Category: News

The New Orleans Pelicans are one of the more intriguing teams in the NBA ahead of the 2021-22 season due to all the buzz surrounding Zion Williamson’s future with the franchise, as some members of his family reportedly think the best thing for him would be to go seek greener pastures. This puts plenty of pressure on general manager David Griffin to put a team out there that convinces Williamson he can win in The Big Easy, but a new piece by Christian Clark of NOLA.com indicates that Griffin is entering this season with major questions about his ability to make that happen.

One of the major issues is, apparently, that Griffin presented an ultra-optimistic approach but did not always back this up. An example came early on in his tenure, where he gave a presentation that tried to make clear that a change in the team’s culture, with words like “Family,” “Accountability,” and “Love” popping up on screen. And then, his actions did not back that up, which led to him getting a nickname from folks within the organization that was pulled straight from The Last Dance.

Then-coach Alvin Gentry told several people around him, “This is going to be great.” Within months, however, Griffin began blaming Gentry for the Pelicans’ poor start. Once, on a road trip, Griffin was approached by someone he hadn’t spoken to in weeks. Unprompted, Griffin said: “I give Alvin all the answers to the test, and he still fails.” It’s unclear whether Gentry knew of this exchange. He declined to comment.

That Griffin sometimes contradicted his own sunny vision caused a segment of team employees to actively dislike him. When “The Last Dance” documentary aired in April 2020, some staffers began referring to Griffin as “Griff Krause” in a group text. It was a reference to Jerry Krause, the NBA executive who dismantled the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls after they’d won a third straight championship.

Krause was not exactly painted as the protagonist of the ESPN series, as he was oftentimes the butt of jokes from individuals like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen throughout The Last Dance. While Krause did plenty of good in assembling those Bulls teams, his reputation was more so for breaking them apart, and getting compared to him is rarely (if ever) going to be a compliment.

After sharing the dance-ready Dua Lipa “Cold Heart” remix, Elton John is taking things in a different direction with his latest collaboration for his upcoming project, The Lockdown Sessions. “After All,” the new joint single with Charlie Puth, is a fluttering ode to believing in love, and it all started when the two musicians met by a chance encounter at an LA restaurant in March 2020.

“After All” is the result of several songwriting sessions Puth and Elton had after discovering that they live fairly close together. It’s also the first piece of new music either of them completed during lockdown. Discussing the new collaboration, John praised Puth’s talent:

“Charlie is an amazing musician; we just hit it off. He’s become a friend and a friend of the family. Our children love him and he loves them. Everyone we’ve worked with on The Lockdown Sessions I’ve really gotten closer to them, it’s quite amazing. With ‘After All,’ Charlie and I were in the studio, just the two of us. He’s got a little home set up with his keyboards, synths, and Pro Tools. I played electric piano and actually wrote the song all the way through and then Charlie wrote the lyrics pretty quickly. He’s incredibly quick, Charlie. We just had an amazing chemistry in the studio.”

Echoing John’s statement, Puth gushed about how he’s looked up to John for some time. “As a songwriter, I have admired and looked up to Elton John my entire life,” he said. “It is truly incredible how the melodies and chords seem to come to him instantly whenever he sits down at the piano. I got to witness that firsthand when we wrote this song together. He is world class and the true definition of a musical genius. Being a part of his musical journey is a dream come true.”

Listen to “After All” above.

The Lockdown Sessions is out 10/22 via Interscope. Pre-order it here.

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

A month out from releasing their debut studio album, Projector, Brooklyn DIY-ers Geese have shared the album’s title track, “Projector.” It’s a disjointed, slightly proggy cut, filled with bendy guitar-lines and room-filling percussion. It kind of sounds like if The Killers met The Dismemberment Plan, a sonic combination I never knew I needed?

Here’s what Geese’s Cameron Winter had to say of the song: “The opening riff on ‘Projector’ was the first thing we ever wrote for the record. When the song was finished, it became a jumping off point for the rest of the album. We liked it because it was something decidedly different from the music we had been writing up to that point. Though we didn’t know it then, it’s fitting that ‘Projector’ became the title track on the record; it’s the song that ushered in the album’s sound.”

Also, Geese have outlined a US tour starting in 2022, kicking off in March in Philly and wrapping up at the Bowery Ballroom in New York.

Check out “Projector” above and find the band’s tour dates below.

03/11/2022 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas
03/12/2022 — Washington, DC @ DC 9
03/14/2022 — Nashville, TN @ High Watt
03/22/2022 — Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
03/23/2022 — San Diego, CA @ Casbah
03/24/2022 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
03/25/2022 — San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
03/28/2022 — Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
03/29/2022 — Seattle, WA @ Barboza
04/02/2022 — Minneapolis, MN @ Turf Club
04/04/2022 — Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
04/06/2022 — Toronto, ON @ Garrison
04/07/2022 — Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz
04/16/2022 — New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

Projector is out 10/29 via Partisan/Play It Again Sam. Pre-order it here.

