Month: March 2022

Kenan Thompson joined SNL in 2003. The musical guests that season included Jet, Clay Aiken, and N*E*R*D, while Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen hosted the season finale. He’s been there for both Trump appearances and every Lonely Island sketch.

Point is, the Good Burger star has been on SNL for awhile. Longer than anyone in the show’s history, and during last weekend’s episode, he hit another impressive milestone: Thompson is the first SNL cast member to make it to 1,500 sketches.

“Beyond blessed!! 1500?! @nbc and @nbcsnl has been my home for 19 years and counting!!!” he wrote on Instagram prior to the Oscar Isaac-hosted episode. “Love everyone that’s helped me get to this amazing milestone!!!” Thompson hit sketch #1,500 with “Home Repair Show,” and unfortunately not the deeply weird “Meatballs.” Those singing meatball men deserve it.

Ahead of season 47, Thompson said he doesn’t plan on leaving SNL any time soon. “I keep saying I’m trying to get to 20 [seasons]. So if they don’t throw me out of there before, I’m trying to get to 20. And then, I don’t know if it makes sense for me to leave even after that point. As long as the show keeps going and they want me to be there and I don’t feel like I’m in the way of somebody else’s opportunity, should I just oblige?” he told EW. “I don’t really know what to do at this point, as far as leaving is concerned. Like, why should I ever have to leave?”

As long as we get the occasional “What Up with That?,” that’s fine by me.

(Via BuzzFeed)

Just like his character Luke Skywalker in the classic Star Wars films, Mark Hamill is always ready to fight against an oppressive regime and do the right thing. In this case, and frankly, most cases, that involves pushing back against the far right, which is exactly what Hamill did this week when he used his sizable Twitter presence to mock Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill that’s expected to be passed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis.

In a tweet supporting students who are fighting against the controversial bill that will severely restrict teachers from mentioning homosexual or transgender issues in schools, Hamill wrote the word “gay” 69 times and added a rainbow emoji at the end for good measure.

Hamill’s tweet caught the attention of right wing “intellectual” Ben Shapiro, who’s been heavily involved in championing the “Don’t Say Gay” bill under the highly questionable auspice of “parental choice.” Not realizing the mistake he’s about to make, Shapiro decided to take a swing at Hamill for being a decent person who supports LGBTQ high school kids.

“So I take it you wish to indoctrinate small children into gender and sexual ideology,” Shapiro tweeted. “Because that’s the only reason you’re parroting idiotic propaganda.”

Naturally, Hamill shot back, and like a proton torpedo fired at the Death Star’s thermal exhaust port, he did not miss. “Hi Ben, I LOVE mind-reading acts!” Hamill replied. “Now guess which finger I’m holding up…”

Smoked him like a womp rat in Beggar’s Canyon.

(Via Mark Hamill on Twitter)

God only knows if Kim Kardashian planned out her latest fiasco. The reality TV star did, after all, need to drum up interest ahead of April 14, the day that Hulu debuts The Kardashians while the family tries to jump from cable to streaming. That could explain the crotchless catsuits, as well, from Kim’s SKIMS clothing line. Yet those clothing designs are particularly amusing because Kim upset a great deal of the new show’s prospective audience by declaring (to Variety), “I have the best advice for women in business.” By now, you’ve surely heard about her condescending followup: “Get your f*cking ass up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days.”

The backlash has been both fierce and understandable. This is particularly the case because Kim added that “no toxic work environments” should exist, and a former Kardashian app editor, Jessica DeFino, came forward to reveal how she toiled at all hours (and on all days) with pay so low that she couldn’t afford proper groceries or gas, and then DeFino was “reprimanded for freelancing on the side.” Reports and rumors of Kardashian-linked “sweatshops” have persisted (regarding their clothing lines) over the years, and as the ladies of The View put it, “People that are born on third base shouldn’t be talking about how easy it is to hit a home run.”

Kim hasn’t responded to the backlash over her words, but she did tweet these photos.

