Category: News

It’s been almost three years since Loyle Carner found mainstream success by the way of his 2017 debut album, Yesterday’s Gone. The album was critically acclaimed overseas, as it was named the album of the year by The Independent, nominated for the 2017 Mercury Prize, and helped him land additional nominations at that year’s Brit Awards. Nowadays, the South Londoner is sticking to the same script that brought him fame, one he presents once again on his new Madlib-produced single, “Yesterday.”

Carner released the track with a reflective video attached. The visual starts with Loyle reimagining his childhood by holding a baby in his arms that represents himself at a younger age. As the narrative continues, viewers see the rapper grow from a young boy to a grown man as the video ends with a full-circle moment with the man, played by his Carner’s younger brother, holding a baby of his own in his arms. He alluded to this moment in the video in a tweet that announced the visual’s release. “Everything comes full circle,” he says. “Shouts to Madlib and My little brother.”

The new song is Carner’s latest release since he shared his sophomore album Not Waving, But Drowning back in April 2019. The rapper gave fans a week to prepare for the new song after he posted a tweet that read, “F*ck it, new music next week. Who’s here?” He also shouted out producer Madlib after the release of “Yesterday” by quoting one of the song’s lyrics in a tweet saying, “LC AND MADLIB IT’S MADLOYLE.”

You can watch the video for “Yesterday” above.

New music from Joey Badass have come far and few this year, but at least fans have been able to get something from the normally quiet Brooklyn rapper. Delivering yet another set of bars to his supporters, Joey links up with Phony Ppl for their new single, “On My Sh*t.” The song fits right alongside the many songs in the collective’s genre-bending resume and finds both artists dusting off their shoulders and complimenting themselves for being such clean-cut and top-notch gentlemen. They both go as far as to compliment the ladies around them that are on a similar elite status.

Giving fans and high-spirited video for the song, Phony Ppl pull up deep to a secret party filled with women who stand out just as much as they do. The collective pop their collars and take over the function while boasting of the precision-focused styles. Joey Badass soon appears at the party, as a surprise to everyone in attendance, and quickly finds his place among the attendees while laying a smooth verse filled with the same confidence Phony Ppl brought to the function.

This year marks the return of both Joey Badass and Phony Ppl. The Brooklyn rapper touched down with The Light Pack EP in July, a release that stood as his first solo project since 2017’s All Amerikkkan Badass. Aside from the EP, Joey also joined Nas and Statik Selektah for their “Keep It Moving” track. As for Phony Ppl, “On My Sh*t” is the group’s first release since tapping Megan Thee Stallion for “Fkn Around” back in January. The Brooklyn collective premiered the track during the Houston rapper’s NPR Tiny Desk set last year.

Listen to “On My Sh*t” above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lil Nas X flew into 2018 with his monster hit song, “Old Town Road,” a track that took over TikTok and eventually took over the Billboard singles chart. The song would remain at the No. 1 position for nineteen straight weeks, longer than any other song in the chart’s history. The success continued for Lil Nas X as he went on to win Grammy awards for Best Music Video and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance as well as wins at the MTV VMAs, AMAs, and CMAs. However, that’s all in the past now and after going more than a year with a new release, the Georgia native makes his return as Santa just in time for the impending Christmas season with his new single, “Holiday.”

The “Rodeo” singer announced the song with a trailer that featured Michael J. Fox and presents the singer as a cowboy who has traveled through time all to become Santa Claus. The track’s official video sees Lil Nas X working in a futuristic version of Santa;s workshop. Here, the singer is surrounded by robots who do all the gift-prepping while he drives around in a toy car and wreaks havoc. Later, he joins his robotic reindeer and takes off into the cold night sky to deliver the gifts to the awaiting citizens.

The song arrives after Lil Nas X shared a portion of the album’s tracklist back in September. While the tracklist’s length or guest features are still unknown, the singer revealed four tracks that would appear on the release. The song’s include “Call Me By Your Name,” a track he teased on Twitter, “One Of Me,” “Don’t Want It,” and “Titanic.”

Press play on the video above to hear “Holiday.”

For about a year after the release of his debut album, The Lost Boy, Cordae stayed quiet in terms of music releases. The rapper’s debut was an impeccable effort that landed him two Grammy nominations and helped push him to the forefront of rap’s youngest and most promising acts, so a break was understandable. Luckily for fans, the break ended this past summer and the DMV rapper has kept fans satisfied with singles and guest features. Adding another one to the latter list, Cordae pulls up beside DJ Scheme, Ski Mask The Slump God, and Take A Daytrip for their new single, “Soda.”

If the track title is familiar to fans it’s because the song was premiered on Travis Scott and Chase B’s ‘.Wav Radio‘ show back in July. After quite the wait, the song is here for fans to enjoy. Cordae leads the way with a verse filled with braggadocios remarks on reaching success in the rap game as well as enjoying all the benefits that come with fame. Ski Mask follows suit with his trademark double-time flow that also finds him in his boastful bag.