Windy City natives Vic Mensa and BJ The Chicago Kid team up for “The Taste,” a nostalgic ode to summertime in the city. Throughout the soulful single, the two name-check their favorite hometown landmarks like River Oaks Center mall, Lakeshore Drive, and Navy Pier, while telling a romantic interest “you taste like Chicago.” After a pair of velvety verses and choruses, the song’s bridge breaks down into a juking beat to really emphasize the point.

Vic Mensa’s comeback in the past year has been nothing short of impressive. Beginning with the V Tape in 2020, Mensa returned to the soulful, lyrically dextrous hip-hop that first brought him to national prominence. He followed up in spring this year with I Tape, which featured his reunion with longtime brother-in-arms Chance The Rapper on “Shelter.” In July, Vic teamed up with Just Blaze for the triumphant “Victory,” which celebrated his return to form, and most recently, he performed his entire breakout mixtape INNANETAPE at Riot Fest.

“The Taste” marks the reunion of Vic and BJ, who previously worked together on V Tape‘s “Rebirth.” BJ, meanwhile, recently announced his independence and has been quietly working on a new project while appearing of projects from likes of Polo G, Common, and more.

Watch Vic Mensa and BJ The Chicago Kid’s nostalgic ‘The Taste’ video above.

Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is a big deal, as it’s not only the band’s defining song, but one of the signature songs of the ’90s overall. When Nirvana was recording the song, though, they didn’t think it was a big deal, as Dave Grohl reveals.

NME recently ran a feature where they got different artists to share their thoughts on a song from Nevermind, and for “Teen Spirit,” they got Grohl. First, he reminisced about the recording process of the song, saying:

“I remember writing ‘Teen Spirit’ in our rehearsal space, and I liked the riff that Kurt came up with because it’s percussive. Those muted, stabbing strums in between the chords really lent to the pattern of the drum riff. To be honest, at that point, we were listening to a lot of Pixies – it was Bossa Nova [era]. And we were just having fun, really. We were just coming up with new song after new song every day. Krist Novoselic, I believe, has boom box recordings of all of these — riff ideas that were never used, songs that were shaped into songs for ‘Nevermind’ (some of them).”

Then, he revealed that “Teen Spirit” wasn’t high in the band’s pecking order while making Nevermind:

“Of course, no-one had any psychic foresight to imagine that the song would go on to do what it did. We just f*ckin’ rocked it in a little rehearsal space that was like a barn. I didn’t know what the lyrics were; Kurt’s melody pattern changed every other time we played it and it wasn’t really until we got into the studio to record it that I realized the power of the song. And not just lyrically or musically, but the groove of the song – it was really powerful. I think everyone was more focused on songs like ‘In Bloom’ or ‘Lithium’ or ‘Breed’; nobody really paid too much attention to ‘Teen Spirit’ while we were recording it. We just thought it was another cool song for the record.”

Check out the full feature — which also offers insights from St. Vincent, Ronnie Vannucci of The Killers, and others — here.

Atlanta-based indie folk artist Faye Webster dropped her anticipated sophomore album I Know I’m Funny Haha this summer, which flexes her range of styles from languid steel guitar to sultry bedroom R&B. The singer recently kicked off her largely sold-out tour earlier this month. To celebrate, Webster shares a video to her only collaboration on the album, “Overslept.”

The wistful tune features vocals by Japanese artist Mei Ehara, who Webster said was a big source of inspiration for her on the album. Their joint video, which was filmed separately, sees both artists having a slow start to the day. They wake up around 1 pm and noodle around on the guitar before finally brushing their teeth and deciding to go back to bed.

Speaking about working with Ehara in a statement, Webster said she learned a lot from the singer:

“When I was writing I Know I’m Funny Haha I had a little trouble finishing this song. I felt it needed someone else to complete it. Mei Ehara was someone who I listened to literally every day last year. She taught me so much about songwriting and instrumentation, and I felt like if anyone were to be on the record, it had to be her. I wanted to do a video where Mei and I could inhabit the same world, even though we’ve never met in person.”

Watch Webster’s “Overslept” video above.

I Know I’m Funny Haha is out now via Secretly Canadian. Get it here.

If you want Bill Burr to sign your copy of his new comedy album, Bill Burr Live From Madison Square Garden, you better wear a mask. Or at least that was the original plan. “I will be definitely be wearing a mask, but I’m at the point now, I don’t care anymore,” the comedian told Seth Meyers during Tuesday’s episode of Last Night when asked whether he’ll turn away unmasked fans. “I don’t care. I don’t care if you think the world’s flat. I don’t care what you think. Just do whatever the hell you’re going to do.”

Burr hopes “the virus gets deadlier and I want it to just wipe out way more people. That’s what I’m going for.” He’s joking… but only kind of. He continued, “I think we all tried to pull in the same direction. It’s not going to happen. And we’re all sort of broken up into these pods on the internet where people just want to hear what they want to hear.” If you want to go ahead and drink “alligator plaque medicine” to cure COVID, sure, why not.

The Mandalorian guest star also pinned the blame for the pandemic on God:

“People are blaming red ties and blue ties for this whole thing. You should blame God and modern medicine, because God made people flawed and modern medicine kept them all alive. Defeated Mother Nature. That’s why there’s eight billion mouth-breathing morons on the planet, myself included… There’s a plague of people like me. So, I think it’s great that people are going to go old school and not listen to doctors and, you know, go back to doing dances or whatever the hell they’re going to do”

You can watch the entire Late Night clip above.

