Category: News

It’s been just over a month since the release of Nas’ fourteenth album, King’s Disease II. The sequel to the rapper’s 2020 album that gifted him his long-awaited first Grammy award. King’s Disease II is executive produced by Hit-Boy and arrived with features from Eminem, Lauryn Hill, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Charlie Wilson, and more. Today Nas unveils a new star-studded visual for “Brunch On Sundays.” In it, the rapper enjoys a mid-day mealwith LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Swizz Beatz, Blxst, Hit-Boy, Cordae, and Lil Rel.

The video is the second we’ve received for King’s Disease II, the first being “Rare.” The 2021 album has received a similar, if not better, response when compared to its predecessor, with people commending he and Hit-Boy’s chemistry and asking for the possibility of third installment in the series.

“He’s like my Quincy [Jones], you know what I mean?” Nas said during an interview with Apple Music’s Ebro Darden last month. “So I feel like the next thing I do, if I was to work with Hit-Boy on the next thing I do, I think that we might do something that is going to be magical.” He added, “I think what we have is magic. I think if we do another one, I’m excited about that idea, but you know, we’re celebrating this one now.”

You can watch the video for “Brunch On Sundays” above.

King’s Disease II is out now via Mass Appeal. Get it here.

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

Monday evening saw the return of the Met Gala, which had to be cancelled last year due to the pandemic. There was a lot of talk about attendees’ outfits. But one person who wasn’t even there may have outshone them all. Nicki Minaj wound up stealing the spotlight thanks to a string of tweets that voiced her concern about the COVID-19 vaccine. One of her tweets concerned her cousin’s friend, who allegedly his fiancée call off their wedding his “testicles became swollen” following his COVID vaccination. (Of course, there could have been other things to cause that.) Rightwing commentators rushed to Minaj’s side, among them Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who had a special request for a recent news broadcast.

“We haven’t been able to figure whether this show is broadcast in Trinidad,” Carlson said on his show Tuesday, having already discussed the matter the night before. “But if Nicki Minaj’s cousin’s friend is watching, or his former fiancée is watching, we want to hear your story. We’ll come to Port Of Spain to see you.”

For the record, when asked if evidence exists for reproductive issues as a result of the Modera, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson vaccines, Dr. Anthony Fauci has replied with “a resounding no.” But Carlson is never one to listen to experts.

Amid all this, Minaj’s vaccine tweets also sparked a beef with Piers Morgan. This saga is most likely far from over, so we’ll be back to report on the next chapter whenever that arrives. Until then, please get vaccinated.

There’s a new Trump book coming out, and somehow it has yet more shocking revelations about his final days in office. For one, he apparently hates kiss-up House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The person who may have saved former vice president Mike Pence from joining the failed coup was…Dan Quayle? And then there’s this: General Mark Milley, his top military adviser, took steps to stop an “unhinged” Trump, right after Jan. 6, from doing anything crazy, like starting a war. And when Trump found out about that, he was pissed.

Excerpts from the forthcoming book Peril, by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, were published in The Washington Post on Tuesday. Among the claims were that Milley was worried that, after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, a “manic” Trump, who was in “serious mental decline,” would launch a “rogue” nuclear weapons launch. So he held a Pentagon meeting behind his back, even telling staff to ignore the president’s orders, should they come. Milley was so concerned even called China to reassure them that the united States would not attack them.

As per The Daily Beast, after discovering this particular tidbit, the former president spent the rest of the day in attack mode. He called up allies, like Turning Point USA kid Charlie Kirk. By the end of the day he was blabbing on Newsmax about the T-word.

“I’ve had so many calls today saying that’s treason,” Trump told Newsmax hosts Sean Spicer, his former press secretary, and Lyndsay Keith. He also accused Milley of “trying to just get out of his incompetent withdrawal out of Afghanistan, the dumbest thing that anybody has seen.”

Trump later released one of his “press releases,” calling his former military adviser “’Dumbass’ General Mark Milley.” (That one may have been a nod to the insult Alex Jones called him after he recommended his base take a life-saving vaccine.) He made sure to spread doubt about Woodward and Costa’s reporting, but he said, if it’s true, it should end with Milley in prison.

“I assume he would be tried for TREASON in that he would have been dealing with his Chinese counterpart behind the President’s back and telling China that he would be giving them notification ‘of an attack,” the statement read.

Calling dubious claims of treason wasn’t the only thing Trump talked about on his Newsmax appearance. He also claimed it’s not Joe Biden who’s running the government but Trump’s own predecessor, Barack Obama.

And to think this all could have been worse had it not been for Dan Quayle, the guy who couldn’t even spell “potato.”

