Month: December 2020

On Tuesday, the United Kingdom became the world’s earliest Western nation to give vaccinations for COVID-19, a major step forward in ending the coronavirus pandemic. The first person to receive the shot was 90-year-old Margaret Keenan, followed by 81-year-old William Shakespeare (he didn’t write King Lear in quarantine, but maybe he finally caught up with The Sopranos, an equally impressive accomplishment).

But let’s also give it up for Martin Kenyon, 91, who became an “international superstar” after his CNN interview where he made getting a vaccination sound as easy as getting a cup of coffee. Assuming you can find any parking.

“I rang up Guy’s Hospital, which I know very well because I’ve lived in London most of my grown-up life, and I said what’s the thing, you’re doing the vaccination? They said, ‘Yes.’ And then they spent time asking me questions about this and that, not very interesting. I said, ‘Yes, no, yes, no.’ And they said, ‘Come at 12.’ Of course, I damn well couldn’t find anywhere to park my car, so I was late,” Martin told a reporter. He then complained about having a “rather nasty lunch” before getting the vaccine,” which “didn’t hurt at all. I didn’t know the needle had gone in until it had come out.”

When asked about being one of the first people in the world to have received the vaccine, Martin replied, “I don’t think I feel about it all, except that I hope that I don’t have the bloody bug now… I have granddaughters and I want to live a long time to enjoy their lives.” He added, “Well, there’s no point in dying now when I’ve lived this long, is there? I don’t plan to, anyway.” It’s about bloody time we got some good news.

Kenyon is also being hailed as the “most British man” ever on Twitter.

The Golden State Warriors enter this season in a very strange spot. After what they hoped would be a single gap year between contending in which their two stars were hurt, this was supposed to be the bounce back season where they challenged the Lakers for Western Conference supremacy.

However, while Stephen Curry is back at full strength they will once again be without Klay Thompson for the season after he suffered a torn Achilles coming off of a grueling rehab from a torn ACL. It was a devastating injury for the All-Star shooting guard, and the team shuffled their offseason plans to try and still find a way to be in the mix this season, trading for Kelly Oubre Jr. to fill that hole on the wing. How that works out remains to be seen, although there’s hope that Curry, Oubre, and Andrew Wiggins can make for an impactful scoring trio, and the hope remains that Thompson can make a full recovery for next season.

For the 32-year-old Curry, he’s not too worried about where his or the Warriors window is at right now, and the former two-time MVP is working with the team on a hopeful contract extension that can help keep him in the Bay for the entirety of his career, as he told the media in a Zoom call on Monday, via the Associated Press.

“Wearing the same jersey for as long as I can, that’s a huge goal, for sure. It’s an elite club of guys that you look at that have played with the same organization and been successful and achieved greatness in that respect,” said Curry, who turns 33 in March.

“That would be an awesome accomplishment, something I’ve obviously spoken publicly about and very committed to. But that also goes with there’s a lot more to be accomplished on the court and again I can’t fast forward to what the end is going to be. Enjoy the moment, enjoy the challenges that we have in front of us and what I have left to accomplish as a player.”

Curry also noted that his goal is to play at least as long as his father, who had a 16-year career, which would mean at least four more years for Steph, while also noting he hopes to play to “closer to 40,” even if his wife, Ayesha, isn’t always so keen on the idea.

“I have a floating target on that, for sure. Any time I say I want to play up to 40 she’ll definitely give me a little look,” Curry said.

In any case, Curry is ready to lock in with the Warriors for the long haul again, even with some uncertainty about his longtime supporting stars in Thompson and Draymond Green.

Even before “WAP,” Cardi B was one of the most talked-about people in all of music. That extends to TV as well, and she recently got a mention in a new episode of Family Guy. Cardi caught wind of the nod and used it as an opportunity to call out her detractors.

Cardi shared a clip of the scene in question and added the tongue-in-cheek caption, “I’m so irrelevant.” The clip comes from the eighth episode of Season 19, titled “Pawtucket Pat,” which aired on Sunday, December 6. In the episode, Brian Griffin gets a job writing for a local website, and there’s a scene that shows the job interview. In the conversation, Brian is asked to present some samples of his work, and he says of one, “Cardi B tweeted something and I retweeted it with this, this, this, this, this” (which takes on a new meta layer of irony here given the nature of this very post). The interviewer enthusiastically responds, “Wow! That is some top-shelf journalism!”

