Month: May 2024

Things are going pretty well for Karl-Anthony Towns on the basketball court, as he’s playing the best postseason ball of his career and the Minnesota Timberwolves find themselves with a 2-0 series lead on the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals. And before Game 3 happens on Friday night, Towns is being recognized for his work off the court, as the Wolves start was named as the NBA’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion.

Towns was announced as the winner on Thursday, joining Carmelo Anthony, Reggie Bullock, and Stephen Curry as those who have taken home the award since its inception ahead of the 2020-21 campaign. His candidacy for the award revolved around his work around voting rights, mass incarceration, and education — you can read more about his work in these various fields right here.

A board member for the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition, this is not the first time that Towns has been nominated for this honor, as he previously was a finalist in 2021-22. As a result of his win, the NBA will make a donation of $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities on behalf of the Timberwolves big man.

Towns was one of five players who were announced as finalists for this year’s Social Justice Champion award. He beat out Miami’s Bam Adebayo, New Orleans’ CJ McCollum, Oklahoma City’s Lindy Waters III and Los Angeles’ Russell Westbrook.

As we know, baby name trends are constantly changing. One generation’s Barbara is another generation’s Bethany. But it doesn’t make it any less odd when you suddenly realize that your very own name has suddenly made it into the “old and unhip” pile. And for many of us 80s babies…that time is now.

In a now-viral TikTok post, baby name consultant Colleen Slagen went through the top 100 girl names from 1986 to find which ones “did not age well” and were no longer ranked top 1,000 today. Such a descent from popularity would mark them as what she calls “timestamp names.”

Spoiler alert: what might be even more surprising than the names now considered old school are the names that are still going strong.

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The first name that Slagen says is “officially out” is Heather. That’s right, not even cult movie fame could help it keep its ranking.

via GIPHY

Other extinct names include Erica, Courtney, Lindsay, Tara, Crystal, Shannon, Brandy and Dana. Tiffany, Brittany and Casey are also heading very much in that direction.

“My name is Brandy. The Gen Z hostess at Olive Garden told me that she’d never heard my name before and it was so unique,” one viewer wrote.

However, Andrea ranks “surprisingly high,” and Jessica, Ashley and Stephanie have survived…so far.

Gobsmacked, one person asked “How is Stephanie still in there? I don’t think I’ve met a Stephanie younger than myself at 34.”

But the biggest holdout still belongs to Jennifer. “She was a top 100 name all the way up until 2008. Round of applause for Jennifer,” Slagen says in the clip.

@namingbebe Sorry Lindsay, Heather, and Courtney. #babynames #nametok #nameconsultant #girlnames #80skid #1986 #nametrend ♬ original sound – Colleen

If your name has found its way into relic of a bygone era status, fret not. Slagen, whose name also ranks out of the top 1000, assures it just means “we are creatures of the 80’s.”

Of course, while we still have baby names that become incredibly common for extended periods of time (looking at you, little Liam and Olivia), the real contemporary trend is going for uniqueness. As an article in The Atlantic notes, for most of American history families tended to name their children after a previous family member, with the goal of blending in, rather than standing out. But now, things have changed.

Laura Wattenberg, the founder of Namerology, told the outlet that “Parents are thinking about naming kids more like how companies think about naming products, which is a kind of competitive marketplace where you need to be able to get attention to succeed.”

But again, even with a keen eye on individualism, patterns pop up. “The same thing we see in fashion trend cycles, we see in names,” Jessie Paquette, another professional baby namer, told Vox. “We’re seeing Eleanor, Maude, Edith—cool-girl grandma names.”

So who knows…give it time (or maybe just a pop song) and one of these 80s names could make a comeback.

Over the two months, Gunna has been rolling out his fifth studio album, One Of Wun. Beginning with the release of the album’s first single, “Prada Dem,” featuring Offset, and culminating with the reveal of the tracklist just yesterday, Gunna has turned up the hype for One Of Wun with every move. Now, the only thing left to do is drop the album, which he’ll do Friday, May 10 (tomorrow). So, when can you stream the new album on Spotify?

The album will be on DSPs at midnight Eastern, 9 PM Pacific.

Incidentally, it looks like there might be one wrench in the works of Gunna’s master plan, though. Just days ago, Future announced the release of his own mixtape, after releasing two joint albums with Metro Boomin. Now, fans think Gunna and Future might just have joined in the widespread wave of conflict sweeping the hip-hop world. Fortunately, this time, Gunna won’t have to go it alone; in addition to Offset, his album tracklist (which you can see below) will also include another frequent collaborator, Roddy Ricch.

