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Snoop Dogg Commemorates Nipsey Hussle’s 35th Birthday With The Heartbroken ‘Nipsey Blue’

Tomorrow (August 15) would have been Nipsey Hussle’s 35th birthday, but of course, the rapper was tragically killed in 2019. It’s been nearly a year-and-a-half since his death, and the Los Angeles icon is still sorely missed. Fellow California rapper Snoop Dogg didn’t want to let Hussle’s birthday past without commemorating the occasion, so he has done so today with a new song, “Nipsey Blue.”

The song is heavily based on a sample of “Misty Blue” by Dorothy Moore and it features Snoop singing over Moore’s vocals, but tweaking the lyrics to more directly address Hussle. For example, Snoop sings on the chorus, “Oh, it’s been such a long, long time / Looks like I’d get you off my mind / But I can’t / Just the thought of you / Turns my whole world Nipsey Blue.”

Not long after the death of Hussle (who apparently almost portrayed Snoop in a biopic), Snoop praised him and compared his impact to that of Jesus, saying, “Look at the impact that he had, the same impact Jesus had. A lot of people didn’t know him, but they sure wanted to know about him once he passed away. Then once they found out about him, they understood what his legacy was about. Now, his legacy is living even bigger with him not being here. So that’s why I say, ‘I ain’t never seen Jesus, but I’ve been hearing about him.’”

Listen to “Nipsey Blue” above.

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

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‘Mission: Impossible 7’ Has Suffered Another Setback After A Motorcycle Stunt Gone Wrong

Tom Cruise and writer/director Christopher McQuarrie have been working over time to get production restarted on Mission: Impossible 7, but just as things were starting to turn around for the action spy movie that’s been stuck in a holding pattern due to the pandemic, filming has already been shut down after a motorcycle crash led to a $2 million fire on set.

The good news is nobody was hurt, and surprisingly, Cruise wasn’t part of the stunt. (He was filming with parachutes in a separate area, so just assume he was busy plummeting to the earth as Tom Cruise does.) According to the Daily Mail a multimillion dollar setback occurred when a motorcycle exploded during a stunt. The Sun has more fiery details about how the stuntman missed his mark:

“The idea was for the stuntman to land on some huge pillows filled with card to cushion the blow, while the bike safely crashed to the ground a few metres away.

“Unfortunately, it was miscalculated.

“The heat and the friction of the tyres meant that when the bike crashed, the cardboard padding sparked and went up in flames. The smoke was so bad they had to close a nearby RAF airfield.

Production on the film has now been delayed (again) due to the fire damage, and Cruise is reportedly “frustrated.” The actor has been anxious to get Mission: Impossible 7 back on track ever since it was one of the first films to shut down during the pandemic. He’s been personally contacting government officials in Norway to grease the wheels so the film can make its 2021 release.

The motorcycle crash also arrives just as writer/director McQuarrie defused a growing controversy over the production allegedly blowing up a historic bridge in Poland. A media outcry threatened to derail that explosive stunt, but it appears that things were smoothed over only for disaster to strike again.

(Via Daily Mail & The Sun)

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Ryan Reynolds Is Trolling Everyone By Launching ‘The World’s Most Affordable Streaming Service’

Between Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Peacock, CBS All Access, and more (Quibi?), there’s so many streaming services to keep up with these days. Too many? Well, Ryan Reynolds is done with the very serious business of last week and has moved onto more pressing matters… like launching another streaming service! Sort-of.

“Every tech company needs a streaming service. So…” the Detective Pikachu star tweeted. “introducing Mint Mobile +. The world’s most affordable streaming service!”

A few hangups here. The streaming service is actually “free,” although if one visits the website, you’ll only see one movie available for streaming: 2003’s Foolproof, a Canadian heist film starring Reynolds and Kristin Booth.

