Month: September 2021

Drake’s Certified Lover Boy is one of the most popular albums of the year, but the rapper originally intended for it to arrive much earlier. He originally said it would arrive in January, but he was forced to delay it following knee surgery and rehab. Sure enough, it’s been dominating the charts.

Certified Lover Boy lands its third consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated October 2, thanks to 171,000 album units sold, a number comprised of 165,000 streaming equivalent album units thanks to 222.16 million on-demand streams of the album’s 21 tracks. The album also earned 4,000 pure album sales this past week. With its third week at atop the album chart, Certified Lover Boy has now spent the most weeks at No. 1 for a hip-hop/R&B project since Lil Baby’s My Turn tallied five nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2020.

On top of that, Drake now has the third-most weeks spent at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since 2010. That also means he’s earned his 30th overall week atop the albums chart, putting him behind Adele, who has 34, and Taylor Swift, who leads the way with 42.

Another highlight on this week’s chart comes with Lil Nas X checking in at No. 2 with Montero. The singer’s debut tallied 126,000 album units in its first week on the chart.

It’s been almost two months since Meghan McCain left The View, the morning chat-a-thon in which she often got into loggerheads with her more progressive co-hosts. The conservative commentator (and John McCain daughter) may not exactly have been missed, but she chose her television comeback wisely: On Sunday she went on Meet the Press, the long-running show in which elected officials are supposed to answer to the public. And people were pissed.

McCain, who has a degree in art history and once interned at SNL, weighed in on Joe Biden’s administration, including his Build Back Better agenda, which includes a $3.5 trillion reconciliation package that may not pass thanks to Democrats like Kyrsten Sinema. McCain is no fan.

“I will say that President Biden ran on being a moderate,” McCain said. “He ran and won with the help of independent, centrists, Trump-wary Republicans and he’s not governing as one.”

She singled out his latest piece of legislation. “The Build Back Better agenda is the most progressive modern agenda of all time,” she averred. “And it’s not polling well. So I think I’m just confused why they’re doubling down on something that is cratering in the polls.”

Thing is, it’s not cratering in the polls. A new poll finds a whopping 66% of Americans, including 61% of registered Independents, support it. Many on social media were happy to point out that McCain was going on a major news show to spread misinformation.

McCain herself later responded to one of her critics…by addressing a completely different subject: Biden’s own polling, which has sunk in recent weeks.

Others wondered what a former host of The View was doing on what’s purportedly a serious news program.

Many laid the blame at Meet the Press Chuck Todd and anyone who greenlit McCain.

You can watch McCain’s full segment in the video above.

Vaccination efforts in the United States continue to lag. Meanwhile more than 2,000 people are dying largely preventable deaths due to the ongoing pandemic. While anti-vaccination rail, federal officials are likely to authorize the vaccine for a wide group of children in the coming weeks. The Boston Globe reported Sunday that Pfizer will deliver vaccine testing data for children 5-11 in a matter of “days” and authorization is widely assumed coming after that. But vaccine hesitancy among some parents existed well before COVID-19, which only amplified and exacerbated fears amid a wave of misinformation on social media and Fox News.

That’s why an old Penn and Teller clip went viral among those in favor of vaccination this weekend. The clip runs for exactly 90 seconds but tells a very clear story about the incredible benefits of the wide array of vaccines that have helped prevent child illness and death for more than a century now. The segment comes from the pair of magicians’ Showtime series, Penn + Teller: Bulls*it!, which ran from 2003 to 2010.

The video is simple: On the ground are two sets of 110 plastic bowling pins, representing children. A plastic shield is put up on one side labeled “vaccines.” The other has nothing to protect it. Jillette discusses an older strain of virulent anti-vaccination: the unproven fear that they cause autism in children, which averages a single case out of 110 American children.

The two then start throwing plastic bowling balls at the piles that represent various diseases humans have limited due to vaccines. Mumps, measles, polio, rubella, and strains of the flu are all represented, slowly taking down pins on the unvaccinated side while the vaccine shield keeps the other side upright and healthy. The point is clear: without an array of vaccines already widely accepted by most people in society, many more children would die from many more diseases each year.

“Which side do you want your child to stand on?” Jillette asks. “So even if vaccinations did cause autism — WHICH IT FU*KING DOESN’T — anti-vaccination would still be bulls*it.”

