Category: News

Shaquille O’Neal has been notoriously hard on active NBA players during his time as an analyst with TNT. Big men in particular have had to reach an incredibly high bar to impress him, with a very select few earning his respect as the self-appointed “Supreme Leader” of the Big Man Alliance.

However, for all the criticism Shaq has levied, he is willing to dole out some extremely high praise when he feels it’s been warranted. He loves Nikola Jokic and the way the three-time MVP plays the game and can dominate inside, but his favorite player is, somewhat ironically, one of the smaller players in the NBA — Stephen Curry. Shaq is a massive fan of Curry, always quick to drop a “Stephortless” during a Warriors highlight, and after the Warriors beat the Knicks on Tuesday night as Curry had 28/9/7 in the Garden, Shaq decided it was time to get something off of his chest.

For years, the debate about the greatest NBA player of all time has revolved around Michael Jordan and LeBron James, with some others receiving votes like Kobe Bryant (or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell, depending on your age). Shaq believes Curry belongs in that conversation as well, demanding that fans bring up Curry’s name when they argue about who is the GOAT.

Shaq notes that he played against Jordan, played with and against Kobe, played with and against LeBron, and believes Curry is at least close to that same tier if not firmly in it, explaining “I ain’t never seen nothing like that before, and nobody has.” Curry’s resume is certainly up there with anyone’s, with four championships, two MVPs, and a Finals MVP — something only six players have ever done. His Olympics performance this past summer was a reminder that, even on a team with the very best in the world, he can separate and do things no one else can, and with Jimmy Butler alongside, the Warriors certainly look the part of a threat to the Thunder in the West (along with LeBron and the Lakers and Jokic and the Nuggets).

“I just wanna flirt with a girl in broad daylight on the street,” Miya Folick sings at the top of the chorus of “Erotica,” the opening track of her third album, Erotica Veronica. The quasi-title track is a tidy summation of what the ensuing record explores: sexual confidence; sapphic romance; and self-acceptance.

Whereas the Los Angeles singer-songwriter’s first two records wrestled with that process of discovery, Erotica Veronica concerns itself with that journey’s enlightening endpoint. It might just be her finest work yet.

Following the album’s release on Friday, Folick sat down with Uproxx to talk about Floating Points, Greg Uhlmann, Japan, and more in our latest Q&A.

What are four words you would use to describe your music?

Warm, tender, heavy, ascendant.

It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?

I don’t care. I just hope people are listening to music they love. Legacy is not something I worry about.

Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?

Corny, but me. My music is influenced by my own curiosity and interest.

Where did you eat the best meal of your life and what was it?

Ohara, Japan. A vegetarian meal of local produce. Sublime.

Tell us about the best concert you’ve ever attended.

I don’t really do bests or favorites. The first thing that comes to mind is watching Greg Uhlmann play his composition Arpy for the first time at ETA in Los Angeles. I cried my eyes out. That or watching Floating Points perform Promises at the Hollywood Bowl.

What song never fails to make you emotional?

Olivia Kaplan – “Two Red Chairs”

What’s the last thing you Googled?

I looked up Joshua Idehen because his track “Mum Does the Washing” was suggested to me on Tidal.

Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?

An Airbnb in Washington D.C. where there was a literal hole in the wall the size of a garage door and the host told us “Baby raccoons might come in at night. There’s cat food if you want to feed them.”

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform and what’s the city you hope to perform in for the first time?

Los Angeles, baby. Hometown shows are the best. I would love to play in Mexico City or Tokyo.

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

Start writing music. You’re gonna like it.

What’s one of your hidden talents?

I don’t have any hidden talents. Except maybe that I give good back scratches and massages.

If you had a million dollars to donate to charity, what cause would you support and why?

I would probably just split the money into 200k portions and give it to families who needed it. That’s a life-changing amount of money.

What are your thoughts about AI and the future of music?

I think music made by humans will always be necessary and desired. AI is not something that I’m very interested in at all.

You are throwing a music festival. Give us the dream lineup of 5 artists that will perform with you and the location it would be held.

Floating Points, Mannequin Pussy, Arooj Aftab, Nilüfer Yanya, Sam Austins.

Japanese countryside.

Who’s your favorite person to follow on social media?

