Month: April 2021

The newest HBO series is Mare Of Easttown, which debuted last night. Kate Winslet stars in the crime drama as the titular Mare Sheehan while Angourie Rice plays Siobhan Sheehan, a musician. She performs during the show, and it turns out the songs she and her fictional band will be playing in the series are by Mannequin Pussy.

Ahead of the debut episode yesterday, the band tweeted, “you will never believe which cult fave bands’ songs are used as the songs for the fictional band in a highly anticipated HBO show that airs tonight starring Kate Winslet lol could I make this more confusing.” They then added, “We can finally tell you that over a YEAR ago this HBO show got in touch b/c they wanted to use MP songs as the songs for the band in the TV show! I was on tour in Europe at the time & couldn’t coach so [Japanese Breakfast] went in & taught them how to be a band! Worlds collide.”

The group clarified, “Ok does this one make more sense? The actors went in and re-recorded the songs and the actor Angourie Rice recorded her own vocals to the MP songs with @willyipmusic!! Huge shoutout to Mare or Easttown for working so closely with Philly talent for a show that’s based in delco. I have no idea which episodes so you’ll probably just have to watch the whole thing.”

They also revealed that included in the show will be the songs “Who You Are,” “In Love Again,” and “Control.” Japanese Breakfast also responded to the tweets, “So proud of you and grateful to be a part of this.”

Check out a trailer for Mare Of Easttown below.

For his first English language film, Holy Motors director Leos Carax made a musical starring Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver with a soundtrack from the cult band Sparks. My French is a little rusty, but I believe the word I’m looking for is: “Oui!”

Annette is about Henry (Driver), a “stand-up comedian with a fierce sense of humor,” and Ann (Cotillard), “a singer of international renown,” who seem like the perfect couple. But “the birth of their first child, Annette, a mysterious girl with an exceptional destiny, will change their lives.” You wouldn’t know any of that trailer from the above, though. Instead, you get Driver screaming “WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM?!” while wearing a bathrobe and no shirt, which is more effective marketing than “the plot,” anyways.

“We think it’s a really special film,” Sparks duo Ron and Russell Mael told IndieWire about Annette. “It’s uncompromising in all sorts of ways, it’s Adam Driver and it’s a full blown musical. Adam Driver is singing more often than he’s not singing, as well as Marion Cotillard. It’s a unique story and we’re proud it managed to get made”:

“Every Leos Carax film is an event,” Pierre Lescure, President of the Festival de Cannes, said in a statement. “And this one delivers on its promises. Annette is the gift that lovers of cinema, music, and culture were hoping for, one that we have been yearning for during the past year.”

Annette will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on July 6 before being released in the United States on Amazon Prime Video and in theaters in late summer.

It’s been three years since Saweetie’s Icy regime began. Blowing up with her breakout hit “ICY GRL” and car raps in 2018, the slick talker born Diamonté Harper has stuck to her pretty girl code. As first heard on previous offerings, like 2018’s High Maintenance and 2019’s ICY, and sticky smashes like “Tap In” and “My Type,” the Bay Area rapper steps out of a public breakup and heads back to the streets — and booth — to do what she knows best: rapping about being fine and the finer things in life on her latest project Pretty Summer Playlist: Vol. 1.

Breakup aside, Saweetie has been the people’s champion all pandemic. While most of us Slacked, Zoomed, or Netflixed our way through quarantine, the Bay Area rapper took “working from home” to new levels. She stuck on her lengthiest press-on nails and swapped wigs and ‘fits to pose for glamorous pictorials on Instagram and magazine covers. From the studio, she served up the single ladies’ PSA “Back To The Streets” featuring Jhené Aiko, the TikTok-able BFF bop “Best Friend” alongside Doja Cat, and then hopped on the remix to Gwen Stefani’s spirited single “Slow Clap,” among other features.

Also adding to her resume during lockdown: a plethora of eye-popping visuals, cameos on Grown-ish, highly debated concoctions (a la ranch sauce on spaghetti), and three seasons of the quirky yet intimate YouTube reality series called “The Icy Life.” Like her Birkin bag vignettes, Saweetie is juggling multiple bags (checks from Quay and Tesla included) and paying it forward with new fire for her fans to heat up the summer.

On Pretty Summer Playlist: Vol. 1, Saweetie celebrates her singledom with a soundtrack made for sinning and spending. Setting off the pretty party is “Risky,” a collaboration with Drakeo the Ruler sure to activate the kind of shot contest that doesn’t involve a basketball. She also shares the spotlight with other women such as Bbyafricka on the latter’s kitty-loving single “Baby Mama Coochie” and Lourdiz on “Back Seat,” a sexy entry best paired with a string of purple grinning devil emojis.