Prior to “Soda,” Cordae connected with Dinner Party — a group comprised of 9th Wonder, Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, and Terrace Martin — for their “Freeze Tag” track which later received the visual treatment. He also joined Stevie Wonder, Rapsody, Chika, and Busta Rhymes for their “Can’t Put It In The Hands Of Fate” single. However, it hasn’t only been guest appearances for Cordae this year. He also called on Roddy Ricch for “Gifted,” his first lead single of 2020, and months later, he delivered a powerful freestyle to open this year’s BET Hip-Hop Awards.

You can listen to “Soda” in the video above.

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

While its release was certainly botched and not at all how the duo would have liked to give fans their third album, City Girls’ City On Lock project proved to be a success. The release found JT and Yung Miami doing what they have done time and time again throughout their careers: deliver undeniable anthems to their adoring fanbase. One of those anthems is “P*ssy Talk” with Doja Cat. After letting the song run its course a bit, one that included a business casual video, the duo looks to give it a nice boost with a remix featuring Jack Harlow, Quavo, and Lil Wayne.

The remix came as a surprise to fans when it was announced as the original version of the song stood firmly on the ladies’ side based on its lyrics. However, in an opportunity to let the boys talk some smack, City Girls have invited Jack Harlow, Quavo, and Lil Wayne to play. The remix sees the rappers laying quick verses on what they will and won’t do for the ladies when it comes to the cookie jar. They also boast about their talents once they do strike gold with them.

The remix arrives after a string of videos from the City Girls. They recently recruited Lil Baby for their “Flewed Out” video where they recreated their own version of the Soul Plane film. Prior to that, they joined Moneybagg Yo and DaBaby for a “Said Sum” video and kicked it with Mulatto for an “In N Out” video

You can listen to the “P*ssy Talk” remix above.

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

Just a year and some months after hitting fans with his Rap Or Go To The League album, 2 Chainz is already back in action with his sixth effort, So Help Me God. The album was originally slated for a release in September, but an issue with sample clearances delayed its arrival for almost two months. Now, fans can enjoy the ATL native’s new album which boasts a track with Kanye West and Brent Faiyaz. The song, entitled “Feel A Way,” finds the Atlanta rapper and Kanye brushing off their haters and questioning their approach to them over the smooth hook provided by Brent.

2 Chainz and Brent last worked together when the rapper provided a verse to the singer’s “F*ck The World (Summer In London)” remix. Kanye, on the other hand, recruited the ATL rapper to join him for a remix of his “Nah Nah Nah” track with DaBaby. As for So Help Me God, the album was led by 2 Chainz’s “Money Maker” and “Quarantine Thick” singles and delivers 15 songs with help from Lil Wayne, Ty Dolla Sign, Lil Uzi Vert, Kevin Gates, Mulatto, Rick Ross, and more

Press play on the video above to hear “Feel A Way.”

So Help Me God is out now via Def Jam. Get it here.

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

New console week continued unabated on Thursday, with Sony following Microsoft launching its Xbox Series X and Series S with a pair of PlayStation 5 consoles, one with an optical drive and a downloaded game-only model that was slightly slimmer. Those who managed to get a preorder of the console largely saw their console delivered and, like the Series X from Microsoft, had to figure out where to put it and how to make sure its fan has some room to work.

But many of those who missed the boat on preorders and were hoping launch day would be a fruitful one had a whale of a time actually ordering a console with any success. Online retailers like Walmart found themselves experiencing the wrath of a legion of gamers who missed out on ordering a PS5, sometimes with the console in their cart but finding themselves empty-handed once they got to the payment options on the site. The store’s initial excitement tweet about the console quickly became inundated with replies from frustrated customers sharing screenshots of the console disappearing from carts, or orders apparently placed that simply didn’t exist in the end.

And then came the frustrated tweets from some very angry gamers, who kept crashing the site and seeing errors all over the place.

Even MLB players were freaking out about Walmart’s frustrating ordering system, among others who struggled with day-one orders.

There was, uh, a lot of anti-Walmart sentiment.

Walmart wasn’t the only retailer to see some inevitable struggles on launch day, but it quickly became a meme among the gaming community on what was both a day of celebration and frustration for some. Lucky for them, there will be plenty more consoles on the market in the coming months. And maybe by then there will be a truly massive game for the console that won’t also be available on the PS4 these same frustrated gamers are likely to currently have hooked up to their TVs.

Originally intended for a release last month, the #EndSARS movement in Nigeria pushed Davido to delay his third album, A Better Time. The Nigerian afro-fusion artist finally released the project on Thursday and one of its early highlights comes by the way of his “Holy Ground” track with Nicki Minaj.

The track was one fans anticipated for quite some time after Davido confirmed its existence earlier this year. As for the song itself, “Holy Ground” is a warm and heartfelt effort that finds both singers praising their love interests and labeling them a spiritual area that brings both comfort and happiness. Davido previously spoke about the Nicki Minaj collaboration and revealed it came after he sent a drunk DM to the rapper while he was at a party.

“I was like, ‘Yo, I swear to God, I’ll DM Nicki right now,’” the afro-fusion singer said in an interview with W Magazine. “I woke up the next morning and I forgot that I had messaged her the night before. I was like, ‘Oh sh*t, I was drunk.’ Nothing was really planned on this album—Nicki be charging people $500,000 for verses. And she did it for me for free.”

