Do something nice for the Harmonizers in your life today. This morning, March 1, Page Six reported, “Fifth Harmony is in talks to reunite,” citing an exclusive unnamed source.

Rolling Stone‘s Tomás Mier let the hype around that possibility grow for a few hours before reporting the exact opposite, as excerpted below:

Despite a report suggesting the possibility of new music from the group, a reunion is currently not in the works, multiple sources tell Rolling Stone.

Rumors of a possible reunion first began swirling after the group’s members — Ally Brooke, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui, and Camila Cabello — publicly supported Normani’s new album announcement. And on Friday, Page Six published a report that the group was ‘in talks’ of working together again.

The speculation also coincided with a sudden increase in plays of Fifth Harmony’s music over the last month. Spotify streams in the U.S. for ‘All in My Head (Flex)’ featuring Fetty Wap saw a whopping 590% increase in the last month, according to data provided to Rolling Stone. When Normani announced her album Dopamine on Feb. 21, U.S. streams for Fifth Harmony reached a peak jump of nearly 90% compared to the previous month, according to Spotify data.”

This is far from the first (and probably far from the last) time a Fifth Harmony reunion occupied the rumor mill. Brooke has teased it most frequently. Last October, Brooke appeared on E! News and affirmed the host’s hypothesis that “we’ll get all the girls together” sometime in the future. “A hundred percent,” Brooke said. “We may be working on something.”

However, she walked back her comments on X (formerly Twitter) shortly thereafter, writing, “I’m thrilled to see there’s a lot of interest surrounding Fifth Harmony. Reunion has many meanings and while there’s no official band reunion happening at the moment, some beautiful friendships and relationships are slowly reuniting in a healing and empowering way.”

Cabello departed Fifth Harmony in December 2016, and the group announced an indefinite hiatus in early 2018.

When you’re a kid you rarely have a lot of say in what you get to eat for dinner. The adult in your house is the one that gets to decide and you have to eat whatever they put on your plate. But one little boy is simply tired of eating chicken and he doesn’t care who knows it. Well, he cares if his mom knows.

Lacy Marie uploaded a video from her doorbell camera to TikTok her son. The little boy is caught on camera taking the trash out venting about always having to eat chicken. He rants all the way to the trash can, being sure to get it out of his system before he makes it back into the house.

“Chicken. No more chicken. Tell me you like, we have chicken every day. Eat this, eat that, eat more chicken, keep eating it,” the 10-year-old complains. “It’s healthy for you. Like, we get it. We have chicken every day.”

Apparently the little boy doesn’t think eating chicken every day is good for his gains at the gym as he says he works out. He does not care about lean protein and likely doesn’t care about whatever science is behind chicken being a healthy food to consume for muscle development. He. Doesn’t. Want. Chicken. And it seems like the commenters under the video are on his side.

“Give that man a steak,” one person says.

“My dud has been married for 25 years and he’s had enough,” another jokes.

“Every single day of his years?! Really mom?,” someone laughs

“I’m thinking you need to give chicken a break. He’s been eating it everyday of all of his years,” a commenter writes.

Even Sam’s Club got in on the jokes saying, “chickens hearing this,” with two eye emojis with an open mouth. Poor little guy, the internet is on your side, maybe you’ll get some burgers instead.

Check out the video below:

@user484367054

10-year-old caught on doorbell cam venting!! #hilarious #nomorechicken #heworksout

Since having elected leaders instead of kings is a hallmark of our democratic system, Americans share a common concern for election integrity. But for some, that concern has grown into full-blown conspiracy theories and misinformation about election fraud since before Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.

Despite dozens of lawsuits either being dismissed as groundless or lost on their merit in court, people still try to claim that the 2020 election was rife with fraud.

One of the primary targets of those fraud claims is mail-in ballots. People haven’t seemed to wrap their minds around how mail-in ballots can be secure and how people can be prevented from voting twice if they happen to have more than one ballot mailed to them.

Turning Point USA field rep Aubrey Savela shared a photo of two official Arizona ballots with her name on them to X, with the caption, “Maricopa county at its finest… My first time ever voting in a presidential preference election and I received not one but two mail-in ballots.Thank you @stephen_richer.”

Stephen Richter, the man she tagged, is a Maricopa County election official—and a Republican, incidentally, who sued Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake for defamation after she accused him of sabotaging the election. And his response to Savela’s insinuation that receiving two ballots was somehow problematic was absolutely pitch perfect.

