Category: News

iHeartRadio Music Festival will return to Las Vegas this September. This year’s festival boasts a promising line-up featuring Megan Thee Stallion, Halsey, Nicki Minaj, and Avril Lavigne.

iHeartRadioMusic Festival will take place September 23 and 24 at the T-Mobile Arena. In addition to the aforementioned performers, Black Eyed Peas, Lionel Richie, LL Cool J featuring DJ Z-Trip, Luke Combs, Maren Morris, and Morgan Wallen are all set to take the main stage.

On that Saturday, Maggie Rogers, 5 Seconds of Summer, Big Time Rush, Girl in Red, Lauv, Chloe, Willow, Chase Rice, Latto, Carly Pearce, Ryan Hurd, GAYLE, and Lauren Spencer-Smith are set to take the Daytime Stage at Area15.

“We’re thrilled to once again return to Las Vegas for a weekend full of great live music with this year’s Festival,” said Tom Poleman, Chief Programming Officer for iHeartMedia, in a statement. “What makes this festival one of a kind is that we have the best artists from every genre of music that we play on our 860 iHeart stations all on one stage. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see so many legends performing together.”

For those who can’t make the festival, The CW Network will livestream the concert through the CW app, and will also broadcast the concert on a later day in October.

General on-sale begins Friday, June 17 at AXS.com.

Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

On Sunday, Atlanta rapper Trouble was shot and killed during a home invasion. Now, according to local news, police have a suspect in custody. 33-year-old Jamichael Jones turned himself in after Rockdale County Sheriff’s deputies went to Jones’s mother’s house and she received a call from Jones himself. One of the deputies got on the call and convinced Jones to surrender near Southern Regional Medical Center in Clayton County. He has been charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, home invasion, and battery and a judge denied his bond, setting his next hearing for June 15.

According to witnesses, Jones did not know the “Bring It Back” rapper, and Trouble was visiting a woman Jones did know. Apparently, there was some domestic dispute between them, and Trouble was shot once in the chest after Jones forced his way into the home. A neighbor described the neighborhood as “quiet” and said it was “traumatizing” to learn that not only was a national celebrity visiting the apartment building but was killed there as well. “To be honest with you, we don’t have that type of situation or issues that happen in this particular neighborhood, so to find out that you have a local celebrity that’s inside your residential area and this is what happens … it was like very, very traumatizing,” he explained.

Trouble was signed to Mike Will Made-It’s Ear Drummers label and was just two years removed from his last project, Thug Luv.

The Last Jedi is, I have to imagine, no one’s second favorite movie in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. It’s either your favorite for brilliantly subverting the worst Star Wars tropes, or your least favorite for turning Luke Skywalker into a defeated grump who turns his back on the Jedi. As someone who belongs to the former camp (it’s my third favorite Star Wars movie overall), I wanted to “burn it down” every time I looked at writer and director Rian Johnson’s Twitter mentions whenever he tweeted about the movie.

Heck, Johnson still hears from pissed-off Star Wars, five years later, so it’s understandable that he muted the replies to his first The Last Jedi tweet in some time.

“Haven’t touched this stuff in years, but Bryan lines them up and knocks them down so succinctly and with such a pleasant tone, I figured eh, f*ck it. (replies off to spare his timeline),” the Knives Out director tweeted. He was quote-tweeting a thread from writer and filmmaker Bryan Young, who wrote, “I’ve been seeing some interpretations of The Last Jedi in my mentions that are making me scratch my head and wonder if I saw the same movie. So I thought I’d tackle a few of them in a thread.”

The whole thing is worth a read, but here are some highlights:

Young left out the most important reason why The Last Jedi is good, though: porgs.

(Via Twitter/@swankmotron)

Mike Lindell is already facing multi-billion dollar lawsuits, and by his own admission, has spent over $30 million chasing (non-existent) definitive proof of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Considering that endeavor has yet to re-install Donald Trump in the White House, you’d think Lindell wouldn’t get involved in another election, but nope. The MyPillow CEO is now accusing Georgia Governor Brian Kemp of stealing votes from Republican primary candidate Kandiss Taylor.

Despite running with the not-at-all awkward campaign slogan of “Jesus Guns Babies,” Taylor only earned three percent of the vote in the GOP primary. According to Lindell, who notably could only make this accusation on his self-owned Frank TV platform, there were shenanigans afoot. However, like all things Lindell, his accusations don’t make a lick of sense and rely on heavy “Trust me, bro” vibes.

Via Ron Filipkowski on Twitter:

He got 73 percent! How could you take those other votes? Let me tell you, everybody, we have preliminary evidence that Kandiss Taylor, for every single vote that Kemp got, he took her votes and then added them, and Kandiss got five percent. Now these are all through all the precincts. And then you have stuff go on in Georgia where certain people like Jodi Heights. They got the same percentage in just about every county like 17 percent. What is that rabbit? Well, Jay, I’ll you what it is, everybody. Did they not think anybody is gonna look? No, they don’t care. They want our country, they don’t care.

