Category: News

Simon & Garfunkel’s song “Bridge Over Troubled Water” has been covered by more than 50 different musical artists, from Aretha Franklin to Elvis Presley to Willie Nelson. It’s a timeless classic that taps into the universal struggle of feeling down and the comfort of having someone to lift us up. It’s beloved for its soothing melody and cathartic lyrics, and after a year of pandemic challenges, it’s perhaps more poignant now than ever.

A few years a go, American singer-songwriter Yebba Smith shared a solo a capella version of a part of “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” in which she just casually sits and sings it on a bed. It’s an impressive rendition on its own, highlighting Yebba’s soulful, effortless voice.

But British singer Jacob Collier recently added his own layered harmony tracks to it, taking the performance to a whole other level.

Be ready, because PHEW.

If you’re unfamiliar with either of both these singers, here’s a little background.

Yebba is a singer-songwriter from West Memphis, Arkansas who has collaborated with various artists including Chance the Rapper, Ed Sheeran, Stormzy, and Sam Smith. She’s released a few singles of her own over the past few years, and in 2019 won a Grammy alongside PJ Morton for Best Traditional R&B Performance with the song “How Deep Is Your Love.”

“Yebba” is her stage name—a backwards play on her real name, Abbey Smith.

Her debut single, “My Mind” was written and performed shortly before her mom died of suicide in 2016. After that, the lyrics of the song took on a whole new significance. The powerful performance of the piece at SoFar NYC shows off Yebba’s vocal range as well as her emotive style of singing.

YEBBA – My Mind | Sofar NYC

www.youtube.com

Jacob Collier, on the other hand, is a British musician who rose to fame through split-screen self-harmonizing videos he shared online. In 2012, his cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing” went viral on YouTube, and Collier was subsequently signed by Quincy Jones’ record label. He has since been nominated for seven Grammy awards and won five of them. He’s the first British artist to win a Grammy for each of his first four albums.

Collier—who has been referred to as “a musical force of nature” can play a wide range of musical instruments and often serves as his own one-man band. But his NPR Tiny Desk Concert with back-up vocals and instrumentalists is a delight. (It gets particularly fun at the 12:30 mark.)

Jacob Collier: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

www.youtube.com

Two impressive musical artists casually pulling together a soul-stirring performance of a much-beloved classic like “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is just the kind of entertainment we need after a year of collective trauma and hardship. Music is healing, creativity is healing, human connection is healing, and all three of those things came together beautifully in this brief video. (Anyone else wishing it didn’t cut off? I don’t think there’s a longer version anywhere, since Yebba’s original solo version wasn’t a complete video either. I think it’s time to demand a full recorded version, please and thank you.)

Yebba pretty much summed up here how we’re all feeling after watching them sing:

You can find more of Yebba’s music here and Jacob Collier’s music here.

There are certain things in the real world that just can be duplicated virtually. No matter how hard we try, a virtual happy hour isn’t as fun as a regular happy hour. It’s difficult to find chemistry on a Zoom date, and virtual dance parties will all be something we make fun of when this pandemic is over.

My heart goes out to all of the students and teachers across the country who have had to make do with virtual learning over the past year. It’s a frustrating thing for all involved, but it’s the best we can do at a time when we have to be apart.

Distance learning can be an effective way for kids to learn, but a mother on Twitter just told the world about a thing called Zoom Detention and nobody’s here for it.

Evidently, schools have created virtual rooms that kids who’ve misbehaved have to log in to be disciplined by an interventionist. Most of the time, kids are sent there for logging off their classes or playing video games when they should be paying attention to their teachers.

Sure it’s important for children to be well-behaved, even in a virtual classroom, but these kids have had a really hard year, and sending them to the Zoom principal’s office feels like a bridge too far.

Ugu Anya, a linguistics professor, went viral on Twitter Tuesday for her tweet thread about her child’s invitation to a Zoom Detention Room and it sparked a lot of opinions.

