Dua Lipa has been teasing her follow-up album to 2020’s Future Nostalgia for a while now. Her collaborator, Mark Ronson, did a recent interview with Vulture where he shed even more light on the direction it might take.
Ronson, while he worked with Lipa on her song “Dance The Night” for the Barbie soundtrack, pointed out that she could be moving away from the disco-influenced sound that fueled her last album.
“I mean, I’ve heard some of it and it’s incredible,” Ronson said. “I think that’s why there’s the disco ball that smashes in the video, right? This feels like her triumphant stomp on that era of her music into whatever she does next.” (He references a moment from Lipa’s video for the track.)
She’s also spoken about how writing the record has not only made her feel more “liberated,” but it also has a title. “The album is different — it’s still pop but it’s different sonically, and there’s more of a lyrical theme. If I told you the title, everything would make sense — but I think we’ll just have to wait,” Lipa previously shared with Vogue Australia.
Even with the change in trajectory for her next album, Lipa’s fans are still incredibly excited to see whatever she comes up with next.
Dua Lipa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
James Harden is, for now, still a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. He would like to be a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, but after picking up his player option to try and push for a trade to L.A., he is at the mercy of Daryl Morey and the Sixers to send him away.
Morey seems willing to let this drag on for awhile, as he did with Ben Simmons (which resulted in Philly trading for Harden), and that brings us to the current stalemate between the various parties. The Clippers aren’t keen on sending out the assets Philly wants, which Morey outlined in a radio interview on Tuesday as being a “very good player” or draft assets they could then turn into a very good player. It seems as though Terance Mann is the sticking point in talks, as the Sixers aren’t particularly interested in a return of just Norman Powell and Marcus Morris, and the Clippers aren’t interested in bidding against themselves, as no other teams are really wanting to bid on Harden given he’s an expiring contract who doesn’t want to be anywhere other than L.A.
All of that means there’s a chance this ends up dragging on into camp, but unlike Simmons, Harden would not simply stay away from the team. No, as Jake Fischer reports, Harden would show up and get into his bag to disrupt things and make it so the Sixers feel as though they simply have to get rid of him, as he did so successfully in Houston and Brooklyn.
And while Simmons stayed away from the team as training camp opened, with player and representation fronting he would never play for the franchise again, Harden’s approach appears to diverge from there.
Harden is a future Hall of Famer, a Top 75 player of all time with scoring titles and an MVP of his own. He is also well practiced — from the end of Harden’s tenure in Houston, as well as Brooklyn — in conduct that can drive a team toward relenting and finally moving on from the talented guard. If this saga does drag out through September and until Media Day on Oct. 2, Harden is expected at this point to report to training camp, according to league sources. You can cause far more headaches for the organization you’re trying to leave by showing up, as opposed to staying home. With both the Rockets and Nets, Harden made various trips away from the team for various nightlife activities. He made Brooklyn feel it had no other option but to trade him to the Sixers before the 2022 trade deadline, or risk losing him for nothing. With Philadelphia, Harden’s side is very much of the belief joining the Clippers is not a matter of if, but when.
In Houston, Harden was looking…husky by the time the season started in 2020 as he waited on them to finally deal him to Brooklyn. This came after he was regularly flying out to Vegas during camp and making very clear that he was not going to be at his absolute best. In Brooklyn, he was likewise aloof by the end of his time there after just over a year with the Nets, sitting out with an injury that was a bit dubious (and led to some hilarity around the All-Star Draft).
I have to say, I’m a bit excited to see what he could pull off in Philadelphia, because Morey is particularly unique in that he is not one to care a whole lot about team chemistry or player feelings. Making him so uncomfortable that he trades Harden for less than he wants might take more than some trips to Vegas or putting on a few pounds. We can only hope Harden takes cues from Andrew Bynum’s practice disruption masterclass and starts hoisting shots as soon as he touches the ball.
