In the days since she was fired from The Mandalorian by Lucasfilm for her “abhorrent and unacceptable” social media posts, Gina Carano has teamed up with far-right gasbag Ben Shapiro on a new movie and spoken with former-New York Times editor Bari Weiss for her Substack. Weiss, who wrote in her resignation letter from the Times that “Twitter is not on the masthead of the New York Times, but Twitter has become its ultimate editor” (Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, Jr. approved this message), asked Carano about the anti-Semitic meme that led to her exit. Carano, of course, said that she was in “utter shock and confusion when certain people said it was antisemitic. Then, as I went to take it down, I noticed that the image was not the same as the one people were referencing. I was honestly confused: should I take it down, or leave it up? I still don’t know the answer to that question, because taking it down only makes the mob attack you more.”
The MMA fighter-turned-actress also discussed when she learned she was canned:
“Earlier on last year before The Mandalorian came out, they wanted me to use their exact wording for an apology over pronoun usage. I declined and offered a statement in my own words. I made clear I wanted nothing to do with mocking the transgender community, and was just drawing attention to the abuse of the mob in forcing people to put pronouns in their bio… That was heart-breaking, but I didn’t want to take away from the hard work of everyone who worked on the project, so I said ok. That was the last time I was contacted about any type of public statement or apology from Lucasfilm. I found out through social media, like everyone else, that I had been fired.”
Lucasfilm, which had been “looking for a reason” to get rid of Carano for months, reportedly planned to announce a Cara Dunne spin-off in December. But those plans were scrapped following tweets in which she, among other Bad Posts, shared an anti-mask meme and changed her preferred pronouns to “boop/bop/beep” in a transphobic joke. What a piece of dank farrik.
Ten years ago, on the Watch The Throne album cut “Murder To Excellence,” Jay-Z name-checked Illinois Black Panther chapter chairman Fred Hampton, rapping, “I arrived on the day that Fred Hampton died.” The line is a reference to the coincidence of December 4, 1969 — both Jay-Z’s birthday and the day the FBI conspired to have Hampton murdered at home during a raid in which federal agents fired over 99 shots to the Panthers’ one.
Shortly after the song’s release in 2011, Fred Hampton Jr. objected to Jay-Z’s rhyme, saying, “Fred Hampton didn’t die. He was assassinated. Saying Fred Hampton died is like the school teacher telling students that Christopher Columbus discovered America.” He’s also noted calling Jay “Slave Z” and questioning the motivation for the lyrical salute, as Jay-Z’s Black capitalism is as far away from the Black Panthers’ democratic socialism as it’s possible to be.
Ten years later, Jay-Z appears on the soundtrack of the film Judas And The Black Messiah, a newly released crime thriller about the assassination plot against Fred Hampton Sr. In the lyrics to “What It Feels Like,” Jay’s first collaboration with Nipsey Hussle, the Brooklyn rapper finally addresses Hampton Jr.’s comments, revisiting his “Murder To Excellence” bar with an amendment: “I arrived on the day Fred Hampton got mur– hold up — assassinated, just to clarify it further.” If the new line is meant as a mea culpa, it’s a poor one.
The awkward moment is a microcosm of the problem with the Judas And The Black Messiah soundtrack project: As a compilation, it’s sonically engaging and thematically cohesive, for the most part, but it sounds like it should be the soundtrack to some other film. With scant exceptions, none of these rappers should be on a project “inspired” by this film’s story.
If anything, the gold-plated tales many of them spin set them firmly on the side of the Judas, William “Wild Bill” O’Neal, the FBI informant portrayed by LaKeith Stanfield, who spends the entirety of the movie being hoodwinked, bamboozled, manipulated, and ultimately threatened into betraying the unifying leader of the Panthers and the burgeoning Rainbow Coalition.
Throughout the film, the only one who gets portrayed driving a fancy car, eating lavish dinners, smoking Cuban cigars — at the height of political tensions with the island nation, no less — and counting his stacks is O’Neal, often in the company of his FBI handler Roy Mitchell. When Nas paints the image of a mafioso-style meal at an upscale restaurant in his Hit-Boy collaboration “E.P.M.D.,” it does not call to mind a reflection of the austere Panther Party ethos of free lunches and clinics for downtrodden ghetto neighborhoods. It sounds like the fat cats Hampton railed against when said the famous quote:
“We don’t think you fight fire with fire best; we think you fight fire with water best. We’re going to fight racism not with racism, but we’re going to fight with solidarity. We say we’re not going to fight capitalism with black capitalism, but we’re going to fight it with socialism. We’ve stood up and said we’re not going to fight reactionary pigs and reactionary state’s attorneys like this and reactionary state’s attorneys like Hanrahan with any other reactions on our part. We’re going to fight their reactions with all of us people getting together and having an international proletarian revolution.”
