Last September, Arcade Fire celebrated the 15th anniversary of their debut album, The Funeral. The record catapulted the band into the mainstream with their smash hit “Wake Up,” and the indie rockers have since put out four more albums. After a brief hiatus, the group announced they are gearing up for a new release. On Thursday, Arcade Fire’s lead vocalist shared proof that the band is indeed working on new material.

After announcing an upcoming Arcade Fire release by posting a verbose letter to social media, vocalist Win Butler finally shared a snippet of what the group has been working on. In his Instagram story, Butler captured a few short videos of the band listening to demos in their studio. The first snippet features Butler’s signature vocals over pounding snares. The track cuts out and Butler continues to sing the lyrics: “You speak your mind, don’t care who it offends / With you, I never have to pretend.”

In his final preview, Win captures the band’s mixer board while a snippet previews expansive synths gliding under poignant percussion. “Proof I’m Alive,” Butler wrote. “Still here @arcadefire.”

Ahead of the previews, Butler shared a lengthy statement about the band’s upcoming effort, saying the group has turned an intense focus to creating material during the quarantine: “For my part, I’m pouring my heart, soul and all of my precious time into the music and recording (Not closing the door on doing some online performances, but it feels like many artists have that covered;) But talk to me in August when we are all climbing the walls…consider that a song request Radiohead). When you listen to the music that’s coming (…eventually…not soon…if you don’t have patience by now, you definitely aren’t reading this), you will know what we were working on under quarantine.”

It’s been more than a month since the NBA played its most recent games, as the league had to put its season on hiatus following Rudy Gobert’s positive COVID-19 test in March. Since then, there’s been an ongoing debate about when the league can return to play, how that would function, and whether or not it’s feasible to do this at all.

According to a new piece by Jabari Young of CNBC, that third thing is becoming increasingly popular in the eyes of some. Young reports that some team executives and agents are pushing for the league to call off this year, citing a myriad of issues that largely stem from how little we know about the virus — executives would reportedly like to start focusing on “safely resuming play next season,” while one agent is perplexed as to why Adam Silver hasn’t done what he views as an inevitable.

“I’m surprised because [Silver] always errs on the side of caution and doing what’s right,” said one agent, who added he felt Silver would have decided to cancel by now.

Player representatives have also questioned why the league continues to drag on what appears to be an inevitable cancellation of the season. With so many concerns the league must address, including how to deal with trigger dates in coaches and player contracts, few see the upside.

The NBA is making sure calling the season altogether is a last resort, with CNBC receiving a statement that said “it is the responsibility of the league office to explore all options for a return to play this season” and that “while our top priority remains everyone’s health and well-being, we continue to evaluate all options to finish this season.” Of course, there are major financial implications that come with canceling the season.

The report comes one day after separate reporting indicates that the league is considering, among its myriad of options, a bubble league in Orlando that would keep players at Disney resorts and play games on Disney properties.

This week in hip-hop, a plethora of up-and-coming newcomers and well-established vets team up for some under-the-radar releases that are worth checking out. While major label darling Lil Baby is dropping his deluxe version of My Turn, there are still plenty of options, even if the week seems thin on releases.

This week is also a display of tomorrow’s talent, with half of the releases coming from young rappers in bubbling underground scenes like New York drill. If you prefer your hip-hop a little more seasoned, the other half are indie stalwarts who’ve carved out long-standing movements in the increasingly crowded landscape and still manage to distinguish themselves with creativity, drive, and quality.

Here are all the best new hip-hop albums coming out this week.

Baby Plug — Topic

Originally from Missouri but now based in Atlanta, Baby Plug makes his major debut with Topic. Judging from his name and origin, you might be expecting something trap-heavy and gritty in the vein of The Big Peach’s main artists, but a more apt comparison might be Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake — spacey beats, sing-song flows, and a unique outlook.

