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Years before Lil Wayne laid claim to the title of “Best Rapper Alive,” he dealt with mental health issues that culminated in an attempted suicide when he was just 12 years old. In a new episode of Complex‘s Uncomfortable Conversations with Emmanuel Acho, Wayne once again details the attempt in his own words, as well as explaining how he managed to survive and the callous attitudes of police officers which almost ensured that he didn’t.

“How I knew I had a mental health problem was I pulled the trigger,” he says of the incident. “I realized that at a very young age.”

Wayne describes in the interview how he shot himself in the chest after being told to give up his rap dreams by his mother. However, since he didn’t die, he says he had an epiphany: “I might be here for a reason.” He says that he was able to slide himself to the door, but that when police removed the door from its hinges and saw him lying there, the first handful bypassed him looking for drugs and guns. However, one officer whom Lil Wayne has always called Uncle Bob in prior interviews refused to step over him and drove him to the hospital.

The rapper further describes how his mental health issues have dogged him into adulthood and stardom as he questions “will you matter when it’s all over?”

You can watch the full interview above.

Nobody wants to make a bad game. The intention of every video game developer is to go out there and make the best game possible that everyone is going to love, but making games is hard and sometimes that noble goal falls short. What leads to a game being bad can vary from getting stuck in the development process, a budget disappearing, or the inability to pick a single direction for the game itself.

However, intention or not, bad video games still get made. Usually, when this happens there’s frustration and/or disappointment in the moment. As time goes on though that frustration or disappointment becomes a curiosity from the rest of us who haven’t played it. What exactly made this game so bad? Like sitting down to watch a bad movie, there’s a certain kind of enjoyment to playing a bad video game and experiencing it. Of course, also like a bad movie, the game still has to be semi-enjoyable to play. Nobody wants to play a boring or frustrating game, but instead one where there’s a light of what could have been. For those of you that want to experience that and have them sitting around in your backlog, we think these are worth giving a second chance.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) – Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

An infamously terrible attempt to reboot the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, the famous SEGA mascot easily hit his lowest point in 2006 when his jump to the next-gen featured what many consider his worst game. However, there’s a certain kind of fun with how bad the game is. It’s a buggy mess and therefore it can be both frustrating and a great time. Watch and be amazed as Sonic walks up this loop! Grow increasingly frustrated as a boss fight leaves the player in a soft lock loop. This is a game that is fun to show other people because finding glitches isn’t even challenging. They’re just a part of the experience.

Deadly Premonition – Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 Nintendo Switch

Deadly Premonition is a game that everyone who plays it will either fall in love with or consider destroying its disc in a fit of rage. This is either one of the worst games ever made or a masterpiece in how to leave the player deeply uncomfortable the entire time. The audio mixing is terrible, the driving feels like it’s on ice, and combat is boring at best. Yet, all of it feels intentional and earnest. It constantly feels like this is not a result of incompetence but instead deliberate decisions by the developers to make the gameplay like this. The Twin Peaks inspired setting only adds to the feeling that every decision in this game was deliberate because it really does feel like a season of the show. It is also helped by a fun story with some delightful quirky characters. Anyone interested in experiencing this should give the Nintendo Switch version a try, but be ready to have a strong opinion because there is not a single person alive that played Deadly Premonition and came out feeling indifferent.

WWE 2K20 – PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

Do not buy WWE 2K20. It is that terrible and not worth any price point. What you should do instead is, go find a friend who did not heed that warning, fire up a match, and experience one of the buggiest games in existence. When WWE 2K20 came out it didn’t take long for videos to start showing up of players falling through the ring, heads moving around erratically, and inconsistent physics. All of these things were not good for a wrestling game but were incredibly funny to watch taking place on screen. The laughs won’t last forever, unfortunately, but this can be a fun game night experience with friends.

Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing – PC

Most people know about Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing by now, but here’s a summary for those of you that need a refresher. It was supposed to be a truck racing game that featured cops and deliveries, but when it was released there were no cops, races, deliveries, or collision physics. When a race begins the player can go off in any direction they choose and the rest of the racers will not move an inch. Walls do not stop the player so they can really just go on a fun truckin’ adventure across the very boring and empty world. Want to know a trick? The true way to go fast in this game is to go backward, because when the player drives in reverse the game’s physics do not ever reach a max speed, and eventually, the truck can move around so quickly that it leaves the plane of existence. Try it out once, laugh for 15 minutes, then never play it again.