This isn’t the first time Cardi has used an accomplishment to sarcastically call herself “irrelevant.” She did so earlier this year when the remix of her Instagram video about the coronavirus made its way up the iTunes charts. Somebody on Twitter called her irrelevant in 2016 and she fired back, “So irrelevant that you talking about me [laughing emojis].”

Watch the Family Guy clip above.

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

It’s kind of hard to believe Frank Marshall, who has been involved in so many canon blockbusters over the last 40 years – from the Indiana Jones movies to the Back to the Future movies to the Jurassic Park movies – that he himself hasn’t directed a movie in 14 years, not since 2006’s Eight Below. (He says a big reason for this is his duties with the production company that he runs with his wife, Kathleen Kennedy, have increased since she took over Lucasfilm.) But now Marshall is back with his new documentary that will premiere on HBO this weekend, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.

It’s pretty obvious Marshall has an empathetic soft spot for The Bee Gees, and even though they have been given tremendous accolades, it actually does feel like they still don’t get quite their due. (It’s difficult to think of a musical artist that was as big as The Bee Gees and in the late ’70s, with the then-number one album of all time, then just a couple of years after, as Marshall points out in the film, the racial and anti-gay disco backlash, they couldn’t even get a song on the radio.) Also, it’s a tragic story, as Barry Gibb is the only brother still alive, having lost his two fellow bandmates over the last couple of decades, and his youngest brother, Andy, back in 1988.

Steven Spielberg is no longer directing the often-delayed Indiana Jones 5, but Marshall is still producing the now-James Mangold-directed sequel and Marshall gives us an update on what’s going on and actually, at least when you hear the tone of his voice, sounded pretty optimistic that they are finally in a good place. Marshall also looks back on his first directed film, Arachnophobia (which might have a remake soon but, as with everything these days, who knows if and when) and shares some stories about how spiders just don’t react well to direction.

So, it’s hard to find good light for a video call when two people living in the same apartment have an interview at the same time.

I know the problem. I had to make my bed this morning because I have a bed in my office that I use for naps in between my Zoom calls. But then I looked and went, oh, it’s in the background.

I wouldn’t judge you if your bed was unmade. Ours is currently unmade, too.

[Laughs] Okay.

This is the first time I’m talking to you about a movie where the word “wind” is not in the title.

[Laughs] Yeah. I’m glad that we got The Other Side of the Wind done. But I’m ready to move on.

Before that I spoke to you about The Wind Rises.

Listen. Two movies I’m very proud of. So I’m glad you’re doing the third.

And this is the first movie you’ve directed in 14 years. That’s surprising.

Yeah. It’s the first feature. That’s true. It seems like yesterday I was out there in the cold with the dogs [in Eight Below]. But when Kathy [Kennedy] took over Lucasfilm, it left me alone with The Kennedy/Marshall Company. So I really focused on producing and running the company. We branched out in the documentaries and live theatre. I’ve been enjoying that. This one just came along. All of my choices as a director have been stories that I’ve been passionate about telling. So I was very happy to do this one.

Did you actually miss directing? Or, as you said, with her at Lucasfilm, were you just too busy with the other stuff to have time to miss it?

It’s such a focus thing for me when I’m directing something, in a theatrical feature. Not a documentary. Because the documentary, directing it is different than directing Eight Below. I didn’t really miss it. But it’s more creative when you’re directing. It’s your baby. This was a nice blend between the two.

I think every human being who has ever paid attention to The Bee Gees has one of two shocking Bee Gees moments: When their longtime fans heard their dance music. And then when people who know their dance music first hear their earlier music.

Yeah! I think that’s what I wanted to re-introduce people to. I think people felt that they were lightweight. And they’re really heavyweight. The scope of their music, they wrote over a thousand songs. I forget the numbers on how many were number one. But they’ve had an incredible impact on musical history. It’s really deep. Their gifts and their creativity and everything was amazing. I really wanted to dig into that. When you say to people, oh, yeah, “Islands in the Stream,” that was written by the Bee Gees. They go, “What?”

