SDM MAGAZINE #Issue 28 In Retrospective

On the Cover

SPOTLIGHT: Issue 28 SDM Magazine After 28 Issues of this publication, this issue entitled “The Black Issue” is dedicated to black and white imagery of the hundreds of models, and creatives, photographers, influencers, from all 28 past issues.

know about the

CONTEMPLAT ING THE UNIVERSE WITH BRENT FAIYAZ IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Brent Faiyaz never stays in one place for long. One second, you’ll find him enjoying fine wine on a balcony overlooking Los Angeles.

need

REPUBLICAN HAVE MADE IT HARDER TO VOTE

The Republican Party has become crucially dependent on a segment of white voters suffering what analysts call a “mortality penalty.”

THE SUPREME COURT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE THIS MUCH POWER AND CONCRESS SHOULD CLAW IT BACK It’s that time of year when Americans wake up each morning and wait for the Supreme Court to resolve our deepest political disagreements. To decide what the Constitution says about our bodily autonomy, our power to avert climate change, and our ability to protect.

Beyoncé’s ALBUM After a six-year wait, Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance is finally here, and it’s made for the dance floor. “To all of my fans: I hope you find joy in this music,” Beyoncé wrote in a letter to fans this week. “I hope it inspires you to release the wiggle. And to feel as unique, strong, and sexy as you are.” She recorded the 16-track album throughout the pandemic, explaining that it helped her find escape during an extremely difficult time. And now that it’s finally being released into the world, it’s her hope that it will provide release.

“My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment,” she explained. “A place to be free of perfec tionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration.”

SPOTLIGHT: FIRST IMPRESSIONS

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Comtemplating the Universe with Brent Faiyaz’

Sanaa Lathan’s Directorial Debut, “On the Come Up” is a strong place to start..

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Lathan’s feature directorial debut, On The Come Up, revealed first-look images, a premiere date and the news that it will drop on Paramount+ after premiering at TIFF. After screening at the Toronto festival in early September, the Paramount Players film will drop on Sept. 23 on the streamer.

The Come Up' is based on the New York Times’ #1 best-selling novel by Angie Thomas ('The Hate U Give').

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This publication is dedicated to my mom whose courage, strength, tenacity and love has been a rock for me in the production of this magazine. There are so many people who are instrumental in the produc tion of this publication, and I could not possibly name them all in this writing but I just want to thank all of you and you know who you are for assisting me with this issue. Many thanks to all of the wonderful and talented models, photographers, MUA’s, and Hair Stylists.

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AFirst Impr essions of Beyoncé’ s New Album ‘Renaissance’

fter a six-year wait, Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance is f inally here, and it’s made for the dance f loor. “To all of my fans: I hope you f ind joy in this music,” Beyoncé wrote in a letter to fans this week. “I hope it inspires you to release the wiggle. And to feel as unique, strong, and sexy as you are.” She recorded the 16-track album throughout the pandemic, explaining that it helped her f ind escape during an extremely diff icult time. And now that it’s f inally being released into the world, it’s her hope that it will provide release. “My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment,” she explained. “A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration.” So, does it live up to the hype? What’s the best song? Are there any big surprises? Members of the Complex staff came together to share our f irst-listen thoughts on Beyoncé’s Renaissance. Best song?Jessica McKinney: “Church Girl” is a perfect mix of soul, gospel, and dance. It’s impossible not to dance to, especially with the way The Clark Sisters’ sample melts into the beat. Plus, there are a bunch of empowering one-liners and quotables from Beyoncé. Karla Rodriguez: “Cozy.” It feels like someone is speaking affirmations over you and it makes you feel so damn good about yourself. Listen to it while you’re walking down a busy street, and you’ll see. Andre Gee: I feel like I’d be cheating by taking the obvious rap and bounce inf luence of “Church Girl,” so I’ll say “Plastic Of f The Sofa,” which is a tender face caress of a song. Alana Yzola: It’s a three-way tie between “Virgo’s Groove,” “Cozy,” and “Thique.” Jordan Rose: The sample on “Church Girl” is beautiful, and the duality between the name and the subject matter is so clever. Aria Hughes: That’s so hard to say. A lot of the songs feel like they could be two or three different songs. But right now I keep replaying the second half of “Move.” It brings in the afrobeats sound that she tapped into with The Lion King: The Gift soundtrack, but something about this interpretation feels specif ically Beyoncé. There’s a groove you get lost in, which I believe was her main goal with this album: for us to get lost in the sonics. The lyrics also resonate. (“Move out the way. I’m with my girls and we all need space. When the queen comes through, part like the Red Sea.”) It’s Beyoncé proclaiming her arrival or return, and I’m here for it. Trace Cowen: “All Up In Your Mind.” Drea O: “I’m That Girl.” It’s empowering. Stefan Breskin: “Cuff It.” I think it could’ve been the lead single. Eric Skelton: “Virgo’s Groove,” and I’m not just saying that because I’m a Virgo (OK, maybe a little). I’m dying to hear this song in a room full of people. Those runs! Biggest skip? Jessica: “Break My Soul,” although the transition from “Energy” to “Break My Soul” was *chef’s kiss*Karla: “Virgo’s Groove” is just f ine, but I’m a Scorpio so I simply can’t relate (lol). Andre: No skips over here. Jordan: There’s no glaring skip for me, but the transition between “Virgo’s Groove” and “Move” was a bit jarring. I would have liked an in-

termediate track between them, before the tempo jumped like it does. Alana: I wouldn’t skip, but gun to my head, “Cuff It.”Aria: I think “Break My Soul” sounds better in the context of this album, but it’s still not a favorite. Trace: None. Drea: “Break My Soul,” only because it’s in constant rotation, literally everywhere. I’m a little tired. Stefan: “Plastic Of f The Sofa.”Eric: I’ll probably come back to the intro (“I’m That Girl”) the least. It’s not bad, but the album gets better as it goes on. Best thing about the album? Jessica: The transitions are seamless. Every track absorbs the other, and you don’t even realize you’ve listened to half of the album already. Karla: The way every song just melts into the next. I’ve been getting a little too used to albums sounding like they were cooked in the microwave in under 10 minutes, but Renaissance feels like it was oven-roasted. Andre: The way each track built into the next and created a sonic world. For instance, the way the kicks were added to the end of “Cuff It” so it would smoothly lead into “Energy” is really top-notch work by the producers. Jordan: Renaissance is a dance album that’s still able to blend melodic, dance, and bar-centric tracks together in a way that makes sense. It’s something only someone like Beyoncé could do at this high level.

Alana: THE TR ANSITIONS! Aria: Beyonce’s dedication to being the best she can be as a singer, songwriter, and producer. Also, her dedication to looking to the past but bringing it into the future. The songs are layered and varied, with references pulled from so many different places. She has a very academic approach to making music that feels really well-researched and well-executed. And I also just love her range. She uses her voice in so many different ways on this album. Trace: Beyoncé has captured a collective mid-pandemic feeling of wanting to dance through the pain, all while championing the importance of dance music at large, including the history of house. Drea: The way it was put together, sonically. It’s really an experience—the Beyoncé experience we all love. She delivered. Stefan: The transitions. If you’re not paying attention to the elapsed time on each song resetting to 0:00, you’ll lose your spot on the tracklist. Beyoncé is the queen of transitions in her live arrangements, but seeing it done throughout an entire project is more than I could have asked for. Eric: It’s fun as hell. Beyoncé is an album artist who throws herself into the specif ic mission of each project, and this time she wanted to “release the wigg le” in her fans. Well, I haven’t been able to stop moving since I pressed play. Mission accomplished. Worst thing about the album? Jessica: It was diff icult to hear about the drama surrounding the samples on this project (in par ticular, the Kelis’ grievances over her music being sampled on “Energy”) and not have a sour taste in my mouth. Karla: The album loses steam a little bit toward the middle.Andre: This isn’t about the album per se, but the Kelis-Neptunes sample drama was a black eye on what had been a dope album rollout. I do agree with Kelis that even if she technically doesn’t own her masters to “Get Along With You,” Beyoncé’s team could have hit her up

and told her about it beforehand. Jordan: I didn’t have any real issues with Renaissance. The melodies are beautiful, and despite some of the subject matter not really advancing through the album, I don’t think it had to for it to still be good. Alana: Given the credits, I was hoping to hear Drake as a surprise on “Heated.” Aria: I don’t know if this is a bad thing about the album per se, but I self ishly want to hear Beyoncé speak about her creation process, and it would be a shame if we don’t hear that directly from her. The leak and Kelis drama that preceded the roll out was also unfortunate, but it is what it is. Trace: None. Drea: The album leak and rollout was not a great look, but Beyoncé can really do no wrong. I love the project so far.Stefan: Beyoncé did what she was trying to do: create a place to scream, release, and feel freedom. But when you commit to a sound this much, there becomes a specif ic time and place you can listen to the album, and I don’t think I’m always going to be in the mood to release the wiggle. Eric: Part of me is disappointed to not hear any ballads after six years of waiting for a new Beyoncé album, but it’s a minor complaint. That’s clearly not what Renaissance is for. Maybe we’ll get some songs like that on act ii or iii?

