Category: News

Taylor Swift’s surprise album Evermore dominated pop music this week, but there were still a handful of other talented artists with big releases. Britney Spears made a bouyant return, Shawn Mendes tapped girlfriend Camila Cabello for a cutesy Christmas jingle, and Noah Cyrus served up an introspective ballad.

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

Taylor Swift — “No Body, No Crime” Feat. Haim

Of course, any new Taylor Swift release will surely earn Uproxx’s best new pop stamp of approval — especially when it’s a collaboration with Haim. Swift tapped the sister trio for the twang-infused femme fatale anthem “No Body, No Crime,” whey they harmonize of using instincts to catch a killer in his tracks.

Britney Spears — “Matches” Feat. Backstreet Boys

This week also saw a release from a major pop star. Britney Spears released another deluxe version of her album Glory and it included to brand-new song “Matches.” The Backstreet Boys collaboration not only offers nostalgia for the early aughts, but its bouncy beat makes it a surefire bop in any decade.

Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello — “The Christmas Song”

Following the massive success of their 2019 collaboration “Señorita,” musical sweethearts Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello have teamed up for another duet. This time, they’re getting in a cozy holiday mood with the sing “The Christmas Song,” a swooning piano ballad which raised funds for the non-profit organization Feeding America.

Madison Beer — “Boysh*t”

Fresh off a handful of releases and her appearance at this year’s VMAs ceremony, Madison Beer returns with the cutting track “Boysh*t.” Over a thumping beat, Beer sings of finally breaking off a toxic relationship once-and-for-all.

Noah Cyrus — “All Three”

Noah Cyrus may have released her debut album this year, but that doesn’t mean she’s done releasing new music. Cyrus returned this week with “All Three,” a heartbreakingly personal ballad about the ups-and-downs of tumultuous relationship.

JP Saxe, Julia Michaels — “Kissin’ In The Cold”

JP Saxe and songwriter Julia Michaels were another pair of musicians who were getting into the holiday spirit this week with the soaring collaboration “Kissin’ In The Cold.” The tender collaboration follows the artists’ previous collaboration “If The World Was Ending,” which earned the pair Grammy nomination for Song Of The Year.

SG Lewis — “Time” Feat. Rhye

Ahead of his long-awaited debut album due out this February, SG Lewis linked up with Rhye for the club-ready single “Time.” “‘Time’ is a song that is central to the album thematically and sonically,” SG Lewis said about the track. “Rhye has one of the most unique and distinctive voices out there, and I’ve been a fan for so long.”

Alexander 23 and Jeremy Zucker — “Nothing’s The Same”

Two of pop’s sweethearts got together for an earnest single. With “Nothing’s The Same,” Alexander 23 and Jeremy Zucker croon of the woes of getting older and moving on from past relationships.

Shaed — “Once Upon A Time”

Shaed returned for their third single of the year with “Once Upon A Time,” a cathartic reflection on young love. “‘Once Upon A Time’ is about the tragic nature of being young and in love,” Shaed said in a statement. “First relationships are filled with intense feelings of love, hope, doubt, and regret. In the blink of an eye, you go from believing you’ll die in a person’s arms to watching the walls of the foundation you build crumble around you.”

The Avalanches — “The Divine Chord”

Feat. MGMT and Johnny Marr

Veteran electronic duo The Avalanches released their album We Will Always Love You this week, their first full-length effort in four years. While the 25-track record boasted a number of captivating tracks, one standout is undoubtedly their sparkling collaboration with MGMT and Johnny Marr.

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

For his debut music video, “To The Moon,” Quinton Brock thought of every detail down to the well-worn sneakers on his feet. He didn’t just roll up on a bike as his Pixies-esque power chords rang out, but did so shirtless and in dark Levi’s — a nod to one of his idols Pharrell Williams from N.E.R.D.’s “Provider” clip. The rose he burns at the end of the song is a symbol of unrequited love, an image he hopes to work with as he develops his own merch line. And he didn’t lace up just any pair of kicks, but black Converse Chuck Taylors, which he considers to be the “original rock star shoe.”

