Category: News

In the later stages of life in quarantine, I found myself unconsciously doing my best to optimize my life. This happened in all kinds of ways, and none of them really got me anywhere. I tried in vain to pare down things in my Netflix queue, for example, until I was mostly left with a few dozen multi-season hour-long dramas and documentaries I couldn’t leave on in the background while I cleaned or cooked.

I made a feeble attempt to finally read some of the books with too-stiff bindings I had on neglected shelves, dove into learning a language to use traveling overseas when all this is over (merci, chouette verte), and finally used up all those toiletries collected in drawers from work trips. Nothing ever quite felt finished, though, which left me with an unsatisfied feeling that hasn’t really gone away. By the winter months in Boston, I found myself trying to best optimize trips from one room in my apartment to another, as if there wasn’t time to just go back and walk 10 feet to the thing I forgot in the bedroom the first time.

There’s something to be said for efficiency, sure, but even through all of that I wouldn’t really say I got very much done. All that optimizing felt like preparation for something that never really came, not that the preparing ever felt like progress in the first place. For all the time spent in relative isolation, on the other side of two jabs of Pfizer and a return of warmer months and I honestly can’t say much felt accomplished in the long year or so that came before. That includes with video games, a thing I get paid to write about and found myself struggling to enjoy for nearly all of 2020 and beyond.

While games like Animal Crossing were soothing escapes from the reality of lockdown for millions, like many of the games I’ve written about, my time playing them ended almost immediately after the post went live. It’s not the games were bad, but that they were far from the comforting time-wasters many found them to be. And while my backlog of games to play and write about only grew, so too did the dread of trying to get through those titles and have something worthwhile to say about them. Unless they were about death, I probably didn’t get very far into them.

And then there’s Outriders, a game that is very much not my typical play and has very much helped me undo many of the bad habits I picked up over the last year. I’ve played a lot of games throughout the pandemic, but there hasn’t been one that’s quite grabbed me the way Outriders has in recent weeks. And I think part of it is because the game lets me lean into my worst pandemic instincts in a way that’s ultimately as harmless as it is disposable. Which is, you know, a feature of playing video games in the first place.

Loot shooters are all about optimizing, either in your builds or finding the best guns and mods tailored to your gameplay and using them as best you can. It’s the digital version of what I’ve spent my days off doing, but somehow, Outriders makes it feel less like work and more like the escape gaming is supposed to be for so many. After a bit of contemplation about which class to pick, I leapt at the Trickster, stumbled into one of the better solo builds out there, and started working my way through the game’s plot and building up my world tier.

One of the interesting feats the game manages is not being too depressing despite its storyline. Set after the complete collapse of Earth and the death of untold billions of humans, the last refugees of Earth are put in cryosleep and travel to an apparently habitable planet that is far from what it seems. There’s a lot of death, a dwindling human population pitted against itself due to tragic circumstances, and of course, space aliens. Or maybe humans are the aliens, come to think of it.

The lore the game builds amid all of that, however, is really interesting and well-planned. Sidequests aren’t necessarily essential but offer more chances to build out the story, eschewing simple fetch quests to introduce new characters and creatures in a way that actually scales well when playing with others or at a higher difficulty level. Playing through the surprisingly substantial main story, simply put, was a joy.

That joy has come with some considerable issues, though none that completely broke the experience on an Xbox Series X. I managed to avoid the glitch that robbed you of all your armor and left you naked, for example. And server and connectivity issues made linking up with a friend to play something of an obstacle at the beginning of sessions. The game is best played with friends, though, and even dropping into strangers’ games to finish a mission and get some gear felt extremely productive when it all worked like it should.

But as I got through the game, maxed out my level, and started tweaking the way loot shooters tend to make you tweak, I realized I had stopped worrying about all of the other things I wasn’t doing while working on the task at hand. While Outriders had a launch that disappointed many and is still drawing frustration online, those bumps in its first few months have been far from deal-breakers for me. In fact, I kept coming back to sink more time into its world knowing that it may all be incredibly temporary. Fixing a game is hard, and there’s no guarantee that people playing games that initially disappoint
will ever see a title’s potential realized. But that equation never really needed to be computed for me here, another thing that rarely happens with games these days.