Biggest surprise? Jessica: I thought there were going to be a lot more features. Aside from Tems and Beam, and voiceovers from Grace Jones and TS Madison, there weren’t a lot of guest appearances. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but after seeing the credits, it was shocking to see that most of those names (Drake, Jay-Z, etc) played a background role. Karla: I usually prefer when Bey gives us big vocals, but I didn’t mind what she did with this. Andre: No big surprises, but I thought there would’ve been a Jay-Z verse on here where he atones for “Ghetto Techno.”Jordan: It sounds like Beyoncé has been working on her bars over these last few years. While her melodies and vocal prowess have only gotten better, Bey f lexes a new lyrical pocket that is really impressive on some of these songs. Alana: “Church Girl” ended up being a twerk anthem?! Aria: The transitions. I mean, it wasn’t a huge surprise to me, because she does this so well with her live shows. But to see her integrate it into the album was a welcome surprise. She really wanted us to listen to this as a full body of work, or a project you can play at a party from front to back. And I was surprised by the amount of samples. Beyoncé has always sampled other songs, but the way she infused this many into one song was masterful. Trace:

This is the most immediately I have been fully immersed in a new Bey album, and I wouldn’t be shocked if this ultimately becomes my favorite era of hers. Drea: I’m surprised Beyoncé was rapping so much on the album. She did just as much rapping as she did singing. Stefan: No features. Seeing the writing credits had me fantasizing about the potential of a Beyoncé track featuring Drake, while they’re both in their dance music bag. Eric: At this point, it’s not really a surprise to hear Beyoncé make a song like “Thique” (she’s been making great rap songs for years) but the f irst time I heard that raspy whisper f low in the f irst 30 seconds, my jaw dropped. What a song.

Overall f irst impressions?

Jessica: Renaissance is a cohesive and seamless dance project that gives us what we want and need right now: a good time.

Karla: I love an album you can play from top to bottom without skips, and Renaissance is now one of them.

Andre: Beyoncé and her collaborators did an incredible job here. Amid a trend of producers re-working classic samples for singles, Beyoncé is the f irst one I’ve seen to be intentional about it with a trio of albums devoted to the premise. Jordan: One of the most impressive things about Beyoncé is that she’s been in music for over two decades and still f inds a way to reinvent herself with every album. Renaissance is nothing like Lemonade, but it creates its own space that makes comparing the two feel unnecessary. From the songwriting to vocals and production, she has managed to somehow hit another pinnacle.Alana: It’s an endless party. Given that Beyoncé said she wrote this during the pandemic, I expected it to feel a little more heavy. But it’s so light and free and just what we need right now. The lyrics don’t change the world or anything, but it allows you to just be here, and be present.

Aria: I’m thankful to be alive while Beyonce is creating. The end. Trace: I didn’t realize how much I needed an album like this at this exact moment. Thank you, Beyoncé. Drea: I love the album and appreciate Beyoncé for delivering a quality project. Stefan: This is one of the best listening experiences I’ve had with a new album this year. The traditional rollout, detailed physical copies, and dozens of press photos helped build a complete world around Renaissance, and I’m looking forward to seeing her expand with act ii and act iii.

Eric: She did it. She pulled off the challenge of making a fun dance album full of samples that pay homage to the past, while still pushing her own sound for ward and experimenting in an enjoyable way. It’s been a rough couple of years and the world deserves an album like this right now. The rest of the summer is going to be fun as hell.

rent Faiyaz never stays in one place for long. One second, you’ll find him enjoying fine wine on a balcony overlooking Los Angeles. The next, he’ll be greeting crazed fans on the claustrophobically narrow streets of London. It’s always impossible to predict where you’ll see him next, but wherever he is, he always shows up as himself.

When I track down the Columbia-born singer and producer on a blisteringly hot Wednesday afternoon in the middle of July, he’s sitting in the back seat of a black Suburban, parked in front of Neil Simone Theater in New York City. It’s two weeks after the release of his second studio album, Wasteland, and our original intent was to see the Broadway play MJ: The Musical together, but as Faiyaz is accustomed to, plans change quickly. Instead of seeing the show, we cruise down the block to his apartment to relax and talk before he has to jump to his next destination later in the night. He’s rarely here because he travels so often, but the topfloor crib has a stunning view of lower Manhattan.

Shortly after we arrive, Faiyaz looks out of the floor-to-ceiling windows and watches the little yellow lights flicker from nearby buildings as the sun slowly sets, like Batman surveying Gotham City. “Sometimes, I just look out the window and imagine what people are up to,” he says inquisitively. The feeling he’s describing is known as “sonder,” the realization that every person is living their own life just as complex as your own. This idea not only inspired the tattoo above his right eyebrow, but also the name of his group as well as his 2017 debut solo album, Sonder Son. While Sonder Son told the story of Faiyaz’s life before major fame, his 2020 EP Fuck The World was the true homecoming that introduced him to a global audience. He had already gained notoriety after snagging a Grammy nomination for his GoldLink collab “Crew” the year before, in addition to the success he found with Sonder, but Fuck The World put him on a whole new level. To this day, he remains independent, but a lot has changed for him since the release of that pivotal EP, which arrived just as the planet was falling apart. “Fuck The World came out at the same time as [COVID],” he points out. “It’s like, I dropped that shit and everything stopped, so I couldn’t really shoot video or do shows. We had a whole tour planned and we had to cancel it. I was really living and experiencing all of the hype of that project on my own. I was making more money than I ever fuckin’ made, but it was all around the same time COVID happened and George Floyd got killed, so it was just a weird time.” Still, Faiyaz allowed himself to indulge in the benefits that his new lifestyle provided him. After figuring out how to travel around the globe safely, he spent two years adventuring and living out the perks of being famous with nothing to do. He would go from city to city, sometimes staying with different women for weeks, then disappearing back

into the night. “I’d fuck around and stay at a woman’s house for like two weeks, off some random shit just because a nigga could,” he reminisces, chuckling about how wild it sounds in retrospect. “It probably wasn’t the best idea. But I was just pulling up from crib to crib, because the project was out, niggas was hot, and I couldn’t do no shows, so I went on a whole personal tour and really just did wild shit.”He had no touring responsibilities or any of the other things that often make life as an artist stressful, living freely and watching the world flip upside down on his terms. Naturally, that unique experience spilled into his second solo album Wasteland, which arrived on July 8. “This shit didn’t make no sense,” he says. “It was a weird ass time, and that’s what Wasteland is; still protesting and getting tear gassed while simultaneously still going to the strip club and writing music and going to the studio. Everything was all over the place, so if I was in these random spots and I got inspired, I’d go to the studio immediately.” “I think there’s a common misconception that I’m chasing commercial success. I think motherf*ckers fail to realize that I really don’t give a f*ck.”Although Faiyaz fully leaned into a rockstar lifestyle over the last two years, he’s not far removed from the humble beginnings that shaped the strong work ethic he has today. As we talk, he reminisces on the challenge of working at Dunkin’ Donuts just to get by. “People are picky as shit about their coffee!” he says emphatically as we bond over a shared experience of being a barista earlier in life. (We both agree it’s one of the most difficult jobs in the world.) Kicking back, Faiyaz turns on some music and offers me an organic ginger shot along with his. He tells me he’s getting in touch with Usher’s singing coach soon because he wants to take his vocals to the next level, and he needs to take his health much more seriously. “It sucks being a singer sometimes,” he jokes, as we laugh about how weird ginger shots taste (it’s my first time trying one, and definitely the last) and compare Black Southern herbal remedies. He’s come a long way since the Dunkin’ Donuts days. Today, he’s a leading figure in a new era of R&B that’s full of artists challenging the conventions of the genre. He isn’t caught up in wanting to be the torchbearer for R&B, but he also wouldn’t decline being considered the face of the genre. “I’d own that—I feel like I earned that, but I think it’s deeper than R&B,” he says when I ask for his opinion on being called the “face of R&B.” Then he adds, “It’s bigger than just a genre… I’m not one of those niggas that wears R&B on my sleeve, so it’s ironic, but I’ll take it. I think music as a whole is changing and people are going to see a lot more with what I’m trying to do.” He shared similar sentiments with Complex back in 2020, explaining that even though he’s considered an R&B artist, he doesn’t want to restrict his sound to the boundaries of the genre. “I just make music,” he said. “I listen to a lot of different types of genres, but I guess I’m R&B because I’m Black, I sing, and I have a soulful

voice. So I’ll take that R&B title. But I might fuck around and make a reggae album tomorrow.” Another thing that separates Faiyaz from some of his peers is the fact that he never wanted to be famous in the first place. “I think there’s a common misconception that I’m chasing commercial success. I think motherfuckers fail to realize that I really don’t give a fuck. I just don’t care because nothing is that serious.” Regardless of his intentions, success keeps building for Faiyaz. Wasteland debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, surprising many in the industry. Like Fai yaz’s own career, the album didn’t take a linear path to existence. Late last year, a different name for the project was circulating among fans: Make It Out Alive. Faiyaz clarifies that he thought of that name first, but as Wasteland began to take shape, he realized it was being informed by the burning world around him, so he opted to save that for an entirely different project that will be released at a later date. “I still have a project I want to put out called Make It Out Alive,” he reveals. “That’s still in the works—it’s just not this one, because I love the title Wasteland and I love what it represents. I have an idea in my head of what I want Make It Out Alive to be, but all of the songs that I have been making up until this point didn’t fit that title. I wasn’t in the headspace to put that body of work out.” “It was a weird a** time, and that’s what Wasteland is; protesting and getting tear gassed while simultaneously still going to the strip club and writing music and going to the studio.” Many of the songs on Wasteland are cathartic, as Faiyaz sings about the regret of letting his past lovers down and accepting that he’s just as flawed of a human being as anyone else. He credits The-Dream—a collaborator he first met in 2018—for helping him figure out how to make R&B love records that are authentic to him, rather than filling them to generic, sensitive content that he doesn’t actually mean. “I was struggling with finding a way to be myself and still sing, so I linked with Dream and started talking to him about music and life,” he says, remembering a turning point that hap pened before Fuck The World. “He just goes into the booth and starts singing my thoughts. He was like, ‘You sing, right? Your power is in making anything you say sound good. You don’t have to say things that are nice, because you can make anything sound nice. You can let your true self out.’ And that made me realize I can say whatever I want and just sing it, and that’s how Fuck The World happened. Ironically, women gravitated towards that more.” That sonic shift changed everything for Faiyaz, and the mentality carries over to Wasteland. The album reflects the contradicting reality of navigating through the pandemic with increased notoriety and less concern about what people thought of him. Songs like “Rolling Stone” illustrate his feelings of being “rich as fuck and still ain’t nothing at the same time,” while a song like “Addictions” lays out the crux of his new lifestyle in plain terms: “Maybe it’s the love, the drugs, the weed, the

