Month: February 2021

Mayans M.C.‘s second-season finale aired November 2019, and we’ve been waiting all this time to find out the identity of the SAMCRO member who was killed at the Vatos Malditos M.C. party. Well, I have good and bad news for you all at once because the Season 3 trailer has arrived, but obviously, FX isn’t about to tell us the answer to that burning question yet. We do get to see a lot of action, though, including EZ and Angel discussing how to clean up the massive messes plaguing the club, and since EZ is now a fully-patched member, he can stress out even more this season. Yay!

This season looks to be a lot less about personal conflict (all that drama between Dita and EZ’s family) and more about club maneuvering that could lead to war — between the two rival M.C.s and between the Mayans and the Galindo cartel — as they also deal with life (and death) on both sides of the border. So, yes, it’s gonna be stressful and dark, but this trailer does show EZ lightening up (for at least a few moments) with his new love interest while Emily’s living her own life (taking a swim and apparently cozying up with Miguel while hopefully not thinking about that damn agripark). Coco’s going off the deep end, and we can probably expect Angel to follow, given what happened with Adelita, and showrunner Elgin James is officially taking the show into the post-Kurt Sutter era of the Sons Of Anarchy franchise. Previously, James gave some clues involving one of my favorite words, “reckoning.” Via EW:

“Season 3 picks up just a few months after the slaughter of the Vatos Malditos. EZ, now fully patched, struggles to find his footing within the club’s hierarchy and, haunted by his murder of Dita, finds himself torn between darkness and the gravitational pull of his new love interest. Angel, gutted after having Adelita and his child ripped away from him, loses himself in sex, booze, and violence, until a shot at redemption lands on his doorstep…. [G]hosts of the past come calling for all of the M.C., both individually and as a club; from past loss and loves, to a dead SOA member buried in the Mexican desert. This is a season about reckoning. This is the season we get to know these characters beyond the kutte. This is the season we tell their stories.”

Previously, J.D. Pardo (who portrays EZ) called this season “cinematic, raw, unfiltered, touching your soul and breaking your heart at the same time,” and this trailer fits that bill. Yet I’m still hung up on the mystery of that dead SAMCRO member. As our own Dustin Rowles previously noted, Clayton Cardenas (who plays Angel) hypothesized that it could be Chibs or Happy, but it makes no sense for this to be Chibs (because there’s no way they could dump him in the desert without someone noticing right away). I do not want this to be Happy (because who would take care of his dog, Opie?), but it could be Montez… possibly. Heck, I would not mind if Kim Coates made a cameo as a corpse. That doesn’t sound possible to bring Tig into this rivalry — there’s absolutely no reason for Tig to be involved with VM — but hey, I’d be alright with that twisted-logic outcome.

Mayans M.C. rides again on March 16.

In what may eventually be known as the “weirdest flex of all time,” MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is reportedly ecstatic over the $1.3 billion lawsuit Dominion just slapped him with.

Lindell, who’s dedicated most of his time recently to spewing conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election, visited Steve Bannon’s podcast — which is titled War Room Pandemic … because, of course — this morning to share how thrilled he was at the news of this latest lawsuit. Dominion has been handing out billion-dollar defamation filings to some of Trump’s favorite voter-fraud-spouting mouthpieces including lawyer Sidney Powell. Lindell is the latest lackey to land in their crosshairs after he crafted a bizarre “documentary” that claimed to have evidence of Dominion tampering with its own machines in Georgia. Most of the claims within the film had already been debunked but that hasn’t stopped Lindell from working on more docs he alleges will expose the tech company. A $1.3 billion lawsuit might change that, or it might just add fuel to the out-of-touch-with-reality fire Lindell seems to be kindling.

In his talk with Bannon, the business mogul seemed in good spirits, despite the announced legal proceedings.

“So they finally did! It’s a beautiful day here for America,” Lindell said. “I want everybody to know that this is a great day because the truth is going to come out. I don’t care how long it takes and how much money it costs.” Lindell went on to taunt national news outlets like CNN and Fox News, saying “I dare CNN, Fox, Newsmax, any of you guys to have me on TV today to talk about Dominion.”

