It was exactly a year ago Thursday that the NBA world, and subsequently the sports world, came to a halt following Rudy Gobert’s positive test for COVID-19.
The wake of that positive test saw the NBA and every other sports league shut down as it served as one of the first big moments of realization for many that the pandemic was very real and was already sweeping through the United States. On a smaller scale, the fallout from the Gobert positive became a pivotal point for the Jazz organization. Reports emerged that Donovan Mitchell, who never had the closest relationship with his co-star in Utah, was infuriated by the situation and that their relationship was “unsalvageable” moving forward. Given those two stars were the ones the Jazz had built around and were expected to both get hefty extensions this offseason, Utah and its two stars faced major questions.
Those extensions arrived as expected, with Mitchell and Gobert both getting their respective maxes to stay around longterm in Utah, and the result this season has been nothing short of sensational, as the Jazz have the league’s best record at the midseason mark. Mitchell recently spoke with Tony Jones of The Athletic and those reports of an unsalvageable relationship came up, with Mitchell saying it gave he and his star center something to motivate them to get past their frustrations with each other and prove they could not just play but be dominant together.
“In a strange way, I think that article helped,” Mitchell said. “It brought out a level of determination in both of us that we never had. I never had a controversy like that. Here we were, the two pillars of the team, and we had to go to the playoffs in two months. It brought out a different level of tenacity in both of us.
…
“We have a competitive energy in common and that helped us,” Mitchell said. “Our mindset was like, Forget y’all. You guys don’t think we can do this.’ Anytime we hear what we can’t do, we want to go out and prove that wrong.”
It’s somewhat incredible to think that what brought those two together, finally, was reports that there was an unsolvable rift between them. Their defiance and insistence on proving doubters wrong at all times finally found a common enemy and the results have been tremendous for Utah.
That moment, the panic and unknown of everything when Gobert tested positive and everything started shutting down, was one few will forget and a turning point for many. It had so many unexpected consequences, among them being the thing that both drove the Jazz apart and, ultimately, brought them closer together than ever before.
In 2018, the band formerly known as Sports re-emerged as Remember Sports and dropped their first album under that name, Slow Buzz. Now the group is readying a new album, Like A Stone, which is set for release on April 23. They’ve already shared the lead single “Pinky Ring” and now they’re back today with another taste of the record, “Materialistic.”
The song features vocals from Nadia Hulett of Nadine and singer Carmen Perry says of the track, “It’s about the feedback loop of me caring about my possessions because they hold special memories, and alternately thinking I’m a bad person for caring about a mostly meaningless pile of junk. This song is special to us because we left a lot of room for Jack to do what he does best, and Nadia Hulett of Nadine made us all cry when she laid down her unimaginably angelic vocals in one take.”
Guitarist Jack Washburn notes that while recording the album, he was drawn to music that was “communal and loud and cathartic, but also kinda confidential and private.” He continued, “I hope we achieved something similar, where you can hear the influence of each of us in the album.” Perry added, “It feels seamless. To me, Jack and [Catherine Dwyer]’s writing feels like an extension of my own.”
Listen to “Materialistic” above and find the Like A Stone art and tracklist below.
In late 2008, when word broke that The Roots, the hip-hop group led by longtime friends Amir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, were hired as the house band for Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, the news was met with bewilderment and bemusement. The reactions online tended to be some variation of, “Wow, that is huge for Fallon,” or, as one Gawker writer put it at the time, “The Illadelph generals opening up for that stuttering mop-headed ball of suck, Jimmy Fallon? It’s kind of tragic.”
There was definite logic to the hiring. The Roots remain one of the most versatile ensembles in all of music, comfortable and talented enough to both cover U2 classics at an NAACP event honoring Bono and serve as Jay-Z’s backing band for his legendary MTV Unplugged appearance. And they helped add a whiff of cool to Fallon as he brought his wide-eyed, constantly stoked brand of comedy to late-night TV.
But even the most ardent fan of The Roots had to wonder how this was going to work in reality. The band was coming to NBC after releasing the two darkest and most politically-minded albums of their career — 2006’s Game Theory and 2008’s Rising Down — that raged against school shootings, poverty, and institutional racism. The group was also a consistent concert draw, known for marathon-length performances and welcoming guests from every corner and era of the music world.
