Seven years ago, if someone were to tell you that then-Everyday Struggle host Joe Budden would be collaborating with the self-declared “King of the Teens,” Lil Yachty, you would probably think they were trolling. But today, it seems that it may not be quite as far-fetched as when the two rappers were semi-regularly antagonizing each other over their different generational outlooks on hip-hop.
Since then, Yachty followed Budden into podcasting, adopting some of his grumpy old man opinions in the process, and today, Budden joined Yachty on his podcast, A Safe Space, where they joked about rapping on a song together. The whole thing started with Yachty asking Joe, “Do you think right now, if you and me go in [the studio], you could pen a better verse than me?”
In typical combative fashion, Budden shot back, “Who’s picking the beat?” “Obviously, not you!” Yachty razzed. This sparks a spirited debate about the two rappers’ respective taste in beats, with Budden clowning Yachty’s “Metroid beats” and Yachty offering up a folder of beats from one of underground hip-hop’s favorite producers, The Alchemist. Yachty’s co-host Mitch says the result would sound like “a hoop mixtape,” which… Yes. That’s the point, you infant.
Joe says he’d “do it for fun, because I’m retired,” and now, I am wildly curious. Who cares who has the best verse — do it for hip-hop.
You can watch the new interview above, and just for kicks, you can watch the duo’s original, antagonistic interview below.
Industry is the latest HBO drama that brings something as complex as the cutthroat world of investment banking and somehow makes it entertaining instead of confusing. With season three, the stakes are even higher with the introduction of Kit Harington as Henry Muck, the chaotic CEO of a green-energy startup who has his own agenda and some spiffy Brat-esque attire. That, combined with the star power of Ken Leung, Myha’la, Marisa Abela, and Harry Lawtey has set up the series for an explosive third season.
When Does Industry Season 3, Episode 1 Come Out?
The highly-anticipated third season will premiere on Sunday, August 11th at 9 pm. The season consists of eight episodes which will air weekly on HBO through September 29th. Here is the official synopsis for season three:
As Pierpoint looks to the future and takes a big bet on ethical investing, Yasmin (Marisa Abela), Robert (Harry Lawtey), and Eric (Ken Leung) find themselves front and center in the splashy IPO of Lumi, a green tech energy company led by Sir Henry Muck (Kit Harington), in a story that runs all the way to the very top of finance, media, and government. Since leaving Pierpoint, Harper (Myha’la) is eager to get back into the addictive thrill of finance and finds an unlikely partner in FutureDawn portfolio manager Petra Koenig (Sarah Goldberg).
The premiere episode of the season will be titled, “Il Mattino ha L’Oro Bocca.” Here is the synopsis: “Pierpoint is preparing to extend its first offer. Robert faces some challenges in working with Lumi’s CEO.” Check out the tense season three trailer featuring Kit Harington’s impressive beard below. It’s not Jon Snow, but it’s something.
Alysha Newman became a viral sensation at the 2024 Olympics after she celebrated winning Canada’s first medal in women’s pole vault by pretending to be hurt then twerking.
“I’m always injured and I’m always getting back on the horse, so I said I’m gonna go and scare my coaches because I want them to lighten up,” she told CBC Sports. “So I said I’m gonna fake an injury and dance after. It just happened very fluid. I didn’t think I’m gonna twerk, but just from grabbing that to getting to the knee with a twerk it all just worked out in one.”
It’s been a long journey for Newman to that spontaneous moment of joy. “I had brain problems. I had a brain health issue. There’s mental health, and there’s brain health,” she told the Olympics website about the concussion she suffered three months before she no-heighted at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo. “I wasn’t happy. I didn’t like the sport at that time, and it was a struggle for me. I needed to step away, be happy off the track, so then I learned to love track again and then fix my mental health.”
Like many Olympians, Newman is on OnlyFans to help pay the bills so she can focus on her athletic career. “I earn money with what I post… It makes me confident and I feel good about it,” she explained to German publication BILD.
But don’t sign up for Newman’s account, which has over 75,000 likes, expecting to see nudity. “I post a lot of my training sessions, talk about nutrition and lots of tips and tricks,” she said. “Many people have a certain cliché when they think of OnlyFans. I can’t change many people’s minds. But this website has connected me with many fans, more than any other pole vaulter before. What others think about it doesn’t bother me. I am who I am and I do it well.”
