The Miami Heat are coming off their best season since LeBron James’ departure in 2015. They were something of a sleeper pick to come out of the East last season for those who weren’t paying close enough attention, which the Bucks can certainly consider themselves among those ranks after getting stunned by Miami in the second round.
Jimmy Butler was phenomenal for them, and their up-and-coming stars Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro tested their mettle in the postseason and proved that they’re part of the core group for the Heat moving forward. For several other players in the roster, their future wasn’t so certain.
Veteran point guard Goran Dragic, for instance, was set to enter free agency, and until Friday, it wasn’t clear whether the two sides would be able to agree on deal, but as it turns out, Dragic was one of the first chips to fall when the moratorium period opened at 6 p.m. ET, announcing that he was returning to Miami on a two-year, $37.4 million deal — the second year is, reportedly, a team option.
Free agent Goran Dragic has agreed to a two-year, $37.4M deal to re-sign with the Miami Heat, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA@Stadium.
Dragic says he wants to finish what the Heat started, as their championship run was ultimately derailed by untimely injuries to both himself and Adebayo. With their core unit back in two, Miami will certainly be among the favorites to win the East again, provided they can stay healthy and build on the chemistry they created last season.
Summer Walker was the source of some pregnancy rumors earlier this month when the ex girlfriend of her on-again-off-again partner London On Da Track alleged that the singer was pregnant with his child. Walker was quick to quell the reports by saying she was simply bloated in recent photos. But despite her previous denial, Walker has now seemingly confirmed with a glowing photo that she is, in fact, expecting.
Revealing the exciting news in a vague post on Instagram, the singer shared a photo of herself grinning while delicately holding her baby bump.
Ahead of the exciting announcement, Walker was recently joined by Jhene Aiko and Teyana Taylor in calling out certain issues in the music industry by saying a lot of today’s pop music is really just R&B. Taylor said, “If an actual R&B singer sang what the pop artist sang, would the R&B singer get the same exposure?” Walker agreed, “Pop gets all the credit, for sure. We’re cute over here when they want to be in their feelings. But when it’s time to get to the money, it’s all about pop.” Walker continued to say that the double standard “irritates me a little when it comes to radio. It seems the only songs from me that do super good on the radio are those that are more upbeat.”
See Summer Walker’s heartwarming pregnancy announcement above.
“We are all realizing that the past systems of obtaining food don’t really hold up during a global pandemic,” says urban gardener, educator, and forager Indy Srinath. “What I hope for people — and what I think people are finding out now — is that they can provide food for themselves, and it can bring a real sense of joy and help them realize they’re capable of a lot more than they previously thought they were.”
To put it quite simply, Srinath is on a mission to change the way we feed and see ourselves. No, she’s not pushing some new-fangled diet, she’s simply trying to get people more involved in the process of food sourcing as a way to build resilience, self-sufficiency, and community.
“I think that in growing your own food, trading your food with your community, and sharing your crops, you’re helping to strengthen the resilience and create permanency in the area where you live,” she says. “If you have a backyard that doesn’t have anything growing in it aside from grass you don’t have much permanency there. Once you start planting seeds and planning for a food future then you’re creating a community that has value and that strengthens your ties with other community members.”
Indy Srinath
Srinath knows all about what it takes to build a community. Whether we’re talking about the urban garden she manages in Asheville, North Carolina, the many gardens she’s helped set up in other cities around the nation, or the online audience she’s built thanks to her keen eye for beautiful photography and deft ability to educate, she is committed to sharing her life experiences with anyone eager to learn.
“I always just wanted to be an example of what I needed when I was growing up,” she says. “I didn’t have a lot of people that I felt represented how I looked or my demographic to learn from.”
So Srinath became that person. Through her online and in-person teaching efforts and the resources she shares with her audience, she is quickly becoming representative of a new wave of young, positive-minded people who are trying to make the world a better and more equitable place.
“I just want young women of color to feel like they have a teacher,” she says. “Someone who is willing to readily share their experience with them.”
