Category: News

St. Louis rapper Smino is back with a new song, “Rice & Gravy,” which he calls the beginning of a new journey. Releasing the single with a minimum of fanfare, Smino seemed to reveal a change in his label situation with a tweet just before the new song’s release. “dawg I went thru so much bullsht tryna release music over da past couple years,” he wrote. “I’m jus happy af to begin my new journey tonite… I feel like a brand new artist rn.”

He may feel like a new artist, but “Rice & Gravy” is vintage Smino, with a glitchy, synth-and-bass beat produced by Monte Booker and a rubberband flow that springs between melodic and staccato cadences delivered in Smi’s signature, grits-thick St. Louis accent. Longtime fans will surely be satisfied with this recipe, and anyone who has been awaited a follow-up to Smino’s 2018 album Noir may be excited to learn that he’s once again in the driver’s seat of his own release schedule.

Despite whatever troubles he’s had in getting new music out, Smino has tried to stay busy, featuring on tracks from Thundercat (“Dragonball Durag Remix” with Guapdad 4000), and his recently discovered cousin Denzel Curry (“So.Incredible.Pkg” with Kenny Beats and Robert Glasper), working with his Zoink Gang compatriots Buddy, Guapdad, and JID, and dropping the surprise quarantine tape She Already Decided.

Listen to Smino’s “Rice & Gravy” above.

Marvel has done its best to keep a tight lid on Spider-Man: No Way Home, the highly anticipated third solo film starring Tom Holland, although rumors persist of a return by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield thanks to some multiverse shenanigans. Of course, none of that is confirmed (and Garfield even shut it down), so fans have made due with whatever tiny clues they can get from the production. In this case, Marvel fans just got a smooth assist from Jacob Batalon, who plays Peter Parker’s best friend, Ned, in the Spider-trilogy and shared a series of behind-the-scenes photos on Instagram taken by his No Way Home co-star Zendaya.

Judging by the set photos posted by Batalon, it appears that Holland’s Peter Parker somehow returns to school despite Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio revealing his secret identity to the whole world in the final moments of Spider-Man: Far From Home. However, Peter is looking pretty banged up in one of the shots, so it looks like his no-longer-secret superhero life and personal life aren’t exactly gelling.

With Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man out of the picture, Peter will reportedly have a new mentor in Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange. Strange’s involvement is what sparked rumors of the third film tackling the multiverse, but good luck getting Holland to admit any of that. As for the rumored Spider-Man, Maguire has been radio silent while Garfield recently made headlines after he denied his involvement in the film in an interview. Although, whether Garfield was telling the whole truth or playing coy is open for debate.

(Via Jacob Batalon on Instagram)

Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week we got highly anticipated new albums from both St. Vincent and The Black Keys, a new track from Torres, and the official announcement of Kississippi’s sophomore album. Check out the rest of the best new indie music below.

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St. Vincent – Daddy’s Home

On her sixth studio album, St. Vincent is no longer looking toward the future as inspiration. Instead, she is pulling from the past, imagining herself on the Bowery in New York at the height of the sleazy ’70s rock scene. On a more personal level, Daddy’s Home is a way of “reclaiming her story while offering an earnest examination of how our society romanticizes the archetype of the struggling artist,” writes Carolyn Droke for Uproxx.

The Black Keys – Delta Kream

After more than a decade spent pumping out radio hits, The Black Keys returned to their garage band roots on Delta Kream, a full album of blues covers. The album is a thoroughly enjoyable project, certainly not lacking in muddy guitar solos and Dan Auberbach’s howling blues vocal. All told, Delta Kream is a good reminder of how far The Black Keys have come since releasing their breakthrough album Brothers.

Torres – “Don’t Go Puttin Wishes On My Head”

A bit over a year after releasing her fourth album under the name Torres, Mackenzie Scott is back with another brand new album. Thirstier is out July 30, and is previewed by “Don’t Go Puttin Wishes On My Head,” which Derrick Rossignol calls for Uproxx “an upbeat rocker that Scott says shows off a newfound sense of joy she has felt in her life recently.”

