Month: November 2020

Taylor Swift famously loves to hide Easter eggs in her music and promotional materials, and there was a big one in Folklore. Her Bon Iver collaboration, “Exile,” was co-written by the two artists, along with somebody named William Bowery. Swift fans speculated that the real identity of this mysterious songwriter was Swift’s boyfriend Joe Alwyn, a theory that Swift has finally confirmed.

Swift’s new concert film, Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, premiered on Disney+ last night, and aside from the performances, it also includes conversations between Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Aaron Dessner. During one of those chats, Swift confirmed the identity of Bowery, saying, “There’s been a lot of discussion about William Bowery and his identity because it’s not a real person. […] So, William Bowery is Joe, as we know. And Joe… Joe plays piano beautifully, and he’s always just playing and making things up and kind of creating things.”

She continued, “It was a step that we would never have taken because why would we have ever written a song together? So this was the first time we had a conversation where I came in and I was like, ‘Hey, this could be really weird, and we could hate this, so because we’re in quarantine and there’s nothing else going on, could we just try to see what it’s like if we write this song together?’”

Swift also released audio from the film as a live album, so stream that below.

There’s a good chance Aubrey Plaza has appeared in one of your favorite movies or shows. There’s an even better chance that she’s one of the reasons why you love it so much. Since her Emmy-worthy deadpan performance as April on Parks and Recreation, Plaza has worked with Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and the Muppets (Muppets Now), hosted the Independent Spirit Awards twice, starred in Legion, voiced Eska on The Legend of Korra, and become the “new queen of indies,” thanks to Life After Beth, Ingrid Goes West, and the upcoming Black Bear, which looks very good. Also, Plaza voiced Grumpy Cat in the Lifetime original movie Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever, and still has a career. That’s how much people like Aubrey Plaza, who’s finally getting the appreciation she deserves.

In director Clea DuVall’s queer romantic-comedy Happiest Season, Kristen Stewart plays Abby, who plans to propose to her girlfriend Harper (Halt and Catch Fire great Mackenzie Davis) until she learns that her partner hasn’t come out to her family. Also complicating matters is the presence of Harper’s ex-girlfriend Riley, played by Plaza. She’s been trending all morning on Twitter for her performance in the delightful Hulu movie, as she should. Plaza stands out even in a stacked cast with Stewart, Davis, Dan Levy, Alison Brie, Mary Holland, Victor Garber and Mary Steenburgen.

It’s not Happiest Season — it’s Aubrey Plaza season.

When the Recording Academy releases its annual list of Grammy nominees (as it did yesterday), there’s always backlash. It felt particularly potent this year, though, since The Weeknd, who put out some of the most commercially and critically successful music of the year, was somehow completely absent from the nominations. He wasn’t the only superstar missing from the list, though, as Cardi B’s “WAP,” perhaps the biggest single of the year, isn’t up for any Grammys. There’s a good reason for that, however: Cardi didn’t actually submit the song for consideration, and now she has explained why.

Yesterday, she said in an Instagram Live video:

“Stop playing with me. Like I said, I’m never pressed for a Grammy, but y’all are not gonna take away something that I know that I worked my ass off that I deserve. If I was pressed for a Grammy. I would have submitted ‘WAP’ for this year, and I didn’t submit it. I didn’t submit it. I didn’t want to be submitted to award shows until I put out my album because I think my album is so good, and it just means something and I worked on it a lot. I’ve been working on it for almost two years. Some songs are so emotional to me because I did them during quarantine. I’m not pressed or nothing, but y’all not gonna keep doing this sh*t constantly, constantly because y’all are upset. Y’all cannot take my success.”

Find the complete (or rather, almost complete) list of 2021 Grammy nominees here.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Prior to September, the last time Saba shared solo work with the world was not too long after his 2018 album, Care For Me, with his “Where It’s At” single. Since then fans caught flashes of the Chicago native on the Pivot Gang crew’s debut album, You Can’t Sit With Us, He also joined Smino and Noname to create the Ghetto Sage trio. Finally, after the long wait, Saba made his return in September with a pair of singles — “Mrs. Whoever” and “Something In The Water” — and two months later he’s back with two more singles, “So And So” and “Areyoudown? Pt. 2.”

The latter single is an energetic effort that comes attached with a guest appearance from Tobi Lou, who is also native to Chicago. On the other hand, “So And So” is a much more relaxed release that comes attached with a video that finds Saba wandering through a group of makeshift clotheslines filled with vibrant fabrics. Along with the video, the rapper revealed that a conversation between friends helped inspire the song.

