Dionne Warwick may be an acclaimed musician and one of the most-charting singers of all time, but she’s now gained quite the following on Twitter as she tries to decode trends of the younger generation (like how to pronounce Billie Eilish’s name). Now, she’s begun interacting with one of music’s (in)famous fandoms: Nicki Minaj’s barbz.
After appeasing Taylor Swift fans earlier this month by giving the singer a heartwarming hello, Warwick is now getting on the barbz’s good side. One fan tweeted the singer to ask, “queen are you a barb?” Warwick wasn’t privy to the term’s meaning at first, but fans flooded the replies with explanations (and casual threats) until Warwick admitted that she is a fan. “Nicki Minaj has a wonderful career. Yes,” she said.
Ahead of says she’s a fan of Minaj, Warwick was singing praises for Teyana Taylor. Talking about the possibility of turning her life’s work into a Netflix series, Warwick said there’s only one person who could ever portray her onscreen. “Please don’t ask who I would cast to play me as it would obviously be Teyana Taylor,” she said. Netflix responded that they’re “taking notes,” and Taylor was overjoyed at the shout out.
Pandemic be damned, Travis Barker managed to stay not only active, but extremely busy this year. He kicked off 2020 playing a handful of shows with Blink-182 in support of the band’s latest effort Nine, before the world went into lockdown and he was forced to slow things down just a tad and raise a few million dollars for charity covering Nirvana songs with Post Malone during a livestream, co-produce a No. 1 album by Machine Gun Kelly, and officially launch his new label. You know, nothing too intense. Barker’s final 2020 accomplishment? Winner of a custom build-off for a Polaris Slingshot, the eye-catching three-wheeled vehicle that lands somewhere between a motorcycle and a car.
In an East Coast vs West Coast competition, Barker faced off against Teyana Taylor to create a one of a kind custom Slingshot suited to each artist’s specifications. While Taylor opted to create a flashy closed-top vehicle, Barker leaned into the Slingshot’s design as a motorcycle-car hybrid and keep the top open for free-flowing ideas and connection. Together with custom car publication and manufacturer Dub Publishing, the team transformed the vehicle into what Barker calls a Concert On Wheels, an all-black ride featuring a state-of-the-art sound system.
“I’m super into black cars right now,” Barker tells me over the phone. “I actually got rid of everything in my fleet except one car because they weren’t black. When I went to go meet with Miles from Dub, he was like, ‘I have this idea it’s gonna be burgundy, like this rich burgundy, and we’re gonna do these accents in this cream color.’ And I said, ‘Miles I hate to break it to you but it’s gonna be all black and matte black.’”
To celebrate finding success in a difficult year, I spoke with Barker about everything from his custom Slingshot to the best up and coming artists, and the possibility of new music from Box Car Racer. Our conversation has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
Can you tell me a little bit more about the sound system in your Slingshot and the vision that you had for exterior speakers?
Yeah, we actually found a few places in the car where we could add these panels and add these speakers. So we created a couple of other places that are actually outside the vehicle that point to almost the car next to you or outside the vehicle. The system is really loud, and we got twelve-inch speakers behind the seats so we have like a good subwoofer behind there. For me it was like, “let’s find that cross between listening to rap music, punk rock music, you know just everything to where you have a system that sounds accurate.”
When you were driving it around, did you use those exterior speakers to blast anyone next to you?
Absolutely. [Laughs] Not only was the system really loud and everything, but those cars are just eye-catchers. People don’t know what they are when they see them on the road. You get a lot of people breaking their necks to look at it.
You’re a punk rock legend, but you also have your hands in a lot of hip hop adjacent projects. Who is your favorite punk act and hip-hop act that people might not know yet but they should?
As far as a new pop-punk act that not a lot of people are hip to, his name is Kennyhoopla; he’s really, really talented. He would have to be my pick for a new pop-punk artist. And for a young rapper, I actually just signed one to my label, his name is 637Godwin. He’s really talented, as well.
Are there any other artists that you have your eye on that everyone should know about?
I can’t tell you. [Laughs] Someone else will sign them immediately. But, there is a lot of young talent out there, there are tons of talented kids. There’s like this whole genre of hybrid-pop music that’s coming out right now. Music’s in a good place. It’s really innovative and different and people are really mixing a lot of genres together and it’s cool.
For me, one of the silver linings about the pandemic has been that I’ve been able to sit down and explore a lot of music that I might not have heard otherwise. I actually have the time to listen to everything.
