Month: April 2024

Nicki Minaj has been packing arenas on her Pink Friday 2 Tour, which has fallen in good favor with the Barbz. Over the course of the tour, Nicki has been performing hit-after-hit from her catalog, which spans nearly two decades. She has also shown love to her loyal fan base, by sharing stories with them, shouting them out to the audience, and offering little tidbits of advice.

During her DC show last night, Minaj had some words to say in regard to practicing celibacy.

“Stop being a f*cking hoe,” Minaj said to the audience. “Abstain from sex and find out who you are first. And then, the universe will do it for you.”

Many of the Barbz cheered Minaj on, however, some found the message surprising. Over the course of her career, Minaj has been outspoken about her sexuality — notably with hits like “Anaconda” and “Super Freaky Girl.” But closer to the end of her spiel, Minaj made it clear that any vow of celibacy doesn’t have to be permanent.

“Abstain from sex for a little while,” Minaj said. “But if a [man] ever fumbled me, he stupid as f*ck.”

You can see a fan-taken video from the show above.

If Young Metro don’t trust you — well, you know how the tagline goes. And it looks like superstar producer Metro Boomin might have a new opp to look out for.

Over the past few days, fans of Metro noticed that he hadn’t shared his daily “Thank God for the day!” tweet, until today (April 2).

Many assumed he was still riding the high of his joint album We Don’t Trust You, featuring Future. But he explained that there was something more sinister at play.

“It all started 2 days before the album dropped and all these 416 numbers would call me back 2 back a million times,” said Metro in the beginning of a series of tweets. “It got so bad I had to keep my phone on airplane mode.” The tweet included a screenshot of several phone calls from different numbers, however, each of them were from the 416 area code — an area code from Toronto, Canada.

“I woke up 2 days after the album dropped,” Metro continued, “with my phone saying I was signed out of iCloud and I no longer had service on my phone.”

It would appear that Metro’s phone was hacked. And evidently, the hacker had some expensive taste.

“I eventually got an email from my Balenciaga rep asking me about an order I had placed and was confused af,” he said.

Thankfully, no orders actually went through. Metro’s contact at Balenciaga came through with screenshots, revealing that the hacker attempted to order some bags and some gaudy boots.

“I would never order these freaky ass boots,” said Metro.

The screenshots show that the hacker attempted to order the products to be delivered to Houston. Meanwhile, Metro has been in Atlanta with his family as these conversations are taking place. Additionally, the hacker attempted to order Chanel products from Balenciaga, which the Balenciaga rep immediately caught.

None of the hackers orders actually processed, as the Balenciaga rep couldn’t be duped. And, the hacker didn’t have Metro’s CVV number.

Nevertheless, Metro is unbothered and too busy reaping the fruits of his labor.

“#1 album. #1 song. It’s nothing like me to focus and attempt to thrive off negativity vs these blessings while I’m living through one of the biggest moments of my career thus far,” Metro said.

Basketball fans were captivated by Monday night’s Elite 8 game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the LSU Tigers. It was a rematch of last year’s national championship game, but this time, Caitlin Clark and co. were able to walk out with a 94-87 win, with the reigning national player of the year exploding for 41 points and 12 assists.

There was a whole lot of hype surrounding the game, and boy, did it deliver in a big way, as two of the most prominent teams in sports right now put on a show. And perhaps unsurprisingly, America tuned in and loved it, as ESPN brought word that the Hawkeyes and the Tigers played in the most-watched women’s college hoops game on record.

When compared to other major sporting events over the last year, this game stacks up incredibly well.

The game immediately after it drew a whole bunch of eyeballs, too, as Paige Bueckers and UConn’s win over JuJu Watkins and USC also did a monster number.

We won’t have to wait long to see Bueckers and Clark go head-to-head, as the Huskies and the Hawkeyes will meet up in the Final Four on Friday evening. The winner of that game will compete for a national title against either South Carolina or NC State.

GloRilla is about to have the summer on lock. This week, the Memphis rapper is set to release her new mixtape, Ehhthang Ehhthang. The mixtape precedes an international tour with Megan Thee Stallion, where she will serve as the Hot Girl Summer Tour‘s opener.

But that won’t be the only collaboration between the two rap powerhouses. On Ehhthang Ehhthang, Meg and Glo have a collaboration called “Wanna Be,” which, despite not having been released yet, is pretty much guaranteed to be the song of the summer.

Glo also recruited our cover star Moneybagg Yo, Finesse 2X, and more to appear on the mixtape, which — if its anything like her infectious hit “Yeah Glo!” — will be on repeat for the foreseeable future.

You can see the full tracklist below.

