“Love” is one of the most powerful words in the English language, yet it’s also one of the most broadly defined. We use the word “love” for so many things that are neither the same nor equal—our families, our friends, our romantic partners, our hobbies—even our favorite foods.
When we think of a “love story,” we almost exclusively imagine a tale of romance, but that’s not the only kind of love story there is. Sometimes the strongest, most meaningful loves of our lives aren’t romantic at all.
David Shane creates videos in which he approaches couples in public and asks them to share three things they love about each other, resulting in some major #couplegoals moments. But one “couple” he approached had a surprising answer to that question, one that moved both them and the people watching the video afterward to tears.
Blane approached a man and woman sitting on a bench at a mall and asked his signature question—”Excuse me, could you give me three things you love about each other?” The woman responded, “Well, this is my brother,” and proceeded to share that she loved that they were related and that they care about each other—typical family stuff. But as she started elaborating, the beautiful bond they share became more and more apparent.
People were understandably moved seeing this brother and sister express their love for one another through serious life challenges.
“This is what love looks like. 🥹 What a truly beautiful sibling relationship, 😭🫶🏽” wrote one commenter.
“I gotta stop watching these right after I do my makeup,” wrote another.
“Gosh, I love questions like this that remind us to SEE two people sitting in a mall as the true, precious humans they are,” shared another. “We walk past people every day, all day long and never get to know their story. There must be so many stories we miss. This is the beauty of social media. I wish both of these sweet souls the very best. So glad they have each other.”
Many of us have people with whom we share a deep connection but may not always share our feelings freely. This video is a good reminder to let our loved ones know what they mean to us and to treasure all the love stories in our lives, whether romantic, platonic or familial.
Jordan came to “AGT: The Champions” in 2020 as the winner of Norway’s Got Talent, which she won in 2014 at the mere age of 7 with her impressive ability to seemingly channel Billie Holiday. For the 2020 audition, she sang Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but a version that no one had ever heard before.
With just her Amy Winehouse-ish voice, a guitar and a piano, Jordan brought the fan-favorite Queen anthem down to a smooth, melancholy ballad that’s simply riveting to listen to.
Especially considering that Jordan was only 13 years old when she did this.
Watch:
What this video doesn’t show is Heidi Klum hitting the Golden Buzzer faster than you can say, “Nothing really matters to me.” The judges were blown away by Jordan’s performance, as were the people in the comments.
“That’s a ONE in A BILLION voice right there. Just amazing,” wrote one commenter.
“I am typically not a fan of songs being redone particular to such a magnitude,” shared another. “They almost always fall short of the original. But to completely rearrange a song in the manner that she has, from a legend, and then make you forget about how the original even sounded because her rendition is so good is utterly amazing.”
“As Freddie once said, ‘Do whatever you want with my music as long as you don’t make it boring.’ I think he’d really like this,” shared another.
Though Queen’s lead vocalist Freddie Mercury is no longer with us, the band did offer words of praise for Jordan’s performance, retweeting her audition video with the comment, “Wow! What a rendition of #BohemianRhapsody.”
“Bohemian Rhapsody” is such an iconic song, it’s hard for anyone to do a cover of it justice. But 13-year-old Angelina Jordan managed it masterfully.
Jordan would move on to the Top 10 in “AGT: The Champions,” and though she didn’t take home the top prize, she did impress the audience with another classic rock tune, Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” You can enjoy that performance below, and you can follow Angelina Jordan—who is now 17 and still singing her heart out—on YouTube and TikTok.
When Arnold Ford went to work on his birthday in February of 2024, he knew he was in for a treat. One of his students, a girl named Cali, has the same birthday as he does, and Ford was ready.
As soon as he saw Cali come bounding down the hallway with her arms spread wide, the assistant principal tossed his backpack aside, swooped the girl up and spun her around in joyful celebration. Then the two raced down the hallway, arm in arm, so Cali could give him a balloon and a cupcake she had saved for him.
