Bruce Springsteen has written a number of songs about New Jersey, girls, and girls from New Jersey, so it’s surprising that Tom Waits got around to calling a song “Jersey Girl” before he did. The Boss did cover the single from 1980’s Heartattack and Vine, though, and his version is arguably more well known than the original (the same thing happened to Waits with “Downtown Train” and Rod Stewart). At the very least, it’s more of an honor for Springsteen to call you a “Jersey girl” than Waits. Just ask Rachel Zegler.
Zegler, a girl from Jersey, was delighted when Springsteen visited her on the set of West Side Story. “Bruce Springsteen came three times, and he came to see me sing ‘I Feel Pretty.’ He had his Aviators on, and he’s like, ‘Gotta see the Jersey girl sing.’ And I just peed my pants,” the actress said on The Graham Norton Show. “I was losing my mind. That day, I could not go up and talk to him. It was him and Stephen Sondheim…”
That set visit, the one with Springsteen and the guy who wrote the lyrics to West Side Story (the second most famous Steven/Stephen there), should not be confused with the time the Boss dropped by the same day as composer John Williams and former-president Barack Obama. Who knew they were such big fans of Shrek the Musical?
The announcement was made official on Bad Bunny’s Instagram account. In the video, he’s sitting down with his girlfriend Gabriela Berlingeri before getting up for an aside with his more than 37 million followers.
Check out the “Bad Bunny: World’s Hottest Tour” dates below. Tickets go on sale 1/28 at noon local time here.
08/05 — Orlando, FL @ Camping World Stadium
08/09 — Atlanta, GA @ Truist Park
08/12 — Miami, FL @ Hard Rock Stadium
08/18 — Boston, MA @ Fenway Park
08/20 — Chicago, IL @ Soldier Field
08/23 — Washington DC @ Nationals Park
08/27 — New York City, NY @ Yankee Stadium
09/01 — Houston, TX @ Minute Maid Park
09/07 — San Antonio, TX @ Aladodome
09/09 — Dallas, TX @ AT&T Stadium
09/14 — Oakland, CA @ RingCentral Colisuem
09/17 — San Diego, CA @ PETCO Park
09/23 — Las Vegas, NV @ Allegiant Stadium
09/28 — Phoenix, AZ @ Chase Field
09/30 — Los Angeles, CA @ SoFi Stadium
10/21 — Santo Domingo, DR @ Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez
10/28 — Santiago, Chile @ Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos
11/04 — Buenos Aires, Argentina @ Estadio de Vélez – José Amalfitani
11/11 — Asuncion, Paraguay @ Estadio La Nueva Olla
11/13 — Lima, Peru @ Estadio Nacional
11/16 — Quito, Ecuador @ Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa
11/18 — Medellin, Colombia @ Estadio Atanasio Girardot
11/22 — Panama City, Panama @ Estadio Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez
11/24 — San Jose, Costa Rica @ Estadio Cuscatlán
11/29 — San Pedro Sula, Honduras @ Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano
12/01 — Guatemala City, Guatemala @ Explanada Cardales de Cayalá
12/03 — Monterrey, Mexico @ Estadio BBVA
12/09 — Mexico City, Mexico @ Estadio Azteca
It’s out with the old and in with the new (content, that is) on HBO and HBO Max this February.
The streaming platforms are saying goodbye to the latest seasons of their most anticipated shows — farewell to season two of Euphoria and the debut of that Sex and the City reboot — and hello to a new crop of movies and series worth adding to your binge-watching queue. The sophomore out of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi project Raised By Wolves drops early in the month, as does Steven Soderbergh’s latest thriller, but by the end of February, a Ryan Reynolds action flick and the latest Wes Anderson creation will arrive.
Here’s everything coming to (and leaving) HBO and HBO Max this month.
Raised By Wolves: Season 2 (HBO Max original streaming 2/3)
Ridley Scott’s sci-fi epic returns for a second season on the streamer this month. The first outing followed two androids tasked with raising human children on a mysterious planet but religious wars soon threatened that plan. The show’s second season follows the androids and their brood of children as they join an atheistic society and battle to prevent the extinction of the human race.
KIMI (HBO Max original streaming 2/10)
Zoe Kravitz plays an agoraphobic tech worker who uncovers corruption in the company she works for in this Steven Soderbergh-directed thriller. To make matters worse, as Kravitz’s shut-in tries to get justice for murders committed during a data stream, she must venture out into a pandemic-riddled Seattle and face off against some deadly enemies.
