Category: News

Chromatics became one of the more revered electronic/synth-pop groups of the 2000s thanks to their 2007 album Night Drive, and subsequent releases have also earned critical acclaim. Now, though, the band — consisting of Johnny Jewel, Ruth Radelet, Adam Miller, and Nat Walker — has announced that it has broken up, 20 years after its formation.

The news was shared today on Instagram by Radalet and Miller, the latter of whom was the only remaining original member of the group. A message from the band reads:

“After a long period of reflection, the three of us have made the difficult decision to end Chromatics. We would like to thank all of our fans and the friends we have made along the way — we are eternally grateful for your love and support. This has been a truly unforgettable chapter in our lives, and we couldn’t have done it without you. We are very excited for the future, and look forward to sharing our new projects with you soon.

With love,

Ruth Radelet, Adam Miller and Nat Walker.”

Based on the phrasing of the message and the fact that Jewel is not mentioned, it would seem he actually left the band before this announcement. Jewel is credited on the band’s most recent single, 2020’s “Teacher,” so it would seem his departure came at some point between that song’s release and now.

While the band has shared beloved albums over the years, perhaps their defining project of the past decade is the one they haven’t yet managed to release: Dear Tommy was announced back in 2014, and after numerous delays, the band revealed a new tracklist for the album last year. Now that the band has dissolved, though, the project’s fate remains uncertain.

It’s a big day for Big Thief: The celebrated indie-rock collective have dropped two new songs to follow up their 2019 album Two Hands. “Little Things” is a sprawling, upbeat track led by strong, jangling guitar. The more toned-down “Sparrow,” meanwhile, is a contemplative listen. Both were produced by drummer James Krivchenia and recorded at Five Star Studios in Topanga, California, and Flying Cloud Recordings in the Catskills.

Of “Little Things,” Krivchenia said, “It’s in this sort of evolving free time signature where the beat is always changing, so Max [Oleartchik, bassist] and I were just flowing with it and guessing where the downbeats were – which gives the groove a really cool light feeling.” Adding about “Sparrow,” Krivchenia followed up: “We all just scattered about the room without headphones, focused and in the music — you could feel that something special was happening. It was a funny instrumentation that had a really cool natural arrangement chemistry — Max on piano, Buck [Meek, guitarist/vocalist] providing this dark ambience, me on floor tom and snare and Adrianne [Lenker] in the middle of it with the acoustic and singing.”

Big Thief, who released both critically acclaimed albums Two Hands and U.F.O.F. in 2019, have been working on their fifth album over the past year. Meek, who is also working on a solo album to follow 2021’s Two Saviors, told Guitar.com, “Lockdown was a well-needed respite, I needed a break. And then Big Thief ended up making new music for nearly six months, which was really nice because we’ve been touring so hard we’ve had little chance to record in the last couple of years.”

Listen to both “Little Things” and “Sparrow” above.

In yet another sign that things aren’t exactly going great for Rudy Giuliani, “America’s Mayor” is now taking Cameo requests. For the low price of $199, Giuliani will record a personalized video message for you or a friend because who doesn’t want to see the erratic face of Donald Trump’s Big Lie wishing you a happy birthday? Giuliani announced his Cameo venture just shy of 3:00 am Tuesday morning on the east coast, which should really tamp down those rumors about his drinking problem. Nothing concerning here!

It should go without saying at this point, but Giuliani is in deep financial trouble. Thanks to his post-election work for Trump, which he reportedly hasn’t been paid for, Giuliani is drowning in legal fees after being sued by voting software companies for his attempts to discredit the results of the 2020 presidential election. In early June, Giuliani’s few remaining allies tried to raise money for his legal defense fund, but it was such a colossal failure that the whole thing was shuttered in less than a month.

Adding insult to injury, Giuliani can no longer practice law in the state of the New York after having his license suspended by the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court who deemed Giuliani a threat to the public for his role in undermining that election. The New York decision allowed the D.C. Court of Appeals to also suspend Giuliani’s license, which means he can no longer act as an attorney in the nation’s capitol either.

In short, it’s going to take a lot more than Cameo videos to Giuliani out of this mess.

(Via Rudy Giuliani on Twitter)

Days after dropping DaBaby from its 2021 lineup, Austin City Limits Music Festival announced today that it would be adding a set from Tyler The Creator. Set times haven’t been announced yet, but the fest said they were imminent.

