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Finding the best bang-for-your-buck bourbon in an overcrowded booze aisle is no easy task. There are ten-year-old bourbons on the shelf that cost $50 next to bourbons of the same age that cost $200. Is there a difference? Quite often, yes. Is it a difference that’s worth $150? Well… that’s debatable.

Some single barrel bourbons will reach into the hundreds of dollars while others sit on shelves for around $30. It’s a minefield with little rhyme or reason — on the surface, anyway.

To help you make the best choices and get the most value for your dollar when buying bourbon, we thought we’d call out ten bottles that outkick their coverage. These are expressions that we think are either worth more than their low, low price or offer something unique and special at a very affordable price point. Are they cheap? Not really. Are they worth every penny and then some? Bingo.

Now let’s dive in! Click on the prices if you want to give any of these a shot for yourself.

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of 2021 (So Far)

• Our Favorite Bourbon Whiskey From Every Price Point Between $10-$200
• All 19 Brands From The Buffalo Trace Distillery, Ranked
• Here’s Who Won Our Big Barrel Proof Bourbon Whiskey Blind Taste Test
• We Tasted Eight Texas Bourbons Blind And Ranked Them According To Taste
• The Best Bourbon Whiskeys To Drink Neat, From $50 On Up

10. Old Tub

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $25

The Whiskey:

Last year, Jim Beam released their “distillery-only” Old Tub expression on the national market. The juice is an unfiltered and higher ABV version of classic Beam, giving you more of the brand’s depth in each sip of whiskey.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a sense of cornmeal next to sawdust, oily vanilla, and a hint of fresh honey sweetness that entices the senses. The sip takes on a caramel corn sweetness vibe as the vanilla carries you towards sweeter woods and cherry fruits. The end is short and sweet (like most Beam) with a distant wisp of orange oils next to a slight minerality.

Value For Dollar:

When it comes to Jim Beam, you can’t really go wrong with any pick if you’re looking for value. The difference between this and, say, standard Beam is that it’s both better tasting and more refined. This is a real-deal sipper for around 20 bucks in a world where $20 bourbons are rarely good for more than mixing (yes, even Old Grand-Dad).

9. Jefferson’s Ocean Aged At Sea Cask Strength

ABV: 59.8%

Average Price: $80

The Whiskey:

Jefferson’s Ocean is an experiment in finishing that’s pretty unique. The blenders pull in six to eight-year-old whiskeys sourced from four Kentucky distilleries. They marry those barrels and then re-barrel the whiskey, load them onto a ship, and sail those barrels around the world for almost a year. The best of those barrels are married again and bottled at cask strength with no additional fussing.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a clear crème brûlée vibe on the nose with touches of orange zest, cinnamon toast, and slightly singed marshmallow. The taste dives into salted caramel notes with hints of Almond Joys covered in dark chocolate next to a savory fruit edge. That fruit turns figgy as the end fades slowly, hitting on spicy tobacco warmth and a final touch of fresh mint.

Value For Dollar:

When it comes to bourbons that have a “gimmick,” you can be forgiven for rolling your eyes or skipping to the next bottle. But this smashes all pre-conceptions about gimmicky aging by delivering a great sipping whiskey for under $100. This punches way above its weight class while maintaining a beautiful and unique drinking experience.

8. George Dickel Bottled-in-Bond

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $45

The Whiskey:

Head Distiller Nicole Austin has been killing it with these bottled-in-bond releases from George Dickel. This year’s release is a whiskey that was warehoused in the fall of 2008. Eleven years later, this whiskey was bottled at 100 proof (as per the law) and sent out to the wide world where it received much adoration.

Tasting Notes:

This bottle exudes a flaky-crusted pecan pie jacked up on maple syrup, sprinkled with dried apple, and flush with rich vanilla. The taste delivers on those promises with a subtle maple syrup sweetness balanced with roasted nuts, more vanilla, and another dose of that earthy/spicy dried fruit. The end is slow and pointed with spicy apple pies, brown butter richness, and another shot of that vanilla leading towards a hint of charred oak.

Value For Dollar:

Just to be clear, all Tennessee whiskey is bourbon from the jump (though not all bourbon is Tennessee whiskey). This release grows on me every year with the most recent release hitting it out of the park. Yes, there are bottled-in-bond whiskeys out there that are a little cheaper, but this is another whiskey that could be $80 (or more) on every shelf and no one would bat an eye — yet here it is for under $50.

7. Nelson’s Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey

ABV: 45.5%

Average Price: $30

The Whiskey:

Nelson’s Green Brier is a heritage brand that has a great comeback story. The family’s shingle was killed by Prohibition until descendants of the former owners stumbled upon the old distillery. Now, they’re making one of the finest, wheated Tennessee whiskeys at one of the most accessible price points of any whiskey.

