In the world of rap beefs, the MC with the last word has usually been declared the winner in the court of public opinion. For hip-hop fans, despite a monumental rise and a handful of stone-cold classics, Ja Rule’s story ends with his widely publicized beef with 50 Cent, where Ja failed to produce a timely followup to 50’s “Return of Ja Fool.” But according to Ja, who appears on next week’s People’s Party with Talib Kweli, that’s not really how it went down.
And he makes a pretty good point about just how toothless trading insults across verses really can be.
“We’ve seen a hundred billion rap beefs,” Ja tells Kweli. “No one man shuts down the whole — like, ‘stop.’”
So how did Ja Rule’s career go from topping the Billboard 100 to being in the verbal crosshairs of 50 Cent? According to Ja Rule, it was the federal indictment of Murder Inc Records that really shaped that specific moment in time — distracting him from producing a timely follow-up to Fiddy’s insults.
“When the Feds come in they take all your resources,” Ja explains. “They take your money, they make the people that are dealing with you… those ties are severed. Def Jam severed their ties with us, we didn’t have anything anymore… I can’t really make the records that I want to make to be competitive on a rap level, it was bad timing. So by the time I actually did come and make the records, it was too late, motherfuckers were already like ‘ahh, he already won.’”
You could easily write that off as a bit of revisionist history, but to Ja’s credit he seems to be totally at peace with the narrative people have been running with, telling Kweli:
“You guys will never really understand the whole situation behind it and I don’t really care to explain it. Because people don’t care to hear it. They what it to be what it is, it’s a lot more fun than what it actually is. It’s very entertaining.”
This one will probably remain unchanged in the hip-hop history books but considering the dust has long settled between 50 Cent and Ja Rule, that’s probably fine. Both artists are legends with great songs, that can’t be taken from them. Check out the full clip from next week’s People’s Party with Talib Kweli above to hear more of the story, including why Ja Rule believes 50 was playing both victim and bully.
Millions of people consistently tune into every Verzuz livestream, so people were disappointed when Keyshia Cole and Ashanti’s battle was postponed twice. Their anticipated battle did finally kick off Thursday night, but there were a few hiccups along the way, causing Cole to appear on the screen nearly an hour after the scheduled start time. Now coming to her defense, Cole’s DJ explains what went down off-screen.
Speaking to Houston’s 97.9 The Box, Go DJ Hi-C said there were several behind-the-scenes technical issues on Verzuz‘s end that led to the delayed start time:
“It started out weird… just stuff that y’all don’t see behind the scenes. Not to say nothing bad about Verzuz, but the show didn’t start on time. Everybody knows that. But [in] Keyshia’s defense, she didn’t want to come out because her screen was blurry. She was there on time. I was there, I seen everything, but she didn’t want to come out on time because the screen was blurry. Stuff wasn’t right. We couldn’t hear their side. So it was a lot of technical stuff going on in there.”
Hi-C continued: “She’s a perfectionist, and when stuff don’t go the right way, it’s downhill from there. She was already upset about it being pushed back like it was, but it’s COVID. So there was a buildup and it made her have to push her record back, so it just threw her energy off. I did the best I could to bring her back, but by that time she was already upset.”
Even with the delay, fans still had a good time seeing Ashanti and Cole go head-to-head with their hits. Perhaps the most overjoyed was 21 Savage, who streamed himself singing very off-key along with the music.
Check out Go DJ Hi-C’s interview with 97.9 The Box above.
It’s been a while since Michael Porter Jr. has played in an NBA game. The high-scoring forward for the Denver Nuggets last took the floor on Dec. 29, and in the 10 games the team has placed since then, he’s been stuck in the league’s Health and Safety Protocol due to contact tracing and, eventually, a bout with COVID-19.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Porter’s stint on the sideline is about to come to an end. Wojnarowski reports that the third-year man out of Missouri has gotten the all clear and is slated to suit up for Friday night’s game between the Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns.
Denver F Michael Porter Jr., will be active and play against the Phoenix Suns tonight, sources tell ESPN. He’s been out in Health and Safety protocol since Dec. 29. He’s averaged 19.5 points and 6.8 rebounds this season.
Denver went 6-4 with Porter out of the lineup, and though he only appeared in four games before getting put on the shelf, he began to show some really positive steps in his development as a potential go-to option when the team needs a bucket. Porter so far this season has averaged 19.5 points in 29.3 minutes per game while connecting on 56.6 percent of his shots from the field and 42.3 percent of his triples. There is no word on whether Nuggets coach Michael Malone plans on easing Porter back into the rotation after dealing with the novel coronavirus or if he intends on letting him hit the ground running.
It’s been a long week. We have a new President, and while it’s a relief to have one again after four years of not having one, the exhaustion has no doubt worn many of us down. Fortunately, this week also brings back a full slate of new releases in hip-hop, including one from the man of the hour BRS Kash, whose “Throat Baby” has been the hilarious salve that kept us going through the dark times. There’s also a new project from Logic (probably) that carries on the mysterious legacy of the masked menace MF DOOM, a new collection of Kota The Friend freestyles, and a slew of new singles referencing the upended status quo.
Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending January 22, 2021
Albums/EPs/Mixtapes
BRS Kash — Kash Only
BRS Kash
Atlanta newcomer Kash’s breakout single “Throat Baby” would be a ubiquitous hit in nearly any other year. As it is, the raunchy ode to the wonders of oral sex announced the coming of a charismatic, cheeky entertainer, who takes advantage of that momentum with his debut full-length. Highlights include the remix of his signature song with City Girls and DaBaby, and baller anthem “Kash App” with Mulatto.
CJ Fly — The Way I Hear It, Vol. 1
CJ Fly
The Pro Era member is a year removed from his RudeBwoy album but its follow up is something completely different for fans of the staunch lyrical traditionalist. Rather than another bevy of bars, CJ serves up an eight-track compilation of self-produced instrumentals, opening up his appeal to the “beats to study to” crowd.
Doctor Destruction — Planetary Destruction
Doctor Destruction
Leave it to Logic to find a loophole in his retirement strategy. While it’s impossible to say for certain that the mysterious maestro of this project from Logic’s Bobby Boy Records actually is actually the rapper-turned-gamer, Logic’s enough of a rap nerd to take a page from MF DOOM’s playbook to drop an alter ego album just weeks after learning of his hero’s passing. Doctor D certainly sounds a lot like Logic, but in a genre that houses both Action Bronson and Your Old Droog — two more soundalikes who were once thought to be their more famous forebears — anything is possible.
Erick The Architect — Future Proof (EP)
Erick The Architect
Five songs of lyrical fury are all the Flatbush Zombies frontman needs to fully establish himself as a solo force as well as a mastermind behind the trio.
Kota The Friend — Lyrics To Go, Vol. 2
Kota The Friend
Dropping a follow-up to his freewheeling 2020 project, Kota once again finds a home for the random thoughts that wouldn’t necessarily make an album. No hooks, no highfalutin concepts, just Kota rhyming his butt off over what he calls “Kota The Friend-type beats,” cheekily referencing the YouTube producer habit of tagging songs with the names of rappers they want to work with.
Lil Skies — Unbothered
Lil Skies
After his major-label debut mixtape was a smashing success, its follow-up album landed at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart. His new album hopes to keep the trend going, branching out with features from Lil Durk and Wiz Khalifa while simultaneously contracting its focus — they are the only features.
Peewee Longway & Cassius Jay — Longway Sinatra 2
Peewee Longway
The Atlanta underground vet links up with accomplished producer Cassius Jay for the follow-up to his breakout 2016 mixtape.
Remy Banks — The Phantom Of Paradise
Remy Banks
New York crew rappers dropping solo projects seems to be something of a theme this week, as World’s Fair member Remy Banks follows up 2015’s Higher with an 11-song project featuring verses from some of the Big Apple’s nastiest spitters. Maxo, Pink Siifu, and Rome Streetz all make appearances, as does Mr. Muthafuckin Exquire.
Young Dolph — Rich Slave (Deluxe)
Young Dolph
Adding eight songs to his standout 2020 project, the Memphis native puts on for his crew and continues his rise to indie stardom.
Singles/Videos
Coi Leray — “No More Parties”
When Coi’s name came up in the continued feud between Eminem and her dad Benzino — carried on, unsurprisingly, through Royce Da 5’9 — the 23-year-old looks to reassert herself as a separate entity, expressing disappointment in both old heads for bringing her up in a tiff older than she is.
Duke Deuce — “Soldiers Steppin”
Lil Duke shows off his sense of humor and his righteous dance skills in this upbeat, bass-heavy track’s video.
Marlon Craft — “State Of The Union”
Craft gets topical on his latest, observational track.
PNB Rock – “Rose Gold” feat. King Von
The late Chicago drill star brings his Windy City edge to the thunderous drums and counterbalances Rock’s melancholy reflections.
Rowdy Rebel — “Re-Route” feat. Funk Flex
Adopting the popular drill style his hometown pioneered during his stint in prison, Rowdy announces his second coming.
Seddy Hendrinx — “Run It Up” feat. G Herbo
With Jetsonmade providing the flutes and 808s, Seddy and Herbo reaffirm their realness, with Herb continuing his weeks-long tear of fiery features.
Tee Grizzley — “Gave That Back” feat. Baby Grizzley
The Detroit hellraiser brings along his brother for a braggadocious family affair.
YBN Nahmir — “Opp Stoppa” Remix feat. 21 Savage
Despite being a year old, YBN Nahmir’s menacing banger gets an upgrade courtesy of the Slaughter Gang godfather.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Having lived in small towns and large cities in the Pacific Northwest, Southwest, and Midwest, and after spending a year traveling around the U.S. with my family, I’ve seen first-hand that Americans have much more in common than not. I’ve also gotten to experience some of the cultural differences, subtle and not-so-subtle, real and not-so-real, that exist in various parts of the country.
Some of those differences are being discussed in a viral thread on Twitter. Self-described “West coaster” Jordan Green kicked it off with an observation about East coasters being kind and West coasters being nice, which then prompted people to share their own social experiences in various regions around the country.
“When I describe East Coast vs West Coast culture to my friends I often say ‘The East Coast is kind but not nice, the West Coast is nice but not kind,’ and East Coasters immediately get it. West Coasters get mad.