DaBaby was dropped by ACL earlier in August after the rapper delivered a bizarre rant during his Rolling Loud set that included homophobic comments and attacks towards those with HIV/AIDS. DaBaby then issued — and subsequently deleted — an apology for his words on social media. “I want to apologize to the LGBTQ+ community for the hurtful and triggering comments I made,” he wrote. “Again, I apologize for my misinformed comments about HIV/AIDS and I know education on this is important.” His (now-deleted) apology was swiftly deemed insincere, with a number of high-profile artists such as Madonna, Elton John, Questlove, and Dua Lipa condemning him for the rant.

In addition to ACL, DaBaby has been dropped by a handful of prominent music festivals; Lollapalooza, Governors Ball, Day N Vegas, and more have all removed him from the lineups to their festivals this year.

As for Tyler, the Call Me If You Get Lost rapper recently offered his thoughts around what it means to be “canceled” (around 2014-2015, Tyler was banned from Australia, the UK, and New Zealand for his lyrics that were deemed to be promoting violence and homophobia). In a particularly relevant-seeming conversation, he told Hot 97’s Ebro In The Morning crew:

“People just go back to stuff and go ‘look what he used to do.’ And it’s like yeah, but I’m not on that no more. So what’s your end goal? When people go back and dig up old stuff from someone who’s here now, it’s like hey, what’s your end goal? Accountable… what does that mean? Is the goal, you shouldn’t do that, you should change and be a better person? Not even me, but to whoever they’re saying it to… I’ve been a better person for the last nine years. That was ten years ago. But I think people like doing that to make themselves feel better about themselves.”

The 2021 Austin City Limits Music Festival takes place October 1-3 and 8-10 at Zilker Park. Get more info here.

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

Marc Maron, stand-up comic, GLOW star and more, has been podcasting since before, well, everyone was podcasting. He’s racked up over 1,200 episodes with no signs of slowing down while often digging up the most unexpected of details from his guests. To name a few recent snippets: David Duchovny broke my heart while telling Maron the reason why he signed onto Californication; Katey Sagal filled him in on a Married… With Children secret; and Maron and Seth Rogen ruffled a few feathers over in Israel. One never knows what shall happen when one gets loose in a podcast, and Maron’s got the standing to take a swing at Joe Rogan and the “human centipede in Austin,” too.

Well, Maron allowed the Wall Street Journal to turn the tables on him with a handful of questions, and one answer in particular resonates. Here’s what the WTF host had to say about the advice he’s followed for decades:

“There was something that was told to me during a fairly unpredictable journey on hallucinogens when I was a younger man. Some weirdo looked in my eyes and could tell I was freaking out. And he said, Just hang on, man. I think that’s pretty good advice in general.”

You can’t beat advice like that; it’s right along the lines of a Matthew McConaughey quote, “just keep livin,” which actually transformed into the name of his foundation. Maron’s shared advice works, though. Oftentimes, the biggest struggle in the world can be to stop controlling everything around you. It’s a pretty 12-Step principle, too, but it’s real. Once one realizes that it’s alright to just let go, things can really fall into place, as they likely inevitably would already without the illusion of control. Man, now I feel like I’ve taken a hallucinogen simply by witnessing this advice.

The rest of the WSJ. Magazine interview with Maron is well worth reading here. He’s a fan of Mare of Easttown, I May Destroy You, and John Oliver, so you’re in good hands over there.

(Via WSJ. Magazine)

Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm-and-blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B songs that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

This week, The Weeknd leads the way with the arrival of his new single, “Take My Breath.” The track kicks off a new era for the singer, one that sees him ditching the red suit and battle scars that his After Hours project featured. On the album side of things, Tinashe touches down with her fifth album 333, a project that stands out brightly in her catalog. Lastly, Victoria Monet blesses us once again with her brand new single, “Coastin.’”

The Weeknd – “Take My Breath”

Months after The Weeknd concluded his After Hours era, the singer is also back in action with a “new dawn” for his loyal fan base. It comes in the form of his new single, “Take My Breath.” Arriving as a blend of his Starboy and After Hours sounds. The new song also comes with a video that sees the singer in pursuit of a woman who literally takes his breath away.

