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https://www.blackenterprise.com/unwrp-grand-marnier-hip-hop/
During this holiday season, the tradition of gift-giving embraces a whole new rhythm as UNWRP, a Black-owned gifting company, comes together with Grand Marnier. This collaboration is a celebration that resonates with the 50-year legacy of hip-hop. It marks a groundbreaking union, spearheaded by the creative fusion of artist Teezo Touchdown’s distinctive style and Grand Marnier’s tribute to the rhythmic spirit of hip-hop.
BLACK ENTERPRISE discovered the inspiration behind UNWRP.
Grand Marnier with UNWRP has designed a limited-edition line of (w)rapping paper, paying tribute to hip-hop’s half-century mark. Drawing inspiration from Touchdown’s artistic versatility, this paper becomes a canvas, chronicling the evolution of hip-hop through musical elements.
“UNWRP’s collaboration with Grand Marnier draws inspiration by the unique opportunity to celebrate 50 years of hip hop, the holiday season, and of course, Grand Marnier cocktails,” founder Ashley L. Fouyolle told BE.
The limited edition (w)rapping paper design draws inspiration from Teezo Touchdown’s style and the evolution of hip-hop over the decades.
“It features music listening devices and players that chronicle how music lovers have listened to hip-hop throughout its history and aims to capture the essence of hip-hop’s journey and the joy of gift giviing during the holiday season. The concept of the ‘Grand Encounter’”’ is reflected in the collaboration, echoing Grand Marnier’s history of blending unexpected elements, such as fine cognac and bitter orange liqueur, to create something extraordinary,” says Fouyolle.
Beyond visuals, Teezo curates the Grand Margarita holiday cocktail kit for Grand Marnier.
Andrea Sengara, vice president of marketing for Campari U.S., noted in a press release, “Grand Marnier honors blending unexpected elements to create something extraordinary. Grand Marnier is once again honoring our storied history of blending unexpected elements to create something extraordinary.”
The Grand Margarita holiday cocktail kit is not merely a drink; it’s an experience that embodies the fusion of tastes and culture.
“Just like the unexpected encounter of orange liqueur and cognac coming together to create something grand, this collaboration with UNWRP and Teezo Touchdown to create an item that blends hip-hop, the holidays, and cocktails demonstrates the fun you can have when you bring together the unexpected,” shared Sengara. “Grand Marnier’s Grand Encounter speaks to me on many levels. As a former bartender, this collaboration is extra special to me.”
Committed to commemorate the history of hip-hop, Grand Marnier is donating to The Hip Hop Museum, set to open its doors within a housing community in the Bronx in 2025. Funds from Grand Marnier will support the museum’s research and curation of exhibits and collections.
The limited-edition UNWRP (W)rapping Paper + Cocktail Kit is available here.
Shoresy is such a good show that I, who doesn’t normally rewatch shows, will put it on whenever a friend says they haven’t seen it. Not only will I rewatch Shoresy with them, I’ll watch my friend to make sure they aren’t on their phone missing any of this greatness. I love this show so much and was relieved to see that they got renewed for a second season. I did worry if the Shoresy season 2 would live up to the first season. Now that it’s out, it’s safe to say that Shoresy season 2 is not only a different feel from the first season but a different journey all together.
If there’s two things you shouldn’t doubt about this show, it’s that Jared Keeso knows how to write a banger episode and director Jacob Tieranny is going get the best shots possible. What I love about this show is the anticipation of what’s to come. I may not know what’s coming but I know there will be the right amount of humor and wholesome waiting for me.
Although the feel is different from the first season, Shoresy Season 2 presents a new perspective for the Sudbury Bulldogs and their quest to never lose again. We step back into the show seeing that the team has been working their asses off this season. They boys put on muscle, their more aggressive on the ice, the NOSHO is no longer whale shit senior hockey, because this team is four games away from being undefeated for the season. Something that’s never been done ever. This quest towards the perfect record becomes one of the driving narratives for the series.
If you thought Sudbury Bulldogs’ captain Shoresy (Jared Keeso) was a on one last season, with a perfect record on the line, this man is an entirely different animal this season when it comes to keeping the team on track. What I like about this season is that there are issues with success. This season we see obstacles that come from team winning. There are multiple fires that need to be put out with this team. Whenever I talk about Shoresy as a show, it’s so easy to compare it to Ted Lasso. As characters Shoresy and Ted Lasso are at opposite ends of the spectrum in their approaches to winning. Ted Lasso wants to make you a better person and then a better player. Shoresy wants to bring that dog out of you and see you give it everything you got. Two different approaches, but the goals are somewhat similar.
