Artists from all corners of the music world have long voiced their frustration with the current format of the music streaming business. In short, artists want a higher share of the revenue made from streams and it’s something an up-and-coming streaming platform, Audius, is aiming to accomplish.
This goal seemingly convinced Nas and Pusha T to sign on as investors, as the company recently announced. The rappers join a list of artists that include Katy Perry, Jason Derulo, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, Steve Aoki, Chainsmokers, and Disclosure — according to a press release — as names who invested in the company.
“I believe [blockchains] might be the most important technology to ever hit the music industry,” Nas said in a statement. “Everyone who uploads to Audius can be an owner. You can’t say that about any other platform.” The company launched back in 2018 as a streaming service based on blockchain technology, which is also used to support NFTs and cryptocurrency. Audius also announced a $5 million round of strategic funding that would begin today.
Audius also boasts a sizable cast of investors that are music executives. They include Sony/ATV Music Publishing CEO Martin Bandier, Madonna and U2’s longtime manager Guy Oseary, and manager Mark Gillespie, whose clients include Frank Ocean and Calvin Harris. Speaking about Audius, Bandier said, “The blockchain is enabling entirely new revenue streams for artists and creators, like NFTs, social currency, and curation.” He added, “Audius is not only using the blockchain to add potentially significant revenue streams for artists, but it also allows them to cooperatively own the platform itself.”
The company’s highlight aspect is the fact that through blockchain technology, 90% of earnings from monetized streams would go to the artists and the remaining 10% would be given to the community that keeps Audius alive.
One of our favorite things about Shake Shack is the fast-casual chain’s constantly rotating seasonal menu. Sure, it can be a bit hit or miss, but new food gives us something to be excited about and provides the perfect excuse to hit Shake Shack even though you swore to yourself you’re finally going to learn to cook more than five things this year so you can start eating at home more. You’ll get around to home cooking come Friendsgiving season because this month Shake Shack is launching some new shakes, and they’re only available for a limited time!
Now admittedly, new milkshakes aren’t as exciting as something like a new chicken sandwich, but considering Shake Shack linked up with fellow New York-based brand Milk Bar for this double shake release, we’re pretty intrigued. The Chocolate Birthday Cake and Cornflake Chocolate Drizzle shakes are now available at all Shake Shacks nationwide until November 1st, so we picked up both shakes for a test taste to see if they’re worth the trip. Let’s dive in!
If you came to this review hoping for suspense, I don’t know what to tell you, both shakes are good. This is f*cking Shake Shack we’re talking about, linking up with an equally beloved award-winning dessert and bakery chain, these two entities know how to make a dessert. That much is clear.
But just because we think both of these shakes are delicious, doesn’t mean we think they’re both worth a trip to Shake Shack. So let’s get the weaker of the two out of the way first — the Chocolate Birthday Cake. The Chocolate Birthday Cake shake uses a chocolate cake frozen custard base infused with Milk Bar B’Day crumbs and B’Day frosting, two ingredients Milk Bar actually teaches you how to make at home, tipped with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles. It tastes almost exactly like what a liquefied chocolate cupcake would taste like, which is good news if you’ve ever eaten a cupcake and thought, ‘Wow, I’d really like to drink this.’
The whipped cream and sprinkles visually help to drive that experience of drinking a cupcake home, and the cake crumbles add the occasional pocket of intensely sweet flavor. The crumbles soak up Shake Shack’s custard perfectly and are small enough to fit through the straw, so this shake doesn’t require any intense suction on your part due to a cake-lodged straw.
Dane Rivera
But it’s just too sweet for my liking. When I say it tastes like a cupcake that isn’t an exaggeration. If you took a cupcake and blended it with some chocolate ice cream, you’d have the Chocolate Birthday Cake shake. So If you’re wincing at that description rather than salivating, this isn’t the shake for you.
The Cornflake Chocolate Drizzle shake, on the other hand, takes things to another level.
In the war over whether chocolate or vanilla is the better milkshake flavor, I’m firmly on the side of chocolate. When I think of the word “milkshake” I automatically think chocolate, whip cream, and a cherry on top but Shake Shack already has a chocolate shake, and it’s delicious and doesn’t taste like a liquefied chocolate cupcake. So I’d rather have that over the Birthday Cake. What they don’t have is a Cornflake milkshake. Until now.
