Drake’s son Adonis turned four years old today and to celebrate, the rapper threw his kid a racing-themed birthday over the weekend. The space (which looks a lot like Legoland in a video Drake posted to his Instagram Story) was decorated in checkered flag balloons and racing stripes, while entertainment was provided by a Bugs Bunny mascot his Space Jam: A New Legacy jersey.
Drake also posted a pair of photos to his grid marking the occasion, captioning one “More life, kid,” a reference to Drake’s “playlist”/album of the same name.
Another photo looked like it came from one of those photo booths you hire for special occasions, with Drake grinning and holding up his son, who makes the “flying Superman” pose.
Drake has plenty of reasons to celebrate “more life” this month — which is also his birthday month — after releasing his long-awaited album Certified Lover Boy to a warm reception from fans, if not from critics. The album spent three weeks at No.1 on the Billboard albums chart, while he received praise from J. Cole on the “Heaven’s EP” freestyle. Drake returned the love at the opening night of J. Cole’s Off-Season Tour, calling him “one of the greatest rappers” out now.
Netflix is the king of the streaming service empire with the most Emmys, the most water cooler shows (or whatever the 2021 version of a water cooler is — Slack channels?), and the most subscribers. The House That (Unfortunately) House of Cards Built is up to 209 million subscribers, followed by 175 million for Amazon Prime Video and 116 million for Disney+. But according to a new report, it’s expected that The House That (Fortunately, Because He’s So Freaking Adorable) Baby Yoda Built will have more subscribers than Netflix by 2025. It’s about time that Disney caught a break.
“Research firm Digital TV Research shared the prediction in a report, projecting that the number of subscribers to Disney+ would reach 284.2 million in 2026,” according to the Hollywood Reporter, while “Netflix will in 2026 have 270.7 million subscribers.”
As for Amazon Prime Video and other services:
Amazon Prime will hit 243.4 million users, the research firm predicts. Behind that, it estimates that China’s Tencent will end 2026 with 98.7 million users, China’s iQiyi with 76.8 million, and HBO with 76.3 million subscribers. Meanwhile, Apple TV+ will record 35.6 million users then.
By 2025, Disney+ will have 74 Marvel shows and if you miss a single episode, you will be ostracized from society. Netflix can’t compete with the Pizza Dog Cinematic Universe.
Over the course of his decades-long career, Eric Clapton has been no stranger to controversy. His latest batch of it has come in the wake of COVID-19, as he has taken an anti-vaccination stance. Now, Clapton is the subject of an extensive new Rolling Stone feature, and in it, the publication reports that Clapton has donated over a thousand dollars to anti-vax UK band Jam For Freedom, along with helping them in other ways.
Jam For Freedom founder Cambel McLaughlin, who describes himself as “pro-medical choice,” told Rolling Stone that he set up a GoFundMe campaign after a vehicle the band used was badly damaged. He was skeptical when he saw a £1,000 (about $1,364) donation from Clapton, so he emailed the account associated with the donation. Sure enough, he received a text from Clapton.
“It was something complimentary, along the lines of, ‘Hey, it’s Eric — great work you’re doing,’” McLaughlin said.
The pair later had a phone conversation, and Clapton offered the band a van to use as a temporary replacement for their non-functional vehicle. He also gave them money (McLaughlin didn’t say how much) to get a new van, and Clapton apparently has interest in performing with the group.
Check out the full Rolling Stone feature, which explores Clapton’s controversial past, here.
Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.
This week saw Don Toliver reunite with a major early-career ally and James Blake drop an evocative new album. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
Travis Scott was a major help in Don Toliver’s ascent, as Toliver had a memorable appearance on Scott’s Astroworld highlight “Can’t Say,” which is where a lot of now-fans heard Toliver for the first time. Now the pair is back together, but this time with Scott as the featured artist on Toliver’s “Flocky Flocky,” from his brand new LP, Life Of A Don.
Joyner Lucas — “Late To The Party” Feat. Ty Dolla Sign
Joyner Lucas has been on a hot streak with big-time collaborators lately: Over the past few months, he’s worked with Lil Baby, Rick Ross, Lil Tjay, and J. Cole. Last week, he added to that list perhaps the greatest collaborator ever: Ty Dolla Sign, who joined him on the energetic “Late To The Party.”