All of this was captured on the security cameras at west Philadelphia’s Mastery Charter School, Mann Elementary, and the footage has people cheering for amazing educators.
“I’m so grateful to God for allowing me to see another year,” Ford wrote when he shared the video on his Instagram page. “I’m even more grateful that LOVE continues to be the centerpiece of my entire life.”
“And… as you can see… I’m also grateful that I get to share a birthday with one of my favorite students,” he continued. “And yes… she brought me a balloon and a cupcake, and in exchange, I told her she could dress down today. Fair trade if you ask me!
People are gushing over the exchange in the comments.
“Do y’all teach 25th grade!? I need an elementary school experience do-over!” wrote one person.
“Bro my own parents never been that happy to see me 😭,” wrote another.
“Can you imagine marinating in that love on a daily basis? What a gift this man is!” shared another.
Several people pointed out that no one else in the video so much as blinked, which is a testament to the fact that this wasn’t out of the ordinary. Clearly, Mr. Ford brings this energy to work every day.
“I think it’s important for us to celebrate WITH our students and families,” Ford tells Upworthy. “[Cali’s] birthday is a big deal to her, and so is mine. We talk about it ALL year. So when that day came, what you saw was just a natural, genuine reaction that we both had. She was excited to be celebrating me, and I was excited to be celebrating her.”
Educators like Ford can make such an enormous difference in children’s lives, transforming a school into a place filled with positive interactions where kids know people genuinely care about and enjoy being around them. That’s what Ford loves about his job as well.
“It really is the reciprocal nature of the work,” he tells Upworthy. “We get so much more than we ever put out. Love. Joy. Laughter. The more we sow those things, we see them return exponentially in this work. That’s why when I often say ‘Love is the curriculum,’ it’s because I recognize how blessed I am to be able to put positivity and joy at the center of my experience with them. It’s humbling.”
“In other words, I love that I don’t have to wait until Fridays to get paid.” he adds.
Here’s to Mr. Ford and all of the dedicated, incredible educators out there who pour their love into helping children learn and grow and thrive. They really do deserve all the balloons and cupcakes—and all the pay raises as well.
The broad national focus on most drafts across the sports is at the top, and the 2024 NBA Draft is no exception. After a 2023 draft fueled by Victor Wembanyama’s generational status and a genuine debate between Scoot Henderson and Brandon Miller at No. 2 overall, the 2024 class is a bit of a letdown in terms of star power. In fact, the consensus points to the top of the 2024 group being as weak as any since 2013, and there is legitimate uncertainty as to which prospect will come off the board at No. 1 overall when the league begins its two-day draft on June 26.
There is, of course, a reason that the top of the draft generates the most attention, as the No. 1 spot is, by far, the most likely to produce a superstar when looking at historical drafts. To that end, the 2024 draft is often assigned the “bad draft” label a bit too flippantly. The top is certainly weak, but by the time the mid-to-late lottery arrives, the 2024 class isn’t all that different than a “normal” draft class in terms of talent and depth.
That means that there will inevitably be picks outside the top ten that could produce long-time quality supporting pieces and, with 2013 as a reminder around Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert, stars can also emerge from unexpected places. In this space, we’ll highlight five 2024 prospects that could help return plenty of value from a lower placement on the board, but first, a brief look at a duo of players that fly off the board too high to qualify.
Devin Carter and Zach Edey
If this piece ran a month or two ago, Carter would have been the poster child. With that said, he is now popping up in the lottery on a bevy of mock drafts, and the consensus is building. Quite honestly, it is easy to see why. Carter is already a terrific defender with a near 6’9 wingspan, and his underlying defensive numbers are quite encouraging. He is also a tremendous competitor by all accounts, and Carter’s shooting development (38 percent from three this season) was eye-opening. He’s a favorite of mine.
Edey has always been highly polarizing. For one, he was clearly a generational college basketball player, carrying Purdue to the national title game, deservedly winning a pair of National Player of the Year awards, and generally dominating the competition. On the other hand, many question Edey’s translation to the modern NBA, particularly when it comes to defending in space. Still, it only takes one team to fall in love to take Edey off the board and, quite frankly, he is the most famous player in this class outside of maybe Bronny James. He’ll get plenty of attention.
