Month: June 2023

Today we learned that veteran actor Alan Arkin has passed away at the age of 89. It’s strange to think of Arkin as the “Oscar winner from Little Miss Sunshine.” Yes, he was that, but his Oscar win came unforgivably late in his career (he should have won for The Heart is a Lonely Hunter) and that career spanned 60+ years of unforgettable performances. He was cool as hell, and bedraggled. Hilarious with the ability to make you burst into tears. The only person with his range that comes to mind is Robin Williams — two diametrically opposed personas where one is remembered most for manic glee and the other for rough-edged heart, even though both were more than capable of both.

For those looking to dig beyond his later-in-life roles, The New York Times has an excellent chronicle from his Tony-winning start through to his crotchety grandpa status.

After Arkin’s death, celebrities and fans have shown their appreciation by telling stories and sharing favorite clips. The list of celebs includes Rob Reiner, Natasha Lyonne, John Cusack, Paul Reiser, Michael McKean, Patton Oswalt, and Frank Oz, who described Arkin as “An extraordinary, undefinable talent & unique human-being-mensch.”

Speaking of Oz, Muppet History offered some of the best pics of Arkin interacting with Muppets:

Michael “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!” Buffer also shared a culture-breaking photograph of Arkin, Sylvester Stallone, and Robert DeNiro on the set of Grudge Match.

Naturally, fans shared some favorite scenes and movie moments. Serpentine your way through them.

That includes an appreciation from BoJack Horseman writer Alison Flierl for Arkin’s short-but-instantly-memorable voice performance:

And Paste Movies Editor Jacob Oller shared some absolutely wild Arkin trivia:

No matter how you’re honoring this acting titan, enjoy bursting into tears for the rest of the day:

Rootin’ tootin’ Lauren Boebert already warned the world how she would react if the Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s student loan forgiveness. On those prior occasions, she did her best to rile people up while also reminding people about her GED, and nothing deterred her from going to town on people struggling with student loans while questions swirled about her campaign finances. Additionally, some of her former employees have accused her of financial hypocrisy.

So, it’s no surprise that Boebert is elated at how the Trump-crafted incarnation of SCOTUS has formally rejected Biden’s plan and has left millions of borrowers wondering how they can afford their payments after the court didn’t seem to take into account the predatory nature of these loans’ interest cycles. The congresswoman from Colorado, however, couldn’t be more thrilled that these people will remain in serious, sometimes insurmountable debt.

“Americans that paid back their student loans and Americans who never even had student loans will not be forced to payback everyone else’s student loans,” Boebert wrote. “Huge victory for personal responsibility and common sense!”

Let’s just say that the “personal responsibility” detail raised a lot of eyebrows. Additionally, people wondered why the repayment of forgiven PPP loans never comes up in Republicans lawmakers’ conversations.

Of course, the GED-related stuff came up too, along with people wondering why on earth anyone would celebrate other peoples’ debt.

Nicki Minaj wears her ability to pen her own revered rap verses as a badge of honor. Despite how easy the “Barbie World” rapper makes it look, it is nothing of the sort. In a series of tweets on social media, Minaj opened up about her appearance Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape drained her.

Her latest guest appearance on Uzi’s track “Endless Fashion” is being celebrated as their best collaboration to date, but it was quite overwhelming to get finished on time for its’ release. During a chat with fellow rapper and Uzi’s girlfriend JT, Minaj retold the story to fans.

JT prompted her to, writing, “Can I tell them how fast you turned your verse in? I almost had a heart attack today![crying laughing emoji] you really too real & raw I love you.”

To that, Minaj replied, “Girl, I started at 8 am & finished like 5 pm. When I tell you, I was exhausted by the time I was done. Lol. B/c I was rushing to get it in on time. I kept telling him ’30 mins’ then hitting him back 2 hours later TB 15-20 more minutes Uzi!!!! I did that ALL DAY LONG, YO!”

Listen to the full track below.

Pink Tape is out now via Generation Now/Atlantic Records. Find more information here.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

For months now, student loan borrowers have been holding onto hope that Joe Biden’s plan to forgive up to $20K in loans per borrower would come to pass. Now, though, we know that it won’t: Today (June 30), the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to overturn the Biden administration’s student loan debt cancellation plan.

