Month: July 2020

As more and more videos of adults throwing tantrums over being asked to wear masks go viral, one has to feel for the employees on the receiving end of such behavior. It’s hard enough to have to work serving the public during a pandemic. Having to politely but firmly deal with irate customers taking their angst out on you, especially when you have no control over policies or legal mandates, must be endlessly frustrating.

One might assume that grown-ups would rise above the urge to harass teenagers who are just trying to do their job serving them in the safest way possible, but that’s unfortunately not always the case.

The owner of Mootown Creamery, an ice cream shop in Ohio, called out the folks who have been attacking her young female employees. Angela Brooks wrote on the shop’s Facebook page:

I’ve been trying not to say anything, but it is getting out of control. 🛑 STOP!!! 🛑 Stop yelling at these young girls. Stop slamming doors. Stop swearing at them and making a scene. STOP!!! These girls are wearing masks for YOUR protection. They are required by the state to wear them, and they do so with a smile because they care about you and your safety. In order to protect them and our other guests, I made the decision to require face masks in our store. I made that decision, not them!

Do you know how hard it is to work a summer rush in a face mask? With a line of customers to the door, some waiting outside, online orders dinging on a tablet, the phone ringing off the hook — and then have a customer throw a temper tantrum in the store calling the girls “paranoid” or “anti-american” or even worse – CUSS AT THEM! (Does it feel good to make a 16 year old girl cry in the bathroom? Or sob on her way home from work? Does that make you feel better about Covid? How would you feel if someone did this to your child?)

Knock it off!!!!!! I get it. This sucks. Covid is one of the most awful things many of us have experienced in our lifetime. Our lives are flipped upside down. Businesses are closing. Some of us are still out of work. We are stressed out, worried, and frustrated. However that is no excuse to take out your frustrations on teenage kids serving ice cream! (Most of which this is their first job!) Are you serious?! What control do they possibly have over the situation?

You are not welcome here if you have that little respect for us. It is not about the sales. Go somewhere else if you want to behave that way. The customers who are respectful, loving, understanding and kind are welcome at Mootown. We serve ice cream and smiles. If going out for ice cream puts you in that much of a bad mood, stay home!! You are not going to ruin the experience for everyone else.

We offer curbside pickup, outdoor ordering, online ordering, delivery to your home, phone orders — there are a dozen different ways for you to place an order and still maintain your rights to not wear a mask. If you don’t have a mask or don’t believe in social distancing – we respect that. We’ll take your order in any of those several ways, or understand if you don’t come back until after Covid. But you don’t get to walk in the store and yell at the girls. THAT STOPS NOW!!!

To those of you who haven’t been absolute monsters during all of this — THANK YOU!!!! We love you, appreciate you, and look forward to seeing you soon! 🐮🍦

Brooks set up a “virtual tip jar” for the girls through GoFundMe, which she said would be split evenly between the 16 part-time employees, many of whom are working to pay for college or saving to buy a car. Though the initial goal was $500, people have donated nearly $10,000 in a week.

In addition to the money, people have left supportive messages on the GoFundMe page, which hopefully help balance out the terrible treatment these girls have had to endure.

“Consider us buying virtual ice cream with a smile on our faces. Yum! These are exceptional times and we all have to be more generous and thoughtful and caring with each other to get through them. Thank you all for doing the right thing!”

“These young people deserve it. Bullying a bunch of teenagers just trying to do a job and save money is despicable. I hope this shows them that there are good people out here who recognize the difficulties they face just trying work a job to save money.”

“Thank you for standing on the side of sanity and the health of the community!”

“I donated because the owner stood up for her employees. And the owner is a valued member of the Berea, Ohio community. She is providing first jobs to young ladies and these LADIES need to know they are appreciated.”

Even in all of the madness and mayhem of the moment, it’s heartening to see people rally around those who are following public health recommendations and doing what needs to be done to protect everyone—even those who may not appreciate it.

Over the past few months, Lil Nas X has used his Twitter bio to update fans on the progress on his new album. Currently, it reads, “ALBUM: 92% DONE.” He’s getting close, but a new album isn’t all he’s working on: The rapper revealed today he also wants to make a new mixtape, and he has asked his fans for help.