Spoilers ahead folks!
Shoresy Season 2 and the Excellence of Execution
Remember in the Dark Knight Rises, Bane fights Batman and notices that the years away from crime fighting has made Batman’s fighting skills soft. Bane then tells him, “Victory has defeated you.” Oooof. We see that Shoresy’s team the Sudbury Bulldogs now faces the same issue. They got the best record in the league, they are on top, but you gotta stay on top. The team owner Nat (Tasya Teles) and her proteges, Miigwan (Keilani Rose) and Ziigwan (Blair Lamora) bring up these concerns up to Shoresy (Jared Keeso) and Sanguinet (Harlan Blayne Kytwayhat). The concerns are that they got teams wanting to take out their record and players smashing too much ass, specifically Goody (Andrew Antsanen) and Dolo (Jonathan-Ismaël Diaby). Goody and Dolo already playing a round in the sheets, so they got no legs in the 3rd round of the games. The Jims (Jon Mirasty, Brandon Nolan, and Jordan Nolan) are always late leaving right after games, and their goalie, Michaels (Ryan McDonell) is acting weird (even tho “goalies are always weird”).
What I truly love about this season is how Shoresy and Sanguinet have to make sure the team is still a well-oiled machine. They win a game, but that shit ain’t enough; Shoresy goes off on how everyone played. My man slapping sticks (ice cream cones) out folks hands that ain’t play, or in Fish’s (Jacob Smith) case, who used to score a goal a game, hasn’t score at all in four games. When Fish asks, “What happened to do they don’t ask how, they ask how many,” Sanguinet and Shoresy get in his face and tell’em “I’M (HE’s) ASKING HOW!”. What I love about this is that we see Sanguinet and Shoresy working hand in hand keeping the team in shape. Yet, when the team is getting rocked, and the team is stanking, It’s Fish that Sanguinet bets his chips on.
Fish is told it’s on him, and that if he doesn’t score he’s cut. He thinks they’re messing with him, but Shoresy is burning a hole through him, deathly serious. I love this scene as Fish is hearing the news, then we see him on the ice taking a knee in front of his team as if this is his trial by fire. When he comes through, he tells Shoresy and Sanguinet how that wasn’t cool and not to fuck with him like that again. When Nat asks about the situation, she says that was going too far. Sanguinet informs her that he wasn’t joking. Yeah, that’s how serious shit is. I love this scene, because Shoresy tells Nat, just as he tells Fish who is rightfully upset, “Didn’t see you complaining making the game winning shot. Didn’t see you complaining when the team was cheering you. Won’t see you complaining when you getting your dink sucked later…. Or a maybe I will. Fuck it, I’ll watch if he wants me to.”
Ironically, up until this episode, Shoresy kept asking Fish if he was ever going to score again. He was riding them hard. Then when it came time for him to step up and Fish calls him out on it, Shoresy says, I know what I said. Now it’s time for you to score us that goal. Where some may see this as putting on too much pressure for results, I see it as just right. Fish needed something to bring him back to scoring goals, sometimes when it’s crunch time, you gotta put someone’s feet to the fire in hopes of getting the results you need. Shoresy and Sanguinet understand this and are willing to bet the farm on implementing this on the team.
The Best There is, Best There was, Best There Ever will Be
Outside of the team we get to see a portion of Nat’s love life, how Sanguinet and Miigwan interact now that they’re dating, JJ Frankie JJ (Max Bouffard) being messy once again, Hitchcock (Terry Ryan) looking for love, and of course Shoresy pining after Laura Mohr (Camille Sullivan). Communication takes center focus as Shoresy has to figure out what’s going on with the Jims and Michaels. The dope part of this part is how they address the issue facing the players as a team in order to find solutions. There is no big bad to face this time around as the team stepped their game up; however, the Soo have an American team as well: the Soo Hunt. This team isn’t bad, they just Americans that wanna be the best at Hockey because American’s always wanna be the best at everything. However, the Sudbury Bulldogs are en route achieving Bret Hart status. Being the best there is, was, or ever will be. All they have to do is choose that greatness and work towards it.
