Month: January 2022

In the first half of 2021, it was revealed that Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, along with Sons Of Kemet’s Tom Skinner, had formed a new band called The Smile. Smiles are just what they inspired earlier this month when they shared their debut single, “You Will Never Work In Television Again.” Now they’re back with another new song, “The Smoke.”

While the first single was a relatively straightforward rocker, the new one is more in line with the alternative feel of Radiohead’s music. The first minute or so of the tune is all rhythm, with drums and bass setting the groove before Yorke’s vocals come in, after which the atmosphere gets filled with some brass, guitar, and other sounds.

Meanwhile, the band is preparing for a trio of live shows at Magazine London on January 29 and 30. In-person tickets naturally sold out, even after the band made more available beyond the initial offering, but fans have multiple options to check out the livestream of the concerts: Tickets to watch the presentation at home are available, and the show will be streamed at some independent venues and theaters across the UK, Europe, and the US. More information is available on the band’s website.

Listen to “The Smoke” above.

After Paris Hilton and Jimmy Fallon‘s embarrassing attempt to push NFTs during Monday night’s episode of The Tonight Show, you’d think celebrities would steer clear of the crypto controversy for a moment. But, nope, here comes Gwyneth Paltrow diving straight into NFT waters. The Goop entrepreneur and retired MCU actress got in on the Bored Ape action on Thursday by promoting the NFTs on her Twitter account.

Unlike Reese Witherspoon, Paltrow’s enthusiasm for NFTs has so far been tame, but that didn’t stop the dunks from furiously flying in as people reacted to the wellness guru getting in on the scheme. We’re talking about a woman who claimed a year into a pandemic that she popularized people wearing masks. Not to mention, the time she said she invented yoga. When you think about it, it’s actually amazing that Paltrow waited this long before hawking crypto. Although, in fairness, she was busy selling vagina scented candles that or may not be at risk of explosion.

“It’s really incredible that Gwyneth Paltrow would soil her good name by getting involved in an ugly scam designed to fleece total imbeciles,” MKupperman sarcastically tweeted. “Who could have predicted it?”

“Cannot express how on brand it is for Gwyneth Paltrow to be into pyramid schemes,” tweeted another user.

You can see the ongoing avalanche of dunks on Paltrow below:

(Via Gwyneth Paltrow on Twitter)

A new project from Frank Ocean has been on the horizon for years. Remember when he hinted at a new LP with his 2019 songs “DHL” and “In My Room“? Yeah, that never happened. Ocean’s fans were probably excited to see the musician’s name trending on Twitter Wednesday evening, presuming it be news about Ocean’s next release. So one can imagine their disappointment when they instead found a cover of “Swim Good” by none other than Megan Fox’s blood-drinking fiancé, Machine Gun Kelly.

Machine Gun Kelly has been very prolific when it comes to his own music, after having dropped his well-received Tickets To My Downfall and announcing yet another Travis Barker-produced album. But this week, the musician decided to take on Oceans’ Nostalgia, Ultra mixtape fan-favorite “Swim Good.” Machine Gun Kelly said it’s one of his “favorite” songs, and infused some of his now-signature pop-punk style into the cover. He also recorded a video to accompany the cover, which sees him wistfully singing the song against an ocean backdrop.

While Machine Gun Kelly was overjoyed to share the rendition, Ocean fans didn’t quite feel the same way. Sharing their disappointment about the cover on Twitter, people absolutely dunked on Machine Gun Kelly while taking it upon themselves to apologize to Ocean for his cover.

Listen to Machine Gun Kelly’s cover and see how Ocean fans reacted above.

YoungBoy Never Broke Again — aka NBA Youngboy — has had his fair share of run-ins with the law, and according to TMZ, his latest resulted in three arrests. YoungBoy’s home in Texas was raided on Tuesday by Harris County SWAT officers with a warrant connected to a November shooting. Three men — Carleon Gallien, Daryl Brown, and Roymellow Williams — were arrested on charges of aggravated assault and aggravated robbery for allegedly shooting a 20-year-old man in the body and head while robbing him.