— (@)

“Hi Aubrey!

Thanks for reaching out. You changed your voter registration on the last day of voter registration (Feb. 20) from your Chandler address to your new Tempe address.

Because early ballots must go out on Feb. 21, your Chandler ballot was already set to go out, and so it did.

Then we sent out a new ballot to your Tempe address when we processed your voter registration modification.

That’s why you had to redact out different lengths in the address (because they were sent to different addresses).

You’ll also notice that one of packet codes ends in “01” (the one to your old address) and one ends in “02” (the one sent to your new address). As soon as the “02” one goes out, the “01” packet is dead. Meaning even if you sent it back, it wouldn’t proceed to signature verification, and it wouldn’t be opened. That’s how we prevent people from voting twice.

So just use the one with your new address ending in “02” — that’s the only one that will work.

Hope this helps! Have a great night! Happy voting!”

Richter didn’t slam her, make fun of her, call her names or shame her for trying to make it look like something fishy was afoot. He simply laid out exactly what happened to cause her to receive two ballots, explained how the first ballot was rendered invalid as soon as the second ballot was issued, and explained how the process safeguards people’s vote and the integrity of the election in general.

These are the kinds of cool-headed, informative, clear and concise explanations we need for people to understand how mail-in ballots and other election apparatuses function. People make all kinds of assumptions about how those processes work without actually finding out the reality, so having a real example laid out in such a clear way is fantastic to see.

Yes, election fraud can happen, as can honest mistakes that impact people’s votes. But time and time again, investigations into election fraud claims have yielded only a miniscule fraction of a percent of votes impacted by actual fraud—not enough to even come close to swinging an election one way or another.

In July 2022, Shawn Mendes canceled his Wonder: The World Tour after seven shows. Mendes had previously postponed three weeks of tour dates because, as he wrote on Instagram, “I felt like I was ready to dive back in, but that decision was premature and unfortunately, the toll of the road and the pressure has caught up to me and I’ve hit a breaking point.” When announcing his full-blown cancelation, he posted, in part, “I promise I will be back as soon as I’ve taken the right time to heal.” Mendes has been more or less silent on the music front since then, save for a few stray singles.

It’s possible that Mendes is slowly dipping his toe back into the limelight, though deprived fans should proceed with cautious optimism. First, Mendes made a surprise public appearance at the Loewe Fall/Winter 2024 show at Paris Fashion Week on Friday, March 1. The 25-year-old Canadian pop star posted from Paris to Instagram, which is also a rare activity for him these days, including a shameless, shirtless thirst trap.

And then, later Friday, Mendes showed up on stage at Niall Horan’s The Show: Live On Tour concert in London, where they sang “Treat You Better,” Mendes’ 2016 top-1o Billboard Hot 100 hit.

Mendes’ most recent album was Wonder in December 2020.

See all of the posts below.

Rihanna’s last public performance was the Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show on February 12, 2023. Entering the show, people desperately hoped that Rihanna would announce a forthcoming album or tour — or something — during the show. Instead, she revealed her second pregnancy and has not announced any follow-up to 2016’s ANTI. (Although ASAP Rocky had a lukewarm update in February.)

Consolation prize? As per The Associated Press, Rihanna was booked to perform at a celebration for the wedding of the son to “billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani,” which boasted a “nearly 1,200-person guest list,” including Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. That news alone does not connote a consolation prize because what good is a private Rihanna performance to her millions (or billions?) of fans who cannot attend? However, videos from the performance are circulating on X (formerly Twitter), making it a de facto semi-public Rihanna concert.

Complex posted aggregated videos of Rihanna singing “B*tch Better Have My Money” and dancing confidently during “Work.” while other accounts are circulating videos of Rihanna singing “Umbrella” and “Pour It Up.” Her vocals are flawless, but the choreography alone is enough to cause severe FOMO.

As per Variety, “The concert, held in the family’s hometown of Jamnagar in India, was the first night of a three-day event to celebrate the wedding — which isn’t set to happen until later this summer — of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant.”

In December, Rihanna gave fans hope that new music and a tour will happen at some unspecified point in the future.

