Apple and Brie do go quite well together, which perhaps is why Brie Larson signing on for an Apple TV drama makes so much sense. The Captain Marvel actress has reportedly signed on to star in Lessons In Chemistry for the streaming service.

Variety reported Friday that Larson would take the lead role and serve as executive producer in the project, which will go straight to series on Apply TV drama from Susannah Grant, who got an Oscar nomination for Erin Brockovich. The period piece actually does have a culinary angle to it, but also looks to be a series Apple has high hopes for given the casting.

The series is based on the upcoming debut novel from author, science editor, and copywriter Bonnie Garmus. Set in the early 1960s, “Lessons in Chemistry” follows Elizabeth Zott (Larson), whose dream of being a scientist is put on hold in a society deeming that women belong in the domestic sphere, not the professional one. When Elizabeth finds herself pregnant, alone and fired from her lab, she musters the ingenuity only a single mother has. She accepts a job as a host on a TV cooking show, and sets out to teach a nation of overlooked housewives – and the men who are suddenly listening – a lot more than recipes, all the while craving a return to her true love: science.

While there are plenty of Brie and Apple puns to be made here, the news is significant for the streaming service. It comes the same day another Variety report cited a study that claimed a large number of Apple TV subscribers are getting the service through various free programs. That certainly makes sense, at least anecdotally, given how many people got a year free of Apple TV+ with a new phone purchase since the service launched.

Turning those into people actually paying to watch Season 2 of Ted Lasso is certainly a project the company is working on if those numbers are to be believed, but perhaps adding Larson to the streaming stew is a step in the right direction.

[via Variety]

Mario Judah, Playboi Carti superfan and expert internet troll, has had a steady rise to fame since the viral success of last year’s single “Die Very Rough.” Now returning for his first new song of the year, Judah lays out a very pointed message to cheaters everywhere in his ruthless “I Cannot Love You” video.

Clocking in at just a minute-and-a-half, “I Cannot Love You” is Judah’s way of giving his heartbreak an outlet. The song’s accompanying grainy video is filmed with a red hue and depicts the rapper taking his anger out on a body bag. In the days prior to releasing the song, Judah began consistently sharing tweets and a profanity-laced video about being cheated on:

I gave this f*cking girl the world, bro. Despite being f*cking famous, the money I made, tried to give her everything to make her f*cking happy — and she f*cking took my trust and love and tore it, bro. All the b*tches that hit me up in my DMs, I never responded to one because I tried to give this girl my trust and my love, bro. And she took my f*cking heart. You know what the f*ck she did with it? She f*cking tore it. Never again, bro. This b*tch cheated on me. All the sh*t I got going on in my life, I try to give this b*tch the world and she f*cking cheated on me. F*ck cheaters.

Watch Mario Judah’s “I Cannot Love You” video above.

If you enjoyed Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 in 2019, you were far from alone. Some would argue it’s one of the best games of the year if not THE best. But if you were excited about the possibility of a Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3+4, or maybe a new Tony Hawk title from the makers of last year’s reimagining, Friday brought bad news.

The creators of the modern Tony Hawk game, Vicarious Visions, has merged into the Blizzard umbrella of Activision. This appears to mean that Vicarious Visions will now be working on Blizzard games such as Warcraft and Overwatch. This is potentially exciting news for fans of Blizzard franchises, but what does this mean for fans of series like Tony Hawk? (Via Gameindustry.biz)

“Activision Blizzard has moved its Vicarious Visions studio from the Activision side of the business to the Blizzard side.

The publisher today told GamesIndustry.biz that effective today, it is merging Vicarious Visions into Blizzard Entertainment.

….

After collaborating with Vicarious Visions for some time and developing a great relationship, Blizzard realized there was an opportunity for [Vicarious Visions] to provide long-term support,” a representative explained to us. They declined to specify what the team has been working on with Blizzard, or for how long.

As part of the move, Vicarious Visions studio head Jen Oneal has been promoted to Blizzard executive vice president of development, where she joins the company’s leadership team and will report directly to Blizzard president J. Allen Brack.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 was a surprise hit in the sense that many fans of the series weren’t sure they were ever going to make a good Tony Hawk game again. The franchise had felt dormant for a long time and every chance to bring it back was a flop with both critics and fans. It was always going to take a monumental effort to bring the franchise back to prominence and it’s safe to say that Vicarious Visions hit it out of the park. This is also why fans of the franchise have some concern to see it potentially leave their hands.

Of course, this doesn’t have to mean that another game isn’t coming. Perhaps we see Blizzard developing the next Tony Hawk game, or they could be handing the franchise over to a different studio within Activision. But as video game companies continue to shuffle resources and merge, it’s worrying for some that it may impact the chances we see the series continue.

Even as millions of Americans celebrated the inauguration of President Joe Biden this week, the nation also mourned the fact that, for the first time in modern history, the United States did not have a peaceful transition of power.

