Mass Appeal isn’t the only label getting in on the celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary. Sony Music Entertainment, which has been at the forefront of hip-hop’s expansive musical evolution for much of that time, has announced its own compilation project. Raised By Rap: 50 Years Of Hip Hop showcases the jaw-dropping diversity of SME’s contributions to the canon, beginning with pioneering ’80s releases like RUN DMC’s “It’s Tricky” and Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock’s “It Takes Two” and spanning all the way to 2010s hits like Future’s “Mask Off” and Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.”
Along the way, rap fans might have their minds blown by the presence of such classic artists as A Tribe Called Quest, Da Brat, Fugees, Nas, Outkast, Too Short, and UGK included, as well as contemporary stars like 21 Savage, ASAP Rocky, Doja Cat, and Travis Scott. Not only are groundbreaking records like “C.R.E.A.M.” by Wu-Tang Clan and “Hip-Hop” by Dead Prez included, but so are more recent bops like “Whole Lotta Money.” The compilation truly showcases the breadth and depth of what hip-hop has been — and could be — for the past 50 years. It comes out on July 28, with Target and Urban Outfitters offering exclusive vinyl colorways, and you can pre-order it here. Check out the impressive tracklist below.
Disc 1, Side A
“Genius Rap,” Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde
“It’s Tricky,” RUN DMC
“It Takes Two,” Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock
“Can I Kick It?” A Tribe Called Quest
“Summertime” (Single Edit), DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
“Funkdafied,” Da Brat
Disc 1, Side B
“Insane in the Brain,” Cypress Hill
“C.R.E.A.M.,” Wu-Tang Clan featuring Method Man, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, Buddha Monk
“Shook Ones, Pt. II,” Mobb Deep
“Ready or Not,” Fugees, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, Pras
“N.Y. State of Mind,” Nas
“Watch Out Now,” The Beatnuts featuring Yellaklaw
Disc 2, Side A
“Ms. Jackson,” Outkast
“Grindin’,” Clipse
“Hip-Hop,” dead prez
“Poppin’ My Collar,” Three 6 Mafia
“Blow the Whistle,” Too $hort
“Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You),” UGK (Underground Kingz) featuring Outkast
Disc 2, Side B
“goosebumps,” Travis Scott
“a lot,” 21 Savage
“Streets,” Doja Cat
“Mask Off,” Future
“Praise The Lord (Da Shine),” A$AP Rocky featuring Skepta
“Old Town Road” (Remix), Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus
“Whole Lotta Money,” BIA
The latest Transformers movie opens this weekend, and you might be asking yourself: what makes this movie different than the original ones? And the answer is simple: Michelle Yeoh, Peter Dinklage, and Pete Davidson all lend their voices to the iconic robot beasts, which already makes it more interesting than anything Michael Bay directed (don’t worry, he still has a production credit). But having Oscar winner Yeoh, Golden Globe winner Dinklage, and, well, Pete Davidson all in one movie will surely be the cinematic event of the season…at least before Barbietouches down next month).
Transformers: Rise of the Beastsis the latest installment in the long-running franchise based on the popular toy line. Though the initial series focused on Shia LeBeouf and Bumblebee, the latest installment is a prequel, which bridges the gap between 2018’s prequel Bumblebee and 2007’s Transformers. In typical action movie fashion, the movie clocks in at 2 hours and 16 minutes of pure robot adrenaline mixed in with some hard-hitting punches.
While it’s not the longest film in the franchise, it’s still a pretty long movie that will no doubt be action-packed. While early reviews are mixed, if you go in expecting some fun robotic action sequences overlayed with 1990s New York and don’t think about the logistics of space robots too hard, you’ll probably have a decent enough time.
In February, Lana Del Rey‘s father Rob Grant came out as the first Nepo Daddy and announced his debut album, Lost At Sea. It’s out tomorrow (June 9), and many singles have been released so far, including “Setting Sail On A Distant Horizon” and the title track, the latter of which has a feature from his daughter.
He’s back today with one last taste, and it’s also a collaboration with Lana, called “Hollywood Bowl.” Against gentle piano, she sings, “I know I’m not Joni Mitchell / But I’ve got a dad who plays like Billy Joel.” She takes the wheel on the ballad, her voice steering it into a peaceful place as Grant plays the piano. She lulls: “And I’m young when I’m old and I’m old when I’m young when I’m old / At the whims of my heart and my soul.”
In a recent interview, Grant said he wasn’t certain about taking the album out on a tour. “This is all so new for me,” said Grant. “The idea of going out and actually going on a big stage and playing, that’s still intimidating to me. I’m willing to try it.”
Listen to “Hollywood Bowl” above.
Lost At Sea is out 6/9 via Decca Records. Pre-order it here.
