Month: August 2021

As Jack Harlow‘s breakout year continues, he links up with another artist who is having a strong 2021 as well in Pooh Shiesty on the new single “SUVs Black On Black.” Over a heavy 808 and mariachi band sample, the two rappers flex their rags-to-riches narratives with witty boasts like Harlow’s shot that “older women fall for me / I make them press the Life Alert.”

Jack’s been an in-demand feature artist since his song “What’s Poppin’” blew up the airwaves in 2020, joining Lil Nas X in his new video for “Industry Baby.” He also popped up in Babyface Ray’s video for “Paperwork Party” and was tapped by Eminem for the remix of “Killer.” He was also nominated for a BET Award, causing some confusion among fans and bumping into Saweetie and sharing a Twitter-inciting moment.

Meanwhile, Pooh Shiesty was selected to appear on the XXL Freshman cover as his song “Back In Blood” continued to blow up throughout 2020. Unfortunately for him, he was arrested on an aggravated battery charge, then indicted on additional charges after being implicated in a robbery by a post on his Instagram. He was denied bail in both cases, which could cause him trouble as his career continues, but with features alongside G Herbo on “Switch It Up” his should be able to maintain his momentum for at least a while.

Listen to “SUVs Black On Black” above.

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

After being dear friends for nearly a decade, Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett are working on another album together. The two musicians first met in 2011 and their 2014 jazz album Cheek To Cheek marked their first collaboration. Now on the day of Bennett’s 95th birthday, details about the two singers’ second joint LP have been revealed.

As noted in a billboard on Times Square Tuesday, the new album is titled Love For Sale and is set for an October 1 release.

The official Love For Sale album cover depicts a stylized image of Gaga adjusting Bennett’s bow tie as he holds a sketch of her profile.

Along with sharing news of the new album, the two singers will join together for a pair of special shows at Radio City Music Hall this week. These performances are said to be the final of Bennett’s career, as his family revealed earlier this year that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

The Love For Sale album is set to be accompanied by a documentary with “raw footage” of Gaga and Bennett’s recording sessions. According to a recent profile with AARP, which revealed Bennett’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, the documentary will depict Gaga filled with “pain and sadness” as she attempts to communicate with Bennett in the studio.

Love For Sale is out 10/1.

The Utah Jazz were mostly quiet on the opening day of free agency, taking care of their top priority in the opening minutes by locking down Mike Conley to a 3-year, $68 million deal that, based on the deals Chris Paul and Kyle Lowry took, seemed to be a healthy discount for the home team.

From there, the Jazz waited patiently for the market to settle, and on Tuesday morning they made their next move in bringing in veteran forward Rudy Gay on a 2-year, $12 million deal with a second year player option that will bolster their frontcourt rotation, per Shams Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski.

Adding Gay is a nice pickup for the Jazz, who add a quality veteran to the mix who can space the floor from the four spot (Gay shot 38.1 percent from three a year ago) and is a solid defender. Whether this is just a depth addition or a precursor to a trade — there were rumblings prior to the Draft that the Jazz were discussing deals involving Joe Ingles to shuffle money around — will be something we’ll just have to wait on. But for the West’s reigning 1-seed, it’s a nice addition at a position of need that should help them once again be one of the best in the West, they just hope this time that extends to the postseason as well.

Over the past week, two states accounted for one-third of all freshly positive Covid-19 cases in the U.S. Those states would be Texas and Florida, and it’s not as though there wasn’t enough warning that this would happen with the Delta variant out in the wild. And of course, this is a global situation with other countries maintaining stricter protocols than here in the U.S., and when our officials travel, they tend to respect those requirements.

That was the case when Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III recently tweeted a recent video of going “[w]heels down in the Philippines.” In doing so, he sported not only a mask but also a face shield, which (as confirmed by Snopes) was the required protocol in public places at the time that Austin arrived in the country.

Marco Rubio, however, scoffed at the video posted by Austin. He tweeted, “Our @SecDef is vaccinated. But he arrives in the Philippines wearing a mask AND a face shield. Embarrassing COVID theatre.”

Granted, anything COVID-related (including masks and face shields) has turned into a ridiculously political matter, so Rubio is not alone in being theatrical in his own way here. I mean, there are congresspeople screaming at each other and throwing masks at staffers over reinstated mask mandates.

It’s very silly to react this way when masks and shields can save lives, and this is especially silly since Rubio is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but (and as pointed out by MSNBC) Rubio continued to drag Austin by tweeting photos of the defense secretary in other countries in various states of masked-ness but with no shield and adding, “I guess the face shield mandate was lifted shortly after he landed.”

