Category: News

Kehlani just recently released their new album Blue Water Road, the follow-up to the 2020 LP It Was Good Until It Wasn’t. Though the album conveys a chapter of serenity and happiness for Kehlani, the promotion cycle was quite the opposite with uncomfortable interviews leading to their decision to no longer do interviews anymore.

The “Nights Like This” singer, though, has just announced that they will be heading out on the road this summer to promote the album, starting in Raleigh, North Carolina at the end of July and closing in Honolulu, Hawaii in October. Check out the full dates below, which all feature Rico Nasty and Destin Conrad as openers.

07/30 – Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater
08/01 – Miami, FL @ FPL Solar Amphitheater
08/03 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
08/05 – Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre
08/07 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
08/09 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
08/12 – Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion
08/13 – Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
08/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Skyline Stage @ The Mann Center
08/16 – Pittsburgh, PA @ UPMC Events Center
08/17 – Cincinnati, OH @ The Andrew J Brady Music Center
08/19 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory
08/22 – Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre
08/24 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage!
08/26 – Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
08/28 – Indianapolis, IN @ TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park
08/30 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
09/01 – Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater
09/03 – Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom
09/06 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
09/09 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Chelsea @ The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
09/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ YouTube Theater
09/14 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Federal Theatre
09/15 – San Diego, CA @ Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
09/17 – Portland, OR @ Theater of the Clouds @ Moda Center
09/18 – Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater
09/21 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum!
09/30 – Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
10/21 – Honolulu, HI @ Waikiki Shell

Find ticket information here.

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

As focus shifts from James Harden’s Game 6 stinker in Philadelphia to his future with the Sixers, the stench on the past 24 months of Harden’s career is pungent. He hasn’t been productive since suffering a hamstring injury last March against, coincidentally, the Houston Rockets. Since then, he’s been intermittently unfit, out entirely, or just plain bad.

Before jetting off to the east coast last winter, Harden already had a reputation for flaming out in playoff games; that he didn’t show up when his Houston teams needed him. He had several high-profile playoff failures, including in the 2012 Finals with Oklahoma City and two separate 2-for-11 elimination games in 2015 and 2017. And Harden burned through high-profile teammates such as Dwight Howard and Chris Paul in search of someone who would, seemingly, help him elevate the play of the team while also letting him do whatever he pleased.

It has often gotten ugly when a teammate didn’t check those boxes. A source told Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo! Sports just before Paul was traded that “Chris doesn’t respect James’ standing in the league, and James doesn’t respect the work Chris has put in to this point.” The same type of falling-out happened between Harden and Kevin Durant this year in Brooklyn, where Durant reportedly questioned Harden’s dedication to being in great physical shape and Harden believed that to be, according to ESPN, “grating and self-righteous.”

The problem is Philadelphia’s now. There’s no indication Harden has a poor relationship with Joel Embiid, though Embiid did tell reporters postgame that it’s unrealistic for anyone to expect Harden to rediscover the MVP form he left behind in Houston. After reportedly failing to file paperwork on time on his $47.4 million player option for 2022-23 after the trade to Philly (which he can still pick up this offseason), Harden is up for a contract worth as much as $223 million over four years. Harden and longtime partner in crime Daryl Morey will spend the summer hashing that out, but where does it leave our relationship with Harden?

It’s no exaggeration to say Harden revolutionized basketball. Many have been called a one-man offense, but rarely was it meant so literally as when Harden dazzled as a Rocket. During his MVP season in 2017-18, Harden created 1.22 points per possession on 10 isolation tries per game. The next year, it was 1.11 on 16 such possessions per game. By themselves, those numbers would easily vault a team into at least the top 10 in offense. Coming in the halfcourt, Harden’s brilliance elevated Houston in a situation when NBA offenses typically get worse.

Watching Harden in those years felt impossible. Here was a guy who looked like an NFL fullback taking and making shots nobody in the history of the game had ever dreamt of, bending the officials to his will like nobody since Shaq, and looping miracle passes across court for his open teammates. Harden’s skill set felt at once like a 2K MyPlayer with too much VC spent on him and the future of basketball.