“It’s all about those Converse sneakers,” he says when asked above his favorite pieces in his closet. “When I think of rock music, I think of Converse, the Ramones, Julian Casablancas — all these great artists. That’s why in ‘To the Moon,’ the very first time that you see me, I swing my leg over that bike and I flip my ankle out so you see that Converse logo. I really wanted to make sure that everyone knows that was the shoe that was chosen, that classic Black converse.”

Brock — an up-and-coming rocker who’s eyeing the release of his full-length debut in 2021 — has been preparing for, and dressing for, this moment his whole life. He has a keen eye, one he’s honed as a fashion-forward thinker who’s modeled for Vogue and elsewhere, and seeks to imbue everything he creates with layers of meaning, from his music videos down to his merch. Born and raised in Buffalo, Brock credits his hometown, and its proximity to the U.S.-Canadian border, for his sartorial spark.

“We really get it in on the fashion tip, because everyone’s always coming up from New York and [down] from Toronto with all the different clothes,” he says. “While we’re not as early as New York, I’d get stuff six months, seven months after. It was a huge influence growing up, just watching the fashion shows and making my own brands. We’d always paint on our own t-shirts when we didn’t want to buy t-shirts and everything. It’s all a piece of it.”

They’d hit the thrift store, too, which is a regular destination Brock mines for inspiration. A fervent believer in the power of a high-low mix, Brock is less about the brands and more about meshing cheap and tagless finds — like the Levi’s 511 jeans he scored for $11, or his “Nickelodeon shirt,” a no-name blue, purple, and orange button-down — with Comme des Garçon tees, as he wears in the “To the Moon” video, or designer scores. He appreciates a hand-me-down Wrangler jean jacket as much as he does a beautifully tailored suit, and if he had the chance to play Madison Square Garden tomorrow, he’s work in a costume change or two to rock both looks.

“It doesn’t matter if it costs $3 or $3,000 — if it’s dope, it’s dope,” he says of honing his thrifting shops in his hometown. “The kids will hang around all the expensive stuff, but then if they see something, or they see somebody walk up, and they’re like, ‘You got that out the thrift? That’s hot.’ I found this Dior pullover at a thrift store for $13. It’s incredible.”

Buffalo’s hip-hop scene offered endless inspiration to Brock, who constantly turned to Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine, and Benny The Butcher — a.k.a. rap collective Griselda — for their streetwear and strong merch game. For him, a tee or sweatshirt copped at a show is more than a garment: it’s a chance to elevate your art to another medium instead of treating it as a wearable advertisement.

“The way [Westside Gunn] has taken on the merch game, the way he’s taken on the design, the fashion, his clothing, he’s created something that’s more popular than Supreme,” he says, “It’s culture; it’s a piece of that. That’s what I hope to inspire. I want to bring a piece of that hip-hop fashion culture to rock music, because rock music has never felt it before.”

Brock eventually made his way to Brooklyn, where he’s currently plotting and planning for the rollout of his debut album, the shows he’ll play to support it, and what will fill the merch table. Unsurprisingly, his notebooks are brimming with sketches and ideas, and he’s quick to gush about his friends and collaborators. The stunning yet simple silver necklace Brock wears in “To the Moon” is a KHYRIE piece, and Brock is looking forward to teaming up with Jameel Mohammed, its creator, to craft his own jewelry. He approaches these projects with the same intensity he does his music: no production is complete without a compelling visual, and Brock wants every aspect of his live show to be as flawless and eye-catching as the fashion-forward pieces he’s dreaming up in the meantime. He’s gone so far as to create an Instagram filter that corresponds with the lighting design and visuals that play behind him during his set. As it was with “To the Moon,” every last detail counts.

“Aspects of my personality are shown through the music and the aesthetic value of what I bring, just who I am,” he says. “What you see is what you get with me. I got a literal chip tattooed on my shoulder. My next tattoo, I’m gonna get my heart on my sleeve. I just want to do everything I can in the best way.”

