Category: News

Whew, it’s been too long since Ramy Yousef graced us with a season of his Hulu dramedy (produced by A24), Ramy. Yet the series (and its exploration of Muslim-American identity) is finally back for a third round of being the best show that you’re not currently watching. Heck, even Ramy Yousef believes that you’re not watching this show. Back in early 2020, the second-season awards tour saw Ramy merrily joke (while accepting the Best Actor In A TV Comedy award at the Globes), “You guys haven’t seen my show.” He then kept things lively during the Emmys by showing what it looks like to lose during a virtual awards show. And now, Ramy the character lets everyone know what it feels like to have lost in life.

That sounds ominous and like we’re getting Dark Ramy, but don’t worry. Ramy, as an exploration of Muslim-American life, is still as sharply funny as ever while dealing out comeuppance to the leading man. The well-meaning dude of an endless existential journey faltered. He lost his way before he found it, and he did indefensible things. He hurt those who trusted him, including Mahershala Ali’s sheikh character. He betrayed his new wife (Zainab), who happened to be the sheikh’s daughter. He thoughtlessly vouched for a PTSD-afflicted vet (obviously a loose cannon), who ended up killing someone, all of which led the sheikh to unload the full weight of his disgust.

“F*ck you, Ramy,” declared the voice coming out of a very scary Mahershala Ali during the Season 2 finale. “You little f*ckin’ boy. You hurt people! Is that how I have to talk to you to get you to understand?” And the kicker: “You’re dangerous.”

It’s hard to come back from that with a bounce in your step. I’d probably just die right there on the spot, you know? And Ramy doesn’t skip the Cleanup On Aisle F*ck Up. There’s no easy path to redemption after an endearing character lacked judgment and unleashed a truckload of collateral damage. So, that’s where Ramy returns, and his life is a shambles. He’s in debt with the failed marriage hanging over his head, and that leads him into the diamond business. And as Ramy’s toiling away and coming to terms with his surprising awfulness, the show largely chooses to focus upon the shenanigans of the other characters who we’ve already grown to enjoy: Ramy’s family and friends.

Fortunately, the show already laid a fine foundation for these “sidelined” characters, so the story’s reliance upon them doesn’t feel like a stretch. And through them, the show further explores Muslim-American identity from their perspectives. Ramy’s sister (Dena) is struggling to put a foot forward in her career while pushing back against the community’s expectations. Uncle Naseem is still a problematic jackass, and an assortment of diamond-industry professionals keeps things interesting. Ramy’s parents and friends are back, and that latter group now includes Bella Hadid’s character. Yes, a supermodel is on Ramy, and she’s not playing anyone that you’re expecting to see. I’ll leave it at that. There wasn’t enough of Bella, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of her, either on this show or elsewhere. She fit right into this strange little ensemble.

Actually, the ensemble is where it’s at in Season 3 (more than any other season) of Ramy. At times, he does even feel like a guest, but that’s alright. He’s rudderless after losing his spiritual advisor and realizing that his path to enlightenment may have been paved by good intentions (outwardly, at least, because he was really trying to impress the sheikh), but he still really hurt people. This ain’t Seinfeld, where loathsome behavior doesn’t carry a consequence. Let’s face it — Ramy ain’t a show about nothing, either. So, he must walk the walk before naval gazing, and he needs to learn to not leave people in a worse state than he originally found them. Ramy doesn’t spend as much time trying to follow a spiritual path this season, but ironically, the act of him making amends is more spiritual than anything we’ve seen him do.

There’s some serious character growth happening, but the show keeps things so light that it never feels like a chore to watch. For example, Ramy takes a trip to Israel (related to diamond stuff), and it’s a much different voyage than the one he previously took to Egypt, where he threw himself into a trauma-tourism joyride. And I can’t say that Ramy totally ends the season in a fully self-aware way, but there’s progress on display. Meanwhile, we get to see Ramy’s parents take on a new, uh, business venture, Dena deals with her own garbage, and occasionally, a Ramy love interest wafts through the air before realizing that she had better get the hell out of dodge.

