Month: April 2024

Playboi Carti’s Opium crew is poised for a big breakout in 2024, even despite canceling their Antagonist Tour. After Homixide Gang dropped their crime-epic video for “Hi-Voltage” last week, it’s Destroy Lonely’s turn at bat. The Atlanta native gets a big co-sign from one of his cities brightest stars, landing a feature on the new Quavo song “Potato Loaded.” The rap nepo baby (his dad is I-20 of Disturbing Tha Peace fame) proves supremely adaptable, switching easily from his usual distorted soundscapes to a more familiar trap production alongside the industry vet.

In the stripped-down, accompanying video, the two Big Peach natives keep things simple. You’ve seen videos set at house parties; how about throwing a party in a freight elevator? Surrounded by video vixens, the two rappers deliver their menacing, boastful bars under lurid green lights with money all over the floor and an assortment of jewelry and drugs to show off. Their performances are intercut with a dynamic chase shot of DL hanging out the passenger side of a sports car as the duo cruises through the city streets.

“Potato Loaded” is Quavo’s third video of the year, following visuals for “Real One” with Rich The Kid and “Himothy.” While he hasn’t announced a new album, don’t be surprised if he pops out with one soon enough.

Watch Quavo’s “Potato Loaded” video with Destroy Lonely above.

In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson surprisingly bucked his independent political stance by endorsing Joe Biden for president. It was the first time the iconic wrestler-turned-blockbuster movie star backed a presidential candidate, and it may have been the last.

As The Rock prepares for his heavily-hyped return to WrestleMania, he’s making it clear that he’s going to stay out of the 2024 presidential election that has, once again, resulted in a showdown between Biden and Donald Trump. However, The Rock stands by his decision to back Biden in the previous election.

“The endorsement that I made years ago with Biden was one I thought was the best decision for me at that time,” he told Fox & Friends co-host Will Cain before explaining why he’s not backing either candidate this time around.

“That answer is no,” The Rock said. “I’m not gonna do that.”

Via Newsweek:

Johnson went on to say that his endorsement of Biden in 2020 sparked “division” in America and added: “I realized now going into this election, I’m not gonna do that and I wouldn’t do that because my goal is to bring out country together… in the spirit of that, there’s gonna be no endorsement.”

“I’m gonna keep my politics to myself,” Johnson said.

Does this decision mean The Rock is finally getting serious about running for president like he’s repeatedly teased over the years? Nope, he’s done with that, too.

“That’s not my intention, Will. I’m not a politician, and I’m not into politics,” The Rock said. “I care deeply about our country. I’m a patriot, and I believe you are too, and right now, my desire and my priorities are my babies.”

You can watch The Rock’s interview with Will Cain below:

(Via Newsweek)

Drea de Matteo is making big money from her OnlyFans account. That’s the good news for The Sopranos actress. The bad news? She’s had some awkward conversations with her kids.

While appearing on The Sage Steele Show, de Matteo discussed how her children, 16-year-old daughter Alabama and 12-year-old son Waylon, feel about her new career. “I had to sit them down the other day and be, like, ‘Look, I did a collaboration with Carmen Electra — and these pictures are racy — I’m not gonna lie,’” she said. Waylon wasn’t the biggest fan of his mom joining OnlyFans, until she explained how capitalism works.

According to the New York Post, de Matteo jokingly recalled asking him, “Do you like that jacket you just asked me to buy you? You like all the things that you want that make you happy? You like that new PC that you begged for for Christmas? Because you wouldn’t have that sh*t if Mommy didn’t show her ass!” How did he respond to that? “That shuts him up because he’s a little greedy little bastard, too, sometimes. I mean, he’s 12, you know?” she said.

The Sons of Anarchy alum went on to tell Steele that she is “so open about everything” with her kids, and even jokingly told Waylon how to respond if he ever gets ridiculed for her online content. “If they say anything, say ‘those boobies fed me when I was a little baby and they’re still feeding me now,’” she again chuckled.

Wait until her kids watch “Long Term Parking.” That’ll mess ’em up.

You can watch the podcast below.

