Month: August 2021

Drake has worked with a long list of names in his lengthy career. While many of them have proved to be successful, few have created chemistry with the Toronto rapper like Rick Ross has. The duo has a decent list of collaborations, with each receiving positive reviews from fans when it arrives. With that being said, it comes as no surprise that Drake has high praise for Rick Ross, but his recent comments bring things to a new level.

On Thursday, the Toronto rapper shared a video to his Instagram Story that captured the first meeting between Rick Ross and Smiley, OVO Sound’s newest signee. Drake captioned the post, “The greatest rapper alive met my favorite rapper alive.” While the greatest rapper alive title might be debatable to some, Drake has had a front-row seat to seeing Rick Ross work thanks to their many songs together. Their most recent effort, “Lemon Pepper Freestyle,” follows highlights that include “Free Spirit,” “Stay Schemin” with French Montana, “Aston Martin Music,” “Diced Pineapples” with Wale, and many more.

The compliment from Drake also comes after Rick Ross spoke about a possible joint album between himself and Drake. “He’s wrapping up his project and I’m in the same space,” he said. “So the timing and everything is aligning. It’s something that we really want to give to the streets, on some real sh*t.” He added that the project’s potential release is “looking real solid.”

You can watch Drake’s Instagram Story post with Rick Ross and Smiley above.

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

Lorde is just a little over a week away from gracing the world with Solar Power, her first album in over four years. It’s a long wait that her fans have endured for it, and hopefully it will pay off when the full-length project and its 12 songs arrive for them to enjoy. She’s labeled the upcoming body of work as “a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalizing the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors.” While fans are excited for the album to arrive, the singer took a moment to address comments about a certain collaborator before its arrival.

During an interview with the New York Times, the singer was asked about her feelings towards being grouped into a collective of Jack Antonoff collaborators that many jokingly refer to as “Jack’s stable.”

“I haven’t made a Jack Antonoff record,” she replied. “I’ve made a Lorde record and he’s helped me make it and very much deferred to me on production and arrangement. Jack would agree with this. To give him that amount of credit is frankly insulting.” Lorde, who worked with Antonoff on her 2017 album Melodrama in addition to her upcoming release, also added that she views the comments as “retro” and “sexist.”

“I know that there are certain hallmarks of what Jack does and some of those things I really love and some of them I don’t like,” she added. “And I beat them out of the work that we do together.”

You can read the full New York Times interview here.

Solar Power is out 8/20 via Republic. Pre-order it here.

Cam Thomas is an interesting flier for the Brooklyn Nets. Their first round pick out of LSU is a score-first guard who can shoot three-pointers well and handle the ball, but has a lot of work to do as an off-ball player and defender. As a result, he may not be a factor right away for a Brooklyn team that has a lot of scoring already, but needs everything else to supplement Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.

That said, Thomas is having a productive summer league by doing what he does best: scoring. On Thursday in a game against the Wizards at Cox Pavilion, he had a clutch performance in hitting a game-tying shot in overtime and then a game-winning runner in the sudden death second overtime.

The game-tying shot was clean — a stepback three-pointer that the Washington defender couldn’t get to. This is the kind of shotmaking that makes him an intriguing prospect.

The game-winning shot, however, was madness. He dribbled up — clearly looking create a shot in isolation against Wizards rookie Corey Kispert — but almost lost his dribble. Then, amid the scramble as the shot clock wound down, threw up a one-legged floater from behind the three-point line. It went in.

“That’s what big time players do — big time players make plays,” Thomas said in his postgame TV interview. “And I wanted to win so bad, so I wasn’t going to let my team lose.” He added that, when he lost his handle and saw the shot clock running down, his only thought was to ‘get it up.’

It’s still early to see what Thomas’ role will be with the Nets and if there’s a place for him as a rookie, but his Summer League shotmaking is a reason to remember to keep an eye on him.

On Thursday, a report from TMZ revealed Britney Spears’ father Jamie Spears would reportedly step down as conservator of her estate. The publication added that Jamie’s lawyer is filing the necessary paperwork that states he is willing to resign from the role and blames his decision as a result of him being the “unremitting target of unjustified attacks” from her fans and the #FreeBritney movement. But according to NBC News, that is not the case just yet.

NBC News reported on Thursday that Jamie Spears is “willing to step down” as conservator of his daughter’s estate, but will only do so “when the time is right.” His team delivered a clarifying statement after many believed the initial documents from Thursday’s filing meant that Jamie would immediately step down as conservator.

“Mr. Spears continues to serve dutifully, and he should not be suspended or removed, and certainly not based on false allegations,” documents filed on Thursday read. “Mr. Spears is willing to step down when the time is right, but the transition needs to be orderly and include a resolution of matters pending before the Court.” The filing also claimed that a petition from Britney’s lawyer Matthew Rosengart to have him removed is filled with many falsehoods.

Jamie also expressed an interest in working with the court to ensure a smooth transition out of his role.

“So, even though he must contest this unjustified Petition for his removal, Mr. Spears intends to work with the Court and his daughter’s new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator,” the documents read. “Regardless of his formal title, Mr. Spears will always be Ms. Spears’ father, he will always love her unconditionally, and he will always look out for her best interests.”

