Category: News

The debate over Kendrick Lamar’s selection as the 2025 Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show headliner has died down. But is is sure to pick back up closer to the performance’s date in February 2025. For now, the “Not Like Us” rapper’s musician friends are in full support of him.

Yesterday (October 24), Rihanna doubled down on her stance at the Fenty x Puma Avanti launch held at BLT Studios in Los Angeles, California. During a chat with Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier (viewable here), Kendrick’s “Loyalty” collaborator and former Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime performer expanded on her subtle nod when she liked the announcement on Instagram with a full statement.

“GOAT,” she said. “Let’s go. What is there to doubt on that? It’s a diamond on a ring finger, honey; it’s meant to be. It’s Kendrick Lamar.”

While many rap fans felt the slot should’ve gone to Lil Wayne, Rihanna expressed why it was Kendrick’s for the taking.

“Kendrick Lamar is the one that’s supposed to do it right now,” she said. “He’s going to crush it. We should never doubt him. He’s an amazing artist. Top-tier. He had an incredible year. He actually brought so many people together. It’s to be celebrated. That’s what culture is. He deserves it. I can not wait to see it. Kendrick, thank you.”

Rihanna isn’t the only superstar to throw their support behind Kendrick’s upcoming set. Despite the pushback, last month Jay-Z, the show’s curator gave his stamp of approval with a statement.

In a tweet shared last night (October 24), Doja Cat wrote simply, “album.” That’s it, that’s the tweet.

The immediate takeaway from this is that Doja is teasing the release of a new album. It would make sense for her to have a new project set for 2025. Her past three albums — 2019’s Hot Pink, 2021’s Planet Her, and 2023’s Scarlet — all arrived about two years apart, so a 2025 LP would put Doja right on schedule.

A new album rollout would be starting from scratch, since Doja hasn’t released any new singles single Scarlet or the deluxe edition from earlier this year, Scarlet 2 Claude.

While it’s unclear if Doja actually has a new album on the way or has even been working on one, she has kept busy in 2024. Aside from Scarlet 2 Claude, Doja has also toured (and gotten pretty mad over a wardrobe malfunction and encouraged parents attending her shows to leave their kids at home), had a terrific Coachella set, picked a bone with Fortnite, got hacked on X (Twitter) and didn’t seem too bothered, spawned the “Ass-zilla” meme, returned from a social media break with a pole-dancing video, and on multiple occasions denied she’s secretly engaged or married to Joseph Quinn.

Even after 16, soon-to-be 17 seasons, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is breaking new ground in bad taste. And that’s why it’s so great.

It’s Always Sunny creator and star Rob McElhenney recently shared a Standards and Practices note for an upcoming episode on Instagram. “Caution on a scene where Dennis [redacted],” it read. “Any graphic bestiality simulation must be avoided for cuts airing on both FX linear channel & the Hulu platform. Given the nature of the scenes always shoot alternate angles and positioning so that there are options to work with should they be needed during Post Production. Please keep the [redacted].”

It’s Always Sunny fans quickly figured out the censored text: “Caution on the scene where Dennis shoots video footage of him masturbating a dog & when Dennis holds up a Tupperware container” and “Please keep the semen Tupperware as generic and nondescript as possible.”

It appears the gang (who have reconvened to start shooting the new season) challenged the ruling, to no avail. “Not a good sign,” McElhenney wrote in another Instagram Story along with a letter that read, “This message confirms that Standards & Practices has reviewed the materials referenced above and there are no new notes for linear and/or non-linear platforms.”

You can read the note below (via Cracked):

Tupperware’s influence over TV grows more powerful every day.

Muna singer Katie Gavin’s debut solo album, What A Relief, is out today, October 25. In honor of the occasion, she released a video for the somber track “As Good As It Gets,” featuring none other than Mitski.

“This song was an attempt at a realistic love song,” Gavin said in a statement. “Some people may hear it as a break up song. It concerns itself with the everyday feeling of a long term relationship, and the assertion of ‘I think this is as good as it gets’ evokes the question ‘…is this as good as it gets?’ I am honored to have Mitski singing on this song, and am so glad we got to make a video for it with Alexa Viscius.”

Gavin previously said that What A Relief “spans a lot of my life – it’s about having a really deep desire for connection, but also encountering all the obstacles that stood in my way to be able to achieve that, patterns of isolation or even boredom with the real work of love. What A Relief explores and portrays it honestly, without shame.”

You can watch the video above.

What A Relief is out now via Saddest Factory Records. Find more information here.

Although Kurt Cobain was only 27 when he died, he accomplished a lot in his few years by becoming a generational music icon as the leader of Nirvana. Still, given that he died in 1994, he missed out on a lot of modern technologies.

This is something Helen Mirren apparently thinks about a lot.

In a new interview with Evening Standard, Mirren said:

“I always say, it’s so sad that Kurt Cobain died when he did, because he never got to see GPS. It’s the most wonderful thing, my little blue spot walking down the street. I just find it completely magical and unbelievable.”

Technically speaking, the US Department Of Defense launched GPS in 1978 and it was made available for civilian use in 1983, so GPS was around before Cobain’s 1994 death. But, Cobain certainly did miss out on what Mirren is more specifically referring to: widespread use of GPS navigation on modern smartphones.

This actually isn’t Mirren’s first time discussing the modern technologies Cobain didn’t get the chance to fully experience: In a 2014 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Mirren said while discussing aging, “You either die young or get old. There’s no other way. I didn’t want to die young. Look at Kurt Cobain — he hardly even saw a computer! The digital stuff that’s going on is so exciting. I’m just so curious about what happens next.”