If one puts this all together, the suggestion from Kim’s quote is that the Kardashians are having difficulty finding people to work for them in this tight labor market. And yup, that’s gonna happen when one doesn’t pay a living wage and has a “get your f*cking ass up and work” attitude. And that doesn’t look fantastic when one posts lounge photos in luxury surroundings while other peeps are rising for work. So, it’s no wonder that people are coming at Kim and telling her to, you know, get to work (and they keep going).

Kim should probably have someone start drafting an apology right about now.

Rodney Barnes is a producer on Winning Time and a credited writer on the next nine episodes of the series. So there’s no one better to talk to about diving into these characters than Barnes. And as he says, it’s tricky, because we don’t always see flattering representations of these people, many of whom are still very much alive. To the point where, and I did mean this as a compliment, I could see just about every single living person depicted in Winning Time not being happy about something. Is Barnes worried about getting some angry phone calls? Not really, because, as he explains, he really did do the best he can to capture them as human beings.

Also, I asked Barnes about two specific scenes and how true they are: Without giving too much away, in an upcoming episode the Lakers pursue UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian and it turns out the mob isn’t happy about that idea. And, of course, did Kareem really tell the kid from Airplane! to fuck off?

So I was just talking to Max and was about to ask about the Jerry Tarkanian episode. I’ve never heard that before. That really happened?

It really happened.

The mob basically said you can’t take this job?

Yeah. I don’t want to give away the big reveal at the end. It really was… yes. Yes, that really happened.

There’s so much in this series that you think you kind of know the story, did that happen to you while researching?

It did. When you look at the Jack McKinney story…

Exactly.

I knew of Jack, but I did not know that Jack basically revolutionized the way basketball was played, that modern way. I came from an era when I actually played the game of basketball that was very traditional. If you tried to dunk, if you did all of this stuff, it was seen as showboating. And the way Jack McKinney was able to infuse his ideas into the game and make that running style a regular thing – and you look at how fast the NBA goes right now. For a guy who contributed to all of that stuff and is basically forgotten, to me that’s the tragedy of Jack McKinney.

It feels like he got a raw deal, not just through history, but the team, too.

Yes. Yes. That’s true. I think that’s another story that could be told in a completely different way. But for a guy who contributed so much and to not necessarily be recognized by the team in a major way, it’s kind of sad. But then again, I look at a character like Spencer Haywood as well. And when I look at the modern NBA and how guys like LeBron and Kevin Durant and all these guys can move around from team to team, a lot of that was because of Spencer Haywood.

In regards to Spencer Haywood, the player I kept thinking of was Colin Kaepernick…

Yeah!

He’s told, hey, you pissed off these white owners. They don’t forget, and they won’t let you play anymore. And it kind of hits like, well, that’s still happening.

And you had a different type of owner at the time. You had more of a Jack Kent Cooke guy and really conservative guys who looked at their team as their property. And they didn’t necessarily like guys like Spencer Haywood who were kind of rabble-rousers. And then you look at a Dr. Buss who embodied the modern owner. He fraternized with the players. He got to know them as people. They were his friends, way different than the guys that came prior.

Who was the most difficult character to capture? I have a guess.

I’m going to say Kareem.

Okay. That was my guess.

I’m going to say Kareem because the way that we start his journey – with him being kind of surly in the beginning, and to where his journey ends up – it’s hard to do that in a nuanced way without making a judgment. Because you’re still telling the story of a guy you don’t know, and you don’t want to do anything disparaging to anyone’s character in this because we love these guys. This is all out of appreciation and really being a fan of theirs. But when you’re going on a journey of an arc, and you’re trying to get to a place where you get to know this guy, and you’re telling the facts of what really happened, being able to kind of walk on that thin ice of not going too far in one direction or the other is the thing that’s always difficult.

There’s a big argument between Kareem and Magic I thought was just so well done because they both have good points. They’re both kind of right.

Yeah, and the stuff that’s under it is highly charged as well. It’s not just about basketball. Ideologically, they were so opposed to one another, where you have a guy who thinks it should be this way, and you’ve got a guy coming in that plays it a different way. And again, it speaks to the development of both Quincy Isaiah who plays Magic and Solomon Hughes who plays Kareem – two guys that had never really acted before just raising their chops from being green, for lack of a better word, to really bringing some stellar stuff to the screen.

