With the NBA on hiatus right now, players are suddenly finding themselves with a tremendous amount of time on their hands that they aren’t accustomed to having. With no access to team facilities, basketball activities have all but ceased as most players don’t so much as have a basketball hoop at their home, and as such they’re finding other ways to fill the time.

Video games are a favorite choice of many to help get through hours of being home alone, while others have turned to their musical interests. We’ve seen a number of players showing off their musical talents (or, in some cases, lack thereof) during the quarantine period and it’s no surprise that the man considered the best MC in the league would be among them. Damian Lillard, aka Dame D.O.L.L.A. is using some of his downtime to work on new music and also bring back an old favorite in #4BarFriday.

Lillard used to do Four Bar Friday on social media, posting a video of him dropping four bars on a track and then having fans send him their best verses in response. With a lot of time on his hands, Lillard is bringing it back, but in a more structured format as he’s partnered with Genius to bring Four Bar Friday to Instagram Live, bringing in big names from the world of hip-hop and sports to join him.

The first edition happened this past Friday and they’ll be back on April 10 at 5 p.m. ET for the second edition of what will be a weekly series. It’s the latest in artists and athletes using Instagram Live to connect with others and allow fans a chance to join in the fun and watch as they bring a little home entertainment to a world that desperately can use it.

As the country continues to shelter in place, Swizz Beats and Timbaland’s Instagram Live battles have become something of a national obsession. Even the biggest stars in hip-hop have been watching — and starting to plot on their own matchups. 2 Chainz posted an open invitation to a hits battle on his own Instagram, eventually settling on Meek Mill as his potential opponent after a process of elimination that excluded Drake, Lil Wayne, and Snoop Dogg.

“So I put up a post saying that Atlanta has run the game for the past couple of decades,” he said in the video. “And me wanting to participate in this Versus thing that Swizz and Timbaland have got going on. So we were thinking of some people outside the city to compete with. Some people were saying Drake, but Drake got more hits than The Beatles, like literally, we know this. Somebody say Wayne, but he been rapping before all of us, we all came up on Tune.”

Next up was Snoop, but Chainz ran into the same problem he had with Drake and Wayne — too much history. “Then Snoop chimed in, but he got a couple of projects produced by Dr. Dre. When he drop his stuff, it’s going to stick. We know what Snoop has in his bag. I’m trying to see who I can go against.” Someone else mentioned was Fabolous, but Chainz finally landed on Meek, saying, “Somebody said Meek, and I thought that would be dope. So let’s do it Meek. Let’s do it.”

However, Meek promptly responded in the comments. “I just wanna watchhhh lol,” he wrote. “Respectfully bowing out to my brother.”

In the meantime, check out Swizz and Timbaland’s battle and watch Lil Jon debut a highly anticipated new song during his battle with T-Pain.

Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

While putting on concerts has become a little easier for many artists during quarantine, for bands like The Roots, it’s actually become quite a bit harder, since they rely on coming together as a group to play most of their music. However, the “hardest-working band in show business” won’t let a little thing like self-isolation get between them and providing music to their fans. The band announced today they’ll be providing a variety of quarantine boredom-busting streaming content all week, working around the newly-imposed restrictions to their usual creative chemistry.

Some of the options on tap include in-depth shows with band members James Poyser and Captain Kirk, focusing on different groundbreaking artists like Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and Erykah Badu, plus more singular shows like a one-on-one conversation between Black Thought and D-Nice, a live episode of the Questlove Supreme podcast, and even a solo Black Thought NPR Tiny Desk Concert. Each day will be anchored by a live DJ set from Questlove as well.

As Questlove explained in the press release, “While we are daily trying to figure out ways for us to play as a group while practicing social distancing, we are always thinking of new ways to be creative and leaving our comfort zone. This week we are featuring gems from my Questlove Supreme Podcast, Black Thought, James Poyser, and Kirk Douglas. We just hope people will follow and subscribe and we will keep the treats coming.”

The content in question is being produced by The Roots’ production company, Two One Five Entertainment, in partnership with Live Nation Urban. You can subscribe here and check out Behind The Keys With James Poysner episode one above.

