Month: October 2022

Listen: my editor, Steve? He has a lot of ideas. Often I’m not thrilled about having to carry them out. And coming off the success of our experiment to find the best way to cook a hot dog, he wondered, “what about mustard?”

I had to admit that it made a sick sort of sense. If we were going to spend hours trying to rank the best hot dogs (I would’ve called it a “franking”), and then the best way to cook said hot dogs, surely we could devote some time to finding the best version of the most popular hot dog condiment to put on the dogs, right?

Sure, but there are so many mustards. Dijon mustard, brown mustard, deli-style mustard, English mustard, Chinese mustard… the list goes on. I haven’t even gotten to the flavored ones yet. So I decided to limit this tasting to yellow, American-style mustards — presumably the go-to mustard for American-style hot dogs (yellow mustard is also great in tuna salad, on a Cuban sandwich, in deviled eggs). Yet even narrowing the search down to just one style, I still found 18 different versions of American-style mustard. The USA may not lead the world in life expectancy, quality of life, or vacation time, but damned if you can’t find a wealth of condiments here.

18 iterations is a lot to taste of anything but especially in a category as narrow as “yellow mustard.” To a certain extent, they all tasted… pretty much the same. But they’re also a bit like anything else you might sample 18 iterations of. At first, they seem indistinguishable, and then you sample a few, and pretty quickly you find that you have favorites and least favorites just like with anything else.

The Test

As much as I sort of wanted to, I didn’t dip hot dogs in any of these or test them with food, because that only confuses the issue when you’re trying to evaluate for sight, smell, and taste. So I just ate plain mustard off a spoon. It was a little weird, but not that weird. It’s not like I was gulping down full tablespoons, just sampling.

For what it’s worth, I didn’t really have anything I was “looking for” in a mustard, I kind of just went in open to any possibilities and chose my favorite. Not surprisingly, they were a lot more similar than they were different. They all had a combination of mustard seed and white vinegar, with a few spices thrown in for good measure — commonly turmeric and paprika (as much for color as anything else), with the occasional garlic product, outliers like cinnamon or nutmeg, and the ever-mysterious “natural flavors and spices.”

My reactions were always more about balance than anything else — there’s no secret magic ingredient you can look for and know the mustard is going to be good, as far as I could tell.

The Lineup:

• Trader Joe’s Organic Yellow Mustard
• French’s Creamy Yellow Mustard Spread
• 365 Organic Yellow Mustard
• Good & Gather Organic Yellow Mustard
• Signature Select Fat Free Traditional Yellow Mustard
• True Made Foods Yellow Mustard With Hidden Veggies
• Market Pantry Yellow Mustard
• O Organics Yellow Mustard
• Suzie’s Organic Yellow Mustard
• Great Value Organic Yellow Mustard
• French’s True Organics Classic Yellow Mustard
• Sunny Select Yellow Mustard
• Sprouts Creamy Yellow Mustard
• Sir Kensington’s Yellow Mustard
• Trader Joe’s Dill Pickle Mustard
• Heinz Yellow Mustard
• Great Value Yellow Mustard
• Sprouts Organic Creamy Yellow Mustard

18. True Made Foods Yellow Mustard With Hidden Veggies (Sample 14)

Price: $4.99 for 12 ounces at Sprouts

Original Notes:

This one is more of an orange-yellow. On the nose, it’s not as vinegary and pungent as some of the others. It feels like there might be… a veggie note in there? Carrot, maybe? Yeah, this is definitely earthy tasting, like carrots/beets/turmeric. Turmeric might account for the orangeness. I’m not a fan; this is just bitter where it should be bracing.

Rating: 3/10

Bottom Line:

This is the kind of tasting that makes a person doubt their senses many times, but I now feel good and confident in my ability to detect “hidden” veggies. Honestly, how much mustard are you eating for the minuscule quantities of veggies here to have any effect on your diet? This must be a product for those people with the kind of brain disorder where they can only eat corndogs or whatever.

As long as you’re using yellow mustard in normal yellow mustard situations I think you can safely skip this one and get you some regular yellow mustard.

17. Market Pantry Yellow Mustard (Sample 15)

Price: $0.65 for eight ounces at Target.

Original Notes:

This one is a lighter yellow, more towards that Grey Poupon color than yellow or brown mustard. On the nose, more towards the mustard seed than vinegar spectrum. This comes on nice and vinegary, but there’s an earthy note at the end that I don’t like at all. You’re not supposed to eat yellow mustard raw, sure, but I also don’t ever hear people say “I want to like this mustard, but it’s just not bitter enough.”