Resident Evil 6 – PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

For fans of Resident Evil, the sixth mainline game in the franchise was easily the low point. The developers at Capcom had abandoned their horror routes and were going for a full-on action movie at this point and most fans did not approve. A nonsensical story, bad characters, and longtime favorites becoming the worst versions of themselves made this a game hated by fans everywhere. It doesn’t help that the game isn’t particularly fun to play by yourself either. However, what makes Resident Evil 6 terrible is also what makes it perfect with a friend. The co-op in the game is pretty competent and as a result, the dumb parts of Resident Evil 6 become hysterically funny as you and a friend play through it together. Anyone that is looking for a fun co-op experience should play this, not because the game is good, but because it will create memories that last forever.

(SPOILERS for HBO’s The White Lotus will obviously be found below.)

The first season of HBO’s The White Lotus (a delightful satire of extreme wealth) ended with a deuce. Literally!

A lot of fine performances should (and likely will) be recognized for this series (which will continue for a second season with a different cast, in a different vacation spot), but the morning-after glow goes to Murray Bartlett, who portrayed Armond. He’s been propping up shows for two decades (in the U.S. and Australia), but he finally got to steal much of a show here. Yes, Jennifer Coolidge is also earning a lot of rightful love, too, and there’s plenty to be said about how the show understands the terrifying nature of teens, but uh, about that deuce. If you watched, you must admit to feeling happy for Armond when his pasted-on smile transformed into this nihilistic expression. (RIP, Shane’s suitcase.)

That was a jaw-dropper, for sure. Granted, Murray was soon no more (Shane actually didn’t mean to kill him), but he got his vengeance after a season full of jousting with Jake Lacey’s character, who was the petty embodiment of how power and money corrupts. Armond, as the resort manager/master of ceremonies, had to grit his teeth and serve the ultrarich despite their bad behavior, and the show deftly wielded his position as a person of marginalized status. It was impossible to not root for Murray, even though he wasn’t completely likable, since the people he served were simply so awful. So, it was not only gaspworthy when he took dump in Shane’s suitcase; it was cheerworthy, too.

Well, Bartlett is out there doing the rounds and, as he told The Daily Beast’s Marlow Stern, the graphic nature of the deuce-rendering shocked him, too. “Let’s just say when I watched it, I was shocked,” he explained. “I didn’t know it would look that realistic.”

Oh, it sure looked real, and it’s a relief to know that this was mere acting and onscreen magic although damn, good for Armond. Something else interesting: Bartlett told Vanity Fair that there’s a whole Armond backstory that viewers didn’t see:

“Armond has an intense energy. He’s a real showman. There’s a backstory with him that didn’t make it into the show, but I carried it and it was really helpful to me: He wanted to be an actor, and that dream wasn’t realized. So this role that he plays is the realization of that. That really made sense to me. He relishes that and fully inhabits the moment. There’s a glee in the passion and the dramatics because that’s the kind of personality he has—the personality that wanted to be a theatrical actor. Even though the scenes that alluded to that are gone, that was a super-helpful key for me.”

Do I smell an Armond prequel? Please. We need a whole universe from The White Lotus shenanigans, and surely, viewers would love to see exactly what transpired to make Armond such a conflicted and questionable soul.

The White Lotus is currently streaming on HBO Max.

(Via The Daily Beast & Vanity Fair)

Angel Olsen recently announced plans to release an ’80s cover EP called Aisles. With that, she’s shared covers of Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” and Men Without Hats’ “The Safety Dance.” Now, we’ve got a stirring, slightly eerie cover of Billy Idol‘s 1984 single “Eyes Without A Face,” produced with Adam McDaniel. Check it out above.

“I know it’s not really in my history to do something unintentional or just for the hell of it, but my connection to these songs is pretty straightforward,” Olsen said of the EP in a statement. “I just wanted to have a little fun and be a little more spontaneous, and I think I needed to remember that I could!”

Olsen has also been in the news lately promoting her duet with Sharon Van Etten, “Like I Used To,” which the duo performed earlier in the month on Jimmy Kimmel Live! “My goal is to write four more songs in the next two months,” Olsen told Van Etten back in May in Interview Magazine. “I already have like 12 songs written that I wrote in 2020. Everyone’s going to be coming out with a record at the same time because we’ve all been on hold. I’m just trying to figure out the timing of everything. But yeah, my goal is to continue writing more over the next two months and then record as soon as possible, maybe in July, but we’ll see. That way I can be on tour in the spring of 2022. Who knows?”