Mandy Patinkin.

What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?

My first tattoo is Laura Nyro lyrics “Sidewalk and Pigeon” from New York Tendaberry.

What is your pre-show ritual?

I drink tea, sometimes wine. I do a little yoga or go for a walk. Warm up my voice.

Who was your first celebrity crush?

I didn’t really have celebrity crushes as a kid. I think my first celebrity crush was Simona Tabasco from White Lotus.

You have a month off and the resources to take a dream vacation. Where are you going and who is coming with you?

There are so many places I haven’t been. I have never been to Africa. Which seems pretty wild, as I’ve travelled quite a bit, to have never been to the entire continent of Africa. I also haven’t spent much time in South America. The only country in Asia I’ve been to is Japan. I have a lot of places I’d like to go! I know these are very broad answers, but it’s hard to know where to begin when I have entire continents I haven’t been to.

What is your biggest fear?

Losing my curiosity. Losing people I love.

Erotica Veronica is out now via Stop Talking. Find more information here.

In the wake of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, many American companies initiated boycotts and refused to do business in Russia, including Universal Music Group. However, that apparently hasn’t stopped one of the label’s artists from announcing a concert in Moscow.

According to Rolling Stone, Atlanta rapper Offset posted a link to a Russian ticketing website for an arena show in Moscow, apparently breaking UMG’s boycott. Offset is signed to Motown, a subsidiary of UMG, after leaving his group deal with Quality Control Music as part of Migos to sign directly with QC’s direct parent.

Offset is currently promoting his upcoming album, Kiari, having released two singles so far this year, “Swing My Way” and “Ten.” Both songs seemingly address his recent high-profile breakup with Cardi B, which came just as Cardi announced the impending birth of the couple’s third child together.

Unlike his ex, the Atlanta rapper has rarely addressed political issues or current events in his music or his public timelines, preferring to stick to the usual “rapperly” topics of money, street life, and women. As far as what this means for his current label situation, perhaps there were behind-the-scenes changes that were not previously revealed. For now, neither Offset nor UMG have made any statements regarding the announcement.

Forget chicken or fish. One groom picked beef on his wedding day — Kendrick Lamar’s beef with Drake.

On March 1, Adler Marchand and Shamar Marchand got married at the Hilton Miami Aventura in Florida. Congratulations to the happy couple! To make the day extra special, Marchand walked down the aisle to a special wedding-themed remix of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” complete with choreography from his Super Bowl halftime show performance.

“The response from our guests was absolutely incredible — they went wild, hyping me up the entire way down the aisle,” Adler told People. “Many friends and family members mentioned that they expected nothing less, given my energy and creative talents.” He was originally going to “casually” walk down the aisle to Young Thug and Gunna’s “Hot,” but “after thinking about it more, I decided to remix Kendrick’s Halftime performance lyrics and reached out to my friend and producer Danny Ramirez, to see if he could rap and create it for me. Once he sent it back perfectly, I shared it with my fiancée at the time, and she approved. Then, I ran it by my best man, and he liked it, too.”

The wedding entrance has gone viral (Michael Scott would be proud) with over 18 million views on TikTok. You can watch the video here.

For a Jason Isbell fan, it can be a challenge to pick his signature song. Stalwarts might go with something from the Drive-By Truckers era (“Decoration Day” or “Outfit,” perhaps), or one of his defining tunes about southern identity, like “Alabama Pines” or “Speed Trap Town.” Judging by audience responses at his live shows, “Cover Me Up” or “Elephant” also seem like logical picks.

But in terms of streaming numbers, there is but one choice: “If We Were Vampires,” the ballad where Isbell pines for a fantasy about love lasting forever — even in undead, blood-sucking form — is easily his most popular track, with nearly 138 million plays on Spotify. (“Cover Me Up,” his second most popular, trails by around 60 million streams.) Originating on the 2017 album The Nashville Sound, “If We Were Vampires” has garnered a reputation for being the ultimate tearjerker from a songwriter who has penned more than his share of devastating emotional haymakers. But whereas the majority of Isbell’s most famous numbers address matters of life, death, addiction, and other everyday calamities, “If We Were Vampires” is romantic, sentimental even, about the tenuous but soul-sustaining bonds of marriage and the sad knowledge that these unions eventually must end, as all things do.

