Category: News

Rapper and podcaster extraordinaire Open Mike Eagle’s last album, Anime, Trauma And Divorce peeled back the skin on some of the most painful experiences of his life. Now, on the newly announced Component System With The Auto Reverse, Mike Eagle is letting himself have some fun digging into his past; a past where he made cassette mixtapes from tracks he heard on his local hip-hop radio station.

“When I was in high school I used to stay up late to tape the hip-hop shows on college radio station WHPK on the south side of Chicago,” the rapper said in a statement. “It was the only way to hear the underground rap songs that changed my world. I still have many of the cassettes, with songs by giants like MF DOOM, DITC, Outsidaz, All Natural, Juggaknots, Organized Konfusion, and more. I named each tape. I named one Component System. This album was made in the spirit of that tape but with new music from me. Some of the people on the original tape appear on this album, I’m so proud of that that it brings me close to tears.”

The album has production from Madlib, Quelle Chris, Child Actor, and others. The new single, “I’ll Fight You,” was produced by DITC’s Diamond D, whose “…Beats and raps have inspired me my whole ass life,” Mike Eagle said.

Listen to “I’ll Fight For You” above and check out the album artwork and tracklist for Component System With The Auto Reverse below.

1. “The Song With The Secret Name” (produced by Child Actor)
2. “TDK Scribbled Intro” (produced by Kuest1)
3. “79th And Stony Island” (produced by Quelle Chris)
4. “I’ll Fight You” (produced by Diamond D)
5. “Circuit City” featuring Video Dave & Still Rift (produced by Madlib)
6. “I Retired Then I Changed My Mind” (produced by Child Actor)
7. “Burner Account featuring Armand Hammer” (produced by Quelle Chris)
8. “For DOOM” (produced by Illingsworth)
9. “Crenshaw And Homeland” (produced by Diamond D)
10. “Multi-game Arcade Cabinet” featuring R.A.P Ferreira, Still Rift & Video Dave (produced by illingsworth)
11. “Credits Interlude” featuring Serengeti) (produced by Illingsworth)
12. “Peak Lockdown Raps” (produced by Child Actor)
13. “Kites” featuring Video Dave and Still Rift (produced by Kuest1)
14. “Cd only” [bonus track] featuring Aesop Rock & Diamond D (produced by Diamond D)

Component System With The Auto Reverse is out on 10/07 via Auto Reverse records. Pre-order it here.

It feels like a lot of revenge movies lately are focused too much on chiseled action stars and not enough on the world’s scariest group of individuals: teenage girls. Yes, we want cunning schemes and minimal gore, but we also want color-coordinating outfits and backstabbing drama, a la Heathers and Jennifer’s Body! Enter: Maya Hawke and Camila Mendes.

The duo star in Do Revenge, an upcoming Netflix dark comedy from Someone Great director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who also co-wrote Thor: Love and Thunder.

Mendes portrays Drea, a queen bee who falls off her throne after nude photos of her are sent around the whole school by her crummy boyfriend. She gets help from Eleanor, played by Hawke, to get revenge on the school. The movie stars Rish Shah, Talia Ryder, Jonathan Daviss, Maia Reficco, Paris Berelc, Alisha Boe, and Sophie Turner. Check out the official synopsis:

After a clandestine run-in, Drea (Alpha, fallen it girl played by Camila Mendes) and Eleanor (beta, new alt girl played by Maya Hawke) team up to go after each other’s tormentors. Do Revenge is a subverted Hitchcock-ian dark comedy featuring the scariest protagonists of all: teenage girls.

Perhaps “Hitchcock-ian” is not generally associated with teen comedy films, but it’s definitely an interesting concept! Do Revenge will hit Netflix on September 16h. Check out the trailer above.

Who Cares?, which Rex Orange County dropped in March, was a major moment in his career: It became his first No. 1 album in his native UK and his second top-five album in the US, after 2019’s Pony. Now, he’s back with his first post-Who Cares? music, a new song called “Threat” that was crafted for warm days.

He tweeted of the song today, “this song was really made for August time … when it’s hot outside . go be outside , blast this , in the car roll ur windows down , blast this . just a one off ! for the summer ….”

Meanwhile, in July, Rex announced he was calling off 2022 tour dates, with all shows after his August 13 performance at London’s Gunnersbury Park canceled. He wrote, “It is with a great deal of sadness to announce that due to unforeseen personal circumstances, I am having to spend some time at home this year and I will not be able to continue with touring as planned. […] This is the last thing I want to do. I love touring and I am so sorry to be letting anyone down. I look forward to getting back to it as soon as I can.”

Listen to “Threat” above.

Atlanta-based upstart Young Nudy has been gaining momentum in his hometown for years. While it’s hard to tell when or if his breakout to the mainstream will come, this week, he launched another salvo in his ongoing campaign to take over the music world. After he won plenty of success by teaming up with Pi’erre Bourne in 2019 on Sli’merre, it makes sense he’d reunite for another go-round with the spaced-out producer as he stands on the cusp of his potential leap to a higher plateau.

