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If I had my way, I’d probably never shut up about Irish whiskey. Yeah, I love me some Tennessee whiskey, Scotch single malt, dark rum, and so on. But besides bourbon, I’m most in love with the triple-distilled tipple from Ireland. Ironically, it’s probably what I drink the most of but write about the least. My favorite whiskey dram of all time even comes from Ireland — Redbreast Dream Cask Aged 32 Years.

There’s a refinement to Irish whiskey thanks to that third distillation, that is touched off nicely by the broad, but not universal, use of both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks in the aging process. The resultant expressions feel at once crisper (cleaner, some would say), brighter, and deeper. The flavors are rarely muddied the way bourbon sometimes gets.

The ten bottles of Irish whiskey below range from the $75 to $300-plus per bottle range. Generally speaking, these bottles are easily accessible for delivery right now and, in my humble opinion, worth tasting to help deepen your overall whiskey palate. Are they pricey? Yes. But they’re not ridiculously expensive and the value is definitely there for anyone craving a truly special sip.

Redbreast Single Pot Still Lustau Edition

ABV: 46%
Distillery: New Midleton Distillery, County Cork (Pernod Ricard)
Average Price: $75

The Whiskey:

We’re going to start with Redbreast and end with it because… well, because I love the stuff. This expression is a classic Irish whiskey that spends nine to 12 years in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. The juice is then married and spends a final year finishing in oloroso sherry casks from Bodegas Lustau in Jerez, Spain.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a sense of the oak next to a clear sherry plumminess and a hint of dark fruit up top. That fruit turns more towards prunes and dried apricot as a real sense of rye-heavy bourbon pepperiness kicks in with a fleeting sense of fresh herbs and vanilla. The sherry-soaked oak is what leads you towards a mellow finish that lingers for just the right amount of time while beckoning you to take another spicy, plummy, and fruit-filled sip.

Teeling Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey

ABV: 46%
Distillery: Teeling Distillery, Dublin
Average Price: $75

The Whiskey:

This limited release could easily cost twice the current price tag. This Dublin-born expression is made from a 50/50 mash bill of malted and unmalted barley. The spirit is then aged in a combination of ex-bourbon, new oak, and ex-sherry casks before coming together in the bottle.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a subtly at play as small flourishes of bourbon vanilla dance with peppery spice and an earthy touch of freshly baled straw. That spice carries through as a note of honey sweetness counterpoints and leads toward a touch of an orchard in full bloom. The sip lasts on the palate as the spice, wood, and vanilla fade with a final note of that grassy/malty nature on the backend.

Connemara Peated Single Malt Irish Whiskey Aged 12 Years

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Cooley Distillery, County Louth (Beam Suntory)
Average Price: $75

The Whiskey:

This is the Irish whiskey for the single malt scotch lover. It’s also the throwback to the time before Irish whiskey distinguished itself from scotch by being triple-distilled. This expression is twice-distilled from peated malted barley and is then aged in ex-bourbon casks for 12 long years.

Tasting Notes:

There are equal measures of sea brine and peat smoke up front. That peatiness creates a foundation for an oaky, spicy, and slightly vanilla-forward taste that flirts with the idea of fruit. The sip really is a delivery system for peaty smokiness with a sharp spicy counterpoint on the long finish.

Powers John’s Lane Release Aged 12 Years

ABV: 46%
Distillery: New Midleton Distillery, County Cork (Pernod Ricard)
Average Price: $90

The Whiskey:

Powers is generally a blended Irish whiskey with the exception of this expression. Named after the street where Powers used to be made in Dublin, this single pot expression spends 12 years mellowing in ex-bourbon barrels before heading into the bottle. That focus on bourbon makes this an excellent choice for any bourbon lover.

Tasting Notes:

Vanilla, caramel, and Christmas spices with a hint of honey? Is this a bourbon or an Irish whiskey? The palate on this whiskey relishes in bourbon vanilla, more sharp and dark spices, and a honey-ed sweetness next to a clear sense of orchard fruits. The end is short-lived but bold with a sense of the barrel, spice, and vanilla.

Red Spot Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey Aged 15 Years

ABV: 46%
Distillery: New Midleton Distillery, County Cork (Pernod Ricard)
Average Price: $140

The Whiskey:

This masterfully-crafted whiskey is a revival from Dublin’s Mitchell & Sons. The 15-year-old whiskey is aged in a combination of ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and ex-Marsala wine casks. The juice is then married and bottled with little to no fussing.

Tasting Notes:

Fruit leads the way with a leaning towards ripe stonefruits and red berries. Notes of vanilla, roasted nuts, and spice play supporting roles to the fruitiness of the dram. The sip ends slowly as the sweetness and tartness of the fruit fades away through a very distant wisp of smoke.

Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Single Malt Aged 18 Years

ABV: 41.3%
Distillery: Old Tullamore Distillery, County Offaly (William Grant & Sons)
Average Price: $140

The Whiskey:

There’s a lot going on with this expression and it all somehow works. The juice is a blend of pot still, single malt, and grain whiskey that’s been variously aged in four barrels types. Ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, ex-Port, and former Madeira casks are utilized in the 18-year-long aging process. When it all comes together, it shines.

Tasting Notes:

Apple and peach orchards with big notes of wildflowers and honeycombs greet you. That refreshing opening is followed by oily vanilla beans, tart berries, and a spiced crème brûlée sugary nature. The fruit, florals, spice, and sweetness all linger on the senses as the sip delicately fades away.

Bushmills Single Malt Irish Whiskey Aged 16 Years

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Old Bushmills Distillery, County Antrim, Northern Ireland (Casa Cuervo)
Average Price: $150

The Whiskey:

This Northern Ireland classic is familiar yet unique. The juice is aged for 15 years in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry. Then the best casks are married and aged an additional year in old Port wine casks for that little something extra.

