Let’s get achingly real. Many of us are probably drinking a little bit more than usual at the moment. The phrase “to take the edge off” has never felt quite so potent. After all, alcohol — in moderation — can be a hell of a stress reducer. God knows we’re all plenty stressed.

We understand if you need a drink on a Tuesday afternoon, is what we’re saying. And whether you’re mixing a cocktail or just enjoying a dram on the rocks, having a good bottle of whiskey or rum or brandy on hand is a good call during these trying times.

Since tasting alcohol is a big part of what we do around here, we thought we’d let our audience know what we’ve been sipping on during the quarantine. These aren’t necessarily the best or cheapest or most expensive bottles of any one thing. They’re just the bottles we find ourselves appreciating right now. They’re all also easy to have delivered if you’re interested in trying them out yourself.

Cheers!

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Straight Rye Whiskey

ABV: 45%
Distillery: Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Lynchburg, TN
Average Price: $25

The Bottle:

Jack Daniel’s broke with tradition back in 2017 and started making a new whiskey for the first time in generations. Their straight rye goes through the same process as a classic Tennessee whiskey, meaning the hot juice is filtered through sugar maple charcoal before aging. This process adds a level of refinement to the whiskey that helps it shine brighter than the standard Jack.

Tasting Notes:

Toasted rye, vanilla, and oak lead into a feeling of bananas simmered off in brown sugar and butter with a hint of smoke. Apples stewed in Christmas spices mingle with a note of bitter dark chocolate cut with cream on the palate. The black pepper rye rises near the end, with a finish that luxuriates in oakiness. – Zach Johnston

Cardenal Mendoza Solera Gran Reserva Brandy

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Sánchez Romate Hnos., Jerez, Spain
Average Price: $55

The Bottle:

Times like these call for brandy. This Spanish brandy is aged for an average of 15 years in both Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. The throughline of this brandy is the Airen grapes used as a base. This is a bold Spanish masterpiece in a bottle.

Tasting Notes:

The sherry is prominent at first with a hint of orange zest next to dark chocolate. That bitterness leans into wet coffee grounds aligned with a real nut fattiness, vinous dried fruits, mild spice, and a clear sense of a well-seasoned barrel. The fruit lingers with a slight sweetness as the nuttiness, bitterness, and oakiness cut a line on the finish that’s slightly dry. – Zach Johnston

Ardbeg An Oa

ABV: 46.6%
Distillery: Ardbeg Distillery, Isle of Islay, Argyll, Scotland
Average Price: $55

The Bottle:

If you’ve been lucky enough to visit the Scottish Hebrides island of Islay, or if you’ve just had a chance to sip on some of the whisky made there, you’re likely well aware of Ardbeg. One of the smokiest of the peat-smoked whiskies from the windswept, sheep-filled island, Ardbeg 10 is a home bar staple. If you want to branch out, we suggest you grab a bottle of Ardbeg An Oa. Named for the Mull of Oa and its breathtaking views of the Kildaton coast, this 2017 addition to the core brands is perfect for fans who like their whisky smoky and sweet at the same time.

Tasting Notes:

It’s not unusual to age a Scotch whisky in ex-bourbon barrels. But An Oa takes it one step further and matures its juice in not only bourbon barrels, but charred virgin oak barrels, and Pedro Ximénez sherry butts. The result is a multi-layered whisky that appeals to peated whisky fans and bourbon fans alike. From the first sip, you’re met with the tobacco and vegetal smokiness expected from an Islay malt. But the flavor profile soon moves to sweet, candied fruits, rich honey, and cinnamon heat before ending with a subtle hint of cigar smoke. – Christopher Osburn

Copper & Kings American Craft Brandy

ABV: 45%
Distillery: Copper & Kings American Brandy Co, Louisville, Kentucky
Average Price: $40

The Bottle:

If your knowledge of alcohol doesn’t go much farther than brands named Jim, Jack, or Johnnie, you might not realize that a ton of high-quality craft brandy has begun to emerge over the last few years. Copper & Kings, located in the “Butchertown” area of Louisville makes artisanal absinthe, gin, and brandy. The literal kings of the American brandy movement, their flagship brandy is a grape-based eau de vie (just like Cognac) that ages in a combination of ex-bourbon barrels and new charred American oak barrels.

Tasting Notes:

If you want to get on board with American brandy, this is the bottle to pick up. This solera-aged offering is smooth and sweet — the perfect brandy for bourbon fans to get their foot in the door. The first sip of full of rich, sticky toffee pudding, and honey flavors before moving on to subtle floral hints. It evolves into charred oak and cigar smoke before progressing into just a hint of peppery spice.

