Month: January 2023

Since bursting onto the rap scene in March 2020, 4HUNNID Record’s first lady, Day Sulan, has hit the ground running, refusing to let the pandemic slow down her career. After experiencing success with singles “Bailar” with YG and “Big” featuring Rubi Rose, the Compton native has begun to find her footing in the hip-hop community. Now with the support of her label owner, frequent collaborator, and fellow Compton native YG, she’s ready to conquer the game one track at a time, starting with her UPROXX Sessions performance of her single “Teach U How To Play.”

Sulan’s determination to be rap music’s next top act is fueled by the many obstacles she faced growing up in South Central Los Angeles. From her past as an exotic dancer to finding herself tied up in California’s vicious gang culture, the Black and Vietnamese recording artist hasn’t let that hinder her from accomplishing her goals.

In an interview with Kazi Magazine, Sulan reminisced on her trials, stating, “I did not have much guidance, so I had to figure everything out on my own. It was hard, but I knew it was best for me to get it done.”

Or, as she explained to REVOLT, “I have some sh*t to accomplish because of how much he’s done for me,” adding, “[YG] making me the first lady of 4HUNNID… I have to go crazy. It’s not an option, it’s a mandatory thing.”

Watch Day Sulan’s UPROXX Sessions performance of “Teach U How To Play” above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

Billie Eilish, a noted superfan of The Office, is set to make an upcoming appearance on Jenna Fischer (Pam) and Angela Kinsey’s (Angela) podcast, Office Ladies. In the first teaser, Eilish recreates the beloved party-planning scene from the first season of the show — with Fischer and Kinsey playing their respective characters.

The pop star recites Phyllis’ lines. “Well for decorations, maybe we could do… No, that’s stupid, forget it,” Eilish says as the character while the committee debates whether or not to have streamers in the office. “But that’s dumb, everybody has streamers, never mind.”

After the three successfully recreate the scene, Fischer tells Eilish that she’s officially one of them. “You’re officially in the PPC,” she exclaimed, referencing the party-planning committee.

Eilish’s appearance on Office Ladies feels like a long time coming and frankly, it’s surprising that it hadn’t happened yet. From sampling Michael Scott for the song “My Strange Addiction” on her debut album to claiming she’s seen the entire series fourteen times, she has cemented herself as a serious fan. In 2020, she did, however, appear on Steve Carrell (Michael Scott) and Brian Baumgartner’s An Oral History Of The Office podcast.

“Every time I watch it, I understand something new because I started at 12,” she said. “And honestly, if you asked my parents, this makes me sound so stupid, but the most of the things that I know are because of The Office.”

Listen to Eilish’s clip from the Office Ladies podcast above.

Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan‘s Dutton-fueled world shows no signs of slowing down with 1923 riding high while the O.G. series continues churning away as the top scripted series of last year. Although Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford made waves on the range as Dutton ancestors, they still can’t beat Kevin Costner’s popularity as John, so naturally, viewers (some of whom have reacted strongly to that lesbian kiss) want to know how long they must wait for more as the franchise goes on hiatus.

There’s a wait alright, but that wait shall end, definitely before the end of this year. Summer 2023 (as revealed in the below teaser) has been confirmed as the magic range, which would fit along with how the series initially debuted on Paramount Network in June 2018. From there, it was off to the races, which reminds me that I once overheard a man saying that he sold his horse at an astronomical price, given the popularity of this show. As far as actual plot teases go, though, don’t expect too much in the immediate future. Paramount Network has only provided this montage of already seen moments while pointing towards the show’s official podcast for those who simply can’t wait for more insight.

As TV Guide notes, star Piper Perabo suggested (in mid-December) that filming may not have begun yet for the back half of the season. She also discussed how kissing Kevin Costner wasn’t as amusing as the real-life fair that they built on set, complete with funnel cakes and a Tilt-a-Whirl. Never a dull moment, it sounds like, but more Yellowstone will definitely be on the way.

In her second show of the year (January 2) Kelly Clarkson to The Kelly Clarkson Show stage for another one of her iconic “Kellyoke” covers. This time, she put her own spin of a Katy Perry fan favorite.

Joined by only guitarist Jaco Caraco, Clarkson delivered a stripped-back rendition of Perry’s “The One That Got Away” from her sophomore album, Teenage Dream.

While her backing band wasn’t behind her, as they usually are, Caraco’s soft guitar-playing, paired with Clarkson’s powerful vocals, allowed for the pure emotion of the song to shine through.

“In another life / I would be your girl / We keep all our promises / Be us against the world / In another life / I would make you stay / So I don’t have to say / You were the one that got away,” sang Clarkson, flawlessly executing each note.

