After going almost three years without an album, Jhene Aiko returned with Chilombo, her third, back in March. Fans loved the album’s 20 songs and appearances from the likes of Nas, Big Sean, HER, and more. After a deluxe version that added nine additional songs, the singer-songwriter is back in the news, this time with a calming video for the song “Speak.”
The video finds Jhene showing a day in her life. After starting her morning with lighting incense and saging her house, Jhene decides to enjoy her afternoon by cleaning and reorganizing things before concluding the day with a nice meal and a candle-lit bath.
The new video arrives after Jhene made two guest appearances on Big Sean’s new album, Detroit 2. The “Triggered” singer joined the rapper on “Body Language” and “In Time,” the latter listed as a Twenty88 collaboration — the duo Jhene and Big Sean formed back in 2016. Other appearances from Jhene in 2020 include one on Kehlani’s “Change Your Life” and another on John Legend’s “U Move, I Move.”
The “Speak” video also arrives almost two months after her warm “Summer 2020” video, which found her making the best of the turbulent times this year has presented.
It’s hard to believe this, but it’s been six years since we got a David Fincher movie. The legendary director was last seen with his adaptation of Gone Girl, a major hit that should have paved the way for plenty more. Instead he’s struggled to get project off the ground, working mostly in television. That cold streak ends next month, when Netflix — the home for daring filmmakers inexplicably ignored by major studios, from Martin Scorsese to Charlie Kaufman to the late Orson Welles — releases Fincher’s new film Mank, whose first images have finally dropped.
Speaking of Welles, Mank concerns the life and career of Herman J. Mankiewicz, the seasoned Hollywood screenwriter whose most famous credit was co-writing Citizen Kane. Gary Oldman plays the colorful scribe, with The Souvenir’s Tom Burke as Welles, the 24-year-old wunderkind given carte blanche to make whatever he wanted. He was teamed with Mankiewicz, a seasoned Tinseltown veteran who’d worked on everything from Marx Brothers movies to The Wizard of Oz.
Mank will largely focus on the making of Kane, which had an adversary in the figure it was loosely portraying: newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, played by Charles Dance. (Amanda Seyfried appears as his much younger mistress, the actress Marion Davies.) Fincher shot the film, which was written by his late father Jack, in black-and-white, and the luminous cinematography is one of the stand-outs of the handful of images made available ahead of its release next month.
Here’s Oldman as Mankiewicz.
Netflix
And Charles Dance as Hearst.
Netflix
And Oldman alongside Arliss Howard as MGM co-founder Louis B. Mayer and Tom Pelphrey as Joe Mankiewicz.
Netflix
And ily Collins as Rita Alexander, Mankiewicz’s secretary, opposite Oldman.
Netflix
Finally, here’s the screenplay for the film that would for decades be called cinema’s crowning achievement, under its original title.
Netflix
As of now, Mank does not have an official release date, but you can expect it at some point in October.
The wait for new music from SZA finally came to an end on Friday when the TDE singer returned with “Hit Different,” her first single in over three years. The track boasts an appearance from Ty Dolla Sign and was met with appreciation from her fans all over social media. As she continues to celebrate the new song, SZA took to Instagram to reveal that the song was recorded at DJ Khaled’s house. “I never told u but I recorded this song at your house while y’all was gone,” she said in the post. “Thank you so much king!!”
While speaking to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, SZA said that her and The Neptunes, who produced the track, recorded the song at the legendary producer’s house while he attended the Super Bowl back in February. She also said she’s excited to share more material from her upcoming “body of work.”
“This body of work that I’ve been working on… everything sounds different,” she said. “But it all sounds like me. But I realized… as long as the essence of me is in it I’m not really stressed about continuity or making sense to anybody.”