This is perhaps why Chicago MC Noname, originally billed to participate on the soundtrack, bowed out. “I was supposed to be on the song with saba and smi but after seeing the movie I decided to pass,” she explained in a tweet after expressing her hope that the movie would inspire viewers to learn more about Fred Hampton’s politics and legacy. She’s been one of the few Black celebrities who has seemed to be more concerned with the mechanics of a rights movement than its aesthetics, often taking fire for calling out her fellows for their disingenuous presentation of “Black excellence” as an advance for the race as a whole.
This issue has been writ large over the past several years of political awakening with the advent of social media. The root problem, the racism and white supremacy of our political systems and their violent means for keeping control, hasn’t changed much since the days of Jim Crow and “separate but equal.” Sure, the Constitution was amended so that it’s no longer technically “legal” to voice discriminatory policies out loud or in writing, but they’re being exercised just the same, albeit more quietly and furtively, with a glance over a shoulder to make sure no one’s camera phone is filming.
But instead of embracing the methods of resistance practiced by our ancestors like Hampton, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, Kwame Ture, and yes, even Martin Luther King Jr., Black celebrities today have adopted Black capitalism as a means of gesturing toward the idea of resistance without taking the risks involved. As Judas And The Black Messiah makes crystal clear, the penalty for being too outspoken is so often death — planned, public, and as violent as it can possibly be delivered.
Hip-hop, as a community and as a culture, has always adopted the aesthetics of those revolutionary days. Malcolm X T-shirts were a fixture on HBCU campuses in the 1980s, dashikis and kufis came into fashion in the 1990s, and the 2000s and 2010s have loved to call back to the stylish Black Panther Party aesthetic. But those revolutionary figures weren’t revolutionary because of their brands and their looks; it was their actions, thoughts, and words that both lauded them as heroes for Black Americans and painted targets on their backs.
Co-opting their likenesses to lend an air of revolutionary thought to repackaged, tired ideas about Black excellence and capitalistic success serves absolutely no one but the celebrities whose wealth only increases and the few recipients of their charity. As these artists celebrate their personal successes or those of their teams, I can’t help but juxtapose these pronouncements of personal wealth against the very real suffering of the people on the streets they say they represent. People are starving, homeless, and battling the detrimental effects of a failed pandemic response wreaking havoc on our social systems, our neighborhoods’ infrastructures, and our already precarious standing in the healthcare system.
So to hear ASAP Rocky lamenting his “Rich N**** Problems” as I recall Hampton’s own words condemning Black millionaires for espousing an “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” philosophy just sits wrong in my spirit. Ironically, the arguments are made creatively and deftly on these songs — Dom Kennedy sounds revitalized on “Respect My Mind,” “Broad Day” by Hit-Boy is especially effective, and even the wildcards like Nardo Wick and Pooh Shiesty sound lucid by their expected standards, even as their contributions stick out amid the more soulful productions on the majority of the soundtrack.
But putting all these songs on an album bearing the “inspired by” tag when the inspiration behind the film once threatened to “catch that n**** by his collarneck and beat him to death with a Black Panther paper” sparks a truly dizzying sense of cognitive dissonance. Especially knowing Fred’s policies regarding the treatment of female comrades, hearing Dom sneer “I like when they do it with no teeth” stings. The Black Panther Party chairman’s beliefs were so at odds with the casual misogyny and ostentatious materialism of modern hip-hop that it’s hard to believe he’d want his name stamped on such a project, even if it sounds great and features an intro from his son.
Never forget what Fred Hampton said about Black capitalism and Black businessmen exploiting Black people.
He said, “I’ll catch that nigga by his collarneck and beat him to death with a Black Panther paper!”pic.twitter.com/YmxyFPOcLh
Maybe this all reads as thinking about it too hard, thinking too deeply about it, or just plain old haterism. But I like the album. Although it meanders a lot in its middle portion, it does an admirable job of trying to tie together multiple disparate viewpoints on its subjects — the gangsters, the revolutionaries, the lovers, the intellectuals, and the dreamers — much like the multifaceted coalition of creeds and colors Fred Hampton himself once succeeded in creating.
But it feels like the true revolutionary spirit of Hampton gets lost amid chest-beating, posturing, and meaningless flexing, all delivered with a thin veneer of his fiery rhetoric in an effort to hide the fact that this “movement” is going nowhere at all. It’s an electrifying, titillating experiment in self-aggrandizement and while that’s a staple of hip-hop too, it’s a disappointment and a shame that it had to disrespect a legacy that we should be learning from, not exploiting.
Judas And The Black Messiah is out now via RCA. Get it here. The film is now streaming on HBO Max.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Nintendo fans may be spending some time with Bowser’s Fury these days, but soon we should know a whole lot more about what they’ll play later this year. Nintendo announced a Direct event for Wednesday where the company is expected to lay out its games roadmap for most of 2021.