Sharing an image of SpongeBob SquarePants character Squidward squeezing Mr. Krabs’ eyes, Nas wrote, “ALBUM’S ALMOST FINISHED BUT WORKING ON A MIXTAPE TOO! ALL PRODUCERS SEND BEATS TO [email protected] !”

Before this tweet, one fan wondered when would be a good time for a new Nas album to drop in light of all the other recent hip-hop releases, and Nas responded, “there’s no best time drop. trust i will have a plan to make sure this album and every single’ single from it goes crazy on the charts and sound amazing too.” He later added, “just want to make sure u guys have faith in me and what im about to do. despite what anyone else thinks or says.”

Meanwhile, a few days ago, a Portuguese-speaking fan suggested that Nas drop his project this month, to which the rapper responded, “i’m sure it’ll be finished this month but not sure how i wanna drop yet.”

It looks like whether Nas decides to drop his album or mixtape first, something is on the way regardless.

Ray Fisher‘s social media campaign against Joss Whedon has reportedly reached an impasse. For now.

Shortly before the July 4th weekend, Fisher kicked off a flurry of headlines as the Cyborg actor retracted his endorsement of Whedon taking over director duties on Justice League after Zack Snyder left the film to deal with a family tragedy. But Fisher didn’t stop there. He went on to accuse Whedon of being “abusive and unprofessional” on set and, a few days later, the actor tweeted out his support for Whedon’s ex-wife Kai Cole and Angel star Charisma Carpenter. Both women have aired grievances with Whedon’s allegedly sexist behavior despite his public persona as an outspoken feminist.

However, despite Kevin Smith corroborating that were problems with Whedon’s attitude on the set of Justice League, Fisher has neglected to offer specifics about the director’s alleged behavior, and for good reason. In a video Q&A on Instagram, Fisher admitted that he’s still bound by a non-disclosure agreement and “under contract,” so he can’t go into more detail about Whedon without opening a world of trouble. At least for now. Via Heroic Hollywood:

So, I’ve gotta be very careful about what I say and how I say it. Otherwise I could get sued into oblivion. So just a disclaimer there. So for the folks who were looking for more specifics, I’m sorry that I cannot give them to you in the moment right now. Just gotta make sure all your ducks are laid out in a row, so you can go ahead and handle the situation appropriately, so you don’t end up being outside of professionally liable, legally liable for anything that could be litigious or whatever that would be. This will take some time. We will get it done, and we will win.

Whether this latest development means Fisher will go quiet on the Whedon subject remains to be seen, but it sounds like the actor could be biding his time or preparing for a legal battle that will allow him to speak out on what went wrong on the set of the superhero film.

(Via Heroic Hollywood)

As the NBA prepares for a hopeful restart to the season in Orlando one of the main basketball questions for this season and beyond is whether the relationship between Jazz stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert is tenable. While there have been grumblings the two haven’t always seen eye-to-eye on everything, the tensions between them came to a head when Mitchell tested positive for COVID-19 after Gobert’s test that resulted in the NBA shutting down.

Gobert issued a public apology for his “careless” behavior, but Mitchell was still fuming and it took a full month for the two to speak again. That issue only widened the rift between the two, and immediately launched speculation that the Jazz may have to choose between their two foundational players. That question still lingers and, whether the cause or not, any struggles the Jazz have during the restart and playoffs will surely lead to only more discussion about the Mitchell-Gobert relationship.

ESPN’s Tim MacMahon recently spoke with Gobert about his relationship with Mitchell, who was very open about the frustrations they can have with each other on the court and was introspective about the role he plays in creating those frustrations. It’s a fascinating look at their relationship, as both have cited past successful partnerships between stars that were anything but friends, and Gobert and the Jazz front office state they believe the two can work together on the court towards the goal of winning a championship.

When the topic of Gobert’s prodding at Mitchell about not passing enough was broached, Gobert noted that he needs to be better about picking his spots as to when he should be demanding of the young guard and that, in his words, is “the a**hole.”

