Mysterious musical collective 1999 Write The Future is less than two months removed from the release of their debut album hella, but they are already on the move, dropping another quirky new single. “Pump It Up” takes its name from the favored refrain of the jock jams of the ’90s and appropriately, takes heavy inspiration from them, with synthetic laser blaps, echoing bass, and rapid tempo, all supported by energetic raps from Uproxx cover star Rich Brian and TiaCorine.
The amorphous, 88rising-affiliated group, which has never really officially codified its membership, has gained a lot of popularity in a relatively short time thanks to their adherence to an anything-goes policy of musical eclecticism. One of their first singles, October’s “World Stop Turning,” embraced shoe-gazing indie pop, while “Light Rails” from this January, stuck to more straightforward hip-hop, even going so far as recruiting Rick Ross for a chest-beating guest verse. They kept up the trend of recruiting guest rappers on “Slopes,” rapping Migos’ Offset to trade rapid-fire verses with 88rising’s Warren Hue.
That trend continued on hella, which featured appearances from Busta Rhymes, De La Soul, Ghostface Killah, and Smino, while also delving into a diverse array of musical styles, firmly establishing 1999 Write The Future as a team any music fan will want to keep an eye on.
The Scream VII drama has been a bit dizzying, and cameras haven’t even begun to roll. Back in August 2022, the saga actually began with Final Girl Neve Campbell announcing that she would not return as Sydney Prescott to the franchise in Scream VI due to a low-balled salary offer, and that seemed to be just fine for Campbell. She was after all, doing well elsewhere with Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer and also appearing in Peacock’s Twisted Metal. Then the existing confirmed cast began to fall by the wayside. First, Spyglass production company fired Melissa Barrera over her social media activity about Gaza. Then director Christopher Landon left, and Jenna Ortega dropped out of the movie, probably for scheduling reasons.
Recently and suddenly, however, Campbell announced that she would, in fact, return to for Scream VII and was thrilled to do so. Plans are now moving ahead with director Kevin Williamson, and now, another original cast member appears to be coming around. This addition isn’t terribly shocking, given that Courteney Cox has appeared in every Scream movie thus far, but it’s also a vote of confidence that Gail Weathers will probably be back onboard, as Variety now reports:
Courteney Cox may be heading back to the “Scream””franchise, as sources tell Variety she is in talks to reprise the role of Gale Weathers in the seventh movie of the slasher series, to be directed by “Scream” creator and writer Kevin Williamson.
The news comes about two weeks after Neve Campbell announced she was coming back as Sidney Prescott after the actor sat out of “Scream 6” due to a salary dispute.
And from here, where does the film go? Plot details are officially being shrouded in secrecy, but previously, Jamie Kennedy had revealed that he had seen a version of the Scream VI script, which heavily included Sydney. Will that part of the unseen plot now be incorporated into Scream VII? Whatever the case, it’s likely that we will eventually see the newest sequel sometime in 2025. Filming hasn’t begun yet, but as Variety has noted, this franchise’s films “don’t require extensive visual effects and can be produced quickly.” And now it’s time for the franchise to say-or-not-say, “I’ll be right back.”
Below, we’re calling out the absolute best of the best at every price point between $20 and $200. These are the bourbons that we can 100% assure are worth the price and the effort to find, and taste delicious — yes, even the cheaper ones.
Since this is about price — from cheap as dirt to expensive AF — we didn’t rank anything. In essence, this list is ranked by price. Let’s be real, the more expensive and rare a bourbon gets, the better it is going to taste (that’s the case with this list anyway). Let’s dive in!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
Heaven Hill makes great whiskey, especially inexpensive bottled in bonds (as we’ve shown on this list). This “b-i-b” is tailored for the Evan Williams flavor profile. Still, this is Heaven Hill, so we’re talking about the same mash bill, same warehouses, and same blending team as beloved bourbons like Elijah Craig and all other Heaven Hill bourbon releases. This is simply built to match a higher-end Evan Williams vibe.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a lovely nose at play with soft taco mix spice next to creamy vanilla, caramel-dipped cherries, a hint of pear skins, and plenty of nutmeg.
Palate: The palate has a minor note of cornbread muffins next to cherry-vanilla tobacco with a dash of leather and toffee.
Finish: The end leans into some fresh gingerbread with a vanilla frosting next to hints of pear candy cut with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking to spend less than $20, this is the only bottle to buy. There’s no better bourbon at this price point. End of story.
