Month: March 2021

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Sunday night interview with CBS Evening News ended up being the result of the couple not being able to publicly speak their mind for years. One could reasonably expect that their feelings about how Meghan was treated by the British Royal Family would come out, and that definitely happened. People were outraged, and a few portions of the interview in particular have drawn much ire. That would be the part where Harry more than suggested that, during discussions with unidentified family members about Harry and Meghan’s child, Archie, that a racially-charged motivation surfaced against Meghan. During the interview, Meghan also revealed that she’d grown suicidal while living as part of the British Royal Family, and she felt that Harry’s decision to leave saved her life. Well, Piers Morgan is a cheerleader for the Royals, and he tweeted his distaste for Meghan (who he called “shameful” while accusing her of “vile destructive self-serving nonsense”) following the interview.

Bright and early on Monday morning, Piers popped into his hosting gig on Good Morning Britain, where he complained of a “two-hour trash-athon of our Royal Family, or our monarchy, of everything the Queen has worked so hard for, while her husband is in hospital.” However, Black activist and This Is Why I Resist author Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu (who’s a frequent face on GMB) was ready for him while he kept on interjecting to dismiss Meghan’s claims. Here’s what Shola had to say:

“Listen, you might learn something. The royal family is an institution rooted in colonialism, white supremacy, and racism. The legacy is right there. So you’re now surprised that a comment would have been made by several members of the royal family about how dark Archie’s skin is… You’re more outraged that Harry and Meghan had the audacity to speak their truth than at the actual outrage of racism.”

To that, Piers could only offer that he felt it was “disgusting” that Shola would say such a thing about the Queen, to which Shola responded, “You are disgusting!”

The controversy certainly isn’t over yet. The subject has even prompted a resurfacing of a John Oliver prediction (from 2018), in which the Last Week Tonight host declared. “I don’t think you need to have just seen the pilot episode of The Crown to get a basic sense of, ‘She might be marrying into a family that could cause her some emotional complications.’”

It’s worth noting that GMB had no issue with posting the fiery exchange between Piers and Shola on YouTube, but they did turn off the video’s comments. Well, Shola is drawing praise elsewhere, including this tweet: “Good morning to Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu only, who woke up this morning and dragged Piers Morgan.”

As for Piers, he followed up his performance with a photoshopped image of “himself” in a loin cloth in front of a fire, Deadpool-style, “to show my appreciation” for International Women’s Day. Oh boy.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Screeching feedback strikes a nerve like the piercing wails of a dog whistle in the first notes of Ian Sweet’s album opener “My Favorite Cloud.” The jarring chords are a personification of anxiety, as though songwriter Jilian Medford is assigning her racing thoughts a sonic identity as a way of examining their effects on her.

Anxiety is a feeling that Medford, unfortunately, is all too familiar with. “There are days where I feel invincible and strong and like I could f*ck anybody up,” Medford said over a phone call. “But there are other days where I can’t even be looked at without crying or wanting to hide.” It’s this dichotomy, one of strength and tenderness, that she explores throughout Ian Sweet’s radically honest third album, Show Me How You Disappear. Too often, women are taught that their emotions equate weakness, but Show Me How You Disappear acknowledges the importance of understanding them: We are strong as hell, but also sensitive, and these simultaneous truths are the key to knowing our power.

Medford wrote the entirety of the album during a period where her anxiety had pushed her to rock bottom. She had checked herself into a two-month outpatient program following after struggling with mental health and past traumas. Though Medford wasn’t planning on making a record at the time, she poured her thoughts and lessons into a daily journal, which were eventually translated to lyrics on Show Me How You Disappear. By doing so, the album depicts the path to healing through music, delicately unpacking anxiety, depression, and trauma, while showing how Medford was able to rise above it all.

Each song on Show Me How You Disappear marks a different stage of Medford’s journey. It begins with anxiety overcoming her on “My Favorite Cloud.” But she eventually learns the importance of focusing on her breath, which gives her strength on the buoyant song “Sword.” Halfway through the record, Medford commits to healing and sings herself an empowering mantra on the Mazzy Star-reminiscent track “Get Better,” before coming full circle and reflecting on the mental health tools she’s acquired on her album closer “I See Everything.”