Tasting Notes:

The plummy nature of the port and sherry are accentuated by a roasted almond presence. Dried fruit, Christmas spices, and vanilla follow with a malty sense leaning towards an alcohol-soaked Christmas pudding. A splash of water (or cube of ice) brings about a dark chocolate powder bitterness and texture with a hint of tart fruit alongside all that dried fruit, spice, and plumminess.

Jameson Bow Street 18 Years

ABV: 55.1%
Distillery: New Midleton Distillery, County Cork & Jameson Distillery Bow Street, Dublin (Pernod Ricard)
Average Price: $165

The Whiskey:

This is a big whiskey. The juice is distilled and aged down in County Cork in the classic mix of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks for 18 years. The juice is then sent up to the Bow Street in Dublin where it’s casked in new American oak for a six to 12-month finishing. The final product is bottled at cask strength with no fuss.

Tasting Notes:

Oak, spice, and rich and buttery toffee lead the way on this subtle dram. That toffee becomes spiced with dark, woody spices as notes of vanilla, worn leather, and a fleeting sense of fatty nuts mingle on the palate. The sip takes its time as it walks back through the spice, wood, leather, and toffee towards a smile-inducing finish.

Egan’s Legacy Reserve Aged 15 Years

ABV:
Distillery: P. & H. Egan Ltd, County Offaly
Average Price: $215

The Whiskey:

This unique bottle is a very limited release (only 1,000 bottles made) from the Egan brothers. The sixth-generation whiskey makers hand-selected barrels from their 15-year-old barrels for this rollout and it doesn’t disappoint. Even at this price point, it’s worth it for the uniqueness of the expression and on-point experience of drinking the stuff.

Tasting Notes:

Vanilla toffees mingle with tart apple and a very distant hint of lemon oils. The sip has a velvet texture that carries maltiness underpinned my a mild peppery nature cut by more lemon tartness and brightness. The dram lasts well into the next sip as the vanilla, toffee, spice, and citrus meld.

Redbreast Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey Aged 21 Years

ABV: 46%
Distillery: New Midleton Distillery, County Cork (Pernod Ricard)
Average Price: $330

The Whiskey:

Before you lay out a few thousand dollars for a Redbreast Dream Cask or even $600 for a Redbreast 27, try a Redbreast 21. This expression is the same distillate that goes into the Lustau above. Except, this expression skips the Lustau casks and instead stays in the ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks until it hits 21 years old. The results are stunning.

Tasting Notes:

Everything is dialed up yet beautifully in balance. The sherry jamminess and nutty nature mix nicely with the tart fruits and dried fruits up top. The sip holds onto the sherry nuttiness as moments of rich vanilla, cedar, dark spice, and pear orchards come into play.

The sip just doesn’t quit, either — near the end, all that spice and wood fade away, leaving a final note of malted barley grain sweetness.

As the NBA explores the possibility of ending their one-and-done rule and allowing players to make the leap from high school to the league once again, two of the most prominent high school draft picks of the 90s are teaming up to launch a sports agency.

Tracy McGrady and Jermaine O’Neal were drafted out of high school in back-to-back years and shared an agent, now-Pistons executive Arn Tellem, and the two told Marc Stein of the New York Times that their conversations as longtime friends have steadily shifted to how they can best help the next generation of player. Both run youth programs that have produced some NBA talent — including O’Neal’s Drive Nation seeing Tyrese Maxey, R.J. Hampton, and Cade Cunningham pass through its doors recently — and they came to the conclusion that the best way they can provide guidance and assistance to the next generation of hoopers is to launch an agency.

“We think it’s needed, and we have a passion for it,” McGrady said. “We’re around kids every single day because we have youth programs. It just makes sense. We see the lack of information that these kids are getting, so we would be doing a disservice to our people if we don’t lend our expertise of what we know and help guide them. This is a calling that we have.”

The agency, which they call Seven1 Sports Group and Entertainment in a nod to their two jersey numbers as players, will feature McGrady as co-owner and advisor, with Stein noting he’s likely to leave his post at ESPN, and O’Neal will look to pass the league’s test to be certified as an agent. The two will also look to bring in some tenured agents to fill in the gaps in negotiating and the subtleties of the business that they need to learn, but the passion for helping young players and imparting the wisdom both have gained over the years is tremendous for both of them.

“Make no mistake,” O’Neal said, “this is very personal.”

O’Neal discussed his struggles during his career with not having his father, who died at the age of 30, and not having that relationship in his life. McGrady echoed that, noting he didn’t have a strong relationship with his father during his career, which he said was especially difficult while he battled the knee injury that derailed his career while in Houston. For both, starting the agency seems to be far more than an effort at a business venture, but an opportunity to provide young players with not only guidance but someone to lean on during times where they might be struggling.

The two hope to begin bringing in players ahead of the 2021 NBA Draft, with O’Neal taking the agent’s exam in January 2021. How successful they’ll be in landing top talent remains to be seen, but they certainly have a unique pitch as the two most accomplished players turned agents in the business.

Calboy is a rapper by trade, but a gamer at heart. When it comes to the intersection of gaming and music, the Chicago native fits in almost too perfectly. He was even featured in Grand Theft Auto V on Pop Smoke’s “100K On A Coupe,” possibly the only game which he admits he’s not the best at.

The 21-year-old exploded onto the rap scene with his breakout single “Envy Me,” with the official music video currently hailing over 184 million views and counting. He soon followed it up with his EP, gaining the attention of Meek Mill and his Dreamchasers imprint — one of his most fire collaborations to date includes “Chariot” featuring Meek, Lil Durk, and Young Thug.