$20-$30 — Jim Beam Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Each of these Jim Beam bottlings is pulled from single barrels that hit just the right spot of taste, texture, and drinkability, according to the master distillers at Beam. That means this juice is pulled from less than one percent of all barrels in Beam’s warehouses, making this a very special bottle at a bafflingly affordable price.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with classic notes of vanilla sheet cake, salted caramel, wintry mulled wine spices, and a sense of cherry pie in a lard crust next to a hint of dried corn husk, old broom bristle, and dark chocolate pipe tobacco.
Palate: The palate layers in floral honey and orange zest next to sticky toffee pudding, old leather, and cherry tobacco layered with the dark chocolate with this lingering sense of coconut cream pie lurking somewhere in the background.
Finish: The finish leans into more woody winter spices (especially cinnamon bark and nutmeg) with rich toffee and cherry-chocolate tobacco braided with dry sweetgrass and cedar bark.
Bottom Line:
It’s wild that you can get this single barrel product — of this high quality — at this price. This is delicious bourbon. It’s well made, sips easily, and makes a mean cocktail. You can’t ask for more at $25.
$30-$40 — Russell’s Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 10 Years Old
This small-batch expression is hand-selected by both Jimmy and Eddie Russell (the father and son team behind all of Wild Turkey’s line). The duo picks out ten-year-old barrels that hit just the right spot in both flavor and texture then small-batch them into this tasty bourbon.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is a classic bourbon nose with clear notes of spiced cherry cola, lush vanilla, salted caramel, and soft oak next to almost botanical winter spices.
Palate: The taste delivers with more lush vanilla next to spice barks, soft cedar, and deeply dark and red fruit with a whisper of smudged sweet sage.
Finish: The end dives into a dark spiced cherry vibe next to soft and luxurious vanilla, tempered oak, and a mild sense of just “bourbon.”
Bottom Line:
This is another whiskey that could easily cost way more for the quality of the juice in the bottle. This is a great and versatile whiskey that works as well as an everyday sipper as it does in a cocktail.
This is the mountaintop of what the main line of Wild Turkey can achieve (this is easily found on liquor store shelves for the most part). This is a blend of the prime barrels that are married and bottled untouched. That means no filtering and no cutting with water. This is a classic Turkey bourbon with nowhere to hide.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens like a dessert table during the holidays with crème brûlée next to a big sticky toffee pudding with orange zest sprinkled over the top next to a bushel of fresh mint.
Palate: The palate hits an early note of pine resin as the orange kicks up towards a bold wintry spice, soft vanilla cream, and a hint of honeyed cherry tobacco.
Finish: The end keeps the winter spices front and center as a lush pound cake feeling leads to soft notes of cherry-spiced tobacco leaves folded into an old cedar box with a whisper of old vanilla pods lurking in the background.
Bottom Line:
Wild Turkey is one of the best distilleries putting out whiskey in 2024. It just is. They’re also in the enviable position of putting out whiskeys that we all can still get and afford (for the most part). This whiskey is the one sipper you should always have on hand. Buy this stuff by the case.
$50-$60 — Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This Single Barrel from Four Roses is a slightly proofed version of their famed OBSV recipe (read about what that means here). That’s a bourbon recipe with delicate fruit yeast and a high-rye mash bill. A single barrel of that was picked from the north side of Warehouse P (a beloved position for Four Roses’ single barrel fans — yes, barrel position and warehouses make a big difference).
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Woody maple syrup and cinnamon sticks lead to a hint of pear candy with a vanilla underbelly on the nose.
Palate: The palate lets the pear shine as the spices lean into woody barks and tart berries next to leathery dates and plums with a butteriness tying everything together.
Finish: A spicy tobacco chewiness leads the mid-palate toward a soft fruitiness and a hint of plum pudding at the end with a slight nuttiness and green herbal vibe.
Bottom Line:
Four Roses is a very distinct whiskey and its single barrels are the best way to dive into their beautiful whiskeys. This is a killer sipper that’ll make a killer cocktail.
Jimmy Russell hand selects eight to nine-year-old barrels from his warehouses for their individual taste and quality. Those barrels are then cut down ever-so-slightly to 101 proof and bottled one at a time with their barrel number and warehouse location right on the bottle.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with classic vibes from top to bottom thanks to rich vanilla smoothness, wintry spices, a hint of cedar, and a mix of sour cherry and tart apple with a slight lawn furniture earthiness.
