Category: News

Everybody knows how much Currensy loves his cars, weed, and how much he loves to deliver good music to his legion of loyal fans. He’s managed to turn that love into his Jet Life brand, which keeps growing and growing since its birth in 2011.

As one of the more consistent rappers in the game, known for flooding the streets with fly tunes, what he’s built with Jet Life is a reflection of the many labels he’s had the opportunity to be part of with legends right out of his hometown of New Orleans, such as Lil Wayne’s Young Money label and Master P’s No Limit label under his brother C-Murder’s imprint.

From 2006’s “Where da Cash At” to the re-released collaborative mixtape Covert Coup with The Alchemist to 2021’s Welcome To Jet Life Recordings 2, which is a collection of songs by Jet Life Recordings artists which include Fendi P and T.Y., Currensy has proven to be as resilient as he is industrious. Over the phone, he took Uproxx on a cerebral journey of how his mind works and how he’s adapted to the ever-changing technology of the music industry.

What are you up to?

Watching some new cartoon I found on Amazon, but I think it’s just a pilot and I think that it’s called…it’s called The New VIPs and it’s not a full season, it’s just one episode. I think they’re trying to see what people think of it.

What do you think of it?

I think this is good. This sh*t is good. It’s just one episode. When we get done with this interview, I’m going to take the survey and I’m going to let them know that this is a f*cking good show and it should have went into production or whatever you call that. You should watch this when you get done.

What’s your favorite Adult Swim or just any cartoon show?

Home Movies. I don’t know if you remember that because it was four seasons. The voice from Bob’s Burgers and Archer, you know that guy? [Editor’s Note: It’s H. Jon Benjamin] He’s one of the voices on there. It’s a good f*cking show, man.

It’s so well written though. It’s like how The Office still works whenever you put it on.

Well, I guess if I ever need any TV recommendations, I’ll just hit you up.

Yeah, I’m the one.

Let’s talk Covert Coup. How long had you and Alchemist been talking about re-releasing it?

Oh man, you’re going to love this story. We didn’t know that it wasn’t on streaming sites. We didn’t even know. When we went to San Francisco recently for this Nautica and Diamond Supply photo shoot, we were like, “Damn, it’s been 10 years since Covert Coup came out.” And I was like, “Yeah, that’s crazy. We should probably jam it.” Then I was like, “Is it on iTunes?” He’s like, “I don’t know.” I was like, “F*ck, I don’t know either.” So I asked my manager and he checked, and he’s like, “No.” I was like, “Oh, what is it on, Tidal or something?” It wasn’t on anything. We missed 4/20. That would have been ideal because that would have been the exact 10 year anniversary, so we just put it out in May.

People were and still are reacting to it like it’s a new project. That’s a whole different generation of people. Some people outright did not know about it. Some motherf*ckers are jamming it like it just dropped.

A lot of artists are re-releasing projects that were on DatPiff. I look at DatPiff as a historical music archive. There are so many legendary debut mixtapes on DatPiff.

Yup. That was the avenue right there. To me, that was major distribution because it’s like, everybody go right here and anybody can get on it. They didn’t have they picks and choosers. The homies from down the street was like, “Yo, I’m uploading my tape to DatPiff tonight, bro.” It was giving everybody a shot and it still do. That’s why I always put sh*t out so much because it was just cool to go on different sites and sh*t and see and just download stuff.

It’s so dope to see a lot of those tapes on there like Wiz Khalifa and Meek Mill.

That was an opportunity for people. It was just real listeners and people who respected the game, and curators of the whole vibe of what we do. They were shining a light on artists who they felt like deserved one because, at that time, all we had was MTV jams. We wasn’t on that motherf*cker. If the people saying your sh*t is dope, then dope people will give it a chance. If it’s what it’s supposed to be, then they’ll share it with other people. That put a lot of us in position, and it weeded out a lot of the bull. A lot of sucker sh*t couldn’t really advance at that time.

What’s the biggest difference between releasing music back then to today as a label owner of Jet Life Recordings?

I’m more focusing on the rollout of the next few projects that we putting out from Jet Life because I’m putting out a Welcome To Jet Life Recordings Vol. 2 and the first one that I did, a lot of the solo songs was for me and then a few from the artist. This time, everybody is on every song. There’s different artists on every record. I’m on all of them, but people from the label are on all of them too. Now, it’s about a rollout. How you going to promote this music outside of just putting up clips of you rapping?

What I would do before is put out one record from the tape or a snippet on Instagram, 30 seconds, just bars from the record. Maybe seven records I would damn near play the whole record — just putting up clips to get motherf*ckers ready for it and then drop it.

Now, I roll it out more like the way they do movies, where it’s just sh*t around it as opposed to the actual dish. You’re not really giving them that much in the promo, you’re just promoting the idea of what’s going on instead of playing the records and giving away so much of the project before you drop it. The physical aspect of purchasing music being removed. Everybody’s just getting it right from the phone and so you don’t have the thrill of picking up the CD and having to take the shrink wrapping off, so we have to save as much of that as we can for them so that the music is fresh to them once they download the project.

If I put so much of it up the way I used to, when they download it, it’s like, “Oh, I heard this one. I know this one, I know this one.” F*ck that. So now it’s like, Nah, I’m not going to do it that way. I’m going to roll the project out like a movie and let you see the process of us working. Maybe what car I drove to the studio and what we wore, what we was drinking. But, you’re not going to hear this sh*t until the sh*t drop. Until you actually sitting in the theater to watch the movie.

Tell us more about the compilation tape.

Welcome To Jet Life Recordings Vol. 2. features the entire label and some affiliates like Jay Worthy and Scotty ATL. Outside of that, it’s everybody on my label and a lot of rising stars from my city out of New Orleans: A lot of the people who I know are about to pop anyway with or without me. These people are going to blow anyway. I had better had got in front of that sh*t and fcking helped to usher them into the industry if I wanted to stay alive.

