Long ago, Community was the lesser-loved child of the NBC sitcom lineup. The Office, Parks and Rec, and 30 Rock all had their glory days with various NBC tie-ins and one-off reunions, but Community was often left out of the conversation. Which, to be fair, is a very Community thing to happen, so it kind of works! NBC effectively canceled the series in 2014, before a sixth and final season was ordered by Yahoo! Screen (remember that? Probably not.)
One of the long-running jokes from the series was that it would never fully be complete until there were “six seasons and a movie.” When the final episodes aired in 2015 on the abandoned Yahoo! Screen, it seemed like the prospect of a movie was long gone. While the cast and crew would often mention the show’s mantra and tease the potential movie, it seemed like nothing was really going to move forward. UNTIL NOW!
This morning, Peacock announced they would be reviving the series once more for a movie to finally fulfill the prophecy. Most of the original cast seems to be on board, including Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Jim Rash, and Ken Jeong. The very dedicated fan base finally came out of hibernation to express not only their excitement but also say that they knew the movie would happen all along and they never once doubted it!
YOU SEE WE ARE FINALLY GETTING SIX SEASONS AND A MOVIE FROM COMMUNITY, A PROPHECY THAT STARTED IN SEASON 2 EPISODE 21, PARADIGMS OF HUMAN MEMORY!! AND THE POTENTIAL TO SEE TROY AGAIN IS RIGHT THERE! TROY AND ABED REUNITED!!! #sixseasonsandamovie#andamoviepic.twitter.com/AvA91ZCHRN
In complete defiance of hundreds of sci-fi movies and books, Elon Musk will unveil an actual freaking cyborg during Tesla’s AI Day event on Friday. The Terminator jokes started flying on social media after reports revealed Musk’s plans to debut the robot named Optimus, which he swears will be “friendly.” And if it’s not, don’t worry, you can probably run away from it or knock it over. Maybe.
Last year at the same event, Musk announced the robot. He said the cyborg would be uncombative, standing roughly 5-foot-8: “It’s intended to be friendly, of course.” It would be designed to help with repetitive, menial tasks — and usher in a future where physical work would be a choice.
Critically, Musk said, a person could “run away from it and most likely overpower it.”
Nothing more comforting than knowing when the killing starts, you have a running chance. Good stuff. As for why Musk is dipping into the dangerous waters of combining artificial intelligence and robotics, he basically said some other idiot probably would’ve done it, so why not be the first? Oh great.
“We’re just obviously making the pieces that are needed for a useful humanoid robot, so I guess we probably should make it,” Musk said during last year’s AI Day. “And if we don’t, someone else would. … I guess we should make it and make sure it’s safe.”
Following The Washington Post‘s report, people were understandably freaked out by the prospect of Musk building a robot and already feeling the need to say it won’t “overpower” humanity. Why would you open with that?
You can see some of the reactions to Musk’s robot below:
I feel like if you have to say something won’t overpower humans it’s definitely going to overpower humans.
It’s like when my kid came up to me on April Fool’s Day and was like “I made you this drink and I did not put hot sauce in it.” It had hot sauce in it. https://t.co/bKo3NCKgQe
On September 23, Post Malone took to Boston’s TD Garden, where the NBA’s Celtics play their home games, for a concert. He also paid tribute to the city by wearing a jersey of Celtics guard Marcus Smart, the reigning NBA Defensive Player Of The Year. It turns out the two Dallas natives got to enjoy some time together backstage and Smart spoke about a fun moment they shared.
During an interview with NBC Sports Boston at the Celtics’ media day on September 26, Smart was asked if he got to play Malone at beer pong and he said, “Yeah, I played him. I won one game, but I went five in a row the last game! […] He’s really good. He kept telling me to call [Celtics President Of Basketball Operations] Brad [Stevens] for him, though. Every shot he made, he was like, ‘Call Brad, sign me up, give me the 10-day [contract]!’”
