If you are a fan of The Mandalorian but have, somehow, only seen the first Star Wars movie, you could still probably recognize most of the references in the season two premiere. Much of “Chapter 9” (the second episode in the post-The Rise of Skywalker era) is centered around characters, creatures, and throwaway lines from A New Hope, including the Tusken Raiders, Jawas and their sandcrawler, the oft-mentioned womp rats (seriously, even whiny Luke only brought them up once), Tatooine’s two suns, the Krayt dragon (skeleton only), and Timothy Olyphant’s beautiful face. Oh wait. That one’s new to Star Wars, and very appreciated. It doesn’t make up for hiding Pedro Pascal under a helmet for 99 percent of season one, but it helps. Even though so much of “Chapter 9” is dependent on A New Hope, however, you have to look to The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and the prequels to recognize the face at the end of the episode.
The Empire Strikes Back introduced us to bounty hunter Boba Fett (let’s pretend the Special Edition and Holiday Special never happened, for many reasons), who helped capture Han Solo for Darth Vader; he reappeared in Return of the Jedi at Jabba the Hutt’s palace and sail barge, but fell into a sarlacc pit and died… Unless he didn’t.
We’ll get to that, but first, let’s rewind to decades before the original trilogy. In the prequels, we learn more (arguably too much!) about Boba, including that he’s a clone raised by Jango Fett, who served as the genetic template for the Republic’s clone army. Boba watched his “dad,” the “best bounty hunter in the galaxy,” get killed by Mace Windu, which is a more honorable way to go than rolling into a sandworm’s mouth.
I have always said this.
Put another way: dad Jango has clone son Boba; Jango die; Boba becomes bounty hunter; Boba dies (?). Got it? It’s long been part of the Extended Universe, er, Legends that Boba Fett survived his fall into the sarlaac pic, and his return was even foreshadowed during a season one episode, but now it’s canon: that’s Jango’s kid at the end of “Chapter 9,” watching Din Djarin and Baby Yoda speeding off into the sunsets. How can you tell it’s Boba? The closing credits. The guest stars include Olyphant (as Cobb Vanth, of Vanth Refrigeration, a character introduced in the book Aftermath), Amy Sedaris returning as Peli Motto, John Leguizamo as the one-eyed alien who betrays Mando, and Temura Morrison, the New Zealand actor who plays Jango and other clone troopers, including Commander Cody, in the prequels. This is the first time we’ve seen adult Boba without his armor (which the Jawas traded to Cobb for some crystals), but as he’s a clone, he would look exactly like his father. With more battle scars:
Disney+
You probably wouldn’t look so hot after a tumble with the sarlacc and at least five years living as a hermit in the Dune Sea (not that Dune, this Dune), either.
Ariana Grande’s new album Positions dropped at midnight, and in the hours since, it has spawned multiple trending topics on Twitter. The song “My Hair” is among them and it’s due to the impressive vocal abilities Grande displays on the track. Towards the end of the song, there’s a section where Grande hits uncommonly high notes while singing in whistle register, which is the highest possible register of the human voice.
When fans heard this, they were pretty amazed and took to Twitter to share their reactions, which was a mix of shock at her abilities and jokes about her being out of breath after recording that part of the song.
ARIANA DID THE WHOLE CHORUS OF MY HAIR IN WHISTLES- SHE IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE FOR THIS pic.twitter.com/AHxh9M9VSo
As for the rest of the track, it’s about Grande opening up to a special someone and being vulnerable by letting them run their fingers through her hair, as she sings on the second verse, “It’s been way long overdue / Just like these inches down my back / Usually don’t let people touch it / But tonight, you’ll get a pass / Spend my dimes and spend my time / To keep it real, sometimes it’s tracks / But I don’t care.”
Listen to “My Hair” above and check out some more reactions below.
ariana singing COME RUN YOUR HANDS THROUGH MY HAIR BABY CAUSE THAT’S WHY IT’S THERE in a whistle tone is what elevated the album to a whole nother level #positionspic.twitter.com/VP5Xt51ft9
Netflix wraps up October with one final spooky offering and, you guessed it, a holiday movie. His House might prove to be the most terrifying horror film the streaming service has delivered this Halloween, starring Matt Smith and Lovecraft Country’s Wunmi Mosaku. But if you’re tired of being scared — by the movies you watch, not real life — maybe Emma Roberts’ new rom-com is more your speed.
