Category: News

As new COVID-19 cases begin to trend down in many areas of the US, TDE rapper Isaiah Rashad hit fans with a sobering reminder that the virus hasn’t been completely eradicated yet. While the days of a new diagnosis cropping up seemingly every week appear to be behind us, Isaiah revealed on Twitter that he’s currently recovering from a case of COVID himself after receiving unrelated well-wishes from a fan. Responding to a now-deleted tweet from Isaiah, the fan hoped the rapper was doing well, prompting him to reply, “Gettin over this covid.”

Isaiah is one of a few artists to have contracted the virus, including Chicago singer Jeremih, South Los Angeles rapper 03 Greedo, Westside Gunn, Doja Cat, Ashanti, Scarface, and Fred The Godson, the latter of whom died after his diagnosis. Fortunately, the others have all recovered but not without complications ranging from canceled performances to residual physical effects.

Isaiah Rashad was reportedly working on his album, the follow-up to his 2016 standout The Sun’s Tirade, but said that he wouldn’t drop the album without a verse from Young Dolph. While there hasn’t been much word on that front, he did recently shoot a video with fellow Tennesee native Duke Deuce. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery.

It was announced last week that Bachelor (the duo consisting of Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and Palehound’s Ellen Kempner) will be heading out on tour with Lucy Dacus this fall. Ahead of then, though, they have more music to share, as they released a song called “Sick Of Spiraling” today.

The track is the latest from their upcoming album Doomin’ Sun and the mid-tempo tune has some pleasing alt-country influences worked in. The duo says of the song:

“‘Sick Of Spiraling’ is one of the last songs we wrote and recorded together in Topanga. Both of us initially tried to play drums on the song but the groove wasn’t right so we enlisted help from James Krivchenia. He came over for a day and drummed on a few songs on the record, he really brought this song to life with his unique style. Ellen had the riff in her voice memos for a while, and had originally imagined it as a slow kinda melancholic song. Once we got together and listened back to the riff, we heard it a whole new way as an upbeat driving song. After that, Ellen wrote lyrics inspired by driving on tour and the rush and anxiety of being completely untethered and unprotected on the open road.”

When the band was first revealed, Kempner said of Duerte, “I have been Jay Som’s number one fan since I first heard ‘Ghost’ years ago, Melina inspires me with everything she does and is one of my closest friends who i feel a deep connection with, both personally and musically.”

Listen to “Sick Of Spiraling” above.

Doomin’ Sun is out 5/28 via Polyvinyl. Pre-order it here.

After a lengthy fan campaign and a touch of self-promotion, LeVar Burton was officially announced as a guest host for Jeopardy! and will finally get a chance to show his stuff at the podium left vacant by the late Alex Trebek. In recent weeks, there’s been a noticeably heightened push for producers to make the beloved television star the permanent host of Jeopardy! as fans continue to cite Burton’s exemplary work in promoting learning and education with his iconic work in Roots, Reading Rainbow, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Now, a big name is throwing his support behind Burton: Ryan Reynolds.

Following the announcement of Burton’s upcoming guest stint on Jeopardy!, the Deadpool star tweeted, “This needs to be a permanent gig.”

In the meantime, Burton is obviously ecstatic to get a shot at Jeopardy! and he made it a point to thank everyone who signed the fan petition for making it happen. “THANK YOU… to all y’all for your passionate support! I am overjoyed, excited, and eager to be guest-hosting Jeopardy!, and will do my utmost best to live up to your faith you in me,” Burton tweeted. “YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE! Go ahead and take my word for it, this time.”

As evidenced by the fan campaign, Burton has a lot of love in his corner, and that love continued on Wednesday as Star Trek alums, new and old, along with fellow celebs came out of the woodwork to cheer on Burton’s shot as the next host of Jeopardy!.

CJ’s new video “Hit Up” opens with something we’ve rarely seen in a rap video: A disclaimer pronouncing that all the illegal substances depicted are just props used for atmosphere. I’m not completely sure where I stand on rappers breaking kayfabe like this, but it sure got my attention. From there, CJ delivers the usual trappings of the many, many videos he’s dropped so far: The enormous crew shot, plenty of red bandanas, and a lot of fancy footwork as he raps over a spare but explosive drill beat.

It’ll certainly be familiar to anyone who’s seen CJ’s “Whoopty” video — or his explanation of it for Uproxx’s Behind The Video. It seems he’s fond of using his budget as efficiently as possible, so there are few bells or whistles — even his rider consists mainly of water bottles — but the shoot is dynamic enough to get his point across. For reference, check out the videos for his other Loyalty Over Royalty cuts, “Bop,” “Real One,” and “Set.”

