Category: News

If the audible groan was any indicator, Matthew McConaughey was not looking forward to discussing a possible vaccine mandate for children.

“Right now I’m not vaccinating mine, I’ll tell you that,” McConaughey told New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin during an interview at the virtual DealBook summit.

Though it’s a bit of a controversial stance, there’s no conspiracy theories driving McConaughey’s decision. Being vaccinated himself, he stressed to Sorkin that he thought scientists are “trying to do the right thing,” and even argued that wearing masks should have been a “quick and easy mandate,” saying it would be “a small inconvenience for a possible long-term freedom.”

But when it comes to enforced vaccination for youngsters, McConaughey admits his resistance, explaining, “I couldn’t mandate having to vaccinate the younger kids. I still want to find out more information.”

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He also mentioned that his family has always been “slow on vaccinations,” even before COVID, and he noted that the Pfizer shots were “just”recently approved, making it difficult to get totally onboard just yet for his children. Instead, Matthew and his family have been strict about quarantining and getting tested regularly, which he acknowledged not everyone is in a position to do so.

McConaughey’s remarks incited pushback from U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, who argued that the vaccines were more of an opportunity for protection, rather than something to be feared. Murthy told CNN:

“I would encourage parents to recognize that Covid is not harmless in our children. Many kids have died. Sadly, hundreds of children ― thousands ― have been hospitalized. And as a dad of a child who has been hospitalized several years ago for another illness, I would never wish upon any parent they have a child that ends up in the hospital.”

Addressing the science, he continued, “and the vaccines have shown, in these trials for children 5-11, they are more than 90% effective in protecting kids from symptomatic infection, and they are remarkably safe as well.”

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy responds to Matthew McConaughey saying he doesn’t want to vaccinate his children just yet:

“COVID is not harmless in our children … [vaccines] are remarkably safe, as well.” pic.twitter.com/d8WKwratNy

— The Recount (@therecount) November 10, 2021

The current vaccine for kids is one-third of the normal dose, making the side effects about as severe as a sore arm. And though COVID infections tend to be milder, even asymptomatic in children, there is still the risk of secondary transmission. Someone like McConaughey’s immunocompromised mother, for example, could be at risk of infection from one of his children.

Until there is a mandate, which won’t happen until at least one vaccine has been granted full government approval, the choice of whether or not to vaccinate a child is completely up to the parent. And let’s face it, no one wants to put their child at risk, regardless of where they weigh in politically. But with the CDC reporting more than 170 COVID related deaths in children, parents have to ask themselves which is more of a gamble.

According to vaccine expert Stanley Plotkin, some level of risk is unavoidable. He recently told Insider “I could understand a parent saying that ‘I will wait until the vaccine is fully approved.’ I wouldn’t consider that attitude to be crazy. But if you postpone that choice, it means that your child remains susceptible and could be infected.”

Even McConaughey, while hinting that he might vaccinate his children eventually, commented that “there’ll come a time where you’re going to have to roll the dice one way or the other.”

Rolling the dice is never the ideal when it comes to protecting children, but it seems to be the theme we have all become accustomed to. Though by no means should we look to celebrities as health experts, I think that McConaughey’s stance, and Murthy’s response, really exemplify how the predicament is so far beyond a political debate. No matter what decision parents make for their kids regarding this issue, no choice is going to come without a price.

Thundercat has come a long way since he released his debut album in 2011. The bass player’s debut project introduced fans to his endlessly groovy sound, clever lyrics, and love of manga. Since then, Thundercat has gone on to drop several more albums, the latest of which, the 2020 LP It Is What It Is, earned him his second Grammy Award for best Urban Contemporary Album. Now celebrating a decade of music, Thundercat is plotting a deluxe vinyl edition of his debut, The Golden Age Of Apocalypse.

Not only is the deluxe version of The Golden Age Of Apocalypse repressed on a translucent red vinyl and has brand new cover art, but it also unearths some new music. The track listing includes two never-before-heard bonus tracks, “$200 TB” and “Daylight (Reprise).” The release is set to be available in participating stores on Record Store Day later this month.

At the time, The Golden Age Of Apocalypse was executive produced by Thundercat’s longtime musical partner Flying Lotus. The LP was also a hands-on effort featuring some of the musician’s talented LA collaborators who would go on to find solo success, like Kamasi Washington.