The dram all ends in a long crescendo of silky vanilla. – Christopher Osburn

WhistlePig 10-Year-Old Straight Rye

ABV: 50%
Distillery: WhistlePig
Average Price: $75

The Bottle:

The crew at WhistlePig discovered a cache of powerful rye whiskey stock in Canada, which was originally destined for blending, and brought it to their farm in Vermont to give it a more independent existence — aging it in virgin American white oak. The result is the most awarded rye whiskey in the world.

Tasting Notes:

Like any great rye it bites, but then leads into an amazing vanilla sweetness on the tongue. Next comes a welcome explosion of spice, cinnamon, and spice. The finish is a lingering caramel warmth, like a maple log on the campfire. – Charles Thorp

Solento Organic Tequila Blanco

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Amititan, Jalisco, Mexico
Average Price: $60

The Bottle:

The organic blue agave for Solento is harvested in small batches by the Montes family jimadors. Their estate has been producing tequila from the Las Americas distillery for over 60 years, and they do it in the most sustainable way possible. That is why Solento founder, and surf film legend, Taylor Steele partnered with them for his brand. The agave is cooked in brick ovens, extracted using a roller mill, fermented in the open air, and double distilled.

Tasting Notes:

During the harvesting process they cut out as much of the bitter stem as possible, so the tequila that is left is sweet with notes of vanilla right off the bat, with the essence of the fields and straw. On the taste, there is a clear citrus presence that pops on the back of the tongue. Smooth enough to drink straight, but best over a few rocks and a lemon slice. – Charles Thorp

Kō Hana Hawaiian Agricole Rum

ABV: 45%
Distillery: Manulele Distillers, Kunia O’ahu, Hawai’i
Average Price: $55

The Bottle:

If your conception of rum was formed by Bacardi and Malibu it’s time to try some good stuff. I love to have a nice glass of sippin’ rum with an ice cube on a nice Summer night and pretend I’m somewhere tropical.

As I learned at the Caribbean Food & Rum Festival, there are two main types of rum — the kind distilled from molasses-like the English and Spanish did it, and the kind distilled from sugar cane juice as the French did it. The latter is usually labeled “rhum” or rum agricole. Rum agricole is typically more complex and fruitier than molasses-based rum, which has a more chocolatey flavor. To be honest, I thought agricole was too complex for my palate at first — until I tried this KoHana “Hawaiian Agricole” rum on O’ahu. They distill from heirloom varieties of native Hawaiian sugar cane (most sugar comes from just a few varieties) and like many things native to Hawai’i, you probably haven’t had anything quite like it.

Tasting Notes:

Oak barrel-aging gives this one bourbon-esque flavors like cinnamon, vanilla, caramel, and warm spice. – Vince Mancini

Carbonadi Vodka

ABV: 40%
Distillery: House of Carbonadi, Italy
Average Price: $90

The Bottle:

The debate over vodka for the past decade or so has been: is there really such thing as “top shelf” when it comes to this spirit? The answer has been mixed. On one hand, the difference between a standard Russian vodka (like, say, Russian Standard) and mid-tier brands that might look cooler in the VIP section of a club seems to be pretty slim. That said, vodka, like any spirit, has a process through which its made and that process can be refined and clarified to a pretty high degree.

Carbonadi is going for the highest degree of refinement. The (pretty damn pricey) Italian brand not only carries the unique terroir of wheat grown in the Piedmont region of Italy, but it also has a unique production process that finishes with “carbonado filtration.” In short, that means the spirit is pushed through porous “black diamonds” (!!!) before it gets to the bottle, resulting in an ultra-refined final product — a process which sounds like it could be both marketing-speak and scientifically legit at the same time.

Tasting Notes:

There’s no way to get a good bead on this product without blind taste testing it, so I drank a shot of Carbonadi next to a shot of Kettle One and a shot of Grey Goose (after having them mixed up by my partner). I picked out the Carbonadi right away. I’m not sure it was necessarily the smoothest (if you want pure smooth sipability, Grey Goose hangs tough), but it was definitely the clearest. As in: clear flavors on the palate, a clear sense of place (you could almost taste the Italian alps), and a clear, crisp finish that makes a strong impression without being even the least bit harsh.

