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Sampha Announced ‘Lahai,’ His First Album In Six Years, And The Title Is Particularly Personal

Sampha has a “special place” in Issa Rae’s heart, and he presumably just improved his position in the hearts of his understandably impatient fans.

On Thursday, August 24, Sampha announced Lahai is on the way. It will be his first album since Process in 2017. The announcement comes two months after Sampha released his “Spirit 2.0” single, his first solo single in six years.

Sampha posted the presumed cover art on Instagram along with the below caption, which appears to include the tracklist:

“‘LAHAI’

My grandfather’s name
My middle name
My next musical chapter
My next album

Fever Dreams. Continuums. Dancing. Generations. Syncopation. Bridges. Grief. Motherlands. Love. Spirit. Fear. Flesh. Flight.”

And that’s all we know so far. Sampha didn’t identify a release date, but his statement about “Spirit 2.0” upon its release might foretell what can be expected from Lahai whenever it arrives. (Lil Yachty also teased in Sampha’s Instagram comments, “Magic is on the way!!”)

“It’s about the importance of connection to both myself and others, and the beauty and harsh realities of just existing. It’s about acknowledging those moments when you need help — that requires real strength,” Sampha said. “I hope people can enjoy that feeling of someone being there for you, even if that person doesn’t have the answers. Just calling someone up without overthinking… letting go and just dancing.. wanting to see past the mundanity of things and appreciating the magic of it all, from birds nests to spaceships.”

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Ed Sheeran Is All Done With Symbols As He Announces His New Album ‘Autumn Variations,’ Fittingly Arriving This Fall

Ed Sheeran shared – (Subtract) in May, but he’s already back with another album. The “Shape Of You” singer has announced Autumn Variations, arriving — you guessed it — this fall. As you may have noticed, the album title consists of actual words, not mathematical symbols like his previous non-collaboration albums.

Working with The National’s Aaron Dessner again, Sheeran explained that his new album consists of songs about the “highs of falling in love and new friendships” as well as the “lows of heartbreak, depression, loneliness and confusion.” His full statement reads:

“Last autumn, I found that my friends and I were going through so many life changes. After the heat of the summer, everything either calmed, settled, fell apart, came to a head or imploded.

When I went through a difficult time at the start of last year, writing songs helped me understand my feelings and come to terms with what was going on, and when I learned about my friend’s different situations, I wrote songs, some from their perspectives, some from mine, to capture how they and I viewed the world at that time. There were highs of falling in love and new friendships among lows of heartbreak, depression, loneliness and confusion.

My dad and brother told me about a composer called Elgar, who composed ‘Enigma Variations’, where each of the 14 compositions were about a different one of his friends. This is what inspired me to make this album. When I recorded Subtract with Aaron Dessner, we clicked immediately. We wrote and recorded non-stop and this album was born out of that partnership. I feel he has captured the feeling of autumn so wonderfully in his sonics and I hope everyone loves it as much as I do.”

Find the album artwork and tracklist below.

Ed Sheeran
Warner Music Group

1. “Magical”
2. “England”
3. “Amazing”
4. “Plastic Bag”
5. “Blue”
6. “American Town”
7. “That’s On Me”
8. “Page”
9. “Midnight”
10. “Spring”
11. “Punchline”
12. “When Will I Be Alright”
13. “The Day I Was Born”
14. “Head > Heels”

Autumn Variations is out 9/29 via Gingerbread Man Records. Find more information here.

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

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Elton John was once handed lyrics to make up a song on the spot and it was an instant hit

Musical geniuses take on many forms. But the ones who can seemingly pluck inspiration right out of the imaginary realm and create masterpieces on the spot are particularly astonishing.

Those blessed with this gift of expediency confound us because they appear to not be bound by the normal limitations of being human. Virtually any of us could create something impressive, given enough time and effort. But some savants have no barriers between them and that mysterious, divine substance that makes ideas into reality.

Mere mortals need processes, methods, rituals, even a dose of liquid courage (or something stronger) in order to conjure that sort of power within themselves. So those who just do it willy nilly…well, they’re practically gods.

It feels safe to put Sir Elton John in this deity category, if not for his discography alone, but for having that uncanny ability to create catchy, compelling songs in almost no time at all.


Take “The Circle of Life” for Disney’s “The Lion King,” for instance. A well-known story behind this famous tune is that Sir Elton concocted it in less than two hours.

“I gave him the lyrics at the beginning of the session at about two in the afternoon. By half-past three, he’d finished writing and recording a stunning demo,” lyricist Tim Rice recalled.

But why read an anecdote? Why not see this talent in action?

Back in 2001, while interviewing with legendary British chat show host Michael Parkinson (who died Aug. 16, 2023), the “Tiny Dancer” singer was given the challenge of spontaneously making up a song to lyrics he had never seen before, written by Parkinson’s writing team.

