Month: July 2022

Big Sean and Jhene Aiko have been together on and off since 2016. However, their collaborations through music date back to 20131when Sean recruited Jhene for “I’m Gonna Be” from his 2012 mixtape Detroit. Since then, the couple has joined forces for numerous songs like “Beware,” “I Know,” “Same Time Pt. 1,” “None Of Your Concern,” “Body Language,” and more. Sean and Jhene even formed a duo called Twenty88 in 2016 and released a self-titled project. They recently said that the duo’s second project is on the way. While many people are waiting on that collaboration to come to fruition, Sean and Jhene have something — or someone — sweeter on the way.

Thanks to some pictures captured by TMZ, it appears that Sean and Jhene are expecting their first child together. It’s unclear how far along Jhene is in her pregnancy as neither she or Sean have confirmed or spoken about the child. If this proves to be true, the baby would be Jhene’s second child, as she is already a mother to her 13-year-old daughter Namiko Love Browner, whom she shares with ex-boyfriend O’Ryan. As for Sean, this will be his first child.

This is seemingly not the couple’s first attempt at having a child as back in 2020, Sean alluded to Jhene suffering a miscarriage. “Should be a billionaire based on the time off I’m not takin,’” he rapped on “Deep Reverence.” “Probably why the sh*t with me get crazy and we lost a baby.”

You can see the TMZ-captured photos of Jhene and Sean here.

With Kevin Durant asking out of Brooklyn, the belief that Kyrie Irving would spend next season on the Nets after opting into the last year on his contract has been shortlived. While the majority of the league prepares their best prospective trade packages for Durant and the Nets, suitors for Irving are far more limited.

Irving is signaling that he’s only interested in playing for the Lakers, which means another team would have to want to add Kyrie when he doesn’t want to be there, which is a major risk, when considering what has happened to the last two teams that have done so when he’s chosen them, few are willing to take. As such, pretty much every Irving rumor popping up involves the Lakers, with Chris Haynes reporting on Saturday that there were active talks about an Irving for Russell Westbrook swap, which would reunite Irving with LeBron James and, ever so briefly, Westbrook with Durant.

While Haynes would double back and pour a bit of cold water on his own rumors by noting talks were more preliminary than advanced, it sure seems like a Westbrook-Irving swap has real legs. Marc Stein added to that on Sunday in his newsletter, proclaiming that the driving force behind L.A.’s interest is none other than LeBron James.

James, I’m told, wants to see Irving in Lakerland more than anyone. What other team, furthermore, has a LeBron-sized personality with the experience to cope with all the chaos that comes with adding Kyrie? James, remember, has often thrived in chaos.

James and Irving have publicly squashed any lingering beef they had over Irving’s 2017 departure from Cleveland in recent years, and it seems both view this as an opportunity not only to fully reconcile but also that it’s their best chance to win. For all of Kyrie’s faults off the court, he’s more productive on it currently than Westbrook, which is surely appealing to James considering his ever-closing window at the age of 37. As for Kyrie, he comes from the only situation that could make the Lakers look tame, and he’s well aware of the expectations that come with playing with LeBron.

Given the Lakers are the only real suitor for Irving, the Nets might put that deal on the backburner until they figure out exactly what a KD trade looks like so they know what to send out and what to prioritize in return alongside Westbrook, but there sure seems to be a stronger than expected chance we see LeBron and Kyrie on the court together again next season.

Today’s moviegoers are so used to franchises that a one-off movie that just ends can seem a touch alien. Such was the case with Everything Everywhere All at Once, the surprise money gobbler in which Michelle Yeoh’s laundromat owner tries not to lose her mind in a multiverse of madness. The action-sci-fi-drama has become A24’s biggest stateside hit, but even before it was, filmmakers Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert — collectively billed as “the Daniels” — seemed to have floated a bonkers ideas for a sequel. Now it turns out that was just a joke.

As caught by The AV Club, The Daniels took to Twitter to shoot down an IndieWire article, which claimed, based on an interview they did with them in March, that the two were planning a follow-up to what would soon become a sleeper hit. At the time, Scheinert addressed how their film never really addresses the Internet, and how Yeoh’s Evelyn, unlike her daughter Joy, is someone who simply never grew up with it.

“Actually, if we ever were to do a sequel to this movie, it would be about Evelyn getting radicalized,” Kwan chimed in. “And then Joy would have to go out and save her mom.”

Alas, that was “not true at all,” the Daniels tweeted. “Don’t even remember making this joke. Must have been back in March when the idea of a sequel was especially comically far fetched to us.”

Sorry! It’s not a terrible idea for a movie, and given their energetic filmmaking style the Daniels would probably make that into a fun commentary on something very real: older people who didn’t grow up with the Internet being easily snookered by misinformation and straight-up nonsense. On the other hand, more movies should simply just end.