Harden and Houston pushed the Warriors dynasty to the brink in 2018, and only an injury to Paul and a historically cold-shooting second half at the worst possible time stole a trip to the NBA Finals from them. The next season, an untimely meeting with Golden State in the second round led to an early exit for the Rockets and the end of the Harden-Paul era.

Harden’s numbers were mostly very good in both series. He averaged 29-6-6 (and two steals!) in 2018, though he wasn’t very efficient and struggled with turnovers. Still, he posted 32 points in Game 7, including a 5-for-7 fourth quarter with 10 points. In 2019, Harden averaged 35-7-6 against Golden State, including 35 in a narrow Game 6 loss as the Rockets’ defense broke down.

As Harden’s performance has waned, it’s become impressively easy to clown him. Everyone with a Twitter account got a joke off at his expense after the Sixers’ second-round exit. But if this is the beginning of the end for Harden, it’s not only a lost opportunity for Embiid and the Sixers, but a remarkable disappointment for anyone who loves basketball.

Many have compared Harden to Karl Malone, another MVP who was less than his best when the stakes were highest. Malone was memorably below par in Game 6 of both the 1997 and 1998 Finals. But even Malone had the longevity to become the No. 2 scorer in the history of the league, winning two MVPs and becoming an All-NBA pick 14 times. Harden has half that many, and it’s hard to imagine more coming.

Maybe a better comparison is Patrick Ewing, who was also among the first of his kind as a talent and produced as much as anyone in the NBA for a half-decade. But Ewing’s Knicks were really only title contenders for four years, from 1991-95. Ewing’s dropoff wasn’t as sudden as Harden’s may be, but Ewing’s status as an MVP candidate and championship centerpiece faded after 1995, at age 33, and never returned.

Today, Ewing isn’t talked about much in debates over NBA history and GOATs. For all the greatness he displayed over a Hall of Fame career, on a national scale, he may be most remembered for a missed layup in 1995 against the Pacers, or for the fact that the Knicks made the Finals again in 1999 after he got injured.

After all the teammate beefs, playoff flameouts, and forced trades, Harden may ultimately occupy a similar place in NBA lore. He had as much game-breaking talent as anyone, and didn’t do enough with it to hang in the conversation with the best to ever play. Watching Harden now, it’s obvious that peak is behind him. Long criticized for dominating the ball, Harden in and after Game 6 against the Heat was passive, then blamed it on the ball just not coming back to him.

For years, many rooted for this. Harden’s style of play, particular his lack of defensive effort and aggressive pursuit of drawing fouls on offense, frustrated NBA fans outside of Houston to no end. But the league is at its best when everyone reaches their peak and gets to face off for mastery over the league.

Harden had a chance to be that type of guy. For all of two years, he was. Now, he’s mostly only associated with what he could have been, what he never was, and what he failed to achieve. There’s still time to change that in Philadelphia or somewhere else, but it will be as a much different athlete than Harden was in his prime, and as the sidekick or role player to someone much better than him.

Tiffany Haddish is already a well-established actress, comedian, and now, author, but soon, she is looking to take over the music world as well. The star has been spotted in the studio with other veteran stars like Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg. In a new interview with TMZ to discuss her children’s book, Layla, the Last Black Unicorn, she also discussed her plans for her music, which she says she originally wanted to only put in her movie projects until she found that sync licensing for previously released music is much more lucrative.

When the show’s hosts asked about whether or not Haddish has been able to work with Beyonce, she played “coy,” as they described. “We’ll see what God has in store,” she replied. “That would be amazing, wouldn’t it?” She admitted that she “would love” to do a song with Beyonce, but since she’s “only seen her at parties,” don’t hold your breath for a T-Haddish featuring Beyonce track anytime soon. Predicting her music’s release, she said, “My goal is to make the music and put it in my movies and TV shows… if I put my music in it, I’m in it… but I just heard yesterday that if I release the music on the airwaves — put it out there for purchase — then when I put it in my show they gotta pay me like $35,000 or something like that. I guess I’m a drop that sh*t today!” However, she did admit she didn’t want to compete with Kendrick Lamar, who just released his new album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.

