richards in the elimination challenge, taking inspiration from Ann Richards’ conversion to healthy eating during her long struggle with cancer. Oh no! Never make healthy food on Top Chef! There is literally no upside! You idiot, you absolute fool.
Nick ended up cooking a potato-encrusted red snapper with beet risotto, kale romesco, and “mushroom-shaped potatoes.” Which are just potatoes shaped like mushrooms for some reason. It’s almost like Nick wanted to double down on the lack of upside with a healthy dish and make something with even less upside. One thing I never worry about when I’m eating potatoes is whether they’re shaped like mushrooms.
The judges mostly liked the food overall (a testament to Nick’s talent that he can make something this ill-conceived and still succeed) but Tom called those mushroom potatoes “cute,” in a tone of voice that suggested he was about two beers away from an actual dismissive wanking motion.
Giff
I like to think Tom was paying tribute to powerful women by not saying what he really meant and disguising an insult as a compliment there– I’M KIDDING, I’M KIDDING, STOP CANCELING ME.
Anyway, Nick has the goods, but he’s going to need better decision-making skills than he showed this episode.
Notable Critique: “The potatoes, you know, they’re cute.” “I have to say, my mom would’ve loved this dish.”
4. (+1) Buddha Lo
NBC Universal
AKA: Mr. International. Big Pun. Asian Ben Mendolsohn.
Buddha, as we’ve noted, teamed with Luke in the quickfire, which seemed to only exacerbate some of his worst impulses. Buddha was just spinning around the kitchen like a Tasmanian devil where some liquid nitrogen, a foam, and edible seaweed sculpted into the shape of a bunny for some reason would occasionally fly out.
They didn’t land in the top three (putting them in the bottom two, by process of elimination) and Buddha seemed legitimately perplexed by this. He gave a look that seemed to say, What the fuck? I made you fuckers another tuile and you betray me like this?
Buddha loves tuile so much. It’s like he conceives every dish tuile first. By the way, I’ve been sitting here for 20 minutes trying to think of a new tuile-based nickname for Buddha and I’ve got bupkis. The tuiiiiiiiile in the skyyyy keeps on turrrrrniiiiin…
For the elimination challenge, Buddha drew Bessie Coleman, and showing that he’s still the king of puns (he would’ve knocked that tuile shit out in a heartbeat) Buddha prepared a riff on “poulet en vessie” (chicken cooked in a pig’s bladder), which he called “poulet en Bessie.” Which paid homage not only to Bessie Coleman’s name, but also to her early adulthood in France.
His version involved sous vide chicken breast, which he served over Paris Mash (aka fancy mashed potatoes) in a figure of eight shape, one of Bessie’s signature tricks. Yep, Buddha is a master of this metaphor stuff. He added popcorn for crunch, and when Tom asked “What does the popcorn represent?” Buddha threw back, without missing a beat, “Because when you see Brave Bessie fly, you’re gonna need some popcorn.”
Crushed that ad-lib, bro.
The judges loved his dish so much that Buddha ended up in the top three. Which is insane, because as we discussed, he made a chicken breast. Chicken breast is the highest risk/lowest reward food on earth. It’s like taking a test pass/fail knowing that 95% of the class is going to fail. The best you can do with a chicken breast is “edible.”
Buddha’s biggest weakness in this competition is his tendency to get overly conceptual at times. His biggest strength is that, other than being a pretty good chef, he’s the only one in this show who seems almost psychopathically competitive, going full Draymond every time he doesn’t win. Which is pretty funny coming from a cuddly Australian guy with a lisp.
3. (even) Jackson Kalb
NBC Universal
AKA: Magoo. Andrew Lunk. Leghorn. Lurch. Bateman. Big Bird. Big Nerd. Napholeon Dynamite.
I keep trying to make these nicknames nicer, just in case I have to interview the winner at the end of the season. I don’t want them asking my why I nicknamed them “Shit For Brains” or whatever. But I feel like Leghorn keeps daring me to wedgy him every episode.
The Big Magoo drew Barbara Jordan this episode, who, according to Magoo, had a “lot of heart and guts.” Inspiring The Big Magoo to make a Big Ragu with chicken hearts and offal. Which he noted that he wanted to include offal, but not taste awful, a pun he underlined by fully spelling out the second homophone (A-W-F-U-L). Clearly assuming that wasn’t explanation enough, Jackson also made this face, to ensure we knew not just how awful is spelled, but what it looks like:
Bravo
Thanks for that close-up, producers. Gonna be honest here, this cursed image of Drew Magary‘s Oh Face was not something I needed in my life.
