Month: March 2024

It’s been a rough season for the Atlanta Hawks, which have a vice grip on the 10-seed in the Eastern Conference and face a major uphill battle to try and make the playoffs. That’s especially the case with Trae Young sidelined due to hand surgery, with his potential return unknown — he’s set to be evaluated after surgery sometime soon.

If there is a major source of optimism, it exists in Jalen Johnson, who has been a revelation during his third year in the NBA. Johnson is one of the most promising youngsters in the league, as the 22-year-old forward looks like he is going to be an integral part of whatever the Hawks are going to be going forward. And on Monday night, the former Duke standout pulled off one of the most impressive dunks of the season at the expense of Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves, who made a very bad decision to try and draw a charge.

Not only did Reaves commit a foul because his feet weren’t set, Johnson just went right up and over him. He nearly cleared Reaves altogether, but we have to assume that he’s happy with this one turned out, because this is one heck of a way to score the first points of a game.

There aren’t many guys in the NBA capable of producing highlights quite like Anthony Edwards. When Edwards gets a chance to show off his remarkable combination of speed, strength, and athleticism, it usually leads to a video that gets posted on social media where someone on an opposing team ends up looking pretty bad.

Unfortunately for John Collins, he ended up being the guy who looks pretty bad because Ant did something silly. During Monday night’s game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Utah Jazz, the Wolves were able to force a turnover, with the ball ending up in Edwards hand. He passed to Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who then gave it right back to him with a big head of steam. And then, with only Collins standing between himself and the rim, Edwards took off.

The man took off from way out, made a challenge from Collins look like a minor inconvenience, and emphatically threw the ball right through the rim as everyone on Minnesota’s bench completely lost their minds. Even the opposing crowd was completely in awe over this, and understandably so, because it was nuts.

Unfortunately, both Collins and Edwards had to leave the game due to this, with Edwards holding his hand and Collins taking a shot that meant he made his way into the locker room. At the time of this writing, Edwards was able to return.

If Young Thug and YSL’s RICO case has taught hip-hop heads anything, it’s that rap lyrics are under attack. While this isn’t new, now rappers could end up behind bars for their exaggerated accounts on wax (pending Rap Act be damned). Younger acts are taking notice. Although Kenny Mason’s tracks won’t change, his visuals certainly will.

For his song “Easy Dub,” which features Baby Drill from Mason’s latest album, 9, he took a few creative liberties with its official visualizer. Teaming up with director Michael Janey and VFX artist Liam Archibald, Mason puts a gritty spin on the beloved video game series The Sims.

As Mason raps: “N****s is hatin’, that’s part of the growth / Ain’t no complainin’, that’s part of the oath / No, we don’t know where your pack went / Ain’t no arrangement as far as I know / We ain’t gon’ play with this sh*t / I got the power to stay in this b*tch / I got a powerful K in the whip,” his animated mascot carries out the goon-like behaviors outlined in the bars.

The visualizer follows the fictional avatars of Mason and Drill on their wild ridged night. Well, that’s one way to circumvent YouTube’s community guidelines.

Watch Kenny Mason’s official visualizer for “Easy Dub” featuring Baby Drill above.

9 is out now via RCA Records. Find more information here.

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

The lore surrounding Shakira’s decade-long marriage and subsequent divorce from Gerard Piqué reads like a Lifetime movie. Now that the smoke has cleared, the “Acróstico” singer has shed light on the once-loving relationship.

For years, Shakira fans have been desperate for a full-length project. After seven years, she’s finally making that wish a reality with Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran. The star-studded album, which features appearances from Bizarrap, Karol G, Rauw Alejandro, Cardi B, Ozuna, Grupo Frontera, and more, could’ve been here much sooner, according to Shakira.

On March 16, in an interview with Sunday Times, Shakira revealed that her break from music was due to her marriage. “For a long time, I put my career on hold to be next to Gerard so he could play football,” she said. “There was a lot of sacrifice for love.”

Shakira hasn’t expressed any regrets leading with love. But her supporters were infuriated, especially considering the former soccer star was allegedly unfaithful during their marriage with his now-girlfriend Clara Chía Marti. Now that Shakira has new music on the way, the public wants to know if she has a new love interest (that isn’t Jimmy Butler or Tom Cruise).

