Month: February 2023

Despite everything, Beyoncé’s Grammys night was still historical, as she became the most-awarded artist in history with her win for Best Dance/Electronic album for Renaissance. She’s been receiving praise from all directions ever since — including from former First Lady Michelle Obama — including up in the air.

Fans in Los Angeles — home of the Grammys, which were held at LA’s Crypto.com Arena on Sunday night — were greeted with a delightful sight today as a skywriter flew across the gorgeous blue sky, leaving behind a congratulatory message addressed to the queen. “Beyonce, you made history!” it read. Oddly enough, no information has surfaced regarding the message’s origin or sponsor.

Although fans were disappointed when Bey missed out on the Album Of The Year award (she’s been shut out four times to date, although all of her albums have won at least one Grammy), her husband Jay-Z wasn’t sweating it. “I remove myself from the process and hope they just get it right,” he said. “It got to the point where I was like, it’s just a marketing thing. You go, you got an album out and it could help the sales go up.”

Meanwhile, others who attended the ceremony were grateful just to have been in her presence. Breakout Memphis star GloRilla joked on Facebook that after hugging Beyoncé, she’s “never taking a bath again” and getting her “15-minute conversation with Beyoncé tatted.” Way to keep things in perspective, Glo!

Rihanna is finally headlining the Super Bowl halftime show this Sunday after months of anticipation. Given she’s the only performer this year (with the exception of if she brings surprise guests) and hasn’t released a new album in years, many fans are wondering if this will mark the start of her official return.

Last fall, RiRi appeared to be doing a slow launch, as she contributed two songs, “Lift Me Up” and “Born Again,” to the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack.

Now, it’s also rumored that she might be heading on tour after the Super Bowl, according to a new teaser from Page Six.

“There has been a lot of talk among people in the know, especially in the last week or two, that Rihanna is gearing up to announce a tour,” one insider told the publication. “It seems to be more than just hearsay at this point.”

“Even some members of Rihanna’s team have been kept in the dark. It’s all a big secret, from the details of her halftime show to what’s next — if anything,” another said. However, Rihanna’s team and Live Nation did not return Page Six‘s request for comment.

If true, it would be the perfect time for her to announce, as the Super Bowl increases sales and streams for most performers each year. Plus, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift have already gotten fans mostly situated with tickets.

Only time will tell…

NLE Choppa may have begun fortifying his physical health thanks to herbology and spiritual well-being seen in his recent peaceful protest. Still, the Memphis native remains true to his musical roots. The last few years have been good to the musician, as he’s managed to be featured on 50 Cent’s television show Raising Kanan theme song, and he’s hinted at potentially working with rap’s newest it girl, Ice Spice.

For now, the rapper is focused on ironing out his plans for 2023, starting with a new project titled Cottonwood 2. The lead single from the project, “23,” produced by Tay Keith, is a taste of what’s to come.

On Instagram, Choppa shared on the project he is looking to dive further into the theme of rebirth, writing, “Death to what no longer serves you,” he said. “Death to old cycles. Death to old/bad habits. Death to friendships/relationships. Death to the simplest thing like my hair. Death to everything holding back the new.”

Watch NLE Choppa’s UPROXX Sessions performance of “23” above. To watch his past performance of “Depression,” click here.

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.

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

When Soldier Boy surfaced during the most recent The Boys season, the show pulled off a Supernatural reunion between Jensen Ackles and showrunner Eric Kripke. Soon enough, the question arose of whether Jeffrey Dean Morgan would find some time to pop over for at least a cameo. When The Walking Dead set an end date, that seemed possible, but then Negan got shuffled off for his spinoff with Lauren Cohan’s Maggie, and Kripke admitted that scheduling might become a problem. A few months later, better news arrived with the show figuring out how to make it happen, so all good on that front.

Now, the world awaits The Boys Season 4, and fans want a first look at the new dude, especially because Morgan is still considered to be playing a mystery role. Well, you’re not gonna get a real first look yet. However, you can see a janky photoshop of Morgan with Homelander and Billy Butcher, as tweeted by the show’s social media team: “Very official, not at all Photoshopped look at JDM in The Boys.”

