Month: December 2020

Kid Cudi announced the tracklist for his now-released album Man On The Moon III: The Chosen earlier this week, and one of the standout guests featured on it is Phoebe Bridgers. Now that the album has dropped, their joint effort, “Lovin’ Me,” is out in the world.

While Bridgers’ collab with The 1975 saw the band take on her style, the opposite happens with her Cudi guest spot. “Lovin’ Me” isn’t a folk-leaning song, but instead a hip-hop-inspired ballad on which the two sing about self-love.

While this may not have been the most expected collaboration in the world, it’s not out of Cudi’s wheelhouse. He has worked with a number of indie artists on songs before, including Haim, St. Vincent, Father John Misty, and MGMT.

There was a hint this summer that the two artists had some mutual admiration. Cudi shared on Twitter that he was listening to Bridgers’ song “Scott Street,” to which she replied, “hum with me.” Cudi responded, “ur dope” before James Blake chimed in, “Can I hum too?” Cudi replied, “Phoebe and James [thinking emoji] sounds like something,” then Bridgers capped off the exchange, “oh f**ccckkkk.”

Listen to “Lovin’ Me” above.

Man On The Mon III: The Chosen is out now via Republic. Get it here.

It was only four years ago when Texas senator Ted Cruz called Donald Trump a “pathological liar” who “doesn’t know the difference between truth and lies,” and that “in a pattern that I think is straight out of a psychology textbook, his response is to accuse everybody else of lying.” But then Trump became president, and now Cruz has agreed to defend him in an “insane” long-shot lawsuit that seeks to overturn the election results in four battleground states. Among Trump’s toadies, Cruz is the biggest Hypnotoad of them all, and Jimmy Kimmel tore into the senator during Thursday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live.

“If by some chance the case actually does make it to the highest court in the land, Trump has asked Senator Ted Cruz to argue it on his behalf,” Kimmel said in the episode. “This is a last-ditch, embarrassing, and genuinely despicable attempt to make an end-run around democracy. And while I disagree with Ted Cruz on pretty much everything, to his credit he was forthcoming on the subject of his future client President Donald Trump.”

That’s when Kimmel played the infamous “pathological liar” clip. “Oh, wait: I’m being told that was before his spine-removal surgery,” he joked when it was over. “That was 2016. That was when Trump was dishonest; now, Donald Trump is honest. For as much money as he takes from the NRA, you’d think Ted Cruz would have some idea of how to stick to his guns, but he doesn’t.” Remember, Cruz has thrown his support behind the same guy who basically called his wife ugly, suggested that his father had something to do with the JFK assassination, and referred to him as “Lyin’ Ted” at numerous rallies.

So, why would Cruz agree to defend Trump in front of the Supreme Court? Kimmel has a theory (it involves Trump calling Cruz a “lyin’ little bitch”). Watch the clip above.

Well, it’s been a big night in Taylor Swift country aka folkloreland, as the release of her ninth album, Evermore has included more collaborations with the brilliant Aaron Dessner, and plenty of other members of The National, too. Aaron and Matt Berninger, the primary vocalist for the group, both shared posts today explaining what it’s like to work with Taylor.

“Singing a song with Taylor Swift is like dancing with Gene Kelly,” Berninger wrote. “She made me look good and didn’t drop me once. “coney island” is an incredibly beautiful song she and Aaron Dessner wrote together. It really made me miss Brooklyn. Such a blast being a part of evermore. Thank you so much @taylorswift, @aarondessner, @heyjonlow and @thebestofspatrickobrien.”

For his part, Aaron had a lot more to say because he’s now worked very closely with Taylor on not one but two records. He praises Taylor’s “boundless talent” as a singer, songwriter and storyteller:

“It’s only been 5 months since folklore was released,” he began. “But truth be told @taylorswift and I never actually stopped exchanging ideas and somehow we’ve finished a sister record called evermore that I love just as much. These songs are wilder and freeer, sometimes in strange time signatures and darker hues, but very much a continuation of what we started with folklore. I can’t begin to express my gratitude and respect for Taylor — I never cease to wonder at her seemingly boundless talent as a singer and a songwriter and storyteller. It’s been the experience of a lifetime to work so fast and furiously with her.

