Month: December 2021

Musicians spent their Christmas Day in different ways. JoJo got engaged to her boyfriend Dexter Darden, actor from Saved By The Bell. Frank Ocean brought back his “Blonded” radio show and premiered a brand new nine-minute song. Drake shared an adorable video with his 4-year-old son Adonis. But that wasn’t all the Certified Lover Boy rapper did. He also rode around the city and handed out money to unsuspecting people on the street.

A video shows Drake riding in the backseat of a Maybach while passing out the money. It’s unknown how much he gave out, but the video showed the person taking a healthy stack of Canadian 20 dollar bills from the rapper. “@Champagnepapi giving away racks for Christmas,” they wrote on their Instagram Story. “Life’s f*cking unreal man. Legend of the city.”

Drake’s act of kindness comes after he got a “microrealistic” tattoo of the late Virgil Abloh following the designer and DJ’s death late last month. He also appeared beside Ye for their Larry Hoover benefit concert in Los Angeles, which amounted to an epic performance of the best songs from past and present of their respective careers.

You can check out a video a fan took after receiving money from Drake above.

The Jaguars and Jets met on Sunday at Met Life Stadium in what was, effectively, an eliminator for the No. 1 overall pick. The Jets at 3-11 and Jaguars and 2-12 both have one eye on the NFL Draft at this point, but with the No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks from 2021 both struggling at quarterback in Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson, the hope late in the year is to see some flashes to create some reason for optimism heading into the offseason.

On Sunday, Wilson’s flashes came mostly with his legs with 91 yards on four carries, while Lawrence continued to have pops of impressive throws, particularly between the 20s, but the red zone remains a rough spot for the Jaguars. That reared its ugly head on the final drive of the game after forcing a Jets field goal to keep the deficit inside a touchdown at 26-21, and Lawrence orchestrated an impressive two-minute drill to get inside the 5 (on a scramble by Lawrence) with more than 30 seconds to play. After an incompletion on first down, there were still 29 seconds on the clock, plenty of time considering they were only going to get three more cracks at a game-winning touchdown.

However, after a near interception somehow found its way to a receiver on the one, Lawrence and the Jaguars panicked and the rookie quarterback spiked the ball on third-and-goal from the one with 13 seconds on the clock, a baffling move to take away one more shot at a TD.

Naturally, on fourth down, the Jaguars were not only unable to score but also struggled to get set and had an illegal shift penalty that would’ve negated a successful play anyways, falling to get a stranglehold on the top pick — particularly with the Texans also getting a win on Sunday over the Chargers. As a whole, that’s a good thing for the franchise, but you would prefer to see your rookie quarterback able to make better, more clear-headed decisions in a big moment like this and not panic spike the ball to take away a crucial extra opportunity.

Last week, Donald Trump did the unthinkable: He tried to save his base from sickness and death. In a sit-down with far right firebrand Candace Owens, the former president contradicted his host, who of course has told her followers not to get the vaccine that could mollify the effects of COVID, particularly the far more transmissible Omicron variant. Trump said they should get vaxxed. His die hards were, of course, pissed, but Owens has a reason why he would say such things, and it’s not because he doesn’t want them to die preventable deaths.

“People oftentimes forget that, like, how old Trump is,” Owens said in an Instagram video, as caught by The Daily Mail. “He comes from a generation — I’ve seen a lot of people who are older, have the exact same perspective, like, they came from a time before TV, before internet, before being able to conduct independent research. And everything they read to them that was in a newspaper that was pitched to them, they believed that that was a reality.”

That’s why, Owens argued, that Trump has difficulty finding those “obscure websites,” where misinformation about the pandemic spreads like wildfire, endangering all those who believe its lies. That includes Owens. “I have no issue with any person who wants to get the vaccine,” she tweeted on Thursday. “I just will never ever let that vaccine into my body. I believe firmly that Big Pharma is the greatest evil on the face of the planet. I am healthy, young, in shape and simply unafraid of Covid-19.”

It’s a strange argument, to say the least. Trump has routinely tried to discredit the press for accurately reporting on his many misdeeds, even popularizing the term “fake news.” One could argue he’s even created his own reality, where, among other things, he won the 2020 election that he lost by over seven million votes, and that his fiery speech before his supporters violently sieged the Capitol building on Jan. 6 was “extremely calming.”

During the interview, Owens tried to pin the blame for COVID deaths over the last year on Biden, not on people like her, who have spread misinformation about vaccines, leading to a present where the overwhelming of COVID-related deaths are among the unvaccinated. But Trump pushed back.

“Oh no, the vaccines work, but some people aren’t the ones. The ones who get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones that don’t take the vaccine. But it’s still their choice. And if you take the vaccine, you’re protected,” he said. “People aren’t dying when they take the vaccine.”

For once, please listen to Donald Trump.

