Month: March 2021

The Alchemist is in the midst of something of a renaissance, producing a string of highly-regarded projects for the likes of Griselda Records’ Conway The Machine and Gary, Indiana drug rap avatar Freddie Gibbs, as well as songs for Action Bronson and Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats. Hitting the ground running to open the new year, the LA-based producer has announced his next full-length collaboration. This time around, he’s contributing his unique brand of soulful menace to the lyrics of Armand Hammer, the duo consisting of New York rappers Elucid and Billy Woods.

The new album is called Haram, and it’s due on March 26 via Backwoodz Studioz. Fronted by a striking cover — a pair of freshly butchered pigs’ heads — the album features guest appearances from Curly Castro, Earl Sweatshirt, Kayana, Quelle Chris, and more. It arrives just about nine months from the release of their last project, 2020’s Shrines, which likewise featured many of the above collaborators as well as Nosaj, Pink Siifu, and R.A.P. Ferreira. However, Haram will be Armand Hammer’s first project entirely produced by just one producer.

You can pre-order Haram here. Check out the tracklist below.

1. “Sir Benni Miles”
2. “Roaches Don’t Fly”
3. “Black Sunlight” feat. KAYANA
4. “Indian Summer”
5. “Aubergine” feat. Fielded
6. “God’s Feet”
7. “Peppertree”
8. “Scaffolds”
9. “Falling Out The Sky” feat. Earl Sweatshirt
10. “Wishing Bad” feat. Curly Castro & Amani
11. “Chicharrones” feat. Quelle Chris
12. “Squeegee”
13. “Robert Moses”
14. “Stonefruit”

Inside the NBA isn’t so much a basketball show as it is an entertainment program that has an element of basketball in it. The formula has worked out well — Inside is the most highly-regarded sports studio show of all time — but for folks who want substantive, detail-oriented basketball discussions, it’s not really the place.

This isn’t a knock on Inside, mind you, it’s just there’s an expectation vs. reality element of the show. This was put on display on Tuesday night when one of its stalwarts, Shaquille O’Neal, appeared on TNT’s Tuesday night studio show and went viral for a conversation with Candace Parker in which Parker more or less explained how modern pick-and-roll defense works.

The clip is very much an old school vs. new school sort of thing, where Parker is able to give context that Shaq is just unable to fully grasp because she plays basketball right now while his playing days were before the pace-and-space era really exploded. To that end, there is something pretty interesting about this whole conversation in a vacuum.

The big issue, though, is that analysis by retired players can oftentimes come off as aloof, dismissive, or a combination of the two, which is compounded by the fact that Inside isn’t always viewed as a show that has the most poignant conversations about the game of basketball itself.

As a result, this exchange got basketball Twitter talking, both because of what Shaq said and in praise of Parker’s analysis.

There has always been tension that stems from older generations believing younger generations are not doing things correctly, whether that be in basketball or in literally anything else. Fortunately for those who tuned into this clip, the younger generation was represented by someone who was able to clearly lay out why the older generation was wrong about the topic at hand.

When cities across the country began lockdowns last March, many average Americans were under the impression that things would go back to “normal” in just a few short weeks. But a year and 28 million confirmed cases later, the US is still struggling to contain the virus. While the vaccine rollout is going better than planned, states like Texas are fed up with restrictions. Going against the advice of nearly all medical professionals, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Tuesday that the state would be lifting all lockdowns and restrictions put in place, including all mask mandates.

50 Cent is apparently happy about the news, and he’s ready to take advantage of the state’s reopening. 50 Cent shared a screenshot of the news on Instagram Tuesday night and expressed his wish to visit the state. “i’m headed to Texas f*ck this,” he wrote.

This isn’t the first time 50 Cent tried to skirt around mask rules. During Super Bowl weekend last month, 50 Cent threw a massive, maskless party indoors. The event was held at a private air hanger in St. Petersburg, FL, and Mayor Rick Kriseman wasn’t happy with the rapper’s blatant disregard for COVID restrictions. “This isn’t how we should be celebrating the Super Bowl. It’s not safe or smart. It’s stupid,” Mayor Kriseman wrote in response. “We’re going to take a very close look at this, and it may end up costing someone a lot more than 50 cent.”

Thanks to its weekly release schedule of episodes chock-full of Easter eggs, WandaVision has been a non-stop source of fan theories as Marvel junkies parse through each scene looking for clues as to what happens next. However, the fan theories have taken on a life of their own far beyond what the show’s creators intended. Even with only one episode left to air this Friday, fans are still buzzing about the possibility of major Marvel characters making an appearance on the show, and judging by WandaVision director’s Matt Shakman’s latest interview, they might want to prepare themselves for some disappointment.

