Category: News

A good bottle of Irish whiskey never has to break the bank. The triple distilled tipple from the Emerald Isle skews very affordable. That’s not to say there aren’t expensive Irish whiskeys on the shelf. But the fact that you can find very tasty Irish whiskey without laying out a ton of cash is a feature of the style.

As with all whiskey (and aged spirits), there are distinct tells between the younger, cheaper stuff and the older, more expensive bottles. But when it comes to Irish whiskey, that gap grows a little narrower. Whereas young Irish whiskeys are fruity, floral, grainy, and very light, the older expressions are often nuttier (with hints of leather and oak), while still managing to maintain much of that lightness.

To help break down the intrinsic differences between the cheap stuff and the spendier expressions, we thought we’d do a blind tasting. We selected five cheap Irish whiskeys in the $16 to $30 range and three in the $70 to $90 range. At least that’s what my tasting partner who set this experiment up did. He told me it was “four cheap bottles and four expensive ones” like we’d done before, as a trick. It worked.

Read on to see how I got fooled and maybe one of these picks piques your interest for a little holiday sipping!

Part I: The Blind Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

This is very fruity and floral with a clean graininess. It’s thin but still carries a nice dose of vanilla and butter on bread. It’s warm on the end but not necessarily spicy.

Bottom Line:

This tastes like a mixer. Likely Jameson or Bushmills. I’m calling it cheap.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

This is a dram! Orange oils mingle with dry straw, dark berries, Bananas Foster, creamy vanilla, and a nice spice. That spice is interesting — it leads towards a bitterness that’s almost like… coffee cut with egg nog. That could just be that I’ve been mainlining egg nog recently, but the coffee/creamy/spicy matrix is there with a hint of old wood.

Bottom Line:

You can see from the color of this that it’s well-aged and spendy. The deep taste and svelte texture confirm as much.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

This is honey-sweet. There are clear signs of grain, citrus, and … pear? It’s really sweet and malty with a slight warmth on the very end.

Bottom Line:

This is light, super easy to drink, and likely very affordable.

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

Not as sweet as the last dram but still very fruity, grainy, apple-y, and citrus-y. There’s a bit more of a floral edge alongside a slight nuttiness far in the background. The end is a bit like a sweet spicy baked apple next to dried flowers.

Bottom Line:

This isn’t bold enough to be that old. It’s still thin-ish but that nutty-floral note reminds me of Jameson, so I’m going cheap.

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

Sweet orchard fruits meet grains, vanilla, toffee, and some butter on crusty bread. It’s sweet but not cloyingly so. There’s a candied orange feel, which is nice.

Bottom Line:

This is Tullamore D.E.W. I’d recognize it anywhere. It’s cheap but tasty.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

Damn fine from the top with leathery oak next to dark cherries, Christmas spices, and rich toffee. The fruit, vanilla, spice, and Christmas cake aspects all marry wonderfully.

Bottom Line:

This is really, really easy to drink with a lot of boldness. I’m going expensive.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

This is fruity, nutty, oaky, and full of mild spiciness. The taste takes a turn into toasted coconut territory with a hint of dark chocolate, which is appealing. It’s super velvety with a long, warming finish that touches on that old oak vividly.

Bottom Line:

This is nice, expensive, and a damn fine dram.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

Fresh ginger spice meets savory herbs next to a mix of banana, buttered toast dusted with sugar and cinnamon, and sharper spices. There’s a woodiness to the sip that lasts as it fades through the fruit, creamy butter, and spice.

Bottom Line:

This is too unique not to be something special. I’m going with expensive.

Part 2: The Answers

Bushmills White Label

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $16

The Whiskey:

Northern Ireland’s Bushmills is a classic. Their entry point whiskey is a blend of triple distilled malted barley and grain whiskeys that are aged in ex-bourbon until ready for blending, proofing, and bottling.

Redbreast 15

ABV: 46%
Average Price: $80

The Whiskey:

This whiskey from Irish Distillers down in County Cork’s Midleton Distillery is a bit of a masterpiece. The juice is a single pot still whiskey which has a mash bill of unmalted and malted barley. The hot whiskey is then aged in a combination of ex-sherry and ex-bourbon casks for 15 years before blending, proofing, and bottling. The end product is unfiltered, allowing the barrels to really shine through in the sip.

Powers Gold Label

ABV: 43.2%
Average Price: $29

The Whiskey:

This is another great entry-point Irish whiskey — both to the style and Powers’ wider range of expressions. The juice is a blend of triple distilled grain and malt whiskeys that are proofed and bottled down at the Midleton Distillery in County Cork.