On “Pretty & Rich,” Saweetie flips a manicured finger to the haters wishing for her downfall. And if curious minds were expecting a statement from Saweetie on her latest split, “See Saw” is the closest thing to it. As she and singer Kendra Jae trade lines about chucking the deuces to an old flame who fumbled the relationship, Saweetie spits: “How you figure, ain’t the woman that you thought?/ You was humpin’ thots / F*ckin’ narcissist, you just mad you got caught.” Oop.

No Saweetie project would be complete without nostalgia. As the subject of a trending topic or three, she’s drawn criticism on timelines for constantly rapping over throwback beats and dedicating bars to bagging fellas with eight figures, but that doesn’t stop her from reviving old favorites here. For “Talkin’ Bout,” she brings back Cali Swag District’s “Teach Me How To Dougie” for her take on Loui’s “Put Yo Back Into It.”

However, Saweetie also keeps her ear to the tweets and offers a direct response to the feedback on the final track and Freaknik-ready twerk-off anthem, “Sweat Check”: “I know y’all tired of me talkin’ about a rich n****,” she allows. “But you are who you f*ck and I’m a big spender.” There’s no need to enroll in her Icy University sessions online to recognize that Saweetie’s affirmations are a masterclass in owning the narrative.

While the formula for her songs feels familiar, Saweetie knows how to amplify her brand across algorithms. Pumping out thirst traps and signing business deals is just daily routine for the University of Southern California graduate, who has experience in balancing a heavy workload. The same goes for her catalog of ear candy. She knows her saweet spots and delivers fun in different flavors — and everyone wants a taste.

Pretty Summer Playlist: Vol. 1 is out now via ICY/Warner Records. Get it here.

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

With The Falcon and The Winter Soldier wrapping up its six episode run later this week, Marvel is already rolling out the red carpet for its next action spectacular, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The martial arts epic will feature an eclectic mix of styles ranging from the gorgeously cinematic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to the intricate, fast paced moves of Jackie Chan. Bringing the film together is director Destin Daniel Cretton who got his start in the indie world with Short Term 12. However, in a new Entertainment Weekly feature on Shang-Chi, Cretton reveals that had no desire to be a part of “capes and comic book heroes” when he finally got a chance to make movies, and he even said as much when he first met Marvel super producer Kevin Feige.

“That’s usually not the way director meetings start, by saying, ‘You know, I was never interested in doing one of these,’” Feige told EW with a laugh. But according to Cretton, he couldn’t resist the desire to put his in the ring when he heard Marvel was getting ready to make Shang-Chi a part of its Phase Four slate. More importantly, he knew the importance of representation to kids who don’t see enough of themselves when it comes to the superhero world:

“When that announcement came out, I just went instantly back to my childhood,” Cretton explains. “[Growing up] all I had was Spider-Man. Because he had the mask on, I could dress up like Spider-Man for Halloween. I had a handful of other characters that looked like me on screen, but there were maybe two or three that I could choose from, and superheroes were not a part of that.”

The film also dropped a teaser trailer, and in addition to the EW feature, Shang-Chi star Simu Liu tweeted the first official poster for the film and promised that a full trailer is coming in a few weeks:

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hits theaters on September 3, 2021.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Keeping up with 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 a star-studded new Young Thug project and new rock revivalism from Greta Van Fleet. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

Young Thug — Slime Language 2

The new Young Thug/YSL Records collection features an all-star roster that includes Drake, Travis Scott, Big Sean, and Meek Mill. Thug said of the creative environment of making this album, “It seemed like a show. It seemed like a Lollapalooza, Coachella. It just seemed like a show. Every moment was performing. Those was more a performance. You got to show up. You know what I’m saying? Everybody’s watching there. Everybody here. Everybody in your sh*t. Everybody in your face, you got to show up. It just felt like that. Every moment.”

Greta Van Fleet — The Battle At Garden’s Gate

In his review of the new nostalgic rock effort from Greta Van Fleet, Uproxx’s Steven Hyden decides that while the band often comes across like cheesy ’70s cosplay, they are nevertheless “capable of kicking up a pretty enjoyable racket that hits the pleasure centers of prog-blooze aficionados with ruthless Pavlovian consistency.”

Saweetie — Pretty Summer Playlist: Season 1

Every summer needs an anthem, so Saweetie has preemptively dropped a handful of them on her new project, Pretty Summer Playlist: Season 1. The brief project is full of highlights, including a track with Drakeo The Ruler and another on which she seemingly goes after her ex, Quavo.

Paul McCartney — McCartney III Imagined

The former Beatle came up with a fun idea to follow 2020’s McCartney III: release the album again, but this time, get other folks to cover or otherwise reinterpret the songs. Given that he’s Paul McCartney, he was able to secure quite the lineup of collaborators for the project, which includes Phoebe Bridgers, Anderson .Paak, Idris Elba, EOB (Ed O’Brien), Dominic Fike, St. Vincent, Damon Albarn, Beck, Khruangbin, Josh Homme, 3D RDN (of Massive Attack), and Blood Orange.

