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Over his 45-year career, Thurston Moore has always comfortably had his feet in two worlds: the song-centric music of Sonic Youth, the pioneering noise rock band he co-founded in 1980, and the experimental world born from his upbringing in New York’s No Wave scene in the late ’70s and early ‘80s.
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“I really give equal value to composition … that I would give to improvisation,” Moore tells Billboard’s Behind the Setlist podcast from his home in London. “I mean, they really inform each other.”
Moore’s latest album, Flow Critical Lucidity, released in 2024, often splits the difference between keeping to traditional song structure and tossing the rulebook out the window. Moore was joined in the studio by musicians who have performed on his song-based solo efforts: Deb Googe, the bass player for My Bloody Valentine; drummer Jem Doulton and guitarist James Sedwards. Googe and Sedwards also appear on Moore’s 2020 album, By the Fire, 2017’s Rock N Roll Consciousness and 2014’s The Best Day — albums that harken back to Sonic Youth’s more accessible work and Moore’s 1995 solo debut, Psychic Hearts.
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But much of his work captures his love of experimental music that took root in the New York music scene in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Spirit Counsel, released in 2019, has three expansive tracks that run a total of 2.5 hours. The free-flowing Screen Time, released in 2021, was fittingly released on Southern Lord Records, the home of drone metal band Sunn O))).
This month, Moore premiered Guitar Explorations of Cloud Formations at the New Music Dublin festival in Dublin. He was joined by Googe, Doulton and guitarist Jennifer Chochinov, one half of the London-based duo Schande. A suite in nine pieces, Cloud Formations is “very lengthy, repetitive, immersive guitar, sort of drone pieces,” says Moore, “because I wanted to have that kind of elemental nature to them as opposed to being more song-centric.”
Recording and performing a variety of music creates some uncertainty, though, among promoters, retailers and fans. So, Moore is careful to draw bright lines between his different styles to eliminate confusion. Before his recent shows in New York City and Philadelphia, he asked the promoters to make clear that fans would see an experimental trio featuring percussionists Willie Winant and Tom Surgal, not the band that recorded Critical Flow Lucidity. When he performs songs from Critical Flow Lucidity, he wants fans to know they’re not going to see free-form guitar improvisation. And although he could release a torrent of music, Moore is careful to flood the market.
“I realize that there’s a bit of a responsibility,” he says. “I mean, I know people who I associate with who are musicians who release music every week on Bandcamp, and they’re just constantly recording, releasing. And in some ways, I hold myself back from doing that. I mean, I have gotten into this situation through the years where I want to do a tour and the promoters are like, ‘Well, you were just here playing noise improv in some basement in Paris. So we don’t feel like we can actually book you right now, because the audience is confused.’ Like, what are you going to do? And so that has been a bit of an issue. It’s like, are you going to do your band? Are you going to be playing proper quote-unquote songs, which there’s much a bigger audience for? Or are you going to come here and play with some electronic noise guy? And so I understand that. It’s difficult for the other people involved who are presenting your gig, particularly promoters, because they don’t know how to promote it, and so I’m a bit careful.”
His desire to push boundaries — and his seemingly never-ending supply of friendships with influential musicians — finds Moore collaborating with some prominent names. Last year, for example, Moore performed a free improvisation set with former Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tenn., and later in London (joined by drummer Steve Noble at one gig). The Big Ears performance was “extremely polarizing” for anybody who expected to hear a cross between Led Zeppelin and Sonic Youth.
“It was just pretty jarring. It was like creating this kind of sound world of improvised noise music. And the place was just jammed. Everybody wanted to see this. And then I think within 30 minutes, it was half full, and I think maybe people got the idea that we weren’t going to be playing any tunes. We were just into this other thing, which we really wanted to do. And we did it, and I really loved it. I have actually mixed down the session. I’d love to put it out some day.”