When asked during the conversation, Shakira played coy. “You’re very curious,” she said. “Well, my job is to talk about my feelings through my songs, but it’s hard to explain in interviews.”

Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran is out 3/22 via Sony Music Latin. Find more information here.

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

Who do Republican voters want for president in 2024? A prolifically indicted mush-brained wannabe-dictator who has no money. On Monday, Donald Trump’s lawyers had to admit that despite his boasts of exhaustive wealth, their client can’t cover a measly $464 bond over his New York civil fraud case. The news comes amidst reports of Trump being broke — so broke he can’t afford to hold his beloved rallies; so broke he allegedly doesn’t own any of his properties, which are instead leveraged. Now even his biggest cheerleaders are outright begging those who actually have money bins to bail the poor rich guy out.

“Why are there no Republican multi-billionaires offering to lend President Trump the funds to file his appeal in the outrageous case in NY state?” railed Mark Levin, Trump sycophant and Fox News’ most gratuitously humorless host. “Are none of them liquid enough to help or join with others to help? This is an outrage.”

To recap: Trump’s most famous superfans have been forced to admit someone who’s built his reputation on being a smart and rich businessman can’t even afford to fork over half a million bucks. If Trump was as wealthy as he claimed, his many, many legal fees wouldn’t be a problem.

And yet they are a problem and Trump needs help — and he isn’t getting it, even after begging the likes of Elon Musk for cash. So, back to Levin’s point, why aren’t the world’s richest Republicans bailing him out? Some people had theories.

“Maybe because Trump is a terrible credit risk who someday soon will probably spend the rest of his life in prison?” wrote George Conway.

Some pointed out that billionaires don’t like flushing money down the drain.

But Jon Favreau — the speechwriter and pundit, not the director of Cowboys & Aliens — pointed out that it would actually benefit the wealthy to give him money: “It is rather surprising there aren’t any billionaires willing to bail out poor old Donald Trump, especially since he’s promised to repay them with another gigantic tax cut funded by the rest of us.”

There’s a darker side to this: Trump could be so desperate for cash that he’s become a national security risk thanks to all those classified documents he took, which he could now sell to the highest bidder. Even worse, if Trump did do that, it probably still wouldn’t affect his polling.

Cardi B is a mother, wife, rap superstar, actress, and businesswoman. Well, those are just a few of her personal and professional titles. But, the “Enough (Miami)” rapper has made it clear that there’s one label that just isn’t for her. During an outtake of her Million Dollaz Worth Of Game podcast appearance, Cardi confessed to host Wallo that she’s “not a feminist anymore.”

The video posted to Instagram caused an uproar online given Cardi’s past advocacy for women’s rights. One user on TikTok found the comments so appealing that they clapped back with a response clip. However, Cardi isn’t backing down. After gaining wind of the user’s disgust, Cardi stitched the video doubling down on her take specifically “going 50-50” in a relationship.

“I didn’t say women have to go 50-50 with a man,” she said. “And let me make this really clear, I wasn’t talking about my situation. Fortunately and I’m very grateful me and Offset we are practically part of the one percent. We don’t have to [follow regular relationship] rules or have regular bill sh*t that a lot of people experience because we are both rich. We both bought our home in Atlanta. We both went 50-50.”

After mentioning how her parents managed their finances during struggling times, Cardi closed with advice to couples in a similar situation. “If you love somebody and you are in a situation you both should work hard together,” she said. “Would you leave somebody that you love because they are not financial stable? But you know that you guys can build and grow?”

Some users agreed with Cardi’s sentiments. However, it is quite ironic coming from the rapper whose song “WAP” popularized the phrase, “Broke boys don’t deserve p*ssy.”

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

The other weekend Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey nabbed a dubious (if inevitable) honor: It scored big at the Golden Raspberry Awards. The headline-grabbing R-rated horror picture took home five Razzies, including Worst Picture, besting the likes of Exorcist: Believer and Shazam: Fury of the Gods. Has that deterred Blood and Honey’s makers? Of course not. Not only do they have a Tigger-centric sequel en route, but now they’re getting ambitious.

Per Variety, the makers of Blood and Honey have announced Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble, an Avengers-style mash-up, in which the murderous version of A.A. Milne’s characters will duke it out with other beloved Disney characters that have fallen into the public domain. Among them are Bambi, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, The Mad Hatter, and Sleeping Beauty, on top of the Pooh folks Tigger and Piglet.