Nintendo promised about 50 minutes of information about a slew of new games, including about the company’s Smash Bros. series. Beyond that, Nintendo was pretty mum about what to expect. But fans immediately started speculating wildly about what could be coming, including plenty of people hoping for news about a sequel to Breath Of The Wild from the Legend of Zelda series.
A lot of the reaction was simply in how long it’s been since Nintendo did one of its standard Direct events. The company had teased some indie games in events and did other presentations — a model that was replicated in some ways by other companies in the E3-less pandemic world — but the first real Direct is the clearest picture fans have gotten about what’s on the Nintendo release calendar in more than a year and a half.
Wow, this is the first standard Nintendo Direct since September 4, 2019
Stopping by New York’s The Breakfast Club radio show, genre-bending Atlanta duo Earthgang reflected on their past year and teased the upcoming followup to their 2019 debut album, Mirrorland. In 2020, not only did they continue to promote Mirrorland with a string of trippy animated music videos, but they also participated in the collective Spillage Village album Spilligion alongside group members 6lack, Benji., Hollywood JB, JID, Jurdan Bryant, and Mereba. Now, they’re back at work on their next album, the title of which they also revealed while speculating about whether their Dreamville boss J. Cole will drop his own album before theirs.
They also explained the album’s title, Ghetto Gods, with Olu elaborating, “This whole conversation has been about respect for people making it out the hood.” Meanwhile, Wowgr8 echoes that sentiment: “The balance of being a God and being ghetto, it’s cool,” he expounds. They also explained that their “quarantine track” with Wale, “Options,” was made without ever being in the same room as their collaborator. Finally, Charlamagne asks the duo about the rumor that their album is dropping the same day as Cole’s.
While they play coy, they do admit they started that rumor themselves to “get the people hype,” and that they don’t actually know when he’s dropping his album.
Despite Donald Trump being acquitted by the Senate following his second impeachment trial, the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building has left him exposed to civil and criminal liability now that he’s out of office. On Tuesday, the there was significant movement on that front as Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson filed a federal lawsuit accusing Trump and Rudy Giuliani of violating the Ku Klux Klan Act by conspiring with the Oathkeepers and Proud Boys ahead of the Capitol insurrection. The post-Civil War act was passed during Reconstruction to combat the white supremacist group or anyone who uses “force, intimidation, or threat” to prevent elected officials from performing their civic duties, which was exactly the point of the Trump’s “Stop the Steal” coup attempt. Via CNN:
“As part of this unified plan to prevent the counting of Electoral College votes,” the lawsuit states, “Defendants Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, through their leadership, acted in concert to spearhead the assault on the Capitol while the angry mob that Defendants Trump and Giuliani incited descended on the Capitol. The carefully orchestrated series of events that unfolded at the Save America rally and the storming of the Capitol was no accident or coincidence. It was the intended and foreseeable culmination of a carefully coordinated campaign to interfere with the legal process required to confirm the tally of votes cast in the Electoral College.”
Thompson’s lawsuit arrives directly on the heels of a scathing op-ed from The Wall Street Journal that declared Trump’s political career is over following the January 6 insurrection. The Editorial Board predicted that his acquittal in the Senate would have no affect on criminal or civil proceedings coming down the road from the attempted MAGA coup, and not even a day later, that is exactly what’s coming to pass.
Even if it seems like a lifetime ago, the NBA’s Orlando Bubble convened in late July and, on arrival, the Phoenix Suns were just 26-39 during the 2019-20 season. The Suns put together a highly impressive run at Walt Disney World, winning all eight games, but Phoenix fell just short of the playoffs, allowing the team to leave Orlando on a winning note. From there, James Jones and Phoenix’s front office were quite busy during the league’s condensed offseason, pulling off a high-profile trade for Chris Paul and remaking the roster in the image of a rising contender. Through the first 26 games, those efforts seem prescient.
The Suns are 17-9 after a stretch in which they picked up nine wins in ten games and, as of Monday, Feb. 15, Phoenix has an active six-game winning streak. Unsurprisingly, the team’s advanced statistics are very strong during that 10-game push, with a 115.4 offensive rating and a 108.7 defensive rating, and Phoenix is scoring 1.19 points per possession during the team’s six-game winning run. Using that impetus, the Suns are an above-average offensive team for the season, scoring 111.8 points per 100 possessions, but Phoenix’s real gains have come on the defensive end.
It is at least possible that Phoenix has benefitted from some noise defensively, if only because the team’s defensive personnel doesn’t quite match its results. In the same breath, the Suns have a top-five defensive rating (108.4) and the uptick isn’t too fluky, especially when considering the steady influence of Paul, the ongoing breakout of Mikal Bridges as an elite defensive wing, and the absence of real weaknesses for the opposition to target.