Tinashe – 333

Two years after impressing the world with Songs For You, Tinashe takes another level upward with her artistry with her fifth album, 333 Backed by help from Jeremih, Kaytranada, Buddy, Kaash Paige, Wax Motif, Absolutely, Quiet Child, and KUDZA, Tinashe beautifully showcases her vocals and versatility towards an array of sounds throughout the project’s 16 songs.

Victoria Monet – “Coastin’”

Victoria Monet is not one to sleep and her phenomenal 2020 project Jaguar is absolutely evidence of that. Nearly a year to the date of that project’s arrival, the singer returns with “Coastin,’” a funky tune that captures her feelings for a new partner as well as that for her home state of California. “It’s made for people with that good, chill energy and the bassline instantly puts you in a certain feel,” she said in a press release about The Stereotypes-produced single. She added, “We wanted this song to represent that freedom to finally go outside.”

India Shawn – “Don’t Play With My Heart”

Joining a trio of singles that she’s shared over the last year, India Shawn returns with yet another song that’s absolutely worth listening to. “Don’t Play With My Heart” arrives as a stern warning to a companion she’s slowly falling in love with. “Don’t play with my heart,” she sings with soaring vocals. “Before we let this go too far.” In a statement about the song, Shawn said the video for the new single “pays homage to the original and iconic queens of soul, like Donna Summer and Diana Ross.” She adds that her intention is to “serve a fresh and nostalgic take on their legacies.”

Jorja Smith – “All Of This”

After a two-year wait that followed the release of her impressive debut album Lost & Found, Jorja Smith returned with her Be Right Back this past spring. The 8-track effort was showed the singer did not lose a step in her progress in the two years since her debut. Now, she’s back with “All Of This,” a track produced by Grammy-nominated producer DJ Guilty Beatz. It sees dive into the Amapiano genre, a style of house music that was birth in South Africa.

Zacari – “Rainy Day” Feat. Isaiah Rashad & Buddy

It’s been a while since Zacari, one of the newer acts on TDE’s vast roster of talent, delivered music to the world. His last project came in 2019 with Run Wild Run Free while his last singles arrived during TDE’s Appreciation Week in 2020. At long last, the Bakersfield, California-bred act returns with his first single of the year, “Rainy Day.” The track features Buddy and labelmate Isaiah Rashad and arrives as a gritty tune that emphasizes staying ready for life’s inconviences.

Reggie Becton – “Issues”

After impressing with his 2020 EP, Thank You For Listenin’, PG County’s own Reggie Becton is back with new content and it comes in the form of a new visual for his latest single, “Issues.” The video captures the rise and fall of love for the singer. High moments between Becton and his lover are quickly succeeded by turbulent times that make a future together appear more and more unlikely.

Ayra Starr – 19 & Dangerous

Earlier this year, Afropop singer Ayra Starr arrived with her self-titled debut project and just six months removed from its release, Starr graces the world with her second body of work. 19 & Dangerous blends R&B soul, and Afropop for a tale of growth that arrives as the singer prepares to exit the teenager status for adulthood. Across its 11 songs, the young singer calls on Foushee and Ckay to help her detail her transition out of adolescence.

Lion Babe – Rainbow Child

Two years after they released their sophomore album, R&B duo Lion Babe is back in action with their third body of work, Rainbow Child. Singer Jillian Hervey and producer Lucas Goodman deliver nine new songs with contributions from Ghostface Killah, Siimbiie Lakew, Oshun, and Trinidad James for a project they say was created “in response to the heightened pain and injustice Black lives have been experiencing.”

Rikki — “Is It Over?” Feat. Moneybagg Yo

New Rochelle, New York singer Rikki delivers another bright moment for her career thanks to a brand new visual with Moneybagg Yo for her single, “Is It Over?” The song itself personifies the questions one has around love while searching for the truth through it all. The single comes after the Murder Inc. singer was accompanied by Ja Rule for a remix of her previous track, “Heartbreaker.”

Amon, PJ Morton & Smooth Blaq – “All My Life”

San Diego act Amon has seen plenty of success after early struggles in his career. He’s served as an opening act for DJ Khalid, Amine, and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie while gaining popularity for his viral track, “Lately.” Now, he finds himself contributing to City Of Ali, a documentary about Muhammad Ali, with his latest song, “All My Life” with PJ Morton and Smooth Blaq.