After the concert, Smart shared photos of himself and Malone backstage and wrote on Instagram, “That was a [fire] show @postmalone thanks for the love Friday night. Fans were crazy live. Felt their love as well. Place was crazy. Boston fans never fail.”
Malone’s second Boston concert of the tour, set for September 24, was postponed as Malone noted, “I’m having a very difficult time breathing, and there’s like a stabbing pain whenever I breathe or move.” This came not long after he fell in an on-stage hole and injured his ribs.
DDG is celebrating the arrival of It’s Not Me It’s You on Friday (September 30) by recounting his struggle to get here. The Michigan-bred rapper simultaneously dropped the music video for “9 Lives,” the project’s opening track, featuring NLE Choppa And Polo G.
Directed by Michael Daniel, the four-minute visual finds DDG revisiting his old neighborhood, with a young boy presumably serving as a younger DDG — filling up a pot with water in the kitchen, boiling it on the stove to use for a bath. “But for my family, that’s alright, I’m doing anything,” present-day DDG raps, watching the boy boxing outside while his parents argue about bills inside.
NLE performs his verse from a church pew, mentioning a Percocet problem in 2019, and Polo G provides his insight from the block at night.
It’s Not Me It’s You follows the footsteps of DDG’s Epic Records debut album Valedictorian from November 2019. In between, DDG was named to the 2021 XXL Freshman Class last June and dropped his Die 4 Respect mixtape.
1. “9 Lives” Feat. Polo G and NLE Choppa
2. “Elon Musk” Feat. Gunna
3. “Stay In My Circle”
4. “Relationship Issues”
5. “If I Want You”
6. “Not The Only One”
7. “Loyal Slut”
8. “Love Myself” Feat. Kevin Gates
9. “Storyteller”
10. “Remember Me”
11. “The Clinic” Feat. Babyface Ray
12. “Big Knots”
It’s Not Me It’s You is out 9/30 via DDG Entertainment and Epic.
Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Last week on People’s Party with Talib Kweli, Kweli and cohost Jasmin Leigh sat with the iconic producer, Just Blaze. The “Megatron Don” is the craftsman behind some of the biggest records in the history of hip-hop and in one segment Jasmin inquired about the song “Girls, Girls, Girls’,” and the origin story behind it. Blaze’s answer blew her and Kweli away.
In the video above, Just Blaze reveals that the song was one of the first tracks they made for the iconic album The Blueprint. The beat was originally intended for Ghostface Killah, of the Wu-Tang Clan.
“About a year and a half before The Blueprint was even a thought that record was already done,” Just says. The smooth soulful bounce on the track was rooted in a sample from Soul singer Tom Brock and caught the planet by storm.
He goes on to say that one day Hov came into the studio ready to record and had a beat from an emerging producer named Kanye West. Just Blaze said the soundscape Jigga envisioned was to sample rich soul classics throughout the album.
“I just got this CD from Ye,” Just recalls Jay-Z saying. “Let’s go.”
Blaze asked him, “So what we doin’?”
Jay Z responded, “We’re back to the soul music.”
“So the first thing I think of is that Ghost beat,” Just says. ” Ghost is my brother now. But at the time I didn’t know Ghost like that. I did not have a link to him. I can hold out and pray that I meet Ghost one day. Or, this is the chamber that Jay is in right now, boom!”
Remarkably he reveals the majority of that groundbreaking album was recorded over a span of three days. “We started on a Friday, by Sunday all the core songs were done. Most of my stuff and most of Jay’s stuff was done.”
As for the album’s breakout hit, the chorus features with Slick Rick, Biz Markie and Q-Tip were strategically chosen, Just explains.
“Because of the feel of the record we wanted voices that everybody knew but were considered old school voices. They were still making records but they were voices that had been on records for years. We wanted it to have familiarity and we wanted to feel like hip-hop. It was a conscious ode to a different time, and a different sound.”