Well, Twitter had some words for Marco, including the true meaning of the word “embarrassing.” Ouch.

Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week we got new albums from Bleachers and Torres, another taste of the forthcoming Turnstile LP, and a sonic shift from Camp Cope‘s Georgia Maq. Check out the rest of the best new indie music below.

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Bleachers – Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night

Like the cicadas, there are certain years where Jack Antonoff seems to touch every little thing. After serving as a producer on 2021 efforts from St. Vincent, Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Clairo, and more, Antonoff is now back with the third full-length effort from his solo project Bleachers. Spanning just 33 minutes and featuring collaborations with Del Rey as well as other up-and-coming artists like Bruce Springsteen, Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night combines all of Antonoff’s strengths into one concise and rewarding piece.

Torres – Thirstier

Mackenzie Scott has been more or less prolific under the Torres moniker over the last few years, and it seems that every consecutive release is stronger than the last. Thirstier is no exception, chock full of anthemic rock numbers that are driven by infectious hooks and dig deep into the psyche of their protagonist as Scott reflects on the joys of self-affirmation and discovery.

Turnstile – “Blackout”

Turnstile’s new album is just around the corner, and it couldn’t come soon enough. We’ve already heard a handful of tracks from Glow On that illustrated a band ready to step out of their hardcore punk comfort zone and begin to experiment. “Blackout,” however, is a bit “riffier and focuses more on the full-on guitar sound that has defined the band in the past,” writes Caitlin White for Uproxx.

Amyl And The Sniffers – Security

Australian punks Amyl And The Sniffers are coming back in a big way with their sophomore album Comfort To Me. “Security” is another excellent entry into the band’s catalogue, opening with a lone guitar and vocalist Amy Taylor’s sneering vocal, before the full band enters for a propulsive punk rock onslaught.

Dry Cleaning – “Bug Eggs”

After garnering quite a bit of attention with their debut album New Long Leg, UK post-punkers Dry Cleaning are capitalizing on the momentum with the release of a few outtakes from the album’s sessions. “Bug Eggs” is “about the confidence that comes with age, fragility and sexual desire,” said vocalist Florence Shaw in a statement, and it reminds us of the raw, brooding strength that we fell in love with in the first place.

Petey – “We Go On Walks”

Longtime readers of this column know that we’ve had our eye on Petey for quite some time now, and we can’t wait for the songwriter to drop his debut full-length album next month. The new track “We Go On Walks” takes on a harsher approach than the album’s lead single, featuring a bit of a call-and-response section between Petey’s screams and his own more subdued vocal. “The chaotic, sometimes aggressive facets of the song are pretty reflective of how plenty of people are feeling after the last 18 months of confusing pandemic-related isolation, as is the practice of going on walks, so it feels very much like a song of its time,” writes Caitlin White for Uproxx.

Goodbye Honolulu – “You & Me”

There are few bands more purely infectious in their songwriting and stage presence than Toronto’s Goodbye Honolulu. “You & Me” is a slow-burning track that opens with a sparse muter guitar and vocal before building an infectious hook and singalong section to close. It’s the latest preview of the band’s debut self-titled album which is due out in October, and was produced by Ben Cook (Fucked Up, No Warning, Young Guv) and Tony Price (US Girls, Slim Twig, Ice Cream, Michael Rault).

Georgia Maq – “Someone Stranger”

You might recognize Georgia Maq from her time fronting excellent Australian outfit Camp Cope. She made a shift to a more poppy direction with her debut solo album Pleaser. Her new solo single, “Someone Stranger,” takes a step even further into the pop sphere with a track that is perfectly suited for the dance floor. Featuring production from Alice Ivy, “the song is very much open to interpretation, but personally it’s about purging romance through movement,” Maq said in a statement. Consider me very excited for what’s to come from this project.

Dead Tooth – “Hot Summer”

Brooklyn post-punk outfit Dead Tooth are back with a perfect soundtrack for the dreary heat of summer. “Hot Summer” has a distinctly retro vibe to it, feeling like it could have emerged from the New York music scene of the 1970’s. Equal parts driving and nihilistic, Dead Tooth are certainly a band to watch as they continue rolling out new music.

M.A.G.S – “Wait”

Elliott Douglas is gearing up for the release of the debut M.A.G.S. album, Say Things That Matter, later this month. “Wait” is an incredibly infectious power-pop number, one that Douglas says came together naturally and served as the encouragement needed to dive into the throes of making an album. It only takes a few short seconds listening to “Wait” to understand fully why one might feel encouraged by the track’s strength.