Growing up on the South Side of Chicago comes with its own battles, and Calboy uses music as his outlet for the pain he’s endured. Currently signed to Polo Grounds Music and RCA Records, each release is injected with emotion and feeling, as he raps and sings about real-life experiences and changing his life for the better. Fast forward to 2020, he released his Long Live the Kings EP spearheaded by lead single “Barbarian” featuring Lil Tjay.

But in his downtime, Calboy plays video games. In fact, he has an entire room in his house in Atlanta dedicated to his favorite games, which includes a whole Mortal Kombat arcade machine, a Nintendo GameCube, and endless throwbacks he played as a kid.

Recently, we caught up with Calboy via Zoom while he was hanging out at the crib with his nieces. Beyond chopping it up about games, he gave us a preview of the full-blown petting zoo he has down there, which includes an iguana, a Savannah monitor, an exotic bully puppy, and two baby bearded dragons.

What was the first video game you ever played?

The first video game I’ve ever played was Mortal Kombat, the Sega Genesis. It ended up being my favorite game still to this day. I liked everything, from the storylines to the characters to the fighting. I’m not really good at sports games, I’m not good at 2K. I’m actually good at Mortal Kombat, that’s another reason why I like it.

Who are you playing with?

My brothers, my cousins, my homies. I actually have a gaming room in my house, I just moved in. I came outside to check on my pet iguana, he chills on the patio since it’s hot. [Laughs] I have a petting zoo in my house, for real. I have a Savannah monitor that’ll grow to be eight feet, he’s a baby though. I have an exotic bully here in the cage, that’s my baby. She got the blue eyes, about seven weeks. I have two big dogs downstairs, and two baby bearded dragons. There’s two in [a cage], I don’t know where the other one is.

What do you feel when you play video games?

I feel good, this is my little work station where I play the games. These are my favorites: I got Mortal Kombat 1, 2, 3. I have a GameCube, which not too many people have anymore. This is pretty old. I have Rocket Power and Madagascar, I still play them today. I have three TVs set up.

How much of the day are you gaming?

Whenever I’m free for real. I’m not free a lot, I’ve only been free during the quarantine. Before, I’d play whenever I could. Or I take my Switch with me and play that.

Do you play in the studio?

Yes, the Switch is portable so I can play it anywhere. I like to play on the private jet, dressing rooms. I have the same games on my Switch that I have on my Xbox, so it doesn’t even matter. The Mortal Kombat and all that.

Does gaming inspire your music at all?

Fasho, I actually do a lot of gaming references. That’s probably why people don’t be knowing what I’m talking about. I actually pitched one game to Mortal Kombat for “12,” they hit me back too. They rock with the song. It has a bunch of MK references in it, like characters and all that.

That’d be so full circle!

That’ll be the second game I’m on. They have me and Pop Smoke on the GTA. When they do the heist on GTA, me and Pop Smoke play the “100K On A Coupe.”

What does it mean to have a record with Pop on a video game?

It was lit. I felt good about me and Pop’s relationship for real, and the music we made. His energy was crazy. I didn’t know him for a long time but for the little time that I did know him, he was cool. His energy was real lit up, that’s why I rocked with him. It feels good to have a song with him on there.

How do your music and gaming intersect?

Man, I have to be enjoying some music to actually play the game good. Music will actually put you in the right mood to do good in the game, whatever game you’re playing. You have to have good music to go with your game, it has to go hand in hand. If you’re playing some garbage music, you’re damn near losing on the game.

I had to find my babies, I forgot they’re in the basement. This is my American bully and my Frenchie. My bully’s big, but he’s only 8 months. I love dogs, I got a bunch of dogs.

Do you like Twitch?

My brothers have been trying to put me onto Twitch. I just started using it but I do like it. My fans get on there and tweak with me while I’m playing the game. Everybody loves to watch Call of Duty and I’m not really that good at Call of Duty. I like Tekken and Mortal Kombat.

Are you looking for action or story?

I really like those types of gameplays. The multi-player fighting is the only type of games I really like, unless I play a single player adventure game like Assassin’s Creed or Uncharted.

Are you excited for the next GEN of consoles like PlayStation 5?

Yes, I have four Xbox One’s and three PlayStation 4’s I’ll probably get two of each to see how they go. I’m really rooting for the Xbox though because I’m an Xbox fan, I have Microsoft everything.

Why do you get two of each?

Because I live with my brothers and they all have their own personal preferences. I’m going to get one of each for myself, then I’m going to get an Xbox for my brother and a PlayStation for my other brother. Both of them are separated like that.

Is there anything you’d like to see happen in the gaming world?

I’d like to see more cross networking, like the Call of Duty sh*t. I’d like to see a lot more of that on the games where the PC players can play with the Xbox players, who can play with the PlayStation player. I have three TVs across one wall, so all of my brothers have a single console playing the same game with me. It’s lit up. They already do it on Call Of Duty, I just want to be able to do it on more games.

You linked with King Von on “Brand New.” What did that mean for Chicago?

It’s lit up, Chicago’s lit up. Von’s like family, so that wasn’t hard to do. We linked up, showed love and did the video. Von actually came up with the scheme for the video. I’m like “what we gon’ do?” He said “man, let’s make something quick!” We did our slight acting scene in the beginning, talked our little sh*t.

How was that?

It was fun, we enjoy ourselves. We be chillin’. It meant a lot for Chicago, we’re showing and proving. We’re the best city in the world, honestly. I say that in the humblest way, there’s no food like Chicago food. No rappers like Chicago rappers, nobody will beat your ass like Chicago people will. All that.

Since you’re in the A, do you go back to Chicago often?

Yeah, I visit moms and pops. Pull up, ride through the 100’s and see my peoples. I’m out of there. I don’t stay too long. If I’m there, I stay for about two or three days and I’m back.

How much more did you game during quarantine versus normal?

