Month: January 2022

Tobe Nwigwe returned with a new Get Twisted Sundays release this week, deciding to address some of his online detractors in the “Undressing Criticism” video. This time around, Tobe takes a sharp left turn from the usual aggressive vibe of songs for a tender reflection on his and his wife Martika’s — aka Fat — relationship, which recently came under fire online after the two opened up about their rocky start in a confessional video years ago.

After an interview with Erykah Badu brought renewed attention to the old video, commenters, gossip bloggers, and YouTubers lashed out at the honest way the couple presented their story. One reaction video is titled, “Why Black Women Will Always Be An After Thought [sic],” while comments on the original video suggest that viewers feel Tobe said he settled for her because he did not originally want a relationship.

However, here the couple is, four years, three kids, and a viral rise to stardom later, and Fat remains central to Tobe’s music, often contributing verses or vocals to his Sunday single releases and nearly always popping up in the videos for songs like “Fye Fye” and “The Truth,” and performing with him on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. In “Undressing Criticism,” he calls out those critics, rhyming, “How the hell is one offended when presented with someone’s genuine experience that don’t make or break you doing you?” Fat even comes in at the end with a spoken-word piece encouraging the people in the peanut gallery to find healing so that don’t feel the need to lash out over someone else’s story.

Watch Tobe Nwigwe’s “Undressing Criticism” video above.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

The sheer elegance of Tahliah Debrett Barnett’s dancing skills have, up until this point, frequently eclipsed her voice. Barnett, who performs under the name FKA Twigs, uses her body to communicate in ways that most of us can only dream of. A breakout video for the artist, “Water Me,” used Twigs’ face like a puppet, with giant, oversized eyes blinking in a tightly shrunken face, her expression conveying more in those blinks, or the slight curl of her lip, than in the timbre of her voice. Her vocals were exquisite, but her body kept score. In the clip, she describes a distanced lover, who tells her she is “so small.” Her rebuttal? Water me.

In subsequent videos, her body was showcased in the consensual BDSM of “Papi Pacify,” the faux pregnancy and woodland voguing of “Glass & Patron,” and, most notably, the absolutely arresting pole dancing that dominates her 2019 single, “Cellophane.” It wasn’t that the music on Twigs’ glitchy debut, LP1, or its very formal, very sad follow-up, Magdalene wasn’t excellent, it always was, but there was a sense of remove in her songs even when the lyrics reveled in vulnerability. That entire dynamic has flipped on Caprisongs, a brand new full-length release from Twigs, who has frequently used shorter EP style releases when she wasn’t in album mode instead of the more casual mixtape style.

On her first mixtape, Caprisongs (a play on her astrological sign, Capricorn), she reveals a side that fans have rarely seen. Listeners have known Twigs, the creative perfectionist with an inferiority complex, on Caprisongs they meet Twigs the Capricorn, Twigs the giggly friend, Twigs the “rockstar girlfriend.” (“I’m not the rockstar’s girlfriend, I’m the rockstar girlfriend, do y’know what I mean?” she asserts, during one conversation snippet.) Created in the timeframe directly following her choice to go public with the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse she received at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, Shia LaBeouf, the tape is a decidedly communal offering. Like many other trauma survivors, Twigs is taking comfort in finding support in others, letting shared experience stand-in for the specifics of her own life. But snippets of dialogue with friends and collaborators, and a more relaxed, linear style in the songwriting gives a deeper look into Twigs’ psyche than her past work.

Kicking off with the bodacious “Ride The Dragon,” the “Water Me” narrative has reversed; no longer is Twigs the rejected woman, not good enough for her unrequited crush, but she’s a confident, sex-positive partner: “Really wanna kiss me? Kiss me, Do it quickly, do it,” she demands. In an interview with Variety, Barnett described her past projects as touching on “personal, very specific things,” and this new tape as something she created with others in mind. “I think it was the first time as an artist that I felt the desire to create something for other people,” she explained. “It would be naïve to believe that it made them feel better… but I did want to provide truth, honesty, light and joy to people, to remind them what we had, and are grateful for.”