Free Guy (film streaming 2/23)
This Ryan Reynolds starring action flick landing on HBO Max this month may not have performed well at the box office, but it’s a perfectly-good couch watch. The movie follows Reynolds as a video game character who doesn’t know he’s, well, a video game character. Once that epiphany upends his life, he partners with a badass Jodie Comer to save the game from some evil tech bros.
The French Dispatch (film streaming 2/25)
As 2021’s other Timothee Chalamet project, this Wes Anderson project is as quirky, light-hearted, and oddly, moving, as you’d expect knowing the director’s M.O. It brings to life a collection of stories from the final issue of an American magazine published in a fictional 20th-century French city, and it leans on an impressive cast of dramatic and comedic actors to do it.
Here’s Everything Coming To HBO And HBO Max This Month:
Avail. 2/1 3:10 to Yuma, 2007 (HBO) 12 Years A Slave, 2013 (HBO) 21 & Over, 2013 (HBO) A Bridge Too Far, 1977 (HBO) After The Sunset, 2004 (HBO) Airheads, 1994 (HBO) Alex & Emma, 2003 (HBO) Amistad, 1997 An American Haunting, 2005 (HBO) Army Of One, 2020 (HBO) Bad Milo!, 2013 (HBO) Black Dynamite, 2009 The Book Thief, 2013 (HBO) Broken English, 2007 (HBO) The Butterfly Effect, 2004 (Director’s Cuts) (HBO) The Butterfly Effect 2, 2006 (HBO) Calvario, 2019 (HBO) Casa De Mi Padre, 2012 (HBO) Chinatown, 1974 (HBO) Chuck The Dark Half, 1993 (HBO) Defending Your Life, 1991 (HBO) Donnie Darko, 2001 (HBO) Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas, 2000 (HBO) Escobar: Paradise Lost, 2014 (HBO) The Falcon And The Snowman, 1985 (HBO) Fame, 1980 Free Willy 2 The Adventure Home, 1995 (HBO) Free Willy 3 The Rescue, 1997 (HBO) From Paris With Love, 2010 (HBO) Good Deeds, 2012 (HBO) The Hunter, 2011 (HBO) Hyde Park On Hudson, 2012 (HBO) Kick-Ass 2, 2013 (HBO) La Foquita, 2020 (HBO) The Life Before Her Eyes, 2007 (HBO) The Loft, 2014 (HBO) Love & Mercy, 2014 (HBO) Master of Disguise, 2002 (HBO) The Mighty Quinn, 1989 (HBO) Monsters, 2010 (HBO) My Blue Heaven, 1990 (HBO) National Lampoon’s Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj, 2006 (HBO) Network, 1976 Night Owls, 2015 (HBO) Nightmare Alley, 2021 (HBO) No End In Sight, 2007 (HBO) Ondine, 2009 (HBO) The Ones Below, 2015 (HBO) Presenting Princess Shaw, 2015 (HBO) Rabbit Hole, 2010 (HBO) Rango, 2011 (HBO) Red 2, 2013 (HBO) Return To Me, 2000 (HBO) Riddick, 2013 (Director’s Cuts) (HBO) Rob Roy, 1995 (HBO) Rules Of Engagement, 2000 (HBO) Runaway Train, 1985 (HBO) Santa’s Slay, 2005 (HBO) School Ties, 1992 (HBO) The Searchers, 1956 The Secret Garden, 2020 (HBO) Shake!: Otis at Monterey, 1987 Shrink, 2009 (HBO) Splinter, 2008 (HBO) Sugar, 2008 (HBO) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, 2007 (HBO) Terry Bradshaw: Going Deep, Documentary Premiere (HBO) This Is Where I Leave You, 2014 (HBO) Uncommon Valor, 1983 (HBO) Unlocked, 2017 (HBO) The Untouchables, 2011 (HBO) West Side Story, 1961 (HBO) Yun, 2018 (HBO)
Avail. 2/2: Tacoma FD, Season 3
Avail. 2/3: 40 Means Nothing (40 No Es Nada), Max Original Season 1 Premiere And Just Like That…, Max Original Season 1 Finale Cracked, 2021 (HBO) Cry Macho, 2021 (HBO) Looney Tunes Cartoons Valentine’s Extwavaganza!, Max Original Mass Ave, 2021 (HBO) Pure, 2021 (HBO) Raised By Wolves, Max Original Season 2 Premiere The Snakes, 2021 (HBO) When the Sun Sets, 2021 (HBO)
Avail. 2/4: Double Cross Rhodes To The Top Sin Senas Particulares
Avail. 2/5: Rick and Morty, Season 5 Shaq Life, Seasons 1 and 2
Avail. 2/6: Big Trick Energy
Avail. 2/7: Backyard Bar Wars
Avail. 2/9: Smiling Friends, Season 2
