Category: News

More than a year after he shared his celebrated album, After Hours, with the world, The Weeknd teamed up with Ariana Grande to deliver a new remix of “Save Your Tears.” The collaboration marked the third time the duo worked on a song together following 2014’s “Love Me Harder” and last year’s “Off The Table” each from Grande’s My Everything and Positions albums, respectively. The “Save Your Tears” remix arrived at the height of the singers’ stardom but they had yet to perform the song together in what fans hoped would be an epic moment. That changed on Thursday when The Weeknd and Grande brought their talents to the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards.

The Weeknd walked onto the award stage to begin his portion of the song. Clearing through his verse as blue and purple neon lighting shined above him, viewers were greeted by the surprise arrival of Ariana Grande who emerged from backstage to begin her own verse. The performance as a whole was solid and it showed the well-established chemistry the two singers held between each other.

The performance comes after The Weeknd took home a whopping ten awards at this year’s Billboard Music Awards. His wins came in categories that included Top Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top R&B Artist, Top Hot 100 Song, and Top R&B Album. He also teased new music from a new era during the award show. As for Grande, she recently got married to her fiance Dalton Gomez in what was a small yet intimate ceremony.

You can watch the performance in the video above.

The Milwaukee Bucks throttled the Miami Heat in Game 2 on Monday, converting 22 three-pointers and winning by a 34-point margin. With that win, Milwaukee claimed control of the series with a 2-0 lead, but the Heat did have the solace provided by homecourt advantage in Game 3 and Game 4. On Thursday, Miami had the opportunity to land a blow against Milwaukee but, in short, no such advance materialized, with the Bucks suffocating the Heat with tremendous defense and taking a commanding 3-0 series lead with a 113-84 victory on the road.

Picking up where they left off in Game 2, the Bucks came flying out of the gate, taking a 12-4 lead. Khris Middleton contributed a four-point play along the way, and Milwaukee held Miami to just four points on 2-of-10 shooting in the first five minutes.

The Bucks took a 26-14 lead at the end of the first quarter, which wasn’t a surprise considering their strong start. Milwaukee was able to put distance between themselves and Miami without hot shooting, though, as the visitors converted just 9-of-26 shots in the opening period. The Bucks generated six offensive rebounds and, perhaps more importantly, held the Heat to just 6-of-23 shooting in their own right.

Milwaukee continued their strong play in the second quarter, extending their lead to as many as 19 points with the help of 12 early points from Jrue Holiday.

The Heat did finish on a (moderately) more encouraging note, but Miami still faced a 13-point halftime deficit after shooting just 31 percent in the first half. Milwaukee did encounter a speed bump with the injury-related exit of Donte DiVincenzo, but the Bucks played at a high level, even without top-flight shooting efficiency.

In the early portion of the third quarter, Miami kept things in a manageable range, seemingly preparing to make a timely run. The opposite occurred, however, with Milwaukee breaking the game open in full with a 16-3 run to take an 80-53 lead with 2:09 remaining in the period.

The Bucks scored first in the fourth quarter, taking a 28-point lead, but Miami did throw a small counterpunch. The Heat used an 8-0 run to climb within a 88-68 margin with 9:54 remaining.

Miami could not parlay that momentum into a real closing kick, as the Bucks quickly restored order. Milwaukee put the game away entirely with a 17-5 run, taking a 32-point lead and eliminating any doubt about the result.

Milwaukee did not finish the night with a gaudy offensive mark in the same vein as the team’s three-point barrage in Game 2. Thursday’s performance was still brilliant, though, with highly efficient offense and defense that did not allow Miami to find any juice throughout the evening.

The Bucks shot 48 percent from the floor and 36 percent from three-point range in the game, with six players reaching double figures in scoring. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the victors with 17 points and 17 rebounds in only 32 minutes, with Middleton (22 points, eight rebounds, five assists) and Holiday (19 points, 12 assists) playing quite well in support. On the other end, Miami struggled mightily to create efficient looks, finishing the night with 38 percent shooting and only 28 percent from long distance.

The two teams meet again on Saturday afternoon in Miami. Though nothing is impossible, it would take a Herculean effort for the Heat to climb back into the series, and the Heat must win Game 4 or they will be heading home earlier than most projected.

