Back in late March, rappers Spinabenz, Whoppa Wit Da Choppa, Yungeen Ace, and FastMoney Goon teamed up on a track called “Who I Smoke,” which samples Vanessa Carlton’s classic “A Thousand Miles.” The track is full of violent lyrics, which apparently upset some of Carlton’s fans. Now Carlton has responded with a co-sign of the track and some points about race.
Carlton tweeted recently, “To the white folks that have expressed anger/shock over my approval of A Thousand Miles’ usage in the Spinabenz, Whoppa Wit Da Choppa, Yungeen Ace, & FastMoney Goon song Who I Smoke, I invite you to ask yourself why you feel this way & then read this.” The tweet includes a link to a 2016 academic paper titled “Share Cropping Blackness: White Supremacy and the Hyper-Consumption of Black Popular Culture.”
In a follow-up tweet, she continued, “Popular songs accompanied by white violence or tales of white violence aren’t questioned. It’s considered visceral or cinematic. Here we have [‘Stuck In The Middle With You’] playing while a guy gets his ear cut off. Reservoir Dogs”
Popular songs accompanied by white violence or tales of white violence aren’t questioned. It’s considered visceral or cinematic. Here we have Stuck in the Middle of you playing while a guy gets his ear cut off. Reservoir Dogs pic.twitter.com/2qv3M2xLN6
As some commenters have pointed out, however, there’s a significant difference between Reservoir Dogs and “Who I Smoke,” as the latter names a number of rappers and other individuals who were actually killed. As one user put it, “The difference is one is Hollywood, and one is real life. I mean don’t get me wrong, the song is gas! But also remember, there’s multiple dead kids being dissed on in that song and I bet their parents are haunted with this beat.”
A Quiet Place Part II — the kind of movie that’s best seen in a theater — set a pandemic-era box office record by making $58.5 million over the holiday weekend, including $20 million on Friday. Fifteen bucks of that $58-million plus belonged to Amy Schumer, who wrote on Instagram, “I loved every second of @aquietplacemovie even better than the first one which blew me away. Amazing to be in a movie theater.” The comedian then added, “Although I’ve said for a long time I think Emily and John have a pretend marriage for publicity. But I still think you should see it this rainy weekend.”
I’ve heard a lot of celebrity rumors over the years, but Krasinski and Blunt pulling a Tom Hiddleston and Taylor Swift? That’s new to me. Then again, I’m 99 percent sure Schumer is joking — The Office star thinks so, too, because he responded to her on Instagram. “Thank you Amy!…for blowing up our whole marriage spot,” he wrote.
Krasinki had a teasing response to Schumer’s claim, but he recently told USA Today about the scene from A Quiet Place Part II, which he directed, that made him worried about his marriage. It’s the one from the trailer, where Blunt’s character is driving away from one of the monsters. “I said, ‘Do you want to rehearse this once?’ And she said, ‘No, I want you to get the real reaction.’ So that shot is what’s in the movie: That was the first time she was ever in that car, and that bus is actually coming at her at 40 miles an hour,” he recalled. “Right as I closed the door and before I called action, I thought, ‘Did I just put my marriage on the line?’ This could go very badly for a lot of reasons.”
It’s been a while since Mystikal dominated the pop culture discussion, but the New Orleans rapper has returned to the forefront of the zeitgeist today via an unusual coincidence. When an eyebrow-raising video of someone squaring up with a brown bear invading their yard went viral, fans fondly recalled a classic Mystikal freestyle in which he boasted about fighting a bear himself. Before you could say “pic-a-nic basket,” Mystikal had entered the top trending topics on Twitter as fans observed the funny connection between the viral video and Mystikal’s nearly 10-year-old rap.