Vedo — “Yesterday”

Eight years ago, Vedo was taken under Usher’s wing during the fourth season of NBC’s The Voice. Since then he’s written for the legendary singer, attained a platinum single of his own, and worked with other artists as well. All of this occurs as he continues to progress upward in his own career as his latest single, “Yesterday,” is proof of that. On the soulful track, Vedo seeks to move from the past failures with an old lover despite their insistence on remaining stuck in the past.

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

No draft goes according to plan, and the 2021 WNBA Draft was no different for rookie small forward Rennia Davis and Cheryl Reeve, head coach and GM of the Minnesota Lynx. Davis had been projected as a top-5 pick in nearly every mock draft leading up to the night of April 15. Reeve and her war room didn’t plan for her, if only because they didn’t fathom the former Tennessee Volunteers standout sticking around long enough for Minnesota to take her with the ninth overall pick. But as luck would have it, Davis slipped toward the end of the first round and Minnesota got the player it considered the best on the board.

Davis believes in things happening for a reason. She believed it when she heard her name called, which caused her to jump up from the couch alongside her mom, the both of them screaming, and she believes it now, in the long process of recovery from a sudden stress fracture in her left foot that has sidelined her indefinitely.

“I’m still trying to understand. I don’t really understand, but I feel like I try to understand,” Davis says with certainty over the phone from the Lynx’s practice facility. “We don’t know why this happened, but I know it happened for a reason.”

Three days after the mid-April draft, Davis relocated to Minnesota. It was there, during training camp, that she realized the extent of her injury, finding that it hurt her “more and more” to walk. She soon realized she was going to need surgery.

“I’ll basically be reteaching myself how to walk here for the next month,” Davis says. “Regaining strength over in that foot. My leg’s extremely skinny. I’m not the biggest anyways, but it’s extremely small in this cast. So it’s going to be a process.”

Injuries are always an unfortunate possibility for professional athletes, but the recovery process is often deceptively invisible to people on the outside. The event of the injury itself flows into a person’s rehabilitation, well out of the spotlight, so that their return to play can seem linear, the timeline eventually condensing altogether. The real process is absolutely nothing like that, especially in cases like Davis, whose timeline for recovery extends with each new step.

“I knew I would have to be out for a little bit, about the third day of training camp. I knew that. But I did not know I would be out the whole season,” Davis says. “Once I found that out, that was an even bigger blow, because you know, you’re prepared for the season and then, okay, cool, I can’t play for a minute. So I’m preparing to not play for a minute and then, okay, cool, now I’m preparing to not play for a whole season.”

Rather than looking at it as the loss of her inaugural season, Davis has stayed steady in the mental and emotional approach to her recovery, taking it just as slow as the physical part. She keeps herself grounded in her faith as well as the people around her, making sure they’re as level headed as she is.

“It helps being on a team full of vets because most of them have been through this process. Obviously not all of them have had a stress fracture, but something that set them down for a minute,” Davis says. “This is my first time having to be without basketball for an extended period of time. So just being around this group, it just helps.

“If I’m like, I’m not going, because I’ve become a hassle at this point, they’re like ‘No, you’re going, you’re going. It’s cool, it’s good. You’re going,’” she continues. “Sometimes the scooter and the crutches can become a hassle for me, so I don’t want to be a hassle for other people. But they’ve been very adamant about making sure I’m still included. That’s been helping me mentally too, that I’m on a team with people that want me around. That’s huge. And they haven’t played with me yet, so they want me around for more than just basketball reasons, so, that feels good to me.”

If you’ve done yourself a favor and watched Davis’s film from her time at Tennessee, you’ll understand quickly through the fluid, intuitive way that she plays that basketball is something that centers her, and to be without it as a daily rhythm is a struggle. She says she’s always been “naturally intuitive,” both on and off the floor.

She shifts between being a rebounding wraith, moving with blink-and-you’ll-miss-it quickness out to the wings or cutting under the basket. It seems as if she’s magnetically pulled to wherever the ball is without hands to claim it, and a crafty catch-and-shoot player, picking her spots with timing that feels hardwired.

