Month: June 2024

In 1996 there was a moment that was captured on camera that took place that would become a piece of social justice history. In Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Ku Klux Klan held a rally when counter protestors showed up as a means to show that white supremacist group was unwelcome in their town. The historic moment came when a man, Albert McKeel Jr., wearing a confederate flag shirt with SS tattoos enters the counter protestors’ side alone.

Keisha Thomas, then just 18-years-old was in the crowd to protest the KKK being in Ann Arbor when things . People in the crowd at first attempted to chase the man out of the crowd when it was announced he was there, but the group quickly became violent. That’s when Thomas was shocked into action.

Though she is Black and the man was wearing symbols that depict his alleged hatred of Black people, Thomas didn’t let that stop her.

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The teen threw herself on top of the man demanding that the crowd stop hitting and kicking him. In that moment, she let compassion for another human being lead the way, possibly saving his life. In an update video with The Fire, a non profit organization, Thomas said it felt as if two angels lifted her in that moment.

Years later, Thomas ran into the man’s son at a coffee shop where he thanked her for stepping in to save his dad. The two stayed in touch over the years, allowing Thomas to speak to McKeel’s 12-year-old daughter after his passing in 2016. The little girl also thanked the woman expressing that if it weren’t for her then she wouldn’t exist.

Thomas tells MLive, “When I heard that, I thought this was the future and the past of what peace has created,” Thomas said. “The real accomplishment of all this to me is to know that his son and daughter don’t share the same views. History didn’t repeat itself. That’s what gives me hope that the world can get better from generation to generation.”

To think she made a piece of history before she even graduated high school. The photo of her throwing herself on top of McKeel won Life Magazine’s best photo of the year for 1996. The now iconic photo even landed Thomas an interview with Oprah.

But what is Thomas up to now? It seems she still has a passion for social justice and human rights. According to the Michigan media site, MLive, she’s done everything from volunteering after 9/11 to distributing food to Hurricane Katrina victims. She also walked from Selma, Alabama to Washington D.C. for voting rights with the NAACP and volunteered at a hospital in Haiti.

Thomas has been on the move to help other people in any way she could since that photo was taken nearly three decades ago. The moment didn’t just inspire her to keep showing up for other people, but it continues to inspire others every time it goes viral on social media.

Watch her update video below:

Last year, Halsey ended their partnership with Capitol Records after a public falling-out with the label, signing a few months later with Columbia. Today, they offered the first new music from that partnership with “The End,” a strained reflection on her lifetime of hardships. “If you knew it was the end of the world, would you like to stay a while?” she asks of a potential companion. “Would you leave when it gets hard.” Listen to the gutting track below.

Contrary to its title, though, “The End” appears to be just the beginning. In a statement accompanying its release, Halsey wrote:

long story short, I’m Lucky to be alive.

short story long, I wrote an album.

it begins with The End. Out now.

This corroborates comments Halsey made late last year, when she told fans she is working on a new album during a livestream. “The album is not about feeling good,” she said, “The album is about feeling bad, but about feeling bad together.”

Earlier this week, she also sent out letters to fans with cryptic clues to her upcoming work, as well as launching a website revealing possible song titles. You can find the link to that website here.

A previous Alien: Romulus teaser trailer set up the atmosphere that we expect from Fede Álvarez, who has already scared the pants off audiences with maddeningly quiet moments in Don’t Breathe, and now, he’s in space, where (as the iconic tagline goes) “no one can hear you scream.” With that said, Álvarez is also the guy you want when you need skilled hands on an existing movie franchise, as with 2013’s Evil Dead, and he’s here to do justice to what the original Alien movie (from Ridley Scott) did best: use the spaceship’s confines to help craft merciless terror.

This film goes back to the franchise’s late 1970s/early 1980s roots (and blue-collar beginnings) with an official interquel that takes place in between Scott’s Alien (which occurred in 2090-ish) and James Cameron’s Aliens (which happened in 2179). As this trailer shows, group of young-adult scavengers find themselves being hunted on a ship, and there are plentiful callbacks on display like the water scene (you can still hear Newt’s piercing scream from Aliens, right?), and oh god, Álvarez really is intent upon us seeing the penetration action from the facehuggers as they move in to plant the eggs.