Anytime Lizzo is in the building, she’s guaranteed to kill it — on or off the stage. Last night (July 18), following the Melbourne stop of her Special 2our, Lizzo paid a visit to a karaoke bar. While in the bar, she couldn’t help but deliver a special encore.
In an Instagram photo and video carousel captioned “What does Lizzo do after her shows…???,” there is a video of her singing a ’90s classic. Lizzo is seen belting out notes to one of Radiohead‘s signature songs, “Creep.”
Last year, in an interview with Vanity Fair, Lizzo revealed that Radiohead has always been one of her favorite bands, but she was rather clandestine about her love for the band when she was a kid.
“I kept it hidden, even when I was in a rock band,” Lizzo said, “because I didn’t want to be made fun of by my peers — they’d yell, ‘White girl!’ Also, I was wearing these flared bell bottoms with embroidery down it — and they’d say, ‘You look like a white girl, why do you want to look like a hippie?’”
You can see a clip of Lizzo’s karaoke performance above.
Lizzo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Most states in the U.S. have oddly shaped boundaries, largely formed by meandering waterways and coastal irregularities. But two states stand out for their seemingly defiant rectangularness—Wyoming and Colorado.
These almost-twin states share a border, are almost exactly the same size (Colorado is just 1.06 times larger than Wyoming), boast basically the same shape and have the Rocky Mountains eating into a sizeable chunk of them. (Wyoming’s share of mountains is a bit larger than Colorado’s, but its topography isn’t nearly different enough than Colorado’s to account for how many fewer people it has.)
Wyoming’s population as of 2022 was estimated to be just over 580,000, while Colorado’s was estimated to be just over 5.8 million. Almost exactly a 10-fold difference between the two very similar states.
So…why?
Water resources? A logical guess, but nope. Both states contain the headwaters of multiple major rivers, and according to RealLifeLore, Wyoming actually has a slight edge over Colorado due to the way its freshwater is legally allocated.
What makes Wyoming the least populous U.S. state despite being the country’s 10th largest state by area has to do with the Gold Rush, agriculture, World War II, federal lands, the rise of the telecom industry, educational institutions, airplanes and more. It’s a historical Tale of Two States that illustrates how twins with different upbringings can share many similarities but also end up with two very different life stories.
Watch the folks at RealLifeLore explain the population discrepancy between Wyoming and Colorado:
The one correction some people in the comments of the video offered up was that referring to the “mild” climate in Wyoming seems a bit misleading. Several people mentioned that the winter weather in Wyoming is harsher than in Colorado, which may account for fewer people wanting to live there. (However, considering the fact that there are more densely populated places in the world with exceptionally punishing winters, weather doesn’t fully explain it, either.)
It’ll be interesting to see in another hundred years or so if these states’ population trends change, but for now, Wyoming remains the least populous and most naturally undisturbed state. So if you’re big on the outdoors and not so big on people, the Equality State (Side fun fact: Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote.) might just be the place for you. If you love the mountains but also people, Colorado may be more your speed.
The cost of living in the United States has gone up so much in recent years that living on a cruise ship has become a reasonable idea for some retirees. When Nancy and Robert Houchens of Charlottesville, Virginia, retired, they decided to sell almost everything they had and live out their golden years hopping from cruise ship to cruise ship.
“We had a 3,000-square-foot home full of furniture…and everything we own now would fit in the back of a pickup truck,” Robert told USA Today.
“We sold all of our estates except for a little condominium we have in Florida, so when we get too old to cruise, we have somewhere to live,” Nancy added. “And we did keep two vehicles, and what we kept is in half of (Robert’s mother’s storage unit), which is, I don’t know, 10×10 or something. We just walked away from everything.”
Life on a cruise ship is stress-free for the couple because their needs are taken care of on the ship. “It’s been great. I don’t cook. I don’t clean,” Nancy told the Miami Herald.
The couple has found that living on a cruise ship isn’t as expensive as some may assume. Even though inflation has driven up the cost of travel in the U.S., it hasn’t significantly impacted the cruise industry.
