Month: March 2021

Justin Bieber faced some criticism for including snippets of Martin Luther King Jr. speeches on his new album Justice, and now he has taken time to address that feedback.

During a Clubhouse broadcast yesterday, Bieber addressed the MLK concerns (as Billboard reports), insisting that he wasn’t trying to draw parallels between himself and the civil rights leader:

“I want to keep growing and learning about just all social injustices and what it looks like for me to be better, what it looks like for my friends to be better. And I know I have a long way to go. I love that when people are listening to my album, these conversations are coming up and they’re like, ‘Well, how is he going from Martin Luther King into a love song?’ I’m not trying to make a connection between me and Martin Luther King. That’s why I never try to talk about social injustice or I didn’t want to be the one to talk about it because I just have so much more learning to do. But I have this man who was ready to die and what he believed to be true. If I’m not willing to face some sort of ridicule or judgment of people wondering my motives or whatever that is, for me, it was a no brainer.”

He also spoke about his desire to spread King’s words elsewhere in the broadcast, saying that they weren’t something he really grew up with: “Being Canadian, […] they didn’t teach us about Black history. It was just not a part of our education system. I think for me, coming from Canada and being uneducated and making insensitive jokes when I was a kid and being insensitive and being honestly just a part of the problem because I just didn’t know better. For me to have this platform to just share this raw moment of Martin Luther King in a time where he knew he was going to die for what he was standing up for.”

Check out our review of Justice here.

It all began with a single question: “Y’all wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out???????? It’s kind of long but full of suspense.”

From there, Twitter users went on a 148-tweet journey from Detroit to Tampa, full of strippers, money, and pimps. And now the “greatest stripper saga ever” has been turned into an A24 movie starring Taylour Paige as Zola (she’s the only character with the same name as her real-life counterpart), Riley Keough as sex worker Stefani, Nicholas Braun (Cousin Greg!) as Stefani’s loser boyfriend Derrek, and Colman Domingo as pimp X.

Our own Vince Mancini saw Zola at Sundance last year, calling it “entertaining as hell” with a “brilliant” cast. Did I mention that Cousin Greg sports “a Fred Durst chin strap” and aspires to make Instagram fail videos”? This feels important.

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

Zola (Taylour Paige), a Detroit waitress, strikes up a new friendship with a customer, Stefani (Riley Keough), who seduces her to join a weekend of dancing and partying in Florida. What at first seems like a glamorous trip full of “hoeism” rapidly transforms into a 48-hour journey involving a nameless pimp, an idiot boyfriend, some Tampa gangsters and other unexpected adventures in this wild, see-it-to-believe-it tale.

Zola, directed by Janicza Bravo, opens in theaters this summer.

Nike’s latest basketball sneaker release wants to shift away from a “one for all” model and tailor sneakers more towards specific elements of the game. Signature sneakers get this kind of care, as they are made to work with the specific athlete the shoe is named for, but the non-signature releases have often looked to serve a much wider and more diverse group of players.

With their new Greater Than (GT) series, Nike is refining the technology in each of their sneakers to benefit players based on what they require more out of a shoe, based on three key elements of movement — Run, Cut, and Jump. Each of the three sneakers in the Air Zoom GT series is made to maximize the comfort and functionality based on which of those elements defines a player’s game.

From left to right, you have the Air Zoom GT Cut, Air Zoom GT Run, and Air Zoom GT Jump, each constructed with cushioning technology in the midsole to provide the most comfort, stability, and support for that element. The Cut is a lower profile sneaker with a stabilizing unit on the outside, a full length Zoom Air strobel (the part stitched to the upper) and and additional Zoom Air unit in the heel. The Run features full length Nike React as well as a Zoom Air strobel and Zoom Air unit in the toe for more cushioning on the balls of the feet. The Jump, unsurprisingly, has full length Zoom Air in the strobel and units in both the forefoot and heel for added bounce, as well as a Jumpwire upper.

Two players who were heavily involved in the creation of the Cut sneaker were Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu and Kings star De’Aaron Fox, with Ionescu noting before the design team got to work that she felt there wasn’t a shoe that met her needs both in wanting a lightweight sneaker for speed while also delivering comfort.

The Air Zoom GT Cut, pictured above, will be the first to release in April (a firm date is still TBD), with the Run releasing summer 2021, and the Jump after that.

