Category: News

For all of its faults, the most beautiful thing about the United States of America is how it’s made up of a tapestry of cultures and traditions from all around the world. That’s especially fun when we’re talking about the food. The US is still segregated in many ways and while various communities continue to have strife over cultural, political, and economic issues, the great equalizer is food. Whether you live in a red state or blue state, a rich community or a poor one, the country has a deep appreciation for food — even if it doesn’t always value it congruent to the labor it takes to produce it.

In the US, you can easily eat Ethiopian food for breakfast, Thai for lunch, and Italian food at dinner without having to venture too far from your neighborhood. The most “American” thing, breakfast, is an amalgamation of foodstuffs from all over the world — filtered down into a single menu that Americans are proud to claim as their own.

As a melting pot, the history of “American” food is deep and complicated, especially when you consider that before the United States was even a country the Indigenous peoples of what is now Mexico, the South Western United States, and deep into Central America and beyond were colliding with Spanish food traditions for hundreds of years, and had their own unique food traditions a millennia before that. While much of the cross-pollination in this land is a result of a dark past full of colonization and forced assimilation, it’s also a beautiful thing, and as the United States further integrates with the various peoples that call the country home, it continues to expand and absorb the foodstuffs of the many different countries and cultures.

Aside from white people, the United States Latino population is its largest and fastest growing demographic, and, as such, food from “south of the border” has a huge hold and influence on the country’s cuisine. While we’re all familiar with tacos, burritos, nachos, tortillas, salsa, and beans, there are still so many delicious dishes that have yet to make their way onto American menus. Every year it seems there is a new food trend making its way from the Americas (namely Mexico) into our ever-growing menu of foods — like birria which wasn’t invented recently but exploded in popularity with the rise of TikTok and Instagram foodie accounts in 2021.

Birria isn’t the only Mexican dish that deserves more love on menus in the United States, either. Mexico is full of great food that still hasn’t completely crossed over. So today we’re highlighting five dishes from Mexico that deserve more love on menus here in the states. Let’s dive in!

Mole Verde (Green Mole)

If you frequent Mexican restaurants you’re probably aware of mole, a thick and rich sauce made from chilis, fruit, seeds, and most notably Mexican chocolate, but what most menus don’t tell you is that this is actually what is known as Mole Poblano. Mole in Mexico comes in all sorts of different forms, many of which don’t involve chocolate at all, goes back to the time of the Aztec Empire, and gets its name from the Nahuatl language. The Nahuatl word, molli, means sauce, so as you might imagine, mole is a very broad term that covers a lot of different thick and savory sauces.

My favorite by far is Mole Verde, or green mole, which hails from Oaxaca and consists of a blend of green herbs like cilantro and parsley, green chilis, pumpkin seeds, and tomatillos. The resulting flavor is savory and mouthwatering blend of spicy, nutty, and fresh herbaceous notes that linger on the tongue like your favorite spicy salsa, but offer a heartier quality that works great smothered on tamales, tacos, or enchiladas.

I’ve only had green mole once in the States at a restaurant in Whittier California called Bizarra Capital on a dish that consisted of green mole over French fries, melted cheese, sweet onion aioli, and seed salsa. That’s in no way traditionally Mexican, but it serves as a great entry point to the wider world of mole for US palettes.

Nopales

Nopales, or Prickly Pear Cactus pads aren’t that hard to find at Mexican restaurants in America. Nopales tacos are usually found at higher-end Mexican restaurants or more authentic taquerias (which is sort of ironic considering nopales are dirt cheap and should be everywhere), but the ingredient is totally underutilized on American menus. Nopales are so versatile and feature a bright almost citrus-like flavor that isn’t unlike asparagus yet generally costs a fraction of the price.

You can cook nopales con huevos (nopales, eggs, and some chilis), eat the large pads grilled on a fire, pickle them, throw them into a plate of chorizo to add some vegetal brightness with nopales con chorizo, toss them into a salad… truly, you can let your imagination run wild with this flexible and healthy ingredient.

For beginners, I suggest a nopales salsa which consists of cooked nopales tossed with lime, salt, Serrano peppers, onions, cilantro, and tomato. Sound familiar? It should, because it’s essentially pico de Gallo, but with the added cactus it contains an extra dimension of earthy vegetal flavors that’ll make you wonder why you ever bothered with regular old Pico De Gallo in the first place when this has always existed.

