Category: Worldwide

Jimmy Fallon faced backlash over the summer after a resurfaced clip of him wearing blackface on SNL went viral. The sketch, from 2000, depicted the Tonight Show host as Chris Rock, who he also impersonated during his audition for the sketch show. Fallon apologized for his “unquestionably offensive decision” and Rock called him a “great guy” and said that he doesn’t think Fallon “intended to hurt me, and he didn’t,” but we hadn’t heard from SNL‘s head honcho, Lorne Michaels, until today, in an interview with the New York Times.

“I wish I remembered better. I’ve seen the photo, but it was 20 years ago, so Jimmy was in his 20s. He’d done Chris Rock in his audition, as he had done Adam Sandler, both of which were stunning. I think someone gave him bad advice,” Michaels said, adding that Fallon’s impression “was of the time. I know we’re in a granular period now where every decision you’ve made in your life is up for reassessment. But there was no malice in it, I can tell you that.” Michaels also listed old SNL sketches, some of which are among the show’s most popular, that would be considered problematic in 2020.

“I don’t think Gilda Radner could do Roseanne Roseannadanna and John [Belushi] could definitely not do the Samurai. Garrett Morris could not do News for the Hard of Hearing. I could go on and on. Steve [Martin] and Danny [Aykroyd] could not be Czech brothers because they’re not Czech. That criteria is not the greatest soil for comedy to thrive on. I’m not saying comedy should be the dominant thing in our lives. I’m just saying it’s important it exists because, in addition to everything, it’s a safety valve.”

My biggest takeaway here: Lorne calls Dan Aykroyd “Danny.” Going to think about that until October 3, when SNL returns with host Chris Rock and musical guest Megan Thee Stallion.

(Via the New York Times)

Stanford fifth-year senior defensive back Treyjohn Butler, like every athlete in the Pac-12, isn’t playing football right now. Still, he still found himself earning quite the honor when he was named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, along with the likes of Trevor Lawrence, Chuba Hubbard, and Sam Ehlinger.

Butler is active in the community, working with kids through various organizations. This year, has partnered with his church to help provide food for low-income households, as well as pushing his church to allow local kids to use the wifi for remote learning. He’s also been among the leading voices in the Pac-12’s We Are United players coalition, which has brought athletes from all sports together in the conference to call for better health measures amid the pandemic, a seat at the table to negotiate for a revenue split, and much more.

On Wednesday, Butler spoke with Uproxx Sports over the phone about that work he does off the field, why he feels so strongly about working with kids and giving back to his community, the continued efforts of the We Are United coalition, and how conversations have changed within the Stanford locker room about real-world issues as players become more educated on problems facing the Black community.

First, how are you doing right now?

I’m doing good. Blessed, humbled by the opportunity. Like, a little bit frustrated by the recent announcement of the indictments in the [Breonna] Taylor case, but still grateful for everything going on.

What does it mean for you to be named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team?

To me personally, it’s truly humbling because a lot of work has been put in behind the scenes. A lot of my peers can attest to the fact that, I personally am not for show, I’m all about the greater good and impacting lives as much as we can. I never put myself first and that’s something I keep trying to embody each and every day, using the virtues that my mom instilled in me as well as my grandma. Trying my best to resemble my mom each day and try to be there for everybody. And to be a part of this prestigious group, it takes the words out of my mouth.

At times I’m still trying to process this because not a lot of people have been part of this group, and it represents so much more than the work we’re doing and shows how much more work we need to do together. I think it’s also beautiful because other people select the people that make it, and it’s again a humbling process to be a part of.

You do a lot of work with kids, whether through San Bernadino County children’s services, Read Across America, your church, or Stanford’s work with kids with chronic illnesses. What made you want to give back in those ways to kids in your area and use the platform of being a player at Stanford to do that?

