Month: September 2024

The Carolina Panthers have once again looked like the worst team in football through two weeks of the NFL season, losing to the Saints and Chargers by a combined margin of 73-13. There are a lot of problems in Carolina, but the most glaring issue has been on offense. The defense certainly hasn’t been great, but that’s in part because they’re spending a ton of time on the field because the Panthers simply cannot move the ball offensively.

Through two games, Carolina has 352 total yards of offense, which is almost impossible to do, and second-year quarterback Bryce Young has thrown for just 252 yards through two games with three interceptions and zero touchdowns. It has been painfully apparent that Young’s confidence is just not there, which is compounding the issues he already has as an undersized quarterback. He’s struggled to make timely throws and the fear of making a mistake slows down the processing which makes things worse, as windows are closing on him leading to turnovers.

On Monday, the Panthers made the decision to bench the former No. 1 overall pick and turn things over to Andy Dalton to try and stabilize things. While it’s hard to blame them for making a change — it’s been that bad — it also brings into question how they’ve handled Young since he arrived in Carolina. On ESPN’s “Get Up!” on Tuesday morning, longtime Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. joined the show to absolutely rip into the Panthers for how they’ve managed Young’s career thus far.

For one, this is vintage Mel Kiper Jr., which I love to see. For another, the man makes some excellent points. It was understandable to go after a young offensive mind in Dave Canales to pair with the young quarterback, but as Kiper points out, you cannot expect Young to succeed in a brand new offense without giving him meaningful reps. Kiper torched the Panthers for only giving Young one drive in the new offense in the final preseason game when they were facing backups and non-roster guys. As he points out, CJ Stroud played in two preseason games to keep building on his spectacular rookie year and get more reps, while Derek Carr (who’s been incredible to start the year) played in two games as well to get used to a new offense even as a vet.

For the Panthers to not give Young those reps was setting him up for failure, which is exactly what’s happened and now they’re at a place where they’ve benched him and it’s very possible he will need a fresh start somewhere else to regain some confidence and have a shot at turning his career around. Barring something unforeseen, the Panthers trading up for Young will go down as an all-time bad deal, and while Young certainly isn’t blameless for his struggles, Carolina has put him behind the 8-ball as often as possible.

As annoying as social media has made some things, there’s one place the concept still absolutely excels: Hoisting goofballs on their own petards with a timely “this you?”

Pharrell may have some egg on his face after claiming “I don’t do politics” in a recent interview. After decrying celebrities who “tell you who to vote for” — at a time when the fabric of democracy of itself is on the line — fans were quick to remind the producer that he does, in fact, “do politics,” pulling up his photos for the “Vote Or Die!” campaign of 2004 on Twitter. They also resurfaced a tweet from Pharrell’s account endorsing former NFL player Aaron Rouse for Virginia State Senator in a special election in 2022. “Virginia! Let your voice be heard, VOTE NOW,” he wrote, adding a very clear suggestion of whom to vote for with a #TeamRouse hashtag (were we still doing those in ’22?).

Speaking of choosing sides, Pharrell’s antics of late might just have fans claiming #TeamChad in Hugo’s lawsuit against his former production partner for control over The Neptunes name. There’s no telling how Pharrell’s upcoming Lego-animated biopic Piece By Piece will affect that outcome, other than continuing to convince people that Pharrell Williams might just be a deeply unserious person.

Anna Kendrick recently took a turn into darker subject matter with Alice, Darling, and she is following up with her directorial debut, Woman of the Hour, which will appeal to true-crime junkies and anybody who wants to have the hell scared out of them with a fear known all too well to women. Kendrick also stars as aspiring actress Cheryl Bradshaw, who went on 1970s-era The Dating Game show, and unbeknownst to everybody on set, one of the contestants happened to be Rodney Alcaca, who was later convicted and served time on death row (before dying of natural causes) after killing over 100 women.

In the above Netflix teaser, the film is previewed in a more terrifying manner than the full trailer, which held back from dropping the hammer on exactly how unsettling a portrayal that Daniel Zovatto gives as Alcaca. Kendrick’s Cheryl Bradshaw is shown on a date with Alcaca, who sets off her internal alarm bells during several jarring moments. He’s then shown insisting upon walking her home and “testing” her knowledge of a phone number that she gives him, and if you’ve read The Gift Of Fear by Gavin de Becker, then you will know precisely what this scene was meant to communicate. [Shudder]

While speaking to the New York Times (back in 2016), Kendrick named de Becker’s title as the self-help book that she finds most valuable, and Entertainment Weekly notes Kendrick’s previous words on the subject about “why women ‘reject their advances in poorly lit parking lots: it’s not because we’re bitches, it’s because we don’t want to get murdered.”

