Month: July 2023

The latest addition to Nas and Hit-Boy’s growing joint discography has arrived. Magic 2, the duo’s fifth collaborative project in just four years, dropped on Friday, July 21, earning praise from not just hip-hop heads but also one of the celebrities name-checked on the album. The song “Earvin Magic Johnson” is a reference to the NBA legend, but rather than praising his achievements on the court, it instead refers to his business acumen — something Nas can obviously relate to.

Magic himself acknowledged the reference on Twitter (I refuse to call it X, just like the Staples Center will never be called Crypto.com Arena by LA locals). “On Nas’s new album Magic 2 he dedicated track 7 to me called Earvin Magic Johnson!” he wrote. ““Thank you for the respect and honor of my business acumen. You’re a hell of a businessman in your own right!”

He’s not exaggerating. Last year, Nas teamed up with Google to invest in a video game company (just when video games are experiencing rapid growth), and he was one of the earliest of hip-hop’s icons to put his money into cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, Magic Johnson continues to be a big-time investor in his own right; last year, he joined a group bidding on the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.

The Blue Note Jazz Festival will overtake Silverado Resort in Napa, California this weekend (July 28-30), boasting Mary J. Blige, Nas, and Chance The Rapper as its headliners.

Robert Glasper is serving as the Artist In Residence, and he expressed to Uproxx the significance of the festival last summer.

“There are so many amazing artists and trailblazers, and to have them all in one festival represents so much and represents how free the music can be,” he said then, in part.

And that is especially poignant in relation to Blue Note Jazz Festival 2023, as it will continue the year-long celebration around hip-hop’s 50th anniversary. As Zoë Jones contextualized it for Uproxx, “Blue Note has the potential to be much more than a festival – the lineup alone can stand as music history: tracing the evolution of Black music at a time when it’s more present than ever in mainstream consciousness.”

The event will unfold across three stages: Black Radio Stage, Footprints Stage, and Blue Note Stage.

On Friday, July 28, the Black Radio Stage will host Big Freedia (1:45-2:45 p.m. local time), Ari Lennox (3:45-4:45 p.m.), and Glasper alongside De La Soul and Dave Chappelle (5:45-7:30 p.m.) ahead of Blige’s headlining set (8:30-9:45 p.m.).The Footprints Stage will host the likes of Madlib (2:45-3:45 p.m.) and Cordae (4:45-5:45 p.m.).

Come Saturday, July 29, Madlib will be joined by Talib Kweli on the Black Radio Stage from 3:45 to 4:45 p.m., and Glasper will occupy the same slot (5:45-7:30 p.m.) but this time cohabitate the stage with Chappelle and Lalah Hathaway & Terrace Martin. Nas’ headlining set is also scheduled for 8:30-9:45 p.m.

Chance The Rapper will wrap the party with his 8:30-9:45 p.m. headlining set on Sunday, July 30.

Check out the full Blue Note schedule below, and find more information about the festival here.

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

I’m not sure where Stephen King finds the time for Twitter while continuing to regularly churn out novels, but find time, he does. On the ailing social media platform, the Cell author has shown himself to be king of the dad jokes, but King also knows when to reel it in and not waste fancy words while, say, responding to Ted Cruz. That’s not to say that he’s afraid to get political. On the contrary. And sometimes, the results are so WTF that one has to marvel.

Such was the case when King may have referred to Don Jr.’s remarks about the cocaine found in the White House over the Fourth of July weekend. Actually, scratch that because I’m not sure what King was referencing — it could be that he’s alluding to Don Jr.’s tendency to seem high-energy or even teary-eyed and twitchy during media appearances.

Whatever the inspiration, King tweeted a meme of a super-scraggly “dog” (not a dog) that looked as though it was a cartoon character that stuck its paw into an electric outlet. It’s very Wile E. Coyote stuff, and the meme’s caption refers to a “drug-sniffing dog” possibly visiting an ex-president’s son’s house.