“I understand that I’m annoying. I can be very annoying,” said Gobert, adding that he knows Mitchell’s job is difficult as the focal point of defenses. “I think maybe because he was really good really early, I’ve been very demanding and maybe in not always a positive way. Sometimes you don’t realize it.

“Like with me, people can be hard on me and I can handle it, but for some guys, it can become very frustrating. I can understand that 100 percent. Donovan has gotten better every year since he’s gotten here. I think he’s going to keep getting a lot better. It’s pretty much, I’m the a–hole.”

Gobert goes on to note that he believes the two are in a good enough place after having talked through things and can work together, provided they’re willing to have those conversations out in the open. The Jazz have stated publicly that they still see the two as their foundational pieces, but with both headed for massive extensions, how this restart unfolds between the two of them may dictate whether they hold strong to that belief.

Just a couple hundred years ago, in much of the United States, teaching African Americans to read and write was illegal. In the antebellum south, this was part of a strategy to maintain racist, unjust systems. There was good reason for white enslavers to see Black Americans’ literacy as a threat. Inspirational abolitionist texts brought uprisings to the Caribbean, and deep biblical readings led Nat Turner to revolt in Virginia.

Slavery ended well over a century ago, so the slave codes that outlawed teaching African Americans to read should be relics of the past. However, as a woman of color and educator, I see that their spirit lives on today.

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), fewer than one in five African-American 12th graders reach reading proficiency, and Black students fared far worse than all other racial and ethnic groups that NAEP tested. The percentage of white seniors “at or above proficiency” was nearly three times that of Black seniors. Despite the immensity of African-American teens’ literacy crisis and its role in their oppression as adults, we’re doing little to address it.

A recent court case in Detroit was a small step in the right direction toward change. This midwestern metropolis has the highest proportion of Black residents of any U.S. city. Over 80% of its population is African American, and 97% of its public schools’ students are people of color. These kids don’t have access to adequate education. This may be caused by structural racism, or mismanagement, or both. In 2018 seven Motor City students looked to the law for help. They brought a class action suit charging that the state of Michigan, which manages the city’s schools, was violating their constitutional right to an education that provides basic literacy. The case points out that reading and writing competency, which most Detroit students lack, is required to participate in society.

After being dismissed in a lower court in 2018, a few months ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit sided with the students and asserted that they do have a right to literacy. This is a great first step towards educational equity, but the court’s ruling doesn’t go far enough in its assertion that public education must “provide access to a foundational level of literacy.” It needs to do a lot more than that. “Foundational literacy” won’t suffice for participation in our democracy and 21st century economy. Much higher reading levels will be necessary.

In the fall, then presidential candidate Andrew Yang warned that the robots are coming. They’re only coming for some of us, though. The first jobs to get automated won’t be those of lawyer or executive—they’ll be those that don’t require complex reading and thought, jobs like driver and cashier to which nonreaders are relegated. Thus, a Brookings report that Black workers’ jobs are at higher risk from technological advances than those of whites isn’t surprising, given the state of Black students’ literacy and their subsequently limited career opportunities. Brookings’ Automation and Artificial Intelligence found that African-American “workers are concentrated in more automatable occupations.”

Yang dropped out of the race months ago. He won’t save us from a jarring Fourth Industrial Revolution or unequal education. It’s unclear if the current democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, can either.

In February, the New York Times reported on Biden’s commentary on African-Americans’ literacy. He noted the problem that Black “parents can’t read or write.” I’m still waiting to hear his solution.

Expecting politicians, and even education leaders, who are overwhelmingly white, to take up this issue without external pressure is unrealistic. It’s taking weeks of daily protests to force us to reassess law enforcement’s policing of Black bodies. Similarly, it will take our persistent pressure on government and school-district heads to push them to reexamine the education of young Black minds. Equal schooling and, thus, equal opportunity are an integral component of antiracism.

As the rallying cry that Black Lives Matter grows louder and louder in diverse communities around the country, it needs to be amended. It’s time to demand that Black education matter too.

