Month: January 2023

One of last year’s truly delightful surprises was Metro Boomin’s new album Heroes & Villains, on which the producer teamed up with some of rap’s greatest standouts to form a kind hip-hop Avengers. Landing at No. 1, the album demonstrated Metro’s gift for curation and direction, giving fans plenty to look forward to from his upcoming Coachella set.

Meanwhile, Future stayed in his fan-favorite pocket as well, delivering the committed I Never Liked You and continuing his reign as trap’s toxic lover man. This year, Future is apparently looking to keep his streak as one of rap’s most consistent hitmakers going, tapping Metro for another joint project he’s already calling the album of the year on social media. On his Instagram Story, Future reposted previous post from the account @theakway1, which teased the upcoming project and contained a snippet of Metro’s recent interview with Ebro. Here’s a screenshot, courtesy of HipHopDX:

Intriguingly, this project isn’t the only one Metro’s been teasing this year. ASAP Rocky, who says he’s been putting the finishing touches on his own comeback album Don’t Be Dumb, joked that the prolific producer is on the new album so much he should have called it Flacko Boomin. It’s early days, but 2023 is already shaping up to be the year of Metro Boomin.

Boygenius — the supergroup of Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus — make intimate, emotionally vulnerable songs, especially with their new singles, “$20,” “Emily I’m Sorry,” and “True Blue,” from their forthcoming debut album The Record. It’s a good sign that they’re already brainstorming ideas for the tour in their new Rolling Stone interview, and they’re predictably nothing short of chaotic.

After discussing The Record and normalizing talking sh*t about fans, the interview ends with a silly, affectionate moment between the trio as they explain that one of the ideas for the stage is for Bridgers and Dacus to make out, maybe Baker too with some convincing. Read the passage below.

“The band has been brainstorming ideas for the tour, one being that Dacus and Bridgers will possibly make out while Baker performs a guitar solo. Who knows, maybe all three of them will make out. At this, Baker shakes her head and folds her arms. ‘You don’t want to make out with us?’ Bridgers asks.

‘I’m old school, a one-man guy,’ Baker replies.

Dacus chimes in: ‘You’re considering!’

Baker unfolds her arms and breaks out into a smile. ‘Just kidding. I’ll make out with y’all.’”

The Record is out on 3/31 via Interscope. Pre-order it here.

Nearly 15 months after the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Alec Baldwin’s movie Rust, Baldwin has reportedly been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

New Mexico’s first judicial district attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced that the actor would be charged alongside the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed. The charge comes with a maximum of 18 months in prison. The film’s first assistant director David Halls also plead guilty to the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon.

Since the fatal incident, Baldwin has openly denied that he is at fault for Hutchins’ death and the props mishap. “Someone is responsible for what happened,” he told ABC News in 2021. “And I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”

Reports of “red flags” and hazardous conditions among the crew of Rust prompted an investigation into the live props department. Baldwin had been attempting to clear his name by suing his former crew members.

Back in December 2021, Baldwin insisted that he wasn’t at fault and “didn’t pull the trigger” that caused Halyna Hutchins‘ death. Instead, he said he “let go of the hammer of the gun, the gun goes off… I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them.”

Meanwhile, the actor has not been keeping a low profile as of late and has been actively hyping up his life on Instagram. His wife also thinks that people are out to get him, so there’s that.

(Via The Independent)

Ice Spice isn’t just in ha mood — she’s the mood. The 23-year-old Bronx, New York drill rapper was neck-and-neck with GloRilla for the rap rookie of the year title in 2022, and she’s keeping that momentum going in 2023. Her success so far hinges on her blunt charisma and a fondness for mid-2000s nostalgia, a preference that often extends to her wardrobe.

However, not everybody is as fond of her lewks, as demonstrated by one fan’s response to an outfit of the day photo she posted to her Twitter. “Ice Spice needs a stylist bro, wtf is this??” they asked. Unfazed, Ice Spice clapped back with the perfect response. “U wouldn’t get it,” she razzed. She also retweeted a few behind-the-scenes shots from her recent music video shoot in the same outfit, as well as some fan art.

