Month: July 2022

Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw Billie Eilish surprisingly dropping off a couple fresh tunes and Megan Thee Stallion teaming with Future. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters. Also find our Uproxx HQ Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly with the best new music, at the end of this post.

Billie Eilish — “TV”

In recent years, Billie Eilish has tended to stick to traditional release schedules for new music, but she broke the mold for herself recently by debuting “TV” live. Now, that song and another, “The 30th,” are out, arriving with no advance warning. They were released as a double-single dubbed Guitar Songs, and indeed, the tender tunes are built on a six-string foundation.

Megan Thee Stallion and Future — “Pressurelicious”

Meg has had a big 2022 so far with her hit with Dua Lipa, “Sweetest Pie,” and now she’s continuing to bless fans with new material. Last week yielded the Future collaboration “Pressurelicious,” on which Megan, per usual, is far from lacking in confidence.

Doechii and SZA — “Persuasive (Remix)”

Doecchi recently slid through with her delightful dance-ready weed celebration with “Persuasive,” and now SZA has decided she wants in. So, she hopped on a remix, offering a smooth new verse to the laid-back tune.

Rexx Life Raj — “Hands And Knees”

In his review of Raj’s new album The Blue Hour, Uproxx’s Aaron Williams notes of the vulnerability of songs like “Hands And Knees,” “While his mom reiterates her trust in God, on ‘Hands And Knees,’ he admits to feeling like prayer is futile: ‘Talking to God with all this praying / Don’t wanna be strong no more, it’s overrated.’ His frustration is exacerbated by the apparent indifference of those friends and family members who fail to check in to show their support — another relatable trial of life.”

Russ — “Are You Entertained” Feat. Ed Sheeran

Sheeran has a rich history of working with hip-hop artists, most notably on his two Collaborations Project releases. He added another to the list last week when he guested on Russ’ “Are You Entertained,” on which Sheeran, who apparently once dominated a serious freestyle session, delivers a serviceable rapped/sung verse.

Flo Milli — “Big Steppa”

Flo Milli decided to avoid the crowded “New Music Friday” release schedule and unexpectedly drop her debut album, You Still Here, Ho?, a couple days early. Among the highlights is “Big Steppa,” featuring a simple bass-and-percussion instrumental on which Milli asserts herself and her presence in hip-hop.

Petey — “Big Bad!”

Petey had one of 2021’s best LPs with Lean Into Life, and now he’s starting to lean into a new era. He started last week with “Big Bad!,” a new single that earns its titular exclamation mark and was accurately described by Petey’s “friend Neil” as sounding “like if Modest Mouse and Blink-182 made a song.”

Maxo Kream — “The Vision” Feat. Anderson .Paak

.Paak has found major mainstream success with Bruno Mars as Silk Sonic, but he’s continued to work with others since then. Just last week, he assisted Maxo Kream on “The Vision,” a low-tempo head-bobber on which the two reflect on the lifestyles their journeys have afforded them.

Lil Uzi Vert — “Httin My Shoulder”

Lil Uzi Vert has a lot going on right now: Aside from updating their pronouns last week, they also have The Pink Tape on the way and Red & White EP out now. The collection dropped last week and it’s led by “Httin My Shoulder,” a hard-hitting tune on which Uzi cycles between rapid-fire verses and more patient flows.

Rico Nasty — “Blow Me”

After her well-received 2020 debut album Nightmare Vacation, Rico returned last week with the Las Ruinas mixtape. Single “Blow Me” doesn’t have as much punk grit as her previous album did, but the heavy, menacing energy is still there, to which Rico’s relatively airy delivery offers a pleasant balance.

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

Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ are the world’s three biggest streaming services. They also dominate the list of the most pirated shows.

Using Google search data, Broadband Choices looked at “the number of searches for online streams and torrents for original programs from the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and Apple TV in 138 countries around the world.” What they found is Squid Game, the biggest show in Netflix history, is also popular on torrent sites: the Emmy-nominated survival series is the most pirated title in 57 countries, including the United States, Germany, and South Korea.