(Via The AV Club and IndieWire)

Goran Dragic was a key piece of the Miami Heat’s run to the NBA Finals in the Bubble in 2020, but after tearing his plantar fascia in Game 1 of the Finals, he hasn’t quite regained that same level.

Dragic averaged 7.5 points, 4.1 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game on 37.7/25.4/81.8 shooting splits with the Raptors and Nets in 21 games last season, but did show some positive signs late in his tenure with Brooklyn. He is currently playing for Slovenia in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers alongside Mavs star Luka Doncic, and their close relationship has long brought the expectation that Dallas would bring Dragic in for point guard depth.

However, after not dealing for Dragic at the deadline last year, the Mavs have once again chosen not to bring in the veteran guard, as word broke on Sunday, shortly after Dragic scored 20 in Slovenia’s win over Sweden, that he was headed to Chicago on a one-year deal as they continue to bolster their roster with pieces of the mid-level.

It makes sense for the Bulls to bring Dragic in, as last year they struggled when Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso spent time sidelined with injuries. While Dragic won’t supplant those two on the defensive side of the ball, he can provide some much needed ball-handling and scoring ability going downhill when healthy.

Democratic leaders have been torched for not doing much to push back against the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but a lot of their problems would be solved if two senators would play ball. That pair is Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, both of whom have long stood in the way of progress, refusing to do, among other things, end the filibuster so they can pass key legislation. They’re unlikely to flip-flop, but a challenger to Sinema wants her to do one thing: explain to her constituents why won’t save abortion rights.

As per Raw Story, Democratic representative Ruben Gallego, who is reportedly considering running against in 2024, took to Twitter, suggesting she has town hall in her state. That way, she can “explain your choice to protect an old Senate Rule instead of a woman’s right to an abortion.” He pointed out it’s been a while since she held one, and if it helps, he’ll co-host.

Sinema has not only stood against such hot topics as ending the filibuster, raising the minimum wage, or protecting abortion rights. She also refuses to explain her decisions. This has angered fellow Arizona Democrats, and her polling has long been in the pits. But here’s the chance for her to have a nice chat with her voters, who may also be curious why she’s more worried about people dragging the “thoughts and prayers” crowd than saving 10-year-olds from being forced to give birth.

(Via Raw Story)

Last week, Burna Boy announced that his wildly-anticipated new album, Love, Damini, was being pushed back by a week. Originally scheduled to be released this past Friday, July 2nd, it’s now coming out on July 9th, and it’s giving the Nigerian afrobeats sensation time to tease the lead-up to the drop, juuuust a little bit more. While “Last, Last,” and “Kilometre” are the only tracks released so far from the album, Burna Boy just shared the full Love, Damini tracklist and it’s loaded with worldwide talent across 19 tracks.

For starters, Burna has brought on Ed Sheeran for the track “For My Hand” and then J Balvin for “Rollercoaster.” Kehlani and Blxst will join him on “Solid,” Popcaan appears on “T.A.S.,” grime rapper J Hus is on “Cloak & Dagger,” and legendary South African singers Ladysmith Black Mambazo are on both album opener “Glory,” as well as on the album’s closing title track.

But there’s more, and you can check out the full Love, Damini tracklist below.

1. “Glory” featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo
2. “Science”
3. “Jagele”
4. “Kilometre”
5. “Cloak & Dagger” featuring J.Hus
6. “Whiskey”
7. “Last Last”
8. “Different Size ft Victony
9. “It’s Plenty”
10. “Dirty Secrets”
11. “T.A.S” featuring Popcaan
12. “Solid” featuring Blxst & Kehlani
13. “For My Hand” featuring Ed Sheeran
14. “Rollercoaster” featuring. J. Balvin
15. “Vanilla”
16. “Common Person”
17. “Wild Dreams”
18. “How Bad Could It Be” featuring Khalid
19. “Love, Damini” featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Love Damini is out 6/30 via Atlantic. You can pre-save it here.

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

As a result of being one of music’s biggest stars, Drake has been able to do a lot of random and interesting things in his life. He created the Sanctuary Basketball League (SBL) that runs games in his mansion, and so far, he’s a 2-time champion. He threw a dinner party on the 50-yard line at SoFi Stadium after he won artist of the decade. In his latest act, Drake took to a concert stage in his hometown of Toronto to perform with a legendary pop band: Backstreet Boys.

Drake accompanied the band for a performance of “I Want It That Way” at a recent concert in Toronto. However, before they began the song, Drake shared how impactful “I Want It That Way” was for him. “I really wanted to come out here tonight — I saw my brother at a restaurant the other night, and I was telling him that when I was in high school — I wasn’t even in high school yet, it was junior high and I was 13 years old,” Drake said. “I was an awkward kid. I was in love with this girl at the time…and she paid me no mind. But at 13 years old, I had a thing called a bar mitzvah…and at my bar mitzvah, for the first time in my life, this girl who I was in love with came up to me while one of the greatest songs of all time played.”