James Blake — “Coming Back” Feat. SZA
James Blake is fresh off the release of Friends Who Break Your Heart, on which he got help from some friends (who hopefully didn’t break his heart). One of the best guest appearances comes from SZA, who joins Blake on the soulful and hip-hop-inflected “Coming Back.”
Cordae — “Super”
In the grand scheme, Cordae has fared better than most rappers have. His career has gone well, a fact on which he reflects with his celebratory new single, “Super.” Success has certainly come Cordae’s way, a fact he thoroughly emphasizes on the hard-hitting track.
Big Thief — “Change”
Big Thief fans felt blessed last week as the band revealed they’re returning with a massive 20-song double-LP in 2022. After that news made the rounds, the band made things even more exciting by sharing a new track, “Change,” a relatively minimal tune that would have felt at home on Adrianne Lenker’s 2020 solo album Songs.
Mitski — “Working For The Knife”
Mitski is going on tour in 2022, but before that, she graced fans with a new track, “Working For The Knife.” It’s a deep one, too, as Mitski said of it, “It’s about going from being a kid with a dream, to a grown up with a job, and feeling that somewhere along the way you got left behind.”
The Alchemist — “6 Five Heartbeats” Feat. Vince Staples
Alchemist and Vince Staples spoke some this summer about a significant amount of collaborations the two have worked on. While fans wait for that to drop, the two have a new collaboration, “6 Five Heartbeats.” Uproxx’s Aaron Williams notes the track sees Staples “spitting a ferocious verse in that languid delivery of his over a jazzy beat that belies the menace of Staples’ lyrics.”
Nas — “Big Nas”
Nas is teaching his own Masterclass, and to mark the occasion, he shared a new song, “Big Nas” (no relation to Lil Nas X). The track serves as a resume for the esteemed rapper, as it goes through his triumphs in music, business, family, and life more broadly.
Jesy Nelson — “Boyz” Feat. Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj let it be known last month that she was linking up with former Little Mix member Jesy Nelson for her next collaboration. Now, that joint effort, “Boyz,” has arrived. Built on a sample of Black Rob, Mark Curry, and Diddy’s “Bad Boy For Life,” the duo use the track to show their support for nefarious males.
Magdalena Bay — “Hysterical Us”
LA duo Magdalena Bay has built a colorful universe for their new album Mercurial World to live, and a couple days ahead of dropping the album, they offered a final preview of it with “Hysterical Us.” The video is vibrant and the music, a smooth and bubbly electro-pop tune, is equally so.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
John Oliver’s still enjoying his return to a live audience, and this week, he fired shots at Fox and Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade for his most awkward obsession, but before that happened, the Last Week Tonight host wasn’t afraid (as he never is) to spare some words to skewer some right-leaning actions of current HBO parent company AT&T. Only one month ago, Oliver took aim at the multinational conglomerate for making political donations to Texas legislators who worked to pass Texas’ insane new abortion law. And last week, a Reuters investigative report revealed how AT&T played a massive role “in creating and funding OAN,” the conservative news network (and Fox News competitor) that continues to peddle baseless (and dangerous) election-fraud and pandemic-centered conspiracy theories.
As Oliver put things, AT&T has been “up to some sh*t.” This follows Reuters’ reporting of testimony from OAN CEO and founder, Robert Herring Sr., who stated (during a deposition) that AT&T executives “told us they wanted a conservative network.” To that, Herring says that he jumped at the offering, and Oliver is not impressed because AT&T reportedly funds 90% of what’s essentially a far-right-wing factory at Herring Networks.
“AT&T is still technically our business daddy,” Oliver explained while beginning his rant. “Making OAN our business step-sibling, and not in a hot way.” In the end, this grew very dramatic. “You’re a terrible company. You do bad things. and you make the world worse.”
Earlier in the segment, Oliver outlined how AT&T’s deep pockets have nurtured OAN, and “with that help, OAN has grown into the toxic network it is today, one that’s happy to give a platform to batsh*t election fraud theories from America’s most out-of-breath pillow fetishist.” That’s a shoutout to MyPillow Guy Mike Lindell, and Oliver certainly wasn’t buying AT&T’s denial that they have any OAN financial interest, especially while showing a host declaring that those who ran voting machines in 2020 were guilty of “treason” before calling for what Oliver sums up as a “mass execution.”