Three musicians Moore is unlikely to perform with are his Sonic Youth bandmates: Kim Gordon, Lee Renaldo and Steve Shelley. From Oasis to Pavement, many rock bands from the ‘90s have capitalized on nostalgia and the longevity of their brands by returning to the stage. While Moore doesn’t exactly rule out a Sonic Youth reunion, he says isn’t motivated by the payday and believes the band’s legacy stands firm without one. “We covered so much territory that I don’t feel like it was a story left on untold. I think it really had a nice trajectory, and it certainly doesn’t feel unfinished to me.”
Listen to the entire interview with Thurston Moore in the embedded Spotify player below, or go to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Amazon Music, Podbean or Everand.
The Promoter 101 podcast is returning more than five years after dropping its last episode. Hosted by Dan Steinberg of Emporium Presents and Live Nation and music manager Luke Pierce from Works Entertainment, Promoter 101 will make its official return at the Pollstar Live! conference on April 17 in Los Angeles. Guests for the inaugural return […]
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Michelle Obama is launching a new video podcast with her brother Craig Robinson, with a live episode set to be recorded at South By Southwest this week.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama is reentering the podcast genre with a new show and her brother as co-host. On Monday, Higher Ground announced the debut of IMO (short for In My Opinion). Higher Ground is the media company formed by Mrs. Obama and her husband, former President Barack Obama. The former First Lady will host with her older brother, basketball executive Craig Robinson. It’s the first video format podcast for the media group, in sync with the current standard of podcasts released today.
The first episode features the siblings reflecting on the surroundings of the apartment that they were filming in and contrasting it to the modest home in their hometown of Chicago, Illinois, where they both shared a bedroom. The conversation between the two sees them discuss certain challenges they’ve faced, with Robinson reflecting on what he’s learned after divorce, and the former First Lady discussing her initial reluctance about her husband’s presidential run. They also shared fond memories of their parents – their father, Frasier Robinson III, passed away in 1991, and their mother, Marian Robinson, passed away last May. The second episode boasts a celebrity guest – actress, producer, and writer Issa Rae. She and the hosts talk about maintaining adult friendships.
There are also several light-hearted moments through the released episodes, with Michelle Obama revealing that she’s just now getting back to driving after years of being driven by the Secret Service. Future guests on the show include actors Seth Rogen and Keke Palmer, along with director Tyler Perry and others who’ve appeared on The Michelle Obama Podcast, which was released on Spotify in 2020. Each episode is slated to be an hour in duration.
IMO is releasing both episodes to the public on Wednesday (March 12) and will record a live episode at the South By Southwest (SXSW) Festival in Austin, Texas, on Thursday (March 13). The show’s episodes will be produced with Audible, which is owned by Amazon. Sponsors of the show include Pine-Sol, Theraflu, and Rivian.
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R. Kelly is currently serving 30 years behind bars due to his explosive sexual abuse and human trafficking case, where he was convicted on nine counts. Largely mum during his prison stay. R. Kelly was a surprise guest for an inmate-focused podcast, saying at one point that singing was a “beautiful disease.”
As seen on TMZ, R. Kelly was a surprise guest for the Inmate Tea with A&P podcast, hosted by April Smith and Patricia Dillard. The podcast is centered on prison reforms and gives inmates a platform to “advocate for criminal justice reform and the humane treatment of inmates, as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, by raising awareness of the injustices within the judicial and prison systems,” according to their website bio.
The hosts were slated to speak with another inmate at the FCI Butner Medium I in North Carolina but caught wind that the R&B singer and songwriter was housed there. While Kelly didn’t explicitly speak about his case, he did showcase his vocal ability and even shared that he’s written over two dozen albums.
At one point, Kelly referred to singing as “a beautiful disease that’s incurable” and pledged to always lean into that craft as long as he’s able. In a follow-up TMZ post, Smith and Dillard defended their choice to feature R. Kelly on their broadcast, seemingly elated by the big name-grab for their show. Despite Kelly’s infamous reputation, the pair told the outlet that they were able to separate Kelly from the heinous crimes attached to his name and have received backlash for running the interview.
