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Today, September 10, is World Suicide Prevention Day, and Demi Lovato and Marshmello have decided to help promote the cause with a new single, “OK Not To Be OK.”

The track goes from melancholy to joyful in the hook, on which Lovato sings, “When you’re high on emotion / And you’re losing your focus / And you feel too exhausted to pray / Don’t get lost in the moment / Or give up when you’re closest / All you need is somebody to say / It’s okay not to be okay.”

Sharing the track, Lovato wrote, “Take a moment today to check in with yourself and your loved ones.”

Marshmello spoke about the track with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and discussed releasing the song on World Suicide Prevention Day:

“I think it’s just such an important subject. I think a lot of people, about negative feelings and negative thoughts that are affecting them are kind of scared to bring it up, scared to talk about it. When in reality, they’re scared because maybe the person won’t relate or the person won’t understand, when in reality most of time the person that you could bring it up to, will most likely has felt like this or will understand or can relate as well. So I think it’s very important to talk about it.”

He also discussed how he and Lovato came to work together, saying:

“I met Demi, I think four years ago. I actually played a party or something for her a while back and before I went on. It was at a hotel in LA, and I went upstairs and met her before and all that stuff. And so we’ve known each other since then. So this collaboration has… because we would always say, ‘Hi at award shows and all that… so this collaboration has kind of been just in the works, I would say, since we met about four years ago.

[…] So she did the song and then I got it, and it was just kind of piano and that’s about it. And so then I was like, ‘How can I create an instrumental, instruments, that compliment the emotion of the song?’ So in the beginning it’s very slow and stuff, so I made the instrumental very slow. And then during the hook, which is the resolve of the song, I kind of picked it up with the energy and it’s kind of like a little dance tune.

I think that was a huge driving force in making the song, as well, as there was only one way the song could be. And so I spent a long time trying to find that exact moment where I was like, ‘Oh, OK, this is exactly how the song should sound. This is how it makes me feel.’ So it was just kind of like emotion turned to music in a way.”

Ahead of the track, Lovato announced a partnership with online therapy platform Talkspace, writing on Instagram, “So proud to announce my partnership with @talkspace. In case you aren’t familiar, Talkspace is an online therapy platform that will connect you with a licensed therapist from the comfort of your phone. Therapy has saved my life in so many ways, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without it. There’s so much going on in the world right now, so we need to be taking care of ourselves and those around us. Talkspace is such an incredible organization and I can’t wait to share more info soon.”

Watch the “OK Not To Be OK” video above.

In the beginning of September, a 20-year-old Bay Area native launched her own podcast. This is a tale as old as time in the San Francisco tech bubble, and for most people in their early twenties, undertaking a project like a podcast would be enough to keep them busy. But for Maia — aka musician and digital creative Mxmtoon — her new venture is just one of many undertakings she is currently pursuing. Though she plans to release a podcast episode every single day for the next year starting September 14, Maia will also release her second EP of the year on October 1, all while keeping up with her 750K+ Instagram followers, an audience of over 2 million on TikTok, and almost 400K on Twitter. If there’s any corner of the internet where Maia can’t command attention, it doesn’t exist yet.

These kinds of numbers are no small feat for an artist who has remained completely independent, and is interested in building her career from the ground up as an organic expression of her own life, not a polished representation someone else thought would sell records. The same perspective can be applied to her podcast, which is Maia’s take on a single moment from that day in history that she personally finds interesting. Dubbed 365 Days With Mxmtoon, the year-long podcast is a joint effort with The Talkhouse, a media platform built for artists to express themselves. Maia is a half-Chinese, half-white musician who self-describes in the intro to her podcast as a “singer, songwriter, dreamer, ukulele player… and a huge history nerd.” She also identifies as bisexual and is very open — not only about her own sexuality — but her liberal politics and voicing support for helping uplift the historically marginalized, including the Black Lives Matter movement. That history nerd identity, though, is what shows up the most in her podcast.

“365 Days With Mxmtoon was born out of the fact that beyond just music, I really enjoy helping people learn about our world,” Maia explained when we spoke on the phone earlier this month about her plans for the fall. “It’s a podcast about what happened on specific days in history, exploring what else might’ve happened in the music industry, and also even going into my own life to help people have a greater sense of who I am as well. Hopefully it will encourage people to stay curious about the things that happened in the past that brings us to the present.”

Podcast aside, 2020 has been a huge year for Mxmtoon, who released her debut album, The Masquerade, just last year. Something of a mix between Imogen Heap’s heady, layered pop and Frankie Cosmos’ twee, tender songwriting, Mxmtoon’s early songs amassed the kind of devoted audience that will remain interested in an artist for their entire career. Following up an initial EP, Plum Blossoms, in 2018, Maia wasted no time putting out new music after her first full-length came out; earlier this year in April she released dawn, a seven-track EP designed to precede this fall’s follow-up EP, Dusk. Taken together, the two EPs function as a second album for the already-prolific young artist, who is still intent on experimenting with her sound, different collaborators, and various forms of self-expression.

“I’m excited for everyone to hear Dusk, and I really want to know the reaction because I think a lot of the songs are definitely different, even genre-wise,” she said. “There’s a lot of instrumentation that’s familiar but then also some sounds I haven’t quite gotten a chance to try until this EP. Merrill Garbus (of Tune-Yards) also produced a handful of songs on Dusk. She’s local to where I live, Oakland, California, so proximity-wise and sonically, it made sense to work with her. She’s just incredible and one of the kindest people I’ve ever come across when in the music industry.”

Aside from Garbus, another big indie-pop name appears as a guest on Dusk — none other than cult favorite Carly Rae Jepsen. She’s the only featured guest on the EP, and working with her for the track “Ok On Your Own” is what Maia calls “a crazy happening.” This pop collaboration recently followed up another of Dusk’s early singles, “Bon Iver,” a song that’s half yearning love song, half homage to the acclaimed songwriter-producer that is Justin Vernon.