The simple synopsis of this movie reads, “Young people on a distant world find themselves confronting the most terrifying life-form in the universe.” The story stands separate (although obviously in the same universe) from FX’s upcoming Alien series from Noah Hawley, and if you were wondering whether Álvarez prefers Alien or Aliens, he wisely will not go there. There is, however, a taste of Alien 3 mixed into the end of this trailer when Cailee Spaeny’s Ripley-esque character finds herself corned by a xenomorph. Eek.

Spaeny will be accompanied by Isabela Merced, Archie Renaux, David Johnson, Aileen Wu, and Spike Feam. Please enjoy this poster because it goes seriously hard. Lots of Evil Dead flavor here, too:

Alien: Romulus arrives in theaters on August 16.

Terius Gesteelde-Diamant (aka Nash), better known as hit-making songwriter and producer The-Dream, has been sued for sexual battery by a former protege, according to the New York Times.

The plaintiff is a singer named Chanaaz Mangroe, who performed as Channii Monroe. She alleges that Gesteelde-Diamant “repeatedly forced her to have sex, strangled her and once made a video recording of an intimate encounter and threatened to show it to others” after enticing her into a relationship with promises to help advance her career. Mangroe also names Epic Records in her complaint, saying they failed to respond to her reports against him, and eventually dropped her when he did not deliver her music to them.

In a statement, Mangroe said, “What Dream did to me made it impossible to live the life I envisioned for myself and pursue my goals as a singer and songwriter. Ultimately, my silence has become too painful, and I realized that I need to tell my story to heal. I hope that doing so will also help others and prevent future horrific abuse.”

Meanwhile, Gesteelde-Diamant denied the allegations through a representative, responding, “These claims are untrue and defamatory. I oppose all forms of harassment and have always strived to help people realize their career goals. As someone committed to making a positive impact on my fellow artists and the world at large, I am deeply offended and saddened by these accusations.”

According to the suit, Mangroe began a relationship with Gesteelde-Diamant after sending him samples of her work. He allegedly told her he could make her “the next Beyoncé and Rihanna,” but began pressuring her for sex within days. She says that over time, he began having his security follow her, demanding regular check-ins and exploding with anger at perceived signs of disloyalty or ingratitude.

Mangroe is represented by Douglas H. Wigdor and Meredith A. Firetog, who also filed Cassie’s sexual assault case against Sean “Diddy” Combs, which was settled a day after being made public.

This isn’t the first time The-Dream was accused of violence aganist women. In 2014, he was charged with assault on allegations that he kicked, punched and choked a former girlfriend; however, prosecutors dropped the charges due to a lack of evidence.

Jamie xx released his last solo album, In Colour, nearly ten years ago, in 2015. Today, he shared some good news with long-suffering fans who’ve been waiting for a follow-up all that time: The wait is nearly over.

On September 20th, Jamie xx will release his third studio album, In Waves, via Young. Featuring 12 tracks, including the recently released “Baddy On The Floor,” the album will feature collaborations with a diverse array of artists from across multiple genres and disciplines. Honey Dijon, John Glacier, Kelsey Lu, Oona Doherty, Panda Bear, and Robyn will all appear on In Waves, as will Jamie’s The xx bandmates Romy and Oliver Sim.

According to the press release announcing the album, Jamie created In Waves over the course of four years, during which he picked up surfing — a likely inspiration for the title along with its stop-and-start creation process. He’s also been working on a new project for The xx, contributing to the odd rhythm of In Waves‘ creation.

He also says of the project, “It’s been a while… and a lot has happened in that time. Ups and downs, growing up, figuring stuff out and then forgetting it all many times over. Life-changing events and world changing events. These waves that we have all experienced together and alone. I wanted to make something fun, joyful and introspective all at once. The best moments on a dance floor are usually that for me. I can’t wait to share it with you.”

In Waves is due 9/20 via Young. You can find more info here and see the tracklist below.

Tracklist

1. “Wanna”
2. “Treat Each Other Right”
3. “Waited All Night” Feat. Romy & Oliver Sim
4. “Baddy On The Floor” Feat. Honey Dijon
5. “Dafodil” Feat. Kelsey Lu, John Glacier & Panda Bear
6. “Still Summer”
7. “Life” Feat. Robyn
8. “The Feeling I Get From You”
9. “Breather”
10. “All You Children” Feat. The Avalanches
11. “Every Single Weekend” (Interlude)
12. “Falling Together” Feat. Oona Doherty

Deluxe LP Bonus 12” Package

1. “F U” Feat. Erykah Badu
2. “It’s So Good”
3. “Do Something”
4. “Let’s Do It Again”
5. “Kill Dem”

Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm-and-blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B songs that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

Since the last update of this weekly R&B column, we’ve received plenty of music and news from the genre’s artists.