As with folklore, @jackantonoff, @blobtower and William Bowery all contributed brilliant ideas and songwriting — the same alchemy and teamwork continued. This time my brother @brycedessner contributed much more as well — helping write and produce “Coney Island” and orchestrating the entire record. I’ve never done anything creatively of any value without Bryce helping to elevate it, as he does here again. As important, @heyjonlow has been my brother in all of this work too — I could never have conceived of this without him by my side every step of the way. And Justin @blobtower, who has taught me so much, is here again too, lending his insane talents. If that wasn’t enough, my bandmates in @thenational, Matt, Bryan and Scott along with Bryce, are here too. We learned to write songs and make records together. Hearing Matt sing with Taylor and the entire band perform on “Coney Island” — things have come full circle.
And there are so many other friends who have made very significant contributions to this record (more later in them later).”

Ok guys, so why not just do one more eh? Lockdown trilogy? I’ll be here, safely quarantining at home, saving up to buy that third vinyl.

HER has kept fans patiently waiting for her upcoming official debut album, which will hopefully arrive at some point in the early months of 2021. As the wait continues, the Cali-born singer takes a break from the upcoming body of work to provide an angelic contribution to Disney’s upcoming Safety film with “Hold Us Together.” The song is a shooting effort that sees HER offering praise and love towards a figure in her life that is her protector. She labels them as her “light” and her “guide” as a choir of singers stand behind her to elevate her proclamations.

Safety is a biographical-sports drama that is based on the life of Ray McElrathbey, a young man who dreams of making it to the NFL, but must achieve that goal while fighting through various obstacles in his life. The film is available now on Disney+. As for HER, the single is her seventh of the year, joining “Damage” and “Comfortable” which are the two best-performing songs out of the 2020 releases. She also took her talents to Saturday Night Live last month where she delivered silky-smooth performances of “Damage” and “Hold On.”

Annother hihglight moment for HER this year came when she became the first Black female artist to receive her own signature Fender guitar.

Listen to “Hold Us Together” above.

Earlier today, Taylor Swift once again shocked the world by announcing she had yet another surprise album, Evermore, coming before the end of 2020. Released tonight, very near to what will be Taylor’s 31st birthday, December 13, she explained that the decision to release yet another new album is related to her obsession with the number 13. And even if she’s been dropping little hints about what’s to come on Evermore, a timeless Swift past time, nothing, and I mean nothing, could’ve prepared fans for the glory that is her long-awaited collaboration with Haim, “No Body, No Crime.”

If you’re like me, you’ve been waiting for Taylor to pay homage to the Dixie Chicks’ classic murder ballad “Earl Had To Die” for years. And now she’s finally done it. With lyrics that fictionally namecheck Este (Haim), and worry over potential infidelity, the lyrics wind through Este’s death and the suspicious behavior of her ex in the wake of her passing! Well, if you know the kind of loyal friend a Sagittarius is, then the next events won’t be surprising. I won’t spoil the ending, but please listen immediately and rejoice that Evermore has at least one straight-up country song. This bodes well for more to come in the future. Listen above.

Common reaffirmed his position in hip-hop with the release of his thirteenth album, A Beautiful Revolution (Pt. 1) last month. The project is a nine-track effort that also saw appearances from PJ, Lenny Kravitz, Chuck D, and more. After bringing his talents to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last month, Common returns once again this time with a video for “Say Peace.” The video for the track with Black Thought and PJ follows a man’s journey as he aims to discover his passion and find what drives him in his life. The man in the visual both reflects and celebrates his life as he inches closer and closer towards discovering his true thrill.

The video arrives after Common visited The Late Show With Stephen Colbert where he discussed his A Beautiful Revolution (Pt. 1) album. During his appearance, the Chicago rapper revealed that Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” was the first song to touch his soul. Common and Stevie also worked together on “Courageous,” a track that can be found on A Beautiful Revolution (Pt. 1).

Prior to performing on The Tonight Show, Common sat down with Charles Thorp for Uproxx’s “Quarantine Kit” series to talk about his lockdown essentials which includes playing basketball outside, bodyweight training indoors, and indulging in self-help books.

Watch the “Say Peace” video above.

A Beautiful Revolution (Pt 1) is out now on Loma Vista Recordings. Get it here.

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

Disney may have stolen the show when it came to announcements on Thursday, but FX made a bit of its own history thanks to The Gang. The network announced it’s already record-setting comedy It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is getting a bit closer to the “forever” one of its creators was shooting for, renewing the series for an additional three more seasons.

This comes after FX renewed Sunny for a single season in early 2020, which at a potential Season 15 already made it the longest-running live action comedy in TV history. But now FX made it official: Sunny will run at least 18 seasons thanks to Thursday’s news.

It’s a truly remarkable run in modern television, as comedies rarely last as long as Sunny has, let alone manage to stay as funny as it has over now nearly two decades. A streaming show can barely last four seasons on Netflix these days, so a Sunny inching closer to being of legal age to drink in Paddy’s Pub is really something.