Here’s everything coming to (and leaving) Netflix this week of Oct. 30.
His House (Netflix film streaming 10/30)
Lovecraft Country’s Wunmi Mosaku stars in this British horror flick landing on Netflix this week. The film follows a couple that flees war-torn South Sudan and applies for refugee status in England. As they try to adapt to life in a small town, evils lurking in their neighborhood (and their house) threaten their newfound safety. It’s a wholly original take on the genre, and if you’ve been watching Lovecraft, you know how good Mosaku will be in it.
Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey star in this millennial rom-com with a holiday twist — because really, it’s never too early to start watching Christmas movies. Roberts plays Sloane, Bracey plays Jackson. They’re both single and dreading spending the holidays with nosy family members constantly pestering them about their dating life. So they make a pact to be each others’ plus one throughout each holiday of the year. You can guess where this will go, can’t you?
Here’s a full list of what’s been added in the last week:
Avail. 10/27 Blood of Zeus
Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt: Season 4Vilas: Serás lo que debas ser o no serás nada / Guillermo Vilas: Settling the Score
Avail. 10/28 Holidate
Metallica Through The Never
Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight
Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb
Avail. 10/30 Bronx
The Day of the Lord
His House
Somebody Feed Phil: Season 4 Suburra: Season 3
And here’s what’s leaving next week, so it’s your last chance:
Leaving 10/31 Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Burlesque
Charlotte’s Web
Clash of the Titans
District 9
The Firm
Fun with Dick & Jane
The Girl with All the Gifts
Grandmaster
Highway to Heaven: Seasons 1-5 The Interview
Just Friends
Magic Mike
Nacho Libre
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
The NeverEnding Story
The NeverEnding Story 2: The Next Chapter
Nights in Rodanthe
The Patriot
Set Up
The Silence of the Lambs
Sleepless in Seattle
Sleepy Hollow
Spaceballs
The Taking of Pelham 123
The Ugly Truth
Underworld
Underworld: Evolution
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Zathura
Leaving 11/1 Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
Olympus Has Fallen
Shark Night
Nostalgia has a way of fooling us into believing that times were better in the past. (This is especially true in 2020, when “better” has a historically low bar.) But the past hardly ever is actually better, it just seems that way because people back then couldn’t fully grasp the reality of what was going on around them. We don’t miss the way the world actually was. We just feel wistful over the naïveté and ignorance we lost.
I was reminded of this truism when I revisited The Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear, which occurred 10 years ago this week. In 2010, more than 200,000 people converged on Washington D.C. to protest … protesting? I mean, I guess that was the point?
Even now, a decade later, it’s hard to suss out a coherent message to this “satirical” political rally hosted by the era’s two biggest Comedy Central stars, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. The original idea was to poke fun at Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor rally, which occurred two months earlier and harnessed the anger of the Obama-hating Tea Party movement. But it was also about liberals learning to respect their right-wing counterparts, while simultaneously chiding them for being batcrap insane. Though this mockery was ultimately civil, because it’s the media’s fault that Americans of differing political persuasions hate each other. Except, come on, why are you looking for a message here anyway? This was a comedy show! Other than the part at the end, which sounded an awful lot like a political speech, when Stewart asked for a moment of “sincerity” and once again blasted the media for propagating the “false” narrative about the deep divisions that exist in this country. Oh, you mean like fake news? I’m reminded of a guy who agrees that reporters overstate negativity in order to tear at the fabric of this country, though his name escapes me now.