(Via The Daily Mail)

Jaden is one of the more eccentric artists of his generation, and sure enough, his career has seen both highs and lows. During a recent episode of his mother Jada Pinkett Smith’s show Red Table Talk, which streams on Facebook Watch, Jaden opened up about his struggles with gaining weight. “I was able to work with the doctors and really get my vitamins and get my supplements and protein shakes,” Jaden said. That’s half of my diet. It’s like a password that I have to find for my body. I’m like, 10 pounds heavier now at this point.”

He added, “I feel like I’m keeping on my weight. I’m able to put on my muscle.” Jaden later said that he feels much better about his health, adding that he’s “came a long way” since his 2019 Coachella set, where he said he was at his skinniest. “Looking back on where I was in 2019, that was a long way from where I was when I Was at Coachella [that year] where I was just like, bones. I thought I was so tight. I was like, ‘I’m swagging on this. Like, I need to take off my shirt right now.’”

In 2019, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith spoke about holding a family intervention due to concerns with Jaden’s weight loss. They explained that it was “because he’s a vegan now, but we realized he wasn’t getting enough protein.” They added, “So he was wasting away. He just looked drained, he was just depleted, he wasn’t getting the nutrients.”

You can watch the Red Table Talk episode with Jaden in the video above.

Love is in the air this Christmas season! Just ask JoJo and Dexter Darden. The couple celebrated yesterday’s holiday by revealing that they are now engaged after a little over a year of dating. “Forever with YOU? Sign me UP,” JoJo wrote in an Instagram post that included photos of her and Darden together in front of balloons that read “She Said Yes.” “Celebrating Christmas a whole fiancé!!! the most thoughtful, creative, positive, handsome, strong, loving, uplifting human being asked me to marry him. so obviously I said YESSS!!!”

She continued, “Thank you for the most epic birthday surprise ever. and for flying out my mom, your mom, and both of our best friends to share in that incredible moment with us. you are one of one. LFG @dexterdarden.” She also used the Instagram post to show off the beautiful diamond ring that Darden gave her. Their engagement comes a week after Darden showered JoJo with love to celebrate her 30th birthday.

“Happy Birthday To the Brightest Star In My Universe, The Beat To My Heart, The Woman I prayed for @iamjojo!” he wrote. “Jo Thank you for challenging me, Pushing me to be the best Man I can be, and Making me smile when no one else can. You are Gift from God to the world, and the best present I’ve ever received. TO THE MOON AND BACK, I got Your back!”

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

New York rapper Kay Flock was arrested for murder this past Thursday following an incident that took place outside a Harlem barbershop earlier this month. According to The New York Daily News, the rapper, born Kevin Perez, is accused of murdering 24-year-old Oscar Hernandez after he walked by the shop, opened its door, and asked Hernandez what he was looking at. The two met outside and it allegedly eventually led to Perez pulling out a gun to shoot Hernandez in the neck and back. A few days after Perez’s arrest, his attorney shared a statement about the matter.

“Yesterday, I accompanied Kevin as he self-surrendered to Detective in the 30th precinct,” Scott Leemon, Kay Flock’s attorney, said in a statement to XXL. “Arrangements were immediately made with NYPD once I learned he was wanted. As to the charges levied against him, we have begun our own investigation into these allegations.” He adds, “More importantly, considering the DA’s significant disclosure this morning that the NYPD received a tip saying someone else is the shooter, we demanded the DA’s office provide prompt disclosure of the videos referenced in the complaint and more information on the tip.”

Kay Flock’s arrest comes after he released his debut, The D.O.A. Tape, earlier this year. It includes eight songs and features from G Herbo, Dougie B, B Lovee, and more. He also connected with Lil Tjay and Fivio Foreign for their collaboration “Not In The Mood.”

In the before-time, blockbusters didn’t just make a lot of money. They made an unimaginable amount of money. It wasn’t un-heard-of for a number of movies each year to cross the billion dollar line worldwide. Some even made quite a lot more than $1 billion. (And just a reminder: Adjusted for inflation, nothing comes even close to the haul raked in by Gone with the Wind.) Then, almost two years ago, movie theaters shuttered, many blockbusters were delayed, and the cha-ching of the box office cash register was all but silenced. Until now.

Despite the far more transmissible Omicron variant, audiences have flocked to Spider-Man: No Way Home, the threequel in the Tom Holland iteration of the series. It’s a star-studded affair, bringing back tons of franchise favorites, and audiences seem to be lapping it up. Indeed, in a time when just about every movie underperforms in relation to the pre-pandemic era, it’s the one movie to gross pretty much what it would have grossed in the halcyon days. That’s to say it’s already crossed the billion dollar line after a mere two weekends.

