It’s a bit of another slow week, which means another opportunity for rap fans to dig into some of the under-the-radar hip-hop that’s released this year. Another option would be going even further back; while De La Soul finally came to streaming last week, the Death Row Records catalog has followed suit, returning to DSPs this week after a year-long absence.
There’s still plenty of new stuff to check out, though. Black Thought and El Michels Affair’s new single “Glorious Game” is worth a spin, as is B. Cool Aid’s “Soundgood,” Lola Brookes’ “So Disrespectful,” and Rae Sremmurd’s “Tanisha (Pump That)” — although the less said about Logic’s “It Was A Good Day” cover, the better. Then, of course, there are the albums, EPs, mixtapes, singles, and music videos below.
Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending March 10, 2023.
Albums / EPs / Mixtapes
Blxst — Just For Clarity 2
Blxst
The placement of this four-song EP on this list once again begs the question: Is California rhythmic crooner Blxst a rapper or a singer? And once again, the answer remains: Who cares? His upbeat ruminations on love, lust, and loyalty work equally well through either lens; here, he receives some timely assistants from fellow Golden State natives Larry June and Roddy Ricch, who offer a slightly more rugged perspective to Blxst’s silky vocal takes.
Conway The Machine & Jae Skeese — Pain Provided Profit
Conway The Machine
A seven-song offering adds yet another full clip to Conway’s growing arsenal of collaborative efforts, following 2022’s What Has Been Blessed Cannot Be Cursed with Big Ghost Ltd. This time, the gruff Buffalo native teams up with a local producer who offers a twist on Conway’s usual ominous orchestrations. 7xvethegenius, GooseBytheway, and SK Da King guest star but the former Griselda gangster is the focus of this project, which hews pretty closely to his established modus operandi.
DaeDalTm — Someone’s At The Door
DaeDalTm
Every so often, Tidal recommends a new release that was nowhere near my radar but suddenly arrests my attention when I give it a quick play for this column. Here’s one of those. Hailing from South Florida, DaeDalTm’s Atlanta roots peak out in his grimly melodic contemplations on the trials and tribulations of the streets. This album’s 13 tracks find DDT warbling his way through some of the most cinematic examples of the trap genre I’ve ever heard, and although his hood anecdotes are familiar in form, he delivers the narratives with an uncommon eye for detail.
G Perico & DJ Drama — Hot Shot: Gangsta Grillz
G Perico
DJ Drama’s hot streak is somehow still going; after applying his Gangsta Grillz brand name to projects with French Montana and Kash Doll (and that’s just this year), the Philly DJ stamps South Central native G Perico’s latest with his seal of approval. Best known for his Eazy-E-like voice and updated G-Funk sound, Perico downshifts here, taking unique tacks from what fans might be used to and even crossing color lines to link up with RJMrLA.You might not have thought post-hyphy and jazz rap would work together, but that’s exactly what happens on Hot Shot.
Garren — Spiritual Warfare
Garren
Another artist who gets technically classified as a singer, Garren, a native Angeleno by way of Compton, leans into a more rhythmic delivery here over some absolutely explosive 808-driven production. It’s a stark change from his demeanor on 2022’s This What You Want? — here he’s more boastful, brash, and boisterous, sounding a bit more like veteran rap crooners like Kevin Gates and Fredo Bang than fellow LA vocalists like Eric Bellinger. It’s a change that works.
Singles / Videos
Babyface Ray — “Spill My Cup”
Detroit rappers aren’t, for the most part, recognized for their introspection, but if there were one to develop that reputation, it’d be Babyface Ray. And he’d live up to it, too, as demonstrated by this release from his late 2022 album MOB. The gentle piano instrumental belies its hard-won observations about life on the rough side of the tracks — the tracks in this metaphor being 8 Mile road.
Hunxho — “Uh-Huh” Feat. Tee Grizzley
Two rappers who embrace drastically different approaches to the art form collaborating can lead to some pretty disastrous results, but every so often you get a collusion of opposing flavors that complement each other rather than clash. That’s what happens here, with the rappers’ shared disaffection forming the bonding element that ties them together.
JayDaYoungan — “Dirty Soul”
It’s a bit heartbreaking that the Louisiana artist was killed before ever really receiving the national recognition that was headed his way, but the bright side, I guess, is that more people can learn about him and that there are still a few gems left in his catalog that justify the attention. “Dirty Soul” is a reflection of both sentiments, with the late rapper sounding every bit as devastated about his circumstances as fans are about his loss.
Sha Ek — “Box/Bluff”
Danny Brown may not have a high opinion of New York drill rappers who sound like Batman, but that isn’t stopping the subgenre from going strong. Surely, he was thinking of shouty little guys like Sha Ek, who at 19 years old doesn’t even look like he can get into a rated-R movie by himself. But once you get past his looks, there’s a relatability and rage behind his obvious bluster — and a truly captivating stage presence and theatricality, which is very Batman-esque, indeed.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The 2023 Academy Awards ceremony is finally upon us. Prestige films will be discussed, awards are going to be debated (where’s Ralph Fiennes’ nom for The Menu?!?), and parties will be thrown by film nerds and casual enthusiasts alike. Whether you love movies or just pageantry, we thought this was the perfect opportunity to pair some awesome whiskeys with the Best Picture nominees for this year’s Oscar ceremony.
For this list, I tapped a good friend of mine who also happens to be a whiskey-loving cinephile like me, Bob Book of the Film And Whiskey Podcast. Bob and I each took five Best Picture Oscar nominees and paired them with some of our favorite whiskeys — bourbons, ryes, Irish whiskeys, scotch, and a wild card or two — according to how well they paired with those nominees.
So, if you’re looking for a great whiskey to pour at your Oscars party this Sunday, check out our excellent whiskey pairings below, find the pairing that speaks to you and your favorite film that was nominated for an Oscar, and then click on that price link to get it delivered just in time for your party on Sunday.