While talking to Comic Book ahead of Friday’s series finale, Shakman made it a point to shoot down one of WandaVision‘s biggest fan theories. Namely, that Monica’s aerospace engineer contact is actually Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. Even though the show already depicted Monica meeting the engineer in Episode 7, fans are still convinced that Monica merely met the soldiers tasked with dropping off the vehicle that failed to break through Wanda’s Hex and Reed Richards will appear in the finale to ask what happened to his “truck.” However, Shakman has now made it clear that the Mr. Fantastic cameo isn’t happening even though that would’ve been “pretty great”:

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. The single tear down every fan’s cheek, I know, aerospace engineers and the like,” Shakman said in an interview with ComicBook.com. “I have been so taken by the passionate interest in the show. And I love the memes they have created, the Tik Tok videos, the theories. I mean, my gosh, the people making these theories are more creative than I am, so thank you! There’s a lot of wonderful response to it and for those who get a little bit disappointed each week. Mea culpa. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.”

Of course, there’s always the chance that Shakman is trying to keep fans off balance, which wouldn’t be unusual for a Marvel production. But he also spoke to TVLine ahead of the WandaVision finale, and he seems to be pretty intent on preparing people for their theories to not pan out. “I know there will be a lot of disappointed people with some theories and some who will feel very smart, but you can’t please everybody, obviously,” Shakman said. “But I hope folks enjoy the ride.”

(Via Comic Book & TVLine)

Jack Harlow’s busy March continues. After the Louisville, Kentucky rapper was announced as the performer on an upcoming episode of Saturday Night Live and promoted his participation in Bleacher Report’s B/R: Open Run NBA All-Star event with 2 Chainz, Lil Baby, and Quavo, it turned out that Jack also had one more ace up his sleeve: An NPR Tiny Desk Concert.

Harlow performs from what appears to be his living room, which gets packed with his band and backup singers as they perform his songs “Rendezvous,” “21C / Delta,” and “Funny Seeing You Here.” Sadly, no one plays the piano that already appears to be part of the room’s decor, but the live band does give Harlow’s familiar songs an even more soulful flair.

The last year has been bad for live shows, but great for Tiny Desk Concerts. Since shifting to the “At Home” format to accommodate COVID-19 safety precautions, the show has been able to bypass the logistical constraints that limited some of the biggest stars from appearing. This has led to not only plenty of bigger guests performing but also to even more memorable performances themselves. 2 Chainz got a pedicure during his, while Polo G took over a local basketball court and Spillage Village went to church and Conway ordered up at Nas’s Sweet Chick restaurant in Queens. While we’re all hoping for a return to live music… NPR should really keep this format, at least part-time. It’s a lot of fun.

Watch Jack Harlow’s Tiny Desk Concert above.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Olivia Rodrigo has spoken about how it’s felt to have celebrities reach out to her in light of her success with “Drivers License.” Now it turns out that Taylor Swift has gotten in touch, as Rodrigo just recently got a personal letter from her.

Chatting in a new interview with Radio.com, Rodrigo discussed what Swift’s message was about, saying:

“I got a letter from Taylor Swift last night, which is insane. Last night, I opened it for the first time, so I’m still reeling. […] My tears are on it, my snot from sobbing my eyes out is on it. I love her. One of my favorite lyrics of hers is, ‘Past me, I’d like to tell you not to get lost in these petty things / Your nemeses will defeat themselves before you get the chance to swing.’ It’s in ‘Long Story Short’ off of Evermore. So she wrote about that in her letter a little bit. She’s like, ‘I think we make our own luck and I think when you’re kind to people and do what’s right, it always comes back to you in the best way.’ I just adore her and that’s what I’ve literally been thinking about since I opened that thing last night, it’s the only thing in my brain. […] I actually can’t talk about it, I’m, like, going to cry. It’s so insane, I can’t even comprehend.”

Find more from the Radio.com interview here.

What was a harmless scheme by legendary Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw in the early 1980s has become an unbelievable bit of serendipity, as blogger and Twitter user “Quirky Research” recently discovered that in 1983, hoping to not draw attention to his minor elbow surgery, Bradshaw checked into a hospital in Louisiana under a false name. But that’s not the story.

The remarkable part of the whole incident is that the fake name Bradshaw chose was the name of another legendary NFL quarterback. A Shreveport news clipping from the time indicates Bradshaw used the name Tom Brady for the procedure.

Yes, you read that correctly. When Bradshaw was 35 and still playing for the Steelers, he toyed with Pittsburgh fans by pretending to be someone else, and in doing so used the name of the man who would go onto become the most prolific QB in the history of football, and who at that point was a 6-year-old kid.

Some fans online mentioned that if Bradshaw is also Brady, then the Buccaneers’ quarterback technically has 11 Super Bowl rings, not just the seven he’s previously been credited for. Others wondered whether Bradshaw’s trick here created some sort of sorcery that transferred his powers to Brady, as Bradshaw’s “minor” surgery spelled the end of his career and he was never the same player again.