pussy/ Maybe it’s all the above, maybe I don’t need a hug/ Maybe I’m just fucked up.” It isn’t until the outro, “Angel,” that it sounds like Faiyaz is finally ready to ask for help and face his demons head-on. “Amidst all of the bravado and the bragging, it was just a record that explained why,” says of the song now, revealing that he recorded it in one night because he had so much to say. “I kind of just broke down the wall and wanted to give people the real.” Wasteland is Faiyaz’s first project to heavily feature artists and producers outside of his independent Lost Kids circle, and he says every guest appearance happened naturally after Fuck The World made him a hot commodity. “Ghetto Gatsby” features a standout performance from Alicia Keys, who is one of the first singers Faiyaz listened to when he was younger. “The Diary of Alicia Keys was the first CD I ever bought, and I told her that,” he admits. “She’s not just an artist to me. She was a part of my introduction to music in general. I was in the studio mad quiet with her at first, but after I got past that it was mad cool.”

Elsewhere on the star-studded tracklist are collaborators like Drake, Tyler, the Creator, No I.D., Raphael Saadiq, DJ Dahi, and more. The 19-track album is the longest project Faiyaz has ever put out, but every track plays an integral part in the larger story. It unfolds like a play, with three skits that mark tonal shifts on the project. The skits were written by executive producer Jonathan “Freeze” Wells, and Faiyaz wanted them to tell a cautionary tale about how every selfish act that’s driven by ego can come with dire consequences.

“No matter what you do to pass your time or to soothe your wounds, there’s a consequence to every one of your actions,” he says. “While you want to be young and carefree, at the end of the day, you can’t be playing with people’s emotions.” These sentiments contradict a common percep tion that he’s “toxic,” and as he explains on the album’s intro “Villains Theme,” Faiyaz believes that’s just a “Twitter word” that people use when they feel uncomfortable with someone being too candid with them. Just as I ask my final question, Faiyaz’s manager steps out of the other room and reminds him that he has a photo shoot to get to. By now, the sun has completely disappeared behind the New York City skyline and the navy blue horizon is lit up by the lights of distant apartment buildings. Faiyaz pauses for a second to look out of the window again, taking in the full scope of his universe. I witness a brief moment of contemplation, before he digs through clothes for the shoot and gets back to his fast-paced life. In a way, Wasteland offers a similar glimpse into Faiyaz’s ever-changing world, and I wonder how often he gets to slow down and ponder that. But before I can ask, he’s on the move again. There’s still more places to be.

In the Spotlight

Where Republicans Have Made It Harder To Vote

Georgia’s new voting restrictions dominated headlines in March, for numerous reasons: It was one of the closest states in last year’s presidential election and the focus of former President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign to get Republicans to overturn the results; the legislation was written in such a way as to have a disproportionate impact on voters of color; and the law inspired an unusual amount of backlash from corporate America, even spurring

latest data from the Brennan Center for Justice and our own research, at least 404 voting-restriction bills have now been introduced in 48 state legislatures.1 What’s more, nearly 90 percent of them were sponsored primarily or entirely by Republicans. Of course, not all of those bills will pass. Of those 404 bills, we count 179 that are already dead — either because they were voted down or weren’t passed before a key deadline. Another 137 bills have not yet progressed beyond the committee stage, and at this point, that inaction bodes poorly for their chances of passage. On the other hand, 63 bills are still worth

boxes to early-voting sites or election offices (where they can only be used if a staff member is physically present), limits how many absentee ballots a person can deliver for non-family members, and makes absentee-ballot requests good for only one election cycle (previously, they were good for two cycles). Critics also fear that the law could allow Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to stack local election boards with political cronies and intimidate campaigns from giving food and water to voters within 150 feet of a polling place (based on the law’s expanded definition of vote solicitation). DeSantis also signed the bill last Thursday at a signing ceremony that was closed to all members of the press except Fox News, contributing to the partisan acrimony over the legislation. Of course, as in Georgia, it’s not clear whether Florida’s new law will actually boost Republicans’ chances of winning elections in the perennially competitive state. By making it less easy to vote absentee, the law discourages a voting method that was used overwhelmingly by Democrats in 2020 but was also a source of Republican strength in elections before that. Other new voting restrictions haven’t gotten as much attention as Florida and Georgia, but they could still affect voting for millions of people and underscore just how widespread Republicans’ push to tighten voting laws has been. From April 15 to April 30, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed into law no fewer than seven bills containing new voting restrictions. One prohibits people from going within 100 feet of a polling place except with the intention of entering or exiting it — which could effectively ban giving food and water to voters waiting in line. Another requires absentee ballots to be received by the Friday before Election Day, making Arkansas one of two states where absentee ballots that arrive on Election Day do not count.2 The other five laws take power out of the hands of local election officials (for example, one bans them from mailing out unsolicited absentee-ballot applications), a trend we’ve written about previously. Similarly, Montana has enacted five new restrictions on voting this year. Among them: The governor can no longer change election laws in an emergency (as Democrat Steve Bullock did during the pandemic last year) without first getting legislative approval; people with certain types of IDs (namely student IDs) have to present a second, supplementary ID in order to vote; and, crucially, people can no longer register to vote on Election Day itself. These last two restrictions could help Republicans at the ballot box: Research has found that

Election Day voter registration adds a significant number of disproportionately young) voters to the electorate, and young voters and students lean Democratic. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed a bill to require people to present ID in order to vote in person, leaving just one reliably Republican state (Nebraska) without a voter-ID law. Republicans in the Kansas Legislature overrode Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s vetoes of two bills that bar the executive and judicial branches from changing election laws, prohibit the secretary of state from extending absentee-voting deadlines and impose strict rules on people who return other people’s absentee ballots. Idaho now requires that a voter’s signature on her absentee ballot match the signature from her voter registration. Indiana has a new law that standardizes election procedures, in part by restricting drop boxes to the “physical control and supervision of the county election board.” (There are pro-voting-rights provisions too, such as notifying voters whose absentee ballots are rejected and giving them a chance to fix, or “cure,” the problem.) A major election-law overhaul in Kentucky that mostly expands voting access (by allowing early voting, implementing an absentee-ballot curing process, establishing online voter registration and more) also contains one voting restriction: Kentuckians are not allowed to deliver another person’s absentee ballot unless they are the voter’s family member, roommate or caregiver (or work for the U.S. Postal Service or elections office). In less than five months, 25 new voting restrictions have already been enacted in 2021. That’s a notable uptick from recent years: The Brennan Center tracked only 14 voting restrictions that became law in 2019 and 2020 combined. It’s likely, too, that that number will continue to grow. Republicans are expected to add even more laws restricting voting access to the books in the coming months — with an omnibus bill in Texas likely to be the next voting restriction to experience the glare of the national spotlight. Stay tuned as we continue to track these bills and explore their implications.

t’s June again—that time of year when Americans wake up each morning and wait for the Supreme Court to resolve our deepest political disagreements. To decide what the Constitution says about our bodily autonomy, our power to avert climate change, and our ability to protect children from guns, the nation turns not to members of Congress—elected by us— but to five oracles in robes.This annual observance of judicial supremacy—the idea that the Supreme Court has the final say about what our Constitution allows—is an odd affliction for a nation that will close the month ready to celebrate our independence from an unelected monarch. From one perspective, our acceptance of this supremacy reflects a sense that our political system is simply too broken to address the most urgent questions that we confront. But it would be a mistake to see judicial supremacy as a mere symptom of our politics and not a cause. Contrary to what many people have come to believe, judicial supremacy is not in the Constitution, and does not date from the founding era. It took hold of American politics only after the Civil War, when the Court overruled Congress’s judgment that the Constitution demanded civil-rights and voting laws. The Court has spent the 150 years since sapping our national representatives of the power to issue national rules. These judicial decisions have destroyed guardrails that national majorities deemed vital to a functional, multiracial democracy—including protecting the right to vote and curbing the influence of money in politics. Even worse, the Court’s assertion of the power to invalidate federal laws has stripped Americans of the expectation, once widely shared, that the most important interpretations of the Constitution are expressed not by judicial decree but by the participation of “We, the People,” in enacting national legislation.In the dec ades before the Civil War, when national parties violently con tested the constitutionality of slavery west of the Mississippi, the center of gravity was Congress. As the historian James Oakes recounts, when a border-state senator proposed asking the Supreme Court to decide the issue in 1848, other senators ridiculed his idea as implausible. “The Constitution was inter preted as variously as the Bible,” Senator John P. Hale of New Hampshire responded. White southerners believed “the Con stitution carries slavery with it,” while northerners construed the Constitution “to secure freedom.” As Hale and his contemporaries appreciated, resolving such a fundamental national disagreement could never turn on a court’s answer to which interpretation was more correct. Rather, the winning interpretation would depend on whether adherents could build sufficient political majorities to control the national government. Ryan D. Doerfler and Samuel Moyn: Reform the Court but don’t pack it. The Supreme Court did attempt to decide the question in its infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision—interpreting the Constitu tion to hold that the federal government lacked the power to

abolish slavery anywhere in the United States. But rather than accept this novel assertion of judicial supremacy over Congress, the Republican Party responded with defiance. Indeed, Abraham Lincoln successfully ran for president on a platform of repudiating the Court with national legislation. In his inaugu ral address, he remarked that “the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the Government upon vital questions affect ing the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court,” then “the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government into the hands of that eminent tribunal.” Through the Civil War and the Reconstruction era that followed, the po litically dominant Republicans in Congress enacted legislation to build a multiracial democracy in the United States for the first time. Some of these laws boldly overruled the Court, including statutes in 1862 and 1866 that began the abolition of slavery and recognized the citizenship of Black people. Others prevented the Court from retaliating against Congress’s interpretation of the Constitution, such as legislation stripping the Court of jurisdiction over certain matters. Still others enlisted the Court in the project of enforcing Congress’s constitutional judgments.