Rating:

3.5/10

Bottom Line:

This one lists turmeric as the fifth ingredient, which may explain the bitterness. Presumably, you add turmeric more for the color than the flavor, and maybe this one overdid it? For 65-cent mustard, it’s not the worst thing I’ve ever tasted. And given turmeric’s supposed anti-inflammatory qualities, that at least makes more sense than “hidden veggies.”

Maybe double down on the turmeric and advertise it that way? Dunno, just spitballin’ here.

16. Trader Joe’s Dill Pickle Mustard (Sample 6)

Price: $1.99 for nine ounces at Trader Joe’s.

Original Notes:

This is slightly darker, with some speckles. On the nose, I’m 90% sure this is the dill pickle one because it smells just like dill pickles. I’m pretty sure I’m right about that so I’m going to proceed as such. It definitely tastes exactly like what it says it is — pickles and mustard. If you want that, great. I feel like I’d rather just eat the pickle than this.

Pickles crunch. “Pickle flavor” is mostly just salt.

Rating:

4/10

Bottom Line:

This is technically flavored mustard, and it only snuck in here because I didn’t notice when I grabbed it off the shelf. Anyway, this is good at being what it says it is, I’m just not sure what it says it is is a thing the world needs. It’s never going to replace actual pickles for me, because, like I said, the crunch/fresh element of a pickle is like 80% of why I would ever put pickles on anything.

This lacks that. And so… why? But hey, whatever tickles your pickle, I guess.

15. Sir Kensington’s Yellow Mustard (Sample 5)

Price: $4.99 for nine ounces at Sprouts.

Original Notes:

This one doesn’t spread out as much, there’s some body there. It’s a very shiny, bright yellow. There’s a powderiness to this one, where you can sense the actual mustard powder more on the tongue. There’s something else in there too — I think. I saw turmeric on the labels of one of these, that might be it. Something root-y? I don’t know that it makes it “better” tasting though.

There’s a sightly bitter note at the end (albeit really slight). I like the way this looks more than it tastes.

Rating:

6/10

Bottom Line:

Being the obnoxious snob that I am, Sir Kensington’s packaging and price tag always appealed to me. Gimme that top hat shit, none of that riff-raff peasant mustard for my tube steak, oh no no. I always wondered if the stuff inside matched the packaging, and, well, I guess I found out.

It does not. This is charlatan mustard!

14. Great Value Yellow Mustard (Sample 8)

Price: $1.00 for 20 ounces at Walmart

Original Notes:

This is an ever-so-slightly orangier yellow, with a decent amount of body. The nose is weirdly weak, but there’s definitely white vinegar in there. On the palate, this one has a nice sharp “sting” to it, but a slightly bitter aftertaste. Meh.

Rating:

6/10

Bottom Line:

It’s very cheap and tastes like what it is. On the one hand, it’s not that much worse than the ones at the top of the list, but on the other, it’s not that much cheaper either. I’m okay paying one dollar more for something just a smidge better.

13. French’s Creamy Yellow Mustard Spread (Sample 10)

Price: $3.99 for 12 ounces at SaveMart

Original Notes:

This one clearly has the most body. It coils without settling, which is slightly… unnerving? On the nose, it’s sweet and vinegary. On the palate, this one definitely lacks some of the vinegary bite of some of the others. It doesn’t hit you in the cheeks in the same way. It’s definitely a deliberate choice and while I’m sure there’s a use for it, I kind of miss the tang? Mustard ain’t right unless it’s got that bite, baby.

Rating:

7/10

Bottom Line:

What I missed in this one, the more vinegary bite, is actually the selling point of these new “creamy” style mustard spreads. Like I said above, it’s fine but I like more bite. I don’t necessarily need my mustard to be creamy, that’s what mayo is for. Maybe this is for the mayo haters.

12. Signature Select Fat Free Traditional Yellow Mustard (Sample 13)

Price: $3.39 for 20 ounces at Von’s/Safeway.

Original Notes:

Bright vivid yellow, sort of a full-bodied purée texture. Again, pretty hard to detect much on the nose beyond white vinegar. This is tangy, with a nice vinegar balance, though there’s a little bit of an aftertaste of something I don’t love.