Why punish someone for not looking at a screen by forcing them to look at another screen?

Other parents chimed in to share their exasperation with distance learning.

This retired teacher had a great way to fix the situation that doesn’t involve virtual punishment.

Some disagreed about how Anya should approach the situation, but both responses seem totally reasonable.

A lot of folks said they should avoid Zoom detention. But doesn’t that send a bad signal to the child? Should a parent tell a child to disobey their teacher?

Let’s not forget that we are in the middle of a deadly pandemic and attending school in some areas is a scary proposition.

While distance learning surely comes with its frustrations a recent study found that most parents (57%) believe that their child’s remote schooling worked better than they expected, and 60% of parents believed their schools prepared their children well for remote learning.

Thank goodness we have the technology in place that allows students to learn safely at a time when it’s dangerous for large groups of children to come together. Imagine what would have happened if we had a pandemic pre-Internet? Would kids just sit at home watching TV all day?

All signs point to an eventual reopening of the country by the summer, let’s hope that means that the schools will be open in the fall.

The Nevers (HBO series streaming on HBO Max) — This Joss Whedon-created show offers an intriguing setup about a group of “orphans” (almost exclusively women) who find themselves “gifted” with supernaturally-powered abilities. Although there’s far too many plot lines (and some plot holes), there’s also a fair amount of butt-kicking, and the atmosphere is killer. The embattled Buffy and Firefly creator officially exited the series last year, but you won’t be able to forget his presence. Whether that hurts or helps the show remains to be seen.

Them (Amazon Prime limited series) — This story’s sure to remind horror fans of Jordan Peele’s Us in more ways than a few, and for good reason. This show promises to explore American-bred terror with an anthologized approach, so the first season is all about the 1950s. Allison Pill’s reliably frightening, and here, she’s terrorizing a Black family, who moves into an all-white LA neighborhood and the welcome committee isn’t there for them, that’s for sure. Soon enough, the horror show begins; and both from a reality-based and a supernatural standpoint, this is pure nightmare fuel.

Exterminate All The Brutes (HBO series streaming on HBO Max) — This four-part documentary series tells a story of survival with a powerful message. Prepare to witness a search for truth and an scrutinization of how history is written, and expect to watch this show while reexamining much of what you thought you knew about European colonialism, American slavery, and Native American genocide. This week, Parts 1 and 2 revisit the U.S.’ legacy as a colonial power, including stories of Christopher Columbus and Trail of Tears, as told from an indigenous perspective.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+ series) — Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes are still doing their buddy action-comedy thing, and last week, Sharon Carter finally arrived to kick ass and sprinkle her newly jaded attitude among the cast of characters. This week, Zemo might be in for a rude awakening after Ayo (of Wakanda) tracked down Bucky. The Flag Smashers are still proving to be confusing villains, and Faux Captain America is hanging out somewhere. We’re past the halfway point now, so things should start to come to (even more of) a head soon.

Thunder Force (Netflix film) — Don’t expect this movie to win any awards because that’s not the point. Instead, prepare for the silliest of moments from Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer as two inept superheroes who fight crime, long after their childhood best-friend days, and together, they learn what it’s like when two ordinary people are suddenly tasked with stopping supervillains. In other words, sit back and embrace the chaos because there’s plenty of it coming your way. The supporting cast includes Bobby Cannavale, Pom Klementieff, and Melissa Leo. Plus, Jason Bateman is onboard, which instantly makes any movie or TV show better

The Oprah Conversation (Friday, Apple TV+) — Eddie Murphy visits with the formidable host to discuss his return to movies and stand-up comedy, as well as his takes on cancel culture and diversity and representation throughout the business.

SNL (Saturday, NBC 11:29 p.m.) — Carey Mulligan hosts with musical guest Kid Cudi.

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (Sunday, NBC 9:00 p.m.) — Jane Levy continues her leading-lady musical turn with her powers glitching in a mysterious way after she visits a museum.