This is the #1 perfect bottle for drinking ice cold with a spoonful of caviar. You’re already being decadent, might as well go all in. – Steve Bramucci

Montanya Rum Valentia

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Montanya Distillery, Crested Butte, CO
Average Price: $55

The Bottle:

Montanya Rum’s Valentina celebrates women working in the distilling industry from one of the industry’s coolest female distillers. Renee Newton created this expression as a special one-off but it was so popular that they’re bringing it back. The actual rum was aged in Catoctin Creek Rye barrels which once held master distiller Becky Harris’ much-beloved rye whiskey. The marrying of these two worlds helps to create a wonderfully deep sip of rum that’ll have you itching for that next release.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is very rum cakey — you get those heavy baking spices (especially nutmeg) and a fair bit of vanilla. On the palate, that spice turns black peppery, proving just how much of an impression four years in a rye whiskey barrel has made on the expression. The finish is long and steady, with some late-to-the-party tropical fruits and just the right amount of heat.

This is a truly pleasant sip at the intersection of rum and rye. Take it with an ice cube and it’s all the cocktail you need.

– Steve Bramucci

El Recuerdo de Oaxaca Mezcal Abocado con Gusano

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Tlacolula, Oaxaca
Average Price: $38

The Bottle:

El Recuerdo is a classic mezcal that edges towards the clarity of fine tequila. The mezcal gained prominence on the U.S. market when MMA Fighter Jorge Masvidal brought the brand north. The base is made from Espandin agave that’s roasted over hot river rocks with pine and oak wood — all of which is sustainably sourced. Abocado con Gusano, in case you’re wondering, means “enriched by the agave worm,” a method that adds a silken nature to the sip.

Tasting Notes:

My fight with mezcals is that they’re often so smoky and grassy that they’re just not a ton of fun for me to sip. The nose here indicates that this expression is going to be different. There’s a mellow sweetness that blends with the smoke — maybe like… what’s that frosting on carrot cake? Does it have a specific name? Or… sort of like a bowl of Trix cereal. Fruity.

On the palate, the vegetal flavors rise to the fore with a fair bit of minerality, but it’s really (and I know how cliche this is) the smoothness that carries this part of the sip. No rough edges. The final notes are a little smokier and even more mineral-forward, but never overpowering. As if the distiller is in your ear saying, “sure, there’s the ground-roasted agave pinas, everyone knows that, but I want you to taste the other techniques, too.”

– Steve Bramucci

Jim Beam Pre-Prohibition Style Rye

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Jim Beam, Clermont, KY
Average Price: $22

The Bottle:

I guess I’m on a rye kick right now. Anyway, this bottle gets a lot of love for being a quintessential straight rye whiskey out of Kentucky. The mash bills (recipe) is a throwback to Jim Beam’s pre-Prohibition past that keeps things straightforward. It’s worth noting that this sip works as well on the rocks as it does in a highball or cocktail, adding to the versatility at this price point.

Tasting Notes:

Cocktail cherries, tart and ripe red berries, and a clear hit of peppery rye spice greet you. That pepperiness leans into a Christmas spice matrix as vanilla and caramel counterpoint the red berries. Then things take a turn into florals and fresh mint with an echo of licorice lurking far in the background as the spice brings about a warm, lingering final note. – Zach Johnston

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As has been discussed at length at this point, the coronavirus pandemic is keeping people inside, which gives some of those people time to do things they may not have otherwise had the opportunity to do. For a lot of artists, this means they have newly open blocks of time that they can devote to creating new material.

Where this can become an issue, though, is when fans expect increased productivity during these complicated times. That is something Rosalía has commented on in a new interview, and she says that’s not a pressure she plans on giving in to.

Rosalía said in a new Elle feature:

“I’m making progress on my music, but notwithstanding, I wanted to remark on something that seems to be happening to a lot of people, myself included. There’s this kind of pressure to be creative or busy most of the time, with lots of activities and progress, and I’m trying to run from that. I’m trying to do things that help keep me mentally healthy, and if that includes making music, then great. But I won’t lie — there are days when I just watch a show and eat a packet of cookies.”

That’s not to say Rosalía is doing nothing during this time. Last month, she shared “Dolerme” and wrote of the song, “I am in quarantine and I have lost track of time a bit because I decided that I was not going to think about it too much and that instead I was going to put my energy and my heart into doing something for others, in my own way. I know that what I do as an artist it may seem trivial, for some it will be, but for me being able to make music is mental health.”

Read the full feature here.