I’m in the grinding phase of Outriders now. The main story is done, I’m replaying side quests to farm materials to incrementally upgrade my gear and hopefully find legendary drops to tweak my abilities. After all this time, I’m honestly not even sure if I’m very good at the game. And there are still bugs and glitches to deal with and no real long-term content roadmap in place.

But I really hope there’s more in store for a universe that still feels full of potential. So many titles these days feel half-baked on launch day, but the story and gameplay of Outriders makes me optimistic there’s more to work with here. It could have been any loot shooter that did it for me but after finally finding a game that helped me put my brain back to (mostly) normal again, I wouldn’t mind a few more new things to do on Enoch.

Here in the Uproxx Life section, we’ve been waiting with bated breath for the arrival of summer. After we’ve all spent over a year in quarantine, it’s going to feel great to get out there with our friends, rub shoulders with some strangers, drink, get high, and just generally celebrate life. At least we thought it would feel great, but this week people have been putting f*cking mustard on watermelon so who really knows anymore?

Did we forget what the summer is supposed to be? Because this ain’t it, fam. Mustard on watermelon sounds downright brutal.

As is the case with most things weird, we have TikTok to thank for this one, specifically the user Yayayayummy, who is largely credited with starting the trend.

“Watermelon and yellow mustard trust me on this, it is so good,” says Yayayayummy. [Nope, don’t trust him. We just tried it, it tastes exactly like you’d expect.] “Grab yourself a juicy watermelon, cut that baby up… get yourself some French’s Yellow Mustard, it has to be French’s, pour that sucker on, and cheers. It’s so tangy, it’s so vinegary and it matches so well with the watermelon’s sweet juiciness. Trust me, this is so good!”

Sorry Ya, we don’t trust anyone who says “trust me” twice in a paragraph. Trust us on that.

By all means, if you think this even might be good, go ahead and give it a try, but we’re almost certain this is a foul marriage of flavors, just low at how it made Lizzo react!

We gotta give it to Lizzo, she begins the video with a sigh and says “alright, I’ve been seeing this shit on the internet” but was still brave enough to give this a fair shot. She even double-dipped to see if she might’ve been missing something, but her “huh?!” says it all. This is just as weird as it sounds.

Let’s check what the rest of TikTok thinks.

As we dug deeper into TikTok, we found way too many users who agreed with Ya that this was good, so… maybe it is and we’re being too judgemental here? We kind of feel like the majority of people are just trolling, though. We won’t fall for it TikTok. Not this time.

Seriously, if this is how TikTok is kicking off summer 2021, what will the rest of the summer season bring us?

This week, Migos released their first album in more than three years with Culture III. The project was spearheaded by a trio of strong singles — “Need It,” “Racks 2 Skinny,” and “Straightenin” — that sparked anticipation for a new project that might leave fans a lot more satisfied than they were after the group’s underwhelming 2018 album, Culture II. For the first time in a long time, all signs are pointing upward for the Atlanta rap group.

Quavo, Takeoff, and Offset head out to the island waters for their latest single, “Modern Day.” Migos grab their jetskis and speed through the waters on the confident new track, one that aims to remind listeners of their position as hip-hop stars. “Let’s take a modern-day stroll,” Quavo quips on the song. “This is the modern-day h*e / Last time I checked we was runnin’ the globe.” In the video, they illustrate their big-dollar lifestyle by showing off their luxury cars and throwing a packed house party.

The song arrives after the trio joined HER and DJ Khaled to perform “We Going Crazy” at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. Prior to that, they announced a fall festival in Las Vegas to celebrate the release of Culture III.

Press play on “Modern Day” in the video above.

Culture III is out now on Quality Control Music.

