Month: May 2021

In late March, shortly after they announced a new deal with Triller, Verzuz shared plans for several upcoming battles. The first two were matchups between Earth, Wind, & Fire and The Isley Brothers and Method Man and Redman. A third battle between SWV and Xscape was later announced, but since then the group has gone quiet on updates with future battles. A scheduled Mother’s Day Verzuz came and went without an actual battle while potential participants and dates for the remaining three matchups were never revealed. Now, it looks like one of those battles could finally be set.

Soulja Boy took to Twitter to announce that a Verzuz between himself and Bow Wow is “official.” The rappers hopped on Instagram Live to speak about the upcoming matchup as fans watched in excitement.

“This sh*t gonna be bigger than life bro,” Bow Wow proclaimed during the livestream. “I’m happy to celebrate with you. They was throwing O in there, I saw a lot of Omarion, I’m like that’s my bro too, but O an R&B singer.” He added, “Me and you [Soulja] make so much sense. We’ve toured together, me and you got a whole motherf*cking mixtape together. We on tour right now and on top of that sh*t, n**** you got a hot new record out. The day before we do Verzuz, my movie come out… Fast & Furious 9 drop the day before.”

The end of Bow Wow’s quote of course reveals that he and Soulja’s Verzuz will take place on June 26 as Fast & Furious 9 will premiere in theaters on June 25.

The Verzuz announcement also comes after Soulja Boy was sued by his ex-girlfriend for sexual battery and domestic violence. As for Bow Wow, he was hit assault charges in 2019 after he was involved in a physical altercation with a woman who was also arrested in the matter.

You can watch a clip from their Instagram live session above.

Jimmy Butler was 3-for-18 with 15 points entering the final possession of Game 1 of the Miami Heat’s first round tilt against the Milwaukee Bucks. And then, he went full Jimmy Butler, coming up gigantic when the moment called for it and getting the Heat to overtime as the clock hit zero.

Butler was being checked by Giannis Antetokounmpo on the final possession of regulation. Antetokounmpo was happy to give him room to take a jumper, but instead, Butler saw it as a chance to get a head of steam and blow past the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. With about two seconds left, Butler made his move, putting his head down and getting to the rim.

He was a little too quick for Brook Lopez, who rotated over to try and contest Butler at the rim. Easy enough for Butler, who went underhand and kissed the ball off of the back of the rim to get the game to OT.

Butler had struggled to hit shots during the game, and while he found other ways to contribute — he had nine rebounds, seven assists, and two steals during regulation — he had the ball in his hands when the lights shined the brightest. And for the second postseason in a row, when facing off against the Bucks, Butler did what he needed to do.

Ziwe Fumudoh sat down with former presidential and current New York mayoral candidate Andrew Yang this week, and those who assumed the result would be bad news for Yang were apparently very correct according to the first clips from Ziwe.

Ziwe, whose Showtime series has garnered a reputation for putting celebrities on the hot seat and asking some very leading questions, asked Yang on Twitter earlier in the week he would appear on the show. “You would be an iconic guest,” she wrote on Twitter.

Those who knew her work pretty plainly thought this would be a tough interview for Yang, who has stumbled in his mayoral campaign in recent weeks. By Thursday night, however, Wall Street Journal reporter Katie Honan had reported Yang would indeed appear. And on Saturday, Ziwe posted a clip from the episode that involved New York legend Jay-Z. The clip, which cuts off after about 30 seconds of awkwardness, includes Ziwe asking Yang what his favorite Jay-Z song is with him unable to name a single one.

“I listened to a lot of hip-hop during like the 90s and 2000s,” Yang said when asked what he’s “vibing to” lately after a question about listening to rap music. She presses him, saying “I gotta know” what artists he likes, and he mentions Nas and Jay-Z after some hesitation.

“What’s your favorite Jay-Z song?” she asks. “I mean, he’s a New Yorker.”

