Month: May 2021

In 1997, the world was introduced to Missy Elliott by way of her dynamite debut, Supa Dupa Fly. This energetic inauguration was bolstered by the title track’s music video plus several more popular songs and clips, all of which cemented a now well-known brand of refreshingly off-kilter energy. When everyone zigged, Missy zagged, and this change of pace made her a bona fide star. However, her second studio album, 1999’s Da Real World, seemingly fell by the wayside. Though it was not without hit singles like “She’s A Bitch” and “Hot Boyz,” Missy believed that her sophomore effort “could have done a lot better.” (The lukewarm reaction could possibly be due to the shift of mainstream attention to other female rappers at the time, as Foxy Brown and Eve both released chart-topping albums that same year.) So with her next offering, Missy went to work, making sure she was seen, heard, and felt like never before. Enter here, Miss E… So Addictive.

Released May 15, 2001, the 16-track effort solidified the Virginia-reppin’ artist as an artistic force to be reckoned with. The multi-hyphenate once again teamed up with fellow VA native Timbaland for the platinum-selling LP, which implements the best of many musical worlds. As she declares on the “So Addictive (Intro),” “Me and Timbaland gonna give ya shit ya never heard before,” and they don’t disappoint. Miss E shows Misdemeanor’s across-the-board influences and Tim’s arsenal of universally attractive sounds, proving why the talented twosome led the front of rap’s experimental wave.

Tim ditches the robo-heavy rhythms found on Missy’s first two albums for a new palette of internationally alluring sonics, like bedroom-ready R&B (the Ginuwine collab “Take Away”) and Caribbean-spiced vibes (“Watcha Gonna Do”). Far East inspiration catapults the one-two punch of “Lick Shots” and the bhangra-inspired “Get Ur Freak On” to new heights, while the funky, Method Man and Redman-assisted “Dog In Heat” and skating rink-ready “Old School Joint” blend throwback stylings with new school flavor, resulting in influential, turn-of-the-century hip-hop that few producer-artist teams have emulated or surpassed.

Aside from impressively crafted instrumentals, Miss E harps heavily on themes of reciprocal sex and female pleasure, subjects Missy hasn’t dodged in the decades since. (Moment of appreciation for the “elephant trunk” reference in “Work It” and the choral coital coos of “Pass That Dutch.”) For one of the first times on wax, Missy’s animated side takes a slight backseat during Miss E in order to showcase her human side’s physical wants and needs.

From teasing a euphoric, romance-filled evening in the R&B jam “X-Tasy” to affirming her role in a hot and heavy night during the Grammy-winning “Scream AKA Itchin’” (“Lay on the bed he follow, bone him until to-morrah, Make him sing high sopran-ah”), Missy uses her sexuality as empowerment. The project’s features also show the dichotomy of how female MCs, in particular, wield their sensuality; while her verse is not in the album version of “One Minute Man,” Trina’s deliciously raunchy rhymes in its music video further display women’s craving for physical intimacy, and how the vocality and visibility of those desires are equal parts authoritative and arousing. (Additionally, Missy’s alliances with Eve, Da Brat, and Missy proteges Lil Mo and Tweet on Miss E continue her career’s crusade towards stronger camaraderie and tolerance between women in music, an effort which culminated in the 2001 Grammy-winning revamp of “Lady Marmalade,” which Missy produced and co-wrote.)

What else is “so addictive” about Miss E? It’s that it’s undeniably Missy. She takes permanent ink to the project and its corresponding content and definitively underlines her individuality and multidimensionality. “One Minute Man” is as bold and slinky as it is colorful, while the unconventional approach to crafting “Get Ur Freak On” both sonically and visually allowed Missy to let her freak flag fly high, ultimately changing the cultural tides. She also sings in pockets of the LP; while she’s no Mariah, she’s no one-trick pony either, and tying in her love of hip-hop and R&B adds another hint of je ne sais quoi to her recipe.

Missy told VIBE shortly before the release of the album, “I just wanted to cross the border with [Miss E… So Addictive]… I wanted to do what everybody else is scared to do.” That goal was hit, as Keith Harris wrote for Blender that “Missy’s inner bitch is back, but she has grown into her lusty swagger,” and The Guardian’s Alexis Petridis said the “brilliantly realized” project “is further evidence of Elliott’s… desire to change the rules entirely. It’s an album that sets its own agenda and sounds like nothing else in hip-hop: an incomparable achievement.”

