If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And if you still don’t succeed, file for bankruptcy a few times, run for president and win, run again and lose, spend years whining about how you didn’t really lose, then try your hand at becoming the next Netflix.
In October 2021, Donald Trump finally made good (sort of) on his long-threatened promise to launch his own social network when he announced the birth of the knee-slappingly named TRUTH Social. Within days, he had announced some seriously shady plans to take the network’s also newly-formed parent company, Trump Media & Technology Group, public. While there were rumblings at the time that streaming was part of the company’s plan, a new job listing posted on Linkedin, and spotted by Mediaite, has confirmed that video content is part of the former president’s future.
According to the job listing, “Trump Media & Technology Group’s Streaming Video On Demand service will be a ‘Big Tent’ platform offering broad-based entertainment rooted in free speech. In addition to the Social Media platform Truth Social, our SVOD platform TMTG+ will be the home for a wide variety of non-scripted, scripted, and original content.”
As for the role itself, which is listed as a Content Development Manager, Team Trump is looking for someone “with a passion for day-to-day development of the TMTG+ programming slate. The role will generate and develop internal concepts for original unscripted content, short form series episodes and specials. Our ideal candidate will be able to establish priorities and multi-task efficiently within a fast-paced environment while meeting strict deadlines.”
There was a time, long ago, when talking about The Oscars meant talking about the movies and the snubs and what everyone was wearing. That timeline is over, though, because it is now impossible to utter the words “The Oscars” without mentioning “The Slap” and it will be that way forever, probably, as celebs continue to “process” the events of what happened.
The 2022 Oscars host Wanda Sykes is still reeling from the incident nearly 50 days later, saying “I’m still traumatized,” while on a tour stop in Florida. “I can’t talk about it. I get emotional.”
According to People, Sykes continued with some choice words for Will Smith, who still walked away with an Oscar after the slap. “I couldn’t believe he was still sitting there, like an assh*le. Shouldn’t you be sitting there with a lawyer or LAPD, motherf*cker?”
Smith has been famously silent since the incident that ultimately caused him to be banned from the Academy for the next decade. The actor is allegedly “finding himself” on a meditation retreat before he will inevitably have some sort of primetime TV special (probably).
“I hope he gets his sh*t together. Until then, f*ck him,” Sykes added. Hey, if anything, he just made Wanda Sykes even more relevant in the year 2022. Maybe she should be happy about that?
This weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live is a music-packed affair: Post Malone is the musical guest while Selena Gomez is the host. Now, we know what next week’s episode, the show’s season finale, is going to look like musically: It was announced this afternoon that Japanese Breakfast will make her SNL musical guest debut on the May 21 episode.
Michelle Zauner excitedly shared the news by re-sharing SNL‘s corkboard note image and writing, “Help!!!!!!!!”
Zauner is a natural pick for the show considering she’s coming off a star-making year in 2021: Jubilee was her first album to appear on the Billboard 200 chart and it earned her a couple of 2022 Grammy nominations, for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album. 2021 also saw the release of her memoir Crying In H Mart, one of the year’s most beloved and talked-about books that has now spent upwards of 30 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. Not long after the book was published, it was picked up for a movie adaptation, for which Japanese Breakfast will compose new music.
A Married… with Children revival is reportedly on the verge of becoming a reality starring the original cast. Well, technically, their voices. The Married… with Children revival is being pitched as an animated series, which made it easier for the cast to fit the project into their busy schedules. Ed O’Neill, Katey Segal, Christina Applegate, and David Faustino are locked into reprising their classic sitcom roles in the new series from Family Guy executive producer Alex Carter.
According to Deadline, the animated revival is getting “strong interest” from networks and streamers with Fox, Hulu and Peacock in the lead as potential homes for the series:
Considered one of the most influential TV shows in pop culture, it was one of the very first original scripted series on the then-fledgeling network which helped put it on the map and establish its edgy comedy brand. What’s more, adult animation is in Fox’s DNA, and. the network has several animated family comedies, most notably juggernauts The Simpsons and Family Guy. Meanwhile, Hulu and Peacock are streamers that carry the original series and adding the new installment would enhance their current collection and bring new viewers to the old episodes too.
As for the heavy interest in the project, Deadline reports that Married… with Children still puts up strong numbers in syndication, which could translate into a built-in audience for the revival.
