Month: April 2024

April Fool’s Day is typically one of the worst days of the year (it’s tough enough to know what’s real and what’s fake online, and now we have to deal with this?), but not in 2024. Adult Swim made April 1st slightly less terrible than usual by airing puppet versions of three episodes from season one of the delightful animated series Smiling Friends, as well as the season two premiere.

When can we expect the rest of season two of Smiling Friends? Here’s everything you need to know, including the release date, plot details, and whether a trailer has been released.

Plot

Smiling Friends follows the employees, including Pim (voiced by co-creator Michael Cusack) and Charlie (co-creator Zach Hadel), of a company who try to help people find happiness in their lives. In season two, Pim and Charlie, as well as Zongo, Allan, and Glep “continue their mission to bring happiness to the world, whether it’s a washed-up retro video game character, a troubled marriage, or even the president of the United States,” according to Adult Swim’s official synopsis. In a statement, Cusack and Hadel wrote that season two is “GOING TO BE SOOOOO COOL AND FUN AND HOPE YOU WATCH!!!!!!!”

You can catch up on season one on Max or Adult Swim’s website.

Cast

In a very Venture Bros. move, most of the characters on Smiling Friends are voiced by the creators, Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel (they’re credited on the wiki for a combined 33 characters). But there have been a few guest stars, including the late Gilbert Gottfried as God, Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard, and David Firth, who made the “Salad Fingers” web series. This takes me back.

Release Date

Smiling Friends season two premieres on May 12 at midnight EST.

Trailer

This isn’t technically a trailer, but everyone say hi to Gwimbly. Hi Gwimbly!

Here’s an exercise: Hop on social media and look for a post about Cardi B or Nicki Minaj. Go to the comments of the post, and the odds are that you will see a comment disparaging one or both of the two rappers. Cardi and Minaj’s beef, and that between their fans, is one of the strongest in music, but GloRilla wishes it wasn’t so.

On “Aite,” from her new mixtape Ehhthang Ehhthang, GloRilla envisions a world where the two would put their differences aside and make a banger together. On the song’s second verse, Glo raps, “I just pray one day the bad b*tches would come together / ‘Cause Cardi and Nicki on a track would break some f*ckin’ records.” Later in the verse, she raps, “They treat this sh*t like competition, I see it as art / Sh*t’ll be platinum in the hood but it won’t see the charts” (“they” referring to people in general, not Cardi and Nicki specifically).

Speaking of big-time collaborations, Ehhthang Ehhthang sees GloRilla work with Megan Thee Stallion on “Wanna Be.”

Listen to “Aite” above.

Ehhthang Ehhthang is out now via CMG/Interscope Records. Find more information here.

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

Kendrick Lamar had perhaps the musical headline of March with his featured appearance on Future and Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You song “Like That.” On the track, he raps, “Motherf*ck the big three, n****, it’s just big me,” an apparent reference to Drake and J. Cole’s 2023 single “First Person Shooter.”

Since then, fans have been waiting for a response from either of the targeted rappers. Last night/this morning (April 5), Cole delivered one on his surprise new mixtape, Might Delete Later. The track of note here is “7 Minute Drill,” which features these lyrics seemingly alluding to Lamar:

“He still doin’ shows, but fell off like The Simpsons / Your first sh*t was classic, your last sh*t was tragic / Your second sh*t put [people] to sleep but they gassed it / Your third sh*t was massive and that was your prime / I was trailin’ right behind and I just now hit mine / Now I’m front of the line with a comfortable lead / How ironic, now that I got it he want somethin’ with me / Well he caught me at the perfect time, jump up and see / Boy, I got here off of bars, not no controversy / Funny thing about it, b*tch, I don’t even want the prestige / F*ck the Grammy’s ’cause them crackers ain’t never done nothin’ for me, ho.”

That still leaves one question:

What Is J. Cole’s “7 Minute Drill?” The Meaning Behind The Title Of His Kendrick Lamar Diss

Ibrahim Hamad, Cole’s longtime manager and Dreamville co-founder, explained on the Say Less Podcast (as Complex notes). Hamad said of Cole, “He does these seven-minute drills […] where he’ll just be like, ‘You got seven minutes.’ It’s basically his way of breaking out of overthinking. Like, ‘Don’t even think about it, start a verse. What are we going to talk about?’ He’ll be like, ‘Yo, Cozz, write a verse about… pizza,’ I don’t know. And then they got seven minutes, and then they put the timer on, and then it’s like, ‘Alright, what you got?’”