Tiger King is no longer in the Netflix top 10 (it’ll have to settle for being the defining piece of culture from the quarantine-era, which is an extremely cool thing to think about), but it’s still resonating with people. Last week, Big Cat Rescue owner Carole Baskin joined Cameo, where for the low (?) price of $200, the inspiration for the song “Killer Carole” will wish your niece Rachel a happy bar mitzvah, or whatever. And she’s making bank.

TMZ reports that “she’s gotten over 600 Cameo requests so far,” good for nearly $120,000 (minus whatever Cameo takes out) in only a week. Baskin could be making Gottfried-level money, but “she’s turned down lots of requests from people who want her to talk about her missing and presumed dead husband.” She told TMZ, “I decline their requests to say things that would make fun of my husband’s disappearance because that was such a tragic time in my life, and in that of those who loved him.”

Joe Exotic’s nemesis from the hit Netflix docuseries, Tiger King, tells us she doesn’t think the people making those requests are doing it to be mean spirited, but regardless of how long it’s been, talking about her missing husband’s a sore subject.

Maybe ask one of the other Caroles/Carols/Carolines on Cameo what they think about Baskin and Joe Exotic and Jack “Don” Lewis. “Influencer” Caroline Calloway is a steal at only $100, although she might take your money, then not make a video.

(Via TMZ)

Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week we got Bandcamp exclusives from Pup, Cloud Nothings, and Boygenius, the return of Sufjan Stevens, and another new track from the forthcoming Fontaines DC album. Check out the rest of the best new indie music below.

Cloud Nothings — The Black Hole Understands

Cloud Nothings’ new album was written and recorded entirely virtually. “About a month into quarantine, Dylan Baldi and Jayson Gerycz started sending files back and forth, with guitars, bass, and vocals for the new songs being tracked in Philly while drums and mixing happened in Cleveland,” the band wrote on Bandcamp, where The Black Hole Understands is available exclusively. Perhaps due to the recording constraints, the new album finds the band harkening back to the lo-fi sounds of their earlier efforts, leaving behind the heavier grunge influence that has been present on their recent projects.

Pup — Live At The Electric Ballroom

I have to say, when I heard the roar of a crowd as an orchestral instrumental version of a Pup song played over the PA, I got chills. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see Pup live yet, Live At The Electric Ballroom should do a pretty good job of showing you what you’ve missed out on. The album was recorded during a pair of shows at the historic London venue on November 20 and 21 last year. Spanning the band’s entire career, the new live album had the same lifespan as the show it captured: available for one day only, and it encapsulates the band’s raw magic with an attitude that pops off the speakers and makes you nostalgic for mass gatherings.

Boygenius — Boygenius Demos EP

Also available for one day only on Bandcamp, Boygenius’ new demos collection show the raw talent of its members. The three tracks are voice memos of “Bite The Hand,” “Me & My Dog,” and “Stay Down” that Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus recorded together the day before hitting the studio to track the eponymous debut EP. While the demos won’t satisfy fans’ need for new music, “given that the three artists are all involved in their own successful other endeavors,” writes Derrick Rossignol for Uproxx, “it’s not clear when or if the trio will reconvene for more music.”

Father John Misty — Anthem +3 EP

It’s been two years since Father John Misty released his latest solo album God’s Favorite Customer, but it doesn’t look like Josh Tillman is ready to be sharing more solo music just yet. Instead, the new EP Anthem +3 features covers of songs by Leonard Cohen, Link Wray, and Cat Stevens. The new EP marks the second charity effort released in recent months.

Sufjan Stevens — “America”

It’s been nearly five years since Sufjan Stevens released the lovely Carrie And Lowell. On the first preview of his new album, the twelve-minute epic “America,” Stevens is less reflective and a bit more aggressive with his tactics, finding him lamenting on his lost faith in his country. “Musically, the track hearkens back to Stevens’ The Age Of Adz-style experimentation, with ambient passages and larger moments twisting and turning into each other,” writes Derrick Rossignol for Uproxx.