That lightness and joy comes through in spades on songs like “Meta Angel,” where Twigs uses cathedral vocals during a quest for spiritual support, leaving the door open for a celestial being to fly through. On a track like “Oh My Love,” Twigs includes stories from other women about the distress they’ve experienced in relationships with men, along with uplifting monologues encouraging self-love in each other. Not every aspect is cheerful — one of the tape’s earliest singles, “Tears In The Club” with The Weeknd, is, ostensibly a song about being miserable on the dancefloor. But, in this era, it’s got enough bass to make it actually danceable — something of a departure for Twigs (or, at least, danceable enough for the rest of us non-professionals dancers out at the club).

Embracing the effortless diversity of her native London, and arguably even tapping into her father’s Jamaican roots, there’s plenty of dancehall inflections on Caprisongs, like the standout “Papi Bones,” a true celebration of the freedom of dance and what it represents. Again, anyone who has seen Twigs perform has experienced her feelings about the artform on some level, but this song lays out the subject within the accompanying monologue. Another pair of standouts, “Jealousy” and “Honda” similarly embrace a more blunt, carefree song form, mixing afrobeat and dancehall in the way that mainstream chart-toppers have recently. “Which Way,” track that sounds like early Grimes, gets into the uncertainty and disillusionment that most women who have worked in the music industry will relate to, and, as an antidote, “Lightbeamers” is a lullaby for the burnt out.

As far as Twigs’ place in a grueling industry goes, her recent signing to a US deal with Atlantic Records indicates that the visions she has for her career might’ve expanded past the disillusioned phase. Though she’s always been an under-the-radar force, if Caprisongs is an example of what’s coming next, the sky’s the limit for this artist’s appeal. “It was time for me to move on,” Twigs told Variety of the shift. “Going to Atlantic, I feel as if this could be a brilliant home for me. It’s OK for me to strive for more. That’s what Caprisongs is for me: an OK for me to learn laugh and smile.” But even on the most mainstream Twigs release, there’s still room for the avant garde. Her formerly darker production style is decidedly back for two Arca collabs: “Tears In The Club” and closer “Thank You,” where she goes as far as discussing her own suicidal ideation. The latter is a chance for her to put voice to her darkest feelings, finding hope in the act of voicing them. Building into a towering, Imogen Heap-esque electrified hymnal, this song’s blazing scope is, in itself, an argument for life.

Filled with interludes, brief, minute-thirty sonic snippets, and joyful fleets of harmonies that reappear throughout like summoned angels, the project hearkens back to a mixtape culture. Her patchwork framework lets licks, rewinds, sped-up vocals, and slurry, downtempo voices construct the emotional architecture of this song collection. And, unsurprisingly, the ethos of the whole tape can be summed up in a piece from one of the “Oh My Love” monologues, when the speaker asserts: “I love you, and I wish you could see in you what I see in you, what everyone sees in you!” before continuing: “Because that’s the golden stuff right there.” And in that sample, Twigs’ voice couldn’t be louder.

Caprisongs is out now via Atlantic Records. Get it here.

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

As Finneas has ascended to fame thanks to his work with Billie Eilish, producing/writing for other artists, and his own solo music, he has rubbed shoulders with some big-time players in the music industry. An encounter with Taylor Swift, though, was actually one of his most embarrassing moments.

Over the weekend, a fan on Instagram asked Finneas for his “most embarrassing moment,” and Finneas responded, “I said ‘thanks for coming’ to Taylor swift at her own birthday party- Meant to say ‘thanks for inviting me’ or whatever obviously.”

Finneas shouldn’t feel too bad, as a fan noted that Swift herself actually had a similar moment with Troye Sivan. Swift invited Sivan to sing on stage with her, and after the song, Swift said, “Thank you so much for having… for being here.”

He recently described another peculiar incident he had with a different celebrity: Questlove of The Roots. On The Tonight Show in November, Finneas told Jimmy Fallon about his and Eilish’s first time on the show, saying of the moment immediately after their performance, “I’m clapping, I’m looking over, and you guys [The Roots] do your crescendo at the end. I’m just smiling and clapping and looking at Quest, and Quest put his sticks in one hand, and he pointed right at me, and he flipped me the bird.”

WARNING: Spoilers for The Book of Boba Fett below.

After dropping its fourth episode, “The Gathering Storm,” last week, Star Wars fans can’t get over what seems like a pretty significant plot hole in The Book of Boba Fett. In the latest episode, Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) finally connects with Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) in a flashback scene that ties into the first season of The Mandalorian. After the two bounty hunters form a partnership, they set off to rescue Boba’s Firespray ship from Jabba’s Palace, which they naturally pull off due to their innate badass-ness.

