Month: December 2020

In an time when social media often feels like a cesspool of hot political takes, rampant misinformation, and insufferable narcissism, a glowing example of goodness truly stands out.

Enter Nick Cho, aka “Your Korean dad,” whose wholesome TikTok videos are captivating people and capturing hearts, right when we need good things the most. Cho, whose day job is CEO and co-founder of Wrecking Ball Coffee, has been using his TikTok account to be a doting, supportive Korean dad to anyone who could use one. At first, it’s like “Okay, maybe that’s kind of cute,” but the more you watch, the more endearing it becomes.

People have compared Cho to Mr. Rogers, which is just about the highest praise anyone can receive on this earth, but it’s not hard to see after watching a handful of his videos. What could seem super schticky feels surprisingly sincere, as Cho offers fatherly advice and encouragement in ways that people might not even realize they need.

From the signature pat on the head through the camera, to the food that he sets in front of you, to the sage words of wisdom he offers in his upbeat, gentle way…oof. If you are missing a dad figure in your life, he’s got you covered. And even if you have a great dad who is active in your life, you can still appreciate what Cho is doing here.

Watch the montage Now This made to see him in action.

Cho has racked up 1.5 million followers on TikTok, and it’s not hard to see why.

People on TikTok and Twitter comment that Cho’s videos make them feel safe and cared about. For some people, the wholesomeness of it all is just heartwarming, but for others, there’s a genuine hole that Cho seems to be filling. There are a lot of people who didn’t grow up with a loving, kind, supportive father and seeing examples of what a dad can be evokes both pain and hope.

And seriously with the Mr. Rogers references, right?

Tears have been an unexpected phenomenon for a lot of people watching Cho. Like, how can I possibly be tearing up over this? It’s so simple and silly, and yet so sweet and loving and wholesome, and oh yep, here come the tears.

We are all so desperate for examples of pure goodness right now, and Nick Cho—our Korean dad—is providing just that.

I mean, look at the way he talks about respecting the intention of the designer of the newest Air Jordan shoe. Not something I would expect to care about AT ALL, but I’ll be darned if I’m not picking up what Korean dad is laying down here.

“Thanks for letting me take part in your creation.” Dang. Amazing.

Thanks, Korean dad. Please don’t leave us.

The Mandalorian is a sheer technological feat thanks to its groundbreaking StageCraft production studio that allows Jon Favreau and the team at Lucasfilm to create realistic alien locales on the fly. Not to mention, the show is being closely supervised by Dave Filoni, arguably one of the greatest creative voices in Star Wars history since George Lucas. So it’s probably going to feel really awesome when they see Australian YouTuber “close personal acquaintance” completely nail the show’s look and entire narrative style in a 30 second video made with random props.

In the hilariously low budget video titled, Mando is nothing but a dude with a helmet and black tape on his head, while Baby Yoda is an adorable green dog. It’s perfect. Aping season two’s penchant for constantly having Mando run errands while carting Baby Yoda from planet to planet, our heroes find themselves in need of milk, which requires them to engage in some quid-pro-quo by dealing with a WiFi-stealing creature. After solving the problem with some stone-cold Mando efficiency, it looks like their journey has to make another stop thanks to some classic Baby Yoda hijinks.

If you’re a fan of The Mandalorian, you can’t help but laugh at the brutal accuracy because, seriously, where is the lie? They land on a planet for reason X, Mando has to murder person Y, and Baby Yoda stuff his frog-hole with random object Z, which may or may not result in genocide. It’s a predictable formula, but that ain’t always a bad thing.

(Via close personal acquaintance)

Kyrie Irving is under a whole lot of pressure in Brooklyn this season, as is basically everyone else who plays for the Nets. The team is getting Irving back from an injury that limited him to just 20 games last season, while Kevin Durant is slated to make his debut after suffering a torn achilles during his final game as a member of the Golden State Warriors.

