Category: News

Things are not looking good for Twitter right now. Elon Musk recently told employees via email to commit to a “hardcore” new work culture that demands “long hours at high intensity,” or leave. It appears many opted to leave. Fortune tech reporter Kylie Robison tweeted last night that according to Twitter employees, “roughly 75 percent of the remaining 3,700ish Twitter employees have not opted to stay after the ‘hardcore’ email,” adding, “As we’re all very aware, folks on visas are stuck, so thats who makes up most of the roughly 25 percent (or less than 1,000….) expected to stay.”

Subsequently, last night (November 17), Twitter’s offices were temporarily closed as Musk is reportedly concerned about internal sabotage. In light of this, #RIPTwitter started trending on the platform as some eulogized the site and sent their “final tweets.” Since Twitter has been a significant platform for artists to promote music and build their fan bases, some folks in the music world took part in the festivities.

Questlove of The Roots came through with MySpace founder Tom Anderson’s classic profile picture and wrote, “Tom’s Revenge #RIPTwitter.” From the Tegan And Sara account, Tegan Quin wrote, “I asked Sara if she had a last Tweet if it does indeed go under. She text back ‘I hated you for a long time bye.’” Jenny Lewis also tweeted, “if twitter is dying, what is your last tweet? i’ll go first. to all my x’s: f*ck you.”

As of this post, Twitter remains online. As it continues to burn, check out some other tweets from the music community below.

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

Don Toliver has finally released his much-anticipated new single, “Do It Right.” The song had garnered much buzz after Toliver performed it at Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty, Vol. 4 show earlier this month. The performance left fans eager to hear a full studio version.

“Baby, you can do it, take your time, do it right / You can do it, baby, do it tonight / You can take me to your crib, you can ride it all night /
You can do it, baby / Do it tonight,” Toliver sings on the song’s catchy chorus.

On the post hook, Toliver insists the party continues through the night, singing, “Take me to your crib and we can party all night.”

The song is expected to appear on his upcoming album, Lovesick. He detailed the album in an interview with British GQ, in which he expressed that he wants to create songs that still sound and feel good years from now.

“I want people to listen to my music and think it’s timeless,” he said. “To think about Marvin Gaye, Sade, Jay-Z, and just listen again. All I strive for is to be in the conversation with some of the greatest of all time.”

Check out “Do It Right” above.

Don Toliver is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Chance The Rapper is back with a new single. On his latest track, “Yah Know,” Chance delivers rapid bars over an Afrofusion-inspired beat. The beat is largely comprised of a sped-up sample of Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know.”

The track features Ghanaian singer King Promise, who delivers smooth vocals throughout,

In the song’s accompanying visual, directed by Chance himself, Chance and Promise share a montage of clips of them in Africa juxtaposed with him navigating a boat.

The song comes from Chance‘s upcoming album, Star Line Gallery, a release date for which has yet to be announced.

In a recent interview with Complex, Chance explained the album’s title, and described the experience the album will encapsulate.

“The ‘Gallery’ is the Star Line, and the Star Line is all of us,” he said. “It’s going to be all Black artists from everywhere around the world with all different experiences, but a connection, and in conversation with me and my collaborators to create new pieces that show what it means to be Black right now. It’s not all drenched in the conversation of trauma or about the most familiar aesthetic of Black that we know right now. It’s about what is real.”

Check out the video for “Yah Know” above.

Adele is set to kick off her long-awaited residency in Las Vegas today. On the eve of her shows, which had originally been postponed in January, the pop star opened up about just how nervous she was truly feeling in a series of tweets.

“I’m feeling all sorts as I write this,” Adele shared. “I’m highly emotional, incredibly nervous but can’t sit still because I’m so excited. I feel a million miles away from home, I can’t stop thinking about when I was little and saw Tom Jones in Mars Attacks and thought blimey how did he get from Wales to Las Vegas!?”

“I always get scared before shows, and I take it as a good sign because it means I care and means I just want to do a good job,” she added. “Maybe it’s because I didn’t start when I was supposed to. Maybe it’s because it’s opening night, maybe it’s because Hyde Park went so great, maybe it’s because I love the show, I don’t know. But it’s safe to say I’ve never been more nervous before a show in my career, but at the same time I wish today was tomorrow! I can’t wait to see you out there x.”

Adele’s residency will run at The Coliseum at Caesar’s Palace and continue with select dates into 2023. More information, along with a complete list of performance dates, is available here.

Pharrell and Travis Scott have finally shared their hotly-anticipated collaboration, “Down In Atlanta.”

On their new song, Scott details a vivid, debauched account of an adventure in the ATL.

Following Pharrell’s signature four-count start, Scott shares his love for the ATL, singing, “Down in Atlanta / Stayed at the Centerfold / Downstairs my ‘Ventador / You should’ve seen it / Down in Atlanta / At the Graveyard Tavern / You thought you seen a ghost / It’s just where the Phantoms are.”

Pharrell himself doesn’t have any vocals on the song, however, he is at the helm of the song’s thumping, groovy production.

The song is expected to appear on Pharrell’s upcoming album, Phriends, Vol. 1. In a recent interview in Rolling Stone with BTS’ RM, he detailed the album and the creative process behind it.

“…I don’t want to do anything that just feels like, ‘Oh, that’s cool, that’ll fit,’” Pharrell said. “No, I don’t want to fit. I want to knock the wall down and want to set the whole entire block on fire. Not one room, the block. Not the house, the block on fire. I want it to be on the news at night.”

RM himself is expected to appear on Phriends, Vol. 1 as well.