The end result was a song and a video by Jay Z that the world will never forget.
To learn more about Just Blaze and the making of some of the best records in the history of Hip-hop watch Peoples Party with Talib Kweli and Jasmin Leigh. Also, be sure to watch Just Blaze in episode 1 of his new Uproxx show, Fresh Pair, below.
Saquon Barkley already has more than half of his rushing production from the 2021 campaign through his first three games this season. Barkley’s 317 yards and two touchdowns on 53 carries (along with 13 catches for 91 yards) has him looking like the player who won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2018 again, a far cry from last year’s struggles with just 593 yards and two touchdowns on 163 carries over 13 games.
Health is playing a big role, as Barkley is now two years removed from an ACL tear and is completely healed from the nagging ankle sprain that cost him time a year ago. He also took a look inward and realized he wasn’t making the same plays he was accustomed to, and had to get his mind and body back on the same page in order to break big plays again.
We got a chance to talk with Barkley — coming off a Monday night loss to the Cowboys in which he had 81 rushing yards on 14 carries including a long touchdown run — on behalf of his partnership with Courtyard by Marriott for a Fansgiving dinner at MetLife Stadium. We talked about how the Giants bounce back, his confidence returning this season, the improved vibes in the Giants locker room under Brian Daboll, and how the least they can do as a team is complete as hard as possible every Sunday.
What do you take away from a game like last night [against the Cowboys]? And as a team, what are the things that you try and pull from that moving forward?
Yeah, I mean, it was a hard fought loss. You gotta give credit to Dallas, they came out, they played amazing. They were able to get the win. It came down to the last drive. We gotta just be better as a team before that and also in that drive. We gotta execute. We gotta make make more plays, especially the offensive side of the ball, but you know, you go, you watch film, you learn, and you make your adjustments and you get ready for Chicago.
For you personally, what do you feel is the biggest difference in your play so far this season compared to last year that’s been able to get you off to such a strong start?
Being able to make that guy miss. I feel like I wasn’t breaking those tackles last year. Just had a little disconnect between my mind and my body. But having that back, having that confidence, and also want to give credit to the guys up front. They’re doing a tremendous job of making me look good.
Having a full offseason again, what did that do for you and being able to go into an offseason and a training camp knowing that that you’re healthy and able to put in the work that you’re accustomed to putting in? Do you feel like that’s showing up now at the start of the season?
Yeah, I mean, the year I hurt my knee, I did a lot of work on my knee, on my body to put myself in position [to bounce back], and it was unfortunate — stepped on someone’s foot and hurt my ankle. And that kind of set me back, but all the work that I put in is all coming in now. Obviously I trained hard this offseason, too, but all the stuff that felt like it was pointless, just the littlest step ups, this and that and the third, and I’m just like dang, like, I don’t know. You don’t really see the growth, but that was just all creating a strong base for me to go out and trust myself, and like I said, last year with the injury really kind of set me back.
But now I’m able to go out there and just perform with confidence, and that’s all credit to the work that I put in during rehab from my knee and I had a lot of great people helping. And then being able to have a healthy offseason this last offseason that we just had, to take time off, to be able to say, you know what, give my body a break. And then we know when it’s time to get after it, we get after it and prepare myself and put myself in a situation where I can go out there and perform for the season.
You mentioned feeling like you can make guys miss again. I noticed a few plays before you broke that touchdown run, you got pulled down and you kind of looked at your line and tapped your chest like, “That was on me, I missed one.” Is that feeling back of being able to see it and then saying like, okay, that’s one I got to make, and then executing the next time because you made a couple of guys miss in the hole when you busted it outside for that touchdown?
