Month: September 2022

Taylor Hawkins became a beloved figure in the rock scene through his work with Foo Fighters and beyond, but one of 2022’s biggest music tragedies so far was his untimely death earlier this year. Fans will soon have the chance to honor the late drummer at the first of the two upcoming tribute concerts in his honor, which are rapidly approaching.

When Is Taylor Hawkins’ Tribute Show In London?

The first of the two shows is in London’s Wembley Stadium and it’s set to go down this weekend, specifically on Saturday, September 3 at 11:30 a.m. ET. The other concert is set for Los Angeles’s Kia Forum on September 27.

The London performance is going to be a major event with a performance lineup that includes Blink-182’s Travis Barker, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme, The Police’s Stewart Copeland, Oasis’ Liam Gallagher, Omar Hakim, the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, AC/DC’s Brian Johnson, Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, Kesha, Rush’s Geddy Lee, Queen’s Brian May, Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, Nile Rodgers, Mark Ronson, and others.

As for how to watch the show, learn more about that here.

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

Van Buren Records continues to show why they are one of the most talented rap collectives in the game today with their new video for “Foul.” Lyricists Luke Bar$, Meech Bold, Jiles, and Felix rap from the side of their homes, their bedrooms, and anywhere they please really; despite the changes in scenery, there is no falloff in their delivery.

“Foul” is a welcome reminder of how great posse cuts have been throughout hip-hop’s history, and it doesn’t even feature all of their members. Van Buren Records also includes rappers Andrew Regis, Saint Lyor, and Invada. Thus, even when not all full strength, they still put on a star-making performance.

“Foul” arrives with Van Buren’s announcement of their forthcoming album DSM, which they are calling the album of the year. DSM is set to arrive on September 9 and follows the Brockton collective’s 2021 debut album Bad For Press, highlighted by the records “Medic,” “Braindead,” and “Relax.” They also shared the EP Black Wall Street which was anchored by “Cash Rules” and “Cult” later that year. With a record like “Foul,” one can only imagine what is in store come release time for DSM.

Check out Van Buren Records’ new video for “Foul” above.

DSM is out 9/9 via Van Buren and Good Partners. Pre-order it here.

Look out San Diego, a penguin has found his waddle and it’s adorable. Lucas, a 4-year-old African penguin who lives at San Diego Zoo, was recently fitted for prosthetics to help him walk properly. If you’re surprised to hear that Africa has penguins, yes, it’s true and they’re just as adorable as the ones from Antartica.

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This particular penguin was born with a condition called bumblefoot, which causes ulcers to form on its feet and can result in sepsis and death. Who knew a condition that sounded so cute could be so cruel? Bumblefoot is a chronic condition and can cause the penguin to not be able to walk properly. The condition doesn’t just affect penguins, but it does seem to be more prevalent in penguins that live in captivity than those in the wild. Thankfully for Lucas, he’s got some new shoes to show his little penguin friends. The permanent tuxedo wearing bird was gifted a pair of custom orthopedic shoes made out of neoprene and rubber, according to the zoo.

Lucas’ special shoes were made by Thera-Paw, an organization that designs custom orthotics and products for animals that have special needs. San Diego Zoo vet Dr. Beth Bicknese explained in a press release, “The boots are cushioned and Velcroed in place, so they will help Lucas to fully participate in the colony and showcase behaviors that are more typical for a penguin—such as climbing the rocks, swimming, nesting and finding a suitable mate.”

Lucas started having problems with his feet after a spinal infection left him unable to stand properly, which put pressure on his ankles and legs and caused sores to form. The little guy got the full spectrum of treatments, including acupuncture, before the zoo turned to prosthetics. Amazingly, immediately after putting his new penguin shoes on, he had an improved posture. Debbie Denton, senior wildlife care specialist at San Diego Zoo, said in the press release, “We were pleasantly surprised at the immediate change in Lucas after we fitted him with his new boots. Seeing him move about now gives us hope that he may be OK going forward, and able to live a full life.”