Ty Dolla Sign is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Last week, The Atlantic released a report claiming that President Trump had made disparaging remarks about U.S. soldiers, calling those who’ve died in combat “losers” and “suckers” and, for the umpteenth time, slagging on his old foe John McCain. While the Trump and the White House have denied the allegations (even ones that are easily proven to be true) one famous veteran thinks they’re real: Chesley Sullenberger, aka “Sully,” the retired Air Force fighter pilot best known as the man who saved every passenger aboard US Airways Flight 1549 after it was disabled by a bird strike, safely and heroically landing it into New York’s Hudson River.
Sullenberger — who was immortalized on the big screen in Clint Eastwood’sSully, starring Tom Hanks — took to social media, torching the president in a Tweetstorm that took its time, calmly building to a furious conclusion.
1/9 I am a veteran. I volunteered for military service during wartime. So did my father. His generation saved the world from fascism. pic.twitter.com/0tWKdMYDKs
“I am a veteran. I volunteered for military service during wartime. So did my father. His generation saved the world from fascism,” Sullenberger began. He continued:
In our travels, my wife Lorrie and I have always made it a point to visit military bases, hospitals and cemeteries, to meet and honor those who serve and have served our nation. I have long known that serving a cause greater than oneself is the highest calling, whether in the military or in civilian life. And I have always tried to be a voice of reason and to speak in a measured way. But this situation calls for a much more direct approach. It is time to call out egregious behavior for what it is.
For the first time in American history, a president has repeatedly shown utter and vulgar contempt and disrespect for those who have served and died serving our country. While I am not surprised, I am disgusted by the current occupant of the Oval Office. He has repeatedly and consistently shown himself to be completely unfit for and to have no respect for the office he holds. He took an oath of office that is similar to the one that each person takes who enters the U.S. Military. But he has completely failed to uphold his oath. Now we know why. He has admitted that he cannot comprehend the concept of service above self. He cannot understand selflessness because he is selfish. He cannot conceive of courage because he is a coward. He cannot feel duty because he is disloyal.
Sullenberger concluded with a clear message: “We owe it not only to those who have served and sacrificed for our nation, but to ourselves and to succeeding generations to vote him out.”
While Trump — whose former personal attorney Michael Cohen said he admitted to making up a fake injury, the infamous “bone spurs,” to get out of serving in the Vietnam War — has denied making derogatory statements about American soldiers, the comments mirror ones he’s made in the past. He’s been very, very public about his feelings for the late John McCain, bragging about calling him a “loser” and notoriously saying, about the fact that he was a POW during the war he allegedly dodged, that “I like people who weren’t captured.” Those comments didn’t cost him the 2016 election, but perhaps this time will be different?
Four Roses puts out some of the most unique and tasty bourbons. They are also very affordable. We were lucky enough to taste their core line last week on the latest episode of Expression Session, and they did not disappoint.
Four Roses is a bit unique in the bourbon world by virtue of their mash bills. The distillery uses ten distinct mash bills and either blend them in various ways or bottles them straight from the barrel, unblended. It breaks down like this: They have a high rye mash bill and a low rye mash bill. Then, they use five distinct yeasts with each mash bill, creating the ten recipes. The yeasts breakdown as delicate fruit, slight spice, rich fruit, floral essence, and herbal notes. The mastery of Four Roses is in how those flavor spectrums that imbue the core of the spirit are put together to create the end product.
We drank five drams this time around with fellow journalist and travel writer, Ben Setiawan. In the end, the Limited Edition from 2017 was the favorite but we still had a lot of fun tasting Four Roses along the way. Here’s what I thought.
This is the gateway to Four Roses. This bourbon is a blend of all ten mash bills from the distillery. The juice has aged a minimum of five years in new American oak and is then married to create a great entry point bourbon.
Tasting Notes:
This sip is surprisingly light in the right way. There’s distinct berry fruitiness with a hint of florals, vanilla, and oak. The sweetness leans more towards honey than caramel with a slight apple orchard presence. The end is swift and to the point with the fruit remaining the star of the show.
Bottom Line:
This is crafted as a cocktail base. Use it as one and you won’t be disappointed.
