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After dropping off his Evolution project to the world last year, Joyner Lucas seems ready to deliver a new body of work to the world this year and his recent releases hint that he has something special on the way. For his latest offering to the world, Lucas calls on Ty Dolla Sign for “Late To The Party.” The track is the duo’s first record together and on it, both artists express their desire to be on time and prepared for life’s biggest and most fruitful moments.

The track adds to a growing list of collaborations that Lucas has delivered to fans in 2021. Earlier this year, he connected with Lil Baby on “Ramen & OJ” and shortly after he called on Lil Tjay for “Dreams Unfold.” The follow-up to that saw Lucas receive a huge guest feature as J. Cole joined him for “Your Heart.” Elsewhere in the year for Lucas, he dropped off a music video for “Legend” with Rick Ross and a visual for “Zim Zimma” with Mark Wahlberg, Diddy, and George Lopez.

Another notable moment from Lucas in 2021 came when he accused marketing strategist Karen Civil of stealing $60,000 from him nearly a decade ago. He made the accusations through a series of tweets before he took to Clubhouse to not only double down on his claims, but confront Civil as well.

You can press play on the new song in the video above.

Ty Dolla Sign is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Don Toliver has been able to maintain a consistent level of popularity since his breakout moment in 2018. It came through a guest verse of Travis Scott’s “Can’t Say” from his Astroworld album. Two years later, the Houston native returned in 2020 with his sophomore album Heaven Or Hell, which boosted his stock and proved that he was very capable of making a strong and cohesive body of work. Toliver looks to showcase that once again with his newly-released third album Life Of A Don.

The 16-track effort is spotlight by Toliver and Travis Scott’s reunion on “Flocky Flocky.” The track is carried by woozy synths and a head-bobbing bass that fits right in the pocket the rappers thrive in. It’s the duo’s first track together since “Euphoria” from Toliver’s Heaven Or Hell project. As for the rest of Life Of A Don, the project features the previously released singles “What You Need” and “Drugs N Hella Melodies” along with guest appearances from Kali Uchis, Baby Keem, HVN, and Sofaygo.

Prior to the album’s release, Toliver connected with Skrillex and Justin Bieber for “Don’t Go” and Scott confirmed that he and Kylie Jenner are expecting a second child together

You can listen to “Flocky Flocky” in the video above.

Life Of A Don is out now via Cactus Jack/WeRunIt Entertainment/Atlantic Records. Get it here.

Don Toliver is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

For many baseball observers, Randy Arozarena was not a household name prior to the 2020 MLB Playoffs. The then 25-year-old slugger burst onto the scene with 10 home runs in only 20 games, posting an obscene 1.273 OPS and helping the Rays come within a whisker of winning the World Series. Arozarena followed that up with a very strong 2021 season, hitting 20 home runs with an .815 OPS, and he once again made his presence known in Tampa Bay’s first postseason game on Thursday.

Arozarena grabbed the spotlight in myriad ways, but he stole home in picture-perfect fashion in the seventh inning, and that was the centerpiece of a splendid evening.

As you can see, Arozarena played this perfectly and clearly had a read on Red Sox hurler Josh Taylor. Still, he had to have the explosion and speed to actually pull it off, and this was the first steal of home in the playoffs since 2016.

Earlier in the game, Arozarena blasted his 11th home run in the last two postseasons, and he was a big part of creating Tampa Bay’s lead that only grew with the steal.

With those two plays, Arozarena is the first player in MLB history to hit a home run and steal home in the same postseason game, which is an incredible feat for a variety of reasons.

The Rays aren’t exactly known for individual personalities or star power, largely putting together organizational success by working on the margins and with impressive depth. Arozarena may be an exception, though, and his transformation into an October superstar in 2020 may just be carrying over again in 2021.

The Rolling Stones have embarked on yet another massive world tour, though it will sadly be without their legendary drummer, the late Charlie Watts who passed earlier this year. The band was planning to head out on tour without Watts before his passing, and as they continue to do press in the wake of live shows, attention is slowly turning to other historical elements of the band’s lengthy career.

One subject, in particular, is their song “Brown Sugar,” which sounds quite a bit different in 2021 than it might’ve back when the band wrote it. Some of their members have recognized this and made adjustments, others… have not. In an interview with pop critic Mikael Wood of The Los Angeles Times spoke with the band about the subject. Woods brings up the fact that the band hasn’t been playing the tune, noting the opening line “Gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields.”