Rating:

7/10

Bottom Line:

The majority of these entries came in around a seven rating — being good but not great. This is fine if one of the better options isn’t available.

11. French’s True Organics Classic Yellow Mustard (Sample 2)

Price: $4.29 at SaveMart

Original Notes:

This one is brighter in color and creamier in texture. The vinegar on the nose is there, but softer somehow. This one is on the sweeter/more vinegary side. Less pungent, but thinner somehow. It’s fine.

Rating:

7/10

Bottom Line:

This is fine.

10. Trader Joe’s Organic Yellow Mustard (Sample 1)

Price: $1.69 for nine ounces at Trader Joe’s.

Original Notes:

This one is a darker yellow (for a yellow mustard), and ever so slightly grainy in texture. The nose is very vinegar/mustardy (duh), not much else detectable. On the palate, it has a nice sweet tang, with maybe a little savory note in there. Tastes like… mustard.

Rating:

7.25/10

Bottom Line:

I’m definitely not making a special trip to Trader Joe’s for the mustard, but if you’re already there this one is perfectly passable.

9. Sprouts Creamy Yellow Mustard (Sample 4)

Price: $2.49 for 20 ounces at Sprouts.

Original Notes:

Smooth and shiny in appearance, a medium yellow. The nose is vinegar-heavy. I like the vinegar/mustard balance on this one, though it’s hard to articulate why. It feels… I don’t know, balanced (I am very smart).

There is a vague vegetable oil note to this one though.

Rating:

7.25/10

Bottom Line:

Again, a very fine if unspectacular yellow mustard that is perfect if you are already in a Sprouts. It doesn’t actually list oil in the ingredients, so I don’t know what I was tasting there.

8. 365 Organic Yellow Mustard (Sample 11)

Price: $3.29 for 14 ounces.

Original Notes:

This one is darker, almost brown. Fuller bodied but with less structure than a few of them. Very vinegary on the nose. On the palate, it’s again, very vinegar-heavy, leaving less room for the mustard seed. I kind of like it though, it gives it a nice kick.

Rating:

7.5/10

Bottom Line:

This is a perfectly cromulent mustard if you happen to be in a Whole Foods.

7. Great Value Organic Yellow Mustard (Sample 18)

Price: $1.78 for eight ounces at Walmart.

Original Notes:

This is a very gold yellow, smooth in texture with medium body. Standard vinegar/mustard nose, not super strong. This is sweet on the palate, not as bracing and sharp as some, but not earthy or bitter either. Standard.

Rating:

7.5/10

Bottom Line:

This is a lot more expensive than its non-organic Great Value brother, and it turns out, tastes a lot better too. That doesn’t always happen, but it’s nice when things make sense. Makes a man feel whole.

6. Sunny Select Yellow Mustard (Sample 3)

Price: $1.99 for 14 ounces at SaveMart.

Original Notes:

This one is a slightly darker yellow, smooth, but seems to have more body to it. On the nose it isn’t very pungent, seems more mustardy than vinegary. On the palate, this one has another flavor in there, something more umami to cut the tang. I’m not sure what it is though because it’s… you know, mustard.

From my notes: “Less sharp.”

Rating:

7.5/10

Bottom Line:

The ingredients include vinegar, water, mustard seed, salt, turmeric, paprika, the same basic stuff as all the others, so I don’t know what I thought I was tasting in there. This one has probably the most generic packaging of all the mustards and yet it almost snuck into the top five. Books, covers, etc. Never judge a condiment by its packaging, always read the article on Uproxx.com first.

5. Good & Gather Organic Yellow Mustard (Sample 12)

Price: $1.79 for nine ounces.

Original Notes:

Another fuller-bodied one, still yellow but inching ever so slightly towards the browner end of the spectrum, at least for yellow mustards. On the nose it smells like… yep, white vinegar. On the palate, this one has a nice balance. It’s sharp without bitter notes while giving me a sense of the mustard powder too.

Good, but also hard to distinguish between the other good ones. It’s ever so slightly chalky.

Rating:

7.75/10

Bottom Line:

Pretty solid mustard for a Target store brand. Definitely pick up one of these next time you’re buying t-shirts to paint in or diapers or detergent or replacement iphone cables or dog food or whatever.