“Well, we were always gonna go back on tour,” Rihanna told Entertainment Tonight when asked if another tour could be happening soon. “I feel I want to do a tour when there’s new music, right? We already know what that’s gonna be, with the songs that I’ve performed my last tour. That was a long time ago. I feel like it’s only fair that my fans get what they’ve been waiting on, which is new music. And after that, let’s just, like, blow everything up.”

Some folks just have a knack for remembering all sorts of random facts. They’re the stars at trivia nights, but sometimes, they come off as too much of a know-it-all.

Do you ever wonder why some people seem to be better at recalling random facts than others? Monica Thieu, a multi-time “Jeopardy!” contestant, studied the phenomenon and found that people who are great at trivia and remember random facts could also recall the situation and content when they first learned the fact.

So, someone who is excellent at remembering random facts won’t just remember that Grant is buried in Grant’s Tomb. They will also remember that they learned it on a sunny day while on a walking tour of Riverside, New York.

(President Ulysses Grant is buried in Grant’s Tomb, which is located in Riverside, New York.)

A Reddit user challenged people on the AskReddit subforum to share the most random facts they knew, and the responses were both educational and head-scratching. Many people shared facts that didn’t seem true at first, but after some thought (and Googling!), they really are true.

The most mind-blowing fact is about Reno, Nevada and Los Angeles. (Read more about it at #6.)

We looked at the responses and shared the 20 most interesting “random facts” shared on Reddit.

1. Match works too well

“The guy who started Match.com made his wife family friends and employees sign up to increase traffic to the site. His wife later divorced him for someone she met on match.com.” — Acrobatic_News_9986·

2. The world is buzzed

“On average, 0.7% of the world’s population is drunk at any given time.” — Maleficent_Nobody_75

3. Cold desert

“Antarctica is the world’s biggest desert.” — NarkOne

“I always have fun with people’s initial reactions to this one: What continent has the highest average IQ?” — Apple-Hair

Answer: Antarctica because of all the researchers.

4. Everyone pees (for the same amount of time)

“Almost all mammals pee for 22 seconds with a full bladder (I tell this to everyone I meet).” — ART_IS_IN_THE_SKY

“Not if you have a problem prostate.” — JohnKnightuk

5. The good side of eugenics

“Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad, a founding member of Swedish pop band Abba, is the product of a Nazi breeding program where German men were sent to Norway to impregnate Norwegian women. She was one of the children that was resulted.” — Ov3rStt1mulate3d

6. The west is further west than the west coast

“Reno, Nevada is further west than Los Angeles.” — SeahawksWin43-8

“In the same vein, Seattle is further north than Toronto, as is Portland. And Salem. The southern tip of Canada is further south than the northern border of California. Maine is about 1000 miles closer to Africa than Florida is. The South American continent is east of Orlando, Florida.” — Drone30389

7. Laser facts

“The acronym for ‘LASER’ means light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.” — FatCatLaundromat

8. Redundant names

“Not really a single fact, but just the concept of tautological place names for various features that are just the word for that type of feature in a different language. Some examples:

Gobi Desert (Desert Desert)
Lake Michigan (Lake Large Lake)
Mississippi River (Big River River)
The La Brea Tar Pits (The The Tar Tar Pits)

One of my favorites is The Los Angeles Angels baseball team, or The The Angels Angels.” — Locclo

9. We smell dirt

“Human’s ability smell petrichor (smell of wet earth from rain) is greater than a Shark’s ability to smell blood in water.” — ParticulaWR

10. The most terrifying word

“The fear of long words is called Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.” — NemoTheOneTrueGod

11. Hell does freeze

“There’s a town in Norway called Hell’ and it freezes over every winter. Talk about a cold and hellish place to live.” — Unpredictablecutie

“The place name in evolved from the Norwegian word ‘heller,’ meaning a cave under a rock overhang. There are, however, several hundred places in Norway named Helvete, the Norwegian word for Hell.” — Apple-hair

12. Trees > Stars

“There are more trees (about 3 trillion) on Earth than stars (100-400 billion) in the Milky Way Galaxy.” — Moon_Jewel90

“I didn’t believe you, I had to Google it. You’re right! The idea of there being 3 trillion of anything on Earth, let alone something as big as trees in a world as deforested as it is, is incredible!” — _MrGullible

13. Forever honey

“Did you know that honey never spoils? It’s like the eternal optimist of the food world—forever sweet and never bitter, just like my outlook on life… well, most days.” — TheLatinaFemdom