Polo G has come a long way from the trenches of Chicago and now, he refuses to go back. That’s the legend behind his defiant Hall Of Fame single “No Return” which features The Kid Laroi and Lil Durk. The video, which centers on an armored truck heist and a chemical lab where Polo and his compatriots craft mysterious blue crystals, sees the three rappers counting stacks and battling their way out of a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Polo’s new album, which dropped last night, finds him working with a variety of collaborators, including Lil Wayne on “Gang Gang” and Nicki Minaj on “For The Love Of New York,” arrived in the midst of a breakout year for Polo. Not only was he featured on XXL‘s 2020 Freshman cover, but he’s also become an in-demand guest artist as his talents were tapped on Lil Tjay’s “Headshot,” Rod Wave’s “Richer,” and the Boogie soundtrack alongside Pop Smoke on “Fashion.” He also secured his first career No. 1 with “Rapstar.” The success that’s come his way this year has him further than ever on the road to living up to his album’s title.

Watch Polo G’s “No Return” video featuring The Kid Laroi and Lil Durk above.

Hall Of Fame is out now on Columbia Records. Get it here.

The Portland Trail Blazers are in the market for a head coach after ending the Terry Stotts era. A few names have been linked with the position, with one of them — Los Angeles Lakers assistant Jason Kidd — pulling his name out of the running before the search has fully gotten off the ground.

The latest name to pop up in the rumor mill is Brooklyn Nets assistant Mike D’Antoni, who hasn’t been a head coach since the conclusion of the 2019-20 campaign with the Houston Rockets. While D’Antoni is an accomplished coach, Stephen A Smith expressed frustration with him being the latest example of a white coach who is given the benefit of the doubt despite being unable to take a team to the promised land.

“How many damn chances you supposed to get?” Smith asked around the 2:47 mark. “The man coached James Harden, the man coached Steve Nash, the man coached Kobe Bryant. All of these guys he had and not a single trip to the Finals to show for it.”

While Smith made clear that he likes D’Antoni personally and thinks he is a good coach, he pointed out that teams are more patient with white coaches who ultimately come up short.

“I am sick and tired of coaches, white coaches, getting chance, after chance, after chance, after chance,” Smith said. “I’m not saying that Mike D’Antoni doesn’t deserve to be a head coach, I don’t wanna put that out there. Mike D’Antoni, for a lot of teams, but let him go get one of them retreads and make them relevant. Why he always gotta get a Dame Lillard-caliber, or a James Harden-caliber, or a Kobe Bryant-caliber. Why you gotta have someone like that in your stable? Because there are plenty of coaches that don’t have that.”

Gucci Mane is releasing his new album Ice Daddy next week and employs his 1017 Records artist Pooh Shiesty on the single, “Like 34 & 8,” as well as the accompanying music video. The video features the two rappers performing their verses wearing some of their chunkiest jewelry while surrounded by boisterous backup dancers dressed as cheerleaders. They also wear “New 1017” jerseys, paying homage to the inspirations behind the song: Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, who famously wore the numbers when they won their three back-to-back NBA championships for the LA Lakers in 2000-02.

While Gucci and Pooh have indicated some powerful chemistry since the 2020 relaunch of 1017 Records as The New 1017, the last few weeks haven’t been kind to the label’s burgeoning roster of Southern rap stars. It has appeared that Pooh Shiesty really lived the lifestyle he rapped about on songs like “Ugly” and “Lifers,” when Pooh Shiesty was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery after a shooting at King Of Diamonds in Miami. Before that, 1017 artist Foogiano was sentenced to five years in prison after skipping house arrest for a friend’s funeral. It’s been a tough month for Gucci Mane, but overcoming adversity has been his brand for years. He could very well bounce back by Christmas, especially if Ice Daddy performs to the standards he’s set over a decade of consistently fire releases.

Watch Gucci Mane’s “Like 34 & 8” video above.

Pre-order Ice Daddy here.

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

In the summer of 2020, Darnella Frazier recorded a video on her cell phone of a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on a Black man’s neck. That man was George Floyd, whose tragic death sparked a wave of protests against police violence that dominated headlines last year.

