Month: July 2021

Following his 2019 EP, Falling Man, which he described as a “death and rebirth” during an interview with Uproxx, Duckwrth wiped off the debris off himself to start a new chapter in his career. That would turn out to be his 2020 project, SuperGood, an effort that made the fall and rise discussed on his 2019 project, at least somewhat worth it. Now, nearly a year removed from SuperGood, Duckwrth is preparing to share a new project with fans, but not without gracing them with a new video for his latest single, “Make U Go.”

The visual begins with Duckwrth cheerily walking through a park as he sings about a woman in his life and the good moments he hopes to bring to her. The camera soon pans away from him and next appears the woman in question on the screen. Duckwrth later returns to stand by her side while declaring the additional ways he plans to treat her right.

The “Make U Go” video arrives ahead of Duckwrth’s upcoming EP, SuperGood 8. The project will arrive in early September and it’s just a small bit of the music fans can expect from the singer in the coming future. Duckwrth is also slated to appear beside Cordae on “Settle The Score” from the upcoming soundtrack for the Space Jam: A New Legacy film.

You can watch the video for “Make U Go” above.

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

For someone who delivered three albums in a matter of eighteen months, DaBaby is certainly taking his time with his upcoming fourth album. It’s been more than a year since the North Carolina native shared a project with fans, but it looks like all of that is going to change soon.

The rapper took to his Instagram Story to share a very bold update on his upcoming album.

“This will be my third consecutive No. 1 album,” he said which means the project would join 2019’s Kirk and 2020’s Blame It On Baby as the chart-topping albums on his resume. That is, if his prediction is correct. Next, DaBaby took a moment to deliver a stern and harsh message to his haters.

“All you dirty ass dog d*ckriding, hating ass b*tches understand me, when this new one drop, I’ma politely let you motherfu*kers get right back on this d*ck,” he said while laughing. He added, “I’m the best at doing what I do…New album on the way, will be a No. 1 album.”

DaBaby’s message comes a month after he claimed rappers are “scared” to work with him because he’s “the best.” “Best mf rapper & I’m on ALLLAT shit these n****s LIE about,” he declared. “I’m him frfr. If a n**** ain’t tryna work with the real thang he SCARED. The best supposed to compete w/ the best These n****s just TALK like they like dat SHUUUUT UP.”

You can watch DaBaby’s bold proclamation in the video above.

PJ Tucker has long held the title of the NBA’s sneaker king. Tucker has long worn rare sneakers before and during games, sometimes even stunning the likes of Michael Jordan with Jordan PEs that even the man himself had never seen before.

Tucker’s sneaker choices are fodder for Sneaker Twitter to go crazy over almost every game, but on Thursday he managed to one-up himself as he arrived to the Phoenix Suns Arena for Game 2 of the NBA Finals wearing the Nike MAG Back to the Future.

The original 2011 release saw 1,500 pairs made, with them currently going for north of $12,000 on the secondary market, but these appear to be the 2016 release (as evidenced by the blue lighting of the midsole) which had only 89 pairs made and were given away in a raffle to benefit the Parkinson’s Foundation (raising over $6 million) and now go on the secondary market for a staggering $50,000. Tucker regularly wears extra-rare sneakers and player exclusives that have only seen a few pairs made — ahead of Game 1 he had on some Oregon 13s that were a Friends and Family release — but breaking out the MAGs is taking it to a whole different level and it’s hard to see how he tops this one.

The Brooklyn Nets put together one of the best offensive seasons in the history of the NBA in 2020-21, but they largely did it without Spencer Dinwiddie. Dinwiddie, a multi-talented 28-year-old guard, suffered a partially torn ACL after just three games and, in addition to leaving a hole in Brooklyn’s perimeter rotation, he also missed most of the season just before he was eligible to hit unrestricted free agency. While Dinwiddie did have a $12.3 million player option, he is reportedly seeking a lofty deal, either from the Nets or another franchise, and Dinwiddie recently spoke to Howard Beck of Sports Illustrated about his upcoming free agency.

The entire interview will certainly be worth listening to but, in the clip above, Dinwiddie cites the Nets as having “the ability to do something that other people can’t,” even while acknowledging he isn’t expecting every last dollar that he could possibly receive under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. In short, Brooklyn can exceed the salary cap to give Dinwiddie any contract up to the individual max, as the Nets have Dinwiddie’s Bird Rights in advance of free agency. “If the Nets come to the table like that and they’re being aggressive saying ‘Hey, we got five (years) and 125 (million) for you,’ I would say there’s a high likelihood that I go back to the Nets,” Dinwiddie said.

