Month: June 2020

Burna Boy continues his stellar 2020 with the video for his recently-released single, “Wonderful,” the first single from his forthcoming album, Twice As Tall. After racking up an impressive Grammy nomination (for Best World Music Album), Burna kicked off the drive for his new album with the lyrics video for “Wonderful” just ahead of the weekend, over which he also picked up a BET Award (for Best International Act).

In the video for “Wonderful,” Burna again displays the rich cultural history of his native Nigeria, performing in the midst of a cadre of dancers in traditional tribal garb. The African Giant artist previously paid homage to his heritage in the colorful video for “Odogwu.” Meanwhile, his more contemporary videos, such as “Secret” and “Money Play” have helped contribute to his international popularity as one of the most prominent producers of the genre sometimes called Afrobeats (or Afropop).

With both video styles, Burna seeks to amplify a vision of a united Africa. As he said during his BET Award acceptance speech on Sunday night: ““I’d like to use this opportunity to say that sometime around 1835 there was a mission to turn the nation of Africa into a dominated nation. Now is the time to overturn that and go back to the royalty that we were because in order for black lives to matter, Africa must matter.”

Watch the video for “Wonderful” above.

Burna Boy is a Warner Music artist Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

As the NBA prepares to resume the 2020 season at the end of July, there is still plenty of uncertainty. Last week, teams started their initial round of testing for COVID-19 before everyone heads to Orlando, and several players have since come back positive. Still, that reportedly won’t stop many of them from joining their teams and taking the court once they’ve recovered and gone through quarantine.

For some, however, the risks have outweighed the benefits. DeAndre Jordan, Wilson Chandler, Avery, Bradley, and Davis Bertans, among others, are opting out of the trip to Orlando. And that doesn’t just extend to players. Other league personnel have decided against participating in the restart.

On Tuesday, longtime NBA announcer Marv Albert announced that he won’t be heading to the Disney World Resort to call the games for TNT, citing health concerns as the determining factor in his decision.

Via Andrew Marchand of The New York Post:

Albert, 79, has been the longtime lead voice for Turner, but will not be a part of the coverage with the NBA planning to have its national announcers on site in the league’s bubble.

***

Albert told The Post that he was growing more excited about participating on-site, but that was dampened with the recent surge of cases in Florida.

“I had second thoughts,” Albert said.

Albert will reportedly still provide periodic commentary from a remote location. At 79, Albert is in a much higher risk category for COVID-19. So far, the rest of the TNT broadcast crew plans on calling the games in Orlando, but Albert’s iconic voice will be a noticeable absence for NBA fans.

(The New York Post)

One of the main goals of the nationwide protests for social justice is to give Black people a voice in a way they’ve never had before. Around the country, professional athletes are helping lead the charge and using their platform to spread awareness of their experiences living in an America where they are treated unequally.

Stephen Jackson, Damian Lillard, DeMar DeRozan, and many other current and former players have used their money, time, and influence to bolster this cause. They’ve also taken the opportunity to remind us that, before their stardom, they went through the same hardships that all Black people face, and that despite their fame and wealth, they are still subject to the racism and hatred that is so insidious in our country.

Matt Barnes has been a vocal leader in the movement, and this week, he spoke to Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report about a number of topics related to race in America. Most poignantly, he talked about how his father told him to fight anyone at school who called him the N-word and how he was eventually able to use sports to earn respect and find common ground.

“I was by myself, I was on an island,” Barnes said. “Until I really got a chance, I think, through sports. These kids, once they were finally tired of getting beat up, they finally allowed me to play with them. Then, once they allowed me to play with them, I was the best — football, basketball, baseball, kickball. Sports was what allowed them to the chance to get to know me as a person. That was kind of the turning point.”

Barnes also talked about what he sees as unfair treatment of Black coaches in the NBA and his perception that white coaches are given more chances and more leeway. Having played for the Clippers during the Donald Sterling sterling era, Barnes went on to say he would try to do things differently today and urge his team to sit out in protest.

