Month: August 2021

Lizzo’s most recent single was 2020’s “Cuz I Love You,” which comes from her 2019 album of the same name. So, it’s been a couple years since we’ve gotten some new music from Lizzo. She’s gearing up for a new era now, as her new single, “Rumors,” is set to drop on August 13.

She shared a promotional image for the song, which features her in a flash gold dress and equally shiny gold jewelry, giving a “shh” sign with her hand. She captioned the post, “NEW ERA B*TCH. ‘RUMORS’. 8/13.” Her post doesn’t indicate that “Rumors” is a song, but Lizzo’s website and pre-order pages do.

She more-than-suggested a few days ago that Mark Ronson is working on her album, saying in a TikTok video in response to a fan question, “A album? Absolutely not, I’m not making no f*ckin’ album! I’m not in a studio. This isn’t Mark Ronson. This isn’t a whole board. I’m not hanging out with songwriters like [Philip Lawrence of Bruno Mars songwriting/production team The Smeezingtons]. [laughs] I’m not making a f*ckin’ album! Where you get that from?”

This comes ahead of a busy stretch, as she’s set to perform at festivals like Bonnaroo, Firefly, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

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

Four, long years after Amazon announced they had begun work on an original Lord of the Rings spinoff series, we now have our first look at it and, naturally, it’s gorgeous. Through perhaps even more impressive than this glimpse at the upcoming show (and just how much a billion dollars can buy) is just how soon we’ll get the chance to start watching it. According to Amazon, the currently untitled Lord of the Rings series is scheduled to hit Amazon Prime Video on September 2, 2022.

While Vanity Fair has confirmed the new still is from the show’s first episode, not much else is known about what this image depicts or what exactly is in store for Middle-earth in the show’s first season. While some speculate it could be showing Gondor’s former capital of capital city of Osgiliath, with a younger version of Galadriel overlooking it, only time will tell what’s really going on. In the meantime, we personally are huge fans of this interpretation:

Lots of secrets and Easter eggs hidden in that first #LordOfTheRings image, so I tried to annotate them all: pic.twitter.com/0DyrSXRKR4

— Alex Zalben (@azalben) August 2, 2021

Okay okay, if you’re someone who was hoping for something a bit more “official,” below is the synopsis that leaked on popular Lord of the Rings fansite TheOneRing.net earlier this year. While it hasn’t been confirmed as true, it does perhaps offer us the best look at what the series could offer:

“Amazon Studios’ forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.”

Blxst is getting pretty well-known in his hometown of Los Angeles and now, he’s giving fans an opportunity to get to know his city as well as his city knows him. Partnering with Apple Maps, Blxst presents his own “Guide To Los Angeles” in the app, sharing his favorite places through photos shot by Travis Shinn and landmarks in the app pointing the way to a one-of-a-kind experience in the city.

Among the locations highlighted by the Guide are Crenshaw-based Earle’s Restaurant, a local landmark that has operated for over three decades, Simply Wholesome in Windsor Hills, Fairfax’s CoolkicksLA, where the city’s coolest kids go-to cop the latest streetwear and sneakers, and the Fox Hills Mall in Culver City — which will always be Fox Hills to locals, even though it’s officially named Westfield Culver City now.

In a press release, Blxst said, “Excited to give my fans a closer look at my favorite spots in LA with this new Guide in Apple Maps. These businesses, restaurants, and shops are a great way to see and enjoy the city from my perspective.” You can check out the Guide here.

For the perfect soundtrack to cruising the city on Blxst’s guided tour, you can check out his debut EP, No Love Lost, and his new joint project with fellow Angeleno Bino Rideaux, Sixtape 2. Catch him on his No Love Lost tour this summer.

The Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters for Final Fantasy I, II, and III on Steam are finally available and reviews are starting to roll in. The majority of reviews say that they’re extremely well done remasters, but there are some complaints about the font choice. The font is an easy fix, but what’s odd is that while official reviews have been mainly positive the fan reviews have so far been extremely negative on sites like Metacritic. While fans and media don’t always agree on a game it’s rare to see Final Fantasy games score this low on reviews.

Turns out there’s a reason for that. The majority of fans that are posting reviews on Metacritic are likely doing so because they can’t play the remakes on a console. Right now, the Pixel Remasters are exclusive to Steam and mobile devices, while this isn’t the first time they’ve been ported to those devices there were a lot of fans complaining about it when the remakes were announced over the summer.

Word must have gotten out about the remasters receiving a low Metacritic score because it’s been slowly rising as actual positive reviews are starting to make their way over. These new reviews also include text associated with the score, unlike the negative ones. Originally, a since-deleted comment complaining about the remaster not being available on consoles was the only negative review that had actual text attached to it.

