Category: News

NPR is continuing to highlight rising Latin acts with the El Tiny spin-off of the Tiny Desk series. Argentine rapper Trueno is the latest artist to perform his hits in a stripped-down performance that was released yesterday (September 27).

NPR brought back the El Tiny spin-off of Tiny Desk for Latinx Heritage Month. Omar Apollo was the first artist to kick off the series on September 15 with his performance that helped his hit “Evergreen” break into the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Mexican singer Girl Ultra followed his lead and now Trueno is proudly representing Argentina on El Tiny.

This past year, Trueno has become a revelation in the Latin rap scene. Back in May, he made global headlines when the Gorillaz brought him out a special guest during the band’s Quilmes Rock set in Argentina. Trueno performed a freestyle rap in Spanish over the Gorillaz classic “Clint Eastwood.” Later that month, he released his breakthrough album Bien O Mal.

Trueno’s El Tiny performance was filmed at a conventillo, Argentina’s influential co-opt-like communities. He opened his set with “Dance Crip,” his ode to hip-hop’s roots that interpolated “Rapper’s Delight” by Sugarhill Gang. From his Bien O Mal album, Trueno also performed the title track and “Tierra Zanta.” The most powerful moment of his set was his performance of “Argentina,” his rap anthem for his country where he shouted out each one of its provinces.

Back in July, Trueno received support from J Balvin when they released the collaboration “Un Paso.” Trueno is nominated for Best Rap/Hip-Hop Song for “Dance Crip” at the 2022 Latin Grammy Awards.

Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (henceforth referred to as Dahmer) is a big hit for Netflix, with an upsetting number of people watching the Ryan Murphy/Ian Brennan-created limited series starring Evan Peters as the serial killer. But it’s also faced backlash from not only Joe Pera, but the families of Dahmer’s victims as well.

“I’m not telling anyone what to watch, I know true crime media is huge rn,” Eric Perry, the cousin of Dahmer’s first victim, Errol Lindsey, tweeted, “but if you’re actually curious about the victims, my family (the Isbell’s) are pissed about this show. It’s retraumatizing over and over again, and for what? How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?” Lindsey’s sister, Rita Isbell (who is played by actress DaShawn Barnes in the series), also spoke out against Dahmer in an essay for Insider:

I was never contacted about the show. I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it. They didn’t ask me anything. They just did it. But I’m not money hungry, and that’s what this show is about, Netflix trying to get paid.

I could even understand it if they gave some of the money to the victims’ children. Not necessarily their families. I mean, I’m old. I’m very, very comfortable. But the victims have children and grandchildren. If the show benefited them in some way, it wouldn’t feel so harsh and careless. It’s sad that they’re just making money off of this tragedy. That’s just greed.

You can read the rest of the essay here.

(Via Insider)

Tyler The Creator may have chilled out a bunch from his early days terrorizing the music world and raising hell for the fun of it, but he’s still quite the mischievous scamp when he wants to be. Lately, the main target of his pranks appears to be ASAP Rocky, whose recent struggles to exit a mosh pit during his abridged Rolling Loud headlining set have given Tyer plenty of fodder for his antics. After trolling Rocky by turning his profile pic into a screenshot of Rocky’s distressed face from the video, Tyler upped the ante, getting the photo printed on a birthday cake for Odd Future member Jasper Dolphin (Rocky’s birthday is next week, so don’t be surprised to see a repeat).

ASAP Rocky and Tyler The Creator’s friendship appears to be both endearing and excruciating as the two have pestered each other and collaborated repeatedly throughout the years. There was a bit of a troll war on Instagram Live a couple of years ago and before that, Tyler shared his joy at Rocky’s release from Swedish jail by chasing the Harlem rapper around the studio. But for all that, they’ve got a lot of loyalty too; while Rocky was locked up, Tyler vowed to never tour Sweden again.

Lizzo had some kind words to say about her friend and fellow musician, SZA. In an excerpt in Time‘s 2022 Time100 Next issue, Lizzo shared an account about how she met SZA in Minneapolis before either of them had risen to mainstream fame.