Yeah, for sure. It was actually the same play. The first one we ran the same play. The first one I let the safety tackle me — it’s the NFL, you’re gonna get got. They’re gonna make their plays, but I have the confidence and my line had confidence that the majority of times that I get up to that safety or get to that second level, I’m gonna make that guy miss, and I just knew that when the next opportunity comes, I gotta make it pay for it. And we were able to do that. But at the end of the day, we got to make more plays like that. Whether it’s myself or any of the other guys on offense, because 13 points ain’t gonna cut. It ain’t gonna get it done, especially in that game. So we should, collectively, be better and find a way to help our team win games.
Y’all have gotten off to a solid start even with the loss to Dallas. What have you been impressed with the most about Brian Daboll and this new coaching staff and what they’ve been able to bring to the team as a whole? Because it seems like there’s a raised level of confidence in what you guys are doing.
Just the energy that they bring. The personalities that they bring and letting us let our personality show. I would say that’s the biggest thing, just the differences in energy and just the vibes — having a DJ at practice, having DJs at the game, listening to music in the locker before the game. All the things that we do when there’s little competition stuff, just for all of us, especially in offseason, to build, to get to know each other, to build that trust and build that brotherhood.
And I think you’ve seen that kind of show in the first couple games, but it’s a long season and only a couple games into the season, so we’ve got to continue to fall in love with the process, continue to trust each other, and especially, I’m excited to see how we respond after this week, after a loss. It’s easier to come into a game week where you just had a win or two wins in a row. But you know, it’s different with a loss. So just got to continue to have that same mindset, continue to have that same energy and get ready for Chicago.
As a running back, what’s the process of learning a new offense when they come in and they’re changing some stuff? Because it’s not just the run game, it’s you’ve got to learn new pass protection and routes and things like that. What’s been that process like for you going through another another coordinator change here?
It’s been easy. It’s been easy because they make it easy. They do a really good job, our coaches are great, great teachers. The thing that’s hard about it … because everybody runs the same stuff in NFL, but it’s just different terminology. Just different ways how we want to set this block up, or what’s the landmark here. That’s the difference and you get to knock that out in camp and OTAs. That was a big, big thing, having OTAs and being able to get in with the coaches early and learn the offense and learn the system and just carry over to camp and now the regular season.
How did this partnership with Courtyard by Marriott come about for you with this Fansgiving event and everything you’re working on with them?
Yeah, I’m partnered with Courtyard by Marriott, the official hotel of the NFL. Just, for me, I love just getting the opportunity to give back and engage with fans and this is what Courtyard is doing. Giving fans a real, cool, unique experience to tap into fandom and having the Fansgiving on the 50 yard line at MetLife Stadium and be able to have dinner with me at MetLife and get to show them the ins and outs of MetLife behind the scenes. And the way fans can do this is by posting videos on TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram and make sure they use #CourtyardFanContest. Like I said, it’s fun to engage with fans and I look forward to seeing the videos, and when we’re able to do this and have Fansgiving, interact with the fans and have a great time.
You played college ball at a place where there’s a rabid fan base at Penn State, and then you come to New York where obviously it’s a passionate fan base. Knowing that group behind you is so passionate and they’re going to let you know about it when it’s going well, and they’re going to let you know about when it maybe isn’t going so well, what does that do to kind of keep that that fuel going for you guys as players?
It definitely helps when you play for a major fan base. Not everyone can say that and I was blessed enough to have that at Penn State, and then coming to the NFL and having that with New York and New Jersey and all the great fans here. At the end of the day, you just want to go out there and give them something to be proud about. And you know, I feel like that’s something that is controllable. You would love to win every single game, but you know, sometimes they don’t work that way. But something that you can control is how you go out there, how you compete, your effort, and the way you go out there as a team and play and fight with grit. And I feel like that’s been shown the past couple of games and we got to keep that going.
After years of false starts, Robert Eggers will finally get to make his vampire movie. Deadlinereports that Bill Skarsgard is attached to star in Nosferatu, the director’s fourth feature after The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman, with Lily-Rose Depp as his co-star. They replaced Harry Styles and Anya Taylor-Joy, who were previously attached to the project (although Styles was going to play a human character, not a vampire).