Palate: The palate stays very classic with old boot leather next to dry cedar bark, a layer of rich marzipan cut with orange oils and covered in dark chocolate, and a distant hint of nasturtiums suspended in fresh honey.
Finish: The end finishes with a good hint of spiced cherry tobacco and old leather next to mild nuttiness, bitter chocolate, and soft vanilla cake frosted with cinnamon and cherry.
Bottom Line:
Yes, Wild Turkey again! This is another single-barrel product that never misses. This is endlessly sippable and the quintessential Kentucky bourbon.
$70-$80 — Jack Daniel’s 10 Years Old Tennessee Whiskey
This age statement released from Jack Daniel’s is a throwback to a bygone era in Tennessee Whiskey. The whiskey is aged for at least 10 years before batching. During that time, the barrels spend time in the “Buzzard’s Roost” at the top of the rickhouse. Once they hit the right flavor profile, those barrels are moved to the bottom floors of other warehouses to slow the aging down. Finally, the whiskey is batched, proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a rich matrix of cherry syrup, apple cores, sticky toffee, vanilla ice cream, and a bold line of wet and sweet oak with a mild earthiness.
Palate: The palate opens up towards the dark fruit but dries it out and marries it to a woody and spicy tobacco leaf alongside toasted cedar soaked in salted caramel paired with dry corn husks that are just singed.
Finish: The finish really takes its time as the cherry attaches to an old cinnamon stick and the tobacco takes on a sticky chewiness with an almost smoked oak woodiness.
Bottom Line:
Yes, Jack Daniel’s is making some of the best whiskey of the 2020s. This is a prime example of a whiskey that’ll completely change your opinion of the world’s biggest American whiskey brand. It’s delicate, delicious, and easy to get — the trifecta!
$80-$90 — Jack Daniel’s 12 Years Old Tennessee Whiskey Batch 2
Jack Daniel’s 12-year Batch 2 is here! The mash at the base of this whiskey is a mix of 80% corn, 12% barley, and 8% rye. Those grains are milled in-house and mixed with cave water pulled from an on-site spring and Jack Daniel’s own yeast and lactobacillus that they also make/cultivate on-site. Once fermented, the mash is distilled twice in huge column stills. The hot spirit is then filtered through 10 feet of sugar maple charcoal that’s also made at the distillery. Finally, the filtered whiskey is loaded into charred new American oak barrels and left alone in the warehouse. After 12 years, a handful of barrels were ready; so they were batched, barely proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose bursts forth with soft and bright fruits — kind of like a package of Starbursts — before leaning into a luscious sense of stewed prunes and figs next to mulled wine spices and brandy-soaked vanilla cookies dipped in salted caramel chewing tobacco.
Palate: That Starburst vibe explodes on the palate with all the colors of the fruity sweet rainbow before a thick and creamy vanilla creaminess drives the palate toward burnt orange and vanilla wafers just kissed with Nutella and tobacco stems.
Finish: That tobacco takes on the creamy vanilla with nice layers of dark chocolate, an old barrel house, and soft and smoldering fall leaves wrapped in apple-smoked tobacco leaves bunched into an old cedar box.
Bottom Line:
This is a world-class whiskey, full stop. It might be the best Tennessee whiskey on the shelf in 2024.
Last year’s Fortuna release was an instant classic. In 2023, the Rare Character team has upped the ante with a cask-strength version and, ho boy, they hit it out of the park. The whiskey in the bottle is a small batch of minimum seven-year-old barrels that were expertly batched and bottled 100% as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a sense of deeply roasted walnuts, almonds, and chestnuts dipped in salted toffee with a sense of darkly charred old oak staves countered by a lush vanilla cream cut with winter spices.
Palate: The nuttiness drives the palate toward vanilla buttercream next to winter spice cakes filled with rum raisin, candied orange rind, and brandy-soaked cherries before a hint of sticky toffee pudding arrives with a whisper of roasting herbs and sweetgrass.
Finish: Nutshells and dried pipe tobacco round out the finish with a deep winter spice bark vibe before the luscious vanilla creates a creamy landing for the pour that’s part eggnog and part malted vanilla shake cut with peppermint, clove, and sasparilla.