Yang only says “yes” initially, and then there’s a long pause as he seems to think it over. “What is my favorite Jay-Z song?” he asks, as if to himself as well as anyone willing to give him the name of one to rescue him from the situation. Ziwe’s expression really says it all here.

The clip cuts off right as he says “it’s” after a full 10 seconds of contemplation or so. And while he may just have had a hard time coming up with his favorite, not simply struggling to come up with any songs at all, the awkward moment is the latest in a campaign that’s struggled to avoid them.

For Yang to have said yes to the interview means either no one on his staff knew what Ziwe’s deal was with these interviews, or he was simply not as prepared as he should be for the kind of questions she’d ask. But it’s also an own goal in several ways here: If Yang simply isn’t a Jay-Z fan, which is fine even for New York mayoral candidates, the easiest way to avoid falling into this trap is to not claim he spent a few decades listening to his music seconds before.

We’ll have to wait and see what he came up with when his interview on Ziwe airs on Sunday night.

Producer The Alchemist and Earl Sweatshirt came together at the end of last month for the collaboration “Nobles,” which appeared on the former’s album This Thing Of Ours. (Earl also appeared on a second track, entitled “Loose Change.”) The producer recently revealed there’s more where that came from. In fact, the two have already released a full-length album together, a while back. But there’s a catch: You’ll have to work hard to find it.

“We hid a whole album on youtube under a fake name and youtube page,” Alchemist wrote on Twitter. “Fake album cover, song titles, the whole 9. Nobody found it yet.” Naturally, this sent fans on a scramble to locate the project on streaming platforms.

Some shared their reactions — and frustrations — on Twitter about their search. “Looked for a hour can’t find sh*t ima just pretend it’s fake,” one person wrote, while another opted to wait for others to find it. “I give Reddit 3 hours before they find a Earl sweatshirt album lmao I’m not doing all this work,” they said.

This is not the first time that Alchemist spoke about the hidden album, which they released years ago. Back in January 2019, he shared a similar tweet writing, “We did one and dropped it under a fake name. Youtube. Go find it. You are the one.”

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

Victor Oladipo never quite looked like himself during the 2020-21 season. Between his continued comeback from a torn quadriceps and the fact that he suited up for three different teams at one point or another, it was evident that Oladipo wasn’t able to get back to the form that made him an All-Star player.

Oladipo’s stint with his third team, the Miami Heat, came to an end after only four games because of a quad injury, and as a result, he’s on the sidelines until later next year. It turns out that the quad injury might have been a blessing in disguise, because the doctor who performed his most recent quad procedure revealed that Oladipo’s prior procedure wasn’t done correctly.

“I repaired the quad tendon and did it a little differently than [he had] it done before,” Dr. Jonathan Glashow told ESPN. “The quad wasn’t really hooked up. It was torn, and I reattached it. I was amazed he was playing with what he had. I’m very optimistic that I could clear him in six months, by November. I think he’s going to play really well again.

“[The surgery] went extremely well, and it’s healing beautifully. I’m confident he’ll play next year.”

Gonna be honest: I did not know “his quad wasn’t hooked up properly” could happen. Regardless, it’s been a long road back to health for Oladipo, so here’s to hoping he’s able to put this all in the past and return to the level that made him such a good player.

You might remember a while back when Rick Santorum made some astonishingly ignorant (which is to say racist) statements about Native Americans. There was outrage. There were calls for him to be let go from his main gig at CNN. And then…nothing happened. It seemed the network would continue to employ one of their few token wingers, that people would forget what he said and move on. But someone at CNN didn’t forget and now, nearly a month after his comments went viral, Santorum was given the can.

As per The Huffington Post, CNN terminated their contract with the politician-turned-commentator, who was a senator for Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007, during which he was one of the most outspoken conservative figures in Congress, regularly railing about, among other subjects, homosexuality. Santorum’s infamy among the left was such that sex columnist and gay rights activist Dan Savage named a neologism after his surname, which he defined as a graphic gay sex act.