Now, Frazier’s being honored with a special Pulitzer Prize citation (the Pulitzers are the ultimate form of recognition in the world of journalism) for documenting Floyd’s murder. Her special citation was announced (on Friday afternoon) by the organization, along with a statement that praised Frazier “for courageously recording the murder of George Floyd, a video that spurred protests against police brutality around the world highlighting the crucial role in citizens in journalistic quests for truth and justice.”

It’s rare for citizen journalists to be given this honor, and it comes just a couple of weeks after the one-year anniversary of Floyd’s death. Frazier, who was just 17-years-old-when she recorded the event, posted a tribute on Instagram, detailing her experience on that day and how it changed her life forever.

She also testified during the trial against Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was found guilty in April of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. Currently, Chauvin is awaiting sentencing, but he faces up to 40 years in prison if punished to the full extent of the law. Frazier’s video has galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement, leading to calls for police reform across the country, something she should and does take pride in.

“Even though this was a traumatic, life-changing experience for me,” Frazier wrote in her post. “I’m proud of myself. If it weren’t for my video, the world wouldn’t have known the truth. I own that. My video didn’t save George Floyd, but it did put his murderer away and off the streets.”

(Via Pulitzer Prizes on Twitter)

Despite pulling out the big guns by giving Warner Bros. entire 2021 film slate a dual theatrical and streaming release, so far HBO Max‘s biggest draw for the year is one of the oldest tricks in the book: a TV reunion show. According to a new report, Friends: The Reunion absolutely dominated the competition when it comes to bringing in new subscribers for HBO Max.

Based on data released on Friday by the Antenna marketing firm, Friends: The Reunion brought in more subscribers than blockbuster hits like Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Godzilla vs. Kong, and Mortal Kombat. Via The Wrap:

The “Friends” reunion — the first time the main cast were all in the same room together since the NBC comedy’s series finale 17 years ago — overindexed when it came to female sign-ups. Over the three days since its May 27 premiere, new female subs accounted for 57% of the total new sign-ups, compared to 43% over the previous eight weeks, according to Antenna.

Considering Friends: The Reunion was originally scheduled to happen during last year’s launch of HBO Max, it’s interesting to think how well the burgeoning streaming service would be doing if the pandemic hadn’t taken the clearly white-hot event off of the calendar.

However, while Friends is the reigning champ of 2021, for now, the reunion is still dwarfed by Wonder Woman 1984, which is the all-time champ for bringing in new HBO Max subscribers. Based on the data provided by Antenna, WW84 brought in over double the number of new sign-ups that Friends did. Although, that film did have the advantage of premiering during the holiday season, and it had a very limited theatrical release due to the high pandemic numbers in late December, so more of the people who wanted to see it had to access it through the platform.

(Via The Wrap)

In The Heights (Warner Bros. film on HBO Max) — John M. Chu adapts the Broadway musical (that starred Lin Manuel-Miranda) into a feature film that, as our own Mike Ryan writes, may have landed by fate at precisely the right time. The feel-good production is playing simultaneously in theaters and WarnerMedia’s streaming service, so pick your venue accordingly, and then settle in and enjoy Anthony Ramos in the Miranda role while witnessing the kaleidoscope of sights, sounds, and dreams unfold. The message of this film — that communities find their stick-together strength within their individual members — couldn’t be more needed than during our current global situation.

Betty (Friday, HBO 11:00 p.m.) — Like a breath of the most refreshing, free-wheeling air possible, HBO’s Betty will soon glide back into our lives. It’s what we really need to heal our pandemic-addled minds, and somehow, director Crystal Moselle managed to gather the Skate Kitchen crew back up for a second season and film on the streets of New York City. The main players are all back — Rachelle Vinberg as Camille, Ajani Russell as Indigo, Dede Lovelace as Janay, Moonbear as Honeybear, and Nina Moran as Kirt — and they’re still making the act of soaring through the streets look like the coolest thing on Earth. In their defense, Betty really is the coolest show on TV these days, and we could all stand to live vicariously these days.