Bottom Line:
This is a big step up from the classic whiskeys on this list. This bourbon runs deep and delivers an elevated profile that’ll leave you warmed to your soul. We’d also argue that this will make an amazing whiskey-forward cocktail like a Manhattan or Sazerac thanks to its incredible depth. Or just sip it slowly over a big rock — it’ll shine that way too.
This whiskey heralds back to Michter’s historical roots in the 19th century before the brand was even called “Michter’s.” The old Bomberger’s Distillery in Pennsylvania is where the brand started way back in the day (1753). The whiskey in the bottle is rendered from a very small batch of bourbons that were aged in Chinquapin oak. The staves for that barrel were air-dried for three years before coppering, charring, and filling. The Kentucky bourbon is then bottled in an extremely small batch that yields around 2,000 bottles per year.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Sweet mashed grains — think a bowl of Cream of Wheat cut with butter and molasses — mix with sticky toffee pudding, old saddle leather, old cellar beams, and sweet cinnamon with a hint of candied orange and dark chocolate next to luscious eggnog with a flake of salt.
Palate: The palate is super creamy with a crème brûlée feel that leads to soft winter spices, dry cedar, and orange chocolates with a hint of pear-brandy-soaked marzipan in the background.
Finish: The end has a creamed honey vibe next to brandy-soaked figs and rum-soaked prunes with fresh chewing tobacco and salted dark chocolate leading back to dark chocolate and old cellar floors with a touch of smoldering orchard bark.
Bottom Line:
This is probably the best overall sipper on the list. It’s so good.
This whiskey was made by Eddie Russell to celebrate his 40th year of distilling whiskey with his dad, Jimmy Russell. The juice is a collection of a minimum of 13-year-old barrels that Eddie Russell hand-picked. Those barrels were married and then bottled as-is with no proofing or filtration.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Sweet and dried fruits invite you on the nose as a touch of fresh, creamy, and dark Black Forest cake mingles with mild holiday spices, dried almonds, and a sense of rich pipe tobacco just kissed with sultanas.
Palate: That dark chocolate and cherry fruit drive the palate as a hint of charred cedar leads toward vanilla tobacco with more of that dark chocolate and a small touch of honey, orange blossom, and a whisper of dried chili flake.
Finish: That honey leads back to the warmth and spice with a thin line of cherry bark smoke lurking on the very backend with more bitter chocolate, buttery vanilla, and dark cherry all combining into chewy tobacco packed into an old pine box and wrapped up with worn leather thread.
Bottom Line:
We’re back in Turkey country. Russell’s 13 is their best product and an incredible sipping whiskey. It’s everything that you want from a bold yet subtle Kentucky bourbon. Take it slowly and it’ll reward you with beautiful flavors and depth.
$150-$200 — Bardstown Bourbon Company Collaborative Series Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished In Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout Barrels
This new release from Bardstown Bourbon Company is a collaboration with Chicago’s Goose Island’s iconic Bourbon County Stout. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of six- and seven-year-old Kentucky bourbons that are batched and then re-barreled into Bourbon County stout barrels. 12 months later, the whiskey is blended with another 9-year-old Kentucky bourbon, barely proofed, and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A moment of honey draws you in on the nose before veering toward rich and very dark chocolate with a deeply stewed cherry cut with oily vanilla, mulled wine spices, and pear brandy-soaked marzipan with a hint of candied orange zest, dry espresso beans, and moist tobacco leaves.
Palate: There’s a moment of malted chocolate shakes on the taste that leads to a rich spiced Christmas cake brimming with walnuts, sultanas, candied cherry, candied lemon rinds, and leathery dates that lead to moments of creamy and very boozy eggnog poured over a Black Forest Cake.
Finish: The Christmas spices, fruit cake, dried fruit, and eggnog all combine on the finish to create a rich and sumptuous finish full of luscious textures and just the right amount of spiced whiskey warmth.
Bottom Line:
This is another incredible sipper. It’s also a wonderful pairing whiskey for big and bold meals — it works with everything from fancy steakhouse burgers to seafood feasts to wild game. It’s delectable.
A few days ago, Jhené Aiko announced The Magic Hour Tour, and it’s set to kick off this June. Aside from Aiko, the tour will also feature Coi Leray, Tink, UMI, and Kiana Ledé. If you want to get in on that, here’s what to know about ticket prices.
How Much Are Tickets For Jhené Aiko’s The Magic Hour Tour?
