I couldn’t get into The Morning Show. I did try. I spent two seasons listening to people tell me it was messy and silly and sometimes fun, which, to me, a person who gleefully recapped a show about crazed animals waging a war against humans and got really into a melodramatic show about fleece-wearing finance bros doing battle with Paul Giamatti and sometimes doing synthetic speed in the office, is basically a love song. But I just couldn’t do it. Even with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell and a collection of the most bonkers storylines you’ve ever seen committed to the small screen. Oh well, I thought. Worth a try. Plenty of other shows out there.

But then I saw reviews trickle in for the third season. And I clicked on all of them, in part because I’m curious and in part because I’m unwell and in part because some of them, like this one by Alison Herman at Variety, contained paragraphs like this, which tickled all the little goofball receptors in my brain.

We open in the spring of 2022, two years since the onset of the pandemic and the end of Season 2. The TMS crew have been offered up as guinea pigs for Paul Marks (Jon Hamm), a billionaire and aerospace pioneer who’s basically a more telegenic Elon Musk (or a younger Richard Branson, or a Jeff Bezos with hair). For some inexplicable reason, this creature of Silicon Valley has taken an interest in legacy media, so to lay the path for a potential acquisition, network CEO Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup) wants to give Marks’ latest rocket launch a friendly face and send an anchor into orbit. So does Season 3 start on a quite literal high note, though “The Morning Show” must soon turn to the mess back on Earth.

Here we are, a little over a week after I first read that paragraph, and two important things have happened:

• I still do not actually “watch” The Morning Show
• I started doing this thing where I open an episode and skip through to the scenes with Jon Hamm and then I watch those few minutes, make a bunch of screencaps, and then launch forward until he shows up again

It’s a fascinating and probably unprofessional way to consume a television show. I can’t stop doing it. Jon Hamm is just so good, all the time, even when he’s playing a real-life cartoon character masquerading as a tech bro. Here he is in a sauna with Billy Crudup doing business deals.

Here he is showing Jennifer Aniston his many acres of pristine real estate in the west, right after, no joke, hauling ass with her around it all in a dune buggy.

And here he is inside his own rocketship getting ready to blast off into space with Reese Witherspoon on live television, which happened in the same episode he whipped around the desert in a dune buggy with Jennifer Aniston. This would be a really fun thing to explain to someone at the peak of Mad Men’s fame when Hamm was playing the most serious man on television in one of the best shows ever made. It’s also fun to explain to people today. You should see the smile on my face as I’m typing this. Look at this guy.

And I realized as I was watching it that the reason I was so happy is, like, good for Jon Hamm, man. He seems like a guy who has it figured out. Again, he played Don Draper for like a decade. He’s in the television Hall of Fame forever just for that. He could probably have his pick of a zillion projects. He could line up pretentious prestige shows one after another and stroll into the Emmys every year if that’s what he really wanted to do.

But instead, he’s just doing… cool stuff. I can’t think of a better way to phrase it. Scroll through his filmography sometime. He’s popped up on 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as huge weirdos. He’s played heightened and comedic versions of himself in Barry and Curb Your Enthusiasm. He voiced a cartoon scallop in Big Mouth and narrated the insane tennis mockumentary 7 Days in Hell. He played Fletch in the criminally underrated and under-discussed Confess, Fletch that dropped last year. He showed up in Top Gun: Maverick as the hardass military guy who is fed up with Tom Cruise’s loose-cannon shenanigans. It’s like he looks at potential roles and says “Hmm, would this be kind of awesome?” and then bases his decision on that. I respect this so much.

I also respect that he pops up on SNL every now and then and does an incredibly stupid sketch that makes fun of his last name.

I shouldn’t like this. I should hate him a little bit. He’s too talented and too good-looking to also have things figured out this well. The degree of difficulty here is through the roof. And yet… here I am, zooming through a show I don’t even watch to make screencaps of him going to outer space with Elle Woods. I don’t know. Part of me feels like I’m writing this just to try to make sense of it all. Maybe that’s it. Maybe I’m just really happy for Jon Hamm.

And it gets better, too. He’s also going to appear in the new season of Fargo — one of our best shows — opposite the also-great Juno Temple. Look how excited the producers are about working with Jon Hamm.

