Category: News

Earlier this weekend, rapper Quando Rondo was reported to have been shot. A member of Rondo’s team later released a statement saying that Rondo was involved in a shooting, however, was not shot himself, noting, “Quando was involved in a shooting yesterday evening [Friday] which resulted in the untimely death of another’s young man’s life; he himself didn’t sustain any injuries during the shooting and is safe.”

According to Fox 11 News, investigators have since concluded that the three prime suspects of the shooting intended to shoot Rondo.

“A wild scene here as investigators say the apparent target of this deadly gunfire, a rapper of from the Atlanta area — they say a pretty well-known rapper, too — in this area along with a second person in this back Cadillac Escalade — may have been a relative, may have been a member of his entourage — we don’t know,” said reporter Ed Laskos. “But it’s that second person, not the rapper, it’s that second person who was hit by gunfire, dies by the gunfire.”

The victim of the shooting was treated by paramedics and taken to a local hospital. He was later pronounced dead.

At the time of reporting, the 22-year-old suspect Timothy Leeks — also known as Lul Tim — has been arrested.

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

It’s been a rollercoaster summer, but one of the most delightful running gags of the season has been the repeated humiliation of congressional candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz. The former TV star wants so badly to fill a vacating Senate seat in Pennsylvania he even moved from Jersey. Unfortunately, he’s running against John Fetterman, who’s spent the last few months mercilessly, creatively trolling his opponent. But sometimes all Fetterman has to do is wait for others to dig up some dirt then do the pouncing.

Over the weekend, people dug up some old tweets Oz made when he was a television health adviser of dubious credibility. These were about poop. They might even be helpful; one’s leavings are a good sign of how healthy one is (or isn’t). Trouble is, at least one tweet, from 2013, featured a generic link to his website…which is now all about his troubled senatorial campaign. Which means that it now reads weird.

Fetterman was quick to turn the gaffe into yet another of his Oz burns.

Turns out there are lots and lots and lots of Oz tweets on the subject of feces.

Poop-gate comes mere days after Oz was dragged about a bizarre video he recorded back in April, in which he tried to connect with salt-of-the-earth Pennsylvania voters by gathering ingredients for a deeply strange version of “crudité.” (That’s “vegetable tray” to everyone else.) The mockery was so bad even Tucker Carlson couldn’t help laughing about it. Meanwhile, Oz’s most high profile cheerleader, Donald Trump, sure isn’t laughing about how badly he may lose.

(Via The New York Post)

HBO has revealed another trailer for its upcoming series, The Idol. The series will tell the story of “a self-help guru and leader of a modern-day cult, who develops a complicated relationship with an up-and-coming pop idol,” according to a statement.

In the latest trailer, which says the series is spawned from “the gutters of Hollywood,” Lily Rose Depp seemingly appears as a pop star named Jocelyn, as she storms through a record label office, exercises in her mansion, parties in a club, and

The trailer teases appearances from several musicians, including The Weeknd, Moses Sumney, Jennie Ruby Jane of Blackpink, Troye Sivan, Ramsey, and producer Mike Dean. Actors Dan Levy, Hank Azaria, Suzanna Son, Jane Adams, and Rachel Sennott, also appear in the trailer.

The Idol is the newest project from Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, who is developing the show alongside The Weeknd.

Britney Spears is also rumored to have a part in the upcoming series, as she posted a picture of herself, The Weeknd, and Levinson on set earlier this year.

As of now, there is no confirmed premiere date for The Idol, but according to the trailer, we can expect it soon.

Check out the latest trailer above.

Joe Manchin’s a big hero of the Democratic party right now, but only because for a long time he wasn’t. He may have helped get a light version of President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” passed through Congress. But for ages, the West Virginia senator has been one of the thorns in his party’s side, being one of the only lawmakers holding up legislation that could help turn Biden’s agenda into a reality. The other is Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema, and together the two have been seen as a kind of anti-dynamic duo. But now that one of them has flip-flopped and helped their own party, the pair seem to be at odds.

As per NBC News, Manchin threw some shade Sinema’s way during a roundtable in his home state. He was talking about the newly enacted Inflation Reduction Act, the most sweeping legislation passed during the Biden era. Among other benefits, it allows Medicare for the first time to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies. Still, the bill could have been even better, and there was someone, he said, who put the kibosh on that.

