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For A Modern Generation Of Rising Rappers, Festivals Are The Ultimate Proving Ground

With the internet hyper-accelerating the average artist’s life cycle and “democratizing” the already overcrowded market to the point of a constant blur of white noise, it can get a little tricky for rising stars to separate themselves from the pack. Where in the past, there was a long lead time of artist development before artists were thrown into the deep end to sink or swim, nowadays, your make-or-break moment as a potential star can come just weeks after your initial breakthrough on the back of a viral hit. For the modern generation of rising rap stars, that moment is often their first festival performance, which has come to be the ultimate proving ground separating the future kings and queens from the one-hit-wonders.

In fact, the festival performance — and the fact that there are so many festivals that cater to hip-hop, not to mention so many facets of it — is both a gift and a curse. Rather than plugging away for months, years — heck, decades — at a rap career, refining your performance skills in half-empty dive bars and 300-cap theaters, you can play for many times that number at even the smallest stages at festivals like Rolling Loud or Day N Vegas, even in the least desirable time slots, getting the kind of exposure that it used to take a whole regional tour to acquire. Now that you’ve got a viral hit, this is your chance to capitalize on the curiosity of fans at your stage and prove you have enough material to fill a solo set and pitch your real product: Your personality, your energy, and your unique story.

However, this can be a double-edged sword. While a standout set can earn you fans for life — or at least, for the duration of the ride home from the festival venue — a lackluster one can torpedo any forward momentum you’ve managed to earn for yourself. While streaming numbers can be faked and industry relationships can be leveraged to “get on,” you can’t fake a live reaction. This is why so many of the artists that draw so much attention early in their careers can seemingly fade over time. Plus, bad sets tend to stack up on one another; the first bad set leads to skepticism for the next, and so on, meaning each new performance can bring back diminishing returns. Also, if fans don’t see your name moving up the lineup and getting bigger, they can assume it’s because you have very little to offer with your live show.

We’ve seen these principles in practice over and over again but for the most extreme example, we can look at someone like DaBaby, whose raucous festival performances played a huge part in his building such a dedicated fanbase so quickly. Even before he blew up in 2019 with “Walker Texas Ranger,” when he was still going by Baby Jesus (yikes), Jonathan Kirk was an expert at drawing attention, walking around festivals in a huge diaper, and delivering energetic performances that endeared him to fans early in his career. When he finally got that name thing sorted out, it seemed like he blew up right away, right? None of that success would have been possible had he not positioned himself for it with his stellar performances early on.

DaBaby also helped make the downsides to a bad performance more clear this year, ironically at Rolling Loud, the hip-hop-centric festival of which he’d become a fixture over the past two years. Thanks to livestreams of festivals, performances both good and bad can be broadcast to even more viewers at a time, making the stakes more precarious than ever. Even as DaBaby delivered his usual action-packed set, his between-song call-to-action to fans came across as less-than-enlightened and has drawn plenty of complaints of insensitivity and hate, marring his public reputation seemingly overnight (his repeated doubling down didn’t help). Bringing out Tory Lanez as a publicity stunt further disrupted any positive perceptions his performance may have picked up, sparking the viral moment he wanted, but bringing the opposite response he likely expected.

Kirk’s woes, though, are extreme. Some other examples might be the way newer rappers like Polo G, JID, or Guapdad 4000 were able to convert new fans after a festival season, growing their followings to the point of intense fervor. I personally watched Kyle unexpectedly pull in hundreds of curious observers on the big stage at Coachella a couple of years ago, overhearing conversations to the effect of “Who’s that?” “I don’t know but I like him!” Aminé packed out a tent at that same Coachella, the spillover crowd sparking increased interest from passerby and growing it by the second. By the same token, at the most recent Rolling Loud, breakout sensation Coi Leray mystified attendees who realized they didn’t know any of her catalog past “No More Parties,” but seemed to be engaged by her enthusiastic performance, even if they didn’t quite show it on the livestream.

