The oldest published version of the melody to the “Alphabet Song” was in 1761. However, because it’s the same melody as “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” it’s hard to trace it to its original composer.
The “Alphabet Song” is so deeply entrenched in American culture that it almost seems sacrilegious to change a piece of music that’s one of the first most of us ever learned. But after all these years, some educators are altering the classic melody so that there is a variation when the letters L-M-N-O-P are sung.
This change shocked popular TikTokker Jessica Skube, who documents life raising 7 children with her 2.6 million followers. Nearly 10 million people have watched her video revealing the significant change, and it’s received over 56,000 comments since first being published in late 2020.
“You guys, I have huge, huge, huge, huge, huge news,” Skube told her followers. “I have a fifth grader, a fifth grader, a fourth grader, a third grader, a third grader, a first grader, and a preschooler and I just got news that the ‘Alphabet Song’ is changing.”
Just to add to your 2020 🤯😱 because distance learning wasn’t enough!!! @ms_frazzled #abcsong #lmno #wtf #momsoftiktok
The big reason for the change is that people learning English, whether young kids or those who speak it as a second language, often get confused because L-M-N-O-P can sound like one letter, “elemenopee.” So, the new version breaks up that part of the alphabet, making the letters easier to understand. There has been a “surge” in the number of students learning English as a second language over the past decade, so it only makes sense to alter the song to help them learn the fundamentals of the language.
A viral video showing a woman preparing nachos for her “picky” spouse after he refused to eat the salmon dinner she cooked has sparked a contentious debate on TikTok. The video was shared on April 26 by Brianna Greenfield (@themamabrianna on TikTok) and has since earned over 2.5 million views.
Brianna is a mother of two who lives in Iowa.
The video starts with Brianna grating a massive hunk of cheese with a caption that reads: “My husband didn’t eat the dinner that I made…So let’s make him some nachos.”
“If I don’t feed him, he literally won’t eat,” she wrote. “This used to irritate me. Now I just blame his mother for never making him try salmon,” Greenfield wrote. The video features Meghan Trainor’s single “Mother” playing in the background.
At the end of the video, she hands her husband a huge plate of nachos while he lies on the couch under a blanket.
The video received over 11,000 comments on TikTok, primarily people saying that she shouldn’t have made a second meal for her husband and that he appears to be entitled.
Moral of the story: always serve your kids allllll the food, even if they say they dont like it after the first time. 25 years from now your child’s spouse will thank you. 😉 #momsoftiktok #momtok #momlife #workingmom #sahm #marriedlife #marriage #marriagehumor #wifelife #wivesoftiktok #happywifehappylife #pickyeater #pickyhusband #nachosfordinner #wivesoftiktok #cuisinartairfryer #humpday #guesswhatdayitis🐪 #guesswhatdayitis #eattherainbow
“If my husband came home after I cooked dinner and told me he wasn’t eating it to make something else I’d laugh in his face,” Rebecca Rose wrote. “This ain’t a marriage it’s a caretaker internship,” Ad Trèz added.
“It got worse with him wrapped in the blanket being served,” Lauren Becker wrote. “Ohhh…now I know what people mean when they refer to ‘the ick,'” Tara Townsend commented, referencing the moment when people realize that their attraction to someone has turned to repulsion.
However, Brianna believes that people are missing the point of her video. “Moral of the story: always serve your kids allllll the food, even if they say they don’t like it after the first time. 25 years from now your child’s spouse will thank you,” she captioned the post.
Brianna wasn’t trying to paint her husband as infantile but call attention to the fact that when parents don’t expose their children to different types of food, they can wind up with a relatively unsophisticated palette. She knew he didn’t like salmon when she made the dinner for her and her kids, so it wasn’t a surprise that he didn’t want it.
“If you have parents who don’t really like to try anything new, you will also be exposed to fewer new foods,” Marcia Pelchat, Ph.D. told Self—adding that the reverse is also true. When we have positive experiences with new foods, we are more likely to try unfamiliar tastes in the future.
