Category: News

Kendrick Lamar fans waited five long years to receive his new album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. The project finally arrived earlier this month, and it’s safe to say that it was far from what fans expected from him. Similar to how To Pimp A Butterfly was a big change in direction from Good Kid M.A.A.D. City, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers was quite the shift from Damn. Nonetheless, Lamar’s fifth album has still received favorable reviews from critics, and now, he can add another No. 1 album to his resume as Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers topped the Billboard 200 charts.

For the Billboard 200 dated May 28, 2022, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers debuted at No. 1 thanks to 295,000 album units sold. That number is comprised of 258,500 streaming equivalent album units thanks to 343.02 million on-demand official streams of the album’s songs. Elsewhere, Mr. Morale also posted 35,000 pure album sales. Altogether, this feat gives Lamar the fourth consecutive and overall chart-topping album of his career.

Lamar’s fifth album put up the largest overall week in 2022, breaking a record set last week by Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti. Bad Bunny’s album still had the biggest streaming week of 2022 with Mr. Morale coming in at a not too distant second place. Mr. Morale also had the largest sales
week for a digital album in 2022 and the biggest overall week since Adele’s 30 posted 839,000 units back in November.

You can revisit our review of Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers here.

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is out now via PgLang/TDE/Aftermath/Interscope. You can stream it here.

It’s been less than a year since Halsey released her defiant fourth album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. The project arrived a year and a half after her third album Manic and it came complete with 13 songs, no guest features, and songwriting from Ashley Frangipane Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Johnathan Cunningham. Months after If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power was released, Halsey would land the third Grammy nomination of her career with a selection in the Best Alternative Music Album category. While the album still may be fresh to many, Halsey is ready to release some new music, but her label isn’t making it easy for her according to the singer.

In a TikTok she recently posted, Halsey spoke about the difficulties she’s having with releasing a new song to the public. “Basically, I have a song that I love that I want to release ASAP, but my record label won’t let me,” reads the text that appears in the video. She later adds, “I’ve been in this industry for eight years and I’ve sold over 165 million records and my record company is saying I can’t release [the song] unless they can fake a viral moment on TikTok.”

The irony behind all of this is that Halsey might secure the viral moment that her label is looking for with the TikTok video. Nonetheless, if her accusations are true, it’s unfortunate that a viral moment — which isn’t easy to organically create — is required of her to release music.

You can watch Halsey’s TikTok in the video above.

Cast members leave SNL at the end of every season, but this year was a doozy. On the Season 47 finale, four people bid farewell to their longtime home. Kate McKinnon peaced out by returning to serial alien abductee Ms. Rafferty (though she appeared in other sketches throughout the night). Pete Davidson did his final Weekend Update monologue (until he inevitably hosts the show further down the line).

Aidy Bryant also used Weekend Update to say goodbye, and like McKinnon she did it cryptically, in character, as one-half of the trend forecasters, recurring characters played by her and Bowen Yang. The two weighed in on what’s hot this summer: “grapes with seeds, tying cherry stems with tongue to impress for sex, ‘Watermelon Sugar’ song.” What’s out? Why, “navel orange: why do you have belly button, you’re fruit!”

By the end, Bryant slightly broke character to weigh in on future trends. She said, “10 nice years.” Yang then turned to her and added, “A friend I couldn’t have done this without.”

Kyle Mooney, alas, did not receive a big farewell, as many on social media noticed.

Elsewhere on the segment, co-host Colin Jost lamented the final Weekend Update of last year, which he predicted would be the “horniest summer ever.” Cut to 2022, and “now summer’s hottest STD is monkeypox,” yet another sign of how “weird and bad things have gotten.”

Michael Che, meanwhile, slammed Tucker Carlson for spending over 400 episodes since 2016 pushing the white supremacist theory that white people are being “replaced” by minorities. “But that doesn’t even make sense,” Che said, “because white people still exist. It’s not like they suddenly turn into minorities — unless it’s Halloween.” The screen then showed a collage of white people dressing up as other ethnicities. Che added, “If he thinks the government has a secret plot to help minorities, he must be smoking that crack the CIA secretly put in Black neighborhoods.”

Che also discussed allegations that Elon Musk exposed himself to a flight attendant on his private jet, namely his longwinded defense. But Che wasn’t buying it, saying, “Sorry, we were looking for a simple ‘I did not do it.’”

Jost also mentioned Taylor Swift’s recent commencement address at New York University, saying, “college is a lot like breaking up with Taylor Swift: You’re still going to be paying for it decades later.”

You can watch Aidy Bryant’s segment above and the rest of Weekend Update below.

Last night’s Saturday Night Live episode was a unique one for multiple reasons. Japanese Breakfast made her debut on the show with performances of “Be Sweet” and “Paprika.” Additionally, it marked the finale episode for the show’s 47th season. However, the most notable aspect of the show was the notable goodbyes that were delivered on the episode. Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, and Kyle Mooney all announced that they would not return for the show’s 48th season. With that, they all tried to go out with a bang and Davidson achieved that thanks to his latest and final SNL rap parody.