Even the choice of the festival to perform at makes a huge difference for a rising artist. A Camp Flog Gnaw set can attract one sort of fans (Tyler fans are hella loyal) while something like Soundset can benefit a more heady-sounding rapper. Back in the day, I knew if an artist was on Paid Dues or Rock The Bells, they were my kind of artist — and that was where I saw groups like TDE and Slaughterhouse make their bones. Since then, a good festival show has only become more important to any artist’s strategy. It’s a shame so many are tossed into that fire without getting the practice they need to deliver an impressive set. In the future, maybe artists, their labels, and their managers will realize that importance and dedicate more resources to ensuring they are ready to take on that challenge.

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

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How Each Lottery Pick Performed At The 2021 Las Vegas Summer League

After two weeks of basketball that began in California and Utah, the NBA’s Summer League slate wrapped up on Tuesday in Las Vegas. Contrary to past years, there was a full slate of games on the final day and the league ran through the tape as a result. While there are many angles by which to attack the consumption of Summer League action, a lot of attention is paid to the rookie class, and that is even more true when discussing the Lottery picks.

To that end, it is time to take stock of the 14 players selected in the 2021 Lottery.

Cade Cunningham

It would be fair to say that Cunningham wasn’t utterly dominant in Las Vegas, but he certainly didn’t take much off the table. The No. 1 pick averaged 18.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game across three appearances, and Cunningham converted a blistering 50 percent of his 8.7 three-point attempts per game. This wasn’t the friendliest style of play for Cunningham, who thrives on team defense and isn’t a hyper-athlete, but he did more than enough to impress before the Pistons shut him down for the final two games.

Jalen Green

A hamstring issue forced Green into an early exit from Vegas, but he was tremendous during his three-game performance. Green showed his full arsenal of offensive creation, and he was difficult to stop in a Summer League setting. The only time he was at all flummoxed was against the Pistons, who blitzed him, and Green looked the part of a top-tier prospect. He averaged 20.3 points per game, shot 51 percent from the floor, and left quite an impression.

Evan Mobley

Vegas was a mixed bag for Mobley, who also played only three games. He posted solid counting stats (11.3 points, 7.7 rebounds) but shot just 35 percent from the floor and 12.5 percent from three-point range. Mobley did make some considerable flash plays defensively, though, and it has to be noted that Cleveland inexplicably arrived in the desert without a single point guard to run their offense — Isaac Okoro, who is decidedly not a point guard, was the team’s primary initiator. This was never going to be the best showcase for Mobley, all things considered, but it wasn’t a disaster by any means.

Scottie Barnes

Barnes didn’t answer his biggest question in Vegas, making 27 percent of his threes on modest volume. However, he checked a lot of boxes while averaging 15.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, two blocks, and one steal per game. He was impressive defensively, competing at a sky-high level and flashing his communication and recovery tools, and Barnes made the plays that came to him on the offensive end. It would’ve been unrealistic to expect much more than he put on film.

Jalen Suggs

The first of two top picks for Orlando, Suggs looked good before suffering a sprained thumb. That injury kept him out of the final two games, but Suggs averaged 15.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while getting to the rim and operating in impressive fashion on both ends. His competitiveness shined in Vegas and he made enough highlight plays to turn heads.

Josh Giddey

Giddey hurt his ankle almost immediately during the Thunder’s opening game and played five minutes during Summer League. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get to see more of him, as Giddey’s passing and ability to control a game would have been fun to watch in this setting.

Jonathan Kuminga

Kuminga was extremely impressive in Summer League. He scored 18 points in his only appearance in California, then averaged 17.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in four games in Vegas. The knock on Kuminga was with his efficiency, as he shot only 37.3 percent from the floor, but the highlight plays were there. Beyond that, he played with physicality and seemed to be quite comfortable. He remains quite raw, but Kuminga’s tools stand out in a big way.