In Mystikal’s “On Da Spot” freestyle for DJ Green Lantern’s Sirium/XM show Invasion Radio, the gruff-voiced rapper barks in his signature impactful flow, “If you ever see me fighting in the forest with a grizzly bear, HELP THE BEAR!” And while fighting with wild animals is not recommended — shout-out to Mamadou Ndiaye, aka @mndiaye_97 on TikTok — the individual in the viral video (incidentally, also from TikTok) rolled the dice on protecting their pets when a brown bear tried to climb over their brick fence. They get away with shoving the bear off the fence and collect the pets before running back inside, which is a smart move, all things considered.
And while the scuffle was less a fight with a grizzly bear than a quick shove of a brown bear (there’s about a 400-lb. difference at their smallest), fans couldn’t help drawing the comparison and concluding that maybe Mystikal had a point (again, he does not. If a human being tries to fight a one-ton grizzly bear, they are getting banished to the Netherrealm faster than you can say “Ranger Smith.” If you ever meet a bear, vacate the premises immediately).
Keeping track of all the new albums coming out in a given month is a big job, but we’re up for it: Below is a comprehensive list of the major releases you can look forward to in June. If you’re not trying to potentially miss out on anything, it might be a good idea to keep reading.
Friday, June 4
Annie Keating — Bristol County Tides (self-released)
Sebastian Stan has been leaning hard into his transformation into Mötley Crüe drummer and bad boy Tommy Lee, and apparently, he kept the rocker vibes going for the Memorial Day weekend. In a new photo posted to his Instagram, Stan showed off a picture of himself as Tommy while wearing a “Kiss the Cook” apron and giving the horns while holding his coffee. While the photo is clearly from the set of Pam & Tommy, Hulu’s upcoming series chronicling the infamous theft and distribution of the couple’s sex tape, we wouldn’t be surprised if Stan cooked up a few burgers while in character.
Following the smash hit, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Stan and his co-star Lily James have been turning heads with their portrayals of the doomed couple, but they’re not the only ones who made a surprising transformation. Seth Rogen also stars in the series, and the actor shockingly shaved off his trademark beard to play Rand Gauthier, the disgruntled electrician who stole the celebrity sex tape and kicked off an insane series of events involving actual mob bosses and shady dealings with the Hollywood porn scene.
But now that the character reveals are out in the open, Stan admits its a huge load off of his shoulders. “Honestly, it was freeing because I was walking around in these hoodies and hats… just paranoid of being seen,” he recently told the Just for Variety podcast. “I was like, ‘God, I hope they’re finally going to release something so you know what we look like, so we can go on with our lives.’”
It’s still as bad as critics said it was when it aired opposite the final season of Breaking Bad, However, given eight years of distance between the finale (as well as the lousy final season), I found that it wasn’t as awful as I remembered (although, it still contains a laughably bad sequence in which Dexter holds a doll that we are supposed to believe is baby Harrison). It also doesn’t make sense that Debra had to die, especially after initially surviving a gunshot, but I suppose her death did give Dexter a reason to sail out into the ocean and into a hurricane. Recall that technically, Dexter killed his sister by taking her off of life support and casually wheeling her on a stretcher out to his boat during the chaos of the oncoming storm.
Dexter, who had also killed the season’s big bad, Oliver Saxon, with a ballpoint pen earlier in the episode, drove his boat out into the middle of the ocean and dumped his sister’s body, which in itself was ironic, given the fact that all she could talk about before dying was how she wanted to go hiking in the mountains. Nevertheless, Dexter decided after dumping her body that the only way to protect his son, Harrison, and his girlfriend, Hannah (who had traveled to Argentina together) would be to remove himself from their lives.
“I destroy everyone I love,” he narrates. “And I can’t do let that happen to Hannah, to Harrison. I have to protect them from me.” He then directs his boat straight into the hurricane. After the hurricane has passed, the Coast Guard finds the wreckage of Dexter’s boat in the middle of the ocean.
Showtime
Later, we see that Dexter has relocated and taken up employ as a lumberjack.
Showtime
The question, however, remains: How did Dexter manage to survive after his boat was destroyed in Hurricane Laura? There’s no way to know from watching the sequence. The only explanation for his survival comes from showrunner Scott Buck, who helmed last few seasons of Dexter before later showrunning the worst of the Marvel series on Netflix, Iron Fist, as well as Marvel’s Inhumans, which ran on ABC for eight episodes before it was canceled.
