“I feel like if we ever spoke, and I asked her ‘What’s the issue?’ it’d be like a blank stare,” Ice Spice told Rolling Stone as the cover star of the September 2024 issue. “It’d really be no issue whatsoever. Especially from me.”
The Bronx-bred rapper continued, “I can understand a friendly competition, but I just feel like at this point it’s a joke that she’s just dragged out, and it’s just not even funny. Like, bro, ‘Think U The Sh*t’ is from January. You’re going to post a piece of sh*t cake to announce something that’s good news for you? But it is kind of a compliment because you’re taking something that’s supposed to be a fun moment for you, and you’re making it about me … again.”
So, about the aforementioned cake: Last month, Latto posted a photo of a poop emoji cake with the message, “Think I’m the sh*t, b*tch?????” The cake was meant to congratulate Latto for becoming the first-ever woman to headline Atlanta’s Hot 107.9 Birthday Bash, as noted by Billboard.
Ice Spice has bigger things to worry about, anyway. Y2K!, her debut studio album, is set to release on Friday, July 26, and she has “crazy” and “risky” plans for the rest of 2024.
Y2K! is out 7/26 via 10K Projects/Capitol Records. Find more information here.
Many people like to think of Keanu Reeves as a big-shot action star with a license to kill, when in reality, he is just a sensitive soul with deep knowledge of the inner workings of the universe that many of us cannot even comprehend, especially Stephen Colbert.
Reeves stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to discuss his new novel, The Book Of Elsewhere, and to celebrate his various cinematic achievements. He’s had so many, so they must be celebrated often.
This year marks the 35th anniversary of Bill & Ted, the 30th anniversary of Speed, the 25th anniversary of The Matrix and the 10th anniversary of John Wick. This year will also mark the 60th anniversary of his own birth. He literally never stops working.
Colbert challenged Reeves to share his favorite moments from his films: for Bill and Ted, it was “friendship,” for Point Break it was “the beauty of the professional, awesome Patrick Swayze, ” and for Speed it was “Sandra Bullock and Jan de Bont the director saying ‘give me the f*cking camera!’” But when it got to The Matrix, Reeves took some time to reflect.
After a period of contemplation (and Colbert jokingly taking a break), Reeves emotionally replied, “The Matrix changed my life, and then over these years, it’s changed so many other people’s lives in really positive and great ways. As an artist, you hope for that when you get to do a film or tell a story.”
He continued, “So when you say these years, the amount of people that I have met who have said to me and been touched by The Matrix in such a positive way… It’s the best,” he concluded. Colbert then shook his hand while the audience applauded.
This is the latest piece of cosmic wisdom that Reeves has been putting out into the universe. Reeves and Colbert had another profound interview back in 2019 when Colbert asked, “What do you think happens when we die, Keanu Reeves?” to which he responded, “I know that ones who love us will miss us.”
Each week our staff of film and television experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
Presumed Innocent is guilty… of having an all-star collection of talent! Created by David E. Kelley and produced by Gracie Abrams‘ somewhat famous father, the legal thriller stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a chief deputy prosecutor who is suspected of murder. Per Apple TV Plus: “The series explores obsession, sex, politics, and the power and limits of love, as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.” Fun fact: Gyllenhaal’s character was played by Harrison Ford in the 1990 movie of the same name.
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 (you can read our review here).
If you write “Papyrus,” you can get Tilda Swinton to be in your first movie, too. Problemista stars writer and director Julio Torres as Alejandro, “an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an erratic art-world outcast becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realize his dream,” according to the A24 plot synopsis. Would you believe Tilda plays the erratic outcast? You would? Actually, yeah, that makes sense.
Meet your summer TV obsession. My Lady Jane is a “radical retelling” of the life of Lady Jane Grey, who was the queen of England for nine days in 1553. She was executed soon after. But what if none of that happened? My Lady Jane, which stars Emily Bader in the title role, is “an epic tale of true love and high adventure, where the damsel in distress saves herself, her true love, and then the Kingdom.” Also, shape shifters (with some Buffy thrown in there, too).
