With the NBA trade deadline looming on Thursday, chatter from around the league has begun picking up steam as GMs trade phone calls and discuss potential packages for this week. A number of contenders have needs to fill, but the big movement is likely to be from teams in the middle of the pack fighting for playoff positioning, rather than those with title aspirations right now (although a big move for some teams in the middle could vault them into the conversation).
At the bottom of conferences, teams are trying to evaluate who is going to be a long-term piece and who they should look to sell now to get assets for the future. In Sacramento, they have some players that could interest contenders, most notably Harrison Barnes and possibly Buddy Hield, although the asking price for both is apparently quite high. On Monday, word emerged from Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that one of their young pieces has also been made available, as the second overall pick from the 2018 NBA Draft, Marvin Bagley III, is on the block as they try to find a team who still believes in the young big man.
The Sacramento Kings have made the No. 2 pick in the 2018 NBA draft available for a trade, with the Kings recently being turned down by the Detroit Pistons, having offered Bagley III for promising rookie Saddiq Bey, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
It’s not surprising that the Pistons would turn down such an offer, as they have plenty of bigs on the roster at present and also have high hopes for Bey as a scorer and shooter. Still, it offers a glimpse into what the Kings are seeking for Bagley, another young player who might fit better with this team as it seems they feel Bagley has run his course in Sacramento. His two and a half years with the Kings have been marred by injuries — he’s currently out with a fractured hand, which further complicates finding a deal for him — and complaints of a lack of consistent playing time, including some very public criticism of the organization from his father. A fresh start would probably be good for Bagley, but it remains to be seen if there’s a team willing to part with a young player of their own to bring him in and provide that opportunity.
Jack Harlow may have shown off his athletic prowess during the recent NBA All-Star weekend B/R Open Run, but he apparently doesn’t exactly enjoy exercise. At least, not judging from his appearance in a recent television advertisement for New Balance. He makes sure to contradict the commercial’s voiceover when it asserts that he loves running before he hits the treadmill. “I hate running,” he insists before allowing, “I love these though,” pointing down at the Fresh Foams.
Harlow, who appears in the ad with professional runners Emma Coburn and Daichi Kamino, has had a busy March. Besides helping his teammate Quavo defeat the size advantage of 2 Chainz and Lil Baby in the Bleacher Report basketball game, he’s making two major performance debuts. First, he and his band took over his living room for a soulful Tiny Desk Concert, and this weekend he’ll be appearing on late-night television with Maya Rudolph to perform on Saturday Night Live.
He’ll do well to keep up that cardio in his new New Balance running shoes as well; Lil Baby recently demanded a rematch — after a reasonable amount of time to train, of course. Maybe Jack will be kind enough to donate a pair to his would-be opponents, because last time, they looked pretty winded after a few plays.
Watch Jack Harlow’s New Balance commercial above.
Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Finding the best food podcast for your specific taste is fun, but not always particularly easy. There are a lot of them out there jostling for elbow room on the various platforms. If we’re being honest, picking only 25 to highlight today feels a bit unfair. There are so many winners — with new shows popping up daily.
The entries below reflect the 25 best food podcasts right now. They offer entertainment, education, and a chance to broaden your culinary horizons. Though drinks podcasts often get categorized under the “food” tab, we kept this list culinary-centric (we’ll circle back for all those whiskey and beer pods later). With the exception of one show on the list, all of the pods featured are currently producing content.
This is a fun place to start any food pod journey. Chefs Josh Scherer and Nicole Hendizadeh (from My Mythical Kitchen) come together behind mics to talk about the internet’s biggest food fights and controversies like whether a hot dog is a sandwich (it is). The episodes branch out to more regional beefs like whether In-N-Out is really overrated or whether crunchy peanut butter is better than creamy peanut butter. This is important stuff!
Where To Start:
We’d start with the Peanut Butter debate episode. It’s a great window into the style of the show with slightly lower stakes than whether you ride or die for Chipotle or In-N-Out. A fun and easy way to spend 40 minutes of your next drive.
Recipe Club, from The Ringer, is a pretty fresh podcast — the show started last fall. The pod finds hosts chef David Chang and food writer Chris Ying sifting through recipes with a guest to try and find a definitive — and maybe best — version of each dish. It’s a fairly straightforward premise that aims to educate as much as it entertains.
One critique: it often feels rooted exclusively in colonial/migrant American foodways. Case in point, the episode on polenta seems to go out of its way not to acknowledge the Indigenous American roots and recipes of the dish.
Where To Start:
The episode titled, Rice, finds Chang and Ying chatting with James Beard-winning chef JJ Johnson about three ways to make and serve white rice. If you’ve ever struggled with making rice at home, this episode really helps you find ways to do it right, every time.
Comedian Dan Ahdoot hosts this refreshing show that’s more about just liking food and less about being a snob about it. Adhoot generally is joined by another comedian and they shot the shit about food likes, dislikes, and hot takes. It’s a very breezy podcast that focuses the food conversation on the laughs more than anything else.
Where To Start:
Nicole Byer’s episode is one of the funniest and easiest to get you hooked on the show. Byer lays down her love of cheesy potatoes with just as much humor and passion as she lays bare her hate of pickles. It’s laugh-out-loud funny and a great way to spend an hour.