But it took him making racist comments about Native Americans to finally cost him his day job. Santorum made his offending statements at a seminar for religious freedom in late April. He was talking about the pilgrims who came from Europe and took over land that was already occupied. But he didn’t think kicking people off their land as a bad thing.

“We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean, there was nothing here,” he told the crowd. “I mean, yes, we have Native Americans but candidly there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture.”

Santorum faced massive backlash over the statements, but don’t feel too sorry for him. There’s plenty of far right organizations that will hire someone who doesn’t think highly of Native Americans, and he doesn’t even have to settle for Fox News.

(Via HuffPo)

Following a decade in which he released six albums and six mixtapes, Logic called it quits after releasing his 2020 album No Pressure, which was a sequel to his debut, Under Pressure. The rapper’s retirement led to interviews in which revealed why he stepped away from the game, a mostly one-sided spat with Joe Budden, a seven-figure deal with Twitch, and more. But last month he changed his mind, forming a new duo with legendary producer Madlib called MadGic. After dropping their first track, “Mars Only Pt. 3,” in April, the pair returns with “Raddest Dad.”

On the new effort, Logic raps over Roc Marciano’s 2013 Madlib-produced track “The Sacrifice.” At the end he speaks about his alleged retirement. “I mean I retired, but I’ve been making music every single day since I retired because I love it,” he says. “And then I think what I realized was that I don’t like the industry. So I think I want to retire from the industry. That’s why I wanna do this music for free.” He adds, “Sometimes I wanna come back, but I don’t know if I should come back. I mean if I did I’d want to be independent. That’d be pretty cool.”

They teased a potential MadGic full-length on “Mars Only Pt. 3,” with Logic rapping, “Made this whole album in a lockdown, hip hop is our town / Hairline like Doc Brown but I’m killin’ it.”

You can listen to “Raddest Dad” in the video above.

Earlier this year, Gina Carano was finally axed from the Star Wars-verse following pushback against controversial statements she made over social media. It threw an already beleaguered franchise into further jeopardy. For one thing, it was assumed her character, the otherwise very popular Cara Dune, would be getting her own spin-off — perhaps Rangers of the New Republic, the Mandalorian spin-off that was announced back in December. But now that show has been given the boot as well.

Variety recently profiled Mandalorian executive producer Dave Filoni, but buried in the article — in a bit highlighted by /Film — was this: Rangers of the New Republic was now “not currently in active development.” Does that mean it will never see the light of day? Not necessarily. But it does mean that it is no longer one of the many, many Star Wars shows being made to fill Disney+ coffers.

When the show was announced, it was really just a title. No details were given. But many speculated that it was a vehicle for Carano’s Cara Dune, and perhaps Carl Weathers Greef Karga. There was even a part in Season 2 in which Dune was recruited to become a “ranger.” But then Dune was fired and now the show was given the can, too. But perhaps we’ll all be okay: Again, there’s already too many Star Wars shows en route as it is.

(Via Variety and /Film)

LeBron James found himself in some hot water on Saturday morning, as a report indicated the Los Angeles Lakers star went to an event that violated the league’s health and safety protocols. Despite this, James was able to avoid a suspension from the league, meaning he will be able to take the floor when the Lakers’ title defense begins on Sunday.

In Charles Barkley’s eyes, it’s not exactly shocking that the league opted to not bring the hammer down. In speaking to LaJethro Jenkins of Yahoo Sports, Barkley straight up said the NBA is not brave enough to tell James he’s not allowed to play in the postseason.

“Let me tell you somethin’,” Barkley said. “Hey, listen, I love Adam Silver, rest in peace, David Stern, best commissioner in sports. The NBA ain’t got the balls to suspend LeBron James.”

Barkley more or less said he knew exactly what was coming when he read this, and believes there might be a bit of a double-standard at work.

“If it was a nobody, they would put him in health and safety protocols,” Barkley said. “Ain’t no f*ckin’ way LeBron James is gonna sit out in health and safety protocols. When I read that, I just started laughing.”