“We had a senator from Arizona who basically didn’t let us go as far as we needed to go with our negotiations and made us wait two years,” Manchin said in a video of the event that was viewed by NBC News. “Those type of things — I don’t question anybody, everyone’s responding to their own constituent base. But we did get something. And it’s the first time we made a positive move in that.”

And which Arizona senator was this? It couldn’t be Mark Kelly, a Democrat who was always a bully for the bill. That leaves Sinema, who predictably kept her decision on how she would vote on the bill in the dark until the last minute. (She quietly voted yes.) Whereas Manchin is enjoying newfound love from Democrats — a big 180 from only a few weeks prior — Sinema’s popularity remains in the gutter.

(Via NBC News)

Perhaps no franchise in gaming has been in more dire need of a reboot than Madden. EA Sports’ premier title is the most consistent part of the gaming calendar, with a guaranteed August release every single year, but with that consistency has become a noticeable drop in quality. Fans have grown tired of every year being a slog of annoying (albeit very funny) glitches, the lack of major updates to modes like Franchise, and almost all emphasis going to Ultimate Team or timed events in The Yard.

So, is Madden NFL 23 that much-needed reboot? No, but it’s a necessary step in the right direction that the franchise desperately needed. Madden NFL 23 still has many of the same issues that may just be attributed to how difficult it is to make a yearly sports game, but those problems are far more tolerable when the actual act of playing simulation football works. This is not the best sports game out there — it’s not even the best sports game produced by EA — but it has done something that many fans felt was never gonna happen again: It made playing Madden fun again.

Here, we reviewed three elements of the game on PlayStation 5 to give you a sense of what you can expect if you pick up Madden NFL 23 for your console.

FieldSENSE

There’s no need to get into the details of what FieldSENSE is, because it’s been advertised everywhere, but it is what’s changed everything about this year’s game. The biggest issue of Madden for years has been that it just wasn’t very fun to play anymore. Running the ball felt stiff, passes didn’t go where you wanted them, defenses were either pathetically weak or extremely overpowered, and none of it looked realistic, either.

With the addition of FieldSENSE, players have a level of control they haven’t had previously. The ability to control cuts, put the ball exactly where you want it, or go lay in an extra hit on a running back to force a fumble all feel great. Player animations still have moments where they don’t look natural, and more than a few times, I’ve seen players bounce around on the ground like a pinball, but none of this impedes the gameplay experience. By focusing on delivering a fun gameplay experience first, we’re able to overlook odd moments because they’re not usually happening while playing the game.

This level of control Madden NFL 23 gives gamers has led to a bit of a learning curve for some. The first game you’re going to play is the John Madden Legacy game, and you’re going to find that the A.I. is coming for blood this time around. You can pinpoint the ball exactly where you want it now, and if you don’t make the right reads, elite players will pick you off easily. Running is harder than ever before against strong defenses, and lower tier wide receivers are going to struggle to get open. This does create the awesome feeling that, yes, Patrick Mahomes should be better than Nathan Peterman, but if you’re using lower overall teams, don’t be surprised when you get randomly get rolled.

Franchise

For years, fans have been told that Franchise mode is going to get a much-needed change and finally deliver the experience that made many people fall in love with it in the first place. While they haven’t fully delivered, it did finally get the face lift many have been begging for. A lot of the familiar is still here: player dev traits, key in-season moments, skill trees for coaches, and bonuses if you perform certain actions. It’s up to the player to decide how deep they want to get into all of this. They can either micromanage every single trait and upgrade while running each practice themselves, or they can focus on playing only the games. Typical stuff.

The big changes come in how you approach free agency and the addition of player tags to the game. Players are no longer focused solely on money to decide which team they want to join. Money is now a factor that can certainly influence why a player may sign somewhere, but it’s not the end all, be all. Players now receive tags that will influence their market value, decision-making, and if they ultimately want to re-sign with your team or not. Some players prefer to play in warm weather states, others want to go sign with a contender, and some want to go play for their hometown squad. These tags will also be applied in other ways, such as rookies who crack the starting lineup receiving the “day one starter” tag.

Franchise is far from fixed, and we want to continue seeing steps to improve it, but these new additions have improved it. The major downside is that you can still break it and turn a team into a super dynasty with relative ease. Tags let you sign players for deals below their market value, and in-season moments can turn decent players into superstars with only one or two good performances. Suddenly, you have a team of Pro Bowlers six weeks into the season and you’re re-signing all of them easily. So obviously balance is an issue, but the additions are largely good and we’re happy to see them be improved on in the future.