Yeah, it’s true. And I feel like artists have the time to make great music and they’re not forced to be out on the road, or worrying about touring, or rushing albums. I feel like with music streaming and video streaming, people are making some of the best videos. I just did an MTV Movie Awards, and they went above and beyond for that show. The quality of what people are making for streaming, whether it be video or audio, is better than it’s ever been.
Do you think that the pandemic mindset encourages more experimentation?
Oh for sure. What’s happening in the world is unfortunate, but it’s definitely affected music, it’s affected art. I think it has a long-lasting effect on everything, from art to music to video, just creation in general.
To that end, what album or artist did you discover this year that you couldn’t get enough of?
Jean Dawson. That record is amazing, and he’s still kind of slept on. Not that many people know about him, and hopefully you and I talking about him helps get his name out there even more. He made an incredible album.
It’s funny you say that — Jean Dawson is one of the artists that I had in mind earlier, when I said I’m hearing things that I might not have before.
Yeah, he’s someone that’s really taking genres and throwing them all together and doing something different, in a time where so many people determine what their sound is gonna be like by whatever’s popular on the radio. And then you have a fresh breath of air like Jean Dawson. Like, thank God, you know?
When I was playing in bands, I was basing my music off Blink-182, pretty much exclusively. But kids these days are pulling from a lot of different places and it’s resulting in some really cool new stuff.
For sure. I agree one hundred.
Okay, one last question: will there ever be new Box Car Racer music?
So, there is a Box Car song that’s unreleased. I think whenever the time’s right or it makes sense, we’re gonna release it. I would just love for the fans to hear that song.
Is that track from the archives or newly recorded?
I can’t say. [Laughs]
Okay, fair enough. Thank you so much Travis, it was so nice talking to you. Like I said, Blink-182 had a huge impact on my life, so it’s really been an honor to speak with you.
Yeah, nice talking to you too man! I appreciate your time.
Cobra Kai successfully does the underdog-success thing in more ways than one. Not only does it continue building upon the actual underdog story that the first The Karate Kid movie started back in 1984, but the series began as an unlikely success due to the whole reboot factor. You know how that usually goes (not good). One can’t dodge the avalanches of attempts to reinvigorate long-dead franchises. Reboots, remakes, reunions, revivals, or however they’re classified: we could do without most of them. These usually end up being misguided stabs at harnessing nostalgia. Yet Cobra Kai brought the warring dojos back and conquered all odds to capture a multi-generational audience. The series successfully ignites sentimental feelings for beloved returning characters while investing in new players and appealing to the young-adult crowd. And yes, it’s almost infuriating how well the show pulls off this feat.
Let me be clear here: I am not actually furious at Cobra Kai for being so good. Well, maybe a little bit. It’s not fair to stage such well-choreographed mall fights and school hallway throwdowns in the midst of story arcs that make me genuinely care about these characters. It’s almost heartless for this show to be so grump-lovable, to the point where I gobbled up the entire third season in a time period that makes me feel like a glutton. Now I’ll have to wait god knows how long for the greenlit fourth round. Meanwhile, all of those other re-vival-boot-unions are out there, putting up half-assed efforts to make lighting strike twice while clumsily roundhousing childhoods, and that is inexcusable.
[John Kreese voice] No mercy.
Netflix
By now, I’ve given away how Cobra Kai is still a champion after crushing the first two YouTube Premium seasons and moving over to Netflix, where a larger audience could catch up while awaiting the third round. With that acknowledged, I must also say that Netflix passed out an enormous list of plot points that cannot be mentioned. Even if that wasn’t the case, it would be really uncool for me to spoil the hell out of this season for you, so I’m going to stay as vague as possible here. I can still dance around things to express how wonderful these young fighters are, even when they’re behaving very badly. The flaring nostrils of Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) and the pouty abandon of Tory (Peyton List) get fleshed out more this year, and they are so much fun to watch.
Netflix
Obviously, the show must pick up after that peril-filled cliffhanger. The karate surrogates of Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), respectively, threw down in a knock-down, drag-out battle that left Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) gravely injured in the hospital and Robby (Tanner Buchanan) in hot water with authorities. This seemed impossible to sort out in a satisfying manner, but Macchio promised us that “the best is yet to come in this series! And I believe in that.” Did I believe him? I mean, c’mon. What else was Ralph Macchio gonna say, right?