The Golden Age Of Apocalypse (Deluxe) is out Record Store Day on 11/26 via Brainfeeder.

With a handful of albums and big-name features to their name, prolific LA-based rap duo BlueBucksClan are already making waves in the industry. Proving their knack for breezy rhymes and polished delivery, BlueBucksClan fire off a stoic performance for Uproxx Sessions.

Once again taking over Uproxx studios, BlueBucksClan are back with a captivating rendition of their Clan Virus 2 album opener “She Busy.” The performance sees the pair trading smooth verses back-and-forth, proving just how tangible their musical chemistry is. With each line, BlueBucksClan jump off each others’ laid-back rhymes while further flexing over an effortless beat.

The performance arrives following one of the hottest years for BlueBucksClan to date. They’ve been dropping music and building up a steady following since 2019, but the duo’s recent album Clan Virus 2, which came in March, shows just how far the pair have come. The album saw features from hip-hop’s top heavy-hitters like Lil Yachty, Quavo, and Hit-Boy, as well as their Out Of The Blue labelmate Bino Rideaux.

Watch BlueBucksClan’s performance of “She Busy” on Uproxx Sessions above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

While a lot of contestants on The Masked Singer are celebrities you wouldn’t expect to see on stage belting it out, they get a lot of actual singers on the program. In just the current season, some of the singers who have been unmasked include Natasha Bedingfield, Tyga, and Toni Braxton. Well, now a punk legend has been added to the list, as it was revealed that Johnny Rotten (aka John Lydon) of the Sex Pistols was the jester character. He went out with a bang, covering Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” before being eliminated from the program.

Rotten told Billboard his appearance on the show was mostly for his wife’s benefit, saying, “Someone contacted my manager and we discussed it and I thought it would be really good because it meant my lovely wife, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, might get a great sense of fun out of it if she managed to guess who it was. We’ve lived together for 47 years, Nora and I, so she must have some clues as to who I am and what I can get up to.” He later added, “This is a giggle, which I don’t mind sharing with the general public, but mostly because I want to see my wife happy. Alzheimer’s is a very, very challenging illness. Any connection I can have to bring joy into her life I’m more than happy to do that. Those are my motives.”

As for what a young rebellious Rotten would think of his older self appearing on a reality singing show, present-day Rotten said, “‘What a handsome dude,’ he would have said. ‘If only I could grow up to be as professional, skillful, beautiful, well-weathered, and manicured as him, well, I might have a career!’ You can quote me on that!”

Watch some clips from the show above.

Here are a few things that happen in the trailer for the record-breaking 15th season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, posted above.

– The Gang frets about being doomed to “have sex with only old people” in the world’s most disgusting bathroom

– Dennis gets chili (?) thrown in his face

– Frank vomits up something that I hope is soup

– Charlie bonds with the Irish version of himself who’s into “ghouls and cheese”

– Someone is dressed as the QAnon Shaman

– Dee blames the feminists for ruining “everything,” including trading sex for acting roles

– Frank reveals he was in business with Jeffrey Epstein

– Mac wants to become a Catholic priest (and looks like this)

– And The Gang goes to Ireland

I missed these lovable monsters. Here’s what else to expect:

In the seismic wake of Covid-19 and all things 2020, The Gang stands at a crossroads in this strange new world. The rules are changing quicker than anyone can keep up with, despite herculean efforts from Mac (Rob McElhenney), Charlie (Charlie Day), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Dee (Kaitlin Olson) and Frank (Danny DeVito) to continue business as usual. Now, they must face the music and decide who they’ll become in the cultural upheaval that is 2021. Across the span of eight episodes — and the Atlantic Ocean — we find them answer in a way only they could think to.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia returns to FXX on December 1.

It’s been nearly two decades since 13 Going On 30 hit theaters back in 2004, and Christa Allen — the actress who played 13 year-old Jenna Rink alongside Jennifer Garner in the hit romcom — is at long last 30, flirty, and thriving. As of today, the star known for her breakout role in the charming comedy is now 30-years-old, and while she might not be celebrating with a killer “Thriller” routine, she is having a bit of fun with the momentous occasion.