We’ve always gone back and forth about putting this podcast on the list. On one hand, it’s really just an advertising tool for Trader Joe’s. It’s their official podcast and serves as a Sunday newspaper insert for the modern age, letting you know what’s good to buy right now.
On the other hand, it is very useful if you’re looking to understand the grocery store better and the food they stock.
Where To Start:
While it’d be easy to say “just listen to the latest episode,” there are some really useful shows in the archive. A good place to start is with Trader Joe’s Takes You Inside The Tasting Panel Today. The episode gives you a look into who picks the food TJ’s stocks and how they pick those foods. It’s pretty fascinating on its own.
Cherry Bombe founder Kerry Diamond hosts this foodie podcast that’ll get you hyped about great food. The show centers around specific topics with special guests from the food world and foodie celebrities that aim to really dive into what makes food so good. The show has a great balance of being light-hearted while actually offering practical and real information about the food highlighted in each episode.
Where To Start:
The podcast started off strong in 2021 with an episode dedicated to Chef Mashama Bailey of The Grey in Savannah. The episode is a deep dive into how chef Bailey and business partner John O. Morisano created a space in an old Greyhound station to highlight Black-Indigenous cuisine while also highlighting the racism of Georgia’s past (and present).
BBQ competition pitmasters Rusty Monson and Anthony Lujan host this podcast dedicated to all things smoke. Every episode, Monson and Lujan bring on a guest from the world of barbecue to dig deeper into the vast world that culinary style encompasses across the U.S. The show is a great gateway for anyone looking to really get into the world of backyard BBQ or the competition circuit.
Where To Start:
Jump in with Tina Cannon of Pit Crew BBQ. Cannon dropped in to talk about making BBQ cooking videos and winning Netflix’s American BBQ Showdown. It really is a useful listen if you’re looking to get into BBQ more seriously (as is pretty much every other episode of this show).
This was a mini-series that sadly ended in December of 2020. Still, it’s short, fresh, and deserves a listen. The show is hosted by chef, author, and Netflix star Samin Nosrat and podcaster Hrishikesh Hirway. The show brings on a guest to talk about a food product or ingredient and figure out how to cook with it. It’s an extremely useful podcast that focuses on varied ingredients and culinary techniques while never making you feel overwhelmed.
Where To Start:
Fronds with Benefits (with Jason Mantzoukas) is the perfect episode to start with. Mantzoukas becomes a great audience surrogate who’s a novice in the kitchen. The whole episode is fun, educational, and incredibly easy-going.
Chef Yia Vang and foodie David Crabb have teamed up to host a show that looks at where food and culture meet. The episodes always feature a guest to talk about food, beer, kitchens, and even traveling. It’s a pretty free-wheeling conversation podcast that’s always as fun as it is interesting to listen to.
Where To Start:
The recent episode titled, Yia Vang and David Crabb, is a great entry point. Guest Sarah Bonvallet (owner of Dangerous Man Brewing Co.) turns the tables on the hosts and interviews them about the show, their food takes, and more. It’s a great way get a handle on the show right out of the gate.
The Splendid Table is the progeny of culinary legend Lynne Rossetto Kasper. Kasper’s book of the same name took deep dives into what food is and why we eat certain foods in particular ways. Kasper was instrumental in shining an early light on the brilliance of farmer’s markets and the world of sustainable food. The book turned into a multi-interview radio show, then podcast — following that same ethos of providing information to help home cooks source, prepare, and eat the best food possible.
Where To Start:
This show has been dropping episodes since 1999. As such, we’re blessed with a massive number of episodes on hand. Ep 621: Cheese Girl is a good place to get your toes wet. Kasper talks to Linnea Burnham who travels the world eating cheese — #dreamjob.
The Kitchen Sisters Presents balances documentary and food very well. Though their episodes that exclusively look at food cultures don’t come up that often, and that’s why they’re important. The Kitchen Sisters have a knack for giving voice to the muted and unknown. Their documentary approach humanizes food history, making it accessible.
Where To Start:
One of the best places to dive in is the “Hidden Kitchens” series of shows. The Kitchen Sisters’ history of Hidden Kitchens of Russia after Stalin’s death is a fascinating look at a foodway most of us have little purchase on. It’s a four-part series that’ll take you somewhere wholly new in the world of food.
Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley have created a place where exploring food history and food science go hand-in-hand with discovery.Gastropod is nine seasons in and isn’t losing steam (or topics) anytime soon. Graber and Twilley mesh great interview subjects with field trips to various food and drink-related locations in a show that’s always fun and informative.
Where To Start:
Really, you can jump in anywhere as all the seasons are available for free. TV Dinners is a great place to start if you need a pick. The episode looks at how food TV started and how food TV has changed the way we look at food and even how we eat.
The Southern Foodways Alliance started an informative and hunger-inducing podcast called Gravy. It explores the past and present of foodways in the southeastern United States. Gravy takes podcasting straight to the people growing, cooking, and eating food around the South in a way that’s both educational and relatable to everyday life.
Where To Start:
Gravy is another podcast where you can really jump in anywhere, depending on what you’re looking to learn about. One of our favorites is an episode about corn and whiskey. The episode takes the time to look at the corn-based agricultural system behind the distillate, offering a new take on an old favorite.