Might Delete Later is out now via Cole World/Interscope. Find more information here.

Enjoy using someone else’s Disney+ account to watch WALL-E while you still can. On Thursday, Disney head honcho Bob Iger confirmed that the crackdown on password sharing for the company’s streaming service will begin in “a few countries in a few markets” in June, followed by a wider rollout in September.

Earlier this year, Disney CFO Hugh Johnston told investors, “As it relates to the opportunity we see on paid sharing, beginning this summer Disney+ accounts suspected of improper sharing will be presented with new capabilities to allow their borrowers to start their own subscriptions.” He added that subscribers who want to allow access to individuals outside of where the main account is located will be able to do so for an additional fee.

Iger also discussed the recently-introduced Hulu On Disney+ feature. “We feel great about the engagement of those Disney subs who are not getting Hulu who are now watching more programs that were on Hulu, including Shogun,” he told CNBC. “We have to increase engagement. We need the technological tools to lower churn, create more stickiness. It’s things like recommendation engines, getting to know our customers better.”

If Disney promises to not jack up the price of Disney+ (again), I vow to “increase engagement” by telling everyone I know to watch Shogun. Hey, you, yes you: do you like good shows? Then you should watch Shogun. There, I’ve held up my side of the bargain. It’s your turn, Disney.

(Via The Verge)

Billie Eilish took over the internet starting yesterday (April 4) afternoon with a relatively simple move: She added all of her Instagram followers to her “close friends” list. Normally, this status is reserved for, well, close friends, with whom you would share posts, perhaps more personal or intimate in nature, that the general public wouldn’t get to see.

So, this whole thing has made some Eilish fans feel like they’ve reached a new level of access to the singer. Another effect this stunt has had is that Eilish has gained a bunch of Instagram followers from it.

As of our initial report that was published at 1:23 p.m. ET yesterday, Eilish had about 110 million followers. As of this post, at 8:05 a.m. ET on April 5, that number has risen to 115 million (this tool indicates that number is more specifically at over 115.78 million). Therefore, in the past approximately 19 hours, Eilish has gained something like 5 million followers, give or take.

So far, Eilish has shared two Story posts with her “close friends” list. One is a grainy photo showing a hand (Eilish’s, presumably) in front of what looks like a night sky. The other post is of a photo showing off Eilish’s midsection and thighs, which notably reveals a tattoo, only some of which had been seen previously. The whole thing appears to say “hard & soft.”

This week’s episode opens with Steven and Ian remembering the old Pitchfork “stunt” review of Jet’s 2006 album Shine On, which was dissected this week in an article by The Ringer. While stunt reviews are kind of dumb, Steven and Ian still miss them a little. The guys also explore the indie-rock guest stars on Beyoncé’s new blockbuster album Cowboy Carter, including Adam Granduciel, Jonathan Rado, and some dude from The Stills.

From there, they review the great new Vampire Weekend album, Only God Was Above Us, which manages to change the band’s just enough while retrenching with some classic themes. They also look back at Modest Mouse’s Good News For People Who Love Bad News, which turns 20 this week, a crucial album in the mainstreaming of indie rock in the aughts that might also be… not that great?

In Recommendation Corner, Ian talks about the band Cindy Lee while Steven stumps for the latest from Phosphorescent and the Philly band A Country Western.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 183 here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

J. Cole is back, and this time, he’s taking no prisoners. Tonight, Cole dropped Might Delete Later, a new surprise mixtape with 12 new songs. The mixtape arrives two weeks after rapper Kendrick Lamar allegedly dissed him and Drake on “Like That” from Future and Metro Boomin’s collaborative album, We Don’t Trust You.

And with a new mixtape, fans are wondering if Cole will return the smoke. Some listeners immediately caught wind at some subs on a song called “7 Minute Drill,” which seemingly seems to be a response to Lamar.

Did J. Cole diss Kendrick Lamar on “7 Minute Drill?”

On “7 Minute Drill,” Cole alludes to a rapper who he says is past his prime. He notes that the his first album was “classic,” and while his second album was well-received, it wasn’t very exciting. He says that the artist’s third album was his best, and that his most recent project was “tragic.”

