Category: News

For his American Music Awards performance, Tyler The Creator popped out from backstage with a puffer jacket and his customary ushanka, rapping “Massa” in front of a house set in a snowy tableau. For some reason, he was wearing shorts. Unlike some of his previous performances, this one was relatively muted, as he stayed pretty much stationary in front of the door before stepping out into the snow, adding more and more passion to his performance while snow fell from the sky. And when the performance was done, he hopped on the back of a Vespa and cruised off the stage, as coolly as he entered.

Tyler The Creator’s big year kicked off in June with the release of the initial teasers for his new album, Call Me If You Get Lost. After putting up billboards promoting a phone number with a special, constantly-changing message from Tyler (which turned out to be the album’s interludes), he shared the first video, for “Lumberjack,” two weeks later.

He quickly followed up with a flurry of new videos and comedic sketches, including videos for “Wusyaname,” “Juggernaut,” and “Corso,” while his performance at the 2021 BET Awards solidified the hype for the album. Upon its release, it was critically acclaimed — you can read Uproxx’s own review here — and became his second album to debut at no. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Tyler also expanded his directorial portfolio with a music video for Maxo Kream, “Big Persona” (on which he also rapped), and a hilarious commercial for Converse that brought together NBA legend Bill Walton with gangsta-rap futurist Vince Staples. He certainly earned his slot on the AMAs’ appearance setlist, and his performance more than justified the show’s faith in him.

Watch Tyler The Creator’s AMAs performance above.

Coldplay decided to go ahead and shift to a full-on pop approach on their latest album, Music Of The Spheres, and that’s a good thing. Of course, if you want to go pop these days, there’s no better collaborator than K-pop icons BTS, and Chris Martin and co. immediately linked up with them for their “My Universe” collaboration and subsequent Suga remix. Giving fans the chance to see the song live, though, was a different story, as both bands tend to have fairly grueling touring schedules in a non-pandemic-impacted year. So what better place to make a live rendition of the song happen than at an award show? During tonight’s AMAs, the two bands joined together for a sparkling performance of “My Universe,” that may or may not have stolen the whole show a bit.

Even tonight’s legendary host, Cardi B, was reeling from the impact of the song, sharing earlier this weekend that she too wants to collaborate with these K-pop geniuses. Who wouldn’t? Check out their live performance with Coldplay above, and look out for more coming soon as the embark on a short string of tour dates in Los Angeles in early December. BTS never stops, and neither does their army of fans all across the universe.

Sunday night’s game between the Pistons and Lakers wasn’t circled on many calendars outside of those in Detroit who got themselves tickets to go see LeBron James, Anthony Davis and company. However, it became the lead story of the sports world in the third quarter after LeBron James hit Isaiah Stewart in the eye with an elbow/fist that caused a significant cut, earned James an ejection, and saw Stewart lose it trying to fight the Lakers.

On multiple occasions, Stewart broke free from his teammates and Pistons staffers trying to escort him back to the tunnel, including one time where he broke tackles like prime Bo Jackson and got very close to some of the Lakers who were still mulling about near midcourt.

Naturally, NBA Twitter immediately turned Stewart going wild into a meme and had some hilarious reactions to his effort to get after the Lakers. There were a lot of comparisons to football, as Stewart was not to be denied in his quest to get to the Lakers, ripping through people grabbing at him.

There was, of course, a Jim Ross/Stone Cold edit, as is the law of the internet.

And plenty of Thanksgiving themed jokes.

A lot of folks also pointed out the “effort” by the one cop on the left as Stewart broke free from Cunningham, as he stuck his hand out to gently say “please stop” as if that would accomplish anything.

There were also a lot of jokes about Russell Westbrook squaring up as Stewart came barreling towards them, as he had the hands up and ready in case Stewart broke all the way through.

In fairness to him, what is he going to do to stop a man as big as Stewart? Suspensions are surely coming and happily something really bad was avoided, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort from Stewart to rumble with everyone.

Nine months after Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak — aka Silk Sonic — made the world instant fans with their debut single “Leave The Door Open,” SIlk Sonic delivered their debut album An Evening With Sonic earlier this month and boy did they deliver. The project came attached with nine songs and contributions from Thundercat, Bootsy Collins, James Fauntleroy, and D’Mile. In addition to “Leave The Door Open,” An Evening With Sonic was also led by “Skate” and new fan-favorite “Smokin’ Out The Window.” A little over a week after that album arrived, Silk Sonic brought their talents together to open the 2021 American Music Awards.