“Working with Carly was a shot in the dark, she came up just because she’s such an influential singer and amazing advocate,” Maia said. “I’m such a huge fan of her, and it was amazing that she was open to it. I got to call her and I was like ‘you know what, you’re Carly Rae Jepsen, you can take it and run with it, just cut vocals however you want to.’ As for ‘Bon Iver,’ he’s so influential in the music industry and that project is something that’s been very inspirational to me.”

Though she started off writing songs on a ukulele alone in her parent’s guest room, in just a few years Mxmtoon has graduated to work alongside indie-pop powerhouses like Tune-Yards and Carly Rae Jepsen. As she continues to expand her creative field with more social media videos, new music, and the forthcoming podcast, her hope for music specifically is just to keep exploring her own side without settling or being put into any kind of box.

“I just released my first album last year, so coming off that I thought I would take a breather and see what other sounds I like for my project,” she said. “Giving myself the opportunity to make two EPs that were related to each other but could also stand alone as separate projects helped me open up avenues in terms of what kind of production and what sort of songwriting I wanted to do. I really wanted to give myself the opportunity to explore my sound a little bit more. It gave me a sense of freedom and relaxation to not have to make a flawless second album or anything.”

And while Dusk may not be a second album, it’s about as close to flawless as a pop EP released in 2020 has come. Look for it out very soon on October 1, and pre-order it here. Also keep an eye out for her new podcast, 365 Days With Mxmtoon beginning in just a few days on September 14.

We’ve written about bourbon a lot this month. A lot. This is partly because the gap between summer and fall is perfectly suited for the corn-based spirit. Also, September is Bourbon Heritage Month — making it the perfect time to get acquainted with America’s “Native Spirit.”

As far as hobbies go, bottle collecting can get pricey. But starting your bourbon collection doesn’t require you to spend a month’s rent. There are excellent value bourbons on the market just waiting to be discovered. (Seriously, we profile a ton of them!) When Megan Martinez, bartender at Condado Tacos in Indianapolis, thinks value bourbon, her mind immediately goes to one of the most iconic brands on the market.

“When it comes to a reasonably priced bourbon for a daily drinker I always turn to Jim Beam,” she says. “I don’t mean their white label, pick up Jim Beam Double Oak or a bottle of Jim Beam Black — both capture the rich woody notes of fall.”

The world of reasonably-priced bourbons goes well beyond Jim Beam, of course. That’s why we asked some of our favorite bartenders to tell us the best value bourbons (and one corn whiskey) to drink this month.

Old Grand-Dad Bonded

Arturo Deakins, bartender at Kuleana Rum Shack in Hawaii

Old Grand-Dad Bonded. I love high rye bourbon and this stuff rocks enough sweetness while the extra dry spicy notes from the rye grain still make it through. And it comes in under $30. I can’t not mention Wild Turkey 101, either.

Most people have tried it but I beg them to try it again it’s just solid and I think it has a bad image for some people.

Old Forester 86

Suman Pradham, director of outlets at Viceroy Snowmass in Snowmass Village, Colorado

Old Forester 86. Old Forester is the longest-running bourbon brand on the market and was the first bourbon sold exclusively in sealed bottles. The brand is also noted as one of the few whiskeys that were allowed to be sold during Prohibition for medicinal purposes (it’s even featured on the bottle’s label). Bold oak, punchy pecans, and caramelized maple syrup drive home the richness of this sip. The mouthfeel, however, is thinner than expected, based on the heft of the flavors.

Very Old Barton

Hayden Miller, head bartender at Bodega Taqueria y Tequila in Miami

Very Old Barton. Produced in Bardstown and aged by Sazerac? Say no more! It might not be your top-shelf dinner bourbon, but it can be as smooth as you like stirred into an old fashioned or right up front in a rocks glass.

Elijah Craig Small Batch

Gavin Humes, bartender at Scratch Bar & Kitchen in Encino, California

Elijah Craig Small Batch is my go-to for a typical cocktail. It’s easy drinking and nice and smooth, but with the extra proof (94 proof) it holds up nicely in a Manhattan or Old Fashioned as well.

Clyde Mays

Nestor Marchand, director of food and beverage at Plunge Beach Resort in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Clyde Mays Straight Bourbon. Well priced at around $25, this bourbon is different from others in this price range. It has complex flavors, a full mouthfeel to it, and hints of “wood” at the finish.

Maker’s Mark

Christopher Farzanrad, bartender at Mila Rooftop Bar in Glendale, California

Maker’s Mark is my pick for reasonably priced bourbon. It has a smooth finish and tastes amazing with ginger ale or on its own on the rocks.

Old Crow

Kurt Bellon, general manager and beverage director at Chao Baan in St. Louis

Old Crow is almost too reasonably priced but a perfect way to get that smoky taste that’ll have you crowing in no time.

Mellow Corn

Veronica Flores, bartender in Austin, Texas

I’m normally a rye whiskey drinker. But I could always go for the cult classic of Mellow Corn. People don’t realize they’re sleeping on! I’m also a fan of Old Forester. I do enjoy all their expressions, but their bourbon is a home run hitter.

Buffalo Trace

Reniel Garcia, bar director of Havana 1957 in Miami

Buffalo Trace is good as a sipper and in cocktails. It’s the perfect do-it-all whiskey — a solid bourbon that has good yet unremarkable flavors.

Jefferson’s Ocean

Jon Joseph, director of food and beverages at JL Bar Ranch, Resort & Spa in Sonora, Texas

Jefferson’s Ocean is my pick… when you can get your hands on it. It has a great story and concept for how the bourbon is made and is very good. Aged at sea, this is a highly drinkable, well-priced bourbon.

Bulleit

Aaron Miyakawa, director of restaurants and special at Prince Waikiki in Waikiki Beach, Hawaii

Bulleit. It has a longtime family tradition as a Kentucky bourbon maker but is unique with its wonderful nuance and balance of rye flavors. It has true hints of your typical bourbons such as vanilla and caramel with oaky tones but what gives it character is the spicy smooth finish that sets it apart. It is great for making traditional cocktails such as Manhattans or old fashioneds — which seem to be making a strong comeback with an emphasis on good quality and mixing techniques.

