Month: November 2022

U2 singer Bono recently released his first book, a memoir called Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story. He popped up on The Late Show yesterday to promote it through a chat with Stephen Colbert. During the conversation, the Beatles documentary Get Back came up and Bono came up with a funny comparison.

Colbert asked Bono about Get Back, specifically about if Bono noticed any parallels between the creative process of The Beatles and that of U2. Bono exalted the film, saying:

“I was riveted. I mean, first of all: who knew that The Beatles had created reality TV? I was like, ‘Wow!’ They had microphones in the flower pots and… and then, I also felt so privileged because it was like being there when Jesus wrote, you know, the Sermon On The Mount. You know, if Jesus had a roadie be like, ‘Blessed are thee… blessed are the… geek! No, meek! Meek!’ I mean, you’re hearing them write these songs and they’re going, ‘What is it,’ you know? ‘Hey George’… no, ‘Jude.’”

He then went on to more directly answer Colbert’s question, saying that improvisation is a big part of U2’s songwriting process. He noted that while he and The Edge do most of the “formal” songwriting for the band, most of Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.’s creative input comes through improvising.

Check out the interview above and below. Bono also performed a modified solo rendition of U2’s “With Or Without You,” so find that below as well.

With only a few days left until the midterm elections, Oprah Winfrey offered her full endorsement to Pennsylvania Lt. Gov John Fetterman as he fights for a Senate seat against Winfrey’s former daytime TV rival Dr. Oz. While Fetterman has maintained a lead in the polls thanks to his relentless pummeling of Oz’s residency status (and the whole crudités thing), that gap has closed in recent weeks. Fetterman is also recovering from a stroke, which affected his sole debate performance against Oz. Republicans have capitalized on Fetterman’s oratory stumbles, but Oprah isn’t having it.

While hosting “A Virtual Voting Conversation” on Thursday, Winfrey threw her support behind Fetterman and outlined the direct threat posed Republicans picking up wins in the House and Senate. Via TODAY:

“If we do not show up to vote, if we do not get fired up in this moment, the people who will be in power will begin making decisions for us,” she said. “Decisions about how we care for our bodies, how we care for our kids, what books your children can read, who gets protected by the police and who gets targeted.”

Winfrey also threw her support behind Democratic candidates Val Demings in Florida, Beto O’Rourke in Texas, and both Raphael Warnock and Stacey Abrams in Georgia for representing “the values that we hold dear, the values of inclusion, the values of compassion and community that so many of us share.”

“So use your discernment, which seems to be missing in a lot of our, our our country today,” Winfrey concluded. “Use your discernment and choose wisely for the democracy of our country.”

(Via TODAY)

John Wick fans are eager for a fourth movie in the franchise, but 2023 will also see the Wickiverse expand to streaming platforms as well. The Continental, a Wick-related spinoff prequel about the assassin hotel featured extensively in the later films, will arrive next year on streaming services.

As Deadline reported on Friday, things have shuffled from the original plan to debut the series on Starz. The show will now air on Peacock when it debuts in 2023, while Amazon Prime will have its rights internationally. As the outlet reports, Peacock will also have the rights to the first three John Wick movies as well, so all your Wick is now in one place.

The Continental serves as an origin story of sorts for both The Continental and its staff, with new actors playing existing characters as they flesh out the logic of an assassin-only hotel secretly taking up prime real estate in New York City. From the Deadline description, it sounds like The Continental will have a bit of The Deuce in it. Oh, and Mel Gibson is there, too:

The Continental explores the origin story and inner workings of the exclusive Continental Hotel, a centerpiece of the John Wick Universe which serves as a refuge for assassins. It told from the perspective of the hotel manager, portrayed by Ian McShane in the film franchise – a young Winston Scott, played by Colin Woodell. Throughout the series, viewers will follow Winston through the underworld of ‘70’s New York, where he will battle demons from his past as he attempts to seize control of the iconic hotel – a hotel that serves as a meeting point for the world’s most dangerous criminals.

Woodell stars alongside Ayomide Adegun, who will portray a young Charon, Peter Greene, who plays Uncle Charlie, Mel Gibson as Cormac, Ben Robson as Frankie, Hubert Point-Du Jour as Miles, Jessica Allain as Lou, Mishel Prada as KD and Nhung Kate as Yen.

That makes 2023 a big year for Wick, with John Wick 4 also slated for a release next year. It’s been a long wait for fans of the series due to the pandemic, so it’s about time everyone gets what they want here. And now we know where to find it all.