Man, probably 100 percent more. My gameplay went up 100 percent. [laughs] I haven’t really had any time, I just started poppin’. I hopped on two tours. Show after show, the walk through, then I be tired. I don’t have a bunch of energy in me so I be shutting down. Ever since I’ve been at the crib not doing sh*t, I’ve been playing the game every day now. I’m starting to like new games that I thought I’d hate. I’m in this b*tch playing Mario Bros. That shIt raw as hell though, I’m in that motherf*cker gassing.

What other games did you discover during quarantine?

Mega Man. I be trying to go back. Dr. Mario, it’s like Tetris. That sh*t goes crazy. I’ve played Crash Bandicoot, Super Mario Odyssey. I’ve been going crazy on the Nintendo for real.

Is it the same when you play on Twitch?

Yeah, it’s the same. It’s just funny, I read the comments from my fans.

Is there anything we can look forward to?

“Long Live The Kings” deluxe on the way. I shot two videos in one day yesterday. It was 14 hours, some crazy sh*t. We got them done, so new content coming out in about two weeks.

What features do you have on the deluxe?

Of course, Fivio Foreign, King Von, and big bro Gotti came through again. We got some shit. I can’t spill all the beans though!

LA-based Duckwrth is on his way to releasing his major-label debut studio album following a handful of mixtapes. The rapper has teased his next release with a few singles, opting to bring other rising musicians along with him. Since his last EP, Duckwrth has shared “Find A Way,” “Crush,” and “Play Too Much.” Now, the rapper returns with a video accompanying his most recent single, “Come Closer,” featuring Juliana Romana and G.L.A.M.

Directed by Grizzlee Arts, the vibrant visual channels the aesthetics of ’70s disco. The visual is composed of close-up shots and bright hues, offering an intimate look at the musician’s entrancing moves as he dances across the screen with his collaborator G.L.A.M.

Duckwrth adds in a special treat for his fans at the video’s close. The rapper teases his next single with a 40-second snippet of an unreleased song he labels as a “nice little snack” for his followers.

The musician is reportedly releasing his debut album in August but has yet to unveil specifics about his upcoming record. In anticipation of the big project, Duckwrth has broke ground on his own NTS radio show with Channel Tres. Titled SuperGood Nights, the rapper’s month-long radio show will feature a compilation of his favorite music and possibly a first-hand look at his debut record.

Watch Duckwrth’s “Come Closer” video with Julia Romana above.

Hip-hop is moving as fast as ever. Luckily, we’re doing the work to put the best new rap music in one place for you. This week, there were videos from Future, Freddie Gibbs and Rick Ross, Rejji Snow, Duckwrth, Open Mike Eagle, Jack Harlow, Lil Wayne, DaBaby, and Tory Lanez. There were also songs from Drake, 03 Greedo and Chief Keef, Joey Badass and Pusha T, Kyle, Guapdad 4000, Dame D.O.L.L.A. Check out the rest of the best new rap music below.

Joey Badass — The Light Pack EP

Joey Badass dropped off his first new music in three years on Friday with his The Light Pack EP. The three tracks show the Brooklyn native delivering what he controversially deemed as his “mumble rap extermination / this is godly interpolation” on the head-nodding “The Light.”

Tyla Yaweh — “Stuntin’ On You” Feat. DaBaby

Tyla Yaweh and DaBaby are f*ckin up some commas on “Stuntin’ On You,” a Hitmaka-produced track that’s paired with a Chris Villa-directed video which features the two artists peeling down the street in twin sports cars as they rhyme about splurging.

August Alsina — “Entanglement” Feat. Rick Ross

August Alsina got with Rick Ross to capitalize on his new entry into the cultural lexicon. “Entanglement” is a sultry, petty track about a relationship where you “know it’s wrong but it feels right.” Most listeners believe the song is aimed at Jada Pinkett-Smith, who admitted an affair with him last week.

Jhene Aiko — “Down Again” Feat. Wiz Khalifa

One of the most noteworthy tracks from Jhene Aiko’s Chilombo deluxe is the breezy “Down Again” with Wiz Khalifa. The track shows Wiz aiming to “make a chick forget about her man” while Jhene gives him lush backing vocals.

03 Greedo — “Band In Da Basement” (Remix) Feat. Chief Keef & Ron-RonTheProducer

Who knows what kind of fire 03 Greedo and Chief Keef could have created together. We got a preview of their chemistry on the remix to “Bands In Da Basement,” a collaboration that Ron-RonTheProducer set up. Chief Keef augments the melodic vibe of the smoky track, reeling off all the creative ways to hide their money.

Dame D.O.L.L.A. — “Hometown” Feat. Dreebo

NBA star Damian Lillard decided to build a recording booth in his hotel while the NBA is in their bubble. It seems like he’s aiming to follow up where he left off with “Hometown,” where he salutes his come up in his native Oakland as well as his late cousin Brandon “Chef B” Johnson.

Calboy — “Clueless”

Chicago’s Calboy is set to jump on the deluxe CD wave with the addendum to his Long Live The Kings project. He offered up a taste of what to expect with “Clueless,” a smooth, melodic track where he declares it’s “back to the basics” and proclaims, “they never knew who we was” before his rap stardom.

Lil Bam — “Julio” (Remix) Feat. Rick Ross & Jucee Froot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLdyQnhMFU4&feature=youtu.be

Alabama rapper LIl Bam’s “Julio” track is steadily buzzing. He decided to feed the fire with a remix to the flashy track featuring Rick Ross and Jucee Froot. Jucee Froot declares she’s “only comin for the guapo” while Ross reminds us “where I live at it’s bigger than Lowe’s.”