Noble Oak Double Oak

Zachary Shore, bartender at The Nest in Seattle

If you haven’t tried Noble Oak’s Double Oak Bourbon yet, get out there and give it a try while the price remains reasonable. Being such a new brand and watching it gain popularity, I wouldn’t be surprised if they blow up and have to start raising prices to keep up with demand. At $40.00 (roughly) a bottle, this is one of the most versatile bourbons I have had the pleasure to work with and talk about with my guests.

With flavors of honey, vanilla, and dried fruits like cherries and apricots, it is perfect neat, on the rocks, or in an Old Fashioned.

Angel’s Envy

Sabari Kanth, lead bartender at Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Angel’s Envy. This port finished bourbon is a delicious whiskey with a great balance from start to finish. On the nose, we get caramel, raisins, and vanilla — three things I love!

Houston swingman Danuel House Jr. has missed the past two games of the Rockets’ series with the Lakers for what the team has called “personal reasons,” but news continues to come out about the nature of House’s absence.

The latest is from Sam Amick and Shams Charania of The Athletic, who report that a guest entered the Rockets’ hotel and made her way into the building before she was flagged by security. Apparently, “early data points” from the league’s investigation into her visit connected both House and veteran center Tyson Chandler, but it appears there is nothing that directly implicates that either did anything to compromise the integrity of the Bubble.

More from The Athletic:

A woman entered the Rockets’ team hotel on Monday night, passing multiple security checkpoints before being flagged for her entry, sources said. She exited the hotel in the early hours of Tuesday morning, and the league cited early data points that implicated two members of the Rockets, House and Tyson Chandler, sources said. When the woman was questioned by NBA security, she did not implicate House’s name and it is uncertain whether she remains on campus, sources said. She claimed to have contact with Chandler and another player, not named House, according to sources.

According to sources, the Rockets’ entire team had to enter a quarantine period on Tuesday due to the potential exposure. Those sources said there appears to be no video connecting House and the woman; only the flagging of her entering and leaving the hotel, and the possibility of a door opening and closing to match those timelines. The NBA has informed involved parties that it has circumstantial evidence implicating House.

House apparently is being steadfast in telling the NBA that no “improper contact with the staffer” occurred. No matter what comes of the investigation, which is clearly short on hard evidence right now, the damage may already be done, as House has missed two games — both Lakers wins — of the underdog Rockets’ second-round bout with Los Angeles.

The NBA is being understandably strict about securing the Bubble. The fate of the season and the league’s financial security rests in the league’s ability to ensure nobody at the Wide World of Sport complex becomes infected with COVID-19, and they have to enforce those rules uniformly. Something unusual appears to have happened this week at the Rockets’ hotel, as someone was able to slip through the league’s security measures. But while there doesn’t appear to yet be anything firm that pegs House with an infraction, his absence has been dire for Houston.

Killer Mike recently met with Georgia governor Brian Kemp to discuss the coronavirus pandemic’s effects on small businesses and the music industry, but with the state’s COVID-19 cases increasing, the gesture has received mixed reactions online.

“Today, Marty and I had a great meeting with Killer Mike,” the governor wrote in post on Twitter Wednesday. “We discussed how small businesses and the music industry are weathering the pandemic, the value of our skilled trade workers, and our fight to end human trafficking in Georgia. We look forward to seeing him again soon!” While the mood of the tweet was optimistic, many of the replies were anything but. Commentors accused Mike of allowing himself to be used as a prop, likening this instance to his previous admitted faux pas in sitting down in good faith for an interview with the NRA, only to have the footage edited to make him seem like an enthusiastic supporter — even though points were made.

Likewise, many commenters pointed out that the incumbent Brian Kemp had purged thousands of voters from rolls just ahead of the last election against Stacey Abrams — an action many say constitutes voter suppression and has Kemp facing federal investigation. Kemp’s also under fire for proposing a ban on face mask orders in the state, despite clear evidence that mandating masks helps slow the spread of viruses like the COVID-19 coronavirus.

In light of these actions, Mike’s meeting with the governor is likely disappointing to those who normally admire his outspoken political views and music. But Mike’s also a small business owner himself — one whose employees are also being affected by the pandemic. He’s also been a proponent of business ownership for Black people himself and is likely trying to be a voice of reason for the Kemp administration, even though he was a big part of Stacey Abrams’ campaign a few years ago. However, Twitter is no place for nuance, so while Mike has supporters, he’s also facing another big backlash. You can read some of the tweets below.

Everyone knows Mariah Carey is crowned as the unofficial queen of Christmas, but some may be surprised she’s also a self-proclaimed super fan of the 2004 cult classic film Mean Girls. Carey recently had the opportunity to be quizzed on Mean Girls trivia with director and writer Tina Fey, and she nailed each question. In fact, the singer did so well that she vied for a spot in Fey’s upcoming remake of the film.

Carey and Fey joined together virtually for an installment of Billboard‘s series Quizzed. Fey tested the singer’s knowledge of film, like which Christmas song the main characters performed at their school’s talent show. Carey aced the question but said she wished they had chosen one of her Christmas songs instead.

“We’re gonna make another movie of it, so if you want to license us that song for the movie and also be in the movie, just say nothing now and we’ll consider it legally binding,” Fey quipped. “Just laugh and it’ll be legally binding.” Though Fey was joking, Carey was on board about the idea of making a cameo. “I’ll make a brand new Christmas song for them to use in the movie,” Carey replied. “I definitely want to be in it as well! I don’t know, maybe I can be friends with Amy Poehler as, like, her other friend that wears sweatsuits.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Carey revealed she relates to many of the Mean Girls characters, including the main character Cady’s obsession with bully Regina George: “I didn’t fit in at all being mixed race and moving 13, 14 times, and having a Black father and white mother and everybody was like, ‘Who is this weirdo?’ So I was mean because I was just trying to fit in and that was the only way I could fit in.”