Prices vary depending on the seat. Looking at the available tickets for the June 19 concert at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena, for example, standard tickets are going for $64.50, while if you’re looking for a front row, “official platinum” seat, that’ll cost upwards for $600.
Find more information about tickets on Aiko’s website and check out her upcoming tour dates below.
Jhené Aiko 2024 Tour Dates: The Magic Hour Tour
06/19 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
06/20 — Chicago, IL @ United Center
06/22 — Greensboro, NC @ Greensboro Coliseum
06/23 — Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
06/25 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
06/27 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden
06/29 — Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
07/01 — Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center
07/02 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
07/06 — Orlando, FL @ Kia Center
07/07 — Sunrise, FL @ Amerant Bank Arena
07/10 — Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
07/12 — Ft. Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena
07/13 — Austin, TX @ Moody Center
07/15 — Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
08/01 — Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center
08/05 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center
08/06 — Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center
08/08 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center
08/10 — Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena
08/13 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
08/14 — Vancouver, BC @ Pacific Coliseum
08/16 — West Valley City, UT @ Maverik Center
08/17 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
08/19 — Kansas City, MO @ T-Mobile Center
08/20 — Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
08/22 — Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena
When South Carolina’s season ended in the Final Four a year ago, no one was quite sure what the 2023-24 version of the Gamecocks would look like, including those still on the roster.
The senior-laden squad saw four of its top five scorers graduate, headlined by star center Aliyah Boston, who went No. 1 overall to the Indiana Fever and became the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year, and Zia Cooke, who led the team in scoring and was picked 10th overall by the Los Angeles Sparks. That left some major holes to fill for a suddenly very young team, and when they assembled for their first summer workouts, as Ashlyn Watkins explains, all the questions that were being asked externally existed internally, too.
“I think we all were just like, ‘What’s gonna happen next year? Who’s gonna be the new starting five? How are we going to play as a team?’,” Watkins told Dime over Zoom this week. “So, I think everybody just had those what if’s or those questions amongst ourselves. But, like, in our first summer workouts or our first summer practices, we saw the talent, right? We knew that the talent and the athletic ability and work ethic was there.
“So, I think we just had to put everything together, and we didn’t know how well it was gonna mesh, but it just ended up meshing real, real well. To be honest, I think we play as a team and I think we started playing as a team in the summer. We realized that every single one of us plays a part in winning and plays a part in winning by a lot, too. So I think we all were just like, ‘What’s going to happen?’ but us playin’ and the more we practiced together and the more we played together, we just all got really connected.”
The results speak for themselves. South Carolina enters their Sweet 16 matchup with Indiana a perfect 34-0, marking the second straight year they’ve gone undefeated through the regular season and SEC Tournament. It’s a remarkable achievement, particularly when you consider the roster turnover. To fill that void, the Gamecocks have not looked to force young players into a starring role too early, instead choosing to lean on their incredible depth to — as Watkins notes — play a true team game.
That’s not just talk, either, as it bears out when you watch the Gamecocks play. On any given night you could see a different player take the lead role on offense — they’ve had five different leading scorers in their last eight games — the flow of the game determines who takes over. They have six players averaging 9.5 points per game or more (Kamilla Cardoso, MiLaysia Fulwiley, Te-Hina Paopao, Chloe Kitts, Bree Hall, and Watkins), and take advantage of the fact that defenses are never quite sure who they should key in on. Some nights, it might be a Cardoso game inside, where they’ll feed their center in the paint if she has a favorable matchup. Another night might be for the backcourt, where their freshman phenom Fulwiley or senior transfer Paopao get rolling.
Even as the lead role changes many nights, the constant for the Gamecocks this season is that everyone gets their chance to contribute to winning, which Watkins notes makes this team so much fun.
“This group is really special,” Watkins says. “We don’t have to worry about playing a lot of minutes for one game or saving minutes for one game just to be prepared for the next. We don’t have to worry about that, because we have a lot of people that can play different positions. It is special for us, and I think it’s special for us because it’s fun. When everybody is scoring and defending, it’s just fun.”
Defense is where South Carolina particularly stands out. The team ranks first in opponent field goal percentage, with Watkins as one of the most impactful players on that end of the floor. The 6’3 forward is second on the team in blocks (2.4 per game) and rebounds (7.0 per game), and third in steals (1.3 per game) in just 20.3 minutes per game off the bench. Watkins shrugs off an initial question about her defensive skillset, insisting defense just comes naturally as her length allows her to get in passing lanes, disrupt dribbling if a players gets loose with their handle, and reject shots.