Speaking of that, I just heard “Heartbreaker” by Dionne Warwick. For the first time I noticed the backing vocals are them. I’d never noticed that before.

They have touched the collective unconscious, I guess you would call it, around the world for five decades.

How did Barry Gibb seem to you? In the film he comes off a bit forlorn, but also he’s talking about his brothers who he misses.

Yeah, I think that’s normal. He misses his brothers. So there was a little sadness there. But he also wants to celebrate them. He was very generous and supportive and enthusiastic. He welcomed us into his home. Again, it was a little bittersweet to be talking to him. But he was gracious and humble. I loved him reflecting back, because I don’t think he ever did. We all have our standard answers to those questions that we get asked a million times, about our careers and things. The memories came pouring out. It was great. I think that he liked exploring the journey that he had been on and what was important. He’s the older brother, as am I. I come from a musical family. So we had a lot to talk about.

When you mentioned questions you’re asked a million times, I’m guessing the movie you’re referencing is The Money Pit.

[Laughs] No.

A movie I do love by the way. I’m not making fun of The Money Pit.

Yes. Thank you. The one they do all ask me about is The Goonies. I go, “What?”

Andy Gibb is a tragic figure and could have his own documentary. How did you factor how much time to give him here, who wasn’t technically a Bee Gee.

It was a challenge. The biggest challenge, obviously, is that Barry is the last man standing. I wanted to give each of the brothers their own voice. How we weave that into the story, it took a long time, but I have a great team. We spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get Andy in there and give him his moments. Again, a very sad story. But he was about to become a member of the band, which I found fascinating. We just had to find the moment to make it feel organic. That took a lot of work.

I had a hard time coming up with a modern comparison to what happened to The Bee Gees between the late ’70s and early ’80s. I can’t think of anyone who was that popular, and then just a couple of years later couldn’t even get on the radio.

I think that Chris Martin, he explained it. He said they were on the front wave of that global super pop stardom, he calls it, I think. Or the first wave of it. Nobody understood the backlash then. “We just sold a billion albums, why doesn’t anybody like us anymore?”

I watched Staying Alive recently. It’s very weird what Stallone did with The Bee Gees music in that movie…

I can’t say I know that movie.

It’s the sequel to Saturday Night Fever. That’s Sylvester Stallone directed. He relegated their music to the background and gave Frank Stallone all the good parts.

There you go. They weren’t taken seriously. The other thing that was amazing to me, though, was how they were always adapting. They adapted. It’s partly, I think, because they were brothers. And even if they were split up, they had to see each other at Christmas and talk about it. But they weren’t disco. They didn’t discover or invent disco. They came into it. The backlash of having to have FBI escorts and bomb threats and all that, that was crazy. But that was really, I think, part of the social change that was going on. That’s why I was really happy to get the interview with the usher at Comiskey Park [for the infamous Disco Demolition Night].

He was really great. And how he said a lot of the records people brought weren’t even disco, they were just records from Black artists.

Yeah. To really put a personal perspective on what was happening back then and how he saw it. It wasn’t The Bee Gees’ fault. They just got caught up in it all. They found another way. That’s when they went to the songwriting and then, 10 years later, it was okay to come back together again. I don’t know if you’ve ever watched the One Night Only concert. It’s incredible. It was in Vegas. They’re at the height of their powers. They stand up there for two and a half hours and do every song you love. It’s amazing.

I’m curious why you didn’t include the Sgt. Pepper movie. Because I am fascinated by that film.

Just no time. I think there’s a whole movie just in that.

A bit before the pandemic, it was announced that a remake Arachnophobia is happening with James Wan. I’m curious what you think of that. I’m actually surprised that it hasn’t happened earlier.

I’m flattered. They came and asked me and I said, yeah, sure. For me, it was the start of my directing career, so it has a special place. I’m very proud of that movie. It seems to hold up even 30 years later! I think what’s going to be interesting is that we were forced into using real spiders.

They probably won’t do that this time.

I think that could be risky. Because a lot of the movie was created by those moments you couldn’t predict. I would let the spiders do what they wanted.

Did you have much to say in what they wanted to do? I feel like they just do what they want to do.