Here’s how he did:

Yep, only Sir Elton could make a song about anything, even clogged storm drains.

Other folks who watched the video were left enamored. Here’s what they had to say:

“I am totally convinced he is the most talented musician of his generation. The lyrics don’t matter, his ability to come up with the vocal melody and chord progression is nothing short of genius.”

“Elton shines so bright.”

“Elton and Mozart must have that same music gene. Their minds must work the same way, everything they read, see or hear, they read, see or hear in music.”

Maybe gifts like Sir Elton John’s are a rarity, but it’s a gift that touches so many.

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How a court jester slapped the king’s butt, then brilliantly convinced him not to kill him

Court jesters hold a unique place in history. Playing the fool for kings and queens meant they were always in close proximity to royalty, but so very far from their rank and station.

Comedians often like to push boundaries, but that can be a dangerous business when your job is to entertain the peope who have executioners at their beck and call. Especially when you forget your place—or purposely ignore it, as the case may be—and playfully smack the reigning monarch square on the behind.

That little whoopsie was the claim to fame of Triboulet, a court jester who served King Francis I in 16th-century France. But it was how he got away with slapping the king on the butt and living to tell about it that earned him his place in history books.


According to Leonie Frieda’s “Francis I: The Maker of Modern France,” the king greatly enjoyed Triboulet’s bawdy humor, though the jester frequently crossed the line with death penalty-worthy offenses. In one incident, Triboulet smacked Francis I on his royal behind, which infuriated the king. He threatened the fool with execution, but after taking a moment to calm down, he offered Triboulet an out: If the jester could come up with an apology that was even more insulting than the butt smack, he would live.

Triboulet thought fast and quickly came up with the best possible answer: “I’m so sorry, Your Majesty, but I didn’t recognize you. I mistook you for the Queen.”

Boom. King was owned. Triboulet lived.

In another instance, Triboulet offended a mistress of Francis I and again faced execution for his impertinence. However, the king, in his mercy, gave the jester the option of choosing his method of death.

“Good sire, by Saint Nitouche and Saint Pansard, patrons of madness,” Triboulet responded, “I ask to die of old age.” The king was left speechless, and true to his word, Triboulet lived to see another day. (And he did, indeed, die of old age in 1536.)

Humor and wit are often underestimated as survival skills, but Triboulet’s narrow misses showcase how useful they can be. Even the World Economic Forum calls a sense of humor an “essential life skill” for its ability to protect us from disease and help us connect with others. Humor also plays an important role in long-term relationships.

Most of us won’t have our lives literally depend on our quick wit like Triboulet, but it’s not a bad idea to hone our humor skills. You just never know when a perfectly-timed zinger will come in handy.

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Man’s cheery ‘Hey good morning’ videos have given TikTok a breath of fresh air

Sometimes you see someone and know they’ve got a gift. It’s not always something you can put your finger on, but you know there’s something special about them and you want them to succeed. That’s basically what happened to Levert The Bassman thousands, if not millions, of times on TikTok.

Levert, who starts every video with his signature cheery, “Hey good morning!” has been spending his time making education videos on the social media platform. Without fail, on nearly every single video, multiple commenters tag PBS and ask them to give him his own show. Something about his voice is calm and soothing, yet possesses an authority that makes people want to stop and listen.

He’s made videos on a plethora of historical topics, and after multiple requests, he’s even read children’s books. People have been virtually pitching Levert to PBS to become the next “Reading Rainbow” host.


All you have to do is take a cruise through his comment section and you’ll see people saying he’s the next LeVar Burton. The internet has declared Levert a star even if PBS hasn’t made him the host of “Reading Rainbow” or created an entirely new show just for him. But if you think his fans’ pleas were for naught, you’d be wrong.

Social media is a powerful tool, and PBS reacted like any curious person or brand who got tagged a million times. They went to check him out. It didn’t take long for the Public Broadcasting Station to see that the fans of Levert just might be on to something. PBS decided to partner with Levert and it all started with a box that contained a blanket and a postcard that read, “you, me & a documentary,” back in February 2023.

@pbs

#stitch with @levertthebassman #greenscreen run to his page. We dare you to watch his videos and not smile, it’s impossible. #package #unboxing #pbs #blanket

The package seemed innocent enough, like a small token of acknowledgment, but PBS had something a little bigger in store. Nothing had really changed on Levert’s page until months later when one of his videos popped up on the PBS TikTok page in a playlist they have labeled, “Learn with Levert.”

Talk about people freaking out! So many commenters were so excited for Levert and the potential opportunities that could come for him. He’s made multiple videos in his partnership with PBS, but that doesn’t stop people from encouraging the station to give him his own show on television. Everyone still seems to be holding out for a “Reading Rainbow” reboot and who better to give it to them than Levert.