Olsen’s Aisles EP is out digitally 8/20 and physically 9/24 via somethingsonic and Jagjaguwar. Pre-order it here.

The Ted Lasso Power Rankings are a weekly analysis of who and/or what had the strongest performance in each episode. Most of the list will feature individual characters, although the committee does reserve the right to honor anything from animals to inanimate objects to laws of nature to general concepts. There are very few rules here.

Season 2, Episode 4 — “Carol of the Bells”

HONORABLE MENTION: Bumbercatch (the man-made a scarf, has to count for something); licking the chocolate fountain (Sexy Christmas got sidetracked but at least Keeley got to do this); Higgins (a kind man through and through but it’s still funny to me to leave him out of the listings, so here we are); antihistamines (I legitimately did not know about the bad breath thing and now I’m dreading allergy season); festive buskers (good dudes); Sam (a sweet man); Nate (did not berate any underlings this week, which we’ll call an improvement); the dentist in Roy’s stupid posh neighborhood (please do imagine a world-famous athlete knocking on your door on Christmas morning and demanding you treat his stinky niece); Trent Crimm, The Independent (I hope he had a lovely Christmas)

10. Jamie Tartt (Last week: 3)

It must be a blast to write lines for Jamie Tartt. You can put the most ridiculous phrases in his mouth and they just come out perfect because of everything we’ve seen and heard him say to date. I mean, “God bless me, everyone” made me laugh out loud the moment I heard it and it made me laugh out loud a little bit again just now when I typed it.

It’s extra funny because it seemed like he was trying to get the quote right, like he was trying to get into the proper Christmas spirit, but something went haywire between his brain and mouth, and his operating system defaults to narcissism when it encounters an issue. But make no mistake: Even this was progress. Old Jamie would have blown the whole thing off without even busting into Ted’s office to get an emergency gift. These are baby steps. Let’s continue to monitor this.

9. Ted (Last week: 9)

I am, of course, very glad things worked out for him by the end. It was all quite sweet and nice and I think I would like to have Jason Sudeikis show up at my house on Christmas in character as Ted Lasso to perform the classics with a crew of buskers. But this almost got dark. Sitting by yourself and drinking whiskey while watching It’s a Wonderful Life on repeat is not a super-healthy way to spend Christmas. Or any other day, really. I suppose it would be even more of a bummer if he had done it in, like, April. But still.

It remains the position of The Ted Lasso Power Rankings that, before this is over, Dr. Sharon will do the therapeutic equivalent of grabbing him by his mustache and telling him to deal with the issues in his life head-on. This is coming. Ted will cry. So will the rest of us.

8. My Sweet Prince Dani Rojas (Last week: Unranked)

Welcome at my house any Christmas. And every other holiday, too. Doesn’t even need to call first. He can just show up on Labor Day with some pre-cheeked festive beverage and we can make it a day. This applies to most of the characters on this show, if I’m being honest, but especially to my sweet prince.

7. Henry Lasso (Last week: Unranked)

It can’t be easy to be Henry. His parents’ split is still kind of fresh and his dad is a full ocean away. There’s got to be some trauma there, somewhere. I worry about him very much. I also worry about the neighbors and the nearby power lines now that he got a guilt drone for Christmas. A drone! I did not picture Ted Lasso as an “I’ll buy my kid a drone for Christmas” kind of guy. I understand his reasoning (he’s not doing too well right now either), but it still felt like a leap.

Also, have we considered… no. It’s not time to talk about it yet. It will be time soon. In the section about Rebecca. I think you know where I’m headed here. But start thinking about it now.

6. Phoebe (Last week: Unranked)

Phoebe is cool. I’m glad she got her revenge on Bernard. I’m glad it involved a whole Love, Actually posterboard situation because it perpetuated my misguided belief that all British people address interpersonal issues that way. (Imagine getting dumped via posterboard message. Or evicted. Receiving any devastating news, really.) But mostly, I’m glad she got her breath fixed in a way that will allow her to keep her beloved pet and soul mate Dauphine.