Tasting Notes:

Cinnamon stewed apples mix with oily vanilla and a sweet edge of caramel. The spice carries through the taste with buttery cinnamon toast feel next to more tart apples, plenty of that caramel, wet brown sugar, and a small dusting of dark cacao and cherries. The end takes its time as it dances back through the cinnamon, cherry, chocolate, spice, and brown sugar towards a final note of wood.

Value For Dollar:

Sticking with Tennessee and all the great things happening there in whiskey, Nelson’s Green Brier continues to shine as a great craft whiskey and just all-around solid workhorse whiskey. The fact that you can get a craft bottling of this caliber at about $30 (the same price as huge corporate whiskeys with a lot less going on in the bottle) is a bit of a miracle.

6. Eagle Rare 10

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $45

The Whiskey:

Eagle Rare 10 is a marriage of at minimum ten-year-old Buffalo Trace whiskeys. Each barrel is hand-selected to bring in classic bourbon flavors that also feel deeply rooted and unique to the brand.

Tasting Notes:

This one opens boldly with orange rind and maple syrup next to touches of honey, worn leather, and toffee. Then the oak char and vanilla kick in, giving it a classic old-leather-chair-in-a-smoky-library vibe, as hints of mint lead back towards the toffee. When you add a little water, there’s a dark chocolate bar with almonds that arrives. The finish is short but sweet in all the right ways.

Value For Dollar:

I really struggled with putting anything from Sazerac on this list, especially from Buffalo Trace. But this whiskey is just too good to deny. The fact that you can still score this bottle for less than $50 is a miracle in and of itself when you look at the bonkers markups Buffalo Trace allocations get at retail.

This whiskey delivers way more than they charge for it, so here it is.

5. Michter’s US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon

ABV: 45.7%

Average Price: $48

The Whiskey:

Michter’s is a revival brand that has relied on sourced juice but now is operating its own distillery and laying down its own barrels. The whiskey in this bottle is a blend of 24 or fewer barrels of up to eight-year-old bourbons. It’s an entry-point bourbon that’s a sour mash, small-batched, award-winning master class in bourbon whiskey.

Tasting Notes:

This smells, tastes, and feels classic — with an opening of rich bourbon vanilla beans next to almost creamy caramel with a nice dose of cellared oak. The taste veers into sweet stone fruits with a touch more creaminess leading into the vanilla as mild spice peeks in. The end is slow, oaky, creamy, fruity, and features a touch of smoked popcorn when you add a little water.

Value For Dollar:

Having just sipped on this again recently, it’s always a bit of a wonder how well-built this bourbon is. It feels and tastes like it was made in a way that honors all the bourbons that came before while still feeling fresh and kind of fun.

4. Woodinville Straight Bourbon

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $37

The Whiskey:

This craft whiskey is a grain/corn-to-glass Washington experience. The grains are all grown near the distillery. The oak is toasted and aged outside of the distillery’s warehouses for 18 months before the hot juice goes in for maturation. After around five years, the whiskey is blended, proofed, and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

Dark fruits meld with Christmas spices and plenty of brown sugar, vanilla, and nuts leading towards an almost dark rum nose. The palate delivers but dials into butter-fried bananas, creamy vanilla pudding, rich toffee, and a hint of toasted wood. The end doesn’t overstay its welcome and brings about a mild spicy chewiness and more of that toasty oak with a nice return of the toffee.

Value For Dollar:

A craft bourbon for under $40 that’s beloved, award-winning, and delicious is harder to find than you’d think. This bourbon is mature and built in a way that both reminds of how great bourbon can be while pushing it somewhere new. There’s none of that young craft bourbon greenness you find with other crafty distillers around the country. This is fully-formed and on track to become a classic of the style.

3. Balcones Texas Pot Still Bourbon

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $30

The Whiskey:

This is a true Texas grain/corn-to-glass experience. The whiskey is made from Texas grains and corn in old-school stills and then matured under the warm Waco, Texas sun in Balcones’ own warehouse. The results are small-batch blended, slight proofed, and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

You get a real sense of kettle corn covered in caramel next to hints of oak, sweet apples, and worn leather. The taste veers away from these notes slightly, with pecan pie topped with vanilla cream, more of that leather and oak, and a touch of honey. The end is chewy and lingers as almost spicy tobacco arrives late to accentuate the oak.

Value For Dollar:

This craft bourbon is so goddamn unique when it comes to bourbon that it should cost twice as much. Yet, here we are with a $30 bottle of truly distinct and boundary-pushing bourbon that you can find almost nationwide. Those points almost pushed this to number one on this list but alas, unique doesn’t always mean best (though this is pretty close).

2. Evan Williams Single Barrel

ABV: 43.3%

Average Price: $32

The Whiskey:

There’s a lot of love around this single barrel expression from Heaven Hill. The craftspeople at the company search through their warehouses for the exact right single barrels that meet their high standards. Those barrels are then proofed with that soft Kentucky limestone water and bottled with the year of distillation on the bottle alongside the barrel number.