Seen from the vantage point of 2020, a left-leaning faux-protest premised on the idea that political anger in response to societal ills is inherently irrational and based solely on fear — as opposed to being a natural reaction to the circumstances of your own life — seems pretty … well, let’s just say it hasn’t aged all that well. Though it should be noted that plenty of commentators felt that way in the moment. David Carr dinged Stewart and Colbert in the New York Times for viewing politics strictly through the lens of cable news, even though the vast majority of Americans (even in 2010) don’t watch it. Janet Malcolm, writing for The New York Review Of Books, mocked the vanity of attendees patting themselves on the backs for their centrist reasonableness, dubbed the rally “a giant preen-in.” Even Bill Maher, a fellow comrade in the political comedy world, chided Stewart and Colbert for wasting an opportunity to galvanize the left at a time when Obama was politically vulnerable. “If you’re going to have a rally where hundreds of thousands of people show up,” he mused, “you might as well make it about something.”
Looking back, some have seized upon The Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear — and the impotent both-sides-ism it signifies — as a symbol of “liberal futility” in the face of conservatives seizing control of state and local governments and the courts. While lefties were feeling good about their own decency, the other side was mobilizing. This, also, was apparent in the moment: The week after the rally, Republicans trounced Democrats in the midterm elections, winning seven seats in the Senate and 63 seats in the House Of Representatives, a historic shift in Congressional power not seen in more than 60 years. While the Comedy Central rally outdrew the Tea Party rally, Glenn Beck laughed last.
Was it Stewart and Colbert’s responsibility to get out the vote in 2010? Not really. These are — as we must reiterate for the umpteenth time — comedians, not politicians. But if you assess The Rally To Restore To Sanity And/Or Fear strictly as a comedy show, it hardly fares any better. I’m telling you: This thing was hella boring.
You can watch all three hours on YouTube. Though I recommend skipping the first hour, at least if you’re looking for laughs. There was a pretty good musical performance by The Roots and John Legend, and then — perhaps in a sign of basic-cable unity — the Mythbusters came out for an interminable stretch of crowd work. Finally, after about an hour, Stewart emerged to introduce the vocal group 4Troops for a syrupy rendition of The National Anthem. Then he earnestly urged the crowd to pick up their litter and clean the Washington Mall once the rally is over.
These optics will be familiar to anyone who has followed Stewart and Colbert — both of them favor old-fashioned nods to God and country as a way to demonstrating to skeptical right-wingers that liberals are “real” Americans just like them. Only these gestures never really work. If you can accuse Joe Biden of being a socialist, you are pretty much incapable of accepting that any leftie can be patriotic. (Liberal millennials and zoomers have learned that you might as well push actual socialist policies that could potentially transform the country if you’re going to be painted with that brush no matter what.)
Stewart and Colbert, meanwhile, signify the sort of respectability politics in relation to the right that was endemic to the early Obama years, and now seems utterly inept and even delusional. While technically nonpartisan, the liberal bent to The Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear could hardly be more clear. Deeply enmeshed in his “Stephen Colbert” character, Colbert played the crazed, flag-humping, right-wing buffoon to Stewart’s measured, “why can’t we all just get along?” good-guy left-winger. When Colbert and Stewart duet on the snarky Lee Greenwood-style number “Greatest Strongest Country,” we’re meant to understand it as a goof on self-serving Fox-endorsed nationalism. But what about the part an hour or so earlier when you had a cadre of wholesome veterans sing a string-laden version of “The Star-Spangled Banner”? Are these patriotic displays pious or corny? Where do you guys stand, exactly?
As was the case on their respective TV shows, the dissonance between mocking the “divide and conquer” media for polarizing the country and the hosts’ own readily apparent political leanings is weirdly self-defeating. The Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear was inevitably going to annoy conservatives. (“Keep Smug Alive” was the headline on The NationalReview‘s withering post-mortem.) And yet the event, even as satire, ultimately felt like a frustrating half-measure against a hostile opposition. It was – to use a word favored by another aughts-era TV personality who opted to actually enter politics — weak.
The strangest — and most telling — moment of The Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear was when Stewart gushed about a new song that was “so apropos” to this event. And then he introduced Kid Rock, who came out to perform “Care,” a hymn to centrist “rationality” in the face of partisan “insanity.”
