Category: News

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 more Happier Than Ever teasing from Billie Eilish and two of hip-hop’s premiere Lils joining forces. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters.

Billie Eilish — “Lost Cause”

We’re about two months away from a new Billie Eilish album, and in the meantime, she’s been good to her fans in terms of singles to hold them over until then. Last week saw the release of her fourth Happier Than Ever single, “Lost Cause,” another fine example of Eilish’s distinct brand of alternative, subtle-yet-catchy pop.

Lil Baby and Lil Durk — “Hats Off” Feat. Travis Scott

Baby and Durk’s joint project Voice Of The Heroes was supposed to be out sooner, but the rappers pushed it back out of respect for a posthumous album from DMX (a rap hero with an iconic voice). They did end up dropping it a few days ago, though, Travis Scott’s appearance on “Hats Off” was a highlight. Aside from Cactus Jack, the album also features Meek Mill, Young Thug, and Rod Wave.

Roddy Ricch — “Late At Night”

Roddy Ricch became a defining artist of 2020 thanks to Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial (which came out in late 2019, but “The Box” made its impact the following year). Post Please Excuse Me, though, Ricch has mostly kept to himself and seldom popped up with new material. He did just that last week, though, with “Late At Night,” a smooth, romantic, and laid-back single.

Japanese Breakfast — “Slide Tackle”

In an interview with Uproxx’s Steven Hyden, Michelle Zauner said that of all the songs on her new album Jubilee, there’s one that has grown on her more than any other: “I hated ‘Slide Tackle’ for a long time. I was like, ‘Man, I should have really buried that record. It’s so basic.’ I didn’t know what I wanted it to be for a really long time. And then, re-listening to the album, I was like, ‘These sounds are weird, and kind of cool. And not really like anything that we’ve done before.’ I don’t know if other people will feel that way, but I certainly did while I was re-listening to it.”

Dua Lipa — “Can They Hear Us”

The Future Nostalgia era has been a long one, beginning with the release of “Don’t Start Now” in October 2019 and extending through to the present day. However, Lipa shared her first post-Future Nostalgia song last week (on the same day she shared a new video for one of the album’s songs). The song is “Can They Hear Us,” which appears on the Gully soundtrack and is appropriately cinematic.

Denzel Curry — “Bad Luck”

Speaking of soundtracks, Denzel Curry also found himself in that world last week. DC Comics is dropping their Dark Nights: Death Metal Soundtrack this month, and it serves as a complement to the new Death Metal storyline. Curry’s contribution, “Bad Luck,” definitely strays into the titular music genre, and while it’s not necessarily familiar territory for Curry, his distinct energy is a natural fit in this style.

John Mayer — “Last Train Home”

So far, John Mayer’s new era for his Sob Rock album has been defined by a retro aesthetic and it really is reflective of the music, at least so far. He dropped the album’s first single, “Last Train Home,” last week, and it sees Mayer going head-first into an ’80s-inspired sound for the first time on a song that sounds like a step-sibling to Toto’s “Africa.”

Fousheé — “My Slime”

In a recent Uproxx cover story, Fousheé said she wants her debut album to “be genuine, organically me,” adding, “I want to take out a new sort of space.” She certainly seems to be doing just that on her latest, “My Slime.” Lush production carries the languid track alongside Fousheé’s singing, which addresses the thrill of falling head over heels over a new romantic interest.

Bad Bunny — “Yonaguni”

2020 wasn’t awesome for a number of reasons, but it was at least great for Bad Bunny fans, who got three (three!) full-length projects from the pop star. The WWE champion isn’t resting now, though, as he dropped “Yonaguni,” a warm and soothing reggaeton tune that will find its way onto innumerable playlists this summer.

Hayley Kiyoko — “Chance”

Last week was the first one of Pride Month, and a new track from Hayley “Lesbian Jesus” Kiyoko was the perfect way to kick things off. Her latest is called “Chance,” and as Kiyoko describes the song, its theme of getting past self-doubt is perfectly timely: “[It’s] based on those moments when I denied my true feelings for someone out of fear of rejection, and therefore didn’t allow someone to take a chance on me.”

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

We could use some summer vibes up in here, and there are no better breezy vibes that the ones coming from HBO’s skater ladies on Betty. The refreshing, free-wheeling series, which might be the coolest show on TV these days, will soon glide back into our lives for a second season. The main players are all back — as seen above, Moonbear as Honeybear, Ajani Russell as Indigo, Nina Moran as Kirt, Dede Lovelace as Janay, and Rachelle Vinberg as Camille — as if to prove that both nature and the streets are healing while they tear through New York City.

We could all stand to live vicariously, and this show gives it to us in a very slice-of-life manner. The series is, of course, a successor and continuation of the 2018 narrative feature film, Skate Kitchen, from director Crystal Moselle. As their collaboration’s origin story goes, a subway-riding Moselle overheard a conversation between Nina and Rachelle, and she immediately felt compelled to learn more about the pair and their skate crew. Soon enough, the film brought us the group’s semi-fictionalized, coming-of-age adventures; and the stories continued in a lighter manner on Betty, but things do get real(er) with the newest batch of episodes.