The Framing Britney Spears documentary opened a lot of eyes to the struggles the titular pop star has faced over the years, drawing responses from everybody from Dua Lipa to Kim Kardashian. One person who hasn’t watched it yet, though, is Spears herself. She revealed as much in an Instagram post from last night, in which she also noted that from what she has seen, she is “embarrassed.”

Sharing a video of herself dancing, Spears wrote in part, “My life has always been very speculated … watched … and judged really my whole life !!! […] It takes a lot of strength to TRUST the universe with your real vulnerability cause I’ve always been so judged… insulted… and embarrassed by the media… and I still am till this day !!!! […] I didn’t watch the documentary but from what I did see of it I was embarrassed by the light they put me in … I cried for two weeks and well …. I still cry sometimes !!!!”

Find Spears’ post below.

“My life has always been very speculated …

watched … and judged really my whole life !!! For my sanity I need to dance to @iamstevent every night of my life to feel wild and human and alive !!! I have been exposed my whole life performing in front of people !!! It takes a lot of strength to TRUST the universe with your real vulnerability cause I’ve always been so judged… insulted… and embarrassed by the media… and I still am till this day !!!! As the world keeps on turning and life goes on we still remain so fragile and sensitive as people !!! I didn’t watch the documentary but from what I did see of it I was embarrassed by the light they put me in … I cried for two weeks and well …. I still cry sometimes !!!! I do what I can in my own spirituality with myself to try and keep my own joy … love … and happiness !!!! Every day dancing brings me joy !!! I’m not here to be perfect … perfect is boring … I’m here to pass on kindness !!!!”

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

Drake experienced a close call at his Toronto mansion on Tuesday evening. According to varying reports from multiple publications, a woman was arrested near his home following a failed attempt to broke into the rapper’s house. The Toronto Sun and New York Daily News report that the unnamed woman was put under arrest after a call was placed due to a disturbance she caused in the area. The Toronto Sun added that law enforcement sources told them she was armed with a knife and allegedly hit one of the security guards with a metal pipe. “The perpetrator did not get anywhere near Drake,” the insider claimed. “In fact, the intruder did not make it past the front gate.”

However, the reports that the woman was carrying a knife or caused any injury to individuals in the area were denied by both Global News and TMZ. The former confirmed that an arrest was made around 5 PM on Tuesday evening around Drake’ mansion, which is located around the Bayview and Lawrence avenues, but that they were notified by officers that there was no attempt to trespass on the rapper’s property nor were any injuries reported. It’s also unknown if Drake himself was home at the time of the incident.

The woman’s arrest comes weeks after Drake became the first artist in music history to have three songs debut within the top three positions of the Billboard Hot 100 thanks to his Scary Hours 2 project.

Among the many controversies that surround Lil Nas X’s new song and video “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” one of involves accusations of plagiarism. Some people noticed large similarities between his video and FKA Twigs’ 2019 video for “Cellophane.” Lil Nas admitted to TIME that he took inspiration from FKA Twigs’ video for his own. “I wanted to see some things people have done in music videos with the pole—and I felt like twigs did a really amazing job at that,” he said. “I wanted to do my own take on it.”

Despite it all, Lil Nas and FKA Twigs are on good terms, as the latter revealed in an Instagram post that they cleared the air about their respective videos. “Thank you @lilnasx for our gentle honest conversations and for acknowledging the inspiration cellophane gave you and your creative team in creating your iconic video!” she said. “I think what you have done is amazing and i fully support your expression and bravery in pushing culture forward for the queer community. legend status.”

She also took a moment to address sex workers, Andrew Thomas Huang, who previously spoke about the similarities in the music videos, and Kelly Yvonne as they all played a role in creating her video.

“I want to thank @andrewthomashuang and @kelyvon for helping me create cellophane but also and most importantly i would like to thank sex workers and strippers for providing the physical language to make both videos possible,” FKA Twigs said. She then shared some news with her followers. “i have been working with @swarmhive to help support this community and i know all donations to the swarm hardship fund will be welcome during this difficult time.” SWARM (Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement) is a grassroots sex-worker-led collective “fighting criminalisation, supporting sex workers & engaging in solidarity across issues of justice,” as it reads in their Instagram bio.