Hot Mulligan – “Featuring Mark Hoppus
”

Before we continue, I must note that this song does not feature Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus. However, the track’s title does a good job of grabbing attention, then delivering the goods with fun pop-punk riffs and nostalgic lyrics. “Featuring Mark Hoppus” is the second sampling from the Michigan band’s forthcoming EP I Won’t Reach Out To You, which is due later this month.

Okkervil River – “In A Light”

For the first time in three years, Okkervil River are rolling out new music. “In A Light” was recorded around the time that the band was making their 2018 album In The Rainbow Rain, and echoes that era’s expansive country feel, incorporating a pedal steel guitar and impressive harmonies. Here’s to hoping this track means there will be more new music coming soon from the Texas outfit.

Kississippi – “Big Dipper”

It’s hard to believe that it’s been more than half a year since Kississippi dropped “Around Your Room,” the first sign that the forthcoming album from Zoe Allaire Reynolds might sound a bit different than her previous work. Now, Kississippi has officially announced her sophomore album Mood Ring along with the new track “Big Dipper,” which employs a vibrant pop structure that doesn’t sound too far from Taylor Swift’s early catalogue.

The Glow – “Love Only”

I really loved The Glow’s debut album Am I back in 2019, and it’s exciting to see Mike Caridi is already back with new tunes. “Love Only” is a beautiful, jangly power-pop number that feels like a spiritual sibling with Caridi’s previous project LVL UP.

Wild Pink & Samia – “Ohio”

Wild Pink has been dominating 2021 so far, first with the release of A Billion Little Lights back in February, then with the six-track EP fittingly titled 6 Songs. Now, John Ross is back with yet another fittingly-titled three song EP called… 3 Songs. Ross teamed up with 2020 breakout indie star Samia on the first track “Ohio,” which “shows a jazzier side to Wild Pink’s music, detailing the euphoria of connection over a burst of synths,” according to Carolyn Droke for Uproxx.

Jodi – “Softy”

The second single from Nick Levine’s first effort under the name Jodi is a bit more mellow than the first. Where “Go Slowly” was a driving alt-country number, “Softy” utilizes sparse instrumentation to give Levine’s vocals and subtle harmonies space to truly blossom. It’s all done in the company of light percussion and smooth pedal steel guitars. All around, a good vibe for the coming warmth of summer.

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

Before the Scene, Selena Gomez was in scenes… TV scenes (sorry). The pop star made her on-screen debut on Barney & Friends before rising to fame in Wizards of Waverly Place. She’s continued to act since her Disney Channel days, including roles in Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die and Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers (she’s also the voice of Mavis in the Hotel Transylvania series), and she’ll return to the small screen in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short. It’s like Three Amigos, but with Gomez instead of Chevy Chase. Honestly, it’s an improvement.

Created by Martin and John Robert Hoffman, the series follows a trio of strangers, played by Gomez, Martin, and Short, who become involved in a murder mystery. “Do I want to break into a dead guy’s apartment and go through all his sh*t?” the “Lose You to Love Me” singer asks in the teaser above. “Sounds like an afternoon.”

Here’s the official plot summary:

Only Murders in the Building follows three strangers (Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez) who share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one. When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth. As they record a podcast of their own to document the case, the three unravel the complex secrets of the building which stretch back years. Perhaps even more explosive are the lies they tell one another. Soon, the endangered trio comes to realize a killer might be living amongst them as they race to decipher the mounting clues before it’s too late.

Only Murders in the Building premieres on Hulu on August 31.

Tucker Carlson has spent months sowing vaccine doubt among Fox News’ evening viewers (and he still won’t say whether he’s gotten the jab), but the cable news network’s morning vibe couldn’t be more different. Recently, all three Fox and Friends co-hosts (Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade) made it known that not only did they get vaccinated, but they’re relieved to feel much safer as a result.

