After announcing their collaborative album, Bad Cameo, in February, Lil Yachty and James Blake have finally given fans a release date to look forward to. Bad Cameo is slated for release June 28th via Quality Control Music/Motown Records and Republic Records. Back when they announced the project, Yachty said of the work that “it’s so left — for both of us.”
In a new feature in Complex, the two artists shared their views on each other’s songs, which helped prompt their collaboration, and the similarities in their work styles. “Before we got this close, I thought all musicians were like me and music was all day every day,” said Yachty. Blake pointed out how this helped their process, saying, “I know a lot of people who just don’t really want to consume that much outside of what they make. And actually I’m a bit like that. I make music for myself. I say I don’t listen to music. Obviously I do. There’s loads of albums I love. And if I’m driving and we’re going on a road trip or something, I’ll play music in the car. But I really value peace.”
Lil Yachty/James Blake
Bad Cameo is due on 6/28 via Quality Control Music/Motown Records and Republic Records. You can find more information here.
The NBA Finals will begin on Thursday night. The Boston Celtics will represent the Eastern Conference as champions, while the Dallas Mavericks made it through the gauntlet that is the Western Conference to end up on this stage. It’s a fascinating matchup between two teams that are elite on the defensive end of the floor and are led by All-Star duos — Boston hopes that the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown duo will finally get over the hump and win a ring, while Dallas has one of the best offensive 1-2 punches in league history in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
The Finals are always a big occasion, and this year, ESPN enlisted the help of Metro Boomin to promote it. The Worldwide Leader in Sports teamed up with Metro to create an ad in the lead-up to the Finals set to his track “Runnin Outta Time” featuring Future. You can check out the ad — which will air throughout the Finals — at the top of this post.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals will tip off on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. EST on ABC. The first two games of the series will take place in Boston, where the Celtics went 37-4 during the regular season. However, if the Mavs want to be optimistic, both of Boston’s losses this postseason have come on their home floor.
Who you got: Team Green or Team Black? Make your choice soon, because House of the Dragon returns to HBO and Max on June 16. We’ll have weekly recaps for every episode this season, but for now, here are some initial thoughts on season 2 (the first three episodes were screened for review).
1. Let’s get right to it: Is House of the Dragon still good? (This assumes you enjoyed season one, which I very much did.) Yes, it is. Very good, in fact.
House of the Dragon, like Game of Thrones before it, is at its best when characters are scheming and/or feuding behind closed doors in a large room with a crackling fireplace. Or on a cliffside. Or the dankest corners of King’s Landing. The the episodes I’ve seen so far have so many scenes like that. I was worried about the understandable temptation to make everything more ACTION PACKED in season two, like a sequel that misunderstands the appeal of the original, but that’s not the case. The “bigger, badder” battles are coming, but the House writers understand that while dragons are fun and all, they’re best used as an off-screen threat. The real thrills are provided by the palace intrigue and the fine line between the personal and the politicial.
2. Two years isn’t a long time, relatively speaking. But it feels like forever when it’s a break between seasons of television. House of the Dragon’s season 1 finale aired in October 2022, the same month that Amsterdam hit theaters. Remember Amsterdam, the movie where Taylor Swift gets pushed in front of a moving car? Nope, and you’ve probably forgotten a lot of specifics about House of the Dragon as well (the last two years have been… a lot). Season 2 picks up 10 days after the events of last season’s finale, where Rhaenyra’s son Lucerys was killed by Aemon’s dragon Vhagar, so I suggest watching Max’s recap of everything that’s happened so far. Or at least jogging your memory on the various blond-wigged Targaryen children and which Cargyll brother is which.
It will help you enjoy season 2. Believe me.
3. Everyone in the cast does a fine job (including the new additions to the ensemble, who help expand the universe of the show), but House of the Dragon firmly doesn’t work without the lead performances from Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke. The pair do incredible work in interviews and as grief-stricken Rhaenyra Targaryen and ambitious Alicent Hightower, respectively; they’re able to convey so much emotion without saying a word. Matt Smith is also a blast as Daemon, the most amusingly nasty member of the Targaryens.