Somehow, Moselle managed to regather the ladies during the pandemic and film on the streets of New York. They even ended up making masks look cool. Heck, they’ll probably still even mop up the blood when you fall of your own skateboard. All five Betty leads were gracious enough to speak with us about injuries, their inherent coolness, and what happens when you tangle with the wrong banana peel.

When I spoke with Rachelle and Ajani last year, the skate parks had closed for lockdown, but things are getting better, I imagine?

Rachelle Vinberg: Oh yeah, and [with the pandemic], the community came together more to make things happen in different places.

Ajani Russell: Well, I don’t really like skate parks! So I was really glad not to be in those parks. I think that with street skateboarding, you have to be the most creative as far as the options go and working with what you have, and sometimes in New York, you have crunchy streets, and that’s what you’ve got.

The streets are obviously emptier this season, so that’s a big difference.

Dede Loveless: Oh, that definitely makes it easier, and we had a lot of interior shots this season. We were outside, but a lot were inside.

Nina Moran: Yeah, we didn’t have a lot of outside shots, actually, but there wasn’t a lot of people around either.

Dede: I don’t really know the process around permits and stuff, if COVID made it harder or easier, but in terms of us being outside, I personally didn’t feel like there was a huge difference. The atmosphere was different, but it wasn’t too much.

You guys probably get asked about injuries a lot. How do you ward them off?

Nina: You can’t really stop it.

Dede: It’s inevitable. You gotta be really careful.

Nina: Or you stop skating rails, that’s how.

Dede: Because honestly, people get hurt the worst, and I’m not saying all the time, but a lot of times, it happens when you’re not really doing anything on your skateboard, and that’s the worst. It definitely is a thing.

Nina: You gotta wear a helmet.

Dede: Oh yeah, for what you do.

Nina: Because I’ve cracked open my heeeeeeeeeeead. Yep, you gotta wear a helmet and kneepads.

Rachelle, on your Instagram, you fall in a certain way. You kind-of roll into it.

Rachelle: Oh god, yeah. The way I fall? When you’re skateboarding, you learn with time how to fall.

Well, you also have that banana peel video.

Ajani: I was just about to say… she found it!

Rachelle: So that one was a false ending, you know don’t see what happens.

And what happened after that video cuts off?

Rachelle: I almost fell, and then I caught myself with the other leg.

Ajani: She actually slipped on the banana peel! Like, she was gonna fake-slip on the banana peel, and then she really slipped. It was like, “I’m gonna show this girl who thinks she can use me for content!”

I’m learning so much here today.

Rachelle: Oh, those banana peels are definitely, like, real. They’re slippery.

The show itself has always felt organic, and I think a lot of that is down to how Crystal came into your lives. I understand that some moments are based upon real experiences. Is that the same for Season 2?

Moonbear: It’s a little mixed up each time. There are some parts that are true moments, and they add to it.

Rachelle: That’s a thing where we use our own experiences and brings things that happened to our friends to the table. Crystal lets us come in and say, “Well, this happened to my friend.” They’ll say, “Let’s fit this into the story because that’s something that you guys are going through.” Not only do we kind-of play ourselves but we really play the community around us.

Dede: Yeah, it’s like when you bring in your own chocolates, and then there’s a party mix, but then you bring your chocolates, and then you throw ’em in there. You’ve got a mix, but there’s a lot of stuff in there, along with the candy that you brought.

Nina: Mmmm, chocolates.

Indigo embarks upon a new endeavor this season, and it’s, well, rough. How did you get through those scenes, Ajani?

Ajani: I disassociated! [Laughs] No, I really had to take a lot of time for myself, before and after I was doing those scenes. The story wasn’t really my story, but… it can bring up trauma sometimes playing scenarios that are parallel to your own. But I know that this story, with the person who inspired Indigo’s story, she’s not the only one who’s been through it, and we need more representation around [her situation]. It was hard, but I think it came out beautiful.

On a lighter note, if you guys could put your characters into another TV show or movie, where would you want them to go?

Nina: [Perks up] Oooooh!

Moonbear: I want Honeybear to be in Law and Order: SVU! You can do that, it’s the same city and everything.

Nina: I wanna be in Pokémon, like, animated. That would be so cool. Or RuPaul’s Drag Race. I wanna be on the stage or whatever!

Moonbear [to Dede]: What about that show on HBO that you like, with the older guy? He’s bald, Larry something?

Dede: Oh Curb Your Enthusiasm? Nooooo. I mean, yeah, like a day in the life would make sense.

Nina [to Dede]: I don’t know… Sesame Street?

Dede: Actually, yes. Sesame Street, thanks for reminding me. I wanna teach Elmo how to skateboard.

Rachelle: Dazed and Confused. Where could we fit into that?

Ajani: Oh, maybe. I could see Indigo being in Gossip Girl.

Rachelle: What about together? Powerpuff Girls?

Ajani: The Amazing World of Gumball!

I’ve read that you are an anime fan, so that’s not too surprising.

