Month: April 2023

Before his music was racking up millions of streams, NLE Choppa, real name Bryson Lashun Potts was winning in another way. The “Mo Up Front” rapper was racking up points on the leaderboard as a rising basketball star. The Memphis native has shown his love for the sport throughout his music, including on his track “23.”

Reminiscing on his time on the court, the rapper stopped by Uproxx studios to play a modified game of fantasy basketball with our very own Cherise Johnson. Instead of drafting active players in the National Basketball Association, NLE had to build his five-person roster of a single point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center from his fellow musicians.

Up for his imaginary draft include rappers Rico Nasty, Polo G, G Herbo, Roddy Ricch, Lil Baby, Young Thug, 2Rare, Chief Keef, Ice Spice, DDG, and himself. Also on the board is singer SZA.

In part one, he selected “Shirt” singer SZA as his team’s official shooting guard and himself as the point guard. For part two, NLE adds his pick of commentator, head coach, and more.

Watch part two below to see who rounds out NLE Choppa’s NBA roster.

Outside of his NBA team roster with musicians, be sure to check out NLE Choppa’s UPROXX Sessions performance of his single, “23,” here. You can also watch his Behind The Video episode for the track here.

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

For years, the biggest “will they/won’t they” in Hollywood has been the idea of another Shrek installment. The original film hit theaters over two decades ago and has spawned a number of sequels, feline-led spinoffs, and various holiday specials, but there hasn’t been a main Shrek tale since Shrek Forever After in 2010. Even though the “forever after” aspect implies that we are done with the infamous ogre, it’s clear that fans and the cast are still on board with another installment. At this point, it seems to just be for nostalgia’s sake, but that kind of stuff works nowadays.

Illumination founder and CEO Christoper Meledandri confirmed to Variety that Dreamworks is looking to bring Shrek back to theaters, thanks to the current uptick in animated features. He explains, “It’s not that dissimilar to the process that we went through with Mario, where you look at what the core elements are that audiences have loved, and you do your very best to honor those core elements. And then you’re hard at work to build story elements and new characters that take you to brand new places,” Meledandri continued.

Even though there is demand for it, nothing has been confirmed yet. It’s worth noting that the idea of another Shrek installment dates back all the way to 2018, when it seemed like the series would get a fresh new reboot. Now, it seems like Meledandri wants the whole game back for another go, instead of a franchise makeover.

Meledandri continued, “The original cast is a huge part of that. We anticipate the cast coming back. Talks are starting now, and every indication that we’ve gotten is there’s tremendous enthusiasm on behalf of the actors to return.” Now that Cameron Diaz is back making movies and Eddie Murphy has been practicing his Donkey voice, the timing is perfect! Mike Meyers hasn’t been doing much, anyway.

There is still no confirmed date or cast, but it seems like it’s really happening this time. Hold on to your gumdrop buttons, folks!

(Via Variety)

It’s not quite Steven Spielberg working on Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List at the same time, but Anya Taylor-Joy called concurrently recording her dialogue as Princess Peach for The Super Mario Bros. Movie and filming the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa one of the “craziest” moments of her life.

“The fact that I was shooting Furiosa and riding motorcycles, and then going in and doing this was the craziest situation ever,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “These two characters have nothing technically to do with each other, and yet!” Give Peach more credit than that: she has a motorcycle — and Mario isn’t that much more talkative (at least in the games) than Tom Hardy’s Max.

Taylor-Joy also discussed her experience on the Mario movie. “When I was first approached about playing Princess Peach, I was super excited, super honored, and also slightly terrified because I only wanted to play her if she was a 3D character, if she had her own agency, and also she’s not just a princess, she’s a leader,” she said. Nintendo and Illumination agreed, otherwise, “I don’t think I would’ve done it,” The Menu star added. “The idea that kids are going to grow up with this being the example of what a princess is just feels very cool and very inspiring.” Nothing but respect for my princess.

Furiosa comes out in May 2024.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Shania Twain received the Equal Play Award at the 2023 CMT Music Awards last Sunday, April 2. Megan Thee Stallion presented her with the honor and praised Twain as her “new bestie” and “Hot Girl Shania.”

So, you’ll have to forgive Shania Twain for not letting grey hair get her down.

E! News caught up with Twain on the CMT Music Awards red carpet and asked her about her oscillating hair color, which was extremely red at the 2023 Grammys.