Acts in 1870 and 1871 instructed federal

courts to enforce the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments against recalcitrant state officials, while acts in 1870 and 1875 tasked judges with banning voting restrictions, lynch mobs, and racial discrimination. Only after Republicans lost control of Congress in 1875 was the Court able to enforce its contrary interpretations of the Constitution—to devastating effect. In the Civil Rights Cases of 1883 and related cases, the Court refused to enforce federal civil-rights laws on the theory that the newly enacted Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amend ments gave Congress no power against private racial violence or discrimination in public accommodations. For the next half century—as part of what the historian W. E. B. Du Bois called the “counter-revolution of property”—the Court condemned the Reconstruction Congress as a group of unprincipled fanatics. And it invented new doctrines that authorized the Court to in validate federal legislation that it thought went too far toward interfering with white business interests. It was during this period that judicial supremacy took hold as a dominant ideo logy in the United States.This bears repeating: Judicial supremacy is an institutional arrangement brought to cultural ascendancy by white people who wanted to undo Reconstruc tion and the rise of organized labor that had followed. And that makes sense, as judicial supremacy can harness the power of an entrenched minority and use that power to undermine the more democratic legislative branch. Decades after the Court in Marbury v. Madison first anticipated that it might disagree with Congress about a federal law’s constitutionality, the justices fi nally convinced skeptics of the need for this authority by dis empowering Congress and unraveling its legislative efforts to establish political equality. Paul Finkelman: America’s ‘Great Chief Justice’ was an unrepentant slaveholder In the nearly

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SHOULD CLAW IT B A CK.

150 years since Reconstruction, the thrust of judicial supremacy has continued to be revanchist. Through the 21st century, the justices overwhelmingly have exercised their claim of supremacy over Congress to insulate the wealthy and powerful from federal labor laws, federal voting laws, federal civil-rights laws, federal campaign-finance laws, and federal health-care laws. Decisions such as Citizens United and Shelby County are typical examples of how the Court has overruled Congress to make it harder for ordinary people to participate in American democracy on equal terms. But their damage goes beyond even that: Because the limits of our constitutional imagination can extend no further than the opinions of those who happen to sit on the Court, judicial supremacy has also impoverished what we think is possible through democratic politics—and through organizing for political change at the national level. In the nearly 150 years since Reconstruction, the thrust of judi cial supremacy has continued to be revanchist. Through the 21st century, the justices overwhelmingly have exercised their claim of supremacy over Congress to insulate the wealthy and powerful from federal labor laws, federal voting laws, federal civil-rights laws, federal campaign-finance laws, and federal health-care laws. Decisions such as Citizens United and Shelby County are typical examples of how the Court has overruled Congress to make it harder for ordinary people to participate in American democracy on equal terms. But their damage goes beyond even that: Because the limits of our con stitutional imagination can extend no further than the opinions of those who happen to sit on the Court, judicial supremacy has also impoverished what we think is possible through democratic politics—and through organizing for political change at the national level. Rather than look to the Court to glimpse some fundamental truth from scant constitutional text, Americans ought to demand that their elected representatives en gage in the hard work of national lawmaking. Congress must act, even if it means overriding the interpretations of the Court and reshaping its jurisdiction. Encouragingly, members of the House have recently passed bills to enforce their understand ing of what federal laws our nation demands and our Constitu tion permits—including reproductive freedom and voting rights. But the bills have all stalled in the Senate for two reasons that remain within its control. One, the filibuster, will be abolished as soon as 50 senators recognize that a permanently inca pacitated Senate is far more destructive than an active Senate that might one day be controlled by an opposing party. But the other obstacle may be more pernicious: a fear among legislators that there is no point to legislating if the Court will simply invalidate anything Congress achieves. Yet as the Reconstruc tion Congress recognized, everything the Court has the power to do comes from federal statutes passed by Congress—stat utes that a majority of Congress always has the power to amend. Conflicts over constitutional interpretation are not really over who has the best understanding of words inscribed in an old document. They are about who—or which actors in our system of national government—can deliver on a particular, and inherently contested, meaning in the context of our current times. It is a question of political leadership, not legal ism. There is nothing unconstitutional about Congress reasserting its authority to define the nation’s highest law The experience of Reconstruction brings into view this firmly grounded practice. In fact, a surviving remnant of the Recon struction Congress’s work—today codified in 42 U.S.C. § 1983—has underwritten some of the most famous cases in modern constitutional law. In Section 1983, Congress in

structed federal courts to stop state or local officials from depriving anyone of their “rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution.” Section 1983 is what Oliver Brown invoked when he challenged Kansas’s segregation laws in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, what “Jane Roe” invoked to challenge Texas’s abortion law in Roe v. Wade, and what James Obergefell invoked when he challenged Ohio’s same-sex-marriage ban in Obergefell v. Hodges. While these landmark cases invalidated state laws, the justices were fol lowing, not undermining, Congress’s orders. The decisions overruling state interpretations of the Constitution don’t repre sent judicial supremacy, but rather Congress’s ability to make and enforce national constitutional commitments. Congres sional checks on the Supreme Court are also very different from the calls for “nullification” by slaveholders before the Civil War, their descendants during the civil-rights movement, and Texas legislators today The Civil War itself resolved that the representatives of states must enforce their constitutional interpretations not by defying the government created by the Constitution but by participating in it. For the past two centuries, Congress has been the branch of the federal govern ment where our democracy’s pursuit of equal justice under law has most often been realized. The question is not whether some commitments—abolition, reproductive freedom, racial equality—are worth making supreme and constitutive of a national American identity. Rather, the question is who gets to decide the content of those commitments for all Americans: the 50 states, a five-justice majority, or our national legislature.

If the Court is today eviscerating those very constitutional commitments through its case law, Congress should enact or amend federal statutes to advance a different understanding of a nation built on democratic justice. It should reshape the Court’s ability to intervene in these disputes, including by restricting the Court’s authority to set aside federal legislation.

And it should conscript the Court in enforcing federal commit ments when resistant state officials brazenly declare that the national government has no jurisdiction to protect Americans from their parochial rule. The thing stopping Congress from reversing each wrongheaded decision the Court issues this month therefore isn’t the Constitution. It’s our failure to demand more from our elected representatives.

The promise of a genuinely multiracial democracy will fade if Americans are unwilling to embrace structural reforms that can make our policies and our politics more responsive to majority rule. How Congress allocates the power to interpret the Constitution should be at the heart of those reforms. We simply cannot build a better politics if we don’t reclaim the authority of Congress to resolve our most fundamental disagreements. Rather than allow a handful of us to define the Constitution’s meaning in a mystical ritual each June, the rest of us should define it with the hard, messy work of American politics yearround.

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21 Sa va ge’ s Best F ea tur e Ve r ses of 2022, Rank ed 21

Savage is one of the most under-appreciated feature artists in rap right now. While he’s very skilled at making solo records and crafting vivid worlds with his concept albums, his skill for tearing apart guest verses has gone largely unnoticed. The combination of his unique whispering tone and menacing delivery creates standout moments on every song he’s been on this year, and the rapper has made it a point to only get better on each new appearance. It’s been nearly two years since the release of 21’s last studio album, Savage Mode 2, with Metro Boomin, but he’ been keeping fans fed in the interim with a steady diet of elite bars. His streak of impressive guest verses started in 2021 with standout appearances on tracks like Roddy Ricch’ Cole’ his viral song with Drake “Knife Certified Lover Boy Each of these performances demonstrated a different lyrical pocket that the has, and acted as a primer for the bars he’ delivered in 2022. What makes a 21 Savage feature so impressive is the way he’s able to diversify his flow. Similar to Pusha T, 21 has mastered the art of rapping about the same thing all the time (in most cases horror and hood politics), while managing to make every new verse sound fresh. It’s a testament to his creativity and lyrical ability The Atlanta rapper has also been working with a wider variety of artists this year, from his

pop-friendly collaboration with Calvin Harris on “New Money,” to his linking up with Tyler, the Creator over Pharrell’s impressive production on “Cash In Cash Out,” and more. These verses all reflect 21 Savage’s ability to produce technically savvy bars infused with his devilish aesthetics. If these guest verses are any indicator of where his pen is at right now, then the rap game should be on notice.As 2022 comes to an end, we waded through over half a dozen features to rank the best 21 Savage guest appearances of the year so far 8. “KEEP GOING” If we’re being honest, verses on DJ Khaled albums range from sounding microwaved at worst to rappers trying their hardest to steal the show

