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Terrace Martin And Ric Wilson Are The Commanders Of Feel-Good Energy In Their ‘Don’t Kill The Wave’ Video

2020 is shaping up to be another big year for Ric Wilson. The breakout rapper and Chicago activist teamed up with musician/producer Terrace Martin for the upbeat EP They Call Me Disco. The duo has now joined once again to share the joyful video accompanying their track “Don’t Kill The Vibe,” which recently named one of the 50 Best Songs of Summer 2020 by The Oprah Magazine.

For the feel-good video, Wilson tapped several of his close friends for a living room dance party. Wilson leads the group in a Soul Train line, showing off his best moves between two rows of the party’s attendees. The visual stays true to the positive energy of the track, which Wilson said was made for “dance floors at the block party, the cookout, the weddings, the rallies, the covid19 living room clubbbbbbbbs.”

In recent months, Wilson has spent time organizing for activist groups like We Charge Genocide, Black Youth Project 100, Chicago Freedom School, and many more. In a statement about his music, Wilson says he’s inspired by Black women freedom fighters like Ida B. Wells and Marsha P. Johnson: “I hear people quoting a lot of black men who were freedom fighters, which is valid. But when I think about next level courage to ball your fist up and look bigotry, racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia right in the eye and fight against it, I feel like blk women like Ida B. Wells and non-binary folks like Marsha P. Johnson are of the bravest of us all and if ima fight any injustice I wanna have the courage of freedom fighters like them. The liberation of black womxn and black trans womxn lead to the liberation of all black people.”

Watch Wilson’s “Don’t Kill The Wave” video above.

They Call Me Disco is out now via Empire. Get it here.

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Report: Nationals Star Juan Soto Will Miss The Opener After A Positive COVID-19 Test

The MLB season will begin tonight with a pair of games, as the Nationals host the Yankees and the Dodgers host the Giants for the start of the shortened season. Unlike the NBA, MLS, WNBA, NHL, and NWSL, baseball is going to try and make a season happen with teams playing in their home ballparks — aside from the Blue Jays as the Canadian government wisely will not bend their quarantine rules for MLB clubs coming into the country.

So far, we’ve seen how the bubble system can work, as the NWSL tournament has gone smoothly in Utah, and after a rocky start, the MLS tournament has been smooth sailing since. The NBA’s bubble appears to be locked in after a week without positive tests, and there’s optimism those leagues will be able to get their seasons done. MLB’s plan has the most holes in it, simply because players aren’t staying in a controlled environment, and on Thursday, we saw how that could derail things.

According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan (and confirmed by Washington Post beat writer Jesse Dougherty), Nationals star outfielder Juan Soto will miss the opener against the Yankees after testing positive for COVID-19.

Soto had already done a two-week quarantine after coming in contact with someone that had tested positive earlier in July, but at some point in recently he apparently contracted the virus. It’s a big blow to the Nationals, but it also is cause for serious concern on a larger scale for how MLB is going to proceed. It is an indicator of how, without players being in a bubble environment, their day-to-day interactions (even if limited) can lead to cases and potential spread. The good news is that, per the Nationals, after contact tracing no other players are being held out despite Soto’s test being from two days prior.

Hopefully Soto’s case will be an isolated incident and he’ll be able to make a full and speedy recovery, but Major League Baseball will now be holding their collective breath that more cases don’t pop up.

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Third Man Records Launches Its Own Sonos Radio Station

Sonos, best known for making smart speakers, recently launched their own radio platform, the aptly named Sonos Radio. Available only on Sonos devices, the platform offers exclusive content from music tastemakers, and now they have added another to their roster: Jack White’s Third Man Records.

The label has launched Third Man Records Public Address system, named after their live broadcast series. As press materials note, the station “brings listeners selections from the genre-spanning label as well as music from around the globe that informs what the label ‘says and does: Inspiration, information, devotionals and desperations…’ Folks can expect a selection of label deep cuts among rarities and favorites that span psych, proto punk, soul, funk, rockabilly, blues and more. Listeners will also hear commentary and historical context behind tracks from Third Man’s co-owner Ben Swank.”

Earlier along in the coronavirus pandemic, the label hosted a daily livestream series, Third Man Public Access. They said of it at the time, “Third Man Records has always believed that great things come out of restrictions. Artists being restricted from their audiences, though? We’re not sure what greatness can come from that. Let us commiserate with you, lift your spirits, and feed your soul with the magic that only ‘live’ music/poetry/puppet shows/some sort of human connection can provide.”