The clip’s brevity, as well as its stark visuals, makes for instantly-sharable content in the modern internet age, which is why it appeared all over social media over the weekend. While too many parents and other anti-vaxx Americans will remain unswayed by yet another example of vaccine efface, well, actually I can’t really think of a silver lining as bodies continue to pile up for no reason other than ignorance and maybe even outright malice.

[via Digg]

Justin Tucker is quite possibly the greatest kicker to ever play in the NFL, and on Sunday he cemented his status as a legend by taking down an all-time record.

The Baltimore Ravens trailed 17-16 in Detroit after the Lions marched to a go-ahead field goal with just over a minute to play, as they sought out their first win of the season. The first three downs of Baltimore’s ensuing drive couldn’t have gone worse, as they lost nine yards with Lamar Jackson finding himself under immense pressure, setting up a 4th-and-19 that (after a questionable Lions timeout) they converted to just across midfield.

After not being able to pick up anymore yards, they trotted Tucker out in search of a miracle from 66 yards. Considering earlier in the day we’d seen a 68-yarder from Matt Prater come up short in Jacksonville and get returned for a touchdown, this seemed like pretty low odds. But Tucker is the rare potential Hall of Famer as a kicker for a reason, and he absolutely boomed this kick down the middle and just far enough to get the friendly bounce off the crossbar.

The reverse angle shows the ball travel just to the back half of the crossbar, bound straight up into the air, and through for the improbable, record-setting three points (and a Ravens win).

It was a wild scene in Detroit, as the Lions and their fans were left in stunned silence while the Ravens ran around the field in pandemonium, not quite sure how that just happened. Employing the best kicker in the league has its benefits, for sure.

The Indiana Pacers made a bold pivot last year, swapping out Nate McMillan for Nate Bjorkgren. The Pacers made the play-in tournament, but fired Bjorkgren at season’s end due to reports of internal strife. They also moved on from Victor Oladipo last season, adjusting their core slightly to bring in Caris LeVert as a replacement. All in all, the season was a small step back for a team that prides itself on consistency.

Roster:

Malcolm Brogdon
Myles Turner
Domantas Sabonis
Caris LeVert
T.J. Warren
T.J. McConnell
Jeremy Lamb
Justin Holiday
Chris Duarte
Goga Bitadze
Isaiah Jackson
Torrey Craig
Edmond Sumner
Kelan Martin
Oshae Brissett
Duane Washington (two-way)
DeJon Jarreau (two-way)

Projected Vegas Win Total: 43.5

Biggest Addition: Rick Carlisle

Carlisle is the big addition for Indiana. He is demanding, but he’s a proven NBA winner and tactician. He absolutely should get the most out of this team, although they are possibly without T.J. Warren to start the year as he comes back from injury, which will be a difficult hurdle to clear.

Biggest Loss: Doug McDermott

Letting McDermott walk makes some sense. The team drafted Chris Duarte and signed Torrey Craig. But McDermott provided needed spacing that will be hard to replace. Carlisle will likely find a way to scheme around it, but for a team built around a frontcourt duo, spacing is extremely important and they now have less of it.

Biggest Question: Can the Pacers crack the East’s top-6?

On paper, the Eastern Conference should be better this year. There are more than six teams with hopes of being top-6 teams and, unlike the Pacers, several of those teams made significant offseason moves. The Celtics, for instance, brought back Al Horford, signed Dennis Schroder, and nabbed Josh Richardson in a trade. The Heat, last year’s six-seed, brought in Kyle Lowry and P.J. Tucker. The Bulls spent big to make a push to leap in the standings, too.

Indiana, meanwhile, is basically running it back. There should be a Carlisle bump and LeVert should be more settled after his arrival was stalled by a health scare. But there are no real upgrades that would seem to promise improvement. Is that enough to avoid the play-in tournament?

What Makes This Season A Success: Making the playoffs. As noted, the East is better on paper. It’s going to be competitive in the middle of the conference as the non-Brooklyn, non-Milwaukee teams jostle for positioning. A lot of it may come down to health and luck.

