Month: September 2021

99 Neighbors issue a smooth invitation on their groovy single “Eastside,” pairing the laid-back, melodic track with a casual performance on the latest episode of UPROXX Sessions. The group, which normally consists of seven members, came through Uproxx Studios with a stripped-down, two-man lineup consisting of rappers Sam Paulino and Hanknative, who provide all the vocals on the song, while Jared Fier, Juju, and Somba make their presence known on the lilting, midtempo beat. Other members of the group include Aidan Ostby, a vocalist, Connor “Swank” Stankevich, also a rapper, and Shane Kaseta, the group’s graphic designer and photographer.

First-time listeners might be surprised to learn that the group hails from Burlington, Vermont, which is not exactly a hotbed of the jazz, R&B, and hip-hop that influences their sound. However, once the band formed in 2018, it didn’t take them long to acquire national recognition, thanks in part to securing the co-management services of Pat Corcoran, who formerly managed Chance The Rapper. 99 Neighbors were included as the first act in Corcoran’s 2019 label deal with Warner Records and they’ve steadily grown their profile since.

Watch 99 Neighbors’ groovy performance of “Eastside” above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

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

It’s only been a few months since the live music and touring industry has reopened, but things have been changing rapidly. Some artists like Jason Isbell have canceled or postponed shows after encountering issues with venues enforcing vaccine policies, while others like J. Cole face complex production issues. Post Malone’s Posty Fest is now falling into the latter category as the event is now postponed due to technical problems.

Though Posty Fest’s lineup was just unveiled two weeks ago, organizers at Live Nation explained to Rolling Stone why they have decided to move the event to 2022:

“Due to logistical issues impacting the production of the festival, Posty Fest is rescheduling to 2022. Refunds available at point of purchase. We can’t wait to make 2022 our biggest year yet. Stay safe everyone, we’ll see you soon.”

Posty Fest was original set to be held outdoors outside of AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. Along with Post Malone, Posty Fest’s 2021 lineup included sets by today’s top hip-hop stars like Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Uzi Vert, Roddy Ricch, Jack Harlow, $uicideboy$, Polo G, Rod Wave, Tyga, Iann Dior, Koe Wetzel, Turnstile, Tyla Yaweh, Flo Milli, Kaash Paige, Kenny Mason, Peach Tree Rascals, RMR, Gatecreeper, Clever, LoveLeo, and more. Posty Fest hasn’t yet confirmed whether or not their lineup will stay the same, but it seems as though they’ll share more details about the 2022 event as it draws nearer.

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

After being praised by Ted Cruz, NBA star LeBron James received an entirely different reaction from Whoopi Goldberg on Thursday morning’s episode of The View. During a panel discussion on James’ controversial decision to not tell others to get the COVID vaccine (“it’s not my job”) while announcing that he was now vaccinated, Whoopi didn’t hold back her thoughts that James could and should do more.

“It’s not your job to tell people what to do, but you can suggest that you figured out that nobody grew a second head or a tail when they got the shot,” a fired up Whoopi said right out of the gate.

As Whoopi continued to call out James and warn him that not speaking out on vaccines was going to “come back and bite you in the behind,” she ended her contribution to the panel discussion by telling the NBA star that we’re in this pandemic together.

“LeBron, whether you decide to talk about why you and your family got vaccinated. It’s important for you as an American citizen, for me as an American citizen, for all of us to do our part here,” Goldberg said.

As the COVID vaccine continues to remain a partisan issue despite the Delta variant wreaking havoc on unvaccinated Americans, James has been praised by Republicans like Ted Cruz who called the NBA player’s stance “courageous.”

(Via The View on Twitter, Mediaite)

The Toronto Raptors endured a season from hell in 2020-21. While every team in the NBA navigated a challenging environment filled with COVID protocols and uncertainty, the Raptors were forced to play the entire campaign in Tampa, living in a hotel and generally just counting the down until the season finished. It is tempting to throw out the results, but the Raptors are in for changes without Kyle Lowry and they are projected for a middling result if one believes over/under projections. If nothing else, Toronto’s next steps will be quite interesting, and the roster still has interesting talent.

