During his recent Verzuz hits battle with Nelly on Instagram, Ludacris previewed a new track which met with a backlash from some fans on social media over a line name checking R. Kelly and Bill Cosby. Fans were apparently upset at a couplet in which he mentions both disgraced stars, rapping, “The world screwed if n****s pouring drinks like Bill Huxtable / I love R. Kelly but around my daughters, I’m not comfortable.” Today, Luda addressed the controversy over the line during an interview with Atlanta radio station V103, explaining the meaning behind the lyric and why he thinks people “misconstrued” it.

“Sometimes when you speak on records, you speakin’ like it’s just me and you having a conversation as friends,” he explains in the video below. “But you just speaking, and just being honest. I saw that a lot of people kind of misconstrued or didn’t understand what it was that I was saying.” Turning the question on host Big Tigger (shout-out Rap City Tha Basement!), Luda asks, “What do you think I meant when I said that?” Tigger’s response: “You meant, ‘I loved his music… but I’m a father of daughters, and you’re not gonna be around my daughters.’”

“You’re a smart man,” the rapper replies. “It’s that simple.”

The kerfuffle surrounding the line just illustrates how easy it is to misinterpret hip-hop and maybe also how quick some parties are to jump to conclusions or strip meaningful context — whether accidentally or on purpose — for the sake of creating conversation on social media. If there’s a takeaway, it might be to give art the benefit of the doubt before going into outrage mode.

Watch Ludacris’ response above.

Today’s news is perhaps expected, but no less tragic, as the body of former WWE Superstar Shad Gaspard has been recovered on Venice Beach, near where he disappeared on Sunday. We did our best to hold out hope when the story broke on Monday that he had disappeared, but that hope was in short supply yesterday when the search for Gaspard was called off.

According to TMZ, a citizen called the police at 1:30 AM today to report that they’d found a body near Venice Pier. Officers recovered the body and a few hours later confirmed it to be Shad Gaspard.

It seems that Gaspard’s last act was to save his 10-year-old son, who was swimming with him when they were both caught in a rip tide. When a lifeguard reached the two of them, reports ESPN, Gaspard told the lifeguard, “Take my son.” His son later added, “Dad told me to push off to the guy,” meaning the lifeguard. By the time the boy was safely ashore, Shad Gaspard had disappeared under the waves.

Shad Gaspard competed on Tough Enough in 2002 and then signed with WWE, where he worked until 2010. He’s best remembered as half of the tag team Cryme Time with JTG. Since leaving WWE, he’s wrestled on the independent scene and also found a career as an actor and stunt performer, working on films including Black Panther and Birds of Prey.

Our thoughts today are with Gaspard’s family and loved ones.

On the first day of 2018, Jeff Rosenstock dropped a new album, Post-, without any forewarning. For his follow-up, he decided to do the same thing: Today, Rosenstock has surprise-released a new album, No Dream. Not no surprisingly, it’s a raucous, guitar-driven affair, so Rosenstock fans ought to be pleased with today’s new drop.

Rosenstock says of the album:

“It was feeling like a very personal record for me. A lot of it was stemming from the anxiety I was feeling from the last two years, this existential crisis of wondering who I am. I didn’t expect to be doing well, in my life, ever. […]

I got so used to putting out records that only a few people in the punk underground liked, and a lot of people in the punk underground also didn’t like them, either. […] I was trying to not be afraid of using phrases that weren’t immediately clear to me, aside from how they sounded and felt, then allowing them to reveal themselves over time. […]

I thought I had just made a record for no one. What’s the point of feeling this way? Does it help to vocalize it?”

The album is available on streaming services now, but it is also available to download for free. There are paid downloads available, and ten percent of proceeds from purchases will go to Food Not Bombs.

Stream No Dream above.

No Dream is out now via Polyvinyl. Get it here.

Charli XCX earnestly addressed the camera in her hand with glazed eyes that offer a glimpse into weeks of sleepless nights. “Yesterday I cried,” she admitted. “I’m frustrated that I’m so obsessed with working.” The art-pop singer was vlogging from her quarantine in LA to update fans on the album she had been creating in isolation, all within the abbreviated span of a month and a half.

