With the release of his upcoming album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, The Weeknd looks to complete a trilogy of projects begun by his 2020 album, After Hours, and continued by its 20022 followup, Dawn FM. Trilogies are something of a recurring theme for the Canadian superstar, as it was his trio of haunting mixtapes (2011’s House Of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence) that first put him on the map as a moody, mysterious musician with a multilayered approach to songwriting. He’s expanded on that reputation ever since, transforming so completely for each new release, that he’s become music’s biggest concept artist.
In starting his current, ongoing trilogy, The Weeknd not only took a big musical swing in a new sonic direction, but he also crafted a bizarre character to suit the glittering, synth-heavy sounds. While he kicked off the rollout for After Hours by introducing his red-and-black suit and retro stunna shades in the video for “Heartless,” it was the follow-up video for “Blinding Lights” that truly set the tone for the After Hours era; the bloodied protagonist, wandering the Las Vegas strip to the pulse-pounding sounds of synthwave created the unsettling contrast that would define that album’s messaging.
With each new visual from the album, that unsettling vibe got more and more horrific. The After Hours short film found Red being compelled by unseen forces, while the gory “In Your Eyes” video subverted its own horror-thriller tropes, ending with Red decapitated by the woman he appeared to be stalking throughout the clip. By the time of the “Too Late” video, Red’s head had been transplanted onto a new body by plastic surgery addicts in Beverly Hills, setting up the eye-popping, puffy-faced version from the “Save Your Tears” video, which ended on yet another ambivalent note, with Red finally getting something akin to closure.
Like the preceding era, the change over to Dawn FM happened gradually. The “Take My Breath” video carried over some of its predecessor’s attributes, but now, Abel’s suit was black-on-black, the violence was toned down and more psychosexual. If the After Hours visuals were concerned with the violence inherent in the pursuit of the hedonistic lifestyle enjoyed by Red, then Dawn FM‘s visuals looked at the sexual and social repercussions thereof. Black finds himself trapped in a soul-stealing ritual in the video for “Sacrifice,” ending the video with his youth stripped away.
In “Gasoline,” he’s haunted by ghoulish specters and a youthful doppelgänger that taunt him at what appears to be a crowded nightclub. The elder Black returns to get revenge on his double in “Out Of Time,” only to find himself losing his identity even further in the voyeuristic video for “Is There Someone Else?” Musically, Dawn FM slides all over the dial, from easy listening to pulsating EDM. In describing the album’s themes, he likened it to “being stuck in traffic waiting to reach the light at the end of the tunnel” in a state of purgatory after death.
If anything, “Dancing In The Flames,” the first video from Hurry Up Tomorrow reinforces and doubles down on that idea, featuring yet another Weeknd character getting into a violent encounter, this time, ending up on the wrong side of a face-off with a semi truck. His latest character ends up wandering a ghostly wasteland and seeing a light that could represent the afterlife. Fans have speculated that if Dawn FM was about Purgatory and that made After Hours about Hell, then perhaps Hurry Up Tomorrow will find Abel entering the Pearly Gates.
Or not. If anything, the Toronto native is famous for his swerves, for offering up the unexpected, and for crafting projects that defy expectations. While it could be argued that he might be getting overly reliant on these convoluted narratives to tell his stories — even on stage, he’s been known to incorporate characters, like his The Idol antihero Tedros, or whatever the knockoff MF DOOM thing he did in Spain was supposed to be — the truth is, this constant reinvention has been a huge part of building his popularity to what it is today. By letting his imagination run wild, he keeps finding fertile new veins of creativity that keep him at the top of his craft.
Welcome to SNX DLX, your weekly roundup of the best sneakers to hit the internet. The floodgates are open, and we’re drowning in an ocean of amazing sneaker drops this week, which is a nightmare that pretty much every sneakerhead has had at least once. Though I’m not sure if we’d all agree that such a dream should be considered a nightmare.