Kid Laroi — “Tell Me Why

The titanic sales of Juice WRLD’s first posthumous project reflect that his impact is felt far and wide. He won’t soon be forgotten, especially by friends like Kid Laroi, who lamented his loss on the melancholy “Tell Me Why,” where he reflects, “I can’t count all the tears I cried, so many sleepless nights / Watch all of my idols die, right in front of my eyes.”

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

Stateless, a series co-created by Cate Blanchett, who also portrays a flashy cult leader, recently joined Netflix’s growing library or prestige titles. Set in Australia, the series is filled with both horror and hope while depicting what happens behind the razor-wire fence at an immigration detention center. The show follows the plight of dual protagonists, including Sofie (portrayed by Yvonne Strahovski), who’s based upon the true story of Cornelia Rau, a permanent Australia resident who somehow (about 15 years ago) found herself illegally imprisoned. At the same facility, the audience also gets to know Ameer (Fayssal Bazzi), a refugee who fled Afghanistan out of desperation to save his wife and daughters from the Taliban.

Sofie and Ameer must each wrestle with a twisted bureaucracy that mirrors much of what we see in the U.S. today. It’s a nightmarish scenario for both, and Ameer suffers through circumstances so heart-wrenching that the audience can barely fathom them upon watching. Stateless isn’t the easiest watch, but it’s a compelling and a vital one, given that the refugee crisis persists with no end in sight. We spoke with Fayssal Bazzi about how he brought authenticity to his role and, following a decade of his TV and movie roles down under, what it’s like to work with Cate Blanchett as a boss. Fayssal was also cool enough to nerd-out with us about his dream comic book movie roles.

Do you think Netflix made the right call on the U.S. release date for Stateless?

Yeah. The world’s going through a pandemic at the moment, but there’s also issues that we have to tackle. The refugee crisis isn’t going away, as we’ve seen through all the Black Lives Matter protests throughout the world. These things can’t wait. I think, especially while people are at home, to give them something to watch that also educates them. I think it was the right thing to do.

It’s also important to not let the powers-that-be sweep immigration matters under the rug right now, which is happening in some places.

Absolutely. I can’t speak for what’s happening in America at the moment, but in Australia, the treatment of refugees here while the pandemic is happening is pretty despicable. There’s a hotel in Melbourne where I think 65 asylum seekers are being held at the moment. [They] traveled here for medical reasons from offshore, and it was just released the other day that one of the guards who’s looking after them tested positive for Covid, and they’re kind-of sweeping it under the rug. These are human beings that we’re dealing with, so I think that by sharing these views with the world, we’re trying to show how we still treat our refugees here. Maybe it will start conversations that lead to change, and a little political pressure from overseas wouldn’t hurt either.

Do you think lessons have been learned in the years since the events of this series took place?

I think that it’s one of those heated debates in Australia where it’s very hard for politicians to pick a side, no matter what they feel, and they sort-of push it to the background. This is a series that was produced and created by Cate Blanchett, and it was still hard to get it made in Australia because people are scared of the refugee topic here. It took Cate six years from the birth of the idea to getting it made, and that’s because everywhere she went, people were (especially in Australia) afraid to tackle the subject. They didn’t want to get into the firing line of some political debate.

Obviously, this was a passion project for Cate. Your character didn’t intersect with her cult leader, and that’s… for the best! Ameer had a tough enough time already.

[Laughs] Yeah, I don’t think Ameer would have done well with the [cult-]dance contest!

What was it like to work with Cate as a producer?

In the early weeks there, we hung out a few times, but we had to shoot her out really quick because she also had Mrs. America, so she was there the first month or so and was pretty good on the phone, throughout, really flexed her producer’s muscles well whenever I had an issue, got a call from Cate, just making sure everything’s great. In December, I went to London to help her talk about the show, and she’s been really wonderful. I think she’s really taken to the producer side of things, and that’s where she’s taking the next step of her career. She’s really good at it.

The reviews of this series are largely positive, but what do you say to the critics who believe the show shouldn’t have been packaged around the plight of Sofie, a white woman (even though it’s a real story)?

I think the comments reflect the climate we’re in. It took six years to make the show, but the powers-that-be here need to see the financial benefit into putting money in a project. Unfortunately, that means that stories kind-of have to be massaged in a certain way, but also, you do get to tell those stories. And I’ve read some of those reviews and even understand where they’re coming from, but also, if it was the other way, I don’t know that the show would have been made, so sometimes it’s better to have, hopefully, with our show coming out and how we’ve done it, it is a stepping stone for another show to come up and tell that whole story. There are wonderful projects out there that might gain further traction because of our show leading the way.

Beyond serious stuff, one thing that I recently learned about you is that you love comics and Star Wars and intended to take a fantastical path in your career.

The stories that I’ve told in my career so far are really important. It’s always an honor and a privilege to shine a light on and put a face on a story. Putting a human face on a refugee story is really important to get people to connect with that, and looking past numbers and statistics, we are really talking about human beings. In saying all of that, Kimberly, I still haven’t given up hope of one day being a Jedi or a Dark Lord of the Sith. Or to be the next Magneto! Disney just bought all the rights to X-Men. I’m Australian, I have a hairy chest, I can be the next Wolverine!

See, that’s where I was going next: the whole, “Would you like to be hero, antihero, or villain?” thing.

My passion growing up… I’m a bit of a nerd, so I have statues and collectibles that I’m looking at right now. I have a Magneto helmet and a Wolverine claw, so I like heroes with a checkered past or bad guys with a bit of a heart, like my hero growing up was Darth Vader, just because of the complexity of that character… I’m taking you down the path of the Dark Side! Complex characters with troubling last choices and paths are my go.

When reading comics, do you prefer graphic novels or single issues?

Look, I think whatever kind-of stimulates your creative brain [works]. As a kid, I was a massive Wolverine fan, so I had every issue of the Wolverine series. I had his first appearance, and they’re all sitting within perfectly zipped comic bags.