But damned if this brilliant goober didn’t make a hand-cut tagliatelle that landed him in the top three. He’s going to be around at least three or four more episodes, making more faces that haunt my nightmares.
2. (-1) Damarr Brown
NBC Universal
AKA: Catchphrase. James Beard. Screech.
Damarr somehow ended up once again on a team with Monique, once again preparing a dessert cornbread. Only on Top Chef could a person somehow manage to make multiple dessert cornbreads in the same competition. Of course, the judges loved it, and they landed in the top three.
I have to give it up for Damarr: In a kinda tryhard, kinda cringey Girlboss-themed episode of Top Chef, that attempted to position a cooking show challenge as “important” (blechh), Damarr was still so preternaturally goddamned authentic that he managed to introduce his dish in such a way that this whole thing actually felt genuine. Did I almost just choke up watching Top Chef? This was so deftly delivered it borders on sorcery. Damarr is like a Warlock of Realness. He deserves an Emmy for this.
He was also a man after my own heart, drawing Selena and choosing to make pozole, which he said he thought evoked “family.” That actually makes perfect sense to me.
The editors tried to make a big deal out of Damarr attempting homemade flour tortillas, which are indeed pretty hard — my flour tortilla game is strong, but I doubt I could do it without my go-to written recipe. He even pulled out the tortilla press (editor’s tip: never use the damn press for flour tortillas, I find it way easier to get them to the desired thinness free-hand with a rolling pin) and screwed up a few for good measure.
In the end, he did it so well that he had Padma all horned up, gushing “the tortilla was really soft and delicious and beautiful.”
How the hell did he not end up in the top three? He had this whole group crying into their cilantro broths.
1. (+3) Evelyn Garcia
NBC Universal
AKA: Cuddles.
How can you compete with the Texas Latina who draws Selena? You can’t. Evelyn didn’t need a damned dossier for a Selena dish, which was so firmly in her wheelhouse that she based her entree on her favorite Selena song, “Como La Flor,” which means “like a flower.”
That was the inspiration for Evelyn’s flower-shaped ceviche with aguachile broth, which didn’t sound quite as good as Damarr’s green pozole, but I wasn’t tasting it and are you really going to deny the Houston Latina in a Selena challenge? Evelyn was the only woman in the top three of the women-themed challenge and perhaps not surprisingly, took home the victory.
You could call that a lucky draw, but this was also Evelyn’s second elimination challenge win in a row with a top-three quickfire sandwiched in between. No matter how much I think Damarr is the favorite I can’t deny Evelyn the top spot after that.
Jack Harlow and EST Gee have maintained a solid relationship as they’ve both managed to carve out their own spaces in the mainstream rap world. Both acts hail from Lousiville, Kentucky and they’ve worked together on multiple occasions over the years. Their last collaboration was “The Department” from Gee’s 2021 mixtape I Still Don’t Feel Nun while their other records together include “Rotten” and “Route 66” from Harlow’s 2019 mixtape Confetti and his 2020 debut album That’s What They All Say respectively. During an upcoming interview with Apple Music, Gee spoke about his relationship with Harlow and teased more music from them in the future.
“That’s my guy, Jack. He really played a big part in my career, I feel like,” Gee said. “He just believed in me, you know what I’m saying? Like when people ain’t get it…I wasn’t around the right part of the industry yet. So like, I can’t go, I couldn’t go Jack’s way. But he tried to take me his way.” He continued, “So I love Jack, exactly. Jack’s the GOAT, the coldest. They see Jack, they can’t f*ck with Jack. They know they can’t f*ck with Jack, and Jack know they can’t f*ck with me. So we straight.”
Gee added, “He got a lot of songs he ain’t put out that’s cold. Jack could drop a tape with me and him. He is. I had to get my stuff together, but it’s time now. So it don’t look like he’s just doing his boy a favor. I’m ready now.”
Harlow is just a few weeks away from dropping his sophomore album Come Home The Kids Miss You. Gee on the other hand will drop Last Ones Left, his joint tape with 42 Dugg, in a few hours.
You can check out a clip from the upcoming interview via Complexhere.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Karl-Anthony Towns is having arguably his best season as a pro, as he has maintained the tremendous production he’s long provided the Minnesota Timberwolves while also helping to elevate the team to a true playoff contender this season.