Kendrick also went in hard with EW in discussing her research of Alcaca:

[Kendrick] was able to fall back on the experiences she’d been collecting since she was a teenager … those ideas washed over her like rogue waves. While researching the story, she discovered a news report that listed the address of one of Alcala’s victims. “And I thought, I know exactly where that is,” Kendrick continues. “I had this awful feeling. ‘Oh my God, he broke in through her window, and she was on the ocean. She would’ve been hearing the ocean.’ And something about that just ruined me.”

Netflix’s Woman of the Hour will stream on October 18.

As the indictment against Sean “Diddy” Combs was unsealed today, more information has been revealed about the home raids that preceded his eventual arrest earlier this week. The indictment, which charges the music mogul with racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution, also lists some of the items that were seized by federal agents in those raids.

In addition to three AR-15 rifles with defaced serial numbers and a drum magazine, the document also lists “1,000 bottles of baby oil” as one of the items seized — which, of course, has raised eyebrows among commenters on social media. However, their presence is also explained in the indictment, which alleges that Diddy kept employees on his payroll for the purposes of scheduling his so-called “Freak Offs,” securing supplies for those parties — including sex workers, lube, extra linens, drugs, and the aforementioned baby oil — and cleaning up after them. These parties, which could last for days, often resulted in participants being given fluids via IV to recover, which those assistants were also in charge of procuring.

Diddy is accused of using various methods of coercion, including threats of violence and blackmail, via secret tapes made during the sex parties, to keep the participants in line. The racketeering charge stems from his allegedly using his vast business empire to fund these activities.

Indie favorites Japandroids are on their way out: The duo announced this summer that they were disbanding, but before they do, they’d drop one final album, Fate & Alcohol. The album is a month away from release now, and today (September 17), they’ve shared a new song, “All Bets Are Off.”

The band’s Brian King shared an excerpt from his personal journal, from the night that inspired the new song. It reads:

“Night off. I could have rested though (of course) I didn’t. The crew were on one and the party was well underway when I arrived. The other patrons didn’t seem to appreciate our noisy and colourful presence (squares), but the boys were blissfully unaware, hurling hot words at one another and making absurd bets with their per diems, like whether it was possible to light a cigarette with a pistol shot. I knew where this was going and wanted no part of it.

I slunk to a shadowy corner and ordered a cocktail, spur to my jaded spirits. I was gathering material for a book on bar life and it was the perfect place to watch the hungry hearts of Saturday twist towards the blue emptiness of Sunday morning. Poolroom tigers and nightclub kittens, on the prowl for a piece of anything. Cups and lips, quips and quirks, I frantically jotted it all down sparing no detail. Another cocktail? Don’t mind if I do! The night was primed and I felt punk.

Seeing her immediately stripped me of my powers. A thousand thoughts, frozen and kept in cold storage, thawed all at once. She was not the same woman I had known, exuding a subtle elegance and sensuality I had never seen before; she looked breathtaking. Every exquisite nuance like salt on old love-cuts. Chicly dressed too, which added to my agony. The imbalance between us was obvious, making me self-conscious. Still, I decided to let it play out. Cue the music.”

David Prowse also previously noted, “I don’t think we’re the most technically proficient band in the world. And we’re not the most original-sounding or challenging band in the world. But we’ve always put a lot of passion into what we do, and I think that’s resonated with a lot of people. And I’m really grateful that we could be that band for people, in the same way that so many bands were for us.”

Listen to “All Bets Are Off” above.

Fate & Alcohol is out 10/18 via ANTI. Find more information here.

We’ve known about Netflix’s upcoming NBA documentary series, “Starting Five”, for months now, but until Tuesday we hadn’t gotten any real look at what the series will show when it releases on October 9. We knew Netflix had cameras following LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Jimmy Butler, and Domantas Sabonis through the 2023-24 NBA season, but how deep they’d go and what they’d focus on was still up in the air until the first actual trailer for the series dropped on Tuesday.

