Month: July 2023

R. Kelly has reportedly been ordered to hand over more than $500,000 in royalties to the courts. According to a report from HipHopDX, Kelly will be required to disburse the money to his victims.

The hip-hop outlet reportedly obtained documents indicating that the United States Court in the Northern District of Illinois issued a third-party citation to Universal Music Group back in May in order to discover assets. The terms of the citation indicated that Universal Music Group would have to disclose how much money in outstanding royalties Kelly still needed to be paid for songwriting.

The courts reportedly learned that Universal Music Group still owes Kelly $567,444.19 in unpaid royalties, though Kelly himself will not see a cent of that money.

According to Radar Online, the royalties will be used to pay Kelly’s victims, who have reportedly only received about $27,000.

Almost a year ago, Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sex trafficking and racketeering charges. Back in February, he was also sentenced to 20 years in prison for child pornography. He is currently serving both sentences concurrently in Butner Federal Prison in North Carolina.

Kelly’s crimes have been the subject of various documentaries, including a Lifetime docuseries called Surviving R. Kelly.

July looks to be a scorcher outside as usual, so you will want to hang on the couch as long as possible. Fortunately, there are several returning TV shows to keep you occupied after you finish rewatching The Bear‘s second season. The most prominent series of this coming month happens to be a revival of FX’s beloved Justified, and fortunately, Timothy Olyphant obliged at donning the cowboy hat and boots for his most infamous role.

Additionally, some wacky vampires, a smooth lawyer, and a bumbling set of reunion attendees are back with new installments, and a former HBO Max show resurfaces on Starz. If that’s not quite enough for you, then a bickering demon-and-angel pairing shall soon make their way into your living room again, Navajo cops are back to fight very different forces of evil, and Henry Cavill will go on his final monster-hunting, grunty adventures. Oh, and John Wilson turns his lenses upon New York City one more time.

Here are the must see shows for July 2023.

The Lincoln Lawyer: Season 2 Part 1 (Netflix series streaming 7/6)

The series picked up the same subject matter as the movie, and whaddya know, the show turned into a streaming hit that kept the adventures of Los Angeles’ most talked-about defense attorney. Naturally, Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) is still running business out of his Lincoln’s backseat, where he’ll handle just about every case, and if you’ve been missing Neve Campbell from the continuing Scream franchise, you can find her here. Expect Part 2 of this season about a month after this installment.

The Afterparty: Season 2 (Apple TV+ series streaming on 7/12)

A whole lot of murder-mystery comedy can be found out there these days, and murder linked to a high school reunion is also a recent thing (Yellowjackets), but this is neither that dark Showtime show nor Glass Onion. Instead, this unique beast — created by Christopher Miller and produced by Miller and his frequent partner, Phil Lord — stars a voluminously funny cast (including Tiffany Haddish, Ben Schwartz, Ilana Glazer, and Sam Richardson) who pulls out all the stops here, and you won’t be sorry if you skip your own reunions.

What We Do in the Shadows: (FX series streaming on Hulu 7/13)

Those oddball vamps are back after Nandor’s eternal-life crisis. This remains one of the funniest shows on TV these days, and this season, Guillermo might be giving up Nandor for Laszlo, which will surely cause plenty of drama. Meanwhile, Nadya is attempting to connect with a form of family, and Colin is unwise enough to run for political office. Then there’s the newcomer, The Guide, who’s attempting to feel things out while dancing around centuries-old dynamics and all those warring accents.

Justified: City Primeval (FX series streaming on Hulu 7/18)

Everyone’s favorite extralegal lawman is about to swagger back into our hearts, long after he made it out of Harlan alive. Can he make it out of Detroit alive, too? We’ll see, and Raylan Givens’ daughter, Willa, is also onboard to give the hat a hard time because someone needs to do it. We’ve already pinpointed the one Justified episode, “Long In The Tooth,” that makes an ideal essential rewatch before this spinoff, and Raylan should have a swell time hunting bad guys in Motor City. At the top of his list: The so-called “Oklahoma Wildman,” portrayed by Boyd Holbrook.

Minx: Season 2 (Starz series streaming on 7/21)

This show took quite a journey from being cancelled by HBO Max — after the filming of the second season was nearly finished– to being rescued by Starz for airtime. The audience outcry surely helped that happen, so we’ll be able to see the continuation of Jack Johnson’s low-rent, erotic-magazine publisher doing it (for the first time) for women in the 1970s. Starz has carved out quite a few crowd successes of late (including P-Valley and Heels), so I have a feeling that they know exactly how to make this show fly.