Three Jazz fans have been banned indefinitely from Utah’s arena after making racist comments towards the family of Ja Morant. Tee Morant, Ja’s father, said he and his family were enjoying “good natured trash talk” with some fans during the game, but a group of three crossed the line in awful fashion, as he detailed the horrific comments that were directed at him and his family during Wednesday’s Game 2 in Utah to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon on Thursday.

“I know heckling,” Morant said. “We were doing that the whole game. But that’s different than heckling. That’s straight up disrespectful. That was too far out of line. You don’t say nothing like that heckling. That’s beyond heckling.”

Per the elder Morant, one fan made a sexually explicit comment towards his wife, Jamie. Another, he said, told him, “I’ll put a nickel in your back and watch you dance, boy.” A third fan told Jamie Morant “Shut the f*ck up, b*tch.”

The Jazz issued a statement that did not specify who was involved exactly, but stated that “The Utah Jazz have zero tolerance for offensive or disruptive behavior. An incident occurred last night involving a verbal altercation during Game 2. Arena security staff intervened, and the investigation resulted in the removal and banning of three Jazz fans indefinitely.”

Ja Morant sent out a few tweets about the incident Thursday night and had tweeted “#protectourplayers” after Game 2.

This is the third incident involving fans being ejected for harassing players during the playoffs, as a fan spit on Trae Young in New York and Russell Westbrook had popcorn dumped on him in Philadelphia as he left Game 2 with an ankle injury. This is also the second incident like this in recent memory to occur in Utah after a fan made a racial comment to Russell Westbrook in 2019 — with that fan’s lawsuit against Westbrook being thrown out on Thursday. This week, Nets guard Kyrie Irving also expressed concern about being targeted by fans in Boston as he makes his first return to play his former team.

It seems reasonable to wonder if the NBA will make some kind of changes in an effort to prevent this in the future. There’s nothing acceptable about this incident or any of the other’s that have happened. Banning the fans for life is the appropriate response, but it’s clear that as arenas return to full capacity fans have to show more respect for players and their families.

Nicki Minaj has reassumed her role as one of hip-hop’s most talked-about artists after she made her return to the music world with the re-release of her 2009 mixtape, Beam Me Up Scotty. The project, which also featured three new songs including “Seeing Green” with Lil Wayne and Drake, would go on to debut at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 which made it the highest-charting re-released mixtape by a rapper and the highest-debuting female rap mixtape in history. It isn’t only new music that has kept Minaj in headlines recently, she’s also been a bit more active on social media, which has resulted in her sometimes sharing a piece of her mind with fans.

The rapper threw some shade at those who post private conversations, writing, “Y’all don’t feel corny when you post a private dm or text someone sent you?” For what it’s worth, Minaj definitely has a point. Sharing these back-and-forth messages that were intended to be kept behind closed doors violates that sense of privacy and confidentiality that existed when the conversation occurred. This is of course with the understanding that nothing offensive or obscene was shared during the exchange.

This isn’t the first it of shade Minaj has thrown, though. Recently, while celebrating the success of Beam Me Up Scotty, she took a shot at those who use TikTok challenges, merch bundles, and similar tricks to boost their sales.

“Beam Me Up Scotty no singles ‘Seeing Green’ is over 5 mins with no hook,” she wrote on Instagram. “No videos (which is always the biggest push for females, myself included). No RADIO, very little play listing due to a surprise release (artists get over 100 playlists for big launches). No TikTok challenges (which has become EXTREMELY helpful to all artists) love the app, btw. No merch to tie into sales AND NO PRE-EXISTING singles out to ADD to my FIRST WEEK SALES.”

For the most part, the first half of Game 3 went exceptionally well for the Milwaukee Bucks against the Miami Heat. The Bucks led by as many as 17 points on the road, continuing to clamp down on Miami’s offense and generating superior shot quality. However, there was one exception to the positivity for the Bucks and it came in the form of an injury to starting guard Donte DiVincenzo.

In the second quarter, DiVencenzo suffered a left foot injury on a drive that forced him to immediately leave the floor and go to the locker room, and prior to halftime the Bucks announced an early diagnosis of a left foot contusion and that his night was done.

DiVencenzo appeared for just nine minutes in Game 3, missing all four of his shot attempts. Overall for the series, he has actually struggled offensively against the Heat, which could lead some to question the impact of his absence in the immediate future. However, the Bucks are not overflowing with depth, and DiVencenzo brings high-quality defense and quickness to the table. In addition, he averaged 10.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game this season, converting 37.9 percent of his three-point attempts prior to his struggles this series.