Like many kids born between the late 1980s and early 1990s, I loved Babe, the spunky farm-set comedy about a talking pig that grossed $254 million at the box office and received a shocking Best Picture nomination. How many talking animals have been nominated for Best Picture? Not enough I say (A Talking Cat!?! was robbed), but at least we’ll always have Babe. The movie — about a social hierarchy-disrupting pig who believes he’s meant to herd sheep — has a famously definitive ending, with Babe proving the haters wrong and everyone’s dad Farmer Hoggett, played by Oscar nominee James Cromwell, telling him, “That’ll do, Pig. That’ll do.” I cried, you cried, we all cried. So, naturally, five minutes into the sequel, Babe accidentally almost kills Farmer Hoggett.

I should probably back up.

After Babe became a surprise hit, Universal Pictures greenlit a sequel. But rather than replicate the success of the original, Babe: Pig in the City took place not on an idyllic farm, but, well, “the city,” and director George Miller, who received a writing and producing credit for the original film, replaced Chris Noonan as director. (“I don’t want to make a lifelong enemy of George Miller, but I thought that he tried to take credit for Babe, tried to exclude me from any credit, and it made me very insecure,” Noonan said years later. Miller’s response: “When it comes to Babe, the vision was handed to Chris on a plate.”) At the time, and to this day, Miller is best known for the Mad Max movies, peaking with Fury Road, which celebrated its five-year anniversary last week. It’s not exactly kid-friendly material, but to be fair, Babe: Pig in the City isn’t a kid-friendly movie.

I don’t know who it’s for, actually. I saw it as a kid, but all I remember is being terrified and that I was confused that “the city” was actually every city at once.

The skyline includes the World Trade Center, the Sears Tower, the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, the IDS Center, the MetLife Building, the Sydney Opera House, the Hollywood sign, the Golden Gate Bridge, Big Ben, the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, and the Christ the Redeemer statue, among others. It’s a Choice. This movie is full of Choices, which is why, after viewing it as an adult for the first time over weekend, I must admit: Babe: Pig in the City rules. It’s weird, it’s dark, it feels like a fever dream, it was critic Gene Siskel’s favorite movie of 1998 (over Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line — Roger Ebert also had it in his top-10), Mickey Rooney plays a clown named Fugly Floom, and there’s a family of chimpanzees, all of whom wear (adorable) clothes.

But there’s one scene in Babe: Pig in the City that I keep thinking about. It’s crazier than anything in Fury Road, a masterpiece full of crazy, thrilling sequences. The scene from Babe 2 that’s on my mind isn’t thrilling, or even fun to watch, but it’s wild that it made it into a kids movie, especially the sequel to the kind-hearted Babe. First, some set up: following Babe almost killing Farmer Hoggett, his wife Esme (first-billed Magda Szubanski!) and the little pig make plans to travel to a sheepdog herding contest to pay the bills, or else the bank will evict them. But on their way, a drug-sniffing dog shows off his professional prowess to Babe, causing them to miss their connecting flight. They check into the only hotel that will have them, the Flealands Hotel, where Babe (and the mice) meets the aforementioned chimpanzees, as well as cats, dogs, and an orangutan named Thelonius, a.k.a. Thelonius Monkey. Thelonius does not care for Babe, and neither do the chimpanzees, who use the pig as a diversion to steal jellybeans. Babe, naive cutie that he is, thinks he can use his “baa-ram-ewe” trick to calm down a vicious bull terrier; instead, the dog chases him around “the city,” leaving Babe to wonder, “Something broke through the terror. Flickerings, fragments of his short life, the random events that delivered him to this, his moment of annihilation. As terror gave way to exhaustion, Babe turned to his attacker, his eyes filled with one simple question: why?”

This a G-rated kids movie. Oh yeah, and when Babe jumps off a bridge, the bull terrier follows him, except he gets stuck before fully plunging into the water, resulting in the horrifying sight of a dog dangling off a bridge while drowning. Babe saves his attacker, because he’s the Paddington of dogs, but not before George Miller shows us this:

Uh, thanks George? My father should be arrested for taking me to this movie as a kid. (I do not want to know how they filmed this scene.) Shortly after the near-drowning incident, we get this harrowing anecdote from another, much tinier dog.

Why does George Miller hate dogs? And I haven’t even mentioned the scene where a courageous Jack Russell terrier with his hind legs on wheels dies in horrific fashion, goes to dog heaven, and is cruelly returned to this hell-pit we call Earth. Poor Flealick.