This was one of my favorite movies of the year. The sheer cinematic beauty of this film is so all-encompassing. Yes, it’s brutal and loud and viciously bloody. But it’s also softly calm, quietly engaging, and truly a wonderful cinema-going experience. The scenes around stealing geese at a local farm in the snow where the sound meanders through a barnyard, the warming of hands, the falling of snow, and the soft winter wind are emblematic of the scope this war film has. It isn’t afraid to be quiet (sorry) while also being brutally violent in a way that’s so visceral that you almost feel like you’re there. You can almost smell this movie it’s so engaging, and that’s just amazing movie-making.
The Whiskey:
I had to go with a German whiskey, it just feels right. Back in 2020, the Internation World Spirits Competition (IWSC) named this whiskey the best whiskey in the world. That’s fantastically high praise, given the level of judges who award whiskeys from that competition. All of that aside, this is a German single malt made from lightly peated local malts by Northoff Feinbrennerei distillers — true whisky nerds. The whisky ages in new American oak for six years before cask-strength bottling 100% as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The whisky draws you in with a malted sense of vanilla and chocolate (kind of like bespoke fancy Whoppers) next to moist marzipan, floral vanilla, orange pekoe, and Saigon cinnamon bark, with the latter two elements just barely smoldering and spitting thin lines of smoke.
Palate: A pile of butter-grilled pancakes soaked in fresh floral spring honey, bitter marmalade, smoked plum jam with clove, and a hint of Earl Grey tea leaves all lead to an underlying sense of a kindling smoke with a whisper of duck fat.
Finish: More marzipan and smoldering orange pekoe drive the finish with a winter spice bark vibe that’s all sending smoke toward prunes, dates, and plums inside of a smoker.
Why It’s the Perfect Pairing:
This whisky sort of feels like it takes amazingly rich and nuanced flavor notes and just barely lights them on fire. It’s kind of like smelling a smoking kitchen or larder from a mile away that just keeps drawing you nearer. And since finding and enjoying food like that is such an essential part of this film, it just feels right. Plus that smoldering note also feels like something that you’d experience in trench warfare where everything is either on fire or was just on fire. And it’s a German whisky.
The Banshees of Inisherin and Writers’ Tears — Red Head Irish Whiskey
This film is all about the banter between the actors. All that you really need to know is that Brendon Gleeson’s village pub musician no longer wants to hang with his lifelong friend played by Colin Farrel. And so much banter ensues. Some of it is meaningful and some of it is banal, but it all tends to lean more toward funny than maudlin, which makes the film easily watchable.
The Whiskey:
This is classic Irish single malt that’s triple distilled before a long aging process. The hot juice rests in Spanish Oloroso sherry butts until it’s just right. Those barrels are batched and proofed before bottling otherwise as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Burnt orange and peach skins mingle with a hint of salted dried mango next to red berry tea leaves, plum jam cut with clove, and a mild sense of brandy butter and scones.
Palate: Nutella comes through on the palate with a sense of rum-raisin, old sherry-soaked oak staves, and creamy vanilla cake.
Finish: The end leans into the brandy butter and scones with a sense of sharp orange marmalade and fresh breakfast tea cut with cream and honey.
Why It’s the Perfect Pairing:
This feels like a no-brainer given that Gleeson’s character’s whole drive is that he wants to write a great piece of music. And he does, but not without a whole hell of a lot of tears. That aside, this is just a great Irish whiskey that transports me back to Ireland in the same way that the film’s sweeping vistas did. I wanted to live in the seaside pub in that film and sip on this whiskey for the rest of my life (without the rowin’ of course).
Everything Everywhere All At Once and Johnnie Walker — Blue Label Blended Scotch Whisky, Limited Edition Year of the Rabbit
It almost feels trite talking about this film at this point, especially since it’s the lock for the big win on Oscar Sunday. Still, this is the thinking person’s multiverse film that also happens to be incredibly subversive (in a very American way) and really freaking funny with great martial arts from one of the greatest on-screen martial arts actors of our time, Michelle Yeoh.
The Whisky:
This is the mountaintop of Johnnie Walker’s whiskies. The blend is a marriage of ultra-rare stock from extinct Diageo distilleries around Scotland. That’s just… cool. This expression is all about barrel selection and the mastery of a great noser and blender working together to create something special.
Beyond what’s in the bottle, the actual bottle is also really freakin’ cool. This year’s Chinese New Year design was created by rising fashion star Angel Chen. Chen interpreted the Chinese rabbit Zen sign for a stunning bottle and box design that hinges on the ethereal nature of mercy, elegance, and beauty.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this one feels like silk with soft malts, dried plums, good marzipan, old boot leather, mulled wine spices, and a whisper of fireplace smoke.
Palate: The taste layers orange oils into the marzipan as rose-water-infused honey leads to a line of bitter dark chocolate that’s touched with smoked malts and nuts.
Finish: The end has an even keel of velvet mouthfeel next to floral honey, soft smoldering smoke from a fireplace, and old dried fruit.
Why It’s the Perfect Pairing:
The adventure Evelyn goes on in The Daniels‘ Everything Everywhere All At Once kicks off because of her dad visiting for Lunar New Year. So grabbing a solid Lunar New Year whisky feels like the correct play for sitting back and enjoying this film as it wins Oscar after Oscar on Sunday night. Plus, you simply cannot go wrong with a whisky as unique and delicious as Johnnie Blue. It’s a true flex for any Oscars party.
Tár and Octomore — 13.3 Edition Aged 5 Years Super Heavily Peated Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Grooming and cancel culture are at the heart of Todd Field’s Tár. But it’s really Cate Blanchett’s performance that elevates this film beyond a very 2022 conversation. Blanchett’s Lydia Tár is an exploration of whether art should be revered even if the person who created that art is a bad person (according to cultural norms of a different time). The irony is that Lydia Tár is a grooming sociopath who reveres the most basic and obvious old-white-whale greats and only interprets their art without actually creating anything new, adding “artistic fraud” to sociopath and groomer.