For his latest rap parody, Davidson — who was dressed as Lorne Michaels — took on Dr. Dre and Eminem’s “Forgot About Dre,” making it the third time that he’s rapped over an Eminem song. While the comedian might have had a smooth plan for his latest take on the 1999 track, Eminem himself arrived on set to cut things short. Towards the end of the video, Eminem appeared and essentially pulled the plug on everything. “I would just stop. They all suck,” Eminem said about the rap parodies. “Stop. It’s really bad.” Davidson tried to explain that he was just paying homage to the rapper, but Eminem refused to entertain him. “Pete, don’t f*cking do it again!”

Davidson heeds Eminem’s request, but not without taking his anger out on the real Lorne Michaels. Referencing Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore, Davidson yells, “Well Lorne, you blew it!”

You can watch Davidson’s latest rap parody in the video above.

When people think about the first Jurassic Park film, they probably don’t think about the central romance. That’s probably because there barely is one. The paleontologists played by Sam Neill and Larua Dern are supposed to be in a relationship, though the moments of affection between the two are few if any. It might not even occur to people to realize that their love is not exactly age appropriate. Indeed, not even the actors themselves realized something was off till others pointed it out to them.

In a new profile about the forthcoming third Jurassic World in The Sunday Times, the two actors — who return to the franchise for the first time since Jurassic Park III (aside from that one quickie reunion) — Neill and Dern reflected on the fact that, at the time of filming, he was 43 and she was 23. But the 20-year age gap, Neill said, just seemed in step with the times.

“At the time [it] was a completely appropriate age difference for a leading man and lady,” Neill said. “It never occurred to me until I opened a magazine and there was an article called ‘Old geezers and gals’. People like Harrison Ford and Sean Connery acting with much younger people. And there I was, on the list. I thought, ‘Come on. It can’t be true’.”

Dern herself said that at the time it felt “completely appropriate to fall in love with Sam Neill.” That said, looking back, from a time when there’s more scrutiny on age gaps amongst romantic partners, it does seem a bit strange. “And it was only now, when we returned in a moment of cultural awareness about the patriarchy, that I was, like, ‘Wow! We’re not the same age?’”

Nevertheless, nearly three decades later, the two characters seem to be still together, with Dern teasing that this new film is “very romantic.”

Jurassic World Dominion hits theaters on June 9.

(Via The Sunday Times)

Whenever someone from the Dallas Mavericks scores a tough bucket, the bench erupts in celebration, popping up to support their guys, but sometimes they wander too far out in their excitement and have now been slapped with a bench decorum fine from the NBA on three separate occasions.

The latest comes after a Game 2 loss in San Francisco in which they saw the Warriors erase a 19-point deficit, but in building that double-digit lead, the bench strolled out onto the court, flexing and preening in celebration, earning their steepest fine yet: $100,000. The league keeps doubling their fines for each violation and while their fine from the Game 7 blowout in Phoenix was more than understandable, it’s a tougher pill to swallow coming out of a loss.

It’s pretty clear at this point the Mavs bench isn’t going to be making any major changes to how they act during games, and as such Mark Cuban might not be done cutting checks to the league. At this rate, the next one would cost him $200,000, as they keep doubling each time, and Mavs bench mob leader Theo Pinson clearly isn’t a fan of his group getting punished for their excitement.

Cuban will probably be happy to donate some more money via another fine if it means the Mavs can finally pick up a win in Game 3, causing bench excitement. Getting fined for guys celebrating too much in what becomes a loss is when it becomes far less ideal.

Most books about the Trump presidency have been from exacting reporters and disgruntled former staffers. But one book is from someone who still seems to be on his side. In Here’s the Deal, Kellyanne Conway details her stint as the former president’s counselor, a job she did while her own husband fought to stop her boss’ re-election. There’s still plenty of dirt, including a claim that he almost quit the 2016 race shortly before he won.

As per The Daily Beast, Conway delves into the aftermath of the Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump was caught making leud comments about women, including that he liked to “grab them by the p*ssy.” The bombshell almost — but not quite — upended his presidential aspirations, mere weeks before election day. Conway claims even he wondered if his political days had ended.

Worried that the GOP could force him off the ticket amidst the scandal, Trump reportedly asked Conway, “Should I get out [of the race]?”

Conway then explained to him that he “actually can’t” quit, “unless you want to forfeit and throw the whole damn thing to Hillary.”

Trump then reportedly fired back, saying, “What do you mean, I can’t?”

Conway then pointed out that early voting had already began, so quitting because of a scandal would be pointless. She then buttered his ego. “I know you don’t like to lose,” she claimed to have said, “but I also know you don’t like to quit.”