Dane Rivera
The Cornflake Chocolate Drizzle shake has so much going on, you’ve got shards of crispy cornflakes evenly distributed through creamy thick vanilla custard topped with a generous drizzle of Milk Bar’s chocolate fudge and soft mini marshmallows tossed on top. It’s the type of milkshake you’re going to want to mix around with your straw, distributing the chocolate drizzle until your milkshake starts to look like a swirl of flavors. Definitely do that, and then grab a spoon and start digging in. We promise you your actions won’t garner any side-eyed glances from strangers who think you don’t know how to drink a milkshake, they’ll only have looks of envy.
A milkshake you opt to eat rather than drink isn’t a sign of a bad milkshake, it’s a sign that the milkshake is so good that a straw can’t do an adequate job of delivering it to your mouth.
Dane Rivera
Because of this mix of crunchy cornflakes, sweet vanilla, and rich chocolate, this milkshake sort of resembles a flavor hacked bowl of cereal — like you poured a bowl of Frosted Flakes and drizzled chocolate syrup all over it until you had chocolate milk. The cornflakes provide a great textured mouthfeel and the flavor bounces between sweet, rich, and subtly salty. If Shake Shack would’ve added cinnamon or graham cracker crumble to this shake, they would’ve had fast food’s greatest milkshake on their hands.
The Bottom Line
If you’re hitting up Shake Shack between now and November, you’re not doing Shake Shack right if you don’t pick up the Cornflake Chocolate Drizzle shake. Alone it’s worth the trip. But I mean, definitely get a burger too because it’s Shake Shack.
Kanye West’s fascination with the afterlife forms the basis of his latest Donda video, “24.” The video appears to be an excerpt from Kanye’s third listening event for the album at Chicago’s Soldier Field, during which he simulated his ascension to heaven as his late mom (for whom the album is titled) watches on beatifically.
It’s only the second video to emerge from the album’s lengthy, chaotic rollout, after “Come To Life” also made use of a part of the Chicago listening in which Kanye was literally set on fire. And while the spectacle of his listening events and the hype for the album was enough to lift the project to the top of the Billboard albums chart, it certainly had its shortcomings, detractors, and downfalls, as collaborators like Soulja Boy and Todd Rundgren criticized the recording process (as well as its final result), Drake allegedly trolled Kanye by leaking his Andre 3000 collaboration (disappointing both Andre and Tyler The Creator in the process), and Drake’s Certified Lover Boyout-streamedDonda on its way to replacing it atop the Billboard 200. With all the drama swirling around the album, perhaps releasing more videos will return focus back to the music.
Atlanta trap rap pioneer T.I. and his R&B singer wife Tiny Harris have avoided sexual assault charges in Los Angeles after prosecutors decided not to move forward with the case, according to TMZ. A police report was initially filed earlier this year by a woman who claimed that the couple drugged and assaulted her after she met them in a club in 2005. However, according to court documents obtained by TMZ, the incident would be outside the statute of limitations, so they have decided not to pursue charges.
Meanwhile, T.I. and Tiny maintain that the multiple accusations against them — which have come from several women in the past year — are false, attributing the allegations to a cash grab led by a woman they “have had difficulty with” for “well over a decade.” In April, they demanded that the women accusing them of these incidents reveal their identities. T.I. addressed the accusations in his May track “What It’s Come To,” reiterating his demand for the alleged victims to come forward.
The cases against T.I. and Tiny were spearheaded by lawyer Tyrone A. Blackburn, who alleged to represent eleven women who brought forth similar accusations of drugging and assault. Since then, the couple’s VH1 show was canceled, and it was revealed T.I. won’t appear in the upcoming Ant-Man sequel.
As it turns out, underdog stories can have cats as the main character.
Purrington Cat Lounge, where “adoptable cats roam freely and await your visit” and patrons can pay a small entry fee for the chance to sip coffee alongside feline friends, boasted legendary adoption rates since its conception in January 2015.
However, despite its popularity, the cafe was expected to close in November of 2018 when the previous owners moved out of state. New owners Helen Harris and Garrett Simpson stepped in to take the meowntal (did someone order a cat pun?), and the innovative life-slash-business partner duo had big plans for the cafe’s second life.
Harris and Simpson, cat people from the start, discussed owning a place like Purrington’s since their early 20s. “We had a pipe dream about owning a bar with a cat component,” Harris said. So when Simpson, who had been volunteering at Cat Adoption Team (CAT for short), heard about the purchase opportunity at Purrington’s, it must have felt like a kismet moment. “It still doesn’t seem real,” said Simpson, “this fell into our lap.” Fated or not, the kitty-loving couple partnered up with CAT, who sources adoptable cats from around the country, and began putting in the work to make this dream come true.