He knows exactly what he’s doing there; he’s putting his boat in the path of the hurricane, which will then allow him to escape in this way. It is mentioned in an earlier episode that he does have an emergency life raft aboard that boat and you can look back and see he had a plan, he just didn’t know what it was.
The answer, therefore, is that Dexter rode out a hurricane in a life raft, managed to float ashore without being seen, and then traveled unnoticed from Miami to Astoria, Oregon. That seems, frankly, unbelievable, but not quite as unbelievable as Scott Buck’s finale assessment of the series. “I am happy with where we ended the show. This is absolutely the ending I wanted.”
When Dexter returns on Showtime later this year, it will be with someone who wasn’t happy with the way the series ended, the show’s original showrunner, Clyde Phillips.
If 2020 was a year of scary and uncertain darkness, 2021 is so far a tentative sunrise. The world is getting vaccinated, people are making plans to do things outside of the house again, and overall, it’s starting to look like our planet and its inhabitants might just be okay.
While pointing out the good parts of a historically devastating pandemic isn’t the most obvious or even appropriate thing to do, it should be noted that 2020 at least delivered a ton of great music. Also during that time, artists had a year off from live shows and have been able (whether they liked it or not) to either write new material or finish stuff they hadn’t had the chance to properly wrap up. So, 2021 has brought and will presumably continue to deliver a new wave of exemplary music.
Some of these sounds reflect on the tough year that preceded them, others try to help us all sport smiles and move forward, and others yet check different boxes. Whatever the case, there’s been a lot of music to be grateful for so far this year. That’s as important now as it’s been during any other time in recent memory, so let’s go through the best albums of 2021 so far, presented below in alphabetical order. Please note that December 2020 albums are eligible to be included here, as they came out too late for our 2020 lists.
Another Michael – New Music And Big Pop
Run For Cover
It takes a mere 31 seconds for the opening track of Another Michael’s debut album to capture your full attention, when frontman Michael Doherty hits a falsetto so striking it is impossible to ignore. Across its ten tracks, New Music And Big Pop is imbued with a sense of liberation and raw talent that feels rare in 2021, a breath of fresh air that creates a unique lane and a promising future for the indie-folk trio. – Zac Gelfand
Arlo Parks – Collapsed In Sunbeams
Transgressive Records
With her poetic lyrics and vulnerable songwriting, UK singer Arlo Parks won over hearts with her debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams. The singer has earned co-signs by the likes of Michelle Obama and Dua Lipa, and it’s no secret as to why. Over shimmering harmonies, Parks is able to share catchy-yet-moving songs that resonate, exploring subject matters like queerness, teenage depression, and anxiety, and offers earworms about why it’s important to never lose hope. – Carolyn Droke
The Armed – Ultrapop
Sargent House
Are they called The Armed because the band members always look so jacked? Are these even really the band members? There’s so much mystery to this enigmatic noise-rock outfit, but what’s obvious is how much fun Ultrapop is. Chaotic soundscapes abound as always but there’s more melody and hooks to be had here than on previous records. It’s like if The Go! Team did crank for three days and then made a record. – Steven Hyden
Caleborate – Light Hit My Skin
Caleborate
Bay Area native Caleborate is one of few stalwarts of the indie rap scene who deserves placement here, mostly because Light Hit My Skin is the perfect showcase for what feats of creativity artists can be capable of away from the commercial expectations of the major-label system. In spots, it dazzles. It also asks listeners to think — about the world around, about the art they consume, and about themselves. Plus, it sounds lush, a true accomplishment when compared to the repetitive, bare-mininum production that often defines bigger-budget releases. – Aaron Williams
Claud – Super Monster
Saddest Factory
