Category: News

The State of Georgia v. Jeffery Lamar Williams (better known as Young Thug) and YSL Enterprises, Inc. (or Young Stoner Life Records) RICO trial is nearly underway. While representatives for Fulton County claim to have over 300 witnesses ready to testify to the rapper’s allegation of criminal activities, Young Thug has prepared a list to refute their testimony.

Thanks to Michael Seiden, a WSBTV reporter, Williams’ witness list was shared on Twitter. The list is much shorter than the prosecutor’s list, only including 28 people with a caveat that anyone named by the state of Georgia as a witness will be asked to speak on Williams’ behalf.

A few notable names appearing on the entertainer’s witness list include music executives Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles, the co-founders of 300 Entertainment, the record label to which Williams is signed, as well as social activist/fellow rapper Killer Mike. Other industry professionals on the list include Sony Music executive Kelechi Aharanwa, and YSL’s co-founder Walter Murphy is also listed as a potential witness for Williams despite having accepted a plea deal.

Based on this list, as Williams fights the 56-count indictment, his legal strategy will rely on negating his public persona, as his father (Jeffery Williams Sr.) and ex-girlfriend (Jerrika Karlae Hauser) appear on the list as potential character witnesses.

While rapper Gunna’s lawyer insists he will not testify against Williams’ the conditions of his plea deal may have contingencies should the trial not go the way the prospectors expect. The same goes for Antonio “Mount Tounk” Sledge and Williams’ older brother Quantavious “Unfoonk” Grier, who were both Williams’ co-defendants before accepting a plea deal.

Young Thug’s trial for his RICO case is currently set to take place on Monday, January 9, 2023, and could potentially go on for more than six months.

Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

It’s been four years since the last John Wick movie, but 2023 and (hopefully) 2024 will bless us with not one but two more adventures in the Wick-verse: John Wick: Chapter 4 and Ballerina, a spinoff film set between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4 starring Ana de Armas. The Blonde actress proved in No Time to Die that she’s a pro at fight scenes, but that was a cameo — in Ballerina, she’s kicking butt (and getting her butt kicked) for the entire movie.

“We’ve been in Prague filming for four months,” de Armas said on Tuesday’s The Tonight Show. “We still have one more month to go. And I’m in pain. You know, my body, my back, everything hurts. I’m complaining, I’m sore, I’m bruised. Bond was fifteen minutes. This is a whole movie.” At least she’s not working with snails (or Ben Affleck) this time?

de Armas also told a story about working with Keanu Reeves, who will appear in Ballerina as John Wick (unless he’s playing, like, his character from Speed… that would be cool, too). “The other day, Keanu and I were rehearsing our very difficult stunt scene, and this man is just rolling and throwing me and doing crazy stunts,” she said. “And I’m like, I can’t complain anymore. I’m done. Because he is doing it! He truly is the best.”

He sure is. You can watch The Tonight Show interview above.

Anitta is going back to her roots on her next album. In an interview with Billboard that was posted yesterday (January 3), the Brazilian superstar revealed that she was working on a funk carioca LP and she talked about what her Grammy nomination meant to her.

As Anitta noted during the interview, she has worked on music in Brazil for 12 years. Now she is nominated for Best New Artist at the 2023 Grammy Awards. Last year, Anitta released her breakthrough album Versions Of Me where she sang in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. She feels like a new artist in the US with the success of her latest LP.

“Here in America, I’m actually just starting right now,” Anitta said. “It’s so different. It’s so hard for me to get to this other level of jumping into another market and working there. [I am] a new artist, because for me, it is a new career from zero.”

Anitta also revealed that she’s working on her next album. On the LP, she will embrace funk carioca, or Brazilian funk music, that was created in the favelas of the country where she grew up.

“I feel more the freedom to show my real culture and show myself, so now I’m working on an album, full funk, full my culture, so people will know, ‘Ok, so that’s her!’” Anitta said.

In November, she released the EP À Procura Da Anitta Perfeita. Anitta sang fully in Portuguese across the 7-track EP.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

It appears that a collaboration with Lil Nas X is underway for Australian children’s entertainers, The Wiggles. The two teased a collaboration last year, when Lil Nas X seemingly joked on Twitter, saying, “trying really hard to get the wiggles to coheadline the tour with me. i will keep you guys updated.”

The Wiggles responded to him, saying ‘We’re ready to wiggle with you!’

On this most recent New Year’s Eve, a member of The Wiggles shared a photo of the group with Lil Nas X, which seemed to confirm that a collaboration had manifested.

While many fans were excited that Lil Nas X and The Wiggles spoke their meet-up into existence, some people were less than thrilled about it.

“Is this what you guys support?” asked one person in the comments.

“As a children’s entertainer/influencer, I don’t find it responsible promoting this dude,” said another. “Extremely inappropriate.”

Another commenter cited Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” video, in which he is seen giving satan a lapdance. This person said, Lil Nas X…this is the dude with the Satan worshipping video and the Nikes with the blood inside them?? I thought wiggles was an advocate for children.”

Fortunately, the outpour of support outweighed the negative pushback. One parent even said they want to encourage their kid to tune into The Wiggles.