That brings me to an interesting point, which is that the women of Ramy do not settle for being drawn under the male gaze. Dena’s got her own issues but is making her own way while refusing to sit down and be a “normal” Muslim-American woman. And the show doesn’t shy away from batting around the stereotypical Muslim-American male fantasy of having more than one wife. As if that’s not enough, Ramy’s mom has had it up to here with running the whole joint and taking care of everyone. So much is happening, and if Ramy was up to full speed himself, there might not be room for all these side stories.

Ultimately, thank god that Ramy, the character, screwed up. He couldn’t stay lovable forever. Instead, he’s busy hustling, which is a good way to keep this show from going stale. And it makes sense because after everything that Ramy did, it would feel disingenuous to see him indulging in soul-searching, at least right away. Rather, this very flawed leading man must earn the right to attempt self-actualization again, and maybe he’ll make real progress with some people that he hurt. By the end of the season, he does earn the right to get introspective, and he finds a new challenge. Ramy is back, and yes, he screwed up, but he’s here to make it up to you. Watch him.

The third season of Hulu’s ‘Ramy’ debuts on September 30.

It was almost the end of the second episode of Andor when I started actively thinking, “where is this all going because it seems to be going nowhere?” And to add to my confusion, the day I was watching these episodes (four total so far), was the day that last trailer premiered that everyone loves. So my entire Twitter feed was full of people declaring Andor the most incredible thing they have ever seen, while I’m watching the actual episodes, let’s say … not feeling quite so confident. I’ll save the suspense and say, by the end of the second episode, things do start to pick up. And by the third and the fourth episode, Andor feels fully in gear.

And that’s when I remembered two things: First, with something like Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s quick six-episode season, meandering kind of feels like filler. “We only have six episodes, get on with it already!” Andor is a full 24 episodes. (Cut in half into two seasons.) It has the luxury of meandering a bit, setting the stage. Also, the showrunner for Andor is Tony Gilroy, who likes to take his time and meticulously set up characters for payoffs down the road. By this point in Gilroy’s career, if he needs almost two episodes of character study with not much else going on, well, I guess that’s what he needs.

Whereas other Star Wars properties can feel like a story made in a committee (the word offender being The Rise of Skywalker, a truly terrible movie), Andor feels like one person’s vision of what a Star Wars series based on Cassian Andor should be. This is an incredibly focused series. And you might think I’m contradicting myself because, earlier, I used the word “meandering,” but we learn that the early meandering is a focused part of the plot (I’ll get to this in a bit).

We first met Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor in Rogue One, a movie credited to Gareth Edwards, but somewhere during production was handed over to Tony Gilroy. I truly believe that movie is a happy accident that it works at all because Edwards’s and Gilroy’s directing styles are not much alike. So we get weird scenes like the gross alien that does something to Riz Ahmed’s Bodhi Rook with basically no payoff, then we get a very meticulously shot sequence of Rebel Fleet Troopers handing off the stolen Death Star plans to each other like a relay race, trying to avoid a rampaging Darth Vader. There’s no way this movie should work under its circumstances, but it does. (This reminds me of a moment during Star Wars Celebration 2016 in London. The publicists wanted a few of us to go in and “hang out” with Gareth Edwards for a bit and kind of gab about Rogue One. The last thing he wanted to talk about was Rogue One. I found out later he had just gotten the Gilroy news not long before. It reminded me of a student who is being asked by his parents about his grades, but already has his report card and knows it’s bad news and wants to talk about anything else. (I may be speaking from experience with this example.)

But now here’s Andor, and Gilroy isn’t sharing a vision with Edwards. And Gilroy isn’t the type of filmmaker who would take on a project like Andor without almost complete control. Set five years before the events of Rogue One, Cassian is … well, he’s kind of a loser. And the first couple of episodes spend a lot of time having Cassian’s friends and adoptive family telling him he’s a loser. This is not the dashing hero we meet at the beginning of Rogue One, calmly assassinating a source instead of letting him get captured. Cassian basically works at a factory and keeps screwing up.