The first part of this mission is to teach others that urban farming, gardening, and foraging doesn’t have to be as difficult as it sounds.
“It’s really important to know that you can start small and start locally. Find out what foods are in season and what you can plant at the moment, given your geographical area. You don’t need to have a ton of land access in order to grow a lot of food. You can grow food in a windowsill, you can grow food on balconies, or — like a lot of the work I do with folks who don’t even have access to a house — you can grow food outside of a tent, right on the sidewalk.”
When it comes to foraging, it’s as easy as going outside. Though Srinath says first-time foragers shouldn’t just dive straight into picking random foliage. (I did that once, that’s how I found out all about poison ivy.)
“For beginners, it’s important to just go out as an observer,” she says. “Walk around your neighborhood with a plant identification book, and find out what foods are in season and what foods are growing locally. Tapping into what your environment holds for you is really important.”
@_alexandereast
Srinath believes that every environment, from the densest of cities and food deserts to sprawling rural areas, has bountiful resources for those who are inclined to look or begin to produce for themselves. Ultimately though, the key is to set your expectations realistically, take it slow and enjoy the process. Given that we’re living through a global pandemic, time is on our side and resilience feels like a key skill.
“Enter with a very open mind and realize that you don’t have to do everything all at once. You’re not going to plant a seed and be able to sustain yourself on the first day. Fruitfulness comes from the experience of what you’re doing. Try to really enjoy putting that seed into soil and the planting process can really make you feel fulfilled even in a smaller garden space.”
Ultimately, Srinath states that gardening, farming, and foraging is only part of the journey. She has serious ideas about how we should build community and resiliency going forward. Post-COVID, she believes in highly interactive communities with sharing as a cornerstone value.
“I think that a combination of gardening, farming, and foraging is really helpful for supplementing your food sources,” she says. “But bartering with your community is also really important. If you grow tomatoes and your neighbor grows cucumbers… I think we should return to a way of life where we are open and able to trade with one another for foods that we may not grow or may not have access to.”
Hers is a radical vision for the future — connected to wild spaces and the soil and filled with collectives of people managing shared goals. Yes, it’s a bold dream. But while the challenge is formidable, we have no doubt that’s it’s possible. Especially with young leaders like Srinath working to make it a reality.
All eyes were on Quavo’s relationship with Saweetie in October when he posted a screenshot revealing how he boldly slide into her DMs with a snowflake emoji. The screenshot went viral and everyone from Zack Fox to sports teams stole Quavo’s smooth tactics. That’s why fans were up in arms Thursday when rumors began circulating which insinuated that the rapper had cheated on Saweetie, but it looks like Quavo has now stepped up to lay the rumor to rest.
It all started during Thursday night’s Verzuz battle between Jeezy and Gucci Mane. Comedian/viral prankster Gerald Huston trolled various celebrities in the comment section of the Instagram Live stream and landed on Quavo as his next victim. Along with making a number of other statements, Huston alleged the rapper was cheating on Saweetie with Reginae Carter, Lil Wayne’s daughter.
In her first briefing with the media since October 1 on Friday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany refused to acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the election. But she did call CNN’s White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins an “activist” (“It’s understandable why someone who hasn’t done their job — taking questions from reporters — in weeks would confuse someone else doing theirs with activism,” Collins later tweeted) and ignored heckles of, “When are you gonna admit you lost?” It won’t be any time soon, because boss Trump is still claiming that he “won.”
The president’s refusal to concede means that, among many, many, many other issues that threaten our democracy, Biden can’t access the transition fund that “is expected to help cover the costs associated with the bureaucratic handover, including the hundreds of aides who have already been hired to staff the transition and its agency review teams, who are a mix of paid staffers and volunteers,” according to Politico:
The General Services Administration must “ascertain” that Biden won the election before the federal government will release roughly $10 million in funds to which the transition is legally entitled… So far, the transition has raised more than $8 million, according to three people familiar with the total, hitting their initial $7 million to $10 million goal. Now they’re upping it by “several millions of dollars in anticipation of GSA not relenting before the inauguration,” said one person familiar with the transition efforts.