On Tuesday morning, the group (and especially Doocy) grew even more blunt on the subject when (as pointed out by CNN’s Brian Stelter on Twitter), the show took an even clearer pro-vaccine stance while discussing the CDC’s latest masking guidelines. And Doocy did not mess around at all: he flat-out told the Fox News audience to get that shot if they want to ditch that face covering.

As Ainsley Earhardt put it, “It is freedom,” and Doocy says at the end of the above clip, “The vaccine is what’s going to keep a lot of people alive… So when you have the chance, get the shot.”

That’s an unequivocal stance and, frankly, it’s wonderfully shocking to see. Doocy had more to say a few moments earlier. “You don’t have to wear a mask indoors, you don’t have to social distance as long as you’ve had the shot,” he pointed out. “According to the CDC, you still have to wear the mask, you have still have to social distance inside, if you haven’t had it.” Hopefully, Tucker is watching, but let’s get real: he’s probably somewhere grumbling about UFOs and equality. That’s simply how he rolls.

Just a day after former Joe Budden Podcast Network host Olivia Dope accused the network’s namesake of sexual harassment, Budden himself has responded, saying he takes accountability and apologizes. Dope left Budden’s podcast network after he made lewd comments toward her while taping her show See, the Thing Is…, just months after the show’s launch in October of 2020. She explained why she left in an Instagram video detailing the comments and calling the experience “embarrassing” and “traumatizing.”

According to Rolling Stone, Budden has since issued a statement in which he addressed the power imbalance inherent to his sexual remarks as Olivia’s former boss, and claimed to support “all women’s rights to feel comfortable and protected in the workplace.”

You can read the full statement below.

As a podcaster, it is my job to address topics and create dialogue around them. During the conversation on the See, The Thing Is podcast I didn’t handle the topics with the sensitivity they deserved. I recognize my words and power in that situation created an upsetting environment for Olivia. Upon reflection, both the network and I take accountability for this. I apologize sincerely to Olivia, her former co-hosts, our staff, and the public. In an effort to not further any trauma, the episode will be removed from all platforms. We support all women’s rights to feel comfortable and protected in the workplace. We fell short of that in this instance. We support Olivia in her quest to heal, applaud her for finding the strength to share her experience, and wish her the best in all her future endeavors. I am taking the time to listen and learn; we have already begun to make the necessary changes to ensure this is a safe environment for all moving forward. We at the network endeavor to continue to elevate Black women’s voices and create opportunities to have constructive conversations to impact change.

Ahead, in this review, I mention that ‘A Quiet Place Part II’ is “basically nonstop tension and dread.” I saw this movie On March 5, 2020. I did not know it at the time, but this would be the last movie I saw in a theater for 14 months. Eleven days after I saw this movie, New York City would completely shut down. I wrote a good portion of this review back then (which will explain the kind of out of nowhere dig at ‘The Rise of Skywalker’) and, now, I wonder how much of the fear and dread I was feeling came from the movie or came from real life. But it’s weird I didn’t even mention any of that. I’m not one to, uh, not insert some personal anecdotes or angst. (See this whole paragraph.) My best guess was I was just trying not to think about it. But it was a weird screening. It’s still, to this day, the last time I’ve seen some good friends. I remember there were conversations about handshakes and if we should do that or not. (This was back when we all thought you had to rub someone else’s spit in your eye to get sick, not just be near someone and breathe.) After the movie, someone mentioned going to a bar, which, even then, sounded like a bad idea. But I do remember leaving A Quiet Place Part II and my stomach was so tied in knots, it really did hurt. And whatever subconscious anxiety I was feeling at the time, watching this movie made my body react physically to all that. Now, on with the review!