Devin Booker remains the face of the franchise and, even if he is an offense-first player, he is playing at an improved level on the other end. From there, Booker is scoring 27.4 points per game in his last eight appearances, shooting 53 percent from the floor and 41 percent from three with big-time value. He is a legitimate star creator and, with his backcourt partner in crime playing at a high level, Phoenix’s results are even less surprising.
Paul certainly appeared to ease into the season and, off the court, he’s been quite busy as the president of the NBPA. Still, his production has skyrocketed as the Suns began their winning binge, with Paul averaging 19.9 points and 7.3 assists per game while putting up a 53/45/96 shooting line for good measure. He isn’t the same level of game-changing defender that he was in his youth, but Paul remains an above-average point guard defender, and his influence on Phoenix can be felt in myriad ways.
After a Valentine’s Day win over the Orlando Magic, the Suns jumped firmly into the top four of the Western Conference standings. At this relatively early juncture, there is fluidity on a nightly basis but, in short, Phoenix appears to be a team that belongs in the mix and no one should be surprised if they stay in the mix for home court in the first round.
Where do the Suns fall in the NBA’s overall pecking order? Let’s explore in this week’s DIME power rankings.
1. Utah Jazz (23-5, Last week — 2nd)
Getty Image
It had to happen. The Jazz have been too good. Would I pick Utah over the healthy Lakers in a playoff series? Absolutely not, but the Jazz have the league’s longest winning streak (eight) and they have won 19 of the last 20 games. Read that sentence again. A 23-5 record is crazy enough, but it’s even crazier after a 4-4 start.
2. Los Angeles Lakers (21-7, Last week — 1st)
It’s weird to have the Lakers anywhere but No. 1. I could maybe argue for a longer drop, but this feels like the landing spot since they just won seven in a row before losing in Denver. The bigger concern is the expected absence of Anthony Davis for a few weeks, but the Lakers have every reason to be cautious. The regular season isn’t the focus here, but this may be just the beginning of their slide before a rebound in the second half of the season.
3. L.A. Clippers (21-8, Last week — 4th)
No one would suggest that the Clippers would be No. 3 on this list if we knew they didn’t have Paul George and Kawhi Leonard long-term. L.A. just won two games in a row without their stars, though, and that is encouraging, even in a one-off scenario. The Clippers are No. 2 in offense, No. 3 in net rating and rolling right along. 4. Phoenix Suns (17-9, Last week — 6th)
We’ve discussed the Suns quite a bit but, as a point of transition, Phoenix faces Brooklyn in a national TV game on Tuesday that will be telling of their stance among the NBA’s elite, even with KD sitting.
5. Brooklyn Nets (17-12, Last week — 7th)
Hey, speaking of the Nets, Brooklyn set a new franchise record with 27 three-pointers on Monday (without KD), once again showcasing the team’s obscene offensive ceiling. The defense is (quite) bad, but the Nets have won three in a row and their best is pretty impressive.
6. Denver Nuggets (15-11, Last week — 11th)
Getty Image
Denver’s three-game winning streak pushes them up to this slot in the rankings. The Nuggets should beat the Thunder and Cavs at home, as they did this week, but knocking off the Lakers by a lopsided margin is worth noting, even in a game in which Anthony Davis was sidelined for a half. If anything, the Nuggets’ record doesn’t match its top-five net rating, and I’m inclined to trust the point differential.
7. Milwaukee Bucks (16-11, Last week — 3rd)
There is no shame in losing on the road to the Suns and Jazz. Those are arguably the hottest teams in the NBA right now. Milwaukee drops this week because they followed up those defeats with a road loss in OKC. It was a narrow margin and, yes, Jrue Holiday has been out of the lineup. That matters, but it’s weird that the Bucks are only 16-11 right now with a +8.3 net rating.
8. Portland Trail Blazers (16-10, Last week — 16th)
Portland is barely above water in point differential (+0.2 per 100 possessions) and they are still 16-10. The biggest reason for that is that Damian Lillard is ridiculous. The Blazers have also won four in a row, including a home win over Philadelphia and a road win over Dallas. None of this seems sustainable given their injury situation, but that’s been said plenty of times about the Blazers in the past, and they often defy the odds.
9. Philadelphia 76ers (18-10, Last week — 5th)
There has to be a penalty for losing three straight games, even if they come on the road against playoff-caliber teams. That is what happened to the Sixers this week. Fear not, Philadelphia is still pretty good, but they continue to have hilariously large home/road splits.
10. San Antonio Spurs (16-11, Last week — 8th)
San Antonio’s next three games have been postponed due to an outbreak of four positive COVID tests on the Spurs roster, which is unfortunate and hopefully everyone is alright. The Spurs won their previous two games, including a drubbing of Atlanta in which they led by 42 points, to improve on a split against Golden State at home. Not only are the Spurs playing well, they are also pretty fun to consume on a nightly basis and hopefully they can contain this thing and not miss too much more than a week of action.