Biden reached out to his Twitter followers, asking for donations because “President Trump refuses to concede and is delaying the transition, we have to fund it ourselves and need your help. If you’re able, chip in to help fund the Biden-Harris transition.” The tweet did not go over well, coming a day after the Associated Press reported that “of the roughly 20 million Americans now receiving some form of unemployment benefits, about half will lose those benefits when two federal programs expire at the end of the year.” Biden has dozens of billionaire supporters, but as comedian Paul F. Tompkins pointed out, “But for this they have to make a request of people who are severely hurting.”
This isn’t a critique of Joe Biden, as much of a critique of the entire system. Politicians are still asking us for money while their salaries are paid and people don’t have money for rent, food, etc. They won’t even promise trying to alleviate people of things like student debt. https://t.co/YRNeOxt0UI
Taking a page directly from her father’s playbook, Ivanka Trump lashed out on Twitter after the New York Times reported that she could be implicated for fraud in New York. The dual civil and criminal investigations by state attorney general Letitia James and Manhattan attorney general Cyrus Vance Jr. will probe into the Trump family business, including questionable records of a consulting fee paid to an Ivanka-co-owned company that matched the amount of a Donald Trump write-off. In a fiery tweet, Ivanka accused James and Vance of attempting to a settle a score for the Democratic Party.
“This is harassment pure and simple,” Ivanka tweeted. “This ‘inquiry’ by NYC democrats is 100% motivated by politics, publicity and rage. They know very well that there’s nothing here and that there was no tax benefit whatsoever. These politicians are simply ruthless.”
This is harassment pure and simple. This ‘inquiry’ by NYC democrats is 100% motivated by politics, publicity and rage. They know very well that there’s nothing here and that there was no tax benefit whatsoever. These politicians are simply ruthless.https://t.co/4dQoDzQlRX
The suspicious consulting fees first came to light back in September when the Times published a damning report on the president’s finances including the bombshell revelation that he paid $750 in taxes in 2017. Following the report on Trump’s taxes, former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman told CNN that the president’s records show signs of fraud, which could land both Ivanka and her father in legal trouble. Via The Independent:
“Tax avoidance is simply getting-taking the tax code and getting the most deductions you can get under the code that’s perfectly legal. Tax fraud however is lying about what your income was, what your deductions are, and there are just a couple of items that stand out in that report that appear to go beyond tax avoidance.”
Akerman speculated that Ivanka’s consulting fee are one of those times that appear to be an attempt at tax fraud.
It’s been an exciting week for Nicki Minaj fans thus far — and it just got even better. After celebrating the tenth anniversary of her hit album Pink Friday with a deluxe release, the rapper took to social media Friday to officially announce an upcoming six-part docuseries on HBO Max.
In a selfie video announcing the series, Nicki said that it’s going to give viewers a “raw, unfiltered look at my personal life and my professional journey.” Press materials further describe it as a project that will “guide viewers through the most challenging and fulfilling times in her life, navigating highs, lows and misguided agendas in her stratospheric rise to fame and her journey to motherhood.”
The upcoming series is directed by Emmy-nominated Michael John Warren, who also worked with the rapper for her 2015 documentary Nicki Minaj: My Time Again. Speaking about the project in a statement, Warren said: “I love that this series not only provides an all-access glimpse at one of the most iconic musicians of our generation; it also profiles the brave woman behind the artist, Onika. I believe all of us can learn a great deal from her remarkable professional and personal life. It’s an honor to be entrusted with this dynamic story.”
Nicki and HBO have yet to unveil the docuseries’ official title and release date, but the rapper implored fans to keep an eye out on HBO Max’s social media pages for incoming details.
Welcome to The Best New Hip-Hop This Week! You may have noticed that my usual column, The Best Hip-Hop Albums Coming Out This Week… did not come out this week. You also may have noticed that Uproxx’s other faithful hip-hop column, All The Best New Rap Music To Have On Your Radar, is also kaput, as its author Andre Gee has moved on from Uproxx. We wish him well and we’re all very proud of him.
