Month: September 2021

FaZe Clan has built a reputation as a haven for some of the coolest personalities in e-sports, with ties to basketball through LeBron’s son FaZe Bronny and plenty of hype in the ever-growing gaming community. FaZe has always made it clear that their scope stretches well beyond just e-sports or video games, though, with a focus on becoming one of the biggest lifestyle brands in the space.

And that’s not the only space the brand is intent on conquering, as they made clear this week with the announcement of their first musician and gamer, FaZe Kaysan. Check out his introduction video below:

Not content to simply roll out this artist with a walkthrough detailing how cool his every day life is, the company also shared a new song that was co-produced by Kaysan and Wondagurl. And while plenty of hip-hop artists thrive off the collaboration ecosystem, Kaysan is coming out of the gate strong with a pair of rappers on his debut single that plenty of fledgling artists would be thrilled to have co-signs from — Future and Lil Durk. On the production side, Wondagurl was also thrilled to be involved and praised Kaysan’s enthusiasm.

“It was a lot of fun connecting with Kaysan on this project,” WondaGurl said of the track. “He has a great vibe and is super enthusiastic, two things that are really important to me when I’m working with new artists. Kaysan has a vision for himself and is driven to succeed and make his mark.”

HBO is still basking in the glow of The White Lotus, one of the best TV shows of 2021, but there’s big premieres on the horizon: season three of Succession on October 17, and season 11 of Curb Your Enthusiasm and season five of Insecure on October 24.

It’s also the final season of Issa Rae’s Emmy-nominated series about glowin’ up and growin’ up, which “continues to follow our favorite characters as they evaluate their relationships, both new and old, in an effort to figure out who and what comes with them in this next phase of their lives,” according to HBO. You can watch the trailer above.

“To sum it up in three words: grounded, growth, and legacy,” Rae told Vogue when asked what fans can expect in season five. “When I started, I knew when it would end and the space the characters would be in, but didn’t know the ending — I’m excited for people to see it.” She added that she’s “flattered that people think I’m an idiot for ending it. Without a doubt, it was mostly positive feedback and I’m going to miss the show.”

Insecure, which also stars, Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis, Natasha Rothwell, Amanda Seales, Kendrick Sampson, and Courtney Taylor, returns to HBO on October 24.

After a surprising trip to the NBA Finals this summer, the Phoenix Suns enter the 2021-22 NBA season with something unfamiliar for most of the roster: expectations. While their free agency panned out splendidly and allowed them to run it back with an even deeper squad, the Suns will have to deal with a deep Western Conference and a league that will be far more ready for them now.

Roster:

Deandre Ayton
Devin Booker
Mikal Bridges
Jae Crowder
Chandler Hutchison (two-way)
Cameron Johnson
Frank Kaminsky
JaVale McGee
Abdel Nader
Chris Paul
Cameron Payne
Elfrid Payton
Chasson Randle (training camp)
Dario Saric
Landry Shamet
Jalen Smith

Projected Vegas Win Total: 51.5

Biggest Addition: Landry Shamet

The instinct is to say JaVale McGee, who plugs a hole that forced the Suns to turn to the likes of Kaminsky and Torrey Craig at center in the NBA Finals last season. But the pick here is Shamet, a forgotten yet talented young guard who was once a centerpiece of the Tobias Harris trade for Philadelphia and is still just 24.

Shamet’s defense is likely why he’s never been able to crack an NBA rotation, as he has never had a positive Daily Plus Minus and DARKO projects him to be at minus-1 this season. But what Shamet does give the Suns is another knockdown shooter who should excel in an egalitarian pick-and-roll offense similar to how the Clippers played during Shamet’s career-best 2018-19 season. We also know role players have tended to outplay expectations under Monty Williams in Phoenix, and Shamet should be the latest beneficiary.