“Cuz I hear screamin’ on the left / yellin’ on the right / I’m sitting in the middle tryin to live my life,” Rock sang, before listing a number of issues — including poverty, war, and inequality — that he can’t do anything about. “The least that I can do,” he concluded, “is care.”
Describing what is essentially a pro-apathy song — it’s certainly true that the least anyone can literally do “is care” — as “apropos” to The Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear is a far worse slam than anything conjured by The National Review. Also, it’s hardly “apropos” to the worldview of Kid Rock, who campaigned for Mitt Romney two years later and for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. He’s had no problem “yellin’ on the right” for the past decade.
In 2020, the left out of necessity has cut the sarcasm out of their protests. Believing that national divisions are a fantasy of opportunistic cable networks is a luxury none of us can afford any longer. But the influence of The Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear persists in surprising places.
Earlier this month, Dan Brooks of New York Times Magazine wrote a perceptive piece on how Donald Trump has defanged our current crop of Stewart and Colbert wannabes. He coined the phase “ambiguous irony” to describe how the right now advances “joke versions of its actual agenda, in ways that make it hard to distinguish between the two,” creating “asymmetries in how insiders and outsiders interpret what is being said, so that any statement that gets too much blowback can become someone else’s failure to take a joke.”
What this means is that Trump can tweet ridiculous things — about COVID, about Hunter Biden, about rigged elections — and later claim that he was being ironic … or not. “The real Donald Trump acts as if he’s doing an impression of some normal-looking, occasionally self-aggrandizing president we don’t know about,” Brooks writes. This was the game Stewart and Colbert played for years. They might have looked and acted like political commentators, but if you failed to understand that were really just comedians having fun at the expense of lecherous Republicans, the joke was on you.
All of this is painful and even a little embarrassing to reckon with. Like so many white, college-educated liberals, I was a regular viewer of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report in 2010. Watching those shows back then felt like a tonic — these guys see what I see, they acknowledge the craziness that few else in the media will point out, and this makes me feel less alone. But now, I take a different message from The Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear. It’s not a balm, but a warning — against complacency, against my own intellectual vanity, and against any possible suspicion that putting yourself above the passions of your fellow citizens is a virtue and not a defect.
Not counting any movie called Star Wars, I have now owned the three Back to the Future titles the most amount of times. From VHS to DVD (which I recall had framing issues and I had to return them to the manufacturer for a corrected version), the 25th anniversary Blu-ray, and, now, the 35th anniversary 4K. In fact, there was a small part of me that thought, well, maybe upgrading one more time wasn’t necessary. Maybe I could live the rest of my life with those good ol’ Blu-rays. After watching at least some of the 4K editions, okay, yes, I was wrong. This new transfer is incredible.
Before we get more into that, there is one bonus feature worth mentioning. Actually, all the bonus features are pretty great, but if you have the Blu-ray, most of the ones we get here (like the commentaries and deleted scenes) are brought over from that. The new one worth mentioning are (I wish longer) screen tests of some unlikely candidates for the major roles in the films. Want to see Ben Stiller audition for Marty McFly? It’s pretty weird! C. Thomas Howell dressed up in “’50s clothes,” but looks like he just stepped off the set of The Outsiders. Of all the auditions, only Peter DeLuise as Biff and Jon Cryer as Marty had any semblance of, “Okay, yeah, I could see that.” (Billy Zane’s Biff feels like he’s trying to talk his way onto a Titanic lifeboat.)
Though, what’s maybe more interesting is who’s missing, which is Eric Stoltz. It’s weird, when Stoltz is asked in interviews about filming a good portion of Back to the Future, only to be replaced by Michael J. Fox, he seems to be a good sport about it. But for whatever reason, the footage of his performance as Marty has never been released. And his screen test is nowhere to be found here. Look, it’s understandable why Stoltz probably wants nothing to do with any of this, but it’s such a historical artifact. Imagine if Tom Selleck had filmed half of Raiders of the Lost Ark? Alas, it’s probably never meant to be. Who knows, maybe when the 50th anniversary 10K version comes out? I’m sure I’ll own that one, too.