In the process, Towns has made a case to be the third center on the All-NBA team behind Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic, and if he wasn’t a household name already, he is now. For many, he is simply known as KAT, and that nickname caused a bit of a trip up for referee Marc Davis on Thursday night. Towns kicked Spurs guard Josh Primo in the leg on a jump shot, earning an offensive foul and a review for a flagrant.
After looking at the video, Davis and the officials did in fact deem it a Flagrant 1, and when Davis went over to announce that on the broadcast, he forgot he can’t just call him KAT officially and ended up with a hysterical name mixup, calling Towns “KAT Williams.”
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) April 8, 2022
I do like that Davis just powers through it and quickly wraps up the review explanation and walks away, hoping no one noticed, but unfortunately for him, the internet sees it all and had some fun with it. That said, if Towns ever wants to go into standup comedy, he has a perfect alias courtesy of Davis.
Thursday night’s clash between the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors was important for traditional reasons, as both teams continue to jockey for playoff position near the top of the Eastern Conference. However, there was a bit of history delivered before tip-off at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, as 76ers wing Danny Green received a championship ring in honor of his contributions during a strong tenure with the Raptors.
On the surface, there is nothing out of the ordinary about a player receiving a ring during a return to a city, but the wild part about this exchange was that it happened more than 1,000 days after the Raptors win the 2019 NBA title.
GOTTA SEE IT: 1,029 days after his final game for the Raptors, Danny Green finally receives his 2019 championship ring!
Green has played in 196 regular season games since leaving the Raptors, spending a season (and earning another ring) with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2019-20 before joining the 76ers. Given that exceptionally long time period, it is quite strange that Green wouldn’t have his ring yet, but between the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBA’s trip to the Orlando Bubble, and Toronto’s 2020-21 season in Tampa, the stars just perfectly aligned for him to go on a three-year journey before collecting his ring.
It’s not as if Green was the most prominent piece of the 2018-19 Raptors, but he was a significant contributor alongside Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry and others. As such, it was cool to see Green finally have the change to accept this recognition in front of the Toronto fans and, if anything, it might even be more memorable after a long and winding road.
The Walkmen’s 2002 breakthrough debut, Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone, turned 20 a couple of weeks ago. It doesn’t seem like that long ago since the Brooklyn band’s seminal indie rock record was released, but here we are. Feel old yet? Well… maybe you will now when you hear about the most random record exchange that happened to unsuspecting fans of The Walkmen recently.
It seems as though people who were looking to secure a piece of this indie rock nostalgia forever were in for a surprise. According to a post on The Walkmen Instagram page, people who received copies of Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone, were actually getting the right record jacket, but the record inside was a copy of Digital Underground’s 1990 weird rap classic, Sex Packets. Here’s what the statement from The Walkmen on the hilarious mix-up read:
“It’s come to our attention that several of you may have received a copy Digital Underground’s “Sex Packets” when you purchased the new vinyl version of “Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone.” Also, you should probably check if you haven’t opened the record. Like the actual record inside the Walkmen cover is the Digital Underground. Anyways, the problem has been fixed (but it was a pretty great record anyway so enjoy) so you can safely buy the album at our store now!”
Based on this message, it’s hilarious to think of how purchasers probably haven’t even opened their copy of the record to find the delightful surprise waiting for them. One of these The Walkmen/Digital Underground mix-up editions seems to become an instant collector’s item too. Either way, The Walkmen have “fixed the glitch,” but maybe Shock G was playing another wild trick from the beyond?
In just a few hours, Fivio Foreign will finally release his debut album B.I.B.L.E. The project is one that arrives after almost three years after Fivio had his breakout moment with 2019’s “Big Drip.” So far, the album is led by a pair of strong singles: “City Of Gods” with Kanye West, who will executive produce B.I.B.L.E., and Alicia Keys as well as “Magic City” with Quavo. Ahead of the project’s release tonight, Fivio spoke about one of its songs, which samples Destiny’s Child’s “Say My Name,” and he explained what he had to do to get the record cleared.
Fivio Foreign talks about having to get the Destiny’s Child “say my name” sample cleared and Beyoncé wanting it cleaned up a bit pic.twitter.com/fVIQCXyI6a
“Shoutout Destiny’s Child, appreciate that, they cleared that joint. [John “Big John” Platt] and them,” Fivio said during an interview on Hot 97 when he was asked about “What’s My Name,” a song from B.I.B.L.E. that features Coi Leray and Queen Naija. Fivio then confirmed that Beyonce heard the song, but did not clear it without a few requests. “She had to hear it,” he said. “She heard it. It was a little vulgar, a little bit for her, at first. I cleaned it up, I cleaned it up, I cleaned it up a lot. It was like, ‘You can’t be talking about girls like that!”