Brooklyn went 35-37 last season and made the playoffs, and now, expectations have been raised in year one of the Steve Nash era. Things got underway this week as players began meeting with the media, although there was an exception to that: Irving. In a statement released to members of the media, Irving explained that he wanted to make sure his message was “conveyed properly,” and expressed his commitment to making sure the Nets can “win championships” with him at the helm.

It’s not exactly controversial to say that Irving and the media don’t always have the best relationship, and as a result, it appears he decided to take an approach with them here that reduces the amount of gray area through which his message can be misinterpreted. To defend other folks in the media, there have been plenty of times when Irving has said things that are kind of vague and open to interpretation, and as long as that’s the case, it’s going to be very easy for things to be printed that do not line up with what he means.

That, of course, also explains why he opted to take this approach with this press release. The very bottom line seems to imply that this is going to be his course of action all season long, but it’s unclear if that, indeed, is what he plans on doing.

“I don’t think I had a coherent style beyond wanting to be comfortable,” Jake Lyon says. “What that actually entails, I didn’t think about nearly as much until I was in a career that put me in the public spotlight. There’s a very public side to esports and gaming — it’s all entertainment, at the end of the day.”

Lyon, a retired esports competitor and present-day commentator, seems deeply entranced by the allure of a quiet life. It’s part of what guided his decision to transition from the high-stress world of esports to a more removed, lower-stakes role, on the sidelines. It’s also evidenced in his preference for casual clothing, like the outfits by American Eagle he chose for this remote photoshoot.

“Everything is functional and comfortable,” he says. “I can wear it all day and not think about it much, but there’s still some stylistic depth to it. I can go in different directions with American Eagle pieces. I think having that level of freedom and knowing that I want to dress in a way that is casual and comfortable just makes sense for me.”

Speaking via Zoom, Lyon admits that prior to becoming a live broadcaster, he never put much thought into the clothes he’d wear. But with the weight of the new job came an expectation of professionalism. Even in the casual world of gaming.

“It definitely made me think more about the clothes I was wearing and influenced me to make more conscious decisions in my everyday style,” he notes. “As gaming grows, you’re starting to see brands within the esports space take a more serious look at the merchandise they’re putting out. More and more people are putting thought into what they wear because their audience is so big.”

That rapidly growing audience actually got a little too large for Lyon’s comfort. He stepped away from being one of the most competitive professional gamers at the height of his career for a calmer existence in esports casting.

“I wanted to reevaluate my lifestyle and take a more holistic approach to what I was doing,” Lyon says of the transition. “Being a pro gamer there are some things that are really amazing, but it’s also super intense. You have to be on all the time, I wanted a change of pace.”

Lyon’s “retirement” wasn’t of the gated-community/fixed income variety, though. In 2018, there were an estimated 25.7 million esports viewers in the United States alone, a figure which is projected to rise to 46 million in just three years. With an audience that large, there’s a demand for experts who are adept at interpreting the action.

“With casting, it’s not a huge step away from competing,” he says. “I can use my knowledge as a competitive player and my understanding of the game to help deliver to the viewers a better understanding of what’s going on and why they should watch a certain player.”

This transition doesn’t mean Lyon has given up on playing at a high level, either. While he’s more likely to spend time on stress-free farm simulation games, he still plays Overwatch. In fact, he’s still ranked as one of the top 50 players in North America — thanks to a lingering competitive drive that he says is “carved into his brain.”

That continued passion for gaming is also what has made Lyon such an effective commentator. And while the thrill of being an esports superstar may be gone, he’s found new ways to stay hyped, without the constant stress.

“I get a lot of joy out of the opportunity to highlight players,” he says. “Especially those that aren’t in a traditional superstar role. If I can help the audience see how someone made this incredible play that saved the game or saved their team from a tough scenario, that’s really rewarding to me.”