Squid Game is followed by WandaVision (19 countries), Money Heist (18 countries), and The Mandalorian (nine countries). Stranger Things (six countries) is in fifth place with six counties, but the data is only through June 2022; if the same research was done now, following the culmination of season four, it would probably rank higher.

Here’s the full list:

1. Squid Game – 57 countries
2. Wandavision – 19 countries
3. Money Heist – 18 countries
4. The Mandalorian – 9 countries
5. Stranger Things – 6 countries
6. Bridgerton – 6 countries
7. Moon Knight – 5 countries
8. The Witcher – 4 countries
9. The Wheel of Time – 3 countries
10. Loki – 3 countries

You can find a country-by-country breakdown here (Qatar loves John Cena, who knew?).

Squid Game is expected to return to Netflix until late 2023, early 2024.

(Via Broadband Choices)

A few months ago, a rumor emerged that sparked a sudden need for mind bleach. The American Muckrakers PAC, the same group that crushed Madison Cawthorn’s reelection campaign in North Carolina, had vowed to also unseat Lauren Boebert in Colorado. They released a trickle of reports that appeared to check out, including word of an existing fraud investigation into Boebert’s very obviously absurd campaign write-offs. The PAC then floated allegations that Boebert previously worked as a paid escort who’d had two abortions. Not only that, but they claimed (without proof) that Ted Cruz was somehow involved, which is almost too much to consider. (Have mercy!)

Boebert seemed to deny all of these claims, although it must be noted that she only did so while cryptically tweeting “Fact Check: Not true” without mentioning what she was discussing, although it seems obvious what she’s thinking about here. She also added, “Y’all need Jesus!”

The Rifle Republican also signaled that she was prepared to get litigious while calling these claims “totally false,” but she’s comfortable enough to at least joke about these rumors. While taking the stage this weekend at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit, Boebert cringingly joked, “Contrary to popular belief, I have never been as escort for Senator Ted Cruz.” She added, “But I will tell you tonight that is the coolest thing that I’ve ever heard about Ted Cruz.”

It must be noted that Boebert was talking around those general rumors involving allegations that she did escort-like work. There’s no blanket denial there, only a refutation of Ted being a client. And that PAC ad never actually claimed that Ted was a client but did claim that she was an escort when she met Ted. Maybe those details seem nitpicky to Boebert, but mostly, she wants everyone to know that she was not an escort for Ted. Point taken (and understood).

Also, the circumstances of Boebert’s entrance were nothing short of WWE-grade showmanship.

Ted also took the stage at this summit, where he urged his party to not be “like a lite-beer version of the Democrats!” Here’s Ted back in January, though, calling out Boebert as “[m]y friend.” So, there you have it.

The UK’s Latitude Festival wrapped up its 2022 edition yesterday, with Snow Patrol closing out the main stage. (Snow Patrol remain a major draw in the UK, by the way, as their previous five albums — including their latest, 2018’s Wildness — have peaked at at least No. 3 on the charts over there.) Their set actually turned out to have some unexpected additional star power, as Ed Sheeran popped up on multiple occasions.

Towards the end of the main set, Sheeran took the stage to help Snow Patrol perform “Bad Habits,” which Gary Lightbody started singing before Sheeran emerged to take over lead vocal duties. Later, during the encore, Sheeran showed up again to help the band close their set with “Just Say Yes.”

Sheeran’s appearance here isn’t completely out of the blue, as he and the band’s Johnny McDaid are frequent songwriting collaborators; McDaid co-wrote most of the songs on Sheeran’s x, ÷, and = albums.

Sheeran has been in a collaborative mood lately: He and Russ just dropped “Are You Entertained” last week while he and Burna Boy dropped a “For My Hand” video earlier this month.

Watch Snow Patrol and Sheeran perform “Bad Habits” above.