He later added, “Afterward, Big John and them explained to me, it’s a bigger record now and it made sense.” Fivio continued, “One day they called me and they was like ‘Yo, Big John wanna talk to you,” and I’m like damn, the album drops in a week. I’m thinking straight bad news, I ain’t gonna lie, cause I had to go back. It was like alright, you cleaned your part up, clean these other words up. Then it was like clean Coi’s part up a little bit and I’m like damn, so it’s over?” Thankfully for Fivio, the phone call came with good news. “So he called me, it was ringing, I answered the phone, and I’m like ‘Hello?’ and he’s like ‘You’re welcome.’ I’m like what? Is it cleared? He’s like, ‘you’re welcome.’”
You can watch Fivio speak about the Destiny’s Child-sampling song in the video above.
B.I.B.L.E. is out 4/8 via Columbia. You can pre-save it here.
Marjorie Taylor Greene is officially on Pedophile Patrol. On Tuesday, the harebrained congresswoman revved up her rhetoric against (now-confirmed) Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson by denouncing anyone who would dare vote to confirm the highly decorated federal judge as being “pro-pedophile.” As in: Totally supportive of the kind of monster who would sexually prey upon underage individual…
Cindy Yamanaka/MediaNews Group/The Riverside Press-Enterprise via Getty Images
According to Greene, “The Democrats are the party of pedophiles. The Democrats are the party of princess predators from Disney. The Democrats are the party of teachers, elementary school teachers, trying to transition their elementary school age children and convince them they’re a different gender.”
Marge Greene tonight: “The Democrats are the party of pedophiles .. the party of princess predators from Disney .. the party of teachers .. trying to transition their elementary school age children.” pic.twitter.com/MMowXlIYM9
Unfortunately, Greene either got her political parties mixed up or hasn’t been paying attention to all the creepy shenanigans her fellow Republicans have been up to over the past couple of years. Fortunately, as Raw Story reports, The Daily Show was kind enough to remind the gentlewoman from Georgia just whose sandbox she’s playing in with a scorched-Earth supercut that took aim at the various sexual misconduct allegations made against Greene’s pals in recent years, including BFF Matt Gaetz, who is accused of having sex with a minor and currently under federal investigation for ties to a sex trafficking ring.
When it comes to Scotch whisky, blended whisky reigns supreme worldwide. Casual whisky drinkers and collectors alike are drawn to names like Johnnie Walker and Ballantine’s in numbers that boggle the mind. But there’s more to blended scotch than the “best-selling” brand names. There’s a whole world of blended whisky (a blend of malt and grain whiskies) and blended malt (a blend of malt whiskies) out there worth diving into.
Blended Scotch whisky might be the biggest game in the business but that doesn’t mean it’s resting on its laurels. Blended whiskies are expanding and evolving just like every other sector of the whisk(e)y industry. That means there are plenty of new and exciting blended whiskies dropping all the time — many of which we like.
Below, we’ve listed eight well-priced blended whiskies that are flavorful enough to be used as a value sipper, ranked. Let’s dive in!
One of the most well-known blended Scotch whiskies, Monkey Shoulder is comprised of a blend of whiskies from well-known distilleries under the William Grant name. A popular choice among bartenders and drinkers alike, it’s known for being both a great base for a cocktail as well as a value sipper.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a combination of candied orange peels, toasted vanilla beans, and a smattering of wintry spices. The palate is surprisingly malt-forward with notes of brown sugar, caramel, dried fruits, and honey. It’s fairly sweet and fruity and that might turn off some drinkers.
Bottom Line:
Monkey Shoulder isn’t the most exciting blended Scotch ever made. It’s a decent base, low-priced base for a cocktail, and a fruitier-than-normal, sweet sipper. It gets more praise from name recognition than it likely deserves. Still… pretty solid.
It’s safe to say, you can trust Scottish people when they decide they like a whisky. It comes from their country, after all. The Famous Grouse is the best-selling Scotch whisky in Scotland for a reason. This always bargain-priced blend even includes the likes of Highland Park and The Macallan.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a lot of malt on the nose and it quickly reminds you that you’re about to drink a blended whisky. There’s also a slight butterscotch and vanilla aroma, but not much else. Sipping it reveals hints of orange marmalade, more vanilla, clover honey, and just a hint of smoke at the very end.
Bottom Line:
This is an easy-to-drink, very malt-driven blend. It’s not remarkably complex and won’t break the bank. It serves its purpose if that purpose is to drink something for around $20.