Either that pillow money is really good, or Lindell is even more delusional than we thought. Either way, if any news shows want to contribute to Dominion’s case, granting this guy airtime so he can dig himself a deeper grave seems like an option.

The premiere of the Billie Eilish documentary The World’s A Little Blurry is only a few days away, as it is set to debut on Apple TV+ this Friday, February 26. Now it turns out the artist will be marking the occasion with a special event leading up to the premiere.

The night before, starting at 9 p.m. ET, Eilish will be hosting a global live premiere event that will be available to stream for free via Apple TV, Apple Music, and Eilish’s YouTube channel. On the schedule is a stripped-down performance from Eilish, some video previews of the film, an interview with director RJ Cutler, and an “intimate conversation” with Eilish, all of which will be hosted by Apple Music’s Zane Lowe.

Ahead of both the film and the premiere event, Eilish has shared the audio of a live rendition of “Ilomilo” — the song from which the movie’s name originates — as it is heard in the film.

A new trailer from the documentary dropped at the start of the month, and in it, Eilish’s mother Maggie Baird discusses how it’s a “horrible time” to be a teenager, saying.”I honestly don’t know how any artist of any age is doing it without a parent. It is a horrible time to be a teenager. Kids are depressed.”

Listen to the live version of “Ilomilo” above.

The Hi-Fi streaming experience has been touted before, with Jay-Z’s streaming service Tidal initially orienting their messaging around a lossless streaming tier, and of course, there’s Neil Young’s obsession with his Pono player and high-definition digital archives. But today, Spotify announced they will be joining the lossless streaming world too, letting Spotify Premium subscribers upgrade to Spotify HiFi, which will “deliver music in CD-quality, lossless audio format.”

According to Spotify, this has been one of the most-requested additions, and the rollout was announced with the help of Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas. “High quality audio means more info, there are things you will not hear if you don’t have a good sound system. It’s really important just because we make music that [we] want to be heard in the way that it was made,” Eilish said. Her brother added: “Anytime anyone really takes time to sit down with our music and listen to it in a really high quality way it’s very exciting because I know they are hearing everything that we intended them to.”

The service will roll out in select markets later this year, though no pricing info has been released yet. It’s a big day for the streaming platform considering they also announced a brand new exclusive podcast with Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama.

The Atlanta Hawks are trying to pull themselves out of what has been a season-long funk and picked up a big win in their quest to do so on Sunday as they beat the Denver Nuggets 123-115 at home to move to 13-17 on the season.

The Hawks had expectations of a playoff berth coming into this season in large part due to spending big in free agency on Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari, and Rajon Rondo, among other smaller signings. Unfortunately, just about every player they signed this offseason has been on the shelf for various injuries, with Bogdanovic and Rondo currently out, Kris Dunn having missed the entire season, and Gallinari still working his way back into form.

Gallinari has struggled to find his consistent form that made him such a key piece of the Thunder’s playoff team last year, and has looked especially slow on the ball, even understanding he’s never been a particularly quick player. One of the best examples of Gallinari’s struggles to create space in isolation came on Monday with one of the funniest sequences you’ll ever see, as he attempts to draw a foul on a three, gets stripped instead, grabs the ball, pulls up for a shot, reconsiders and throws himself a pass off of the backboard, and stumbles, somehow, into a foul as he falls down.

On principle, the referees should not have rewarded this effort with free throws, but kudos to Gallinari for the persistence and effort, I guess. He finished the game with 12 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes of play, as he continues to be eased back into the rotation, and the Hawks will need him to find his form as the season wears on, particularly given their depth issue on the wing due to injuries. Once fully healthy, one would expect him to look much more like the Gallinari of old, but for now, he should maybe take it easy on isolation attempts.

TMZ reports Trick Daddy, who was arrested in Miami on DUI and cocaine possession charges this past January, has pled guilty to cocaine possession in exchange for a reduced sentence. He’ll get credit for time served, while the DUI charge has been dropped. The amount of cocaine was small enough that it resulted in “a very low-level,” third-degree felony, with no additional probation required. There was, however, some community service tacked-on, which Trick was apparently happy to oblige.