Jameson Caskmates IPA Edition

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $26

The Whiskey:

Jameson has been trading barrels with craft breweries down in County Cork for decades. Over the last few years, they’ve been taking those barrels back to age their whiskey in them, creating the Caskmates line. This expression is aged like a regular Jameson and then spends some additional time in old IPA barrels to add a little more depth to the whiskey.

Tullamore D.E.W.

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $19

The Whiskey:

Tullamore D.E.W. is an entry-point expression that blends single malt, single grain, and single pot still whiskeys that are aged in both ex-sherry and ex-bourbon casks. The end result is one of the easiest drinking Irish whiskeys on the market.

Powers John’s Lane

ABV: 46%
Average Price: $70

The Whiskey:

This 12-year-old whiskey is made from a single pot still mash bill (unmalted and malted barley) that’s aged mostly in ex-bourbon barrels. The age of this whiskey helps it shine brightly as a big step up from Powers’ already very drinkable Gold Label.

Jameson Black Barrel

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $30

The Whiskey:

This beloved bottle from Jameson is a mix of single grain and single pot still whiskeys that are aged in ex-sherry and ex-bourbon for anywhere from eight to 16 years. The juice is then transferred to a double charred ex-bourbon cask for a final rest before bottling.

Method & Madness Singel Pot Still

ABV: 46%
Average Price: $90

The Whiskey:

This line from the “experimental” division of Midleton Distillery is a hell of a whiskey. The juice is single grain and single pot whiskeys that are aged in ex-sherry and ex-bourbon. Then the juice is married and moved into Fresh chestnut casks for a final maturation spell. The result is as interesting as it is tasty.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

Well, I was sort of tricked into thinking a Jameson was an expensive whiskey. I look at it this way: Jameson Black Barrel is actually good. It has serious depth, dialed-in flavors and textures, and tastes like it’s got some age under it. It’s crazy that it’s only $30 a bottle. You could stand that up to any $50 or $60 bourbon and not know it’s half the price. Still… I got that one wrong.

Otherwise, if I had to rank these by which I want to drink again immediately, it’d go something like this:

8. Jameson Caskmates IPA Editon
7. Bushmills White Label
6. Power’s Gold Label
5. Tullamore D.E.W.
4. Method & Madness Chestnut Cask
3. Powers John’s Lane
2. Jameson Black Barrel (you just can’t help but notice that price)
1. Redbreast 15

That Jameson IPA just doesn’t do it for me. It’s not that there’s anything off-putting about it, it just not my vibe. That Redbreast 15, on the other hand, is going to be empty well before 2021 rolls around.

When Hillary Clinton conceded the presidential election to Donald Trump in 2016, she called to congratulate him on his win, and “offered to work with him on behalf of our country. I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans.” Trump took a — let’s say — different route in conceding (“conceding”) to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Trump is desperately clinging to the belief that he will remain president for the next four years by refusing to officially acknowledge that Biden won the election. It’s a real “if you can’t see it, it doesn’t exist” strategy, something something fraud. But on Friday morning, he tweeted, “Now that the Biden Administration will be a scandal plagued mess for years to come, it is much easier for the Supreme Court of the United States to follow the Constitution and do what everybody knows has to be done. They must show great Courage & Wisdom. Save the USA!!!” It’s not your typical concession, what with the pleading for the Supreme Court to step in and somehow keep him in the White House, but hey, at least he finally called it “the Biden Administration.” He wasn’t done, however. He never is.

“The Swine Flu (H1N1), and the attempt for a vaccine by the Obama Administration, with Joe Biden in charge, was a complete and total disaster. Now they want to come in and take over one of the ‘greatest and fastest medical miracles in modern day history.’ I don’t think so!” he tweeted, while also calling the Food and Drug Administration a “big, old, slow turtle.” Then came a tweet that’s depressing in context, and hilarious out of context (this is true for the Trump administration, come to think of it). He’s not okay (I promise).

Someone’s feeling emo(tional) today. Must be the new Taylor Swift album.

Lil Nas X is really going all-in on his Santa Nas X persona. Last night, he brought his naughty Christmas character to The Tonight Show, where he and host Jimmy Fallon dueted for “Santa Vs. Santa Nas X.” While Fallon’s more traditional Saint Nick rhymes about candy and toys, Nas’ version is a bit more risque, putting more emphasis on the “ho ho hoes” and his designer outfit. A nice touch is how Fallon raps in a squeaky-clean old-school flow — meaning 1980s not early 2000s — while Nas peppers his verses with more contemporary flourishes and plenty of bleeped-out curse words.