Face of the Franchise

For a little while, Face of the Franchise was the new emphasis for Madden. It had a story involving your player’s journey to the NFL, and most of them were either okay or bad. This year, the narrative has been dramatically reduced. There’s no Heartbreak Kids moment or forced awkward dialogue between you and a friend. Instead, it just gets you right into the action. The “narrative” this go around is that you’re coming off your first four years in the NFL and are only receiving one year prove-it deal offers from every single team across the league. So you — as your quarterback, running back, wide receiver, linebacker, or cornerback of choice — gets to choose where you want to go and do exactly that.

Cut scenes are no longer forced narrative moments, but are instead a part of your weekly menu that you receive as a player for whatever team you choose. They’re still not great, but it’s much more tolerable when they’re short, out-of-the-way moments instead of these overly dramatic lengthy scenes that are stopping you from getting to play the video game. The best part of this year’s Face of the Franchise mode is it wastes no time getting you on the field, a gigantic plus for everyone who was tired of the corny narrative arcs from previous games.

As for the gameplay itself, it’s the same as the rest of the game, you’re just now locked into a single position, so keep that in mind when you make a position choice. Unfortunately, QB is still far and away the most fun position to play, but it at least gives the player a little bit of variety on repeat playthroughs, or when they’re creating characters for The Yard.

Madden NFL 23 is not a perfect video game, but it’s the first positive steps the franchise has taken in years. Obviously, there are issues, as there always will be, but it’s nice to turn off my PlayStation 5 and feel like I had fun playing for once.

A copy of Madden NFL 23 for the PlayStation 5 was given to Uproxx for review purposes.

The Netflix woman’s wrestling show GLOW ran for three thrilling seasons, but it was supposed to go for a bit longer. Instead it became one of the many programs that ended prematurely due to the pandemic. There were good reasons for the cancellation: It wasn’t clear in the early days when it was safe to return to filming, for one. But it was still gutting, as one of its stars can attest.

In an interview with Decider (in a bit teased out by The Hollywood Reporter), Alison Brie — who played struggling actress-turned-wrassler Ruth “Zoya the Destroya” Wilder — was asked about the show’s sudden ending, and it’s clear she’s still raw about it.

“It’s the great heartbreak of my career,” Brie replied. “But it will forever live on as, like, this great thing. I loved working on it – maybe more than anything I’ve worked on! – and I miss it a lot. But I feel very grateful for the time I had on the show.”

At least there’s some good news about another old, beloved Brie show: The long-threatened Community movie is not a lock, but it’s getting there. “There’s been movement. There’s been some talks. People are talking and certain things — wheels are turning,” she said earlier this month, adding that “the fact alone that actual real conversations are happening is I think the most progress we’ve ever made on that front.”

(Via Decider and THR)

One of the early games during Sunday’s Premier League slate pitted a whole bunch of Americans up against one another. While Christian Pulisic is on the bench for Chelsea, which seems hell-bent on never playing him but also never selling him so he can go play somewhere, Leeds United has a distinctly red, white, and blue feel — the team’s manager, Jesse Marsch, is from Wisconsin, while midfielder Tyler Adams and midfielder/forward Brenden Aaronson are from New York and New Jersey, respectively.

Chelsea are viewed as the better side, but weird things happen at Leeds’ famed Elland Road. We got an example of that a little more than half an hour into the game, as Aaronson — who is legitimately one of the best players in the world at pressing opponents — forced Chelsea’s Thiago Silva to pass it back to his keeper, Édouard Mendy. Aaronson kept pressing (I cannot stress just how good he is at this), which forced Mendy into making a mistake.

Now, usually, when goalkeepers make mistakes, this leads to goals, and that’s exactly what happened here as Aaronson slotted one home for the first time since he joined Leeds this summer.

Not only did Aaronson slot this away, but as you can see on the close-up shots, he actually was looking back at his teammates and didn’t watch himself put the ball in the net.

Leeds would get another before halftime to go into the dressing room up 2-0.

DJ Khaled stopped by Drink Champs this past week to talk about how some of his biggest hits came to be. When discussing “Wild Thoughts,” his 2017 collaboration with Rihanna and Bryson Tiller, he revealed the track as we know it almost didn’t make it in time for the album.