The Whisky:
This new limited edition Octomore from Bruichladdich is all about Islay. The whisky is made from heavily peated malts grown on the island (most malts are shipping in from the mainland) back in 2015. In 2016, the whisky was distilled right by the sea at Bruichladdich and then loaded into first-fill, ex-American whiskey casks and second-fill European oak casks from the Rivesaltes region of France and the Ribera del Duero region of Spain. After five years, the casks were vatted and then bottled completely as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is a subtle mix of salted caramel with sweet caramel malts, apricot jam, gingerbread, and a touch of nasturtium with a whisper of smoked apples and pears before the ashen peat starts sneaking in with a sense of a BBQ pork rib rack smothered in BBQ sauce.
Palate: The palate opens with smoked brown sugar next to rich marzipan with a hint of Almond Joy next to Kiwi boot wax, orange marmalade, dried roses, lemon pepper, and a hint of oyster liquor.
Finish: The end has a caramel maltiness that’s just kissed with sea salt and potpourri cut with mild dark spices and more of that marzipan, finishing on a light fruit soda vibe.
Why It’s the Perfect Pairing:
For a film that basically boils down to “Okay, Groomer,” there are still deep themes of learning to appreciate things like classic music, which is certainly an acquired taste. So I chose the most acquired taste whisky I could think of, Octomore. This whisky has such a huge peated opening and barrier (it’s literally in the name on the bottle) that it takes a lot of palate-building to understand/enjoy. But once you get past that opening barrage of ashen peatiness, there’s so much beauty to enjoy in this deeply hewn whisky that it sings on the palate with deep and wonderful flavor notes. Much like truly getting into great classical music.
Triangle Of Sadness and Pappy Van Winkle — Family Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 23 Years Old
Triangle of Sadness — which stole the noms from The Menu in my humble opinion — is the “Parasite eat-the-rich nom” of 2023. This film does go in a very different direction in the second half which is actually very enjoyable, and I won’t spoil that. But the first 1/3 of champagne socialist talking points and obscene disconnected old-white wealth was very on the nose and pretty skippable.
The Whiskey:
This expression spends a long 23 years resting in new American oak, partially at the Stitzel-Weller Distillery and partially at Buffalo Trace. Not every one of those Stitzel-Weller barrels makes the final cut but most do. Only the “honey barrels” — the best of the best — are selected for marrying, proofing, and bottling for this very limited release.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens in a fresh apple orchard on a sunny day fall with tart apples hanging low and taking on a hint of fermentation next to a jar of dark cherry spiced with cinnamon bark and cedar, old sheets of leather, and a hint of vanilla pudding powder mixed with dark and waxy cacao nibs.
Palate: The palate really leans into the bitterness and waxiness of those cacao nibs while layering old and dry tobacco leaves, shards of nut brittle, woody cinnamon sticks soaked in apple cider, and a mix of dried cherries, figs, and dates mashed into tobacco and cedar bark and buried in rich black potting soil.
Finish: The end leans into that old leather, wood, and dirt with a sense of old cellars and cobwebs next to cherry and cinnamon bark.
Why It’s the Perfect Pairing:
Much like the film, this is all bark and no bite. The disgusting and shallow wealth shown off in this film demands the most elitist whisky I can think of. Pappy 23 has an inflated price tag that oligarchs eat up. It’s a $200 whiskey masquerading as a $6,000 one that feels like it’d be the whiskey served/demanded on this boat. The trick here is that this whiskey is very good (a little woody for my taste) which is the tragic trick of the wealthy getting to enjoy all the good shit we poor saps never will — a point the film hammers home about a million times.
Bob’s Picks
Elvis and Jack Daniel’s — Triple Mash Blended Straight Whiskey
Perhaps the year’s most misunderstood movie, Baz Luhrman’s Elvis is no Bohemian Rhapsody. While that 2018 film filled in a very paint-by-numbers biopic, Elvis isn’t so much interested in being a biopic as an immersive, chaotic approximation of Elvis-mania, and the construction of Elvis as a mythic figure. Director Baz Luhrmann may have finally found the perfect vehicle for his frenetic, kinetic camera and over-the-top, gaudy tastes. What results is a director who uses the very structure and form of the movie to comment on Elvis’ mythology.
The Whiskey:
Listen, I know that the easy choice here would’ve been the King’s namesake whiskey, but I prefer to stay in Tennessee with this blend of three straight bottled-in-bond whiskeys of rye, Tennessee whiskey, and single malt. Rye is actually the most-utilized grain in the combined mash bill, but you’d never know it from the maple and peanut butter notes.
Tasting notes:
Nose: There’s a “dusty old gymnasium” smell to this that I can’t quite pin down, but behind that smell are some great notes of boiled peanuts and classic bourbon caramel on the end.
Palate: A doughy Belgian waffle with peanut butter and maple syrup, into a refreshing apple peel. Starts decadent and ends crisp. It’s not viscous, but its thinner mouthfeel has the body you want for a hot summer day.
Finish: Oak takes over on the finish, turning those apple notes slightly bitter, but considering its thinner body, this is a surprisingly long-lasting finish.
Why It’s the Perfect Pairing:
Elvis was a man of gaudy tastes, right down to his downright genius choice of sandwich: peanut butter, banana, and bacon. I can’t think of a better whiskey to match those artery-clogging flavors than this decadent (and affordable) choice from a Tennessee distiller.