4. O Organics Yellow Mustard (Sample 16)

Price: $2.89 for eight ounces at Von’s/Safeway

Original Notes:

This one is medium to orange-y yellow, and some of the thickest. It’s very full-bodied and extremely smooth on the surface, like soft-serve ice cream. There’s some very bracing white vinegar on the nose, in a pleasing way. On the palate it tastes… like good solid yellow mustard. Is there a vague citrus in this? It’s not bad necessarily, but there’s a lemony note in there.

Rating:

8.25/10

Bottom Line:

I don’t see any citrus in the ingredients, so I don’t know what exactly I was tasting there (citrus and vinegar can be pretty similar) but again, anything in the top five here is definitely worth picking up.

3. Heinz Yellow Mustard (Sample 7)

Price: $2.49 for 14 ounces at Von’s.

Original Notes:

This one doesn’t spread much. It’s light goldenrod in color. Very vinegary on the nose and nicely pungent. There’s a strong sense of mustard powder on the tongue — this is mustardy mustard, if I can say that, which I like.

Rating:

8.5/10

Bottom Line:

Those condiment kings at Heinz have done it again! Honestly, I always sort of assumed Heinz was popular because of that easy name and handsome packaging, so it’s interesting to see it take third in a blind taste test. All the ingredients are basically the same as everything else, though it does list “natural flavors and spices,” which is a little cryptic.

“Don’t worry, baby, it’s natural.”

2. Sprouts Organic Creamy Yellow Mustard (Sample 9)

Price: $2.49 for eight ounces at Sprouts.

Original Notes:

Bright vibrant yellow, very smooth in texture, medium body. Looks basically like what I think of when I imagine what a yellow mustard looks like. Pungent white vinegar/mustard on the nose. Again, exactly what I’d imagine. On the palate, this one hits me right in the cheeks with the vinegar, but on the palate I mostly get mustard. It’s not too harsh or bitter… Mostly feels like the platonic ideal of mild yellow mustard.

Rating:

9/10

Bottom Line:

There were three “creamy” style yellow mustards in the competition, including a French’s creamy mustard spread and this one’s non-organic brother, neither of which ranked as highly as this one. Both the Sprouts versions look basically the same, ingredients-wise, other than one being organic, while the French’s has canola oil and garlic powder. Now you can regale someone at a cocktail party with this information. You’re welcome!

Anyway, this was good mustard.

1. Suzie’s Organic Yellow Mustard (Sample 17)

Price: $3.29 for eight ounces at Sprouts or SaveMart.

Original Notes:

This is the first or second thickest of the bunch, it didn’t settle really at all. The exterior is slightly grainy and it’s medium yellow. Vinegar and mustard on the nose. On the palate, there’s a pleasing sharpness and a mix of sweet and vinegar. It tastes quite good, actually, with a nice balance.

Something about this makes me want to go back and have more.

Rating:

9.5/10

Bottom Line:

It’s rare that this happens, but the mustard with arguably the nicest-looking packaging takes this round. The only outlier ingredient in this one is “dehydrated garlic,” which I didn’t detect when I was smelling or tasting, but I suppose does track as that ineffable “something extra” that made this one just a little bit better than the others.

Saturday Night Live hasn’t even been back for a full week, and yet, it’s already courting controversy. During it’s Season 48 premiere, host Miles Teller starred in a sketch that spoofed the Charmin Bears from the long-running toilet paper commercials. Like a lot of young people, Teller’s character doesn’t want to go into the family business and struggled to break the news to his family that he would not be attending toilet paper college. Instead, he’d be pursuing a career in art, which in fairness, sometimes involves smearing poop on things. (Art shows are weird, folks.)

While the sketch seems par for the course for SNL, it inadvertently sparked a wave of controversy when the episode streamed on Peacock. According to Variety, an actual ad for Charmin ran next to the sketch, which had SNL fans questioning how much advertisers were influencing the editorial direction of the show:

NBC says the appearance of the ad next to the skit was “coincidental,” and not put in place at the request of Procter & Gamble, which has manufactured Charmin since acquiring the product in 1957. Procter, one of the nation’s largest TV advertisers, did not respond to a query seeking comment.

In fairness to NBC, the Charmin ad only appeared on streaming while broadcast viewers saw an ad for David O. Russell’s Amsterdam. Unfortunately, the controversy didn’t stop there.

As reported by The A.V. Club, YouTube creator Joel Haver made a very similar video last year called “Toilet Paper Bears,” which featured… an artistic son trying to leave the family business. Hoo boy. Haver addressed the similarities in a recent video where he generously chalked the whole thing up to “parallel thinking” and doesn’t think it was “malicious.”

