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Louisville was never known as a hotbed of hip-hop but in recent years, the city’s profile has risen considerably thanks to the success of hometown heroes like Bryson Tiller, Jack Harlow, and EST Gee. Harlow especially has had a standout year; riding the wave of his No. 2 hit “What’s Poppin,” he managed to turn that buzz into a No. 5 chart debut for his debut album, Thats What They All Say, and turn himself into a fixture of pop culture thanks to a string of viral moments and his placement on Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby.”

A big part of Harlow’s rise was a boost from Tiller on the song “Thru The Night” from his 2019 mixtape Confetti. However, before that collaboration, Harlow counted himself one of Tiller’s biggest fans, telling Complex in a new interview today that he was actually “totally jealous” of his fellow Louisvillian when Tiller first crossed over in 2015 with “Don’t” and Trapsoul.

“I’d hear Outkast, or I’d hear Drake, or I’d hear Kendrick Lamar talk about where they’re from and rep it,” Jack explains. “And I was like, ‘Who’s going to do that for Louisville?’ Bryson Tiller comes out. I’m in awe. I’m inspired. And I’m totally jealous. And I’m just like, ‘Oh my God, this guy got it.’”

In addition to “Thru The Night,” the two Kentuckians also teamed up with their late fellow local Static Major for “Luv Is Dro” from Jack’s new album. You can read Complex‘s full profile on Harlow here.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Denver Nuggets have dreams of winning the Western Conference this season after two trips to the conference semis and one conference finals appearance in the last three years. Nikola Jokic comes into 2021-22 as the reigning NBA MVP and seemingly gets better each season, and has plenty of talent around him if the Nuggets can get and stay healthy.

Jamal Murray being able to return from an ACL tear is near the top of the list of needs for this Nuggets team if they are to compete with the best in the West, but not far behind is another step forward into superstardom from Michael Porter Jr. The Nuggets’ sharp-shooting forward is entering his fourth season as an NBA player, but only the third on the court after sitting out his rookie season with a back injury. Last year saw him become one of the NBA’s most fearsome big shooters and his continued growth as an offensive weapon could hold the keys to the Nuggets taking another leap as a team.

Denver has high hopes for a player they stole in the 2018 Draft due to his injury red flags, and they have now committed to him long term, inking Porter Jr. to a 5-year, designated max extension on Monday.

The deal is worth $172 million for now, but could jump to $207 million if MPJ makes it onto one of the three All-NBA teams next season. That is obviously a big if, but he undoubtedly has the offensive talent to make a case for himself, particularly in a season where he’ll be the second star to Jokic for much of the year until Murray can return.

Not long ago, Oreo started selling special Pokémon-themed versions of their cookie. They taste just like any other Oreo, but these ones are special because they have images of Pokémon on them. Not only that but, in the spirit of Pokémon, the individual cookies have different rarities. So some images are more likely to be in a package than others. This is cool because fans of Pokémon know that rarity is a big part of the universe and is essential to making the goal of “catching them all” fun.

Unfortunately, what Oreo didn’t take into account is that anytime Pokémon is involved there are going to be people clamoring for it. We might not ever reach the peak of Poké-mania of the 90s’, but people’s love for the franchise, now across several generations, has never been stronger. This love is also quite lucrative for resellers and scalpers. Pokémon-themed apparel sells out instantly these days as fans, and scalpers, clamor for them. While some want them for personal collection and enjoyment, the ones who want them to resell usually have less respectable intentions.

That resale market demand has led to sellouts of merch like trading cards at such a level that shoppers started getting violent with each other at department stores. The stores responded by no longer selling the cards in-store. And now it seems we’re seeing some of those same Pokémon resellers go after the cookies. A quick search on eBay can find the rarest of the cookies, such as Mew, selling for literal thousands of dollars. Of course, others are trying to attack the market inefficiency and sell it for a much cheaper $100 or $200. Unless you want the complete set, which currently can run from $42 to $400.

This might seem silly to some, but anyone that’s been keeping an eye on merchandising over the last couple of years could have predicted it. The desire to own limited-time memorabilia is extremely trendy right now. The direct cause of it is unknown, but there are a few theories as to why it’s happening.