The zoo, according to its press release, participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan (SSP) program. African penguins are currently endangered. The penguins made the endangered species list for a variety of reasons, including climate change and overfishing. But San Diego Zoo is doing its part for penguins like Lucas to allow them to not only survive but to thrive.

Lucas is probably strutting around his enclosure with his new shoes, climbing all of the rocks his heart desires. Maybe one day there will be a children’s book about a penguin who had to get new shoes. Whether the story of Lucas turns into a book or not, Thera-paw is clearly making a difference in these animals’ quality of life.

Ilaria Borghese, founder and president of Thera-paw, noted in the press release, “Over the years, we’ve tackled challenging cases like Lucas’s, and each is special and memorable. One thing that never gets old is seeing an animal’s life dramatically improve after using one of our aids. It inspires and drives us every day.”

The new school year has started across the country and most likely parents are experiencing teething problems with the school drop-off lane. Every year, the same rants are shared because someone decided to hold up the line while they got out the car, brushed their kid’s teeth and made them a home-cooked breakfast. It seems like a school in Ohio has come up with a solution to the dallying parents with these hilarious signs designed to move the traffic along.

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Austintown Elementary School in Ohio has taken student drop-off to a whole new level. Now when parents drive up to drop off their kids, they’re not only greeted with smiling faces but signs that jokingly tell them to move along. In a Facebook post that’s starting to go viral, you can see the meme style yard signs lining the grassy area of the drop-off lane. According to the poster, the signs were created by the school’s PTA and shared in its parent group. The signs probably seemed like a funny way to brighten people’s day and keep the line moving, but parents across the platform are relating hard with the first weeks of school drop-off lane woes.

The signs include pop culture’s favorites, like MC Hammer, TLC and, of course, Ross from “Friends” holding a couch while shouting “pivot!” What’s nice is they’re not blatant in-your-face scolding about being a Patty Parks-a-Lot in the dreaded drop-off lane, but a gentler but funny reminder to kick your kids out in a timely fashion.

It’s generally assumed to be the kindergarten students’ parents who just want one more kiss before their precious cargo walks into the building. Veteran parents joke about barely coming to a stop before they shoo their kid out of the car and speed off to get to work (or have mimosas with the neighbors). I’ve been the veteran parent for a while and can attest that there are definitely pep talks on the way to school on how to prepare to jump out as soon as the car stops. Some parents joke about acting like a drill sergeant shoving a backpack in their kid’s arms while shouting “move, move, move” as they exit the vehicle.

It’s all in good fun about a minor inconvenience. Every parent wants their children to get to school safely, while feeling loved and ready for the day. Drop-off lane efficiency increases as the school year goes on because everyone is now used to the routine. But some parents will always need reminders, and having these signs will do just that.

Hopefully everyone has a safe and happy school year. May your school drop-off lane move quickly, your coffee remain hot and your kids jump out of the car like tiny Navy Seals so you can get to work on time!

This article originally appeared on 03.25.22

I remember sitting in advanced algebra and trigonometry class in high school wondering if I was really ever going to use any of what I was learning. Math at that level meant nothing to me in a practical sense. I planned to study English and education to become an English teacher, so I couldn’t imagine why I’d need to learn the ins and outs of trig.

As it turned out, some of what I learned came in handy in the functions class I was required to take to fulfill my math requirement in college. But again, I found myself sitting in class with zero idea of why I was learning this level of math and suspecting that I was never going to actually use that knowledge in my adult life.

Now I’m a middle-aged adult and I can say with absolute certainty that I was right. In 27 years, I have not used anything I learned in functions. Not once. Not even a little bit. I agonized my way through that class to eek out a B-minus and to promptly forget everything I’d learned because it was utterly useless to me.

To be clear, higher math isn’t useless—it’s amazing. It was just completely useless to me.

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You know what would have been useful? Learning about financing a car or a mortgage or understanding how and why and where to invest money. In all that time I was doing trigonometric proofs and calculating polynomial functions, I could have been learning all the various real-life math-related decisions I’d have to make as an adult.