Four days ago, Allen took to TikTok to upload the first of a scripted, five-part mini-series titled Vienna, a reference to the Billy Joel song that plays during her character’s lowest point in 13 Going on 30. In the series, Allen plays herself as she is confronted by her own 13-year-old self (played by Lana Fleischli) who forces her to do some introspection and confront the lessons romcoms teach women, such as the age-old myth that women can either be professionally successful or a loving mother. She also offers 30-year-old Christa some other pieces of sage advice: be present, be patient, and only you can complete yourself.

As of right now, only the first four-minute-long episodes have been uploaded to Allen’s TikTok, with the fifth and final clip expected to hit the video-sharing service later today. In addition to Allen and Fleischli, actor Mark Dohner appears in the short film as Allen’s not-so-potential love interest. Vienna was written by Heidi Clements, with filmmaker Nick Cho directing. Oh, and if you’re looking to celebrate Allen’s birthday with another great watch, you can always catch 13 Going on 30 over on Hulu.

To commemorate Thursday’s one-day-only theatrical release of Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago – The Ultimate Director’s Cut (yes, it’s really called that), Sylvester Stallone dropped a whopping 90-minute long documentary on the making of the ’80s classic that essentially distilled the Cold War into a boxing match, as was the custom of the time. In the behind-the-scenes video, Stallone reveals a fascinating nugget regarding the film’s iconic fight with Dolph Lundgren‘s Ivan Drago, namely that the Swedish actor — playing Russian, because… sure — punched Stallone so hard that the Rocky star nearly died.

According to Stallone, the situation was so dire that he had to be flown on an emergency flight that had nuns on-board in case he didn’t make it. Via IndieWire:

“The first thing we shot [was] my entrance, [Lundgren’s] entrance, and the introductions and then I got really injured during the fight and I had to be flown into intensive care to California from Canada,” Stallone said. “[Lundgren] pulverized me. And I didn’t feel it in the moment but later that night my heart started to swell. My blood pressure went up to 260 and I was going to be talking to angels. Next thing I know I’m on this emergency, low-altitude flight. I’m in intensive care surrounded by nuns and then after that, I had to go back and finish the fight.”

As Stallone goes on to reveal, he was in the hospital for four days after getting pummeled by Lundgren, but he was adamant that the shot that nearly killed him be used in the final cut of the film. “How could you take that out?” Stallone quipped in the documentary that’s practically its own movie.

(Via Sylvester Stallone, IndieWire)

If you live in an urban area, you likely struggle to source fresh produce locally. The issue is not solely a lack of farms, but often a lack of farm space. Brooklyn-based Upward Farms solves this issue by simply growing upward. They utilize an oft-forgotten space — the sky — as a means of growing food.

In the Upward Farms indoor farm, you’ll see stacks of microgreens, a nutrient-dense crop, growing atop fish tanks — a style of gardening called vertical aquaponics. Rather than using monocultural methods of in-ground, soil-based gardening, Upward Farms was founded on the principle of embracing ecology. They’re also able to avoid the use of toxic pesticides and herbicides by planting in a way that ensures a healthy harvest naturally. Their motto: Celebrate Ecology, Share Abundance.

It’s a great ethos to say out loud. But to live by that idea, you have to put in the work, think outside the norm, and have a deep desire to change deeply rooted ideas, entrenched practices, and nay-sayers. Lucky for… the world, really, those challenges don’t give Jason Green and the crew at Upward Farms a moment’s pause.

Upward Farms was founded by CEO Jason Green in 2013 as a call to action — to move away from farming methods that are harmful to the planet. But Green wasn’t alone in his efforts. He founded the company along with construction manager and systems engineer Matt LaRosa and chief technology officer Ben Silverman, with the initial goal of raising tilapia and growing vegetable greens. Their simple, streamlined approach, which focused on growing vegetables before trying to sell their fish is, what sets them apart from other aquaponic farms that didn’t last. It’s a tricky market. And until someone has successfully piloted it, it can be difficult to get investor buy-in.

“We think aquaponics provides a better model for us, the consumer, and the planet,” Green tells us. “Our yields are more than double the average for vertical farming, and we do that while reducing fertilizer levels by 90 percent.”