As the first artist to officially be signed to Phoebe Bridgers’ fêted Dead Oceans imprint, Sad Factory, (now featuring the queer trio Muna as well) Claud’s sparkling sad-pop anthems are a fitting foil to Bridgers’ own terrifically depressing tunes. Super Monster is 21-year-old Claud Mintz’s first official album, but it’s by no means their initial foray into music. The artist formerly known as toast has been making delightfully left-field pop songs for the past two years or so, and they’ve honed in on that sound with confidence on this surprising, gentle debut record. – Caitlin White
DDG – Die 4 Respect
Epic
DDG’s imminent path to rap stardom is found on his mixtape Die 4 Respect. Helmed by production from the Grammy Award-nominated and legend OG Parker, a sound is developed as DDG establishes his own style of rap. Though the current star of the show is the pop-based TikTok track “Impatient” with Coi Leray, Die 4 Respect is loaded with so many hidden smashes outside of the previously released “Rule #1” featuring Lil Yachty, “Money Long” with 42 Dugg and of course, the platinum-certified “Moonwalking In Calabasas.” The melodic “Hakuna Matata” is a storytelling number about what it took to get out of his hometown of Pontiac, Michigan and “Let em Go” is the tale of how it goes when fame hits. At this point, it’s hard to deny DDG’s artistry. If you’re reading this, it’s probably not too late to give Die 4 Respect a spin. – Cherise Johnson
Girl In Red – If I Could Make It Go Quiet
AWAL Recordings
Girl In Red may have gotten her start writing gentle pop songs in her bedroom, but with her debut album If I Could Make It Go Quiet, the Norwegian songwriter positions herself as a major indie pop contender. Altering between heartbreak and horniness, the album boasts smoldering hooks and towering choruses that sometimes veer into pop-punk territory. Her cutting-edge alt-pop songs about queer relationships have even made the question “Do you listen to girl in red?” become a discrete way to find out if a crush is gay. – C.D.
Guapdad 4000 – 1176
Guapdad 4000
From its opening track’s clever Alice Deejay rework to its closer’s raw, gut-wrenching storytelling, the Oakland native’s latest release is 100 percent authentic to who he is. Though he’s primarily known as a comedic figure, here, he gets tender, delivering heartwarming odes to the flavors of his youth (“Chicken Adobo“) and poignant plugs to partnerships ruined by split attentions (“PlayStation“). And still, despite his commitment to peeling back the layers and hailing his Filipino heritage, he’s wiling to remain a little goofy on tracks like “She Wanna” with fellow Bay Arean P-Lo. – A.W.
Jazmine Sullivan – Heaux Tales
RCA
It’s been so long since the R&B game heard a full project from Jazmine Sullivan and Heaux Tales satisfyingly came through at the top of 2021. The words Jazmine sings are relatable hymns found out through time and wisdom, are what make this collection of songs inspired by stories from the women in her life truly special. “This process and making the project helped me to do that by listening to the tales of other women, my girlfriends, and older women,” she told Uproxx in an exclusive interview. “Bodies (Intro)” alone is a moment that many women may have found themselves in at one point in time when it comes to making sure sexual needs are met after a cocktail or two. “Pick Up Your Feelings” reiterates a classy new mindset of what it means to have a hot girl summer. – C.J.
Joyce Wrice – Overgrown
Joyce Wrice
Joyce Wrice is without a doubt one of this year’s brightest and most promising newcomers in the R&B world. The LA native shared her debut album, Overgrown, at the beginning of the year and while it flaunted her youthful spirit and cheery vocals, Wrice also injected enough maturity and wisdom in the project’s 14 songs to deliver her intended message without error: Indecision and false hope are two things she won’t deal with in love. – Wongo Okon
Julien Baker – Little Oblivions
Matador Records
The contradiction of Little Oblivionsis that it’s the most musically inviting album that Julien Baker has yet made, and also her most lyrically devastating, observing a period of personal upheaval. The extra heft added to the guitars and rhythm section nudges her closer to a full-on rock record. Somehow, the emotional brutality of the words melds with the uplifting beauty of the music, perhaps giving Baker some peace in the process. – S.H.