A-liststacked album at best. 21 Savage was able to find middle ground between the two on his portion of “Keep Going” alongside Lil Durk and Roddy Ricch. His verse anchors the track, and while he doesn’t completely outshine Durk and , he makes sure his presence is felt. It sounds lazy relative to the other thoughtful verses he’s delivered in 2022, but even a casual Savage feature is still impressive. 7. “NEW MONEY” No one had a Calvin Harris and 21 Savage song on their 2022 music bingo board, but here we are. This is definitely the most surprising collaboration 21 Savage has done this year, and also perhaps the most unique verse

he’s delivered as well. On “New Money,” 21 tries to rap with a cadence that will flow with the funky dance-centric beats that Calvin Harris has become known for. It doesn’t work that well, but the verse is an interesting experiment on 21’s part that reflects him getting out of his comfort zone and rapping over something that sounds completely foreign to him. 6. “WHEELIE” 21 Savage’s sex bars are always hilarious because he doesn’t try to make them sound sexy, and his guest verse on Latto’s “Wheelie” is a great example. “If you fake a relationship, you stealing pussy” is a very Savage way of saying it’s emotionally manipulative to lie about your feelings to your partner because you want to continue being sexually involved with them. Therein lies the duality of 21 Savage: a really mature and important message followed by the punchline “Make a email for your ass, girl, I wanna book it.” 5. “WAY PAST LUCK” Soul samples always seem to bring the best out of 21 Savage, and his performance on this track off of DJ Khaled’s God Did is no different. 21 has proven he can rap about the trenches he grew up in, but here—he does an even better job at illustrating his hopes to help other people get out like he did. He doesn’t glamorize the streets that raised him, but makes it clear that without that experience, he wouldn’t be the person he is today Those earnest moments of self-reflection show listeners what 21 Savage’s journey to fame and fortune has really been like. 4. “Thought I Was Playing” 21 Savage is great at sneaking in a dope verse on random album cuts, and he does just that on Gunna’s third studio album. The track often gets overshadowed by the other more popular songs on Gunna’s strong Drip Season 4ever, but Savage uses this opportunity to deliver some clever punchlines and flex his lyrical abilities. “Say they twins, throw they body in the same river,” is such a specific, Jason Voorheeslike threat that it only makes sense coming from 21. The way he switches flows during the second half of his verse is also impressive and something he’s been doing more often on his guest features. 3. “Surround Sound” An Atlanta link-up is always special, so when JID tapped his fellow ATL natives 21 Savage and Baby Tate to spit over a Mos Def sample on “Sur 21 is a chameleon when it comes to being able to mold his flow and cadence to fit the tempo and energy of wha-

tever song he’s on, and he demonstrates that skill well here. JID is known to be a quick-spitter, so to maintain the pace of the song after his opening verse, 21 adopts a similar slippery flow when he jumps on the track, and it works perfectly. He’s rapping fast but not rushing, allowing each punchline to land before spitting the next. 21 is also adept at rapping over soul samples that have been paired with trap snares, so he’s naturally able to find his comfortable pockets here. 2. “CASH IN CASH OUT” “Cash In Cash Out” was a pleasant surprise for several reasons, one of which being that it gave us 21 Savage and Tyler, the Creator on chest-rattling Pharrell production. The track’s pulsing base isn’t the type of beat that Savage commonly raps over, but he sounds completely comfortable here as he opens the song with gusto. Even though Tyler has the most standout performance on the song, Savage’s earworm of a hook and impressive intro verse cannot be overlooked. “Cash In Cash Out” is also simply carefree fun, and it sounds like both Tyler and 21 are letting loose and flexing their lyrical muscles. With those details in mind, we should all even be able to look past a bad bar like “Kim Jong-Un, in my pants is a missile.” 1. “Jimmy Cooks” Drake and 21 Savage rarely miss when they come together on a track, and that special chemistry is put on full display on “Jimmy Cooks.”

As the only rap-leaning song on Honestly, Nevermind, “Jimmy Cooks” already felt like a fan-service song that Drake threw in to please the hip-hop heads, and 21 Savage didn’t disappoint as his sole guest feature. The transition between Drake and 21’s verse on the track is smooth, with Drizzy cleverly using Savage’s patented ad-lib to hand off the song as the beat switches to something more menacing. From there, 21 Savage anchors “Jimmy Cooks” with his usual bars about murder and mayhem. “If I was Will Smith, I would’ve smacked him with a stick,” he says in reference to the infamous Will Smith slap at the Oscars—a line so outlandish that it fits seamlessly into the context of the verse.

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Sanaa Lathan’s Directorial Debut ‘On the Come Up’ Is a Strong Place to Start

anaa Lathan has stepped into a new role making her f ilm directorial debut with the coming of age stor y

On the Come Up. The f ilm is based on the book by the same name written by Angie Thomas, and centers around an up-and-coming rapper named Bri (Jamila Gray). The 16year-old is from Garden Heights, a f ictional inner city, and is the daughter of a legendar y underg round MC named Lawless, who was fatally shot before making it big in the music industr y. Bri got her talent and love for rap from her father and now spends her time sharpening her skills in rap battles her aunt and manag Pooh (Da’Vine Jo Randolph) tak her to. Their goal is for Bri to be discovered by a music label so that she can help her mother Ja (Lathan)—a recovering addict who just lost her job—keep the lights on in their apartment.

The stor y hit home for Lathan who has previously talked about having family members who struggled with drug abuse. Lathan has had an acting career spanning decades, and has starred in beloved f ilms like Love & Basketball, Brown Sugar and The Best Man—so choosing the right stor y for her f irst time sitting in the director’s chair was key. “It is full circle. I’ve been doing it for so long and it felt really natural to step behind the camera, especially because this stor y really resonated so much with me,” Lathan tells Complex, saying she identif ied with the main character. “I saw a young Sanaa in Bri. I saw many women in my family in Jay and Pooh. And it

just felt good to be able to have this stor y, which has so much heart and is so entertaining and so much depth, to bring that as my f irst thing.” This Is Us writer Kay Oyegun wrote the script and that’s what caught Lathan’s eye when she was searching for a project to direct. “It’s ver y few and far between that you will actually get a script that you want to read from beginning to end. I wanted to read this from beginning to end. It was a pageturner. I laughed, I got emotional. Right there, you know it’s quality,” she says. “And the message of stepping into who you are authentically, and that’s how you win. That mese to me was

p made

ri-

y (Sept. 23). ter the premiere, it was announced that ilm would etting a ilm

some harsh reviews so far, but who cares? Netf lix and other streaming apps have dedicated sections for teen movies that are simply not good and usually lack depth, and those f ilms usually go on to get sequel af ter sequel and no one bats an eye. Actress-turned-director Olivia Wilde also received wide praise for her f ilm Booksmart that was also about teenagers but Lathan’s debut seems to not be getting as much support. It is also unjustly being compared to other f ilms about rappers like 8 Mile, Get Rich or Die Tr yin’, and Hustle & Flow, which are all about a musician tr ying to make it in the business. But On the Come Up isn’t tr ying to

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be comparable to those either. It’s a teen movie and in the same vein as f ilms like You Got Served and Stomp the Yard—coming-of-age stories about young people of color f iguring out life. Except this one centers around a young Black girl who is f ighting to survive regardless of the cards life has dealt her, and that’s not a stor y Hollywood likes to tell ver y of ten. It’s also timely since we’re currently in an era where women are dominating hip-hop and the rap world. Surely the battle rapping and music aspect of the f ilm could have been stronger but all in all, the f ilm serves its purpose if you give it a chance. Thomas, who also wrote The Hate U Give, is set on creating stories that help Black teenagers feel understood and empowered—the kind she wishes she had when she was younger. “Bri represents so many Black girls who exist,” the book author tells Complex. “These Black girls who are being told that they’re either too much or not enough, they’re too loud and too agg ressive, they are too angr y or they’re not smart enough, they’re not good enough, and I want my book and this movie to tell them they’re enough, period.” With Latham at the helm, Oyegun writing the script, Gray as the f ilm’s star, and Thomas’ book inspiring the stor y, this f ilm is being entirely led by Black women and as the author says, “It’s sad to say that in 2022, we’re still not seeing that nearly as much.” Thomas was involved in the directorial selection and knew Lathan was the one for the job soon af ter their f irst conversation. “I got a chance to talk with several directors and I remember when they told me that she was one of them, I kind of fangirled a bit. Love & Basketball was my Pride & Prejudice,” Thomas says. “When I had a chance to talk with her and hear her as the director I was blown away. Her vision for it but then also her love for the stor y and the way she connected with it, it was so apparent and it felt like nobody else could do this justice like she would. She just set the bar and it was going to be really high for anybody else to reach it.” On the Come Up is also Gray’s f irst feature f ilm, and her f irst as the lead. She tells Complex that she knows she is now creating an avenue for kids like her to know they can also make it. Working on this f ilm alongside industr y vets like Method Man and Mike Epps could have been intimidating, but having Lathan as a co-star and director helped. “Her being an actress f irst, she just really understood ever ything that I would be going through and she was just so patient with me,” Gray says. “She gave us time to rehearse and usually that doesn’t even happen on bigger sets.