After months of delays and setbacks, Polo G was at last able to release his fourth studio album, HOOD POET. An acronym for “He Overcame Obstacles During Pain or Emotional Trauma,” the title turned out to be prophetic, as Polo had to deal with multiple arrests and a raid on his Los Angeles home while trying to promote the album. Still, he persevered, and the album is out now via Columbia Records.
Its release is accompanied by the video for “Darkside,” a standout, confessional inclusion, in which Polo vents about some of the aforementioned traumas and tribulations of his life. “I might never cough again from all that mud that I was sippin’,” he recalls. “Missin’ school every day, but on that block, perfect attendance / Bein’ broke the root of evil, it’ll turn you to a menace / It’s so hard to beat the odds when we was taught to be statistics / In this life, you only see the graveyard or go to prison.” The video sees him performing in a desert wasteland, flanked by a pair of armed guards. He’s been lifting too.
Paramount Plus isn’t simply the place where Tom Cruise movies go to be streamed endlessly after theatrical runs, where 8,000 Taylor Sheridan shows make dads happy, and where Showtime’s undead Dexter franchise will be watched into oblivion. It’s also the place where SEAL Team has been streaming the back part of its run, and the terminally popular military drama is about to begin its final season.
When Do SEAL Team Season 7, Episodes 1 And 2 Come Out?
The first episodes of this final season will arrive on Paramount Plus on Sunday, August 11.
If the series aligns with other recent streaming-only releases on the platform, that means that 12:00am PST and 3:00am EST will be go time.
Star David Boreanaz’s (Buffy, Angel, Bones) bod sounds like it’s more than ready for a vacation, too. As he recently told PEOPLE, the show’s heavy physical load has taken a toll. “I take good care of myself, but it gets to a point where your body’s not moving like it used to,” he declared. “I think I’ve had four MRIs in the past four months, for my knees, hips, shoulders. It’s been quite a journey.”
From the final season synopsis:
At a moment’s notice, Bravo Team is ripped from their families and deployed across the globe to help the United States compete against foreign superpowers. As the military landscape shifts, personal lives, teammates and priorities change too, setting the stage for an emotional ending. Don’t miss Bravo Team’s dramatic farewell.
This will be it for Bravo Team, and hopefully, Boreanaz can go enjoy some yoga now.
J Balvin promised the public major musical collaborations (because there is already enough beef in the Latin music space) on his latest album, Rayo, and he delivered. With the body of work officially available on streaming platforms, it was only right for the “Dientes” musician to drop one visual for the project.
Yesterday (August 8), J Balvin and Feid’s joint track reunion, “Doblexxó,” finally got the love it deserved. The official video for “Doblexxó,” directed by Death Of Gian, made the wait well worth it.
In the visual, J Balvin and Feid prove that they are each the life of the party wherever they do. Both exhibit main character energy throughout the video, but even the focal point needs a supporting case now and then. As the roughly translated chorus of the track shows, J Balvin and Feid’s preferred co-star is a gorgeous woman.
“Baby, you don’t need to get emotional tonight / Throw away the watch that jerk gave you, why should you check the time? / Double up on drinks for your friends, see if they leave you alone / If that jerk calls you, baby, you better ignore him / And let him f*ck off,” sings the duo.
Watch the “Doblexxó” video above.
Rayo is out now via Sueños Globales/UMG Recordings. Find more information here.
In the press materials for Flight b741 — the 26th (!) studio album from Australia’s reigning jam band masters King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — head Gizzard Stu Mackenzie suggests that the band’s recent records have been “sort of intellectual.” The idea with Flight b741, he says, was “to make something fun.”
Speaking as someone who has fought off a proverbial side ache from trying to keep up with this tireless band’s output in the past decade-plus, I would humbly argue that “fun” has never been an issue for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Let’s peruse a recent smattering of their aggressively genre-hopping work. There was The Silver Cord, which we will classify as “the one that sounds like Kraftwerk.” There was PetroDragonic Apocalypse, also known as “the one that resembles Slayer if they were more like Frank Zappa.” (Probably more succinct to just say “Tool-esque.”) There was Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, And Lava, the one that simultaneously nodded to fusion jazz and Greek mythology, as all bands inevitably do when they pass the 20-album mark in their discographies.