The Fabelmans and Noah’s Mill — Small Batch Genuine Bourbon Whiskey
The Fabelmans quickly and unfairly garnered a reputation as a treacly “love letter to Hollywood.” And while director Steven Spielberg’s passion for movies is on full display, it would be selling the film short to pretend it doesn’t have more on its mind. Having hinted at his own upbringing throughout his career, Spielberg decides to fully plumb the depths of his parent’s divorce and filmmaking as his method of both coping with it and pushing it away. Spielberg’s never quite examined the relationship between art and pain quite like this. It’s a beautiful testament both to the cathartic (and myth-shaping) power of making images and to the artist’s often crippling inability to communicate any other way.
The Whiskey:
Once carrying a 15-year age statement and made with at least partially sourced whiskey, Noah’s Mill has dropped the age statement, but now proudly states that it’s distilled, aged, and bottled at Willett Distillery. At 114.3 proof, this high-proof bourbon carries all of my favorite distinctive notes that I’ve come to associate with Willett.
Tasting notes:
Nose: Willett products have a specific dusty “funk” to them, but it manifests here as rose petals. Subtle tobacco, honey, and vanilla complement oak and sawdust.
Palate: Honey and rye spice pop with a cherry backbone across the palate. Cracker-crust and some of the floral notes remain.
Finish: For a high-proof bourbon, there’s a welcome lack of aggressiveness here. Not a ton of burn, but it still makes itself known with a Kentucky hug. Sawdust and cherry linger.
Why It’s the Perfect Pairing:
With a movie like this, Spielberg really walks a fine line. It needs to be delicate and balanced to deliver some of its heavier and more aggressive notes. Noah’s Mill walks the same tightrope. By managing to deliver so much subtle rose notes despite its high proof, it’s as much a master class as Spielberg’s storytelling.
Women Talking and Glenmorangie — Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky The Quinta Ruban 14 Years Old
I wouldn’t have expected a movie with a topic this heavy to be among my favorites of 2022, but Women Talking succeeds on a number of levels. First, it delivers on its title as a dialogue-driven stage adaptation that asks tough questions and makes its audience investigate their own ethical codes. Second, and perhaps more miraculously, it’s so darn entertaining. Many scenes end in heartbreak or a tension-releasing explosion of emotion, but just as many end in a well-timed joke. It’s a masterful script (and film) with career-best work from Rooney Mara and Ben Whishaw.
The Whiskey:
It’s hard to find a 14-year single malt for less than $60, and Glenmorangie not only meets that criterion but exceeds it with this beautiful port-finished Highland scotch. Aged in ex-bourbon casks, the 92-proof whiskey has its flavors punched up via a finishing process in ruby port pipes.
Tasting notes:
Nose: Mandarin orange is immediately prominent in the glass, leading to darker butterscotch, wildflowers, and black pepper.
Palate: A velvety mouthfeel. Toffee and salty butterscotch persist, with a “zip” of citrus to add some texture.
Finish: medium-long, dry, but not bitter. The transition from English toffee to oak is gentle and leaves space for the floral notes to resurface.
Why It’s the Perfect Pairing:
There’s more than meets the eye with both the movie and the whiskey. Thematically, the film plays on what happens behind closed doors, but it also pulls off perhaps its greatest trick by avoiding the rhythms and showiness of “Oscar bait” films. Likewise, you may be tempted to pass up Quinta Ruban because of its fairly low price point. Don’t miss out on either one.
There is a moment in this movie where an alien whale creature starts talking to a teenage boy. The whale’s grunts are subtitled in English and the boy can understand the whale perfectly, and the explanation given is essentially, “Hey, that’s the way of water, baby!” James Cameron is a ballsy magician and I love everything he does.
The Whiskey:
Let’s not overcomplicate things here. I wanted a whiskey with a cool aquatic theme that I actually enjoy drinking. Luckily, Barrell Seagrass fits the bill and then some. Famous for their blending process, the folks at Barrell outdo themselves here by sourcing Kentucky, Indiana, and Canadian ryes and finishing each in a combination of Martinique rhum, Madeira, and apricot brandy barrels.
Tasting notes:
Nose: Is it possible to detect everything in a nose? When my cohost and I tasted this on our podcast, we emerged with the following list: orange, toasted marshmallow, crème brulee, butterscotch, brown sugar, caramel, strawberry shortcake, peach cobbler, dark chocolate, and black coffee. It’s really deep and insanely complex.
Palate: Strawberries and cream with cinnamon, backed up with notes of apricot, peach, and potent rye.
Finish: Long-lasting, warm cinnamon lingers, and the apricot brandy influence continues as well. The high alcohol content becomes more apparent here, but it doesn’t overwhelm the complexity of the experience.
Why It’s the Perfect Pairing:
Aside from the whole “sea” element at play, the thing Barrell has in common with King of the World James Cameron is ambition. There’s no earthly reason to create a blend that’s this labor-intensive and opulent other than to just do it, and the fact that it works is a testament to the geniuses at work. People doubt Cameron every time he makes a movie and he delivers a $2 billion juggernaut. With each successive Barrell release, they further cement themselves as Kings of the Whiskey World.
Top Gun: Maverick and Rebel — Distiller’s Collection Wheated Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This is the movie of 2022. Regardless of its place in the Best Picture race (it’s not likely to win), only one movie made Steven Spielberg admit to Tom Cruise that he saved cinema, and it wasn’t Tár. Crucial to the success of this film is a script that lets Cruise’s Maverick reckon with his own mortality and impending obsolescence. It’s all an obvious stand-in for Cruise himself, the last of a dying breed of movie stars, and it allows Cruise, without a hint of irony, to face down the accusation that his kind is going extinct by directly addressing the camera with a “Not today.”
The Whiskey:
Rebel Distiller’s Collection gets what Tom Cruise is trying to do here. As part of what is likely my favorite line of bourbon, this wheated mash bill has a hush-hush history with Heaven Hill sourcing, but Lux Row has started producing its own distillate for Rebel and keeping the dream of the “original 1849 ‘wheated’ Stitzel-Weller recipe” alive.