Roster:

Precious Achiuwa
OG Anunoby
Dalano Banton
Scottie Barnes
Khem Birch
Isaac Bonga
Chris Boucher
Justin Champagnie
Sam Dekker
Goran Dragic
Malachi Flynn
Freddie Gillespie
David Johnson
Svi Mykhailiuk
Reggie Perry
Pascal Siakam
Gary Trent Jr.
Fred VanVleet
Ishmail Wainright
Yuta Watanabe

Projected Vegas Win Total: 35.5 wins

Biggest Addition: Scottie Barnes

There is an argument to be made for Goran Dragic, who is the best player that the Raptors added for the 2021-22 season specifically. Barnes is clearly the top addition through a future-facing lens, though, as he is a top-five pick with tremendous two-way potential. Barnes is somewhat duplicative with Toronto’s current core pieces, but the front office clearly looked to the future with his selection. At the very least, it would be encouraging to see flashes from Barnes, and his biggest question (perimeter shooting) is something to monitor during his rookie campaign.

Biggest Loss: Kyle Lowry

Since 2012, Kyle Lowry has been a fixture for the Raptors. He is the most accomplished player in franchise history, an NBA champion, and a valuable player in the present, even at the age of 35. It will be strange to see Lowry elsewhere as a result, and the Raptors certainly will take a hit in terms of defense and shooting in his absence. Toronto did add an intriguing offensive creator in Dragic, but the Raptors likely got worse with Lowry out the door.

Biggest Question: Which direction does Toronto pick?

Masai Ujiri does not project as a lead decision maker that is in favor of keeping his team in the middle of the pack. Last season was a perfect example, as the Raptors pulled the rip cord and angled toward the lottery, rather than attempting to compete for the play-in amid odd circumstances. With that in mind, Toronto isn’t currently set up to seriously contend in the East, and they don’t have a top-15 player to build around for the future. The Raptors do have a lot of talent, headlined by Siakam, Anunoby, VanVleet, and Barnes, but Toronto picking a direction in terms of a rebuild or a push toward the present would do a lit to illuminate expectations.

What Makes This Season A Success

If the Raptors are trying to win, they have playoff-caliber talent. If they aren’t, setting up for another lottery pick would be a useful idea. Toronto’s overall direction (see above) is of great intrigue, but the team’s overall forecast also informs what would constitute a success in the short term.

What Makes This Season A Failure

Wouldn’t it be a little bit strange if the Raptors just… kept going on this strange track? They are seemingly straddling the line between a rebuild and a push toward competition for now, but they also clearly wanted no part of the play-in last season. Beyond the overall viewpoint, struggles from Barnes or injury-related issues for Siakam would be unfortunate.

Larry David had a very Larry David weekend when he plugged his ears at a New York Fashion Week show and… plugged his ears at the U.S. Open. I agree, Larry, the world is getting too loud. And don’t even get me started on the price of movie tickets these days. Anyway, the photos of the miserable-looking Curb Your Enthusiasm creator with his fingers in his ears (while sitting next to Jared Leto) went viral for being Peak Larry, but according to his daughter, he could have had a “breakdown.”

While appearing on the Call Her Daddy podcast, The Umbrella Academy actress Cazzie David was asked about what her father was doing at a fancy fashion show of all places. “Like I’m happy everyone thought it was so funny and relatable. For me, this was like a man who was dragged to some place he doesn’t want to be, that he didn’t know what it would be,” she said, adding that she “found it so disturbing.”

In other words, it wasn’t a bit:

“Someone was like: ‘Will you please come to this fashion show with me?’ But he didn’t want to go, obviously, like I know him. So the moment that’s going viral… He looks like he’s having a breakdown. Like truly… He looks so miserable and I obviously don’t like seeing my dad miserable whether or not it’s funny.”

“It was simply just too loud for him to be there,” she said. So… I guess Larry won’t be going to a My Bloody Valentine concert in season 11 of Curb.