One night, early in the first episode, two local corporate security guards try to shake Cassian down for some credits. Cassian and a guard start to tussle and the guard, accidentally, winds up dead. The second guard, who witnessed this, also winds up dead, but that’s not so much an accident. So now Cassian knows he’s probably in a pickle here and spends the next couple of episodes asking friends for money so he can get out of Dodge. (That’s a figure of speech, Andor is not set in Dodge, Kansas.) At the same time, we are given brief flashbacks to Cassian’s childhood on his more primitive homeworld. He sees a Republic ship crash landing in the distance, and this event will lead directly to why he lives where he does during the events of Andor.

In the second episode, we are introduced to Stellan Skarsgård’s Luthen. And his presence signals that Andor is about to kick into something else. Cassian’s “local trouble” (as Han Solo would say in the first Star Wars) has escalated to the Empire itself, who has put out a full all points bulletin for Cassian’s capture. Luthen is also looking for Cassian, but for different reasons that you might be able to guess if you’ve seen Rogue One. Though, Andor isn’t all about Cassian Andor. Eventually, we do meet Genevieve O’Reilly’s Mon Mothma who is still very much a senator and is trying her best to, quietly, help “some sort of secret organization that doesn’t like the Empire very much,” while also having to deal with her lousy husband who keeps inviting her political enemies over for dinner because he finds them “fun.”

What’s interesting is, counting only live-action Star Wars, when it’s all said and done, between the 24 episodes of Andor plus Rogue One, we will (I think), have spent more time with Cassian Andor than any other Star Wars character. This seems significant. And my hunch is Tony Gilroy wouldn’t want us to spend that much time with one character unless Tony Gilroy had something to say. In the four episodes I’ve seen, it’s not quite all mapped out yet, but the groundwork is there for something truly special. Andor will be meticulous in what it does. I am a big admirer of Gilroy’s work, so I have faith he knows where this should go and how the politics in Cassian’s world might resemble ours.

It took me a couple of episodes to get there (and I suspect it will for you, too, if you are expecting it to start with anything resembling action) … but four episodes in, I’m all in on Andor.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

After exploring the infamous theft of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s sex tape, Hulu is back with another sordid tale from the creator of Pam & Tommy. In the first official teaser for Welcome to Chippendales, Eternals and Silicon Valley star Kumail Nanjiani stars as Somen “Steve” Banerjee, the founder of the male stripping empire that collapsed in the 1980s following the murder of head choreographer Nick De Noia.

In the first look at the upcoming Hulu series, Nanjiani’s Banerjee can be seen building his burgeoning franchise that quickly spirals out of control in the “darkly comedic” tale of ’80s excess and greed. The series also looks to have a little Magic Mike flair added to the mix, which tracks considering Chippendales is where the male stripper explosion all began.

Along with Nanjiani, Welcome to Chippendales stars Murray Bartlett, Juliette Lewis, and Annaleigh Ashford, with recurring guest stars Quentin Plair, Robin de Jesús, and Andrew Rannells and guest stars Nicola Peltz Beckham and Dan Stevens.

Here’s the official synopsis:

A sprawling true-crime saga, “Welcome to Chippendales” tells the outrageous story of Somen “Steve” Banerjee, an Indian immigrant who became the unlikely founder of the world’s greatest male-stripping empire—and let nothing stand in his way in the process.

Welcome to Chippendales struts its stuff November 22 on Hulu.

BTS members are all multi-talented and have expressed their color in music in some shape or form. With the news of BTS’ main dancer and lead rapper collaborating with K-R&B singer-songwriter, Crush, it only felt right to give a mini-crash course on J-Hope‘s history with collaborations.

Whether it’s his own song or not, J-Hope brings a vibrant splash of color to whatever project he touches. He may not have as many collabs compared to some other members in the group, but his performance is more than worthy of praises. As his “Rush Hour” collab with Crush approaches this Thursday, September 22 (6 p.m. KST — 5 a.m. ET/2 a.m. PT), here is a brief rundown of the three songs he’s worked on with different artists.