Tasting notes:
Nose: Subtle, soft floral notes lead into wheat, vanilla, and root beer with a classic sarsaparilla nose.
Palate: Caramel sweetness with a salty peanut chaser. A bit thinner than expected, and toasted oak becomes prominent.
Finish: A super-long, mouthwatering finish. Primarily, the root beer and vanilla linger. It’s not complex, but especially at the price point, it’s pretty stellar.
Why It’s the Perfect Pairing:
Despite all the talk of rebels and mavericks, what both the movie and the whiskey do best is tap into what their audiences have always loved. Top Gun: Maverick steers clear of the pitfalls of so many nostalgia-porn legacy sequels to deliver something wholly different. Rebel Distiller’s Collection fills a void that a certain other wheated bourbon line has left in the market with its explosive popularity (*cough* Weller *cough, cough*) and presents the platonic ideal of a wheated mash bill for a price even a down-on-his-luck Pete Mitchell could afford.
Kayla Berridge had been walking her normal 9-mile delivery route in Newmarket, a small town in New Hampshire, when she noticed something unusual.
The mail she had been delivering continued to pile up over a matter of days at one resident’s home. The resident was an elderly woman in her 80s, and would occasionally share a chat with Berridge, according to CNN.
Berridge told CNN that after noticing the unattended mail pile, she got “a little concerned.”
“I just had this gut feeling and wanted to make sure,” Berridge told WMUR 9 News, explaining that “most people put a hold in if they’re not there, so when people pick up their mail every day, you start to notice their habits.” Not to mention, the woman’s car was still in the driveway.
Berridge followed her instincts and called the local police department for a wellness check, and in the process saved the elderly woman’s life.
CNN reported that officers found the woman trapped on her bedroom floor under heavy artwork and frames. The theory is she tried to use her bed for support, and in the process these items on the bed fell onto her, pinning her down for three full days. Though she was suffering from hypothermia and dehydration, Police Lt. Wayne Stevens confirmed she was stable and recovering.
I can only imagine the agony and fear this poor woman was in, lying in the cold and not knowing if help would come. Luckily, help was on the way, and this story has a happy ending.
In this instance, the familiarity that comes from living in a small town really paid off. “Everyone has each other’s backs,” Berridge told CNN.
But Officer Stevens wanted to give credit where credit was due. He agreed that Berridge’s quick thinking was “part of being a letter carrier in a small town,” he added that her actions were “taking your job to the next level.”
While wellness or welfare checks have historically been associated with the elderly, they are seen as an equally “critical tool” for the safety of many young people as well, especially with the “rise of suicide rates among adolescents and young adults.”
An example of this is when “Saturday Night Live” star Pete Davidson received a wellness check back in 2018. The comedian posted an alarming message to Instagram, saying “I really don’t want to be on this Earth anymore. I actually don’t know how much longer I can last.” This was after breaking off his engagement with Ariana Grande.
Though it certainly didn’t happen in a small town, the interconnectedness of social media helped raise some red flags and prompted authorities to make a visit.
If there’s anything to make you question someone’s well-being, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
A few weeks ago I came across an article about a kid who watches television at 1.5x speed so he can cram as much viewing in as he can. It seemed that his unquenchable desire to get through shows in the Golden Age of television meant he’d sacrifice the entertainment value of the show just to get to the end.
“Man, this guy would have been crucified in 1993,” I thought.
As a 45-year-old card-carrying member of Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1979), I remembered a time when nobody bragged about the amount of TV they watched. In fact, they bragged about not owning a TV. “I don’t watch TV, man,” people would say. “It only exists to sell you stuff.”
This complete reversal on the social acceptance of gluttonous TV viewing made me wonder what happened to the values we were raised on as Gen Xers? We were taught that sincerity was for simpletons, everything corporate is evil, old school is always better than the latest and greatest, authenticity is king, conformity is death and there is nothing worse than being a sell-out or a poser.
Nobody would have ever referred to themselves as an “influencer” in 1991—that’s the definition of a sell-out.
“After writing this book, I’m back in the mindset of ’90s thinking, which is that nothing is worse than selling out,” Chuck Klosterman, author of “The Nineties: A Book,” told Esquire. “Nothing was more embarrassing in the ’90s than trying to convince people to like the thing you made.”
Deep inside the heart of almost every Gen Xer is a deep-seated feeling of nihilism. We didn’t trust the corporations that laid off our parents or gutted their pensions in the ’80s. In fact, everything corporate was predatory. We didn’t have a lot of faith in family values because we were the first generation raised by single parents or in daycare. We didn’t care much about politics either. Back in the ’90s, Gen X’s aversion to politics was historic.
Of course, these are all generalities about a generation of nearly about 65 million people, but studies show that there are some definite hallmarks of being a Gen Xer.
According to a generational differences document circulated through the business community, Gen X’s core values are “skepticism,” “fun” and “informality.” They’re described as “self-reliant,” “independent,” “unimpressed with authority” and motivated by “freedom.”
In the young Gen Xer, the culture of the era “instilled a wariness and skepticism, and a kind of ‘figure it out for yourself’ mindset,” Paul Taylor, author of “The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown” told The Washington Post. And with that came a sense “that you don’t have to shine a light on yourself. You’re not the center of the universe.”
But things have changed since the ’90s when Gen X was coming of age. We live in an American culture that is fractured by political partisanship, fueled by a constant culture of outrage, crippled by a preoccupation with technology, plundered by greedy boomers and annoyed by overly sensitive millennials. All of this is happening while we face the greatest challenge of our times, climate change.
The answer to all of these problems is simple: admit that Gen X at one point had it right and if we followed its lead, we could reverse these terrible trends. OK, it might not fix all of our woes, but the way things are going now surely aren’t working. Plus, weren’t the ’90s great?
Also, with hat in hand, I must admit that this message is for Gen Xers as well. Many of us have lost our way by forgetting our disdain for authority and skepticism toward institutions. This is a call for us to remember what we once stood for and to fight back by doing what we do best—staying above the fray.
Gen X, it’s time to strap on your Dr. Martens boots and get back to fighting the “Battle of Who Could Care Less.” It’s time we collectively got our “whatever” back and showed the other generations how powerful dismissiveness can be.
Here are the top five Gen X values that we need to embrace again.
5. Buying vintage items
Nothing was less hip in the early ’90s than wearing mall clothes. If you had any style you shopped at a thrift store and bought used duds from the ’70s and early ’80s and remixed them into something awesome. If you were into hip-hop or skating you shopped at the surplus store and rocked some super-durable Dickies or Carhartt gear. The mood of the times was totally anti-fashion. These days, we live in a world where fast fashion is killing the environment. By embracing the Gen X value of old-school cool, we can help the planet while looking much more fashionable in the process.
4. Corporate skepticism
In the early 2000s, people fell head-over-heels in love with smartphone technology and social media so quickly that nobody stopped and said, “Hey, wait a minute!” Now, we have a world where kids are depressed, the culture has become divided and nobody talks to each other in public anymore, they just stare at their phones. I can totally understand why young millennials and Luddite boomers would fall for the big-tech ruse, but sadly, Gen X was asleep at the wheel and fell victim, too. The generation that embraced the notion that TV rotted your brain needs to remind everyone to go outside and play in the sunshine or read a book. And if you read a book it should be by Bret Easton Ellis.
3. Just say “whatever”
Two of the most popular Gen X phrases were “whatever” and “talk to the hand (because the face don’t give a damn).” These may seem to be flippant responses but they are the correct way to deal with other people’s nonsense and in 2022, we have to deal with a constant barrage of it.
Somewhere along the way, people forgot that it’s even more powerful to ignore someone than to admit they got under your skin. In the world of social media, we unintentionally amplify the most wretched voices by subtweeting, commenting and liking the posts from the army of grifters fighting for our attention.
We also live in an era where many seem to be addicted to outrage. The quickest way to stop fanning the flames of outrage is with a simple, “whatever.” Like dogs distracted by squirrels, we’ve got our heads on outrage swivels these days. Throwing around the occasional “whatever” gives us the time and energy to focus on the problems that really matter and take action.
These days “whatever” matters more than ever.
2. Bring back snobbery
Good taste used to matter. In the 2000s, millennials decided that people have the right to like what they like and that it’s worse to judge someone’s personal taste than to have bad taste. Gen Xers based their entire personalities on taste and demanded integrity from artists and were rewarded by living in a time of superior films and music. These days, no one listens to new music and we’re stuck in a world dominated by comic book movies because no one stood up and shamed people for liking low-effort culture.
1. Political apathy
America’s political divide has calcified over the past decade because more and more people are basing their personal identities on their politics. This has created a culture where the dialog between liberals and conservatives has become a shouting match that only makes people dig their heels in further. It’s also created a culture in Washington, D.C. that has attracted a more debased form of politician and led to the gridlock that has halted any sense of progress. Sadly, Gen X has also been sucked into this vortex.
Things were a lot different in the ’90s. Back in 1999, Ted Halstead at The Atlantic noted that Xers “appear to have enshrined political apathy as a way of life.” He added that Gen Xers “exhibit less social trust or confidence in government, have a weaker allegiance to their country or to either political party.”
Compared to what’s going on in America in 2022, this type of apathy seems welcome. Back in the ’90s, taking a “chill pill” could solve everything. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone took one, and then we could open our ears and hearts and have some constructive discussions?
There was a common lament in the 1980s that the boomer hippies had sold out and became boomer yuppies. They went from being concerned with peace, love and the planet to stocks, bonds and conspicuous consumption. Gen X is now in its 40s and 50s and it’s fair to say that we’ve moved from being the outsiders to creating technological and political machines that are generating the type of conformity that we once railed against.
Now that Xers are at the age where we get to run the world for a few decades, it’s time to recommit to the core values that make us well … us. The great news is that as Gen Xers, it’ll be easy to get back to our roots because we were raised to ironically love the past.
“The Board has decided, for a period of 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards,” the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences wrote in a statement. Normally, the previous year’s Best Actor winner presents the Best Actress award, but not this time. Someone else will have to hand the trophy to Michelle Yeoh or Cate Blanchett.
As for whether The Slap will be acknowledged, the broadcast’s executive producer Molly McNearny said, “We’re going to acknowledge it, and then we’re gonna move on. We don’t want to make this year about last year. It’s certainly something we can and will address in a comedic fashion.” The crisis team will have to find something else to do, like keeping the donkey from EO away from the donkey from The Banshees of Inisherin.
Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm-and-blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B songs that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.
Since the last update of this weekly R&B and Afrobeats column, we’ve received plenty of music and news from the genre’s artists. 6lack began his new era and the road toward his upcoming third album Since I Have A Lover with the release of the album’s title track and its free-floating music video. Chloe announced the In Pieces Tour while Wizkid postponed his More Love, Less Ego Tour over production issues. Elsewhere, Ari Lennox and Babyface released an intoxicating music video for their “Liquor” collaboration and SZA’s SOS spent a tenth week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Here are some more releases on the new music front that you should check out:
Masego — Masego
Nearly three years after his last project, Masego is back on the music scene with a new body of work. His sophomore album Masego is here with 14 songs that are both savory and hypnotizing. “I had to do a re-evaluation of a lot of things,” says about his state of mind with the project. “I said, ‘I can’t make this what I imagined it to be. So I cannot remain here. I need to move.’”