Meek Mill had a quick reaction to that, comparing the situation to how much funding the government devotes to other areas. He tweeted, “why are we having a problem with money for education but giving money away for war?? I’ve been seeing this narrative on the news since a child I’ll never understand it!”

Biden is in the same camp as Meek: After the SCOTUS decision was revealed, Biden shared a statement that reads in part, “The hypocrisy of Republican elected officials is stunning. They had no problem with billions in pandemic-related loans to businesses – including hundreds of thousands and in some cases millions of dollars for their own businesses. And those loans were forgiven. But when it came to providing relief to millions of hard-working Americans, they did everything in their power to stop it. […] I believe that the Court’s decision to strike down our student debt relief plan is wrong. But I will stop at nothing to find other ways to deliver relief to hard-working middle-class families.”

Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

James Harden has likely played his final game with the Sixers after picking up his player option for next season to facilitate a trade out of Philadelphia. However, while there were immediately connections to the Clippers (considered the favorites to land Harden, in part because he prefers L.A.), Knicks, and Heat, the Sixers aren’t going to rush to deal their star guard.

Jake Fischer of Yahoo provided a lengthy report on Friday detailing all the news and notes he’s hearing around the league regarding Harden and more before the 6 p.m. ET start of the new league year, and he noted that Philadelphia is going to be patient and canvas the league, with Fischer noting the Chicago Bulls as a team that could get in the mix.

Philadelphia does not have to move Harden to his preferred destination with the Clippers. President Daryl Morey, league sources told Yahoo Sports, has already been active in exploring the trade market for Harden outside of just dealing with Los Angeles and the team’s obvious interest in landing the point guard. At this early point, the Sixers are at least projecting a patience to this trade process, similar to how Philadelphia signaled it would take its time moving Ben Simmons before ultimately flipping him to Brooklyn for Harden at the 2022 trade deadline. Chicago would be one potential trade partner to keep in mind, as the Bulls have made Zach LaVine available in conversations this offseason, sources said, and could also send an All-Star such as DeMar DeRozan back to Philadelphia. But there will be many avenues the Sixers explore before finalizing a Harden trade.

As Fischer goes on to note, it’s not clear if Philly can get enough from another team for Harden on an expiring if his desire is to be in Los Angeles. That said, they will certainly try to and will be doing their best to extract the most they can from the Clippers by shopping Harden around the league to ensure L.A. at least comes with a bit more than just Norman Powell and Marcus Morris.

Linking Harden to the Bulls is particularly interesting, because their greatest need is at the point guard spot with Lonzo Ball expected to miss another season. While it’d likely have to be a much larger deal to get LaVine, that would allow the Sixers to turn Harden into a different second-star with Joel Embiid — whether that’s the right star is a different question. They also could look to add DeRozan, who may be more easily attainable and would, again, maybe help save face a bit better than a package built around Powell from L.A.

In any case, it seems as though we won’t be getting a resolution on the Harden front for some time. Morey, as we’ve seen previously, is willing to let things get uncomfortable to try and get the most out of a deal — albeit that is provided Embiid is on board with that plan.

Drake and 21 Savage kicked off the It’s All A Blur Tour last night (June 29) in Memphis. It’ll go through Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Houston, and more major cities over the next few months, bringing their collaborative 2022 album Her Loss to stages.

It looks like Drake teased some merchandise on his Instagram Story. The photo only partially shows two black and neon yellow T-shirts with the text “It’s All A Blur Tour” over the heart. It also bears his signature OVO owl.

Meanwhile, Drake just published his new book Titles Ruin Everything: A Stream Of Consciousness, co-authored with Kenza Samir. Its reception was not great, especially New York Times bestselling author Hanif Abdurraqib’s review. “Some of these are so absurd that they’re actually funny,” he wrote. “But it’s hard to tell if he also understands that they’re bending into absurdist humor, and understands that there will be people who find it profound. Or if he’s convinced himself of the profundity. Really, it’s kind of just a book of puns. Silly lil’ jokes. It is a struggle for me to tell how in on the joke he is… I’m not personally offended by anything that masquerades as poetry, because it happens so often in every possible arena of entertainment and consumption, but this is essentially a coffee table book of one-line jokes.”