I see the same thing happening with my kids in high school and college. It totally makes sense for students who are interested in going into math and science fields to take math beyond basic algebra and geometry. But for those who aren’t—why? There are so many more valuable things for them to take the time to learn—things that every single person really needs a basic knowledge of, such as:

Basic Psychology/Mental Health Maintenance

Every one of us has a brain and mental health is an issue for a huge percentage of people. Even those of us who don’t struggle with mental illness benefit from learning about how our minds work, gaining strategies for managing our thoughts, emotions and behaviors, and understanding why people do the things they do.

How many people would have been saved by learning how to spot a narcissist before getting into a relationship with one? How many people could mitigate an anxiety spiral right when it starts because they learned to recognize the signs earlier? How many people would appreciate the support and understanding of everyone having a basic understanding of their mental health disorders?

Basic Sociology/Human Behavior

Similarly, every one of us lives in a society. Understanding social connections, relationships and group behavior might kind of come in handy. If we don’t understand the causes and consequences of human behavior, we’re going to be confused by society at best and allow or enable atrocities to occur at worst.

From learning how cults and conspiracy theories work to recognizing how our prejudices can blind us to reality, sociology has useful knowledge we all need to internalize.

Media Literacy

If we’re going to be bombarded with media 24/7, we’d better know how to process it. Understanding how journalism works, what makes a source credible, how information can be skewed and how to recognize misinformation and disinformation is vital. What is bias and how can it be mitigated? How can we recognize when an outlet values accuracy?

So many of the problems the U.S. is facing currently are due to people watching or listening to dubious news sources. Mandatory media literacy courses would (hopefully) go a long way toward changing that.

The Stock Market and Other Investments

I underestimated how much I’d need to know about the stock market when I was younger. None of that economic stuff interested me, but I wish I understood it better now.

But really, it’s investing in general that we need to understand more about when we’re younger, especially since starting young is the No. 1 best advice any financial advisor will give you.

How Banking, Credit and Credit Cards Work

Every single one of us uses a bank or credit union and credit is a huge part of adult life. And yet most people I know have had to piece together how credit and credit cards actually work through advice from friends and family and good old trial and error, sometimes with devastating consequences.

Taxes

Good gracious, right? Not just how to do taxes, but what taxes get used for.

Financial literacy is what I’m saying. We need mandatory financial literacy classes. (Florida has actually just become the first state to require personal finance education to graduate, so yay Florida.) I think I was required to take economics in high school, but it was much more high-level economic theory than personal finance. We need personal finance first, then the bigger picture.

First Aid/Safety/Self-Defense

Most of us probably got some first aid and/or CPR training in health class, but how comprehensive was it? Did it include infant CPR? Do we know how to recognize if someone is having a stroke? Signs of infection?

What about basic everyday safety, like why you shouldn’t leave a car running in a garage or common household fire dangers or how to spot asbestos?

Self-defense seems like a no-brainer. Basically, a “How to Stay Alive and Keep Others Alive” course that includes most everything you need to know to protect yourself and your loved ones on a daily basis.

Navigating our Healthcare and Health Insurance System

Ugh. I’ve been an adult for almost three decades and everything about our healthcare system confuses and frustrates me. Maybe if we required schools to teach young people how it works, it would shine a big spotlight on how ridiculously and unnecessarily complicated it is because no one could possibly explain it in a way that’s understandable. Maybe that would push lawmakers to actually do something about it, because honestly, it’s just a gigantic mess.

There are surely others, but those are the major subjects that come to mind as vital after being an adult for a long while and seeing what my own kids need to have a decent grasp on as they make their way into the world. And honestly, there are some classes that adults should be required to take well into adulthood. Parenting classes, for example. Or local government and voting.

All subjects and courses have value to some people, but if we want students to be prepared for adulthood, we should make sure they are given the vital knowledge and skills every person actually needs and will use.

Ever wonder what an ideal date for a lemur would be? Or a lizard’s favorite Disney princess?

Thanks to one YouTube poster with a passion for animals and an endearing sense of humor, all questions shall be answered. Well, maybe not all questions. But at the very least, you’ll have eight minutes of insanely cute footage.