Odeon Films

There’s also a section that teases some “unoriginals,” but don’t get too excited. Reynolds also announced that his “crack data team” advised him to shut down the service by this weekend and return “to focusing on premium wireless.” This, of course, is all only an add for Mint Mobile, the phone company for which Reynolds purchased an ownership stake in 2019. At the time, he joked that, in order to keep the mobile service affordable to customers, he’d only be paying himself $15 per month.

Well, enjoy Mint Mobile+ for a few days, folks. This isn’t quite as funny as continuing the Peloton Lady’s story for Aviation Gin, but it’ll do.

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The Bulls Fired Jim Boylen After Two Seasons

The Chicago Bulls are in the market for a new head coach. The team announced on Friday morning that Jim Boylen, whose two-year tenure at the helm of the franchise was noted for its issues getting off the ground back in 2018, has been fired, and a search to figure out his replacement will begin immediately.

“After doing a comprehensive evaluation and giving the process the time it deserved, I ultimately decided that a fresh approach and evolution in leadership was necessary,” Artūras Karnišovas, the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations, said in a statement. “This was a very difficult decision, but it is time for our franchise to take that next step as we move in a new direction and era of Chicago Bulls basketball. Jim is a great human being that cares deeply about this organization and the game of basketball. I want to thank him for his professionalism and commitment to the franchise.”

Boylen took over following the team’s decision to part ways with Fred Hoiberg. From the jump, there appeared to be serious issues, as Bulls players no-showed a practice following a blowout loss they suffered early on in his tenure. While he eventually cleared the air with star guard Zach LaVine, this never translated into consistent winning, as Chicago went 39-84 during his time in charge.

A recent report indicated that Boylen’s job was safe due to financial concerns. That didn’t come to fruition, and now, Chicago needs to figure out who will take the reins of its young roster as it looks to usher in a new era.

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A Decade After ‘Never Say Never,’ Justin Bieber And Jaden Are Returning With A New Collaboration

There was actually a time when Justin Bieber didn’t have a bunch of No. 1 singles to his name. His first (in the US) was 2015’s “What Do You Mean?,” which came six years after his debut single. He still had great success before that, though. One of his most popular songs from that era is “Never Say Never,” his collaboration with Jaden Smith (now just Jaden) that is still looked back upon fondly. The song came out in 2010, and now, ten years later, the duo is ready to return with a new song: Today, Jaden put his latest project, CTV3: Cool Tape Vol. 3, up for pre-order, and in the tracklist is “Falling For You,” which features Bieber.

“Never Say Never” is Jaden’s most commercially successful single, as it has achieved 5x Platinum certification. It’s not his highest-charting song, though, as that honor goes to the also-Platinum “Icon,” which peaked at No. 3 in 2017 (versus the No. 8 peak of “Never Say Never”). As for Bieber, although he has had a handful of No. 1 singles since “Never Say Never,” the track is still one of his best-selling songs.

Jaden and Bieber have actually worked together a few times since “Never Say Never.” Jaden features on Bieber’s Believe bonus track “Fairytale,” and he (along with a bunch of other celebrities) made an appearance in Bieber and Ariana Grande’s “Stuck With U” video earlier this year.

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Here’s Everything New On Netflix This Week, Including Jamie Foxx’s ‘Project Power’ And ‘Teenage Bounty Hunters’

Netflix drops a Jamie Foxx-starring superhero flick this week, and this movie looks sick. It’s a sci-fi action-packed romp set in New Orleans with Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and a magic pill that gives you powers for five minutes.

Here’s everything coming to Netflix this week of August 14.

Project Power (Netflix film streaming 8/14)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jamie Foxx star in this insane-looking sci-fi flick that puts a spin on the traditional superhero tale. In this gritty action film, Foxx plays a revenge-driven veteran, and Gordon-Levitt plays a New Orleans cop trying to save his city. both are drawn into a seedy underground of gangs peddling a drug that promises superhuman abilities that come with an expiration date — and possibly a death sentence.

Teenage Bounty Hunters (Netflix series streaming 8/14)

Two teenage fraternal twins get sucked into the wild world of bounty hunting while also attempting to navigate normal high-school matters like dating and study hall within their strict Southern community. This series is executive produced by Jenji Kohan (Orange Is The New Black), so expect plenty of offbeat comedy amid the teenage drama.