(Via Deadline)

Paramore’s long-awaited return has been one of the most exciting parts of 2022. First there was the release of “This Is Why,” alongside the announcement of their forthcoming album of the same title, and then there was the resurrection of their hit “Misery Business,” which they played live for the first time since 2018 last month.

Last night, the band brought “This Is Why” to life in a vivacious performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Bandleader Hayley Williams’ stage presence is as energetic and exuberant as ever, imbuing the song with a special flair.

Upon the track’s release, Williams shared a statement: “’This Is Why’ was the very last song we wrote for the album,” she wrote. “To be honest, I was so tired of writing lyrics but Taylor [York] convinced Zac [Farro] and I both that we should work on this last idea. What came out of it was the title track for the whole album. It summarizes the plethora of ridiculous emotions, the rollercoaster of being alive in 2022, having survived even just the last 3 or 4 years. You’d think after a global pandemic of f*cking biblical proportions and the impending doom of a dying planet, that humans would have found it deep within themselves to be kinder or more empathetic or something.”

Watch Paramore’s performance above.

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

Drake and 21 Savage shared Her Loss at midnight, but before that, Drake hosted an episode of his SiriusXM show Table For One to count down to the release. During the program, he took a moment to speak about the recent death of former collaborator and Migos member Takeoff.

Drake said:

“Before I get into the pleasantries, I’d just like to send our deepest condolences from the family to the entire QC, to our brother Quavo, to our brother Offset, to the friends and loved ones of the legendary, unprecedented Takeoff, a guy that I knew for a long, long time. I’m sure people know how we started, of course, with ‘Versace,’ and from there, you know, we formed a brotherhood. I always talk about the fact that this was one family. My friends in the music industry are not friends, they’re family. So, our deepest condolences. Tragic loss for all of us and… you know, a dark cloud over this business that we love so much. I just encourage everybody to lock into that mindset, no matter where you are, you know? It’s just really… you know, it’s a life that’s worth living, and everybody deserves that chance, so it’s unfortunate that one of our dear, dear brothers had to leave us this week.”

Listen to Drake talk about Takeoff below.

Coraline director Henry Selick is now the helmer of Netflix’s Wendell and Wild and co-wrote alongside Jordan Peele. That intentional team effect stands in sharp contrast to what happened with The Nightmare Before Christmas. As Selick recently revealed to AV Club, he’s still a little bit sore over directing that 1993 movie and watching the movie be rebranded as Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas mere weeks before its release.

To be clear, Selick pulled the Jack Skellington-focused movie together as director after Burton crafted the story that screenwriter Caroline Thompson fleshed out. Burton’s aesthetic obviously permeates the film, but Selick has pointed out that although Burton’s story was “perfect,” the truth was that “it was really me and my team of people who brought that to life.” So, why did Burton’s name end up all over the film at the last hour?

The answer’s actually (and sadly) a simple one. At the time, Burton was riding high on Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, and putting Michael Keaton in a Batsuit. His name on the marquee likely pulled a ton of butts into seats, which was the goal of Disney/Touchstone pictures, who (as odd as it sounds) may have been a little nervous about selling Selick’s revolutionary brand of stop-motion animation to an audience. The movie eventually spoke for itself, but yup, Burton’s name in the title was totally a name-recognition thing. Nowadays, Selick and Burton are both doing just fine with their new projects (Selick’s Wendell and Wild and Burton’s Wednesday) on Netflix.

(Via the AV Club)

Drake and 21 Savage’s new album Her Loss is out now and Megan Thee Stallion is not happy; On “Circo Loco,” Drake appears to accuse Meg of lying about being shot by Tory Lanez, as he says (via Genius), “This b*tch lie ’bout getting shots, but she still a stallion / She don’t even get the joke, but she still smiling.”

Meg took to Twitter to respond, writing in part, “Stop using my shooting for clout b*tch ass N****s! Since when tf is it cool to joke abt women getting shot ! You n****s especially RAP N****S ARE LAME! Ready to boycott bout shoes and clothes but dog pile on a black woman when she say one of y’all homeboys abused her.”

It turns out “Circo Loco” actually isn’t the only nod to Meg on Her Loss: On opening cut “Rich Flex,” 21 Savage interpolates Meg’s hit “Savage” with the lyric, “I’m a savage / smack her booty in Magic / I’ll slap a p*ssy n**** with a ratchet.” In fact, Megan actually has a songwriting credit on the track, as do “Savage” co-writers J. White Did It and Bobby Sessions.

Listen to “Rich Flex” above.

Her Loss is out now via OVO Sound. Get it here.