I saw also you tried that Jay-Z weed. I don’t really see Jay-Z as a weed smoker, but curious to know how it was from someone like yourself.

Well, they had different strains, but they weren’t labeled how you would think. It wasn’t jars just saying, “Oh, this is OG Kush.” They were all numbered and named little slick sh*t like Heavy. With anything associated with Jay-Z, if it was something that he not really in the know of, he’s going to do the research and then put the best people on the team to make it happen. Clearly, he’s got some good growers because the bottles marked Heavy are f*cking heavy. Those were the ones to smoke when I was at that shoot.

I also saw that you got into NFT. I’m still a little lost on that, what exactly it is.

Well, you know what? It’s because you live in the physical world, as do I. But do you remember when Dwight was playing Second Life on The Office? Okay, now Dwight Schrute was playing Second Life so much so that his character on Second Life had started an account on Second Life himself and it was second Second Life. His video game character was playing a video game of himself in the video game.

There are people who live, heavily immerse themselves, in the cyber world and cyber real estate. All of this is real because they live in a digital space. When they hang out with their friends and people are in these avatars on these computers, they need worlds and sh*t to live in, and in those worlds, you’re going to need dwellings, cars.

I’m involved in some NFT low riders right now and car parks for these f*cking digital cars because people want to upgrade them. People sit in front of they computer and live like that more than they step outside of the house because it’s hot outside, people are shooting. They’ll just rather just sit there and do that. You going to need all that s*it, so you better figure out what you going to sell them. When we get off the line, you better figure it out. You better come up with something. They need some digital mirrors, haircare supplies… They got NFT shoes, all that. NFT weed, lighters… all of that sh*t is already in the market.

I haven’t seen a NFT fish tank yet, so I don’t know. Cook that one up.

I’m thinking about all the games I play. I buy stuff for Call Of Duty all the time.

Dude, you’re fu*king buying NFTs then because where can you use those guns? Can you protect your house with that sh*t that you bought? With your money that you’re working for? Alright, you bought a NFT.

Okay, so what made you decide to hop in on the wave?

Because that digital money transfer to real money. It’s the same reason I’m telling you if those people believe you sold them a fish tank, you need to make them a fish tank and sell them the fish and sh*t.

Welcome To Jet Life Recordings 2 is out now. Check it out above.

Even though Tennessee is home to the most popular whiskey in the world, the state doesn’t get anywhere near the exposure Kentucky receives. Lynchburg’s Jack Daniel’s, Tullahoma’s George Dickel, Nashville’s Nelson Green Brier, and Shelbyville’s Uncle Nearest are only a few of the great whiskey makers working in the Volunteer State today. Add the smaller outfits and craft distilleries into the mix, and it’s clear that Tennessee is cranking out some impressive juice.

Before we continue, we need to explain something about “Tennessee whiskey.” The style of whiskey that Chris Stapleton lovingly sings about is technically a straight bourbon whiskey that’s produced in Tennessee. That seems simple, right? But the difference between “Tennessee bourbon” and “Tennessee whiskey” is a little more detailed. Tennessee law states “Tennessee whiskey” must be produced in the state and filtered through charcoal made from sugar maple — a method developed by “Uncle” Nearest Green, mentor to Jack Daniels, and referred to as the Lincoln County Process — before the spirit even hits the barrel.

When you get down to it, all Tennessee whiskey is technically bourbon but not all bourbon is Tennessee whiskey, thanks to the Lincoln County Process and state trade laws. Moreover, Tennessee also produces plenty of American blends, single malts, ryes, and standard bourbon whiskeys, just like every other whiskey region. Those expressions allow a bit more experimentation with mash bills and barrelling, opening the door for innovation.

You’ll find eight of our favorite slow-sipping whiskeys that are actually produced in Tennessee, below. All are in the $40 to $60 range and all are perfect for your whiskey summer. Click on the price if you think you’d like to give one of these bottles a shot.

Heaven’s Door Straight Bourbon

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

Celebrity booze brands can sometimes be more gimmick than substance. This isn’t the case with Heaven’s Door, co-created by living-legend Bob Dylan. While its range is full of bangers, its flagship Heaven’s Door Straight Bourbon is not to be missed. The Tennessee sourced juice is non-chill filtered, has a fairly high rye content (30 percent), and is aged to perfection for eight years.

Tasting Notes:

Take a moment to breathe in the aromas of candied orange peels, clover honey, toasted wood, and vanilla beans before your first sip. On the palate, you’ll find flavors of almond cookies, dried fruits, more vanilla, buttery caramel, and just a hint of subtle spice at the very end. All in all, there’s a tremendous mix of sweetness and rich, charred oak on display here.

Bottom Line:

If you’re not afraid to venture outside of Kentucky to try a new bourbon but not sure which bottle to grab, Heaven’s Door Straight Bourbon is perfect for you. Sip it while you relax and listen to the song it’s named for.

Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Rye

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $54

The Whiskey:

Nobody will fault you if you purchase a bottle of classic Jack Daniel’s to sip this summer. But if you really want to up your whiskey game, grab a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Rye. Made with a mash bill of 70 percent rye, 18 percent corn, and 12 percent malted barley, this rich, robust whiskey is known for its combination of sweet mellowness and spicy heat.

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, you’ll find scents of caramel corn, a gentle, nutty sweetness, and a slight, peppery backbone. The palate is swirling with more sweet corn notes as well as wood char, sweet toffee, orange peels, and more cracked black pepper. It all ends with a nice, warming, sweet, peppery finish.

Bottom Line:

If you’re a bourbon or Tennessee whiskey fan and you’d like to find a way to get into the world of rye whiskey, this is the bottle for you. The spicy rye warmth is tempered well by the sweet corn flavors.

Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $55

The Whiskey:

Nathan “Nearest” Green was a former slave who taught Jack Daniel how to distill whiskey. Uncle Nearest became the first-ever master distiller at Jack Daniel Distillery (as well as the first African-American master distiller on record). He’s a legend in distilling.