At the time of their first meeting, they took a selfie together, not knowing they would form a long-term friendship. A year after their first encounter, Lizzo booked a tour with SZA as the headliner. Shortly after, the two would watch each other blow up in the music world.

“When she dropped Ctrl, her debut studio album, it was a cultural f*cking reset,” Lizzo said of her friend in the magazine. “She changed the world! The authenticity in her craft — the way she’s able to tell her story and the way she uses melody — is extraordinary. No one can replicate that. When she’s onstage, she’s timeless. She’s someone who’s the real deal, and I think that she’s well on her way to being regarded as one of the greatest songwriters and singers of all time.”

You can watch SZA’s video interview here.

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

Eli Manning’s second act has gone pretty well. After retiring from the NFL as a two-time Super Bowl winner at the conclusion of the 2019 campaign, Manning has become one of the most engaging television personalities in the game. His weekly broadcast of Monday Night Football alongside his brother Peyton is must-watch, while he’s gotten his own show on ESPN+, Eli’s Places.

Recently, that show has led to the longtime New York Giants signal caller generating a ton of attention for a character named Chad Powers, who attempted to walk on as a quarterback at Penn State. Even he admits he’s surprised the character took off the way it did, to the point that there are rumblings that we could get a whole lot more of Powers sometime soon.

Uproxx Sports caught up with Manning this week via his partnership with IBM and the ESPN Fantasy Football app to discuss Powers, his recent love of fantasy football, the Giants, and more.

You took a trip to my alma mater over the summer and it turns out that just blew up — every group chat that I’m in, every Penn State grad that I know seems to have shared and loved it, and it went beyond us. Did you have any indication the whole Chad Powers thing was going to catch on like it did?

No, I didn’t know it would catch on quite like it did. I was excited for this show and this idea. We’d finished shooting everything, every other episode, really back in June and early July. We had to wait six weeks for the tryout day, to go to Penn State — I was looking forward to it just because … just the idea of getting to try out and getting to play football, I haven’t played in three years, I was antsy to get there and see if I could still throw it and make plays.

And there was really no script, just got to figure it out as you go. No one knows who Chad Powers is, go create him. Whatever comes out, make up stuff and just roll with it. And so that was the idea, and it was fun just seeing the reactions, seeing some of the coaches just very confused — like, “I know something’s going on, but I’m not quite sure what.” They were asking me a ton of questions, which is great, because then I get to make up more story about Chad. It was fun, I enjoyed it, and I’m glad that a lot of people have gotten to check it out and see it.

You were quite the college football player, but that was 20 or so years ago. What’s the biggest thing that you learned about what it’s like to be a college football player in 2022 from that experience?

Well, it’s all shotgun now as a quarterback. I didn’t take one snap under center during the tryout, it was all shotgun, shotgun footwork. That was very different than when I was there. I mean, we were still third-and-10 under center, dropping back in college. The game has changed a little bit, you are throwing the ball a lot more, but the offensive scheme is totally different.

You’re here because I hear you’ve become quite the fantasy football player. Is that right?

Since retirement, I’ve gotten into fantasy football, it’s been a lot of fun. I have to admit, my first year, I was very bad at it. I was drafting former teammates and friends of mine, it was all on a personal standpoint, I did not pay attention to any of the data that IBM or Watson and AI were telling me, I just went, hey, I played football, I know the game, I know who’s gonna be good. That didn’t work — Trade Analyzer was my biggest friend in trying to trade to get a decent team.

But now, my third year of doing it, my daughter and I are on the same team with a couple other friends and their kids in a league. And so that’s been a lot of fun, having her and getting her into the game. And so each week, the great thing about it, she sees one player play well the week before, she’s like, “Dad, we gotta get this guy on the team, did you see that catch? Let’s trade Ja’Marr Chase and get this guy.” And I’m like, no, let’s just put that in the Trade Analyzer, let’s see if that’s a good idea. It comes back, no, bad idea, and she listens to it each week, we look at the boom and bust and we make decisions.