“It’s much cheaper than a nursing home or assisted living. It was just a good fit for us. It’s a good fit for a lot of people,” Robert told the Miami Herald.
The couple plans their trips differently than someone who is going on vacation. “We look for the best deal, not the destination,” Nancy told Cruise Passenger.
The couple initially planned to spend $4,000 a month living on the ships. “Our original budget was $4,000 a month. This included gratuities. Of course, things are more expensive now, so that budget has had to increase a little. Depending on where we go, we may or may not need the internet,” she told Cruise Passenger.
“Our phone plan covers most everywhere for 25 cents a minute to call with free internet and texting,” Nancy continued. “We have an annual travel insurance plan, and one of our credit cards also has travel insurance.”
For the Houchens, living on board a cruise ship is definitely cheaper than assisted living. According to the 2020 Genworth Cost of Care Survey, the average monthly cost per person to live in assisted living in Virginia is $5,250 a month, which would cost Houchens over $10,000 a month as a couple.
Further, the roughly $4,000 the couple spends a month includes food, and they don’t have to bother paying for a car. They also try to book their cruises consecutively so they don’t waste money paying for expensive hotels when transferring between cruise lines.
Last July, the Houchens celebrated their 1,000th day sailing with Carnival Cruise Line since the 1980s, and they look forward to countless more days at sea with each other and the new friends they’ve made on their never-ending cruise.
“We cruise Carnival because of the people,” Richard told Travel Pulse. “It isn’t the destinations for us anymore, it’s the journey—and the biggest part of the journey is the people.”
Donald Trump once famously bragged that he only hires the “best people.” Well, one of those people may just be a serial killer.
Granted, Trump’s hiring practices have already been called into question thanks to the likes of Rudy Giuliani, this latest pull from the Trump Organization is a whole new ball game. According to reports, Rex Heuermann, the suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer was employed by the Trump group to do architectural work in 2018.
A 2018 New York City Department of Buildings filing reveals that the Trump Organization employed Heuermann to work on 40 Wall Street, a property once described as the “greatest deal” the former president has ever made. The filing states that Heuermann was hired for a “renovation of office space on the 17th floor to include minor partition and plumbing changes” of the 72-story Manhattan property built in 1930.
Heuermann’s work for the Trump Organization was first picked up by the real estate news site, The Real Deal, which was unable to ascertain how involved the alleged serial killer was with “one of the most recognized properties anywhere in the world.” The Trump Organization has yet to comment on Heuermann’s employment.
Trump has repeatedly bragged about the property over the years, which he’s called “iconic and wonderful” while touting that it shuts down critics of his real estate acumen.
“They don’t want to talk about 40 Wall Street,” Trump boasted to a South Carolina town hall in 2015.
Jimmy Butler is a popular guy, both stateside and abroad. This week, Butler’s over in China, as he’s in the midst of a gigantic tour of the country that features meeting fans, playing tennis, watching basketball, all stuff that you’d probably expect Jimmy Butler to do while he’s enjoying his summer.
Butler’s been keeping folks abreast of what he’s had going on over on his Instagram account, as he’s made daily posts filled with pictures and videos of what he’s calling “the unexpected tour.” His post on Wednesday morning started with Butler giving a little recap of his day in Taiyuan, which featured him shooting some hoops in front of fans, one of whom threw a shoe at him.
Meanwhile in China, @JimmyButler got hit in the face with a shoe
“Man, what an unreal experience,” Butler said to the camera. “First of all, besides getting hit in the face with a shoe, which was probably my favorite part of the whole thing.”
This can obviously be a pretty nasty situation — there have been a number of folks in the world of music recently who have gotten hit in the face with a projectile while they’ve been performing. Fortunately it seems like Butler was ok, to the point that he was laughing after he got hit by a shoe.