Studio Ponoc’s affectionately animated The Imaginary is about a young girl named Amanada and her make-believe friend, Rudger. Together, they visit a magical world filled with “creatures and places never before seen until a sinister force threatens to destroy their imaginary world and the friendship within it,” according to Netflix. The Imaginary is written by Yoshiaki Nishimura (The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, When Marnie Was There) and directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, who also worked on a few films you might have heard of: Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away. This one isn’t to be missed.
Vulture recently pointed out that Rashida Jones has never hosted Saturday Night Live despite a) being friends with a lot of SNL folks, and b) she has the comedic chops. The campaign to get Rashida Jones in Studio 8H (with musical guest Vampire Weekend?) begins… as soon as I finish watching Sunny. The Apple TV+ series stars the Parks and Rec actress as Suzie, an American living in Japan who is gifted a robot following the disappearance of her husband and son. Together, they attempt to find out what happened to her family.
Sausage Party, the 2016 movie that was the highest-grossing R-rated animated film of all-time until Demon Slayer: Mugen Train came along, has been reheated as a streaming series. Prime Video’s proudly vulgar Sausage Party: Foodtopia is set after the events of the movie, with Frank, Brenda, Barry, and Sammy, the characters voiced by Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera, and Edward Norton, respectively, attempting to build their own society. The rest of the voice cast includes Will Forte, Sam Richardson, Yassir Lester, and Natasha Rothwell. Expect lots of food puns and orgies.
My Spy isn’t the first movie you would use to make the case for why Dave Bautista is the best wrestler-turned-actor, but it’s a surprisingly fun action-comedy. Now, Bautista and Chloe Coleman are back for another family-friendly adventure that involves fanny packs, the Vatican, and a terrorist plot. The rest of the cast includes Ken Jeong, Kristen Schaal, Anna Faris, and Craig Robinson.
Longlegs this, Longlegs that. But don’t forget about another 2024 horror movie gem: Abigail. The film follows a group of kidnappers — played by Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, and Angus Cloud (in one of his final roles) — who are trapped in a house with a ballerina vampire, as one does. Abigail leans on the comedy more than the horror, and it’s a blast. Why isn’t Kathryn Newton in everything? She really should be.
Created by Alma Har’el (Bombay Beach, Honey Boy), Lady in the Lake is a noir thriller about a housewife-turned-reporter (played by Natalie Portman) who becomes fixated on the death of Cleo Johnson (Moses Ingram), causing “a chasm [to open] that puts everyone around them in danger.” This is Portman’s first starring role in a TV show, and if she’s even half as good as she was in last year’s brilliant May December, add it to your watchlist.
A British mystery-comedy starring Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley? Yeah, that’ll do. Wicked Little Letters is about an English seaside town in the 1920s that gets upended by scandalous mail (or whatever they call it there). A boisterous Irish migrant named Rose (Buckley) is charged with the crime, but as the townspeople, including buttoned-up local Edith (Colman) do their own investigation, “they suspect that something is amiss, and Rose may not be the culprit after all.” The trailer is very charming.
Here’s one for the freaks (I’m one of you). Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding can briefly be described as a love story between a gym manager (Kristen Stewart) and a bodybuilder (Katy O’Brian), but it’s much more than that. It’s also about organized crime, steroids, and Ed Harris in full creep mode. Love Lies Bleeding has a daring ending that needs to be seen to be believed.
What Netflix’s Cobra Kai has pulled off over the years is nothing less than magical. The underdog spin off (which revived a franchise that celebrates underdogs) has accomplished what few TV shows or movies could have ever hoped for: successfully rebooting a 1980s entity while appealing to Gen Z to an even greater degree than capturing the original The Karate Kid audience. (You can read the full review here.)
Based on the Terry Gilliam movie of the same name, Time Bandits is about a lonely 11-year-old boy who joins a group of time-traveling thieves played by, among others, Lisa Kudrow. The fantasy-adventure series is created by Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords), Iain Morris (The Inbetweeners), and Taika Waititi, who tends to do his best work — What We Do in the Shadows and Reservation Dogs — in a behind-the-scenes capacity.
