Month: January 2023

The top ranks of Spotify’s most-streamed songs of all time don’t change too often. The last time we got a new song at No. 1 was in September 2017, when Ed Sheeran’s “Shape Of You” passed Drake’s “One Dance” to become the new champion. Sheeran’s hit had about 1.3 billion plays at the time and since then, it became the first song to pass 2 and 3 billion streams on the platform.

Meanwhile, The Weeknd released “Blinding Lights” in November 2019 and it has been making its way up the list since then. Now, it has found the very top: On the evening of December 31, 2022, Chart Data noted that “Blinding Lights” had passed “Shape Of You” to become the most-streamed song in Spotify history. As of this morning (January 2), “Blinding Lights” has 3,332,163,962 streams and “Shape Of You” has 3,332,016,196.

The Weeknd is pretty happy about the achievement, as he shared a couple tweets celebrating the feat.

As for other songs that perhaps have a shot at someday taking over No. 1, Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” is the most-played 2020 song with about 2.2 billion streams, The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber’s “Stay” is the top 2021 hit with 2.3 billion, and Harry Styles’ “As It Was” is currently the only 2022 song in the all-time top 100, with 1.7 billion.

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

Towards the end of December, Erykah Badu sparked rumors that Summer Walker was preparing to give birth to not one baby, but two. Now, Walker has confirmed that this is true and that the birth has already happened.

In a now-deleted post about the delivery shared over the weekend (that was preserved by The Share Room), Walker posted a censored video of the birth. She also wrote:

“I’m so proud of myself. Just sharing to inspire other women cause I know once you carry twins to almost 42 weeks especially with (one breech) people will try to steer you towards induction or c section (which there’s nothing wrong with these I just didn’t want it for myself). You can do it, this was my second home birth all natural 7 hrs, no tearing & I couldn’t of done it without my spirit guides, Godparents, birth team, my elders, & the best dad doula ever Larry lol, he was so hands on the whole time I was really impressed. it wasn’t easy but it gets done. lol both births I almost blacked out at the end but eating your placenta will definitely keep you above water I have thin blood so I always end up going to the hospital to bring myself back into good strength for them but as long as my kids stay at home untouched I’m good.”

Check out Walker’s archived post below.

The hip-hop community suffered a huge loss to the start the new year. Memphis’ FOX13 reports that rap legend Gangsta Boo, who was a former member of the rap group Three 6 Mafia, is dead at the age of 43. The tragic news was confirmed by Three 6 Mafia’s DJ Paul, who was cited in the FOX13 report. It adds that Gangsta Boo was found dead on New Year’s Day at around 4 PM local time. A cause of death has not been determined yet, and FOX13 is working to learn more about the tragic news.

Gangsta Boo rose to fame after joining Three 6 Mafia in 1995. It was that same year that the group released their debut album Mystic Stylez, which brought them great attention and and popularity in the South. Gangsta Boo would remain in the group until 2001. She left Three 6 Mafia after the group released Choices, citing a number of reasons that included group issues, religion, alleged financial mismanagement, and her desire to pursue a solo career. That solo career first began in 1998 when she released her solo debut, Enquiring Minds. She would go on to release Both Worlds *69 and Enquiring Minds II: The Soap Opera in 2001 and 2003 respectively. Gangsta Boo also released a plethora of mixtapes, with her most recent one being 2018’s Underground Cassette Tape Music 2 with Beatking.

Most recently, Gangsta Boo stopped by UPROXX for an UPROXX Sessions performance of “I’m Fresh.” She also handed out lessons on Boo Lingo and parts of her contributions to Three 6 Mafia’s iconic “Tear The Club Up” track were used on Latto and GloRilla’s recent single “FTCU.”

Her death has already been mourned by names in the hip-hop community, like Daz Dillinger and Run The Jewels’ El-P, and you can view their reactions and others below.

The Washington Commanders entered Sunday as the team on the bubble in the NFC Playoff Picture, with a tenuous hold on the 7th and final playoff spot. They made the curious decision to hand the offense back over to Carson Wentz, who was rather dreadful early in the season before getting injured and replaced by Taylor Heinicke, who rattled off five wins to get them into the playoff hunt before a 0-2-1 stretch of late.

The move to go back to Wentz did not pay off, as he threw three interceptions in a 24-10 loss to the Browns that dropped them to 7-8-1 on the season. While they still had a chance to make the playoffs, they were jumped in the standings by the Lions who throttled the Bears and could be eliminated completely if Green Bay beat Minnesota in the late window — because Detroit and Green Bay play in Week 18. That last bit of news came as a shock to Ron Rivera, who was stunned in his postgame press conference when that was brought up.