Charli was doing something unprecedented. The coronavirus aimed a ubiquitous blow at the music industry and, like the rest of humanity, musicians have been forced to adapt to their new reality. With venues closed for the unforeseeable future, artists have elected to cope with the pandemic through a variety of means. Some opted to delay releases while others have adhered to their pre-pandemic promotion schedule. A few even chose to release projects early as an offering of escapism through music. But Charli XCX has taken a different path entirely, emerging as a trailblazer for artists everywhere. Charli instead chose to create an entire record from scratch using social media to crowdsource collaboration. The result is more than just a synth-fused, 11-track pop record. Charli XCX’s How I’m Feeling Now has innovated the album recording process and forged a new path for musicians succeeding her.

Charli’s exhausted confession of workaholism wouldn’t be the last time she admitted an emotional episode to the internet. Later, on a Zoom call with fans and collaborators, Charli spoke frankly about her headspace. “I’m feeling a bit nervous about the deadline that’s approaching. I definitely had a bit of a breakdown yesterday,” she candidly expressed, adding: “I’m definitely beginning to crack a little bit.”

This admission arrived in the introduction of a bi-weekly Zoom call, one of the many ways Charli used the internet to collaborate with fans on How I’m Feeling Now. Along with fielding questions and suggestions from fans over regular video calls, Charli relied on her social media followers for their honest input. Her constant dialog with fans touts her as an example of an artist who has successfully honed a niche on social media.

“Going live on insta now, need ur help on some verse lyrics,” Charli tweeted one evening. These real-time brainstorming sessions are a part of what makes her songwriting process unique. She’s not just offering fans a preview of the upcoming record. She’s trusting them with their opinions — and really listening to them. Sure, other musicians have been recording music in quarantine. But no one has cultivated fan collaboration like Charli. From workshopping lyrics to designing album artwork, using fan-record clips in videos, and even accepting homemade beat submissions, Charli has truly joined forces with her listeners. And these exchanges between artist and fan have strengthened Charli’s cult following among art-pop connoisseurs and boundary-pushing Gen-Zers.

Charli previously admitted that she’s been surprised about “just how receptive” her listeners were to the album’s singles. But her collaboration methods warrant positive reactions. Charli has already primed fans on her album’s sound through detailed updates. This allows room for experimentation on a record. Fans aren’t surprised by the jarring, glitchy synths that arrive in the hook of her album closer “Visions” because they had already heard a preview through a number of Instagram live sessions. Moreover, they feel deeply connected to the music because they effectively played a role in its creation. Those who have followed along with, and even contributed to, How I’m Feeling Now can’t help but feel the album is also theirs.

Along with receiving positive feedback, Charli’s record sets a new standard for artists. It exemplifies how connecting with followers and creating music synchronously can empower both artists and fans by challenging convention. Charli’s detailed updates demonstrate what it’s like to record an album. It’s not glamorous. It’s turbulent, and Charli has worn her heart on her brightly-colored mesh sleeve. By following her guidelines, musicians can similarly create a static interpretation of their sentimentality through music.

Through her How I’m Feeling Now recording process, Charli has successfully broken down the barrier between artist and fan, or in her case, pop star and stan. She doesn’t put on a facade that details an apathetic narrative about making music as a global pop icon. She has wielded her way past naysayers and proven the efficacy and innovation in her songwriting methods. Charli has given fans a voice, and their voice speaks loudly.

How I’m Feeling Now is out now via Atlantic. Get it here.

Charli XCX is a Warner Music Artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The new trailer for Antebellum, a mysterious horror film starring Janelle Monáe, has an unassuming beginning, with majestic animals grazing in a sun-drenched field and a happy family rolling around in a bed. “There are precious things that can never be lost. Family, happiness, hope,” the teaser above reads before the record-scratch moment: “Unless you are chosen.” Chosen for what? That’s left unsaid, but considering the plot of the Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz-film appears to involve Monáe’s modern-day character being transported to the pre-Civil War south, it can’t be anything good.

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

Successful author Veronica Henley (played by Janelle Monáe) finds herself trapped in a horrifying reality and must uncover the mind-bending mystery before it’s too late. Antebellum is a terrifying new thriller from the producer of the acclaimed films Get Out and Us, and groundbreaking directors Gerard Bush and Christoper Renz (Bush+Renz), an exciting new voice in filmmaking.