This time around we’re being treated to a full list of 10 drops, with representation from the big three — New Balance, Adidas, and Nike. The highlight of the week is definitely Nike’s collaboration with the Amsterdam-based streetwear brand Patta, who have joined forces to bring back the legendary Nike Air Max 1 Chlorophyll. Jordan fans will be treated to new colorways of the AJ-1 and AJ-5, while Adidas is linking up once again with Wales Bonner.
That’s just scratching the surface of what we’ve got this week, so let’s just dive into it. Here are the best sneakers of the week.
New Balance has gotten the memo that right now sneakerheads are obsessed with Y2K era silhouettes, which is why the brand is bringing the 1000 out of the vaults and giving it a modern makeover. This sneaker — which originally dropped in 1999 — features a sleek shape and design with a leather upper adorned with suede overlays, synthetic underlays, reflective accents, and an ABZORB midsole.
The colorway features a dip-dyed esque design, with the bottom portion in bubblegum pink, and the top portion in an earthy sandstone color. A thin stripe of green mesh separates the colors.
The New Balance 1000 Real Pink with Sandstone is out now for a retail price of $149. Pick up a pair at New Balance or aftermarket sites like GOAT and Flight Club.
The young English fashion designer Wales Bonner is back with Adidas, reviving the legendary Neftenga sneaker, a design inspired by the sneakers worn by Ethiopian Olympian Haile Gebrselassie during the 2008 Berlin Marathon, a race in which Gebrselassie set a world record.
The Adios Neftenga takes the same yellow and black colorway worn by Gebrselassie but outfits this sneaker with modern running tech like an ultra-lightweight synthetic and textile upper, metallic accents, and reflective details for enhanced night visibility.
Rounding out the design are Wales Bonner branded tongue tags.
The Adidas Wales Bonner Adios Neftenga are out now for a retail price of $220. Pick up a pair via the Adidas CONFIRMED app.
While the late 2024 sneaker season has been incredibly uneven (that’s the nicest way I can say it) you can always count on Nike to drop at least one great Jordan every week. This week we get two!
First up is the Jordan 5 “El Grito” aka Sail and Dark Pony, a sneaker that pays homage to Mexico just in time for Hispanic Heritage Month. The sneaker features a leather upper with embossed leather details at the heel, asymmetrical midsole shark tooth motifs, a dubrae that reads “VIVA,” and red, green, and white lace locks that are meant to recall the Mexican flag.
The Air Jordan 5 El Grito Sail and Dark Pony is out now for a retail price of $210. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.
The Devin Booker Book 1 is quickly becoming one of our favorite new silhouettes, but generally the sneaker is a bit understated and sleek. That’s not the case with this week’s Light Orewood Brown rendition of the sneaker, which covers the upper in a faux snakeskin leather all-over upper in a mix of brown and off-white tones.
It’s a wild design, and we’re curious to see if this is a new avenue opening up for the look of the Book 1.
The Nike Book 1 Leather Light Orewood Brown is out now for a retail price of $150. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNRKS app.
SB Dunk fans have been spoiled by Nike lately. Over the summer, we’ve been graced with a handful of great Dunk colorways, and now as we enter September and edge toward Fall, it looks like Nike is keeping up the momentum.
The Sesame and Pear features a tough durable leather upper with textile details and an autumnal colorway that combines tan, brown, and bright green. It looks great, it’s not quite as exciting as the sneaker we’re about to cover, but it has a similar color palette that has us hyped for the fall sneaker season.
The Nike SB Dunk Low Pro Sesame and Pear is out now for a retail price of $125. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.
Hands down, this collaboration between Amsterdam-based brand Patta and Nike is our pick of the week. The Air Max 1 Chlorophyll is a refresh of a 2009 colorway that has solidified itself as one of the greatest Air Max 1 colorways of all time. The sneaker features a mixed mesh, leather, and textile upper, with dual branding, and a mix of grey, green, and lime tones.