He continued, “She asked me if I would dance with her to the song. It was the first time I ever felt acknowledged — like I had a shot at being cool. The song that she wanted to dance with me to was one of the greatest songs of all time — it’s one of the greatest songs ever made.”

You can watch clips from Drake and Backstreet Boys’ performance together in the posts above.

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, there’s been moderate exhalation on the right and righteous anger on the left. (Democratic leaders, meanwhile, don’t seem to have any ideas on how to fight it.) Already we’re starting to see the grim consequences. On Saturday, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl from Ohio who had been raped by her uncle had to travel to Indiana after being denied an abortion. Now anti-abortion politicians are being asked point-blank about what they think about this horrific situation, and their answers are, to put it mildly, not great.

Kristi Noem, the very MAGA governor of South Dakota, went on CNN’s State of the Union, where host Dana Bash brought up the story of the 10-year-old. “Because this was a trigger law that was passed before you became governor,” Bash asked Noem, “I want you to be clear, will the state of South Dakota going forward force a 10-year-old in that very same situation to have a baby?”

Noem not only avoided the answer but did her best to change the subject. “What’s incredible is that nobody’s talking about the pervert, horrible and deranged individual that raped a 10 year old,” Noem replied. “What are we doing about that?”

Bash tried to get her back on track, asking if she was “okay with a 10-year-old girl having to have a baby.” But Noem was vague, saying, “No, I’m never okay with that. That story will keep me up at night. It breaks my heart.”

Bash tried again, asking if she would “change the law to have an exception for a situation like that?”

At this point Noem finally offered a kind of answer, buried in a torrent of words. “I can’t even imagine. What I would say is I don’t believe a tragic situation should be perpetuated by another tragedy,” Noem finally said. “And so there’s more that we’ve got to do to make sure that we really are living a life that says every life is precious, especially innocent lives that have been shattered like that 10-year-old girl.”

In other words, yep, Noem would force a 10-year-old who was raped to give birth, despite what they might do to her own body. As George Carlin once said about the anti-abortion crowd, “if you’re pre-born, you’re fine, if you’re preschool, you’re f*cked.”

After taking about a month off following the Mavericks’ Western Conference Finals loss to the eventual champs in the Golden State Warriors, Luka Doncic is back on the basketball court playing for Slovenia in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers in Europe.

The Mavs star playing in the FIBA qualifiers has turned some heads stateside as he appears to be in terrific shape, exciting Mavs fans who have seen Luka elect to play his way into top shape in recent seasons. That certainly doesn’t seem like it’ll be the case this year as Doncic is staying busy with national team obligations this summer.

On Sunday, Doncic’s Slovenian squad faced off with Sweden, and early in the game Doncic couldn’t help but laugh as Swedish fans serenaded him with “overrated” chants. What made it even funnier is that Luka’s mentor and friend Dirk Nowitzki joined in on the heckling courtside.

Luka calmly knocked down the free throws as he chuckled about the chants, and Dirk couldn’t help himself but prod at his young protege. This came after Luka snuck up on Dirk in the tunnel prior to the game for a big hug and dapping up Dirk’s kids before running out for warmups, as the two Mavs stars of past and present continue to bless us with wholesome video content.

Nicki Minaj has had quite an eventful 2022 year so far. She put her comeback into full swing at the top of the year with two tracks alongside Lil Baby: “Do We Have A Problem?” and “Bussin.” She later returned alongside Fivio Foreign for “We Go Up” and lent a guest verse to Coi Leray for “Blick Blick.” Next for Nicki in her 2022 year was a headlining performance at the 2022 Essence Festival, something she delivered on Friday night. Her set made headlines thanks to some comments she seemingly made about Kanye West on stage.

After a 45-minute delay, Nicki hit the stage and performed “Do We Have A Problem?” before switching off to fan favorites like “We Go Up,” “Did It On ’em,” and “Beez in the Trap.” Next, the DJ play “Monster,” Kanye West’s highlight 2010 single that features Minaj, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, and Bon Iver, but Nicki had other plans. “A monster though!” Nicki said to the crowd. “A monster though! But we don’t f8ck with clowns.” After that comment, the DJ got the message and went to the next song.

The moment left many wondering if there’s an ongoing issue between Nicki and Kanye, and if so, what it could be about. Many believe that it has to do with Kanye’s recent collaboration with Cardi B for “Hot Sh*t” as Nicki and Cardi have been at odds for quite some time. Others noted that Nicki’s frustrations with Kanye shelving their celebrated “New Body” track with Ty Dolla Sign might have been a factor behind her comments.

You can watch Nicki Minaj seemingly throw shade at Kanye in the video above.

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