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Gabrielle Union spoke about the comments she received after revealing the 50/50 financial split she has with her husband Dwayne Wade in an interview.
Being open about her marriage took a turn for Gabrielle Union, as she revealed the backlash she received for detailing a financial agreement between her and her husband Dwayne Wade. During her appearance on the recent episode of the Balanced Black Girl podcast this week, Union spoke about how the comments she received left her taken aback. “I famously said, 50/50 or bust, right? And I meant that financially, spiritually, and emotionally,” Union said on the episode that aired Tuesday (March 4). “It’s a trauma response… and 50/50 is, ‘I’m not going to be vulnerable enough to trust you with 100% of anything. Not my heart, not my cash.’”
Union called the comments “wild” and “aggressive.” She first spoke of the arrangement during an interview on the Idea Generation podcast last year, which led to an outcry from social media users who pointed to Wade having a larger net worth as a former NBA star. Wade’s estimated net worth is $170 from his playing career with the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers. Union’s estimated net worth is estimated at $40 million.
The actress explained to the host, Les Allred, that she had to step out of being “fiercely independent” in order to give up control in that manner, citing her being abused sexually at the age of 19 and being “diagnosed with PTSD” in the aftermath as the foundation for being “hyper-focused on efficiency and time,” which she didn’t want to impact her marriage with Wade. “It’s being vulnerable enough to be open enough to know that I’m OK. I’m OK as his wife,” the Bring It On star explained. “He’s OK as my husband. I’m OK in this family. I’m OK in this home. I deserve it… and so, I’m trying to expand my heart, expand all of the notions of what vulnerability can look like.”
Wade defended his wife while appearing on the Club Shay Shay podcast last June. “I have 20 to 50 responsibilities, and my wife has 20 to 50 responsibilities, and when I say that, that means she has her mother, she has her sisters, she has her dad, so she has a lot of things she’s responsible for,” he stated. “She pays 100% of that and you know what I do? I pay 100% of my life.”
Check out the interview above.
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Ye aka Kanye West revealed that he has autism, claiming he was misdiagnosed as being bipolar during a recent interview.
In the latest episode of Justin LaBoy’s The Download podcast, Kanye West said that he has autism, a conclusion he came to with the aid of his wife, Bianca Censori. “I went to this doctor … My wife took me to do that because she said, ‘Something about your personality doesn’t feel like it’s bipolar, I’ve seen bipolar before.’ And I’ve come to find that it’s really a case of autism that I have,” he said.
West said that the diagnosis helped him get a better understanding of his behavioral outbursts, like sporting a “Make America Great Again” cap in 2018 and supporting Donald Trump, allegedly. “Autism takes you to a Rain Man thing,” West said, explaining that it was on purpose. “‘I’ma wear this Trump hat because I like Trump in general.’ And then when people tell you to not do it, you just get on that one point. And that’s my problem.”
The “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” rapper was candid about how those in his inner circle have had difficulty dealing with his periods of erratic behavior, citing his relationship with his friend and former manager Don C. “It’s been so hard on him because he loves me. It’s so difficult for them, because this is like a grown man – you can’t take control of his bank account, you can’t control what I’m saying on Twitter.” He added, “But a lot of what was sending me into the episodes — and it’s hard … [is] the constant feeling of not being in control, spun me out of control.” West also spoke about not taking his bipolar disorder medication, and working with his mental health to make music, saying of any potential episode that he does “watch for it beforehand” “It’s finding stuff that doesn’t block the creativity, obviously that’s what I bring to the world,” he said. “It’s worth the ramp-up, as long as y’all get the creativity.”
West also talked about his upcoming Bully album, which he says will be released on June 15, the same day as his daughter North’s birthday. He also revealed that he’s reconciled with producer Mike Dean, who worked with him on all his albums up to the last Vultures albums before they fell out.
Check out the entire interview above.
What started out as something Howie Mandel thought would be a funny bit for his Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast last month quickly devolved into a super-tense, awkward moment the America’s Got Talent host is now expressing regret for. “I want to apologize,” Mandel said on this week’s episode of the pod he hosts with his daughter, Jackelyn Schultz.