“If I still was a smaller creator, which I was for a long time, I could see it rubbing me the wrong way and me being a little more likely to believe they did steal it,” Haver said. “I have to recognize I’m in a position to not be bothered by it.”

(Via Variety)

Karin Dreijer has never wanted to be placed in a box. The avant-garde provocateur behind Fever Ray (and The Knife) has made a career out of shapeshifting sonically and visually and has drawn appropriate comparisons to Björk. But Fever Ray hasn’t released any new original music since 2017’s Plunge. A live album and Plunge Remixes soon followed, but today Dreijer has officially released their first new song in five years in the cinematic and cryptic “What They Call Us”along with a video.

The song was co-produced and written alongside Dreijer’s brother, Olof, who is also Karin’s bandmate in The Knife. It has an industrial beat with a cello reverberating in the background as Dreijer seemingly addresses her hiatus and subsequent return, as Karin sings, “It’s a common misperception, this is not a band, ready for a dissection. Now mommy’s gotta work, see the land.”

The song’s video was directed by frequent collaborator Martin Falck and is an artistic treatise on the monotony of the daily grind. Falck pits Dreijer in an office setting as they become increasingly disillusioned with the experience, buried in stacks of papers and photocopying their head as they daydreams about exploring the world outside.

Fans are pumped for the return of Fever Ray to say the least, with some of the top YouTube comments on the new video saying things like, “I think it’s a perfect sound mix between the first and the second album.Thank you for this new gem, and keep feeding us with your art!” and “What the world needs right now! Welcome back Fever Ray. You have been missed.”

Watch the video for “What They Call Us” above.

Yellowstone receives about a fifth of the online attention as House of the Dragon or The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. But it’s just as popular. Maybe more so.

The trailer for season five of the Paramount Network series was viewed 14.4 million times within its first 24 hours of release, with 1.7 million engagements. That’s “three times as many organic views and six times more organic engagements versus the trailer for season four,” according to Deadline. For comparison’s sake, the first House of the Dragon teaser trailer took three days to hit 10 million views.

There was also 30,000-plus mentions of the trailer on social media — four times the amount that was generated from the season four trailer. The latest teaser was also shared 190,000 times on social media, and ranked on TikTok and Facebook as the No. 1 and 2 most-watched videos in the TV universe that day.

I haven’t seen a single second of Yellowstone (or 1883, and probably won’t watch 1923 or 6666), but I’ve seen Kevin Costner in a cowboy hat, so I understand the appeal. If you’re not among the 14 million-plus folks who have already watched the trailer, here you go:

In the future, all shows will take place in Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone-verse or be about serial killers. Might as well start accepting it now.

Yellowstone season five premieres on November 13.

(Via Deadline)

Ryan Castro visits New York City in his new music video for “Avemaría.” In the video that was released today (October 5), the rising Colombian singer represents his country proudly in the city streets.

Following in the footsteps of J Balvin, Maluma, and Karol G, Ryan Castro is part of a new wave of reggaeton artists that are emerging from Medellín, Colombia. In the past year, Castro has scored a number of hits like the slick “Jordan,” which has over 300 million streams on Spotify, and “Monastery” featuring Feid with over 132 million streams. Castro’s most peculiar hit is the merengue-infused “Mujeriego” with over 166 million streams.

“Representing the new generation in Medellín is a blessing and it’s also a responsibility that I want to take on maturely while contributing as much as I can to the reggaeton scene of my country and my city,” Castro told Uproxx.

“Avemaría” is Castro’s collaboration with his longtime producer SOG. Backed by perreo-ready beats, Castro sings about living large and finding love on the dancefloor. Castro seamlessly shifts between an aggressive flow while patrolling the city streets to a sultrier vocal to win over the woman that he’s interested in. Castro continues to bless his fans with more of his Medellín swagger in “Avemaría.” In the video, Castro takes over New York City. He is partying in the streets while proudly waving the flag of Colombia.

“The inspiration for ‘Avemaría’ was classic reggaeton, retro reggaeton that I like to listen to so much and, obviously, that I like to make as well,” Castro said.

In August, Castro released his debut EP Reggaetonea. That month, he also performed at the MTV Video Music Awards alongside J Balvin. The duo performed “Nivel De Perreo” next to a giant CGI woman that was twerking to their hit. Castro is proud to keep pushing Medellín’s reggaeton scene out into the world.