You walk on and you get started but she was just so patient and seeing her switch modes from actor to director was amazing. She’s just so ex perienced and phenomenal and I learned a lot from her.” Miles Gutierrez-Riley, who plays Bri’s friend Sonny, ag rees and says that being in a cast with newer talent and seasoned professionals provided them all with a learning opportunity. “Ever yone approached [the f ilm] with this huge level of humility and g race. No one had an ego, ever yone was humble and ever yone was also there to work,” he tells Complex. “At the same time it was a ver y supporting environment and a challenging one because you were being pushed to rise to the level of these icons and these people who really know their way around the industr y and the craf t. It was a really enriching experience and a real blessing to be a part of it.” Aside from studying battle rap and listening to a lot of classic hiphop like Jay-Z, Nas, Big Pun, and Ms. Jade to prepare for the role, Gray also spoke to friends whose parents struggled with addiction. In the f ilm, Bri gets a reputation for being agg ressive and a troubled kid, even though she isn’t. She strives to rap about topics that matter, she wins some rap battles, but her need to help her mom f inancially leads her to recording a viral song that goes against her beliefs. Both Thomas and Lathan praised Gray’s performance in the f ilm, and the book author said af ter witnessing the actress’ professionalism and passion on set, she knows this f ilm will just be “a footnote in what’s about to be a huge, amazing career.” As far as Lathan goes, she is still focused on her acting career while forging a new path for herself behind the camera. “I haven’t given up acting. I see myself as a stor yteller. I’ll tell a stor y through my directing, through writing, and I don’t have to choose,” she says. “That’s the beauty of the business now with seeing so many amazing women and people of color being represented in front and behind the cameras. It’s a g reat time to be in the business now.” The actress, whose father Stan Lathan is also a director, has a goal to continue telling stories that encompass the fullness of what it means to be a person, not just the f iltered versions of who we are. “I am a believer that I want to ref lect the human experience. Ever ything doesn’t have to be positive and full of messages,” she says. “Sometimes it’s about ref lecting the dark stuff as well. For me, it’s about continuing to push myself outside of my comfort zone and to be challenged and to tell stories that are meaningful to me.”

Taste Test: You’ll Like This New ‘Cigar Blend’ Irish Whiskey Even If You Don’t Smoke

NO STOGIES REQUIRED TO SIP THIS BLENDED WHISKEY.

Let me start out by saying I’m not a cigar guy at all—on the contrary, I find them kind of disgusting. So when I got the chance to try this new Cigar Blend from Irish whiskey brand Clonakilty, I had some reservations. But the whiskey itself is actually quite good, and thankfully tastes nothing like a smoldering stogie. It turns out that’s not even the point here. Instead, this whiskey was created to pair well with a cigar, which thankfully means you don’t have to smoke one while sipping. According to the brand, extensive research was done to find a flavor combination that would complement the

LIFESTYLE — FOOD — DRINKS

finished in beer barrels (Clonakilty and 26 Degree collaborated previously in 2020 on the IPA1A finish whiskey), but this is the first one with cigar smokers in mind. The whiskey was not actually distilled onsite, as the distillery only began production a few years ago, so this is sourced liquid—as common a practice in Ireland as it is here in the US. And it’s a pretty interesting sipping experience, with different types of chocolate shining through as the predominant note, no doubt from those imperial stout barrels. On the nose, there’s ripe fruit, espresso and, yes, chocolate. The palate opens with rich dark

s 26 Degree Brewing, which the distillery christens “the spiritual home of cigar smoking in the USA.” This isn’t the first time the distillery has collaborated with an American brewery, as it has at least five other special releases that are

could see this whiskey pairing just as well with cheese or chocolate or salami or just a quiet evening. And that’s really the best indicator of quality ▲

his summer was supposed to mark the rebirth of commercial aviation after two years of travel restrictions left the industry nearly in hibernation. Instead, it is turning into one of the most chaotic travel seasons in decades. Flights are being canceled, and delays are becoming chronic. Baggage is getting lost. Hours long waits for check-in; luggage drop-off and security have exasperated trav elers. It’s not just one thing going wrong. The system is under strain or breaking down at every link in the chain, and each of the dearth of bag gage handlers and security agents keeps pas sengers from checking in, leading to flight delays. When immigrations and customs at hub airports are short-staf sengers have sometimes had to wait on planes, an issue that affected 2,700 flights arriving in ronto in May All this means that pilots and flight attendants work longer days and that there is less time for overnight maintenance.

Over time, crew and equipment shortages build. Airlines around the world that received pandemic bailout money or benefited from government-supported furlough schemes hoped to avoid such headaches. They started planning their full return to the skies almost as soon as they were largely grounded in early 2020. This year, carriers starved of revenue planned big capacity increases for the spring and summer. But some of the steps they took to shrink in 2020 have proved to be hard to re verse. They found they couldn’t staff back up quickly enough, in an industry that requires both background checks and training for new workers, sometimes involving time spent on flight simulators. To address the spate of flight delays, some airports have imposed limits on passengers and flights, and some airlines have trimmed their newly enhanced schedules. But those moves have further upended travelers’ plans. “ rest of the year, even as demand remains roand July 12 depart late, according to flight data specialist FlightAware, the highest percentage bust, executives said. U.S. domestic traffic has been humming for the better part of a year, though at a lower level than in pre-Covid days. Countries have dropped many international travel restrictions. But while the majority of flights arrive as scheduled, disruptions are up significantly both from the past quiet two years and from the period before the pandemic. Toronto Pearson International saw 52.9% of flights between June 1 among airports with 1,000 or more com-

pleted flights. Frankfurt Airport in Germany and Paris Charles de Gaulle had delays in 46.4% and 42.8% of departures, and London Heathrow in 40.2%.Outside of China, where the zeroCovid policy has hobbled airlines, Newark Liberty had the highest percentage of cancellations from June 1 to July 12— 7.8% of departures scrapped, vs. 4.5% in that period of 2019, according to FlightAware. LaGuardia in New York had 7.2% canceled in the same period, also a steep rise from 2019. In good times, a day in aviation unfolds like a minutely choreo graphed global ballet, ferrying passengers and their bags through airports, onto planes, into the sky and back down again. Usually, there’s enough redundancy built into the sys tem to limit the disruption from anything that goes wrong. The difficulty in hiring airport and airline staffers has meant that redundancy isn’t there now. “The question on everybody’s lips is, ‘Where have they all gone?’” said Tim Clark, president of Emi Airline, at an event last month. “There are hundreds of millions of people that have disappeared from the labor market.”The pressure points include too few ground handlers to load and unload luggage, a long training period for new or rehired pilots, continued absences from Covid-19 and shortages of the airfic controllers crucial for safe flying. London Heathrow Airport, which has been a focal point for f shortages and resulting havoc, last week followed London Gatwick, Frankfurt and Amsters Schiphol in restricting airoperations. Heathrow, which before Covid-19 was the secondbiggest airport for international traffic after Dubai, said it would limit departing passengers to 100,000 a day through Sept. 11, which is 4,000 below what had been scheduled.

and Macs slow to a crawl as time goes by. But that doesn’t always mean you need a replacement. A few cheap tricks can often bring an old computer back to life. As a man of a certain age, I know that everything slows down as it gets older. But with computers, that decline can be especially pre cipitous. After just a couple of years, bootups can grow slug gish, apps may take longer to load, and the spinning wheel of death can become a more frequent feature of your user experience. Eventually the frustrations become so great that people buy a new system. Sometimes that’s the right decision. Sometimes the hardware is so old (and possibly damaged) that it can’t keep up with modern software and ever-more complex websites. But often enough, those computers don’t need to be put out to pasture. In fact, many elderly computers are still out there cranking, perhaps with inexpensive upgrades. “The 2012 MacBook Pro is probably our largest seller,” says Nick Brats keir, owner of Flipmacs, a company that sells refurbished Macs and PCs on marketplaces like Back Market, eBay, and Swappa. And those 2012 models, with upgrades to solid-state hard drives, sell for about $150. So what’s the magic that brings an old Mac or PC back to life? Let’s look at what goes wrong as a system ages, and how to fix it. (For a quick over view of all the tips in this article, scroll down to the end.) Failing hardware; What goes wrong; Silicon chips can last a very long time. But all older (and some newer) computers have at least one vulnerable component: spinning hard drives. “Anything that is moving like that is susceptible to wear and tear,” says Anuj Patel, owner of Asheville, North Carolina-based repair shop Tech House. Individual sectors of the drive can also start to fail, wiping out bits of data. Batteries present another weak spot. With age, the battery components break down, chemically or physically, not only re ducing capacity but affecting the consistency of power supplied. “Even if you’re plugged in, with the bad battery, sometimes you’ll notice [the computer] goes slow,” says Patel. What to do: The first step in reviving your computer is to check for fail ing hardware. Windows has a hardwarechecking app called Device Manager, but it’ rather complex. Windows Central provides a great tutorial for those who want to brave it. It’s easier to at least examine the most vul nerable parts. To check the hard drive, Brats keir recommends the Hard Disk Sentinel app (free trials available), which also repairs software errors. To check the battery on laptops, download the free Pure Battery Analytics app. Hardware checks are easier on Macs using the MacOS’s built in tools. Start with Apple Diagnostics. If all goes well, you can further probe the hard drive using Disk Utility which also fixes software issues with the disk. Finally, run a check using the Battery app. If your system has faulty hardware, you have some decisions to make. Replacing a motherboard is complex and pricey. But swapping in a hard drive or RAM (that is, computer memory) can be easy and inexpen sive. A 500-gigabyte laptop solid state hard drive (which is faster and more durable than a spinning disk hard drive) runs about $70. If you’re not up for performing the surgery yourself, you can always go to a repair shop. Tech House, for instance, charges $139 (plus tax) for the operation. Best Buy’s Geek Squad charges a flat fee of $84.95 for physical repair work. Weigh these costs against the value of the system you are trying to repair by checking for similar refurbished models on sites like Back Market. Even if your spinning disk is healthy, upgrading to a solid-state drive storage de vice (SSD) may be worthwhile for the considerable speed bump. “It’s the one [upgrade] that makes me happiest, ’cause the customer is gonna see me as a magician,” says Patel. (Just don’t go with the very cheapest drives: A colleague who purchased five refurbished MacBooks from Flip macs encountered problems with several of the very low-cost drives the company uses, though Bratskeir says that problems could lie in a faulty cable.) But before you make that investment, check for some software problems with simple fixes. Bulging hard drive, What goes wrong. Even a perfectly healthy hard drive can be a bottleneck if it’s too full, especially if it has spinning disks. “Older devices slow down when the disk is almost full because the device becomes so busy spinning…while trying to figure out