Other early MVPs include Phia Saban as King Aegon II’s sister-wife; Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria; and Rhys Ifans as King Aegon II’s hand Ser Otto Hightower
4. HBO has a long list of plot details that reviewers aren’t allowed to discuss yet, including [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]. But here’s what I can reveal: Corlys and Rhaenys are still relationship goals, Larys Strong is still a creep, and Criston Cole is still the most pathetic man in Westeros.
5. Before House of the Dragon premiered, I was concerned that it would be nothing more than a shameless extension of the Game of Thrones brand. A DLC to check out but not engage with. Those fears have been unfounded. House of the Dragon quickly proved itself a worthy successor to Thrones (which, disappointing finale aside, is still one of the best shows of the 2010s). It exists on its own terms; it’s possible to enjoy the high-budget soap opera without prior knowledge of Westeros. House of the Dragon won’t be the monoculture behemoth that Game of Thrones was. No show will anymore. But it doesn’t need to be. House of the Dragon is doing just fine out of Game of Thrones’ dragon-shaped shadow.
House of the Dragon returns to HBO and Max for season 2 on June 16.
Governors Ball 2024 is this weekend, Friday, June 7 through Sunday, June 9, with headliners SZA, The Killers, and Post Malone. Set times were announced a while back, but if you missed them or just need a refresher, see below to find out when your favorite acts go on.
Friday, June 7
GovBallNYC Stage:
School Of Rock Queens (12:00-12:30), Blondshell (1:00-1:30), Durry (2:00-2:30), Ryan Beatty (3:15-4:00), Goth Babe (4:45-5:30), Dominic Fike (6:30-7:30), Post Malone (8:30)
Lauran Hibberd (12:00-12:30), Donna Missal (1:00-1:30), Underscores (1:45-2:15), Mimi (2:40-3:20), FLO (3:45-4:30), Teezo Touchdown (5:00-5:45), Alex G (6:15-7:00), Labrinth (7:30-8:30)
Saturday, June 8
GovBallNYC Stage:
Maz & Kidd Revel (12:00-12:30), Telescreens (1:00-1:30), Quarters Of Change (2:00-2:30), Jesse Murph (3:15-4:05), Sabrina Carpenter (4:50-5:45), Carly Rae Jepsen (6:30-7:30), The Killers (8:30)
GoPuff Stage:
The Thing (12:30-1:00), Riovaz (1:30-2:00), Bakar (2:30-3:15), Doechii (4:05-4:50), Sexyy Red (5:45-6:30), 21 Savage (7:30-8:30)
IHG Hotels & Resorts:
Kids Rock For Kids (12:00-12:30), Little Stranger (12:45-1:15), Skizzy Mars (1:45-2:15), Claire Rosinkranz (2:40-3:20), P1Harmony (3:45-4:30), d4vd (5:00-5:45), Hippo Campus (6:15-7:00), TV Girl (7:30-8:30)
Sunday, June 9
GovBallNYC Stage:
School Of Rock Brooklyn (12:00-12:30), Husbands (1:00-1:30), Elyanna (2:00-2:40), Malcolm Todd (3:20-4:00), Chappell Roan (4:45-5:30), Renée Rapp (6:30-7:30), SZA (8:30)
GoPuff Stage:
Hotline Tent (12:30-1:00), Baby Queen (1:30-2:00), Saint Levant (2:40-3:20), Kevin Abstract (4:00-4:45), Don Toliver (5:30-6:30), Peso Pluma (7:30-8:30)
IHG Hotels & Resorts:
The Hails (12:00-12:15), Fcukers (12:55-1:25), G Flip (1:45-2:15), Geese (2:40-3:20), Beach Fossils (3:45-4:30), Cannons (5:00-5:45), Stephen Sanchez (6:15-7:00), Faye Webster (7:30-8:30)
When the Earth crumbles and humanity disappears, it should at least comfort you to know that Shrek will always be there for you just like he was for Will Smith in I Am Legend. The post-pandemic outbreak zombie movie follows Smith as one of the few survivors in a desolate New York City, where his only company is a dog, Fred the mannequin, and Shrek. But it looks like he’s finally getting some more friends for a sequel!
