Month: June 2023

Yesterday (June 8), J Hus and Drake teamed up for “Who Told You,” a track that quickly stirred up conversation. The Her Loss rapper didn’t seem resentful anymore; on the song, he hints at a new relationship, rapping, “You’re the one, girl, stop rollin’ eyes / I find love and it slowly dies / So Lilah Pi, don’t make my eye cry.”

It doesn’t stop there. For Lilah’s birthday, Drake posted a thoughtful Instagram Story for her, writing, “More life to the gyal that’s impossible to duplicate. My inspo my confidant my best mate my heart @lilahpi happy birthday.”

Also, when Drake dropped “Search & Rescue,” fans questioned who was on the artwork. They assumed it was Kim Kardashian, but it’s now confirmed to be Lilah.

Kim Kardashian recently called out Kanye West for starting the rumor that she cheated on West with Drake. “He was the one that started a rumor that said I was hooking up with Drake, having an affair our whole marriage,” she said. “He accused me of that publicly. So the person that’s supposed to protect me the most publicly would accuse me of having an affair throughout our whole marriage. I really can’t wrap my head around how he is a protector.”

The GOP had a rough day on Thursday. The MAGA puppet master who proudly “lock her up” chants has a fresh criminal indictment on his hands. The Supreme Court upheld the Voting Rights Act while ruling on a case about racial gerrymandering. And uber-televangelist Pat Robertson passed away. This doesn’t even touch the far-right’s perpetual grousing over Pride Month, which has now thrown them a curveball from a down-home restaurant beloved by many who swing by after the Sunday church visit.

Cracker Barrel decided that the right-wing Bud Light and Target boycotts weren’t enough to scare them away — nor were the eatery’s own third-quarter missed earnings — from Pride Month. Not everyone will be surprised by the Old Country Store’s perspective after it previously banned an anti-gay pastor, but the restaurant chain threw down with a series of social media posts that have freaked out the far right. First up, on Instagram, the company wrote, “Our mission of ‘Pleasing People’ means welcoming and caring for ALL people, this month, and every month. Happy Pride!”

On Facebook, a rainbow-painted rocking chair led the way with the chain declaring that they “are excited to celebrate Pride Month with our employees and guests. Everyone is always welcome at our table… Happy Pride!”

That wasn’t all. Over on Twitter, Cracker Barrell responded to a “[q]uite shocked” user with a cheery air: “Thanks for sharing! Our teams take pride in creating a welcoming, safe atmosphere where people can enjoy time with family and friends the moment they walk through our doors.”

This was too much for some. The Texas Family Project, which has raged against “woke teachers exposing children to LGBT ideology,” quickly went into mourning: “We take no pleasure in reporting that @CrackerBarrel has fallen. A once family friendly establishment has caved to the mob.”

The organization swiftly added Cracker Barrel to the same fearsome category where they relegated Drag Shows.

The entirely serious tone of “we take no pleasure in reporting” was similarly too much for people to handle without laughter.

Make no mistake, though, some Cracker Barrel patrons are apparently patrons no more. Their reactions are growing a bit hyperbolic.

June 8 was a day that shall not be forgotten anytime soon.

Last week Steven and Ian had to bank an episode because Steven was on vacation. Which is why we did our first all “Yay Or Nay?” episode rather than address possibly the most annoying music story of the year (and maybe decade?) so far — the short-lived dating relationship between Taylor Swift and The 1975’s Matty Healy, and the insane online reaction it sparked. Sadly, we do touch on this kerfuffle briefly this week, but only to note that in terms of annoying music stories, this thing is basically Everything Everywhere All At Once, an unstoppable juggernaut that can’t possibly be topped in the field of irritation.

Speaking of annoying stories: Steven and Ian also address the recent takedown of Hannah Gadsby‘s “It’s Pablo-matic” art exhibit in the New York Times, and whether the cathartic reaction to the review speaks to a larger backlash against the “therapeutic” and prescriptive art of the Trump era, and how that might translate to the indie world.

Finally, Steven and Ian set about sharing their favorite albums of the year so far. While Steven shared an unranked list of 15 favorites this week in his column, here he and Ian each share their ranked top five lists for the first part of 2023. Incredibly, there were zero overlaps in our picks!