“Jon Hamm is Jon Hamm. Every actor should have a resume like that. I mean, remarkable,” Littlefield says. “Dot needs a great adversary to tell this story and we felt that Jon could really sing from that hymnal, that he could be that North Dakota sheriff who really, really bought into an entire world philosophy, a rigidity, and he has an ax to grind and so he is such a critical pillar in Dot’s story, the reveal of who she is, what is her past.”

He calls Hamm’s portrayal “wonderfully menacing” throughout the season. “We feel his muscle, his dramatic muscle,” he says, “but he’s also Jon Hamm, so you’re like, ‘Oh my god, did he do that?’”

God, I’m excited for this already. And I’m excited for Jon Hamm to continue following his heart around Hollywood. And I’m excited because I have another ridiculous screencap to show you from The Morning Show. Remember how I said his character is a billionaire who is obsessed with blasting rockets into space? Well, guess if his rocket looks so much like a massive penis that I busted out laughing when I zipped past it on my speedwatch.

It’s so beautiful I could cry.

And, as if all that wasn’t enough, as if Jon Hamm hasn’t been just generally killing it in a way most actors can never wrap their arms around because they’re too needy or ambitious or both, there was also this report in Page Six last week.

“Jon Hamm, will you help us play a song? Jon Hamm, are you here?,” Beck called out from a makeshift area set up at the small basement bar following his show at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

The “Mad Men” star then joined the “Loser” singer and went ham, belting out the entirety of the Cars 1978 hit, “Just What I Needed,” in front of music heavy hitters like the Strokes’ Julian Casablanca and their manager Ryan Gentles, the Black Keys’ Patrick Carney, the Moldy Peaches’ Adam Green and Brit rockers, the Arctic Monkeys.

Don Draper is out here singing with Beck in real life and launching himself into space in phallic spaceships on soapy television shows all in the last week. It’s all so cool I could puke. He seems like he’s having exactly as much fun as Jon Hamm should be having. And he seems like a really solid dude, too, which is one of the highest compliments I have to give.

I’ll close with this from the Page Six report about him singing with Beck.

“He really added some Hamm-bience,” joked one guest, as many chattered about how well Don Draper can sing.

Two things are true here:

• I feel like Jon Hamm would appreciate this awful play on words
• I am so proud of whoever said that and got it into print

We’re all doing great here. You, me, the Hamm-bience guy, all of us. But Especially Jon Hamm, though. That dude is just crushing it.

Colorado survived a major scare this past week during a game against Colorado State. In what turned into a very tense affair thanks in part to comments that were made in the lead-up to the game, the Buffaloes were able to come out on top, 43-35, in double overtime.

The game was defined by its physicality, particularly in the first quarter when Rams safety Henry Blackburn laid out Colorado’s two-way star, Travis Hunter. While Hunter attempted to continue playing, he eventually had to go to a medical facility to get examined and was unable to finish the game. In the days following the game, Blackburn and his family have received death threats, with Colorado State athletic director Joe Parker telling ESPN “We’re very concerned about our player’s safety, as Henry and his family have continued to receive these threats.”

On Tuesday, Colorado coach Deion Sanders addressed the situation with Blackburn, and made it a point to call on any and all threats towards him to stop.

“Henry Blackburn is a good player who played a phenomenal game,” Sanders said. “He made a tremendous hit on Travis on the sideline, you can call it dirty, you can call it he was just playing the game of football. But whatever it was, it does not constitute that he should be receiving death threats, this is still a young man trying to make it in life, a guy that’s trying to live his dream, and hopefully graduate with honors or a degree, committed to excellence and go to the NFL.

“He does not deserve a death threat over a game,” Sanders continued. “At the end of the game, this is a game. Someone must win, someone must lose, everybody continues their life the next day. Very unfortunate, I’m saddened if there’s any … our fans that’s on the other side of those threats, I would hope and pray not. But that kid was just playing the best of his ability, and he made a mistake. So, I forgive him, CU, our team forgives him. Travis is, he’s forgiven him. Let’s move on, but that kid does not deserve that.”

It’s unfortunate that Sanders had to say any of this, but at the very least, it’s good to see that he’s doing whatever he can to stop all of this. As for Hunter, he’s expected to miss several weeks as a result of the hit.

The ladies of The View went to town on the latest hot topic in Washington: John Fetterman’s clothes. The Pennsylvania senator has been a political football for Republicans after word got out that Majority Leader Chuck Schumer quietly nixed the Senate dress code to accommodate Fetterman’s penchant for wearing hoodies and gym shorts.