Dee-1 — Timeless

Uproxx profiled New Orleans teacher and independent rapper Dee-1’s community activism earlier this year. Dee-1, who’s been around for a minute, is a year removed from his latest full-length, God And Girls, and can be expected to fill his upcoming project with witty insight and smart storytelling — his signature styles.

Guapdad4000 — Platinum Falcon Tape Vol. 1

Over the past several weeks, the Bay Area’s Guapdad 4000 has been rolling out a new single every week as part of his Falcon Fridays campaign. Platinum Falcon Tape Vol. 1 is a collection of those singles, allowing fans to catch up on the scam rapper’s latest shenanigans and prepare for whatever he’s got next.

HDBeenDope — Broken Dreams

The first thing that came to my mind when I hit play on HD’s latest is a young, hungry J. Cole. While that comparison is likely not as accurate as some of us would like, it’s a good starting point for getting a handle on HD’s aggressive flow and autobiographical lyrics. He’s a contender for XXL‘s upcoming Freshman Cover and while he may be a bit under the radar, giving him a spin or two before he inevitably catches on might earn you some cool points (as long as you’re cool about it).

Jay Worthy & Harry Fraud — Eat When You’re Hungry Sleep When You’re Dead

Compton rapper Jay Worthy links up with prolific producer Harry Fraud (Action Bronson, French Montana, Smoke DZA) for a project that may fly in the face of coastal expectations.

Mozzy — Beyond Bulletproof

Sacramento’s answer to Nipsey Hussle — an independent, street-certified businessman, community leader, and powerfully sincere, gem-dropping rapper — calls Beyond Bulletproof his best project yet. In a recent interview with Uproxx, Mozzy explained how going to therapy brought out his best and why he wants fans to feel “possessive” of this album: “I want them to feel like that motherf*cker was painted direct specifically for them.”

Smoove’L — Boy From Brooklyn

The attention of the world is focused on the New York drill scene and while the majority of that attention may be going (rightfully) to Pop Smoke and Fivio Foreign, another name that shouldn’t be ignored is Smoove’L — even if he rejects the category himself. While he’s a versatile artist who can rap to pretty much anything, he knows which way the wind is blowing and shows it on Boy From Brooklyn, giving the burgeoning London-influenced style a twist of his own originality.

Some artists mentioned above are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

TMZ reports that Eminem was forced to confront a home invader after his security slept through the alarm. Em wasn’t harmed and the suspect, 26-year-old Matthew David Hughes, was arrested and charged with two felonies: First-degree home invasion and malicious destruction of a building.

Hughes reportedly broke into Eminem’s Detroit-area home at around 4am, using a paving stone to smash a window in the kitchen and climbing inside the house. An alarm went off but security remained asleep. Em was woken up though and found Hughes in his living room, prompting him to call for his security. That got his guards up and out of bed. They grabbed Hughes and called the police, who arrested him and took him to Macomb County Jail, where he is being held on a $50,000 bond.

Apparently, Hughes didn’t even want to steal anything. It turns out he got his real goal: A meeting with Eminem. While we’ve all joked about Stans getting out of hand online, it seems the person who invented the term may still have the most outrageous fans of all.

Em isn’t the only rapper to face down a home intruder; around a year ago, Bun B shot an intruder who broke into his house and tried to steal his car, while back in 2012, LL Cool J actually knocked out a burglar at his home in LA. Considering how another recent home invasion played out, we can all be thankful Em’s intruder was just another Stan and not something way worse.

Jerry Seinfeld has a good life. He created Seinfeld, one of the most popular shows of all-time, and he’s also the creative genius behind Bee Movie, one of the greatest films of all-time (some people might think so!). He has enough money to last many lifetimes, and in his new Netflix special 23 Hours to Kill, he knows that you know that he’s reportedly a near-billionaire.