Here’s Keith Richard’s response: “You picked up on that, huh? I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out with the sisters quite where the beef is. Didn’t they understand this was a song about the horrors of slavery? But they’re trying to bury it. At the moment I don’t want to get into conflicts with all of this sh*t. But I’m hoping that we’ll be able to resurrect the babe in her glory somewhere along the track.

Mick Jagger, though, takes a slightly different tack on the subject, skipping over any racial elements. “We’ve played ‘Brown Sugar’ every night since 1970, so sometimes you think, ‘We’ll take that one out for now and see how it goes. We might put it back in. The set list in a stadium show, it’s kind of a tough one. We did ‘Let It Bleed’ last night, which I managed to play on 12-string guitar.”

There’s a screenshot below if you can’t get past the paywall:

Michael Dickson is one of the best punters in the NFL, as he regularly helps the Seahawks win the field position battle as one of the few punters capable of sending massive distance punts and dancing the ball down around the goal line with precision and touch.

Dickson is one of the latest in a long line of punters to come over from Australia, as the pipeline from Aussie Rules Football to punting in major college football and the NFL has grown bigger and bigger. That experience in Aussie Rules paid dividends on Thursday night against the Rams when Dickson pulled off the rare feat of a successful double punt that led to an awful lot of confusion before, ultimately, everyone kind of threw their hands up and let it stand.

Dickson’s first attempt gets blocked clean, but the ball stays behind the line of scrimmage so he scoops it with one hand and darts upfield. However, he recognizes that he’s not likely to pick up the first down, as he is a punter running the football and many much larger and faster men are chasing him, even if he has blockers, so he pulls up and boots it again, this time getting a friendly roll to pin the Rams back deep.

The one-handed scoop is, without a doubt, the most impressive part of this play, and the second kick is pretty spectacular given the circumstance. As for the legality of it all, there was some confusion on the field, as they threw a flag initially but picked it up, and also in the booth where Mike Pereira seemed insistent he couldn’t do that but then noted if he stayed behind the line of scrimmage he could. That is, in fact, the rule now.

That last part is a bit contentious as he is right on the line as he sends it, but the Rams didn’t challenge it and, because it was incredibly cool, no one outside of L.A. is going to be too upset that they allowed it to stand.

It’s tough to articulate why celebrities starting alcohol companies cans seem irksome, but the fact remains: it often feels that way. One part of it is that famous people have the clout to leapfrog many of the industry’s gatekeepers. Another is that there have been enough celeb cash grabs to make us feel wary. But to call them all trash or appropriative or unnecessary? That discounts the hard work being done by some famous faces who really put passion into their booze brands.

Today, we’re looking at whiskey brands launched by household names. But to remove some of the label-stigma, we’re tasting them blind. This is really about ranking these bottles based on the criteria that truly counts — what’s inside — more than the name attached.

Part 1: The Taste

Each whiskey we’re tasting today is either owned, created, or endorsed by a famous person (or people), even more reason to run this test blind. Not that a connection to The Vampire Diaries would be likely to sway me. Still, by blindly nosing and tasting them I can judge which are worth trying and which you should avoid like a CW spin-off series.

Our lineup:

• Virginia Black Whiskey
• Brother’s Bond Bourbon
• Mulholland American Whiskey
• Wolf Moon Bourbon
• Blackened American Whiskey
• Heaven’s Door Bourbon
• Sweetens Cove Bourbon
• Wild Turkey Longbranch Bourbon

Let’s dive into these celebrity-centric whiskey expressions!

Taste #1:

Tasting Notes:

The nose is surprisingly sweet with a ton of vanilla, caramel, toffee, and candied pecans. The palate is much more refined and nuanced — with caramel, dried fruits, a healthy hit of oak and wood char, and a nice gentle kiss of wood smoke. The finish is filled with warming heat, caramelized sugar, and just a wisp of barbecue smoke.

Taste #2:

Tasting Notes:

The nose is surprisingly light in aromas. There are the usual suspects of vanilla and sweet corn, but not much else. It’s pretty bland. Taking a sip, I found an overly sweet, almost cloying flavor with a ton of corn, vanilla, and a slight hint of orange peels.

