Category: News

Madison Cawthorn is officially a loser—and a history-making loser at that. On Tuesday, the people of North Carolina’s 11th congressional district spoke with their votes and made it clear that a 26-year-old scofflaw who may or may not have attended a coke-fueled orgy with some geriatric Republicans is not the person they want representing them. They opted to take a chance on state senator Chuck Edwards instead.

The silver lining for Cawthorn? He can leave office having made history as a congressman at least twice: First, at 25, he became the youngest-ever Republican elected to congress. Now, at the tender age of 26, he’s the youngest-ever Republican congressperson to lose their re-election bid. We’re not sure whether Hallmark makes a card for this particular occasion, but… congratulations?!

Of course, Cawthorn will remain in his current position until early 2023, which means he’s got another six months to continue to stir things up in D.C., on the road, at the airport, or wherever else he chooses to be a public menace next. In the meantime, he’s taking the time to trash his own political party and blame the votes not going his way on what he seems to think is a coordinated effort to oust him from Congress, as Raw Story reports.

Before calling Edwards to concede the election on Tuesday, Cawthorn told a crowd of his own supporters:

“There has been a coordinated strike by really, kind of, the old establishment wing of our party. It’s a loser’s mentality. They realize the direction the country’s going in, the direction the population’s going in. If they want to… pay off people from my past and bring up old pictures or things that happened years and years ago, I feel free to let them do that. I think the American people will see through that.”

The only thing most people are seeing through is that little teddy Madison was rocking in those recently surfaced photos:

Immediately after trashing the GOP, Cawthorn did take a moment to pledge his undying allegiance to Donald Trump, who endorsed the North Carolinian despite being “weirded out” by the video of the twentysomething dry-humping his cousin.

When asked about the former president, Cawthorn said “the thing that I love about President Trump is that when you get your back pushed up against a wall, I’ve found that most people in politics, if it’s not politically expedient to them, they’ll turn their back on you in a heartbeat. But no matter what you are facing, when Donald Trump has your back he has your back ‘til the end.”

Try telling that to Rudy Giuliani.

(Via Raw Story)

Lil Wayne and Mark Cuban are used to having enemies given that they’re both among the most successful figures in the competitive fields of hip-hop and business, respectively. Now, they’re facing off against each other, launching a Twitter feud that has so far peaked with Wayne proclaiming he will urinate in Cuban’s mouth.

On May 8, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic dropped 26 points and 11 assists to tie his team’s second-round NBA Playoff series against the Phoenix Suns at 2-2, a series the Mavs would go on to win in seven games. That day, Wayne tweeted, “Luka a ho.” Cuban (who of course owns the Mavs) took a while to respond but came back with a good one on May 16, quote-tweeting Wayne’s tweet, adding a photo of Wayne sitting courtside at Game 7 of that series, and quoting a lyric from Wayne’s “Uproar”: “It’s a sh*t show, put you front row.”

Wayne was not a fan of the clap-back, as last night, he tweeted and then deleted, “Mark Cuban don’t make me get u smacked boy U playin w me?? I will piss in ya fkn mouth ho.” In a follow-up tweet that’s still up, he added, “Ya lil b*tch it’s up.”

Multiple Twitter users quickly dug up a photo of Wayne and Cuban celebrating the Mavericks’ 2011 NBA Championship together.

Cuban has yet to respond, but last night, he shared a tweet quoting Doncic as saying, “I’m living my best life right now.” Cuban added, “The best quote ever.”

It’s certainly a good time to be Doncic and Cuban, as the Mavericks are preparing to face the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. Wayne’s doing alright, too, as he’s working on new music with Tiffany Haddish.

Britney Spears recently faced some tragic news: Last month, she announced she was pregnant, but a few days ago, she revealed she had a miscarriage. She wrote in part, “It is with our deepest sadness we have to announce that we lost our miracle baby early in the pregnancy. This is a devastating time for any parent. Perhaps we should have waited to announce until we were further along. However we were overly excited to share the good news.”