Although he hasn’t directly advocated for players to opt out of the Orlando bubble, Barnes has helped amplify concerns about how the NBA restart could distract from the Black Lives Matter movement. However, many see it as an opportunity to use the platform to bring even more awareness to the fight for social justice and police reform that has gripped the nation for the past month.

The Queer Eye reboot spent their fifth season in Philadelphia, and while they’ve been busy doing makeovers from all over town — from Fishtown to West Philly to Germantown and even far-flung-ish Wyomissing — they would be remiss if they didn’t at least try to take on Gritty. It’s been almost two years since the googly-eyed mascot for the Flyers went, in the span of a day or two, from nightmare fuel to beloved figure. How can even the Queer Eye guys improve on perfection?

Spoiler: They didn’t quite, despite the old college try. In the special, released by Netflix as a YouTube extra, Jonathan Van Ness took a look at his orange mane and threw up his hands, correctly surmising that Gritty is “synonymous with perfect eyebrows.” Tan France, challenged with dressing a 7-foot behemoth who only has one outfit, tried out different colors, even a Santa Claus outfit, but the original remained best. (He also admitted Gritty has a “great a**.”) And instead of getting him to change his cheesesteak-heavy diet, food and wine guy Antoni Porowski wound up gorging on the deeply unhealthy but sinfully delicious foodstuff himself.

The video ends with lifestyle guru Karamo Brown arranging a meeting of the minds with the city’s other whatzit mascot, the Phillie Fanatic, which ends with the latter reminding Gritty that he quickly became beloved by the fans. So, they accomplished something.

You can watch the full video above.

Teen rapper Lil Tecca first exploded into stardom with 2019’s breakout song of the summer, “Ransom” and its remix featuring the late Juice WRLD. After following up with a handful of singles, including “Glo Up” and “IDK,” it seems that the young performer has found his second big hit in the form of “Out Of Love,” which arrived two weeks ago and has since racked up millions of plays on Apple, Spotify, Tidal, and YouTube.

Today, Tecca followed up with the daydreaming video for the Nick Mira and Taz Taylor-produced single. The video throws it back to high school (which wasn’t all that long ago for Tecca), when girls hung up posters of their celebrity crushes and choreographed dance routines to their favorite songs. Nowadays, those dances get uploaded to TikTok in the hopes of sparking viral challenges but once upon a time, they were just a way for kids to bond with their closest BFFs. The “Out Of Love” video resurrects that era — which was literally just two years ago — and finds Tecca contrasting his newfound fame with his self-conception as just another boy next door.

As Tecca’s fans crush on him from the safety of their bedroom shrine, Tecca himself floats on cloud made of hearts and dances with his own homeboys in the luxurious new settings in which he finds himself. There’s no word on when Tecca will follow-up last year’s debut album We Love You Tecca, but he’s already showing promise and polish — as well as leaning into his newfound status as a teen heartthrob.

Watch Lil Tecca’s “Out Of Love” video above.

The NBA is moving forward with its scheduled restart in Orlando on July 30, even as COVID-19 cases swell in Florida and players are opting to stay home. This is in part because the league, and commissioner Adam Silver specifically, still believe the “campus environment” they will create at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando is safer than just about any other option.

Speaking on a virtual panel with TIME on Tuesday, Silver said, “We’re going to see as we go. Certainly, if we have a lot of cases, we’re going to stop. You cannot run from this virus. I am absolutely convinced that it will be safer on this campus than off this campus, because there aren’t many other situations I’m aware of where there’s mass testing of asymptomatic employees. So in some ways this is maybe a model for how other industries ultimately open.”

The quote was from a wide-ranging interview about the NBA’s restart, its stance on social justice, its relationship with China, and generally how sport will function during a pandemic.