Lupin: Part 2 (Netflix series) — This (the fancy French heist show starring Omar Sy) turned out to be a smash hit for Netflix in January. The overwhelming reaction even led the streamer to hustle fast to release Part 2, so that everyone could see how the beloved gentleman burglar would take revenge (against Hubert Pelligrini) for the abduction of his son, and by the way, we could probably use a lot more heisting as well? Give it to us. Of course, after that train station switcheroo in last season’s finale, we can expect police to redouble their efforts. So, Assane reenters as the most wanted man in France, and he’ll tempt fate while attending black tie events, high-speed car chases, speeding motorboats, thrown punches, and a trip to the catacombs.

These top streaming picks make excellent appetizers:

Infinite (Paramount+ film) — As hard as it might seem to believe, Mark Wahlberg stabs an airplane in this summer blockbuster movie, directed by Antoine Fuqua, that’s coming straight to your living room tonight. Wahlberg is going up against reincarnated warriors known as “Infinites,” and he might be having flashbacks from multiple lives as well. He’s self-medicating, too, and driving a motorcycle off a cliff, so yeah, get your microwave popcorn ready for this gloriously dumb action film.

Flack: Season 2 (Amazon Prime series) — This series began on Pop TV, and Amazon picked it up for a second season for good reason. This is some damn fine guilty-pleasure escapism, even if it feels like an amalgamation of many shows and movies (includingThe Devil Wears Prada, Scandal, Sex and the City) that you’ve seen before. Anna Paquin, who portrays Robyn, who’s part of a PR agency that’s ridiculously good at hiding the most outrageous celebrity scandals imaginable. The show’s dark but breezy, and this season will see more collisions between work and home life, and as always, there will be love affairs and shady dealings and questionable behavior all around.

And back to the scheduled programming here:

Pause With Sam Jay (Friday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — The Emmy-nominated SNL writer aims to revamp the late-night talk show format with each episode taking place at Sam’s apartment, where she’s throwing a party. Get ready for some feisty conversations and, hopefully, a sense of understanding between those who hold different perspectives.

Fear the Walking Dead (Sunday, AMC 9:00 p.m.) — The impending sense of doom sends everyone scrambling to end things on their own terms, and there might be a time jump coming.

The Chi (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — An on-campus protest, new relationship boundaries, and a girl in need of rescue from a trap house are only the beginning of this week’s issues.

Black Monday (Sunday, Showtime 9:55 p.m.) — Nomi’s possibly too fast for Mo, who soon realizes that he can’t party like he once did, and Dawn fails to get him to stop.

Flatbush Misdemeanors (Sunday, Showtime 10:25 p.m.) — Jasmine’s shaft of Kevin isn’t eased by what the local Brooklyn rapper did, so Kevin takes an utter sh*tload of mushrooms. Oh boy.

Ziwe (Sunday, Showtime 10:53 p.m.) — Ziwe Fumudoh’s former status as a Desus & Mero writer will be no shocker for anyone who catches her new variety series. This week, Adam Pally arrives to discuss Hollywood whitewashing.

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (Sunday, HBO 11:00 p.m.) — Please let John Oliver tackle Ted Cruz and take more swings at Tucker Carlson.

Here are some more fresh streaming picks:

Home Before Dark: Season 2 (Apple TV+ series) — Young investigative journalist Hilde returns following her small-town move (from Brooklyn), which led to her discovery of a cold case that her father (and everyone else in town) had previously attempted to bury. This season promises to be (literally) explosive, and Hilde will take on a corporation while trying to expose the truth, which could risk her own life and that of her family.

Love Victor: Season 2 (Hulu series) — Simon’s happy ending in the first round shall be followed up by adventures for Victor, the new guy in town, who’s wrestling with his own identity and attempting to fit in while realizing that everyone (whether they admit it or not) is having the same issues. Betsy Brandt is now onboard as Felix’s mother, and expect plenty of melodrama as new relationships cause riffs and jealousy concerning older ones and those that you’d think are firmly in the past. Love is rarely ever easy, but this cast of characters might renew your faith in the concept if you thought you were over romance.

