Month: January 2022

The Weeknd started teasing his new album as long ago as last year’s Billboard Music Awards, but it wasn’t until last week that the project finally dropped. Now that Dawn FM is here after months of cryptic teasers, Abel is giving fans even more than they bargained for — the project is a whopping 16 tracks long (!), seems to all but confirm his relationship with Angelina Jolie, and features an appearance from fellow famous Canadian, Jim Carrey.

Not only that, but earlier this week the R&B superstar also let fans know that 2020’s After Hours and Dawn FM are part of a brand new trilogy, mirroring an album release technique that set Abel apart very early in his career. While we wait for more info on what the third installment will be, tonight Abel let listeners know they’d be getting brand new “alternate world” versions of a couple of new tracks. He shared new versions of both “Sacrifice,” his collaboration with Swedish House Mafia, and “Take My Breath Away.”

Technically billed as remixes, the songs also bear that “alternate world” label, which might indicate that there’s an alternate version of every song on Dawn FM. Guess we’ll have to wait and see! For now, check out a new version of “Sacrifice” above and “Take My Breath Away” below.

Kodak Black has made headlines for many reasons. He’s a rapper, so he’s often in the news for his music releases. He got in trouble with the law early on in his career, so details about a potential sexual assault and battery case have been reported on many times, as have his charges for grand theft auto and child neglect. Lately, Kodak has even garnered attention for insisting it he’s the one who warrants a Verzuz battle with Jay-Z… which plenty of listeners will consider to be more off-the-mark behavior.

But tonight while watching the Florida Panthers play the Vancouver Canucks, Kodak and his fiancé, Mellow Rackz, caught the attention of fans at ​the FLA Live Arena for a different reason. Namely, for around of twerking that was intense… it seemed like it might be more than just dancing. Although a different clip posted later showed Rackz dancing up on him in a way that seemed to indicate there was no foul play involved, plenty of fans — and then, of course internet commenters — had already assumed that Kodak and Mellow got bored watching the game and decided to get it on.

Hey, even the most sex-positive among us can agree, that whatever two consenting adults want to do is all well and good, but it probably shouldn’t happen in an arena setting. Looks like that wasn’t the case here, but the internet had a field day anyway. Check out some of the reactions below.

The Washington Wizards defended their home court against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night. Washington, which entered the game with five losses in its last eight games, picked up a 122-118 win in regulation to move to 21-20 at the halfway mark of this season.

According to a new report by Shams Charania of The Athletic, the game featured some fireworks that fans did not get to see. Charania reports that, during halftime, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope got into it with one another, with both players throwing punches, teammates needing to keep them from going at one another, and an “increased security presence to ensure the tension did not escalate again.”

Sources said Harrell became upset with Caldwell-Pope for not passing him the basketball on a play before the first half concluded, and the two started jawing during the walk to the locker room. As the two exchanged words, Harrell and Caldwell-Pope took swings toward each other — with neither connecting — and became entangled before teammates separated them, sources said.

Caldwell-Pope and Harrell are not first-time teammates, as the pair were members of the Los Angeles Lakers alongside one another last season and joined the Wizards in the trade that sent Russell Westbrook to L.A. On the night, Caldwell-Pope had 16 points, while Harrell contributed 12 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench.

In the summer of 2020, Lil Wayne released his beloved 2009 mixtape, No Ceilings, to streaming platforms. It arrived without the original three skits that once appeared on it. Seven songs were cut as well, presumably due to Wayne’s inability to clear samples. Now Wayne plans to bring another one of his famed mixtapes to streaming platforms: Sorry 4 The Wait.

Sorry 4 The Wait was the first mixtape Wayne shared after he was released from prison in late 2010 following an eight-month stint on an attempted criminal possession of a weapon charge. Wayne’s ninth album, Tha Carter IV, was originally supposed to be the first one he dropped after his release from prison, but it faced numerous delays. As a result, Wayne shared Sorry 4 The Wait as an apology for those repeated delays.

Sorry 4 The Wait is composed of remixes with Wayne trying his hand at tracks like Beyonce’s “Run The World (Girls),” Drake’s “Marvin’s Room,” Adele’s “Rolling In Deep,” Miguel’s “Sure Thing,” and more. It features 12 songs, so it remains to be seen if Wayne and his team will be able to clear all of the necessary samples to keep the mixtape in its original form.

You can pre-save Sorry 4 The Wait on Apple Music and Spotify here.

