Month: July 2022

During her appearance at Rolling Loud Miami this past weekend, Saweetie gave fans a taste of new music. Ahead of her hotly anticipated, oft-delayed full-length debut, Pretty B*tch Music, the multi-hyphenate previewed a new track called “Don’t Say Nothin’.”

While the sound in the video footage is a bit hard to hear, fans immediately made out the lyrics, “He must have got excited when I FaceTimed him with nothing on / Same h*es that’s talking be the same ones I nutted on / 100k? You know much paper I be touching on? / That’s light, baby check my net worth.”

The lyrics seem to be in response to rumors that Lil Baby took Saweetie on a $100,000 shopping spree, after Hollywood Unlocked reported that they were seen shopping together last year. Shortly after the news broke, Lil Baby took to Twitter to clarify that at the time, he was single.

This performance at Rolling Loud will be her only performance this summer. After her Rolling Loud slot, she confirmed to Spotify that she would be spending the rest of the summer finishing Pretty B*tch Music.

“This is the first time ever in my career where I’ve actually been recording consistently,” she said. “…I told my team I’m not performing this summer. I need to focus on my music and that’s what I’ve been doing.

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

With less than a month to go until the world of Westeros comes roaring back to life, House of the Dragon made a strong showing at Comic-Con where George R.R. Martin was on hand to answer questions about the prequel series. As shown in the most recent trailer, there is a great deal of concern over a woman potentially sitting on the Iron Throne as the male characters do everything in their power to prevent such an outcome. According to Martin, he and the writers are just sticking to history even though the show is infused with fantasy elements.

“I don’t think Westeros is particularly more anti-woman or more misogynistic than real life and what we call history,” Martin told Entertainment Weekly before diving into the real life events that inspired Westeros.

“I get inspiration from history, and then I take elements from history and I turn it up to 11,” the fantasy author said. “Games of Thrones is, as many people have observed, based very loosely on the War of the Roses. [House of the Dragon] is based on an earlier period in history called the Anarchy.”

Martin cited the life of Henry I, who was left with one illegitimate child, whom he named his heir. Once he died, her claim to the throne was challenged by her cousin and civil war broke out. Sounds pretty similar to the synopsis of House of the Dragon.

While that’s well and good, House of the Dragon has already stirred up controversy after showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik recently revealed that, like Game of Thrones, the prequel series would depict sexual assault. Like Martin, the showrunners cited history as their template.

“[We] don’t shy away from it,” Sapochnik told The Hollywood Reporter. “If anything, we’re going to shine a light on that aspect. You can’t ignore the violence that was perpetrated on women by men in that time. It shouldn’t be downplayed and it shouldn’t be glorified.”

House of the Dragon starts streaming August 21 on HBO Max.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

At the end of April, Chaz Bear, more commonly known as Toro Y Moi, released Mahal, his seventh album under the moniker. The project was his first full-length release since 2019’s Outer Peace, which was also his last release under Carpark. Toro Y Moi soon inked a deal with Dead Oceans, where he released Mahal. The new label also meant a bit of a new direction for Toro Y Moi and that was clear on Mahal as it presented moments of funk and others of rock. In a continued effort to keep the project alive, Toro Y Moi stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to perform “Millennium” from the album.

Toro Y Moi was nothing short of silky and smooth for his performance on The Tonight Show. Blue and purple lighting flooded the stage as Toro Y Moi appeared with sparkles glued below his eyes to add to the aesthetic of the set.

The performance on The Tonight Show comes after Toro Y Moi debuted Goes By So Fast: A Mahal Short Film. With help from comedian Eric Andre, Toro Y Moi sought to create a world around his seventh album as he and Andre embarked on a journey throughout the Bay Area.

You can watch Toro Y Moi’s performance in the video above.

Mahal is out now via Dead Oceans. You can stream it here.

In A24’s X, one of the best (and seediest) horror movies of the year, Mia Goth played two roles: Maxine, an aspiring adult film star, and Pearl, a sexually repressed elderly woman who lives on a farm with her cranky husband. It was a career-best performance from the actress, one that she’ll further explore in the X prequel, Pearl.

Pearl is set decades before the events of X as Pearl discovers her sexuality — and love of murder. “It is very much a story about Pearl. So you will learn more about her,” director Ti West told Bloody Disgusting. “It is stylistically very different from X. You do not need one without the other, but they enrich each other in a specific way. In the way that X is affected, let’s say by 1970s horror independent filmmaking and Americana cinema, Pearl is influenced by a very different era of filmmaking.” There’s also more goose killing.

