Month: September 2021

Notoriously elusive rapper Playboi Carti returned earlier this month to announce he is hitting the road this fall to embark on a massive North American tour. Shortly after announcing his The Narcissist Tour, Carti’s website updated with Narcissist-branded merch items. But after several fans had already shelled out a lot of money for Carti’s new items, the rapper said none of it had been approved by him.

Carti’s alleged accidental merch drop went live Tuesday afternoon. Some of the items listed included $75 motorcycle gloves, a $160 jersey, a $250 racing jacket, a $40 balaclava mask, a $50 long sleeve shirt, and a $5,000 motorcycle helmet. After seeing the new items, fans instantly took to Twitter to both applaud Carti’s branding and complain about the exorbitant prices.

But after several fans had already purchased their items, Carti shared a screenshot of a text conversation with his team, saying his website had been “hacked” and none of the merch had been approved by him. “THE WEBSITE IS HACKED THE REF FOLDER WAS POSTED LIVE. NEVER APPROVED ANY CLOTHING/ ECT,” the text read.

After Carti’s announcement, fans who had already bought his items complained and asked for a refund. Others were simply happy they had chosen not to open their wallets for the merch drop.

Carti hasn’t mentioned whether or not those who bought the unapproved merch will receive refunds. But seeing as he’s just about a month away from embarking on a tour, the rapper is sure to have more merch for sale soon.

The Nintendo Switch has not dropped in price at all since it came out all the way back in 2017. The console that can be docked to a TV or brought on the go with you has always sat at $300 in the United States, which is unprecedented with most consoles. That’s especially the case for one that is considered a member of the previous generation compared to its PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S counterparts. However, a recent price drop in Europe had fans hopeful that one would finally be coming to the states.

Unfortunately, our hopes for a price drop may not happen anytime soon. While there were plenty of rumors swirling around one taking place, Nintendo put those rumors to bed pretty soundly in a statement to Stephen Totilo of Axios Gaming: A price drop is not on the way and there are currently “no plans” for one.

This statement reads pretty cut and dry, so anyone hoping that the arrival of the new OLED model would mean a drop in the price of the current model will be disappointed. While the current model of the Nintendo Switch might not be the exact same as the original one that was released, it’s still unfortunate that a price drop will not be accompanying the OLED model. Maybe one will eventually arrive, but it certainly sounds like it’ll take quite some time.

A month ago, it was announced that Tony Bennett, who is 95 years old and was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, has retired from touring. He’s not completely stepping away from music just yet, though: He and Lady Gaga are teaming up for a trio of new TV specials in support of their second album together, Love For Sale.

Variety reports that the first special, One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett And Lady Gaga, will air on CBS (and later stream on Paramount Plus) on November 28 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The special will include performances from the Radio City Music Hall concerts the pair put on in August.

Following that will be MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga, which is set to air at some point this upcoming winter. The performance was filmed around the time of the Radio City Music Call concerts. Wrapping up the specials will be the documentary The Lady And The Legend, which is set to offer “an intimate look into a beautiful friendship and musical partnership that transcends generations,” featuring footage from the making of both of Bennett and Gaga’s joint albums.

When Bennett’s retirement was announced, Bennett’s son/manager Danny indicated that there’s the possibility that Bennett may be up for other endeavors that don’t involve touring, saying, “There won’t be any additional concerts. This was a hard decision for us to make, as he is a capable performer. This is, however, doctors’ orders. His continued health is the most important part of this, and when we heard the doctors — when Tony’s wife, Susan heard them — she said, ‘Absolutely not.’ He’ll be doing other things, but not those upcoming shows. It’s not the singing aspect but, rather, the traveling.”

After keeping busy in lockdown with popular podcast and her EPs Dawn, Dusk, and the recently released effort True Colors, 21-year-old songwriter Mxmtoon is back with yet another project. The singer now shares a video to “In The Darkness,” the latest single off her True Colors EP.

“In The Darkness” was originally written for the upcoming video game Life Is Strange: True Colors, which is a narrative adventure game following main character Chen. In her video, Mxmtoon draws inspiration from the game and embarks on a journey to find her own light.

Speaking about the visual’s process in a statement, Mxmtoon reflected on living life through a screen:

“Making this music video was so much fun, and working with Mika and his team was also a pleasure. The ‘In The Darkness’ video is very much meant to highlight the emotional energy of the game it was written for, Life Is Strange: True Colors. Incorporating game footage with the background panels in the video really lent itself to trying to create an immersive experience of both live performance and electronic graphics. In the times we’re in right now, sometimes our most wondrous experiences happen through a screen, and the lines between real life experience and online ones are becoming increasingly blurred. My hope with this music video is to show how fantastical video games, computer generated graphics, and more can be their own visually stimulating adventure that’s fun for viewers and people to spectate. Also it meant I got to play around with a lot of fun light panels.”