Antebellum, which also stars Marque Richardson II, Eric Lange, Jack “Richard from Boardwalk Empire” Huston, Kiersey Clemons, Tongayi Chirisa, Gabourey Sidibe, Rob Aramayo, Lily Cowles, and Jena Malone, was originally schedule to come out in April, but now it opens on August 21. Until then, you can catch Monáe in Homecoming.

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When Rich Brian plans a posse cut, he really shoots for the moon. The Indonesian born, LA-based rapper wants to do an all-star quarantine cut, and to do so, he shoots his shot with a plethora of notable names from across the rap game. Posting a video call capture to his Instagram, Brian phoned his pal Denzel Curry to detail the plan, while the latter minute and a half of the video is dedicated to a preview of the song playing on his laptop screen. The caption reveals his wishlist, which includes: Buddy, Childish Gambino, Chris Travis, Danny Towers, Denzel Curry, Earthgang, Higher Brothers, IDK, J. Cole, Jaden Smith, JID, Joji, Jpegmafia, Kevin Abstract, Pouya, and Tyler The Creator. In the video, he mentions that Guapdad 4000 may already be on board, as well.

While that list of names may seem like a heft lift to pull off, there’s no better time for Brian to ask than now, when the vast majority of artists are sheltering at home — many with their own recording setup somewhere in their living space. It probably doesn’t hurt that many of the names are already either good friends or collaborators; most of the artists he named have appeared as guests at Tyler’s annual Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival and some have previously collaborated with Brian in some capacity, like Buddy and Guapdad appearing in his “Bali” video a few weeks ago or Higher Brothers, with whom Brian entered the rap game as part of 88 Rising’s all-Asian roster of artists. Can Brian pull it off? Who knows, but even if he falls short a few names, the end result will still end up being pretty impressive anyway.

Watch Rich Brian’s posse cut preview above.

Three words to sum up this week’s episode of Killing Eve: “This. Is. Bullsh*t.”

The show’s sixth episode, appropriately titled “End Game” gave us all the angst, but not the sexually-charged kind between Eve and Villanelle … no, this time we’re watching our happy-go-lucky assassin having full-on emotional breakdowns and her ex-government lover Hulking-out on unassuming vending machines. This is a show about spycraft and organized killing, so murder is always on the menu, but this latest episode’s assassination didn’t feel as important as it’s build-up — and aftermath. Let’s dig in.

The Bathroom Breakdown

First, a bit of good news. Niko, despite being pitchforked by Dasha just two episodes earlier, is alive. He’s recuperating in a London hospital because his larynx didn’t fare so well. Still, he’s found a way to destroy Eve emotionally when she comes to visit.

Eve spends the episode hunting Niko’s would-be killer, and while it’s fascinating to see her agonize over the possibility that her ex-girlfriend is responsible before settling on Dasha as the true culprit — and then confronting her during the tensest TV bowling match we’ve ever seen — the biggest drama follows Villanelle, who’s still strung out over that whole “killed-my-mom-and-burned-her-house-down” thing.

She has a meeting with Elena, the woman who’s been threatening Dasha this season, who reveals that Villanelle is finally getting that promotion she’s been gunning for. She’s officially a Keeper, but kids, achieving your dreams isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and the new title doesn’t mean Villanelle won’t still be sent on jobs — like the one in Romania where she’s ordered to kill a high-profile politician.

Fed up with being the psychotic, bloodthirsty lapdog of a secret organization that can’t even spring for top-shelf champagne, Villanelle goes to Konstantin, asking to flee with him once he finally breaks free of the group. He’s reluctant, for obvious reasons, but when he learns Villanelle killed her own mother, he settles with a clear “Not gonna happen.”

So Villanelle bonds with Konstantin’s daughter Irina, suggesting she kill her irksome step-father while learning Konstantin intends to head to Cuba.

She’s got a trip to Romania planned, though, where she poses as a stylist to get close to the politician. You’ll never feel comfortable going to a salon again after watching this scene — even if this pandemic one day ends.

