Month: January 2023

Shakira is not the only one breaking records with “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” Her collaborator, Argentine producer Bizarrap, also made history when their song debuted within the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week.

Yesterday, Shakira and Bizarrap debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” Bizarrap made history with the first song from an Argentine artist to debut and appear in the top 10 of the chart. Many people from Argentina celebrated Bizarrap’s milestone on Twitter. In memes, his feat was liked to another win for Argentina after the country claimed the World Cup last year.

With the success of “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” Bizarrap also became the first Argentine artist to cross over 50 million monthly listeners on Spotify. He is currently sitting at No. 35 among the most-streamed artists on Spotify. Shakira has climbed to the No. 5 spot on the list, surpassing Bad Bunny, Rihanna, and Drake.

Shakira released “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53” on January 11 as a diss track against her ex-partner Gerard Piqué and his current girlfriend, Clara Chía Marti. The song became her first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 15 years. The last time she was in the top 10 was alongside Beyoncé for their duet “Beautiful Liar.”

New music from Chlöe is officially on the way. Ahead of her upcoming debut solo album, In Pieces, Chlöe has taken to social media to announce the lead single from the album.

The upcoming single, which is set to arrive later this week, is called “Pray It Away.” On the single cover, she is seen surrounded by candles in what looks like the chapel of a church. In the post’s caption, she noted that “Pray It Away” would be the “1ST PIECE” of In Pieces.

Yesterday, during a discord following the announcement of In Pieces, Chlöe revealed that none of her previously released solo singles — “Have Mercy,” “Treat Me,” “Surprise,” and the Latto-assisted “For The Night” — will be on the album.

While we don’t really have an idea of what to expect from “Pray It Away,” Chlöe spoke with Uproxx for our cover story, saying that the album will sound different from the music she makes with her sister, Halle Bailey, as duo Chloe X Halle.

“I’m a brand new artist and I haven’t had a body of work out [yet], so it’ll be the first thing people hear from me, really,” she said. “So I think that’ll be surprising in itself.”

Check out the cover art for “Pray It Away” below.

In Pieces arrives in March via Parkwood and Columbia. You can pre-save it here.

With his follow-up to Knives Out, writer/director Rian Johnson not only delivered a hilarious and scathing murder mystery in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, but he packed the thing full of clever Easter eggs. Everything from the title of the film to pieces of art in the background not only hinted at Glass Onion‘s secret, but there were also some clever nods to the previous film and a Brad Pitt reference for good measure.

If you missed some of these the first (or second or third) time around, don’t worry, we got you covered. Here’s a full list of the sly little hints peppered throughout Glass Onion.

The Title

Throughout the film, Craig’s Benoit Blanc repeatedly references the literal glass onion that sits atop Miles Bron’s beach house and how its contents are hidden in plain sight. According to Johnson, he got the name from an old Beatles song and a quick Google search.

“I’m always fishing for something fun that Blanc can grab onto as an overwrought metaphor that he can beat to death,” Johnson told Tudum. “This is all in plain sight from the very start. So, the idea of glass came to me, something that’s clear. I’ll be very honest. I literally got out my iPhone and searched my music library with the word glass.”

Miles’ Knick-Knacks

Not content with just using the Beatles song as a title and metaphor for the film, Johnson also peppered the movie with little nods to the “Glass Onion” lyrics. There’s a statue of strawberries, a nod to the line “I told you about Strawberry Fields,” and a little porcelain statue of a jester, a reference to the “fool on the hill” in the song.