With thousands of people in the South still struggling in the aftermath of a winter storm that knocked out power in Texas and froze pipes in Jackson, Mississippi (folks there haven’t had clean water for two weeks), the hip-hop community continues to pitch in to help out. After Travis Scott partnered with the city of Houston to deliver food to 50,000 residents, another hometown hero, Trae Tha Truth, recruited some assistance from friends Gunna and Wale to hand out food, water, and household supplies at a giveaway in the parking lot of Sunnyside’s Worthing High School, helping feed 2,000 families with Goodr.

Houston and hip-hop have long gone together thanks to personalities like Megan Thee Stallion and Travis Scott putting on for the city, but this year, it seemed rappers were more intent on exploiting Texas’ lax COVID safety laws, drawing the ire of Houston’s mayor and residents. Bow Wow held a huge, unmasked concert there in January just after an event featuring Fabolous and Trey Songz was shut down over capacity issues. With so many outsiders taking advantage of the city, it’s a relief to see some banding together with locals to help each other out of the crisis situation.

Gunna and Wale recently collaborated on the song “Flawed,” for which the two rappers released a video in November.

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

This Monday marked exactly two years since Solange surprise-released her acclaimed LP When I Get Home alongside a cinematic short film, which she is sharing a remastered director’s cut of through The Criterion Channel. Both the film and the LP are very personal to Solange, as the singer was undergoing health issues at the time. Her health situation was apparently much more serious than she had previously let on, as the singer has now revealed that she was “quite literally” fighting for her life.

Reflecting on When I Get Home‘s two-year anniversary, Solange took to Instagram to share a lengthy statement about how the project “changed” her life:

“When I first started creating ‘When I Get Home’ I was quite literally fighting for my life…in and out of hospitals (s/out park plaza on Binz! 🙂 with depleting health and broken spirits asking God to send me a sign I would not only survive, but that if he let me make it out alive, I would step into the light whatever that meant. He begin speaking to me. Half the time I didn’t know where it was coming from. I only knew I had to open the door and honor it. I didn’t see naann a thing I imagined. I didn’t know who I was speaking to on ‘I am a witness’. When I listen back, I hear a woman who had only an inkling of what the journey entailed, but didn’t have a clue of why or what the journey would look like. This project has shown me, once you open that door, you can’t go backwards. Believe me I’ve tried saying ‘nah I’m just playing’ so many times, ha. I’m not a big fan of talking about sh*t I don’t know yet. I didn’t do much talking during this time because of that. I’m really down for showing the process, and staying quiet when it hasn’t all yet being revealed. I make work to answer questions within me, for survival. Sometimes I am asking myself that same question many ways. Sometimes it takes me years. I have to honor that time. This Houston ting moves slow y’all. One day, I’ll tell y’all about the days I’ve had since I opened this door. The things I’ve uncovered. The life long healing I’ve begin. The great divine joy and love I’ve experienced. The stories of my past I’ve survived that I had stored all up in my body…. till it said…. no more. The re-learning. The reckoning. This album led me to all of it. Life has now become before WIGH and after WIGH. I’m so grateful for you guys allowing me the space and time.”

This isn’t the first time Solange has addressed her health problems. Back in January 2020, the singer announced she would be canceling a handful of tour dates at the Sydney Opera House due to “the physical demands of the shows.”

Find Solange’s Instagram post below.

Van Morrison raised some eyebrows last year with a series of anti-lockdown singles. Today, if those eyebrows have any more room to go up, they certainly have: Morrison announced a new album called Latest Record Project: Volume 1, which is not a work-in-progress title but the actual name of the album.

Things get wilder once you dive into the 28-song tracklist. Featured on the album are a number of songs with head-scratching titles, tunes like “Psychoanalysts’ Ball,” “Stop Bitching, Do Something,” “They Own The Media,” and “Why Are You On Facebook?.”

Morrison says of the album, “I’m getting away from the perceived same songs, same albums all the time. This guy’s done 500 songs, maybe more, so hello? Why do you keep promoting the same 10? I’m trying to get out of the box.”

Morrison also shared the album’s title track today, so check that out above and find the full Latest Record Project: Volume 1 tracklist below.

Disc One
1. “Latest Record Project”
2. “Where Have All The Rebels Gone?”
3. “Psychoanalysts’ Ball”
4. “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished”
5. “Tried To Do The Right Thing”
6. “The Long Con”
7. “Thank God For The Blues”
8. “Big Lie”
9. “A Few Bars Early”
10. “It Hurts Me Too”
11. “Only A Song”
12. “Diabolic Pressure”
13. “Deadbeat Saturday Night”
14. “Blue Funk”

Disc Two
1. “Double Agent”
2. “Double Bind”
3. “Love Should Come With A Warning”
4. “Breaking The Spell”
5. “Up County Down”
6. “Duper’s Delight”
7. “My Time After A While”
8. “He’s Not The Kingpin”
9. “Mistaken Identity”
10. “Stop Bitching, Do Something”
11. “Western Man”
12. “They Own The Media”
13. “Why Are You On Facebook?”
14. “Jealousy”

Latest Record Project: Volume 1 is out 5/7 via Exile/BMG. Pre-order it here.