(Via the New York Post)

Texas favorites Khruangbin are back today (April 5) with A LA SALA, another strong album of instrumental goodness. As a bonus, the band is also ready to fulfill your cuteness quota for the day with their new video for “Hold Me Up (Thank You).”

The visual stars a just delightful chinchilla, who does everything from an airport pickup to cleaning snow off a car to fishing to laundry. This is a confirmed very good chinchilla, and they do a fantastic job at so many things in this video. Actually, though, I’ve been misspeaking this whole time: A message (held by the creature, of course) at the end of the video notes, “No Khruangchillas were harmed in the making of this film.” So, it’s a Khruangchillas, not a chinchilla.

A press release previously noted of the band’s new album, “The building blocks then for A LA SALA‘s 12 songs were jigsaw pieces found in Khruangbin’s creative past, parts of the band not lost, but not yet tapped into. Having stockpiled ideas originally set down as off-the-cuff recordings (voice-memos made at sound-checks, on long voyages, as absentminded epiphanies), they began fitting those pieces together in the studio for A LA SALA.”

Watch the “Hold Me Up (Thank You)” video above.

A LA SALA is out now via Dead Oceans/Night Time Stories. Find more information here.

By now, you’ve probably heard — or at least heard ABOUT — J. Cole’s new song “7 Minute Drill,” in which the North Carolina rapper goes in on frequent collaborator-turned-rival Kendrick Lamar. That’s probably why you’re here in the first place. You heard — or at least read about — his line that goes: “Your first sh*t was classic, your last sh*t was tragic / Your second sh*t put n****s to sleep but they gassed it.” And now you’re thinking, “Huh, what WAS Kendrick Lamar’s second album?” I mean, look at the title of this post; you’re only getting this if you searched for it.

And hey, we here at Uproxx understand any possible confusion. After all, Wikipedia has a list of albums that seems to undermine the common consensus about those albums (setting aside, I guess, how you personally feel about any of Kendrick’s output); going by that list, Section.80 was the classic and n****s gassed Good Kid, MAAD City.

However, I’m going to posit that he was starting with Good Kid, and that the gassed album was To Pimp A Butterfly. After all, when Section.80 was first released on Apple Music back in 2011, there was some debate about whether it counted as a “mixtape” or an “album” — a common source of confusion in those days. It was also released independently, without the backing of Aftermath and Interscope that Kendrick’s later output received.

So while Section.80 is technically K. Dot’s first album, many people contend that Good Kid was his actual debut. In any case, it’s the one that best fits the description given in “7 Minute Drill,” despite what some pedantic rap nerds on Twitter are probably carping on about right now. That would also make the description of “Butterfly,” its Grammy-winning 2015 follow-up, the album that fans slept on while gassing it.

And hey, setting aside what the aforementioned rap nerds are talking about… I was there. I remember. People did not like — or just did not get — that album. Even today, it’s got the second-lowest streaming numbers of any album in Kendrick’s discography on Spotify after Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (or, okay, the independently-released Section.80). Most of those streams appear to be retroactive, by the way. I’ve called it a case of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” in the past, and the numbers appear to bear that out (men lie, women lie, etc….). Internet FOMO drives a lot of the discussion of K. Dot’s catalog, but to use Occam’s Razor here, while he has some truly outspoken fans, it looks like there aren’t all that many of them — or they’re just lying to look cool.

So, TL;DR: even though Good Kid is technically Kendrick Lamar’s second album, most people consider it his first, making To Pimp A Butterfly the second album J. Cole trashes on “7 Minute Drill.”

Bronny James‘ future is up in the air, and as a result, he’s giving himself as many options as he possibly can. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, James decided to both enter the 2024 NBA Draft and put his name in the NCAA’s transfer portal, which gives him the option of returning to college if he wants.

Not long after this, Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed the news, while James posted an image announcing his intentions to his Instagram account before quickly deleting it. Eventually, James did announce his decision and made it a point to thank USC “for an amazing freshman year.”

It’s not a huge surprise that James would look to leave the Trojans, as the head coach who brought him to USC, Andy Enfield, left the school to take the SMU job. While the school hired Arkansas coach Eric Musselman, James has the opportunity to keep his options open and is taking advantage of it — according to Wojnarowski, Duquesne is a potential landing spot if he does decide to transfer, as the school is coached by his dad’s longtime friend, Dru Joyce III.