With the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, when pro-Trump insurrectionists attempted to stop the constitutional process of counting electoral votes and where terrorists threatened to kill lawmakers and the vice president for not keeping Trump in power, our long and proud tradition was broken. And although presidential power was ultimately transferred without incident on January 20, the presence of 20,000 National Guard troops around the Capitol reminded us of the threat that still lingers.

First Lady Jill Biden showed up today with cookies in hand for a group of National Guard troops at the Capitol to thank them for keeping her family safe. The homemade chocolate chip cookies were a small token of appreciation, but one that came from the heart of a mother whose son had served as well.

“I just wanted to come today to say thank you to all of you for keeping me and my family safe. I know that you’ve left your home states,” she said. “The Bidens are a National Guard family. Our son Beau was Delaware Army National Guard. He served for a year in Iraq in 2008–2009. So, I’m a National Guard mom and when I saw … all that you’ve done and you left your home states and you’ve come here to protect us … I just wanted to say thanks from President Biden and my entire family.”

Dr. Biden explained that she didn’t make the cookies herself—the White House made them—but she wanted to deliver them personally.

“I wanted to give everybody a cookie just as a small thank you for your service and your families’ service and all that you’ve done for our nation … I truly appreciate all that you do. The National Guard will always hold a special place in the hearts of all the Bidens. So thank you. Thank you very much.”

The National Guard troops who have been protecting the U.S. Capitol received some help from members of Congress and the media last night when a news report shared that some of them had been ordered to vacate the building to take rest breaks in a nearby parking garage. It was unclear who gave the order or why, but it caused bipartisan outrage and multiple angry tweets from CNN’s Jake Tapper who called it “just hideous” and “completely unacceptable” before tagging every federal government leader saying “WTF – Fix this ASAP.”

Many members of Congress also expressed outrage on Twitter, but Tammy Duckworth, who served in the armed forces herself, got on the horn to figure out what had happened and fix it. “I am demanding answers ASAP. They can use my office,” she wrote.

After she was informed that the Capitol Police had apologized to the troops and that they were being allowed back in the complex, she kept checking to make sure that it happened.

An hour and a half later, she tweeted, “Troops are all out of the garage. Now I can go to bed.”

When our National Guard troops are sleeping on hard, marble floors already to protect our lawmakers from our own citizens, the last thing we should do is make things any more uncomfortable for them. They’re taking good care of our government representatives, so we should make sure they’re being taken care of as well.

Netflix made chess compelling and evocative for even non-players with The Queen’s Gambit, and Stephen Colbert thinks he’s found the next big drama in another the Rubik’s Cube. The colorful puzzle isn’t a game as much as it is a challenge, but on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert segment on Thursday night pitched the cube as the future of Hollywood.

Colbert mentioned a sourceless report that a Rubik’s Cube movie is in the works in Hollywood, starting a riff where he imagined just what that movie, and a potential game show, might look like.

“Little hint for the contestants, just peel off the stickers, rearrange them and pretend you’ve won,” Colbert said. But he also said he thinks “this Rubik’s Cube thing has legs” and pitched what his version of a cube-filled drama would look like. It’s a 14-part series built for a streaming service, and the intent of the show is clear.

“It mixes the element of The Queen’s Gambit with the strong desire to make a lot of money on the popularity of The Queen’s Gambit,” he said.

“I had to overcome a lot,” a red-haired protagonist said during a montage. “Sexism. A sprained wrist. Temporary color blindness.”

The mentor in the clip teased teaching her a secret move that only experienced cubers would be able to handle.

“Turn the left bottom middle forward to the front-facing part,” the guy said. “It’s not like chess, we don’t get to have cool names for things.”

And just like the show it’s loosely based on, there’s also a lot of crying and substance abuse.

It’s funny to see Colbert’s spoof here, but competitive Rubik’s Cube solving actually does exist and those that do it are wildly talented. If you really do want to see some impressive Rubik’s Cubing, Netflix already has you covered with a quick and really lovely documentary about speed solvers.

It probably isn’t as dramatic as The Queen’s Gambit, but it does tell a nice quick story that will scratch your solving itch until the movie Hollywood cooks up becomes reality.

Fans were shocked, and perhaps a bit envious, when Saweetie showed off her Christmas gift from Quavo: a custom powder blue Bentley convertible that was embossed with a snowflake emoji. The gift was a testament of Quavo’s love, but apparently not the only generous act he does in their relationship. Saweetie recently recalled the first time she knew Quavo was in love with her — and instead of a Bentley, it involves chicken.

Saweetie opened up about some aspects of her relationship with Quavo that’s not seen on social media. Speaking to Page Six, Saweetie explained how Quavo shows his love to her:

“The moment I realized that Quavo really loved me is when he saved me some of his food. He gave me his last piece of chicken. I wasn’t testing him or anything. I’ll be coming out of a Zoom meeting or done doing something and he would have saved me some of his food.”

