Month: May 2022

Today is both a joyous and sad day for Top Dawg Entertainment: Kendrick Lamar released the feverishly anticipated Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, but as he declared back in August 2021, it is his final album for the label. TDE had been his label home since the mid-2000s, back when he was releasing music as K.Dot and years before his 2011 debut Kendrick Lamar album, Section.80. Now, though, Lamar is moving on, and TDE president Terrence Louis Henderson Jr. (better known as Punch) seems to have no hard feelings about it.

This morning, Punch shared a quick social media post about the album, writing, “Shout out to Kendrick Lamar and co… congrats on the new album. Last one on TDE. We made history! Much love and continued success. [folded hands emoji].”

TDE founder Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith expressed a similar sentiment last summer, writing, “With this being Dot’s last album on TDE, this is more of a VICTORY LAP, a celebration. I know he will be successful in whatever it is he decides to do and will have our FULL support. As for Top Dawg Entertainment, we will continue to grow, develop, and give artists the platform to expand into whatever way they choose. Heart, honor, respect.”

As expected, Kendrick Lamar’s fifth album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers arrived on Friday night. What was unexpected is the music, content, and some of the guest appearances found throughout the project’s 18 songs. Features from the likes of rap legend Ghostface Killah, fellow West Coaster Blxst, cousin and frequent collaborator as-of-late Baby Keem, and PgLang labelmate Tanna Leone were the expected or not-so-surprising contributors to the album. However, appearances from the likes of Summer Walker may have been a bit shocking, but none more than the multiple appearances that Kodak Black made on Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.

Kodak Black can be found on three songs from Kendrick’s new album: “Worldwide Steppers,” “Rich (Interlude),” and “Savior.” On “Worldwide Steppers,” which caused some reactions for its own separate reasons, Kodak offers a quick introduction. On “Rich (Interlude),” he delivers a spoken word over sporadic piano keys. Finally, on “Silent Hill,” he steps in for a rap verse after Kendrick delivers one of his own.

Considering Kendrick’s high and practically unblemished status in music and Kodak’s past filled with controversial statements, sexual assault accusations, and run-ins with the law, the rappers’ collaborations on the album had a lot of people talking. Fans of Kodak were excited to see him stand in a bigger spotlight while others were not too pleased with one, never mind three appearances from him on the album.

You can hear the three songs that Kodak Black appears on in the videos above and check for comments from fans below.

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is out now via PgLang/TDE/Aftermath/Interscope. You can stream it here.

Kodak Black is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The five-year drought for a new album from Kendrick Lamar came to an end tonight as he returned with Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. The project was made available with 18 songs and features from Blxst, Amand Reifer, Sampha, Taylour Paige, Summer Walker, Ghostface Killah, Kodak Black, Baby Keem, Sam Dew, Tanna Leone, and Beth Gibbons of Portishead. While the music world was impressed and pumped with excitement after Kendrick prefaced the project with “The Heart Part 5,” the actual music on Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers couldn’t be more of the opposite. An example comes on “Worldwide Steppers.”

The track is a two-part effort, and in the first half of the song, Kendrick unloads a spiraling and erratic confession about the first and second times he had sex with a white woman. He raps, “The first time I f*cked a white b*tch, I was sixteen at the Palisades, fumblin’ my grades.” Later in that verse, he adds, “Next time I f*cked a white b*tch, was out in Copenhagen / Good Kid, M.A.A.D City tour, I flourished on them stages.” He continues by mentioning his longtime partner Whitney Alford. “Whitney asked did I have a problem,” he raps. “I said, ‘I might be racist’ / Ancestors watchin’ me f*ck was like retaliation.”

The entire verse was jarring to say the least, as were other moments on the album. Fans felt the same way and they took to Twitter to share their thoughts.

You can listen to “Worldwide Steppers” in the video above and see comments from fans about the song below.

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is out now via PgLang/TDE/Aftermath/Interscope. You can stream it here.

Kodak Black is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Ahead of her upcoming album, I Used To Think I Could Fly, Tate McRae has unveiled the latest cut. On “What Would You Do,” McRae expresses disdain over not being treated well over the track she teased on social media earlier this week. Additionally, she revealed the music video will drop next week.

On the rock-influenced song, she asks an ungrateful lover, “What would you do if I leave and don’t come back?” before exclaiming “I hope it breaks you in two.” She continues, singing “If I gave back all the pain that you put me through, what would you do?”

On McRae’s upcoming album, she sings about past relationships, break-ups, and moving forward. When talking about the record with Seventeen, she said “…I feel like I wrote hundreds of songs. Deciding which ones were actually gonna make the cut was so brutal for me. I swear to God, my team was gonna chop my head off because I was changing my mind every two seconds.” She added, “I’m so nervous, I just have no idea how people are gonna receive it. And I think it’s crazy when something so vulnerable and personal gets released into the world because it’s out of your hands. It belongs to the listeners now and that’s really terrifying but exciting.”