Tasting Notes:

The nose features almost bitter caramel next to salty popped corn, oak spice, and flutter of vanilla. The sip is like velvet with caramel apples next to chocolate oranges and a bit of spicy tobacco. There’s a buzz and chewiness to the end that leans very easy-drinking, while the flavors slowly roll back through the spice and wood.

Value For Dollar:

This was another tough pick. Is Evan Williams Single Barrel a better value pick than, say, Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond, Small Batch, or even Black Label? Yes. This is a single barrel expression of bourbon for about $30. That’s crazy cheap for a bottle of perfectly sippable single barrel bourbon.

To be clear, this is not going to be a bourbon that changes the way you think about whiskey. It is going to be a perfectly solid sipper and mixer that could easily cost twice as much on a good day.

1. Knob Creek 12

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $70

The Whiskey:

This is classic Beam whiskey with a low-ish rye mash bill of 77 percent corn, 13 percent rye, and ten percent malted barley. The juice is then left alone in the Beam warehouses for 12 long years. The barrels are chosen according to a specific taste and married to create this higher-proof expression.

Tasting Notes:

You’re greeted with that classic Beam cherry that has dark chocolate and brandy candy depth alongside clear Christmas spices next to a hint of menthol tobacco. The spirit carries on those paths as it layers in buttery and sugary streusel over tart berries with plenty of that spice next to a nice dose of salted caramels covered in a bit of bitter dark chocolate. The finish is spicy and sweet and fades gradually.

Value For Dollar:

This is the whiskey that got me thinking about this list. I broke it out the other night and poured it over some rocks. It’s delightful and better than plenty of other bourbons ten years or older that cost sometimes hundreds of dollars more. There are bourbons that are two years younger that cost three times as much as this … and they don’t taste as good.

That makes this the best value bourbon on the market, in our estimation.

Hidden Track: Wild Turkey Rare Breed

ABV: 58.4%

Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

This is the mountaintop of what Wild Turkey can achieve. This is a blend of the best barrels that are married and bottled untouched. That means no filtering and no cutting with water. This is a classic bourbon with nowhere to hide.

Tasting Notes:

Crème brûlée greets you with a nice dose of Christmas spices, mild pipe tobacco, orange zest, and a distant hint of fresh mint sprigs. There’s a pine resin nature to the woody flavors on the palate that accents the orange oils, spices, vanilla, and sweetness. The sip takes on a Christmas cake-feel late, with a velvet end that is just the right amount of everything you want from a bourbon.

Value For Dollar:

No list of best value bourbons would be complete with Wild Turkey Rare Breed. Yes, people tend to already be in on this secret but that doesn’t for a second take away from the greatness of this bottle of whiskey. This is the epitome of “why is this still so cheap?!” It’s also easily available pretty much nationwide for the same price, which adds serious value as well.

In the end, this is a great sipping whiskey which also makes a killer Manhattan that could easily cost twice or three times as much and no one would really bat an eye.

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As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.

Rising pop singer Remi Wolf has been shining bright with her latest singles “Liquor Store” and “Liz.” Now cementing her road to stardom, Wolf returns with two eccentric singles to officially announce her upcoming debut album, Juno.

Wolf first captured the hearts of her audience with her authenticity. Her free-spirited ethos comes across strong in her new tracks “Grumpy Old Man” and “Quiet On Set,” offering a preview of the gritty and funk-forward sound expected from her debut effort.

In a statement about the upcoming LP, Wolf said she wrote most of the songs during a period of change and named the effort after her dog:

“Creating my debut album Juno was like a fever dream. So many changes were happening in my life while I was creating these songs and I think my album really reflects the feelings of tension and release that these changes provoked in me. Every song on this record is a vivid snapshot into what was going on in my life and mindset the day I wrote each one. I hope my Remjobs can hear my honesty and passion come through and, if not, I just hope they think each song is a banger! The album is named Juno after my beautiful dog I adopted during lockdown. He ended up being in every single writing session for this album and I consider him my partner, witness, and support in the making of this record.”

Listen to “Grumpy Old Man” and “Quiet On Set Above.” Find Wolf’s Juno tracklist, cover art, and tour dates below.

1. “Liquor Store”
2. “Anthony Keidis”
3. “Wyd”
4. “Guerrilla”
5. “Quiet On Set”
6. “Volkiano”
7. “Front Tooth”
8. “Grumpy Old Man”
9. “Buttermilk”
10. “Sally”
11. “Sexy Villain”
12. “Buzz Me In”
13. “Street You Live On”

09/27 — Oakland, CA @ The New Parish
09/29 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy
10/04 — Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
10/06 — Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Juno is out 10/15 via Island Records. Pre-order it here.