Avail. 2/10: About Last Night, Max Original Season 1 Premiere Adventure of the Ring, Max Original Season 1 Premiere The Girl Before, Max Original Season 1 Premiere Just Call Out My Name, Max Original Documentary KIMI, 2022 (Made for Max film) ODO, Max Original Season 2 Premiere
Avail. 2/11: Antlers, 2021 (HBO) Apple & Onion, Season 2C
Avail. 2/13: The Bachelor Winter Games
Avail. 2/15: Icahn: The Restless Billionaire, Documentary Premiere (HBO)
Avail. 2/16: Off The Air, Season 11
Avail. 2/17: Craig of the Creek, Season 4A Dream Raider, Max Original Season 1 Premiere The Many Saints of Newark, 2021 (HBO) Peacemaker, Max Original Season 1 Finale Yabba-Dabba Dinosaurs, Max Original Season 2 Premiere
Avail. 2/18: La Foquita El 10 De La Calle Top Gear, Season 30
Avail. 2/20: Last Week Tonight, Season 9 Premiere (HBO)
Avail. 2/22: Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (HBO)
Avail. 2/23: Free Guy, 2021 (HBO) Robot Chicken, Season 11
Avail. 2/24: Bilardo, Max Original Documentary Premiere Bing, Season 1 Las Bravas, Max Original Season 1 Premiere
Avail. 2/25:
The French Dispatch, 2021 (HBO)
Avail. 2/27: Euphoria, Season 2 Finale (HBO) The Righteous Gemstones, Season 2 Finale (HBO) Somebody Somewhere, Season 1 Finale (HBO)
Here’s Everything Leaving HBO and HBO Max This Month:
Leaving 2/28: 13 Going On 30, 2004 (HBO) 300: Rise of an Empire 1968 The 2000s A Hijacking, 2012 (HBO) Amanpour: Sex & Love Around the World American Dynasties: The Kennedys American Style Amistad Annabelle Comes Home Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown Any Given Sunday Aquaman Beverly Hills Cop, 1984 (HBO) Beverly Hills Cop II, 1987 (HBO) Beverly Hills Cop III, 1994 (HBO) Beyond Reasonable Doubt Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn) Brown Sugar, 2002 (HBO) The Bush Years: Family. Duty. Power. The Cell 2, 2009 (HBO) Charlotte’s Web, 2006 (HBO) Chasing Life with Sanjay Gupta The Cider House Rules, 1999 (HBO) CNN Special: The Trump Insurrection The Color Purple Constantine Cradle 2 the Grave Crazy Rich Asians Crimes of the Century The Curse of La Llorona Dead Again, 2017 (HBO) Dead Wives Club, Season 1 Dear Christmas Death Row Stories, Season 1-5 Detour, 2016 (HBO) The Diary of a Teenage Girl The Disappearance of Alice Creed Drinking Buddies, 2013 (HBO) The Eighties The End: Inside The Last Days of the Obama White House Event Horizon, 1997 (HBO) Fast Company, 1979 (HBO) Feast Of Love, 2007 (HBO) Flawless, 2007 (HBO) Finding Jesus: Faith, Fact, Forgery First Ladies Forensic Files II, Season 1 Fun Size, 2012 (HBO) The Gallows, 2015 (HBO) Gangs Of New York, 2002 (HBO) Gigli Godzilla: King of the Monsters The Good German, 2006 (HBO) The Good Heart, 2009 (HBO) The Goonies The Great Gatsby, 2013 (HBO) Hell in the Heartland: What Happened to Ashley and Lauria? The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, 2005 (HBO) The History of Comedy How It Really Happened, Season 1-5 How To Deal, 2003 (HBO) Imperium, 2016 (HBO) The Hunt with John Walsh Independence Day, 1996 (Special Edition Extended Version) (HBO) It: Chapter 2 Joker Justice League Keeping The Faith, 2000 (HBO) The Killer Truth Kong: Skull Island Lady In The Water, 2006 (HBO) The Legend of Bagger Vance The LEGO Batman Movie Less Than Zero, 1987 (HBO) Lincoln: Divided We Stand Lovelace Macbeth Menace II Society Movie 43, 2013 (HBO) Mo Willems Storytime Shorts! The Movies Mr. Nobody, 2009 (Extended Version) (HBO) Muriel’s Wedding, 1994 (HBO) My Golden Days, 2015 (HBO) National Lampoon’s Dorm Daze 2: College at Sea, 2006 (Unrated Version) (HBO) The Neverending Story II The Next Chapter, 1990 (HBO) The Nineties The Nun Nurse 3D, 2013 (HBO) Ocean’s Eight One Hour Photo, 2002 (HBO) Ouija Origin Of Evil, 2016 (HBO) Paddington 2 Parental Guidance, 2012 (HBO) The People v. The Klan The Photograph, 2020 (HBO) Pitch Perfect, 2012 (HBO) Pope: The Most Powerful Man In History Prime, 2005 (HBO) Prince Avalanche, 2013 (HBO) Race for the White House, Season 1 Ready Player One The Redemption Project The Return Of The Living Dead, 1985 (HBO) A Return to Salem’s Lot Rush Hour Rush Hour 2 Rush Hour 3 Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World, 2012 (HBO) Set Up, 2011 (HBO) Severance, 2006 (HBO) The Seventies Shazam! Showdown In Little Tokyo, 1991 (HBO) Something’s Killing Me Space Cowboys Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy The Story of Late Night Suicide Squad Teen Titans Go! To The Movies Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride Tricky Dick Ultraviolet United Shades of America, Season 1-6 Unmasking a Killer Valentine’s Day Vegas Vacation Vengeance: Killer Coworkers Vengeance: Killer Lovers Vengeance: Killer Neighbors Very Scary People, Season 1 Very Scary People, Season 2 Vice, 2018 (HBO)
Wendy, 2020 (HBO)
We Will Rise: Michelle Obama’s Mission to Educate Girls Around the World
Sarah Palin’s defamation trial against the New York Times (over a 2017 editorial) was set to begin on Monday. This is the same trial where Palin fought against the jury being able to see this footage of her singing “Baby Got Back” while wearing a bear (?) costume. There’s no telling whether that would have happened today, if at all, but we won’t know the answer to that pressing question anytime soon because the trial has been postponed due to the former Alaska governor contracting COVID.
If that news sounds familiar, well, there’s a reason for that. Palin, who recently proclaimed that she’d be vaxxed “over my dead body” has caught Covid already. She’s gone back and forth on the whole pandemic mess, backtracking on her briefly pro-vaccine stance. Last March, she proclaimed herself to be pro-mask and pro-vax while telling people that “anyone can catch this.” Well, Palin (like Glenn Beck) caught it twice.
As The New York Times notes, this is the third time that this trial has been delayed, and here’s how the courtroom announcement went, via The Washington Post:
The trial was expected to begin with jury selection Monday morning, but U.S. District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff told his Manhattan courtroom that he had learned Sunday night that Palin had tested positive on an initial test. “She is, of course, unvaccinated,” he noted.
After she took another test on Monday morning, Rakoff rescheduled the trial for Feb. 3.
The case is a notable one, not only for the potential introduction of a former VP candidate rapping a Sir Mix-A-Lot song but also because this is a major test of First Amendment/freedom-of-the-press protections. As Washington Post notes, it’s also the first libel case (versus the NYT, that is) to hit a courtroom in 18 years. However, the case sure is seeing a lot of obstacles in getting to that courtroom.
Writer and travel guide Sophie Minchilli — author of Eating Rome and nine more Italian-focused, food-centric books — knows a thing or two about authentic Italian cuisine. She’s been leading food tours across Italy for eight years now, working alongside her mom (in the classic Italian tradition). Together, the duo ferry groups of food lovers all over the country for week-long culinary deep dives, from Rome to Sicily to Umbria to Puglia.
Minchilli’s most recent book, The Sweetness of Doing Nothing: Living Life the Italian Way with Dolce Far Niente, offers an insider’s look at the rituals that make up day-to-day life in Italy — from a traditional Sunday lunch and the right way to drink coffee to summers spent at the beach. To mark the release, we asked Minchilli to share her guide to the best restaurants in her home city of Rome, where her expertise is unparalleled.