Trick Daddy’s attorney told TMZ, “As part of the plea he was also able to give back to the community he loves so much with a donation to Camillus House homeless shelter.” Trick was arrested, according to the Miami Herald, after police responded to reports of a dark Range Rover running red lights and hitting road signs. Trick Daddy failed a field sobriety test, while the cocaine was found on a dollar bill among his possessions. His bond was set at $5,000 for the cocaine charges and $1,000 for the DUI.

Trick was recently the focus of an episode of Uproxx’s React Like You Know that saw up-and-coming young stars like 2KBaby, NLE Choppa, and Shordie Shordie offer their thoughts on the Miami veteran’s classic 1998 video “Nann N****” with Trina.

Spotify announced an exclusive new podcast today with not one but two of America’s favorite dads. Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama will be co-hosting the Spotify exclusive, as reported by The Verge, a program that is obviously called Renegades: Born In The USA. The show’s description in the app describes it as a conversation between the two about “about their lives, music, and enduring love of America — despite all its challenges,” and a press release noted it will cover “race, fatherhood, marriage, and the state of America.” The show premieres today with two episodes available for streaming, and the first season will include eight episodes total.

This news comes on the heels of the streaming platform’s success with the former First Lady’s podcast — The Michelle Obama Podcast — which debuted on Spotify exclusively last summer and became the biggest Spotify Original show in the platform’s history. Both podcasts are part of a bigger 2019 deal between The Obama’s production company, Higher Ground, and Spotify, guaranteeing the political power couple will create shows only for Spotify. Though it’s worth noting that The Michelle Obama Podcast was later opened up to other streaming services like Apple Podcasts later on.

No word yet if Malia and Sasha have any shows in the works, though Malia is obviously busy at the moment with her new gig writing on a show for Donald Glover. Check out the first two episodes of Renegades here.

Shordie Shordie and Murda Beatz‘s Memory Lane EP is slated to drop this Friday (Feb. 26), and they have already unleashed three singles from the project including “Doctors,” “Good Evening” and “Love” featuring Trippie Redd. Speaking with Uproxx, the super dynamic duo shared with us what else fans can expect from their collaborative tape and the special meaning behind its title Memory Lane.

“Memory Lane. It takes us back. It takes us back to memories or real music,” Shordie revealed of the project’s title during a Zoom call. “Because I been picturing bro and hearing bro talk. It brings me back to real music. It brings me back to not really caring about streaming, not really caring about who got higher status this week. Nah, real music. Push out real music to the point that people don’t have no other way to gravitate towards it. They don’t have a choice but to gravitate towards it.”

“There’s not a lot of people who are really storytelling nowadays,” the Grammy Award-nominated hitmaker chimed in. “A lot of music on the project, like even ‘Doctors,’ he’s really telling a story if you really pay attention it’s like he’s actually telling a story of what he did and that’s cool. You got to appreciate a rapper in 2020 that can story tell.”

Needless to say, Shordie’s fans are hungry for the tape, which is sure to be filled with lots of melodies and vivid rhymes.

“It’s going to be something different that people wouldn’t expect from me and Murda,” the Baltimore native said.

“It’s like when you go to the IMAX theatre and you’re watching a movie,” Murda Beatz added before Shordie concluded, “Every song has a beginning to an end.”

Check out the full Shordie Shordie and Murda Beatz interview below.

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

For nearly its entire 40-year history, hip-hop has been just as defined by intergenerational conflict as it has its youthful energy and rebellious spirit. It was founded by teens in New York rejecting the constraints of their parents’ music, causing no end to the consternation of elder generations back then — a tradition that continues to this day.

However, as much as those early rap records — and the ones of today — are a repudiation of whatever conventions defined “grown-up” music at the time, they are also influenced by and tied to those standards as well. The first rap records sampled disco, funk, and jazz, even as they strove to create something new and different. Today, modern artists sample their predecessors, borrow their flows, and pay lyrical homage without thinking about it, like it’s second nature.

And as much as the elder generation has been bemused by and berated youth movements, there have also always been those who have sought to guide, instruct, and encourage the “kids.” For every J. Cole, there’s a Jay-Z; for every Kendrick Lamar, there’s a Dr. Dre.