The “Hourly Dong”

During the film, Miles boasts that the hourly dong on his private island was composed by Philip Glass. In reality, it was performed by longtime Rian Johnson collaborator Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Daniel Craig Isn’t The Only Returning Actor

While Johnson has touted Glass Onion as a completely separate mystery from Knives Out and that Craig is the only connection to the previous film, that’s not entirely true. Throughout the film, Derol (played by Noah Segan) can be seen milling about Miles’ mansion, just having a beer and seemingly oblivious to the murder mystery unfolding around him. However, this isn’t Segan’s first Benoit Blanc mystery. The actor played Trooper Wagner in the previous film. Like Joseph Gordon Levitt, Segan is also a frequent Rian Johnson collaborator and has appeared in Brick, Looper, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Serena Williams’ Book

Tennis star Serena Williams makes a cameo in the film where she apparently offers real-time training advice to Norton’s billionaire. During her brief appearance, she’s seen holding a copy of Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow. In the first film, Benoit Blanc quipped to Ana de Armas’ Marta that no one has ever actually read the book.

Benoit Blanc’s ‘Among Us’ Crew

In the early scenes of the film, a bored and despondent Benoit Blanc can be seen playing the hit video game Among Us with Stephen Sondheim, Natasha Lyonne, and Angela Lansbury of Murder, She Wrote fame. However, the scene is more than just an opportunity for clever cameos. In the game, players have to deduce the identity of a killer among them just like the plot of the film.

More Clues In The Bathroom

The Among Us scene also contained another little Easter egg. Lying on the floor of Blanc’s bathroom is a copy of the 1930 murder mystery Cain’s Jawbone. Like the film, the story is told out of order thanks to a clever printing trick.

Benoit Loves Him Some Stephen Sondheim

The legendary composer’s Among Us appearance wasn’t just a clever cameo. In Knives Out, Blanc can be seen singing a tune from Follies while navigating the first film’s mystery.

“Fool’s Mate”

When Miles’ guests all receive their intricately designed mystery box, it appears to be an array of mentally taxing puzzles. However, one of the games is a telling reveal that Miles isn’t the genius he pretends to be. In the chess box, the pieces are set to what’s known as “Fool’s Mate,” one of the least complicated and easiest positions to score a checkmate.

“Duke Don’t Dance With Pineapple”

In yet another hint that Miles’ plot really was simplistically “stupid,” he literally asks his quests for dietary restrictions in his invitation and then uses that information to murder Duke.

Miles Is A Tom Cruise Wannabe

During one of the film’s flashback scenes, Miles can be seen looking a whole lot like Tom Cruise’s character in Magnolia. Turns out, this was intentional. According to costume designer Jenny Egan, this was a deliberate choice to show that Miles is not the most original dude, so of course, he stole Andy’s business plan.

Add Brad Pitt To That List

If the shirtless portrait of Miles looked familiar, that’s because it’s a clever nod to Norton’s role in Fight Club. The painting is actually Norton’s head on top of Brad Pitt’s body. Whether that means the movie exists inside the Glass Onion universe makes our head hurts, but is a cool little callback to one of Norton’s most famous roles.

Yes, That Was Kanye In A Toga

This little Easter egg is actually Edward Norton’s favorite. Included in Miles’ extensive portrait is a painting of Kanye West as a Roman senator, and the actor can’t believe more people haven’t pointed it out.

Have We Mentioned Miles Is An Idiot?

Despite his seemingly impressive art collection, which notably includes the actual Mona Lisa, Miles truly has no idea what any of it means. According to Rian Johnson, one of the paintings from artist Mark Rothko is actually hanging upside down because, again, Miles is a moron.

Maybe Benoit’s A Little Like Batman

During the film’s reveal that Helen (Janelle Monae) is actually Andy’s twin sister, Benoit offers to help her infiltrate Bron’s island getaway. However, he notes, “I am not Batman,” which is slightly undermined by the score. As Benoit formulates a plan to catch Miles, a small sample of Danny Elfman’s iconic score from Tim Burton’s Batman can be heard.

Andi’s Full Name Was Very Fitting

While pulling double duty as twins, Janelle Monae’s Cassandra Brand was a deliberate nod to the Greek myth of Cassandra whose prophecies were ignored despite her divine gifts. In the film, Cassandra/Andi warns about the volatile nature of Bron’s new energy project, Klear, and is not only ignored but murdered for threatening his company.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is available for streaming on Netflix.