Much as Marvel didn’t simply jump from the first Iron Man straight to Avengers, the Blood and Honey folks will first have to do some heavy-duty world-building:

Many of the characters set to appear in “Poohniverse” will first feature in standalone films coming this year and falling under Jagged Edge’s version of the MCU, the Twisted Childhood Universe. Among them are “Bambi: The Reckoning,” “Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare” and “Pinocchio Unstrung,” plus last year’s “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” and its sequel “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2,” which is being released theatrically in the U.S. on March 26. The upcoming films will include various easter eggs linking them toward the upcoming horrifying crossover.

Will this ambition pay off? Will moviegoers, who turned Blood and Honey into a modest hit — $5 million to its $50,000 budget — turn out not only for a sequel but several franchise builders? Or will the trend of children’s characters milked for horror movie cash-ins get old real fast? (It better not; there are at least three Mickey Mouse gorefests en route.) One early sign of potential fatigue is if people turn out for Blood and Honey 2, set for release on March 26.

(Via Variety)

Birds can be pretty amazing companions, many birds live a lot longer than dogs, giving you a buddy for life depending on when you buy one. Some parrots can live up to 50 years, while the longest living cockatoo lived to be 82-years-old, which is why if you get one of these amazing talking feathered friends, you should make plans to put them in your will. Literally, it’s advised that you put these long living birds in your will so there’s a plan in place.

But their long lifespan isn’t the reason people can’t get enough of these birds as pets. Just like children, these birds learn to mimic what you say and how you say it, which allows them to engage in endearing moments. In a video compilation uploaded to social media by @themothergothel, you get to see their adorable behavior play out in front of you. A blue ringneck parrot is captured loving on some brand new baby birds and it’s the sweetest thing.

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In the video you see the bird approach a baby bird and give it a loud smooch before saying, “want to pet the baby.” Another clip shows what appears to be the same bird giving kisses to a different baby bird saying, “I love you” over and over. It’s beyond adorable and repeats again with two little nearly featherless baby birds soaking up the attention. It’s not clear if this is a bird rescue, someone that really loves birds or if it’s different birds that look and sound strikingly similar. People’s hearts melted at the interaction.

“I love that the parrot is clearly demonstrating its understanding of the expressions of endearment it has learned from you,” one person writes.

“I cannot believe parrots are real and we’re so nonchalant about it,” someone marvels.

“The bird actually transferred the love that you gave him and repeated the act to his babe,” a commenter gushes.

Parrots are indeed real and somehow we’re just used to these guys flying around talking like humans. If you needed a little serotonin boost, watch the video below and you’ll probably get more than enough to make you smile.

@themothergothel This melted me 🥹 #parrotsoftiktok #love ♬ original sound – 🌏💫 MG💫🌏

Once again the youngins are flabbergasting the older generations with their disregard of things they deem unnecessary. There’s always something that gets dropped or altered generation to generation. We learn better ways or technology makes certain things obsolete. But it doesn’t matter how far we’ve come, our beds still need sheets to cover the mattress.

The debate is on the use of top sheets, also known as flat sheets. They’re the sheets that keep your body from touching the comforter, most Gen X and Boomers are firmly for the use of top sheets as a hygiene practice. The idea being that the top sheet keeps your dead skin cells and body oils from dirtying your comforter, causing you to have to wash it more often.

Apparently Millennials and Gen Zers are uninterested in using a top sheet while sleeping. In fact, they’d rather just get a duvet cover, though they may be cumbersome. A duvet cover can be washed fairly frequently, while some may opt for a cheeper comforter that they don’t care is washed often because their distain for a top sheet is that strong.

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But why on earth do Millennials and Gen Zers hate top sheets? It turns out it’s mostly about practicality. Many Millennials are on the move holding a full time job and a side hustle or two to make ends meet, adding and extra step when making the bed seems unnecessary.

“For a younger demographic, eliminating that step when making the bed in the morning really gives you a jump start on the day,” Ariel Kay, CEO of Parachute tells Wall Street Journal.

Parachute is a company that offers bedding sets sans top sheets for folks that just don’t like them and boy has Kay heard everyone’s unsolicited opinions on the matter. She told WSJ that people will stop her on the street to get into debates about the importance or unimportance of top sheets. Yikes.