Jazz thrives in cities with history: New Orleans, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago. These cities are also places where you’d expect a new festival to pop up and have success, taking full advantage of a post-pandemic hunger for live music. The California iteration of the Blue Note Jazz Fest, now in its second year, is hundreds of miles away from these hubs for the genre, tucked between the beautiful peaks and canyons of Napa Valley.

This year’s Blue Note, sharing a name with the legendary label it’s created by, is centered around a lineup that pays tribute to the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop. Mary J. Blige, Nas, and Chance the Rapper are in the headliner spots, with sets from Ari Lennox, Smino, De La Soul, Bilal, Lalah Hathaway, and a host of other greats across the Black music space who are all connected to, influenced by, and champions of hip-hop.

Hip-hop’s birth can be directly traced back to the Bronx in 1973, where turntables and spoken word collided. By the ’80s, its reach had gone far beyond the borough; artists began to reach for more complicated beats and lyrics that represented a complex image of the Black experience. Jazz samples built the bones for many of these songs, while the Jazz ethos built the attitude. Artists like Rakim & Eric B. and A Tribe Called Quest are the golden standard of this period: music that is urgent, frenetic, skillful. Created for and by Black people.

After inspiration from jazz fell out of fashion through the ’90s and early 2000s, its direct connection to hip-hop came back to center in a big way with To Pimp A Butterfly, the 2015 project that’s widely considered Kendrick Lamar’s best effort. It’s a dense, cerebral album layered with live jazz so complex that sometimes it’s hard to tell where the horns and drums end and the rapping begins. Despite its ambitious and politically-charged format, it was a monumental, critically acclaimed statement from rap’s newest visionary.

Robert Glasper, the jazz producer and pianist, was instrumental in many aspects of TPAB, from its jazz-centered concept, to writing and session playing for the album’s keyboards and synths. The record became a modern statement of excellence in every corner of music that it touched. Kendrick was elevated to great status, and brought those who were critical to the record’s creation with him into that arena, including Glasper. From that moment on, he became a connecting figure between modern jazz and hip-hop. Glasper is, without a doubt, taking up the mantle of being jazz’s most prolific and present leader.

Robert Glasper’s history with Blue Note is direct: he’s had an annual residency at their club in New York for years. Once the West Coast concept for a festival was solidified, Blue Note label head Steve Bensusan tapped Glasper personally to help him curate the lineup and get his network of West Coast jazz friends and collaborators onboard. Many of the same artists he’s performed with during his residencies and on his records are slated to make appearances at this year’s fest, all contributing to the small-world feel of the lineup.

“The club becomes the engine which then drives some of the other concerts or events that we produce in that market,” Bensusan explained to me while on-site at Silverado Resort a couple months ahead of the fest. After opening a club in Napa in 2019, then hosting a successful outdoor series and big-stage events, a festival was the next big step to conquer the music market in wine country.

The Napa version of Blue Note is designed to be more intimate than its East Coast sister event, which has existed since 2011. In Napa, attendees have the chance to experience multiple stages and genres on mid-sized grounds, without the overwhelming setup and crowds of most other festivals. This setup creates an experience where the music is central, and artists are more likely to be on top of their game and feed from one another’s energy.

With Glasper’s influence, Blue Note Napa is a gathering ground for new West Coast icons like Glasper, Terrace Martin, and Anderson .Paak to assemble, while giving shine to legends like George Clinton, Madlib, and Bobby McFerrin. Even though many of the festival’s acts aren’t straight-ahead jazz artists, the legacy of its name implies a certain air of musicianship that needs to be lived up to.

“Most of the time on the festival stage, you go see that one artist and that’s what you see, that’s what the festival is,” Glasper told us last year ahead of the festival’s first outing. “This one’s gonna be more cross-pollination, with a family-oriented kind of vibe. It’s smaller than most festivals on purpose,” he continued.