Ari Lennox isn’t the only one over on Dreamville Records with a banger on her hands. Rapper Bas is back with new music since his joint project with Gunna, Pick Me Up, which was released back in April 2022. The Queens, New York representer teamed up with producers Linden Jay, Paul Castelluzzo, and Joe Harrisson to churn out his haunting new single, “Diamonds.”

The highly sought-after gem may be marketed as a girl’s best friend, but in hip-hop, we’ve seen time and time again that the more a rapper acquires these jewels, the bigger the target is on their backs for potential harm from those wishing to take it for themselves. On the track, Bas explores this sentiment but from a different angle.

Expressed in the stanza, “Wonder where the day goes, I been out of line / If love is all you need, then let me spend my pain / You n***a make it rain on / Hunnid on my wrist just to make it rain on / Look at all the whips, spick and they span / And you feel like you the man / But you cannot rub the stain off / No, you can not rub the stain off,” Bas details just how the relentless pursuit of these material possessions are often a front musicians put on to mask other much deeper emotional wounds rather than surface level vanity.

The track’s official video, directed by Ryan Doubiago, demonstrates just one tragic tale of how this plays out as Bas serves as the actor stuck in this mindset. The grayscale video opens with the quote, “we only talk about real sh*t when we’re f*cked up,” as Bas is seated on an opulent leather couch smoking and drinking dark liquor.

As the scenery rotates through several different social scenarios repeating Bas’ lifecycle, he becomes less and less connected to himself, his surroundings, and his former lover, which serves as a metaphor for the emptiness those tethered to this quest feel. Bas recklessly falls back into the party crowd when the scenes transition from the home-like setting when his former fling confronts him. But in the end, instead of being helped by this mysterious lady, his supposed saving grace, his chain ends up being his ultimate downfall.

The chain turns into a rope and hangs Bas (a metaphor for the flashy life ultimately being the death of him) as both his love interest and the world watch. Instead of intervening, the crowd pulls out their smartphones to record it with the intent to share it with the world as a piece of entertainment rather than the horror film it is.

When asked about the inspiration behind the track, Bas told Complex, “‘Diamonds’ stems from the stark realization that, as artists in the public light, our pains and traumas are consistently up for the public’s consumption.”

Bas has a solution for the problem, “We have to continually explore and give more of ourselves to feed the insatiable appetite of the audience. We experience and watch our peers go through life-altering and irrevocably damaging moments that just end up as clickbait or social media fodder. We make public appearances and wear masks in order to be who the public wants us to be. Shine bright for them. Yet our inner turmoils just fester underneath it all. The trappings of the life we chose and the dreams we pursue can often be the cause of our downfall.”

Watch the full video above.

Sometimes it takes a little bit of time for people to jump on the bandwagon and finally celebrate actors who have been around for some time. Even though Brendan Fraser has been churning out hit films since the early ’90s, the actor has only recently been acknowledged as someone who is very good at their job, and he recently secured his first-ever Oscar nomination.

But he never forgot his humble beginnings as Rick O’Connell, the witty explorer in The Mummy franchise. And he is really proud of that movie! So proud that he decided to crash a screening of the 1999 action flick in London last week, much to the delight of everyone in the theater.

“I am proud to stand before you tonight,” Fraser began after hopping on stage wearing a look inspired by his Mummy character. He was met with a standing ovation. “This is a film that was made in Britain. You should know that! Even the second one, too. Be proud. Thank you for being here.” Even though it was filmed in Britain, the movie actually takes place in the fictional Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, but we all know what he means.

The Mummy starred Fraser as the fast-talking adventurer who sets out to find the lost city. The movie became a moderate hit and spawned two sequels before Tom Cruise tried to reboot it in 2017. It’s clearly still a beloved film, which is why they were showing it in theaters on a random January evening.