Phoebe is a good egg. It’s hilarious to me that one of her positive adult influences is Roy Kent, a man who probably grumbles cusses in his sleep and might have beaten up a child had his glamour model girlfriend not stepped in. I feel like this could become an issue at some point. For someone else. Not for me. I find it hilarious when children say swear words. Especially fictional ones. This is a win-win for me.

5. Keeley (Last week: Unranked)

Two notes here:

• It was very cool of Keeley to roll from Sexy Christmas straight into Phoebe’s Dental Emergency, in part because it sucks when fun plans get ruined and in part because Phoebe isn’t even her blood relative
• I like that the show used the image above in the promo materials because it looks like the three of them are about to take on a violent organized crime outfit instead of a 12-year-old brat

Moving on.

4. The Mischievous Higgins Children (Last week: Unranked)

The thing where the Higgins children are all foul-mouthed little hellions who curse in front of company and go on bloodthirsty NERF gun rampages? Yeah, that’s the stuff. My favorite Higgins rascals is the smallest one. If you look closely at the dinner you can see him go to take a swig of the champagne that’s going around the table. In fact, here, I’ll just show you.

That’s a good lad.

3. Roy (Last week: 5)

I’m going to just go ahead and repeat myself once again if only in the hope that me continuing to type it out in black and white on the internet will make it become a real thing: I need Roy Kent to have a daytime talk show where he dispenses advice and life lessons to an audience of yoga mums and curious soccer hooligans. I need to see his face on billboards throughout London. I need him to write a self-help book with at least one swear word in the title and I need each chapter to be five pages or fewer because he gets frustrated and just starts yelling.

Roy Kent can heal England if they let him. I’m sure of this.

2. Rebecca (Last week: 4)

Good for Rebecca. Good for her for giving out all those gifts and good for her for cheering up Ted and good for her for getting to show off what appears to be an incredible singing voice while running around with the buskers. But here’s where we need to discuss something…

Is this going to become a thing? Are Ted and Rebecca going to become a thing? It seems like we could be headed that way, right? Or am I imagining that? Two recently divorced people who are clearly fond of each other and work in close proximity every day? I mean, that happens. It happens a lot. It could happen here. The sports world has already seen one situation where a team’s coach dated the team’s owner. I don’t know. I really do not know. This is something we will need to evaluate on a week-to-week basis.

1. Coach Beard (Last week: 1)

Light week for Coach Beard, which could have knocked him out of the top spot if not for a magnificent little thing I only noticed on a second viewing. Do you see it? Do you see the thing I’m referring to?

Computer. Enhance.

ENHANCE.

I suppose if we want to be technical about all of this, that this could have been written by anyone with access to the whiteboard in Ted’s office. But run through that list real quick. Nate? No, not his kind of humor. Higgins? Absolutely not. Ted? Doubtful. This was Coach Beard’s doing. I know it. The king stays the king.

Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw two of hip-hop’s most enigmatic characters linking up and a similar connection happening on the rock side of things. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters.

Lizzo — “Rumors” Feat. Cardi B

Cardi B and Lizzo have established themselves as two of music’s most vibrant personalities of the past few years, so it’s about time they finally got on a song together. The pair leverage their senses of humor on “Rumors,” on which they go heavy on the sarcasm to deliver a message to their haters.

The Killers — “Runaway Horses” Feat. Phoebe Bridgers

Last week brought the second new album from The Killers in under a year, Pressure Machine. While Brandon Flowers and company aren’t a band known for loading up their tracklists with guests, they used Phoebe Bridgers and her backing vocals wonderfully on the album highlight “Runaway Horses.”

Elton John and Dua Lipa — “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)”

Dua Lipa and Elton John teamed up earlier this year with a joint performance at John’s annual Oscars party, and the two enjoyed each other’s company so much that they decided to link up for a studio recording. Lipa joined John on a remix of “Cold Heart,” which is more than just that song, as it interpolates segments from a handful of John classics.

Wizkid — “Essence (Remix)” Feat. Justin Bieber

Wizkid has an unexpected song of the summer contender on his hands with “Essence,” which is doing as well on the US charts as just about any song by an African artist ever has. Now, he has teamed up with somebody who knows a thing or two about taking an international hit (“Despacito,” in this case) to new heights for a new remix: Justin Bieber.