In addition to the arrests, police confiscated pistols, long guns, and AR-15s from the property, which could spell trouble for YoungBoy, a convicted felon. Although he was not arrested, YoungBoy pled guilty to aggravated assault with a firearm in 2017 after being arrested for a 2016 incident where he allegedly shot at a group of people on a South Baton Rouge street. In 2018, he was arrested for kidnapping thanks to a video of him dragging his then-girlfriend through a hotel room hallway. While he was given a suspended sentence, in 2019, he violated conditions of his parole by consorting with felons and posting on social media, and last year, he was arrested again on a federal warrant after leading officers on a foot chase in March.

It’s been a while since some odd Texas conservative lady has stirred up trouble for a local school, so meet Michelle Evans, a Republican candidate for the Texas State House of Representatives. On Sunday, the GOP candidate responded to an already debunked right-wing claim that litter boxes are being placed in Michigan school bathrooms to accommodate “furries” and raised the stakes by throwing another wild rumor in the mix.

“Cafeteria tables are being lowered in certain @RoundRockISD middle and high schools to allow “furries” to more easily eat without utensils or their hands (ie, like a dog eats from a bowl),” Evans tweeted on Sunday.

Like the litter box claim, Evans’ wild rumor was quickly shot down by the Round Rock school district, who was understandably baffled by the whole thing. Via Texas Monthly:

Jenny LaCoste-Caputo, Round Rock ISD’s chief of public affairs and communications, told Texas Monthly, “This is not happening. Our tables don’t even have the option of lowering.” She added, “You win the award for strangest media question of the year!” When reached for an interview about her tweet, Evans said she had “no comment” and was “merely relaying information” that she received from another parent. She promised to put other parents and students who could speak to her claim in touch with Texas Monthly. As of press time, we have yet to hear from anyone who could offer firsthand knowledge of what Evans described in her post.

Evans’ random furries claim arrives just a few months after Texas resident, Kara Bell, went viral for screaming about how she’ll never have anal sex during a school board meeting on banning the book Out of Darkness from the district libraries. However, unlike Evan’s furries panic, people actually took Bell seriously, and the book was banned from the district as well as others across the country. Apparently, the secret ingredient is butt sex? Texas is weird.

(Via Texas Monthly)

The Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos entered the NFL’s coaching carousel earlier this month. Chicago made the decision to move on from Matt Nagy after four years at the helm of the franchise, while Denver opted to fire Vic Fangio after three years. The former led his team to the playoffs twice during his tenure, losing in the Wild Card round both times, while the latter never made it to the postseason.

On Thursday, both teams reportedly came to decisions on who will fill those vacancies, and both have made the decision to turn to first-time head coaches. The Bears are going with a more defense-minded head coach, as reports indicate the team will hire Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.

Eberflus started his career in the college ranks and served as the defensive coordinator at Missouri from 2001-08 before coming to the NFL in 2009 with the Cleveland Browns. Since 2018, he’s been at the helm of the Colts defense, and his work with the unit led to him getting the job over a pair of ex-head coaches, per Schefter.

As for the Broncos, they’ve decided to go in a more offensive direction. The team reportedly swooped in and kept Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett from interviewing with the Jacksonville Jaguars by making him their head coach.

Hackett was the offensive coordinator in Buffalo and Jacksonville before filling that role for the Packers in 2019.

The spokesperson for disgraced comedian Bill Cosby is not happy about the upcoming docuseries We Need To Talk About Cosby, which premieres this Sunday, January 30th.

In a statement to People, Cosby’s spokesperson blasted the new series, calling it a “PR hack.”

“Let’s talk about Bill Cosby. Mr. Cosby has spent more than 50 years standing with the excluded; made it possible for some to be included; standing with the disenfranchised; and standing with those women and men who were denied respectful work …because of race and gender… within the expanses of the entertainment industries.”