“Chicken Noodle Soup”

After meeting at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards and expressing his desire to collaborate with the singer and actress, this collaboration between Becky G and J-Hope was nothing but pure wholesomeness. “Chicken Noodle Soup” was a song that the BTS member danced to during his days as a trainee. The remake to the old-school, childhood classic paid homage to both artists’ roots by incorporating Spanish and Korean lyrics to the original. “Chicken Noodle Soup” was said to originally be part of J-Hope’s first mixtape, Hope World.

“A Brand New Day”

As part of BTS’ Netmarble mobile game, BTS World: Original Soundtrack, J-Hope and fellow member V are joined by Swedish pop sensation Zara Larsson for an electronic hip-hop song with hints of traditional Korean instruments. The song is part of a compilation album that features other western artists like Juice WRLD, Charli XCX, as well as Korean artists OKDAL, and Lee Hyun.

“Animal”

As what K-Pop fans may call “fetus” J-Hope (the early, baby days of BTS), the main dancer’s earliest collaboration is dated back to 2012 when he featured on Jo Kwon’s B-side “Animal.” With an unchanging stage presence, J-Hope performed the side track with the 2AM-member-turned-soloist on MBC’s Music Core during the era where electric-dance pop, or incorporating EDM and dubstep in songs, was a huge trend in the K-pop scene. In a 2021 radio interview, Jo Kwon expressed his gratitude toward the BTS member and hopes to perform a new version of the song in the near future.

Honorable Mention: “= (Equal Sign)”

Though this isn’t an official collaboration, every K-pop stan, or even Korean artist themselves, would consider anything they do with South Korea’s Little Sister, and top music soloist, a collaboration. Upon promoting his first studio album, Jack In The Box, over the summer, J-Hope guested on IU’s YouTube series IU’s Palette for a special performance and talk. Midway through the episode, the two artists performed a special rendition of “= (Equal Sign)” where IU re-arranged the first and last parts herself to include her singing.

Not enough crime drama shows have been adapted into stage plays. That sounds like a bold statement, but it’s true! Where is the Law and Order: SVU theatrical experience? Complete with “dun dun” musical numbers and Christopher Meloni doing naked cardio on stage? It would be a huge hit! Why are comedies the only ones that get to have fun?

Obviously, Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight agrees, as he wrote a theatrical dance show inspired by the hit British series, which starred various U.K. acting legends, like Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Helen McCroy. The show, dubbed Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby will star Guillaume Quéau and Prince Lyons alternating the titular role.

Unfortunately, we will not get to see Tom Hardy dancing in the show, which will be choreographed by Benoit Swan Pouffer. But still! It’s very cool! The stage adaptation will premiere on September 27th before taking a tour around the U.K. in 2023. Here is the official synopsis:

Through dance theatre Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby picks up the story of the Peaky Blinders at the end of World War One, following Tommy Shelby and Grace Burgess through their passionate love affair. While Tommy is building his empire, Grace is operating as an undercover agent for Special Branch on a mission to get close to the heart of Tommy’s gang. As the story unfolds, many hearts are broken.

You can check out all seasons of Peaky Blinders on Netflix.

Is another Hit-Boy and Benny The Butcher collab in the works? The two appear to be dropping hints on social media about a follow-up to their 2020 collaboration, Burden Of Proof.

A video surfaced online of Benny and Hit-Boy listening to an instrumental track that sounded similar to the material on Burden Of Proof, according to HipHopDX.

In another video, taken from Hit-Boy’s Instagram page, the two are seen in the studio again.

Most recently, Hit-Boy shared a series of images on his Instagram page, captioned “’22 not over,” on which, Benny commented with three gold trophy emojis. This may mean that if there is another collaborative album in the works, we may be able to expect it to arrive before the end of the year.

In a 2020 interview with Complex, ahead of the release of Burden Of Proof, Benny revealed how Hit-Boy helped him tap into potential he didn’t realize he had.

“The feeling is going to be different,” Benny said. “I’m speaking about things I never spoke about on here. My confidence is different. My angle is different. It’s still me, but I discovered new things in the process of writing this album. I’m at a different level. I’m thinking a whole different way.”