The key to appreciating King Gizzard, as well as all jam bands, is understanding that the journey is more important than the destination. This kind of music is concerned primarily with process — the dreaming up of an idea, the self-imposed demands of a musical challenge, the pursuit of spontaneity, the fetishization of moments that are impossible to prefabricate. When you approach a band like King Gizzard, you are implicitly striking a deal that accepts an imperfect final product in exchange for the sort of impromptu adventure that conventional rock bands can’t deliver. It’s not where you end up by morning, it’s the fun and exhilarating times you had along the way. That’s the King Gizzard experience.
What sets King Gizzard apart from their peers on the Red Rocks/Gorge circuit is that they take this approach in the studio as well as the stage. For them, making a record is like a playing gig that happens to take place in a room without audience, and with a new musical costume that will swiftly be discarded once they re-enter the studio months or even weeks later. That was certainly the approach for Flight b741, which was recorded “really loud” over two weeks on cheap amps and with a newly purchased Nuggets-style organ.
As for their present persona, King Gizzard reverted to the mean of their core influences — crunchy, riff-y classic rock with a twangy country edge. Early ’70s Dead, mid-’70s Stones, The James Gang, pre-yacht rock Steely Dan — all leave discernible fingerprints on these songs. The guitars chug. The cowbell cowbells. Until now I have physically restrained myself from typing the word “choogle” but I am finally relenting after 450 words. On Flight b741, King Gizzard choogles like few modern bands dare to choogle.
Is this a fun record? Of course it’s a fun record. Like I said, “fun” has never been a problem for this band. So, what is the issue? “Memorable.” In typical King Gizzard fashion, Flight b471 is uneven in the “memorable songs” department.
When it comes to live performance, I am a fan of taking the “journey over destination” approach. Most of my favorite live acts have adopted that philosophy, and the ones that haven’t seem a little dull in comparison. But in the studio, the shortcomings of this philosophy are more apparent. With King Gizzard, no matter the style of music with which they are experimenting, my experience with their albums tends to be the same. It goes like this: I enjoy them when they’re on, and I forget them when they’re not.
This is probably an unfair comparison but I’ll make it anyway: In terms of genre diversity, King Gizzard’s historical analogue is Ween, another group adored by jam fans even if that feeling hasn’t always been mutual. In the ’90s, Ween changed their sound just as often as King Gizzard, and in the case of their 1994 masterpiece Chocolate & Cheese, they did it over the course of a single album. But Gene and Dean Ween are infinitely better songwriters than Mackenzie and his fellow Gizzards. They didn’t just emulate certain instrumental tones associated with specific genres or musical eras. They started with great songs, and then those fit those songs to whatever style they wanted.
Now, I know this is unfair because Ween happens to be one of the greatest bands of all time. (And they are the greatest indie-adjacent jam act.) Nevertheless: I wish King Gizzard put more care into songwriting, even if Ween’s method — write five songs for every one you put on a record — is antithetical to what they do. Premeditation isn’t in the Giz’s DNA. And I can respect that, though songwriting will continue to be their most glaring weakness.
Back to fun: Flight b471 is definitely that and then some. No matter their ambivalent stance toward the greater jam world — they have embraced Trey Anastasio’s fandom and snarkily dismissed their potential rival Goose — King Gizzard is at their best when they come closest to approximating a jam band musically. That was true of the funky Ice, Death as well as the electro-pop excursion Butterfly 3000, and it’s obviously the case on Flight b471, in which they rip through bluesy jams in a manner that bear more than a passing resemblance to Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Black Crowes, and even southern rock O.G.s Widespread Panic.
The title track typifies this “sleazeball country rock” vibe, applying some well-worn stoned fuzz to the greasy grooves. “Sad Pilot” similarly struts with blotto swagger, while “Daily Blues” reimagines ZZ Top’s Eliminator as a lysergic Meat Puppets jam. And then there’s my favorite track, “La Risque,” whiuch successfully melds Countdown To Ecstasy with a loosey-goosey Dick’s Picks sensibility.
The word I would use to describe all of these songs is “spacious.” King Gizzard albums typically have a frenetic edge, going back to their early days as a hyperkinetic garage-rock outfit. There’s always this feeling that they have so much music on their minds that they have to burn through every song as fast as possible in order to get to the next brainstorm. It’s the quality that makes this band exciting and exhausting in equal doses.
