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Nicki Minaj’s Comeback Instagram Made Google Searches For ‘Pink Crocs’ Skyrocket

The makers of Crocs may want to send Nicki Minaj a gift basket after her most recent Instagram post sent interest in their products skyrocketing per worldwide Google trends. The formerly ridiculed footwear brand has seen its cool quotient increase over the past year as fans post their customized pairs on social media, but Nicki Minaj’s post saw searches for “pink Crocs” shoot up over 100 percent after she posted a nearly nude photo of herself sitting on a desk wearing the comfy foam clogs.

According to MarketWatch, the rise in Crocs’ popularity was likely prompted by both the equivalent rise in comfort styling due to the pandemic and resulting quarantine and the brand’s recent collaborations with pop stars such as Post Malone, who gave free pairs of his collab to students at his old high school and healthcare workers, Bad Bunny, whose collaborative pair glows in the dark, and Justin Bieber, whose Drew House design apparently jump-started the brand’s stock by 11 percent.

It’s safe to say that celebrity endorsements like Nicki’s have brought the brand back from the dead after it nearly declared bankruptcy just a few years ago. Meanwhile, whatever Nicki’s got planned for “F R I D A Y,” you can be sure it’ll stir up its fair share of attention, too.

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Billie Eilish Wore A Cheap Green ‘Billie Eilish Halloween Costume Wig’ To Hide Her Blonde Hair

Billie Eilish guested on The Late Show last night, but before that, her last time on the program was in February. At that point, Eilish was in the process of transitioning from her iconic green-and-black hair to her new blonde look. So, like she did for all public appearances at that time, she wore a wig that looked like her classic hairstyle. Yesterday, not only did Eilish confirm to Stephen Colbert that she wore a wig on his show, but she also revealed that early in the hair-changing process, she actually wore a cheap Billie Eilish costume wig she bought online.

Colbert asked about how the process of getting her own green-and-black wig went. Eilish started by explaining that going from black to blonde without destroying her hair was a slow ordeal. She continued, “I just knew that it would have these processing periods where it would look insane and I didn’t want to look insane. But I needed something quick, so I literally ordered a Billie Eilish Halloween costume wig on Amazon.”

Through laughter, Colbert asked if the wig was “plastic-y” and Eilish answered, “Yeah, it was awful. It was the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen. It was literally a fully black wig like this long [gestures to her chest], plastic, and the green was just only here [gestures to a small patch on top of her head].” She shook her head and added, “Don’t do that.”

Eilish went on to say, though, “Then I had a professional one made, but it was really made quickly and, you know. The thing was, I wasn’t trying to play a prank on the internet, ‘Oh, she Hannah Montana’d us!’ No! I just looked f*cking crazy and I needed to look not crazy.”

Watch the full interview above.

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Jimmy Kimmel Poked Some Fun At ‘Kentucky Fried Former President’ Donald Trump For Going Off On ‘Junky’ Racehorse Medina Spirit

Retirement doesn’t seem to agree with Donald Trump. When he’s not on the golf course or serenading Mar-a-Lago visitors with yet another chorus of “Rigged Election,” he’s been busy trying to sneak back onto Twitter. Since that attempt failed miserably, he has been left to angrily type whatever bizarre thought comes into his mind into what can only be described as a “blog” titled “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump,” which has been a gold mine of new material for late-night hosts like Jimmy Kimmel.

On Monday night’s show, Kimmel—who dubbed Trump the “Kentucky Fried President”—shared a couple of Trump’s latest posts, including this heartwarming Mother’s Day tribute to… himself?

Jimmy Kimmel Live via YouTube

But Mother’s Day wasn’t the only thing on #45’s McDonald’s-addled mind. He also had some thoughts on Medina Spirit, the Kentucky Derby winner whose victory is in question following a failed drug test (or an alleged case of “cancel culture”), writing:

“So now even our Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, is a junky. This is emblematic of what is happening to our Country. The whole world is laughing at us as we go to hell on our Borders, our fake Presidential Election, and everywhere else.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live via YouTube

Kimmel’s response? “Who knows more about the world laughing at us than our own Triple Clown winner Donald Trump. What is he talking about? Does he think the horse tested positive for Antifa? And honestly, if he’s going to start picking fights with horses, we should let him back on Twitter because I want to see that.”