While fans are eager for more musical offerings and collaborations from the artist who knows she’s “the best around with the crazy style,” Missy continues to receive her flowers as a trailblazing musician. In 2019, she received her honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music, and became the first female hip-hop artist inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame that same year. “[Missy taught us to] own our truth and share it with the world,” Michelle Obama said in a video message at the ceremony, while collaborator Lizzo said “[she] wouldn’t be here” without Missy. Upon rewarding the icon with her overdue Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, Cardi B stated, “Missy has inspired countless young women to find their own voice and stand up for themselves… She’s a voice we need.”

Thanks to declarations of her unabashed, untouchable originality, energetic displays of sexual prowess and femininity, and game-changing beats supplied by her go-to guy Timothy Mosley, Miss E… So Addictive finds Missy Elliott taking ownership of herself and the differences she brought to the table. Instead of staying in the lines, she honed in on her knack for coloring outside of them. Through all aspects of her work, she shows the importance of being comfortable in the skin you’re in, and this album in particular proves that Missy Elliott is perfectly fine with being crazy, kooky, mysterious, spooky, and eons ahead of her time.

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

With the recent rise of NFTs in the music industry and interest in cryptocurrency, an international festival looking to join the trend. Serbia’s Exit Music Festival is returning this summer, and fans now have the option to buy their passes with Bitcoin.

The process of purchasing a ticket with Bitcoin is fairly similar to paying with a credit card. Once festivalgoers select the items they want to purchase on Exit’s website, they will see an option to “Pay with Bitcoin.” They’ll get a QR code to scan their Bitcoin App and will receive their tickets once the payment has been transferred and confirmed on the Bitcoin network.

Exit is currently slated to be one of the first large-scale international music festivals to return this year. It takes place from July 8-11 at the Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad, Serbia and it’s lineup includes artists and DJs like David Guetta, DJ Snake, Tyga, Nina Kraviz, Sheck Wes, and more.

In a statement about the decision to begin accepting Bitcoin, Exit festival CEO and founder Dusan Kovacevic said they want to be at the cutting-edge of technology. “The potential of blockchain, digital exchange and currency is exciting and we wanted to make sure we are at the forefront and are utilizing new technologies and able to engage with our tech savvy audience as technology evolves and changes.”

Tickets to Exit Festival are on sale now. Get them here.

For all the amazing powers she possesses as Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot is perhaps not very good at reading the room. Particularly when that room is the Twitterverse (remember the “Imagine” video?). On Wednesday, the Israel-born actress tweeted what she presumably meant to be a statement of unity regarding the current escalation in the decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict. The 36-year-old actress posted a broken heart emoji along with the following statement:

“My heart breaks. My country is at war. I worry for my family, my friends. I worry for my people. This is a vicious cycle that has been going on for far too long. Israel deserves to live as a free and safe nation, Our neighbors deserve the same. I pray for the victims and their families, I pray for this unimaginable hostility to end. I pray for our leaders to find the solution so we could live side by side in peace. I pray for better days.”

pic.twitter.com/cLgDdn70No

— Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) May 12, 2021

It didn’t take long for Gadot’s tweet to inspire some serious vitriol. According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“Gadot’s pro-peace, respect-both-sides sentiment might sound fairly benign, but some took issue with the actress using the friendly term ‘neighbors’ amid the rocket-firing conflict and for supporting Israel at all. Gadot also served two years as a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces (which is mandatory for all Israeli citizens over the age of 18), something that has likewise been made a point of contention.”

Jezebel also seized upon Gadot’s use of the word “neighbors,” with a headline that accused her of being “Incapable of Acknowledging the Existence of Palestinians.” Her deference to her home country had others accusing her of being a proponent of both “ethnic cleansing” and “mass genocide.” The backlash became so heated that Gadot eventually disabled her comments—but did leave her original message up, both on Twitter and Instagram.

As violence between Israel and Palestine has ratcheted up to levels not seen since 2014, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations have condemned Israel’s actions. In a blistering report issued recently, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of “crimes of apartheid and persecution.” On Tuesday, one day before Gadot’s tweet-hear-round-the-world, a spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General issued a statement that noted:

“He is deeply saddened to learn of increasingly large numbers of casualties, including children, from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, and of Israeli fatalities from rockets launched from Gaza. The Secretary-General’s thoughts are with the families of the victims.” He also advised Israel to “exercise maximum restraint and calibrate their use of force.”