Even after that, Trump allegedly had doubts, asking Conway, “Will I lose? Will we lose? Can we still win?”

At the time, Conway went on news shows to defend Trump’s language, even claiming that what he said about advancing on women without their consent wasn’t “sexual assault.” In her book, however, she claims she told Trump to his face that his comments were “disgusting” and “reprehensible.”

Conway also wondered if Trump, who reportedly tried to claim the tape was a fake, was really testing her. Her claims directly contradict Trump’s own public appearances at the time. After the video surfaced, he told The Wall Street Journal that there was “zero chance I’ll quit,” and “I never, ever give up.”

(Via The Daily Beast)

Harry Styles is riding a sweet high at the moment. His first single of the year, “As It Was,” has spent three weeks atop the Billboard singles chart to become his first song to be No. 1 for multiple weeks. He just released his third album Harry’s House and it arrives as a 13-song effort that’s primed for a No. 1 debut next week. Despite all of this good, there’s one person who isn’t too keen on Harry at the moment. That person is Mick Jagger who took some shots at Harry in a recent interview with The London Times.

After saying that he and Harry have “an easy relationship,” Jagger went on a bit of a tear against the “As It Was” singer. “I mean, I used to wear a lot more eye make-up than him. Come on, I was much more androgynous,” he said. “And he doesn’t have a voice like mine or move on stage like me; he just has a superficial resemblance to my younger self, which is fine — he can’t help that.”

Jagger’s comment came as a bit of a shock to some, especially as Harry has praised Jagger on multiple occasions. Furthermore, during a 2015 interview, Jagger called Harry “very decent” and said he’s “got it going on.” Those kinder comments are in the past thanks to Jagger’s latest words, and fans of Harry took to Twitter to give him a piece of their mind.

You can see the posts about Jagger’s comments below and read his full interview with The London Times here.

Harry’s House is out now via Columbia Records. You can stream it here.

Natasha Lyonne was stoked to host Saturday Night Live. In her opening monologue to the final show for multiple cast members, the star and co-creator of Russian Doll gushed about her “cosmic connection” to the show. She’s friends with alumni, including her ex-boyfriend Fred Armisen and her Russian Doll co-creator Amy Poehler. And she digs its vibe. “SNL combines everything I like: New York City, show business, people who have done the same thing since the ‘70s, and different unions fighting.”

Lyonne, who will eventually be seen in the Columbo-esque murder mystery show she’s making with Rian Johnson, also gently ribbed the idea of shilling for Russian Doll at this particular moment in time. “Two things you definitely want to be associated with right now are Russia and Netflix,” she joked.

Lyonne has one of the more unique voices in showbiz, her nicotine-stained voice and Sam Kinison-esque mannerisms a throwback to a bygone era. She’s so distinct that she brought out to two SNL vets to do impersonations of her: Armisen and Maya Rudolph. When they were done, Lyonne joked about Armisen, “We were the only couple who had a sex tape nobody wanted to buy.”

She also ran through her life story, talking about how her parents decided she should be a showbiz kid, describing her style then as “a little Orphan Annie type who talks like Dee Dee Ramone.” She showed a clip from her at a very young age, appearing on Pee-wee’s Playhouse and listed her ‘90s credentials: “American Pie, American Pie 2, American Pie in the Multiverse of Madness.” (She also gave a shout-out to the LGBTQIA+ classic But I’m a Cheerleader.)

Lyonne also touched on her down period, when she struggled with “multiple arrests and addiction,” which she compared to the time Fabio was hit in the face by a goose on a rollercoaster. But, she said, she “brushed herself off and got back on the ride. And now I’m here.”

You can watch Lyonne’s opening monologue in the video above.

This is year is lining up to be a great one for Lupe Fiasco. He’s preparing to release his eighth album Drill Music In Zion and it’s a project that he’s already calling the best of his career. His engineer Craig Bauer called it the “Rap Album of the year” before correcting himself and saying “Nah. Decade. If you don’t feel something after listening to this…. You may want to check your pulse.” Drill Music In Zion is set to arrive on June 24, but it’s not the only big thing Lupe has in store for 2022. Later this year, the Grammy-winning rapper will teach a rap course at the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT).

The university announced that Lupe will be a part of their MLK Visiting Professor Program for the 2022-2023 academic year. Lupe shared the news in a tweet of his own. “I been holding this for a while,” he wrote. “I’ll put together something more sophisticated later that really captures the nuance and gravity but for now I’ll just say it straight and raw: I’m going to teach Rap at @MIT.”

Lupe’s upcoming course comes after he served as a visiting artist at MIT from 2020 to 2021. As for Drill Music In Zion, the upcoming project will be his first full-length release since 2018’s Drogas Wave.

You can view Lupe’s tweet about his upcoming rap course at MIT above.