11. Golden State Warriors (15-13, Last week — 15th)
Getty Image
Stephen Curry had 36 points in three quarters on Monday. Granted, the Cavaliers were on the other side, but Curry has truly been preposterous this season. Is that MVP-worthy on a team that is 15-13? We’ll see, but we can all acknowledge that it’s fun to have Curry operating at this level on a nightly basis.
12. New York Knicks (14-15, Last week — 23rd)
The Knicks aren’t exactly known for their perimeter-based offensive attack. In fact, that is probably the worst part about the team. Naturally, New York hit a season-high 17 threes in a road win over Atlanta on Monday, and Julius Randle continues to play at an All-Star level. The Knicks have won three in a row and they remain firmly in the playoff mix.
13. Indiana Pacers (14-14, Last week — 17th)
Indiana rises in the rankings this week but, quite honestly, it isn’t because they are playing very well. The Pacers got two wins this week, toppling the struggling Hawks and Pistons, then lost at home to the Bulls. Overall, Indiana is 2-5 in the last seven, and it is wild that a .500 team with that recent track record is No. 13. It’s been a weird season.
14. Toronto Raptors (12-15, Last week — 14th)
I’m trusting the Raptors and leaving them here despite a home loss to Minnesota in their last outing. Like Indiana above them, that is really because no other team did enough to jump, but that’s a bad result for a team trying to climb out of an early hole.
15. Dallas Mavericks (13-15, Last week — 19th)
Dallas couldn’t quite keep their winning streak alive, losing a home tilt to Portland by three points on Sunday. Still, the Mavericks are playing (much) better basketball, winning five of the last seven after a shaky spell. In those seven games, Dallas is scoring almost 1.25 points per possession, and if that offensive onslaught continues, wins will follow.
16. Charlotte Hornets (13-15, Last week — 12th)
Getty Image
Charlotte’s home loss to San Antonio to end the week comes with an asterisk, as the Hornets were without Gordon Hayward, PJ Washington and others. Overall, the Hornets are playing reasonably well and… did you know Charlotte is leading the Southeast Division by 1.5 games?
17. Boston Celtics (13-13, Last week — 9th)
Boston is 5-10 in the last 15 games. That seems troublesome. The Celtics are without Marcus Smart, and he will help them immensely upon return, but Boston should be better than this even without him. There are warning signs, but at least the Celtics have the privilege of hosting the scuffling Hawks on both Wednesday and Friday.
18. Memphis Grizzlies (11-11, Last week — 22nd)
It was a status quo week for the Grizzlies. They beat the Hornets and struggling Kings. They lost to the Lakers by ten. Status quo just happened to be good enough to rise in the rankings. 19. Chicago Bulls (11-15, Last week — 26th)
A word of appreciation for Zach Lavine. Despite his shortcomings, LaVine now seems to be underrated. He is averaging 28.2 points per game on elite efficiency (51/43/85 shooting), and the Bulls are better than they probably should be offensively as a result. There is still noise in the on-off splits, but he’s been so good this season and, like Randle in New York, is a worthy All-Star selection in the East.
20. Miami Heat (11-16, Last week — 20th)
Miami recently won four in a row, dissuading some fears by beating some inferior opponents. The Heat lost the last two, though, including a troubling loss to the Kawhi-less, PG-less Clippers on Monday. Miami isn’t as bad as the 11-16 record suggests, but I’m not sure how good they are, either.
21. Washington Wizards (8-17, Last week — 25th)
Getty Image
This might be too high for the Wizards, and there is some mystery to solve with Washington. They just beat Boston and Houston at home, though, and Bradley Beal continues to lead the NBA in scoring. It’s almost as if the Wizards have given up on defense completely after a recent lineup change, but that might be their best path to respectability. Bombs away.
22. Oklahoma City Thunder (11-15, Last week — 24th)
In the last two weeks, the Thunder are 3-4. That isn’t wildly impressive, obviously, but Oklahoma City’s losses came by three, seven, one and two points. Two of the defeats arrived in overtime. It’s not as if the Thunder are good, but they are competitive. Oh, and they just beat the Bucks.
23. Sacramento Kings (12-15, Last week — 10th)
Of course the Kings lost four in a row, all at home, after we lauded them last week. That was inevitable. I’ll take the blame.
24. New Orleans Pelicans (11-15, Last week — 18th)
To say the Pelicans have been streaky is an understatement. Starting on Jan. 19, the Pelicans lost three in a row, then won two in a row, then lost two in a row. Not to be outdone, New Orleans then won four in a row before losing the last three. Good luck trying to figure that out.