You can watch the full clip (which starts around the 1:30 mark) above.

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Drake Will Be Honored With An Artist Of The Decade Award At The Billboard Music Awards

The 2021 Billboard Music Awards take place later this month and Drake will be among the honorees, receiving an honor few others can boast: an Artist of the Decade Award. The award is bestowed on the best-performing artists based on activity on Billboard‘s biggest charts: the 200 albums chart and Hot 100 songs chart, from December of 2009 to September of 2019.

Drake’s more than qualified by those criteria. Throughout the 2010s, he had the most No. 1s on the Billboard 200 (nine), the most top-ten songs on the Hot 100 (33), six No. 1s on the Hot 100, and the most No. 1s on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart with 18. He’s also the only solo male artist to spend more than 50 cumulative weeks at No. 1 — a distinction that’s certain to change in the future thanks to long chart-topping runs by artists like Roddy Ricch and Lil Nas X — and has a record 232 entries on the Hot 100 chart.

He also holds records for top 10s on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (45), No. 1s on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (22), and top 40 hits on the Hot 100 (120). Whether you hate him or love him, Drake’s the most accomplished artist of the past decade and his influence on hip-hop and pop culture is undeniable.

The Billboard Music Awards air live from Los Angeles on Sunday, May 23 at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT on NBC.

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Joel Edgerton On ‘The Underground Railroad’ And His Big Return In ‘Kenobi’

With Barry Jenkins’s excellent new limited series, The Underground Railroad (premiering on Amazon Prime this week), Joel Edgerton had a difficult choice. On one hand, he very much wanted to work with Barry Jenkins, going as far to approach Jenkins at an film festival industry event and tell Jenkins just that. Then he saw the character Jenkins had in mind for him, a reprehensible man named Ridgeway who makes a living hunting escaped slaves. And while Edgerton is someone who likes playing the villain, but wasn’t so sure he wanted to dig into the mind of someone as evil as Ridgeway.

The series, based on the book by Colson Whitehead, follows Cora (Thuso Mbedu), who has escaped the horrors of a Georgia plantation, and makes her way through different stops in different states on a fictionalized version of the Underground Railroad that, here, is not a network of escape routes, but instead an actual railroad that runs underground. Ridgeway and his partner, a young man named Homer, who is Black (played by Chase W. Dillon, who is terrific), track Cora through stop after stop and become her never-ending nightmare at the prospect of being sent back. Edgerton says it was Jenkins who gave him the fortitude to even attempt a role like this.

Also, Edgerton is set to return to the Star Wars universe as Owen Lars, who he played in Attack of the Clones and, briefly, in Revenge of the Sith. Ahead, Edgerton tells the story about how he met the original Uncle Owen, Phil Brown. And obviously he can’t get too much into the plot of the series or what his role will be, but he makes it clear that whatever screen-time he gets, he’s going to make the most of it.

I’ve spent the last three days watching The Underground Railroad. What was your experience watching it? Because it really is quite an emotional journey.

It’s not just a big, grim, serious, depressive event. Yes, it’s that. But it’s also, suddenly you’re in an episode where Cora’s exploring herself as a person falling in love. And then old Ridgeway comes back into the picture and drags her back to hell, but she keeps escaping the clutches and finding different communities and joy and striving towards freedom. It’s an epic journey. And then we tug at these little side routes to get inside into her mother and my character as a young person. So there’s a lot to discover and there’s a lot to digest.

Look, I get it, “acting.” But when deciding if you want to play this reprehensible guy, do you have second thoughts like, “Do I want to get in the mind of someone who does stuff like this?”