“I want to be a legend with my music,” he said. “I want to be remembered for everything I did. I want the people around me to be able to live well and for my ghetto, my city, and my country to be proud of what Ryan Castro does.”

Vladimir Putin’s tactical blunders in his Ukraine war continue to stack up with the Russian president theatrically signing annexation papers for regions of Ukraine that are increasingly being liberated from Russian control. The regime’s soldiers don’t want to be fighting in this conflict, and no one can blame how more citizens fled to other countries than cooperated with the partial mobilization process. Ukraine’s recent stunning advances led to pushing Russia out of an Eastern stronghold and taking back more Southern territory. Kyiv and other major cities appear to be out of reach for Putin, and so, the Kremlin hired some mercenaries, who are apparently not doing too well, either.

According to the Daily Beast, Russia’s actually trying to cover up an embarrassing incident, in which a Wagner mercenary fighter (and this private army has been stuffed with “hundreds of prison inmates”) accidentally killed a Russian lieutenant-colonel. This private military has apparently been clashing with actual Russian troops, and it’s adding to the existing ugliness:

The growing conflict resulted in a Wagner fighter gunning down a lieutenant colonel in the Russian army — a deadly episode of “friendly fire” that the Kremlin is said to be trying to sweep under the rug, according to the human rights group Gulagu.net.

“They are trying to hush up the incident and prevent publicity. And this is not the first emergency of its kind,” the group quoted a source as telling the Gulagu.net hotline.

The incident was also reported by two other Russian Telegram channels, though no details were provided on when or where the shooting is said to have taken place.

That’s not all. The Daily Beast also reports upon a “mass brawl” between new Russian draftees and these mercenary fighters with the former group pouncing upon the latter. The source of conflict, reportedly, is that the private army has received actual gear and mobile phones, which (of course) looks even worse for Russia, given the video footage of new draftees being told to bring tampons to treat their own (virtually certain) bullet wounds. It’s no wonder that former (and powerful) Putin supporters are now distancing themselves from the conflict, which has been ongoing for seven months and counting.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Kanye West is regularly at the center of some sort of controversy these days, with the latest batch of it coming from Paris Fashion Week, where he wore a “White Lives Matter” shirt. In the midst of all this, though, Khloe Kardashian had something to say about a different topic, which Ye didn’t take too well.

In a comment left on one of West’s Instagram posts (as Complex notes), Khloe implored Ye to “stop tearing [Kim Kardashian] down and using our family when you want to deflect,” writing in full:

“Ye, I love you. I don’t want to do this on social media but YOU keep bringing it here. You are the father of my nieces and nephews and I’m trying to be respectful but please STOP tearing Kimberly down and using our family when you want to deflect. Again with the birthday narrative. Enough already. We all know the truth and in my opinion, everyone’s tired of it.

You know exactly where your children are at all times and YOU wanted separate birthdays. I have seen all of the texts to prove it. And when you changed your mind and wanted to attend, you came.

Like you have pointed out yourself, she is the one taking care of your kids 80% of the time. Please Leave her and the family out of it so that the kids can be raised peacefully. I come from a place of love and I am happy to continue this conversation privately if you wish [white heart emoji].”

West had plenty to say about that… not privately, but in a new Instagram post shared today (October 5). Sharing a screenshot of that comment, Ye wrote:

“YOU ARE LYING AND ARE LIARS YALL BASICALLY KIDNAPPED CHICAGO ON HER BIRTHDAY SO SHE COULD REMEMBER HER FATHER NOT BEING THERE TRAV GAVE ME THE ADDRESS OF MY CHILDS PARTY THATS HOW YALL PLAY WITH BLACK FATHERS YALL ALSO THREW A PARTY BEFORE PSALMS BIRTHDAY WHEN I WAS FLYING BACK FROM JAPAN TO BE THERE FOR HIS BIRTHDAY AND THE FIRST I HEARD ABOUT IT WAS SEEING PICS OF THE PARTY ON LINE ALSO I SHOULD SEE MY CHILDREN 100 % OF THE TIME BUT SINCE THERE’S A SEPARATION IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN 50% OF THE TIME YA’LL WOULDN’T HAVE PLAYED WITH DONDA LIKE THAT IN JESUS NAME.”

As for the birthday, West has addressed this before, alleging he was prevented from attending Chicago’s birthday party earlier this year.

Find Ye’s post below.