The 10-track album as a whole veers into new and experimental territory, a stark contrast to the type of heartbreak indie rock heard on Ian Sweet’s last two albums. Medford recently opened up about how she experimented with sound on Show Me How You Disappear, and how the record is indefinitely interconnected with her mental health journey.

I understand that a lot of this album was written during a two-month outpatient program that you did. And first of all, I want to commend you on seeking help, because that’s definitely the hardest part. But can you talk about how your experience there led to the album, Show Me How You Disappear?

I had just reached a dark place and I was trying to get help for some time. I wasn’t really thinking about writing music, because I was just in the darkest depths where music was the last thing I wanted to do. Usually music is very healing, but sometimes when you’re so beat down, it can be hard to even enter that process. So I took the space and decided to check myself into this facility. I wasn’t really planning on writing while I was there, but it ended up that every morning we did a 20-minute journaling session, just freeform thought. I was feeling inspired and throughout my process, I wanted to start making music again and see what that would feel like. Most of the lyrics from the record are those journal entries. So yeah, I wasn’t planning to write a record or do anything around being there. But it was something that sprung up naturally, which is good. I was learning and processing things in real time, and writing songs in real time, too.

A lot of the production definitely differs from your sophomore album Crush Crusher. It seems like a lot of that was experimental. What were some ways that you experimented on this album that you didn’t on previous ones?

I really wanted to be much more in control on this record and take the reins, basically from start to finish. For this record, I demoed out all the drums electronically myself. That was some of the foundational groundwork that I did that I hadn’t done on other records. I think that for me, creating beats and working with drum loops really opened up my eyes and made me want to experiment with other electronic sounds that I hadn’t played with before. I definitely got more into the use of my computer and using computers for music, which felt really good. Then, it just led to me wanting to experiment with other facets. The other records were done as a three-piece band; you play bass, you play a drum kit, I’ll sing and play guitar — and that’s what felt so good about this record is that there were just no rules. Everything was being done in a crazy, chaotic time in my life. So, whatever happens, happens and I was going with it and trying new things. I’ve always wanted to experiment more but always felt a little bit held back by having other voices involved and other bandmates involved. Now that I’m the boss of Ian Sweet, I just get to make it all up.

I bet that feels really creatively freeing for you.

It really does. I love the process of collaborating, but I also know that I have to find ways to trust my judgment and trust myself through experimenting with different sounds. I know when I know — I am that type of person. I have to hear it. I have to hear that angelic sound to know it’s the perfect thing for me. So, that’s why I like to mess around until I get it right.

Talk about your song/album title, Show Me How You Disappear. What does that mean to you?

I guess it has a few different meanings. But one of the main focuses of this record is trying to heal from something traumatic that had happened to me in the last couple of years. As well as healing from a relationship that was traumatic. That song, “Show Me How You Disappear,” is heavily focused, it’s just basically the story of that whole relationship. I want to be freed of my anxiety and my trauma, and I don’t want to have to live with it anymore. It is exhausting and I want it to walk itself out the door and never come back. It’s me saying that I’m tired of doing all the legwork for something that I didn’t even cause, somebody else did this to me and now I have to put in all the work to fix it. So, ‘Show Me How You Disappear’ is me pleaing with my abuser and my anxiety to just go the f*ck away and magically disappear and never come back. It is really their responsibility to show themselves to the door and get out of my life because I don’t deserve that.

That is really true how it’s unfair that a person came into your life, and then just put all of that emotional labor on you. They made it your job to both deal with your own stuff and theirs as well.

Exactly.

Something else that I noticed listening throughout this album is the theme of breath and breathing comes up a lot in your songs like “Dirt” and “My Favorite Cloud.”

It’s always been a difficult thing for me as far as knowing how to breathe, honestly, getting enough oxygen to my brain and my lungs. There’s a line in “My Favorite Cloud” about talking to a psychic and they said, ‘If you don’t learn how to breath, you’ll die.’ And that actually happened.