(Via The Daily Beast)

Earlier on Tuesday, fans of Brintey Spears noticed that her Instagram was no longer active. The account was a place where the singer could freely speak about her personal life, especially the events surrounding her conservatorship. When her supporters noticed it was no longer active, concern began to grow for Spears. However, the singer took to her Twitter account to reassure them that everything was okay. “Don’t worry folks … just taking a little break from social media to celebrate my engagement !!!!” she wrote, adding, “I’ll be back soon.”

Billboard also confirms that the singer willingly chose to delete the account.

It was just two days ago that Spears announced her engagement to Sam Asghari. The two have been dating for four years and they met back in 2016 during the video shoot for the singer’s “Slumber” track. The couple shared the news about their engagement with posts on their respective Instagram pages.

Asghari’s manager, Brandon Cohen, said that he’s “proud to celebrate and confirm the engagement,” in a statement to People. He added, “The couple made their long-standing relationship official today and are deeply touched by the support, dedication, and love expressed to them.”

Other recent good news for Spears includes her father opting to file a petition to end the singer’s 13-year conservatorship.

Vice presidents don’t tend to be as remembered as well as those they served under. (There are exceptions. One of them is currently commander-in-chief.) So you might not recall Dan Quayle. He was veep under another veep-turned-president, George H.W. Bush. He’s not remembered that fondly, if at all. His legacy may wind up being that one time he insisted, at a spelling bee, that “potato” was spelled “potatoe.” (He also launched a culture war against fictitious television character Murphy Brown.) But we live in the weird timeline, which is to say that the reason we still have a democratic republic is because of him.

As per CNN, Bob Woodward and Robert Costa’s forthcoming Trump book Peril has a hair-raising passage in which another former veep, Mike Pence, turned to Quayle for advice towards the end of the Trump administration. The then-president was pressuring Pence to help overturn the election. He couldn’t do that, mind you. But he still, apparently, had to be talked down from joining his superior’s attempted coup.

Over and over, Pence asked if there was anything he could do.

“Mike, you have no flexibility on this. None. Zero. Forget it. Put it away,” Quayle told him.

Pence pressed again.

“You don’t know the position I’m in,” he said, according to the authors.

“I do know the position you’re in,” Quayle responded. “I also know what the law is. You listen to the parliamentarian. That’s all you do. You have no power.”

Again, Pence couldn’t overturn the election results, despite Trump’s repeated insistence to the contrary. But CNN offers two timelines had Pence not done the right thing and certified the election:

At best, that would have led to a series of lawsuits contesting whether Pence had the ability to overturn the election. That process would have dragged out for weeks — if not months — leaving the country in limbo in ways that could well have spawned further violence.

At worst, we could have seen the legitimate decline of American democracy, with the demonstrated will of the people overturned by a single man.

What did happen is still not great: Trump continues to assert, with no proof and after endless legal embarrassments, that the 2020 election was stolen from him. And a large chunk of Republicans, politicians and voters alike, insist this lie is true. Oh, and there was that Capitol riot. But it could have been even worse. And the reason it’s not worse is because…of Dan Quayle?

When the news broke, people couldn’t believe that the voice of reason was…wait, Dan Quayle?

Others couldn’t believe that we still have a (mostly) functioning democracy because of…no, really, it’s Dan Quayle?

Some forgave him for “potatoe.”

But others were more cautious. Maybe a timeline in which the nation survived because of Dan Quayle is not a good one.

And others pointed out that Mike Pence was awfully close to joining the coup.

But he didn’t. He cleared the lowest bar imaginable. And he may have only done that because of Dan Quayle? That still doesn’t feel right.

(Via CNN)

Most 16-year-olds want a car or maybe the latest iPhone for their birthday. But not everyone is Rick Ross’ son. The rapper purchased a Wingstop franchise for his son’s 16th birthday, as he revealed in a recent Instagram post. “Everyone wish my son @mmgbigbank HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY!!!” the rapper wrote in the post’s caption. “Today, he became the owner of his 1st @wingstop franchise. [You’re] now officially a BOSS!!! Keep Going.”

Ross himself is the owner of 25 Wingstop franchises locations. He recently helped them launch Thighstop, which helped the company cope with the recent shortage of chicken wings. The rapper also spoke about his support and growth with the company during an interview with Complex.

“Well, first and foremost, my personal passion for it hasn’t wavered any, over all the years I’ve loved Wingstop,” he said. “You see, I’m still repping it like it’s the first time I had it. And when I eat Wingstop, it’s still like the first time I had it. And on a business side, when I went and sat down with the CEO, Charlie Morrison, he knew I had no experience being a franchisee.”