Would you camp out for almost a month to see Harry Styles on Halloween? This year, for his second year of Harryween (and first in Los Angeles), a pair of friends both said yes to that question. In a new TikTok video uploaded by @AllyAndArli, they are currently the first people to be camping in line — and they’re using a numbered system for anyone else who wants to join them.

“Hey everyone!” Ally says, as Arli sits in a lawn chair. “Just want to let you know, we have started camping out for the Harryween show.”

“We’re passing out wristbands and taking down names,” Arli adds. “Just come meet us over at Lot D. That’s where we’ll be.”

Since uploading the video, many Harry stans wondered if it was actually real… or if the two girls were just hardcore committing to the bit for TikTok. One user asked what to wear on October 24 (one of Styles’ LA residency dates), to which @AllyAndArli responded, “something slay.”

“SLAY THE HOUSE BOOTS DOWN HOUSTON IM DECEASED,” wrote one commenter. “Ok cool I’ll come tmr,” another added.

Instead of confirming whether it was a bit or not, Ally and Arli uploaded another video, zooming out on Arli in the lawn chair with Steve Lacy as the set music. However, their profile does show that they both are hardcore Harry fans — with photos meeting him, visiting the Don’t Worry Darling set locations, and listing how long they’ve camped out for his shows before.

As of August, one video has their Harry-related wait for One Direction’s Ellen performance listed at 21 hours. Other shows might be even longer than that.

Basically put, if you’re very serious about attending Harryween and not fully sure if their weeks-long camping video is a bit, it might be best to get down to Kia Forum… but like, be safe about it. And bring them s’mores. Just because they asked.

Watch the video above.

The original Hellraiser, directed by Clive Barker, is a horror classic. The movie’s signature villain, Pinhead, played originally by Doug Bradley, is a lot different than the contemporary villains of the era like Freddy Krueger or Jason Vorhees or Michael Myers. Those characters are basically killing machines. Each has their own peculiar reasons, but the end result is about the same. Pinhead, on the other hand, at least in the first Hellraiser movie, isn’t even the one responsible for most of the killings in the movie. Someone has escaped Hell and Pinhead and his Cenobite pals are in charge of getting that soul back. At times, it seems like pinhead is kind of put out by the whole thing. And, pound for pound, is probably the most reasonable horror villain.

After ten Hellraiser movies, the franchise is being rebooted with a brand new Pinhead (aka the Hell Priest), now played by Jamie Clayton. Director David Bruckner’s story involves a young woman, Riley (Odessa A’zion), who is involved in a plan to steal a mysterious ancient box, but then realizes that not only is the box supernatural, but it might also be able to bring back her long lost brother who died under mysterious circumstances. That is, if she can trust the Cenobites.

Ahead, David Bruckner and Jamie Clayton explain why another sequel was eschewed and what they wanted to pull off with a Hellraiser reboot (which will be on Hulu starting October 7th), which, in the end, comes down to they just wanted to make, “a fucking great Hellraiser.”

I like Pinhead because Pinhead is the most reasonable villain in horror movies, especially in the original movie.

Jamie Clayton: A hundred percent.

David Bruckner: Well, it’s the staple of the Hellraiser movies. You have to negotiate with Cenobite. And they’re at their best when they’re dignified, and you believe that they might keep their word. And if their word, or the testament, or the challenge, that they’re putting forth to you is one that you can achieve, then you get really interesting tension there. But, yeah, that’s something that interested us.

There are not many horror villains that, half the time, seem put out by doing what they do. Basically, “Someone opened this box. Now I have to deal with this.” I think Pinhead would rather want to relax.

Jamie Clayton: That’s a great perspective. I love that. Yes, absolutely. It’s like, “You opened it!”

Right.

Jamie Clayton: “I didn’t want to be here!”

Even in this one, a Cenobite doesn’t attack a character because that person didn’t open the box.

David Bruckner: Yeah, they have rules. They all have interests. I mean, one of the scariest lines for me, in the original film, was when Kirsty begins to negotiate, is where the female Cenobite says, “Perhaps we prefer you.” And I always thought that was so frightening, the idea that there was preference involved. Your fate was a matter of taste. That just gave me chills. We talked about a bunch in this, and I think what Jamie brings to life in the character is a sense of desire and sensuality. You get a kind of hungry sense from the priest of what she wants to see from the people around her. She’s curious. And I just found that really frightening.

Going into this, how much of a direct reboot did you want to do? And how much did you want to create something new? Because the original Hellraiser, the Uncle Frank storyline is pretty grim.