Finding a great bottle of Irish whiskey isn’t terribly hard. We import a lot of Irish whiskey to these shores, providing a wide range of options at pretty much every price point. For what it’s worth, the style also makes a great fit for sipping during the quarantine — there’s plenty of nuance and lots to learn. If you’ve got the time and the energy (recognizing that many people have much bigger concerns at the moment), Irish whiskey will certainly keep you interested.

At the heart of the Irish whiskey production process is triple distillation, creating a lighter-tasting final product. Thanks to this refinement, the whiskey used to dominate the market. Then the 20th century happened and with it came the Bourbon Boom. Irish whiskey fell off many drinkers’ radars. Now it’s back and appealing to more and more aficionados who have gotten used to sipping whiskey straight.

The ten bottles below are excellent examples of the Irish tipple. Each bottle clocks in at under $30 and you can get any of them delivered right now, even in isolation. Sláinte!

Wolfhound Irish Whiskey

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Cooley Distillery, County Louth (Beam-Suntory)
Average Price: $19.99

The Whiskey:

Wolfhound is a great standard Irish whiskey to start your journey with. It’s not overly wrought. This juice is aged in old bourbon casks, which helps make it a perfect cocktail base or an easy sipper, mixed with sparkling water. This blended Irish whiskey is an off-brand product produced at the Cooley Distillery.

Tasting Notes:

Perfumed flowers greet you right away. There’s a sense of butterscotch on the taste that leads towards a light touch of vanilla — sound familiar bourbon lovers? A mild sense of malts arrives late with a hit of ginger snapping at the end.

Paddy’s Irish Whiskey

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Irish Distillers, Midleton Distillery, County Cork (Pernod Ricard)
Average Price: $20.99

The Whiskey:

Paddy’s is another good mixing whiskey. The County Cork classic is a blend of tripled distilled single pot still, single malt, and grain whiskeys. The juice is then aged for at least seven years in old bourbon barrels before bottling.

Tasting Notes:

Clear notes of fresh honey and bourbon vanilla are upfront. The sip becomes a little harsher towards the middle with a sense of tart apple, dried flowers, and spice. That spice turns to black pepper as the cereal malts create a base for the hot finish with a hint of oak.

Bushmills Irish Whiskey

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Old Bushmills Distillery, County Antrim, Northern Ireland (Casa Cuervo)
Average Price: $25.99

The Whiskey:

This Northern Irish classic is a blend of triple distilled spirits made with a mash bill of both malted barley and grain whiskey aged in ex-bourbon barrels. Technically speaking, Bushmills is the oldest “licensed” whiskey distiller in the world, dating back to 1784. Very little has changed over the years with this exceptionally drinkable dram.

Tasting Notes:
Green grass, blooming spring flowers, and an apple orchard lead the way. There’s a sense of apple and pears with hints of spice, burnt sugars, oak, and a chewy sourdough bread crust. The sweetness of the sugar carries through the taste, with a nice little touch of earthiness at the finish.

Kavanagh Single Malt Irish Whiskey

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Cooley Distillery, County Louth (Beam-Suntory)
Average Price: $26.98

The Whiskey:

Kavanagh is a no-age-statement off-brand Irish whiskey made for the U.S. market. It seems to be made via Cooley, but that’s just the whiskey world’s best guess — the label and company hold their cards close to their chest. Either way, this whiskey is a good bottle to have on hand if you’re looking to mix it up a little.

Tasting Notes:

Honeysuckles and vanilla open this dram up. Pear and apple orchards carry through with a bit more vanilla and a note of caramel, next to a clear sense of malt grains. A hint of spice and oak come leading to a short, sweet finish.

