Category: News

Over the weekend, The Chainsmokers headlined an installment of the “Safe & Sound” concert series, a drive-in fundraiser show that went down in the Hamptons. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the event, though, was a performance that draws immediate parallels to that moment from Succession: One of the openers was Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, performing as DJ D-Sol.

Bloomberg described the scene:

“Solomon was on stage for an hour, just him and a turntable on an elevated platform, mask around neck, surrounded by animations of cherries and his deejay name, D-Sol, in flashing bubble letters. He put his hand up in the air, playing electronic dance beat takes on popular songs — not unlike the Chainsmokers, with more Fleetwood Mac than Coldplay. Giant plumes of smoke went up in front of the stage as the sky turned pink and orange.”

The publication also reports that among the “couple of thousand people” in attendance were the Winklevoss twins (Cameron and Tyler), and that parking spots to watch the show cost “as much as $25,000, with the top tier including an air-conditioned RV and private bathroom.”

Solomon’s performance wasn’t actually as anomalous of an event as it may seem. Solomon has been active as DJ D-Sol since 2018, and he has performed all around the world, in New York, Miami, the Bahamas, and other places. DJ D-Sol has over 30,000 followers on Instagram, and on Spotify, he boasts upwards of 625,000 monthly listeners. His most popular release on the platform, a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop,” has been played nearly 8 million times.

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

Great travel photography is transportive. It’s able to surpass its 2-D limitations and convey the feel of a certain place — the taste of street food, the sounds of a city square, or the power of crashing waves. It goes beyond the visual level to act on all of the senses.

That’s where Australia-based photographer Eugene Tan (aka ::Uge) excels. His sweeping shots of the tranquil turquoise waters of Bondi Beach have more in common with the mid-19th century Hudson River School art movement than with your run-of-the-mill IG photos. He possesses a distinct ability to breathe life into static images, even when the point of view is high above the action, a distinct trademark of the photographer.

These days, we all need a little digital transportation — if only to escape the absolute boredom that being quarantined during summer brings. So we reached out to ::Uge to take us on a visual tour of some of his favorite spots in Australia’s New South Wales. These are landscape he knows well. The photographer, who founded Bondi Beach’s Aquabumps Gallery, has been documenting and exploring the twists and turns of Australia’s wild crags and endless beaches since he was nine years old.

Take a break from your existential dread for a minute and let’s dive into this visual tour of New South Wales — with captions from ::Uge himself.

White Silica: Hyams beach in the NSW South Coast, 2.5 hours from Sydney. Famous for its crystal blue waters and fine white sandy beaches. Has to be seen to be believed.

Azzurro: The infamous Bondi Icebergs – taken on a summer day from a helicopter. My signature style of photography being capturing beach life from above in a helicopter and below the ocean.

Colors of Bondi – shot on the 1st of Jan, a famous day for beachgoers kicking off their year doing what the majority of Aussies love – hitting the beach for a swim, surf, or a laze on the sand. Shot from the bird!

The infamous Bondi Lifeguards on a beautiful October morning just after sunrise where the light is warm and golden. This time of year in Bondi is magic.

Moonscape: Mungo National Park, located in south-western New South Wales, is noted for the archaeological remains discovered in the park. The remains of Mungo Man, the oldest human remains discovered in Australia, and Mungo Lady, the oldest known human to have been ritually cremated, were both discovered within the park.

Narooma on NSW’s far south coast. Shot from the bird – where you get to see just how blue the water is and how white the sand is against it.

Pass Lines: The famous Byron Bay pass this summer 2020. Home to longboarders and loved for its gentle long rides.

Byron Sets: We’re spending more and more time at Australia’s most Easterly point of Australia, Byron Bay. It’s where my wife spent much of her youth and our kids love this spot ‘the pass’, famous for its consistent gentle waves that wrap the point and go forever. At sunset here is magic and you will often surf with dolphins in the waves.

Lone Swimmer – my first ever helicopter ride, given to me by my wife for Christmas. I captured this at the north end of Bondi of a woman swimming off the rocks and it’s one of our most popular images of all time!

Bronte Bathe: Peak summers day in Sydney – shot mid-afternoon. This shot reminds of a Slim Aarons moment. Australia is famous for our ocean pools, as they wrap the coast from North to East and are a popular spot from swimmers and families.