As far as the movies go, I decided to watch in full one of the three movies I’ve seen the least and my personal least favorite, Back to the Future Part III. The first film is the no-doubt-about-it best movie. The second film is like a sugar rush that never lets up. Then the third film, a full-on Western, has always felt a little out of place. It spends pretty much its entire running time in the Old West and the chaos of the first two films, which worry so much about affecting future events in the space-time continuum, is replaced by something that resembles a leisurely pace.
Anyway, in 4K, I couldn’t take my eyes off this movie. Even from the opening scene, as it shows Marty telling a shocked Doc Brown that he’s back from the future, the picture is so crisp I could see the mechanisms that produce the flames on the street where the DeLorean had just been. It’s like watching a brand new movie.
Of course, the third film has the most scenes set outside and this greatly benefits how this particular installment looks … and it’s stunning. I have to admit, I found myself appreciating this film more than I ever have before. When it’s viewed as its own entity, instead of as part of the trilogy, it has a pleasing tone of its own. And it’s always been difficult to separate the second and third movies since they were filmed at the same time and came out only months apart. But watching it now, with this 4K transfer, it’s a gorgeous film.
Anyway, yes, it turns out the Back to the Future movies are great. Who knew? But, yes, if you’re on the fence about buying yet another edition of these three films, do not be. And, yes, there’s also the fact these movies are on television a lot. But this new set is up there with some of the beautiful 4K discs released to date. You’ll watch them in a way you never have before. It’s shocking how good these look. And I reiterate, this is why I still think physical media is important. At least right now, streaming just can’t reproduce the level of detail we get with something like this set.
For the fourth straight year, Trippie Redd returns with a brand new album for his steadily growing fanbase to enjoy. His 2019 project, A Love Letter To You 4, became his first release to reach the No. 1 spot on the albums chart. Less than a year later, the Ohio native is back in action with his third album, Pegasus. Led by a trio of singles, one of the new standouts on his new album comes in the form of another Young Thug collaboration with “Spaceships.” The track is a breezy effort that looks to emulate the success of their 2018 collab, “Forever Ever.”
Young Thug also appeared on the deluxe version of A Love Letter To You 4 with him and Trippie’s “Yell Oh” track. As for the Pegasus album, Trippie’s third album arrives with appearances PartyNextDoor, Rich The Kid, Future, Quavo, Lil Mosey, Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne, and more. Trippie rolled out the album with help from Busta Rhymes thanks to their “I Got You” track, one that sampled the hip-hop legend’s “I Know What You Want” track with Mariah Carey. He also boosted anticipation for the album with the PartyNextDoor-featured “Excitement.”
The only way to improve on a nice, frothy pint of beer is by matching it up with a rich, layered dram of whiskey. Sure, you can go the pint and shot route, but amateur hour. Slow down and have an experience. Savor both of your drinks by pairing your favorite lagers, pilsners, and stouts with whiskeys that complement them.
Lee Noble, head bartender at Art in the Age in Philadelphia, likes to buck common wisdom when it comes to pairing beer and whiskey.
“Some say to avoid IPAs in this situation,” Noble says. “But I recommend finding a medium-bodied, citrusy, relatively dry IPA, like Sierra Nevada’s Hazy Little Thing and using it as a counterpoint to a sweet bourbon, like Maker’s Mark or Elijah Craig.”
Since pairing beer and whiskey can get incredibly complicated, we thought it best to bring in some ringers. So we asked a handful of bartenders to tell us their favorite beer and whiskey pairings for fall.
Hidden Springs Deja Moo Milk Stout (Knob Creek Smoked Maple Bourbon)
Seth Falvo, bartender at The Hotel Zamora in St. Pete Beach, Florida
Anyone who has been to my house knows my home bar is stocked with a wide variety of both beer and whiskey. But if I’m picking strictly one beer to be paired with any variety of whiskey, I’m picking Deja Moo Milk Stout by Hidden Springs Ale Works. Aside from the roasted malts, coffee, and dark chocolate notes you’d expect from a stout, this beer has a smoky, spicy finish thanks to the inclusion of smoked chipotle peppers. The end result will complement any whiskey you pair with it without overpowering your palate — which is why I consider it the perfect beer to pair with whiskey.