Big Thief — “Little Things”

After recent solo albums from members Adrianne Lenker and Buck Meek, Big Thief is getting back to group projects. The latest is a pair of songs, “Little Things” and “Sparrow,” that perhaps signal a follow-up to the 2019 album Two Hands.

J Balvin — “Que Locura”

Balvin dropped Colores, his 2020 album, just days before the pandemic put the music industry on pause. His next album, José, will arrive in a completely changed world, but what will stay the same is Balvin knowing his way around a song, as he shows on the smooth “Que Locura.”

Coi Leray — “Okay Yeah”

Leray has spent 2021 establishing herself as an artist who deserves your attention. Her latest big for it is the single “Okay Yeah,” on which, as Uproxx’s Wongo Okon notes, “Leray extends her streak of consistent flexing by bragging about her wealth, shopping habits, and jewelry all while also brushing off her haters in the process.”

Denzel Curry — “The Game”

Last week brought the Madden NFL 2022 soundtrack, and one song from last week that wasn’t on it but seems like it should have been is Denzel Curry’s “The Game.” Aside from its obvious title connection, the track came accompanied by a video modeled after the 1995 installment of Madden.

Swae Lee — “Ball Is Life” Feat. Jack Harlow

Somebody who did find their way into that Madden soundtrack, though, is Swae Lee. His contribution is a link-up with Jack Harlow titled “Ball Is Life,” which Uproxx’s Aaron Williams describes as “a spacey, trap&b head-nodder on which Swae croons about ‘balling every day’ over ethereal synths and booming 808. Harlow comes in on the bridge with his usual rags-to-riches braggadocio.”

Tierra Whack — “8”

That soundtrack actually ended up being one of the more noteworthy music releases of last week, evidenced by the fact that is the third straight entry on this list that mentions it. Tierra Whack offered a song for Madden as well, and hers is “8,” which Uproxx’s Aaron Williams notes is “a short but hypnotic track that’s easy to imagine backing a late-night session of shotgun passes and QB dives.”

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

In celebration of the upcoming 40th anniversary of Madonna‘s debut singles, 1982’s “Everybody” and “Burning Up,” the pop queen has announced plans to re-issue several of her albums as deluxe editions. That will come as part of a new, exclusive publishing deal with Warner Music Group, who will represent her entire body of work going forward. It’s not clear what albums will get the re-release treatment, but press materials note that “an extensive, multi-year series of catalog releases” will launch in 2022. This news arrives on Madonna’s 63rd birthday today.

Madonna said in a statement, “Since the very beginning, Warner Music Group has helped bring my music and vision to all my fans around the world with the utmost care and consideration. They have been amazing partners, and I am delighted to be embarking on this next chapter with them to celebrate my catalogue from the last 40 years.”

Madonna’s manager Guy Oseary added, “Over the past 30 years, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet and spend time with many of Madonna’s incredible fans, and this new partnership will bring to fruition what so many of them have been patiently waiting for: a celebration of her groundbreaking catalogue. My partner Sara Zambreno and I are working closely with Warner Music Group to bring new life to these iconic works.”

Additionally, because today is her birthday, Madonna and label Italians Do It Better have released a covers compilation that’s executive produced by Johnny Jewel, so check that out here.

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

A couple years ago, Billie Eilish (who was 17 at the time) explained that she opted for her distinctive loose-fitting clothing partially to ward off judgment about her body. Lorde had a similar musical upbringing, given that she was also a young woman when she achieved international success. Fortunately, she was able to avoid having her body be a topic of conversation at that stage of her career, which she now says was intentional.

In a recent interview with The Irish Times, Lorde said:

“I sort of kicked that out the conversation. I was pretty intent about that. I didn’t want people to be talking about what my body looked like. I was a kid. And I really wasn’t ‘in’ my body. As a teenager, you kind of wear your body like an outfit that doesn’t fit yet. So it definitely was something I very specifically did not invite. I think it all worked out. How my body looks is not a big center of curiosity now. Which I think is in part because of the grounding I lay as a teenager. So yeah, I feel good about baby me doing that for future me.”

Part of the reason there isn’t much curiosity about Lorde’s body now is because she didn’t leave much to the imagination on her Solar Power album art. Lorde recently spoke about her and Eilish’s similar experiences, saying, “She’s so, so sweet and there’s only a handful of people who understand what that’s like, to be a teenager and, you know, have that level of scrutiny on your body and your brain. Yeah, it’s a specific experience. Obviously, she’s very close with her family, as I am, which I think is really helpful at that age when your world is changing.”