“all these ppl getting mad is hilarious,” they said. “fully support more than ever. now to take my 8 month old to watch.”

There are a few actors who are born to play mischievously smirking bad guys, and Wes Bentley is one of them. After rising to fame as the boy next door in American Beauty, Bentley went on to star in various anti-hero roles in American Horror Story and The Hunger Games franchise, all while growing an impressive beard.

As of late, Bentley stars as Jamie Dutton, son of patriarch John Dutton in Yellowstone, also known as the opposite of American Horror Story. His character has caused quite a rift in the family after calling for his dad’s impeachment before even more of his dark past was revealed in the recent midseason finale.

But Jamie’s malicious character arch is challenging for Bentley, who recently told The New York Times that it’s hard for him to turn off his evil attitude. “I’ve prided myself for most of my career on leaving it at the door, or like an athlete would say, leaving it on the field,” Bentley told the mag, adding that Jamie’s complex emotions stick with him. “But Jamie’s sadness permeates my life, even though I’m not sad. I’m very lucky to have a great family and be where I’m at in life, but he’s always there behind me, clawing at that, especially when I’m shooting.”

The director of the midseason finale, Christina Alexandra Voros, says that Jamie is one of the most complex characters on the show because of his ambiguity. “Everyone’s tortured on the show, but Jamie is in particular one of the more tortured characters. He’s also interesting because you never really know if he’s a villain or a hero.” It seems pretty clear that he is leaning towards one over the other, but still! His sister Beth would definitely have something to say about that.

Even though his character isn’t a classic hero, Bentley says he is still grateful for the experience on the ranch after years of battling various real-life demons. “I believe in fate, and I believe I went through all that, caused all that, and experienced all that, because I was going to get here,” Bentley said, adding that he doesn’t mind if he has to play a complex bad guy. “There are many things that I regret, but I’m just so happy with my life.” Hopefully, Jamie survives long enough to be happy on the show, too.

Yellowstone will return this summer.

(Via The New York Times)

Although YSL Records artist Lil Keed passed away nearly eight months ago, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner/Coroner’s Office is only now sharing its final findings into the 24-year-old rapper’s cause of death. According to XXL, the rapper died of natural causes prompted by eosinophilia, a higher than normal level of disease-fighting white blood cells. Eosinophilia can be caused by autoimmune diseases, infections (especially from parasites), and blood cancers, as well as hereditary genetic mutations.

Before his death, Keed reportedly complained of severe stomach pain, checking into an LA hospital for tests. However, several of his organs including his liver and kidneys failed shortly after he checked in, and he died a few days later. At the time of his death, Keed was two years removed from his second studio album, Trapped On Cleveland 3, which had received a favorable fan response. Keed was also a standout on YSL’s Slime Language 2 compilation, which highlighted the label’s growing roster of talent.

Unfortunately, much of that roster wound up behind bars shortly after Keed’s death as the label’s founder Young Thug and several of its artists were indicted in a 56-count racketeering investigation accusing YSL of being a “hybrid street gang.” The trial against Thug is set to begin this month after several of the other artists, including Gunna, accepted plea deals in exchange for their freedom. Thug was offered no such deal, and it’s believed he was the true target of the investigation all along.

Lil Keed is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Allo Darlin’ returned to social media today to tell fans that they’ll be reuniting for some London shows this year — and potentially even new music.

“Allo Darlin’ played our last show in London just over 6 years ago,” the band shared in a new statement. “A lot has happened since then, some good, some bad. During those first confusing months of the pandemic, we spoke to each other often, from Norway, Australia and England… We missed each other and we missed the music.”

“AD started up in the days of Myspace, when a European or American tour could be organised by sending or by receiving messages from strangers. It was liberating and exciting. We found friendship, solace and love through music,” they continued. “In the years we were active as a band, the musical landscape changed, and we got older too. It was hard, if not impossible to make a living from music, at least the type of music we made. This is even more true today.”

The indie band first formed in 2008 before breaking up in 2016 for a number of reasons, including members becoming parents and pursuing other musical projects.

Allo Darlin’s first announced show will be held on October 27 at Kent’s Ramsgate Music Hall. Tickets are available starting this Friday at 10 a.m. UK time.

What better way to celebrate 10 years of RMH than welcoming back the band who helped kickstart this beautiful journey with us?

Allo Darlin' perform their first show in almost 7 years on Oct 27, with support from our Canadian hero B.A. Johnston 😍

Tickets on sale Friday 10am 💫 pic.twitter.com/O7DMD6CIZg

— Ramsgate Music Hall (@RamsgateMH) January 4, 2023

Stephen Colbert had two New Year’s resolutions: Drink less and “not gloat when bad things happen to Kevin McCarthy.” Both of those went out the window not even a minute into Colbert’s first monologue for 2023. The late night host could barely contain his glee over the opportunity to rip McCarthy’s disastrous bid to become Speaker of the House despite the Republicans holding a majority. Not only was it publicly humiliating, but it was downright historic, marking the first time in 100 years that a speaker wasn’t confirmed in the first round of voting.