Niceness is saying ‘I’m so sorry you’re cold,’ while kindness may be ‘Ugh, you’ve said that five times, here’s a sweater!’ Kindness is addressing the need, regardless of tone.
I’m a West Coaster through and through—born and raised in San Francisco, moved to Portland for college, and now live in Seattle. We’re nice, but we’re not kind. We’ll listen to your rant politely, smile, and then never speak to you again. We hit mute in real life. ALOT.
So often, we West Coasters think that showing *sympathy* or feeling *empathy* is an act of kindness. Sadly, it’s really just a nice act. Kindness is making sure the baby has a hat. (s/o to breenewsome and BlackAmazon)
When you translate this to institutions or policy, you’ll see alot of nice words being used, & West Coast liberals/radicals are really good at *sounding* nice. But I’ve seen organizers & activists from other places get frustrated because nothing happens after ALOT of talk.
When you translate this to institutions or policy, you’ll see alot of nice words being used, & West Coast liberals/… https://t.co/lfjUVV3N1M
Nothing happens after the pronoun check-ins and the icebreakers. It’s rare we make sure that people’s immediate needs are addressed. There’s no kindness. You have people show up to meetings hungry, or needing rides home, and watching those with means freeze when asked to help.
As we begin to ‘get back a sense of normalcy’ or ‘re-calibrate’ to what people in Blue States™ think is Right™ and Just™, I want us to keep in mind the difference between Niceness and Kindness. If something sounds nice, doesn’t mean that it’s kind.”
Of course, there are genuinely kind and surface nice people everywhere you go, so no one should take these observations as a personal affront to them individually. Generalizations that lead to stereotypes are inherently problematic, and broad strokes like “East coast” and “West coast” are also somewhat meaningless, so they should taken with a grain of salt as well.
In reality, a small town in South Carolina is probably more culturally similar to a small town in Eastern Oregon than it is to New York City, and there are some strong differences between various subregions as well. A more specific cultural comparison, such as “big cities on the West coast vs. big cities in the Northeast” might be more accurate as far as generalizations go, but regardless, many people related to Green’s observations based on their own experiences.
To kick things off, a slew of responses poured in from people describing how New Yorkers can be cold on the surface while simultaneously reaching out their hand to help you.
@SikePiazza @jordonaut Stand at a flight of stairs in the NYC subway with a stroller. Someone will grab the other e… https://t.co/SJw7v44JNO
Several people explained that the hustle required to afford the expense of living in New York explains why people skip the niceties. It’s about valuing people’s time; wasting it with nice words is ruder than just quickly helping out and then moving on.
@mcgowankat @MikeDeAngelo @SikePiazza @jordonaut Yeah, this is the kind of thing people who have’t spent time in NY… https://t.co/BBYMUJM2n6
“No sense of urgency” is definitely a West coast vibe, but is generally viewed a positive out here. And “inconveniencing everyone around them” might be a subjective observation. Maybe.
Plenty of people with bicoastal experience weighed in with their stories of how their experiences lined up with the basic premise of the thread, though.
@jordonaut I am blunt, I cuss, I call shit like I see it, and if you need it I’ll give you the shirt off my back, a… https://t.co/e65qSQmZgZ
Though certainly not universally true, the tendency for West coasters to be more hands-off might extend back to the frontier days. The pioneer and gold rush mindset was necessarily individualistic and self-sufficient. In my experience, West coasters assume you don’t need help unless you directly ask for it. But people don’t ask because of the individualistic and self-sufficient thing, so automatic helpfulness just hasn’t become part of the dominant culture.
Things got even more interesting once the South and Midwest entered the chat.
@jamieleefinch @jordonaut @yumcoconutmilk Moving from the Midwest to the south my experience tells me this is true.… https://t.co/poN4yvEDzo
@alexschiff @zsr5 @jordonaut I moved to Michigan after spending my whole life on the East Coast. It took me MONTHS… https://t.co/fosthutYdJ
— Ellen Gelerman 🇺🇸 (@Ellen Gelerman 🇺🇸)1611320299.0
One thing that seems quite clear if you read through the various responses to the thread is that specific states and cities seem to have their own cultures that don’t break down as simply as East/West/Midwest/South. There’s an entire book about how the U.S. can actually be subdivided into 11 different regions that are almost like nations unto themselves. Even this map from 1940 included 34 different cultural regions in the U.S.
Cultural Regions in the United States, 1940. https://t.co/RGGBgP5OzO https://t.co/GQVz5VkjVH
And don’t even get a Californian started on the differences between Northern CA, Southern CA, and the Central Valley. “Culture” can even be narrowed down even to specific neighborhoods, and people’s experiences and perceptions vary for all kinds of reasons, so once again, generalizations only go so far before they fall flat.
If you’re curious about what the data says about all of this, a cursory search of surveys about which states are the kindest brings up a fairly mixed bag, but people seem to find Minnesota quite friendly. A Wallethub ranking of charitability by state based on 19 factors including volunteerism also placed Minnesota at number one, followed by Utah, Maryland, Oregon, and Ohio. Pretty hard to make a regional generalization with those states.
Then again, there’s the whole “Minnesota nice” thing, which brings us full circle back to the original thread.