Clarkson has a big year ahead of her. On top of her talk show, she revealed in an interview with Variety last year that she plans to drop a new album at some point in 2023.

“I had some time, finally. I’ve never had a summer off since I was, like, 16, and I was like, ‘I need it off,’” she said. “I think that created the space for me to really have time to go, ‘What am I comfortable with? What do I want to release?’

Check out the performance of “The One That Got Away” above.

Kelly Clarkson is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

2023 is shaping up to be the year of the big-budget video game adaptation. Between The Last Of Us and the upcoming Fallout series, there will be something for everyone this year — unless that something is the next season of House of the Dragon. But, if you were a child at any point between 1985 and now, you are in for a real treat with a familiar face. The world’s most famous Italian-American plumber is heading to the big screen in The Super Mario Bros Movie.

Despite the general distress at Chris Pratt offering his voice to the character, the rest of the cast is pretty well-rounded, and Nintendo has been working hard to keep their precious IP intact, so the movie can’t be awful, right? Here is everything we know about the upcoming film.

Release Date

The movie is set to hit theaters on April 7th, 2023, just weeks after Mario’s American theme park debut. What a year for the little guy!

Cast

Mario will be portrayed by Chris Pratt, whether you want it or not, so we might as well just embrace it.

As for the rest of the cast, there is an all-star team of voices coming out of the woodwork for the movie, including Jack Black as the protagonist turtle Bowser, Anya Taylor-Joy as the delightful Princess Peach and Charlie Day as Mario’s cooler and arguably better plumbing professional brother, Luigi. Also starring is Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, and Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong.

Plot

The plot details are under wraps, though but from the over-the-top trailer, we can assume that Mario is doing some damsel-saving, though it might be Luigi instead of Princess Peach. It’s about time Peach gets her own adventure, honestly. The inclusion of Donkey Kong might imply that we get a little more backstory and worldbuilding. Or it means that Seth Rogen just really wanted a cameo. We shall see!

Trailer

With Black Panther: Wakanda Forever having spent two months in theaters, the big question is when can Marvel fans expect to stream the highly-anticipated sequel on Disney+. For a brief while, Marvel was toying with 45-day theatrical windows, but that gap immediately started to widen with Thor: Love and Thunder. Considering Wakanda Forever has been a box office juggernaut, it only makes sense that Marvel would want to capitalize on its time in theaters and wait a little longer before making it available for streaming.

According to reports, Wakanda Forever could have a Disney+ release date of January 20. However, we should caution that at the time of this writing, we could not find any official confirmation. There is no listing on Disney+ or Marvel’s official website, and the film’s social media accounts have not verified a release date. In fact, Polygon is reporting that Wakanda Forever may not hit Disney+ until February 1. In short, the situation appears to be fluid, but the film is most likely heading to streaming sometime near the end of January and before the film’s Blu-ray release, which also has no official street date.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with Nakia and Everett Ross to forge a new path for their beloved kingdom.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently playing in theaters.

(Via Collider)

As the holiday season comes to a close, music continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. While Mariah Carey fans may be thrilled that “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is the first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 of the year for the fourth year in a row, another music icon achieved a remarkable feat.

Nat King Cole, who is known for first recording “The Christmas Song,” posthumously reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated January 7, marking his first top 10 hit in nearly 60 years.

To be precise, Cole, who died in 1965, returns to the top 10 after 59 years, six months, and a week, which marks the longest break between top-10 hits. This breaks the record previously broken last year by The Ronettes, whose Christmas classic “Sleigh Ride” returned to the top 10 after 58 years and two months.

Cole last hit the top 10 in 1963 with one of his signature songs, “Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days Of Summer,” which reached No. 6 on the Hot 100.

“The Christmas Song” is one of seven holiday-themed songs occupying the top 10. You can check out this week’s Hot 100 chart top 10 below.

Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Mark your calendars: A name and date has been set for TWICE’s second English single.

Following the successful release of “The Feels” in 2021, the leading K-pop girl group ended 2022 with the announcement of releasing a new English single in January and a new EP in March 2023.

Earlier today (January 3), TWICE updated their social media accounts with a teaser image that revealed the title and release date for their second English single. Titled “Moonlight Sunrise,” the single will drop on Friday, January 20 at midnight ET.

Though no further details were provided on the English release, fans suspected members have spoiled part of the choreography at a recent concert guesting and on fan messaging platform Bubble. Performing as a surprise guest for Psy’s year-end concert, members Chaeyoung, Nayeon (the group’s Spoiler Queen), and Sana were caught doing a different dance move during a part of their Christmas track “Heart Shaker.” On the other hand, Nayeon apparently changed her name on Bubble to the crescent moon emoji that would hint to the English song’s title.