Harris and Simpson put extraordinary amounts of thought, as well as a wide network of creative friends, into Purrington’s reincarnation. The new wood bordered windows alone – which allow allergic guests to still be part of the fun- revolutionized Purrington’s into an even better space to frolic with felines.
Combine the remodel with an upgraded seasonal menu and stellar beer and wine selection (did I mention that Simpson has a culinary background?), and Purrington’s immediately offered way more than the usual kitschy cat cafe.
Despite Harris and Simpson’s efforts, however, the cafe still faced challenges. One being COVID compliance, no easy task in a cozy cafe that can easily overcrowd. The second being none other than a cat burglar!
“Of course the cats were our first concern,” Simpson said. “But it didn’t appear that anyone even went into the cat lounge. My heart was racing and I went in there to do a headcount. Meatball and Hamburger ran up excitedly because they thought they were being fed early.”
If this photo is any indicator, it seems Hamburger (or is it Meatball?) is recovering just fine.
And yet, despite these difficulties, “we had a successful reopening,” Simpson says. Successful in this case meaning a sold out sign on opening day, as every cat found its forever home. And since then, Purrington’s has adopted out more than 80 cats. It’s a trend that doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.
Clearly, this is the tale of a little cat cafe that could.
Sportswriter and podcaster Spencer Hall shared a 1994 photo of the Eagles on Twitter Wednesday and it made anyone who lived through the ’90s cringe. “Try to find a worse-dressed band than the 1994 edition of the Eagles, it’s not possible,” he captioned the photo.
The photo looks like the epitome of 1994 mall fashion. It reeks of “Melrose Place,” The Gap, and Anchor Bay. What’s worse is that it appears as though the 40-somethings in the photo are trying to look like a hip, flannel-wearing grunge band of the time, minus the edge.
try to find a worse-dressed band than the 1994 edition of the Eagles, it’s not possible https://t.co/WdsbPJ89G5
— BUM CHILLUPS AKA SPENCER HALL (@edsbs) 1631759760.0
The thing about flannel in 1994 is that you had to buy it used at the Goodwill to show your solidarity with working-class people of the Pacific Northwest. This look is just too off-the-rack to give Glenn Frey and friends any credibility.
Who thought it was a good idea for Frey to rock a leather jacket on top of an open-faced denim shirt? Or for Don Henley to actually wear a henley?
The tweet sparked off a great photo challenge where people posted shots of bands from the past six decades to compete against the Eagles’ uninspired fashion.
The biggest competitor for the Eagles’ crown was Rush who had an ill-suited Kimono phase in the ’70s.
Rush themselves have disavowed the garments that they wore on the back of the 2112 album. Good for them. I wish the Eagles would show a similar display of humility by condemning their fashion crime against humanity.
Unfortunately, some photos last forever …Doh! #rush2112… https://t.co/uDrrhyx9Tr
Eagles weren’t the only band with a bad look in the ’90s. Color Me Badd, the folks behind the boot-knocking jam of the decade “I Wanna Sex You Up,” had some real fashion challenges, too. The band looked like impersonators from other bands. One guy looks like a fake Kenny G. Another guy looks like a George Michael impersonator. Mili or Vanili is in there somewhere. The dude in the overalls looks like he could be in New Kids.
Not a band in the traditional sense, but Color Me Badd must have raided my friends’ moms’ closets around 1991 or 1992 for this shot. pic.twitter.com/sCAxTBzaik — applescruff909 (@applescruff909) September 16, 2021
All-4-One had similar fashion challenges but at least they were their own men. Nothing says 1993 like the flannel-hoodie combo jacket.
The Grateful Dead lost their sense of style when Pigpen passed away in 1973. But Bobby Weir really took the band to a new low in the ’80s when he started rocking Daisy Dukes on stage.
The hair metal scene in the ’80s spawned a million bad looks. But Stryper with their bumble-bee-colored spandex is so terrible it’s physically disorienting.
The good ol’ boys from Kansas took a turn for the dark in early the 2000s. They look less like a country band and more like a hangman and his recently-assembled posse.
The most recent incarnation of the Brian Wilson-less Beach Boys looks like a group of aging “hip” pastors at a megachurch in Orange County, California.
The subject of police brutality has been part of public discourse for years, and since the Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum after the murder of George Floyd, it’s been under a particularly bright spotlight. But even with ample examples we can point to, sometimes a story still manages to stun with its horrifying blatancy. This is one of those times.