Special Ops: Lioness: (Paramount+ series streaming on 7/23)

Because bucketfuls of Taylor Sheridan TV shows still aren’t enough, the former Sons Of Anarchy cop is here with an inspired-by-real-life story about the CIA’s Lioness Program. Zoe Saldaña stars as an operative who helps mentor and mold recruits, who will one day become fearsome assassins. Saldaña is surely relieved to be back in ass-kicking mode, over a decade after Colombiana proved how riveting she can be as an action star. Nicole Kidman also headlines as the chief of the Lioness Program, which is part of the “CIA’s efforts to thwart the next 9/11,” according to the show’s synopsis.

The Witcher: Season 3 Volume 2 (Netflix series streaming on 7/27)

It’s hard to imagine that Henry Cavill is really on his way out the door as Geralt of Rivia, and Liam Hemsworth will soon pick up the grunting, swashbuckling, potion-wielding monster hunter for a fourth season. Where this franchise goes from there, one can only guess, but thankfully, we should still have Jaskier. In this Season 3 wrap-up, Ciri continues to train as a Witcher while Yennifer is attempting to maneuver around territorial sorcerers who are pressing the buttons to f*ck with everyone. Hate it when that happens.

Twisted Metal (Peacock series streaming on 7/27)

It’s been an unusually successful year so far for video game adaptations, including The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Last Of Us. This hopes to keep the party going with Anthony Mackie as a “motor-mouthed outsider offered a chance at a better life, but only if he can successfully deliver a mysterious package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland.” Co-stars include Neve Campbell, Richard Cabral, Stephanie Beatriz, Thomas Haden Church, and Neve Campbell, along with Sweet Tooth, the killer, ice-cream dealing clown jointly played by Samoa Joe and Will Arnett.

Good Omens: Season 2 (Amazon Prime Video series streaming on 7/38)

The complimentary writing styles of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett collide here and are embodied by David Tennant and Michael Sheen with a second season that took far too long to percolate. Yes, Jon Hamm is on hand to steal focus as Archangel Gabriel, but ultimately, this is the story of a hate-love relationship between a demon, Crowley (David Tennant), and an angel, Aziraphale (Michael Sheen), who would sure love to quit each other but must work together if they want to keep enjoying life on Earth. Yes, Armageddon is coming, among other things.

How To with John Wilson: Season 3 (HBO series streaming on Max on 7/28)

One final season of this “anxious New Yorker” is coming your way, years after the leading man (and writer, director, cameraman, producer) admitted to us that he had captured a “psychotic amount” of footage. One can only imagine how he pares it all down and still manages to offer advice on the most relatable subjects. He kept on filming during the pandemic, and now, we’ll watch him obsessively film life getting back to “normal” in the Big Apple.

Dark Winds: Season 2 (AMC series streaming on AMC+ 7/30)

George R.R. Martin and Robert Redford put on their producing hats here, and this still qualifies as a sleeper series that I’d highly recommend binging at some point. (Mostly) Native American writers are doing the thing here as based upon Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn & Chee book series and the two 1970s Navajo cops (at a remote area near Monument Valley) who embark upon apparently unrelated crimes including a double murder case. In the process, they see things that make them think twice about their spiritual beliefs. The forces of evil swirl while the cops’ personal demons could actually be the key to emerging back into salvation territory. Are you intrigued? Good.

Dennis Smith Jr. has agreed to a one-year deal with the Brooklyn Nets, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Smith Jr. spent last season with the Charlotte Hornets, where he averaged 8.8 points, 4.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 25.7 minutes per night. He played 54 games and started 15 of them.

Smith has emerged as one of the NBA’s premier point-of-attack defenders at the guard position. He’s instinctive, quick and strong, and navigates screens effectively. He’s also become a pretty frugal and impactful playmaker, dishing out 261 assists to 82 turnovers in 2022-23. The Hornets were 5.3 points better per 100 possessions with him on the floor, according to Cleaning The Glass. He still struggles substantially as a scorer (47.5 percent true shooting, 21.6 percent beyond the arc). But his defense, passing and dribble penetration should make him an intriguing third or fourth rotation guard for teams with the offensive infrastructure to insulate his shooting woes.

After being selected ninth overall by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2017 Draft, Smith floated around the league, featuring stops with the New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons and Portland Trail Blazers before landing in Charlotte last season. Hopefully, this new deal provides him some stability and he can continue to find his niche as a defensive-minded, playmaking slasher.

