The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards kicks off this weekend, which means Phoebe Bridgers is getting ready to watch the ceremony as a first-time nominee. She’s up for four Grammys this year, thanks to her acclaimed sophomore album Punisher, including Best New Artist, Best Alternative Album, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance for her track “Kyoto.” Ahead of this weekend’s ceremony, Bridgers sat down with venerable singer Elton John to discuss her nominations — and John really wants her to win.

Bridgers was a recent guest on John’s radio show Rocket Hour. Speaking about Punisher, John praised it as “a wonderful record of melancholy.” “Your album is like an old friend. It’s like a Tapestry,” he said, comparing it to Carole King’s iconic 1971 effort. “I have records in my life that are reference points and I think Punisher‘s one of those reference points. I can’t pay you a bigger compliment than that.”

Closing off their conversation, John wished Bridgers luck with the ceremony this weekend by saying he’ll “hit someone” if she doesn’t end up winning. “Good luck with the Grammys,” he said. “If you don’t win at least one, I’m going to hit someone.”

John isn’t the only legendary musician Bridgers has worked with recently. Earlier this week, the singer announced that she’ll be joining on a collaborative version of Paul McCartney’s McCartney III, where she’ll cover his track “Seize The Day.”

Bridger’s episode of Rocket Hour premieres on March 13 at noon ET, so when it’s available, check it out here.

It’s not often you see a bowling alley promotional video in general, much less one that grabs the attention of millions of people. But that’s exactly what a video made for Bryant-Lake Bowl, a bowling alley in Minneapolis, has done. Not only has the spot gone viral on social media, but it’s also caught the eye of top Hollywood directors who are praising the tricky direction and camerawork it involves.

The almost-90-second footage begins with a drone camera hovering above the street outside the bowling alley before swooping down through the front doors and zooming around inside the building. It starts off “Okay, this is cool,” but by the time it’s halfway through it’s clear that this isn’t your average drone camera work.

With impressive speed, we’re taken through small openings above the bowling lanes, back behind the pin machines, through narrow corridors no one ever gets to see, under people’s legs, through people’s conversations, around the bar and theater, and ultimately right smack dab in the middle of some flying bowling pins. It’s impressive.

So impressive, in fact, that it caught the eye of Lee Unkrich (director of the hit Pixar film Coco), who retweeted the video from James Gunn (director of Guardians of the Galaxy), with both men sharing their gobsmacked reactions to it.

The surprising cinematic hit comes from Minneapolis-based Rally Studios and was created by cinematographer Jay Christensen and directed by Anthony Jaska. According to the Star Tribune, Christensen and Jaska made the short film to help bring some attention to local businesses that have been struggling.

“If you think about all the small businesses and COVID, their business has been hit, obviously,” Christensen said. “I would go in there and notice that it was pretty empty.” The pair reached out to the bowling alley owner with the idea of showcasing the uniqueness of the place.

The speedy tour in, out, up, and around the various parts of the bowling alley is dizzyingly cool, but the fact that it was all shot in one take is what gives it that “unbelievable” feel.

“It is a true one-take,” Jaska told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “There’s no CGI. That was kind of interesting. But also the positive nature of it — people seeing the skill that it takes and the unique ability it takes to combine the skill of an amazing pilot, the technology of a drone, and the story that can actually be told through a one-take.”

The perfect shot came after 10 or 12 tries in a 2-hour period. They shot the film after hours (for COVID safety) on March 2 and added audio after the fact, since the drone’s buzzing sound interfered with the natural sounds of the bowling alley.

According to the Tribune, Christensen had been doing lots of work with FPV (first-person view) drone camera work since last spring, but he’d never shot drone footage indoors before, which makes the feat all the more incredible. But as remarkable as the camerawork inside the bowling alley is, he said the most difficult shot was actually the very first one—getting through the front door. It was a windy day, he had to make sure no pedestrians were around, and he had to maneuver around a parking meter that was right where he wanted the drone to be.

The hard work paid off, though. Todd Vaziri, a visual effects artist who has worked on blockbuster film franchises such as Star Wars, Star Trek, and Marvel, tweeted: “This kind of wonderful photographic innovation adds to the language and vocabulary of cinema. Just beautiful.”