The new track arrives after McRae dropped “Chaotic” earlier this year.

Check out “What Would You Do” above.

I Used To Think I Could Fly is out 5/27 via RCA. Pre-save it here.

The Miami Heat are headed to the Eastern Conference Finals after finishing off the Sixers in Game 6 on Thursday night thanks to a huge third quarter run that was spearheaded by Jimmy Butler.

In a series not lacking on storylines, Butler putting the dagger in a Sixers team that he once played for was among the juiciest, and after the game both he and Joel Embiid lamented their breakup in 2019, heaping praise on one another. First it was Butler in his ESPN walkoff interview, talking about how proud he was of Joel and saying he wishes he was still on his team, while also noting he’s thrilled to be with the Heat.

Embiid likewise returned the love in his postgame presser, lamenting how the Sixers let him go and still not being sure why that was the case.

That fateful summer saw the Sixers sign Tobias Harris to a 5-year, $180 million deal and Al Horford to a 4-year, $109 million deal (who is now starring for Boston in the playoffs after a rather dismal tenure in Philly) instead of bringing back Butler. Part of the calculus for that decision was believing Harris was a better fit with the Embiid-Ben Simmons pairing, freeing Simmons up to be more of an on-ball player, which obviously didn’t work out as Simmons is now in Brooklyn and James Harden, who took two shots in the second half of Game 6, is in Philly.

After that walkoff interview in which Butler was quite diplomatic, he offered a more candid expression of his feelings towards the Sixers and their decision-making as he entered the tunnel, yelling “Tobias Harris over me?!”

It is another twist of the knife for Sixers fans who have more than a few “what ifs” to consider about major transactions in the past few years. That Embiid and Butler have been so public in acknowledging how much they miss each other, it also begs the question of whether they will eventually push to partner up again the next time one of them is approaching free agency.

Just months after dropping his highly acclaimed sophomore album, Candydrip, Lucky Daye has teamed up with Mark Ronson for a groovy new collab. On their single, “Too Much,” Lucky provides his sugary vocals, desiring an adventurous night with over a funky, jazzy Ronson-produced beat.

Lucky’s voice syncs perfectly with Ronsons’ thumping drums and intoxicating horns. “We’re just catching up to time,” he sings. “Let’s do too much, Something that we never tried, we never tried.”

Ronson and Lucky have previously collaborated on “Fly” from the 2019 Spies In Disguise soundtrack. For their most recent collab, the two teamed up with Audemars Piquet for their Syncing Sounds series, where they can be seen building “Too Much” from scratch.

“When I’m in the room with [Ronson], he doesn’t have to keep reminding me that he’s a legend, and I don’t even have to remind myself,” Lucky said. “I can literally vibe, and we vibe like it’s nothing, and every time we work, it’s just easy flowing.”

Ronson didn’t share an update in regards to an upcoming album, however, he recently revealed via Instagram that he is working on a book about his teens and his early 20s as a hip-hop DJ in New York City.

“It’s the story of an undocumented era before smartphones and VIP booths when ascending hip-hop moguls, artists, hustlers, models, posers, dancers and hard-working 9 to 5’ers all rubbed shoulders with each other in the club,” said Ronson in a post. “At that moment, New York was still the center of the music game and in the land of Biggie, Wu-Tang and Tribe, we celebrated them every night.”

Check out “Too Much” above.

This fall will mark two years since Davido released his sophomore album A Better Time. The project, which was a follow-up to his 2019 debut A Good Time came complete with 17 songs and features from fellow afrobeats artists Mayorkun, Tiwa Savage, Ckay, Sauti Sol, and more, as well as hip-hop R&B acts like Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown, Young Thug, Lil Baby, Nas, and others. With the 2020 project, it was clear that Davido’s mainstream crossover was in full effect and it was something that was proven time and time again after the arrival of A Better Time through stateside collaborations, late-night TV performances, and more.

However, all of that is in the past now as Davido prepares to release his upcoming third album. There isn’t a title for the project yet, but we’ve received the first taste of Davido’s upcoming body of work through his new single “Stand Strong.” It’s a triumphant effort that captures Davido beside The Samples, a choir that adds a glorious touch to the song. The new record is also produced by Nigerian singer-producer Pheelz, who is having a big moment of his own with “Finesse” featuring following Nigerian singer BNXN fka Buju.

You can enjoy Davido’s new song in the video above.

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Entering Thursday night’s Game 6 in Dallas, nine series had been completed in the 2022 NBA Playoffs without requiring a Game 7, with the Miami Heat being the latest team to advance in fewer than the maximum with a Game 6 win in Philadelphia.

