Month: April 2023

Upon the February release of her record-breaking album, Mañana Será Bonito, Karol G explained its meaning to Uproxx.

“I started this album writing very dark songs. Very sad songs. Talking literally about all of the sadness that I had while trying to be strong in front of the world because I didn’t want people to see that vulnerable side of myself,” she said, in part. “From one moment to the next, I wrote songs that were happier. I could write songs about love again finally. I was very hard on myself during that process, having that ‘Bichota’ brand where I couldn’t feel bad or sad. I always had to be strong. I had to recognize that I can be very strong being ‘La Bichota,’ but I’m also human and I get hurt too.”

Karol G showed her vulnerable side last week when she spoke out against how she looks on the cover of GQ Mexico.

“Today my GQ Magazine cover was made public, a cover with an image that DOES NOT represent me,” Karol G wrote on Instagram (translated from Spanish to English). “My face does not look like this, my body does not look like that and I feel very happy and comfortable with how I look naturally.”

WARNING: Huge massive Succession spoiler below. You have been warned.

Not even three episodes into the final season and Succession dropped what could very well be the biggest bomb of the entire show. Fans are still reeling from the gut punch event. There’s no way for the characters or the viewers to escape the gravitational pull of Logan Roy’s death. It’s all-consuming and triggers a massive power shift that will define the rest of the season. What could possibly survive that kind of fallout?

The Disgusting Brothers, that’s what.

Despite the grim, emotional events of “Connor’s Wedding,” Succession fans are still tenaciously clinging to a delightful Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and Greg (Nicholas Braun) moment from the top of the episode. While calling to harass/emotionally connect with his loyal lackey while preparing to leave for the ill-fated flight to Scotlan, Tom taunts Greg by revealing that he brought along some “Greglets” who are already hard at work doing some “Gregging” for him. Fans absolutely loved it.

As you can see by the reactions below, people did not forget the hilarious “Disgusting Brothers” moment even after they realized it would not be the highlight of the episode. A close second, for sure, but it was a pretty dizzying height to fall from:

Succession Season 4 airs Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.

SPOILERS from this week’s Succession will be found below.

Game of Thrones made TV history in 2013 with “The Rains of Castamere,” which (for obvious reasons) is more frequently referred to as the “Red Wedding” episode. For decades to come, comparisons are bound to be made, but I don’t think that anyone expected Succession to pull off its own “Red Wedding” counterpart so early in the fourth and final season. The Easter egg in the poster had a clue about Logan’s death, yes (and this actually aired on Easter), but again, no one could have foreseen the way that this week’s installment (which hit as hard as a full-on massacre) went down on Connor’s wedding day.

Speaking of which, the fact that this episode was literally called “Connor’s Wedding” also should have been a clue that perhaps this would be another devastating HBO celebration. Heck, House of the Dragon also managed to stir up similar vibes with the so-called “Green Wedding” feast last year. (It’s an HBO thing!) However, “Connor’s Wedding” had viewers like myself on a real ride, initially giggling over “Greglets” while also wishing that Logan would go to Hell, shortly before he was on his way to Hell, and all emotional hell broke loose. If Sarah Snook doesn’t win an Emmy for those shaking hands while her voice cracked, then fans will raise some hell.

For the moment, however, viewers are marveling at how they received a Red Wedding, and how HBO seems to hate weddings, and yep, it’s time to rate those devastating weddings.

HBO’s Succession airs on Sundays at 9:00pm EST.

Bad Bunny, Blackpink, Frank Ocean. Those are the headliners of Coachella 2023 and the primary reason why the tens of thousands of people who will attend the festival are going; 100,000 fans reportedly showed up to just Harry Styles’ performance last year. Worth remembering, though, is that Coachella isn’t just one big show at night: There are a number of performances happening in various parts of the festival grounds throughout the three days of both weekends.