A few hours ago, Drake and 21 Savage dropped what will likely go down as one of the year’s biggest releases: Her Loss, their new collaborative album. The immediate primary takeaway from the album comes from “Circo Loco,” on which Drake seemingly throws shade at Megan Thee Stallion in regards to Tory Lanez allegedly shooting her.

The lyric in question, as seen on Genius, reads, “This b*tch lie ’bout getting shots, but she still a stallion / She don’t even get the joke, but she still smiling.” Later in the verse, Drake says, “Shorty say she graduated, she ain’t learn enough / Play your album, track onе, ‘kay, I heard enough,” an apparent nod to Meg graduating from Texas Southern University in 2021.

About an hour after the album dropped, Meg shared her thoughts. She started by indicating that she didn’t think the lyric was actually about her. She tweeted, “I know I’m very popular but y’all gotta stop attaching weak ass conspiracy theories in bars to my name lol N****s nor hoes EVER address me or @ me WITH a fact or receipts. I AM CLOUT B*TCH keep sucking my p*ssy.” A Twitter user then pointed out, “he said stallion tho so technically he did say your name,” to which Meg responded, “A stallion is slang for a TALL THICK WOMAN.”

A couple minutes later, though, Megan seemingly had a change of heart, continuing, “Stop using my shooting for clout b*tch ass N****s! Since when tf is it cool to joke abt women getting shot ! You n****s especially RAP N****S ARE LAME! Ready to boycott bout shoes and clothes but dog pile on a black woman when she say one of y’all homeboys abused her.” She added, “And when the mf facts come out remember all y’all hoe ass favorite rappers that stood behind a N**** that SHOT A FEMALE.” Meg then concluded, “People attack me y’all go up for it , i defend myself now I’m doing too much … every time it never ends and this did NOT happen until I came out and said I got shot … y’all don’t fwm okay cool f*ck it bye.”

Neither Drake nor 21 Savage have yet to publicly address the song or Meg’s reaction to it.

Her Loss is out now via OVO Sound. Get it here.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Following the release of Drake and 21 Savage’s collaboration album, Her Loss, which just dropped, fans are taking notice with a particular line… and not in a good way. On the record’s ninth track, “Circo Loco,” Drake drops what appears to be a diss towards Megan Thee Stallion. “This b*tch lie ’bout getting shot but she still a stallion,” he says, as one of the opening lines in the first verse.

Needless to say, it has caught fans quite off-guard and upset in defense of Megan. The line is a reference to Megan’s assault trial against rapper Tory Lanez from an incident that occurred in 2020, with the charges being that he shot her. In September, the trial was delayed. He has been under house arrest since.

However, in March, there appeared to be tension between Megan and Drake, after he (and a few other artists, including Rihanna) allegedly unfollowed her on Instagram. According to Capital Xtra, there were rumors that Rihanna’s partner, A$AP Rocky, had cheated on her with Megan.

Now, Drake is making his stance even clearer, much to the dismay of fans.

“drake snuck that megan line in in circo loco and thought b*tches wouldn’t notice, yes you might’ve evaded me the first time but now that i know that sh*t is not cool aubrey,” one user on Twitter wrote.

Megan has since replied on social media. “I know I’m very popular but y’all gotta stop attaching weak *ss conspiracy theories in bars to my name lol,” she started. “I AM CLOUT B*TCH…”

Continue scrolling for some additional fan reactions.

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

Drake and 21 Savage‘s much-anticipated collaborative album, Her Loss, is finally here. Over the course of the album, the two entice listeners with their undeniable chemistry as they deliver fiery bars over quickly-switching beats. In one of the album’s tracks, “Major Distribution,” the two take time to brag about their respective streams and sales.

On Drake’s verse, he aligns himself with Latin superstar Bad Bunny, noting that his music is doing “Bad Bunny numbers, it’s a robbery / 500 million just for Aubrey.”

21 matches Drizzy’s braggadocious energy on his verse, shouting out British boy band One Direction in the process. He mentions that he’s doing “Harry Styles numbers, it’s a robbery / My [people] go insane (or goin’ Zayn), and catch a body.”

This isn’t the only reference to the UK that 21 Savage, who lived in the UK until he was seven years old, has made today. Today, in a faux interview with Howard Stern, 21 said, “I might be the greatest rapper from my country.” Fans noticed as a result of this self-proclamation, fellow UK rapper Slick Rick began trending on Twitter.

“21 Savage trolling saying he was the best ever rapper out of the UK has Slick Rick trending,” said one Twitter user. “That’s dope.”

Check out “Major Distribution” above.

Her Loss is out now via OVO and Republic. Stream it here.