25. Atlanta Hawks (11-16, Last week — 13th)
The Hawks do have key injuries, operating without four rotation players on the perimeter for a little while now. Still, Atlanta simply can’t win games down the stretch, posting the worst fourth quarter net rating (-8.8) in the NBA. The Hawks are better than 25th in the NBA, but they are 1-7 in the last eight games, including yet another disappointing loss to the Knicks on Monday.
26. Houston Rockets (11-16, Last week — 21st)
Getty Image
Houston’s post-trade run was really impressive, but the magic is officially gone. The Rockets just lost six games in a row and, while they’ve been dealing with absences and injuries, during that stretch they didn’t lose to a single top-10 team. They were also thrashed by 16 points per 100 possessions across 288 minutes. Yikes.
27. Detroit Pistons (8-19, Last week — 29th)
The Pistons have won three of the last four. Also, Detroit’s net rating (-3.7) is far better than their 8-19 record suggests. That isn’t to say that Detroit is good, because they’re not, but they are feisty at times. All eyes are also on Blake Griffin as he and the team look for “a resolution on his playing future,” but this is a team finally starting to see some positive results.
28. Orlando Magic (10-18, Last week — 28th)
Orlando has the worst record in the league over the last 20 games, going just 4-16. One of those wins did come this week but, in those 20 games, the Magic have been rather awful on both ends, scoring 1.04 points per possession and allowing 1.15 points per possession. It’s bad.
29. Minnesota Timberwolves (7-20, Last week — 30th)
It’s possible the Wolves will be (much) higher than this soon, simply because Karl-Anthony Towns is playing. Minnesota is 3-4 with Towns in the lineup, and the Wolves just won on the road against Toronto. It’s hard to look past 7-20 (and 5-20 in the last 25), but they’re probably better than that with their centerpiece involved.
30. Cleveland Cavaliers (10-19, Last week — 27th)
Remember when the Cavs were playing well defensively? It wasn’t that long ago. Well, Cleveland is on an eight-game losing streak and, during that downturn, the Cavs are allowing 126.2 points per 100 possessions. That is breathtakingly bad over that large of a sample, and they are now 24th in defense as a result. No team is playing worse than Cleveland, and they land in the basement despite 10 wins in the bank.
Our quest to find the best scotch whisky at every price point is starting to hit the really good bottles. Getting gradually closer to the “don’t you dare mix this stuff” stuff. Yes, we’re still talking about entry point whiskies for many of the featured brands, but, we’d argue, all of these scotch whiskies have layered flavors that will expand your palate.
Nothing on this list tastes typical or standard issue.
Remember that at the end of the day scotch is generally going to be more expensive than bourbon (sometimes by a lot). While we’re already talking about bourbons that contain 20-year-old expressions featured in their blends at this same price point, these scotches land squarely in the ten to 12-year range. Still, the featured bottles have unique flavor profiles and will give you a better understanding of just how broad Scotland’s whisky scene can be.
The prices below are averages on delivery sites. You may find some of these bottles for far less, depending on which state you’re in and which coast that state is on. Let’s dive in!
This award-winning expression from Glenmorangie is all about the marrying of two distinct casks. The juice spends over a decade mellowing in ex-bourbon casks. Then the whisky is transferred to Port pipes from the Quintas wine estates from the Duoro Valley of Portugal.
Tasting Notes:
Spice and berries greet you with a slightly stewed plumminess with walnuts mingling in the mix. The taste has a rose water by way of a clove-studded orange vibe that touches on malts, oak, and a very distant hint of peppermint ice cream with chunks of dark chocolate. The end is just the right length and touches on the orange, mint, stewed and spicy plum, and malts as it fades away.
Bottom Line:
On paper, orange and mint shouldn’t work this well. Still, the chocolate really ties the sip together, creating an excellent sipper on a few rocks.
This is an interesting and subtle whisky. The base is a mix of unpeated and peated malted barley. Those juices are then mellowed for at least 12 years in a combination of ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and ex-Marsala wine casks. The results are then blended by whisky icon Dr. Rachel Barrie into this arresting whisky.
Tasting Notes:
I say this in the best way but you’re greeted with fresh out of the package Band-Aids touched by cacao nibs and a hint of smoky sandalwood incense. The sip leans into the chocolate adding orange and spice as the Band-Aid stays prominent with hints at old, cold ashes from a campfire way back in the background. The end adds a spicy tobacco chew with a slight, warming buzz as it quickly fades away.
Bottom Line:
This is a great candidate for anyone looking to try a mild “smoky” whisky. The smoke is so subtle while highlighting more “peaty” qualities along the way. It’s also super easy to sip and doesn’t really even need water.
This Highland malt is a classic entry-point sipper to the wider wonders of The Dalmore. The whisky is aged for over a decade in old bourbon barrels before it’s transferred to hand-selected sherry casks for a finishing touch.