However, that underscores the work that goes into being a high-level defender. The tools and the effort are the necessary entry points to playing great defense, but we eventually got into the mental challenge of harnessing those to strike the right balance between being a physical presence and picking your spots to stay out of foul trouble and in position as a team defender.
“It’s really hard trying not to get a foul and just trying to play, like, good defense. It’s really hard,” Watkins explains. “You just got to be physical without trying to foul. You got to let them feel you, let them know that you’re there without them using that to their advantage and trying to go bump into you and go straight up and get a foul call. I think I struggled with that in the middle of a season. I got a lot of foul calls on me, and I think people would scout me and they would see that I play hard defense, so they would try to get me early foul trouble.
“And I think that’s something that I learned from watching film with the coaches and I learned that I have to just be patient, just go around, or just find different ways to defend. I mean, that just comes with discipline. I’m not saying that my team needs me, but I feel like they rely on me a little bit and I can’t get in early foul trouble. So that’s just something that I got to take internally and just be like, okay, I gotta be disciplined.”
As a team, Watkins says South Carolina’s commitment on the defensive end is what makes them stand out. It’s what they start working on in the offseason, with head coach Dawn Staley demanding a full 40 minutes of effort on that end of the floor each night. That is the thing that has made the Gamecocks a dominant program over the last decade, because the players have fully bought in to the idea that they have to play to their standard every night, regardless of their opponent — as evidenced by their first two wins in the Tournament being by a combined margin of 99 points.
“It starts with our coach. She basically installs that into us. If, like, we’re having a good game, but we’re also making a lot of mistakes, she wouldn’t hesitate to tell us and still yell at us,” Watkins says with a smile. “Even though we’re winning by a lot, she will still yell at us and be like, you need to do this better, or you need to do that better. Like, this is not our standard. So I think it starts with her and it just kind of rubs off on the team. And we just work as a team and we realized, like, we know the difference when we play bad and when we play our best. So I think that’s where it starts, with her.”
Getting that buy-in quickly was vital for South Carolina to pick up where they left off last year despite the roster turnover, but they also needed players like Watkins to develop into more complete players. While defense comes naturally, Watkins has been hard at work on her offensive skillset, which has allowed her to bump her scoring average up to 9.6 points per game from 4.9 points per game last year.
“I’ve been working on just connecting the dots and being a threat offensively and defensively,” she says. “So, I’ll get some extra work in and just work on spots that I’ll be in in different plays. And then that just built my confidence up. I’ll do it in practice and then I was like, ‘Okay, if I can do it in practice, then I can do it in the game.’ So I just started trying to do it in the game and that worked out well for me.”
What’s made that individual work pay off for Watkins is that it’s focused. It’s not just going into the gym and putting up shots, it’s working on specific things she’ll be asked to do in the game, which is something she’s learned is vital since arriving at South Carolina and thinks would be helpful for more young players to consider.
“A lot of NBA players — you know how people say that NBA players, they go to their shot? Like, they go to their spot. They shoot the shot that they want to shoot, and I think when you practice those shots, like how I said I’ll practice different spots that I’m supposed to be in, I think that’s the best way to work on specifically you,” Watkins explains. “You know that in this moment in the game, you’re going to be in this spot, so this really resembles what you did. And for NBA players, they’ll say, oh yeah, I shoot this shot in practice all the time. I work on this in practice, so it’s just gonna come easier for you in the game.”
Seeing that work pay off in games has given Watkins a confidence boost, which raises her overall game. She highlights that confidence when asked what she’s most proud of in her growth as a player, but also makes an insightful point about what makes this South Carolina team work so well.
“I’m proud of just my confidence, like, how confident I am in what I can do,” Watkins says. “I think my freshman year I didn’t get a lot of minutes, so I wasn’t really sure myself. I wasn’t really playing. I was just practicing. So I was just … I’m just there. But this year I think it’s more of a like, I feel like my team — not needs me, but I feel like I play a big part in what my team does and what my team needs. And so I took that as, oh, I’m gonna have to go get some extra work in, cause I know that my team needs me to do this and this and this.”
That last part of her quote offers a glimpse into how the Gamecocks have gotten to this point, with the team playing for each other and wanting to improve their individual games for their teammates. When I bring that up, she smiles and agrees that is what makes this particular group special. “That’s so true, yes,” Watkins says. “I think we all, every single one of us, feels that way too.”