1. “Yeah Glo!”
2. “All Dere” Feat. Moneybagg Yo
3. “Nun Of Dem”
4. “No Bih”
5. “Wanna Be” Feat. Megan Thee Stallion
6. “Opp Sh*t”
7. “Aite” Feat. Kevo Muney
8. “Bad Bih 4 Ya” Feat. Boston Richey
9. “Finesse Da Glo” Feat. Finesse 2X
10. “High AF”
11. “GMFU PT. 2”
12. “In Dat Mode”

Ehhthang Ehhthang is out 4/5 via CMG and Interscope Records. Find more information here.

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

For the first time since Jan. 30, Joel Embiid will suit up and play in a basketball game. After reports indicated that the reigning NBA MVP would try to return from a meniscus injury sometime this week, the Philadelphia 76ers upgraded Embiid’s status to questionable ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

And not long after, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that the plan is for Embiid to try and give it a go on Tuesday.

Embiid was on pace to go back-to-back as MVP at the time of his injury, as he’s averaging 35.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.8 blocks, and 1.1 steals in 34 minutes per game for the Sixers, which found themselves towards the top of the Eastern Conference. And then, Embiid started to suffer knee issues that led to him missing time, including back-to-back games ahead of their Jan. 30 matchup against the Golden State Warriors.

In that game, Embiid was on the ground when Jonathan Kuminga dove for a loose ball and landed on his bad knee. Eventually, the decision was made for Embiid to undergo a procedure on his meniscus that would sideline him for a considerable amount of time, but left the door open for him to come back.

The Sixers are currently 40-35, which puts them in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, 1.5 games behind the Miami Heat for the 7-seed, and 2.5 games behind the Indiana Pacers for the 6-seed. The team has seven games left in the regular season as they hope to make a major move to either avoid the Play-In Tournament, or get to host the 7-8 game.

Fast food needs innovation to survive. And we’re not talking about automated drive-thrus or flex-pricing, that stuff is, well… dumb. We’re talking about new food. Your Taco Bell Chicken Cantina menus, seasonal fish sandwiches, the KFC Chizza!

Okay, maybe not that last one. But we love to see a big brand take a chance because sometimes a new menu item just knocks it out of the park and reinvigorates a whole menu.

I’m giving the whole nut of the article away here, but that’s how I feel about McDonald’s new Spicy Chicken McNuggets. This isn’t the first time McDonald’s has launched a spicy nugget, the dish first hit the McDonald’s menu in 2020 and has made sporadic appearances since then, always for a very limited time. But this is the best iteration I’ve ever tasted.

Unfortunately, the spicy nuggets will once again only be available for an unspecified limited amount of time, so if you want to try ‘em, move fast. Here is why you need to pick up an order.

Spicy Chicken McNuggets

Thoughts & Tasting Notes:

The heat hits immediately when you bite into this nugget, building at the back of the throat at first bite and steadily moving up the tongue as you continue eating. The prominent flavor is cayenne pepper, but I can also taste the bright and subtly smokey characteristics of a hot pepper blend. This version of the nugget has that same airy and crispy breading as the OG nugget, providing a great texture and a lot of crunch.

Other than that, the chicken tastes the same as the OG nugget. It’s simply a spicy version of a classic, but if you love heat, you’re going to prefer this.

One way this nugget falls a bit short is that, for whatever reason, it’s a tad bit drier than the OG nugget. Because of that, I think this nugget requires sauce in a way the original doesn’t. So what’s the best sauce here? You have to treat these nuggets like you would wings — so go with ranch. Ranch will add richness and tang to the spicy profile, elevating it to a much more savory and satisfying place.

If you want to double down on the heat, Spicy Buffalo would be our next choice.

The Bottom Line:

Superior to the chain’s OG nugget. McDonald’s is pretty good at bringing this one back, but it’s time to stop fooling around and just give this permanent menu status. If you haven’t tried them yet, they’re a must-pick-up.

Find your nearest McDonald’s here.

Valerie Bertinelli stopped by Tuesday morning’s episode of The View, and it was clear right out of the gate that something was… off. After sitting down on the panel to promote her new cookbook, the actress turned Food Network personality kicked things off by noting that she and Whoopi Goldberg had already been “bitching” backstage.

From there, things only got weirder as Bertinelli seemingly had no clue about the dishes she supposedly prepared for the co-hosts. In fact, she got downright testy when asked about them.

“What is this? Did I make this?” she said before being asked by Joy Behar if one of the dishes was turkey, prompting Bertinelli to snap back, “Joy, I don’t know.”

Realizing she just made things very awkward, Bertinelli attempted to steer the conversation towards politics, only to be censored as she once again swore on air.