The biggest influence for myself – Pasadena, California we were blessed with the belated, one of our coaches, Coach Victor, an LAPD officer, had an organization in Pasadena called Brotherly Crusades. That organization was year-round. It had every sport. It kept every kid on the field and on the court, the same faces. We ran track together, played football together, basketball, everything together. And the impact he had on the community was so great, because a lot of kids could’ve went the other way, dealing with drugs or gang violence, but he kept so many kids safe. And recognizing how much impact he had on my life and the lives of other guys that were in that same group, cause when I was in high school, I got to witness the fact that a lot of the guys and girls that he coached became D-1 athletes, and that’s how much of a great impact he had and at that moment I knew I needed to give back. As well as the amount of mentors I’ve had in my life, growing up in the household I did, having a single mom, you appreciate the people who take the time out to invest in you. That’s something I knew I had to pay forward, whether that’s helping low-income households with food discrepancies or allowing their kids to have access to training, or anything.

You know, helping with school cause sometimes that’s a hard area for kids to deal with, and personally I knew I had to take a passion for. Because if you can reach one, at the end of the day, it’s going to have a greater impact than not doing anything, and that’s a motto of life I’ve been trying to live by. Along the way, meeting other people who have been pushing me to keep doing more work.

We’re in this moment where we’re in this fight for systemic change and recognizing how much the system is against so many people and I think it amplifies the importance of coming together as a community and working together as a community to help each other while fighting for something much broader. Is that something you’ve really felt in recent years, especially this year with everything going on?

Definitely, COVID alone showed me how different household situations are. I had a chance to talk with Stanford alumni Chris Draft and I asked him, “What more can we do? Because I feel like we’re not doing enough.” And he wasn’t sure where I was coming from, but I told him I felt off about just providing meals like that wasn’t enough. And he highlighted to me how important the meals that we were doing and we can get more food from the church to provide to the low income communities because how much of the low income areas are food deserts, aren’t able to get fresh produce, and everyone’s dealing with possible unemployment due to the pandemic and not being able to afford getting the proper stuff for their household. That having an effect on kids, not being fully nourished and not being focused in school.

That stuff became more evident, along with challenging our church to have wifi for kids to come, whether they’re just outside at the tables to be engaged with school is a big thing that was evident here in California alone during this pandemic for kids who weren’t able to stay focused in school.

Yeah, and I know on your profile you also work with the Ujamaa House at Stanford. How did you get involved with that and what has it been like being a part of working with other students to really explore Black history and culture, particularly given this moment in America?

The beginning part of that was a blessing, because a lot of times for student athletes you don’t get to stay fully engaged with your campus and school like other students. As a freshman student, I was blessed with the opportunity to reside there and I forced myself to stay engaged with my community at my school by attending programs. You know, OBMI, you got a chance to recognize it’s a lot greater than being “of color,” you know? There’s Black women, being in the Black LGBTQ community, there’s all these different spectrums of stuff you need to recognize and intersectionalities that all intertwine. And in my junior year I had the opportunity to come on staff and truly challenge those who were willing to stand up and present these different cases, and it’s beautiful.

You learn something new every day. You’ll be lying to yourself in thinking you know it all. But to be able to foster community where everybody’s welcome – there’s no one person allowed – to be able to come in that room to learn, to discuss, to share, and to grow. And that’s the biggest thing that I take from that is each and every time we stepped in that room, there was a growth among almost each and every member in there.

You mention fostering a community and I think it’s something we saw this summer in the college athletics community, with the Pac-12 United and then the We Want To Play coalition, calling for major changes in the collegiate athletics system. I know you’ve said that the work has to continue, even as the Pac-12’s not playing football now but there’s some discussion, like the Big Ten about possibly reinstating the season. What have the continued conversations been like among the players at Stanford and across the Pac-12 and across the country?

The conversations have ultimately still been pushing forward about social justice and racial issues. The big push for speaking up for Black women and the stuff that they deal with. Allowing them to have the space to speak up, we’ve been trying to have Zoom calls where they can share with us things we don’t see as men, as other athletes, so they can have a great platform.

In addition to that, the foundation is having a players’ coalition. Continue having that current connect to our athletics department at our schools and also in the Pac-12 office. Keep talking about stuff, because there’s no reason we can’t still communicate. Personally at Stanford, each athletics department here has made sure everyone is registered to vote. Speaking up and fostering the community to have conversations with the police department about different things. As well as, I have the opportunity to be part of this smaller group where we work with the Stanford athletics staff and how they can become better when dealing with social issues and different things that are going on in our country.

