Month: February 2024

While Vince Staples has a bit of a reputation for being a mischief-maker, the rollout for his upcoming Netflix series The Vince Staples Show has shown that he’s taking this endeavor seriously. After spending the past few weeks heavily promoting the show on his social media accounts and even going out into the streets to proselytize its eventual realease on February 15, he’s making sure that everyone gets a chance to see it — even those without Netflix accounts.

“The streets saying they don’t have @Netflix accounts but don’t you fret,” he wrote on Twitter. “We doing a FREE screening for the trenches of Los Angeles !!! Follow the link to link and build. AND WE GOT POPCORN.”

The screening will take place next Monday, February 12 at 7 pm at Brain Dead Studios on Fairfax Ave. The one-screen theater has been a fixture of the community for a very long time (Uproxx attended the premiere of Guapdad 4000’s short film Stoop Kid there a couple of years ago).

The Vince Staples Show has its origins as a series of YouTube shorts the Long Beach rapper used to debut new music. Only two episodes of the original concept were produced before Netflix picked up the miniseries, which follows Vince through a series of day-in-the-life vignettes showcasing his wry humor and the unexpected zaniness of being a semi-famous rapper.

The Vince Staples Show premieres on Netflix on 2/15.

With a singular TikTok, Lady Gaga threw her support behind Ariana Grande and threw her Little Monsters into a tizzy. Late Wednesday night, February 7, Gaga posted a TikTok soundtracked by Grande’s “Yes, And?” — her latest No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — and commented beneath it, “WE LOVE QUEEN ARI AND THIS…[face holding back tears emoji]…remix.” Fans noticed Gaga’s activity in the comments section and pounced, begging for an update on her seventh studio album.

Is Lady Gaga’s New Album Coming Out Soon?

As captured by Pop Crave, someone named Petro commented, “where is lg7?” Gaga replied, “In a vault guarded by [ogre emoji].” It should be noted that the emoji is described as an ogre by Emojipedia, but it could also easily be interpreted as a monster, which is a fun possibility to consider because of what Gaga’s fan base is known as.

https://twitter.com/PopCrave/status/1755497284714766528?s=20

Anyway, the answer here is we don’t know when Gaga will release LG7. It feels like a 2024 release date is firmly on the board. In early January, Gaga posted photos from the studio to Instagram twice. Her photos were reposted by Universal Music Group and Haus Labs, so make of that what you will.

Gaga’s most recent original LP release was Chromatica in May 2020. And to bring this article full circle, Gaga and Grande’s first-ever collaboration, the Grammy-winning “Rain On Me,” is housed on Chromatica.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been the biggest surprise in the NBA this season, as the team currently sits on top of the Western Conference as part of a three-way tie with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Denver Nuggets. Entering the trade deadline, a major question was whether they’d dip into their gigantic pool of assets in an attempt to add some reinforcements, and while we’ll have to wait and see if a major swing is coming, the team is adding some veteran reinforcements on the wing.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Oklahoma City agreed to a deal with the Charlotte Hornets to bring Gordon Hayward on board.

Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN both added details regarding what Charlotte will get back. While Davis Bertans is on his way out as a way to make the deal work financially, the Hornets will get Tre Mann, the No. 18 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and the sort of young upside swing a team in Charlotte’s position can take.

While injuries have followed Hayward everywhere over the last few years, he’s managed to be a productive player when he’s gotten on the floor, and the Thunder theoretically won’t need him to do everything when he plays. On the year, Hayward has started all 25 games in which he’s appeared, and he’s averaged 14.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.1 steals in 31.9 minutes per game while shooting 36.1 percent from three.

The Los Angeles Lakers will unveil their latest statue outside Crypto.com Arena on Thursday evening, as Kobe Bryant joins the group of Laker legends enshrined in bronze in L.A. The Lakers waited until a fitting date, 2/8/24, to hold the ceremony as a way to honor the numbers Bryant wore with the Lakers and the number his daughter, Gianna, wore on her youth team.