An intriguing name that was supposed to hit the restricted free agency market this summer is Jaxson Hayes, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft who has spent his entire career with the New Orleans Pelicans. While Hayes hasn’t quite developed into the sort of dynamic center on both ends of the floor that the Pelicans hoped when they selected him, he’s still only 23 years old and has flashed enough to suggest that there is a productive basketball player in there if he continues to develop.

As a restricted free agent, Hayes would have the opportunity to sign an offer sheet with another team, which would have led to the Pelicans having to make a decision on whether or not it would bring him back. But in a bit of a surprise move, New Orleans decided to pass on extending a qualifying offer to Hayes, which made him an unrestricted free agent.

One day into free agency and we learned where Hayes will end up, as Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN brought word that he’s headed to the Los Angeles Lakers.

A mix of an early season elbow injury and a general inability to consistently have a role in the team’s rotation meant that Hayes played in the fewest games of his career last season. Hayes saw the floor 47 times, with two of those appearances coming in a starting role. He averaged five points and 2.8 rebounds in 13 minutes per game, and connected on 55.1 percent of his attempts from the field.

The Miami Heat are famously pretty good at finding diamonds in the rough, developing them, and turning them into legitimately solid NBA players. One of the best examples of this in recent years has been Max Strus, the former undrafted wing who joined the Chicago Bulls’ system, tore his knee, and found himself without a team when Miami came calling.

Since then, Strus has become a player upon whom Erik Spoelstra relied, as his ability to stretch the floor has been important in the Heat’s success. Those guys end up getting expensive, though, and this summer, Strus hit unrestricted free agency, where he was expected to get a lucrative contract offer elsewhere in the league. Prior to free agency opening, there were strong indications that the Cavaliers were going to be in hot pursuit of Strus in a sign-and-trade, but they were struggling to find a third team to offload Cedi Osman to create the cap room needed to bring in the sharpshooter.

Jake Fischer reported the Spurs were a potential landing spot for Osman to facilitate the trade, as the Heat looked to at least get something back for Strus after seeing Gabe Vincent walk to the Lakers.

This general framework ended up being correct, as Osman and Lamar Stevens will head to San Antonio along with a pick, while the Heat acquired a second-round pick. As for Strus, he’s headed to the Cavs on a 4-year deal worth $63 million.

Strus has gone from an occasional bench player for the Heat to someone who started every game in the playoffs during the team’s run to the NBA Finals last year. He posted some of the best numbers of his career during the 2022-23 campaign, as the 27-year-old wing averaged 11.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 28.4 minutes per game while connecting on 35 percent of his seven attempts from behind the three-point line a night.

He joins a Cavs team that had a very clear vision for this offseason, spending their money bolstering their wing rotation with Strus, Georges Niang, and re-signing Caris LeVert.

The Memphis Grizzlies have nailed a number of top draft picks, which is a very good way to build a contender quickly after briefly bottoming out.

However, when you hit on picks, you also have to pay them, and they entered this offseason having already given Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. large extensions when they became eligible. This summer they had a decision to make about Desmond Bane, as the young wing has emerged as one of the NBA’s best volume shooters. Last season Bane set career marks by averaging 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game on 47.9/40.8/88.3 shooting splits (which was actually his worst three-point shooting season of his young career). Bane is also a terrific defender, and should pair quite well with new addition Marcus Smart to form a physical backcourt defensive tandem.

The question for Memphis was how high they’d want to go in extension talks with Bane or whether he’d be willing to sign for anything short of the max. We got the answer when July 1 came about and Bane was officially extension eligible, as the Grizzlies signed him to a max extension that will pay him $207 million over five years.

Bane will join Morant and Jackson Jr. as the clear young core pieces in Memphis, with Smart giving them a veteran presence in the backcourt they haven’t had. Once Morant returns from his 25-game suspension, the Grizzlies figure to once again be among the West’s best in the regular season and will hope their core, all locked in on big deals, can deliver in the postseason in a way they haven’t quite been able to yet.

Tyrese Haliburton emerged as a first-time All-Star during the 2022-23 season, averaging 20.7 points and 10.4 assists per game (on 49.0/40.0/87.1 shooting splits) in his first full season with the Indiana Pacers.

After trading Domantas Sabonis to the Kings for Haliburton at the deadline in 2022, the Pacers were banking on the young guard flourishing in a lead role and so far that has paid off considerably. Haliburton looks the part of a franchise-leading guard, and as the calendar turned to July and the new league year officially began, he was rewarded with a max extension, currently 5 years, $207 million, from Indiana.