Getting back to the We Are United, it’s staying focused, not wavering, and keeping the stuff at hand. We will acknowledge the fact that a lot of things have happened, from guaranteeing eligibility to ensuring better health measures, a lot of stuff we’re really proud of happening, but stuff continues to happen that we’re still upset about. The fact that today is going to be a tough day for a lot of people because of what happened in Breonna Taylor’s case. Acknowledging what happened, only charging one officer with a charge that’s not even about the murder. So, stuff like that is still evident and more of a priority for us and where our hearts and minds are at.

Absolutely, it has been another example of this system working in a way that doesn’t work for the people as a whole. How have you seen in your time at Stanford conversations among players change about what’s going on in the country, and do you feel like there’s more conversation in the locker room about things that are going on that effect you guys as men and not just as athletes?

The conversation has definitely changed over the last four, five years. Like, I was on this campus when the two incidents happened in the summer of 2016 in Ohio and down in Louisiana, and it was weird because there was so much anger. There was no education on the matter. There was no proper knowledge on how to speak on things. I can admit when speeches were made it was made out of ignorance, not a lot of facts to follow it up. But over the course of these four years, the amount of education, the amount of time invested individually and collectively for the things that happened this year in 2020, the power in the voices was so much greater because there was knowledge behind what was being said. There was no room for someone to be upset with ignorance because there was none. There was passion and power in the words stated, and collectively as a group people can agree and challenge themselves to read more and learn more. And that’s what’s been the biggest difference over the past few years is watching how much power has been able to grow behind the words that have been stated from each individual player. Recognizing the power they have as a student athlete and they’re not just somebody that provides people with entertainment.

Last weekend would have been the opening of Munich’s Oktoberfest. The world’s biggest beer festival usually attracts upwards of six million revelers to the famed Theresienwiese in the middle of the city. Alas, this year the festival was not to be. So instead we’re going to have to celebrate Oktoberfest in our own backyards.

To help you parse the beers of Oktoberfest, we thought we’d taste test them for you. Here’s the thing, there are only six breweries that can legally sell their beer in the tents on the ‘Wiesn. The law/tradition is that the beer has to be made within the city limits of Munich for it to be poured at Oktoberfest. That’s about as local as it gets. So you’ll only find beers from Spaten, Paulaner, Löwenbräu, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu, and Augustiner.

That’s what we’re testing today. Luckily, living in Berlin makes it fairly easy to find these beers. However, it’s a bit more of a pain-in-the-ass to find the Oktoberfest iterations of the bottle — even in Munich. So we’re tasting the local Munich versions or original versions of each of the beers that would have been poured at Oktoberfest right now.

Check our tasting notes below and hunt down the beers themselves at your favorite specialty beer shop!

Paulaner Münchner Urtyp

ABV: 5.5%
Brewery: Paulaner Brauerei

The Beer:

Paulaner is marketed as the “youngest” brewery at Oktoberfest — founded by monks in 1634. The beer is made with both Herkules and Hallertauer hops ontop of Pilsner and Munich malts. Stone cold classic.

Tasting Notes:

The malts really shine up top with a mild sense of an apple orchard. The floral hops bring a mild bitterness into the mix but never overpower the malty body of the beer. There’s a touch of grass next to refreshingly light citrus on the end that keeps you going back for more.

Bottom Line:

This brew is the perfect beer garden sipper. It’s also surprisingly full-bodied without being oppressive and really has a nice taste that somehow surprises me every time I drink it.

Hacker-Pschorr Münchner Hell

ABV: 5%
Brewery: Hacker-Pschorr Bräu (Paulaner Group)

The Beer:

The names of this Munich brew come from the partnership between brewers Joseph Pschorr and Maria Theresia Hacker. It’s a very easy drinking beer — keeping it simple with local Hallertauer hops next to local malt.

Tasting Notes:

This one’s a little thinner. The hop bitterness is more in the back seat and the fruity yeast is more forward. The maltiness is there with a nice dry end. Hints of grass, lemon, and that touch of bitter hop round out the easy-drinking sip.

Bottom Line:

This beer always feels like it needs to be paired with a big meal: Roast chicken, pork shank, a schnitzel … something.

Löwenbräu Original

ABV: 5.2%
Brewery: Löwenbräu (Anheuser–Busch InBev)

The Beer:

Löwenbräu is going to be one of the easiest Munich beers to find in the U.S. This quaffer is crafted to be an easy-drinking beer that still has enough body to make you feel like you’re drinking something without being so bold as to ruin your palate.