“He still doin’ shows, but fell off like the Simpsons / Your first sh*t was classic, your last sh*t was tragic / Your second sh*t put [people] to sleep but they gassed it / Your third shit was massive and that was your prime / I was trailin’ right behind and I just now hit mine /Now I’m front of the line with a comfortable lead / How ironic, now that I got it he want somethin’ with me /Well he caught me at the perfect time, jump up and see / Boy, I got here off of bars, not no controversy / Funny thing about it, b*tch, I don’t even want the prestige /F*ck the Grammy’s ’cause them crackers ain’t never done nothin’ for me, ho”

Though Cole doesn’t call anyone out by name, it seems to be clear who he’s talking about.

You can listen to “7 Minute Drill” above

Might Delete Later is out now via Cole World and Interscope. Find more information here.

It was only a matter of time before we got a new album from J. Cole. For the past few years, the Fayetteville native has been teasing an album called The Fall Off, which he has been promising will be his best work. But ahead of the album, Cole dropped a new mixtape called Might Delete Later by surprise.

The mixtape features 12 new tracks, and much of Cole’s Dreamville camp is featured.

The album opens with “Pricey,” a collaboration with his Dreamville protege Ari Lennox, as well as Gucci Mane and Young Dro. Cole’s longtime collaborator Bas is featured on two tracks — the Central Cee-assisted “H.Y.B.” and “Stealth Mode.”

Might Delete Later marks Cole’s first full-length project since 2021’s The Off Season, and makes for a nice gift to tide fans over until The Fall Off.

You can see the Might Delete Later artwork and tracklist below.

1. “Pricey” Feat. Ari Lennox, Gucci Mane, and Young Dro
2. “Crocodile Tearz”
3. “Ready ’24” Feat. Cam’Ron
4. “Huntin’ Wabbitz”
5. “H.Y.B.” Feat. Bas & Central Cee
6. “Fever”
7. “Stickz N Stonez”
8. “Pi” Feat. Daylyt & Ab-Soul
9. “Stealth Mode” Feat. Bas
10. “3001”
11. “Trae The Truth In Ibiza”
12. “7 Minute Drill”

Might Delete Later is out now via Cole World and Interscope. Find more information here.

Gucci Mane is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The NBA’s MVP race this year has been relatively anticlimactic. It sure seems like Nikola Jokic is going to march to his third MVP, although Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s play has earned him a ton of love and Luka Doncic is in the midst of a late push. Still, if the latest version of ESPN’s MVP straw poll is any indication, Jokic is going to stroll to the award.

In recent years, the discourse around the award has been far different, as Jokic and Joel Embiid have battled to be named the league’s best player. Embiid looked like he was going to put up one hell of a case to repeat, but because of a knee injury, he’s going to fall well short of the new games played minimum. Still, Embiid is now back on the floor for the Philadelphia 76ers, and on Thursday night, he gave his thoughts on how the race is going this year.

“I’m happy I’m not in the conversation,” Embiid told reporters. “That conversation has been toxic for a long time, but I’ll be honest: This year, it’s been kind of boring. This year, there’s not enough toxicity going around. It’s pretty fun, and it’s also at some point, it’s pretty bad, too. But I’m glad I’m not nowhere near that, I’m just focused on getting back healthy, obviously all great candidates and they all deserve to win. It’s just unfortunate that only one person has to win.”

Embiid, who is known for goofing around and had a smile on his face as he said this, gave these comments after the Sixers picked up a 109-105 win over the Miami Heat. The reigning MVP had 29 points, four rebounds, three assists, a steal, and a block in 33 minutes of work.

Over the course of his career, Khalid has shown to be the songbird of his generation. But while he may deliver beautiful vocals and lyrics, he issues the painful reminder — he’s a victim of heartbreak, like everyone else out here. Tonight (April 4), the El Paso native has shared his new single, “Please Don’t Fall In Love With Me,” which serves as a fair warning to prospective lovers.

On “Please Don’t Fall In Love With Me,” Khalid delivers his signature baritone vocals over a smooth R&B track, issuing a notice to a woman that if she gets too invested, things may not end well.

“I hope that you believe in the end that I got you / How can I move forward when every relationship I get in / Don’t hit the same ’cause it’s not you?,” sings Khalid on the song’s chorus.

The song features an interpolation of Alicia Keys’ “Unthinkable (I’m Ready),” as he sings the 2009 song’s chorus in the introductory verse.

Earlier this week, Khalid celebrated the fifth anniversary of his sophomore album Free Spirit, which spawned hits like “Better” and the Disclosure collaboration, “Talk.” As Khalid kicks off his new era, he sounds more self-aware than ever, launching the once-teen king into a full-fledged R&B powerhouse.

You can listen to “Please Don’t Fall In Love With Me” above.