However, here’s where things get weird. After using Boba’s ship to exact some revenge on a local speeder bike gang, the two zip on over to the Sarlacc Pit to look for Boba’s armor. There’s just one small problem: The very first episode of the series showed Boba Fett clearly escaping the Sarlacc with his armor intact. In fact, he couldn’t have done it without the flamethrower on his gauntlets. He’s also conscious when the Jawas strip him of his armor not long after bursting out of the creature. (The Mandalorian fans know it later falls into the hands of the imminently handsome Timothy Olyphant.)

It’s an awkward sequence of events, and ever since the fourth episode aired, Star Wars fans have been highlighting the plot hole on social media.

While the sequence is awkward considering the audience knows where Boba Fett’s armor is, and presumably he should, too, because again, he couldn’t escape without it, there is a rumbling as to whether Boba was conscious after escaping the Sarlacc.

Of course, this raises another question. Does Boba Fett think the Sarlacc somehow crawled out of his hole and re-ate his armor? Because that’s the only explanation that would make sense.

(Via The Independent)

Evan Rachel Wood came forward in 2021 to name Manson as the alleged abuser that she had spoken about for years, including while testifying for legislators on behalf of abuse survivors. She (along with Amy Berg) has also been putting together a documentary (that debuted at Sundance and will appear on HBO), in which she details her allegations (including terrorizing, grooming, and horrifically abusing her during their relationship) against him. The two-part film, Phoenix Rising, includes statements from other women who have accused Manson of sexual assault and abuse.

The subject matter is as raw and emotional as can be expected, and Wood revisits the controversial Heart Shaped Glasses video, in which she co-starred with Manson. Back when the video surfaced in 2007, there was much debate over the presumably simulated sex scene (and whether or not it was simulated); and in the documentary, Wood makes the situation clear. She agreed to simulate the sex act, and Manson allegedly decided to make it a real sex act without consent. Via Rolling Stone, Wood declared, “I was coerced into a commercial sex act under false pretenses.” She added, “That’s when the first crime was committed against me. I was essentially raped on-camera.” Wood continued:

“It’s nothing like I thought it was going to be,” Wood says in the Amy Berg-directed film. “We’re doing things that were not what was pitched to me. We had discussed a simulated sex scene, but once the cameras were rolling, he started penetrating me for real. I had never agreed to that … It was complete chaos. I did not feel safe. No one was looking after me. It was a really traumatizing experience filming the video. I felt disgusting and that I had done something shameful and I could tell that the crew was uncomfortable and nobody knew what to do.

Wood further detailed how Manson allegedly instructed her to say that the video was a “great, romantic time and none of that was the truth.” She explained that she complied because “I was scared to do anything that would upset Brian in any way,” and from there, the “violence” continued to “escalate” for the duration of the relationship. Berg previously told Variety that this documentary was already in the works until Wood made the decision to publicly name Manson, and at that point, the project doubled in length.

The LA Sheriff Department’s sexual assault investigation against Manson is ongoing.

(Via Rolling Stone)

The world doesn’t need another Pinocchio movie… unless it’s a Pinocchio movie directed by Guillermo del Toro. The Oscar-winning filmmaker, along with co-director Mark Gustafson, takes the familiar story of a wooden marionette who becomes a real boy and reinterprets it with stop-motion animation. On Monday, Netflix revealed the first footage from the film, which shows Jiminy Cricket, I mean, Sebastian J. Cricket (voiced by Ewan McGregor) introducing a “story [that] you may think you know, but you don’t.”

“No art form has influenced my life and my work more than animation and no single character in history has had as deep of a personal connection to me as Pinocchio,” del Toro said when the project was announced. “In our story, Pinocchio is an innocent soul with an uncaring father who gets lost in a world he cannot comprehend. He embarks on an extraordinary journey that leaves him with a deep understanding of his father and the real world. I’ve wanted to make this movie for as long as I can remember.”

Here’s the official plot summary:

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reimagines the classic Italian tale of PINOCCHIO in a stop-motion musical adventure. Follow the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio in his pursuit of a place in the world.

The rest of the voice cast includes David Bradley, Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, and Gregory Mann as Pinocchio. Pinocchio comes out in December 2022.