Sure, that works. And as of now, The Boys has no official Season 4 release date, so we might be in for a wait on a first look. Then again, Ackles posted his “jacked” workout footage, so perhaps we’ll see that from Morgan, too. In the meantime, we can look forward to Spring-Summer release of The Walking Dead: Dead City with Maggie and Negan unwisely heading into Manhattan to show us some of the franchise’s most disgusting Walkers. Then there are two more spinoffs coming in the next year, one with Rick Grimes/Michonne and one with Daryl Dixon.

Hopefully, before all that happens, we’ll see Morgan in costume for The Boys.

Rising alternative R&B singer Yaya Bey has earned her stripes in the genre’s independent scene thanks to releases like 2021 EP The Things I Can’t Take With Me and 2022’s Remember Your North Star. Her cross-genre blends have caught the ear of many Black legacy acts, such as Roy Ayers.

Not even a year after her last album release, the Brooklyn native is back with a new single, “Exodus The North Star,” the lead track off her forthcoming 6-song EP by the same name. The romantic song produced and edited by Bey chronicles the deep emotions that come along with following in love as she sings, “Baby, it’s the way you walk / Baby, it’s the way you walk / And baby, it’s the way you make me feel / Like your girl could get up and fly / And leave this all behind.”

The accompanying video, also self-directed, stars Exaktly as Bey’s romantic interest in this love story. The track’s romantic lyrics are elevated as the video is captured using vintage film with several colleague cuts blending together each scene.

When discussing what fans should expect from the project on Instagram, Bey wrote, “[‘Exodus The North Star’] is my most vulnerable work to date. This is how I see joy and love in the world and what I aspire to feel and be. I have become an expert at turning my pain and grief as a black woman into music. Black people have a masterful way of telling our stories and sharing pain. But we are also masters of joy and imagination. We have always been in a global conversation about how to alchemize our experiences and reimagine our circumstances. From the ties between Lovers Rock and R&B to Gospel and House. Our joy is a collective effort.”

She added, “I rarely write about what I would like my existence to be in this world. This is a new level of vulnerability for me. Proclaiming my desires. What I’ve come to learn, I deserve. This is my thank you to my people, my peers, the elders, and the ancestors for being in this work with me. Cheers to the future.”

Watch the full video above.

Exodus The North Star is out 3/24 via Big Dada. Pre-order it here.

The genre-bending Bakar is back with a vibrant new single. On his new single, “Good News,” the UK singer celebrates a special love in his life, finding joy in the small, intimate moments they share.

The track opens with a soft-acoustic guitar, as Bakar delivers his signature crooning vocals. A kick drum then sets in, giving the song a punchy, heart-thumping feel.

“All along I was feelin’ nothin’ / ‘Til you came along, I started feelin’ somethin’ / Man, I’m just glad you put me amongst it / This feels like good news / I can’t lie, man, I thought I lost it / Then you came along, made it feel like justice,” sings Bakar on the song’s opening verse.

Bakar previously premiered “Good News” at Givenchy’s Fall/Winter 23 Men’s show during Paris Fashion Week, where he served as the show’s music curator and composer.

Last year was a big breakthrough year for Bakar. On top of releasing his second album, Nobody’s Home, he opened for Travis Scott in London and released a fashion collaboration with the late Virgil Abloh. He is gearing up for a busy 2023, as he is set to perform at Coachella in April, as well as drop new music throughout the year.

In the meantime, you can check out “Good News” above.

Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl is one of the most renowned and visually distinct music venues in the world, so seeing a show there is a treat and putting on a performance there is an honor. Well, this summer brings good news for fans and artists alike, as the venue has announced a slew of shows as part of its summer season from June to September.

Helping to kick things off will be Janet Jackson, whose Together Again tour (with special guest Ludacris) will hit the Bowl on June 10. The 2023 KCRW Festival will also go down at the venue and will include concerts by Maggie Rogers, My Morning Jacket, Fleet Foxes, Alvvays, Portugal The Man, Chicano Batman, Say She She, and Los Auténticos Decadentes, with more shows to be announced.

Elsewhere during the season, Kamasi Washington, Louis Tomlinson, The Beach Boys, and Herbie Hancock are also set to perform. The Hollywood Bowl has a full list of shows on the calendar on their website, so check that out for more performers and more information about tickets.