Via Entertainment Weekly:

“I just want you to know how dang important it is for everyone to vote,” she said, urging the audience to participate in local elections before the first of two censored moments that occurred during the chat. “Please, vote for your own benefit. Thank you. I get a little excited, and I just have to think about our queen Taylor Swift and…”

The sound cut out at the end of Bertinelli’s comment, though her lips appeared to mouth “calm the f— down” as the audio dropped.

The conversation got even more frantic as Bertinelli lashed out at online trolls, who she called “a**holes” in another moment that required censoring. After launching into a few other tangents, Bertinelli attempted to bring her scattershot appearance to a close with a bizarre historical quote.

“Just like [Winston] Churchill said, when you’re going through hell, keep going,” she said. “Was it Churchill? I don’t care. But, when you’re going through hell, you keep going.”

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Grief and gratitude might seem to be in opposition to the other, but in times of loss, they both work in tandem to help us process our pain. As the “Ten Percent Happier” blog eloquently puts it, “grief embodies our humanity even as gratitude allows us to embrace pain and hardship.”

Actress Jennifer Garner recently gave a poignant example of this.

On April 1, the “Alias” star took to her Instagram page to share the news that her father, William John Garner, died “peacefully” in the afternoon on March 30.

Though her tribute expressed the loss she felt, it made plenty of space for humor and appreciation for the precious memories she got to create with her “kind and brilliant” dad.

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Garner began her caption with a joke, saying, “We were with him, singing ‘Amazing Grace’ as he left us. Did we carry him across or scare him away — valid question.”

The lighthearted moment was followed by a nugget of heartfelt truth. “While there is no tragedy in the death of an 85-year-old man who lived a healthy, wonderful life, I know grief is unavoidable, waiting around unexpected corners.”

Still, Garner noted that “Today is for gratitude,” reminiscing her late father’s “gentle demeanor and quiet strength” his “mischievous smile,” and “for the way he invented the role of all in, ever patient girl dad.”

She then sent thank-you’s to the medical staff that helped him during his final chapter, helping him get a few more days to spend with his grandchildren.

“There is so much to say about my dad— my sisters and I will never be done talking about how wonderful he was, so bear with us,” she concluded. “But for today, I share these memories with my appreciation for the kind and brilliant man, father, and grandfather he was, as well as the loving legacy he left behind.”

Along with the tribute, Garner shared a carousel of images of her dad, including a clip of their iconic Capital One commercial spot, where her father got to deliver the famous “What’s in your wallet?” tagline.

See on Instagram

Garner aimed to honor her father in her tribute, and she succeeded.

“My heart aches a little because you lost someone so incredibly special, but also celebrates the comfort you must have in knowing what a precious and wonderful human being he was here on Earth. I am now singing to him as well!” one person wrote.

Another added, “What an amazing father and beautiful example.”

It prompted a few to reflect on their own relationships with their father.

“Dads are so precious. Sorry for your loss.”

“A father daughter bond is like no other — I’m so very sorry — sending love and prayers for your family.”

“What a lovely face he had! A wonderful father is a tough thing to beat. I had one too and know in my bones how lucky I was — how lucky you were— thinking of you and sending buckets of love.”

Part of being human means eventually losing everyone we love. We can choose to focus solely on mourning. We can also choose to try to bury the pain. But neither of those options helps us fully experience our own humanity. The hidden opportunity of grief is to feel gratitude at a profound level, as if to say “I am now more fully aware of how precious our time together was, now that it is no longer here.” May we all have the grace to embrace both sides when the time comes.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Beyoncé dreams of a world where everyone and everything can exist as they choose to. Where gatekeepers are without agenda beside guarding the integrity of the structure they earned the position and respect to protect. “Texas Hold ‘Em” lives in this utopia where patrons at your local dive bar dance in jolly unison and throw back shots of liquor.

When Beyoncé sings about laying your cards and throwing your keys up, it’s without a care in the world for what exists outside. Renaissance resides here too as its 16 songs are a safe space for Black, brown, and queer bodies who are not only in love with dance and ballroom but created a home for themselves there. In this utopia, there’s nothing to prove, there’s nothing to overcome, and there’s no one to fight. The sanctity of human autonomy is preserved and protected. You can be country today and dance under the disco ball tomorrow.

Cowboy Carter should’ve been born into this utopia. Instead, we have an album born out of disregard for Beyoncé’s country roots as well as her right to create as she pleases. When Beyoncé unveiled the cover for Cowboy Carter, she alluded to the criticism she faced after performing “Daddy Lessons” at the 50th CMA Awards. Beyoncé – born in Texas to parents with roots in Texas, Alabama, and Louisiana – had everything from her true intentions for the song to her country roots questioned. Ironic for the singer who was once considered “too country.”