“Over the years, I have had many different styles. I think I’m just playing more with color right now, and I’m enjoying that,” Twain said. “I’m going grey, so as I go grey, I’m like, ‘Well, I might as well toy around with different colors,’ especially when I’m entirely grey. I might change my hair color every week! It’s like, why not? I’ll have an empty palate. I’m kind of just experimenting with that.”

Twain was then asked whether each hair color elicits a different personality: “No! I mean, I just have fun, to be honest. And like I said, as I start greying now, it’s almost like an excuse to play with color and embrace it. I just enjoy playing around with it, like fashion.”

Watch Twain’s Equal Play Award acceptance speech below.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Today is the five-year anniversary of one of rap’s most impactful albums, Cardi B’s Invasion Of Prihttp://vacy. And despite the album being five years old, Cardi says she still makes “millions” of dollars from it — which probably helps explain the delay for its follow-up. In a video posted to her Instagram Story, Cardi celebrated the fifth anniversary with a bottle of champagne and a cake from her team, boasting, “I’m still getting booked for millions of dollars with one muthaf*ckin’ album!”

Over on Twitter, meanwhile, Cardi’s fans have been celebrating with a bracket of favorite tracks, which is currently in its semifinals stage. As of press time, “Bodak Yellow,” which got a bye until the quarterfinals, is up against the fiery intro “Get Up 10,” while the underrated second single “Bartier Cardi” is paired with the emotional “Be Careful.”

Upon its release, Invasion Of Privacy became the first album by a female rap artist to debut atop the Billboard 200 in twenty years, earning 255,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. Cardi was the first female artist to chart thirteen songs simultaneously on the Hot 100, while the album was the first ever to have all its tracks certified platinum or higher by the RIAA. It also won Cardi the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, and kicked open the door for the modern wave of female rappers currently dominating the charts.

After word surfaced that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to make Russian President Vladimir Putin pee in a bucket if he loses the war, it seems that Putin’s strategies might be changing. Perhaps this also has to do with former Putin associates clucking their tongues at his fallen “Superman” image. As well, there’s been a lot of criticism after Putin invested a great effort into luxury bunker hiding while his disastrous war continues to see Russian troops flounder and die by the tens of thousands.

Additionally, a defected Putin underling revealed that the Russian leader is “pathologically afraid for his life” and prefers to hide from reality, eschewing both the Internet and cell phones. As The Independent now reveals, however, Putin has at least seen enough to can a high Russian commander after a series of embarrassing failures on the battlefield. Colonel-General Rustam Muradov is outta there, and that news comes from the British foreign ministry:

“The EGF under Muradov has suffered exceptionally heavy casualties in recent months as its poorly conceived assaults repeatedly failed to capture the Donetsk oblast town of Vuhledar,” the MoD said in its latest intelligence update.

The Moscow Times confirms this report, adding that Russia has repeatedly tried and failed to seize a symbolically significant area near the coal-mining town of Vuhledar. One such attack led to “dozens of Russian tanks” being obliterated after “being ordered to advance in single-file,” which doesn’t sound like the most optimal strategy even from a civilian standpoint. Can Putin’s army possibly turn this mess around? He could die trying, which is actually the fear that came from Russian State TV talking heads who wonder exactly how long this war might drag on into the future.

(Via The Independent & The Moscow Times)

With Air slam dunking into theaters, audiences might be surprised to see that basketball legend Michael Jordan is barely in the film despite the entire story being centered around Nike’s efforts to land the world famous athlete for one of the most iconic endorsements of all time. According to director Ben Affleck, who also plays Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight in the film, not including Jordan was always the plan.

“Air is not Michael Jordan’s story, but there is no story without him,” Affleck told Collider.

The film is instead focused on Nike’s dealing with Jordan’s mother, Deloris, who the basketball star specifically requested be played by Viola Davis. Affleck also recognized from the start that including too much of Jordan would distract from the story that Air wanted to tell:

“The fact that he was not in it is definitely the plan from day one because I just think he’s too big and meaningful and famous and grand to ever have the audience believe that somebody else was him, especially given an actor wouldn’t have the whole movie to try to flesh it out. I’ve seen it done.”

Affleck then cited one of Denzel Washington’s most iconic performances as the gold standard for these situations, and there’s just no matching that effect.

