Category: News

After ending a five-year break from new music last year with Western Stars, Bruce Springsteen kept going, promising he would reunite with the beloved E-Street Band, his collaborators and touring band over the many year. No shock that that proved to be a great idea. The result is the new album Letter To You, which he’s promoted with an Apple Music radio series as well as a documentary. Lo and behold, that stormed onto the Billboard albums charts, bowing at No. 2.

That may not be No. 1, but it still made for big new: It makes Springsteen the first artist to have a top-five album in each of the last six decades. The previous albums are: 1975’s Born to Run, 1980’s The River, 1992’s Human Touch, 2002’s The Rising, and 2012’s Wrecking Ball, and this year’s Letter To You.

“I love the emotional nature of Letter To You, and I love the sound of the E Street Band playing completely live in the studio, in a way we’ve never done before, and with no overdubs,” Springsteen said when he announced the album in September. “We made the album in only five days, and it turned out to be one of the greatest recording experiences I’ve ever had.”

You can check out our review of Letter To You here.

(via Billboard)

The Mandalorian’s second season dropped on Disney+ Friday, and though there’s certain developments that make it more than just more of the same, let’s face it: Everyone’s still mostly talking about Baby Yoda. To the shock of no one, the breakout star of Disney’s breakout Star Wars show made an appearance on Saturday night’s John Mulaney-hosted SNL, appearing as a surprisingly gabby guest on “Weekend Update.”

As portrayed by Kyle Mooney, SNL’s take on Baby Yoda not only talked but was curiously plugged into modern pop culture. Fitted with an earring, he said he’d spent the summer quarantining with fellow internet celebrities, including the ever-controversial Logan Paul. But he made sure to talk smack about another, lesser fictional internet phenom.

“Baby Groot: We ain’t friends,” Baby Yoda said into the camera. “I know you still talking smack about me, and I just want to say your Tik Toks are cringe, yo.”

That said, Baby Yoda gets along a lot better with another internet sensation. “You might have heard me on Joe Rogan’s podcast, talking about my new line of cannabis product,” he told co-anchor Michael Che. “That was a chill five hours.”

That prompted Che to ask Baby Yoda if he toked. “How do you think I got so green?” he responded. He then shilled for his line of Star Wars-themed weed goods: Dagobud, Wookiee cookies, and a CBD kombucha called Jabba the Kombucha.

You can watch Baby Yoda’s full “Weekend Update” appearance above.

With just a few days left until the 2020 presidential election, Killer Mike and former Democratic presidential candidate and current Vermont senator Bernie Sanders sat down for a conversation as a part of Rolling Stone and their Fridays For Unity event. During their conversation, Mike and Sanders discussed the upcoming election as well as the current state of the progressive moment.

Killer Mike began by sharing his feelings towards the voter turnout so far. “I want the good guys to win, meaning the progressives that are within the party, and I want to see us stay active locally,” he said. “I think that, as important as this election is, more important is, after this Election Day, we plot, plan, strategize, organize and mobilize as progressives on the ground.”

Sanders also shared his confidence for the future of America if former vice president Joe Biden and senator Kamala Harris are able to win the election. “I think if we can get Biden in the White House, we open the door — we’re not gonna solve all the problems,” he said. “But we’re gonna open the door to the kids of ideas we need to protect working families.” The Run The Jewels rapper chimed in afterward to share his thoughts on the Democratic candidates.

“I have to say, although I have not talked to Biden, I have had a couple conversations with senator [Kamala] Harris,” Killer Mike said. “I’m very encouraged by her statements in terms of what she plans to do, and help this country do in terms of policy. I’m very encouraged that, as a former prosecutor, that she wishes to steer us in a more restorative justice place.”

The two also discussed increased taxes for the wealthy, ensuring restorative justice is paired with the legalization of marijuana, and more. You can watch their sit-down on Rolling Stone here.

The Bills and Patriots met on Sunday with Buffalo looking to maintain a healthy lead in the AFC East standings over the Miami Dolphins. Neither team was able to do much through the air, as Josh Allen and Cam Newton combined for just under 330 passing yards, but both offenses found ample success on the ground in the game.

The two teams combined for almost 400 rushing yards in the game as they kept the ball out of the air in the cold, windy conditions in Buffalo and it made for a fascinating back and forth. Late in the game, the Patriots found themselves marching, down just three, with under a minute to play deep in Buffalo territory and two timeouts. With limited success in the passing game, the battle between the clock and their efforts to run the ball down the field even in a two minute drill was fascinating, but ended in disaster.