Kota The Friend – To Kill A Sunrise
Kota The Friend
It’d be easy to write off Kota The Friend and Statik Selektah’s collaborative effort To Kill A Sunrise as “just another backpack rap album,” if not for the laser focus of its execution, the earnestness of Kota’s rhymes, and the intensity that emanates from each of its 10 tracks. It’s a vibe that says it’s cool to just, like, enjoy the process. Unlike J. Cole’s The Off-Season, Kota raps with nothing to prove, and the lightness and enjoyment with which he does is infectious. – A.W.
Lana Del Rey – Chemtrails Over The Country Club
Polydor/Interscope
Confounding, canceled, and always coquettish, Lana Del Rey managed to drop an album that can stand up to the best of her career while even long-term fans were rolling their eyes at her endless social media gaffes and tone-deaf “rebuttals.” But maybe Lana does best when she’s under pressure, managing to turn in the breezy and beautiful Chemtrails Over The Country Club despite all the noise. With the finest take on folk-pop since music critics started scorning the Laurel Canyon vibes, Del Rey comes out on top again. It’s not a statement record like Norman F*cking Rockwell but a gentle, whispering one, the kind Jackson Browne and her own beloved Joni used to deliver. – C.W.
Lil Tjay – Destined 2 Win
Lil Tjay
Of all the 20-something New York rappers utilizing the singsong flow pioneered in large part by A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Bronx rapper Lil Tjay is perhaps the most versatile. He illustrates as much on the wide-ranging Destined 2 Win (shout out to the power of manifestation), where he contemplates heartbreak on “Love Hurts” and turns up on the jaunty “Oh Well.” He even displays a penchant for broader ranging, tough guy taunts on “Headshot” with his longtime partner-in-rhyme Polo G. – A.W.
Manchester Orchestra – The Million Masks Of God
Loma Vista
Manchester Orchestra have spent the better part of the last two decades as one of the biggest emo bands on the planet, known for their emotive and volatile brand of post-hardcore. The Atlanta band’s latest album, The Million Masks Of God, features the their grandest vision to date, delivering a collection of what Steven Hyden called for Uproxx “expansive and philosophical indie rock” tracks inspired by the death of guitarist Robert McDowell’s father. – Z.G.
Mdou Moctar – Afrique Victime
Matador
Afrique Victimeis loaded with moments where this Nigerian phenom steps out of the song in order to ram his guitar directly into your guts. He does this for emotional effect, bending and blurring notes with the furious energy that defines one of his most obvious influences, Jimi Hendrix. But you suspect that Moctar also believes that ripping off a sick solo is extremely dope, which on this record it absolutely is. – S.H.
Moneybagg Yo – A Gangsta’s Pain
Moneybagg Yo
While A Gangsta’s Pain is only Moneybagg Yo’s fourth album, the project is a part of more than 15 projects he’s released since 2012. Known for his braggadocious bars and nonchalant approach to seemingly anything that doesn’t benefit him, A Gangsta’s Pain, which saw help from Polo G, Jhene Aiko, and more, found the Memphis rapper effectively tap into his emotions and how the pains of yesterday affected him. It’s an illuminating look at what created the rapper and man he is today. – W.O.
Nick Cave / Warren Ellis – Carnage
AWAL Recordings
Nick Cave has proven to be hard to predict: Just since March, he’s voiced a “virtual midsummer forest” in an online theater production and released two songs inspired by a letter from a fan. So, it shouldn’t have been a tremendous shock when he released Carnage, an album made alongside Warren Ellis that Cave says was made with risk-taking and “an accelerated process of intense creativity.” It’s one of the finest offerings of his already incredible career. – Derrick Rossignol
Olivia Rodrigo – Sour
Geffen
Olivia, what’s left to say? Dominating 2021 from the jump with her darkly sad, magnificently constructed “Drivers License,” Rodrigo proved she wasn’t a one-trick-pony ten times over on the simple, eleven-track Sour. Veering from pop-punk to delicate electronic-laced anthems, to even folk-infused harmonies on one of the album’s sleeper cuts, “Favorite Crime,” Rodrigo proved that she has the range — and it only took her 34 minutes. All this quick, efficient pop record did was make fans want another one. And another one. And another one. – C.W.