As for what any of that means, who the hell knows? We’d even go so far to say that Lindell doesn’t even know because he just rambles and rambles without providing proof of how Kemp somehow siphoned off 95 percent of Taylor’s votes if that’s even what Lindell is saying. Again, your guess is as good as ours.

(Via Ron Filipkowski on Twitter)

While Phoenix has yet to announce a new album, many signs reveal one is on the way. Most notably, when the group released the single “Alpha Zulu” last week, a press release noted Phoenix is “currently in the studio finishing up” their next LP, which has yet to be officially announced beyond that. Now, they’re getting further into this sort of pre-album album cycle by dropping a video for “Alpha Zulu,” a fun clip that makes used of deepfake technology to animate people in classics works of art into singing and nodding their heads along to the song.

Furthermore, the band has also announced a run of tour dates for later this year, which run in North America from September to October before heading to Europe in November. Porches will be opening on the North American dates.

Check out the “Alpha Zulu” video above and find Phoenix’s upcoming tour dates below.

06/08 — Barcelona, ES – Primavera In The City
06/10 — Lyon, FR – Nuits de Fourviere
06/11 — Barcelona, ES – Primavera Sound
09/06 — St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre *
09/07 — Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom *
09/09 — New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall *
09/10 — New Haven, CT @ Westville Music Bowl *
09/13 — Boston, MA @ Roadrunner *
09/15 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore *
09/16 — Washington, DC @ Anthem *
09/17-18 — Atlanta, GA @ Music Midtown
09/19 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium *
09/20 — Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room *
09/22 — St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant *
09/23 — Bentonville, AR @ FOR_MAT Festival
10/06 — Los Angeles, CA @ YouTube Theater *
10/07 — Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre *
10/10 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom *
10/12 — Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre *
10/14-16 — Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
10/18 — Mexico City, MX @ Pepsi Center
11/16 — London, UK @ Brixton Academy
11/18 — Milan, IT @ Alcatraz Club
11/20 — Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle
11/23 — Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
11/26 — Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
11/29 — Paris, FR @ Olympia

* with Porches

Madden 23 has revealed its cover and offered up a brief tease of its gameplay, and with that comes the usual cycle from fans where there’s initial excitement over a new Madden game followed swiftly by begs and jeers to make it “good this time.” Unfortunately, Madden has failed to meet fans expectations for the last few entries. The reason for this ranges from a dependency on Ultimate Team, launch day glitches, and a gameplay system that has grown stale.

While Ultimate Team isn’t going away anytime soon, and we’re going to have to wait until launch day to see how the game plays, we do know that EA Sports is working on adding some changes to the gameplay of Madden 23 to make it feel like a step in the right direction. Recently, we were able to head to EA Tiburon in Orlando, Florida where Madden 23 is in development, and get an early look at the game. We also got access to an early build of the game to try out some of the new gameplay features in Madden 23, but what we really have been focusing on though is their new big staple, FieldSENSE.

FieldSENSE is the way Madden 23 is giving the player slightly more control over what is happening on the field. One of the big complaints of previous Madden games is how certain plays can feel like a slot machine playing out based on animations. Not to mention, players would interact with each other in sometimes unnatural motions. While these new animations have not made a perfect game, it paints the potential of a big improvement for the franchise and a great step into the next generation of consoles.

Hit Everything

The feature that probably is going to have the most impact on Madden 23 is what the developers are touting as “hit everything.” Essentially, pretty much anyone on the field can be hit at any point until the whistle was blown dead. An example of this would be on a play where a running back and a linebacker would collide with each other. Usually, based on some under the hood stuff, an animation for the play would be chosen and then it would play out and the play would end. What we would then see is players running up and then stopping instead of contributing to the tackle, or assisting the running back, until the animation played out. With hit everything, players now will run into the play and contribute to the action.

The feature doesn’t only play out in tackles though. It also takes place in pass plays, such as mid-air collisions, and even on the line in blocking scenarios. Tight ends now throw effective chip blocks to slow down rushers as they run out for routes. A player that is stumbling from chip blocks is less likely to make a tackle, or is more susceptible to a huge block from an incoming lineman. Of course, to counteract this blitzers on defense no longer have a slight delay, but instead take off the second the ball is snapped. Line up in an empty set if you want, but pass rushers can and will reach the QB without blocking help.

One area of frustration that hit everything did cause is that turnovers feel more frequent. This could be by design, because of my choice to fight for extra yardage, but there was one instance where my player got caught in an animation and fumbled the ball for a scoop and score because someone else came in and knocked it loose. Plays like that are going to frustrate players who feel like QB’s still fumble too easily.

