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Tag: Luther

  • INTERVIEW: Ink Spills All About Her ‘BIG BUSKIN’’ EP, ‘Sweet Tea,’ & More!

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    If you think you’ve never heard Ink, we guarantee you that you’re wrong! This GRAMMY-nominated songwriter has already made it onto your playlists with songs like Beyoncé’s ‘16 CARRIAGES,’ Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s ‘luther,’ and Lay Bankz’s ‘Tell Ur Girlfriend.’ But now, she’s proudly stepping onto the stage with her own narratives and voice on her debut EP, BIG BUSKIN’, which proves that Ink is a vital storyteller defining this generation in music. We need music that connects and transforms us more than ever, and she has the perfect pen for the job.

    Across 13 songs, Ink throws a moving ‘Hoedown’ that walks us through her love story with music, her views on persistence and tough times, and the passion that’s carried her through life. “They can steal your style, but they can’t steal your story,” she muses on the spoken opener, ‘Inktro,’ over a western-inspired soundscape. At the heart of each song lies Ink’s authenticity and pure, all-encompassing love for the music she makes, especially on emotive tracks like the incredible ‘God’s Been Drinkin’.’ Even the EP title is an ode to her love for her craft – some of her earliest musical pursuits involved busking and learning how to make her storytelling as moving as possible, and the ‘Tony Machine on 42nd’ interlude tells the story of one of those performances. 

    The hell with all that BS — press play and find out — real music is back!

    Ink

    We’re ‘Comin’ Back’ from our listening experience with some extra sweet news: we got to ask Ink all about BIG BUSKIN’, writing her truth, and her biggest inspirations! Press play on BIG BUSKIN’ then keep reading to learn more about the project from the musical genius who created it.

    Hey Ink, congratulations on the EP release! What has it been like for you to drop it and see how much fans are loving it?
    It’s been incredible to drop the EP! Finally being able to say it’s out now is surreal.

    There are so many thoughtful lyrics on your standout single ‘Sweet Tea,’ with one of our favorites being “we can’t take it back, so really we gotta live again.” Which line from the song are you most proud of?
    “Yeah, my granny never even cuss ‘til she got Alzheimer’s / Uh, real GOAT, greatest of all timers.”

    The ‘Sweet Tea’ music video includes so many sweet home movie clips and throwback moments. What was it like for you to revisit so many memories for the song and video?
    It was the best part about it. It just took me back down memory lane. It felt so good to be back home and just have the spirit of my family and those that aren’t here anymore still be there to celebrate.

    We’re so excited about your debut BIG BUSKIN’ EP! Which song were you most hyped for fans to hear and why? Which tracks are the most meaningful to you?
    They’re all meaningful to me, but I’m most hyped for fans to hear ‘Sweet Tea’ because they get to hear a little about the fam, and ‘All I Got’ since it really summarizes the EP. Plus all the inkerludes!

    Inspired by ‘Turquoise Cowboy,’ which color do you think best matches the energy of BIG BUSKIN’?
    Turquoise with a little wood grain.

    The BIG BUSKIN’ title nods to your own experiences busking around Atlanta, which you’ve described as “resilience in motion.” What’s something you learned during that phase of your musical journey that you’ve taken with you as you’ve grown?
    The world is a beautiful place, you’ve just gotta choose to see it.

    In your recent INKtionary post on Instagram, you listed one of the definitions of BIG BUSKIN’ as “to live loud, global, and unapologetic – outlaw energy with superstar reach.” How do you stay true to yourself and your roots as your star rises?
    I just carry on the memory of the places I’ve been and the people I’ve met as I go. I take my boots off, get my feet in the grass, and connect to nature.

    Alongside your own work, you have writing credits on iconic songs like Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s ‘luther,’ Beyoncé’s ‘TEXAS HOLD ‘EM,’ and Lil Nas X’s ‘STAR WALKIN’!’ How do you approach writing for another artist differently than writing for your own releases, and how do your experiences on those songs inform how you approach your music?
    Each artist has their own story, so I just see it as me being there to help serve them creatively. It helps me learn new things for my process, as each artist has a different process and story. They each teach me something different.