Has there ever been a band quite like Gorillaz? This is not a trick question. The answer is no. The English virtual band formed in 1998 as a collaboration between Damon Albarn and Tank Girl co-creator Jamie Hewlett, but as the project has evolved, so has the backstory behind its virtual members. At a time when AI rappers are falling flat on their faces, the virtual four-piece of bassist Murdoc Niccals, singer 2D, drummer Russel Hobbs, and guitarist Noodle, are entering the next elaborate chapter in their storied virtual (and non-virtual) careers.

In the lead-up to their 8th album, Cracker Island, the band’s core virtual members were living at their London-based Kong Studios, until they relocated earlier this year to Los Angeles’ buzzy, hipster enclave of Silver Lake. They’ve come to LA to gather a following for ‘The Last Cult,” which is devoted to finding a higher consciousness into the future amid a broken world. The journey has seemed a bit bumpy so far, as Gorillaz found themselves entangled in a trippy evening that ended in the emergency room, a story that unfolds in the music video for the album’s title track, “Cracker Island” featuring Thundercat. We then get a kaleidoscopic view into this utopia in the video for “New Gold” featuring Tame Impala and Bootie Brown.

While Cracker Island comes out next year, Gorillaz have embarked on an insane tour of North America, where Damon Albarn is backed by a 14-piece live band, a slew of guests, and of course the core four virtual members. As the band prepares to perform in Los Angeles, with shows at the Forum on September 23 and the YouTube Theater on September 25, we took this opportunity to catch up with 2D, the singer who Murdoc calls, “A blue-haired, black-eyed god,” but was once described by Albarn and Hewlett as having, “A blank sheet of paper where a brain should be.” Don’t let that fool you, he’s kind, adventurous, and a damn fine singer. He’s also been getting along just peachy in Los Angeles and we spoke with 2D about living in the City of Angels.

So you recently moved from West London to LA’s Silver Lake area. How has that transition been for you?

Yeah really good cheers! I made sure to bring loads of extra pants cos in America they wear pants instead of trousers.

I saw that you guys spent a crazy evening in the emergency room surrounded by cops. Everything okay with that situation? Seemed a bit concerning.

It’s always concerning being in Gorillaz. Russ says that stuff ain’t happened yet as that is the future or something. I am not looking forward to getting arrested.

Besides that, have you been getting along well with your neighbors?

The neighbors are nice, I’ve made a new friend called Moon Flower who makes me weird-tasting tea, I think they make it different over here.

Do you find yourself getting noticed around town a lot?

Usually I find myself with that ‘find my phone’ app.

LA can be a bit vain…looks are important. Are you ever self-conscious walking around a city among celebrities and #influencers?

I don’t really leave the house much as the Great Leader gives me too many jobs to do to cleanse my soul. Except when he needs more vodka and sends me to the shop.

What’s something you’ve had to eat at a restaurant out here that you can’t stop thinking about?

Twinkies!

Where else do you like to spend your free time out in LA?

In my free time Great Leader Murdoc gets me digging holes in the garden then filling them up again. I lost my phone down one of them.

Before you moved here or even after, what’s the wildest time you’ve ever had out there. Kindly describe it in excruciating detail.

Got stuck in a suit of armour. Noodle got me out with butter and a wooden spoon.

I know you’re a Crawley Town FC lifetime supporter, but have you adopted any LA area sports teams? Been to any games? If so, what’d you think?

Not yet but I adopted a raccoon. Well more like it adopted me. It’s on my leg right now. I asked Tame Impala to help but he only tames impalas.

Snoop Dogg’s been on a couple of your albums. Have you guys linked since you moved down here recently? Get into any trouble?

He hasn’t got back to my text and now my phone is buried in the garden. Snoop if you’re reading this how’s it going mate. Do you want to go bowling? Cheers, 2D. From Gorillaz.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you about the new album. What can you reveal about Cracker Island ahead of this tour and how has LA played a part in it?