It is worth noting that the Nets are already projected to be well into the luxury tax, making a massive commitment to Dinwiddie financially painful, but he is correct in noting that the franchise can give him more money than any other under the NBA’s salary cap rules, and they are also the only team that can give him a fifth year. Later in the interview, he notes that “anybody can do that” when discussing offers of three years and $60 million, which may be a bit aggressive, but it is clear that Dinwiddie is envisioning a (very) large payday in the near future.

On one hand, Brooklyn is on the short list of teams that don’t necessarily have a glaring need for what Dinwiddie provides, as his primary value would be as an on-ball creator and the Nets have plenty of options with Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving. As such, it might make sense for both parties to move on. However, Dinwiddie’s market could be challenging as he comes off a long-term knee injury and, for the Nets, they have no way to replace his salary slot as a team that is already operating well over the cap. As a result, Dinwiddie’s free agent machinations will be highly interesting to die-hard NBA observers, and the veteran guard seems to want to stick around in Brooklyn, provided they pay him handsomely to do so.

The summer of video games continues after a June with no presentations, with PlayStation making a sudden announcement that they would host a State of Play event. It was a bit of a surprise because it felt like Sony’s plan for the summer was not to have an E3-style presentation, but that event came and went on Thursday.

Now that the event is finished it makes more sense why they decided to hold this off until after E3 and Summer Game Fest. The presentation itself was pretty lowkey, with a handful of indie trailers, not major heavy hitters, and a significant amount of time spent on the upcoming Bethesda title, Deathloop, at the end. While some fans may be disappointed with a lack of true news, there was plenty to be satisfied with as the company adds to its catalog on the next-gen PlayStation 5 and beyond. If you missed it, here’s what State of Play covered.

Deathloop

The biggest highlight of the presentation was definitely Deathloop. This isn’t the first time PlayStation has shown this game off, but after multiple delays, and a lot of questions, they really needed something to prove to everyone why they should still be interested in Deathloop. They didn’t disappoint. This finally gave everyone a chance to really understand what this game is about, how it plays, and how the time loop hook is going to work.

Before the presentation, the only information we really knew about the game was the main character was going to be trapped on an island where everyone was trying to kill him for sport. When he dies the world loops back and he has to start from square one. We now know that the purpose of the protagonist is to assassinate eight targets, and once that has been accomplished the loop supposedly ends. What makes the loop fun is that the player will earn special powers as they play through the game. They’ll be constantly learning new information they can use on repeat playthroughs. Almost a rogue-like but not quite. More like Hitman.

What really sold the presentation of the game was how everything moved. Combat looked smooth and the powers that you will have access to seem really cool. Every combat scenario is like a puzzle where there will be multiple ways to solve it, bringing in replayability, but they made the very cool decision to add in a power to “rewind” time. Essentially the player can die once or twice and get another shot at the scenario before the loop fully restarts.

The fun of Deathloop is going to depend entirely on how the loop mechanic works and how long a single playthrough takes. The presentation itself was very cinematic in nature, so the scenario was played out slowly, but eight enemies that need to be assassinated can be time-consuming. Considering the game is called Deathloop, however, there’s an expectation that you will die. A lot. And with an intriguing multiplayer mode and some versatility to gameplay, there’s certainly a lot to look forward to come September.

Death Stranding: Director’s Cut

We already knew that Death Stranding: Director’s Cut was on the way, from the announcement during Summer Game Fest, but this recent trailer gave us a little more information about what is going to be coming from the follow-up title. For starters, they appear to have listened to how many people felt the first game was too focused on the walking gameplay and not enough on exciting set pieces. As a result, they’re teasing ways to make deliveries easier and providing more combat options. This may satiate the players that felt the combat itself was boring, but what this means for the story? That part is going to be a little harder to win people over on.

JETT

What if No Man’s Sky had released with less hype? That is the feeling that JETT gives off when you see the gameplay in action. It’s not about getting into combat scenarios, but instead exploration and survival while traveling the world. However, the biggest difference between the original release of No Man’s Sky and JETT is that there is a purpose for that exploration. JETT has an intriguing story of survival that may create more of an initial interest in the game. How deep that story goes we’ll need to find out after we play it.

F.I.S.T

There is something extremely comedic about watching a rabbit in with a mech pack going through and pounding the bolts out of what we assume are evil robots. It also looks like a pretty fun platformer! F.I.S.T easily had the most ridiculous premise of any game shown during the presentation, but it seemed to know exactly what it is. As long as it doesn’t take itself too seriously and the gameplay is fun, this could be a surprise hit once it releases.

Moss: Book II

This was a PlayStation VR game so the amount of people who can play it is limited, but those who can are going to be very lucky. Moss looks delightful and the exact kind of game that is going to be improved with a VR experience. As someone that loved this trailer in every way but doesn’t have a VR headset, however, please port this to consoles so all of us can experience such a fun-looking game.