In it, we see that we’ll get a peek into the personal lives of all five players, with plenty of focus on their families and how they spend their lives off the court during the season, while also looking at how each navigates their season on the court. For LeBron, we get to hear from his daughter Zhuri in the trailer talking about how he’s just a normal person — with a cut to him in his Beetlejuice costume from Halloween — while cameras were with Anthony Edwards when he got to meet his newborn daughter at the hospital for the first time.

It’ll be fascinating to see exactly how they structure the show and what storylines they choose to follow with each player, but if nothing else fans should get to see all five players in a different light off the court.

In 2005, just before The Hunger Games took over as the leading dystopian thriller to scare the preteens, Uglies was the hit novel that enthralled middle schoolers across the country. Written by Scott Westerfeld, the story follows a young girl named Tally living in an alternate world where teenagers are surgically made “pretty” when they turn 16.

The film adaptation just hit Netflix and stars Joey King, Keith Powers, Chase Stokes, and Laverne Cox. No spoilers here, but the film ends on a slight cliffhanger that Westerfeld hopes to explore in another installment. The original novel inspired several sequels, including Pretties, Specials, and Extras, so there is a lot more material to cover.

Westerfeld told Decider that a sequel isn’t off the table. “Well, I want to do it. I’m pretty sure [director] McG wants to do it,” he said. Even though he would be on board with the sequel, ultimately it’s up to the streamer. “Obviously when it comes down to it, with Netflix and the other powers that be, is how many people watch it, how many times. So, I will leave that up to the viewers to decide,” he said. So if you really liked Uglies, try streaming it multiple times to ensure that the sequel gets greenlit.

Director McG also has hope for a sequel, but that decision isn’t his to make. He told Deadline, “The audience needs to speak up and say we should finish the book series. Obviously, it’s a series of books. The story goes on, but we need to have everybody clamor for it, because it’s tough to get movies made, and it needs to be worth it, and they’re expensive,” McG continued. “We’re all very optimistic that the stories will continue, and of course, that’s why we signed up for this in the first place. It’s a series of books, and we want to tell the full story.” Hopefully, the fans will get what they want: more “ugly” people.

Uglies is now streaming on Netflix.

Indonesian singer NIKI is currently on tour for her new album, Buzz, which features the singles “Too Much Of A Good Thing,” “Blue Moon,” “Tsunami,” and the title track. You can see the setlist below, courtesy of setlist.fm.

Buzz, released on August 9 via 88rising, reached No. 19 on the UK’s indie chart. While the Buzz World Tour setlist mainly encompasses the new album, some fan favorites from NIKI’s debut album Nicole also appear, including “Backburner,” “High School in Jakarta,” “Keeping Tabs,” and “Oceans & Engines.” The tour will continue to 10/19/2024 in Vancouver, Canada. See below for the setlist and remaining tour dates.

NIKI’s Buzz World Tour Setlist

01. Too Much Of A Good Thing
02. Colossal Loss
03. Backburner
04. Focus
05. lowkey
06. Magnets
07. Strong Girl
08. Blue Moon
09. Did You Like Her In The Morning?
10. Take Care
11. La La Lost You
12. Keeping Tabs
13. Oceans & Engines
14. Heirloom Pain
15. Paths
16. High School in Jakarta
17. Tsunami
18. Buzz

NIKI’s 2024 Tour Dates

NORTH AMERICA

09/17/2024 — Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
09/19/2024 — Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
09/20/2024 — Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheatre
09/21/2024 — Dallas, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
09/25/2024 — Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
09/27/2024 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory
09/29/2024 — Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
10/01/2024 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union Event Center
10/03/2024 — Berkeley, CA @ The Greek Theatre *
10/08/2024 — Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre
10/10/2024 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan
10/11/2024 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre
10/14/2024 — San Diego, CA @ Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
10/17/2024 — Portland, OR @ Alaska Airlines’ Theater of the Clouds
10/18/2024 — Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater at Lumen Field
10/19/2024 — Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena

EUROPE

10/27/2024 — Brussels, BE @ La Madeleine
10/29/2024 — Cologne, DE @ Palladium
11/01/2024 — Paris, FR @ L’Olympia
11/02/2024 — Rotterdam, NL @ Poppodium 013
11/06/2024 — Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo Manchester
11/07/2024 — London, UK @ OVO Arena, Wembley
11/10/2024 — Dublin, IE @ 3Olympia Theatre