This is clearly an optimistic perspective, but it has merit. Many other industries are asking people to return to work in far less safe circumstances, and while the NBA is far less “essential” than these other industries, it is a massive business in this country and likely will need to learn to cope with the pandemic in its own way. Because of the financial capital at its disposal, the NBA can afford, despite its inessential nature, to create a system that is about as safe as is feasible right now.

The NBA is not, however, going forward without recourse. Silver knows the whole thing has the potential to fall apart if even a single crack appears.

“[It’s] never ‘full steam no matter what,” Silver said. “One thing we’re learning about this virus is that much is unpredictable.”

On Tuesday, the world lost a legend: comic writer, director, and performer Carl Reiner. He was 98 years old. Over his long career, Reiner had many triumphs: creating The Dick Van Dyke Show, directing The Jerk, and, later life, stealing whole chunks of the Ocean’s Eleven films. But he also had great success alongside his longtime best friend, Mel Brooks. The two frequently whipped out their beloved act, the “2000 Year Old Man,” in which Brooks played the titular super-old-timer while Reiner played his straight man interviewer.

The two stayed tight since the 1950s, over some seven decades, all the way to the end. On the day of the sad news, Brooks issued a public tribute to the man with whom he watched silly action movies just about every night.

Brooks released the statement on his Twitter account, which read as follows:

Carl was a giant, unmatched in his contributions to entertainment. He created comedy gems like The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Jerk, and Where’s Poppa? I met him in 1950 when he joined Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows, and we’ve been best friends ever since. I loved him. When we were doing The 2000 Year Old Man together there was no better straight man in the world. So whether he wrote or performed or he was just your best friend — nobody could do it better. He’ll be greatly missed. A tired cliché in times like this, but in Carl Reiner’s case it’s absolutely true. He will be greatly missed.

Reiner and Brooks’ routine of dining on tray tables while watching TV has been documented in a New York Times interview from 2009 and in an episode of Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. It’s too bad it never became a TV show.

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

George Lopez: We’ll Do It For Half (Netflix stand-up special, Tuesday) — Somehow, this is Lopez’s first Netflix comedy special despite his storied stand-up roots. In one hour, Lopez dives into lessons that he’s learned from the Latino community, along with issues related to emotional support animals, gender reveal parties, and elevator etiquette.

Netflix has also dropped many other comedy specials over the past few months, and here are the highlights:

Eric Andre: Legalize Everything — This New Orleans-filmed special shows Eric Andre once again busting through comedic boundaries while taking on the wars on sex, drugs, and… fart jokes? Alright. Seriously though, It’s the best comedy special of the year and highly relevant to the U.S. police-related discussion today.

Pete Davidson: Alive From New York — From SNL to a ton of upcoming movies, Pete Davidson’s doing everything, and now, he’s got his very first Netflix original comedy special. Yes, he’s dropping all kinds of unfiltered anecdotes on everything from his SNL-related discomfort to his Louis C.K. beef and Ariana Grande relationship.

Patton Oswalt: I Love Everything — The Emmy and Grammy winning comedian brings his newest comedy special to the streaming giant. Look forward to anecdotes involving a full-scale Millennium Falcon replica and how home buying gets tied to the term “suicide squad.” Stick around for the post-credits bonus, in which Patton introduces another one-hour comedy special, Bob Rubin: Oddities & Rarities.

Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours To Kill — The legendary Jerry Seinfeld has dropped his second Netflix special. Expect him to keep mining everyday life to unveil comedy in the commonplace. Although the title of this special feels Bond-esque, Seinfeld doesn’t disappoint those expecting his trademarked sharp perceptions about everyday life.

Hannah Gadsby: Douglas (Netflix stand-up special) — The newest Netflix comedy special arrives today with Hannah Gadsby following up on Nanette with a second turn named after one of her dogs. Gadsby’s hope was that Douglas would “inspire comedy disobedience,” according to Netflix, and this LA-filmed special promises to upend all expectations.

Marc Maron: End Times Fun — The long-time standup comic, GLOW star, and prolific podcaster unleashes his latest comedy special. Expect Maron’s thoughts on cell phones, vaccinations, and Tumeric. Oh, and he’s definitely talking about his ongoing beef with Marvel movie fans.