Here’s more:

Filmmaker Ti West returns with another chapter from the twisted world of X, in this astonishing follow-up to the year’s most acclaimed horror film. Trapped on her family’s isolated farm, Pearl must tend to her ailing father under the bitter and overbearing watch of her devout mother. Lusting for a glamorous life like she’s seen in the movies, Pearl’s ambitions, temptations, and repressions all collide, in the stunning, technicolor-inspired origin story of X’s iconic villain.

Pearl (which is hopefully better than every Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel) opens on September 16.

Rootin’ tootin’ Lauren Boebert famously did not graduate high school and holds a GED. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this; however, Boebert refuses to brush up on the U.S. Constitution and only really pays attention to the Second Amendment because Guns. That puts her right in line with the current Supreme Court mix, but nonetheless, Boebert has a willful lack of a grasp about the branches of government (as laid out by the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause ) and why those powers are so important to separate.

Previously, Boebert strutted onstage at Cornerstone Christian Center and declared, “The church is supposed to direct the government.” She clearly doesn’t give a hoot about Founding Father Thomas Jefferson’s celebration of the “wall of separation between Church & State.” Yet Boebert declared, “I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk that’s not in the Constitution.”

Yet she characteristically ignores the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, and Boebert’s now back to promote her book, My American Life. In doing so, she stopped by to visit with conservative podcaster Graham Allen (host of Dear America), to whom she expressed more Church vs. State confusion:

“The church is supposed to direct government, not the opposite way,” Boebert stated. “The church is supposed to influence govt .. The Bible says that government rests on God’s shoulders.” Yet Boebert (who seems to believe that everyone should be Christian) forgets that Founding Father James Madison declared that no religion should reign superior or be established as a national requirement:

“The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed.”

Granted, this is not too surprising of an outcome, given that Bobert’s someone who can’t separate Samuel Adams and John Adams separate in her own mind. Also, she’s gotta sell those books to the MAGA crowd before they jump ship like Fox and Friends has done. Rough stuff!

In recent weeks, Britney Spears’ Instagram page has been mostly free of family drama. That changed last night, though, when in a now-deleted post, Britney chose to highlight some text conversations from when she was allegedly forced into a mental health facility in 2019 and detail the night before that happened.

The post itself reads, “It’s a little different with proof … Here are my text messages to my mom in that place 3 years ago … I show it because there was no response … When I got out, her words were ‘You should have let me visit you and give you a hug.’ The second picture is a message to my friend from home … She was supposed to help me get a new lawyer … I never heard back from her … The last picture was a message to the lawyer I didn’t get to pick … I had nobody … PS My sister’s text after not texing for 3 days was ‘They’re not gonna let you go so why are you fighting it’ …”

In a series of texts sent to her mother Lynne Spears, Spears wrote, “He was saying he wants to UP the seraquil and I’m like whoaaaaaaa horsey go f*ck yourslwf. Seraquil i thought was a sleep aid but it’s for bipolar and is WAAAAAY Stronger than lithium. I literally feel all the sick medicine in my stomach … I feel like he’s trying to kill me. I swear to god I do.” Britney’s screenshot shows no response from Lynne.

She also shared a similar conversation with a friend named Jansen, asking for the number of somebody named John Bell and adding, “Also what about the lithium levels in your opinion and it being monitored for so long…. of course they can MAKE UP any excuse to keep doing it but is it really healthy and ok to give blood for THAT LONG … I have a feeling you will say I will be ok but it still doesn’t make sense.”

In a text to her former court-appointed lawyer Samuel D. Ingham, Spears wrote:

“Great I want to talk about going to court when this is done and getting my medical rights ,,, my boyfriend the right to spend the night with me,,, how can I leave early ,,,, the plan I have u for last month or whatever the f*ck these f*cking people want from me … In court my boyfriend needs to be able to see my children …. I’ve been in the for 12 years I want it over …. I woudk like to replace. Two security guards with new …. would like to to have a day in who comes to my house for security … when this program is over I don’t want to work at all … I want to live for me and have an adventurous life … I want asswhole benson to let me drive again I want to go on three vacations this years …. Miami ,,, New York And [illegible].”