The Table Underground bills itself as being about “Stories of food, radical love & creative social justice.” And that’s exactly what you get. The show offers a platform for the disenfranchised and lesser-known food heroes of the world. Their episodes look at everything from the simple pleasures of American-Jewish baking to food as a social vehicle for good to the rebirth of Indigenous cuisines.
Where To Start:
There are so many great episodes to choose from, really it’s best to browse their list and see what jumps out at you. For us, we recommend starting with episode 25, which is the Table team’s chat with Indigenous chef Sean Sherman, who guides host Tagan Engel through various Indigenous foodways and explains how they’re connected to the future of our food.
Katherine Spiers takes a fun and informative look at food and its place in our lives. Each episode breaks down a particular dish or recipe and why it’s great, terrible, adored, loathed — or all of the above. It’s one of the easiest and most fun listens about food you’ll ever be treated to.
Where To Start:
Episode 56 talks all things fries with comedian Tawny Newsome and it’s one of the best places to jump in as a tester for the podcast. Come on, who among us doesn’t want to listen to people talk about the wonders of fries for about an hour?
The Sporkful centers on host Dan Pashman’s passion for accessible food, how it’s made, and how we consume it. Pashman invites experts, chefs, and comedians for a chat and the results are the perfect balance of fun and informative — making this one of the best podcast listens around.
Where To Start:
There are a lot of episodes to choose from but we’d suggest starting with Pashman’s new series, in which he tries to invent a pasta shape. There are five episodes of Mission: ImPASTAble available right now — it’s a roller coaster of a listen.
Comedians gabbing about fast-food and chain restaurants? Count us in. Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger — the titular Doughboys — spend an hour talking about, arguing over, and eating at the country’s most iconic chains. Guests come and go to talk about places they love and hate, all with a comedic bent.
Overall, the show is a delight to listen to and will legitimately give you a great insight into each chain, its history, and the food they do best.
Where To Start:
There are years of episodes to choose from. We’d recommend listening to the most recent episode first to get a taste and then jump around at will with whatever episode title sounds cool. Though, if you can’t live without a recommendation, Five Guys 2 with Andy Daly is a near-perfect example of the show.
Burnt Toast, from the Food52 network, takes fascinating dives into food history, culture, and science. The show, hosted by Michael Harlan Turkell, explores a different aspect of food from bubbles in sourdough starters to cherry pie recipes with Twin Peak’s Kyle MacLachlan.
It’s fun, informative, and always an easy listen.
Where To Start:
There’s a lot to get lost in here. With tons of episodes available for free, we say jump in on the most recent episode and then skip around with whatever piques your interest (like Kyle MacLachlan talking pie). You’ll rarely be disappointed.
Special Sauce from Serious Eats is a food show that offers amazing insight into the industry from how and what we eat to why we eat the way we do to how the industry actually operates. There are episodes about starting up food trucks, restaurants, and even food blogs right alongside episodes about labor issues, gender issues, and making it as a chef.
Oh, and there’s plenty of talk about flavors too. It’s comprehensive and enlightening.
Where To Start:
There are lots of free episodes to choose from, with a fair few geared towards how the lockdown has crippled the industry — with more recent episodes getting back into making and talking about food.
The BBC’s The Food Chain offers a great view into the world of food, the culture around it, and how food gets from the farm to your dinner plate. It’s insightful and informative without feeling like a lecture. There is some serious information being relayed about the state of our food chains and what’s being done to better those processes. Don’t let the British accents hold you back, dive in.
Spilled Milk finds comedians and hosts Molly Wizenberg and Matthew Amster-Burton picking a single food topic and riffing on it until they can riff no more. Each episode is fun and full of insight — hitting on a dish or item that’s in the cultural zeitgeist and digging deep into why that food or product means so much to us.
Where To Start:
The Mountain Dew episode will give you a solid taste for the style of the show. From there, it really depends on your own interests.
Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio is a very informative show about the ups, downs, and ins-and-outs of the food we eat, love, and sometimes hate. The show looks at various aspects of food, how it’s made, how we live with it, and why we do or don’t like it. Guests are often present to offer expertise in any given subject and there’s always something new to be gleaned from each topic.
Where To Start:
There really is no serialization here, so you can jump in at the most recent episode and then decide where to go from there. Although, the episode about bitter spirits and tastes is a fascinating spot to start, giving you a feel for the show and a little bit of education on why we taste what we taste.
Hosts Anney Reese and Lauren Vogelbaum have a knack for looking at a single recipe, food, or dish, and making it accessible. Each episode of How Stuff Works’ Savor takes a deep dive that’ll inspire you to actually try a new recipe or dish at home. There’s an added layer of going deep enough to really understand what’s going with a dish on a flavor level and a scientific one.
Where To Start:
The Sublime Lime Episode is the perfect spot to jump in. Reese and Vogelbaum take a look at the genealogical history and varied uses of the humble lime. The episode is as fun to listen to as it is enlightening.
Culinary historian Linda Pelaccio has a great gig and job title (“Culinary historian” just sounds badass). Pelaccio’s podcast, A Taste of the Past, looks at a single dish, food region, or food idea and brings the history and present-era interpretation to life. This is the podcast you go to if you’re curious about where a specific food comes from and where to eat it today.