Franz Wagner

Like Mobley, Wagner’s talents were never going to rise to the surface in Las Vegas. With that said, he still struggled. He shot 15 percent from three-point range, averaged only eight points per game and struggled to make an offensive impact. His calling card of team defense doesn’t translate to Summer League, so that isn’t a real concern, but questions about his offensive appeal in the early going won’t be answered by what he was able to do in his first professional action.

Davion Mitchell

Mitchell looked good in the California Classic, averaging 16 points per game, and that carried over to Vegas as a key part of the title-winning squad from Sacramento. His on-ball defense drew the usual rave reviews, and the intensity in which he pressures opposing ball-handlers is truly fun to watch. Offensively, his three-point shooting was strong, albeit on modest volume, but his package inside the arc wasn’t quite as impressive and his mysterious free throw issues persisted. Overall, Mitchell was still an effective player and he showed the skills that made him a Lottery pick.

Ziaire Williams

The question marks are still question marks. Williams shot 38 percent from the floor and 20 percent from three in Vegas, and he wasn’t able to do much beyond pull-up jumpers. Granted, he does have the pedigree and potential to make those shots consistently, but when it wasn’t working, there wasn’t a natural counter for Williams. The Grizzlies definitely know they are making a future bet, though, and the raw tools are scintillating.

James Bouknight

Vegas was basically what was expected for Bouknight. He scored at a high level (16.8 points per game) on solid efficiency, and he had 28 percent usage. He didn’t shoot it incredibly well the entire trip, but his three-point shooting (37.5 percent) exceeded his college baseline. Defensively, it was a bit of an adventure, but the Hornets have to feel okay with that what they saw, especially through the lens of what they projected in selecting Bouknight.

Joshua Primo

Because he played two games in Utah before coming to Vegas, Primo only saw the court twice at the league’s marquee summer showcase. Primo’s efficiency (33 percent shooting in Vegas and 36 percent overall) left a lot to be desired, but that might overstate how much he actually struggled. He’s extremely young, which is worth noting, and Primo was asked to do a lot more in his early days with the Spurs than he was in college. You have to look beyond the inefficiency, but there were some encouraging signs for a player who is considered a long-term project.

Chris Duarte

Duarte was very good in Las Vegas. He shot 48.3 percent from three-point range on the way to 18.2 points per game, and Duarte was well-rounded with four rebounds and 3.8 assists per contest. Given that he’s 24 years old, it wasn’t a shock to see Duarte playing an under control style that seemed to display confidence. However, it would’ve been more concerning if he struggled, and he definitely did not.

Moses Moody

The Warriors have to feel pretty good right now. Granted, it is wise to avoid overreacting to Summer League, but both Kuminga and Moody looked the part. Moody is actually a player that might translate better to the structure of the regular season, particularly on defense and with his off-ball movement. Still, he averaged 16 points per game on reasonable efficiency. Without knowing that he fell to No. 14 overall, Moody would’ve had the feel of a selection in the top half of the Lottery.

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Soulja Boy Tops Off ‘White Boy Summer’ By Signing Chet Hanks To His Record Label

Chet Hanks, the son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, has certainly had his fair share of viral moments this past year. Between ranting about the COVID vaccine, declaring this summer as “White Boy Summer,” and sliding into Adele’s DMs, the oftentimes cringe-worthy and controversial celebrity has surprising still found the time to work on his music (yes, he’s also a rapper). His work has certainly paid off as Soulja Boy just named Hanks the newest addition to his SODMG Records label.

Soulja and Hanks broke the news in a joint video posted to Instagram. Soulja said Hanks is the first rapper signed to SODMG this year, and they apparently have big plans. “It’s going down,” Soulja Boy said in the announcement. “We about to make history.”

