Ever since Jhené Aiko debuted her stunning album Chilombo earlier this year, the singer has continued to feed fans even more content. She followed-up the album’s release with a deluxe version, which included four bonus tracks, and has shared a handful of visuals like the recent meditative video “Speak.” The singer even appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk series to offer a masterclass in sound therapy. Now, Aiko reveals she has another special project in the works — a brand-new track which will debut during the upcoming Black-ish episode.
This Sunday’s Black-ish episode is an hour-long, animated special surrounding the election. Lending her voice on the show, Aiko’s song “Vote” will play during the episode and convey a message which urges Americans to cast their ballots in November’s election. The song is a fitting edition to the Black-ish special, as the episode follows the Johnsons navigating upcoming election: Junior embarks on his journey as a first-time voter and Dre launches an exploration into local politics.
In a statement about the upcoming single, Aiko expressed the importance of voting. “Now more than ever it is vital that we all VOTE,” Aiko said. “It was an honor working with ‘Black-ish’ to bring you this song.”
With September behind us, summer is officially over and we’re in the full fall swing. Even Oktoberfest would have ended this coming Sunday, bringing about a world of hefty stouts and all the pumpkin beer you can drink until the holidays hit in less than two months.
October tends to be a good month for beer. A fair amount of winter warmers are being released this month — though, we’ll wait until November and December to call those out. In the meantime, there are plenty of darker ales, funky IPAs, and crisp lagers around to help you adjust to the change in weather and falling leaves.
Hopefully, the eight beers we’re giving love to this month will pique your interest and inspire you to explore exciting expressions made near you or sold at your closest bottle shop. The picks below are regional craft beer releases from breweries that we vouch for (we weren’t able to taste them all this month because of the continued pandemic, so we’re offering tasting notes from the brewers where necessary).
Oregon’s Deschutes has been consistently putting out quality craft brews since the 1980s. So, when there’s a new Deschutes release, craft beer lovers (in the PNW especially) pay attention. Rip City Lager is that new release that also happens to celebrate the Portland Trailblazers and the nickname the team brought to the city.
The beer itself is made with Pilsner malt and unmalted wheat and hopped with a combo of Lemondrop, Crystal, and Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops.
Cheers to Rip City with this light, lemony lager that’s crisp and crushable.
SOUTHWEST DROP: Sierra Nevada Celebration Fresh Hop IPA
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Style: American IPA ABV: 6.8%
The Beer:
Okay, we have one holiday-themed beer. But since this IPA is made to be drunk fresh, it’s best to start now. This well-hopped IPA is a departure from the heavier, darker, and spiced winter warmers that usually dominate the last couple of months of the year. It’s a distinctly American version of an end-of-the-year beer.
Tasting Notes (ours):
This West Coast IPA is a long-time favorite of many West Coast denizens. The dank pine resin hops are countered by a refreshing lemon zest brightness. The caramelized malts create a solid backbone of bready sweetness that has an almost buttery edge. The whole sip ties together nicely with a rich mouthfeel that entices you back for more.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN DROP: Jagged Mountain Sticky Icky
Jagged Mountain/Instagram
Style: West Coast IPA ABV: 6.1%
The Beer:
Head brewer Alyssa Thorpe out at Jagged Mountain in Denver is doing great work. Her Sticky Icky is a throwback West Coast IPA that amps up its brew with 100 pounds of Chinook and Cascade hops per batch.
Big notes of citrus, pine, and grapefruit dominate with a subtle touch of malt sweetness to balance it out.
SOUTHERN DROP: Family Business Beer Co. Hamilton
Family Business Beer Co.
Style: Pale Ale ABV: 4.9%
The Beer:
Dripping Spring’s Family Business Brewing Co. and head brewer Nate Seale continually make some of the most interesting and well-crafted beers in the Austin and wider Hill Country area. If you’re nearby, it’s definitely worth dropping in and stocking up on Seale’s subtle pale ale.
Apricot, peach, and tropical citrus aroma. Bright, hoppy, and crisp. A focus on late hop additions provides a lot of juicy flavor while keeping bitterness to a minimum.
MIDWEST DROP: Bell’s Best Brown Ale
Bells Beer
Style: American Brown Ale ABV: 5.8%
The Beer:
If hefty stouts are too much to face right now but you’re still looking for something a little bigger than a fizzy lager, then this brown ale is for you. Bell’s balances out the slightly roasted malts with an even layer of hoppiness that lets this beer feel like it has a body while still feeling light enough to drink more than one of.