Absolutely, Mike.

And where you’re having to say things and words you obviously would never say in real life.

Oh, absolutely. I don’t know how many times Ridgeway says the N-word in various forms in the show, but I’m just realizing, that’s going to come out of my mouth in the context of playing this character. I’ve been for years, running around, going, “I love playing villains, and I’d rather play villains.” But this one did make me take a step back and go, yeah, but be careful what you wished for. Is this really what you want? But, because of Barry, I was willing to. And because of the nature of this wonderfully large, epic, heroic story, I realized that by playing the villain, I could participate in the heroic nature of the whole thing. So I was willing.

How is it presented to you? Because I’m wondering if there’s even a fleet moment when you first hear about think, well, maybe there’s redemption. And it’s not that type of character.

What happened with me was I’m friends with Dede Gardner of Plan B. And she tipped me off and said, “Barry’s got this thing, and there’s a role in there, and he’s sort of the villain of the thing.” And without having read the book yet, I really want to line up to work with Barry. I actually tapped him on the shoulder at an event, we were on a press tour for different films, and said, “Hey, Dede tipped me off about this. I’m really interested to work with you.”

When he was promoting Beale Street?

And I was on a tour for Boy Erased. And we initially bounced into each other a lot while he was on the tour for Moonlight and I was on the tour for Loving. So, we just kept bouncing into each other. We’d become familiar, and there I was in Toronto at an event, tapping him on the shoulder going, “Hey, I’m one of those actors that’s saying I’d love to work with you, and I’ve heard about this thing.” And then later I started reading the material and that’s when it was like, “Oh, do I really want to do that?”

When was the last time you had to do that? Basically cold approach a director? I just assume you get to do what you want to do at this point.

No, look, also, as you would know, or you could understand, an actor is only as good as a script that they’re working on, plus the director that’s guiding them. And so we’re always at the mercy of what the project is and hoping that we get to say yes, or get included in projects of a good quality. And that can allow us to continue working on good quality stuff. So that hussle in me has never really died, but it’s not often that I’m chasing someone down like I chased Barry.

Okay, so you two speak at this event, then you read it and have to take a step back when you learn some of the stuff you had to do in this. You said it was Barry that helped you feel at least okay about it. What does he have to say to you for you to feel that way?

Well, when I got sent the scripts, the thing that really hinged it for me was the second Tennessee episode, where you really get a window into what makes Ridgeway tick. I was fascinated by the relationship he has with Homer. But then when you learn about the depth of the complexity with his relationship with his father, and the flashback episode to Ridgeway as a young man. Then I was like, all right, this interests me. Because we get to ask, what makes the workings of a mind like Ridgeway? Who are these people with all these bigoted points of view? And where did they get their ideas from? Because they had to learn them from somewhere.

You mentioned Homer, played by Chase Dillon. Yeah, he’s amazing.

I’ll tell you something fascinating. I worked with a lot of kids. I’ve played a lot of fathers and I’ve worked with a lot of really special kids. But I’ve never really worked with a child in an environment where I’ve seen them understand just how dramatically their character is different from themselves. Because Chase is a real cheeky, fun, sassy kind of kid. And when I saw Barry say to him, one day, “You know, Chase, there are times in the show where you’re not even allowed to look someone in the eye, let alone talk out loud in a room. And you certainly can’t razz anybody. Because you would get punished for that.” And watching him, as a young man, understand how to adjust. The moment he put his costume on, he wasn’t Chase anymore, he was playing Homer. It was fascinating. And I learned a lot from him by spending time with him.

So with Kenobi, you’re returning as Uncle Owen. I believe you willed this into existence. You have been talking about coming back and playing this character for years. I think you did this through sheer willpower. That’s my statement.

[Laughs] I wish. Part of me wishes you were right.

I think I am right.

I don’t know that I hold that much power in the universe. I’m a humble, moisture farmer.

Back when you did Attack of the Clones, Phil Brown, who played Owen in Star Wars, was still around. Did you ever meet him?