Ajani: Oh yeah, of course. It’s so good. Oh no, there’s an anime show I just started watching, Odd Taxi, and I could totally see Camille and Indigo being in that show. Everybody’s an animal.

Rachelle: Hmm?

Ajani: There’s a walrus taxi driver, and it’s really dry humor? That’s probably a discussion to continue later.

You guys are just so laid back and cool. Do you have any tips on how to be cool?

Nina: Awww, how to be cool? Listen to yourself and not other people.

Dede: That’s a cool saying.

Ajani: Oh gosh, I already have so much to worry about and now to worry about being cool?

Rachelle: With being cool, you just have to be yourself and not care. I think that people who aren’t trying to be cool are automatically cooler. You can sense that in people. When you’re talking to people, you can tell when they’re trying to be cool. Being cool is being insecure, so you have to announce and say it.

Ajani: People should be more confident in their insecurities, I suppose. And I don’t mean like the generic “I believe in myself” but just like allowing yourself to be present and being comfortable sitting in your uncomfortability.

Rachelle: Being “go with the flow” is a big deal because no one likes anyone who isn’t.

Ajani: Yeah, you gotta be flexible.

So, let’s talk about authenticity and sponsorship. There’s some pushback this season on the idea of sponsoring skaters, especially for Camille.

Rachelle: I think there’s a fine line between it all, and I’m still figuring it out, but you have to stay true to yourself, and if any brand really cares about you, they’re not gonna make you uncomfortable, and they’re gonna want it to be about you, not to try to make you or create you into something that they want. You have to stay true to yourself and work with people. Honestly though, at the end of the day, if they don’t want you, then you shouldn’t want them, even if they’re offering you stuff that you might like, it’s not worth your identity or to feel uncomfortable.

Ajani: Yeah, you gotta think about it in terms of the long run, and for me, the most important thing about working in adds is “do I click with these people who are reaching out to me?” These are the people that I’m working with, and I want them to respect me, and I want to respect them.

Rachelle: Or do they look at you without looking in the eye. Do they actually talk to you as a person?

Ajani: [Laughs]

Rachelle: Like, it’s so weird sometimes. You have to understand your position and power. You’re the one who can actually skate, so yeah.

How far do you all see the show going into the future, realistically?

Moonbear: I don’t see it going for years and years because they’re gonna age up, and I think that’s when the show would wrap.

Ajani: Oh, I have no idea! Everything is so temperamental. One day it’s yes, the next day it’s no, and things happen in the world that have nothing to do with us but can affect decisions that people make.

Rachelle: I’m happy that it’s come so far. I mean, looking back, from being on the train.

Ajani: Yeah, this is not common.

Dede: I think that the theme of the show will live on for decades, but Betty was just adding another perspective into a world that’s not familiar to people.

I must ask a very bizarre question. Do you have any updates, Nina, on how Kirt’s soulmate/pet rat, Perstephanie, might be doing?

Nina: Uhhhh, very good! I have a lizard on my shirt today, you can’t see it, in my pocket.

You could probably fool me into thinking that’s a real lizard.

Nina: Well… he’s at home.

Last season, you had one of my favorite lines from the whole show: “I just want to stop fighting the patriarchy and start helping the matriarchy.”

Nina: Yeah, so many girls message me and say, “I saw the show, and I wanna start skating.” I don’t have to say, “I don’t like men.” I just say that I support men because I feel it works better, and the more numbers that we can get of girls who can skate, then everything will be better in general in the skate world.

‘Betty’ will return to HBO on Friday, June 9 at 11:00 pm EST. The season premiere is on YouTube already.

Over the years it’s become more common than ever for rappers to supplement their music income with investments in business and tech, like Nas striking it big on crypto and Meek Mill following his footsteps. Two of hip-hop’s more successful young rappers are making their own foray into the tech world; Lil Yachty and Bhad Bhabie have made a hefty investment into a new dating app called Lox Club, according to Variety.

As its name suggests, Lox Club bills itself as a private, membership-based dating app for Jewish people with “ridiculously high standards.” In a press release, the app’s founders call it “a virtual speakeasy hidden within an old-school deli and offers users the chance to speak with a real-life matchmaker instead of solely relying on a computer algorithm like most of today’s dating apps.”

Bhad Bhabie and Lil Yachty were connected to the opportunity by their shared agent Adam Kluger’s Scoop Investments, collectively investing $1 million. Kluger previously managed Bhad Bhabie and partnered with her on multiple businesses, while he worked with Yachty on prior ventures such as Yachty’s partnership with Reece’s Puffs cereal. Yachty and Bhad Bhabie have been friends since their shared breakouts, with both rappers appearing in each other’s songs and videos and Yachty acting as a sort of “big brother” and mentor in the music business.

Bhad Bhabie is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Jeff Bezos is wasting no time after stepping down as Amazon’s CEO and aiming for a childhood dream, but wow, July is coming soon, and it’s a double header for the guy. Bezos is scheduled to formally relinquish his CEO title on July 5, and two weeks later, he will take on a childhood dream. That is, he will be hopping aboard the first manned rocket-ship flight of his own space company, Blue Origin, with his brother. Well, many Americans are looking forward to taking at least a slight vacation this summer, but yeah, leave it to Jeff Bezos to take things to an extreme.