Shortly after winning the title of Miss Israel in 2004, Gadot spent two years as an Israel Defense Forces soldier (something that is required of all Israeli citizens over the age of 18). Gadot, however, did have several people come to her defense. Unfortunately, Ted Cruz was one of them.

God bless @GalGadot https://t.co/7bQ79MbQt1

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 12, 2021

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

For the Post Malone fans who were already delighted by the rapper’s collaboration with Crocs, today’s news will probably be just as welcome. Turns out the artist born Austin Richard Post is now the global ambassador for Monster energy drink, a standby for gamers, sleepless nights and late night hangs everywhere, while also simultaneously being a staple at high-energy sporting events. Now that’s range.

“I am pumped to team up with Monster Energy and look forward to continuing to kick ass and having fun together.” said Post Malone in a press release detailing the collaboration. For their part, the brand was equally pumped. “Monster Energy is excited to welcome Post Malone to our team,” said Monster Energy’s CMO Dan McHugh. “Post Malone is the perfect addition to our team of award-winning talent. We look forward to growing together through our partnership.”

That partnership, so far, includes gifting ten grand prize winners an “exclusive virtual fan experience” with Posty himself, and an additional fifteen first prize winners with their own Xbox Series X console. Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but the latter sounds like the better prize here, right? Either way, you can enter for a chance to Post Up With Post Malone right here.

Japanese Breakfast‘s Michelle Zauner released her memoir Crying In H Mart in April and it debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times‘ Best Sellers List (behind George W. Bush). The book was about her complicated feeling surrounding her South Korean identity and how the death of her mother allowed her to connect to her roots through food. But Zauner also says the book led to a “new chapter” of music on Japanese Breakfast’s upcoming album.

Zauner recently sat down to discuss her book and album Jubilee in an interview on The Daily Show. The musician explained how writing the memoir helped her move past grief and begin prioritizing joy, which is a running theme on the upcoming LP:

“After writing my first two records, which were largely about grief and loss, and then an entire book about the experience, I felt really ready to start this new chapter and run to the other spectrum of human experience. So the new album, which comes out on June 4, is called Jubilee and it’s about joy. Through the process of writing this material, I was giving myself permission to embrace that and feel that and fight for that in my life.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Zauner said she hopes the internet allows for the younger generation to feel more connected to their identities. “It’s my hope that a lot of the younger generation is learning how to celebrate their differences,” she said. “A big part of that is the online community and how we’re able to share this sort of experiences, whereas when I was younger, it felt so isolating and something to shirk. Unfortunately, I came into it later. I guess my advice would be I hope that people are able to be proud of their background before they come into it a little bit too late. I’m sure it was such a pain for my mom to witness me trying to shirk off that part of my identity for some time.”

Watch Zauner’s full conversation on The Daily Show above.

Jubilee is out 6/4 via Dead Oceans. Pre-order it here.

One of my favorite meme formats on social media these days is the “how it started/how it’s going” post because it’s a reminder that life goes on and positive things are happening amidst the seemingly endless deluge of bad news with which we’re inundated on a daily basis. Case in point: While some cynics looked at the charity Drake committed to in his 2018 “God’s Plan” video as nothing more or less than a publicity stunt, it turns out that his donations had a last positive effect on at least one of their recipients.

Destiny James, the University of Miami student to whom Drake gave a $50,000 check, recently posted her graduation announcement on Instagram, captioning her post: “Mama, I mastered it. Daddy, I did it. 4 days until I am officially UNC Alum.” Naturally, the post found its way over to Twitter, where delighted fans flipped it into the aforementioned meme format, contrasting the two moments that have both undoubtedly changed Ms. James’s life for the better.

Drake, who will be honored with an Artist of the Decade Award at the upcoming Billboard Music Awards, also congratulated the graduate, commenting on the post, “LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DES!” Meanwhile, the artist himself is preparing an announcement of his own: The release date of his next album, Certified Lover Boy, which was delayed from its original release date in January. And his habit of giving back continues; earlier this year, he helped pay off another fan’s student debt.

You can watch the “God’s Plan” video above.

Now that the world is opening back up, live shows are slowly coming back, and music fans everywhere can expect artists will be just as excited about this development as entertainment-starved audiences. Jon Bon Jovi wasn’t the first name on my personal bingo card for artists I couldn’t wait to see get back on stage, but as Stereogum points out, his benefit show last Friday at Clubhouse, a new venue in East Hampton, New York, included a pretty high-profile pop cover.

