Just days before Kanye West finally released his tenth album Donda, it was revealed that the rapper would be packaging purchases of the album with a stem player that allows its users to “customize any song.” The product’s features let users control vocals, drums, bass, and samples, isolate certain parts of a song, and add effects. It also supports Bluetooth capabilities and features a headphone jack, volume buttons, speakers, a haptic engine, and 8GB of storage. Two months after it was made available, the stem player is finally being delivered and it appears that the device certainly lives up to the hype. Furthermore, Kanye uploaded three more songs, in addition to the entirety of Donda, to the stem player.
The first song that was added is a censored version of “Life Of The Party,” featuring Andre 3000. For those who remember, the song was thrown into the middle of West and Drake’s beef after the latter leaked it during a late-night radio broadcast. Andre spoke out about the song being leaked in a statement, writing, “It’s unfortunate that it was released in this way and two artists that I love are going back and forth.”
The other two songs that were added are the official version of “Up From The Ashes” — a track that was a last-minute scratch from West 2019 album Jesus Is King, according to HipHopNMore — and a final and complete version of “Never Abandon Your Family.” Additionally, Kid Cudi appears on “Remote” with Young Thug after he was removed from the digital version of the track.
You can check out previews of the added songs as well as how the stem player works all together in the videos above.
Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
As far as I’m concerned, all energy drinks essentially taste the same: awful. Or, I should say, as far as I was concerned. I’m not an energy drink guy — I’m more likely to grab an espresso or black iced coffee (hell, sometimes just a Coke) when I feel sluggish. So when I set out to blind taste test every energy drink I could find at the corner store and my local market, I was shocked to find that all energy drinks do not, in fact, taste like virtually identical cans of chemical sludge.
They taste like slightly different cans of chemical sludge!
It’s not like I was able to place which flavor belonged to which can, I definitely wasn’t. But I discovered that there is a legitimate, non-brand-loyalty-related reason to prefer Monster over BANG, or vice versa. Will I give up coffee for a can of the new Starbust energy drink C4? Probably not, but if I ever do find myself in a situation where I need the unique boost of chaotic energy that only comes from cracking a can of the strong stuff, I now know which brand to go with.
These are the best corner-store energy drinks, blind taste-tested and ranked by flavor.
The Line Up:
Dane Rivera
Taste-testing 10 different energy drinks in one sitting gives you the kind of high that makes you say, “let’s take a crushed can photo.” That’s embarassing. Here’s our lineup!
Bang Blue Razz
Celsius Sparkling Watermleon
Starburst C4 Cherry
G Fuel Peach Rings
Kill Cliff Flaming Joe
Monster Energy Original
NOS GT Grape
Red Bull Original
Reign Melon Mania
Rockstar Original
The Taste Test:
Taste 1
Dane Rivera
It’s purple. I fully expected each of these to be completely clear because why go through the trouble of coloring the liquid? Is someone besides me drinking this out of a f*cking glass? Weird.
Anyway, this is bad. It smells like grape medicine but doesn’t even pack that level of flavor. A slight hint of chemical grape is all I taste mixed with, I want to say, water? It tastes as if you grabbed an empty bottle of cough syrup and poured seltzer water in it.
Taste 2
Dane Rivera
A chemical blueberry blast on the nose with a rotten syrup flavor. It’s strangely bitter and wince-inducing. Just awful.
Taste 3
Dane Rivera
A great fizz on this one. From the smell to the taste, this exactly matches the experience of tearing open a fresh bag of sour peach rings. It’s highly artificial, but not totally unenjoyable.
I just can’t see myself killing a whole can of this stuff, it’s overwhelmingly chemical.
Taste 4
Dane Rivera
Again with the colors. This one turned out strangely pleasant. It has a refreshing crisp scent and a lightly sweetened flavor that doesn’t taste like complete poison like the last few tastes. I tentatively like this one.
Taste 5
Dane Rivera
My girlfriend, who poured each of these samples out of my sight, must’ve been so shocked by the insane color of this one that she spilled it all over the plate. I was scared to get a taste of this one, it looks like an angrier version of Mountain Dew. But like the last taste, I think I like this one.
It has a light pineapple flavor with a slight spicy burn on the backend. It’s not overwhelming, it’s subtle and gently sweet. Maybe they’re onto something with these colors.
