Month: July 2021

Bino Rideaux and Blxst keep the good vibes from their joint project Sixtape 2 going with the video for “Pop Out.” Filled with sunny LA days and a Westside parking lot party, the video perfectly captures the spirit of the easygoing West Coast sound of the duo’s new project. The two race Lamborghinis through the streets of Downtown LA as they enjoy the fruits of their stardom.

The “Pop Out” video follows “Movie” and “One Of Them Ones” in bringing the party vibe of Sixtape 2 to life. The two LA rappers are living up their newfound success and making it look like they’re having the time of their lives.

Of course, with Blxst recently featuring on XXL’s 2021 Freshman list there is plenty of attention to go around. Blxst is still relatively fresh off the success of his debut EP No Love Lost and its deluxe version, but Bino has also been garnering his fair share of attention with his own 2020 project, Outside, which featured Snoop Dogg, Ty Dolla Sign, Young Thug (on the “Mismatch” remix), and of course, Blxst. Bino and Blxst both showed up on UPROXX Sessions to perform “Mismatch” and “Pressure,” respectively.

Watch the “Pop Out” video above.

Sixtape 2 is out now on EVGLE & Out The Blue/Def Jam/Red Bull Records. Get it here.

The Lakers have been trying desperately to come up with a major trade to upgrade their roster going into Thursday night’s NBA Draft, and all signs pointed to a deal with the Sacramento Kings for Buddy Hield entering Thursday afternoon.

That especially seemed to be the case when word broke from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Montrezl Harrell was picking up his player option, clearing the way for him to be included in a Draft night trade to bring the Kings sharpshooter to L.A.

However, the Kings weren’t the only team the Lakers were involved in trade talks with, and shortly after Woj’s reports about the Kings, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported L.A. was engaged in discussions to send Harrell, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and the No. 22 pick to Washington for Russell Westbrook.

Charania then followed up with a note that talks were “serious” and that Westbrook had become L.A.’s primary focus.

The Lakers interest in Westbrook had been previously reported, but that was with regards to a Dennis Schröder sign-and-trade, which obviously can’t happen until free agency’s moratorium period opens on August 2. So, for a Draft night trade to take place, they would have to Harrell, Kuzma, and KCP to Washington for Westbrook to make salary work in what would be an incredibly fascinating blockbuster trade.

Not long after, Woj confirmed Shams’ report, noting that the two sides were close to finalizing a deal to send Westbrook back home to Los Angeles, with Marc Stein suggesting a deal was done.

For Washington, this could set in motion a series of events that leads to a Bradley Beal trade, while the Lakers would add the third star they crave next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but further apply a spacing crunch with a lack of shooters.

Earlier this year, Halsey debuted the cover art for their new album, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power with an eye-popping visual that depicted the pop star nursing their newborn child. The internet had a field day with them freeing the nipple, and interest was already piqued due to the news that the pop star had tapped Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and his frequent collaborator Atticus Ross to produce the new album.

Today, we’ve gotten the first real preview of what this new work will sound like. As the follow-up to the criminally-underrated Manic, which you’ll remember was infamously snubbed by the Grammys, expect this project to see them stretching the bounds of their sound even further than their last record did. They’re also planning to debut a film of the same name along with the album, and have already shared one trailer for the period piece. Now they’ve shared another one, revealing more details of the film and previewing the track “Woman/God” in the background of the clip.

The album is set for release on August 27, the film will be coming out in America August 25 and internationally August 26. Check out the new trailer above and stay tuned for more new music likely coming soon.

Today in “news guaranteed to make rap fans salivate,” Vince Staples revealed that he and Earl Sweatshirt recorded a joint project with The Alchemist, leading to the Long Beach native putting “30 verses on 30 beats.” Unfortunately, Vince jokes that “Alchemist moves at a very cryptic pace — he’s hella slow,” leading to him recording his new album Vince Staples with Kenny Beats. He further reveals that there are anywhere from 12 to 22 leftovers from that project after picking the initial eight songs that worked for the self-titled album.

So to recap, there are up to 50 Vince Staples songs out there that haven’t been heard by anyone but him, his producers, and Earl Sweatshirt. Obviously, this news has fans in a tizzy, wondering when — or indeed, if — these songs will ever come out. Since it’s 2021 and social media exists, they will undoubtedly be insufferable about it until they find out.