Watch Tina Fey quiz Mariah Carey on Mean Girls trivia above.

As Hollywood cautiously prepares to resume more film productions, the groundbreaking LED set created for The Mandalorian might be Disney’s magic bullet for getting its Marvel movies back on track.

Despite the pandemic, the hit bounty hunting series never wavered from its course and will premiere its second season in October. Showrunner Jon Favreau is also confident that the third season will have a smooth ride, thanks to the StageCraft technology that Industrial Light and Magic built for the show. That success has prompted Disney to aggressively expand StageCraft to its other productions starting with Thor: Love and Thunder. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that director Taika Waititi worked on the first season of The Mandalorian and has experience with the filmmaking tech.

Like its predecessor, Love and Thunder will film in Australia where ILM is hard at work installing a new StageCraft set at Fox Studios Australia. Installations are also being built in Manhattan Beach in California, where The Mandalorian currently films, and Pinewood Studios in London. However, ILM is significantly upping the game when it comes to the new sets. Via The Hollywood Reporter:

According to the company, the newest stages are larger, use more LED panels than ILM’s original stage and offer higher resolution. “When combined with Industrial Light & Magic’s expert visual effects talent, motion capture experience, facial capture via Medusa, Anyma, and Flux, and the innovative production technology developed by ILM’s newly integrated Technoprops team, we believe we have a unique offering for the industry,” said Rob Bredow, head of ILM.

In essence, StageCraft is a massive room with wall-to-wall LED screens, which allowed The Mandalorian production to swap out photorealistic locations on the fly. Often referred to as “The Volume,” this new technology, which relies heavily on the same engine that powers Fortnite, was featured heavily in Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, and its results were impressive. Numerous sequences from The Mandalorian that appeared to be shot outdoors or on location were actually created in The Volume, and it’s almost impossible to notice even after seeing the backgrounds change before your eyes.

Needless to say, the ability to effortlessly switch locations and set designs will be a major asset as film productions seek to minimize travel and take necessary precautions in this new pandemic age.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

The return of the NBA inside the Disney World Bubble has offered a brief semblance of normalcy for basketball fans. The players are the same. The postseason format has not changed. The referees are still frustrating a different fanbase every night. And yet, this has been an entirely new viewing experience. Like everything else, normal isn’t exactly how things were before the global pandemic, but a version of it that tries its best to emulate what we once had.

As I watched the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics open their second round matchup last week, I started to track everything I missed from a normal basketball viewing experience while watching the game. This idea only served to prove my point almost too well.

I missed Kyle Lowry’s player intro, where he forces all of his teammates into exercise routines. I missed the obligatory “ref you suck” chant that would break out at Scotiabank Arena after consecutive foul calls against the home team in the first half of a playoff game. After a key basket, I expected the television broadcast to cut to thousands of fans cheering outside the arena at Jurassic Park. I even yearned to hear this very specific Flintstones “yabba dabba doo” sound effect the game operations team plays after every Fred VanVleet basket. Don’t tell Raptors fans this last one, but when they lost the first two games to start the series, I found myself missing the nervous energy inside the arena that would permeate whenever the playoffs got a bit too stressful.

This year has been many things, and we all have our own set of circumstances which have dictated just how much we’ve had to rearrange out day-to-day lives. We’re settling into this new reality while making sure to not get too comfortable, because we’re all holding on to hope that things will trend towards normalcy soon. Watching Bubble basketball on my television and counting all of the things that I missed, it’s hard not to think about the people essential to the gameday experience and how they’re adapting to things that have changed about their lives.

Back in late February, Jonathan Joubran — a business account executive who is part of the Raptors gameday interactive crew — was in a hurry to finish cleaning up at the arena after a Friday night loss to the Charlotte Hornets, since he had made plans with friends to hang out after the game. It would be the last time he stepped foot inside Scotiabank Arena before the season was suspended in early March.

“If I knew that would be our last game,” Joubran says, “I would have savored the moment as long as possible.”

Joubran’s main goal on gameday is to amp up the home crowd. He’s become known as “Flag Guy,” since he’s the one who will follow the players on the court when they come out of the tunnel at the start of warmups, waving a flag with a different slogan, whether it be “We The North” or “Let’s Go Raptors.”

Joubran is also responsible for running a Lowry flag across the length of the court every time the Raptors point guard scores in a game, and remembers when Lowry scored 20 points in a fourth quarter comeback against the Dallas Mavericks earlier this season. “It was pretty great cardio,” he says, laughing.

Like everyone else, Joubran has been forced to watch this year’s Raptors playoff run from home. The league is playing in empty arenas without fans inside the Walt Disney campus. There are no fans to keep entertained and occupied. Joubran, like many others, was expecting the new experience of watching basketball to be extremely different. So far, he has been pleasantly surprised by how rarely he realizes the players are in an empty gym. “It’s not noticeable at all,” Joubran says. “The broadcasters have done a great job.”

While there are television analysts currently situated inside the Bubble, the majority of broadcasters are making it work from a remote location. This includes Jack Armstrong, who has been part of Raptors broadcasts for over 20 seasons.

Armstrong now works out of a remote studio in Oakville, Ontario, where he does have some experience setting up shop. A number of years ago, Armstrong did a series of remote broadcasts while Canada’s men’s national basketball team played in a qualifying tournament in Brazil.

“We did the game in the morning,” Armstrong says. “I was in the studio, and then I had a golf tournament in the afternoon. I drive my car up to the course, and a kid says to me, ‘How did you get here from Brazil?’ I said, ‘I’ll let you in on a little secret. I have a private jet.’”

Armstrong says his job remains very much the same, even if everything else is different. He still follows his routine of spending the hours leading up to tip-off pouring over his notes, reading and researching in order to provide fans with the most useful information during a broadcast. “My job is to inform and entertain,” Armstrong says.

What has been taken away, and the part Armstrong misses the most about his job, is the face-to-face interactions at the arena. Conversations with players and coaches before games are great, while scouts, referees, and media members can provide a tidbit that would be useful for the broadcast. As much a storyteller as he is an analyst, Armstrong admits it is an adjustment trying to call a game remotely, rather than seeing all the details unfold in front of you.