Right-wing figures like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and Ron DeSantis have criticized the controversial decision as well as Fetterman’s attire. However, it appears that most, but not all, of The View co-hosts are not fans of the situation either.

“These are chambers that Abraham Lincoln walked in, John McCain, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson; there’s a hallowed sort-of ground to it,” Alyssa Farah Griffin said via Mediaite. “For me, like, there’s an earnestness to John Fetterman that I really like, but I sort of think, dress for the job you want, and you have signed up for a job that’s historically had this dress code.”

Sunny Hostin agreed and noted that she was taught that “you dress for the job you want, not for the job you have,” and the least Fetterman could do is dress appropriately. Whoopi Goldberg, on the other hand, was Team Fetterman all the way.

“Listen, here’s my attitude: I don’t care what you wear as long as you get the job done,” Goldberg argued to her co-hosts. “I don’t care. I don’t care if you’re in a dress. I don’t care. … I’m more comfortable looking like me, and Barbara [Walters] understood that and she allowed it, OK? I dress in what I wake up in.”

(Via Mediaite)

Gen V will soon be upon us, so that we can see a new generation of Compound V-powered beings duke it out for the chance to land in The Seven. There are, of course, multiple vacancies on The Boys Supe team, and this series will take place, chronologically speaking, between Seasons 3 and 4 of the flagship series. So, we could very well learn who will replace Queen Maeve and Starlight. Perhaps we’ll even learn what the plan is for replacing Black Noir with another Black Noir, but first, Jaz Sinclair is going to “explode” a “dick,” as the series’ trailer promised.

From there, we may or not see any exploding heads like The Boys is so fond of showing off, but Sinclair, who portrays Marie Moreau, revealed that she and Jack Quaid (Hughie) had a chat about what to expect once the show gets going. His message to the cast at large? Stick together as a family. That’s what Sinclair told SFX Magazine (via Winter Is Coming), and since Quaid became a household name once The Boys launched as a juggernaut, he knows of what he speaks. Also, this is too sweet:

“He was just like, ‘Stay a family, stay a team. This is where it’s at. If you guys have each other, you’ll get through this. So, don’t lose sight of that.’ This is the real family, you know, talking about the cast and, like, really being unified. And I value that because you can feel that when they’re together.”

Unfortunately, we haven’t heard any rumors about Quaid making a surprise appearance on Gen V, but Hughie might be sleeping off all that Temp 4 to prepare for Season 4. We will, however, see Colby Minifie (Ashley), Jessie T. Usher (A-Train), and Chace Crawford (The Deep), so get ready for tan lines.

Amazon’s Gen V will premiere on September 29.

(Via SFX Magazine)

This week saw the release of a ton of great new pop music. There were a several collaborations, including Zara Larsson working with DJ David Guetta. Maren Morris made waves as she opened up about her plans to leave country music behind in the form of a new song.

Check out the rest of Uproxx’s Best New Pop Music roundup below.

TXT, Anitta — Back For More

TXT and Anitta first premiered their powerhouse collaboration at the VMAs, and now, fans can enjoy “Back For More” whenever. Featured on the K-Pop band’s upcoming album, The Name Chapter: Freefall, the song finds the two performers playing chaotic lovers.

Tate McRae — “Greedy”

Uproxx cover star Tate McRae‘s new video for “Greedy” has been buzzing around the internet, as fans feel she’s primed for a pop takeover. The confident anthem also has a bit of shade reportedly thrown at an ex, as it’s set at a hockey rink.

SZA, Justin Bieber — “Snooze (Acoustic)”

SZA’s “Snooze” was already a hit from her album, SOS, after getting a boost on TikTok. A few months later, she decided to bring on Justin Bieber for an acoustic take of the popular track. The chiller vibes allow the song’s lyrics to hit listeners even harder. By the time the chorus hits and the two duet, it makes sense why they did.

Zara Larsson, David Guetta — “On My Love”

“‘On My Love’ is about the relationships you have in your life that mean so much to you that you would put everything on them,” Larsson dished about her new collaboration with David Guetta in a statement.

J Balvin, DJ Khaled, Usher – “Dientes”

J Balvin’s “Dientes” not only has DJ Khaled and Usher, but it also samples the latter’s club staple, the song “Yeah!.” Given Usher’s co-sign on the song, and his appearance alongside Balvin on the dance floor in the music video, this could easily be a contender for a (late) song of the summer.