Of course, he’s also shown a willingness to switch things up, as he did in his video for deluxe edition track “Lil Freak” with DreamDoll.

Watch CJ’s “Hit Up” video above.

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

It’s obvious that Young Thug is the star of YSL Records’ new compilation Slime Language 2. Throughout the album’s 23 songs, Young Thug — and a squadron of high-profile guest stars — does the majority of the heavy lifting with his charisma and quick twists of wit.

That doesn’t mean that his artists get overshadowed by the star power present. Rather, the star power is Young Thug’s way of casting some halo effect on his expanded roster (four new rappers have joined since the group’s last Slime Language compilation in 2018).

A handful of them do rise to the occasion; YSL veteran Gunna, Lil Keed, and new addition Unfoonk (Thug’s own brother) acquit themselves admirably on the tracks where they’re left to their own devices.

On “Came Out,” Keed does his best to out-Thug Thug, bending and stretching his voice as much as he can, clearly inspired by his label boss’s own vocal contortions. Alongside Thug on “Real,” Unfoonk turns his sandpaper singing voice into a heart-tugging ballad.

And Gunna makes the most of his established chemistry with mega-star Drake on “Solid” and Young Thug on “Ski,” the album’s two most obvious standouts. “Ski” revisits the loopy energy of “Surf” from Thug’s 2019 album So Much Fun, while “Solid” is a murky excursion in the vein of Drake’s own cameo on Future’s 2020 hit “Life Is Good.”

Elsewhere, Slime Language 2 highlights Thug’s transparently generous efforts to put his people on as much as it does his skills as a talent scout. Sorry if that reads kind of negative, but the loyalty is on full display on lackadaisical cuts like “Slatty,” where Yak Gotti and Lil Duke — two of Thug’s longest-tenured signings — turn in forgettable verses to start the project.

The Lil Uzi Vert-featuring “Proud Of You,” another clear standout, also wears out its welcome by the time Young Kayo’s verse comes in, and Kayo does very little to save it. On “I Like” with Coi Leray, Karlae — Thug’s longtime girlfriend — swings between lightweight crooning and upbeat rapping but gets washed out by her guest star and undermined by generic rhymes (at one point, she quotes Muhammad Ali out of context, making me wince at the Citizen Kane of it all).

T-Shyne shows off multiple flows on “Warrior,” as well as some Young Thug-ish ad-libs, impressing by virtue of his flow’s polish, if not his bars (guest rapper Big Sean steals the show). Strick’s laid-back verse alongside Kid Cudi on “Moon Man” is a slow-burner, with a creeping, “grows on you” quality. These are two of the label’s vets, so it makes sense they have the most technical skill and experience, if not very much to say.

HiDoraah and Dolly White, Thug’s sisters, put forth dry efforts on their respective solo tracks, underscoring the gift and the curse of the YSL co-sign. Thug seems to be a great person, creating opportunities for his friends and families by leveraging his status as one of hip-hop’s biggest draws after years of uncertain footing and controversial reception.

It means a lot that he’d put his reputation — something he fought for and earned over the course of a decade of old-head snipes about his clothes, flow, and rumored sexuality — on the line for his folks. But we’ve likely heard the best from the label in projects like Wunna and Trapped On Cleveland 3 — there’s a reason Keed and Gunna have received the most commercial success to date.

By calling in so many famous friends for support, Thug does put his artists in a position to receive a lot of attention, but perhaps they’d have been better off keeping things more self-contained, giving YSL’s roster more space to showcase their standalone work. The contrast the guests unintentionally create between truly creative, self-sufficient artists and the still-developing talents of Thug’s musical mafia casts the latter in a less favorable light than they should want at the moment.

But there are bright spots and there’s always room for improvement, even among the less original members of the collective. And at least they can be assured they’ve got the support of their head honcho, which is a lot more than many, many rappers signed to other rappers can say — a blessing that may pan out as they work to forge their own paths beyond Young Thug’s footprints in the sand.

Slime Language 2 is out now Young Stoner Life Records / 300 Entertainment. Get it here.

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

Over the course of the pandemic, Jeffrey Dean Morgan received the surprising news that neither he nor anyone else involved with The Walking Dead necessarily expected: AMC would be ending the series after 11 seasons. There’s still a possibility that Morgan’s character will get his own spin-off so that the actor can continue in The Walking Dead universe, but just in case the forthcoming season is his last, Morgan has not been shy about getting his family involved.