Tasting Notes:

This hits those classic “Munich Lager” notes of grassy hops, bready malts, and hints of sweet apple. Though… there’s a bit of a metallic note on the sip that’s not so much offputting as just… manufactured. The malt leans more into cracker territory as the hops fade all the way out of the taste.

Bottom Line:

It’s fine. Though I do have to say that every time I’ve had this in the U.S., it’s been a little skunked or flat. I get that that’s due to the stuff having to travel, but it’s still a bit of a disappointment compared to what it’s like in Germany.

Spaten Münchner Hell

ABV: 5.2%
Brewery: Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu (Anheuser–Busch InBev)

The Beer:

This is the original Münchner Hell. The beer was made as a counterpoint to the heavier, darker, and sweeter brews that were popular back in the late 1800s. The light lager still holds up today.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a caramel maltiness at play which is a nice change of pace when tasting these beers but loses its luster quickly. The hops are there, but more of an afterthought with hints of recognizable grassiness, citrus, and fruitiness. The sip ends on a high note with a lightness that is enticing and refreshing but, again, in a manufactured way. You feel the factory in the glass.

Bottom Line:

Again, this is fine. The particular sweetness of the malts isn’t something I’m looking for but it wouldn’t stop me from ordering another.

Hofbräu Original

ABV: 5.1%
Brewery: Staatliches Hofbräuhaus

The Beer:

This brewery was started by royalty and is still a state-run affair. The beer has a bit more going on as well. The base is a mix of lightly malted barley and Munich malts that’s hopped with Herkules, Perle, Magnum, and Select hops. All of this adds a little more depth to the glass.

Tasting Notes:

The bready malts are there with a slight hint of sweetness. The hops balance well with a floral nature and a very light sense of spice next to fruity yeasts. A hint of wood comes in to counterpoint all of those tastes on the dry and very refreshing end.

Bottom Line:

I usually drink the Dunkles more than the Original when I’m at a Hofbräuhaus. But this really hit the spot. Maybe it’s the cooling weather or my mood, regardless — I really dug this one.

Augustinerbräu Oktoberfest Bier

ABV: 6.3%
Brewery: Augustiner-Bräu

The Beer:

Augustiner is the oldest brewery within Munich’s city limits. It started all the way back in 1328. Full disclosure, Augustiner is one of my all-time favorite German beers. So, I can’t be anything but biased here. I’m also spoiled since I have several Augstiner beer halls near me where I can drink the stuff from the wooden cask.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a subtle sense of the malts up top with a touch of grassiness and lager-y fizz on the head. The sip is super svelte with a fruitiness that leans towards apple cores and even seeds (an earthiness maybe). There isn’t really a sweetness to the malts and the hoppiness is dialed back into more fruit and florals than bitterness yet it’s still wonderfully balanced.

Bottom Line:

Yeah. This is the beer. What’s dangerous about this beer is how easy it is to down. It’s 6.3 percent. That’ll get you drunk quickly, especially if you’re drinking this out of a one-liter Maß.

My final ranking:

6. Löwenbräu
5. Spaten Münchner Hell
4. Hacker-Pschorr Münchner Hell
3. Hofbräu Original
2. Paulaner Münchner Urtyp
1. Augustinerbräu Oktoberfest Bier

When Rihanna launched her size-inclusive lingerie brand Savage X Fenty in 2018, it took the fashion industry by storm. After a wildly successful two years, Rihanna’s company is now expanding their reach. Savage X Fenty has announced their first-ever menswear line, and it’s launching soon.

Ranging from $13 to $70, the 11-piece Savage X Fenty collection consists of men’s boxers, boxer briefs, as well as a smoking jacket paired with satin pajama-style pants. For the face of the brand, Rihanna tapped Diddy’s son Christian Combs, who she’s known since he was just 11 years old.