“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space,” Bezos wrote on Instagram. “On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend. #GradatimFerociter”

Naturally, Bezos dropped a Latin phrase in there, meaning that he’s gradually taken a step-by-step approach to this next ferocious frontier in his life. Given that his first job (as a teenager) was at a McDonalds, he’s certainly gone places, and USA Today has published details about Jeff’s brother, Mark, who’s worked as an executive at Robin Hood (the anti-poverty charity in NYC, not the controversial stock-brokering app) and has been a long-time volunteer firefighter who’s ready for a new adventure.

As CNN points out, Bezos will be the first billionaire in space, before both Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk:

If all goes according to plan, Bezos — the world’s richest person with a net worth of $187 billion — will be the first of the billionaire space tycoons to experience a ride aboard the rocket technology that he’s poured millions into developing. Not even Elon Musk, whose SpaceX builds rockets powerful enough to enter orbit around Earth, has announced plans to travel to space aboard one of his companies human-worthy crew capsules.

Naturally, there are plenty of jokes out there on social media. That includes jabs about space trips “for fun” and a possible “Amazon fulfillment center on the moon” somehow being in mankind’s future.

Previously, Bezos opened up bidding for anyone who wanted to join the 6-person flight, and the highest bid rose to at least $3.6 million. It’s worth noting that Amazon rarely pays taxes and, in fact, paid a mere 1.2% in 2020 after not having done so since 2016.

Billie Eilish’s new “Lost Cause” video is decidedly casual. The clip shows her and some friends enjoying a day around the house, doing things like playing games, snacking, laughing together, and just enjoying a fun time. The video isn’t entirely freeform, though, as there are some shots where Eilish and company do choreographed dancing. Over the weekend, Eilish shared some behind-the-scenes footage of rehearsal for those scenes, and thanks to her loose and revealing outfit, she experienced some wardrobe malfunctions.

On TikTok, Eilish shared a clip of her and her co-stars practicing the dance routine. At one point, Eilish’s chest is more exposed than she apparently wanted the world to see, so she covered it with an emoji and wrote in text superimposed onto the video, “titties was falling out.” Soon after, she messed up her dance moves and captioned the moment, “forgot the choreo.” Later, Eilish turns around so her back is facing the camera, but she was apparently showing off too much skin in that moment, as she used another emoji cover-up and wrote, “not showing u this.” She had one more revealing moment but elected not to obscure it, just writing, “titties falling out again.”

Meanwhile, Eilish will be teaming up with Amazon for their Prime Day Show later this month, for which she (along with Kid Cudi and HER) will be sharing exclusive performances on Prime Video.

Check out Eilish’s behind-the-scenes video above.

Amorphous grew up beatboxing to Jay-Z’s “Hard Knock Life” and various Aaliyah songs on the porch of his family’s Philadelphia home, but he never predicted that passion would become his reality. Born Jimir Reece Davis, the 23-year-old is a viral sensation. With a love for producing and filmmaking that stemmed as a toddler, he used Twitter to share his brilliant mash-ups over the past six years.

Amorphous’ knack for uniting generations through melodies caught the attention of artists like Beyoncé (whose team used his 2017 Bey-Z mash-up album on tour) and DVSN (his mash-up of Usher’s “Nice & Slow” was sampled on the R&B duo’s 2020 album A Muse In Her Feelings). The spotlight continued to brighten on the creator, who provided musical comfort throughout the pandemic’s harsher times. Then last November, his mash-up of Rihanna’s 2016 “Kiss It Better” and Luther Vandross’ 1981 classic “Never Too Much” ignited Twitter with over 100,000 likes. Fat Joe and DJ Khaled soon got word of it, and asked Amorphous to hop on Joe’s mash-up-sampling “Sunshine (The Light)”

As he grows into his own artistry, dropping his debut single “Back Together” featuring Kehlani in May, Amorphous wants to make it clear that his talent extends far beyond solely mash-ups. And he plans to prove it with his upcoming debut EP, set to release in early July.

“We’ve known each other for a minute, so you’ve seen me out here grinding. But I think, especially during this time with the pandemic, that energy resonated with a bunch of people,” Amorphous tells UPROXX. “So since I’ve been producing, I’ve incorporated that energy into my original production. You kind of hear that a little bit in ‘Back Together.’ It brings that nostalgic sound, but I still kept it fresh. You can expect pretty much every single track [on the EP] to have a feature on it.”
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Below, UPROXX caught up with Amorphous to discuss his trajectory and how he wants to take over the industry next.

Kehlani’s aura is so inviting, and that energy translated on the record. Did she reach out to you to hop on the song?