On countless nights, Isbell performed the song with his wife and bandmate, Amanda Shires, and it naturally was interpreted as a public expression of their till-death-do-us-part commitment to one another. “It’s knowing that this can’t go on forever,” goes one especially potent cry-line. “Likely one of us will have to spend some time alone.”

Of course, a lot of marriages also end due to the other big D-word. So it goes for Jason Isbell, who announced in late 2023 that he was filing for divorce from Shires after 11 years of matrimony. In a subsequent interview, he hinted that a legal agreement restricted him from being too open about the particulars of the split. But anyone who heard his two most recent albums, 2020’s Reunions and 2023’s Weathervanes — or watched the uncomfortable HBO documentary Running With Our Eyes Closed, about the making of the former record — could sense the obvious portents of marital discord scattered throughout those works.

And now comes Foxes In The Snow, an album that, in typical Isbell fashion, doesn’t shy from the unavoidable elephant in the room that is his private life. Anyone looking for lyrical allusions to his broken marriage won’t have to look hard. In “Eileen,” a wistful breakup song, Isbell casts a sideways glance to “If We Were Vampires” in the form of a letter left by a departed lover: “It said ‘forever is a dead man’s joke,’” Isbell sings, “and that’s the only thing it said.” In case that’s too subtle, there’s also the stickiest verses from “Gravelweed,” which appears to address both Shires and his own most judgmental fans simultaneously. “I was a gravelweed / and I needed you to raise me / I’m sorry the day came when I felt like I was raised / and now that I live to see my melodies betray me / I’m sorry the love songs all mean different things today.”

Crucially, Isbell made Foxes In The Snow without his usual backing band, The 400 Unit, opting instead to accompany himself only on acoustic guitar, a gesture that immediately links the album to iconic “breakup” records like Bob Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks and Joni Mitchell’s Blue. (Isbell’s previous two records sounded more like Bruce Springsteen’s Tunnel Of Love, which continues to be a north star in terms of the lyrics and themes.) But as the pointed reference in “Gravelweed” to “the love songs [that] all mean different things today” suggests, Foxes In The Snow ultimately plays like a meta exercise. Isbell’s own past songs are the most important reference points.

So much of Isbell’s public-facing artistic persona for the past decade-plus has been informed by his relationship with Shires. The pivotal album of his career, 2013’s Southeastern, is anchored by songs like “Cover Me Up” and “Traveling Alone” that mythologize their love affair as Isbell’s personal redemption. Subsequent numbers such as “If We Were Vampires” and “Flagship” — where Isbell contrasts his relationship with the loveless couple at the bar who no longer speak to each other — fortified their unique connection.

But, alas, Isbell and Shires were not really lovestruck vampires, after all, and this was eventually borne out on the records, too. Isbell’s “Running With Our Eyes Closed” and “King Of Oklahoma” chipped away at that old, idealized façade, as did Shires’ own “Fault Lines,” a startling ballad from 2022’s Take It Like A Man that not-so-delicately mocked the “wife guy” image forwarded in “Flagship.” But Foxes In The Snow represents the most overt accounting of how, it seems, the reality of life in the Isbell-Shires household didn’t always square with the art.

(I’m going to pause here to state, for the record, that I don’t know any of these people personally, and that songs don’t exactly present a thorough, journalistic representation of facts and figures. I recognize this. And I don’t pretend to know more about what I don’t know and have no right to know. However, Isbell has been open about plumbing his personal life for material, which therefore makes discussing his art without at least nodding gingerly to difficult personal matters all but impossible. My promise is to proceed with sensitivity and tact.)

In the best and worst ways, Foxes In The Snow feels like the project of a man who is still processing a seismic change in his life. Melancholy, naturally, is the predominant mood. But there are also palpable undercurrents of anger and confusion. Normally a studious craftsman, Isbell is blunter and more impulsive here. On “True Believer,” he blusters into “Idiot Wind” territory, lashing out about how “all your girlfriends say I broke your fucking heart / and I don’t like it.” On the title track, he flips the script, presenting himself as a passive victim of how love can bruise even while it soothes: “I love her well and I love her sick /I love the carrot but I really like the stick.”