In a series titled “Tiny Mic Interviews,” Maya Higa approaches little beasties with a microphone so small she has to hold it with just her thumb and forefinger. And yes, 99% of the animals try to eat it.

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There’s Ginger, the pig with a lot of stored up resentment toward the big bad wolf. She ain’t afraid to talk about it, either. Or so her passionate snorts would indicate.

Then there’s Brazilian porcupine Boris (at least, I think that’s what Boris is after Googling, I’m no zoologist), who is asked to name his favorite food. For the record, it’s corn. And no, you may not touch his snoot.

Godzilla, the itsy bitsy turtle that fits into one hand, gets asked, ironically, “what’s it like being land’s fastest animal?” Though Godzilla remains stoically silent, an image of super cool speedster sunglasses gets superimposed onto his face, along with the words “I am speed.”

The best part to me is a bird, aptly named Giggles, gloriously laughing at a cheesy joke. In fact, here’s a nod to all the birds with impeccable names in this video.

Mordecai, Costello, Bartholomew (these include stars from Higa’s first interview) … I’m looking at you.

Though these critters provide some top notch entertainment, there’s plenty of valuable information being thrown into the mix as well.

All the exotic “interviewees” are part of Zoo To You Conservation Ambassadors, a permitted facility in California, Higa informs her viewers. Rescued or surrendered from the illegal pet trade, or permanently injured, these animals receive permanent care and become a part of Zoo To You’s education program. Pretty sweet gig, right?

Higa herself is a wildlife rehabilitator, falconer and streamer who focuses a lot of her content on conservation. Though her online persona veers toward the upbeat and positive, she isn’t afraid to shed light on some darker facts around certain threats many species face.

“The natural world that these animals come from is being absolutely decimated,” Higa states in another video. “The UN estimates that over one million plant and animal species face extinction today. Pollution, habitat loss, climate change, the wildlife trade, exploitation, general human intervention…is causing us to lose species at rates unprecedented in human history. We’re experiencing a mass extinction.”

Wanting to be part of the solution, Higa has founded her own nonprofit organization called Alveus, which, like Zoo To You, acts as an exotic animal sanctuary and virtual education center.

If you’d like to support Higa’s sanctuary, you can do so by donating to [email protected] via PayPal.

And if you’re already jonesing for more adorable “Tiny Mic Interviews,” you’re in luck! You can find even more on Maya’s YouTube channel here.

House of the Dragon is a straight-up hit so far in viewership numbers for HBO/HBO Max. There’s substance to back up the spectacle of the House Of Targaryen and their fire-breathing beasts, and it’s wild to see the show humanize this house after all the Game of Thrones background information to the contrary. So far, viewers have enjoyed not only Dem Dragons but also the show’s choice callbacks, and the hope is that the momentum keeps building as this first season and the already-announced second season continue to unfold.

Challenges do exist, however. Not only has co-showrunner Miguell Sapochnik (who helmed multiple Game of Thrones episodes, including “Battle of the Bastards”) announced his departure from the prequel, but multiple major cast members will soon hit the road as well. Those latter departures were pre-planned, obviously, because House of the Dragon (which takes place 170+ years before the O.G. show) will soon do a slight time jump into the future.

This means that the characters in the above image ^^ will be replaced by older actresses following Episode 5. Rhaenera began in the hands of Milly Alcock, who will pass the baton to Emma D’Arcy. Likewise, Allicent will transform from Emily Carey to Olivia Cooke. One wonders if the younger counterparts could ever return at some point in flashback mode, but we’ll have to wait and see what those cards hold. Regardless, it’s clear that we are in epic fantasy heaven right now between this show and Amazon’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

HBO’s House of the Dragon airs on Sunday nights at 9:00pm EST.

WARNING: Spoilers for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law below.

