Month: April 2022

Anticipation around Post Malone’s next album is building, especially because the rapper finally confirmed a release date for the project earlier today. 12 Carat Toothache is slated to drop on 6/3, which is a little bit later than Post’s manager initially teased it would, but close enough to be in the general ballpark. Post also took to Instagram Live to let fans hear a bit of what he’s been working on, and true to form he has several collaborations in the works for the project. The most notable for indie fans, however, might be some harmonies from Robin Pecknold that show up on a song called “A Love/Hate Letter To Alcohol.”

Firstly, that’s one of the most relatable song titles I’ve ever encountered in my life, and secondly, Posty and Robin have already expressed a mutual admiration for each other over the years, so while it seems like a slightly strange pairing, it actually makes quite a lot of sense. Don’t forget that Post Malone has a country/folk streak within his own songwriting, and Pecknold, on the other hand, seems to be a pretty straight-ahead poptimist when it comes to melodies — and no matter what you think about Malone’s music, he’s got those done.

Check out the clip here, or clever fans who captured the whole thing on Youtube, above, and sped it up to double time to avoid copyright infringement takedowns. You can work around that work around by playing the Youtube video at half speed. For easier access, check out the shorter clip below.

Post teased some of the song in an earlier post, which includes more of his verse and the harmonies are less clear, but it doesn’t seem like Robin contributes anything aside from the harmonies.

One of the best things about TV singing shows is the way different contestants have second and third lives after their initial appearances. One such former TV singing contestant who is now entering a new iteration is Kelly Clarkson, the very first winner of American Idol, who has become a bonafide pop star. And recently, since her days of releasing albums and touring have petered out a bit, the singer has pivoted to something we all knew she was great at — being on TV.

Hosting The Kelly Clarkson Show, this diva with the pipes to pull off all kinds of “Kellyoke” covers is also having other musicians on the show to perform from time to time. This week, she hosted Michelle Zauner, aka Japanese Breakfast, who is not only an award-winning musician and still touring behind her excellent 2021 album, Jubilee, but also a New York Times best-selling author for her memoir, Crying In H Mart. For her appearance on Kelly’s show, Japanese Breakfast was in full form as a performer, giving a rendition of “Be Sweet” that might just be the reminder you need to return to Jubilee for a few more listens. Check out her performance on the show up top, and a brief interview with Kelly below.

The Golden State Warriors made a big move on Wednesday night, inserting Steph Curry back into the team’s starting lineup for Kevon Looney in Game 5 of their first round series against the Denver Nuggets. The move, unsurprisingly, paid off, and as a result, the Warriors picked up a 102-98 win to secure a 4-1 series win and a spot in the Western Conference Semifinals.

From the jump, Golden State looked like a team hell-bent on keeping the series from shifting back to Denver. The team took an egalitarian approach to offense in the first quarter — Curry had eight points while Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins all had six, with Draymond Green serving as the machine that kept the whole thing humming en route to a 30-25 lead at the end of the frame.

The issue they ran into was the play of Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic. The former put up 12 points in the first, while the latter picked up six points and nine rebounds early on.

While the Warriors were able to lead for much of the second, they were never quite able to create enough separation in the event the Nuggets went on a mini-run. Denver’s size, in particular, gave Golden State trouble — while the former champions were able to get scoring all over the place, the size from Jokic, Cousins, and DeMarcus Cousins was a major problem, as the trio combined to score 35 of the team’d 48 first half points.

Towards the end of the quarter, Denver was able to rip off six unanswered points to take a lead, although it only lasted a minute thanks to a Thompson triple right before the break to send both teams into the locker room with 48.

Jokic had a double-double at halftime with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Gordon’s 15 led all scorers and Cousins provided eight off the bench. The Warriors, meanwhile, had 10 first half points out of Curry, nine from Thompson, eight from Poole, and six from Wiggins.

Over the years, Golden State has found ways to bury opposing teams at home upon coming out of the locker room after halftime, but on Wednesday night, the first big punch came from Denver. Thanks to a 16-6 run right out of the gate, the Nuggets were able to open up a double-digit lead on the road.

But stopping the Warriors in their own building has never been easy. Shortly after finding themselves in a hole, Golden State ripped off an 11-2 run to force a timeout after Curry pulled up from deep and got nothing but net.

That break gave Denver a chance to compose itself, and despite the fact that Jokic watched from the bench, the Nuggets closed the third quarter by scoring seven consecutive points — five of them by way of Cousins — to take a 78-70 lead into the fourth.

Golden State mounted a charge early on in the fourth, and while Cousins continued to bully their frontcourt, the team was handed a gift right before the 8-minute mark. Cousins was replaced by Jokic, and right away, Curry knew to attack the big man. It led to Jokic picking up his fifth foul of the game and heading right back to the bench. And eventually, a haymaker came, as Curry found Gary Payton II wide open in the corner for a go-ahead triple.

Jokic’s return to the floor gave Denver the firepower to respond whenever Golden State did anything, and boy, did Golden State do a whole lot of things. The two teams went blow-for-blow down the stretch, with Curry leading the Warrior charge and Jokic doing every single thing he could to will the Nuggets to a win.

And when it came time to win the game, an unlikely hero came up big for Golden State before their leader landed the knockout blow. Payton buried a look from deep to give them a five-point lead with just over a minute remaining, and while Jokic scored on the ensuing possession, a Curry layup made the outcome inevitable.

Curry’s 30 points, five rebounds, five assists, and two steals led the way for Golden State, while Payton and Thompson both had 15. Jokic was immense with 30 points, 19 rebounds, eight assists, two blocks, and a steal, while Cousins’ 19 points marked a playoff career-high.

The Warriors will now kick up their feet and wait to see if they’ll take on the Memphis Grizzlies or the Minnesota Timberwolves in the next round.

On Tuesday, what should have been a moment of triumph for Olivia Wilde had a rude interruption. While on stage, the actress and filmmaker, presenting the trailer for her Booksmart follow-up Don’t Worry Darling at CinemaCon, was given a manilla envelope. It was later revealed that inside were custody papers from her ex-partner Jason Sudeikis. Clients have no control over how process servers go about their jobs, and that seems to be the case here.

“Papers were drawn up to establish jurisdiction relating to the children of Ms. Wilde and Mr. Sudeikis,” a source told The Hollywood Reporter. “Mr. Sudeikis had no prior knowledge of the time or place that the envelope would have been delivered, as this would solely be up to the process service company involved, and he would never condone her being served in such an inappropriate manner.”

Sudeikis and Wilde started dating in 2011 and were engaged in 2013. Before parting ways in 2020, they had two children. After their split, Wilde began dating Harry Styles, who stars in her new film alongside Florence Pugh.

When Wilde was given the envelope during on the CinemaCon stage, she opened it, looked at its contents, and miraculously was able to compose herself and carry on with her presentation. The trailer was met with a rapturous response, and word of the risqué business between its two stars broke the internet, even though the only ones who’d even seen its images were those in attendance at the convention.

(Via THR)

Quavo has landed a few roles on the small screen throughout his musical career. Some examples include Atlanta, Narcos: Mexico, and Black-Ish. With that being said, Quavo has yet to land a role in a film, but all of that is going to change soon. Thanks to Quality Control, the label Quavo is signed to, and their new film division Quality Films, Quavo has just locked in his first movie role. According to Deadline, the Migos rapper will star in the upcoming action thriller Takeover, which will blend live-action scenes with animation thanks to help from Triscope who signed a co-production deal with Quality Films last March according to Complex.

In Takeover, Quavo will play a man named Guy Miller who is a former crook that is trying to get their life back together. Unfortunately, that attempt gets sidetracked by opportunities that make him return to Atlanta’s dangerous street racing scene. “I’m really excited for this opportunity, especially shooting in my hometown of Atlanta,” Quavo said about the film in a statement. “This film is an ideal opportunity to further delve into my craft, and I can’t wait to see how the action plays out in this animated environment.”

Trioscope’s Chief Creative Officer Greg Jonkajtys, who also directed Netflix’s The Liberator, will handle directing duties for Takeover. The film will also be written by Jeb Stuart (Die Hard and The Fugitive) and Brandon Easton will also contribute to the script.

The Milwaukee Bucks are headed to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Milwaukee played host to a shorthanded Chicago Bulls side that did not have the services of Zach LaVine or Alex Caruso on Wednesday evening, and in one of the most dominant performances we’ve seen in the postseason this year, the Bucks were able to pick up a Game 5 win, 116-100, to secure a 4-1 series victory.

Giannis Antetokounmpo set the tone from the beginning of the game. On Milwaukee’s first possession, the reigning NBA Finals MVP cleaned up a miss with an emphatic tip slam before spending the rest of the quarter imposing his will on the Bulls. By the time the first frame ended, Antetokounmpo had 15 points on 5-for-5 shooting, converted five of his seven attempts from the free throw line, and hauled in six rebounds and the Bucks had an emphatic 34-18 lead.

Milwaukee would go on to lead by as many as 29 points in the first half and took a 60-42 lead into the locker room. Antetokounmpo continued to to be unstoppable, as he eight of his nine shot attempts in the half and scored more points (23) than Chicago’s entire starting five (20).

Five other Bucks players — led by Brook Lopez’s eight — scored at least five points, while the team connected on 53.3 percent from the field. Chicago, meanwhile, had Patrick Williams score 12 and Coby White score 11, but there was simply a lid on the basket for everyone else, as the team went into the locker room shooting 38.6 percent from the field and 25.9 percent from three.

While the Bulls were able to get some positive momentum going in the third by cutting the lead down to 11, Milwaukee was able to withstand those jabs and respond with haymakers. Immediately upon Chicago threatening to get things down to single-digits, the Bucks responded with a 13-2 run and kept them at arm’s length for the remainder of the game, leading by more than 20 points for lengthy stretches of the second half.

Six Milwaukee players scored in double-digits, led by a monster evening from Antetokounmpo. Despite checking out for the remainder of the game with eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Antetokounmpo went for 33 points on 11-for-15 shooting with nine rebounds and three assists. Pat Connaughton provided 20 points off the bench, while Bobby Portis couldn’t be kept off the glass, adding 17 rebounds to his 14 points. A 23-point evening for Williams and Nikola Vucevic’s 19 points, 16 rebounds, and six assists led the way for Chicago.

With the win, Milwaukee earned passage to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where it will go head-to-head with the Boston Celtics in a highly-anticipated second round matchup. The two teams split their four-game regular season series this year.

Since becoming president, Joe Biden has repeatedly kicked the can on when student loan payments, paused at the start of the pandemic, would resume. First it was early 2022. Then it was May. Now it’s September. But some have floated an idea popular with those who owe the combined $1.6 trillion in federal loans: Why not just cancel all of it? But when it was revealed Biden was finally considering doing just that — or something like it — Republicans came out in force against it.

One of them was among the more moderate and sensible members of the GOP: Mitt Romney. The Utah senator, former presidential candidate, and Ted Lasso ruiner has repeatedly split with his party, even coming out against ex-POTUS Donald Trump (as well as Marjorie Taylor Greene). But he joined them in condemning the potential move, doing so in sarcastic fashion.

“Desperate polls call for desperate measures: Dems consider forgiving trillions in student loans,” Romney tweeted. “Other bribe suggestions: Forgive auto loans? Forgive credit card debt? Forgive mortgages? And put a wealth tax on the super-rich to pay for it all. What could possibly go wrong?”

Every now and then, Republicans try to own their Democratic counterparts by inadvertently spouting something Democrats actually think is a great idea. So it was in Romney’s case. Auto loans, credit card debt, and mortgages aren’t the same as college tuition, which has skyrocketed over the last few decades, to the point where practically an entire generation can’t buy homes, buy cars, or contribute to the free market in any meaningful way. But if someone’s floating the idea of forgiving debt on those two? Many people thought Mitt Romney had a great idea.

Others pointed out that Romney cares more about the super-rich, like himself, than everyday Americans.

And others pointed out that he, too, is unimaginably, abstractly wealthy.

But at least his tweet put him in august company, which is to say the notorious Jim Jordan agreed with him.

At long last, after a wait that lasted nearly four years, Pusha T delivered his fourth solo album It’s Almost Dry last weekend. The project presents 12 songs and guest appearances from Kanye West, Jay-Z, Pharrell, Kid Cudi, Lil Uzi Vert, Nigo, Labrinth, and Malice. It also flaunts heavy production from Kanye and Pharrell. In the spirit of promoting the new release, which could be his first No. 1 album, Pusha delivered a new video for “Call My Bluff.”

The track is one of the many Pharrell-produced songs on the project, and in its video, Pusha T finds himself seated at a table filled with what appear to be members of some mafia. Soon enough, we see the worst of Pusha as he seemingly orchestrates a heinous act, one that a pair of associates takes care of for him.

Pusha T dropped off the video for “Call My Bluff” after he shared updates on possible collaborations with Nas, The Weeknd, and Tyler The Creator. More recently, he was listed on the lineup for the 2022 Something In The Water festival where he will surely perform songs from It’s Almost Dry.

You can watch the visual for “Call My Bluff” above.

It’s Almost Dry is out now via GOOD Music and Def Jam. You can stream it here.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Phoenix Suns may get some help as they look to finish off the New Orleans Pelicans and advance the second round of the NBA Playoffs.

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, All-Star guard Devin Booker could return from his hamstring strain for Thursday’s Game 6 or Sunday’s possible Game 7. Per Wojnarowski, Booker will initially be listed as out for Game 6, but his status could change in the lead-up to the game. Suns-Pelicans Game 6 is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff in New Orleans.

Booker has been out since injuring his hamstring in Game 2 on April 19, which the Suns lost, 125-114, despite Booker scoring 31 points in the game. It was initially reported that Booker could miss 2-3 weeks. Game 6 would mark 12 days since the injury. Notably, Wojnarowski reports Booker would likely return on a minutes restriction, although it is unclear what that minutes restriction would be.

That said, the Suns certainly could use him. They are still favored to beat the Pelicans and advance, but it’s been a tight series since he’s gone down. If he can return and positively impact the game, it would help Phoenix immensely. And looking ahead, it would certainly help to have Booker for a second-round matchup against the winner of the Dallas Mavericks-Utah Jazz series. The Mavericks currently lead that series, 3-2, with Game 6 scheduled for Thursday in Utah.

It’s not vain to be concerned about thinning hair. Studies have shown that women, in particular, connect their confidence with the condition of their hair, and the recent Oscars fracas surrounding a cruel joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s hair loss reminds us that social judgement is both real and painful. And yet, for many of us, thinning hair is a fact of life – but it doesn’t have to be. Combining advances in the biological understanding of hair loss with progress in the scientific exploration of natural ingredients, Monpure London’s Follicle Boost Hair Density Serum offers a safe, cruelty-free, and natural option for people dealing with hair loss or thinning hair.

This pioneering formula stars a special pumpkin seed extract that’s scientifically proven to help block an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase, which produces the chemical that causes hair loss. The chemical is called DHT, and it decreases hair’s anagen (growth) phase, causing it to enter its telogen (shedding) phase prematurely.

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Another key ingredient in the serum is lactic acid (which, despite the name, is not milk-based), an AHA (alpha hydroxy acid) commonly used to exfoliate and even out the skin. It can do the same to your scalp, helping to decongest hair follicles and promote healthy cell renewal, creating the perfect environment for healthy hair growth. These AHAs also lower the skin’s pH level from 5.5 to 3, which sends a message to the lower layers of the scalp (the dermis) to kickstart the production of healthy new cells. What’s more, lactic acid is gentle on the scalp skin.

Then there’s retinol, one of the most sought-after ingredients in skincare due to its ability to promote skin cell turnover. It promotes new hair growth and helps your scalp absorb other powerful ingredients – such as pumpkin seed extract – that reduce thinning.

The Monpure Follicle Boost Hair Density Serum is vegan and cruelty-free. That’s important to Monpure, a certified B-Corp, which means they are legally committed to high standards, transparency, and accountability regarding environmental impact, ethics, and employee treatment. Monpure’s core values ensure that their products, like the Follicle Boost Hair Density Serum, are safe for people and the Earth.

It’s also completely pregnancy and breastfeeding safe. The formula is designed to be effective for color-treated, chemically-treated, and relaxed hair. It is an effective solution for people with fine, straight, wavy, curly, and oily hair.

Best of all, it delivers results. In an independent user trial with 100 men and women with self-diagnosed hair loss testing the Follicle Boost Hair Density Serum for a four-week period, 76 percent of participants said their hair felt thicker, 75 percent agreed that it boosted growth, while84 percent said the serum would become an integral part of their hair care routine. These statistics show just how well the Monpure Follicle Boost Hair Density Serum worked for them.

The serum is a winner of the 2020 Natural Health Beauty Awards and is recommended by magazines like GQ and Grazia. Dermatologically tested and scientifically proven, with no parabens, sulfates, or silicones, Monpure’s Follicle Boost Hair Density Serum is a simple, daily treatment that can minimize the thinning of hair and can promote thicker, healthier hair growth.

Keep your confidence and keep your hair by making the Monpure Follicle Boost Hair Density Serum a part of your daily hair care regime.