@SejalShahWrites I’m from Minnesota, where we have a whole theme of how “Minnesota Nice” means only on the surface.
So many elements go into the culture of a place, from population density to the history of settlement to the individual personalities of the people who make someplace their home. And nothing is set in stone—the atmosphere of a place can change over time, as anyone who’s visited a city a decade or two apart can attest.
One thing that’s true, no matter where we live, is that we play a role in molding the culture of our immediate surroundings. If we want where we live to be friendlier, we can be friendlier ourselves. If we want to see people help one another, we can serve as that example. We might stand out, but we also might inspire others who yearn for the same thing.
“Be the change” might seem a bit cliche, but it truly is the key to shifting or world in the way we want it to go, no matter what part of the country—or the world—we live in.
Microsoft is reportedly increasing the cost of Xbox Live Gold, and some gamers are worried the news may be another indication that Xbox Game Pass is more of an inevitability than an option for Xbox owners. Xbox Live, the service that allows gamers to connect and play online, has been all but essential on Xboxes since Microsoft launched its first console.
But while pricing and plans have changed several times over the years, gamers were concerned on Friday when news of a big price increase for Xbox Live Gold made the rounds. According to The Verge, Microsoft started to notify customers who pay for Xbox Live Gold monthly that the price of the service will increase in a big way in the coming months.
The software giant has started notifying existing Xbox Live Gold members of the changes in certain markets, and it will see the price rise by a dollar to $10.99 per month in the US and $5 for a three-month membership.
Twelve-month and six-month pricing is also going up, but the increase won’t affect existing subscribers here. Three months will now be priced at $29.99, with six months at $59.99. Microsoft is also allowing Xbox Live Gold members to convert their remaining Gold time into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (up to 36 months). The conversion means if you have 11 months of Xbox Live Gold left on your account, you can upgrade to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and convert it into 11 months of Ultimate with no extra costs.
Pricing increases are nothing new when it comes to online subscriptions, but the increase — and the option to simply convert current subscriptions to Xbox Game Pass subscriptions — drew the ire of gamers on Friday. Especially the prospect of paying $120 for a year of Xbox Live Gold.
And in a lot of ways, concerns about the increased pressure to subscript to Xbox Game Pass are legitimate. Microsoft has invested a lot of time and money into boosting the product, buying Bethesda in 2020 and adding it to Game Pass being the biggest of note. Which is why it was hard for many not to see it as a move Microsoft made in order to funnel more subscribers into Game Pass than anything of value for consumers.
Every few months, Xbox needs to do something to remind people it’s not actually that in touch with gamers or reality. $120 for a year of Xbox Live Gold (to bully people onto Game Pass) is the latest example.
Comparatively speaking, Game Pass is still a great deal for gamers who want access to a lot of things and the time to play them. But those generally uninterested in all of that access but still want to play online now have to be careful how they subscribe to Xbox Live Gold, otherwise they may not be making the most economic decision out there.
Logic announced he was retiring from releasing music back in July with his final album No Pressure. He originally stated that his retirement was a decision he made in order to focus on being a father to his newborn child, but he clarified he was going to continue making music as his way to “express” himself. Now, a masked artist has popped up on Logic’s Bobby Boy label with a new song — and some fans are convinced it’s just Logic in disguise.
Bobby Boy’s newest signee Doctor Destruction linked up with Del The Funky Homosapien and Ghostface Killah for the triumphant track “Bounty Law.” While he’s officially begun to release music, Doc D is keeping his true identity under wraps. Instead of showing his face, Doc D sports a menacing blue mask, which some fans say is reminiscent of the late MF DOOM.
After “Bounty Law” officially dropped Thursday, fans have begun to speculate that Doc Destruction is actually Logic under a different moniker. “It’s logic with his voice run thru an fx board of sorts and it’s shifting the pitch,” one fan commented under the song on Bobby Boy’s YouTube video, pointing to what Madlib did with his alter ego side project, Quasimodo. He wouldn’t be the first; DOOM himself had multiple alter egos, while Del was one of several MCs who created the side project Deltron 3030, while Kool Keith’s list of alter egos is nearly a dozen names long.
Jefferson’s/High West/ Savage & Cooke/istock/Uproxx
To some whiskey drinkers, the word “sourced” is a little bit taboo. Die-hards like to know that their favorite whiskey was distilled, aged, and bottled at the brand’s distillery and nowhere else. Tell them that the grain was grown on-site and they just might lose it.
But not every operation can afford to be fully grain-to-glass from the outset. Or at all. So you end up with plenty of great whiskey expressions that come sourced from other distilleries, often from a seemingly random state (like Indiana … a lot of it is made in Indiana, folks). And to us, that’s just fine.
If it’s good, who cares?
A little primer on sourcing here:
Sourced whiskey has a few different meanings.
The first is “contract distillation” — when a blender or new brand without a distillery or warehouse has its juice distilled and aged by a larger distillery. The whiskey is typically finished (blended or rested in a finishing barrel) by the company that will eventually label it. Those bottles then go out under the blender or new distiller’s label, along with the information as to what that blender did to make it special — think Belle Meade, Barrell Bourbon, or Pinhook.