Even though many took shots at Brianna and her husband, they took it all in stride and aren’t bothered by people who don’t know them.
“Thankfully, my husband and I have an excellent sense of humor and know the truth (that he is a wonderful husband and even better father), so we just think the reaction is genuinely entertaining,” she told Newsweek. “Some of the rude comments are hilariously clever!”
After the first video went viral, she posted another where she serves him macaroni and cheese, while he lays on the couch, under a blanket with numerous electronic devices around him.
Maura Tierney makes a good point, she usually does play “warm” characters. Which is why her turn as Doris Von Erich in Sean Durkin’sThe Iron Claw is so striking. In real life, Doris Von Erich went through so many tragedies with her children — the movie literally leaves one of them out. (Which is Chris Von Erich, the youngest brother. The movie basically combines Mike Von Erich and Chris Von Erich into one character.) Tragedy after tragedy, Doris Von Erich keeps her emotions in check, choosing instead to keep the family moving forward. Not showing emotion seems a bit counterintuitive for an actor, which speaks to how great Tierney’s performance is here – up until the point even Doris Von Erich can’t pretend anymore.
Speaking to Maura Tierney, she has a very dry, straight-to-the-point wit about her. Also, it’s notable Tierney might be the only person alive who has been in two “Claw” movies, between The Iron Claw and 1997’s Liar Liar, which features a running joke about the claw. This was not lost on Tierney while filming and certainly wasn’t lost on the Von Erich family.
Maura Tierney: How are you?
No complaints. How are you?
I’m pretty good. Same here.
See, that’s probably a better answer than no complaints.
No, I think no complaints is just fine. You’ve got no complaints. You didn’t say “fabulous.”
Right, I’m fabulous.
You said no complaints. Okay. Yes. How can I help you?
You are probably the only person alive who is in two movies about “The Claw.”
I know. There were a bunch of the actual family – the Von Erich, which their actual name is Adkisson – I think she’s Kevin’s niece and I think she is Kerry’s daughter, she said, “Oh my God. It’s so funny. We love Liar Liar because The Claw was such a big part of our family. And then The Claw was in that movie.” Her kids were there. It was really funny.
Wow.
I know.
I love that scene when you try to do it.
That’s the thing, I’m bad.
It was on cable recently… well, to be honest it’s on cable every day, so I’ve probably seen it every day.
Actually, it’s crazy to me. Well, I think it’s a really funny movie and people still watch it, because kids recognize me from it and it’s 30 years old. I just think it has an audience. It really does have an audience,
Of all the things you’ve done, that’s the thing kids know you for?
Yes. It’s very weird to me. Yes. Of all the things I’ve done, they’ll say, “Are you in Liar Liar?” First of all, “Well, I don’t really look like that anymore, but yes, that was me.”
There are worse things to be recognized for.
Yeah, I think it’s nice. It lasts. Holds up. But yes, two movies about the Claw.
How much did you know about this family before you got involved in this?
I knew nothing. Many, many journalists that I’ve talked to in the past couple of days are like, “I grew up a huge wrestling fan.” I just didn’t know anything about them or wrestling at all until I read the script. I also thought wrestling was totally fake, which it’s not.
In the sense that you can actually get hurt.
Yeah. There’s a tremendous amount of athleticism involved. I just came away with a lot of respect for it, because I didn’t realize how hard they worked in the ring. Then you also have to promote yourself. It’s showbiz as well. I just didn’t know anything about that world, so I learned a lot about it during the movie.
We’re probably closer to the same page than most of the people you’re talking to. I was faintly aware of them. I watched WWF and that’s about it, but kids at school would talk about them.
Actually, me too. My little brother, I have a brother who’s 13 years younger than me, and I’d watch Hulk Hogan with him, but I didn’t know anything about that.
Yeah, the kids would be like, “Oh, Hulk Hogan, that’s for the mainstream but if you really want to get into it, it’s the Von Erichs.”