Of course, Hanks isn’t alone when it comes to viral moments this year. His now-business partner Soulja has also been making headlines recently. Just last week, the rapper went viral when someone on Instagram shared a video accusing him of buying fake jewelry at the mall. Soulja wasn’t happy about the accusations, so he invited the user to join him on Instagram Live. The conversation quickly became heated, with Soulja continuously insisting the jewelry was genuine. “That mothaf*cka $35,000. The Rollie $30,000. Everything over there real,” Soulja said. “They sell real ice in the mall, clout chasin’ ass p*ssy ass.”

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T-Pain Shares The List Of Features He’s Agreed To Do After Finally Checking His DMs

There’s an age-old adage in the customer service world: Underpromise, overdeliver. Unfortunately, it seems that T-Pain hadn’t heard of that one before agreeing to work with some of the artists whose Instagram DMs went unanswered in the time he didn’t realize they were being filed away to the “requests” folder. The inimitable hook master posted a list of the upcoming features he’s got in the works to Twitter, and it’s safe to say his workload may have gotten a little out of hand.

Included in the list are some of Pain’s fellow producers like DJ Carnage and Murda Beats, rising stars like Erica Banks and Yung Bleu, longtime veterans Big Tigga and Tech N9ne, and even his feature-killer heir apparent, Ty Dolla Sign. Explaining why it might be taking him a little longer to get through his to-do list, he wrote, “I wanna start this thread off by saying I’m definitely not complaining about this but I don’t think we know what kind of pressure we put on others. This isn’t for the fans.”

He continued in the thread, “I literally can’t keep up with the ppl that aren’t on this list that hit me every day to add work to my crazy workload. This is the list of features I actually HAVENT done yet that I’ve gotten since the whole ‘situation’ a while back and I’ve promised to deliver. This is just features that I actually WANT to do. I’ve talked to these ppl personally and accepted the job. If you ask me for a feature at this point, just know that this list is in the order that the requests were received so there’s no way to get to the top of the list.”

Finally, he made note of the personal sacrifice he’s made to keep up with his promise to make up for lost time: “I Love y’all but Gaaaaaaaahdaaaaaaamn I’ve pushed my own album back 3 times because I’m making sure everybody else is good. I’m gettin to it I swear.” He also pointed out that he cares about quality over quantity and won’t just “blurt out random words” like other, derivative artists he recently delivered a derisive rant about. After taking on such a monumental challenge, we can only hope that Pain finds a work balance that lets him get enough rest, put out his own projects, and learn to take on new projects one at a time.

Check out the full thread below.

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

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‘Fox And Friends’ Host Brian Kilmeade’s Casual Remarks About Knock-Off Vaccine Cards Are Inspiring Plenty Of Disgust

Back in May, the Fox and Friends co-hosts (Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade) all made sure to let their audience know (while apparently distancing themselves from Tucker Carlson) that they’d all been vaccinated against COVID-19. Since that day, however, Kilmeade’s been rather grumbly about the idea of virus-related mandates, and that’s not resting well with people who recognize how dangerous it is to air misinformation on a cable news network.

On Wednesday morning, Earhardt actually led the charge on that end. She noted how Texas Governor Greg Abbott tested positive, which led to her (inaccurate) assertion that heading to the hospital to take Regeneron after infection is “basically still getting vaccinated.” Following that heaping helping of misinformation, Kilmeade interjected (while complaining, “You can’t go to anything unless you have your vaccination card”) that it’s possible to get a fake vaccine card for “a dollar.” The casual manner in which he inserted this suggestion (in what could be interpreted as a wink-wink, nod-nod) to millions of Fox News viewers is, well, irresponsible as heck, as pointed out on Twitter.

Then there’s the little fact that encouraging someone to use a fake vaccine card is a crime (possibly even a felony), and NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio noticed.

Also yup, Kilmeade should probably take his own previous advice to not take medical advice from a talking head, even the one sitting next to him.

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The New ‘Fortnite’ Impostors Mode Upset The ‘Among Us’ Devs For Good Reason

There might not be a single game in the world bigger than Epic Games’ Fortnite. The cartoonish Battle Royale might be best known for dancing and silly memes, but it’s also a pretty fun game in its own right. It is constantly updating, adding in new content, and has never been afraid to change everything, including the map.

