Month: July 2022

Kanye West might not be as active on social media lately as he was earlier this year, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still lurking on the hip-hop blogs — especially when they post stories that might pertain to him. And he’s just as outspoken as he’s always been, only now he sets out to defend himself in the DMs rather than on his public feed — a much more effective strategy, truth be told.

In the latest example of Ye advocating for himself against “the hip-hop media” (actually fan blogs dedicated to reposting freely available information from social media and 2 am Google searches, apparently), Kanye reached out personally to correct a “story” posted by an account called RapThoughtsDaily. And yes, I’m using quotes derisively here and will continue to do so until people figure out the difference between legitimate journalistic outlets and 25-year-old hobbyists posting on Instagram and Twitter for “clout.”

Kanye was featured in a RapThoughtsDaily post about rappers’ performance fees, the info for which they clearly just Googled (see above) without citing any real sources to confirm. Among the rappers listed were Denzel Curry, Tyler The Creator, and Vince Staples; Kanye was given one of the largest figures at $1 million (coming in behind Young Thug at $1.5 million, which… come on. Really?). It doesn’t seem that Ye appreciated being lowballed even theoretically — the account did allow that the freely available info on Google is often way off.

He DMed the account manager to tell them to “please change this,” clarifying that “my performance fee is $8 million.” Whoever manages the account was only too happy to oblige, posting a screenshot of the conversation to the Story and updating the caption to reflect the higher figure. Of course, there’s no telling whether that figure is accurate either but at least Kanye got to see a “blog” make a correction while RapThoughtsDaily got to get a direct message from a celebrity. Everybody wins, I guess. Except for, you know, the concept of journalism in hip-hop, which is currently on life support and getting worse all the time.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is going full Alex Jones following back-to-back shootings on July 4th. During a recent video posted to her Facebook page, Greene claimed that the Highland Park shooting looks like it was “designed” to hit a “rich white neighborhood” in an effort to get Republicans on board with gun control. In other words, a “false flag” operation, which is how Jones once described the Sandy Hook shooting that’s left him facing bankruptcy after being embroiled in a lawsuit with the victims’ families.

In a revealing choice of words, Greene essentially admits that Republicans won’t take action unless something happens to a “rich white neighborhood.” She also refers to the entire month of July as “MAGA month” while pondering why there were no shootings during Pride month. Lady, this is America. There are mass shootings everyday.

Via No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen on Twitter:

Now, here’s what I have to say. I mean, two shootings on July 4th, one in a rich white neighborhood and the other at a fireworks display. It almost sounds like it’s designed to persuade Republicans to go along with more gun control. I mean, after all, remember we didn’t see that happened at all at the Pride parades in the month of June. But as soon as we hit MAGA month, as soon as we hit the month that we’re all celebrating, loving our country, we have shootings on July 4th.

In a surprising moment of self-awareness, Greene admits that this sounds like a “conspiracy theory.” However, instead of backing away from this train of thought, she doubled down.

“But what’s the definition of a right wing conspiracy theory?” Greene asked. “Well, by the way, it’s just the news that’s six months early.”

(Via No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen on Twitter)

[This post contains spoilers for Stranger Things 4]

Both things can be true: there are too many characters on Stranger Things, but the new season four characters are welcome additions to the show. OK, maybe not all of them (Jason deserved his horrible death), but take Eddie, for instance. He was a nerd father figure to Dustin, and he shredded to Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” to distract an army of demon-bats, which is an objectively cool thing to do. From a story-telling perspective, it makes sense why Eddie was killed off. But the Iron Maiden fan will be missed.

Eddie was one of a few recently-introduced faces to die in season four, along with cheerleader Chrissy and Nancy’s horny newspaper friend, but the Stranger Things creators spared another new character.

“In terms of who makes it, who lives or dies, I think there was a version where Dimitri, a.k.a. Enzo, didn’t make it,” Matt Duffer revealed to Collider about the Russian prison guard who befriends Hopper. “Then he ended up making it. But that’s [the most] radical of a departure from the original idea versus what we ended up with.”

Enzo is a fan favorite, but he’s not Stephen King’s favorite Russian character:

Yuri, Enzo, and Murray, eating peanut butter in a broken-down planes around the globe. Now there’s a spinoff idea.

(Via Collider)

It’s been five years since Alvvays released their sophomore album Antisocialites, immediately becoming one of indie rock’s most endearing acts. Following up on the honesty and quaint daydreams of their self-titled debut, it proved that Alvvays had a lot in the tank and were a special band. But nary a peep on the new music front has emanated from the Canadian quintet’s camp since then, and it’s because of an insane series of events.