In 2022, it was announced that Smith (currently starring in Bad Boys 4) would return as Robert Neville in a sequel to the 2007 movie, which was based on the Richard Matheson book of the same name. Michael B. Jordan is attached to both star and co-produce with Smith.
Jordan recently confirmed that the movie is indeed on the way. He told People, “We’re still working on the script and getting that up to par,” he continued. “It doesn’t have a release date or anything like that. I’m not sure exactly where we’re going to be filming that one, but I’m really excited to get in front of the camera with him [Smith].” He added, “I’ve looked up to [Will] for a really long time, [so] to be able to work with Will is something I’m really looking forward to. I’m really excited.”
So, there’s not information available, but it’s definitely in the works, and this time, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman says that will be taking inspiration from the controversial alternate ending. “We trace back to the original Matheson book, and the alternate ending as opposed to the released ending in the original film,” Goldsman said last year. “What Matheson was talking about was that man’s time on the planet as the dominant species had come to an end. That’s a really interesting thing we’re going to get to explore. There will be a little more fidelity to the original text.”
Smith is also ready to jump back into the story with a fresh story. “We had a couple weeks together about a month ago. I think it’s looking good,” Smith recently told Entertainment Tonight. “[We have some] really solid ideas… I think we’re going to make it on screen together.”
Hopefully by the sequel, Smith’s character has found a copy of the Shrek 2 DVD, for his own sanity.
The Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx are in the middle of an ownership controversy. The long and the short of it is that longtime owner Glen Taylor agreed to a deal to sell the team to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez over the span of several years, but when it came time to get the portion of the deal that would let them take majority control of the team over the line, Taylor kept control of the team after he claimed that Lore and Rodriguez did not hold up their end of the bargain, which the pair strenuously denied.
All of this happened amid the Timberwolves going on a run to the Western Conference Finals, and now, Lore and Rodriguez’s group owns around 40 percent of the team. And according to Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania of The Athletic, they’re attempting to bring some more financial might to their ownership group, as businessman and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is the latest individual with big money to join.
While Bloomberg is a big name and a considerable financial partner, he is in for only a portion of that $300 million. The rest comes from the existing group Lore and Rodriguez have assembled, which includes themselves, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and others. Lore and Rodriguez will continue to lead their group and serve as the final decision-makers should they get control of the team, the same sources said. If they do win in arbitration, they would still have to be approved by the NBA’s board of governors before officially joining the league’s majority ownership ranks.
That $300 million would allow the ownership group to buy out Taylor immediately. But for now, the two sides are headed to arbitration to see if Lore and A-Rod’s group did everything by the book in their efforts to take majority control of the team earlier this year.
A full college term has passed since STARZ, 50 Cent, and Courtney A. Kemp’s Power Book II: Ghost series debuted as the first spin-off of the original Power series. So, it’s only fitting that Power Book II: Ghost, a series that follows Tariq St. Patrick and his double-life as a college student and drug dealer, comes to an end after four seasons. The upcoming season will premiere on June 7, 2024, the tenth anniversary of the premiere of Power, which begins a fitting end for the spin-off that added to everything we thought Power could be and helped to establish the Power Universe.
Power fans might not have been able to imagine the Power Universe as it is today. Yet, for the past four years, viewers have saw it expand in three different directions kickstarted by James “Ghost” St. Patrick’s death in the Power series finale. The Power Universe allowed characters who otherwise been outside of the spotlight, to have their own storylines at the forefront of their respective series. Michael Rainey Jr., who plays the role of Tariq St. Patrick, is a prime example of that. He went from having a recurring role on the original Power series to playing a key role on the show in its final seasons to being the star of a show centered around him with Power Book II: Ghost.