But on Flight b471, you can hear them breathe — and chill — a little. (The exception is the self-explanatory “Hog Calling Contest,” which sounds exactly like the title.) This is a positive development. When you have 26 albums under your belt, you can afford to settle in for a minute. Just grab a comfortable seat, cradle a koozie-wrapped beer can, and ease your mind, man. With a little more consideration, you might even make your own masterpiece one day.
“I got a little sad, at a certain point. In early rap battles, you had kids in the park rapping against each other. But it’s not just people rapping now. You got people with 100 employees. You have livelihoods, empires, companies, deals — all of it can be jeopardized. If you don’t have anything to lose, sure, go for it. But if I already made it, I’m not sure it’s even worth it anymore.”
André also said he’s written a few diss tracks of his own but never plans to release any. He said, “You have feelings… if n****s say some slick sh*t, lines will come to your head immediately.”
Elsewhere, he discussed the relationship between music and artificial intelligence, saying, “I think some of the AI art is interesting. But, as humans, sometimes we just want to know what’s real. We want the humanness of things. […] Before cameras came into play, a king would hire the best artists to paint a portrait of you and your family. The best artists were the ones who could make it look as real as possible. But then cameras came along. So you had all these artists saying, ‘What are we going to do now?’ I think we’re at a similar place now. But what happened was — we got Van Gogh, and we got Impressionists. Doing sh*t the camera couldn’t do. You gotta find your place to be. That’s the humanness.”
Today (August 9), The Kid Laroi treated supporters to a five-pack of fresh track off of its deluxe edition, the standout being the Antonio “Dopamine” Zito and Rogét Chahayed co-produced record “Baby I’m Back.”
On the song, which samples Player’s hit “Baby Come Back,” The Kid Laroi talks about his continuously rising star power, its pitfalls, and of course, his love life. As he’s already proven to be a helpless romantic, instead of reflecting on the end of a relationship, he confirms the start a new connection.
“It’s been a crazy last year, I’m tryna process still / I don’t even know how I should feel / I got a couple big houses and some whips, maybe three / And I got family members that got bigger egos than me / And I got fans around the world whenever I’m overseas,” he raps.
Then he turns his attention to the not so glamorous side of fame, rapping: “And I got friends who just pretend and say they love everything / And yes I fell in love again, I thought that sh*t was impossible / And I promise it’s too rеal for me to care what they think / I promisе I don’t give a f*ck because I know who I am.”
If you are a fan of The Kid Laroi, none of this should come as a surprise, as it was heavily featured in his documentary, Kids Are Growing Up. But, it still makes for an enjoyable record.
Listen to “Baby I’m Back” above.
The First Time Deluxe is out now via Columbia. Find more information here.
The recent run of crowd-pleasing video game adaptations has come to an end. And then some.
Based on Gearbox Software’s video game series of the same name, Eli Roth’s new movie Borderlands is getting brutal reviews. “This sci-fi gobbler mixes inept directing, terrible writing, indifferent acting and gawdawful CGI into such stupefying boredom, it feels like nothing could top it for badness,” the Toronto Star critic Peter Howell wrote, while Rolling Stone‘s David Fear called it “not a movie for critics, as the saying goes. Nor is it suitable for consumption by most gamers, film lovers, or 99 percent of carbon-based life forms.”
Borderlands, which has an overqualified cast including Jack Black, Jamie Lee Curtis, Édgar Ramírez, Gina Gershon, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, and Lydia Tár, answers the question no one was asking: what if Guardians of the Galaxy was bad?
But is Borderlands the worst-reviewed movie of the year?
Bored-erlands, as Norm Macdonald would have called it, currently has a 7 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Among 2024 films with at least 50 reviews, that puts it lower than stinkers like Unfrosted (42 percent), Argylle (33 percent), The Exorcism (27 percent), Harold and the Purple Crayon (27 percent), The American Society of Magical Negroes (26 percent), Night Swim (20 percent), Atlas (19 percent), Tarot (18 percent), Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver (17 percent), and, yes, even Madame Web (11 percent). Borderlands has an equally abysmal Metacritic score of 29, but hey, that’s three points higher than Madame Web! Take a win where you can get it.
Still, it’s safe to call Borderlands the worst-reviewed movie of the year.
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