“I think people will have a greater appreciation of each other and the value of human relationships when we’re able to gradually come out of this,” Armstrong says. “As much as technology has helped our society grow, in other ways, it has put up walls and barriers. The only way it can be broken down is with person-to-person interactions, that human connection that sparks so many things.”

The announcers play a crucial role in putting familiar voices over the action for those sitting at home. But to give those playing some semblance of home court advantage (outside of having your own virtual fans and your team logo digitally imposed on the court), the league brought four DJs to the Bubble to assist with creating a familiar arena environment for each team.

A former Wisconsin Player of the Year and overseas pro basketball player, Shawna Nicols — a.k.a. DJ Shawna — has been DJing for 17 years. This season, Nicols became the official in-arena DJ for the Milwaukee Bucks. While players and coaches weighed the pros and cons of joining the Bubble, Nicols had no reservations about coming to the campus. She got the call from the NBA while quarantining at home in Milwaukee and not working.

“This is the best that I’ve felt [during the pandemic] in terms of having a purpose,” she says.

Nicols has worked at large sporting events and concerts, including at the Women’s Final Four and as an opener for Lizzo. The Bubble presented an entirely different challenge. Nicols would not only be providing a soundtrack at the arena without fans, but she also had to learn the musical preferences of players on 22 different teams at the Bubble. To prepare, she spoke with game directors from different teams. The helpful ones would pass along tips on what specific players liked to hear on game days. Nicols supplemented those tips with her own research, paying attention to songs and artists players were sharing to their social media feeds.

In the Bubble, Nicols’ job is about servicing the players. “You’re just looking to add value to their experience,” Nicols says. “I look for moments when players are dancing, vibing or just singing along. It’s cool just knowing you’re impacting them in a positive way.” Feedback can be difficult to come by — Nicols can sometimes see positive cues during warmups from where she is DJing, but the best feedback she received came after the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round.

As LeBron James walked off the court, he heard “Smooth Operator” and broke into a full dance which quickly went viral. The song choice wasn’t a coincidence — Nicols had been studying James’ music taste on Instagram and knew he was a fan of Sade. When Chadwick Boseman passed away after a years-long battle with cancer, Nicols incorporated songs from the Black Panther soundtrack into her setlist. After the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic returned to the court following the players’ strike to play their rescheduled Game 5 of the first round, Nicols went with Childish Gambino’s “This is America” as the clock hit zero during warmups. A few days earlier, Nicols was going through her pregame playlist in the arena when she found out the Bucks weren’t going to take the floor. It’s a moment that has stayed with her.

“When they did not show up for warm ups,” Nicols says. “I had never been more proud to be part of the Bucks [organization].”

As Nichols works to add a familiar touch to the proceedings, vacancies on both baselines are decidedly unfamiliar. While watching The Last Dance, I couldn’t help but think about the photographers who helped capture all of Michael Jordan’s most iconic playoff moments. While highlight videos that flood our social media feeds during a game are nice, these lasting images help define the most important moments of every season. One of the people who followed Jordan’s career and is still shooting for the NBA is Nathaniel Butler, who arrived inside the Bubble near the end of the first round.

When the season was suspended in March, Butler had no idea if there would even be a postseason, let alone whether he should be shooting them. When we spoke, Butler was on his third day quarantining in his hotel room at Disney. Despite leaving just once a day to walk down to hall for a COVID-19 test, Butler focused on the positives, including an exercise bike in his room which was gifted by the recently-departed Brooklyn Nets.

Like Nicols, Butler didn’t mind having to deal with being cooped up in a hotel for a week. “I was jonesing to do it,” Butler says. “For better or worse, and mostly better, we’re all basketball junkies.”

For everyone who has been forced to change their day-to-day routine, and are now making adjustments to how they approach covering a basketball game, being able to be part of this new gameday experience makes them appreciate things even more, even if it’s in a limited capacity.

“It reinforces once again how much I love the game and how much I miss the game,” Armstrong says. “Hopefully, they find a vaccine, and little by little, we’re able to gradually come out of this.”

Seeing Butler’s playoff photos from inside the Bubble on my Instagram feed this past week has been a welcoming slice of normalcy. For now, that will have to do. Butler, like everyone else, wonders when things will return to as they were before, or if they will at all. For photographers, the lack of live sporting events and concerts means a significant decrease in potential work. That isn’t likely to change in the immediate future.

While the people involved in the NBA gameday experience are making it work for now, no one is really trying to think too far ahead.

“I genuinely don’t know what the new normal will be,” Butler says. “I don’t know what the future is going to hold. It’s a little unnerving for sure.”

Mulatto is the Queen Of Da Souf on her debut album, but in her Cole Bennett-directed video for “On God” from the freshly released project, she is master of a colorful universe. The video casts men as her accessories, playing everything from coat racks to (ahem) bathroom fixtures. Bennett’s usual surrealism is fully present as Mulatto hits the shops with her girls (fellow rapper Coi Leray makes a cameo in some wild-printed pants), uses a men’s restroom as the guys look on, and twerks in a lemon-colored bedroom bedecked in matching retro furniture.

The former teen reality star has made good on her early promise after turning down the deal offered by Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def Records upon winning the first season of The Rap Game. First, she was hand-picked by Cardi B to make a cameo in the exceedingly viral “WAP” video, then she secured a feature from her hero Gucci Mane on her lead single “Muwop.” The same week she released her hotly-anticipated debut full-length, she was announced as a 2020 XXL Freshman, and she has yet to push the brakes, dropping the video for her single “Youngest N Richest,” and featuring on G-Eazy’s rap comeback single “Down” and Chloe X Halle’s girl power-fueled remix to their hit song, “Do It” with City Girls and Doja Cat. It’s Mulatto’s world now; we’re all just living in it (hopefully she remembers to flush).

Watch Mulatto’s “On God” video above.