You know who was a kid like that — Sean Durkin? That’s why he made this movie. He was a super geeked-out wrestling fan. Super-duper geeked out. Don’t tell him I said geeked out. This world deeply informed him somehow. Well, he’ll tell you, he’d get bootleg DVDs of the Von Erichs in London. I don’t know. It really did work some magic on him somehow. His other films aren’t like this.
No, they’re not.
And I love his movies. Which is why I did this movie, I wanted to work with him.
I love Martha Marcy… I always say it wrong…
I’m telling you, he’s really interesting to work with and fun, because he knows exactly what he wants to do, but he’s also flexible and your input does count. Which is the best kind of director who’s completely assured, but has a sense of humor and can be flexible if shit goes wrong on set, things happen. You have to change and adapt.
So how did this happen? Did he call you?
I think he reached out to me, yes. I had a Zoom, I think, and talked with him, and then I did the job. I’ve loved that first movie, it made a huge impression on me. I also always get the title wrong. It was very affecting, I thought. I love The Nest. I just think he’s interesting. He’s really unique.
Martha Marcy May Marlene, I said it right.
Did you Google it?
Yes.
Okay.
I can’t even imagine trying to get in Doris’s head. Because most stories that deal with this kind of tragedy, it happens once and that’s horrific enough. In this movie, it happens so many times one of them is literally just not even mentioned.
Exactly. The one thing about playing her is, the boys had tons of footage, there were documentaries made about them, they had a lot of material to research. Doris is not really, she’s not well-documented. She actually was a little more involved than the movie portrays. It was a family business and she would play a part in some of the promotions and stuff. She was more involved than the movie depicts, I believe.
Was she calling shots behind the scenes?
In their culture at that time, young women, deeply religious women, were not encouraged, I don’t think, to be the boss. And I don’t think she was. And then nobody really taught anybody how to express their grief. She loses one child and she just kept moving on for the rest of the kids and her family. And then she kept losing them, and it’s really unfathomable.
So how do you play that?
Sean encouraged all of us to be very stoic. We would say, “How much emotion do you want to see in this scene?” And he’d be like, “None.” We see it once with Doris. That was the one scene that Sean was like, “This is the scene where she could be sad.” He managed. He orchestrated when grief was expressed, so that was helpful. Because otherwise, I don’t know, I really don’t know how that woman kept on.
What you said is interesting, because as an actor I assume your instinct is to show emotion?
Again, that was a directorial decision, which I really agree with. I don’t normally play people who are not warm. I’m usually hired to be whatever I bring to a part, so that part was interesting to me. There were certain things that were cut for a time and I totally understood.
I really like this movie a lot, but part of me thinks this could also be a 10-episode series, because there’s so much.
Yep! Also, like you said, there are two children’s deaths that the movie doesn’t focus on. She’s lost a child before we even meet that couple, they already lost the kids. It’s a wild story.
Usually, it’s the other way, adding some drama to kind of spice up the movie. And this one takes some out because it’s too much.
Exactly. It’s like, oh, that one lost his foot in a motorcycle accident. What?
It’s interesting when you said you usually play warm characters. I think that’s why I enjoyed you so much in this, it’s very different.
Yeah. Zac, three times I would show up for the Q&A, and he’d be standing next to me, and I’m like, “Zac, it’s me.” I do think it was different for me. He kept going, “Geez, I’m sorry. You just don’t look the same.”
“Hey, I have emotions to share now that I’m not playing your mother.”
Exactly. Also, I don’t know, I wore normal clothes in real life.
You’re in the new Twister, is this true?
Yeah, but not really. But I am. My publicist is going to be mad at me. I am. Again, that was a situation where I really wanted to work with the director a lot. I worked three or four days on that film. I think it’s going to be great.
Oh, I can’t wait.
I think it’s going to be awesome, but I don’t have a substantial role in that. But I am excited to see it.
Also, more people should have seen The Report.