The city of Philadelphia agreed to pay $2 million to a young Black mother after police officers smashed the windows… https://t.co/dSG3BT29Sq
The headline here is that the city of Philadephia was just ordered to pay a Black mother $2 million in damages for the beating she endured and trauma she and her 2-year-old experienced at the hands of the Philadelphia police in October of 2020. But there’s so much more to the story than that.
Here’s the background:
According to NBC10 Philadelphia, nursing aide Rickia Young was driving home in the early morning hours of Oct. 27, 2020, after picking up her 16-year-old nephew in West Philadelphia, when she unintentionally drove into a protest over the police killing of Walter Wallace, Jr. (Wallace was shot and killed by police after his family called 911 because he was having a mental health episode and they wanted him to get medical help.)
The police ordered Young to turn back, but as she started to do a 3-point turn, police swarmed her car and smashed her windows out with batons. According to Young’s attorney, police pulled Young and her nephew from the car and struck them. Then police pulled Young’s 2-year-old from the car and took him away, telling her they were taking him “to a better place.”
Young was bleeding and had swelling on her face, body, and trachea. She was able to call her mother, who went to find the 2-year-old. She eventually found him in the back of a police car four miles away, without his hearing aids and with glass shards in his carseat.
So we can agree that’s all bad, right? Well, here’s where it goes even farther south.
Two days after the incident, the National Fraternal Order of Police—the largest police union in the U.S.—shared a photo of one of the police officers at the scene, holding Young’s son, with the following text:
“This child was lost during the violent riots in Philadelphia, wandering around barefoot in an area that was experiencing complete lawlessness. The only thing this Philadelphia Police Officer cared about in that moment was protecting this child.
We are not your enemy. We are the Thin Blue Line. And WE ARE the only thing standing between Order and Anarchy.”
What the police union posted to their social media: https://t.co/YgLWUGs2tk
The irony would be hilarious if it weren’t so horrifying.
The post was taken down within a day, but not before it had been shared widely. The following day, the police union wrote that the union “learned of conflicting accounts of the circumstances under which the child came to be assisted by the officer and immediately took the photo and caption down.”
No apology. No mention of what had really occurred. No acknowledgment of the trauma that boy had endured watching the police smash the windows of his car before beating his mother in front of him.
According to NBC10, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said that she and the law enforcement community “demand that officers exhibit the utmost professionalism, decorum, and poise while interacting with members of the public.” Two officers were ultimately fired over the incident, and 14 additional officers faced disciplinary hearings.
“The behavior that occurred during the interaction between Rickia Young, her nephew, her son, and some of the officers on the scene violated the mission of the Philadelphia Police Department,” Outlaw said in a statement. “As a matter of fact, the ability for officers and supervisors on the scene to diffuse the situation was abandoned, and instead of fighting crime and the fear of crime, some of the officers on the scene created an environment that terrorized Rickia Young, her family, and other members of the public.”
Hence, the $2 million payment from the city.
Philadelphia Reaches $2M Settlement With, Rickia Young, Mother Who Was Beaten By Police During Unres
The Philadelphia Inquirer shared a detailed account of what occurred that night, and it’s worth a read. Again, the blatancy of the brutality and injustice alone is enough, but to have the photo of Young’s son that night used as pro-police fodder by the nation’s largest police union just added insult to literal injury. And the response from the union was pretty much the definition of “inadequate.”
No one can undo what Young and her son experienced, but the firing of the officers and the payout from the city is at least something resembling accountability.
Lil Nas X continues to be a master promoter in the week leading up to the release of his debut album. In addition to dropping a contractions video paying off the maternity photoshoot he shared a week ago, he’s now playing on the court-themed trailer for his “Industry Baby” video by sharing billboards threatening to sue… himself. The billboards, which popped up in Hollywood, are clear spoofs of similar cheesy billboard ads for real law firms. However, Nas’ billboards inform viewers they may be entitled to financial compensation for such silly reasons as being gay, being single, missing “the real America,” and crucially, hating Lil Nas X.
I’ve called Lil Nas X a masterful troll in the past but it bears repeating: The kid knows exactly how to turn any and all complaints against him into comedy gold, then use that gold to buy the adoration and attention of even more fans — and more complaints, ensuring a never-ending supply of promo fodder. Knowing that his Blackness, gayness, youth, and flamboyance will be used against him, he’s kind of like Eminem’s B. Rabbit in the 8 Mile finale, stocked up with lighthearted, self-deprecating gags that turn the light of scrutiny on his detractors and ensure that the crowd is firmly on his side.