Taste 6
Dane Rivera
After the last two pleasant flavors, this was an absolute shock to the system. It’s sickly sweet with an awful melon flavor that sticks to your tongue and teeth.
I felt like I needed to brush my teeth after a single drink of this noxious brew.
Taste 7
Dane Rivera
This one smells familiar and has a flavor that bounces between orange and artificial cherry. I’m guessing this is the Starburst flavor, but it doesn’t taste anything like Cherry Starburst, so I can’t be sure.
Taste 8
Dane Rivera
The color on this one is just awful. It looks like the prop urine samples you see in hospital shows. An unhealthy yellow-brown glow. This one has some bite, with a spikey flavor that has subtle bubble gum notes.
It seems like a good choice to mix with alcohol, I’m going to guess this is the Red Bull.
Taste 9
Dane Rivera
It doesn’t have a clear flavor to it, kind of basic with a sort of cotton candy sweetness. It’s okay.
Taste 10
Dane Rivera
This one has a sort of balance to it that the others don’t have. It’s sweet, but not to the point of tasting like candy, and it has a great crispness to it. This is the only one that I feel is palatable enough to drink a whole can of, definitely the highlight of the lineup.
The Ranking:
10. Reign — Melon Mania (Taste 6)
Dane Rivera
Reign Meloon Mania contains BCAA Aminos and Coenzyme Q10 and I have absolutely no idea what any of that means. If you do, good for you, but don’t let that tempt you into trying this energy drink. It tastes absolutely awful and no promise of energy is worth that.
The Bottom Line:
Melon Mania is right. Reign goes absolutely nuts with the flavors here and the way the smell sticks to your breath is offensive. This is bottom of the barrel stuff.
52 grams of sugar in a single can of NOS GT Grape and it tastes like absolute shit. It honestly tastes like dirty water. Just do yourself a flavor and drink a Coca-Cola. It’s less sugar, more flavor, and probably healthier for you. When can you ever say that about Coca-Cola?
The Bottom Line:
Not nearly as fun as an energy drink called Nos should be.
Bang features 180 mg of caffeine, BCAAs, B-Vitamins, and has absolutely no sugar, putting it at a nice zero calories. This energy drink has the stats to promise you a considerable jolt, but with no sugar in it, it hardly has any flavor.
It tastes sort of like an old White Claw that you left out in the sun.
The Bottom Line:
Keep looking, the name Blue Razz might lead you to believe this is packing flavor but it’s not.
Who at the Starburst offices pitched the idea of an energy drink, and why the hell did they decide to call it C4? Starburst sounds fantastical, it conjures a delicious image but C4? That’s an explosive.
It almost feels like this energy drink is a Nathan Fielder skit. That said, C4 delivers 200mg of caffeine with zero sugar — which is saying something.
The Bottom Line:
It doesn’t taste quite as good as a Cherry Starburst, but it sort of tastes the way the Cherry Starburst wrapper smells. That’s something, right?
Monster Energy was one of the first energy drinks to hit the mainstream. It’s a standard and eats up most of the shelf space at the corner store, alongside Rockstar and Red Bull. It’s easily the worst of the big three though. Monster Energy tastes overly candied, it’s practically a soda.
As far as energy drinks go though, this stuff is also pretty mild — only supplying 160mg of caffeine per 16 ounce can. It’s got a stronger kick than Coca-Cola, but it’s nowhere near as good.
Okay, maybe I should’ve picked a flavor of G-Fuel that wasn’t a limited-edition flavor, but how could I resist an energy drink with Sonic the Hedgehog on it? Gotta go fast, baby!
This brew features 300 mg of caffeine and zero sugar but packs a whole lot of flavor, making it our first flavor in the ranking that could actually be described as “good-ish.” A whole can might be overwhelming, but if you’re looking for a lighter boost I definitely recommend sharing a can of this peach-flavored energy drink.
The Bottom Line:
Flavorful, in a can big enough to share with a friend. Use it in a cocktail as a peach-flavored soda base. This plus your favorite gin is a winner.
As I mentioned before, Rockstar is one of the big three. It’s been around for seemingly as long as energy drinks at the corner store have been a thing and I don’t know how to describe its flavor as anything other than “energy drink flavored.” What did surprise me about this one was its sharp bite. It has a burn to it and I find that incredibly appealing in an energy drink.