Maren Morris — “The Tree”

Maren Morris recently announced that she’s moving away from country music — and her new song “The Tree” is the first introduction of that. Produced by Greg Kurstin, it finds Morris seemingly grappling with the feelings of how the genre and industry have treated her. “I hung around longer than anyone should / You’ve broken my heart more than anyone could,” she notes.

Noah Kahan, Lizzy McAlpine — “Call Your Mom”

Noah Kahan and Lizzy McAlpine united for the emotional ballad, “Call Your Mom,” that originally appeared as a solo take from his album, Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever). It finds the two dueting to lend a helping hand to someone struggling with mental health.

Bella Poarch — “Crush” (feat. Lauv)

Bella Poarch’s “Crush” finds her entering her independent, hot girl era — with Lauv to help her out. The bubbly song builds upon the success of Poarch’s biggest hit, “Build A B*tch,” with the same new bold attitude that doesn’t hold back.

Madison Beer — “Sweet Relief”

A new single from Madison Beer’s upcoming album, Silence Between Songs, the new “Sweet Relief” finds her showing off a softer side — compared to the shady nature of her previous “Home To Another One” song. Beer described it “is really about having a crush and being smitten over somebody. It’s the sexier sort of song on the album.”

Äyanna — “Good Ex”

If you haven’t heard of Äyanna yet, listeners are missing out. The moody “Good Ex” finds her pursuing a potential relationship while showing off her vocal talent. Keeping with her past releases, the video channels Y2K energy beautifully — proving she’s one to watch.

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

In just two days, Lil Tjay will launch the Beat The Odds Tour — his first since 2021, when he toured his second album, Destined 2 Win. Since then, he’s recovered after being shot seven times during a failed robbery attempt in New Jersey last June, and released his third studio album, 222, this July.

Tjay will be joined on this tour by a slew of artists, including frequent collaborator Fivio Foreign, Dej Loaf, and rising stars Skilla Baby, Joony, Dina Ayada, Killy, Lithe, and Karri. See below for more info about the Beat The Odds Tour openers.

Fivio Foreign

Brooklyn rapper Fivio Foreign is best known for his collaborations with late drill rap vanguard Pop Smoke, as well as high-profile collabs with the likes of Drake, Kanye West, Lil Baby, and Quavo. After being featured in the 2020 XXL Freshman Class, he released his debut album, B.I.B.L.E. in 2022, debuting at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Dej Loaf

Blog era fave Dej Loaf first came to national prominence in 2014 with the release of her second mixtape, Sell Sole, and its single “Try Me.” She was signed to Columbia Records, but after years of delays, split from the label to independently release Sell Sole II in 2020. Since then, the Detroit native has made regular appearances as a coveted features artist for artists like Doe Boy and Tyla Yaweh.

Skilla Baby

Another Detroit rapper, Skill Baby is protege of Sada Baby, whose work ethic is every bit as uncompromising as his contemporaries like Babyface Ray and 42 Dugg. After releasing two projects in 2022, he followed up this year with the Controversy mixtape alongside fellow Motor City rapper Tee Grizzley.

Joony

Hailing from Maryland, Joony sing-raps over soulful and occasionally haunting beats, venting about life and relationships. He’s quite prolific; his latest album, Sh*tumss, dropped in May, just a year after his last, Pretty In Black. You can catch him on Tjay’s London, Birmingham, and Glasgow dates.

Dina Ayada

Dina Ayada is a rapper and singer from Morocco who has built an impressive following on moody songs like “Miles Away” and “Games.” There isn’t a whole lot of info about her yet, but she’s got an intriguing sound and a cool look that could lead to more growth in the future. She’s billed on the UK dates of the tour.

Killy

A Canadian rapper of mixed Bajan and Filipino heritage, he’s already gotten Drake’s attention, and released an impressive collection of projects in just the six short years since his debut in 2017. His latest, K3 is less than a week old as of this writing. He’ll be joining Tjay on his Canadian dates.

Lithe

When the tour swings around to Australia, local singer Lithe will join, performing popular tracks like “Lot Of Love,” “Pessimist,” and “Hold Out.”

Karri

The tour’s West Coast swing will see rising San Francisco R&B singer Karri tag along. His latest release is the four-song EP, Only U.