In the new reimagining, Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman (Depp) in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire (Skarsgard) who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him… The pic now is set up at Focus Features, with Eggers directing and penning the script.
“It’s fallen apart twice. I’ve been trying to get the word out because the word did carry that Harry Styles was going to be in the movie,” Eggers previously told IndieWire about Nosferatu, which he originally planned to make before The Northman. “I just wonder if [1922’s Nosferatu director F.W. Murnau’s] ghost is telling me, like, you should stop.” This promising update should shut Murnau’s ghost up for good. About time, I say.
If Skarsgard ends up dropping out, I know just the guy for the job:
Kid Cudi (aka Scott Mescudi) released a new album and animated Netflix special tied to his Entergalacticproject, which he had been teasing for months prior. It marks his tenth studio album. However, in a new interview for The Zane Lowe Show on Apple Music’s Beats 1, he explains that he might be done with the music aspect of his career.
“The Kid Cudi stuff, I think I want to put it on the back burner and chill out with that,” Mescudi said (as Complex notes). “I think, I want to be done with it. I think, closing the chapter on Kid Cudi. The goal for Entergalactic, I was bored of making albums. Just, doing an album, two music videos and that’s it. And I was like, ‘Man, I went into this wanting to do something epic and different.’ And now, that I’ve done that, I just… I’ve made a lot of music, man.”
“I’ve said a lot and I have other desires, I have other things I want to do,” he continued. “And I do not see me never making music, I’ll always f*ck around in the studio, or make something here and there. But, as far as getting in the studio and working on an album, and then going and touring it, I just don’t have it in me. I don’t have the desire. I have so many other things I want to invest my time into… I really want to spend more time with my daughter. You know what I’m saying? We’ve been kicking in a lot lately and I’ve been having more time and it’s good, she’s growing up, our relationship is super tight. It’s what I always dreamed of.”
In addition to taking a break from studio work to spend time with his daughter, Mescudi has been a frequent collaborator for Ti West’s recent horror film trilogy — both by acting in X and producing for it and its sequel Pearl.
Entergalactic is out now via Wicked Awesome/Republic. The special is now streaming on Netflix.
Since it’s the beginning of October, the time is right to start thinking about what we’re going to drink this month. October is when we really start to see what fall has to offer. Shorter days and colder weather mean bolder, darker, warming beers begin to look more appealing.
September is great, with its mix of warmer and cooler weather, but now it’s a good time to finish off your stash of IPAs, pale ales, and other lighter beers while you mix in a few darker beers on the chillier days.
Below, you’ll find ten beers to track down this October. Some are annual, eagerly awaited classics and others are new, exciting, seasonal releases. Pilsners, Oktoberfest-style beers, dark lagers, stouts, and even pumpkin beers. Keep scrolling to see all the beers you need to stock up on this month.
Anderson Valley The Pilsner
Anderson Valley
ABV: 5.2%
Average Price: Limited Availability
Why This Beer?
Anderson Valley is well-known for its iconic Gose-style beers, barrel-aged offerings, seasonals, and rotating IPAs. But, until now, they didn’t have a specific, crisp, easy-drinking, year-round pilsner. Brewed with Pilsner malts and Magnum and Mittelfruh #10416 hops, this is the every day drink you’ve been waiting for this fall.
Tasting Notes:
Classic pilsner aromas of cereal grains, sweet corn, ripe apple, and floral noble hops are prevalent on the nose. It’s very welcoming. This continues with the palate of sweet grains, ripe corn, slight citrus, bready malts, and a crisp, floral, mellow hop finish. It’s dry, crisp, and highly refreshing.
Bottom Line:
If you’re one of the drinkers who has joined the traditional pilsner bandwagon, this is a beer for you. It’s a no-frills thirst-quencher for the last days of warm weather.