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‘Power Book II: Ghost’ 104 Gianni Paolo as Brayden & Michael Rainey Jr. as Tariq
“Man, my first season on Power, I ain’t have no type of nothing,” Rainey Jr. told UPROXX with a laugh. “I was just there like, ‘Whatever y’all need me to say, I’ll say it, whatever y’all need me to do, I’m gonna do it.’” With time, Rainey grew out of this happy-to-be-here approach and into a hands-on actor who saw past the words on a script. “Now, it’s like – obviously the character of Tariq is solidified – but how can I make him a little more solidified? More believable? More relatable?” he says of his first season on Ghost.
That first season of Ghost was key in making sure the Power Universe could set sail into the dynamic future it teased to its loyal fans. It started with a shift in focus and demographic – Power aimed at a demographic north of 25 with Ghost, Tasha, and Tommy as its leads while Ghost went south of 25 with Tariq and Brayden (played by Gianni Paolo) at the helm. Rainey Jr. (23) and Paolo (28) both used their youth to their advantage in perfecting their characters with the hopes of making them, as Rainey said, more relatable and believable on screen.
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‘Power Book II: Ghost’ 104 Gianni Paolo as Brayden & Michael Rainey Jr. as Tariq
“The writers let me have a lot of fun with Brayden, whether it was to pitch my own jokes or make certain scenes more fun when things were darker in the Universe,” Paolo recalled to us of his last couple of years on Power before the launch of Ghost. “They really let me run free and I’m so thankful they did because I don’t think I would be in Book II if they hadn’t.” Rainey echoed a similar sentiment in regards to the start of Ghost, saying, “The writers definitely helped me with that as well. It was just like I’m gonna come in and do things a little bit different, step out of my comfort zone, [and] do things that I wasn’t doing in Power.”
Though the focus of Rainey and Paolo’s roles changed between Power and Ghost, Shane Johnson’s role remained more or less the same between both series. In both, Johnson played Cooper Saxe, the antagonist viewers loved to hate as he was fueled by the desire to dismantle the St. Patrick & associates’ empire, whether it was Ghost and Tommy at the top or Tariq and Brayden. Still, the feel between Power and Ghost was clear to Johnson. “There was such an incredible magic to Power the original series,” he recalled. “With Power, we were all in the same boat as actors, writers, and crew. We felt like we were creating something special, but we had no idea how big it would become. For Ghost, it was a very different experience and one that was just as special. Of course, one of the big differences is that we were already a known entity and we knew we’d carry over some of that former audience.”
STARZ
‘Power Book II: Ghost’ 2020 Woody McClain and Cane, LaToya Tonodeo as Diana, and Lovell Adams-Grey as Dru
Among that former audience were actors Woody McClain, LaToya Tonodeo, and Lovell Adams-Gray who joined the Power Universe through their roles on Ghost. The trio all held Power to high regard as fans and jumped at the chance to be involved in a spin-off of the shows. “I loved Power!” Adams-Gray, who plays Dru Tejada in Ghost, said before citing the influence of actor Omari Hardwick’s role as James “Ghost” St. Patrick’s on him. “I think Omari Hardwick validated me and my instincts as an actor. He made such unique and nuanced choices that really impacted me.” For Tonodeo, her appreciation for Power ran deeper. “I’m a big fan of the Power Universe and was definitely a fan of the OG Power series to the point where I had “Starz” (Power) on my Vision Board while the show was still airing,” she recalled. “Now that I’m apart of it, it’s even more special because I get to be apart of something that I know will forever be part of the culture.”