Teyana Taylor has dedicated over a decade to her career in music after making her debut in 2008 with her debut single “Google Me.” 12 years and three albums later, it looks like Taylor could be ready to leave the music world behind.

After getting her music’s stats from this year’s Spotify Wrapped campaign, Taylor revealed that she’s felt “overlooked” by those in the music industry for years. Listing off a handful of grievances about how her music has been received, Taylor announced that she’s “retiring this chapter” of her career in a statement posted to her Instagram page.

“Wow, who did that? Y’all did that! Thank you I ain’t gone front in times of feeling super under appreciated as a artist, receiving little to no real push from the ‘machine’, constantly getting the shorter end of the stick, being overlooked, I mean the list on and on lol.. I’m retiring this chapter of my story with the comfort that i can depart with peace of mind seeing that all the hard work & passion put in was indeed loved & supported somewhere in the world! To all my supporters from day 1 & all my new ones I love you and I thank you for everything & don’t worry y’all know all hustlers have the understanding that when one door closes another will open…either that or I’m pickin da locks petunia!!! So wassup.”

Check out Taylor’s full statement above.

Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm and blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B jams that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

First up, The Weeknd‘s remix to “Blinding Lights” with Rosalia. Chris Brown also drops off the music video for “City Girls” featuring Young Thug and Dee Gatti offers a visual for her buzzing track “Caught Up.” Check out the rest of the best new R&B below.

The Weeknd — “Blinding Lights Remix” Feat. Rosalia

The Grammys may have snubbed The Weeknd from next year’s awards but that’s not stopping the XO singer from dominating the Billboard charts and all of our ears with his infectious hit “Blinding Lights.” This week, Abel surfaced with a remix to the track featuring Rosalia which is sure to ignite new life into the After Hours hit.

Chris Brown & Young Thug — “City Girls”

Chris Brown and Young Thug’s Slime & B was met with high praise upon its release with a lot of love for their song “Go Crazy.” This week, the duo delivered a music video for “City Girls,” another fan favorite from the project. The music video is a cinematic production set in a 1920s era Los Angeles starring Breezy dancing his heart for the object of his affection.

Dee Gatti — “Caught Up”

Rising R&B singer Dee Gatti out of Dallas arrives this week with the music video for her buzzing single “Caught Up.” Directed by fellow Texan Dance Daily, Dee spends a little quality time with her boo while riding in an old school whip. No word when fans will be able to get their ears on a full-length project from her, but based on her previously released tracks “Chances” and “I.J.S.,” it’s surely something to look forward to.

Jet The 3rd — “Solitude”

It’s time to get to know Jet The 3rd. Described as a genre-bending, master lyricist, Jet The 3rd comes through this week with her somber track “Solitude” and a visual to go with it. The song is the first track off the Houston native’s EP Au-Courant, which is expected to experience a re-launch sometime in the near future.

Alycia Bella — “Link”

Alycia Bella’s sultry new single “Link” is out. It’s a smooth cut drowns in toxic loveship and the addiction that ensues from the taste of it. “I’m just excited for myself to accomplish something,” she said in an interview with Vogue. “And just getting my voice out there and letting people know what I’m about, and finding friends and new fans.”

Rotimi — “Love Somebody”

Rotimi drops off his Adam and Eve-inspired music video for his song “Love Somebody” starring his girlfriend Vanessa. “During this tough time in our society, we wanted to share a piece of our love with the world,” he said in a statement via email. “Love always wins.” It’s true, and the world needs love now more than ever.

Blxst — No Love Lost Deluxe

Blxst already came through and bodied his debut No Love Lost released on Red Bull Records earlier this year and now, he’s coming with even more heat in the form of the deluxe. The Los Angeles native adds five additional tracks to the project including “Wrong Or Right” with Bino Rideaux.

Check out this week’s R&B picks, plus more on Uproxx’s Spotify playlist below.