As they look to make another run to the Final Four with aspirations of winning a national title, the Gamecocks will continue playing for each other and challenging themselves to play to their standard. The competition will continue to get tougher on that journey, but they rightfully believe that when they play their game to the best of their abilities, they can get the win no matter their opponent.
As such, they’ll keep the message the same, and let their SEC Tournament scare against Tennessee provide a reminder of why they can never let their standards slip.
“The message is don’t underestimate any team,” Watkins says about the focal point going into the Sweet 16. “We can’t take any team lightly, because everybody just gonna try to knock us down. Whoever we play, they’re gonna try to come in and knock us down. And we just can’t let that happen. We’ve learned that we don’t need to be in another predicament as like the semifinals in the SEC Tournament. We don’t want to be in that predicament ever again. We were lucky enough to win that game, but we didn’t like that feeling of almost losing.
“So I think we have that in the back of our minds — like, we don’t want to do that,” she continues. “We don’t want to be in that predicament. So we know what to do to not be in that predicament and we know what to do to not take teams lightly. We have to throw the first punch and come out at the bat just ready to go.”
South Carolina will take on Indiana on Friday night, with the game slated to tip off at 5 p.m. EST on ESPN.
Atlanta has a penchant for spawning attention-grabbing rap duos. However, the Playboi Carti-affiliated Homixide Gang are a far cry from what fans of groups like Outkast and Earthgang may have come to expect. As part of Carti’s bubbling Opium collective, they are a tad bit more traditional than their Goth-inspired brethren like Ken Carson and Destroy Lonely, but their avant-garde take on menacing, take-no-prisoners trap rap leans hard in a different direction from, say, Young Thug, Gunna, or Lil Baby.
The duo’s video for “Hi-Voltage,” their new single, puts that fascinating dichotomy on full display as Beno! and Homixide Meechie post up in the projects to deliver their guttural raps between clips of a violent, crime-ridden narrative. The video depicts them as Omar-like menaces to the ‘hood, pissing off crime lords left-and-right as they rob their way across Miami in a tale reminiscent of City Of God — with the Homixide boys standing in for the film’s villain Li’l Zé.
Homixide Gang was meant to accompany Playboi Carti and the rest of the Opium collective on the Antagonist Tour this year, but the tour was canceled after being postponed multiple times. On the bright side for Homixide Gang, this gives them more time to finish up their upcoming album, i5u5we5.
The Alabama Crimson Tide are heading to the Elite 8 after upsetting the North Carolina Tar Heels on Thursday night. Led by an absolutely spectacular performance by transfer big man Grant Nelson, the Crimson Tide picked up an 89-87 win to earn a matchup with the Clemson Tigers for a spot in the Final Four.
The Tar Heels had absolutely nothing for Nelson, who had 24 points, 12 rebounds, and five blocks while shooting 6-for-9 from the field, 2-for-2 from three, and 10-for-13 from the free throw line. And in the immediate aftermath of the game, Alabama coach Nate Oats decided to take a few shots at Charles Barkley, who said before the game that the Crimson Tide are “frail” and “can’t handle North Carolina in the post.”
“Where’s the cameras?” Oats asked. “Charles Barkley called us frail. I think he was talking about Grant … Hey, we ain’t frail, we ain’t frail. And we’re in the Elite 8, and we’re one game away from a Final Four.”
Barkley’s comments also managed to draw the ire of some Alabama players, who took exception to him using the word frail. Barkley, of course, went to Auburn and famously once said that if Alabama played Afghanistan in anything, he’d root for Afghanistan, so our hunch is he didn’t love being on the receiving end of some jokes like this.
Rap fans are looking for someone to blame after a much-hyped Drake feature touted to appear on Bfb Da Packman’s new album Forget Me Not failed to materialize. While the Flint rapper tried to explain his absense, some aren’t buying it, especially after Packman’s story changed a few times.
“I couldn’t get it cleared,” he wrote of the missing feature on Twitter. “Kendrick came out with the diss and he put everything on hold.” A likely story, right?
I couldn’t get it cleared Kendrick came out with the diss and he put everything on hold . FORGET ME NOT OUT NOW https://t.co/Be4XgGG8wJ
However, just hours before, Packman tried to ameliorate fans’ concerns, calling reports that Drake wasn’t on the album “Fake news,” and explaining that the version fans on the other side of the date line weren’t hearing Drake was because it was an “old version” and that the updated one had been sent to TuneCore.