I mean, it’s so absurd and so 2023. Sometimes, someone needs to take the phone away from all of us, collectively, but at least the U.S. isn’t currently (totally, at least) at the mercy of a dude whose Diet Coke button is the most universally approved-of thing that he’s ever done. If the GOP primary goes Trump’s way, however, that button (and more) could be back. In other words, the 2024 race should be another dubiously wild ride.

The Buffalo Bills come into the 2023 NFL season hoping to breakthrough and finally come out on top of the AFC. They have all the pieces in place, with a star quarterback and receiver combo in Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs, as well as a stout defense led by the now-healthy Von Miller.

However, so much of success in the NFL leans on the “others” and having enough depth to navigate the new 17-game regular season as well as the playoffs, and unfortunately the Bills saw their depth take a hit with the news that running back and kick returner Nyheim Hines will be out for the season after a freak accident on a jet ski. According to Tom Pelissero, Hines was seated on a jet ski that was stationary in the water when he was struck by another jet ski, causing non-life threatening injuries but requiring surgery that will end his season before it even begins.

Hopefully Hines can make a full recovery from a scary injury situation, but his absence will thin out the Bills running back room a bit coming into the season and will force them to find a new return man. Hines had a pair of kickoff return touchdowns a season ago, and figured to take on that role again next year. The return situation figures to be the most difficult to replace, as the Bills do still have three solid backs in Damien Harris, Latavius Murray, and James Cook. Still, given the wear and tear of the running back position during a season, having solid backups you can lean on if needed is important and Hines was a good option to have who also brought a lot of special teams value they’ll now miss.

Taylor Swift is in the homestretch of the North American leg of The Eras Tour, and she’s bringing Haim with her.

The Eras Tour hit Seattle’s Lumen Field on Saturday, July 22, and Sunday, July 23. The back-to-back dates marked the beginning of Haim’s stint as Swift’s opener (alongside Gracie Abrams).

Haim posted a TikTok ahead of Saturday’s show with the funny-yet-totally-true message, “First time seeing the 8th wonder of the world (the eras tour).” Later in the night, Swifties in attendance had the distinct honor of witnessing Swift perform her Evermore track “No Body, No Crime” featuring Haim for the first time.

According to several fan accounts, including @TheSwiftSociety, Swift replaced “‘Tis The Damn Season” with “No Body, No Crime” in her setlist. The same account also relayed that Swift acknowledged Haim as “the best band who has ever lived and my best friends.”

Fan-captured videos show Swift beginning the Evermore era of her three-plus-hour show by arriving on stage with Haim by way of an elevating platform. “[I’ve] got something brand new for you,” Swift tells the crowd. “I hope that’s alright!”

“ERAS NIGHT ONE WAS A DREAM!!!! got to play no body no crime for the first time.. see you tonight for round 2 SEATTLE,” Haim posted to Instagram.

Swift and Haim performed “No Body, No Crime” again during Sunday’s concert, leading Swifties to wonder whether Swift will keep it for the remainder of the North American leg — just as she made “Long Live” a permanent addition following the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) on July 7.

The Eras Tour will next visit Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California (July 28-29) before wrapping with five nights at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California (August 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9). Haim will be one of several opening acts for the remaining North American dates.

After Ben Shapiro spent the weekend getting dragged by social media for his 43-minute long rant about the Barbie movie, MSNBC host Medhi Hasan called out Republicans for their “pathetic” freakout over the box office hit of the summer if not the entire year.

Before Shapiro entered the mix, Barbie had already been called out by Ted Cruz, Fox News, and others over predictable claims that the film is “anti-men” thanks to Ryan Gosling’s portrayal of Ken, who Ginger Gaetz complained had “disappointingly low T.” Whatever the heck that means.

After walking through some of the more outlandish claims, Hasan roasted the supposedly “grown men” who can’t stop complaining about how Ken, a doll who was made for the express purpose of being an accessory to Barbie, is too “beta.”