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‘FIFA 21’ Dropped Its Reveal Trailer And Announced Major News About Career Mode

It’s FIFA season, as EA Sports’ annual soccer video game has spent the last few days announcing major news regarding its latest release. On Wednesday, it was announced that Paris Saint-Germain and France star Kylian Mbappe will appear on all three covers of FIFA 21, and one day later, EA Sports dropped both a reveal trailer for the game including some of the biggest young stars in world football and some highly-anticipated news about changes that will come to this year’s version of the game.

The trailer, which is narrated by Manchester United legend Eric Cantona, includes a number of clips from the game and highlights four of the brightest youngsters in the sport: Mbappe, Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix, and Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland.

As for what people can expect in this year’s game, EA Sports laid out some changes on FIFA‘s official website. Full explanations of what will occur are coming in August, but there are tweaks coming to gameplay, Ultimate Team, and last year’s new addition, VOLTA Football. The biggest news, however, stems from changes that are coming to the game’s Career Mode, which has long been maligned (including by Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid) as growing stale and not getting enough love by developers.

EA announced that won’t be the case in FIFA 21, as additions like a new interactive match simulator, expanded ways to buy/loan players, and a management system that lets you have more control over a squad’s training during the week. The growth system for players is getting overhauled, too, which the release says will let gamers “turn right backs into right wingers, defensive midfielders into centre backs, and more to fill gaps in your team, and monitor player attribute changes during training to see how your squad is progressing.”

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Tom Cruise May Have Found A Studio That’s Willing To Shoot Him Into Outer Space

Back in May, news broke that Tom Cruise and Elon Musk were teaming up in hopes to shoot the first action movie in space. While the idea of literally rocketing a major movie star into orbit sounds crazy, it’s actually very on-brand for Cruise, who has routinely pushed himself to find new ways to defy death for the sake of an action scene. Of course, the big question was what studio would be willing to invest millions of dollars into shooting one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood into space. It turns out there’s a taker.

According to Variety, Universal Studios is closing in as the top bidder for Cruise’s space project, which not only comes with the unpredictably of shooting in zero gravity conditions, but also a hefty price tag of $200 million. There are also major hurdles around insuring both Cruise and the production team who would be at very high risk until safely returning to Earth. However, that seems to be a gamble Universal is willing to take:

The inherent marketing value around a global event like this is obvious. Similar to the recent historic launch of SpaceX’s Dragon crew vessel, the entire world will watch as Cruise is rocketed into space, forcing natural curiosity around the results. The stakes are also high from a filmmaking standpoint. As one person familiar with the project put it, “you can’t be sure what you’re going to get up there, and you have one shot to do it.”

Of course, the fact that this project has even advanced this far is a testament to Cruise’s maniacal intensity. The idea of shooting the actor into space was floated only a few weeks ago in May. Since then, he’s secured a deal with the International Space Station, landed director Doug Liman, and is in the final stages of convincing a studio to drop millions of dollars on the chance of him surviving space travel. Cruise hasn’t even blasted off yet, and already, this might be his most impressive stunt.

(Via Variety)

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Doja Cat, Pop Smoke, Conan Gray, And More Are Nominated For The VMAs’ Best New Artist Of 2020 Award

Each year, MTV’s Video Music Awards give us countless indelible moments. From Lady Gaga wearing the iconic dress made out of raw meat, to Kanye West infamously slighting Taylor Swift on stage, the VMAs never fail to give us some of the biggest moments in pop culture. Perhaps most coveted is VMAs’ Best New Artist award, which recognizes some of the most talented emerging artists on the scene. Well, MTV has just unveiled its full list of nominations and they are including 17 artists.

Unlike most other award ceremonies, the VMAs allow fans to vote for winners. This year’s list of nominated artists sees both pop and hip-hop musicians alike. Some big-name contenders on the list include Doja Cat, Brockhampton, Conan Gray, as well as the late rapper Pop Smoke, whose posthumous record Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon was just released.

Find the full MTV VMA’s Best New Artist nominations list below.

AJ Mitchell
Arizona Zervas
Ava Max
BENEE
Brockhampton
Conan Gray
Doja Cat
Finneas
Jack Harlow
Kiana Ledé
Lewis Capaldi
Lil Tecca
Pop Smoke
Roddy Ricch
Summer Walker
Tate McRae
Yungblud

MTV has opened their ballots for Best New Artists and are allowing fans to submit their vote up to ten times a day. Vote for your pick here.

