Month: January 2022

Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw a cinematic new album from The Weeknd and Gunna adding to his own growing legacy with a third LP. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters.

The Weeknd — “Sacrifice”

While The Weeknd is used to traditional lengthy album lead-ups, but he didn’t go that route this time: He officially announced Dawn FM last Monday, and a work week later, it arrived. On release day, he supplemented the album with a cinematic visual for the dancefloor-ready single “Sacrifice.”

Gunna and Future — “Pushin P” Feat. Young Thug

While The Weeknd had the headlining release of the week, don’t sleep on Gunna, who just dropped his third album, DS4Ever. While Dawn FM may end up preventing the Gunna LP from topping the charts, there’s a lot going on here, including the Future and Young Thug collaboration “Pushin P,” which Uproxx’s Wongo Okon described as “a braggadocios anthem that captures the three Atlanta-based rap stars in confident spirits thanks to their success in rap, their wealth, and their large collection of lavish items.”

The Smile — “You Will Never Work In Television Again’”

Radiohead fans ate last week, but they weren’t feasting on new Radiohead music. Rather, the band’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood teamed up with Sons Of Kemet’s Tom Skinner for the first official release from their side project group, The Smile. The song is “You Will Never Work In Television Again,” a sub-three-minute effort that’s as straightforward of a guitar-driven rocker that Yorke’s voice has been heard on in years.

Earl Sweatshirt — “Titanic”

As fans eagerly await Sick!, Earl Sweatshirt’s first album in a few years, he’s given them a taste of it with “Titanic.” He dropped the song last week and it’s no-frills, as it features a single verse from Earl on a woozy instrumental over the course of under two minutes.

Father John Misty — “Funny Girl”

Father John Misty has mostly laid low over the past couple years, and it appears that’s because he’s been working on new material. After a cryptic teaser to close 2021, Misty started the new year by announcing an album, Chloë And The Next 20th Century. Furthermore, he shared “Funny Girl,” which Uproxx’s Adrian Spinelli notes “is chock full of the FJM whimsy, with a throwback ballroom vibe.”

MICHELLE — “Expiration Date”

MICHELLE put themselves on the indie world’s radar with their 2018 debut album Heatwave, and they have the major task of following that up later this month with their sophomore album, AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS. Pre-album singles have shown they’re doing a fine job at that, though, like their latest, “Expiration Date.” Uproxx’s Carolyn Droke observes, “Over twinkling keys and R&B-inspired percussion, MICHELLE’s three singers deliver swirling melodies about enjoying a relationship while it still lasts.”

Spoon — “I Can’t Give Everything Away” (David Bowie cover)

It would have been David Bowie’s 75th birthday over the weekend, and all month, Amazon is marking the occasion all this month with their [RE]DISCOVER campaign. As part of that, Spoon delivered a rendition of a Bowie tune they’ve been covering for a few years now, “I Can’t Give Everything Away.” Britt Daniel said of the recording, “It’s just a fantastic song, and as the last song on Bowie’s final album, it doesn’t disappoint. We recorded this version live in December 2021.”

2 Chainz — “Million Dollars Worth Of Game” Feat. 42 Dugg

At some point between now and the end of January, 2 Chainz plans to unleash Dope Don’t Sell Itself onto the world. While the album’s exact release date remains a mystery for now, he has still pulled back the curtain some on the project, like he did last week with “Million Dollars Worth Of Game.” 42 Dugg delivers the hook and handles a verse of his own when 2 Chainz isn’t waxing poetic about his veteran status.

Leikeli47 — “Chitty Bang”

Madden NFL 22 players have been enjoying a new Leikeli47 song since the game was released last summer. Last week, though, the rapper finally gave the song an official release, making it her first new track in about a year and a half. The catchy and hard-hitting tune is hopefully a taste of a follow-up to the rapper’s 2018 album Acrylic.

Sasami — “Say It”

On her upcoming album Squeeze, Sasami has vowed to explore a number of genres, and last week showed off her industrial portion of the program with “Say It.” While the track is most immediately identifiable by its heavy guitars and imposing sonic environment, there are glimmers of softer melodic light to be found here.

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

What has quickly become one of the premier festivals on the West Coast, and arguably the premier upscale festival in the country, Napa Valley’s BottleRock festival routinely sells out of tickets. Today, the festival collision of music, wine, and food has announced the full lineup for the 2022 edition, featuring headliners Metallica, Pink, Twenty One Pilots, and Luke Combs.