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

Kanye West and The Weeknd have a history: West produced “Tell Your Friends” from The Weeknd’s 2005 album Beauty Behind The Madness, while The Weeknd sang on West’s The Life Of Pablo highlight “FML.” Now, it seems the two may have something else in the works.

Yesterday, West, who is in the process of finishing Donda, took to Instagram to share a phone screenshot of his recent calls. Most notably, among them were a handful of late-night calls to a contact labeled “ABEL WEEKEND,” which is almost certainly The Weeknd.

This comes shortly after The Weeknd said he’d be interested in reconnecting with West, saying, “I’d love to work with Kanye again. Especially on production.” He also shared admiration for Tyler The Creator, saying, “I got mad love for Tyler The Creator, and what he’s doing right now. Tyler is funny, man. I remember he came to one of my performances — I think it was like a festival performance. And he was very vocal about how ‘Starboy’ was his favorite song at the time. You can tell he’s waiting for the song. I could see him. As soon as the song happened, he’s like, ‘All right, cool. Thanks.’ And he just peaced out. It was pretty funny. But he’s somebody that I really admire, because he wears his feelings on his sleeve.”

For years, Big Sean has been subject to jokes about his chosen rap moniker not quite matching up to his physical stature. But in a recent social media post, the Detroit rapper boasted that he’d actually grown into his name — not just metaphorically. In the video, Sean challenged, “How da f*ck I grow 2 inches? Chiropractor for a year straight twice a week, that’s how. Straight Spine thas how. I’m laughing cause it’s real.”

Just in case his viewers didn’t believe him, the video also sees Sean standing next to a friend, pointing out their similarities. “My n**** Ronnie 5’10″, solid,” he noted. “So b*tch, look at me next to him, b*tch. N****s try and hate on me like I’m 5’6″. Nah, for real, I probably even grew like a couple inches.”

Sean has become an advocate for healthy living, emphasizing the importance of mental health education in a recent interview with Apple Music and speaking extensively on his own experiences in the lead-up to the release of his album Detroit 2. In addition, he recently became the Detroit Pistons’ new “creative director of innovation” and will appear on the revival of MTV’s Cribs along with Rick Ross, Martha Stewart, and more.

This week in Mike Lindell news:

1. He got trolled by a heckler while conducting an interview in public.

2. He’s losing $1 million a week after pulling MyPillow ads from the “the worst station in history,” Fox News. “You turn on us when we needed you most,” he said. “I got attacked on CNN for 18 minutes. Where were you Fox to report? You could have at least reported Mike Lindell got attacked on CNN for 18 minutes because he’s a nut case.”

3. He has changed the day (and month) for when Trump will become president again.

“We’ll be bringing our findings to the Supreme Court in late August or early September, some time after the cyber symposium ends, and it proves it was an attack by China,” Lindell told the Daily Beast of non-existent election fraud, and an upcoming event devoted to the same. “When I gave my prediction about August, and that was several months ago, that was an estimate at the time. But it took so long to get this symposium set up. However long it takes for the Supreme Court to take it up and decide on this, I can’t predict that. I’m not the Supreme Court.”

Lindell has pushed back the timeline for a third time after originally claimed that Trump would be reinstated on Friday, August 13th (spooky!), but what he ACTUALLY meant (until he didn’t) was that “everybody’s going to know what I know” on the 13th. What does he know? It’s unclear, but it apparently has something to do with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris resigning because of his ironclad evidence of election fraud.

The delay has made QAnon very upset:

Everything’s going great.

(Via the Daily Beast)

This week in pop music saw highly anticipated releases from some of today’s biggest pop stars. Billie Eilish dropped her sophomore album, Silk Sonic returned with another sultry single, and Bleachers teamed up with Lana Del Rey for a tender track.

Each week, Uproxx rounds up the best new pop music. Listen up.

Billie Eilish — “Oxytocin”

This week, pop darling Billie Eilish released her long-awaited sophomore album Happier Than Ever. The singer said she hopes fans “recline and close your eyes, and listen” to the LP in a car with nice speakers while it’s raining. Her trance-like track “Oxytocin” is perfect for a stormy environment. The thumping song is a departure from the alt-pop heard on Eilish’s debut release, combining electronic elements with her drowned-out vocals.

Silk Sonic — “Skate”

After setting the bar high with their debut single “Leave The Door Open,” Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars’ Silk Sonic project finally dropped their follow-up single “Skate.” Keeping things light and groovy, the track is a sunny and hip-swinging love song with soulful lyrical delivery.