This is also what happens when a new brand opens a distillery but is waiting for their juice to actually mature. Uncle Nearest did exactly that before their first homemade expressions were ready.
Another take on sourced whiskey is when a brand buys multiple ready-to-go barrels from big distilleries, blends them, pastes a label on them (perhaps resting or proofing them), and sells that. The new incarnation of Kentucky Owl is a good example of this.
And then there are other labels that blend their own make (the whiskey they actually distill and age) with whiskey they source. WhistlePig, Bulleit, and Angel’s Envy are the first three that come to mind in that category.
Confused and annoyed yet?
We get it. Primer done.
The bourbon whiskeys listen below are bottles we love, even though they are involved in sourcing on some level or another. Some of them are well-known brands and others are upstarts. We hope you’ll give them a try — both to better understand the endless ways bourbon can come to fruition and because they’re tasty.
If you do, you’re sure to stop thinking of “sourced” as some kind of whiskey curse.
It might seem like this limited-edition bourbon doesn’t really belong on this list. It’s by far the most expensive whiskey featured and one that many people will never get a chance to try. That doesn’t take away from the fact that this is a blend of at least 15-year-old bourbons from Kentucky that are put together in New York.
That ability to highlight multiple aged bourbons in one dram is certainly an upside to sourcing. And this is certainly one of the best independent bottles you can buy.
Tasting Notes:
This highly complex whiskey begins with a nose of toasted oak, sweet mint, creamy vanilla, and rich leather. The palate swirls with hints of buttery caramel, candied orange peel, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sweet chocolate. The finish is long, filled with warming heat, and ends with flavors of dried cherries and caramelized sugar.
Bottom Line:
This is a truly special, hard-to-find bottle. It’s long-aged, nuanced, and should be treated as such. Keep this bad boy for a special occasion.
To say that James E. Pepper 1776 Bourbon (source from MGP Indiana) is bold is a true understatement. It’s 100 proof, non-chill filtered, and has a super high rye content — 38 percent.
It’s also very tasty and has won numerous awards and gained countless fans. With good reason.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find hints of sweet honey, charred oak, and subtle cinnamon spice. The first sip is full of creamy vanilla, buttery caramel, rich toffee, charred oak, and subtly peppery rye. The finish is medium in length, warming, and ends with a nice mix of chocolate and more pepper.
Bottom Line:
This is a well-made whiskey. So it shouldn’t be taken as a negative when we say that it’s best suited for a classic old fashioned or whiskey sour. There’s no shame in mixing, folks!
This is a blend of bourbons from Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee. Each bourbon is a minimum of four years old. Once blended, the bourbon is aged for a minimum of four years in new, charred, American oak barrels before finishing in Cabernet wine barrels.
Tasting Notes:
At first sniff, you’ll find hints of charred oak, sweet caramel, and creamy vanilla. The palate is filled with flavors of spicy cinnamon, toasted marshmallows, molasses, and caramelized sugar. The finish is long, warming, and ends with hints of maple syrup and subtle cinnamon.
Old Elk’s own make comes from a proprietary proofing process that, instead of taking a few days like most whiskey, takes weeks. They call it “slow cut” and it’s designed to make the whiskey extra smooth. This expression also features way more malted barley than traditional bourbons (though most of the stock still comes from MGP).
Tasting Notes:
This dram features aromas of spicy cinnamon, subtle maple syrup, and toasted marshmallows. On the palate, you’ll find hints of toasted pecans, charred oak, sweet chocolate, and creamy caramel. The finish is long, mellow, and ends with a nice flourish of brown sugar.
Bottom Line:
You might not have ever heard of Old Elk, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a try. The whiskey world is full of unknowns waiting to be discovered and this stylistic outlier is certainly one of them.
In the few short years since it was made available, this whiskey has gained a cult following as well as numerous awards. It’s a high-rye, uncut, never chill-filtered cask strength whiskey that was aged for 12 years in new, charred American oak barrels.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll be treated to hints of orange peels, maple syrup, charred oak, and sweet vanilla. The first sip yields molasses, subtly spicy rye, dried cherries, buttery caramel, and subtle pepper. The finish is long, mellow, and ends with a nice hint of spicy cinnamon.
Bottom Line:
This is a classic Tennesse bourbon (from Indiana). The folks at Nelson’s Greenbrier (a distillery, blendery, and warehouse) have given us a classic sipper here, full of textbook bourbon flavor notes.
There might not be a better bargain bourbon than Redemption. Sure, the brand is more known for its rye whiskey (both sourced from MGP in Indiana), but you definitely shouldn’t sleep on this high corn, sweet, smooth, highly mixable whiskey.
Tasting Notes:
Up front, you’ll find aromas of caramel corn, toasted vanilla beans, sweet cinnamon, and toasted oak. The first sip is loaded with sweet cream, treacle, brown sugar, and subtle spicy pepper. The finish is long, warming, and lands with a final wave of cracked black pepper.
Bottom Line:
If you want a whiskey that works just as well as a mixer as a sipper, look no further than Redemption. This highly rated bourbon is perfect for your favorite cocktails and easy to enjoy on a single rock.