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

These days, it seems like every major gaming franchise is headed into production on a movie or TV show, and Metal Gear Solid is officially the latest case. Word broke on Friday that Star Wars alum Oscar Issac will add a Metal Gear movie to his busy schedule, taking the role of Solid Snake in the film that’s been in development at Sony for some time.

The news was met with a lot of enthusiasm online, and for a variety of reasons. People like Issac, for starters, and it’s clear he’s a fan of the franchise. Considering Issac himself called his shot on the casting, there was considerable celebration when word he got the role hit social media.

For, you know, a variety of reasons.

There were also a lot of seasoned Metal Gear fans ready to tell people perhaps more unfamiliar with all the, well, Snakes, that many had the wrong picture associated with Issac’s new role.

It was another good time to share the image of Issac eating Cheetos with chopsticks, too.

https://twitter.com/jenovabuffay/status/1334936694689247233

Once the celebrating was over, a lot of talk was about what a Metal Gear Solid movie even looks like.

Many fans were hoping there will be some fun MGS easter eggs in the movie, too.

The uncertainty about what the film will be about will definitely last well into the actual shooting for the movie itself, as there’s plenty of lore to dig through in the franchise after three decades. But one thing that was clear to most fans is that the enthusiasm for the franchise is there with both Issac and also director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, who is also signed onto the project.

https://twitter.com/KhailAnonymous/status/133491882496186777

In other words, it was a very good Friday for Metal Gear fans.

Your Honor (Sunday, Showtime 10:00 p.m.) — Bryan Cranston’s intense (although uneven) limited series faces inevitable comparisons to Breaking Bad, and for sure, Cranston’s character executes his most Walter White-like maneuvers since Heisenberg left the building with AMC’s 2013 “Felina” finale. Some The Wire vibes and Defending Jacob vibes resonate throughout as well, and here he’s playing a sort-of everyman (albeit one with more power than Walt), who tangos with the criminal underworld after making an incredibly bad decision that quickly sets off a series of even worse decisions, eventually leading to a sh*tload of collateral damage. And a lot of Panic Faces.

Big Mouth: Season 4 (Amazon film collection) — One of TV’s funniest shows is back to drum up anxiety, courtesy of Tito the Mosquito (who will be voiced by Maria Bamford), in addition to all the hormone monsters that you dearly love. Newcomer voices on the series include Ayo Edebiri replacing Jenny Slate as Missy, along with Zach Galifianakis, Seth Rogen, Josie Totah, Lena Waithe, Quinta Brunson, John Oliver, Sterling K. Brown, Paul Giamatti, Maya Erskine, and Anna Konkle.

Shameless (Sunday, CW 9:00 p.m.) — The Gallaghers are dealing with the pandemic in their own way on Chicago’s South Side, which forces Kevin and Veronica to get really creative with the Alibi, as Frank’s fretting over gentrification. It’s the final season, y’all! Here’s a list of what we’d like to see happen before finale time.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 11 (Disney+ series) — The bounty-hunting Star Wars series follows up on revealing Baby Yoda’s name and that Grand Admiral Thawn moment that got the fandom going.

Mank (Netflix film) — All the iconic directors are crafting Netflix movies these days, and David Fincher is now joining them. Even more notably for cinephiles, he’s doing so with a 1930s Hollywood throwback to the days of Orson Welles, and when social critic/alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. “Mank” Mankiewicz scrambled to put the finishing touches (and his name) on the Citizen Kane screenplay. If Gary Oldman in the title role wasn’t enough to get you onboard, then perhaps hearing that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are doing the musical honors will be the final enticement you need.

Small Axe (Amazon film collection) — It’s week three of five for this batch of Steve McQueen-directed movies. The stories, set in London’s West Indian community, will explore the endurance of the human spirit despite setbacks from discrimination and rampant racism, all set from the late 1960s to the 1980s.

Hardy Boys (Hulu series) — The beloved detective book series gets the reboot treatment with Frank (Rohan Campbell) and Joe (Alexander Elliot) leaving the city for their parents’ hometown following a tragedy. What seems like a quiet summer grows more intriguing when they stumble upon some key evidence.