“Cancel culture” continues to be a hot-button issue on public forums like Twitter, as proponents of accountability maintain that no one is ever really “canceled” en masse, while others wring their hands at the prospect of political correctness run amok. Into this debate, one user injected an intriguing example that has prompted some serious (and hilariously unserious) consideration from hip-hop fans.

“Cancel culture isn’t real unless your name is Daniel Caesar or Goldlink lmaooo,” wrote @mali3035, referencing the rapper and singer whose respective popularity levels have seemingly flagged since both scored career-defining hits in 2017 (“Best Part” with H.E.R. and “Crew” with Brent Faiyaz and Shy Glizzy, respectively). “They got them negros outta here,” @mali3035 joked.

To recap, GoldLink was the subject of backlash when he noted similarities between his 2015 project And After That, We Didn’t Talk and the late Mac Miller’s 2016 album The Divine Feminine in a lengthy post on Instagram. As Miller had recently passed, the post was read as “disrespectful” by many fans and peers, including Anderson . Paak, who penned a long response of his own. Since then, GoldLink has released another pair of projects, but has yet to reach the same heights as he did on “Crew.” He also claims that he wasn’t trying to accuse Mac of plagiarism, but intent and reception don’t always agree.

Seeing the original tweet claiming GoldLink is canceled, other fans quickly chimed in, sending the DMV-bred artist’s name to Twitter’s trending topics as they debated whether or not he really was canceled and why. While some simply maintained that “Crew” was just the result of the song being bigger than its principal artist (thanks in no small part to the efforts of its guests), others noted that GoldLink seems to be doing fine, despite reduced streaming numbers in comparison to that smash. Others simply defended GoldLink, saying that they refused to go along with what they saw as a vindictive agenda.

For what it’s worth, GoldLink’s story isn’t all that uncommon in hip-hop — Vh1 used to run specials about the biggest one-hit wonders in pop music all the time and rappers usually constituted significant chunks of those lists (the “how” and “why” is a subject for a longer, better-researched piece). GoldLink and Daniel Caesar are likely far from “canceled” (seriously, very few public figures don’t recover from bouts of bad press — even R. Kelly has his defenders), and while neither has matched their biggest hits so far (although Caesar is featured on Justin Bieber’s “Peaches,” a monster jam in its own right), that doesn’t mean they don’t both have long careers ahead of them, if they want them.

Draymond Green’s highly-anticipated interview with Kevin Durant for Bleacher Report dropped on Wednesday, with the pair making the decision to address their infamous public blow up in 2018. After Green opted against passing Durant the ball in the waning moments of regulation during a close game against the Los Angeles Clippers, the then-teammates were visibly unhappy with one another in the huddle leading into overtime.

The two have explained what happened in the years since, most recently when Green appeared on Durant’s podcast in April. But in their new interview, the pair addressed an elephant that remains in the room — whether or not this pushed Durant away from the Golden State Warriors at the end of the year when he opted to join the Brooklyn Nets — and while they agree that it did, they don’t believe the argument itself is to blame.

Instead, both Durant and Green, at the 8:35 mark of the interview, think that the response from the Warriors’ staff and front office was the thing that pushed him away.

“It wasn’t the argument,” Durant said. “It was the way that everybody … Steve Kerr act like it didn’t happen, Bob Myers tried to just discipline you and think that that would put the mask over everything. I really felt like that was such a big situation for us as a group, the first time we went through someone like that. We had to get that sh*t all out.

“I remember watching The Last Dance and when Scottie didn’t go into the game, the whole team in the locker room said, ‘Scottie, that was f*cked up that you did that,’” Durant continued. “We needed that, we just needed to throw all that sh*t out on the table and say, ‘Yo, Dray, K, that was f*cked up that we even had to go through that, let’s just wipe our hands with that and go finish the task.’ I don’t think we did that, we tried to dance around it, I just didn’t like how all of that … just the vibe between all of that, it just made sh*t weird to me, and I’d rather us be who we say we are — family first, communication is key, we didn’t show that, and that’s what really rubbed me the wrong way more than anything.”

Green then told his side of the story about the aftermath, recalling that the Warriors spoke to him for an hour and 45 minutes after they returned home about how he needed to apologize. He made clear that he was going to speak to Durant and that the team wouldn’t tell him what to say, which ultimately led to the matter being dropped until the morning. The next day, the same conversation occurred, at which point Green bluntly told the Warriors’ brass what was on his mind.

“We met the next morning, and they said, ‘Alright, you slept on it, you ready to apologize?’” Green recalled. “And I told them right then and there, I said, ‘Y’all about to f*ck this up.’ I said, ‘The only person that can make this right is me and K, and there is nothing that y’all can do, and y’all are going to f*ck this up.’ And in my opinion, they f*cked it up.”