That’s a true story?

Yeah. I saw a psychic and they had kind of pinpointed how I do this thing — and I don’t realize I’m doing it — but I hold my breath subconsciously. I hold my breath and then suddenly, I’ll be like, “Oh shit, I can’t breathe.” And then let out a huge breath. And it cuts off all blood flow to my brain. It’s very anxiety-inducing. I’m like, what am I doing? Is this gonna happen in my sleep? There’s a lot of questioning with myself about why I do this subconsciously. I was doing this in the very dark period where I was having suicidal ideations and I was like, ‘Am I doing this on purpose to myself?’ It’s dangerous. It was almost like feeling I couldn’t trust my body to take care of me because it wasn’t just doing what it’s naturally supposed to do. It’s sabotaging itself by not taking proper breaths. So, a lot of things on the record are about that, feeling trapped and like I couldn’t breathe, and trying to find ways to help myself navigate that.

I bet that was a really profound experience for you to have been dealing with that for a while, and then to go see that psychic and for them to tell you the same thing.

Yes, it hit a nerve.

One of my favorite songs on the record is “Sword.” Lyrically, I really like how you use the metaphor of a sword to describe your body because swords are sharp, really strong, and powerful. Too often, women’s bodies are described using metaphors that are soft, fragile, and easily breakable.

I am both those things, that’s for sure. There are days where I feel invincible and strong and like I could f*ck anybody up. But there are other days where I can’t even be looked at without crying or wanting to hide. I do have both of those days. But “Sword” is a really important song to me because both lyrically and musically I feel really proud of it. I entered the pop arena with that and it feels so good to have a biting lyric paired with pop music. Because unless you’re really listening to it, it gives more of a fun feeling. That’s like the dichotomy of being a woman: You can have as much fun as you want, and there shouldn’t f*cking be anybody to tell you what you can and can’t do. Then, you also have your softer and more introspective days.

You just said “Sword” is a song on your album that is really special to you. But is there another song on the record that really holds a special place in your heart?

Yeah, definitely “Get Better” is my personal favorite on the record. I just remember where I was when I was writing it. I remember exactly how I felt, I remember how things smelled, that song is very poignant to me. I remember writing it and feeling so, so sad. But recording it made me feel powerful. Getting to scream the word “better, better, better” all over again, it was this weird form of a mantra. I was trying to tap into that just by saying it, “I want to get better, I want to get better. Okay, maybe I am feeling better, maybe I will get better.” I kind of tapped into something. I remember feeling transcendent through that song.

Like you were trying to convince yourself to get better, and it actually made you feel better.

Yes, true.

Talking about everything you just opened up to me about your experience with anxiety, I was wondering, now that you can look back on your experience over this past year, what is something that you would tell to somebody younger who’s also struggling with anxiety and depression?

I would definitely say be gentle with yourself. Don’t be mad at yourself for going through something, it is not your fault. It only becomes a fault when you don’t help yourself, definitely, when you’re sitting and sulking in it. I wish I got help sooner to feel some sort of relief. I would say, don’t be afraid to reach out. Don’t be afraid to get help. And don’t push yourself, do what makes you feel comfortable. If you don’t find the right therapist, or if there’s one specific thing that you try and it’s not the right thing for you, don’t give up. Help is out there. People need to take advantage of that as much as they can because we’re such a fragile species. We just don’t give ourselves enough time, credit, or space to just feel good.

Show Me How You Disappear is out now via Polyvinyl. Get it here.

The Philadelphia 76ers are currently enjoying being in the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, a position they’ve earned thanks to a a 24-12 record at the All-Star break. However, their hold on that position is tenuous at best, with a half-game lead on the suddenly loaded Brooklyn Nets and just two games up on the perennial top seeds in the conference, the Milwaukee Bucks.

Even in a pandemic season where arenas are empty or sparsely populated, homecourt is arguably more important to the Sixers as any team in the league. Philly is 16-3 at home compared to just 8-9 on the road, and so they will be desperately trying to hold onto as high of a seed as they can in the second half of the season to try and position themselves to have homecourt as deep into the playoffs as possible.