Following a 2021 edition that saw the dates moved to September due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Napa wine country fest goes back to its usual Memorial Day Weekend date for the three-day affair. Joining the headliners at the top of the BottleRock lineup are psych-rock throwbacks The Black Crowes, tropical house producer Kygo, reggaeton OG Pitbull, electro-pop trio Chvrches, and the Mount Westmore hip-hop supergroup of California rappers E-40, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, and Too Short.

Fans of the festival can also be sure to stay tuned for the lineup of the artists, chefs, and athletes on BottleRock’s signature Williams-Sonoma Culinary Stage. Years past have brought food celebrities like Padma Lakshmi, José Andrés, and Michael Mina, together with athletes like Marshawn Lynch and Charles Woodson, or artists like G-Eazy and Dave Grohl.

The rest of the Bottle Rock Lineup includes Greta Van Fleet, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Bleachers, Spoon, Banks, Alessia Cara, Saint Jhn, Vance Joy, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Silversun Pickups, The Wailers featuring Julian Marley, Yola, Tai Verdes, Bahamas, Grandmaster Flash, Marc E. Bassy, Fantastic Negrito, Skip Marley, Kikagaku Moyo, Aly & AJ, and lots more.

BottleRock 2022 goes down at the Napa Valley Expo from 05/27 – 05/29. 3-day tickets go on sale on January 11 at 10 am PST here.

Thanks to his jam-packed schedule, interviewers had plenty of opportunities to ask Andrew Garfield if the rumors were true that he’s appearing in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and he expertly denied it every single time. As Marvel fans now know, Garfield is in the movie and arguably steals the whole thing, which only further proves the critical consensus that his casting for The Amazing Spider-Man films was never the issue.

In a new interview, Garfield opens up about how much lying he’s had to do over the past few months, and while he admits that it was stressful, he also says it was “weirdly enjoyable” to keep his role a secret from fans. Via The Wrap:

“I placed myself in that position of, Well, what would I want to know? Would I want to be toyed with? Would I want to be lied to? Would I want to be kept on my toes guessing? Would I want to discover it when I went to the theater? Would I want to be guessing, guessing, guessing?”

The answer to those questions, he said, was clear. “I would want the actor to do an incredibly good job at convincing me he wasn’t in it. And then I would want to lose my mind in the theater when my instinct was proven right. That’s what I would want.”

Garfield’s instinct was right. Not only did Spidey fans love his performance in the film, but the movie is absolutely crushing it at the box office. No Way Home is now number eight on the all-time global chart, according to Deadline. After swinging into theaters in America just in time to rack up huge box office receipts before Omicron hit, No Way Home is currently cleaning up in international markets where it’s putting up massive Avengers-worthy numbers.

(Via The Wrap)

Oreos and mustard, eh? While the combination is not quite as classic as coffee and milk or grilled cheese and tomato soup, it is the latest TikTok challenge and last week, Lizzo gave the combo a try. “TikTok made me try mustard and Oreos,” the “Truth Hurts” singer captioned, and embarked on the questionable food pairing in front of her more than 20 million followers on the app.

It wasn’t long before she drew the ire of Lil Yachty, who then posted his own TikTok #stitch clip, where he cuts away from Lizzo’s original video swiping the mustard away. “Gimme the goddamn mustard! You know this don’t go on that,” he says to his more than 8 million followers. “Gimme these too, you dead wrong,” he says, as he takes away the Oreos in an attempt to preserve the purity of the time-honored cookie.

But as she tends to do, Lizzo gets the last laugh here. In a video posted on Friday, she mashes up Lil Yachty’s mash up, reclaiming the mustard and immediately putting it on a juicy green apple. “Gimme the mustard back b*itch! You play too much…you wrong!,” she says as she proceeds to take a very focused bite of the errr…snack.

As disgusting as these combinations might seem, the Lizzo and Lil Yachty back and forth is gold. Somehow, Lizzo found time to even try ranch dressing on spaghetti in between videos? (That ain’t right!) Regardless, she wins this round and all Lil Yachty can do is breathe heavily while admitting defeat the only way he can:

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

Rappers and weed go hand-in-hand in the public imagination but there’s at least one hip-hop artist who’s questioning that relationship — or, at least, his own relationship with the devil’s lettuce. Returning to Twitter to share another of his potentially controversial views, Meek Mill revealed that he’d rather be sober than fit the stereotype — although that hasn’t stopped him yet. “I smoke weed everyday and get depressed as soon as I get high,” he wrote. “I be happy as hell sober lol it just helps me think deeper and more realistic lol.”

As usual, Meek’s observation sparked a wide variety of reactions, from those expressing agreement to those who suggested he try a different strain. “Weed is a downer,” one commenter offered. “If your already depressed it does nothing but amplify that.” “Stop smoking the wrong weed,” another said. “Find the Terpene profile that agrees with your body.”