Underlying all of this was simple curiosity. How could one of the best hip-hop groups in the game translate their attitude and their sound for network TV, and appeal to middle-of-the-road viewers tuning in for toothless political humor, fawning celebrity interviews, and viral video-ready stunts?
The answer: by The Roots proving just how versatile they could be. For the past 13 years, even as they moved with Fallon from 12:30 am to 11:30 pm after the host was hired to replace Jay Leno as the host of The Tonight Show, the band has been game for anything.
They’ve taken part in various sketches that sometimes require them to dress in drag or act foolishly. They’ve been the backbone for beloved recurring segments like “Freestylin’ With The Roots,” “Slow Jam The News,” and Fallon and Justin Timberlake’s “History of Hip-Hop” bits. And they’ve proven to be welcome comedic foils, with Questlove and Black Thought bantering with Fallon in the manner of David Letterman and Paul Shaffer.
The Roots’ quick evolution into foils for late-night comedy was, in retrospect, inevitable. In an oft-told anecdote, Questlove remembers that, in 2008 when the band and Late Night’s producers were sizing one another up, he invited Fallon to come see them play at UCLA’s Spring Fling not expecting he’d actually show. But the lanky comedian did and quickly won The Roots over.
“I was doing an interview in a trailer,” Questlove told Brooklyn magazine in 2017, “and when I walked out… the eight of them — Fallon and the seven Roots — were making a human pyramid. He was able to disarm us in seconds… And I’m looking at my manager and we just stared there shaking our heads. I was just like, we’re stuck with this guy, aren’t we? And he just looked like, I’m afraid so.” A baker’s dozen years later and they’re still stuck with each other.
By all accounts, the members of The Roots were ready for something approximating a day job. The rigors of touring were starting to weigh on them as it meant leaving behind families and relationships for long stretches of time. As Questlove commented on Okayplayer.com around the time the news broke of their Late Night deal, “I don’t know if I want to be 40 on the road and single no more… I can’t even start to go on that path ‘til a woman takes me seriously. And ain’t no one taking a man serious who is in his home for only three months out the year.”
They were also students of music history, knowing that, although they were in a good spot financially after two decades of being together, they were potentially looking at a slow slide into obscurity. It was to the point that the group was tempted to sign a deal for a residency at The Borgata in Atlantic City.
The twist is, of course, that their nightly platform on NBC has made The Roots more popular than ever before, and, as a result, they’ve become even busier than ever. When he’s not DJing at various events around the world, Questlove has written a handful of books, directed the Sundance-anointed documentary Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised), and hosts the popular Questlove Supreme podcast. Black Thought keeps popping up on mixtapes and albums by other artists and last year released his debut solo full-length that includes contributions from Killer Mike and Portugal. The Man. Both men are also likely the only hip-hop artists your grandmother would be able to easily namecheck.
What’s perhaps the most impressive part of The Roots’ move into late-night TV is how true they’ve stayed to themselves and the hip-hop culture they grew out of. As proven by the six albums they’ve released since joining up with Fallon, they’ve not lost an ounce of their fury and power. Or for a more concentrated dose, dial up the blistering 10-minute freestyle that Black Thought performed on Funkmaster Flex’s HOT 97 show back in 2017 and went viral shortly thereafter. It’s a testament to both the vaunted realms of celebrity that he and The Roots have reached and his skills as an MC that the performance was analyzed by writers at NPR and The New Yorker — and earned him a spot on the couch at The Tonight Show to talk about it.
That adherence to their personal politics did come at a cost back in 2011 when the band played on Tonight Show guest, and then-Presidential hopeful, Michelle Bachmann with a portion of Fishbone’s “Lyin’ A** B****.” The blowback was considerable and almost cost The Roots their cushy new job in network TV. But after agreeing to clear all walk-on music choices with the NBC brass ahead of time, the band was allowed to keep their spots.