The good news in their quest to do so is that while they have two tremendous teams nipping at their heels, they are a squad flush with talent as well, and most importantly, that talent is almost all enjoying career-best seasons all at once. Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris each had terrific first halves, with Harris rejuvenated playing for Doc Rivers again and Simmons being the two-way force Philly has always known him capable of being, but on a more consistent basis. New additions Danny Green and Seth Curry have provided the Sixers with much needed spacing and scoring punch from the outside, but the biggest reason for the Sixers’ first half surge has been the MVP caliber play from Joel Embiid.

The big fella is averaging a career-high 30.2 points per game to go along with 11.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game on career best efficiency (52.1/41.6/85.6 shooting splits are all career marks). He capped off his first half campaign with an emphatic statement against two-time DPOY Rudy Gobert, dropping 40 points and 19 rebounds on the Jazz center in a comeback win in overtime, which he forced with a ridiculous late three-pointer.

For Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, who is in his first season in Philly after stepping down in Houston this offseason, he can’t help but be effusive in his praise for Embiid, even going so far as to say he’s more unstoppable than the former MVP he saw daily with the Rockets in an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Howard Beck.

“I get in trouble when I say stuff like this,” Morey says, “but he’s the most unstoppable thing I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot. You know who I’ve seen,” he says, alluding to Harden. “But I’ve never seen anything like it. Like last night against Rudy Gobert, he faced him up at eight feet, and I mean it ended in a dunk. And (Gobert) is an amazing defender. And he had no answer.”

Morey’s belief in James Harden — who in his interview he would not mention to avoid getting fined — was well-established in Houston and there was a reason he chased him this season before he was dealt to the Nets. So for him to say this about Embiid is certainly quite the statement, even if there may be some recency bias mixed into his calculation. What’s more interesting is that Embiid and Harden are firmly in the frontrunner category for MVP this season, and as such we may very well get a leaguewide vote regarding which has had the better, more unstoppable season to see if scribes around the league agree or disagree with Morey’s assertion.

Now that Bobby Shmurda and Rowdy Rebel are both out of prison, fans are eagerly waiting to see what the reunited GS9 rappers have got up their respective sleeves. Until they do release new music, however, they’re content to tease the potential of that new release in their interviews. While Bobby appeared to support his Shmigo Gang partner-in-rhyme Quavo during Saturday’s B/R Open Run matchup, Rowdy showed off a time-tempered flow in an acapella freestyle on the Comeupshow with Philadelphia’s Cosmic Kev.

The video that was shared to Power 99 Philadelphia’s YouTube page picks up at the very end of Kev and Rowdy’s interview. Rowdy notes that Kev wants “some bars” and immediately obliges, foregoing the formality of a beat or any other preparation. From the sound of it, he couldn’t wait to showcase his sharpened skill for wordplay and rhyme schemes, which the time away put a fine point on. As he picks up momentum, he actually stands up off the couch where he’s sitting with Kev and gets animated, acting out some of his more visual punchlines.

Rowdy’s comeback so far has included the posthumous “Make It Rain” with Pop Smoke and “Jesse Owens” with Nav. It will also apparently include an appearance at Summer Jam, should the New York-based festival make a return this year.

Watch Rowdy Rebel’s off-the-cuff freestyle above.

Currently, the future of live music is still up in the air. Some folks are hopeful that things can return to normal this year, but a number of festivals have already canceled or postponed their 2021 plans. Miley Cyrus dreams of the day that concerts can return, which she illustrates in her new “Angels Like You” video.

Press materials note the visual was filmed on February 7 at the Super Bowl, when Cyrus “performed at the first COVID-19 compliant live music show of its size in the US since the start of the pandemic nearly a year ago.” Cyrus also included a handwritten message in the video that reads:

“On February 7th 2021 nearly a year after the world shut down because of COVID-19, this video was shot at the first concert of its size since the pandemic changed our lives. The audience here is fully vaccinated healthcare workers who have been fearlessly + tirelessly fighting COVID-19. We all look forward to being together again + this can happen sooner than we may have thoughts with vaccines becoming more available. Each of us can help stop the pandemic by being vaccinated. Together we can make the experience of life music a reality again.