YouTube

In recent years, one of the most popular trends of YouTube videos at the moment is unboxing videos. These videos are simply someone opening up a package of some kind and talking about what’s inside it. They’re extremely popular and some YouTube channels have as many as 2.6 million followers doing that as their main thing.

These videos were originally very popular with children, but as young adults with money to spend started watching them, it made them interested in some of their old hobbies. So they started collecting, just as they did as kids, and it eventually became popular enough to be something that scalpers could find a lucrative resell market on.

Nostalgia

Nostalgia is a powerful tool. The kids who grew up playing and watching Pokémon are now old enough to spend their own money. So they decide to spend it on something that is nostalgic for them. Things like Pokémon cards were extremely popular back in the day. Now, with a renewed interest, they’re arguably more popular than ever. So popular that the Pokémon Company had to create a brand new Twitter account specifically for the card game.

People Are Bored

Across the board we saw new interest in hobbies take place throughout 2020, as people became locked inside their homes. Without the ability to go do what we usually would we needed a way to spend our time, and money. While some people chose to make the best sourdough ever, others got really into old hobbies. We saw a rise in retro gaming and we definitely saw an increase in people spending their money on Pokémon cards.

When a bunch of people have nothing to do, money to spend, and an enjoyment of Pokémon they’re going to consider getting some cards. While cards had definitely been regaining in popularity up to that point, a strong case can be made that it reached a peak when everyone suddenly lost all their usual hobbies. Evidence supporting this is eBay saying that sales for Pokémon Cards in particular increased “574 percent” from 2019 to 2020, and it’s not like this is the only place this was happening.

Digital trading cards, like the NFT-based NBA Topshot, became extremely popular in 2020 as well. When Target had to ban the sale of trading cards from their stores it wasn’t just Pokémon cards. Sports cards were banned as well because they too had seen a shocking increase in sales. Funko Pop! saw record sales in the fourth quarter of 2020. People want merchandise and they splurged on it in 2020.

So it sadly wasn’t that shocking that people started trying to sell Oreos for literal hundreds if not thousands of dollars because it was just following the trend. A trend that has shown no real signs of slowing down anytime soon.

9-1-1 (FOX, 8:00pm) — A record heatwave’s (predictably) causing all of Los Angeles to go into blackout mode, which sparks (also predictable) mayhem for the 118. Elsewhere, Maddie’s condition is causing concern all around.

Ordinary Joe (NBC, 10:00pm) — It’s like Sliding Doors but with TV Prince James Wolk (Watchmen, Mad Men, Political Animals, Zoo) and no Gwyneth Paltrow. If that’s not enough to make you climb aboard, consider that Wolk will not only play a rock star (!) but also a nurse and a police officer, all during parallel timelines following a pivotal choice after college graduation. This week, the trio of different Joes are all attempting to come to terms with the 9/11 anniversary while in very different romantic places.

Roswell, New Mexico (CW, 8:00pm) — Jones is stuck in Max’s body while a duo’s attempting to make headway with Dallas, and Heath is the subject of a related search.

Y: The Last Man (FX on Hulu) — The acclaimed graphic novel gets its due as a dystopian TV drama starring Diane Lane as the globe’s de facto president. Her son becomes, as the title suggests, the very last man on Earth following an apocalyptic event that pretty much obliterates the Y chromosome. FX recently made it known that although the Y appears to refer to the chromosome, the show will take a nuanced approach and not operate on a merely gender-binary level.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Sturgill Simpson, Jon Stewart

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Snoop Godd, Chris Colfer, Mickey Guyton

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Billy Bob Thornton, Miriam Margolyes, Nick Baglio

In case you missed these weekend picks:

Foundation (Apple TV+ series) — Isaac Asimov’s classic novel gets a heady adaptation starring the always great Jared Harris and Lee Pace. The sci-fi story revolves around exiles who are working to rebuild civilization even as the galaxy falls apart (sounds familiar!). A great deal of attention has been paid to the epic scale of the show, which Apple TV+ appears to want to be its Game of Thrones. The good news here, though, is that the story won’t closely adhere to the books, which should (hopefully) prevent the same sort of finale-season conundrum that we saw with Thrones.