I love that movie.
I try to look for strategy or patterns in film roles, and I’m doing that here, too, with your recent filmography. But I already know the answer is, “Just looking for good roles.”
Yeah, I think it’s not true. I think I mostly work in television, so it’s nice to work on a film because it’s different. Yeah. There’s no real strategy on my part. I’m very director-driven. For me, it wasn’t sort of whatever came along. It was it came along and it was Sean. That’s something I would want to do and learn about the way he works. So, it’s not really a plan.
Obviously, your television work is great. I was in college when News Radio was on and it’s one of my favorite shows of all time. Obviously, loved you on ER. But I also, I love it when you’re in movies. Selfishly, I like watching you play all these different characters in movies and I hope you do more.
I’ve been doing this TV show that not a lot of people saw, and we did two seasons of it. I’ve been in Pittsburgh shooting this TV show called Rust. I don’t know if you know.
I know that show, yes.
It’s what that is. It’s weird, because I have been working but it feels to me like it hasn’t been out there. In a way, I feel like I want to work, even though I’ve been working. I guess I’m in an interesting spot. We’ll see. Then there was Covid and then there was a strike. I’m excited about whatever, when we actually really start to work again.
2023 was a big year for Drake. In addition to spending the summer on tour with 21 Savage, he dropped his eighth studio album For All The Dogs, and reunited with frequent collaborators like J. Cole, Nicki MInaj, and Travis Scott. He even got the key to the city of Memphis, something that confused fans who weren’t aware of the Toronto native’s connections to the city.
He also made his customary round of guest features, although he did fewer this year than he has in the past. While he still blessed at least one rising artist with the coveted Drake stimulus feature, for the most part, it seemed he reserved his guest appearances for longtime friends and collaborators. Here are Drake’s best features of 2023:
J Hus — “Who Told You”
Drake’s affinity for British music turned out to be a boon for rising Afroswing pioneer J Hus as the lead single from his third album, Beautiful And Brutal Yard, became his highest-charting single yet. The song contrasts the tough-guy image men from the African diaspora all over the world must project with the simple joy of dancing to an infectious riddim, which Drake does with a loopy, crooning verse that once again stands with a foot planted on each side of the rap/R&B divide.
Nicki Minaj — “Needle”
Picking up a similar thread from his appearance on “Who Told You,” Drake continues to utilize a Caribbean-accented singsong flow on his reunion with Nicki Minaj. While Nicki sticks to her rapid-fire staccato raps, Drake sings the hook of this dreamy, dancehall-influenced standout from Nicki’s new album Pink Friday 2.
Popcaan — “We Caa Done”
Drake’s dancehall/Afrobeats fascination kicked off early in the year as he teamed up with Jamaican singer Popcaan, who signed with Drake’s record label OVO Sound in 2016. The single marks Drake and Popcaan’s fourth collaboration, continuing their chemistry from “Controlla,” All I Need,” and “Twist & Turn.” Say what you want to about Drake’s prolific use of Jamaican slang, but he and Popcaan blend naturally on records such as these.
Travis Scott — “Meltdown”
A spiritual successor to 2018’s “Sicko Mode,” the standout from Travis Scott’s new album Utopia is more menacing and slightly cracked, less interested in making listeners dance than in conveying the “tensions are definitely rising” Drake warns on the intro. It’s one of Drake’s most technical verses of the year, with subtle jabs for rivals like Kanye West and Pusha T. His threats aren’t very believable but they sound cool anyway.
Young Thug — “Parade On Cleveland”
In June, Drake blessed the incarcerated Young Thug’s new album Business Is Business with two guest verses. While “Parade On Cleveland” is the slower of the two, featuring an overdose of Drake’s syrupy falsetto, the subject matter remains the same throughout both tracks. “Parade” is dominated by Drake’s singing, with a beat switch preceded by a quick snippet of a phone call between the two rappers.