It remains to be seen just how long DiVencenzo may be out of action, but any absence would likely lead to an uptick in playing time for players like Bryn Forbes and Pat Connaughton. If the Bucks can knock off the Heat and advance, they would set up a potential matchup with the high-powered Brooklyn Nets and, simply put, DiVencenzo is a player that Milwaukee would certainly like to have defensively as an option against Kyrie Irving and/or James Harden.

After music lovers from all over were deprived of live show experiences thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the industry is back in full swing as many of the big-name festivals have announced the lineups for their respective showcases. The latest concert to debut their cast of performers to fans is Rolling Loud, as they announced the lineup for the Los Angeles iteration of their summer festival series. J. Cole, Kid Cudi, and Future have all signed on to headline the festival, and the trio has plenty of music to perform live in front of a large group of fans for the first time.

Cole and Cudi’s set will most likely feature a heavy selection of songs from their respective new albums, The Off-Season and Man On The Moon III: The Chosen. As for Future, the Atlanta rapper has not one, but two albums to showcase thanks to Pluto X Baby Pluto, his joint album with Lil Uzi Vert, and High Off Life.

As expected, the rest of the lineup for Rolling Loud’s Los Angeles festival includes some of the biggest names in music. Well-established names like Wiz Khalifa, Playboi Carti, Moneybagg Yo, Lil Durk, Polo G, Tyga, Drakeo The Ruler, Rod Wave, Lil Tjay, Jack Harlow, and Ski Mask The Slump God can be found among the cast. In addition to that, up-and-coming acts like Pooh Shiesty, Coi Leray, Blxst, Bino Rideaux, 42 Dugg, Morray, $NOT, and Latto will also perform.

This announcement comes after Rolling shared their lineup for their first festival of the year in Miami. There, Travis Scott, ASAP Rocky, and Post Malone will serve as headliners.

You can check out the full lineup in the post above.

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

Do you ever notice that there is beauty to be found in the imperfections of life? That the changes that come with the natural process of growth and decay are something that we should embrace, or even celebrate, instead of fight?

The Japanese have a term for that idea—wabi sabi. A concept that takes a couple dozen words to explain English is summed up in just four syllables in Japanese.

The diversity of human languages can be fun to explore, especially when you come across words or phrases that don’t translate directly or that take far more words to describe in your own tongue. There are some things that are named in other languages that we just don’t have words for in English.

For instance, here are 14 awesome words that would come in super handy sometimes.

(Note: pronunciations are using English phonetics, which don’t perfectly reflect the way they sound in the original languages.)

Arbejdsglæde (Danish)

Pronounced [ah-bites-gleh-the]

The satisfaction, fulfillment, or happiness you get from a job that you love. Literally and simply “job joy” (though no one ever seems to use that phrase in the U.S.).

Backpfeifengesicht (German)

Pronounced [back-fifen-ge-zisht]

A person whose face is just begging to be slapped really hard. Such a useful term.

Cafuné (Brazilian Portuguese)

Fernweh (German)

(pronounced “feirn-vey”)

Literally means “far sick.” Homesickness for a place you’ve never been before. A deeper feeling than simple wanderlust.

Fisselig (German)

Pronounced [fi-sel-ig]

Being flustered to the point of being unable to function. Been there.

Fuubutsushi (Japanese)

Pronounced [foo-boot-soo-shee]

Something—a feeling, scent, or image—that reminds you of or makes you yearn for a particular season. (Pumpkin spice, for example.)

Gezelligheid (Dutch)

Pronounced [ge-zel-lig-hide]

That warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you’re hanging out with friends or family whose company you truly enjoy. Something we all missed during lockdowns.

Hyppytyynytyydytys (Finnish)

Pronounced [hyp-ya-teyrna-teyrna-dish]

Seriously the best word ever with the best meaning ever. It means the pleasure and satisfaction you get from sitting on a bouncy cushion. Ha!

Iktsuarpok (Inuit)

Pronounced [Ikt-soo-ar-poke]

The feeling of anticipation when you’re waiting for someone to arrive and keep checking the door to see if they’re there. A universal phenomenon.

Jijivisha (Hindi)

Pronounced [ji-ji-vi-sha]

The intense desire to live life to its fullest, to continuously live in the highest state of being. Nice.