Expect a lot of competition if you plan on picking this one up this week.
The Patta x Nike Air Max 1 Chlorophyll is set to drop on September 13th for a retail price of $160. Pick up a pair at PattaxNike or aftermarket sites like GOAT and Flight Club.
Last week we got the Clogposite, and now, this week Nike is dropping a new Foamposite colorway. So, if you love the alienesque futuristic sheen of the -posite family, revel in it because you’ll probably never get this much attention from Nike ever again. The Foamposite One features a shimmering metallic blue upper with contrasting black nubuck eyestays and rides on an icy translucent outsole.
The Nike Air Foamposite One Royal is set to drop on September 13th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $240. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app or aftermarket sites like GOAT and Flight Club.
Damian Lillard’s DAME 9 Purple Burst takes a very modern silhouette and design and wraps it in a vintage colorway that recalls ‘90s sneaker aesthetics. The DAME 9 sports a synthetic upper, textile lining, and Adidas’ Lightstrike cushioning with an internal bootie design that is made to fit snuggly against your foot.
Despite its festive purple color, this sneaker is designed with performance in mind, sporting a full-length Torsion bar throughout the shoe, which should provide some stiffness to the feel. The design prioritizes speed, so if that’s your court style, this is the sneaker for you.
The Adidas DAME 9 Purple Burst is set to drop on September 13th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $120. Pick up a pair via the Adidas CONFIRMED app.
AdidasAdidas
Air Force 1 ’07 x PEACEMINUSONE “Para-noise 3.0” Black and Multi-Color
K-Pop’s G-Dragon is hitting Nike with his latest design, a slight alteration of the mighty Air Force 1. The sneaker sports a black leather upper with multi-colored Swooshes, daisy tongue tags, and a metallic midsole that looks straight out of an ‘80s sci-fi movie.
It’s radical and out there, yet slightly retro. A perfect encapsulation of G-Dragon’s vibe.
The Air Force 1 ’07 PEACEMINUSONE “Para-noise 3.0” Black and Multi-Color is set to drop on September 14th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $200. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.
Closing out the week, we’ve got the Jordan 1 High Midnight Navy. There isn’t much to say here, it’s a high-top Jordan 1 in a classic colorway. It’s one of the laziest designs Nike has dropped all week, and yet, we can’t look away. The Jordan 1 needs a few things to be a hype-worthy. As long as it is high-top, leather, and sports a cool colorway, then consider us sold!
It’s sad, but that’s the power of the Jordan 1.
The Nike Air Jordan 1 High OG Midnight Navy is set to drop on September 14th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $180. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.
NikeNike
Disclaimer: While all of the products recommended here were chosen independently by our editorial staff, Uproxx may receive payment to direct readers to certain retail vendors who are offering these products for purchase.
With the release of NBA 2K25, fans have been able to get a little head start on the 2024-25 season. While a lot of attention is paid to the MyPlayer career mode, plenty of fans use the game to build their ideal roster for their favorite team.
Kevin Durant recently sat down with Sauce Gardner to do battle in 2K, and Durant got asked how he would build his ideal team in the game. The “in the game” aspect is important, because video game basketball is not real life basketball, but KD’s starting five did have a surprising inclusion.
Durant, as one would expect, put himself on there, a long with LeBron James. Those are not controversial, and neither was his selection of Joel Embiid at center. At guard, he went with a pair of Dallas Mavs, but not the two you’d expect, as he put Luka Doncic and Klay Thompson, not Kyrie Irving, together.
Kevin Durant’s current ‘perfect’ starting 5:
PG — Luka Doncic SG — Klay Thompson SF — Kevin Durant PF — LeBron James C — Joel Embiid
Thompson is the only real stunner, but in the game Thompson’s two-way versatility is still a benefit and the game is perhaps a bit kinder to Klay when it comes to consistently finding his best level. As KD notes, Thompson’s size at 6’7 earns him the nod, as Durant clearly wants as tall a lineup as possible with no one under 6’7 on his squad. Still, not opting for Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or his Suns teammate Devin Booker is a bit of a surprise, but KD clearly has a ton of love and respect for his former teammate in Golden State.