“Witnessing a character like Ghost, a business owner who runs a nightclub and isn’t afraid to delve into the gritty side of life to support his family, was truly groundbreaking,” McClain says about Power. “I never imagined that the producers could surpass that, but they proved me wrong. Not only did they craft a successful spin-off, but they also built an entire captivating universe.” The universe as of now, spawned three out of four previously announced spin-offs: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, and Power Book IV: Force. When compared to Power, Ghost is flashier, sleeker, and more modern — primed for the younger audience it aims for. Kanan evokes a bit of nostalgia and familiarity in its series -– you may not know the characters at its start, but the time period, aesthetic, and way of life is recognizeable and not too far removed from Power. Set in the 1990s, it captures the drug world that Ghost would later be deeply entwined in. Force opts for a colder (both literally and figuratively) feel in a completely different world where shivers are brought forth by both the brisk winds of Chicago, where the show’s lead Tommy Egan relocated to, and the gruesome drug world that a beloved Sons Of Anarchy actor couldn’t even survive. There’s something for everyone to pick and there’s an enough room to fall in love with all that’s offered.
The reasons for the last success of Power and Ghost are endless. McClain credits the “talented writers’ room” that continuously kept “viewers on the edge of their seats” as well as the “marketing genius” of 50 Cent. Tonodeo cites the “storylines, constant conflict between the Tejadas and Tariq, and the cultural impact” while Adams-Gray believes that the “electrifying and relatable” stakes as well the “conviction and authenticity” the actors put in their roles are to blame. Paolo also gave credit to the narratives in both Power and Ghost saying, “There are so many different story lines, twists and turns, and jaw dropping moments and I think that’s what keeps people wanting more and more every week.” As for Rainey, well, it cuts a bit deeper than that.
“The feeling of elegance, the feeling of greediness, that feeling of just being able to relate to certain characters in the story,” he says. “It’s the small nuances that bring people back to watch the show, just the little things like we’ve never seen a character on TV rockin’ Alexander McQueen while they over here going to go kill somebody. Stuff like is just different and I feel like people get tied into that.”
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‘Power Book II: Ghost’ 304 Mary J. Blige as Monet Tejada
Much of that will be present in season four of Ghost which carries a tagline of “Like Father, Like Son,” alluding to a shift in character for Tariq St. Patrick. Rainey admits that Tariq “coming to terms” with the similarities between him and his father made the role “a little more fun” for him. “Now he’s doing a lot more ruthless stuff,” Rainey reveals. “He’s on the offensive, like he said, he wants to be an apex predator this year. He’s just in a different type of mindset. He’s not waiting for people to come get him so he can defend himself, he’s ready to get people.” It lines up to be a fitting self-acceptance moment for Tariq as Ghost will conclude the series after the second half of the season airs this fall. With it being the final season, Tariq has one wish for his audience. “I want them to watch this season and be like, ‘Okay, this season was good enough for it to be the last season,” he says. “I think that’s going to be the case and I’m ready to see the outcome of everything.”
Regardless of what happens in season four, the legacy of both Power and Ghost are cemented in TV history forever. “We captured lightening in a bottle so many times, that we started selling different flavors of lightening,” Johnson says of the former. For both series, Rainey notes that they and the Power Universe as a whole brought “something new to TV.” “They were able to make a familiar story new again and that’s not easy,” he adds. “On top of that, they were able to create three, four different spin-offs from one show. For all of them to be successful and people want to watch them, that’s a huge accomplishment because that’s very rare that people want to watch something like a spin-off to something that’s super successful like Power.”
For the next few months, Power fans will have the chance to say goodbye to the decade-long story of Ghost and Tariq St. Patrick. Ghost will conclude with a fourth season made up ten episodes that will surely add to the many memories the series has delivered over the years. Where Tariq and company end up remains to be seen, but Power, Ghost, and the Power Universe, which still lives on, carrying a legacy already set in stone. Ghost played a big role in that in ensuring that Power made it a new generation and that the Power Universe received the validation to be a exciting and thrilling as its creators imagined it to be. For that, Ghost should always be appreciated and with that, we can say goodbye and look forward to what lies ahead in the Power Universe.