Young Thug — “Oh U Went”
Of the two Drake features on Business Is Business, “Oh U Went” is superior, pairing the gangster topics with a much more fitting beat. Metro Boomin offers a block-beating backdrop that allows both to slot comfortably into their well-worn roles, executing a flawless two-man weave without any need for extras.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.
While we’re at it, sign up for our newsletter to get the best new indie music delivered directly to your inbox, every Monday.
Graham Hunt – Try Not To Laugh
In Madison, Wisconsin, Graham Hunt is something of an everyman. Hunt’s background in hardcore punk (Midwives), garage rock (Midnight Reruns), and alt-country (Trapper Schoepp And The Shades) has buttressed his growingly varied portfolio. As a solo artist, though, he has always remained steadfastly loyal to power-pop, occasionally venturing into folk, psych-rock, or punk whenever the moment’s right. On his fourth solo record, Try Not To Laugh, Hunt melds sweet vocal melodies, gritty production, and unconventional arrangements, as exemplified on songs like the (tastefully) wah-heavy “Emergency Contact” and the flickering “Zoomed Out.”
Wishy – Paradise
Kevin Krautner and Nina Pitchkites are on the precipice of a true breakout moment. The duo draws from touchstones like shoegaze, ‘90s alt-rock, and twee-pop, and Paradise, their debut EP as Wishy (née Mana) fuses that triptych into a hooky whole. “Donut” is a rush of soaring guitar tones that evokes the adrenaline of, well, driving around in donuts, and the opening title track demonstrates the Indy natives’ poppier sensibilities. This five-song collection lives up to its name: It’s pure paradise.
Hermanos Gutiérrez – “Blood Milk Moon”
Estevan and Alejandro Gutiérrez, otherwise known as Hermanos Gutiérrez, are known for their entrancing, meditative guitar arrangements. For their latest single, “Blood Milk Moon,” the Swiss-Ecuadorian brothers recruit The Black Keys’ Dan Auberbach for production duties, and the Gutiérrez brothers’ guitars weave in and out of each other like snakes needling their way through labyrinthine passages.
Swim Good Now – “The Blinding Light”
Jonathan Lawless, the Toronto artist who records under the moniker Swim Good Now, has a lot of cool friends. It would only make sense that he’d round up a bunch of them for the new Swim Good Now single, “The Blinding Light.” It includes backing vocals from songwriter and pianist Gia Margaret, Stars’ Torquil Campbell, fiddle-player Linsey Beckett, cellist Matt Brubeck, and guitarist Daniel Halyburton, to name just some of the musicians (trust me; there are even more). “The Blinding Light” plays like a hangout among close friends in the best way possible.
Liquid Mike – “K2”
Marquette, Michigan power-pop-punkers Liquid Mike are on a roll right now. Earlier this year, they released S/T, an 11-song, 18-minute blast of catchy melodies and sparkly riffs. They’re already back with a new album due this February, Paul Bunyan’s Slingshot. “K2,” its new single, follows S/T’s indefatigable lead. It opens with a squall of feedback before it spontaneously combusts mere seconds later; fiery guitar chords and driving drums take charge as frontman Mike Maple reminisces on the summertime of 2009.
Finnoguns Wake – “Lovers All”
As of now, Finnoguns Wake have only two songs to their name, but that will soon change when they release their debut EP, Stay Young, in January. Much like previous single “Blue Skies,” “Lovers All” evinces the band’s hardcore roots. Tim “Shogun” Wall comes from groups like Royal Headache, Nintendo Police, and Shogun And The Sheets. Now, Wall has joined forces with Finn Berzin to lace his brand of inflammatory punk with Britpop melodicism, post-punk crunch, and a James Joyce reference. Together, Wall and Berzin sound impervious.
Madeline Kenney – The Same, Again: ANRM (Tiny Telephone Sessions)
Back in July, the Oakland singer-songwriter and Wye Oak collaborator Madeline Kenney shared her wonderful fourth album, A New Reality Mind. Kenney has returned with a new interpretation of that record, fittingly named The Same, Again: ANRM (Tiny Telephone Sessions). For this reimagining, she recorded the album in its entirety on a grand piano at Tiny Telephone Oakland. It’s a graceful recontextualization that unearths the compelling foundation of Kenney’s songwriting.