Sad13 — “Ghost (Of A Good Time)”

Best known for her work in Speedy Ortiz, Sadie Dupuis has also spent the last several years working on her solo career under the name Sad13. “Ghost (Of A Good Time)” is the first taste of her sophomore solo effort Haunted Painting, which finds Dupuis lamenting the realities of getting older. Specifically, the song was “inspired by a recent Bushwick basement show with a 1 a.m. start-time she would have tolerated a decade ago,” according to press materials.

Fontaines DC — “Televised Mind”

With just a month before Fontaines DC release their sophomore album A Hero’s Death, the band has shared another preview to build anticipation for the effort. With driving heavy instrumentation “Televised Mind” is about the echo chamber that is created by mass and social media, withering away at the ability to learn. “Personality gets stripped away by surrounding approval,” vocalist Grian Chatten said in a statement. “People’s opinions get reinforced by constant agreement, and we’re robbed of our ability to feel wrong. We’re never really given the education of our own fallibility.”

Del Paxton — “September”

With a series of singles slated for release over the next few months, Buffalo’s Del Paxton are back with another track chock full of bold hooks and vocal harmonies. It’s reminiscent of ’90s emo, but with a modern flare. “September” is a song about camping in the Adirondacks, encouraging listeners to always live in the moment and take in the beauty of the world around them.

Gus Dapperton — “Post Humorous”

After taking time off from music to focus on his mental health, Gus Dapperton is back to serve up a sophomore LP, Orca. “Post Humorous” is the lead single from Orca “features Dapperton’s signature buoyant instrumentals juxtaposed against poignant lyrics which reflect on dealing with death in early childhood,” writes Carolyn Droke for Uproxx. The track is a promising look at what’s to come from Dapperton on his second album.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

After the NBA went on hiatus, the Chicago Bulls began to clean house and completely restructure their front office, ousting longtime fixtures John Paxson and Gar Forman. They first chose Nuggets GM Arturas Karnisovas to head up the front office as their new VP of basketball operations, and he hired Marc Eversley to be his new general manager.

In Denver, that meant they needed to address their sudden GM vacancy and have done so internally, with the announcement on Tuesday that Calvin Booth had been elevated to GM from assistant GM, as was widely anticipated.

“Calvin is one of the brightest basketball minds in our league,” said president of basketball operations Tim Connelly. “We are very fortunate to have him as part of our organization and are extremely excited for his new role.”

Booth has been in Denver as an assistant GM since 2017 after four years in Minnesota in the Timberwolves front office. Booth has been a fast-rising name in NBA circles as someone who was expected to become a future general manager, so it comes as little surprise that Denver would want to promote him internally to keep him in their building and also maintain their organizational continuity given their on-court success over recent years.

To help offset some of the negative effects the pandemic has had on American businesses, the federal government introduced the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a loan program to help keep employees on payrolls. Yesterday, the Small Business Administration shared a list of businesses that took out loans between $150,000 and $10 million through the program, and it turns out indie record labels received millions of dollars.

As Pitchfork notes, J. Cole’s Dreamville Records, ATO Records, Dim Mak, Rostrum, and Cleopatra each received at least $150,000. Meanwhile, Sub Pop Records, Third Man Records, and Knitting Factory Records each got $350,000 or more, and Stones Throw Records received somewhere between $1 million and $2 million. Kanye West’s Yeezy also received between $2 million and $5 million, which helped save 106 jobs.

Also receiving PPP loans were music-related entities like concert venues, the Grammy Museum Foundation, music publishers, vinyl pressing plants, and record stores. Overall, the “Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation” sector received a hair under $8 billion across 118,332 loans, which accounts for 1.53 percent of the money loaned out so far (as of June 30).

This help comes at a time when the music industry could really use it. Concerts and festivals have been shut down left and right, and many concert venues believe they won’t survive the pandemic.

This week in the best new pop music, artists offered up sunny tunes just in time for this summer’s first heatwave. Ellie Goulding teamed up with Lauv for a simmering single, Disclosure tapped two rappers for a raucous tune, and Christine And The Queens shared a soaring ballad.

Each week, Uproxx rounds up the best new pop releases. Listen up.