Of course, no clothing line launch is complete without a fashion show. Last year’s Savage X Fenty 2019 fashion show boasted appearances from Migos, DJ Khaled, Big Sean, Normani, A$AP Ferg, and Fat Joe. This year, artists like Roddy Ricch, Travis Scott, Bad Bunny, and more will be gracing the stage. About the upcoming fashion show, Combs told GQ this year’s event, streaming on Amazon Prime Video, will be just as showstopping: “Fasten your seat belts, get some popcorn, and get to the TV for some amazingness. It’s gonna be sexy,” he says. “A lot of special guests — and King Combs at the climax.”

Check out promotional photos of the new menswear line above.

Savage X Fenty’s menswear line launches 10/2. Get it here.

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

Each member of the Miami Heat has played a gigantic role in putting the squad into the position that they currently find themselves, one win from the NBA Finals. They are an incredibly deep and versatile team. But increasingly, they are winning games because of last year’s No. 13 overall pick, Tyler Herro, one of the youngest players in the NBA and someone who, unlike most rookies, has been even better and more vital in the postseason.

The Heat are a team of defined roles, incredible coaching, and disciplined execution. They win because each player knows exactly what is needed of them for each W, and are willing to sacrifice to be successful. But a huge reason they’ve gotten this far — one win from the NBA Finals — is because Herro burst from a supporting role to a major one this postseason and has given the Heat a much-needed scoring punch.

In Game 4 against Boston on Wednesday night, Herro scored 37 points on just 21 field goal attempts, including 17 in the fourth quarter. Despite the star talent of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, as well as playoff darlings Goran Dragic and Duncan Robinson, it was Herro who took the game home for Miami and put them within 48 minutes of their first Finals berth since 2014.

Like the rest of the Heat roster, Herro excels because he knows how to get open and get to his spots within the team’s spacious, smart system. But what’s taken him to the next level in these playoffs is his shot-making within the confines of head coach Erik Spoelstra’s rejuvenated move-and-share system.

In the regular season, Herro shot 41 percent on all pull-up attempts, but in the playoffs, he’s improved dramatically, nailing half of those looks on roughly the same volume. Though he’s still not a great finisher, his improved pull-up game has corresponded with an incredible uptick in mid-range efficiency. After making a subpar 39.4 percent from mid in the regular season, Herro has followed up by making, again, half of those tries through 13 postseason games.

At the same time as he’s become a better shot-maker, Herro has continued to play brilliantly. Even as a freshman at Kentucky, Herro had an inherent sense for how to play off of his teammates off the ball and spring open for easier shots. With the Heat’s talent, Herro’s feel for the game as a scorer has been even more impactful. Herro and Robinson don’t necessarily have the name recognition of the Splash Brothers, but like Warriors’ stars, they find each other, set screens, and move in the halfcourt in such a way that breaks down defenses like it’s 2015 in Oakland all over again.

That all means that as long as he keeps moving and doesn’t turn the ball over, Herro can trust himself to nail shots that most defenses are designed to give up.

Early in the final frame, Herro just shot right over the top of Kemba Walker, who even when he fought through screens just couldn’t contest Herro’s pull-up jumpers. Boston adjusted by taking Walker off the court, and Herro responded promptly by earning a “BANG!” from Mike Breen with a deep three in Marcus Smart’s face. The rookie can score from all three levels, and the Heat offense is so open and versatile that it is hard to key in on any one player too much. The result was a closing performance for the history books.

To do all this at just 19 is remarkable, but not unexpected. The baby-faced rookie came to the NBA Draft Combine last year with the savvy of a player many years older, name-dropping friends like All-Star Devin Booker and noting that he didn’t care where he was drafted or who his teammates were, that he trusted his own work ethic and IQ to take him where he wanted to go in the league. While he clearly took the time during the NBA hiatus to get much better as a scorer, Herro has also benefited from Miami’s infrastructure and offensive system.

After the game, Butler praised Herro for his confidence and poise. Surely any time a rookie closes a Conference Finals game, it’s a major accomplishment. But in the case of Herro, it was also the stacking of a bunch of different elements that all worked to give Herro the chance to do something special, and he answered the call.

Frequent collaborators Justin Bieber and Chance The Rapper recently linked up again for a new joint effort, “Holy.” The pair is pleased with how the song has performed and how well it’s been received, so to celebrate, they’re teaming up with Cash App to give money to fans who could use it.