I’ve gotten into it, and I think with IBM and Watson and all the data and information, it’s not just the hard stats, they’re looking at the podcasts and the blogs and what’s going on, what’s being said, really just getting great information. So, it’s been fun. I’m a little more involved and into it than I thought I would get into it having not played before.

Why did you wait until after your playing days? Was it just scratching that competitive itch, does the NFL have some rules about this, or was it, “hey, you know, I just don’t know if this is for me”?

I had the real game to worry about. I was trying to learn plays and I was trying to win games and compete, and I just didn’t need to worry about it. Who am I starting this week? Oh, it’s Thursday at six, I have to set my lineup, who’s playing Thursday night? I wouldn’t have been focused, I wouldn’t have been committed to it. And so, even the first year I did it, I didn’t know what my commitment would be, if I would be into it or not. But it’s just fun, it’s fun watching other teams and rooting for guys. Even with my daughter, getting her involved into it, and we’re watching our players, but she wants to watch the other players, and we’re on a group text chain with all the parents and kids, and there’s trash talk going on.

It’s made a fun environment and a little bit of a different way to watch football. I still watch the Giants and I root for them, but now, Sundays, you’re peeking in at moments and [wondering] how’s my team doing? Hey, who should we watch? We need this player on Monday night to have a big game, you gonna watch a little bit with me? It gets the kids into it and that’s what makes it fun. That’s a great thing about fantasy football, it gets people to know more about players all across the league and what they’re doing, it gets them watching games they normally wouldn’t watch because of their team.

You brought them up, let’s talk about the Giants — 2-1 this year, the one came last night. Obviously you never want to lose but I feel like you can always take away a couple of positives from losses, things to build on. What were the biggest things that jumped out from last night’s game against the Cowboys?

Well, I think they came out in the second half and played really well. And they just got to figure out how to get a little quicker start, and I thought last night, they started up tempo that first drive, they didn’t move the ball, had to settle for a field goal that, unfortunately, got blocked. But I thought they did a lot of good things, are finding ways to keep games close in the fourth quarter, they just couldn’t quite make the plays they needed last night. That’s gonna happen, they made some plays in the other games to put us in that situation.

So, I think the confidence is there that they can win those games, they can make those plays in critical moments. You saw there were a couple plays that were there on the sidelines in the fourth quarter, they just didn’t complete them. So, they’re putting themselves in positions to win these games. You’re not going to win every one, but I think they’re playing good football and they feel good about where they are right now.

I want to ask about two guys before we wrap up, the first one is Daniel. Obviously you were there for day one for him, and with the understanding you haven’t been around him every single day, where’s the area as you watch that you’ve seen him grow the most compared to when he was just a rookie?

Well, I think Daniel’s just learned the timing of the NFL, and I think he’s done a good job of making better decisions, understanding coverages and looks and “nothing’s gonna be open right here, I can tuck and run and get positive yards,” and not holding it waiting, waiting for something to maybe open up. I thought last night Daniel played really well in a tough environment, tough situation, a lot of pressure coming — he took five sacks but also saved maybe six or seven sacks from happening just by moving in the pocket, scrambling, keeping his eyes downfield, making plays, running when he had to.

He never let the pressure and taking those hits and the constant movement in the pocket make him make a bad decision and turn the ball over. That’s how you have to win these games, be patient, it might be tough at first, but don’t make the big mistakes. That can keep you in the game into those fourth quarters and then make some great plays. I thought he threw a couple of great balls in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, you have a wide receiver trip coming out of a break, threw an interception. Those hurt. Those are unfortunate. So, I thought he played a solid game and put the team in a situation to win these games.

The other guy is Saquon. The last two years have obviously been a bit rough for him, but I think he’s looking like Saquon Barkley again. As someone who has lined up in a backfield next to him, what does him being at his best do for the other 10 guys on the field with him?