    You told Billboard that you wrote the lyrics to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill on flash cards one day after school – as a publication run by fans, we love the passion! Is there a certain song on the album that has most influenced you and your music?
    I think the whole album – it gives you the sense of creating a body of work. Some artists can make a few great songs, but she really made a great body of work.

    From Beyoncé to Shaboozey and Post Malone, country is definitely ‘Comin’ Back’ to the mainstream spotlight lately! What do you feel makes country so moving, especially in a time when we need the magic of music more than ever?
    The storytelling!

    You’ve called yourself “a faucet of creative energy that never runs out” to The Tennessean. When do you feel most inspired, and what inspires you most?
    Life and the people and places in it make me feel most inspired. I can just open my eyes and there’s a song waiting.

    What can your fans look forward to in the rest of 2025/2026?
    Performing, pulling up, doing shows, and lots of great music. Next year I’ll also be dropping my debut album!

    Is there anything else you’d like to mention or say to your fans that the questions didn’t touch on?
    Pull up when you see the spill!

    It sounds like BIG BUSKIN’ is just the very beginning, and we can’t wait to see what Ink will spill next! Thank you so much to Ink for answering our questions and pouring so much heart into every song you touch. 

    Now, honeybees, we have some questions for you! What are your favorite tracks on the BIG BUSKIN’ EP? Who do you hope to hear Ink write with in the future? Let us know in the comments below or hit us up on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! You can also buzz on over to our Reddit community to chat with us.

    Check out more sweet music recs! 

    TO LEARN MORE ABOUT INK:
    INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE

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    Madison Murray

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  • Netflix Data Dump Reveals Eclectic List Of Top UK Originals, With ‘Luther’ Leading The Pack

    Netflix Data Dump Reveals Eclectic List Of Top UK Originals, With ‘Luther’ Leading The Pack

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    Netflix further prized open the lid to its black box of data on Tuesday, with the streamer publishing a list of viewing figures for nearly 2,000 titles in its library.

    The ratings dump covers the first half of 2023 and is measured as “hours viewed,” which departs from Netflix’s publication of “views,” the metric that it began using this year to rank its Top 10 lists.

    Hours viewed puts shorter content at a significant disadvantage, while longer series (usually dramas) stand to benefit, but the figures do still offer a rare insight into Netflix subscriber behavior.

    U.S. films and series unsurprisingly dominate Netflix’s list, with political conspiracy thriller The Night Agent topping the pile with 812M hours viewed. Little wonder Netflix renewed the series so swiftly.

    The Brits were heavily represented, even if the first half of 2023 appeared a little light on new UK originals, with the likes of Sex Education, Beckham, Squid Game: The Challenge, and The Crown held back for recent months.

    Leading the pack was feature Luther: The Fallen Sun, which had 209M hours viewed, securing it a top-20 place in the overall global ranking published by Netflix. A table of the top-ranked UK titles is below.

    The Idris Elba drama was streaks ahead of rivals and its performance supports Barb viewing data out of the UK, which showed the movie had 3M viewers after its March premiere.

    Season 6 of Black Mirror launched on June 15, meaning it only had two weeks to accrue 139M hours viewed. This trajectory suggests it will easily surpass Luther by the time of Netflix’s next disclosure.

    Joe Cornish’s supernatural detective series Lockwood & Co was in the top 10 British shows despite being canceled after just one season — a sign that Netflix is becoming increasingly ruthless over renewal decisions.

    There was also a place for the widely-admired Formula 1: Drive to Survive and UK producer Raw showed it could match the success of documentaries including The Tinder Swindler with its mini-series MH370: The Plane That Disappeared.