“Denzel did it with Malcolm X,” Affleck said. “You know that thing where at the end of the movie you’re surprised that the real Malcolm X we see in the clips doesn’t look like Denzel, but that opportunity wasn’t available, and I thought it would undermine the movie.”

Air is now playing in theaters.

(Via Collider)

The crossover we never knew we needed: Jack Black shared a photo with the one and only Lizzo on Instagram. The pair are working together in the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, and in the picture it looks like they’re both having a great time on set.

“So fun working with @lizzobeeating on @themandalorian as the king and queen of Plazir-15!!!” Black wrote in the caption.

The “About Damn Time” singer was only making a cameo. This happens during episode 6 of season 3, playing the role of the Dutchess Of Plazir-15, who is Black’s wife. Fans loved this unexpected coupling.

Meanwhile, Lizzo’s deal with Amazon Studios was recently extended since her Watch Out For The Big Grrrls show won an Emmy. “I’m thrilled to continue this partnership with the Amazon team after an incredible experience on season one of Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” she shared about the exciting news in a statement. “I’ve witnessed lives change through this show, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue making space for even more Big Grrrls around the world to shine and break down barriers across this industry.”

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

Conventional wisdom in the tech business states that the way you stay ahead is by constantly innovating. Unfortunately, the quantum leaps forward of years past have sort of petered out, leaving us with annual incremental updates to existing technology instead (nobody likes the new logo, Elon).

Apple’s latest patent might suggest that we’re about to start going backward — at least, according to fans who learned the news via Twitter. According to CNET, the tech giant filed an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for a new version of its AirPods case featuring a touchscreen that would let users control playback and check the battery, among other things. But since patent blueprints aren’t very fun to look at, some accounts on Twitter sharing the news have mocked up some potential images of how such a thing might appear.

Naturally, due to its resemblance to a prior Apple product, the now-discontinued iPod Nano (specifically, the sixth iteration thereof), everybody is making the same joke (kinda like how the last three iPhones were… never mind). At least this (hopefully) won’t come pre-loaded with an album no one wants. Maybe it’ll even make Apple Music’s karaoke feature worth it?

Others wondered whether such a thing is even necessary, considering, well… your phone already does this. So can your computer, your tablet, and your gosh darn wristwatch. As one user succinctly put it, “In what scenario would it be inconvenient for me to hold a phone, but convenient for me to hold an airpod case?” Fans also pointed out that other “innovations” recently embraced by Apple hadn’t fared so well either.

However, so few patents that get filed ever actually get produced, so we’re not likely to actually get this anytime soon — and certainly not in any of the forms posited by these concept photos. For now, though, let’s all embrace the nostalgia and silliness of it all.

Of all the cultural overlaps in the NBA, fashion and style has got to be the biggest. There are some fans who’ve picked favorite athletes — and, by association, the team they’ll root for — by their tunnel looks alone. It makes sense this is an entry point to the sport. One of the best parts basketball is its visibility, that the action and all the expressive emotions it brings is on display. The same goes for style, with pre-game fits and off-court fashion giving a glimpse into player personalities and ultimately being another facet that draws people to the game.

With style becoming such a cornerstone of the NBA, fans also look to athletes to emulate their looks or take cues into elements they can fold into their own closets. For most fans, a favorite player’s sneakers or a ticket to a game counts as a splurge, so dressing exactly like the flashiest in the league isn’t possible. In its series “Ball on a Budget,” Chime wants to show people they can get tunnel ready without breaking the bank. The premise is simple enough: with the help of stylist Courtney Mays, four players — Karl-Anthony Towns, Tim Hardaway Jr., Javale McGee, and Jalen Green — can use two days worth of their league per diem ($300 total) to put together a tunnel look they’ll wear to a game. Towns, who stresses cool is “all in the swag,” goes with low top black Converse All-Stars because they’re timeless, McGee picks a head to toe Dickies workwear ensemble, Hardaway Jr. goes rugged, and Green digs through a thrift store for a vintage tee and red Adidas sneakers.

The entire series, which is practical as it is cute, can be viewed on Chime’s YouTube channel. Dime caught up with Green to go a little deeper into his approach to style, how his approach money is carried over from the G League, the best dressers on the Rockets, the best advice he got all year, and the biggest takeaway from this season.

