Category: News

After the success of SZA’s SOS and Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal, it looks like Top Dawg Entertainment is going all-in on the girlies, and we’re here for it. The Los Angeles-based label has signed its third woman, Ethiopian alt-pop singer-songwriter Alemeda. You may remember her from her UPROXX Sessions performance of “Gonna Bleach My Eyebrows” in 2022, and since then, not only have there been plenty of other singers adopting that cosmetic choice, but Alemeda herself has built a growing fanbase as her alt-pop style caught on through artists like PinkPantheress and FKA Twigs.

Today, Alemeda released FK IT, her debut EP for TDE, featuring three all-new songs, “Below The Belt,” “I Already Dug Your Grave,” and “Not Asking For Much,” in addition to prior releases like “I Hate Your Face,” “Guys Girl” and the aforementioned “Bleach.” The project picks up threads from SZA’s pop-punk experiments on SOS and similar songs from the likes of Fousheé’s new project Pointy Heights, like “Feels Like Home.” “Below The Belt” “I Already Dug Your Grave” are upbeat riffs on the Disney pop-punk Alemeda says she grew up on as a kid in Arizona, while “Not Asking For Much” slows things down for a bit more bite. It’s a bit of a departure from “Gonna Bleach My Eyebrows,” which took more inspiration from UK garage and 2-step.

The versatile project is a worthy introduction to Alemeda for newcomers and an exciting look at the future of the formerly hip-hop-centric TDE. You can check out FK IT here.

Between members Karina, Giselle, Winter, and Ningning, Uproxx cover stars aespa are a collaborative force on their own. Still, the K-pop leaders aren’t opposed to working with other recording artists. Today (September 20), the “Armageddon” musicians linked up with another imaginative entertainer.

For the official remix of their smash “Supernova,” aespa tapped Grimes for her magical touch. The first weekend of the artist’s Coachella 2024 set might have been a technical nightmare, but Grimes’ creative spin on aespa’s beloved single “Supernova” is a fantasy you’d be willing to dive headfirst into.

The track arrives by way of ScreaM Records’ new project, iScreaM. In a statement, a representative description the purpose of the body of work as “where global DJs and producers participate in releasing remix singles of SM artists’ music.”

However, in Grimes’ eyes the track served a much deeper purpose. On September 16, Grimes, in a series a post on X (formerly Twitter), she outlined about the collaboration came to be. “Honestly I prob wouldn’t have started producing music again except that my autistic hyper fixation got hijacked by k pop,” she wrote. “Friendship ended w Nietzsche, now Æspa is my friend.”

Grimes then went on to reveal that she has other records with aespa in the queue, writing: “I actually did remix ‘Armageddon’ too, idk if they want it, but I could ask. I also have a second ‘Supernova Remix’ that’s kinda good, but my baby destroyed the computer it was on so it’s unmixable. Oh to clarify what’s coming out is ‘Supernova.’ But Mebe they like them all I never submitted my ‘Armageddon Remix.’”

Listen to the “Supernova” remix above.

iScreaM Vol.33: Supernova / Armageddon Remixes is out now via SM. Find more information here.

Tino Schaedler has a vision for the future of concerts: It involves embracing the wonder, joy, and community at the heart of the live performance.

The German-born jack of all trades began his artistic career in architecture, before moving into film, brand design, and more. Now? He’s a go-to collaborator for many of the most inventive artists in music.

His work with acts like SAULT, André 3000, Travis Scott, and more earned him an honor at the 2024 UPROXX Sound + Vision Awards as the Vanguard Virtoso, which “highlights visionary collaborators who empower artists and help drive music culture forward.” It’s clear through his varied approaches to stagecraft that there’s no one-size-fits-all method to his creations.

“The music industry has changed a lot since the pandemic, and there’s interest in really trying to create new types of live experiences and new types of experiences in general that are beyond stadium and arena tours,” Schaedler explained to UPROXX.

As such, he, and the artists he works with, have put an emphasis on live and lived experiences. Schaedler says that these aren’t disposable concerts where the lights go down, the band comes on, they play some songs, and they leave. He wants to re-imagine the way concerts can be experienced.