Oh, you’re one of those nerds.

I’m also an anime fan, and the majority of things that I watch are Japanese. I’m not really a stickler for graphic novels are comics. Both have their place.

I’ve taken us way off-topic here.

[Laughs]

With Stateless, sadly, it’s not fantastical but is grounded in reality. So, how did you aim to bring authenticity to your character’s experiences?

I guess when I first was offered Ameer, I just wanted to bring the family story to the forefront because when you strip everything back — that they’re escaping the Taliban, they’ve been on this journey — it’s a father trying to look after his family. And if people could connect to that, they could connect to the actual story of refugees. I’m an immigrant to Australia, and I was three when we got here, and my father and mother had to rebuild, and it was hard-going for a number of years. I drew from what I saw from my father with Ameer and then getting to spend time with all our lovely background artists, the majority of people at the detention center had, at one stage, been in a refugee camp or offshore detention, and hearing their stories and their experiences was really the driving force behind it. And it inspired me to be able to tell the story that needed to be told so these people could feel respected and represented.

Ameer tells a “story” near season’s end, and I don’t want to spoil what that story is, but man, what a selfless character.

I don’t have any children, from what I hear from friends who have kids that have watched this, they were bawling their eyes out and thinking that this is what having a child is about. They end up becoming the center of your story, and then it becomes your objective to help tell this new story to the world, and if that means sacrificing yourself to the world, you have to do it. Now sadly, because of this series being set in the early 2000s, what I think happened to Ameer was either offshore detention, or he got sent back to Afghanistan, so there was, sadly, not a way for him to get out of there. The way the system works in Australia and the way that it worked in the early 2000s is really what happens in the world.

‘Stateless’ is currently streaming on Netflix.

When word surfaced earlier this year that Chris Meloni was rejoining the Law & Order universe, SVU devotees instantly wondered if his Elliot Stabler would reunite with Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson. Meloni’s definitely playing Stabler again in his own spinoff, Law & Order: Organized Crime after departing the franchise in 2012, which is an unexpected development for sure, but hey, fans will take it, even though Stabler has remained in spirit and never really left cable reruns.

Over the weekend, Hargitay and Meloni decided to tease what now looks like an inevitable onscreen reunion of their law enforcement partners. The “It’s on” caption sounds like this is a done deal, right? Also, this is one heck of a quarantine mustache, and I’m wondering if we’ll see it on the streets of New York City.

You can’t kick a bond that lasted twelve seasons and beyond. And Hargitay’s still going strong with her Benson character, so there’s absolutely no reason to not have a crossover between the two shows. And while we’re at it, there had better be a scene where Ice-T’s Fin Tutuola walks in and asks Stabler where the hell he’s been for eight years. There’s no projected launch date for the Stabler show, but production is planned to start in August, and the Law & Order: Organized Crime has already nabbed a Thursday, 10:00pm EST time slot for when it happens. So yes, it’s… on.

A bulk of Rihanna’s professional attention in recent years has been devoted to her various Fenty products, and now she’s getting ready to launch some new ones. Over the weekend, the multi-hyphenate announced the arrival of Fenty Skin, a new line of skincare products. She made the announcement with a bang, too: She shared a promotional video for the line, and alongside Rihanna and a handful of models, also featured are ASAP Rocky and Lil Nas X.

Rihanna revealed some info about Fenty Skin on Twitter, writing in a pair of tweets, “I’ve been working on @fentyskin for over 2 years, perfecting formulas and creating packaging that is kind to our planet!! Formulas that work, and work well with makeup!!! Everything starts with the foundation that is your skin and we all know how obsessed I am with beautiful, healthy skin- so whether you want to wear makeup, or no makeup at all, there’s always glowing skin underneath.” She later shared a photo of herself and Rocky and added, “that’s right baby…@fentyskin is for my fellas too! No matter who you are, you deserve to have great skin! More product details soon come.”

Fenty Skin is set to be released on July 31, and more information can be found on the Fenty website.

Rituals are power. In a game like basketball where the only thing controllable is the finite space of a body, and even then the forces exerted onto it can make haywire or render redundant the hundreds of hours of careful conditioning, the protections of repetition and rituals allow an extended mental safeguard — even the comfort in the myth of them — against the unknown.

So much of what is captivating about sports are the unexplainable variables — the streaks and slumps, baseball’s hyper-specific universe of superstitions, basketball players catching the hot hand right until they couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat. It’s why ritual and sports are soulmates, albeit exhausted ones.

The infinite potential for athletic ceremonials, like rituals, are described in the Sociology of North American Sport, by D. Stanley Eitzen and George H. Sage, as “standardized actions directed toward entreating or controlling the supernatural powers in regard to some particular situation.” When it comes to volume and specifics, “there is an almost infinite variety of rituals practiced in sport, since all athletes are free to ritualize any activity they consider important for successful performance.”

It has been proven that belief in good luck, activated through rituals around routine — talismans such as clothing and charms, verbal cues in the protective quiet of a pre-game team huddle — all increase performance. This is mainly because these rituals activate, in a sense, personal luck. In a research paper published by Lysann Damisch, Barbara Stoberock, and Thomas Mussweiler of the University of Cologne for the Psychological Science, ‘Keep Your Fingers Crossed!: How Superstition Improves Performance,’ it was found that “good luck is related to concepts associated with self-efficacy, such as optimism, hope, and confidence.” This sense of activated luck before a “specific performance task,” like a game, “leads to heightened feelings of self-efficacy toward this task, which in turn leads to better performance.”