Here are some new releases from the past week that you’ll enjoy:

Kehlani — “Next 2 U”

With just a couple of weeks left to go until her Crash album arrives, Kehlani returns with the album’s second single “Next 2 U.” It captures the infatuation present in a love so good that Kehlani is willing to die for it. The song also arrived with a music video that Kehlani used to voice her support for Palestine as well as showcase some impressive dance skills thanks to choreography from Amari “Monster” Marshall.

Normani — “Candy Paint”

Next week, after a wait that’s lasted years, Normani will finally drop her debut album Dopamine. Following “1:59” with Gunna, she’s back with “Candy Paint.” The highly-anticipated single, which was made into a TikTok challenge weeks before its release, is another great preview of what’s to come on Dopamine.

Lucky Daye — “Soft”

At long last, there is finally a release date for Lucky Daye’s third album Algorithm. On June 28, the album will be available for all to listen to, but for now, we have his new single “Soft” to rock out to. “‘Soft’ is about how love can come over a person and make them feel vulnerable, and whilst it’s unexpected, it’s also okay to embrace it,” Lucky said about the song in a press release. “To be comfortable doing the things society labels “soft” like cuddling, PDA, hugging and kissing – shamelessly. It’s about a lover putting a spell on you but that spell is in fact love itself.”

Jessie Reyez — “Shut Up” Feat. Big Sean

Here’s a name we haven’t read in some time: Jessie Reyez! It’s been nearly a year since the singer teamed up with 6lack for “Homicide,” but now she’s back with Big Sean for their new track “Shut Up.” The record marks the beginning of Reyez’s boss era where she is unapologetically fierce. Her bold approach to the song is perfect the song’s explosive beat which also pairs well with Big Sean’s laid-back verse.

Muni Long — “Make Me Forget”

If there’s someone in R&B who will champion pure love, it’s Muni Long. Her new single “Make Me Forget” begs for a new lover to sweep her off her feet as they begin a new journey into a new relationship. “It’s a love letter,” Long said about the song in a press release. “It says, ‘You’re not perfect. We’ve got a lot of things to work on, but can we focus on the amazing feeling we have when we’re together?’”

Tink & Summer Walker — “Songs About U”

The next offering from Tink’s upcoming album Winter’s Diary 5 is the slow-burning “Songs About U” with Summer Walker. Both singers dive into a world of toxic love and reflect on the challenges of a deeply passionate and intimate relationships. As for Winter’s Diary 5, that’s set to arrive on July 12.

Josh Levi – “Something More”

A new era is on the horizon for Josh Levi. The Houston singer, who is our most recent Uproxx Music 20 artist, delivers “Something More,” a passionate single that promotes love as the best feeling life can offer. All Levi wants is the girl in question to join him and experience the feeling too.

Maeta & Kaytranada — “DJ Got Me”

Maeta and Kaytranada have been teasing a collaborative EP for months now and we’ve finally received the first taste of it with their new single “DJ Got Me.” The new single is everything you’d expect from the two artists. Maeta’s pristine vocals fit like a glove on Kaytranada’s production that’s a funky and riveting explosion on wax, especially at its climax. The duo’s EP Endless Night is set to arrive in just a couple of weeks on June 21.

Amber Mark — “Space & Time”

More than two years removed from her incredible Three Dimensions Deep, New York singer Amber Mark seems to be readying the release of her sophomore album. Her second single of the year, “Space & Time,” begins as a soft and tender tune before erupting into a funky tune that showcases the duality that makes Mark’s music stand out. Throughout the song, she sings about another “space and time” where a perfect connection in love runs wild and free.

Dee Gatti — “Get Away”

This year has been a very productive year for Fort Worth singer Dee Gatti. With four singles to her name already this year, Gatti makes it five with “Get Away.” The somber record sees Gatti face the fact that she’s hurting her current partner by stepping out on their relationship. Gatti knows her partner can tell that she’s being unfaithful, which pushes Gatti to want to exit the relationship and “get away.”