Selena: The Series (Netflix limited series) — The Walking Dead‘s Christian Serratos stars as as Selena Quintanilla Perez, the Queen of Tejano Music, who began as a young girl from Texas but became the most most successful female Latin artist in history before being murdered in 1995 at the age of 23.

Here’s the rest of this weekend’s notable programming:

Supermarket Sweep (Sunday, ABC 8:00 p.m.) — Leslie Jones and every bit of her enthusiasm will host contestants in this revival of the grocery-shopping game show.

Pandora (Sunday, CW 8:00 p.m.) — The Galaxy’s staring down war while the ghosts of Osborn’s past come back to haunt him, and Jax must rally the team together to save them all.

Euphoria Part 1: Rue (Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — Need a little Zendaya to tide you over before the show returns (at an undetermined date) for Season 2? The Emmy award winner returns for the first of two special episodes. This one officially lands on HBO on Sunday, but you can catch it early already, only on HBO Max. Rue’s relapsing and ends up in a diner whilst contemplating life after Jules leaves her along at the train station following their winter formal.

The Outpost (Sunday, CW 9:00 p.m.) — Talon’s discovery of a deadly power coincides with Gwynn learning Tobin’s secret, and opposing groups are hunting for Yavalla for opposite purposes.

Murder On Middle Beach (Sunday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — First-time director Madison Hamburg (who we spoke with) reveals his nearly decade-long journey to investigate who murdered his mother, Barbara, in a still-unsolved case out of Connecticut. It’s a heck of a watch that will keep you guessing.

Moonbase 8 (Sunday, Showtime 11:00 p.m. EST and streaming) — Fred Armisen, Tim Heidecker, and John C. Reilly are here to make space funny as astronauts working toward a lunar mission. This week, Cap takes a psychological test that doesn’t end as expected for him, and he’d like to… move the base?

In case you missed these recent picks:

Heaven’s Gate: The Cult Of Cults (HBO Max documentary series) — Way back in 1997, the Heaven’s Gate cult made headlines with a comet-chasing mass suicide that echoed Jonestown. However, this incident turned out to be the most voluminous suicide on U.S. soil and also involved 20 people’s disappearances. An alien-conspiracy theory and applesauce and disturbing infomercials soon surfaced, and this documentary series surfaces never-before-seen footage and first-person accounts to fill in blanks and add some UFO weirdness to the mix.

The Flight Attendant (HBO Max series) — Kaley Cuoco busts away from the The Big Bang Theory with a fun flight of (darkly comedic) fancy. She plays portrays an airline stewardess whose international jet-setting lifestyle includes falling into bed in various countries with various handsome men. During the course of one particularly fateful encounter, Cassie wakes up next to the dead body of a one-night stand. She spends the rest of the series attempting to clean sh*t up. Surrender to this madcap ride.

For much of 2020, Bandcamp has hosted the wonderful Bandcamp Friday initiative, which involved them waiving their share of the income they usually receive from sales on their platform on some Fridays, so artists ultimately come away from the transaction with more money. The endeavor has been a great success, but it looks like it’s coming to an end. In a recent post, Bandcamp noted they will “continue to hold Bandcamp Fridays on the first Friday of every month until the end of the year.” They haven’t publicly committed to continuing Bandcamp Fridays in 2021, so today’s, the last one of the year, is the final one that’s officially scheduled.

The silver lining is that Lucy Dacus is helping to send Bandcamp Fridays off (potentially) with a bang: Today, she shared a cover of Hinder’s 2006 classic “Lips Of An Angel.” Dacus’ rendition of the track, which she says she recorded “a few months ago,” eschews the raspy, post-grunge edge of the original version and turns it into more tranquil folk a la Dacus.