For the Pacers, success would be making the playoffs and perhaps making a push to get out of the first round. This is a franchise that prides itself on being competitive year in and year out. Even if they fall in the 7-10 range and have to navigate the play-in tournament to get to the playoffs, that is what the team is usually going for. Getting there and having a shot at something more is the goal.

What Makes This Season A Failure: Missing the playoffs altogether. With Carlisle as head coach and a core of Sabonis (25 years old), Turner (25), Brogdon (27), Warren (28) and Brogdon (29), the time is now for the Pacers to make the playoffs. The window to be a solid playoff team is going to be slammed shut if this year goes poorly, but it’s clearly not the plan. These are all players in or around their primes. If they miss the playoffs and end up with a late lottery pick, that doesn’t really help them in the short term and doesn’t give them a young talent good enough to change the trajectory of the team. If the Pacers miss the playoffs, it’s remaining stuck in the middle with nothing to show for it.

Krysten Sinema may be a Democrat but she’s more controversial than many Republicans. The Arizona senator has made a name for herself by not toeing the party line. She opposes eliminating the filibuster. She’s against raising the minimum wage. Right now she’s refusing to vote for the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package, which is the centerpiece of President Joe Biden’s domestic legislation. She’s earned no shortage of condemnation over the last year or so, and now she might have to pay for it.

According to The Daily Beast, Sinema’s undying devotion to what some have called a perversion of “bipartisanship” has earned the ire of her colleagues in the Arizona Democratic Party State Committee. The group released a statement pointing out that a whopping 91% of their members support scotching the filibuster, which they call a “Jim Crow relic.” They also warned that if Sinema “continues to delay, disrupt, or vote to gut the Reconciliation Package of its necessary funding,” they will “go officially on record and will give Senator Sinema a vote of NO CONFIDENCE.”

Kai Newkirk, a Democratic organizer in Arizona, elaborated to The Daily Beast:

“The Arizonans who did the work to elect Sinema have had enough of her betraying the voters who put her in office. It’s time for her to show the bare minimum of accountability and stop obstructing the agenda that Democrats, including her, campaigned on and were elected to deliver. Sinema is setting her political future on fire. If she doesn’t change course drastically and soon, it will be too late.”

Will Sinema realize the error of her ways? Or will she simply post another trolling brunch photo? Whatever happens, perhaps the Democrats in West Virginia ought to do something similar with Joe Manchin.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Ted Lasso has certainly gotten people talking lately about its second season, with critics skeptical about the show’s change in direction. The social media backlash even inspired a response from showrunner Bill Lawrence. Despite that, the show has cleaned up in the awards lately, with 10 Emmy wins and a near-sweep of the comedy categories at last week’s awards.

One of those award-winners, Hannah Waddingham, has also gotten rave reviews in the show’s most recent episode. Fresh off the heels of a wild post-Emmys party for the cast, Waddingham stole the show in an episode that dropped on Friday, which featured her delivering a touching performance of a song that’s usually treated as a joke. Some mild spoilers ahead here, but what happened on Friday has gotten even Rick Astley raving about the show.

In a pivotal moment in “No Weddings And A Funeral,” Waddingham’s Rebecca sang Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” — not as a Rick-Roll gag but as a touching tribute at a funeral. The moment was widely praised. And as it turns out, Astley himself is among those who loved it.

“You did an amazing, incredible job. And it was so emotional and so incredible,” Astley said in a video he posted to Twitter on Saturday. “People have said that even they cried in the church scene. I don’t want to give too much away…”

Astley trailed off, looking a bit emotional before he said that he “didn’t cry.” But he praised Waddingham’s effort in the scene and the impact it had on him.

“Just amazing. Thank you very much for including that song in your beautiful show,” Astley said. “I’m blown away. Just fantastic.”

Waddingham was blown away by the video, but made sure to DM Astley instead of “fangirl in public” on Twitter.

Some members of the show were blown away by Astley’s response, too.

Astley said he didn’t cry watching it, but it’s clear that many did. And after all the weird ways Astley’s biggest hit has become changed by pop culture, this one certainly is for the better.

After teasing the record for a few weeks, Coldplay and BTS released their endearing collaboration, “My Universe,” this past Friday. It’s a record that came about after Coldplay took a trip to South Korea to work with the K-pop superstars. To show exactly what that recording process looked like, Coldplay and BTS unveiled a new documentary that gives fans an exclusive look to the recording process behind the song and how both artists felt about the collaboration as it came to life.