It appears a new album from Sky Ferreira will be released in the near future. In December, in response to her upcoming LP appearing on a list of 2022’s most anticipated albums, Ferreira wrote, “Top 5 most anticipated albums of 2022 @Stereogum, (it happens every year, but it’s actually coming out this time).” 2022 is a large time frame, but now her mother has narrowed it down considerably.

Ferreira’s mom, Tonia Lamere, shared a photo of her daughter on her Instagram Story over the weekend and wrote, “new album coming March.”

The album is reportedly titled Masochism, but Ferreira hasn’t officially confirmed what her new album will be named. The name Masochism has been floating around since 2015, so it’s possible she has moved on from it as an album title. Whatever the new project ends up being called, it will arrive nearly ten years after her 2013 debut album, Night Time, My Time.

The period between then and now hasn’t been completely devoid of new material from Ferreira, though. She collaborated with Charli XCX on “Cross You Out” in 2019, and earlier that year, she released “Downhill Lullaby,” which was her first single since 2014.

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

Jeb Bush was, for a time, the GOP front-runner to become president in 2016, but his campaign was steamrolled by Donald Trump… and John Kasich… and even Ted Cruz. If you’re less popular than Ted Cruz, something has gone terribly wrong. Something went terribly wrong for JEB! on February 3, 2016, when George W. Bush’s younger brother implored an unenthused New Hampshire crowd to “please clap.” MSNBC called it a “heartbreaking phrase because it comes from a candidate who thinks he’s delivering powerful, inspirational rhetoric, but who’s also reminded from time to time that in order to get any kind of real validation, he literally has to ask for it.” Bush barely had a chance before “please clap,” but the viral plea sunk his presidential aspirations for good.

Unlike Jeb, Trump actually became president, but he had his own “please clap” moment. A video posted to the Parler Takes Twitter account over the weekend shows Trump “appearing in front of diners at his Mar-a-Lago resort and getting absolutely no reaction until he waggles his little hands at them,” according to the Daily Beast. “Trump then gets a few whoops and claps and, finally satisfied with the reaction he had demanded, gives his fans a double thumbs-up.” The clip has been viewed over 500,000 times, and many people are saying that it’s the largest view count they’ve ever seen before.

Please clap? No. Please read the reactions to Trump ordering applause.

In November, Britney Spears called out Christina Aguilera for dodging a question about her conservatorship on the red carpet at the Latin Grammys. Now, a couple months later, Aguilera has offered her thoughts on Spears’ situation.

In an interview with Enrique Santos, Aguilera was asked if she had spoken to Spears recently and she said (as NME notes), “I mean I would love to, I would always be open to that. It’s a subject that I definitely want to be careful of because I’d never want to speak out of turn about somebody that I have so much respect and admiration for.”

Noting that she “couldn’t be happier” for Spears, Aguilera continued, “Every woman deserves to feel empowered and to own that for themselves however they see fit. Growing up in this business can be freaking crazy, so you know if anybody gets that and understands what that means at that time coming up, you know it definitely would be her and I. I will always be here to reach out to whatever, I love to be able to connect like that with other women. It’s very important now more than ever, now that we do have the ability to connect, that that happens, and that we always feel unified.”

Watch the full interview above.

Last week, Megan Thee Stallion appeared in a Super Bowl ad teaser for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. It’s the latest brand that she’s partnered with, adding to a list that already included Fashion Nova and Revlon. The full commercial with Megan and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos will debut during the Super Bowl on February 13, but in the first ad teaser, Megan arrives at a video shoot where she is greeted with questions like if she has any pet allergies to cats or dogs. The list of animals grows to include deer, foxes, bears, water buffalo, and more, which signals that this video shoot will be anything but normal.

The weird events continue for Megan in the newly-released second ad teaser for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. It begins with the rapper walking and enjoying a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos when she arrives at her video shoot trailer. When she attempts to open the door, she realizes it’s locked — which is odd since it’s her own trailer. A mysterious claw then appears to remove Megan’s name from the door before they close and lock the door, leaving Megan absolutely confused at what just happened. However, it doesn’t stop there.

In another video, Charlie Puth is revealed as Megan’s co-star for the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos ad and he has his own peculiar events to deal with while on set at the video shoot. Puth returns to his own trailer to find Cheetos-stained paw prints all over the interior of the trailer. After a brief investigation, Puth discovers an orange feather inside the trailer which serves as helpful evidence towards who the suspect might be.

You can watch Megan and Charlie’s Flamin’ Hot Cheetos teaser ads in the videos above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.