Month: August 2021

The extremely weird saga of Joe Exotic’s animal preserve in Oklahoma is still going, but at least one of its threads got wrapped up. According to reports, Exotic’s former big cat rival Carole Baskin sold the animal preserve Exotic used to run and which was at the center of the Netflix hit docuseries Tiger King.

The catch, however, is that the property cannot be used as a zoo for at least the next century. As TMZ reported, Baskin acquired the land after a years-long rivalry between the Big Cat Rescue figurehead and the eccentric Exotic, who regularly threatened her over a variety of mediums and eventually was sent to prison for a murder-for-hire plot.

A judge granted Carole’s Big Cat Rescue sanctuary control over Joe’s former Oklahoma exotic animal park in Wynnewood back in mid-2020 … to satisfy the $1 million judgment she won against him in their notorious trademark lawsuit.

Yahoo Entertainment‘s Megan Johnson wrote on Sunday that Baskin, who lives in Florida and operates Big Cat Rescue there, had confirmed the sale, which has a stipulation that the new owners would not put any kind of zoo or animal preserve on the property.

Reached by phone on Sunday, Baskin, the owner of the nonprofit sanctuary Big Cat Rescue, confirmed to Yahoo Entertainment that not only has the Oklahoma property formerly used as an exotic animal park been sold to a local couple who are known for purchasing properties that need a lot of work, but that the new owners cannot use the ownership for anything Tiger King-related.

…

“When we sold the property in June, we required that it never be used as a zoo, or for anything related to Tiger King or anything like that,” Baskin told Yahoo.

The rivalry between Baskin and Exotic was chronicled in one of the pandemic’s early guilty pleasures. But the real-life legal drama of Exotic’s murder-for-hire plot and subsequent conviction came with some true horrors when it came to animal safety. Baskin’s actions here seem to be an attempt to end that property’s use as an animal preserve once and for all, and though there may be more Tiger King on the way, there won’t be any animals on that property moving forward.

Nas has been on a hot streak of late, with last year’s comeback collaboration with Hit Boy, King’s Disease and the very quick sequel, King’s Disease II that dropped earlier this month. Part of the excitement around part two of this release was the guest features he was able to score, because he’s hip-hop royalty, and fans damn near lost their minds over his collaboration with Eminem on “EPMD 2” — the first time these two legendary MCs have been on record together.

But another high-profile feature, from the semi-retired legend Lauryn Hill, had fans equally impressed that Nas could draw a verse from her. Speaking with Ebro Darden for Apple Music’s show Rap Life, Nas explained his relationship with the reclusive star. “I hit her up, ‘Yo, this is crazy. People are asking me like, how did I get you on a record,’” Nas said. “She’s laughing like, ‘What do you mean? We just had a tour like, a few years ago.,’” he told Ebro. “She’s like, ‘All my life is right now is concerned with my freedom.’ That’s a different individual. That’s her first line. She’s not out here playing games, man. Thank you, Ms. Hill.”

Check out their conversation below.

Meanwhile, Nas is already teasing King’s Disease 3, and praising his producer Hit Boy as a “Quincy Jones”-style figure.

Early Sunday morning, Kanye West surprised the world by releasing Donda, his long-awaited tenth studio album. Fans had been waiting for its release since late July, but after so many delays, some of his supporters began to doubt that the album would ever drop. There was even a bizarre theory that suggested West wanted to make Donda the first official unreleased album.

Thankfully that wasn’t the case for Donda as listeners all over the world are enjoying the album and its 27 songs today. One of those people is West’s longtime collaborator and labelmate Pusha T who took to Instagram to celebrate the release of Donda.

“This is about power, money, influence and taste…nothing more, nothing less,” Pusha T wrote under an Instagram post that displayed a screenshot of Donda on Apple Music. “Watching you “joystick the culture” makes us all proud. Continue to do things your way, congrats, and I’m honored to have been a part of the process. #DONDA.”

Donda and its 27 tracks clock in at nearly two hours worth of music, making it quite the long effort for albums nowadays. Throughout the whole album, fans will hear contributions from Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, Ariana Grande, DaBaby, Marilyn Manson, Lil Baby, The Weeknd, Playboi Carti, Roddy Ricch, The LOX, Ty Dolla Sign, Lil Durk, Fivio Foreign, Pop Smoke, Vory, Shenseea, Syleena Johnson, Francis & The Lights, Baby Keem, Young Thug, Don Toliver, Tony Williams, Conway The Machine, KayCyy, Westside Gunn, Swizz Beatz, Jay Electronica, Chris Brown, Sunday Service, and Rooga.

You can view Pusha T’s post above.

Donda is out now via GOOD Music/Def Jam. Get it here.

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

Streaming records come and go since the technology is still so recent, but certain milestones are still commendable regardless of the fickle landscape. In a new shift, Justin Bieber has been declared the most-streamed artist ever on Spotify, breaking a record that was previously held by fellow pop star and Scooter Braun client, Ariana Grande, who had hit 82 million in one month.