Terrific artists are booked for these time slots, too. Playing Coachella is a coveted gig, so organizers Goldenvoice invite only the best of the best, and that still applies when it comes to the smaller names on the lineup poster. In fact, key festival memories involve being unexpectedly blown away by an artist you had never heard of before, or seeing an act you only sort of knew and coming away from the experience with a different perspective.

This year’s fest goes down from April 14 to 16 and 21 to 23, but ahead of that, let’s take a look at some of the best artists who are small-font acts on the lineup, but big-font acts in our hearts.

Domi & JD Beck

This jazz duo has gotten plenty of shine over the past year. They picked up a couple Grammy nominations for this year’s ceremony (Best New Artist and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, the latter for Not Tight, their 2022 debut album). Millions got to see them on national TV when they took the Tonight Show stage in late 2022, joined by Mac DeMarco for a rendition of “Two Shrimps” (above). If you want to hear from the two directly, Uproxx interviewed them last summer, too.

Ethel Cain

Not a lot of singer-songwriters had a better 2022 than Ethel Cain. Her debut album Preacher’s Daughter was hailed by many as one of the year’s best releases and former president Barack Obama is a fan, as he put her song “American Teenager” on his year-end list of favorite songs. Uproxx’s Caitlin White previously lauded it, too, writing, “The best song on the album, ‘American Teenager’ gets closer to Khalid’s own American Teen than any listeners of the early EPs would’ve ever guessed, pinning a cheerleader, a dead teen soldier, and an unmoved Jesus into the kind of ethereal pop melody that made 1989 such a beloved record.”

The Linda Lindas

Two years ago next month, The Linda Lindas performed “Racist Sexist Boy” at a library and the video went viral. While that could have easily been just a 15-minutes moment for a lot of artists, it turned out The Linda Lindas actually had the goods to keep the spotlight fixed on them for a more extended window. They ended up landing a record deal with Epitaph and releasing their debut album, Growing Up, last summer. As for how that album was, the actions of their peers speak volumes: Sleater-Kinney recruited the band for a covers album and they booked opening gigs for Paramore and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Sudan Archives

In case you’ve somehow missed it, Sudan Archives (real name Brittney Parks) has been making some of music’s best albums for the past few years. She has two full-length releases so far — 2019’s Athena and 2022’s Natural Brown Prom Queen — and both of them were all over critical year-end lists. Sudan Archives has been all over your TV, too, with striking performances on The Tonight Show and The Late Show in recent months. If she can rock a late-night television stage as confidently as she does, you know she’ll bring it for Coachella, too.

IDK

The company you keep says a lot about you, and IDK has worked with Offset, Young Thug, The Neptunes, Swae Lee, and others, so you do the math. He linked up with Kaytranada for his latest album, last year’s Simple, a groovy 8-track effort that follows 2021’s USee4Yourself, IDK’s first album to hit the Billboard 200. IDK’s star continues to rise, so swing by his Coachella set to witness the ascent for yourself.

Pi’erre Bourne

Bourne’s Jamie Foxx-spoken producer tag helped him become a meme in 2017, but he has the goods behind the board, too. You’ve heard his work, as he’s had a strong presence on the Billboard charts with work on tracks by Drake, Travis Scott, and others. He’s quite the rapper in his own right as well, and he’s found a ton of success with the bevy of albums and mixtapes he’s dropped over the past half-decade.

¿Téo?

If you were a Disney XD viewer in the 2010s, you may remember Mateo Arias from Kickin’ It. (His brother, by the way, is Hannah Montana star Moisés Arias). These days, though, he goes by ¿Téo? and is making some real headway in the music world. He’s proven himself to be quite the artist with tracks like this year’s “A Mi Cama,” a smooth number that melds hip-hop and reggaeton influences and further cements him as one of Latin music’s most exciting up-and-comers.

Horsegirl

Uproxx’s Mia Hughes recently identified Horsegirl as a leading force bringing back sounds of the ’90s via contemporary indie rock, describing their sound as “slacker-tinged noise-rock à la Sonic Youth and Pavement.” (They’ve actually opened for Pavement, in fact.) Indeed, there’s definitely a sense of nostalgia in their work that sometimes goes further back than even the ’90s, like on the 2022 post-punk/shoegaze number “Anti-Glory.”