Arcadegeddon

The latest Fortnite clone is here. Arcadegeddon is a colorful multiplayer shooter with wacky looking characters and the inspirations for it are very clear. Just because it has a clear inspiration, however, does not make it a bad game. It was hard to gauge too much on the gameplay from the trailer, but anyone that thinks it looks fun can give it a try on PlayStation 5 right now. It’s in an early access period right now with a planned launch for 2022.

There were a few days where the NBA’s coaching carousel moved quickly, with Jason Kidd ending up in Dallas, Rick Carlisle returning to Indiana, Ime Udoka taking the Boston job, and Chauncey Billups arriving in Portland. Since then, things have slowed a bit, as the Orlando Magic, New Orleans Pelicans, and Washington Wizards have taken their time with the hiring process, but it appears two of those are set to make a decision sooner rather than later.

On Thursday, word emerged from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Mavericks assistant Jamahl Mosley, who had been reported as Luka Doncic’s preferred candidate in Dallas after Carlisle stepped down, was expected to be named as the new head coach in Orlando soon, citing his strong player development chops.

As the Magic move into a full rebuild with a roster core of young players and the fifth and eighth overall picks in this month’s NBA draft, Mosley’s reputation in player development, his ability to build relationships and hold players accountable has resonated with Magic management, sources said.

Hiring Mosley would likely be a popular hire for the Magic, as he’s apparently highly regarded by just about everyone on the Dallas roster. Given Orlando shifting into a full on youth movement, it makes a lot of sense to bring in the young assistant for some fresh ideas and a knack for connecting with young players.

Woj also noted that Denver assistant Wes Unseld Jr., who was a finalist alongside Mosley in Orlando, is the “leading candidate” for the Wizards coaching vacancy.

Unseld Jr. has long been an assistant whose name has popped up in head coaching rumors, and it seems he’s finally set to get that leading role after being considered one of the best assistants in the league for some time. It also has to be noted that this hiring cycle in the NBA has seen the majority of jobs go to Black coaches, as we are now trending towards six Black head coaches filling the seven vacancies this offseason, as New Orleans reportedly targeting either Charles Lee of the Bucks or Willie Green of the Suns, which explains why that hiring decision will likely wait until after the Finals.

Japanese artist jagarikin has created a mind-bending illusion that makes it appear as though a pair of cubes are rotating and moving from side to side when, in reality, they aren’t moving at all.

The boxes look like they’re spinning as the background alternates from white to black while the arrows inside appear to be controlling the direction of the cubes’ movement.

動いてないです https://t.co/Wi2u0e6cjo

— じゃがりきん (@jagarikin)
1625742219.0

If you still believe the boxes are moving, place a finger or your cursor over any of the lines that make up the cubes and you will notice that they are completely stationary. But be careful, if you stare too long the illusion could be disorienting.

The illusion is based on the visual concept known as Reverse Phi. To put it simply, when our brains notice things transitioning from light to dark they perceive it as motion. As the cubes’ edges alternate from white to gray to black, our brains believe that they are rotating.

The illusion is fun to look at but it’s also a reminder that our senses are limited and are easily fooled. What other parts of reality do we think are real, but are really just an illusion?

Juice WRLD’s previously announced EP, The Party Never Ends, is only the tip of the spear according to a new press release from Interscope announcing a trio of posthumous projects on the way. Apparently, the three projects will form a connected, three-part album, beginning with The Party Never Ends and continuing through the next two releases. An animated, sci-fi-inspired teaser trailer was also released, featuring a snippet of new music from the late Chicago rapper.

According to Complex, Juice’s former manager, Peter Jideonwo, told Twitch streamer Adin Ross that the project would end up featuring Lil Uzi Vert and “a few other big people.” According to Lil Bibby, the founder of Grade A Productions, the imprint under which Juice WRLD released the bulk of his music (with distribution and marketing from Interscope), in a series of now-deleted tweets, the first part of the album is planned to feature Travis Scott.

Juice, who was clearly quite prolific when recording, has verses on Migos’ recently released Culture III and on Maroon 5’s album Jordi, along with the new material coming via the three-part album releasing soon. Most recently, a deluxe version of his debut album was re-issued, featuring Lil Uzi Vert on a remix of his breakout song “Lucid Dreams.”

After making her big Marvel Cinematic Universe over a decade ago, Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff is finally getting her first (and final) break-out film this weekend in the highly-anticipated Black Widow. However, this movie is so long overdue, Natasha isn’t even around in the current MCU, which might have you wondering just where Black Widow takes place within the MCU timeline. Thankfully, we have some answers.