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

When Kendrick Lamar put Kodak Black on his new album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, fans were split about the decision. This is mainly due to the stark disparity between the two rappers’ reputations, which are about as far apart as their respective hometowns are on the US map. While Kendrick is largely perceived as an intellectual fount of wisdom, Kodak’s drawn as much attention for his criminal rap sheet and social miscues as he is for his actual rhymes.

That said, the two men probably share more in common than conflict, and Kendrick likely included Kodak on “Silent Hill” to blur the lines between them and show fans that their perceived differences are mostly a matter of circumstance. Unfortunately for him, that doesn’t mean people were willing just to accept Kodak’s inclusion. This weekend at Rolling Loud in Miami, though, Kendrick doubled down, bringing out the Pompano Beach native to perform their collaboration for his hometown.

Kodak, who was arrested for a potential probation violation last week when police allegedly found unprescribed oxycontin in his car during a traffic stop, performed wearing an ankle monitor. Kendrick was also joined on stage by his younger cousin Baby Keem, who performed their song “Family Ties.”

When Nike took over the NBA’s uniforms, they made it clear their goal was to keep uniforms fresh and allow teams to be more creative with what they wore, providing the opportunity to add new alternate uniforms just about every season.

That creativity can be something of a blessing and a curse for teams, as teams far too often move on from a hit uniform design — like the Heat’s Vice look that they, for some reason, have gotten rid of — while forcing teams to feel like they have to crank out a new uniform every year (in part to sell more merch). That means we probably get more duds than we do winners across the league as a whole, and this summer hasn’t exactly been a resounding success on the new uniform market. Utah’s complete rebrand has been dreadful, as they now look like a made up team in a movie that couldn’t get official licensing, while the Cavs new uniform set is hit and miss.

On Monday, the Spurs joined the new uniform party with a single alternate, their Statement Edition uniform, that somehow manages to hit and miss all in one.

The shorts are good and the Mexican serape print on the side is a nice touch, but it’s all ruined by the font disaster on the front of the jersey. The mismatched font between the letters and numbers is bad on its own. It is generally too blocky, but made worse by the fact that SATX might be one of the most aesthetically displeasing combinations of letters you could throw on the front of the jersey. I get what they’re going for here, but it simply doesn’t work. This has the potential to be a good uniform (and the shorts are already there, I like the Texas logo and the print on the striping) but the jersey just drags it all down with the font and the choice to go with SATX.

Things got rowdy at Rage Against The Machine’s concert at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena over the weekend (on Saturday, July 23): A fan ran on stage and while security subdued them, Tom Morello accidentally got tackled. The good news is that Morello was alright and the show went on, but an unfortunate side-effect is that the stage-crashing antics overshadowed a cool moment from earlier in the show.

On Rage’s ongoing tour, Run The Jewels are opening, which provided the perfect opportunity for El-P and Killer Mike to join Zack De La Rocha and company on stage for a performance of “Close Your Eyes (And Count To F*ck),” the 2014 Run The Jewels 2 single that features De La Rocha. Indeed, that’s just what they did in Toronto, marking the first time RATM has performed the song live. De La Rocha has actually joined Run The Jewels to perform the song live on multiple occasions, like at Pitchfork Music Festival in 2015.

RATM’s tour has been eventful, even before this weekend: De La Rocha injured his leg a couple weeks ago and the band has used its time on stage to rage against the Supreme Court and injustices faced by Canadian Indigenous peoples.

Watch Rage Against The Machine and Run The Jewels perform “Close Your Eyes (And Count To F*ck)” above.

After a brief hiatus, John Oliver returned to Last Week Tonight on Sunday where he immediately got to work tearing into Mad Money host Jim Cramer for misleading his audience about the threat of inflation. In fairness, Cramer wasn’t the only economist who thought the Federal Reserve wouldn’t raise interest rates, but he was definitely one of the loudest, and Oliver roasted him for the supremely bad take.