His departure has left a void, however — a void that must be filled, due to both the laws of nature and the hunger hip-hop fans have for new writing about the latest and the greatest content the culture has to offer. To that end, this new column will sort of combine both the old columns into a “best of both worlds” situation, only without the creepy R. Kelly connection. Basically, I’ll be a one-man Watch The Throne — or Super Slimey, if you’re a little younger/more Southern — delivering commentary on all the best releases in hip-hop each week, from albums to songs to videos and even the occasional Verzuz battle. It’s a work in progress, so bear with us as we get this thing off the ground.
Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending November 20, 2020.
Albums
Courtney Bell — Poverty Stricken
Detroit newcomer Courtney Bell brings streetwise raps and progressive thinking to his debut tape, which features a verse from TDE’s Reason. Riding the line between backpacker’s density and mainstream accessibility, Bell counts Nipsey Hussle as one of his primary influences.
Jeezy — The Recession 2
Smartly pairing the release of his latest album to the hotly anticipated Verzuz battle between himself and former rival Gucci Mane, Jeezy gave a preview of what to expect from the sequel to his fan-favorite 2008 album with the single “Therapy To My Soul.”
LVRN — Home For The Holidays
Hip-hop could always use more Christmas albums. 6lack, Boogie, Summer Walker, and the gang are more than happy to oblige.
Megan Thee Stallion — Good News
Overshadowing just about any other release this year, Houston hottie Megan Thee Stallion finally delivers her long-awaited major-label debut album. Boasting appearances from Big Sean, City Girls, DaBaby, Lil Durk, Popcaan, SZA, and Young Thug, it’s certainly a star-studded affair. However, ahead of its release, fans’ attention remained sharply focused on the opening track “Shots Fired,” on which Megan was expected to finally address her alleged shooting by Tory Lanez on record. The song didn’t disappoint, using Biggie’s “Who Shot Ya?” to refute Tory’s smear campaign.
Rexx Life Raj — California Poppy 2
Over the course of the last few years, Berkeley’s Rexx Life Raj has carved himself a lane as a provider of mellow, thoughtful tunes that weave breezily between soothing R&B singing and tongue-twisting, eyebrow-raising rap. The sequel to his popular 2018 EP delivers more of the same, from the motivational “Tesla In A Pandemic” to the boastful “Look At This.”
Russ — Chomp
Refocusing fans’ attention on his raps instead of his antics, Russ hangs right in there with rap luminaries like Black Thought and Busta Rhymes, even though he ultimately becomes an afterthought on most of his own EP.
YSN Flow — Long Story Short
Ohio rapper YSN Flow has been building his buzz over the past year and a half, paying off their patience with this mixtape produced by Iceberg Beatz.
Events
Verzuz: Gucci Mane Vs. Jeezy
In what could very well have been the best Verzuz matchup yet, two of Atlanta trap rap’s founding fathers met up for the first time in fifteen years to dispel all the bad blood between them — of which there is plenty. Of course, it wasn’t all water under the bridge; Gucci Mane brought some serious aggression to Atlanta’s fabled Magic City, where the battle took place, dredging up quarrelsome mixtape classics like the taunting “Truth.” In the end, as always, the real winner was the culture, as the two united to perform their only collaboration (and the song that kicked off their feud in the first place), “So Icy.” The battle ended with the sense the pair would never be friends but would at least keep the violence to a minimum — for the kids.
Singles
Boldy James feat. Stove God Cooks — “Thousand Pills”
Old-fashioned boom-bap drug rap at its finest.
Kembe X feat. Ab-Soul & IceColdBishop — “Back At It”
Ab-Soul goes bonkers on this one, Kembe X does his thing, and newcomer IceColdBishop brings uncommon energy.
YFN Lucci — “September 7th”
A heartbroken anthem of betrayal and survival, Lucci is at his caterwauling best.
Yung Baby Tate — “Rainbow Cadillac”
Bringing the same sort of raucous, estrogen-powered energy as Flo Milli did earlier this year, the Atlanta rapper introduces her next phase.