For food obsessives who love to know the origins of what they eat, it’s essential listening.
Where To Start:
With hundreds of episodes in the vault, this is another podcast that you can dive into almost anywhere and find a satisfying listen. One of our favorites is episode 318, Sustainable Culinary Travel. Pelaccio welcomes Italian cookbook author Elizabeth Minchilli to talk about food tourism, food discovery, and how to find real food experiences when you travel.
MeatEater is about conservation, hunting and fishing, and the culinary world created through those activities. Host Steve Rinella and guests talk about hunting and fishing through the lens of sustainability, anti-factory farming, health, public land preservation, and using-the-whole-buffalo tactics. More than just a hunting pod, the show is really about conservation, connecting with nature, and finding our place in the natural order while cooking amazing, wild sustainable food.
Where To Start:
We recommend hitting episode 57 first. Rinella sits down with wildlife biologist Bart George and big game hunter Janis Putelis to talk about “hipster” hunters, how politicians pander by pretending to be hunters, and the importance of eating everything you hunt and not wasting a pound. It’s an eye-opening look into wild game, hunting culture, and how it can be contorted by both nefarious interlopers and lazy hunters.
Toasted Sister is the podcast to listen to if you’re interested in learning about the Indigenous American foods that have been swept under the rug for far too long. Host Andi Murphy, from the Navajo Nation, welcomes guests to speak about everything from working in a professional kitchen to seed banks to food-focused business summits for Indigenous women.
A comprehensive look at the world of Indigenous food and a podcast that’s vital to the current culinary conversation.
Where To Start:
The best place to start is episode 14 with two-time James Beard Award winner Sean Sherman, aka The Sioux Chef. The episode is an in-depth look at why Indigenous American food was nearly destroyed and takes you to the frontlines to meet the people bringing it back.
The second Disney+ show set in the Marvel universe has arrived, as Falcon And The Winter Soldier laid the groundwork for what will happen with the mantle of Captain America as the MCU enters Phase 4. But that’s far from the only Marvel show headed to the platform, and now we know that one of those shows has already earned a spinoff before it even hit the air.
Hawkeye is a show that fans of the Marvel comics are particularly excited about seeing brought to life. Though Jeremy Renner did an admirable job as the bow and arrow guy in the Avengers movies, that show will be a passing of the torch of sorts to Kate Bishop, who also holds the title in the comics and is a fan favorite in the comic run written by Matt Fraction. That series, which filmed in New York amid the pandemic in December, will introduce Hailee Steinfeld’s character to the MCU but it seems we’re in line for even more Hawkeye-adjacent content in the coming months.
Variety reported on Monday that we’re already in line for a Hawkeye spinoff, this time centered around a character called Echo.
A show centered on Echo, a deaf Native American character who will be played by Alaqua Cox in the “Hawkeye” series, is in the early stages of development for Disney Plus, Variety has learned exclusively from sources. Etan Cohen and Emily Cohen are attached to write and executive produce the show, with a writers’ room recently being assembled. Marvel Studios will produce.
Echo is an interesting character in the MCU. Real name Maya Lopez, she can copy another person’s movements and fight style. As Variety notes, the character has appeared in a number of Marvel properties over the years, and even had the name Ronin, which has already appeared in the MCU thanks to Renner’s Barton going goth in Avengers: Endgame. Whether that storyline is examined in either Hawkeye or the Echo spinoff is unclear, but it certainly makes sense that the character will be explored in the Hawkeye realm of the MCU.
In a rare move for the contentious The View co-host who often prides herself on not backing down from her conservative beliefs, Meghan McCain has apologized for her past comments supporting Donald Trump’s racist rhetoric towards the Asian community. The apology arrives less than 24 hours after McCain was called out by John Oliver on Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight. Oliver roasted McCain for tweeting “Stop Asian Hate” following the anti-Asian shooting in Atlanta despite the fact that, exactly a year ago, she said she was fine with the former president using such terms as the “Wuhan virus” or the “Chinese flu” to describe the coronavirus pandemic.
“Meghan condemns the reprehensible violence and vitriol that has been targeted towards the Asian American community,” McCain’s representative told EW in a statement. “There is no doubt Donald Trump’s racist rhetoric fueled many of these attacks and she apologizes for any past comments that aided that agenda.”
Prior to being called out by Oliver, McCain was already being dragged on social media following her “Stop Asian Hate” tweet as users unearthed video of The View host saying that using “PC-labeling” to challenge Trump’s “Wuhan virus” rhetoric is a “great way” to get him re-elected. “I don’t have a problem with people calling it whatever they want,” McCain said in an episode from March 18, 2020. “It’s a deadly virus that did originate in Wuhan.”
After replaying the McCain clip on his show, Oliver didn’t hold back with his thoughts. “Oh good! Meghan McCain doesn’t have a problem with it. Listen not to the scores of Asian Americans telling everyone that the term is dangerous and offensive. Instead, gather around and take the word of a wealthy white woman who’s dressed like she’s about to lay off 47 people over Zoom.”
Judging by McCain’s ultra-rare apology, clearly, his tactic worked.