“It has been a day of uncut Peruvian blue-flake schadenfreude watching the GOP stab each other in the throat,” Colbert said as he teed up a Glass Onion parody mocking McCarthy’s epic betrayal by his own party. “Tonight, I’ll peel back the many layers of the stupidity in a drama we’re calling Ass Onion: A Kev’s Out Mystery.”

After busting out his best Benoit Blanc impression, Colbert returned to his normal voice as he broke down McCarthy’s embarrassing defeat after months of openly pining for the Speaker position. Via The Wrap:

“Now, what makes Kevin’s anguish particularly delicious is that it’s no secret that he has dreamed of being Speaker of the House for years,” Colbert continued, adding that McCarthy already requires his interns to address him as “Mr. Speaker” and that he’s already moved his things into the Speaker’s office.

“He may not be good at counting votes, but he’s great at counting chickens before they hatch,” Colbert said.

However, Colbert did have one nice thing to say about McCarthy, and by nice we mean another brutal burn. “He really enjoys watching Kevin McCarthy get humiliated,” Colbert quipped about the disgraced congressman. “Maybe he does get the American people.”

(Via The Wrap)

Undisputed, a television show that looks to answer the age-old question “is everything Skip Bayless does worth it if it gets people to tune in?” started Wednesday’s episode with an effort to address the elephant in the room: Why did co-host Shannon Sharpe miss Tuesday’s edition of the program? Sharpe attempted to answer this with a monologue about the way the situation involving Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin impacted him, but of course, Bayless’ inability to get out of the way led to an argument breaking out between the two.

“There’s been a lot of speculation of why I wasn’t on the air yesterday, and I won’t get into speculation or conjecture or innuendo,” Sharpe said to lead off the show. “But I will say this: Watching that game on Monday night, what happened to Damar Hamlin struck me a little different. As a brotherhood in the NFL, when injuries happen when we know injuries are a part of the game, I’ve seen guys suffer ACLs and achilles tears, but I’ve never seen anybody have to be revived and fight for their life on the field. So, this struck me a little differently, because I remember seeing my brother paralyzed on the field temporarily, and he was able to regain focus.”

Sharpe then brought up a tweet Bayless sent while Hamlin was down where Bayless focused on the stakes of Monday night’s game between the Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals over Hamlin’s well-being, which led to the longtime talking head coming under waves of criticism. After Sharpe said “I disagreed with the tweet and hopefully Skip will take it down,” Bayless interjected, which Sharpe very much did not appreciate.

“Time out, time out, I’m not gonna take it down, ’cause I stand by what I tweeted,” Bayless said.

Sharpe asked if he could finish before deciding it was no longer worth continuing after being interrupted.

“I cannot even get through a monologue without you interrupting me,” Sharpe said. Bayless then attempted to play the victim by saying he did not know Sharpe was going to bring this up before the Hall of Fame inductee continued speaking.

“I was just gonna say, Skip, I didn’t want, yesterday, to get into a situation where Damar Hamlin was the issue,” Sharpe said. “We should’ve been talking about him and not getting into your tweet. That’s what I was gonna do. But you can’t even let me finish my opening monologue without you interrupting.”

Bayless, once again, said he was “under the impression” that the tweet wasn’t going to get brought up, “because nobody here had a problem with that tweet.”

“No,” Sharpe said. “Clearly the bosses wanted you to offer an explanation, so clearly…”

There was one final, brief back-and-forth before Sharpe realized this was a lost cause and asked for the show to begin.

It can be said that for women in hip-hop, rap can be a sisterhood since there are so few of them in a business dominated by men. But that sisterhood is especially strong between an even smaller number of female rappers who shared the mic as part of a group. That number includes the late Gangsta Boo and fellow Memphis rapper La Chat, who were the female components of the pioneering group Three 6 Mafia before departing for solo careers in 2001. They reunited in 2014 for a joint project, the Witch EP, proving that their bond went past just their Mafia membership.

So understandably, La Chat was one of the former Three 6 members to pay tribute to her fallen friend, who she called her sister, on Instagram, posting a long, heartfelt tribute to Boo addressing the loss. “This is not easy 4 me,” she wrote. “is not easy 4 me, Wake up in Tears, Doze Off in tears, the Tears won’t stop falling, my eyes burning. It’s gone take Sum Time but with GOD INVOLVED I KNO IMA BE OK sooner than I thank.”

“I been wit Boo all my WholeLife,” she continued. “She was a STRONG INDEPENDENT BLACK WOMAN, Dat didn’t take no shit lol. y’all couldn’t imagine All the things We have done, All the convos We Have Had ErrDay, Literally ALL the time We have Spent, All The Money We Have Made 2Gether, We both was our Mothers Only Daughters We was raised with nun but men & was Blessed 2 Rap with THE BEST GROUP EVER WHICH WAS ALL MEN WHICH MADE US SISTERS!!!”

Before her passing, Gangsta Boo — who died on Sunday (January 1) at the age of 43 — passed the torch of that sisterhood with “FTCU,” a raucous collaboration with Latto and fellow Memphian GloRilla that sampled her work with Three 6.