There will be plenty of tributes and remembrances of Kobe on Thursday as his statue is set to be revealed, but the one TNT released on Thursday morning, narrated by Shaquille O’Neal, figures to be the best of the bunch.

In the video Shaq highlights all of Kobe’s accolades, but the line that stands out is calling him “the best teammate I ever had.” Shaq and Kobe were an absolute force on the court together on their way to winning three championships with the Lakers, but also famously clashed towards the end of their time as teammates. After years of feuding, the two eventually made amends and became friendly again late in Kobe’s career while Shaq was a broadcaster. Shaq has noted that he wishes he’d taken advantage of that better in the years after Kobe retired, and has spoken candidly about how Bryant’s tragic death was a blunt reminder not to take those friendships for granted. Thursday night figures to be an emotional one in L.A., but also a celebration of one of the franchise’s legends and his many accomplishments.

Paramount+ just unveiled the first trailer for Knuckles, a new six-part series that brings back Idris Elba as the Echidna warrior who made his live-action movie debut in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

For a streaming series, Knuckles did not skimp on the production value. Based on the trailer, the show exactly matches the look and feel of the hit Sonic the Hedgehog movies, which blended CGI animation and live-action characters. Even more impressive, get a load of this cast.

The ensemble includes guest stars Stockard Channing (The West Wing), Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones), Scott Mescudi (Don’t Look Up), Ellie Taylor (Ted Lasso), Julian Barratt (Mindhorn), Rory McCann (Game of Thrones), Cary Elwes (Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Paul Scheer (Black Monday), and Rob Huebel (Childrens Hospital). Ben Schwartz will also reprise his role as Sonic and Colleen O’Shaughnessey will drop in as Tails.

Here’s the official synopsis:

The new live-action event series follows Knuckles (Idris Elba) on a hilarious and action-packed journey of self-discovery as he agrees to train Wade (Adam Pally) as his protégé and teach him the ways of the Echidna warrior. The series takes place between the films SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 and SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3.

All six episodes of Knuckles will start streaming April 26 on Paramount+.

As the NBA trade deadline approached, a player many expected to be moved was Jazz backup center Kelly Olynyk. The floor-spacing big man was coveted on a market that lacked star power but had plenty of interest from contending teams in adding quality depth.

The expectation was that a contender like the Sixers would come in and look to add Olynyk, but the Jazz were able to find themselves a rather surprising trade that netted them a first round pick from the Toronto Raptors. Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Jazz will send Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji to the Raptors for Kira Lewis, Otto Porter Jr., and a 2024 first round pick (the least favorable of four teams).

It’s a bit surprising to see Toronto part with a first round pick at the deadline as they were expected to be sellers, not buyers. Olynyk is Canadian, so it’s their second trade to bring a homegrown talent back north of the border (alongside RJ Barrett), but it also indicates that they have high hopes for Agbaji as a floor-spacer in their rebuild around Scottie Barnes.

Olynyk is averaging 8.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game on 56.2/42.9/84.2 shooting splits this season for the Jazz, while Agbaji is averaging 5.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game on 42.6/33.1/75.0 splits this season. On the other side, Porter Jr. was another player that had been named in rumors as a target of teams seeking wing depth, and he’ll join the Jazz alongside Lewis, who was already moved once this season from New Orleans to Toronto and only played in one game for the Raptors.

It’s a fascinating trade, with Utah acquiring more draft capital while Toronto adds some veteran talent and a young prospect. Considering their own draft pick this year is only top-6 protected as part of the Jakob Poeltl trade with the Spurs, it is particularly surprising to see the Raptors part ways with a pick in what is seemingly an effort to get better right now.

As it turns out, the Philadelphia 76ers will be buyers ahead of the 2024 NBA trade deadline. Despite Joel Embiid’s knee injury that has his status for the remainder of the year up in the air, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that the team is set to acquire Buddy Hield from the Indiana Pacers.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN confirmed the deal, and reported that the Sixers will send Marcus Morris, Furkan Korkmaz, and a trio of future second-round picks to Indiana.