Tyrese, for his part, is excited.

That deal can become the $260 million deal Woj notes with an All-NBA campaign from Haliburton next year, which Indiana would be happy to pay if he continues to develop into a top-15 player in the NBA.

The Pacers will look to move into the East’s playoff and Play-In picture next season, with Haliburton at the center of their plans. Myles Turner certainly looks, for now, like he’ll be back at center and the Pacers added a big piece from the Nuggets title team on Friday, luring Bruce Brown out of Denver with a two-year, $45 million deal to bring some much-needed perimeter defense to Indiana. Along with some encouraging young players like Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard, there’s plenty of intrigue when it comes to the Pacers, but for them to go where they want to, they’re banking on Haliburton’s breakout last year being just the beginning of a rise to superstardom.

The Miami Heat have been a hot topic this summer given their pursuit of some of the top guards on (and potentially going on) the trade market. They did not end up with Bradley Beal, aren’t expected to land James Harden, although that’s still a possibility, and there is also the constant pursuit of Damian Lillard, who remains not available (yet, as always).

As such, every move Miami makes comes with the consideration that it is a move setting up another, larger move, which is why a late night deal sending Victor Oladipo’s $9.4 million salary and some second round picks to Oklahoma City raised some eyebrows.

It could, of course, just be a salary shedding move, as the Heat are over the tax and Oladipo doesn’t figure to be part of their rotation next season as he continues to rehab a knee injury suffered in April that ended his season. Oladipo picking up his player option was never in question, and as such there have been plenty of rumblings about Miami trying to move off his deal. At the same time, you can’t help but wonder if this is being done with something specific in mind, clearing space for a bigger deal that could come down the line sooner than later. That, of course, we’ll have to wait to see, but for now Oladipo is headed back to Oklahoma City for the second time in his career.

Mahalia is gearing up for the official release of her next sophomore album, IRL. To give fans an idea of what to expect, she unveiled the tracklist in an Instagram video — where she is seen writing each of the titles (and collabs) with a red marker.

“With two weeks to go until the release of my second album IRL, I think it’s about time you guys know who’s on it with me,” she captioned. “Couldn’t be prouder of this record, and I just have to say thank you to all of you for blessing me with your greatness.”

Just a few days ago, Mahalia posted a separate Instagram pic of her holding the IRL vinyl. She announced that she’s doing a few in-store signings, including at the UK’s Rough Trade East and Rough Trade Bristol.

From there, she is heading out on a UK and European tour in October. A complete list of tour dates and ticketing info for the signings can be found on her website.

Continue scrolling for Mahalia’s full IRL tracklist and features.

1. “Ready”
2. “In My Bag”
3. “Terms And Conditions”
4. “In My Head” Feat. Joyce Wrice
5. “Cheat” Feat. JoJo
6. “November” Feat. Stormzy
7. “Hey Stranger”
8. “Isn’t It Strange?”
9. “It’s Not Me, It’s You” Feat. Destin Conrad
10. “Wassup” Feat. Kojey Radical
11. “Lose Lose”
12. “Goodbyes”
13. “IRL”

IRL is out 7/14 via Atlantic. Find more information here.

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

The Detroit Pistons were set to be among the teams with the most cap space coming into free agency, but with a young roster still trying to find itself, they chose to be patient and use that cap space to trade for veterans other teams were looking to unload.

Early in the night they acquired a pair of second round picks from the Nets to take on Joe Harris’ $19.9 million expiring contract, freeing the Nets up to re-sign Cam Johnson without as big of a tax penalty later in the evening. Later in the evening, they acquired some cash from the Clippers for draft rights to the 57th pick in the 2021 Draft (Balsa Koprivica), and then used more of their space to acquire Monte Morris from the Wizards, sending Washington a second round pick in return.

All told, the Pistons ended the day with Joe Harris, Monte Morris, and a second round pick, which will give them a veteran point guard and another shooter around Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and Ausar Thompson, while also keeping their books clean for next summer when they might have a bit more clarity about which members of their young roster they truly want to build around. Detroit has some frontcourt clutter to work through and would like to see their young backcourt get some real minutes together after Cunningham missed most of last season, and so this summer proved to be about acquiring some veterans without losing anything off the roster and not adding any long-term money to their books.

On Washington’s side, they move some money off of their books amid their rebuild after trading for Jordan Poole and re-signing Kyle Kuzma earlier in the night to a $102 million deal, as they continue to be the league’s most active team this offseason.