This year’s celebration of hip-hop is an important milestone, where the modern prestige of jazz and the acknowledgment of hip-hop as essential are both celebrated. Glasper himself explained it best: “There are so many amazing artists and trailblazers [in Black music] and to have them all in one festival represents so much and represents how free the music can be.”

Blue Note has the potential to be much more than a festival – the lineup alone can stand as music history: tracing the evolution of Black music at a time when it’s more present than ever in mainstream consciousness. Jazz is often considered prestige music, inaccessible to people who are young and disconnected from its history. Expertly curated lineups focused on a multi-generational slate of artists, like Blue Note Jazz Festival Napa, have the potential to connect the dots between all Black genres and make their relevance more apparent than ever.

Fourth of July weekend is upon us or, you know, whatever we’re calling it considering the holiday lands on a Tuesday this year. That means our employers will give us a five-day weekend right? Right? Right? Come on, we can dream! Look, however long the holiday weekend ends up being, one thing is for certain — you’re probably barbecuing sometime between today and July 4th. And before you heat up that grill and throw some meat on the grate, let us help fill you in on all the best grilling advice for barbecue season.

And who better to guide us than James Beard nominated chef and host of Tastemade’s All Up In My Grill, Dale Talde?

In addition to All Up In My Grill, Chef Talde has served as a three-time contestant and judge on Top Chef, and appeared on Chopped, Iron Chef America, and more. He’s a prominent personality on cooking competition shows and a well-respected chef with the restaurants TALDE, Rice & Gold, and Goosefeather under his belt. The latter concept earned him a nomination for a James Beard award in the wildly competitive category of “Best Chef, New York City.”

His accolades are numerous, but what really drove us to seek out Talde’s expertise is that we really vibe with the ethos of All Up In My Grill — which is all about elevating and leveling up. So we chopped it up with Chef Talde and asked about grilling techniques, tools, and general advice to help you level up your grill game before we hit barbecue season. After the interview, be sure to catch up on season three of All Up In My Grill on the Tastemade streaming channel. Let’s dive in!

Just to start, what can people expect with this season of All Up In My Grill?

I think one of the biggest things that we decided to do with this season was constantly level up, and make sure that we’re not just using gas grills this season. We’re using charcoal grills. A lot of us made some pandemic purchases and bought outdoor pizza ovens. So we’re using those. But we’re trying to challenge the viewer to understand that it’s not just brats and hot dogs, what else can we cook on the grill?

We’re doing whole prime ribs. We’re still theming every episode, the Father’s Day Feast is just real decadence. But it’s always this idea of leveling up a little bit. So pushing the viewer into doing a little bit more, and we’re doing more.

I wanted to ask you about grills in that regard. Do you have a preference between charcoal and gas grills? Let’s take out for a second the convenience of a gas grill. Say that’s not part of the equation. When it comes to flavor or control, do you have a preference?

Oh man, nothing beats charcoal or hardwood. Honestly, nothing beats the flavor of that. Grilling is the only cooking method that actually imparts flavor into whatever you’re cooking. But nothing beats the flavor of cooking on charcoal or cooking over wood. It’s unbeatable. In the summertime, it’s so iconic. You smell it, you get hungry. You smell wood burning, you smell charcoal, fat dripping on charcoal, it gets you salivating immediately. I have the opportunity to cook but it’s not a reality for a lot of people, you know what I mean? Sometimes, what we love about cooking outside is that, especially in the summertime, is that it’s convenient. The house doesn’t get hot. You’re not raising the temperature up there.

A gas grill sometimes, it’s super easy. Light it up, 15 minutes later you’re ready to go.

You mentioned how the All Up In My Grill ethos revolves around leveling up. What are some simple level-up techniques people can utilize in their own home grilling, that maybe they’re not thinking of?

Even if you have a gas grill, adding smoke sticks to impart some of that smokey flavor, even more smokey flavor. Wood chip baskets in a gas grill help burn it and impart some flavor to the gas grill. We love gadgets on the show. Meat probes and fish baskets, I think are underutilized things to help get dinner, or whatever meal you want, onto the grill.