Calabacitas

Every time I go to a Mexican food spot in the States and see “vegan” or “vegetarian” tacos made with plant-based meats or jackfruit a little piece of me dies inside. Not because plant-based tacos are bad per se (though, I’ve never had a good one) but because there are plenty of Mexican dishes that are vegetarian-friendly and don’t require the use of weird lab meat or expensive jackfruit. One such dish is calabacitas, a medley of sautéed Mexican heirloom squash, corn, tomatoes, and chili peppers, resulting in a stew-like meal that works perfectly as a side or a main course once thrown into a corn tortilla-based taco.

This veggie blend is downright meaty, and it’s so substantial and satisfying that you won’t even miss the absence of animal protein, and the best part is it doesn’t taste like it’s trying to mimic meat. It stands completely on its own!

The Mexican heirloom squash, sometimes just called “calabacitas” is very similar to zucchini, only it’s much sweeter, which helps this dish stand out, and smaller and lighter in color. You can easily find calabacitas at your local Mexican market alongside all the other vegetables, or you can just make it with whatever squash you have on hand.

If you’re not trying to cut out meat from your diet, consider trying calabacitas con puerco, which is a slow-simmered stew made from pork rubs, tomatoes, and calabacitas.

Chiles Toreados Tacos

US foodies have this weird obsession with approaching spicy food as some sort of dare. Take Hot Ones for example, an entire interview show revolving around eating increasingly spicy wings that people can’t seem to get enough of even though for much of the rest of the world, the spicy sensation isn’t in any way novel — it’s simply our bread and butter.

Chilies Toreados, or blistered peppers, are a mix of pressed, pan-fried chili peppers usually cooked in a comal that combine some of the hottest peppers found in Mexico into a single spicy dish that’ll make your eyes water, your heart beat harder, and make your tongue want to fall out. It’s the sort of spicy dish that makes you feel straight up high after you’ve eaten it. I’ve seen all sorts of alterations on this dish, sometimes it’s a simple mix of serrano and jalapeño peppers tossed with lime and soy sauce, and sometimes it leans on the spicier side with serrano, habanero.

At LA taco spot Guisados, the Chiles Toreados taco mixes habanero, serrano, jalapeño, and Thai chilies over black beans with a spicy habanero salsa on top. It is legitimately the spiciest taco I’ve ever eaten in my life, and I have a very high spice tolerance. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to find more restaurants that serve this beloved Mexican dish.

Elotes

If you live in California you’re probably rolling your eyes at our inclusion of elotes, but this popular Mexican street food hasn’t completely crossed over to the rest of the states, so we’re closing out our list with this one. This popular side dish is Mexico’s version of corn on the cob, and features grilled corn slathered in mayonnaise, cotija cheese, spices like chile powder, ancho chiles, crushed guajillo or tajín, and finished with a squeeze of fresh lime. It’s sweet, tangy, spicy, savory, salty, an explosion of different flavors and sensations in your mouth that’ll leave you with teeth full of corn, a face dusted with spices and mayo, and not a single care in the world.

I’ve had a lot of American variations on the elote and it never quite hits like the real thing from a street vendor in LA. Mayo-slathered corn doesn’t sound like it would be everyone’s thing, but just try it the next time you find yourself at a park in Los Angeles, you’ll never look back.

Nothing compares to opening up your preferred streaming service, listening to a rap song, and attempting to decipher lyrics and bars spit by your favorite rapper. From onomatopoeias to alliterations and cryptic messages, an artist’s chosen lyrical content can tell us more about them than an intrusive Reddit thread ever will. Today we’re digging into Skillibeng’s “Whap Whap.” The dancehall record blew up this year and since the onset of its widespread popularity, fans have been left wondering what the catchy chorus really means.

Sit back and watch the rapper decipher the meaning of his 2022 viral hit with help from Uproxx’s Cherise Johnson. Hailing from Lyssons, Jamaica, Skillibeng tells us “whap whap,” is his home country’s term for corporal punishment. That’s right, the phrase represents the sound you’d hear while unfortunately getting whipped. The rapper didn’t stop there though, he’s turned the phrase on its head using it to express a montage of gunshots instead. His intention was to forego gruesome lyrics and add Jamacaain humor to the record which proved to be a successful effort. Skillibeng’s spanking-inspired record earned him features from Fivio Foreign and French Montana. Outside the record’s success, the infamous Nicki Minaj remixed his 2021, “Crocodile Teeth.”