There was period, thankfully brief, when it seemed like the opening credits sequence was becoming a dying art in television. It doesn’t help that you can just click “skip intro” during a Netflix binge and get straight to the money shot. But for every show with absent or irrelevant opening titles, there are an equal number of notably great contemporary opening title sequences — Succession, Game Of Thrones, The Americans. Most shows on HBO or FX have solid intros.

When Phil Rosenthal, creator of Everybody Loves Raymond and current host of Somebody Feed Phil, took his food show to Netflix, a memorable theme song was one of his first requirements. As he told us a few years back, “[A theme song] adds a lot. Suddenly, you think of the show, you think of the song and that’s something that is in your head. It brands the show with a feeling.”

Which raises the obvious question: what were the best opening themes in television? It’s a fun thing to think about, because as soon as you start naming favorites, you realize just how many incredible opening themes there have been. Some of the golden ages for opening theme songs have been 70s-80s detective shows, late 80s family comedies, and a brief period in the early aughts where the punky indie bands I loved got to write theme songs for mainstream television songs for some reason (weird, but weird-cool). Sometimes the music itself is so good that it gets you pumped for the show. Sometimes the show is so good that it creates a Pavlovian response to the music, even if the music itself is kind of bad. The best are a little of both. I tend to favor the major key, openly cheesy bangers that make you want to run through a wall.

The Worst

Amazing America With Sarah Palin

I’m only including this because I came across it during my research and I needed to spread it around to keep it from poisoning my brain. Remember Madison Rising, “America’s Most Patriotic Band?” For Sarah Palin’s short-lived travel show for the Sportsman Channel, they wrote this theme song, which includes the brain-melting couplet from the snowy passes to the desert sun/the dogs and the horses and the trucks and the guns...

The crazy thing is, I’m not even sure that’s the worst lyric. Whenever you think politics is too stupid these days just remember Sarah Palin. This song is so bad I need Scott Stapp’s Florida Marlins pump up song as a palate cleanser.

Now, moving on…

The Best

25. The Sopranos

Almost every person who helped me brainstorm this list mentioned The Sopranos. I get it! It’s one of the best shows of all time. I even do a podcast about it. The theme song definitely has that Pavlovian quality of setting the tone and putting you in the mood for a great show. However, and I’m sorry if I start offending people right out the gate here, but separated from the show this is an objectively terrible song. It comes from that thankfully brief, strange era where quasi-techno, hipster whisper songs were all the rage (some of the Dust Brothers songs from the Private Parts soundtrack come to mind). The most interesting thing about the Alabama 3 is reading the descriptions of the band members on Wikipedia:

CURRENT
Rob Spragg a.k.a. Larry Love: vocals
Orlando Harrison a.k.a. The Spirit: keyboards, keyboard bass, vocals
Mark Sams a.k.a. Rock Freebase: guitar, bass guitar
Steve Finnerty a.k.a. LOVEPIPE: production, guitar and vocals
Jonny Delafons a.k.a. L. B. Dope: drums, percussion
Greg Fleming a.k.a. Wizard: sequencer and effects
Aurora Dawn: vocals
Be Atwell The Reverend Be Atwell: vocals
Nick Reynolds a.k.a. Harpo Strangelove: harmonica, percussion, vocals

FORMER
Jake Black a.k.a. The Very Reverend D.Wayne Love: vocals (d. 2019)
Brian O’Horain, “Paddy Love”: vocals
John Jennings a.k.a. Segs: backing vocals, bass guitar
Zoe Devlin a.k.a. Devlin Love: vocals
Simon (The Dude) Edwards a.k.a. Sir Eddie Real: percussion, vocals
Piers Marsh a.k.a. The Mountain of Love: Synths, programming, harmonica
Marianna Little Eye Ty: dancer
Laura Lady Love dancer: dancer
Robert “Hacker” Jessett : a.k.a El Comandante: harmonica, guitar, backing vocals
Rob Bailey : guitar

This band has NINE MEMBERS (and one LOVEPIPE). That was a shocker. I would’ve bet the house that it was one guy in a leather fedora. Hey, didn’t LOVEPIPE write “The Freshman?”

24. Friends

Another song I don’t really love (“I’ll Be There For You,” by The Rembrandts) but feel compelled to include for reasons of ubiquity. I remember my high school band playing the Friends theme song during half time shows. It was that iconic. Divorced from the show it was introducing… I don’t know how well it holds up. It falls into the category of “guess you had to be there,” but it’s inextricably bound up in television history.

23. The Simpsons

Another song I’m putting on here because it has to be on here. No shade, Danny Elfman is probably my favorite of the famous-ish film composers, but I think any song tends to lose its novelty after 32 straight years. Overuse aside, you can’t deny the tone-setting quality of this entire sequence, which, like language, is just mutable enough to adapt to new situations and circumstances.

Of the shows that have run for 32 straight years, The Simpsons is the only one with the same theme song. I mean, I’m assuming. Do not make me look this up.

22. The Deuce

The Deuce, in my mind, is almost a perfect show, and it bugs me that it didn’t seem like many people were watching it. I loved Game Of Thrones and Succession too, but it felt wrong somehow that they drowned out what was otherwise one of the best shows ever made. Oh, you wouldn’t watch a show with two James Francos? Philistine. Give me the show where James Franco plays triplets. Make him a quintuplet. Every season add a new James Franco.

Anyway, The Deuce had a different theme song each season, and I can’t decide whether I prefer the Elvis Costello version or the Blondie. They’re kind of cheating because both were reasonably well-known songs before the show, but the mix of music and archival footage make them both more than the sum of their parts.

21. (Tie) Family Matters and Blossom

Both these shows were pretty terrible but you have to admit, they really went for it in the theme songs. They come from basically the same “stop being sad, we have TV!” genre of early 90s TGIF schmaltz. (Whoa)

20. Green Acres

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this show. I don’t even really know what it was about. Some rich people moving to the sticks? I want to say it was a proto-Schitt’s Creek on a farm, starring one of the Gabors. Anyway, as soon as someone mentions it I automatically think of this catchy ass riff. Deer nert na-neer nert NERT NERT!