As per CNN, on Sunday No Way Home achieved said milestone after a mere 12 days. It’s not the fastest movie to do so. Avengers: Endgame did it in just five days, while its predecessor, Avengers: Infinity War, crossed in 11. (Clearly all you need to do to make a ton of money is the movie industry is cast Tom Holland.) But it is the first movie to achieve that feat since 2019.

What was the last movie to gross over $1 billion? Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which amassed $1.074 billion during its holiday run two years ago. Mind you, No Way Home has, in 12 days, already grossed $1.05 billion.

So congrats to all the Spideys for doing what recent MCU films, some of which introduced new characters, could not. It’s like it’s the before-time again, minus that whole pesky and highly transmissible virus running still roughshod over the world.

(Via CNN)

Doja Cat released her long-awaited third album Planet Her a few months ago. It featured 14 songs and help from names like Young Thug, SZA, JID, The Weeknd, and more. It also earned nominations for Album of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2022 Grammy Awards. While there isn’t any pressure for her to put out her next album, Doja already has ideas for what she wants it to be.

During an Instagram Live session she held on Christmas Eve, Doja said she wants to create a double album. She said the first side would contain seven songs that would feature her typical pop-rap sound, while the second side would contain 12 songs in the traditional rap lane. She also revealed who she would like to supply production for the second side. “New project. 12 songs,” Doja said. “All of them, every f*ckin’ one, Jay Versace and 9th Wonder.”

Jay Versace and 9th Wonder each shared their reactions to Doja’s comments, the former simply tweeting “brah” while 9th Wonder wrote, “Say what now?”

You can hear Doja speak about the double album in the video above.

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

For months, conservatives have in love with the words “Let’s go Brandon.” Why? Because it’s code for a far more profane statement, namely “F*ck Joe Biden.” It originated at a NASCAR race (of course), and officials are none-too-happy with it. It’s not just everyday folk who drop the coded epithet. Lauren Boebert has used it. So has Ted Cruz. And on Christmas Eve, one regular Joe dropped those words while speaking to the president himself, as well as the First Lady.

It began innocently enough. Jared Schmeck, a father of four from Oregon who works for an electric company and retired from the police force in 2018, called into an annual Santa tracker, as he does every year. This time was a bit different: Taking calls were Joe and Jill Biden, hoping to do better than his predecessor, who once told a little girl that Santa wasn’t real. Schmeck later said he was surprised by their presence, but he rolled with it, even wished them a Merry Christmas.

Then he suddenly added, “Let’s go Brandon.”

The Bidens either played nice or simply had no idea what he was talking about. “Let’s go Brandon, I agree,” Biden replied as his wife laughed. The president even tried to ask him where he’s from, but Schmeck had already hung up, having effective told the most powerful person in the world to get f*cked.

When reached by Oregon Live, Schmeck claimed he didn’t mean to pelt the president with a sanitized insult, claiming it was just a “joke.” “I mean no disrespect to him,” Schmeck said, adding, “At the end of the day, I have nothing against Mr. Biden, but I am frustrated because I think he can be doing a better job.”

Schmeck also claimed he was not a “Trumper,” describing himself as a “free-thinking American and follower of Jesus Christ.”

Before Schmeck wrung in Christmas by insulting the president, the call seemed to be going really well. Biden asked him what his kids wanted, and Schmeck said his son, whose name is Hunter, wanted a Switch. Biden mentioned that he too has a son named Hunter. He then advised that Schmeck’s kids should be in bed before 9pm, otherwise they’d miss Santa. Schmeck laughed along with them, as though he was a nice person seeking some calm during deeply troubled times.

(Via Oregon Live)

It’s been over five years since Frank Ocean‘s last album, Blonde. Since then, he’s sporadically released singles, like 2017’s “Biking” and “Provider,” but no full-length work. His fans freak out any time the musician releases anything, and on Christmas Day, they got a nice present: an untitled track, which premiered during an episode of Frank’s Blonded radio show on Apple Music, that runs a full nine minutes.

In a post to his Instagram Story, Frank explained how the song came together, revealing that it was recorded in a single take during the summer of 2020. He also spoke about speaking with Dutch extreme athlete and motivational speaker Wim “The Iceman” Hof after the death of Frank’s younger brother Ryan Breaux in August 2020.

“Me and @iceman_hof had a conversation some time ago when I was in the earlier stages of grief and I remember marbling afterwards at how his energy blasted through the phone,” Frank said. “So much vim in this Wim. We spoke for a while about his work, the purpose of grief and how going into the cold water changed his life.” He added, “It reminded me of conversations in the studio with players I know. Freewheeling, psychedelic, emotionally charged, intelligent and generous. I enjoyed listening to him, so in this edit I just let him speak interrupted.”

The nine-minute track is Frank’s first release since he shared “Dear April” and “Cayendo” in April 2020.

You can hear the new song in the video above.