The two shared the same message (but with names appropriately swapped) on Twitter this afternoon, writing, “Thanks for the love on Holy. @justinbieber and I are partnering with Cash App to give away a total of $250k today to those affected by these hard times. Tell us your story if you feel like sharing. To enter drop your $cashtag & use #JBChanceHoly.”

This giveaway mirrors what Bieber recently explained is the message of the song and video: “It basically shows how an act of compassion can really change the trajectory of someone’s life or day. And just having empathy for people. That’s our goal with this project, is just to inspire, to bring hope in this kind of uncertain, fragile time.” He also discussed why he got Chance on the track, saying, “Chance is one of my good friends, I consider him a brother. I asked him if there was anything on his heart that he wanted to share on this record, and he was like, ‘Yeah, I would love to.’”

Meanwhile, other artists have also teamed with Cash App this year to share the wealth with fans. In August, Megan Thee Stallion gave away $1 million away to celebrate the success of “WAP,” and she and Lil Nas X also distributed funds to fans at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The best new hip-hop albums coming out this week include projects from Action Bronson, Elzhi, Mozzy, Nappy Roots, Public Enemy, Spillage Village, and Stalley.

Just like last week’s list, this one is jam-packed from top to bottom, only this time there’s a twist. Maybe hyper lyrical rappers feel some resonance with the date, but September 25’s rap releases reflect little more than wall-to-wall rhymes. While there will always be some rap fans who can never be satisfied (usually the ones with sub-100 play counts on their SoundCloud pages), there’s more than enough here for even the most gluttonous hip-hop head to get their fill.

Here are all the best new hip-hop albums coming out this week.

Action Bronson — Only For Dolphins

Picking up where 2018’s White Bronco left off, Only For Dolphins finds the now-independent Bronson in full control of creative direction, with oddball samples to prove it. Rather than going for a cohesive sound or swinging for big hits, Bam Bam Baklava instead delves deeply into his nerddom for reggae, Middle Eastern music, and more, as always serving up heaps of braggadocious, abstract rhymes.

Elzhi — 7 Times Up 8 Downs Down

The best rapper from Detroit — yeah, I said it — is back with the long-awaited followup to his last solo project, 2016’s Lead Poison. In the interim, he teamed up with North Carolina producer Khrysis for their Jericho Jackson LP, but with his latest, the former member of Slum Village gets to focus less on chemistry and much more on his usual lyrical alchemy, spitting serpentine rhyme patterns and mind-twisting metaphors over production from JR Swiftz.

Mozzy — Occupational Hazard

Dropping out of nowhere on Tuesday this week, Sacramento rapper Mozzy took advantage of the increased attention he’d received earlier this year with his Beyond Bulletproof project to double down and show all the new fans what the buzz was about. Comprised of 14 songs featuring Blxst, Quando Rondo, Tsu Surf, Wale, YFN Lucci, and more, Occupational Hazard finds Mozzy offering more clear-eyed observations of the causes and consequences of life on the streets.

Nappy Roots — 40rty

With a renewed focus on the crossovers between rap and country, there’s no better time for the pioneering Kentuckians who once declared “the whole damn world is country” to return. Although they’d been seemingly quiet since racking up platinum and gold plaques in the early 2000s, they’ve been chugging along, releasing a stream of criminally overlooked projects further elaborating on their surprisingly well-informed worldview. They’ll expand on it once again with 40rty, whose title refers to the tragically broken promise offered by the US government on the emancipation of Black Americans in 1862.

Public Enemy — What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?

The pioneering band’s first project on Def Jam in well over 20 years arrives in the middle of a political firestorm — one which the group’s been predicting or reporting on in one way or another since 1988. Hopefully, they won’t let the promotional shenanigans for this album earlier this year water down the message, but with the help of Beastie Boys, Ice-T, Run-DMC, The Roots, and more, they’ll continue to soundtrack the ongoing revolution that desperately needs to take place.

Spillage Village — Spilligion

Heirs to the Southern-fried rap tradition of their Dungeon Family forebears, Spillage Village’s first group outing since 2016 finds them concerned with weightier subjects than Bears Like This Too Much. Rife with religious imagery and introspection, Spilligion focuses heavily on the spiritual, all while drawing inspiration from across American musical roots for a scintillating amalgam of blues, folk, gospel, jazz, and R&B.