Uncle Nearest Whiskey was launched to pay tribute to a man who helped create an entire sector of the whiskey industry. One of its best is the 1856 expression. This award-winning Tennessee-sourced whiskey is made in small batches, maple charcoal filtered, and aged in charred American oak barrels.

Tasting Notes:

The nose opens with the aromas of sweet corn, vanilla beans, wood char, and dried fruits. The palate reveals notes of buttery caramel, sticky toffee, candied orange peels, vanilla beans, and just a hint of spice at the very end. It’s mellow, sweet, and easy to sip even with its high proof.

Bottom Line:

If you only grab one Tennessee-made whiskey, make it Uncle Nearest 1856. You’ll be happy you did. We’re also looking forward to the juice coming off their own stills in the near future.

Collier and McKeel Tennessee Whiskey

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $55

The Whiskey:

While it doesn’t have the name recognition of some of the other whiskeys on this list, you definitely shouldn’t sleep on Collier and McKeel Tennessee Whiskey. Made with a mash bill of 70 percent corn, 15 percent malted barley, and 15 percent rye, all of the ingredients are sourced from local farms. After the prerequisite filtering through sugar maple charcoal, it’s then aged charred, American oak barrels.

The result is smooth, sweet, easy sipping whiskey perfect for summer nights.

Tasting Notes:

Draw in aromas of wood char, caramel corn, and just a wisp of spicy smoke. Take a sip and you’ll find hints of oak, fresh hay, vanilla beans, sweet honey, and a final kick of peppery spice. It all ends in a crescendo of sweet corn and subtle spices.

Bottom Line:

If you’re on board with trying something different, by a lesser-known brand, give Collier and McKeel Tennessee Whiskey a try. It’s mellow, rich, and well-suited for summer drinking.

George Dickel Barrel Select Tennessee Whiskey

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $47

The Whiskey:

When it comes to Tennessee-based whiskeys, George Dickel is the biggest name after Jack Daniel’s. It’s a brand that makes some excellent, award-winning whiskeys. If you’re looking for the brand’s best summer sipping option, try George Dickel Barrel Select Tennessee Whiskey. Made with a mash bill of 84 percent corn, eight percent rye, and eight percent malted barley, it’s aged for a minimum of nine years resulting in a smooth, sippable whiskey loaded with vanilla and subtle spices.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is filled with scents of vanilla, toffee, subtle chocolate, and a nice oak-charred background. Notable flavors of wood, dried cherries, vanilla beans, and just a hint of peppery rye are prevalent on the palate. The finish is dry, warming, and exceptionally sweet.

Bottom Line:

If you prefer your whiskey to be so filled with corn that it tastes almost like drinking caramel corn, this is the whiskey for you. But while this dram has a ton of corn flavor, it’s balanced with spices, fruit, and hints of cocoa.

Bib & Tucker 6-Year-Old Small Batch Bourbon

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $52

The Whiskey:

Bib & Tucker has made a name for itself in the last few years. Bottled in Columbia, Tennessee, this small-batch Tennessee-sourced bourbon (some say from George Dickel’s Cascade Hollow stills) is made with a mash bill of 70 percent corn, 26 percent rye, and four percent malted barley. It’s distilled two times before maturing in very lightly charred, American oak casks for at least six-year (although the brand says that most batches will be closer to seven-plus years old).

Tasting Notes:

Take a moment to give this whiskey a proper nosing. You’ll be met with scents of pipe tobacco, wet grass, wood char, and vanilla beans. The palate is full of dried cherries, raisins, treacle, sugar cookies, and a nice hit of spice at the very end. It’s well-balanced with a nutty sweetness that pairs well with buttery caramel notes.

Bottom Line:

If you’ve never tried this surprisingly well-priced bourbon, now is the time. This Tennessee-made whiskey is mellow, sweet, and well suited for slow summer sipping.

Corsair Triple Smoke American Single Malt Whiskey

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

This pot-still distilled whiskey isn’t a bourbon or a “Tennessee whiskey,” it’s an American single malt. This 100 percent barley-based whiskey gets its flavor because of three separately smoked malts. The barley is smoked with local cherrywood, beechwood, and peat imported from Scotland. The result is a smoky, flavorful whiskey that will make you rethink your idea of single malts.

Tasting Notes:

When you nose this whiskey, you get a ton of smoke. The robust peat is countered by sweet cherries and slight vanilla. The flavor is on par with some of the best whiskies of Islay. It’s filled with caramelized sugar, subtle cinnamon, sweet cherries, and a lot of smoke.

Sweet, smoky, and not to be missed.

Bottom Line:

Fans of smoky single malt Scotch whiskies should definitely check out this bold, rich, very unique expression. The mix of three different smoked malts gives this a nuanced, highly memorable flavor profile.

Editor’s Pick: Nelson’s Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey

ABV: 45.5%

Average Price: $32

The Whiskey:

This whiskey is a throwback to one of the biggest whiskeys ever made in Tennessee. The Nelson brothers stumbled into their family’s distilling history while driving the backroads of Tennessee and it changed the course of their lives. This is their first whiskey (their Belle Meade bourbons are sourced from MGP Indiana). The juice is a wheated bourbon that’s filtered according to Tennessee law. It’s then aged for two to five years before the barrels are vatted, proofed, and bottled in a throwback bottle.

Tasting Notes:

You’re met on the nose with still-warm cinnamon apple fritter fresh from the fryer that has just been drizzled with a salted caramel and vanilla syrup. The taste leans into the cinnamon-apple vibe with a thick and buttery southern biscuit underneath while the mid-palate luxuriates in a salted caramel apple. The finish holds onto the orchard fruitiness and dark bark spices as a final hint of dark and powdery cocoa arrive next to a ripe and sweet Bing cherry. The fade is slow but distinct and leaves you with all that fruit, caramel, spice, and cherry/chocolate lingering through your senses.