My absolute favorite pairing has to be with Knob Creek Smoked Maple Bourbon. That whiskey has some wonderful cinnamon spice and caramel notes that shine in combination with the beer.
Kronenbourg 1664 (The Balvenie Double Wood)
Josh Curtis, bar director at Carbon Beach Club in Malibu, California
Kronenbourg 1664 has a crisp, refreshing quality that balances the strength of a whiskey shot. It’s light sweetness and subtle pear notes smooth out any harshness of straight alcohol. It goes perfectly with a shot or glass of a mellow scotch like The Balvenie Double Wood.
Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (Well Special Reserve)
Patricia Verdesoto, head bartender at Jams in New York City
I’m a sucker for a really good barrel-aged stout. One of my absolute favorites is the KBS stout ale, by Founders. The cocoa and roasted coffee notes work well with the oakiness of most smooth whiskies. Specifically, a bourbon, like Weller Special Reserve.
Because stouts are generally a bit heavier on the tongue, the whiskey cuts through that mouthfeel, making it a match made in heaven.
Guinness Draught (Bushmills Black)
Lee Noble, head bartender for Art in the Age in Philadelphia
My brother and I used to catch up at the pub on Monday nights over rounds of Bushmills Black and Guinness Draught. That experience has stuck with me, so I still go for pairings that provide a contrast, or a point-counterpoint, where the flavors pull you between two extremes yet still work together.
Miller High Life (Evan Williams Black Label)
Blake Jakes, director of beverage at The Kennedy Bar in Pensacola, Florida
Miller High life all day. It’s light, refreshing and it doesn’t blow out your palate.
If I had to pick a specific whiskey to pair it with, I would pick something like Evan Williams Black Label. It might be cheap, but it’s filled with flavors like charred oak, sweet caramel, and honey.
Krombacher Pils pairs back very nicely with a whiskey since it is lighter with a slight floral note. I’d go with something like Four Roses Small Batch with its pleasing, vanilla-honey notes and complex flavors.
Honestly, I am not as big of a High Life fan as others. I prefer Coors Banquet as my beer. I grew up on Coors Original and it has stuck with me ever since. Since I’m already going no frills in the beer department, I’ll pair it with the classic, rich, caramel, and vanilla flavors of Jim Beam White Label.
Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout (Booker’s Bourbon)
Roberto Berdecia, bartender at La Factoria in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
I love the pairing between Booker’s and most nitro stouts. Stouts are usually smooth, sweet, and silky and the ovenproof whiskey will add to that complexity and refresh the palate for the next sip.
My go-to is Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro with its creamy, sweet, chocolaty flavors that work perfectly with this unfiltered, uncut, bold bourbon.
Brew Dog Punk IPA (The Macallan 12)
Marta De La Cruz Marrero, food and beverage supervisor at Burlock Coast in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
The Punk IPA is produced by Scotland’s most famed craft brewery, Brew Dog. Hints of sweet malt, herbs, and grass are complimented greatly by the peat-forward, earthy character of Flavian’s. It also adds some tropical fruit notes to the palate, including mango and pineapple.
The fruits from the beer — which comes along in the form of apricots, green apples, and buttery biscuits — work well with the second wave of flavors from a good scotch whisky. I’d pair it with a sweeter Highland Scotch, like The Macallan 12.
I would say a nice lightly malty amber ale like Olde Mecklenberg Copper compliments the sweetness of a bourbon, especially one like Makers Mark, Four Roses Small Batch, or Burning Chair.
Blue Point Toasted Lager (Elijah Craig Barrel Proof)
Pete Marzulli, the general manager at Agave West Village in New York City
It depends on the day, but I like Blue Point. Their toasted lager is just light enough, which makes it the perfect complement to any whiskey. I’d drink it alongside a glass of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof bourbon any day.