Midnight Mass (Netflix series) — Get ready, The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor addicts, because creator Mike Flanagan’s back to cause us more horror fits. This happens to be his favorite project so far and revolves around an isolated community that lives on spooky Crockett Island, which gets even spookier due to a charismatic priest’s arrival. Naturally, a whole lot of supernatural shenanigans are afoot, but human nature (as we are currently experiencing in-real-life these days) can often be scarier than the ghosts that people can dream up. It’s dark, real dark.

Lil Nas X is determined to have the last laugh over any of his critics — and often does. With the release of the first Billboard charts to count his debut album, Montero, he got as much ammo as he’ll need for the foreseeable future. Coming in at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and landing three songs in the Hot 100 top 10, Nas has accomplished a pretty rare feat for any artist, let alone one dropping his official debut.

He knows it, too, thanks to a tweet from PopCrave that also noted even more songs from Montero that landed in the Hot 100 after the album’s first week. “wow,” he tweeted in response, taking the opportunity to gloat over all the detractors who figured he’d flop after “Old Town Road.” “i just became the first one hit wonder of all time to have 11 songs on billboard all at once.”

Among those songs are “Industry Baby,” the inescapable and controversial Kanye-assisted hit featuring Jack Harlow, “Montero” aka “Call Me By Your Name,” the song that sent critics from Boosie Badazz to Nike into a tizzy, “Scoop,” which features a standout verse from Doja Cat (who replaced Ski Mask The Slump God), and “Dolla Sign Slime,” the song that Drake missed out on but Megan Thee Stallion killed (in a good way).

As the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) demands better working conditions for crew members across film, TV, and Broadway, former Grey’s Anatomy star Katherine Heigl has voiced her support for the movement while also taking a moment to point out that she was basically tarred and feathered for bringing up the same concerns over a decade ago.

While none of the reports coming out of the pending IATSE strike have vindicated Heigl’s specific complaints, they do highlight an overall problem in Hollywood with pushing cast and crews too far with unreasonably long working days. Heigl was famously blasted for complaining to David Letterman in 2009 that the Grey’s Anatomy cast was forced to work a 17-hour day, which she labeled “cruel and mean.”

“Some of you may remember over ten years ago I was very vocal about the absurdity of the working hours crews and actors were being forced into by production,” Heigl wrote in a lengthy Instagram post. “Even Diane Sawyer interviewed me and not so kindly informed me ‘no one feels sorry for you.’ I very publicly and for many many years after got my ass kicked for speaking up.”

After detailing some of the unsafe conditions she personally witnessed, Heigl brought things around to support IATSE for taking a stand:

So this post is not for me. It is for the crew. It is for my family from another mother. It is for the champions and support systems and talented bad asses that I have the privilege of working with. I stand with IATSE. It is time for reasonable and fair work conditions, wages and hours to be more then just a priority they need to be the norm. Period. To all the crews on all the sets all over this great big world of ours. I support you. I stand with you. I thank you. Not one show. Not one movie. Can exist without you.

You can see Heigl’s full post below, which just a heads up, continues in the comments. She’s got a lot to say:

(Via Katherine Heigl on Instagram)

Kawhi Leonard took his time this summer, but eventually the Clippers star forward inked a 4-year, $176 million deal (with a player option in the fourth year) to stay in L.A.

It wasn’t the most money Leonard could have made, as taking a 1+1 contract, opting out, and then inking a 5-year max would’ve gotten him more annually, but coming off of an ACL tear, the star chose some stability with his contract decision. On Monday, Leonard spoke with the assembled media in Los Angeles about that choice and explained that there were two main reasons for choosing the longer term deal. First was to avoid storylines about him leaving the Clippers after next year and showing his commitment to the franchise, and the second was to allow him to feel comfortable coming back and playing this season if he’s able by already having a long-term deal locked in.