Bottom Line:

This is a bargain bottle of whiskey that over-delivers on every sip. The beauty of this bottle is that it’s a true workhorse in that it’s a great cocktail base while also being 100 percent sippable over a little ice on a hot day.

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As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.

The first thing that everyone must recall about Clifford The Big Red Dog (of the original animated series that aired on PBS and BBC Two) is that “love” is the reason why he’s so big. Yep, it’s all the fault of his owner, Emily, for having such a massive heart that, somehow, Clifford exponentially increased in size overnight. Ultimately, this is a sweet premise, but still, there was bound to be a “WTF” factor when Paramount Pictures released the trailer for the upcoming live-action/CGI hybrid film. This, of course, is not the studio’s first rodeo with a potential uncanny valley. Back in 2019, people freaked out over the initial Sonic the Hedgehog rendering with prominent teeth before a new design appeased the masses. So, Clifford was bound to stir some controversy in this trailer, too.

My first reaction? I’m warped, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the Venom tongue-reveal after spotting this “cute” tail wagging from underneath a blanket.

From there, the trailer’s a whole lot of this:

At that point, the action devolves into sheer, glorious chaos. Clifford sprints into Central Park, where he tries to “play” with a giant plastic hamster ball with a human inside.

This stunt could have swiftly caused bloodshed, but presumably, the movie will play it PG-safe in theaters. To encourage that vibe, BTS’ “Dynamite” plays throughout, but the action takes a dark turn near the end of this trailer, when Clifford attempts to eat another dog. This puts another spin on a dog-eat-dog world. People did not know what to think of these “unexpected horrors.”

Clifford was swiftly labeled a “Hell Hound,” despite his innocent and playful reactions to the world around him. Mayhem is sure to follow.

All of this, however, should be a good thing, because Paramount declared, “For every Red heart or share the #CliffordMovie trailer gets, we’re donating $1 to Best Friends Animal Society, up to $20,000.”

Still, a deluge of mixed feelings, from nostalgia to excitement to confusion to anger, poured forth on Twitter.

Paramount Pictures’ Clifford the Big Red Dog will arrive on September 17.

Last week, Blink-182 leader Mark Hoppus revealed that for the past three months, he has been undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer. The singer hasn’t said what type of cancer he has, but he did say in his statement that while it “sucks” and he’s “scared,” he’s “trying to remain hopeful and positive.” Now he has spoken a bit more about how things are going.

Over the weekend, Hoppus hosted a Bingo game on his Twitch channel (as Billboard and Absolute Radio note), and while chatting with viewers, he said, “How am I feeling today? I feel much better than yesterday. Yesterday was hellish for me and I woke up today feeling better — I went for a walk, and I had a decent breakfast, and I haven’t felt like I was going to throw up today, so we’ll take it as a win.”

He later spoke about what his life is like right now, noting that he’s limited in what he’s able to do:

“On good days, I go do stuff. I went on a walk outside today and it was the first time I’d left my house in like… 5 days, pretty much. But this round of chemo, I wasn’t totally stuck on the couch, miserable. I’ve actually watched movies and walked around and cleaned the house and hung out with my dogs. I didn’t just feel like a poisoned electrified zombie leaning up against an electric fence like I did the past couple of rounds. […] I can’t go anywhere right now. I wanted to go to the Dodgers last night — I can’t. I want to go hang out with friends and go to a restaurant — I can’t. My white blood cell count is way too low for me to go out so I am stuck trying to get better. That’s alright, I’ll take it.”

Hoppus’ full 40-minute Twitch broadcast can be re-watched here.

Blink-182 is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The theme of Ski Mask The Slump God‘s “Admit It” video makes perfect sense in light of his new mixtape, Sin City. Taking inspiration from the 1990s neo-noir crime comics by Frank Miller — or perhaps the 2005 film based on them — the video is a desaturated, gory revenge tale that sees Ski Mask come back after being left for dead to execute violent retribution on his foes. As with the Sin City movie, Ski Mask’s video is washed of almost all color save a few bright splashes that accentuate the action, whether through the gold glinting on his teeth or the blood splashing on the walls.

Sin City: The Mixtape is Ski Mask’s first full-length project since 2018’s Stokeley, which highlighted the South Florida rapper’s impressive technical skill and hedonistic outlook and featured appearances from a then-emerging Juice WRLD, Lil Baby, and Lil Yachty. However, he seemingly took a hiatus in the wake of his friends Juice WRLD‘s and XXXTentacion’s deaths, with the pandemic delaying the comeback he teased in 2020 with his protest anthem, “Burn The Hoods.” While he did provide a guest feature on DJ Scheme’s “Soda” with Cordae, 2020 was a relatively quiet year for the Slump God.

However, earlier this year, he expressed excitement for a spate of new videos and dropped Sin City amid a crowded New Music Friday that included new Tyler The Creator and Doja Cat albums. The nine-track album is spare and straightforward, but with such a tight concept and sharp execution, it’s not one to be overlooked.

Watch Ski Mask The God’s “Admit It” video above.

Sin City The Mixtape is out now on Victor Victor Worldwide and Republic. Get it here.

Netflix has food shows on lock. They helped kick off the modern era of prestige food TV with Chef’s Table, back in 2015. They made the genre funny again with Nailed It. They even found a sort of “Bourdain with more anxieties” in longtime friend-of-Uproxx Phil Rosenthal’s show, Somebody Feed Phil.

Today, there’s a very long list of food shows to choose from on the streaming giant. They range from fast-paced cooking competitions to low-and-slow tales of the world’s greatest chefs. To help you sift through these wide-ranging options, we’re ranking our 20 favorites, below. The food shows featured represent a healthy mix of pure food porn, cooking competitions, and educational food docuseries.