Yeah, I said they need to come out of the popcorn bowl, but we didn’t know where they would come out. They didn’t take direction well, let’s put it that way.

With James Mangold taking over directing Indiana Jones 5, you’re still involved, right? I think you are?

Yeah.

Is that movie cursed? Because every time it seems like it’s about ready to get going, something happens. And now we have this happen where the world changed.

I think we’re on the right track now, Mike.

Okay. Why is that?

I think everybody’s together. Jim is off working on the script and we have a release date. Hopefully, everything will be safe to start next summer. It looks good!

Honestly, I could talk about The Bee Gees for another hour. I love their music. I’m glad this film exists.

I’m really proud of this one and happy with it. It was a passion project. I’m happy it came out so well and people are really embracing it. So thank you.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

In the music video for Robert Glasper‘s “This Changes Everything” from his Grammy-nominated album F*ck Yo Feelings, the accomplished producer goes for a stripped-down treatment, putting on an electric live performance in LA’s Leimert Park with guest rapper Denzel Curry. Beginning with Curry rapping from a mic stand and evolving into an all-out jam session, the video reflects the fluctuating energy of the original track and shows off the virtuoso skills of all parties involved.

In addition to being nominated for Urban Contemporary Album for F*ck Yo Feelings, Glasper also received a Grammy nod for “Better Than I Imagined” featuring H.E.R. and Meshell Ndegeocello in the Best R&B Song category. Meanwhile, 2020 saw the master pianist also join the jazz/hip-hop revival quartet Dinner Party along with saxophonist Kamasi Washington, multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin, and DJ-producer 9th Wonder. Their single with Cordae and Snoop Dogg, “Freeze Tag,” was among Uproxx’s Best Songs of 2020.

As for Denzel Curry, the 25-year-old rapper announced his plans to retire after making three more albums — and threatening that they would be “bad” because of fans’ reactions to his previous music. However, it might prove to be more difficult for him than just saying it as tracks like “Live From The Abyss” and “Lil Scammer That Could” with Guapdad 4000 show just how good he can be.

Watch the live performance above.

Apple unveiled the new AirPods Max today, and like most things Apple, everything sounds and looks great on paper. It’s the company’s first foray into over-the-ear headphones, and here’s the official description that’s sure to captivate audiophiles and music lovers looking to get the most out of their playlists. From Apple:

AirPods Max combine a custom acoustic design, H1 chips, and advanced software to power computational audio for a breakthrough listening experience with Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode, and spatial audio. AirPods Max come in five gorgeous colors, including space gray, silver, sky blue, green, and pink, and are available to order starting today, with availability beginning Tuesday, December 15.

While all of that sounds well and good, things go sideways when you get to the $549 price point. While Apple products have always skewed to the more expensive side compared to its competitors, people on Twitter couldn’t help but note the juxtaposition of a billion-dollar company selling headphones for over half of a grand in the middle of a pandemic that’s caused widespread unemployment and financial struggles. It’s not exactly the best look, and the reactions were brutal.

Of course, the Apple’s announcement might actually be good news for competitors who might be enjoying the negative reactions.

And then, of course, there were the jokes about how Apple seems to have forgotten the “pod” part in AirPods Max, and people went to town clowning on the increasing size of the once tiny product.

This week in pop music saw a handful of musicians ringing in the holiday season. Ariana Grande joined Mariah Carey and Jennifer Hudson for a jolly tune, Shawn Mendes dropped his anticipated album Wonder, and Finneas offered a reflective Christmas ballad.

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

Mariah Carey — “Oh Santa!” Feat. Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson

Mariah Carey is unequivocally the Queen of Christmas, so of course she had to celebrate this year’s holiday season in style. Carey tapped fellow vocal powerhouses Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson for the fun and festive single “Oh Santa!” where the three harmonize about wishing to spend the holidays with the one they love.

Shawn Mendes — “Call My Friends”

Shawn Mendes’ album Wonder dropped this week and in it, he sings of fame and falling in love with Camila Cabello. His track “Call My Friends” takes a brief detour from heavier themes, instead opting to sing of letting off steam with his best buddies.