ASIA

02/09/2025 — Hong Kong
02/11/2025 — Manila
02/12/2025 — Manila
02/14/2025 — Jakarta
02/15/2025 — Jakarta
02/18/2025 — Singapore
02/20/2025 — Taipei
02/22/2025 — Bangkok
02/25/2025 — Kuala Lumpur
02/26/2025 — Kuala Lumpur

AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND

03/05/2025 — Perth, AU
03/07/2025 — Brisbane, AU
03/09/2025 — Sydney, AU
03/13/2025 — Melbourne, AU
03/15/2025 — Auckland, NZ

The National and The War On Drugs (who just released a live album) are two of the most consistently excellent bands in indie rock. They also put on one heck of a live show, which you can experience for yourself on the Zen Diagram Tour.

The National, in particular, are playing some of their most popular tracks, including “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” “Fake Empire,” and “Mr. November.” Below, you’ll find a setlist from the group’s recent concert at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, New York. Every show has The National performing a slightly different collection of songs, but this should give you a rough idea of what to expect.

The National’s Zen Diagram Tour Setlist

1. “Don’t Swallow The Cap”
2. “Eucalyptus”
3. “Tropic Morning News”
4. “Squalor Victoria”
5. “Bloodbuzz Ohio”
6. “The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness”
7. “I Need My Girl”
8. “Brainy”
9. “Conversation 16”
10. “The Geese Of Beverly Road”
11. “Abel”
12. “Alien”
13. “Deep End (Paul’s In Pieces)”
14. “Rylan”
15. “England”
16. “Graceless”
17. “Fake Empire”
18. “About Today”
19. “Light Years” (encore)
20. “Mr. November” (encore)
21. “Terrible Love”
22. “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks”

The National’s 2024 Tour Dates: Zen Diagram Tour

09/17 — Philadelphia, PA @ TD Pavilion at Mann Center for Performing Arts
09/19 — Laval, QC @ Place Bell
09/20 — Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
09/21 — Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
09/24 — Chicago, IL @ United Center
09/25 — Sterling Heights, MI @ Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill
09/26 — Madison, WI @ Breese Stevens Field
09/28 — Englewood, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
09/29 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Granary Live
10/01 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
10/02 — Vancouver, BC @ Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
10/03 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center
10/06 — Berkeley, CA @ The Greek Theatre
10/07 — Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
10/10 — Mexico City, MX @ Palacio De Los Deportes

It’s always a great week in pop music when it’s impossible to decipher the runaway headliner. Tate McRae referenced Britney Spears while showcasing her unique pop persona in “Its Ok I’m Ok.” The Weeknd proved he’s the best at leveraging persona to his conceptual advantage, and Suki Waterhouse went ahead and casually dropped her 18-track (!) double album, Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin. That’s before mentioning new offerings from reliable hitmakers like Charli XCX, Demi Lovato, and Finneas.

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

Tate McRae — “It’s Ok I’m Ok”

Tate McRae has skyrocketed since serving as an Uproxx cover star in May 2022, and she shows zero signs of letting up. McRae is still on her Think Later World Tour, but that doesn’t preclude her from getting a head start on her next era. Plus, “It’s Ok I’m Ok” encapsulates why thousands of people flock to see her perform. The Hannah Lux Davis-directed and Sean Bankhead-choreographed video showcases McRae’s dance pedigree, while the song’s chorus is just the latest in a string of ear worms. “It’s OK I’m Ok” was co-produced and co-written with Ryan Tedder, ILYA, and Savan Kotecha and, as per press release, “marks a new chapter” for McRae.

Suki Waterhouse — “Model, Actress, Whatever”

Suki Waterhouse recently spoke with Uproxx and explained how “Model, Actress, Whatever” allowed her to reclaim the trite public perception of her. “If there’s something I’m indulging in now, it’s almost being able to laugh at that and make fun of it and write a song like that that also feels like you’re owning all of that,” she said. “It feels kind of empowering. When you see the music video, it’s not like ‘woe is me.’ It’s very much hilarious, like, let’s enjoy this and laugh at ourselves.” The song is a standout from Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin, her newly released double album, but even with 18 tracks, the record is firmly in no-skips territory.