Industry Baby, meanwhile, drops at midnight tonight via Columbia Records. It features appearances from Doja Cat, Elton John, Jack Harlow, Megan Thee Stallion, and Miley Cyrus — but no Black male artists, unfortunately. While some viewed that as intentional on Nas’ part, Kid Cudi called it part of hip-hop’s “homophobic cloud” — one that Nas’s new album hopes to help erase.
Stellum Bourbon is a new bourbon from some of the best blenders in the game. The juice is sourced by Joe Beatrice and the team behind the much-lauded and beloved Barrell Craft Spirit whiskeys. We’re big fans of Barrell’s drops around these parts, so when we found out that the same folks were releasing an accessible standard to compete with mainstream bottles, we were pretty excited.
What’s interesting about this release is that it’s meant to be a bottle you reach for every day. Whereas the rest of Barrell’s drops are special one-offs that you cherish (until they’re empty), this is more of a workhorse for sipping, mixing, and enjoying. So that’s how we’re judging it. We’re not going to think about this in relation to some limited-edition rarity but the whiskey you get for your everyday pours.
Let’s get into it! Click on the price to try this one yourself.
Stellum Bourbon is the new kid on the block. The juice in that bottle is a cask-strength blend of whiskeys from Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. This whiskey is all about the blending process that Stellum employs to make this special and award-winning juice. Basically, the process is a sort of hybrid reverse solera technique where the blend gets more juice to keep the proof high and the blend consistent in flavor as the batch is drained off. It’s a delicate balance of mixing great whiskeys to make something better than the individual parts.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a holiday cake with fatty nuts next to woody spice barks — think anise, clove, and cinnamon — with a nice dose of dried red fruits and honey-dipped over-ripe Granny Smith apples. The palate edges away from the spice towards a powdered sugar sweetness with a hint of dry vanilla. Then a counterpoint bursts onto the scene with a hit of spicy, dried chili pepper flakes next to blackberry pie with a nice dose of cinnamon and nutmeg. The end lingers for just the right amount of time as the spice fades back towards the honeyed sweetness and a final touch of vanilla tobacco buzz lands in the back of the throat.
The Bottle:
The bottle grabs your attention immediately by having a super low-key design in a classic wine bottle. This really is elegant, with a label that doesn’t overwhelm (at all) with too much information. Instead, you have a subtle and sleek bottle for your bar cart.
Bottom Line:
This is an excellent workhorse whiskey. The flavors are deep and rich enough to drink that as a sipper on the rocks. But, wow, this makes a hell of a Manhattan and highball.
Ranking:
92/100 — For a workhorse whiskey, this is stellar. I kind of forget that this is meant to be mixed and played with and just end up drinking it on the rocks as a sipper. When taken in the context of being an “everyday pour,” I really can’t find too many faults.
As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive commission pursuant to some entries on this list.
While Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings premiered nearly two weeks ago in the United States, there’s still been no word on when — or if — the film will hit Chinese theaters. In fact, it’s beginning to feel more and more likely that Marvel’s first Asian superhero film — and its star, Simu Liu — could be banned in the country for “perceived insults.”
According to a Variety report, “jingoistic social media users” have unearthed content featuring actor Simu Liu that they claim “insults China,” and could put the future of the film in jeopardy due to the nation’s current political climate. Among the alleged content shared in an attempt to condemn Liu is a GQ video about Liu’s favorite Asian snacks, in which he praises “a lemon tea drink made by Hong Kong beverage firm Vitasoy,” a company many Chinese citizens recently called to boycott for being “anti-Chinese.” Considering how much Disney has actively courted for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to be released in China, the world’s largest film market, a ban would be a massive blow for the company and could hurt Simu Liu’s chances at being cast in future films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Interestingly enough, however, according to Variety several Chinese viewers who managed to the film abroad who have deemed it “unexpectedly good.” After hearing about the potential ban, one viewer stated, “I didn’t see any insulting of China — I saw kissing up to China,” while another said “Shang-Chi‘s take on Chinese elements is so much better than that of Mulan. Although the Chinese accents of the American-born Chinese and Hong Kong stars was a bit hard to get through, they were done with sincerity.”
So far, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has grossed over $146 million in North America since its release on September 3 and seems likely to become the first release to cross the $200 million mark since the start of the pandemic last March. Fingers crossed China will get the chance to see the film here soon and help make those numbers even higher.
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