Category: News

If you’ve never heard of “flacking” as an art form before, you’re not alone. The term, based on the French word for “puddle”—flaque—was coined by the artist known as Ememem, who has been “flacking” the streets of his hometown of Lyon, France, as well as other European cities.

What Ememem does is make “puddle” mosaics, filling in ugly potholes and missing chunks of walls with bright patterns. The effect is as striking as it is delightful—imagine walking down the street and suddenly seeing what used to be a broken chunk of sidewalk now filled with someone’s colorful creativity.

The people of Lyon call Ememem “the pavement surgeon”—a fitting moniker for the artist who covers the city’s cracks and crevices with beautiful bandaids.

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“I’m just a sidewalk poet, a son of bitumen,” Ememem says. (Bitumen is another word for asphalt.) “My work is the story of the city, where cobblestones have been displaced; a truck from the vegetable market tore off a piece of asphalt. Each becomes a flack.”

Sometimes his canvas is the street, sometimes it’s a sidewalk, sometimes it’s a wall. The effect almost creates a sense of mystery—as if the cracking of the cement or pavement is actually revealing the mosaic, instead of the mosaic filling it in.

Sidewalk poetry, indeed.

Ememem shares his work on Instagram, and scrolling through his photos like taking a delightful walk through the streets of Lyon.

He even includes some before and after photos. (Click the arrow on the right to see the after.)

Follow @ememem.flacking on Instagram for more flacking beautiful street art.

I think, maybe, I’ve figured out what makes the Fast and Furious franchise work – it’s secret formula, if you will. Or, at least, after watching movies at home for 14 months, it all feels just a little more in focus. Even though these movies kind of promote themselves on how much they are pushing the limits with each installment – hey, this time they are going to space! – there’s something very retro about the Fast and Furious movies. They feel a lot like ’90s action movies. (And I’ve watched a lot of ’90s action movies over the past year.) The heroes are earnest. The villains are hamming it up. Nothing is realistic. The plot doesn’t really matter, at least in that we, the audience, can be told anything and we’ll go along with it. It is about as far away from a “dark and gritty” movie as a movie can get, during an era where “dark and gritty” became the tiresome norm. (The only thing that’s really missing is being “casually rated R.”)

Is Vin Diesel the only true action star? At least in the classic ’90s sense? Because in the late ’90s when the Arnold and Sly and Jean-Claude style of movies all seemed to fade, the action star who could sell a movie on name alone went away and the box office was replaced by franchises: At first some superhero stuff (X-Men, Spider-Man, etc), some not (Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter), before the superhero genre really took over when the MCU started. And it seems, through all this, the only actors still trying to do pure action movies are Tom Cruise (but he’s known for other things than just “action,” he does have three Oscar nominations) and, frankly, actors who came from the world of professional wrestling. And then there’s Vin Diesel. Who this whole time just seems to be unfazed by the changing times and just keeps doing what he does best: being Vin Diesel, action star.

So you have Vin Diesel, basically one of the only prototypical action stars there are, who keeps making these overly earnest movies that are nonstop action. No wonder people love these movies. People loved ’90s action movies, too, but Hollywood just stopped making them. It’s a wonder while watching F9 why more studios just don’t make more ’90s style kinda dumb action movies. People obviously love them. And these Fast and Furious movies have pretty much cornered the market on the genre. It’s pretty remarkable. (Obviously the Mission: Impossible movies are still going strong, but there’s a difference. Those movies don’t have the “wink wink, we know this is ridiculous” tone that the Fast and Furious movies have, which is kind of a key to the ’90s action movie vibe. The first Mission: Impossible came out in the ’90s and even then didn’t feel like a typical ’90s action movie.)

Anyway, yes, the Fast and Furious gang goes to space now. They literally fly a car into space! It’s funny, I missed an exchange that explained a key plot point about what the main gizmo, that can destroy the world, even does and I didn’t care. It doesn’t matter. Everything we want out of these movies is all so baked in we will accept any amount of ridiculousness. All we want is someone to tell Dom Toretto that the jump he’s about to do can’t be done, then have Dom do it anyway, crash in a fiery explosion, then walk away unscathed. Perfect. I’m sitting here debating if I should really get into the intricacies of the plot and I’ve decided against it beyond saying there’s a gizmo the team has to find, and outer space is involved and the team hooks up some powerful magnets in their cars to do a bunch of crazy stunts.