While the band started writing the newly announced Blue Rev shortly after Antisocialites came out in 2017, they became a touring machine; one that simply does not write and record while they’re on tour. Then, someone broke into singer and primary songwriter Molly Rankin’s apartment, swiping a recorder that contained the band’s recent demos. The next day, the basement flooded in Alvvays’ practice/storage space and their gear was compromised. Then the pandemic hit, the Canada/US border closed , and it made it hard for all five members who live on both sides of that border to be in the same room, let alone a studio together.

But Alvvays weathered the proverbial storm and after teasing new music two weeks ago when they announced tour dates for 2022, their third album, Blue Rev, is officially due out on October 7th. The band worked with six-time Grammy-winning producer/engineer/mixer Shawn Everett (The War On Drugs, King Princess, Kacey Musgraves) in Los Angeles, and things just clicked once again. The band recorded the album straight to tape and the rest will soon be history.

With the album announcement, also comes the release of Blue Rev’s opening track, “Pharmacist,” which should no doubt quell the five year wait for new music from the pride and joy of Prince Edward Island while we await the album in full.

Listen to “Pharmacist” above and check out the Blue Rev album artwork and tracklist below.

1. “Pharmacist”
2. “Easy On Your Own?’
3. “After The Earthquake”
4. “Tom Verlaine”
5. “Pressed”
6. “Many Mirrors”
7. “Very Online Guy”
8. “Velveteen”
9. “Tile By Tile”
10. “Pomeranian Spinster”
11. “Belinda Says”
12. “Bored in Bristol”
13. “Lottery Noises”
14. “Fourth Figure”

Blue Rev is out 10/7 via Polyvinyl. Pre-order it here.

Bobby Shmurda is free. Not only from prison, but free to make and release music as an independent artist. In an interview with Variety, the “Hot Boy” rapper discussed making new music, his upcoming EP, and his time in prison. Specifically, he recalled partaking in sexual activities during prison visits.

“I got oral sex, didn’t get sex sex,” Shmurda said. “I’m too big to be doing all that other sh*t, ya understand?”

When asked how the guards and prison staff would react to these acts, Shmurda said, “Some of them wouldn’t care, they’d be like [shrugs]. Some would be like [in deep voice], “Ackquille Pollard! Chill, hold it down, son! What the f*ck you doing?! This girl right here, both of y’all get the f*ck out!”

On top of that, Shmurda revealed that he smoked weed behind bars, saying, “I ain’t got nothing else to do.”

When Shmurda released “Hot Boy” in 2014, its accompanying music video popularized the “Shmoney dance,” which went viral on platforms like YouTube and the now-defunct Vine. While in jail, Shmurda made sure to never lose his dancing groove.

“I made killers dance,” Shmurda said. “I make everybody dance with everybody,” while adding that he found inspiration in a multitude of genres.

“I’ll play all types of music: Spanish music, pop music, Jamaican music,” he said. “I do everything but country and rock. I can’t really get into country and rock too much. Pop, R&B, hip-hop, jazz, I like everything.”

While riding high from his career-changing performance as Sheriff Jim Hopper in Netflix’s Stranger Things, David Harbour was tapped to star in Hellboy reboot. It was a bold endeavor, considering the huge amount of love for Ron Perlman‘s portrayal of the Dark Horse comic book character under the direction of Guillermo del Toro. As we now know, the 20019 film did not meet fans’ expectations nor critics, and it bombed at the box office.

In a new interview, Harbour has opened up about the Hellboy experience and revealed that he made a bold move by calling Ryan Reynolds for advice out of the blue. The actor had experience navigating a box office “flop” with 2011’s Green Lantern, and Harbour desperately needed to hear that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

Via GQ UK:

The day the film was released to theatres, and it became apparent that it was going to bomb, he called Ryan Reynolds. “I know him a little bit. I called him and I was like, Hey man, I just need to know something. You know Green Lantern? Huge flop for you. What the f*ck is that like, because I think I’m going to hit that right now. Am I gonna be okay? Am I gonna survive this?” Reynolds, for his part, was “sweet” about it.

Obviously, Harbour weathered the Hellboy storm. Stranger Things 4 is a massive phenomenon as it continues to crush streaming records for Netflix, and Harbour followed up the Hellboy debacle with a well-received portrayal of Red Guardian for Marvel’s Black Widow. Interestingly, that’s similar to how Reynolds bounced back after Green Lantern. He knocked it out of the park as a Marvel character, and everything’s been smooth sailing ever since.

(Via GQ UK)

Selena Gomez has become one of TV’s favorite stars in recent years thanks to Only Murders In The Building, and Selena + Chef is also a good time. Despite her commitments on that front, Gomez has actually managed to remain relatively prolific with music lately: She dropped her album Rare in 2020 and her Revelación EP the following year (the latter of which earned Gomez her first Grammy nomination).

Now, it sure looks like she’s working on more new music, as hours ago, she shared a TikTok video of her behind a microphone in a recording studio.