Kali Uchis — Red Moon In Venus
“Love is the message,” Kali Uchis says about her third album. “Red Moon In Venus is a timeless, burning expression of desire, heartbreak, faith and honesty.” All of that is evident through the album’s 15 songs which call on Don Toliver, Summer Walker, and Omar Apollo.
Jordan Ward — Forward
Whatever you do, please do not let Jordan Ward’s debut album Forward fly under your radar. The project is flooded with Ward’s unique touch that makes for a refreshing project perfect for the impending warm months. He also gets help from names like Joony, Ryan Trey, Gwen Bunn, and more to create the project that truly encapsulates his desire to “evolve and break cycles,” as he says in a press release.
Chiiild — Better Luck In The Next Life
For his third album Better Luck In The Next Life, Chiiild touches on the things he loves in life as well as some of the struggles he expressed. It makes for an honest and in-depth story that is told with help from Lucky Daye, Alina Baraz, Charlotte Cardin, and Caitlyn Scarlett. It’s a very honest record that begins to tell my story and answer some of the questions about why I’m doing this in the first place as well as who I am,” Chiiild says about the project.
THEY. — “In The Mood” Feat. Yung Bleu
Next month, THEY. — the singer-producer duo comprised of Drew Love and Dante Jones — will release their third album Nü Moon. For their latest offering, the duo returns with their new single “In The Mood” with Yung Bleu. The track salutes the quintessential 2000’s era while previewing the captivating music that’s expected to be on Nü Moon
Mac Ayres — “Again”
On March 17, Mac Ayres will release his fifth project Comfortable Enough. It’s the follow-up to his stellar 2021 output Magic 8Ball, and thanks to his new project’s lead single “Again,” it appears that the same success is in store for Comfortable Enough.
Lojay — Gangster Romantic
Just like he did in 2021 with LV N ATTN, Lojay arrives with a new project that’s nothing short of an exquisite listen. Gangster Romantic delivers six songs that whisk listeners away on a warm trip through infectious beats. “I made this project, because I wanted people to listen to something they can connect with and hold onto for a long time,” Lojay said in a press release.
Libianca — “People” Feat. Ayra Starr & Omah Lay
In a matter of a couple of months, rising singer-songwriter Libianca went from an unknown name to one of the hottest young names in afrobeats. She has her breakout single “People” to thank for that, and now, the track gets a lovely boost through a remix with Ayra Starr and Omah Lay.
WanMor — WanMor
After releasing a couple of singles to warm things up, the brotherly R&B group WanMor is here with their debut EP. The self-titled release delivers seven songs and a feature from King Combs for a project that the group hopes grants a look into their musical minds. They added, “With this project, we just wanted to bring the love, fun, and excitement back.”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
During a February 8 episode of MSBNC’s Mad Money, host Jim Cramer instructed viewers to buy stock in Silicon Valley Bank. Just a month later, that advice is coming back to haunt the perpetually wrong Cramer, who John Oliver once called a “garbage can full of cocaine.” On Friday, federal regulators shut down SVB in one of the biggest financial sector collapses since 2008, which has sparked fears of a similar banking crash.
The shutdown came after a tumultuous morning for SVB, during which trading of its shares was halted after they fell by double-digits before markets opened. That downslide came on the heels of a more than 60% decline Thursday. Worries over a run at SVB led Wall Street investors to dump other bank stocks as well. Shares of other prominent West Coast lenders took sharp nosedives Friday, including First Republic Bank, PacWest Bancorp and Western Alliance Bancorporation.
In view of the tumult, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told House lawmakers Friday morning, “There are recent developments that concern a few banks that I’m monitoring very carefully, and when banks experience financial loss it is and should be a matter of concern.”
A potentially massive financial calamity aside, Twitter users immediately began dragging Jim Cramer for encouraging people to buy SVB stock just last month. According to the New York Post, Cramer told viewers that SVB was ““less dependent upon private equity and venture capital offerings,” which made it worth buying because “being a banker to these immense pools of capital has always been a very good business.”
You can see how well that advice turned out, and so did lots of people on Twitter who pounced on Cramer for making yet another wildly wrong prediction, as he so often does:
One month ago, Jim Cramer urged investors to buy Silicon Valley Bank stock $SIVB.
Today, the bank was closed by California regulators, making it the 2nd largest banking failure in US history. pic.twitter.com/5jgjqTGxld
Reality TV programming is nothing new. Neither are music competition shows. However, Kacey Musgraves and Reese Witherspoon are looking to shake things up. The powerhouse talents are coming together to executive produce an Apple TV+ original series centered around country music. As a highly decorated star within the genre, Musgraves, and with Witherspoon’s award-winning production background, there’s no one better for the job.
The competition show titled, My Kind Of Country, will search all corners of the world to find the next big name in country music. Casting such a wide net for potential acts could seem like a daunting task, but Musgraves and Witherspoon feel that it is absolutely necessary due to the genre’s long history of not being inclusive. As for the judging panel, recording stars Jimmie Allen, Mickey Guyton, and Orville Peck will serve as mentors to the budding acts along their way to win a special prize from the streaming giant.
In a post shared to her Instagram Stories, Witherspoon raved about the series, writing, “Y’all know how much I love country music…so I teamed up with the incredible Kacey Musgraves to create a global search for country music’s next big star.”
Witherspoon continued, “My Kind Of Country is a completely new kind of competition show coming to Apple TV+ on March 24. The talent on this show is insane. You do not want to miss this one.”
Instagram
Watch the full trailer for My Kind Of Country above.
My Kind Of Country is set to premiere to air on 3/24 via Apple TV+. Find more information here.