High West is one of the most highly regarded micro-distilleries that also uses sourced whiskey from MGP. It’s award-winning Prairie Bourbon is a blend of straight bourbons that are aged between two and thirteen years in new, charred, oak barrels.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’re going to get hints of caramel apples, butter cookies, and subtle cinnamon. The palate is all about the charred oak, clover honey, butterscotch, and creamy vanilla. The finish is long, full of warming heat, and ends with a final flourish of buttery caramel.
Bottom Line:
When it comes to sourced blends, it’s hard to beat High West Prairie Bourbon. It’s mellow, light, and highly complex.
One of the most sought-after sourced bourbons, Smooth Ambler Old Scout is a high rye bourbon sourced from MGP in Indiana. Once it makes its way to West Virginia, it’s blended together in small, hand-picked batches.
This one is famously bold, unfiltered, and high proof.
Tasting Notes:
You’re greeted with hints of dried cherries, sweet vanilla, and spicy, peppery rye on the nose. The palate features rich leather, sweet caramel, spicy cinnamon, and a nice kick of cracked black pepper. The finish is long, warm, and ends with a nice spicy pepper kick.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a fan of high-rye bourbons, don’t let the idea that this is a sourced bourbon stop you from slowly sipping it with a single ice cube.
What began as an experiment has become one of the most sought-after, partially sourced bourbons on the shelf (25 percent is their own make from recently purchased Kentucky Artisan Distillery and 75 percent is from other, unnamed distilleries). The brand experimented with six and seven-year-old barrels by placing them on a research vessel every year as it sails around the world. Each expression crosses the equator four times, visits five continents, and stops in more than 30 ports along the way.
While the story is unique, the whiskey is more than just a gimmick.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find aromas of creamy vanilla, subtle cinnamon, and charred oak. The palate highlights salted caramel, sweet cocoa, dried fruits, and baking spices. As you near the end, you’ll get soft, warm spice and a nice brown sugar salute.
Bottom Line:
Regardless of whether you’re going to drink it while singing shanties, you should still be able to appreciate the craft and creativity that went into making this unique whiskey.
Remus Repeal Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey Series IV
A ton of bourbon brands sources their whiskey from MGP of Indiana. Remus Repeal not only sources its whiskey from the distillery, but it’s also one of its flagship brands, making it… not exactly sourced. One of the coolest things about this whiskey is that it’s released every year and each batch is slightly different. This offering was made using two different mash bills, the first which is 77 percent of the blend and has 21 percent rye. The second part of the blend has 36 percent rye.
Tasting Notes:
Starts with a nose of dried cherries, cracked black pepper, and the must and aromas of a barrelhouse. The palate offers up sweet treacle, spicy cinnamon, creamy vanilla, and subtle pepper. The finish is long, full of heat, and ends with candied orange peels and charred oak.
Bottom Line:
This is a limited-edition bourbon that’s only released once per year. We suggest buying a bottle from last year and comparing it with this year’s offering. At the very least, you get to enjoy two glasses of whiskey.
One of the most well-known bourbon brands, Bulleit is known for its high-rye content (around 28 percent of the total mash bills). It’s 90 proof and aged for six years in new, charred American oak barrels. Owned by Diageo, the brand has a history of sourcing from Four Roses but now is making their own juice while still complementing their juice with sourced stuff (from an undisclosed distillery or distilleries).
Tasting Notes:
With a sniff or two, you’re going to note hints of charred oak, spicy rye, sweet vanilla, and subtle smoke. Spice arrives on the palate and is complemented by hints of buttery caramel, clover honey, and toasted marshmallows. The finish ends with a final stroke of peppery spice.
Bottom Line:
This bourbon is way cheaper than its quality dictates. It’s well suited for sipping, but might just be the best mixing bourbon at its price point.
Angel’s Envy is one of the most highly awarded bourbons on the market. Its flagship bourbon is made by hand-selecting barrels (from MGP in Indiana and now mixed with Bacardi’s Louisville Distilling Company’s own make) between eight and 12-years-old to be blended and finished in port wine barrels.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is all about dried cherries, charred oak, and sweet honey. The sip delivers hints of nutty sweetness, creamy caramel, candied orange peels, and sticky toffee. The finish is long, filled with pleasing heat, and closes with brown sugar and sweet berries.
Bottom Line:
Angel’s Envy is a special bourbon. After you enjoy the port wine finished variety, move on to the rum cask. You won’t be sorry.
This is a very aptly named bourbon. It’s a literal fistful of bourbons. Made up of a blend of five straight American bourbons, this well-regarded whiskey was created by William Grant & Son’s Master Blender Kelsey McKechnie with a blended Scotch whisky ideal applied to Kentucky bourbon.
Tasting Notes:
Hints of subtle spicy pepper, butter cookies, and sweet cinnamon define the nose. As you sip, you’ll notice hints of caramelized sugar, sweet cream, baking spices, nutmeg, and licorice. This dram has a nice long end, highlighted with a final kick of peppery warmth.
Bottom Line:
Appreciate this award-winning blended bourbon for what it is: A clean, smooth sipper that’s cheap enough to mix with.
First released last spring, this sourced and high proof whiskey is the first bourbon to be distilled at Castle & Key Distillery (formerly Old Taylor) in almost four decades. The bourbon was created by Sean Josephs, who came from the world of wine and applies that eye (and nose) to whiskey. This expression is made from small batching 100 barrels of juice that were aged for 34 months.
Tasting Notes:
Hints of buttercream, candied orange peels, and charred oak are present on the nose. Creamy caramel, pecans, sweet chocolate, and dried fruits define the sip. Pleasing heat and a hint of sweet treacle are the main features on the long-ish end.
Bottom Line:
This is a special bourbon. It’s high proof, bold, and works well as a base for your favorite cocktail.
Old Soul is a great example of a distillery sourcing whiskey to complete a blend. The distillery (Cathead) makes its own high rye bourbon and then blends it with two high-rye bourbons sourced from Indiana’s MGP. The result is a spicy, warming, well-balanced expression.
Tasting Notes:
Your nostrils will fill with the aromas of sweet corn, buttery caramel, and toasted marshmallows. The first sip is full of caramel apples, creamy vanilla, charred oak, and peppery spice. The finish is medium in length, warming, and ends with a final hint of nutty sweetness.
Bottom Line:
You don’t normally think of Mississippi when you think of whiskey, but maybe you should. This blended whiskey is complex, sippable, and stands up to its rivals in the Blue Grass State.
Euphoria: Second Special Episode (Friday, HBO Max 9:00 p.m., Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — This installment is called “F*ck Anyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob,” so, yes, that’s cryptic. We do know that this episode will be a mirror reflections for what happened after Rue was left standing alone at a train station by Jules after the two scrapped their joint getaway plan. This led to some sad Zendaya diner action by the former, and the second episode (directed by creator Sam Levinson) will inform the audience of what went down on Jules’ end. Hunter Schafer, who portrays Jules, also co-wrote this one.
WandaVision (Disney+ series premiere) — The Marvel Cinematic Universe has launched into Phase Four, nerds. This week, it sure looks like Age Of Ultron is coming back to haunt Wanda Maximoff with all sorts of tragedy and history, along with HYDRA and SWORD happenings, and Kathryn Hahn just might steal the joint out from the rest of the super-talented cast. This week also includes Brady Bunch references, and people are hoping for a family reunion after watching the latest madness on this wild show.
Flack: Season 1 (PopTV series moving to Amazon Prime) — Flack came out two years ago on Pop TV, presumably as a limited series, but all that has changed now. Amazon picked up the Anna Paquin-starring show for an unexpected second season, which will arrive later this year. If you are in need of some guilty-pleasure escapism, consider giving this series a whirl. It’s voyeuristic and at times thrilling to watch. Flack also feels like an amalgamation of many shows and movies you’ve seen before, including The Devil Wears Prada, Scandal, and Sex and the City.
Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix series) — Based upon the Italian cartoon Winx Club (by Iginio Straffi), this live-action reimagining serves as a coming-of-age tale set in the Otherworld, at a magical boarding school. It’s essentially a journey for five young fairies at the Alfea school, and those with human parents don’t even know that this school doesn’t exist in the “real” world. Expect a lot of teenage drama as the young women hone their powers while dealing with all the usual stuff, like love, rivalries, and monsters.
The Sister: Season 1 (Hulu series) — ITV commissioned this series with Hulu, and it’s already a hit in the U.K. The show’s based upon Burial, a best selling novel by Neil Cross (Luther) and involves a family’s life being rocked into oblivion when a presence from the past literally shows up on the porch with some unwelcome and shocking news. This development, of course, transforms into catastrophic decisions and long-lasting effects that aren’t so desirable.
Pixar Popcorn (Disney+ short series) — There’s a good chance that your favorite characters will surface in some of these shorts that cover everything from Toy Story to Soul. Voice work will be coming your way from Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key, Ellen DeGeneres, Craig T. Nelson, and more. Surely, you can guess their roles?
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous: Season 2 (Netflix series) — Mankind will never learn to stop f*cking with dinosaurs in this franchise. The kids are dodging dinosaurs who are alternately doing their best Zoolander faces and trying to gobble up humans in their path, and it’s a disaster. Somehow, the kids realize that they’re not all by their lonesome, too. This series takes place at the same time as the first Jurassic World flick, so let’s hope that the “sinister” thing isn’t a pair of Bryce Dallas Howard’s old high heels.
The White Tiger (Netflix film) — Priyanka Chopra Jonas stars as passengers for a young hero jockey who becomes a driver, Balram Halwai (Adarsh Gourav). He narrates this purportedly epic story about his darkly humorous rise from rags to riches in modern India. He’s cunning and ambitious and doesn’t want to sit in his socially acceptable box, and his journey takes an unconventional and somewhat rogue turn, which leads him to become a different type of master than, again, also socially acceptable. The film’s based upon the New York Times bestselling novel of the same name.
Derek Delgaudio’s In & Of Itself (Hulu film special) — The illusionist takes his one-man stage show into movie format after filming live in an intimate New York City venue. As one might expect, Delgaudio explores illusions but also the theme of identity.
Here’s the rest of this weekend’s notable programming:
Supermarket Sweep (Sunday, ABC 8:00 p.m.) — Leslie Jones and every bit of her enthusiasm will host contestants in this revival of the grocery-shopping game show.
Batwoman (Sunday, CW 8:00 p.m.) — Kate Kane’s Batsuit is still hanging out with Ryan Wilder giving it a whirl. Ryan then realizes that the swirling chaos in Gotham can be abated by something relating to the symbol on the suit. This leads Ryan to become a confident caped crusader in her own right.
Charmed (Sunday, CW 9:00 p.m.) — Season 3 begins with the Charmed Ones working hard to defend themselves while The Faction closes in. Harry and Macy are attempting to figure out their relationship, and yeah, this series is still kicking around all sorts of magical drama.
American Gods (Sunday, Starz 8:00 p.m.) — Shadow has a dream about Bilquis while the rest search for the missing girl. Meanwhile, Wednesday discovers where his old love, Demeter (the Greek goddess) has been hanging out all this time.
A Discovery of Witches (Sunday, AMC 6:50 p.m. and 8:00 p.m) — Two episodes as follows: (1) Diana is brutally tortured by Satu, and Matthew attempts a daring rescue mission; (2) Diana learns more about her childhood and magic, and she grows devastated by learning the truth about how she’s lived her life thus far.
Shameless (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — This “Hall Of Shame” episode (one of several) breaks from the current season to dig into how Debbie, Carl, and Liam grew up so fast. Also, Liam loses his quarantine girlfriend because he’s a Gallagher, which prompts Carl and Debbie to spring into action to give Liam a hand.
In case you missed these recent picks:
One Night in Miami (Amazon Prime film) — Regina King directs this fictional account of a historic night, in which Cassius Clay, soon to be known as Muhammad Ali, celebrated a major boxing upset with three friends, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown. More than forty years later, the conversations that take place in this film continue to resonate, along with providing a chance to reflect upon the cultural upheaval taking place during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s
The Ultimate Playlist of Noise (Hulu film) — A high-school senior must face up to the fact that his upcoming brain surgery will leave him deaf, and given that he adores music, he sets upon grabbing onto his own fate by recording the ultimate bucket-playlist. And then he takes a wild road trip alongside a struggling musician while they both experience transformative revelations.
GameStop, the actual physical company that sells video games and, increasingly, Funko Pops, is enduring the coronavirus pandemic just like the rest of the planet. But the company’s stock, however, is doing better than ever thanks to a fight between day traders on Reddit and an investment company that thinks they’re all fools.
The battle, which is having a real impact on the volatility of the stock market, took a turn on Friday as the company’s stock price hit an all-time high. GameStop was for sale in 2018, and the shifting industry of buying and selling video games has made it less essential to gamers, especially as downloads become the norm and the world continues to endure a pandemic. All of that was why the stock price was so low to begin with, but it became a bit of a pet project for Reddit day traders who invested in the stock of the company and have sparked a roaring comeback for the business that used to charge you very little for that copy of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004.
On Friday afternoon, trading of GameStop stock was abruptly halted after it saw a Reddit-fueled surge in trading.
According to Bloomberg, the volatility is in part because of a Reddit campaign to pour huge amounts of money into the stock.
GameStop’s 75% gain through Friday comes after it more than doubled the week before and marks the most volatile 10-day period on record, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The stock was halted at least four times in New York as it surged as much as 79% to $76.76 as Reddit users ran wild. It was was last 44% higher after trading resumed.
At one point, the video-game retailer was the most actively traded U.S. company with a market value above $200 million, data compiled by Bloomberg show, as millions of shares exchanged hands every few minutes.
As Bloomberg’s reporting and many others have pointed out, the stock price of GameStop is now no longer tied to what the company is doing even a little bit. Prices for these things often reflect news about the overall health of the company, but GameStop is up 226 percent in January, according to Bloomberg, for doing little more than becoming a topic of interest online among day traders. And while amateur day traders on TikTok and Reddit encourage people to buy more and more to help the stock get bigger, professionals on Wall Street are lining up to reap the benefits once they fail.
As Vice pointed out, Citron Research is short selling GameStock, essentially betting against everyone who is buying stock of the company and assuming that its value will not hold.
“Everyone on Twitter never has a losing trade. Everyone on Reddit is a genius,” Andrew Left of Citron said in a much-anticipated video about why GameStop investors are wrong. He suggested the people buying GameStop stock are going up against hedge funds who know much more than them, and that GameStop investors are losers who are trying to hack his Twitter account, are ordering pizzas to his house, and signing him up for Tinder.
As GameStop trended on Twitter on Friday, people couldn’t help but make it a meme of sorts.
“The name of the company, Gamestop It is a cutting edge video game store out of the Grapevine, Texas awaiting imminent patent approval on the next generation of virtual reality omni directional gaming devices that have both huge military and civilian applications now.” pic.twitter.com/FS31zsd8GM
The last time I stepped into a GameStop they offered me $25 for my Xbox and a copy of Dance Dance Revolution but good for them I guess pic.twitter.com/1E8UYHRagU
It’s making for a very viral and weird moment on the stock market, but it’s another example of how the market is increasingly unrelated to the actual heath of the economy. As millions of people remain unemployed, people struggle to provide for their families, and coronavirus continues to put a strain on daily life in America, a stock like GameStop is fluctuating wildly and, for some, appears to be a get rich quick scheme that’s actually working. For some, for now, at least.
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