In a since deleted tweet, @JesseLynnHarte writes, “People say millennials “killed” chain restaurants, marriage, & napkins… But WHEN will they acknowledge our greatest take-down yet?? TOP SHEETS. I don’t know a single millennial who uses one. Top sheets are archaic. This is just the truth.”

It would seem that Millennials and Gen Z would much rather wash their duvet covers weekly than to add a flat sheet into the mix. One big complaint about the flat sheet that adds another con to the list is they get bunched up or tangled around your legs if you’re a restless sleeper. Not everyone likes hotel tucked corners on their sheets because it can feel confining.

But if you run hot, Boomers and Gen Xers have got the thing for you–a top sheet. It would seem that that thin piece of material that irritates some people can act as a sort of temperature control according to USA Today. Even if you don’t tend to need the cooling effect of a top sheet, what Mary Johnson, Tide Principal Scientist at Procter & Gamble has to say in a USA Today follow up article, just may make you rethink ditching the top sheet.

Simply by existing, “people produce one liter of sweat, 40 grams of sebum, 10 grams of salt, and 2 billion skin cells. All that stuff that happens below the waist [and] up by your head—skincare products, hair care products, ear wax, snot, drool, lots of really gross stuff—is transferred to your sheets,” Johnson tells the outlet.

So whether you’re team top sheet or not, it may be a good idea to at least wash whatever you use to cover your bed at least once a week.

We know too much screen time is not good for us. We also know that younger folks are particularly susceptible to screen addiction. What we don’t fully know is how to effectively help teens and tweens manage the habit, especially when screens are such an everyday part of life.

However, psychiatrist, author and dad of seven Richard Wadsworth recently went viral after showing his own personal strategy for getting his kids to do something other than scrolling. It could be the perfect solution for parents to not only break screen addiction, but instill some other healthy ritual as well.

In the clip, we first see Wadsworth’s tween son doing deltoid exercises with dumbbells. Which he apparently got up at 6:30 am to do.

What could possibly incentivize practically anyone, let alone a preteen to wake up at the crack of dawn to lift weights? Read on.

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Wadsworth then showed a typed out list of various tasks that must be performed before even setting eyes on a phone or tablet. The list included a short workout in the form of one mile on the treadmill or 20 minutes of another exercise.

Wadsworth explained that rather than enforcing strict rules, this method provides necessary structure without taking away choice.

“I’m not forcing my son to exercise every day, but I am setting rules and boundaries around his screen time,” he said. “He decided he wanted to have more time after school to play with his friend. And so in order to do that, he realized that he’d need to wake up a little bit earlier and exercise in the morning.”

In addition to exercise, the list included domestic chores like cleaning the bedroom and shared areas, finishing homework, doing laundry, preparing for the next day…and, perhaps most importantly…making sure the toilet is flushed.

“We have all of their screens locked away. And if they want access to any of them, they need to come ask us and we’ll go through the list together. And they’re not getting their screens until the list is done,” Wadsworth continued.

He also drew a comparison between screen time and sugary sweets, noting how most parents probably wouldn’t routinely allow kids to eat dessert before a nutritious meal, but instead allow it to be a treat.

“Just as you would hopefully have your kids eat dinner before they had their dessert, you should probably be having them do something positive…before they get on their screens.” Hence why he tries to get his kids to complete their list before going to the phone.

And in case you’re wondering how Wadsworth’s son feels about all this, he reported having “so much energy for school” feeling “so much better” since his dad introduced the to-do list.

@doctorwadsworth #greenscreen #parenting #parentingtips ♬ original sound – Richard Wadsworth

Bottom line: kids need guidance from their parents. And Wadsworth recommends clear cut boundaries to help them develop good habits, “because if you don’t do it, nobody else is.”

Wadsworth’s parenting hack was well received, with quite a few grown adults saying they could benefit from this type of boundary-setting in their own life.

“Even I’m addicted to this screen. I have to tell myself to put it down all the time and I’m a grown adult. Kids definitely need this!” one user wrote.

Another added, “I need someone to do this for me (I’m 28).” To which Wadsworth replied, “we all need parents sometimes.”

Even with potential TikTok bans, social media isn’t going anywhere. The sooner parents can implement guidelines like these, the better equipped their kids will be at balancing tech savviness with tech dependence.