TWICE is a nine-member girl group composed of members Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu, that debuted under JYP Entertainment in 2015. The group completed the US leg of their world tour last year, with a two-night sold out encore show in the first half of last year. The tour was then followed by the release of their eleventh EP, Between 1&2, and the news of the group renewing their contracts with JYP Entertainment.

While information on “Moonlight Sunrise” are incoming, you can pre-save the English single here.

A new year has begun. And, as expected, the Korean music industry isn’t holding back.

As 2022 claimed itself the year of girl groups, music insiders are predicting 2023 will be the year for boy groups to redeem themselves. However, it is obviously too early to side with the claim.

With that being said, here are some of the hottest K-pop releases that fans are highly anticipating in the month of January.

NewJeans – 1st Single ‘OMG’

Already taking the K-pop world by storm in 2022, NewJeans follows their debut self-titled EP with their single-album OMG set to release on January 2. The two-track project will include the ADOR girl group’s lead single of the same name and the chart-topping pre-release single “Ditto.”

YUGYEOM – Ponytail

On January 2, GOT7’s youngest member is set to release his first solo single of the year. Titled “Ponytail,” the Korean artist taps rapper Sik-K for a feature on the chill-sounding and guitar-heavy track.

VIXX – ‘Gonna Be Alright’

Returning as a trio, VIXX’s Leo, Ken, and Hyuk will release their digital single “Gonna Be Alright” on January 3 at 6 p.m. KST. The release will be followed by a fan concert held by the trio on January 6.

MOONBIN & SANHA – 3rd Mini Album – Incense

ASTRO’s sub-unit composed of members Moonbin and Sanha are set to make their return on January 4 with their third EP Incense. The six-track album will include the dynamic duo’s lead single “Madness” that was co-written by Moonbin.

ILY:1 – 1ST MINI ALBUM

Rookie girl group ILY:1 (pronounced as “eye-li-one”) will make their first comeback of the year with their first EP on January 5.

MONSTA X – Mini Album ‘REASON’

Making their first comeback since contract discussions, Starship Entertainment’s leading boy group is set to return with their newest EP, REASON, on January 9. The release marks member I.M.’s first project with Monsta X since his departure from his former label.

SF9 – 12TH MINI ALBUM [THE PIECE OF9]

Fresh off their US tour last month, FNC Entertainment is already gearing SF9 for a January comeback set for the 9th. The group will release their twelfth EP with its lead single “Puzzle.”

GOT the beat – Stamp On It

GOT the beat will make their first comeback on January 16 but will do a pre-performance at SM Entertainment’s annual New Year concert, SMTOWN LIVE 2023. The super girl group is SM Entertainment’s project girl group (similar to SM’s boy group SuperM) that debuted at the top of 2022 with “Step Back.”

TXT – The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION

With the news already making waves in the last quarter of the 2022, TXT (short for TOMORROW X TOGETHER) will release their newest EP titled The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION on January 27. The EP is already up for pre-order and comes in three different versions.

NCT 127 – Fourth Album Repackage: Ay-Yo

Following the successful release of their fourth album 2 Baddies, NCT 127 returns with a repackaged album titled Ay-Yo that contains three additional tracks including the new lead single of the same name. Fans can expect the album to drop on January 30.

On Tuesday morning, both new and old co-hosts of The View paid tribute to the late Barbara Walters who famously created the iconic daytime talk show all the way back in 1997. While the mood was definitely reverent as original hosts like Meredith Vieria and Debbie Matenopoulos stopped by to share their experiences learning from the veteran newscaster, there were also very on-brand moments of hilarity as the co-hosts recalled unforgettable moments of Walters’ raucous humor.

One such moment came from former co-host Sherri Shepherd, who will never forget the advice that Walters gave her. The two were particularly close and often met for dinners, which led to Walters personally planning Shepherd’s bridal shower where her trademark wit was on full display. Via The Wrap:

“She said, ‘You always get with these men who take your money! All the time! Stop getting married to men that take your money. You need to be a lesbian,’” Shepherd recalled. “‘But with your luck, they’d take your money, too.’”

The story got huge laughs from both the audience and the women at the table, as the hosts all agreed that Walters was known to be honest like that.

The scene was definitely better than the treatment that Walkers received from Megyn Kelly. While the former Fox News host was sure to credit the late Walters for blazing the trail that made her career possible, Kelly launched into an odd and seemingly random attack on Walters’ parenting. While citing passages from her memoir, Kelly decided now was a good time to criticize Walters for being an absent mother.

Needless to say, The View did not go that route, and even one of its more grating former co-hosts had the wherewithal to pay proper respect to Walters:

(Via The Wrap)