Month: October 2021

Since Sept 1st, abortions past the 6-week mark of pregnancy are illegal in Texas. Texans seeking abortion care after the 6-week period have had to travel to other states to do so. This is an astonishing development in a post-Roe v. Wade world and the legality of this temporary ban is being fought in the courts — especially when you consider that these types of state-level bans disproportionately affect BIPOC, people living below the poverty line, and in rural areas. Americans are fighting for reproductive rights however they can and artists are using their platforms to help fight this infringement on reproductive freedom.

Bon Iver, Demi Lovato, St. Vincent, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen, IDLES, Tove Lo, and more to come, have joined forces with Noise for Now and Propeller’s Reproductive Freedom Campaign for fundraising and awareness-raising campaign. Noise For Now is an initiative that looks to connect artists to help fundraise for grassroots Reproductive Justice organizations (over 100 artists from Neil Young to Cat Power to G-Eazy have worked with them) and Propeller is a digital marketing platform focused on the intersection of culture and social good.

The elements are present for these artists to make a sizable difference in awareness of the cause and in this first portion of the campaign, each has also put up unique items to be raffled off to donors like vintage signed photos from Yeah Yeah Yeahs and clothes from Demi Lovato’s wardrobe. Here’s all that’s been graciously offered up thus far:

• Bon Iver: Signed Bon Iver (10th Anniversary Edition) Lp + Merch Bundle
• IDLES: Signed test pressing of new album CRAWLER
• Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear: Signed guitar played on the Grizzly Bear “Painted Ruins” tour
• Demi Lovato: Select clothing items from their closet
• St. Vincent: Two music man signed guitars
• Tove Lo: Two signed copies of rare Blue Lips vinyl
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Six signed original photo proofs from an early and classic Spin shoot by Danielle Levitt

Visit the campaign site to learn how you can donate or pick up the sweet “1973 Pro Roe” t-shirts below.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

RINI deserves to be championed for the way he writes about love. The 23-year-old Australian-born singer released his official debut album, Constellations, this past Friday, three years removed from his beautiful 2018 EP, After The Sun. Both projects focus on the dealings that occur after sundown, but Constellations takes an out-of-this-world touch to RINI’s music, offering a beautiful love story that any hopeless romantic would die for 00 even though it seems far too good to be true. The young singer also receives help from Wale, a wordsmith certified to speak about the ups and downs of love, and Maeta, a newcomer who also has a fresh takes on romance to share.

Constellations leans heavily on brute honesty. RINI shows no fear, with the confidence that the woman he desires so much is the one. It’s no surprise that he lays all his cards face-up before her. “Red Lights,” the first song of the album, evokes the hair-pulling wait that occurs en route to a new flame. It’s clear that the relationship is new and fresh as his eagerness makes a routine stop at a red light far more grueling than usual. Backed by production that amplifies RINI’s lusty cries, you can feel his urge to cut corners and break rules to reach his desired destination.

Behind this song’s literal meaning comes a metaphor as well. The “red lights” RINI bemoans also signify the necessary breaks one should take as a relationship grows. RINI obeys these procedures, going from the realization of falling in love on “Over Some Wine” and “Butterflies” — so much so that it even surprises himself — to surefire commitment on “For Days” and “Craving.” RINI trusted the process and it got him all he wanted and more.

An impressive aspect of the album is RINI’s ability to spend so much time on the “cloud nine” period of love without sounding redundant. From “Butterflies” to the outro track of Constellations, RINI falls down a neverending tunnel of love. It helps that he also slightly pivots his focus through each track. “Mimosa” and “Need It” present a warm yearning for his partner’s return during their time apart while “Bedtime Story” begs to make their moments of intimacy last forever. “Talk To Me,” as on “Out Of The Blue,” seeks the reassurance to confirm he’s that he’s not the only one head-over-heels four times over in this relationship. Listeners are given just enough to understand nearly all of RINI’s feelings in romance without becoming suffocating.

It makes perfect sense that RINI named his debut Constellations. The way he presents it through the album’s 12 songs, love is as beautiful as the stars in the sky. In both cases, when you truly fall for it, you’ll crave its return throughout the day, immerse yourself in its beauty at nightfall, and dread its departure as the sun returns to begin the next day. He also believes love’s best moments occur once the sun goes down. Whether it’s the vulnerability that the darkest hours present or the inactive state of the world that allows for uninterrupted intimacy, it’s ironically the time where his romance blooms.

Constellations is out now via Warner Records. Get it here.