Los Angeles Philharmonic Chief Content and Engagement Officer Renae Williams Niles said in a statement, “There is no place like the Hollywood Bowl on a summer night, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back for another unforgettable season of music led by the extraordinary vision of Gustavo Dudamel.”

Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel added, “As we look to the next hundred years at the Hollywood Bowl, I am honored and excited to share a season which, to me, speaks of a beautiful future ahead. From timeless music by Mendelssohn, de Falla and Verdi, to modern-day classics by John Williams and Duke Ellington, to the soul-filling sounds of our Pan-American Music Initiative, to the singular energy of Café Tacvba, each of these programs takes us on the kind of magic journey that can only begin at the Bowl.”

Amazon knows a sure thing when it sees it. The streaming service is once again betting big on Bosch by announcing two new spinoffs, one of which is based on a character that hasn’t even been introduced yet. Unlike the previously announced, Bosch: Legacy, these spinoffs will actually focus on someone besides Titus Welliver’s titular police detective.

The two series will revolve around J. Edgar played by Jamie Hector and Renee Ballard, a character from the Bosch books who has yet to appear in the streaming series. At the time of this writing, it’s unclear whether the spinoffs will be available on Amazon Prime Video or Freevee.

Here’s the logline for the untiled J. Edgar spinoff via The Hollywood Reporter:

A police drama following Harry Bosch’s former partner, Detective Jerry Edgar, who is tapped for an undercover FBI mission in Little Haiti, Miami. In this glamorous city, he is forced to balance his new life with the gritty underbelly of the city, while being chased by his mysterious past.

And the untitled Renee Ballard series:

Detective Renee Ballard is tasked with running the LAPD’s new cold case division. Beyond simply investigating unsolved crimes, Renee is dedicated to bringing credibility to the department and justice to the community. Having learned from retired ally and mentor Harry Bosch, Renee does things her way – solving cases in unconventional ways while navigating the politics of being a woman on the rise in the LAPD.

Hopefully, this news will be a calming salve to your dad who’s still reeling from the news that Kevin Costner may be leaving Yellowstone and taking the show down with him. Just pat the big guy on the back and tell him, “Shh, shh, there’s more Bosch coming. You like Bosch, don’t you? Yeah, you do.”

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Sharon Van Etten officially announced that the new Tramp (Anniversary Edition) will drop next month in honor of it being eleven years since her debut record. It includes a previously-unreleased song, “This Is Too Right,” as well as some other possible surprises.

To hold fans over until March, she dropped the never-before-seen music video for her breakthrough song “Serpents.” Directed by Galaxie 500’s Naomi Yang, it places Van Etten at center stage, surrounded by different lights and projected images.

“Upon hearing ‘Serpents,’ I was struck by the emotion in the song, the raw anger. I imagined showing this fury escaping and overtaking the room — Sharon’s rage as expressed in the song manifesting itself in physical space,” Yang shared in a statement. “We made the video on a cold January day in 2012, in an East Village walk-up loft borrowed from friends. It was me, on camera, with Susanne Sasic running the projections she had designed, and Sharon performing. I am delighted to know that now, on the 11th anniversary of Tramp, the ‘Serpents’ video will be seen at last.”

“I may have been just 30 when I made this album, but I was a lost, broken, vulnerable kid,” Van Etten added about the album as a whole. “All of the musicians on this album helped me come to life and perform in ways I never had before.”

Watch Sharon Van Etten’s new “Serpents” video above.

Tramp (Anniversary Edition) is out 03/24 via Jagjaguwar. Pre-order it here.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Just before we spoke, Rivers Cuomo had been at a mediation retreat for the past several days — not the kind of place one would typically expect a rock band’s lead singer to be spending his time. But Cuomo has a storied history with the practice of meditation, one he references on occasion when answering questions about how Weezer has managed to stay together as a band for three decades.

For Cuomo, who grew up surrounded by the practice in an East Coast ashram, meditation keeps him grounded. “It really helps me stay calm and roll with the changes,” he told Variety. But changes are never something Cuomo shies away from. In fact, he welcomes it in his music. “Very often I’ll finish an album and want to do something totally opposite for the next one,” he said to the LA Times. And with Weezer’s latest project SZNZ, the band couldn’t have made more changes to the way they approached their music.