Biggest Loss: Torrey Craig

While Craig was probably a rung too high in the Suns’ pecking order during the postseason due to his lack of offensive juice, he is nevertheless a strong defender and offensive rebounder who plays with elite energy and somehow managed to shoot 41 percent from deep during the 2021 playoffs. The problem isn’t that Craig is irreplaceable, or that the Suns should have matched the surprising $5 million deal he got from Indiana, but more so that the Suns will rely on inexperienced players like Nader and Smith to step in for Craig. It’s hard to expect those two to be playoff difference-makers, though it was unlikely that Craig would be, either.

Biggest Question: Who takes a leap?

While this year’s team goes deeper with NBA-level talent, the stars are unlikely to align for them in 2022 the way they did in 2021. We should be in for another fantastic Suns regular season, but come playoff time, they will likely need to raise their game. Because they did not add a major player in free agency, the question becomes more about who from their young core can raise their game. The best money is on Johnson, who has always been an underrated defender and flashed exciting shot creation in the playoffs. He is entering his third season, and due to his age, his prime.

What Makes This Season A Success: A return to the Western Conference Finals

It’s quite hard to pinpoint expectations for Phoenix. Sure, they over-performed in 2021, but not by quite as much as most would think. At the same time, a return trip to the Finals is tough. Split the difference, and it seems reasonable to expect the Suns to get to round three and have a puncher’s chance at Chris Paul’s first title.

What Makes This Season A Failure: A first-round exit

No matter how you slice it, the Suns are one of the four best and most complete teams in the West. That spells at least a second-round appearance. Anything less would be a disappointment in the Valley.

During a recent interview to promote the new season of My Life Is Murder, Lucy Lawless revealed that the fan campaign to have her replace Gina Carano on The Mandalorian may have backfired. Back in February, Carano was reportedly fired after a series of controversial social media posts that included tweets railing against wearing masks and Black Lives Matter. Carano also allegedly posted anti-Semitic imagery. Once it was announced that she would not be returning as Cara Dune on The Mandalorian, fans immediately started rallying around Lawless as a replacement, which she now says may have cost her an unrelated Star Wars gig that she was negotiating at the time. Via Metro:

‘It might have hurt me in some way, because then they couldn’t hire me because it would seem to be pandering to… I’m just guessing here, I don’t know anything, but in some ways, it can be unhelpful, because if they pander to this fan group, then how are you going to pander to every other fan group, do you know what I mean?’

According to Lawless, the fan campaign would’ve made hiring her look like a “political” move instead of it being based on her merits as an actor. However, she has absolutely no hard feelings about the situation.

“But that’s the way the world is and they meant it out of love,” Lawless said. “And I thank the fans for their fealty to me.”

(Via Metro)

“‘Fat Joe scared to do Verzuz with Busta Rhymes’ and so is everybody else.” So says… Fat Joe, who spoke on the possibility on his latest Friday live stream on Instagram. Amid talking about all the hot topics heading into the weekend, Joe touched on his recent Verzuz battle with Ja Rule, addressing the fan criticism that he’d ducked a similar faceoff against the other hip-hop legend, whose career of hits extends back 30 years to his breakout appearance on A Tribe Called Quest’s seminal posse cut, “Scenario.”

In defending himself, Joe praised Busta’s legacy and untouchable record of fan-favorite jams. “You gotta understand, sometimes you ever notice — you seen boxers and they knock everybody out?” he asked before insisting that, “People be scared to fight those boxers. Busta Rhymes is gonna out-rap, outperform anybody who goes up in a Verzuz with him. That’s a fact. Yo, Busta Rhymes, nobody wanna get in there with you, man. You might have to be an honorary — they gotta give you the check for no reason.”

Joe would know; in his battle with Ja Rule, despite his advantage in longevity, Rule pulled out way too many undeniable jams for him to keep up (it didn’t help he played a lot of his backpack rap favorites in a hits battle). Meanwhile, Rule had been taunting 50 Cent, hoping to joust with his onetime rival — who declined. Meanwhile, suitable opponents have yet to be found for other such legends like Eminem, Jay-Z, and Nas.

