Month: September 2023

In his music, Grammy Award-winning emcee J. Cole often prides himself on mentoring the new generation of rappers. As a veteran in the game, the Dreamville Records head honcho advocates for peace amongst the new wave of entertainers. However, it looks like he’s unintentionally been roped into one of the culture’s biggest feuds. Never one to back down from the opportunity to lyrically spar with other acts, Cole seemingly decided to address the matter on his new track with Lil Yachty. So, did J. Cole diss NBA YoungBoy on “The Secret Recipe?”

Although he doesn’t directly mention YoungBoy by name, it surely seems like that’s who he’s talking about. In his verse, J. Cole raps, “Studio steppers movin’ extra on songs, fakin’ rep / Only breakin’ bad in the lab, thought y’all was makin’ meth / N****s makin’ threats and I laugh, that’s ’cause you ain’t a threat / Don’t ask how I feel ’bout no rappers, sh*t, they okay, I guess / Incomin’ call, press the button, the one that say accept / He FaceTime to ask for a feature and saw the face of death / I’m on your song, your streams goin’ up, not quite the Drake effect / But don’t complain, b*tch, take what you get and cut the label check.”

Cole has had public spats with Kanye West, Diddy, and even Lil Pump, but given YoungBoy’s recent jab, there is little room for anything else to be considered. “J a ho’, that n**** played it cold, like he was gon’ do a feature,” rapped YoungBoy on his recent song “F*ck The Industry Pt. 2.”

Based on both YoungBoy and Cole’s lyrics, their friction could be tied to a potential collaboration gone sour. However, fans online believe that the war of words kicked off after J. Cole appeared on his longtime rival and fellow rapper Lil Durk’s song “All My Life.”

The iHeart Radio Jingle Ball is known for good lineups, after having artists like Billie Eilish, Doja Cat, and BTS in the past. The touring festival makes stops through cities in Florida, Michigan, California, Texas, Georgia, and more states, but the most major event is the one in New York City, which is taking place on December 8 this year.

The lineup for the New York City event is nothing short of exciting. On the roster is Olivia Rodrigo, SZA, OneRepublic, Sabrina Carpenter, Jelly Roll, Big Time Rush, Doechii, Pentatonix, David Kushner, and Melanie Martinez.

Other dates have Ice Spice, Usher, Flo Rida, Lil Durk, Nicki Minaj, Marshmello, Niall Horan, Zara Larsson, and more. Find more information here.

Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter on the same lineup is sure to cause a stir in the fan base. Upon the 2021 release of Rodrigo’s famous hit “Drivers License,” rumors spread that the “blonde girl” mentioned in the song was actually Carpenter, who shared the same ex as her: Joshua Bassett. However, Rodrigo debunked the gossip: “I don’t really subscribe to hating other women because of boys. I think that’s so stupid, and I really resent that narrative that was being tossed around,” she said when asked about it.

Alex Jones stopped by an Australia jiu-jitsu champ’s podcast and did what any sane person would do: Begged to have the oxygen cut off to his brain.

While chatting with world champ Craig Jones, the InfoWars host complained that MMA star Eddie Bravo wouldn’t choke him out on Joe Rogan’s show. Realizing he might have a more willing taker, the conspiracy theorist start begging Craig to do the honors.

“Come on, come do it. Wide shot. Here we go,” Alex said. “I’m a lights-out. Take a little snoozy.”

Like any polite host, Craig obliged and proceeded to put Alex in a rear-naked choke, which according to The Daily Beast, is one of the best known submission moves in the world. The embattled podcaster who owes billions to the Sandy Hook families was out almost immediately.

“What? What did I just do?” Jones asked after waking up. “What was I just doing? Did I actually pass out? Huh? I did pass out? Did you really do it? What was I like when I came back?”

Of course, this is Alex Jones we’re talking about, so it’s fair to ask if he really passed out. It doesn’t look entirely convincing to our eyes, and Craig seems to be laughing the whole time. In fact, he joked about it later on Instagram.

“The CIA sent me but I couldn’t do my dad like that,” he wrote alongside a clip of the now-viral moment.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Following a summer of box office duds, including Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Haunted Mansion, Disney will soon start cracking down on password sharing on its Disney+ streaming service.

The Verge reports that Disney sent an email to Canadian subscribers this week detailing the new rules on password sharing, but “has not provided many details on how it plans to enforce this policy.”

The new wording on the Canadian subscriber agreement reads, “Unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household. ‘Household’ means the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside therein. Additional usage rules may apply for certain Service Tiers.” If the terms are broken, “we may limit or terminate access to the Service and/or take any other steps as permitted by this Agreement.”

The announcement comes over a month after Disney’s Q3 earnings call, where CEO Bob Iger said that the company was “actively exploring” ways to address shared accounts. Iger said that a “significant” number of people are currently sharing passwords across Disney’s services and added that Disney has the “technical capability” to monitor sign-ins.

I’m picturing Mickey enforcing the new rules by busting into my house with his robot guards because I shared my Disney+ password with my my four-year-old niece so she can watch Bluey. I guess we’ll find out in Canada on November 1st, which is when the password crackdown is expected to begin.

(Via The Verge)

Since NSYNC’s public reunion at the 2023 VMAs, questions about their future have flooded social media. Would the group begin touring soon? Would they record a new album? Without confirmation from the members, boy band lovers will continue to speculate. To further fuel fans’ burning interest, NSYNC teamed up for a new song, “Better Place,” which will appear on the Trolls Band Together movie soundtrack.

It’s been over 20 years since their last musical release, but there’s no booth rust from Justin Timberlake and company. “Better Place” is the exact nostalgic pop music magic their fans were craving. With light-hearted lyrics, airy production, and their signature harmonies, NSYNC checks off each box necessary to make “Better Place” the formulaic comeback.

“Don’t want it any other way / Tell all your friends are gonna stay / When we’re together / You know that we do it better / I don’t mind if the world spins faster / The music’s louder, the waves are getting stronger / I don’t mind if the world spins faster, faster, faster, faster / Just let me take you to a better place / I’m gonna make you kiss the sky tonight / Yeah, if you let me show the way (show the way) / I’m so excited to see you excited” I’ll take you to a better place (yoohoo),” sings the band.

Although the track will appear on a children’s film feature, it is tailored for the parents rather than their goobers.

Listen to “Better Place” above.

Trolls Band Together will hit theaters in November. Find more information here.

A couple days ago, Matty Healy broke a lot of hearts at The 1975‘s opening night of their Still At Their Very Best Tour. “It’s wonderful you’re all here,” he said. “After this tour, we will be going on an indefinite hiatus with shows, so it’s wonderful to have you guys with us tonight. Thank you so much.”

Healy clarified last night, September 28, at their San Jose show, that it is, in fact, just a small break, not a breakup, which many fans assumed. “We didn’t mean to scare any hardcore fans by insinuating that we were splitting up or anything like that,” he said to a crowd of cheering, relieved fans. “That’s not happening.”

It makes sense that they would take a break; their last tour garnered them enough publicity for a while, with Healy eating raw meat, making out with fans, and touching himself on stage. There was also the band’s controversial performance in Malaysia, during which they protested the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws. They were subsequently banned from Malaysia, and people accused Healy of overstepping and having a white savior complex. “All I’ll say is that I don’t give a f*ck about any white savior complex bullsh*t,” he responded to criticism.

Elon Musk took time off from painfully flirting with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez yesterday to visit the U.S.-Mexico border. He wanted to get an “unfiltered” view of the situation — and an excuse to wear a cowboy hat.

“Let me preface by also saying that I am, you know, as an immigrant to the United States, I’m extremely pro-immigrant,” Musk said, according to The Hill. “I believe that we need a greatly expanded legal immigration system and that we should let anyone in the country who is hardworking and honest and will be a contributor to the United States.” He added that he’s “very much in favor of expanded legal immigration” and that “anyone who is hardworking and honest” should be let in, but from his vantage point in Eagle Pass, Texas, “what we’re seeing here are, in some cases, some pretty extreme individuals coming through… obviously not suggesting everyone is like this.”

Musk made these remarks on X, but his first attempt to “engage in citizen journalism” was interrupted by technical problems. Hm, that sounds familiar. Things got so bad, he sent a company-wide email with only three words: “Please fix this.” Eventually, the livestream started working smoothly, but while it was down, someone should have told Elon to fix his hat.

(Via The Hill)

All the late-night TV shows have been off the air for months now thanks to the WGA strike. That just came to an end, though, and late-night isn’t wasting time returning to the air, as they’re coming back next week. This is also good news for the music world, as without late-night shows, musicians have been stripped of opportunities for live performances on national TV.

The Tonight Show‘s first post-strike episode is coming on Monday, October 2, but who’s going to be Jimmy Fallon’s first post-strike musical guest? The answer, it turns out, is John Mayer.

Fallon shared a DIY promo video for the episode yesterday (September 28), in which he sits on the floor, plays guitar, and talk-sings, “We’re back Monday night. 11:35. NBC. Tonight Show. Matthew McConaughey is our first guest. He has a new children’s book out called Just Because, it’s great. John Mayer is our musical guest. He’s gonna play guitar as well. And sing. And Matthew McConaughey will sing, too. I haven’t asked him yet, but Matthew: Will you? Matthew McConaughey. John Mayer. Me. Tonight Show. This Monday. Check it out! We’re back!”

Mayer has been on Fallon a handful of times now, most recently as a musical guest in 2021.

Britney Spears posts videos of herself dancing on Instagram all the time, but one of her latest dispatches sparked some real concern. In it, Spears dances as usual, except for the fact that she’s holding a large knife in each hand. It was speculated that Spears was inspired by Shakira’s recent VMAs performance, which Spears later confirmed while telling concerned parties to “lighten up about the knives.”

Now, following reports that the LAPD conducted a welfare check on Spears after the knife video, Spears has again spoken up (and shared another knife-dancing video while she was at it).

The video shared last night (September 28) again shows Spears flailing knives around as she moves, and in the caption, she explains that the knives were rented from a pop shop and that people don’t need to worry about her. She wrote, “I know I spooked everyone with the last post, but these are fake knives that my team rented from Hand Prop shop in LA. These are not real knives. No one needs to worry or call the police. I’m trying to imitate one of my favorite performers Shakira … a performance I was inspired by !!! Cheers to us bad girls who aren’t afraid to push boundaries and take risks !”

Check out the new video below.

PinkPantheress is back in her Y2K bag. Tonight (September 29), the British pop star — who broke through earlier this year with her Ice Spice-assisted hit singer “Boy’s A Liar, Pt. 2” — has delivered another catchy tune. On her latest single, “Mosquito,” PinkPantheress longs to be with a special man — for whom her love seems to be unrequited.

“I just had a dream I was dead / And I only cared ’cause I was taken from you / You’re the only thing that I own / I’d hear my bell ring, I’d only answer for you,” she sings on the song’s chorus.

PinkPantheress has been sitting on this song for a while, debating the right time to release it, as it’s one of her more personal tracks.

“After a long wait my favourite song is coming out to the public,” said PinkPantheress in a statement. “I’m so excited for you guys to hear something different from me in form of this song.”

The song’s accompanying video was directed by Sophie Muller, and features PinkPantheress living out her 2000s romcom fantasy by way of a shopping spree with her galpals. Charithra Chandran (Bridgerton), India Amarteifio (Queen Charlotte), and Yara Shahidi (Grown-ish) all help PinkPantheress cope with heartache.

You can see the video for “Mosquito” above.

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