Month: June 2024

Atop Glastonbury 2024’s lineup are titans Dua Lipa, Coldplay, SZA, and Shania Twain. However, yesterday’s show (June 28) was stolen by indie rockers — Idles.

During the “Gift Horse” musicians’ performance, the band made a bold political statement about the UK’s immigration policy thanks to the help of visual artist, Banksy.

If there was ever a music festival optimal for crowd-surfing, Glastonbury, would be it. So, the artists decided to take that idea up a level. In videos of the event, attendees are seen guiding Banksy’s latest performance art piece, an inflatable rafts holding figures dressed up as migrants, across the sea of people.

Beach balls are a commonly spotted at festivals, but Banksy’s work of art shouldn’t be dismissed as a light-hearted accessory. The intention behind the piece as highlighted by Idles’ song, “Danny Nedelko,” which can be heard in the background of festivalgoers video.

It is unclear if Idles and Banksy partnered up (highly unlikely) to speak out against Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s hotly contested immigration policy and reports of xenophobia across Europe. But, based on the tracks’ opening stanza: “My blood brother is an immigrant / A beautiful immigrant / My blood brother’s Freddie Mercury / A Nigerian mother of three / He’s made of bones, he’s made of blood / He’s made of flesh, he’s made of love / He’s made of you, he’s made of me / Unity,” you can certainly bet your bottom dollar Idles approves the message.

LeBron James is an unrestricted free agent, although his time on the open market is not expected to be particularly stressful for the Los Angeles Lakers. James declined his $51.4 million player option with the Lakers for the 2024-25 season on Saturday, and all the reporting around his decision indicates that he will sit down with the team and hammer out a new deal going forward.

However, this one has the potential to be unique for James, as his agent, Rich Paul, told Dave McMenamin of ESPN that the future Hall of Fame inductee is willing to leave money on the table if it helps the Lakers bring in what he described as an “impact player.” And according to McMenamin, James has some players in mind here.

Via ESPN:

The type of player that James would be willing to make a financial sacrifice for would be an established veteran playmaker like James Harden or Klay Thompson, or an established big man to play alongside Anthony Davis — like Jonas Valanciunas, sources told ESPN.

If James were to take a large enough paycut that the Lakers could offer the full mid-level exception, that would mean the team has $12.9 million to play with. Whether that would be enough for Harden, Thompson, or Valanciunas remains to be seen, but Thompson, in particular, is starting to see his name linked strongly to the Lakers, with Marc Stein reporting that James is hopeful Los Angeles could bring him on board.

Earlier in the day on Saturday, a report came out via Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic which indicated that the Golden State Warriors are preparing for Thompson to leave in unrestricted free agency.

Klay Thompson‘s time as a member of the Golden State Warriors looks like it is on the verge of coming to an end. Thompson, the future Hall of Fame inductee who has spent his entire NBA career as a member of the Warriors, is an unrestricted free agent this summer, and for months, reports have indicated that extension talks between himself and the franchise have not really gotten anywhere.

A new report by Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic indicates that the Golden State front office is preparing for Thompson to seek greener pastures when the NBA’s free agency period begins at 6 p.m. EST on Sunday, with the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Dallas Mavericks identified as potential suitors.

Via The Athletic:

The Warriors, after other business, have wanted to circle back and negotiate with Thompson. But he isn’t expected to be there waiting as a willing secondary priority in their summer plan, with his side feeling that the Warriors’ interest in a reunion has been disingenuous. The five-time All-Star guard is determined to find a new home elsewhere for his 14th NBA season and beyond, with both sides believing their 13-year run together is over, league sources said.

It would be pretty remarkable to see Thompson — who has been one of the building blocks for this era of Warriors basketball alongside Steph Curry and Draymond Green — suit up for any other team, but there have been rumors for months that extension talks were not getting off the ground. While Curry and others with the team have expressed their hope that Thompson would return, it now appears that’s becoming more unlikely by the hour.

As the kids say, Cardi B is back outside. The “Enough (Miami)” rapper is positioning herself to release her long-awaited sophomore album.

Yesterday (June 28) Cardi put her best foot forward during the BET Experience 2024 concert series. Unfortunately, in Cardi’s eyes, the set didn’t have the bang she wanted. So, during the show, she took a moment to slam the production team in charge of her stage effects.