Sophie Minchilli
“I’ve included a mixture of traditional restaurants and some more ‘modern’ ones,” she tells us. “Even though Roman cuisine will always be defined by a very specific set of ingredients and recipes — like cacio e pepe, amatriciana, carbonara — there are some newer ‘trattorias’ and street food shops that have managed to stay faithful to traditional recipes and ingredients while elevating them and adapting them to our generation. I’ve also included a gelato shop, a takeaway pizza place, and a natural wine bar. Street food has always been very important in Rome, and there are some great new places that should be on your list whenever you visit Rome next.”
Set in a working-class neighborhood outside the historic center, Cesare serves all the Roman classics, some of them including his own twist, like the fried gnocchi served on a bed of cacio e pepe sauce. They also serve fresh seafood dishes. If you are not in the mood for meat but if you are in the mood for some Roman classics, their cacio e pepe and amatriciana are to die for!
After lunch, take a walk in the nearby Villa Pamphili, a breathtaking public park filled with locals.
The rule in Rome is to have three gelatos a day, and this should be one of them! Otaleg finally opened its first shop in Rome’s historic center (Trastevere), which makes it extra easy to stop by for a cone or cup of their artisanal gelato. The flavors change daily based on seasonality and ingredient availability, which is always a great sign!
If you are feeling extra adventurous, they sometimes feature ‘strange’ savory flavors like gorgonzola and tomatoes.
Pizza is like a religion in Rome. Just like pasta, Romans are very picky with their pizza and like it a specific way, which usually means thin, crispy, and with the right amount of toppings. L’elementare is a fairly new opening in Rome and has quickly become one of my favorites. The first rule of eating pizza in Rome: start with a mixture of fried things like supplì (fried rice ball) and fried lasagna — yes, this place makes fried lasagna!
Whenever I have friends visiting in Rome, this is the first place I take them to because it never disappoints. Flavio is a classic Roman trattoria and this is the place where you should order all four of the Holy Roman pastas to share: amatriciana, carbonara, cacio e pepe, and gricia. Flavio is also known for his ‘trippa alla Romana’: tripe stewed in tomato sauce with fresh mint and lots of grated pecorinos.
This is one of the newer restaurants in Rome, where two brothers in their 30s decided to cook the traditional recipes taught to them by their mother and grandma but elevate the dishes with high-quality ingredients and technique. They often have offal on their menu, so if you’ve been curious to try some of these dishes, this is the place to go.
Sunday lunch has always been a big deal for Italians, and this is my favorite place to do so. It’s had the same waiters since I was a baby, same menu, and same décor. It just feels like home. Because it’s located on the second floor of a building in the Jewish ghetto, it makes it a little hard to spot, which means little to no tourists!
Try their creamy tagliolini al limone and carciofo alla giudea (deep-fried artichoke), and say hello to Mauro the waiter for me!
If there is another thing Romans are obsessed with, it’s pizza al taglio, which literally translates to pizza by the cut. This kind of pizza is sold by weight, so you point out how much you want of each kind, they weigh it, you pay, and then eat it. Their crust is one of the best I’ve ever had in my life, and their toppings are always unusual (in a good way), seasonal and fresh. My favorite is the one with zucchini blossoms, stracciatella, and anchovies
Natural wines have become hugely popular in Rome, and I am very thankful for it. A tiny bar in the middle of Trastevere, l’Antidoto is everything you could wish for: very few tables, natural wines from all over the world, and of course a delicious food menu that changes all the time. The staff is very nice and helpful, I often come here and completely lose any concept of time, it just feels like hanging out at your friend’s place.
After an almost two year long delay due to the pandemic, No Time To Die finally hit theaters in November, and with it, came the close of Daniel Craig‘s tenure as James Bond. The actor was well-received when he took over the reins from Pierce Brosnan in the quasi-reboot Casino Royale, which modernized the franchise with a grittier tone and Jason Bourne-esque fight scenes that were all the rage in the mid-aughts. Now, legendary Bond producer Barbara Broccoli finds herself in the unenviable position of trying to find the next Bond, and she recently sat down with Deadline‘s Crew Call podcast to talk about the process.