“Santa Vs. Santa Nas X” builds on the momentum of Nas’ new single “Holiday” and its video, in which he plays a twisted, tinsel version of Kris Kringle in a factory churning out Lil Nas X-themed toys. He’s appeared as the alter ego for a couple of appearances, including the promo for Amazon’s Holiday Plays concert series where he gives Miley Cyrus advice, and on Ellen, where he answered questions about his celebrity crushes in the glittery getup.

Nas appears to be having a lot of fun playing this new character after seemingly exhausting himself of his cowboy-themed “Old Town Road” promo, but with the New Year right around the corner, this one’s got a built-in expiration date so he can avoid that problem this time around. Until then, enjoy Lil Nas X as Santa and keep looking forward to whatever outlandish thing he does next.

Watch the “Santa Vs. Santa Nas X” video above.

During Disney’s massive number of announcements during its Investor Day event, Marvel studio head Kevin Feige took a moment to honor the late Chadwick Boseman and confirm to fans that the studio will not be recast the actor’s iconic Black Panther role. While a sequel to the Oscar-winning blockbuster is in the works, Feige made it clear that Marvel will honor Boseman by not trying to fill the role with another actor or a CGI double. Via Deadline:

“Chadwick Boseman was an immensely talented actor and an inspirational individual who affected all of our lives professionally and personally. His portrayal of T’Challa the Black Panther is iconic and transcends iteration of the character in any other medium from Marvel’s past.”

Feige continued, “To honor the legacy that Chad helped us build through his portrayal of the king of Wakanda, we want to continue to explore the world of Wakanda and all of the rich and varied characters introduced in the first film.”

Like all things Marvel, the details of Black Panther 2 are currently under wraps, but we do know that writer and director Ryan Coogler will be returning. Following the news of Boseman’s passing, Marvel fans expect Letitia Wright’s Shuri to take on the mantle of the Black Panther, which would mirror the events of the comics. However, Wright recently found herself in the middle of a social media conspiracy after tweeting a conspiracy theory video that discouraged people from taking the COVID-19 vaccine and also contained transphobic remarks. She has since deleted her Twitter and Instagram accounts.

(Via Deadline)

It’s the holiday season right now, but for the past couple days, visions of sugarplums have been de-prioritized in favor of Taylor Swift season. She unexpectedly released a new album, Evermore, today, and people online, to use a modern expression, can’t even. Right when the album dropped, Swift decided to share a note with fans, in which she revealed the meanings of some of the album’s songs.

After the release of Evermore, Swift shared a statement about the album, a lot of which echoes the one she previously shared, sometimes word for word. There’s one new paragraph, though, in which she discusses the meaning behind Evermore songs like “Marjorie” and “Dorothea,” writing:

“Before I knew it there were 17 tales, some of which are mirrored or intersecting with one another. The one about two young con artists who fall in love while hanging out at fancy resorts trying to score rich romantic beneficiaries. The one where longtime college sweethearts had very different plans for the same night, one to end it and one who brought a ring. Dorothea, the girl who left her small town to chase down Hollywood dreams — and what happens when she comes back for the holidays and rediscovers an old flame. The ‘unhappily ever after’ anthology of marriages gone bad that includes infidelity, ambivalent toleration, and even murder. The most righteous motive, to avenge the fallen. The realization that maybe the only path to healing is to wish happiness on the one who took it away from you. One starring my grandmother, Marjorie, who still visits me sometimes… if only in my dreams.”

Find Swift’s full statement below.

“To put it plainly, we just couldn’t stop writing songs. To try and put it more poetically, it feels like we were standing on the edge of the folklorian woods and had a choice: to turn and go back or to travel further into the forest of this music. We chose to wander deeper in and my collaborators and I are proud to announce that my 9th studio album and folklore’s sister record is here. It’s called evermore.