Origami Angel – Gami Gang
Counter Intuitive Records
The sophomore album from Washington, DC duo Origami Angel is a sprawling double LP that transcends the traditional boundaries of emo and puts on full display the band’s knack for catchy and undeniable songwriting. With tracks ranging from borderline metalcore to intimate folk punk, Gami Gang feels like nothing short of a modern punk masterpiece, fraught with intricate guitar insanity and impressive vocal hooks that show the band won’t be stopping anytime soon on their way to the big leagues. – Z.G.
Pink Sweats – Pink Planet
Atlantic
Unlike most, Philly singer Pink Sweats endured an extended wait between his breakout moment, his debut single “Honesty,” and the arrival of his debut album, Pink Planet. The latter appeared nearly three years after the former and while it was certainly a long wait for those who got acquainted with the singer early, Pink Planet proved to be an excellent display of Pink’s artistry as it honed in on the qualities listeners were familiar and introduced new ones that made his music more enjoyable. – W.O.
Pooh Shiesty – Shiesty Season
Pooh Shiesty
Pooh Shiesty’s highly-anticipated debut album Shiesty Season came with evergreen hits in the chamber. He put his hometown of Memphis on full display through his lyrics and let everyone know what time he’s on over beats crafted by eerie beats. “Back In Blood” featuring Lil Durk stars one of the most prominent lines used to assert allegiance: “Pooh Shiesty that’s my dog, but Pooh you know I’m really shiesty.” Songs such as “Neighbors” with Big30, “Ugly” featuring 1017 general Gucci Mane, and “Box Of Churches” with 21 Savage offer a peek into what can become of Pooh Shiesty musically since he’s just getting started. Though Pooh’s rise happened during the pandemic, nothing is stopping Shiesty Season from its inevitable reign. – C.J.
Rico Nasty – Nightmare Vacation
Rico Nasty
Coming in hot at the end of 2020, Rico Nasty’s long-awaited debut turned out to be everything longtime fans could have hoped for from the eclectic DMV native. With forays into the thrash-rap that helped make her name on “OH FR?” and “STFU,” floaty, cotton-candy trap on “Own It” and “Don’t Like Me,” and splashy hyperpop on “iPhone,” Rico deftly displays every facet of her weird-girl style, delivering a debut that truly has something for everyone. –
Rod Wave – Soul Fly
Rod Wave
Rod Wave’s latest had something of a bumpy road to its release but once that road cleared, the Florida native easily coasted to an impressive chart debut, buttressed by his velvet vocals on tracks like “Richer,” “Street Runner,” and “Tombstone.” Even for fans who can’t relate to his traumatized tales of hood survival, his voice transmits every emotion needed to tap in and zone out. SoulFly is as soulful as trap music has ever been. – A.W.
Shelley FKA Dram – Shelley FKA DRAM
Empire/Atlantic
Three and a half years went by since Shelley (fka DRAM) dropped his debut album, Big Baby DRAM. At long last, he returned in April with his sophomore effort, Shelley FKA DRAM. It saw the Virginia native embrace the sultry love-driven ballads that appeared infrequently throughout his discography before this album. All in all, it made for an elegant and unblemished body of work that detailed the beauty behind a fearless love. – A.W.
Slowthai – Tyron
Slowthai
Casual American audiences might know Slowthai best from his raucous Tonight Show performance from early 2020. That uniquely high energy level can be found all over his sophomore album Tyron as well, although the UK rapper proves his versatility and also excels in tender moments, like on the James Blake-featuring “Feel Away.” – D.R.