This expression is a blend of four mashes with slight spice and rich fruit yeasts. The whiskey is aged an average of six to seven years before it’s small-batch blended and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
This keeps hold of the lightness in a nice, approachable way. There’s a bit more oak present alongside the fruit and a full nose of spice. The sip leans into the berries and spice as the more oaky elements fade away. The dram lingers for a few moments as the spice warms you up.
Bottom Line:
This is another great mixer, especially for highballs with nice fizzy water.
This juice is a little more refined and it shows in the deeply satisfying taste. The bourbon is a blend of six mash bills with delicate fruit, slight spice, and herbal notes centered in the blend. It’s aged for an average of six to seven years before it’s small-batch bottled at a high proof of 104.
Tasting Notes:
Sharp notes of berries and nog spices come through clearly. More classic bourbon notes of stone fruits, vanilla beans, and oak shine in this velvety sip. There’s a real weight to the dram as the spices and fruits shine brightly even as they fade away slowly.
Bottom Line:
I drink this as a sipper with a rock or two. It’s also a killer cocktail base for a Manhattan.
This is a single barrel, which in Four Roses’ terms means it from a single mash bill. In this case, that’s mash bill number one which is high rye with a delicate fruit yeast. The expression doesn’t come with an age statement but is generally aged anywhere from seven to eleven years.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a nice heft to this dram that wallows in rye spice, bourbon vanilla, pear orchards, and a fresh maple syrup earthiness. The palate draws on the nose and hits a dark red cherry fruitiness with a plummy chewiness next to the spice and oak. The sip lingers in your senses and warms your body as it fades away through all that fruit, oak, and spice. Add a little water and you’ll open up a bitterness akin to powdered dark chocolate.
Bottom Line:
Solid sipper, great in a high ball, and perfect in a cocktail.
This expression from Four Roses is a holy grail from the distillery. Around 13,000 bottles are released every year. When they’re gone, they’re gone. The 2017 edition is a barrel strength blend of a 15-year-old low rye/slight spice mash, a 13-year-old of the same, and a 12-year-old low rye/delicate fruit bourbon. The end result is a bottle of the good stuff.
Tasting Notes:
Clear notes of powdery allspice mix with rich and oily vanilla, stewed plums, and apricot. That signature berry essence is at play as cherry candies and oak mingle with a nice, mellow spice. The sip fades away at its own pace while it pings with more spice and cherry.
Bottom Line:
Solid sipper with a rock. Though given the fruitiness, it’s also a masterful cocktail base for something simple like a (very expensive) Manhattan.
It’s been less than 48 hours since the Houston Rockets survived their Game 7 slug-fest against the Oklahoma City Thunder, so there was no rest for James Harden and company before their second-round showdown with the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers tipped off on Friday night.
The Lakers, on the other hand, had six days to rest before Game 1, having completed the gentlemen’s sweep of the Blazers last weekend. As it turned out, rest would not factor into the final outcome of this one as the Rockets cruised to a relatively easy 112-97 win on Friday.
Here’s what we learned as the Rockets and Lakers kicked off their second-round series.
James Harden Has Rediscovered His Swagger
After struggling to make shots in Game 7 against Denver a couple of days ago, Harden was back in full effect on Friday night, leading all scorers with 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting for the game, including 3-of-6 from three-point range. Maybe it was the series-saving block on Luguentz Dort that reinvigorated him, but Harden was on fire from the opening tip, scoring 25 points in the first half to led the Rockets to a double-digit lead before halftime.
But it wasn’t just his shot that was on. Harden was getting into the paint at will and got to the free-throw line 11 times in the first half, as the Lakers bigs failed to cordon off his driving lanes. Game 1 found Harden at his best once again, which is bad news for the Lakers.