In fact, even before The Walking Dead cast Morgan’s wife, Hilarie Burton, in the Negan-centered 10th season finale, “Here’s Negan,” Morgan and Burton had already cozied up to AMC by starring in their own chat show, Friday Night with the Morgans, if only to keep AMC fans entertained during the production shutdown.

Now Morgan is bringing another family member into the fold. This time, it’s Morgan’s son, Gus, who will make his acting debut on The Walking Dead. Gus is only 11 years old, but Morgan was very happy to show off his son as a zombie in a Season 11 episode of the series.

“My kid. Just a peek,” Morgan posted on Instagram. “As a dad, I have to say, I’d be hard pressed to remember a time I’ve been more proud of this dude. Can’t wait for y’all to see him in action.”

Gus’s mom, Hilarie Burton, also commented on the post. “I love my apocalyptic dudes,” she wrote.

Shooting on the final season is expected to last a full year. A couple of weeks ago, Morgan said that they were only on the third episode, so expect Gus Morgan to appear fairly early on in the final season, which kicks off with eight episodes on August 22nd.

Ahead of hosting the Independent Spirit Awards, SNL cast member Melissa Villaseñor virtually dropped by Late Night with Seth Meyers to discuss her array of impressions. (Here she is doing Lady Gaga and John Mulaney.) “Are there any impressions you’ve done this year that you particularly enjoy doing?” host Seth Meyers asked her. Villaseñor singled out her Dolly Parton, an impression that was “growing in my soul because I found her audio book, Dream More, when I was quarantining alone and listened to her music a lot. It took a while to get it,” but by last December, “I was ready to talk as Dolly.”

Later in the interview, Meyers asked to hear Villaseñor’s impressions of Natalie Portman (“Thank you so much. No one’s ever impersonated me before. I always thought that I had nothing special. I thought I was kind of boring,” she said in her best Natalie voice) and Kristen Wiig. Her Wiig is so good that Meyers responded with a “woah! woah!” and had trouble composing himself. She even nailed the awkward little laugh that Wiig does. Villaseñor actually auditioned for SNL “with a silly bit about Kristen Wiig about to go sky diving and she’s just in the plane like…” You know what? You should just watch the clip above (beginning 6:30 in). You have to hear the voice to get the full effect.

The 36th Independent Spirit Awards air tonight at 10 p.m. ET on IFC and AMC+.

This week, after nearly 24 years since the last film, Mortal Kombat returns as a movie franchise, all rebooted and having nothing to do with the last movie except, I guess, all the characters and all of their specific attributes. I have seen the new film, but as I’m writing this, the embargo on that hasn’t lifted yet. So, in the meantime, I decided to go back and watch the 1995 film directed by Paul WS Anderson, which means, yes, I saw the new film before I saw the original. At this point I don’t think it will be giving too much away to say I liked the new film better than the original, but going back and watching the original film is like taking a swig of “pure ‘90s xtreme” juice. It might just be the most ‘90s thing I’ve ever seen. Honestly the whole time I was watching it I kept thinking of Tim Robinson’s “Z-Shirt” SNL sketch. In retrospect the 1995 Mortal Kombat is kind of hilarious as a parody of itself.

If you have no idea what “Z-Shirt” is, it’s a 2013 SNL sketch starring Tim Robinson and Kevin Hart, filmed in that quintessential ‘90s xtreme style with a lot of neon colors and a lot of screaming into the camera in an xtreme way. Tim Robinson is hyping his new Z-Shirt as Kevin Hart starts at the top of the alphabet and asks him if it’s every other letter of shirt, eventually leading to Robinson becoming increasingly annoyed and just giving up. There might be no better parody of that aspect of ‘90s culture, even though no one really acted like that in real life unless they were trying to sell you some sort of soft drink.

Anyway, the entire running time of the 1995 Mortal Kombat is like this. It is not a particularly good movie, but, in retrospect, it did kind of make me wish I had enjoyed the ‘90s more. This style always annoyed me back then, but now knowing that (a) it was pretty harmless and (b) that it wouldn’t last, I do wish I had embraced it more for all its goofiness. This movie literally ends with our heroes being confronted by a new villain and Christopher Lambert’s Lord Raiden exclaiming, xtremely, “I don’t think so!” Most of the characters in this movie are just there to say catchphrases and to scream into the camera as if they have a Z-Shirt to sell, at least they do right before they snap an opponents neck, or whatever.