Meek is three months removed from his most recent album, Expensive Pain, which featured appearances from A$AP Ferg, Brent Faiyaz, Giggs, Kehlani, Lil Baby & Lil Durk, Moneybagg Yo, Vory, and Young Thug and garnered praise from his former rival Drake. In November, he said he was working on the final Dreamchasers mixtape, which he planned to release as an NFT.

The Atlanta Hawks entered this season thinking they had the roster necessary to replicate last year’s stunning run to the Eastern Conference Finals and expected to once again be lurking in the top-4 in the East come playoff time. However, midway through the season, the Hawks are 12th in the East at 17-22, 4.5 games out of the 6-seed and the final guaranteed playoff position.

Their plan of running it back has not panned out, and plenty within the organization seem to realize they need a course change at the trade deadline. The question is how significant of a deal do the Hawks need to make, as Travis Schlenk has admitted he thinks it was a mistake bringing everyone back last summer and will be looking for upgrades at the deadline. Is it simply shuffling the deck on some of their role players on the wing, like Cam Reddish who has been available to other teams since this past summer or veteran Danilo Gallinari who has not had the same impact this season as last? Or do the Hawks want to make a bigger move that would reshape their foundation?

Based on rumored talks, Atlanta is exploring both options, and the latter could come in the form of a Ben Simmons trade. As to what they could offer that would make the Sixers willing to part with the star guard, the only player that is not Trae Young that would seem to fit their desire for an All-Star caliber player is John Collins, who just so happens to be upset with his role with the Hawks despite inking a 5-year, $125 million deal with the team this offseason, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Collins, however, has grown increasingly frustrated over his role in Atlanta, multiple sources have told The Athletic. His shot attempts per game and usage rate have decreased in each of the past three seasons — even as the athletic, energetic Collins has improved his offensive repertoire. The 6-foot-9 big man has challenged the Hawks locker room on multiple occasions to play team basketball and commit to one another this season. Oftentimes, Collins has felt his voice go unheard.

“I’ve banged my head on the wall a couple of times trying to figure it out myself, there’s really no excuse,” Collins said Friday night after the Hawks’ 134-118 loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles. “All I can say is it’s unacceptable and we have to dig down and do the things necessary to win or this is going to be the result every night.”

It is important to note that Shams says it’s “unclear” if the Hawks would put a Collins-Reddish centered package on the table for Simmons (and he can’t be dealt until January 15), but given Philadelphia’s asking price and the list of teams reported as involved in talks not changing, Atlanta certainly seems to be the team that has the most to offer as of now. Whether that is enough to make a trade happen now remains to be seen, but it would be a fascinating shakeup for all parties involved and you could see how both would benefit from it. Collins has become a terrific stretch big and his fit next to Joel Embiid in the frontcourt would not be difficult to envision working snugly. Simmons, meanwhile, would be the defensive counterbalance to Trae Young in the backcourt who could operate more like a point-forward in the halfcourt with the Hawks — and would need to with Collins gone.

The Hawks situation is not one many GMs would be envious of, as Schlenk must decide whether last year’s post-All Star run was more of a mirage than this season’s stop-start mess due to COVID. The future success of the franchise hinges on, effectively, guessing right on which small sample size is more representative of the truth.

Last week, Ted Cruz begged forgiveness from Tucker Carlson after accurately calling those who stormed the Capitol building “domestic terrorists.” His phrasing was “sloppy” and “dumb,” the senator told the Fox News host, and what he meant to say that he was referring to “the limited number of people who engaged in violent attacks against police officers.” No one, not even Carlson, was buying it. It was classic wormy Ted and there were plenty of jokes on Twitter, but Cruz’s former-speechwriter wasn’t laughing.

“By now, you’ve heard about the clip of Ted Cruz groveling for Tucker Carlson’s approval on Fox News. Every last member of the punditocracy has taken a turn dunking on the Texas senator whom everyone loves to hate. Hope they enjoyed it,” Amanda Carpenter, who previously worked as Cruz’s senior communications advisor and speechwriter, wrote for The Bulwark. “Because once you really understand what Cruz is apologizing for, it’s not all that funny.” Carpenter said that the worst part of the interview wasn’t Cruz cowering before Carlson; it was the senator’s “radicalization.”

So while I understand the urge to dunk on Cruz, what happened on Carlson’s show is more than just an example of Cruz’s weaselly pleading being worthy of a laugh. It’s ultimately not funny at all.

Cruz once strove to convey that he cared about justice and truth. He used to believe that violence was violence, and that the rule of law (and the rules of language) should be equally applied.