Britney and her lawyer have expressed their desire to end the conservatorship altogether rather than look for a new conservator to replace Jamie.

At this point, what doesn’t Travis Scott do? Aside from being one of the world’s biggest rappers right now, he regularly produces site-crashing sneaker collaborations with Nike, has a clothing line, a middling hard seltzer brand, a McDonald’s meal… the dude knows how to stay busy. Somehow, amidst all of his various projects, Scott found the time to also quietly drop his first foray into the cannabis industry last month. The artist’s new brand, Cactus Farms, is made in partnership with California-based cultivator Connected Cannabis. So far, the line consists of a single hybrid strain, dubbed PYT Jack Flower, hand-selected by Scott himself and now sold at California dispensaries that carry Connected products as well as Harvest dispensaries in Arizona.

If you’re in the habit of regularly buying weed, you’ve no doubt heard about and have probably smoked strains from Connected before. Not only is it one of California’s best tasting and strongest weed brands on the market right now, but it’s also the priciest — with eighths hovering way too near $100 after taxes. That’s an expensive high for 3.5 grams of herb and those high prices plague Cactus Farms as well — so we set out to see whether or not the new drop is actually worth your cash.

Check our review, below!

PYT Jack Flower

Average Retail Price $80 (per eighth)

Strain: Hybrid

Terpene Profile: Not disclosed

THC: 29.56%

CBD: .07%

The High

Right off the bat, we’ve got to talk about this packaging. For $80 for an eighth, it isn’t too much to expect the weed to be packaged in a glass jar, which Cactus Farms is not. Instead, it comes wrapped in a resealable plastic bag. We’d give Connected and Travis Scott points for at least choosing a resealable bag… if the weed was $30. Because it’s packaged in a bag it does retain freshness in the same way a jar would. My weed was packaged on June 19th, 2021, and here I am smoking it nearly two months later — the buds have lost all stickiness. Another side effect of the bag is that once you’ve ripped open the seal, this stuff is going to stink up your room, no matter how hard you press on that reseal.

Cactus Farms’ labeling also leaves a lot to be desired. It offers no real information aside from THC percentage. No terpene profile, no expected effects, it doesn’t even tell you that the strain is a hybrid. When it comes to the packaging of Cactus Farms, this brand has taken one too many missteps, it’s not even a C effort, this is a straight-up F.

On to the weed…

Despite its lack of stickiness, the Jack Flower held up pretty well for being nearly two months old. The buds were frosty with deep green leaves with brilliant purple streaks tangled in wiry orange hairs. The smell had mixed notes of pine and sweet berries, with dense buds that broke easily in my grinder, turning to a perfect fluff. I smoked out of a Pax 3 vaporizer to really focus on the flavors and found that Jack Flower has a really pleasing taste to it. Those berry notes that tease themselves on the nose are prominent here, mixed with the sort of gassy funk you’d expect from an Indica-leaning hybrid.

The high also delivers, providing a radiating sense of calm that made me feel at peace and relaxed, without feeling totally blown out of my mind to the point of physical and mental debilitation. It’s definitely a weed strain geared towards chilling out with your friends or enjoying good music or a movie, rather than staying active, even though it doesn’t weigh you down. But while Jack Flower won’t force you to fight against couch lock, it’s not exactly something you can smoke without completely wearing “I’m stoned” on your face. After a single bowl, my eyelids were comically heavy — I spent the next few hours looking half asleep and blissfully unaware of anything.

The Bottom Line

Jack Flower provides a powerful high and an experience that is in line with other top-shelf cannabis brands in this price range. However, for this same price, you can pick up an equally powerful and flavorful weed that is packaged with a lot more care. If you absolutely must smoke Travis Scott’s weed, you won’t be disappointed. But if you’re a hard-core stoner looking for a strain to add to your regular rotation, this probably isn’t it.

According to Deadline, Gina Carano is back and taking the lead role in a currently untitled action-thriller in which a woman teams up with a truck driver to get revenge on the serial killer who attempted to murder her. This is the first role for the former MMA-star-turned-actress since she was let go from Star Wars spin-off series The Mandalorian earlier this year. Carano was dropped from the project following her posting a photo to her Instagram with a caption claiming the mass genocide experienced during the Holocaust was no different than how modern day conservatives are treated. So, you know, normal things.

So, where do you go after that? To Ben Shapiro, of course. Carano’s upcoming film is part of a joint project between her and conservative media company The Daily Wire, which was founded by Shapiro back in 2015. The Hitcher and Near Dark writer Eric Red has already written the script for film, which is based on his novel White Knuckle. White Knuckle follows a woman who survives an attempted murder by a mass-murdering truck driver referred to as “White Knuckle” and subsequently partners up with another truck driver to hunt the man down.

Carano is set to produce and will star in the movie while the team negotiates with a director and other castmates. Filming is scheduled to take place in Tennessee, Utah, and Montana beginning in October with the studio aiming for a release early next year.

