Month: October 2022

Lil Baby‘s new album, It’s Only Me, is out now, and with perfect timing, the Atlanta star stopped by 30 Rock in New York to share a performance of “Russian Roulette” on The Tonight Show. The stripped-down performance found Baby sitting on a stool like a true troubadour as his band embellished the Flex On The Beat & Saj-produced instrumental. The set highlighted Baby’s growth as a performer in the past few years; as he’s gained popularity, he’s also gained confidence, becoming a more charismatic presence on stage by several orders of magnitude than when he started.

However, Lil Baby has been receiving increased attention surrounding his new album for a different reason than his improved stage presence. His rollout happened to coincide with that of Quavo and Takeoff’s new album, Only Built For Infinity Links, which saw Baby potentially pitted against his labelmates when Quavo’s verse on “Messy” evoked an old rumor about Baby dating Quavo’s ex, Saweetie. While Baby previously denied that there was anything serious, fans are convinced that “Messy” contains a shot at the rising star. Meanwhile, on the It’s Only Me track “Stand On It,” Baby’s own lyrics seem to offer a response to Quavo’s suggestion that the two rappers “swap it out,” stoking speculation that the QC holiday party might end up more “tense” than “jolly” this winter.

You can watch Lil Baby’s performance above.

Robbie Coltrane, the Scottish comedian and actor best known for playing Hogwarts groundskeeper Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, has died, according to the Hollywood Reporter. He was 72 years old.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter)

The Philadelphia 76ers were never able to get past the Eastern Conference Semifinals during Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons’ time as teammates. The team came close on a few occasions, but ultimately, the Sixers just could not get over that final hump in their efforts to bring a title to the City of Brotherly Love.

This time was filled with questions about whether or not Philly could win with the two of them taking the floor alongside one another, which beget questions about other things, like whether or not their personalities meshed. This was not helped by the fact that, right after Simmons’ trade to the Brooklyn Nets, Embiid posted a meme of a person going to the funeral of “one of my biggest haters” on Twitter.

In a new interview with Nick Friedell of ESPN, Simmons addressed a number of topics, including his relationship with Embiid. After telling him that “I don’t talk to Jo. We never really spoke,” Simmons went on to dive into some more details about their time as teammates.

“I don’t think there was really a relationship there,” Simmons said. “Like in terms of a friendship? You can try as hard as you want to try to be close to somebody, be their friend, whatever it is, but everyone is different as people, so for me, it’s never personal. I don’t have any anger or hate towards him. He is who he is and I am who I am. And we’ve got our personal lives. And work is basketball, so in that moment, my goal is to win and I got to win with Jo. He’s a great player, we just didn’t get it done.”

During an appearance on Draymond Green’s podcast last year, Embiid said that “a lot of things don’t make sense” about the end of Simmons’ time with the Sixers and clained that “I don’t have any problems with him.”

It was announced earlier this week that at last, after years of rumors, Tom DeLonge has rejoined Blink-182. So many new things are on the way, too, like an album and global tour. There’s something else that has already arrived, though, as Blink shared a new single, “Edging,” earlier today. Now, they’ve unveiled a video for the song.

Watch the “Edging” video above.

This post is being updated.

FC Barcelona’s biggest threat during this weekend’s El Clásico won’t be Karim Benzema or even Vinícius Júnior. The “Drake Curse” has entered the chat (yet again) ahead of Barça’s appointment clash with Real Madrid because his OVO owl will be stitched on the club’s jersey in celebration of Drake being the first artist to hit 50 billion Spotify streams.

Spotify was introduced as Barcelona’s official kit and stadium sponsor earlier this year, so Drake’s OVO placement would seem to be a natural extension of their long-term partnership. The chart-topping artist was understandably excited when announcing the unprecedented feat on Instagram, admitting, “This doesn’t feel real but it is.”

Barça fans were likely more focused on his usage of the laughing and shrugging emojis, though. The “Drake Curse” stems from athletes and teams who count Drake as a fan ruthlessly losing, though the Toronto Raptors’ 2019 NBA championship and recent betting luck in UFC seem to have debunked its chokehold. Regardless, fans are still terrified that the LaLiga giants are now destined to lose to Los Blancos.

“What level of ‘Drake Curse’ could this unlock?” The Athletic UK’s Carl Anka tweeted.