(Via the Independent)

Laura Prepon (Orange Is The New Black, That ’70s Show) recently announced that she’d left Scientology. She apparently did so five years ago and kept things quiet, which isn’t sitting well with Leah Remini, a very vocal ex-Scientologist (and second-generation member), who left the organization (which refers to itself as a church but many consider a cult) in 2013 and transformed into a vocal critic. She published a bestselling memoir, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology. She also hosted three seasons of the Emmy-award winning docuseries, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, for A&E. Leah then celebrated the downfall of Scientology-related coverups after the filming of rape charges against Danny Masterson (whose cases were allegedly buried for years) while declaring, “Scientology, your days of getting away with it [are] coming to an end!”

In contrast, Laura Prepon just kind-of left Scientology and didn’t say anything for years after the fact. That’s certainly her prerogative, but it doesn’t impress Leah, who’s keen to inform everyone about her opposition to the L. Ron Hubbard-founded organization, which has been the subject of many allegations of human rights violations.

Here’s what Leah said about Laura’s exit while speaking to The Daily Blast Live, via US Weekly: “Some people, like Laura, feel they don’t have a responsibility to speak out“Do I respect it? I mean, not really.” Leah further elaborated:

“I got people into Scientology; I promoted it most of my life. For those of us who were in the public eye and who were speaking on behalf of Scientology, getting people into Scientology, I feel that we have a responsibility to do the work when we find out that none of those things we were doing was not only [not] helpful, but damaging and very harmful to people’s lives.”

Fair enough. Leah feels like the heavy-recruitment practices of Scientology, especially in the case of influential celebrities, bears some undoing, so to speak. She feels the need to spread the truth about reports of human rights violations, in order to discourage anyone else from falling into the organization’s clutches. And she’s calling out Laura for ducking out of Scientology and not really explaining why. Again, Laura’s free to say (or not say) anything that she wants about the organization, and Leah’s also free to react. You can listen to Leah’s full remarks on the subject below.

(Via The Daily Blast & US Weekly)

Good news for Taylor Swift fans who have been waiting for her rerecord her old material to stream it: Swift’s new version of her Red album is actually coming sooner than originally expected.

The singer made the announcement via Twitter, telling her fans that the rerecorded Red album will debut a full week ahead of schedule. “Got some news that I think you’re gonna like,” she wrote. “My version of Red will be out a week earlier than scheduled (including the 4 disc vinyl) on November 12th! Can’t wait to celebrate the 13th with you and our new/old autumn heartbreak album.”

For those in need of a refresher, Swift decided to go ahead with rerecording her entire catalog after her former label Big Machine Records sold her masters. Swift previously released Fearless (Taylor’s Version) back in April, which earned some chart accolades at the time, and is making her way through her discography.

Taylor’s quest to rerecord her music has been met with praise by her fellow musicians. Her ex Joe Jonas called the move “really clever.” Dave Grohl even applauded Swift’s endeavor. He said he was “deeply impressed” with Swift and even tried to do the same with Foo Fighters’ 1995 self-titled album, but the rest of the band wasn’t into the idea.

Red (Taylor’s Version) is out 11/12 via Republic. Pre-order it here.

On Tuesday, Amazon Games finally released its MMO New World. There’s a lot of interest in this game, because if it’s successful, it will mark a major step forward for Amazon Games as a developer in the industry. This is a game that they delayed just a month ago to make sure it was perfect before launch, that’s how important it is to them.

Early signs? It’s good! While there have been some expected server issues, the people who can actually get into the game are saying it’s fun. They’ve also noticed something else, though. While MMO’s usually try to let players be anything they want, this game is making sure players don’t attempt to be one particular person: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Anyone that tries to name themselves after Bezos is receiving a message that they can’t do that. They also can’t name themselves “Amazon.” So, if you were looking to have some fun at the expense of Amazon in this Amazon-developed MMO, then you are unfortunately out of luck. Via PC Gamer.