Isaiah Collier
It’s tempting to include Collier alongside Carter and Edey, but instead, we’ll lead with him in the five-pack of prospects not currently projected for top-10 landing spots. Admittedly, Collier has major fans, particularly in “Draft Twitter” spaces, but the more mainstream boards and team intel point to skepticism from NBA teams. To be honest, I don’t quite understand why.
Collier is a clear lottery pick in the 2024 class in my view, and it is easy to forget that he was once pegged as a potential No. 1 overall pick. Granted, that doesn’t ensure anything, as high school phenoms sometimes burn brightly and then completely fade away. But Collier actually showed plenty at USC if you look closely.
One reason Collier is slipping in some circles is that, well, USC was brutal this season. There was plenty of talent on the roster, but the pieces never fit together and no one benefitted. Collier was at least part of the challenge in the middle of the season, but Collier closed quite well, showing off his potential as a lead ball-handler and creator.
Collier might be the best player in the class at breaking the paint from the perimeter, and he has enough feel to play a lead guard role in the NBA. He’ll need to shoot it better than the 33.8 percent from three-point range and 67.3 percent from the free throw line in 2023-24, but there isn’t anything broken with the mechanics. In a class that struggles badly with star upside, Collier actually has some.
DaRon Holmes
DaRon Holmes is just good at basketball. He was the best player on a very good Dayton team the last two years, and Holmes was an All-American selection as a junior. The numbers are very strong, including 20.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game with 54.4 percent shooting and 38.6 percent from three-point range. He also blocked 2.1 shots per game on defense and led the A-10 in free throw attempts in back-to-back seasons. Oh, and it isn’t just the numbers.
Holmes is actually the rare “dribble, pass, shoot” player who is also capable of doing the traditional big man stuff. He can make short roll reads. He’s a good passer in other situations. He rebounds. He protects the rim. He can at least kind of move on the perimeter. He even has a 7’1 wingspan that isn’t overwhelming, but it’s fine.
Holmes still may fall too far because he’s only 6’9 without shoes and almost 22 years old. I do understand the drawbacks and wouldn’t advocate for a top-10 grade on Holmes. But there is a lot to like and he can help a team more quickly than most draft prospects can.
Tristan da Silva
Tristan da Silva is old by NBA prospect standards. After a four-year college career at Colorado, he’s already 23, and that sends shivers down the spine of at least some evaluators. That is a reason he is widely projected to fall out of the lottery but, if he was 20, he probably wouldn’t. He just finished an outstanding senior season in Boulder, producing 49/39/84 shooting splits, scoring efficiently, playing unselfishly, and showing the “dribble, pass, shoot” game that entices NBA teams.
While da Silva is not the most explosive athlete in the world, he isn’t a total non-athlete either, and at more than 6’8 without shoes, he doesn’t have to be. He has finishing craft near the rim. He makes the right reads with the ball. He also doesn’t need the ball to operate. It isn’t terribly sexy, but da Silva makes logical sense as an NBA role player.
Kyle Filipowski
Do you think Kyle Filipowski can hold up on defense? The answer to that question likely goes a long way in determining how you feel about the former Duke big man at the NBA level. Filipowski has center height (about 6’11 without shoes) but actually has a negative wingspan and isn’t the most exciting athlete from an NBA perspective. Unquestionably, he is limited when it comes to projecting as a game-changing defender at the next level. With that said, Filipowski operates well within the team concept and has played enough on the perimeter where he isn’t a fish out of water. There is enough to get by if he’s in the right system and with the right people around him.
On the other end, it is much easier to see the appeal. Filipowski was a consensus All-American after putting up 16.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, and he showed real potency as an interior scorer at times this season. The biggest thing, though, is that Filipowski can step out and shoot, make reads as a passer, and even put the ball on the floor when he needs to. That isn’t to say that he’s an absolute knock-down three-point shooter right now, because he isn’t, but Filipowski can return value as a big who can play the 4 and the 5 without taking too much off the table. It also helps to have elite pedigree dating back to high school, and he does.