There is one scene in Shoresy where they are up against a team and a player hits Michaels in the face with his stick. Shroesy warns the player if he does it again, he’s dead. That motherfucker did it again, and what happens is probably the most violent scene we see in the season. When I say there was blood on the ice, I mean it looked like someone spilled a bloody margarita on the ice. It was that bad but also an incredible scene about self-governing that hockey players do. We’ve seen Shoresy chirp (insult) everyone he’s against, get under their skin, sucker punch, do nut shots, slice an ankle, and more. This man has done really dirty shit, but he never did that to a team’s goalie. Ther are some things even Shoresy won’t do. So seeing a player do this to his goalie is a huge fucking no. Shoresy warned him, and when mans didn’t take heed, not only did he get dropped but he got dragged to the team’s box for everyone to get licks in.
A Whole lot of Wholesome
Shoresy does a lot to focus on the action on the ice, but they do an incredibly balanced job of showing the action off the ice. We see this backstory behind why Shoresy stays in hockey even tho he’s got a decade on most players. “It’s the only place I can really be me.” There’s the return of the Shoresy’s family, which was an incredible surprise. His niece brings her boyfriend over, Shoresy is kindly grilling him (especially hearing he’s an e-sports player) and we see here when his sister starts telling embarrassing stories of him in his youth, Shoresy can take it just as much as he dishes it. The man smiles as his sister talks about him kissing a woman that was actually a man (“What can I say, she was handsome”) and him running away from a girl crying. In the end, we see the family proud of what his team is on the verge of doing.
My favorite part comes when we see exactly how the sexy calendar for the team came about. Shoresy arrives, spray tanned (mans is orange), and ready to get oiled up. He’s going the extra mile for this photo shoot, expected everyone else to do the same, and is surprised when he sees the players with their shirts on. Everyone is laughing at him, and he’s defending his case until told by Nat why he’s going this far when he’s already put on muscle, had the team do the same, and is doing everything in his power to keep this winning streak going. To which Shoresy says, “Because you kept the team going and didn’t give up on us. So I’m going to go above and beyond for you.” That part got me, I was choked up as Nat tells the team to go and get tans, then tells Shoresy, “you’re up first, captain.”
I love this show me, no show (no pun) has fucking heart and grit like this. I mentioned that season one feels different from season 2. Yes, they’ve achieved the impossible and turned things around, but once again, there’s another peak on the mountain they can achieve as they head for championships and facing off against even better teams. The Sudbury Bulldogs were fucking jokes, Shoresy said, they would never lose again, then they lost. Nat said she’d fold the team, but the team finally hated to lose, the town was behind them, so she couldn’t pull the trigger, and now they’re on top of their game… with a chance to be legendary. Nat put her faith in Shoresy and this team, and because of that he has gone above and beyond.
Shoresy Season 2 is must-watch television. That’s all I can really say man. Jared Keeso’s pen game never stopped being flames. I love how there’s running gags through the series. How he’ll have a character mention something just for another person to say an episode later (to hammer home that point). Jacob Tierney’s long shots are my favorite part of the series, the way he captures teams and individuals throughout the show is amazing. I found myself slapping the table when watching games, hoping the Bulldogs pull out a win. The way he pulls in close ups, like when Nat saw a slut (hockey player), she was ready to take down.
Shoresy is a show that goes above and beyond, just like the players on the ice. They’ve been confirmed for a third season, which means this show is one season away from a hat trick. You can check out Shoresy season 2 streaming on Hulu, right now.
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The post ‘Shoresy’ Season 2 Sets The F***** Tone, Boys appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
If you were to ask me what I thought about Netflix potentially getting into interactive media, I probably would have answered: I can see it. And I’d probably imagine something along the lines of Bandersnatch with a simple choose your own adventure interface that is easy enough to do with a remote control and technology that very easily translates over to more children friendly media like Minecraft or Legos. That would make perfect sense. And if you asked me to ponder a little harder, I could picture a world where trivia games come back into fashion. I still vaguely remember Trivial Pursuit DVDs that you could plug and play, so a streaming version of that wouldn’t be out of the question.
However, I don’t think I would have ever imagined that Netflix would dive head-first into the mobile gaming arena and be so aggressive about it.