It’s like this one isn’t trying to hide that it’s poison for your body. I respect that.
The energy here is supplied via 160 mg of caffeine and a blend of guarana, taurine, and B-vitamins, but is also packed with 270 calories and 63 grams of sugar, which means a can of this is a guaranteed crash.
The Bottom Line:
Sweet with a sharp bite that begs to be mixed in a cocktail.
Of course there is a Joe Rogan branded energy drink and of course it has hemp in it and features can art that depicts Joe Rogan with a third eye. It’s so on the nose that it feels like a joke or proof that the world we live in isn’t real, but I’m actually surprised at how delicious this stuff is.
Made by Kill Cliff, Flaming Joe features 25mg of CBD per can, B-Vitamins, electrolytes, zero grams of sugar, and only clocks in at 20 calories per can. On top of all of that, it has a great flavor. I almost feel like this one deserves to be ranked higher.
The Bottom Line:
You shouldn’t be surprised there is a Joe Rogan branded energy drink, but you will be surprised at just how good it is.
Celsius is clearly trying to do something different with its brand of energy drinks. They’ve reframed from the intense macho branding that most of the brands feel obligated to use and they double down on that with a flavor that tastes refreshing and sweet without delving into that chemical territory that so many energy drinks live in.
Each can of Celsius Sparkling Watermleon features a blend of ginger root, guarana seed and green tea extract, Vitamins B and C, and Chromium.
The Bottom Line:
It seems like Celsius is a little more dedicated to their ingredient sourcing than the other brands, whether that translates to a more or less effective energy drink, it’s tough to say (because I tasted ten of these things all together!). But it tastes great!
I’m surprised that Red Bull took this competition, I assumed it would hit the middle of the list along with Rockstar and Monster. But I had by far the best experience drinking this one. Alongside its well-balanced taste and crisp gentle bite, I really love the form factor. It comes in a very drinkable 8.4 ounce can that is easy to finish but still gives you that caffeine and B-vitamin boost that leaves you alert and energized.
At 110 calories per can and 27g of sugar, it’s still dangerously sweet and in no ways healthy or good for you, so don’t think its number one spot is an endorsement of the thing. We just think it tastes the best.
The Bottom Line:
The Coca-Cola of energy drinks. It’s not offensively sweet but has that crisp familiar energy drink flavor that’ll satisfy your craving for a carbonated drink that also delivers a strong buzz.
Lil Durk is fresh off completing his Back Outside Tour with Lil Baby, whcih were held in support of their album Voice Of The Heroes, as their own recent solo projects, namely the former’s Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 and The Voice as well as the latter’s My Turn. For his next performance, Durk brought his talents to Howard University’s homecoming for a concert in front of the school’s students. While everything may have went well at first, things were cut short after the rapper felt like things were a little off.
Thanks to a video provided by someone in the crowd, it appears that Durk cut his set short due to underwhelming energy from the crowd. “Aye look, we was supposed to do more songs but this sh*t sound so bogus I don’t even feel this sh*t for real,” he told the crowd. “But I appreciate y’all for f*cking with us one time in this muthaf*cka, man,” he added before walking off the stage.
Durk recently joined EST Gee in a video for Moneybagg Yo’s “Switches & Dracs.” He also connected with 42 Dugg in a video for their collaboration “Free Ric.” As for his own work, Durk released his latest single, “Pissed Me Off,” earlier this month, in which he addresses many of the dark moments that recently occurred in his life.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
After an MVP season in 2020-21, Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic has been excellent to begin the 2021-22 campaign. In three games, the 26-year-old center is averaging 27.7 points, 16 rebounds and four assists per game with impressive efficiency, and Jokic is the centerpiece of one of the league’s most intriguing teams. On Tuesday, the Nuggets traveled to Salt Lake City to face a Western Conference rival in the Utah Jazz and, for much of the first half, Jokic’s stellar play was the lead story.
Unfortunately, that changed late in the first half, when Jokic bumped knees with Jazz center Rudy Gobert and was forced to leave the game.
Before exiting, Jokic posted 24 points, six rebounds and six assists in just 15 minutes of play, shooting 8-of-9 from the floor, 3-of-3 from three-point range and 5-of-7 from the free throw line.