GAME ON: A Comedy Crossover Event (Netflix special streaming 8/10)

Netflix is recruiting some of its most popular family sitcoms for a comedy crossover event that’s giving us major TGIF vibes. The casts of The Big Show Show, Mr. Iglesias, Ashley Garcia: Genius in Love, and Family Reunion deliver special episodes of their respective series all with a competitive theme but don’t worry, you don’t have to be a fan of all of them to tune in.

Here’s a full list of what’s been added in the last week:

Avail. 8/8/20
The Promise
We Summon the Darkness

Avail. 8/10/20
GAME ON: A Comedy Crossover Event
Nightcrawler

Avail. 8/11/20
Mr. Peabody & Sherman
Rob Schneider: Asian Momma, Mexican Kids

Avail. 8/12/20
Scary Movie 5
(Un)Well

Avail. 8/13/20
Safety Not Guaranteed
Une fille facile / An Easy Girl

Avail. 8/14/20
3%: Season 4
El robo del siglo
Fearless
Glow Up
: Season 2
Project Power
The Legend of Korra: Book One: Air
The Legend of Korra: Book Two: Spirits
The Legend of Korra: Book Three: Change
The Legend of Korra: Book Four: Balance
Octonauts & the Caves of Sac Actun
Teenage Bounty Hunters

And here’s what’s leaving next week, so it’s your last chance:

Leaving 8/18
The Incident

Leaving 8/19
Some Kind of Beautiful

Leaving 8/20
Bad Rap

Leaving 8/21
Just Go With It

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‘UFC 4’ Is The Most Ready-To-Play UFC Game Yet

While each of the last two iterations of the UFC video game saw relative upgrades over its predecessors, UFC 4 feels like the most significant jump of them all. The game added simplified striking, a new, straightforward submission system, an overhauled career mode, and new fighting environments, making one of the biggest jumps in the series.

After a few hours of gameplay, it’s clear that career mode is the star of this year’s game. Options are endless as you take your fighter on paths you choose: from deciding to fight as an amateur, to the WFA and Dana White’s Contender Series. There’s less concern about picking a camp based on technique, and you can really work on your all-around game with a variety of different training partners and UFC fighters. I haven’t encountered any real-time injuries just yet, but there’s plenty of time for my character to blow out his knee. What I can say is making friends and enemies through social has been a blast, and there’s a sense of realism in fans hitting your mentions and taunting your character even after you achieve a first-round knockout.

UFC 4 is no slouch when it comes to gameplay, either, with the much-needed introduction of Dynamic Striking Inputs. Taking from other combat games, a simple press of the button tosses out a quick strike, while holding the button down throws a slower, but more damaging shot.

“We made the controls everywhere we could less cumbersome, less daunting to learn for new or lapsed players. That includes updates to the striking control scheme, a tap and hold system. We used to have a control scheme, where there are so many strikes you can throw in an MMA fight, we had trouble finding real estate to throw these distinct strikes,” said Brian Hayes, Creative Director for UFC 4, in an interview with Uproxx. “There were times where you used to hold down five buttons at the same time to throw one strike. There’s a lot of complexities there. So with the new Dynamic Striking, there’s no strike in the game that, I believe, requires you to hold down more than three buttons at the same time.”

The presentation of those shots includes more blood splatter and a much clearer indicator if your fighter has been rocked. While the commentary team of Daniel Cormier and Jon Anik lose their minds after a devastating blow, players will see, hear, and feel the impact of a fight-changing shot.

The standup game feels like a nice upgrade, but the clinch system is a mixed bag. I love not having to play the mini-game to transition in and out of the clinch, but things happen so fast once you’ve locked up with your opponent thay it doesn’t feel like you have enough time to make a real impact.