Fortnite is also well-known for doing crossovers with other IPs. They’ve allowed people to play as superstar athletes like LeBron James, watch Ariana Grande put on a concert in the game, and even teamed up with superheroes. What’s even more fun about this is that, when these people are added to their game, they become part of the Fortnite universe. This means that all of these IPs are connected together in some strange way and it’s an example of how the devs at Epic aren’t afraid to get weird with their crossovers.

It’s also why the developers of last summer’s hit game, Among Us, are really unhappy with them right now. Fortnite recently added a new limited-time mode called “Impostors” where players will be able to hunt down someone that is betraying the group through sabotage. Find the impostor and you win, but if the impostor is a good enough at lying, they can escape the group unharmed. The concept alone isn’t unique — Call of Duty recently announced a similar mode of their own — but that’s not why the developers of Among Us are upset. They’re upset because it looks like Fortnite did a lot more than be “inspired” by Among Us to create this new impostor mode.

Naming your mode “Impostors” is one thing, but the maps are so close to one another it’s hard to not see why the developers of Among Us would be so irritated. Even worse is that with Fortnite and Among Us history of crossovers, this could have been a really cool opportunity for the two developers to work together. Among Us Community Director Victoria Tran even said as much in a tweet.

It’s pretty clear that the developers of Among Us have no problem with others taking inspiration from their success and making their own games. The concept of someone sabotaging the group and everyone else trying to discover them is not a unique one. The party game Werewolf, also known as Mafia, has been doing it for years. However, if you’re going to make a mode like this, maybe don’t name it after the main villains of the game you’re clearly taking inspiration from while also barely changing the maps, especially when that game has never shied away from crossovers.

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‘Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ Looks Like A Return To The Series Origins

Pokémon Legends: Arceus was one of the more surprising announcements to ever come from the popular franchise. A 3D open-world RPG? Fans had been asking for this forever, but it was one of those wishes that felt like it was never going to be answered. This is a franchise that has a formula, and they’ve been making only small changes since the first game came out in the ’90s, so why change it now? Perhaps it was a desire to give fans what they had been asking for, or maybe it was just a desire to do something new with a spin-off.

Now that we finally got to see more of the game on Wednesday thanks to the Pokémon Presents presentation, we were able to get a little more of a glimpse into why they would go this direction. Looking at the game, and based on what they told us during the presentation, it feels like Pokémon Legends: Arceus is trying to bring the game back to its roots — not just in setting, but in the overall goal of the player. These games have basically, since their inception, been about collecting a team of favorites, going on an adventure, and becoming the ultimate Pokémon trainer. However, as more Pokémon joined the games, an additional goal became completing the Pokédex so we could learn more about them.

In the original Pokémon Red and Blue, or Green for players in Japan, the goal wasn’t just about defeating the Elite Four. It was about catching all 151 Pokémon so we could learn as much about them as possible. Of course, with almost 900 Pokémon today, that goal is far more daunting. Most new games have lessened the importance of completing the Pokédex. Pokémon Legends: Arceus, however, is a game set in a time before humans and Pokémon started working together. They’re wild animals and multiple characters mention how they’re terrifying creatures. They’ll attack humans when they’re skittish around them and there is less known about them than in other games. This is a fun return to form for the franchise, with the goal once again being learning and understanding Pokémon.

This potentially new direction is perfect for the open-world setting that Pokémon Legends: Arceus wants. There is an exploration and learning aspect to every open-world game, from Breath of the Wild to Skyrim. This potentially new direction for Pokémon is really exciting, because the driving force of open worlds is the desire to learn and see what’s up ahead. Who doesn’t want to go out there and learn as much as they can about Pokémon? It’s the reason most of us played the games in the first place, and with Pokémon Legends: Arceus, we now have the game’s entire design backing up that desire to learn.