“You and I know each other, on a certain level, for many, many years. You know for a fact, I could be anywhere in the world right now,” he tells the audience in the trailer above. “Now, you be honest, if you were me, would you be up here hacking out another one of these?” Later, Seinfeld discusses all the things we do to convince ourselves our lives don’t suck. “And I know that, because I know that everyone’s life suck. Your life sucks. My life sucks, too,” he cracks, adding, “Perhaps not quite as much.” It’s funny, because it’s true. He drives around in fancy cars and drinks coffee with Eddie Murphy, while I’m home thinking about how Donkey was in an episode of Father of the Pride.

But I shouldn’t feel bad that my life sucks, Seinfeld says:

“The greatest lesson you can learn in life: Sucks and great are pretty close. You go to a baseball game, you have a hot dog. The hot dog is cold. The bun is not toasted. The vendor is an ex-con in a work release program. You love that hot dog every time. Does it suck? Yes. Is it great? Yes. That’s how close they are.”

Spoken like a true Mets fan. 23 Hours to Kill premieres on Netflix on May 5.

---

View Entire Post ›

The Phoenix Suns dug themselves out of the Western Conference cellar this season and, for much of the year, were a factor in the playoff picture out West before tailing off late.

The Suns made some major changes in the offseason, bringing in a new coach in Monty Williams and some veteran talent like Ricky Rubio and Aron Baynes, but the team’s engine remained Devin Booker. The 23-year-old took the next step in his journey to superstardom, picking up his first All-Star nod of his career as he was averaging near-career best production while significantly boosting his efficiency across the board.

With the NBA on hiatus, Booker has been able to show his talents extend far beyond being one of the league’s preeminent shooting guards, as he won the NBA 2K tournament televised on ESPN and regularly streams on Call of Duty on Twitch. He’s also picked up some wins in Slam’s COD tournament with Ben Simmons.

Booker spoke with Dime over the phone on Wednesday to discuss how he’s trying to use the time to kickstart some off-court personal goals he has, prove he’s the NBA’s best gamer (and why he thinks no one really challenges him for that title), his thoughts on his season and the Suns as a whole, and why he’s been geeking out watching all the Michael Jordan footage from The Last Dance.

First off, how are you doing and what have you been up to pass the time at home?

Yeah, man, I’m doing good. Just kinda making the most of the situation, spending time with family and friends and keeping it tight knit. It’s been a good time, a lot of free thinking time — sometimes too much thinking time — but praying for everybody and hoping everyone stays safe through it. I know a lot of families were touched by this tragedy, but trying to see the silver lining in it.

I talked to Victor Oladipo the other day and he said he’s picked up ping pong and says he’s gotten good at it. Are there any hobbies you’ve picked up and started doing now that you’re at home and have a little extra free time on your hands?

Yeah, I did a couple piano lessons so far, via Zoom. I’ve done piano lessons in the past, so I want to rekindle that fire and get going. I actually have Spanish lessons today. [Learning] Spanish is one of my five-year goals that I want to get in touch with. So hopefully I can pick up on those things and get a little kickstart with them during this time.

There you go. I know you’re also playing plenty of video games, got the Twitch streams going. Gaming online and streaming on Twitch is the rare opportunity right now for a lot of folks to get real interaction while we’re all at home. How important is that connectivity for you right now to get to talk with your friends and fans and guys from around the league?

I think people have seen a lot of athletes pick up and start [streaming] in this time that we have. I think it gives them a different aspect of us outside of the court and how we are when we’re just chillin at the house, kickin’ it and playing video games. My household has been big into gaming for a long time now, so I never really watched any streamers, but my brother did and all my friends do. So I kind of grasped the concept of what was going down and made some relationships with some really good streamers. You know, Nadeshot from 100 Thieves and Cloakzy, we’ve played a lot together during this time. Overall it’s been a pretty good time, cause I’ve always been a fan of video games, just could never be consistent with it with time. So this definitely gave me more than enough time that I needed.

You won the 2K tournament and you’ve won some Call of Duty stuff. Are you the best gamer in the NBA?