“Production, y’all messing up my pyros,” she said. “Y’all messing up my music. F*ck am I paying y’all p*ssy ass n****s for? What am I paying y’all for?”

While many fans jumped to the defensive, others, including YouTuber Milagro Gramz, weren’t fond of her comments. “I understand that people have families to feed, but I wished we lived in a better world because no one should ever be disrespected like this in a workplace environment/at all,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Cardi immediately clapped back. “Girl shut up,” she wrote. “When you do a show you don’t pay after, you pay before. I paid 350,000 up front the least they could do is get my pyro ready and turn the fans on because guess what??? At the end of the day, that money is not returnable… don’t half ass my show because you comfortable when I definitely don’t half ass when it comes to paying.”

The two went on to get in a heated exchange over resurfaced commentary from the YouTuber. View the exchange below.

Cardi B closed out by doubling down on her onstage remark after a supporter backed her. Read her detailed about of the technical issues below.

Thank you for understanding. Let me tell you about yesterday! I spent $100k on pyro, that we couldn’t use because the production team failed to have the fire marshall go over safety with my team which is so simple to do. Spent days in rehearsal learning choreography just for them to have the wrong mix, and we had to swap it out. Booked four fans so they could be turned on during ‘Bartier Cardi’ and that never happened. You wanna know why? Because they didn’t bother to show up to rehearsal while hundred thousands of dollars was put into this show. Don’t play with my money in this economy, honey.

The 2024 BET Awards are scheduled for June 30. Hopefully by then, the production team has ironed out any technical hiccups for the other acts.

In October 2003, Elliott Smith’s death shook the rock music community. Although nearly 21 years have gone by since his tragic passing, his legacy long lives on (just listen to the covers from Slowthai, Chromatics’ Ruth Radelet, and Bright Eyes & Phoebe Bridgers).

With what would’ve been Smith’s 55th birthday approaching, fans will have the chance to celebrate his life soon. On August 6, Smith’s former touring band, Figure 8, Illuminati Hotties, Band Of Horses, and members of Grandaddy are set to perform at the All My Rowdy Friends: Celebrating the Music of Elliott Smith tribute show. The one night only concert will take place at The Regent Theater in Los Angeles, California. Tickets for the event are on sale now. Click here for more information.

In addition to the celebration presented by New Monkey Studio, the Nickolas Dylan Rossi-directed documentary, Heaven Adores You, centered around Smith’s life will receive a limited re-release in theaters for its 10th anniversary. On X (formerly Twitter), Rossi celebrated the news.

“So excited to have the opportunity to screen this in the theaters again,” he wrote.

Heaven Adores You featured several unreleased songs and demo tracks from Smith, as well as fan favorites including “Miss Misery,” “Happiness,” “Son Of Sam,” and “Waltz #2.” View the full screening schedule and watch the trailer for Heaven Adores You below. To secure tickets, click here.

Heaven Adores You‘s 2024 Screening Dates & Locations

08/05 – Los Angeles, CA @ Alamo DTLA*
08/06 – Austin, TX @ Alamo South Lamar
08/06 – Boston, MA @ Alamo Seaport
08/06 – Chicago, IL @ Alamo Wrigleyville
08/06 – Dallas, TX @ Texas Theater
08/06 – Denver, CO @ Alamo Sloan Lake
08/06 – Denver, CO @ Sie Film Center
08/06 – Las Vegas, NV @ Beverly Theater
08/06 – Minneapolis, MN @ Main Theater
08/06 – New York, NY @ IFC Center &
08/06 – Portland, OR @ Hollywood Theater %
08/06 – San Francisco, CA @ Alamo Mission #
08/06 – Seattle, WA @ SIFF
08/06 – Washington, DC @ Alamo DC
08/07 – Brooklyn, NY @ Alamo Brooklyn

* Producer JT Gurzi in attendance, & Director Nickolas Rossi in attendance, Q&A hosted by Jem Cohen, % Producer Kevin Moyer in attendance, # Producer Marc Smolowitz in attendance

Heaven Adores You trailer

Diddy (real name Sean Combs) has been stripped of yet another public recognition. Last month, New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams and the Key to the City of New York committee demanded that Diddy return his honor.