21 Savage is currently on tour with J. Cole for the latter’s new album The Off-Season, and while performing in Atlanta, the hometown hero almost took an inadvertent stage dive as he emerged from backstage before catching himself to join J. Cole at center stage. He took the awkward moment in stride (heh), posting a video on Instagram along with a good-humored caption teasing himself for nearly falling. “this the closest I’ll ever be to falling off,” he joked.

Of course, that wasn’t enough to keep some of his famous peers from also taking advantage of the moment, including Drake. The Toronto rapper commented with a sarcastic “Agile,” while fellow Atlanta trap rapper Skooly noted 21 “Caught that Mfr doe.” Chicago rapper G Herbo simply commented with a string of laughing emojis, and Atlanta rapper Trouble praised Savage’s reflexes, writing, “a Boy wasn’t goin fa nannnn.”

Other commenters noted that it looked like 21 “slipped on a banana peel” and one even compared his stumble to the new Korean Netflix show Squid Game. The amusing moment wasn’t the rapper’s first viral hit this week. Speaking with DJ Akademiks, he noted that in Atlanta, Future always seemed to be bigger than Drake, sparking a debate on Twitter about whether he was right or just blowing smoke. He later clarified the comment, explaining that growing up, he and his associates listened to more mixtapes than albums.

Watch 21 Savage’s near spill above.

In case it wasn’t clear that anti-vaccination views have become a staple of the Republican Party, Ted Cruz came to the defense of NBA players like Kyrie Irving who have refused to get the COVID vaccine. While citing a report in The Hill on the NBA’s uphill battle to get players vaccinated, and how holdouts like Irving can potentially cost their teams a win when playing in states with vaccine mandates, Cruz tweeted out his support for the most prominent anti-vaxx holdouts in the league.

“I stand with Kyrie Irving. I stand with Andrew Wiggins. I stand with Bradley Beal. I stand with Jonathan Isaac,” Cruz tweeted along with the hashtag #YourBodyYourChoice.

Naturally, Cruz didn’t stop there. He expanded on his initial tweet by praising LeBron James who recently announced that after doing his own research and determining what’s best for his family, he got vaccinated. However, James made it a point to say he will not be telling others to do the same, and that everyone has a right to “do what’s best for you and your family.” That stance earned him rave reviews from Cruz, which should probably concern King James. You never want to hear that.

I’ve never said this before: I agree with @KingJames

“We’re talking about people’s bodies and well-being. I don’t think I personally should get involved in what other people should do for their bodies and livelihoods.”

@KingJames is being courageous here.

With his box-office power, he could be even more courageous—he could SOLVE the problem—by saying: “I stand w/ my fellow players. And I won’t play in any arena that bans another NBA player because they make a personal healthcare choice.”

You can see Cruz absolutely loving that LeBron James won’t encourage people to get vaccinated in the middle of a pandemic below:

(Via Ted Cruz on Twitter)

Love Life ended up being the HBO Max original show to launch the service, and apparently, the numbers were pretty darn good. Although we don’t know the actual viewership numbers, they were high enough for executive producer Paul Feig to celebrate the show’s solo-act success while speaking with us, and Season 2 is upon us with Anna Kendrick’s Darby passing the baton to a new unlucky-in-love protagonist, Marcus, who will be portrayed by William Jackson Harper.

Harper, of course, has quite a range and recently appeared in Amazon Prime’s The Underground Railroad, although he’s still best known for playing Jacked Chidi in The Good Place. Previously, we saw in a teaser that Darby (who’s still in the show a little bit) got married, and who knows if she’ll actually be happy (or found herself with another a-hole), but this season will mostly focus upon the divorced Marcus. He did the whole sunk-cost investment thing, apparently, and now, he’s finding himself in the hell hole known as the dating world.