Yes, I am [laughs]. I honestly don’t think it’s close, but there are some good guys in the NBA that play Call of Duty. We did a Slam-type tournament back-to-back weekends and it was a good time. It was a really good time, but you know you can see the skill levels and you actually plays and put the sweat equity into the Call of Duty for sure.

Now I’m not asking who are necessarily the best, but who are your top-5 favorite guys in the league to play Call of Duty with?

I’d say I like playing with Mikal Bridges, my teammate. Karl Towns is one of ’em. Paul George, we’ve ran some Warzone together. Probably Meyers Leonard and Ben Simmons, those two are probably next in line when it comes to the talent level of the Call of Duty.

I’m good at sports games, but I’m pretty terrible at Call of Duty and other first person shooters. Do you have any tips, just some basics, on how to get better? Anything?

Honestly, just like anything bro, you just gotta put the time in. Like, honestly, I’ve spent many, many, many all-nighters playing Call of Duty through the night and that’s where I picked up my hand-eye for video games is Call of Duty. I told people during the 2K tournament that I’ve never really played 2K that much, but a lot of it’s just hand-eye, timing, and just knowing the basic movements. It’s all really tactical. Video games, I always have a fun time with this. It’s my way to be competitive off the court a bit.

I asked you at training camp up here in Flagstaff this summer about your responsibility as the longest tenured guy on the Suns, and you said you wanted to really start changing the perception of the franchise. How do you feel you guys did this season in terms of starting to gain more respect around the league and laying a foundation to keep building off of?

Yeah that was Monty’s biggest thing coming into the season. When we made the hire and the addition of coach Monty, we had many conversations and his first step he said is we need to change the perception of this team and how people view us. And if that’s having to get a little nasty, play tougher, more physical, but people are going to know when they play against up some talented, hard working guys. I think we showed a lot of spots of that, especially towards the beginning of the season, but we dealt with some injuries. I think we were at our best when we had our full roster, and recovering when two or three guys would go down was tough for us this year. But we definitely showed we’re not going to be a walkover team, and I think that’s the first step in recreating a franchise or a culture is gaining respect from around the league.

And for you personally, getting that first All-Star nod, where do you think your game grew the most this season?

I’d say just efficiency. You know, playing within the system. Trying to find the fine balance between being aggressive and at the same time playmaking for my teammates. It’s a lot. My goal is for my reputation to be a winner, so it’s been a process for me to do for five years now. But I’m enjoying it and having fun with it and getting better every day. So, I felt like that All-Star is obviously a dream of any hooper growing up. It’s first to make the NBA, and then once you’re in the NBA, it’s to be an NBA All-Star. I mean, growing up and watching nearly every NBA All-Star game and then being in it is a crazy feeling.

You mention the efficiency, and you’ve always been known as a capable scorer. What have you learned over the last few years about being a more efficient and better playmaker, both for yourself and your teammates?

Yeah, I always wanted to pride myself on playing the game the right way. Not having any type of label — not say role — but just do a little of everything. I think the game has transformed to positionless basketball, you see a lot of smaller lineups, so I think everyone is trying to learn how to play the game in every aspect and not get caught being known as one thing. So I took pride in that a lot of my life, and just put extreme work in. And then with Monty coming in and implementing this system with the players we have has also helped my game develop tremendously. Playing with Ricky Rubio, this year being my first full year with Kelly Oubre, Dario Saric, Aron Baynes, guys who have playoff experience. You can definitely feel it this year, and I definitely felt my game elevate because of the people around me.

Have you been watching The Last Dance?

Yeah I have. I have.

I know you’ve said you model a lot of your game off Kobe, and he modeled so much of what he did off of Michael. Seeing all this Jordan footage, are there things you’re looking at and going “oh man, I want to work on that” and picking stuff up as you’re watching this?