Needless to say, Babe: Pig in the City was not nearly as popular as Babe — it grossed only $69 million on a $90 million budget; it also inspired an infamously terrible video game and was nominated for an Oscar (Best Original Song), but lost to “When You Believe” from The Prince of Egypt. But I, and many others who have reevaluated the film in recent years, can now appreciate Miller’s f*cked-up vision of how the big city is full of cruel people who will chew you up (literally, if you’re a pig), if you let them. In that sense, the Babe sequel isn’t so different than Fury Road, with the Citadel as “The City.” Except Fury Road has a blind mutant playing a double-necked, flame-throwing guitar. Babe: Pig in the City has a dog almost drowning. The Doof Warrior makes sense to me, though — he’s in a dystopic R-rated action movie from the same guy who set a movie in a Thunderdome and created characters named the Lord Humungus and Master Blaster. Nothing about the unexpectedly nightmarish Babe: Pig in the City makes sense, especially at that point in Miller’s career, before he made the dancing penguin movies.

It’s the wildest film in a wild filmography. That’ll do, George. That’ll do.

Much of the pre-release hype surrounding Netflix’s Space Force is that it’s a The Office reunion of sorts, with star Steve Carrell working with creator Greg Daniels for the first time since playing Michael Scott. But don’t overlook the rest of the cast. There’s John Malkovich as a fussy scientist, Ben Schwartz looking not for actual heroes but people who “look” like heroes, and Lisa Kudrow as Carell’s “chipper-if-opportunistic wife” (someone from The Office being married to someone from Friends is peak Netflix algorithm), as well as Tawny Newsome, Jimmy O. Yang, Noah Emmerich, Diana Silvers, Jane Lynch, Chris Gethard, and the late Fred Willard. Check out the latest trailer above.

Here’s more:

A decorated pilot with dreams of running the Air Force, four-star general Mark R. Naird (Carell) is thrown for a loop when he finds himself tapped to lead the newly formed sixth branch of the US Armed Forces: Space Force. Skeptical but dedicated, Mark uproots his family and moves to a remote base in Colorado where he and a colorful team of scientists and “Spacemen” are tasked by the White House with getting American boots on the moon (again) in a hurry and achieving total space dominance.

Space Force premieres on Netflix on May 29. It will also have a 10-part tie-in podcast, Inside Joke, hosted by Yang.

Warner Bros.’ Justice League landed in 2017, and it feels like that long since diehard Zack Snyder fans have been clamoring to see his take that got shelved when Joss Whedon was hired to pump out a theatrical version. Over the past year, especially, we’ve heard from various parties, who would allegedly be in the know, that the once-fabled “Snyder Cut” actually exists. Kevin Smith came first to warm up DC fans to the prospect before Jason Momoa claimed to have seen the “ssssiiicccckkkkkk” thing, and Momoa even showed off an apparently filmed incident that never surfaced from Whedon. In December 2019, Snyder further fueled rumors by posting a photo of film cans that showed off a 214-minute runtime for his version, and now fresh speculation — perhaps the most convincing that people have seen so far — suggests that if a Snyder Cut’s gonna surface, it might happen very soon.

Much of the excitement correlates with the fact that we’re about one week away from the HBO Max launch date of May 27. Given that Warner Bros.’ entire stable of superhero films (every Batman movie, Joker, just all of it) will be part of the immense HBO Max library, it really seems, logically, that if the Snyder Cut surfaces anywhere, putting it on HBO Max would make the most sense. I can’t think of a more immediately effective way for HBO Max to encourage nerds to sign up as fast as possible for a $14.99 subscription if they’re not already one of the lucky HBO subscribers who will get it rolled into their existing subscription. Also — and this might be telling — Snyder is going to host an event (formally, a Man of Steel Watch Party on Vero) on Wednesday, May 20, which some have speculated will include an announcement. Will that announcement be that the Snyder Cut will surface, you know, on HBO Max?

You be the judge. “Many of us are struggling during this difficult time,” Snyder recently tweeted. “Felt it could be cathartic to come together now for a Man of Steel Watch Party and celebrate the ultimate symbol of hope.” The director will also field a Q&A session.

So, what do we make of this? The timing of the HBO Max launch with this fresh round of speculation is one thing. The fact that this is all going down during a pandemic — when millions of people under quarantine, could use some hope, or at least something they’ll be happy watching — is another factor that makes people want to believe. And on top of that, DCEU Mythic’s Jeremy Conrad and (who tends to be at the forefront of rumors that happen to be later confirmed) seems to be leaning toward thinking that the Snyder Cut will actually surface, and soon. Read Conrad’s reasoning here. Trusted nerd voice Peter Sciretta of Slashfilm may now be a believer as well. 2020 is strange!

