Year: 2022

Phife Dawg‘s long-anticipated posthumous album has finally arrived today. Forever comes on the sixth anniversary of the A Tribe Called Quest rapper’s death.

Forever is Phife Dawg’s second solo album, following 2000’s Ventilation: Da LP. Phife appeared A Tribe Called Quest’s 2016 reunion album We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service, which was released just months after his death. Phife was said to be working on solo music up until that time.

“We faced a lot of ups and downs trying to get the album completed, and only by God’s grace and patience were we able to,” said Phife’s longtime manager Dion Liverpool in a statement. “I would like to thank his fans for being patient and understanding that nothing that is good and timeless will happen overnight. I took on the responsibility to help the family complete Forever and honored that I was trusted to do so.”

Forever features production by DJ Rasta Root, who co-produced the album alongside Phife, along with the likes of J Dilla, 9th Wonda, Potatohead People, and more. The album boasts several collaborations, including tracks with fellow Tribe member Q-Tip, Redman, Dwele, Busta Rhymes, and Rapsody.

Check out Forever below.

https://open.spotify.com/album/5LgEGVdC1X8xgrNa09MS6f?si=4bbRdG8CSoq7QVKBFaPb-A

Forever is out now via Smokin’ Needles.

The upcoming sixth and final season of AMC’s hit crime drama Better Call Saul arrives on April 18th, but if you need to catch up before then, you’re in luck! The fifth season will finally hit Netflix on April 4th.

Season five aired in the unfortunate months of February to April 2020. The ten-episode season picked up right where the previous season left off, following the lovable scam artist Jimmy McGill before he became Saul Goodman on Breaking Bad.

That gives fans just a few days to catch up on the fifth season before the sixth premieres later in April. The first seven episodes of the final season will air in April, with the second half of the season starting back up in July, and the series finale in August.

The critically acclaimed Breaking Bad prequel began filming its final season last year when star Bob Odenkirk famously collapsed on set but thankfully made a full recovery.

In addition to the new season, earlier this year, AMC announced a short animated series Slippin’ Jimmy that will premiere digitally this spring. Produced by Rick and Morty animators and written by Better Call Saul show-runners, the six-episode series will tell stories of young Jimmy McGill’s childhood misadventures in Chicago. There will also be new episodes of the Better Call Saul Employee Training Video streaming later this year.

Eric Trump is working hard to be his dad’s number one boy, this time by dragging President Joe Biden for *checks notes* … riding a bike.

Trump paid a visit to Fox News where he spent most of his time on-air trying to find fault with Biden for exercising instead of standing in front of fighter jets to intimidate his fellow world leaders. No, really. Apparently, Trump was irked by both Biden’s love of cycling and the large reflector on the front of his bike intended to make him visible to drivers.

“My father would be giving speeches in front of F-35s, talking about how he’s building the greatest military the world has ever seen,” Trump said. “Believe me, that was sending a true message of strength.”

While we’re sure photo-ops in front of a government-funded plane collection would indeed strike fear in the hearts of every other first-world leader — who also has access to legions of fighter jets — Biden’s outdoor hobby wasn’t the only bone Trump had to pick with the president. He also took umbrage with the time of day Biden chose to go for a ride.

“This is the commander in chief of the United States of America,” he said. “What message does that send the world that is literally in the middle of, just, some horribleness?”

Perhaps, the message is similar to the one Donald Trump sent when he went golfing at one of his resorts during the border wall crisis … or the Coronavirus pandemic … or during the Iran nuclear conflict … or after the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Maria … or … you get it.

Megan Thee Stallion famously deals with a lot of bullsh*t — from haters online, from the media, and from Tory Lanez, who was accused of shooting at her feet in 2020 as well as unleashing a smear campaign against her. He was charged with felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm, but she’s still dealing with, you guessed it, haters online.

A Twitter user wrote: “At this point Megan Thee Stallion is going to have to show us the bullet wound or something,” and the “Sweetest Pie” rapper quote-tweeted it yesterday: “B*tches like this have ACTUAL CUM FOR BRAINS. Dick eating ass bitches. My hospital records are public record the DA has made a statement… yall choosing to be dumb at this point. You better hope a man never assaults you and nobody especially women believe you!”

Meanwhile Megan is being countersued by her label. The label’s attorney, Steven M. Zager, wrote, “MTS knows that each ‘album’ must include at least twelve new master recordings of her studio performances of previously-unreleased musical compositions. She also knows that 1501 gets to approve the musical compositions to be included on each album. And MTS knows that none of that happened here.” The countersuit blames Roc Nation, Megan’s management company, for “trying to persuade its management clients to leave their record labels.”

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

Nirvana’s 1991 masterpiece Nevermind is such a classic album that even the non-singles are widely known and beloved. One such song is “Something In The Way,” which has gotten more attention lately thanks to its appearance in The Batman: When the movie’s trailer was released in August 2020, “Something In The Way” made its first appearance on a Billboard chart, hitting No. 2 on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart.