After She-Hulk: Attorney at Law dropped its third episode (in all its Megan Thee Stallion twerking glory), Marvel fans can’t help but wonder what’s really going on with Tim Roth‘s Emil Blonksy/Abomination. In the latest episode, Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters manages to secure Blonsky’s parole despite him complicating matters by slipping out of prison to take part in an underground fight club with Wong as seen in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. However, the fight club incident revealed that Blonsky isn’t being entirely truthful with Walters, which raises questions about his real motives in the She-Hulk series.

In a new interview, Roth is asked point blank if Blonsky is truly reformed, and while he doesn’t directly answer the question, his response hints that things aren’t as they seem. Here’s what he told The Wrap about returning to the character:

“You’re dancing on a knife’s edge. The original idea was that he would be — from the first movie, if they ever brought him back — where did we find him? Stan Lee and Kevin [Feige] talked about it; he was sealed and welded into a steel box and dropped to the bottom of the ocean. And then when he is released from that, however it happens, what is he? He’s had time to think. And he’s had time to harness the monster.”

Roth later got cheeky by saying that whatever is happening with Blonsky, “Honestly, I’m discovering it still, maybe.” That said, and here comes a possibly very large spoiler, Roth did get to shoot a scene with Mark Ruffalo, which hasn’t aired yet. Not only that, but Ruffalo is in his “loincloth” as Smart Hulk, so Marvel fans could be treated to a Hulk vs. Abomination rematch or one heck of a team-up.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law streams new episodes Thursdays on Disney+

(Via The Wrap)

Denny Hamlin enters this year’s NASCAR Playoffs in the sixth position as he chases an ever-elusive Cup series championship, having finished second once and third three times in the final standings in his career. This year, he comes in as one of the chasers. Hamlin holds just 13 points, which is only four more than the 12th spot where the first cut will be made after the first three races of the playoffs.

For Hamlin, that means a different approach from years where he’s entered as a points leader, and with the first race at a Darlington for the Cook Out Southern 500 (Sunday, Sept. 4, 4:00 p.m. ET on NBC), he’s feeling confident he can get off to a strong start given it’s a track he’s won at four times in 20 appearances with 15 top-10s. While the playoffs now take center stage for Hamlin, he’s also still got his own team, 23XI Racing, where he’s partnered with Michael Jordan for a two-car Cup series team, to worry about as well.

Prior to heading off to Darlington for the race weekend, we got a chance to talk with Denny about balancing life as a driver and team owner, his approach to this year’s playoffs being different, shaking off last week’s wreck at Daytona, adapting to a new car, and what it’s like co-owning a team with MJ.

First off, how are you feeling? I know you’re not doing the Xfinity race this weekend because you were dealing with some soreness. How are you feeling come off the wreck on Sunday?

Yeah, I think that I wanted to make sure I was 100 percent for Sunday, and that’s hard to do even when you’re healthy. It’s hard to do because the 500-mile race in the Southern 500 is really, really hard on your body. I’ve run the double there for the last couple of years, and I know that it’s taken a little bit out of me in that race, so it just makes sense to kind of sit this one out and focus, especially with our 11 team needing to perform really well at all the playoff tracks. We don’t have a big point cushion this year. We need to focus 100 percent on Sunday.

How does your body respond differently now to those hard hits then maybe 10-15 years ago? Have you learned kind of to listen to your body as you’ve gotten older?

Yeah, I mean, typically as you get older all the hits that didn’t bother you when you’re 25 do when you’re 40. All those things are quite a bit different. But just going off of a big car change from generation six to this one, there’s a significant change. So you just kind of listen to your body and make sure — that’s what Kurt Busch is doing and he says he’s not ready — and so you have to listen to your body and the older you get the more you have to do that.

With regards to the new car, I mean, from where you guys started the season in the 11 car to where you are now, that obviously wasn’t the ideal first few races. How happy are you with the way you guys have progressed and your comfort level as a team going into the playoffs with this car?

Well, there’s probably not going to be as many unknowns as what we were talking about early in the season. A lot of these racetracks we’re going to, we went to in the spring, so we’ll probably have a better understanding of how our performance is going to be that given weekend. So you know, at Kansas, the mile and a half, we’re probably going to perform really well there. The shorter tracks like the Roval, probably won’t perform as well. So it’s about how can we get the most out of our weekend even when we don’t have a fast car.