Passages was one of the most-acclaimed films to premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. IndieWire called it a “signature new drama” that’s “both generously tender in its brutality and unsparingly brutal in its tenderness,” while Time Out New York praised the film for being “sexy, sad, and so very French.” The Motion Picture Association is fine with the sadness and the Frenchness, but not the sexiness.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Passages, about a gay couple (Franz Rogowski and Ben Whishaw, a.k.a. the voice of Paddington) living in Paris whose marriage is tested when one of them has an affair with a woman (Adèle Exarchopoulos), has been given a rare NC-17 rating by the MPA.
“There’s no untangling the film from what it is,” co-writer and director Ira Sachs told the Times. “It is a film that is very open about the place of sexual experience in our lives. And to shift that now would be to create a very different movie.” The film’s distributor, Mubi, is “deeply disappointed” by the ruling.
“Passages is an honest and groundbreaking portrait of contemporary relationships, both queer and straight. Frank and thoughtful portrayals of sex are essential to cinematic storytelling and in service of representation more broadly. An NC-17 rating suggests the film’s depiction of sex is explicit or gratuitous, which it is not, and that mainstream audiences will be offended by this portrayal, which we believe is also false.”
An NC-17 rating hurts a film’s chance at box office success, but more importantly (and considering the subject matter), it’s a form of censorship. “It’s so 1950s that [the ratings system] still exists,” Sachs said. “We’re talking about a board that is not visible, that doesn’t make its rules known, that exists in silence. We’re talking about a select group of people who have a certain bent, which seems anti-gay, anti-progress, anti-sex — a lot of things which I’m not.”
Passages open in Los Angeles and New York on August 4 before a wider expansion. You can watch the trailer below.
Big Thief is back with their new single, “Vampire Empire,” from the group’s forthcoming 7-inch arriving this fall. (The other track on it is “Born For Loving You.”)
A few months ago, after already playing it at live shows, the band officially debuted it during their performance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and it’s gained traction since as fans waited to see an official release.
Lyrically, it explores trying to get out of a bad cycle in a relationship.
“For me, it’s about getting out of toxic internal patterns – leaving the empire of energy drains that obscure pure essence, learning about what healthy boundaries are, and finding the power to implement them for the possibility of giving and receiving (both inwardly and outwardly) unbroken and infinite Love,” vocalist Adrianne Lenker shared about the meaning behind the special song in a statement.
Check out Big Thief’s new track “Vampire Empire” above. Continue scrolling for a complete list of their upcoming tour dates, with more information available here.
07/19 — Kingston, NY @ Ulster Performing Arts Center
07/22 — Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
07/23 — Nelsonville, OH – Nelsonville Music Festival
07/26 — Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room
07/27 — Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
07/29 — Omaha, NE @ Maha Music Festival
07/31 — Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks
08/03 — Vancouver, BC @ Orpheum Theatre
08/04 — Portland, OR @ McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater
08/05 — Seattle, WA @ Marymoor Amphitheater
08/08 — Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre Berkeley
08/09 — Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Just when you thought Ice Spice was as big as it gets, the Bronx native has announced a new slate of songs. They’ll be added onto the deluxe version of her breakout EP, Like…?, which she announced during a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. Speaking with Lowe as part of Apple Music’s Up Next program, Ice also talked up her recent Taylor Swift collaboration, “Karma,” being mentored by Drake and Nicki Minaj, and opening for Doja Cat on her upcoming tour.
The original version of Like…?, which was released in January via 10K Projects and Capitol Records, contained six tracks including Ice’s breakout hit “Munch,” its follow-up “Bikini Bottom,” and the fan favorite, “Princess Diana,” which was later remixed with Nicki Minaj. The EP peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard 200, capping Ice Spice’s rise to near-ubiquitous stardom. Her rise was also aided by her appearance on the PinkPantheress song “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2,” which has become a staple of her live show.
With her early 2023 run culminating in the Nicki Minaj collaboration “Barbie World” for the Barbie movie soundtrack, Ice has been teasing one new song in particular, “Deli,” sharing several snippets on social media. You can check that out below.
Like…? (Deluxe) is due on July 21. You can get more info here.
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