For Queens, New York poet, drummer, and rapper Kumbaya, there’s Pharoahe Monch, the veteran syllable slayer perhaps still best known for his Japanese monster movie-sampling 1999 hit “Simon Says.” Beginning his career in the early ’90s as part of the duo Organized Konfusion, Pharoahe has evolved and persevered through three decades of hip-hop, making him perhaps one of the best-suited artists to mentor an unconventional up-and-comer like Kumbaya.

The rap elder statesman and his protege joined Uproxx via Zoom to talk about the roots of Black music that have always tied generations together, the evolution of Black music through its myriad forms, the legacy both artists hope to leave behind, and the responsibility artists have to the world around them.

So, first of all, I just want to say, thank you both for agreeing to participate in this discussion. We’re talking about the rich history of Black music and its impact on American culture and the roots of Black music and so forth. A great place to start that discussion is when you started becoming aware of the differences between Black music and mainstream music, and what your first experiences with Black music really were.

Pharoahe Monch: I guess my first experience was in a church. With my parents being from the South, it’s like a mainstay. So, very early on, even in that sense, I would notice the patterns and stomp my feet to the various rhythms.

Kumbaya: When it came to church, my family didn’t have a tradition. Sometimes we went. Sometimes we didn’t. So, I think my first experience was kind of just digging through my mom’s CDs. She always had a whole bunch of CDs on deck, and I would just, on my off time, I would dig through them. I didn’t know what I was looking for. I was just looking for the most attractive CD cover, and I just popped it in. And I had no idea what I would, who these people were, but I just knew I really enjoyed what I was hearing.

I remember one time, she came in the house and she gave me a DMX cassette, and she said somebody had given it to her. And it was the one where he had all the blood on the cover [Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood] and my mom said, “Somebody gave this to me in the street.” She goes, “Here you go. I think this is gospel music.” And I was like, “I don’t think so.”

Well… He prays on it.

Kumbaya: I was like, “Ma, this man barking. I don’t think this is ‘gospel,’” but I listened to that front and back. So it was just those hands-off experiences. But as far as the differences, I was always told that it was all our music. All of the genres came from us. So for me, it’s just like, I see the differences as far as who gets to have their music on the forefront more often. I see that. But as far as the sound, it’s ours.

Pharoahe Monch: Even on the DMX joint, it’s intertwined, because he hits those things like a pastor, and then he’s praying on there. And he would pray on stage and sh*t like that. My whole household was just a plethora of different vibes. My mom was the gospel. My pop was jazz. Brother was the rock. Sister was the Jacksons, and so forth. But within all those genres, you can hear the originality and the origin.

I find that interesting because even going back to your time on Rawkus Records, your labelmate Mos Def [Yasiin Bey] made the song “Rock N Roll”: “Elvis Presley ain’t got no soul, Chuck Berry is rock and roll.” He was talking to the roots of where the music comes from. And I’m really interested in how music evolves and how you translate those influences through your own music. For instance, Pharoahe, you have, “Hallelujah, Pharoahe Monch’ll do ya.”

Pharoahe Monch: It’s funny you bring up Mos. I remember one time we did MTV, and his mom was managing him at the time. And he and his mom was telling me how his grandmother liked that verse. She was like, “Oh, he killed it with that ‘hallelujah’ part.” At that moment, in that piece, I am trying to bring about that same vibration and let it resonate on some Martin Luther King sh*t in terms of the tone, and in terms of the power there, with sh*t that moved me.

I used to study what gives you goosebumps. Is it the truth in the words? Is it the tone? Tonality in the line? What was it about the King speech that makes everybody’s hair stand up? What is it about Chuck D that can make your hair stand up when he hits you with a bit of truth? With the tone on that sh*t back then, I would be like, “Yo, this is different.”

All those things are soul to me. And all those things are Black to me. You have to study that sh*t to dig down into the roots of making people feel you beyond the f*cking content, which is why I’m a big fan of Kumbaya. It’s a combination of truth and pocket tone. As an MC, you don’t say somebody is nice unless they can command all of those kinds of elements. I think if you study Black music, you’re constantly chasing the elements.