New World doesn’t allow the use of “Bezos” or “Amazon” in your player name.

After confirming that variants of Bezos like “JeffB,” “Bez0s,” and “Be Zos” were also locked out, I tried just going by “Amazon.” That word’s not allowed either. These names are clearly not locked because other players have already claimed them. When a name is already taken, it says, “This name is in use.” Names which include the words Amazon and Bezos, however, “cannot be used,” which is also what New World says when you type in swear words.

While most companies do have filters to make sure players can’t use certain words in their name, they are usually reserved for profanity and other unsavory things, not the name of actual people or the name of the company itself. Perhaps they were worried that a player would go around pretending to represent the company and trick players. Hopefully, there aren’t too many other people with the name Bezos out there, because they’re going to have to find a new name if they want to play New World.

Though it almost seems as if being accused of sexual assault is a requirement for becoming a part of Donald Trump’s inner circle, apparently the former president and self-avowed p*$$y grabber, is cracking down on that sort of sordidness. Case in point: Daily Beast is reporting that Trump, on the advice of a few trusted allies, is finally booting longtime toady Corey Lewandowski from the circle of trust.

On Wednesday, Politico reported that longtime Trump supporter—and donor—Trashelle Odom “allege[d] that Lewandowski repeatedly touched her, including on her leg and buttocks, and spoke to her in sexually graphic terms,” during a charity event in Las Vegas over the weekend, where he essentially “stalked” her, and multiple attendees confirmed her story.

In a statement, Odom said:

On the evening of September 26 in Las Vegas, Nevada, I attended a dinner to support a charity and spend time with wonderful friends. He repeatedly touched me inappropriately, said vile and disgusting things to me, stalked me, and made me feel violated and fearful. I am coming forward because he needs to be held accountable.

I am blessed to have a loving husband and family behind me. I want other women to know that you can be heard, too, and together we can stop terrible things like this from happening.

Not long after the report was published, Taylor Budowich, Trump’s communications director, tweeted that Team Trump would now be short one more sexual predator:

Pam Bondi, the very talented and honorable frmr AG of FL, has our complete faith and confidence in taking over MAGA Action. Corey Lewandowski will be going on to other endeavors and we very much want to thank him for his service. He will no longer be associated with Trump World.

As Daily Beast notes, this isn’t Lewandowski’s first brush with being on the wrong end of a sexual misconduct claim:

“Odom is the third woman to accuse Lewandowski of assault. In 2016, local authorities in Palm Beach charged the then-campaign manager with misdemeanor battery after then-Breitbart reporter, Michelle Fields, filed a police report alleging he had grabbed her at a Trump event. The charge was eventually dropped. In late 2017, singer and MAGA acolyte Joy Villa filed a police report alleging that Lewandowski had slapped her buttocks—an accusation Odom made as well. It’s unclear what came of Villa’s report.”

Sounds familiar.

(Via Daily Beast)

This Friday, Meek Mill is set to drop his fifth studio album, Expensive Pain, after a tidy rollout that included both a slick new single with fellow Philadelphian Lil Uzi Vert, “Blue Notes 2,” and some questionable cover art. Today, he’s shared the star-studded tracklist via an Instagram post of the handwritten track titles and features. Scribbled on plain lined paper with multiple differently colored markers, even the tracklist appears to reflect the new “artistic” direction the album appears to be taking.

Along with the aforementioned Uzi Vert, guests on the album include A$AP Ferg, Brent Faiyaz, British rapper Giggs, Kehlani, Lil Baby & Lil Durk (on the previously released “Sharing Locations“), Moneybagg Yo, newcomer Vory, and Young Thug. Also included is the track “Angels,” which appears to be a loving tribute to Meek’s Dreamers artist Lil Snupe and his friend Nipsey Hussle. Meanwhile, it appears “Flamerz Flow” and “War Stories” will not appear on the album — at least not this version. Looking at the trend in releases over the past 18 months, we can likely expect them to pop up on the inevitable deluxe.

Expensive Pain is due 10/1 via Atlantic Records.

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