Year: 2022

This is year is lining up to be a great one for Lupe Fiasco. He’s preparing to release his eighth album Drill Music In Zion and it’s a project that he’s already calling the best of his career. His engineer Craig Bauer called it the “Rap Album of the year” before correcting himself and saying “Nah. Decade. If you don’t feel something after listening to this…. You may want to check your pulse.” Drill Music In Zion is set to arrive on June 24, but it’s not the only big thing Lupe has in store for 2022. Later this year, the Grammy-winning rapper will teach a rap course at the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT).

The university announced that Lupe will be a part of their MLK Visiting Professor Program for the 2022-2023 academic year. Lupe shared the news in a tweet of his own. “I been holding this for a while,” he wrote. “I’ll put together something more sophisticated later that really captures the nuance and gravity but for now I’ll just say it straight and raw: I’m going to teach Rap at @MIT.”

Lupe’s upcoming course comes after he served as a visiting artist at MIT from 2020 to 2021. As for Drill Music In Zion, the upcoming project will be his first full-length release since 2018’s Drogas Wave.

You can view Lupe’s tweet about his upcoming rap course at MIT above.

Over her 10 years at SNL, Kate McKinnon has been one of the most prolific cast members, appearing early and often and creating some of its most beloved impersonations and characters. Maybe her most beloved creation (apart from her RBG) is Ms. Rafferty, the salty woman who keeps getting abducted by aliens and never getting the preferential treatment that others receive. Ms. Rafferty’s such an institution that, for McKinnon’s final episode, they gave her the cold open usually reserved for matters political.

For the most part, the final Ms. Raffery sketch follows the mold to a T: Three people who’ve been abducted meet with government agents. Two have lovely, life-changing stories. Ms. Rafferty does not. Instead, she finds herself in embarrassing, invasive situations. This time, though, it was even filthier than usual.

It was also bittersweet. While graphically recounting the usual grey extraterrestrials plucking her pubes for science, she reflects on all the other times they’ve had their way with her. “It hit me: Colleen, this might be the most stable relationship you’ve ever had,” she said.

The sketch ended with a meta reference to McKinnon’s departure from SNL. The agents say they’ve worked out a deal with the aliens whereby they take one of the trio with them. Ms. Rafferty volunteers herself. As she boards their spacecraft, Close Encounters-style, McKinnon/Rafferty bid farewell to the planet and to SNL.

“Well, Earth, I love ya,” McKinnon said, visibly choked up. “Thanks for letting me stay awhile.”

Then again, McKinnon (and Ms. Rafferty) can always return for hosting duties. Till then, you can watch the possible final Rafferty sketch in the video above.

On Friday, the day before the show’s season finale, there was some big SNL news: Four cast members were leaving. One of them was Pete Davidson, who joined the cast in 2014 and carved out a niche by mostly, well, playing himself. His self-deprecating monologues became a fixture of Weekend Update, in which he chronicled his oft-surreal life. So it was only fitting that he do the same on what proved to be his final show.

Davidson began by addressing “the millions of people only watching to see if I bring up Kanye.” (He did not.) His farewell address touched on some of the wilder parts of his tenure, such as him getting engaged to singer Ariana Grande after only two weeks of dating. He also discussed the Dan Crenshaw affair, when he made a joke about the Texas lawmaker’s eyepatch, which prompted him to apologize to him in person on live TV. Not that he was the last person to crack wise about his condition.

“In three years, Fox News went from calling me a monster for making fun of congressman Dan Crenshaw’s eyepatch to also making fun of Dan Crenshaw’s eyepatch,” Davidson joked, referencing Tucker Carlson doing exactly what Davidson did, minus the blowback and mea culpa. In fact, Carlson called him “Eyepatch McCain,” which Davidson pointed out was “two veterans in one insult.” (He also told co-host Colin Jost “your dad’s a d*ck.”)

He also claimed SNL honcho Lorne Michaels told him during his audition that he didn’t think he was “right” for this show, but went ahead anyway, saying, “Let’s screw this up together.” He then addressed his critics, with whom he agrees, saying, “that’s why people who don’t think I deserve this job shouldn’t hate me since we have so much in common. If anything, I should inspire hope, that literally anyone could be on Saturday Night Live.”

Davidson ended his monologue with a heartfelt message. “I appreciate SNL always having my back and allowing me to work on myself and grow,” he said. “And thank you to Lorne [Michaels] for never giving up on me or judging me even when everyone else was, and for believing in me and allowing me to have a place that I can call home with memories that will last a lifetime.”

You can watch Davidson’s farewell monologue in the video above.