As for Davido’s A Better Time album, the project is a 16-track effort that presents guest appearances from American acts Young Thug, Lil Baby, Nas, Hit-Boy, and more as well as Nigerian acts including Mayorkun, Tiwa Savage, Sauti Sol, and more.

Check out “Holy Ground” in the video above.

A Better Time is out now via RCA. Get it here.

John Mulaney’s next gig is from the same company he last worked for: NBC. The stand-up and frequent Saturday Night Live host has apparently made the most of his time at Rockefeller Center these last few weeks and secured employment in a pandemic, namely on Late Night With Seth Meyers.

Mulaney is famous enough to appear on Seth Meyers — in fact he did just that following his latest SNL hosting gig that earned him a nice jacket from the lead singer of The Strokes. But apparently he’s interested in a writing gig, and on Thursday the show’s executive producer, Mike Shoemaker, tweeted that Mulaney had joined the staff of the show for “as long as John wants.”

“John Mulaney likes to work so this week he officially joined Late Night with Seth Meyers as a staff writer.” Shoemaker tweeted. “I hope he stays for 100 years but I will settle for as long as John wants’.”

Mulaney had yet to say anything about the apparent gig on Twitter, though he did appear on Seth Meyers with the aforementioned jacket last week. He also had a fitting follow-up to his “horse in the hospital” analogy he made about Donald Trump in the wake of him losing the election to Joe Biden.

Despite the initial lack of confirmation from Mulaney the move was reported by The Hollywood Reporter, and though a stand-up as famous as Mulaney taking a late-night writing gig may sound strange, well, that’s the kind of job any standup often settles into. And though THR said the extent of his role on the show is “questionable,” they did point out that NBC’s comedy circuit often has this kind of thing happen on its shows.

The move does seem very much in the wheelhouse of Late Night. Meyers and executive producer Lorne Michaels have used the show as a hospitable environment for infrequent collaboration. Fellow SNL alum Fred Armisen, who has several other jobs, serves as the leader of Meyers’ house band. And Amber Ruffins, who broke out as a writer and frequent guest on Late Night, continues to make appearances since launching her own late-night vehicle on Peacock.

It’s unclear if Mulaney’s work behind the scenes also means he appears on the show more often, but that certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing now, would it?

Fatman is, if nothing else, an exercise in completing a task. The film, opening in select theaters November 13th in advance of a November 24th VOD release, stars Mel Gibson as a sort of salty, small business-owning Santa Claus, whose workshop has fallen on hard times. The other players in the story are a bratty rich kid named Billy, basically the middle school version of Boss Baby, who wants to kill Santa, and the hitman (played by Walton Goggins) Billy hires to do it.

Mel Gibson as a grizzled Santa Claus and Walton Goggins as a weirdo hitman is a decent enough hook, but not since Seth Grahame-Smith’s series of books (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, etc) has a storyteller seemed so content to fulfill the bare minimum requirements of their own pitch. Eshom and Ian Nelms, who write and direct, offer a comedic or at least cute premise, and then shoot the whole thing with only the broadest strokes filled in, as if they were trying to rush from pitch to product as quickly as possible. It’s a conceptual joke in search of actual jokes. Like a C- term paper delivered on time, the most impressive thing about Fatman is that it’s finished.

Mel Gibson’s Chris Cringle runs Santa’s workshop out of North Peak, though his location is protected by the government, who also subsidize his business as a way to stimulate Christmas business more broadly. Trouble is, Cringle’s subsidy check is short this year, on account of his subsidy is based on volume, and the increasingly misanthropic Santa has begun giving out more coal than presents lately. This is, again, sort of cute I suppose, but it’s strange how much time Fatman spends explaining the economics of Santa’s workshop compared to how much time it spends fleshing out the characters or story. It feels a bit like when I rewrite my first paragraph 30 times and then rush through the rest of an article in 20 minutes to hit a deadline.

Meanwhile, Billy (played by Chance Hurstfield) loses the science fair for the first time in four years, tortures the girl who beat him with a car battery until she signs an affidavit saying she cheated, and hires Walton Goggins to go kill Santa. This after Billy finds coal inside his present (a stocking would’ve been more traditional, but no, it comes in a wrapped box). I’d like to explain the Goggins character’s… whole deal, but the movie never gets to that. The rest of the film half-assedly goes through the motions of connecting these story strands, leading to an inevitable shoot-em-up finale, which seems neither fun for them nor us. It’s the kind of movie that makes you wonder who it’s actually for. It’s a Christmas movie that’s rated R for a few F words, but lacks both the gleeful vulgarity of Bad Santa and the gleeful gore of Død Snø. Mostly it lacks glee in general.

There’s so little fun to be had in Fatman that it has the feeling of a make-work project, something that was meant to keep the Nelms brothers busy for a while. Maybe that’s unfair, I don’t really know. I’m only speculating, on account of Fatman feels sort of like the filmmaking equivalent of begging your dad to sign you up for flag football and then having to stick it out for the next eight weeks after realizing you hate it.

‘Fatman’ hits select theaters November 13th, and VOD platforms November 24th. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.