A fish basket isn’t just for fish. Say you have green beans, or smaller vegetables that might fall through the grates. Putting them in one of those wire baskets helps turn things over to get them cooked evenly, without it falling through a grate.

Or another trick I use is that anything that’s harder, like cauliflower, broccoli, or potatoes. A wet towel, season salt and pepper and a little bit of olive oil or butter, in the microwave for two to three minutes. Maybe even five minutes, before it gets onto the grill. It really helps cook it through, so you don’t have something nice and charred, and then it’s still crunchy and raw in the middle.

I think things like that, those tricks help me. Especially with vegetable cookery, I think we focus a lot on proteins, but I love grilled vegetables. Oftentimes, you don’t just have one vegetable, you have a few, and they cook at different times. So to get them all cooked at the same time, get them a jumpstart in the microwave.

I’m going to try that this Fourth of July. Because I love grilled vegetables, but it’s always like, “How do I practically do this,”

Yeah, literally taking a head of broccoli, or a head of cauliflower, and splitting it in half. Wetting a wet paper towel, salt, pepper, and olive oil, and then zapping it in a microwave for five minutes. Then it gets the center cooked because microwaves cook from the inside out. Then you can get a nice char on the outside, and it is a perfect al dente, but still nice and charred.

Then potatoes, we’ve all been there with potatoes. You’re trying to grill them, they’re falling through the grate, and whatever. It ends up nice and cooked on the outside, and it’s raw in the middle. Instead of you having to boil a pot, fish them out, just put them on a plate. Follow exactly what I did. A wet paper towel, salt, and pepper, and some olive oil. Then get them started. Then by the time they’re nice and crispy on the outside, they’ll be nice and tender in the middle.

I know you got your start cooking as a kid, alongside your mom in Chicago. I just was curious, what meals were you working on?

I watched my mom cook everything. We were a very classic Filipino household, so my mom was frying fish, and cooking dried fish, outside on a portable outdoor wok, which I can remember. Just so you didn’t stink the house up. But everything from very traditional meals, like stewed ox tails with tamarind, to fish head soups, to wonton soup, to simple fried rice. I watched my mom cook it all. We got three meal periods at the house, and my mom took care of most of it.

When did you first get into grilling deeply? What unlocked it for you?

I’ll tell you what really helped, is camping when I was younger. We were 18 years old. We would get together, and we would go get a bunch of stuff, and go camping, and go hang out, and go fishing. Then cooking over a wood fire in a pit, it’s pretty cool. Especially when not a lot of us have experience cooking, and we’re all trying to make meals happen while we’re out in the woods in Wisconsin, and outside of Chicago. A lot of those meals.

What basic tips for grilling proteins can you offer us?

Yeah, I think one of the biggest things for proteins is, and someone asked me this the other day. If you have a protein, and you either have a spatula or tongs, and you’re trying to get it off the grill, and it’s not coming off, then it shouldn’t be pulled off. It’s not ready to come off of it, do you know what I mean by that?

Yeah yeah, for sure.

When people try to force the issue, you start tearing away at the skin on chicken. If you’re worried that it’s too hot, turn it as much as you can down, or just move the grate with the protein on it. Those are really simple things. It sounds simple, but intuitively you’re like, “Oh, it’s flaring up. I need to move it.” Yeah, turn it down. Water. Water will help tame some of the fire, and drop the temperature a little bit. But if something’s not ready to come, if it’s stuck on the grill, or if it’s not coming off very easily, it means it’s not meant to come off yet.

If you love grilled fish, but you don’t eat the skin, or you have a hard time with the skin, when you buy fish, don’t have them scale it. Cook it with the scale and skin on. That will help protect the fish. Then you can just literally peel the skin off. When you do that, it’s an added layer of protection. It keeps the skin moist, or the meat of the fish moist.

Then if you’re talking about beef, or steaks, or chops, things that are big proteins. Say you’ve got a 32-ounce T-bone steak, for four people. Try the reverse sear, where you put it on a very low part of the grill. Bring it up to a certain temperature that you want, bring it up to 110. Then on the ripping hot side, get it seared off, hot. So you can get that optimal medium rare in the middle, and then you have a nice crusty outside.