Fraser then went on to explain the process of filming the movie in Britain, which famously underwent many rewrites and reshoots, and how they really had no idea what they were dealing with. “We had no idea what kind of movie we were making when we shot this. We didn’t know if it was a drama or a comedy or straight ahead action or romance or horror picture … all the above. We had no idea until it tested in front of British audiences. Thank you for that,” he added in between cheers from the audience.

Thanks to his buzzy performance in The Whale, Fraser has been having a moment in Hollywood after taking years away from the spotlight. He will next star in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming AppleTV movie, Killers of the Flower Moon, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, be he has also expressed interest in returning to The Mummy because it “sounds fun.” And it does.

(Via EW)

The new show Daisy Jones & The Six is heading to Prime Video on March 3rd, inspired by the bestselling book. Given the story is set around the tensions in a fictional ’70s band loosely inspired by acts like Fleetwood Mac, it was only fitting for it to get an album soundtrack, too.

The main character, Daisy Jones, is played by Riley Keough, who performs the songs on the Aurora record alongside the character of Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin.) The first single, “Regret Me,” officially dropped today, along with a new trailer for the series.

Aurora, the debut album from the fictional band, was led by the real-life songwriter and producer Blake Mills. There are also writing credits by Marcus Mumford, Phoebe Bridgers and Jackson Browne, as well as instrumentalists from Rilo Kiley, Nine Inch Nails, The Who, David Bowie, and Elton John, according to Variety.

“Creating the library of music for Daisy Jones & The Six was an experience I’ll never forget,” Mills said in a press release. “I am grateful that, among other things, it afforded me an opportunity to collaborate with so many of my peers, and also some of my heroes.”

Listen to “Regret Me” above. Below, find the complete Aurora tracklist.

1. “Aurora”
2. “Let Me Down Easy”
3. “Kill You To Try”
4. “Two Against Three”
5. “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)”
6. “Regret Me”
7. “You Were Gone”
8. “More Fun To Miss”
9. “Please”
10. “The River”
11. “No Words”

Aurora is out 3/3 via Atlantic Records. Pre-order it here.

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

Trap rap godfather T.I. has been instrumental in the careers of many of the modern generation of trap rappers like 21 Savage and Young Thug, but he’s rarely actually signed any of them to his label, Grand Hustle Records. In a new interview with ESPN’s Shannon Sharpe, he explained why.

The conversation opens with Sharpe asking T.I. what a so-called “360 record deal” is. After T.I. explains it (very eloquently too, I might add), Shannon’s shocked to learn that the deals give labels access to “ancillary” income, such as sponsorships.

“Most artists are only looking for what they’re getting right then,” Tip says. He breaks it down as an exchange of ideas (from the artists) for access (from the labels), which can lead to artists giving away too much for too little.

He says that he learned the business side of the music business early on, and now finds it “honorable” to pass on what he’s learned. “21 Savage, [Young] Thug,” he names as examples. “A lot of them come up to me, ‘Aye man, give me a million, Tip. I don’t care what you do, just give me a million and let me handle it from there.’ And I’m like, ‘Nah, I ain’t gonna do that.’”

And while that might sound unhelpful to some new artists, he explains, “‘If I give you a million, I gotta take back something that’s gonna be worth way more, and we ain’t gon’ be able to be friends from there.’ I always tell ’em, man, ‘Don’t worry about the money up front ’cause it’s gon’ come.’ I remember telling that to Slime, I remember telling that to 21. And even Savage, every time he sees me now, he’ll hit me and say, ‘Ay, it came.’ And that put a smile on my face because I just know how impactful every generation has the opportunity to be even more than the last.”

That game has apparently paid off for his young proteges: 21 Savage owns his masters rights, which he says allows him to make more from albums sales than touring (which is fortunate, considering his immigration case prevents him from maximizing his revenue from touring — which is usually where most artists make most of their money).