Yes.

Oh, you did?

I met him at an event for a 25-year celebration of Star Wars that was held, I think in Indiana?

Yeah, that’s right. Indianapolis.

Indianapolis. And soon after that, he passed away. And his wife told me a funny story, actually. She said, “We were at one of these events and Phil had a little nap behind his table where he’d been signing autographs. He had a nap and he woke up to two ambulance guys thinking that there was something wrong with him, trying to revive him.” And his wife’s like, “No! he’s just having a nap!”

Well, I guess don’t do that. There’s a lesson in there.

It was a real pleasure to meet him then. It was a real pleasure to get to meet him. And I mean, the whole thing was a real honor to be a part of, back then. So I’m excited that they’re doing more.

You know how in Rogue One, when Jimmy Smits shows up as Bail Organa? And he dramatically steps out of the shadows, like he’s telling the audience, “It’s me! I’m back!” Do you get anything like that? Do you get to step into frame and get a two-second, “Look who it is! Look who’s back!” moment?

Well, if they give me two seconds, I’m going to turn it into four. That’s all I’m going to say.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

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All The Best New Pop Music From This Week

This week in pop music saw some fiery new releases. Bebe Rexha tapped Travis Barker for a revved-up tune, J Balvin dropped an unexpected track, and Conan Gray returned for a vibrant new single.

Each week, Uproxx rounds up the best new pop releases. Listen up.

Bebe Rexha — “Break My Heart Myself” Feat. Travis Barker

Offering another look at her upcoming album Better Mistakes, Bebe Rexha dropped the electric single “Break My Heart Myself.” Featuring Travis Barker on drums, the singer translates her mental health struggles into a shimmering and vulnerable dark-pop tune.

J Balvin — “7 De Mayo”

What better way for J Balvin to celebrate his 36th birthday than share new music. The singer shared “7 De Mayo” as a rhythmic reflection on his rise to fame. Opting for sparse instrumentation to let his lyrics shine, the rapper details growing up in his Medellín‎, Colombia neighborhood and how he rose to international fame through hard work and dedication.

Conan Gray — “Astronomy”

With his second-released single following his 2020 debut album Kid Krow, Conan Gray looks to the past with nostalgia. Armed with an acoustic guitar and a soft piano, Gray’s tender ballad “Astronomy” details the pain of slowly growing apart from someone. “I find the worst heartbreaks happen slowly,” he said about the song. “No blowout fight and slamming doors and showing up on doorsteps while it’s raining. Just a gradual decaying of love with nothing left to do to stop it from slipping away.”

A.G. Cook — “Xcxoplex” Feat. Charli XCX

A.G. Cook teamed up with Charli XCX to pay homage to the infectious joy of live DJ sets with “Xcxoplex.” The joint track is delirious mix of high energy noise and officially announces the remix album Apple Vs 7G.

Coldplay — “Higher Power”

With “Higher Power,” Coldplay are making a decisive pop pivot. Produced by Max Martin, the mind behind Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time,” the exuberant single was actually premiered in space thanks to the band’s partnership with French astronaut Thomas Pesquet aboard the International Space Station.

Slayyyter — “Over This”

Offering another preview of her upcoming debut album Troubled Paradise, Slayyyter drops “Over This.” The song features a glitchy mix of electric guitars and staticky synths and expertly teeters the line between hyperpop and pop punk.

Chloe Moriondo — “Bodybag”

Chloe Moriondo officially released her debut album Blood Bunny this week, featuring the charming track “Bodybag,” which playfully describes complicated feelings about having a crush. Ahead of the LP’s release, the singer spoke to Uproxx, about how she hopes her music will be remembered as “fun pop and rock music that lesbians all over the world loved.”