Earning over 83.3 million streams last month — the highest number for any platform ever on the service — he eclipses his peers and proved that even if Justice wasn’t quite the return to form fans hoped it might be, fans clearly still found something to love on it. Surely the success of “Peaches,” his collaboration with Giveon and Daniel Caesar that went No. 1 hasn’t hurt those numbers any.

Right behind Bieber in the rankings were The Weeknd, with 74.5 million monthly listeners and then Ed Sheeran who earned 72.4 million during his current comeback period featuring the new single “Bad Habits” and a reported “next stage” of his career. Of course, Abel Tesfaye has been in his superstar lane for a while now, and the release of last year’s After Hours only continued his massive success. Abel is another artist on the brink of releasing new music, so Justin might have a run for his money coming pretty soon. For now, it’s his moment to enjoy.

Quentin Tarantino says his next movie will be his last, but if he ever wants to make another Kill Bill the actress another star of the film series suggested certainly seems interested in the part. There are a lot of rumblings about what Tarantino will do for his swan song, and he himself suggested that he briefly thought about remaking Reservoir Dogs to cap his career.

That’s not happening, he insists, and though he’s admitted the thought of a Kill Bill Vol. 3 has crossed his mind as well that isn’t in the cards right now, either. But in 2020, Kill Bill star Vivica A. Fox told NME the plot for a new movie should involve the daughter of her character, Vernita Green. And she had an idea of who to cast in the role as well.

As ComicBook.com laid out, Fox told the publication that Zendaya would be perfect for the role of her daughter, and she hoped mentioning her publicly could stir the pot a bit and spark Tarantino’s imagination.

At the time, Fox said, “So I went, Zendaya! How hot would that be? And that would probably green light this project. Her and Uma are both very tall, and it would just be kick-butt, and I love her. Hopefully now we can put that out, like ‘Tarantino, cast Zendaya!’ And spark his interest to put it on the fast track.”

And it turns out Zendaya saw that suggestion floated by the actress. The Euphoria star was interviewed by Empire Magazine and said that, while nothing is in the works, she’s certainly not saying no to a role in the iconic franchise.

I saw that! I was quite honoured that she would say that. Obviously she’s incredible and I’m very flattered that she would think of me. But, you know, it’s just an idea. The internet kinda takes things and runs with it.

It’s certainly an interesting idea, but convincing Tarantino of anything is far from a sure thing considering he’s pretty dead-set on a final film and calling it quits. Still, he’s talked publicly about his ideas for a Kill Bill sequel in the past. And you can’t help but try to put the process in motion here, as more Kill Bill would certainly not be a bad thing.

[via ComicBook.com]

The Baltimore Ravens are a team built on their ability to run the football, with their passing offense working off of the threat of the run from a strong stable of backs and, most notably, the presence of the most lethal running quarterback in the NFL in Lamar Jackson.

In 2020, the Ravens led the NFL in rushing with over 3,000 yards as a team, one of the rare teams with more rushing yards than passing yards in an increasingly pass-happy league. Jackson was their leading rusher with 1,005 yards, but not far behind was J.K. Dobbins, their rookie out of Ohio State who had 805 yards on 134 carries, giving him a 6.0 yards per carry average that is an elite mark for a back. Dobbins figured to be featured heavily again in 2021 for the Ravens, but in their final preseason game on Saturday, he was carted off the field against Washington with an apparent knee injury.

Unfortunately, an MRI on Sunday confirmed the worst as Adam Schefter of ESPN reported Dobbins has suffered a torn ACL that will end his 2021 season before it can even begin.

Gus Edwards, the Ravens third-leading rusher a year ago with 723 yards and six touchdowns figures to become their primary back, with Nate McCrary and Ty’Son Williams both likely to see opportunity for backfield touches much sooner than anticipated this season. For any team losing a starter for the season is a big blow, but there’s no team more reliant on the run game than Baltimore and losing Dobbins will, if nothing else, require someone like McCrary or Williams to step up in a big way as well as put an even bigger burden on Lamar Jackson to create more both on the ground and through the air.

Lee “Scratch” Perry, who was heralded as a legendary reggae singer and producer, has died at the age of 85 at a hospital in Lucea, Jamaica. The cause of his passing is unknown at the moment, but his death concludes as life that was influential in more ways than one.

His talents were recognized by many across the world. For example, in 2003 Perry won a Grammy and BET Award for Best Reggae Album with his project, Jamaican E.T.. The Rolling Stones guitarist Kevin Richards had high praise for Perry as well. “You could never put your finger on Lee Perry – he’s the Salvador Dali of music,” he said back in 2010.

He added, “He’s a mystery. The world is his instrument. You just have to listen. More than a producer, he knows how to inspire the artist’s soul. Like Phil Spector, he has a gift of not only hearing sounds that come from nowhere else, but also translating those sounds to the musicians. Scratch is a shaman.”

Lee would collaborate with names like Bob Marley and the Wailers, The Beastie Boys, and Paul McCartney in his career while artists such as Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Jay Z, and Busta Rhymes sampled the late reggae act’s work for songs of their own.

