Month: November 2020

Dua Lip has been having a monster year. After the release of her second album Future Nostalgia earlier this year, she eventually followed that up with Club Future Nostalgia: The Remix Album, an entire remix record that included some icons from the club, house, and dance music world, and even featured Madonna and Missy Elliot on a reimagined version of “Levitating.”

That isn’t the only time that song has featured another superstar guest, either. THe official remix of “Levitating” features none other than DaBaby, one of the biggest rappers in the world at the moment, bringing his signature bouncy flow the track. And while Madonna, Missy Elliot and even DaBaby weren’t present for her performance of the song at the 2020 AMA’s tonight, seeing Dua perform it on her own was just as cosmic. In what looked like an outdoor performance, and surrounded by dancers who were carefully distanced from her, Dua dazzled and flirted with the camera all the way from London. After picking up an award earlier in the night for Best Pop Song for the same track, it was an all around great night for this still-rising pop star — who quite literally took flight at the end of her song tonight. Watch her performance above.

Dua Lipa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Ever since Billie Eilish took home Grammy Awards in four of the major categories earlier this year, many have been waiting to see where the singer will take her career. So far in 2020, Eilish has released a couple of one-off singles, including the theme song to the upcoming James Bond movie. But Eilish returned last week with the new thumping track “Therefore I Am,” and brought the tune to the 2020 AMAs stage Sunday night.

Appearing in a outfit similar to the one she wore for her recent video, Eilish brought fiery energy to her “Therefore I Am” performance. The singer made her way throughout a lit-up maze while delivering her single’s kiss-off lyrics with gusto.

While many are hopeful that Eilish’s new single signals the beginning of a new era, the singer hasn’t offered much in the form of confirmation. However, Eilish’s brother and producer Finneas did recently reveal a few details about her next release. “Billie’s album, and my album, they won’t be a bummer COVID record,” Finneas said. “I have a desperate desire not to release them during COVID-19. It’s the vaccine record! I want it to be the album everyone’s out dancing in the streets to.”

Watch Eilish perform “Therefore I Am” at the 2020 AMAs above.

Fresh off the release of her official debut album, Good News, Megan Thee Stallion showed up at the 2020 AMAs on her A-game. With a whole range of hits she could’ve easily performed tonight, she chose to go with her new single, “Body,” and delivered the kind of show-stopping performance she’s quickly become known for.

Of course, it’s hard to call Good News a debut album when Meg has already established such a career for herself off the strength of her mixtapes, and a lot of the loosie singles that have helped her get there are included on this release. “Body,” however, is brand new, and Megan and her dancers made it seem that way with tight choreography and lots of her signature twerking. She could’ve easily gone with her “Shots Fired” track, a song that fans thought would diss Tory Lanez, and indeed did, in a ferocious fashion. Lanez was involved in shooting Megan earlier this year, and then tried to deny his crime, a bizarre and disgusting cycle for all involved.

Probably eager to put all that behind her, Megan focused on everything that’s been going right for her this year, and the asset that is and always will be her body. Watch above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Coming to you live from downtown Los Angeles, for the 2020 AMA’s The Weeknd was sporting an entire face bandage during his performance of two songs off After Hours. Abel Tesfaye has been infamously showing up with an injured or bandaged face during this year, to mimic the aesthetic of his new album, which has been achieved with makeup and is not actually injuries. The entire face bandage he sported during his acceptance speech for R&aB album world had a few viewers who weren’t familiar with the shtick uneasy, but as far as we know, Abel is fine.

For his performance, The Weeknd opted for an outdoor show, walking along the length of the 6th Street Bridge (an infamous bridge in LA) and setting off fireworks in his wake. The bandages on his face perhaps make a bit more sense now, as they probably also helped him remain incognito while getting around the outdoor location. Kicking off with a jazzy solo from none other than Kenny G, Abel launched into a medley of the two latest singles off his album, “In Your Eyes” and “Save Your Tears.” Walking while singing and hitting all his marks for the plethora of fireworks isn’t an easy, phone-it-in show, Abel really brought it. Check out the video above.