Skill-Based Passing

Skill-based passing feels really good when it works, as every player has a catch radius where, if the ball lands in that radius, they’re almost guaranteed to make a play on the ball. However, the player can choose to utilize skill-based passing and choose where in the radius the ball lands making it easier to play keep away from defenders. This also creates a good skill gap between an accurate QB, like Aaron Rodgers, compared to a rookie like Matt Corral. If the player chooses they can have a meter on the bottom that, when it lands in the green, creates a more accurate pass and obviously players that are more accurate will have more green to work with.

Where skill-based passing gets really fun though is when the player chooses to put the ball outside the catch radius. If someone has Ja’Marr Chase and they throw a deep ball they can choose to put it in the catch radius, but there’s always a chance the corner is going to get there too, so what the player might want to do instead is put the marker farther outside that catch radius where they know only Chase can reach the ball with his incredible speed. If they place it just right, and Chase makes the grab, then that’s an easy TD. It adds a slight sense of skill where players that get really good can pick apart defenses.

Don’t feel obligated to use the game’s default settings either. The player can customize how far the marker can be moved from the catch radius, the sensitivity of the marker, if they want to have an accuracy meter, and if they want to use this feature in the first place. There’s even a slowdown option to help new players get used to using it, and if players don’t like skill-based passing then they can turn it off and go back to classic passing. This level of customization is really valuable for anyone that wants to create their own experience.

360 Cuts

360 Cut is probably the weakest of the FieldSENSE features. It’s not necessarily bad, but it feels very geared towards star players. An example of this can be seen in the trailer when Christian McCaffrey shrugs off a tackle while barely being touched by the safety.

Considering how skilled every running back is in the NFL these days, it feels a little unfair that stars can simply shrug off tackles while every down backs don’t get the same luxury. That said, the ability to break tackles is really only one part of the 360 Cuts feature. The real purpose of this is to let players make more direct movements with the ball.

In that sense, it works for the most part. It was definitely easier to redirect towards a hole in the line and not feel obligated to just push straight forward and hope everything works out. Kick returns also feel easier to dance through the coverage. Getting a good run game going still feels overly challenging sometimes, but this at least makes hitting the lane easier. The dream scenario for 360 Cuts, and this is where stars can really show their impact, is that eventually the really good running backs can dance behind the line and wait for a hole to open up the way Le’Veon Bell and David Johnson used to at their peak.

WR vs. DB Battles

It’s hard to say one way or the other how this is working so far. The build we were given at the moment only has Play Now and Play Online so there aren’t many ways to try out the game as a wide receiver or a corner. The AI would use the moves here and there, but it never felt particularly impactful although I did have one game where Stephon Gilmore ate Trevor Lawrence’s lunch, so maybe it was working better than I knew at the time. This is a feature we’re gonna have to come back to once more game features open up and we can play an experience meant for playing as an individual receiver or corner.

Note: Our build of Madden 23 is an incomplete version of the game for the PlayStation 5. While we were able to get early thoughts on FieldSENSE and the game itself, our experience was not a complete one.

While Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott is arguably the star of the Scream franchise, David Arquette’s Dewey Riley is a fan favorite character who has also been with the meta-horror series from the very beginning. So when Campbell announced that she would not be returning to the series for the upcoming Scream 6, Arquette was understandably disappointed. “A Scream movie without Sidney is kind of unfortunate,” Arquette told ComicBook, “but I understand her decision.”

On Monday, Campbell released a brutally honest statement to Variety in which she made it clear that the reason she would not be reprising her role in the next Scream film is because of a pay dispute.

“As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to Scream,” Campbell wrote. “I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise.” Campbell admitted that it was “a very difficult decision” to make, as she has been part of the series for more than a quarter-century now.

While Arquette said that he’d “love for [Campbell] to be a part of it,” he has also been around long enough to know how the business works and how important it is for actors to know their worth and take a stand when they don’t feel they’re earning it. And he certainly isn’t giving up hope that Campbell could one day return to the series.

“It’s all a business in a way,” Arquette told ComicBook. “They have to balance all these elements to fit a budget and produce a film. I get it, she’s still alive! She [can] absolutely be in future ones, but I think it’s up to fans to call for that in the future… I respect her decision, for sure.”

Since making her mark as Final Girl Sidney Prescott, who breaks the long-held rules of horror movie heroes and villains, Campbell has pretty much personified the Scream series. Yet she’s also been noted in the past that the franchise hasn’t always seemed to fully value her contributions to the horror juggernaut. Campbell and fellow Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis recently chatted about the joys and challenges of being horror icons for Variety, and both women mentioned the issue of pay. “There’s always the promise of back end,” Campbell said, but noted that it never came to fruition.