She did, which just speaks to her character. The fact that she wanted to be the first person to really work with me meant a lot. When the big Rihanna-Luther mash-up kind of took over on Thanksgiving, I remember we had a little Twitter exchange: “Listen baby, things are about to take off for you. You have no idea.” I really didn’t believe her at first, but then, seven months from that I’m looking at what’s happening with [my career] like, “Damn she was right. Shit’s popping off!” [Laughs]

[Her team] was originally inquiring about something for her own project, and I was obviously honored to hopefully do something for that. But as soon as I came to LA in early February, my team surprised me: “You have a two-day session with Kehlani starting tomorrow.” I was super nervous going in. I mean, it’s Kehlani, it’s my first major studio session. I’ve obviously been in the studio by myself and with friends. But to be working with a major recording artist, I felt a lot of pressure.

So we talked and got to know each other. I started playing some productions I had in the vault that were super moody and I felt like were a bit Kehlani-esque. She loved all of them, but she stopped me in the middle of what I was doing: “Did they tell you what the session was for? I want to be on your project.”

I can imagine your reaction, like “Stop playing!”

I was like, “HUH?” She said, “Don’t feel like you got to just play what you think I was going to like. You’re super talented and you belong here. Let’s challenge ourselves and do something super cool.” So that really opened a lot of doors for me, just confidence-wise. Like, that’s the biggest co-sign you could ever get. So it took a minute for her to break it into my brain that I was leading the session, ‘cause I can be super timid and polite and respectful — as I should be. But she was like, “Jimir, you better tell me what to do!” [Laughs]

I got to co-write with her, which is amazing. It’s really a song about two mature individuals ending a relationship, but not on any bad terms. It’s just like, look, we’re really good friends. I’m there for you when you need me, you can always call me if you’re going through something. That’s what I really loved about it because I don’t think you hear a lot of that in today’s R&B, especially. Everything kind of is like “F you!” and “I’m independent!” Which is great, but I kind of missed that.

That feel-good energy is why people gravitated towards you during the pandemic. We were all going through the motions and between you, DJ D-Nice, and Verzuz, there were really cool moments in music where we had something to look forward to.

Thank you so much. I mean, it was definitely a bit unexpected. You know that I’ve been dropping mash-ups for a minute. But even when that happened, I was in such a depressed state. My grandfather just passed away and I went back home for a month. My friend was like, “You need to get on TikTok”. And I said, “Girl, no. They already be stealing from Black creatives. I don’t even want to support that platform in that kind of way.” But I just decided to do it. I had an Ariana Grande and Nelly Furtado mash-up that blew up all over TikTok. People were actually starting to see the face behind all this stuff that I’ve been doing for the last few years. So when I got back to Orlando where I was living at the time, I had my production equipment and was like, “You know what? Just have a good time.” It was really nothing more than that. It wasn’t any type of that whole marketing thing.

That’s why it worked — there was no ulterior motive behind it.

For sure. It’s a beautiful thing. I’ve gotten so many messages over the months from people. I remember this young lady, she had just undergone surgery that was really, really difficult on her body. She saw the video of me doing the mash-up of Rihanna and Luther Vandross and that made her actually physically get up out the bed. It wasn’t even just about the music. It was about seeing you in your zone, having a good time and smiling. That is the power of what people can do with their lives. You might not think what you’re doing is that impactful. But even the smallest piece of influence that I give to people just warms my heart.

It’s the power of social media. Of course, bad things can come with it. But it’s worked to your advantage.

Just because of Twitter. I think it was from 2016 to November 2020, I had gone from 2,000 to 10,000 [followers], which to me was a lot. It’s not even about the following, but like genuine support from people that shared the music. I’m just very grateful because like you said, social media is such an interesting vortex. One minute they love you and the next minute they can turn on you, but I can’t even think of it like that. I have to think of what I’m doing with my voice and my platform. As long as I’m inspiring someone, that’s all I really care about.

Speaking of the Rihanna and Luther mash-up, I love the full circle moment because your dad introduced you to Luther when you were younger. Then Luther became the catalyst for your career.

So, so beautiful. When I woke up Thanksgiving morning, I was in that little void between sleep and awakeness. I don’t want to sound like Raven Baxter, but I low-key had a vision, you know what I mean? [Laughs] I was in the back of my dad’s car and on the radio was something in that vein of the mash-up. I was like, “That doesn’t exist. So let me get my behind up and do it.” So yeah, my dad grew me up on a lot of Luther Vandross, James Brown, Anita Baker, and Marvin Gaye. My mom was gospel music and then my brother was a lot of ‘90s R&B. So I’ve definitely had multiple generations of music that have influenced me.

My dad is in prison. So when that whole thing happened — I don’t know how he’s been able to see it on social media, I guess word gets around in there — he was very proud of me. He was like, “See I was the one who put you on!” [Laughs] Even with RiRi, I’ve been a huge fan of her since “Pon De Replay.” And when I did the documentary on her [in 2018] —

She followed you after that, right?

Yeah. And I was like, “Oh my God!” I think that just speaks to me as a person. Again, it shows the [music] that influenced me to pull two different generations of music together and make it sound so seamless. That’s what I feel like the best DJs can do.

It’s such an art form as well. It’s quite difficult but I think you have an innate ear for melody.

Which I’m so grateful for. I’ve definitely heard that a lot, not even just interviews, but talking to the leads of major labels. They’ll be like, “I’ve never really heard of a mash-up!” I’m like, “Let me help y’all understand. There’s a huge culture behind it.” So as a producer of original music, mash-ups were something I just kind of did for fun.