Last week, it was announced that Kawhi Leonard made up his mind on his free agency and opted to return to the Los Angeles Clippers. The only thing that was unclear was whether or not he’d sign a short-term deal that gives him the flexibility to survey the landscape of the league a little sooner or a long-term deal to give himself financial security, and on Thursday afternoon, we learned that Leonard will opt for the latter.

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Leonard and the Clippers came to terms on a four-year deal that features a player option in its final year. This means that the 30-year-old Leonard would not be able to return to free agency until after the 2023-24 campaign. Shams Charania of The Athletic brings word that Leonard will make more than $170 million over the life of the deal.

The Clippers confirmed the new deal shortly after.

The big question regarding Leonard is whether or not he’ll play this season after he suffered a partially torn ACL during the Western Conference Semifinals against the Utah Jazz. He was magnificent this past season, though, averaging 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.6 steals in 34.1 minutes per game. He’s not the only Clipper to get a big money deal in recent months, as Paul George agreed to a four-year extension back in December.

Jamie Spears is reportedly stepping down as his daughter Britney Spears’ conservator, according to TMZ. Jamie’s lawyer is filing documents in which he agrees to relinquish his position as a conservator as a result of the relentless pressure against him by fans and the #FreeBritney movement and will work with the court to ensure a smooth transition.

However, he doesn’t seem happy about it. The documents reportedly insist that there are “no actual grounds for suspending or removing Mr. Spears as the Conservator of the Estate” while speculating that “it is highly debatable whether a change in conservator at this time would be in Ms. Spears’ best interests.” But after those salty comments, the filing makes it clear that Jamie is pretty much fed up with the public pressure.

“Nevertheless, even as Mr. Spears is the unremitting target of unjustified attacks, he does not believe that a public battle with his daughter over his continuing service as her conservator would be in her best interests,” it reads. “So, even though he must contest this unjustified Petition for his removal, Mr. Spears intends to work with the Court and his daughter’s new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator. Regardless of his formal title, Mr. Spears will always be Ms. Spears’ father, he will always love her unconditionally, and he will always look out for her best interests.”

Meanwhile, Britney’s lawyer replied, “We are pleased but not necessarily surprised that Mr. Spears and his lawyer finally recognize that he must be removed. We are disappointed, however, by their ongoing shameful and reprehensible attacks on Ms. Spears and others. We look forward to continuing our vigorous investigation into the conduct of Mr. Spears, and others, over the past 13 years, while he reaped millions of dollars from his daughter’s estate, and I look forward to taking Mr. Spears’s sworn deposition in the near future. In the interim, rather than making false accusations and taking cheap shots at his own daughter, Mr. Spears should step aside immediately.”

The movement to #FreeBritney gained momentum last year with the release of the Framing Britney Spears documentary on Hulu, which recast the singer’s difficulties throughout the 2000s in a new light in which an unsympathetic press threw her under the bus as she suffered through anxiety, instability, and industry sexism.

Genre-bouncing polymath Jean Dawson has a new video for his Pixel Bath single “Pyrotechnics” out today. Visually, it’s a lot to absorb, portraying the highly artistic performer getting buried alive (then exhumed), driving through darkened streets as fireworks bang overhead, singing through gritted gold grillz, and joining a band of purple-smoke anti-fascist ghosts. (Among other things.) Check it out above.

As noted back in June, Dawson initially caught peoples’ attention with his 2020 sophomore album (the aforementioned Pixel Bath), which moved between genres like hip-hop, pop-punk (Travis Barker is a noted fan), and hyperpop. Come February 2022, he’ll be performing some dates with Brockhampton.

“When I’m making music, I think less about genre more so than a feeling because it feels like it belongs together,” Dawson told Nylon earlier this year about his creative process. “When I think of my sound as a home, I use genres as rooms within the home; where I live within that home is in the living room where all genres can sit, have their own sections but at the same time they live under one roof; when conversation starts in the living room there is a perspective in each room that comes into play in one way or another. When people ask me what genre I would classify my music as, it’s really hard because I’m not actively thinking about it! The best I can describe it is pop music from different generations. I’m an artist that is still trying to figure it out!”

Pixel Bath is out now via P+. Get it here.

A mother in Oklahoma traumatized a group of young children after inviting an actor dressed as “Mrs. Bigfoot” to her daughter’s sixth birthday party.

The girl’s mother originally planned to have a fancy birthday cake at the party but when that fell through, they went to plan B: Bigfoot. “We just thought, I mean she came with balloons and a bow and a tutu, so I thought ‘oh this will be cute and fun,'” Brett told 2 News Oklahoma.

“Well my kids did not have that reaction,” she admitted.

All hell broke loose at the party when Mrs. Bigfoot, who goes by the nickname Cinnamon, poked her head in a widow at the party, terrifying the children. In the video, the kids can be heard screaming for their dear lives.

The good news is that when Cinnamon made it into the house the children calmed down and eventually warmed up to the most elusive creature in all of American folklore.

However, next time, Brett will probably order a princess or Spider-Man if she’s going to have an actor come to the party because the Bigfoot was a bit too scary. “I would just recommend it for a good time because obviously by the video my kids thought so too,” Brett said.

“But they don’t want her to come back though,” she said.