As entirely absurd as that sounds, as the Daily Beast previously reported, this really happened on OAN airwaves. This led Oliver to gleefully declare how happy he was that “AT&T told us Direct TV respects the editorial independence of the channels it carries.” That means that not only does AT&T support editorial independence for OAN, it also does so for WarnerMedia shows including Last Week Tonight. And with that, he decided to “offer some constructive feedback to AT&T.” Here come some new slogans:
“Take its recent campaign, ‘More for your thing. That’s our thing.’ which is, respectfully, complete gibberish. It sounds like Yoda pitching a penis-enlargement device. It is so nonsensical, I have to assume something was lost in communication, which actually would be more appropriate slogan for the company. And if you don’t like that slogan, AT&T, don’t worry, I’ve got more.”
How about, ‘AT&T, all the savvy business savvy of Quibi without the courtesy of committing corporate suicide’? Or ‘AT&T, if you run a cable out the back of your headquarters and plug it into T-Mobile’s network while they aren’t looking, that’s legal, right? Asking for a friend.”
Of course, AT&T is currently still aiming to spinoff into a deal with Discovery, and Oliver asked them to please not “bother keeping in touch” following the merger. Then came the kicker: “Although that really shouldn’t be a problem for you. You’re AT&T, it’s not like your messages will go through anyway.”
Despite being dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct in the past, former Donald Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski has pushed the limits of his creepiness so far, that Trump has reportedly made him persona non grata in the GOP world. The final straw was Lewandowski’s behavior during a Republican event in September where he allegedly assaulted longtime MAGA donor Trashelle Odom, who came forward with her story. That unleashed a torrent of new accusations against Lewandowski, which were too creepy even for Trump. Via The Daily Beast:
In recent days, two of these sources said, Trump has made a point of telling close associates and Republican allies that they should avoid inviting Lewandowski to public events or “parties,” particularly if alcohol is flowing or if the event is held at one of the ex-president’s prized private clubs.
Others close to Trump have already told subordinates, as well as fellow players in the party and in the conservative movement more broadly, to remove Lewandowski (at least for now) from invitations and emails for upcoming GOP and MAGA festivities, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
According to The Daily Beast, Trump was also “rankled” by Lewandowki’s attempt to shake down MAGA world by demanding a six figure payout to go away. The former top aide was reportedly given a “hard no,” which is a bold move considering Lewandowski is allegedly bragging to people that he stabbed a man to death. Nice guy.
Hayley Williams has been online for a long time, as Paramore was huge in the blog and Myspace era (here’s an archived version of their page from 2006, in case you want a quick nostalgia trip). Now, though, Williams is changing her relationship with the internet, as she declared over the weekend that she’s taking a step back from social media.
Williams shared a message on Instagram, in which she notes that while social media “has been a useful and mostly beautiful part of the job,” she’s moving away from her personal accounts due to her “interest in keeping a boundary between a public and a private life… and wanting to spend more time looking up and out, rather than down.”
Find Williams’ message in full below.
“I’ve been on the internet and more specifically, social media, since I was 15. Maybe even younger. It started with the blog sites… then Myspace. Then Paramore became a thing and social media wasn’t even just for my can personal use anymore but it was part of the job. It has been a useful and mostly beautiful part of the job. I crave connection and the internet is a pretty good tool for that when it’s not tearing us apart.
The thing is, connection is and will always be a part of my job (thankfully). As for my own personal experience with social media, I just don’t want it anymore. I’ve carefully considered this decision for almost a year now. Now I know for sure that my desire to move away from personal accounts (yes, even my finsta) is based on nothing more than my interest in keeping a boundary between a public and a private life… and wanting to spend more time looking up and out, rather than down.
No judgement to anyone who loves their social media. Just a huge encouragement to anyone needing permission to create more boundaries and space to grow — sometimes ‘no’ is the kindest thing you can say… to anyone!… even yourself.”