It’s been just about two years since Netflix announced that they were going to start curating a mobile gaming library; a sentence which is still a little baffling to type out but one that makes some semblance of sense. Mobile gaming is a lucrative industry and including a collection of games does bolster the proverbial bang for your buck for your Netflix account. One subscription and you can access the games on your phone with no ads or additional fees. And when they announced the initial rollout, it seemed within reasonable bounds: two Stranger Things tie-in games, two basic physics games, and a card game.
Over the years, Netflix has gone the predictable route of including games that tie-in to their popular series with things like Love is Blind and Too Hot To Handle. Cross promotion is a good business model that garners retention and new viewers and players.
However, Netflix has also gone the inexplicable odd route and truly dedicated itself to being a pioneer in the mobile game space. This is something that became readily apparent to me when they announced that they not only were adding one of my personal favorite games, Into the Breach, to their collection, and that the Android and iOS versions game would launch with an Advanced Edition DLC. That would also be coupled with the PC and Switch versions that would reap the benefits from the quote unquote Netflix money and receive the update for free. Which means thanks to Netflix, I got several new mech squads, pilots, enemies, and a difficulty setting I have only been brave enough to touch once. But that type of investment and branch in genre and sourcing caught my eye.
And over the years, I find myself paying attention to the in-app promotions for their latest games and have an eye on the comprehensive list. It’s constantly impressive the caliber of titles they have in their ranks.
For fighting game enthusiasts, the streamlined arcade fighter Samurai Shodown was added this September. The console version is a popular fixture on our Twitch channel, and the trailer of the mobile version raised a lot of eyebrows as a way to enjoy the methodological 2.5D fighter.
If action games are more your speed, there is TMNT: Shredder’s Revenger. Another remake of an arcade classic, the vibrant colors pop off the screen and the simple controllers will lead to hours of fun with the classic beat ‘em up formula with a 2023 level of polish. You could also partake in Moonlighter, a fascinating game that combines elements of dungeons with business simulation as you play a shopkeeper by day and sword wielder adventurer at night, going into ancient ruins to acquire wares that you can sell in order to invest in other local businesses or improve your own armaments.
Furthermore, while researching this article, I discovered that Dead Cells would be joining this roster (and there’s a good chance by the time this article is actually published, Dead Cells: Netflix will already be out). Dead Cells is one of the original harbingers of the Roguelike. The fast paced Metrovania scroller that heralded a revitalization of my favorite genre. It is a game I have sunken hundreds of hours into even though I haven’t managed to complete a run on the base difficult because the Hand of the King is a brutal boss fight, and I haven’t quite mastered balancing my biome clearing, survivability, and boss slaying. And you get the full game with your Netflix account. That’s every single DLC including the Castlevania which given that Nocturne is maybe more calculated than I realized and a brilliant decision all around.
For more story-driven titles, come take your pick. Perhaps you’re a fan of Annapurna Interactive and want to delve into the liminal horror of Kentucky Route Zero, taking control of Conway as he wanders alongside a fictitious interstate attempting to make a delivery. Maybe you caught snippets of the recursive story of 12 Minutes starring James McAvoy and Daisy Ridley and want to parse together their dark secrets.
You could opt for equally supernatural Oxenfree games, whether you’re following Alex or Riley as they try to uncover the mystery of an anomalous radio signal. History buffs may appreciate Valiant Hearts: Coming Home. Or perhaps you need something a little cozier and subtle emotional devastating by way of Spiritfarer.
And we can’t possibly forget the bread and butter of the mobile game library, puzzle and card games with Exploding Kittens (which is a fun example where the mobile game of the card games acts a prelude to the eventual animated series that Netflix is producing), Reigns: Three Kingdoms, or Storyteller.
It continues to be a very odd decision, but Netflix seems earnestly dedicated to supporting small and indie devs and giving them a digital platform that allows their games to reach more people. They’re picking games that can work with small screens and balancing their IPs with a wide range of games that span genre and mechanics. And while I don’t find myself playing these games with my Netflix account since I have already started many files on various consoles and porting to mobile has historically had some hitches here and there, it’s also been a boon to say to a friend with a Netflix account, “hey you should check out one of my favorite games.” Try to Into the Breach, give Reigns: Three Kingdoms a shot, hey do you trip heavily into nostalgia with Bloons Tower Defense 6?
I will give credit where credit is due. Netflix is making a concerted effort to draw their viewers into gamers, and there’s a growing list of games that is convincing me that a download or two is more than reasonable.
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The post The Surprisingly Comprehensive Library of Netflix Mobile Gaming appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.