Pete Rock and Nas are at loggerheads. The producer has revealed his plans to file a lawsuit against the rapper for unpaid royalties from his work on his classic album Illmatic. According to Complex, Rock claims that he hasn’t been paid for contributing to the album since its 1994 release, despite having production and writing credits on “The World Is Yours,” one of the biggest songs from the album. “Nas and his people have stonewalled me since 1994,” Rock said about the matter. “My New Year’s resolution is to be compensated for my hard work on Illmatic.”

Rock’s legal team says he signed a contract that gave him a right to a portion of the royalties from “The World Is Yours,” and they now predict that the amount owed is in the millions of dollars. They also say Nas failed to uphold his end of the deal, despite numerous requests from Rock to be compensated. The lawsuit will be filed later this month, according to Complex.

In addition to being one of the more popular cuts from Illmatic, “The World Is Yours” has also been sampled in nearly 100 songs, including records by Eminem, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Mac Miller, Rick Ross, and more. Nas and Rock were last paired together on “The Art Of It” and “Queensbridge Politics,” which appeared on Nas’ 2019 compilation album The Lost Tapes 2.

The Minnesota Timberwolves entered Tuesday’s road tilt against the New Orleans Pelicans on a four-game winning streak. That impressive stretch pushed Minnesota to the .500 mark at 20-20 and, at times in New Orleans, it appeared as if the Wolves would nudge above the breakeven point in the standings. However, Brandon Ingram had other ideas, burying a game-winning three-pointer in the final second to give the Pelicans a 128-125 victory.

Ingram finished the night with a game-high 33 points, converting six of his seven attempts from three-point range and shooting 11-for-19 from the field. The standout forward also led the Pelicans with nine assists but, in this case, Ingram was simply doing what he does best in putting the ball in the basket at an important time.

With that said, there was certainly a breakdown of some kind from the Wolves on this play, as the Pelicans inbounded the ball with only 3.6 seconds left. New Orleans deserves credit for drawing up an effective design on the final possession, but Ingram is, by far, the top option for the Pelicans, and his ability to get off what amounted to a catch-and-shoot jumper signals below-average defense from the Wolves. Admittedly, Ingram’s shot was from deep, but it was all net when it left his hand.

The win gives the Pelicans a 15-26 record on the season and, by proxy, New Orleans is on a 30-win pace this season. However, the Pelicans have been a much different team since a 3-16 start, posting a 12-10 record and playing highly competitive basketball. With the victory, New Orleans draws closer to the No. 10 spot in the West and a shot at the play-in, and the Pelicans may remember this game-winning effort if they can crack the postseason.

The Phoenix Suns and the Toronto Raptors played an intriguing, back-and-forth game on Tuesday evening at Scotiabank Arena. Toronto led after a strong first quarter and, after a Phoenix rally, both teams held leads in the fourth quarter in what became a 99-95 road win for Phoenix. Down the stretch, the Raptors were forced to foul the Suns to keep the game alive, with Phoenix attempting six free throws in the final 6.5 seconds. One such sequence involved Devin Booker at the line, and that is where things got particularly interesting.

Booker converted the first free throw, giving the Suns a 94-92 lead. As the ball fell through the net, however, Booker began gesturing in frustration, with the broadcast eventually revealing that he did not take kindly to the Raptors mascot distracting him behind the basket.

As you can see, the mascot was removed by the officials from behind the basket, and Booker went on to make the second free throw. It is already a bit of a bizarre situation in Toronto with no fans in the building, but this brings thing to even a wilder level, with a mascot prompted to move in the height of crunch time for, essentially, doing its job.

Granted, Booker is within his rights to complain, and the setting is odd, but this might be a first. One might wonder if there is any rule on the books here, but in the moment, the officials stepped in and everyone got a little bit of amusement about a mascot playing a part in the proceedings.

On Tuesday, Twitter was taken over by a music meme that asked people to “pick a house” based on the bands or groups that would be in it. A total of nine houses appeared in the meme, with each featuring six acts. The list of musicians included Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Greta Van Fleet, NWA, Wu-Tang Clan, Blink-182, Rage Against The Machine, Nine Inch Nails, and more. While many everyday people shared their responses, some artists also chimed in, sometimes critiquing the prompt.

Rock band Eve 6 felt there was a pair of options missing from the houses altogether. “There’s no power pop or cocaine rock house i’ll die from exposure,” they wrote. Questlove was caught between two choices but was able to make a pick. “My blood is in house 5,” he wrote. “But for history sake I’ll see you at house 3.” Lastly, rapper Open Mike Eagle went with three picks in his response. “Sleep in 1, cook in 5, shower in 9,” he wrote.