One Of Wun is out May 10 via Young Stoner Life Records / 300 Entertainment. You can get more info here.

Tracklist

1. “Collage”
2. “One Of Wun”
3. “Neck On A Yacht”
4. “Whatsapp (Wassam)”
5. “Hakuna Matata”
6. “Prada Dem” Feat. Offset
7. “Treesh”
8. “On One By Tonight”
9. “Back In The A”
10. “Trio”
11. “Still Prevail”
12. “Blackjack”
13. “$$$” Feat. Normani
14. “Clear My Rain” Feat. Leon Bridges
15. “Conscience”
16. “The Time”
17. “Let It Breathe” Feat. Roddy Ricch
18. “Life’s Changing”
19. “Today I Did Good”
20. “Time Reveals, Be Careful What You Wish For”

Jerry Seinfeld is currently in the middle of his “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings while promoting Unfrosted” tour after briefly stopping by Saturday Night Live last weekend as “Man Who Did Too Much Press.” But he’s aware of it.

But now he is trying to take back some of the stuff he said while he was trying to get you to see his pop-tart movie. On this week’s episode of the Fly On The Wall podcast with David Spade and Dana Carvey, Seinfeld joked that his buddy Howard Stern doesn’t really have “comedy chops.”

While the trio were discussing comedy podcasts He said, “Howard Stern intvented this, right? We’re better than him now,” Seinfeld continued, before adding. “Howard is interesting. Howard is a great interviewer, but comedy chops, I mean, can we speak candidly?” When the hosts agreed, he continued, “Yeah, they’re all great but let’s face it, he’s been outflanked by some very, and yourselves, I mean absolutely, this show, comedy podcast? This is the best one on the air,” Seinfeld added. “Because you guys play nice together, it’s smooth, you’re not jumping on each other, which is annoying to listen to,” he confessed.

While Stern has yet to respond to Seinfeld comments, the comedian wanted to get ahead of the curve and already apologized for the comments. “I really feel bad for what I said about my friend Howard Stern in a conversation with David Spade and Dana Carvey, talking about the glut of comedy podcasts,” he told TMZ, the leading outlet for apologies. “I meant to say he must feel surrounded but I said ‘outflanked’ which sounded terrible and insulting. And of course, none of these little shows are any threat to his giant show. Anyway, it was bad and I’m sorry, Howie. I still love you. Please forgive me.”

Stern has not responded, but he does love to talk so who knows.

Maybe this week on Saturday Night Live we can look forward to Seinfeld returning as “Man Who Should Stop Going On Podcasts.”

(Via Variety)

When we last heard about Chief Keef’s fifth studio album, Almighty So 2, the “I Don’t Like” rapper was aiming for a spring 2023 release date. However, Keef clearly felt that the album still wasn’t quite ready — despite having been in the works for nearly five years at the time — and again delayed the release. This week, though, he not only gave fans a solid release date, but he also announced it with a dramatic trailer, which you can watch above. So, when can you finally give Almighty So 2 a stream on Apple Music (or the DSP of your choice)?

Well, Almighty So 2 is due on Friday, May 10 via Keef’s independent label 43B. That means it will most likely be available to stream at midnight Eastern (9 PM Pacific). One of the benefits of being independent means that Keef has more flexibility to set release dates — hence the long wait for the album’s release — but it also means that the veteran rapper has dotted all his “i”s and crossed all his “t”s if he’s finally determined the album is ready to put out.

Almighty So 2 is due on 5/10 and will feature G Herbo, Lil Gnar, Quavo, Sexyy Red, and Tierra Whack, with production from Mike Will Made It. You can find more info here.

The New York Knicks, somehow, managed to take a 2-0 series lead on the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night, as they came back from 10 down at halftime to win by nine in Game 2, despite Jalen Brunson injuring his foot in the first half (he returned for the second) and OG Anunoby missing the entire fourth quarter with a hamstring injury.

Despite those various injuries, the Knicks continue to outwork and out-execute the Pacers in fourth quarters, but one has to wonder at what point New York reaches a point where having to play their main guys 48 minutes or close to it catches up. Many expect that to come next round against the Boston Celtics (provided they take care of business against the Cavs after going up 1-0).

Charles Barkley is among those who think Boston will “stomp” New York or Indiana in the conference finals, but he explained after Game 2 he hopes it’s New York because he’s tired of New Yorkers thinking they’re so great.

Shaq couldn’t resist a chance to derail Chuck’s rant by getting him to talk about his love for the street meat, and succeeded as Barkley made sure everyone knew that street meat (along with pizza and bagels) were worthy of New York exceptionalism. Chuck proclaimed, “You know I ain’t gonna say nothin’ bad about the street meat. You know I love the street meat,” which is all Shaq needed to go into another fit of laughter.