The throughline here is that delicious food is front and center. Hopefully, these shows will inspire you to get in the kitchen and cook a little or travel to whatever corner of the world the food you crave is being cooked. Let’s dive in!

20. Fresh, Fried, & Crispy

1 Season, 8 Episodes | IMDb: 6.5/10

The Show:

This show should probably come with a complimentary blood pressure cuff. Host Daym Drops — the insanely popular YouTube food reviewer — is traveling America and eating some of the most ridiculous fried foods. While the show leans into deep-fried Oreos and state fair foods, it also trends towards traditional cuisines throughout America.

Plus, Daym Drops’ energy and deep love for these foods are both hard to deny and easy to enjoy.

Can’t Miss Episode:

Each episode is only 25 minutes, making this a super easy weekend binge. It’s also kind of like Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives in that you can have it on in the background while you cook dinner. Otherwise, check out the Birmingham episode. It’s full of deep-fried pork and soul food that’ll leave you starving.

19. Restaurants On The Edge

2 Season, 13 Episodes | IMDb: 6.8/10

The Show:

Restaurants on the Edge is one part food reality show, one part travel show, and one part fixer-upper show. The main thrust is a crew of restauranteurs hit up a failing restaurant with an amazing location or view in a high-touristed area and try to save it from oblivion.

It’s fun, fascinating, and full of beautiful locations and food.

Can’t Miss Episode:

This is another great “have on in the background” show. Each episode is in a unique location around the world. So maybe just pick somewhere that sounds cool to you and go from there. Though, the season 2 opener in Slovenia is a great intro episode.

18. The American BBQ Showdown

1 Season, 8 Episodes | IMDb: 7.2/10

The Show:

This cooking competition is a breezy binge. It’s also a mouthwatering watch with piles of smoked meats and sides filling the screen from start to finish on every single episode. Judges Melissa Cookston (Memphis BBQ) and Compton’s own Kevin Bludso judge the smoked meats and sides while offering some serious education along the way. That’s what’s so nice about this show: You’re going to learn about smoking food while also getting into the drama of the cooking competition.

Can’t Miss Episode:

You really need to start with episode one and watch it the whole way through.

17. Cooked With Cannabis

1 Season, 6 Episodes | IMDb: 6.6/10

The Show:

This is Netflix’s second swing at a cannabis cooking show and it hits more often than not. The conceit is simple, cannabis chefs step into the studio kitchen and make the best THC or CBD-infused plates they can. It’s fairly fast-paced and the food is legitimately repeatable in your own kitchen (for the most part).

Each episode is just over half an hour and there are only six total, so this is a really easy binge if you’re stoned and couch-locked.

Can’t Miss Episode:

With only six episodes, just start at the beginning. Though, episode five, High Holidays, is a particularly fun episode with a “Danksgiving” theme.

16. Million Pound Menu

2 Seasons, 12 Episodes | IMDb: 6.7/10

The Show:

This British show is equal parts fascinating and entertaining. Burgeoning cooks gather to do a pop-up for the public and a group of judges, who are also restaurant investors. Meaning there’s are some serious stakes at play here. Pop-up chefs, home cooks, and food truck chefs are cooking for their professional futures.

The show doesn’t flinch as it takes you into what it’s really like to create a fully realized concept for a restaurant and then actually make that business function in the real world, in front of people willing to give you sometimes millions of dollars (well, millions of pounds, in this case) to turn your dreams into reality.

Can’t Miss Episode:

Episode five from season one is a great place to start. The episode covers two concepts: A small plate Korean restaurant and a reimagining of the British dish bubble & squeak into a whole menu. While it’s clear early on which of these two will get funded, it’s still a fun and hunger-inducing watch.

15. Flavorful Origins

3 Seasons, 40 Episodes | IMDb: 7.8/10

The Show:

More than anything, this show is beautiful to look at the Chef’s Table aesthetic is on full display as the camera and narrator take us around two Chinese provinces with a laser focus on the food.

Farms, markets, hawker stalls, family dinner tables, and professional kitchens blend to create a clear sense of the place through the food the people grow, prepare, and eat. The episodes are also about 12 minutes each, making this a really easy binge.

Can’t Miss Episode:

Season two (Chaoshan Cuisine) episode two about Hu Tieu is a great place to start. The thick rice noodle takes on many forms over the 13-minute runtime and will have you craving noodles immediately.

14. The Final Table

1 Season, 10 Episodes | IMDb: 7.7/10

The Show:

This was a huge step up for Netflix when it came to fast-paced cooking competitions. Real-deal chefs gather in-studio to cook food based around a different nation’s food culture each week, creating a truly global feel.

While the show punts on their American episode, the rest of the series moves at a break-neck pace and features some truly inspired cooking.

Can’t Miss Episode:

Start with episode one based around Mexican cuisine. It’s an hour-long episode but will give you a great introduction to the show overall.

13. Ugly Delicious

2 Seasons, 12 Episodes | IMDb: 7.8/10

The Show:

Chef David Chang’s first Netflix show has a lot to offer. The show follows the chef around as he does his best to fill the shoes of Anthony Bourdain. There’s a clear travel element that’s focused on a food theme for each place. The second season focuses even more, with Chang taking you into his family’s home as he has his first child and ponders food for kids before heading off to India and Australia.

Once you get through Ugly Delicious, check out Chang’s other food and travel show, Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, especially the episode in Cambodia with Kate McKinnon.

Can’t Miss Episode:

Season one, episode six (about fried chicken) is really when Chang hits a stride. The episode travels from Nashville’s hot chicken scene to a Chinese KFC to a Japanese home kitchen by the end. Plus, it’s all about fried chicken. That’s an easy subject to watch for an hour.

12. Somebody Feed Phil

4 Seasons, 22 Episodes | IMDb: 8.2/10

The Show:

There’s something very infectious about Phil Rosenthal’s wide-eyed wonder at all the beautiful food in the world. While this show is just as much about travel as it is food, it’s really Rosenthal’s affability that carries the hour-long episodes. You really want to be at the table with him as he dives into amazing-looking dishes found all over the world.