It’s unbelievable for a coach not to know the playoff scenarios for his team, and it’s a fair question as to whether there would’ve (or at least should’ve) been a different approach to the quarterback decision had he been aware of just how precarious his team’s place was in the playoff picture. Whatever the case, it’s a dreadful look for Rivera to be completely oblivious to this nugget of information, and he will now be much sweatier watching the late window of games to see if the Vikings can save him a bit.

Despite being a game featuring below .500 teams, the Bucs and Panthers were playing for control of the NFC South on Sunday in Tampa, with a win securing the division once again for the Bucs, while Carolina could throw a wrench in everything with a win that would have created a three-way tie at the top at 7-9.

For much of the game it looked like we were headed for chaos in Week 18, but Tom Brady found Mike Evans for three long touchdowns and a Sam Darnold fumble inside the 10 allowed Tampa to go up by nine points. After a quick field goal to cut the lead to 6, Carolina had all three timeouts with just under a minute to go and forced a Tampa punt after three unsuccessful running plays got them only to the Panthers 40. Still, Carolina needed a miracle and nearly got it when the Bucs’ long snapper bounced one to Jake Camarda, but the rookie out of Georgia produced one of the greatest punts that didn’t count in NFL history as he somehow outran the Panthers rush to the edge and got off an awkward running punt that was downed inside the 5.

While that didn’t count because of an ineligible man downfield on the punt, because it was such a good punt the Panthers could only force another punt attempt to try and block it. On top of that, the play burned precious time off the clock despite the penalty, which only further helped the Bucs’ cause. Camarda got the second one off cleanly, pinning the Panthers at their own 10, and Carolina was unable to do anything but try a wild lateral play at the end from midfield that went nowhere.

It’s not often that the punter gets to play hero, but even on a day where Mike Evans had three touchdowns, Camarda might deserve the game ball for helping Tampa lock up the division title.

After falling behind 3-0 early, the Giants spent the rest of the first half dominating the Colts as they looked to lock up a playoff position in the NFC with a win.

Facing Nick Foles, who struggled tremendously a week ago in a loss to the Chargers on Monday night, the Giants defense teed off on the not particularly mobile veteran, with Kayvon Thibodeaux delivering the most violent hit of the half with a blindside block on Foles that left him writhing in pain on the ground, having to get checked out by trainers after taking a shot to the midsection from the rookie star rusher.

Thibodeaux added insult to injury with some celebratory snow angels (turf angels?) next to Foles as the QB writhed in pain on the ground.

At first it’s clear Thibodeaux has no idea Foles is hurt, but he did seem to glance over at the QB almost wondering why he was still on the ground next to him for so long and just kept on going until the trainer arrived on the field and he hopped up. It was a tremendous sack and worthy of a celebration, but it’s a pretty incredible visual seeing him doing snow angels while Foles rolls around in obvious pain. Foles would not start the second half due to a rib injury, as Sam Ehlinger took over for the injured veteran.

Everybody was excited when Dolly Parton was announced as Miley Cyrus’ co-host for the second edition of her NBC special, Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party. It’s not a knock on Pete Davidson. It’s Dolly Parton. The recent Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee has an unmatched rapport with Cyrus, her goddaughter. That extends to how incredible they sound together.

Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party started on Saturday night, December 31, with Cyrus and Parton strutting on to the stage in Miami to perform “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” in leopard-print outfits. But the highlight may have been just before midnight, when they gifted the audience a flawless medley of “Wrecking Ball” and “I Will Always Love You.”

After the six-minute mashup was over, Cyrus said, “Well, Aunt Dolly, we’ve got about a minute until midnight, until it’s 2023.”

Parton played to the crowd, in typical Parton fashion, and replied, “Well, first of all, we wanna say, have you had a good time tonight? I tell you, this is the thrill of my life to get to host the show with Miley. We know how much I’ve loved her since she was a little ol’ bitty thing. Now, she’s a big ol’ thing, and I still love her. I will always love you.”

Cyrus echoed Parton’s sentiment, and they counted down from 10 to midnight before holding hands and taking in the immaculate fireworks show.

That wasn’t the last viewers saw of Cyrus and Parton, though. The two-hour show wrapped with a jazzy rendition of Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight” and a charged performance of Parton’s legendary hit “Jolene.”

Watch the highlights below.