One of the hallmarks of Jokic’s tenure as the centerpiece of the Nuggets has been his durability. He has appeared in at least 72 games in each and every season of his career, including campaigns that did not feature 82-game schedules. Still, this is a developing situation, and the hope would be that this is simply a hiccup for Jokic, rather than a long-term issue.
Bill Murray famously doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do. (Except for Garfield. And get sued by The Doobie Brothers.) The story is if you want him, you leave a message on his voicemail, which he rarely checks. He’s even said he’s missed out on projects he would have enjoyed. That could be one reason he’s completely avoided the main gig in town, which is to say comic book movies. But that may change — maybe.
As per Variety, the legendary actor, promoting his role in Wes Andersons’ new The French Dispatch, recently did an interview with the German-language outlet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (or FAZ). They asked him about his penchant for working with the same directors over and over: Anderson, Sofia Coppola, Jim Jarmusch. And while answering, he seemed to drop a big secret.
“You know, recently I made a Marvel movie,” he said, then caught himself. “I probably won’t tell you, but never mind.” (FYI: The interview was translated by Google from the original German.)
What was the Marvel movie? He demurred. “In any case, some people were quite surprised why I decided on such a project,” Murray said. “But for me the thing was quite clear: I got to know the director — and really liked him very much. He was funny, humble, everything you want from a director.”
Murray didn’t name the director by name, but he did say he made “the cheerleader story, Bring It On,” which he said was “damn good.” That director, of course, is Peyton Reed, who went on to take over for Ant-Man last minute from departing filmmaker Edgar Wright. Reed has stayed with that wing of the franchise, and has its threequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, on the docket.
That film brings back stars Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly, as well as supporting players Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer, with Jonathan Majors tapped as the villain. Who will Murray play? Is he actually playing anything? Marvel has yet to confirm one way or the other.
Murray had one more thing to say, though. While he agreed to do the film for a director whose work he admired, he added, “I’m not interested in these huge comic book adaptations as an actor otherwise.”
R. Kelly will be able to keep his three Grammy awards, for the time being. The Recording Academy’s Harvey Mason Jr. spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times and addressed rumors that the singer would have the awards revoked as a result of his recent conviction on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. “I think it’s something that we’re going to need to take a good hard look at, have a lot of conversations about, work through and make a decision,” he said. “But right now, I think it’s something that is going to take a little bit more consideration before we can really dictate or decide.”
Mason Jr. added, “My initial feeling is we’re probably not a business that we want to be in of taking people’s awards back after they’ve been given. But we’ll take a good look at it and see.”
Kelly received his three Grammys came back in 1997, when he won in three different categories for “I Believe I Can Fly,” his hit song from the Space Jam soundtrack.
The singer was specifically convicted on one count of racketeering and eight counts of sex trafficking, with each accounting for his violations of the Mann Act, a law that makes it illegal to move someone across state lines “for any immoral purpose.” The sentencing portion of the case will begin on May 4, 2022, where he faces between 10 years and life in prison.
Kelly was reportedly put on suicide watch after his conviction. His lawyer, however, confirmed days later that he had been removed from the categorization.
Last month, the Korean Netflix show Squid Game arrived and quickly became the biggest series launch ever in the service’s history. Thanks to its popularity, Squid Game has become a talking point across social media and the entertainment world. Memes have flown wild. There have been parodies on SNL. And there’s been debates about the potentially dodgy subtitles. The latest example is when a Twitter user took an image from the show to create a scenario that involved French Montana. “For the next game, you need to name FIVE French Montana songs without features,” they wrote. However, French Montana was not amused.
“for the next game, you need to name FIVE French Montana songs without features ” pic.twitter.com/snXrBiCEzH
Ain’t worried about nothing Sanctuary Fuck with me get bag Don’t panic Shot caller Everything’s a go Famous Devil want my soul Henny and my 44 What it look like Salam alaikum Hotel bathroom I’m so special Water Now eat a dick I’m droping a solo track this week
The rapper caught wind of the tweets and demonstrated that the task was not hard at all. French rattled off a number of his songs: “Ain’t Worried About Nothin,” “Sanctuary,” “F*ck With Me Get A Bag,” “Don’t Panic,” “Everything’s A Go,” “Famous,” “Shot Caller,” “Devil Want My Soul,” “Henny And My 44,” “What It Look Like,” “Salam Alaikum,” “Hotel Bathroom,” and “I’m So Special.” He also left a harsh comment for the person who posted the tweet: “Now eat a d*ck,” he wrote. “I’m dropping a solo track this week.”