None of this speculation, of course, means that the fabled Snyder Cut is truly coming to HBO Max. We won’t now if that’s happening until it does, or until we hear some sort of joint announcement from Snyder, Warner Bros, and HBO Max.

If it happens, though, let’s just say that there’s gonna be a lot of very excited people. That will not only include hardcore nerds but also Gal Gadot and Ben Affleck, who have vocally added their voices to the chorus to demand the release as opposed to a few dissentors, including Man of Steel Henry Cavill, composer Danny Elfman, and, reportedly, Warner Bros. itself as of late last year. Yet as we know now, more than ever, things can change fast, so we’ll see what happens during Zack Snyder’s Man Of Steel Watch Party on Wednesday.

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There are 73 episodes of Game of Thrones, and 68 of them have at least an 8.0 user rating on IMDB. That’s very good. IMDb ratings are an imperfect science, based on the whims of dudes with names like DothrakiLord666, but they are nonetheless valuable in discovering the general consensus among fans for the “best” and “worst” episodes.

For instance, “The Rains of Castamere,” “Hardhome,” “Battle of the Bastards,” and “The Winds of Winter” all have near-perfect 9.9s, and they are, objectively speaking, probably the four best episodes of Game of Thrones. Meanwhile, there are only two episodes below a 6: season eight’s “The Last of the Starks” (5.9) and the final episode of the series, “The Iron Throne” (4.6). To call the reaction to the Thrones finale “polarizing” would be an understatement, although Carice van Houten believes “some people” were/still are being “ungrateful” for questioning David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ vision.

“The fact that some people were so disappointed is because everything before that was so good,” the actress, who played Melisandre, told Insider. “So it feels a bit ungrateful. You’ve had such great times and then yeah, you’re going to be disappointed because it’s not going to go exactly how you anticipated. Of course, you’re going to have all sorts of criticisms and I just thought it was a sign of how good the show was.”

At least now we know who to blame for season eight.

(Via Insider)

The latest Billboard Hot 100 chart was revealed yesterday (just the top ten spots, more accurately), and Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande’s “Stuck With U” claimed the top spot. Going into it, Tekashi 69 seemed to think his comeback single “Gooba” had a good chance of going No. 1, but a few days ago, he called out Billboard for what he thought was some shady accounting, which he believed was an effort to keep him from topping the Hot 100.

With all this criticism floating around, Billboard decided to offer a response to the rapper with an article on their website, titled “How Billboard Came to Its Calculations in This Week’s Race For the Hot 100 No. 1.”

The post begins by reiterating that Bieber and Grande’s song went No. 1 while “Gooba” debuted at No. 3. The post continues:

“This was met with some controversy on social media, as 6ix9ine had taken to Instagram shortly before the chart’s reveal to assert that streams of his single had been improperly discounted, and allege that the powers behind ‘Stuck With U’ had ‘bought’ their No. 1 through ill-gotten sales totals. […] In the interest of transparency, Billboard wanted to clear up the Hot 100’s chart rules and tabulation process, the calculations that go into the determinations of its final rankings, and the stats accumulated by the two singles that marked this week’s highest debuts. Here are the facts.”

From there, Billboard addresses specific criticisms levied against them by Tekashi. For example:

“The Hot 100 forecast 6ix9ine referenced in his Instagram video: The chart forecast referenced was not created nor provided by Billboard to the industry. Those with access to sales, streaming and radio data from various sources often create their own chart models and update them at their own frequency. Billboard does not distribute any Hot 100 ranking forecast to labels, management or artists.”

Also:

“6ix9ine’s claims that not all of his streams were properly counted: […] Each data provider provides a post-audit number to Billboard and Nielsen Music/MRC Data — excluding streams that do not meet long-standing charting parameters, such as U.S.-based-only plays, minimum play length, excessive plays and lack of user verification. This is applied to all songs from all artists.”

And:

“6ix9ine’s claims that ‘six credit cards’ were responsible for a hefty percentage of the ‘Stuck With U’ sales: Billboard and Nielsen Music/MRC Data conducts audits on all sales reported with access to purchase-level detail, and works with data partners to recognize excessive bulk purchases and remove those units from the final sales total. All titles this week, as in every week, were put under the same scrutiny.”

Read Billboard‘s full response here.

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