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 142 here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

Last November, Migos member Takeoff was shot and killed at a Houston bowling alley. Now, the rapper’s mother, Titania Davenport, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the venue, Billboard reports.

The suit was filed on June 7 against the property owners of the alley, along with multiple LLCs associated with the business. The suit alleges the defendants “failed to provide proper and adequate security for the event” despite being notified of the private party in advance.

The lawsuit says in part, “Defendants breached their duty owed to Kirsnick Khari Tiquon Ball by failing to exercise ordinary care to keep the premises safe.” It also claims the defendants “provided no screening mechanisms, no after-hour controls or security measures, and no enforcement of rules or industry standards to deter crime against their invitees.”

It continues, “As a proximate and foreseeable result of Defendants’ negligence, Kirsnick Khari Tiquon Ball sustained catastrophic personal injuries, endured conscious pain and suffering, experienced mental anguish, became aware of his impending death, wrongfully died, and suffered other damages as will be proven at trial.”

The suit alleges the defendants didn’t provide “adequate and appropriate security personnel” and “negligently misrepresenting to invitees that the property was safe.”

Davenport, listed as the administrator of Takeoff’s estate on the complaint, is seeking at least $1 million.

How did Donald Trump begin his message to the country after he was indicted on Thursday? “Very sadly, we’re a nation in decline.” Inspiring stuff!

While standing in a poorly-lit room, looking more like Vigo the Carpathian than ever before, the former president responded to the federal charges against him in connection with the classified government documents he kept at his Florida home after leaving the White House with an old fashioned witch hunt rant. “It’s been going on for seven years,” he said. “They can’t stop because it’s election interference at the highest level. There’s never been anything like what’s happening. I’m an innocent man…” (He’s no Hacker T. Dog.) Trump then listed various “hoaxes” before blaming Hillary Clinton, naturally.

He continued, “Our country is going to hell and they come after Donald Trump, weaponizing the Justice Department, weaponing the FBI. We can’t let this continue to go on because it’s ripping our country to shreds.”

The rant wrapped up with Trump claiming that he’s “an innocent man, I did nothing wrong, and we’ll fight this out just like we’ve been fighting for seven years. We’re a failing nation and this is what they do. I’m an innocent man. We will prove that again. Seven years of proving it and here we go again. Very unfair, but that’s the way it is.” Some things — like Trump defending himself by referring to himself in the third person — will never change.

(Via Mediaite)

After much anticipation and an often-NSFW promotional cycle, Janelle Monáe’s new album, The Age Of Pleasure, is here. As the project was released at midnight, Monáe celebrated, as she has over the past few months, with another skin-bearing post.

Shortly after midnight today, Monáe made note of the album’s release with a video, in which they stand on the beach and show off a cropped shirt bearing the album title. She then takes it off, along with her shorts, leaving her naked (albeit blurred out) as she jubilantly runs into the ocean, all set to the song “Water Slide.”

The same clip is included in a longer June 7 video Monáe shared to announce the album’s tracklist.

This goes along with a recent interview quote that has essentially been Monáe’s mantra lately: “I’m much happier when my titties are out and I can run around free.”

Speaking of the tracklist for The Age Of Pleasure, the album features Grace Jones, Doechii, CKay, Seun Kuti And Egypt 80, Sister Nancy, Amaarae, and even actress Nia Long.

The Age Of Pleasure is out now via Wondaland Arts Society/Atlantic Records. Find more information here.

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

Rootin’ tootin’ Lauren Boebert never has a dull moment. She’s still the butt of what seems like a million jokes over missing the debt ceiling vote after vowing to vote against the bill, and then claiming that she was “protesting” the vote, only to have video evidence disprove her story. She’s also recently been the subject of a wrestler’s paternity test beefing. And of course, the right-wing congresswoman has been tweeting through it all while diverting into other subjects, but word of ex-President Trump’s very serious criminal indictment (much more so than the 30 Stormy Daniels counts) has incensed Boebert.

As CNN reported, the precise charges against the MAGA King haven’t been revealed yet, but they include an alleged violation of the Espionage Act among another laundry list of crimes, presumably related to his hoarding of documents at Mar-a-Lago. It’s not great:

Trump is facing a charge under the Espionage Act, his attorney Jim Trusty said on CNN Thursday, as well as charges of obstruction of justice, destruction or falsification of records, conspiracy and false statements.