Spears has continued to post on Instagram since then and in one of her latest dispatches, she doesn’t specifically mention her lost pregnancy but does say she’s “definitely going through something in my life at the moment” and that music is helping her through it.

In the sub-two-minute video, Spears dances to Beyonce’s “Halo.” Her caption reads, “I’m definitely going through something in my life at the moment … and music helps me so much just to gain insight and perspective … I shot this 2 months ago but when I look back, each song I danced to gave me a different feel … a different mood … a different story to tell … and I’m thankful for that escape … this song is pretty spiritual and I really enjoy dancing to it !!! Psss I know I’m dramatic and feeling myself but is it believable ???”

This came not long after Spears shared a Sex And The City screenshot of Carrie Bradshaw saying, “I am not in the mood to be with a bunch of people.” Spears wrote, “Unfortunately my mood these days … I honestly hope it doesn’t turn into years !!!!”

Elsewhere in Spears’ life, she recently noted she expects to release her tell-all memoir by the end of this year.

Pennsylvania’s GOP Senate contest between celebrity quack Mehmet Oz and former-hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick is too close to call, with a mere 0.2 percentage points separating the two. The night before polls opened, Oz made sure to remind Keystone State voters that he’s the only candidate being backed by former-president Donald Trump (it’s not the flex he thinks it is). “President Trump said this and I think he was right and kind to say it, that I am smart, I am tough, and I will never let you down,” the not-so-good doctor said on Fox News, to which Colbert replied, “Because there’s nothing more impressive than being called smart by a man who stared directly into an eclipse.”

Later in his monologue, Colbert singled out a weird campaign vow made by Oz.

“So when you go to bed at night and put your head on that soft pillow, you know Oz will be doing exactly what you want him to do if you were there next to him,” he assured (skeezed out?) Fox News viewers. Colbert called it the “creepiest political promise” since George H.W. Bush’s “read my lips” vow (which now involves extra tongue).

You can watch The Late Show clip above.

We’re already deep into the spring whiskey drop season, and bottles seem to be hitting shelves faster than any average consumer could keep up with. That’s why I’m here: to help you wade through it all. Case in point, the latest Elijah Craig Barrel Proof just landed on my desk.

Very briefly, Heaven Hill releases three Elijah Craig Barrel Proof whiskeys every year. The bottles are a replacement for their once-iconic, 12-year expression but now at cask strength. While that sounds like each of these releases would be the same as the last, they truly are not. The difference between last year’s three releases was pretty vast. And this year’s first release was one of the most classic “classic” bourbons anyone has dropped in a while.

So, let’s get right into what’s actually in this new, second Elijah Craig Barrel Proof of 2022. Trust me, time is of the essence, as these are hitting shelves right now and will not stay at MSRP for very long.

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months

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Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B522

ABV: 60.5%

Average Price: $59 (MSRP)

The Whiskey:

The second Elijah Craig Barrel Proof of 2022 is a combination of 12-year-old barrels from the Heaven Hill rickhouses. The vatted barrels go into the bottle with no fussing — no filtration, no cutting with water, no nothing. This is classic, as-is bourbon from top to bottom, straight from the barrel.

Tasting Notes:

The nose on this is so heavy with dry cedar kindling that it feels like it might catch on fire. There’s a line of vanilla shortbread underneath that wood that leads to a hint of sweet orange blossom, a drop of Cherry Coke, a fleeting hint of dried chili, and dark toffee with a minor note of nuttiness somewhere deep in that nose. The palate starts off like velvet — almost innocently — and slowly builds towards a crescendo while passing through notes of vanilla beans, cherry skins, digestive biscuits, and, eventually, woody spice with allspice and clove berries next to sharp cinnamon sticks that feel wet on the finish. That finish lingers and builds some real warmth that falls off into a mix of wet denim and cedar.

The Bottle:

Elijah Craig’s bottle is the same as Larceny’s, but the lack of lock and key graphics makes it a little subtler. The real draw is the large wooden stopper that’ll make it stand out on any bar cart. Plus, the “label” is largely embossed, meaning you get a good look at the brown juice in the bottle.