14. Who killed the moose?

“One of The only predators of the Canadian moose is the orca; whilst there have been no sightings of a whale attacking a moose, there have been moose carcasses torn up in the ocean, and it is the only logical conclusion. Also, moose can swim.” — NegrosAmigos

15. Saturn floats

“50% of the sun’s mass is focused in just 2% of its volume and if you put the planet Saturn into a bag to keep it together, it would float in water (assuming a suitable body of water could be found).” — Ben_M31

16. Penguin hydration

“Penguins have an organ above their eyes that converts salt water into fresh water.” — DowntownFarmer2615

17. This gun’s for hire

“Someone made a ‘rent a hitman’ website that actually got people arrested.” — SolarVisor23

18. High 5

“That the ‘high 5’ was started accidentally during an LA Dodgers game in 1977 when a player raised his hand before another player crossed home plate. The runner slapped the raised hand without any thought. It became a dodgers ritual that permeated into popular culture.” — Swel403

19. Skeeter facts

“Only female mosquitoes bite. They are attracted to people with type o blood and those who release more carbon dioxide. The reason a mosquito bite itches is because they inject their saliva to clot the blood when they’re done.” — Fallowsong

20. Schizophrenia facts

“Schizophrenia can lie dormant in your body. It can be triggered by certain things. For example, if someone has done a specific drug and they say ‘I haven’t stopped tripping since.’ They’re no longer ‘tripping.’ Their schizophrenia was activated.” — Inner_Earth4710

In the far southern reaches of South America, Patagonia beckons adventurers with its striking landscape. Rugged mountain peaks, deep valley vistas, pristine lakes, virgin forests, coastal cliffs and more combine to make this semi-arid land a paradise for nature lovers and photographers alike.

If you’ve ever seen a photo like this…

Hiking trail at Torres del Paine National Park in PatagoniaLas Torres Patagonia

…and thought, “I have to go see that turquoise water for myself,” now’s your chance. Las Torres Patagonia is offering an all-expense-paid trip (including airfare) for 10 lucky winners to travel to Torres del Paine National Park in Chile and stay at the all-inclusive Las Torres Patagonia hotel for five days.

Las Torres Patagonia’s “10 Volunteers for 10 Days” contest isn’t just a chance to travel to Patagonia for free. It’s also a “voluntourism” opportunity to do some good while you enjoy the scenery by helping rebuild the trail leading to Base Torres in Torres del Paine National Park. Rehabilitating this trail, which has been badly damaged and eroded, will help people experience the park safely while protecting the ecosystem.

“Las Torres Patagonia has a generational commitment to the regeneration and longevity of this beautiful Chilean region,” said Josian Yaksic, CEO of Las Torres Patagonia. “More than ever, it is prudent to acknowledge the changing landscape and take action for its survival. We are thrilled to welcome passionate travelers to not only contribute to the future of one of the most beautiful destinations in the world, but also experience it firsthand through voluntourism.”

HOW TO ENTER THE “10 VOLUNTEERS FOR 10 DAYS” CONTEST:

Before midnight Pacific time on Mar 15th, 2024, share a video (less than two minutes) on Instagram or Facebook describing what sustainability and ecotourism mean to you, or why you believe it is important.

– All video entries must tag @lastorres.patagonia and include the hashtag #PatagoniaVoluntourism.

– The Instagram account or Facebook post must be set to “public.”

– Must be 21 years or older, live in the U.S. or Canada, and be in apt condition to carry out strenuous, hands-on activity.

– Entrants must enter their contact information on the Las Torres website in order to be contacted with a winning announcement.

See on Instagram

What exactly will the trip entail? After arriving at Chile’s Puerto Natales Airport, volunteers will begin their journey at Hotel Las Torres, an upscale all-inclusive hotel at the entrance of Torres del Paine National Park. During their five-day trip, travelers will combine trail work, rest and exploration in one of the world’s most impressive environments. Torres del Paine is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, aiming to reconcile the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use.

With ecotourism and voluntourism on the rise, people have more opportunities than ever to combine their love for exploring our incredible Earth with helping sustain its natural wonders for generations to come. At Torres del Paine, this 10-day volunteer project will contribute to a new era of gentle-grade trails, which will allow more people to enjoy the iconic “three towers” for which the park is named and maintain the ecosystem’s legacy.