Despite his awe-inspiring productivity in releasing mixtapes, Chief Keef apparently hasn’t released an official album since 2021’s 4NEM. This Friday, May 10, Keef will release his fifth studio album, Almighty So 2, a project he’s been working on since 2019. After years of false starts and promising updates, Keef announced the official release date early this week with the above trailer, revealing that the album will feature G Herbo, Lil Gnar, Quavo, Sexyy Red, and Tierra Whack, with production from Mike Will Made It. So when will Almighty So 2 be available to stream on services like Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal?

The usual drill for streaming releases (heh) is that they will appear on DSPs at midnight ET (9 PM Pacific), although not every streaming service updates its home page right away. You’re likely best off waiting until that time, then searching the artist or album name directly. While Almighty So 2 has taken nearly five years to complete, Chief Keef is a veteran of the independent music scene (at just 28 years old, no less), so he’s likely got his ducks in a row and won’t be plagued by the sort of release issues that have haunted Keef’s fellow Chicagoan Kanye West.

Almighty So 2 is due on 5/10 via 43B. You can get more info here.

House of the Dragon is one of the most anticipated shows of the year, but there’s one possibility I’m not looking forward to: a lack of scenes with Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke together.

D’Arcy, who plays Rhaenyra Targaryen, is on Team Black, while Cooke’s Alicent Hightower is on Team Green. These two — and other various Targaryens, Hightowers, Cargylls, Velaryons, and dragons — are at war in season two, so don’t expect any more sweet moments like this one.

At least not on the show. In real life, D’Arcy and Cooke seem to love being around each other, especially if they can drink “a Negroni sbagliato… with Proscetto in it.” HBO released a clip from a “stunning” new interview between the actors where they show off their playful chemistry. After D’Arcy refers to co-stars Paddy Considine and Olivia Cooke by their full names, Cooke cuts in, “Don’t full name me.” With a sheepish grin, D’Arcy responds, “Do what I like.”

Someone put these two in a movie with Kristen Stewart immediately. Anyway, the clip has House of the Dragons fans talking, as you might expect.

D’Cooke shippers, your time is now. Here’s what to expect in season two:

Westeros is on the brink of a bloody civil war with the Green and Black Councils fighting for King Aegon and Queen Rhaenyra, respectively. As each side believes theirs to be the rightful seat on the Iron Throne, the Green and Black trailers reflect those two perspectives in separate yet complementary halves of the same story.

House of the Dragon returns to HBO and Max on June 16.

We are now in Year 20 of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef (that’s how it feels, at least). At this point, multiple diss tracks have been swapped back and forth over the past few weeks, and most observers have chosen their sides. That appears to include Jack Dorsey, best known for co-founding Twitter (now X).

On May 3, Dorsey (who was spotted at a Drake concert in 2022, by the way) shared an old tweet of Lamar promoting a June 16 concert in Toronto, an apparent nod to “6:16 In LA.”

Then, on May 4, he shared Lamar’s tweet about his “Meet The Grahams” diss and added, “truth vs lies.” On May 6, Dorsey tweeted, “like that not like us,” an apparent reference to Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” Finally, on May 8, Dorsey posted a link to Lamar’s “Rich Spirit” and wrote, “turn him to a song.”

He also recently retweeted a tweet of an old video of Lamar performing in a Best Buy store. That tweet was shared in response to a user who wrote, “Kendrick’s old tweets are like ‘Hey guys im finna perform at best buy :D’ LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOO,” which itself was in response to a tweet saying, “You know Aubrey angels went looking for some tweets on Kendrick account too only to find he is indeed the most boring n**** of all time.”

What’s that idiom: don’t judge a book by its cover? Well, don’t judge a Twisters poster until you look really closely at it, either.

On Wednesday, Universal released a new trailer for Twisters, the “and twins” standalone sequel to 1996’s Twister. Anyone But You‘s Glen Powell as a cocky tornado chaser in a cowboy hat who probably calls all women “ma’am”? It’s the role he was born to play. A new poster also came out, and everyone online made the same joke about the cast — Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Anthony Ramos — looking away from the obvious tornado behind them.

Like so:

But here’s the thing: look at the driver side mirror.

Twisters is going to rock. Here’s the official plot synopsis:

Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Kate Carter, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City. She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi (Anthony Ramos) to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew, the more dangerous the better. As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler, Javi and their crews find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.

Twisters opens in theaters on July 19.