Ellie Goulding — “Slow Grenade” Feat. Lauv

Any project where Ellie Goulding teams up with breakout musician Lauv is sure to make Uproxx’s best new pop list. Arriving on her upcoming double record Brightest Blue, “Slow Grenade” sees the two singers reflecting on a slowly imploding relationship over a buoyant beat.

Disclosure — “My High” Feat. Aminé and Slowthai

After ushering in a new era with a handful of upbeat tracks, Disclosure shares “My High” as the second single off their forthcoming album Energy. Speaking about the track in a statement, Disclosure gushed about their collaborators: “We always wanted to work with rappers, we just didn’t know any and we had no means of contacting them… there aren’t a lot of rappers in Reigate. Writing ‘My High’ with Aminé was a lot a fun, he’s hilarious and may as well be a comedian.”

Christine And The Queens — “Eyes Of A Child”

Written to be included in the Amazon Prime series Hanna, Christine And The Queens pivots from her signature synths for the somber ballad “Eyes Of A Child.” Over a resonating piano, Christine’s soaring vocals are at the forefront of the single as she croons a moving tale.

Gus Dapperton — “Post Humorous”

Gus Dapperton’s “Post Humorous” arrived as the lead single off his upcoming sophomore record Orca. The track features Dapperton’s signature jaunty instrumentals juxtaposed against poignant lyrics which narrates mourning an unexpected death in early childhood. “I’m a huge advocate for putting myself in vulnerable positions in my music,” Dappertain said but admits that confronting these feelings “was a chance to be open that I was afraid of. It was cathartic to put these emotions into music.”

Rina Sawayama — “Dance In The Dark”

As part of Spotify’s Single Series that celebrated Pride month, Rina Sawayama gave a moving cover of a track from Lady Gaga’s 2009 sophomore album The Fame Monster. Sawayama transformed Gaga’s overlooked number “Dance In The Dark” from a pulsating track to an electro-pop ballad. Using her emotive vocals to color the song, Sawayama crooned a rendition of “Dance In The Dark” over wailing guitars and metallic synths.

Honne — “La La La That’s How It Goes”

London duo Honne shared their 14-track mixtape No Song Without You this week. Along with it came the carefree track “La La La That’s How It Goes.” Over a breezy melody, Honne sing of relying on loved ones for support.

Amy Allen — “Queen Of Silver Linings”

After years of co-writing popular songs for major pop stars like Harry Styles and Selena Gomez, Amy Allen makes her major-label debut with the soulful single “Queen Of Silver Linings.” About the emotive ballad, Allen said: “We thought of two characters — the Queen of Silver Linings, who holds onto love at all costs and wants to fix things, even if it’s not in her best interests to do so — and the King of Good Intentions, who means well but continues to let her down. As a Queen of Silver Linings myself, I realized that the message isn’t one of hopelessness. I believe there’s quite a power in having the guts to shamelessly fight for something you wholeheartedly believe in.”

Ingrid Andress — “Waste Of Lime”

Following her strong debut effort Lady Like earlier this year, Ingrid Address returns with the playful single “Waste Of Lime.” Inspired by the Beach Boys’ track “Kokomo,” Andress delivers tongue-in-cheek lyrics which is the singer’s way of aiming a subtle middle finger at an unreliable partner.

Maisie Peters — “Sad Girl Summer”

UK singer/songwriter Maisie Peters had a breakout 2019 when she was featured on the Birds Of Prey soundtrack after only releasing her second EP. Now the singer is ready to continue her success into 2020 with “Sad Girl Summer,” an irresistibly catchy number. About the single, Peters said: “I wrote ‘Sad Girl Summer’ at the beginning of summer 2019, which ironically went on to be one of the best summers of my life! The song is all about letting go of things and people that aren’t worth your precious time and energy, and celebrating the people in your life that are.”

Baker Grace — “Up All Night”

Following an EP and a handful of singles, 19-year-old musician Baker Grace returns with the lush track “Up All Night.” Produced by Cautious Clay, the single is a reflection on preemptive judgment. “Everybody has a story and I think it’s important to take the time to understand each other and become more compassionate, so we can learn, grow, and heal together,” Grace said about the track.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.