Stalley — Speak No Blue

Following up 2019’s Reflection Of Self: The Head Trip, the bearded Ohioan continues to mine the richness of soul music history to reflect on life, love, and remaining true to his art and himself.

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

It’s looking like the future of travel is going to involve rapid COVID-19 testing right at the airport, as United Airlines announced today that they would become the first U.S. airline to launch a COVID-19 pilot testing program for travelers. Beginning on October 15, customers traveling on United from San Francisco (SFO) to Hawaii will be given the option to either take a rapid COVID-19 test at the airport or self-administer a mail-in test. A negative test result would enable travelers to bypass Hawaii’s strict 14-day quarantine requirement, a safety measure that was implemented at the start of the pandemic.

United is hoping — and frankly so is everyone — programs like this will enable travelers to bypass similar safety measures in popular destinations across the world.

The rapid COVID-19 test used in the pilot program is capable of producing results in approximately 15 minutes so it’s ideal for at airport administration, though we imagine this is going to force us all to arrive at the airport even earlier. For the mail-in test, customers will receive their testing materials 10 days prior to their trip and will need to provide their sample within 72 hours of their departure. Because the test was approved by the Hawaiian government, both Hawaiian residents and visitors who produce a negative result will be able to dodge the state’s 14-day mandatory quarantine, which essentially opens up the state to travel beginning October 15th, so long as you’re flying in from San Francisco.

It looks like our new favorite Halloween travel destination this year is Hawaii. Costume parties in a tropical getaway? Sign us up, because this year has been a rough one!

The Philadelphia 76ers’ coaching search has led to a number of names getting linked to Brett Brown’s old job in recent weeks. Perhaps the most interesting name that’s been bandied about is former Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, who was an assistant in Philadelphia at one point and would theoretically bring a new mentality to a team that desperately needs a breath of fresh air.

There is a lot to potentially like about how D’Antoni would work in Philly, so long as he’s not demanding that his gigantic team doesn’t play at a breakneck pace and launch threes like the fate of the world depends on it. But a new rumor indicates that signing him wouldn’t just be about trying to win now, as the Sixers would apparently have their eyes on a big name somewhere down the road.

Per John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia, people who make up the team’s brain trust believe that there’s a chance D’Antoni could get James Harden to come to the City of Brotherly Love when his contract is up at the conclusion of the 2021-22 campaign, or before then in the event of a trade.

Now obviously, if the Sixers want to hire D’Antoni largely because they think it would help them get a 33-year-old Harden, that would be extremely wild. For how great Harden is, mapping things out that far in advance when you already have Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, Al Horford, and Ben Simmons seems like a … let’s call it perplexing decision. Still, we’ll dog ear this one in the event the team does end up hiring D’Antoni and check back in at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season to see what Harden’s up to.

Chris Rock is set to host the season premiere of Saturday Night Live along with musical guest Megan Thee Stallion. After the pandemic forced the show to improvise a series of make-shift “At Home” episodes to cap off the last season, SNL will be filming live in the studio when it returns on October 3. Ahead of announcing Rock’s hosting gig, SNL creator Lorne Michaels sat down with Dave Itzkoff at The New York Times to discuss the delicate balancing act of making the first in-studio episodes since COVID began.

While running down the various safety measures from heat sensors at the door to holding meetings with writers in rooms the size of an airplane hangar, Michaels was asked if he contemplated making more at home episodes, and he made it very clear that it wasn’t an option with an election around the corner:

No, we just had to go back. It’s an election year. It’s what we do. There are four [presidential and vice-presidential] debates in the month of October, and I was trying to figure out how to take a week off, but it didn’t work out. So we’ll do five shows in a row, which we’ve never done, and under these circumstances. Everybody has just thrown themselves into it. It’s difficult, but we’ve done difficult a lot of times. Comedy, when there’s a little danger involved, it doesn’t necessarily suffer.

Despite his determination to get SNL back in the studio, Michaels is cognizant that things can go wrong — the network still hasn’t figured out how or if there will even be an audience — and that it will only take one positive test to throw everyone into quarantine for two weeks. “We don’t know that we’re going to be able to pull it off,” he told the Times. “We’re going to be as surprised as everyone else when it actually goes on.”

(Via The New York Times)