Yeah, man. This footage is unreal. I’ve probably seen every video of Kob’ in this aspect, but I’ve never seen this footage right here of Jordan. This is behind the scenes, I’ve only ever seen YouTube highlights. Like you said, I never got to watch the man play live. Just to be inspired by somebody that much that you never watched live play basketball, just shows the effect that he had. And I think my respect and love for Kobe and how much he was inspired by MJ, I think it’s just such a respect level for guys that inspire the next generation that much.

G-Eazy has been finding more and more innovative video ideas as he seemingly gears up for… something. He may or may not have a project coming soon, but he’s been dropping singles left and right. Most recently, he put the video for his Tory Lanez and Tyga collaboration “Still Be Friends” online in a most unusual fashion, then did a pair of surprise covers of classic rock songs. Today, he shares the quarantine-ready video for his latest single, “Moana,” produced by Zaytoven and featuring semi-newcomer Jack Harlow.

Because social distancing prevents him from doing one of his favorite kinds of videos — again, search for “Still Be Friends” off of company time — Gerald still manages to make his latest clip a social affair by FaceTiming a few of his famous friends. Yes, that includes his co-stars from his latest video, who pop up early via video calls to show off their official, Vixen-brand “uniforms.” However, a number of more conventional celebrities appear, from fellow rappers like YG, Snoop Dogg, Diddy, and Eazy’s Bay Area compatriots Allblack and Sage The Gemini, to athletes like Blake Griffin and Marshawn Lynch. There’s also a plethora of DJs from across the nation, fans doing dances, and pretty girls who “look like Moana.”

Watch G-Eazy’s “Moana” video with Jack Harlow above.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Beyonce is one of the most widely beloved musicians of the past 20-plus years, so getting the chance to work with her is a dream for many artists. That’s a dream that Megan Thee Stallion recently realized, as Bey hopped on a new version of “Savage.” That was a huge moment for her, and she spoke about it on a recent Instagram Live session, saying that she cried when she first heard the remix.

Megan said, “I know that they say manifest it, but b*tch: that’s a real thing! That is a real thing. Manifestation is a real word. I ain’t know that! […] I just really can’t believe it. I heard it for the first time and I called my grandma, and I was like in f*cking shambles. I was really crying, I was like, ‘I really got a f*cking song with Beyonce.’

She went on to speak out about how the collaboration was extra special because she and Beyonce are both from Houston, so she has admired her from a long time. She continued, “You go from going to a Destiny’s Child concert in like the fifth grade, right, and you see Destiny’s Child, and it’s just really freakin’ amazing. And wanting to be a performer, wanting to be in the music industry, wanting to be any kind of entertainer, and you look at Beyonce, Beyonce is the standard.”

Watch Megan discuss the collaboration above.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

2017 was a busy year — Melodrama and CTRL alone sucked the air out of the room — so casual listeners are forgiven if they somehow missed Rina Sawayama’s unassuming mini-album, Rina. Her digital anxiety anthem “Cyber Stockholm Syndrome” instantly proved she knew her way around a hook, and the glitterati-rejecting “Ordinary Superstar” indicated she had her own ideas about what being a pop star might mean. But if Rina was a pretty good independent pop EP, then her full-length debut, Sawayama, out earlier this month, is great. And three years later — in the middle of a goddamn global pandemic — there are no excuses for not getting deep into Rina’s eclectic new record.

Born in Japan in 1990 and raised in London, Rina is nostalgic not for those massive, crackling ‘90s anthems that ruled American airwaves but for Y2Ks brittle synth-fluff and wailing, arena-loud guitars. Like Poppy before her, Rina is fascinated by the way the internet has forever fused itself with interpersonal relationships, and is equally determined to bring the emotionalism of screamo into the traditionally feminine world of mainstream pop performers. But where Poppy sought surrealist personas and tongue-in-cheek, fake-deep philosophy, Rina is more interested in taking pop’s historical signifiers and making them her own.