Now, officials in Miami Beach are taking matters into their own hands. According to the Miami Herald, on June 27, the city wide celebration, Sean Diddy Combs Day, was formally rescinded.

In 2016, then Mayor Philip Levine and the City Commission announced the decision to recognize, October 13, as the vanity holiday during the 3rd Revolt Music Conference. At the root of the decision to defunct the day, representatives cited the graphic video, in which Diddy is seen assaulting his ex-girlfriend and former Bad Boy Records singer Cassie.

The governing body behind the decision, the Miami Beach Commission, released a statement shortly after.

“Upon reflection, the Mayor and City Commission have determined that recognizing October 13, 2016 as ’Sean Diddy Combs Day’ is no longer in harmony with the City’s values of safety,” read the note. “Community well-being, and respect, and wish to rescind the proclamation.”

Diddy has not issued a statement regarding the matter.

Although Diddy is not a native of Miami Beach, he does own property in the city and has spent a great deal of time between there and his other home in Los Angeles. In March, both properties were raided by Homeland Security, reportedly in connection with a sex trafficking investigation. During the Los Angeles raid, Diddy’s sons Justin and Christian were supposedly detained by officials, then later released.

Through his legal representatives, Diddy has maintained his innocence of any wrongdoing.

The Los Angeles Lakers have spent this summer doing what they can to make sure LeBron James and Anthony Davis are happy. They fired Darvin Ham, who didn’t exactly get strong votes of confidence from his stars, and hired JJ Redick, who rather famously hosted a podcast with James in the second half of the season.

In the Draft, after landing Dalton Knecht in the first round, they used the 55th pick to take Bronny James and give LeBron the chance to fulfill his dream of playing in NBA games with his son. Saturday was the deadline for players and teams to pick up or decline contract options, and as most expected, LeBron declined his $51.4 million option to enter free agency officially — with the expectation that he will re-sign in Los Angeles.

There have been rumblings that James could get as much as a 3-year deal from the Lakers, as the soon-to-be-40-year-old could play for a few more years. The question is how much of the Lakers money will end up tied up in the oldest player in the NBA, and according to Chris Haynes, James will be “considering” taking less than the max to free up the full mid-level exception for the Lakers to add more talent to the roster.

James would likely need to see a full plan from Rob Pelinka and the front office for how they’ll use that money. He also could use this as a further bargaining chip to pressure the Lakers into being more aggressive on the trade market in using their future picks to acquire immediate talent. If he were willing to take less and open up the mid-level to add a quality rotation piece, and the Lakers could add an upgrade on the trade market, that would certainly make them a more formidable contender in the West. We’ll see if Pelinka and the Lakers brass can present a plan that encourages James enough in their vision to take a lesser deal (but perhaps with that third year) to see if L.A. could bolster their roster.

Despite fans’ pushback, the seemingly professional burial of Eminem’s rap alter ego is moving full steam ahead. With his forthcoming album The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) on the way, Em is treating supporters to another taste of what’s to coming from the project.

Yesterday (June 28), the “Houdini” rapper took to X (formerly Twitter) page to tease his next single, “Tobey,” which is set to feature Big Sean and BabyTron.

“TOBEY. @babytron. @bigsean. New music 7/2. Video 7/5 by @colebennett,” he wrote.

In the gory clip, the trio, dressed in uniform coveralls, serve their most intimating mean mug to prove that Detroit has vested stakes in the “Big Three” conversation. With a chainsaw and creepy Jason Voorhees mask replica, Eminem hacks away at something just outside the camera’s frame, it is clear he means business.

As Babytron is heard rapping, “Tobey Maguire got bit by a spider but see me it was a GOAT,” Eminem’s love for film certainly found its way into the forthcoming collaboration.

Instead of fighting crime (as hilariously seen in the “Houdini” visual), Eminem, Big Sean, and BabyTron plan on wrecking havoc in the rap streets. With creative mind, Lyrical Lemonade’s Bennett, tasked to bring the vision to the screen, come July 5, the nightmares are soon to follow.