You can watch Tiffany Haddish’s interview above.

In a fiery rant on Monday morning episodes of The View, co-host Ana Navarro said its time to “name names and point fingers” when it comes to right wing politicians and TV personalities who have enabled the “Great Replacement theory” that led to the white supremacist mass shooting in Buffalo over the weekend. Navarro then proceeded to do exactly that by name-checking Tucker Carlson, Fox News, and Elise Stefanik for their part in the rhetoric that led to the tragic event.

“Tucker Carlson mentioned the great replacement theory or some version of that more than 400 times on his show since 2016 according to The New York Times,” Navarro said. “Elise Stefanik bought ads on Facebook, and it’s not just them. It’s other hosts of Fox News. It’s other Republican leaders, and they need to be called out.”

But Navarro was just warming up. She dragged everyone from advertisers to staffers to voters who are enabling the promotion of the racist theory that there’s a conspiracy to have immigrants and other racial minorities “replace” white Americans. Via Mediaite:

“And listen, if you are an advertiser, advertising on that station, you are part of the problem. If you sit on the board and are trying to be a civilized person, Paul Ryan, my friends, I’m talking to you. You are part of the problem. If you are a Republican donor tweeting about how bad you feel about this, but you’re donating to people like Elise Stefanik, you are part of the problem,” Navarro passionately argued. “If you are a staffer working for them, you are part of the problem. If you are voting for them, you are part of the problem.”

As The View audience applauded, Navarro floated a replacement theory of her own. “We should replace all these people peddling hate and making financial and political gain from spreading racism. We should replace them with the people who hold up American values.”

(Via Mediaite)

Former Oasis leaders Noel and Liam Gallagher have a famously contentious relationship, which caused the band’s break-up in 2009. It’s a regular occurrence to see one brother saying something unflattering about the other in the media, although they established a company together last year. Despite that, it’s been about a decade since the two have actually seen each other in person.

In a new Esquire interview, Liam said, “The last time I saw Noel was at a football match about ten years ago. It’s a shame, isn’t it?” In a perhaps-related quote, he added, “The good times outweigh the bad times. I think it’s best to just leave it at that.”

He also noted he has some regrets about Oasis’ break-up, saying he thinks the band could have done more before they called it quits. He said, “Everyone goes on about us being the biggest. There were plenty of places where we could’ve been bigger. We were the biggest thing in England. And we were pretty big in Japan. But we weren’t that big in America, not at all. We never played stadiums in Spain. There was a lot more work to be done, so we shouldn’t have split up, because we could have made more records. It’s a shame. I’m talking about Oasis. I like to think Oasis will get back together, but not this week.”

Check out the full feature here.

Just when you thought that we had enough music festivals announced for 2022, San Francisco’s brand new Portola Music Festival has splashed onto the circuit with an incredibly diverse lineup of marquee electronic-leaning dance, pop, and hip-hop crossover acts. This is a seriously stacked lineup with big names at the top like Flume, The Chemical Brothers, Jamie xx, and a #rare performance from MIA.

Pier 80 is the grounds for the inaugural edition of the Goldenvoice-produced two-day festival on September 24th and 25th. Also appearing on the very well-curated bill are acts like Kaytranada, Jungle, Charli XCX, The Avalanches, Caribou, Toro y Moi, James Blake, Four Tet + Floating Points, Caroline Polachek, PinkPantheress, DJ Shadow, Lane 8, Yaeji, Slowthai, The Blessed Madonna, Justin Martin, and more. While late to the party, this is a legit unbelievable lineup.