Get those videos posted for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. See the Las Torres website for full contest details.

Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm-and-blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B songs that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

Since the last update of this weekly R&B column, we’ve received plenty of music and news from the genre’s artists.

Chlöe kicked off a new era with her self-confident single, “FYS” and Tyla starred in a new “Linen Moves” campaign for Gap. Donna Summer’s estate sued Kanye West for interpolating one of the legendary singer’s songs without permission while Khalid teased his new single “Please Don’t Fall In Love With Me. Elsewhere, Summer Walker and Brent Faiyaz joined 21 Savage for performances on SNL

Eric Bellinger — The Rebirth 3: The Party & The Bedroom

In 2014, Eric Bellinger cracked through the mainstream ceiling thanks to “I Don’t Want Her” with Problem from his debut album The Rebirth. A decade later, Bellinger continues The Rebirth series with its third installment The Rebirth 3: The Party & The Bedroom. The double-sided album features 24 tracks in total and features from Mozzy, Sevyn Streeter, K Camp, Ty Dolla $ign, Queen Naija, Ne-Yo, Evoni, BJRNK, Tone Stith, and Zae France.

Ledisi — Good Life

Ledisi extends a long and award-winning career with the release of her 11th album Good Life today. Its thirteen songs deliver guest appearances from Kenny Lattimore and Butcher Brown for a body of work that captures Ledisi’s evolution as a singer. Dripping in soul and profound lyricism, Good Life is a dazzling affair worth a listen.

Jade Novah — Where Have I Been?

Nearly four years to the day since her previous album Stages, Cleveland singer Jade Novah returns with her third album Where Have I Been? A lengthy release at 24 songs, Novah recruits Leslie Odom, Jr., Tabitha Brown, Wayne Brady, Kenyon Dixon, Gail Bean, Tony Baker, and Tarriona “Tank” Bell for “an immersive storytelling concept album that my inner child has been wanting to create since I started my artist journey,” as revealed in an Instagram post.

Dende — Wish You Were Here

Following a stellar 2023 year that featured his Before We Crash EP and his ’95 Civic album, Texas singer Dende keeps the streak hot and alive with his latest EP, Wish You Were Here. Its three tracks are “about being overseas and missing someone I loved while working on something else I love,” Dende said in a press release. “A short story to introduce a much longer one.”

Kenyon Dixon — The R&B You Love: Soul Of The ’70s

LA singer Kenyon Dixon brings his fall 2023 album The R&B You Love — which features the Grammy-nominated “Lucky” — into 2024 thanks to a new deluxe titled The R&B You Love: Soul Of The ’70s. With six songs, four new and two from The R&B You Love, Dixon uses The R&B You Love: Soul Of The ’70s to showcase the ’70s sound that inspired records from The R&B You Love while also delivering new records to fans.

4batz — “Act III: On God ? (She Like)”

Dallas’ 4batz stepped into 2024 with the attention of the world in his hands thanks to the success of his “Act II: Date @ 8.” It racked up millions of streams and even spent some time atop Spotify’s global chart, and now he’s continuing the run with “Act III: On God ? (She Like).” The record tracks the end of a relationship as 4batz voices his frustration and doubts about his ex-lover’s past claims about their love.

Genia — “Know!”

Victorville, California singer Genia takes another step closer to her upcoming project 4PM In The Ville with her new single “Know!” The uptempo record is perfect for the dancefloor as Genia sings about an old flame who wants another chance with her despite all the ways they did her wrong. Though she may not give them a second chance, she loves the feeling of her ex crawling back to her as their faults are clearer than ever.

Pxrry, Jon Vinyl & Tone Stith — “You Don’t Call Me”

Pxrry, Jon Vinyl, and Tone Stith join forces as a trio of rising R&B singers for their new collaboration, “You Don’t Call Me.” The track is a tender and honest release that the trio uses to account for when they realize a past lover has moved on. The consistent phone calls are no more and now they’re just left to wonder where things went wrong and what they could’ve done to keep the relationship from ending.