In an effort to encourage Americans to get the COVID vaccine, Krispy Kreme rolled out a tasty incentive on Monday that is garnering some surprisingly angry reactions on social media. Starting today and until the end of the year, anyone who shows proof that they’ve received the vaccine can receive one free glazed doughnut. From Krispy Kreme‘s official website:
As the U.S. continues to scale COVID-19 vaccinations, Krispy Kreme wanted to find a way to show our support for those who are protecting themselves and other by getting vaccinated. Starting Monday, 3/22, anyone who shows their COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card will receive a free Original Glazed® doughnut.
Making the offer even sweeter is that the vaccinated can get a free doughnut every single day until the end of the year. According to the official rules, “Each individual guest who requests the COVID-19 offer will be limited to one (1) Original Glazed® doughnut per day, no purchased required.”
Given the severity of the pandemic, you’d just assume people would support most efforts to increase herd immunity via vaccination so that life can return to normal. Instead, “obesity” started to trend shortly after Krispy Kreme tweeted out the offer. Turns out folks are pretty angry at the idea of offering free doughnuts even in service in ending a contagious disease.
BREAKING: Krispy Kreme is offering all vaccinated people a daily free doughnut for all of 2021.
And, since obesity is a co-morbidity, you’ll be first in line to get vaccinated in the next pandemic.
Obesity is one of the primary factors that affects your response to COVID and these fuckers are giving away a donut a day if you’re vaccinated. Everything is so dumb. https://t.co/4j6i50VNFH
However, despite the number of detractors causing “obesity” to trend, others have been showing up to support the Krispy Kreme promotion and noting that the result will be a net positive as more people getting vaccinated is, obviously, a good thing in stopping the spread of a potentially deadly virus.
1 free Krispy Kreme donut at 190 calories is not going to cause obesity and therefore make you more at risk of dying of COVID.
It’s a good promotion. I’m all for positive reinforcement.
Despite the criticism I’m seeing online for this, one *delicious* #krispykreme donut doesn’t cause obesity and as far as I’m concerned, this is cute — thank you to Krispy Kreme for raising awareness around vaccines
Y’all, I highly encourage you to stay away from the obesity / Krispy Kreme stuff trending right now. Really horrible people showing their ass on this topic. (This tweet below sums it up.) https://t.co/gB8MdUa9pw
— A-mewsing Kat (she/her) (@MewsingsOfAKat) March 22, 2021
Krispy Kreme taking heat for offering a donut to those vaccinated cuz #obesity is a factor in Covid. I’m going out on a limb here: I’d rather see those WITH obesity GET vaxxed and indulge in one more donut. This is why we can’t have nice things. Everything is criticized. https://t.co/E83ENTlJor
Elgin Baylor, one of the NBA’s all-time greats who spent 14 seasons with the Lakers organization — two in Minneapolis and 12 in Los Angeles — died on Monday morning in Los Angeles at the age of 86. The Lakers released a statement announcing his passing, noting that he died of natural causes while surrounded by his family, with statements from Elaine Baylor and Jeanie Buss.
“Elgin was the love of my life and my best friend,” Elaine said. “And like everyone else, I was in awe of his immense courage, dignity and the time he gave to his fans. At this time we ask that I and our family be able to mourn his passing in privacy.”
“Elgin was THE superstar of his era — his many accolades speak to that,” Buss said. “He was one of the few Lakers players whose career spanned from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. But more importantly he was a man of great integrity, even serving his country as a U.S. Army reservist, often playing for the Lakers only during his weekend pass. He is one of the all-time Lakers greats with his No. 22 jersey retired in the rafters and his statue standing guard in front of the Staples Center. He will always be part of the Lakers legacy. On behalf of the entire Lakers family, I send my thoughts, prayers and condolences to Elaine and the Baylor family.
Baylor was one of the NBA’s great scorers of the 60s, averaging 27.4 points and 13.5 rebounds per game over the course of his 14 year career, the third highest points per game average of any player in NBA history. The 10-time All-NBA performer averaged 38.3 points and 18.6 rebounds per game in the 1961-62 season, his finest individual season, and his consistency and longevity as a scorer made him a Hall of Fame selection in 1977.
“Drivers License” has spent a lot of time at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this year, but its run is over now. Last week, Drake ended Olivia Rodrigo’s eight-week run on top with three songs in the top three spots, and yet again, there’s a new song at No. 1 this week. This time, on the Hot 100 chart dated March 27, Cardi B’s “Up” is up from its previous peak at No. 2 and has now taken the No. 1 spot for the first time.
“Up” is now Cardi’s fifth No. 1 hit, which extends her record for the most No. 1 songs by a female rapper. This also makes her the first female rapper with two No. 1 songs with no features on them (the first was “Bodak Yellow”). In the period between the week when “Bodak Yellow” went No. 1 in 2017 to now, Cardi is tied for the most No. 1 songs during that stretch, alongside Drake and Ariana Grande.
.@iamcardib‘s “Up” officially hits No. 1 on this week’s #Hot100 chart for the first time.
It earns Cardi B her 5th career No. 1 hit, helping extend her record for the most among female rappers.
Dating to her first week atop the #Hot100 (“Bodak Yellow” on Oct. 7, 2017), @iamcardib ties for the most No. 1s in the span since.@Drake and @ArianaGrande have also tallied five No. 1 songs since that date.
Another bit of trivia: “Up” is the second-shortest No. 1 song of all time in terms of song title length, with just two characters. The only No. 1 song shorter than it in name is Britney Spears’ “3.”