Kelsey Trainor was a little more optimistic, “Maybe the Drake curse is real, but this is a really cool activation where a sponsor and a team are thinking outside of the box on traditional marketing sponsorships. What other artists could be featured in Barca activations with Spotify?”

But Irish airline Ryanair went full savage, resurfacing old photos of Drake in Manchester United and Juventus gear alongside an April 2012 tweet from Drake that said, “Man I just love the sport! I have friends on different teams. Proud of them today. Stop watching man so closely.”

See examples from the “Drake Curse” Twitter frenzy below.

What level of "Drake Curse" could this unlock? https://t.co/RmWhw323pg

— Carl Anka (@Ankaman616) October 14, 2022

Maybe the Drake curse is real, but this is a really cool activation where a sponsor and team are thinking outside of the box on traditional marketing and sponsorships.

What other artists could be featured in Barca activations with Spotify? https://t.co/Lr714WOMtI

— Kelsey Trainor (@ktrain_11) October 14, 2022

https://twitter.com/xavibaII/status/1580799608061501440?s=20&t=krAhCUr5brf3w8aBCib52Q

Adam Levine is teasing his first taste of new music since his alleged cheating scandal last month. Yesterday (October 13), the Maroon 5 singer announced that his next single will feature Colombian superstar Maluma and producers The Rudeboyz.

Last month, model Sumner Stroh alleged that Levine was cheating on his wife with her. Speaking to the claims, Levine later released a statement that said, “I did not have an affair, nevertheless, I crossed the line during a regrettable period of my life.” Now Levine is making his return to music with “Ojalá” alongside Maluma and The Rudeboyz.

The Rudeboyz are Maluma’s longtime producers. The Colombian duo is comprised of Bryan “Chan El Genio” Lezcano Chaverra and Kevin “Kevin ADG” Mauricio Jiménez Londoño. They guys are behind Maluma’s global hits like “Felices Los 4,” “Chantaje” with Shakira, and “Hawái,” which The Weeknd later jumped on. The Rudeboyz signed with hit-maker Tainy’s NEON16 label and they’re ready to make their debut as artists.

Yesterday, a preview was released of The Rudeboyz’s first single “Ojalá” featuring Levine and Maluma. In the song, Levine notably sings in Spanish for the first time. In English, the lyrics translate to: “I hope that when he does it with you, you think of me / I hope that it’s my name that you want to repeat.” All three acts are featured in the music video teaser that was directed by Diane Martel.

The video for “Ojalá” will be released on October 20. Last month, tickets went on-sale for Maroon 5’s 2023 Las Vegas residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM.

If salad dressing and pasta sauce ever stop paying off, Newman’s Own F*ck Hut has a nice ring to it! In The Extraordinary Life of An Ordinary Man: A Memoir, a posthumous memoir that Paul Newman began compiling in the 1980s, the actor and noted sex symbol admitted that it was fellow actor Joanne Woodward, his wife of 50 years when he passed away in 2008, who turned him into a “sexual creature.”

Vanity Fair published some excerpts from the book, which will be released later this month, which paint a somewhat surprising picture of how Newman saw himself. His lack of confidence with women began in high school, and stayed with him. “Girls thought I was a joke,” Newman wrote. “A happy buffoon.” Meeting Woodward, however, changed that. “I went from being not much of a sexual threat to something else entirely… Joanne gave birth to a sexual creature. We left a trail of lust all over the place. Hotels and public parks and Hertz Rent-A-Cars.”

Newman was married with three children when he first met Woodward, but said it was impossible to deny their attraction. The two married in 1958, shortly after Newman’s divorce from his first wife was final. And the Oscar-winning couple’s honeymoon phase seemed to last well into their half-century of marriage.

Newman wrote about how Woodward built a more intimate little bedroom space off their master bedroom with a tiny bed she bought at a thrift shop. “‘I call it the Fuck Hut,’ she said proudly,” Newman wrote. “It had been done with such affection and delight. Even if my kids came over, we’d go into the Fuck Hut several nights a week and just be intimate and noisy and ribald.”