This appears to be a Metacritic only problem because the Steam reviews are overwhelmingly positive with over 800 positive user reviews and less than 100 negative ones. However, the negative reviews on Steam are unrelated to it being unavailable on console and are actual critiques such as the removal of content, a few complaints of stuttering, and one mentioning screen tearing.

This should go without saying, but review bombing a game on Metacritic is not going to get the game ported to consoles. If anything it’s more likely to encourage developers to not port the game at all because of low scores.

Free agency isn’t expected to see many superstars go on the move this summer, but the start of the new league year does present the opportunity for some teams to lock their own stars up long-term.

Chief among those are the Warriors, who can hand Stephen Curry a deal worth more than $50 million per season to, effectively, ensure he stays in the Bay for life. The 4-year, $215 million deal is expected to be a done deal once the extension window opens later on Monday night on the West Coast, where Curry will put pen to paper and lock himself in for five more years (including the last on his current deal) in San Francisco, per Marc Stein.

Golden State’s Stephen Curry, I’m told, will soon be agreeing to a four-year, $215 million extension with the Warriors.

This should put a halt to any concern Curry might grow frustrated with the organization that seems stuck between two timelines at the moment and move on next summer, but Golden State still needs to work to put a winner around the greatest star in the franchise’s history. With three first or second-year lottery picks on the roster, the Warriors have two different trios in hand at the moment, one a possible core for the future and their established core from championships past. Inking Curry to a massive new contract seems to indicate they’ll continue looking to build a winner now, which means those three young, intriguing players of the future might need to be prepared for trade rumors to surround them for some time.

The backlash to DaBaby’s controversial HIV/AIDS comments at Rolling Loud a couple weekends ago (for which he only just apologized today) has been severe, as he’s been dropped from multiple festival lineups and dragged by many of his peers in music. Dua Lipa, who recruited DaBaby to join her on the “Levitating” remix, said she was “surprised and horrified” by the things DaBaby said on stage.

Since the controversy, music curators have started phasing the DaBaby version of “Levitating” off of playlists and radio airplay, but in spite of that, the song is still doing quite well on the charts. On the new Hot 100 dated August 7, the “Levitating” remix is at No. 5, a slight drop from its spot at No. 3 last week. The Rolling Loud incident happened on July 25, which was a few days into the tracking week reflected on the latest chart, July 23 to 29.

Billboard reports that remix saw a 12-percent drop in plays compared to the solo version of the song last week, noting, “On July 25, 71% of its plays was via the remix; on July 29, the last day of the tracking week, the share dropped to 59%.”

If the solo version of “Levitating” ends up becoming the most prominent version of the song in terms of charting activity, it is possible for DaBaby’s credit to be removed from “Levitating” as it appears on the Hot 100 and other charts. A similar thing happened last year when Nicki Minaj was removed from the Hot 100 listing for Doja Cat’s “Say So.” Billboard explained at the time, “After two weeks of Minaj showing as a featured artist on ‘Say So’ on the Hot 100 and other charts that utilize the same methodology, only Doja Cat is now listed, as the original version, without Minaj, is now driving the majority of overall activity for the song; the change does not affect any of Minaj’s achievements on those charts the past two weeks, and she continues not to be credited on the song on any airplay charts, as the vast majority of the song’s airplay is still for the original version.”

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

Plenty of times, our most profound and memorable moments come to us when we’re least expecting them. For former Games of Thrones actor Kit Harrington, one such moment happened during a bathroom break while filming the show’s second season. In a recent interview with Sirius XM, the star most famous for his portrayal of the moody, broody Jon Snow revealed that of all the moments that stuck with him from his time working on Game of Thrones, peeing off of a glacier is perhaps the most memorable, and provided him with a bit of clarity he looks back upon regularly.

“I remember shooting up on this incredible glacier in Iceland, and I went off to take a pee, just in… somewhere in the wilds of Iceland. And I just looked out over this glacier and I thought, ‘God, I got the best job in the world.’ And that always sticks out to me because if I’m ever feeling grumpy about my lot, which, believe me, I can do amazingly, I think of that. And I think, ‘Now you’ve got a pretty special job.’”

In addition to sharing this oddly touching moment, Harrington also discussed the rise and fall of Game of Throne‘s popularity in the interview. According to Harrington, the show’s aforementioned second season was also when the cast and crew began to realize they were creating something truly special with real “cultural impact.” He then went on to address Game of Thrones‘ infamous ending, and explained that part of his journey following the series finale was trying to remain proud of his work regardless:

“Part of the journey since it finished was just becoming proud of that show, you know, not running away from it and not running away from what it was and who I played in it, but just owning it and being proud of everything about it really.”