Did that Airplane!, Kareem scene really happen where he tells the kid to fuck off?

I will say that it actually happened.

Aw, that poor kid. He loved Kareem.

Yes. What do you do? What do you do? What can you do?

What an experience that kid must have had on Airplane! with all these weird jokes being thrown in his face, and then that happens.

That’s the punctuation. That’s the stamp.

You mentioned trying to develop these characters and you’re trying to do basically right by them. Have you heard from anyone? Because, and I mean as a compliment, I could see almost every character in this, if they are still alive, being mad at you. Which means you’re getting to some sort of truth probably.

Only Norm Nixon, who I happen to know in real life.

Ah, okay.

He’s a friend, and hopefully he’s still a friend, and since his son is playing him, it’s hard to keep the secret when your son is playing you. So he was privy to information along the way, and I hope he likes what he sees when he finally sees the show.

Who would you be most worried about that you might hear from? Like if someone’s says, “Hey, Magic Johnson just called” would think that would be a positive or negative conversation?

Here’s the thing. It’s not so much of their reaction to me. I would hope that they would look at the show and see how much work we put into really capturing them as human beings. If they’re angry, I get it, because if someone was telling the story of my life, and I wasn’t a part of that storytelling, that would probably irk me and be a little weird. We don’t do anything, I believe, that is disparaging or in any way desecrates their legacy as players or people. We’re fans.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

With the recent release of the six-hour Beatles documentary, Get Back, music fans have been re-examining the Fab Four’s body of work, achievements, and impact. And rightly so — the group absolutely set standards for what achievement and excellence in popular music could look like. But, what if you found out that there was another group who achieved twelve No. 1 singles, who knocked The Beatles out of the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 100 not once but three times; who appeared on the Ed Sullivan show eleven times to the Liverpudlians’ three visits; who released 20 albums between the years 1962 and 1970, and who toured and performed long after The Beatles retired from live concerts in 1966?

That group was none other than The Supremes, the Motown trio consisting of Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard. And yet, these women haven’t received half the accolades and hero worship that is attached to The Beatles. That’s because the primacy of the Fab Four as the platonic ideal of serious musicians worthy of study and consideration is deeply entrenched and unquestioned. But The Supremes made history, broke records, and set standards at a level that deserves the same level of regard.

The first argument against this position will undoubtedly be that The Supremes didn’t write their songs, nor did they play any instruments. Yes, The Supremes benefited from the same hit-making machine that all the Motown artists used — songwriters Holland-Dozier-Holland and the stellar house band, The Funk Brothers. They also greatly benefited from the creative vision of Motown founder and CEO Barry Gordy. But all of that behind-the-scenes skill and talent would have gone unheard without the voices of the three women who sang, performed, and interpreted the songs. You could try to argue that Barry Gordy could have gotten anyone else in the Motown family to sing the songs, except that the minute The Supremes became successful is when Holland-Dozier-Holland figured out how to write for Diana Ross’ voice.

The Beatles didn’t exist in a vacuum. They taught themselves to write songs by listening to and performing covers of American rhythm and blues artists. But they too were guided by seasoned professionals who had the skills to plug into The Beatles’ innate talents. Brian Epstein, the group’s manager, and George Martin, the A+R man who signed them to their record contract and produced their albums, provided equally decisive and impactful guidance and direction. Epstein influenced their visual image and presentation, and offered direction that helped the band evolve their live act to a more professional level. Martin was instrumental in piloting the band through the unwelcoming and unfamiliar recording studio process and knowledge required to successfully capture their sound on record, and remained a valued ally for life.

Both groups were incredibly successful from a commercial standpoint. Their chart histories on the all-important Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart is a literal hit parade. The Supremes reached the No. 1 position no less than twelve times within a five year period, which included five No. 1 singles in a row in 1964 and 1965: “Where Did Our Love Go,” “Baby Love,” and “Come See About Me” in 1964, then “Stop! In The Name of Love” and “Back In My Arms Again” in 1965. By comparison, The Beatles achieved 20 No. 1s, beginning with “Please Please Me” in 1963. But their activity directly impacted each other: “Come See About Me” knocked The Beatles’ “I Feel Fine” out of the No. 1 spot, “Stop! In The Name of Love” replaced “Eight Days A Week,” and in 1968, “Love Child” toppled none other than “Hey Jude,” which had stayed in the top slot for almost five months.