And while the festival takes place nowhere near San Francisco’s Garden District known as the “Portola,” it’s actually named after the short-lived Portola Festival of 1909, which celebrated San Francisco’s re-opening following the great fire of 1906. Back then, the festival was built around a parade down Market Street. It then disappeared in 1913 for 35 years before re-establishing itself as a series of Mardi Gras-style parades in 1948, and then fading into the abyss in 1950. Now we have a full-on dance party in a refurbished warehouse and tents on a historic pier. Sure.

Check out the lineup poster below and tickets go on sale on Friday, May 20th, here.

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

Sally Rooney’s second book-to-show adaptation came out yesterday, with the long-awaited Conversations With Friends premiering on Hulu. The notoriously schmaltzy series had none other than Phoebe Bridgers contribute a song called “Sidelines,” which is about being so in love that you’re no longer afraid of death. Bridgers is a longtime fan of Rooney and probably would not have met her fiancé Paul Mescal if he hadn’t been cast in Rooney’s Normal People adaptation series.

Today, the Punisher star unveiled the music video for that song “Sidelines,” and it features a lot of cinematic scenes from the show. It’s like a montage of intimate moments between different characters — Frances and Bobbi, Fances and Nick, Nick and Melissa, plus some pretty sunsets and Bridgers herself singing gently in the studio.

The actor who plays Nick is Joe Alwyn, boyfriend of Taylor Swift, who Bridgers is also a fan of. She recently praised Folklore‘s “Betty”: “I like when songwriters make you decide what’s so sad about this person. It’s kind of not the movie version of a love story. You have a crush on someone and then you hook up with someone else because your feelings for them overwhelm you? That’s so f*cking sad. I think it’s genius. And then we kind of don’t really know what happens at the end of it,” she said.

Watch the video for “Sidelines” above.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Patrick Carney doesn’t want to come across like an asshole today. One half of The Black Keys for the past 20+ years, he has just landed in Los Angeles from his home in Nashville ahead of the band’s show at The Troubadour in West Hollywood to celebrate the release of their latest album, Dropout Boogie. With a 500-person capacity, The Troubadour gig represents a massive underplay for The Black Keys, who could easily fill an arena for this purpose. And while Carney and his creative partner Dan Auerbach appreciate the untouched ’60s and ’70s classicism of The Troub, it’s not without its challenges.

“It’s actually a headache when we do this sh*t because we’ve been a band for so long, we’ve got so many friends in these cities that I just have to be an asshole to all my friends and tell them they can’t come,” Carney says on a call.

Fortunately for people who can’t make it through the door, the band has a full US tour scheduled this summer in support of Dropout Boogie. The band’s 11th album, it arrives exactly 20 years after the Akron, Ohio duo’s basement-recorded debut, The Big Come Up. The pair have become one of the most recognizable rock bands through the years, staying famously insular, save for the presence of producer Danger Mouse on four of their albums. But for Dropout Boogie, things were different. Carney and Auerbach welcomed new faces into the fold of Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville, and the result is an album that embraces the band’s longtime blues influences like never before. We caught up with Carney to talk about it all.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

So the Dropout Boogie release is within a day of the 20 year anniversary of your first album, The Big Come Up, and this album really reminds me of that first one, more so than any other Black Keys release.

I agree with that, yeah.

Were you thinking about that a lot when you worked on these songs? Did that play into it at all?

Not really, because I’ve never really had too many 20th anniversaries of anything. Even in my high school class, we were so cynical that we canceled our 20th reunion because no one wanted to go. But just thinking, while we’re making it like, “Oh yeah, we started this band like 20 years ago…” One thing that I was sure of going into making the record, was that I wanted the drums to sound a little bit more f*cked up. Closer to some sonic stuff that we were doing on Brothers. And I guess if you listen to the first record, it just sounds really bizarre, in a cool way. But the last song [“Didn’t I Love You”] on the new record definitely feels like something that would’ve come out of the basement.

Totally.

I guess it’s like a poetic statement putting that song last, because it finishes a 20-year cycle which kind of demonstrates the overall aesthetic or even the point of the band. We edited some stuff off of the front of that, and a little bit of stuff at the end, but really what you hear is us just kind of tumbling in and out of a song. And that’s the take, it’s the first take.