In terms of character length, @iamcardib‘s “Up” is the second-shortest No. 1 title of all time.@britneyspears‘ “3” has the shortest title among all No. 1 songs.
Cardi offered a quick reaction to the news, writing on Instagram, “I want God to come see me in my dreams when I take my nap today so I can kiss his feet and tell him how much I love him !!! Yoooooo sh*t is amazing yoooooo .I got no words .Actually I got a lot of words but I can’t type it all NUMBER 1!!!!!”
Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The NBA Trade Deadline is just a few days away, and last Wednesday brought the first dominoes to fall of a very interesting deadline, as PJ Tucker got sent from Houston to Milwaukee and Trevor Ariza was dealt from OKC to Miami. Following Thursday’s deadline, we’ll also see some players hit the buyout market, as there are some particularly interesting players like LaMarcus Aldridge and Andre Drummond who have big contracts that will be hard to trade and, it’s possible, each simply has to get bought out.
The Nets have already dipped their toes in the buyout game, landing Blake Griffin, and they might not be done chasing frontcourt depth to compliment their Big Three. The lack of a clear frontrunner at this moment makes for a very interesting deadline dynamic, as there are a number of teams that feel like they have a chance at a Finals run, but few if any feel particularly confident that their roster, as is, is a lock to make a Finals run.
As such, the next two weeks will likely see a lot of posturing and moves made by contenders, even if mostly seeking out depth rather than a major shakeup to their roster. We’ll take a look at the top teams in each conference and their biggest areas of need heading into the deadline and players they might be targeting, either in a trade or on the buyout market, starting with the three-team breakaway at the top of the Eastern Conference
EAST
Philadelphia 76ers: The Sixers made a lot of progress in terms of building a better roster this offseason, but Daryl Morey is always willing to make a move if he thinks it will make his team better. The two spots where I think they might look to add depth are with another perimeter creator/shooter and an upgrade at power forward. Of the top teams, they seem like the most likely to take a big swing, as there’s been plenty of rumbling — both reported and just guessing because of the Philly connection — that they could go after Kyle Lowry. Should they look not to shake up their starting lineup (or simply be unable to pry Lowry from Toronto), George Hill, Patty Mills, and Garrett Temple all could make some sense as a perimeter option to bolster their bench with a veteran. In the frontcourt, Thaddeus Young would be an incredible pickup for them (and, like, any contender) but I’m not sure if they have the package Chicago wants for a player who’s been so good for the Bulls in their own playoff push. Rudy Gay would also be a snug fit for what they need out of a bench power forward.
Brooklyn Nets: The Nets have made a ton of moves already this season and they likely aren’t done. Spencer Dinwiddie remains a valuable trade chip should they want to use him and their desire to get more frontcourt depth is well known. They took the low-risk chance on Griffin and they’ve seen some really good things out of Nic Claxton, but they want more. They’ll reportedly be in the buyout mix for Drummond but also could look for his Cavs teammate, JaVale McGee in a trade. I also think, sneakily, dealing Dinwiddie for Thaddeus Young would be a really good move for the Nets and would be a worthy use of Dinwiddie as an asset, as Young would be a major upgrade in the frontcourt that would bring them a lot of versatility and a different small-ball option from Jeff Green.
Milwaukee Bucks: The Bucks won’t have a lot of trade chips left to use after making the Tucker move, so anything they’d do at this point is going to be on the periphery. They could be in the mix for a center still, as while Tucker brings them frontcourt versatility, they do not have much insurance should something happen to Brook Lopez as far as a rim protecting big man. The dream scenario here is they can pry Richaun Holmes away from the Kings, because he’s a huge bargain and would be a great pickup for them. In a similar price range, but not quite as impactful, I’m still a fan of Nerlens Noel as a target for a contender that could use some rim protection in a pinch of the bench, as he’s likely not in the Knicks long-term plans. They also would happily add a Wayne Ellington type for some more bench shooting so they aren’t so reliant on Pat Connaughton come playoff time. The Bucks have also positioned themselves to be buyout players after moving off of a few roster spots in the Tucker trade, again likely for a center or another veteran guard now that they shipped DJ Augustin to Houston.
WEST
Utah Jazz: The Jazz are scuffling, but it might be a blessing in disguise. This is a team that still could use a little bit more and stalling out before the deadline, when you can make some adjustments, is better than doing so after. The Jazz could use another wing defender, and if New Orleans is selling, Josh Hart feels like a fairly snug fit into their 3-and-D group on the wing. I also would love the Thaddeus Young fit here, but whether they can meet what should be a steep asking price from Chicago is a different question. Young would give them a versatile defender in the frontcourt who can handle bigger wings, while providing them with more lineup versatility for the playoffs than Derrick Favors. Adding Ersan Ilyasova isn’t going to fix much for them, so I’d expect them to at least explore more frontcourt/wing help in the coming week.