After Reuters reported that liquor company E. Remy Martin & Co. is suing rap mogul 50 Cent‘s Sire Spirits, the rapper-turned-businessman remarked on social media that “they are afraid of me already.” The well-established brand is actually suing him for copyright infringement, saying its Branson Cognac bottle design duplicates its XO bottle in a “blatant attempt” to trade on the goodwill associated with the popular product. Remy Martin is reportedly the second-best-selling selling XO (extra old) cognac in the US behind Hennessy.

The complaint describes the Remy Martin bottle as unique, noting its “circular array of raised flat and angled quadrilateral facets” around an oval-shaped body. The design is well-known, according to Remy Martin, in part due to its “extensive advertising, promotion, and sales over the past 35 years.” The Branson bottle is “nearly indistinguishable,” according to the complaint, which goes as far as calling it a “near-exact reproduction.”

Of course, 50 is a master at rewriting narratives to benefit himself, framing the issue in terms of Remy’s competition with Hennessy. “REMY is #2 Behind Henny and worried about Branson,” he jabbed. “I’m just getting started.”

With 50’s latest post, Remy Martin joins a list of his trolling targets that includes Jake Paul, Lil Kim, and Floyd Mayweather.

Welcome to another installment of Ask A Music Critic! And thanks to everyone who has sent me questions. Please keep them coming at [email protected].

What artist or band has the best B-sides? — Brian from Long Beach

Hey Brian, thank you for this question and for making me feel extremely old. We are probably at least one generation removed from a music culture in which B-sides are a relevant concept. But for those of us who remember our most precious B-sides, they remain eternally romantic.

Just so we’re all on the same page: Back in the days when physical media was the only game in town, a single — whether it was a 45, a cassingle, or a CD — would have at least one additional track to accompany the headliner (or A-side) song. Often, this was a deep cut from the most recent album or a live number recorded during a contemporary tour. But sometimes these extra songs would be original tunes not available in any other format. And for certain acts, these B-sides were as good as the A-sides, maybe even better.

In the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, acts such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Queen would frequently put out what were essentially double A-sided singles, in which a classic like “Strawberry Fields Forever” was backed with another classic such as “Penny Lane,” or “We Are The Champions” was inevitably supported by “We Will Rock You.” While you can technically count “We Will Rock You” as a B-side, it doesn’t have the spirit of a real B-side, which to me is the kind of song reserved for the select few who are obsessive enough to track down everything an artist has ever put out. It’s not the obvious hit that everyone likes; it’s the small but invaluable reward for the truly devoted.

As someone who came of age as a music fan in the ’90s, I have a soft spot for the extremely inconvenient but ultimately fun process of tracking down singles for precious B-sides by acts like Pavement and Modest Mouse. Sometimes, this meant paying ridiculously exorbitant import prices. In the streaming age, in which all songs are basically equally accessible, the B-side idea is positively archaic. You can find classic B-sides collections like The Smiths’ Louder Than Bombs, R.E.M.’s Dead Letter Office, Nirvana’s Incesticide, Ice Cube’s Bootlegs And B-Sides, and Smashing Pumpkins’ Pisces Iscariot — or even some of the original singles releases that originated the B-sides — right next to the regular albums. There are no buried treasures in this space, no “B” tracks. (Or, maybe, there are no “A” tracks because practically everything is kind of buried now.)

Anyway, back to your question: My love of B-sides is related both to the quality of the songs and the difficulty in tracking them down. So, for me, the answer to this question will always be Oasis. In the mid-’90s, I spent a small fortune on their import singles and was always rewarded with excellent material. My favorite all-time Oasis song is a B-side, “Acquiesce,” and other B-side classics such as “Talk Tonight,” “Step Out,” “Fade Away,” and “Listen Up” are right up there. Eventually, many of these songs ended up on the compilation The Masterplan, but I still swear by the actual singles. Anyone can buy the budget-priced one-stop compilation, but the magic of B-sides is that the hunt bonds you even closer to the artists and bands you love. Sometimes, scarcity makes the heart grow fonder.