Mass Appeal isn’t the only label getting in on the celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary. Sony Music Entertainment, which has been at the forefront of hip-hop’s expansive musical evolution for much of that time, has announced its own compilation project. Raised By Rap: 50 Years Of Hip Hop showcases the jaw-dropping diversity of SME’s contributions to the canon, beginning with pioneering ’80s releases like RUN DMC’s “It’s Tricky” and Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock’s “It Takes Two” and spanning all the way to 2010s hits like Future’s “Mask Off” and Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.”
Along the way, rap fans might have their minds blown by the presence of such classic artists as A Tribe Called Quest, Da Brat, Fugees, Nas, Outkast, Too Short, and UGK included, as well as contemporary stars like 21 Savage, ASAP Rocky, Doja Cat, and Travis Scott. Not only are groundbreaking records like “C.R.E.A.M.” by Wu-Tang Clan and “Hip-Hop” by Dead Prez included, but so are more recent bops like “Whole Lotta Money.” The compilation truly showcases the breadth and depth of what hip-hop has been — and could be — for the past 50 years. It comes out on July 28, with Target and Urban Outfitters offering exclusive vinyl colorways, and you can pre-order it here. Check out the impressive tracklist below.
Disc 1, Side A
“Genius Rap,” Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde
“It’s Tricky,” RUN DMC
“It Takes Two,” Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock
“Can I Kick It?” A Tribe Called Quest
“Summertime” (Single Edit), DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
“Funkdafied,” Da Brat
Disc 1, Side B
“Insane in the Brain,” Cypress Hill
“C.R.E.A.M.,” Wu-Tang Clan featuring Method Man, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, Buddha Monk
“Shook Ones, Pt. II,” Mobb Deep
“Ready or Not,” Fugees, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, Pras
“N.Y. State of Mind,” Nas
“Watch Out Now,” The Beatnuts featuring Yellaklaw
Disc 2, Side A
“Ms. Jackson,” Outkast
“Grindin’,” Clipse
“Hip-Hop,” dead prez
“Poppin’ My Collar,” Three 6 Mafia
“Blow the Whistle,” Too $hort
“Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You),” UGK (Underground Kingz) featuring Outkast
Disc 2, Side B
“goosebumps,” Travis Scott
“a lot,” 21 Savage
“Streets,” Doja Cat
“Mask Off,” Future
“Praise The Lord (Da Shine),” A$AP Rocky featuring Skepta
“Old Town Road” (Remix), Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus
“Whole Lotta Money,” BIA
On Wednesday, June 7, Monáe shared the full double disc tracklist and the album’s featured artists on Instagram and Twitter. Appearing on the album are Grace Jones, Doechii, CKay, Seun Kuti And Egypt 80, Sister Nancy, Amaarae, and actress Nia Long.
Their Instagram video showed behind-the-scenes footage from making the album alongside the caption, “#TheAgeOfPleasure TRACKLiSTING AND FEATURES! 2 more days to go [red heart emoji, flame emoji] This project wouldn’t be the same without each of you. I wish everyone could have been a spider on the speaker while we had the most fun making thingsssss. Legendary times were had.”
The Age Of Pleasure arrives at midnight, June 9. (It’s probably safe to assume a 6/9 release date was chosen purposefully.) Monáe announced their supporting North American The Age Of Pleasure Tourlast week, which will begin on August 30 in Seattle, Washington and eventually conclude on October 28 at Inglewood, California’s YouTube Theater.
Check out the full The Age Of Pleasure tracklist below.
1. “Float” Feat. Seun Kuti And Egypt 80
2. “Champagne Shit”
3. “Black Sugar Beach”
4. “Phenomenal” Feat. Doechii
5. “Haute”
6. “Ooh La La” Feat. Grace Jones
7. “Lipstick Lover”
8. “The Rush” Feat. Amaarae and Nia Long
9. “The French 75” Feat. Sister Nancy
10. “Water Slide”
11. “Know Better” Feat. CKay
12. “Paid In Pleasure”
13. “Only Have Eyes 42”
14. “A Dry Red”
The Age Of Pleasure is out 6/9 via Wondaland Arts Society/Atlantic Records. Find more information here.
Janelle Monáe is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is primed to hit theaters this week, and the seventh installment in the franchise is receiving mostly positive reviews as critics enjoy director Steven Caple Jr.‘s new take on the classic transforming robots. But as audiences get ready to plunk down in their seats to watch Optimus Prime and the Autobots take on a new threat, they’ll probably want to know if they should stick around for a post-credits scene. We got you covered.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts does have a kicker scene that takes place midway through the credits, so you won’t have to wait for the entire credits to roll. As for what the scene entails, it’s mostly just a humorous moment between Noah (Anthony Ramos) and his Autobot buddy Mirage (Pete Davidson) who took some serious damage during the final battle with Scourge (Peter Dinklage).