On EA Monster, Nudy follows up his 2021 mixtapes Dr. Ev4l and Rich Shooter with 11 tracks of distorted, eerie beats from Bourne featuring Nudy’s signature trap boasts and threats. The bleary-eyed vibe is one of the big reasons why Nudy has caught on with younger fans in Atlanta — vibes over everything — but if they can drive up the streams on this one to a commensurate level to his popularity at home, it could be an advantage as many folks’ first introduction to Nudy when it reaches the Billboard radar. There’s little in the rap world that sounds much like it, and it could grab enough attention to get him to that next level.

You can listen to EA Monster below.

Kendrick Lamar is currently in the thick of his The Big Steppers Tour in support of his triumphant new album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. This past weekend, the Compton rapper played three dates in New York City, with two nights at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Friday and Saturday, followed by a Sunday show at UBS Arena in Long Island on Sunday. But that was clearly not enough of New York on-stage time for Lamar. So, on Saturday night, Kendrick played an intimate stripped-down performance at Brooklyn’s Dumbo House, where Jay-Z and Beyoncé were both in attendance and Kendrick tipped a cap to Jay-Z for a very specific reason.

In the stripped-down performance for what looks like less than 100 people, Kendrick was backed only by a keyboard and bass and when he was playing “The Heart Part 5,” he stopped mid flow to thank Jay-Z for clearing a lyric sample. “I say I do this for my culture,” he rapped, before delivering an aside to his esteemed guest: “Hov, good looking out for clearing that muthaf*cking line. You ain’t never… you ain’t never charged me for a muthaf*cking line, dog! You know, I really appreciate that sh*t.”

Some folks captured Jay-Z and Beyoncé leaving the members-only club (which is the Brooklyn outpost of the more well-known Soho House) after the performance, but not before Jay, Kendrick, Baby Keem, Tanna Leone, and Dave Free had time to pose for a photo together.

This was a special one for anyone in attendance, but one Dumbo House regular missed out on surprise. Give this dude a hug if you see him around town:

If the $uccess of Top Gun: Maverick taught us anything, it’s that people like crowd-pleasing action films. So it’s a real shame that Prey, the latest (and very good) installment in the Predator franchise, didn’t receive a theatrical release and instead went straight to streaming. (It’s also a shame that studios are rarely willing to give a chance for movies with non-white — let alone non-white female — protagonists to succeed at the box office, but that’s a depressing conversation for another day.)

Hulu isn’t complaining about Prey coming direct to streaming, however.

On Tuesday, Disney said the film scored the No. 1 premiere on Hulu to date, including all film and TV series debuts. Additionally, the pic was the most watched film premiere on Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ under the Star Banner in all other territories, based on hours watched in the first three days of its release. Disney did not share total hours viewed, as Netflix does.

The Hollywood Reporter spoke to a “veteran box office analyst” who believes the Disney-owned 20th Century Studios made the right choice by putting Prey on streaming, “considering that the last film in the series, 2018’s The Predator, was a bust that tarnished the brand.” The analyst added, “They might have had a tough road to hoe if going theatrical.” There’s a difference between The Predator and Prey, however: The Predator is a bad movie; Prey is a good movie. Even if the good boy wasn’t so good.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter)

A judge has ordered one-time Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani to road trip his way to Georgia to appear before a grand jury investigating the former president’s attempts to influence the state’s 2020 Presidential Election results.

Giuliani was scheduled to appear in a Georgia court today to answer questions about his own false claims of voter fraud and Trump’s attempts to pressure Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to “find” enough votes to overturn the results. Instead, his lawyers argued that Giuliani couldn’t appear before the grand jury in person because of a recent medical procedure. According to William H. Thomas Jr., a lawyer representing Giuliani in the case, the former New York mayor had a doctor’s note that prevented him from flying following the undisclosed procedure. Giuliani’s team tried to persuade the judge to let him answer questions virtually since he couldn’t travel.

Unfortunately for Giuliani, prosecutors in the case had his receipts, literally. Via Raw Story, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis presented records they had obtained showing Trump’s former henchman had paid for flights to Rome, Italy, and Zurich, Switzerland in cash for multiple dates between July 22nd and July 29th, well after his procedure took place. The DA also referenced a tweet sent by Giuliani on August 1st, showing the right-wing loon at an event in New Hampshire.

Judge Robert McBurney let both sides argue their case but ultimately told Giuliani’s team he expected to see them on Aug. 17th, suggesting that Giuliani drive the 13 hours from New York to Georgia by breaking up the trip across multiple days. The DA also offered to pay for Giuliani to travel by bus or train if that was more convenient for him.