I was reluctant to believe him because those first two seasons were a tough self-act to follow. Could the show really keep the same momentum going? Could the awakening of Johnny continue to charm viewers after he and Daniel-san had so righteously f*cked up with their charges? Well, the show still works, and Cobra Kai creators Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg again proved that they’re beholden to the spirit of the The Karate Kid franchise. They’re resurfacing old tensions and settling scores in an honorable way, one that would make Mr. Miyagi (RIP Pat Morita) proud. It’s a triumph.
Many cool things happen this season, including the following:
— Both Johnny and Daniel must look within to help repair the damage they caused. In Daniel-san’s case, he undertakes a spiritual quest while returning to Okinawa, the original home of the Miyagi-Do. There, he meets up with a few familiar faces from The Karate Kid Part II, including Chozen (Yuji Okumoto reprises his antagonistic role), who is still steamed about losing his honor to the “honk!” all those years ago. Daniel also meets up with Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita), who helps him recapture the Miyagi spirit in a touching way. Those two aren’t the only two new comebacks, but I shall say no more.
— The younger generation of dojo members remain both kickass while gaining added dimension. Miguel and Robby both have enormous hurdles to conquer after their tragic showdown, and these issues are treated with appropriate emotional heft but enough lightness to keep this show’s tone consistent. Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser) grows far beyond her borderline-bratty earlier days, Demetri (Gianni Decenzo) continues to be the most lovable geek of the bunch, and these “kids” maneuver remarkably well for being buried in the collateral damage of their senseis’ lingering beefs. The younger generation doesn’t quite carry the torch yet, but they are moving in that direction, and I feel confident about their abilities. Their relationships, their motivations, their fears, and their successes all feel very realistic.
— John Kreese (Martin Kove) is handled with a careful threading of the needle this year. In short, he transforms into a somewhat more complex character with the exploration of his backstory. There are some touches of softness up in that bad boy, but don’t get me wrong. This is no antihero game. The franchise knows better than that, and Kreese remains the most imposing villain of the franchise. This season simply makes him a more interesting, textured, and less cartoony, villain.
– A Twisted Sister concert turns out to be a game-changing pusher of the plot. I never thought I’d type those words, but here we are.
Cobra Kai Season 3 is a crowd-pleaser, pure and simple. It’s a shot of adrenaline that’s sorely needed right now, and it’s wild that this show can still bring the heart, hurt, healing, and honor while revisiting two men whose life paths diverged following one fateful crane kick. Both are looking for redemption in different ways, and although I feel that I’m still being teased without the answer to one lingering question, the new batch of episodes is a satisfying one that sets up even more conflict for season(s) to come. Cobra Kai fills itself with the best kind of drama, and I’m so looking forward to watching these senseis and students continue to hold court in the future.
Netflix’s ‘Cobra Kai’ returns for Season 3 on January 1.
For a brief, shining moment, Chris Pratt finally wasn’t the “Worst Chris” after dominating the Marvel universe in the AGBO Fantasy Football League. However, it didn’t take long for his Guardians of the Galaxy co-star, Pom Klementieff, to drop in on Pratt’s victory with a light-hearted troll. Klementieff, who played Mantis in the second Guardians film along with Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, praised Pratt for his win by sharing a photo of herself reading a book with his face on it. Except the title says, “The One and Only Hemsworth.”
“Congrats Chris on winning the superhero fantasy football league!” Klementieff wrote on Instagram. “So proud of you. I will re-read my favourite book ever, in your honor. Yay!”
You can see Klementieff’s Instagram post below:
Pratt’s victory in the AGBO Fantasy Football League was announced on Monday night by Marvel directors Anthony and Joe Russo, who organized the event that saw Pratt and other MCU heavy-hitters like Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Paul Rudd, and Tom Holland compete against each other for charity. Thanks to Pratt’s win, the Special Olympics Washington will now receive a $150,000 check.
In the lead-up to his victory, Pratt surprisingly acknowledged being dubbed by Twitter as the “Worst Chris” back in October. The actor had ignored the controversy, opting instead to let his wife and Marvel co-stars defend him. But when Pratt made his way to the finals just before the holidays, he couldn’t help but have some fun with the social media scandal.
“I’m in the finals! How did this happen? It’s a 14-man league. I had 14th draft pick. You know how hard that is?” Pratt said in an Instagram video. “I guess we can finally put an end to that debate of who’s the better Chris? (whispering) It’s one of them.”