Tasting Notes:
Dark chocolate caramel malt greets you. Crusty bread mingles with more of those sweet, chocolate laden malts as a hint of pine resin and hops bitterness sneaks in late. The end is slightly dry — offer a lip-smacking sort of satisfaction.
NORTHEAST DROP: Allagash North Sky
Allagash
Style: Belgian Stout ABV: 7.5%
The Beer:
This isn’t necessarily a new release. It’s just a beer that just feels right for right now. The brew is a lighter stout that leans away from too much heaviness. The base is a matrix of barley, wheat, and oat malts that’s fermented with Belgian yeast. There’s a layer of Northern Brewer and Cascade hops, but they’re not the star of this show.
Tasting Notes:
Bitter coffee and powdered dark chocolate kick around in the maltiness with a fruitiness and almost vanilla nature. The sip holds on to all that maltiness as a light touch of dried flowers mix with an almost campfire smoke backend. The sip has a weight to it but is light enough to keep drawing you back for more.
WILD CARD DROP: Upslope Spruce Tip IPA
Upslope
Style: American IPA ABV: 7.5%
The Beer:
It’s that time of year again and Spruce Tip IPA from Colorado’s Upslope is back on shelves. The brew has a subtle malt base that’s amped with Cascade and Simcoe hops. Then the beer is spiked with wild spruce tips from the Rockies to add a real wild and deep vibe to the beer.
Tasting Notes:
Bright, alive pine shines on the nose with a hint of candied orange. The malts create a solid foundation for the spruce/forest feel of the beer. There’s an earthiness to the crisp sip that blends well with the piney nature of the spruce.
INT’L PICK OF THE MONTH: Cantillon Cuvée Saint-Gilloise
Cantillon
Style: Lambic ABV: 5.5%
The Beer:
Another Zwanze Day has passed and a new Cantillon Lambic has arrived. But since you can’t really get their latest release, Brettrave (a beetroot steeped lambic), in the states yet, we’re calling out another Cantillon classic. The iconic Brussels brewery’s Cuvée Saint-Gilloise is the perfect entry point to Belgian sours, and you can get it in the U.S without too much trouble.
This two-year-old sour lambic is stepped with German Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops. This makes the beer a bridge between the hoppier German lagers and the sourer Belgian lambics.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a clear sense of the acidic, minerally, and mildly funky unblended lambic with a flourish of floral hops on the nose. The hops really mellow the harsher edges of the tartness, with a mild pine nature next to a note of clove spice and orchard fruit. The fruitiness marries brilliantly to the bitter and floral nature of the hops, making this a fantastically refreshing sip of beer.
In an interview with the New York Times, Wallace, who at publication time was still waiting for results from his coronavirus test, admonished people to “wear the damn mask” in regard to coronavirus safety measures, some of which were clearly skirted by the Trump team at the Cleveland debate site that’s now seeing positive coronavirus cases in the debacle’s aftermath.
“Follow the science,” Mr. Wallace said. “If I could say one thing to all of the people out there watching: Forget the politics. This is a public safety health issue.”
The anchor, who has expressed regret about the chaotic nature of Tuesday’s debate, said he planned to take a coronavirus test on Monday on the advice of his doctors, who said that any infection could take several days to generate a positive result.
The report, which aside from the word “damn” in the headline was not incredibly inflammatory when you look at the rest of the news on Friday, was given new context as the day went on. Trump’s reported symptoms increased, as did news that at least two journalists working in the White House had tested positive for the virus as well. News broke on Friday afternoon that there were double digit COVID-19 positives among people who attended the debate as well.
That news made another Wallace report, this time on Fox News, more disturbing. The debate moderator and Fox News veteran alleged that the Trump administration’s guests at the debate did not get tested when arriving in Cleveland, as was agreed upon by both parties. Wallace said he was tested before, as were others, but only because they arrived much earlier than Trump, his family and his team.
Chris Wallace just said on Fox that Trump arrived too late in Cleveland to have been tested by the clinic and that there was an “honor system” for the candidates to have arrived after already testing negative. pic.twitter.com/8jGZGWJjPT
“They didn’t arrive until Tuesday afternoon. So for them to get tested, there wouldn’t have been enough time to have the test and have the debate at 9 that night,” Wallace said. “They didn’t show up until 3, 4, 5 in the afternoon. Yeah, there was an honor system when it came to the people that came into the hall from the two campaigns.”
Hope Hicks, who was reportedly the first of the White House staff to experience symptoms and test positive for the virus, was among people in the Trump party to attend the debate. They were seen wearing masks when entering the audience but removed their masks once they sat down, which was also against the agreed-upon rules of the debate.