Kumbaya: First of all, for Pharaohe to say he’s a fan of mine blows me away.

I just really like words, and I knew that from an early age. My mom knew that about me. I like to read, and I like to write. And so, I would just naturally gravitate towards voices that made me feel something. I say to myself, “Oh, I need to study how to be like this.” That’s when I started to realize that you start to take on the elements that you are drawn to, that you’re attracted to. So, if as a rapper, you’re just attracted to the flash, then you’re going to take on the element of the flash and ignore all the other stuff. But if you’re attracted to the tone, if you’re attracted to the presence, if you’re attracted to the look on somebody’s face, you’re going to start to absorb that stuff and put it back out in your own way.

As we’re talking about the impact that hip-hop music or Black music can have on culture and have on a person… knowing that impact, do artists have a responsibility to address that or use that?

Pharoahe Monch: I think for me, my overall feeling about artists is all about freedom. So, if you want to make some f*ck sh*t or some dance sh*t or some good time sh*t, all I want from that is to be inspired and motivated. It doesn’t all have to be revolutionary in the sense of pushing a Black agenda forward. It can be revolutionary in how it inspired me to think about doing that or to inspire the next person to think about doing it.

For me, it’s important to have the total spectrum of freedom but to also focus on leaving gems and continuing the legacy because this is what we come from. This is what we gathered this energy from, so it’s only right to give it back

Kumbaya, I absolutely heard a lot of what he was talking about in the music of yours that I listen to, but it’s being translated through a different lens. Pharoahe’s from a different generation. Kumbaya, you’re of course a little bit younger. What’s your take on the artist’s responsibility, and how do you think your individual lens makes it unique and so important to make sure that that perspective gets heard?

Kumbaya: At a basic level, we’re all the same. We’re all human beings and there’s no feeling that you’re going to feel, there’s no feeling that Pharoahe’s going to feel, that I’m going to be foreign to. There’s no emotion or anything that you’ve experienced, that I’m not going to understand. I may not agree but I’m not going to not understand it.

So I just feel like naturally as human beings, no matter what an artist does, no matter what they portray, whether they even try to be responsible or not, somebody is going to feel them. They’re going to resonate with somebody. So I think an artist’s responsibility is to just project whatever it is that you truly would like to project, which is why it’s important to know yourself and to stick by your stuff.

Pharoahe Monch: And you take the time to find your voice so you can get to those inner places. When you think about it in that sense it still goes back to the ancestors, not to get on some spiritual sh*t…

Kumbaya: No, let’s get on it.

Pharoahe Monch: When you tap into that sh*t, you tap into a vibration that’s undeniable every single time. It might not be for everybody but that sh*t’s going to resonate crazy when you dig that deep.

Kumbaya: I was listening to Ahmad Jamal yesterday and for like two weeks now I’ve been replaying this one song, “Poinciana.”I can’t stop listening to that song. I have no idea why but it makes me feel a way. I don’t even know what the title of that song means.

For a very long time, I was very angry. I was a very angry Black person for a very long time, rightfully so, once I started to learn about this system in place against me. I got very upset and I had to work through that because it started to affect my behavior for a reason that was unhelpful to me. So, I had to address that and I had to go and be on my own and work through that and find that voice so that I could express this in a more palatable way.

So I guess just to kind of wrap things up a little bit. Of course, history is always changing. It’s always moving forward. Right now, we are making history. So, I guess the obvious question is how do you want history to see you?

Pharoahe Monch: It’s simple for me, man. A lot of the joy I’m getting is learning and it’s dope to know that it’s a continuing f*cking thing that’s ongoing. The reason I personally push forward is that you can go back and listen to a verse or a song like Ahmad Jamal and get a whole new interpretation of that sh*t than when the first time you heard it. I think that’s part of the lesson of why you layer shit because the history of our message is that this shit needs to travel beyond our years.