The Phoenix Suns were looking to do the same, but after going back-and-forth in a tight game for 19 minutes, the Mavs made the first big run of the game — one that the Suns would, ultimately, never be able to come back from. With 6:27 to play, the Mavs led 41-39, but would go on a 19-6 run to close the quarter to take a 15-point lead into the halftime break, with Luka Doncic, as always, at the center of the run.

The Mavs kept up the pace in the third quarter, as they had the Suns normally stingy defense running ragged as they sent help at Doncic and he picked out the right passes over and over.

Phoenix would try a number of coverages on Doncic, but the Mavs star was able to find a counter each time. On a few occasions his defender would get prepared to go over a screen and jump up on his hip, only for the screener to stay back, allowing Doncic a free driving lane to the basket.

Dallas took a 22-point lead into the fourth quarter and put it on cruise control from there as the Suns were able to nibble into that lead a bit but never really mount a real comeback effort, with the Suns pulling their starters with four minutes to go in a 20-point game after Chris Paul appeared to tweak his hand injury, with Dallas cruising to a 113-86 win.

It was an oddly flat performance from Phoenix in a closeout opportunity, with Chris Paul and Devin Booker struggling to run the offense at its normally level of efficiency and being forced into 12 combined turnovers, compared to just seven assists for the star backcourt duo. Booker finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, but was just 6-of-17 from the field, with most of those buckets coming in the first quarter. Paul had 13 on 4-of-7 shooting, but was frustrated for much of the night by the Mavs’ ball pressure and continues to look a bit worn out from expending a lot of energy getting the Suns past the Pelicans in the first round. The bright spot for Phoenix was Deandre Ayton, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds, but he’s so reliant on others to get him the ball that Dallas has been able to mitigate his presence by hounding Phoenix’s ball handlers and making it difficult to get him the ball against the mismatches he so often has.

On Dallas’ side, Luka was again tremendous with 33 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, and four steals, even in a bit of an off shooting night (11-of-26 from the field, 2-of-8 from three). Jalen Brunson chipped in 18 points and three steals, upping his output on both ends in a big game, and they got shooting support from Reggie Bullock and Spencer Dinwiddie, who each hit five three-pointers on the evening. Dallas now sends the series back to Phoenix, where they haven’t been as competitive, but will only need one night of their “others” finding a stroke from deep around Doncic, who has proven his game travels no matter the opponent, to pull off the upset against the Suns in their home building.

The music world has missed Kendrick Lamar. Sure, we’ve been doing alright with various releases from the industry’s heavyweights like J. Cole, Drake, Kanye West, Young Thug, Future, Taylor Swift, and more, as well as newcomers who have provided something new and refreshing to the world. Prior to last fall, Adele was seemingly the long superstar who went longer than Kendrick without a new album, but even she returned in November with 30. Ever since Kendrick stamped himself as not only the next great rapper but the next great artist overall, his full-length releases grab the attention of the world and it’s something that will happen again with his newly-released long-awaited fifth album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.

There are a few things to keep in mind with Kendrick’s new album, which was prefaced by the impressive “The Heart Part 5.” Aside from what the project adds to his undeniable legacy, it will also be his last official release on Top Dawg Entertainment, a label he’s called home since 2004. There’s no telling what Kendrick’s next step will be, heck, it took us over four years to find out what it would be following Damn. One thing we do know is that Kendrick’s journey will most likely continue under PgLang, a creative agency that he founded with his longtime partner and former TDE co-president Dave Free. PgLang is also home to Baby Keem and newly-signed act Tanna Leone.

But enough about the future, let’s enjoy the present. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is out now and there will mostly be so much to enjoy with it. So grab a pair of headphones or turn on your speakers, and press play on an album that many of us have waited a long time to hear.

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is out now via PgLang/TDE/Aftermath/Interscope. You can stream it here.

Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour tour has seen the “Good 4 U” singer deliver some impressive covers, including some by Avril Lavigne and Veruca Salt. At a recent stop in Philadelphia, Rodrigo covered one of No Doubt’s signature hits, “Just A Girl.”

“Anyone that knows me knows that I am the biggest Gwen Stefani fan in the world,” Rodrigo said before delivering the electrifying cover. “I went to the Met Gala the other day. I got to talk to her for a while, and she’s just the coolest human in the world.” Rodrigo proceeded to sing “Just A Girl,” backed by guitars and drums, giving the ’90s hit Rodrigo’s signature brand of teen angst.

A fan-recorded video of the performance caught the attention of Gwen Stefani, who expressed her enjoyment for the cover via Twitter. “u killed it,” said the No Doubt lead vocalist.

Stefani previously praised Rodrigo’s songwriting ability in Time, saying, “Olivia’s storytelling is confessional and intimate, it’s also larger than life… Rare is the artist who can transport that way, especially at such a young age. And for anyone going through their first heartbreak, Olivia’s voice is a light in the dark.”

Check out Olivia Rodrigo’s cover of “Just A Girl” in the video above.