St. Vincent – Daddy’s Home
Loma Vista Recordings
A departure from the futuristic sounds heard on St. Vincent’s previous albums, Daddy’s Home takes a trip through the past. Trading in electrifying guitars for woozy sitars, the album leans heavily on iconography from the ‘70s in order to revisit her own complicated history. Her most personal album yet, Daddy’s Home vaguely sheds light on St. Vincent’s private life with dizzying production, dreamy chords, sultry back-up vocals, and her acerbic sense of humor to explore what it truly means to be a struggling artist. – C.D.
Sun June – Somewhere
Run For Cover
Sun June previously told Uproxx that their second album, Somewhere, takes place at “a futuristic prom set in Albuquerque in a time where global warming has lapsed to a point of climate cooling.” Indeed, on Somewhere, there are handfuls of tender and hypnotic moments suited for a swaying embrace, the sort of calming blanket that can make any apocalypse more bearable, whether the world’s actually ending or it just feels like it. – D.R.
Taylor Swift – Evermore
Taylor Swift
Since the ever-prolific T. Swift managed to file her second album of 2020 after all the year-end lists had already been ranked, published, and debated, we have little choice but to take Evermore as a 2021 record. And since the project’s excellent bonus tracks “Right Where You Left Me” and “It’s Time To Go” were added to this year’s deluxe edition, we did technically already have new Taylor songs in 2021. Like the rest of this thick, folkish album, the songs hew close to Swift’s signature storytelling style, sprinkling in banjo twang and elevated strings that bring her closer to her best self than ever before. – C.W.
Topaz Jones – Don’t Go Tellin Your Momma
Topaz Jones
When Topaz Jones stepped away from the limelight in the wake of viral single “Tropicana,” it wasn’t just because he didn’t want to be stuck rhyming about fruit juice. Instead, he examined himself both as an artist and as a man and came back with the introspective, observational, and terrifically musical Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Mama. Like Kendrick Lamar with To Pimp A Butterfly, Jones threw out what had worked in the past, opting for something smart, experimental, and deeply personal. Tell a friend. – A.W.
Wild Pink – A Billion Little Lights
Royal Mountain Records
On previous Wild Pink albums, John Ross wrote sensitive story songs about millennial ennui set to surging synth-based rock, producing a rich, stirring sound that evoked a cross between Death Cab For Cutie and Lost In The Dream. For Wild Pink’s latest, Ross pursues a big, lush sonic canvas that integrates Americana instrumentation like pedal-steel guitar and fiddle into his usual heartland rock mix. – S.H.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Ted Cruz is at it again. After spending his spring break (spiritually) far away from Cancun, Mexico (he’s been there, done that) and lurking in the bushes at the U.S.-Mexico border, he hopped onto an international stage to not-observe Memorial Day in the U.S.. Previously, he was torched on Twitter for both trips down south, and he decided to be theatrical again, rather than honoring fallen U.S. soldiers. Instead, he quite literally inserted himself into the Israeli/Palestinian conflict while his GOP colleague, Lindsey Graham, rubbed elbows with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
It’s turning into a Cruz trademark move to head to different countries during pivotal moments for his own constituents, right? The much maligned senator from Texas filmed himself in a crumbling Israeli structure and, unsurprisingly, didn’t find a way to blame Biden for the entire conflict. He did, however, pull an attention-grabbing move in line with the GOP party stance on the issue. “I’m in Israel and I’m seeing the results of Hamas terrorism,” Cruz tweeted. “A Hamas rocket destroyed this home and killed an elderly woman’s caretaker.”
I’m in Israel and I’m seeing the results of Hamas terrorism.
Yes, the situation with this woman’s home is tragic, although it’s worth noting that the Iron Dome over Israel is a warning system that Palestinians don’t have while attempting to evade rockets. So, Ted is almost certainly not placing himself in any danger while filming himself, which was also the case when he was lurking in border bushes. And he got dragged, big time, for spending Memorial Day in another country.
Israel on Memorial Day? It seems “America First” turned to “Contributions First” pretty quickly.