Probably the most concrete example of how The Roots have moved easily into this strange land of TV celebrity while not losing an ounce of their credibility can be found in another video from the Late Night era. In it, the band is doing the job of helping get the crowd warmed up for taping an episode — playing some upbeat music to hype folks up. But for this moment, they’re joined by one of that night’s guests, rapper and actor Ice Cube, and with him, launch into a version of N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton.” It’s a blast. The Roots drill down to the core of Dr. Dre and DJ Yella’s dense production and the rappers do their best to blur out the coarse language of the original song.
The key moment, though, comes when The Roots’ guitarist Captain Kirk Douglas puts down his axe and takes a turn on the mic, rapping Eazy E’s verse. Though they knew it was coming, the whole band seems to explode at that moment, watching their buddy step outside his usual role and play the part of a smack-talking, girl-chasing gangsta MC. Even the person holding the smartphone that’s filming the clip seems to shake with excitement at what is going down. But no one is more delighted than Questlove and Black Thought. As Roberts keeps spitting, they look over at each other with wide grins and sparkling eyes, giddy at what they’re witnessing and what they’re getting away with.
Piers Morgan has made his thoughts quite clear on the Meghan Markle situation. He thanked his haters and doubled down on his refusal to believe her after she expressed feeling suicidal during her time with the British Royal Family. Markle and Prince Harry’s Oprah interview has left Prince William insisting to reporters that “we are very much not a racist family,” yet Piers remains unrepentant in his steadfast refusal to believe what Meghan described as racially-charged remarks from unidentified members of the Royal Family. Piers even ended up storming off live TV and leaving Good Morning Britain over his stubborn refusal to stop his one-sided beefing with Meghan, but he’s got a couple of supporters out there.
That would include Fox News’ Tucker Carlson. Not too many public figures would be thrilled to see support from cable news’ biggest pusher of harmful conspiracy theories, but Morgan’s all over it with a “thumbs up” emoji.
“He left his job on the British morning show after failing to be sufficiently impressed by that whiny duchess from LA complaining about how hard her life is,” proclaimed Carlson on Wednesday night. “Now Piers Morgan knew what the script was supposed to be (“oh, you poor oppressed duchess”), but he refused to read it, so now he’s unemployed.”
It makes sense that Tucker would latch onto Piers as an example of “cancel culture,” a label that has led the far right to mobilize while memorializing Pepe Le Pew, and Piers is bizarrely happy to have the support. He’s also got… Sharon Osbourne on his side. The Talk host supported him earlier this week while tweeting, “I am with you. I stand by you. People forget that you’re paid for your opinion and that you’re just speaking your truth.”
. @piersmorgan I am with you. I stand by you. People forget that you’re paid for your opinion and that you’re just speaking your truth.
In response, Piers lauded Sharon as a true friend, and he tweeted, “I love Sharon Osbourne because she always stays true to herself. She knew she would get abused by the woke brigade for tweeting this – but did it anyway because it what she believes.”
Sharon took her defense of Piers to her gig on The Talk, where it did not go over well. Her co-host, Sheryl Underwood, posed this question (via People): “What would you say to people who may feel that while you’re standing by your friend, it appears you gave validation or safe haven to something that he has uttered that is racist, even if you don’t agree?”
In response, Sharon grew emotional and said that she should not be considered a racist because she’s supporting Piers. “I very much feel like I’m about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend, who many people think is a racist, so that makes me a racist?” she added. “What does it gotta do with me?” The two women continued to clash, and Sharon declared that she should be crying, and no one else, on the show, while Sheryl tried to tell her how harmful Piers’ dismissal (of Meghan’s claims of racism within the Royal Family) could really be.
Is this the hill Sharon Osborne really wants to die on? Why do Black women have to educate you on something you’re ignorantly defending? If she doesn’t know what Piers Morgan said, why go so hard to defend it? You could’ve easily texted your support & STFU pic.twitter.com/7AfYOdmL8I
Previously, Piers said of Meghan, “I wouldn’t believe Meghan Markle if she gave me a weather report,” and he subsequently prompted over 41,000 complaints about on-air violations of “harm and offense” rules.