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

George Takei and William Shatner’s ongoing feud is boldly going where its never gone before, and it’s sure not anywhere pretty. After hearing about Shatner’s recent voyage into space via Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin capsule, Takei spared no time in slamming his former colleague-turned-rival for taking the trip, going as far as to call him “a specimen that’s unfit.” Takei made the remarks at last night’s opening of Thoughts of a Colored Man, a seven-man Broadway show that “weaves spoken word, slam poetry and rhythm into a mosaic of the inner lives of Black men.” However, turns out that even some moving theater isn’t enough to stop the former Star Trek star from expressing his extreme and ever-lingering distaste with Shatner.

“He’s a guinea pig, 90 years old and it’s important to find out what happens,” Takei reportedly told Page Six. “So 90 years old is going to show a great deal more on the wear and tear on the human body, so he’ll be a good specimen to study. Although he’s not the fittest specimen of 90 years old, so he’ll be a specimen that’s unfit!”

Ultimately, Takei dismissed the trip as a whole, remarking “he’s boldly going where other people have gone before” before moving on from the subject.

Unfortunately, these jabs are just the latest in a string of fights between the two, with Takei calling Shatner “very self-centered” and the “biggest d**k on Star Trek,“ accusing the actor of sabotaging his career on the set by ensuring Takei’s character, Hikaru Sulu, “would not receive command of a spaceship.” In return, Shatner has expressed most confusion and pity toward Takei and his statements, stating:

“There’s a psychosis there … There must be something else inside George that is festering, and it makes him unhappy that he takes it out on me … Why would he go out of his way to denigrate me? It’s sad, I feel nothing but pity for him.”

While some would think Shatner (90) and Takei (84) would attempt to mend things during their golden years, this seems like one feud that’s likely to stick just around as long as the former sci-fi icons do.

Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf has been an instantly recognizable figure ever since he lifted a trophy to signify his status as a Fortnite world champion. Sure, he had his fans on Twitch and he was already a well-known name in the Fortnite community, but winning a championship takes your fame to a new level.

Giersdorf has turned that fame into a number of opportunities away from gaming, with the latest feather in his cap being his own line of clothing with Hollister. Giersdorf, only 18, isn’t too far removed from being one of those people who would head to the mall and pick up some clothes from the store.

“Hollister was a brand that I did wear when I was younger in middle school and early high school,” Giersdorf told Uproxx. “I don’t know, when I just got that opportunity was just kind of something crazy to me. And I was just kind of taken away by that, because it’s one of the biggest clothing brands in the world.”

The only article of clothing available right now is a hoodie, which fitting for Giersdorf, who prefers to wear things that are more relaxed. But there’s potential for this relationship to continue to blossom into something more. Hollister is using this opportunity with Giersdorf to make him their “Chief Gaming Scout,” a role in which he will scout potential up-and-coming streamers for Team Hollister, the brand’s new gamer training program that will launch this November in collaboration with Twitch. The program will include a series of livestreamed training sessions.

“Pretty much what I’m doing is I’m picking three people based on either their skills in Fortnite, or just how they are as creators, and we’re partnering with Twitch for that,” Giersdorf says. “They’re going to receive a sponsorship from Hollister and a monthly mentorship from me. And hopefully, [put them] on the road to the biggest gaming creators … [I’ll be looking at] their dedication to the game how much time they put into their content. That’s what I find super interesting. Definitely, the people that are on there doing, like, 9-10 hours streams a day. That’s pretty much what I was looking for, dedication and commitment.”

It’s a pretty full plate for someone so young, but Giersdorf is someone that Hollister believes will represent their goals of embracing a younger audience.

“We’re always focused on meeting our Gen Z customers where they are, and gaming continues to be a rising area of interest for global teens,” says Kristin Scott, Global Brand President at Abercrombie & Fitch Co. “We’ve recently been successfully and authentically showing up in the gaming world, particularly with our Fortnite tournament earlier this year, so we’re excited to delve even further into this area through our partnership with Bugha and the launch of Team Hollister.”

Maybe in a year, one will be able to walk into a Hollister and find three new designs from the up-and-comers that Giersdorf chose, or an entire section for their gaming partnerships. As Twitch, streaming, and video games become more and more prominent, these kinds of deals are just going to be seen as more normal. Giersdorf’s hoodie, and new role as Chief Gaming Scout, is just the start.

In a new interview on the heavily anticipated Spider-Man: No Way Home, which appears to send Tom Holland‘s Spider-Man on a adventure through the multiverse thanks to some magic shenanigans with Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange, the Peter Parker actor revealed that filming the third installment in the Homecoming trilogy was an emotional experience for himself and cast mates Zendaya and Jacob Batalon. The three have been together since the first movie, and once they realized they were filming their last scene together for No Way Home, Holland described the moment as “heartbreaking, but also really exciting.”