Durant agreed, while Green went on to say that he laughed in the faces of the team’s decision makers when they told him he would receive a one-game suspension for the incident.

“Bob said to me, ‘Wow, that was not the reaction I was looking for or expecting,’” Green said. “And I said, ‘Well, either I’m gonna laugh in your face or cuss you the f*ck out, so you pick, I’ma choose laugh. I think what you’re doing is funny, and so I’ma laugh.’”

The whole conversation is fascinating — unsurprisingly, both Kevin Durant and Draymond Green are pretty honest and forthright about things in this setting — but this sticks out due to the fact that both guys are really critical of how the Warriors responded to the whole thing. Whether or not the Warriors respond to this remains to be seen, but we’re going to guess this isn’t exactly something they’re looking forward to addressing three years after it happened.

It’s been 81 years since iconic Americana singer Woody Guthrie captured hearts with his indelible 1940 album Dust Bowl Ballads. To commemorate the famed musician, several contemporary artists breath new life into his classics with upcoming compilation album Home In This World: Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads. Waxahatchee shares her contribution to the LP today with her version of Guthrie’s “Talking Dust Bowl Blues.”

The Home In This World effort was endorsed by the Woody Guthrie Estate Curated and, along with Waxahatchee, includes a lineup of artists like Lee Ann Womack, John Paul White, and Colter Wall. The LP will be released in partnership with Kiss The Ground, a non-profit organization on a mission to “awaken people to the possibilities of regenerative agriculture and inspire participation in this movement through media, communications, education, immersive programming, and advocacy.”

The compilation project was curated by Grammy Award-winning music supervisor and producer Randall Poster, who feels Guthrie’s album is still relevant today:

“Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads is as relevant as ever. While profiteers exploit our natural resources, there is a growing sensitivity to the harsh farming practices that put our well-being at risk and a concerted movement toward regenerative agriculture that can reinvigorate the soil and push back on climate change. I asked some of my favorite artists to help render these songs, hoping that this collection will reinforce the enduring power and prescience of Guthrie’s music and reveal the power of song. I tried to think of these songs as the soundtrack to a movie, building a narrative, a story where the world wakes up to the climate threats and unite to combat it successfully. It’s a great movie.”

Listen to “Talking Dust Bowl Blues” above and find the Home In This World: Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads cover art and tracklist below.

1. “Dust Bowl Blues” — Shovels & Rope
2. “I Ain’t Got No Home In This World Anymore” — Lost Dog Street Band
3. “Blowin’ Down This Road” — Watkins Family Hour
4. “Pretty Boy Floyd” — John Paul White
5. “Dusty Old Dust” — Lee Ann Womack
6. “Do Re Mi” — Colter Wall
7. “Talking Dust Bowl Blues” — Waxahatchee
8. “Tom Joad Part 1” — Chris Thile
9. “Tom Joad Part 2” — Lillie Mae
10. “The Great Dust Storm” — The Felice Brothers
11. “Dust Cain’t Kill Me” — The Secret Sisters
12. “Dust Bowl Refugee” — Swamp Dogg
13. “Dust Pneumonia Blues” — Mark Lanegan
14. “Vigilante Man” — Parker Millsap

Home In This World: Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads is out 9/10 via Elektra. Pre-order it here.

LAS VEGAS – Talen Horton-Tucker is in a pretty good mood. Sure, that’s probably the default setting for the Los Angeles Lakers youngster this summer on the heels of his putting pen to paper on a three-year contract extension worth around $32 million, but Horton-Tucker had a smile seemingly glued to his face as he met with basketball fans at the Las Vegas Summer League.

A Summer League alumnus in his own right — Horton-Tucker suited up for the Lakers in Las Vegas in 2019, several weeks after he was taken in the second round of the Draft — the 20-year-old wing calls it “great” to be able to sit down and watch basketball as a fan for the first time in a minute. Of course, his current situation isn’t all that bad, either. Horton-Tucker’s aforementioned big payday came as the Lakers have an eye on reloading ahead of a push for a championship next season, with the team making clear that he is an important part of whatever plans they have over the next three years.

He does exist at an interesting intersection: Teams like the Lakers want to win and win right away. At the same time, Horton-Tucker is so young, so early in his development as a basketball player that, conventional wisdom says, the absolute best thing for him is to play, make mistakes, and use them as learning opportunities.

While these are not always viewed as compatible, the good news for Horton-Tucker is he believes he is given the opportunity to do the latter.

“I feel like I’m given the opportunity to play through my mistakes,” he tells Dime. “And also, they’re also hard on me. I feel like they can see how good I can be, I feel like they want to push me to try and reach that level, so anything that they say, I’m always open to listen to it.”