Tony Hale has a pretty solid track record when it comes to comedies. Buster in Arrested Development, Gary in Veep, FORKY in Toy Story 4 (do not hold Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip against him). Next up is The Decameron, which is like if The White Lotus took place during the bubonic plague pandemic (or as actress Jessica Plummer described it, “Love Island, but back in the day”). The social satire is getting rave reviews for being “the best apocalyptic ensemble comedy since Clue.” Grab your juice and start watching.
Mxmtoon released “a reconsideration” of her earliest breakthrough songs in the form of the Plum Blossom (Revisited) EP last fall. Mxmtoon is not interested in revisiting the ex who inspired “I Hate Texas,” her new song from her upcoming third studio album.
The song is fueled by fiddle and disdain. “I’m turning every corner with exceeded caution,” the artist born Maia sings. “Hoping, praying, begging that you’re not in Austin / I hate Texas / But the exits have more room to run away from you.”
“Working on ‘I Hate Texas’ felt like when I first started making music, like I was completely in my element,” Mxmtoon said in a statement. “I felt inspired to get a little sarcastic and write a song with some kick to it, just as pure fun.”
Mission accomplished.
In the song, Mxmtoon relocates from New York to Texas, but in real life, the Oakland native is based in Nashville, and if being in Nashville was conducive to creating “I Hate Texas,” she should never leave.
Mxmtoon has seven more dates in support of AJR, including two shows at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Friday, July 26, and Saturday, July 27. See all of her upcoming dates here.
Perhaps you have already watched Twisters (maybe even in 4DX) and feel the need for speed soaking in another massive blockbuster-type film to keep that adrenaline flowing. Hypothetically as well, your friends might soon be heading out to see whether the Merc With The Mouth delivers on his promise to reinvigorate the MCU, and you don’t want to feel left out, so you are mulling over a certain inquiry:
Do You Have To Watch Deadpool & Deadpool 2 Before Deadpool & Wolverine?
Hm. The better question here, actually is, “Why wouldn’t you want to watch the first two movies first?”
After all, the Deadpool movies are not comic-book movies that will feel like homework assignments. Instead, they are expressions of sheer joy. So many moments must be experienced rather than read in an online summary. The pathetic highway fight that hit just right. Colossus before he made people thirsty. The X-Force reveals. Zazie Beetz as Domino. The mid-credits scenes of Deadpool 2. Hell, even the origin scenes of how Wade Wilson transformed into Deadpool are worth soaking in to see how he became the fourth-wall-busting wise ass that he is today. And it’s even worth observing the only way that the sequel dropped the ball, which Ryan Reynolds has admitted was not fantastic, so credit goes to him for owning up to that slight.
To answer your first question: No, you do not have to watch the first two Deadpool movies, but you would be very happy if you did so (and if you start now, there’s plenty of time before a midnight or weekend showing). In the alternative, you will surely want to watch them after Deadpool & Wolverine, and that would be a suboptimal experience.
The best nicknames in sports have always started naturally, with someone else — a coach, another player, fans, or an announcer — bestowing it on a player, but for it to really take off the player has to embrace it for themselves.
On this year’s USA men’s basketball squad for the Olympics, there are some great examples of that, from King James to Chef Curry to The Brow. However, there is one nickname that’s better than all of those, but never really took off because it never got the embrace from the player. Early on in his career, Kevin Durant earned the moniker “the Slim Reaper”, which is an objectively sick nickname, but for whatever reason he pushed it away. However, the 35-year-old former MVP has had a change of heart and is now ready to welcome being called the Slim Reaper, explaining in a social video asking Team USA players for the best nickname on the team that he didn’t think he’d earned it early in his career.
“I love that nickname. Before I didn’t think I was worthy… but now?”
Maybe he didn’t think he could be the Slim Reaper until he won championships, but it’s a bit of a shame that didn’t stick sooner with Durant. It’s probably too late in his career for it to latch on completely, but it’s good to know he’s seen the light. As for the rest of the video, I do like how everyone shoots down their teammates when they try to stump for themselves, whether it’s The Brow, The Process, or Book (which Tyrese Haliburton questions if that even counts). The most answers were for Slim Reaper, King James, and Chef Curry, but the funniest one was Bamonte, bestowed on Adebayo by JaVale McGee back in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics in a hilarious video.