Hey, Ily! – “The Second Coming Of Jekyll & Hyde (12 Days Of Chillmas)”
Hey, Ily!’s sui generis take on Nintendocore, goth, and emo has been exciting to follow since their 2021 debut EP, Internet Breath. As the band has stated on Twitter (because that’s what it will forever be known as), their second LP is in the works. For now, they’ve treated us to “The Second Coming of Jekyll & Hyde (12 Days Of Chillmas),” just in time for the holiday season. It’s the perfect soundtrack for a cozy yet intense Super Smash Bros. Ultimate match while avoiding the icy outdoors.
After rocketing Macaualy Culkin to fame in 1990, Home Alone quickly cemented itself as a holiday favorite for generations to come. The now-classic comedy centers around Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old boy who accidentally gets left behind as his family makes a mad dash to the airport to spend Christmas in Paris. As his mom (Catherine O’Hara) desperately tries to get home, Kevin is having the time of his life as the man of the house.
However, when a pair of burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) targets Kevin’s house, he has no choice but to defend his home via an assortment of hilariously brutal booby traps.
With the holiday season in full swing, Home Alone is already airing on Freeform to get those yuletide vibes flowing. Here’s the full schedule on when you catch the beloved ’90s comedy.
To say that Taylor Swift has had a massive year feels like an understatement. Not only did she claim Time‘s Person Of The Year for 2023, or kick off her successful Eras Tour, but she also had some killer outfits to match her new level of It Girl status.
Here are just a few of Swift’s best looks.
The pop star made headlines recently, as she stepped out for her birthday in the Clio Peppiatt Black Mini Dress, according to Taylor Swift Styled’s Instagram account, and a fur coat wrapped around her arms — because NYC is cold in winter. The look felt very reminiscent of Swift’s VMA dress from 2022, but a darker version of it.
Another one of Swift’s stylish outfits was when she stepped out in a striped shirt from The Row, layered over a Free People skirt, and a cute baseball cap that added some casual energy to it all.
And who can forget when she also joined her friends, following the announcement of her breakup from Joe Alwyn in April? She paired a black tank top and a chained Simkhai skirt with some Stella McCartney sunglasses and Chanel loafers. It fit with the weather, while also radiating the hot girl energy after the split.
She has also been a big fan of sweatshirts this year, wearing both an NYU one (while leaving Electric Lady Studios with Matty Healy) and a vintage Chiefs selection — as she was cheering on her new boyfriend, Travis Kelce.
Last, but certainly not least, Swift’s silver and sparkling custom dress from Balmain deserves a mention, as she wore it to the red carpet of Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour film premiere. She also had a ton of diamond accessories.
Check out some more of Taylor Swift’s best outfits below.
Jonathan Majors‘ assault trial did not end in his favor, both on the personal and career fronts. A jury found him guilty of the harassment and assault of ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari following his March 2023 arrest on domestic violence charges. With an hour after the verdict broke, Disney announced that Majors was being relieved of his mega-villain role as Kang. Reported word has also already surfaced that the Kang Dynasty movie would be retooled as Avengers 5 as Marvel attempts to, amid various reasons, regain box-office clout.
No one can argue that the timing of Majors’ firing was a mere coincidence, and Disney was obviously awaiting word of how the jury viewed the totality of the evidence against the Lovecraft Country star. The news also followed devastating text messages (via TMZ) that were admitted into evidence and showed Majors attempting to convince Jabbari to not be treated for her injuries that presumably occurred during an altercation. He also apparently threatened to commit suicide during that text chain, which pointed towards a pattern of manipulation in the eyes of the prosecution.