On Friday, Harry Styles released his highly anticipated third album Harry’s House. The project arrives with 13 songs, no guest features, and production from Kid Harpoon, Tyler Johnson, Samuel Witte, and more. It’s set to be Harry’s biggest album yet and proof of that can be seen through the success of the project’s lead single “As It Was” which spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart. It also became 2022’s first Platinum track less than a month after its release. Despite all of these highs, Mick Jagger doesn’t seem too keen on Styles, at least that’s what his recent comments about him tell us.

During an interview with The London Times, The Rolling Stones’ lead vocalist delivered interesting comments about Styles. Jagger kicked things off by saying he has “an easy relationship” with Styles, but things went left afterward. “I mean, I used to wear a lot more eye make-up than him. Come on, I was much more androgynous,” Jagger added. “And he doesn’t have a voice like mine or move on stage like me; he just has a superficial resemblance to my younger self, which is fine — he can’t help that.”

For what it’s worth, Styles has openly called Jagger a big influence on his music and style. “When I look at them, I don’t know what it is, but it’s this, this something special,” Styles said about Jagger and other music greats in a 2019 interview with L’Officiel. During a 2015 interview with the Mail on Sunday’s Event Magazine, Jagger had kinder words for Styles.

“He’s got it going on. I know him, he comes to see me in lots of shows,” Jagger said. “And yeah, I can see the influence. But I don’t say anything to him, I just tell him he looks nice. I like him. He’s very decent.”

You can read Jagger’s full interview with The London Times here.

Harry’s House is out now via Columbia Records. You can stream it here.

After almost four years without an album, Michelle Zauner returned with Jubilee, her third album as Japanese Breakfast, last summer. “After spending the last five years writing about grief, I wanted our follow up to be about joy,” she said about the 10-track project. Jubilee brought Japanese Breakfast plenty of accolades and first-time moments, like two Grammy nominations, to magnify the success of the album. It also earned her the opportunity to make her debut on Saturday Night Live which she did last night. Here, she performed two songs from Jubilee, “Be Sweet” and “Paprika,” on the Natasha Lyonne-hosted episode.

Zauner kicked off the night with a performance of “Be Sweet.” She appeared on stage in a deep magenta dress and knee-high leather boots with a band as pink and blue light bulbs surrounded her as she sung the uplifting track. Later on, she returned with the same band for a rendition of “Paprika,” and for this one, she changed into a dashing white dress and invited a trio of horn players to amplify the performance.

Japanese Breakfast’s performance on Saturday Night Live occurred on the show’s season 47 finale. The season’s conclusion also marks the departure of SNL cast members Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, and Kyle Mooney.

You can watch both of Japanese Breakfast’s SNL performances in the videos above.

The Miami Heat have gone back up in the Eastern Conference Finals. Thanks to a monster game by Bam Adebayo and the Boston Celtics’ carelessness with the basketball, Miami was able to survive letting a 26-point lead get down to one during the series’ first game in Boston. As a result, the Heat picked up a 109-103 win over the Celtics to take a 2-1 lead.

The first quarter could not have gone much better for the Heat. Uplifted by the return of Kyle Lowry from a hamstring and Bam Adebayo having one of his best quarters of the postseason, the team found itself up, 39-18, thanks to its ability to get darn near anything it wanted.

Miami shot a scorching 64 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from three in the first quarter, and had more assists (seven) and the same number of steals (five) as the Celtics had made field goal attempts. While Jaylen Brown’s early 11 points were a positive, just about everything else that Boston did to start the game could have gone much better.

The Celtics kept them from extending their lead too much, but the Heat still were in total control for much of the second. They continued to score off of turnovers and got extra opportunities via their offensive rebounding — Miami attempted 16 more field goals than Boston.

Despite this, the lead was not as impressive as it seemed destined to be when it was as many as 26. A gigantic free throw advantage gave the Celtics a chance to score despite how well the Heat scored — they shot 14-18 from the charity stripe while Miami went 3-3 — and Boston was able to go on a flurry to end the half. The Celtics went on a 10-0 run over the final 90 seconds of the period to give Miami a 62-47 led going into the locker room.

The Heat suffered a gigantic loss at the half, as Jimmy Butler was ruled out for the remainder of the game due to right knee inflammation. Not long after, Marcus Smart had to leave the game after a nasty ankle roll, but upon returning to the game several minutes later, Smart hit a three that got the crowd at TD Garden on their feet.

Every time it seemed like Boston was starting to make up ground in the third, Miami had an answer. On four separate occasions, the Celtics had someone hit a shot to get the lead down to nine or 10 points, and each time, the Heat were able to prevent things from getting any closer. A big culprit was Boston’s complete inability to protect the basketball, as the team committed 17 turnovers — 14 of which were steals by Miami — through three.

Boston was once again able to cut into the lead when it started the fourth on an 8-0 run, which was broken via an Adebayo dunk.

Still, the Celtics kept creeping closer and closer, even after Tatum briefly had to make his way into the locker room with a shoulder injury. Brown, in particular, came to life, going on a 10-0 on his own to get the lead down to one.