“We’re all on our phones all the time,” Schaedler explains. “I want to make bodies our interface again, putting people into the moment and being present.”

Where does your initial passion for art — or more broadly, creativity — stem from?

My mom really laid the foundation from an early age. I would come home from school and there was always paper and pens on the floor. My whole childhood, I remember just drawing. That was all I was doing. I don’t think it was a conscious decision, but I think she also built a little bit of a reward system around it, because she always made me draw for everyone: grandparents, aunts and uncles, and everyone got a little drawing from me. There was always appreciation around it. It really built this image where I always felt like I was an artist. There was no other choice. It was so natural for me because it was my passion, and I think there was a persona that was created around that from that early age on.

Did you go to school for art? What was your focus?

I studied architecture. That was a little bit of a compromise in the beginning, and my dad really pushed me for it. He was a real estate developer and he was like, “Do you want to do art? At least have it be something that has a bit of an economy behind it.” Back then, I always thought of it as a compromise, but in hindsight, it wasn’t really, because studying architecture gives you such a broad scope of education, from understanding the technical side of architecture to the spatial understanding and spatial imagination to art history, architectural history, and all of that.

A lot of what I do is still fed from that time, and it really influenced the way that I think about things. I studied at Berlin and then did two years at UC Berkeley, and there I learned about this landscape architect named Lawrence Helpin. It was a long time ago and computers were a new thing. I think I got my first email while I was at Berkeley, and I learned about this landscape architect that did a lot of design on the campus there. He was designing using a storyboard. He used a storyboard to design landscape architecture. Architecture was never an abstract shape. It was always a combination or a relationship between a camera movement and perception. I always thought about architecture in a very cinematic way

And that’s a pretty good way to describe what you do now, right?

When I have meetings with new clients and I explain the way that I think about things, it’s relevant because I studied architecture and that’s all about space and the physical and psychological dimension of space. If you go to the Pantheon in Rome, there’s an emotion attached to that. Creating space has a kind of poetic potential to really evoke an emotion.

What did you do after graduating?

After graduating, I went into film and I worked on big movies: Harry Potter, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, V For Vendetta. I had this high school teacher who inspired me to get into film. In Germany, you have to write an essay to graduate high school, and I wrote mine on [Stanley] Kubrick and [Alfred] Hitchcock. It was always film, it was about thinking about architecture through the camera lens, then moving into film. It was a very natural progression.

I did most of those films in London, then moved to California and did more films while moving into music videos and commercials. I also became a partner in this experiential agency, which is all about consumer journey choreography and creating experiences. What I do now with SAULT is really about those three things. It’s space, it’s design, it’s storytelling. It combines movement and experience. The music industry has changed a lot since the pandemic, and there’s interest in really trying to create new types of live experiences and new types of experiences in general that are beyond stadium and arena tours.

I learned from some of the brand experiences that I did for Nike or for Apple or for Beats. There are some interesting ideas in there, especially when paired with the shift towards immersive experiences. The music industry is open and hungry for new ways of experiencing things. We’re all on our phones all the time. I want to make bodies our interface again, putting people into the moment and being present. There are things that I’ve been super interested in for the past 10 years.

What was that challenge for you in helping SAULT be the band that they wanted to be in a live setting?

It was a super interesting setup. I mean, I got the first call about a year ago in October. I got that call from Inflo, and there was an immediate connection of various interests about creating something very special, creating something that puts people into the moment. The whole mystique that they’ve built around the band was super interesting to me. I didn’t know him before. A mutual friend connected us, but from the first moment, there was this really deep connection with Flo. We were on the phone for the next two months.

I did a few trips to London and it was just a beautiful exchange. Everything was created in terms of the design, and the programming came through us talking and figuring out how we could do something that is different than your traditional show. Normally, you wait in the main space, suddenly the light goes off and the band performs, and then the light comes on again and everyone leaves. The idea was about creating a world that’s very cinematic. The idea of world building is inherent to movies, so when you’re working on Harry Potter, you design the whole world that fits these characters. World-building is an interesting aspect that I think is very relevant for music today.