Carpenter continued, “That’s no longer the case. What he did on Jan. 6th himself last year and what he said on Carlson’s show last week goes far beyond pandering. Cruz’s humiliation is hardly the point. His radicalization is far more frightening.”

She has a point… but it’s still pretty funny.

(Via The Bulwark)

In early 2021, it was revealed that a Ye (then Kanye West) documentary was heading to Netflix, with reports noting that it would “deal with the death of West’s mother, Donda West, and the impact it had on the rapper; his personal evolution in recent years; his successful move into fashion design and his unsuccessful run for President in 2020.” Then, a few months ago, Netflix shared a first-look clip from the film (then titled Jeen-Yuhs), and now, they’ve offered the first official teaser of Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy. They also note “the once in a lifetime three-week global event begins February 16.”

The clips begins with Ye chopping it up with some associates and calling himself a genius… in 2002, well before the release of his 2004 debut album The College Dropout. Elsewhere, there are videos of what looks like Ye post-wisdom teeth removal, working on music, spending time with his mother, and more.

In case you missed it, Netflix has shared a couple other video about the documentary in recent months. After the aforementioned first-look clip, last month, they also shared a ten-minute conversation between directors Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah (aka Coodie And Chike) about the documentary and their early experiences with Ye. In the clip, Simmons says, “When I started filming Kanye, I’m like, ‘OK, I’m going to just document and see how far he’s going to take his career.’ Seeing him win Grammys, I’m still… […] But then to be documenting Kanye, you understand you’re going to see an array of characters.”

Watch the new teaser video and the aforementioned other clips above.

Following the tragic news of Bob Saget‘s death at only the age of 65, the cast members of Full House have begun issuing statements sharing their heartbreak and love for the TV actor/comedian who played quintessential sitcom dad Danny Tanner on the hit ABC sitcom and its Netflix revival, Fuller House. Saget was famously close with his co-stars John Stamos and Dave Coulier as the three became immediate life-long friends who would routinely show up in each other’s projects and were always open to lovingly prank the other.

“I am broken. I am gutted. I am in complete and utter shock,” Stamos tweeted. “I will never ever have another friend like him. I love you so much Bobby.”

“My heart is broken,” Coulier tweeted. “I love you, Bob. Your forever brother, Dave.”

Candace Cameron Bure, who practically grew up in front of America on Full House, had the pleasure of reuniting with Saget again on Fuller House and shared her appreciation for their time together. Also, joining her are Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen who issued a rare public statement to mark Saget’s passing.

“I don’t know what to say. I have no words,” Cameron Bure tweeted. “Bob was one of the best humans beings I’ve ever known in my life. I loved him so much.”

“Bob was the most loving, compassionate and generous man,” the Olsen twins said in a statement. “We are deeply saddened that he is no longer with us but know that he will continue to be by our side to guide us as gracefully as he always has.”

Rounding out the tributes is Andrea Barber who played annoying next door neighbor Kimmy Gibler on the original series and reprised her role for Fuller House:

This one hurts. He had the biggest heart of anyone in Hollywood. He gave the biggest hugs. I am gutted that I will never be able to hug him again. Bob ended every text, every interaction with “Love you.” Didn’t matter how long or short we’d been apart. He loved so deeply and so fiercely. And he never hesitated to tell you just how much you meant to him. This is the greatest lesson I learned from Bob Saget – don’t hesitate to tell people you love them. I feel at peace knowing that Bob knew exactly how much I adore him.

Rest well, my dear friend. I have no doubt you are making everyone in Heaven laugh until their cheeks hurt, just as you did here on Earth.

Saget will be missed, not only by his co-stars but the world at large.

Musicians are selling the rights to their music more often than ever these days, it seems, and now John Legend has joined those ranks: Bloomberg reports that Legend sold his copyrights and rights to royalties of his catalog to KKR & Co. and BMG, with each company getting a 50-percent stake. A regulatory filing notes the deal was actually reached in September.

How much Legend earned in this deal was not disclosed. For reference, though, it was reported last week that David Bowie’s catalog had sold for about $250 million. A few weeks earlier, Bruce Springsteen sold his masters and publishing rights for about twice that much. In December 2020, Stevie Nicks sold 80 percent of her publishing for around $100 million and Bob Dylan also sold his for an unknown amount that “was easily in nine figures.”

While Legend isn’t as established as the aforementioned legacy acts, his discography is impressive. In includes four top-four albums (his first four LPs: 2004’s Get Lifted, 2006’s Once Again, 2008’s Evolver, and 2013’s Love In The Future. His seventh and latest album, Bigger Love, was released in 2020. He also had a No. 1 single in 2013 with “All Of Me,” and other recognizable hits include “Ordinary People” and the Andre 3000 collaboration “Green Light.”

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