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“I feel horrible and I’m sorry, Bill. I’m sorry, Billy. I only tried to do something good,” Mandel added. Mandel noted that he has not heard a “peep” from his longtime friend and fellow comedian Bill Burr since the Jan. 21 episode in which he blindsided him by bringing on Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan for an episode he called “Family Reunion with Bill Burr & Billy Corgan.”
Back in November, Corgan said he told Mandel that his step mom informed him years ago that Burr “might be” one of the children that Corgan’s late father “sired in his days being a traveling musician.” Corgan also recalled that his dad once mentioned that he had a half-brother who was close to his age named Bill; Corgan is 57, Burr is 56.
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As soon as Corgan came out to join the pod, Burr was immediately on edge, which the rocker sensed, saying, “he didn’t tell you? He told me you were totally cool with me coming.” Clearly peeved at Mandel, Burr hissed, “that’s what he does.” Sensing the awkwardness, Corgan offered to leave, but Burr said it was fine, going on to refer to his dad as a “piece of s–t with two kids this close together [and] he named them the same f–king name.”
Burr then said he appreciated Corgan’s music, but that he would “prefer if you just kind of… not [tell] these f–king stories.” The tension continued to mount as Corgan explained that Mandel made it seem as if Burr would be okay with repeating the story he’d originally told Howie in private and then having the men meet on-air.
“He always does that. Because that’s the thing,” Burr said angrily of the comedian he’d earlier praised as one of his inspirations and a longtime friend. “He’s bringing it here, not because he’s trying to heal the bulls–t that we went through growing up. He’s getting here just for the f–king ratings.”
Mandel eventually left the room and the Bills traded stories about the man they both described as their dad as Burr continued to mock Mandel’s IMDb credits mercilessly. “At least we’re not on some f–king awful network show judging plate spinners or whatever the f–k Howie’s career has become,” Burr said of Mandel’s gig co-hosting AGT.
Burr — whose beloved stand-up act is often filled with his irate annoyance, and rage, about what he thinks is the idiotic, inexplicable behavior of others — eventually told Mandel that he still loved him, “even though you did this,” wondering what his friend expected to happen. “Are we going to play catch? We’re both in our 50s,” Burr seethed, with both bald performers agreeing on one thing: that Mandel (also famously bald) is “a d–k.”
Once Corgan had assured him that it was all Mandel’s idea, Burr admitted he was not upset with the Pumpkins singer/guitarist and that he just didn’t like that their first meeting was the result of subterfuge. The two then had a funny exchange about possibly hanging out after the taping, with Burr immediately taking a dig at Corgan’s vegan diet after Corgan said he assumed Burr was a meat-eater. “I can have a cup of coffee while you eat your f–king Brussels sprouts,” Burr spat.
On this week’s pod, Mandel said he texted Burr to congratulate him on a good episode, but has not heard back from his friend since. “The next thing I see is… headlines,” Mandel said while posting a series of news reports about Burr’s anger over the incident. Burr went on the Rich Eisen pod shortly after and referred to Mandel as a “Hollywood whore” for the stunt. “I legitimately thought I was doing something nice, I swear to you,” Mandel said this week. “I thought it was funny.”
Watch Mandel’s mea culpa and a snippet of the original podcast below.
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OG 2 Low, a rapper who reportedly has ties with Rap-A-Lot Records, was a guest on a recent podcast discussing the finer points of his career, which dates back to the 1990s. During the chat, OG 2 Low is seen in a clip adjusting his fireman in his pocket, which suddenly goes off and narrowly misses the rapper’s leg while sparking a flurry of comments online.
As reported by Chron, OG 2 Low sat down with the One on One Wit Mike D podcast, also known as the Tha Dirty 3rd podcast, hosted by Mike D of the Screwed Up Click and one-third of the Southside Playaz group.