Aquaponics work in harmony with nature. Essentially ​​it is a system in which the waste produced by farmed fish (Upward Farms uses striped bass and salmon) supply the necessary nutrients for plants to grow hydroponically, which in turn purifies the water.

“There’s this symbiotic relationship where the bacteria are living around the plant roots,” Green explains. “They’re taking the nutrients, they’re absorbing part of that, and they’re delivering the rest to the plant. All of that symbiosis is what enables our plant health.”

While Upward farms have given the art of aquaponics a modern spin, the practice itself is ancient. It was practiced both in Chinese and Aztec cultures for millennia. In fact, Indigenous Mexican communities still use chinampas (aquatic gardens) to this day. This is a testament to the efficacy of the method. Upward Farms has no intention of reinventing the wheel, just redirecting it.

For Green, the key to a successful farm is rooted in biodiversity.

‘The key with biodiversity is building food webs,” Green says. “To date, we’ve grown four species of fish, more than 80 varieties of leafy greens, and everything from tomatoes to turnips.” Green points out that “biodiversity isn’t simply how many different kinds of greens I can grow” but about how many layers you can build to create food.

We’re not just growing fish and plants,” he says. “We’re also growing the microbiome.”

Upward Farms provides their community with microgreens, baby greens, and fish. Whole Foods was their initial retailer, selling packaged, personal-sized microgreen boxes. They recently scaled up their operation in 2020 by opening a new headquarters that expanded their production capacity by over 20 percent. But Green doesn’t think Upward Farms is the only aquaponics farm with the capacity to expand.

“In the U.S., we’re poised for massive growth in aquaculture,” he says. “The U.S. is the third-largest consumer of seafood in the world after China and Japan, and we currently import 90 percent of the seafood we eat.” Meaning that a “game-changer” is certainly called for.

“Our mission is to replace today’s globalized food supply with products that are local, organic and low cost,” he says.

That’s an innovation we should all be excited to see on the plate.

It’s been three years since Let’s Eat Grandma, the musical duo of songwriters Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth, released their sophomore album. The pair have been through a lot in the three years since, facing mortality, heartbreak, and grief. It’s these intense emotions that they’ve poured into their upcoming album Two Ribbons, which they’ve just announced with the touching title track.

“Two Ribbons” is a slow and cathartic number. It plays on both singers’ heart-tugging songwriting as they deliver lyrics about fraying edges, friendship, and memory. In a statement about the track, Hollingworth noted it was written about some of the closest people in her life:

“‘Two Ribbons’ is a song I wrote to, and about, two of the closest people in my life, and how my relationships with them shifted over time through loss and life changes. It touches on the isolating experience of grieving, our powerlessness in the face of death, and the visceral emotions of grief.”

Watch Let’s Eat Grandma’s “Two Ribbons” video above and find their Two Ribbons album art and tracklist below.

1. “Happy New Year”
2. “Levitation”
3. “Watching You Go”
4. “Hall Of Mirrors”
5. “Insect Loop”
6. “Half Light”
7. “Sunday”
8. “In The Cemetery”
9. “Strange Conversations”
10. “Two Ribbons”

Two Ribbons is out 4/8/2022 via Transgressive. Pre-order it here.

Madison Love remembers the first time she heard the 2016 Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello collaboration “Bad Things” on the radio. The Los Angeles-born songwriter — who co-wrote the award-nominated top 10 hit — had spent a solid week at her parents’ house tuned into local stations, hoping the tune would pop up in rotation.

“[When] I heard the song I was screaming, and the whole family ran in the house,” Love recalls now. “The dog was jumping. We were like, ‘Oh my God!’ Every time I have a song that’s on the radio, I get really excited, but that first time, if I was in the car, I probably would’ve crashed. I was so excited.”

In the half-decade since the success of “Bad Things,” Love’s enjoyed plenty of other victories. She co-wrote G-Eazy and Halsey’s “Him and I” — which reached No. 1 on Billboard’s U.S. Mainstream Top 40 chart — and has also co-written songs for established artists (Demi Lovato, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga) as well as up-and-comers Ava Max (“Not Your Barbie Girl”), Hayley Kiyoko (“Wanna Be Missed”) and Madison Beer (“Heartless”).