Kallitechnis — Mood Ring

After months of promotion and a slew of singles, Montreal singer Kallitechnis unveils her new EP Mood Ring. “I’ve built a multi-coloured, multi-dimensional universe for people to step into and allow themselves to experience a range of emotion as vast as the spectrum of colour,” Kallitechnis says about the project which arrives with 11 songs. “Accept yourself in all of your moods. Smell, touch and taste what it feels like to be in love and to fall out of it.”

Brother Marquis, one of the founding members of the pioneering Miami rap group, 2 Live Crew, has died at the age of 58. According to the band’s social media, “Mark Ross AKA Brother Marquis of the 2 Live crew has passed away.” No further details were given by the page, but tributes from his bandmate Luke and many other contemporaries quickly poured in.

“My Condolence goes out to the Family of Brother Marquis and so many of his Fans from around the World after learning his passing,” Luke wrote on X. “We took on so many fights for the culture made Great music together something I would never forget. We had recently got back together to take on another fight to get back our catalog that was stolen from us. We will continue that fight in his name for his Family. The Brother Marquis, that I know would want us to celebrate his life that’s exactly what I’m gonna do. R.I.P My Brother”

The fights he refers to include a legal battle over their 1989 album As Nasty As They Wanna Be, which was declared legally obscene by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit later overturned that decision, opening the doors to a debate over freedom of speech in rap music that persists to this day as legislators work to defend artists from being prosecuted over lyrical content.

Joe Rogan nearly died in a freak accident when he was a teenager, he shared on a recent episode of his The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

“When I was like 14, me and a few friends were playing around in this place where they stored these like enormous concrete sewer pipes, like these big f*cking pipes,” he told comedian and Impractical Jokers star Sal Vulcano, according to Newsweek. “And there was this giant metal thing that I guess was a part of what they attached to cranes so they could move these things. It slipped and hit me in the head. I didn’t go unconscious, but I grayed out — like grayed out — and my head was pouring blood.”

Rogan explained that he still has a “big ding” on his head from the incident.

He continued, “I went to the hospital, and I thought I was going to die. I did think I was going to die at that point. But I was also 14, so I was probably just freaked out by the fact that I got hit. This thing hit my head, and it only fell a certain amount because there were other concrete things in the way. So it banged me in the head, and it didn’t fall on me luckily.”

You can listen to the (very popular) podcast below.

(Via Newsweek)

It’s June, but there is no deadline for “summer banger” submissions. This week, Charli XCX recruited Robyn and Yung Lean to boost the previously certifiable smash “360,” while Shaboozey extended his hot streak, and Sam Tompkins supplied a taste of what’s to come from his forthcoming debut album.

Check out all of that and more in Uproxx’s Best New Pop Music roundup below.

Shaboozey Feat. Noah Cyrus — “My Fault”

Anything Shaboozey tries works, but Shaboozey harmonizing with Noah Cyrus really works. Their combined vocal tones are such a pleasant listen, but their delivery doesn’t sugarcoat the song’s heartbreaking sentiment. Rather, playing off of each other so delicately makes it all the more searing: “Tell me how you’re gettin’ home, you took the car? / You call me ‘fore you passed out in the yard / Feelin’ low, gettin’ high, where did everything go wrong? / You say that it’s the universe and blame it on the stars.”

Sam Tompkins — “Dead To Me”

“So take it all up with Jesus, baby / He’s more forgiving than me / I hope you rest in peace / Because you’re dead to me,” Sam Tompkins sings. And retribution never sounded so good. The UK-bred singer-songwriter has slowly been building toward his debut full-length album, Hi, My Name Is Insecure, with “Dead To Me” emphasizing how readymade Tompkins’ cleverly vulnerable lyricism and eye-popping voice are for global resonance.

Maya Hawke — “Chaos Angel”

“Chaos Angel,” the title track from Maya Hawke’s third album, ironically feels like a calming refuge from internal warfare. In the piano-based ballad, Hawke melodically, softly begs for forgiveness (“I want you, I love you / I promise, I’m sorry”) and attempts to make sense of contradictory behaviors and thoughts. Plus, the second verse is punctuated by a line that belongs in every writer’s diary: “Just makе it out and live to write it down / Then has anything bad еver really happened to you?”