The Weeknd — “Dancing In The Flames”

The Weeknd is hurtling toward Hurry Up Tomorrow, the final installment of his After Hours and Dawn FM trilogy. “Dancing In The Flames” is the first substantial checkpoint, so to speak, and it finds The Weeknd firmly in his chart-topping bag.

Charli XCX Feat. Troye Sivan — “Talk Talk”

Charli XCX and Troye Sivan just kicked off their co-headlining Sweat tour. Charli’s Brat summer already hit apex and then some, but somehow, this “Talk Talk” remix (which also features Dua Lipa) created even more hysteria. Sivan’s voice is so smooth atop the synthy, pure dance beat, complementing Charli’s very melodic, punchy delivery. The lyrics are extremely direct — like dating app, but make it catchy — and I’m excited to hear more where that came from when Brat And It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat drops on October 11.

Demi Lovato — “You’ll Be OK, Kid”

Demi Lovato made her directorial debut with Child Star, her star-studded documentary available now to stream on Hulu. “As we were editing the film, I became very inspired to write a song,” Lovato said in a statement, as per press release. “The idea of connecting with my younger self through the pain and hardships that came along with child stardom was so important to me. I wrote the song as a letter to my inner child, and I hope that it can give others an opportunity to connect with their inner child as well.”

Finneas — “Cleats”

Finneas’ Isaac Ravishankara-directed “Cleats” video opens with a shot of an iPod, so I automatically bought in. Luckily, the rest of the video and song itself is worth sticking around for. A miniature Finneas spies on his teenage self hanging out with his crush in a bedroom and sings with hindsight, “Bad things always come in threes / When you broke your thumb, you lost your keys / She plays for a different team.” This is Finneas’ second single from For Cryin’ Out Loud!, his forthcoming sophomore LP, and showcases Finneas’ charisma as an instrumentalist and vocalist.

Dasha — “Bye Bye Bye”

A wrongdoing ex hates to see Dasha coming. The breakout pop-country star made it into the Billboard Hot 100 top 20 with “Austin,” and she successfully continued sorting her emotions from a past relationship with “Didn’t I.” What Happens Now? Deluxe adds to Dasha’s undeniable mystique, especially “Bye Bye Bye.” The acoustic-based single is satisfyingly conclusive (“Oh ’cause here we go you’re back again / We’re less than lovers, more than friends / And oh, I gotta go / So I said, ‘Bye, bye, bye,’ I might die / If I try and love you any harder”). As a bonus, it’s fun to watch Dasha gleefully drag her ex from the back of her tractor in the Emma Kate Golden-directed video.

Teddy Swims — “Bad Dreams”

Teddy Swims was nominated for four awards at last week’s 2024 MTV VMAs, and songs like “Bad Dreams” prove why he will be in the Grammy nominee conversation until further notice. Swims’ voice always demands a visceral stop-in-your-tracks reaction, and his runs are smooth as ever here. The funky, pop (and all-around genre-blending) song figures to join Swims’ hits “Lose Control” (No. 1 peak) and “The Door” (No. 36 peak) on the Billboard Hot 100.

JVKE & Nick Jonas — “This Is What Forever Feels Like”

Joe isn’t the only Jonas expanding beyond Jonas Brothers. Nick Jonas teamed with JVKE for the intriguing “This Is What Forever Feels Like.” The single is a traditional love ballad lyrically, but it’s eclectic sonically. JVKE and Jonas’ voices pleasantly blend while singing, “I wanna love you for the rest of my life / Until we’re seventy.” In other words, “This Is What Forever Feels Like” is an addictive love bomb — but not the toxic kind. If nothing else, the song Priyanka-approved.

Chelsea Cutler & Jeremy Zucker — “Black & White”

Chelsea Cutler and Jeremy Zucker made their fan bases’ year by announcing Brent III, their third Brent project but first full-length Brent album. It started with “Black & White,” an aching acoustic duet about small acts of love that make everyday mundanity feel heavenly: “Pull me closer when the night is over / Take this broken heart and make it feel alright / Whisper sweet words in my ear when it hurts / Help the time move slower, let me have tonight / ‘Cause you put color in my black and white.” Tears will flow throughout Cutler and Zucker’s Brent Forever: The Tour this November and December.