As NBC New York reports, Timberlake appeared at a Long Island courthouse today, September 13. There, he pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired, a downgrade from the DWI with which he was initially charged. Driving while ability impaired is a non-criminal offense.
Timberlake will have to pay a fine, and while the amount hasn’t been determined, driving while ability impaired typically carries a fine between $300 to $500, along with a 90-day driver’s license suspension.
The judge also said Timberlake has to make a public statement warning against the dangers of drinking and driving. Timberlake will also have to do between 25 and 40 hours of community service, with the final number depending on how his public statement goes. Per NBC News, Timberlake will volunteer at a nonprofit of his choosing.
Timberlake’s forthcoming statement will be his first time publicly addressing the situation directly; He said at a concert shortly after the incident, “We’ve been together through ups and downs and lefts and rights, and it’s been a tough week, but you’re here, and I’m here, and nothing can change this moment right now. I know sometimes I’m hard to love, but you keep on loving me and I love you right back, thank you so much.”
Sometimes love is a losing game. Joey Badass has certainly expressed this thought a time or two before in his music. But so has Uproxx cover star Chlöe. So, it is only right that the two (at times) skeptics of love come together to air out their grievances.
On Joey Badass’ new song, “Tell Me” featuring Chlöe, romantic paranoia takes center stage. “More money, more problems” has been an anecdotal fixture in rap tracks, but so has more famous, more lustful eyes. Joey Badass carefully navigates this tightrope all across “Tell Me.”
“Tell me, why you in love with me / Is it money or the fame / Or the fact that I’m livin’ in a lab, but it’s luxury / Tell me why all of suddenly you wanna come kiss up with me / Used to pass a n**** by like tumbleweed / Used to play me by the side ’til I got a little buzz like a bumblebee / Now you can’t get enough of me / Why you fallin’ in love with me,” raps Joey.
Chlöe echoes this inquisitive spirit through the chorus, repetitively singing: “Tell me why you really in love.”
The only thing left to wonder is if the track will be green lit for an official video. Joey Badass previously guest starred in Chlöe’s visual for “Cheat Back.” Now, fans are curious if round two of their on-screen chemistry is on the way.
Listen to Joey Badass’ new song “Tell Me” featuring Chlöe above.
Dave Bautista has always been a big guy because you sort of have to be if you’re going to be throwing punches for a living. Recently, he has made it clear that he is done with wrestling and has trimmed down intentionally after gaining more weight for a role, and fans grew concerned over his drastic weight loss.
In a new interview with reporter Chris Van Vliet, Bautista confirms that his weight loss was partially inspired by his ever-growing list of acting roles. He explained, “I started trimming down for a particular reason. One, I started trimming down because I just got fat. I got really big for a role and it was uncomfortably big,” he said, referring to his Knock at the Cabin role. “I got really big. I was like around 315 pounds and I put the weight on really fast,” he said, adding that he packed on pounds by eating lots of french fries.
The actor then admitted that only had a short amount of time in between films to gain some pounds, which is why he expedited the process in order to “to look like a great big guy.” Then he ended up being uncomfortable in his own skin. “Looking back at it, I probably over did it,” Bautista said. “I was probably a little too big, but at the time, I was just thinking, I gotta get big. And I put on an uncomfortable amount of weight, and it took me forever to shed it off.”
As soon as he started losing the weight, Bautista felt that he felt better and looked better on camera next to actors, but he was shocked by the response to his weight loss. “People say, ‘God, you’re skinny.’ I’ve even seen online, some people worried about my health. And when I say it out loud, ‘I’m 6’4″ 240 pounds,’ which sounds like I’m a big person,” he added, before mentioning that his former profession required him to be bigger. He continued, “People have seen me so much bigger over the years that they think I’m like anorexic, but I’m still just a large human being next to your typical actor. It looks like a gorilla and it’s distracting.”