While Arquette admitted that he is not “looped in” on what’s happening with Scream 6 (SPOILER: His character was killed in Scream 5), Courteney Cox has confirmed that Gale Weathers will indeed be back, making her the only original star to return (as of right now).

(Via ComicBook)

So far, when it comes to music, the first half of 2022 has been stacked. We’ve seen highly anticipated releases from artists who have been away for a minute, new bands joining the party and making their mark immediately, and regular forces chugging along and adding terrific new music to their storied discographies.

Since we’re just about at the year’s midpoint, now is a good time to look back and see which albums have stood out above the thousands that have vied for our collective attention over the past few months. So, below, find our list of the year’s best albums so far, presented in alphabetical order.

Amber Mark — Three Dimensions Deep

Amber Mark showed her potential with her 2017 and 2018 EPs 3:33am and Conexao, but it would be almost four years until we saw the true beauty of her artistry. Her debut Three Dimensions Deep arrived as a magical collection of records that documented a leap of faith towards a new love. While she shows her hesitance to commit on “Most Men,” Mark later freefalls onto cloud nine on “Out Of This World.” Altogether, it’s an excellent tale that proves Mark is one to pay attention to in the foreseeable future. – Wongo Okon

Angel Olsen — Big Time

Fans who were introduced to Angel Olsen on her synth-led 2019 effort All Mirrors won’t recognize the songwriter’s Southern drawl on her sixth studio album Big Time. Big Time is Olsen’s version of a country record; steeped in emotion and penned following a particularly devastating period of time after both of Olsen’s parents passed away just months after she came out as queer to her family. As a result, Big Time is humbled and down-to-earth as Olsen attempts to make sense of the contradictions in her life; grief amid love, and tragedy amid romance. – Carolyn Droke

Bad Bunny — Un Verano Sin Ti

Very few artists are able to pull off the surprise release technique, but in the case of Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, this album came at just the right time. Across 23 tracks, Bad Bunny tells a story of heartbreak, longing, and healing. The album feels like an hour-and-a-half-long movie, ending with the Tainy-produced “Callaita,” which, even three years after its release, still sounds so fresh in the context of the full album. – Alex Gonzalez

Big Thief — Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

So much of the pleasure of listening to this masterful album comes from appreciating the subtle and delicate ways in which Big Thief works and plays together, whether it’s the excellent jam that closes “Little Things,” the surprisingly heavy rock groove that subsumes “Flower Of Blood,” or the way Buck Meek’s voice rises to harmonize with Adrianne Lenker on the chorus of the stunning love song “12000 Lines.” An instant classic. – Steven Hyden

Black Country, New Road — Ants From Up There

Ants From Up There is no casual affair. Black Country, New Road put on an idiosyncratic folk-rock opera with clashing instruments and Isaac Wood’s warbling baritone. The album fluctuates between colossal moments of bombast and quiet periods of withheld intensity like on the dynamic “Concorde” when the sound pauses and Wood wonders calmly: “I was made to love you / Can’t you tell?” Every second matters on Ants From Up There; the stakes are always getting higher, and catharsis is always brewing, even if it’s beneath the surface. – Danielle Chelosky

Coi Leray — Trendsetter

Despite a relatively lukewarm commercial reception, Coi’s debut project did exactly what it set out to do. There’s literally no one out doing what she’s been doing. That can make her slippery delivery somewhat bewildering and give fans few obvious hits to hold onto (the excellent Nicki Minaj collab “”Blick Blick“” notwithstanding) but those who want to put the New Jersey rapper in a box are missing out on what she’s truly capable of. Who else can do an “”Anxiety“” and a “”Twinnem“” on the same album while shifting hip-hop’s conventions into unrecognizable new shapes? – Aaron Williams

Cordae — From A Bird’s Eye View

In the lead-up to Cordae’s second album, I was convinced it’d be one of the year’s best and I wasn’t disappointed. A more muscular version of his 2019 debut, The Lost Boy, FABEV cuts the fat, getting to the foundation of Cordae’s appeal: fiery battle raps, like the ones on “Super” and “Sinister“”; lush, moody vocals, such as on “”Chronicles“; and the vulnerable, relatable autobiography of “Momma’s Hood” and “C Carter.” – A.W.