For the past two years, Bronx native Ice Spice has been one of the hottest stars in hip-hop. She’s been nominated for four Grammy Awards, won a VMA, and in 2023, became the first rapper with four songs to peak in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 thanks to songs with major stars Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift. That she was able to accomplish all this without putting out a full-length album is impressive, but as the release of her debut album, Y2K, nears, some fans have begun to hold the success of her singles against her. They wonder, “Is Ice Spice an ‘album artist’?”
A year ago, such a question might have seemed unfair to ask. After all, just a few months removed from the peak of her PinkPantheress collaboration “Boy’s A Liar, Pt. 2,” Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj’s Barbie soundtrack contribution “Barbie World” was ubiquitous, permeating pop culture as readily as the film that contained it. Ice had the cross-genre co-sign of pop regent Taylor Swift with “Karma,” and her improved stage presence at festivals like Rolling Loud California, Broccoli City, Power 105.1 Powerhouse, Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, and Coachella solidified her breakout star status.
But somewhere in the course of the past six months, once she’d finally actually begun the rollout for her debut, the goodwill that had carried her breakout single “Munch (Feelin’ You)” and follow-ups like “In Ha Mood” and “Deli” seemingly dried up. “Pretty Girl,” with Afropop breakout Rema, failed to chart, as did “Gimmie A Light” and “Phat Butt,” the songs following Ice Spice’s Latto diss “Think U the Shit (Fart).” None of Ice’s solo singles have charted as highly as “Boy’s A Liar,” “Karma,” or “Barbie World.” While it’s to be expected that a newer artist wouldn’t chart as strongly without the big names attached, the drop-off would seem to indicate a reduced interest in the one thing we know Ice Spice does well.
Likewise, reception to each new piece of the rollout has been lukewarm, if not outright icy. After she shared the cover art for Y2K, which featured photography from none other than the great David LaChapelle, it seemed most fans could only focus on the placement of the album’s title — which appears in hot pink graffiti on a metal, Oscar The Grouch-style garbage can. That’s not an indictment in itself — fans similarly roasted Megan Thee Stallion’s Megan cover, prompting her to update it with multiple different options — but the din of disapproval over Ice’s moves has gotten steadily “louder” online since she named her lead single after flatulence.
Obviously, there’s a difference between dropping a handful of hits and crafting a full-length project with a unifying theme or sound. But Ice Spice’s generation may not even put the same importance on that as prior music fans. Just a week ago, her collaborator and cohort PinkPantheress, who it must be noted was also born around the same time as Ice Spice (one year and a few months after the literal Y2K baby), admitted something somewhat surprising. “I don’t listen to albums!” she said. “That’s why when it came to my own album, I was like, ‘Do people care about tracklisting?’ I couldn’t believe it. Some people would were like, ‘Oh, it’s a great album, but the tracklisting doesn’t make sense.’ I’m like, just listen to the songs.”
As shocking as that revelation might have been for older fans who grew up on classics like Illmatic, The College Dropout, and Good Kid, MAAD City (or even more recently and relatedly, Invasion Of Privacy), it makes perfect sense for young adults who have almost never known a world without streaming services and playlists. iTunes was launched four months before PinkPantheress was born — Ice Spice was still in diapers. Audiences have been purchasing and consuming individual tracks longer than either of them have known how to talk. While both of their music may be informed by nostalgia for millennial pop and dance music, neither probably has much direct experience with the way we engaged with that music, of ripping the plastic from a newly purchased CD and popping out the liner notes to read the personnel and songwriting credits.
If their — and their audiences’ — engagement with music primarily came in the form of individual songs from playlists or live performances, why wouldn’t they create music from this mindset, rather than thinking in terms of complete works that require a full 40-minute-or-more playthrough? Besides, it’s not like we all went out and bought albums just because the singles were poppin’ on TRL and 106 & Park, either (I have a personal theory that or nostalgia for certain albums actually comes from the hits that made it to radio more so than the sequencing and cohesion of those full projects). So, rather than asking “is Ice Spice an album artist?” maybe the question should be “does Ice Spice need to be an album artist?”