Fear the Walking Dead: Season 6B premiere (Sunday, AMC 9:00 p.m.) — Against all expectations (and the audience’s experience), this zombie-series spinoff transformed itself and surprised the hell out of even die-hard fans of The Walking Dead universe. Can the show continue to sustain its current momentum? The franchise’s fans sure hope so, as other spinoffs warm up in the background.

The Gloaming (Sunday, Starz 8:00 p.m.) — Lily’s life is in jeopardy because of Freddie, and Molly is racing against time.

Shameless (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — Kev and V are making strides to look for a buyer for an Alibi, and Lip finds a new job while Carl finds a new calling. Oh, and Ian and Mickey go furniture shopping, which should be disastrous.

City On A Hill (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — Season 2 of this Kevin Bacon show continues with Decourcy making a house call, and Jackie tracing an informant and using him as a pawn for his own devices.

Gangs Of London (Sunday, AMC 10:15 p.m.) — Fans of the beloved Peaky Blinders should pay attention because this new series makes Peaky seem like a pleasant walk in London’s Hyde Park. Warring gangs and a power vacuum and a city on its knees are only part of the attraction here. The rest is down to character-based writing and a wonderful cast that embodies a decidedly unglamorous take on warring criminal elements, all of which will prove to be addictive for anyone who loves The Sopranos or any of Marty Scorsese’s mob pictures. This week, Sean finds out new secrets about his dad’s death, and Elliot is uncovering truths elsewhere.

Last Week Tonight (Sunday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — Everyone’s favorite sarcastic and satiric late-night host is here to throw down, and not a moment too soon. Can’t wait to see who he skewers this week.

Here are some more fresh streaming picks:

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers (Disney+ series) — Emilio Estevez is back in this new-generation revival of the classic films. Co-starring Lauren Graham and Brady Noon, the Mighty Ducks junior hockey team is now a powerhouse in its division, and it’s brutal in selecting who can make the cut. Estevez is still the Ducks’ original coach, and he’s helping a new team of underdogs after the New Ducks boot a 12-year-old boy.

Made For Love (HBO Max series) — HBO Max recently struck dark-comedy gold with The Flight Attendant, and the WarnerMedia streamer is poised to do so again with Cristin Milioti maneuvering around a premise that’s even more dizzying than that of Palm Springs. Cristin stars as Hazel, and Ray Romano plays her father, who’s attempting to help her flee from a god-awful marriage with a guy (Billy Magnussen) who’s implanted a chip in her brain so that he can track her every move and emotion. It’s such a cynical spin on relationships, and it’s terrifying, all of it, to consider, but heck, this show will suck you into its compelling vortex. Did we mention that dad is a widower with a “synthetic partner”? Oh boy.

John Oliver recently devoted an entire deep-dive segment on Last Week Tonight to pointing out how Tucker Carlson is a conduit for white supremacist talking points, all despite pretending not to know what a supremacist is. Oliver then gave Tucker two new nicknames, including “relentlessly indignant picket fence” and “performatively outraged wedge salad,” which is beside the point but still accurate. On Thursday night, however, Tucker (who has been praised by countless well-known white supremacists, including David Duke) proved that Oliver is once again on-point by endorsing a white supremacist theory (the so-called “replacement theory”) by name:

“I know that the left and all the little gatekeepers on Twitter become literally hysterical if you use the term ‘replacement,’ if you suggest that the Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate, the voters now casting ballots, with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World. But they become hysterical because that’s what’ happening actually. Let’s just say it. That’s true.”

Tucker continued while suggesting that he (as a white man) is being “disenfranchised” by Democrats’ efforts to welcome a flood of immigrant voters:

“If you change the population, you dilute the political power of the people who live there. So every time they import a new voter, I become disenfranchised as a current voter… everyone wants to make a racial issue out of it. Oh, you know, the white replacement theory?”