Soul Glo

Artists have been trying to combine rap and rock since essentially the dawn of hip-hop, and now, Philadelphia’s Soul Glo is taking a terrific crack at it. They’ve been at it for about a decade now and their 2022 album Diaspora Problems was a big moment, as it was their first release on iconic punk label Epitaph Records. Songs like “Driponomics” show off their unrelenting energy that lives in a spot between in-your-face hardcore and aggressive hip-hop.

Bakar

Uproxx shined a spotlight on Bakar last year as part of the Next Up series, which identified ten artists who are helping shape the future of music. So far, Bakar’s breakout hit is 2019’s “Hell n Back,” which topped the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart and has since been certified platinum. It’s easy to see why the song did so well, with its feel-good vibes, nostalgic-but-contemporary sound, and distinctly raspy/breathy vocals. Last year, he dropped his debut album, Nobody’s Home, which was top-40 in the UK and should set the table for his next full-length to get broader recognition.

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

[WARNING: this post contains spoilers for Succession]

When HBO released the poster for the final season of Succession, fans looked for every clue they could find. Why was Tom standing next to Kendall? Why was Logan’s watch so visible? And most of all, what’s the deal with the plane? We don’t have an answer for the first question yet, but we know the other two: the plane means Logan’s time is up. In Sunday’s episode, “Connor’s Wedding,” it finally happened: the billionaire patriarch of the Roy family died, having keeled over in the bathroom of a private jet. A sh*tty death for a sh*tty man.

Logan’s death is something that Succession viewers knew would happen someday, but it is shocking that it happened so early this season. Even Brian Cox, who plays (played) Logan, was taken aback.

“[Creator Jesse Armstrong] called me, and he said, ‘Logan’s going to die.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, that’s fine.’ I thought he would die in about episode seven or eight, but episode three, I thought, ‘Well that’s a bit early.’ Not that I was bothered,” he told the New York Times. (Cox is happy that he doesn’t have to deal with Jeremy Strong’s “f*cking annoying” method acting anymore.)

Another surprise: that the death was foreshadowed in the season four poster.

Sarah Snook (Shiv) teased the clue during a recent appearance on The Tonight Show. “I mean a little, yeah. There is!” she told host Jimmy Fallon when asked if there any easter eggs on the poster. “But I feel like you won’t know until you know. There is a thing that once the season begins airing, it may get related back to this moment.”

It turns out the clue was hiding in PLANE sight (I deserve a “f*ck off” for that).

(Via the New York Times)

SPOILERS from this week’s Succession will be found below.

On Succession, Roy family celebrations have not been the most stellar occasions this season, what with the sad karaoke and the sh*tty birthday party, and this week, a hell of an opener made people even more upset after Logan lured Roman back to the dark side. In other words, yes, Logan was already both punishing Roman already and testing his loyalty by having him fire Gerri. And then, right when the audience felt worked up and furious at Logan while wanting him to go to Hell, it seemed that Logan was literally going to Hell. As in, he was dying. What a whirlwind set of emotions this spawned.

Let’s start from the beginning. Logan pulled a dirty dog move by making Roman deliver atrocious news to Gerri after that d*ck pic disaster, which had disgusted the Roy patriarch more when it came to Gerri (who merely received those unsolicited pictures) than about Roman (who obviously sent them).

People quickly began wishing that Logan would, you know, suffer for this.

Very quickly, however, a call from Tom revealed — and the situation seemed shady at first — that Logan fell gravely ill due to an apparent heart attack, and chest compressions began. For several minutes, Logan’s body did not appear on camera. Could this have been a ruse, some wondered? Real or not, some people (but not everyone) already began to celebrate.

And then the Roy kids’ reactions — and as Logan’s death proved to be genuine — caused a real turn in emotions. The more conflicted Kendall and guilty-seeming Roman (for different reasons), and the genuinely devastated Shiv, all of it hit hard. Yes, the tears began.