It’s pretty remarkable that A Quiet Place did what it did. Here’s a movie about aliens who can only hunt by detecting sound, that has very little dialogue, that cost next to nothing (as far as studio movies cost anyway), and grossed $340 million worldwide. It’s the kind of thing that just rarely happens anymore for movies not part of some sort of pre-existing franchise. But, yet, on one hand, it’s still surprising that there’s another one now because the first one felt like such a complete story. But, from a business standpoint, there was absolutely no way there wasn’t going to be a second movie. Paramount hit gold and, in the age of franchises and IP being king, the chance to make a brand new franchise was too good to pass up.

And, according to director John Krasinski, Paramount was going to make another one whether he decided to come back or not. Which set us up for something that probably looked a lot like Predator 2 – a movie set in the same universe, with a whole new cast and setting, that isn’t as good as the first movie, even though some people swear they like it. Which most likely would have still made a lot of money. And would no doubt of “expanded the Quiet Place universe,” but that phrase always makes me really nervous.

There’s a scene in A Quiet Place Part II that, at first, made me whisper to myself, “oh no.” Not to give too many details away, but there’s a scene where Millicent Simmonds’ Regan Abbot and Cillian Murphy’s Emmett (the Abbotts’ neighbor who has lost his entire family to the aliens) are ambushed by a group of marauders. Now, here’s where I started worrying about “expanding the universe.” I started envisioning what a lesser movie would do: these marauders taking Regan and Emmitt back to their lair and that’s where we learn all about this band of bandits and their entire, most likely boring, backstory. (I also started having The Matrix Reloaded rave party flashbacks.) Instead of just focusing on the characters we learned to like from the first film.

Thankfully, this is not what happens because A Quiet Place Part II is not a lesser movie. What made the first movie so interesting is that it’s about this world-changing event, yet the story we see is small. It’s about one family. A mistake so many franchises make is the assumption people want to see more about this new world, as opposed to just spending time with the characters we already like. Even something like Star Wars falls into this trap – building all these fantastical worlds when, in reality, most people just like hanging out with Han, Luke and Leia. (Or even Rey, Poe and Finn – but, instead, the latest movie decided to give us a weird story about Palpatine cloning himself instead of just focusing on the characters we like.)

A Quiet Place Part II starts with a short flashback that, yes, shows a brief glimpse of the aliens arriving, but mostly serves as a way for John Krasinski to still appear in the movie (RIP, Lee Abbott) and shows us happier times for both he and Evelyn (Emily Blunt), And it introduces us to Cillian Murphy’s Emmett before everything goes to hell. The film then picks up shortly after where the first movie left off. Again, the first movie didn’t really leave much open for a sequel, but Krasinski was smart to keep the story small while, still, “expanding the universe.” Basically, yes, we meet new people and learn more about how people are surviving in this world where no one can make any sounds, but it’s all within the realm of reality. It’s that old rule of movies (for the life of me I can’t remember who said it): we can accept a radioactive spider gave Peter Parker powers, but once an alien just happens to land on him at the beginning of Spider-Man 3, we as an audience begin to cry foul. In the A Quiet Place universe, the rules are established and as long as the characters adhere to those rules, these movies work. (And, if the ending of this movie is a hint, we probably have at least another one of these movies coming our way.)

As a bit of an aside, one thing I really appreciate about these two movies is that they both clock in at around 90 minutes. Not that I’m inherently opposed to longer movies, but these movies, in particular, are basically nonstop tension and dread. There’s a scene where Emily Blunt’s Evelyn has to leave the family’s hiding spot to find medical supplies. I remember thinking, well, maybe nothing will happen this time. But then I remembered they wouldn’t be filming this scene if nothing was going to happen and my stomach started twisting in knots. By the end of A Quiet Place Part II my stomach literally hurt. There’s no way I could have done another 20 minutes because it is too intense. That’s one of the best compliments I can give it.