So, @LindseyGrahamSC@tedcruz and @BillHagertyTN all went to Israel this Memorial Day Weekend instead of staying home and honoring veterans and what that day means to all of us.
— Dianne The History Teacher (@TxBuckeyeBabe) June 1, 2021
Dear Ted Cruz, Just out of curiosity, did you visit any hospitals in Texas during the pandemic? Or the U.S.? Did you offer any public encouragement to doctors, nurses, or public health officials? Ric Caric (Kentucky)
Welcome to your 7am reminder that Sen. Cruz is grandstanding for a Presidential run in 2024. I wish he cared as much about Texans as Israelites. #ResignTedCruz
so have you gone to see the Gaza strip? I am not even sure why your even over there? most presidential candidates don’t go to other countries to drum up votes? this isn’t getting you votes here
— pollyanna thibodeau (@pollyannathibo1) June 1, 2021
Can you check out Gaza too ? I heard IDF did a little bombing there too. Please just check it out.
Dear Ted Cruz, Just out of curiosity, did you visit any hospitals in Texas during the pandemic? Or the U.S.? Did you offer any public encouragement to doctors, nurses, or public health officials? Ric Caric (Kentucky)
“Don’t come back” was another remark, of course. It seems doubtful that anyone was genuinely wishing ill will on Ted, but if he decided to move elsewhere, few people would be mad about it.
Don’t come back
— Plant-based Beer Girl (@BlueGirlRules1) June 1, 2021
Last year, Logic retired from music. He explained at the time, “I just wanted to retire because I’m over it man. Not even in a negative way, I’m just over it. I love music and I’m gonna continue to make music on my own. I can’t not just make music. It’s a journal for me. It’s how I express myself. It’s how I heal, but with Logic, I’m stepping away. […] You either believe me or you don’t man. I don’t give a sh*t. I’m over here doing my thing.”
His retirement didn’t last long, though. In April, he rapped on a new song, “Retired for a minute, but I guess I’m back, man.” Indeed, he is back, as he and Madlib have formed a new project called MadGic. They’ve released a couple songs together so far and now they’re back with a third, “Mafia Music.”
That’s not the only new music from Logic, as he also released a new song under his own name. It’s not in the same league as his MadGic material, though. On “Over You,” Logic sings instead of raps on the indie-leaning tune that’s closer to his 2019 Supermarket soundtrack than it is the hip-hop for which he is best known.
Ask anyone with ears how disgraced former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn spent his Memorial Day weekend based on watching the video below, and the answer would seem pretty straightforward: He told a crowd of QAnon people that a violent overthrow of our current government could and should happen in America.
The video was taken on Sunday night in Dallas, where Flynn was speaking at an event made up mainly of QAnon conspiracy theorists. When the Q&A (QnA?) portion of the event began, an attendee asked Flynn why a coup like the one in Myanmar (which the attendee called “Minamar,” because of course he did) couldn’t happen here. Once the burst of applause for the question quieted down, Flynn’s response, at least according to the video, couldn’t be clearer: “No reason. I mean, it should happen here.”
In case you’re not caught up: Myanmar is currently under military control and in an official state of emergency due to a violent response to a fair election where some people didn’t like the outcome. So far, hundreds of people—including children—have been killed. So what we’d seem to have here is a retired Army lieutenant general who has been known to forget the words to the Pledge of Allegiance telling a group of easily influenced minds that a violent government overthrow is something that we should be doing.
Despite the video recording, Flynn is saying the media has got it all wrong. In a post to his Telegram social media page, Flynn attempted to correct his comment and swear that we did not hear what we thought we heard, saying: “Let me be VERY CLEAR—There is NO reason whatsoever for any coup in America, and I do not and have not at any time called for any action of that sort.” He then added:
“I am no stranger to media manipulating my words and therefore let me repeat my response to a question asked at the conference: There is no reason it (a coup) should happen here (in America).”
So who are you going to believe? A video you watched with your own eyes or the convicted felon who “willfully and knowingly” made false statements to the FBI while working for Donald Trump?
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