Where UFC 4 really sees the biggest upgrades from a pick-up-and-play standpoint comes on the ground. While legacy players can still use the more advanced controls, holding the right stick left, up, or right can transition fighters into a submission attempt, to get up, or to move into a ground-and-pound position, respectively. The submission attempts are simplified as well, moving away from the two-stick system (it’s still there for legacy players) and instead to one of two basic mini-games. Players also have the ability to strike from the submission phase or deploy a high-impact slam to escape. In an overhauled ground-and-pound system, players pick their spots from the top, while opponents have more tools like head movement and well-timed counter transitions from their backs.

How fighters use these skills is partly dependent on their constantly changing ratings, which UFC 4 introduced this year in partnership with Daniel Cormier.

  1. Amanda Nunes, 5
  2. Jon Jones, 5
  3. Khabib Nurmagomedov, 5
  4. Valentina Schevchenko, 5
  5. Henry Cejudo, 4.5
  6. Israel Adesanjay, 4.5
  7. Weili Zhang, 4.5
  8. Stipe Miocic, 4.5
  9. Georges St-Pierre, 4.5
  10. Kamaru Usman, 4.5
  11. Demetrious Johnson, 4.5
  12. Alex Volkanowski, 4.5
  13. Max Holloway, 4.5
  14. Jorge Masvidal, 4.5
  15. TJ Dillashaw, 4.5
  16. Daniel Cormier, 4.5
  17. Rose Namajunas, 4.5
  18. Justin Gaethje, 4.5
  19. Petr Yan, 4.5
  20. Conor McGregor, 4.5
  21. Deiveson Figueiredo, 4.5
  22. Francis Ngannou, 4.5
  23. Cris Cyborg, 4.5
  24. Tony Ferguson, 4.5
  25. Joanna Jedrzejcyk, 4.5
  26. Marlon Moraes, 4.5
  27. Jose Aldo, 4.5
  28. Tyron Woodley, 4.5
  29. Robert Whittaker, 4.5
  30. Glover Teixeira, 4.5
  31. Yoel Romero, 4.5
  32. Jessica Andrade, 4.5
  33. Aljamain Sterling, 4.5
  34. Curtis Blaydes, 4.5
  35. Alistair Overeem, 4.5
  36. Cain Velasquez, 4.5
  37. Joseph Benavidez, 4.5
  38. Ronaldo Souza, 4.5
  39. Holly Holm, 4.5
  40. Colby Covington, 4.5
  41. Leon Edwards, 4
  42. Rafael Dos Anjos, 4
  43. Dustin Poirier, 4
  44. Ronda Rousey 4
  45. Tatiana Suarez, 4
  46. Cody Garbrandt, 4
  47. Dominick Reyes, 4
  48. Anthony Johnson, 4
  49. Paulo Costa, 4
  50. Darren Till, 4

This would theoretically mean that perennial contenders Cody Garbrandt, Paulo Costa, or Darren Till have an opportunity to supplant Ronda Rousey, who is ranked ahead of all three fighters at No. 44 despite not fighting since 2016.

The final significant addition to this year’s game comes in the form of new environments, the Backyard and Kumite. UFC 4‘s developers wanted to give fans something they hadn’t seen before in a UFC game as we begin the transition to next-gen consoles and the new environments happen to match perfectly with the personalities of the two cover athletes: Jorge Masvidal and Israel Adesanya.

“The big thought was we wanted to make sure, the fourth iteration of the UFC franchise, we wanted to show something different. Something when you see screenshots or the trailer, you can say ‘I have not seen that in a UFC game before.’ We wanted to increase the differentiation from one game to the next,” Hayes says. “The other part, as fight fans, MMA fans, viral fans, martial arts cinema fans, there’s a world there, that exists. There are fighters who started their combat life in the backyard. And there are fighters in the UFC who developed their passion because they watched a martial arts movie. Several fighters in the UFC, there are catalysts from where fighters came from. We wanted to provide something different and something that tapped into the origins of MMA.”

Mix in open weight challenges and a variety of game modes to keep fighters on their toes, and UFC 4 is perhaps the best iteration of the series yet. The game is out now, available on Xbox One and Playstation 4.