Cam Newton, who had 54 rushing yards on the day, had taken them into the red zone with his legs, but as he approached the 10 yard line, had the ball punched out by Justin Zimmer from behind, with Buffalo recovering to end the game as New England seemed in great position to at least force overtime.

Newton has struggled with turnovers this season, often interceptions, but he’d been clean through this game and was a big reason for the Pats hanging tight with the 5-2 Bills. Unfortunately, he coughed it up at the worst possible time thanks to Zimmer’s well-timed punch and New England’s hopes at the postseason all but came to an end with it. At 2-5, the Pats are effectively done, although there is, I guess, still hope for a miracle run late, but they’re now 3.5 games back of Buffalo and, likely, will be two behind the Dolphins, who lead the Rams by two scores at home.

Saturday Night Live has made 2020 the year they attempt several unprecedented things at once, starting by turning the show into a remote sketch comedy program during the early weeks of the pandemic. Its foray into Season 46 has also started with a bang, scheduling five straight weeks of new live shows for the first time in its history, then adding a post-election show to make it an unprecedented six weeks in a row.

Saturday’s episode did bring a bit of routine to the proceedings, as John Mulaney hosted for the second time in 2020 and the third time in about a year, and during the episode NBC revealed the host for its final live episode of the record-setting run would be a familiar face as well: Dave Chappelle.

Curiously, the announcement didn’t come with the traditional musical guest reveal as well. It’s likely that comes later in the week, as Chappelle is mostly known for playing musicians on Chappelle’s Show, not actually performing. Still, many couldn’t help but note the similarities between the announcement and 2016, when Chappelle hosted the show after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the last presidential election.

Chappelle’s post-election monologue was widely praised in 2016, but for many the announcement was one that brought on more anxiety and made them wonder if the same result would happen in the election as well.

It will certainly be interesting to see what Chappelle comes up with for Saturday, and he has a long history of turning recent events into poignant commentary. If anything, he’ll have a very obvious starting point if things on Tuesday work out the same way they did four years ago.

John Mulaney’s second hosting gig of the year at Saturday Night Live comes at a very different time than his first, and his opening monologue certainly reflected that on the final Saturday before the presidential election. Mulaney, who’s hosted three times in twelve months now, joked that he’s hosted more than anyone else, but also about the election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, his grandmother’s driver’s license and how comedians should be called “the last responders” in times of crisis.

Mulaney started with a funny bit about how New York is different in a pandemic because you can’t eavesdrop on people as easily. He then turned his attention to New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who gained national attention during the pandemic with his daily press briefings where Mulaney found a lot to laugh about in a dark time.

“A lot of people were binge-watching shows during quarantine, I watched a series that I absolutely loved. It was an hourlong dramedy called the daily press conferences of governor Andrew Cuomo,” Mulaney said. “It told the story of an Italian American father who after being an empty nester finds himself quarantining with his two daughters. Hijinks ensue, but he learns a lot about being a father and a little about being a governor.”

Mulaney didn’t spare the presidential election from his ire, either, though he did describe the decision between Trump and Biden in fairly unflattering terms.

“On Nov. 3 there’s an elderly man contest,” Mulaney said. “But just rest assured that no matter what happens, nothing much will change in the United States.”

It’s a far cry from his “horse in the hospital” riff that went viral earlier in Trump’s term, though perhaps the joke was merely an expression of frustration about another older candidate, Biden, as the alternative for Trump. Mulaney later wondered whether his 94-year-old grandmother should be allowed to vote given how much power America’s gerontocracy has over the rest of the country.

“You don’t get to order for the table when you’re about to leave the restaurant,” Mulaney riffed. You can watch the full monologue above.

President Trump’s fond of the ALL-CAPS phone button that allows him to get shouty in text form. Most notoriously, he used the method to make “ROID RAGE” trend while he was pumped full of steroids in October, but he busted the CAPS out again on the Saturday night before Election Day. The occasion? Trump appeared to be very excited to see supporters in Texas form a dangerous, so-called “Trump Train” amid highway-speed traffic while surrounding a Biden-Harris campaign bus. According to the Texas Tribune, the FBI is currently investigating the confrontation (which led to “at least one minor collision”) on 1-35 in Hays County, but Trump seems thrilled.

The president of the United States tweeted video footage of the incident while typing, “I LOVE TEXAS!”