Denzel Curry — Melt My Eyez See Your Future

Denzel Curry had a mission with Melt My Eyez See Your Future: be himself and give himself fully to listeners. It is the most intimate offering of the South Florida rapper’s career, with a lot of soft and mellow sounds accompanying his more calculated flows. These elements combined, along with the presence of acts like T-Pain, 6LACK, Slowthai, and Robert Glasper, to make what could very well be Curry’s best project to date. “Walkin,” “Angelz,” and “X-Wing” pretty much force you to press that “Repeat 1” button and let the music transport you into the artist’s multi-faceted mind. Thus, the album is aptly named. – Armon Sadler

Ethel Cain — Preacher’s Daughter

Debut albums can be tricky in the streaming era, especially for artists like Ethel Cain who have already created a robust social media presence. But as good as the missives that flow off-the-cuff from the @mothercain Twitter handle might be, her debut album Preacher’s Daughter is even better. Between the oh-so-breezy synth-pop diatribe of “American Teenager” and what just might be Cain’s opus, the sprawling “A House In Nebraska,” she’s made it clear that being cute online isn’t the end game here — full-blown pop star is. Preacher’s Daughter proves she’s got the chops to pull it off, no svengalis needed. – Caitlin White

FKA Twigs — Caprisongs

FKA twigs’ latest mixtape is all over the place, in the best way possible. The entire tape is mostly devoid of catchy hooks or a singular narrative, but it works for the artist whose sound is genre-bending by nature. Thinking back to projects like Magdalene, where we see Twigs pair up with Future (of all people), collaboration is rare for her. But with Caprisons, we get Twigs and The Weeknd on a track straight out of Abel’s universe, “Careless” with Daniel Caesar, and “Jealousy,” an afrobeats single featuring Benin City’s Rema. Although different from her dark, alt-pop past, each track on Caprisongs features at least one element of Twigs that we love, whether her soprano vocals, honest lyrics, or electro-acoustic stylings. – Ellice D. Ellis

Fontaines DC — Skinty Fia

Fontaines DC is a commercial juggernaut in the UK and Ireland: Their new album, Skinty Fia, went No. 1 in both areas. They’ve managed to cultivate a high level of respect stateside, too. That’s something they’ve earned via both consistency and a sense of adventure, emphasized by tracks like the grungy alt-rocker “Jackie Down The Line” and the trip-hop-influenced title track. – Derrick Rossignol

Future — I Never Liked You

Everything you love about Future, he gives on his ninth studio album I Never Liked You. He holds down his thrown as the “Toxic King” and even embraces his position in the video for his No. 1 hit song “Wait For You” featuring Drake and Tems. Within Few’s assortment of melodic raps, live pockets of sweetness are cut with bitter rhymes, which help convey the ebb and flow of Future’s romantic relationships. “Love You Better” is a way-too-short R&B song about letting go of someone who is seeming falling out of love with him (maybe they took too long to text back?), abruptly preceded by the next track, “Massaging Me,” as if the rapper suddenly remembered that he is FUTURE. “We turn to Miami to Sky-ami” he belts out within the first seconds, coupled with a chorus that sounds like he’s saying “misogyny” not “massaging me.” Future’s I Never Liked You gives exactly what you came for. – Cherise Johnson

Gang Of Youths — Angel In Realtime

If 2017’s Go Farther In Lightness was this Australian band’s Joshua Tree — the fearlessly earnest collection of guitar-based spirituals rooted in an unending desire for transcendence — then perhaps the follow-up could be their Achtung Baby. An album in which beat-heavy, danceable, and often ecstatic music acts as a shield for blood-and-guts, dark-night-of-the-soul introspection. An intimate confession made to sound loud enough to engulf the entire world. – S.H.

Gunna — DS4EVER

Gunna took his mixtape series Drip Season to the mainstream with his third studio album DS4Ever. The selection of 20 songs reinforces Gunna’s ability to offer an album with a lot of songs — mostly good — just as he did with Wunna. Sure, “Too Easy” and “Livin Wild” were the chosen singles, but when the people heard “Pushin P,” the attraction drove the song to viral paradise and the Hot 100 chart. “Poochie Gown,” “Thought I Was Playing” featuring 21 Savage, “South To West,” plus many more have the potential to be sleeper hits. Though Gunna is locked up and facing RICO charges, the cultural impact he presented with DS4Ever off “Pushing P” alone will forever be remembered. Mission accomplished. – C.J.

Haai — Baby, We’re Ascending

After honing her sound over the last five years with a handful of singles and a 2020 EP, Haai’s technical skills are on full display in her euphoric debut LP Baby, We’re Ascending. Tailor-made for sweaty, low-lit dancefloors, the album is moody, glitchy, and euphoric, jam-packed with fractal beats and atmospheric soundscapes. Her songs layer dizzying beats over gauzy vocals, like you’re hearing the words from within a dream. Fans of Porter Robinson, Hot Chip, and Kelly Lee Owens will fall head over heels with this London-by-way-of-Australia producer/DJ. – C.D.

Horsegirl — Versions Of Modern Performance

Chicago teenage trio Horsegirl effectively delivered one of 2022’s most exciting indie debuts with their shoegazey LP Versions Of Modern Performance. Drawing inspiration from the greats that came well before them like Kim Gordon and Brian Eno, Horsegirl subvert modern day indie rock expectations. They evoke the grittiness and intellect of groundbreaking post-punk artists on tracks such as “Option 8” and “Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty),” combining droning guitar tones and deadpan lyrics that infuse just the right amount of humor and apathy. – C.D.