The Rockets’ Small-Ball Attack Is Working On Both Ends So Far
Aside from LeBron (20 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) and Anthony Davis (24 points, 14 rebounds) getting their numbers, the Rockets’ defense was stifling at times during this contest, particularly in the fourth quarter when they held the Lakers’ scoreless for a four-minute stretch that resulted in a 14-0 run to push the lead to nearly 20. Neither Bron nor AD scored for the first seven minutes of the fourth, and by that point, the game was already out of reach.
The Lakers were ice-cold from downtown, going 11-of-38 from behind the arc, and they weren’t much better inside the arc, shooting just 42 percent overall amid the Rockets’ swarming defense. And it was individual efforts from across Houston’s roster, as their small-ball roster was able to limit the Lakers’ effectiveness despite their size advantage.
The Lakers will need to make some adjustment in Game 2 to better exploit their size and put more pressure on the Rockets’ smaller defenders.
LeBron Was Very Hostile Toward Russell Westbrook For Some Reason
Not that it was anything personal, but LeBron seemed to be really going after Westbrook Friday night, on both sides of the court. It started with this vicious jam on Russ in the first half.
Of course, Russ would get the last laugh in this one. He finished with 24 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, but had a tough shooting night, going just 10-of-24 from the field overall and 1-of-5 from downtown.
The Lakers will try to even the series when Game 2 tips off Sunday at 8:30 ET on ABC.
Fans have been pressing Rihanna about new music for quite some time and the singer has enjoyed playing into their anticipation. But it seems like Rihanna’s fans may be getting a fair amount of Rihanna content in the upcoming year. Just yesterday, a song written for Rihanna’s upcoming ninth studio album was teased on social media and now, infamous director Peter Berg has reportedly confirmed a Rihanna documentary is slated for next summer.
In an interview with Collider, Berg announced the documentary, saying it will be out on Amazon some time around the Fourth of July. During the conversation, Berg gushed about the singer’s impressive career:
“The Rihanna doc is something I’ve been working on with her for almost four years now. Amazon’s gonna release it summer next year, sometime hopefully around the Fourth of July. It’s been a really epic journey, the past four years with her. […] She’s a remarkable woman, who everyday seems to grow and branch out into new businesses and new endeavors at a rate that it’s almost hard to keep up with. So every time we think we’re going to finish the movie and put it out, she does something like start a fashion line like Fenty, or her lingerie line, or her skin care line. She’s firing on all cylinders, she’s making new music now and she’s having so much success in business and she’s such an entrepreneur that we’re letting it grow, but we are gonna try and close it up in the spring and release it in the summer.”
The singer has yet to confirm the documentary, but it seems as though the film will cover her music career as well as her business endeavors.
Going into Game 3 on Friday night, the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks had somehow found themselves on the ropes. After a wild final sequence in Game 2, which was ultimately decided at the foul line thanks to some arguably overzealous officiating, the Bucks fell into a precarious 0-2 hole to a Miami Heat team that’s been picking them apart since the series started.
That trend continued on Friday night when the Heat stunned the Bucks in Game 3 with a 115-100 victory to put Milwaukee on the brink of elimination. Here’s what we learned from Miami’s third straight victory in this second-round series as they take a commanding lead over the team that was once considered the prohibitive favorite to come out of the East.
Jimmy Butler Cannot Be Stopped
Jimmy Butler has been a nightmare for the Bucks all series. He set a playoff career high of 40 points as he led the Heat to a Game 1 victory, and he followed that up by knocking down the game-winning free-throws on Wednesday to lead Miami to a stunning 2-0 series lead.
He didn’t let up on Friday night, taking over in the second half and finishing with a game-high 30 points on 7-of-13 shooting, to go along with seven rebounds and six assists. Fourteen of those points came off free-throws as he got to line 19 times in this contest. He single-handedly outscored Milwaukee 17-13 in the fourth quarter and led an 11-1 run in the final four minutes to seal a historically-insurmountable 3-0 lead, putting the No. 1 seeded Bucks just a game away from elimination.