From my notes: “Sugary and sweet without much substance.”

Taste #3:

Tasting Notes:

A lot is going on with this whiskey’s nose. I noticed the aromas of toffee, candied orange peels, and wood char right away. This was followed by vanilla beans and slight spice. Candied fruits, a nutty sweetness, dried orange peels, and vanilla beans highlight the palate. The finish is sweet and slightly dry.

Taste #4:

Tasting Notes:

A complex nose of maple candy, caramel corn, toasted vanilla beans, honey, and cinnamon greeted my senses. This was followed by a palate of oaky wood, dried cherries, candied pecans, peppery rye, and caramelized sugar. The finish is slightly spicy and filled with warming toffee and oak.

Taste #5:

Tasting Notes:

I was greeted by aromas of charred oak, clover honey, candied orange peel, vanilla, and candied pecans on the nose. Sipping this dram brought forth baking spices, dried cherries, vanilla beans, and more oaky wood. It all ends with a nice, warming, sweet finish.

Taste #6:

Tasting Notes:

The nose is loaded with delicate aromas of candy apples, caramel, charred oak, and vanilla beans. Sipping it offered up notes of dried cherries, sweet pecans, maple syrup, vanilla, oaky wood, and just a hint of peppery spice at the finish.

Taste #7:

Tasting Notes:

While light in appearance, this whiskey has a surprisingly complex nose of cinnamon, pipe tobacco, and caramel. The palate was loaded with clove, cinnamon, brown sugar, vanilla, and more caramel. It’s a nice mix of sweet and spicy. Though… not overly complex.

Taste #8:

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, I found heavy vanilla, caramel, and slight oak. Otherwise, the nose was fairly muted. The palate was nutty with caramel corn, slightly spiced, and a ton of sugary flavor.

Not the worst whiskey I’ve ever tasted, but definitely nowhere near the best.

Part 2: The Ranking

Of all the alcohol-based stories I write for Uproxx, none are as fun and exciting as blind taste tests. This is especially true when the spirit is whiskey. I love whiskey. Keep reading to see how it all turned out.

8) Wolf Moon Bourbon – Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean (Taste 2)

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $26

The Story:

If you’re a fan of country music, you’ve probably heard of Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean. Wolf Moon Bourbon is a collaboration between the two musical acts to pay homage to their time touring together. Aged for four years in new, charred American oak barrels, it’s touted as having a mellow subtle flavor.

Bottom Line:

To be blunt, this isn’t a very good whiskey. If you prefer your whiskeys to taste like corn and sugar, this is the drink for you. Everyone else, stay away.

7) Virginia Black Whiskey – Drake (Taste 8)

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $37

The Story:

Drake collaborated with beverage entrepreneur Brent Hocking (founder of DeLeon Tequila) to create Virginia Black Whiskey. Launched in 2016, it’s a blend of two, three, and four-year-old high-rye bourbons. It’s 80 proof and comes in one of the sleekest bottles on the market.

Bottom Line:

This is a fairly unexciting whiskey. It has all of the usual whiskey flavors, but doesn’t really have much depth and is a little too sweet to enjoy for an extended amount of time.

6) Brother’s Bond Bourbon – Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley (Taste 7)

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $39.99

The Story:

If you’re a fan of CW vampire-filled teen angst-centric shows, you’re likely a fan of Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley. Otherwise, they might be completely unknown to you. Either way, their bond, forged while playing brothers on the show The Vampire Diaries, led to the creation of the aptly named Brother’s Bond Bourbon.

Bottom Line:

This is not a bad whiskey. It’s filled with caramel, brown sugar, and various spices. It’s sweet and spicy but it just doesn’t have much else going on.

5) Heaven’s Door Bourbon – Bob Dylan (Taste 3)

ABV: 46%
Average Price: $49.99

The Story:

We all know Bob Dylan as a singer, but until a few years ago we didn’t know him as a whiskey maker. His Heaven’s Door brand makes a variety of expressions, but one of the best is the baseline Heaven’s Door Bourbon (though we rave about the rye far more often).

This award-winning whiskey was distilled in Tennessee and aged for at least six years in new, charred American oak casks.