There’s definitely a rawness about these songs that I hadn’t heard on a Black Keys record for a while. Is it from that first take approach that you guys did with a lot of songs on this album?

Well, we’ve always been the first take type of band. But after Brothers, we went in the studio with Danger Mouse to make what became El Camino. He had this idea that we should make some stuff that was faster, because my typical operating frequency for rhythm is like Wu-Tang Clan speed, 95 BPM or something. It’s like a no-go zone for rock and roll because it’s really good for a big riff, but it’s hard for other types of stuff. And I never really understood that, but Brian (Danger Mouse) was like, “Yeah, we should go a little faster.” So when we started making El Camino, it was the first time I realized that, “Okay, I gotta play drums.” And I gotta keep the beat straight. It can’t swing as hard.

And one of the bad aspects of that, was it got way in my head for close to a decade of like, “Okay, I should really worry about playing in time to this click, or to this beat, or what I think it should be?” When previous to that, up through Brothers it was just like, “I should just let things sway however I play it. You know? So on this record I really got back to that mentality of just letting it swing. And not worrying so much about keeping the tempo where it needs to be, if it’s going to be there it’s going to flow. Because of that — at least for me — it feels like it has a little bit more of a laid-back kind of loose groove to it.

Yeah, yeah. I definitely hear that in a lot of songs. Like on “How Long,” that one really has a laid-back, loose feel to it.

That’s another first take, that song.

In the last few years, you guys have really embraced the blues. And that’s always been present in your music, but it’s just so evident now. I think about how Delta Kream was a straight homage to Mississippi Hill Country Blues musicians like Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside that have inspired you from the beginning. Can you talk a little bit about just fully embracing the blues in these last two albums?

When we first started the band, we were almost a North Mississippi Hill Country blues tribute act. We were just really into the Kimbrough and R.L. stuff, and we bonded so heavily over that. Then when we were making that first record, we started trying to figure out how to write songs and we kind of got swept up in that kind of garage rock revivalists press thing that was happening in 2002-2003. The first time we opened up an alt-weekly and read someone described us as like “Blues Hammer 2.0” or something. We were 23-year-old kids. And we were like, “F*ck that. We cannot tell people we’re a blues band.” And we kind of ran away from that as fast as we could. Definitely did not embrace it. We didn’t want to get the stigma of that. And I still don’t think we’re a blues band, I think we’re a rock and roll band and we moved into the territory.

But we just got more comfortable embracing the things that we like, and not shying away from talking about them and shining the light on these musicians who inspired us so much. It outweighs getting called “blues hammer.” We can take it now, but I think it was a confusing time around 2002 where The White Stripes were being called a blues band. We just ran away from it and eventually ended up coming out as this arena band. Then before this, Dan and I took some time off. We hung out once or twice during 2016 and 17. We spent very little time around each other for those two years.

Was that by design? Because you guys were both producing projects for other people.

We just f*cked off and did our own thing. We were busy. I was starting a family, I had just gotten remarried. And then when it came time to make another Keys record, I left the ball in Dan’s court: “Whenever you’re ready let me know.” And he hit me up in 2018, and I guess really the last couple years has been us figuring out how to have a healthy relationship again; one that’s enjoyable. We both started associating each other’s presence with us grinding really hard. Like 2010 through 2014, we did three tours that were all over a hundred dates. So I think we figured it out. And I think the crowning kind of moment of our relationship, figuring it out, was the making of Delta Kream. It was an accidental undertaking where Dan was making a record for Easy Eye with this artist named Robert Finley and it was like, “Oh yeah, this is how it should f*cking feel. This is what it should feel like for us.”

And then in 2021 we both were kind of chomping at the bit to get back to work and once we got in the studio to make this record things just really started clicking. By the time we finished it in November, we felt the opposite of that usual creatively drained feeling. We’ve been continuing to work the whole time since we finished. So we’re deep into another record already.