Lynne later shared the other side of the story, posting what appears to be a screenshot of Jansen’s Instagram Story. In it, Jansen shares a screenshot indicating they did respond to Britney’s lithium concerns, writing, “This is what I read about it so I at least think u are in a safe range at least. It says they monitor the blood levels so they can keep it in a certain range. I don’t know tons ab lithium so I had to research it. It said if it gets toxic to u u have the symptoms listed in the last text. I texted Mrs Donna and got her quick return ‘out of office’ message that said they were in Washington DC this week and to leave a message and they would return calls when they got back so no luck on getting his number this week and I don’t know anyone else that would have it or give.”

An overlay on the post reads, “The full message and I did respond!! I have always felt like some of my messages were deleted. Please read the bottom.” As for the bottom text, that says:

“My heart is a little broken this morning so I would like to clarify some things….I love my friends more than life itself and would go to the ends of the earth for them. This msg along with THOUSANDS of msgs were sent to the court investigator in 2019 in order to help my friend Britney Spears. We talked daily when she was in her last facility and her mom and I even went to New Orleans and met with an attorney to try and help her because we knew they wouldn’t let us near her! We were also very cautious of what we would write in messages because we had a feeling her phone was being monitored. When she left the facility my phone number was blocked from her and we have never spoken again! I have tried to reach her through every possible outlet and always failed.”

Lynne captioned her post, “Britney, I have all the ‘whole conversations’ as well! I hurt for you that you feel the people who love you the most betrayed you! Let me come to you! I love you!”

After Lynne’s post, Spears fired back. In another post, Spears wrote about alleged mistreatment from her mother and about the night before she entered the mental health facility:

“Yo ma did you also let people know that’s one of the only times you text me back ??? Did you also tell people how you hid coffee every single morning ??? Did you tell them every morning when I would try to find coffee there were no pictures of me up in the kitchen, just Maddie and Jamie Lynn ??? Every single morning I would put a picture of me by you guys … and every morning you would put it away before I woke up !!! Did you tell them how you were at my beach house when I couldn’t even have the keys to my car ??? Did you tell them I was doing 3 AA meetings a week when I hate alcohcl ??? Play the responsible perfect parent and go to church in Louisiana … it’s a joke !!! You all ruined it for me … I don’t ever remember getting a text from you !!! Did you tell them when the conservatorship first started you and Bryan’s wife went out every night and drank wine and got your stupid pictures taken when I couldn’t go anywhere or have my boyfriend anymore ??? You have some nerve showing your texts when you know you guys hurt me so bad its not even funny !!! Did you tell them two weeks prior to the conservatorship being started it was already planned ??? I had you, Miss Jacky, Allie and another friend over the night before they took me away!!! I had done nothing wrong and you kept telling me on my couch we need to go to Malibu cause I think people are coming to get me and I said ‘WHY???’ !!! I didn’t believe you guys … we had a f*cking sleepover the night before !!! It was all planned and you acted like you had no idea what was going on !!! Two weeks later you released a book and showed my heartbreak when Kevin took my kids … you abused me … yes I will say it and it blows my mind that you still play the prayer loving mom !!!”

Find all the aforementioned posts, or archived versions of them, below.

When was the last time you had Cinnabon? For me, it was eight years ago at the Las Vegas airport before an early flight. It was the greatest meal of my life, although this glowing review might’ve had something to do with the events of the previous night. No further comment, your honor. Anyway! There is a 98 percent chance that my Cinnabon-less streak will be snapped today, following Monday’s episode of Better Call Saul.

“Nippy” is the first time we’ve checked in on Cinnabon Gene, a.k.a Saul Goodman, a.k.a. Jimmy McGill, since season five’s “Magic Man,” when he’s spotted by Jeff the taxi driver. (If you were confused why Jeff looks different than the last time we saw him, that’s because he was recast between seasons.) Since then, the real-life Cinnabon location in Albuquerque has shut down, requiring the show to rebuild the store from scratch.

“We had incredible help from wonderful, talented Cinnabon people who not only got it up and running, but also showed the actors how to do their thing,” Saul writer and executive producer Alison Tatlock told the Hollywood Reporter. It was a crafty business decision, based on the number of people who are now craving a calorie-soaked cinnamon bun, myself (and ol’ Jerry / Garry / Larry from Parks and Recreation) included.

This is not sponcon for Cinnabon, but if Cinnabon wants to give me free food, I’m available.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter)

With their 2022 show just about a month away, the MTV VMAs has arrived with their list of nominations for this year’s show. Kendrick Lamar, Jack Harlow, and Lil Nas X lead the list of nominations as they each earned seven for the award show. Kendrick Lamar’s selections are mostly connected to “Family Ties” with Baby Keem which was picked in three categories including Best Cinematography. All of Jack Harlow and Lil Nas X’s nominations except one, selections for Artist Of The Year, are in connection to their “Industry Baby” collaboration.