Ryan Dunn
At minimum, Ryan Dunn is one of the two best defensive players in the 2024 class, along with Donovan Clingan. Why, then, is Dunn projected to slip into the late 20’s or even out of the first round by mainstream outlets? Well, he is a complete mess on offense.
He averaged 8.1 points per game at Virginia and, even with the caveat of the glacial pace deployed by Tony Bennett’s team, that isn’t what you would expect from a potential first round wing. Dunn did shoot 54.8 percent from the field, including 61.8 percent inside the arc, but he finished a two-year college career attempting only 51 three-pointers (yikes) and making only 12 of them (double yikes). Dunn’s mechanics need a major overhaul, and he was also a career 52.5 percent free throw shooter at the college level, albeit in a tiny sample.
While I will admit to a great affection for Dunn’s game, it is possible that he just won’t be guarded, and that makes life difficult, especially when it comes to playoff basketball. With that said, Dunn is a total game-wrecker on defense, and that alone should get him a real landing spot in this class.
He finished his college career with a 10.4 percent block rate, and led the ACC in block rate, total blocks, and blocks per game in 2023-24. As a reminder, Dunn is a 6’8 wing, not a primary rim protector. He also averaged 3.1 steals per 100 possessions as a sophomore, and Dunn measured with a wingspan north of 7’1 at the combine. The tape doesn’t lie either, as Dunn truly terrorizes opponents on a regular basis. He also has the NBA-level athleticism needed to carry that to the league.
Is he Andre Roberson? Maybe. But if he can find a niche on offense, either as a corner three-point shooter or potentially as a short roll threat, Dunn can be awesome.
(Warning: Loads of The Boys spoilers will be found below.)
The Boys returned for its fourth and penultimate season last week, and I promised that there would be better-than-ever writing alongside the show’s customary depravity in this fourth season. This week’s episode, “Life Among The Septics,” is a leading example of that dichotomy working in tandem together. As always, there was almost too much happening to comment upon everything in an even remotely adequate matter, but let’s give this a shot.
Homelander’s visit “home” happens to be the centerpiece of this week’s mayhem (next week takes a completely different detour into other characters’ current horror), so congrats on the huge episode for “John.” Sorry, I meant “Homelander.” (Please do not laser me, Homie, like you did to this guy after making him unsuccessfully pleasure himself in front of an entire room of fellow scientists while you mercilessly cackled.)
Prime Video/Amazon
Where to start? Let’s recall how odd it was when far-right types melted down over realizing (during the third season) that Homelander has been a villain for the entirety of The Boys. He remains the worst Supe, and what transpires in this episode tracks with the rest of his most horrific misdeeds of the series:
– Sending a plane full of passengers to crash to their deaths while flying away;
– Making Deep eat his friend, Timothy the octopus, while the poor critter was still alive. (See also pretending to make Deep service A-Train while Ashley approvingly looked on);
– Rewriting the entire narrative of the Gen V finale’s most climactic scene and lasering the heck out of Marie while framing the so-called “Godolkin Four” as the perpetrators of the campus bloodbath;
– Jerking off atop a skyscraper and letting his little Homelanders fall where they may, causing god only knows how much collateral damage on civilians;
– And I could never omit Homie killing a civilian in broad daylight.
During this week’s The Boys episode, we receive some Homelander backstory when he goes back to visit the lab where he spent his childhood after being born as Soldier Boy’s biological son. Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen earlier Homelander days. The Diabolical animated spin off showed us the disastrous first outings of Homelander as a “hero,” but this is the most graphically rendered scenario in which we’ve caught a glimpse of his upbringing, when he was considered too dangerous (from the moment that he was born) to leave the lab and stayed locked up as a Vought prisoner.