And here’s the really weird thing about doing a new Mortal Kombat movie – and I was trying to think of specific examples of this – but is there another reboot where the instructions are basically, “Okay, here is your group of characters and they all have very specific looks and attributes. Now make a movie with these characters, which has already been done, so I guess just introduce them in a different order and a different way”? Even with superheroes like Spider-Man or Batman, when their movies are rebooted at least different villains are used. This just seems like a static group of characters that really can’t be changed all that much. Most reboots feature one main character or team, and the people around him or her or that team are different. There just seems something uniquely difficult about rebooting a property like Mortal Kombat where the characters are famous as a group, but not really individually.

It’s notable that the 1995 Mortal Kombat was only Paul WS Anderson’s second movie and his first with any kind of a budget. And that Mortal Kombat would launch a career where Anderson would go on to make many, many movies that make a lot of money but critics don’t seem to like very much. (Though, it’s hard not to appreciate what Anderson has done as a whole with his career, because the movies he’s made are very much his movies, even though there are very few of them I can sit down and watch and actually enjoy, no matter how many people try to convince me otherwise.) But there is something uniquely innocent about his Mortal Kombat. When Anderson talks about Mortal Kombat now, he seems to have fairly positive memories of the whole thing. And between Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter (which came out eight months before), their successes at the box office launched the next 25 years of movies based on video games, for better or for worse.

But, today, the 1995 Mortal Kombat doesn’t really resemble what video game movies would eventually become. Again, it’s more a time capsule of the 1990s than it is about video games. It really feels like every character in Mortal Kombat should at least be drinking a Mountain Dew. Or should be talking about Dan Cortese. Or, at the very least, should be selling us a Z-Shirt. So, if you ever need a break from reality and must revisit the mid-1990s, just for a couple of hours, just know that Paul WS Anderson’s Mortal Kombat is always waiting for you. Just first open an xtreme Mountain Dew.

‘Mortal Kombat’ releases in theaters and MBO Max this weekend. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Featuring appearances from Q-Tip and Young Thug, Cordae’s new four-song EP Just Until… gives fans a light listen as they await his full-length follow-up to 2019’s The Lost Boy. After teasing the project on social media Tuesday, he delivered as promised at midnight this morning, delivering the tape to the overjoyed reactions of fans on Twitter.

Within minutes, Cordae’s name was among the various trending topics as fans discussed the new project, with most of the attention lavished onto “Wassup,” the project’s collaboration with Young Thug. Over a rumbling beat produced by 18YOMAN, LEN 20, and Take a Daytrip, the two rappers employ a back-and-forth delivery which had fans comparing them to iconic duos like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

Meanwhile, Cordae’s relationship with Naomi Osaka also takes center stage at multiple points throughout the project, as he references her tennis star status and even suggests she dropped out of a tournament to meet his grandmother.

On Tuesday, Cordae mentioned that the album — which he’s been working on since 2020, according to his interview with Lil Wayne last year — is nearly finished. Whether it’ll contain more material like these “throwaways” or his Roddy Ricch-featuring single “Gifted” remains to be seen. Listen to Just Until… below.

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

Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi did issue a poorly-worded reaction to Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin’s all-counts conviction for George Floyd’s killing. There’s no disputing that one, but on the other end of the spectrum, Fox and Friends is going on a multi-day streak of things that should not be said about the subject of curbing police brutality. On Thursday morning, the Fox News morning show took on the recent fatal police shootings of Daunte Wright (in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota) and Ma’Khia Bryant (in Columbus, Ohio) in a segment about “The Future Of Policing.”

This was quite a segment, which included co-host Ainsley Earhardt reading off a list of protest-related instances including at Ohio State university, where “the students are gathering… to demand that the school cut ties with Columbus police.” She also (of course) sprinkled in some talk of vandalism before getting to people shouting at police. “In Minnesota, protesters were yelling at police ‘get the blank out,’” Earhardt declared. “And in New York at that local restaurant, ‘we don’t want you here.’”

Kilmeade’s solution: “Do you know what? You should be barred from… anyone who says that, you are no longer allowed to use 911” He then added, “Let’s just hope, in your life, you never need a police officer.”

Steve Doocy has been notably absent from the show for several days, and he’s actually been a moderating force against tantrum-throwing Kilmeade these days. However, co-host Pete Hegseth didn’t do the same, and in fact, he’s all in with Kilmeade’s perspective. “All that’s gonna mean is less cops and more crime. The equation is quite, quite simple. Maybe that’s what they want.”