Joshua Bassett — “Feel Something”

The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series actor and singer Joshua Bassett shared “Feel Something” as a snappy and driving tune about being young and carefree. The single glides between shimmering synths and hypnotic drums as Bassett’s delivers intimate verses about late-night mischievousness. “‘Feel Something is a middle-of-the-night, windows down, running-around-the-city-with-your-friends type of song,” he said of the track. “After a year of lockdown, everyone can relate to ‘doing anything we can just to feel something.’”

Bailey Brian — “Dark In The Morning”

With her newly-released debut album Fresh Start, Bailey Brain translates her journey of self growth into song. Her song “Dark In The Morning” showcases her emotional songwriting and captivating vocal delivery as she sings about the hard lesson of leaving a relationship later than you know you should.

Ashe — “Me Without You”

Ashe drops her anticipated debut album Ashlyn this week, which features her big-name collaborations with Finneas and Niall Horan. The 14-track project also boasts the whimsical tune “Me Without You,” which is a tongue-in-cheek track where she sings of learning the importance of growing into herself after leaving a relationship.

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

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Donald Glover Is Pointing The Finger At ‘Boring’ TV Shows And Films Made By People Who Are Fearful Of Taking Risks

Donald Glover resurfaced on Twitter early Tuesday morning where he fired off his thoughts on the current state of entertainment after seeing critics complain about reviewing “boring stuff.” While Glover certainly has an inside perspective on the inner workings of Hollywood thanks to his career that spans both network and cable TV, Star Wars, streaming, and more, his comments are less insightful as they are nebulous, particularly when it comes to his remarks on being “cancelled.” Via his Twitter:

“[S]aw people on here havin a discussion about how tired they were of reviewing boring stuff (tv & film)… we’re getting boring stuff and not even experimental mistakes(?) because people are afraid of getting cancelled… so they feel like they can only experiment w/ aesthetic. (also because some of em know theyre not that good)”

Numerous replies to Glover indicate people’s belief that he’s talking about “cancelled” in the “cancel culture” sense. As in no one is making “experimental mistakes” because they’re afraid of upsetting current sensibilities. However, it’s possible that Glover is talking about a fear of being literally cancelled, which has been a major problem in the streaming world, like it’s always been for network TV, so his remarks are cryptic and open to interpretation. Glover wouldn’t be the first creative to complain about the confines of “cancel culture,” so until he offers a clarification, no one can definitively say that he’s merely offering a musing on the constant struggle between art and commerce.

Glover is currently in the middle of an eight-figure deal with Amazon and working on a remake of Mr. + Mrs. Smith with Phoebe Waller-Bridge for the streaming service. So, he might simply be reflecting upon how creative teams fear being cancelled in the traditional sense (i.e. their show doesn’t make it the first or second season) because an audience demands more of the same, or as Glover states, the project is “not that good.”

(Via Donald Glover on Twitter)

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Margot Robbie Is ‘Very Keen’ For Poison Ivy To Join Harley Quinn In The DC Extended Universe

Not that Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn needs a post-Joker romantic partner, but, hypothetically speaking, if she were to have one, it better be Poison Ivy. The pair go way back to one of the best episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, “Harley and Ivy,” where they team up and cause mayhem around Gotham. It’s great. And if Robbie gets her way, Harley and Ivy will be chaotic together in the DC Extended Universe as well.

When asked by Den of Geek about adding Poison Ivy to the next Harley Quinn-centric DC movie (post-The Suicide Squad), Robbie replied, “Trust me, I chew their ear off about it all the time. They must be sick of hearing it, but I’m like, ‘Poison Ivy, Poison Ivy. Come on, let’s do it.’ I’m very keen to see a Harley-Poison Ivy relationship on screen. It’d be so fun. So I’ll keep pestering them. Don’t worry.” The campaign to get Maya Hawke (Batman & Robin star Uma Thurman’s daughter) to play Poison Ivy begins now.