Young Thug, who signed to Gucci Mane’s 1017 Records before securing distribution for his own YSL Records under 300 Entertainment, also turned out to be one of the more successful rappers from Atlanta. However, YSL is now being accused of also being a criminal enterprise by Georgia authorities, with the RICO trial scheduled to begin in the coming weeks.

Beware franchise movies with “last” or “final” in the title. They can be great, like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Or they can be crappy, like any number of Friday the 13th or Freddy Kreuger movies.

In any case, it’s a cynical attempt to manufacture urgency in a loyal audience, suggesting that this could be the last time you ever see your favorite character in a new story. Of course, it rarely is. Freddy and Jason always came back, and the return of Harrison Ford at 65 years old in Crystal Skull (and now at 80 in this year’s Dial of Destiny) proves there’s no such thing as “last” or “final” until your hero is dead in the ground. And maybe not even then, if the grosses stay good and the technology continues to evolve.

Magic Mike’s Last Dance, which hits theaters on February 10, might not be the last two hours we spend in this universe. There’s already a Magic Mike stage show in Las Vegas, London, and Miami, and a reality show, Finding Magic Mike on HBO Max, not to mention the future projects revolving around the franchise’s side characters that have been hinted at by director Steven Soderbergh. But it could be our final rendezvous with Magic Mike himself.

Channing Tatum, who plays Mike Lane, is 42 years old, not particularly ancient for a leading man, but still an age that raises questions. How long will his back hold up doing those pelvic thrusts, lifting those women, spinning them in the air, and simulating the most athletic copulation you’re likely to see outside of a wildlife video? The trailer hints at a transition for Mike from dancer to choreographer, so maybe his time has already passed. Or maybe they’re just saving the best stuff for their paying customers.

Even if Last Dance represents the end of Mike, it could be the beginning of something else. How it lands with the public could map out our moviegoing future. The Magic Mike franchise represents an anomaly in the movie landscape that becomes more special with every passing year. The streaming revolution has narrowed the path for a movie made for adults to get into theaters, let alone perform well there. Much has changed since 2015 when the most recent film in the franchise, Magic Mike XXL, made $122 million. Even more has changed since the original Magic Mike grossed $167 million in 2012.

Early on in its production, Last Dance was slated to premiere on HBO Max before executives at Warner Brothers thought better of it and put it in theaters. If it performs well, it would not only keep the franchise going, but it would also engender confidence that there’s a future for adult-driven franchises.

Magic Mike may not be a superhero movie — although the bodies on display surpass normal human expectations — but it still benefits from being seen on the big screen with a first-class sound system. The dance sequences are an amazing blend of creative choreography, athletic accomplishment, and bangin’ music, all of which play up in movie theaters. These films are essentially show-biz musicals. There are several big dance numbers expertly dropped into the story of Mike Lane (Tatum), a striver who dances at night to earn seed money for his custom furniture business. There’s drama between him and his boys, and a romance with a pretty outsider who needs to be convinced stripping is an honorable profession. When we see the dancing, the debate ends. Nothing that beautiful can be dishonorable.

The other thing the Magic Mike franchise has going for it is that its fans typically show up in large groups. We’re talking a lot of women (who made up 96% of the sequel’s opening weekend audience in 2015) and quite a few gay men. For these groups, it’s a night out with friends to see hot guys dance and disrobe. The films are designed to be these kinds of crowd pleasing events with the dance sequences often shot from the perspective of audience members. So while Tatum and company thrust and gyrate for the women packed into clubs and arenas on screen, the folks in the theater are just as ready to pull out a stack of singles. It’s both a justifiable artistic choice and a way to turn the outing into more than just a night at the movies.