Justin Lin returns to direct for the first time since Fast and Furious 6. These seem like very hard movies to make. And it’s telling that other directors, other than Lin, never make more than one. I’m tempted to say this feels like a more “back to basics” approach to the story, but with this franchise I don’t even know what that means. But a lot of the road stunts do look quite real, where I assume a lot of actual stunt work was done, as opposed to Dom fighting a CGI submarine. It’s a pretty thrilling race through the streets, as the aforementioned magnets push and pull items and cars every which way as Vin Diesel scowls his “Dom Toretto face” the whole way through. (Though, sadly, I don’t think Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson were actually in space.)

Or take the return of Sung Kang’s Han, who had been killed off at the end of the sixth movie, but is now back in this movie. (This is not a spoiler, he’s in the trailer.) I won’t spoil the explanation why Han is alive, but if I did, would it even matter? Honestly, in the movie, Dom could just solemnly look at the screen and say, “He’s alive because he just is. He’s family,” and that would have been good enough. I don’t care. No one cares. Just give us the goods.

I mean, this is a movie in which John Cena plays Vin Diesel’s brother! What? But yes, Dom and Mia’s (Jordana Brewster, who is back in on the action) brother, Jacob, who has never been mentioned before. The movie gives us a bunch of flashbacks to Dom and Jacob’s youth and tries to explain why Dom has a brother who looks nothing like him that he’s never mentioned before and it doesn’t matter. I appreciate the attempt at an explanation, but I don’t need it. I’m all in. After this past year, I just wanted to watch something ridiculous. And not in my own apartment. And as long as these movies keep their earnest, fun, ’90s action movie tone, there is no ridiculous plot point these movies could come up with I wouldn’t believe. By this point they’ve earned that. They are family.

‘F9’ hits theaters on June 25th. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

We already knew that J. Cole’s new album The Off-Season was going to dominate the Billboard charts but now that the charts have been published today, we can get a sense of just how dominant his latest effort really is. Yesterday, Billboard tweeted its usual snippets of information, telling us that The Off-Season was No.1 on the albums chart and that Cole had four songs in the top ten of the Hot 100 and in the top five of the most-streamed songs charts.

Today, with the charts released in full, we’ve learned that all 12 songs from J. Cole’s album have charted in the Hot 100 Top 40, an accomplishment that makes him the first since Juice WRLD’s posthumous album Legends Never Die also landed 12 songs in the Top 40 the week of its release. While it was previously reported that “My Life,” “Amari,” “Pride Is The Devil,” and “95 South” had debuted in the top 10 (at No. 2, 5, 7, and 8, respectively), we now know where the remaining tracks from the album fall: “Applying Pressure” is No.13, “100 Mil” is No.14, “Interlude” (which previously debuted at No.8) is No.17, “Let Go My Hand” is No.19, “Punchin’ The Clock” is No.20, “The Climb Back” returned to the chart with a new peak at No. 25, “Hunger On The Hillside” is No.28, and “Close” is No.33.

Jesse Plemons may be most recognizable from his work in such ensemble series as Friday Night Lights, Breaking Bad, Fargo, and Black Mirror, but he’s always one of the best parts of any show he is in. And his two Emmy nominations—for Fargo in 2016 and Black Mirror in 2018—are certainly proof of that. Now, The Wrap reports that this lucky charm of an actor is joining Elizabeth Olsen in Love and Death, the new HBO limited series that tells the story of axe murderer Candy Montgomery, who captured the national media’s attention in the 1980s when she murdered her neighbor and BFF Betty Gore.

Plemons will play Betty Gore’s husband Allan, whose affair with Candy was the catalyst for the brutal murder. Love and Death is based on John Bloom and Jim Atkinson’s book Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs, as well as a series of Texas Monthly articles. The logline for the series, which is being written by David E. Kelley, is: “Two church going couples, enjoying small town family life in Texas, until somebody picks up an axe.” Oh, those church going couples!