The rapper went on to say that those small actions are what mean the most to her. “Those are the things that really matter: the things that have no price on them,” she continued. “The Bentley is cool but I’m really into intimacy and how you treat me with my emotional feels.”

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

In the world of rap beefs, the MC with the last word has usually been declared the winner in the court of public opinion. For hip-hop fans, despite a monumental rise and a handful of stone-cold classics, Ja Rule’s story ends with his widely publicized beef with 50 Cent, where Ja failed to produce a timely followup to 50’s “Return of Ja Fool.” But according to Ja, who appears on next week’s People’s Party with Talib Kweli, that’s not really how it went down.

And he makes a pretty good point about just how toothless trading insults across verses really can be.

“We’ve seen a hundred billion rap beefs,” Ja tells Kweli. “No one man shuts down the whole — like, ‘stop.’”

So how did Ja Rule’s career go from topping the Billboard 100 to being in the verbal crosshairs of 50 Cent? According to Ja Rule, it was the federal indictment of Murder Inc Records that really shaped that specific moment in time — distracting him from producing a timely follow-up to Fiddy’s insults.

“When the Feds come in they take all your resources,” Ja explains. “They take your money, they make the people that are dealing with you… those ties are severed. Def Jam severed their ties with us, we didn’t have anything anymore… I can’t really make the records that I want to make to be competitive on a rap level, it was bad timing. So by the time I actually did come and make the records, it was too late, motherfuckers were already like ‘ahh, he already won.’”

You could easily write that off as a bit of revisionist history, but to Ja’s credit he seems to be totally at peace with the narrative people have been running with, telling Kweli:

“You guys will never really understand the whole situation behind it and I don’t really care to explain it. Because people don’t care to hear it. They what it to be what it is, it’s a lot more fun than what it actually is. It’s very entertaining.”

This one will probably remain unchanged in the hip-hop history books but considering the dust has long settled between 50 Cent and Ja Rule, that’s probably fine. Both artists are legends with great songs, that can’t be taken from them. Check out the full clip from next week’s People’s Party with Talib Kweli above to hear more of the story, including why Ja Rule believes 50 was playing both victim and bully.

Millions of people consistently tune into every Verzuz livestream, so people were disappointed when Keyshia Cole and Ashanti’s battle was postponed twice. Their anticipated battle did finally kick off Thursday night, but there were a few hiccups along the way, causing Cole to appear on the screen nearly an hour after the scheduled start time. Now coming to her defense, Cole’s DJ explains what went down off-screen.

Speaking to Houston’s 97.9 The Box, Go DJ Hi-C said there were several behind-the-scenes technical issues on Verzuz‘s end that led to the delayed start time:

“It started out weird… just stuff that y’all don’t see behind the scenes. Not to say nothing bad about Verzuz, but the show didn’t start on time. Everybody knows that. But [in] Keyshia’s defense, she didn’t want to come out because her screen was blurry. She was there on time. I was there, I seen everything, but she didn’t want to come out on time because the screen was blurry. Stuff wasn’t right. We couldn’t hear their side. So it was a lot of technical stuff going on in there.”

Hi-C continued: “She’s a perfectionist, and when stuff don’t go the right way, it’s downhill from there. She was already upset about it being pushed back like it was, but it’s COVID. So there was a buildup and it made her have to push her record back, so it just threw her energy off. I did the best I could to bring her back, but by that time she was already upset.”

Even with the delay, fans still had a good time seeing Ashanti and Cole go head-to-head with their hits. Perhaps the most overjoyed was 21 Savage, who streamed himself singing very off-key along with the music.

Check out Go DJ Hi-C’s interview with 97.9 The Box above.

It’s been a while since Michael Porter Jr. has played in an NBA game. The high-scoring forward for the Denver Nuggets last took the floor on Dec. 29, and in the 10 games the team has placed since then, he’s been stuck in the league’s Health and Safety Protocol due to contact tracing and, eventually, a bout with COVID-19.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Porter’s stint on the sideline is about to come to an end. Wojnarowski reports that the third-year man out of Missouri has gotten the all clear and is slated to suit up for Friday night’s game between the Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns.

Denver went 6-4 with Porter out of the lineup, and though he only appeared in four games before getting put on the shelf, he began to show some really positive steps in his development as a potential go-to option when the team needs a bucket. Porter so far this season has averaged 19.5 points in 29.3 minutes per game while connecting on 56.6 percent of his shots from the field and 42.3 percent of his triples. There is no word on whether Nuggets coach Michael Malone plans on easing Porter back into the rotation after dealing with the novel coronavirus or if he intends on letting him hit the ground running.