Can’t Miss Episode:

Episode five of season one, New Orleans, is a great place to start. From there, jump around to whatever episode piques your interest. Don’t skip Tel Aviv or Saigon though.

11. High On The Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America

1 Season, 4 Episodes | IMDb: 7.7/10

The Show:

High on the Hog is based on the seminal work of Dr. Jessica Harris and her breaking down of how African food cultures mingled with Indigenous American foods and European techniques to help define what American food is today. The show is a sort of short-hand for Dr. Harris’ work and book, with chef and writer Stephen Satterfield trekking around America and West Africa looking back at the origins of African American cuisines, where those foods are today, and profiling the people keeping those traditions alive.

Can’t Miss Episode:

Satterfield told us the Texas episode with Black cowboys moving their cattle was the moment that moved him the most. So we’d recommend watching that episode first, which is actually the last episode. Still, there are only four episodes in total, making this an easy binge.

10. Taco Chronicles

2 Seasons, 13 Episodes | IMDb: 7.9/10

The Show:

Taco Chronicles comes from Netflix’s Latin American division but feels like a spiritual successor to Chef’s Table. The look and feel of the show are outstanding. Each 30-minute episode takes you into a sub-culture of tacos across Mexico.

This is taco culture at every level from the farms to the streets and everywhere in between. Just make sure to have taco plans before you finish your binge. You’re going to want to feed a serious taco fix. Trust us.

Can’t Miss Episode:

This is a really easy six-episode binge from the beginning. Still, if we had to pick just one episode, it’d probably be barbacoa. The episode covers how the ancient traditions of this dish are still used today.

9. MeatEater

4 Seasons, 34 Episodes | IMDb: 7.7/10

The Show:

Steven Rinella has devoted his life to conservation, the celebration of wild foods, and educating the public on those subjects. MeatEater follows Rinella and other hunters as they travel the Americas to hunt, fish, and cook.

This show is unflinching and deeply informational, especially if you’re looking into sourcing your own foods. Each episode ends with a cook, often in nature, of what the crew has recently hunted.

Can’t Miss Episode:

Start with season seven, episode 16. This 22-minute episode takes Rinella out of the field and into his kitchen to demonstrate various techniques for cooking game, fish, and foraged foods. It’s a great entry-level episode.

8. The Great British Baking Show

8 Collections, 10 Episodes | IMDb: 8.5/10

The Show:

There’s probably little left to be said about this massive hit from the U.K. Home bakers assemble to, well, bake the British butts off. The show has it all — from catty judges to ridiculous recipes to all the drama as the ovens heat up and flour flies.

All in all, this is a very easy and fun watch, especially if you have the time to binge.

Can’t Miss Episode:

Collection One is the place to start. Ten episodes ensue as 12 home bakers fight for the championship.

7. Cooked

1 Season, 4 Episodes | IMDb: 8.1/10

The Show:

Journalist and author Michael Pollan’s Cooked takes a look at food from a scientific and often personal POV. Each episode looks at how fire, water, air, and the earth help us create the food and flavors we know and love. This is the sort of show for food lovers who want to have a better understanding of what it is that makes food cultures worldwide/ through history so incredibly unique.

Can’t Miss Episode:

Episode one, Fire, is a great place to start. The episode looks at how cooking the food we eat changed us as a species and what we owe the animals we choose to eat. It’s heady stuff but worthwhile.

6. Street Food

2 Season, 15 Episodes | IMDb: 8/10

The Show:

Street Food Asia and Street Food Latin America are kind of like Chef’s Table lite. The shows focus on street chefs around Asia and Latin America with short personal stories woven into the dramatic and delicious-looking street food they cook. The look of Chef’s Table is still present but the stories aren’t about inaccessible cuisines. Instead, it’s all about people feeding people literally on the streets.

The beauty of this show is that each chef and food represented is 100 percent accessible to you. You just have to visit.

Can’t Miss Episode:

The Lima, Peru episode in the Latin America season is pretty spectacular. It follows Indigenous cooks grilling meats as they’ve done for millennia next to Japanese migrants making ceviche with their own traditions melding with local ones. After that, check out the Oaxaca episode for some of the best-looking blue corn tortillas ever filmed.

5. Salt Fat Acid Heat

1 Season, 4 Episodes | IMDb: 7.7/10

The Show:

Chef Samin Nosrat travels the world, digging into how salt, fat, acid, and heat change food and all the ways those elements differ across cultures. Nosrat’s infectious love of all things food really draws you in, with the beautiful dishes and locales adding a layer of wanderlust to the whole affair. It’ll be really hard not to binge this series in one sitting, is what we’re saying.

Can’t Miss Episode:

The first episode, Fat, is a great place to start. Again, just binge this one. It’s only four hours of beautiful TV at the end of the day.

4. Nailed It!

6 Seasons, 42 Episodes | IMDb: 7.4/10

The Show:

Comedian Nicole Byer and star baker Jacques Torres come together to offer home bakers the chance at winning $10,000 for recreating a ridiculous cake or confectionary. Celebrity guest judges drop in for judging (and zinger) duties. The 30-minute format and one-and-out nature of the competition make this a very addictive show that feels new with every episode.

Can’t Miss Episode:

Pop over to the “Holiday” version of the show. Season one, episode six has Jason Mantzoukas guest judging a New Year’s Eve bake-off and it’s an absolute blast.

3. Rotten

2 Seasons, 12 Episodes | IMDb: 7.2/10

The Show:

This is a crucial watch. The series is a journalist-forward documentary series covering our food supply chains. There are some harrowing aspects to how we get the food we eat every day and they’re revealed here in sobering detail. Over two seasons, the show covers everything from chocolate and big chicken to bottled water and French wine.