You brought in other people to help you in the process for the first time in the process of Dropout Boogie. How was that different? Did that kind of help bridge this gap that you guys had?

Yeah, I mean in the past when we worked with Danger Mouse, the band would essentially become a three-piece for those times that he was there. And it was a true democracy where if one person didn’t like something we would move on. For better or worse. And I think part of the situation with Dan when we made Let’s Rock, was us figuring out not just how to get along or just what it felt like to be around each other, but also like, “What’s it like to be creative without Danger Mouse there?” So making Let’s Rock was at times sort of tense.

By the time we made this record, I felt comfortable enough to know that if I added something while Dan was taking his kid to soccer or vice versa, if one of us didn’t like it, we would just say something. It wasn’t a big deal. It sounds like a little thing, but when you’re in a band for 20 years, it could be a big thing. I’ve heard that Metallica can’t even be critical to each other about their parts anymore. They have a hard time even critiquing each other. But for Dan and I, we learned really productive ways to talk to each other about what we’re working on. And I think Dan’s Easy Eye work and doing all of those records he’s made, it’s got him more in the zone of co-writing with different people. He’s figured out ways to spark something when he’s not feeling 100% sure where to come at it.

So how did bringing in songwriters in Angelo Petraglia and Greg Cartwright help?

With “Wild Child,” we had the music, the whole song was just basically done but not the vocals, and Dan was like, “I’m not really sure what we should do?” So when we brought in Greg, it was like “Boom. Oh my God, we should have been doing this for the last 20 years!” It was f*cking insane. It was just so natural. And I’m watching Dan get so inspired and watching him… feel less like the burden of work is just sitting there. And of a record where the music is done, but the vocals aren’t. Now it becomes an actually exciting thing because we could just pick and choose who we want to come into the studio to take a listen and see if they have anything, any perspective. And it’s funny because it’s what we both do when we’re both producing records outside of the Keys, but we never applied that to our band. So it’s the first time that we’re actually, in a way, producing our own band, fully.

The guitar on “Good Love” super stood out to me. And then lo and behold, that was the Billy Gibbons track. What was it like having freakin’ ZZ Top playing guitar on your track?

Well, it’s crazy because definitely during the pandemic, especially when sports weren’t happening, I just went down the rabbit hole of watching real nerdy guitar stuff. One of the videos I remember watching was someone talking about Billy Gibbons. How he gets his guitar sound and how he uses these special strings, very light strings, etc… So here we are in the studio, months later after I watched that video, and Dan gets a text from, I think Rick Rubin, saying, “Hey, Billy’s in town. You guys should hang.” So we invite Billy over and we ask if he wants to jam. He picks up this guitar. It’s a Gibson Trini Lopez, a Dave Grohl guitar. Like the exact opposite type of guitar that he normally plays. He wanted to play this particular guitar because it used to belong to Mississippi Fred McDowell.

He plugged it in and instantly, it sounded exactly like ZZ Top. It was different amps, a different guitar, just the only common factor was Billy’s hands and Billy’s brain. It’s why being a singer is such a cool thing, because you’re instantly recognizable. Your voice is instantly distinct. But being a musician, being able to get your own singular voice out of an instrument is so rare. And when it happens, when you can hear someone play an instrument like, “Oh sh*t! That’s so and so playing guitar, or playing drums. That’s the goal. And to see Billy do it and realizing he was doing some very simplistic sh*t, and it was so him. He can just play with two notes, and it would sound amazing.

If there’s a through-line in the songs that you guys write, it’s this dive bar yarn. Always making sense of what went wrong in a relationship and how to move on. Brothers was amazing in that sense and now I hear songs on this album like “How Long” and “It Ain’t Over” that are very much in the same spirit. What is it that draws The Black Keys to this?