Growing up, Love cut her teeth on the greats. She listened to Carole King (“I started out playing just acoustic guitar and I just really fell in love with her storytelling”), as well as Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and Christina Aguilera. “I love all types of music, but I think the female empowerment artists were always the ones that got me the most,” she says.

Love is currently writing more songs for Ava Max, as well as working on other projects that are still under wraps. She’s also set up the Madison Love Future Fund at her alma mater, the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, to provide financial aid to students so they can attend the Summer High School Program.

“As soon as I was able to afford to, I was like, ‘I need to set up a scholarship. I need to give back,’” she says. “I really wouldn’t be anywhere in my career without that program, and I can’t wait to see what other students come out of there. I’m really invested in the future of music and I’m grateful that I’m able to help in any way I could.”

Calling from Los Angeles, Love discussed how she got into songwriting, writing for Lady Gaga, and what sets her apart.

What gave you the songwriting bug? What was the tipping point where you were like, “This is what I want to do?”

I’ve always been writing in a diary, a journal, ever since I was in high school. Every time I would come home from just a bad day, or breakup, or friend issue, I would go and write a song about it. It was a cathartic thing for me, because I was so upset. I would go in my room, lock the door and I would write a song, and then I’d come out and would be okay. I wouldn’t be upset anymore. My mom was like, “Wow, look, see you just channeled all your emotions into that one moment, and now you’re good. You can move on from it.”

That started at a really young age for me, but I didn’t really think I could do it as a profession until I went to the Clive Davis school. I went there as an artist and I came out as a songwriter, which I wasn’t expecting, but they had so many incredible classes and other songwriters that were teachers at the time and they really inspired me. They’re like, “This is so easy for you to write all these concepts. You can write this for this artist one day, and you can do a Spanish song tomorrow, and you can do this. It comes so naturally for you—you should try it out, and be open to letting other artists cut your song.”
I was like, “What? Artists don’t write their own songs?” I had no idea. I was very new to the industry myself. When I started out, I didn’t even think that was a profession that I could be.

Sometimes it takes another person from the outside to look at your talent and be like, “No, you really do have something here.”

I had a very good work ethic as well. I would go and try and hustle and meet A&Rs when I was living in New York. They would give me one DJ track, and I would go home and write seven different songs with different concepts and different melodies on the same track. I would send that back to them and I’d say, “Okay, ask the artist which idea he likes.”

Then they were like, “Wow, this girl really wants to win. She’ll literally do whatever it takes. We’ve got to give her more projects to work on.” That’s how it began, all these relationships that I started to make in New York. I was demo singing at the time too, to try and meet producers, because I didn’t know how to get my foot in the door and meet bigger producers.

It makes sense to try as many things as possible. That’s a good strategy, especially if you’re just starting out and there’s so much competition.

Yeah, and there were a lot of students in the program, but they didn’t take it as seriously as I did. All the teachers were Grammy Award-winning producers, Grammy Award-winning songwriters in the industry, working at publishing companies. I stood out from the rest of the class, because I was taking my homework seriously. I was treating it like I was trying to get a job every time.

In my second year, I ended up signing to a publishing deal and the head of the company was like, “Great, this is what we do. We got you to this point, you can leave now. You’re working, you have songs on the radio,” and I said, “No, I told myself I was going to start this program, and I was going to finish it. I want to stay. I can do both.” I was a new signee to a publishing deal, and I was FaceTime writing, before Zoom was a thing. We were just FaceTiming every day and I would go back [to L.A. and work] for winter vacations and all the breaks.

To what do you attribute that inner ambition? Did it come from your parents? Was it just something built into you?

My dad is in the music industry as well. He’s a renowned vocal coach, but my mother is Asian and she is always pushing me to be the best, and to never give up, and start things and finish them. She really gave me that work ethic. If I’m just sitting around, she’s like, “What are you doing? You should be practicing piano. You should practicing guitar. You should be doing all this.”

I’ve always had that drive, but I knew that once I got the opportunity to go to a program, like the one I went to, I wanted to make the most of it and really take it seriously. I felt lucky that I got chosen, because it’s such a small group of people. I was like, “I’m going to get the most out of this whole program, because I really want to win.”

