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On this week’s episode of People’s Party With Talib Kweli, the host is joined by fellow rapper and activist Common for in-depth discussion on his near-three-decade career in hip-hop — a career that overlaps with Kweli’s own — and their friend and collaborator Kanye West’s bid for the US Presidency. Clocking in at two hours long, the conversation covers a lot of ground as the two rap vets catch up and speak on a diverse array of hot-button issues, including his recent reveal that he was abused as a child.

One lighter subject that comes up, though, is Common’s tendency to get typecast in “tough guy” roles in his film career, which has included appearances in action films like Wanted, Suicide Squad, Smokin’ Aces, and John Wick: Chapter 2. Common is a famously nice guy in real life, so the contrast to his growing resume of playing scowling heavies makes for a delightful topic.

“Initially… I didn’t wanna be Rashid on screen,” Common admits. “If I have to play a chef, I like to learn how to cook… The first roles I was able to get were gangster dudes, but I wanted to do that.” However, he says, “Then I got cast in a couple more… the first five or six movies I did, I was holding a gun in each one. At a certain point I was like, ‘I gotta do something different,’ but the truth of the matter is I did want to play dark and different characters to start it off. And let’s face it: Hollywood, at a certain point, they just see ‘Black, he can play the gangster.’ We are consistently breaking down those ideas and concepts of them not really seeing Black people as different types of people.”

Watch the full episode of People’s Party With Talib Kweli featuring Common above.

People’s Party is a weekly interview show hosted by Talib Kweli with big-name guests exploring hip-hop, culture, and politics. Subscribe via Apple, Spotify, or YouTube.

Kanye West is in the midst of an attempt at a presidential run, but it’s not going too well so far. A lot has happened since his backlash-prompting candidacy announcement, including a South Carolina rally this weekend that yielded a ton of Kanye sound bites. Apparently what it didn’t produce, though, was Kanye getting his name on the ballot.

TMZ reports that according to Chris Whitmore, Director Of Public Information for the South Carolina State Election Commission, Kanye’s campaign missed today’s deadline to get on the November ballot. He had a firm deadline of noon ET on July 20 to get the 10,000 signatures he needed as a petition candidate, but the State Election Commission apparently did not hear from Kanye and received no signatures of any kind. So, Kanye is not set to appear on South Carolina’s ballot as a presidential candidate.

In addition to his rally, Kanye also attempted to collect some digital signatures over the weekend, tweeting out a link to a sign-up website and writing, “Hi guys please sign up to put me on the ballot in South Carolina at any of these locations. You can also sign up at the website.”

As for the rally, it has certainly become the subject of much conversation. One of the most notable takeaways was his comments about Harriet Tubman, which his peers in music did not warmly receive.

Back in May, Future released his album High Off Life. The 21-track effort saw guest verses from musicians like Drake, Meek Mill, Lil Uzi Vert, and many more. But the record also featured strong solo tracks, like the chilled-out effort “Posted With Demons,” which the rapper just shared a mythic video to.

After riding around in a Miami neighborhood for his “Ridin Strikers” video, Future takes on an apocalyptic world for “Posted With Demons.” Directed by DAPS, Future’s visual opens with the rapper standing atop a bloodied police car accompanied by a patent leather-wearing zombie. Eventually, Future trades in the blood-spattered car for more occult locations, including a ring of fire and voodoo-ready room.

Ahead of Future’s “Posted With Demons” video, the rapper’s High Off Life earned him his sixth-consecutive No. 1 album. The rapper chose to have an abbreviated roll-out for the record, announcing High Off Life just three days before its release. To promote the record, Future and his team gathered over 100 website domains to have fans embark on an online scavenger hunt for a “leaked track” from the album. The unreleased track jumped between 150 different websites and only remained static for 30 seconds at a time before skipping to a new URL, making fans work hard to uncover the full song.

Watch Future’s “Posted With Demons” video above.

High Off Life is out now via Epic. Get it here.