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

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Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Award-Winning Book ‘Between The World And Me’ Is Being Turned Into An HBO Special

Ta-Nehisi Coates‘ non-fiction book Between the World and Me won a National Book Award, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and was later adapted into a stage show at New York’s iconic Apollo Theater. And now the New York Times best-seller, which is written as a letter to the author’s son about being Black in America, is coming to HBO.

The special “will combine elements of [the Apollo] production, including powerful readings from Coates’ book, and will once again be directed by award-winning director and Apollo Theater executive producer Kamilah Forbes. Oscar-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams is producing,” according to HBO. “It will also incorporate documentary footage from the actors’ home life, archival footage, and animation.”

Coates said he “can think of no one better to put Between the World and Me on screen and no better home for it than HBO,” while award-winning producer Forbes added, “As people across our country continue to speak out about violent, systemic racism and the urgent need for tangible change, Ta-Nehisi’s words resonate as strongly today as they did five years ago. I’m excited to collaborate again with both Ta-Nehisi and HBO on this important special event, ensuring that the powerful voices in this work and the cry for justice from the Black community continue to reach a broader audience.”

Between the World and Me premieres on HBO (which will also make a “charitable donation” to Howard University and the Apollo Theater) in the fall.

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Tasting Notes On A Line Of Whiskeys Made By A Wine Sommelier

Is there a best age for bourbon? 12 years is often cited as ideal. After that, things get pretty oaky. Fans of Eagle Rare 17 would beg to differ, of course, and super old expressions certainly have their (very rich) aficionados. Unaged whiskeys have made a comeback in recent years, too. As a baseline, bourbons must see at least two years in the cask, but four is more typical; whereas the catchall term “whiskey” has no minimum age.

Now Pinhook — a bespoke label with roots in New York and Kentucky — wants to expand the discussion of whiskey aging. And they’re doing it by bringing the wine term “vintage” into the conversation and releasing their core line on an annual basis. Pinhook’s philosophy is built on the notion that a group of barrels and grains will uniquely express themselves differently every year (much like grapes do). The company’s co-founder and master taster Sean Josephs, a certified wine sommelier, has a dream of shifting the conversation around vintages and whiskeys to make it “more similar to wine.” His process is rooted in the world of wine-making, with an emphasis on the journey from terroir to glass.

“In the wine world it’s so accepted that nature dictates the wine,” Josephs says. “Even though grapes and grains are very different things, it’s still a natural product shaped by nature.”

The overarching philosophy here is to let the spirit “be what it’s meant to be” without manipulating into something it’s not. That means that Pinhook’s expressions may be more floral one year and then more fruity or honey-laden the next. Where Pinhook differs from other whiskey brands is the approach to the blending and aging process — which carries a certain “not all who wander are lost” vibe.

“You don’t know what you’re trying to achieve,” he says. “You’re just trying to achieve the best thing.”

That’s a big shift from the approach of larger macro-brands, who start off with a flavor profile and ABV that they know they need to hit for consistency. Nothing is predetermined. This means that the same expressions from different vintages can vary greatly. To dive deeper into this approach to whiskey, we tested the Pinhook’s signature bourbons and ryes in the $38-$50 price range.

Bourbon War

The Whiskey:

Bourbon War is the first in Pinhook’s Vertical Series. In this series, the idea is to follow a group of barrels that are all the same age that all have the same mash bill and all filled within a span of months at Castle & Key Distillery in Kentucky.

“To me, it’s like the ultimate vintage opportunity because you’re able to taste this from ages four through twelve and really understand what one year of age does to the bourbon,” Josephs tells us. The expression is then proofed at what Josephs’ considers the ideal proof for each blend. For example, Pinhook’s four-year bourbon is at 98 proof. The next Bourbon War is the five-year 104 proof, which is being released this fall.

Tasting Notes:

The nose has a fruity aroma, particularly that of pineapple. With each sip, comes a palate of nutty notes and baking spices such as clove. It doesn’t have much of a lingering finish — however, that didn’t prevent us from going back for more.

Pick Bourbon War if: feefee

Bohemian Bourbon

The Whiskey:

The average age of Pinhook’s High Proof Bohemian Bourbon is just shy of three years old. Next year, Pinhook will have a mix of barrels to work with ranging from three-and-a-half to four-years-old to play with.