Well, I think it puts a lot of attention … the defense pays him a lot of attention, and so it should free up the outside for a little bit more man to get some explosive plays, hit guys on the move where you can throw it short and get guys running. So, it’s just a matter of everybody coming together and everybody doing their role, also making the plays when you get the opportunity. But he’s still a guy you want to find ways to get the ball in his hands — run the ball, screen, put him out wide, just move him around. He’s so talented that you can try to create some mismatches and you don’t just have to hand it off to him and there’s gonna be eight guys in the box trying to stop them. You can move him around and try to get the ball to him in space, because he’s one tackle away from making a big play every time.

AMC’s Interview With The Vampire hasn’t even premiered yet (that happens on Oct. 2), but the powers that be saw fit to announce a renewal. A surprise move? Yes, this might seem a bit premature, but the show is very good and actually better than the movie (which obviously starred Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt). This updated version of the story does still largely take place beginning in 1900, but it also zooms ahead to 2022, where Louis (Jacob Anderson of Game of Thrones) is still telling his tales to the journalist (Eric Bogosian), who’s a bit exasperated at this point. It’s fun, and Sam Reid gives a more refined version of Lestat, but don’t worry, things still get wild. As well, Bailey Bass is incredible as young Claudia, who’s not as young as she was in the movie.

As stated already, AMC is feeling so confident about this revival that a second season is in the works, and the story will move to Europe. Via Variety, showrunner Rolin Jones (who adapted the Anne Rice book after she did so with the 1994 movie) issued a celebratory statement:

“Bulgaria. Romania. Paris. (Ah Paris!) San Francisco. New Orleans. Dubai. The writing staff of ‘Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire’ is honored, humbled, and hungry to add more stamps to our vamps’ passport books. All praises be to our fearless network, we shall endeavor not to screw it up.”

Likewise, AMC Networks original programming President Dan McDermott declared, “This stellar cast deliver powerful performances that emotionally connect us to these characters and their humanity.” That’s absolutely correct, and Louis is very updated and textured, as is his relationship with Lestat, which is explicitly queer and full of both fun and fury. I’m interested to see the audience reaction in only a few days.

In the meantime, AMC also revealed a still from another upcoming Anne Rice adaptation, Mayfair Witches. Here, we have Alexandra Daddario as a neurosurgeon who also happens to be a witchy heir and also happens to have discovered a massive crow on her windshield. Happens!

AMC’s ‘Interview With The Vampire’ premieres on Sunday, October 2 at 10:00pm EST. Mayfair Witches will arrive in 2023.

For all its convenience, Netflix comes with its fair share of annoyances, too. There’s, of course, the escalating subscription prices — which currently has one out of every four subscribers reconsidering their memberships. Not to mention the shame that comes with the pop-up message asking if you’re still watching Too Hot to Handle? (The answer is always “yes,” Netflix. Get off my back.) And while placing titles in bizarre, if not just outright wrong categories, is a Netflix specialty, the streamer’s decision to tag Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story as an LGBTQ title has understandably outraged viewers, media, and activists alike.

The new Ryan Murphy miniseries, which portrays the life and death of the notorious cannibalistic serial killer, dropped last week and has already amassed nearly 200 million viewers. While the series has reignited the debate over the way in which true crime series such as Monster re-traumatize the families of the real victims, Netflix has also been called out for one very intentional — and controversial — decision: categorizing Monster as an LGBTQ series. After being faced with a tidal wave of backlash, Advocate reports that Netflix has now removed the tag.

While Netflix has yet to offer an official explanation for its original classification, The Independent wrote that “It has been speculated that the reason the series was initially marked ‘LGBTQ’ was that many of Dahmer’s victims were LGBTQ, or because of Dahmer’s own sexuality.”

In a post that has since gone viral, TikToker lizthelezbo wanted to know why Netflix would categorize the series as LGBTQ. “I know it’s technically true,” she said, “but this is not the representation we’re looking for.”

@lizthelezbo

♬ original sound – liz

As Advocate noted, the LGBTQ+ community in Milwaukee — where Dahmer lived when he brutally murdered 17 men and boys over more than a decade between 1978 and his arrest in 1991 — is particularly upset by the series, which stars Evan Peters as Dahmer.