While the f-words are more plentiful on Foxes In The Snow than normal, so are some unfortunate clichés. (I cringed a little when I heard Isbell sing, “God said, ‘Hold my beer’” in the otherwise strong “Ride To Robert’s.”) The music is also less memorable, a byproduct of him banishing The 400 Unit from the proceedings. An excellent guitar player, Isbell mostly sticks to a workmanlike strum to underpin his emotionally fraught words.

But what these songs lack in polish they make up for in urgency. For the first time, Isbell seems to be taking cues from one of his most famous disciples, Zach Bryan, who typically prioritizes naked emotional authenticity and stripped-back instrumentation over careful songwriting and full-bodied musical arrangements. At the heart of this album are sad but resigned songs in which Isbell takes fresh stock of the “forever” he wrote about “If We Were Vampires.” He’s no longer fantasizing about living out an eternal Nosferatu-like existence with his beloved; he’s now trying to appreciate fleeting moments of happiness, even from a newly pained, bittersweet point of view observed in hindsight.

“All that I needed was all that I had,” he sings in one of the album’s best songs, “and it was good while it lasted.” In the cold, hard light of day, vampires simply can’t survive. But at least they had the night.

Last summer, JID’s manager Barry Hefner joked that the Atlanta rapper’s next album was never coming out after being told by TDE President Punch Henderson that “holding albums back” was the secret to the California label’s success.

Fortunately, it seems, that wasn’t the case; although, JID’s recent announcement that the album has been submitted for publishing was a relatively long time coming (his last album, The Forever Story, was released in August 2022). In a recent interview with I-D for the magazine’s social media coverage of Paris Fashion Week, JID was asked about the status of his long-awaited fourth studio album.

“It’s done,” he confirmed. “It’s turned in. It’s coming really f**king soon. It’s been a long time in the making. All the ‘T’s are crossed, and the ‘I’s are dotted. I think we’re in a good position to build this new world that I’ve been working on for the past couple of years.”

While he did confirm that the album was done, he didn’t distinguish which of the projects fans have been waiting on for long was finished. In addition to his follow up to The Forever Story, JID also announced a project produced by Metro Boomin back in 2023; a year later, the St. Louis trap stalwart assured a concerned fan the album was “still a thing.” Are they the same album at this point? Who knows, but it’s still nice to know that the seemingly interminable wait for JID’s ascension may finally be over soon.

Travis Scott popped up on WWE the other day, and the experience left him contemplating how being on that stage compares to performing concerts.

In a behind-the-scenes video shared by Triple H, the WWE Chief Content Officer asked Scott, “How fun’s that sh*t?” Scott responded by repeating “bro” a bunch of times and continuing, “This might be better than, like, low-key, performing. It was like a whole ‘nother vibe. Yo, it was so crazy.” He added, “I’m already hooked,” and said (with a smile) that he’s going to build wrestling rings in all his homes.

This follows The Rock telling Uproxx at a press conference that Scott is interested in getting in the ring and wrestling:

“Yes, absolutely. That’s why we’re doing it. Long gaming. I love Travis. That’s my guy. […] I feel like with Travis, he loves the business and loves pro wrestling. He’s a culture guy. Travis Scott is one of the greatest already, of all time. He’s a GOAT, a legend, an icon, he loves the business. We get guys and girls like that who want to come in and who are already tapping into the culture and disrupting culture in their own cool way. They want to come in, have fun at the show. Maybe they want to sit and enjoy or be on camera. But some want to get involved. Some, like Travis, deeply want to get involved. That’s what you saw tonight.”

Before she was a chart-topping pop star, Sabrina Carpenter appeared on Disney Channel shows like Girl Meets World. She was even in one episode of Orange Is The New Black! Amanda Seyfried wouldn’t be opposed to the “Espresso” singer returning to acting in future Best Picture winner Mamma Mia 3.

Last year, Seyfried expressed interest in Carpenter playing her character’s daughter. “You know what?” she told ABC News’ Will Ganss. “Old age makeup for me. That’s what it will be… I’m an actor. I’ll do it. If Sabrina Carpenter wants to play my daughter, I’ll make it happen. It’s fine. She’s… I’m a big fan.”

The topic came up again during Tuesday’s episode of The Tonight Show, but don’t get too excited about Carpenter entering the Mamma Mia-verse actually happening.