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‘Boys State’ And ‘The Swamp’ Are The Perfect Why-America-Is-Totally-Screwed Double Feature

This week we can choose between two very different verité-style political documentaries, but the correct play is to stream them both. Taken together, they explain both why our political system is so screwed up and how we got there. If HBO’s The Swamp depicts how politics-as-sport is subverting the process, A24 and Apple’s Boys State depicts how politics becomes sport in the first place.

The Swamp follows congressman Matt Gaetz, Thomas Massie, Ro Khanna, Katie Hill and a few others in a series of rarely-seen collaborations between the liberal Progressive Caucus and the conservative Freedom Caucus, as they work together to try to claw back some of Congress’s real functions from special interests and the executive branch. Boys State follows the surprisingly intense ceremonial elections at the historic, American Legion mock government program for high school boys, designed to teach them the rudiments of forming governments (in this case following the program in the state of Texas)

If The Swamp offers the logistics on how and the extent to which the political system got so broken, Boys State gives us the Freudian analysis, the story of politics-as-Greek tragedy where we’re undone by our own hubris. Maybe, you think, our system is broken because we are.

In Boys State we watch as René Otero, a black transplant from Chicago, first wins his party chairmanship with a barn burner of a speech, survives an impeachment attempt, and then tries to guide his party’s candidate, Steven Garza, the intensely serious son of an undocumented worker, from stammering outcast to inspiring leader. The question left unsaid is what Boys State‘s leaders are inspiring their voters to actually do. Their positions are entirely ceremonial. Yet this only sharpens the film’s psychological exploration of those who would want to lead the people who vote for them.

Otero and Garza’s foils come in the form Ben Feinstein, a double amputee turned budding Karl Rove who, as chairman of the competing party, weaponizes grievance politics and wedge issues in support of his own candidate, Eddy, a Romney-esque blank slate jock with fluffy hair whose biggest asset seems to be that he looks the part. All the Boys State characters go on life-changing journeys of self-discovery that leave many of them (and us) in tears. It’s equal parts catharsis and death of innocence. You identify with the kids discovering their true selves — some finding the courage in their convictions, others the justification for playing dirty. It’s like watching politics corrupt almost in real-time. Boys State — which counts among its alumni Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney, Mike Huckabee, Samuel Alito — teaches politics as sport, where pupils practice attaining power with no guidance or expectation of what they might do with that power. It’s an extraordinary film, heartening and heartbreaking. If The Swamp fed my brain, Boys State stomped on my heart.

In both movies, we see a consistent tendency to see other Americans as more conservative than they actually are. In Boys State, a program sponsored by the traditionally conservative American Legion in the traditionally conservative state of Texas, it’s not an outlandish assumption. I vaguely remember applying for an American Legion scholarship in my own small town. During the interview, the only question they asked was to present me with a newspaper article about flag burning and ask what I would do about it if I was in charge. Even though I had an inkling even then that it was probably the wrong answer given the room, I offered some response about how part of what the flag actually symbolized was the freedom to protest. They ended up giving the scholarship to my friend Randy, a nerdy son of Japanese-American farmers with crypto-fascist politics, who told them that if he was in charge the protesters would get the death penalty.

Yet when two of Boys State‘s protagonists, René Otero, the black orator from Chicago (requisite allusions to Obama) and Steven Garza, the Mexican-American from Houston, give speeches appealing to the room’s more progressive leanings, they both bring down the house. While it’s fair to point out that both their policy statements are safely centrist and pragmatic, it does feel like we’re watching them discover a silent majority. Partly this may reflect the changing demographics of Texas, an increasingly diverse and urbanized state despite its traditional cowboy image (both Otero and Garza come from the cities).

Yet there’s also a watershed moment when Garza’s primary opponent, Robert MacDougall, a football player who looks like a young Matt Dillon that escaped from a Richard Linklater movie, reveals that he’s actually pro-choice and in favor of background checks for guns. So why had he said the opposite in his speech? Because, he wonders, what is politics if not the art of telling the crowd what they already think in order to attain power for yourself?