In a clip posted by @CollinRugg over the weekend, OG 2 Low, 45, is seen on the set of One on One Wit Mike D fumbling around in his pants when viewers suddenly hear a loud pop and a pained look on OG’s face. Mike D asks if anyone was shot while the podcast producer is heard in the background with some light commentary. Taking the moment in stride, Mike D took a quick pause and resumed the chat with OG 2 Low, who did appear to be okay despite blasting a hole in the left thigh portion of his jeans.
The video, which has been viewed over 2 million times and clipped by other content creators and outlets, is continuing to make its rounds with some saying the moment reminded them of the time former NFL star Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg while carrying a gun in his pants. Others online preached about gun safety while others just went in for the jokes.
We’ve got a few reactions below, avoiding those that bordered on racist with some tough guy gun owners acting like they’re John Wick online and using it as an excuse to dump on the perceived intelligence of rappers.
NEW: Rapper 2 Low accidentally fires his gun while reaching his hand in his pocket during an interview, finishes the episode anyway
The incident happened during the 1 on 1 With Mike D podcast.
After taking a quick break, the two continued their highly intellectual conversation. pic.twitter.com/UeGlOw2hFH
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 4, 2025
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J. Cole has announced a new podcast series edited from conversations he had with his right hand Ibrahim Hamad and flimmaker Scott Lazer that will tell his story while also including unreleased music.
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The North Carolina rapper and businessman took to Instagram to make the announcement with a trailer and a lengthy caption attached. “It’s hard to write a caption to describe what this is,” he began. “I really don’t even know what to call it. We settled on calling it an ‘audio series’ but to me it plays like a movie in the form of a conversation. First, me and Ib spent mad days talking to Scott, recapping the whole journey up to present day. Front to back. It was new, it was fun, it was emotional and more than anything, it was therapeutic.”
Adding, “After that Scott took the conversation and did his thing with it… then it was time to listen back. When I heard it with fresh ears, I was glued to the story as if it was somebody else’s. At times I could feel my adrenaline rush when hearing about the ups and the many downs and how it all played out in the end.”
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He then continued on about how the process gave him a renewed perspective, writing, “I got so much clarity from it, and I understood more than ever the power of having a dream, the power of fueling that dream with strong vision, the magic that happens when we stay in alignment with God, and the darkness that can come in the times that we don’t.”
Cole then talked about his reclusiveness over the years when it came to interviews and social media. “As the years of my career grew I found myself much more hesitant to share details of my life with the world,” he admitted. “Even as I type this, I feel the last little bit of resistance. ‘You sure you want to do this?’ But if I was a younger version of myself, I know that I would get so much fuel from hearing this from somebody that went for theirs and ‘made it.’ For that reason, I think it’s worth sharing.”
Finally, he said he hopes this new audio series will inspire people to continue chasing the things that they’re passionate about. “So, if you rocked with me at any point so far on my journey, I hope this will give you even more perspective and fill in a lot of blanks,” Cole wrote. “If you have your own dream in life that you hope to achieve, in any field, I hope that this will feed your spirit, giving you confidence to believe in that dream and the encouragement to push through the tough times. To go for it even when you may be afraid to.”
Season 1 of Inevitable will be available starting today (Nov. 18) at 6 p.m. ET. You can find the series here.
Worl Boss is finally free — and now the Jamaican musical and cultural icon is getting the podcast treatment.
Worl Boss: The Vybz Kartel Story, an eight-part podcast series from SALT, Big Wave More Fire and Gulfstream Studios, is set to debut on Dec. 16, 2024. Created by Tahir Garcia and Sam Griesemer and executive produced by Nick Panama and Max Musina, the audio series will explore the life, career and influence of the dancehall icon.
“There’s so many incredible stories that exist within dancehall and reggae music and the culture here in Jamaica, and so many of them don’t get shared with the public. The only time you hear these stories is if you’re lucky,” Garcia, who also narrates the series, tells Billboard. “We took a step back, two or three years ago, and decided that we wanted this space to be able to tell the story properly. Obviously, podcasting has become this huge thing. But one thing that’s missing, especially in Jamaican culture, is this concept of [podcasts] being scripted. There’s so much more that can be brought to it with sound design and actually sitting down and editing interviews to tell the narrative in a way that captures everything and really preserved the essence of [Vybz Kartel’s] story.”