‘A Quiet Place Part II’ opens in theaters on May 28th. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Faye Webster started teasing a new album last year when she released the single “Better Distractions.” Then, last month, she officially announced I Know I’m Funny Haha, which is set to drop in June via Secretly Canadian. Now she has returned with another taste of the album, a video for the title track. The clip for the mellow tune is a compilation of home videos, which, appropriately, feature a lot of laughter.

Webster says of the song:

“‘I Know I’m Funny Haha’ went from being a thought, to a lyric, to a song title, to an album title. These are the thoughts that go through my head when writing a song — things that people might easily overlook and don’t think are worthy or pretty enough to be sung. I think that’s what people relate to it the most, and I think it’s an aspect of songwriting that you don’t get to hear often. This song feels all over the place but at the same time, it tells a story so simple and understandable. Me not getting my security deposit back from my landlord, my partner’s family forgetting who I am because they were drunk, wanting to be in a rock band with Booth…. it almost sounds like a mad lib at first sight, but it just works”

Watch the “I Know I’m Funny Haha” video above.

I Know I’m Funny Haha is out 6/25 via Secretly Canadian. Pre-order it here.

It looks like Atlanta rapper Mulatto’s long-awaited name change is finally official, as first Apple Music and now Spotify, reflect her new, slightly less problematic moniker. While many fans expected her to start going by her nickname “Big Latto” — which also doubled as the title of her second EP — she went for a bigger chop, reducing that nickname down to simply “Latto.” It also appears she’s got new music coming soon to celebrate.

This marks the second time she shortened her nom de guerre after knocking her name down from “Miss Mulatto,” the title under which she appeared on Lifetime’s The Rap Game, where she won the show’s first season. Unfortunately, due to the historical implications of the term “Mulatto,” her increased profile over the past year also brought increased scrutiny and criticism, which she addressed at multiple points over the year, including in an exclusive profile with Uproxx, in which she explained:

“It’s not about me comparing my ‘struggles of being mixed’ to any other skin tone, any other race, anything like that. It’s just simply me explaining my story. I did experience a different type of upbringing having two completely different cultures. One side of my family cooked this way, talked this way, celebrate this way, traditions is this way, and then one of the sides is different, and as a kid, I was just confused and kind of had to find my way in my identity. It’s just about an experience, and flipping that negative into something positive.”

Some fans still couldn’t see it that way, especially after Latto made some public missteps in addressing the criticism. Now that her name change is official — at least on streaming services, if not social media, where the process can be a bit more complicated — we’ll see if she can dodge continued opprobrium as her star continues to rise. Check out some screenshots of the artist’s revamped title on Spotify and Apple Music

below.

After being named Iceland’s Strongest Man for 10 straight years, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, better known as The Mountain on Game of Thrones, retired from strongman competitions last November. “I was happy with everything I did in strongman,” he explained, adding, “I won everything there is to win in the strength world, at least all the big titles. And I was just happy. That’s the thing guys, I was happy. I was happy that I was able to win all these shows but still be healthy, and I wanted to stay healthy.”

Björnsson isn’t finished with being ridiculously, preposterously strong, however.

The Mountain is now a boxer, and as part of his training, he lost over 100 pounds. “I’m extremely happy with my shape right now,” he said in a recent video on his YouTube channel. “When I started this journey, I weighed 205 kgs (451 pounds). And now I’m down to 155 kgs (341 pounds). Feeling good, feeling healthy.” Björnsson eats four meals a day, beginning with a breakfast that consists of “three eggs and 200 grams chicken, as well as a smoothie made with 150 grams yogurt, 100 grams of berries, and 40 grams of oats,” according to Men’s Health. His least favorite meal is meal three: “220 grams of chicken, 250 grams of potatoes, and 100 grams of greens.”

“I’m not a huge fan of chicken. But I have different goals now than I did when I was in strongman, so the diet is slightly different. It’s as clean as it gets. I’m never really hungry and I’m never really full throughout the day.”

Not a huge fan of chicken? No wonder he and his brother didn’t get along.

(Via Men’s Health)