Tasting Notes:

Just like Bourbon War, the nose of this one is fruity, but more on the citrus side of the spectrum with tangerine and lemon standing out. The cocoa and toffee come together harmoniously on the palate. The lasting finish has just the right amount of heat.

Pick Bohemian Bourbon if: feefee

Rye’d On

The Whiskey:

Rye’d On was awarded Double Gold at this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The juice was sourced from MPG and has the standard 95 percent rye and five percent malted barley mash bill. But the distillery has thrown out any idea of what rye is “supposed” to taste like.

“Even at 95 percent rye, rye doesn’t want to be just one thing,” Josephs says. “It’s almost like people are shaping it to be that because rye is ‘supposed’ to be one thing.”

Tasting Notes:

Retailing at only $38, Rye’d On is right on with its palate, quality, and pricing. The cinnamon scent draws you in, while the cherry and toffee flavors keep you engaged. We’re thinking of ditching bourbon and replacing it with this brown-hued rye beauty when we make a Mint Julep. Hello, Rye Julep.

Pick Rye’d On if: feefee

Tiz Rye Time

The Whiskey:

The inaugural Vertical Rye series was launched just last month with the release of Tiz Rye Time. The series ties itself to young thoroughbred racehorses that grace the brand’s labels. This expression was released at a very specific 97 proof and blended from a selection of 150 bourbon barrels and 50 rye barrels.

Tasting Notes:

Another cinnamon nose, but this time with a hint of tangerine. Apricot, clove, and maple flavors come together for a palate that’s as irresistible as it is unforgettable. There’s a nice, subtle heat on the finish.

Pick Tiz Rye Time if: feefee

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Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, And Stormzy Lead The Nominations For The 2020 Mercury Prize

UK’s coveted Mercury Prize shines a spotlight on the year’s best album, according to a rotating cast of judges. While album rollouts in the past few months have been less than conventional due to the pandemic, Mercury Prize judges still hold releases to a high standard. The Mercury Prize announced its 2020 shortlist Thursday, and Charli XCX and Dua Lipa lead the nominations.

Dua Lipa made the shortlist for her disco-adjacent sophomore album Future Nostalgia while Charli XCX was nominated for How I’m Feeling Now, the album she produced in the span of two short months while in quarantine. Both of the singers took to Twitter to share their reactions to receiving a spot on the list.

In a statement, the Mercury Prize judges said the 2020 shortlist reflects the diversity and ambition in today’s music: “In these difficult and uncertain times the Hyundai Mercury Prize is proud to celebrate the remarkable power of music to inspire and exhilarate. The albums on the 2020 shortlist showcase a great diversity of sounds, styles, ambitions and experience. What these albums share is an irresistible urgency, a belief that their music matters more than ever.

Find the full Mercury Prize shortlist below.

Dua Lipa — Future Nostalgia
Charli XCX — How I’m Feeling Now
Laura Marling — Song For Our Daughter
Stormzy — Heavy Is The Head
Porridge Radio — Every Bad
Sports Team — Deep Down Happy
Kano — Hoodies All Summer
Anna Meredith — FIBS
Georgia — Seeking Thrills
Lanterns On The Lake — Spook The Herd
Moses Boyd — Dark Matter
Michael Kiwanuka — Kiwanuka

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

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NLE Choppa Salutes The ‘Ruff Rydas’ On His ‘Road To Fast 9’ Mixtape Single

NLE Choppa‘s profile continues to rise as the “Shotta Flow” rapper lands another new placement sure to expose him to a humongous potential audience. Today, he released his contribution to the companion mixtape for the upcoming ninth installment in the Fast And Furious film franchise, “Ruff Rydas.” Employing a triumphant, Arthurian horn and flute loop and his usual hard-hitting Memphis trap drums, Choppa salutes the “ruff rydas” who “ride with pistols and them Glocks” while threatening the lives of anyone who challenges him. It’s stuff we’re used to hearing from him by now, but popping up on The Road To Fast 9 mixtape only hints at greater heights to come in his burgeoning career.

The Road To Fast 9 tape has already employed a number of other standout, up-and-coming stars on previous singles, such as Lil Skies (“Red & Yellow“), Kevin Gates and Tory Lanez, (“Convertible Burt“), and Youngboy Never Broke Again (“One Shot” featuring Lil Baby). The tape is intended as a bridge to the eventual release of the film itself, which has been pushed back a number of times due to coronavirus.

Press play on the lyrics video for NLE Choppa’s “Ruff Rydas” above.

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