You can view the original tweet and French Montana’s response above.
For going on seven decades, Werner Herzog has done it all. One of the leading lights of the New German Cinema movement of the 1960s and ‘70s, he’s directed movies in jungles, over burning oil fields, on an island with an active volcano. He claimed to threaten to shoot Aguirre: The Wrath of God star Klaus Kinski when he tried to quit. He pulled Joaquin Phoenix from a car wreck. He’s reportedly the reason Baby Yoda was a puppet and not some charmless CGI vomit. But through it all, through thick and thin, he’s never had an action figure.
That all changes soon. As per ScreenCrush, Hasbro’s Star Wars line is set to add two new characters to its coffers. One is Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka, who bowed on The Mandalorian and is getting her own spin-off show. The other is “The Client,” the mysterious and ominous figure who seeks Baby Yoda (er, sorry, Grogu) in Season 1, played by no less than the director of Fitzcarraldo and Grizzly Man.
How would Herzog himself react to the news? Probably with a chuckle and one of his bizarre monologues about overwhelming and collective murder. Or maybe he’d remind you that he’s already got a Funko Pop. As for you, you can pre-order the Ahsoka and Client figures on October 27 for delivery sometime in 2022. You can use it to prop up your old Herzog box set that features Stroszek and the one where the entire cast performs while under hypnosis.
A little over a year after he released his debut album, New Beginnings, Reason is gearing up for a new release a new project. On Tuesday, the California-bred rapper revealed his next effort, No More, No Less: Demo 1, will arrive on October 29 and will feature appearances from Wale, Adé, Doe Boy, labelmates Isaiah Rashad and Zacari, as well as Griselda’s Benny The Butcher. Reason described the project as “a small collection of thoughts and moments that I’ve been asked for repeatedly,” adding that it’s “something I wanted to give to y’all in the meantime. Love y’all, and see you soon!”
Apologize to y’all for taking so long. Won’t happen again unless it’s purposeful.
After Reason announced the project, he apologized to fans on Twitter for making them wait for new music. “Apologize to y’all for taking so long,” he said. “Won’t happen again unless it’s purposeful.” Honestly, a year isn’t that long of a wait for a new project from artists. In fact, New Beginnings arrived two years after his previous project, There You Have It, which was released in late 2018.
Reason recently appeared in Isaiah Rashad’s music for “Chad” which features YGTUT and appears on Rashad’s album The House Is Burning.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Things have been going pretty swimmingly for Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop adaptation. Its lovingly recreated opening credit sequence turned heads. People lost their minds over star John Cho’s lustrous hair. Danielle Pienda, the show’s resident Faye Valentine, had to deal with some sexist fans, but she handled them with witty aplomb. And now there’s its jazzy, snappy official, full-length trailer, which comes replete with dynamic camerawork and editing, as well as an f-bomb dropped into an overly PG-13 world.
The ad, dropped during a Netflix livestream event Tuesday night, sticks close to the original. It, too, finds Cho’s protagonist relating his death-defying adventures to his friend Ana (Tamara Tunie). “If you need to find me, I go by Spike Spiegel these days,” he says.
What follows is some good old fashioned space cruising, with Spike teaming up with Mustafa Shakir’s Jet Black to make a killing bounty hunting. Soon Faye joins them as a reluctant — and often pugilistic — partner. You also see glimpses of other characers: the Teddy Bomber, smuggler Katerina Solensan, and experiment-gone-wrong Pierrot le Fou, the latter a reference to the French New Wave classic by Jean-Luc Godard.
It’s not just fan service that’s been offered up. The series looks more “cinematic” than almost every TV show on right now, with elaborate camera moves, split-screen, and a jazzy score that summons late-night music sessions. More TV should be this stylish.
You can watch the trailer in the video above. Cowboy Bebop hits Netflix on November 19.
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(@ItsBenBlanks) October 27, 2021
pic.twitter.com/CGVncj95ja
(@DontBoreUs) October 26, 2021
(@sticktalkz) 
I’m droping a solo track this week
(@jaynotfunny) 