Sharon Van Etten — Epic Ten

Van Etten’s latest project is quite similar to McCartney’s: On her anniversary reissue of Epic (titled Epic Ten), Van Etten recruited a handful of artists to cover her songs. Contributing to the project are Big Red Machine (Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner), Idles, Lucinda Williams, Shamir, Courtney Barnett and Vagabon, St. Panther, and Fiona Apple.

Conway The Machine — La Maquina

Uproxx’s Aaron Williams notes that on the new Conway The Machine project, the Griselda rapper “changes lanes from the usual gritty output he’s best known for, connecting with ATLien stars like JID, Ludacris, and 2 Chainz to show that his comfort zone covers much more ground than you might think.”

Regard, Troye Sivan, and Tate McRae — “You”

After working with Kacey Musgraves and Mark Ronson on “Easy” a few months ago, Troye Sivan has further expanded his list of collaborators. This time, he links up with Tate McRae and Regard on “You,” an electro-pop tune that’s a fine preface to the upcoming summer.

Rina Sawayama and Elton John — “Chosen Family”

Sawayama managed to lock down John for a collaboration because he was so enamored by her abilities. He says he “stopped in [his] tracks” when he heard “Comme Des Garçons” and also noted, “She is just an extraordinary talent. Rina doesn’t just represent the cross-cultural mix of inspiration from which the best music always thrives, but a generation who have grown up with the internet and the entire history of music at their fingertips and mix together whatever they please with real love and understanding, unconstrained by old ideas of genre or boundary. To my mind, she’s the brightest embodiment of this: a brilliant, confidence-oozing, endlessly fascinating songwriter and performer.”

Lucy Dacus — “Hot & Heavy”

After dropping an album in 2018 and spending much of 2019 trickling out a series of holiday-themed singles, Lucy Dacus is gearing up for a new album. She previewed it last week with “Hot & Heavy,” an introspective and retrospective tune she says was initially about an old friend but ended up becoming about her growing beyond previous versions of herself.

IDK and Offset — “Shoot My Shot”

IDK has dropped a project every year since 2014, so don’t think he’s taking 2021 off. He’s been busting out singles this year and the latest is “Shoot My Shot,” an Offset collaboration on which the pair boast about their abilities when it comes to drawing the attention of the fairer sex.

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

Chika is one of hip-hop’s brightest young stars, so it was unfortunate to hear a week ago that she had decided to retire from music due to the “mental toll” the industry has taken on her. The good news, though, is that she has now reversed that decision and no longer plans to retire. This news comes after an especially difficult time for Chika, though, as she also revealed that she recently tried to end her own life.

She wrote on Twitter last night, “I am alive. I am okay. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to check in. It’s been a very intense week. I’m not retiring. After what I’ve endured in the past few days, I’m not ever allowing anything to stop me or almost take me from this ghetto ass earth.” She also had a message for Cardi B: “Thank you, @iamcardib for reaching out & showing such kindness to me in a time I don’t even think you knew was as serious as it was. You’ve always shown love to me & don’t think I could take that for granted. You’re appreciated.”

Chika continued, “I will be stepping back from social media for the time being, whether that means silence or just having someone else post for me. I’m too valuable to be tampered with. And it took almost not being here to realize this internet sh*t isn’t worth it.” She also shared a photo of her hand sticking out its middle finger and wrote, “And to those who thought you won in destroying me… In case YOU needed the reminder. Bloop. Toodles.”

Those messages were preceded by a new minute-long track from Chika, which she titled “You Thought” and in which she addresses the retirement situation.

A couple hours later, she followed up with a lengthy post, in which she said that a recent post in which she declared she was “out” was actually about taking her own life, and that she did try to kill herself:

“i know i’ve spoken my peace, but i feel the need to clarify some things. i’m not reading comments/ replies/DMs, but some texts i’m getting are making me feel the need to be fully transparent.

last week was not simply a result of online bullying. i have been working through a rough patch in life that trolls did not cause. however, in one of my most vulnerable moments, i was submerged in messages encouraging me to take my life. i fought back and wished the same fate on those sending hate.

i made a video, clearly breaking down while trying to communicate that i was being pushed to a point where this was making my own internal battle worse, and the last tweet i remember seeing was someone excited at the possibility that i might hurt myself.

the note screenshot was not about quitting, it was about ending my life. because that day, i tried. i dunno who called who, but paramedics broke my door down to save my life. thank you to whomever was looking out for me that night.

i was not okay.

social media did not cause what happened, however it definitely was the straw that broke the camel’s back that evening. i barely remember anything. i could tell you what the next 3 days felt like — but it’s too much to get into. i’m saying all of this to say: we need listen more when people say they are not okay. we need to be mindful with our words. we need to treat each other like humans. petty arguments are a part of internet culture, but being pushed to a point that caused me to go through the most traumatic week of my life is something that didn’t and *doesn’t* need to happen. to anyone.

this break i’m taking has less to do with stans, harassment, and online sh*t. it’s a chance for me to process all of this and protect the joy i have left. i am fine and will be fine, i promise you.

i’m just bout to go be human for a little bit.

take care of yourselves and the people you love. we’re all we got.”