Davis is demure when it comes to talking about the explosiveness of her game, crediting athleticism and a propensity to outwork other players for being why she’s able to get there and back. She especially enjoys picking second chance points before her opponents realize what happened.

”I pride myself in rebounding in general, but offensive rebounds, I feel like I have an advantage, especially with a lot of guards because I’m 6’2, and in transition, like, people get tired,” Davis laughs. “You just take off and that’s two easy points. I used to only be able to know how shoot, which is weird, because my percentages would probably make you think different, but I could only really shoot at one point. Now, it’s just been great to see myself grow into a basketball player and not just stand out catch and shoot player, or somebody that just jumped over people — ‘cause I can.”

Davis left Tennessee as one of just four Lady Vols players to wind up top-10 in points and rebounds per game (15.4 and eight, respectively) as well as career points and rebounds (1,815 and 947, respectively). The other three: WNBA legends Candace Parker, Tamika Catchings, and Chamique Holdsclaw. Her four-year college career with the team was marked by upsets, with an abrupt coaching change in her second year that saw some of her teammates transfer out of the program. She also signed on to play for Tennessee anticipating that she’d have a year under Diamond DeShields to learn from, but DeShield ended up going overseas, thrusting Davis into a much larger role than expected from the start.

“So as a freshman I had to get in, play, compete, produce, be a big part of the team,” Davis says.

But Davis credits the pressure and upsets as tools that became essential in winnowing her focus in on what she really wanted.

“Obviously those coaches, in my first two years, they were the coaches that recruited me. And I definitely appreciate them for getting me to Tennessee, but being at Tennessee I realized that’s more so where I wanted to be,” she recalls. “And that might sound, well, I don’t know how it sounds, but it’s the truth. I was loyal to the university, the school. I liked the changes that I was being forced into outside of basketball.”

More than a place where she developed her game, Davis credits Tennessee as a place where she grew, quickly, as a person. She entered college with an Associate of Arts degree from Florida State College, skipping ahead of freshman classes — “I was in classes with all juniors and seniors and I was so lost,” she recalls. ” It was just a mess, but even through the mess, I was forced to grow.”

Though Davis considers herself an introvert, it’s clear through her easy and direct voice that she’s faced the kind of accelerated growth that forces a person to reconcile their natural comfort level with the understanding that challenges, setbacks, and difficult stretches can have a chrysalis effect, pushing them several evolutions ahead of where they otherwise might be. While her priority remains getting back on the floor, Davis has also had time to reflect and foster other goals — some short term and others in the future — once she’s fulfilled her basketball career.

Davis has been working diligently with her agency to create a logo for her brand, which she’d like to expand into fashion and wants to be as instantly visually impactful and recognizable as the Jumpman. She has a keen interest in branching out into the media space, where more and more athletes are building their own direct to audience platforms, either with a podcast or occasional livestream. She admits the production side of things could be “a mess,” but is willing to learn.

Her long term dreams — opening a restaurant and traveling — are tied together. Davis calls her restaurant her “biggest thing,” something she’s reached out to Black entrepreneurs for help with in planning and, eventually, executing. But before that, she’d like to see more of the world.

“It might sound weird because yes, as a basketball player, I’ve been traveling pretty much my whole life, but I want to travel without basketball. I want to travel and not have to worry about getting up the next morning for a game or practice,” she says. “Sometimes you just want to just be.”

The tricky thing with plans that don’t go as anticipated is working up the courage to make more. For Davis, the setback she suffered on the heels of one of her most hopeful moments only means her future stands to be that much brighter. As for finding a reason why that happened, the way that her future taking shape so broadly without restraint feels like reason enough.

Earlier in the year, Julien Baker released her third album, Little Oblivions. Now, the indie performer has announced plans to release a five-track remix EP in September via Matador. In conjunction with the announcement is a dreamy reworking of “Bloodshot” by Australian electronic artist Helios, which you can check out above. Additional contributions include remixes from Half Waif, Gordi, Thao, and Jesu.