Finneas — “Another Year”

Finneas was another pop artist who is getting into the festive mood, but his is far less jolly. About the slow piano ballad, Finneas said in a statement that he actually penned the song last December. “I wrote this song last Christmas, with a year of uncertainty ahead of us, had I known, anything I know now about how 2020 would go, I don’t think I would have changed a word,” he said.

Rina Sawayama — “We Out Here”

Following the massive success of her album Sawayama, Rina Sawayama decided to grace fans with a deluxe version of the record. Released this week, her deluxe project features the bonus track “We Out Here,” a fun and dancefloor-ready tune perfect for getting in the mood for a night out.

Claud — “Soft Spot”

Gearing up for their debut album Super Monster, Claud shared “Soft Spot” this week. Over a warm-toned guitar, Claud sings of dealing with the emotions behind unrequited love. “I have a soft spot for lots of people, places, and things,” they said about the single. “This song is about knowing I can’t be with this one specific person, but my feelings won’t go away… I still hope I run into them, or they randomly text me about something. It’s just me romanticizing what I can’t have and being like ‘but what if…’”

Yuna — “Dance Like Nobody’s Watching”

Following her defiant 2019 album Rouge, Yuna has offered a handful of one-off singles in 2020. Returning once again, she released the slow-burning number “Dance Like Nobody’s Watching.” The song starts slow, building onto an atmospheric background until hip-shaking beat drops break the building anticipation.

100 Gecs — “Sympathy 4 The Grinch”

100 Gecs is back this week, and they’re here to say “bah humbug” with their latest single “Sympathy 4 The Grinch.” Over a heavily layered beat, 100 Gecs sing of being scorned by Santa. “Wanted some speakers, Xbox, and t-shirts / I’ve been good like every single day / Looked under my tree, my box was empty,” they sing.

Cheat Codes — “Do It All Again” Feat. Marc. E Bassy

Cheat Codes have released a number of uplifting singles this year but for their latest, the trio tap Marc. E Bassy for a fluttering tune about wishing to re-live their past. “Doesn’t everyone wish we could redo normal life all over again,” Cheat Codes said in a statement about the song.

Wens — “Love Blind”

Wens may have released her debut EP this year, but she’s showing no signs of slowing down. Releasing “Love Blind” this year, Wens takes on a lovelorn ballad. “Falling in love for the first time is completely terrifying, its all consuming and the most beautiful thing until it isn’t,” she said. Wens continued: “I was trying so hard to bring us back to life but my harsh reality was that it’s nearly impossible to repair something that is past the point of being fixed.”

Bailey Bryan — “Fresh Start”

Returning with her fourth single of the year, Bailey Bryan is ready for a “Fresh Start.” “You can grow into a new mindset every single day if you want to,” she said about the single. “This project is just me owning that, and revealing it in my own way, each song representing a moment that triggered that sort of growth.”

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

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner won’t be welcomed by New York City at large following January’s inauguration of Joe Biden, and it really seems like — from the look of Ivanka’s tweets — that she’s feeling rootless. In the process, she’s been tossing out a bunch of (attempted) feel-good, off-topic tweets (relative to the Trump “Elite Strike Force” challenging the election) that land like she’s obviously aiming for distraction. This includes the Mount Rushmore photo of her dad that’s still being dragged, along with her bizarre celebrations about greenhouse gases and the stock market.

These bright-and-sunny tweets land alongside what CNN’s calling her more “combative” side that’s recently emerged, like when she’s lashing out at a “vindictive” lawsuit having to do with inaugural funds going to Trump properties. Then there’s the really random entries, like Ivanka’s ode to a flower: “The Rose, our National flower, is held dear as the symbol of love and devotion, of beauty and eternity.”

Also, Ivanka’s now on an astrology kick? “On December 21st, the winter solstice, Jupiter and Saturn will be at their closest visible alignment,” she seriously tweeted. “[J]ust a 10th of a degree apart, since the Middle Ages in 1226.”

It’s really something. Plenty of people do pay attention to astrology, of course, but Ivanka’s sudden embrace of the topic has invited some “Uranus” jokes. People are wondering whether Ivanka has any idea what she’s talking about, or if she simply stumbled upon some literal trivia and decided to roll with it.