Director James Gunn not only praised the footage as “incredible” and “stupendous,” but he also said he wanted the duo to join his crew in London when they shoot Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Christensen and Jaska said they’ve had multiple directors reach out to them, which has come as a surprise. When the Tribune asked about the possibility of working with James Gunn, Jaska said it “seems crazy, but who knows?”

Talent is talent, and sometimes it’s found in the oddest of places. Looking forward to seeing where these guys’ drone work takes them as they explore future projects with the best in the business.

Non-fungible tokens are all the rage these days, as NBA Top Shot has helped usher the age of vast NFT speculation without necessarily needing to know much about cryptocurrency of the blockchain those pieces of media are built upon. Plenty of parties have gotten involved in minting and selling NFTs, which are basically special versions of digital goods with serial numbers or limited supply to create value in the process.

A digital, one-of-a-kind version of Jack Dorsey’s first tweet, for example, sold for millions earlier this week. And while some of the biggest NFT buyers are, perhaps fittingly, people who are already invested in NFTs, interest in the market continues to grow. We’re quite literally seeing memes go up for sale, netting thousands of real dollars in currency in the process. Perhaps the most notable meme of the moment is a throwback: Bad Luck Brian.

As The Verge reported earlier in the week, the sale was actually orchestrated by the creator of another meme: Nyan Cat. Chris Torres put together a number of popular memes from a decade ago and orchestrated their sale as well. The sale took place on Foundation, an online marketplace for art and NFTs that’s seen a surge in interest in recent days. And Bad Luck Brian went for 20 Etherium, a cryptocurrency that currently puts the cost of a once-viral high school yearbook photo at about $35,000.

As Business Insider pointed out, there’s also a Scumbag Steve NFT for sale on Foundation, if you need to jump in on the meme craze before it’s too late.

[via Business Insider]

After initially being postponed, the 63rd Annual Grammys Award Ceremony kicks off this weekend. Leading the nominations is Beyonce, who is up for nine Grammys including both Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year. The additional nominations makes her the most Grammy-nominated female artist in history with an impressive 79 nominations. But despite her recognition, Beyonce will not be seen performing at this year’s event.

This weekend’s ceremony will be taking place in person across five small stages situated around LA in order to minimize interactions. Several artists have been booked to perform at the ceremony, including Cardi B, Bad Bunny, Doja Cat, Taylor Swift, and Dua Lipa. One major star not on the list, though, is Beyonce.

The Recording Academy claims that they extended an offer to Beyonce to perform, but she declined. In a statement to the LA Times, Recording Academy interim chief executive Harvey Mason said, “It’s unfortunate because she’s such a big part of the Recording Academy. We absolutely wish we had her onstage.”

Neither Beyonce nor the Recording Academy has addressed her reason for turning down the event. It may have to do with the concern over attending an in-person event, but it could also be due to the backlash the Recording Academy has faced this past year. Back in January of 2020, former Grammys CEO Deborah Dugan alleged that the Recording Academy has a history of sexual misconduct and corruption, and she wasn’t the only one to say so. After being snubbed of an award this year, The Weeknd slammed the ceremony as corrupt and called for greater transparency in the nomination process. Other artists like Ellie Goulding, Zayn, Fiona Apple, and Lil Wayne have made similar, disdainful remarks about the Grammys.

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

Popstar and actress Jennifer Lopez has reportedly broken up with Major League Baseball player Alex Rodriguez, according to Page Six. The gossip site’s sources say that the former couple has canceled their wedding as Rodriguez prepares for spring training and Lopez shoots her next movie — ironically titled Shotgun Wedding. The former couple previously postponed the wedding twice, apparently got things back on track, but ultimately decided that a split was for the best. They originally announced their engagement in 2019, after dating for two years.

J-Lo told Access Hollywood about the postponements in December, telling the show, “We had to cancel the wedding because of COVID, because of the quarantine. And we actually did it twice, which people don’t know.”

At the time, she said the goal was to “wait it out,” insisting “everything’s cool and it’ll happen when the time is right. I feel like it’s not a huge priority to go and have a big wedding right now, that’s not what life is about.” Page Six posits that the breaking point was a rumor of infidelity between Rodriguez and reality-show star Madison LeCroy. LeCroy appears on Bravo’s Southern Charm.