Of course, some of the usual goals of the series are still here. There are Pokémon to be captured, to battle, and there is a story to push everything forward. When Pokémon Legends: Arceus launches, maybe what appeared to be a game about exploration and learning is just the usual game with a different look to it, but the early signs point to something different. It’s a potential return to form for the franchise, one that goes back to throwing the player into an open world they know nothing about and telling them to go learn as much as they can. That’s a feeling that the mainline games don’t focus on creating anymore, so maybe Pokémon Legends: Arceus can be the one that does.

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Jennifer Hudson Believes That ‘Cats’ Was ‘Misunderstood,’ And Future Generations ‘Will See It Differently’

We didn’t know how good we had it with bad movies in December 2019.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Cats, both released on December 20 of that year, were collectively dunked on by just about everyone (including cast members). There hasn’t been a collective Mystery Science Theater 3000 experience like it since; a few months later, theaters shut down due to the pandemic and most of the bad movies since, like Artemis Fowl and Space Jam: A New Legacy, have been released straight to streaming. It’s not the same wondering if the dancing cockroaches actually have human faces or if you’re tripping balls (it’s the former, unless it’s both) from the comfort of your couch, but Jennifer Hudson, who played Grizabella the Glamour Cat in Tom Hooper’s misbegotten musical, thinks we were too hard on Cats.

“You know what? I think it was a bit overwhelming. It’s unfortunate that it was misunderstood,” the Respect actress told Total Film about the reaction to Cats. “I think later down the line, people will see it differently. But it is something I am still very proud of and grateful to have been a part of. Yeah, I got to be Grizabella the Glamour Cat!”

I respect her bright-side-of-life optimism and Hudson had one of the few genuinely good scenes in the musical with her performance of “Memories.” Counterpoint:

Maybe she means future generations “will see it differently” because they’ll get to see the butthole cut. That’s probably it.

(Via Total Film)

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Hulu’s ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ Makes For A Fun Followup To HBO’s ‘The White Lotus’

Nicole Kidman and David E. Kelley can’t quit each other. Nor can the pair step away from the small screen, and we’re all situated to reap the benefits. Most recently seen in The Undoing (with the naughtiest Hugh Grant incarnation of all) and previously in Big Little Lies (as part of an ensemble of lady powerhouses), Kidman is finally thoroughly enjoying herself in Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers. As with Lies, this project is based upon a Liane Moriarty novel, and so, expect to see an ensemble cast of stupendous talent gathered to portray a set of (mostly) privileged characters. More importantly for recency bias’ sake, this group of players also bears similarities to an unrelated HBO series that recently took a first-season bow. That would be The White Lotus, which just ended a season by dropping a deuce and wrapping a satiric take on the ultra-wealthy.

The two shows aren’t twins, that’s for sure. There are many differences to be had (The White Lotus weaves in social commentary like second nature, and Nine Perfect Strangers leans into soap operatics), but they do compliment each other. Instead of following a group of tourists at a Hawaiian resort where a master of ceremonies caters to their every needs while a murder mystery lurks in the background, Nine Perfect Strangers follows a group to a health-and-wellness resort (that’s actually called “Tranquilum”) where the stakes aren’t outwardly huge in a narrative sense, although something feels ominous. Kidman portrays a mysterious Russian guru, Masha, whose methods of healing her patients during retreats qualify as, well, unorthodox.

HBO

The strangers of the show’s title all seem to brandish an edge, too, even though the show itself isn’t so biting. From Bobby Cannavale as a former football player with serious personal demons and a pill addiction to Michael Shannon as a grief-afflicted, yet impossibly quirky father and Melissa McCarthy as a famous romance novelist with every facet of her life collapsing at once. Luke Evans and Regina Hall get to go to Rage Town with their characters, and there are hallucinations and freak-outs, both humorous and otherwise, aplenty, and let’s just say that these fine people, all of them, find themselves with afflictions that will seem, at once (given their often-surreal treatment) novel and familiar to the audience. There’s a lot of baggage here, and all of it’s engrossing, whether it’s mere entertainment or something that prompts more viewer empathy.