Finally, if you’re lookin for me, don’t look here. Follow @paramore.”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The Matrix Resurrections doesn’t come out until Christmas time, but if you looked closely in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, you might have seen a sneak peek. Both films, which otherwise have little in common (although I would love it if someone replaced Keanu Reeves’ iconic “woah” with a “yummy”), filmed in San Francisco at the same time. In fact, in the scene where Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock scales the Coit Tower, the helicopters flying through the air in the background were actually filming for The Matrix 4.
“Lots of stuff impacted filming. A lot of our driving shots went away because Matrix controlled all of downtown,” Venom: Let There Be Carnage location manager Christopher Kusiak told Screen Rant. “We ended up moving a stunt up onto the top of the parking garage because we couldn’t get to the areas we wanted because of The Matrix. But if we would’ve been there first, it probably would’ve gone the other way.” He added, “The helicopters were actually on the Matrix movie. The Matrix was filming at the same time so we were catching part of their activity on camera.”
You know what this means? There needs to be a Neo vs. Agent Smith-style fight in The Matrix Resurrections, except every Agent is Venom. It’s only fair.
The Matrix Resurrections comes out on December 22.
Charli XCX has in recent months spent some time talking up her next album, and she did some more of that recently. She declared a few days ago that it’s dropping around early 2022, and now she says that it’s both “sexy” and “demonic.”
In an interview on Apple Music 1’s The Chart Show, Charli explained how her recent single “Good Ones” relates to the rest of her upcoming album, saying:
“It definitely sets the palette for the rest of the album. It is heavily ’80s-inspired. There are a lot of uptempo tracks. It’s dark, it’s kind of sexy and sexual and sort of demonic at points, I suppose. But then there are lighter moments, too. But yeah, I think the whole record is about my relationship with relationships and sex and power. But the song itself, I suppose, it’s about falling for a toxic person, being always ready to put myself in the most dangerous positions, just to feel something, which I guess it’s kind of the whole record, but I feel like we’ve all been there at points in life.”
She later added, “The fans can expect an overload of sexiness. I want it to all feel sexy. Like the music, the sounds, the tour, the videos, the clothes, the way they feel. So that’s kind of my hope really that everyone just discovers they’re in a sexy demon and it all comes out.”
Meanwhile, Charli recently hinted at a collaboration between Christine And The Queens, Caroline Polachek, and herself.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Comedy Central’s The Daily Show recently took aim at Ainsley Earhardt for her most obnoxious habit (mentioning “my friend” in countless instances to support her points, whether these friends exist or not). This week, HBO’s Last Week Tonight takes aim at another Fox and Friends host, Brian Kilmeade, during an episode that aired on the eve of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. That newly Biden-installed federal holiday, of course, runs concurrent to what the U.S. still recognizes as Columbus Day, and no one is more excited about Christopher Columbus than Brian Kilmeade.
Kilmeade, who once claimed to have read Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampfin high school, is absolutely obsessed with his hero, Christopher Columbus. On that note, John Oliver was thrilled to introduce this exhaustively repetitive montage called “Brian Kilmeade likes Christopher Columbus way, way too much.” It ended with the kicker of Steve Doocy (who’s used to this by now) smiling and nodding while Kilmeade admitted, “I was Christopher Columbus for Halloween, no pictures available.” To which Ainsley Earhardt responded, “I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
That followed a barrage of Kilmeade excitedly repeating (in different contexts) how Columbus’ explorer deeds were “like going to the moon, today, in the 1960s, only more dangerous.” The continued “more dangerous” claims only grow more ridiculous, so then, it was time for Kilmeade to claim that the Fox News morning show is “going to be the Christopher Columbus of knockerball.” And then comes Kilmeade bragging, “I was almost the Christopher Columbus of this show.” He also defended his hero to Steve Doocy as “totally Italian. Couldn’t be more Italian.”
In the end, Kilmeade declared, “If you read one reputable book on Columbus and still don’t think we should have a Columbus Day, you’re not paying attention.”
Meanwhile, the New York Times has published a primer on Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The supporters of this federal holiday are pushing back against the holiday that celebrates a navigator who arguably paved the way for genocide and colonization, which in turn, has fostered continued discrimination against Indigenous peoples.
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