A young player with a funky game and tools to help him make an impact on either end of the floor, Horton-Tucker says he’s in the midst of a constant conversations with the coaching staff about his role in Los Angeles. His two main focuses this offseason, on-ball defense and shooting, are things that generally lead to minutes aplenty for guys on LeBron James-led teams. But he’s not just boxed into that sort of role.

“Talking to the staff, we always have the conversation, me being able to do a lot of things on the floor,” Horton-Tucker says. “I try to use my tools to my advantage — my length defensively, then my creativity offensively, being able to make plays, not just for myself, but for others. Being able to improve my game the whole year is going to be important for me.”

An important element to making those sorts of improvements on the fly, Horton-Tucker believes, is the ability to keep a positive mind in the face of everything. Namely, he views any growth he experiences as part of these mistakes as a way to lay a foundation that should stick with him over his next decade-plus as a professional basketball player.

“I take it all on,” he says about being a young player in L.A.’s pressure-packed environment. “I feel like I’d rather have that in my career now than have it later, I feel like it prepares me for later on in my career.”

Los Angeles is a place where he can learn from the best. Despite all the turnover that has happened on the team’s roster during his two years, stalwarts like James and Anthony Davis give him the chance to learn from two of the best players on earth. A laundry list of veterans — Marc Gasol, Dwight Howard, Danny Green, Rajon Rondo, etc. — have been teammates of his at one point or another.

His first practice was as an observer because the start to his rookie year was delayed by a stress reaction in his foot (he does admit that it still “excited like the first day at school”), but he remembers the feeling of belonging out there when he suited up for the team for the first time in a game. From that very first moment to now, one bit of advice he’s received from all of these veterans has resonated.

“Pretty much all the guys tell me to take it all in, and try to have fun with it,” Horton-Tucker says. “Because when you’re not having fun, there’s no reason to do it anymore.”

Over the past couple days, there have been rumors of a third listening event for Kanye West’s upcoming album Donda, as somebody who claimed to work security for Chicago’s Soldier Field claimed the venue had a “major concert event” scheduled for August 26. It turns out those rumors were actually true: Today, West himself confirmed on Instagram that a Donda event will indeed by happening at the Chicago stadium on the 26th. The show is set to being at 9 p.m. CT, with tickets going on sale on August 20 at noon CT.

This news comes less than 24 hours after West shared an image on Instagram, of what appears to be a dove seen through a teal-tinted window. It’s not clear if the image was meant to tease anything related to Donda.

The idea behind these listening events was that Donda would be made available on streaming services shortly after them, but based on the fact that we’re coming up on the third Donda event, this has yet to be the case. Apple Music currently lists the expected release date for Donda as August 27, the day after the event. At this point, though, given that West has missed so many announced or expected release dates for Donda, any information of that sort should be taken with a grain of salt.

Now that’s she officially left The View, Meghan McCain is free to pursue more personal projects that are near and dear to heart. Namely, letting everyone know that she’s daughter of the late U.S. Senator John McCain in a new memoir/audiobook that is “imbued with an unmistakable Maverick spirit” just like her dad, John McCain. Has she mentioned him before?

Arriving exclusively on Audible, Bad Republican will (via a press release) invite listeners “inside the unwavering heart and ferocious mind of a young conservative woman who refuses to back down.” As well as addressing her early life, the audiobook will also reportedly tackle McCain’s time on The View where she was the constant target of ridicule thanks to her almost daily shouting matches with co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar.

Here’s the official synopsis:

In the aptly titled Bad Republican, McCain tells of growing up the daughter of an American icon and of the final moments she spent by her father’s side; of her (mis)adventures on the New York dating scene before meeting her now-husband, Ben; of her views on cancel culture, internet trolls and life backstage as the sole Republican on America’s most-watched daytime talk show — and why she decided to leave; of the awkward phone call she received from Donald and Melania and where she thinks the Republican Party, and the country, goes from here; and of why a miscarriage and the birth of her daughter, Liberty, have left her so fired up about women’s rights.

Bad Republican premieres October 21 on Audible.

With the internet hyper-accelerating the average artist’s life cycle and “democratizing” the already overcrowded market to the point of a constant blur of white noise, it can get a little tricky for rising stars to separate themselves from the pack. Where in the past, there was a long lead time of artist development before artists were thrown into the deep end to sink or swim, nowadays, your make-or-break moment as a potential star can come just weeks after your initial breakthrough on the back of a viral hit. For the modern generation of rising rap stars, that moment is often their first festival performance, which has come to be the ultimate proving ground separating the future kings and queens from the one-hit-wonders.

In fact, the festival performance — and the fact that there are so many festivals that cater to hip-hop, not to mention so many facets of it — is both a gift and a curse. Rather than plugging away for months, years — heck, decades — at a rap career, refining your performance skills in half-empty dive bars and 300-cap theaters, you can play for many times that number at even the smallest stages at festivals like Rolling Loud or Day N Vegas, even in the least desirable time slots, getting the kind of exposure that it used to take a whole regional tour to acquire. Now that you’ve got a viral hit, this is your chance to capitalize on the curiosity of fans at your stage and prove you have enough material to fill a solo set and pitch your real product: Your personality, your energy, and your unique story.