That catchy theme song could become future generations’ childhood earworm and I, for one, don’t think that would be a bad thing. Since the time frame between Levert getting the package and his audience finding out about his partnership with PBS was nearly six months long, it’s highly unlikely a show announcement would happen so soon. All anyone can do is wait. Shows take time to come together, but there’s no doubt that anything PBS might make with Levert as their host would be worth the wait.

@pbs

Lets take a little dive into the history of pregnancy, women, and prisons. Like for part two. @LevertTheBassman #PBSFilmFest #history #levertthebassman #prison #womeninprison

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Ben Franklin’s best ideas came from 9 simple questions. Maybe yours can, too.

Ben Franklin: He was a Founding Father, he loved to party, and he’s on the $100 bill. But you might be surprised what else he’s left behind.

Most people have no idea he created the civic triumphs that formed the foundation of American culture.


He and his friends created the first volunteer fire department, the first post office, and the first lending library.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

How’d he do it? He had the right attitude and a great group of friends.

historical paintings, early America, government, institutions

And I’m not even talking about his Founding Father friends. This is a totally different squad.

At age 21, Franklin got his friends together to form the Junto.

The Junto was a weekly meet-up or “mutual-improvement club” where he and his friends talked about how they could make both themselves and the world cooler.

There were certain questions Franklin asked his friends at these meetings. High jinks and civic innovations ensued.

The folks at 92nd Street Y, Stanford’s Hoover Institution, and Citizen University are set on proving that Franklin’s approach can be brought into the modern day. Out of the questions Franklin posed, the folks behind a new form of the Junto, called Ben Franklin Circles, have chosen the most effective — just nine simple prompts:

1. Is there something you need help with?

2. Is anyone here starting a new project and is there a way we can help?

3. Anyone who’s doing innovative work?

4. Is there anyone whose friendship we want?

5. How can we use our networks to help each other?

6. Is there anyone we can mentor and encourage?

7. Can we give one another any personal/professional advice?

8. Can we improve anything about the circle itself?

9. Are there ways the circle should be connecting with and contributing to nearby communities?

As you can see, there are a lot of hive-mind, lifting-each-other-up vibes. Honestly, I feel kinda good just reading these questions.

But what’s really interesting is what Franklin did more than 20 years after starting this improvement club.

At age 42, Franklin took the Junto to the next level. Believing he already had enough money to last the rest of his life, he retired from work and dedicated himself 100% to his community.

As a profile of Franklin’s uniquely non-monetary definition of success in The Atlantic states, “rather than cultivate the fine arts of indolence, retirement, [Franklin] said, was ‘time for doing something useful.’

fireman, art, community, volunteers, creators

Useful like a volunteer fireman creator. Image (modified) via Charles Washington Wright/Wikimedia Commons.

Not a bad way to spend retirement. Or life. One way to create that energy in your life is now available to everyone in the form of the Ben Franklin Circle.

Ben Franklin Circles are starting to pop up, and they’re creating an amazing difference in people’s lives.

Asha Curran, who’s on the staff at the 92nd Street Y, says that her Ben Franklin Circle was one of the most profound parts of her past year.

“It is so rare to have an opportunity to be in a room of smart, thoughtful people where the focus of conversation is solely on our ethical selves. … I was challenged to face things about my own habits that were painful but constructive, and I came out absolutely the better for it both personally and professionally.”

Creating a sense of belonging can affect more than just happiness and well-being — it can even improve health as well. Sometimes for years!

Social psychologist and Stanford professor Greg Walton created a “belonging intervention” — basically an exercise that gives participants a sense that they’re not alone in their struggles —and found that it “increased subjects’ happiness, improved their health and reduced cognitive activation of negative stereotypes for several years after the initial intervention.” The Ben Franklin Circles have the potential to create similar results in the lives of its participants.

We humans have immense potential inside of us, and through helping each other, we can do so much — more than Franklin ever imagined.

This article originally appeared on 02.10.16

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Legendary writer Kurt Vonnegut cleverly explains how to write the 3 stories everyone loves

To be a great fiction writer requires understanding basic story structures and being clever enough to disguise them so your audience doesn’t know they’re watching or reading something they’ve seen before.

Academics suggest that there are only a finite number of plots and structures, but that number varies based on who’s doing the talking.

Writer Kurt Vonnegut, best known for his satirical works on American politics and culture, including “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “Cat’s Cradle” and “Sirens of Titan,” was obsessed with the shapes of stories and summed up his views in one powerful sentence: “The fundamental idea is that stories have shapes which can be drawn on graph paper and that the shape of a given society’s stories is at least as interesting as the shape of its pots or spearheads.”