Mostly, however, this is Kidman’s show, and that’s the package that arrives. The show makes sparing use of her — to make her character as intriguing and mysterious as possible — while enlisting Manny Jacinto and Tiffany Boon among Masha’s staff that does a lot of the emotional dirty work. The show embeds many individual threads, although the parts tend to stand on their own, rather than as a cohesive whole. And even though the show’s atmosphere feels cult-like, there’s not a massive amount of heavy-handed commentary. Instead, the limited series deservedly bats around the wellness industry. It’s very easy to read into things a little more with speculation that is admittedly unfounded: I’m talking about that elephant called Scientology, which Kidman famously sprinted away from following her divorce from a certain Mission: Impossible star. It’s inappropriate to deeply read into how she’s portraying a cult-ish leader, given that Kidman has refrained from commentary on the subject. However, if you’ve seen The Master, there are certainly similarities to the leader that Philip Seymour Hoffman portrayed (who was based upon L. Ron Hubbard) and how Masha behaves, although obviously, the source material and script are responsible for how she’s rendered.

Yep, Kidman is having a ball as the headliner with a character that’s at once flashy and hiding trauma of her own. Masha’s methods are seductive, even as her followers (who appear to have been handpicked to attend this retreat) endure practices that no one (who hasn’t at least been mildly brainwashed) wouldn’t stomach without protest. The criticism of snake-oil salesmen gets aired into oblivion, although the show never feels too judgy. Rather, Nine Perfect Strangers empathizes with its characters, even the Instagram influencer portrayed by Samara Weaving. That character would have been far too easy to skewer without mercy, but this show finds the humanity in recognizing that everyone is dealing with sh*t in life.

Granted, some of this sh*t is very first-world in nature, and that’s alright. A lot of what I took from this limited series, aside from the superior performances and decent script, is that there are redeemable qualities in all of these characters, and you never really know what someone else is going through. That’s important, especially at this moment, to absorb. Even the luckiest among us have been going through a lot during the pandemic, and even the guru in this story is dealing with her own sh*t, as unrelatable as it might seem from the outside. Even if there’s an eerie feeling that permeates through this Nine Perfect Strangers, and much of the show feels surreal, the humans rendered within all feel real and often pleasant. So there’s no love-to-hate aspect involved here as with The White Lotus, yet it’s still a place you wouldn’t be sorry to visit.

Hulu’s ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ debuts on August 18.

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Lizzo Displayed Her Impressive Vocal Range With A Rendtion Of Ariana Grande’s ‘No Tears Left To Cry’

Ariana Grande recently marked the three-year anniversary of her hit album Sweetener with a bunch of behind-the-scenes photos of the LP’s recording process. But she wasn’t the only one celebrating. Lizzo busted out a rendition of Grande’s “No Tears Left To Cry” on the album’s anniversary, although she said she doesn’t quite relate to the song’s title.

On Tuesday, Lizzo hopped on an Instagram Live session to connect with her fans after kicking off her new era of music last week. She suddenly broke out into a brief cover of “No Tears Left To Cry,” showing off her impressive vocal range. Cutting the cover short, Lizzo said the song’s lyrics aren’t exactly true for her. “Actually, I do have some tears left to cry, b*tch,” she said. “Let me get on this Live and start crying again.”

Of course, the tears Lizzo is joking about refers to when she got vulnerable with fans on Live last week. The singer apparently received some hateful comments following the release of her “Rumors” video, and the trolls were getting to her. “For the most part, it doesn’t hurt my feelings. I don’t care,” she told her fans while trying to hold back tears. “I just think when I’m working this hard, my tolerance gets lower, my patience is lower, I’m more sensitive and it gets to me.”

Watch Lizzo sing Grande’s “No Tears Left To Cry” above.

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