Phoenix Suns: Phoenix has been really good this year and they swooped in to snag Torrey Craig for free in the Tucker deal, as they continue to collect long wings who can defend. There are two clear needs, most notably another center to backup Deandre Ayton and provide a little insurance on the nights where the second-year big man simply doesn’t have it. Aldridge to Phoenix feels almost too easy, but I also love this as a Holmes destination should they be willing to part with some assets via trade. They also might look for another veteran guard for their bench, as they have a lot of guys that haven’t quite earned the trust in the playoffs. Another Spur, Patty Mills, would make sense here as would any of the vet guards mentioned previously. They also could take a look at Aaron Gordon, a player they’ve been in talks for in the past and is once again on the trade block, particularly if they think they could use a talent bump to really contend with the top teams in the West as this year is worth going all-in on.
Los Angeles Lakers: Prior to the LeBron injury, I think the focus in Los Angeles was still on the periphery. Their desire to land frontcourt help is well known and they’re considered the frontrunners for Drummond, but I’m not 100 percent sure he’s what they need, as their issues are on offense not with defense or rebounding. Adding another shooter in, say, Wayne Ellington also made sense and still does, but it’ll be interesting to see if they look to make a bit of a bigger swing now that they might be without both of their top stars for a couple weeks. That’s not a reason to panic and make a rash trade, but it might push them to be a bit more aggressive in pursuing another playmaker who could carry some offensive load in the absence of LeBron and AD.
Now, any move they make is going to have to be with a playoff run alongside their two stars in mind, but while seeding isn’t all that important to L.A., they won’t want to slide too deep in the standings. Maybe they go see if Norman Powell could be had from Toronto, or possibly look into Eric Bledsoe in New Orleans or, and this seems far less likely, they poke around on Victor Oladipo. Their cap situation makes adding a $20 million guy very difficult without a major shakeup to the roster, but I think they’ll be at least a bit more interested in a bigger splash move now than they would have a week ago.
Los Angeles Clippers: Boy, the Clippers just look miserable right now, having not won back-to-back games in more than a month, and while part of that is just getting healthy, they really could use some point guard help. Insert just about any available lead guard and they’d be a welcome sight in L.A. George Hill, Patty Mills, bringing Eric Bledsoe back home, Delon Wright, or anyone else who is a competent would help them. One would think they’d be set on the wing with their two All-Stars plus Kennard, Morris, and Batum, but another frontcourt piece might not hurt them either and they’ll at least explore the buyout market. I still think they believe they don’t need a major move to be a top contender, and for that reason I don’t expect them to go chasing anyone major, but they have to address the backcourt situation this week.
Among many other things, the pandemic has uncovered previously-overlooked disparities in the music industry. Mainstream artists with already massive followings profited from livestreams and merch sales, while lockdowns left independent artists out of work and without many options. One band was particularly unlucky. After years of making a name for themselves through their wildly energetic live shows, Dogleg decided to finally record a full-length record. Their debut album, Melee, happened to be released on March 13, 2020 — the exact day that music venues across the country shuttered for over a year.
To their core, Dogleg is a DIY band: They live, play video games, eat pizza, and make music together as a group. Their sound has been assigned to a myriad of genres from garage rock to emo revival. But Dogleg perhaps put it best as they described their music in their Twitter bio as “punch-dancing out our rage.” As seen through their “Fox” video, their lightning-fast riffs are at home in damp basements where sweaty bodies thrash together in unison.
Before the pandemic swiftly transformed from a lingering anxiety into a real-life threat, Dogleg had their album release plans fully fleshed out — sweaty mosh pits included. They were slated to win over listeners at a handful of summer festivals and had booked a West Coast tour with Joyce Manor, hoping their raucous opening set would lead to a healthy following.
To Dogleg, playing shows is almost as important as their music itself. Sure, the band is happy to have racked up over 60,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, and that Melee was met with a handful of glowing reviews, but they’d much rather have their music come to life at a show. So how exactly can a band, who prides themselves on their spirited live shows, stay engaged with fans when they can’t play in front of a crowd?
The answer, according to Dogleg vocalist Alex Stoitsiadis, is that “it’s really really hard.” To suffice, Dogleg organized a livestream on the one-year anniversary of Melee’s release. It felt just about as close to a real show as possible: Dogleg brought such intensity to their performance that the entire band was drenched in sweat after just two songs, and fans continuously sounded off in the comments to offer up the occasional “hell yeah” and describe how they were moshing alone in their living room. The band even spent the first 20 minutes of their livestream loading in and noodling around on guitar, prompting one viewer to make the apt observation that it felt like, “punk time online.”
Ahead of the livestream, Stoitsiadis and Dogleg guitarist Parker Grissom sat down, pizza in hand, to talk about how the pandemic has affected their following.
Your album obviously got a bunch of good reviews. I’d say you still definitely broke out into the mainstream as a band. But do you feel as though you would have been bigger if you were able to tour this summer? If you were able to play Pitchfork Music Festival and tour with Joyce Manor?
Alex: (laughs) Yes. 100 percent yes. Again, the reviews are super, super nice. And I appreciate them for sure. But nothing beats playing for somebody that doesn’t know who you are, and then that’s how they learn to love you and get to know you.
Parker: It’s not even a cockiness thing of, ‘Oh, if we got to play for this person I know they’d love us.’ Any band gets more people to listen to them when they tour with a band that’s bigger than them. If we could have those audiences, 100 percent we’d have more listeners.