Old Forester 100 proof Rye paired with Peak Fresh Cut Pilsner. Old Forester 100 proof Rye is quality whiskey, not harsh like many ryes and it’s rather smooth and rich. I taste oak, tobacco, plums, and a hint of caramel and it goes down easy for a 100 proof rye. Buy the beer and ask the bartender to pour two ounces of this fine whiskey in it — that’s always a good option. Peak Fresh Cut Pilsner is an amazing beer that I always enjoy.
Peak is an organic beer and you can taste the freshness in it. I can drink about six of those and not have that disgusting metallic taste that most lesser quality beers leave in my mouth. Pairing these two together is a match made in heaven. You get the freshness in the Peak Organic Fresh Cut Pilsner followed by spicy rich tones of Old Forester. I can drink those all night.
It feels like it’s been a lot longer than two years since Tierra Whack wowed the music industry with her amazing debut project, Whack World. The release featured 15 one-minute tracks that gave listeners just enough to pique interest in the Philly native all without giving away too much content. Whack later got onto a quick roll in 2019 with a bunch of singles as a part of Whack History Month series but soon fell quiet on the music side of things. That is, until now.
Hopefully the start of more to come, Tierra makes her return with her bouncy new single, “Dora.” The track is as quirky as she often appears to be and the song’s matching music video further proves that point. In the visual, Tierra appears as an animated version of herself alongside a good number of The Muppets characters including Kermit The Frog. After a quick money flex, things continue on the weird route and she hops on the shell of a turtle for a quick ride, presents Garfield in a clock, and prepares for war with a lipstick tank.
A few months prior to the single, she offered a quarantine remix for Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic” track, one that came after she addressed colorism in the music industry in a Teen Vogue profile. “Seeing Lauryn [Hill] and then seeing Missy [Elliott] — they were making it,” she said. “I don’t think Missy was like, ‘I’m going to be a dark girl making it.’ I think she just did it. You just do it… If I could change [colorism in the industry], that would be really nice.”
Almost a decade ago, when they were closing in on their mainstream stardom, Ariana Grande and The Weeknd came together for their first-ever collab on the pop-heavy effort, “Love Me Harder.” The single found life on Ariana’s My Everything album. Seven years later, the two look to emulate the same success on another collab, one that appears on the songstress’ new Positions album. Slowing things down for their new effort, Ariana and The Weeknd unite for “Off The Table.” The easygoing ballad begins with Ariana questioning the existence of love after repeatedly failing to find it. She questions her ways before asking if love is a possibility anymore. The Weeknd steps in for the song to calm her fears, promising that as long as they work together, they will find love with each other in the near future.
The song is one of the many highlights on her sixth album, Positions. Across the 14-track album, Ariana also calls on Ty Dolla Sign and Doja Cat as guest features on the new release. After announcing the album’s tracklist, the pop singer explained the importance of the album as well as her satisfaction with it. “i don’t have a top three or anything ! everything goes hand in hand,” she said in a tweet. “this project is my favorite for many reasons and i really can’t wait for it to be yours. thank u for your love and excitement, it means the world to me.”
You can listen to “Off The Table” in the video above.
Musically, Pop Smoke is having a very successful year, making it even more unfortunate that the Brooklyn native was unable to live to see his success and accomplishments with his own eyes. After making its debut atop the Billboard albums chart back in July, Pop Smoke’s Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moonreturned to No. 1 this week, joining Lil Baby’s My Turn as the only albums this year to return to the top spot after at least three months. While his legacy lives on, Pop now has two additional songs to his discography thanks to French Montana’s “Double G” and Jay Gwuapo’s “Black Mask.”
The French Montana release is the “Pop That” rapper’s first single in a few months and prior to its release, he made sure to highlight the effect losing “brothers” like Pop has had on him. “Been a sh*tty year for all of us,” he said in a tweet earlier this week. “After I lost my brothers left and right, it took me a minute to get my head back in the game,” confidently adding, “NEW YORK STAND UP.” Jay Gwuapo is an up-and-coming act who also calls Brooklyn his home, making it expected that he and Pop Smoke were able to strike up a collab prior to his passing. He had also dropped his “Long Live The Woo” tribute track to Pop Smoke shortly after his death.
You can hear both records in the videos above.
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This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
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