Wallace was clearly upset about the Trump party not following protocol, which is fair considering his own health is now at risk with the news of positive tests. As he noted, it may be several days before a potential positive could come up on his testing.
Since becoming a global success, Australia natives Tame Impala are used to playing to large stadiums filled with adoring fans. They aren’t, however, used to sharing their music with empty arenas. But because the live music industry is still shut down for the time being, Tame Impala brought their stadium-filling sound the empty-seated soccer arena Perth Oval to usher in the world premiere of the video game FIFA 21.
Kicking off their set, Tame Impala pulled from their 2012 album Lonerism to perform their hit song “Elephant.” Amid impressive cable management and a circle of keyboards, the band then picked up the pace to effortlessly move through their The Slow Rush number “Is It True.”
In other Tame Impala news, the band finally unveiled their rescheduled concert dates. Like every other touring band, Tame Impala was forced to cancel their North American tour following the pandemic lockdown but now, the newly-scheduled tour dates offer a glimmer of hope for the future of live music. Starting next July, the band will (hopefully) begin their summer 2021 tour in Mexico before heading up the west coast and closing out the tour stops in Florida next October.
Watch Tame Impala perform “Elephant” and “Is It True” above.
The Slow Rush is out now via Modular. Get it here.
21 Savage has come a long way since he first broke out with his Slaughter Tape and Slaughter King mixtapes in 2015. Since then, he’s become an international star (despite being unable to tour overseas due to his immigration status), worked with some of the biggest names in music, including Future, J. Cole, and Normani, and even won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song alongside J. Cole for “A Lot.” He never forgot where he came from, though, and proves it in the video for “Runnin” from his newly released joint album with Metro Boomin, Savage Mode II.
While the song’s lyrics reflect the usual 21 Savage themes — a deadpan approach to murder, mayhem, and other general mischiefs — the video comes across more celebratory, as 21 shows off his golden gramophone to local residents of the streets he used to run before attaining his rap stardom. Kids, adults, shopkeepers, and strippers all seem fascinated by the trophy as it makes its way through the hood, accompanied by a stereotypically stoic 21 Savage. He and Metro let everyone else enjoy the fruits of their labor — they’ve got to get back to work.
Watch 21 Savage and Metro Boomin’s “Runnin” video above.
Savage Mode II is out now via Epic Records and Republic Records. Get it here.
As Jimmy Fallon reminded fans ahead of their performance, this week marked BTS’ takeover of The Tonight Show. Closing out their residency, BTS elected to pull from their 2019 album Map Of The Soul: Persona to perform the twinkling track “Mikrokosmos.”
Taking over the historic Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, the seven-member group lined up to effortlessly execute the song’s swooning melodies. Dressed in color-coordinated attire, BTS rapidly switched off between each verse while exploring the ancient palace. Closing out the track, the camera panned upward toward stars photoshopped above the group’s stage to form the logo adopted by fans, who affectionately refer to themselves as the BTS Army.
Just yesterday, BTS took to The Tonight Show to perform their soulful track “Black Swan.” Later on during the segment, the group also offered details about their upcoming album, Be: “We poured in the emotions that we feel now, such as joy and sorrow, into this album. There are a lot of good songs as good as ‘Dynamite,’ so we hope that they can all make it onto the Hot 100 chart. Please look forward to it.” Later, BTS’s RM shared that he used to listen to a lot of Eminem and Nas as a high school student. “I was kind of like a nerd, all about studying. I like to listen to rap music, like Eminem and Nas, but I was just like a good student,” he said.
Watch BTS sing “Mikrokosmos” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon above.
Map Of The Soul: Persona is out now via Big Hit. Get it here.
James Bond is going the way of the Marvel movie and getting the hell out of 2020.
In what’s sure to be a sign of things to come for the holiday movie season, MGM has officially pulled No Time to Die from its November release date and pushed Daniel Craig’s last 007 film all the way to Easter 2021. Via Deadline:
“MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, today announced the release of No Time To Die, the 25th film in the James Bond series, will be delayed until 2 April in order to be seen by a worldwide theatrical audience. We understand the delay will be disappointing to our fans but we now look forward to sharing No Time To Die next year,” said the studio in a statement.
As Deadline notes, No Time to Die was the first movie to abandon its original release date in early March as the coronavirus became a global pandemic. This latest move will now see the movie delayed an entire year, given it was supposed to come out during Easter 2020. However, No Time to Die is in good company. In late September, Marvel delayed Black Widow yet again, along with its upcoming film slate. After Disney clearly didn’t like what it was seeing in the box office projections, Black Widow and Eternals will also have been delayed a full year if/when they’re released in 2021.