In the video below, Vonnegut explains why the shapes of three different types of stories, from “person gets into trouble” to “boy meets girl” to “Cinderella,” can all be summed up on two axes: the Y represents good and bad fortune, the X represents the beginning and end of a story.

The first question is where the main character or protagonist starts their journey. Are they in a state of good or bad fortune, and how does that change from beginning to end?

“Somebody gets into trouble, then gets out of it again. People love that story. They never get tired of it,” Vonnegut says with a smirk.

The video is an intriguing look into the mind of a highly original writer and gives excellent insights into the basics of storytelling.

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Olivia Rodrigo Shared A Piece Of Advice From Jack White That Helped Her With The Pressure Of Making ‘Guts’

On September 8, Olivia Rodrigo will drop Guts, her highly anticipated followup to her world-beating 2021 Sour debut, and the rollout is going strong. “Vampire” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July, and “Bad Idea Right?” debuted at No. 1 on this week’s Hot 100 chart, on which “Vampire” sits at No. 6.

It seems like a foregone conclusion that Rodrigo’s singles are hits, but the 20-year-old phenom wasn’t so sure how her post-Sour material would be received.

Caryn Ganz profiled Rodrigo for The New York Times, published this morning (August 24). “Crafting the follow-up to a smash debut is music’s most daunting crucible, and Rodrigo felt the pressure to make a diamond. Ultimately, she turned to advice she’d received from an idol, Jack White,” Ganz wrote.

“He wrote me this letter the first time I met him that said, ‘Your only job is to write music that you would want to hear on the radio,’” Rodrigo told Ganz. “I mean, writing songs that you would like to hear on the radio is in fact very hard.”

Elsewhere in the profile, Ganz relayed that Rodrigo “mocked herself for crying when she met Jack White” and explained why it’s more accurate to view Rodrigo as a rockstar than a pop star. Read the full profile here.

Guts is out 9/8 via Geffen. Find more information here.

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Olivia Rodrigo Shared A Piece Of Advice From Jack White That Helped Her With The Pressure Of Making ‘Guts’

On September 8, Olivia Rodrigo will drop Guts, her highly anticipated followup to her world-beating 2021 Sour debut, and the rollout is going strong. “Vampire” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July, and “Bad Idea Right?” debuted at No. 1 on this week’s Hot 100 chart, on which “Vampire” sits at No. 6.

It seems like a foregone conclusion that Rodrigo’s singles are hits, but the 20-year-old phenom wasn’t so sure how her post-Sour material would be received.

Caryn Ganz profiled Rodrigo for The New York Times, published this morning (August 24). “Crafting the follow-up to a smash debut is music’s most daunting crucible, and Rodrigo felt the pressure to make a diamond. Ultimately, she turned to advice she’d received from an idol, Jack White,” Ganz wrote.

“He wrote me this letter the first time I met him that said, ‘Your only job is to write music that you would want to hear on the radio,’” Rodrigo told Ganz. “I mean, writing songs that you would like to hear on the radio is in fact very hard.”

Elsewhere in the profile, Ganz relayed that Rodrigo “mocked herself for crying when she met Jack White” and explained why it’s more accurate to view Rodrigo as a rockstar than a pop star. Read the full profile here.

Guts is out 9/8 via Geffen. Find more information here.

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The Man Who Accosted Drew Barrymore On Stage Was Arrested Outside Of Her House Mere Days Later

Earlier this week, Drew Barrymore was rushed off stage during an event with actress and singer Reneé Rapp. A man in the Monday night audience reportedly approached Barrymore and demanded to speak with her.

“You know who I am,” the man yelled as Rapp sprung into action and escorted Barrymore backstage. “I need to see you at some point while you’re in New York.”

The man was removed from the event by security, and Barrymore and Rapp resumed their conversation once they felt safe returning to the stage. However, the situation reportedly escalated as the week continued. The man was arrested outside of Barrymore’s house on Wednesday morning.

Via New York Post:

Chad Michael Busto — who shouted down Barrymore at the 92nd Street Y on Monday — was busted going door-to-door in her Southhampton neighborhood trying to track down the A-list actress, according to law enforcement sources.

Busto was detained shortly after landing on the steps of Barrymore’s $6 million farmhouse, sources said. Luckily, the “The Drew Barrymore Show” star was not home at the time. It was not immediately clear what charges Busto would face for the frightening encounter.

The arrest arrives on the heels of the onstage confrontation going viral thanks to Rapp’s quick action. Barrymore later praised the actress/singer for rushing her to safety.

“Well, I have a new definition of your sexiness, it’s that level of protectiveness,” Barrymore told Rapp. “That went full Bodyguard. You are my Kevin Costner!”

(Via New York Post)