They did, eventually, show Logan’s body on the plane floor, shortly before he was declared to be dead. Gerri, however, might deserve the last word here (and she sure showed Roman how she felt).

HBO’s Succession airs on Sunday nights at 9:00pm EST.

The Minnesota Timberwolves picked up a pivotal win on Sunday against the Pelicans to leap New Orleans in the West standings and land the 8-seed, meaning they’ll get two shots at a playoff berth via the play-in tournament.

Unfortunately for Minnesota, the talk after the game was about everything but the win, as it came at a cost. Key wing defender Jaden McDaniels punched a wall and fractured his right hand, all-but assuring his absence from the play-in and much of the postseason should they make it that far. Prior to that, Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson got into an argument on the bench during a timeout that eventually saw Gobert punch Anderson in the chest after being told to “shut up, bitch,” with teammates quickly pushing Gobert away and separating the two.

While nothing further happened on the court, the altercation apparently wasn’t over, as the two met again shortly after in the locker room at halftime where the exchange reportedly continued, via Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, and Anderson proclaimed he would “knock your ass out.”

The tension between Gobert and Anderson spilled over to the halftime locker room as well, with the two having a heated verbal exchange, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the events have told The Athletic. Anderson and Gobert confronted each other, and multiple sources said Anderson challenged the center at one point saying, “I’ll knock your a– out.” Teammates quickly separated them before anything turned physical. Timberwolves veteran Mike Conley Jr. served as a vital factor in calming down the halftime locker room, according to those sources.

This obviously isn’t ideal for a team hoping to make a run into the playoffs, but Gobert did issue an apology on Twitter and the team will hope fences can be mended quickly, as they play in L.A. on Tuesday night.

As for Gobert’s status for the game in L.A., the Timberwolves’ brass did not make any commitments either way regarding any further punishment for Gobert beyond him being sent home at halftime. It was notable that without Gobert the Timberwolves played better and rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat the Pelicans, which means a suspension is both not out of the realm of possibilities and wouldn’t necessarily be a total forfeiture against the Lakers.

Time is supposed to heal all wounds, but even with his latest apology, Daniel Caesar finds that it may never be enough. The “Let Me Go” singer attempts to correct some of his past wrongs in his music and the media. During an interview to discuss his new album Never Enough with Apple Music, the songwriter spoke about his past controversial statements aimed at the Black community.

In conversation with journalist Nadeska Alexis, the musician took a moment to reflect on his 2019’s commentary regarding the Black community’s response to white social media influencer YesJulz distastefully joking about wanting to wear a graphic t-shirt that read, “N***** lie a lot.”

When asked by Nadeska what it is like looking back on that moment, he answered, “I completely understand the response.”

Caesar added, “And in time, after taking time to get over myself and to really honestly look at myself and everything that was happening, I was wrong. I was wrong, and I’m sorry about that. For a long time, I was like, ‘You can’t do anything, you can’t say anything without whatever. You can do and say whatever you want, but it’s like for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. And that’s physics. That’s science. That’s one of those things that the knowledge of that can literally put my mind at ease where I’m like, oh, I did deserve. What happened, happened because I deserved it, because I knocked the domino over and set a course in motion.”

This was a complete about-face from his initial apology, and he also pointed that out, “You learn not to trust what people on the internet have to say and what people that you don’t know have to say,” he said. “Seeing that people that I do know that I care about, them being hurt, then it’s like, ‘ah, damn, all right.’ I was like, ‘okay, you know me.’ It’s because it’s seeing that people that know me, because I felt in my— Clearly my ego is going out of control,” said Caesar.

Fans took to social media to react to what they consider to be his first official “proper” apology since the matter. See some of the responses below.

Watch the full interview above.

If you’re a big bock beer fan, you’ve probably noticed that at least a few cans you imbibe regularly are adorned with the image of a goat. Have you ever wondered why this is? The story of the goat goes all the way back to the 1400s in the northern German city of Einbeck. This is where bock beer began.