The duo kicked off the award show night with the performance of “Smokin’ Out The Window.” As expected, Bruno and .Paak were dressed to the nines for the performance as they passionately sang about a former lover who did them wrong. Their performance also looked very similar to the music video that was released with the track.

The performance arrives after Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak announced that they’d be hosting their own limited-edition Silk Sonic radio series on Apple Music. “Over the course of four one-hour episodes, the pair feature Silk Sonic-inspired sets of all of their favorite records, ranging from old-school hits to R&B jams, hip-hop, funk, disco, and everything in between,” a press release said about the show. “From surprise guests to even more surprising conversation, it’s your turn to be a fly on the wall and spend some time with the kings of smooth.”

You can watch Silk Sonic’s 2021 AMAs performance above.

An Evening With Sonic is out now via Aftermath/Atlantic. Get it here.

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

The Lakers and Pistons met on Sunday night in a battle between two teams who were expected to be going in very different directions this season, which doesn’t typically result in hostility, but a scary scene broke out in Detroit after LeBron James elbowed Isaiah Stewart in the eye, causing him to bleed considerably, and Stewart then tried to fight the entire Lakers team.

The initial action took place battling for position on a free throw, where Stewart got a loose ball foul and James swung a his fist up high that caught Stewart in the eye. From there, Stewart tried to get after James and then on two separate occasions broke free of the Pistons coaches, teammates, and staffers who were trying to walk him to the locker room and sprinted back towards the Lakers.

Stewart would finally be walked to the tunnel, where he sprinted away again, this time trying to circle the bowels of Little Caesars Arena to re-enter the floor from another tunnel to fight the Lakers. It was as mad as you’ll see any NBA player in this kind of situation, as you rarely see someone repeatedly making a break for it after they’re grabbed by teammates, but Stewart, fairly understandably, was incensed as blood poured down his face.

It initially looked like an elbow, but some other replays showed it was more of a punch/swinging fist from James that caught Stewart in an ugly way.

It was a wild scene and, once Stewart was finally corralled, the referees assessed a Flagrant 2 to James for his elbow as he was ejected for the second time in his career and Stewart was given two technicals and ejected. At the time of the incident, the Pistons led 78-66 as the Lakers woes continued, and now we’ll await what further punishment comes for Stewart — who figures to be facing a healthy suspension for going after the Lakers numerous times — and if anything more is assessed to James for the elbow.

While we haven’t received a new album from Cardi B since her 2018 debut Invasion Of Privacy, she has been kind to us in the feature department. Her recent collaborations include “Rumors” with Lizzo, “WAP” with Megan Thee Stallion, “Type Sh*t” with Migos, and “Me Gusta” with Anitta. These are just some of the records that have fans excited for what Cardi has in store for the future, but according to the rapper herself, she was supposed to work with BTS. However, her busy schedule made it difficult to bring to fruition.

“Maybe,” Cardi replied when she was asked if a BTS collaboration would arrive in the future during a recent Variety. “I was supposed to be on a record with them, but I had just released a record and then it was going to smash with the time. But I love them.” It came after she revealed another member of her family who’s a fan of BTS. “I like BTS a lot, but let me tell you something,” she said. “My daughter [Kulture] likes BTS a lot a lot. Like, ‘Mommy, mommy, put [on] the song.’ And it’s like, I already know what she’s talking about.”

Cardi is also gearing up to host the 2021 American Music Awards, and in the interview with Variety, she revealed what viewers can expect from her on Sunday night. “I’m just going to be myself. That’s it,” she said. “There are going to be certain things that I read on the teleprompter, but I’m just going to freestyle it because I don’t like feeling like I’m talking like a robot.”

You can read her full sit-down with Variety here.

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

Based on the rapturous welcome that Taylor Swift’s latest re-recorded album, Red (Taylor’s Version), already received, it’s no surprise that the project cinched a No. 1 debut on the Billboard charts. The inclusion of a 10-minute version of her critically-acclaimed song, “All Too Well,” a Phoebe Bridgers collaboration, and a viral SNL performance of the lengthy new track all helped the album remain the center of the cultural conversation last week. This week, the subject will be Taylor’s record-breaking tenth No. 1 with Red (Taylor’s Version), as she comes in directly behind Barbara Streisand, who has eleven albums at the top position.