Perhaps most interesting about Love and Death is that much like in 1993, when viewers were treated to not one but two stories about “The Long Island Lolita” Amy Fisher—Alyssa Milano’s Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story and Drew Barrymore’s The Amy Fisher Story—there are dueling Candy Montgomery stories in the works. In addition to HBO’s Love and Death, The Handmaid’s Tale star Elisabeth Moss will play Montgomery in the Hulu limited series Candy, which is being executive produced by The Act’s Nick Antosca and Robin Veith (with whom Moss worked on Mad Men).

Only time will tell whether Elizabeth or Elisabeth reigns supreme—but at least The Scarlet Witch has Plemons on her side.

(Via The Wrap)

The rise of NFTs in the music industry has been rapid over the past several months, with seemingly every big artist breaking into the cryptocurrency art market. But the prevalence of NFTs have also caused some backlash among fans who have noted the massive amount of energy it takes to use cryptocurrency. But a new NFT marketplace aims to offer an environmentally-friendly option, and artists like Doja Cat, H.E.R., and Charlie Puth have already signed on.

OneOf is an NFT marketplace aimed specifically at musicians and their fans. The platform uses Tezos blockchain, which they claim in press materials uses “over 2 million times less energy than other networks such as Ethereum, and requires the same energy as sending out a tweet.” Along with reducing energy consumption, OneOf has committed to donating a percentage of their platform’s revenue from every sale to charity.

Doja Cat has already signed on to be one of the first artists to mint an NFT on OneOf’s platform. “I cannot wait to release my first Juicy Drops collection,” she said in a statement. “However, I want to be mindful of environmental concerns and accessibility to all of my fans before we go live. Happy to now be working with OneOf who is addressing both of these issues.”

This isn’t the first time Doja Cat will be minting NFTs. Back in April, the singer launched her first collection of NFTs through her own curated NFT marketplace, Juicy Drops. The cryptoart was designed by toy designer BOOMTRONIC and was inspired by her 2021 Grammys performance.

Along with Doja Cat, H.E.R., and Charlie Puth, other artists that have signed onto OneOf’s platform include Quincy Jones, John Legend, TLC, Jacob Collier, G-Eazy, AURORA, The Kid LAROI, and Alesso. It was co-founded in partnership with Quincy Jones and Quincy Jones Productions, and raised over $63 million in funding so far.

OneOf officially launches to the public in June. Find out more information here.

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

I’ve said it before and I’ll say that again: there are not enough movies about a team of female assassins starring Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Angela Bassett, Michelle Yeoh, Carla Gugino, and, uh, Paul Giamatti. In fact, there’s only one: Gunpowder Milkshake.

It sounds like an expression born on Urban Dictionary, but it’s actually a fun-looking action movie directed by Navot Papushado (Big Bad Wolves) starring Gillan as a hit-woman raised by a crime syndicate who reunites with her mom (Headey) to protect an eight-year-old girl. “There’s not a single person on Earth I’d rather kill people with.” “Thanks mom.” It looks like a blast.

Here’s the official plot summary:

Sam was only 12 years old when her mother Scarlet, an elite assassin, was forced to abandon her. Sam was raised by The Firm, the ruthless crime syndicate her mother worked for. Now, 15 years later, Sam has followed in her mother’s footsteps and grown into a fierce hit-woman. She uses her “talents” to clean up The Firm’s most dangerous messes. She’s as efficient as she is loyal. But when a high-risk job goes wrong, Sam must choose between serving The Firm and protecting the life of an innocent 8-year-old girl, Emily. With a target on her back, Sam has only one chance to survive: Reunite with her mother and her lethal associates: The Librarians. These three generations of women must now learn to trust each other, stand up to The Firm and their army of henchmen, and raise hell against those who could take everything from them.

Gunpowder Milkshake comes out on Netflix on July 14.

Frankie Cosmos is a beloved group in the indie scene, but less renowned is the YouTube channel the band’s Greta Kline runs. On her “floponyourbelly” account, she has a hair over 300 subscribers and has been sporadically active, uploading a few dozen videos over the past decade. Her two latest uploads, though, are pretty great: Over the weekend, she covered Taylor Swift’s “Invisible String” and Guided By Voices’ “Game Of Pricks.”

Both renditions are simple bedroom recordings, with Kline wearing comfy clothes, sitting cross-legged and playing guitar. The finger-picked melodies of “Invisible String” work nicely when played on electric guitar by Kline.