Asha Imuno — Pins & Needles

Four years after Good News, Moreno Valley, California singer Asha Imuno is back with Pins & Needles. Sixteen tracks appear on the album which also features appearances from Black Party, Tempest, Westside Boogie, Wakai, Rizz Capolatti. “This album is years of my journey, a world intimately crafted by 46 hands, amidst 1000s of hours of exploration with my closest friends in studios, parking lots, restaurants and family homes,” Imuno said about the album in an Instagram post. “The bitter parts, the sugary parts, and everything in between, woven into a 40 minute waveform.”

Honey Bxby — “Touchin’” Feat. Busta Rhymes

Weeks after connecting with Kaliii for a remix, New Jersey singer Honey Bxby calls on Busta Rhymes for another remix of the track. Busta kicks off the track with a smooth-talking verse before Honey Bxby steps in, detailing the first moment two soon-to-be lovers connect. “It was just a flow and I thought of telling a story about having a one-night stand,” Honey Bxby said about the song. “It was about being in the club, seeing a guy, a guy who wants to tap that ass, focused on one night of love.”

Shantel May — “Love it Here” Feat. Lola Brooke

It’s been a while since Toronto singer Shantel May delivered some music, but thankfully, that drought is over as she returns with “Love It Here” with Lola Brooke. Both artists use the songs to flaunt a love deemed perfect by both themselves and their partners.

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

The best new hip-hop this week includes albums, videos, and songs from Cardi B, Sexyy Red, Schoolboy Q, and more.

Wake up, wake up, wake up, it’s the first of the month! It’s also New Music Friday, bringing an assortment of fresh releases from the world of hip-hop. There’s a fascinating variety of new hip-hop today, including the returns of two of rap’s brightest stars, Cardi B and Schoolboy Q.

Cardi might call her new song, “Like That,” a freestyle, but if she wants to call it a single, it’d be perfectly viable in that capacity. After a somewhat mixed reaction to “Bongos,” she goes back to basics, issuing hard-hitting bars to remind listeners why her upcoming album is so highly anticipated.

Another female rapper who made a comeback this week is Rico Nasty, who teamed up once again with German techno producer Boys Noize to announce a new joint EP with the genre-bending “Arintintin.”

And not one to be left out, Sexyy Red joined the rap sisterhood this week to put out her new single “I Might.” Teaming up with R&B standout Summer Walker, Sexyy delivers a hilarious cheating anthem for girls who aren’t afraid to instigate a fight or two.

Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending March 1, 2024.

Albums/EPs/Mixtapes

IAMDDB — Love Is War, Volume 6

UK rapper IAMDDB has quietly carved a solid career with her alt-indie approach to devil-may-care rhymes and spacey rhythms. While you might see “UK rapper” and go in expecting Little Simz or Stormzy, what you’ll get is a groovy melange of diaspora influences like afrobeats and reggae (which are two different things!) fused with hazy R&B deliveries, jungle beats, and smoked-out raps. The eclectic sounds run the gamut from soul to sugar trap (word to Rico Nasty) anchored by IAMDDB’s unwavering confidence, no matter the supposed genre(s) at play.

Meek MIll — Heathensim

Meek is taking full advantage of his newfound independence lately. After teaming up with his MMG benefactor Rick Ross for a joint record last year, Meek hits the ground running in 2024, dropping a five-song EP of his signature street-focused tales delivered in that familiar, AK-47 flow. He wisely sticks to well-worn trails both narratively and sonically — aside from one dip into the Jersey Club trend that simply refuses to just die already — but that mostly works for him, and guests Fivio Foreign and Future complement what he does well enough that the EP sets Meek up on the right footing for his next move.

Schoolboy Q — Blue Lips

I feel like I’ve written these words a thousand times this week, but after five years out of the spotlight, Schoolboy Q returns with what might just be his strongest effort since 2014’s Oxymoron. His freewheeling philosophy of rhyme is looser than ever and his beat selection slinks coolly from jazz to blues to menacing hard rock to doo-wop soul — all genres that saturate the streets of his beloved South Central, Los Angeles. The eclectism never lets the album settle, but the twitchy, paranoid pacing suits Q’s Good Life-esque flow and the improvisational sensibility could easily draw comparisons to a prime Miles Davis, whose genre-pushing approach actually set the stage for a lot of the background instrumentation here.