“Here is Jim Cramer, the answer to the question, what if a garbage can full of cocaine and business school pamphlets,” Oliver said before playing a clip of the Mad Money host arguing that the inflation issue would go away on its own. Via Yahoo:

Oliver then played a clip of Cramer saying, “The bottom line, I don’t think Powell (Chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell) needs to slam the brakes on the economy, despite what you hear from the inflationistas in the media, the weight of the evidence is finally going Powell’s way. Team transitory is going to win. I say stop freaking about inflation.”

“Okay, setting aside the fact that he’s speaking with an intensity level there, best described as Patti Lupone admonishing a rude audience member,” Oliver said in response, “it’s pretty clear that this clip, much like Jim Cramer himself, has not aged very well.”

Oliver then twisted the knife just a bit more by playing a clip of Cramer from six months later where he’s doing a “full 180 with a very different tone” by personally urging the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to “break this thing now.”

“That was a pretty dramatic turnaround,” Oliver quipped. “He went from loudly unconcerned about rising prices to full-blown inflationista in a matter of months.”

(Via Yahoo!)

Before she was a two-time Oscar nominee and face of the DC Extended Universe, for better and worse, Margot Robbie was on an Australian soap opera. Neighbours premiered in 1985 and it’s aired nearly 9,000 episodes since then. But it’s most notorious, at least among non-Aussies, for launching the careers of Kylie Minogue, Russell Crowe, Liam Hemsworth (brother Chris also appeared in an episode), Guy Pearce, and Robbie, who will reprise her role as Donna in the Neighbours series finale.

“Surprise! You didn’t think we were done did you?! We’re thrilled to share that Margot Robbie, Jesse Spencer, Delta Goodrem, Kym Valentine and Carla Bonner will all make an appearance in our finale!” the show’s official Twitter account tweeted over the weekend. Robbie filmed her cameo “from Los Angeles,” according to the Hollywood Reporter, and she’ll “join other famous alumni in returning for the series’ end, including Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Natalie Imbruglia, and more.”

The painstakingly-detailed Wikipedia page for Robbie’s character describes her as a “lovable girl,” who is “fiery, beautiful, kooky, and confident.” She was also nominated for Fave Aussie Hottie at the Nickelodeon Australian Kids’ Choice Awards, which stopped existing in 2011. Presumably because Robbie lost to this guy (no offense).

The Neighbours finale will air on July 28 in Australia and July 29 in the United Kingdom, but if you start from the first episode, you’ll be able to catch up by, like, 2047.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter)

Back in late 2021, Adele announced Weekends With Adele, a Las Vegas residency that she shortly after ended up postponing. Now, the new dates are finally here, as Adele has at last unveiled when the rescheduled Weekends With Adele shows are happening.

The residency now runs from November to March 2023, on Fridays and Saturdays. Additionally, along with the original 24 dates, 8 new ones have been added, for a total of 32 shows. It all goes down at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. A Ticketmaster blog post has more information on getting tickets.

In a note on her website, Adele wrote, “Words can’t explain how ecstatic I am to finally be able to announce these rescheduled shows. I truly was heartbroken to have to cancel them. But after what feels like an eternity of figuring out logistics for the show that I really want to deliver, and knowing it can happen, I’m more excited than ever! Now I know for some of you it was a horrible decision on my part, and I will always be sorry for that, but I promise you it was the right one. To be with you in such an intimate space every week has been what I’ve most been looking forward to and I’m going to give you the absolute best of me. Thank you for your patience, I love you x Adele.”

Find the full list of Weekends With Adele dates below.

11/18/2022 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
11/19/2022 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
11/25/2022 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
11/26/2022 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
12/02/2022 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
12/03/2022 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
12/09/2022 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
12/10/2022 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
12/16/2022 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
12/17/2022 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
12/23/2022 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
12/24/2022 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
01/20/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
01/21/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
01/27/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
01/28/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
02/03/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
02/04/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
02/10/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
02/11/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
02/17/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
02/18/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
02/24/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
02/25/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
03/03/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
03/04/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
03/10/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
03/11/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
03/17/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
03/18/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
03/24/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
03/25/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace