Month: January 2024

ASAP Rocky returned to court this week to enter a plea in the ongoing assault case against him brought by former ASAP Mob member ASAP Relli, maintaining his innocence. Although he had previously pled not guilty to shooting Relli in the hand, after a judge ruled that prosecutors had enough evidence to warrant a trial, he was compelled to do so again. According to Rolling Stone, Rocky and his lawyer, Joe Tacopina, hope that the trial can begin by September, so that the “DMB” rapper can focus on “enjoying his family.”

Who Is ASAP Rocky Accused Of Shooting?

Rocky is accused of shooting Relli in November 2021 after a confrontation over a mutual friend’s funeral expenses. Relli, whose real name is Terell Ephron, says that after he sent Rocky an email accusing him of being “fake,” he was ambushed by Rocky, who pulled a handgun on him. He said that after “talking a bunch of sh*t” to Rocky, the rapper turned around and fired several shots, with one hitting Relli in the hand.

Relli is also suing Rocky for assault, battery, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Tacopina has characterized the accusations as a shakedown, an attempt to extort money from Rocky in exchange for Relli dropping the charges. While detectives recovered private security footage they say backs up Relli’s account, they have so far been unable to find any physical evidence that ties Rocky to the alleged crime. No guns were recovered and no fingerprints were found on the shell casings Relli says he collected from the scene.

Did ASAP Rocky Plead Not Guilty?

Not only did ASAP Rocky plead not guilty — twice — but he and Tacopina also maintain that they have evidence to back up their own insistence that Relli tried to extort Rocky and perjured himself in court by saying he never asked Rocky for money.

When Is ASAP Rocky’s Next Court Date?

ASAP Rocky is due back in court on March 6.

Kid Cudi’s new Insano album is among Uproxx’s Most Anticipated of 2024, and thankfully fans won’t have to wait too long to hear it. Given that the rapper had originally pushed it back last September, a lot of updates have happened since.

Here’s everything to know.

Release Date

Kid Cudi’s Insano is out 1/12 via Republic Records. Find more information here.

Tracklist

1. “Often I Have These Dreamz” Feat. DJ Drama
2. “Keep Bouncin’”
3. “Get Off Me” Feat. Travis Scott
4. “Most Ain’t Dennis”
5. “Wow” Feat. A$AP Rocky
6. “ElectroWaveBaby”
7. “A Tale Of A Knight”
8. “Cud Life”
9. “Too Damn High” Feat. Lil Yachty
10. “Getcha Gone”
11. “At The Party” Feat. Travis Scott & Pharrell
12. “Mr. Coola”
13. “Freshie”
14. “Tortured”
15. “X & Cud” Feat. XXXTentacion
16. “Seven” Feat. Lil Wayne
17. “Funky Wizard Smoke”
18. “Rager Boyz” Feat. Young Thug
19. “Porsche Topless”
20. “Blue Sky”
21. “Hit The Streetz In My Nikes”

Singles

“Porsche Topless,” “At The Party,” and “Most Ain’t Dennis” have been released as early singles.

Features

Insano will have a bunch of features. Right now, Travis Scott, ASAP Rocky, Pharrell, Young Thug, Lil Wayne, DJ Drama, Lil Yachty, and XXXTentacion are included as collaborators. He has also teased a deluxe version, so there could be even more artists added.

Artwork

View the Insano cover art below.

Tour

Right now, Kid Cudi does not have any upcoming tour dates released. But he might in the future. A few days ago, he did confirm that there would be a world tour tied to the album that would start in June.

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

Ever since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm has struggled to get Star Wars back into theaters. But now, it appears the studio is pulling out its big gun. Or at least its cutest one.

The Mandalorian & Grogu has been officially added to the ever-growing slate of upcoming Star Wars films. After overseeing the wildly popular streaming series starring the beloved characters, Jon Favreau will slip into the director’s chair for this latest feature film that will reportedly start production in 2024.

“I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created,” Favreau said in a statement to StarWars.com. “The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting.”

Naturally, this surprise announcement raises all kinds of questions The biggest is will the film replace The Mandalorian Season 4? On top of that, there’s the matter of Dave Filoni’s Star Wars movie, which was set to be the culmination of several storylines taking place across The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and the upcoming Skeleton Crew. According to StarWars.com, Filoni’s movie is still in development along with Ahsoka Season 2, so it will be interesting to see what happens on that front.

There’s also a noticeable omission: Pedro Pascal isn’t mentioned once in The Mandalorian & Grogu announcement. Presumably, the actor will be involved in the project even with his busy schedule. Starting with The Mandalorian Season 3, Pascal and Lucasfilm have both acknowledged that the actor is only doing voiceover work for the character. (His stunt doubles now receive full casting credit.) Pascal’s involvement in The Mandalorian & Grogu will also be an interesting situation to keep an eye on.

(Via StarWars.com)

Taylor Swift’s domination of NFL coverage has sprouted a new subset of at-home viewers. While avid football fans are excited to watch the epic sports showdown at this year’s Super Bowl, others are tuning in for a different genre of entertainment: Some non-sports fans’ interest in the evening is Usher’s halftime show performance. The other remaining curiosity is lasered in on what witty commercials are set to air throughout the broadcast.

Today (January 9), Billboard exclusively revealed that “In Ha Mood” rapper Ice Spice has been tapped for a coveted advertisement slot. As Starry’s newest celebrity ambassador, Ice Spice will lend her likeness to the company for its upcoming Super Bowl commercial. You might recall Ice Spice’s signature drink deal with Dunkin last year, but this is quite different.

Instead of formulating a new beverage concoction, Ice Spice will simply sit pretty as she sips on PepsiCo’s newest lemon-lime soda, which was introduced in 2023. This national coverage is just the fizz she needs going into the promotion of her forthcoming debut studio album. A representative for the company referred to the partnership with Ice Spice as “a no-brainer.”

“Ice Spice’s charm and charisma are unmatched, making her the perfect fit for the brand’s first Super Bowl commercial,” read the statement.

Ice Spice echoed that in her note shared with Billboard. “I’m hyped to star in the first-ever STARRY Super Bowl commercial,” she said. “Trust me. STARRY is a vibe.

The Last of Us has found its season two villain, and fans of Pedro Pascal’s Joel and Bella Ramsey’s Ellie should be scared.

Booksmart actress Kaitlyn Dever has been cast in the role of Abby, one of the most controversial characters in Neil Druckman’s source material. Abby is a pivotal character in the video game whose storyline intersects with Ellie’s and Joel’s in bloody, violent ways. There’s really no way to explain who Abby is and how big of a presence Dever will have in season two without wading into spoiler territory….

…so here’s your warning.

Who Is Abby In The Last Of Us?

In Druckman’s story, Abby is the daughter of Jerry Anderson, a head surgeon working with the Fireflies on a cure for the Cordyceps fungus that has ravaged much of the world. Fans of the show might remember the season finale in which Joel went on a murderous rampage, killing most of the Fireflies in Salt Lake City after discovering their plan to kill Ellie to harness her immunity as some sort of vaccine against the fungus. Abby’s father was one of the doctors caught in the crosshairs and Abby is on a quest for revenge when she’s introduced in the second game. Described as a stoic and capable soldier, Abby’s physicality in the game factored heavily into how much of a threat she presented to both Joel and Ellie. Dever is noticeably less muscular than her on-screen counterpart but for fans worrying the actress won’t be able to embody bone-crushing brutality, showrunner Craig Mazin said, according to The Hollywood Reporter, “We look for world-class actors who embody the souls of the characters in the source material.”

What Will The Last Of Us Season 2 Be About?

The show’s second season will feature a five-year time jump — though whether that happens early on or closer to its finale, we’re still not sure. In the season one finale, Joel and Ellie were headed away from the Fireflies’ home base, presumably back to his brother Tommy and the settlement in Wyoming. Joel lies to Ellie about what happened at the hospital, something will likely drive a wedge between the pair, as will Ellie’s new girlfriend, Dina.

What Is The Release Date For The Last Of Us Season 2?

Last year’s writer’s strike halted production on the show’s second season. The SAG-AFTRA strike delayed things further, though the writer’s room was able to come together to star working on season two’s scripts. According to Mazin, the cast will return for filming in early February, which means it will likely be late 2024 or early 2025 before we see Dever and company on our screens.

Over the summer, Suits became an unexpected hit, so much so that there will be even more Suits on the way….eventually. But until then, we have to settle for a cute little reunion that happened over the weekend.

The Suits gang, consisting of Patrick J. Adams, Gabriel Macht, Gina Torres, and Sarah Rafferty, all reunited on-stage at The 2024 Golden Globes to present Best TV Drama, an award that Suits never got. Noticeably absent was Meghan Markle, who starred on the show for seven seasons, and then went on to marry into the British Royal Family, as one does.

Even though it might seem like she was left out on purpose, a source confirmed that Markle was asked to appear, though that obviously did not happen. “We asked the duchess, but we were told that, unfortunately, she had a previous commitment,” an insider told Page Six. We will never know what that commitment was, but it has been confirmed that Pitbull was performing in Los Angeles that night, so who knows where she really was.

It’s not surprising that Markle would want to shy away from the spotlight, considering that host Jo Koy made a brutal dig at Markle and her husband, Prince Harry. “Turns out Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will still get paid millions of dollars for doing absolutely nothing — and that’s just by Netflix,” Koy said.

Koy, on the other hand, also has a massive deal with Netflix, so maybe he’s not in the best position to make fun of this type of thing.

(Via Page Six)

You know when you’re on a plane and a piece of the fuselage flies off 20 minutes into your flight and you spend the next few moments contemplating how your life might end? No? Oh, is that because that kind of sh*t isn’t supposed to happen? Ever?

And yet it happened to passengers last Friday on an Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California. According to NBC News, about 29 minutes into the flight, the passengers of Flight 1282 first heard a loud boom followed by an intense gust of wind as a piece of the fuselage flew off the plane when the aircraft reached 16,000 feet in the air.

The plane had 174 passengers and six crew members on board.

Luckily, no one was seriously injured, and the two seats next to the detached panel, 26A and 26B were empty, though the headrests on both of those seats and one of the tray tables flew out of the plane. The panel that flew off the plane is what is known as a door plug, a panel that is used to fill an unused doorway and outfitted with stop fittings that are placed to prevent the plug from dislodging. Or, you know, they’re supposed to.

Here is the most frustrating (or scary) part — According to NPR, the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that a warning advisory light ignited on the plane at least three times on prior flights on December 7th of last year, and then on January 3rd and 4th, just days before the flight in question. The airline had placed a maintenance request for the light to be examined, but that request had yet to be fulfilled.

We’ve all ignored the check engine light on our car’s dashboard before but this is an airplane we’re dealing with here and the issue was big enough that the plane was previously restricted from being flown over water, so what’s going on Alaska Airlines?

Now that we know everyone is okay you might be wondering: well, what happened to the door plug?

Thankfully, the plug didn’t harm anyone on the ground, despite weighing 62 pounds and falling from 16,000 feet. ABC News reports that the door plug landed in the backyard of Portland science teacher Bob Sauer, who had heard news of the incident before discovering the plug in his backyard. Sauer, who wasn’t home at the time the plug landed in his yard, only searched for the debris after a friend called and suggested he look since authorities still hadn’t found the door. Once he checked his yard, Sauer was shocked and promptly alerted the NTSB of his findings.

NPR reports that since the incident the FAA has grounded over 171 models of the plane in question, the Boeing 737 Max 9, for immediate inspection. It’s going to be hard to fly Alaska and not think of this incident for at least the first few months of the year.

Excluding her and Jess Williamson’s 2022 Plains album I Walked With You A Ways, the most recent Waxahatchee LP, Saint Cloud, arrived in early 2020. It’s been nearly four years since then, and now we have new album news: Tigers Blood, the sixth album from Waxahatchee, is set for release on March 22.

She also shared a video for “Right Back To It,” a new song featuring Wednesday’s MJ Lenderman. It’s a midtempo country-influenced number that puts Katie Crutchfield’s distinctive vocals front and center, vocals that are complimented nicely by those of Lenderman.

Furthermore, Waxahatchee is also going on tour this year, with support from Snail Mail, Tim Heidecker, Good Morning, Tre Burt, Greg Mendez, and Gladie on various dates.

Below, find the Tigers Blood art and tracklist, along with Waxahatchee’s upcoming tour dates.

Waxahatchee’s Tigers Blood album cover art

Waxahatchee’s Tigers Blood tracklist

1. “3 Sisters”
2. “Evil Spawn”
3. “Ice Cold”
4. “Right Back To It”
5. “Burns Out At Midnight”
6. “Bored”
7. “Lone Star Lake”
8. “Crimes Of The Heart”
9. “Crowbar”
10. “365”
11. “The Wolves”
12. “Tigers Blood”

Waxahatchee 2024 tour dates

04/18 — Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater ^
04/19 — St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre ^
04/20 — Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed ^
04/21 — Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre ^
04/23 — Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall ^
04/25 — New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place ^
04/26 — Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre ^
04/27 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount Theatre ^
04/28 — Richmond, VA @ The National ^
04/30 — Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel ^
05/01 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium ^
05/03 — St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live ^
05/04 — Orlando, FL @ The Beacham Theater ^
05/05 — Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Festival
05/06 — Birmingham, AL @ Lyric Theatre ^
05/08 — Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom ^
05/09 — Fort Worth, TX @ Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall ^
05/10 — Houston, TX @ The Heights Theater ^
05/11 — Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater ^
05/13 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren ^
05/14 — The Observatory North Park @ San Diego, CA ^
05/16 — Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium ^
05/17 — Paso Robles, CA @ Barrelhouse Brewing Co. ^
05/18 — Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater ^
05/19 — Sonoma, CA @ Gundlach Bundschu Winery ^
05/21 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot ^
05/23 — Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom ^
08/19 — Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Hall %
08/21 — Fort Collins, CO @ Washington’s %
08/23 — St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant %
08/24 — Madison, WI @ The Sylvee %
08/25 — Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Beer Garden %
08/26 — Pittsburgh, PA @ The Warhol at Carnegie Music Hall %
08/28 — New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
08/29 — South Deerfield, MA @ Tree House Summer Stage &#
08/30 — Portland, ME @ State Theater &#
08/31 — Accord, NY @ Arrowood Farms &#
09/01 — Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony Summerstage &#
09/06 — Vienna, VA @ Filene Center – Wolf Trap &#
09/07 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore #@
09/08 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore &+

^ with Good Morning
% with Tre Burt
# with Tim Heidecker
& with Snail Mail
+ with Greg Mendez
@ with Gladie

Tigers Blood is out 3/22 via Anti-. Find more information here.

Kevin Smith stopped by Shannen Doherty‘s podcast this week where the director learned a surprising (and frustrating) fact about his sophomore film, Mallrats.

Despite finding a cult status years later on DVD, the second movie in Smith’s View Askew-niverse absolutely bombed at the box office. “It died,” Smith told Doherty, who agreed and revealed some significant collateral damage.

“So did my film career,” she revealed. “That was it.”

At the time of Mallrats release, Doherty was easily the most famous cast member thanks to Beverly Hills 90210. In fact, Smith shared that her involvement was largely responsible for getting the film greenlit, so it was particularly harrowing to hear that Doherty was the one who suffered the most for its failure.

Via Variety:

When he asked Doherty during the podcast if she really never went on to make another feature, she replied: “No, that was it. People literally thought that I was carrying the movie so therefore it was a box office failure it was completely on me. So there was no film career after that, which was a little brutal.”

“I really thought ‘Mallrats’ was going to kick me into that gear [of] making movies,” she added.

“Boy, I apologize for that,” Smith said after realizing that he basically tanked this poor woman’s movie career. Although, at the time, Universal execs were telling him that he had a hit on his hands.

“Tom Pollock, who was the head of Universal Studios at that point, he’s there and he’s like, ‘I was there for the Animal House test screening and this is that. This movie is going to make $100 million,’” Smith recalled. “And he was off by $98 million.”

(Via Variety)

Lauren Boebert cannot seem to outrun that time that she was caught at the Beetlejuice musical while groping, vaping, and acting like a Karen to theater staff. Of course, it does not help that the controversial congresswoman cannot stop reminding everyone of the debacle with accidental (?) double entendres. And of course, Boebert made the matter worse for herself by initially denying what had happened, only for Denver’s Buell Theater to whip out surveillance footage that confirmed the mess.

The rooter and tooter has since realized that she no longer has a chance of beating re-upped Democrat Adam Frisch in Colorado’s 4th district, so she decided to hop over to the 3rd district, where she hopes to prevail. If footage published by Newsweek is any indication, however, she might not be finding a very warm reception there, either.

Boebert, who is also now the subject of an investigation after her ex-husband reported that she punched him in a restaurant, stood up at an introductory event in Baca County, where she weakly joked, “Many of you known who I am… I don’t have to ask like the ushers at the Buell Theater.” As shown over at Newsweek, no immediate laughter (although there is an odd noise before the punchline) followed her words. Perhaps there was very delayed reaction after the video cut off.

Still, it’s pretty awkward stuff. Boebert actually tends to earn laughter about the fiasco when she least intends it, and there’s obviously no guarantee that she will earn the nomination that she seeks. November 2024 should be wild at the Colorado polls.