You can watch Skillibeng’s Bar Stories explanation for “Whap Whap” above.

If you like stories of amazing women, buckle up, because this one is a wild ride.

During WWII, the Soviet Air Force’s 588th Night Bomber Regiment flew incredibly harrowing missions, bombing Germans with rudimentary biplanes in the dead of night. The Germans called them Nachthexen—”Night Witches”—because the only warning they had before the bombs hit was an ominous whooshing sound akin to a witch’s broom.

The “whoosh” sound was due to the fact that the women would cut the planes’ engines as they approached, gliding in stealthily before dropping their bombs. And the Night Witches moniker was fitting, considering the fact that the 588th was an all-female regiment.

Their missions were incredibly dangerous, especially considering how the women were equipped. Most of the recruits were in their late teens to mid-20s, and crew members had to learn how to pilot, navigate and maintain the aircraft so they could serve the regiment in any capacity. They underwent an intensive year of training to learn what usually took several years to master.

---

The planes they flew were rickety biplanes made of plywood and canvas, which were usually used for crop dusting and training. According to the Wright Museum, a tracer bullet could easily cause the plane to burst into flames, causing some of the women to refer to their aircraft as “a coffin with wings.” The planes’ top speed was just 90 mph, and the weight of the two bombs and crew they carried meant they had to fly low. That made the planes easily visible targets, so the women only flew their missions under the cover of darkness.

The open design of the aircraft and the fact that they flew at night also meant that the women were fully exposed to frigid temperatures during Soviet winters. According to The History Channel, the planes would get so cold, touching them would tear off bare skin.

Since there had been no women in combat in the Air Force before, they were given hand-me-down men’s uniforms and had to tear up bedding to stuff into the end of their boots to make them fit properly. Due to the limited capacity of their aircraft and limited funds, they also were deprived of the modern equipment their male counterparts had access to—radar, radios, machine guns and even parachutes. Instead, they had to use maps, rulers, compasses, stopwatches and pencils to perform their missions. And if they needed to bail out, they just hoped they were close enough to the ground to survive.

Up to 40 two-person crews would be sent out each night to complete between eight and 18 missions each. They would go out in groups of three, with two planes acting as decoys to draw the German searchlights and flack gun attacks away from the third. The one advantage the small, slow biplanes had was maneuverability, so they relied on fancy flying to create a diversion. When the navigator of the third plane tapped the pilot on the shoulder, she would kill the engine and silently swoop in for the bomb drop. The three planes would each take turns in this manner until all three planes had dropped their payloads.

The term “Night Witches” was coined by the Germans, but the women took on the nickname with pride. They had every reason to be proud. They were so feared that any German who downed one of their planes was automatically awarded the prestigious Iron Cross medal.

From June 1942 to October 1943, they flew more than 23,000 combat sorties, collectively logging over 28,000 flight hours and dropping more than 3,000 tons of bombs and 26,000 incendiary shells on Nazi targets. Their bombing raids wreaked havoc on river crossings, railways, warehouses, fuel depots, armored cars, firing positions and other valuable logistical targets. They also made 155 food and ammunition supply drops to other Soviet armed forces.

By the end of the war, the Soviets has lost 32 Night Witches in service. The 588th Regiment was highly decorated; of the 89 Soviet women who received the Hero of the Soviet Union award—the country’s highest honor in WWII—22 were Night Witches.

However, when the Soviet Union held a massive victory parade after the war, the Night Witches weren’t included in it. Their planes, which these badass women had painted flowers on to add a feminine touch, were deemed too slow.

Learn more about the Night Witches with NBC News Learn:

A half-century after Congress outlawed importing enslaved people, Timothy Meaher hired a ship captain to bring over a hundred kidnapped Africans to Alabama. Then he burned the ship. The two-masted schooner called the Clotilda remained sunken and hidden from 1860 to 2018, when it was discovered by Ben Raines, a journalist who had doggedly tracked it down. Raines wrote a book about the ship and its discovery called The Last Slave Ship.

But, as the trailer for Descendant warns us, don’t get too focused on the ship. It’s a real-life McGuffin buried in the Alabama muck, but the real story is about the lives of those who came on the ship and families they created.