He added, “He knew I didn’t have the time sitting in a franchise, but he saw my vision and my passion. He opened the doors for me. He didn’t just let me follow my dreams. He let me go to that next level.”

Word broke Tuesday that legendary comedian and entertainer Norm Macdonald passed away at the age of 61. Macdonald reportedly suffered from cancer for nearly a decade, all while making people laugh consistently and with vigor. Macdonald also crossed over to the sports world in several ways, notably hosting the ESPY’s and firing away on Twitter during events both large-scale and run-of-the-mill. With that as the backdrop, many folks expressed their condolences and shared memories of Macdonald on Tuesday, and one example came from Brooklyn Nets forward Blake Griffin.

Griffin, who is a six-time All-Star, won the NBA Rookie of the Year award more than a decade ago. As is customary, Griffin was at the podium at a press conference while receiving that particular honor and, amusingly, Macdonald crashed the party by impersonating a member of the media and asking Griffin a question in what the NBA fixture described as “my favorite press conference moment ever.”

Macdonald’s trademark style is on full display here, deadpanning on how no player has ever “repeated” as Rookie of the Year. Griffin, who has famously crossed over into the comedy world during his sports career, definitely seemed to enjoy it in the moment when it happened, and it is clearly a moment he cherishes to this day.

Dan Orlovsky entered the “former athlete to broadcaster” pipeline a few years back. The longtime NFL quarterback has worked for ESPN since 2018, where he’s done everything from film work on the network’s various football shows, to appearing in the booth in college games, to popping up on the morning shows and firing off takes.

Now, I am going to need all of you to prepare for the sequence of words I am going to write, and then I need you to take another moment to prepare for the videos that pop up: Dan Orlovsky is capable of barking like a dog. And not just, like, the way you or I might if we’re trying to rile up a puppy during play time, but the man can do a killer impression of some sort of larger canine.

Fellow ESPN writer/analyst Mina Kimes learned this and posted two videos to Twitter. I am going to once again stress that you take a moment to prepare yourself for this. Ready? Ok, behold:

I learned of these videos while my dog was sitting next to me on the couch and, as Orlovsky started to bark, my dog perked up and tilted his head, because he was confused as to why another dog that he could not see was in the room. Now, it is extremely easy to say this is fake, but Kimes has taken to Twitter to stress this is 110 percent real.

Orlovsky has not addressed this, but we will let you know if this he goes in depth on how the heck he can do this.

John Wall is under contract for two more seasons with the Houston Rockets. However, word broke on Tuesday that Wall and the Rockets are reportedly working toward a resolution that would send the former No. 1 overall pick to a new team in the near future. Following the initial reporting from Shams Charania of The Athletic that included the nugget that a buyout is not currently on the table, Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle indicates that the Rockets are also “unlikely to move him before the trade deadline.”

If Wall is both unlikely to be bought out and unlikely to be traded before a deadline that is months away, the reality could be that of a stalemate between the two sides. All of the public reporting indicates that the situation isn’t toxic, with the Rockets valuing Wall’s professionalism and experience, but Houston has a jam-packed backcourt and they are clearly in the midst of a rebuild.

While Wall’s contract includes a player option for the 2022-23 NBA season, his recent play, combined with injury issues, make it a virtual lock that he will exercise that option, and the former No. 1 overall pick is owed nearly $92 million over those two campaigns. It is certainly possible that the former All-Star guard could return to a strong level on the floor but, practically speaking, the contract is clearly underwater in terms of the current trade market, and the Rockets may be better off simply letting the deal expire if either side doesn’t want a buyout.

It will be interesting to see how this progresses. However, a string of reports in mid-September sets the stage for what could be a real waiting game, particularly if Wall has a desire to return to the floor this season.

It’s been over a year since Pop Smoke’s tragic death, and the rapper was shot and killed during a home invasion, and his passing still haunts the music community. It’s not surprising how any form of disrespect towards him may cause turmoil. An example came recently, when Audrey Jackson, the late rapper’s mother, shared on her Instagram page that her son’s gravesite was vandalized.

On Monday, Jackson posted a string of Instagram videos that captured the damage that was done to her son’s gravesite. “So, chips leftover from either them trying to break in or from it being fixed to at least have it covered,” she says in the video. “But this was unnecessary, whoever you are.” She also shared her frustration at the damage in the post’s caption, writing, “Whoever you are, you have my attention. Now what!?.”

In a separate post, Jackson showed Pop Smoke’s father cleaning up the damage. The vandalism was initially reported by TMZ on September 11, which showed that someone pried it open. The publication also reported his casket may have been pulled out, as scrape marks on the floor suggest, but this was not confirmed by Pop Smoke’s family.

You can take a look a Pop Smoke’s mother’s Instagram posts above.