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

Despite recently announcing that his next album, No Pressure, would be his last, it doesn’t appear Logic will be hurting for cash as he retires from the rap game to focus on his family. Today, the rapper announced via a profile on The Verge that he’s signed an exclusive streaming deal with Twitch. Twitch has, of course, been lucrative for professional gamers and experienced some crossover with hip-hop as more and more rappers embrace streaming as an alternative revenue stream (especially with touring out of the question for the foreseeable future).

But Logic might just be the first to turn the video game streaming platform into his primary source of income once his Def Jam deal is completed with No Pressure. Logic credits the move with feeling uninspired by rap, insisting, “I’m not this rapper guy, man. I’m just a nerd. I love video games. I’m blessed enough to have millions of fans and followers. So it is a great partnership. I’m going to bring new eyes to their service, they’re going to bring new money to my bank account.”

Logic has been an active Twitch user since since 2015 or 2016 (his debut studio album under Def Jam, Under Pressure, released in 2014) and his fanbases from each have carried over, allowing him to also become a successful author and actor, with an appearance in animated form on Rick and Morty. He says, “I announced my retirement from music because it came to a point where I felt forced, like I had to do certain things. And it’s not that the label made me feel that way. I was doing it to myself, because I’m such a businessman, and I was pushing myself to the brink of insanity.” There’s at least one person sure to be excited by the move: Joe Budden, who recently called Logic “the worst rapper to ever grace a mic.”

He’s scheduled to livestream a certain number of hours a day on specific days, beginning Tuesday, July 21, where he’ll premiere No Pressure ahead of its release on Friday. He goes live at 5pm PST/8pm EST. For more info, visit his Twitch profile page.

The Milwaukee Bucks enter the NBA’s restart with the league’s best record and are the heavy favorites to be the East’s representative in the NBA Finals. That is in large part due to the presence of presumed MVP frontrunner Giannis Antetokounmpo as well as the continued emergence of Khris Middleton as a legitimate second star on the team.

It’s far from just a two-man effort in Milwaukee, as part of what has made them so great this season is their tremendous depth. That depth is being tested in the bubble, as the Bucks are now awaiting two of their guards’ arrival to Disney after positive COVID-19 tests. Starting point guard Eric Bledsoe announced he had tested positive last week but is feeling well, hoping to join the team soon. Now, we have learned that reserve guard Pat Connaughton is likewise not in the Orlando bubble after a positive test, although he too hopes to be able to join the team in the near future.

Connaughton averaged 5.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game for the Bucks in 18 minutes per on the season. Being down a pair of rotation guards would put the Bucks in a bit of a bind, as a greater load would fall on the likes of Donte DiVincenzo, George Hill, Kyle Korver and Wesley Matthews to fill out more minutes in the rotation if Bledsoe and Connaughton miss any time.

The good news for Milwaukee is they, maybe more than any other team, figure to have the most time to get themselves together, as not only do they have the eight-game run to the playoffs, but their first round series figures to be the easiest any team will have in the bubble. That may be critical if they don’t get their squad all the way together until right as the games begin again, allowing them to bring late arrivals along slowly in the bubble in a luxury not every team will be afforded.

Tenet was originally scheduled to come out on July 17, but the release date was pushed back to July 31, and later August 12, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But with theaters still closed (yesterday, two days after the film was initially intended to hit cinemas, “marked the 41st straight day that the seven-day average for new daily coronavirus infections in the United States trended upward,” the Washington Post reports), Warner Bros. announced that Christopher Nolan’s mind-bender has been delayed indefinitely.

“We will share a new 2020 release date imminently for Tenet, Christopher Nolan’s wholly original and mind-blowing feature,” Warner Bros. chairman Toby Emmerich said in a statement. “We are not treating Tenet like a traditional global day-and-date release, and our upcoming marketing and distribution plans will reflect that.” Unlike another WB movie James Wan’s The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, which was moved from this September to next June, Tenet is still expected to be released this year. It’s also worth noting that the studio not treating the blockbuster like “a traditional global day-and-date release” means other countries, the ones that have their sh*t together, might get to see it before it comes out in the United States, which decidedly doesn’t have its sh*t together.

Can I interest anyone in watching Inception for a 47th time?