“I was talking with some friends recently, and we were talking about vulnerability,” he said in the description of the YouTube video. “My idea or explanation of it immediately went to dealing with adversity and sharing that experience of overcoming it. Everybody kind of came to that conclusion for it. And another friend brought up the fact that sharing joy and sharing happiness is also vulnerable.”

You can watch Saba’s video for “So And So” above.

What remains of the Trump team has found itself in an unusual position: They’ve begun the process of formally handing the presidential reins to Joe Biden, but they’re also still trying to sell their boss as a strong man battling non-existent voter fraud. The day after Trump gave formally obscure bureaucrat Emily Murphy the blessing to start the transition process, he was back to acting like an unhinged weirdo. Ditto one of the major figures on his shrinking legal team — former critic Jenna Ellis — tried to make him look tougher than he is. And it didn’t go so hot.

On Tuesday night, Ellis took to Twitter, posting an image of Trump leaning on his Oval Office desk, looking down at a camera perched at a low-angle, trying to make him look huge and strong. Above it ran a simple, all-caps caption: “WARRIOR.”

It was a slam-dunk bid to Trump’s base, who continue to see him as a powerful leader and not, let’s say, a whiny narcissist who’s been acting like a spoiled child who can’t accept a clear defeat. While there were a number of hosannas from stalwart fans, this was social media, so there were a number of people who, shall we say, disagreed with the premise of Ellis’ tweet.

Many took umbrage with calling someone who used “bone spurs” as an excuse not to fight in the Vietnam War.

Others pointed out what Trump has reportedly said about soldiers, from those who were been captured, like John McCain, to those who died for their nation.

And some pointed out that Ellis was once upon a time, well, not a Trump fan.

The Weeknd opted against holding his tongue on Tuesday night and shared a post to Twitter where he called the Grammy awards “corrupt.” His accusation came after he failed to receive a single nomination in any category for the 2021 Grammys. His tweet also came shortly after TMZ reported that the singer did not get nominated at the award show because he insisted on performing at both the Grammys and the Super Bowl. Hours after The Weeknd’s tweet, The Recording Academy’s interim president/CEO Harvey Mason Jr. put out a statement that Variety shared where he denies The Weeknd’s claims and says he was also “surprised” that the Canadian singer was not nominated.

Congratulations to today’s Grammy nominees, who have earned their peers’ recognition for their incredible work. There were a record number of submissions in this unusual and competitive year. We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling. His music this year was excellent, and his contributions to the music community and broader world are worthy of everyone’s admiration. We were thrilled when we found out he would be performing at the upcoming Super Bowl and we would have loved to have him also perform on the Grammy stage the weekend before.

Unfortunately, every year, there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists. But as the only peer-voted music award, we will continue to recognize and celebrate excellence in music while shining a light on the many amazing artists that make up our global community. To be clear, voting in all categories ended well before The Weeknd’s performance at the Super Bowl was announced, so in no way could it have affected the nomination process.

All Grammy nominees are recognized by the voting body for their excellence, and we congratulate them all.

This is Mason Jr.’s second statement since the Grammy nominations were revealed. Earlier on Tuesday, he addressed some of the biggest snubs from the award show. “The Grammys have shifted in terms of what they value,” he said in his first statement. “Now they seem to value championing newer and less well-known artists over reinforcing things that have already been rewarded in the marketplace.”

(via Variety)

The Grammy Awards have been a heated topic of conversation all day, and it even saw a pair of rappers engage in a quick back and forth on Twitter. After Wiz responded to a Twitter user’s comment about Cardi B winning a Grammy before Nicki did, some fans condemned Wiz for pitting the two female rappers against each other. “Cardi wining a Grammy when nicki minaj didn’t is the biggest proof that they don’t know a shit bout music,” the fan said. Wiz replied, “Most self made artists have this problem.” And this caused a big response from Cardi and her fans, but the Pittsburgh native quickly returned to clear things up.

Cardi responded to Wiz tweet saying, “This was N****s in my dms in 2016! They really support you when you grinding at the bottom then it’s a different story when you make it !” Wiz kept things peaceful while looking to clear things up. “Damn that wuz good advice. I still support u,” he replied. “Nothings changed. Your self made in my book as well.” Eventually Khalifa attempted to prevent the situation from worsening, tweeting, “I just don’t want a Cardi/ Wiz war goin on for no reason.”

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

Barack Obama has been enjoying his post-presidential life. As the nation’s first African American president, it’s all but ensured that his life will get the big screen treatment — or even more than it has already. But when that happens (again), Obama knows who he wants to play him.