Russell Westbrook made NBA history on Monday night when he posted a 35-point, 21-assist, 14-rebound triple-double, the third ever 30/20/10 game in NBA history and the first 35/20/10 game ever. It was a sensational individual effort and the reminder of the highs Westbrook can still reach when he’s at his best — and, most importantly, it lifted the Wizards to a much needed win.

On Tuesday morning, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith made sure to let everyone know that he didn’t care about Westbrook’s historic night, citing Russ’ lack of a championship and not being able to carry a winner and things of that nature. Westbrook’s wife, Nina, took to her Instagram story to respond to Smith’s comments and say, simply, they’re tired of his constant criticism.

After the Wizards fell to the Hornets on Tuesday on a back-to-back, Russell Westbrook was asked about Smith’s comments and his wife’s response, and gave a thoughtful, lengthy response about how he’s learned to ignore such comments and find happiness in his life beyond what happens on the basketball court.

It’s a tremendous bit of perspective from Westbrook, who notes that he plays hard every night, something no one has ever been able to question about his game, and that whether he wins a championship or not he’s accomplished a ton already and feels like he’s a champion already having made it to the NBA from where he’s from.

The 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is nearing its final weekend, and at halftime of the last Elite 8 game between Michigan and UCLA, the schedule for this coming Saturday’s Final Four was announced.

Baylor, Gonzaga, and Houston have all punched tickets to the final weekend of the tournament in Indianapolis, which CBS will carry, and unsurprisingly the game featuring the two Texas teams gets the earlier window. Baylor and Houston will square off at 5:14 p.m. ET on CBS on Saturday evening, with Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, and Tracy Wolfson on the call, with Gonzaga and the winner of Michigan-UCLA to follow at 8:34 p.m. ET. Both games will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy, with the championship game coming on Monday night.

On the women’s side, UConn, South Carolina, Arizona, and Stanford all punched their tickets to the Final Four in San Antonio for this coming Friday. The Huskies will meet Arizona in their national semifinal game, while South Carolina and Stanford will meet in the other. Those Final Four games will take place on Friday night, starting with South Carolina-Stanford at 6:30 p.m. ET followed by UConn-Arizona at 9 p.m. ET. The women’s championship game is set for 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, also on ESPN.

There’s growing tension between executives and staff members at YouTube’s headquarters, and at the center of it all is YG’s track “Meet The Flockers.” The song can be found on his beloved debut album, My Krazy Life, which he released back in 2014. On it, the Compton rapper speaks about breaking into the home of a Chinese family, which he says is a perfect target for a robbery. “You find a house and scope it out/ Find a Chinese neighborhood ’cause they don’t believe in bank accounts,” he raps. It’s comments like these that have caused some YouTube staffers to ask that it be removed.

So far YouTube’s executives have decided against removing the video from the platform. In an email sent to their staff members, which was shared by Bloomberg, the administrators explained their decision. “We find this video to be highly offensive and understand it is painful for many to watch, including many in Trust & Safety and especially given the ongoing violence against the Asian community,” they said. “While we debated this decision at length amongst our policy experts, we made the difficult decision to leave the video up to enforce our policy consistently and avoid setting a precedent that may lead to us having to remove a lot of other music on YouTube.”

The Weeknd has spent much of March celebrating some big anniversaries. There was the ten-year of his debut mixtape, House Of Balloons, which helped him break into the R&B world. Last March, The Weeknd released his most recent album, After Hours, to widespread acclaim. Finally, back on this date in 2018, he dropped the only EP of his career, My Dear Melancholy. To celebrate the latter, The Weeknd dropped a new video for one of the EP’s tracks, “Try Me.” It’s a fairly simple one that finds the Canadian singer lip-synching the lyrics to the song into the front-facing camera of his phone while he sits in the backseat of a car.

The video comes after The Weeknd teased that new music would arrive soon, albeit in a unique way. “new song living in NFT space. coming soon…,” he wrote in a post on Twitter. Whenever it arrives, the singer will join the likes of Ja Rule and Grimes as artists who have taken advantage of the NFT space. He also hinted at more releases as a part of his After Hours era. This was news he also delivered on Twitter, where he wrote, “p.s. this chapter isn’t quite done yet,” adding, “still tying some loose ends.”

You can watch the “Try Me” video above.