West Cork Original Irish Whiskey

ABV: 40%
Distillery: West Cork Distillers, County Cork
Average Price: $26.99

The Whiskey:

This independent distillery down in Cork has been operating since 2008. By its nature, that means a lot of their juice is sourced — which, in turn, has given birth to a diverse barrel-finishing program. This bottle is a blend of 75 percent grain whiskey and 25 percent malt whiskey that’s aged for around three years in ex-bourbon barrels.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a clear sense of caramel apples and vanilla upfront. A floral nature kicks in with a grassiness that leads to more apples and a whisper of toffee. A dark chocolate bitterness comes into play late and with a velvet-note preceding a quick finish.

Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Tullamore Distillery, County Offaly (William Grant & Sons)
Average Price: $27.49

The Whiskey:

Standard Tullamore D.E.W. is a whiskey blend of single malt, grain, and pot still whiskeys that are aged in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry barrels. If you’ve ever wondered what the “D.E.W.” stood for, it’s the former owner Daniel E. Williams, who worked his way up from shoveling grains to owning the whole operation.

Tasting Notes:

This is another great mixing whiskey with a clear sense of vanilla up front. There’s a light touch of sweet caramel, oak spice, and orchard fruits that balance out on the palate. The final note carries a whisper of spice and cereal malts.

The Sexton Irish Whiskey

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Old Bushmills Distillery, County Antrim, Northern Ireland (Casa Cuervo)
Average Price: $28.73

The Whiskey:

This feels like a classic Irish single malt but is actually a fairly new expression. The juice is 100 percent malted barley that’s triple distilled. It’s then aged in former sherry butts for at least four years.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a lot in play with this sip. Pears and apples baked in cinnamon greet you with a rush of vanilla and honey sweetness. There’s a movement toward more spice, leaning into nutmeg and clove as oak and lemon zest arrive on the palate. There’s a clear sense of the sherry on the end with a note of dried fruits, almonds, and more spice.

Slane Irish Whiskey

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Slane Irish Whiskey Distillery, County Meath (Brown-Forman)
Average Price: $28.99

The Whiskey:

This new entry into the Irish whiskey world is triple distilled and triple-barreled. The juice is from malt and grain whiskeys that are aged in new oak, used American whiskey barrels, and used Oloroso sherry butts.

Tasting Notes:

The sip opens with a trio of vanilla, marzipan, and caramel. Those flavors evolve into a sense of spicy baked pears with clove and cinnamon leading the way. The spice gets a little flowery as the oak steps in, with a continued sweetness on the velvety finish. Definitely an easy sipper.

Jameson Cold Brew

ABV: 30%
Distillery: New Midleton Distillery, County Cork (Pernod Ricard)
Average Price: $29.99

The Whiskey:

Okay, this is more of a coffee liqueur or “flavored” whiskey if we’re being technical. Still, the blend of standard Jameson and cold brew coffee is the perfect base for a tasty Irish coffee.

Tasting Notes:

Vanilla dominates early with a sense of bright orange zest. The texture drives the taste of this towards an oaky vanilla coffee bitterness, with a slight touch of whiskey lurking in the background. That coffee bitterness gives way to a dark chocolate sweet-bitter note on the short and vanilla-soaked end.

Powers Gold Label

ABV: 43.2%
Distillery: Irish Distillers, Midleton Distillery, County Cork (Pernod Ricard)
Average Price: $29.99

The Whiskey:

Powers Gold Label is another great gateway whiskey. The triple distilled expression is a blend of pot still and grain whiskey produced at Midleton Distillery down in Cork. There’s no age statement but the whiskey was bottled at a slightly higher ABV, giving it a little more kick.

Tasting Notes:

Corn flakes, caramel, honeysuckle, oats, and honey sweetness come through. There’s a driving force of cereal malts that lead toward a white sourdough toast with creamy, mildly salted butter. Spice and oak kick in with a hint of floral fruits on a satisfying end.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, people across the country find themselves stuck inside their homes. During the quarantine, musicians like Charli XCX have been productive. The singer began documenting her experience in isolation through daily quarantine journals posted to social media, where she discussed not coping well with lull in work as a self-proclaimed workaholic. Since then, Charli has kept herself busy with livestreams. The pop singer hosted daily livestreams with celebrities like Diplo, Clairo, Rita Ora, and more. Now, the singer has something new in the works.