Following the news that Zack Snyder’s upcoming version of Justice League will probably be R-rated thanks to Batman dropping a F-bomb, Shazam! director David F. Sandberg had a little fun with that information. In a hilarious video posted to Twitter, Sandberg tweaked an infamous exchange between Ben Affleck’s Batman and Henry Cavill’s Superman that shows how a well-timed bleep can dramatically change even the grittiest of scenes.

You can watch the video from Sandberg below:

Of course, any nerd will tell you that this scene is actually from Batman V Superman, not Justice League, but don’t worry, Sandberg is way ahead of you. “Since this is the internet: Yes, this is the wrong movie,” he wrote in a follow-up tweet. “This is a joke, not a slight against Snyder. I look forward to finally watching his JL. But yes, I suck and Shazam! is a Deadpool wannabe movie for babies, etc.”

Sandberg’s joke stems from a new interview with Snyder where he reveals why thinks the MPAA will slap his four hour director’s cut with an R-rating before it debuts on HBO Max. Via Entertainment Weekly:

Asked for details about what makes the new footage explicit, Snyder reveals, “There’s one scene where Batman drops an F-bomb. Cyborg is not too happy with what’s going on with his life before he meets the Justice League, and he tends to speak his mind. And Steppenwolf is pretty much just hacking people in half. So [the rating would be due to] violence and profanity, probably both.”

Snyder also shared his hopes for releasing the “Snyder Cut” theatrically, which might be a tad optimistic. Has he looked at the news lately?

(Via David F. Sandberg on Twitter)

What the best song of the year was is up for debate. What’s not quite as open to interpretation, though, is what the most impactful song of the year was, which has to be Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP.” It’s the most talked-about single of 2020, even months after its summer release. Now Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker has weighed in, and he’s a fan.

Parker was profiled for a recent Triple J feature, and his thoughts on the song from that interview didn’t make it into that piece, although it was used in a new Megan Thee Stallion feature. In the story, Parker is quoted as saying of “WAP,” “For me, it’s the most memorable song of 2020. I just think it’s a perfect song. It feels great, the lyrics are great, the production fits. It’s so outlandish and brave.”

The Tame Impala leader isn’t the only big-time artist to discuss the song lately. Snoop Dogg recently shared some critical thoughts about the track, although he later walked that back, clarifying on Instagram, “Stop wit the bullsh*t press I love Cardi b and Meg. Music period point blank and they know that I’m n full support of the female. M. C. Movement so stop trying to make me a hater. U.F.D.H.B. Now carry on Before u get this. L.A. D. [laughing emoji]. That song 6xs platinum talk about that.”

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

Geraldo Rivera’s having quite a time lately. Recently, he ridiculously suggested that a COVID-19 vaccine should be named after Trump, which caused plenty of laughter, but a few days ago, he revealed that Trump is very mad at him and won’t even speak to him (“he didn’t take my calls the last two times I tried”) because Geraldo adopted the (true) position that the election is finished. This, of course was a prominent subject on Fox News after Joe Biden sealed the Electoral College deal on Monday, yet the MAGAs are still somehow here for Trump as their president and patron saint. And Geraldo only wants Trump to get the conceding business done.

To that end, Geraldo went off on Trump activist Charlie Kirk, who insisted that “there are still plenty of pending legal challenges,” despite Trump’s “Elite Strike Force” of lawyers striking out at every turn, and the Supreme Court (twice) shutting down Trump-focused election challenges. Geraldo called Kirk “so dishonest,” and Kirk refused to grasp the truth of the matter, and things got shouty.

“For six weeks!” Rivera yelled. “We have litigated this for six weeks! Twice the Supreme Court of the United States rejected it and you have to stop this.”

Geraldo also lectured Kirk for attempting to give “false hope” to his fellow MAGA devotees. And Geraldo posted a Twitter video before the electoral college results were final: ““I hope that the president of the United States can have it his heart to put aside this election he has lost.” He concluded, “If he sticks it out any further, or much further, he will really appear as a sore loser.”