A three by Max Strus stopped the bleeding with just over two minutes remaining, while the dagger came on a prayer to beat the shot clock by Adebayo, who hoisted up a shot while getting hounded by Al Horford.

A whole lot of free throws took place down the stretch, and ultimately, Miami was able to do enough. Adebayo’s 31 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and four steals led the way for the Heat, while Tucker had 17 and seven rebounds, Strus had 16, and Lowry had 11 points, six assists, and four steals. Five players on Miami’s roster registered at least two steals, and they managed to force 19 as a team. Brown was tops on the Celtics with 40 points and nine rebounds, Horford had 20 and 14 rebounds, and Smart had 16 points with seven dimes. Tatum struggled on the night, scoring 10 points on 3-for-14 shooting.

Game 4 between the Heat and Celtics is scheduled to tip off at 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday night on ESPN.

If the Miami Heat are to beat the Boston Celtics on Saturday night, they’ll have to do so without the services of Jimmy Butler for the second half of the game. Miami announced that Butler, who gave the team 20 minutes of work in the first half, dealt with some right knee inflammation during halftime, and the decision was made to shut him down for the remainder of the evening.

Upon his departure from the game, Miami opted to fill his spot in their lineup with Victor Oladipo. Prior to going down, Butler scored eight points, reeled in three rebounds, dished out a pair of assists, and registered two steals as the Heat took a 15-point lead into the locker room at halftime.

Butler has dealt with right knee inflammation already this postseason. Back in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks, Miami opted to sit their All-Star wing as issues with his knee flared up. It was a decision that paid off for the Heat, as they won that game, 97-94.

Butler is in the conversations for the best performers during the 2022 playoffs, as he’s averaged 29.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 2.2 steals in 37.3 minutes per game for the 1-seed in the Eastern Conference.

PJ Tucker was a question mark heading into Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics. Tucker suffered a knee injury during Game 2 and was originally listed as questionable to play on Saturday night, but ultimately, the veteran forward got the all-clear to take the floor.

This was big for two reasons. The obvious one is that Tucker’s tenacity and shooting are always going to help his team, and considering how Miami spent the first half obliterating Boston, both of those things were huge boosts. The other reason is that Tucker playing meant we got to witness one of the most shameless flops of the 2021-22 postseason, as Tucker took a little contact from Jayson Tatum and used it to go flying backwards.

Tucker didn’t just take the bump and hit the deck. Instead, Tucker took a shove from a few feet behind the free throw line and managed to slide all the way to the baseline.

Both Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson were in awe of how Tucker took this little bit of contact and embellished it, with Jackson calling it “Denzel-ish” and Van Gundy saying it was “great acting.” But hey, Tatum picked up a foul on this one, so it all worked out for Miami.

The Miami Heat will have two previously-questionable pieces of their starting lineup for Game 3 of the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals. Earlier in the day, Erik Spoelstra told reporters that Kyle Lowry, who has yet to play in the series, and PJ Tucker, who suffered an injury during the team’s Game 2 loss to the Boston Celtics, both went through the team’s shootaround on Saturday morning with the intention of suiting up later in the day.

Ultimately, the team announced that both players will indeed suit up and help fortify the Heat’s lineup.

Lowry has been dealing with a strained left hamstring for much of this postseason run, as the veteran point guard missed the last four games Miami has played and eight of the last 10 — the team’s Game 2 loss was their first without Lowry during the playoffs. Tucker, meanwhile, hurt his left knee during Game 2 and was forced to leave in the third quarter, but despite some early concerns about the potential severity of the injury, the veteran forward was able to avoid needing an MRI once swelling went down.

The series is currently tied at one game each, and Saturday night’s game will be the first to take place in Boston. Game 3 is scheduled to tip off at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

For thousands upon thousands of years, humans have been looking for a reason, roamin’ through the night to find their place in this world. But there is a question that is much larger than that one which has puzzled our silly little species for just as long: what happens when we die?

Now, I’m not here, good reader, to impose any sort of philosophical belief onto you. It is between you and the higher power(s) that you worship (if you worship any at all!) to answer that question, and for you to have faith in the plans you are making for when the lights go out, if you are even doing that in the first place. I am simply here to tell you that Shaquille O’Neal went onto The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and was posed this question, and after a moment of thought, came to one conclusion.

“Nobody knows,” Shaq said. “Heaven? Barkley’s going to hell, so.”

While I suppose it is possible Shaq has some really strong thoughts on New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley, it seems pretty safe for us to assume that the big fella is predicting that fellow Inside the NBA personality Charles Barkley‘s soul is destined for eternal damnation. I’ll give Shaq this: If the lord is a Warriors fan, I don’t like Barkley’s chances.