As the new social app Clubhouse gains popularity and momentum, it continues to be a focal point for both education and drama. While many users note that it has offered a chance to network with luminaries in numerous fields, learning from the best in music and entertainment, not every room has proven to be productive. Unmoderated arguments and shameful antics are just as likely to break out, while calling celebrities to the stage sometimes becomes a bad idea, resulting in Twitter trending topics meting out judgment on their behavior.
The latest star to receive this treatment is Meek Mill, who somehow found himself in a heated argument with another man in a Philadelphia meet-and-greet discussion. A recording of the intense shouting match found its way onto Twitter and from there, the boo birds came out in force to make fun of Meek for his impassioned responses.
For his part, Meek seems to have calmed down and acknowledged his overreaction. He appeared on Twitter in the wee hours of the morning today to apologize and explain himself. “Ima have a better reaction in 2021,” he promised. “I apologize when snap out sometimes ..then convos that stem from hatred, strike me hard from my upbringing!” He related the antsy feelings that prompted his outburst to recently losing a close friend. “After that nip sh*t my hatred level went up,” he explained. “I’ma boss up leave it in 2020!”
ima have a better reaction in 2021… I apologize when snap out sometimes ..then convos that stem from hatred, strike me hard from my upbringing! After that nip shit my hatred level went up I’ma boss up leave it in 2020!
Between Christmas and the start of the next year, there’s usually a bit of a lull in the music world. Many artists don’t really feel like releasing new music or doing much of anything beyond relaxing and preparing themselves for next year, and who can blame them? Thankfully, Kevin Bacon has come through in the clutch to give music fans some delightful new material with which to obsess.
Yesterday, he shared a video of himself covering Radiohead’s classic “Creep” on acoustic guitar. He delivers a totally serviceable performance, but what sets the video apart is the fact that he is joined by some goats, one of which (an adorable baby) settles next to him and nibbles on his shirt sleeve. Bacon captioned his Instagram post, “The goats were insisting, so I had to try. Here’s Creep by @radiohead #GoatSongs.”
As for Radiohead themselves, there’s hope that 2021 will bring new music from the group. In a letter to fans, Jonny Greenwood wrote, “Right now, I just feel this: I hope you are safe and well and not too scared, or too bored. I also hope that somehow we can be part of making music for you soon, and that the pleasure of making music, and hearing music, whether in a gig, concert hall, church, or at home with friends — is not forgotten in this desolate year.”
Check out our interview with Bacon from this summer here.
Over the weekend, CNN’s Jake Tapper echoed Don Lemon’s “carnival of lies” comments about Kayleigh McEnany, criticizing the White House Press Secretary for “[telling] lies the way that most people breathe.” He also said that she “can’t acknowledge reality.” McEnany replied to Tapper’s comments by tweeting, “I do not lie,” which itself was a lie. The lying didn’t stop there, either: the pearl-clutcher went on Fox News on Monday to continue to spread baseless (a.k.a. bullsh*t — sorry to swear) claims of election fraud.
“This happened in the places that needed to happen, which is why the four metros, the only four, where Joe Biden outperformed Hillary Clinton were Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Detroit,” said McEnany above a chyron that read “The Fight for Election Integrity.” Soon after the clip went viral, Tapper tweeted, “The National Review’s @baseballcrank had a comprehensive fact check about this long-debunked lie.” It reads:
Biden improved his margin of victory compared to Hillary in 31 out of 36 urban counties — and Philadelphia was one of the five in which he didn’t. In 29 of the cities, the Democratic margin of victory grew on a percentage basis. Of the twelve cities in which Biden overperformed Hillary by enough that his margin of victory grew by 10 percent or more (as a percentage of the 2016 electorate), only one (Atlanta) was in a swing state, and one other (Omaha) in a swing district. Biden’s improvements in Milwaukee and Detroit were distinctly subpar, and in Detroit, Trump improved his own share of the vote enough to be the first Republican to break 30 percent of the vote in Wayne County, Mich., in 32 years.
Now that’s how you subtweet someone.