She wrote in the description of the video, “challenging myself to play covers and to view myself as a player, not just a writer. i never really think of myself as a performer (especially after the past year of not touring), so I like to do covers purely because they feel good to play. also learning from filming myself that what feels good doesn’t always sound good, but sounding good doesn’t really mean anything?” In the description of the Guided By Voices cover, Kline also noted that her new videos are her just “playing songs in my house for fun and learning only.”

Check out Kline’s Swift cover above and her Guided By Voices cover below.

Jimmy Kimmel and Ted Cruz’s feud shows no sign of slowing down.

Last week, the sh*tposting senator shared a Russian propaganda video in an attempt to shame America’s “woke, emasculated military.” He has been endlessly mocked ever since, including by the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host, who brought up the tweet during his monologue on Monday. “Ted Cruz, who four years ago took permanent residence up the ass of a man who beat him in every election by calling his wife ugly and slandering his elderly father, says this is emasculating. Primarily because Ted Cruz is not human. He is a moist, gelatinous tubeworm whose elastic-band pants are filled with an inky discharge every time he speaks,” he said, adding, “Maybe this would be more Ted’s speed.”

“Ted’s speed” is however fast he can get out of Texas during a crisis. Anyway, in response to the insult, Cruz tweeted, “[Jimmy Kimmel] keeps talking crap. Really tough guy. Here’s a reminder, when we played one-on-one, I kicked his ass. He has to live with that… forever. Rematch, punk?” He’s referring to the basketball game they played for charity in 2018, where the late-night host asked the senator, “Did you spend more time this week practicing basketball than trying to get those kids out of that detention center?”

A potential rematch will have to wait, as Kimmel did not accept Cruz’s invitation.

Just a typical Monday night for Ted. Watch the monologue above.

Arkansas rapper Bankroll Freddie has been on the come-up in recent months, signing with Quality Control Music, releasing celebrated videos for “Add It Up” and “Pop It” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, and receiving a profile in XXL‘s “The Break” column. However, the trap rapper has perhaps kept it too real as he rises to fame (see his “Last Real Trap Rapper” video above), as reports and rumors recently surfaced that he’d been shot. While the sources themselves were somewhat dubious — among them VladTV and SayCheeseTV — Freddie himself seemed to confirm the reports on social media.

Reposting a well-wisher’s screenshot of one outlet’s headline, Freddie’s post seemed to verify the original post’s content. Meanwhile, a separate video on the story was captioned “I’m good” as Freddie leaned back to show a wound on his chin, although it’s unclear whether this is the reported gunshot wound.

While getting shot sucks, it’s a doubly inopportune moment for him, as he’s just about a month past the release of his debut project for Quality Control, Big Bank. Released in early April, the mixtape is a star-studded affair that includes appearances from major stars like 2 Chainz, Gucci Mane, and Young Dolph, as well as fellow rising artists Big30 and EST Gee. As far as breakout projects go, Big Bank is as close to a star-making vehicle as it gets, so hopefully, Freddie can recover soon and get back to promoting his music on Instagram rather than showing off scars.

You can see Freddie’s response and his video for “Last Real Trap Rapper” above.

This week in pop music saw a number of highly-anticipated releases. Olivia Rodrigo dropped her debut album Sour, Lil Nas X shared a more personal tune, and Lana Del Rey offered a taste of her upcoming LP.

Each week, Uproxx rounds up the best new pop releases. Listen up.

Olivia Rodrigo — “Enough For You”

Breakout star Olivia Rodrigo released her buzzyworthy album Sour this week after her debut single “Drivers License” made her one of the biggest stars to watch in 2021. The eclectic effort boasts a number of dancey tunes, but it also features a handful of lovelorn tracks like “Enough For You.” The acoustic number allows for Rodrigo’s radical honesty and showcases her soaring vocal range as she sings of finally realizing her self-worth in a relationship.

Lil Nas X — “Sun Goes Down”

Following the release of his his hip-shaking tune “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” Lil Nas X dropped “Sun Goes Down” ahead of his SNL performance as his most vulnerable track to date. Over a rolling beat, the musician details the insecurities he faced growing up and feeling like an outsider. He sings of coping with his demons and learning that life truly does get better.