I wanted to talk a little bit about the Bougie Badass Burgers episode. I was wondering if you could walk us through what your own personal favorite elevated burger recipe on the grill is. It doesn’t have to be your explicit favorite. Maybe just something that you’re feeling right now, that sounds the most delicious to you at this very moment.

Yeah, so for me, I love a good smash burger. That’s my everyday burger. But if I’m doing a burger that’s like, “This is all I’m making. This is it.” If we’re doing burgers, which I rarely do, because for me it’s, I don’t know, I feel like a lot of people can do a good burger. But if I’m doing a burger, I’m going to make sure it’s really special. Dry aged meat. Usually a blend of short rib, a little bit of rib eye, and some chuck for fat, or brisket.

I’m doing blue cheese, and really good blue cheese, like a Stilton. I’m doing pickled onions, and pickles, on a brioche bun. A lot of salt and pepper, and truffle aioli, and maybe some bacon. But no other vegetables, no ketchup. Just a lot of things to help cut through the richness of the fat of the patty, and the patty has to be big. Eight ounces or bigger. Especially if it’s like, “This is our dinner.”

Then grilled wedge fries, you know what I mean? Steak house style. I love a good French fry, but I feel like with this type, I feel like you’re eating a steak. A steak on a bun. So I want something with a little more substance, and a little bit more interesting.

What are you cooking that to, temp-wise, medium?

Medium. Almost always. Bigger burgers, medium. I can’t do mid-rare, rare. To me it’s, I want textural contrast, do you know what I mean? I think sometimes, I know people who eat mid-rare, rare burgers, and for me, there’s no textural contrast. It’s just soft and squishy, and I don’t love that.

I know people who eat burgers like that, and to me, it’s just, I want … There isn’t that satisfaction of sinking your teeth into something, and there’s that resistance. I need that.

You mentioned one, in the fish basket, but what are some more essential grilling tools people need?

I think one that people overlook is a misting bottle, and having it loaded with some water. Because I think it’s really easy for someone to lose control of some of the heat. If it’s flaring up, just hit it with some water.

Essential? A cake tester. I know it sounds silly, but it’s what we use to temp steaks and chicken and fish. You put it into the heaviest part of it, and then you bring it to your wrist and feel how hot it is.

I love those saute pans that are perforated. They have holes on the bottom of them. So if I want to saute, if I want to grill Brussels sprouts, you can just oil them up and then put them in the grill. Get that pan hot and saute and grill at the same time. I think it’s cool and fun.

I love paella pans, and cast iron pans, because I love doing rice and noodle dishes on the grill, and that’s a way to do it. It’s paella. That’s how they traditionally made paella, over an open fire. So something like a fideua, which is similar to paella. Or even a baked pasta dish, in a cast iron pan. It’s a side to whatever. Say you’re doing steak Florentine, and you want a baked pasta side. It’s a really cool way to get that going.

I think people don’t think about that enough. It’s a heat source, so get the pan hot, you know what I mean? I think people look at it too, “Oh, I have to put the protein directly on.” No, you don’t.

Right, or, “I have to do what is traditionally grilled.”

Yeah. I think that’s the idea. For us, in season one, we were making rosti potatoes, or a very traditional pomme Dauphinoise on a grill, in a grill pan. Or in a cast iron pan. It’s just a heat source, so anything you can do in a kitchen, you definitely can do it on a grill. Once you close the grill, I think what people don’t realize is that, now you’ve just created this oven effect. Now you’re grilling and roasting things. So as long as it’s on the lower heat side, you won’t char it.

If you could lay out a meal for us. Again, doesn’t have to be an all-time favorite. But just a full-grilled meal, what sounds good to you right now?

Right now? For me, any time it’s summertime, it’s seafood and shellfish. So a whole roasted fish. A couple of different salsas that we’ve made on the grill, like a salsa roja, or salsa verde chard, blended, or making tortillas on a plancha, on the grill. Some shaved cabbage, pickled vegetables, and maybe a rice dish to accompany the whole fish. You can’t beat that. I don’t know, pretty hard to beat that in the summertime, when you’re outside with friends.