IDK — Simple

DMV-bred artist IDK has released a project a year since 2014, but in recent years, he’s really spread his wings. In contrast to his last few rap-oriented projects, Simple takes a hard left turn. Embracing the sounds of funk and jazz-influenced dance music, IDK and producer Kaytranada craft a project that truly stands out amid the glut of new hip-hop in the streaming era. Whether trading bars with Denzel Curry on “Dog Food” or preaching meditation on “Breathe,” IDK’s latest is an impressive example of what rap can be when you commit to ignoring the rules and doing your own thing. – A.W.

Jack Harlow — Come Home The Kids Miss You

Jack Harlow embraces the good side and bad side of fame on his sophomore album, Come Home The Kids Miss You. He’s still curious why he is slept on after multiple No. 1’s and Grammy nominations, but his curiosity doesn’t supersede his confidence. He opens the Drake collaboration “Churchill Downs” with the affirmation, “Sometimes when I sit back and really let it register / I did everything I said I would and said it first / I mean the world’s in denial but they all know what I’m headed for.” Though he obviously gets outperformed by The Boy on this soul sample-laden song, there’s a clear improvement from his previous effort, That’s What They All Say, in terms of flows and production. Legends Lil Wayne, Justin Timberlake, and Pharrell join the mix for a record full of standard Jack punchlines and simping. – Ar.S.

Kehlani — Blue Water Road

Where her second album It Was Good Until Wasn’t chronicled the series of unfortunate events in her life, Kehlani’s third album Blue Water Road documents the sunny days after the apocalypse. Serenity and happiness take precedent throughout her latest body of work. Kehlani combines elements of R&B and pop for a project that stands as one of her best. Blue Water Road also presents some of Kehlani’s best songwriting through records like “Melt” and “Everything” on 13 songs that offer a new level of clarity for her. – W.O.

Kendrick Lamar — Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers

When you wait an extended amount of time to receive something, the expectation is that said item will be worth the wait. However, on Kendrick Lamar’s fifth long-awaited album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, the Compton rapper couldn’t care less if you like him or his latest body of work. He pushes boundaries in ways we never expected him (see: “Worldwide Steppers,” “Savior,” and his collaborations with Kodak Black). While some of us may disagree with some of his points, it’s quite admirable that Kendrick goes out of his way to destroy the facade placed on him against his will, and he does it on yet another intricate and impressively built body of work. – W.O.

Latto — 777

Latto hit the jackpot with 777, rapping with authority, showing off her singing pipes, and providing several empowering anthems for women in a world that still can’t seem to figure out how to respect them. Though “Big Energy” is the major hit here, songs “Like A Thug” featuring Lil Durk and “It’s Givin” possess a similar formula for greatness by employing popular colloquial phrases. Though the album only features dudes (Lil Wayne, Childish Gambino, 21 Savage, Kodak Black, Nardo Wick) that may typically be the nucleus of these kinds of records, Latto does a great job asserting herself both as a woman and rapper. – Ar.S.

Leikeli47 — Shape Up

The long-awaited follow-up to Leikeli’s 2018 album Acrylic did not disappoint. The masked rapper fully embraced her eclecticism and versatility on her third album, going from booming techno-rap on “Chitty Bang” to thumping house on “BITM” to full-on yearning R&B on “Hold My Hand.” It’s also Leikeli’s most personal project to date. She recounts a love at first sight encounter on the stripped-down “LL Cool J” while detailing a messy breakup on “Free To Love.” Showing off her tender storytelling, rugged battle raps, and engaging party rhymes across Shape Up‘s 14 tracks, Leikeli proves she is one of rap’s most fascinating artists today. – A.W.

Lil Durk — 7220

Lil Durk has been reveling in a seismic career shift since 2020, and 7220 continued that momentum. While one could say he doesn’t deviate much from his usual repertoire, there’s no need to fix what isn’t broken as “The Voice” has multiple pitches. “Petty Too” featuring Future and “What Happened To Virgil” featuring Gunna serve as the project’s two-headed monster with precise, melodic rap hybrid flows. “Difference Is” with Summer Walker successfully follows up their collaboration “Toxic” from her 2021 album Still Over It, and is arguably better. Durk has no issue getting heartfelt, whether it’s towards women or reflecting on his fallen friend King Von. – Ar.S.

Nilüfer Yanya — Painless

This buzzy British singer-songwriter was a breakout artist back in 2019, thanks to an eclectic amalgam of influences suggesting that Yanya ultimately wanted to fuse the slinky grace of Sade with the sort of chunky and lovably punk anthems associated with Blink-182 and Libertines. But she really raises her game with this album, in which she channels mid-period Radiohead through the lens of ecstatically dark-hued millennial pop. – S.H.