If you look at the Black Messiah joint and Fred Hampton and the Panthers, Malcolm, Martin, at some point they all literally said, “I might not get there with you but this sh*t is going to resonate,” and not in the corny sense. You know, people are becoming more aware of the hardcore harsh reality of how they looked at the ugliness of this country. People always promote the “I have a dream” sh*t, but as we see now, Martin was like, “Yo, this sh*t is f*cked up. It’s f*cking two Americas and y’all need to be called out on that sh*t.”

So, woven into the Black experience of the music that I think resonates with artists like ourselves. That’s what makes this sh*t last and that’s what makes this sh*t a learning experience.

Kumbaya: I feel like I’m kind of new in the game so I actually never thought about that, what I would want to be remembered for. I know that the impact that I want to make is I want to encourage people to remember, as Toni Morrison said, “Words are things”. They’re real and they get into the walls and they get into the clothes and they get into you. I guess I would like to remind people of the power of them — particularly the power of the words that you speak to yourself because those are the most important words, the ones that we don’t hear.

I just want to remind people, “Your ideas are real. They’re real ideas. And if you feel passionate about something, go for it. Make that move.”

Pharoahe Monch’s A Magnificent Day For An Exorcism is out now via Fat Beats. Get it here. Check out Kumbaya on Soundcloud.

The Philadelphia 76ers entered this season with renewed hope after an offseason of pretty major shakeup from the top down in the organization. They hired Daryl Morey to run their basketball operations, brought in Doc Rivers as their new coach, and retooled their roster with shooters like Seth Curry and Danny Green to better fit with their core of Tobias Harris, Ben Simmons, and Joel Embiid.

The first name on that list of core players is often left off, as the conversation in Philadelphia has long centered on the young star duo of Simmons and Embiid and whether the two could co-exist on a winner. However, Harris holds a lot of the keys to whether that can happen, as he was the one they invested heavily in to be the balance to those two on the wing and this season he’s having one of the best of his career, back under the guidance of his former coach in L.A. in Rivers.

Harris is averaging 20.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game on 51.3/40.3/89.4 shooting, which are similar to his career year in 2018 with the Clippers that had Philly wanting to trade for him. Harris has taken this step forward in lock-step with the rest of the team. It’s hard to know exactly who is pulling who along, but there’s no doubt that Harris’ improvement has been a big reason for the Sixers jumping out to a 20-11 start, good for tops in the East.

And yet, Harris isn’t discussed often as a true third star for the Sixers in the same vein as the way the Nets new Big 3 is discussed, and in a recent interview with The Athletic’s Sam Amick, he explained how that frustrates him at times.

Yeah, you know, that shit pisses me off. I ain’t even gonna lie. But I also kind of get it because that’s kind of been me my whole life. …

I’ve come to grips that I’m not the flashiest player, not the sought-after hype machine type guy, you know? When I came out of college, I remember telling my older brother when I was going through all these workouts, saying, ‘Yo, I’m gonna go lottery.’ And he said to me, ‘I don’t think so.’ I’d say, ‘What do you mean? Why not?’ He was just like, ‘You just don’t have the hype like the other guys.’ … But he was actually 100 percent correct, you know what I’m saying? For me, that was just one of those things where I was like, ‘Man, I’m not that guy but I also know that I’m a winner and I know how to win and I know how to be a winner for my guys.’ At the end of the day, that’s all that matters to me, really. But I do hear it, and it does get to me at times, but I have to stay rooted in who I am and what I want to be known for at the end of the day.

It’s understandable why Harris would feel slighted by the way the Sixers are discussed, which is so often Embiid, Simmons, and everyone else. He’s having a tremendous season, likely just below All-Star level for this year but on the cusp, and that is a huge deal for this Sixers team. Still, when discussing “Big Threes,” he’s not the type of guy that’s going to often get brought up in that conversation because he hasn’t yet proven to be able to play at that star level when it counts the most.

The Nets have two MVPs and a consistent All-Star performer who’s played a huge role on a title team, so naturally they’ll be discussed differently than the Sixers. Philadelphia, meanwhile, can have a sensational regular season and the same questions about the playoffs will linger, and until they get over that hump and prove themselves as a contender come playoff time by winning some of the series they’ve come up short in, the recognition for Harris and the belief in Simmons and Embiid as a duo won’t come.