Of course, people are also adding their own forecasts into the fold: “On January 20th, the planets will align again, doing away with the last 4 years of being in the Middle Ages.” That’s gotta sting.

Wait, is this a rebranding effort? Sit down, Nancy Reagan. Ivanka Trump might be preparing to one-up your ghost with her own psychic hotline.

“It’s like The Beatles were here,” Ellen DeGeneres said of the K-pop boy band BTS’ 2017 arrival at LAX ahead of their first-ever US tour. She may not have realized it at the time, but DeGeneres’ comparison was incredibly apt. This year, BTS became the first band since The Beatles to have three Billboard No. 1 albums in just one year and they even received a kind co-sign by Paul McCartney himself. Tickets to their first North American shows sold out within minutes, mirroring the Beatlemania seen in 1964. But BTS’ Beatles-like following is part of a larger phenomenon that has been overshadowed by the pandemic’s disruption of the music industry: 2020 was the year international artists took the center stage in American pop music.

K-pop groups and Latinx Reggaeton artists alike commanded charts, album sales, and broke impressive streaming records this year. Earning over 38 billion streams in 2020 alone, people listened to Latin music more than any other genre. Of the 38 billion, Bad Bunny was the most-streamed artist globally and J Balvin was close behind in third place. K-pop groups like BTS and Blackpink also scored big in 2020. BTS became the first South Korean act to both hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and receive a Platinum certification in the US.

Seeing as the American music industry has been historically dominated by English language music, this is a big deal. But how did these artists manage to break into the mainstream and what about 2020 caused a shift to prioritize non-English language voices?

In K-pop music especially, the success of groups like BTS and Blackpink did not happen by accident. Rather, it happened through intentional investment. K-pop’s global roots can be traced way back to South Korean’s economic downturn of the late 1990s. As outlined in the 1999 Basic Law for Promoting Cultural Industries, at least one percent of the country’s annual budget is diverted to promote South Korea’s cultural industries like music in order to increase their influence on the world stage. The music itself reflected this global approach, with many groups opting to translate their albums into Japanese or Mandarin to reach larger audiences.

The government’s major investment, coupled with K-pop’s fashion, feel-good lyrics, high-production videos, and expert choreography, jolted the genre’s worldwide reach. Between 2005 and 2016, the Korean music industry was ranked 29th globally by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). In 2016, it was in 8th. Things moved quickly from there: Just a year later, BTS embarked on their first-ever US tour, selling out stadiums and making their US television debut at the American Music Awards. Then in 2018, Blackpink became the first K-pop girl group to perform at a US festival when they took the Coachella stage ahead of Beyonce. Finally, BTS were invited to perform with Lil Nas X at this year’s Grammys, a definitive marker of their mainstream success.

While K-pop music saw a big push by the South Korea’s music industry, the same cannot be said about Reggaeton music. In fact, many award ceremonies didn’t credit the achievements of Reggaeton artists until this year. When the Recording Academy unveiled their nominations for the 2019 Latin Grammy awards, there was one thing immediately apparent: Reggaeton artists had been snubbed across the board. Ozuna’s Aura was the top-selling Latin album of the year but did not garner a nomination. Despite winning a Latin Grammy for Best New Artist in 2018, Karol G’s name was also missing from the nomination list. The lack of recognition for Reggaeton sparked the viral movement #SinReggaetonNoHayGrammy, which boycotted the awards for failing to nominate Reggaeton in any of the major categories.

The Recording Academy saw Reggaeton artists’ frustrations, and they listened. “We hear the frustration and discontent. We invite the leaders of the urban community to get involved with the Academy, to get involved with the process, and to get involved with discussions that improve the Academy,” they responded. Fast-forwarding to 2020, the Latin Grammys nominated J Balvin and Bad Bunny for a number of major categories including Record Of The Year and Album Of The Year. Furthermore, this year’s American Music Awards also took note of the importance of Reggaeton music. The AMAs expanded their categories to include awards for Favorite Latin Male/Female Artist, Favorite Latin Album, and Favorite Latin Song.