Bautista says he isn’t done yet either, and still wants to shed a few more pounds… but if you ever feel the need to gain over 60 pounds for a job, consider talking to a doctor instead! It’s not worth it.
You can never have enough Rebecca Ferguson in movies or on TV shows. Fortunately, we’re going to receive several heaping helpings of the Mission: Impossible and Dune franchise star over the next few years. She will soon appear in Silo‘s second season and recently joined the Peaky Blinders movie cast, and then there’s Mercy, which will co-star Chris Pratt, who is also attempting to be several places at once lately. Most recently, Pratt has been working on the second Terminal List season (and its Dark Wolf prequel) along with voicing the lead animated role in any number of blockbusters.
The tried-and-true stars have united for Mercy, a film that will hail from Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov as a theatrical release from Amazon MGM Studios. Oppenheimer producer Charles Roven is behind the project along with screenwriter Marco van Belle, who recently commented upon the project’s humble beginnings “from a spec script I wrote at my wobbly desk on an ancient laptop to a studio project with the most incredible talents I could hope for making it real.”
Let’s talk about what we can expect from Mercy.
Plot
Timur Bekmambetov is known for blending intentionally over-the-top, thrilling action with a variety of genres, not only with Wanted but also Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Night Watch. The director hasn’t revealed if he will stick with that trademark or his penchant for stylized visuals, but we do know that no matter what the behind-the-scenes approach will be for Mercy, nobody will dare yell at Rebecca Ferguson unless it’s part of the script.
Bare bone plot details reveal (via Deadline) that the movie is “set in the near future when capital crime has increased. A detective (Pratt) has been accused of a violent crime and is forced to prove his innocence.” Hopefully, Amazon MGM Studios will tease some more tidbits before too much time passes.
Additionally, Chris Pratt admitted to getting carried away while recently filming an action scene. On Instagram, he posted a photo of his busted up ankle after he “caught a metal post” on the fourth day of filming. He wrote, “I have such a great stunt team! AND I sometimes try to get in there and do some of my own stuff.” Ouch. Relax and let the pros do the stunt-ing, Chris.
Cast
Ferguson and Pratt headline the cast with Annabelle Wallis (Peaky Blinders) in an undisclosed role. Additionally, boxer-turned-True Detective Season 4 star Kali Reis signed onto this film in the immediate lead-up to filming.
The movie also stars Kylie Rogers (young Beth on Yellowstone), Chris Sullivan (This Is Us, The Knick), and a character who is fetchingly called “Tattooed Sleazebag” as portrayed by Noah Fearnley.
Release Date
Mercy is building toward theatrical release on August 15, 2025.
Trailer
Since no trailer exists yet, we can instead have some fun with this compilation of Ferguson describing the hell of not being able to wink, no matter how hard she tries. Please let her have an eyepatch in this movie, too.
This March, Suki Waterhouse welcomed a daughter, her first child with fiancé Robert Pattinson, two days after turning in Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin, her double-LP out now via Sub Pop. “It was a sense of urgency, which I think actually always helps me artistically,” Waterhouse told Uproxx over Zoom in the weeks leading up to the album’s release.
Ironically, Waterhouse’s versatile career benefitted most from patience. The British multi-hyphenate’s star power first manifested as a model in her teens, and she grew into acting — most recently starring as keyboardist Karen Sirko in the Emmy-winning series Daisy Jones & The Six. But all the while, Waterhouse was developing as a singer-songwriter under everybody’s nose.
“When I got to a place after writing tons and tons of songs where I finally put out the first song in 2016, I’d already made a bunch of songs before that,” Waterhouse says. “There was so much work that went in, so much trial and error, and so much of gradually gaining my confidence. I’m so glad that I didn’t make an album when I was 20 or 21. It takes a long time to discern your tastes.”