‘Power Book II: Ghost’ season four, part one premieres on June 7. Part two debuts on September 6.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is the upcoming prequel from Suzanne Collins which hits bookshelves on March 18th, 2025. The movie adaptation is aiming for a November 20th, 2026 release date, though that could always be shifted around.
The upcoming installment will tell the story of the Second Quarter Quell, which took place 24 years before Katniss took part in The Hunger Games. The story will follow a young Haymitch Abernathy, who becomes a tribute from District 12. By the time he meets Katniss, Haymitch is a grumpy middle-aged man, but as a tribute, he was described as a quick-thinker who outsmarted the games and eventually wins.
“With Sunrise on the Reaping, I was inspired by David Hume’s idea of implicit submission and, in his words, ‘the easiness with which the many are governed by the few,’” Collins said in a statement. “The story also lent itself to a deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question ‘Real or not real?’ seems more pressing to me every day.”
The announcement comes just months after the Rachel Zelger-led prequelThe Hunger Games: Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes hit theaters and became a modest box office hit. The prequel was also based on the novel of the same name, which was released in 2020, and takes place roughly 40 years before the events of Sunrise on the Reaping .
The good news about those fun Hunger Games is that there were over 70 of them, which could in turn become 70 movies. Just a thought!
If tour rehearsals count as a training season, then, yes, “Training Season” is over for Dua Lipa, who performed her first of fourRadical Optimism concerts on Wednesday, June 5, in Berlin, Germany. Among the reasons Radical Optimism made it on Uproxx’s “Best Albums Of 2024 So Far” list is because it’s “meant to be danced to — not dissected.” Anyone planning on attending one of Lipa’s upcoming shows can expect to dance to the following songs.
Here Is Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism Tour Setlist
The below setlist is based upon fans’ chronicling on setlist.fm from Lipa’s show at Waldbühne in Berlin, Germany on June 5.
Act 1
1. “Training Season”
2. “One Kiss” (Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa Cover)
3. “Illusion”
4. “Break My Heart”
5. “Levitating”
10. “Hallucinate”
11. “New Rules” (Dance break with elements of “Glue” by BICEP)
12. “Electricity” (Silk City & Dua Lipa Cover)
13. “Cold Heart” (Elton John Cover)
Lipa will perform in Pula, Croatia on June 9 before staging back-to-back shows in Nimes, France on June 12 and 13. Then, she’s set to perform at several festivals throughout the summer and fall, including Glastonbury Festival and Austin City Limits, before performing at Royal Albert Hall in London on October 17. She also has several Asian dates planned for late this year. See all of Dua Lipa’s upcoming tour dates here.
“The video was directed by Billie Eilish, who envisioned a dream-like narrative where the long, dark hallways and shutting of doors symbolize the different corners of the mind,” a press release relayed. “Along with her co-star Nat Wolff, she tumbles into an inescapable connection. The external expression of an internal push and pull, as our deepest feelings of fear, love, or desire inevitably catch up to us, no matter how hard we try to run away.”
In the five-plus-minute video, Eilish wanders around what appears to be an empty high school, with Wolff lurking around the corners. They engage in an intense argument at one point, or that’s how it seems, at least. It might all be in Eilish’s head because Wolff soon vanishes — leaving Eilish alone again. Eventually, Eilish is casually walking outside before looking over her shoulder to see Wolff (or perhaps the illusion of him) running toward her. She tries to run away, but he tackles her and brutally tosses her around in the grass. It’s an uncomfortable watch, which is probably precisely what Eilish intended. Toward the end, Wolff chokes her around the neck, and the screen briefly elicits imagery resembling the Hit Me Hard And Soft album cover artwork. But just as the screen fades to black, Eilish smiles.
“One of my favorite videos I’ve made [and] truly one of the greatest days of my life,” Eilish wrote on Instagram.
The theatrical nature of the “Chihiro” video bodes well for what the staging might be for Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft: The Tour, which begins on September 29. See all of the dates here.
Watch the “Chihiro” video above.
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