Likewise, practically the entire premise of The Swamp is that some of the most “conservative” members of congress — Matt Gaetz, Thomas Massie, and Ken Buck — maybe aren’t as “conservative” as you think, at least in a few key ways. Normally we see them as irredeemable Trumpist MAGAchuds, and mostly they earn it, but the film follows their attempts at bipartisan efforts to win back war powers from the executive branch (despite Gaetz being one of Trump’s most slavish defenders) and Gaetz being the first Republican to publicly swear off PAC money. Gaetz also comes out in defense of Katie Hill during the California Democrat’s revenge porn scandal, even as the Democratic leadership seems to determined railroad her (presumably out of fear of conservative backlash).

Where do these assumptions come from? Why do we always seem to assume less tolerance and forgiveness in others than we assume from ourselves? The unfortunate lesson in both The Swamp‘s depiction of real national politics and in Boys State‘s adolescent simulation is that politics is largely about making noise. And conflict sells. When one of the teenage Machiavellis fans grievance politics and gins up a wedge issue almost out of thin air, we understand why there was so little coverage of the bipartisan initiatives central to The Swamp.

We want to see, or rather we can’t help but gawk at, the fight. That’s what sells ads, it’s what fuels donations, and what moves swing voters, even in fake elections for ceremonial positions for high schoolers. Yet if there’s a big takeaway from both films, it’s that the polarization we’re constantly fed is more strategy than reality. It’s a symptom of a game, not an objective reality. Together, they show how the political system designed to help us work together on the things on which we agree has been gamed to do the opposite.

‘Boys State’ is available August 12th from A24 on AppleTV+. ‘The Swamp’ is available on HBO. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.

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The Best White Whiskeys On The Market, According To Bartenders

We all know that whiskey doesn’t start off with a dark amber hue. Nor does it have those famed hints of vanilla, honey, and rich-oak sweetness. All of those flavor notes come from the aging and barreling processes. But distillers don’t age all of their whiskey. Some of it is bottled up right away and sold as white whiskey. AKA moonshine.

Not surprisingly, not everyone loves this un-aged whiskey style.

“Why wouldn’t you just rest that bad boy in an oak cask for a couple of years?” wonders Kyle Harlan, beverage director at Mission Taco Joint in Kansas City. “White whiskey is lazy.”

On the flip side, some purists like the “unadulterated grain” aspect of white whiskey. You’re just getting the fermented, distilled juice, nothing else. But know this: it’s hot as hell and can be pretty rough for the uninitiated.

If you’ve acquired a taste for white whiskey, 2020 is your year. There are numerous un-aged whiskey brands on the market right now. To figure out which bottles to buy, we asked some of our favorite bartenders for the white lightning they like to sip through the end of summer.

George Washington Unaged Rye Whiskey

Luke Pecoraro, director of curatorial services at Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation in Williamsburg, Virginia

George Washington Unaged Rye Whiskey (Mount Vernon, Virginia). This small-batch product is a favorite, not only because it is the official spirit of the Commonwealth of Virginia, but also given the historical research that went into determining the mash bill; 60% rye, 35% corn, and 5% barley. It can be said that this is a faithful representation of whiskey distilled in the early Republic, and the methods used at the George Washington distillery – the wood-fired stills, the grain milled on-site – are remarkable.

The unaged product has a consistently good taste and finish, and is produced in limited quantity twice a year.

King’s County Moonshine

Pete Stanton, head bartender at Ai Fiori at The Langham in New York City

I can’t say I have a favorite — I think King’s County or Coppersea are probably the most complex I’ve ever tasted, but the genre is not my thing. I feel there are more interesting examples of eau de vie or un-aged spirit like blanche armagnac.

Buffalo Trace White Dog

Jim Richard, chef at Red Fish Taco in South Walton, Florida

I’m A Buffalo Trace Fan and the White Dog with tea-smoked thyme and a splash of homemade limoncello (or zest) with one ice cube is truly special.