It appeared yesterday that a cryptic video Paul McCartney shared was teasing upcoming collaborations with Anderson .Paak, Phoebe Bridgers, Idris Elba, EOB (Ed O’Brien), Dominic Fike, St. Vincent, Damon Albarn, Beck, Khruangbin, Josh Homme, 3D RDN (of Massive Attack), and Blood Orange. Today, he has confirmed that to be the case: He is releasing a reworked version of his 2020 album, McCartney III, titled McCartney III Imagined, which features contributions from the aforementioned artists.
Tracks from the original album have been covered and/or otherwise reimagined by the guest artists and McCartney kicked things off today by sharing Fike’s rendition of “The Kiss Of Venus,” which he transformed from an acoustic ballad to an R&B jam.
During a Reddit AMA from December, McCartney cited Fike and other artists involved in McCartney III Imagined as modern performers he listens to, writing, “I’m lucky, I have a friend who sends me new music which helps me keep in touch with the modern scene. So I listen to people like Dominic Fike, Beck, St Vincent and Khruangbin. I also listen to a lot of classic oldies coming through, from rock n’ roll to 60’s to soul to R’n’B, with a sprinkling of classical music now and then.”
Listen to Fike’s “The Kiss Of Venus” cover above and check out the McCartney III Imagined art and tracklist below.
Capitol Records
1. “Find My Way (feat. Beck)”
2. “The Kiss Of Venus (Dominic Fike)”
3. “Pretty Boys (feat. Khruangbin)”
4. “Women And Wives (St. Vincent Remix)”
5. “Deep Down (Blood Orange Remix)”
6. “Seize The Day (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)”
7. “Slidin’ (EOB Remix)”
8. “Long Tailed Winter Bird (Damon Albarn Remix)”
9. “Lavatory Lil (Josh Homme)”
10. “When Winter Comes (Anderson .Paak Remix)”
11. “Deep Deep Feeling (3D RDN Remix)”
12. “Long Tailed Winter Bird (Idris Elba Remix)”*
* physical release exclusive track
McCartney III Imagined is out 4/16 via Capitol Records. Pre-order it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Each year around Grammy Week, The Roots hold an annual Jam Session inviting special guests from their endless list of collaborators and connections for a one-of-a-kind live show experience. Unfortunately, with most venues still shut down due to COVID-19 safety precautions, there won’t be a live show this year, but the fact that it’s streaming via Tidal means there’s no capacity limit, and fans from outside of Los Angeles get to “attend” as well. Also, this year, the band partnered with Oculus, granting virtual reality access so it can still feel like you’re front row.
The band revealed this year’s lineup in a press release sharing the details of the new partnerships. Special guests for this year’s event include R&B singers Ant Clemons, Ari Lennox, and Emily King, as well as rapper-producer Tobe Nwigwe and pianist-singer Jon Batiste. Burgeoning country star Brittney Spencer and soul icon Kathy Sledge of the legendary Sledge Sisters will also appear. Clemons is nominated for Best R&B Album for his 2020 debut Happy 2 Be Here, while Batiste has two nominations at this year’s awards.
Ahead of the Jam Session, The Roots have updated their Essentials Playlist on Tidal. You can check that out now, and watch the Roots Jam Session Saturday, March 13 at 6 pm PT / 9 pm ET in-app or via the embed below.
USA Basketball today added 15 additional players to the list of finalists for the Team USA men’s roster ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, which will take place in July. These additions brings the total list to a whopping 57 players, in an effort to get ahead of any complications with the NBA schedule or player opt-outs.
The new list includes young stars like Zion Williamson, Trae Young and Zach LaVine, who have been added to a broader group of finalists including Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Steph Curry.
USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo told Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix that the large player pool was formed in an effort to avoid the challenging “uncertainties” that the team may face ahead of this year’s Olympics.
USA Basketball announces 57 finalists for this summer’s men’s national team — a 15 player increase from the original pool. Says Jerry Colangelo, ““Having a larger player pool than what we normally have is critical because of all of the uncertainties we face about availability.”
While it will take some work to whittle this group down to the final roster who will represent the United States this summer, Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard has already announced his intention to play. No formal offer has been made, but as one of the pre-eminent talents in the NBA, the assumption is Leonard would be invited.
In time, we will see whether Leonard’s sentiment is shared broadly among NBA players after a nightmarish past 12 months for the league, but for now, USA Basketball is playing it safe and casting a wide net to find their Olympic roster for this summer.