Taylor Swift is big on dropping Easter eggs for her fans to find, and months ago, Swifties thought they spotted another one in an alternate Folklore album cover, which they believed teased a new album called Woodvale. That theory picked up more steam in recent days after Swift decided to surprise-release her second album of the year, Evermore. It turns out, though, that there is no album called Woodvale coming, and the “hint” that Swift “dropped” wasn’t a hint at all, but a mistake that slipped through the cracks.

Swift guested on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night and Kimmel asked her about the Woodvale rumors. Swift revealed that Woodvale was a code name for Evermore and that she forgot to take the word off the image, which is understandable considering it’s barely visible on the art. So, in a way, Woodvale actually was released. Swift said:

“OK, well, this takes a bit of explanation. So, I tend to be sort of annoyingly secret agent-y about dropping clues and hints and Easter eggs. It’s very annoying but it’s fun for fans and it’s fun for me because they like to pick up on things. They’ll notice lots of things in music videos or photos or whatever, and then sometimes, I take it too far and I make a mistake. Basically, when I was making Folklore, the album that came out back in July, I was too afraid to even unveil the title of the album to even my closest teammates and management. I didn’t tell anybody the album title until right before it came out. So I came up with a fake code name that had the same amount of letters as Folklore, chose a random name, chose Woodvale, wanted to see how it would look on the album covers, mocked them up, and then decided I don’t actually want to have a title on the album covers, and we forgot to take the fake code name off of one of them.”

She also disclosed Evermore‘s code name: “Evermore had a code name: It was November. But we remembered to take it off all the mock-ups of the album covers before we released them this time, so we learned our lesson.”

Watch the full interview above.

It’s the moment that’s often credited for Donald Trump deciding to run for president: the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Association dinner when President Barack Obama zinged the former The Celebrity Apprentice host for spewing birther nonsense. “No one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the Donald,” Obama said. “That’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like: Did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?” Trump was so mad — and unfortunately, five years later, he got his revenge.

The Daily Show host Trevor Noah asked Obama if he’d “be more careful going forward about who you roast” in a preview for Tuesday’s episode. “You roasted Donald Trump, he ran for president, you roasted Kanye West, he ran for president,” Noah said. “So, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you have an ability to inspire people to run for the highest office in the land with some of the jokes you tell about them.” Obama replied, “I should roast people I admire more. I’ll start roasting you, man. Who knows?” He then revisited the BS birther scandal, telling the South Africa-born Noah, “Although you weren’t born here, so. But, look, I was able to get away with it apparently. Who knows?”

Watch the clip above.

As HBO Max ramps up its content offerings, it’s aiming to compete with Netflix in a space otherwise dominated by the veteran streamer: True crime. In addition to Murder of Middle Beach, The Vow, and Alabama Snake, HBO also recently launched The Mystery of D.B. Cooper, John Dower’s (Thrilla in Manilla) documentary examining the nation’s only unsolved skyjacking.

As the documentary lays out, Dan (or D.B.) Cooper — a pseudonym of the unidentified man — hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft flying between Portland and Seattle in November 1971. He ransomed $200,000 from the FBI and then parachuted out of the plane. In spite of extensive manhunt, the whereabouts of Cooper was never discovered. Investigators still don’t know who Dan Cooper is, nor do they know if he survived. It’s one of those enduring unsolved mysteries that resurface in the popular conscience every few years, most recently when Mad Men yarn-wallers speculated that Jon Hamm’s Don Draper could be D.B. Cooper (it was the second most popular Mad Men theory, after the Sharon Tate theory that originated on this site).

Dower’s doc explores four theories, and if there’s anything wrong with The Mystery of D.B. Cooper, it’s that each theory is so plausible that they almost cancel each other out. I was convinced that each Dan Cooper suspect was the culprit until HBO did a deep dive on the next suspect, complete with talking-head interviews with subjects convinced their husband, or father, or former neighbor was Cooper. A number of authors (ahem, conspiracy theorists) weigh in as well. Ultimately, there is enough evidence to make the case that any one of the four could have been D.B. Cooper, which is both fun and frustrating. By the halfway point, I was certain one of the four did it, but by the end, I was no closer to understanding which of the four was responsible. The reality is, it’s probably none of the four.