Both The Beatles and The Supremes toured and performed live, and once both groups hit the charts, they were constantly in demand. The Supremes got started in one of the traveling revue types of shows popularized in the 1950s, Dick Clark’s ‘Cavalcade Of Stars,’ where they started at the bottom, not even appearing on the marquee. By the tour’s end, they were the headliners due to the success of “Where Did Our Love Go.” They also toured with Berry Gordy’s own operation, the Motortown Revue, played their own headlining shows, and as part of Gordy’s strategy to move The Supremes into the mainstream, played residencies in Las Vegas and the Copacabana in New York City. The Beatles, on the other hand, followed what is now the traditional rock and roll path of playing headlining shows in theaters, arenas, and, finally, stadiums. They wound up retiring from live performance in 1966 because Beatlemania made it dangerous and artistically unrewarding. The perils the band faced while performing live, from non-stop screaming making it impossible to be heard to real physical peril from surging fans, is incredibly well-documented and obviously very real. But we hear far less about the danger Black artists like The Supremes faced touring the American South due to racism and segregation, which made simple acts like stopping for a bathroom or finding somewhere to eat literally life-threatening.

In terms of cultural influence, the stories of The Beatles’ first appearance on Ed Sullivan causing every young boy in America to run out and buy a guitar is now canon. The impact they had on the art, culture, music, and society of the 1960s is undeniable; it’s been written about, documented, discussed in a million interviews with rock and roll bands from that time forward. But The Supremes’ effect on popular culture is somehow less revered despite having effected a level of impact that is similar, if not greater in some ways. They were the first Motown act to appear on Ed Sullivan, which beamed them into exactly the same households that watched The Beatles. Oprah Winfrey has told the story about what it felt like to see The Supremes on the show, and how “every little Black girl of my generation wanted to grow up and be…Miss Ross.” And the esteemed civil rights leader Reverend Ralph Abernathy, told Diana, “Just continue to be great. Every time the white man sees you on television or in concert and becomes a fan, you are being of assistance.”

Expanding the traditional canon of popular music to include artists who should have always been considered influential doesn’t devalue the achievements of the artists who are already there. Recognizing wider definitions of influence and importance, and re-examining our criteria of interpretation provides listeners and music fans with a new vantage point that potentially enhances and enriches their enjoyment and understanding, and also provides inspiration for future musicians by giving them a wider palette to draw from. The Beatles themselves adored Motown and the American rhythm and blues that they drew from to create something that was uniquely their own. They’d likely be the first ones to agree with a more expansive definition of influence that included The Supremes.

LL Cool J, the legendary rapper who was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last year, is having some fun on Twitter. After a tweet went viral that read, “LL Cool J was ridiculous in every music video he was in. Just go look,” the “I Need A Beat” singer decided to provide some humorous commentary by making a TikTok with the classic green screen effect so that he appeared in front of the tweet. “Time to break the silence,” he says. “Yeah, I was definitely ridiculous. That’s my goal. I make my own rules.”

The tweet is full of replies that proved the original tweeter’s point; there’s a clip where he is “playing the guitar on a young lady’s leg,” as Cool J puts it. “I think I should’ve had two or three girls though,” he remarks with a completely serious tone. There’s another clip where he’s pouring chocolate syrup on a woman’s knee caps. “Definitely was wildin’,” he says. “Although, I always felt there should’ve been more chocolate. Maybe using a giant paintbrush or something, and just really go in.”

All of these clips are, you know, something else, and Cool J’s explanations only make them even funnier.

Rosalía is preparing to be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live this weekend. In the days before the show, it’s not uncommon to see SNL guests stop by Late Night With Seth Meyers or The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (both of which are taped in 30 Rockefeller Plaza, as is SNL) for an interview. That’s just what Rosalía did last night, as she sat down for a chat with Fallon and told a funny story about Harry Styles unknowingly texting with somebody who had her old phone number.