A lot of musicians do it just by the persona that they create. Think about Daft Punk, Doja Cat, or Lady Gaga. We wanted to take that to the next level and not just have something on the stage that you look at. We wanted to create something that you walk through that you experience where you have a much stronger interaction with it. It wasn’t a traditional linear relationship of the audience looking at a stage, because we redefined it by putting the stage in the middle of the whole crowd. You’re walking through the stage, everything becomes one. The whole space is the stage, basically.

Do you have an overarching philosophy to the way you approach these projects? Or are you more chameleonic in the way that you work with the artist’s desires?

I think it’s a little bit of both. There are some artists where you just have to be what they need, and I can deliver that. I worked with Tyla recently and they just needed help with a few festival shows, and we just designed something that can live on the festival stage.

Then there are other artists like André 3000. I helped him with his last tour, and that one was super minimal. We decided on that because he just wants you to put your phone away and listen. We did that one with a laser that shoots through this glass of water, and it’s so iconic. André is always about, “Let’s strip away, let’s strip away.”

What do you think stage design can, or is meant to, achieve?

When I worked in commercials or music videos, there were always people asking me why I didn’t move more into directing music videos or commercials. There are so many young people, and I don’t think I have anything unique to offer. I can do a good job, but I don’t have anything that no one else has. Regarding music and what I bring to it, though, I think I have a unique thing to give. In an ideal scenario, we all want to align our life purpose. We all want to feel like what we do has an impact.

In an ideal scenario, you come to a point where your gift or your skill and your passion all align with some kind of ability to give back or to create something meaningful. I love creating these moments that people remember for a long time.

I was at Tate Modern a few weeks ago. I was invited by Little Simz, and during that panel afterwards, a lot of people came to me and spoke about my work. There are still a lot of people that hit me up about SAULT. That alone is proof that something really special was created. So, that is the sweet spot that I want to be in. Not every project offers that, but I think it’s getting to be the case more and more, because more artists are realizing that they can actually do something different. They can push it, and there’s almost a new typology of music experiences evolving.

Atlanta rap star Kaliii is expecting a bundle of joy soon, but she isn’t letting that stop her from putting in work and enjoying the fruits of the other kind of labor. In the video for her new single “Hot Girl Maybach,” Kaliii shows off both her baby bump and some expensive rides as she rocks a silver gown in the driveway of a mansion surrounded by the titular luxury autos.

The chrome-colored video follows the reveal of her pregnancy with the clip for “Big One” featuring Monaleo, which Kaliii released last month. That video arrived two months after “Gas You Up” featuring Hunxho, which followed the dismissive “Bozo” video from February. Between songs, Kaliii collaborated with G-Eazy on “Femme Fatale,” which also featured Coi Leray, YG on “Shake” with Stunna Girl, and Cash Cobain on “Problem,” which included a squadron of collaborators like 6lack, Big Sean, Flo Milli, and the burgeoning TikTok favorite Laila!, whose breakout hit “Not My Problem” formed the base sample.

The former Uproxx cover star is a little under a year removed from her last EP, Fck Girl SZN, and is still working on her debut album — which hopefully won’t be negatively impacted by the shakeups at Atlantic Records.

Watch Kaliii’s “Hot Girl Maybach” video above.

Future is currently the most hard-working artist in hip-hop. After releasing two albums produced by Metro Boomin this year, We Don’t Trust You and We Still Don’t Trust You, he’s returning to the well one more time with Mixtape Pluto.

For some fans, it’s the best of the three, for the same reason that the paired projects marked a return to form for Future in the minds of many longtime fans. Mixtape Pluto calls back to one of the most productive and fan-revered eras of the veteran trap rapper’s career.

Of course, I am referring to the Future era in which he released no fewer than five standout projects from 2014 to 2016. Beginning with the DJ Esco-hosted mixtape Monster and including Beast Mode with Zaytoven, 56 Nights with DJ Esco, What A Time To Be Alive with Drake, and, of course, DS2, and ending arguably with 2016’s Purple Reign and Evol, Future’s 2015 run was rivaled only by a few in hip-hop, and all of them are titans of the culture.