Also not working in Majors’ favor: the tactics of his attorney (Priya Chaudhry), who ran afoul of the judge on more than one occasion. Those included previously released text messages that actually didn’t paint her client in a positive light and photos showing Jabbari going to a club after early 2023 incident, which the victim insisted only reflected her seeking solace from friends. Chaudhry has suggested that Majors will attempt to appeal the verdict, although it’s not clear what grounds he could claim with the facts of the case being, well, what they are.
Majors has lost multiple gigs since his legal saga began, and Disney also decided to shelveMagazine Dreams, in which Majors portrays a troubled body builder. His manager also cut ties with the Creed III actor, although his agency, WME, continues to represent him at this time.
The very first image Mikey Rukus can remember from his childhood is watching an irate Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka attack Don Muraco after the bell at Madison Square Garden in 1983. That set up one of the signature moments in professional wrestling history — with Snuka’s splash from the top of a steel cage — but it also set in motion Rukus’s collision course to become All Elite Wrestling’s first music producer and director.
Rukus had a relationship with music from an early age, learning to play guitar, joining the marching band, and trying out different styles of music after high school. When he explored a career in music production for sports, he saw WWE as a gated community, so he tested the waters in MMA.
“I wasn’t even that good at it back then,” Rukus tells Uproxx Sports. “I was just kind of taking a stab at it, seeing how this would work. But being able to learn with every interaction how to decipher what they’re looking for and being able to provide a solution for a problem that they have, there’s a lot of fulfillment within that.”
Rukus networked with amateur and regional fighters as a side hustle while working as a retail manager. Within the first two years, he was putting in 60 hours a week at the store and working 20-30 hours a week on his music. That work paid off, as he had his music featured on the UFC, later on NBC Sports, and did a few independent films.
When AEW was officially formed, Rukus saw the promotion’s development as a perfect fit. He managed to find connections within the promotion and got a trial run developing a theme for Nyla Rose. He submitted that within 24 hours, and weeks later joined the company.
Over the years, Rukus has learned to become patient with the adoption of the theme songs he creates. That wasn’t necessarily the case when he first joined the company though.
“I think the most difficult part for me was not beating myself up as much as I did in the beginning,” Rukus says. “I used to feel like when I first got here, like the fans are going to hate me, they’re going to hate the music, and I’m going to be looked at as a joke, and I’m going to wake up tomorrow and I’m not going to have a job. That was my biggest hurdle in the very beginning.”
For Rukus, the turning point in his time with AEW came with Sting’s arrival.
“When you look at it in terms of iconic figures in our sport, (Sting is) definitely up there,” Rukus says. “Having that opportunity to create something and make a statement and know that whenever he’s on screen, you’re going to get time, it’s going to have time to bake into people’s psyche. It’s going to have time for people to consume and really connect and to tell that story. So I think that knowing that was going to be the case, I guess you could say all the stars aligned for that one. It changed things for me. Knowing that if I can make something at this level, at this moment, I know that I can do that for everybody. And then when we had it happen again with Adam Cole, it’s probably one of our biggest songs to date.”
AEW
Now he understands that each moment is like catching lighting in a bottle that needs the right talent, the right platform, the right time, and the right music to work. Waiting to see fan reactions isn’t as much nerve-wracking anxiety as it is excitement to see how they connect with the music and character.
“With Steve Austin’s music, the glass breaking didn’t become a thing for a while, but it was allowed to be cultivated to the point where people were anticipating it. You programmed the crowd to anticipate what’s coming and then you get the reaction that you get, but all of those things have to kind of tie into it,” Rukus says.
“You want every track to be as great as it possibly can, but I don’t focus on like this is going to be the one, this is going to be the thing that is the next big thing. When you try to do that, then you end up falling short all the time. You have to allow the process to cultivate, and a lot of it again, comes down to the sum of all parts working as one.”