Can’t Miss Episode:

The season two opener, The Avocado Wars, is an eye-opening look at how Mexican cartels are shifting to avocados to fill in the gap left by losing part of the cannabis market.

2. The Chef Show

4 Volumes, 25 Episodes | IMDb: 8.2/10

The Show:

Jon Favreau and chef Roy Choi created a great cooking show based on Favreau’s hit movie, Chef. The show takes elements from food and travel TV and stand-and-stir cooking shows and blends them into a micro-talk show format with big-name guests.

This show has it all but still feels small and personal. Plus, the easy back-and-forth between Favreau and Choi as they cook is wonderfully familiar.

Can’t Miss Episode:

The fourth episode of Volume Two where Choi and Favreau head to Hog Island Oysters is a great place to start, especially if you’re looking for a little bit more of a travel element. The episode ends with a massive oyster cook right on the beach that’ll leave you salivating.

1. Chef’s Table

7 Seasons, 31 Episodes | IMDb: 8.5/10

The Show:

Chef’s Table is the gold standard of the Netflix food series. The show has even spun off into a Street Food series that we’d highly recommend watching after this one.

The thrust of the series is a look at a chef, baker, butcher, or cook who has devoted their lives to food. There’s a travel element at play here, but it’s really the single personality at the center of each story that drives this series. From a visual standpoint, this show is also just amazing to look at.

Can’t Miss Episode:

The Volume Six opener with The Grey’s chef Mashama Bailey is the perfect place to start. The show goes deep into Georgia and Savannah’s food scene with one of the region’s most important chefs. It’s a part history lesson, part culinary education, and 100 percent entertaining.

Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade got roundly roasted after making bizarre, on-air remarks about reading Mein Kampf in high school. Considering that Fox News is the network of choice for right-wing Donald Trump supporters, some of whom can be described as (at least) white supremacist-curious, it was quite the self-own. While Kilmeade was the butt of the jokes, The Daily Show took things a step further by roping Tucker Carlson, Fox’s premiere promoter of white nationalism, into the controversy.

“As opposed to Tucker Carlson, who reads it every night on air,” The Daily Show tweeted along with a video of Kilmeade announcing he read Hitler’s tome in high school.

What made Kilmeade’s comments even more ridiculous is that he was attempting to blast Gen. Mark Milley’s for his testimony to Congress about critical race theory, but instead, Kilmeade essentially just repeated Milley’s central thesis.

“I thought Gen. Milley totally missed the point last week,” Kilmeade told Congressman Dan Crenshaw who was dialing into Fox & Friends on Monday morning. “He says ‘Oh I read Mao, I read Stalin’ that has nothing to do with it. We read Mein Kampf in school, no one thought we were Nazis, that is part of the curriculum, you find out about other things and other insurgencies, we get it, that has nothing to do with critical race theory.”

Just to be clear, Milley argued that reading about past wrongs to prevent them from being repeated is a good thing, and that’s basically what Kilmeade admitted.

Generally, the streaming landscape is dominated by newer music, but there are some older songs that have found success with the format, too. Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” for example, is the 25th most-streamed song in Spotify history with about 1.5 billion plays. Last year, Oasis’ “Wonderwall” became the first ’90s song to eclipse a billion streams on the platform. Now, that club has a new member, as Nirvana’s classic “Smells Like Teen Spirit” just topped a billion Spotify plays. To be exact, the song — which was released a single nearly 30 years ago, on September 10, 1991 — has 1,001,403,604 streams as of this post.

As NME notes, there are over 150 songs that have at least a billion plays on Spotify. Ed Sheeran’s “Shape Of You” is the biggest streamer in the platform’s history, with about 2.8 billion plays. It has a big lead over the next song, The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights,” which has around 2.3 billion. The most recently released song in the top 100 is DaBaby and Roddy Ricch’s “Rockstar,” which has about 1.2 billion streams and is the only song from 2020 in the top 100.

Nirvana’s Dave Grohl recently spoke about how he didn’t believe that Nevermind, the parent album of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” would be a big success, saying, ““[Friends would say,] ‘Oh my God. You guys are going to be f*cking huge! We would go, ‘What? What are you talking about?’ Donita [Sparks] from L7 came by and said we were going to be f*cking huge. My old friend Barrett Jones — who I had grown up with in Virginia, who was a musician and a producer himself — heard ‘Lithium’ and said we were going to be f*cking huge. He thought ‘Lithium’ should be the first single. Everyone had these lofty opinions and I thought, ‘Well, it’s nice of you to say so, but there is no f*cking way that is ever going to happen.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

If there’s one person whose lead you probably don’t want to follow, it’s Rudy Giuliani. And if there’s one person whose lead you most definitely do not—never, ever, under any circumstances—want to follow, it’s Drunk Rudy Giuliani. Yet according to Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency, the newest book by Michael Wolff, premier chronicler of the stupidity of the Trump administration, it was a perpetually hammered Giuliani who convinced Donald Trump that Mike Pence had the power to ignore the votes of more than 81 million Americans and overturn the presidential election and declare Trump the winner.

New York Magazine published an excerpt from Wolff’s upcoming book, which seems to confirm that the final months of Trump’s presidency were a Groundhog Day of unhinged political strategies and a complete lack of understanding of American democracy. Making matters worse, according to Wolff, was that the then-president had been all but abandoned by his closest advisers in his final days—with the exception of Rudy, who was apparently “drinking heavily and in a constant state of excitation, often almost incoherent in his agitation and mania.” You don’t say?

Almost everyone who remained around the president understood that he, along with Giuliani, did in fact actually believe that there was yet a decent chance of upsetting the electoral count and having Trump declared the Electoral College winner or, failing that, prolonging the election and returning the fight to the disputed states. The president’s aides (and family) understood, too, that he was the only one (along with Giuliani, which only made the situation more alarming) in any professional political sphere to believe this. Hence—although they did not call it such and tried to see it as more nuanced—derangement.