During this time, he released 10 platinum-selling singles, including some of his most beloved festival hype DJ playlist favorites, like “March Madness” “Jumpman” with Drake, and “Low Life” with The Weeknd. These time may not have produced his highest-charting, but it began Future’s string of multi-platinum hits (beginning with “F*ck Up Some Commas” from DS2 at No. 55) and it contains the densest concentration thereof (peaking with “Low Life” with eight certifications).

Unlike prior albums Pluto and Honest, and latter albums like Hndrxx, High Off Life, or even his Metro Boomin collabs, this success was driven by Future’s gritty solo charisma, with much less of the focus on melodizing his heartbreak. Instead, he growled dismissive dispatches from the depths of his hedonistic excesses, going out of his way to shoot down any suggestion of soulful introspection or simping.

He also needed little in the way of featured artistry to fuel his ascent. While Future himself was a hotly demanded guest star on works from other artists, including DJ Khaled, Mike Will Made It, Travis Scott, Ty Dolla Sign, and 21 Savage, the only collaborations of his from 2015 to chart were those from What A Time, a collaborative album, while “Low Life” with The Weeknd was the biggest hit he had to feature another artist in 2016.

He was at the height of his powers — which you could argue he most strongly taps into on his other mixtapes. Mixtape Pluto might not only apply to 2015 and 2016; it might also refer to his street-bred beginnings with tapes like the original Dirty Sprite or collaborative efforts like Super Slimey with Young Thug or Beast Mode 2 with Zaytoven.

The new tape indeed does find Future going solo for its 17 tracks. There’s a mixture of producers, but all of them provide vintage 808 and skittering snares — exactly the sort of backdrop over which the Atlanta native thrives. The hypnotic, chant-like choruses? They’re represented here on tracks like “Lil Demon” and “Aye Say Gang.” The rapping is as crisp as it’s ever been. And for those fans who love wounded Future, there are a few standouts like “Too Fast” and “Lost My Dog.”

Which is why Mixtape Pluto is hitting all the right notes with those fans who’ve been following him all this time. Future — an artist with roots that reach back to Atlanta’s initial epoch in the rap mainstream with Outkast and Dungeon Family — has transformed dozens of times over the course of his career, but the form he always seems to return to is the one that has the most potential to go anywhere and everywhere else. Mixtape Future is the best Future, because like the future, the possibilities are endless.

Who needs an authenticator when Uproxx cover star Ava Max could quite easily offer her services? The “Ghost” singer is calling out any and all fraudsters on her latest record.

Yesterday (September 19), Ava Max released a follow-up to her single “My Oh My.” On her latest track, “Spot A Fake,” Ava Max continues her intoxicating run of dance floor friendly bops.

For “Spot A Fake,” Max turns her irresistible sonics against romantic lovers with ulterior motives, which, given her pop star status, is quite useful. “I could spot a fake from a mile away / Oh, I could spot the bad in the girl that you date / She’s playin’ with your, playin’ with your heart ’til it breaks / I got a sixth sense when it comes to a b*tch / She’s just a demon blowin’ a kiss / Oh, god / She’s like a white sheep, what could she ever do? / She’s just a bad wolf comin’ for you / Oh, god,” sings Ava.

Usually, calling someone out as phony would be considered rude. However, with the help of the track’s producer, Grant Boutin, “Spot A Fake” is more so viewed as a cocky warning instead. Given her viral smash “Sweet But Psycho,” Ava’s words of advice should be deeply considered for anyone in the dating market.

Listen to “Spot A Fake” above.

TiaCorine does her best Thanos impression on her new song, “Different Colored Stones,” calling herself “Mrs. Put-It-On” as she demonstrates her one-of-a-kind drip. If you’re thinking, “Hey, that doesn’t match up with the artwork, which is a clear reference to the Chaos Emeralds from Sonic The Hedgehog, not the Infinity Gems from Marvel Comics,” not only are you right, but you’re also a huge nerd.