Check out “Down In Atlanta” above.

There was little doubt that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was going to own the box office, but it’s proving itself to be a genuine dynamo. Despite only being the second-biggest debut on the national chart (behind Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), the return to Wakanda has already scored $400 million in global sales as it approaches its second weekend in theaters and has the killing field of Thanksgiving to propel it even further, even faster. The Hollywood Reporter projects that it should make around $70 million more domestically through this weekend, topping $550 million globally by the end of Sunday.

Eleven days to make half a billion dollars? Astonishing.

To put it in perspective, Wakanda Forever is already in the top 50 superhero movies all time for total domestic box office in less than a week. If it muscles through December into the holiday season, it could potentially see a billion in its future. That’s also considering the fun caveat that the Marvel film directed by Ryan Coogler didn’t (and won’t) screen in China where it could have potentially made eleventy more billion dollars.

It’s also achieved another feat close to Kevin Feige’s heart: successfully planting the seeds for the Disney+ series Ironheart which debuts next Fall.

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

Nessa Barrett dropped the new extended version of her Young Forever debut album. The added edition includes five new songs, a highlight being a cover of Arctic Monkeys’ popular song, “505.” Compared to the alt-rock original, Barrett opts for a dreamy-pop reimagining that lets her voice shine.

“Each and every song on this album is so personal to me,” Barrett said in a statement about her debut record. “Music is how I cope and writing this album was my therapy. I’ve questioned why I had to go through so much pain in life and always felt like it was a curse. But now I’ve realized it was so I could make songs like these to help others go through theirs.”

“This album is fully manic in the best way and honestly reflects moreso my emotions / how diverse my palette is,” she also told Fault in October. “I would say my personal music taste is also not put in a box so unintentionally reflective I would say!

Other new tracks on Barrett’s extended album include: “Deathmatch,” “God’s Favorite,” “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me,” and “Noose.” As described in the press release, the added songs range everywhere from goth-pop to upbeat melodies.

Listen to Nessa Barrett’s cover of Arctic Monkeys’ “505” above.

Young Forever (Extended) is out now via Warner. Buy/stream it here.

Nessa Barrett is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Nicki Minaj, Maluma, and Myriam Fares have dropped their new collaboration, “Tukoh Taka.” With verses in three different languages, the song is a fast-paced dance version that will serve as the Official FIFA Fan Festival Anthem this year. Minaj comes in perfectly on a seamless beat change, ending with the lyric, “Some say fútbol, some say soccer,” before it goes back to the chorus.

Maluma offers his verse next, slowing things down slightly but still maintaining the high energy — complete with some soccer-themed innuendo. “She is a goal at the 90th minute / She doesn’t easily give it up,” he sings in Spanish.

Last but not least, Myriam Fares shows off her stunning voice as the instrumental shifts once more. “Let’s all sing together / The world around us feels like heaven / And all the people are celebrating / Our voices are Beautiful and loud,” Fares adds, with her lyrics translated into English from original Arabic. The goal of the track is purely to create a fun global collaboration that promotes bringing everyone together, especially for the World Cup.

The music video for “Tukoh Taka” will premiere at 10 am today, while the soccer games kick off this weekend on November 20.

Listen to Nicki Minaj, Maluma, and Myriam Fares perform “Tukoh Taka” above.

Just in time for the holiday season, Babyface Ray is reminding us to splurge on our loved ones. On his latest single, “Spend It,” Ray lets his lady know that dropping some coin on her is no issue.

“Let’s go spend some time in Chanel / Get your hair done and paint on your nails / Baccarat candles, change up the smell / Run you through Louis, it ain’t going on sale,” raps Ray on his verse.

Nija delivers a smooth chorus, singing “I like when you spend it on me, when you spend it on me,” then encouraging him to “go and spend them bands.”

Blxst charmingly reiterates the song’s message, singing, “I’ll let you ball / I’ll give it and go / Soon as you call / I’m giving you more.”

In the song’s accompanying video, Ray arrives to a mansion with a woman in a blindfold. When the blindfold is removed, she is greeted to a floor of rose petals, leading her to a shopping rack of clothes for her to try, and him to buy. Nija appears throughout the mansion, singing the song’s chorus. Blxst later arrives to the party, dressed to the nines.

Check out the video for “Spend It” above.

LeBron James’ success extends well beyond the basketball court, as he has built and empire off the court in business and entertainment, but the only area where he rivals his on-court excellence is in his ability to spin a tall tale.

James’ lying prowess is the stuff of legend on the internet, with such classics as “I called Kobe’s 81-point game was coming when I watched it live” and “lying about watching soccer to a guy who played for Liverpool,” and he recently became a viral meme after paying tribute to Takeoff by saying he introduced his Heat teammates to the Migos in 2010 despite the Migos not releasing their first record until 2011. All of them are pretty innocent white lies, but it is very funny when you see them all put together in a compilation, as folks on Twitter did after the Migos quote.

On Thursday night, LeBron’s latest effort at spinning a yarn happened during The Shop crossover broadcast on Thursday Night Football, when he told Jalen Ramsey about how he started using him in the slot as a blitzer before Sean McVay. Ramsey, who is very online, couldn’t help but call out LeBron for lying by noting this is exactly what everyone on Twitter says about him.

The best part is, LeBron doesn’t seem to know what everyone’s laughing about at first and just says “we were just talking about this the other day” after Ramsey explains, which feels like another lie to seem like he’s in on the joke. It’s a very funny moment and kudos to Ramsey for being willing to call it out in real time, because if not it would’ve just gotten added to the list like the rest.