As Holland explains, No Way Home was approached as the culmination of his work together with director Jon Watts, and they approached it like the final installment for this chapter of Peter’s life. Via Entertainment Weekly:

“We were all treating [No Way Home] as the end of a franchise, let’s say,” he adds. “I think if we were lucky enough to dive into these characters again, you’d be seeing a very different version. It would no longer be the Homecoming trilogy. We would give it some time and try to build something different and tonally change the films. Whether that happens or not, I don’t know. But we were definitely treating [No Way Home] like it was coming to an end, and it felt like it.”

While No Way Home may mark the end of this particular brand of adventures for Holland, there’s no way the actor is done as the MCU’s current Spider-Man. As part of the deal that brought an end to the dispute between Marvel and Sony, Holland is still under contract for one more MCU film. More recently, Venom: Let There Be Carnage director Andy Serkis revealed that a Venom/Spider-Man crossover is in the works. So it’s probably going to be a while until Holland hangs up his tights.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

After a year and a half of a global pandemic and domestic upheaval, most of us are feeling some variation of tired, fried, exhausted and generally done with everything. We’ve been swimming through choppy and uncharted waters, and even strong swimmers need a life jacket under such conditions.

We can all use an extra measure of grace and understanding as we navigate these waters, which is why this email from a professor to her English 101 class is so dang heartwarming. This message went out to students the day after their first essay was due, with the subject line, “You need a break today.”

Here’s what it said:

“All,

The pandemic is kicking everyone’s ass. Can I say that? I don’t know, but I did.

woman writing on dry erase board

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

This is just a reminder, based on several guilty-sounding student emails, that you can turn anything in late during the pandemic for no penalty. Yes, you absolutely can do all late work for no penalty by December 7.

Have a great day! You can do this!”

man and woman sitting on chairs

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

The student who shared the email with me says it was a huge relief to get such a message of support and understanding, especially during the pandemic when so many people’s lives have been derailed. “It felt like she cared,” the student said.

Students respond well when they know a teacher cares about them as human beings and not just temporary names on a class list. What’s beautiful about the professor’s message is that she’s clear about having expectations of students—it’s not like she said it doesn’t matter if students do their work. She simply gave them options to work on their own timeline and provided choices for certain assignments so they can learn however they learn best. This gift of empathy and understanding will likely go farther than a hard-nosed approach in gaining students’ respect.

And look at the valuable lessons being taught just in this one email: Your well-being matters. Your unique needs are recognized and honored. Authority doesn’t have to be rigid or uncompromising. There is more than one way to do things. Standards and expectations can be balanced with kindness and understanding. As human beings, we take care of one another.

These are wild and wearying times. Kudos to this professor for offering her students some much-needed, well-balanced grace and encouragement. Here’s hoping some of it comes back her way as well.

We are living in weird times in far more ways than one. Not only are we coping with a global pandemic that some people still refuse to acknowledge, but we are also dealing with an ex-president who still refuses to admit that he lost the last election, whose fan base keeps spiraling deeper and deeper into kooky conspiracy theories, and whose adopted party inexplicably failed to cut bait and run from Q-ville when it had the chance.

So now we’re watching democracy flail and sputter because millions of Americans simply reject objective reality. It’s genuinely, mind-bogglingly weird.

Such is the backdrop of Bill Maher’s recent run-down of what he sees happening in the next election. Under normal circumstances, it would be far too early for such punditry from comedic political commentators, but the U.S. sailed right past normal years ago. So now, not even a year past the last election—and with no one even announcing an intention to run—we’re already pondering what will happen in 2024. (Seriously, why does everything have to be so dumb?)

Maher laid out the plan that appears to be unfolding before our eyes in a segment titled “A slow-moving coup,” starting with the Eastman memo that basically was a blueprint for Trump overturning the results of the election he lost.

New Rule: The Slow-Moving Coup | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

www.youtube.com

“Here are the easiest three predictions in the world,” said Maher. “Trump will run in 2024. He will get the Republican nomination. And whatever happens on election night, the next day he will announce that he won.”

“I’ve been saying ever since he lost, he’s like a shark that’s not gone, just gone out to sea,” said Maher. “But actually, he’s been quietly eating people this whole time. And by eating people, I mean he’s been methodically purging the Republican Party of anyone who voted for his impeachment or doesn’t agree that he’s the rightful leader of the Seven Kingdoms.”

Maher explained how the small number of Republicans who outwardly opposed Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election will be gone by 2024, and how state legislatures and election officials are being replaced with loyalists who will hand him the presidency whether he actually wins it or not. He predicted that Republicans would win the House in 2022.