Aussie Bush in the NSW mid-north coast – a famous Aussie outlook for many living in the country with the rich light of sunset against the gum trees. Nothing like being in nature.

Coogee Pastels – early swim in Summer on Coogee Beach.

Kombi – shot on one of my morning sunrise wanders, in winter when the beaches are quiet and the car park at Bondi had one lone Kombi sitting there – very rare for Bondi.

Bogey Hole: The swimming hole at Bronte Beach, Sydney, captured from the helicopter – ‘I love shooting this angle for the colors of the water and the swimmers who all look like miniature people enjoying what we all love about warm sunny days of summer. This is a special spot for swimmers and families.

Sea Cliff Bridge: Clifton NSW, just south of Sydney. Shot from the heli, I loved the line of the bridge over the wild ocean below.

Spirituality: Mackenzies Bay at Tamarama, Sydney. On my daily sunrise shoot, I was stopped in my tracks by a pod of dolphins who put on a show for the passers-by and surfers. Buses pulled over – people gasped, it was magic.

Logic has billed his latest album as his last and now, he’s giving fans a glimpse into the reason he’s kissing the rap game goodbye. In his new “DadBod” video, home movies provide the bulk of the footage as he reflects on the joy of fatherhood, playing with his son and showing off the new domestic lifestyle he’s settled into with his wife Brittney and their new baby.

Things are looking up for Logic as he kicks off the next chapter of his life outside the public eye. Ahead of the release of his final album, No Pressure, he revealed that he had joined an exclusive deal with streaming platform Twitch for “seven figures.” Under the terms of the contract, he will stream for a set number of hours a day, giving him plenty of time to be a stay-at-home dad.

His swan song is also garnering a favorable reception on social media as fans and peers say farewell to Logic after his near-decade in the spotlight. One of those fans is NBA superstar LeBron James, who noted on Instagram that he “left in great fashion” with No Pressure.

Watch Logic’s ‘Dad Bod’ video above.

No Pressure is out now via Def Jam Recordings and Visionary Music Group. Get it here.

The first weekend of the WNBA season was a success from just about every possible viewpoint. The league drew record numbers on its national TV broadcasts, produced some thrilling games and tremendous performances by its top stars, and players used the platform afforded to them to continue speaking out on social justice issues, police brutality, and systemic racism — most notably continuing to call attention to the fact that the police that killed Breonna Taylor in Louisville have not been arrested.

That first point is of particular note, as the league’s fans have clamored for years for the WNBA to be given more national exposure and when given that this weekend, people took note and watched. ESPN also has apparently taken heed of that, announcing on Monday that they would be adding 13 more regular season games to their schedule, bringing the total of nationally televised games on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC to 37 — by far the most the network has every carried.

Ryan Ruocco and Rebecca Lobo, as well as Pam Ward and LaChina Robinson, will continue to be the two broadcast teams calling Wubble action remotely from Bristol, Connecticut, with Holly Rowe on site at IMG Academy in Florida. A number of the remaining games on the schedule will be ESPN2 broadcasts, but it’s hard not to see ESPN’s decision to beef up their live WNBA broadcast offerings as part of potential mitigation of losing baseball broadcasts as MLB deals with an outbreak on the Miami Marlins that has already caused two games to be postponed.

Adding Wubble games gives ESPN more live sports to show no matter what, but also gives them an opportunity to pivot those games to ESPN proper should MLB continue to see postponements or an outright stoppage as they attempt a season without a bubble environment.

The full ESPN WNBA schedule can be found below:

The Philadelphia 76ers are teaming up with Lapstone & Hammer, an apparel company based in the City of Brotherly Love, to launch a capsule of gear that strives to raise money for a local charity. The squad debuted the apparel on Monday morning with the help of a number of individuals, including starting forward Tobias Harris and rookie wing Matisse Thybulle.

“The 76ers Crossover was designed to celebrate what makes the city of Philadelphia unique with a focus on art, fashion, food and culture,” Philadelphia 76ers Chief Marketing Office Katie O’Reilly said in a statement. “We are thrilled to launch the next phase of our Crossover with this one-of-a-kind capsule to create unique merchandise for our fans to enjoy as we celebrate the return of basketball.”