Contrary to what was expected when the film was announced, Black Widow is not an origin film. According to Johansson, the idea was actually never even on the table because both her and the studio didn’t want to go back that far. Instead, the movie takes place directly after the events of Captain America: Civil War. In an interview with Screen Rant, Johansson explained why:

“It felt like a good time because Natasha has always worked for [someone], she’s always been a part of some operation. She’s always had some safety net – I don’t know that safety net is the best way to put it, but she’s always been an operative and she’s never really had to, for better or worse, make any decisions for herself. She’s made decisions, but she’s part of this greater whole, and whether it was the Red Room or SHIELD or the Avengers, she’s had this kind of family, for better or worse. Then after Civil War, it’s all gone. Everything is gone and she’s, for the first time ever really just on her own. She could totally disappear into the ether and that would be that. She doesn’t have to return to anything, which is a pretty terrifying place to be, when you’ve been attached to something so long and now you’re suddenly floating. And obviously she’s very self-sufficient and she has connections everywhere, but she’s on the lam and she’s feeling like a fugitive. It gave us a really interesting place to start, like all the pieces are everywhere and how do we connect everything back together. When you find her in the beginning of the film, she’s just broken and by the end of the film, the goal is to put her back together, but different than before.”

If you’re still feeling a bit bummed by the lack of a true origin story for Black Widow, rest assured the upcoming movie takes dives deep into her upbringing and introduces her to much of her former found family. In addition, choosing to set the Black Widow as many of the biggest MCU events are starting to unfold allows us to take a more intimate look at the Natasha we know and love in Endgame, and better appreciate the major choice she made.

Here’s hoping Black Widow gives the character the send-off she deserves when it hits theaters tonight.

Our family is heading to the Oregon Coast next month, not far from where an 11-year-old girl died just weeks ago after being pulled out to sea. According to NOAA, thousands of people are rescued from rip currents by lifeguards and around 100 people are killed in them each year. While we’re looking forward to our vacation and don’t anticipate tragedy, we also want to make sure our kids know the potential dangers of the ocean.

Rip currents can happen in any large body of water that has waves—not just the ocean, but lakes as well. They are sneaky and dangerous, but they can be avoided if you know what to look for before heading toward the water.

Former surf lifesaver Kenny Jewell shared a helpful post on Facebook several years back that contains timeless advice and clear visuals to help families avoid tragedy at the beach. He wrote:

“As a former surf lifesaver I constantly find myself when I’m at a beach automatically in patrol mode, and I’m always troubled seeing the amount of people that enter the surf straight into a rip zone. This includes, and most worrying of all children. I know a lot of people are kind of aware of what to do if caught in a rip, but it has been brought to my attention recently that a lot of people aren’t aware of what a rip actually looks like or where the safest place to swim at the beach is if there is no flagged area.

One person will drown every two to three days this summer… 90% of those fatalities will be rip-related. Here are a few things that will help you and your kids stay safe this summer. I have also put together a few images that show what to look for.

1. The easiest thing to remember is that often the safest/calmest most enticing-looking area along a beach is usually a rip. A rip is usually the area devoid of wave activity and appears darker and deceptively calmer. It can sometimes appear milky or turbulent, but it is always pretty much void of wave activity. All that water coming in via waves has to go back out somehow, this is what a rip is. (see pics).

2. Always take 5-10 mins when you get to the beach to observe surf conditions and identify where these areas are.

3. If you are caught in a rip, DO NOT PANIC. Go into floating mode and raise one arm as a distress signal when possible. See which direction the rip is taking you, is it straight out or at an angle? Once you have determined this, and if you have the energy, swim to the right or left of the direction of flow, never against. Some rips can move at 3 times the speed of an Olympic swimmer, you won’t win! If you cannot swim out to either side of the rip, just go with it. Most rips won’t take you out very far, and will usually spit you out not long after they take you, so keep calm and save your energy for the swim back to shore.

4. If you have kids, show them these pictures, educate them and make them aware. You can’t always be watching them, and it is only a matter of a few meters each way of the point of entry to the water that could mean them being safe, or instantly caught in a rip.

Obviously the safest place to swim is always between the flags on a patrolled beach, but this isn’t always practical given the immensity of our coast line and number of beautiful beaches. Of course there are many other factors that can come into play when it comes to beach safety, but rips are the No.1 killer. They are not hard to identify, and 10 mins observation before entering the surf is much easier than body retrieval.

*The darker/calmer areas in the pics are rips. The one with purple dye shows rip movement.”

The key thing that struck me in these photos is that I or my kids might have chosen those breaks in the waves as calm places to hang out in the water. I would never have guessed that a break in the waves could mean a potentially dangerous current. It looks inviting, not scary. Such good information to know.

Knowing how to escape a rip current is also vital information. That “swim parallel to shore” advice we often hear makes more sense when you see how these currents actually work.

This video from the NOAA is also helpful offering more visuals and showing what rip currents look like in action:

Rip Current Science

www.youtube.com

Have fun at the beach this summer, but be safe. And definitely share this information with your kids or others who might be drawn toward the calmer-looking waters. It could literally save a life.