Forever yours — Miley.”

Watch the “Angels Like You” video above.

Keeping up with the best new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw Drake gift fans with a pre-Certified Lover Boy project and Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak launch a new collaborative venture. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

Silk Sonic — “Leave The Door Open”

It all started with Anderson .Paak getting drunk on his birthday, and now he and Bruno Mars have a new band, Silk Sonic. The styles of each artist seem like a perfect collaborative match for each other, and it really sounds like that’s true on “Leave The Door Open,” their soulful and groovy first single that shows they’re already well within the pocket.

Drake — Scary Hours 2

There have been a handful of false starts with Certified Lover Boy in terms of its release date so far. No, it’s not out yet, but Drake did give fans something to chew on last week: Scary Hours 2, which features Rick Ross and Lil Baby. Scorpion arrived within months of the first Scary Hours, so this is at least a positive sign that Drake’s next full-length is imminent.

St. Vincent — “Pay Your Way In Pain”

St. Vincent was a little tight-lipped about her new album’s title over the past week or so, but she made the official reveal for Daddy’s Home last week. That news was also accompanied by a cinematic video for “Pay Your Way In Pain,” the first taste of the album Annie Clark described as “the sound of being down and out downtown in New York, 1973.”

Kenny Beats and Denzel Curry — Unlocked 1.5

Beats and Curry’s Unlocked was perhaps the finest sub-20-minute project of 2020, and now they’ve revived it for 2021 with Unlocked 1.5. This time around, they recruited others to lend their production and vocals skills to reworked tracks, including Robert Glasper, Smino, Joey Badass, and others.

Saweetie — “Best Friend” Feat. Doja Cat and Stefflon Don

Saweetie and Doja Cat so thoroughly showed up on their recent collaboration “Best Friend” that it didn’t seem like they needed anybody else on the track. Three is not a crowd in the case of the latest version of the song, though, as Stefflon Don joins that party and proves that everything is better with more friends involved.

No Rome — “Spinning” Feat. Charli XCX and The 1975

At the top of the year, The 1975’s Matty Healy teased that he had a collaboration with Charli XCX on the way, and now it has come to light. Both Charli and The 1975 featured on No Rome’s “Spinning,” which dropped last week and is a thumping glitch-pop track that’s hopefully the first of many, since Charli referred to the trio as a “supergroup.”

Chance The Rapper — “The Heart And The Tongue”

The Big Day was a big one for Chance The Rapper, as it was the most commercially successful project of his career thanks to its No. 2 peak on the charts. That was nearly two years ago, though, but he’s kept the content coming since then. The latest example is “The Heart And The Tongue,” a reflective single on which he confronts some internal struggles.

Juice WRLD — “Life’s A Mess II” Feat. Post Malone and Clever

The drip of posthumous content from Juice WRLD has been impressively consistent and it continued last week with “Life’s A Mess II,” which features Post Malone and Clever. Comparing the song to Juice’s original “Life’s A Mess” with Halsey, Clever noted, “this version I have is the version Juice wanted as far as the beat goes.”

Mitski — “The Baddy Man”

It’s been almost three years since Mitski’s Be The Cowboy, but she’s not quite ready to kick off a new album cycle yet. She did, however, return with new music last week. That was “The Baddy Man,” a straight-up country tune that arrives via the soundtrack for the graphic novel This Is Where We Fall.

Japanese Breakfast — “Be Sweet”

Announcing her new album Jubilee last week, Japanese Breakfast noted, “After spending the last five years writing about grief, I wanted our follow up to be about joy.” Indeed, “Be Sweet” is a more optimism-fueled tune, a fun throwback-pop-leaning track that’s accompanied by an equally fun video. As an Uproxx co-worker of mine accurately noted, the track sounds like it could have been on the most recent Paramore album, 2017’s After Laughter.