Bottom Line:

I had to sit with this for a minute. There were purely classic notes of bourbon throughout but that finish has a vibe that’s completely out of left field. The thing is, I liked it. That wet denim really calmed the ABVs that peaked with all the spice. You’re left with a soft and almost cool feeling on your tongue, which is kind of inexplicable for a whiskey with this high of a proof.

Ranking:

92/100 — This was so unique that I’m still figuring out where to place it. That aside, this is a very well-made whiskey that deserves a second, third, and fourth look to find what else is hiding in that complex profile.

The Miami Heat drew first blood in the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday night. Thanks to one of the best games of Jimmy Butler’s career and a third quarter in which the team got whatever they wanted on offense while clamping down on defense, Miami picked up a 118-107 home win in Game 1 against the Boston Celtics.

After the game, both Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro sat down to address the media. Adebayo went out first, while Herro needed an extra moment or two to make his way out to the podium. The catch: Herro showed up in a fit that Adebayo found hilarious, with a sleeveless shirt, a hat, and a pair of sunglasses.

Adebayo could not help but start cracking up from the moment he saw what his teammate was wearing, and by the time the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year sat down, Adebayo had his head on the table and a huge smile on his face.

Apparently, Adebayo liked this enough that he decided to roll up his sleeves so the pair could match, which led to Herro laughing very hard. It was a fun end to what was a good night for both players, as Herro had 18 points and eight rebounds off the bench while Adebayo went for 10 points, four rebounds, and four blocks.

Brooklyn rapper Bishop Nehru rose to fame in the mid 2010s thanks to his throwback sound that caught the ear of many, even the late MF DOOM. That connection eventually led to the release of Nehru’s 2018 project Elevators (Act I & II) which featured production from DOOM and Kaytranda as well. Elevators (Act I & II) was the follow-up to his 2017 project Emperor Nehru’s New Groove, both of which helped to boost his stock amongst the young rappers he was aligned with at the time. Fast forward to now, and Nehru is just a couple of weeks away from releasing a new project, but before doing so, he shared a music video that has some people talking.

On Tuesday, Nehru unveiled the video for his latest single “Heroin Addiction.” In it, the rapper appears to try his hand at heroin, which is of course a highly addictive drug. “I tried Heroin in the new video [sad emoiji],” he wrote in a post about the video on Twitter. Despite seemingly going through the process of injecting heroin into his arm, it was clear that the rapper did not actually do it despite his post-injection reaction of throwing up and seemingly dozing off due to the effects of the drug.

Regardless the video still made its way around social media and many were quick to share their thoughts about it on Twitter. Nehru’s “Heroin Addiction” video comes ahead of his upcoming project which is set to arrive on May 27th.

You can watch the video for “Heroin Addiction” above and read some responses to it below.

When Uproxx asked rising indie-pop star Jordana to describe her music in four words, she said: “Inviting, groovy, easy, wavy.” This intriguing mix has been making her songs stand out from other artists releasing material right now. She’s been preparing for the release of her new album Face The Wall with vulnerable and breezy singles such as “To The Ground.” Today, she’s back with another impressive track called “Go Slow” just days before the unveiling of her record.

“‘Go Slow’ is about facing your self-brought battles and acknowledging your imperfections,” Jordana said in a statement. “It’s about taking the time to work on yourself, no matter how much you want to rush it, to be the best version of yourself you can possibly be.” It features her signature concise but insightful lyricism, with lines that hold onto hope: “Eventually I’ll be alright / Never been too late to change my mind,” she sings with a strong sense of levity. It’s a testament to remember to move at your own pace and take breaks even if it feels like the world is always moving at 100 miles an hour.

Watch the video for “Go Slow” above.

Face The Wall is out 5/20 via Grand Jury. Pre-order it here.