Rae Sremmurd dropped the video for “Torpedo” on Friday, December 30. It’s the latest single, following “Denial” and “Community D*ck” featuring Flo Milli, to amplify buzz that SREMM4LIFE is coming sooner than later. The buzz only got louder when Rae Sremmurd performed “Torpedo” on Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party last night, December 31. The NBC special aired live from Miami.

The two-hour show opened with Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton, her co-host and godmother, singing “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” in matching leopard-print outfits. Up next: Rae Sremmurd, who started a medley with their 2016 No. 1 song “Black Beatles” before hitting “Torpedo.” They finished by venturing into the crowd for “No Type.”

Later in the show, Swae Lee returned to the stage for a “Party Up The Street” duet with Cyrus. Swae Lee, Cyrus and Mike Will Made-It, who co-produced with Andrew Watt, dropped the vibe-inducing song as part of Cyrus’ 2019 six-track EP She Is Coming.

In January 2022, Cyrus posted photos from the studio with Rae Sremmurd, Mike Will Made-It, and others. Andrew Watt, meanwhile, shared all the way back in June 2021 that he was planning on working on another album with Cyrus. Watt told Guitar World that the album was “still in the planning stages,” but it appears we’re close to Cyrus’ Plastic Hearts followup.

Cyrus confirmed during Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party and across her social media platforms that a new single, “Flowers,” is arriving on January 13, which may or may not purposely be on Liam Hemsworth’s birthday. Either way, we’re here for it.

For the first time since the College Football Playoff began, we were treated to two highly entertaining and competitive semifinal games on Saturday, as 2022 finished with a flourish as TCU and Georgia each won in thrillers over Michigan and Ohio State, respectively.

The second of those games saw the Dawgs erase a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter, rallying to take a 42-41 lead with a minute to play as Stetson Bennett led an impressive drive for a touchdown that even he admitted might’ve happened too fast. C.J. Stroud and the Buckeyes would quickly get across midfield to set up a game-winning field goal attempt, but they could not get any closer than the Georgia 33 yard line, meaning they needed a 50-yarder to win.

All of this was happening as the clock edged towards midnight on the East Coast, and a Georgia timeout to ice Noah Ruggles at 11:59 p.m. ET ensured that the kick would coincide with the stroke of midnight and the start of 2023 for fans of both teams. Ruggles hooked the kick well left as the clock struck midnight, which produces a rather incredible side-by-side of the kick and the Times Square ball drop celebration, that makes it seem like all of New York was pulling for the Dawgs.

In Columbus, it was a very different vibe, as the kick hooking left created some awkward scenes for those bars hosting simultaneous New Year’s parties and Buckeyes watch parties, as it put a real damper on the celebration and led to some objectively hilarious scenes, as witnessed by our very own Bill DiFilippo.

I think we should get a game-winning kick in the air at midnight every year, because it is a truly incredible way to start the year as it guarantees one fan base will be miserable and the other ecstatic as the new year starts.

Andy Cohen confirmed to Page Six that he and co-host Anderson Cooper wouldn’t drink during CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast, much to viewers’ dismay and Ryan Seacrest’s delight. But Cohen didn’t need liquid courage to ask Nick Cannon the most obvious question(s) after Cannon welcomed Halo Marie Cannon earlier this month, his 12th child and second with Alyssa Scott.

“Nick, I mean, you are singlehandedly repopulating the Earth. I give it up to you, man. What is your plan here? What is your endgame with the kids? You just want to keep going, or is there a number? Do you want to hit 20? Where are we going with this?” Cohen asked.

After shrugging and laughing it off, Cannon responded, “Andy, clearly I don’t have a plan. Honestly, man, it’s just so much joy and elation to have the family that I have. I embrace it, and I love it, but I don’t have a plan. That should’ve been clear from the jump.”

Cannon jokingly bucked against Cohen’s suggestion to get a vasectomy — “my body, my choice” — and gave advice to other fathers: “Just operate out of love. Some people may say that’s what got us here in the first place, but that’s what I would always do, and always do it with a smile.” Cannon has been a good sport about all of the jokes about his proficiency in fatherhood, even making a video about the stress of buying so many Christmas gifts.

To start the remote interview — Cannon videoed in from the Bahamas — Cohen also asked Cannon about his recent hospitalization for pneumonia. “I’m doing a lot better,” Cannon said. “With my condition in lupus and everything, it takes longer to get better than normal, but I’m surrounded by … energy here in paradise and bringing in the new year the right way. So, I feel amazing right now.”

Watch Cannon’s appearance on CNN below.