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

As a whiskey critic, spirits judge, and industry insider, I’m always asked what my favorite whisk(e)y is. It’s a tough question because it often depends on what season it is, where I am in the world, and my mood that particular day. I’m traveling through this world and tasting new whiskeys like everyone else and that means that my opinions change, re-change, and un-change all the time.

To underscore the idea that “best whiskey” is a permutable and ever-changing phrase — at best! — a small bottler in Kentucky (literally a father and son team), which has been releasing some amazing bourbons and ryes over the past couple of years, just made big news. The brand, 15 Stars, has been atop my best-of lists for a while now and they were just crowned with the “best whiskey” of 2023 by the esteemed New York World Spirits Competition. I was very excited to see that result as I often cite their whiskeys among my favorites (again, depending on the day, mood, etc.) when asked for something new and bespoke.

Okay, so the 15 Stars American rye narrowly beat out the stiff competition and won the coveted “Best Whiskey” this year in New York… what does that mean exactly?

Since I was a head judge, let me break it down. The pour had to survive four double-blind tastings to achieve that crown. That’s four panels of judges ranging from whiskey experts to the world’s leading bartenders to industry insiders who make the world go round behind the scenes. I can also attest that this rye whiskey from a tiny bottler in Kentucky beat out an amazing and huge array of top-shelf, household-name whisk(e)ys this year. No easy feat.

So how does it taste? Let’s dive into the best whiskey of the year from the 2023 New York World Spirits Competition!

• The Absolute Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States
• Every Single Buffalo Trace Whiskey & Spirits Brand, Ranked
• 100 Best American Rye Whiskeys, Ranked
• The Best Whiskeys To Chase Down This May
• Every Whiskey Brand From Jim Beam, Ranked

15 STARS Fine Aged Rye First West A Select Blend of Straight Rye Whiskeys

ABV: 52.5%

Average Price: $89

The Whiskey:

This new release from 15 STARS is a blend of six, seven, and eight-year-old ryes from Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee. That blend informs the name “First West” as those states were considered the “West” during the early days of the United States in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: There’s a deep winter spice — clove, anise, cinnamon, nutmeg — next to Earl Grey tea, dried cranberry, dried cherry, and a dash of sour plum next to faint notes of dry grassy fall leaves and orchard barks with a whisper of roasting herbs.

Palate: Apricot jam over buttermilk scones dusted with cinnamon leads to dry oolong tea leaves, sweet smudging sage, creamed honey, and a touch of ginger tobacco just kissed with dark chocolate sauce cut with cardamon and clove.

Finish: That sharp gingery tobacco drives the finish with a bitter chocolate underbelly toward lush cherrywood and sour plum sauce with a hint more of those opening winter spices, dry fall leaves, and old cellar floors.

Bottom Line:

This is just a solid all-around sipping whiskey with great depth. Add a little ice or drop of water to really open up the earthiness toward creamy eggnog spice and mulled cider and wines with a soft fruit cake vibe.

Where To Buy:

Currently, this bottle is available on Seelbachs.com. Don’t expect that to last. You have maybe hours to actually snag a bottle. After that, you’ll need to look out for the next batch to drop.

Rihanna and ASAP Rocky posed for a sweet new photoshoot with their two children: RZA Athelston Mayers and their new baby boy, Riot Rose Mayers. This is the first photo of Riot.

In the pics, Rihanna is holding her newborn, wrapped in a comfortable blanket. Rocky is carrying RZA, who is just as fashionable as the parents, who dressed him up in a leather jacket.

In another photo, Rocky puts RZA up on his shoulders as the baby smiles. Eventually, Rocky and Rihanna swap the children to try a different pose — while still absolutely being the coolest and cutest.

Rihanna has previously shared about wanting to have a larger family.

“My wish would be I would like to have more kids but whatever God wants for me, I’m here,” Rihanna told British Vogue back in February. She had revealed her pregnancy during her Super Bowl performance.

“We’re best friends with a baby,” she added about how she parents with Rocky. “We have to be on the same page, but we’ve always kind of had that in our relationship. Everything changes when you have a baby, but I wouldn’t say it’s done anything but made us closer.”

Check out Rihanna and Rocky’s adorable shoot with their two sons here.