The name references a term that farmers used to call whisky. This whisky is a blend of more than twelve single malt Scotch whiskies. Each has aged a minimum of five years in a combination of sherry, ex-bourbon, and refill oak barrels. It’s known for its complex flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
Sticky toffee, clover honey, and a ton of malt. That’s the nose on this blended whisky. The palate continues this trend with a ton of sweet malt flavor paired with butterscotch, vanilla, cinnamon, and some other cooking spices. All in all, it’s a bit watery and muted but solid overall.
Bottom Line:
For the fact that it’s a blend of more than a dozen whiskies and some are matured in ex-sherry and former bourbon barrels, you’d expect a little more from this blend. It’s not a bad whisky, just a little underwhelming.
Chivas is a big name in the blended Scotch whisky world. Its Chivas Regal 12 is a blend of single malt and grain whiskies. This includes Strathisla single malt and Strathclyde single grain whiskies among others. It’s known for its nuanced, well-rounded, mellow flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
This blended Scotch whisky carries expected aromas of butterscotch, candied orange peels, vanilla, and slight, oaky wood. The palate is heavy on malted barley flavor with some vanilla, almond cookies, and slight, peppery spice at the very end. Overall, it’s a little muted in the flavor department for my palate.
Bottom Line:
For a blend of 12-year-old whiskies, you’d expect a little more excitement in the flavor profile. For the price, it’s an okay sipping dram, but nothing to write home about.
You’d have a difficult time finding a blended Scotch whisky more well-known than Johnnie Walker. Its black label whisky is a blend of forty or so whiskies that are aged a minimum of twelve years. This results in a slightly smoky, sippable blend.
Tasting Notes:
For a blend, this nose is surprisingly spicy and smoky. There are also notes of dried fruits, sweet malts, and candied orange peels. There’s an oaky, woody quality that intermingles with notes of butterscotch, vanilla beans, barley, and gentle smoke. The finish is warming and sweet.
Bottom Line:
You can do much worse than Johnnie Walker Black. For the price, it’s a good sipping whisky. That being said, the slight smoke and spices might turn off some drinkers.
Like Johnnie Walker Black, Dewar’s 12 is a blend of whiskies aged for a minimum of twelve years. It’s comprised of around forty different single malt and grain whiskies blended before finishing for an additional six months to solidify the flavor.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of dried fruits, butterscotch, toasted marshmallows, toasted barley, almond cookies, and a gentle floral background greet your nose. The palate is loaded with flavors like clover honey, sweet grains, caramel malts, dried fruits, candied orange peel, and almond butter. It all ends with a malty, sweet, slightly smoky finish.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a fan of Johnnie Walker Black, we suggest trying Dewar’s 12 instead. Even though they are around the same price and have a similar recipe (with different whiskies included), we believe Dewar’s 12 is actually the more refined and flavorful of the two.
Even if you don’t know much about blended whisky, you’ve probably heard the name Cutty Sark. While its original blend is around $20 and will get the job done, we think you should step it up to the slightly more expensive Cutty Sark Prohibition Edition. This blend of single malt and grain whiskies is 100 proof and known for its bold flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
Spicy hints of cinnamon, cloves, orange zest, butterscotch, and vanilla cream meet your nostrils when you nose this complex whisky. Sipping it brings forth notes of cocoa powder, sweet malts, sticky toffee pudding, candied orange peels, and a gentle, nutty sweetness. The finish is sweet, warming, and memorable.
Bottom Line:
If you’re the type of drinker who prefers to sip on higher-proof whiskies, this is a blend for you. Even at 50% ABV, it’s a great mix of spicy, sweet, and nutty that will leave you craving more.
Compass Box has become the go-to for approachable, high-quality blends in the last few decades. Its Artist Blend is named to pay tribute to the street performers and artists in Edinburgh. It’s a blend of single malt and grain whiskies and is known for its nuanced, mellow flavor.
Tasting Notes:
Right away, you know this is a special blended whisky. The nose has aromas of lemon curd, dried fruits, vanilla beans, and honey. On the palate, you’ll find cinnamon, cloves, caramel apples, candied orange peels, vanilla beans, and sweet treacle. The finish is long, warming, and pleasantly sweet and spicy.
Bottom Line:
For the price, there is no better-blended whisky than Compass Box Artists Blend. It’s smooth, sweet, spicy, and tastes like it should be way more expensive.
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(@RonFilipkowski) 