I can’t reveal much as I have been sworn to secrecy by this new club thing Murdoc’s got going. Russ reckons Cracker Island is a well nice place where the sun shines bright and birds never crap on your shoes.

Ok, last question. Now that you’re an LA resident living in Silver Lake. Which do you prefer, the beaches or the bars?

Have they got beaches here? I’m still looking for the lake. You ain’t seen it, have you?

Check out Gorillaz in Los Angeles or in a city near you.
Cracker Island is out 2/24/2023 via Parlophone. Pre-save it here.
Gorillaz is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

After claiming that he was cleared of gun possession charges stemming from a June traffic stop for speeding, DDG has been charged with two counts of firearm possession (carrying a loaded weapon and carrying a concealed weapon) and one of reckless driving. They are all misdemeanor charges. If he’s convicted, he could spend a year in jail for each of the gun charges and/or 90 days for reckless driving, along with fines and penalties.

In June, DDG’s manager, Dimitri Hurt, told TMZ that new California gun laws allowed for concealed weapons and that the District Attorney had dropped the charges. However, it appears that Hurt was mistaken (or lying), or that the District Attorney’s office changed its collective mind about the charges. DDG was pulled over on June 7 for speeding in his Lamborghini on the way to a video shoot, when he told the officers he had a loaded 9mm in the car. He was arrested and posted $35,000 bail a few hours later.

The Pontiac, Michigan rapper has received increased attention over the past few months, in large part due to his public courtship of R&B singer/Disney princess, Halle Bailey. The pair recently appeared together in DDG’s video for “If I Want You,” his latest single.

Courtney Barnett brought the cowbell and vibes to Late Night With Seth Meyers on Monday night (September 19) for a moody performance of “Turning Green.” The free-spirited love song is from Barnett’s latest album, Things Take Time, Take Time, from last November. The acclaimed Australian indie-rocker recently appeared on late-night TV with this July performance of “Before You Gotta Go” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and she previously stopped by Seth Meyers in late 2018.

This time, Barnett held her own on a night where Meyers also welcomed Quinta Brunson and John Oliver. “Turning Green” is a dichotomous example of Barnett’s versatility — an optimistic story of transformation underscored by a transfixing drum machine beat. “The trees are turning green,” she sang slowly in the second verse. “In this springtime, lethargy / Is kind of forcing you to see / Flowers in the weeds.” After delivering the third verse, Barnett launched into a two-minute guitar solo that made it easy to forget she’s on Late Night and not headlining a concret.

Earlier this month, Barnett wrapped her ambitious Here And There touring festival that featured a revolving lineup including Japanese Breakfast, Lucy Dacus, and even Fred Armisen. The innovative tour produced a limited-run Here And There: B-Sides, Live Tracks + Demos compilation project to benefit Advocates For Youth and the National Network Of Abortion Funds. She will head to Germany on October 28 to kickstart a run of European dates, which can be seen here.

Watch Barnett’s performance of “Turning Green” above.

Yesterday (September 19), Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine faced accusations from model Sumner Stroh that he cheated on his wife, Victoria’s Secret model Behati Prinsloo, with her over the course of a year. Furthermore, Stroh said Levine wanted to name his baby after her. Now, Levine has offered a response.

Levine told TMZ in a statement:

“I used poor judgment in speaking with anyone other than my wife in ANY kind of flirtatious manner. I did not have an affair, nevertheless, I crossed the line during a regrettable period of my life. […] In certain instances it became inappropriate. I have addressed that and taken proactive steps to remedy this with my family. […] My wife and my family is all I care about in this world. To be this naive and stupid enough to risk the only thing that truly matters to me was the greatest mistake I could ever make. I will never make it again. I take full responsibility. We will get through it and we will get through it together.”

In her video, Stroh explained, “Essentially, I was having an affair with a man who was married to a Victoria’s Secret model. […] Maroon 5 is practically elevator music at this point, so I’m sure you know who Adam Levine is. But Adam and I were seeing each other for about a year.”

Levine and Prinsloo have two children together, 5-year-old Dusty Rose and 4-year-old Gio Grace, as well as the aforementioned third child on the way.