David Bruckner: Well, I mean, I think the original Frank story… I mean, obviously, it’s super revered. It’s fantastic in so many ways. We didn’t want to try and remake the original movie. It’s too iconic and it’s too unique and it’s too its own thing. And that would be pretty perilous place for filmmakers.

I guess my question is why a hard reboot instead of another sequel? Or one of those things where it is only a sequel to the first movie like Halloween? Obviously, you have a new Pinhead is a reason, but I don’t know how this was constructed.

David Bruckner: I think, for us, it was really, honestly, the focus was like, let’s just make a fucking awesome Hellraiser movie. You know what I mean? Let’s not burden ourselves, or the audience, too much on what is strict canon and what isn’t, necessarily, in that regard.

It’s a lot. I haven’t even seen all the Hellraisers, and I like these movies.

David Bruckner: It’s gone in too many different directions, and then you have… not too many, I mean so many. And in a way that I think is great.

I would argue maybe it is “too many.”

David Bruckner: I think what it inspires in me is that it’s a big, wide-open canvas. That there’s a world to explore here. And the thing that we really tried to get right, and a lot of what came out of our collaboration with Clive, is about theme. It’s about getting at the roots of what the story is expressing and trying to find a balance between understanding what he was doing, and then also being true to our story and understanding what we are doing and what we bring to it, 35 years later, both in terms of this narrative, but also for us as artists. And Jamie’s performance, for instance, we talked a lot about how you can’t do an impression of Doug Bradley. If we try to do something exacting in that regard, we’re going to create this weird museum piece that’s not going to work. And it’s too iconic. We have to lose ourselves. And I think she understood in her gut, from the beginning, that she just had to pull from somewhere else to this, and showed us things that were different but fascinating. And I lose myself on the idea of what if? What if this was the character? What if this was the world? What if this was the next thing that happened? And just being true to that voice.

I’m curious what’s going through your head while playing Pinhead? Is it, well, Pinhead has a job to do. Or is this Pinhead a little more sinister?

Jamie Clayton: Well, David and I had a lot of discussions about what the priest’s intentions were, what she was thinking in certain moments, what she was feeling in certain moments. But there definitely is… I don’t know that I was consciously thinking it, or if it’s something that we had discussed, but there definitely is, hearing you say it, I mean, there is this element of, “I didn’t come here on my own. You did this. You touched the box. Now I’m here.” But my intentions, everything that I was thinking, I think the biggest thing that we talked about was bringing a sort of sensuality to it. A very grounded, like a stillness, which I hope you like.

I did. Though, this time, it does feel like Pinhead does cheat a little bit, by making the box open when she didn’t actually open it.

Jamie Clayton: Oops!

So this Pinhead’s a little more sinister, or maybe the word is more playful?

Jamie Clayton: I mean, my priest is a little, “Fuck around and find out,” if you know I mean.

I’m curious, how many, if any, of the old movies did you watch? I can see watching those going against the idea of doing something new.

Jamie Clayton: I watched the original the night before I auditioned. I wanted to just bring a bit of… I wanted to understand the tone. Just as an actor, I wanted to understand the tone of it. And I didn’t realize how sexy it was. Just incredibly sexy, and very sensual. I didn’t understand all of those things. And so, once I saw that, and then I taped my audition, I mean, I’d like to think that that’s one of the elements I brought. That’s why I got the callback.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Mustard and Ty Dolla Sign have linked up once again for another heater. On their new single “My Friends,” Ty sings over a triumphant Mustard beat, celebrating the loyalty of the longtime friends in his circle.

Joining them on the anthem is Lil Durk, who further emphasizes their familial dynamic, rapping, “These are my brothers who I’m with, these not my homies.”

“My Friends” comes from an upcoming joint project between Ty and Mustard, which, at this point in their collaborative relationship, seems long overdue. Over the course of the past 10 years, Mustard and Ty have collaborated on a slew of hits, including “Paranoid,” “Or Nah,” “Love You Better,” and more.

“What’s success and fortune if you ain’t getting it with your day ones,” said Ty in a statement. “Big shout out to Durk for being a part of this song.”

“We’ve been doing this for more than a decade now,” added Mustard, “and it’s always special when me and Ty link.”

As of now, the title and release date for the upcoming joint album is yet to be revealed.

Check out “My Friends” above.

Ty Dolla Sign is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.