“Because I wanted to play,” Leonard says. “I mean, the best situation for me, to me, was to do a 1+1 and then opt out and sign a long-term, 5-year deal. But there’s a lot of concerns that that brings up for you guys and your job and it creates storylines that I’m going to leave the team. One thing, I wanted to secure some money, and I wanted to be able to come back if I was able to this year. If I would’ve took the 1+1, I probably would’ve not played just to be cautious and opted out and took a 5-year. I’m here. I’m here to be a Clipper. I’m not going to another team unless something drastic happens, but I’m here for the long run.”

It’s about as open and honest an answer as you’ll ever see from a player about a contract decision, and it’s clear that Kawhi wants to shut the door on any kind of rumors that he would leave the Clippers — again, as he says, barring something drastic. There were rumblings about it last year, but when Leonard chose L.A. he did so because of his family and nothing has changed in that regard, so he’s making sure there’s no confusion about his long-term plans.

More importantly to this season is the part about him hoping to play at some point this season. His ACL surgery was in mid-July and rehab on such an injury is, typically, anywhere from 8-12 months which does provide a window for a return. That said, each person rehabs differently and with his quad issues he’s had in the past, one would think there will be plenty of attention paid to ensure he’s not hurrying back at the risk of furthering any other problems. That said, the Clippers are a team with title aspirations and likely can’t reach those heights without Leonard, so if he could return for the playoffs that would very much change the calculus out West.

It can be expensive to have a pet. It’s possible to spend between $250 to $700 a year on food for a dog and around $120-$500 on food for a cat. But of course, most of us don’t think twice about the expense: having a pet is worth it because of the company animals provide.

But for some, this expense is hard to keep up, no matter how much you adore your fur baby. And that’s why Kenneth and Jill Gonsalves decided to help.

Kenneth had seen a man scraping together change in a store to buy pet food, so he offered to buy the man some extra pet food. Still, later that night he couldn’t stop thinking about the experience — he worried the man wasn’t just struggling to pay for pet food, but food for himself, too.

So he went home and told his wife — and immediately, they both knew they needed to do something. So, in December 2020, they converted a farm stand into a take-what-you-need, leave-what-you-can Pet Food pantry.

“A lot of people would have watched that man count out change to buy pet food. Some may have helped him out like my husband did,” Jill says. “A few may have thought about it afterward. But, only someone like Kenny would turn that experience into what we have today.”

“If it weren’t for his generous spirit and his penchant for a plan, the pantry would never have been born,” she adds.

Photo courtesy of Kenneth and Jill Gonsalves

At first, the couple started the pet food pantry with a couple hundred dollars of pet food they bought themselves. And to make sure people knew about the pantry, they set up a Facebook page for the pantry, then went to other Facebook groups, such as a “Buy Nothing group,” and shared what they were doing.

“When we started, we weren’t even sure people would use us,” Jill says. “At best, we were hoping to be able to provide enough to help people get through the holidays.”

But, thanks to their page and word of mouth, news spread about what they were doing, and the donations of more pet food started flooding in, too. Before long, they were coming home to stacks of food — and within a couple of months, the pantry was full.

Photo courtesy of Kenneth and Jill Gonsalves

“The pounds of food we have gone through is well, well, well into the thousands,” Jill says. “The orders from our Amazon Wish List alone include several hundred pounds of dry food, a couple of hundred cases of canned food, and thousands of treats and toys. But, that does not even take into account the hundreds of drop-offs, online orders, and monetary donations we have received.”

They also got many ‘Thank you notes’ from the people they helped.

“I would like to thank you for helping us feed our fur babies,” one note read. “My husband and I recently lost our jobs, and my husband [will] hopefully [find] a new one. We are just waiting for a call.”

Another read: “I just need to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I haven’t worked in over a month with a two-year-old at home. Dad brings in about $300/week. From the pandemic to Christmas, it has been tough. But with the help of beautiful people like you, my fur baby can now eat a little bit longer, and my heart is happy.”

Jill says that she thinks the fact that the pet pantry is a farm stand helps people feel better.