However, this can be a double-edged sword. While a standout set can earn you fans for life — or at least, for the duration of the ride home from the festival venue — a lackluster one can torpedo any forward momentum you’ve managed to earn for yourself. While streaming numbers can be faked and industry relationships can be leveraged to “get on,” you can’t fake a live reaction. This is why so many of the artists that draw so much attention early in their careers can seemingly fade over time. Plus, bad sets tend to stack up on one another; the first bad set leads to skepticism for the next, and so on, meaning each new performance can bring back diminishing returns. Also, if fans don’t see your name moving up the lineup and getting bigger, they can assume it’s because you have very little to offer with your live show.

We’ve seen these principles in practice over and over again but for the most extreme example, we can look at someone like DaBaby, whose raucous festival performances played a huge part in his building such a dedicated fanbase so quickly. Even before he blew up in 2019 with “Walker Texas Ranger,” when he was still going by Baby Jesus (yikes), Jonathan Kirk was an expert at drawing attention, walking around festivals in a huge diaper, and delivering energetic performances that endeared him to fans early in his career. When he finally got that name thing sorted out, it seemed like he blew up right away, right? None of that success would have been possible had he not positioned himself for it with his stellar performances early on.

DaBaby also helped make the downsides to a bad performance more clear this year, ironically at Rolling Loud, the hip-hop-centric festival of which he’d become a fixture over the past two years. Thanks to livestreams of festivals, performances both good and bad can be broadcast to even more viewers at a time, making the stakes more precarious than ever. Even as DaBaby delivered his usual action-packed set, his between-song call-to-action to fans came across as less-than-enlightened and has drawn plenty of complaints of insensitivity and hate, marring his public reputation seemingly overnight (his repeated doubling down didn’t help). Bringing out Tory Lanez as a publicity stunt further disrupted any positive perceptions his performance may have picked up, sparking the viral moment he wanted, but bringing the opposite response he likely expected.

Kirk’s woes, though, are extreme. Some other examples might be the way newer rappers like Polo G, JID, or Guapdad 4000 were able to convert new fans after a festival season, growing their followings to the point of intense fervor. I personally watched Kyle unexpectedly pull in hundreds of curious observers on the big stage at Coachella a couple of years ago, overhearing conversations to the effect of “Who’s that?” “I don’t know but I like him!” Aminé packed out a tent at that same Coachella, the spillover crowd sparking increased interest from passerby and growing it by the second. By the same token, at the most recent Rolling Loud, breakout sensation Coi Leray mystified attendees who realized they didn’t know any of her catalog past “No More Parties,” but seemed to be engaged by her enthusiastic performance, even if they didn’t quite show it on the livestream.

Even the choice of the festival to perform at makes a huge difference for a rising artist. A Camp Flog Gnaw set can attract one sort of fans (Tyler fans are hella loyal) while something like Soundset can benefit a more heady-sounding rapper. Back in the day, I knew if an artist was on Paid Dues or Rock The Bells, they were my kind of artist — and that was where I saw groups like TDE and Slaughterhouse make their bones. Since then, a good festival show has only become more important to any artist’s strategy. It’s a shame so many are tossed into that fire without getting the practice they need to deliver an impressive set. In the future, maybe artists, their labels, and their managers will realize that importance and dedicate more resources to ensuring they are ready to take on that challenge.

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

After two weeks of basketball that began in California and Utah, the NBA’s Summer League slate wrapped up on Tuesday in Las Vegas. Contrary to past years, there was a full slate of games on the final day and the league ran through the tape as a result. While there are many angles by which to attack the consumption of Summer League action, a lot of attention is paid to the rookie class, and that is even more true when discussing the Lottery picks.

To that end, it is time to take stock of the 14 players selected in the 2021 Lottery.

Cade Cunningham

It would be fair to say that Cunningham wasn’t utterly dominant in Las Vegas, but he certainly didn’t take much off the table. The No. 1 pick averaged 18.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game across three appearances, and Cunningham converted a blistering 50 percent of his 8.7 three-point attempts per game. This wasn’t the friendliest style of play for Cunningham, who thrives on team defense and isn’t a hyper-athlete, but he did more than enough to impress before the Pistons shut him down for the final two games.

Jalen Green

A hamstring issue forced Green into an early exit from Vegas, but he was tremendous during his three-game performance. Green showed his full arsenal of offensive creation, and he was difficult to stop in a Summer League setting. The only time he was at all flummoxed was against the Pistons, who blitzed him, and Green looked the part of a top-tier prospect. He averaged 20.3 points per game, shot 51 percent from the floor, and left quite an impression.