Lil Durk was arrested and charged in a murder-for-hire plot, CBS News and ABC7 Chicago report. Reports say the Chicago rapper was arrested in Florida by US Marshals last night (October 24).

Per TMZ, the case is regarding the August 2022 shooting that resulted in the death of Quando Rondo’s cousin, as Rondo was suspected to be involved in the 2020 death of Durk associate King Von.

As Chicago’s WGN9 reports, Durk’s arrest follows the arrest of five other men in connection to the case: Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Keith Jones, David Brian Lindsey, and Asa Houston. The unsealed indictment reveals they face charges including “conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, committing murder-for-hire resulting in death, as well as the use of, carry and discharge of firearms and a machinegun in the furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death.” The five are alleged to have ties to Durk’s group Only The Family (OTF), and The Chicago Tribune notes they could face the death penalty if convicted on those charges.

The indictment claims that following Von’s death, an unnamed OTF member offered money and “lucrative music opportunities” to anybody who would kill Rondo. The indictment also alleges OTF members used an OTF-associated credit card to fly the five defendants to California to look for Rondo.

In 2022, Durk had 2019 attempted murder charges dropped. He said at the time, “I have nothing to hide. I have nothing to run from.”

Steven and Ian open this week’s episode with some Halloween discourse, which unexpectedly dips into some Kindergarten Cop discourse. Then they turn to the Fantasy Albums Draft, which includes two new releases on Steven’s team, Soccer Mommy’s Evergreen and Laura Marling’s Patterns In Repeat. They also talk about the careers of both artists, and the state of 2010s era singer-songwriters in the mid-2020s. They also discuss the upcoming Tyler The Creator record, which drops on Monday, and the benefits of putting out music during the week rather than right before the weekend. From there, they talk about the recent Bon Iver EP Sable, which is the most straightforward music he’s ever made, and his influence on contemporary artists.

In the mailbag, they address a listener question about cover songs. How many is too many? Does Vampire Weekend tip into “too many territory” on their current tour?

In Recommendation Corner, Ian stumps for electronic artist Kelly Lee Owens and Steven talks up the Nashville trio Styrofoam Winos.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 212 here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

Charles Barkley has never been shy about how little he’ll follow the NBA during the offseason. It leads to Barkley receiving a ton of criticism — and to be clear, there is certainly something to the most prominent pundit in the league not diving into the nitty-gritty of the league that closely — but at the same time, the Inside the NBA folks have found a way to turn this into a popular segment early in the year: Who He Play For?

If you are unaware of the rules, Barkley gets presented a player and has to name their team. It usually goes horribly, and on Thursday night, it went horribly, as The Chuckster went 1-for-5.

Here’s how things went down:

Taj Gibson

Team: Charlotte Hornets
Chuck’s guess: New Jersey Nets

Talen Horton-Tucker

Team: Chicago Bulls
Chuck’s guess: Utah Jazz

Patty Mills

Team: Utah Jazz
Chuck’s guess: Utah Jazz

Doug McDermott

Team: Sacramento Kings
Chuck’s guess: Detroit Pistons

Garrett Temple

Team: Toronto Raptors
Chuck’s guess: Portland Trail Blazers

Of course, it’s possible this is the last time we see Who He Play For?, as Turner does not have NBA broadcasting rights after this year and it’s unclear what Inside will look like going forward, even though Barkley has committed to remaining with the network. If this is, indeed, the final time we’ll see the game, we’re just glad Chuck got to guess what team Garrett Temple plays for one final time.

Fame ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. Halsey shares her thoughts on the subject on her wistful new song, “Only Living Girl In LA.” In it, she wonders, “If I ever left behind my body / Do you think they’d laugh at how I died? / Or take a photo of my family in the lobby? / The ceremony’s small in size… / ’Cause I don’t know if I could sell out my own funeral / At least, not at this point in time.”

Her words are extra poignant in the wake of the death of former One Direction member Liam Payne, after photos of his body were shared by TMZ, sparking a backlash among fans. In “Only Living Girl In LA,” Halsey ponders the public’s appetite for lurid stories about their favorite celebrities, and how quickly the audience can jump from one topic to the next, making artists feel lost and inadequate in the wake.

It’s an appropriate concept for an album called The Great Impersonator, which Halsey released today after sharing similarly introspective singles such as “I Never Loved You,” “Ego,” and “Lonely Is The Muse.” The singer previously said she thought the album “would be the last one I ever made” due to a lupus diagnosis and the resulting health problems, including a recent seizure.

You can listen to “Only Living Girl In LA” above.

The Great Impersonator is out now via Columbia Records. Find more information here.

Listeners better heed the words of Summer Walker‘s gracious new single, “Heart Of A Woman.” The throwback-sounding R&B ballad warns a fella who’s been slipping that the “only thing that’s saving you is the heart of a woman.” The graciously minded new track will appear on Summer’s upcoming third album, Finally Over It, and in keeping with the theme, it sounds less confrontational than her past output. Instead, she’s exasperated, fed up, and resigned — which is, to all you younger cats out there, never a good thing, trust me.

Walker has been teasing a new project for the past few weeks, updating streamers with the title of her upcoming third album, while leaving fans to guess at just how “over it” she really was, until finally revealing the “Finally” part on October 11, along with the announcement for “Heart Of A Woman.” Although Walker has yet to reveal the release date for the upcoming album, it’s already one of the most anticipated new music releases of the year, thanks to the warm reception of her prior releases, Over It and Still Over It. They both set new records in terms of R&B and with the excitement for number three reaching all-time highs, you can bet Finally Over It will make just as much of a splash.

You can listen to “Heart Of A Woman” above.