The party James attended, which was held for a tequila brand he endorses, was held outdoors and apparently required proof of vaccinations or testing, which is reportedly why he did not get placed in the protocols.

The NBA playoffs begin on Saturday afternoon. Well, for a few teams, a playoff-like thing kicked off earlier this week with the play-in tournament, but the proper NBA postseason tips off this afternoon, leading to a months-long frenzy to determine which team will end one of the weirdest years in league history with the Larry O’Brien trophy in their possession.

Before this kicks off, we wanted to partake in a thought experiment: What if every NBA team in the postseason could only have their team name suit up and take the floor? For example, for the Los Angeles Lakers, they would be represented by five people from the great state of Minnesota, while the Milwaukee Bucks were represented by five horned deer. There is no good reason for us to do this, but we are, anyway.

A NON-TANGIBLE THING

16. Jazz

As any good jazz musician will tell you, Jazz is at its best when it is something you feel deep in your soul. This makes it absolutely terrible for making up a basketball team. The noise made by a damn saxophone can’t play basketball. Get the heck out of here.

INANIMATE OBJECTS

15. Nets
14. Nuggets
13. Clippers

The ball would be thrown into the air for the tipoff and then just bounce and lay there. All of these things would sit on the floor and not do anything. The game would end 0-0. They are listed above in the order of how much they are all worth — nets on a basketball hoop you can get for a few dollars, a nugget of gold is pricy, a boat is really pricy. Onward.

ANIMALS

12. Bucks
11. Mavericks
10. Hawks
9. Grizzlies

Of these animals, it is hardest to see a path forward for a Buck. Maybe it is able to, like, stab the ball with one of its antlers and then find some way to unwedge it using the rim, but come on, that would be ridiculous. Canonically, a Maverick is a horse (the canon is that one really weird Houston Rockets tweet about putting down a horse because they beat the Mavs in a basketball game), and YouTube tells me horses can be trained to play basketball. A hawk can just scoop up a ball and drop it in. Really dangerous 10-seed here. Also dangerous: Doing Sports against a bear, let alone five of them.

PEOPLE

8. 76ers
7. Trail Blazers
6. Celtics
5. Lakers
4. Knicks

Both 76ers and Trail Blazers are last because they are named after, respectively, the people who signed the Declaration of Independence and those who blazed trails (do you get it) to the pacific northwest. The point: They’re all dead and would suck at basketball right now. Leprechauns would not be particularly good, while people who live in the Land of 10,000 Lakes and people from New York (Lakers and Knickerbockers, respectively) would generally be pretty fine! Chet Holmgren and Paige Bueckers are good! So are the myriad of NBA and WNBA players from New York! Anyway,,,

A BRIEF INTERRUPTION TO DISCUSS THE HEAT

3. Heat

Have you ever played basketball when it’s hot out? Absolutely sucks. When Heat gets real bad, in particular, god, going outside stinks. I can imagine a scenario where it is too hot for someone from Minnesota or New York, or a Leprechaun, or a dead person struggle to play basketball. There are some days in New York where it’s so dang hot that you get on the subway and come off looking like you just ran a marathon. No thanks.

PEOPLE WHO WOULD NOT BE BOTHERED BY THE HEAT

2. Wizards

I have not read the Harry Potter books in a while but if I recall correctly, there is a spell that wizards can use to conjure up water, which helps them defeat the heat. There is also the fact that they are powerful fictional characters and, per one Google search I did, can modify the weather via charms.

THE SUN

1. Suns

The sun. The f*cking sun. Imagine five of them. You’re not playing basketball. In fact, there would probably be problems far more serious than playing basketball if you got five suns next to each other. I don’t know what they’d be because I am merely a blogger and not an astronomer, but this would destroy the ability to play basketball altogether, along with doing anything else, if five stars were to be directly next to one another. Too powerful, sorry.