And I feel like so many kids, when they go off to college, they don’t necessarily see that. It’s cool that you recognized that straight away. You’re better for it.

I definitely missed a lot of really fun parties, sitting home and writing on random tracks. I regret that a little bit.

But it’s all good. You have things to show for it now.

Now I can party.

Looking over your career, you have this pattern of writing songs for artists who are just breaking out — Madison Beer, Ava Max, and Hayley Kiyoko. That must be such a great position to be in. They’re really finding their voice, and as a songwriter, you’re really helping boost that. Talk a little bit about that.

Yeah. After I did “Bad Things,” G-Eazy reached out to me to come write one for him. He was like, “I want a ‘Bad Things.’” I went over there with the same crew and we ended up writing “Him And I” that night at his studio, because he’s like, “I really want a radio song the way you did it.” I was like, “Okay, let’s do it.”

He ended up getting Halsey on the song too, which was an incredible thing, and I remember running into them in New York, when the song was number one and they were like, “Oh my God, this is so exciting. Our song is number one,” and I met them right when the song hit number one for two weeks, or something.

It was such a cool experience, to give these artists that. Halsey already had a few songs on the radio, but it was still pretty new for them to be having a really big pop single, at the time, and for G-Eazy, that was exciting for him as well. I don’t think he had a song that went number one on pop radio.

It definitely felt really cool to be a part of that with artists that I’m obsessed with, and I’ve always been a huge fan of Halsey. To have that moment together, they were grateful for me and I was like, “I’m so grateful for you, and this is so cool. I can’t believe this my life. This is my job.”

As a songwriter if you are working with artists that you’re fans of, is there more pressure involved?

When I worked with Lady Gaga, I definitely was super nervous, because she’s probably my favorite artist ever. I got to work with her through BloodPop, which was such an incredible experience, and we ended up writing a song for her last album Chromatica [“Sour Candy”]. She’s just a legend.

I was mostly quiet in the room, because she worked on the song when I wasn’t around, because she likes to do a lot of the work on her own. She’s so prolific. She took an idea that I started with them and then she finished it on her own. Then she invited me to the studio to hear it, and she was just so cool. I was speechless the whole time I was sitting there.

I just didn’t know what to say. I was so nervous, but she was dancing around the room and we were listening to the song together and she was like, “I love this. I never take outside ideas. This is really exciting,” and it was just so cool to be able to just see her in real life, and hear her singing lyrics that I helped work on. That was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been.

But with most other artists, I’m pretty cool, because everyone is so nice and they all want to work. They reach out to work with me specifically, because they want what I’ve got going on. I don’t have to be too intimidated because they really are trying to work with me. I’m excited to work with them, but they come to me for a specific thing.

What a great position to be in and to have that balance. It helps you work better as an artist, if you know that you’re wanted, they want you in the room.

The male artists love to have me in the room, because they’re like, “Can I say this? Is this okay to say? What would a girl think?” and they want that female perspective as well, because they’re like, “All my fans are girls like you, and I want them to love the song.” That’s what a lot of male artists say to me. I’m like, “Sure, I got you. This is great. I think they’re going to love this.”

What have you learned the most as a songwriter from working with either other songwriters or some of these artists that you’ve worked with? Are there any lessons or things in particular you can pinpoint?

I’m very prepared when I go into a room. I’m not the kind of girl that shows up and has no ideas prepared. I very much come with my journal with 20 ideas. When I work with artists that are just like, “Let’s just do whatever,” I’m always [like], “I got this, you can count on me to make sure that we don’t just waste the day.” I’ve learned that that’s the most productive thing, because most artists don’t come in with ideas that they want to do. Camila [Cabello] will come in and she was like, “I have this idea for a song,” and then we’ll work on it. But most artists come in the room [with] nothing, and I have to always be prepared and try and not waste the moment.

I think that’s what helped my career, too, because people know that I was reliable. They were like, “Madison’s going to show up. She’s always early. She’ll stay there until it’s right. She’ll do edits. The label’s really happy, because if we don’t like this, she’ll go back and change it a million times. She just wants to get the song.” There’s nothing precious about anything and I’m willing to make the artist happy. They’re the ones that have to sing it and perform it every night. If I have to change a little bit of the concept to help them want to put it out, then that’s what you’ve got to do.