The documentary from filmmaker Margaret Brown “follows descendants of the survivors from the Clotilda, the last ship that carried enslaved Africans to the United States, as they reclaim their story.” At least one part of that story is the creation of Africatown, a thriving community that has over decades been surrounded completely by heavy industrial zones, marring a profoundly historical land with chemical pollution and inhuman conditions. The film also features conversations with historians while it weaves the past into the present. Plus, since the last living survivors of the Clotilda died in the 1930s, some of the descendants in the film are only one or two generations removed from the men and women Meaher kidnapped. It’s a potent reminder that the past isn’t so far away.

Descendant hits Netflix October 21st and promises to be one of the best historical documentaries of the year.

There isn’t a single fashion accessory quite like a fresh pair of kicks. The right pair of sneakers telegraphs to the world who you are and what you’re all about. But in a buying market full of bots and greedy re-sellers, it’s never been harder to stand out. Nothing burns like rolling up to the function in a dope pair of limited edition hard-to-cop Jordans only to see a room full of people who also paid a hefty re-sale price for that same exclusive drop.

This is why as streetwear continues to evolve and the most stylish amongst us find new avenues for self-expression, custom sneakers feel like the next big streetwear trend and an art form that is pushing the whole industry forward. The art of independent creatives, now poised for the mainstream.

If you’re a hardcore brand loyalist or a collaboration-obsessed sneakerhead, the words “custom sneakers” might send shivers down your spine. But we’re not talking about sneakers sporting portraits of Goku or colorways that resemble something straight out of a Marvel movie (though if that’s your thing, do you!). Those are fine, but there are a handful of sneaker artists out there that are elevating the form and creating bespoke designs that rival the shoes coming straight out of Nike or Supreme.

People like Dominic Ciambrone, aka The Shoe Surgeon, and Nicolle Knight, aka Katty Customs, the co-host of Uproxx’s Fresh Pair, create the sort of designs that can make even the snobbiest sneakerheads froth at the mouth and turn green with envy. Ciambrone and Knight aren’t simply repainting materials, they’re completely deconstructing sneakers, swapping out soles, messing with fabrics, making leathers, and doing complicated embroidery work and detailing that transform sneakers from simple fashion to straight-up wearable art.

“Creating customs and owning a one-of-a-kind bespoke sneaker is more than just a product,” says Ciambrone, “It’s an experience and an art form to own. People are looking for pieces that are of quality and exclusive to them, and I think we’ll continue to see it grow as more creators and artists emerge.”

Ciambrone is one of the most visible customizers currently operating in streetwear, his skills are so widely respected that he even runs a workshop called the SRGN Academy that provides hopeful creators in Los Angeles and New York with the skills, tools, and know-how to create their own bespoke kicks. His attention to detail and craft has caught the eye of everyone from Drake to Justin Bieber, Michael B. Jordan, DJ Khaled, Odell Beckham Jr., and many more.

“I feel people are always finding new ways to express themselves,” he says. “I’ve always believed that fashion is an extension of yourself, a way you can communicate and connect with others without saying anything. That’s how I started and how The Shoe Surgeon was born.”

The steadily growing popularity of custom sneakers amongst fashion trendsetters and celebrities plays on the always-trendy pursuit of “exclusivity” and elevates it to a whole new level. A custom sneaker that was designed for you and in some cases, conceived from your own imagination, is a form of self-expression that even the dopest brand collaboration can’t recreate.

“Customization is the ultimate form of streetwear self-expression to me because it’s about being different,” says Knight, who has also designed sneakers for the stars, including Saweetie, Jadakiss, will.i.am, El-P, and many more. “Being able to rock a sneaker that no one else has is gold! When you’re at an outing and someone says ‘I like your shoes, where’d you get them from?’ And knowing they can’t just go into a store and buy the same exact shoes is dope… Self-expression is so valuable when it comes to one’s personal fashion because you’re able to be you, rocking your own style the way you want to. It is self-knowledge and self-confidence expressed through what you choose to wear — a life-affirming expression of who you are.”

It’s clear that the big brands are recognizing the sort of work artists like Ciambrone and Knight are doing, and you can see traces of the customizer’s spirit in designs by artists like Sean Wotherspoon, creator of 2018’s legendary Nike Air Max 1/97, and in Nike and Adidas current customization tools, which are limited, but show that the hunger for customization is strong.