In the scene, Noah argues with his buddy Reek, who doesn’t see the point in fixing up the old Porsche that’s secretly Mirage. However, he soon learns why Noah is so intent on repairing the vehicle.
Noah refuses to back down, telling him the car is “special.” Reek then makes the mistake of saying: “This car is a jigsaw puzzle made of garbage. I bet the joint don’t even start.”
At this point, Noah calls out to Mirage, who morphs into his epic Autobot form, leaving Reek godsmacked. And in true Mirage style, he shouts: “Woohoo, yeah! Your boy is back! This b*tch said I wasn’t even gonna start.”
Again, the scene doesn’t follow in the traditional post-credits vein of setting up the next film, but it does keep Noah and Mirage in the mix for another Transformers adventure.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts rolls into theaters on June 9.
According to Rolling Stone, some of Trump’s advisers are “urging him to continuously make reference to the size of DeSantis’ penis, telling him such insults could stick with GOP primary voters and mess with his rival’s head.” This alligns with a Bloomberg report from earlier this year about “Tiny D” being one of Trump’s possible nicknames for the Disney-feuding Florida governor; he went with the less successful “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
Now, “Tiny D” could be taken as a shot at DeSantis’ height (there’s weirdly no official online confirmation about how tall he is, but he’s most likely under six feet; Trump is 6′3″), but nope, it’s not. “He’s also short,” a source told Rolling Stone, “but, yes of course it’s about his penis, that’s why we’re doing it.”
Already, Trump has suggested that DeSantis, his chief rival, might be secretly gay. He’s gone after DeSantis over pronunciation of his own last name. He has claimed to have salacious dirt on Florida’s governor, that he might release during the primary. Recently, Trump’s campaign went after one of DeSantis’ top aides, apparently insulting her physical appearance.
With the fat and penis jokes flying, the GOP debates will have all the professionalism of a middle school playground at recess.
Anderson .Paak has reunited with Shafiq Husayn for the new song “Crush You,” the second single from Husayn’s upcoming album, So Gold. The quirkily soulful track features Husayn’s signature funk-influenced production and playful, flirty singing from Paak. The duo previously teamed up on the 2014 track “It’s Better For You” from Husayn’s EP of the same name.
The duo’s association even precedes that, as .Paak has credited Husayn with helping him get back on his feet after he was let go from his job on a marijuana farm. Shafiq let Anderson’s family stay with him and hired him as an assistant, writer, and producer. Now, Andy’s returning the favor, lending a bit of the star power he’s acquired since to his fellow industry veteran.
.Paak’s been doing a lot of that lately; earlier this year, he also reunited with producer Knxwledge to announce the follow-up to their fan-favorite 2016 NxWorries mixtape, Yes Lawd! Thus far, they have released two songs, “Where I Go” with HER and “Daydreaming,” as well as a tour this summer. Anderson also worked with Cordae on a full EP, so that’s something to keep an eye out for, as well.
Listen to Shafiq Husayn’s new Anderson .Paak collaboration, “Crush You,” below.
Whether or not you know about the Vanderpump Rules scandal, which involves the affair between Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss, one thing is for certain…Andy Cohen is having a great time! He deserves it after the year he’s had.
During part three of the season 10 reunion, you could tell that most of the cast has been through it after nearly 4 hours of hashing all of this out under those hot Bravo lights.
At one point, it was asked if Sandoval had slept with anyone else after embarking on his tumultuous affair with cast member Leviss. Ariana Madix, his partner of nine years, then said, “Well, you know who he did sleep with after he and Raquel started sleeping together? Me.” At this point, Sandoval proved that he has nothing else to lose by sarcastically responding, “She kept her T-shirt on; it was really hot.” You could then hear the universe shift with the rumblings of thousands of Bravo citizens shaking in anger, disgust, and potential violence.
Sandoval’s pal and co-worker Tom Schwartz, who then began questioning every choice in his life, responded “Don’t say that, dude. Don’t say that,” while the rest of the cast shook their heads and shouted at him. It was too late the damage was done (it was really done months ago, after all) and of course, Twitter did not take kindly to Sandoval’s comments.
Of all the ways this cast has capitalized off on scandoval, if Ariana doesn’t instantly have “I fuck in this t shirt” shirts made immediately then what was it all for!? #VanderpumpReunion
….and that’s exactly what happened! Madix dropped a “F*ck Me In This Shirt” t-shirt just hours after the big reunion. It features the star eating a piece of grilled cheese and can be yours for just $34.99! It sure seems like the woman is making the best of the horrible situation, though there is still more to come next week on the Secrets Revealed special. Maybe some of these secrets should remain….not revealed.
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.