With the release of her debut album Stranger In The Alps, Phoebe Bridgers proved her talent for confessional songwriting. Despite the success of her 2020 album Punisher, her debut LP’s song “Motion Sickness” is still her most-streamed track. Now, celebrating the four-year anniversary of the album that kick-started her success, Bridgers had shared the original photo that was turned into the Stranger In The Alps cover — and it’s actually one of her baby photos.

Stranger In The Alps‘s at-times haunting sound fittingly reflects its cover art, a photo of a dog standing next to a figure that’s been painted over to look like a ghost. The artwork was done by the artist Angela Deane, who is known for creating ghost compositions from vintage photographs. Bridgers has now shared the original photo that was eventually turned into her Stranger In The Alps cover art, and it shows Bridgers as an adorable toddler wearing a matching hot pink tank top and shorts and cheesing at the camera.

Sharing the photo on Twitter to commemorate the albums’ anniversary, Bridgers wrote: “stranger in the alps came out four years ago today thanks for listening.”

Stranger In The Alps is out now via Dead Oceans. Get it here.

After years of adapting other fantasy-filled stories, director and screenwriter Chris Columbus (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief) is finally bringing to life his own trilogy of children’s books. According to a Deadline report, Disney Branded Television has announced they are developing a House of Secrets series for Disney+ that will follow Columbus’ trilogy of the same name. While it’s not yet known when the television series is slated to hit the streaming service, action-adventure fantasy fans will be pleased to know Columbus has called the project a cousin to the 1985 film The Goonies, another beloved title the director helped work on.

The House of Secrets series, co-authored by Columbus and the late Ned Vizzini and published from 2013-2016, follows siblings Brendan, Eleanor, and Cordelia Walker as they are uprooted from their current family home and are forced to move into the Kristoff House. While their parents are thrilled at how spacious and affordable their new abode is, the children see it for what it really is instantly: creepy. However, this house is not just creepy but is also filled to the brim with mysteries, magic, and entries into other dimensions that ultimately send the Walker children on quite the adventure.

Columbus will be joined by his 26th Street Pictures partners, Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe, as he begins work on the forthcoming series. As of right now, no other cast or crew member announcements have been made. According to Ayo Davis, the EVP of creative Development and strategy at Disney Branded Television, the team at Disney+ is delighted to be in work with the critically-acclaimed filmmakers, stating:

“Chris, Michael and Mark tell stories that resonate with multiple audiences, across generations and genres that deliver a sense of magic and wonderment through definitional characters. There is so much affinity for their acclaimed films, and we are delighted to be working with them to develop House of Secrets into a thrilling Disney+ series.”

Another episode of Obsessed just dropped and our pop culture connoisseurs Taylour Chanel and Britt Ellis are back to break down the TV series they’re living for right now. What do all of these shows have in common? Two words: celebrity travel.

Maybe it’s because we’ve all been on lockdown for a year and a half, but celebrity-hosted travel adventures are having a moment on TV and we’re not mad at it. From sweeping Italian vistas to Icelandic hot springs and Japanese street culture, the genre is giving us the kind of globe-trotting inspiration we need from our stay-at-home entertainment. It helps too that these journeys are narrated by charismatic celebrities who bring a sense of familiarity and fun to some of these off-the-grid treks and culinary ventures.

Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy marries the best of both, transporting the charming Oscar-nominated actor to the Italian countryside. There, Tucci explores the rich history of Italian cuisine — from the 2,000-year-old process of cheese-making in the mountains near Milan to the invention of fried pizza on the Amalfi coast — all while letting the locals guide him through their cities. He chats with Rennessaince scholars and pub owners, DJs, and winemakers to sample every bit of the country’s culture, infusing his musings with his signature wit and likability. And the ladies? They’re impressed.

Zac Efron, another popular A-lister, follows in Tucci’s travel-show-hosting footsteps with his Netflix series Down to Earth. Efron’s journeys focus on the sustainability element of travel, pairing the host with wellness expert Darin Olien as the two travel to some pretty extreme, exotic locations to uncover the secret to everything from living longer to renewable energy, bee-keeping, and Ayahuasca tourism. Efron’s not the most knowledgeable host, but Taylour and Britt think you’ll appreciate his enthusiasm anyway.

After a pit-stop for Conan O’Brien’s Conan Without Borders — a comedic off-shoot of his late-night talk show that will have you laughing your a** off while adding new places to your travel bucket list — the ladies end the episode with a food-centric reality series hosted by Selena Gomez. The pop star’s quarantine experiment takes place in her spacious kitchen where she attempts to make delicious food from different cultures with help from her family, friends, and a professional chef who Zooms in for a quick virtual cooking class. You might want to test out your own culinary skills after watching, or you might just want to visit the chef’s restaurant to sample the dishes done right. Either way, you’ll be treated to good food and a good time.

So get your passport ready and watch the full episode above.