Tasting Notes:
This is rich from the first nose to the last drop as star anise, orange oils, dark chocolate, and a nutty/bitter/creamy espresso draws you in. The taste amps up all of that into a full-on Christmas cake full of candied and dried fruits, hazelnuts, malts, spices, and an almost rummy veneer. A little water brings about a creamy chocolate as the finish really embraces the roundness of the Christmas cake vibes while fading fairly quickly.
Bottom Line:
This feels like a digestif dram that you enjoy from a snifter next to a crackling fire. That being said, we really like this one in cocktails too, especially something like a Manhattan.
This is a quintessential Islay peaty whisky. The juice is aged in a combo of Pedro Ximénez, charred virgin oak, and ex-bourbon casks before being married and rested again in Ardbeg’s bespoke oak “Gathering Vat,” allowing the whiskies to really meld into a cohesive dram.
Tasting Notes:
Imagine slow-smoked peaches, soft cherrywood on fire, and singed sage. That nose leads towards buttery but almost burnt toffee with hints of egg nog spices, savory leafy green veg with a bit of dirt, walnut shells, black tea, and a little bit of pancake syrup (the high fructose corn syrup kind). The finish is long, has hits of black licorice, and really brings the soft yet sweet smoke with an almost meat smoker edge.
Bottom Line:
If you don’t like smoky whisky, you’re not going to dig on this. If you don’t know smoky whisky and this is the first one you have, it might turn you off the style forever. If you dig on the smoke and peat and funk, this is going to be your jam for life.
You can thank The Balvenie’s Malt Master David Stewart for the whole wood finishing movement and this signature bottle for starting it. This expression spends 12 years mellowing in ex-bourbon casks of varying sizes before it’s transferred to ex-Oloroso sherry casks for a final nine months of finishing. All of those whiskies are then dumped into a large oak “tun” where they spend another four or so months marrying before proofing with Speyside springwater and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
This is very sherry in the sense that you get those sweet plum, nutty, and dried fruit notes next to classic Speyside honey and bourbon vanilla. The taste really embraces those notes while creating a sort of berry cobbler vibe with walnuts and buttery dollops of malty biscuits on top. There’s a long fade at play that touches on subtle dark spice, more berry, and a buttery end.
Bottom Line:
This makes for a hell of a cocktail base. It’s just a classic sweet whisky from Scotland that is very easy to understand while still providing clear notes in the flavor profile.
This is one of the most awarded single malts ever. The juice is matured in ex-bourbon casks in Talisker’s warehouse which is literally feet away from the sea. The subtly peated malts take on a real seaside feel as those years tick past, creating a whisky that will not disappoint.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a distance to Talisker that draws you in on the nose like campfire smoke from a few hundred yards down a rainy beach. The sea spray mellows the smoky peat to a fine point as oyster shells dance with almost sandy pears, dried apricot, and rich malt. The end doesn’t overstay its welcome and reminds you of oyster liquor and that there is a campfire somewhere far down that rainy beach.
Bottom Line:
I’m nostalgic for this scotch to my core. This is the bottle that got me “into” scotch almost 20 years ago. I can remember the exact college dorm bar I was in in Edinburgh when I first took a sip of this. It’s the perfect sip of very subtly peated whisky to get even the most novice drinkers into the really good stuff.
This whisky is designed to be the ultimate expression of Islay peated malt. The whisky utilizes that iconic Port Charlotte peated malt in its base. That juice then spends ten years maturing in first-fill and second-fill ex-bourbon casks along with second-fill French wine barrels. The results are married and just touched with Islay’s soft water to bring it down to a very approachable 100 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Yes, this is peaty and smoky from the first whiff but also allows for a lemon cake with vanilla frosting, a touch of toffee, and the sharpness of fresh ginger. The palate veers into smoked shellfish territory as the vanilla gets creamy while hints of sea-salt cured lemons grab your senses. A slight banana in browned butter essence arrives late as smoked whitefish and shellfish, earthy (almost manure-laden) peat, and a dark chocolate orange pop on the slow AF fade all leading towards a dry billow of smoke.
Bottom Line:
This is the bottle you go to after you realize you might like smoky whiskey to find out if you really like smoky/peaty whisky or not.
This entry-point single malt from the Highlands is an easy drinker. The juice is aged in a combo of ex-bourbon casks and “double fired” or charred used American oak barrels. The results are touched with a little water to bring it down to proof and then bottled.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a rich lemon pudding vibe on the nose that leads towards Granny Smith apple cores and plenty of malts. The taste veers into honey sweetness with dark spices (think cloves) and a touch of orange oils. There’s a light old oakiness with hints of worn leather and very mild tobacco on the short end.
Bottom Line:
This is the perfect introduction to sweet single malts. It’s easy, straightforward, and hits on just the right notes. If you’re a long-time scotch drinker, however, you might be past this already and ready for Balblair’s older expressions.