I’ve never done this before. In the past I’ve always treated albums as one-off eras and moved onto planning the next one as soon as an album was released. There was something different with folklore. In making it, I felt less like I was departing and more like I was returning. I loved the escapism I found in these imaginary/not imaginary tales. I loved the ways you welcomed the dreamscapes and tragedies and epic tales of love lost and found. So I just kept writing them. And I loved creating these songs with Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff, WB, and Justin Vernon. We’ve also welcomed some new (and longtime) friends to our musical kitchen table this time around…

Before I knew it there were 17 tales, some of which are mirrored or intersecting with one another. The one about two young con artists who fall in love while hanging out at fancy resorts trying to score rich romantic beneficiaries. The one where longtime college sweethearts had very different plans for the same night, one to end it and one who brought a ring. Dorothea, the girl who left her small town to chase down Hollywood dreams — and what happens when she comes back for the holidays and rediscovers an old flame. The ‘unhappily ever after’ anthology of marriages gone bad that includes infidelity, ambivalent toleration, and even murder. The most righteous motive, to avenge the fallen. The realization that maybe the only path to healing is to wish happiness on the one who took it away from you. One starring my grandmother, Marjorie, who still visits me sometimes… if only in my dreams.

I wanted to surprise you with this the week of my 31st birthday. You’ve all been so caring, supportive and thoughtful on my birthdays and so this time I wanted to give you something! I also know this holiday season will be a lonely one for most of us and if there are any of you out there who turn to music to cope with missing loved ones the way I do, this is for you.

I have no idea what will come next. I have no idea about a lot of things these days and so I’ve clung to the one thing that keeps me connected to you all. That thing always has and always will be music.

And may it continue, evermore.”

Evermore is out now via Republic. Get it here.

Let’s get nerdy. Like a TIE Bomber full of Star Wars goodness, Disney used its investor call on Thursday to announce a massive wave of new movies and series set in the galaxy far, far away. Some were expected, while others contained huge surprises like the return of Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader and Patty Jenkins becoming the first woman to direct a Star Wars film. To keep it all straight, here’s a quick rundown of the eight Disney+ series and three films that will be arriving over the next few years.

DISNEY+ SERIES

Ahsoka: While a live-action series starring Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano has been rumored for a while, especially after her well-received debut on The Mandalorian, Disney has officially confirmed that the fan-favorite character will be starring in her own adventure.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: After a brief production delay stemming from concerns over the script, Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi series is not only happening, but Hayden Christensen will be reprising the role of Darth Vader as the two classic characters collide for an epic rematch following the events of Revenge of the Sith.

Andor: A Rogue One prequel series focusing on Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor has been steadily chugging along, and now, it has a teaser along with a release date of 2022.

Star Wars: Acolyte:Russian Doll creator Leslyle Headland has been teasing a female-centric Star Wars series for a while, and here’s its official title, along with the surprising news that it will be set during the High Republic, 100 years before the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

Lando: A solo series starring Lando was definitely one of the huge surprises, and something fans have been hoping for after Donald Glover‘s performance in Solo. However, it should be noted the actor isn’t officially attached to the project. Yet.

Rangers of the New Republic: Much like Ahsoka, this new spinoff will be set during the timeline of The Mandalorian and produced by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni. This was another surprise announcement and there’s not much in the way of details. For now, there are just theories that this is the rumored spinoff series starring Gina Carano‘s Cara Dune. Although, she’s currently in hot water for Star Wars fans over a series of controversial tweets.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Based on characters introduced in the final season of The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch will focus on a team of “enhanced” clone troopers as they navigate the fall of the Republic and a world where their brothers murdered the Jedi to bring about the rise of the Galactic Empire.

Star Wars: Visions: Clearly, this fusion of Star Wars and anime has been secretly in the works for a while because it will be debuting sometime in 2021. Again, not a whole of details, but the concept sounds like it should go over well with fans.

FILMS

Rogue Squadron: Easily one of the biggest surprises, if not the biggest, is the news that Wonder Woman director will helm the new Star Wars movies Rogue Squadron. The elite pilot squadron has been featured in several novels and games since the ’90s, so fans are definitely pumped for this one.

A Droid Story: Think Pixar meets R2-D2 and C-3PO, and you’ll have a pretty good idea what to expect from this interesting new announcement.

Untitled Taika Waititi Movie: And, finally, Disney wants you to know that Taika Waititi is still making his Star Wars movie. In case you were worried.