The statement comes just days before the W. Kamau Bell series is set to air on Showtime. The docuseries consists of new and archival footage, including interviews with many brave women who have come forward to discuss their harrowing experiences with Bill Cosby over his nearly 60-year career.

Last year, Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Cosby’s sexual assault conviction, despite being previously sentenced for up to 10 years. The release caused many questionable responses from celebrities, including former co-star Phylicia Rashad. Rapper Kid Cudi called those people “f*cking idiots.”

The spokesperson continues: “Mr. Cosby continues to be the target of numerous media that have, for too many years, distorted and omitted truths … intentionally. Despite media’s repetitive reports of allegations against Mr. Cosby, none have ever been proven in any court of law. Let’s talk about Bill Cosby. Mr. Cosby vehemently denies all allegations waged against him. Let’s talk about Bill Cosby. He wants our nation to be what it proclaims itself to be: a democracy.”

The first episode of We Need To Talk About Cosby airs this Sunday, January 30th, at 10 pm ET on Showtime.

Cardi B has been involved in several lawsuits since rising to fame, but a big win came for her on Monday. A jury ordered blogger Tasha K, whose real name is Latasha Kebe, to pay the rapper $1.5 million in damages. The decision sided with Cardi, who claimed Kebe defamed her with false accusations about past sex work, STIs, and drug addiction. But even though Kebe lost the case, she apparently still plans on seeking an appeal — and vows to take it all the way to the Supreme Court.

Following the court’s decision Monday, Kebe took to her YouTube channel to promise fans she’s still fighting the lawsuit. “These last four years fighting this conspiracy case have been extremely challenging, and yet I wouldn’t change a single thing about any of it. I’ve learned so much,” she told her viewers.

Kebe went on to say she’s actually planning to expand her blogging business, saying the case was “meant to drain” her financially, but it didn’t.

“I know ya’ll maybe think this is over, but no, this is just the beginning,” she said. “I will spend as many years as I can to protect our right to voice our opinions. […] This trial was purely sympathy and payola to protect corporate interests, and we intend to take this all the way to the Supreme Court if need be.”

Cardi, on the other hand, celebrated her victory on Twitter. Rather than flaunting her win, Cardi simply said she hopes to speak with Meghan Markle, who won a privacy lawsuit against UK tabloid Mail On Sunday earlier this year.

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

Not much is known about Kanye West’s upcoming album Donda 2 but at least now we know when it’s allegedly coming out. The mercurial producer/rapper shared the release date with a fiery Instagram post depicting his childhood home going up in flames — a repeated image from the rollout for the original Donda album — with the date “2/22/22.” The palindromic nature of the release is about par for the course for Ye, who I’m honestly surprised didn’t already fall heavily into numerology like Jim Carrey in The Number 23. He also says the album’s executive produced by Future.

Of course, with Kanye, release dates are more like guidelines than actual rules — shout out to The Pirate’s Code. The original Donda blew through three different release dates over the course of the year and a half in which Ye continued to tease it. This was after the chaotic release schedules of his 2018 G.O.O.D Music projects with Pusha T, Kid Cudi, Teyana Taylor, and Nas, which all arrived well after their promised release dates. So, while 2/22/22 makes for a cool-sounding release date, knowing Kanye’s penchant for tinkering, it’s probably best not to get your hopes up. Oddly enough, that’s also the release date for Kanye’s Yeezy collaboration with LA streetwear brand Skid Row Fashion Show, so perhaps he’s timing all these things together in the hopes of increasing exposure all around.

As for what the album will include… well… that’s anyone’s guess. He first teased the album with a text thread from Moneybagg Yo, so the Memphis rapper could feature on the project, and Ye did release the Pete Davidson-threatening “Eazy” this month, but that doesn’t mean either will actually appear on the album. The only thing that remains for sure is Kanye’s appetite for drama, and with this announcement, the latest round of rollout theatre can truly begin.