(Via Variety)

Billie Eilish has been a longtime fan of pop music. Before Eilish began making music of her own, she was a die-hard Belieber. In fact, her obsession with Justin Bieber was so ferocious that her parents nearly considered putting her in therapy. But the singer didn’t just listen to Bieber’s music. Eilish recently revealed her favorite song as a kid was “Picture To Burn,” which she only just found out is by Taylor Swift.

Eilish and her father, Patrick O’Connell, discussed Swift’s 2006 “Picture To Burn” in a recent episode of their new podcast, Me & Dad Radio. “I used to love this song when I was like 4, no, probably older than that. Probably like 6,” Eilish said before playing the track. O’Connell chimed in, pointing out the Swift’s music used to teeter between country and pop genres.

The singer agreed about Swift’s prior country sound, adding that she didn’t know who sang “Picture To Burn” until this past year: “It’s crazy. It’s very country. When I listen to it now, I’m like, wow. I totally didn’t realize how country this was. But I loved this song back then because I thought it was so bad-ass. I thought it was so cool and mean. I just loved it. I actually didn’t know it was Taylor Swift until this year. […] I didn’t understand at all what a ‘picture to burn’ meant. The only word of ‘burn’ that I knew, that I thought that she meant, was like when you burn a CD.”

Listen to Eilish and her dad discuss Taylor Swift on their Me & Dad Radio podcast above.

After directing the highest-grossing movie of all-time (and the fifth highest-grossing movie of all-time, too), Avengers: Endgame filmmakers Anthony and Joe Russo can do basically whatever they want. That “whatever” could include a return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as long as it’s “the biggest movie you could possibly imagine.”

Before Endgame premiered last year, the brothers were asked what it would take to come back to the MCU, as they’ve since moved on to producing Netflix’s most-watched original movie ever and directing Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans in a “new franchise with a James Bond-level of scale.” They answered Secret Wars, which would make Infinity War and Endgame look like Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four (What is Secret Wars? It’s a secret… or you can read about it here.) The Russos explained why that crossover event would be their “just when I thought I was out…” moment in an interview with BroBible.

“I read [Secret Wars] when I was 10 or 11, and it was the scale of getting all of the heroes together. It was one of the first major books to do that — that was really event-storytelling to me at its finest. And what happens when you put all of those personalities together,” Joe explained. “I also like the idea of villains having to team up with heroes. Anthony and I like complicated relationships between heroes and villains, we like villains who believe they’re heroes in their own stories, so it’s all sort of built into this notion of Secret Wars. To execute something on the scale of Infinity War was directly related to the dream of Secret Wars, which is even larger in scale.” Anthony added:

“It would be the biggest movie you could possibly imagine, so that’s what really excites us about the story — the ambition of it is even bigger than the ambition of the Infinity Saga.”

For Secret Wars to be bigger than Infinity War/Endgame, it would have to include all the existing Marvel Cinematic Universe superheroes/villains, as well as the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and Deadpool. And speaking of rascals: why not add other Disney-owned characters, like Stitch? Ohana means family, and profitable corporate synergy!

(Via BroBible)

The Verzuz livestream battles have been a positive force to emerge during the pandemic. As is their nature, though, they are fleeting. The events are broadcast live on the Verzuz Instagram account, and after that, they’re gone (unless a fan decided to rip the stream). Now, however, Verzuz is teaming up with Apple Music to make the battles more widely and easily accessible.

The series, co-created by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, will now be available on Apple Music and Beats 1. Every battle will be simulcast live, as it is also broadcast on Intagram, on the streaming platform at no charge. Once the proceedings have wrapped up, fans will be able to re-watch the show on-demand via Apple Music.

The new partnership will kick off with the upcoming battle between Snoop Dogg and DMX, which is being billed as a “battle of the dogs.”

This is tremendous news, as during its relatively short run so far, the Verzuz series has yielded some memorable moments. John Legend and Alicia Keys recently celebrated Juneteenth with a joint livestream, Ludacris debuted new songs during his battle with Nelly, and Erykah Badu and Jill Scott also had a record-breaking showing. The Legend/Keys broadcast was livestreamed on Apple Music/Beats 1, the audio of which can be heard via Apple Music.

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.