Fresh off the success of WandaVision for Disney+, Paul Bettany is making the jump to Amazon for his next limited series, A Very British Scandal. The actor will join The Crown star Claire Foy in a follow-up to a A Very English Scandal that will focus on the “notorious, extraordinary, and brutal” divorce between the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in the 1960s.
“I’m delighted to be working with the remarkable Claire Foy to tell the fascinating and scandalous story of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll and their very complicated lives,” Bettany told Variety in a statement. “I’m also extremely happy to get the chance to once again be working with the wonderful teams at the BBC and Amazon Studios.”
Although, the series clearly wasn’t timed to coincide with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s damning interview with Oprah, it probably doesn’t hurt that A Very British Scandal is being announced in the midst of intense scrutiny for the British monarchy.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Famed for her charisma, beauty and style, Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, dominated the front pages as a divorcee featuring accusations of forgery, theft, violence, drug-taking, secret recording, bribery, and an explicit polaroid picture all played out in the white-hot glare of the 1960s media. A Very British Scandal turns this scandal inside out in order to explore the social and political climate of post-war Britain, looking at attitudes toward women, and asking whether institutional misogyny was widespread at the time. As her contemporaries, the press, and the judiciary sought to vilify her, Margaret kept her head held high with bravery and resilience, refusing to go quietly as she was betrayed by her friends and publicly shamed by a society that revelled in her fall from grace.
On Thursday, the NBA announced its official punishment for Leonard, which was a one-week suspension and a $50,000 fine, with a statement on the matter from Adam Silver.
Meyers Leonard’s comment was inexcusable and hurtful and such an offensive term has no place in the NBA or in our society. Yesterday, he spoke to representatives of the Anti-Defamation League to better understand the impact of his words and we accept that he is genuinely remorseful. We have further communicated to Meyers that derogatory comments like this will not be tolerated and that he will be expected to uphold the core values of our league – equality, tolerance, inclusion, and respect – at all times moving forward.
The league’s release also notes Leonard will have to participate in a “cultural diversity program,” but overall it felt to many like a fairly benign punishment for the use of such hateful language. The $50,000 fine is the maximum the league can levy without it being able to be appealed, but as many have pointed out, the wide array of circumstances that fine has been handed out it, from the use of a vicious, anti-Semitic slur to publicly requesting a trade, makes for some odd comparisons of situations.
The bigger task for Leonard will be continuing to show the work of learning and understanding why what he said was so wrong and being active in trying to express that to others, particularly given his following in the gaming community where the use of hate speech and slurs is, unfortunately, all too common.
One name that you should expect to hear during Monday’s Oscar nominations is Chadwick Boseman. The actor is expected to receive a posthumous nomination for his performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. It was the last movie he filmed before his untimely death from cancer last August, as production on Black Panther 2 hadn’t started yet. But director and writer Ryan Coogler has now returned to Wakanda, and while speaking on the Jemele Hill is Unbothered podcast, he discussed the difficulty of making the movie (for both professional and personal reasons) without Boseman.
“I’m still currently going through it,” Coogler said about Boseman. “One thing that I’ve learned in my short or long time on this Earth is that it’s very difficult to have perspective on something while you’re going through it. This is one of the more profound things that I’ve gone through in my life, having to be a part of keeping this project going without this particular person who is like the glue who held it together.” The Creed director also talked about trying to find a healthy “work-life balance” while working on Black Panther 2:
“You have a professional life, you’ve got a personal life. Personal life, I’m going to say that when you work in something that you love, those things blend, they come together. I’m trying to find a work-life balance. But I’m not there yet, so this is without a question the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my professional life.”
Coogler is “incredibly sad” that Boseman is gone, “but I’m also incredibly motivated that I got to spend time with him. You spend your life hearing about people like him. For this individual, who is an ancestor now, I was there for it. It’s such an incredible privilege that fills you up as much as it knocks you out. So often as Black people, we have to pick up the pieces after loss.” You can listen to the podcast below by following the below link.
#BlackPanther2 is set to release in 2022 and on the latest episode, @jemelehill tries to get the inside scoop on the movie from director Ryan Coogler.
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