“Tesla” rapper Lil Yachty’s The Field Trip Tour is nearly here. Beginning on Thursday, September 21, he will embark on a 39-date excursion across the globe. With two massive legs, including a North American and European run, fans are curious about who is opening for the tour? Well, when The Field Trip Tour was initially announced in May, that was a mystery.

But, thanks to the updated promotional graphic shared on Lil Yachty’s official Instagram page, we now know that Nick Hakim, Jean Dawson, and Nala Sinephro will do the honors. Learn more about the supporting acts below.

Nick Hakim

The North American wing of The Field Trip Tour will solely feature “Happen” musician Nick Hakim as the opening act. Born to a Chilean mother and Peruvian father, Hakim uses his rich cultural references and the robust sounds of his hometown, Washington, DC, to operate outside the genre bounds. Since his move to Brooklyn, New York, Hakim has become a frontrunner in the region’s push for sonic fluidity. Last year, Hakim released his latest album, COMETA, a product of that creative exploration.

Jean Dawson

Recording artist Jean Dawson will pick up the supporting act mantle when The Field Trip Tour makes its way to Europe in November. Following in alignment with Lil Yachty’s journey into the musical fringes, Dawson joining him on the road makes sense. The musician’s past projects — Chaos Now*, Pixel Bath, Bath Sports — and his forthcoming collaboration with singer SZA are blends of his sonic interests. Dawson’s artistry is a journey similar to his move from his hometown of Tijuana, Mexico, Dawson to San Diego, California. As a biracial (Black and Mexican) act, Dawson aims to pay homage to each culture.

Nala Sinephro

Although Nala Sinephro will only join The Field Trip Tour for its stop in London, England, where she is currently based, her music is worth a listen. Most of the featured acts on the tour emphasize alternative elements in their work, but for Sinephro, it’s all about jazz. The Caribbean-Belgian multi-instrumentalist pushes the bounds of the genre. On her debut album, Space 1.8, which was shared in 2021, she fully displayed her technical abilities with the pedal harp, modular synthesizer, keyboards, and piano.

Click here to view Lil Yachty’s The Field Trip Tour schedule.

This week, YG, Tyga, and Saweetie launch their Str8 To The Club Tour in Sacramento, before heading north to San Francisco then taking over arenas in Las Vegas, Tucson, Tacoma, Vancouver, and more. The trio will be joined by three openers: Kamaiyah, Wallie The Sensei, and DJ Vision. The tour will likely offer fans a preview of Tyga and YG’s upcoming joint album, as well as Saweetie’s long-delayed debut, along with a look at some of California’s hottest up-and-coming artists. So…

Who Is Opening YG, Tyga, And Saweetie’s Str8 To The Club Tour?

DJ Vision

DJ Vision is a Los Angeles-based DJ who has mainly supported OhGeesy as his tour DJ, accompanying him on his 2022 Geezyworld Tour, as well as touring with YG on The Red Cup Tour with OhGeesy, and YG’s 4Hunnid artists Day Sulan, and D3SZN. The earliest tour on his social media is YG’s F*ck Donald Trump Tour in 2016, which featured Kamaiyah, RJ (aka RJMrLA), and Sad Boy.

Kamaiyah

Kamaiyah is an interesting addition to the lineup because of the history between her and YG. After garnering a strong reception for her 2016 mixtape A Good Night In The Ghetto, she signed with 4Hunnid Records as one of YG’s first artists with distribution through Interscope. However, after her debut album was delayed multiple times, she left both labels in a rather contentious split. It appears the two are back on better terms now that Yaya is back independent. She has continued to release new music, dropping her most recent full-length album, Oakland Nights, in 2020, and an EP, Diving Timing, last year. She has released a steady stream of new singles in 2023, including “Shot Callin’,” “All Night,” and “Heat Warning.”

Wallie The Sensei

Wallie The Sensei is a newer artist from — where else? — Compton, who dropped his debut album, Golden Child, in 2021, following up in 2022 with Here 2 Stay. He approaches rap with the contemporary melodic flow popular with fellow Hub City natives like Roddy Ricch and Kalan.FrFr, crooning about the heartbreak of growing up knee-deep in hood politics. According to an early bio on local rap blog Rosecrans Ave. (what up, Vic!), his goal is to provide a positive outlook and guidance for those stuck in similar situations — hence the “sensei” in his stage name. On Instagram, he’s tagged himself a “Hope Dealer,” and his music certainly seems to offer a sliver of silver lining amid the emotional catharsis.