Videos
Chief Keef & Mike Will Made-It — “Status”
One part horror movie score, one part classic drill revenge fantasy, “Status” reunites the two collaborators seven years after Keef’s debut album.
Lil Tjay — “Move On”
Mellow guitars and heavy 808s backdrop Lil Tjay’s wistful anti-love letter.
Saweetie feat. Jhene Aiko — “Back To The Streets”
The long-awaited video references everything from the beauty shop to Steven Spielberg.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Most of us are our own worst critics. We bully ourselves when we fall short of perfection, carry around past regrets, and refuse to let ourselves off the hook for any transgressions.
Unless this cycle is stopped, it can lead to persistent self-inflicted suffering. Studies show that those who have a hard time forgiving themselves are more likely to experience heart attacks, high blood pressure, depression, and addiction.
Fred Luskin, PhD, director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Project, told Prevention there are four things that are hardest for people to forgive themselves for:
You fail at some major life task such as making your marriage work.
Your actions have hurt someone else.
You’ve hurt yourself by the way you’ve led your life: drinking or doing something else that’s self-destructive.
You didn’t do something you thought you should, such as intervene in a family dispute or put money away so your kid can go to college.
Some of us take those bad feelings and wrap them around ourselves like a blanket of pain, instead of taking responsibility and making things right.
“Forgiveness is a tool with which we face what we’ve done in the past, acknowledge our mistakes, and move on. It does not mean that you condone or excuse what happened. It does not mean that you forget,” says Luskin.
“There’s a season for our suffering and regret. We have to have that. But the season ends; the world moves on. And we need to move on with it,” Luskin adds.
Luskin has a process that can help people go from feeling wounded to grateful.
via Pixabay
1. Understand the offense and your feelings
Take another look at the four things that are hardest to forgive ourselves for and see where your behavior falls on the list. “Categorizing the offense begins the forgiveness process,” he says. “It allows you to break down what you did, look at it, get a little distance, and begin healing.”
Once you are able to articulate the offense and the damage it caused others, share it with a few trusted friends. Confiding in others can be a positive reminder that we all make mistakes. It also prevents you from slipping into denial.
You should also reconsider if what you did was really that bad in the first place. Sometimes we have unrealistic expectations for our own behavior which can lead to feelings of guilt when, in reality, our behavior was appropriate given the circumstances.
2. How do you want to feel?
How do you want to feel after you’ve found forgiveness? Luskin says you should want to get rid of the “shame, release the blame, and feel calm and whole at your center.”
3. Hit stop on your thoughts and emotions
Realize that the feelings you are carrying around are what’s making you feel terrible, not what you did all those days, months, or years ago. When you start ruminating on the event that brings you guilt, pause and refocus your attention on something positive.
A great way to do that is to focus on a good deed you may have done recently or how you’ve changed since the event took place.
Luskin also recommends trying PERT (Positive Emotion Refocusing Technique). Close your eyes, draw in a long breath, then slowly exhale as you relax your belly. Take a deep breath two more times and on the third one, create a mental image of a beautiful place in nature.
Breathe deeply as your mind explores the beauty around you, whether it’s a beach, mountain top, or the calming waters of a stream. Allow the positive feelings you create to center around your heart.
Being forgiven by someone else can help us forgive ourselves. Making a sincere apology to someone affected by your actions can go a long way towards helping you heal yourself.
Next, you can try to right the wrong by making amends to the person you hurt. “Do good rather than feel bad,” Luskin says.
5. Reframe your behavior
Instead of thinking about the event and casting yourself as the bad guy, look at the entirety of the situation and recast yourself as the hero. When you tell yourself the story of what happened, be sure to consider how you’ve overcome a failure and turned it into something good. Focus on what you’ve learned from going through the ordeal and give yourself credit for how you’ve changed.
6. Replace guilt with gratitude
Finally, replace your negative feelings of guilt with positive feelings of gratitude. Look around and appreciate all that you have, whether it’s the breath in your lungs, the shoes on your feet, or the people you love in your life.