where on the spinning disks all the different files are stored,” Carmen Zla teff, partner director of Windows User Experience at Microsoft, writes in an email. Even SSDs can bog down if they are close to full. Both Patel and Bratskeir recommend leaving about 20 gigabytes of free hard drive space. What to do It’s hard to throw things away And on an old computer with thousands of files, it’s hard to keep track of all your files in the first place . Both Windows and MacOS offer tools to help. Windows Storage Sense can automatically delete unnecessary system files and empty the recy cling bin. Windows also has a built-in app, called Disk Defragmenter, that tidies up how data is organized on the disk so the drive can retrieve files more quickly The MacOS Storage app offers several services, including providing a list of all files, in order of size, making it easy to find the big gest culprits. What about those files you can’t part with? You could copy them over to an external USB drive. One-terabyte models start around $60. Some older Macs can also use the Transcend JetDrive Lite, which fits flush into the SD card slot and provides up to 1 TB of storage.You can also move files to a cloud storage service such as Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, and Apple iCloud (all for Windows and Mac). Windows Storage Sense and Apple Storage offer tools to migrate files to OneDrive and iCloud, respectively. Dropbox also offers helper tools. (If you do a hard drive upgrade, you’ll need to put copies of all personal files on an external drive or cloud service, then copy them back to the newly installed drive.)

Superfluous apps; What goes wrong, Unused apps are a good place to start your hard drive purge, but the benefits go beyond clearing space.

“The sneakiest part is apps which install themselves to always run right away (when the computer is started), and to always run in the back ground,” says Microsoft’s Zlateff. For the apps you do keep, you might want to prevent them from starting automatically This includes resourcehogging anti-malware software, since both Windows and MacOS have built-in malware protection. What to do: Go through your applications folder to identify anything that you don’t use. Microsoft provides uninstall instructions for apps on Windows 10 and 11 and Windows 8. Apple pro vides instructions for MacOS. [macos_delete-apps Caption: Removing apps from the Launchpad in MacOS. Credit: Apple.] Next, see if any remaining apps are launching at startup and decide if you can disable them. (You probably wouldn’t disable a file-syncing service like Dropbox, for instance.) In Win dows, go to Settings, then Startup Apps. In MacOS, go to Preferences, Users and Groups, then Login Items.

If you are really worried about malware (say, you have clicked on a malicious link or downloaded a sketchy attachment), you can scan with a third-party application. Both Patel and Bratskeir suggest Malwarebytes (Windows and MacOS). Patel suggests running the app once to check and—if nec essary—clean the system, then uninstalling the app. Bogged-down browser What goes wrong: “Web applications, websites, everything is con tinuously getting more and more resource demanding,” says Patel. “Though your computer may be running just as fast [as when it was new], if you’re running modern apps and going to websites of 2022, it’s still got to process all that info.” Browsers get further bogged down by extensions, including helpers for online gaming, shopping, news reading, security, and customizing the look of your browser. “Definitely extensions will slow you down, to the Dickens,” says Bratskeir. What to do: Animated ads can be a serious resource drain. A blocker such as AdblockPlus will lighten the load. (You can disable the blocking for any ad-supported sites you want to sup port.) You can also adjust settings in Firefox and Safari to prevent videos from autoplaying. On Chrome, use the AutoplayStopper extension. You can further reduce resource drain by limiting how many browser win dows and tabs you keep open. (See Fast Company‘s Chrome speed-up guide for more tips on browser optimization.) While some extensions–like those I just mentioned–are handy, it’s good to periodically remove the ones you aren’t using. Here are instructions for Chrome, Safari, and Fire fox. Aging operating system, What goes wrong: All operating systems con tain some bugs, including existing or newly discovered security ulnerabilities. Sticking with old software leaves you exposed.

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Lil Nas X Won’t Dim His Greatness for Anyone, and Coach Is Ready to Embrace It . . . . . .

LIL NAS X has solidif ied his role in fashion. He has become the “provocateur,” a title that was never selfprescribed but imbued with his character through his works. The infamous “Satan shoes” that caused an uproar in the Spring of 2021 pushed boundaries in a way that only the g reat Alexander Lee McQueen would understand, repor containing a drop of human blood in the sole of ev His bac pearances, at the Met Gala gilded in Versace ar lent Balmain pearls, and victorian Andrea Grossi go have positioned him as a force to be rec oned with on the red carpet. And no a new f Collins f Nas f inds himself ref lecting on a leg that although just beginning, has the potential to mark him as one of histor y’s g reatest fashion and music legacies. To be expressive and unrestricted is not an easy feat, yet Nas f inds himself in that lane with ever y intricate detail of his universe. Titled “Courage to Be Real,” the f ilm f inds the new Coach global ambassador in a dream-like state that follows his life and cascades through his moments in time. “This

campaign represents ever ything I’ve overcome so far,” Nas notes in the brand’s press release. “It’s about walking into new chapters of life, new experiences, and new versions of myself, and it’s rooted in authenticity and self-expression—two things I really care about.”The f ilm opens with an aerial shot of Atlanta’s suburbs, a familiar site and home to Nas. His recent single ‘STAR WALKIN’ lightly fades into the backg round while his words, h encapsuything

he is and reprelash across the screen.

“My whole career has been about breaking wn doors” his statement reads, uite y steps , dressed in a white tank and drop-crotch denim, emblematic of the style and trends surrounding him during these early days in his life. As the scene cuts and he opens a new door to a band room, familiar to those who understand the ideog rammic architecture of public schools, we see his style take a shif t, now dressed in a traditional varsity jacket with an oversized silhouette, and the letter “C” emblazoned on the front breast.

MUSIC FASHION

It feels more modern, combining trends derived from New York styling of the Ninties; the shoulders dropped fur ther and the waist a bit longer than the traditional jacket. In many ways, this is what the collection represents, blending Nas’ world and ethos into the histor y and iconog raphy of Coach. “My vision for Coach has always been to create a fashion world where people feel free to express themselves as they are,” notes Coach Creative Director Stuar t Vevers. “To bring this vision to life, I was thrilled to bring Lil Nas X and Petra Collins together with Coach for the f irst time— two ar tists who have changed the world around them by being themselves.”n the last few scenes, we see Nas step into the person the world currently knows him as—conf ident, strong, and unabashed. “At Coach, we want to inspire people to have the conf idence to express themselves and explore all of who they are—to have the courage to be real,” states Sandeep Seth, Global CMO and Nor th America President of Coach, and ref lected in the f ilm, as Nas hands his doppelganger a leather jacket as if to instigate a self-aware turning point. His ego is now stronger and more selfaware than ever before. As a f inal act, he lands on stage in a pale peony pink suit and f loor-length fur coat, a crowd of hundreds of thousands set before him, a declaration of his present and his future.“The campaign we are introducing today is the f irst chapter of our Courage To Be Real mission, and the embodiment of the values Coach has championed for generations,” Seth closes in the press release. “Created with Lil Nas X, an ar tist who has courageously paved new paths for others, the f ilm tells the stor y of the challenges many of us face in our journeys of self-discover y, and how belief in yourself and a willingness to take risks can inspire others to do the same.”

CULTURE

ON

So, a lot has happened since our last magazine interview —a lot in my life but also a lot in the world, as we all know. I guess I really just tried to make the most out of a bad situation (i.e., the pandemic). While the whole world was on break, I tried to do as much as I possibly could to make something out of myself and my music career. I feel like I never really slowed down or gave myself a break throughout all of it but it definite ly ended up being for the better. I had my first official Christopher Kenji music release in July of 2020 and have since then released 7 more singles which have together accumulated a total of over half a million Spotify streams. I’ve also released two music videos which have been featured on TV and awarded at film festivals all across the world. Without getting too much into accolades, the most important part for me out of everything is finally feeling like my work is being valued and is, in turn, providing value for other people’s lives. Along this journey, I’ve met tons of people and have been lucky enough to get to start enlisting an army of my own. At this stage of the game, I’m still very much in the trenches and am doing almost everything myself (which I’m used to) —but I have gotten a lot of ducks in a row for the future. As of recent, I finally have a manager which I’m super excited about. She’s been busy setting up the groundwork for the future and everything. I also have my model/talent agent (based out of LA), a production team (based out of Miami) and a distribution team (based out of New York). I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned is that if you’re sitting at the bottom of the mountain, and want to get to the top, you gotta start climbing it yourself. You can’t be waiting for or expecting someone else to come along and pull you all the way up. That’s not how the world works. How I see it is that no matter what, I’m going to keep climbing whether not anyone else is around to join me. If other people come along on my journey, that’s great but if not, I’m still going to keep climbing. Anyway, I’ve pretty much been in that mindset for years but now have finally found some people that are passion ate about what I do and want to help. I can’t stress enough though that for any of this to have happened, I had to create something for myself and learn how to pull my own weight —and each of them had to do the same for themselves too to get to where they are. It’s all a give and take —we all help each other out and together, work to create something bigger than all of us. As for tangible things, I’ve been working on my debut album which should be completed by the end of this year and set for release some time next year. I also have another music video in the works, some collaborations, TV features, shows, merch, etc. I guess only time will tell what will happen next!