(Via Star Wars on Twitter)

Megan Thee Stallion has been knocking her late-night performances out of the park since blowing up with “Big Ole Freak” last year and last night was no exception. The Houston Hottie remains undefeated when it comes to late-night television performances, bringing a medley of her hits “Body” and “Savage Remix” to the stage of The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Dressed in a sexy majorette uniform and flanked by a massive team of dancers, Megan takes over a sports arena for a flashy and elaborate performance that displays not only her gift for showmanship, but also her physical fitness. Beginning in the bleachers and finishing on the field, Megan and her dancers run through some high-speed complex choreography that should honestly put all these male rappers to shame. If y’all don’t come with some choreo in 2021, just give the game to the girls entirely because nobody wants to see y’all huffing and puffing in one spot standing still barely rapping when the women in hip-hop are pulling entire cheer routines while spittin every bar unassisted. And that’s on period.

Watch Megan’s Late Late Show performance of “Savage Remix” and “Body” above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lily Cornell Silver hadn’t been in lockdown long when she realized her mental health was starting to deteriorate. It came upon her as a spike in her anxiety and depression brought on by the same thing everyone was experiencing: isolation and the novel coronavirus threat. It didn’t take long for Cornell Silver to realize she wasn’t alone. It is a shared traumatic event through which nearly everyone is struggling.

After the first wave of COVID-19 died down, the CDC released data on how Americans were coping, and all was not well. Adults reported elevated adverse mental health conditions, including increased substance abuse and suicidal ideation, disproportionately affecting young adults, racial and ethnic minorities, essential workers, and unpaid adult caregivers.

While this disease traveled invisibly in the air, it was clear to Cornell Silver that many people needed a space to grapple with having their lives turned upside down and their fraying mental states. So, she decided to make that space.

“I wanted to talk about it in an interview setting and not just in a podcast,” she tells UPROXX over the phone. “I wanted to talk about it where you could see people’s faces. Especially in a time when people need human contact.” That’s how Cornell Silver came to create and host Mind Wide Open, an IGTV interview series focused on mental health in which she talks to musicians, artists, and mental health experts about everything. It touches on what we’re going through now, how to create art in a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, and demystifies more significant questions about mental health through matter-of-fact conversations that detail lived experiences.

When Cornell Silver started feeling out of whack, she was dealing with more than just the pandemic. The third anniversary of the death of her father, Chris Cornell, was in May. Mind Wide Open launched in July, on what would have been his birthday. Cornell Silver is diagnosed with depression and PTSD and struggles with grief. She has spoken out publicly about sharing some of the same struggles as him/ Being the facilitator of this conversation has cost her something most take for granted: privacy.

“My situation is unique in the sense that my grief and a lot of my mental health struggles are public without me intending them to be public,” she explains. “I’ll enter spaces where I don’t know people, and they will know about my biggest trauma before they’ve met me.”

Talking about it became something Cornell Silver is used to, thanks in part to her mom and Alice in Chains’ longtime manager, Susan Silver. Cornell Silver notes that her mom put her in therapy starting at age seven, and she credits her ongoing treatment by giving her the vocabulary to talk about her experiences and make sense of them. Her connections via her parents into the world of music have helped her land guests who are longtime family friends, including Eddie Vedder and Duff McKagan. A lifetime of hearing from her father’s fans about how his music saved their lives has impressed upon her that there is a close relationship between music and mental health. She sees the intergenerational conversation happen through her viewers, who frequently tell her that her show episodes have opened a dialog with their parents.

“There is a benefit in seeing people you admire talk about how they struggle with depression, how they struggle to get out of bed in the morning. I feel that way when Billie Eilish talks about mental health,” she says. “I wanted to have people like Eddie and Duff come on the show so that people could see a rock god they grew up with struggling with the same thing.”

According to Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, Founder and Director of the Trauma Stewardship Institute and a guest on Mind Wide Open, having this conversation at all is an essential step in our current climate. And having it with someone working through their trauma is a helpful tool for destigmatizing mental health conversation.

“One of the things that is precarious about trauma is when we get isolated,” van Dernoot Lipsky explains. “Part of what’s powerful when talking about [trauma], particularly when it’s not theoretical but from someone who has the lived experience, is that it can interrupt the isolation, so many people feel. Any time we have folks who are willing to be courageous, find the wherewithal to talk about it, and make themselves vulnerable while still being self-respecting, it can mean so much to others.”

For Cornell Silver, having access to therapy has helped her understand and manage her symptoms, but articulating them has been the most impactful result. One of the biggest misconceptions she would warn people about in therapy is that there will be an immediate impact. For her, it took until she was about 16 to find a therapist with whom she resonated. “If you go to therapy and it isn’t immediately helpful, don’t be discouraged at all,” she cautions.