Charli XCX Feat. Robyn & Yung Lean — “360 (Remix)”

Charli XCX’s “360” previously made this column upon its initial release; obviously, it deserves re-entry with the additions of Robyn and Yung Lean — with a David Beckham name-check and “Dancing On My Own” reference to boot. “360” was already a must-play at clubs worldwide, but not playing the “360” remix is the ultimate party foul.

Normani — “Candy Paint”

Prepare your dopamine receptors. Normani will finally release Dopamine, her excruciatingly long-awaited debut full-length studio album, on June 14. “Candy Paint” serves as the upbeat complement to “1:59” featuring Gunna, an the slow-burning R&B lead single. Both singles present Normani with utmost confidence. Co-written and co-produced by Normani, Starrah, and Tommy Brown, “Candy Paint” is particularly playful, as Normani expresses fleeting interest (“When I’m finished, baby, you can have him back”) in someone whom she knows she can have whenever she pleases.

Kanii — “MIA”

Kanii just finished opening on PinkPantheress’ The Capable Of Love Tour and continues to prove he’s capable of anything. With “MIA,” the 18-year-old Washington, DC native showcases his untainted energy and refreshed perspective — making him such an enticing emerging artist. Kanii’s introspective lyrics, speaking to anyone struggling to stave off an impulse for instant gratification even when you know it’s from a toxic source, are grounded in a synth beat produced by Frankie Scoca (NewJeans).

Rita Ora — “Ask & You Shall Receive”

Rita Ora shamelessly shimmies against a washing machine in her Dano Cerny-directed “Ask & You Shall Receive” video, and anyone would do the same if this frisky, shimmering song came on at the laundromat, grocery store, or anywhere in between.

Kygo With HAYLA — “Without You”

The building, repetitive nature of “Without You” quickly becomes a visceral experience, which is true of any Kygo song. It wouldn’t be surprising if a cardiologist confirmed someone’s heartbeat mirroring the beat of HAYLA half-chanting, half-singing, “I can’t live without you / No, I can’t live without you / In my life.”

The Marías — “Echo”

“The lyrics in ‘Echo’ are painfully honest, so it was one of the hardest ones to get through,” The Marías vocalist María Zardoya told Variety. Luckily, Zardoya and Josh Conway pushed through because “Echo” manages to capture the unique brand of post-breakup isolation in cutting yet hypnotizing, tranquil fashion.

Disclosure — “She’s Gone, Dance On”

Dance-pop inherently functions as sweet relief, but that is a literal truth for Disclosure’s “She’s Gone, Dance On.” Disclosure’s Howard Lawrence and Guy Lawrence explained on Instagram, “We actually started working on this back in 2017, so if you think it’s been a while for you, imagine our pain!! Since we debuted it late last year in clubs, the response from DJs and you lot has been insane.” The track is an iridescent fresh coat of paint, sampling Ennio Morricone and Michael Brandon Fraser’s “Dance On.”

On Tuesday, Major League Baseball announced the findings of its gambling investigation into San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano, in which the former Pirate placed 231 bets on MLB games and wagered more than $87,000. Included in those bets were 25 bets involving the Pirates, although all of those bets came while he was rehabbing a knee injury.

As expected, MLB announced a lifetime ban for Marcano, along with one-year suspensions for four other players who violated the league’s gambling policy for lesser violations. What makes Marcano’s ban even more incredible is that he was a terrible baseball bettor. According to MLB’s investigation, Marcano lost all 25 bets he placed involving the Pirates (the team he played for), and overall he won just 4.3 percent of his 231 bets on Major League Baseball.

Marcano was never great at hitting for average, boasting a career .217 mark over his three seasons in Pittsburgh, and unfortunately that translated to the sporstbooks as well. Parlay hit rate is always low (and the sportsbooks clean up on them because of it), but 4.3 percent is a truly astounding figure across a pretty large sample size. Losing every bet you placed on the team you play for and ostensibly know better than most is also extremely funny. Even Ippei Mizuhara thinks Marcano should’ve just called it quits from gambling long before baseball ever got involved.

Major League Baseball will hope the message is sent by this lifetime ban, but the allure of the same game parlay is likely too strong and someone else will eventually think they’re smart enough to get away with it.