Rosalía started by sharing a text conversation screenshot Styles sent her on Instagram, which Styles explained, “Your texts are confusing.” The conversation begins with Styles saying, “This is so beautiful,” regarding Rosalía’s 2020 single “Dolerme.” Of course, Rosalía wasn’t actually on the receiving end of this text, but whoever was played along for a bit, responding, “I know my darling.” From there, they go back and forth: “Love it,” “Love you,” and “Love you toooooooo.”

Then the mystery texter broke character and replied in three consecutive texts, “Haha sorry. You’re wrong. I don’t know who you are.” Styles responded, “I’m confused.” The texter then replied by explaining more thoroughly and doing something most people probably wouldn’t do if they were knowingly texting with Styles: telling him to leave them alone. They wrote, “This number belongs to someone before. But now it’s my number. So don’t bother me anymore. Good night. Thanks.”

Naturally, that saga got a big laugh out of Fallon, as many things do.

Speaking of SNL, Rosalía was all smiles in some SNL promos that were shared yesterday, alongside Mikey Day, Chris Redd, and host Zoë Kravitz. So, check out the Fallon interview above and the SNL promos below.

The next time you’re at a wedding — maybe even your own — take a look around. Dakota Johnson might be there requesting Talking Heads at the DJ table, or patiently waiting for a slice of cake, or gossiping about Ellen (mostly like gossiping about Ellen).

Like DMX, Taylor Swift, and Barack Obama before her, The Lost Daughter star is a fan of crashing weddings. In fact, she called it “one of my number one hobbies” during a game of “Never Have I Ever” (not the very good show) with W Magazine.

“I feel like I’ve done that a lot,” Johnson said before sharing an anecdote about the time she danced the Hora at a Jewish wedding. “There I was, holding up the bride and groom in a chair. And they were just like ‘Who… what are you doing here?’”

Red Rocket standout Simon Rex, who also took part in the game, can relate.

He recalled: “I looked down off the balcony and there was a wedding going on and I thought, ‘That looks fun,’ so I went down and danced with people. It was good, weddings are fun, especially when you’re not the groom.”

Forget Vince and Owen. Let Dakota and Simon star in Wedding Crashers 2.

(Via W Magazine)

Spring is already around the corner and the music industry is gearing up for a new season of releases. Indiecast hosts Steven and Ian have spent the first few months of 2022 sharing their music takes, but it’s now time to hear what listeners have to say.

This week, Indiecast takes some time off of reviewing albums to read some listener mail and answer burning questions. Steven and Ian kick things off by giving advice on how music nerds can respectfully discuss albums without becoming overbearing. Then, they discuss their opinions on the best album-closing tracks and share their picks for the top three worst songs of all-time (spoiler alert: Smash Mouth gets an honorable mention).

In this week’s Recommendation Corner, Ian talks up Karate, a band who is booked for this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival and seem like the perfect fit for an Indiecast Venn diagram. Steven gives a shout-out to Goose, who he just called the “next great American jam band” in a recent feature.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 80 on Spotify below, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

Nearly a year after he teamed up with Lil Baby for Voice Of The Heroes and 15 months after he dropped his last solo project, Lil Durk is back in action with his new album 7220. The project is a follow-up to 2020’s The Voice which peaked at No. 2 on the albums chart, making it his highest-charting release along with 2020’s Just Cause Y’all Waited 2. 7220 delivers 17 songs, including the previously released “AHHH HA,” “Pissed Me Off,” and “Broadway Girls.” It also comes with features from Gunna, Future, Summer Walker, and Morgan Wallen.

Now that the album is here, one of the early highlights from it is “Petty Too” with Future. The track flaunts the rappers’ spiteful ways as they admit to being petty at various times in their lives, even with the women that they interact with. Prior to releasing 7220, Durk shared a video for “Golden Child” where he delivers a raw look into his life as he raps into the camera as his crew smokes and shoots dice in the background. The collab also arrives after Future deemed Valentine’s Day the “Worst Day” with a somber single last month.

You can listen to “Petty Too” in the video above.

7220 is out 3/11 via Alamo Records/Sony Music Entertainment. You can pre-save it here.

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