Bottom Line:

I really enjoyed this whiskey. It began with a bold nose and worked its way into a mellow, easy to drink, flavorful palate, and eventually a nice, warming finish. Definitely a whiskey I’ll keep in my rotation.

4) Blackened American Whiskey – Metallica (Taste 5)

ABV: 45%
Average Price: $49

The Story:

A few years ago, when Blackened American Whiskey was first released, it seemed like a gimmicky money grab. But this collaboration between the rock band and the late master distiller Dave Pickerell is more than that. It’s a whiskey made by blending bourbon and rye that’s at least eight years old that’s finished in brandy cask while being pummeled by Metallica’s music.

Bottom Line:

This whiskey was a great example of how mixing sweet flavors and spicy flavors can truly work in unison. It was loaded with caramel, oak, and vanilla that were perfectly tempered with slight rye spice and cinnamon.

3) Wild Turkey Longbranch Bourbon – Matthew McConaughey (Taste 1)

ABV: 43%
Average Price: $39.99

The Story:

This is a little different than the other whiskeys on this list. Matthew McConaughey isn’t an owner of this brand. He’s simply the “Creative Director” — though that surely comes with some nice financial perks. But you won’t find many celebrities celebrating an expression more than McConaughey. There’s a reason for that and it’s spelled T-E-X-A-S. This wildly popular bourbon is small-batch eight-year-old bourbon that gets its flavor from Texas mesquite and oak charcoals and was crafted to represent the actor’s beloved home state.

Bottom Line:

This whiskey is sweet, loaded with caramel flavors, slight spice, and features a nice hint of smoke at the finish. It’s a very unique and memorable whiskey that deserves another try.

2) Sweetens Cove Bourbon – Peyton Manning and Andy Roddick (Taste 6)

ABV: 51.4%
Average Price: $210

The Story:

Peyton Manning, Andy Roddick, and Jim Nantz are co-owners of a Tennessee golf course called Sweetens Cove. The golf course gives out free shots of whiskey on the first hole. To pay homage to this unique tradition, crafting Sweetens Cove Bourbon only made sense. This blend of sourced 13-year-old Tennessee bourbons is the result.

Bottom Line:

This is a complex, flavorful whiskey. You can tell it has a high corn content based on the sweetness, but it’s not overly sugary. There’s a great deal of oak and spice as well. A really nice dram from three names that don’t really seem to fit together.

1) Mulholland American Whiskey – Walton Goggins (Taste 4)

ABV: 50%
Average Price: $29.99

The Story:

If you’re a fan of the FX show Justified you’ve been acquainted with Walton Goggins for years. Otherwise, you’ve probably seen this talented character actor on CBS’s The Unicorn or HBO’s Vice Principals or in one of Uproxx writer Brian Grubb’s many odes to the man.

Well, guess what? Uncle Baby Billy also makes a damn good hooch, called Mulholland American Whiskey. This 94% corn, 4% rye, 2% malted barley 200 proof expression has racked up awards since its introduction a few years ago and is deserving of those accolades.

Bottom Line:

I find it very hard to believe that this is a “celebrity brand” whiskey. It’s complex, rich, and loaded with nutty, sweet, slightly spicy flavors that all work together like the ensemble cast of your favorite SOON TO RETURN comedy.

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As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.

The Seahawks are the rare NFL team to have a live mascot, as their seahawk flies around the stadium prior to games to the roar of the crowd. However, as is the case with any live animal, no matter how well trained, sometimes they decide to do their own thing and when that happens in a stadium of 60,000 people, it can be a bit of an adventure.

That is what happened on Thursday night when the Seahawks hosted the Rams in Seattle for an important divisional matchup in the hotly contested NFC West, when the bird decided that it wasn’t going to return to its handler but, instead, would find a comfy landing spot on top of some poor gentleman’s head in the stands. Fox got a slow-motion shot of the hawk clawing at the guy’s head as it tried to gain sure footing, with Joe Buck giving a pretty great call of the action.

I hope the Seahawks take care of that man, because that looks extremely uncomfortable. It was a good job by him to not freak out and start flailing his arms at the bird and make matters worse, but there’s no way this wasn’t at least a bit painful. All parties seemed to be alright afterwards, but Seattle probably should cover that man’s tickets the rest of the season.

