Month: February 2021

Morgan Wallen’s sophomore album Dangerous: The Double Album holds on to the top spot on the Billboard album charts for a fourth straight week. The singer tallied 149,000 equivalent album units this past week, 118,000 of those streaming equivalent album units and 25,000 coming from pure album sales. Dangerous is now the first country album to spend its first four consecutive weeks at No. 1 since Shania Twain’s Ups! did so between December 7, 2002 and January 2003. It’s also the first album by a male country singer to spend its first four weeks atop the charts since Garth Brooks’ Double Live between December 5, 1998 and January 2, 1999.

While his extended stay atop the charts is definitely a highlight for Wallen’s career, it comes after a video captured him using a racial slur. He issued an apology for his use of the n-word, saying, “I’m embarrassed and sorry. I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back.” Unfortunately for him, the damage was already done as his recorded label Big Loud Records said Wallen’s behavior “will not be tolerated” and suspended his contract indefinitely.

Elsewhere on the charts, Lil Durk’s The Voice came in at No. 2 and Pop Smoke’s Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon can be spotted at No. 3. Super Bowl LV halftime show performer The Weeknd and his After Hours album posts up at No. 4 while Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die rounds out the top five.

(via Billboard)

In another timeline, we would have all seen F9 — aka Fast & Furious 9 — back in May and been happy for the first in 20-year-old series in three years. Instead thing got out of hand, and we’re still a few months away from its new release date. Who knows how safe movie theaters will even be in late May, when it’s set to finally emerge. And just to hold you over, here’s a brand new Super Bowl ad, featuring a taste of some of the craziness from the official trailer released over a year ago.

Like we said, the ad is short on some of that trailer’s more ridiculous moments. No outracting a collapsing rope bridge. No Vin Diesel appearing to catch a car. No magnet plane. (There is a building completely collapsing, though.) Instead it keeps things simple, focusing on how Diesel’s Dominic Toretto — now a farmer, it seems — gets sucked back in. That character arc has taken on some added resonance in the last year, when many of us have been afraid to go to movie theaters, to see big, proudly idiotic movies like F9 on a big screen, with great sound, surrounded by total strangers.

But for now, ignore all that. Here’s some car crashes and Charlize Theron’s new bowl cut and Diesel’s grumbling mumble. And perhaps, when it hits theaters on May 28, things will be safe enough for us to enjoy the glorious dumbness together.

Cardi B had a huge 2020, thanks to her Megan Thee Stallion collaboration “WAP,”and she was quick to release a new single for 2021, namely “Up.” The track arrived with an exciting music video, but both have been a little hard to find on iTunes. So she took to Instagram Live to express her frustrations and share some updates with followers.

“I’m really grateful for the music video, it’s turning out amazing,” she said during the livestream. “I’m really upset right now. The Devil has been working really f*cking hard, let me tell you. Because, I know people are having troubles finding the song on iTunes. I don’t even think the music video is up on iTunes yet.” She added, “I don’t know who dropped the ball and gave in or didn’t gave in or whatever to iTunes, but I’ve been working. I’ve been calling people on the label all night. I don’t know. Make sure you check it out on all streaming services. I think the song was turned in late to avoid leaks and stuff. ”

In addition to the botched video release, Cardi was recently accused of plagiarism by New Jersey rappers Mir Fontane and Mir Pesos. The duo claims she stole the hook to their August 2020 song “Stuck” to use on her “Up.” Cardi denied the accusations and said she “never Hurd [of] this man.” This was also the second time in the last 12 months that Cardi was accused of plagiarism with her music. In June 2020, an underground rapper pointed out similarities in one of her songs to that of Cardi’s verses on Offset’s “Clout” and Blueface’s “Thotiana (Remix).”

You can watch the full video above.

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

Miley Cyrus released her excellent rock-shifted album Plastic Hearts late last year, and given the constraints of the pandemic hasn’t really been able to perform a lot off the songs live since it came out. But during the pre-show activities for the Superbowl today, Miley was finally able to take the stage and air out some of her new material. One of her newer songs, “Night Crawling,” features a cameo from the legend Billy Idol, who managed to show up for an appearance during the performance.

Clad in a magenta and black cheerleader-style outfit, Miley welcomed Idol out onto the stage early into the song, sporting all leather, black and red — complete with black boots. During her performance in Tampa, Billy and Miley also worked in one of Idol’s hits, going straight into “White Wedding” after he joined her for “Night Crawling.” It was a nice moment to see the artists celebrate with songs from their own respective eras, and the chemistry on stage between these two suggests the might have more in store for us — it looked like more than just a studio meetup between two artists. If Billy goes on tour with Miley when that’s finally possible again, I’m definitely interested in that show. Joan Jett also joined her later for their collaboration, “Bad Liar.” Watch above.