That Mexican OT — Texas Technician

That Mexican OT had a breakout 2023, drawing national attention with the seemingly incongruous combination of his unabashed embrace of the cultural artifacts of his heritage (right down to his name) with a barrel-chested, classically Houston rap drawl. Collecting co-signs and collabs from seemingly every noteworthy resident of the Longhorn State, OT’s career super accelerated seemingly overnight. His first effort of 2024 continues the trend; while the first three cuts all try a few new things, OT quickly settles into doing what he does best. The wah-wah guitars and chunky basslines kick in properly on “Wockhardt” with Le$ (fittingly), and from there, it’s just a matter of laying back and enjoying the ride.

Singles/Videos

21 Lil Harold — “Gin & Juice” Feat. BigXthaPlug

BigXthaPlug has been garnering plenty of buzz lately, thanks to the blunt-force delivery of fellow Texas hard hitters like Maxo Kream and Slim Thug. Here, he teams up with rising Atlanta star, who sounds just like his mentor 21 Savage (which isn’t a bad thing at all). That booming Texas drawl threatens to steal the soulful song from under its principal, but Harold wisely cedes the spotlight, making sure to pack all his points into an admirably concise, efficient verse.

Beanz — “Power Trip Freestyle”

The former Rhythm + Flow contestant has been doing a string of freestyles over the last few months, with the latest borrowing the beat from J. Cole’s 2013 single “Power Trip.” It’s a solid showcase of the Reading, Pennsylvania rapper’s skills, which truly deserve more love.

Buddy — “Like This”

My Compton compadre has set himself apart from listeners’ expectations with his commitment to employing jazzy sounds and leaning away from the trappings of the usual “hood” rapper. Now that he’s independent, he can move on his own time, and the benefits are already evident to anyone paying attention. Buddy sounds more focused than ever on his latest, which smoothly evokes his best works, like “Trouble On Central” from Harlan & Alondra.

Kota The Friend — “Milan”

Admittedly, I dropped the ball on Kota’s latest Lyrics To Go installment (Vol. 5), which dropped last week, but fortunately, he dropped this video, giving me an excuse to run it back. If you’ve followed Kota at all over the last few years, you know what to expect: introspective, biographical tunes over mellow beats. Basically, he takes the reputations of precedents like J. Cole and Chance The Rapper, fuses them, and then makes them much more engaging than those stereotypes would have you believe.

Kyle — “Forever & Ever & Ever & Even After That”

Ever since leaving Atlantic a few years ago, Kyle has seemingly had more fun than ever pursuing the freedom to explore sounds outside of his ostensible rap milieu. 2022’s criminally overlooked It’s Not So Bad found him dabbling in forgotten toy boxes like 2-step and garage, and his new single likewise sees him breaking in another new style, drum & bass, throwing in his usual emotionally vulnerable rhymes.

Luh Tyler — “Bad B*tch”

There’s something really charming about the teen dream’s old-school commitment to low-stakes braggadocio. Hip-hop started out when a pack of underaged miscreants gathered to impress each other with hyperbolic tales of their prowess in wooing the opposite sex, so you could draw a straight line between those early street corner ciphers and “Bad B*tch.” But Tyler, please. Take a lesson from Miles Morales: Ditch the mustache.

Skepta & Portable — “Tony Montana”

A little more… uplifting than we might be used to hearing from Skepta, but you know what? It’s got a decent, danceable groove, Portable does his thing, and Skepta sounds energized, even if the rhymes are more straightforward than they’ve been on his classic stuff. I won’t be complaining if any DJs decide to add this to their setlists for Summer 2024.

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

A pretty strange controversy broke out earlier this week involving the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman. Last March, Hardman joined the Jets as a free agent after spending the first four years of his career in Kansas City. Things didn’t work out especially well, so he got traded back to the Chiefs in October and went on to win the Super Bowl, where he caught the game-winning touchdown in overtime.

Hardman’s time with the Jets was put under a spotlight in recent days. In a deleted tweet, Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner claimed that the team’s offensive gameplan leaked before they played the Philadelphia Eagles. And then, the bombshell, as Connor Hughes of SNY reported that the Jets believe Hardman leaked gameplans on multiple occasions, including the team’s win over the Chiefs.

Hardman was moved a few days after New York beat Philly, 20-14, so it’s not hard to put two and two together here. But unsurprisingly, he denies that any of this happened, as Hardman hopped onto Twitter and said the allegations were false.

In six games with the Jets, Hardman caught one ball for six yards. His output increased dramatically in Kansas City, as he had 14 receptions for 118 yards in six games.