With the win, the Heat moved to 7-0 in the postseason, behind another big night from Jimmy Buckets.
The Bucks Needed More Splash Mountain And Others
After being conspicuously quiet in Games 1 and 2, Middleton had 14 points in the first half and made two of his three three-point attempts, and it looked like he was poised to finally step up as Giannis struggled.
But Middleton scored just four points in the second half as the Bucks collapsed and blew a double-digit lead going into the fourth quarter. Brook Lopez also came alive in the early going, scoring 13 points in the first half on 5-of-7 shooting, but he eventually went cold he second half, finishing with 22 points and going just 3-of-9 from behind the arc.
Milwaukee also didn’t get much from Eric Bledsoe, who scored eight points on the night on 2-of-9 shooting.
What’s Up With Giannis?
Giannis went 0-of-7 from downtown in this one, and the Miami Heat have been more than happy to oblige him in that endeavor. Despite the modest progress he’s made with his long-range shooting the past two seasons, it’s not where Giannis is at his best. He does his most damage when he’s doing things like this.
As tempting as those wide open threes might seem, he’s playing right into the Heat’s game plan. Of course, there could be another reason for that. Giannis appeared to tweak his ankle in the first half and was visibly wincing on several trips down the court. It’s the worst possible time for something like that, but Giannis somehow found another reservoir of strength to help lead a 9-0 run in the third quarter to push the Bucks’ lead back to double digits heading into the fourth quarter.
Of course, that didn’t last, and now the Bucks are in big trouble. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the postseason. The Bucks will literally have to rewrite history in order to keep their championship hopes alive when a potentially-deciding Game 4 tips off Sunday at 3:30 ET on ABC.
DC Comics is celebrating accomplished women with a new young adult graphic novel series. The comic company tapped a number of female and non-binary authors to create the anthological collection Wonder Women Of History. The series will spotlight seventeen iconic women who have groundbreaking work in music, science, politics, and activism, and one of the graphic novels centers around Beyonce.
New York Times bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson, who was the project’s editor, explained to Nerdist why she was “instantly” on board with the series: “Wonder Woman has been an iconic figure for girls and women around the world for generations. She gave me the example of a woman who combined justice, compassion, athleticism, and power that I needed. When the good people at DC brought up the idea of an anthology of real-life Wonder Women to me, I was on board instantly.”
Along with Beyonce, some other women featured in the series include Serena Williams, Marsha P. Johnson, Janelle Monáe, Emma Gonzalez, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
Wonder Women Of History goes on sale on 12/1. Pre-order it here.
Janelle Monáe is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
After the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha Wisconsin last month, players around the league decided to stage walkout right in the middle of the NBA postseason. The stoppage of play last two days, and part of the negotiations to resume play put the onus on the owners and the league to enact a plan that would promote social reform.
Following several meetings between the Board of Governors and the players association, the NBA announced a multi-pronged plan that devote funds to social initiatives in poor and minority communities around the country, a media campaign designed to education the public on these causes, and a plan to turn team-owned arenas into voting locations in the coming elections.
For the Miami Heat, however, the latter part of that plan was apparently foiled recently, as Miami-Dade County officials reportedly rejected their bid to use American Airlines Arena as a place citizens could come and cast their votes in November. Clearly unhappy about that outcome, the Heat issued the following statement on Friday.
Heat requested that American Airlines Arena be designated as a polling place this fall.
In the letter, the organization argues that they were initially led to believe that it was a done deal and that their request was rejected without any further explanation. The Heat have apparently been discussing this possibility well before the Board of Governors implemented it as part of their plan.
Florida is historically a swing state in presidential elections and its set to be so once again in November. LeBron James and other athletes have organized the More Than A Vote initiative that seeks to educate citizens about voting rights and voter suppression tactics and help as many people as possible have their vote counted. But as it stands, those residing in the Miami-Dade area will have to cast their votes elsewhere.
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25 1st half points 
: ESPN) 