Hield’s name has seemingly been linked to the Sixers for years as a target on the trade market, and the team will now acquire him for the stretch run this year before he’s slated to hit unrestricted free agency in the summer. He should be able to provide some much-needed floor spacing, regardless of whether or not Embiid is able to come back — on the year, Philadelphia is 27th in the league in threes made per game and 26th in the league in threes attempted per game. They also sit in 27th in three-point attempt rate.

While Hield’s numbers aren’t as gaudy as they have been in years past, he is still among the league’s best high-volume shooters. As a member of the Pacers, Hield’s averaged 12 points in 25.7 minutes per game while shooting 38.4 percent from behind the three-point line.

Miles Bridges entered Thursday’s trade deadline as a player to watch, as his name got kicked around in potential deals in the previous few days. All of this came with a pretty big caveat: Bridges, who took the qualifying offer from the Charlotte Hornets before this season, had the ability to veto any trade if he wanted.

It turns out Bridges won’t even get to the point of being traded. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Bridges told the Hornets that he would not approve of any trade, meaning he’s going to stay in Charlotte going forward. Marc Stein confirmed the news.

There is a financial incentive for Bridges, who did not play last season and missed the first 10 games of this year in the aftermath of his arrest due on domestic violence charges in June of 2022, to stay with the Hornets, as a trade means that he would give up his Bird Rights ahead of unrestricted free agency in the summer. Phoenix was the team most closely linked to a potential Bridges deal, although it is unclear what the Suns would have given up to acquire him.

Bridges is averaging 21.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game on 45.8/36.1/87.1 shooting splits with the Hornets this season.

On September 24, 2023 (better known in some circles as the date of the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce hard launch), Usher was revealed as the Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show performer. He simultaneously announced his next album, Coming Home, and sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe to unpack the album’s message. It was initially due out during Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas (Usher’s home away from home) on Sunday, February 11, but Usher must have realized competing for eyeballs with the Super Bowl was unwise, so he changed the release date to Friday, February 9.

What Time Will Usher’s Coming Home Be On Apple Music?

Usher is not like every other artist, but in this regard, he is. Like most every other album ever released, Usher’s Coming Home is expected to hit DSPs, including Apple Music, at midnight ESP (9 p.m. PST).

Usher shared the 20-song tracklist last week, as seen below:

The R&B icon also announced his Past Present Future Tour. The North American trek is scheduled to begin at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC on August 20, 2024 and wrap with back-to-back shows at Chicago’s United Center on October 28-29, 2024. The fan pre-sale is slated for Friday, February 9, at 10 a.m. local time ahead of the general public on-sale on Monday, February 12, at 10 a.m. local time. Find more information here.

Usher is preparing to drop his new album, Coming Home, very soon — and fans are extremely excited. It is going to be a major weekend for the musician, as he will perform at the Apple Music Halftime Show at the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 11.

As a full-circle moment, he will take the stage at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium. It comes after he wrapped his residency in the city at the end of 2023 but is still set to headline the Lovers & Friends Festival there later this year. Those in other cities will also get to see him, with more tour dates available here.

Here’s what to know about when Usher’s new album will be available to stream on Spotify.

What Time Will Usher’s ‘Coming Home’ Be On Spotify?

Usher’s Coming Home is out on Spotify at 12 a.m. ET tonight, or, if you’re on the west coast, you can listen to the album at 9 p.m. PT. Any other time zones would be converted from those as measures.

The album will include a ton of collaborations, with the title track featuring Burna Boy, Summer Walker and 21 Savage on “Good Good,” H.E.R. on “Risk It All,” Jung Kook of BTS on the “Standing Next To You (Remix),” and more.

Coming Home is out 2/9 via Mega/Gamma. Find more information here.

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