Loki: Season 1 Premiere (Disney+ series+) — Tom Hiddleston has an absolute blast playing the mercurial trickster of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and we shall reap the benefits while he helps (and hinders) the Time Variance Authority during the process of cleaning up the timeline. Likewise, Owen Wilson is entertaining as hell (even while saddled with a lot of exposition) as the MCU’s smoothest time cop. This is definitely not the Loki you’re used to (he died in Avengers: Infinity War), but he’s still a delightful scamp, and the show is all about setting up the multiverse. We’re lucky to have this pair to guide us into the future.

Sweet Tooth: Season 1 (Netflix series) — Team Downey (Robert Jr. and Susan) brings us this awe-inspiring story based upon a comic-book by creator Jeff Lemire, who whipped up a post-apocalyptic fairytale about what happens when a great sickness (which is poorly dealt with by humans) ends with a miracle. In this case, this would be the appearance of “hybrids,” babies who are born half-human and half-animal, and we’ll meet a young deer-boy, Gus, (Christian Convery), who teams up with a reluctant protector, Tommy Jepperd (Nonso Anozie), for a cross-country quest. The comic has been described as “Mad Max Meets Bambi,” and Will Forte also plays a pivotal role. You’re in for a real (sweet) treat if you surrender to this adventure.

Amy Schumer is not a professional truck driver, but thanks to a viral post on social media the comedian has had to address both a very vulgar shirt and some very bizarre mentions of vehicular manslaughter. The latest meme to circle the interwebs looks to be an edited image of Schumer as a truck driver with an extremely odd backstory, all in an effort to sell some obscure merchandise.

The whole ordeal revolves around a truck stop called Celinas. Though the initial image in question went viral on Facebook, Celina’s apparently has a Twitter account where identical posts also live. In the image, a woman stands next to a Monster-branded minifridge and looks VERY much like Amy Schumer with a tattoo on her face that the truck stop claims has a tragic backstory. The post says that the woman, apparently named Amelia, won “trucker of the month” and came in to claim her prize while wearing a “truckin -n- f*ckin” novelty tee.

There are a lot of things that seem off about this, initially, starting with the assertion that the minifridge carries a $500 value. Or maybe the “stop pooping in our parking lot” sign in the background. But the thing that tipped many off to it potentially being fake was a follow-up comment on Facebook about the teardrop tattoo on the woman, which is claimed to be there in memory of a pedestrian that was hit and killed by the truck driver when she fell asleep at the wheel.

That had many, including Snopes, calling shenanigans on the image. And a New York Post story described Schumer herself as “stunned” by the doppelgänger appearing at a Celina, Tennessee truck stop. Schumer did post about the truck stop on Twitter, but didn’t address whether she thought the image was fake or not.

The Post apparently interviewed the “manager” behind the account, who assured them it was all very real and that the teardrop tattoo story was legit as well.

In an interview with The Post, Danny Brine — who claimed to be a truck stop shift manager — said that Amelia’s “teardrop tattoo story is real” and claimed that the rest area is indeed a real place.

However, The Post was unable to verify claims by Brine, who said he doubles as a social media assistant there.

That’s been difficult to verify because, well, it’s almost certainly fake. It seems to be part of a very weird but very active community of people on Facebook that intentionally fake bizarre meme-like images with celebrities involved. Earlier in the year, the same “truck stop” went somewhat viral among hockey fans when a photo of Arizona Coyotes forward Phil Kessel was photoshopped to replace a puck with a can of chewing tobacco as another “trucker of the month.”

It’s important to note the “truck stop” apparently responded to the Post story on Twitter, calling it a “hit piece” with a very winking mention of “fake news” that seems to confirm that this is, indeed, a fairly elaborate bit the “manager” is carrying out over multiple social media platforms for one reason or another.

If you squint hard enough at it all, you can see the fringes of Weird Twitter at play here, complete with bizarre promotions and crude references to ratchet up the absurdity. It’s not all kayfabe, though: They’ve had a bit of fun with this on Twitter and actually acknowledged some of the non-edited images, so it’s safe to say that all of this is probably just a harmless bit of fun. But it’s certainly making things awkward for those they decide to pick as their big winners and duping some less skeptical people of some very weird contests happening down south.