James’ freshman year at USC got off to a difficult start after he went into cardiac arrest during an offseason workout. He eventually took the floor in December but struggled to find his footing, as he averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 19.4 minutes per game.

During their time in WCW together, Diamond Dallas Page developed a special relationship with “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. He refers to Dream as a big brother figure and a mentor as part of his A&E “Biography: WWE Legends” episode. And because of that bond, he also developed a close relationship with the Grandson of a Plumber, Cody Rhodes, early on.

Page followed the younger Rhodes’ journey from playing football to reaching great heights in high school wrestling, and eventually making his way to professional wrestling. Rhodes’ path to the top has been well documented, from struggling to find his footing in WWE, leaving for the independent scene, helping launch AEW, and eventually returning to a main event spot in WWE.

“He left because no one saw him here. But he did, and he knew I did,” Page tells Uproxx Sports. “I’ve seen him up there — it’s the only spot I ever saw and no one else saw it. So he left and he proved he was right.”

After Rhodes’ return back to WWE two years ago at WrestleMania 38, the “American Nightmare” has continued to cross new barriers in his superstardom. After tearing his pectoral muscle, he recovered in time for the Royal Rumble, and appeared on track to ending Roman Reigns’ historic Undisputed WWE Universal Championship reign at WrestleMania 39.

Instead, he took the loss on a pinfall to Reigns and spent much of 2023 in side quest feuds with the likes of Brock Lesnar, The Judgement Day, and Shinsuke Nakamura. At the same time, we watched as the Bloodline story unfolded, with Jey Uso leaving the faction to go out on his own, a WrestleMania match developing between the Uso brothers, and The Rock returning in a significant capacity.

Losing to Reigns at WrestleMania 39, Page says, has allowed Rhodes to build momentum and has made the chase to finishing his story even better than it could have been otherwise.

“If he would have won at WrestleMania last year, I don’t think he’d be anywhere near as over as he is right now,” Page continues. “You learn from losing. What’s the positive side of this? Oh, millions of people that might even been on the fence are now so pro-Cody, for The Rock to be involved, Roman Reigns, he’s the man and he’s had that world title for so long. The Rock is on different level than all of us because he’s the biggest star in the world.”

At a time when any misstep could completely derail things, the story has reached what many assume is the end of this chapter while at the perfect intersection of wrestling being as hot as ever. WWE has correctly pivoted to keeping things moving in the direction this story seemed destined to go, with Rhodes and Seth Rollins slated to face off against The Rock and Roman Reigns on Night 1 of WrestleMania on Saturday, while Rhodes will wrestle Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on Night 2 of WrestleMania.

“This is the most interesting time in professional wrestling. It reminds me so much of the late nineties. I mean, wrestling was so hot,” Page says.

“There’s so many different platforms now, you can’t really see it in the ratings, but it’s the hottest it may have ever been right now. And the storylines of WWE have gone back to reality based. That’s when wrestling works on a different level. You blur the lines so you don’t know what’s real or what’s predetermined. And that’s the beauty of the business in general.”

After 24 years on HBO, Curb Your Enthusiasm is finally coming to an end. For real this time. Creator and comedian Larry David has made good on his repeated promises/threats to end the show, which will drop its series finale this week as season 12 comes to a close.

Of course, the big question is will David deliver a closer on par with the infamous Seinfeld finale. The ending to the hit NBC sitcom rankled fans by ending with the show’s characters going to jail for being the awful, self-absorbed people they’ve been throughout the show’s entire run.

Hilariously, David’s character on Curb is currently working his way through the court system, and fans have been picking up on clues that David could be working towards an epic troll by repeating the Seinfeld ending that everyone hated. We’re talking about a guy who attacked Elmo on live TV, so anything is possible.

As for when you can watch series finale, we got you covered.

What Time Does ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Season 12 Finale Come Out?

The Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12 finale premieres on HBO and Max this Sunday, April 5, at 10 p.m. ET.