I learned a new German word recently. Kummerspeck, meaning the excess fat you gain from emotional overeating. It tr… https://t.co/f8X7SxquMx

— Rose Pereira (@Rose_Pereira)
1622040746.0

Kummerspeck (German)

Pronounced [koo-mer–speck]

The weight you gain from emotional overeating. Literally—and fittingly—translates as “grief bacon.”

Meraki (Greek)

Pronounced [murr-ahh-key]

Pouring yourself so wholeheartedly into something with soul, creativity, or love that you leave a piece of yourself in your work.

Shemomedjamo (Georgian)

Pronounced [sheh–mo–med–JAH–mo]

That feeling when a food tastes so good you can’t stop eating it. Literally translates to “I accidentally ate the whole thing.” Perfect.

Tsundoku (Japanese)

Pronounced [Tsoon-doh-koo]

There are countless words like this in various languages around the world, terms that don’t simply translate over into English without a whole explanation. But some might be surprised to find that we have words for things in English that we simply don’t use all that often. For example, did you know there’s a word for that amazing smell that accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather? It’s called petrichor. There’s also a word for the appealing, wistful mysteriousness of old bookshops—vellichor.

Or how about ultracrepidarian—a person who expresses opinions on matters outside the scope of their knowledge or expertise? We could have used that term about a hundred thousand times this year.

While we’re adding these cool foreign words to our lexicon, maybe we should dig a little deeper into English to find words we didn’t even know existed. (Then perhaps we can get to work choosing a universal language we can all learn along with our native tongues so we can easily communicate with each other everywhere we go while still retaining our beautiful cultural expressions. Wouldn’t that make life on Earth so much easier?)

A year ago, legendary stuntwoman Zoë Bell created the viral “Boss Bitch Fight Challenge.” It featured A-list female action stars showing that they could still kick butt, even while social-distancing.

The video featured Scarlett Johansson, Rosario Dawson, Daryl Hannah, and Margot Robbie, just to name a few.

Bell is best known for her work in two Quentin Tarantino films. She played herself, performing death-defying stunts in “Death Proof.”

She also had her car smashed by Brad Pitt in “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.”

The “Boss Bitch Fight Challenge” was a huge hit receiving over 2.7 million views on YouTube.

BOSS BITCH FIGHT CHALLENGE – Zoe Bell

www.youtube.com

Now, Julia Butters, who played a precocious child actor in “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” has filmed her own “Boss Bitch Challenge” video where she proves that she can pack a punch, too.

In the video, Butters shows that big power can come in small packages as she battles her friends, mother, and Bell herself.

Ah yes my little grasshopper @Julia_Butters ! Get out there and make your own! Honoured to make an appearance! Zxx… https://t.co/pVoHb4h4mD

— TheRealZoëBell (@TheRealZoeBell)
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This year, classic video game mascot Sonic the Hedgehog is turning 30, and while that little fun fact might have some of us feeling a bit old, Sega is choosing to celebrate the big day in an even bigger way. Earlier today, Sega hosted the Sonic Central livestream where they announced numerous new games, animated series, live events, and commemorative items that are all coming this year. In case you “gotta go fast,” we’ve compiled a quick recap of everything announced during today’s event.

Games

First and foremost, the Sonic the Hedgehog series is all about the games, and the countless hours of fast-paced fun they bring with them. During the Sonic Central stream, Sega revealed their lineup of remasters, collections, and ports, as well as a brand new entry in the Sonic series. For starters, later this year we’ll be getting a remaster of the fan-favorite Wii game, Sonic Colors, called Sonic Colors Ultimate. The new version will include enhanced visuals, a new game mode, and other quality of life changes to make it ready for its new home on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on Sept. 7. Preorders for the game are already open at most retailers, with incentives such as a baby Sonic keychain, early access to the game, exclusive music, “gold & silver wearables,” exclusive player icons, and a Sonic movie boost for those who snag their copy early.

In addition, Sega is releasing Sonic Origins, a collection featuring the first three Sonic the Hedgehog games, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic CD, and a whole lot of additional content for each of them. As of right now, no date is tied to the collection, but they did state more news is coming later this year. However, these games are the only older ones getting a breath of fresh air — Team Sonic Racing and Sonic Mania are now available on Amazon Luna, and both games plus Sonic Forces are hitting PlayStation Now June 1. Last but certainly not least, the conference closed with what appears to be a new 3D Sonic game is coming next year. While the short teaser revealed very little, fans are already hoping it might be the next entry in the Sonic Adventure series.