Speaking of Fox, The Simpsons has already offered a glimpse at what an animated Married… with Children could look like:
As did Futurama because you gotta love that corporate synergy:
Throughout the second-round series between the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks, competitive fire has reared its head in the form of trash talk. Both Luka Doncic and Devin Booker have been at the forefront across the first six games, engaging in some direct and indirect banter.
In Game 5, Booker took a hard foul from Dorian Finney-Smith that sent him to the floor. As he stood up, after perhaps embellishing some of the contact, he said he was doing “the Luka special.” After Game 6, Doncic was asked how the dynamic of trash talk affects his approach and mindset.
“I like when people trash talk to me. It gets me going. It’s fun. It’s basketball,” Doncic said. “There’s gonna be a lot of trash talking and I like it. It’s fun for me. It’s competitive basketball and I like it. It’s fun for me.”
Luka Doncic: “I like when people trash talk to me. It gets me going. It’s fun. It’s basketball. There’s going to be a lot of trash talking. I like it, it’s fun for me. It’s competitive basketball and I like it.” pic.twitter.com/qI4CZVvcJY
Perhaps, Booker’s comments really did get Doncic going. He tallied 33 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, and four steals in the Mavericks’ Game 6, 113-86 blowout victory on Thursday. Meanwhile, Booker, after lighting up Dallas for a combined 63 points on 42 shots in Games 4 and 5, struggled to the tune of 19 points on 6-for-17 shooting in Game 6.
Dallas and Phoenix will meet for Game 7 on Sunday in a matchup that will surely feature some trash talk among the game’s brightest stars. Who exactly it gets going is yet to be seen.
Kendall proceeded to cut the cucumber though did not seem particularly comfortable doing so. At one point she had her arms crossed over one another while she held the knife in one hand and the end of the cucumber with the other.
“Be careful, because I nicked myself the other day,” Kris warned as Kendall continued to struggle with the knife.
“I know, I’m kinda scared,” Kendall responded. She then looks up at the camera and admits her fault. “I’m definitely not a good cutter, so don’t zoom in on me. I’m not professional whatsoever.”
The cucumber, a famously cumbersome vegetable… or is it a fruit? Hm, I guess the joke’s on me for laughing at Kendall. Or maybe it’s laughing “with,” as the model knowingly replied to the online reaction to her lacking basic culinary skills with, “tragic!”
Also tragic: the horny replies to Jenner’s tweet. I would recommend not scrolling too far down (or clicking this link — oops). Instead, please enjoy the “Dance of the Cucumber” song from VeggieTales. Actually, that might be worse. Sorry.
Streatham, London rapper Dave has been rising in acclaim and esteem over the last few years. In addition to dropping the well-received albums Psychodrama and We’re All Alone In This Together — both of which topped the UK’s Albums Chart — he was a thrilling villain in the Drake-produced revival of the street crime drama Top Boy and recently became a BRIT Award-winner for We’re All Alone. It’s safe to say that he’s one of the UK’s most exciting acts today.
Leave it to Drake to make that coronation official during Dave’s North American tour stop in — where else? — Toronto, Drake’s hometown. Drake joined Dave onstage mid-show to perform their 2016 collaboration “Wanna Know,” as well as a rendition of Drake’s Certified Lover Boy track “Knife Talk.” Afterward, Drake addressed the audience, giving Dave his benediction.
“This guy right here is a once-in-a-generation talent,” he said. “Whether he’s rapping, pouring out his heart, whether he’s turning all the way up, whether he’s playing the piano, whether he’s acting in our show Top Boy, I promise you, this guy right here is a one of one.”
Drake says OVO FEST is back while on stage with Santan Dave tonight in Toronto. pic.twitter.com/wjcLVCkv4h
Drake’s blessing is no small one; his pop-outs for collaborators and friends have helped increase their popularity by several orders of magnitude. In recent years, he’s done so for artists like Giveon and Jack Harlow, and if past trends are anything to judge by, it probably won’t be long until Dave’s own profile similarly skyrockets. Check out video of Drake onstage with the breakthrough UK artist above.
While David McCormick and Mehmet Oz have been focused on attacking each other in what is sure to be a nail-biter of a GOP senatorial race in Pennsylvania, an unlikely third contender has entered the frame: Kathy Barnette.