In the 1600s, the style made its way south to the Bavarian region and, because of a dialectical error, locals began referring to the beer as “Einbock” or “a goat” instead of Einbeck. That’s why today, some four-hundred or so years later we still find bottles and cans featuring a goat.

Why this beer style is great for spring imbibing is a different story altogether. Traditionally, monks brewed the malty, heavier bock style during the winter months to drink during their Lenten fasting.

Regardless of whether or not you noticed the goat mascot or you plan to fast during Lent, you can still probably understand the appeal of bock beer during the spring months. So can brewers. That’s why we asked a few of our favorite brewers, craft beer experts, and beer professionals to tell us their favorite bock beers to drink this season. Keep reading to see all of their picks.

Alhambra Reserva Roja

Zach Fowle, head of marketing for Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. in Phoenix

ABV: 7.2%

Average Price: $11 for a four-pack

The Beer:

Alhambra Reserva Roja. Normally, to encounter a bock this close to the style’s ideal you’d have to travel to Northern Germany. Granada, Spain (where Alhambra, a subsidiary of Madrid’s Mahou San Miguel since 2007, is located) is a slightly shorter trip, but thankfully this beer’s also distributed in the US.

Tasting Notes:

Take a sip and you get deeply toasted bread crust, moist raisin bread, and a hint of sassafras root; a thick, chewy body and balanced, medium-dry finish; and a mild but lingering tree-bark bitterness with just a nudge of alcohol warmth.

Aslin That Shiz Slaps!

Garth E. Beyer, certified Cicerone® and owner and founder of Garth’s Brew Bar in Madison, Wisconsin

ABV: 9.5%

Average Price: $12 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

That Shiz Slaps! from Aslin is a doppelbock that’s well-suited for spring drinking. It’s a meal in a can. The ABV is a bit sneaky, so watch out.

Tasting Notes:

It really leans into the dark fruit notes of prunes and fig and raisin jam on toasted bread.

Ayinger Celebrator

Charlotte Herndon, taproom and events manager at Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing in Framingham, Massachusetts

ABV: 6.7%

Average Price: $13 for a four-pack of 16-ounce bottles

The Beer:

Celebrator by Ayinger Privatbrauerei, a 6.7% doppelbock, is a long-time classic. It’s an award-winning beer for good reason. It is a beer I can return to time and time again and still appreciate the profile it has to offer me. This beer has lasted a long time because it is one you don’t grow tired of.

Tasting Notes:

It has the rich malt profile I search for in a bock without too much heaviness in its body. It delivers a rich malt with just a touch of sweetness on the finish to cut the coffee tones on the backend.

Andechs Doppelbock Dunkel

Ryan Pachmayer, head brewer at Yak & Yeti Brewpub and Restaurant in Arvada, Colorado

ABV: 7.1%

Average Price: $4 for a 16.9-ounce bottle

The Beer:

When visiting Germany last year, a fresh liter of Doppelbock Dunkel in the beer garden at the hilltop monastery Klosterbrauerei Andechs was quite special. It wasn’t quite winter bock season in Franconia, but I enjoyed a very good one from Fassla in Bamberg as well.

Tasting Notes:

Classic flavors like brown bread, toasted malts, dried fruits, caramel, toffee, and lightly herbal, floral hops make for an exceptional beer to drink this season (and any season).

Huber Bock

Ryan Schmiege, brew master at Cascade Lakes Brewing Company in Redmond, Oregon

ABV: 5.5%

Average Price: $12 for a twelve-pack

The Beer:

Huber Bock from Minhas is my pick because it brings me great memories of my college years. It’s a classic, clean, no-frills bock beer for any occasion. It’s a smooth, crushable, classic.

Tasting Notes:

Huber Bock is an easy-drinking lager featuring very light coffee elements and roast character with an appropriately balanced hop presence.