Now, the most evil Supe has returned home to wreak vengeance upon those who treated him so callously. None of what we see excuses what Homelander has done after leaving the lab, but at least we understand more about how he became this monster. And after he incinerated a scientist alive, lasered the aforementioned guy’s dong off, and then slaughtered the rest of the group off camera (leaving a pseudo-maternal figure alive but trapped inside the room with the carnage), this face emerges:
Prime Video/Amazon
Dude can hold a grudge. Nothing will ever fill the void in his soul, however, and, there’s no justifying anything that the guy does even if The Boys gives us occasional moments where it makes more sense. Oh, and Antony Starr previously detailed to UPROXX why Homelander is beyond redemption:
“I think the damage is done! I wanna say yes, but two things: (1) I think it’s impossible because this guy is so deeply screwed-up from what’s happened to him and the environment he was raised in and going from that to basically becoming a corporate product. I think he’s so messed up that there’s only glimpses and maybe a little bit of hope here and there that’s never gonna be realized; and (2) I don’t think you ever wanna see him redeemed. At least I don’t. I like the idea of the bad guy just being the bad guy. That doesn’t mean that we don’t wanna understand what makes the guy tick, and every now and then, have conflicted feelings about him, but with redemption as a broader sort of ideal, I don’t wanna see Homelander turn into some good guy.”
Looking back at these words from Starr, the homecoming scenes rolled out precisely as they should have according to the bylaws of this series. Yes, The Boys did so in an unpredictable way and highlighted every aspect of Homelander’s cruelty, but the outcome was inevitable. What we saw was hellish but spawned from an incredible performance from Antony Starr. (And the Academy won’t be able to stomach it come Emmys time — their loss.)
Some additional notes:
– Sister Sage is clearly evil on some level, yet I cannot help but enjoy how she’s the only entity who isn’t afraid of Homelander. Also, she nearly steals the episode from him — an act that would have been unknown even to herself — by instructing Deep to give her a lobotomy so that she won’t find him too “repulsive” to have sex.
– Kimiko’s major gross-out moment did get overshadowed, but you may have noticed that the part where she pieces her face back together is reminiscent of a certain Beetlejuice moment. Notice also that even though Kimiko doesn’t speak, she knows how to use an eggplant in a text message. Good for her.
– How is Butcher hanging onto life at this point? Compound V does some crazy stuff to humans, and the episode’s final moments suggest that we’ll get to see the effects on Hughie’s dad next week. This episode also makes a point of showing us a worm-like object inside of Butcher’s back before he passes out in the shower. And yup, no explanation there, so we gotta wait for it.
– Hughie is not doing so great, again. As I hinted in this season’s review, his stressful times have only begun. Hugs for Hughie.
– Annie January/Starlight is gaining dimensions as a character, which coincides with her becoming a full-fledged vigilante. The abortion revelation serves this arc well, and that might seem like a tacked-on, last-minute idea from the writer’s room, but the element of surprise is also important in how she reacts, and how the public sees her react.
– Yup, there’s Tek Knight with his true-crime show discussing Marie and the other Godolkin Four, who have “seemingly vanished.” Seeing Chance Perdomo back on the screen (after his recent passing) does hit hard.
– MM remains the voice of reason, always. Yes, he’s mad at Butcher (and justifiably so), but he knows that only as a team do they have a chance at nailing Vought, so he cooled Annie down, and Butcher joined the group again. They’re in business from here on out, and we’ll soon see how that goes.
Prime Video/Amazon’s ‘The Boys’ streams new episodes on Thursdays.
The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.
Normani is a showstopping performer no matter the texture, tempo, and emotion at hand. Since her departure from Fifth Harmony, the singer proved time and time again that she can capture the attention and applause of her audience by doing just what a song calls her to do. It’s never too much, and it’s rarely underwhelming. “Waves” with 6lack, released back in 2018, is a climatic pop-leaning record that places Normani’s soaring vocals and sweet falsettos over grungy and moody production that also perfectly juxtaposes 6lack’s lower register. When given a roomy canvas, like on her 2021 song “Fair,” Normani makes sure her voice fills the room with runs that travel uninterrupted from stage to seat. On her long-awaited debut album Dopamine, she manages much of the same through performances that are not only impressive but liberating and boldly sensual in ways that add a new dimension to Normani’s artistry.