Across 18 tracks on Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin, it’s evident that Waterhouse knows herself — and she’s ready for the world to truly know her.
Below, Waterhouse touched on the process of making Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin, flipping the script on public perception with “Model, Actress, Whatever,” and showing her daughter the world on her The Sparklemuffin Tour.
I’ll have an idea and write it down, and then I like to wait to see if it still lingers or nags at me in two or three months before I tell anyone. When did you know that what we now know to be Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin was an idea that could not be ignored?
I probably came upon it about halfway through into making the record. I started noticing a theme of what I was talking about and where it was taking me. I just find myself reading so many people’s memoirs. It’s my favorite thing to do. I love hearing somebody’s story from their own mouth. I’m obsessed with Liz Phair’s Horror Stories: A Memoir.
And then, I was on Google late one night and found this Sparklemuffin spider, which has a ridiculous name, and thought, I would love to have that in an album title. I started fleshing out the story around the Sparklemuffin and writing out each song connected to the story. The Sparklemuffin in my world explores this turbulent journey entangled in webs of self-destructive choices. It sort of mirrors the lifecycle of a spider, and it starts with an allure of dangerous liaisons. There are certain songs that depict initial attachment, and then there’s entrapment — there’s a whole narrative that progresses. I guess it’s my journey and struggle to break free from consequences of my actions and also a kind of deep sense of self-reflection. I just love the idea of this little Sparklemuffin on the quest of redemption, with me as the Queen Sparklemuffin.
I like how you’ve compared it to your life in the public eye. Is music the one place that allows you to forget that you’re being observed and just play?
I don’t know if you could say that you’re forgetting that you’re going to be observed because, if there’s anything I love about music, it’s that you take something very internal and you’re able to externalize it. When I’ve finished the song and feel like it rings so truthfully, there’s such an excitement for me in that I know it’s going to be shared. There’s that dream that it connects with everyone else, and then you kind of get to throw this party, which is going on tour, and everyone comes together, and it’s not really my song anymore. It’s everybody else’s. When you get a song that connects to other people, and then you get to be the host of this place where you just get to exorcise those feelings together, I’m always like, This is the coolest job ever.
When you get to do that, it flips the script on how you’ve always felt visible and observed and nitpicked.
Yeah, there’s things that can always be difficult. You might be misunderstood, or you might just be at fault, and I guess you’re more available to have those moments. But also, it’s no one’s right in public to always have a seamless experience.
It can’t be understated how incredible it is that you turned in the album two days before giving birth to your daughter. What about this album — this material — demanded you to get it off your chest and work your ass off on it even while pregnant? Why couldn’t it wait?
I knew it was going to be much harder postpartum than being pregnant. I moved everything into my house for the last two months. I just didn’t really want to go anywhere. You kind of know what your whole year is going to look like, with touring. I mean, I couldn’t go on tour without having my new record out. That would be boring.
In a way, even though it was crazy, and maybe next time I would do it differently, there was something really magical about having two new things coming into my life. Obviously, the excitement of having my first child. At the same time, being able to keep working on this album, which has been my entire life for the last year and a half. I would call it a privilege to be able to keep doing both. Your brain doesn’t stop ticking just because you’re pregnant.
You told British Vogue that when deciding to try to have a baby, you thought to yourself, “What can make more chaos?” Is there a particular day or aspect of the unique chaos of expecting your first child while making a double album that makes you smile when you think back on it?
Probably those last few weeks of just sitting at home in a giant Muumuu. I think, in some ways, the limitations that were on my body toward the end — I actually look back and go, Oh, the album wouldn’t have been like that if I wasn’t pregnant. Because it literally forced me to sit for six weeks. There was something about having my producer just basically live at my house.