The Batman was released this month, which has led to an increase in streams for the Nirvana tune. Now, that listening uptick is translating to some major chart success: On the new March 26-dated Hot 100 chart, “Something In The Way” debuts at No. 46. The song is now Nirvana’s fifth to appear on the chart and their first since “You Know You’re Right” in 2002. The band’s other three charting songs all come from Nevermind: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (which peaked at No. 6), “Come As You Are” (No. 32), and “Lithium” (No. 64).

In a 2021 NME interview, Nevermind producer Butch Vig said of recording “Something In The Way”:

“That was the hardest song to do by far on Nevermind. The other songs we tracked pretty quick — once we were set up, had the sounds and everything, they nailed everything in one or two, three takes tops. Then we go back and I get Kurt to overdub some guitars or double guitars or double some vocals and things. We tried doing ‘Something In The Way’ out in the studio and it just didn’t work; the drums were too big and loud. Kurt tried an electric guitar, he couldn’t play it on acoustic [at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California] because the room was just too loud. So out of frustration, he came into the control room and started playing it on the couch. And I said, ‘Hold on, let’s just record it right here.’ So I kicked everybody out of the control room, brought a mic in, turned the fans off, and unplugged the phone, and we recorded him on acoustic guitar there and then and built the song from it.”

Revisit “Something In The Way,” both the album version and the MTV Unplugged rendition, below.

In one of the most ridiculous examples of homophobia clouding someone’s judgment, a dog owner surrendered his pooch to the Stanly County Animal Protective Services in North Carolina after claiming it is “gay.”

According to WCCB-TV, the owners saw Fezco humping another male dog so they surrendered him because of his sexuality.

Fezco is a brown and black dog resembling a Rottweiler who appears to be 4 to 5 years old and around 50 pounds. The shelter says he is friendly to people and other animals. It didn’t comment on his sexual orientation.

It’s bizarre that anyone would care about their dog’s sexual orientation unless they were a breeder. But if the dog was humping another dog it probably didn’t have much to do with sex anyway.

The only gay dog in the village!nnDog called Fezco dumped at shelter after it humped another male canine https://mol.im/a/10632821u00a0 via https://dailym.ai/android

— Fiona K. #BackBoris (@Fiona K. #BackBoris)
1647821795

Younger dogs that have not been spayed or neutered may hump other dogs, objects or legs as a way to practice for when they research sexual maturity. In many cases, dogs of any age will hump another dog to show dominance or during play.

“You’ll often see one dog mount another, then a few minutes later they’ll switch off and the other dog will mount the first dog,” Gary Landsberg, DVM, a veterinary behaviorist in Ontario, Canada, told WebMD’s Fetch. “It’s a common play gesture.

“It’s a play behavior that dogs do because no one has told them it’s not acceptable,” Landsberg added. “It can become enjoyable or a normal part of the dog’s day, so it keeps doing it. It’s the same as jumping up or barking at the door.”

People shouldn’t worry about their dog’s humping behavior unless it becomes a habit.

“The topic draws giggles and laughs, but it’s a very real topic for some people,” David S. Spiegel, VMD said. “Some dogs can become very compulsive about the behavior.”

But if the dog had homosexual tendencies, it wouldn’t be unusual.

According to Scientific American, homosexuality is fairly common in the animal kingdom. In fact, same-sex sexual behavior, which includes mounting, courting and genital licking, has been reported in more than 1,500 animal species from primates to nematode worms.

At first glance, it seems that homosexuality would run counter to the basic tenets of evolution and natural selection. Why would nature favor a trait that would make a species less likely to reproduce?

Researchers at Scientific American postulate that some ancestral animal species may have mated without taking sex into consideration. They had yet to develop the necessary faculties to detect sexual differences so they engaged with whatever they could.

The shelter put out a call for people to adopt or foster Fezco and, according to TMZ, people have been lining up to give the dog a homophobic-free forever home. Upworthy reached out to the shelter for an update on Fezco’s status and has yet to hear back.

While it’s sad that Fezco has had to deal with the trauma of being abandoned by his owners, it may be for the best. Anyone who would ditch their dog because it displayed homosexual behaviors or because they misunderstood a basic behavior probably shouldn’t be trusted to take care of a pet anyway.

(SPOILERS for Deep Water will be found below.)

Deep Water is shamelessly sleazy, not to mention gloriously dirty, in addition to being the movie where Ben Affleck gets cucked in what feels like the debauchery-filled cousin to Gone Girl. Oh, and it’s the triumphant return of Adrian Lyne, who’s directing his first feature since 2002’s Unfaithful. Ben Affleck could be the new Michael Douglas (to reference Lyne’s Fatal Attraction), or even the new Robert Redford (alright, I took this train too far while referencing Indecent Proposal, but that’s a nice way to glide into discussing Lyne’s new interview with The Independent).