Find Chika’s tweets below.

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

Mad Max: Fury Road (one of the best movies of the 2010s) was primarily filmed in Africa, unlike the first three films in the franchise, Mad Max, Mad Max 2, and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, which were shot in Australia. But the upcoming Furiosa spinoff will return to director George Miller’s home country.

Furiosa, starring Anya Taylor-Joy (playing a younger version of Charlize Theron’s character from Fury Road), Chris Hemsworth, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, will be the “the largest film ever to be filmed” in Australia, “bringing at least $350 million into the state’s economy and involving 850 jobs,” according to the Sydney Morning Herald. It’s unclear how many of the jobs will involve knowing how to play an instrument that blasts fire, but hopefully it’s at least 50. Miller said that unlike Fury Road, which “essentially happened over three days and two nights,” Furiosa “happens over many years. You try to make films that are ‘uniquely familiar.’ This will be familiar to those people who know Mad Max, and in particular Fury Road, but also it will be unique”:

While many big movies have been heading to streaming services, Miller said “this is a story that I can’t wait to see in a cinema.” Hemsworth said that having grown up watching Miller’s iconic series, joining the cast was the biggest “pinch myself moment” in his acting career. “It’s a huge honor,” he said. “A lot of pressure but exciting pressure that is certainly motivating.”

It’s an arms race between Australia and New Zealand for the most impressive production. I’ll take dusty car bandits over hobbits any day, thank you very much.

(Via the Sydney Morning Herald)

Britney Spears has been through a lot over the past few years as her conservatorship battle continues. Spears insists, though, that through it all, she’s happy.

Over the weekend, Spears shared a video in which she answered a trio of questions from her fans. The first two were about her dancing and a red refrigerator that she posted an image of a few weeks ago. The third question was if she’s “OK” and Spears said, “Yes, I’m totally fine. I’m extremely happy. I have a beautiful home, beautiful children. I’m taking a break right now because I’m enjoying myself.”

This comes a couple weeks after Spears addressed the Framing Britney Spears documentary, which she hadn’t yet watched at the time. In an Instagram post, she revealed that she was upset after seeing some of the doc, writing, “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 !!!!”

Check out Spears’ video above.

Back in December 2018, Marvel Studios officially greenlit its first Asian-superhero-fronted movie, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and everything went quite well with production until you-know-what happened. The project aimed to keep the Black Panther (and Black Widow) streak — bringing stories into the MCU that weren’t dominated by white superpowered dudes — going, which was a wise move since the Chadwick Boseman-fronted movie arrived to massive box-office prowess and critical acclaim. Well, the intended inclusiveness is finally coming back to theaters this year, and the first Shang Chi teaser is here to prove it.

Star Simu Liu shows off his serious fighting moves in the above trailer, which is filled with elaborate choreography, and he also revealed the film’s first poster.

From the very beginning of this film’s inception (and according to Deadline), production efforts were carried out in as authentic a manner as possible with Marvel filling the production with Asian and Asian American filmmakers, including director Destin Daniel Cretton and screenwriter Dave Callaham.

Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will (we hope!) arrive on September 3.

For a while now, Dave Grohl and his mother Virginia Grohl have been working on From Cradle To Stage, a TV series based on the elder Grohl’s book of the same name. A couple months ago, it was revealed that the series will launch on Paramount+.

Now we’ve gotten our first look at the series via a 20-second teaser, which shows quick clips of the Grohls, as well as of other famous artists in their mothers. Appearing on the show are Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds and Christene Reynolds, Pharrell Williams and Dr. Carolyn Williams, Miranda Lambert and Bev Lambert, Brandi Carlile and Teresa Carlile, Tom Morello and Mary Morello, and Rush’s Geddy Lee and Mary Weinrib.

Grohl also shared a statement about the series, saying:

“I believe that the relationship between a musician and their mother is so important because it’s the foundation of their understanding of love, which is surely every artist’s greatest muse. Having the opportunity to travel the country and tell the stories of these amazing women behind the curtain not only shed some light on the music that they inspired, but also made me appreciate the love that I was given from my own mother, my best friend. It goes without saying that we are all indebted to the women who have given us life. For without them, there would be no music.”

Check out the teaser video above.