I guess what makes me smile is the day that we finished, which was a couple of days before [my daughter was born], suddenly going like, “We really need to move everything out now and get rid of these speakers and these hundreds of boards that are everywhere.” Watching all of the stuff be unloaded into the car and turning around, suddenly going, “Oh, my God, there’s a baby room now.” That room has completely changed, and an album is done, and it makes me smile because I knew that I was about to just enter into this completely different reality. It was like, And now, we’re basically going to Mars.
“Model, Actress, Whatever” is in my top three for several reasons. You sing about hoping people would know your name and you’d have a story, but then getting everything you thought you wanted and realizing that people’s perception of you and your story would be out of your control. What do you want for yourself now that it’s all been demystified?
I feel like I’m in a place that I didn’t really ever think that I would be in, where I’m able to make this music, make this art, and go on tour. When I put out my first record [2022’s I Can’t Let Go], I made it independently. Honestly, I had super low expectations. I’ve been putting out music for ten years, just uploading it myself on DistroKid or whatever. [Signing with] a label, people listening to it, or even doing interviews about it like this, I never for a second thought that was a remote possibility. I’m so mystified and grateful that this is even happening, so I really want to just be able to keep doing that.
You mention low expectations. There’s a line in “Nonchalant” where you sing, “I don’t like to talk a lot / I don’t want the shoe to drop / ‘Cause then you’ll know me.” Does Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin represent you being ready to let the shoe drop and let people truly know you
In the whole story that I wrote out for the Sparklemuffin, that song is almost like me adopting a facade of detachment to shield myself. That song almost has a defensive stance. It depicts me being at the beginning of a gradual opening up to intimacy and comfort or the spider emerging from its cocoon, kind of curious, but apprehensive at the danger that might meet me.
I understand it’s a character, but I’m also curious about the song’s opening line: “Sometimes, I’m so damn nonchalant / That I can’t get to what I want.” Is there something that you’re shamelessly indulging now that you would’ve been maybe too worried about admitting you liked in the past?
I mean, I feel like “Model, Actress, Whatever.” That was a song that I wrote and then literally put to the side. It’s almost like I’ve been working so hard to — it was a big struggle to get a label to reply. All of those labels that said, like, “Oh, no, we can’t because she’s this or she’s that.” And I was like, Oh, you can’t put this song out. You’re just going to make everyone think that again. But 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. 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.
Is there an additional message you wanted to send with the “Model, Actress, Whatever” video?
There’s a scene at the end where I’m like, “Oh, did my makeup look okay?” I guess it’s exaggerating those perceptions of what people think you might be like. It’s really for people to enjoy. I feel like there’s a lot of heaviness around things about the industry sometimes, and I think I really enjoyed making it quite lighthearted.
Yeah, I took it as: I know that this is what you think about me, and I want you to know that I can laugh at that.
Yeah, yeah.
The song itself hits on how people normally describe you or how they have described you in the past. How does that description differ from how you describe yourself or how you wish people would describe you?
I don’t think I mind. People can describe me however they want, really. To be honest, it’s always crazier and it’s always more conflicted in your own brain. Everyone else probably isn’t thinking about you as much, you know what I mean? But it’s about what’s going on in your head. You probably have that feeling about something, too. Like, Oh, I’d love to do this, but no. Whatever people know me as, I won’t be able to break out of that. It would be impossible.
Sometimes, there were things that felt like confirmations in the world that were coming back to me, and if you have that in your head, it just takes a long time. But I’m also really glad that it took a long time to break out of that, because it also gave me ten years of making music and putting out things that I thought were cool. When I got to a place after writing tons and tons of songs where I finally put out the first song in 2016, I’d already made a bunch of songs before that. There was so much work that went in, so much trial and error, and so much of gradually gaining my confidence. I’m so glad that I didn’t make an album when I was 20 or 21. It takes a long time to discern your tastes and find people that you collaborate with that you absolutely adore and bring the best out of each other. There’s no part of the process that I wish had been different in the grand scheme of things.
It almost worked to your favor that all those people were distracted by their perceptions of you because it allowed you the space to become who you actually were or wanted to be without the pressure of expectation, like you mentioned earlier.