It seems pretty clear that Taylor will at least tie with Barbara, whenever the even more pop-friendly 1989 gets the re-release treatment. And hell, at the rate she’s going, she might even have a brand new album written, recorded, and ready to drop on us when we’re least expecting it. For now, the first-week numbers for Taylor’s Version of the new 30-track version of Red are as follows: 605,000 equivalent album units sold, just barely trailing the 613,000 that Drake put up for Certified Lover Boy earlier this year. As far as traditional album sales, the record did 369,000, which is the highest number of the year so far — though keep in mind, Adele is coming.

Saweetie seems to be getting closer and closer to releasing her upcoming debut album, Pretty B*tch Music. But before it arrives, the singer appeared on Saturday Night Live for a pair of exciting performances. She began the night with a medley of “Tap In” and “Best Friend,” delivering a slowed-down version in a bedazzled dress in front of backup ballerina dancers.

Later on in the night, Saweetie returned to perform “Icy Chain” for the first time. The performacne featured sharp choreography, with her dancing and twerking her way through the performance. Both songs are expected to appear on Pretty B*tch Music, which was originally set to arrive in June. But Saweetie chose to delay it after she realized “soul” was missing. She spoke about this on the red carpet at the 2021 BET Awards this past summer.

“This album needs to have feelings, it needs to have soul, it needs to have spirit,” she said. “And I have a lot of room for improvement, so I’m gonna work on that.” A release date for Pretty B*tch Music has yet to be revealed but Saweetie previously said “it’s coming soon!”

You can watch Saweetie’s SNL performances in the videos above.

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

Megan Thee Stallion was set to perform with BTS tonight at the 2021 American Music Awards. Unfortunately, the rapper was forced to cancel. She took to Twitter to apologize for the unexpected change. “Hotties I was so excited to go to the @AMAs and perform with @BTS_official,” she wrote. “But due to an unexpected personal matter, I can no longer attend. I’m so sad! I really can’t wait to hit the stage with my guys and perform #BTS_Butter real soon!”

BTS and Megan shared their remix of “Butter” at the end of August, but the road to its release was a bit turbulent. Prior to its arrival, Megan was forced to petition for the song’s release after her label 150 Certified Entertainment tried to block her from dropping it. Megan requested “emergency relief from the Court” in order to release it and hours later, a judge ruled that she free to do so.

As for the 2021 American Music Awards, which her “WAP” collaborator Cardi B will host, Megan already took home the award for Favorite Female Artist — Hip-Hop. She also received nominations in the categories Favorite Trending Song and Favorite Album – Hip-Hop.

Despite Megan’s absence, AMA organizers confirmed that BTS will still perform “Butter,” in addition to “My Universe,” alongside Coldplay, on the show.

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

The Danish Girl didn’t come out that long ago, and yet it was still a very different time. It was 2015. Eddie Redmayne had won an Academy Award one year earlier for playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. He would go on to receive another Oscar nomination for The Danish Girl, in which he played Lili Ilse Elvenes (called Lili Elbe in the film), who in 1930 became one of the first people to receive sex reassignment surgery. Even at the time, before talk of onscreen representation had become as pronounced as it is today (and before Dave Chappelle was routinely making trans jokes), Redmayne received backlash for being a cis performer playing a trans character. Now, some six years later, he’s going even further than that.

In a new interview with The Sunday Times, the English actor is of a different mind than he was in 2015. “No, I wouldn’t take it on now,” Redmayne the Times. “I made that film with the best intentions, but I think it was a mistake.”

At the time, Redmayne tried to gingerly defend taking the role while acknowledging that “there has been years of cisgender success on the back of trans stories.” But he still felt that, as a performer, “one should be able to play any sort of part if one plays it with a sense of integrity and responsibility.”

Redmayne no longer feels that way. However, he was asked whether his star power — and that of his costar Alicia Vikander, who won an Oscar for playing Elvenes’ spouse, Gerda Wegener — helped the movie get made. To that, he noted that, then as now, “many people don’t have a chair at the table.” He added, “There must be a leveling, otherwise we are going to carry on having these debates.”

(Via The Sunday Times)