Before making a name for himself as a sneaker designer, Wotherspoon was the founder of a Virginia-based sneaker store called Round Two (Round Two now has stores in New York and Los Angeles, two streetwear meccas) and was invited by Nike in 2017 along with 11 other creatives to create new original iterations of the Air Max silhouette. The designs would eventually be presented to the public and Nike fans voted on which got an official release during 2018’s Air Max Day.

Wotherspoon won that contest by combining the upper of a Nike Air Max 97 with the midsole and outsole of an Air Max 1 and giving it an eye-catching rainbow corduroy upper. That’s the sort of extensive deconstructionist work that serves as Ciambrone and Knight’s bread and butter. Wotherspoon has since gone on to collaborate with Guess, Adidas, ASICS, and produce even more shoes with Nike, solidifying himself as one of the most innovative modern designers in the sneaker space.

For Knight, recognition from the big brands is something she hopes other sneaker artists will get to experience as the customization movement continues to grow.

“Big Brands know that sneaker customization and the desire to be different is a new wave in fashion,” she says. “I definitely feel like the big brands should acknowledge and support customizers more. We’re taking their sneakers and making it into wearable art that can’t be bought in stores. The ultimate form of appreciation for me would be to see the brands collaborate with more sneaker artists, giving us a chance to showcase our talents for the world to see.”

It’s too soon to truly know how the rise of sneaker customization will change streetwear, but we’re excited to see it happen and even more psyched for the ways the big brands like Nike and Adidas respond. When you’re creating the sort of radical transformations of famous silhouettes that Ciambrone and Knight routinely churn out, it pushes the big brands to go further than they have before. The days of simple and safe retro colorway refreshes are over — bring out the bespoke designs!

Hopefully, brands like Nike and Adidas can expand their current customization options — which need a lot more design options if they hope to compare with what Ciambrone and Knight are doing — to allow people to better express themselves in their fashion choices.

“The thing I love most about customizing sneakers for other people is the ability to bring their vision to life,” says Knight. “Everyone is not an artist like myself, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a vision or style. Being able to give them something they can’t create for themselves while bringing a great smile to their faces warms my heart.”

The best team in the NFL through the first three weeks of the season very well might be the Philadelphia Eagles. The team came into the 2022 campaign with hopes of competing in the NFC and has positioned themselves to be considered the favorites, as the team has gone 3-0 with wins over Detroit, Minnesota, and Washington, the latter two coming in ultra-convincing fashion.

At the center of it all is signal caller Jalen Hurts, who is firmly in the NFL MVP conversation at this early juncture. Hurts has managed to take a step forward as a passer this season and continues to be a dangerous runner, and as a result, there are hopes that the Eagles can go places they have not gone since they lifted the Lombardi Trophy in 2018.

There have been questions dating back to Hurts’ college days, both at Alabama and Oklahoma, about his ability to consistently win games with his arm. What has never been in doubt is his ability to lead and keep a calm, focused demeanor when it’s time to play. This was put in the spotlight recently when Michael Irvin learned of a quote Hurts gave to his teammates, which caused The Playmaker to lose his mind.

It is, admittedly, a very good quote, one that is even better because of Irvin’s reaction. He normally saves getting this fired up for when he and Stephen A. Smith are going at it over the Dallas Cowboys, so we must tip our caps to for getting this excited over someone else in the NFC East.

Uproxx has a new show and in honor of its first guest, New York rap icon Jadakiss, we’re taking a look at some of the mixtape legend’s finest contributions to hip-hop’s ever-grown canon of gritty street classics. In the debut episode of Fresh Pair, hosts Just Blaze and Katty Customs sit down with Kiss to discuss his one-of-a-kind rap legacy, get his top five best rap voices in hip-hop, and show off a unique pair of custom sneakers inspired by his influential 25-year career. From his 1994 debut as a member of The Lox to a successful solo career to his recent star showings on Verzuz, Jadakiss has become one of rap’s most revered figures for his humor, wit, and Yonkers-bred charisma, as well as some of the hardest verses ever to grace a DAT tape. Here are just 20 of his absolute best.

20. “You Make Me Wanna” Feat. Mariah Carey

Over the years, Jadakiss has become best known as a rugged spitter, but he can make songs “for the ladies,” too. As was the custom in his early 2000s heyday, Jada’s R&B collabs proved to be as effective as his battle raps.