The trauma of oppression and racial inequity came to the forefront of discourse just before Mind Wide Open launched, with the death of George Floyd and the nationwide protests that followed. For Cornell Silver, the intention was always to make conversations around mental health intersectional and to discuss getting access to resources, like therapy, that can be game-changers for those struggling — but also challenging and expensive to access. After the protests, Mind Wide Open wove in conversations about the trauma of being a minority community in America.

Whatever stage of grief individual protesters were in, it showed that collectively many Americans are not at a place of acceptance of the mistreatment and dehumanization of BIPOC, and the Black community in particular, and marginalized communities. It was a second national trauma, making itself felt through mass action. In conversation with David Kessler, author of Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage Of Grief, came a discussion of the protests’ meaning. Kessler, who co-authored mentee Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s groundbreaking book on the five stages of grief, posited that what we were witnessing was mass grieving. For some, it was an expression of justified anger while others were demonstrating in Kessler’s proposed sixth stage, attempting to find meaning in the wake of their grief.

Cornell Silver says that conversation was among the most memorable for her. “The last stage of grief in the five stages is acceptance. I don’t feel like I’ve come to that place [with my father’s death], and I think a lot of people when they lose their loved ones don’t come to a place where they accept it,” she explains. “You still feel the need to do something, and you’re still actively grieving.”

In Cornell Silver’s opinion, the best thing to come out of the series is the stories from people who have facilitated conversations. “I’ve had quite a few people write and say, I watched this with my dad, with my kids, my friend, my significant other, and it opened up a conversation for us to talk about things we’ve never talked about before. That’s all I could hope for.”

Talking about it and destigmatizing it is an expression of kindness, agrees Marc Brackett, Ph.D. He is the Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and another of Lily’s expert guests. He notes that expressing inner vulnerability is a crucial component of what makes Cornell Silver’s conversations impactful. The audience is watching her talk about her traumas and struggles in a relaxed setting, making it okay for them to have those same conversations.

The thing Brackett hopes her audience takes away from the series is the sense that they can define their reality. “You’re too fat, you’re too skinny, you’re too tall, you’re too short, you’re too dark, you’re too light. Unfortunately, when you’re told these things without any helpful intervention, you start believing them,” he says.

The key to kindly talking to others about mental health, he suggests, may lie in educating people, especially children, about the messages they’re getting.

“To me, that’s one of the number one strategies: monitoring your negative self news, monitoring your self-criticism, and finding a way to be empathic to yourself and more self-compassionate.”

Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon III arrived overnight as promised, bringing with it his intriguing collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers and the music video for “She Knows This.” Presented as a short film, the video finds Cudi overlooking magnificent view from the balcony of a Hollywood Hills house before going inside to watch Pursuit Of Happyness (a clever call back to the first Man On The Moon). Suddenly, Will Smith’s voice switches from the movies’ dialogue to a personal address; Smith tells Cudi to “get off that couch and go pursue your destiny.”

Agreeing with the rap veteran, Cudi launches into the song as he stumbles around the living room, drinking, smoking, and yes, humming his way through the performance with a red full moon hanging in the background. Cudi then gets behind the wheel of a sports car to tear down the mountainside — not recommended under ANY circumstances, kids — before being chased by a cop cruiser and careening off a cliff. See? Don’t drink and drive. The video ends on a smash to black with a “To Be Continued” title card, which any millennial can tell you is a red herring. Rappers never actually get around to continuing their videos.

Watch the “She Knows This” mini-movie above.

Man On The Moon III: The Chosen is out now on Republic Records. Get it here.

A couple decades ago, Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys were two of the biggest acts not just in music, but in entertainment overall. In 1999, Backstreet Boys had their first No. 1 album with Millennium, and Spears’ debut, …Baby One More Time, also topped the charts that year. Now, the two acts have brought a dose of the late ’90s/early ’00s to a year when people want to be in any time but now, as they have collaborated on a new song, “Matches.”

The track arrives on a new deluxe edition of Spears’ 2016 album Glory and it’s a rock-solid bit of thumping pop. Lyrically, the song is about an exciting romance, with the Boys singing, “Oh, if they dusted me for prints / They’d find you all over me / All you all over me / Nothing ever quite felt like this / Our fire is killing me / The good kind of killing me.” Dua Lipa collaborator Ian Kirkpatrick is one of the song’s producers, and he’s also a co-writer on it alongside frequent pop star collaborator Justin Tranter.

Listen to “Matches” above.

Glory (Deluxe) is out now via RCA. Get it here.

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