Photo courtesy of Kenneth and Jill Gonsalves

“When we first started this, someone who visited us mentioned how it made them feel good to be able to browse without feeling like they were being watched,” she says. “So, it’s been important to us to maintain that integrity.”

Jill and Kenneth aren’t sure how many people they’ve helped so far, but they know that their pet food pantry is doing what they hoped it would. “The pet owners who visit us, much like donations, come in ebbs and flows,” Jill says. “We have some regulars who have been with us since the beginning. We also have some people that come a few times, and we never see again.”

“Our hope is that they used us while they were in a tough spot, but they don’t need us anymore. In a funny way, the greatest thing would be if no one needed us anymore.”

Today, the Acushnet Pet Pantry is still going strong, but its stock is running low. If you want to help out, visit their Facebook page for updates and to find ways to donate.

This story originally appeared 2.13.15

Parenting is about being the best mom or dad we can be to our kids. Sometimes it’s simple. Other times, it might not be what we anticipated or imagined. But that doesn’t really matter — because there’s no straightforward manual for raising kids. And when we take on this gig, we’re responsible for loving our children unconditionally.

Jeff and Hillary Whittington wanted to be parents.

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They got pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful little girl. (Cuuuuute baby, right?!) They named her Ryland.

On Ryland’s first birthday, they learned she was deaf.

Like any parents would be, Jeff and Hillary were sad when they learned the news because of the additional challenges Ryland would face. Ryland received cochlear implants and learned to speak and hear. Things were going well.

But Ryland needed them to know something else.

Ryland wanted everyone to know that she was a boy. Some people told Ryland’s parents that it was “just a phase.” But the thing about phases is that they end. Ryland’s feelings and expression of them only got stronger.

Ryland’s feelings were not a “phase.”

Ryland was expressing who he was — a boy.

And the inability to be himself was too much to bear.

Shame is destructive and painful. And nobody — a child or an adult — should feel shame for who they are. Psychotherapist Ami B. Kaplan says: “Simply being different is enough for any child to develop some shame, but being different and getting messages from family, teachers, other kids and society that your difference is undesirable, less-than or something to be made fun of can create shame.”

Ryland continued to share the truth.

It wasn’t a phase. It was Ryland’s reality.

So Ryland’s parents did what any good parent should do. They listened and learned.

Jeff and Hillary reached out for help from professionals, learned everything they could, and came to the only conclusion that existed: Their child was transgender. Ryland was born with female anatomy, but Ryland’s brain identifies as male.

No matter Ryland’s gender, Ryland’s parents wanted him *alive*.

Studies show that 41% of transgender adults have attempted suicide. Take a minute to think about that number. It’s nine times higher than the average attempted suicide rate. Here’s what we need to know: “Suicide attempts were less common among transgender and gender-nonconforming people who said their family ties had remained strong after they came out.”

Makes complete sense, right? If you can live as your authentic self without discrimination or abuse because of who you are, you’re going to be a lot happier.

Ryland’s parents took that to heart. They began Ryland’s transition.

They cut his hair, and he began dressing and living as a boy. They began using the correct gender pronouns: him and he.

And Ryland was happy.

You know what? The people who mattered did the right thing.

Even if they’d lost all of their friends and family, I know the Whittingtons would have honored Ryland and supported him in his transition. But fortunately, they were surrounded by a lot of good people, and most accepted Ryland for who he was.

‘Cause here’s the thing…

There are many tragedies that can happen to our children. This is not one.

Ryland is happy now that he gets to live as himself.

As his parents said, “He’s still healthy, handsome, and extremely happy!”

No-strings attached parenting.

And there you have it. Parenting done right. When we become parents, we don’t get to have our kids live out our ideal vision of who they’ll be. We have to love and support them for who they are.

Don’t stop yet!

Ryland’s parents made an amazing video from which I created this story. Please watch it. I promise it’s incredible and moving and it shares a very important lesson.

If you have a child who doesn’t conform to society’s gender norms, this is for you. If you are raising children who do conform to society’s gender norms, this is for you, too, because it’s up to you to raise accepting, loving children who will treat others with respect and kindness. And really, it’s for everyone because the world can use more love, compassion, and empathy.