While there are many reasons why Gomez could be in a high-end recording environment (voiceover for a TV show or movie, for example), the theory that she’s recording music lines up with what she said in a late-May podcast appearance: “I am in LA working on my album now.” She also added at the time, “I’m open to a tour, one thousand percent, but I obviously have obligations and things I wanna do, so when the time’s right. It’s not the top of my priority list.”

In early 2021, Gomez seemed to be considering leaving music behind, although she later walked that back when she told Elle last August, “I don’t think I’ll ever quit making music. […] I’m not saying I want a Grammy. I just feel like I’m doing the best I can, and it’s all about me. Sometimes, that can really get to me.”

Ed Sheeran is the gift that keeps on giving for his fans. After releasing his fifth album = (Equals) last fall, he released remixes of two songs from the album, “The Joker And The Queen” with Taylor Swift and “2Step” with Lil Baby. He then delivered a “tour edition” of = complete with four new songs to indulge in. Add in collaborations with J Balvin, Camila Cabello, and others, it’s clear that Sheeran has things covered on the music front. Now Ed is diving into the clothing world thanks to an upcoming sustainable collaboration with Lucy & Yak.

Through his collaboration with the independent clothing brand, Ed will debut a limited-edition capsule collection that is laden with butterfly prints and designs inspired by the artwork for =. Billboard notes that the items are “fairly made” with organic cotton and built for all seasons.

“Ed wanted to partner on a collection that brings together his love for his fans,” reads a statement about the upcoming collection, adding, “and Lucy & Yak’s iconic designs and sustainability focused approach; the singer and his wife Cherry are passionate about the environment.” Lucy Greenwood, the co-founder of Lucy & Yak, also notes that the butterfly in the artwork for = “holds a really special meaning” to Ed, adding that he “shares our passion for doing better for the environment.”

The limited-edition capsule collection contains the L.E Original Dungaree (priced at £65, or about $77), Bailey Hoodie (£58, or $69), Denver T-shirt (£28, or $33) and Travis Bucket Hat (£22, or $26). It will be available to purchase on July 14 here.

You can read more about the upcoming collection here.

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

One of the most anticipated games of 2022 is PlayStation’s God of War Ragnarök. Despite this, Sony has been oddly quiet about when the next game would be arriving. They were so quiet about it that fans continuously speculated that it was going to be delayed, these speculations were so constant that the developers of the game had to come out multiple times and tell fans that it would still be released in 2022. These concerns from fans only got louder when a recent State of Play and Summer Game Fest didn’t give us any new info about the upcoming game.

Finally, after all the speculation, on Wednesday a new trailer for God Of War Ragnarök was unveiled. It confirmed a November 2022 release date and fans everywhere could breathe a collective sigh of relief. A new God of War is coming and this is going to be a big one because it will conclude the Norse storyline that many fans loved so much about the previous game. Via PlayStation Blog.

God of War Ragnarök is officially coming to PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on November 9, 2022!

We’re thrilled be able to share our release date and the brand-new God of War Ragnarök – Father and Son CG Trailer with all the God of War fans who have been eagerly awaiting news. We hope you’ve enjoyed a glimpse at some of the dangers Kratos and Atreus could find themselves up against as Ragnarök approaches.

This is a big win for video game fans everywhere because 2022 has felt like yet another year full of delays, but the developers of Ragnarök were adamant they were on schedule for a 2022 release date. Let’s hope it meets all of our expectations because if it does it will be a for sure Game of the Year contender.

Hocus Pocus 2 star Bette Midler was accused of using anti-trans language in a tweet this week about the erasure of women following the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. “They don’t call us ‘women’ anymore; they call us ‘birthing people’ or ‘menstruators’, and even ‘people with vaginas’! Don’t let them erase you!” she tweeted.

Singer Macy Gray has also come under fire after saying surgery “doesn’t make you a woman” on Piers Morgan Uncensored.

Both have said their comments were misrepresented — although not before Gray received support from Harry Potter author and notorious “TERF” J.K. Rowling, who vowed to purchase her “entire back catalogue” (so, that one song?).

In response to their remarks, Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter tweeted, “I cannot think of anything that helps women’s rights less than pinning the blame on trans women. They face so much violence and scrutiny as is. Leave them alone and focus on the real war on women. It’s happening in the courts and legislatures around this country.”

The LGBTQIA+ ally is being called a real-life wonder woman for her support. “Lynda Carter played Wonder Woman on the small screen, but she’s proving to be a real American shero here! Thank you, Ms. Carter for supporting the LGBTQIA+ community as you have for years!” @mikesarzo tweeted, while @Matdredalia added, “Lynda Carter has been one of my idols my entire life, and there are literally no words for how much it means to me when she speaks up for the most marginalized among us. And IMO? Wonder Woman herself standing up for Trans women is pretty much as good as it gets.”