Michael Jordan wearing his UNC shorts under his uniform, LeBron James’s chalk toss, Rajon Rondo’s five showers on game day, and the compulsion by nearly every player to bounce the ball before a free throw are all practices intent on channeling luck in order to attract or control a favorable outcome. In the wider world, pre-Orlando, time and space could be dedicated to rituals that required them. Specific meals prepared just so, a haircut on game day, even the actions individual players take in the hours padding either side of a game will have to take a hiatus or adapt to life in the bubble. Aside from stirring up luck and feelings of self-actualization, these rituals also help players guard against anxiety, stress, and nerves.

A player who has formalized ritual by making it explicitly visual is P.J. Tucker, who has elevated tunnel dressing into a fashion week runway, to the point of putting one’s psyche on display. Tucker takes an entirely internal process — picking clothes out to walk the hundred or so steps from player entrance to locker room — and turns it into ceremony.

In light of new protocol that required players arrive to games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex “in uniform and warm-ups,” tunnel looks initially seemed effectively banned in the bubble. In large part this was due to logistics. Players can’t shower at arenas and locker space is limited, the emphasis is to be game-ready on arrival. Whether it was initial misinformation or the league adjusting its approach in order to hear out players and stay flexible, the official language now stands that players can arrive in “relaxed” items of clothing from their own wardrobes so long as it is “clean and neat in appearance”.

Tunnel looks, treated as high art by Tucker, Russell Westbrook, Kelly Oubre Jr. and others are mood made sartorial. They are players dressing the part as much as projecting. A look as intention — for personal performance, team reputation, even an extension of dialogue. Westbrook dressing as an official photographer with a safety vest that explicitly said so was as much a dig at Kevin Durant as an immaculate example of conceptual performance art. The point is to show an embossed or emboldened version of oneself, to leave little to the imagination. Even a look that seems second thought — sweats, loose layers, a mismatch of color — has a point to make. Comfort, appearing so casual like one can’t be bothered to dress for this team, this player, this match or moment, projects a kind of unflappable, impossible to duplicate ease. On the other end of the spectrum, dressing loud with color blocks or power clashing, removes any trace of anonymity going into a game.

For athletes like Tucker, this elevation went beyond honing style, it signified a different, entirely professional level of importance of the games themselves and by extension, the point he considered himself to be at in his career.

“Getting dressed at the hotel now will feel like an AAU tournament,” Tucker told ESPN’s Nick DePaula, in response to their initial report that tunnel dressing would cease in the bubble. “It’s [like] AAU Nationals, it’s the Nike Super Showcase and one of those [tournaments] that we used to play in back in the day. I’m not feeling it. It just doesn’t feel NBA to me.”

And before the end result comes the process itself. Setting intention via the act of choosing what to wear and why. It’s likely you’ve ritualized dressing at some point in life, choosing clothing like armour or camouflage for an event you were nervous for or adhered to a dress-code for a landmark moment in the life of someone you love.

“I think that takes away [from] originally what getting dressed was all about.” Tucker said on his approach to the act of dressing itself, “It wasn’t even about the tunnel walk, it was more about getting dressed up and going to work. To me, it’s like a mindset, getting dressed and getting ready to go to my game. It puts me in the mindset that I’m ready to work and helps me find my focus.”

Dressing for the tunnel can seem a frivolous facet of the game until, as it is with most things deemed less serious, the real depth and potential comes when the source of that levity is distilled down to all the different parts that tend to make the lightest things in life the most impactful. Now, players who choose to engage in tunnel looks will need to bring three changes of clothing to any given game. What they arrive in, uniforms for play, and clothes to travel back to their hotels and rooms in. Because of this, the ritual of dressing for the tunnel will gain another layer of deliberation in the bubble and tunnel looks may prove a needed outlet for the exertion of personal control in such an intensely regimented setting.

In some ways the NBA preemptively recognized the power of protecting its players psychic comforts. When restart plans began to take shape it was floated that team hardwood could be flown to Orlando to replicate some perception of home court. While the majority of the 20 courts that have ended up in the bubble are generic practice courts, and those that are team-specific were due to proximity to Orlando (the Heat and Magic courts) and availability (the otherwise inexplicability of the Pacers court, for example), the cost of transport, installation, and maintenance, is still justifiable against the price of asking athletes to sacrifice home — its comforts and sense of control — for months. It isn’t only for the sake of league-regulation familiarity, the gesture plays into morale, superstition and ultimately, performance.

In “Superstitions among basketball players”, a study by Hans G. Buhrmann and Maxwell K. Zaugg published by the Journal of Sport Behavior, it was shown that superstitious beliefs and rituals involving luck, such as what can be suggested in something like home court advantage, are demonstrated more frequently by “superior teams, as well as superior players within a team”. Even if they aren’t playing on their own courts, NBA practice courts will serve as a welcome stand-in for higher seeded teams and their players, who rely more heavily on rituals and their perceived outcome of luck. There are many reasons as to why but the strongest may be the simplest — these athletes are typically the most regimented, folding superstition into their routines, and have the most, competitively speaking, to lose.

Where the visual cue of familiar courts serves in keeping spirits light it does double duty in ritual. Players can ground themselves in woodgrain sourced with their benefit in mind. Take a moment of reprieve even in the strange, shining sea of courts set up side by side in a hotel ballroom, waiting on an inbound, a play to unfold, on what’s next. The kind of forward impulsion that’s entirely free of the stalling out the pandemic has made so pronounced and never-ending.

Revenue, too, responds better to players who are performing well given the current undeniable realities and their associated anxieties. However you feel about the restart, you’ll be watching to free your mind or ease it. To detect, as if it were possible, the inner workings of the bubble reflected on players faces or in how they’ll move across the floor. Broadcast numbers, in this hyper-specific case, will depend on the harder to pin emotional health of athletes as much as their physical well-being in the bubble. We want to see that the bubble’s been worth it. Psychic reprieve and performance, in this way, can translate directly to dollars. Like any ritual found to be effective, the results ripple out.