This “breakfast-themed imperial stout” is brewed with regeneratively grown grains as well as locally-sourced, cold-pressed Finca Terrerito coffee, plant-based milk, and even maple syrup. Sweet, potent, caffeinated — perfect for fall.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of freshly brewed coffee, maple candy, and bitter chocolate are notable on the nose. Sipping it only adds to this indulgent experience. Notes of espresso beans, maple syrup, and chocolate end in a warming, boozy finish.
Bottom Line:
This is a caffeinated, decadent, high-alcohol beer. It’s the perfect sweet, boozy warmer for a cold fall night (or… morning).
You might not be ready for it yet, but the start of October means Halloween is only a few weeks away. Get started on the sweets early with Ommegang All Hollows Treat — a rich, sweet, bold imperial chocolate peanut butter stout.
Tasting Notes:
A nose of peanut butter cups, dark chocolate, and vanilla beans greets you before your first sip. There’s more of this on the palate. This chocolate, peanut butter, toffee, and vanilla-filled beer literally tastes like you took a peanut butter cup and somehow magically made it into a beer.
Bottom Line:
A beer that tastes like a peanut butter cup? What could be better on a chilly fall night? Pair it with a spooky movie and you have the makings of a perfect evening.
Firestone Walker Parabolita
Firestone Walker
ABV: 9.2%
Average Price: Limited Availability
Why This Beer?
If you’re a fan of barrel-aged stouts, you’ve probably enjoyed Firestone Walker’s Parabola over the years. Well, now the popular stout is available in 16-ounce cans, albeit with a slight twist. It’s called Parabolita Salted Caramel and its made by aging Parabola for one year in ex-bourbons casks before blending it with their popular Velvet Merlin milk stout before infusing it with vanilla beans, cocoa nibs, and sea salt.
Tasting Notes:
Aromas of salted caramel, cacao nibs, and toasted vanilla beans greet your nose before your first sip. This indulgent aroma carries over to the palate. Dark chocolate, vanilla beans, and pleasurable salted caramel highlight the flavor profile. It’s bold, sweet, slightly salty, and highly memorable.
Bottom Line:
Fall is a time to indulge. Firestone Walker’s Parabolita with its mix of salt, sweetness, and rich chocolate flavors is the dessert beer you need to pair with heavy, autumnal meals.
New Holland’s iconic Dragon’s Milk is one of the most popular barrel-aged stouts. While available all year long, this warming, high ABV sipper is matured for at least three months in former bourbon barrels. The result is a coffee, chocolate, and slightly boozy winner of a beer.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is loaded with classic barrel-aged aromas like chocolate, coffee, oaky wood, and sweet bourbon. Sipping it reveals dried fruits, freshly brewed espresso, cacao nibs, sweet bourbon, and even more charred, bold oaky wood. It’s complex, sweet, bold, and very warming.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a fan of barrel-aged stouts, you have a lot to choose from. We believe you should give New Holland Dragon’s Milk a chance. It’s one of the most complex, underrated barrel-aged stouts on the market.
Wallenpaupack For The Love Of Lager German-Style Dark Lager
Wallenpaupack
ABV: 4.5%
Average Price: Limited Availability
Why This Beer?
If you’re a fan of bold, well-made lagers, we implore you to explore Wallenpaupack’s “For The Love Of Lager” series of beers. The newest iteration in this award-winning series is its German Style Dark Lager. This 4.5% ABV, seasonal beer was brewed with Munich and Carafa malts as well as German Magnum, Saphir, and Spalter Select hops.
Tasting Notes:
Bready malts, toffee, vanilla, and floral Noble hops are noticeable on the nose. It’s definitely a welcoming nose for a rich, malty fall beer. The palate is rich, robust, and loaded with notes of bread-like, roasty malts, caramel, fresh-brewed coffee, and just a hint of hops at the back end.
Bottom Line:
This is a rich, robust lager you’ll want to crack open to warm you on an unseasonably cool fall night. It’s the malty, roasty lager fall deserves.