    The evergreen Peppa Pig remains a favorite with families around the world, while The Crown showed it has a long viewing tail. Season 5 of Peter Morgan’s drama had 76M hours viewed despite premiering on November 9, 2022.

    Reporting data in hours viewed gives no insight into how many accounts completed a title, or even engaged with it past the first episode. This is information that all streamers, especially Netflix, use to determine the success of their content.

    Title Hours Viewed
    1. Luther: The Fallen Sun 209M
    2. Black Mirror: Season 6 139M
    3. MH370: The Plane That Disappeared 118M
    4. Lockwood & Co.: Season 1 113M
    5. Formula 1: Drive to Survive: Season 5 90M
    6. The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die 83M
    7. Peppa Pig: Season 1 81M
    8. Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical 81M
    9. The Crown: Season 5 76M
    10. Treason: Limited Series 74M
    Source: Netflix

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    Jake Kanter

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  • What’s Included (And What’s Not) In Cyberpunk 2077’s Free 2.0 Update

    What’s Included (And What’s Not) In Cyberpunk 2077’s Free 2.0 Update

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    Cyberpunk 2077 has certainly had a long, strange journey from being totally busted at launch to reasonably playable today. Debates rage on as to whether it can ever deliver on all the pre-launch hype CD Projekt Red generated, but soon the game will get another chance to impress with the one-two punch of a sweeping version 2.0 update and the September 26 launch of its only paid expansion, Phantom Liberty. But which upcoming features are free, and which will require you to shell out for the DLC? We can finally shed some light on that.

    Phantom Liberty Is Undoing One Key Thing That Cyberpunk Got Right

    That’s because today the game’s official Twitter tweeted a graphic that lays out, in no uncertain terms, which changes will be available as part of the game’s 2.0 update, and which will require buying the Phantom Liberty expansion. As of this writing, the 2.0 update doesn’t have a release date, but it will launch before the $30 Phantom Liberty does on September 26. Generally, the patch looks to be mostly systemic and quality-of-life changes, whereas the expansion is bringing new content on top of those sweeping fixes and tweaks.

    So, which new features will you get for free, and which are only in the paid DLC? Read on.

    Features in the free Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 update

    All PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S Cyberpunk 2077 players will enjoy the following new features for free, whenever the 2.0 update hits. (Unfortunately the PS4 and Xbox One received their last major patch with last year’s version 1.6 “Edgerunners” update.)

    Redesigned skill trees and perks

    When we played Phantom Liberty during Summer Game Fest, CD Projekt Red spent time extolling the many coming quality-of-life changes, like a cleaner, more readable UI. But more systemic gameplay changes, including redesigned skill trees and a complete overhaul of the cyberware system, seem like they’ll change the game up in more significant ways.

    The redesigned skill trees, based on my time with them in that demo, feel like they’ll help to craft a more defined playstyle for your V. The character I played in the demo was melee-based, with powerful hand-to-hand finishers and the ability to deflect bullets. That’s only one of the planned new skill trees, and it’s unlike anything in the base game right now. Needless to say, you’ll want to respec when the 2.0 update launches.

    Just one caveat to note: The new “Relic” skill tree, about which more below, will only be included in the paid expansion.

    Revamped cyberware and new capacity system

    Now only is your basic character build evolving, but also how you augment it. The revamped Cyberware system allows you to basically put your tech augments into overdrive to make them more powerful, but that will come with drawbacks if you’re not careful. While it won’t quite reach the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime’s portrayal of cyberpsychosis, you can expect some more risk and reward in how you augment V after patch 2.0.

    Vehicle combat and car chases

    In Cyberpunk 2077 you spend a lot of time driving around Night City, but the base game doesn’t let you do much else with all the cars and bikes you collect. The 2.0 update is adding combat sequences—V can fire a sidearm out the window, or operate a turret built into the car—as well as more car chases in the open world. The game already had a few chases, but only in pre-scripted sequences. This new system seems to make them a naturally occurring event within the world.