Death’s Door White Whiskey

Gord Hannah, head bartender at The Drake Hotel in Toronto

I think that that White Whiskey from Death’s Door is a great place to start if you have never had moonshine. Moonshine is to a distiller as a hamburger is to a chef. A humble serve that can be elevated by expertise but always best when made by people with true love for the craft.

McClintock Maryland Heritage White Whiskey

Ian Clark, bar supervisor at Topside in Baltimore

My current favorite is McClintock Distilling Company’s White Whiskey out of Frederick, Maryland. It has great versatility in mixing cocktails and, when drinking straight, does not have the severe corn-sweetness burn that a lot of other white whiskeys exhibit.

Low Gap Clear Whiskey

Tim Wiggins, co-owner and beverage director of Yellowbelly in St. Louis

I love the Clear Whiskey from Low Gap. It’s made from 100% malted rye and made in small cognac stills so it tastes more like brandy than whiskey to me. It has a really unique grassy/funkiness that I am all about. I like using it in small measurements with gin or tequila in stirred cocktails. I think it adds a unique flavor profile that you can’t find in most spirits.

Crittenden Kiln Shine

Brandi Carter, beverage manager at Elvie’s in Jackson, Mississippi

During Prohibition, Kiln, Mississippi was considered the moonshine capital of the world. Today Crittenden Distillery in Kiln makes a great product, Kiln Shine. At Elvie’s, we try to use as many quality Mississippi made products possible in our bar.

George Dickel #1 White Corn Whiskey

Catalina Borer, bartender at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Virginia

I like to pay my taxes, so let’s go with white whiskey. I’d have to go with George Dickel #1. It’s distilled from corn, rye, and barley. The combination of these ingredients makes it a buttery, light grassy almost floral taste rocket fuel!

This bottle is great for crafting creative cocktails.

Slow Hand White Whiskey

Kira Webster, beverage director at Indo in St. Louis

Slow Hand White Whiskey has been my favorite for a few years. White whiskies tend to have a harsher flavor without the oak influences, but Wood Hat’s is really smooth with a sweet finish, making it really easy to drink.

High West Silver Whiskey

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

High West Silver Whiskey — Western Oat. This whiskey really surprised me for how palatable it is while being a white whiskey. The body is smooth, the heat is preferable to many of the “raw” whiskeys I’ve tried before. The outlook for HW was to create something to sip like other clear spirits and this is it.

Writer’s Pick:

Ole Smoky Original Moonshine

If you’re going to sip on a white whiskey or moonshine, why not grab one of the OG brands. Ole Smoky was one of the first distilleries to legally make moonshine in the country. In the years since, the distillery has produced countless moonshine (and whiskey) flavors. But its best is its original moonshine. Made using a century-old recipe, it’s surprisingly buttery, sweet, and easy to sip.

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Anderson .Paak Keeps His Mind On The Money On His ‘Cut Em In’ Track With Rick Ross

It’s been nearly a year and a half since Anderson .Paak shared his fourth album Ventura, a body of work that successfully erased the wrongs of his third effort Oxnard. While a break may have been in order following their releases, Anderson .Paak shows no signs of slowing down as calls on Rick Ross for his latest single, “Cut Em In.”

An upbeat number, the track — which features production from Hit-Boy — sees .Paak in a completely money-oriented mindset alongside Rick Ross. Following a reminder to listeners to repay the friends who stayed down in hard times, .Paak flaunts his green before comical revealing some bad news from his accountant who said despite him making “a lot” last year, the singer is in the red due to spending more than he made.

Coming through for a verse in the middle of the song, Rick Ross adds a nice touch to the track with his luxurious bars that have become a trademark in his career. Switching gears to end the track, Paak puts up some bars of his own as the guitar and piano in the track’s production dance in the background.

.Paak’s latest single arrives after the singer called on JID, Noname, and Jay Rock for a new remix of his “Lockdown” track.

Press play on the video above to listen to “Cut Em In.”