Meanwhile, Vince’s latest rollout media blitz has unearthed even more notable quotes from the Long Beach native. On Drink Champs, he recounted how he got into music and that Mac Miller never accepted royalties from their Stolen Youth joint tape, as well as explaining why he always avoided drugs and alcohol. He also broke down how the music business monetizes people’s struggles and spit a mind-blowing verse over Dr. Dre’s “Xplosive” beat for LA Leakers.

The Brooklyn Nets are picking up a second first-round pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. According to a report by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Nets and the Phoenix Suns agreed to a deal that will see the defending Western Conference champions send the No. 29 selection on Thursday night to Brooklyn.

There are some players who will be included in the move, too. Phoenix will add some shooting in the form of Landry Shamet, while the Nets will pick up an end of the bench guard in Jevon Carter.

For Shamet, this marks a reunion with Monty Williams, who was an assistant in Philadelphia when he suited up for the Sixers. Wojnarowski noted that Williams is a “significant supporter” of Shamet, who brings some floor spacing. Last season, Shamet appeared in largely a reserve role for the Nets and averaged 9.3 points in 23 minutes per game while connecting on 38.7 percent of his threes.

Brooklyn, meanwhile, gets a good defensive guard in Carter, but now, they have picks number 27 and 29 in the first round of the Draft. They could, theoretically, use them to acquire some reinforcements behind their big three, or package them together in a deal that would lead to them bringing in someone more established.

Podcasts are continuously proving to be fountains of new information when it comes to actor’s “almosts” and “coulda, woulda,’ shouldas,” and Matt Damon is the latest star to join in on the craze. In an interview with Happy Sad Confused Podcast host Josh Horowitz, Damon confessed to having auditioned for the role of Batman’s trusted sidekick and ward Robin not once, but twice. According to Damon, he attempted to land a role in both Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, as well as Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever.

The first of these two auditions was for Tim Burton’s Batman, the cool-yet-campy take on Gotham’s dark knight that featured Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Kim Basinger, and helped elevate the hero to new heights. Damon said he auditioned for the role sometime in 1987 or 1988 as a teenager and the whole process was “so secretive,” they had him read parts that felt as if they were from another movie rather than the upcoming comic book film.

While Robin’s role was ultimately cut in Tim Burton’s take on the brooding superhero — and thus the casting process wasn’t very extensive or long-lived — Damon did have a bit more to say about his audition for Schumacher. According to Damon, he auditioned for the part of Robin in Batman Forever back in 1993, despite stating he knew he wouldn’t get the part because the studio had already chosen Chris O’Donnell.

“Chris O’Donnell already had the part, but they were haggling over money. The studio was flexing, basically, by flying in two other people to screen test. They wanted Chris, but they just wanted him for a price. I remember at that stage in my career, you would go in and read, even if you knew you weren’t going to get the part.”

If reading all this has you feeling a bit bad for the actor, rest assured the Academy award-winning star is still considered one of the Hollywood’s more profitable actors. You can catch Damon in the upcoming “American tragedy” Stillwater, which hits theaters July 30.

Software developer Angie Jones’ recent girls trip revealed that America still has a long way to go when it comes to race.

To most, that’s not surprising. But what’s unique is how the specific experience Jones and her friends went through revealed the pervasive way systemic racism still runs through our culture.

Jones is the Senior Director of Developer Relations at Applitools, holds 26 patented inventions in the United States of America and Japan, and is an IBM Master Inventor.

On July 27, she tweeted about a flight she took with nine other Black women and they all sat in first class. “People literally could not process how it was possible,” she wrote. “Staff tried to send us to regular lines. Passengers made snide remarks. One guy even yelled ‘are they a higher class of people than I am?!'”

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this weekend I went on a girls trip. 10 Black women flying first class. People literally could not process how it w… https://t.co/D1h3FVsbNn

— Angie Jones (@techgirl1908)
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Jones and her friends were the targets of racism that ranged from the seemingly unconscious — people who assumed that Black people don’t sit in first class — to the blatant — those who were seriously bothered that Black people were being treated as having a higher status.

It’s interesting that she didn’t mention anyone saying “good for you” for succeeding in a world that often holds people of color back. Instead, she was greeted with incredulity and jealous rage.

There are a lot of white people who can’t stand the idea of a Black person being elevated above them. It’s disturbing that in 2021 there are still some who will admit it publicly.

Jones’ tweets inspired a lot of people to share their stories about the racism they’ve experienced while flying first class.

Jones’ tweets also angered some people to the point that they denied her story. To which she responded, “To those saying I’m lying, you’re a huge part of the problem,” she wrote. “You tell yourself a notable person is lying (for what reason, I cannot figure out) before you believe there are actual racists in…America.”