The “replacement theory” is a far-right, white supremacist theory that suggests that the white race is being slowly replaced by other races through migration and resulting birthrates. Tucker’s on-air endorsement has been noticed.

As Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wrote on Twitter, “‘[R]eplacement theory’ is a white supremacist tenet that the white race is in danger by a rising tide of non-whites. It is antisemitic, racist and toxic. It has informed the ideology of mass shooters in El Paso, Christchurch and Pittsburgh.” He then added, “Tucker must go.”

Greenblatt was joined by others on social media, who are tired of Carlson’s shtick going unmoderated:

The on-air retort to this should be interesting, at least.

Rosie Perez was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 1994 Academy Awards for her performance in Fearless (she lost to The Piano star Anna Paquin). That was the last time she attended the Oscars, despite her being an Academy member.

Also, she’s Rosie Perez. She should have an open-door invitation for all events.

“Not even to sit in the audience, not to present, nothing — and I’m a member,” Perez told Variety. “I love the Academy Awards. I cheer on my peers, but it hurts. It’s like when your home team doesn’t ask you to come back into the stadium after you got up to bat and hit the home run.” The actress, who is of Puerto Rican descent, also discussed the Academy’s long history of ignoring non-white actors and actresses (only one Latina actress has won an Oscar, West Side Story‘s Rita Moreno, and that was 60 years ago).

“The biggest struggle has been navigating through other people’s shortcomings,” Perez says. “Other people’s bigotry, racism — and specifically the ones that don’t understand that they are bigots or racists.” At this year’s Oscars, only four of the 23 categories — Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc and Carlos Cortés in sound (Sound of Metal), Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibañez in documentary feature (The Mole Agent), and Shaka King in picture and original screenplay (Judas and the Black Messiah) — had any form of Latino representation.

This is why Birds of Prey should have been nominated for Best Picture. For one thing, it’s better than The Trial of the Chicago 7. Also, the Academy would have to invite Perez (who, again, should have a lifetime Oscars entry pass for Do the Right Thing and White Men Can’t Jump). “Yes, change is happening, but it’s too damn slow,” Perez said.

(Via Variety)

Fanclubwallet, the project of Canadian musician Hannah Judge that she named after a Dennis The Menace wallet her father had, started to gain some traction with a cover of The Talking Heads’ “This Must Be The Place” that she shared around this time last year. Since then, she recorded a new EP, Hurt Is Boring, which is set for release on May 14. Ahead of then, she has dropped a new single, “C’mon Be Cool,” a propulsive and deceptively groovy indie rock gem.

Judge says of the song, “I feel like a lot of people might have felt this way during the pandemic. You’re isolated, your life has changed so much in a year, and you realize that maybe everyone else’s lives have not changed in the same manner.” She also describes her style on Hurt Is Boring as “writing emo sh*t that doesn’t sound emo” and noted of the project, “It’s about taking the good with the bad. You can’t really appreciate one without the other.”

The EP emerged from some unfortunate circumstances: Judge spent ten months bedridden after a flare-up of her Crohn’s disease, but she ended up using that time to craft Hurt Is Boring.

Watch the “C’mon Be Cool” video above and find the Hurt Is Boring art and tracklist below.

1. “Car Crash In G Major”
2. “C’mon Be Cool”
3. “Flew Away”
4. “What’s Up?”
5. “Hurt Is Boring”

Hurt Is Boring is out 5/14 via AWAL. Pre-order it here.

Earl Simmons, the man known to the world as Dark Man X, has passed away at the age of 50. DMX, who was best known for hits like “Party Up” and “X Gon’ Give It To Ya” and film roles in Belly and Romeo Must Die, died after an apparent relapse, overdose, and heart attack on April 2 that sent him to the hospital and prompted a wave of supportive posts on social media. After a battery of tests to determine his brain function, his family made the decision to remove him from life support.