Evan Mobley

Vegas was a mixed bag for Mobley, who also played only three games. He posted solid counting stats (11.3 points, 7.7 rebounds) but shot just 35 percent from the floor and 12.5 percent from three-point range. Mobley did make some considerable flash plays defensively, though, and it has to be noted that Cleveland inexplicably arrived in the desert without a single point guard to run their offense — Isaac Okoro, who is decidedly not a point guard, was the team’s primary initiator. This was never going to be the best showcase for Mobley, all things considered, but it wasn’t a disaster by any means.

Scottie Barnes

Barnes didn’t answer his biggest question in Vegas, making 27 percent of his threes on modest volume. However, he checked a lot of boxes while averaging 15.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, two blocks, and one steal per game. He was impressive defensively, competing at a sky-high level and flashing his communication and recovery tools, and Barnes made the plays that came to him on the offensive end. It would’ve been unrealistic to expect much more than he put on film.

Jalen Suggs

The first of two top picks for Orlando, Suggs looked good before suffering a sprained thumb. That injury kept him out of the final two games, but Suggs averaged 15.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while getting to the rim and operating in impressive fashion on both ends. His competitiveness shined in Vegas and he made enough highlight plays to turn heads.

Josh Giddey

Giddey hurt his ankle almost immediately during the Thunder’s opening game and played five minutes during Summer League. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get to see more of him, as Giddey’s passing and ability to control a game would have been fun to watch in this setting.

Jonathan Kuminga

Kuminga was extremely impressive in Summer League. He scored 18 points in his only appearance in California, then averaged 17.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in four games in Vegas. The knock on Kuminga was with his efficiency, as he shot only 37.3 percent from the floor, but the highlight plays were there. Beyond that, he played with physicality and seemed to be quite comfortable. He remains quite raw, but Kuminga’s tools stand out in a big way.

Franz Wagner

Like Mobley, Wagner’s talents were never going to rise to the surface in Las Vegas. With that said, he still struggled. He shot 15 percent from three-point range, averaged only eight points per game and struggled to make an offensive impact. His calling card of team defense doesn’t translate to Summer League, so that isn’t a real concern, but questions about his offensive appeal in the early going won’t be answered by what he was able to do in his first professional action.

Davion Mitchell

Mitchell looked good in the California Classic, averaging 16 points per game, and that carried over to Vegas as a key part of the title-winning squad from Sacramento. His on-ball defense drew the usual rave reviews, and the intensity in which he pressures opposing ball-handlers is truly fun to watch. Offensively, his three-point shooting was strong, albeit on modest volume, but his package inside the arc wasn’t quite as impressive and his mysterious free throw issues persisted. Overall, Mitchell was still an effective player and he showed the skills that made him a Lottery pick.

Ziaire Williams

The question marks are still question marks. Williams shot 38 percent from the floor and 20 percent from three in Vegas, and he wasn’t able to do much beyond pull-up jumpers. Granted, he does have the pedigree and potential to make those shots consistently, but when it wasn’t working, there wasn’t a natural counter for Williams. The Grizzlies definitely know they are making a future bet, though, and the raw tools are scintillating.

James Bouknight

Vegas was basically what was expected for Bouknight. He scored at a high level (16.8 points per game) on solid efficiency, and he had 28 percent usage. He didn’t shoot it incredibly well the entire trip, but his three-point shooting (37.5 percent) exceeded his college baseline. Defensively, it was a bit of an adventure, but the Hornets have to feel okay with that what they saw, especially through the lens of what they projected in selecting Bouknight.

Joshua Primo

Because he played two games in Utah before coming to Vegas, Primo only saw the court twice at the league’s marquee summer showcase. Primo’s efficiency (33 percent shooting in Vegas and 36 percent overall) left a lot to be desired, but that might overstate how much he actually struggled. He’s extremely young, which is worth noting, and Primo was asked to do a lot more in his early days with the Spurs than he was in college. You have to look beyond the inefficiency, but there were some encouraging signs for a player who is considered a long-term project.

Chris Duarte

Duarte was very good in Las Vegas. He shot 48.3 percent from three-point range on the way to 18.2 points per game, and Duarte was well-rounded with four rebounds and 3.8 assists per contest. Given that he’s 24 years old, it wasn’t a shock to see Duarte playing an under control style that seemed to display confidence. However, it would’ve been more concerning if he struggled, and he definitely did not.

Moses Moody

The Warriors have to feel pretty good right now. Granted, it is wise to avoid overreacting to Summer League, but both Kuminga and Moody looked the part. Moody is actually a player that might translate better to the structure of the regular season, particularly on defense and with his off-ball movement. Still, he averaged 16 points per game on reasonable efficiency. Without knowing that he fell to No. 14 overall, Moody would’ve had the feel of a selection in the top half of the Lottery.