The album is composed of four separate-but-related EPs: SZNZ: Spring, SZNZ: Summer, SZNZ: Autumn, and SZNZ: Winter. “Each album has its own primary emotion and each album has its own primary musical genre,” Cuomo explains to Uproxx over the phone. On SZNZ, those emotions are optimism, anger, anxiety, and sadness, respectively. Using an emotion to guide each project was inspired by the feelings evoked by Antonio Vivaldi’s four-part composition The Four Seasons. But the band brought the concept into the modern age by trying out specific genres for each project, pulling inspiration everywhere from early Weezer — yes, the breezy sounds on SZNZ: Spring call back to the Green Album era (specifically “Island In The Sun,” listen to “A Little Bit Of Love” and I guarantee you’ll hear it) — to early aughts dance-y alt-rock like Franz Ferdinand.

“Each album also had its primary historical period,” Cuomo continues. “So I tried to focus on a particular historical period in my lyrics on any given season.” SZNZ: Winter, the project that aptly dropped on the winter solstice, is of course the most languid effort of the four EPs. There are a ton of references to the Northeast and Revolutionary War period, which Cuomo confirms during our conversation by pulling up a spreadsheet he would reference when songwriting. Its plucky chords on tracks like the opener “I Want A Dog” and existential prose on “Dark Enough To See The Stars” capture the turmoil and quiet misery of ‘90s singer/songwriters like Elliott Smith.

By dipping into the past, both with their historical references and genres popularized by earlier songwriters, Weezer were able to create something both timeless yet inventive with SZNZ. No other band has written an album in this kind of way — by meditating on a specific emotion, time period, and genre to build separate worlds for each EP to live in — and neither has Weezer. But that’s the point. For a band that’s been around for three decades, they know there’s no use in writing the same kind of album over-and-over again. Instead, they’re looking ahead. As Rivers Cuomo says in our conversation below, he’s always writing with half his heart in the future.

There were a lot of homages to early Weezer and also nineties songwriters like Elliott Smith on your EP Winter. And there are a few songs reinterpret some early Weezer demos, like the bridge to “Iambic Pentameter” takes from an early demo, and same with “I Want A Dog.” Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Well, the “Iambic Pentameter” was an accident. I remember, because I have this folder of ideas, MP3s, and it has 1500 MP3s in there. And usually once I use an idea, I take the idea out of the folder so I won’t reuse it. Now, in this case, years ago I used it in a song called “Prom Night,” and then I forgot to take the idea out. Now this “Prom Night” song, it’s a real rarity. It’s just a Japanese bonus track from the White Album. And then when I was writing “Iambic Pentameter,” I needed a bridge. I heard the idea in the folder and I was like, “This is amazing. I can’t believe I’ve never used this before. It sounds so familiar.” But I was flipping through all the Weezer songs and I couldn’t find it anywhere. So I was like, “Okay, I guess I’ll use it. Maybe I should ask the fans and play it for them and see what they say.” But I didn’t, if I played it for them, they would’ve said, “Yeah, you used that on a Japanese B-side.” But I went ahead and used it, and they caught me. But it was too late to do anything about it.

You said you have 1500 MP3s on your computer?

Yeah, it sounds like a lot, but when you think about it, I’ve been making demos since 1987 probably. So if you divide, how many years is that? 35? I don’t know, but 1500 divided by 35. It’s not a lot. I mean, I’m not very productive, but they add up.

I wonder if you ever are looking through your folder and listening to things and you’re like, wow, this is amazing. Who wrote that? And then remember that you, in fact, wrote that.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it’s such a cool thing. I was like, ‘Oh man, this is so good. I love this, but I don’t remember where it came from or how I did it.’ It’s like collaborating with myself. Here’s a past version of myself suggesting an idea.

On Twitter, you shared how you used an AI chatbot and put the lyrics to “I Want A Dog” and the result ended up being something a little similar, but overall a little bit happier and a little bit peppier than the song that you originally wrote. And AI is a topic that’s pretty hot right now — between people using those AI face apps and the chatbot — so I was wondering what your stance is on AI and if you’ve ever considered using it as a songwriting tool?