Along with advocating for change in institutions, Reggaeton artists are becoming a different type of innovative role model within music. Bad Bunny and J Balvin have used their platform in 2020 to challenge toxic hyper-masculine stereotypes and become progressive voices for a younger and increasingly diverse generation. “[Bad Bunny’s] discourse and look both defy gender mandates and stereotypes,” noted José Forteza, a senior editor at Condé Nast Mexico and Latin America. “He breaks the sort of accomplice masculinity codes that have hurt women’s rights and discriminated against men whose trajectories have not adjusted to a macho identity.” Bad Bunny can be seen provoking these norms both through his “Yo Perreo Sola” video and his acceptance speech at this year’s Billboard Music Awards, where he advocated for the respect of women’s bodily autonomy.

Like Bad Bunny and J Balvin, BTS has also advocated for social justice this year. Those who weren’t aware of K-pop’s influence were suddenly confronted by swarms of stans this June. Along with helping BTS raise $1 million to donate to Black Lives Matter, K-pop fans flooded the #WhiteLivesMatter hashtag to drown out racist posts on Twitter and Instagram. Fans also mobilized to protect protesters when they successfully crashed the Dallas Police Department’s eyewitness app by continuously uploading fancam videos.

While BTS’ influence was seen through their fans’ online activism this summer, their true success can be tracked through impressive charting numbers and viral successes. This year, Blackpink and BTS smashed YouTube’s video premiere records. BTS’ “Dynamite” video debuted on the site with 101.1 million views in just 24 hours. But they weren’t the first K-pop acts to gain viral success on YouTube. Sun Lee, the head of music partnerships for YouTube Korea noted that “it might have been impossible for K-pop to have worldwide popularity without YouTube’s global platform.” This is proven by Psy’s viral 2012 “Gangnam Style” visual, which became the first video on YouTube’s platform to reach 1 billion views. Nearly a decade later, it’s commonplace for K-pop groups to rack up over a billion views, like Blackpink’s “Ddu-Du Ddu-du” and “Kill This Love” videos have done this year.

K-pop may have dominated charts thanks to two decades of government investment, but Latin artists’ 2020 success can be measured by something truly American: capitalism. This year, huge brands signed major partnership deals with Latin artists. Bad Bunny is featured in a massive promotional campaign for Cheetos. He also collaborated with Crocs for his own line of glow-in-the-dark kicks, meaning the divisive shoe can now be seen as stylish (another 2020 event that no one saw coming). J Balvin also recently unveiled a shoe collaboration, announcing his Nike design for his colorful Air Jordans. But Balvin’s biggest deal of the year was undoubtedly his multi-million dollar McDonald’s partnership, which came with a line of exclusive merch and acted as an indication of Reggaeton’s reach. “We’ll just keep reaching more globally than before, and we want to keep showing the planet that this movement is here to stay,” J Balvin told Uproxx about his music genre’s influence in connection to his McDonald’s partnership. “And that’s what we’ve been doing. Keep working and keep elevating the culture and connecting with the world and definitely with the United States, too.”

From major brand deals to racking up billions of views, Reggaeton and K-pop artists alike have stepped into pop’s limelight. And if there’s any positive music trends to come out of 2020, it’s that international artists like BTS, Blackpink, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin are finally getting the recognition they deserve in the American mainstream.

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

On December 8, 1980, John Lennon died after being shot in New York City. That was exactly 40 years ago today, and to mark the somber occasion, Lennon’s surviving Beatles bandmates, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, shared some heartfelt messages.

Sharing a photo of himself and Lennon, McCartney wrote, “A sad sad day but remembering my friend John with the great joy he brought to the world. I will always be proud and happy to have known and worked with this incredible Scouser! X love Paul.” Starr’s message called for radio stations to play a song today in Lennon’s honor, saying, “Tuesday, 8 December 1980 we all had to say goodbye to John peace and love John. I’m asking Every music radio station in the world sometime today play Strawberry Fields Forever. Peace and love. ”

Lennon’s children, Julian Lennon and Sean Ono Lennon, also shared some posts about their father. Julian shared a photo of Lennon and captioned it, “As Time Goes By….,” while Sean shared a childhood photo of himself with his father, mother, and Julian.

Lennon found his way back into the news earlier this year when Gal Gadot and a host of other celebrities decided to cover “Imagine,” an endeavor that was not exactly beloved.