The Disney experiment is by no means a simple undertaking. It requires hundreds of people working around the clock behind the current cheery facade of players spending their time fishing and enjoying the player’s lounge or park amenities. It also requires a certain consistent suspension of disbelief. For players and for fans to buy in. To borrow from Disney, like Peter Pan’s Neverland or Dumbo clutching the magic feather, if we stop believing, if players grow uncomfortable, anxious or doubtful in the necessity to continue, then things come crashing down.

To this end it behooves the league to be an active, agile responder, even to player requests that seem light or nonessential. Players wanted access to barbers in the bubble and after a few weeks of room calls, there’s now a pop-up barbershop to house the 6 barbers vetted by the NBPA. Players keep their cuts fresh and gain a sense of routine, not to mention the cathartic experience of sitting down in a barber’s chair to talk or simply drift.

Rituals help in reducing anxiety and coping with stress and there has never been a season like this, nor has one faced such an accelerated push during the most pressurized point of its seasonal arc. Teams will clinch playoff positions, teams will be eliminated after fulfilling the organizational hurdles and personal sacrifices to get into the bubble. Players will be attempting to emulate the physical peaks their bodies would have achieved at this point, when things resume, in a normal season. Their minds will be expected to follow. Where certain habits will be impossible to fulfil in the bubble, the league can introduce avenues to new ones, as it did with the option of tunnel dressing. And where habits will shift after two weeks or two months, due to fatigue, disinterest, malaise, locational and emotional burnout, it can facilitate and help players to navigate smoother transitions through these natural dips and plateaus.

As time goes on and teams go home, the bubble will contract. There’ll be fewer players and their habits to account for but the stakes of play will be much higher, the stress and fatigue of the bubble greater too. If superstitions and rituals have been positively linked to athletes performing “better in various motor and cognitive tasks compared with participants for whom no such concept was activated” (Damisch, Stoberock and Mussweiler), a renewed attention to player’s ritualistic habits will be critical as playoffs narrow.

The bubble is primarily a means of entertainment, but for the players participating their typical coping methods and routines have been stripped away in order to provide it. Rituals are power, they provide a padding of control where there is none, a psychological bubble where belief can prove greater than reality. The Orlando bubble will have many lasting impacts, some impossible to recognize until the league is seasons past it. But the repercussions of how well the NBA can draw parallels between the bubble of external entertainment and its players own psychic comforts — one for promotion, the other to carefully nurture and shrewdly protect — will ripple out instantly, with a transcendental reach capable of touching everything.

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

This week saw a big return from country icons and DJ Khaled drop a pair of new songs with his most famous collaborator. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

DJ Khaled — “Greece” and “Popstar” Feat. Drake

Drake and DJ Khaled have come together to make magic before, and last week, they did it again. The pair teased Khaled’s upcoming album, Khaled Khaled, with a duo of singles, “Greece” and “Popstar,” the former of which recently made waves in an unreleased form.

Kyle — See You When I Am Famous

Kyle has been one of the happiest-sounding dudes in rap since his emergence, and he’s basking in more rays of sunshine on his sophomore effort. Joining him in the light are Bryson Tiller, Iann Dior, K Camp, Rico Nasty, Tyga, Raphael Saadiq, and Too Short.

The Chicks — Gaslighter

Uproxx’s Caitlin White says of the comeback effort from the group formerly known as the Dixie Chicks, “After the hellfire and the fury, after the gaslighting, the pain, and the whole damn thing, this album yields something pure and uncompromising: A group of women who won’t back down, who continue to live and sing their truth, whether it comes to an entire industry, or a cheating husband.”

Idles — “A Hymn”

Ever a colorful group, Idles describes their latest, “‘A Hymn’ is a hymn that rejoices in the sinister flesh-eating virus of the pedestrian. It sings the tune of normal’s teeth sinking into your neck as you sleep stood up with your eyes open. Amen.”

Matt Berninger — “Distant Axis”

Word of a solo album from The National’s Matt Berninger has been lingering for well over a year, and the band leader has made good on it recently. The latest preview of Serpentine Prison is “Distant Axis,” which was inspired by working with The Walkmen’s Walter Martin.

Anne-Marie and Doja Cat — “To Be Young”

Doja Cat is a hot collaborator to snag right now, and Anne-Marie did so with her latest 2020 single, “To Be Young.” Anne-Marie, of course, is no stranger to working with big-time artists, as she has previously collabed with Marshmello, Nick Jonas, and Major Lazer.

Blu & Exile — Miles: From An Interlude Called Life

In a recent Uproxx interview about the duo’s new album, Exile asked Blu, “I’ve seen your writing process and I know how you get inspiration for individual bars. I’ve seen how it works. But what I don’t know is, is that it’s almost been 20 years we’ve known each other, you have maintained the same level of hunger for this thing that many, many, many of our peers lost. How do you maintain that level of motivation? That level of still caring about each individual line, like the way you do?”

Guapdad 4000 — “No Home For The Brave”

Following a surreal collaboration with Denzel Curry, recent UPROXX Sessions star Guapdad 4000 returned last week with “No Home For The Brave.” Uproxx’s Wongo Okon called the song an “easygoing track finds him in a reflective light as he points out the dangers in the world and the constant reminders of its existence.”

Joey Badass — The Light Pack

Joey has done a lot since releasing All-Amerikkkan Badass three years ago — acting, philanthropy, modeling, Beast Coast, etc. Now, though, he’s back to doing things by himself on a new trio of songs. He’s not entirely alone, though, as Pusha T guests on “No Explanation.”

Will Butler — “Surrender”

Beyond his contributions to Arcade Fire, Will Butler has had a nice solo career going on as well. He has a new album on the way, and his latest preview of it is the jaunty “Surrender,” the video for which doubles as a pandemic vlog.

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