As Beyoncé sings of dive bars, hoedowns, and tornadoes sweeping through the Lone Star State on “Texas Hold ’Em,” leads a “Riiverdance” with fingernails as her percussion, and cocks her weapon with promises to be “your shotgun ride ’til the day I die” on “II Most Wanted” with Miley Cyrus, it’s clear that questions about her country background are less about “preserving” the genre, and more about excluding stories that tell the truth about country. To bill Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter as an album built to prove these critics wrong would be to shortchange it. Instead, it finds Beyoncé using the sound and environment she was born into to expand the possibilities of genre — and leave them behind.

Eight years after “Daddy Lessons,” Beyoncé returns to her “old friend” which she greets with chippy sarcasm on the opening track to Cowboy Carter. “Ameriican Requiem,” as much as it is a requiem, is a reckoning Beyoncé seeks. Between grand, orchestral vocal runs and twangy and croaking verses, Beyoncé speaks to her critics directly: “Can you hear me? / “Or do you fear me?” The exclusion of Black and brown people in certain spaces, especially ones they occupied in abundance for as long or longer than so-called gatekeepers, is an attempt to eliminate stories of strife and struggle caused by the same group who wants to whitewash those faults in hindsight.

However, these stories will constantly resurface in the art Black and brown people create, making it hard for these antagonists to brush them off with claims that things weren’t that bad or that they’re a lot better now, a contradiction that melts the brain if you think about it too hard. They fear the reminder, but the constant presence of these stories that track our progress and celebrate those from the past who opened the doors for today are too valuable to be erased.

Cowboy Carter resurrects stories of Beyoncé’s past as well as those from Black artists in the South. “16 Carriages” mourns the innocent life she once had as a child in the land of milk & honey with a future she naively hoped would be just as sweet and nourishing. Though her music dreams came true, the price at which they were granted produced an “undеrpaid and overwhelmed” child, a mother “goin’ so hard, now I miss my kids,” a battered relationship between her parents that ended in their separation after her father’s infidelity. The record, just like Cowboy Carter, thrives in the face of unfortunate circumstances.

“Ya Ya,” a blood-pumping, foot-stomping, and hand-clapping chant, salutes the legacy of the Chitlin Circuit, a string of venues in the South that was home to Black artists who wanted to perform their music as they were denied the opportunity to do so in white venues. Undeniable legends like James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, B.B. King, Little Richard, the Jackson 5, and Tina Turner all performed throughout the Chitlin Circuit. The Chitlin Circuit and Cowboy Carter are both born from the attempted exhalation by their respective distractors and oppressors. Their greatness won’t be questioned, but they should’ve been able to exist with better circumstances at their foundation.

Cowboy Carter doesn’t exist in the world that country is “supposed” to be in. Instead, it blends genres that go against tradition and brings us the brash “Spaghettii,” the bass-knocking “Tyrant,” the pop-leaning “Levii Jeans,” and the funky “Desert Eagle.” Things are much different in Beyoncé’s country, just as they were in her ballroom. With the inclusion of talented burgeoning artists like Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, and Shaboozey, she uncovers a side of country that deserves more time in the spotlight. It proves that country, just like other genres, is simply what you make of your roots and experiences that sprout from it. Everyone should be able to tell their story how they please. Cowboy Carter protects and advocates for the undisturbed existence of art from Black and brown creatives, and through 27 songs, Beyoncé stands as a winner in a fight that should’ve never existed.

Cowboy Carter is out now via Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records. Find out more information here.

It’s nice and humbling to know that despite all of your best efforts, you will probably never be a billionaire. Sure, you’ll never know what it’s like to be rich, but it takes the pressure off knowing that you will never be named on a list of the world’s wealthiest people. Who wants to be rubbing elbows with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, or even Dick Wolf, who famously invented crime (only kidding). George Lucas, that’s who!

Lucas is #1 on the Forbes World Celebrity Billionare list, which also includes Jay-Z, Kim Kardashian, and Rihanna. Lucas is worth $5.5 billion at age 79.

After selling LucasFilm to Disney back in 2012, Lucas has been raking in the big bucks thanks to all of the Star Wars spinoffs on Disney+. Half of that billion is probably due to the popularity of Baby Yoda, but we will never really know for certain.

Taylor Swift also makes an appearance on the list, making her the first person to be get her billions solely by writing and performing, as opposed to other ventures, like shapewear lines or inventing fictional universes. Noticibly absent from the celebrity billionaire list is Godzilla, who is worth more than all of these guys combined lately. He’s also taller.

(Via Forbes)