The Sixers dropped a video to highlight the gear that will appear in the capsule, which includes apparel from the streetwear brands streetwear brands Eric Emanuel, Arena x New Era, Needles, New York Sunshine, Everest Isles, LQQK Studios and Blackstock & Weber.

The money raised by the collection will go towards the Philly-based charity Urban Affairs Coalition, which per its website, looks “to improve the quality of life in the region, build wealth in urban communities, and solve emerging issues.” The line of gear is slated to drop on August 1 at 10 a.m. ET. It’s the same day that the Sixers will begin their eight seeding games in the NBA’s Orlando bubble league — that game, against the Indiana Pacers, tips off at 7 p.m.

Gordi, the moniker of Sophie Payten, explored the themes of death, introspection, and sexuality in her spectacular sophomore album, Our Two Skins, which was released in June. The Australian singer can’t tour behind the record for obvious reasons, so she instead took the grand Sydney Opera House stage in a livestream to perform several tracks from her recent record.

Payton filled the large, empty Opera House with an 8-track setlist which included the numbers “Unready,” “Sandwiches,” and “Aeroplane Bathrooms.” After giving a rendition of her album opener, Payton said: “I did think the first time I’d be here there’d be a few more people in the crowd. But I’m imagining you all. But I’m imagining you as an NRL match’s cardboard cutouts. It is a true dream to be here.”

In a recent interview with Uproxx ahead of her album’s release, Payten said she wanted to make songs fit both for introspective moments and to share with friends:

“I wanted to make a couple of songs that you can listen to on your own. And I wanted to make a couple of songs that you listen to with others. The songs that you listen to on your own come more naturally to me, I feel like I’ll write those for the rest of the time. But I find that I have to be more careful with my sonic choices when I’m making songs like ‘Unready’ or ‘Sandwiches,’ because it’s not always my natural instincts. My natural instincts are those quieter moments like ‘Aeroplane Bathroom,’ or something. And all of those songs, like ‘Aeroplane Bathroom,’ ‘Volcanic,’ ‘Radiator,’ they all took the least amount of time because it felt very natural.”

Watch the full Sydney Opera House performance above.

Our Two Skins is out now via Jagjaguwar. Get it here.

DaBaby and his North Carolina protege Stunna 4 Vegas are back with another irreverent video for their new song “No Dribble.” Trading rapid-fire verses over a SVNDS and Retro Future-produced, flute-driven beat, the NC duo once again employs Reel Goats to produce the visuals for their latest tag-team effort.

The two conduct a locker room turn up and dribble a basketball down an alley while also giving each rides in a grocery cart and cruise around looking for trouble to get into, courtesy of some provocatively obvious green screen. DaBaby and Stunna 4 Vegas maintain their characteristic energy, making goofy faces at the camera and generally resembling a pair of rambunctious middle schoolers let loose after a long day of desk-bound boredom.

DaBaby has been enjoying a continuation of his mighty 2019 breakout this year, even with COVID-19 precautions putting a damper on his income. He’s ruled the charts thanks to his Roddy Ricch collaboration “Rockstar,” he helped breakout star Jack Harlow’s “What’s Poppin” reach impressive new heights, and his new album, Blame It On Baby, was an albums chart topper despite receiving criticism from skeptics. Meanwhile, Stunna 4 Vegas raised his own profile with standout performances on Polo G’s “Go Stupid” and his own “Do Dat” video.

Watch DaBaby and Stunna 4 Vegas’ “No Dribble” video above.

Less than a week ago, Warner Bros. pulled Christopher Nolan’s Tenet off the release schedule on an indefinite basis, and it felt like we wouldn’t hear updates for a little while, given that the U.S. has begun to (in certain areas) rollback state reopenings. Then accordingly, AMC delayed reopening its theaters without the massive tentpole on the calendar, but it looks like Warner Bros. is forging ahead with an official global release for Nolan’s latest epic project, which stars John David Washington and Robert Pattinson.