Proceeds from the song will go to The Okra Project, which describes itself as “a collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by bringing home cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources to Black Trans People wherever we can reach them.”

Listen to Dacus’ “Lips Of An Angel” cover above.

Errol Spence Jr.’s win over Shawn Porter last September was one of the best fights of the year, as the welterweight stars put on quite the show with Spence firmly establishing himself as one of the sport’s very best with a split decision win to move to 26-0 with 21 wins by knockout. Just weeks after reaching new heights in the sport of boxing, however, Spence suffered serious injuries when he was ejected from his Ferrari after crashing it at high speeds in Dallas. He still has pending DWI charges against him from the incident.

In the year-plus since, he’s had to battle his way back from a self-inflicted wound, coming to terms with his vulnerability and having to overcome the mental and physical hurdles of rehab and trying to return to the ring.

“I learned this past year that basically shit happens,” Spence told Uproxx over the phone last week. “I mean, you gotta roll with the punches. You can go sit in a dark room and drink and feel sorry for yourself or you’re gonna stick your chest out and do what you have to do to get back to where you once was, and that’s something that I did because I had nobody to blame but myself. At the end of the day I didn’t feel sorry for myself or say, ‘Oh I got in a crash,’ this and that. I basically put my work hat on and got busy.”

After a two-month training camp, Spence is making his long-awaited return to the ring in his hometown of Dallas, fighting against former welterweight champ Danny Garcia this Saturday night on Fox Sports PPV. Spence says camp has been great, a refrain every fighter repeats in the weeks leading up to the fight, but he can point to some specific moments that allowed him to feel like he was returning to the form that made him one of the pound-for-pound best in the world a year ago.

“Probably like the fourth or fifth time after I started sparring, everything really started clicking and everything started coming together,” Spence said. “Combinations and slipping and blocking punches and things like that with ring generalship. So, yeah I’d say probably like in sparring.”

In Garcia, Spence is facing a veteran of championship bouts at super lightweight, where he held two belts, before moving to welterweight, where he previously held the WBC title. Garcia’s two losses have been by decisions to Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter, two of the best at 147 pounds, and Spence is expecting a similarly competitive effort from the veteran fighter, offering him a chance to build his resume against one of the best.

“I’m just looking to see the Danny Garcia of old,” Spence said. “This is a guy who’s always going at 100 percent. He never backs down from a fight. A guy that basically fights and fights and tries to make it as close as he can to win the fight. So, for me I’m just looking at a world class opponent and somebody with a great resume I can beat and put him on my resume.”

Spence admits he’s not totally sure what he’ll look like in the ring, noting that he and his coach have been going over their gameplan, but they’ll adjust based on what they see in that first round, both from Garcia and from himself. From there, he’ll look to find his rhythm and exploit any weaknesses he sees from Garcia as the fight wears on.

He’s not concerned with trying to make the veteran uncomfortable in the ring, because he expects Garcia to approach this fight as he does, which is to do what he does best and simply try to fight his best fight, with some in-ring adjustments based on how he feels.

“I don’t know if I can make him uncomfortable, and I don’t think he can make me feel uncomfortable,” Spence said. “I think we both world class fighters who have fought tough opponents – fought the best out there. For us it’s not – if we could make each other uncomfortable, it’s just something that would happen in the fight – I don’t think him or his coach really know how to make me uncomfortable, and I don’t really know how to make him uncomfortable until I get in there for the first round.”

As the fight approaches, Spence is staying solely focused on Garcia. When asked what’s next for him and how he’ll go about picking a new opponent, with many hoping for a showdown with Terence Crawford, he kindly deflects, saying he’s learned after the last year not to look past anything. In the past, Spence may have had one eye on the future and where he can go to elevate his star status, but after the year he’s had from self-inflicted wounds, he’s more apt to living in this moment.

Right now, his opponent is Danny Garcia, and he’s expecting quite the fight. It’s time, once again, to put on that work hat and get busy.