    Combat AI improvements

    Cyberpunk 2077 was pretty much a straightforward shooting gallery most of the time, but the 2.0 update aims to make its combat more dynamic by overhauling enemy AI and tactics. This will include things like making enemies better at taking cover and giving them new melee attacks that make them more lethal up close.

    New police system

    The 2.0 update claims it will make the punishment for your crimes more severe than a simple firefight and a possible car chase, with the threat scaling depending on the severity of your crimes. This includes giving cops heavier artiliery to deal with you depending on how bad you’ve been. If you keep racking up violations and reach the maximum “Heat” level (think GTA), you’ll have to face a MaxTac miniboss encounter. If you’ve seen Edgerunners, who already know why that’s very bad news.

    UI and UX improvements

    Cyberpunk 2077’s original UI is a bit hard to read. It’s stylized to look like a HUD a cybernetic-enhanced mercenary might have, but that’s not exactly easy on our real-life human eyes. The 2.0 update is revamping it to be a bit more sleek, clear, and not as disruptive.

    Loot, items, and crafting changes

    The 2.0 update is also bringing new loot and equipment, as well as changes to the crafting system which lets you make new weapons, clothes, and other items for you to carry around Night City.

    New radio stations (including Community Radio Station Growl FM)

    While you’re engaging in all that car combat, Cyberpunk 2077 is also getting new radio stations to listen to, which will also include one made up of songs from the community chosen as part of a contest earlier this year.

    CD Projekt Red

    Features only in the paid Phantom Liberty DLC

    All that 2.0 update stuff sounds pretty good, but that won’t get you all the new content and features. You’ll have to shell out 30 bucks if you want to enjoy the following new additions to Night City.

    Dogtown – a dangerous new district

    The bulk of Phantom Liberty takes place in Dogtown, a new area near Night City’s Pacifica district. You won’t be able to access the new space without buying the expansion, and you also won’t be able to reach it until you reach the Pacifica section of the main game. So be sure to get that out of the way before September 26.

    Brand-new storyline and characters

    All those systemic changes are fine and well, but the big draw of Phantom Liberty is the spy thriller storyline featuring Luther and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 actor Idris Elba as new character Solomon Reed. Naturally, this will only be available if you buy the expansion.

    New quests, gigs, boss fights, and more

    Alongside the main quest, Dogtown will be home to other quests, fights, and other antics for V to get up to in Phantom Liberty.

    Vehicles missions and airdrops – ‘endless dynamic events’

    With the 2.0 patch’s overhaul to vehicles, naturally Phantom Liberty will be looking to highlight those changes. This will include new missions, including airdrops, which are meant to be endlessly replayable, according to the devs we spoke to at Summer Game Fest. We’ll see about that.

    All-new Relic skill tree and abilities

    Part of the story in Phantom Liberty centers around a character named Songbird, who claims that she can save V from the Relic in their head that is slowly killing them. Part of this includes unlocking the Relic’s potential, thus opening up a new skill tree that is only upgradable using Relic Points found in Dogtown.

    100+ new items – weapons, cyberware, cars, and fashion

    If you weren’t already overwhelmed by all the loot and such you can collect in the base game, Phantom Liberty is giving you more loot to put in your pack. This includes new fashion, so I will be serving lewks throughout Dogtown while doing spy shit.

    Vehicle missile launchers

    No car chase or vehicle combat overhaul is complete without mounting an explosive onto the front of your car.

    Level cap increased to 60

    Cyberpunk 2077’s level cap right now is 50, so on top of respeccing your V with the new skill trees, you’ll be able to gain another 10 levels while you fight your way through Phantom Liberty’s new story and quests.

    It seems like CD Projekt Red is going all out for Phantom Liberty, which makes sense considering that it’s the game’s only planned expansion for Cyberpunk 2077. The studio is working on a sequel as well, but that game is likely a very, very long way away.

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    Kenneth Shepard

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