Watch Mxmtoon’s “In The Darkness” video above.

True Colors is out now via AWAL. Get it here.

A few weeks shy of releasing their debut album Mercurial World, indie-pop duo Magdalena Bay (aka Los Angeles’ Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin) have shared a fun new video for their new single “You Lose!,” a song about “trying to be a musician and feeling like time for success is always running out.” Following earlier singles “Chaeri” and “Secrets (Your Fire),” “You Lose!” opens with bouncing synths and glitchy gaming samples before moving into an upbeat rhythm, which comes topped by Tenenbaum’s breathy vocals.

Meanwhile, the video has the duo engaging in a number of no-win scenarios, like dropping an ice-cream scoop on the ground and tucking into a bowl of spaghetti, only to find that it’s actually a bunch of worms. Hate when that happens.

Earlier in the summer, Magdalena Bay opened up to Pitchfork about their obsession with Y2K-era websites and writing songs born of a quarter-life crisis. “Obviously, as pop musicians, time is something that’s constantly on our minds,” Lewin said. “So this idea is like a coping mechanism: Where you end up when you die is the same place as where you end up before you’re born, right? So if those two points are the same, then there is no true end. The lack of finality is comforting.”

Watch the “You Lose!” video above.

Mercurial World is out 10/8 via Luminelle Recordings. Pre-order it here.

A very vocal minority of LaLaRich viewers are taking aim at how the Amazon docuseries (which released on September 10, as part of an overstuffed streaming weekend) takes aim at pyramid schemes. Yes, that’s a ridiculous sentence, so let’s back up a few feet. The four-part project from the Fyre Fraud documentarians posed the question of what happens when leggings become the hook of Multi-Level Marketing companies. Well, it ain’t good, and this LuLaRoe-focused project tells the cautionary tale of ruined lives and vast social-media circles that became embroiled in one tacky hot mess.

Amazingly enough, people do keep falling for what these alleged pyramid schemes are selling, and there’s more than one of them devoted to leggings. As CNN has reported, recruits to LuLaRoe must buy into “start-up” packages that cost between $5,000 to $100,000. It sounds very cult-worshippy, obviously, and these schemes are often interwoven with social circles, which makes things awfully awkward when the legging quality ends up being pretty awful (i.e., “declining quality, smelly leggings and bizarre prints that were phallic or yonic in nature.”)

Before the real trouble began, the company’s scheme netted $1.3 billion in sales in 2016, which was followed by a mass exodus of recruits, and even more trouble arrived with the Washington state attorney general brought a successful lawsuit against the company. Meanwhile, friction must have run rampant because the top consultants (those who brought in upwards of $50,000 per month off poor-quality leggings) were probably salty about losing their recruits, who were destined to make close to zero money, due to being at the bottom of the pyramid.

That’s how those things work! And overwhelmingly, the Amazon viewers seem to appreciate the takedown with almost overwhelmingly (over 90%) five-star reviews. There’s a very vocal minority (6%) of one-star reviews, and something ain’t right.

As it turns out, these reviews appear to be coming from very avid (and successful) LuLaRoe consultants. Here are a few examples:

– “[W]ell bless your heart! I for one have NEVER felt the pressure to build a team, I just got back from Mexico which I earned 100% based on MY SALES… I make money ever single month without a team! Hey you.. if you are reading this you are enough!”

– “This is laughable Trash.. as in any self employed business, you get what you make of it. Hard work pays off and those Retailers that maybe didn’t run their businesses successfully are lashing out and bringing the negative onto those that have stuck it out through the kinks of a new highly successful business model that is now thriving and amazing.”

– “Just a bunch of people who can’t manage $ complaining about how their business failed. Laughable, really.”

– “A Bunch of disgruntled ex-retailers not taking accountability for their actions and blaming their failures on others. If something is not for you.. fine move on.. but no need to bash everyone else that figured out how to successfully run their businesses
While being incredibly generous to others.”

The “bless your heart!” is a telling touch. Judge for yourself by watching LuLaRich, which is available for streaming on Amazon Prime.

In 2014, Mac Miller released his eleventh mixtape Faces, a fan-favorite that examined his battle with drug addiction and indulged in his love for psychedelic, jazz-infused production. However, the tape has not been widely available since; like many mixtapes of the “blog era” heyday, its extensive use of sampling and the relative newness of streaming platforms like Spotify prevented Miller from being able to make it available for streaming. In February, Mac’s producer ID Labs promised it would eventually be available and now we know when.