Here’s the official synopsis for the final season:

Starring Larry David as an over-the-top version of himself, Curb Your Enthusiasm offers a tongue-in-cheek depiction of the writer/producer/comedian’s fictionalized life. The comedy series continues to prove how seemingly trivial details of one’s day-to-day life can precipitate a catastrophic chain of events.

Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12 is available to stream on Max.

The deluxe version of Doja Cat’s album Scarlet, Scarlet 2 Claude, has arrived, bringing seven new tracks to the project including “URRRGE!!!!!!!!!!” featuring ASAP Rocky and “MASC” with Teezo Touchdown. The latter gets an avant-garde music video, with Doja and Teezo singing their respective verses in some haute couture ensembles as Doja casts creepy shadows and directors Doja and Jamal Peters have some fun with camera angles, lighting, and lens distortions.

“MASC” finds Doja Cat admonishing a lover as his combative behaviors make her question their relationship. “You gave me the dick, then gave the dick without the D,” she raps. Teezo inhabits the role of the scorned beau as he takes stock and realizes, “I’m not that tough, I need your love, I need your touch.”

Scarlet 2 Claude had a bit of a bumpy rollout. After Doja teased she was planning to release a deluxe edition of Scarlet in January, the fan frenzy for it backfired as it leaked online days before the release date. Doja played it cool, though, writing, “its definitely messed up cuz i wanted to put it out myself but theres nothing i can do about it!! thats just how its gonna be but at least i can just keep being creative and look forward to the awesome things i have coming up!!”

She also shut down some fans’ assumptions that she took shots at Cardi B on one of the leaked songs, telling one fan to “get a life” in response to being asked directly about any beef between the two stars.

Watch Doja Cat’s “MASC” video with Teezo Touchdown above.

Scarlet 2 Claude is out now via Kemosabe Records/RCA.

[This post contains spoilers for the Invincible season 2 finale]

Heading into Invincible season 2, series creator Robert Kirkman teased that Mark/Invincible would finally win a fight. What he didn’t mention were the dire implications of that fight. Invincible fans were tired of seeing Mark getting his butt handed to him, particularly in episode 7 when the Viltrumite warrior Anissa easily schooled him. That all changed in episode 8.

After learning that the multi-dimensional villain Angstrom Levy (voiced by Sterling K. Brown) has his mom Debbie (Sandra Oh) and baby brother Oliver hostage, Mark (Steven Yeun) speeds to his house for what he hopes will be just another super-villain confrontation. However, Angstrom proves to be exceedingly cunning as he keeps Debbie and Oliver in constant peril while tossing Mark through dimension after dimension to torment the young hero. (Although, he does get to meet “Spider-Man” and “Batman,” or the closest thing to those characters without Amazon getting sued.)

However, those silly cameos were quickly washed away as the situation took a dark and brutal turn. After viciously snapping Debbie’s arm, Angstrom finally gets Mark angry enough to power through his portal blasts and get his hands on the deformed villain. What Mark doesn’t know is that this was Angstrom’s plan all along. His body has been enhanced by the scientists that put him back together and quickly begins landing blows on Mark. The inter-dimensional hijinks were to soften him up so Angstrom could kill Mark with his own hands and then finish off Oliver and Debbie.

What Angstrom did not prepare for was Mark full-on snapping. With his family threatened and Angstrom boasting about his strength, Mark finally stops holding back. It was something his father Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons) had chided him for during their Viltrumite fight earlier in the season. Well, Mark did not have that problem now as he became his father’s son more than he’s ever been.

In a brutal fury of blows, Mark absolutely unloads on Angstrom until he’s standing in nothing but a pile of blood. Mark won the fight, but the reality of the situation immediately kicks in leaving the poor kid reeling what from he’s done. Despite repeatedly telling everyone that he’s not like his father, Mark actually killed someone and gave into his full Viltrumite rage.

While Mark unravels throughout the rest of the finale at what he’s become, Invincible fans on Twitter were absolutely losing their minds. Even the fans who read the comics and knew what was coming were stunned at seeing the shocking moment happen on screen.

You can see the reactions below:

Invincible Seasons 1 and 2 are available for streaming on Prime Video.