And then for you as as a driver, what have been the biggest adjustments you’ve had to make in the new car?

As a driver, you know, getting used to the braking zones is quite a bit different in this car, the deceleration of it, less power. All those things play a role in how you attack a certain race track and how you get speed out of this car on a particular race track. So I think it was important for me to kind of continue to evolve my game and how I have my certain disciplines at race tracks. I’ve had to evolve it with this race car because it is totally different.

You’ve had a lot of success in your career at Darlington. Even though it is a new car and like you said you’re making adjustments, is it nice starting the playoffs at the track that you’re at least comfortable in and know you’ve had a lot of success?

Yeah, it is. I mean, Darlington has always been a great race track for myself personally. Even in the spring it was really good until we got caught up in a wreck. But yeah, I’m comfortable going there. I think that it’s you know, for a lot of guys it’s a struggle track. I would hate to go to Charlotte Roval I guess the first race of the playoffs. You know, this is certainly one that’s kind of in our wheelhouse where we think that we can go out there, win, punch our ticket, and move on.

And then from a team ownership side, you’re now in your second year with that. What’s been the biggest surprise to you that maybe you weren’t expecting about being a team owner and the biggest learning curve for you in that regard?

The biggest thing is just being hands on with all the different departments that it takes to make a race team go. Certainly as a driver my job is competition of the 11 car, make sure I execute when they build me a fast car, how do I go win with it on the race track? So, I play a very small role in the performance of that 11 car. When you have a team, there’s so many different aspects that makes a car go — when you have your hands in ’em, there’s more gratification when it does run well.

So, I just learned to understand the business of it, understand what it takes to make a competitive team go. The struggles that it comes with. Every single week you’re putting out a different fire that didn’t see coming, so you just never know. And most people that run businesses understand that. It’s doesn’t just open itself and run itself every day, and you punch out at the end of the clock. So just understanding that and really kind of getting a taste of it over the last year and a half has been fun.

And then balancing that responsibility with with driving and kind of how have you learned to be able to put one hat on and take one hat off, and also when you have to wear both sometimes?

Yeah, sometimes you have to wear both, but you know on the weekends I really trying to focus on the FedEx hat. That’s the most important one to me. So I know that as long as I keep winning races in my number 11 FedEx car, that keeps me relevant as a car owner to 23XI. So that’s my first job. I know that my number one goal when I came into this sport was to win a championship. That goal is just 10 weeks away. And that’s on the driver’s side. So that’s where it kind of shift my focus really for these last few months is that, what can I do to achieve the goal that’s right here in front of me.

You’ve obviously known Michael Jordan for a long time being the Jordan athlete, but what is it been like partnering with him on this? And seeing that love of motorsports that that he has and also seeing that competitive spirit kind of firsthand.

Yeah, he’s race fan first, which is why he came into this sport to begin with is that he’s been a motorsports fan for a long time. But you know, he loves it and he loves being a part of it and he loves the growing part of it. What it takes to build a championship organization. And luckily for me, he’s kind of letting me have the reins of that to identify the talent that we need to hire and what infrastructure we need to build to build that out. So it’s been a great partnership. We’ve had and he’s got to reap the benefits of being able to come to the races and watch those cars go around the race track.

Shifting back to you in the 11 for the playoffs, this is your 15th playoffs appearance. From from when you started doing this to now, what have you learned about how to approach this 10-race season now it becomes a little bit more condensed and, kind of like you said, making sure you’re getting the most out of every week? Is that the biggest approach difference, maybe not saying I’m going to try to win every week?

Yeah, listen, I think that each year is a little bit different. I’ve had 40-plus playoff points some years and this year, I only have 13. So you have to honestly look at that and approach the first couple rounds differently than what I have in the past. So I have to look at points, we have to look at getting stage points, more so than what we had in years past. So you know, it’s going to be a stage by stage, race by race basis on how we approach the playoffs. I think just the tone gets set on qualifying this weekend. That’s really going to be a big indicator of whether you’re going to get stage points in the first stage or not. If we do, we’re going to feel pretty good about optimizing our strategy towards winning the race of the end versus getting second stage points. So, it’s always evolving, but this year is just a little different because we really need to get more points.