Although Rihanna handed in her two verses and hooks in well before the deadline, Khaled remembers having to chase Tiller down to get his contributions

“I’m calling Bryson, my album comes out in like in two weeks,” he said. “‘Yo bro, I need you need to cut the vocals over. You know that Rihanna’s vocals is in, you hear that, right? Everybody’s excited.’ He’s not picking up his phone. … I need this done. I got f*ckin’ Rihanna vocals. One of my biggest records in my career. He not picking up the phone.”

Desperate to get his portion of the track, Khaled went to Tiller’s home to get the vocals in person

“He has a gate. I’m flashing my lights, honking my horns, sending texts. Nobody’s replying,” he said. “You think I’m playing with this sh*t? One thing about me, anybody know me I don’t play no games. … Eventually….Bryson comes out, they open the gate—I was already climbing the gate.”

The Drink Champs roundtable laughed, prompting Khaled to say, “You think I’m playing? Ask them. Call them. … Get their version, it might be more intense.”

Check out the full episode of Drink Champs above.

Leon Edwards (20-3, 1NC) pulled off a shocking upset by knocking out Kamaru Usman (20-2) in the fifth and final round with a huge head kick to claim the welterweight title in the main event at UFC 278 from Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The first round saw Edwards land the first takedown of Usman in his UFC career, tripping the champ and taking the mount position before moving into back control. Edwards held a body triangle and worked over the last minute of the round to get a rear-naked choke, but Usman managed to survive to the bell.

In the second, Usman walked Edwards back against the cage and poured it on with a slew of strikes, piecing together upper cuts, hooks and jabs. But Edwards fought off the champ, locking him up in the clinch and working to stop any momentum built early in the round. Late in the round, Usman moved Edwards yet again against the cage, changed levels, and took the challenger to the mat to solidify a great bounce back round.

Usman again showed his dominance to open the third, controlling every bit of the Octagon as he took Edwards down and maintained his positioning against the cage. Usman proceeded to walk Edwards back against the cage, tossing a handful of shots before taking the challenger to the ground and having his way with Edwards.

Edwards started strong to the championship round, moving in for a takedown, but a cage grab from Usman kept him on his feet. Unable to get him down, Edwards let the champ go, who proceeded to take Edwards down immediately. Edwards took some punishment on the ground before making his way back to his feet, where Usman held him against the cage for the better part of the fourth.

In the fifth and final round, Usman continued to maintain his positioning before referee Herb Dean moved the fighters back into the center of the cage due to inactivity. Late in the round, Edwards stunned Usman with a walk-off knockout to claim the title.

Edwards finally stepped into the main event after three years of vying for a title shot. Over that span, Edwards had four fights cancelled and won in the only bout he fought, a decision over Nate Diaz.

Usman has been on a tear since winning the welterweight crown in 2019, earning a decision victory over Tyron Woodley, knocking out and later earning a decision victory over Colby Covington, earning a decision victory and later knocking out Jorge Masvidal, and knocking out Gilbert Burns.

With the loss, Usman misses out on tying Anderson Silva’s record for most consecutive wins in the UFC with 16. For what happens next after, Usman has said he’s planning to jump two weight classes into light heavyweight, interested in a showdown with current champ Jiri Prochazka, per an interview with TMZ sports. But with the knockout, one has to assume they’re running this back.

(SPOILERS for this week’s Power Book III: Raising Kanan will be found below.)

The first episode of season two of Power Book III: Raising Kanan set the scene for things going forward. Kanan is back home after spending the summer away from Queens following his murder attempt on Detective Howard. Raq wants to expand the drug operation to New Jersey and Lou-Lou wants to build his record label upward — he’s even found a new artist that he thinks can help him do that. Marvin is still at odds with his daughter Jukebox and Jukebox herself is numb to the world after losing her first love.

In episode two, each of the main characters are introduced to obstacles that will certainly test their abilities to persevere. Detective Howard, who remembers Kanan shooting him despite telling people otherwise, informs Raq that he will tell Kanan that he’s his father. This leaves Raq scrambling in search of a solution on how to deal with the matter. Lou-Lou is granted a unique chance to prove himself with his record label thanks to a new opportunity that forces him to bet on himself. Marvin must endure anger management classes despite every bone in his body going against it. Jukebox discovers where her estranged mother is living and is left to decide whether to approach her. Famous has to jumpstart his rap career to support himself after his mother kicks him out of the house.

Here are some of the biggest questions we had after the second episode of season two:

Will Raq Be Able To Stop Detective Howard From Unveiling The Truth?