Tyler The Creator — “Tell Me How”

A couple weeks ago, new Tyler The Creator music popped up, of all places, in a Coca-Cola commercial; “Commercials need sounds like this,” Tyler declared. Now the track isn’t limited to just the ad, as he released the full version of “Tell Me How” this year, which is as good a chance as any to hear Tyler play the flute.

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

For a cartoon sequel that’s about Looney Tunes characters playing basketball with LeBron James, Space Jam: A New Legacy has managed to kick up a surprising amount of controversy over the past few days. While the first “scandal” was a little more tongue in cheek as people reacted to Lola Bunny being “less sexualized” than her, uh, curvy ’90s look, social media erupted over reports that Pepé Le Pew had been pulled from the sequel. The news hit shortly after an op-ed in the New York Times that called out the cartoon skunk for perpetuating rape culture. However, the two events were actually unrelated. Director Malcolm Lee had already cut Pepé from the Space Jam sequel months ago. Of course, by then, conservatives had latched onto the controversy as yet another example of “cancel culture” run amok, and added it to their list of things to constantly rail about, which now includes The Muppets, Mr. Potato Head, Dr. Seuss, and Star Wars.

Enter James Gunn, who was actually “canceled” when Disney fired him from the third Guardians of the Galaxy film after Trump supporters dug up old tweets where he made a series of tasteless jokes that he already apologized for years earlier. But despite that experience, Gunn still thinks the term “cancel culture” is blown out of proportion and that having discussion about topics like Pepe Le Pew is a good thing.

“Stop calling everything ‘cancel culture’ because you’re too dim to have a nuanced opinion,” Gunn tweeted. “People can be offended by something, or think something sucks, and that’s not ‘cancel culture’ – it’s free speech.”

Gunn later expanded his thoughts to everything from Harvey Weinsten to Speedy Gonzales and even touched on being “canceled” himself. You can see the full thread below:

(Via James Gunn on Twitter)

Kanye West has been in the news over the past year, although the focus was usually on his failed presidential campaign or his rumored divorce from Kim Kardashian and not his music. Now that the dust seems to be settling on those first two points, though, it seems like he’s getting back to his craft and progress on his album Donda is being made.

That’s according to collaborator Cyhi The Prynce, who said in a recent VladTV interview, “I think [West] started working on it late last year. Once November, December, January comes around, he kind of takes a hiatus, a little vacation break, get with the family. We’re back working, that’s why I’m out here, too.”

Donda was originally set for release in July 2020, although the album has yet to surface. He shared a tracklist for the album that month, which included a song that seemed to be about Elon Musk and SpaceX. After the missed release date came and went, West shared the cover art for the album, which looked like bodies near a sun as depicted by a heat-sensing camera.

This is the first news about Donda in a while, and since West was apparently close to being finished in July 2020, perhaps the project will be ready for release soon.

Nomadland was the big winner during Sunday’s 26th Critics’ Choice Awards, with the film winning Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Chloé Zhao, and Best Cinematography. But in a way, the real winner was all of us for getting to witness Alan Kim’s cute acceptance speech.

The eight-year-old star of Minari, one of the best movies of 2020, was named Best Young Actor/Actress over, among others, Talia Ryder in Never Rarely Sometimes Always and Helena Zengel in News of the World. While wearing the tiniest tuxedo, Kim said, “Thank you. Thank you. First of all, I’d like to thank the critics who voted and my family…” As he tried to list more names, the tears started flowing. “Oh my goodness, I’m crying…” Kim said (it has a similar energy to this, but happy). It’s freaking adorable.

This acceptance speech, along with the Sonic voicemail, is further proof that Kim should be nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars. Not only does he give a prodigious performance in the A24 indie, about a Korean-American family living in Arkansas in the 1980s, he would also block Jared Leto from getting nominated in the category. Does the Joker really need a second Oscar? (That’s a question that answers itself.)