That’s okay, though, because so is TiaCorine, who incorporates anime and other cartoons into her aesthetic all the time (I mean, see below, or check out her video for “Bonnett“). That said, she knows how to get gritty too, as she demonstrated on Denzel Curry’s “Hot Ones” earlier this summer. The 2023 XXL Freshman started off the year with her Almost There EP, followed by her first headlining tour, courtesy of Monster Energy.

Meanwhile, the video “Different Colored Stones” proves that just because someone’s geeky, doesn’t mean they can’t also be sexy. TC shows off both sides of herself in the clip, going from dressed down while wandering the streets of New York and barely dressed in a studio photo shoot. “DCS” is her first single released since February, so it looks like she might be working on a full-length project for release sometime in the near future.

In the meantime, you can check out the video for “Different Colored Stones” above.

Cobra Kai (say it with me) will never die. Sure, the dojo has been kicked out of the Valley, and most of the core cast on the Netflix series has stuck with Miyagi-do. Yet the specter of John Kreese (Martin Kove) still lives on in the show, even while he’s hallucinating and attempting to bring his own competitors to the Sekai Taikai world championships. Actually, the karate baddie somehow succeeded, which is where the Karate Kid spin off series ended Season 6 Part 1 before the show went on planned hiatus during a supersized final season that is split into three parts.

Next year, another Karate Kid movie will grab the baton back, and showrunners Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg have been suggesting that there could be more TV coming. First, however, they must tie up this Netflix series with three mini-seasons, so let’s start roundhouse kicking toward what we can expect from the next five episodes.

Plot

As viewers will recall, the final moments of Season 6 Part 1 showed that Tory (Peyton List) had followed up her decision to leave Miyagi-do with an even worse decision: to join Kreese’s new dojo and face off with her fellow teammates at the Sekai Taikai tournament. Tory’s choice was tragic and was surely fueled by the death of her mother, but Kreese is the closest thing that Tory has had to a father figure, and he actually did do good by her in earlier seasons before deciding to rig her tournament win. The Tory reveal also hit the soap-operatic notes that the show has become famous for because damn, Robby (Tanner Buchanan) had no idea of the whereabouts about his supposed girlfriend? Damn, Robby.

As for what we can expect from the upcoming episodes, a series of tidbits from the cast and showrunners have rolled out.

Jacob Bertrand, who portrays Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz, admitted to relying upon music to “get in the zone” during his character’s phases throughout the show. More specific to the upcoming episodes, however, Bertrand disclosed to Games Radar that the Sekai Taikai tournament will dominate: “There’s a fight every single episode and each fight is bigger than the last. It is absolutely insane. There’s some very big falls from grace.” He further added, “You can’t make everybody happy, but I was happy with the ending.”

Additionally, expect turmoil to go down in the psyche of Daniel LaRusso. Ralph Macchio told Good Housekeeping that Daniel-san will not be able to let go of Miyagi’s hidden box of secrets, and he will feel “hurt and pain” about being kept in the dark by his sensei. This, in turn, will cause conflict with his family and Miyagi-do:

“For Daniel, when we discover and introduce this box of Miyagi’s secrets, clues of a life that may have not added up to him … that’s a big part of the arc. Daniel winds up wondering and not understanding why he wasn’t told of things, and the hurt and pain of that. But also, the deeper he tries to unearth it, the more tangents he goes off on and potentially loses his focus on his students and his family … He needs to fight some real kicks in the gut, and find a place within his heart and soul to get through it.”

Macchio did promise, “Things will eventually make sense as to why [Mr. Miyagi] motivates Daniel in this specific story, and I’m looking forward to that.” And a reminder: “The legacy of [Cobra Kai] is blurring the lines of good over evil — overcoming the obstacles and finding your inner self.”

What else? The showrunners have been attempting not to spoil too much, but they talked, too. This includes Jon Hurwitz revealing to Screenrant that “in Part 2, there will be a character from a Karate Kid movie in the past who shows up in the middle five, so there’s something coming. There’s somebody coming who fans have seen in the past, that’s all I’ll say.” Whereas Josh Heald told Collider of the Sekai Taikai, “Any idea of what you think a tournament is in the universe of The Karate Kid or Cobra Kai will be completely upended. It will be absolutely nothing like an All Valley. Buckle your seatbelts.”