Apparently, during the set Job indulged in the classic Beatles cover “Here Comes The Sun,” which might’ve just gotten him in the mood to play a more current British pop song, Harry Styles’ beloved ode to touching, “Watermelon Sugar.” Now, it might just be that we haven’t heard people performing live for a while, or it might be a testament to how excellent Harry’s voice truly is, but Jon’s version of the song just doesn’t capture it. I actually don’t think it’s awful, and it was probably just an off-the-cuff idea for a cover, but it lacks all the joy and exuberance of Harry’s original and tries to distill it down into a simple acoustic guitar strum. Still, what a co-sign from an artist who 1D fans might not expect would share their passion! Check out a fan-shot snippet of his cover below.

As the release of Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album Sour looms as one of the only massive pop releases of the year thanks to the massive success of “Drivers License,” the cover stories are going to be stacking up like hotcakes. Today, we have Billboard‘s take on describing the rise of a Disney actress to purveyor of a viral pop hit, and her uh, eclectic outfits in the photos alone are worth a click. The story follows a lot of what we already know about Olivia, that she’s obsessed with music, that Taylor Swift has already written her a letter (and we now know that Olivia wrote one back), and new tidbits like the fact that her label execs are thrilled with her work ethic. (“I honestly don’t think she sleeps,” says Nicole Bilzerian, executive VP at Geffen.)

But one of the cutest details of the piece is a more personal one. It wasn’t the early TikTok crossover of her first song, “All I Want” that tipped off Olivia to the idea that “Drivers License” might be a smash, but instead, the reaction of her dad the first time she played it for him. Opting to play iit for him for the first time in the most ideal environment, in the car, she noticed tears streaming down his face as the song went on: “I could just see the tears under his sunglasses — and I like, never see my dad cry, ever,” she remembered. “I was like, ‘Oh, OK, maybe I did something here.’”

A pop song that can unite teen girls and dads alike? That’s exactly the kind of hit we deserve in 2021.

Read the full cover story here.

Following the Republican Party’s vote to oust Liz Cheney from congressional leadership, Jimmy Kimmel lambasted the GOP for participating in the very same “cancel culture” that it routinely rails against. The late night host also went to town on Donald Trump after he fired off a celebratory message when the Republican Party continue to bow to his wishes.

While noting that he’d never thought he’d be “pro-Cheney in any way,” Kimmel started out the segment by noting that Cheney was removed from Republican leadership “basically for telling the truth.” Via The Wrap:

“She said Republicans must speak the truth and the election was not stolen. So, she had to go,” Kimmel continued. “You know, you can’t have Republicans going around saying Joe Biden won the election. People might get the right idea.”

After highlighting that Cheney voted to impeach Trump for the January 6 insurrection and continued to battle House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy insistence on pushing the “Big Lie” about the 2020 election, Kimmel couldn’t help but find it odd that the GOP was essentially trying to silence Cheney. “I’m confused. I thought these guys hated cancel culture.”

The late night host then turned his attention to Trump’s statement praising Republicans for removing Cheney. “Do you think he has these prewritten, and just fills in the blanks like Mad Libs?” Kimmel joked before tearing into the GOP for still being afraid of Trump even though he lost the election. Cheney, on the other hand, is refusing to back down and has vowed to make sure Trump never gets near the Oval Office again.

“She’s used to this,” Kimmel quipped. “Her dad was a Dick, too.”

Lil Uzi Vert is well-known for making extravagant purchases, from his love for five-figure clothing shopping sprees and dropping the cost of a brand-new mid-sized car on a first date to the massive pink diamond he had embedded in his forehead. Fortunately, his latest big-money buy is also pretty practical; Dirt.com reports he recently signed the deed to a $4.4 million property in California’s Bell Canyon, on the outskirts of the San Fernando Valley.

The mansion occupying the property is listed at 1.5 acres and two stories, with five bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms, and panoramic views of the valley via the glass-walled construction. It’s got a massive, open-floor plan, a convenient and picturesque patio, an outdoor kitchen/bar area for entertaining, and of course, an outdoor pool tucked under one of its balconies. The neighborhood includes hiking trails, tennis courts, and an equestrian center — maybe Uzi and JT can get into horseback riding.

Uzi’s set to headline the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash in August and has a new album on the way, so it’s likely he’ll have a lot more money to burn soon enough. Check out photos of his new home below.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.