There’s still time to enjoy a well-made Oktoberfest-style beer this month. One of our favorite annual releases is Narragansett’s Fest. This Bavarian-style beer was first brewed by the Rhode Island-based brewery on the 60s and 70s before being brought back a decade ago. Brewed with Weyermann’s malts and Tettnang hops, it’s a malty, roasty beer well-suited for fall weather.
Tasting Notes:
Nutty sweetness, malty, cereal grains, and toffee are highlighted aromas on the nose. The palate contains more nutty sweetness, bready malts, caramel candy, and some slight floral hops at the very end. Overall, a rich, easy-drinking take on the classic Märzen style.
Bottom Line:
Narragansett is most well-known for its popular lager. But, when fall arrives, we believe you should step up to this Märzen-style beer instead. You won’t be disappointed.
If you were to take a poll of brewers, drinkers, and bartenders on their most eagerly awaited fall beers, many would mention Sierra Nevada Celebration. This beloved holiday IPA, brewed with Cascade and Centennial hops, is only available from October through December.
Tasting Notes:
This beer starts with a nose of candied orange peels, caramel malts, and resinous, dank, slightly floral hops. It’s extremely welcoming and begs to be sipped. The palate is filled with bready malts, caramel, citrus peels, and more resinous, dank, slightly bitter hops.
Bottom Line:
There’s a reason why Sierra Nevada is such a highly beloved beer. Overall, it’s the bold, balanced, slightly malty IPA you’ll want to drink all fall.
We don’t spend a lot of the fall drinking pumpkin ales. This is because there are a lot of less-than-great versions of this beer on the market. Cigar City (like all of its high-quality beers) isn’t one of them. This 8.8% ABV imperial pumpkin ale is loaded with flavors like ripe pumpkin, vanilla, and wintry spices.
Tasting Notes:
This beer smells exactly like a pumpkin pie comically cooling on a cliché windowsill. There are heavy notes of cinnamon, vanilla, and ripe pumpkin. The palate follows suit with some yeasty, roasted pumpkin, cinnamon, vanilla, and clove flavors.
Bottom Line:
Who needs a slice of pumpkin pie when you have a beer like Good Gourd? We prefer to enjoy our extra calories in beer form anyway.
When fall rolls around, we’re the kind of drinkers who just aren’t ready to put down our IPAs just yet. Luckily, the folks at Upslope have a seasonal IPA that ticks all of our piney, slightly bitter boxes while also adding the additional flavor of resinous, dank spruce tips into the equation.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is dominated by bold aromas of pine needles and citrus peels. The palate only adds to this. Spruce tips, pine needles, resin, orange peels, grapefruit, and just a hint of bready, caramel malts. The finish is bitter, crisp, and makes you crave another.
Bottom Line:
One of the most underrated fall and winter flavors is pine. And this is likely because if it’s overdone, it can taste like a car air freshener. This IPA from Upslope does it correctly with just the right amount of spruce tip flavor to temper the IPA bitterness.
Welcome to the Fresh Pair post-show huddle! Each week after the latest episode of Fresh Pair, we’ll link up with Katty Customs to talk about the latest episode and dig deep behind the scenes to uncover hidden gems from the design process that didn’t make the main show. For the debut drop, Katty and sneaker culture icon Just Blaze were joined by the Verzuz king, Jadakiss, presenting him with a custom Jordan I that blew his mind and managed to serve as a mirror for his career, from his humble street beginnings to his current status as a rap GOAT.
We talked to Katty Customs about the hardest aspects of the design process, how she and Just came up with their initial concept for the shoe, and hit Katty for what she thinks the appropriate price would be if you wanted to cop this pair from her studio. Read the full chat below but be sure to catch the full episode above.
Uproxx
Can you take me behind the concept of the sneaker for Jadakiss, what were you thinking and what did Just bring to the table?