One of the many reasons it has endured, of course, is that the show has been uniquely able to examine its own mistakes and own up to them on air. That’s involved seeing some characters change from their original intentions, and even admitting in hindsight that some episodes simply don’t hold up very well in the present.

And according to Variety, the show’s ratings have also managed to grow while it makes those changes.

The show has remained a significant ratings draw even this late in its run. The 13th season averaged just over 3 million viewers per episode in multiplatform viewing. That’s up from 2.2 million multiplatform viewers in Season 10.

Considering the show’s ability to grow and change, though, the news that more Sunny is on the way is very good all around. No matter what life looks like in 2023, somehow it’s tough to imagine It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia struggling to shine bright.

“Willow” is the very first song on Taylor Swift’s second surprise album of 2020, Evermore, and she sets the tone early on this stunning story ballad. In the clip, Taylor starts off in a white flowing dress with a headpiece that had fans wondering if the video was going to portray a wedding — but typical Taylor, it was a bait and switch and she was simply a magical nymph stuck inside a glass box. Even as she meets eyes across the room with her love interest, played by Taeok Lee, their story is already starcrossed due to her position.

Luckily, she finds a magical trapdoor in the bottom of the glass box, and emerges out in some wild and dark woods, where a magical ritual seems to be taking place. The dancers, cleverly, are masked as they perform the ritual — a clever way to incorporate pandemic safety — and eventually Taylor wanders off into the snowy wood following a golden string. Not quite invisible, but you get the gist. Once she steps through yet another portal, she ends up in a quiet cabin, where, eventually, Lee appears as well, and the two grab hands and step back out into the world, together. Plenty of visual callbacks to the “Cardigan” video in this one, watch it above.

There’s no stopping Chika in 2020. The Alabama native has been on an unstoppable streak since 2020 began and it’s in most part thanks to her major-label debut, Industry Games, which she shared back in February. The EP’s success opened a plethora of doors for the rapper, all of which she deserved to step through. Now that the year is just weeks away from ending, Chika returns with a new song, one that is bound to leave a good impression on listeners before they move on to the new year.

Entitled, “FWB,” which presumably stands for “friends with benefits,” Chika shares the heartfelt song that finds her speaking to someone she hopes to be romantically involved with. While her feelings are laid out on wax, she stops short of committing to a full relationship and poses the idea of a more secretive love, which focuses more on the physically intimate moments and leaves the emotional baggage at the door.

Chika’s new single arrives after she landed a nomination for Best New Artist at the upcoming 2021 Grammy Awards. It’s not the first time the Alabama artist has been celebrated for her work this year, either. This past summer, she was inducted into the 2020 XXL Freshman class along with Jack Harlow, NLE Choppa, Polo G, Baby Keem, and more.

Check out the “FWB” single above.

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

After announcing his next album would be titled Man On The Moon III: The Chosen back in October in a nostalgic promo video, fans were surprised that the next piece of news from Kid Cudi confirmed that the album would be in their hands in just a matter of days. The Ohio rapper revealed the third installation of the Man On The Moon series would touch down in early December and just a few days after revealing its cover and tracklist, the album is here and it boasts an interesting and unexpected collaboration between Cudi, Pop Smoke, and Skepta.

The track features drill-heavy production, something that Pop Smoke popularized during unfortunately short career. Despite it fitting right in Pop’s lane, Cudi and Skepta get comfortable with ease on the song, proving for a satisfactory collaboration from the trio. Prior to the song’s release, Cudi spoke to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about making the collaboration with Pop Smoke happen.

“It was powerful because like I talked to Steven Victor [Pop Smoke’s manager] about this and he said, when he first recorded this song, he had thought of me on it,” Cudi said. “Steven had thought of me on it. The reason why I kind of got this record, Dot Da Genius and Plain Pat had worked with Pop, like before he blew up at the Brewery in New York, at Dot’s studio. And they had this record, they just never did anything with it. It was just something that Dot had on tuck, you know?” He went on to reveal that once Dot Da Genius played him the record, there was no way he could turn it down.
And I was chilling with them one day because Dot’s working on our album and he was like, “Yo, I got this record. I’m going to play it for you. Let me know what you think.” He plays this sh*t. And I’m like, “I need this. Like I need this, man.” I was like, “Nobody’s ever heard me on anything like this. Skepta sounds amazing. Pop Smoke sounds amazing. Like this would be so unexpected. I think I can be on this and I could hold it down and like do my thing.” And this is also another way I can, you know, showcase these bars.

You can listen to “Show Out” above.

Man On The Moon III: The Chosen is out now via Republic. Get it here.