With time also came Rukus’s ability to separate his work from the legendary Jim Johnston. Like most kids who grew up in the golden era of wrestling, Rukus points back to the “godfather, the first, and the greatest” when it comes to Johnston’s influence on pro wrestling’s iconic theme songs. Rukus, however, says he’s moved on from being in Johnston’s shadow as he’s carved out his own unique body of work.
“You have to get to a point to where it’s like, I’m not trying to be this person. I’m just trying to tell the best stories that I can. And then later on, when people look back at the library of work I’ve done, then they can use that to compare and contrast,” Rukus says.
“I got rid of that mentality of feeling like I was in somebody’s shadow a long time ago. And I want to say maybe it was with the Sting thing, a lot changed for me personally in how I approach things after that night. And again, I felt like I was home. I have cemented my own individuality. Now I can move forward and just focus on telling the best stories possible. And being innovative and just learn as much as I can continuously.”
AEW
Firmly in his groove with AEW, Rukus has had a stellar 2023. As he rounds out the year, he’s posted chart toppers around the world, from Adam Cole’s theme reaching No. 1 in Panama to his personal favorite, the HayterRave becoming a top hit in the U.S., Canada, and Ireland. But without a doubt the thing he’s most proud of from the last year is rolling out the 30 minute HayterRave.
So it’s late- but I have a few minutes. I’ve always followed iTunes charting systems bc they track in real time in several categories globally. These are some of the notable achievements that AEW Music has hit in 2023.
“It’s so crazy because Britt Baker and I were kind of chatting back and forth and we were talking about mashing up their themes, Jamie’s and her theme. And we were talking about whether that would work on TV because really, they’re two, even though they’re a team, they’re two separate entities that should be receiving two separate pops. So we decided to hold off on it, but I thought there’s something here,” Rukus says.
“And then Jamie was wrestling one night and I just had a throwaway tweet maybe it’s time to make a 30 minute rendition of Jamie Hayter’s theme. And that tweet just went crazy. I was like, well, maybe we have something here. So I decided I don’t want to just loop Jamie Hayter’s theme for 30 minutes. Let’s go back into our library and see how we can reimagine some of the more popular songs that we have in AEW original music. I had never done anything like that before, ever, and it was like four months worth of work. That by far was my big achievement for this year. And there’s been talks of possibly a Part Two. I won’t get too far into it, but I’m considering some different approaches for Volume Two.”
What if I went live and did a session where we took Jamie Hayter’s theme and did a rave remix, tossing in parts from AEW themes of your choice?
Looking back, Rukus never thought there would be a spot like this growing up. But as he approaches 2024, he’s grateful for the opportunities and is constantly looking to expand his reach outside of AEW programming.
“I really want to focus on the expansion of our music base,” Rukus continues. “Not just the actual music that you hear on wrestling programming, but being able to hear it in different mediums, whether it be sporting events, television ad campaigns, things like that. I want to be able to impact education. I want young people to be inspired by the music that we create, I want to be able to inspire people that way and, and just really really hit at the heart of what storytelling is in an audio format.”
Jordan Klepper hosted The Daily Show for the first time this year, but he still found the time to do what he does: talk to old (white) women in “I’m a Trump girl” sweatshirts and cowboy-hat wearing (white) dudes who start sentences with “I don’t know all the specific facts, but…” at Trump events.
The Daily Show released a 13-minute montage of “Klepper’s Wildest Moments With Trumpers in 2023 (just wait until 2024…). There’s the lightly-attended “take our nation back” protest, a George Santos cameo, and a return to the campaign trail. In that one, Klepper spoke to a young man who respects Trump for never surrendering to the tyranny — while wearing a shirt of Trump’s mugshot, taken after he surrendered to the tyranny.
Klepper previously told Uproxx about what it’s like entering enemy territory. “We try to keep a low profile, but we go out there with a security guard. Traditionally going to any kind of rally or event, especially if there are competing protestors to the rally, we go out with a security guard. The last few we went to we bumped that up to two just to be safe. We haven’t talked about what we’re going to need for these future ones,” he explained.
You can watch The Daily Show video above.
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