Basically, we wanted to do something different. We wanted to incorporate his albums from when he first started to where he is now. We wanted to incorporate things from when he was with The Lox as a group member — so we put our heads together to make something really cool. We put the concrete from We Are The Streets, next to the patent leather from the “Money, Power, Respect” era at Bad Boy. He has the raspy voice, so we made a raspy texture on the shoe and paid tribute to DMX and Biggie Smalls because Biggie Smalls is the one who brought him to Diddy with his first contract. And DMX is where… DMX had taken him in under Ruff Ryders and was basically… That was more so home for him. Yeah, so that’s pretty dope.
Why did you and Just use an Air Jordan I? Did Jadakiss have a particular relationship to that shoe?
No, we just assigned that to him. I think that was one of the ones that he picked through in our pre-interview. I think his favorite sneaker is an Air Force 1 though.
How did you incorporate his albums into the shoe?
We basically took each part of the shoe and made a tribute to the album. So Just and I came, put our heads together and we came up with the concept that the toe of the shoe is going to represent his first album with Diddy. The side of the shoe is going to represent his raspy voice underneath the Nike swoosh. The back of the shoe was a sky-type of feel to it. It looks like the sky and that’s representing Biggie Smalls and DMX because they both passed — with the winged logo. So they have their face and Jordan’s winged logo on the side.
Were you a big Jadakiss fan going into the sneaker? Did that add a layer of intimidation to the whole thing?
Oh, absolutely. I’ve been a fan of him since I was a kid. But actually, getting to dive in more about his career by having to customize his shoes, I learned a lot more, things I didn’t know. Because I was a kid when he came out.
How did you feel about his reaction?
His reaction was great. I was really hoping that he would love them, and he did. He gave us really good feedback. He felt like it was one of the best pairs he ever had. And with him being a sneakerhead, that’s a huge co-sign. It made me feel good, for sure.
Fresh Pair
What was the biggest challenge of this particular design? What’s the thing that kind of kept you up latest and was the hardest to execute?
Oh man. The hardest part with creating this shoe was doing the sole, and having to change that out. We changed the sole to add real money under it. You know how some Jordans, you could see a design underneath the sole? That was the tough part. I think I bought three different pairs of shoes just to get that design right.
I was really crying because we were running out of time, and I was like, “Oh my God. This is so frustrating.” But it was so much fun at the same time.
Was this the very first shoe you designed for Fresh Pair?
Yeah. It was the first shoe and I think it was second to last to get done out of all of the shoes. It was crazy. His shoe was the most challenging for sure.
Having designed other sneakers since then, learning all the things that you’ve learned from the subsequent pairs you’ve made, would you approach this one differently?
I’d keep everything the same!
I know when you asked Jadakiss how he’d price this pair, he said it was going to take a lot of thought due to your labor of love and the legacy of his career. What price would you give them?
I would say at least $25,000. What I went through, Why shoot short, right? I’m going to go high. It’s one of a kind.
Off the top of your head, if you had to design a Jadakiss II, what might you do?
If I had to design a Jadakiss II, hmm? I’ll probably use the Air Force 1. I’ll probably get a little bit more personal. I mean, the shoe that we did for him was personal, but I wanted to get into what’s his favorite color, and different things that I didn’t add on the first shoe I would want to do it on this shoe. You know what I’m saying?
So that way it could be another one of a kind for him and still speak to him, and it’d just be for him. He already said he’s coming back for season two, so…
Now that people have seen episode one, I just want to get it straight from you. What can people expect as the season progresses?
People are going to see things that they’ve never seen me do before. They’re going to see the sole swapping. They’re going to see shoes that have lights on them. They’re going to see a lot of things that I haven’t posted on my page. They’re going to see more of my personality. I feel like they’re going to get to know me a little bit more by watching the show, seeing how goofy I am, and things like that. I think people who know and love Just Blaze will really like how we vibe and the energy we share — that’s a highlight for me.
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