19. Beverly Hillbillies

Speaking of sixties shows, the Beverly Hillbillies theme isn’t a great song per se, but it does an incredible job of catchily explaining the entire premise of the show in a bite-sized rhyme. Think of the work this song is doing. It’s essentially the Fresh Prince Of Bel Air for Boomers.

18. Laverne and Shirley

Laverne and Shirley is another show I’m fairly sure I’ve never seen an episode of, yet for some reason, I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that the rejoinder to “schlamiel” is “…schlimazel, hosenfeffer incorporated.”

I don’t have any idea what those words mean and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t matter. This theme song is imprinted in my brain, and it seems to have happened almost entirely by osmosis. It’s an incredible achievement. Mostly I just want to live in a world where a show about two young ladies working blue-collar jobs at a Milwaukee brewery with a theme song full of random Yiddish could still exist. And this was back when there were four channels! The Laverne & Shirley theme isn’t a great song so much as a wonder of the world.

17. Growing Pains

Growing Pains is very much in the same vein as Blossom and Family Matters, but slightly elevated, in my opinion, with Michael Bolton-esque chest belting and a sweet duet. “Don’t waste another miiiinute on your cryin…”

I enjoy that the premise of all these songs is that people are very sad about the world and just need to see a nice family on TV as a break from it all.

16. Simon And Simon

The sheer number of gutbuster theme sequences to 70s-80s detective shows is truly incredible. For like 15 years I think these were the only types of shows that were made. Whereas these days, we have a bunch of science nerds talking about stool samples in a crime lab somewhere, in the ’70s and ’80s, it was all fluffy-haired men in Pendleton sweaters driving muscle cars and smirking wryly while hot witnesses sauntered by. Anyway, in terms of funk-rock opening themes to shows about similarly-named men, I think Simon and Simon is clearly superior to Hart to Hart.

15. Golden Girls

The Golden Girls theme song slaps. I make no apologies for it. It’s the same basic theme as “I’ll Be There For You” only it wholeheartedly embraces its own earnestness. It’s hard to find a more apt tone-setter than this one. Isn’t friendship great? Now here are yours, the people from the TV!

14. Rockford Files

You could make a case that Rockford Files is the single greatest private detective show opening theme song ever written. Is that… a moog synthesizer fading into a harmonica? God damn that rips. According to Wikipedia: “For more than forty years, the British soccer team Tranmere Rovers have used the Rockford theme as walk-out music for most games. Occasionally it has been dropped, and then restored by popular demand.”

That song is so good it makes me want to go to Liverpool to watch football. Also: I never watched The Rockford Files. Is he just a handsome Colombo? Discuss.

13. Frasier

I don’t know whether I actually like the Frasier theme song or if I just appreciate that it’s one of the weirdest things that’s ever existed. Kelsey Grammer doing a lounge lizard version of himself, scat singing “scrambled eggs all OVAH mah face, ha-ha HA-ha!” God, what an absolute weirdo. It’s like he came out of the womb rich and eccentric.

I like to think that for all his roles, “Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs” is the most telling glimpse into Kelsey Grammer’s actual personality.

12. Ducktales

There are probably a ton of great cartoon opening theme songs that could go in here but I’m too lazy to look them all up. “Ducktales,” though, is a certified banger upon which all can agree. I’ve heard that bassline was actually banned in three states on account of inciting obscene gyrations. It’s true, look it up, dude.

11. Get A Life

Get A Life, starring Chris Elliott as a 30-year-old paperboy, ran for only two seasons in the early ’90s, but I remember it fondly despite almost certainly not being old enough to understand it. It had Charlie Kaufman and Bob Odenkirk on the writing staff, and I think this is my favorite bit from the Wikipedia excerpt:

The show was unconventional for a prime time sitcom, and many times the storylines of the episodes were surreal. For example, Elliott’s character actually dies in twelve episodes. The causes of death included being crushed by a giant boulder, old age, tonsillitis, stab wounds, gunshot wounds, falling from an airplane, strangulation, getting run over by cars, choking on cereal, and simply exploding.

Incredible. Long overdue for a rewatch.

Anyway, the theme music is a catchy REM song to begin with, but it also works perfectly with the credits, which start with the little bike bell and then build the entire time, changing keys, and then ending with that percussive little thump when Chris Elliott crumples on top of the car hood. It’s sneaky brilliant. Every Vine and TikTok with a sound fx match as the punchline owes a debt to Get A Life.

10. Malcolm In The Middle

The overly distressed, grunge-style titles are such an anachronism that it’s hard to believe Malcolm in the Middle is only 20 years old. But I think Malcolm in the Middle‘s obviously anachronistic elements tend to disguise the fact that it was actually pretty good show. It had Bryan Cranston playing a sitcom dad, for God’s sake. It was a kind of smarter, weirder, single-cam version of Married With Children, with all due respect to Married With Children, whose existence helped make Malcolm possible. And you know they had to have pretty good taste because they used a They Might Be Giants song for the opening credits.

9. Drew Carey

As long as I’m just putting opening theme songs on here because I like the bands, I couldn’t leave off “Cleveland Rocks,” by The Presidents of the United States of America for the Drew Carey Show. Sure, they had “Lump” and “Peaches,” but I feel like POTUSA never quite got their due. But considering it was a band made up of one guy playing a three-string guitar, another playing a two-string bass, a drummer with a tiny drum kit that looked like a toy, and lyrics that sounded like a weird fart dad singing mild gross-out humor to his kid on a porch, maybe it’s a wonder that they ever had any hits to begin with. There’s something very “rural hijinks” about them that probably doesn’t play well in cities. Anyway, they’re great.

8. The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Probably the greatest evidence that the art of the opening theme song isn’t dead is The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, from 2015, which manages to explain its entire premise in an autotune-the-news style using a fake news clip from a show-within-a-show. I’m glad I’m not high as I write this because it’s pretty out there when you think about it.