“Somebody said she was a fan of the musical,” the Long Bright River actress told host Jimmy Fallon, “and they said, ‘Couldn’t she play your daughter one day?’ They fed it to me, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that would be great.’ It’s not like I was like, ‘You know who should play my daughter?’” That being said, Seyfried of “big fan” of Carpenter’s.

Seyfried also showed off an unexpected skill of hers: she’s really good at playing the dulcimer! Check out her cover of Joni Mitchell’s “California,” from the immortal album Blue, in the video above.

The long-awaited Oasis reunion is finally happening with an upcoming tour. Fans are excited, but there’s still one unsettled member: Who will be performing in the band?

Over the years, Oasis has had some members come and go, so folks are wondering who will be participating in the reunion tour. Well, allow Liam Gallagher to clear it up (via X):

“Here we have it Peppa pig on drums Bert n Ernie on lead guitar n bass finger bobs on keyboard obv me n Rkid hope that clears everything up can’t wait to see you all who’s says RnR is dead LG x.”

Some fans leaned into the joke, like one who wondered why SpongeBob SquarePants didn’t make the cut. Liam’s response? “He’s back on the drugs unreliable.”

It was also a no for Muppets characters Kermit The Frog (“Drug dealer“), Miss Piggy (“Tour manager“), and Animal (“Only 1 animal in this band and it’s RKID he’s a TIGER“).

This comes shortly after Oasis was nominated for inclusion in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame’s 2025 class. Gallagher doesn’t seem to care, though, as he tweeted, “RNR hall of fame is for WANKERS.” He also said what he’d do if the band actually got inducted: “Obv go and say it’s the best thing EVER.”

The Phoenix Suns have been the most disappointing team in the West this season and are neck-and-neck with the Philadelphia 76ers for worst performance by a theoretical contender this year. The Suns were 28-33 coming into Tuesday night against a Clippers team that has been reeling of late and just lost their top scorer Norman Powell to injury for at least the next week-plus.

That should have created an opportunity for Phoenix to try and make up some ground on the Dallas Mavericks, who figure to go into freefall without Kyrie Irving after he suffered a torn ACL on Monday night in yet another devastating blow to that franchise. Instead, they once again put together a disappointing showing and found themselves down 65-49 at halftime to a shorthanded Clippers squad.

Coming into the game, the broadcast pointed out the Suns were the only team in the NBA with two top-10 scorers in the NBA with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, but the problem for Phoenix has been on the defensive end of the floor. The Suns came into the game 27th in the NBA in defensive rating and looked the part of a bottom-5 defense in the first half, as the Clippers waltzed to the rim in Phoenix. It got so bad in the second quarter that Stan Van Gundy on the TNT broadcast was in the middle of calling out their defensive effort when they allowed Kawhi Leonard to drive down a wide open lane for a dunk.

That made SVG’s point for him as he was disgusted by what he was seeing, calling the Suns’ effort “pathetic” and questioning if they even want to make the postseason. It has been a dreadful year for the Suns that has featured two of its top three players being in trade rumors ahead of the deadline as they did not hide their attempt to trade for Jimmy Butler. The problem was, Bradley Beal has a no-trade clause so he just refused to be traded and then Kevin Durant publicly made it clear he didn’t want to go back to Golden State. That led The Warriors and Heat to cut the Suns out of talks and Butler was sent to the Warriors, who have been one of the hottest teams in the league since bringing him in.

Phoenix, meanwhile, has gone the other way and it certainly seems like some serious changes are needed in the desert this summer. Mike Budenholzer’s first year in Phoenix has not yielded the intended effects, and it certainly seems like there’s a disconnect between the former Hawks and Bucks coach and the team, particularly Booker and Durant, as recently there have been some signs of discontent between the two stars and their head coach. That kind of lack of trust tends to show up most on the defensive end, and the Suns look the part of a team that just wants to sim to the end of the season.

The offseason will likely arrive sooner than later for a Suns team that is in 11th in the West and, as Van Gundy noted, doesn’t look like a team all that interested in trying to fight for a playoff spot. Once there, Durant will likely get traded for real and they’ll have to figure out what other moves need to be made to right the ship.