“And yet, 2024 comes and Democrats treat it as a normal election year,” he said. “They are living in a dream world where their choice of candidate matters, their policies matter, the number of votes they get matters, none of it does. I won’t even predict who the Democratic nominee will be, because it doesn’t matter.”

Maher explained that even if the Democratic nominee wins the election, “Trump won’t accept it.” But this time, his conspiracy theories about election fraud “will be fully embraced by stooges he is installing right now.”

The only thing that kept the U.S. from a full-blown constitutional crisis was that some Republican elected officials and put their foot down and insisted on reality. What happens without people who are willing to go against pressure from their party and do the right thing?

“The ding dongs who sacked the Capitol last year? That was like when Al Qaeda tried to take down the World Trade Center the first time with a van. It was a joke. But the next time they came back with planes,” Maher said.

“I hope I scared the shit out of you!” Maher said, in conclusion.

Yeah. A majority of Americans are already there, Bill.

In a bouncy performance of his song “No Chances” for UPROXX Sessions, Alabama-born newcomer Baby Rich switches from a smooth, staccato flow to melodic crooning and back as he details all the chances that he won’t take in a relationship. From the lyrics on the swooning chorus, Rich’s philosophy would seem to be “money before women,” while the rapid-fire verses explain exactly why he feels that way.

While he’s not a super well-established face yet, fans attending DDG‘s currently ongoing tour with Kevin Gates can catch Baby Rich as his opening act. Born in Birmingham, Baby Rich has since relocated to Los Angeles and signed with DDG, who appears on another of Rich’s singles, “Simon Says.”

Still at the outset of his career, Rich has all the potential to become a breakout star in his own right with DDG’s guidance and the increased exposure from accompanying his mentor on tour. He’s already adopted DDG’s approach of video logging his experiences on tour, sharing with fans on his YouTube channel. You can even catch a glimpse of him recording his UPROXX Sessions performance in one.

Watch Baby Rich’s UPROXX Sessions performance of “No Chances” above.

Over the past few months, the live music industry has been crawling its way back to normal. Now, SZA is joining that push, as she just announced she has a string of shows coming up on November.

For one reason or another, she insists it’s not a proper “tour,” writing on Twitter, “Uhhh Iss not a tour but I WILL be singing songs in multiple cities at night time lmao ..COME.” While the list of dates isn’t massive — she’s playing Houston, Austin, Dallas, Denver, Salt Lake City, and the Day N Vegas Festival — they seem to be presented as a tour, under the “Good Days Fall 2021” banner.

Beyond getting these shows planned, SZA has kept busy in recent times. Last month, she dropped a video for her Dear Evan Hansen soundtrack contribution “The Anonymous Ones” and sang in Spanish on Kali Uchis’ “Fue Mejor” remix. Last week, she also linked up with James Blake for “Coming Back.”

Find the full list of SZA’s upcoming shows below and get tickets here.

11/03/2021 — Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
11/06/2021 — Austin, TX @ Emo’s Austin
11/07/2021 — Dallas, TX @ South Side Music Hall
11/09/2021 — Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
11/11/2021 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union
11/14/2021 — Las Vegas, NV @ Day N Vegas Festival

Former professional wrestler Jacques Rougeau has a story about the time four guys confronted Andre the Giant, the seven-foot-four mountain of a man, in a bar. “Maybe they had too much to drink and decided to try him out or call him out. But the guy slapped Andre, slapped him to provoke him. And when Andre got up at the bar, the guy just looked and he couldn’t believe what had happened,” he said. “The guy jumped in the Volkswagen and Andre just took the car and he flipped it on the top.”

Daniel Craig is no Andre the Giant — he’s roughly 300 pounds lighter — but he would like to avoid a situation where some drunk picks a fight with him so he can brag to his buddies about how he “totally kicked the crap out of James Bond.” This, Craig explained on the Lunch With Bruce podcast, is why he regularly goes to gay bars.

“I’ve been going to gay bars for as long as I can remember. One of the reasons: because I don’t get into fights in gay bars that often,” Craig, who has been married to Rachel Weisz since 2011, said (“Adele wrote a song about me” is probably a more effective pickup line at a gay bar). He got “very sick” of the “aggressive d*ck swinging in hetero bars,” and “I don’t want to end up being in a punch-up. And I did. That would happen quite a lot. And it would just be a good place to go. Everybody was chill, everybody.”

“I could meet girls there, ’cause there are a lot of girls there for exactly the same reason I was there. It was… an ulterior motive.”

I was really hoping to see Daniel Craig the next time I’m at Buffalo Wild Wings. Guess not. You can listen to the Lunch With Bruce podcast interview above.

(Via Out)