“I feel like it fetishizes this whole horrible moment in Milwaukee history,” drag performer B.J. Daniels, who performed at one of the clubs Dahmer regularly trolled for victims, told Milwaukee ABC affiliate WISN. “I know a lot of my friends, and a lot of people who lived through this period, will not be watching it. They will not be putting money into somebody’s pocket that is literally disturbing the graves of victims.”

(Via Advocate)

Los Angeles police have identified a pair of suspects in the murder of Philadelphia rapper PnB Rock, arresting one, according to TMZ. The LAPD says it has arrested a 17-year-old for shooting and killing PnB Rock at Roscoe’s House Of Chicken ‘N Waffles in South Los Angeles on September 12, while another suspect, the boy’s father, is still wanted. Police say the man, Freddie Lee Trone, drove the getaway car after the fatal shots were fired and have put out a photo for more information. After escaping with Rock’s jewelry, police say the killers burned the getaway car.

In addition, a new theory has emerged about how the rapper was targeted. Police now believe that the father and son were already in the parking lot when the rapper arrived, removing the possibility that he was targeted due to his social media posts. Fans were quick to speculate that social media played a role in the rapper’s death, likely due to the murder of Pop Smoke during a home invasion in 2020. In that case, the killers were said to have learned the address of his rental home from a video he posted on his Instagram Story.

Police also looked into the possibility that Rock’s established enemies had set up a hit; now, it appears that the attack was nothing more than a crime of opportunity.

Is the idea of hopping aboard a helicopter and spending a day shooting feral pigs with Marjorie Taylor Greene your idea of a good time? If your answer is “hell yeah,” we’re so sorry. But it looks like your dream date could actually become a reality.

On Tuesday, Mediaite shared that the kooky congresswoman from Georgia posted a video to YouTube (which you can watch above) in which she managed to conflate a handful of different issues, all in less than 45 seconds. “We’ve got skyrocketing inflation, high diesel fuel [prices], and Democrats’ America Last policies,” Marge says while dressed in her Rambo best. Which somehow brings her to… wild hogs?!

These savage swine are wreaking havoc for America’s farmers, and MTG is sick of it. So she’s ready to strap into a ‘copter with her trusty AR-15 style rifle — much like the one she gave away last year in another ill-conceived contest — and start picking off the little piggies one by one. And she wants you to join her!

Interested parties can sign up to “win” here. If you’re chosen as Marge’s designated hog-hunting partner, you’ll be able to bring a guest (lucky them!) and you’ll both receive round-trip airfare to Texas, ground transportation, and lodging — not to mention all the stories you’ll be able to tell. (If you could find out why the promo video keeps showing Greene being struck by lightning and seemingly turning into some sort of QAnon zombie, that would be great, too.)

Even Greene doesn’t seem too sure about this whole endeavor. As she notes in bold on the contest page, “Someone has to win…might as well be you!” Which only sort of sounds like a threat.

(Via Mediaite)

Burna Boy continues to promote his new album, Love, Damini, with a new video for “It’s Plenty.” Opening with footage from his tour, on which he’s been filling up venues and packing festival stages, the video follows the self-proclaimed African Giant from the barbershop to his private plane to the streets of Jamaica, where a Carnival celebration is going in full force.

Burna Boy’s next festival appearance will be at the 2022 Lost In Riddim Afrobeats Music Festival in East San Jose on the weekend of Nigerian Independence Day, October 1st and 2nd. He’s headlining alongside Wizkid and Davido, presiding over a massive lineup that runs the gamut of the African diaspora, from Afrobeats to dancehall to grime.

Continuing his Love, Damini rollout, Burna Boy put in an appearance at 30 Rock in New York City to perform the album’s standout track “Last Last” on The Tonight Show. He’s also put out vibrant videos for the singles “Vanilla” and “For My Hand” with Ed Sheeran, as well as sold-out a show at the Madison Square Garden — becoming the first Nigerian artist to headline a show there in the process.

Watch Burna Boy’s “It’s Plenty” video above.

Burna Boy is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.