Taylor Tomlinson: Quarter-Life Crisis — Taylor Tomlinson has made a high-spirited appearance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, and Netflix now presents her first comedy special. Over the course of an hour, Tomlinson will discuss how she’s leaving the mistakes of her early 20s behind her (and tell us why why your twenties are not truly “the best years of your life”).

Tom Segura: Ball Hog — This special promises to not be for the faint of heart, and Segura is leaving no target-stone unturned. He tackles emotionally fragile people, arguments with one’s family, up-ending expectations, and he offers some common sense on following dreams, live from a recent performance in Austin, Texas.

Here are a few options elsewhere on TV:

Stargirl (CW, 8:00 p.m.) — Teamwork is the name of the game for Courtney’s new recruits, and Pat’s attempting to teach them the most important ropes before an inevitable showdown with the Injustice League arrives sooner than expected.

Dirty John (USA 10:00 p.m.) — The Betty Broderick Story is an irresistibly trashy series that’s even dirtier that last year’s effort. This week, Betty gets crushingly defeated in divorce court by Dan’s legal influence, and everyone who knows this case can predict what comes next.

Athletes Unlimited, a new women’s sports venture backed by big-name investors such as Jonathan Soros, Kevin Durant, and Jessica Mendoza, will kick off in August, and according to Emily Caron of Sportico, the television rights will belong to ESPN and CBS, with all 30 matches broadcast live.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Athletes Unlimited model, the league is bypassing owners, home cities, and set rosters with the intention of putting the league in the players’ hands. Rosters are drafted each week by team captains, and scoring is accumulated by individuals rather than teams, in a system not unlike fantasy sports. It’s a fascinating concept: If you get attached to a certain player, you tune in for them above all, and now ESPN and CBS are making it easier to do so.

According to Caron, CBS will air seven of the contests while ESPN will take the other 23 (with some seemingly hitting ESPN+). Broadcasts will also focus on the athletes as well as digital innovations, as with many leagues attempting to play during the pandemic:

“Athletes Unlimited said production will focus on the players and innovative technologies, including social media integration, in-game player audio and new graphics. In-house digital and social content will also be created to complement the live game linear coverage.”

Details are not yet available regarding how (or where) Athletes Unlimited will construct its quarantine bubble, but the company already announced it will launch a similar league for women’s volleyballers in the fall.

Despite being the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion, Jack Johnson hasn’t been the subject of a biopic in half a century. That’s about to change: As per Deadline, HBO has announced a limited series, called Unruly, about the legendary pugilist, and it will star two-time Oscar-winner and future Blade Mahershala Ali.

Ali has long said that playing Johnson on screen was his “dream role,” although it won’t be the first time he’s played him. Back in 2000, two decades back, he starred in a stage production of The Great White Hope, Howard Sackler’s 1967 play, whose title refers to racist boxing promoters and press’ search for a white boxer to end his pioneering streak. It was turned into a movie in 1970 which starred James Earl Jones as “Jack Jefferson,” the play and film’s stand-in for Johnson.

The project, which comes from Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s Playtone, will be based on the last major screen work about the fighter, the 2004 TV documentary Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, which was helmed by Ken Burns. That film featured Samuel L. Jackson as the voice of Johnson, alongside such august company as Jeffrey Wright, Keith David, Billy Bob Thornton, Ed Harris, Alan Rickman, Brian Cox, and more.

Johnson took the boxing world by storm in the early 20th century, but his success proved a double-edged sword. He was hounded by racists, who exploited the fact that he was married to a white woman to get him sentenced, on trumped-up charges, to a year in prison. That caused him to flee to Europe before returning home to serve his sentence. Johnson’s story has long been embraced by Black resistance movements and has inspired untold works of art, among them Miles Davis’ fusion classic A Tribute to Jack Johnson.

(Via Deadline)