Want to help educate others and also spread some feel-good love? You can share this!

The Memphis Grizzlies came through the play-in tournament to reach the playoffs in 2021 for the first time in the post-Grit ‘n Grind era, as the young Grizz, led by Ja Morant, beat the Spurs and Warriors to earn the 8-seed out West.

It was the type of season that only builds excitement for fans, but this offseason saw Memphis continue to take things slow rather than trying to make a big swing with any major additions. They’ll focus on internal development with their young core and hope that gets them not only back to the playoffs, but can lead to even more postseason success after a feisty 5-game exit against Utah.

Roster:

Ja Morant
Dillon Brooks
Kyle Anderson
Jaren Jackson Jr
Steven Adams
Brandon Clarke
De’Anthony Melton
Desmond Bane
Tyus Jones
Xavier Tillman
John Konchar
Jarrett Culver
Kris Dunn
Ziaire Williams
Santi Aldama
Sam Merrill
Killian Tillie (two-way)
Yves Pons (two-way)

Projected Vegas Win Total: 41.5 at BetMGM

Biggest Addition: Steven Adams

The Grizzlies, as mentioned, didn’t do an awful lot this offseason in terms of trying to make additions to win now. Their biggest move was to deal Jonas Valanciunas to New Orleans for Adams, Eric Bledsoe (now in L.A.), and the 10th pick which became Ziaire Williams. Adams brings a different dynamic than Valanciunas to the frontcourt, with less impact as an offensive threat, but still a quality rebounder and, with strong defenders around him, can be a solid rim deterrent. The real answer here is, hopefully, a full season of Jaren Jackson Jr. after he played in just 16 games to end the season, including playoffs. That might mitigate some of the pain of losing Valanciunas.

Biggest Loss: Jonas Valanciunas

It’s hard to overstate how good Valanciunas was for Memphis a year ago, and having to navigate next season without him is going to be the biggest challenge for the Grizzlies. His 17.1 points and 12.5 rebounds per game were, by far, the best on the team, and his 15.1 offensive rebound percentage played a big role in getting an offense that wasn’t particularly efficient (15th in the NBA in offensive rating) second chances when they needed them. Defensively he was also a big factor in their success despite not always carrying the reputation as a terrific defender, and his presence in the paint is going to be an uphill battle to replace on both ends.

Biggest Question: How good can Jaren Jackson Jr. be?

We have seen flashes of the talent that made him the No. 4 overall pick in 2018 — most notably a terrific sophomore campaign averaging 17.4 points per game — but he’s struggled to remain healthy. Now, with Valanciunas gone, he figures to be the offensive focal point in the frontcourt for the Grizzlies and, while so much focus will understandably be on whether Ja Morant has another leap in him, their success and whether they can replicate last season’s run to the playoffs will be dependent on how good (and healthy) Jaren Jackson Jr. is in an spotlighted role.

What Makes This Season A Success: Making the playoffs and positive growth from young players

Because last year saw them make the playoffs, that is now the expectation for Memphis no matter how daunting the task in the West. Beyond that, this offseason made clear that this is a franchise thinking about their future, and they’ll want to see the likes of JJJ, Brandon Clarke, Desmond Bane, and De’Anthony Melton all continue to show growth. They believe this is the core of the franchise, but I also think they want a bit more time to evaluate where the real needs are for upgrading. The fewer spots that look shaky the sooner they can try to make the moves to vault into West contender status, and that starts with backing up a great 2020-21 with more improvement internally this season at a number of spots.

What Makes This Season A Failure: Missing the playoffs and players taking steps back

This one’s pretty simple, missing the playoffs isn’t the only thing here, as a play-in berth probably wouldn’t make Memphis fans feel awful, but if it’s missing the playoffs because they see some guys take steps back from where they were a year ago, that will feel like they’re going in the wrong direction. This is a team feeling a tremendous amount of positive momentum after last season, but they mostly punted on this offseason. That could pay off if everyone keeps improving, but development isn’t always linear and, even if it’s not a disaster if guys stagnate or look a touch worse this season, it won’t make anyone in Memphis feel particularly good.