Where many scotches spend time in ex-bourbon and then ex-sherry casks or some combination therein, this expression spends all 12 years of its maturation just in sherry casks. The barrels are imported from Jerez, Spain, and hand-selected for their excellence to mature this much-beloved whisky.
Tasting Notes:
Apple cider with a cut of cinnamon and clove in the juice greets you with a clear sense of vanilla, nuts, and plums. Those plums turn into prunes as orange peels mingle with sweet oak and a hint of tobacco spice. The end is long, full of that sherry dried fruit and sweetness, and hits back on the chewy tobacco spice.
Bottom Line:
This is a super easy sipper and a great introduction bottle for those interested in sweet scotch.
This expression from Speyside’s Glenfiddich takes the idea of a beer cask finishing up a notch. The juice is aged in IPA casks that aged a brew made specifically to meld with this whisky. The result is a whisky that brings a sense of beer along for the whisky ride.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a full-on orchard with pears and apples hanging heavy from tree limbs next to florals just reminiscent of hops. There are orange zest and vanilla vibes to the body of the sip that leans into the bright florals with more pear and apple and a touch of bouquet garni. The fruits sweeten as the florals dry on the short but distinct finish.
Bottom Line:
This is more than a gimmicky bottle of scotch. It’s a great sipper that works as a highwater mark in the whole “beer barrel aged” genre of whisky.
On Monday’s episode of WWE’s Raw, Bunny claimed the WWE 24/7 Championship belt, an unconventional title that can change hands at any point, whether the folks involved are WWE wrestlers or not, as long as a WWE referee is present. Here’s how it went down: During the broadcast, Bunny was being interviewed backstage alongside wrestler Damian Priest. The conversation was interrupted, however, when Tozawa pinned R-Truth to claim the 24/7 belt. R-Truth didn’t hold the belt for long, though, as Priest them slammed him into a crate and encouraged Bunny to pin him. That’s just what he did, and as it stands now, Bunny is the current holder of the 24/7 Championship belt.
Bunny got some props from wrestling legend Triple H, who wrote on Instagram, “A #RoyalRumble moment, an upcoming #SNL appearance and now @wwe #247Champion… @badbunnypr has been a busy man.”
Watch Bunny claim his first WWE championship belt above.
Despite having just released their album Imploding The Mirage, The Killers are already hard at work on new music. But vocalist Brandon Flowers’ health problems could put their work on pause temporarily. The singer recently revealed he was in a bicycle accident, and now he has to go in for surgery to correct a resulting injury.
Flowers and Killers drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr. got together to answer fans’ questions in an Instagram Live Q&A. After one fan asked Flowers about his golf game, the singer shared the news about his upcoming surgery:
“I have not golfed in years. I miss it, sometimes. Ron hears about my gripes, but I got bad shoulders. I’ve had both shoulders… they call it ‘decompressed.’ They go in and shave some of the bone off to try and relieve some of the impingement, which causes you pain. So I’ve had that on both and some of you may have seen the picture I posted of when I went over the handle bars on my bike. An injury from that has manifested itself. I have a torn labrum from that shoulder, so I’m going under the knife in a couple of weeks to get that taken care of.”
Elsewhere in the interview, The Killers were asked if they had any special plans for the 20th anniversary of their debut album Hot Fuzz, which was released in 2004. “We’re coming up on 20-year anniversary of Hot Fuss,” Flowers said. “We still got a couple years. But I’m assuming there will be something where we play, celebrate the album and play it start to finish.”
Watch Flowers talk about his shoulder injury above, around the 15-minute mark.
Dwayne Johnson has been talking about running for president since at least 2016. “I can’t deny that the thought of being governor, the thought of being president, is alluring,” he said in the months before another WWE Hall of Fame inductee became president. In 2017: “I think that it’s a real possibility.” In 2018: “I have so much respect for the position. It’s something that I seriously considered. What I need is time to go out and learn.” And now, he’s finally the president... on the NBC sitcom, Young Rock, premiering tonight.
But could it happen in real life, too? “I would consider a presidential run in the future if that’s what the people wanted,” Johnson told USA Today. “Truly I mean that, and I’m not flippant in any way with my answer. That would be up to the people… So I would wait, and I would listen. I would have my finger on the pulse, my ear to the ground.”
If the past four years (and the Reagan administration) have taught us anything, it’s that maybe celebrities shouldn’t become president. But I’m not going to lie, I would love to hear The Rock’s campaign slogans (“Can you smell what democracy is cooking?”) and ads (it’s him flexing so hard that a cast with “high health care costs” written on it explodes). The options are endless. Also, he should drop the “Dwayne.” Rock Johnson is the most presidential-sounding name ever.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
| makar’s guardian 
(@twilisita) 