A whole roasted fish, to me, it’s a hard one to beat. It’s just so good. On the bone, stays nice and moist. A trick for cooking a whole fish is, if you’re going to cook a whole fish, you keep the spines on the back. The fin on the back. Don’t cut that. Then if you can pull them out cleanly, the fish is done. On a whole fish. With the bones in.

Just as a last question, this is something we ask all the chefs we talk to. What’s your favorite, or go to fast food chain?

Popeye’s. Untouchable. You can’t even touch it. In my opinion, it’s the premium brand of fried chicken. Their spicy chicken sandwich stomps out Chick-fil-A any day of the week. It’s flavorful. It’s crispy almost all the time. I will say, one thing about Popeye’s that I do enjoy is that, for some reason or another, and this is one-offs, but the ones that I go to, the people there are always hilarious and having a good time. I don’t know why it is, or how it is.

I used go to one in Chinatown that was family-owned. You could tell, they had a good time because they were all related. They also had a secret rice cooker, that you could ask them for white rice, that they only gave to people in the know. Then the ones out in the burbs, out here in Jersey, the people are just, I don’t know if it’s the atmosphere, or if it’s just the company. But the people always seem to be really nice. But it’s always, my meal is a four-piece dark, biscuit, mac, coleslaw, dirty rice, done, and a regular tea, not sweet tea.

Juvenile stopped by NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series to give them a taste of New Orleans’ musical gumbo, but this weekend’s Essense Festival is where you go for a whole serving of what the Crescent City has to offer. With R&B fixtures such as Ari Lennox will grace the Caesars Superdome stage, this year’s three-day live performances will heavily pay tribute to 50 years in hip-hop.

To celebrate the monumental moment for the genre, Essence will feature performances by the “Back That Azz Up” rapper, Megan Thee Stallion, Missy Elliott, and more. Here is the Essence Festival performance schedule for 2023.

Today (June 30), Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts star Tobe Nwigwe, Ari Lennox, Juvenile, Jagged Edge, Janelle Monáe, and Ms. Lauryn Hill will perform. The hip-hop tribute set will feature Doug E Fresh, Big Daddy Kane, EPMD, KRS-One, and Slick Rick.

Tomorrow (July 1), BET’s Best New Artist, Coco Jones, Monica, Jill Scott, Missy Elliott, Ice Cube, E-40, Ice-T, Lady Of Rage, and Yo-Yo will perform. The hip-hop tribute set will feature Jermaine Dupri, Big Boi, Gucci Mane, Lil Jon, Ludacris, and T.I. on Saturday.

Closing out the festival on Sunday (July 2), Muni Long, Tems, Wizkid, and Megan Thee Stallion will perform. The hip-hop tribute will feature Angie Martinez, Eve, Mia X, Remy Ma, Salt-N-Pepa, and Trina.

Essence Festival 2023 will take place at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, between June 30 and July 2. Find more information here.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

With Khalid missing Ed Sheeran’s next two Mathematics Tour shows, two new acts step up to take his place. The injured singer had been in a car accident after opening for the first two months of the tour, prompting Ed to play as his own opener at his recent stop in Maryland.

Fortunately, he won’t have to pull double duty at his upcoming dates in Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. He revealed the replacement openers in a post on Instagram, writing: “We have two surprise openers for today and tomorrow I’m very excited about.” In a follow-up slide, he told fans that tonight’s opener (Friday, June 30) is John Mayer, while the opener for Saturday (July 1) is Little Big Town.

In addition to the larger Mathematics Tour, Sheeran’s been setting aside dates in bigger markets for the more intimate Subtract Tour. Playing theaters instead of stadiums, Sheeran performs his album Subtract, which was released earlier this year ahead of the North American leg of the Maths Tour. Sheeran’s clearly a busy guy these days. Meanwhile, John Mayer had better hope there aren’t any Swifties in the crowd tonight; despite his ex Taylor Swift asking fans to chill out on him — their relationship was less than a year long and over 12 years ago, after all — her request seems to have had an opposite effect, making things worse.

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.