Schneider Weisse Hopfenweisse

Parker Penley, lead innovation brewer at Widmer Brothers in Portland, Oregon

ABV: 8.2%

Average Price: $6 for a 16.9-ounce bottle

The Beer:

Schneider Weisse makes a great Weizenbock called Hopfenweisse. It’s never totally fresh in the States in the bottle so I can only recommend you have it fresh at the brewery in Munich. It goes down so easily and is absolutely delicious.

Tasting Notes:

A great choice for spring drinking, this Weizenbock shines with flavors like banana, clove, dried fruits, and floral Noble hops.

Grieskirchner OsterBock

Dominique Trolliet, brewer at Wynwood Brewing Co. in Miami

ABV: 7.1%

Average Price: Limited Availability

The Beer:

Well, on the way to Munich last year via Vienna, I had a bock by Grieskirchner that was perfect. I suspect it is the result of years of brewing, the water source that must be just right. Centuries of brewing deliver the perfect glass of beer.

Tasting Notes:

The malt, the roast, the balance of malt and hop, the smoothness of the beer, and the impressive foam retention.

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Weizenbock

Josh Bartlett, founder of Learning to Homebrew in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

ABV: 7.9%

Average Price: Limited Availability

The Beer:

Dating back to Medieval Germany, bocks are steeped in history and encompass a wide variety of substyles such as the Helles Bock or the Doppelbock. One of my favorite styles is the only non-lager bock in the family, the Weizenbock. One of the best is Sierra Nevada Weizenbock, released in its Beer Camp series.

Tasting Notes:

Tricky to find in a bottle, Sierra Nevada’s Weizenbock includes flavors of malty vanilla custard, banana, and clove along with a rich, creamy mouthfeel.

Paulaner Salvator

George Hummel, grain master of My Local Brew Works in Philadelphia

ABV: 7.9%

Average Price: $11 for a six-pack

The Beer:

When it comes to a classic European style, I think it’s always best to take it back to the roots. Let’s face it Salvator by Paulaner in Munich, is the beer all those other bock beers want to be. Truly the liquid bread of German monks.

Tasting Notes:

It’s thick and sweet. With notes of caramel, milk chocolate, and honey. A glass of Salvator alongside a sandwich of Westphalian ham, Bruder basil cheese, and mustard on pumpernickel. Yum.

Schilling Brücius

Frederic Yarm, USBG bartender in Boston

ABV: 6.9%

Average Price: $8 for a 16-ounce can

The Beer:

Schilling’s Brücius is a delicious doppelbock with a complex offering of burnt sugar, nutty, milk chocolate, toasted bread, and grassy notes.

Tasting Notes:

Its richness and body are quite satisfying in the colder months and into Spring.

The Minnesota Timberwolves picked up a huge win on Sunday, as they came back from a double-digit deficit to beat the New Orleans Pelicans to vault into the 8-seed in the West and give themselves two cracks at the postseason, starting with a road trip in L.A. to face the Lakers on Tuesday night.

However, the win didn’t come without ample drama and some serious concern going forward in Minnesota. For one, Jaden McDaniels fractured his hand punching a wall and seems likely to be done for the postseason, ridding the Timberwolves of one of their best defenders. That was somehow not the most talked about punch, as Rudy Gobert swung on Kyle Anderson during an argument on the bench in the second quarter and got sent home by the team.

After the game, the team said the situation would be handled internally, but did not offer any information on whether Gobert would miss any of the play-in as well.

This is the second high-profile incident involving teammates this season, as the year began with Draymond Green punching Jordan Poole at practice and getting sent home for the start of the season. After that altercation, Rudy Gobert sent this tweet taking a jab at Green.

Naturally, Green recognized his opportunity on Sunday to return the favor to Gobert, who he is not shy about despising, sending the exact same tweet following Rudy punching Anderson.

Draymond isn’t one to miss an opportunity like this, and this is just incredibly well executed. The Warriors will enjoy a week off after locking up the 6-seed before facing the Kings in the first round, and Green seems delighted by that and by watching another team seemingly combust under pressure, particularly another team where Gobert is a prominent figure.