Over the weekend, the Recording Academy announced its list of performers for this year’s Grammys ceremony, which includes Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and other big names. A pair of artists was excluded, though, and they’re not pleased about it: Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, who are now collectively known as Silk Sonic. The two were so flabbergasted by their absence from the list that they took to Twitter to vent their frustrations and rally the Academy to give them a shot.

Yesterday afternoon, .Paak shared a graphic of the performers list and tweeted, “YO @BrunoMars WHAT THE F*CK?!? Did you see this?!?! Call me back!!” Mars replied, “Wait… are you sure this is even real? where did you find this?” That was the beginning of a playful back-and-forth, which .Paak continued, “Bro it says CBS right at the top! It’s legit. What the F*CK!!?! ANSWER YOUR PHONE!!”

Mars answered, “Are you sure these are performers and not just presenters,” to which .Paak replied, “FAM STOP!!! Did they even hear the song?!? They don’t love us??” Mars then shared a revised image of the list and wrote, “See @AndersonPaak You’ve been misinformed. This is the real real bill. we’re all good!” As .Paak quickly pointed out, though, “And we’re not on this either you PRICK!!!” That elicited a simple “Oh” from Mars.

This is when .Paak got the ball rolling, tweeting, “Do we need to get a hashtag going or something??” Presumably rubbing his eyes while tweeting his response, Mars wrote, “Andy just chill. i’m still waking up.” .Paak was unrelenting, responding, “Nah f*ck that! I haven’t seen my family in months!! I need this to work, You promised me!! Everybody join in!!! I need all of Twitter to help make this trend!! Come on @RecordingAcad #LetSilkSonicThrive.” Mars answered, “I don’t think this is how u get on a show @AndersonPaak, & that’s a pretty long hashtag but i’m rockin wit you. #LetSilkSonicThrive.”

Mars then shared a letter that read:

“Dear Grammys,

If you can see it in your hearts to allow two out of work musicians to perform at your show, we would really appreciate it. We just released a song and could really use the promotion right now. We have a lot riding on this record (and the Pelicans game next week, but that’s another story). We haven’t been able to perform for a while and we just want to sing. We’ll send in an audition tape and take as many covid tests as we need to. I promise we won’t be extra. We just really want a gig again. I hope you’ll consider this request and give us the opportunity to shine. Love, Silk Sonic.”

.Paak added, “WHAT HE SAID! #LetSilkSonicThrive.” .Paak later noted that the hashtag had become a trending topic on Twitter, writing, “@RecordingAcad I know you see this!! We doing real numbers out here!! You can’t ignore the people!!!#LetSilkSonicThrive.” Mars responded, “Yo!!! @AndersonPaak It’s working! you’re a real twitter wizard! @RecordingAcad please log on and look at this!!! #LetSilkSonicThrive.” Mars added, “Wow this started with just us 2 and now we’re a whole army! There’s nothing we cant do. First the Grammys then the world! UNLIMITED POWERRR!”

Still, it would seem .Paak lost hope in the cause, as he was quick to attempt to hop on the BTS train, tweeting, “Bro the @RecordingAcad haven’t even responded… @bts_bighit do y’all need a drummer? #LetSilkSonicThrive.” Mars responded, “You’re right. I got excited we were trending for a while today. I’m sorry I let you down. I hope you & BTS go on to do great things,” to which .Paak replied, “You never let me down champ! Only disappointed me. But sh*t atleast it’s top trending! Don’t give up hope! Either The Grammys or BTS is gonna hit us Back I know it. thank you guys so much!!! #LetSilkSonicThrive.”

Mars and .Paak are certainly fit to appear on the Grammys stage, as they are both accomplished veterans of the awards: Mars has picked up 11 Grammy wins from 27 nominations, while .Paak has 3 wins from 7 nominations.

That’s where the situation stands now. It’s not clear if this is some sort of elaborate social media campaign leading up to an official announcement of Silk Sonic’s addition to the Grammy performance lineup, if this is actually how Mars and .Paak are trying to get involved, or if they’re just goofing around and getting some viral self-promotion in on Twitter. Either way, check out the tweets here or below.

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