Five years ago, I reviewed the soundtrack from Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, a film that blew my mind and instantly became ingrained as not just one of my favorite Spider-Man or Marvel or superhero films but one of my favorite films, period. Five days ago, I watched that film’s sequel, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, and now, as I write this, I’m still buzzing from the high of watching it again just hours ago.
The sequel isn’t so much a continuation of the first story as it is its own evolved organism. Like how life started with aquatic creatures and eventually became the wildly diverse array of species and body plans we see today. There’s shared DNA, but you can see how things have adapted and changed and grown into much more complex lifeforms — not necessarily, better, per se, but totally different in endlessly fascinating new ways.
Here’s what I wrote about the first soundtrack: “Like the Black Panther soundtrack before it, the film understands its cultural relevance, the moment it speaks to, and the world it must represent, and does so, making it one of the best hip-hop-oriented film soundtracks ever created.” With that in mind, writing about the second soundtrack, which was produced and curated by St. Louis superproducer Metro Boomin, begs for the sort of reinvention and deconstruction that the second film does.
Fortunately, the new soundtrack offers the perfect opportunity for it. Unlike the first Spider-Verse soundtrack, Metro Boomin Presents Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse plays as more of a straightforward album than its predecessor. While the original presented a diverse slate of artists and styles reflecting and deepening the themes of the movie, listening to the second, you might forget that it’s a soundtrack at all. Nobody mentions Spider-Man, the character, or says the word “superhero” across its 13 tracks (19 on the deluxe version released just days later).
But while each of those tracks slots perfectly into its respective needle-drop moment in the film, here, there’s a sense of cohesion that the first one lacked — for certain, a product of having a single producer curating tracks with his favorite collaborators. Where the first featured a number of rising stars who might not be instantly recognizable — one breakout song, “What’s Up Danger,” was performed by Blackway, who isn’t exactly a marquee star — this one is littered with A-list talent, from 21 Savage and ASAP Rocky to James Blake and Nas.
Fittingly, though, there is some continuity: Coi Leray returns here for the reflective “Self Love.” She’s seen a similar rise in popularity since the first movie, just like the franchise itself (the first film opened at $35.4 million for the weekend; the new one grossed $120.7 million in the same span). Metro also wisely expands his own range, continuing the first soundtrack’s nods to the multi-cultural Brooklyn setting of the film with forays into dancehall (“Silk & Cologne” with Ei8ht and Offset), Afrobeats (“Link Up” with Don Toliver and Wizkid), and alt-pop (the standout “Hummingbird” with James Blake).
And where the first film dazzled with entirely new animation techniques and novel production design, the second, without the element of surprise that the first one had, deepened and expanded its use of these elements to enrich the visual storytelling (in Spider-Gwen’s world, the watercolor backgrounds shapeshift to reflect the characters’ emotional conflicts — strong stuff). Likewise, Across The Spider-Verse‘s soundtrack doesn’t get to blow us away with a “Sunflower,” the Post Malone and Swae Lee collab that went 18 times platinum while becoming a soundtrack earworm on the scale of “Don’t You Forget About Me” or “Danger Zone.”
So, instead, Metro and friends spread the inescapable catchiness across the tracklist as a whole. In the past seven days, I have been stuck, alternately, on ASAP Rocky and Roisee’s “Am I Dreaming,” whose strings pulsate with emotion; Swae Lee, Nav, and A Boogie wit da Hoodie’s “Calling,” which may mark my first time actually enjoying a Nav song; and Dominic Fike’s deluxe edition addition “Mona Lisa,” the very definition of a bop. My neighbors are undoubtedly sick of all three by now, but I’ve considerately varied the playlist with Future and Lil Uzi Vert’s “All The Way Live,” Offset and JID’s (!!) “Danger (Spider),” and “Silk & Cologne.”
Throughout the album, it’s clear that Metro, like the Sony Pictures Animation studio, stepped up his game tremendously. We’re well used to his thumping 808s and haunting samples by now; this time, he adds soaring strings, blaring, superheroic horns, subtle synths, and sprinkles of dialogue from the film to his formula, crafting candy-coated musical concoctions that sit as easily aside each other as they do the frenetic animation and heartfelt scenes on the screen.
If Enter The Spider-Verse produced one of my favorite superhero film soundtracks, Across The Spider-Verse presents one of the best — no caveats or categories needed. It may not feel as groundbreaking as its predecessor, but it is an album that compels repeat listening and rewards it every time. Tasked with producing a soundtrack worthy of the mighty leap forward the sequel has made, the artist whose oeuvre includes not just one superhero-themed album but two (with another on the way) proves himself up to the Herculean task and, like the film itself, leaves listeners desperate for more.
Metro Boomin Presents Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is out now on Boominati/Republic.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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