Lopez, meanwhile, has been shooting Shotgun Wedding in the Dominican Republic. The film has undergone some controversy of its own after previous lead Armie Hammer was replaced in the wake of a scandal involving some untoward text messages.

The best new hip-hop this week sees entries from plenty of new artists headed into Grammy weekend. One of the artists releasing a project this week, Chika, is nominated for a Best New Artist award, while D Smoke, who put out his ode to Sade this week, is nominated for a Best Rap Album award.

This week also saw a sharp uptick in rappers releasing freestyles over other rappers’ beats. IDK, Deante Hitchcock, and Mulatto all contributed to this trend, which may well stem from the ongoing uncertainty of being unable to book tours until enough venues have reopened that the profit outweighs the cost. Freestyles have always been a great way to build brand awareness and keep existing fans sated between projects, so don’t be surprised if even more rappers throw their hats in the freestyle ring before the pandemic is over.

Still, that hasn’t stopped artists from pursuing more traditional avenues in the meantime. Guapdad 4000 dropped his P-Lo-assisted video for “She Wanna” from his upcoming Illmind-produced project 1176, while Joey Badass, Sukihana, Drakeo The Ruler, and more shared videos for their newest records. Meanwhile, a whole heap of other new artists is taking advantage of the relative quiet of Grammy Week to make their marks in hopes of leaving a lasting impression on the game.

Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending March 12, 2021.

Albums/EPs/Mixtapes

6 Dogs — Ronald

The late underground favorite wasn’t well-known by most folks’ standards, but to those who spent their formative years soaking up SoundCloud fare from names like Lil Peep, he was a hero. Fortunately, he left behind enough material for his estate to release at least one warm-sounding posthumous album for fans to cherish as they say goodbye.

Blxst — Just For Clarity [Dual Single]

If Drake’s two-song maxi-single was enough to warrant inclusion on last week’s list, Blxst’s dual release merits a look as well — especially thanks to standout performances from guests Drakeo and Russ.

Chika — Once Upon A Time EP

Her last EP, Industry Games, earned her an RX certification from Uproxx, and her second builds on that foundation, rounding out her already bell-clear vocals and diamond-precise rhymes with even more polish and maturity.

Clever — Crazy

Signed by Post Malone and buoyed an impressive collection of high-profile collaborators including Justin Bieber and Juice WRLD, Clever makes his major-label debut with features from Lil Baby, Lil Wayne, and Post Malone. The tracklist also features a sly hidden message for eagle-eyed fans.

Kalan.FrFr — TwoFr 2

Not many rappers can boast prolific college football careers before making the transition to music (by my count, the list is Phonte and Rexx Life Raj)), but the LA native departed his position as a defensive back for the SDSU Aztecs in 2016. Signed by Roc Nation and dropping songs with fellow City of Angels compatriots like Blxst and G Perico, I’d say it’s worked out pretty well for him since.

Lil Migo — King Of The Trap

Hailing from Memphis, this newcomer drops a star-studded effort that features hometown heroes Blac Youngsta, Moneybagg Yo, and Yo Gotti, as well as major stars like 42 Dugg and Rich The Kid.

Pac Div — Church League Champions [Reissue]

“But, Aaron,” you may say. “Didn’t this mixtape drop almost 11 years ago?” Why yes, it did, thanks for asking. This is also the first time(!) the seminal Los Angeles classic that helped launch “The New West” at the height of the blog era has been available for streaming in that entire time. So. Go listen to it now. Because as I write this, it’s just another day out in sunny LA.

Singles/Videos

AG Club — “UGUDBRU” feat. Sam Truth

The Bay Area collective hijacks one of the culture’s go-to multi-use phrases to make another sneering statement of their anti-establishment stance.

Babyface Ray — “Real N****s Don’t Rap”

Babyface Ray is rapidly becoming one of my favorites, largely because of things like expressing one of my life philosophies to point out the difference between being in the streets and just rapping about it.

Bankroll Freddie — “Rich Off Grass Remix” feat. Young Dolph

Quality Control’s Alabama-bred trap upstart connects with country cousin Dolph for one of the most catchy and uplifting examples of the form to come out in recent years. Congrats to that man for not having to sell drugs to the community.

Beanz — “Waves”

The Rhythm + Flow contestant may not have made it past auditions after her episode two appearance (a travesty, if you ask me) but she’s certainly made use of the exposure since to make more of an impression on the rap game. Here, she utilizes a P-Lo produced beat to show off her charming flow and battle-tested skills.