Via Raw Story:

“These are grown men losing their minds over a movie about a doll,” Hasan continued. “What has happened to the conservative movement? There was a time when conservatives had substantive things to say about taxes, regulation, defense, and foreign policy. Now it’s Barbie, Dr. Seuss that, Bud Light, Mr. Potato Head. The skin color of the Little Mermaid. It’s ridiculous. It is childish. It is pretty pathetic, actually. Is it not?”

Unfortunately for conservatives, their freakout isn’t having any effect on Barbie‘s success. The film had a record-breaking $162 million opening weekend, one of the largest in cinema history. In fact, the pull of the movie was so strong that conservative commentator Mercedes Schlapp couldn’t even keep up the facade on Newsmax and threw right-wingers under the bus for having too many boycotts.

“I just think at this point I’m boycotting so many things, I’m running out of things to boycott,” Schlapp said after vowing to take her daughters to see Barbie because it looks “fun.”

(Via Raw Story)

Over the past few months, entertainers have been trying everything to get fans to stop throwing things on stage during their performances. Drake outright told It’s All A Blur attendees to only throw bras, while Latto went a step further and threatened a fan with an ass beating during a recent show. Unfortunately, her warning went unheeded by at least one fan at Rolling Loud, as Latto was forced to nearly stop the show after someone threw a phone on stage while she performed “Muwop.”

It’s difficult to see any flying objects in the video, but Latto’s body language says enough. She stops rapping for a bit, looking extremely peeved, before she adjusts her outfit and gets back to work. She’s enough of a pro to recognize that the show must go on, but for a second, it does look like she’s ready to rumble after all.

Latto had a more positive fan experience at another recent festival performance when a fan who wanted her attention got it in an appropriate way, holding up a sign that read “Latto, sign my ass.” She obliged, then joined the fan in an impromptu twerk session. This seems like some thing more fans should try instead of throwing their $800 supercomputers at performers.

[Warning: this post contains spoilers for Oppenheimer]

Everyone knew “now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds” was going to be in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. But I don’t think anyone expected it in that context.

The quote, which J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) recited from the Bhagavad Gita, is first said during a sex scene between the theoretical physicist and Jean Tatlock, played by Florence Pugh. It’s a memorable (and surprisingly spicy) moment in the film, but some are calling for it to be removed.

India’s Information Commissioner and Save Culture Save India Foundation founder Uday Mahurkar, a member of a Hindu nationalist party, criticized the scene for being a “scathing attack on Hinduism” over the weekend. “The Bhagwad Geeta is one of the most revered scriptures of Hinduism. Geeta has been the inspiration for countless sanyasis, brahmcharis and legends who live a life of self-control and perform selfless noble deeds,” he tweeted. “We do not know the motivation and logic behind this unnecessary scene on life of a scientist. But this is a direct assault on religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus, rather it amounts to waging a war on the Hindu community and almost appears to be part of a larger conspiracy by anti-Hindu forces.”

The scene is reportedly being censored in India:

As reviews and reactions to the film roll in, Twitter users in India discussed how the film had been censored for the market. A nude scene featuring cast member Florence Pugh as psychiatrist and physician Jean Tatlock was singled out. According to a screenshot shared by a Twitter user, Pugh’s nudity was concealed by the post-production painting on of a black dress.

Mahurkar, who praised Nolan for his “art of filmmaking,” is asking the director to “remove this scene from your film across [the] world.” If he ignores the request, “it would be deemed as a deliberate assault on Indian civilization.”

I guess Barbie wasn’t the most controversial movie of the weekend after all.

(Via CNN)

The NBA world is currently waiting on the resolution of two star trade demands, as Damian Lillard has asked the Blazers to trade him to the Heat and James Harden has asked the Sixers to trade him to the Clippers.

While trade requests are nothing new, the trend of star players not just asking out but having one specific team in mind they want to get traded to — thus tanking their trade value in the process — is a fairly recent phenomenon. The Blazers and Sixers are currently holding out in hopes of maybe getting a better offer, but there doesn’t seem to be much optimism from the outside world that either will get the surprise offer they’re hoping in order to force the Heat and Clippers, respectively, into putting more on the table.