There had been hardly a waking hour in the past 48 during which he and Giuliani had not been on the phone in pent-up nervousness and excitement over the coming battle in Congress on January 6. They were two generals poring over a map of the battlefield. Both men, egged on by hypotheticals ever nearer to fantasy and after exhausting all other options, had come to take it as an article of faith that the vice-president could simply reject Biden electors in favor of Trump ones and thereby hand the election to Trump; or, falling short of that, that the vice-president could determine that a state legislature ought to give further consideration to possible discrepancies in the state’s vote and send back the questioned electors for a reconsideration of their certification.

“There is no question, none at all, that the VP can do this. That’s a fact. The Constitution gives him the authority not to certify. It goes back to the state legislatures,” said Giuliani, as though on a loop. He kept repeating this to the president and to the others who were part of the continual conversation on his cell phone.

Had the described scenario been set to the Benny Hill theme song, it would have been funny. Unfortunately, it was all too real, and is what led to the Capitol riots on January 6th. And it’s Giuliani’s actions in those days that have caused him to be stripped of his license to practice law in the state of New York. While we sit and anxiously await seeing how this embarrassing chapter in American history will ultimately end, Wolff can fill in some of the horrifying details.

Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency will be published on July 27, 2021.

(Via New York Magazine)

This week in the best new pop music saw some highly anticipated releases. Doja Cat shared her Planet Her album with a number of star-studded collaborations, Ed Sheeran returned to usher in a new era of music, and Grammy-nominated pop producer JP Saxe dropped his Dangerous Levels Of Introspection album.

Each week, Uproxx rounds up the best new pop music. Listen up.

Doja Cat — “You Right” Feat. The Weekend

After weeks of teasing, Doja Cat released her shimmering album Planet Her, which features the smooth and sultry The Weeknd collaboration “You Right.” The song plays up Doja Cat’s strengths, blending buoyant hooks and catchy lyrics about avoiding the temptation of another man.

Ed Sheeran — “Bad Habits”

Making it clear that he’s beginning a new project rollout, Ed Sheeran returns from hibernation to share the delightfully thumping pop anthem “Bad Habits” as his first new song of the year. Featuring lush chords and Sheeran’s cheery vocal delivery about what goes on after midnight, “Bad Habits” stands as the singer’s entry for the 2021 song of the summer. “I always aim to push myself and my music in new directions and hopefully you’ll hear that on the new single,” Sheeran said about the track in a statement.

JP Saxe — “Dangerous Levels Of Introspection”

After positioning himself as the go-to songwriter for vulnearable pop ballads, JP Saxe officially drops his debut album Dangerous Levels Of Introspection. The LP’s title track serves as a preview for the record as a whole, featuring wistful guitar chords and emotive lyrics. Saxe expressed how much the album means to him in a statement alongside its` official debut: “Been working towards today since I was a kid. this is the most myself i’ve ever felt in my music. and i’m grateful to these songs for showin up for me in the most meaningful parts of the last four years of my life.”

Bastille — “Distorted Light Beam”

Grammy-nominated pop group Bastille follows up their 2021 EP Drink. by sharing even more music. This time, they’ve leaned into a futuristic pop sound with the gleaming track “Distorted Light Beam,” a dancefloor-ready tune about manifesting your perfect future. “It’s a song about limitless possibilities,” the band said about the single, “which isn’t something any of us actually have in real life right now, so it’s been fun to explore that idea while experimenting with new sounds in our music.”

LANY — “Dancing In The Kitchen”

Sharing their second-released song of 2021, LA-based trio LANY share the euphoric track “Dancing In The Kitchen.” The single showcases the group’s knack for penning relatable pop tunes, emphasizes the importance of enjoying life’s little moments over a joyous beat.

Fletcher — “Healing”

Following up on her critically-acclaimed EP The S(ex) Tapes, Fletcher returns to reclaim her inner strength on the soaring track “Healing.” Leaning on a skittering beat, Fletcher lilts powerful lines about the importance of understanding that there’s no such thing as a quick fix for your personal problems. “The world is healing right now,” Fletcher said about the tune. “I can feel the collective energy of people waking up to their power and connecting to themselves in a way that humanity never has before. Healing isn’t a linear process, and it’ll take you on the most insane rollercoaster ride of your life. But it’s worth the view at the top.”

Cautious Clay — “Shook”

After making a name for himself writing introspective and catchy tunes, Cautious Clay shared his debut album Deadpan Love this week. It includes the silky smooth track “Shook,” a playful song about the euphoria of falling in love. “So much of life and relationships are spent in gray areas—we mistreat the people we love and we’re friendly with the people we hate,” Cautious Clay said about the LP. “This is an album about those complexities in friendship, investigating toxic behavior and self-worth.”

MAX, Ali Gatie — “Butterflies”

Newly signed Warner Records artist MAX teamed up with his now label mate Ali Gatie for a fluttering ode to lasting love. The song, which MAX says is “about falling deeper and deeper in love with my wife,” expertly combines the two singers’ far-reaching vocals as they croon lyrics about an everlasting devotion to their partner.

The Marías — “Calling U Back”

After gaining a cult following with their first two EPs, The Marías released their debut album Cinema this week. The effort leans into their sultry songwriting, delicately integrating moody synths with María’s saccharine vocals as heard on their loungy track “Calling U Back.” “We want people to feel inspired to create anything, whether it’s music or art or whatever else they’re drawn to,” María said about album. “Hopefully the songs will help them to break away from real life for a while and create some kind of dream world in their heads – something like the scenes to their own little movie.”

Sub-Radio — “Talk About LA”

Six-piece pop group Sub-Radio returned this week to share the bright song “Talk About LA” just in time for summer. The relaxed pop tune is a catchy ode to getting over a past lover featuring layered synths and a crashing, blissful chorus. “We wanted a song that spoke to how the pandemic was affecting our relationships and making us reconsider what’s really important,” vocalist Adam Bradley said about the track.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.