The debate over the origins of the COVID-19 virus has overwhelmingly come down partisan lines. Democrats tend to believe it came out of a wet market in Wuhan, China. Republicans tend to support the theory that it came from a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
It’s easy to see why partisans have come down on different sides of the divide. Conservative media tends to demonize China and position it as an enemy of the United States. In contrast, liberals are more sensitive to race issues and don’t want to demonize Chinese people. This concern was played out in real time after there was a rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But shouldn’t people choose to believe how the virus originated based on facts instead of blindly supporting their political tribe? Especially when discussing a deadly disease that has killed nearly 7 million people?
Jon Stewart thinks so.
In 2021, he caused a big stir when he broke ranks with many liberals by endorsing the lab leak hypothesis on ‘Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
“Science has, in many ways, helped ease the suffering of this pandemic…which was more than likely caused by science,” he said to nervous laughter.
Colbert added there was “a chance” the virus leaked out of the lab.
“A chance? Oh my god!” Stewart replied. “There’s a novel respiratory coronavirus overtaking Wuhan, China. What do we do? Oh, you know who we could ask? The Wuhan novel respiratory coronavirus lab.”
“The disease is the same name as the lab! That’s just a little too weird, don’t you think?” he continued.
Stewart then put his theory in perspective.
“There’s been an outbreak of chocolatey goodness near Hershey, Pennsylvania—what do you think happened?” he said. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe a steam shovel mated with a cocoa bean…or it’s the f**ing chocolate factory. Maybe that’s it!”
The idea is gaining traction two years after Stewart’s admission. On Tuesday, February 28, FBI Director Christopher Wray publicly acknowledged that the Bureau considers the lab leak theory the likeliest cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Energy has also endorsed the idea saying it has “low confidence” that COVID-19 “most likely arose” from a lab leak.
Stewart addressed the controversy on the latest episode of his Apple+ TV show, “The Problem with Jon Stewart.” When it was brought up on the show’s accompanying podcast, he shared how the debate shows an inability for people to discuss complex topics in today’s political climate.
WARNING: Strong language.
u201cToday @JonStewart talks to some of our staff about the news that the COVID-19 virus may, in fact, have leaked from a lab in China and what it reveals about the problem with the media narrative machine. Full episode drops Wednesday on @ApplePodcastsu201d
— The Problem With Jon Stewart (@The Problem With Jon Stewart) 1677530549
“The larger problem with all of this is the inability to discuss things that are within the realm of possibility without falling into absolutes and litmus-testing each other for our political allegiances as it arose from that,” Stewart added.
“My bigger problem with that was, I thought it was a pretty good bit that expressed kind of how I felt, and the two things that came out of it were, I’m racist against Asian people, and how dare I align myself with the alt-right,” he added.
Stewart said the backlash he received from people on the left was “swift, immediate and quite loud.”
“The part that I don’t like about it is the absolutes and the dismissive like ‘f**k you, I’m done with you. I will never forgive you, you have crossed an unforgivable line. You’ve expressed an opinion that is antithetical to mine, or not mine,’” Stewart continued.
“What was stunning to me, I think, was the anger,” he added.
There are numerous lessons we can learn from the COVID-19 era if we decide to look at the hard facts. One of the most important has to be our ability to think critically about important issues, whether that’s the origins of the virus or the facts about masks and vaccinations. During the pandemic, these were life-and-death tests and sadly, far too many people put their politics before the facts and paid dearly for it.
We need to know how the virus emerged, no matter how uncomfortable it makes people, so that we can prevent it from happening again.
Everyone wants to know how long they will live and there are many indicators that can show whether someone is thriving or on the decline. But people have yet to develop a magic formula to determine exactly how long someone should expect to live.
However, a doctor recently featured on the “Today” show says a straightforward test can reveal the likelihood that someone aged 51 to 80 will die in the near future.
NBC News medical contributor Dr. Natalie Azar was on the “Today” show on March 8 and demonstrated how to perform the simple “sit to stand test” (aka sit-rising test or SRT) that can help determine the longevity of someone between 51 to 80.
The test is pretty simple. Go from standing to sitting cross-legged, and then go back to standing without using any parts of your body besides your legs and core to help you get up and down. The test measures multiple longevity factors, including heart health, balance, agility, core and leg strength and flexibility.
You begin the test with a score of 10 and subtract points on your way up and down for doing the following:
Hand used for support: -1 point
Knee used for support: -1 point
Forearm used for support: -1 point
One hand on knee or thigh: -1 point
Side of leg used for support: -1 point
None
— (@)
A 2012 study published by the European Society of Cardiology found a correlation between the SRT score and how long people live. The study was conducted on 2002 people, 68% of whom were men, who performed the SRT test and were followed by researchers in the coming years. The study found that “Musculoskeletal fitness, as assessed by SRT, was a significant predictor of mortality in 51–80-year-old subjects.”
Those who scored in the lowest range, 0 to 3, had up to a 6 times greater chance of dying than those in the highest scores (8 to 10). About 40% of those in the 0 to 3 range died within 11 years of the study.
Azar distilled the study on “Today,” saying: “The study found that the lower the score, you were seven times more likely to die in the next six years.”
“Eight points or higher is what you want,” Azar said. “As we get older, we spend time talking cardiovascular health and aerobic fitness, but balance, flexibility and agility are also really important,” she stressed.
One should note that the people who scored lowest on the test were the oldest, giving them an elevated risk of death.
Dr. Greg Hartley, Board Certified Geriatric Clinical Specialist and associate professor at the University of Miami, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that we should take the study with a grain of salt. “Frailty, strength, muscle mass, physical performance—those things are all correlated to mortality, but I would caution everybody that correlation doesn’t mean causation,” he said.
And of course, the test doesn’t take into account injuries or disabilities that may make doing the test impossible. But one of the study’s authors says that the study is a call to take our mobility seriously.
“The more active we are the better we can accommodate stressors, the more likely we are to handle something bad that happens down the road,” Dr. Claudio Gil Araujo, told USA Today.
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Jim Cramer
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