Have kids, they said. It’ll be great, they said. Well, one dad may have a bone to pick with those mysterious “they,” in that colloquial saying. A man running the Instagram account Havea_676, posted a video that has parents on the internet not only laughing at his tender moment turned embarrassing, but sharing their own savage kid moments.

The dad was having a sweet moment with his daughter asking her about her day and what she was excited about for the next day before tucking her into bed. Things appeared to be going well and his daughter who is off camera can be heard answering all of the questions. But at some point during the father daughter moment, the little girl was over the many questions the man was asking.

“Daddy, can you please stop with your questions, I’m trying to sleep and also your breath stinks,” the litter girl reveals.

Yikes. Dad didn’t have much to say after that bombshell. He simply readjusts so his mouth isn’t pointing in her direction and says, “goodnight, I love you.” There went that sweet moment being caught on video but after uploading the unexpected roast session, the dad was joined by fellow parents commiserating.

“Kids are brutally honest with no filter. I was helping my daughter button her shirt one morning and I asked her if she brushed her teeth. She said yes… then there was an awkward pause before she frowned and said ‘did you? Cuz it don’t smell like it’ Needless to say I don’t help the lil heffa get dressed for school anymore lol,” one mom says.

“Kids know how to cut deep with one slice!! Haha,” someone else writes.

“I came home yesterday and asked my daughter if she missed me…She said NO with her whole chest,” another commenter reveals.

See on Instagram

Kids are just brutally honest until they get a bit older to realize there are gentler ways to deliver news. But if this dad learned one thing from his lengthy conversation, it’s to brush your teeth before goodnight chats so you don’t melt your kid’s face off.

This article originally appeared on 1.29.24

The thing about Gen X being in our 40s and 50s now is that we were never supposed to get “old.” Like, we’re the cool, aloof grunge generation of young tech geniuses. Most of the giants that everyone uses every day—Google, Amazon, YouTube—came from Gen X. Our generation is both “Friends” and “The Office.” We are, like, relevant, dammit.

And also, our backs hurt, we need reading glasses, our kids are in college and how in the name of Jennifer Aniston‘s skincare regimen did we get here?

It’s weird to reach the stage when there’s no doubt that you aren’t young anymore. Not that Gen X is old—50 is the new 30, you know—but we’re definitely not young. And it seems like every day there’s something new that comes along to shove that fact right in our faces. When did hair start growing out of that spot? Why do I suddenly hate driving at night? Why is this restaurant so loud? Does that skin on my arm look…crepey?

As they so often do, Penn and Kim Holderness from The Holderness Family have captured the Gen X existential crisis in a video that has us both nodding a long and laughing out loud. Salt-n-Pepa in the waiting room at the doctor’s office? Uh, no. That’s a line we are not ready to cross yet. Nirvana being played on the Classic Rock station? Nope, not prepared for that, either.

Watch:

Hoo boy, the denial is real, isn’t it? We grew up on “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, for goodness sake, and it’s starting to feel like we made a wrong choice a chapter or two back and suddenly landed our entire generation in a time warp. This isn’t real, is it? Thirty years ago was the 1970s. That’s just a Gen X fact. So what if we’ve lived long enough for our high school fashions to go out of style and then back into style and then back out of style again?

Seriously, though, we can either lament our age and stage in life or we can laugh about it, and people are grateful to the Holdernesses for assisting with the latter. Gen X fans are also thrilled to see their own experiences being validated, because at this point, we’ve all had that moment in the grocery store or the waiting room when one of our jams came on and we immediately went into a panic.

“They were playing The Cure in the grocery store and I almost started crying,” wrote one commenter. “I mean, how ‘alternative’ can you be if you’re being played in Krogers? You guys are great! Thanks for making us laugh.”

“I couldn’t believe it when I heard Bohemian Rhapsody being played in Walmart,” shared another. “That was edgy in my day.”

“I know!!! Bon Jovi at the grocery store!!! That was my clue in!!” added another.

“Long live Gen Xers! We have to be strong!! We can get through this together!! #NKOTBmeetsAARP” wrote on commenter.You can find more from the Holderness Family on their Facebook page, their podcast and their website, theholdernessfamily.com.

This article originally appeared on 1.28.24