I do realize in some ways I am opening even more doors for those kinds of people. But you need to give them the credit and the love that they deserve, even more so than me. Because as much as I have that ear, I look at myself as a producer and filmmaker first. [Mash-ups] are just something I kind of fell into. I feel like there’s so many people that live and breathe it. I guess to an extent I am passionate about it — you see me pumping that stuff out every other day — but I just feel like it’s important for people to recognize what’s happening on TikTok. So I’m always trying to use my platform in whatever kind of way to make sure that everyone in the community is getting something out of it instead of “Jimir is the kid who blew up!”

Would you want to dive into filmmaking even more?

I have gotten some film offers from production companies. That’s always been my end goal, to direct. I’ve written my own scripts and obviously edited my own work. So it takes a minute to develop. And unfortunately, sometimes I’ve had to put it on hold because I have to put out a musical project. It’s gonna be a dual career and I’m super excited. I just know that the moment when I can legit commit to it, which will most likely be early next year, is just going to be the greatest feeling.

The word “amorphous” represents not fitting into a certain box. You’ve definitely executed that by breaking your own boundaries.

I honestly just want people to want to be inspired. Life is just so short, so today just sitting here talking to you, I’m super fulfilled with what I’ve been able to accomplish in my life. I feel like it’s super important to just be content with where you are in life and accept that. What I want people to think of when you look at Amorphous or the name Jimir, is just creative expression. That’s why I chose the name, because like you said, I didn’t want to box myself in.

I do so many different things. I didn’t want to just be known as the “mash-up kid” or a DJ. I’m just Amorphous. I might wake up and write a book one day. I might wake up and start singing. I mean, who knows what going to happen. A lot of people feel like they have to just stick to one thing, There’s so many multifaceted people and you can make it work. You just have to do it on your own terms and not let anyone else try to dictate you.

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

Following the success of his chart-topping hit “Peaches,” Justin Bieber recruited two of Georgia’s finest, Ludacris and Usher — plus, “ambassador of legalization” Snoop Dogg — for an all-star remix of the song he recently performed during the season finale of The Voice.

The remix starts off with Luda in slowed-down love declaration mode. The Georgia State alum (Luda majored in music management) ladles out goopy come-ons, like: “All these candy-coated kisses, you my strawberry shortcake / That ass’ll make me catch a charge and miss the court day / Sweet as honeydew, watch me kneel right in front of you.”

Bieber hands the next verse off to his mentor, Usher, who moved to Atlanta with his family as a teenager to pursue a singing career. “She from Decatur so she got little attitude / She do what she wanna do,” Usher croons. During the part when he sings “I bought a flight, I need her with me / On the west side, she’ll be here tonight,” Usher’s tight, breathy harmonies make the song — they always do.

Snoop Dogg closes out the remix with his signature Yoda-like bars: “Land of the tree, home is the base / Kush in my woods, smokin’ with grace.” It’s delightfully Snoop. The only rapper who can get away with rapping about the virtues of California zen — “a lot of money, weed, and patience” — in a song about a different state altogether.

“Peaches” is the fifth single from Bieber’s album sixth studio album, Justice. When the album was released last March, it made Bieber the first male solo singer to debut at No. 1 on both song and album charts simultaneously. Bieber’s Justice World Tour launches in February 2022.

Check out the “Peaches” remix above.

Little did Jon M. Chu realize when he was making In the Heights – based on the 2008 Broadway smash by Quiara Alegría Hudes and Lin-Manuel Miranda – what this movie would truly mean. Of course there was always going to be meaning in what it means to the communities who live in Washington Heights (for those not familiar with New York City, that would refer to a neighborhood in the upper west corner of Manhattan), but there’s been, let’s say, an expansion of meaning.

After over a year of countless declarations that New York City was dead (and, look, I speak from experience, there were some pretty dicey moments) here comes In the Heights, a movie that is so full of life, featuring countless people dancing in the streets, that I do believe it could single-handedly bring New York City back all on its own. Hyperbole aside, there is something to be said about this movie coming out at this time. At the very least, as vaccination rates increase and infection rates plummet, it does look like a prelude to what this summer has in store for us all.

Oh course, Chu didn’t know he was making that kind of movie. Nor would he wanted to have known that, but ahead, he explains how this once Broadway hit about a “slice of life,” up in the heights, is now poised to make us all feel like dancing in the streets. Or, as he puts it: a vaccine for the soul. And Chu, who directed G.I. Joe: Retaliation, tells us what he said to Henry Golding after Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians star was cast as Snake-Eyes, and what that means in the big picture.

There’s no way you could’ve known while you were making it, but now In the Heights feels like a movie that’s welcoming back this city that went through a pretty tough year, if that makes sense.

It makes total sense. We went in there to make a movie about surviving, and healing, and moving forward. To try to communicate what it feels like to have grown up there, like Lin and Quiara. To understand what it feels like to feel powerless. And who you turn to but your community and your family? Cut to the pandemic and it feels like the world caught up with Washington Heights – what it feels like to feel powerless. Who do you turn to when God unplugs the electricity? You turn to your closest people and you take care of each other.