With No Time to Die making a jump, all eyes will be on Warner Bros. as it currently plans to release both Dune and Wonder Woman 1984 in December.
The Miami Heat will have to win Game 2 of the NBA Finals without one of their most important players. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Bam Adebayo will not suit up for the Heat’s second tilt against the Los Angeles Lakers due to a shoulder injury. For now, Adebayo is listed as doubtful on the team’s injury report.
There is a sliver of good news in Wojnarowski’s reporting, though, as the team is optimistic that the All-Star big man may be able to return to the floor during Game 3 on Sunday.
Miami Heat All-Star Bam Adebayo (shoulder) will miss Game 2 of the NBA Finals vs. Lakers tonight, but there remains hope that he could return for Game 3 on Sunday, sources tell ESPN. The Heat have listed him as doubtful for tonight.
Adebayo appeared to injure his shoulder in the conference finals against the Boston Celtics, but did not have to miss any time due to the knock. Then, in the third quarter of Miami’s 116-98 loss in Game 1, Adebayo got hurt and had to leave the game. He did not return as the Lakers continued to extend their lead on the Heat en route to taking a 1-0 series lead.
On Thursday, Adebayo was listed as doubtful to play in Game 2. He was listed on the injury report alongside starting guard Goran Dragic, who suffered a plantar fascia injury and is likewise considered doubtful to play. In his absence, the Heat could potentially turn to Kelly Olynyk, while the lightly-used Meyers Leonard is also on the bench.
Game 2 of the 2020 NBA Finals is set to tip off at 9 p.m. EST on Friday night on ABC.
Back in July, DaBaby was thrashed for signing on to headline a holiday concert in Georgia despite the outbreak of the coronavirus basically wrecking the live music economy. When it turned out that the promoters failed to live up to their advertised safety protocols, they and DaBaby took another public drubbing. It looks like DaBaby will soon have a chance to redeem himself though, using a format that has grown in popularity in recent months — and he’s bringing another of hip-hop’s many Babies along for the ride.
Variety announced that DaBaby and Lil Baby would co-headline a drive-in music festival in Atlanta, The Detour, on Sunday, October 11 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Sponsored by Audiomack, the concert is a chance for fans to get out and see the Southern rappers in-person with less risk than a traditional show, while for the rappers, it’s an opportunity to make up some of their lost touring revenue for the year without raising their feature prices high enough to ensure they’ll never rap on another artist’s song again.
As the WNBA Finals tip off on Friday night, Megan Rapinoe — who has been living in the WNBA Bubble all summer with girlfriend Sue Bird — took to The Players Tribune to jot a preview of the series, in which Bird and the Storm will take on the Las Vegas Aces. While Rapinoe urged fans to tune in and take in the high-level basketball she expects in the series, she also took the opportunity to highlight the discrepancy between how the USWNT was covered by national mainstream media during their World Cup runs and how the WNBA is covered.
Rapinoe notes how the USWNT broke boundaries last year as they won their second World Cup in a row, leading SportsCenter and generating a ton of buzz on social media. But despite the WNBA’s historic commitment to racial justice activism and their ability to turn out a highly entertaining season on a moment’s notice from their Bubble in south Florida, Rapinoe acknowledges they’ve hardly gotten the same attention.
And what I mean by that is: When it comes to U.S. women’s soccer, the general perception is that — let’s face it — we’re the white girls next door. The straight, “cute,” “unthreatening,” “suburban” white girls next door. It’s not actually who we are — the WNT’s racial diversity, though not yet where it needs to be, is improving every year. And, you know, breaking news….. I’m gay. But by and large, that’s the perception. And it’s certainly how we’re marketed to a lot of people.
So when I see millions of viewers for our matches, and I see us on the front page of the Times, and I see the way we’re leading SportsCenter and how it all just feels like a big f*cking deal — trust me, like I said, nothing could make me prouder. Generations of women helped build that, and believe me I know: I’m standing on the shoulders of GIANTS. I don’t take any of that for granted for a single second.
Rapinoe went one step further to explain that the reason she believes there is a difference is that the WNBA is predominantly Black and has many LGTBQ+ players, while the perception of the USWNT is that those women were, as Rapinoe deemed them above, “white girls next door.” Using her place as a role model for many female athletes around the country, Rapinoe pleads with readers to reconsider their concept of feminism if it does not include supporting the diverse and brave athletes in the WNBA as much as the USWNT.
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Hear a new original song from @JheneAiko during the special one-hour #blackish event this Sunday after the NBA Finals! pic.twitter.com/65cY0TNQoA