Big Jade — “Groupies”

Remember when I said it’s a big week for freestyles? Big Jade is not going to be left out.

Jackboy — “Enjoy Every Dolla” feat. Lil Mosey

From the opening guitar riff, this one has all the hallmarks of a hit in the making. Jackboy seems insistent on improving on his mentor Kodak Black’s formula of rapping his ass off over the catchiest beats.

Kenny Mason — “Pup”

The buzzing Atlanta talent turns a slow-burning low-fi beat into a stone-faced banger to announce the impending release of his deluxe version of Angelic Hoodrat.

Kenny Muney –“Poppin It”

The second Kenny to release this week is the Young Dolph-associated Memphian, who goes in a completely different direction. His bass-heavy beat is more propulsive but the rhymes are every bit as hard.

Murda Beatz & Shordie Shordie — “Ride With Shordie”

Captain Hook strikes again with the latest single from Memory Lane. Another frothy creation, this one taps a Latin guitar riff with extra light percussion for Shordie to detail his lifestyle.

Price — “Selfish” feat. Bas & Wyclef Jean

The Audio Push rapper continues his solo run, bringing in Dreamville’s Bas for a verse on a confessional, intricate track that rates more attention.

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

Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon went down on Thursday night during the Houston Rockets’ 125-105 loss to the Sacramento Kings. While attempting to prevent De’Aaron Fox from driving to the rim, Gordon pulled up in pain and eventually sat down on the ground before leaving the game in the third quarter.

One day later and the Rockets reportedly got a piece of news that could have implications for more than just themselves. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Gordon suffered a groin strain that is expected to keep him out for at least the next month of action.

Gordon is averaging 17.8 points per game for the Rockets, which are losers of their last 14 games and have the second-worst record in the Western Conference. But as Wojnarowski pointed out, Gordon was mentioned as a potential trade target for a handful of teams in the lead-up to the deadline, and him suffering the sort of injury that would keep him out through March 25 seriously hurts Houston’s chances of being able to move him and receive maximum value back.

Gordon is in the first year of a four-year extension worth more than $75 million, and his ability to score on the perimeter and act as a secondary ball-handler is the kind of thing that could make him valuable for teams that could use reinforcements. At the very least, perhaps teams can take solace in knowing another Rockets stalwart is available, as the team is reportedly ready to move on from P.J. Tucker in the lead-up to the deadline.

It’s been a minute since Ted Cruz played himself, but good news, the King of Self-Owns is back. Outside of making some noise over Dr. Seuss being “canceled,” which resulted in the Texas senator getting roasted by Jimmy Kimmel and Daisy Ridley (again), things have been relatively quiet for Cruz after his disastrous decision to fly to Cancun while the citizens of Texas were left to literally freeze to death in their homes after a massive winter storm. However, Cruz apparently felt the need to tap into his “Freedom!” yelling speech from CPAC by… challenging Joe Biden to come and take his barbecue grill?

In what he thought was a clever move, Cruz tweeted an odd meme that features a grill and the Texas motto “Come and Take It” in response to Biden’s Thursday night speech where he predicted that most Americans should be able to safely have Fourth of July barbecues this year thanks to his administration’s robust vaccine distribution plan. For the record, this is great news, and really should not have been controversial. Instead, Cruz joined other Republicans in treating a July 4th cookout as some sort of political act of defiance instead of a nice thing that Biden genuinely hopes everybody can do.

You can see Cruz’s tweet below:

Naturally, it didn’t take long for the dunks to start piling in as people were genuinely confused by what it is Cruz is complaining about. They also didn’t waste an opportunity to bring up his disastrous trip to Cancun.

(Via Ted Cruz on Twitter)

President Biden marked the year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic by delivering his first prime-time address Thursday evening from the East Room of the White House

The speech was a solemn commemoration of the lives lost in the pandemic and the struggles Americans have faced for the past year. But the speech also marked a turning point as Americans are finally beginning to see the light after a long, dark night caused by the virus.

Biden summed up the succinctly with one line: “Finding light in the darkness is a very American thing to do.”

At the beginning of the speech, Biden showed how far we’ve come since last March when the country suffered under chaotic leadership.