In the end, it almost doesn’t matter who Dan Cooper was, because the documentary isn’t as interested in uncovering that mystery as it is in scratching the same itch so many of us had while watching Mad Men. It’s not about who D.B. Cooper is; it’s about who we are, and the nature of our obsessions. Take, for example, a retired Florida woman in the documentary who claims (repeatedly) to have lost years of her life trying to prove that her husband — who allegedly confessed on his death bed — was D.B. Cooper. While the evidence — pieced together with her “memory assistant” — is often compelling, she could have easily arrived at her conclusions by working backward from what the country collectively knew about D.B. Cooper at the time and fitting her husband’s actions into the timeline.

Sometimes, we create narratives in order to give our lives meaning, and that’s exactly what Dower’s documentary sneakily explores in interviews with friends and family members of those convinced they knew Dan Cooper, and in “experts” who have devoted years of their lives to exploring the mystery. There’s an elderly man, for instance, who has been walking the woods where Cooper purportedly parachuted every day for decades, searching for clues. Meanwhile, there’s another gentleman so consumed by the obsession that he has given up on all the other aspects of his life, and now he lives in squalor, surrounded by “documents” and “evidence” upon which he confers meaning.

The reality is, D.B. Cooper is probably dead. It would have been difficult, if not impossible, to survive parachuting out of a commercial airliner. In fact, years after the hijacking, a boy found a small cache of banknotes from the ransom along the Columbia River. It’s in that river where D.B. Cooper’s remains probably lie. Our obsession, however, will continue to live for an eternity, or at least until Reddit finally figures it out.

‘The Mystery Of D.B. Cooper’ is now available to stream on HBO Max.

Dionne Warwick has wrapped up her 2020 by becoming one of the most delightful people on Twitter. Earlier this month, she revealed that she’s a Taylor Swift fan, and around the same time, she playfully made fun of Chance The Rapper and The Weeknd’s stage names. Now she has handed out even more praise, this time towards Billie Eilish, even if there was a bit of confusion involved.

Last night, she tweeted, “I took the time to check out William Eyelash. Very spooky. Great vocals. @billieeilish.” She added in another tweet, “She is singing like it is Halloween.”

Given that Warwick is prone to joking on Twitter, it was assumed that she was just kidding about calling Eilish by her silly nickname (which was used by Rainn Wilson back in early 2019). That said, Warwick later followed up, “I thought her name was William Eyelash from the @nbcsnl performance. I do know her name is Billie now.” Somebody replied, “I thought you were kidding,” and Warwick responded, “Why?”

So, either Warwick is trolling and new Eilish’s real name all along, or she really did think one of the most popular musicians in the world was named William Eyelash. Considering she was struck by the apparent oddity of performing names like Chance The Rapper and The Weeknd, the latter option wouldn’t be all that surprising.

Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens beat the Browns 47-42 in Cleveland on Monday night in what was the best game of the 2020 regular season. Jackson orchestrated the go-ahead and then game-winning drives for the Ravens in the final two minutes, but that came after a lengthy period in which he was in the locker room.

Jackson went to the locker room with a 34-20 lead in the early fourth quarter with what the Ravens eventually told ESPN’s Lisa Salters was a cramping issue. However, the way he trotted through the tunnel to the locker room made many wonder if this was, instead, a digestive issue and he was having a lengthy visit to the bathroom.

This led to a tremendous number of poop jokes on social media, with many referencing the infamous Paul Pierce incident in the 2008 NBA Finals in which the Celtics star left in a wheelchair only to return later to play. Many have posited Pierce actually had to poop, and Pierce himself even said as much last year — although he would later insist that was a joke.

Jackson was asked after the game about what happened and was very much aware of the speculation he was having intestinal issues, and firmly denied it, saying he did not “pull a Paul Pierce.”

It’s an incredible quote and given the length of time Jackson was in the locker room the cramping issue seems very much like the real thing that happened. That said, even this firm denial will not stop the speculation on social media, and we’ll have to see if 11 years in the future Jackson offers a similar revelation to Pierce.