This isn’t the first time that Robbie has discussed her love of Harley and Ivy. “If you read the comics you know that Poison Ivy and Harley have an intimate relationship. In some comics they convey it as a friendship; in other comics you can see that they’re actually sexually involved as a couple,” she told PrideSource. “I would love to have Poison Ivy thrown into the universe, because the Harley and Poison Ivy relationship is one of my favorite aspects of the comics, so I’m looking to explore that on screen.”

Harley and Ivy’s relationship is one of the best things about the Harley Quinn animated series, an excellent show you should be watching. It will work in the movies, too.

(Via Den of Geek)

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Sleater-Kinney Announce A New Album, ‘Path Of Wellness,’ With The Groovy Single ‘Worry With You’

For a good stretch of 2020, Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker got together to write and record a new Sleater-Kinney album. The project has been officially announced today: Path Of Wellness, the band’s first album recorded since the departure of drummer Janet Weiss, is set for release on June 11. Today also brings the album’s lead single, a groovy rocker called “Worry With You.”

Sharing the news on social media, the band wrote, “We’re so excited to finally be able to share this with you. We have a new album coming out on June 11th called PATH OF WELLNESS. We wrote it last spring and summer, holed up in Portland, and recorded it in late summer and early fall. This is the first S-K record we’ve produced ourselves. The entire process relied upon taking stock of who and what was nearby, upon generosity of time, spirit, and input, but mostly upon a mutual love, need, and gratitude for making music. […] So much more, soon, and we can’t wait. x.”

Watch the “Worry With You” video above. Below, find the Path Of Wellness art and tracklist, as well as Sleater-Kinney’s upcoming tour dates.

Mom+Pop

1. “Path Of Wellness”
2. “High In The Grass”
3. “Worry With You”
4. “Method”
5. “Shadow Town”
6. “Favorite Neighbor”
7. “Tomorrow’s Grave”
8. “No Knives”
9. “Complex Female Characters”
10. “Down The Line”
11. “Bring Mercy”

08/05 — Spokane, WA @ First Interstate Center for the Arts
08/07 — Missoula, MT @ KettleHouse Amphitheater
08/10 — Denver, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre *
08/12 — Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland *
08/13 — St. Louis, MO @ Saint Louis Music Park *
08/14 — Atlanta, GA @ Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park *
08/15 — Nashville, TN @ Ascend Amphitheater *
08/17 — Asheville, NC @ Salvage Station *
08/18 — Richmond, VA @ Altria Theater *
08/20 — Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion *
08/21 — Queens, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium *
08/22 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Mann Center *
08/24 — Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion *
08/25 — Portland, ME @ Thompson’s Point (State Theatre Summer Concert Series) *
08/26 — Lewiston, NY @ Artpark *
08/28 — Chicago, IL @ Millennium Park – Jay Pritzker Pavilion *

* with NNAMDÏ

Path Of Wellness is out 6/11 via Mom+Pop. Pre-order it here.

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‘Lupin’ Brings The Gentleman Burglar Back For More Heisting (And Revenge) In An Adrenaline-Fueled Trailer

Lupin (the fancy French heist show starring Omar Sy) turned out to be a smash hit for Netflix in January. The overwhelming reaction even led the streamer to hustle fast to release Part 2, so that everyone could see how the beloved gentleman burglar would take revenge (against Hubert Pelligrini) for the abduction of his son, and by the way, we could probably use a lot more heisting as well? It looks like we’re gonna get both out of this next season, and thank goodness. Give it to us.

Of course, after that train-station switcheroo in last season’s finale, we can expect police to redouble their efforts. So, Assane reenters as the most wanted man in France, and of course, he’ll tempt fate while executing a new plan that puts himself at risk. From what we see in this trailer, black tie events, high-speed car chases (while dodging a train), speeding motorboats, thrown punches, and a trip to the catacombs are in the cards. Everyone will eventually learn that they should never underestimate our protagonist because my god, he never runs out of energy or ingenuity. “Nothing but magic,” as we hear Omar Sy say at the end. These first-look images are pretty magical as well.

Netflix
Netflix

Lupin: Part 2 will stream on June 11.