Yeah, and as a driver, the introduction of the stage points a few years ago, how does that change the calculus and how have you adapted? Because that wasn’t a thing early in your career where you ever had to think about was different sections of the race, but how do you pace yourself differently now?

Yeah, it’s different. I mean, I like it because it rewards you if you do get taken out with five laps go, you get rewarded for your performance during the course of the race. So I really liked that quite a bit. I’m happy that we added the stages in NASCAR, but certainly, there’s a lot of points to be gotten in any given race and if you miss out on ’em, you can finish 10th, but no stage point and lose out to someone who finished 28th, who went out there and won the first couple of stages. So you really have to perform the entire race which changes the dynamic for sure.

Leon Thomas has never been too far away from the spotlight. His early days were spent heavily in the acting world as he spent time on Broadway before moving to a big role on Nickelodeon’s Victorious. Both experiences gave Thomas the motivation to pursue a career in music, and after Victorious came to an end, that’s exactly what he did. Over the years, he’s written for the likes of Ariana Grande, Rick Ross, Kehlani, Post Malone, and Drake.

While his talents as a songwriter and producer are undeniable, so are his as a singer himself. Back in 2018, Thomas released his debut EP Genesis, which was spotlighted by “Favorite” with Buddy and “Beg” with Elle Varner. Four years later, Thomas is ready to share new and unheard stories about himself with the world through his upcoming debut album. This project will also be released under a new imprint as Thomas recently signed a deal with Ty Dolla Sign’s EZMNY Records imprint.

Fresh off the music video release for “Love Jones” with Ty Dolla Sign, Uproxx spoke with Thomas about his new releases, his upcoming album, the state of R&B, and more.

What would you say your identity and even influences are when it comes to you being an overall entertainer and creative?

Music is a huge part of my foundation. Most of the roles that I’ve been featured in over the years, from a kid until now, have had aspects of music woven into them in very real ways. Starting on Broadway really taught me my work ethic. Nobody’s really babying you on Broadway, you gotta show up, get it done, hit those rehearsals, and perform every night for everybody who’s paying those really expensive tickets to sit in and escape into this world. So that’s a real big part of my foundation. Showing up prepared, I think preparation is a huge part of all of it.

My family, they’re also very involved in music. My mom and my stepdad had a band that performed and opened up for people like Chaka Khan and [other] really big artists. My stepdad used to play for BB King, Salt N Pepa, [and] Missy Elliott. I just feel like growing up around amazing musicians has always helped me fall in love with music from the aspect of people who really spent time perfecting their craft and coming through with a unique ability.

You released “X-Rated” with Benny The Butcher, your first solo song in a few years, back in May. What made it the perfect time to get back into the swing of things and why that song to start?

First and foremost, “X-Rated” lives in such a very specific place that is really only attributed to my music right now and the next album that I’m about to release. I think seeing what Griselda was doing was super inspiring. I’m from New York, I feel like culturally when you’re being reintroduced to an artist or introduced to an artist for the first time, it’s really important to kind of understand culturally where they’re from. “X-Rated” to me had a lot of that boom-bap attached to it, and adding in Benny The Butcher really, really took it over to the top into that ’90s and nostalgic place. I wanted to really pinpoint that as the through line for what we were doing sound-wise for the rest of the album.

That direction you’re talking about continues with “Love Jones” featuring Ty Dolla Sign. What was the inspiration for that song?