7. The Jeffersons

Movin’ on up/tooo the eeeast side…

Are there more soul/gospel-style opening theme songs that I don’t know about? There must be. I suppose there’s Good Times, but it feels less iconic.

6. Magnum PI

Of all the 70-80s cop and detective shows with theme songs that are unsubtle homages to Shaft (and there are MANY), Magnum PI‘s is probably the best. Like the theme song for The Rockford Files, this one was written by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter, who could clearly write the hell out of a cheesy pump-up song. I also appreciate that this era of opening credits basically covered every possible iteration of the plot of the show that you were about to watch. The intro sequence to Magnum PI is so thorough that it actually jumps the shark mid-credits (a rodeo clown? what the hell?). Just an incredible television time capsule.

5. The Muppet Show

I wasn’t really alive for it, but from watching old clips, it’s clear that The Muppet Show was genius on so many levels and it sort of makes me wish I was around for the heyday of far-out, drug-fueled children’s television. I watch this and try to imagine what all the hippies looked like sneaking around under the stage with their hands over their heads. I bet puppeteers get super weird. I bet they party.

Music was always a big part of the Muppet experience and the theme song, written by Jim Henson and Sam Pottle is fairly representative. Even with all the technology we have now, it’s wild how much more visually inviting puppets are than animation ever could be, computer or otherwise.

4. The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air

Now, I would never sit here and tell you that the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air theme song is the hottest jam I’ve ever heard. As a stand-alone song, it’s just okay. But it’s also a song that basically every American aged 25-50 years old knows the words to by heart, an achievement virtually unmatched by any other single piece of music, theme song or otherwise. In terms of songs Americans know the lyrics to, “The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air” theme song is probably second only to “Happy Birthday” (third is “All Star,” by Smash Mouth).

Picking up where the Beverly Hillbillies left off (and not entirely dissimilar in plot) it also maps out the entire premise of the show in meticulous detail without ever feeling like it’s trying to convey too much. Why even bother with a pilot episode when you’ve got this song? It’s all right there.

I don’t think they even make cultural touchstones like this anymore.

3. Baywatch

Speaking of towering cultural achievements, the Baywatch theme song and opening sequence is one of America’s greatest cultural exports, up there with blue jeans and strategic bombing. It’s… perfect, really. It’s somehow cheesy, dramatic, and entirely earnest at the same time, perfect for a show that imagined lifeguarding as a sexy, dangerous, glamour-filled profession (I was a lifeguard at the city pool, where I had to keep people in the surrounding houses from shooting people on the diving boards with a BB gun. It was only semi-glamorous).

For a show about a lifeguard who named his son after a catamaran (lotta people forget that), you might expect a theme song that was more laidback, some country-fried Jimmy Buffet tune about living the sweet life in the sun. Instead, we got this Bruce Hornsby-meets-Phil Collins arena banger about the noble calling of constant vigilance, courtesy of Jimi Jamison from Survivor (who was also in the bands Target and Cobra). Fun fact I learned while researching this: Jamison has the lyrics from “I’ll Be Ready” on his tombstone. And why wouldn’t he?

I don’t think Baywatch would’ve become a thing without the opening credits sequence. In fact, it was canceled after one season in its initial run, when the theme song was “Save Me,” by Peter Cetera (which honestly isn’t bad).

Then Hasselhoff and his partners bought it, put it into syndication with the new theme song, and it ended up being broadcast in 142 different countries. Such is the power of “I’ll Be There For You.”

In America, it’s easy to explain Baywatch‘s popularity: we just wanted to watch hot people wearing red underpants run around in slow motion. But in Europe? They have exposed nipples in ads for children’s cigarettes over there, what did a land of topless beaches care about a bunch of dorks in one-pieces? It’s incomprehensible until you remember that Europeans can’t get enough goofy pop-rock. With “I’ll Be Ready” introducing it, Baywatch was basically a Eurovision Song Contest skit. It was glorious. I’ll never forget the episode where the lifeguards had to fight a crocodile.

2. Wonder Years

As much as I enjoy bagging on Boomers for making us relive the ’60s for the duration of our natural born lives, even I’m not enough of a monster not to enjoy Wonder Years. Its pitch-perfect opening credits, home movies set to Joe Cocker’s white boy soul cover of the Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends” set the tone perfectly for an unabashedly melodramatic sixties coming-of-age tale. How iconic is it? There’s even a Simpsons parody version.

1. Cheers

Yes, my number one is Cheers. It kind of just sweeps you away, doesn’t it? The root of every story is people and place, and the Cheers theme (written by Gary Portnoy and Julie Hart Angelo) is somehow hyperspecific without ever showing a real image of an actual cast member. The actors’ names juxtaposed with historical photographs is a unique touch that as far as I know has never been replicated, especially the way they found historical analogues for all the characters. I can’t read the name Les Charles without thinking of a smug guy in a bowler hat.

FontsinUse did an interesting breakdown of how this was all created some years back:

For the Emmy award-winning title sequence, Castle/Bryant/Johnsen departed from the standard sitcom formula of introducing the cast by showing them in corny poses or scenes from the series. Instead, they collected archival illustrations and photographs of bar life, culled from books, private collections, and historical societies. They hand-tinted the images and paired them with typography inspired by a turn-of-the-century aesthetic. The look is old tavern — but think Tiffany lamps and Chesterfield sofas, not spurs and six-shooters. The vintage imagery is a tribute to the long history of the fictional bar where the series is set. The sign outside Cheers says the bar was established in 1895 (though at least two episodes indicate that this date was made up by the bar’s ownership).

Additionally, yes, there is possibly transphobic (?) lost verse that got edited out:

Roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee’s dead
The morning’s looking bright
And your shrink ran off to Europe
And didn’t even write
And your husband wants to be a girl

Anyway, it was the 80s. Content-wise, the Cheers theme basically combines the themes of Friends (your life is going shitty!) and the TGIF schmaltz (the world is terrible, but you’re with family now!) but applies them to a gang of lovable drunks at your local bar. How could you not love it? Also, the show still holds up.

Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.