The issue is, of course, that Bfb Da Packman has a longstanding reputation for being a bit of a trickster (it doesn’t help that he’s from Michigan, the de facto epicenter of so-called “scam rap,” which mostly revolves around its proprietors’ adventures in committing widescale fraud rather than selling drugs like a lot of street rappers). He’s even joked about being a “capper” in his raps:
“Durk said his lyrics not real, I’m a capper too; Can never slut shame Megan Thee Stallion, I’m nasty too”
While it’s completely feasible that Drake put his team on code red after Kendrick Lamar yelled, “Motherf*ck the Big Three” on Future and Metro Boomin’s album, it’s equally likely to plenty of fans that Packman just took advantage of the kerfuffle to drive streams for his album, relying on his scammy reputation to protect him from blowback. If that was the case, he severely underestimated just how much fans were unskeptically looking forward to the collab, the Flint-ness of it all aside. While he still has his defenders, the hunger for new Drake music does raise the question… If he isn’t number one, why do people care about what he does — or doesn’t do — so damn much?
we put our trust in a rapper who literally raps about scamming people for fun pic.twitter.com/4kNkHCo8ng
Why are people still doubting if Drake is going to respond when his feature being pulled from Bfb Da Packman album last night literally proves that a diss track is coming
it’s seeming at this point like he might just wait until Metro & Future drop again
Earlier this week, the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after a container ship struck one of its piers, killing at least two people. Soon after, the popular X account Out of Context Human Race shared an image of Homer Simpson watching a boat sink after colliding with a bridge (presumably the Only Bridge Out of Town). “The Simpsons was right again,” @NoContextHumans wrote.
No, it wasn’t: as reported by Snopes, “The image is entirely AI-generated. We ran several reverse-image searches, and found no evidence of the image on the internet prior to the collapse of the Baltimore bridge. Additionally, when the image was scanned with AI-detection software Hive, it indicated a 100 percent chance of AI-generation.”
The Simpsons showrunner and writer Matt Selman is sick of these fake predictions going viral (the @NoContextHumans post has over 34 million views). “Sadly #TheSimpsons ‘predictions’ are now meaningless. People so desperately want to believe in the show’s ‘magic powers’ (or are just very lazy) that they ignore that obviously fake images of the so-called predictions cannot be traced to any actual episode — like this nonsense,” he wrote.
— Out of Context Human Race (@NoContextHumans) March 28, 2024
Here’s an idea: the next time someone creates and shares an obviously fake “Simpsons predicted it” image in a sad attempt at going viral, we throw them into the Springfield Mystery Spot. Also, they’re banned from egg nog. In fact, no nog, period. That’ll show ’em.
Sydney Sweeney has achieved plenty at age 26. She and Glen Powell could very well have resurrected the romcom in movie theaters. She remains on in-demand lists for plum roles and has gone from lamenting the financial reality of most “successful” actors to cementing a secure future for herself. Granted, she puts up with some seriously bonkers behavior regarding her boobs, but she manages to do her thing with zero coffee whatsoever.
Sometimes, however, it’s nice to simply read a nice story, and Sweeney has opened up to Who What Wear in an interview about her expanding career and more. This has, as well, allowed her to focus upon her family and return the massive gesture from her parents of moving to Hollywood for her career after she made the case in a Powerpoint presentation. Really. And that has ultimately led to her achieving a longstanding dream:
Now that she is in a position to thank them, however, it’s something Sweeney takes very seriously. “I recently paid off my mom’s mortgage,” she says with pride. “As a kid, I always dreamt of being able to take care of my parents, so that was a really big thing for me to be able to do.”
See, no matter what Hollywood and its onlookers toss at Sweeney, she will always have that accomplishment under her belt. As well, Sweeney has been upfront about including her grandmas as nuns in horror film Immaculate, now in theaters. She also told Who What Wear about how she will hop on airplanes to spend only a few hours to hang out with her grandma or visit a lake in Washington. Lessons learned here: Sydney knows that her mom and grandmas rule, and she has enviable priorities and accomplishes them, too.
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Kendrick came out with the diss and he put everything on hold . FORGET ME NOT OUT NOW 
: 
(@yvngplank) 