The new podcast series is told entirely by Jamaican voices and will exclusively feature interviews with important figures within Kartel’s circle, including the first female member of Kartel’s Portmore Empire crew Lisa Hyper, Kartel’s former DJ Creep Chromatic and famed musician Wayne Marshall. These key players will also be joined by Winford Williams — host of On Stage TV, the longest-runnning dancehall interview series — as well as essayist Carolyn Cooper, author and professor Donna Hope, and Milk and Jay Will, two important collaborators on Teacha’s Pet, Kartel’s reality show.
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Earlier this summer (July 31), just over a week before Jamaica’s Independence Day (Aug. 6), Kartel regained his freedom after the Court of Appeal unanimously ruled that he and his co-accused — Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St. John — will not face a new trial for the 2011 murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams. Although he was originally sentenced to 35 years in prison after a historic 64-day trial back in 2014, Kartel (and his co-accused) have always denied their involvement in Williams’ death.
“We have a lot of assets and we spoke to people at the source, including his camp, people in and around his orbit, fans and musicians. We did a pretty extensive job covering all the bases,” says Panama. “We have a lot of voices that are going to be represented and using that as a way to help breakthrough and create the world around the story is part of how we’ll successfully bring this to market. We’ve got some really great partners in the audio space that we’ll be announcing soon, and I think they’ll help amplify this project even more.”
Known for hits such as “Fever” and his Spice-assisted “Romping Shop,” Vybz Kartel’s raunchy music and slick wordplay have soundtracked multiple generations of dancehall listeners, and Garcia promises the new series will be for everyone: from first-time listeners to lifelong fans. “If this is your first introduction [to Vybz Kartel], it’s supposed to be just as impactful as it would be to someone who’s listened to him forever.”
In addition to his music and efforts to support Jamaica, Kartel’s legal woes have also become a major part of his legacy — one that Worl Boss does not shy away from. “Everything gets addressed and talked about. We just don’t dwell on that. It’s a part of the journey, but it doesn’t define the character,” explains Garcia, who also tells Billboard that, “the hardest part was getting people who are close to [Kartel] to speak freely — especially while he was still incarcerated — because nobody wanted to do anything that could potentially incriminate [him or themselves]. Everyone was very, very cautious about agreeing to do it, and what put them at ease was us not focusing on the mess.”
Although there are currently no additional details about the podcast’s distribution, Panama stresses that the podcast series is just one part of the story they hope to tell. “The second [part] is a documentary series and feature film that are in development with arguably one of the biggest Jamaican directors, and UTA’s representing the project,” he reveals. “That will probably be more of a late 2024 thing, but the reason we did those together is because the story is so dynamic. Dancehall is such a small genre from a small country that has an enormously outsized impact globally. To have a revered yet controversial figure at the heart of that with Vybz [Kartel] is such a fascinating character and cultural study.”
Since his release, Kartel has remained outside partying and enjoying his freedom ahead of a massive “Freedom Street” concert at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, on Dec. 31 — his first performance in 13 years. Production and filming for Worl Boss began before Kartel regain his freedom, but now “there’s a third act to his story,” Panama muses. “He wasted no time walking out of prison and getting his entrepreneurial and music endeavors back up and running and continuing to build his mythology.”
From February’s box office-topping Bob Marley: One Love biopic to Worl Boss, Jamaica has remained at the forefront of global popular culture throughout 2024. For his part, Garcia hopes this new podcast series is the beginning of several projects chronicling and preserving Caribbean culture and music history. “That’s one of the things we spoke about very early on in this process, what does the next step within this space look like?” he says. “Once [Worl Boss] starts rolling out, hopefully it reshapes what people think is possible, and that’s going to be even more exciting.”