19.”Jadakiss Interlude” With DJ Khaled

What better testament to the long shadow Jadakiss casts over the rap world than having his own interlude on DJ Khaled’s God Did in which all he does is rap his ass off, no chorus, no hook, no fancy concept — just bars?

18. “Why” Feat. Anthony Hamilton

Jada’s first — and to date, only — foray into so-called “conscious rap” helped bring down the wall that separated the mainstream from socially aware hip-hop in the early 2000s. Part of the reason is due to the smart framing of “Why.” Rather than preaching at listeners, he invited them into the conversation, simply asking questions — instead of a local organizers’ meeting, “Why” sounds more like a barbershop conversation. Still, even as he wonders at the various shortcomings of society, he finds time to remind listeners why they tuned in to begin with: “Why is Jadakiss as hard as it gets?”

17. “Hot Sauce To Go”

The perfect track to display Jada’s penchant for picking unconventional beats, this Kiss Of Death smooth groover might not be a universal favorite, but it’s hard to deny the salsa flair of its Neptunes-produced beat. Pharrell provides a signature falsetto hook, while Kiss loses his normally gruff demeanor to show he can two-step when it’s time to. While he’s usually mean-mugging and threatening on tracks, this time, he’s ready to party.

16. “Put Ya Hands Up”

Like “We Gonna Make It,” “Put Ya Hands Up” originates from his solo debut album, Kiss Tha Game Goodbye. The third single from the album, it’s a gritty showcase for his head-spinning wordplay, which at the time, was still mind-blowingly novel at the mainstream level. “And y’all scared I can tell,” he boasts. “And I’ma get Bucks like Milwaukee cause like Sam I Can-sell.” In the future, this sort of intricate double entendre would be commonplace, especially on the battle rap circuit, but in 2001, it was like poetry in motion, ahead of its time.

15. “By Your Side”

Although it’s more emotive than some of his earlier material, this standout from Jada’s 2004 album Kiss Of Death still matches with his rugged sensibilities courtesy of a hard-hitting beat by Baby Grand. Weaving a narrative ode to both friends and foes in the streets, Kiss also weaves his flow between the catchy vocal sample, as usual demonstrating that his lyrical talents are up to just about any challenge — even those he imposes on himself.

14. “F*** You” With The Lox

Sidebar: We Are The Streets, The Lox’s 1999 Ruff Ryders debut, has thee most hilariously literal album cover of all time. That aside, Jada’s verse here sets things off with a bang as the crew declares the mission statement for the second phase of their careers. “Yo, everybody’s a snake / That’s why I try to keep the grass cut / So I can see ’em when they coming / Then I heat they ass up.”

13. “Knock Yourself Out”

Jada’s debut solo single, produced by The Neptunes, introduced him to the world at large — who until then, only really knew Jadakiss from his features and work with The Lox. Here was his chance to prove that he could offer up more than just fire 16s, one at a time. He passed that test with flying colors with “Knock Yourself Out.” He also, weirdly enough, wore a paper towel wrapped around his head like a bandana in the video, ensuring that rap fans would keep discussing it over twenty years later by memes struggling to decipher that inscrutable decision.

12. “Rite Where U Stand” With Gang Starr

Appearing on Gang Starr’s 2003 album The Ownerz, this track paired Jada with one of his greatest influences and proved he could hang with the pioneers as well as he could his contemporaries. He was also unafraid to use his music to speak on his various industry woes after getting stuck in a less-than-favorable contract with Interscope — another way he blazed a trail for future generations of artists.

11. “New York” With Ja Rule and Fat Joe

In the midst of Ja Rule’s ongoing feud with 50 Cent — which is still going, by the way — the beleaguered Ja released an absolute gem in 2004, recruiting two of New York City’s most respected voices for backup. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to save him in the court of public opinion, but “New York” was a blessed byproduct of the battle that remains an example of the power of a collaboration between icons. Also, “I’m in the hood like them little motorcycles” is still one of the greatest things anyone has ever said on a beat.

10. “John Blaze” With Fat Joe, Big Pun & Raekwon

One of a long line of posse cuts on which Jada has stolen the show, his achievement here is made all the more impressive by the lineup. Fat Joe is in full Diggin’ In The Crates mode on this track from 1998’s Don Cartagena, Big Pun packs his verse with dizzying multisyllabic rhyme patterns, Raekwon spits a cool verse, and Nas is Nas. But counting up the quote-ables? Jadakiss goes hard.