In a world where Cardi B has maintained her relevance through singles and feature verses nearly six years removed from her vaunted debut, the biggest hit of the year is a battle rap completely unassociated with any longer compilation of music (other than the string of diss tracks that effectively sent Drake into hiding for the past month), and albums’ sales/streaming totals are mostly driven by standout tracks anyway, maybe it doesn’t matter if Ice Spice can make a full album — whatever that means in 2024, anyway. It wasn’t high-concept lyrical virtuosity that made audiences fall in love with the Bronx rapper. It was an attitude, a feeling — a vibe, if you will — that carried her to the heights of stardom and brought thousands of fans to all those stages. If she can deliver that, it shouldn’t matter if it takes 14 tracks or a 2-minute single, Ice Spice will remain a star.
“We’ve been friends since ‘Munch’ came out, honestly,” the Bronx-bred star said of Central Cee. “We’re just twins.”
Speculation around Central Cee and Ice Spice sparked earlier this month. Before releasing “Did It First,” their collaborative single, Central Cee and Ice Spice were seen shopping together in London. People saw that and ran with it, as they do. These TikTok videos posted by Madeline Argy, Central Cee’s ex, didn’t help.
Ice Spice also brought out Central Cee as a surprise guest during her Wireless Festival 2024 set, where they performed “Did It First.”
To Ice’s credit, she has consistently described Central Cee as a friend. As a Complex cover star last fall, Ice Spice said she and Central Cee had “become good friends over the past year ever since he hopped on ‘Munch [Remix].’” Within the same profile, Central Cee said that Ice Spice “reminds me of me a bit,” which coincides with Ice Spice saying they’re twins in the new Rolling Stone profile.
A new Hollywood Reporter feature about Time Studios notes that according to the company, the Meg doc “has been sold to a major streamer for a fall debut.” No further specifics about the release plan were given.
A 2022 press release says of the multi-part, Nneka Onuorah-directed series:
“The documentary will provide viewers with an intimate perspective into Megan’s life and career. From delving into Megan’s upbringing in Texas to chronicling key milestones in her career, the project will shed light on the many facets of Houston native’s multilayered personality. […]
With a mix of rare archival footage and fresh verité video, the documentary will highlight Megan’s rise from viral freestyling phenom to iconic cultural powerhouse. Beyond amplifying the Houston native’s journey to success, the project will also touch on how Megan overcame various personal hurdles to thrive in her professional career.”
Time Studios Co-Head of Documentary Loren Hammonds also said at the time, “We are thrilled to be able to work with Roc Nation to share Megan’s story with the world. Millions of people are familiar with her as an entertainer, but this series will give her a chance to share her truth as never before. Her story is a powerful one, and the accomplishments that she continues to achieve are remarkable. We feel lucky to have this opportunity to capture her at a crucial moment in her life and career, as she continues to grow exponentially in both her artistry and global impact.”
In a cover story for Rolling Stone, rapper Ice Spice talked about how SpongeBob SquarePants — both the unstoppable Nickelodeon series and the endlessly optimistic character — has inspired her work ethic.
“I think I learned a lot from that show,” she said. “He never wanted a day off, even when Mr. Krabs would tell him, ‘Go the f*ck home.’ He’d be like, ‘No, I need to work.’”
So that’s what SpongeBob characters are saying under the dolphin noise.
Later, Ice Spice discussed the response to the cover artwork for her upcoming album, Y2K! (here’s something to make you feel old: the first SpongeBob SquarePants episode aired seven months before the turn of the millennium).
“Throughout my entire career, I don’t think I’ve ever had a moment of strictly praise. I think, through it all, there was always a lot of hate,” she said. “And I kind of appreciate that, because I find that when people are only love, they’re not as real. I don’t dwell on how people are perceiving me, whether it’s negative or positive, because that’s really what you sign up for when you put yourself out there on a public platform. It’s for people to make their opinions about you.”
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