But at the same time, how do you get back up? This movie, it’s the vaccine for the soul, as we say. But I think healing, now, doesn’t just resonate as a way to communicate a specific neighborhood, but it communicates to us all that this was all essential human feelings that we could have all felt in any situation. We just all had to go through it in a pandemic.

It’s interesting what you just said about community, because back in March of 2020, when things were starting to go downhill really quickly in New York, we decided to stay here to at least support local places. And it probably didn’t have much impact that just two people stayed, but that really hit me with this movie…

Totally. And in a way Usnavi says it to Vanessa when everything’s shut down, “With all the things that have been going down, I’ve been thinking about the people that I care about the most, and I thought about you.” I think we all just went through that.

What was your feeling when it got delayed? Were you thinking it might only be a couple of months?

Yeah, well, we knew it was a summer movie. You’ve got to watch this, be outdoors, and be with your friends, and strangers, and all that stuff. When it got pushed, we were like, well, where did we push it? Do we do a streaming? Do we not? Here’s where I thought a lot about this, and I banged my head against the wall a lot. But at the end of the day, I remember in Crazy Rich Asians, by releasing in the movie theater, what it meant. It meant there was a whole bunch of money that a giant corporation was spending to market these actors. To market this community and say they’re worth your time and your money. Yes, you have to pay for it. Yes, you have to go find parking. Yes, you have to go sit in the dark with strangers. But guess what: You’re going to appreciate the people, you’re going to love these people, you’re going to root for them, you’re going to want that food, you’re going to listen to that music.

We saw what happened with the actors of Crazy Rich Asians, that they then starred in other movies and became bigger stars, because they had lanes to go in. To me, the big impact of making movie stars, it wasn’t just about a movie. That’s what I would have missed in this. But by pushing it a year, we didn’t know where it was going to end up, so we knew, we just threw the dice, we’d get that opportunity. Who knows if it’s actually going to happen? But I know that the actors are ready, they are stars, they are going to lead on whole new lanes.

You mentioned your actors becoming stars. Well Henry Golding is now going the G.I. Joe route with Snake Eyes, a franchise you have much experience with. Have you talked to him about that?

Of course, I have a Snake-Eyes skateboard. As soon as he got it, I was like, “Bro, it’s yours now, and don’t mess it up.” How amazing is that? That he’s doing that. And, by the way, Anthony Ramos is now the lead of a Transformers movie. Lorenzo di Bonaventura has taken all my stars! But I love that. That’s the whole goal, is you make a star. Kim Kardashian, she defined the different type of beauty that changed a whole landscape. So, someone who looks like Kim Kardashian at a high school looks like that. You’re like, “Wow, she’s a star.” Same thing with Leo DiCaprio, not the traditional beauty but a lot of people look like that. So, media defines what beauty is. And so Henry Golding, someone who looks like Henry is like, “Wow, that guy’s a stud.” And someone like Anthony Ramos. That’s so powerful, and maybe not change the world, but maybe it changes a couple of people. Maybe it changes a little bit of the language that we’re able to do in a movie.

I’m trying to imagine a scenario where someone told you, while you were making In the Heights, “Hey, this will be one of the first big things after the worst experience earth has gone through in a while. Good luck.”

Yeah, I think that’s a benefit of shooting the moon. We already built a rocket ship, so they’re just trying to get somewhere. You got some engine to take you somewhere, it’s been… Yeah, I’m glad, thank God I didn’t know before. In the end, we were just telling this little story with truthful, big dreams and hopes. That’s timeless, that could be done now, that could be done in ten years and feel relevant.

Did you see In the Heights on Broadway?

I saw it when I went off to do my first movie, Step Up 2, I took a trip over there.

I saw it in previews in March of 2008. I looked at an old email from a friend who saw it off-Broadway who asked if it was “big enough” to make the leap. And now it’s a movie. But I feel you had to make some changes to make this leap.

Yeah, I mean, it’s very different than the Broadway version, but has the same spirit. I hope people don’t fully realize the big changes. Although, I’m sure some will.

Yeah, I’m sure there will be an article or two about that from somebody.

Of course. It’s a different medium, we can get two inches from your face in cinema and see when you’re telling a lie, even though it seems like they’re telling the truth. You recognize that moment. And then you can also go 10,000 feet away and show a giant pool scene, and in a view that you could’ve never seen otherwise. So yeah, we changed a lot of it. But that’s the experience of going to the movie. Credit to Lin, who is a cinephile, who understood that and gave us a lot of room to play in.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the thing that I noticed you expanded more of Usnavi’s motivations.

Well, the show was definitely more slice of life. I know that for a movie – it’s not the rule for movies – but for me, I like to hook into a character more. Even though we are still a slice of life, we don’t have a villain, we don’t have guns or knives, there’s no big looming threats to everybody. It’s an internal thing. I knew that this was going to be Usnavi’s story ultimately. Usnavi and Vanessa, and what came out of that. So, I had to gear a little bit more towards him – he wasn’t just a storyteller that was guiding us through the neighborhood. He was somebody who had to have real struggles, who had to have a real issues. We had to build all this stuff, these details in. And at the same time show that his dreams are so big, that everybody’s dreams were bigger than the walls can contain.