Well, I love ChatGPT, and it actually, I’ve been using it ever since that post. If you look at my Twitter replies, so you can see I’m replying to about 30 people a day. And that’s all fueled by ChatGPT. Now, as a songwriter, I was excited to try it out, and it’s definitely on my list of tools I can use. So far, I haven’t actually used anything it’s generated. I guess it has inspired a few things, but I don’t love the results. It may just be the kind of writer I am, because I’ve never even really gotten into a rhyming dictionary. I remember back in the nineties, first discovering a rhyming dictionary. “Well, this is incredible, look at all these cool words. Oh, this is going to be great.” But then I was never felt emotionally satisfied by the lyrics that would generate. And I realized: I think, part of why I write songs is the feeling that I kept digging into myself until I realized what it was that I’m feeling, and what I really need to say to the world. And it’s not easy, but the fact that I’ve dug deep and discovered something and then articulated it in my own words, that’s really rewarding. I don’t know if that has anything to do with how successful a song is but that has everything to do with how much I end up loving it.

In terms of touring, Weezer has done a lot of creative things that aren’t just a classic tour. Of course, you guys have done a classic tour, but you’ve also did the Weezer Cruise and planned a Broadway show. This project in general is inspired by the idea of a symphony. Are there any “out there” ideas that you’ve been wanting to try in relation to your music, akin to a Weezer Cruise or something?

Well, I have something I’m really excited to try. It doesn’t have to do with a venue or anything, but I’m excited. I think our audience is ready for me and the band composing new music. Not songs, but interludes and transitional passages and epic instrumental pieces that happen in between songs, or from time to time throughout the set. And then playing a longer set, like 90 minutes, and having it be a real journey instead of just a cool three-minute song after another. Because that’s something rock bands can do really well. Not necessarily alt rock bands, but I think Weezer can do it. And you’re not going to get that at a pop show, country show, or a hip-hop show. And I think, it’ll be a uniquely fulfilling ride for the audience.

In listening to this album and thinking about the historical references, like Shakespeare and Vivaldi, it really got me thinking a lot about how art exists in the future. For Antonio Vivaldi, his symphony was discovered long after his death. And same with Shakespeare. You can argue that Shakespeare didn’t really reach his (or her, possibly) height of fame until hundreds of years in the future. So thinking about Weezer’s legacy, with your music in the future, how would you say you would want to be remembered?

I’ve always had half of my heart in the future and have been writing for a future audience. And I don’t know about a hundred years from now, but 50 years from now, I’d love for people to be discovering some of the great things that are kind of buried in the dark recesses of the Weezer catalog. And I know that they don’t necessarily have a chance in today’s music environment where so much is about the virality of what you’re making; 15-second clips that are extremely catchy for one reason or the other. But it’s okay, I wouldn’t want to switch my focus exclusively to that and forego the exploration of the deep stuff that may only be appreciated years from now, if ever.

Bring back the deep dive in the future!

I think it’s going to happen. Where society’s going, we’re having to deal with these innovations in technology that have fragmented our attention so much. But I think at some point we’re all going to miss the deep stuff enough that we’ll figure out new ways to circumvent that and get back to some real deep thinking, deep work.

Before this call, I saw that you were involved in Fall Out Boy’s latest music video. You were standing on the street, a car pulls up, and you get into a fake attempted kidnapping situation. Can you tell me what it was like filming that?

It was super fun. Normally, I don’t like making videos. It’s rare that Weezer will make a video now. It’s just such a boring process standing around all day, and then lip syncing or whatever. But I love the Fall Out Boy guys. We have the same manager and just seemed like a cool thing to help them out with this. And in part paying them back, because Pete Wentz did a whole Weezer video for us once. So I went there and it was super fun, and I don’t know why. Just the whole thing was fun for me, and maybe because I don’t feel any pressure, because it’s not my thing, so I can just goof off and it’s fun hanging out and talking to those guys. I liked the character I was playing.

Well, I’m glad you didn’t get actually kidnapped so that we can be here and have this conversation.

Yeah, and you know what, I like physical acting. If it’s just lip syncing or walking down the street or something, it’s a little dull. But this is serious wrestling and fighting off the Fall Out Boy guys, and fans scrambling to try to rescue me. It was very intense and physical, so it got my blood flowing.

SZNZ is out now via Crush Music/Atlantic. Get it here.

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