Cultivating an attitude of gratitude can extinguish any lingering feelings of guilt and shame and put you back on the path of loving yourself again.
“Run the dishwasher twice” might sound like strange mental health advice, but a viral post is proving that it’s actually quite helpful.
Danielle Wunker, a Licensed Professional Counselor and Supervisor, shared a story on her Facebook page that is resonating with people who struggle with mental health issues. It originally came from an answer from Katie Scott on Quora to the question “Has a therapist ever told you something completely unexpected?”
It reads:
“When I was at one of my lowest (mental) points in life, I couldn’t get out of bed some days. I had no energy or motivation and was barely getting by.
I had therapy once per week, and on this particular week I didn’t have much to ‘bring’ to the session. He asked how my week was and I really had nothing to say.
‘What are you struggling with?’ he asked.
I gestured around me and said ‘I dunno man. Life.’
Not satisfied with my answer, he said ‘No, what exactly are you worried about right now? What feels overwhelming? When you go home after this session, what issue will be staring at you?’
I knew the answer, but it was so ridiculous that I didn’t want to say it. I wanted to have something more substantial. Something more profound.
But I didn’t.
So I told him, ‘Honestly? The dishes. It’s stupid, I know, but the more I look at them the more I CAN’T do them because I’ll have to scrub them before I put them in the dishwasher, because the dishwasher sucks, and I just can’t stand and scrub the dishes.’
I felt like an idiot even saying it.
What kind of grown ass woman is undone by a stack of dishes? There are people out there with *actual* problems, and I’m whining to my therapist about dishes?
But he nodded in understanding and then said:
‘Run the dishwasher twice.’
I began to tell him that you’re not supposed to, but he stopped me.
‘Why the hell aren’t you supposed to? If you don’t want to scrub the dishes and your dishwasher sucks, run it twice. Run it three times, who cares?! Rules do not exist.’
It blew my mind in a way that I don’t think I can properly express.
That day, I went home and tossed my smelly dishes haphazardly into the dishwasher and ran it three times.
I felt like I had conquered a dragon.
The next day, I took a shower lying down.
A few days later. I folded my laundry and put them wherever the fuck they fit.
There were no longer arbitrary rules I had to follow, and it gave me the freedom to make accomplishments again.
Now that I’m in a healthier place, I rinse off my dishes and put them in the dishwasher properly. I shower standing up. I sort my laundry.
But at a time when living was a struggle instead of a blessing, I learned an incredibly important lesson:
There are no rules.
Run the dishwasher twice.”
Anyone who has been in a mental or emotional place where even just the most basic, mundane tasks seem overwhelming understands the wisdom in this lesson. Dishes might seem like such a minor detail of life, but those kinds of minor details can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back mentally. If you’ve never stared at a basket of laundry that would take three minutes to fold and thought, “Nope, can’t do it. Not now. Maybe not ever…” then you may not need this lesson, but there are millions of people who appreciate the express permission to let go of the rules in our heads about how things have to be done.
Adjusting expectations and arbitrary ideas about how something works is incredibly freeing and can provide a seemingly temporary fix for a seemingly insurmountable problem. Oddly enough, though, that temporary fix can be the necessary bridge that gets someone from unable-to-cope-with-daily-life-things to functioning on a somewhat normal level.
Mental health is such a tricky thing to manage, and many of the tools for managing it run counter to what we might expect. That’s what therapists are for—to help us step outside the box of our own brains, adjust our thoughts and behaviors to create greater possibilities for ourselves, and give us permission to reject the negative voices in our head try to keep us locked in unhelpful or unhealthy patterns.
Even when that unhelpful pattern is as simple as letting the dishes pile up instead of running the dishwasher twice.
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I’m glad that I can announce that I’m staying with my #HeatNationFamily
@MiamiHEAT
#LetsGoHeatnation #heatnation #heatfamily #305 pic.twitter.com/ltV769phXF
(@kviserr) 
(@divineeeax) 
(@Chief_umar) 
(@virgiltexas) 
via Pixabay
via Pixabay