The road to Dopamine was a long one undoubtedly, but seemingly instrumental in developing the artist we hear on her 13-track debut. “Motivation,” released back in 2019, was the turning point for Normani – a prelude of sorts for Dopamine. With an upbeat spirit and triumphant production, Normani stepped out on her own to prove her readiness for the spotlight. A splashy video arrived with the song and presented Normani as a performer who could captivate at any given moment. The way we see Victoria Monét now is the journey Normani seemed ready to set out on. Dopamine is much darker and gloomier than “Motivation,” but it still grasps the attention of onlookers with the same elements: lyrics that dig deep into the emotions, production that caters rather than distracts, and a singer who sees all the tools at hand and knows just what to do with them.
Proof of this lives on “Candy Paint,” the grown-up version of “Motivation.” In an interview with Elle, Normani said the former “bridges the gap, I think, between ‘Motivation’ and where I am now.” Both aim to entice a lover with the golden gift of intimacy, but the latter plays it safe and colors inside the lines that separate discreet and compliant from defiant and bold. “Candy Paint” presents Normani on the other side of the border, where the freedom that comes with it is too good to hide. “If you let me take him, you might never get him back,” she sings with undeterred certainty. “I’m a baddie and I don’t know how to act.” This liberation is the foundation for Dopamine. It’s a flag that Normani proudly stakes into the ground in the world her debut lives in and she wastes no time exploring it.
“Big Boy” kicks off the album in dominant and assertive fashion. “Only ever see this type of sh*t in the movies,” Normani boasts over trunk-rattling production backed by New Orleans-influenced trumpets. Anchored by woozy synths and Houston’s trademark screwed-up production, Normani remains assertive on “Still” as she brags about her status and being “too busy livin’ my life.” Normani’s newfound liberation is the light at the end of the tunnel. She reached it only after a long journey that saw her work through the emotional whirlwind that included both her parents being diagnosed with cancer and the critiques of fans who were too impatient to offer her the grace to grieve and come back to music on her own terms. It should come as no surprise that Normani’s escape from the dark times has pushed her to live each day to the fullest.
Normani’s assertiveness doesn’t only take shape over grand productions that call for an epic performance. It’s just as present in more timid moments that swap the lively energy of a party for the burning passion of bedroom intimacy and the overwhelming emotions behind heartbreak. She sees no worrisome risk or penalty in being painfully honest in pain or brutally forward in her sexual desires. “Distance” begins as a timid and soft-spoken account of a partner’s failures in a relationship before erupting into an epic declaration of the end of a once-promising love story. On the flip side, Normani seduces her partner with the summoning “Lights On” as she whispers sultry requests that are sure to make the ear melt. “Don’t even address me unless you gon’ undress me,” she sings before promising to “make you come fast like a ’98 sports car.”
Dopamine delivers samples of all the lanes Normani can switch into and thrive in at any given moment. She finds comfort in the bounce and joyous trumpets of New Orleans and the woozy sounds of her Houston hometown as much as she does the vulnerable and emotional moments heartbreak can bring. With that being said, Normani’s debut is more than a display of versatility, it’s a statement of status and evidence of how she can sweep her suitors and competitors off their feet with ease. The question is never “Am I enough?” or “Can I compete?” or “Can I stand out?” for Nomani who instead, understands that she is the prize. Within the confinements of Dopamine and the mind of the artist who created the album, doubts about its quality are about as present as a skippable track on the album. Normani the person went through hell in the half-decade journey to Dopamine, but in the end, Normani the artist emerged from the fire to be the bright and free star we always knew she could be.
Dopamine is out now via RCA Records. Find out more information here.