“A year ago, we were hit with a virus that was met with silence and spread unchecked, denials for days, weeks, then months,” Biden said. “That led to more deaths, more infections, more stress, and more loneliness.”

He signaled the difference in empathy between him and his predecessor by brandishing a card he carries in his pocket that contains an updated number of Americans who’ve died from the virus. It now stands at over 527,000.

Biden noted the number of deaths was greater than two world wars, the Vietnam War, and 9/11 combined.

Much like he did on the campaign trail, he showed he understands what the average American has been going through over the past year. “The things we used to do that always filled us with joy have become things we couldn’t do,” he mourned. “It broke our hearts.”

President Joe Biden addresses nation on first anniversary of Covid shutdown

www.youtube.com

He then described a path forward marked by truth, faith in science, and continued vigilance to fight the virus in the final stretch.

“We know what we need to do to beat this virus; tell the truth, follow the science, work together,” he said. “You’re owed nothing less than the truth.”

He took time to tout his administration’s achievements in fighting the virus. While normally, this type of gesture by a sitting president would be seen as political grandstanding, a plurality of Americans believe his administration has done a good job.

The latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist survey, found that sixty-two percent of Americans approve of how Biden is handling the pandemic.

“Now, because all the work we’ve done, we’ll have enough vaccine supply for all adults in America by the end of May,” he said. “That’s months ahead of schedule.”

Biden also proudly proclaimed he was going to “beat” his original goal of getting 100 million shots in people’s arms in his first 100 days in office, by having it done in just 60.

The president also announced he has directed states to make all adult Americans eligible to receive coronavirus vaccines no later than May 1.

Finally, Biden gave Americans the shot in the arm they really need by providing a date by which he believes a sense of normalcy will return.

“If we do our part, if we do this together, by July the 4th there’s a good chance you, your families, and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day,” the president said.

He called it a day we could declare “independence from this virus.”

He ended the speech with a call to remain vigilant in the final months of the pandemic by getting vaccinated, washing your hands, and wearing a mask.

“I promise you, we’ll come out stronger,” Biden said. “With a renewed commitment to one another, to our communities, and to our country. This is the United States of America … from the bottom of my heart, I believe this, that there’s nothing we can’t do when we do it together.”

One of the scariest things about being trapped in a situation with a dangerous person is how many people don’t notice. Abusers, kidnappers, traffickers, and the like often monitor and control a person so tightly that asking for help seems impossible.

There are countless stories of people managing to slip someone a note saying they need help or signaling in some other way that they’re in an unsafe situation. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way that they could quickly, yet discreetly, alert people that they were in trouble without flagging the person putting them in danger?

There is. It’s the international signal for help, and it’s going viral for all the right reasons.

A video shared by Indian restauranter Harjinder Singh Kukreja shows several scenarios in which a person needs help and signals with a simple hand gesture we all need to learn to recognize—or if necessary, use ourselves.

In the video, a woman on a balcony, a man at the door during a delivery, and a girl walking down a hallway with a man all give the signal without their abuser knowing.

The Signal for Help campaign was launched by the Women’s Funding Network, the world’s largest philanthropic network for girls and women, last April. With the coronavirus pandemic getting into full swing, it was clear that people were going to be spending a lot more time on video calls and people in abusive situations were going to be spending a lot more time with their abusers. The Signal for Help initiative was a way to discreetly communicate via video call that you were in a dangerous situation without having to say a word.

As we saw in the first video, the signal is useful for more than just Zoom calls. The only issue is that this signal only works if people recognize it and know what it means. That’s why people are sharing the video and encouraging others to do the same.

What’s great about the signal is that it can be done discreetly. Since it only requires one hand, it’s more convenient than the American Sign Language sign for “help,” which requires two hands. It’s simple, subtle, and swift enough to be easy to use in lots of different circumstances (as we see in the videos) but also distinct enough that those who know it will recognize it instantly. It’s even something we can teach young children.

We know that domestic violence is a going concern, especially during the pandemic when people are trapped at home with their abusers. We also know that human trafficking is a billion-dollar global industry and that victims are sometimes being transported in broad daylight. The more tools we have for getting people help the better, but first we need to know when someone actually needs help.

Learning and sharing this hand sign far and wide will help spread awareness, enable more victims of violence to ask for help in a safe way, and hopefully even save lives.