Yeah, I think so.
You described “Supersad” as trying “to write a nineties song you could hear playing at the mall in Clueless or as an opening track for Legally Blonde.” First of all, you succeeded. But secondly, which nineties movie plot best mirrors your life at the moment?
Oh, my God. What do we think? I would love to say Almost Famous, but not quite because I guess I’m not in a side-stage, kind of groupie phase. I’m at my own show, but maybe it’s somewhat similar.
What are you most looking forward to about The Sparklemuffin Tour with your daughter?
I kind of have this romantic idea of watching the world go by. She loves looking out the window, and looking out of a tour bus window is really quite fun. I guess my romantic version of it will be just showing her [the world], going through America and her peeking out the window — being excited by that. She’s at that point now where everything’s super interesting.
Do you think you experienced vulnerability while making this album in a way you hadn’t necessarily before?
I mean, it’s always an incredibly vulnerable state to be in making a record. Even the fact that I got to make another one. Or even that there was an anticipation and [I] have fans that wanted another one. That was a new thing I would never have known that when making the first one.
When it’s all done and you feel happy about it, you kind of forget that there are so many peaks and troughs. There are moments where you just think, I want to throw the whole thing out. It’s like making any piece of art: There are times when you feel incredibly frustrated or think, Is this any good? That happens all the time, and it’s only up until you don’t have control to change it anymore that you make peace with it. After I made the first one, when you’ve turned it in, at the time, you kind of have this sense of completion and you’re like, Oh, that’s everything that I have to say about everything. And then, life happens. And now, the slate is clean again.
The box-office returns for FKA Twigs’ remake of The Crow are pretty disappointing for the film’s creators, but Twigs is already moving on, returning to her day job with Eusexua, the avant-garde artist’s third full-length album. Kicking off the project’s rollout, Twigs shared the lead single, the album’s pulsating title track.
Ahead of its release, Twigs shared a video promoting it and explaining the title’s meaning. “Eusexua is like a feeling of ‘I’m that bitch,’” explains one person in the video. Another describes it as “a feeling of trust in your body,” while another says it “takes over who you are.”
In January, Twigs explained the inspiration behind the album to fans on Discord, as reported by DJ Mag. “I moved to Prague a couple summers ago [and] fell in love with techno,” she wrote. “The album isn’t techno but the spirit is there fr. It’s deep but not sad. I’m not sad anymore.”
It’s nice to hear that she isn’t sad anymore, especially after her March admission that “being abused changes the whole of your nervous system.” She revealed her abuse at the hands of ex Shia Lebouf in a 2020 lawsuit detailing his alleged mistreatment.
In the words of Tsu Surf, rap is like basketball. Rick Ross and Meek Mill already claimed the “Shaq & Kobe” as the metaphoric comparison for their musical relationship.
Now, Eminem and 2 Chainz have staked ownership in another sports powerhouse pairing. Today (September 13), Eminem shared their latest collaboration “Kyrie & Luka,” which is featured on The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce): Expanded Mourner’s Edition.
Dallas Mavericks stars Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić’s ability to bounce back from obstacles on the court serve as the track’s inspiration. 2 Chainz kicks the boastful track off rapping about just how far he’s come after being counted out earlier in his career. “School of hard knocks, I can f*ck around and teach you / License to kill, and I just got ‘еm renewed / Spokе to Def Jam and they talkin’ ’bout a renote / Spoke to Ghazi, and he can pay me in crypto,” rapper 2 Chainz.
“Hold up / Spit syllables on the mic in the booth / Like I’m at Drew’s, even if I win or lose / I’m in the news, even my interviews / Get like five million views, I get accused of misogyny because I will massage any bitch just like a masseuse,” he ended his verse.
Listen to Eminem’s latest song “Kyrie & Luka” featuring 2 Chainz above.
The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce): Expanded Mourner’s Edition is out now. Find more information here.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