Episode one ends with the assumption that Detective Howard remembers Kanan shooting him based on his actions. This week, he confirms it during a conversation with Raq. It’s during this same conversation that he reveals plans to tell Kanan that he is his father after a paternity test confirmed it. It’s well-known that Raq wants to do everything in her power to make sure that Kanan doesn’t find out who his real father is, but how far will she go? She tried to have Howard killed and that didn’t work. She’s moved on to warning Kanan about some “crazy ass nonsense” that Howard may say, but that will only do so much. It’s going to take a lot more work and effort to hide this information, especially with Howard approaching the world as confident as ever thanks to a new lease on life.

How Does Marvin’s Anger Management Class End?

At the end of season one, Marvin gets arrested for an outstanding drug warrant. However, in the season two premiere, we learn that most of his charges are thrown out because the woman who snitched on him did not show up in court. Still, he’s left with a charge for possession of marijuana, and as a result, he’s ordered to do community service or an anger management class to avoid jail time. Marvin is told by his lawyer that the anger management class will be a breeze, so he chooses that option as the easy way out. However, it turns out to be the complete opposite. A woman named Renée leads the class, and she’s determined to have Marvin participate to the fullest extent in the class, despite his extreme desire to do less than the bare minimum. Push will come to shove and Marvin or Renée will have to let the other have their way, and from the looks of it, it seems like Renée will win this battle.

Can Unique Bounce Back?

Raq framed him for attempted murder, but Unique (played by Joey Badass) was successfully able to beat the charge thanks to a lack of evidence. However, the damage has already been done as he returns to Queens with nothing to call his own. His drug connect no longer wishes to work with him, his former partner moved on to work with Raq, and his main base has been completely ransacked. Unique quite literally has nothing, but with a child and their mother to support, he’s determined to find a way to win. Despite some telling him to seek a fresh start elsewhere, Unique is set on making a comeback in Queens. He’s driven by rage and an overflowing motivation to win, which could serve him well or lead to his own demise — especially with Raq and her crew standing in his way.

Who’s To Blame For Famous’ Failing Rap Career?

Famous’ rap career is not going as well as he planned. With his sister Jessica playing his manager while Lou-Lou stands as his record label more or less, the trio points a finger at each other to blame for Famous’ failures. Lou-Lou cites Famous’ lack of skill and motivation while Jessica points to Lou-Lou’s refusal to give Famous a fair chance while also blaming Famous for not working hard enough. Famous himself believes that Jessica is not doing her part in helping him reach success. The fact of the matter is that everyone could do more to help the situation. Now, with Famous homeless essentially and Jessica on to bigger things in Los Angeles, Famous has no time to blame anyone else for his minimal success as a fruitful rap career is something he needs now more than ever.

Is Jukebox Really Ready To Meet Her Mother?

In the first half of episode two, Jukebox asks Raq about her estranged mother who is Raq’s sister. After a conversation that involved Jukebox learning a little about her mother and why she left her at a young age, Jukebox sets out to find her. With help from Detective Burke, she learns that her mother is back in New York after some time out of the state. She even spots her mother at the address that Burke gave her. Jukebox is certainly a woman who goes after everything she wants, but the depth of this situation is one that has her a bit hesitant to attack it. Attempting to reconnect with her mother will require a level of vulnerability she may not be ready to give, in addition to the risk that her mother may reject her. However, running from the situation will leave her questions unanswered for the foreseeable future.

How Will Scrappy’s Death Affect The Group Going Forward?

Scrappy’s gambling itch landed him in hot water as he was picked up in a police raid during a game of poker in episode one. He’s then interrogated for the situation and it’s incorrectly relayed as him snitching to the police by Detective Howard to Raq. Despite him being a longtime worker of theirs, Raq makes the rash decision to kill him to protect the operation. This choice is objected to by Lou-Lou while Marvin is unsure that it should go down this way. Nonetheless, Raq pulls the trigger on Scrappy and kills him as Marvin wipes away a tear and Lou-Lou walks away as he’s too torn to watch. Scrappy’s murder is painted as the best decision for the business, but the logic of it all doesn’t seem to trump the emotions behind it. If and when the truth about Scrappy’s last days comes out, there’s no doubt that it will cause problems within the trio’s dynamic. We’ll just have to wait for the next episodes to learn how it plays out.

New episodes of STARZ’s ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ are available to watch on Sundays at 12:00am EST.