FWIW, the outfit — a pair of stone-washed jeans with a white camisole bedecked in belts and capped off with a pair of Jordan IV — was something of a mall staple in 2005, and while Ice would only have been five years old at the time, her throwback look is no worse than when my generation was wearing outfits that could’ve worked on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

With her timeless style and fan-favorite singles “Munch” and “Bikini Bottom” offering a well of quote-worthy bars, it’s probably only a matter of time until Ice Spice’s outfits become inescapable. If and when she hires a stylist, something tells me she won’t be changing up her look too much.

Despite being caught in an increasing number of lies ranging from his mom dying on 9/11 (she wasn’t even in the country) to running an animal charity (he reportedly stole GoFundMe proceeds meant for a veteran’s dog), the Republican Party has stuck by newly-elected Congressman George Santos. In fact, the GOP even gave him seats on two House committees. However, a new allegation could threaten that relationship.

On Wednesday, MSNBC contributor Marisa Kabas tweeted what appears to be photographic evidence that Santos performed in drag shows in Brazil under the name “Kitara.” Kabas also revealed that another drag queen confirmed Santos’ participation and revealed that everyone in Rio either knew him as Kitara or Anthony but “never George.” (Santos has reportedly operated under the name Anthony Devolver over the years.)

Considering the GOP has increasingly targeted drag shows in the past year and often refer to participants as “groomers,” Santos was noticeably quick to issue a denial to this particular allegation.

“The most recent obsession from the media claiming that I am a drag Queen or ‘performed’ as a drag Queen is categorically false,” Santos tweeted. “The media continues to make outrageous claims about my life while I am working to deliver results. I will not be distracted nor fazed by this.”

Of course, Santos’ credibility is extremely suspect. This is a man who claimed to be a volleyball champ at a college he never attended and also told people that he’s a Jewish descendant of Holocaust survivors. (He’s not. He’s Catholic.) Needless to say, no one was buying his denial especially considering there are photos.

You can see some of the reactions below:

(Via George Santos on Twitter)

The Kid Laroi grew up quickly under the tutelage of the late Juice WRLD and Justin Bieber. And after the whirlwind No. 1 success of his and Bieber’s July 2021 hit “Stay,” the 19-year-old Australian star took a minute to reflect on it all. Laroi announced The First Time, his forthcoming album, last week. Today, January 19, he dropped the immersive, introverted “I Can’t Go Back To The Way It Was (Intro).”

In the Julian Klincewicz-directed video, we Laroi’s shadow as he sings wistfully about his pre-fame past: “I reminisce on the last Christmas / I spent with my mom and my dad / I’m still trippin’, wishin’ that I could go back / To know what I’m missin’.” Laroi even admits that “memories make me sick” and wonders whether “life is harder than death,” and this is all just the first verse.

As Laroi comes into focus, the catchy hook summarizes the peculiar feeling once you’ve realized you’ve reached a point of no return: “I can’t go back to the way it was / I broke bones and I shed some blood.”

At end of the video, Laroi teases that the next song will arrive next Friday, January 27, and it’s “Love Again,” which his fans are already very familiar with:

Per a press release, The First Time is slated for “later this year” but doesn’t have a specific date yet. Still, you can pre-save it here.

Watch the video for “I Can’t Go Back To The Way It Was (Intro)” above.

AMC has been a little preoccupied with other varieties of the undead lately, but never fear, the Walkers will soon return.

The Walking Dead will soon launch into spinoff city by putting a bow on the show’s very first spinoff, Fear The Walking Dead, with an eighth season. From there, it’s all eyes on a buffet of spinoffs, including the Rick Grimes and Michonne joint and a Daryl Dixon ride and, somehow, the previously unthinkable combo of Negan and Maggie. The Walking Dead: Dead City will arrive this spring, and this duo will unwisely head into New York City, where more terrifying zombies have gathered en masse, and they’re apparently searching for Hershel Rhee, son of Maggie and the late Glenn.

Before that happens, stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan are dropping hints about how their “standalone” show — although it will take place in Manhattan, which is apparently now being treated as an island in the truest sense of the word — could see some crossover action with other universe characters. Could Daryl Dixon show up at LaGuardia while teaching himself how to fly to France? Probably not, but Morgan believes that “the door is open” for other characters to overlap with other spinoffs, and vice versa. Via E! Online:

“I think the door is open because we are all on the same timeline,” Jeffrey revealed to E! News. “They are existing at the same time. So I think there is the opportunity to bring a character from this show, a character from that show, and do something else that can continue.”