It must be noted, however, that the new release date applies to countries other than the U.S., where selected cities will see the movie two weekends later, beginning on Labor Day weekend. Via Hollywood Reporter:

Tenet will now open first overseas in more than 70 countries starting on Aug. 26, followed by select U.S. cities on Sept. 2 in advance of the long Labor Day weekend … the major foreign territories where Tenet will open include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia, Spain and the U.K. It also has a Sept. 18 release date in Japan.

One can imagine that the U.S. (where Tenet was originally scheduled for July 17) will see a highly staggered rollout for this movie, along with other tentpoles, until the pandemic subsides, either through a viable vaccine or otherwise. Major markets like New York and Los Angeles keeping their theaters shuttered will impact the box-office take, and it’s likely that Texas, Arizona, and a handful of other states won’t be opening multiplexes on Labor Day weekend. Yet clearly, Warner Bros. feels good enough about their new plan to start doing this thing for real, beginning outside of the U.S.

The arrival of Tenet, overall, has been quite a rollercoaster for audiences and everyone involved with the film, far eclipsing the intentional mystery that ordinarily surrounds a Nolan project before (and sometimes even after) release. At least, along the way, we’ve been able to enjoy interviews from noted chaos agent Robert Pattinson, who has admitted that he didn’t fully understand the movie. He may or may not have been teasing us, since his offbeat interview style goes back to him denying ever washing his hair during his Twilight days. Whereas in Tenet, his grooming is on point, and with any luck, people (again, not in the U.S.) can finally see Tenet stick a landing date.

(Via Hollywood Reporter)

The upcoming NBA 2K21 release will feature three different athlete covers, with Damian Lillard on the current generation game, Zion Williamson on the next generation console release, and Kobe Bryant on the “Mamba Forever” edition.

While the game’s release is still a ways away, details continue to trickle out about what will be a part of the game, with Monday revealing the game’s soundtrack plans. The current generation (Xbox One, PS4) edition will have a 52 song soundtrack, including a pair of unreleased tracks from Dame D.O.L.L.A.

“To be on the cover alone is a big deal to me, but to be on the cover and also have my music be a part of the game is a huge accomplishment as well,” said Damian Lillard in a release. “Personally, I’ve been introduced to new artists, songs and genres that I might hear on the radio, but I heard it first on NBA 2K.”

Right now, fans can listen to 49 of those tracks on a Spotify playlist 2K created, with the soundtrack headlined by the likes of Roddy Ricch, Rick Ross, Lil Baby, Pop Smoke, Juice WRLD and many more.

2K also announced plans for the next generation soundtrack (Xbox Series X, PS5), and noted that soundtrack will feature a ridiculous 202 songs and will be updated with new songs. It’s an indication of what we may see on next-gen games, as developers will be able to add even more detail to games that goes beyond upgraded visuals and offers the chance to pack games with more music offerings.

Hopefully soundtrack updates will not require lengthy downloads on next-gen consoles, but it’s certainly something to look forward to having a larger music library so as you log hours of gameplay you won’t hear the same tracks over and over.

When NBA players arrived in the Orlando bubble, there were some notable sneaker debuts made on practice courts at Disney’s Wide World of Sports. LeBron James showed off the latest in his signature line, the Nike LeBron 18, and a number of Puma’s athletes in both the NBA and WNBA offered a first look at the RS-Dreamer, which was designed in collaboration with J Cole.

On Monday, Puma offered official details on the RS-Dreamer, which will see a wide release to the public this Friday, July 31. The sneaker will retail for $125 and be available on Puma.com and Foot Locker’s family of stores. As J Cole notes in the press release, the goal of the sneaker was to meld a performance hoops sneaker with design elements that make it worthy of wearing off the court as well.

“Over the years, basketball shoes have progressed greatly in their level of technology and comfort but have strayed too far away from designs stylish enough for cultural relevancy,” Cole explains. “The Dreamer hopes to change that reality. The highest level of on-court performance meets the highest level of aesthetic design for daily wear. Once again, you can hoop in the same shoes you wore outside.”

From a performance standpoint, the sneaker introduces RS Foam from Puma’s running line to a basketball sneaker, along with what the brand promises to be “enhanced durability and traction.” That Puma’s top stars in the NBA have been wearing the sneaker on the court in the bubble lends credence to its bonafides as a performance sneaker, and the look speaks for itself as a fashionable off-court shoe.