Charli XCX hosted a Zoom meeting Monday limited to an audience of only 1,000 fans where she made a “special announcement.” Just before the conference began, Charli wiped all photos from her Instagram page, which led fans to postulate that the singer was making an announcement about new music — and they were right. The singer announced she’s going to be making a “DIY” and “collaborative” album with her fans.

Titled How I’m Feeling Now, Charli will be starting the album from scratch and create each song only from the tools she has at home and access to online. “The idea of the album is that it’s gonna be DIY and very in with the times we’re in,” Charli said in the Zoom meeting. “I’m basically going to making it live from scratch. There are a couple of ideas in the works, but I’m starting with nothing.”

While recording the album, Charli will share each step of the songwriting process with fans. From the demos, to the vocal tracks, the visuals, and the album artwork, Charli will be asking for input from her fans. The singer is even creating an email for fans to send her their own beats and ideas for music. “I’m going to be opening up the entire process so you can explore your creativity along with me,” she said.

Charli has set the album release date for May 15. In the meeting, the singer said she had yet another album in the works, but she has since put it on hold because it “didn’t feel right to release that right now.” She later confirmed the news more widely in a video on Twitter:

How I’m Feeling Now is out 5/15.

Charli XCX is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Over the years, (Sandy) Alex G has been an experimental indie force, and he’s not letting up. Today, he shared the experimental new song “Rosebush,” which is also accompanied by a surreal poem.

The song is an instrumental, built on a simple piano riff and a propulsive dancehall-inspired beat. There’s more going on beyond that, and it’s a surprisingly catchy song. The YouTube upload of the track has the audio scoring a slowly zooming out image of a poem, a peculiar piece of writing that focuses on a character named Joanna, surprise flowers, and the best instance of singing cats in a while.

Listen to the song above, and read the poem below.

“In a dream, black flowers grew around her bed. She picked one and held it close to her face, twirling it by the stem. What a wonderful mess, she thought. How did these blossoms get here overnight?

Joanna woke. The sun through her bedroom window made it impossible to go back to sleep. She left the bedroom, walked down the stairs and through the hall to the kitchen.

What songs will you sing for me? She asked the birds from her kitchen window. The window above the kitchen sink overlooked her garden, out of which grew a great rosebush surrounded by spring flowers.

The birds go around the rosebush. Yes and they sing and fly to the trees at the edge of the property. Joanna listened to their songs and smiled as she filled her teapot with water.

Plunk plunk goes the piano.
Whose song is this? Joanna asked the piano. She sat on the bench and positioned her fingers over the keys.
Plunk plunk plunk plunk.

She left a window open in the night. Three gray cats crawled through the window into Joanna’s home. Being so busy at the piano, Joanna didn’t see or hear the cats prowling and purring in the room.

The three cats, moved by Joanna’s song, began to sing:

Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat!
Crawl back to your hole, rat! Crawl back to your hole, rat!”

In case you needed proof that celebrities are just like us, here’s Rob Lowe passing the time by posing for a full-on Tiger King-themed photo shoot that he recently shared with fans on Instagram. While dubbing himself “Rob Exotic,” the 9-1-1: Lone Star actor also teased that he’s working with Ryan Murphy to develop “our version of this insane story,” which is probably a joke. Then again, Hollywood is going nuts for Tiger King, so anything is possible.

You can see Lowe’s “Rob Exotic” photo shoot below:

With almost a quarter of a million likes, Lowe’s post caught the attention of celebrity friends like Gwyneth Paltrow who called the shoot “INCREDIBLE.” It also caught the eye of Tiger King star Carole Baskin’s shelter Big Cat Rescue. The account commented with the crying cat emoji, which prompted Tiger King fans to reply with some very pointed questions about the fate of her missing husband.

While the promise of Lowe and Murphy teaming up for a “Rob Exotic” series might be tongue-in-cheek, there is a chance that a new episode of Tiger King could be arriving on Netflix very soon. While it’s unclear whether that episode will be all new material or a reunion special, big cat enthusiast Jeff Lowe (no relation) recently told fans in a Cameo video that he was filming with Netflix for an episode that he claims will be available the week of April 6.