Mobile

For those who, much like Sonic, are always on the go, plenty of fun mobile game announcements were also made. In Sonic Dash, a pirate-themed party is coming where players can earn Captain Shadow and Pirate Sonic characters. In Sonic Forces Mobile, the powerful, golden Super Sonic is coming to the game, along with a limited-time event that allows players to set up exclusive races with their friends called Party Match. This Halloween, a Sonic the Werehog costume is coming to both games. Lastly, in the Sonic Racing mobile game, Sega is allowing players to race as classic Sonic characters, in “classic cars,” on 3 new tracks based off of a “classic zone.”

Some Cool Cameos

Still within the realm of gaming are all the various cameos Sonic and his pals are making this year. On June 22, you can catch Sonic at the Olympic games in Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 — The Official Video Game, where you can compete in 18 events dressed up as Sonic himself. In the upcoming Sega game Lost Judgement, players can visit in-game Sega arcades and play a recreation of the 1996 arcade game Sonic the Fighters. In slightly more unusual news, Sonic is also coming to Two Point Hospital, a hospital tycoon game. A free pack filled with Sonic-themed costumes and décor for your hospital is coming to the game free on June 22. Lastly, the conference told fans to stay tuned for announcements on future collaborations before revealing a small clip from a little game called Minecraft.

Sonic Animated Series

While the conference didn’t have any information to dish out about the sequel to 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog film, it did give us a first look at the new animated mini-series Sonic Colors: Rise of the Wisps and a bit more information about the upcoming Netflix animated series Sonic Prime. Set in the Sonic Colors universe, Rise of the Wisps is a two-part animation debuting this summer, and is apparently the first of many the studio is working on. Over at Netflix, the team behind Ben Ten and Big Hero Six is hard at work creating a 24 episode original series called Sonic Prime. The series follows Sonic as friends as they embark on a “high speed adventure in the strange and mysterious shatterverse.” Assuming production moves along as fast as the titular character, Sonic Prime should hit Netflix sometime in 2022.

A Virtual Symphony & Concert

What’s a party without music? To help celebrate the lil’ blue guy’s birthday, Sega is hosting a free (yes, free) live orchestra event on June 23 “full of your favorite tracks throughout the years.” In addition to a symphony, the event will feature performances by rock band Crush 40, famous for its contributions to various Sonic soundtracks, and Sega composer and DJ Tomoya Ohtani. For those interested in a sneak peek at the performance, you can catch one live at Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest Kickoff stream on June 10.

Merch

Finally, the conference ended with a round-up of all the commemorative merchandise Sega us partnering up with various brands to create throughout 2021. According to their press release, the items include, “a Giant Eggman Robot playset from JAKKS Pacific Inc., a full-color hardcover Sonic encyclopedia from Dark Horse, a special super-sized 80-page comic book featuring three tales of colorful heroes and dastardly villains, commemorative 30th Anniversary gold and silver coins” from APMEX, and more.

HBO’s TV adaptation of Naughty Dog’s legendary video game series will apparently include at least one voice from The Last Of Us playing their on-screen counterpart in real life. While the two main characters of the post-apocalyptic show are spoken for with big-name actors, one voice actor from the gaming world will reprise their role from the PlayStation classic.

As The Hollywood Reporter detailed, Merle Dandridge will appear in the HBO series from creator Neil Druckmann and Chernobyl showrunner Craig Mazin.

The Last of Us revolves around the relationship between Joel (Pedro Pascal, The Mandalorian), a hardened survivor of the collapse of modern civilization 20 years ago, and 14-year-old Ellie (Bella Ramsey, Game of Thrones), whom he’s hired to smuggle out of an oppressive quarantine zone.

Dandridge’s Marlene is the head of the Fireflies, a resistance movement struggling for freedom against an oppressive military regime. She joins a cast that also includes Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Joel’s younger brother.

The series was officially green lit in November, and though Druckmann will oversee the series’ adaptation we already know there will be significant departures from the two games in the series. The playable version of The Last Of Us, meanwhile, has a story outline for a potential third game but it’s unclear if that will ever see the light of day right now.