I had such a fun time reading this article. Scrolling through some of these videos, I can’t help but notice how much the good old fashioned organ adds to a song and/or live performance. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that pretty much every song I’ve heard with an organ has only benefited from it. So my question is: Has there ever been a song where the organ made it worse? I would bet you money that the answer is no. — Jesse from Washington, D.C.

This is difficult for me, Jesse, because I am hopelessly biased in favor of the organ, probably more than the average listener. (Perhaps even more than you, a fellow avid organ fan.) How biased? I recently wrote a column defending The Doors, for crying out loud. If I like The Doors, I’m probably going to be on board with any band who uses an organ.

But what is it about this instrument that is so appealing, whether we’re talking about The Band, The Walkmen, Alabama Shakes, Jimmy Smith, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Booker T. and The MG’s, or many others? For me, a good organ sound adds an infusion of atmosphere and warmth. It’s the smoke machine of music — it makes any song sound more alluring, more mysterious, and ultimately more inviting. When you hear an organ, you know something profound is about to unfold. Or it might be the first sign of a party. The sound evokes both the church and the circus. Whatever it is, you know you will feel something.

I can think of examples of songs that I would like less if there were no organ. I’m not sure, for instance, if “Whiter Shade Of Pale” is actually a great song, or if I just like the organ part. I’m also not sure if I would like Clinic’s Internal Wrangler as much if there were no organ. There are countless Americana acts that I have talked myself into liking because some dude laid a little Hammond over otherwise uninspired songs. (Along with being the smoke machine of music, it’s also the avocado of music — add it to any dish, and I’ll probably eat it.) It’s just a very soothing and stirring sound for me. Liking a song more without an organ seems inconceivable.

As a geriatric millennial, over the past few years I’ve been consumed with the concept of aging in popular music and what I’ve noticed as the now-predictable rock star trajectory that goes from initial acclaim as artists break onto the scene to disdain and mockery as they become legacy acts and then finally to reclamation as elderly survivors of the music biz. One can certainly argue that it’s a case of what was once novel, fresh and energetic giving way to formula and over-familiarity, but I’m curious about what it says on a larger scale: apparently the only vital music is made by people in their 20s and 30s and is about being at that point in your life? On the other hand, I want to understand more about life in middle age through the prism and perspective of the artists I love. Is there any interesting music out there by legacy acts in their middle period that is still considered vital and has a consensus of quality? — Derek from Vancouver

The short answer to this question is “absolutely.” There are so many examples that it would feel odd to list them here; I’m sure I would leave off many deserving names just for the sake of space. But I would argue that most legacy acts put out music that is worth checking out. Nobody sustains a career for more than 20 years by sucking. If you endure, there is inevitably something about your work that is valuable and it’s up to the listener to figure out what it is.

I feel like this question is based on a common fallacy that I have also been guilty of at times, which is putting too much stock in opinions expressed via social media. For instance, a lot of people (including me!) had fun recently with the lineup of the Just Like Heaven festival, cracking jokes about it being a nostalgia trip for millennials. Now, you can look at this one-day viral happening and believe it’s a statement about the bands involved. But it’s really not. It’s about the people making the jokes. In the case of Just Like Heaven, I saw a lot of people making jokes to compensate for insecurities about their own mortality. The aging bands were just signifiers of that mortality.

You see this in the opposite direction, too. I have no doubt about the sincerity about middle-aged people loving, say, Olivia Rodrigo. But in a social media sphere, there is certainly a kind of capital related to an older person being conversant with young-people culture. It’s a preference people are more likely advertise, because it plays into the vanity of those most likely to obsess over What Is Happening At This Very Instant. It’s a signifier of conquering mortality.

I agree with you that at some point this curves toward a more positive view of legacy acts, who if they stick around for 30 years or more become celebrated for their immortality. But this again has a lot do with the audience. The most vocal supporters now of people like Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, or Bruce Springsteen are younger generations who came to those artists when they were already old. It’s a different audience from the people who knew those artists when they were young and then watched them age as they themselves aged. To a certain generation, those artists are like monuments, and therefore ageless. It’s like saying you’re into the Statue Of Liberty; the Statue Of Liberty isn’t associated with a specific generation or era, it’s this thing that has seemingly always been there.

The moral here, I think, is to try to be less self-consciousness about aging and accept it. Make self-deprecating jokes if it makes coping easier. (Like I did at the start of this column!) But let’s not project our own fears about aging on to the artists who make the highs and lows of life a little more bearable.