“If it turns out that Mr. Giuliani is willfully disregarding the now formal invitation to be here, that’s problematic,” McBurney told Giuliani’s attorney. “If that’s not the situation then we need to establish when he’ll be here and there are lots of ways to make that happen. I’m sure he can find a way, short of Greyhound, that can get him to Atlanta.”

(Via RawStory)

Jeopardy! is gearing up for a new season with some familiar faces officially hosting the program full-time. And as taping gets underway for Season 39 there have been some new changes to the show fans are finally seeing for themselves.

The return of a live studio audience to the Jeopardy! tapings means that some details about the show will leak out well before the new episodes air later this fall. And as the Sun detailed, there are a few changes in store for those lucky enough to get tickets to see it happen from inside the studio.

But the biggest thing the attendee mentioned: the official demise of the Jeopardy Clue Crew. The four-person team once helped Alex Trebek read off clues from themed categories, oftentimes traveling the world to recite clues on video from various locations. But it seems the Clue Crew has asked for its last answer in the form of a question.

The fan said that a Jeopardy! crew-member, however: “confirmed the permanent disbandment of the Clue Crew with no plans for its return.”

The Ringer’s Claire McNear also relayed the news amid a lengthy Clue Crew-related thread, which certainly makes it seem like the crew is officially no more.

Change isn’t exactly a good thing in the Jeopardy! universe, as we’ve seen with the long string of guest hosts and even how some players perform on stage. But this ultimately doesn’t alter much of the game itself. One Clue Crew member, Kelly Miyahara, left the show in 2019. And two of the Clue Crew are still working on the staff: Sarah Whitcomb Foss is a producer for the show, and Jimmy McGuire is the show’s stage manager. In July, the latter tweeted about his “final lap” as a Clue Crew member of 21 years, an early indication that the group was officially going away.

It seems likely that the show will continue having affiliates and other celebrities read guest clue categories, as they have more and more in recent years.

If you were dangling from the top of a 2,000-foot-tall radio tower in the middle of nowhere, you would probably use a curse word or two to adequately express just how absurd the situation is, right? It seems like the only natural way to deal with the stress of all of that, which just so happens to be the plot of the upcoming thriller Fall starring Grace Caroline Currey and Virginia Gardner.

The duo star as two women who are determined to reach the top of a really high structure, despite the fact that one of their boyfriends died on a similar trip, which is reason enough to never want to climb anything ever again (even stairs). But, while filming the movie, which also stars The Walking Dead’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the actors naturally said over 30 curse words that seemed appropriate at the time, but not when the movie was being edited for a theatrical release, instead of on a streamer.

“When we were filming the movie, we didn’t know if we were R or if we were PG-13, so I said the F-word so many times I think Scott wanted to kill me in post when we were trying to a PG-13 rating,” Gardner explained. In order to make those hardcore curse words into tamer, PG-13 alternatives, the studio used a type of DeepFake technology from Flawless, a London-based dubbing company that uses technology to change the mouths of the actors who may or may not be cursing. PG-13 ratings normally allow for one or two instances of the F-word, but not 30.

Director Scott Mann explained why he used Flawless (where he is also co-CEO) and their technology to make it seem like the actors were really saying “freaking!” instead of…the alternative. “For a movie like this, we can’t reshoot it. We’re not a big tentpole… we don’t have the resources, we don’t have the time, more than anything else,” Mann explained. “What really saved this movie and brought it into a wider audience was technology.”

Currey said she couldn’t even tell which of her scenes had been dubbed over. “As far as I know, every movement my mouth made in that movie, my mouth made.” Besides, viewers probably won’t be focusing on the actor’s mouths, they will be looking down the 2,000-foot drop and probably try not to throw up!

Fall hits theaters this Friday, August 12.

(Via Variety)

Los Angeles-bred newcomer TRAETWOTHREE didn’t have to travel far to come to Uproxx Studios for his UPROXX Sessions performance of “Keep Doing You.” Born and raised in the Crenshaw district, he’s the latest in a proud LA legacy of hip-hop-influenced crooners who perfectly balance street wisdom with an emotional vulnerability that also includes fellow Sessions alumni Blxst, Kalan.FrFr, and Kyle Banks. In “Keep Doing You,” the Crenshaw crooner delivers a smooth West Coast banger perfect for late-night cruising and laid-back turn-ups.

Trae, whose debut project Out The District is out now on Ncredible/Art@War/Atlantic Records, plugs the cool, kickback vibe of LA nightlife into the post-hyphy groove that has come to dominate the LA sound over the past few years, detailing his experiences with smooth precision and velvety vocals. As he puts it, “People look at Los Angeles as having a lot of gangbanging and negativity, but we want to give it a different feel. I’m a young and fly night owl. This is the positive player side of Crenshaw.”

Watch TRAETWOTHREE’s UPROXX Sessions performance of “Keep Doing You” above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

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