A: Yeah, because people that are going to see Joyce Manor probably don’t know who we are. So, if we can at least just show up and play, then they can at least see us and learn. That’s new fans immediately right there. And that’s way, way, way better than somebody on Spotify that just happens to stumble upon a song of ours, whether that happens or not because Spotify has got all the algorithms — so that’s not super likely. It’s just way more impactful with the live audience.
Alex, I read in an interview that you are very sensitive to criticism. But all things considered, it seems like the album got a fair amount of good critical reception, like a review in Pitchfork, NPR, Billboard, obviously Uproxx. Did you feel like you could finally take a deep breath after all of the positive reviews started rolling in?
A: Honestly, no, because I am just always trying to keep one-upping myself and keep doing things even better than before. Even now, I’m thinking, ‘Alright, these songs are kind of old to me now.’ And I definitely want to start looking at making new songs and what that’s going to be like, and that’s exciting. And I always still go online and see what people are saying. Sometimes, you get the occasional person that’s like, ‘This isn’t that good.’ And I’ll feel bad about it for like an hour. I try not to put too much stock into, ‘Pitchfork said we’re really good, so I can stop now.’ No, Pitchfork is saying we’re good and now we have to prove it. We have to make it even better next time.
You’re using that as motivation.
A: Yes, especially when it’s all online. Because we’re all sitting here thinking they don’t even know the other half of it. They don’t even know the live shows, yet. They just know the recordings of the live shows. So when they can actually go to a show, that’s when they’ll get the full experience. And it’ll be even more impactful than just that nice review.
Speaking of that, I know that you guys have this mantra where you say 50 percent of you is your recorded music, and then the other half is the experience of seeing you guys at a live show. But since you can’t have live shows right now, has that shifted your perception of yourself as a band?
P: I think what we’ve been saying still stands true. If anything, we’ve been anxious to prove that. With the album coming out, we have more people listening than ever — by a very large margin — and we don’t have the opportunity to show them our other 50 percent. So I think it’s definitely an anxiety to prove it.
A: Yeah, absolutely. That’s one thing with all the good reviews and everything that I was seeing. I’m like, this is without even seeing us play live. And normally, when we get new fans, it’s because we play so good live that people are like, ‘Who are you? What is this?’ That’s how they get into us. So it’s this opposite direction that they’re taking now. So we’re like, alright, when we come back, we’re going to show them that we’ve been practicing, we can bring it live and that it’s going to be even more impactful.
I remember back when lockdown started, I was one of the many people who was of the mindset of, ‘This is only gonna last for a few weeks. We’re gonna all be at home for a few weeks, and then everything’s going to go back to ‘normal.” Do you guys remember, specifically, when you finally accepted that Dogleg actually had to cancel the tour and couldn’t play shows for a while?
A: Well, SXSW got canceled first. Before it got officially canceled, I remember, one or two days before, we were deciding how we should try to drive down there and do a little mini tour. Then, a week or so later, it was just the official statement from the city that said it was shut down — we can’t do it. And I think at that point, we were all just like, ‘Oh, that is that.’ Once the city started making official statements, it was just really like, this is serious.
P: We had some shows planned throughout the summer as well, so I held out hope for a while. Probably until late April, early May. I was like, maybe we’ll stick with those summer shows and festivals, but it was also around that time that I accepted it.
Before you guys canceled your shows, were you playing some of the songs from your album on tour? Or were you saving them until the album was released?
A: We actually have been playing those songs live for a year and a half. Our thing is that when we need a new song, we usually like to play it live in front of people a lot. We can really tighten it up that way and learn new and different parts to it by playing it — noticing, oh, the crowd is reacting this way, so we’re gonna play it this way. We just have a different synergy when we play that way. So we’ve been working on that for a while and just kind of had those songs fresh in people’s minds, even though the album wasn’t out yet. At least for local fans.
Well, that’s good that at least some people got to hear them. That’s interesting what you said, though, about how you like to try out songs in front of a live audience before you decide to go ahead with it. Have you been writing music this past year? And how is that changed, since you can’t really play it in front of people.
A: We’re trying to write new stuff, but it’s really really hard. We’re all just kind of still waiting to actually tour on what we made. And right now, I’m coming up with ideas, but they’re just ideas. There’s nothing really like concrete. Because without being able to show off what you made, it feels weird to just start making something new. We’re trying, I guess. You know?
P: We were playing a show a week for so long. That was a huge part of not only keeping an agenda to keep meeting up and hanging out, but also we were constantly playing music, so it would just come out naturally.
A: Yeah, it was basically just like practice.
The last time you guys talked to Uproxx, your album had been out for about a month and it had almost surpassed a million streams. But now a year later, you guys have two songs with almost a million streams themselves. How have you as a band been able to stay engaged with fans and keep pushing your music 100 percent online?
A: Before all this, we were definitely all about playing as many shows as possible, because we didn’t really know how to do the online thing. We had friends that were really good at being online bands. But our thing was just like, we just play more shows, and then more people notice us. So we’ve had to do a complete 180 when this all happened, and transition into being like them and being an online band. So we were all about what we could make that’s cool that still flexes our talents without necessarily having it be new music. So we were like, let’s try to make cool music videos, let’s try and keep replying to people online and show them that we’re still here, make cool new merch — just enough to kind of stretch out through however long this is gonna last — and show that we’re not dead. We’re not just waiting.
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