Meanwhile, we didn’t see much of the tournament setting in Part 1, but what we did see suggests that Jacob Bertrand did not receive his previous wish to “actually go to Brazil or something and not like it have it be, ‘Oh we’re in Brazil! But it’s really just a basement studio in Atlanta.’” Sorry, Hawk.

Cast

While Ralph Macchio’s Daniel-san stresses the hell out, his dojo (which also belongs to William Babka’s Johnny) is looking to shine at the tournament with Mary Mouser as Samantha, Xolo Maridueña as Miguel, Jacob Bertrand as Eli/Hawk, Tanner Buchanan as Robby, Gianni DeCenzo as Demetri, and Dallas Dupree Young as Kenny. As noted previously, Peyton List/Tory has gone to the Kreese (Martin Love) side, which also includes Brandon H. Lee as Kwon.

Paul Walter Houser already cameo’d as Stingray, who sadly has no place at the tournament. We will surely see the return of Courtney Henggeler as Amanda, Vanessa Rubio as Carmen, and Griffin Santopietro as Anthony LaRusso.

Release Date

Five more episodes will arrive on November 28, which happens to be Thanksgiving Day. The third batch will arrive in 2025, followed by the upcoming The Karate Kid movie set for release on May 30, 2025.

Trailer

No trailer yet, man. This is, however, a great opportunity to relive Johnny Lawrence’s “sent it to the internet” moment:

Conference play is starting to ramp up in college football, and thanks to widespread realignment among the major conferences, that’s going to feel a bit different in 2024. The biggest game this week is a pretty good example of that, as Oklahoma will kick off life in the SEC by playing host to Tennessee. It’s a weird sentence, but it’s something we’re all going to get used to sooner rather than later.

As always, we’re here to take you through the very best of this weekend in college football. It should be fun! Let’s dive in.

The Game Of The Year (Of The Week): No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Oklahoma (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)

Both of these teams have gotten off to 3-0 starts, although they’ve gotten to that point in different ways. The Vols have looked like one of the best teams in America, and while they have not faced the stiffest competition, they’re lighting up scoreboards on offense and have allowed 13 points in three games against Chattanooga, NC State, and Kent State. The Sooners, meanwhile, started the year by blowing out Temple before finding themselves on upset alert against both Houston and Tulane.

All of this is setting up for a legitimately fascinating game between two teams with expectations of competing in the SEC. Both are breaking in new quarterbacks, too, as Nico Iamaleava and Jackson Arnold were the second and fourth ranked QBs in the class of 2023, respectively — Iamaleava has looked like a star in the making operating the high-powered Tennessee offense, but Norman is not a fun place for your first road game and Oklahoma’s defense been stout. Arnold, meanwhile, has not gotten off to a great start this season, as he’s been running for his life behind Oklahoma’s offensive line and there just haven’t been there — his 5.6 yards per attempt are second-to-last in the SEC among qualified passers. The Sooners’ offensive staff is going to have to cook something up to deal with a talented Tennessee pass rush led by potential No. 1 overall pick James Pearce Jr., or else it could be a very long night at the Palace on the Prairie.

(One final note: This game has some Message Board Meltdown Game Of The Week potential, because if Heupel — who won a national title as the starting QB for OU in 1999 and spent time on Bob Stoops’ staff earlier in his career — leads the Vols into Norman and whoops up on the Sooners, I cannot fathom that would go over well with Oklahoma fans.)

Lock Into This One: No. 24 Illinois vs. No. 22 Nebraska (Friday, 8 p.m. ET, FOX)

I’m not 100 percent certain just how good either of these undefeated, ranked teams are — Illinois is hanging its hat on a home win over a Kansas team that is just not what we thought it was going to be heading into the year, while Nebraska’s signature win was a home night game over a not very good Colorado team that matched up horribly against them. It’s possible that these are a pair of middle-of-the-road teams in the Big Ten (which is not the insult that it has been in the past), but regardless, we’re going to learn a lot about a pair of teams that really pride themselves on their physicality and toughness. Keep an eye out for how the Huskers attack Illini QB Luke Altmyer, who has taken a big step forward this year thanks in part to a pair of dynamite receivers in Pat Bryant and Zakhari Franklin. And on the other side of the ball, teams have been able to run on Illinois a bit this year, so watch for how Nebraska uses its rushing attack to open things up for Dylan Raiola down the field, or if they just lean entirely on their running game and don’t ask the true freshman to do all that much.