Opening up about reworking “Bloodshot,” Helios said in a press release:

“I was excited when Julien Baker reached out about doing a remix, because I respect her work and it was an interesting challenge to do a remix of singer/songwriter material in the context of my approach which is more in the electronic/ambient world. I wanted to keep the integrity of the original composition, which was great, but also wanted to create enough of a spin to give it a distinctly new quality. My approach to remixes is to use as much of the original material as possible, but to use those elements as a base to create a variety of new textures. So I took a lot of the guitar and percussion elements and ran them through some old tape recorders to give it a rough ‘handmade’ quality, reversed them, chopped them up or manipulated them with reverbs and delays to create ambient soundscapes. I treated Julien’s vocals to match the rougher, more lo-fi quality I used with the instrumental elements. Harmonically, I changed up the chord changes to give the vocal melody a slightly new framework and arrangement on which to sit and create some new twists and turns and builds in the composition. It was one of the most fun remixes I’ve done to date, with such strong original material it gave me a lot to play around with.”

Find the Little Oblivions Remixes art and tracklist below.

1. “Faith Healer” (Half Waif Remix)
2. “Bloodshot” (Helios Remix)
3. “Ringside” (Gordi Remix)
4. “Favor” (Jesu Remix)
5. “Ziptie” (Thao Remix)

Little Oblivions Remixes is out 9/1 via Matador. Pre-order it here.

In a business filled with a good number of, well, let’s say, phonies, it’s hard not to be immediately won over by John David Washington’s (as he puts it) “gosh, gee willy, gee whiz” answers. There’s something very human and appealing about someone who loves their job this much and someone who appreciates his job as much as Washington does. There are probably obvious reasons for that. Washington tried his hand in the NFL, making the Rams practice squad, then played in the now-defunct United Football League. So maybe this stems from him knowing what it’s like to shoot for something and not quite get to the level he was hoping. But, good gosh, that is not the case with acting. John David Washington is a movie star, but there’s a good chance he doesn’t quite realize that yet. Or, more likely, isn’t allowing himself to realize that.

Washington’s new film is Beckett (which will be on Netflix later this week). It was, kind of surprisingly, filmed before Tenet and filmed just after BlacKkKlansman had its debut at Cannes. (But with every release thrown into flux, this probably shouldn’t be that surprising anymore.) Directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino, Beckett is kind of a ’70s throwback as Washington’s Beckett, just a guy on vacation in Greece, is thrown into a world of government conspiracies and a whole lot of danger.

In interviews, John David Washington often brings up his father, as he does here, which almost feels like a defense mechanism. Like a way to cut off that aspect before it’s asked. The more I think about it, in his position I’d probably do the same thing. I’d be worried that’s what people were thinking. This is also very human (which, as said earlier, is endearing). So I do ask him about this, but only because he brings it up so much himself. And, again, his answer kind of feels like he’s worried someone is going to take this job that he loves so much away from him. (I feel pretty confident saying that John David Washington isn’t going anywhere.)

With release schedules all messed up, I’m assuming Beckett was filmed after Tenet? But I don’t know if it was or not.

No, no. This was way before Tenet‘s time.

Really?

Yeah, it was right after we had gone to Cannes for BlacKkKlansman. It was 2018. No, actually, technically I knew I was going to do it in 2018. We started in ’19. So yeah, it was months before I started Tenet.

So you film Tenet, it comes out. And then you film this before Tenet, and now you’re doing press for it…

I mean, it worked out the way it did. But, I mean, I just shot another movie, Malcolm & Marie, and that came out before this as well. So, you never know. I’m still learning the business and learning the process of rolling the film out and what the best months are for a film and all that stuff. But the stuff I can control is the work and the approach to the film – and that’s what I remember the most. And it feels good to be able to work, I’ll say that. It feels good to be able to even talk about a film that I was able to do. So that’s good. That’s a positive.

So my first question is ruined. Because I’m watching this thinking, “Oh, he did this because after Tenet, which is such a concept movie and the driving force of an action film, you wanted a character that’s a little more a guy on vacation.” But, that’s not what happened.

[Laughs] Well, I mean, I did want to play a guy on vacation. I mean, it was interesting because I had one more season of Ballers left. I did BlacKkKlansman. I played two cops…

The Old Man and a Gun, too.

The Old Man and the Gun… so three cops. Well, I mean, if you blink you miss me, but yeah, you’re right. So three cops and an obnoxious wide receiver. So I was looking for something different and Beckett was different than all those guys.

You just said you’re happy to be working and figuring stuff out. I’m sure like everyone my whole concept of time is so screwed up, but I think of you as someone who has been doing this a while now and is a huge movie star and it’s weird to still hear you being like, “Ah, I’m just figuring this crazy business out.”

Well, I appreciate it. Look, I mean, I am lucky. I’m sorry to give you these, “gosh, gee willy, gee whiz,” answers, but it’s true. I am so lucky. You know why I probably talk like that and feel this way? Because I wanted to do it my whole life. You know what I’m saying?

I do.

And what am I talking about? Just acting. I wanted to perform. My parents are performers. The business of it, I’m learning now and I learned later through my folks. But just the pureness of taking something, creating something with other people from different backgrounds, and saying something that you both agree on is really cool. And it’s really interesting and it’s invigorating. It really gives me life. And so I look at it as every time I get to step on set, I’m lucky. It’s a blessing. I don’t take this job for granted at all. And so I’m just looking to continue that feeling. And that might be a boring answer, but it is the truth because I really love what I do. It doesn’t feel like a job.

Look, even my job, I feel the same way. I get to sit here and talk to you and I still, to this day, don’t take that for granted. What you just said, I think, is important. Because once you start taking it for granted, I don’t know if you’re enjoying it anymore, right?

Right, right. And everybody does what we do for different reasons, you know? And God bless them. I’m not saying my reasons are different or more pure or more righteous than any other, I should say. But it is the source of my happiness and probably why you get some of these golly, gee whiz answers from me.

Well, the thing I’m curious about, and the obvious answer is probably, “Because I was good at it,” but why did you even go and try to play professional football before you went into acting? Since acting’s something you obviously wanted to do from the get-go immediately? What if you were still in the NFL, would you be happy?

[Laughs] Ohhhhhhh, now we’re getting to it. Well, what I was saying to you before about performance is that’s what I love. I didn’t realize that people’s reactions to the performances sometimes could dictate how you can live your life for the rest of your life.

Okay.

And when it becomes the business, fame, and all that – that’s what was unattractive to me at the time, you know? And it was very intimidating. So I felt like I saw my relationship to the world becoming different because my dad’s relationship to the world was becoming different based off of what I love and what I think he’s very special at doing, which is acting. And so I wanted to protect myself. And football was that protection. I felt like I could be my own person. People are literally wearing a helmet, so they’re not going to know what I look like. I can’t be seen. They won’t know I’m related to him because I’m just another African-American playing football. They won’t know, you know what I’m saying? And that’s what drove me. But, I ultimately wanted to be an actor. I wanted to do that my whole life. But I had to bury that because of my father’s popularity. That’s what shifted. But knowing that when I was able to feel comfortable about really doing what I wanted to do, I went for it.

You’ve mentioned your family a few times. When I first saw BlacKkKlansman, I didn’t know that. For me, it was like, what’s a good example? Like maybe Matt Damon does The Rainmaker and then Good Will Hunting. And I had seen him in some stuff before, like you were in Ballers, and it’s like, “Ah, wow, he’s breaking through.” And it was only later when I read an interview you did where you mentioned your dad. I honestly think people know you for your own stuff now and don’t think about who your dad is.

Well, I appreciate that. Yeah, it’s not a big deal or anything. It’s just, you guys understand my relation to the world, just me. Just sometimes when I encounter people, it’s usually that a lot of times. So it’s nice to hear you say, “No, actually, John David, the real world’s telling you that it’s all good.” So you saying that is great and I appreciate it. That’s the goal. Just like, oh, if I’m that guy from that movie that I liked, then that’s cool, too. You know what I mean? I’m just trying to show different sides of my craft.

So the David O. Russell movie you’re in is moving to 2022. How does that work for you? Do they call you? Are you in the loop? Because now you have to wait another year for something I’m sure you’re anxious for it to come out…

Right. Well, it depends on the relationship I have to the director or the studio or whatever. There are some movies I’m kept in the loop, some not. This is one of those I’m not in the loop. I have no idea what they’re doing. I know nothing. They yelled, “Wrap. That’s a wrap on John David.” And that was it. So I think that must be good. They have their reasons. I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad thing, but they have their reasons. Actually, honestly, I didn’t think we were going to come out this year anyway. I mean, it’s a huge film and it’s an all-star weekend cast, so it’s like, there are so many performances. It’s all your favorite actors killing it and they’re at their best in this. And so I’m like, that’s going to take time to make sure they get all that right, I know. So I anticipated this already. But I have no idea.

To be fair, after last year’s situation with Tenet, you have to be the king of “I don’t know when my movie is coming out.”

[Laughs] Facts! True. That is true. Well, that and Malcolm & Marie too, I never knew. I was out of the loop. You’re right. That seems to be the way my career is right now. I don’t know. I just do the movie.

‘Beckett’ begins streaming via Netflix on August 13th. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

This week in the best new pop music saw several stars kick off album roll outs. The Weeknd dropped an addictive single, Finneas officially announced his debut album, and Lady Gaga shared a first look at her second collaborative album with legendary singer Tony Bennett.

Each week, Uproxx rounds up the best new pop releases. Listen up.

The Weeknd — “Take My Breath”

Following up on his wildly successful 2020 LP After Hours, The Weeknd ushered in a new era of music this week with the trance-like track “Take My Breath.” The club-ready tune showcases into the synth-heavy style The Weeknd first perfected in After Hours, resulting in a driving single perfect for late-night listens.

Finneas — “A Concert Six Months From Now”

Finneas may be best known for his production work on Billie Eilish’s music, but he’s also an established songwriter of his own. This week, the musician announced his debut album Optimist with the tender ballad “A Concert Six Months From Now.” The acoustic guitar track hones Finneas’ stripped-down sound, melting his far-ranging vocals over wistful and subdued instrumentals.

Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett — “I Get A Kick Out Of You”

Lady Gaga may have dropped her hyperpop-leaning LP Chromatica last year, but this week, the singer showed off her versatility with the Tony Bennett collaboration “I Get A Kick Out Of You.” The swooning single blends the two iconic singers’ loungy vocals over a jazzy beat and offers the first preview of their joint project Love For Sale.

Aventura, Bad Bunny — “Volví”

Global superstar Bad Bunny continues dishing up hits this week with “Volví,” a collaborative single with Dominican-American bachata group Aventura. The summer-ready song combines reggaeton and pop sensibilities for a pumped-up tune that’s sure to get anyone up and moving.

Blackear — “@ My Worst”

Though it’s been less than a year since Blackbear released his 2020 album Everything Means Nothing, the musician is already gearing up for yet another release. His vibe-heavy track “@ My Worst” marks his latest compelling single and offers another preview of his forthcoming EP Misery Lake, which is set to drop next week.

Black Eyed Peas — “Hit It” Feat. Saweetie, Lele Pons

Serving up a club-ready banger, Black Eyed Peas teamed up with Saweetie and rising star Lele Pons for the fiery track “Hit It.” The up-tempo tune boasts a sultry bassline and clever verses, marking Black Eyed Peas’ first song of the year following their 2020 Shakira collaboration “Girl Like Me.”

Victoria Monét — “Coastin’”

After releasing her debut LP Jaguar last year, R&B star Victoria Monét returns with another irresistable tune with the carefree song “Coastin.’” Though the tune was actually written in the winter time, the funk-forward beat combines with Monét’s honeyed vocals for an undeniably sunny single.

Adam Levine — “Good Mood”

After a tough year all around, Maroon 5 vocalist Adam Levine is here to put his listeners in a “Good Mood” with his latest song. Penned to be a part of PAW Patrol: The Movie‘s original soundtrack, “Good Mood” is a happy-go-lucky jingle reminding us of the importance of sticking by your loved ones.

Glaive — “1984”

Prolific 16-year-old hyperpop songwriter Glaive showed off his hitmaking skills on his All Dogs Go To Heaven EP. The 8-track effort gives a snapshot of the rising star’s life: angst, heartbreak, fallouts with friends, and everything in between. “1984” opens the EP, detailing the story of a painful goodbye over deliciously distorted synths and a hyped-up beat.

Holly Humberstone — “Please Don’t Leave Just Yet”

Breakout songwriter Holly Humberstone returned this week with the resonating tune “Please Don’t Leave Just Yet.” The radically honest and intricately layered single officially announces her upcoming EP The Walls Are Way Too Thin, which Humberstone said is inspired by the feeling of being lost. “This EP represents a feeling of being lost,” she said. “It’s the kind of lost that makes you question who you are and where you belong. So lost that someone might need to find you again because you can’t find yourself.”

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