#CouplesGoals

(Via Vanity Fair)

Joaquin Phoenix has filmed a few “gross” scenes in his life. More than a few, probably, but the one that comes to mind is the Joker scene where Arthur Fleck commits bloody murder and then dances down steps to the tune of Gary Glitter’s “Rock & Roll Part 2.” There will be a Joker sequel, obviously, but it’s worth reflecting upon a quieter Joaquin film, 2013’s Her, directed by Spike Jonze. As it turns out — as revealed by Scarlett Johansson on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast — Joaquin actually had a hard time filming part of the movie.

Due to laughter? It sure sounds like it. Via Indiewire, Scarlett (who actually never appeared onscreen, due to her portraying a Siri-like entity that lived in the phone of Joaquin’s character) and Joaquin attempted to record their “sex” scene together. And while Joaquin’s character manages to enjoy himself and “finish,” the actor “needed a break.” Here’s how that went down:

“We tried to get through one take, and he was, like, losing it,” Johansson said. “He left the studio. He needed a break.”

Johansson added, “You don’t want to hear your voice ever. You definitely don’t want to hear what you sound like having an orgasm. You definitely don’t want to hear what you sound like having a fake orgasm — ew. It’s so gross. It was so bizarre.”

It’s difficult to say whether Joaquin was grossed out/consumed by laughter by the entire scene or whether that’s how Scarlett felt, and he was simply laughing. Regardless, it appears to be quite a chore to feign lovemaking with a disembodied AI consciousness, and his character hadn’t even yet learned that she’d been falling in love with about 400 other dudes, too. It’s a quietly wild movie and worth catching up on if you didn’t see it before now.

(Via Indiewire)

The nominations for the 2022 American Music Awards were announced yesterday (October 13). Bad Bunny is the most-nominated artist of the year and he’s making history at the awards for Latin artists.

Bad Bunny received eight nominations. Proving that Latin music has become mainstream, the Puerto Rican superstar is nominated in many of the top categories, including Artist Of The Year, Favorite Male Pop Artist, and Favorite Touring Artist. This is the first time in the history of the AMAs that an artist who sings primarily in Spanish is the most-nominated artist of the year. He’s followed by Beyoncé, Drake and Taylor Swift, who have six nominations each.

The next top nominated Latin artists include Colombian singer Karol G and rising Puerto Rican star Rauw Alejandro with three nominations each. Karol G has two nominations in the Favorite Latin Song category for her global hit “Provenza” and “Mamiii” with Becky G. Alejandro’s breakthrough hit “Todo De Ti” is also up for the award. They both face Bad Bunny’s “Me Porto Bonito” featuring Chencho Corleone. Bad Bunny’s collaboration is up for Favorite Music Video as well.

Spanish pop star Rosalía picked up two nominations. She is up for Favorite Female Latin Artist against Karol G, Becky G, Kali Uchis, and Anitta. Rosalía’s Motomami faces Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti and Alejandro’s Vice Versa for Favorite Latin Album.

Voting for the AMAs is now open at VoteAMAs.com. The 2022 American Music Awards will broadcast live on ABC on Sunday, November 20 at 8 p.m. EST.

The senate race in Wisconsin is officially no-holds-barred. On Thursday night, Republican senator Ron Johnson — who has served the state since 2011 — went head-to-head with his Democratic opponent, Mandela Barnes, for the second and final time in a debate held Marquette University. As Politico reports, the theme of the evening seemed to be: this guy is the worst!

“The tone of the evening was even nasty when the two candidates were asked to name something they found admirable about their rivals,” wrote Politico’s Holly Otterbein. While Barnes mustered up the strength to describe Johnson as “a family man,” which we guess is a compliment, Johnson couldn’t return the favor — at least not without resisting the temptation to add in an unnecessary dig.

“I appreciate the fact that Lieutenant Governor Barnes had loving parents,” Johnson said, before adding: “What puzzles me about that is with that upbringing, why has he turned against America?”

If Johnson — who recently made what some thought was a Freudian slip when he told Fox News’ Maria Batiromo that he “condones” white supremacy — thought that was a way to win over the crowd, it was a gross miscalculation. Instead, they loudly booed him.

Still, Johnson did manage to get a few laughs during the debate. Unfortunately, they were at him. The senator, who has been implicated in helping to orchestrate the events of January 6th (which he described as a “peaceful protest,” has admitted to texting with one of Trump’s lawyers on that day. And tried to explain away the “wild charges” Barnes has made against him because of it. His reply? “The FBI set me up.” (Cue the laugh track.)

(Via Politico)