Under-The-Radar Banger: San Jose State vs. Washington State (Friday, 10 p.m. ET, The CW)

This is a pretty fun Friday slate! I’m throwing this one on here because the Cougs are one of the best stories in America to start the year — they’re 3-0 and just picked up a win in the Apple Cup over now-former conference rivals Washington — but they’re 128th nationally in passing yards allowed and now have to go up against a San Jose State team that loves to throw the ball, as they’re 17th nationally in passing yards per game and their top receiver, Nick Nash, leads the country in receptions (34), receiving yards (485), and receiving touchdowns (6). I expect Wazzu to win, but if this game gets really pass happy, it has the potential to be a good time. Also, keep Nash in mind for two sections from now.

Message Board Meltdown Game Of The Week: Cal vs. Florida State (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

You have surely seen this if you are on Twitter: Cal fans have decided to lean into the fact that California and Florida are, uh, let’s just say politically very different places. It’s led to some, quite frankly, sensational prodding by Golden Bears fans, who have really ramped up their efforts to annoy the hell out of the Noles. Things are already tense with the FSU faithful — they’re 0-3 to start the year and have the title of the most disappointing team in college football so far — and if they lose to a Cal team that will try to be more physical than them, the message boards are going to catch fire.

Who Won The Heisman Last Week?: Nick Nash, WR, San Jose State

He caught 17 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-10 win over Kennesaw State. I’m going to write the first part of that sentence out again: He caught 17 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns! In a single football game! That is an absolutely ridiculous afternoon. His longest reception was 34 yards, too, so it’s not like he kept breaking big plays to get that that point. That’s one heck of a day, and he won the Heisman last week as a result.

Best Bet (2-1): Iowa vs. Minnesota UNDER 35.5 (7:30 p.m., NBC)

Iowa unders are a good principle to follow, as the Hawkeyes once again mix a not great offense (albeit one that has been better this year) and an elite defense. Minnesota is slightly better on offense and a bit worse on defense, because the Big Ten West will never actually die — it is more a concept, or a state of being, than it is a division in a college football conference. And when the Floyd of Rosedale trophy is on the line, disgusting things happen, as the last two games were a 13-10 Iowa win and a 12-10 Minnesota victory. Disgusting. Take the under.

Bad Bunny is a global music superstar, but the “Baticano” rapper’s home and heart will forever belong to Puerto Rico. Over the years, he has showcased his silly side with meme-worthy photos and viral videos. However, when it comes to his native country, it’s not a laughing matter.

On his latest song, “Una Velita,” Bad Bunny is using his award-winning voice and international platform to draw attention to the plight of his people. Bad Bunny’s discography is filled with danceable bops, but now he adds a political resistance track to round things out.

With all eyes on Puerto Rico’s gubernatorial election, as well as the anniversary of Hurricane Maria, Bad Bunny offers a public prayer for the island. “And of the Holy Spirit, may God protect my song / I don’t want a tarp, I want His mantle / Obviously, the light will go out, God knows it will never rеturn / The bridge they took so long to build, thе river has grown and will break it / A couple of songs saved on my phone for when the signal goes out,” he raps (translated to English).

Bad Bunny then turns his sharp pen toward elected officials, rapping: “The signal has already been given, and they don’t wanna see it, it’s just that the Puerto Ricans have to wake up / Don’t forget the old lady over there who lives alone, we need to help her / Remember that we’re all from here, it’s up to the people to save the people / Don’t send me anything from the government, those bastards will hide it / They’re going out on the streets just for photos, they can all go to Hell / Five thousand were left to die, and that we’ll never forget / The palm tree they want to use to hang the country, one of these days we’ll take it down.”

Listen to “Una Velita” above.