A part of my process when I’m writing and producing records, is I always have a movie on in the background. While we were creating that song, I had Love Jones on. It’s one of my favorite films, I love the cinematography, I just love the vibe of it, it just feels good. I wasn’t able to actually use the scene that I originally had in the intro, but that intro kind of inspired a lot of what I was doing lyrically. Love Jones is about falling in love with somebody who has a passion, who’s artistic. If you think about the movie, Nina and Larenz Tate’s characters both had artistic passions, from him being a poet and her being an amazing photographer, they were able to fall in love in multiple ways at once. That’s an experience that I’ve also gone through personally living in California. Everybody’s got a dream and they’re chasing something more than just a white picket fence and a family. I feel like sometimes you can fall in love with somebody’s passion for the art just as much as you can fall in love with their physical and emotional attributes. “Love Jones” is all about that.

Both “X-Rated” and “Love Jones” sound a bit more slowed down and dimmed from the brighter and more upbeat records we heard on Genesis. What can you say about the total direction of your next project?

For me, it was really important to put it into music and find ways to really document my story and to give people more of a real look into my story as a human being. Outside of chasing charts, I felt like it was important for people to finally get a chance to really have that musical conversation with me and really get into my head and see some of the things that I’ve been going through as a human being. Sometimes I feel like it’s easier to tell stories like that super fast, in your face, and doing all types of stuff. I also co-produced on a lot of his music as well, just as I did on Genesis, but I felt like it was very important for me to express that sonically just as much as I did lyrically. There are certain sounds that bring that out of me and we used all of them on this one.

You did an interview last fall, and in it, you mentioned that you’re okay with being known, respected, and heralded by those behind the scenes more so than wanting all the flashy materialistic things from fame. With your upcoming releases, how would you define them being a success in your eyes?

I think success to me is really being able to genuinely touch the people that genuinely care about the music. Obviously, numbers are beautiful and we strive for greatness, but I feel like genuinely building a brand, that’s breaking a mold that’s been used for a very long time, takes time. I’m personally feeling very patient and I’m ready to just build this brick by brick. I want the same kind of love that J. Cole gets from his fans who are able to really ride with him through being true to himself throughout each and every project that he dropped and released, regardless of what the trends were doing at that time. I really respect him a lot. Even when I was in the Bahamas working with Drake, J. Cole was also out there and we had probably like a four-hour conversation in the studio just kicking it. Seeing the way that guy’s mind works just kind of showed me a lot of the similarities and the places that I like to go. At one point in my life, after I finished up all the work that I’m doing with EZMNY, I would love to have a Dreamville of my own one day or an EZMNY of my own one day, that’s the true idea of success.

What’s a collaboration, a crazy coincidence, or anything in general from your life that without it, you wouldn’t be the artist you are today?

My mom was doing a show and she took me to the rehearsal. A friend of hers was like, “He’s a charismatic kid, he should audition for The Lion King.” I always think about if I would have said no to that opportunity as a kid. Would I be sitting here speaking to you right now? I feel like that was the spark that brought me through an entire snowball of a career that I don’t think anybody expected to be as long and as fruitful as it has been. Even in my adult years, really having huge giants like Babyface open up their studios to me, like opening up that door and saying, “This huge, multimillion-dollar studio is free, and you can just do your thing, you’re good.” To have access to some of the best instruments on Earth, the best equipment on Earth to hone in on my skills, and watch his process a lot with huge artists, really put me in a position to create things for myself that I probably wouldn’t have been able to create as an artist who was reliant on a producer or writer to create for me. For the third one, at a certain point, I felt like I had hit a bit of a glass ceiling. Drake opening up the opportunity for me to work with him as well, became this huge snowball effect of notoriety and people noticing what I’m doing in music in different ways.

What artists can we expect to hear you work with in the coming future? And who’s someone on your bucket list that you can’t wait to work it?

I got some really cool record dropping man. I’ve been working with Snoh Aalegra and 6lack a lot. I’ve been working with Chloe Bailey, I have something with her too, she’s really awesome. We’ll see when they end up dropping all of their projects, but those are three amazing artists that I’ve been able to tap in with who are doing amazing things in the world of R&B. In hip-hop, I took a bit of a backseat because I was doing a lot of stuff in R&B for myself, but I’m really looking forward to working with a lot of the artists killing it right now. I feel like over time, it’s just gonna all come together, it’s gonna work out.

Scroll up to check out the new “Love Jones” video.