As The Daily Beast reports, Barnette’s only political experience “is a landslide congressional defeat in 2020,” so she’s hardly a household name. But she’s quickly becoming one, as McCormick, Oz, and even Donald Trump have witnessed her seemingly-out-of-nowhere rise and are clearly afraid. On Thursday, the former president even issued a press release in an attempt to get the MAGAites he created back on his side, which is Team Oz, but left room for the possibility of befriending the political newcomer if she does indeed succeed in her senatorial campaign. According to Trump:
“Kathy Barnette will never be able to win the General Election against the Radical Left Democrats. She has many things in her past which have not been properly explained or vetted, but if she is able to do so, she will have a wonderful future in the Republican Party—and I will be behind her all the way. Dr. Oz is the only one who will be able to easily defeat the Crazed, Lunatic Democrat in Pennsylvania. A vote for anyone else in the Primary is a vote against Victory in the Fall!”
Similarly, Sean Hannity spent the bulk of his air time on Thursday going after Barnette, whom many describe as an “Ultra-MAGA,” and the many reasons why she would be bad for America. But as far as Barnette is concerned, the fact that her name is even coming out of their mouths is a good thing. “I think I see it as a badge of honor,” Barnette said. “They’re actually paying attention to me.”
Ironically, Barnette’s many bad takes echo the MAGAest of MAGA sentiments. Hannity criticized the 50-year-old author of Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: Being Black and Conservative in America for her attacks on Muslims and her belief that Barack Obama is a Muslim, while Donald Trump has regularly made similar claims. As The Daily Beast wrote:
Barnette’s recent rise has been powered in the primary in part by a video in which she lays out her background as the product of her then 11-year-old mother’s rape to argue for sweeping restrictions on abortion, including in cases of rape. But Barnette’s story may have inspired Republican voters, her hardline stance against abortion even in the case of rape might not play so well in the general election. Other potential general-election weaknesses included her ties to Jan. 6, her attacks on Muslims and LGBT people, her campaign’s unwillingness to discuss her background, and her flirtations with QAnon.
While Barnette was in D.C. on January 6th, she claims that she did not infiltrate the Capitol, then later tweeted that the reports of riots on that day were a hoax—then denied calling it a hoax. When a local reporter reminded her that she had actually tweeted those words, she claimed she did not recall doing that. And added that, “No, January 6 was a day, and what happened, happened, on that particular day.”’
Are we sure Trump doesn’t want to change his endorsement?
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.
Kendrick Lamar albums are a little like Star Trek movies. Or maybe they’re like the movies made by high-profile Hollywood directors who sign on to do a big-budget blockbuster so the studios will greenlight their passion project. You know: One for them, one for me. Ever since releasing his first official album, Section.80, in 2011, Kendrick has always seemed to espouse this pattern. Good Kid, Maad City and DAMN. were very much “for them.”
Yes, they bore all the hallmarks of a K. Dot album – dense, thematically complex lyricism and potent, personal storytelling – but sonically they were rigid, with almost workmanlike structure, giving plenty of mainstream-friendly bops and radio hits to go along with the headier elements; the proverbial spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. Likewise, Section.80 and To Pimp A Butterfly were much more personal reflections, sprawling and musically adventurous.
In that spirit, his fifth and final album under the Top Dawg Entertainment banner very much follows the previously established pattern. It is very much for him. And yet, at the same time, because it’s a Kendrick Lamar album, it’s also very much for us – us, the listeners, us, the society, us, the culture. He’s got a lot on his mind – who doesn’t these days? – and he wrestles with these thoughts out loud, not just to wrangle some sense out of them for himself, but also perhaps to give us permission to do the same.
On Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, his overarching target appears to be “cancel culture.” You know, the pop culture pundit’s bogeyman du jour, the atmosphere of restrictive political correctness that makes it so you just can’t tell a joke anymore (or call people racial slurs or make sexist comments to or about women), dammit. He mentions it more than a few times, on songs such as “N95” and “Worldwide Steppers,” offering missives like, “N****s killed freedom of speech, everyone sensitive.” He also touches on hot-button topics like vaccines and their backlash on “Savior,” seeming to chastise both sides of the debate.
I once complained that it’s hard to pin down exactly what Kendrick’s position is on any given issue. He’s good at being vague. Anything he says can be taken as a metaphor or a projection. Maybe he’s speaking from someone else’s point of view. It’s always been his most frustrating habit – at least, for me – because you never really know what his politics are or what he wants you to take away from any given song, lyric, or project as a whole. Even more infuriating is that he does it on purpose (anyone who can write the way he does could easily make his points plain).
He does this here, as well, but this time there’s more going on beneath the surface. It feels like the sugar and the medicine are both in the lyrics. On projects like Good Kid and DAMN., Kendrick’s pop courting material would hide guidance or critique in radio-friendly production (see: “Swimming Pools” or “Humble”). But on Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Kendrick appears to nearly agree with woke-phobic listeners, using their favorite buzz terms to lull them and lower their defenses before feeding them the same messages that the social justice warriors would have them hear – only from a more empathetic perspective.
On “Auntie Diaries,” one of the most personal and revealing songs in a catalog stuffed nearly to bursting with them, Kendrick unpacks decades of ingrained homo- and transphobia. For years in hip-hop, the culture has struggled with its depictions and diction surrounding queer people. Kendrick’s fellow LA natives Tyler The Creator and Doja Cat were both censured earlier in their careers for letting a certain slur fly in their music or on social media, and both had a hard time articulating the dynamics behind their free use.
Kendrick, naturally, gets it right, expanding on how he thought as a child, constantly exposed to a stream of offensive jokes without having the context for their offense, even as he struggled to relate to an aunt and cousin coming out through the lens of his religious upbringing. It’s ambitious and thought-provoking; by showing the work, his face turn becomes genuine and earned. There are plenty of rappers in his peer group who could afford to do the same introspection.
Then, on “Mother I Sober,” he confronts one of the deepest, darkest open secrets of not just the rap world, but the larger Black culture it stems from. He admits and addresses sexual abuse – especially the kind that is most often committed, the kind by trusted family members against children too young to be aware that anything is even going on. He relates this to rappers, who he says bury “they pain in chains and tattoos,” whose cavalier, dismissive attitude toward sex, women, and yes, even their own misdeeds, can be directly connected to their own abuse.
This sympathy for the devil is highlighted by the extended presence of Kodak Black, someone to whom Kendrick is often contrasted by denizens of Rap Twitter, and who was convicted of sexual assault not too long ago. (It’s amusing to think that, with his official account lying dormant for months at a time, Kendrick is lurking the timeline with the rest of us, taking notes on exactly who to tap for a feature – or even secretly laying the groundwork for the impactful surprise appearances himself.) He seeks empathy for the troubled, younger rapper, even as he acknowledges the harm he’s caused. Maybe in doing so, he can open him up – along with the wider culture – to the possibility of redemption.
Again and again on the double album, Kendrick’s mission seems to be either to end the pervading sense of “cancel culture’s” harmful tendency to put its subjects on the defensive or to dismantle the very concept of “cancel culture” to begin with. It’s hard to be sure; after all, it is Kendrick Lamar. But what he’s doing here – baring his own faults and pointing to his own evolution as a means to demonstrate how true growth operates and should take place (out of the public spotlight, often with the help of a trained therapist) – is groundbreaking in hip-hop.
Sure, many artists have tackled the subjects of their own anxieties and insecurities, but rarely has that work been so closely tied to the zeitgeist. Kendrick can look both inward and externally and draw the connections between himself and his audience to offer the direction he sees as critical for the growth of the community – even if he denies his own role as a role model on “Savior” (along with peers like Drake and J. Cole). He never outright says “you should all do this,” but there’s the sense that he truly believes he can lead by example, even if he doesn’t always think anyone should follow him.
I’m not sure that this is an album I’ll run back a whole bunch. After all, with its quirky production – much of which performed by Kendrick himself under the name Oklama – it very much falls into K. Dot’s “one for me” category. But some of these poignant, powerful observations and self-reflections could well be conversation pieces decades from now as listeners recount how they shook them out of their complacency, changed their viewpoints, or gave them permission to accept their own flaws and begin the work of healing. With his final TDE album, Kendrick appears to have finally figured out how to make one for all of us.
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is out now via Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath, and Interscope Records. Get it here.
Nearly a year after Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood first teased The Smile, their side project with drummer Tom Skinner, the band’s album is finally here. Indiecast hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen dive into their album A Light For Attracting Attention, a title that can be taken ironically seeing as the side project garners far less attention than an official Radiohead release.
After a fair amount of banter, Steven and Ian get into some of the relevant indie news from this week. Music discourse this week was mainly dominated by two very different album announcements: Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers and the Jack Antonoff-produced Minions 2 soundtrack, which features groovy music by artists like Tame Impala and St. Vincent.
In this week’s Recommendation Corner, Steven plugs Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever’s zippy guitar pop-filled album Endless Rooms. Meanwhile, Ian shouts out power pop band Hey, ily!
New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 88 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.
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