Lauren agreed, saying “there’s hope of a collision” between all of the different shows.

It would surely be a missed opportunity for these shows to not crossover at some point, so keeping them in the same timeline is great news on that front. Rick Grimes’ location was previously revealed (in The World Beyond spinoff) to be in Philadelphia (as Comic Book pointed out), which isn’t all that far away from Manhattan. And who knows, Rick could one day decide to relive his “dumbass” moment and ride a horse into NYC.

(Via E! Online)

As of this week, “Anti-Hero” is Taylor Swift’s longest-running No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 at eight non-consecutive weeks. (“Blank Space” previously held the honor with seven weeks.) Producer Jack Antonoff celebrated with an Instagram Story that read, “Remembering right before anti hero came out taylor saying its her favorite song lyrically and thats why its first single but its a strange and personal one and we shouldn’t expect it to ever go number 1.”

Safe to say Swift probably didn’t expect it to inspire a bar in Chicago, either.

Bucket Listers is hosting “a new exclusive event series” billed as “Bad Blood: A Taylor-Themed Break-Up Bar.” The bar will be functional from February 3 to February 26 at Electric Garden in Chicago with a $22 admission fee for each person. Of course, the official event page had to specific that Swift will not actually be in attendance.

Here’s the official event description:

“So Baby Now We Got…

Bad Blood: a Taylor-themed Break-Up Bar.

Join Bucket Listers this (Anti) Valentine’s Season at this exclusive pop-up bar for cocktails, singing, and memory-making!

Whether you want to sing about your lover, those who were never yours, those you’re never getting back together with, or those who still have your scarf, this is the perfect place for you.
Get bejeweled for photo opportunities and ready to engage in some champagne problems.
Your reservation will have others asking if they can go where you go!
Get a glimpse into your future with our tarot card readers on-site. &
Spin the Shake It Off Wheel of Cocktails for your drink of choice.

This event is 21+. If you’d like to book a private party at Bad Blood: a Taylor-themed Break-Up Bar, contact our events team.”

Hopefully, the ticketing for this event goes smoother than Ticketmaster’s epic mishandling of the presale for The Eras Tour, which begins at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on March 17.

Cardi B didn’t hold back on her appearance on The Jason Lee Show for the debut episode. About cosmetic surgery, she argued: “I just be feeling like, if I wanna correct something, I want to do a little something-something, I don’t give a f*ck: I’m gonna do it. I like being perfect, I like a certain type of body for myself, and if I want to do it, I do it.”

She also touched on awards. The rapper has one Grammy, but she could’ve likely gone more if she’d submitted her and Megan Thee Stallion’s iconic anthem “WAP” to the Recording Academy, but she didn’t. “You know what?” she said. “This is something that — it’s like, I need to stop letting the internet control my life. Because I didn’t want to submit ‘WAP’ because I was afraid that if I win or if I… you know what’s so crazy? The internet got me even afraid of winning. That is insane.”

“WAP” got a lot of predictable backlash from conservatives during its release. Ben Shapiro’s reaction was probably the funniest, as he read it line by line in disbelief, not realizing it would end up memed forever.

Watch the episode above.

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

The world has M3GAN fever, as it should (she is the moment), but don’t forget about Ghostface. The main antagonist of the Scream franchise can’t dance, but he can “slash and gash” with the best of them.

In Scream VI, Ghostface follows Samantha and Tara Carpenter (played by Melissa Barrera and Wednesday breakout Jenna Ortega) to New York City, where he starts rooting for the New York Mets, gets depressed, and retires from a life of crime. That’s how I would write it, at least. Instead, he mostly kills people in bodegas and blends in with other Ghostfaces on Halloween. Probably makes for a better movie than my idea.

“Bringing Ghostface to New York adds an entirely new element to the story,” Courteney Cox, who plays the only character to be in every Scream movie (and has the bright idea to shoot Ghostface in the head in the trailer above), told Entertainment Weekly. “Taking the character out of a small town and putting them in the heart of the city that never sleeps is more terrifying than ever.”

The rest of the cast includes Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Samara Weaving, and Hayden Panettiere (returning from the underrated Scream IV), but not Neve Campbell, who said that she “did not feel that what I was being offered equated to the value that I bring to this franchise, and have brought to this franchise.”

Scream VI, which is directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not) and written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, opens on March 10.