Orville Peck — Bronco

The gravelly-voiced gentleman of the lowlands, one Orville Peck is back with his second full-length album. Though Peck plays into the traditional cowboy and country tropes in some ways, he also subverts them in just as many; Peck is a South African musician based in Canada, so he’s twice removed from the American west. Maybe that’s part of what helps him see the humor and mystery in the great outdoors, and all three subjects are laid bare within his baritone blues, fringed mask intact. Bronco is an expansion of the queer themes that his debut album, Pony, explored and proves that Peck is anything but a one-trick musician. – C.W.

Pusha T — It’s Almost Dry

Pusha T’s It’s Almost Dry is the coke album that everybody can enjoy. The production is updated, his flows are updated (snapped on “Call My Bluff”), his lyricism is there, and King Push’s resilient energy is present throughout the 12 song project. Push even has something for the kids, too. “Scrape It Off The Top” with Lil Uzi Vert and Don Toliver doesn’t sound too forced, but it does sound right on time. Then, the flip to “Neck & Wrist” with hip-hop vets JAY-Z and Pharrell sees inspiration from that same new generation of artists. The synergy is immaculate. It’s Almost Dry proves that Pusha T can make palatable coke raps and modernize his flow, while also staying true to his roots with songs like “Diet Coke” and “Open Air.” – C.J.

Ravyn Lanae — Hypnos

In a time when many believe that albums should arrive at an annual rate, Ravyn Lenae reminds us that some things take time – time that isn’t in our control to declare. Her debut album Hypnos took four years to create but the luscious and pristine music that exists on it makes the wait worthwhile. Her gentle vocals are entwined on records that sit on varying productions. Through records that are dance (“Venom”), traditional R&B (“Lullaby”), or alternative R&B (“Skin Tight”), Lenae manages to construct a body of work that flaunts her very best without any missteps. – W.O.

Rema — Rave & Roses

Coming off the extremely strong year that afrobeats had in 2021, it was expected that the genre would continue to thrive in 2022. Nigerian singer Rema proved that will be the case thanks to his debut album Rave & Roses which presented the young singer at his very best. In addition to his summer 2021 afrobeats hit “Soundgasm,” Rema flexed his craft with ear-pleasing records like “Dirty,” “Jo,” and “Mara” on an album that proved that the genre is in the best hands. – W.O.

Rosalía — Motomami

On her most ambitious project to date, Spanish singer Rosalia conquers a writer’s block she felt early on in the pandemic and documents a spiritual transformation. Motomami sees Rosalia experiment with an alternative form of reggaeton, utilizing synths and distorted pianos. Songs like “Chicken Teriyaki” feature Rosalia showing off her rapping chops, while the brazen “Hentai” puts Rosalia in the driver’s seat, as she owns her sexuality, unabashedly sharing her desires for — well, it’s pretty self-explanatory here. – A.G.

Saba — Few Good Things

Let’s face it; the last couple of years have been absolutely terrible for many of us. But for a lot of us, they were just more bad news on top of what was already a daily struggle. Saba’s new album, intended to be a dramatic shift from the somber fan-favorite Care For Me, acknowledges the hardships that come with being Black in America while also dealing with a global pandemic, then tells us to find those moments of joy that make it worth going through. – A.W.

Syd — Broken Hearts Club

Syd is always a welcome presence within the R&B space because she brings something different to the table. It’s truly impossible to box her in, especially here as a myriad of sounds and unfiltered vulnerability make up Broken Hearts Club. The project is loaded with special guest appearances, namely “CYBAH” featuring Lucky Daye, “Right Track” featuring Smino, and “Out Loud” featuring Kehlani. However, the solo cut “Fast Car” may have outpaced them all for a VIP seat in the Broken Hearts Club. Still, misery loves company so the aforementioned collaborations deserve sympathy invites. – Ar.S.

Tate McRae — I Used To Think I Could Fly

Tate McRae is as real as it gets. Breakups and broken hearts are a dime a dozen for teenage pop stars, but Tate’s take on the pain and loss she’s experienced in her short life remains entirely her own. Against a backdrop of synth production and trap beats, she crafts mesmerizing, personal missives that still get your body moving. And don’t be surprised to catch her turning things up on a notch on highlight tracks of her debut album I Used To Think I Could Fly, as pop-punk creeps into bangers like “She’s All I Wanna Be” and “What Would You Do?” – C.W.

The Smile — A Light For Attracting Attention

This side project for Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood presents itself as the most un-Radiohead-like of propositions — a guitar-driven power trio! — that happens to sound, tantalizingly, like a version of Radiohead that Radiohead no longer is apparently interested in being. Given the dearth of actual Radiohead albums since A Moon Shaped Pool, it’s almost too easy to regard A Light For Attracting Attention as the next best thing, a kind of musical methadone for Kid A nation. – S.H.