It’s been a long week. We have a new President, and while it’s a relief to have one again after four years of not having one, the exhaustion has no doubt worn many of us down. Fortunately, this week also brings back a full slate of new releases in hip-hop, including one from the man of the hour BRS Kash, whose “Throat Baby” has been the hilarious salve that kept us going through the dark times. There’s also a new project from Logic (probably) that carries on the mysterious legacy of the masked menace MF DOOM, a new collection of Kota The Friend freestyles, and a slew of new singles referencing the upended status quo.

Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending January 22, 2021

Albums/EPs/Mixtapes

BRS Kash — Kash Only

Atlanta newcomer Kash’s breakout single “Throat Baby” would be a ubiquitous hit in nearly any other year. As it is, the raunchy ode to the wonders of oral sex announced the coming of a charismatic, cheeky entertainer, who takes advantage of that momentum with his debut full-length. Highlights include the remix of his signature song with City Girls and DaBaby, and baller anthem “Kash App” with Mulatto.

CJ Fly — The Way I Hear It, Vol. 1

The Pro Era member is a year removed from his RudeBwoy album but its follow up is something completely different for fans of the staunch lyrical traditionalist. Rather than another bevy of bars, CJ serves up an eight-track compilation of self-produced instrumentals, opening up his appeal to the “beats to study to” crowd.

Doctor Destruction — Planetary Destruction

Leave it to Logic to find a loophole in his retirement strategy. While it’s impossible to say for certain that the mysterious maestro of this project from Logic’s Bobby Boy Records actually is actually the rapper-turned-gamer, Logic’s enough of a rap nerd to take a page from MF DOOM’s playbook to drop an alter ego album just weeks after learning of his hero’s passing. Doctor D certainly sounds a lot like Logic, but in a genre that houses both Action Bronson and Your Old Droog — two more soundalikes who were once thought to be their more famous forebears — anything is possible.

Erick The Architect — Future Proof (EP)

Five songs of lyrical fury are all the Flatbush Zombies frontman needs to fully establish himself as a solo force as well as a mastermind behind the trio.

Kota The Friend — Lyrics To Go, Vol. 2

Dropping a follow-up to his freewheeling 2020 project, Kota once again finds a home for the random thoughts that wouldn’t necessarily make an album. No hooks, no highfalutin concepts, just Kota rhyming his butt off over what he calls “Kota The Friend-type beats,” cheekily referencing the YouTube producer habit of tagging songs with the names of rappers they want to work with.

Lil Skies — Unbothered

After his major-label debut mixtape was a smashing success, its follow-up album landed at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart. His new album hopes to keep the trend going, branching out with features from Lil Durk and Wiz Khalifa while simultaneously contracting its focus — they are the only features.

Peewee Longway & Cassius Jay — Longway Sinatra 2

The Atlanta underground vet links up with accomplished producer Cassius Jay for the follow-up to his breakout 2016 mixtape.

Remy Banks — The Phantom Of Paradise

New York crew rappers dropping solo projects seems to be something of a theme this week, as World’s Fair member Remy Banks follows up 2015’s Higher with an 11-song project featuring verses from some of the Big Apple’s nastiest spitters. Maxo, Pink Siifu, and Rome Streetz all make appearances, as does Mr. Muthafuckin Exquire.

Young Dolph — Rich Slave (Deluxe)

Adding eight songs to his standout 2020 project, the Memphis native puts on for his crew and continues his rise to indie stardom.

Singles/Videos

Coi Leray — “No More Parties”

When Coi’s name came up in the continued feud between Eminem and her dad Benzino — carried on, unsurprisingly, through Royce Da 5’9 — the 23-year-old looks to reassert herself as a separate entity, expressing disappointment in both old heads for bringing her up in a tiff older than she is.

Duke Deuce — “Soldiers Steppin”

Lil Duke shows off his sense of humor and his righteous dance skills in this upbeat, bass-heavy track’s video.

Marlon Craft — “State Of The Union”

Craft gets topical on his latest, observational track.

PNB Rock – “Rose Gold” feat. King Von

The late Chicago drill star brings his Windy City edge to the thunderous drums and counterbalances Rock’s melancholy reflections.

Rowdy Rebel — “Re-Route” feat. Funk Flex

Adopting the popular drill style his hometown pioneered during his stint in prison, Rowdy announces his second coming.

Seddy Hendrinx — “Run It Up” feat. G Herbo

With Jetsonmade providing the flutes and 808s, Seddy and Herbo reaffirm their realness, with Herb continuing his weeks-long tear of fiery features.

Tee Grizzley — “Gave That Back” feat. Baby Grizzley

The Detroit hellraiser brings along his brother for a braggadocious family affair.

YBN Nahmir — “Opp Stoppa” Remix feat. 21 Savage

Despite being a year old, YBN Nahmir’s menacing banger gets an upgrade courtesy of the Slaughter Gang godfather.

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