The Atlanta Hawks entered this season with a lot of hope after a busy offseason that saw them add some veteran talent to their young core. So far to start the season, it’s been a bit of a struggle as they’ve gotten off to an 11-12 start, as they’ve seen a number of their players battling various injuries over the first 20-plus games of the season.

Among the bright spots have been the continued growth and development of guys like fourth-year forward John Collins and second-year forward De’Andre Hunter, who was off to a terrific start to his sophomore campaign before missing the last four games with knee discomfort. On Sunday, the team announced Hunter will require surgery on his right meniscus, with a recovery plan to be determined two weeks after surgery, indicating it could take a rather significant chunk of time before he’s able to return.

Forward De’Andre Hunter, who has missed the last four games due to right knee discomfort caused by wear and tear, will undergo a lateral meniscus arthroscopic debridement procedure on Monday at the Emory Orthopaedics & Spine Center in Atlanta. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Kyle Hammond, the Hawks’ team orthopaedist. An update on Hunter’s recovery plan will be provided approximately two weeks following the surgery.

Hunter is averaging 17.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game this season, increasing his efficiency tremendously from his rookie year with a 58.6 effective field goal percentage. The fourth-overall pick from 2019 has shown the defensive ability the Hawks drafted him for out of Virginia, and his offensive leap forward made him look the part of a key piece of their core moving forward. He’ll have to wait some time now to be able to build on that strong start, and for the Hawks their already thin wing rotation with Bogdan Bogdanovic injured will continue to be an issue, with Cam Reddish, Tony Snell, and Solomon Hill all picking up more minutes.

Remember Donald Trump? It’s been nearly a month since Twitter permanently suspended the former president, and things have been a lot calmer, quieter, even nicer since. (Ditto the other platforms that banned him, though Twitter was clearly his fave.) Turns out not having a loose cannon constantly declaring crazy things that might jeopardize your life makes for a more pleasant social media experience! But according to one of his aides, there’s another person who’s enjoyed Trump not being on Twitter: Donald Trump. Thing is, pretty much no one believed that was true.

“The president has said he feels happier now than he’s been in some time,” former campaign strategist Jason Miller told the UK’s Sunday Times (as caught by The New York Post). “He’s said that not being on social media, and not being subject to the hateful echo chamber that social media too frequently becomes, has actually been good.”

Another person who’s allegedly enjoyed it: his spouse. “That’s something the First Lady [Melania] has backed up as well. She has said she loves it, that he’s much happier and is enjoying himself much more,” Miller claimed, adding that it was “the first time in years that I saw the president truly relaxed.”

Miller made another bold claim, asserting that Trump’s four years in office, which saw him get impeached on two separate occasions, were the “single most successful first term in US presidential history.”

That’s all big if true, but a lot of people didn’t think it was. In fact, many simply called BS.

Although if it’s true that the president is happier, then a lot of people agreed, if not in the same way.

Some could even relate, sort of.

Others imagined how boring his life has become post-presidency and post-social media raging.

It’s a hard line to swallow, especially considering Trump was reportedly so desperate to get back online that he tried to buy a stake in Parler, the “free speech” social media service that was taken over by the far right and other assorted miscreants. But we all know what happened there.

(Via The Sunday Times and The New York Post)

Dealing with a home intruder is something no one even wants to imagine, but Suzanne Somers certainly did her best, giving us a how-to in how not to freak the hell out should it happen. And it was all captured on one of the most bizarre Facebook Live streams you’ll ever see.

As Deadline detailed, Somers was live-streaming about a line of cosmetics on Friday when she heard strange sounds coming from somewhere in her home.

The 74-year-old Somers was on Facebook Live Friday evening when the incident occurred. She paused during the recording and told nearby husband, Alan Hamel, that she heard strange noises off-camera.

While Hamel assured, “It’s just a frog,” Somers turned to her left after hearing more noise and viewed the intruder, who remained off-camera during their conversation. The intruder was described as “near-naked” in reports.

The man, who was not shown on camera, starts talking and Somers turns her head away from the livestream to speak to him. He claimed he was “terrified” of something and, when asked why he was inside her home, claimed “there were ghosts following me.” Despite the potentially dangerous situation, Somers calmly suggested the intruder simply leave the way they came in.