9. “Made You Look Remix”

Whatever they were smoking in the studio when they made this should be preserved and distributed to every rapper’s home address weekly. No one would ever drop a dud verse again. Jada came as close as he ever has to living up to his boast that he’s the “top five, dead or alive” with this verse from the remix of Nas’ 2003 megahit.

8. “Blackout” With DMX, Jay-Z & The Lox

An absolute monster of a track, “Blackout” landed on the rap scene like a mortar round. In late 1998, DMX was hot off his smash debut It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot and no one could have anticipated that he’d follow up with another one in Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood. Then, to throw gas on the fire, the Dark Man threw one of the hottest up-and-coming trios in the business on a track with Jay-Z. Naturally, Jadakiss is the match that lights the flame, opening the track with the boast that “n****s throw us on the album, try to boost they sales.” For what it’s worth, it looks like it worked; DMX legendarily became the first rapper to drop two No. 1 albums in the same calendar year.

7. “It’s All About The Benjamins” Feat. Puff Daddy & Lil Kim

Listen, totally aside from the fact that Jada comes in hot with one of the hardest verses on Puff Daddy and the Family’s 1997 album No Way Out, this is actually Jada’s track from the jump by virtue of the fact that he penned Puff’s verse, despite not being totally sure his new boss could pull it off. The rest was history.

6. “Money, Power & Respect” Feat. DMX & Lil Kim

The title track from The Lox’s 1998 debut album, it’s a surprisingly philosophical breakdown of life’s necessities — at least, by The Lox’s standards. I don’t know that they ever read Max Weber’s three-component theory of stratification, but even if they weren’t perusing the sociology section of their local library in their leisure time, they still manage to explain it pretty well to the layman. Jada’s anchor verse sums up exactly why he’s so beloved in the streets: “Nothin’ but the hotness whenever we drop this / Monotonous for y’all to keep hatin’ ’cause y’all never gon’ stop us.”

5. “Gov’t Cheese” Feat. Millyz, Nino Man & DeJ Loaf

A standout from Jada’s most recent album, 2020’s Ignatius, “Gov’t Cheese” depicts an older, wiser Jadakiss getting reflective about all the hard-won knowledge he’s gained from 20+ plus years in the streets and out of them. “Sneakers too tight, you had to wear ’em without soles,” he reminisces. “Sleepin’ with a sweatsuit on ’cause the house cold.” He doesn’t just bring problems, though; he also explains his solutions. “Had to open my mind for me to free it.”

4. “24 Hrs To Live” With Mase, The Lox, Black Rob & DMX

Mase’s 1997 Bad Boy Records debut Harlem World is criminally underrated and this posse cut is one of its highest highs. Asking a simple question, we get six different perspectives ranging from relatable (Jada, Styles) to absolutely unhinged (DMX). Who among us wouldn’t want to go out as fresh as Jada says he would?

3. “Time’s Up” Feat. Nate Dogg

The lead single from Kiss Of Death finds the Yonkers native eschewing clever concepts or heady themes for a straightforward, fist-clenching bar fest. Driven by a thundering, piano-centered loop devised by Scott Storch, “Time’s Up” is a showcase for some of Jada’s most memorable punchlines, including the fan-favorite: “F*ck riding the beat, n**** / I parallel park on the track.”

2. “Who Shot Ya Freestyle”

When The Lox went up against The Diplomats in a Verzuz hits battle last year, the Yonkers crew had already won handily by the time their DJ threw the instrumental to The Notorious B.I.G.’s controversial 1994 hit. Jada’s performance became the victory cigar. The response to the mixtape favorite was so immediate and powerful, the song won an official release on DSPs.

1. “We Gonna Make It” Feat. Styles P

A classic in every sense of the word, “We Gonna Make It” begins with one of the most beloved opening lines in hip-hop: “F*ck. The. Frail sh*t.” The Alchemist pulls out all the stops on the beat, which samples “My Music” by Samuel Jonathan Johnson. The instrumental has a controversial backstory as well, ending up in the hands of West Coast rapper Ras Kass after both Nas and Jay-Z passed on it, but Kiss has the most recognizable version, owing a great deal to the dynamic back-and-forth flows of Jada and his Lox bandmate Styles P. It wasn’t the first time they demonstrated this chemistry and it wasn’t the last, but for a generation of rap fans, it’s easily the best.