Vince Staples – Ramona Park Broke My Heart

While you weren’t looking, Vince Staples dropped his best record to date. Sharing poignant anecdotes of his childhood in Long Beach, while tying in contemporary issues, Ramona Park Broke My Heart allows for the listener to better understand Staples as he recounts his tumultuous upbringing and opens up about his mental health. The low bass and often downtempo production within the tracks allow for a West Coast feel throughout the record. – A.G.

The Weeknd — Dawn FM

Kicking off the year by dropping a hotly anticipated pop record, The Weeknd tuned us in to Dawn FM, a conceptual radio station played in dance-floor purgatory. Filled with ’80s-inspired synthpop tunes and filthy dance bangers, The Weeknd guides us through a waiting room to heaven while forcing us to examine our consciences. From the bouncy “Take My Breath” to the forlorn “Out Of Time,” with narration by Jim Carrey included, the music sounds like what the past two years have felt like: trying to make it out of a period of uncertainty. – A.G.

Wet Leg — Wet Leg

When was the last time an indie band released six tracks before the album came out that were actually worthy of being singles and not just some boardroom marketing play? With their blend of tongue-in-cheek Britpop lyrics with downright electric rock and roll guitar riffs, the Isle of Wight duo of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers have been this year’s true lightning-in-a-bottle indie band. And yes, it’s not just “Chaise Longue,” “Wet Dream,” “Too Late Now,” “Oh No,” “Angelica,” and “Ur Mum” that go extremely hard. Enjoy the ride. – Adrian Spinelli

Wilco — Cruel Country

Wilco rose from the ashes of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo and the band retained that twangy sound early in its life. They eventually strayed from it, but now the prodigal son has returned, as Wilco has gone back to country for its twelfth album, the indicatively titled Cruel Country. The result is an album that’s mostly understated on its surface but not undercooked, bringing Jeff Tweedy and company’s collective wisdom to the aesthetic by which their younger selves were most immediately enamored. – D.R.

Winona Oak — Island Of The Sun

There’s a certain excitement that surrounds the debut album from an artist like Winona Oak. Just on the cusp of breaking out into mainstream American pop, Winona has been slowly but surely releasing a string of strangely sad, unbelievably sweet Swedish pop songs that prove her worth. She’s been working through her past experiences for some time now, mining the jewels from her childhood, past lovers, and time in the industry. Now, she’s ready to share just how bright her lyrics and melodies are. Island Of The Sun is one of the best pop debuts of 2022, and will likely quickly become one of the year’s best albums, too. – C.W.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

BTS fans can’t get enough of new music from the group, and thankfully, they deliver on a regular basis, sometimes offering multiple albums a year. As far as their next single, it appears one is on the horizon, as it looks like Charlie Puth accidentally revealed news of a collaboration between him and the band.

During an interview at the iHeartRadio Wango Tango concert on June 5, Puth was asked about the rumored collaboration and he responded, “I heard that, too, and everybody in my camp doesn’t know the day it comes out. We legitimately have no idea of the day it comes out. We do, but like, we just figured it out.”

The interviewer responded, “OK, so there is a collab,” after which Puth said nothing and looked around the room. His answer seemingly confirmed the collaboration and that, given that a release date is confirmed internally, it’s at least close to being finished.

This is far from the first time Puth and BTS have been publicly connected. He and the group have shown each other plenty of love in recent years, which led to accusations that Puth was using BTS to boost his own profile, claims that Puth vehemently denied.

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

Like comically inept father, like super creepy son.

Andrew Giuliani is running for governor of New York, and on a recent episode of Steve Bannon’s War Room: Pandemic podcast, his sweaty pops, Rudy, shared his red-faced offspring’s solution for “fixing” America’s gun violence crisis. The solution: more guns.

“Andrew will harden the schools. He’s gonna make sure our schools are protected, like I did. When I first came into office, I put cops in every classroom. The Board of Education said that I couldn’t do it, they ran the schools, and I said I run law enforcement, so keep your damn mouths shut. The cops are going in there. Who’s going to stop them?” Giuliani boasted, conveniently leaving out the part where the cops failed to stop the guy with the gun in Uvalde, Texas (and so many other school shootings before it).

Most of the replies to the clip, shared by @RonFilipkowski, are questioning Rudy’s claim about putting cops in “every classroom” in New York City. “I was in NYC public schools when this man was mayor and there were exactly zero cops in every classroom. Time to put him back in his cave,” @People4Words tweeted, while @Cosette2016 added, “THIS DIDN’T HAPPEN. Holy crap this guy is off his f*cking rocker.” Here’s more:

Giuliani’s transformation from “gun scourge to gun nut” says so much about the modern GOP.