Today, Miller’s estate announced the project’s re-issue date; which will include both streaming and a vinyl release on October 15. Faces originally featured appearances from Ab-Soul, Earl Sweatshirt, Mike Jones, Rick Ross, Schoolboy Q, Sir Michael Rocks, and Vince Staples; hopefully, the full project will be available in its original form but don’t be surprised to note some changes, as when Chance The Rapper finally uploaded Acid Rap. In addition, a new music video for its song “Colors And Shapes” directed by Sam Manson and starring an animated avatar of Mac’s dog King Ralph of Malibu hit YouTube. The video tracks King Ralph’s journey through a surreal dreamscape, encountering bizarre creatures and soaring through outer space on a flying bed.

Watch Mac Miller’s video for “Colors And Shapes” above.

Faces will be available for streaming on 10/15. You can pre-order the vinyl here.

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

This article originally appeared on 06.23.15

There were nearly 100 school shootings in the two years after Newtown.

Despite that, Congress still hasn’t found the will to deal with gun violence in the U.S. Suffice it to say a lot of people are angry. Including the pile of celebrities you’ll see below.

The plan is simple…

1. Close the loopholes.

Almost anyone can skirt the system by buying from private sellers at gun shows or even on the Internet in a lot of states. Current federal law only requires licensed gun dealers to run background checks. Only 17 states have expanded background checks to require them on all gun sales, including by private sellers.

2. Keep better records — and use them.

Background checks are one of the best ways to keep guns out of the wrong hands, but they can only work if states participate. States should be required — and given the tools they need — to track and log criminal and mental health records in the national criminal background database.

3. Keep assault rifles out of the public.

A 10-year ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines expired in September 2004. A lot of gun safety groups have moved away from this strategy for political reasons. But it’s still a good idea. When Australia banned assault rifles, reports of mass shootings dropped to, believe it or not, zero.

4. Crack down on gun runners.

The current penalty for gun trafficking is the same as it is for illegally trafficking livestock. Law enforcement should be equipped to find and stop gun traffickers. And when they do, the penalties should be severe enough that others will think twice before doing it.

Let’s not hold our breath for Congress to act.

An overwhelming share of voters approve of smarter gun safety rules, and state legislatures can start answering those calls. Just weeks after a school shooting in Washington state, voters passed a ballot initiative for background checks on all gun sales in the state.

Voters, you can make this a priority in your states. If that approval can get translated into state policy around the country, Congress could be left with no choice but to act.

This article originally appeared on 08.27.15

Most late-night talk show guests show up wearing more than just a rainbow sequin cape. But they’re not Miley Cyrus.

It wasn’t just the sparkles that distracted Jimmy Kimmel when Miley stopped by his show on Aug. 26 ahead of her appearance as host of the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.

All images via “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

“You are almost naked,” Jimmy accurately observed before turning into the most stereotypical dad ever and asking Miley what her own father thinks of her general attire (or lack thereof).

Miley’s answer came in like a wrecking ball.

Miley goes on to make some awesome points about nudity and double standards (and make Jimmy even more uncomfortable).

Jimmy gets so awkward at the sight of Miley’s sideboob that the only thing he can do is keep commenting on it before (jokingly?) asking her to please cover up. But Miley can’t be tamed, and she uses the opportunity to talk about double standards and the unfair ways that society polices women’s bodies.

Miley Cyrus can’t stop, won’t stop — and at this rate, we don’t want her to.

We’ve already talked on Upworthy about the incredible things Miley is doing for homeless LGBTQ youth through her Happy Hippie Foundation and her other astute observations about censorship (plus all the crazycool collaborations she’s done with Flaming Lips).

Sure, there was that whole twerking thing, and she goes on to do some uncouth body shaming with Jimmy toward the end of video but still. She’s come a long way from her days as the Disney-star daughter of the guy who sang that “Achy Breaky Heart” song. While there’s still progress to be made, it’s nice to know that she’s using her rainbow-sequin-cape superpowers for good.

Watch the rest of the totally uncomfortable and delightfully inappropriate Jimmy Kimmel interview below:

This article originally appeared on 01.30.15

NOTE: We were NOT paid to feature this. This is just one of those occasional products that comes along that’s so awesome we can’t not spread the word!

▲▲FACT CHECK TIME ▲▲

Actually, it’s even worse than 1 in 4 contracting an STD. The American Sexual Health Association estimates that more than half of all Americans will have an STD/STI at some point in their lifetime!

UPDATE: We’re working on getting some updated language from the entrepreneurs about the way fair labor and sustainability practices are used in the making of these. We’ll update again when we hear back, but for now, we definitely know that Lovability manufactures these with an eye toward making these friendly to workers and the environment both.