In a recent interview on 360 With Speedy Morman, Obama was asked if he would give Drake the green light to play him in a film. “I will say this,” he replied. “Drake seems to be able to do anything he wants. That is a talented, talented brother.” He added, “So if the time comes and he’s ready? You know what, Drake has — more importantly, I think — my household’s stamp of approval. I suspect Malia and Sasha would be just fine with it.”

As it happens, Drake has down to play Obama for quite a long time. Back in 2010, he told Paper Magazine, “I hope somebody makes a movie about Obama’s life soon because I could play him.” He added, “I watch all the addresses. Any time I see him on TV, I don’t change the channel. I definitely pay attention and listen to the inflections of his voice. If you ask anyone who knows me, I’m pretty good at impressions.”

(via Complex

November has been a whirlwind for Bogdan Bogdanovic, with the 28-year-old wing linked to a number of potential NBA transactions. Bogdanovic was reportedly part of a botched sign-and-trade with the Milwaukee Bucks but, when that fell apart, the talented perimeter player hit the market with only a small handful of teams wielding significant salary cap space. On Sunday, word broke that Bogdanovic inked a four-year, $72 million offer sheet with the Atlanta Hawks but, with the Sacramento Kings holding the right to match due to restricted free agency, Bogdanovic was still waiting to find out where he would begin the 2020-21 season.

The Kings had until 11:59 pm EST on Tuesday evening to match the offer but, after more than 48 hours of waiting, Bogdanovic will indeed be heading to Atlanta to play alongside Trae Young on an up-and-coming team.

As is the case with many offer sheets, the Hawks made things difficult on the Kings. Bogdanovic will have a fourth-year player option for the 2023-24 season and, in addition, the contract includes a 15 percent trade kicker. Given that he will also make $18 million annually, this is a significant investment for Atlanta, but the Hawks had just enough salary cap space to make it work after adding Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo, and Kris Dunn to the fold.

Bogdanovic doesn’t project as a star in Atlanta and, at 28, he is notably older than most restricted free agents. However, he will be the best wing on the Hawks’ roster upon arrival and, if nothing else, he provides a varied offensive skill set that includes perimeter shooting and on-ball creation. Bogdanovic averaged 15.1 points per game in a supporting role for the Kings last season and, at 6’6 and 220 pounds, he has strong positional size. Atlanta does have talented young wings in Cam Reddish, Kevin Huerter, and De’Andre Hunter but, with an apparent mandate to improve based on their other transactions, the Hawks are setting up to be an interesting threat to crash the playoff party in the Eastern Conference.

For the Kings, this was reportedly a difficult decision, with Bogdanovic coming in at a hefty salary and potentially conflicting with Sacramento’s other pieces.

Still, this is anything but optimal from an asset management perspective for Sacramento. Bogdanovic is a starting-caliber player that walks out the door without any compensation and, considering the Kings had restricted rights, that is a situation that could come back to bite Sacramento in the near future.

Here we go again: Almost two years ago the reboot of Norman Lear’s classic show One Day at a Time was inexplicably dropped by Netflix. There was a happy ending there: It wound up being rescued by Pop TV. Hopefully it’s lucky enough to get another happy ending, because, as per Deadline, it’s been given the axe yet again.

After three seasons on Netflix, Pop TV kept them alive, though their fourth season wound up abbreviated, running only six episodes, due to complications involving the pandemic. But they’ve decided not to greenlight any more episodes, even though, now that Schitt’s Creek’s run has ended, there are no more original scripted series on the ViacomCBS-owned network.

Still, the cast and showrunners remain optimistic about finding yet another home. Creators Gloria Calderón Kellett and Mike Royce both sent out cautiously optimistic tweets, as did Isabella Gomez, who plays the oldest daughter of Justina Machado’s Penelope Francisca del Carmen Riera Inclán Ruiz Maribona de Alvarez.

I’m not sad just yet, y’all,” Kellet wrote, adding, “We still have some hope for new homes. Hang tight, my loves. You know that if I go down, I will go down swinging for this show (& cast & crew) I love.” Royce, meanwhile, said that “Much has changed at Viacom in the last year.” Gomez joked, “Maybe third network’s the charm?”

One Day at a Time adapted the beloved Norman Lear show of the same name, which ran from 1975 through 1984. It was a revolutionary program, focusing on a divorced mother raising her two teenage daughters, at a time when divorce had only recently become a common phenomenon. The reboot added a couple extra spins, most notably making the family Cuban-Americans. What’s more, it gave Oscar-winning actress, dancer, singer, and all-around bada*s Rita Moreno a semi-regular place to rage. May she, and her show, and her colleagues, rage for another season or two, or three, or five, or even more.

(Via Deadline)