At around the 1:00 mark, above, there’s no denying that Harper hasn’t given up Chidi’s jacked ways, which is a necessary revelation in a show that largely focuses upon interpersonal relationships of the romantic variety. The synopsis tells us, “After his marriage unexpectedly implodes, Marcus is forced to rebuild his life brick by brick, hoping to find a love that will last, once and for all.”

Godspeed, Marcus. Godspeed to us all.

Love Life‘s second season premieres on October 28.

GOP Representative Matt Gaetz has an uncanny ability to disassociate from his own allegedly criminal behavior, a talent that was on full display during a recent Congressional hearing involving the country’s top military commanders.

Gaetz — whose allies have been busy hiring the same guys who used to represent convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, crime lord El Chapo, and cult leader Keith Raniere in preparation for his own sex trafficking trial — was more than happy to skewer General Mark Milley during a hearing held by the Senate Armed Services Committee. Milley, who’s become a favored political punching bag for right-wing conservatives like Gaetz recently, is under scrutiny for how he tried to curb Trump’s military power during his time as president, as well as how he’s handled the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, including a recent drone strike that killed multiple civilians. And while critics are no doubt hoping to get some answers from Milley on the thought-process behind his military decision-making, Gaetz was clearly interested in just getting more headlines with his public rant during the hearing — one that ended with Gaetz calling for Milley and other generals to be removed from duty.

“You seem to be very happy failing up over there,” Gaetz began in his tirade, via Mediaite. “But if we didn’t have a president that was so addled, you all would be fired. Because that is what you deserve. You have let down the people who wear the uniform in my district and all around this country.”

Strong words from a guy who might have sex trafficked underage girls and is such a political pariah that even Trump won’t invite him down to Mar-A-Lago for brunch.

(Via Mediaite)

When the phrase “Florida Man” starts trending, you know some kind of wild, inane, head-scratching story is circulating from the Sunshine State. Today’s Florida Man story is definitely wild, definitely head-scratching, but much more incredible than inane.

A man casually decked out in Adidas slides and socks was filmed catching an alligator in his front yard using nothing but a recycling bin and his indomitable Florida Man will. It’s something you truly have to see to believe (and then watch a dozen or so times just because).

Seriously.

This Florida Man has won the internet for the Month of September https://t.co/PB9dIMDkOS

— KP (@kerethp)
1632917739.0

So many questions from us non-Floridians as we watch this clip:

– Is this a regular occurrence in Florida? Gators just hanging out in your yard? More than 7,000 “nuisance” alligators were spotted in Florida in 2018 alone.

– What led up to this chain of events? How did this man decide to try to capture the alligator with a recycling bin? (Or, is it a trash can? If this man’s trash can is that clean, I’m impressed.)

– Florida literally has a Nuisance Alligator Program hotline. Why did our heroic Florida Man not put in the call?

– Why was he the lone ranger behind the bin? Why is everyone else just standing back and filming? (I don’t know what they’re supposed to do, but seems like someone should be standing by Florida Man with a baseball bat or something.)

– Why did the guy who said, “I got you,” not step in and help when Florida Man was struggling to get the bin with the gator half hanging out to stand upright? What does he think “I got you” means?

– How did he know to flip the lid down when he did? I thought for sure that was the wrong move, but nope.

– Most importantly, why didn’t Florida Man put on some sturdier shoes before trying to stuff a big honking reptile into a trash receptacle?

So. Many. Questions.

Florida news station WESH 2 obtained the full video, which shows the man pushing the gator in the bin across the street and down an embankment to a lake, where he tipped the bin to release the alligator near the water. Again, all by himself. So at least the “What happens next?” question has been answered.

FULL VIDEO: Florida man traps alligator in garbage bin, releases it near lake

www.youtube.com

Kudos, Florida Man. You saved your family, saved the alligator, and gave us all a riveting piece of entertainment all in one fell swoop.