The Lakers entered this offseason with few expecting a major roster overhaul, but as free agency has unfolded they’ve been among the league’s most active teams. They’ve brought back the likes of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, but have also traded for Dennis Schröder and signed Montrezl Harrell and Wesley Matthews in free agency — with Dwight Howard and Danny Green leaving and both ending up in Philadelphia.

With Howard gone, the Lakers have been looking to bring in another true center for when they don’t want to go small with Anthony Davis (who will re-sign at some point in the near future) and Harrell, and Marc Gasol has been at the top of their list of targets. Creating enough room for Gasol required a trade of JaVale McGee, and on Sunday evening they found a partner in the Cavaliers to ship McGee and a second round pick to Cleveland, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, with two non-guaranteed players in Jordan Bell and Alfonzo McKinnie going back to L.A.

Shortly after that deal was announced, Woj and Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Gasol had agreed to a deal with the Lakers.

The Lakers clearly felt that the team that won the championship last year needed some significant upgrades this season and have certainly shaken up the roster in a way not everyone thought they would or could. Gasol was not at his best in the playoffs last year for Toronto, but brings some playmaking to their frontcourt as an excellent passer, and can give them some solid team defense in bursts. Matthews looks to fill the Danny Green role of 3-and-D vet, while Schröder is a bit of a lottery ticket in that they hope his shooting from last year in OKC wasn’t a mirage and he can be an upgrade in the backcourt as a two-way point guard who is capable of playing off-ball.

In a Western Conference that’s seen some of the middling teams get better but the top contenders all tread water or take a step back, the Lakers have, on paper, seemingly put some distance between themselves and the pack in the West if all goes well.

Kanye West is celebrating the My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy on Sunday and as a result, fans took to Twitter to celebrate the album and post their best memories of it like when they first bought the album or seeing the GOOD Music rapper perform live. Others used the anniversary to debate whether or not the 2010 album was the best release in Kanye’s catalog.

Others like Kim Kardashian, however, had a much more personal connection to the album. The wife of Kanye West revealed a very interesting tidbit about “Lost In The World” from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Sharing the news on her Instagram story, Kim said, “For those that don’t know the story of ‘Lost In The World’ on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy…. Kanye couldn’t come up with some lyrics and then realized he had them, it was what he wrote me for my 30th birthday card.” She added, “He took the poem he wrote me and made it the song,” before concluding the post with “Happy 10 year anniversary MBDTF.”

In the next post, she shared the birthday card Kanye gave her for her 30th birthday and it reveals the rapper ended up using the poem for the first verse of the song which reads:

You’re my devil, you’re my angel
You’re my heaven, you’re my hell
You’re my now, you’re my forever
You’re my freedom, you’re my jail
You’re my lies, you’re my truth
You’re my war, you’re my truce
You’re my questions, you’re my proof
You’re my stress and you’re my masseuse

Kim also shared the handwritten slip that Kanye used to write on as he created the My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy track.

You can check Kim Kardashian’s post above.

The Knicks have had a surprisingly quiet free agency, so far opting for smaller deals instead of the larger splashy ones they’re typically known for when they have money to spend. On Sunday, they continued their conservative approach to free agency with a reported signing of Austin Rivers.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Knicks and Rivers reached an agreement on a one year deal to bring Rivers to New York. Rivers, who most recently played for the Rockets, will help shore up the Knicks guard rotation with another playmaker, because currently, their roster is lacking in that department.

This will be the fifth team Rivers has played for. While he does have point guard experience, his primary role in previous stops has been as a secondary ball handler on the floor next to the primary. There’s no reason to think he won’t keep this role in New York with the Knicks lacking many secondary creators. The few ball handlers they do have are all primary creators or scorers and Rivers can be a hybrid between creating for others while also looking to score himself.

Considering this is a one year deal, and Rivers fills a position of need, this is a good signing for New York. They get to buy low on a player that, while not spectacular, is more than serviceable. If he turns out to be better than expected then they can flip him at the trade deadline for assets or keep him around and let him help with the development of their young guys. These are the kind of low risk moves the Knicks have sorely need the last few times they’ve entered free agency with cap space, and as they let the big free agents this offseason come and go, keeping future flexibility is clearly still the focus in New York.