Cordae is probably best known for his multisyllabic, punchline-packed battle raps. Still, on one of his latest singles, “Unacceptable,” he switches his style, adopting a more melodic style that should be familiar to fans of his contemporaries like Lil Durk and Roddy Ricch. Now, the video for the single has arrived, finding Cordae reflecting on lost friends and degraded relationships as he roams a cemetery. Interspersed between these melancholy shots are clips from his tour as he hangs out backstage and embraces the hectic schedule that comes with chasing rap dreams.

The video’s effect is a poignant juxtaposition between the perception of money and fame that comes from being a star recording artist and the reality that many acts face behind the scenes. Although we may see them as inscrutable larger-than-life figures who are beyond the struggles of everyday life, in reality, they’re just people who have past traumas to sort through — they just have to do so in the public eye.

“Unacceptable” was released last month alongside “So With It,” just months after Cordae dropped his second album, From A Bird’s Eye View. The Maryland rapper has been teasing a new mixtape in recent weeks, as well as putting out the single “Checkmate” from the Madden NFL 23 soundtrack. The growth and versatility he’s shown over the past few months has been impressive considering he’s only a few months removed from his sophomore album, but that’s Cordae… always looking forward to the next thing.

Watch Cordae’s “Unacceptable” video above.

Following the announcement that Netflix is bringing back (most) of the cast of That ’70s Show for a new spinoff, That ’90s Show, fans of the original series are undoubtedly curious about when the new show will start streaming. Production for That ’90s Show wrapped back in July 2022, according to TVLine, but unfortunately, there’s not much in the way of an official release date. However, as of this writing, the show is reportedly looking at a late 2022/early 2023 target, so fans may not have to wait for long.

In the meantime, what we do know is that the show will focus on Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp) and Red Forman (Kurtwood Smith) as they wrangle a new generation of kids, whose parents are the lovable stoners from the original series. Via Variety:

“That ’90s Show” is set to follow Eric (Topher Grace) and Donna’s (Laura Prepon) daughter Leia Forman (Callie Haverda) as she visits her grandparents for the summer. Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp are returning from the original cast to once again play Red and Kitty. The series, set in 1995, will follow a new generation of Point Place kids and includes newcomers Haverda, Ashley Aufderheide, Mace Coronel, Maxwell Acee Donovan, Reyn Doi and Sam Morelos.

On top of Prepon and Grace reprising their classic roles, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis will also return to the series where they first met. Interestingly, their characters will be married despite being very broken up by the end of That ’70s Show. In fact, it’s a creative decision that left Kunis scratching her head when she first learned of it.

“You know what, I called BS. I was like, ‘My character would be with Fez.’ I think that I ended up with Wilmer’s character,” Kunis told Access Hollywood before sharing her disbelief with Kutcher. “I was like, “Why are you and I together?’”

That ’90s Show reportedly arrives on Netflix sometime this winter. Probably.

Jurassic Park is arguably the best blockbuster ever made. The follow-ups have their moments, like the cliff set piece in The Lost World: Jurassic Park and the bird cage sequence in Jurassic Park III (also that scene where the raptor talks), but the sequels have largely been unnecessary — especially the Jurassic World trilogy. Even the guy who directed two of them seems to think so.

“I specifically did something different than the other films in order to change the DNA of the franchise,” Colin Trevorrow told Empire about this year’s Jurassic World Dominion. “The previous five films are plots about dinosaurs. This one is a story about characters in a world in which they coexist with dinosaurs.” He continued:

“For the franchise to be able to move forward – because it’s inherently unfranchisable, there probably should have only been one Jurassic Park – but if we’re gonna do it, how can I allow them to tell stories in a world in which dinosaurs exist, as opposed to, here’s another reason why we’re going to an island?”

The key quote in there is “there probably should have only been one Jurassic Park,” a statement that even Steven Spielberg, who returned for The Lost World, would probably agree with. Counterpoint: without Jurassic World, we never would have gotten the scene where Jimmy Buffett flees a dinosaur attack while holding two large margaritas.

All the sequels are worth it for that alone.

(Via Empire)