Lana Del Rey — “Blue Banisters”

Though it’s only been a few months since the last Lana Del Rey album, the singer is already gearing up for another release. Without warning, Del Rey dropped three tracks from her upcoming project this week, including the title track “Blue Banisters.” The song goes back to her singer/songwriter roots as she delivers a tender piano ballad detailing real-life scenarios (she even name drops her two dogs Tex and Mex)!

Marshmello, Jonas Brothers — “Leave Before You Love Me”

Ever since the Jonas Brothers released their 2019 album Happiness Begins, they’ve more than made a comeback. Now, they are returning for their first single of 2021 (discounting Nick Jonas’ solo effort). The summer-ready jam “Leave Before You Love Me” is a groove-driven collaboration with producer Marshmello, dropped just ahead of their performance at the Billboard Music Awards.

BTS — “Butter”

After weeks of teasing, BTS‘ new single “Butter” is finally here. Complete with a captivating hook, grand chorus, and shimmering chords, it’s sure to be their next hit. It’s also their second-ever fully English language song, which follows the massive success of their first English track “Dynamite,” so this one is sure to be equally successful.

Anne-Marie — “Our Song” Feat. Niall Horan

With “Our Song,” Anne-Marie announces her upcoming album Therapy as a follow up to her 2018 breakout Speak Your Mind, which was the UK’s biggest-selling debut release of that year. The fluttering duet details the difficulty of being constantly reminded of a past relationship, a vulnerability that Anne-Marie shares elsewhere on her upcoming album. “My lyrics are my open diary to you all and writing this album has helped me focus and understand my feelings,” she said about the LP.

Marina — “Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land”

Marina returned to share another look at her upcoming album. This time, it’s the snappy and futuristic title track “Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land,” which features buoyant synths under Marina’s hypnotic lyrical delivery. “Our ancestors had to fight to survive / Just so we could have a chance of a life / We’re not here so we can blow it all / We could bear witness to the rise and the fall,” she sings, reflecting on her place in history and how our actions impact the earth’s future.

Oneohtrix Point Never, Rosalía — “Nothing’s Special”

The last we heard from Oneohtrix Point Never, he was collaborating with The Weekend and dropping the album Magic Oneohtrix Point Never. Now, the musician has tapped Rosalía to add her vocals on his LP’s album closer “Nothing’s Special.” The reimagined track adds much dimension to the song. Rosalía’s moving vocals melt over drawn-out synths, evoking a certain melancholy as she sings of losing a friend.

Rebecca Black — “Worth It For The Feeling”

With her recent singles, Rebecca Black has been leaning into hyperpop territory. But her latest track “Worth It For The Feeling” offers a more sultry R&B tune. The song moves Black one step closer to her impeding album, which she said is going to be a reintroduction of her artistry. “This year has really been a reintroduction of not only where I’m at in my music but really everything surrounding that to create a full picture,” Black said. “It’s so fun for me to play sexy in a more unconventional and unusual way – and I want to keep challenging myself to disrupt the idea that people might have of the direction I am going in next.”

Bleachers — “Stop Making This Hurt”

Jack Antonoff has spent the last few years producing the biggest pop hits for artists from Taylor Swift to Lana Del Rey. But now, he’s reviving his band Bleachers with the effortlessly fun tune “Stop Making This Hurt.” While the song has been in Antonoff’s head for years, he said it came to light after missing playing life shows: “‘Stop Making This Hurt’ is what you get when we are not allowed to go play for our people. it’s a line that had been ringing in my head for years. i fell into a dark place after a loss and then starting to have that feeling of rage towards the depression — which is when you know there’s a way out. started looking at the people close to me in my life and finding all the ways we keep ourselves from breaking through.”

Banoffee — “Tapioca Cheeks”

With her first single of 2021, Banoffee melts heartbreak into a moody electropop tune. “Tapioca Cheeks” features skittering beats and Banoffee’s metallic-tinged vocals about a complicated relationship. “It’s about the fears that come with diving in with someone,” Banoffee said of the track. “How love can be awful as well as wonderful at the same time, because it’s just so damn scary. ‘Tapioca Cheeks’ is a dedication to someone, for them to feel loved and held even when they feel completely incapable or unlovable.”

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