Pop Smoke — “Demeanor” Feat. Dua Lipa

Pop Smoke’s tragic death at just 20-years-old is still being mourned by the music community. But because the rapper was such a prolific musician, fans have been graced with a number of posthumous releases. His latest LP Faith is a 30-track masterclass in hitmaking, including the thumping and fervent song “Demeanor” with Dua Lipa that’s sure to grace airwaves all summer long.

Bleachers — “Secret Life” Feat. Lana Del Rey

Offering another preview of their Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night LP, Jack Antonoff’s band Bleachers shared the woozy ballad “Secret Life” featuring background vocals from Lana Del Rey. The single shares a softer side of the record, pulling inspiration from the tender releases Antonoff worked on with songwriters like Clairo and Taylor Swift.

Jhay Cortez — “En Mi Cuarto” Feat. Skrillex

Following up on his award-winning Bad Bunny collaboration “Dákiti,” Puerto Rican-born musician Jhay Cortez teams up with EDM heavy-hitter Skrillex for the infectious single “En Mi Cuarto.” Combining Cortez’s expert pop hooks and Skrillex’s memorable bass drops, the two hitmakers serve up a beach-ready track to continue the summer.

Dan + Shay — “Lying”

Grammy-winning artists Dan + Shay may have promised their upcoming album Good Things is their best one yet, and their new track “Lying” stands as proof. With just a few weeks before the project’s official debut, “Lying” offers another preview of the project. With a twangy backing band and the singers’ heart-tugging vocals, the song is the perfect cure to any breakup blues.

Tokimonsta — “Naked” Feat. Channel Tres

Acclaimed producer Tokimonsta tapped acclaimed musician Channel Tres for the funk-forward single “Naked” this week. The song sees the producer’s expert dance-ready rhythms and Channel Tres rose-tinted voice, crafting an irresistible tune that’s sure to make you get up and move.

Yola — “Dancing Away In Tears”

After receiving several Grammy nods for her debut album, singer Yola returned with her anthemic LP Stand For Myself, which features the jazzy tune “Dancing Away In Tears.” The orchestral single sees Yola standing up for her self-worth with bravado. About the track, Yola said: “There are times you just need to cut and run, but sometimes you need only slowly waltz away waving a sorry goodbye wishing it could’ve gone another way. Either way, you’re out.”

Glaive — “Bastard”

After carving out a niche space in the world of hyperpop, 16-year-old songwriter Glaive took the world by storm with his debut EP Cypress Grove. Now gearing up for the release of his sophomore project All Dogs Go To Heaven, Glaive shares the tricked-out track “Bastard.” The singer said he’s been sitting on the wildly energetic track for some time, but decided to drop it this week because it “stands the test of time.”

Mark Ronson — “Show Me”

Producer Mark Ronson premiered his Apple TV+ docuseries Watch The Sound this week, which walks viewers through the process of creating songs with cutting-edge music technology. The soundtrack to the series also arrived this week with the glimmering single “Show Me,” as well as contributions from artists like Paul McCartney, Wale, Jónsi, Diana Gordon, Gary Numan, and King Princess. “Show Me” is more downtempo compared to some of Ronson’s former club-ready releases, offering a different side to the multifaceted songwriter.

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

Xolo Maridueña is making the leap from the Karate Kid universe to DC Comics. The Cobra Kai star has snatched the lead role in Blue Beetle, which alongside Batgirl, is one of the first batch of DC Films that will arrive exclusively on HBO Max. On Monday afternoon, The Wrap reported that Maridueña was in talks for the lead part of Jamie Reyes, and that situation quickly moved to a done deal as Maridueña arrived at The Suicide Squad premiere with Blue Beetle director Angel Manuel Soto (Charm City Kings) who confirmed the casting to Heat Vision reporter Aaron Couch.

“#BlueBeetle has arrived at #TheSuicideSquad! Director Angel Manuel Soto and Warners execs surprised Xolo Maridueña with the news at dinner just last night,” Couch tweeted along with a photo of the director and star at the premiere.

In Blue Beetle, Maridueña will be playing teenager Jamie Reyes, who is the third iteration of the classic superhero. In the comics, Reyes is a Mexican American teenager who accidentally stumbled upon the Blue Beetle Scarab in his hometown of El Paso. The Scarab fused to his spine, giving him a technologically advanced body armor with powers that the young hero doesn’t even know the full extent of. The Reyes version of Blue Beetle also a prominent role in the fan favorite animated series Young Justice.

As The Wrap notes, Blue Beetle (as far as DC/Warner Bros. goes) will be “the first stand-alone title to feature a Latino lead.” The HBO Max exclusive film will also be written by Mexico-born writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (Scarface, Miss Bala).

(Via The Wrap, Aaron Couch on Twitter)