Plenty of media pundits have talked and written about trade demands with only one team on their list being a bad trend, but it’s also a sentiment shared by some players below that superstar level. Austin Rivers recently spoke about that on his Off Guard podcast with The Ringer, explaining why he thinks it’s “bad for the league” and expressed his frustration with how stars are separating themselves further and further from the rest of the league’s players — including a brief note about how the new CBA only worsens that divide.

There’s a lot in this, and Rivers tries to make clear this isn’t a Dame issue he has but a larger problem with how stars seem to want to be above the business of the NBA by signing a long-term contract to maximize their earnings and then very quickly trying to dictate a trade somewhere else. It is interesting because for years we have heard about “player empowerment” in this era, but that may be a misnomer, as it’s more “star empowerment” as only a select few get to enjoy that kind of leverage. Whether they’re wrong for using that leverage you could easily argue they’ve earned by being the best is an entirely different conversation, but it does seem to irk some of the players below them in the NBA’s hierarchy who get traded on a whim and just have to deal with it

Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw a couple big three-way hip-hop collaborations and Ice Spice continue her ascent. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters.

Travis Scott, Bad Bunny, and The Weeknd — “K-Pop”

Travis isn’t messing around on “K-Pop,” as he brought two of today’s heaviest hitters, Bad Bunny and The Weeknd, into the fold for the new song. The smooth single arrived a week before Travis’ anticipated post-Astroworld festival comeback with Utopia.

Ice Spice — “Deli”

Ice Spice has gradually been expanding her Like…? EP: Last week’s deluxe edition is the third incarnation of the project, which is nearly a full-length album at this point. Among the four new songs added to the latest iteration is “Deli,” which pairs the rapper’s signature flow with a bass-driven, hard-hitting instrumental.

Kaliii — “KToven”

In case you were wondering where the use of Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” in hip-hop has been, Kaliii has you covered on “KToven.” While the classical composer surely never imagined his music underscoring lyrics about “p*ssy” and “broke b*tches,” well, it is now and it gets the job done.

Lizzo — “Pink”

Pretty much every popular musician contributed to the new Barbie movie soundtrack that dropped last week, and that includes Lizzo, who offered “Pink” for the project. The tune has a subtle groove and is very directly about Barbie herself as Lizzo speak-sings to her on the fun conversational track.

Zayn — “Love Like This”

Zayn has dropped a few albums since leaving One Direction, but generally speaking, he’s been relatively quiet in his solo career. So, it’s always a treat when he shows his face, which he did last week on the rhythmic new single “Love Like This.”

ASAP Rocky — “Riot (Rowdy Pipe’n)”

ASAP Rocky has a literal baby on the way, but he delivered a different kind of baby on the way with “Riot (Rowdy Pine’n).” Speaking of Rihanna, of note here is that Rocky used the song to continue stoking marriage rumors with a lyrical choice.

Chris Stapleton — “White Horse”

Country music has been making headlines lately thanks to Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert, but those stories weren’t exactly positive. Chris Stapleton came through with a reason to celebrate, though, by announcing a new album and sharing “White Horse,” a big country rocker that’s yet another perfect showcase for his distinctive vocal gravel.

Big Thief — “Vampire Empire”

“Vampire Empire” is not a new song: It’s long been a favorite among Big Thief fans, and they even performed it on The Late Show earlier this year. Now, though, it’s finally gotten an official release, so fans can at last enjoy it on their streaming platform of choice.

Jay Rock, Anderson .Paak, and Latto — “Too Fast (Pull Over)”

It’s been 2018 since we last got a Jay Rock album, but that doesn’t mean he’s been hiding. He popped up last week with “Too Fast (Pull Over),” a rapid-fire number that gets the most out of collaborators Anderson .Paak and Latto.

Byron Messia and Burna Boy — “Talibans II”

Jamaica’s own Messia is having a big 2023 so far thanks to “Talibans.” That song just got a nice boost from Burna Boy,” who hopped on a new remix of the chilled-out track.

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