According to Broccoli, she’s naturally hesitant to begin a formal search for a new 007, and she also wants to make sure No Time To Die has “had its run” so Craig can soak in his final turn as the famed British agent. However, she surprisingly confirmed that Idris Elba is in the mix as a potential replacement. Although, the seasoned producer was careful not to say anything too concrete. Via IndieWire:
“We know Idris, I’m friends with him,” she said. “He’s a magnificent actor.” However, she made sure to remain noncommittal about any potential casting and said that any conversations up to this point have been purely hypothetical. While fans have been speculating about Daniel Craig’s replacement for years, the producer did not want to begin work on her next casting search until he had officially departed. “You know, [Elba has] been part of the conversation, but it’s always difficult to have a conversation when you have somebody in the seat,” she said.
When it seemed like Craig would exit the franchise after Spectre, Elba became a name that was repeatedly floated by 007 fans, and it seems like the Broccolis have taken notice. However, Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page quickly shot to the top of betting markets’ lists after his performance in the Netflix series left women across the globe swooning. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see who emerges as the next James Bond and whether the decades-long franchise will finally shake things up in the casting department.
As Rolling Stonereports, the deal is likely worth “between low-to-mid nine-figures for the masters.” For a better understanding of the difference, RS does a fine job of explaining it clearly: “All songs have two copyrights. Recorded rights pertain to a specific recording, including the master tracks, while publishing rights comprise the song’s composition such as music and lyrics. Recorded rights are tied more directly to streaming and sales royalties while publishing rights pertain more to performances and use in film and television.”
Back to Dylan, who has been signed to the Sony-owned Columbia Records for essentially his whole career since the 1960s: This deal ensures that the gatekeepers of his music are an entity whom he has a long-standing relationship with and that his proverbial nest egg is in place.
“Columbia Records and Rob Stringer have been nothing but good to me for many, many years and a whole lot of records,” Dylan said in a statement. “I’m glad that all my recordings can stay where they belong.”
In 2020, the artist formerly known as Priscilla Renea decided it was time for a change. She’d been successful in the industry as a songwriter, penning records for the likes of Rihanna (“California King Bed”), Ariana Grande (“Imagine“), Pitbull and Kesha (“Timber“), Fifth Harmony (“Worth It”), and more. While these are all undoubtedly successful records, a fresh start was what she truly desired. So in 2020, Renea changed her stage name to what we all know her by today: Muni Long. Between then and now, Long used her veteran experience, combined with the appearance of being a new artist, to do things her way.
And then she struck gold. At the end of 2021, Long released Public Displays Of Affection, her third project under her new stage name. In a matter of a month, “Hrs And Hrs” from the project grew to not only be a fan favorite from the project but a viral record on TikTok as well. The song is a sultry and immensely passionate record that manifests a love that lasts a lifetime. However, the track’s success didn’t stop there. Just a month in 2022, “Hrs And Hrs” has climbed upward on the Billboard Hot 100 chart where it currently sits at No. 25. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we can expect the song to grow even more and reach new heights.
We caught up with Muni Long to talk about the record, her growth as an artist and songwriter, and what she hopes the future for herself and the industry looks like.
With the success you’re experiencing as Muni Long, it’s also brought attention to your past work as Priscilla Renea, thus elevating your past and current chapters. How has this experience been watching it all unfold?
I’m just happy to always be able to be free and express myself in whatever way I want to, I think that’s the power of the internet. Also, when you just choose fearlessly to exist the way you want to exist, and you’re able to be your most authentic self, then people will love you for it and accept you. I think part of that, what people don’t really maybe cling on is that I’m everything that doing it for the pure joy of this is just what I want to be doing. My intention is not to go viral or have everybody love what I’m doing, I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less about that part. I think that’s part of the magic, right? It was like a balance between focusing on what you want and attracting it and then creating that distance so it’s like you’re not desperate for it when it comes to you. I’m just excited that I finally figured out that formula because I know that that means I can do this over and over again.
How did you learn to deal with the frustrations of being boxed in as a songwriter despite wanting to break out as your own established artists?
I’ve been like, really, really high and then really, really low. I’ve always believed in the idea that you got to keep going and because I have had like some crazy health scares and moments where I was like, “Oh, sh*t, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to sing again,” you sort of lose that concern for what everybody else thinks. I’m already very down to earth, but I think having some really humbling moments where you realize, “dang you really can lose it all,” it just makes you just live carefree. I’m just glad to be here, glad to be alive, glad to be able to breathe, you know, just simple things like that. Everything else is a bonus., an extra. I think me getting to that place mentally, spiritually, [and] emotionally has contributed to the success of the song, the success of my Muni Long project. I don’t know, I’m just really happy to be alive.