“XS” pretends to be a homage to R&B’s obsession with materialism, but the chainsaw-revved spikes of electric guitar add the correct amount of camp to the song’s threadbare lyrics, dismantling the song’s shallow desires without deflating the fun of living beyond your means, either emotionally or financially. On its heels comes “STFU!,” another early single that wields raging guitars in a similar fashion (and also like Poppy, owes a debt to Grimes), knifing rampant misogyny and the fetishization of Asian women with a daydream-y, rage-fueled expression of anger that most women, and frankly, plenty of men, will likely find cathartic.

But despite these hints at a new guitar-focused sound — late in the album, “Who’s Gonna Save You Now?” reprises nu-metal again, with similar success — Sawayama isn’t a pivot to pure blissed-out angry rock. This is the kind of debut that emerging pop stars dream about making; and at the core it’s anchored by the monster single, “Commes Des Garçons (Like The Boys),” which might be my own personal song of the year, while I’m still thankful the rest of the album is divergent from that song’s wub-wub club sound, weaving spun-sugar throwback pop and slinky R&B alongside the aforementioned nu-rock standouts, all without ever losing the thread that ties them all together.

Like the standouts on her early EP indicated, Rina is at her best as a songwriter when she gets into the sticky, ugly ephemera of human relationships, and the stark, self-aware assessment of “Bad Friend” makes the woozy chorus hit like a hot and cold chill — most of us have been on both sides of this coin. On the other hand, “Chosen Family” asserts a bond that can’t be broken even when blood ties have been, naming loved ones as whoever the heart decides they will be and converting this trusted inner circle into family, an all-too-familiar ritual, in the queer community especially.

Releasing the one-off single “Cherry” in 2018, Sawayama made a public statement about her own queerness, addressing the prevalence of biphobia, and rallying the LGBTQ community behind her in the process. “Chosen Family” follows up on the subject in a completely different way, skating as close to unabashed tenderness as Rina gets on an otherwise high-energy song cycle. Again, her ability to include this kind of cinematic ballad on an album that’s dominated by bangers, and not have it feel out of place, is a testament to the record’s flexibility and cohesion.

There are so many layers on Sawayama that even a full two weeks after the record was released, I’m still finding new elements cropping up on the songs I’ve been through a hundred times. One of my favorite deeper cuts, “Paradisin’,” initially feels like a long lost cousin of Hoku’s “Perfect Day” (popularized by the Legally Blonde soundtrack, natch), until a new listen earlier today had me realizing the saxophone interlude ties it directly into the blessed lineage of The 1975-leaning bops. Listen with this in mind and it’s easy to imagine Matty himself singing the track, and actually, that’s another band that effortlessly blurs the line between earnest and ironic in the way that Rina does. So it’s probably not surprising to learn that the band’s guitarist, Adam Hann, contributed to the album, and that they are both affiliated with UK label Dirty Hit.

While the majority of Sawayama is catchy and wild enough to earn play after play, I’d be remiss not to spend longer praising “Commes Des Garçons (Like The Boys).” Here, Rina’s wordplay hat tips one of the most celebrated Japanese labels in the world, spotlights the gay male community, and delivers a female empowerment anthem that’s also a certified dancefloor destroyer. The remix, featuring Brazilian drag queen Pabllo Vittar (you heard him on a Charli XCX joint) simply doubles down on all of these elements, with welcome weird glitchiness, and since it’s the thought that counts, I can say I love the brazen sleekness of the original.

Though I do hope that 2020 will be full of pop albums that carry epic cultural narratives along with them, in the way that Fiona Apple’s recent Fetch The Bolt Cutters does, I’m secretly glad that plenty of massive, established stars have pushed or shelved their releases. This gives a soon-to-be star like Rina the space to take center stage, and gives otherwise occupied listeners some free time to explore a record they might’ve otherwise missed. On her full-length debut, the Japanese-British pop star delivers a freewheeling record that delights in confident, unruly weirdness — put your headphones in and give this album the obsessive listens it deserves.

Sawayama is out now via Dirty Hit. Get it here.