I think it’s just our experience. It’s what happens when you’re a co-dependent musician. You’re going to end up taking a while to learn your lesson. It takes a while to figure out what you want. I’ve been married three times, I got that true rock star Wikipedia page developing there. But in reality, it just took me a long time to figure it out. My first wife was one of those stories. That’s what Brothers was all written basically based around my breakup with someone I was with for 10 years.

It’s about when you realize that you can’t be with someone after you thought that was who you were going to spend the rest of your life with. And then you realize that there’s this whole other world. Then you rush into your next thing because you’re just trying to prove to yourself that you’re not a piece of sh*t. And then of course, that’s always a bad idea too. I guess that’s why they say that third time’s the charm. But relationships and marriages are never easy. At least the good ones. I think if you find yourself in a challenging relationship, a lot of times it’s because you’re dealing with people who are vocal about what they want, and not being complacent. So you’re going to have endless material there.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you that I just got married on Saturday.

Oh, dude. Congratulations! Think about the record Johnny Depp should have been writing rather than sitting there. He had the record ready to go.

Oh, man. If they only had a studio set up in that courtroom, huh?

Jesus Christ.

Dropout Boogie is out now via Nonesuch Records. Hear it here.

The Black Keys are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Fans of the Gorillaz have much to be excited about as the group announced its upcoming North American tour beginning on September 11 in Vancouver. There are 21 set dates spanning across the United States and Canada, finishing up on October 23 in Miami. Earthgang and Jungle will join them on select dates (from September 11 to October 19 for Earthgang, then on October 21 and 23 for Jungle).

This announcement comes in the midst of Gorillaz’s world tour throughout Europe and South America, generating much excitement as this is its first stateside tour since 2018. Gorillaz last release came in 2020 with Song Machine: Season One, Strange Timez (Deluxe). The band is recognized by the Guinness Book Of World Records as the planet’s Most Successful Virtual Act.

Check out the full list of Gorillaz’s tour dates below:

09/11 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
09/12 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
09/14 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center
09/17 – Las Vegas, NV @ Life is Beautiful Festival
09/19 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Vivint Smart Home Arena
09/21 – San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center
09/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
09/26 – Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center
09/28 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
09/30 – Austin, TX @ Moody Center
10/01 – Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
10/03 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
10/05 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
10/06 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
10/08 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
10/11 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden
10/12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center
10/14 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia
10/17 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
10/19 – Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheater
10/21 – Orlando, FL @ Amway Center
10/23 – Miami, FL @ FTX Arena

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

Phil Spencer, the head of the Xbox division within Microsoft, is used to seeing a game delay or two at this point. While Microsoft has been buying up as many studios as it can, it unfortunately hasn’t been putting out quite as many games as they’d like. Obviously game development takes a long time and by giving their development studios the time to work on these projects without crunch they’re getting some major hits such as Psychonauts 2 and the revival of Halo. It feels like Microsoft is taking the standpoint of letting their studios take as long as they need to make a game as long as it’s polished and meets quality standards.

While this is a great methodology for developers and studios because it can help prevent crunch settings and result in better games, it does have the adverse effect of creating a lot of delays. Psychonauts 2 had an extremely lengthy development cycle, Halo Infinite was delayed over a year, and now Bethesda’s Starfield is being delayed alongside Redfall. Fans were really not happy about these delays, especially Starfield since that was first announce back in 2018, and fans of the Xbox are growing frustrated with its games constantly being delayed. Enough people showed frustration about it that Spencer chose to make a statement about Xbox’s most recent major delay, on Twitter.

While nobody wants to see bad games on the Xbox, they would like to see a more consistent release schedule for its games. Xbox owners are in a really good place with the huge library of games currently available on Game Pass, but a lot of the games on that service right now are third-party developed, which means both PS5 owners and PC owners can also get those games. If someone bought an Xbox Series X at launch, they don’t really have a whole lot of games to justify that purchase at the moment. So seeing games like Starfield get delayed that was supposed to be a major part of the gaming calendar is really frustrating for someone who owns an Xbox. It makes sense why there’s been enough frustration that Spencer would have to respond to it.