The other nagging question about Magic Mike’s Last Dance is exactly what kind of film it is. So far, the franchise has been unafraid to pivot in tone and shape, as long as it delivers the sexy thrills the audience wants. The first film was a classic Soderbergh joint that used slick design and handsome dudes to make its critique of American capitalism go down smoothly (this is the man who gave us the Ocean’s trilogy, after all). Magic Mike XXL was a strange and wonderful divergence, a road trip movie that found Mike and his boys traveling to a stripper convention to perform their “last” show (remember what I said about “last”) while soulfully exploring themes ranging from artistic integrity and the value of personal expression to a full-throated embrace of female pleasure. The new one? It was described in the New York Times by its star as “a fish-out-of-water story, a reverse-role ‘Pretty Woman’ story that ends up with a lot of dancing in it.” Hard to tell exactly what that means, but it sure sounds different from the first two films.

It’s a franchise whose marketability is not exactly replicable, although Hollywood should still try. The studios aren’t likely to give up on franchises anytime soon, but if Magic Mike’s Last Dance is a hit — in this landscape, a gross approaching $100 million would qualify — it would demonstrate that making a franchise for adults is not only possible but highly profitable. It’s not so complicated. People want what they’ve always wanted: to watch beautiful people trade witticisms, fall in love, and do incredible things. The Magic Mike franchise just wants to a few more butt cheeks to the formula.

Rick Ross may love to live the flashy lifestyle, with large mansions and luxury vehicles. But there is one luxury vehicle he refuses to set foot in. In a since-expired Instagram Story (per XXL), Ross revealed he has never ridden in a Tesla. His reason: He believes the vehicle may bring him to the feds.

Ross said to someone off camera

“I won’t say I’ll never have a smart car, but I’ve never ridden in a Tesla. Never. Never in my life. I’ve never ridden in a Tesla and the reason being is because I’ve always had in the back of my mind, the government could tap into the brain of the car. ‘OK, where’s Rick? He’s over there. Nah, bring him in for questioning.’ [Makes car sounds with mouth]… It’s leaving Wingstop. You pull up to the building and the agent walk out. ‘Hey, Rick.’”

He continued, “What, you think it can’t? So if you get in that muthaf*cka, that muthaf*cka lock the door and take you where it wanna go. You think you finna smoke a blunt? That b*tch will suck the air out that b*tch.”

It’s safe to say Ross will most likely be sticking with his Aston Martin.

Anyone who has ever heard the word “cyber” come out of Mike Lindell’s mouth likely knows that when it comes to understanding, or explaining, technology, the kooky MyPillow Man is a bit of a Luddite. And Jimmy Kimmel is on to him.

On Tuesday night, the late-night host shared a hilarious clip of the pillow maestro accidentally discovering Zoom’s background blur feature… and kind of freaking out. As Kimmel explained:

The MyPillow Man, Mike Lindell… is still trying to overturn the election, because he believes the voting machines are rigged. Last night, Mike Lindell — who says he understands the voting system data better than anyone else — had a little bit of trouble wrapping his head around the virtual background feature on Zoom.

While delivering his daily “The Lindell Report” to the half-a-dozen or so people who watch his Lindell TV livestream, poor Mike got a little confused by why his background was blurred (which is hardly surprising coming from the man who claimed he tried to rid Minnesota of drugs by “doing them all.”) When his sidekick, Brandon (poor Brandon) tried to explain to the Pillow Man that he hadn’t done anything to Mike’s computer settings and that “that’s on your side,” Lindell seemed suspicious.

“It wasn’t doing it up until this interview, Brandon,” Lindell told him, somewhat accusingly. So Brandon did his best to explain that “a setting got changed probably.”

Ultimately, Lindell claimed that he kind of liked the blurred background (note: he was sitting in front of a stairway, not his ginormous lion painting), then suggested they take some calls to ask other people what they think of this blur feature, which pretty much everyone in the world learned about when COVID first arrived three years ago.

But even as they went to take some calls, Lindell could not stop fiddling with the camera on his computer — as he was clearly convinced that there was something wrong with it. “Try soaking the computer in hot water,” Kimmel suggested.

“Is he a real person?,” Kimmel wondered aloud. “I’m not convinced. He could be one of those machines in disguise.”

You can (and should) watch the full clip above, beginning at the 6:45 mark.