Your success on TikTok with “Hrs And Hrs” is similar to that which you achieved on YouTube to start your career. What inspirations or anything at all did you keep in mind when it was time to use TikTok to your advantage?
I don’t think anything was specific to the song. My strategy was just to get back to being my authentic self: goofy, not caring about what people think about me, blocking all the negativity — literally like I’ll block and delete it. Really just liking all the comments and having a rapport with enough of my following to actually respond to people or have a relationship with them. I wouldn’t say that we’re friends — I mean a couple of people, like literally maybe one or two, I’ve actually become close with outside of the internet, like, we talked on the phone and hang out. But I actually have a rapport with my supporters, like my true supporters. I could tell, I just know who really are the ones who really f*ck with me, and the ones who are just here because of the song, it’s love to all kinds of traffic. I think the strategy is to actually care about the people you’re asking to support and listen to your music. I actually really do care about them and I want them to feel inspired and uplifted by what I’m giving them.
Looking at how things went for you after your YouTube success, what have you learned from then that you plan to do differently with your resurgence?
Just keep the negativity to a minimum. I don’t want to engage in any drama. I just want to have fun, that’s it. Have fun, keep making great music, perform, connect with people, [and] experience the best things in life.
With “Hrs And Hrs,” what was the one moment where you realized this song was going to be bigger than you ever imagined?
Okay, so I was home, like Christmas — no, it was New Year’s Eve. I went home to visit my parents, me and my husband were supposed to be on vacation, but that didn’t work out. We ended up going to my mom’s house in Florida and I was on the way back home from Chick Fil A with my husband and we were just in the car and I heard the song playing and I kind of panicked like hold up, where’s that coming from? I don’t know why I panicked, but I just was nervous for a second, like, what the hell? My phone is not on, the radio is not on, what is that? I realized that the car next to us was blasting the song, and I was like, “Oh sh*t, she’s playing the song.” Then she merged over in front of us and we could see her finger waving like she was singing the song. I was like, “Oh that’s crazy!.” At first, it felt like a video game. It just didn’t feel real
How would you describe your growth as Muni Long over the past two years?
I think there’s being confident in who I am, really enforcing the boundary of love and light, positivity, [and] manifesting what you want on songs like “Build A Bae.” There’s “Hrs And Hrs” which people have said that they’ve been using as an affirmation song to manifest love. I think people are always looking for some type of drama, they’re always trying to start something. One of my things as an artist is to just really enforce that I don’t want to be a part of that. Let’s have fun, let’s elevate, let’s grow as people and individuals, let’s encourage each other, and let’s support each other’s artistry. I’m starting to see the fruits of that in my life behind the scenes. As I continue to exist in the spotlight, people will see more of that where I’m collaborating with a lot of these other dope female artists. Collaborations are coming with some of the guys too, it’s just like that message is gonna continue to permeate. Beefing is really stupid to me, I’m just happy to be alive. I don’t wanna beef with nobody, but that’s the biggest thing to me for Muni Long. Even the name Muni Long is an affirmation. My whole life is centered around attracting the best possible out of this universe and you can’t do that when you have any type of blockages or animosity. Of course, you need darkness in order for life to exist and vice versa, but I just choose to be the light and that’s really the biggest thing.
How have things changed for you in the past couple of months, even on the most minimal scale possible? How are you handling it?
It’s pretty crazy what the internet can do for you. Honestly, the best way to explain it is I don’t know if you’ve ever walked into church late? Or walk into class late and everybody turned around and look at you? It really feels like I walk into a stadium of people and everybody turned around and looked at me at the same time. It’s like, “Damn! Okay.” It’s not a bad thing, I’m ready for it, it’s like, I can take it but all of y’all just turned around at the same time? My Instagram went crazy. Or the last two weeks. Like last week, I was getting like 60,000-70,000 followers a day. My Instagram went from 80k to 361k [followers]. That’s nuts! It happened super fast. The kind of attention that I’m getting now is different. The other day I went to lunch with my friends, and four people walked in the restaurant waving at me, you know, “Oh can I take a picture?” I’m like, yo that’s crazy. Now, I’m at the point, like, I went out on Sunday, and somebody was filming me while I was eating my food. They posted on Instagram and I was like, okay that’s weird. Stuff like that is weird, but you know, what you gonna do?
It’s a new year and you’ve already experienced so much success. What are some additional goals that you have for yourself both musically and personally?