After a first half in which the Boston Celtics looked like they were flying high, the Miami Heat came out of the locker room at halftime and made quite the statement. Thanks to Jimmy Butler imposing his will on the game and a third quarter that will go down as one of the best team performances we’ve seen in a 12-minute stretch this postseason, the Heat picked up a 118-107 win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Some stellar play in the first half by Jayson Tatum helped Boston open the game on a 7-0 run and respond whenever Miami would make things close. Perhaps the most impactful stretch came early on in the second quarter, when the Celtics ripped of nine points in a row to go up by 11 — while the Heat cut into that a tick, Boston was able to take a 62-54 lead into the locker room.

Tatum, as he’s done so many times this postseason, stepped up to help the team lead by as many as 13 in the first two quarters. He scored 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting with five assists and eight rebounds in the opening half against Miami’s vaunted defense.

Two players who needed to step up in a big way with Marcus Smart and Al Horford sidelined did that to start the game, too, as Payton Pritchard had 10 with four rebounds in the first half and Robert Williams, finally healthy after being limited against the Milwaukee Bucks, had 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting with five rebounds and a pair of blocks.

The 1-2 punch of Tyler Herro and Butler gave the Heat reason for optimism heading into the locker room despite the deficit — the former led the team with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, and a steal, while the latter scored 14 with five boards.

Miami took the floor after halftime firing on all cylinders. Perhaps they got the rust off from their five-day break between games in the first half, perhaps finishing a grueling seven-game series against the Milwaukee Bucks two days ago finally caught up to the Celtics, or perhaps any other number of things happened. But no matter what, thanks to a 22-2 run in which everything went right on offense and defense, Miami was able to wrestle the lead away and get the home crowd buzzing.

While Boston responded with a 10-2 run to get the lead down to four, it wasn’t nearly enough. Powered by a 17-point period from Butler, Heat won the quarter, 39-14, and took a convincing 93-76 lead into the fourth.

The Celtics came out to start the fourth and repeatedly chipped away, but any time they got it down to a nine or 10 point deficit, someone on the Heat had an answer. By the time Boston got the deficit down to its most manageable, it was far too late — a three by Pritchard to make it seven came as Ime Udoka planned to empty out his bench.

Butler’s brilliance, in particular, was just far too much for the Celtics to overcome. Whenever Miami needed something, their All-NBA wing willed it into existence on both ends of the floor. To end the night, he scored 41 points on 12-for-19 shooting (without attempting a single shot from three) while hitting 17 of his 18 attempts from the charity stripe along with nine rebounds, five assists, four steals, three blocks, and only two turnovers.

Herro gave the Heat 18 points and eight rebounds all the bench, while Vincent had one of his best games during Kyle Lowry’s postseason absence, going for 17 points. Tatum, Williams, Pritchard, and Jaylen Brown combined to score 89 points, but it was not enough.

Game 2 between the Heat and Celtics will take place on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

It was four years ago that Ravyn Lenae stood out for her 2018 EP Crush. Add in a few notable collaborations with the likes of Smino (“Glass Flows”) and Noname (“Montego Bae”), and it was clear why many were excited to hear the Chicago singer’s debut album. Unfortunately, in the years that followed, that project never arrived, but finally, the wait is almost over as Lenae prepares to release her long-awaited debut Hypnos at the end of the week. Ahead of the project’s arrival, Lenae offers up another sweet single for listeners to enjoy.

Lenae’s latest drop, a groovy track titled “Xtasy,” is one that’s carried by production from Kaytranada. Together, the two make a lightweight track that’s also very infectious to the ear. One can expect the new record to be a highlight on Hypnos which Lenae took a moment to talk about in a press release.

“When you listen to the music, I hope you have a better understanding of me and even catch a better understanding of yourself,” Lenae said. She later adds, “I’ve gone through the tunnels and seen the light on the other side. I’m finding my way. I’m clearer on who I am and my power through music and lyricism. I’m pouring more into me, friendships, family, and music. Through all of that, I’m fulfilled.”

Prior to releasing “Xtasy,”Lenae previewed Hypnos with “Light Me Up,” “Skin Tight,” and “M.I.A.”

You can listen to “Xtasy” in the video above.

Hypnos is out 5/20 via Atlantic. You can stream it here.

Ravyn Lenae is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.