When the Cowboys drafted CeeDee Lamb you knew immediately they had someone who could be special. Lamb was a speed demon at Oklahoma that put on a highlight reel every game and was a featured part in the Sooners offensive attack. So far this season Lamb has had flashes, but he hadn’t yet had a breakout performance or sensational catch that signaled he had arrived as a rookie star receiver — in part due to the quarterback instability in Dallas so far this season.

During Sunday’s matchup against the Vikings, Lamb may have had his moment in what was has been the best catch of his young career. The Cowboys were deep into Vikings territory and looking to add another touchdown on the board. Anything else at this point would have been a victory for the Vikings defense. Dalton threw up a fade to Lamb, but while Lamb was looking back shoulder, the ball was towards the back pylon instead. The rookie’s adjustment to the pass turned into a highlight.

The back angle only further shows the incredible degree of difficulty on the grab.

Lamb makes this looks so easy despite it being a move that even the NFL’s best receivers struggle to make. What separates the elite receivers from the good ones is being able to make catches even on poorly thrown passes and expanding the target radius for your quarterback. On this one, Lamb does just that and brings it in so naturally he makes it look easy.

If Lamb’s career pans out the way many think it will then this is the kind of play that will be used as a coming out moment for him. A highlight catch in his rookie year where he made the difficult look easy.

While this offseason did not feature as many big names in free agency as recent seasons — or, at least, names that would be leaving their current teams — it did see some budding stars come eligible for extensions. On Sunday, two of those extensions became done deals as the Utah Jazz locked up Donovan Mitchell on a 5-year max, worth $163 million now and up to $195 million if he makes All-NBA next season, and fellow Class of 2017 member Jayson Tatum got the same max deal done with the Boston Celtics, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

It comes as no surprise that Tatum and the Celitcs would come to such an agreement, as he is the current and future face of the franchise. Tatum averaged 23.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game last season, all of which were career highs as he became the primary option on offense with Kyrie Irving gone and responded with strong efficiency and production. The Celtics are banking on Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who they signed to a 4-year, $115 million extension a year ago, to be cornerstones for the future, but also to help them contend now in the East.

This offseason hasn’t gone quite according to plan for Boston, as they’ve shuffled up their roster around the edges, bringing in the likes of Tristan Thompson and Jeff Teague, while seeing Gordon Hayward walk to Charlotte on a huge deal without being able to execute a sign-and-trade. Still, while the Celtics may have had bigger plans, locking up Tatum long-term was top priority and they got that done.

Daryl Morey has wasted no time rebuilding the Sixers roster as he sees fit, undoing just about everything possible from previous regimes. The general theory for Morey has seemed to be put players around Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons that maximize their talents, which you would’ve thought to be self-explanatory but had not always been the chief goal of previous roster moves in Philly.

Thus far this offseason Morey has dealt Al Horford to Oklahoma City for Danny Green and sent Josh Richardson to Dallas for Seth Curry, as he looks to address the desperate need of shooting on the roster. He’s also added a backup center in Dwight Howard who is, undoubtedly, a backup center for Embiid and not a complementary piece meant to be played with him, as Horford was expected.

On Sunday, Morey showed he’s not done just yet remaking the roster as he added even more frontcourt depth in a fairly surprising move, trading former first-round pick Zhaire Smith to the Pistons for Tony Bradley, who Detroit acquired in a draft night trade with the Jazz along with the 38th pick for future second rounders.

For the Pistons, it’s a great move to buy low on a former first-round talent who hasn’t been able to see the floor much in Philly due to injuries and a severe allergic reaction. The Sixers move on from Smith in order to add some more center depth in Bradley who can, theoretically, better help the East contenders. It also possibly opens up a backcourt spot should they want to add another veteran guard in free agency. Still, moving on from a former 16th overall pick for Bradley this quickly is a pretty big surprise, but shows clearly that Morey isn’t going to hold onto anyone he doesn’t see as an immediately help to this year’s club.