It may sound like a cliche, but it’s true; DMX shocked the world when he first arrived on the scene in 1995, appearing with Ja Rule, Jay-Z, and Mic Geronimo on the posse cut “Time To Build” and then utterly destroying his standout verse on LL Cool J’s “4, 3, 2, 1” with Canibus, Method Man, and Redman in 1997. By the time he released his debut major-label album, It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot, anticipation was just as high as the temperature in The Bad Place, leading to a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200. When he followed up later that year with Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, he became the first rapper to debut at No. 1 back-to-back in the same year.

From there, he had a string of successive hit albums and singles, including … And Then There Was X, The Great Depression, and Grand Champ. Songs like “Party Up,” “What These B*tches Want,” “Who We Be,” “Where Tha Hood At,” and “X Gon’ Give It to Ya” became pop culture fixtures and have remained popular to this day, with many forming the foundation of memes and samples used in hip-hop by top rappers like ASAP Rocky and Drake.

Unfortunately, a lifelong addiction to cocaine, which started at just 14 years old after he was given a laced blunt by an acquaintance, derailed his career multiple times. Legal issues led to multiple stints in prison, including a 2017 conviction for tax fraud prompting his most recent one. After his release in 2019, he seemed to be on the road to a comeback after completing rehab, plotting out a new album featuring Griselda Records and Pop Smoke, and appearing on Verzuz alongside Snoop Dogg.

X was open about his struggles, often making them the center of dark, sometimes menacing, sometimes vulnerable rhymes on his projects. However, no matter how sinister the subject matter, he always came back to his faith; his penchant for adding prayers to his albums and live shows is well-noted. Meanwhile, his vocal pyrotechnics, ranging from a threatening growl to the explosive barks he used as ad-libs (and reportedly trained one of his actual dogs to add to his live freestyles), were made all the more impressive by his lifelong struggle with asthma — which never stopped him from performing without a hype man, pacing the stage like a caged tiger.

He often stole the show; on posse cuts like Mase’s “24 Hours To Live,” he regularly out-rapped, outboasted, or out-performed his collaborators. For a time, he had a reasonable claim to the coveted “King of New York” title in the wake of Biggie’s death, alongside Ja Rule and Jay-Z, with whom he had an alternately friendly and contentious relationship. Although they came into the game at the same time and even plotted on a group project titled “Murder Inc.,” divisions between led to the dissolution of this idea, while fans pitted them against one another in top rapper debates.

Just check out the freestyle snippet from the Def Jam tour documentary, Backstage, where you can see DMX and Jay-Z trading bars during what was likely one of mania impromptu ciphers during their 1999 Hard Knock Life Tour. Jay-Z is cool, collected, and measured as always, but DMX is downright magnetic, speeding and slowing his cadence, one moment just as disaffected as his friend/rival, the next, agitated, belligerent, showing his teeth — just like one of his beloved pets might when a stranger gets a little too close.

X contained all of these emotions and more; his music was an expression of all things hip-hop, from the streetwise braggadocio typical of the biggest hits to the exposed, bloody trauma that he was never quite able to escape from. By putting it all into his music, he expanded the bounds of what rap could be capable of; he was fallible on “Slippin’,” fiery on “Who We Be,” triumphant on “Where The Hood At,” cautioning on “Stop Being Greedy,” and even played the lothario on “What These B*tches Want.” He could be a comedian, a horror film director, an action star, a drug kingpin, a stick-up kid, and a wounded child in need of comfort.

His albums created space and precedent for future rappers like Kanye West and Kid Cudi to address their own struggles with anxiety and depression. And even though X once professed to hate everything Drake stood for, he later softened his stance, understanding that Drake’s outlook was an extension of his own, with different traumas and worries, but the same vulnerability. Kendrick Lamar credits DMX as his favorite rapper for that quality, and he’s likely not the only one who does, as we’ll likely find out in the coming weeks.