@techgirl1908 https://t.co/EkhqeU58yg

— Mr. Skilling (@mr_skilling)
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One Twitter user came up with the perfect retort to the person who asked, “Are they a higher class of people than I am?!”

@ParissAthena fuck I wish I would’ve thought to say this!!!

— Angie Jones (@techgirl1908)
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The Philadelphia 76ers are actively exploring the trade market for their All-Star point guard Ben Simmons, but to this point, they apparently haven’t been serious enough about discussing realistic trades in the minds of other teams around the league.

The word around the league has been that the Sixers are seeking a “Harden-esque” package for Simmons, which isn’t a huge surprise given the years he has left on his deal and that Philly was trying to deal Simmons for Harden earlier this year. Still, the number of picks and quality of players the Sixers are asking for in Simmons talks have apparently led to teams walking away from talks with Daryl Morey feeling there’s not even a middle ground to be found.

Matt Moore of the Action Network reported last week that Toronto unsurprisingly rebuffed a request from the Sixers for the No. 4 pick, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, and Kyle Lowry for Simmons. On Draft day, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer brought further example of the wild trade offers Philly is approaching teams with centered on Simmons, with this nugget about discussions with the Warriors.

The Sixers asked for Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman, the Nos. 7 and 14 picks in tonight’s NBA draft along with two future first-rounders in exchange for Ben Simmons, according to multiple sources. The Warriors quickly turned down the offer.

…

One league executive said the Sixers are making “totally outlandish offers.”

It’s not a complete shock that the Sixers are asking for the world in return for Simmons right now, as they feel they can hold out on a trade until closer to the start of the season when desperation might set in elsewhere. However, given this is the starting point for them, it raises a real question about what they’d be willing to compromise down to in Simmons talks, because it seems abundantly clear that their current asking price isn’t close to what the league feels is Simmons’ market.

Part of this might be the Sixers and Morey trying desperately to drive that market up after Simmons’ dreadful postseason, knowing these are ridiculous offers but also knowing that they need to set the bar high to try and bring others up in the hunt for the middle ground. In any case, barring the Sixers coming back to reality quickly or some team thinking very highly of Simmons, a Draft night Simmons trade seems unlikely for the moment.

With Isaiah Rashad’s new album, The House Is Burning just hours from release, the TDE rapper releases just one more song to juice the hype. Incidentally, it might also be one of the songs with the biggest buzz — which isn’t to say that “Lay Wit Ya” with Duke Deuce, “Headshots (4r Da Locals),” “Wat U Sed,” featuring Doechii and Kal Banks, or “Runnin’” with Schoolboy Q weren’t heavily anticipated on their own. It’s just that Lil Uzi Vert, the guest star on “From The Garden,” is one of the biggest stars in rap right now, and hearing him paired with Isaiah constituted one of the more intriguing possibilities.

The spare beat, which is produced by Kal Banks, features a dramatic soul sample reworked from the version Rashad teased on his Instagram Live nearly four years ago. Within the verses, the two rappers spit boastful verses that find them linking themselves to such pop-culture figures as Shazam and Lil Wayne. It’ll be one of those songs that definitely turn the crowd up when it gets played live on Isaiah’s upcoming tour.

Listen to Isaiah Rashad’s “From The Garden” featuring Lil Uzi Vert above.

The House Is Burning is due 7/30 on TDE/Warner. You can pre-save it now.

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

Time for some good news: In a new interview with AARP Magazine (as caught by Mediaite), Jamie Lee Curtis revealed that one of the two adopted daughters she has with her husband, fellow performer Christopher Guest, is transgender. She says the two of them have “watched in wonder and pride as our son became our daughter Ruby.”

Ruby, who was previously referred to as Thomas, was born in 1996. (Their other adopted daughter was born 10 years prior.) What’s more she’s engaged to be married, and Curtis says it will be her who officiates. She says Ruby’s life nowadays is one of “constant metamorphosis.”

Curtis told AARP that understanding that gender isn’t fixed is one of a number of “old ideas” she’s shed recently. She’s long been a big believer in getting rid of habits that weren’t working or making things worse. She talks about overcoming her addiction to painkillers, starting in the late ’90s, and about scaling back her acting career, to focus on other things, like her children. She describes herself as someone who is open to change.

“I am somebody who sheds every day,” she says. “Let’s get rid of that, I don’t need that. It’s all about old ideas that don’t work anymore.”

(Via AARP and Mediaite)