While all the exact charges against Trump were not immediately clear, the potential offenses strike at the core of some of the most somber duties of the presidency – including the protection of the country’s most vital secrets. And any allegation of obstruction involves another fundamental role of the public trust that Trump held and to which he aspires in the current campaign – the obligation of a president to uphold the laws.

As one can imagine, Boebert had a ready conspiracy theory for the timing of the indictment news. “They released this Trump indictment tonight because the walls are closing in on Biden,” she tweeted. “We’ve seen the evidence.”

Or… did this happen?

As is customary for her, Boebert ignored that response and all other criticisms of her claims. She did, however, continue to rant about the “innocent” Trump, who she believes has fallen prey to a “sham indictment.” She also placed “crime” into quotation marks as though this stuff was all made up, and everyone should focus on Hunter Biden’s laptop or something.

We can expect this to continue, of course, and it was certainly a rough day for the GOP. The Supreme Court upheld relevant portions of the Voting Rights Act in a case about racial gerrymandering. Uber-televangelist and hater Pat Robertson passed away, and the MAGA master who led “lock her up” chants has a lot to worry about from the criminal justice system. And then there’s the ongoing Pride Month to really upset the far-right. Quite a month so far, really!

Shawn Mendes is finding himself at odds — in his relationship, and simultaneously, with the world. With recent headlines surrounding Mendes’ personal life, as well as contemporary global issues, his latest single, “What The Hell Are We Dying For,” feels more timely than ever.

On the song, Shawn questions the state of a relationship and where it’s going, over a rolling percussion loop and clashing guitars.

“If we don’t love like we used to / And we don’t care like we used to / What the hell are we dying for?,” he sings on the song’s chorus.

While it’s unclear when the song was written or recorded, it arrives at a strange time in Mendes’ life.

Earlier today, it was reported that Mendes and Camila Cabello had broken up again, just six weeks after they had reportedly rekindled their romance.

Also strange was the fact that the single’s cover appears to be an image of New York City engulfed in orange smog, after a wildfire in Canada caused the smoke to spread over to New York. Mendes himself is Canadian, so it’s likely that the wildfire hits close to home for him.

You can listen to “What The Hell Are We Dying For” above?

HBO’s new music industry drama The Idol has everyone talking, in more ways than one. But good or bad, the show’s co-creators Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye are sure enjoying the buzz. Tonight (June 9), The Weeknd and superproducer Mike Dean have shared the latest taste of new music from the show.

On The Idol soundtrack’s latest song, “The Lure,” The Weeknd and Mike Dean put their production skills on full display, offering a chilling, instrumental theme song that encapsulates the terrifying, ominous nature of the show.

Only one episode of The Idol has aired so far, however, The Weeknd is in good spirits having finally begun sharing it with the world. He planned to drop all of the show’s music on the soundtrack, which will arrive shortly before the season finale. However, The Weeknd took to Instagram to reveal that he will share a good amount of the show’s music on a more frequent basis.

“I wanna drop new music from the show every week with each episode,” he said. “I’m excited for you guys to hear what we’ve been cooking and all these incredible artists that are a part of this show.”

You can listen to “The Lure” above.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve gotten to know and love Reneé Rapp through The Sex Lives Of College Girls. She is also starring in the upcoming film adaptation of the musical production of Mean Girls, in which, she plays Regina George. While we’ve seen her talent play out on-screen, music has always been Rapp’s first love. Tonight (June 9) Rapp has shared the first single and title track from her upcoming debut album, Snow Angel.

On “Snow Angel,” Rapp details the excruciating pain of keeping her composure while she is dealing with emotional pain.

“I’ll make it through the winter if it kills me / I can make it faster if I hurry / An angel in the snow until I’m worthy / But if it kills me, I tried,” she sings on the song’s chorus.

In addition to these poignant lyrics, the song’s instrumental — a melancholy piano, which is later joined with a clashing guitar and rolling percussion — encapsulates to mixed feelings Rapp has been grappling with over the course of her young adulthood.

Last November, Rapp released her debut EP, Everything To Everyone, which featured songs like “Too Well” and “In The Kitchen.” Her first full-length album will arrive later this summer.

You can listen to “Snow Angel” above and see the Snow Angel cover art below.

Snow Angel is out 8/18 via Interscope. Find more information here.