This year’s VMAs will take place on August 28. The show has yet to reveal the list of performers for the ceremony, but in a press release, they promised “show-stopping surprises.”

You can view the full list of 2022 VMA nominations below.

Video Of The Year
Doja Cat – “Woman”
Drake Feat. Future & Young Thug – “Way 2 Sexy”
Ed Sheeran – “Shivers”
Harry Styles – “As It Was”
Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow – “Industry Baby”
Olivia Rodrigo – “Brutal”
Taylor Swift – “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)”

Artist Of The Year
Bad Bunny
Drake
Ed Sheeran
Harry Styles
Jack Harlow
Lil Nas X
Lizzo

Song Of The Year
Adele – “Easy On Me”
Billie Eilish – “Happier Than Ever”
Doja Cat – “Woman”
Elton John and Dua Lipa – “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)”
Lizzo – “About Damn Time”
The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber – “Stay”

Best New Artist
Baby Keem
Dove Cameron
Gayle
Latto
Måneskin
Seventeen

Push Performance Of The Year
September 2021: Griff – “One Night”
October 2021: Remi Wolf – “Sexy Villain” – Island Records
November 2021: Nessa Barrett – “i hope ur miserable until ur dead”
December 2021: Seventeen – “Rock With You”
January 2021: Mae Muller – “Better Days”
February 2022: Gayle – “ABCDEFU”
March 2022: Sheneesa – “R U That”
April 2022: Omar Apollo – “Tamagotchi”
May 2022: Wet Leg – “Chaise Longue”
June 2022: Muni Long – “Baby Boo”
July 2022: Doechii – “Persuasive”

Best Collaboration
Drake Feat. Future and Young Thug – “Way 2 Sexy”
Elton John and Dua Lipa – “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)”
Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow – “Industry Baby”
Megan Thee Stallion & Dua Lipa – “Sweetest Pie”
Post Malone and The Weeknd – “One Right Now”
Rosalía Feat. The Weeknd – “La Fama”
The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber – “Stay”

Best Pop
Billie Eilish – “Happier Than Ever”
Doja Cat – “Woman”
Ed Sheeran – “Shivers”
Harry Styles – “As It Was”
Lizzo – “About Damn Time”
Olivia Rodrigo – “Traitor”

Best Hip-Hop
Eminem and Snoop Dogg – “From The D 2 The LBC”
Future Feat. Drake, Tems – “Wait For U”
Kendrick Lamar – “N95”
Latto – “Big Energy”
Nicki Minaj Feat. Lil Baby – “Do We Have A Problem?”
Pusha T – “Diet Coke”

Best Rock
Foo Fighters – “Love Dies Young”
Jack White – “Taking Me Back”
Muse – “Won’t Stand Down”
Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Black Summer”
Shinedown – “Planet Zero”
Three Days Grace – “So Called Life”

Best Alternative
Avril Lavigne Feat. Blackbear – “Love It When You Hate Me”
Imagine Dragons and JID – “Enemy”
Machine Gun Kelly Feat. Willow – “Emo Girl”
Måneskin – “I Wanna Be Your Slave”
Panic! At The Disco – “Viva Las Vengeance”
Twenty One Pilots – “Saturday”
Willow and Avril Lavigne Feat. Travis Barker – “Grow”

Best Latin
Anitta – “Envolver”
Bad Bunny – “Tití Me Preguntó”
Becky G and Karol G – “Mamiii”
Daddy Yankee – “Remix”
Farruko – “Pepas”
J Balvin and Skrillex – “In Da Getto”

Best R&B
Alicia Keys – “City of Gods (Part II)”
Chloe – “Have Mercy”
HER – “For Anyone”
Normani Feat. Cardi B – “Wild Side”
Summer Walker, SZA and Cardi B – “No Love (Extended Version)”
The Weeknd – “Out Of Time”

Best K-Pop
BTS – “Yet To Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)”
Itzy – “Loco” – JYP Entertainment
Lisa – “Lalisa”
Seventeen – “Hot”
Stray Kids – “Maniac”
Twice – “The Feels”

Video For Good
Kendrick Lamar – “The Heart Part 5”
Latto – “Pussy”
Lizzo – “About Damn Time”
Rina Sawayama – “This Hell”
Stromae – “Fils de joie”

Best Metaverse Performance
Blackpink The Virtual – PUBG
BTS – Minecraft
Charli XCX – Roblox
Justin Bieber – An Interactive Virtual Experience – Wave
Rift Tour Feat. Ariana Grande – Fortnite
Twenty One Pilots Concert Experience – Roblox

Best Longform Video
Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles
Foo Fighters – Studio 666
Kacey Musgraves – Star-Crossed
Madonna – Madame X
Olivia Rodrigo – Driving Home 2 U
Taylor Swift – “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)”

Best Cinematography
Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar – “Family Ties”
Camila Cabello Feat. Ed Sheeran – “Bam Bam”
Harry Styles – “As It Was”
Kendrick Lamar – “N95”
Normani Feat. Cardi B – “Wild Side”
Taylor Swift – “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)”

Best Direction
Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar – “Family Ties”
Billie Eilish – “Happier Than Ever”
Ed Sheeran – “Shivers”
Harry Styles – “As It Was”
Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow – “Industry Baby”
Taylor Swift – “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)”

Best Art Direction
Adele – “Oh My God”
Doja Cat – “Get Into It (Yuh)”
Drake Feat. Future & Young Thug – “Way 2 Sexy”
Kacey Musgraves – “Simple Times”
Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow – “Industry Baby”
Megan Thee Stallion Feat. Dua Lipa – “Sweetest Pie”

Best Visual Effects
Billie Eilish – “Happier Than Ever”
Coldplay and BTS – “My Universe”
Kendrick Lamar – “The Heart Part 5”
Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow – “Industry Baby”
Megan Thee Stallion & Dua Lipa – “Sweetest Pie”
The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber – “Stay”

Best Choreography
BTS – “Permission to Dance”
Doja Cat – “Woman”
FKA twigs Feat. The Weeknd – “Tears In The Club”
Harry Styles – “As It Was”
Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow – “Industry Baby”
Normani Feat. Cardi B – “Wild Side”

Best Editing
Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar – “Family Ties”
Doja Cat – “Get Into It (Yuh)”
Olivia Rodrigo – “Brutal”
Rosalía – “Saoko”
Taylor Swift – “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)”
The Weeknd – “Take My Breath”

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

The Republican Party has been the party of Donald Trump since mid-2016, when he improbably clinched the presidential nomination. They tried their best to stop him. But some of his fiercest GOP critics only wound up becoming one of his best friends. Most, however, have simply remained silent, and one former Republican lawmaker has gone and said the quiet part loud.

In a new column for The Bulwark (as caught by Raw Story), former RNC spokesperson Tim Miller took his party to task for “humoring” the big guy, expecting that he’d eventually go away. He sure hasn’t. But Miller quotes another member of the party — a former congressman, speaking under anonymity — who lays out the only real plan anyone in the GOP has of expelling the guy who allegedly attacks Secret Service agents and throws food: “We’re just waiting for him to die.”

Miller agrees, saying those in the party won’t grow a backbone. “Instead,” Miller writes, “they will soldier on. Playing the same big game of pretend with our democracy in the balance. After all, the downside for humoring him for just a little more time is likely to be felt by other people. And the upside of humoring? That accrues directly to the Republicans who want power.”

He ends on a mordant note. “But don’t worry,” he writes. “Eventually they’ll be able to tell the truth. Probably. As long as he’s the one who croaks first.”

(Via The Bulwark and Raw Story)

The Detroit Pistons are on the precipice of an exciting time for the franchise. No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham showed signs of future stardom during his rookie season, and the Pistons extracted an intriguing haul in the 2022 NBA Draft with Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren. With even more depth including Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart, and others, the Pistons could be quite competitive as soon as this season and, if Detroit does make a real leap in performance, the team will also do so in on-court style.

On Monday, the Pistons announced that, for the first time since 2001, the franchise will use its iconic teal jerseys as the team’s “Classic Edition” uniforms for the 2022-23 campaign.

Shortly after the official announcement, the franchise updated its official social media channels to reflect the throwback look.

Throwback jerseys are usually an easy “win” in terms of PR, but not every concept works as well as this particular uniform does. For most of the initial run of these uniforms, the Pistons were not a dominant team by any means, but many hoop heads have fond memories of Grant Hill, Jerry Stackhouse (who helped unveil the unis) and others donning the teal uniforms and they are absolutely fantastic.

It will be interesting to see how often the Pistons choose to have Cunningham, Ivey, Duren and company wearing these jerseys this season. Regardless, it seems like a safe bet that Detroit will sell buckets of these in the coming months, and jersey diehards will count down until they see these uniforms in action.