The National Review’s @baseballcrank had a comprehensive fact check about this long-debunked lie. “Biden improved his margin of victory compared to Hillary in 31 out of 36 urban counties — and Philadelphia was one of the five in which he didn’t.”https://t.co/Lw87uHqn31https://t.co/AAcne9PWQu
Trump’s still attempting to convince the world that he won the election (he very clearly did not, as the electoral college and courts agree), so of course, he figured that he could drop a Nobel Peace Price claim on top as gravy. This isn’t exactly a new tactic, since Trump has recently complained (while on his failed reelection campaign trail) that the press ignored his two (nonexistent) Nobel Prize wins (though he was nominated). The King of Fake News may have also believed a 2018 satiric article (that was debunked by Snopes) that started such a rumor for kicks. Whatever the cause, Trump has now tweeted out a campaign-style video that (after the 0:40 second mark) superimposes a Novel Peace Prize over footage of him with international leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
As NPR’s David Gura quickly pointed out on Twitter, Trump definitely has not won the Nobel Peace Prize, and as such, he definitely doesn’t have the right (and could be held liable for) using the image without express permission.
A video President Trump tweeted today features the Nobel Peace Prize superimposed over photographs of him with the prime minister of Israel, and the foreign ministers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Who has won the Nobel Peace Prize, though? Former President Barack Obama, who received the honor in 2009 “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” The Nobel Foundation also “attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.”
Twitter was clearly amused by the newest Trump claim full of nonsense, and they are throwing Obama’s actual win in Trump’s face.
Hey twitterverve – name one thing Trump will never have? I’ll start – a Nobel peace prize pic.twitter.com/HKDFaAI1GC
Elsewhere, yep, there’s a whole lot of laughter at Trump’s lies, but hey, at least this is a silly falsehood (unlike the COVID lies) that can’t harm anyone.
wait lmao hold on Trump just pasted a picture of the Nobel Peace Prize (that he certainly did not win) in his latest propaganda video hahaha what pic.twitter.com/wNFXTv3vuV
I hate to brag, but I won the Nobel Peace Prize. Because apparently, it is super to easy to win. You just have to say you did.
— Michelle won the Nobel Peace Prize (@RageMichelle) December 29, 2020
A video President Trump tweeted today features the Nobel Peace Prize superimposed over photographs of him with the prime minister of Israel, and the foreign ministers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. It’s illegal to do this, but also too funny if the Nobel Committee sues
“A huge, heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported the Save Our Stages Act, which passed yesterday as a part of the economic stimulus bill. The preservation of America’s smaller, independent venues is not only crucial to the millions of concert goers whose lives are bettered by experiencing their favorite artists in the flesh, but to the future of music itself, as it gives the next generation of young musicians a place to cut their teeth, hone their craft, and grow into the voices of tomorrow.
The absence of live music this year has left us all longing for that communal feeling of connection, one that is best felt when joined in a song. The Save Our Stages Act brings us one step closer to sharing that feeling again, one that I hope we can all experience again very soon.
Everyday we’re one step closer.
See you there,
Dave.”
Grohl wrapped up the year with a flurry of activity: In addition to his work for Save Our Stages, he also busted out a Hanukkah covers series.
Musicians have about as big an impact on social media as anybody, and the numbers back that up. Now that the year is just days from wrapping up, the rankings of 2020’s most-liked Instagram posts are pretty much settled, and a couple musical names have found their way into the top ten (according to Wikipedia, with data accurate as of December 28 and updated by Uproxx on December 29 for this post).
Kylie Jenner had the strongest grip over the rankings, as four of the top posts are hers. Travis Scott pops up in a couple of them: One was a gallery post featuring photos of Scott, Jenner, and their daughter Stormi in honor of Scott’s birthday (which landed in fourth place after racking up a hair under 16 million likes). The other one featured a pair of photos of Scott and Jenner dressed up (No. 10, 14.2 million likes).
Also making the list as a late entry is Ariana Grande, whose December 20 post needed just about a week to accumulate 15.4 million likes and slide into sixth place on the list.
Outside of the music world, sports were another dominating factor. Posts from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi about the death of soccer legend Diego Maradona took up two of the top three spots, while another post from Ronaldo and a LeBron James post about Kobe Bryant’s death also made the top ten. The acting world was also represented strongly, as the year’s No. 2 post was the one from Chadwick Boseman’s account that confirmed his death.
Check out the top ten list of the year’s most-liked Instagram posts below.
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ima have a better reaction in 2021… I apologize when snap out sometimes ..then convos that stem from hatred, strike me hard from my upbringing! After that nip shit my hatred level went up I’ma boss up leave it in 2020!
(@ReneeAlida) 