I just want to keep exploring the depths of my talent. I know that this is the song that blew up and it’s super R&B, but I rap, you know, I have all these things that I can do that I want to do. I just want to have fun, so just being able to have success on multiple levels. Doing some Latin music, you know, just exploring. Then getting into the fashion world and the beauty world, maybe some film and television. I just want to explore my creativity.
You’ve got the attention of the industry as you’re one the most talked-about artists. What’s one or two things that you’d ask from the industry?
I just wish that people in general were nicer. I went through hell in the beginning, like the first 5-7 years of my career, people can just be really mean. You never know what people are going through. Like how people were making fun of Chadwick Boseman for being so skinny, and then they found out he was sick. Why do we feel so comfortable picking on people? I never understood that. That would be one thing, and I know that’s not really the industry, but I think artists kind of set the standard, right? If we come out and speak up against certain things, or if there were more programs or opportunities for us to encourage kindness? I know it sounds like such a small thing, but I don’t know, I just hate it. A lot of these fans — not to like name anyone specific but I think we know who we’re talking about here, like different groups that support artists, they’re really mean. They’re mean to other artists, they’re mean to other fans, it’s like that energy is not cool.
Public Displays Of Affection is out now via Supergiant Records. You can stream it here.
Chris Evans and noted dinosaur enthusiast The Rock have been cast in a new holiday movie from Amazon. From director Jake Kasdan, who previously worked with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on the Jumanji reboot, the film will be titled Red One, and is expected to shot later this year. Few plot details have been released, but it’s expected to be a genre-bending action-adventure comedy, with some holiday cheer mixed in.
An original story, Red Ones will have a screenplay by Chris Morgan, who has worked with Seven Bucks Productions on several Fast and Furious movies, which The Rock has famously starred in. The Rock has had a busy few years, starring in Red Notice (seemingly unrelated to Red Ones) and Disney’s action-adventure film Jungle Cruise, based on the mediocre Disney ride. Oh, he also has a giant T-Rex skull replica, for some reason.
Meanwhile, Evans has been exploring other genres after his final stint as superhero Captain America in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. He recently had a small cameo in Netflix’s satirical doomsday comedy Don’t Look Up, and stars Apple TV’s series Defending Jacob, where he played an acting DA who’s son is charged with murder. He will also voice a young Buzz Lightyear in the upcoming Pixar prequel.
The weekly top-10 reveal of the new Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated January 29) is out now, and it shows this this is a big week for two of the most notable chart stories of recent times.
First and foremost, Adele’s “Easy On Me” is No. 1 for a tenth total week, which makes Adele just the seventh artist to ever have multiple songs spend at least ten weeks at No. 1. She’s also the first artist to ever have two songs spend ten weeks at No. 1 and two albums spend two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with “Hello,” “Easy On Me,” 21, and 25. The former was on top for 24 weeks, while the three later each topped their respective charts for ten weeks.
.@Adele‘s “Easy On Me” is officially No. 1 on this week’s #Hot100 chart for a 10th week.
She becomes the 7th act in history to earn multiple 10-week No. 1 songs.
.@Adele is the first artist in history to have two songs spend 10 weeks at No. 1 on the #Hot100 and two albums spend 10 weeks at No. 1 on the #Billboard200, thanks to “Hello,” “Easy On Me,” ’21’ and ’25.’
The other big chart news of the week is the continued success of Encanto. Aside from yesterday’s reveal that the soundtrack album was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 yet again, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” has risen to No. 2 on the Hot 100, a new peak. That’s almost a new peak for songs from animated Disney films, too, as the only such track to chart above “Bruno” is “A Whole New World” from Aladdin, which topped the chart in 1993.
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” from @EncantoMovie, rises 4-2 on this week’s #Hot100, reaching a new peak.
On top of that, “Bruno” isn’t even the only Encanto song in this week’s top ten, as “Surface Pressure,” credited on the chart to Jessica Darrow (who voices Luisa Madrigal in the film), has risen to No. 10. This makes the Encanto soundtrack the first one for a Disney animated film to place two songs in the top ten of the Hot 100.
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” from @EncantoMovie, rises 4-2 on this week’s #Hot100, reaching a new peak.
.@EncantoMovie is now the first soundtrack from a @DisneyAnimation film to earn multiple #Hot100 top 10s, thanks to “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” (No. 2) and “Surface Pressure” (No. 10).
“Bruno” previously became Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first top-ten song (as he wrote it and all other Encanto songs), and now “Surface Pressure” is his second.
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