For the record, Variety reports that Netflix did not comment on the surprise episode, and fans of Tiger King know that Lowe probably isn’t the most reliable source. However, the streaming service has been leaning into reunion specials for its reality series, and with all of the hype around Tiger King, it only makes sense to strike while that iron is still hot. Although, it’s not like audiences are going anywhere anytime soon.

(Via Rob Lowe on Instagram)

Monday marks the launch of Quibi, the new mobile streaming service from Jeffrey Katzenberg and former HP and eBay CEO Meg Whitman. Among the dozens of series debuting on the app are a handful of sports shows featuring some of the biggest names in the worlds of basketball, football, soccer, and more.

Some of the shows, such as Cam Newton’s Iron Sharpens Iron and Megan Rapinoe’s Prodigy, have previously dropped trailers that include looks inside what folks can expect to see — Newton’s show takes two athletes from different sports and has them discuss the methods they use to train, while Rapinoe’s looks at the stories behind some of the top young athletes on earth. They are, however, hardly the only two programs Quibi will feature the world of sports to one extent or another.

One such show is I Promise, which comes via executive producer LeBron James and gives a glimpse inside his school in Akron that shares a name with the program’s title. James isn’t the only member of the banana boat crew to appear on the platform: Carmelo Anthony makes a cameo on You Ain’t Got These, Lena Waithe’s look at sneaker culture that also includes cameos from Billie Jean King, Candace Parker, Jemele Hill, and Eric Koston.

Professional rally car driver Ken Block is one-half of the equation on Elba vs. Block, which pits him against Idris Elba in a collection of car-themed challenges.

Beyond the five aforementioned programs, personalities in the world of sports pop up in a handful of other Quibi programs. Anthony Davis and Aaron Rodgers make appearances on episodes of Jennifer Lopez’s Thanks a Million, in which celebrities give $100,000 to someone who is then tasked with giving away half of it, while The Miz, Big E, Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Rob Gronkowski appear on Gone Mental with Lior, starring renowned mentalist Lior Suchard.

A trio of programs on the platform — The Replay by ESPN, Sports AM by TSN, and Speedrun by Polygon — will offer up sports and gaming news. Most of the aforementioned shows are available on Quibi as of its launch, with Elba vs. Block debuting on April 13 and Iron Sharpens Iron coming on April 20.

John Krasinski’s “Some Good News” channel has already outdone itself, and it’s only the second episode.

In case you missed it, Krasinski launched a YouTube channel dedicated only to positive, uplifting news last week, and it has gotten a rave response. We’re all craving good news right now, as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the planet. We all need some bright lights in the darkness.

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This week, the original cast of Hamilton brought the bright lights of Broadway to “Some Good News,” and people are going gaga over it.

Those of us who can’t get enough of the unique genius of Hamilton are constantly clamoring to get our hands on every snippet of film that includes the original Broadway cast. And now, Krasinski has delivered a brand spankin’ new, socially distanced performance right into our living rooms. The whole gang—Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom, Jr., Daveed Diggs, Phillipa Soo, Christopher Jackson, etc.—gathered on Zoom to sing the show’s opening number, “Alexander Hamilton.” IT’S SO GOOD.

Zoom Surprise: Some Good News with John Krasinski Ep. 2

www.youtube.com

But what makes it even sweeter is that they surprised a young fan with it. A young girl named Aubrey’s family had tickets to see Hamilton, but the performance was cancelled due to the pandemic. Her mom tweeted that Aubrey decided to watch Mary Poppins Returns (starring Krasinski’s wife, Emily Blunt) that night instead, figuring a movie that included Lin-Manuel Miranda was the closest she could get to Hamilton. Oh, was she wrong.

The whole episode is worth watching, but the Hamilton part comes in at about the 8:27 minute mark.

Thank you, John Krasinski and Lin-Manuel Miranda, for making our quarantined Hamilton dreams come true.

Because sometimes it’s not as easy as just washing your face.

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