I was just in Houston to cover the All American Game, but I wish I knew about the store you visited in your episode. Full Court looks so cool.

Full Court’s my little store, it’s got everything. Everything’s so cheap, too.

Would you say your overall approach to shopping for clothes is all that different than the approach you took in your Ball on a Budget episode? Do you like getting in and browsing like that?

Yeah, I always do that. I feel like that’s my main approach all the time. When I see clothes worth, like, $3,000, just to buy one thing, it kind of hurts my heart. Anytime I get something cheap, it’s a win for me.

You say in your ep that you try to save as much as you can, to have your money make money. Where did you pick up that mentality, or who instilled that in you?

I kinda learned that from the G League. Being in the G League, you know, we had school teaching us how to save money. That was something that they really preached to us and really wanted us to know, ‘cause we’re so young in high school. I mean, we’re young just coming out of high school, and making that much money, you could really do anything with it, so they wanted to make sure we were saving money and being responsible. And being professionals at the end of the day.

Would you say those lessons are still in the back of your head?

Yeah, for sure. Where I’m at now, year two NBA, things are getting better each year and people around me are having more opportunities and giving me more opportunities. So I think the people I have around me help out a lot too with that.

I wanted to touch on something I really like about the series. So many fans now love the fashion side of the league as much as the basketball, you’ve got accounts like League Fits that detail all the really flashy tunnel looks. Your average fan might be able to get a pair of sneakers or a piece here or there, but can’t replicate entire looks. The series deconstructs that idea and makes style more approachable to everybody.

People gotta understand, just because it says designer or whatever, it doesn’t mean that it’s really fashion. You could wear designer and not know how to put it together. You could wear designer and it won’t look good on everybody. But you could go to a thrift store and buy a whole outfit and make it look good. So just because it says it’s designer doesn’t mean that it’s drip, you know?

Yeah exactly. You can look pretty goofy in all designer. Would you say making style more approachable in this way is kind of important?

For sure. Like you said, there’s people that look at the fashion side, not even the basketball side, and for me, I look up to people that dress a certain way. I know people out there look up to NBA payers and want to dress just like them. So being able to make it approachable, being able to show that you could go to this store and have a budget and get this, I think it’s very cool.

You say in your episode that you like style because it’s a way for people to get to know you. What would you say are the main elements of your style, when it comes to how it reflects your personality?

I’m starting to now switch it up a lot more and try new styles. Whether you want to go old school and wear baggy styles, or you want to rock skinny jeans, it just depends on what I’m feeling that day but I try to switch it up. I like a variety of different things, I like colors, I like things that pop. I like trying a whole bunch of different things.

Do you ever use style as a bit of a cheat, like if you’re not feeling totally confident one day but you need to kind of hype yourself up?

If I’m not feeling it one day, I’ll probably just throw on some random stuff just to go outside the box. I’m a big comfy guy. So I’ll pick comfort over everything all the time. So when you catch me throwing it on, putting on a drip outfit, it’s a good day.

I’ll remember that.

[laughs]

What’s one item of clothing you’re always kind of looking for the perfect version of?

Mmhmm. Yeah, I would say a black t-shirt.

What have been some standout tunnel looks for you, either your own, teammates, or anyone around the league?

I got guys on my team, I’m going to shout the brothers out. Josh Christopher be having some good tunnel fits. Alperen Sengun has some good tunnels fits. I think Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] has some good tunnels fits. Those guys, they’re who I’m going to shout out when it comes to that.

You’re just about done with your second season in the NBA, I was curious what have been your biggest takeaways so far?

From the season, I would say there’s one thing one of my athletic trainers told me, he was saying there’s really no losses in the NBA, there’s only wins and learning lessons. I think that was probably one of the biggest things I took away all season, just because we were the worst team in the NBA — we are the worst team, we still got two more games left — and we’re just trying to not be down on ourselves every game and learn as much as we can each game. Because there were games we were close to beating teams, there’s games that we should’ve won, so we gotta take it all in as a learning lesson.

Based on that, would you say you’re a very resilient kind of person? It just strikes me you need to be resilient to not get down on yourself about that kind of thing.

Yeah, I would say I am. Just because I feel like I have a good outlook of what the angle is and what it could be. You need resiliency to be a part of your team, a part of your mindset, to continue to go forward and progress and get better each year, each summer, no matter what you’re doing. So yeah, I would say I am.