Bobby Flay has been a Food Network fixture since 1994, a year after the channel’s debut, but the two are parting ways after 27 years together. It turns out the only thing that could beat Bobby Flay is contract negotiations.

Variety reports that “Flay and Food Network have been in negotiations on a new contract for some time,” but “sources close to the situation said that Food Network has ended the negotiations.” His contract expires at the end of the year.

Flay representatives at WME declined to comment on the situation, citing the policy of not commenting on active negotiations. That’s an indication that Flay’s team sees some hardball negotiating tactics afoot. But sources close to Food Network say the decision has been made to move on as the sides were far apart on financial terms. Food Network declined to comment for this story.

Flay’s Food Network shows over the years include BBQ with Bobby Flay, Throwdown! with Bobby Flay, Brunch @ Bobby’s, and Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay. He also appeared on Chopped, Iron Chef, and Worst Cooks in America. But he was never on Guy’s Grocery Games, and therefore, I have never seen him on Food Network.

(Via Variety)

Drake’s sixth album Certified Lover Boy was filled with many notable moments. Between the suspected shots at Kanye West on “7am On Bridle Path,” Nicki Minaj’s surprise appearance on “Papi’s Home,” and the unexpected reunion between the Toronto rapper and Kid Cudi on “IMY2,” listeners were in for a bit of a ride on the album. Another moment came on “You Only Live Twice” with Lil Wayne and Rick Ross, a track that Drake used to compare himself to an undeniable music legend.

“Not sure if you know but I’m actually Michael Jackson,” Drake raps on the song. “The man I see in the mirror is actually goin’ platinum.” It’s not the first time that the rapper has claimed he’s just as big or bigger than a celebrated music act. On “Going Bad” with Meek Mill, he cooly raps, “I got more slaps than The Beatles.” With that being said, Michael Jackson’s son Prince Jackson was asked whether or not he agrees with Drake’s bold claim on “You Only Live Twice,” and the short answer is: no.

“I mean everybody has their own definition of great, and all respect to Drake everything that he does,” Prince said in response to the question from TooFab. “But what my father and my family accomplished, in the time that they did it, is very unlikely never to be matched again.”

While Drake aims to be undeniably bigger than Michael Jackson one day, it hasn’t diminished the rapper’s respect for the singer. Drake’s last album, 2018’s Scorpion, featured posthumous vocals from the singer on “Don’t Matter To Me.”

You can watch Prince Jackson’s response in the video above.

The Senate Judiciary Committee released a report on Thursday that detailed Diet Coke fanatic/former-president Donald Trump’s persistent efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election with baseless claims of voter fraud. “Trump directly asked the Justice Department nine times to undermine the election result,” according to CNN, “and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows broke administration policy by pressuring a Justice Department lawyer to investigate claims of election fraud, according to the report, which is based on witness interviews of former top Justice Department officials.”

The sweeping report was put together by a Democratic-led committee, so naturally, Republican senators, led by Chuck Grassley (R-IA), are challenging the findings.

Soon after the release of the report Thursday morning, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley’s office issued a GOP version, which pushes back on the Democrats’ findings and defends Trump, saying he “listened to his senior advisors and followed their advice and recommendations.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper was “shocked, if not surprised” by Grassley and other Republicans continuing to side with Trump.

He continued, “Chuck Grassley, who in the past has stood up for moral causes and has been one of the biggest boosters of whistleblowers in the history of congress, is out there saying, basically, ‘Yes, President Trump talked about committing a coup but he didn’t really actually do it.’ You have something you called the Sideshow Bob defense.” Tapper was speaking to Washington Post reporter Olivier Knox, who explained the Simpsons-referencing tactic from the season six episode, “Sideshow Bob Roberts.”

“Sideshow Bob, one of the show’s villains, is imprisoned for trying to kill Bart Simpson,” he said, “and in one scene is shown on the phone angrily deploring his fate saying, ‘Attempted murder? What even is that? Did they give out a Nobel Prize for attempted chemistry?’ The idea being, if he was thwarted in his efforts to kill Bart, therefore he is innocent.”

If Trump is convicted of a crime, his punishment should be stepping on an endless supply of rakes. The rakes aren’t the punishment — the exercise is.

You can watch the CNN clip above.

(Via Raw Story)