While Harrington’s chapter as Jon Snow has come to an end, fans of Game of Thrones will be pleased to hear that the world of Westeros will continue to be explored in not one but three separate spinoff series. And hey, don’t feel too bad for Harrington not being a part of it all, as the actor is about to cross over to an even bigger franchise with Marvel’s The Eternals, which hits theaters November 5.

When the first episode of Loki arrived on Disney+, the reality-bending series immediately sparked a contentious debate amongst Marvel fans about the concept of free will as it pertains to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If the Time Variance Authority is really in charge of maintaining the Sacred Timeline and “pruning” any Variants that deviate it from its path, that would mean every event in the MCU was basically pre-determined before it even happened. In other words, The Infinity Saga, the decade-long, 23 film installment and its climactic showdown with Thanos only had one possible outcome that was entirely shaped by the TVA, and not the actions of Iron Man, Captain America, Doctor Strange, or the rest of The Avengers. Bummer.

However, as Loki progressed, the true nature of the TVA began to reveal itself, and for a brief moment, it seemed like the entire operation was a charade. Maybe there weren’t space lizards controlling time after all, which turned out to be the case, but in the worst way possible. In a climactic hammer drop, the Loki finale introduced Jonathan Majors’ He Who Remains (a.k.a Kang), who was the real power behind the TVA. While the Time Keepers were a ruse, there still was a singular force manipulating the events of the MCU, which once again, raised the question of free will.

Was Kang dictating the entire events of the MCU up until the Loki finale? According to director Kate Herron, he sure was. Via The Direct:

“I suppose well, by our show’s logic, yes, because he says like, ‘I paved the road, you just walked down it.’ I guess in theory, yeah, he would’ve scripted that because by our show that’s what we’re saying. Everything has been predetermined by this one character, even if up to this point we’ve believed the characters have had free will. Which I think is kind of the fun rug-pull of our show, right?”

This revelation makes the version of Kang in the Loki finale one of the most powerful forces in the MCU, and as he warned Loki and Sylvie, his Variants are even worse. Unfortunately, Sylvie did not heed the warning, and now, they’re on the way to start a whole new multiversal war that will make dealing with Thanos look like a freaking picnic. Good luck with that.

(Via The Direct)

DaBaby has been in the music industry doghouse since making comments about HIV/AIDS at Rolling Loud last weekend. Usually, when somebody says something that’s met with wide and instant backlash, they realize the error of their ways and issue an immediate apology. Instead, DaBaby went more in the direction of digging his heels into the ground and lashing out at those who shared negative opinions about his actions.

Now, finally, over a week later, DaBaby has offered an apology. Sharing an image of text on social media, he wrote:

“Social media moves so fast that people want to demolish you before you even have the opportunity to grow, educate, and learn from your mistakes. As a man who has had to make his own way from very difficult circumstances, having people I know publicly working against me — knowing that what I needed was education on these topics and guidance — has been challenging. I appreciate the many people who came to me with kindness, who reached out to me privately to offer wisdom, education, and resources. That’s what I needed and it was received.

I want to apologize to the LGBTQ+ community for the hurtful and triggering comments I made. Again, I apologize for my misinformed comments about HIV/AIDS and I know education on this is important. Love to all. God bless.

– DaBaby.”

In some respects, this apology came too late, as he has already been removed from the lineups of Governor’s Ball, Day N Vegas, and Lollapalooza.

Find DaBaby’s post below.

Isaiah Thomas was trending over the weekend after he went down to Atlanta to play in the AEBL and lit up the scoreboard for 65 points.

That happened to be good timing for what was to come on Monday, as there is some buzz about Thomas finding his way back into the NBA with the help of an old friend. According to Marc Stein, a return to Boston could be in the cards for Thomas as free agency get set to open now that Brad Stevens, who coached Thomas in Boston, is now in charge of the Celtics front office.

Boston, I’m told, has interest in an Isaiah Thomas reunion, with new Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens known to be one of Thomas’ biggest fans.

It isn’t going to be the lead subject of free agency and, given this would be a minimum deal, it likely won’t happen until later on after the Celtics have made their other moves and filled up exceptions and cap space elsewhere. Still, Thomas’ legend grew to massive heights in Boston, leading the Celtics to a thrilling playoff run in 2017 through a hip injury and more. That hip injury derailed what was seemingly a budding career as one of the league’s preeminent bucket-getters, and for him to return to Boston and hopefully heal some of those old wounds would be good for everyone involved.

From a basketball perspective, the Celtics certainly have a need in the backcourt after trading Kemba Walker for Al Horford, and a veteran scoring presence like Thomas would make some sense off the bench along with the young Payton Pritchard. Boston will still be looking to address their lead guard situation elsewhere in free agency, but it would be pretty cool to see Thomas back in Celtics green.