“I hate saying this but I have to cancel Lollapalooza and Outside Lands,” Tyler The Creator posted on X (formerly Twitter). “I made a commitment that I can no longer keep, and that bums me out knowing how excited folks were. That is not sexy at all. Please please forgive me or call me names when you see me in person. Love.”
i hate saying this but i have to cancel lollapalooza and outside lands.
i made a commitment that i can no longer keep, and that bums me out knowing how excited folks were.
that is not sexy at all. please please forgive me or call me names when you see me in person. love
Simultaneously, Lollapalooza announced Megan Thee Stallion and Outside Lands announced Sabrina Carpenter as their respective replacements for Tyler.
Hot girl summer in Chicago
Unfortunately, Tyler, the Creator will not be able to perform this year. See @theestallion headline Lolla on Thursday, August 1st! pic.twitter.com/qin2dCr0ii
In April, Tyler The Creator headlined both Saturday nights of Coachella 2024, which stood out to Uproxx’s Aaron Williams as Tyler fulfilling “a decade-long dream” by delivering a set that “lived up to the hype.”
It isn’t a stretch to call Vampire Weekend’s 2019 album, Father Of The Bride, divisive. It is generally acknowledged by both its proponents and detractors that it created something of a schism in the fanbase, but that probably gets subdued by the fact that few would call it a disaster and few prop it up as a high point in the discography. Their claiming of jam music as both inspiration and aspiration was either lauded or shrugged off, obscuring the fact that it was a crucial moment for the band, the record where there was more to prove than ever following the departure of integral collaborator Rostam Batmanglij.
But with the release of this year’s excellent Only God Was Above Us, people’s feelings about Father Of The Bride likely impact how the new album has been approached. Many of the forays into crustier territory have receded, replaced by distorted guitar, raw recordings, and warm songwriting. It’s hard to call something a return to form when the previous album was generally liked by many, but it does feel like something was proved by this latest album. It proved that a Rostam-less Vampire Weekend can’t just succeed by reinventing themselves, they can also succeed by building on the path that culminated with the 2013 masterpiece Modern Vampires Of The City, the album that solidified them as one of the most important and successful indie rock bands of their time.
You probably don’t need me to underscore what side of the fence I fall on (and it’s important to note that even at Uproxx, we have folks holding each opinion, and even people like Steven Hyden who celebrates all sides of the Vampire Weekend dice), but that debate over whether Vampire Weekend “still have it” or whether they “never lost it” became secondary at the Hollywood Bowl last week for a sold out headlining show. Witnessing this incarnation of the band live, the narrative around Vampire Weekend should probably be that they’re a better band than they’ve ever been.
Now, I don’t claim this lightly. I’ve seen the band perform live countless times since their 2008 debut. I saw them at a Long Beach theater for a California tour ahead of Contra. I’ve seen three of their four headline sets at the Hollywood Bowl. I’ve seen them at festivals around the world. But, it wasn’t until this week that I’ve ever been blown away by the sheer magnitude of their sound.
Randall Michelson / Live Nation-Hewitt Silva
It’s a fitting development considering the project they are touring. Only God Was Above Us is a bit louder, a bit more abrasive, and a bit more aggressive than the band’s previous work, all very much safely calibrated so it very much feels like a Vampire Weekend record. The set on this night seemed designed to fit within that version of the band, underscored by numerous showstopping moments meant to punctuate the performance. It started simply enough, with the three original Vampy Weeks members performing in front of a giant banner with their band name, pushing them right to the front of the stage. It didn’t take a detective to suspect that a banner would drop to reveal something, but that came after a few classic numbers that drew back to their classic sound: “Holiday,” “Cousins,” and “Boston.” But once bandleader Ezra Koenig stood solo for “Ice Cream Piano” only to have the banner fall and reveal an expanded lineup of touring members, a version of their best-sounding self was solidified.
Part of the success of this show rested on the shoulders of touring multi-instrumentalists that could support the songs with strings, woodwinds, and additional percussion — yes, the biggest move of their Father Of The Bride era, a second drummer, remains. Koenig seemed aware of this, taking time away from his usual front-and-center placement to literally shine a light on these supporting players — he carried around a portable LED to illuminate them — during the massive “Mary Boone.”