The news about Perry’s death was confirmed by Jamaica’s prime minister Andrew Holness, who shared a statement about it on Twitter.

“My deep condolences to the family, friends, and fans of legendary record producer and singer, Rainford Hugh Perry OD, affectionately known as ‘Lee Scratch’ Perry,” he wrote. “Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s’ development of dub music with his early adoption of studio effects to create new instrumentals of existing reggae tracks. He has worked with and produced for various artistes, including Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Congos, Adrian Sherwood, the Beastie Boys, and many others. Undoubtedly, Lee Scratch Perry will always be remembered for his sterling contribution to the music fraternity. May his soul Rest In Peace.”

Ed Asner, who played Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and later his own spinoff, died Sunday at age 91. Deadline reported the legendary actor died “peacefully” and “surrounded by family” on Sunday morning.

His family posted word of his death on his Twitter account on Sunday afternoon.

Asner’s career in Hollywood spanned decades and he was a familiar face on TV, movies and even animation. As Deadline notes, he made history in a variety of ways, both behind the scenes and on camera.

Asner, former president of the Screen Actors Guild, is best known for his role as Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spinoff series Lou Grant, making him one of the few television actors to portray the same character in both a comedy and a drama.

He is the most awarded male performer in Emmy history with seven wins — five of them for playing Lou Grant.

In later years, Asner served as the character model and voice of the main character in Pixar’s 2009 animated film Up. On Sunday, his Twitter avatar was still the animated character Carl Fredricksen, wearing a medical mask.

Asner was also a dedicated activist and fought for union rights in Hollywood and beyond, drawing praise and fond memorials from fans on Twitter and those who worked with him in the wake of his passing.

[via Deadline]

Last summer, Kanye West announced that his latest body of work would be titled Donda, in honor of his late mother. What the music world didn’t know at the time is that it would be more than a year until the project was actually released.

Earlier Sunday morning, Kanye released Donda after holding three listening sessions for it — two in Atlanta and one in Chicago — in a month’s span. Altogether, the album presents 27 songs with Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, Ariana Grande, DaBaby, Marilyn Manson, Lil Baby, The Weeknd, Playboi Carti, Roddy Ricch, The LOX, Ty Dolla Sign, Lil Durk, Fivio Foreign, Pop Smoke, Vory, Shenseea, and more.

The arrival of Donda to streaming services was a pleasant surprise for Kanye fans all over the world as the wait for its release has been quite a grueling and tiring experience. In addition to the aforementioned names, Syleena Johnson, Francis & The Lights, Baby Keem, Young Thug, Don Toliver, Tony Williams, Conway The Machine, KayCyy, Westside Gunn, Swizz Beatz, Jay Electronica, Chris Brown, Sunday Service, and Rooga are also featured on the album.

With Donda now available for the world to enjoy, fans of the rapper took to Twitter to celebrate its release

You can read the reactions from fans about the album’s arrival below.

Donda is out now via GOOD Music/Def Jam. Get it here.

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

More than a year after the album was first announced, Kanye West finally released Donda to the world on Sunday morning. The project made its way to DSPs three days after West held a listening session for it at Soldier Field in his hometown of Chicago. It was the third event the rapper held to showcase the album, with the previous two occurring at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Donda currently stands at 26 songs with features from a healthy cast of acts that includes Jay-Z, Roddy RIcch, The Weeknd, Lil Baby, Fivio Foreign, Lil Yachty, Ariana Grande, Ty Dolla Sign, and many more.

One noticeable name that was initially absent from the album was DaBaby, who appeared beside West during the third listening event for Donda. Hours before the project was released, West shared a pair of text message screenshots to Instagram that explained why DaBaby — who was sent to appear on a part two version of “Jail,” with part one featuring Jay-Z — was not present on the album.

“DaBaby manager isn’t clearing ‘Jail.’ So we won’t be able to Upload unless we take him off,” reads a text message from a contact saved as ‘Bu [dove emoji],” who is presumably West’s manager Abou “Bu” Thiam. West asks why DaBaby’s verse on “Jail Pt. 2” isn’t cleared and Bu says he’s unsure, adding that neither DaBaby nor his manager were answering their phones. West, who seems upset about having to leave DaBaby off the album, says, “I’m not taking my brother off,” adding, “He was the only person who said he would vote for me.”

In the second post, West shows a conversation that seemingly takes place between himself and DaBaby. West appears to inform DaBaby that his verse was not cleared for the album, who says “Hell nall I ain’t know . Ima hit em now.” West suggests that his collaborator’s manger is “trying to destroy you” after they “tried to stop you from coming in” to an unknown location. Despite this, the Donda rapper ensures that “God got a bigger plan,” to which DaBaby replies, “A plan that can’t be stopped!!” Luckily for the respective rappers, it seems like their teams were able to work things out as “Jail Pt. 2” was added to the album with an additional contribution from Marilyn Manson by Sunday afternoon.

You can view the text messages exchanges in the video above.

Donda is out now via GOOD Music/Def Jam. Get it here.

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