Alex Skolnick, who is the lead guitarist of Testament, who appear in house No. 2, also shared his picks. “I’m already in 2 but I’d be happy in 3 or 9,” he wrote. “Or more recently, 5!”

Others who chimed in were rapper Soul Khan, who asked, “Uh is there a housing covenant in this neighborhood.” On the other hand, singer-songwriter Liz Phair wrote simply, “Burn the neighborhood down.”

You see more replies below.

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

A new year brings with it a bevy of breathless — and quickly ignored — resolutions. (Or at least jokes about same.) But this year, like last year, is a little different. Since 2020, we’ve been living amidst a once-in-a-century public health crisis that some people keep help making worse. We’ve developed, and nurtured, a lot of bad habits. So when 2022 rolled along, some celebrities offered people their own resolutions, to help people lead healthier lives in the face of unimaginable horror. But in the case of Reese Witherspoon, that do-goodery led to them being hilariously mocked.

On Monday — a few days after being dragged for supporting cryptocurrency — the Oscar-winning actress posted a list of life-changing activities she’s “working towards” in 2022. They were:

1. Start the day with a big glass of water
2. Get 10 minutes of outdoor light. [Stanford neuroscience professor Andrew Huberman] recommends morning light.
3. Spend 30-60 mins reading without distraction everyday.
4. In bed by 10pm. *no late night TV binges. Try to get 8 hours of rest!”

This is all basic but sage advice. Water, natural light, a good night’s sleep — all important. Reading is better for you than binge-watching, late night or any other time of day. You’re right, Reese.

But someone wasn’t having it. That person was Ina Garten, host of The Barefoot Contessa and serial cookbook author. In the post’s comments, Garten told Witherspoon that her advice may “sound great.” Alas, she also wrote, “Probably not doing any of those things!” She instead offered her own four tips that are…well, maybe not healthier but certainly more fun.

1. Drink more large cosmos
2. Stay up late watching addictive streaming series
3. Stay in bed in the morning playing Sudoko instead of reading a good book
4. Spend more time (safely) with people you love.”

She added, “In a pandemic, I do what I can.”

Since the pandemic began two years ago, Garten has been a cheerleader for cosmos, the tasty cocktail made famous on Sex and the City two decades back. Last month she went on TODAY with Hoda and Jenna, where she told the hosts, “At the beginning of the pandemic I thought we all needed a treat so I did the largest cosmo anybody’s ever had.” They then all shared super-sized cocktails, during a morning chat show. Living one’s best life, for sure.

(Via People)

The first-ever 18-week regular season of NFL football is over and the playoffs have arrived. Unfortunately, that means that Sundays aren’t jam-packed with double-digit games anymore, but we have a few more weeks of glorious professional gridiron action. Overall, Week 18 was a handicapping success in this space. That gives us a nice push into the playoffs, but we aren’t done yet.

Here’s a look at the regular season data before we roll through the Wild Card slate.

• Last Week: 4-1
• 2021 Season: 52-37-1

Come get these winners.

Las Vegas Raiders (+5.5) over Cincinnati Bengals

I can’t emphasize enough that lines are tight in the playoffs and there isn’t always a board full of massive edges. For example, the Raiders opened +6 or +6.5 in many places, but this column doesn’t run until later in the week. I still like the Raiders at +5.5, as I would have this game as Bengals -4, but proceed with overall caution.

Buffalo Bills (-4) over New England Patriots

This isn’t a game I’d give out under regular season circumstances. I don’t love favorites and this line isn’t crazy. I do lean to Buffalo, though, as the Bills have considerably more talent, and they seemed to find something in this last matchup against the Pats. Bill Belichick is terrifying, but I can’t get to the Patriots in this spot when looking at the rosters and numbers.

Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers UNDER 49 points

Another game I don’t absolutely love, but we lean under. The Eagles are almost certainly going to try play keep-away in this game, and Philadelphia leans heavily on the run. They probably won’t have a ton of success with that, though, and getting the key number of 49 would be wise.

Dallas Cowboys (-3) over San Francisco 49ers

This line shouldn’t be three, even if I’m not overjoyed to bet the Cowboys as a favorite here. San Francisco’s passing game is in flux, to say the least, and Dallas unquestionably has the more explosive offense. In a rarity, we’re getting a discount with the “public” team of the Cowboys. We’ll take it.

Pittsburgh Steelers (+12.5) over Kansas City Chiefs

This is hideous. Pittsburgh is a team I flat-out don’t believe in. Kansas City is the AFC favorite. The Chiefs just throttled the Steelers in the same building three weeks ago. Take the points away. It’s a lot.