The “highway skirmish” included a swarm of truck-driving MAGA fans brandishing Trump flags. According to USA Today, the Biden campaign called 911 and reported to law enforcement that the trucks “surrounded the bus, trying to slow it down in the middle of the highway or run it off the road.” Local law enforcement then assisted the bus in reaching Austin as planned, but the confrontation prompted Texas Democrats to cancel three campaign events over “safety concerns.”

Biden’s Texas communications director, Tariq Thowfeek, issued the following statement:

“Rather than engage in productive conversation about the drastically different visions that Joe Biden and Donald Trump have for our country, Trump supporters in Texas [Friday] instead decided to put our staff, surrogates, supporters, and others in harm’s way.”

Obviously, Trump approves of what happened, but some Americans are appalled.

Is November 3 here yet?

(Via Texas Tribune & USA Today)

The Cleveland Browns are playing host to the Las Vegas Raiders on this fine Sunday afternoon, and the Lake Effect is, well, in full effect at FirstEnergy Stadium on the banks of Lake Erie.

At present (1:20 p.m. ET) it is a balmy 43 degrees in Cleveland with winds of, I kid you not, 38 miles per hour. That is some pretty ridiculous wind power and it is wreaking havoc on every effort to put the football in the air in Cleveland. The two quarterbacks are a combined 5-of-9 for a robust 35 yards to start the game, as pushing the ball down the field is nearly impossible, but the real example of how ridiculous the wind is comes in the kicking game.

On their first possession, the Raiders got it into what would normally be field goal range, but as the wind howled across the field from right to left, it made it pretty much impossible to accurately judge how the ball would be effected. The result: one of the funniest things you’ll see today as the football starts at the right upright and gets blown across to miss off of the outside of the left upright.

Weeeee! It looks like a snap hook, but was probably actually a well struck kick. I don’t anticipate a lot of long field goal attempts the rest of the way in Cleveland, but if they try them, we will provide further updates on the wind carnage on the lake.

NLE Choppa found success in many ways this year. The Memphis native shared his debut album, Top Shotta, one that featured a good amount of highlight releases including “Walk Em Down” with Roddy Ricch. Soon after he earned a spot in the 2020 XXL Freshman class list alongside notable newcomers like Jack Harlow, Chicka, Mulatto, Polo G, and more.

Despite the success, NLE Choppa announced he was going to switch things up for the foreseeable future, promising to no longer rap about violence in his music. Staying true to this promise, he returns with a video for “Bryson” off his newly-released album, From Dark To Light.

The video finds Choppa living up to the positive lifestyle that he promised he would take on in his future music. Depicting himself as a neighborhood hero, the Memphis native gives back to the community while also using his peace and positivity to save his fellow neighbors from danger. One of 13 songs off From Dark To Light, the project also presents guest appearances from Big Sean and Ink.

The Memphis native first previewed the shift in musical content last month when he announced his decision to no longer rap about violence. “Ion Rap Bout Violence Nomo. If You Hear It From Me It’s A Old Song,” he said in a tweet. “I Wanna Spread Positivity And Wake People Up. I’ll Still Drop Them For Y’all Tho But Just Know I’m On To Better I’m Tryna grow I Got More To Talk about Now.”

You can watch the “Bryson” video above.

From Dark To Light is out now via Warner. Get it here.

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

For the first time in more than seven years, The Strokes reappeared to the music world back in April with their fifth album, The New Abnormal. The project was the group’s long-awaited follow up to 2013’s Comedown Machine. Continuing to promote the new release, The Strokes returned to a platform they are very much familiar with, that being Saturday Night Live.

Bringing their talents to the late-night show for Halloween, the band’s appearance marks the fourth time they performed on the SNL stage. In their return, they performed “The Adults Are Talking” and “Bad Decisions,” both off The New Abnormal album.

Shortly after the release of The New Abnormal, Julian Casablancas revealed that the project was not his favorite release in The Strokes’ discography. “It’s my fourth favorite record I’ve ever been a part of,” he said in an interview with Los Angeles Times. When pushed for a more detailed answer, he said the band’s 2001 album, Is This It, and 2003 album, Room On Fire, were projects he felt were better than The New Abnormal.

John Mulaney also hosted the SNL episode for the second time this year and the fourth time overall in his career. After the October 31 episode, the show revealed that Dave Chapelle would host the show on November 7, but a musical guest for the episode was not revealed at the time of the announcement.