But it was really Koenig himself who held the show in his hands. There were experiments of Koenig roaming the stage, coming short of “choreography” but definitely exhibiting staged movements that approached something beyond bandleader. There were the decisions to honor the ska support of The English Beat and Voodoo Glow Skulls with reimagined ska versions of “Ottoman,” “Sunflower,” and “Give Up The Gun.” And, most crucially, there was Koenig’s vocal performance, which never shied away from his song’s most difficult vocal heights — see the climax of “Hannah Hunt” or the chorus of “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.” Most of his contemporaries start to sing around the hard parts as they hit middle age, but Koenig sounds better than ever when he bravely hits every note. And in turn, so does his band.
Lastly, it is impressive with how the willing the band is to honor their entire catalog in their live performances. This is something that makes or breaks a band as they approach their legacy era. Balancing the songs that everyone knows, special songs for individual occasions, and unexpected curveballs are indicators of both confidence in their own material and respect for their fandom. Scanning over their tour so far reveals wildly different shows from night to night. That places them among the live greats, the artists that can maintain careers long after their best material is out in the world. But Vampire Weekend are already there, matching the strength of their new material with the best shows of their lives.
It was probably safe to say that Kendrick Lamar “won” his little tiff with Drake back in May after Drake essentially waved the white flag and went into exile (read: on vacation) in the wake of the massive success of Kendrick’s diss track “Not Like Us” — and the epic failure of Drake’s return fire, “The Heart Part 6.”
But Kendrick Lamar wasn’t quite ready to let things lie, using his Pop Out concert in LA to not only beat a dead horse but to scorch the earth it was buried in, too. Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar’s fiancée, Whitney Alford, was in attendance after Drake’s diss records cast aspersions on her relationship with his rival. If anyone was wondering whether Kendrick and Whitney are still together after all the hoopla generated by Drake’s diss tracks, this may not be the definitive answer they were looking for, but it seems to prove they’re still on good terms, if nothing else. (They’d have to be, they have two kids together.)
Kendrick Lamar’s fiancée Whitney Alford with their kids watching the show in the crowd tonight in LA pic.twitter.com/awgBUXpaOL
Meanwhile, the list of those celebrities who “popped out” at last night’s concert is extensive and appears to include many of those who Drake would have considered homies before. The tough breaks keep coming for the Canadian star, but he did bring this on himself.
In 1970, Brian May and Roger Taylor formed Queen by bringing in Freddie Mercury and John Deacon. The Mercury-fronted version of the band produced iconic hits like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Are The Champions,” “Another One Bites The Dust,” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” throughout the 1970s and ’80s before Mercury’s death due to AIDS-related bronchial pneumonia in November 1991. Three decades later, Sony Music is reportedly acquiring Queen’s catalog for £1 billion (approximately $1.27 million), as first reported by Hits.
Is Queen’s Catalog Sale For $1.2 Billion The Biggest Deal Of Its Kind Ever?
Consequence relayed, “The deal is believed to be the biggest such acquisition of its kind,” so apparently, yes.
According to Variety, Sony Music’s purported deal will include Queen’s publishing and recording rights, and “the only revenue not covered in the deal is for live performances, which founding members Brian May and Roger Taylor, who still actively tour with singer Adam Lambert, will retain.”
Variety added, “The catalog, which has been in play for several years and inching toward Sony for the past few months, is complicated by the group’s recorded-music rights for the U.S. and Canada, which were acquired by Disney, for an undisclosed price, at some point in the 2000s after an initial $10 million licensing deal that was struck in 1991. Those rights will remain with Disney in perpetuity, although certain of the bandmembers’ remaining royalties from them will go to Sony once the deal closes. Similarly, the group’s distribution deal, which is currently with Universal, will go to Sony in all territories outside the U.S. and Canada when it expires in 2026 or 2027.”
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