16 Players Ready To Shine In Sophomore Nba Season

6 players ready to shine in sophomore NBA season

Jalen Green, Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobley aren't the only 2nd-year players with high expectations for 2022-23. The best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores, as an old college coach used to say. And one of the best things about NBA rookies is that the best of them come back as second-year players. With a lot of experience, some familiarity with the league and a g reater sense of where they fit and how they can help their teams. That development, from the first season to the second, could have a significant impact on the balance of power in the NBA in 2022-23, considering how deep the Class of 2021 was last season. Toronto Raptors for ward Scottie Barnes beat out the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley and the Detroit Pistons’ Cade Cunningham for Kia Rookie of the Year, but the race at the top was tight and all three had compelling cases. But this was no top-heavy crop. In fact, as it became apparent how notable the talent level and contributions of the new arrival were, the weekly Rookie Ladder here at NBA.com made an unprecedented adjustment: We added two rungs, from 10 to 12, to keep tabs on the deserving new guys. Even with that change, three or four players got snubbed each week.

WITH THAT IN MIND, HERE ARE 16 NBA SOPHOMORES READY TO SHINE THIS SEASON (LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER):

SCOTTIE BARNES, TORONTO R APTORS:

Barnes wasn’t just the ROY — he was a surprise, nabbed at No. 4 by the Raptors when most mock draf ts had Jalen Suggs slotted in there. The Florida State product impressed not just with his production — 15.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 3.5 apg — but his versatility. He is part of coach Nick Nurse’s crew of 6-foot-9 switchable defenders, able to guard any of three or four positions. His ball skills enable him to fill a point-for ward role, too. It’s no wonder that any chatter about a Kevin Durant-to-Toronto trade invariably had Barnes mentioned as a key piece.

CADE CUNNINGHAM, DETROIT PISTONS:

Take a hard look at the numbers Cunningham put up last season: 17.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.6 apg. Among active players, only LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Cunningham reached those thresholds as rookies. The excitement around the Pistons isn’t just that Cunningham will improve individually — there’s room for that in his 41.6% shooting (and 31.4% on 3-pointers). It also is based on the development of similarly young teammates and a new backcourt partner in rookie Jaden Ivey, projected as a dynamic tandem for the next 10 years.

AYO DOSUNMU, CHICAGO BULLS:

The Bulls last season might have preferred Dosunmu to have had a lesser impact, since his playing time soared mostly because of injuries to Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso and others. But there should be no

lid kept on him now, given the second-rounder’s performances when pressed into service. Goran Dragic is on board now, but Ball’s knee has been slow in healing, so the Chicago native and University of Illinois product should get opportunities again. He was drawing raves for his offseason work, on the court and in the weight room.

CHRIS DUARTE, INDIANA PACERS: Duarte started strong last season, a nod to his age (24) and four seasons at Oregon. He tailed off due to Health and Safety Protocols and a toe injury, but still looms large in Indiana’s backcourt plans. A stint with the Dominican Republic national squad was part of Duarte’s offseason regimen. The No. 13 pick in 2021 will be stronger in Year 2, too.

JOSH GIDDEY, OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER: Giddey wasn’t pleased when he got plugged into the NBA’s All-Rookie second team, but that was inevitable when he played in only 54 games and none af ter Feb. 24. All he needs is to stay healthy to become a driving force for the Thunder. It’s not just about his allaround game — 12.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 6.4 apg — it’s how much his savvy play, excellent vision and daring passes elevate his teammates. With respected shooting coach Chip Engelland in the house now, that area of Giddey’s game (41.9%, 26.3% from the arc) should perk up some.

JALEN GREEN, HOUSTON ROCKETS: Green, the No. 2 pick in 2021, didn’t succumb to some inconsistent and inefficient performances early in the season. He worked with Houston’s coaches and patiently let his talent emerge, earning him a strong second half and rise to first team All-Rookie status. So he’ll start this season with the confidence he earned. In an interview with CNN Philippines, the 6-foot-4 guard shared his summer agenda. “I’ve been working on decision making, tightening up my handle, and knowing what shots I want to get on the f loor,” Green said. “Getting comfortable getting to my spots and just rising up. Catch-and-shoot.”

BONES HYLAND, DENVER NUGGETS: Hyland shouldered more responsibility than most folks expected, stepping into the void for Jamal Murray and giving the Nuggets a boost at both backcourt spots. With the trade of Monte Morris and Will Barton to Washington for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith, Hyland figures to be Denver’s sixth man, able to score by attacking the rim or bombing from afar.

HERBERT JONES, NEW ORLEANS PELICANS: Jones helped salvage an other wise downward season for the Pelicans, making his defensive presence felt in steals, def lections and contested shots. The No. 35 pick from Alabama perked up offensively as well as he gained experience, averaging 10.6 ppg af ter Dec. 1 (vs. 6.4 ppg prior to that). “Herb g rew up,” teammate CJ McCollum said. “He had the talent, he had the ability. Now he had the stage to kind of show what he had to offer.” Another Pelicans newbie in line for a bigger role: point guard and defensive pest Jose Alvarado.

JONATHAN KUMINGA, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS:

At a minimum, Kuminga’s rookie season of 16.9 minutes per game didn’t get in the way of the Warriors accomplishing their overarching goal of a championship. But he didn’t just develop, he contributed while Golden State “laid his foundation,” as coach Steve Kerr called it. He was agg ressive and versatile as a scorer (19.8 points per 36 minutes), and there were nights when his size and strength, even at 19, made him the best option defensively. Now all that experience he gained on the f loor and on the side can make him an even bigger part of the repeat plan. Same with Moses Moody, who averaged 27 ppg in the Las Vegas Summer League, if he can earn bigger minutes.

TRE MANN, OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER:

As the young Thunder continue to develop, Mann has the tools and opportunity to become a steady contributor and solid sixth man (along with the name for a strong award campaign). He wasn’t shy in his rookie season (15.5 shots per 36 minutes for 16.5 ppg) and his long-range shooting (36%) covered for his overall accuracy (39.3).

DAVION MITCHELL, SACR AMENTO KINGS:

Mitchell arrived to a crowded, sitting-room-only backcourt, but the Kings’ trade of T yrese Haliburton and a De’Aaron Fox injury opened some opportunity. There still is stout competition for minutes with the addition of Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter. And Mitchell’s shooting (41.8% overall, 31.6% deep) needs work. But it’s a good bet new coach Mike Brown will embrace the defensive skills of the young guy nicknamed “Off Night” for how he guards opposing scorers.

EVAN MOBLEY, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS:

Af ter holding the top spot on the Rookie Ladder for much of the season, Mobley got leapfrogged by Barnes in close ROY balloting when the Cavs’ young for ward missed five of their final seven games. But being an All-Rookie selection and getting consideration for All-Defensive honors spoke to his value, as did his cornerstone work at both ends. He reportedly was a sponge in learning his lessons, good or bad, and he displayed a veteran’s consistency and demeanor. His challenges this season include extending his shooting range and looking more of ten for that shot.

ALPEREN SENGUN, HOUSTON ROCKETS: Sengun was a per-36 darling, getting his 9.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in about 20 minutes. With Christian Wood off to Dallas and Daniel Theis gone, too, the T urkish big man might get more run. Concerns about his defense, particularly rim protection, are fair but his pass-first smarts could really help all the young talent around him bloom.

JALEN SUGGS, ORLANDO MAGIC:

Trying to develop both Suggs and Cole Anthony, dynamic point guards draf ted one year apart, was going to be tough enough. Suggs’ thumb fracture early and ankle injury late cleared the decks for Anthony but didn’t help the rookie or suggest long-term answers. They might work as a tandem, but Suggs’ offensive game (shooting, turnovers) is considerably behind his defensive impact. Getting healthy and staying available are his first and second priorities for now

CAM THOMAS, BROOKLYN NETS:

Thomas averaged 27.4 points in five Summer League games in Las Vegas, no shocker considering he averaged 27 points there in 2021. But the score-first point guard did boost his assists from 2.0 to 4.2 (though he shot 27.3% on 3-pointers). What his second season holds isn’t clear, given lingering uncertainty over Durant’s whereabouts. Durant and Kyrie Irving took on Thomas as a project last season, for whatever that’s worth. Defending and setting up teammates are his ripest areas for improvement.

FR ANZ WAGNER, ORLANDO MAGIC: Showing up is 90% of life, they say, and staying healthy is a skill. Wagner wasn’t perfect last season but his 79 appearances topped all rookies and only Barnes logged more minutes. The 6-foot-9 for ward took some g lare off the lottery pick (Suggs) draf ted three spots ahead of him, and now Wagner will be counted on to caulk around No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero’s learning curve. He’s got playmaking skills and he’ll likely boost his free-throw attempts now that the refs know his game.

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