“You seem like a very nice person, but you shouldn’t be here,” Somers said plainly. She’s clearly a bit alarmed by the whole thing, but did well not to escalate the situation that could have been much worse.

He claimed to have brought the couple a “gift,” but both quickly declined.

Carpenter then said, “God bless you” before leaving the property. An unflustered Somers then continued with her video.

Police later caught up with the intruder and advised him not to trespass on private property, but no citation was issued.

It almost seems like it’s all too good to be true, both in how easily the situation was diffused and that it was all caught on camera. But thankfully everyone’s OK and Somers smartly and quickly talked the intruder into leaving without anything bad happening.

[via Deadline]

Megan Thee Stallion stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show this past Thursday, where she joined forces with the talk show host to help out someone in need. The lucky woman, Jamelmenique Hoy, was invited to DeGeneres’ show after she sent the talk show host a letter that detailed her recent experiences as a nurse during the pandemic. She told Ellen that she volunteered to move from Shelby, Mississippi to Houston with her five children last July to help treat coronavirus patients and since then, they’ve all been tucked up in a rather small one-bedroom hotel room. Much to her surprise, Megan popped in, announcing she was giving the nurse a donation of $50,000.

“My grandmother was a teacher,” Megan said shortly after she joined the show. “She always told me, ‘Girl, you better get that degree,’ so that’s number 1. When I first went off to college I thought I wanted to be a nurse, and I started going to the classes and everything, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is not for me, I want to drop out of school, school is so hard.’”

Hoy is also currently pursuing her Master’s, on top of her duties as a nurse. “You have such a beautiful family,” Megan told her. “I thought I wanted to be a nurse at one point in time, but that is really hard, and I just feel we need to give you all the praise.”

You can watch the whole ordeal go down in the video above.

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

You’re going to have to wait over half a year to see Timothée Chalamet headline the latest take on Frank Herbert’s Dune, but his latest reboot is here right now. The acclaimed young actor has taken on the role of Edgar, the son of Edward Scissorhands — the pointy-handed outcast from Tim Burton’s 1990 suburban fantasy starring Johnny Depp. But like the Wayne’s World revival that’s actually just a commercial for Uber Eats, this one isn’t a movie. It, too, is merely a Super Bowl ad.

The spot finds Chalamet, with his big, floppy hair and his vaguely alien looks, making a fine scion to Depp’s Edward, going about his teenage life, finding life difficult because he, too, has scissors for hands. Winona Ryder returns as Edward’s love interest Kim Boggs, which we suppose means the two procreated at some point — although it’s not clear how that works, given that he’s an artificial humanoid, but apparently Edgar was born with metal hands, too. Maybe best not to think about the logistics!

Anyway, there’s some jokes about Edgar destroying footballs and working at sandwich shop, but it all eventually leads to him driving a LYRIQ, the new line of cars from Cadillac with some next-level hands-free driving capabilities. But much like the fake “Crocodile” Dundee reboot with Danny McBride and Chris Hemsworth that turned out to also just be a commercial, this is actually good casting and not a terrible idea. Maybe Tim Burton should come back with an Edgar Scissorhands movie. And while we’re at it, maybe make that Wayne’s World reunion something more than a commercial for the gig economy.

You can watch the ad in the video above.

(Via THR)

At the beginning of December, the FBI put out a message that revealed Brooklyn rapper Casanova was wanted in connection to a gang charged with racketeering and murder. At the time, the statement revealed that 18 members of the “Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation” gang were arrested on the aforementioned charges, and just a couple of days later, Casanova surrendered at the Midtown South precinct in Manhattan.

His bail was set for $2.5 million and while he tried to pay it off in order to be free while he awaited charges, Manhattan Federal Judge Philip Halpern denied his bond and the rapper has been locked up ever since. Just a few weeks after this ruling, the rapper is now facing discipline from jail officials according to TMZ.

The discipline comes as a result of a February 3 Instagram video that sees Casanova participating in the “Junebug Challenge.” This TikTok-born trend portrays participants doing the popular dance in random locations as SpotemGottem’s “Beat Box 2” plays in the background. According to XXL, the video was recorded by the rapper’s girlfriend Swaggy Jazzy during a recent jail visit she made to see him.

Unfortunately, recording videos and taking pictures during visits are prohibited by the jail, and as a result, he reportedly had his visitation rights stripped because of the video. In addition to that, he faces additional punishment for not wearing a mask during the visit, a requirement for inmates at the jail.

You can watch Casanova’s video above.

(via TMZ)