“About 18 months ago, I got a message from somebody. They said, ‘BTS want to do a song with you,’” Coldplay’s Chris Martin says at the beginning of the documentary. “And I said, ‘How would that work?’ I didn’t understand how that could be possible.” He continued, “My friend said the phrase ‘my universe’ one day and I wrote down ‘my universe’ — I thought that’s a cool title. Then I took it to my friend and said, ‘OK, let’s do this demo for BTS.’”

The film also captures the groups meeting each other for the first time. During that conversation, BTS labeled Coldplay as the “king of stadium tours,” a “role model” and a “great influence.” Prior to the documentary’s arrival, Martin shared how much he enjoyed working with BTS.

“I love them, and we love them, and it’s been such a joy. It’s something you could look at so cynically, and we have at times, but anytime there’s actual communication or music between us, it just feels so good,” he said during an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “So, I unabashedly and unashamedly feel really grateful for the song, grateful for the person that inspired the song, and grateful for the people we sing it with.”

You can watch the documentary for “My Universe” in the video above.

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

Machine Gun Kelly has certainly had his high moments this year. The rapper-turned-rocker recently performed “Papercuts” with Travis Barker at the 2021 MTV VMAs where he also took home an award for Best Alternative Song thanks to “My Ex’s Best Friend,” MGK’s collaboration with Blackbear. He also announced his sixth album, Born With Horns , which will also be produced by Travis Barker.

With that being said, MGK has also endured his fair share of controversial moments in 2021 and the latest came during his Louder Than Life festival when fans booed and flipped him off during his set. There was seemingly nothing in particular that MGK did during the performance to upset fans, but seeing that the festival is one filled with rockers, this moment could have to do with MGK and Slipknot’s Corey Taylor’s growing beef, which began when Taylor expressed his distaste for MGK.

“I hate everything. I hate all new rock for the most part,” Taylor said. “I [hate] the artists who failed in one genre and decided to go rock — and I think he knows who he is. But that’s another story.”

MGK shot back and mocked Taylor during his Riot Festival performance.

“Hey, you wanna know what I’m really happy that I’m not doing? Being 50 years old and wearing a f*cking weird mask on a f*cking stage.” MGK later added that Taylor delivered a verse for his Tickets To My Downfall album, but it was left off because “it was f*cking terrible.”

Taylor then returned to deny the singer’s claim and he provided evidence to prove that MGK was wrong. He shared a pair of screenshots that captured a conversation between Barker and Taylor in which the former says he and MGK “love” the song, which turned out to be “Can’t Look Back,” and proposed a few changes to improve the record. In response, Taylor politely steped away from the collaboration, noting that he felt like he wasn’t the “right guy for the track.”

You can watch a video of MGK receiving boos and middle fingers here.

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

A week ago, Gus Johnson made his return to the NFL booth in an absolutely wild game between the Vikings and Cardinals that ended with him going crazy over a missed game-winner by Minnesota.

On Sunday, Gus was back on the call for Fox and again had the Cardinals, this time in Jacksonville against the, up til Sunday, hapless Jaguars. Jacksonville actually played well in the first half, tying the game at 7-7 late on a dime from Trevor Lawrence to DJ Chark with under 30 seconds to play. The Cardinals got the ball back and worked it to midfield with two seconds left and decided they would trot Matt Prater, who made a 62-yarder last week (indoors), out for a 68-yard attempt at the half.

Well, this time Prater came up short and Jamal Agnew was stationed under the goal posts in the end zone for a possible return. What followed was pure Gus magic.

That is an elite-tier Gusgasm, as Agnew somehow weaves through the Cardinals kicking unit on his way to the end zone, while Gus steadily gets more and more excited about the possibility of a 109-yard return before erupting once he clears the last Cardinal. It is a reminder of why most teams don’t let their kicker go out and try a 68-yard attempt because the risk of disaster is far greater than the reward of three possible points — either by way of a return or from a block.

Kliff Kingsbury and the Cardinals learned this lesson the hard way and now find themselves in the rather embarrassing position of being in real danger of giving Urban Meyer and the Jaguars their first win of the season.