Within the piece, Lyne responds to an inquiry about Demi Moore’s 2019 memoir, in which she explained (via IndieWire) that Lyne was incredibly vocal while she filmed a sex scene with Woody Harrelson. In Moore’s words, he was “practically hollering” during the entire affair and shouting, “F***ing raunchy!” as well as “Oh god, got a boner on that!” Moore went on to write about how this method, after getting “used to it,” allowed Moore to forget about “my own awkwardness.” And when The Independent mentioned this all to Lyne, he blushed but explained how his “cheerleader” ways helped his actors flow:

“Yesss,” he replies, timidly. “But I’ve always thought there’s something awful about actors going at it in total silence. Or very glumly, and then wondering whether their arse looks good, or if their thighs are sagging. So I always act as a kind of cheerleader. Sometimes I’ll go, ‘It’s good! It’s good!’” He claps his hands together, like an enthusiastic judge at the sex Olympics. “You sense their confidence mounting, so it’s a better scene. I do that a lot.”

Lord. I may never be able to stop thinking about Lyne jumping up and down while Anna de Armas exclaims (to Ben Affleck), “Would you kiss my ass?” as (at least to me) Affleck’s character doesn’t seem to be genuinely enthused at all. He’s more into the snails, man. Because those snails would never (intentionally) let him down.

(Via The Independent & IndieWire)

Despite some apparent internal strife amongst the core trio over their unbalanced contracts, it looks like Griselda Records‘ Benny The Butcher, Conway The Machine, and Westside Gunn are still on good enough terms to head out on tour together, which they’ll do following their upcoming appearance at Coachella. Their Claires Back Tour kicks off May 10 in Chicago and will hit 10 venues in total, crossing the nation to conclude on June 3 in Los Angeles. They’ll be joined on the tour by Future’s Freebandz artist, Doe Boy.

After releasing their major-label debut album WWCD on Shady Records in 2019, the Buffalo big three has spent the last handful of years dropping multiple solo projects, although they all appear on each other’s material as well. Meanwhile, the label as a whole has grown to encompass a wide range of underground approved acts such as Armani Caesar, Boldy James, Mach-Hommy, and Stove God Cooks. However, that success didn’t stop Conway from revealing that he left the label after completing his contracted obligation with God Don´t Make Mistakes earlier this year.

In a recent interview with The Breakfast Club, Conway said. ” “I didn’t even read that contract, bro. I didn’t read that shi*t. I just signed that sh*t and moved on. Unfortunately, the contract wasn’t in my favor. So now, going forward, it’s time to redo all that. I gotta make sure it’s in my favor now.” Hopefully, those issues won’t negatively affect the vibe on their tour. You can find more information about the Claires Back Tour here.

05/10 — Chicago, IL @ Radius
05/14 — Rochester, NY @ Armory
05/15 — Boston, MA @ Roadrunner
05/18 — New York, @ NY Terminal 5
05/19 — Washington, DC @ Echo Stage
05/21 — Atlanta, GA @ Coca Cola Roxy
05/26 — Dallas, TX @ The Factory
05/29 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
06/02 — San Francisco, CA @ Warfield
06/03 — Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Expo Hall

Chance The Rapper is teasing new music set for release this Thursday. The Chicagoan dropped two clips on Instagram and Twitter, each containing previews of a new single called “Child Of God.”

The first clip sees a close-up of Chance’s face, shouting his signature “igh” ad lib, before a screen reading the text “Child Of God” appears. The next screen reveals a release date of March 24. According to the post’s caption, the new song features Naila Opiangah and Moses Sumney.

In a second clip, shared today, a woman is seen painting as Chance stands in the background. Set to the same instrumental, we once again hear the “igh” and see the “Child Of God” text, along with the March 24 release date.

Earlier this month, Chance revealed a snippet of new music with Vic Mensa. He also dropped new songs with Supa Bwe and his SaveMoney crew, marking the latter’s first song in eight years. Last year, Chance collaborated with R&B legend Dionne Warwick on a ballad called “Nothing’s Impossible.”

Outside of music, Chance has teamed up with Ben & Jerry’s to drop Mint Chocolate Chance, a mint chocolate-flavored ice cream filled with chunks of brownies. A percentage of sales of Mint Chocolate Chance goes to Chance’s non-profit SocialWorks, aimed toward empowering Chicago youth through arts, education, and civic engagement, with additional programming focusing on education, homelessness, mental health, and performing and literary arts.

The Portland Trail Blazers are currently working very hard to avoid the West’s play-in tournament, having lost 10 of their last 12 games (picking up a rare win on Monday in Detroit). Portland made their intentions clear at the trade deadline as they made future-facing moves by dealing away Norman Powell, Robert Covington, and CJ McCollum.

With Damian Lillard sidelined for the year, Anfernee Simons likewise on the shelf since early March, and Jusuf Nurkic out with plantar fasciitis, Portland is simply undermanned most nights and seems perfectly fine with that. Still, it can be frustrating to be on that bench as a player watching your team lose, and for Nurkic, he’s heard enough from opposing fans and reached a breaking point after a 31-point loss to the Pacers on Sunday.

A fan courtside was apparently heckling Nurkic and recording it all on his phone, so the big man calmly strolled over to him, plucked the phone out of his hand, and tossed it away.

It is, undeniably, a hilarious interaction, but also one that was always going to result in a fine, which the NBA announced on Tuesday, as Nurkic will be out $40,000 for his phone toss.

That’s a steep price to pay, but maybe one that was worth it to Nurkic for the sheer satisfaction of taking someone’s phone and casually flicking it two rows away.