DMX’s story could be tragic, but he never let the tragedies of his life solely define him. After all, this was a man who took the internet’s fascination with his gravelly rendition of “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” and ran with it, releasing a studio version that showed his lighthearted side. He was someone who knew just how hot hell could be, but at the height of his success, got close enough to glimpse heaven. The rap world won’t be the same without him, but it already changed so much because of him. He showed us the soul of a man and hopefully, that soul is finally at peace.

In the first episode of Uproxx’s newest show, Behind The Video, breakout Dallas star Erica Banks breaks down the making of the video for her viral hit, “Buss It.” Right off the bat, she debunks the belief that shooting a music video is a simple, straightforward process, then, she gets into some of the details, including the fact that she styled herself for the shoot, and even responds to a famous admirer’s YouTube comment while watching the video.

She also says that there was another “Buss It” video, but she refuses to let anyone else see it. When asked about the shorts she wears in the video, she reveals that the shorts are coming soon to her official merch site and asks fans to stay tuned.

During Banks’ visit to Uproxx Studios, she also delivered an electric live performance of “Buss It” for UPROXX Sessions. She also recently revealed that before signing to Warner Records, she was offered a deal with DaBaby’s label Billion Dollar Baby Entertainment, but turned it down to consider her options.

Watch Erica Banks break down her “Buss It” video above.

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

The music world suffered a gigantic loss on Friday morning. After spending several days in the hospital in critical condition, Earl Simmons, known to millions as DMX, died at age 50. DMX suffered a heart attack as a result of an apparent drug overdose on April 2, and a few days later, his manager said that he was in a comatose state and on life support, with his team of doctors performing a series of tests in an attempt to determine what would be best.

As is oftentimes the case when someone as revered as DMX passes away, the news led to plenty of people on social media — including many from the world of music — issuing up prayers and tributes. This also included a number of NBA players, including LeBron James and Bradley Beal, some of whom made it a point to look back on his life and legacy.

Eric Paschall of the Golden State Warriors posted a famous video of DMX at Woodstock ’99, where he performed “Ruff Ryders Anthem” in front of a packed, energetic crowd.

Charlotte Hornets youngster Miles Bridges made it a point to say that “this one hurt” and proclaimed that DMX is one of his favorite rappers.

The wait to see Tom Cruise run across movie screens just got a little longer. In a reshuffling of Paramount’s upcoming film slate, the studio has once again pushed back the release dates for both Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible 7. The long-awaited sequel to the 80’s classic was poised to make a patriotic comeback over the July 4th weekend, but it will now debut on November 19, which was the release date for seventh installment in the Mission: Impossible series. That film will now take a sizable step back and hit theaters on May 27, 2022.

As for the reasoning behind this latest release date shuffle, Paramount has remained extremely committed to releasing its films theatrically, and apparently, it’s not liking what it’s seeing in July. Via Deadline:

Top Gun: Maverick stands to be a billion-dollar grossing movie and Paramount isn’t going to let one buck of that slip away. Exhibition continues to be closed in Europe (with UK eyeing a May 17 reopening) and Brazil as they continue to grapple with Covid, and it’s going to take time for those markets to get back in shape. A late November date stands a better chance of Europe and Brazil being fully open for Top Gun: Maverick.

The Top Gun: Maverick delay is surprising given comments from Paramount president Chris Aronson in late January when he struck a confident tone that the film was set for flight in July. “We have no plans to move our theatrical release of Top Gun,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I think the next two months are critical, and whether the new administration can implement a robust vaccination plan. If Biden’s 100 million vaccines in 100 days works, then I think we’ll be in good shape.”

As we now know, Biden’s vaccination plan has been so successful that the administration hit its goal of 100 million shots in just 58 days and is hoping to double that goal by the time the 100 days are up. However, it appears that Paramount is now concerned with getting the most bang for its buck at the global box office, which remains in flux. Until then, it appears both Maverick and Ethan Hunt are grounded.

(Via Deadline)