I had to correct people over and over again. Even our producers had times where they said, “Well, it’s a street musical. Yeah, we can save money. It’s like we’re just doing a musical on the street.” I’m like, this is not a “musical on the street,” stop saying that. This is a musical of the biggest proportion, we’re taking them so far. We’re staying here because you dream in the things that you know. So, I was growing up and dreaming of things happening, but only with advertisements that my parents would show me. And movies, of course. So, that fact, I think changed a lot that I had to… We all had to keep reminding ourselves, this needs more room. Give us more room.

I know this isn’t a question, and I’ve read your reasoning why, having another child, but I wish you were still doing Willow.

Me, too. The team was so great. Sometimes in your life there are choices. In a way it ties to In the Heights, because that whole movie came together for me when I had my daughter after doing Crazy Rich Asians. And realizing the greatest story that I have to tell is the world that I paint for my daughter. What is that world that she’s coming into? And how do I want her to see it? Do I want her to be naive to the problems that we have? Or do I want her to face it head on and understand that the hopes and dreams can live there, but it’s going to be hard work to get there?

It really, in a way, informed how we wanted to tell the story. This idea that Usnavi keeps saying the best days of my life are from his past. But in the end, no, the best days are his future. Tag, the next generation’s it, go see things that we can’t see. When Jimmy Smits says, “This is the moment, this is where you see things I can’t see,” that says everything about every generation, and what we’re intended to do, and build. That uncomfortable idea of having different views of the future is natural, and okay.

‘In The Heights’ opens in theaters and streams via HBO Max on June 10th. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

After 30 years as one of the foremost elder statesmen of the rap game, West Coast godfather Snoop Dogg has joined forces with another storied, foundational entity within hip-hop culture. Today, he announced he is joining Def Jam as executive creative and strategic consultant, according to Variety. In conjunction with Variety‘s report, Snoop also released a short announcement video explaining the move, which again has come nearly thirty years deep into a legendary career.

As Snoop himself puts it, “As a young rapper, Def Jam Records was the Holy Grail of hip-hop… they did all types of sh*t that I wanted to be a part of. Then Death Row Records happened, so I didn’t get a chance to be on Def Jam. But I always had a dream to be on Def Jam and to be in the place where hip-hop was originated.”

According to Variety, Snoop’s new role will see him continuing to be based out of Los Angeles and focusing on A&R and creative development. For those in the know, this is actually great news, as Snoop’s always had an ear for rising talent, lending early co-signs to any number of rising stars from the Golden State, including (but certainly not limited to) The Game, Kendrick Lamar, and Nipsey Hussle. “When I got the opportunity, my main focus on Def Jam was to help the artists and give them love and wisdom and guidance and understanding, teach them some tricks that I learned in the game — to diversify their portfolios to be superstars,” he says in his announcement.

One thing is for sure: Snoop’s presence as a playable character in Def Jam: Fight For NY finally makes sense now. Watch his announcement/explainer above.

At the 2020 Academy Awards, Joaquin Phoenix gave an impassioned speech against injustice after becoming the second actor to win an Oscar for playing the Joker.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the distressing issues that we are facing collectively. I think at times we feel, or we’re made to feel, that we champion different causes,” he said. “But for me, I see commonality. I think, whether we’re talking about gender inequality or racism or queer rights or indigenous rights or animal rights, we’re talking about the fight against injustice. We’re talking about the fight against the belief that one nation, one people, one race, one gender, or one species has the right to dominate, control, and use and exploit another with impunity.” It was less self-congratulatory than the usual Oscar speech, but Phoenix was initially unsure about what he wanted to say — or if he wanted to say anything at all.

“I’ll be honest with you here. I did not want to get up anywhere and do anything. I was not excited about the opportunity. It’s just not who I am. I was full of fear,” he told the Sunday Times. “I was in that situation and there was a part of me that just wanted to say, ‘Thanks so much, great, goodnight.’ But I felt like I had to… If I’m up here, I can’t just thank my mum.” Hey, it worked for Joe Pesci.

Phoenix, as Hollywood’s most outspoken vegan, also discussed whether he plans to pass his no-meat beliefs to his child with actress Rooney Mara. “Well, certainly I would hope that [he is vegan], but I’m not going to impose my belief on my child. I don’t think that’s right,” he said. “I’m going to educate him about the reality. I’m not going to indoctrinate him with the idea that McDonald’s have a Happy Meal because there’s nothing f*cking happy about that meal. And I’m not going to tell him that it’s OK to read books about all the wonderful little farm animals, and they say ‘oink oink oink’ and ‘moo moo moo,’ and not tell him that that’s what a hamburger is. I’m not going to perpetuate the lie, but I’m also not going to force him to be vegan. I’ll support him. That’s my plan.”

The kid will have to build his Joker Happy Meal toy collections in other ways (eBay).

(Via the Sunday Times)