But Villanelle is careless, and the politician manages to put up a bit of a fight before having his brains fried, which leaves Villanelle escaping a bloody crime scene and having a pity-party in her hotel room’s bathroom afterward. She breaks the one rule Konstantin advised her to follow and reveals to Dasha that she wants out of this life of crime. Dasha suggests ordering a pizza.

Same Villanelle, same.

And just like that, we’re left wondering where this show will go next. It’s clear that, despite having said this before, Villanelle is done with working for The Twelve, but we think she also realizes that vanishing, as Konstantin plans to do, just won’t work for her. With Eve also on a warpath, “End Game” felt like the emotionally-draining build-up to their partnership, if only because they’d both be served by getting rid of their mutual enemy. The only problem? Dasha, who’s still around, threatening to kill Eve and wield her influence over her protege.

Oh, and we can’t imagine Konstantin will be too pleased with Villanelle once he discovers it was her hand puppeteering this shocking kill:

Imagine raising not one, but two deranged murderers. Yikes.

About half a year ago, The National leader Matt Berninger revealed that he had a solo album in the works. He hasn’t said much about it since then, but now Serpentine Prison has officially been announced: The album will be out on October 2 via Book Records, a new label co-founded by Berninger and Serpentine Prison producer Booker T. Jones.

The announcement comes alongside a video for the album’s title track. The understated song scores a similarly spirited video, a black-and-white clip that shows the process of Berninger, Jones, and their collaborators recording the song.

In a post making the announcement, Berninger thanks a long list of people who helped bring the album to life. It includes Andrew Bird, Walter Martin (of The Walkmen), Gail Ann Dorsey (a longtime David Bowie collaborator), Harrison Whitford (who plays in Phoebe Bridgers’ band), and others.

When Berninger initially teased the album, he wrote, “Kind, patient, visionary genius @bookertjonesmusic produced and arranged my solo record. It’s called Serpentine Prison. More about it soon but basically I’m the luckiest man in the universe with lots of brilliant friends who can play instermints. Not worthy!”

Watch the “Serpentine Prison” video above.

Serpentine Prison is out 10/2 via Book Records.

Terry Crews is a ball of energy, and chatting with him on the phone is every bit the energizing experience that you’d imagine it to be. For over two decades, he’s churned like a tornado through countless films and TV shows, including seven seasons of Brooklyn Nine-Nine (where he can now utter strings of bleeps on NBC) so far. He’s the star of a recent micro-budgeted film called John Henry that’s been sitting atop Netflix’s Most Popular list for weeks. The movie, which also stars Ludacris, is really something, and Terry is as surprised as anyone over its popularity.

Terry is also featured in a new YouTube original series, Celebrity Substitute, which recruits an assortment of famous people (with expertise) to help energize distance learning during the pandemic. So, Ken Jeong, who holds an M.D. degree, is teaching biology, Bill Nye will be doing his Science Guy thing, and Terry’s stepping up to teach visual art and perspective, all to give high-school teachers a break. Terry’s episode premieres on May 21, and he was gracious enough to talk with us about a wide assortment of subjects, including why he adopted his signature “pose,” and how Brooklyn Nine-Nine could approach the pandemic subject when production fires up again.

I feel like I should have had ten cups of coffee before talking with you. How is your quarantine going?

You start to realize that you can get used to anything. It still sucks, definitely. I will not say that this is the best, but it’s something that I’ve gotten used to. What’s gonna be really weird is going back to work. Now that it’s been like two months of this, it’s gonna really strange.

You’ve been posting videos (like a scene from Friday After Next, in which you danced to Tupac Shakur) to boost people’s spirits. You also judged that nacho contest for Guy Fieri and Bill Murray.

That whole event was for the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund. When I think about the devastation of all the restaurants, in Los Angeles alone, where the whole industry runs on restaurants and all the waiters and waitresses and cooks and people who just make their living that way. It’s all gone. A lot of restaurants won’t come back, so I had to do this because I love the industry. A couple of times, I thought I would go to cooking school, way back after football. I thought I could be a chef, and I love the industry and Guy and Bill Murray and Shaq and [chef] Carla Hall, so to be a part of something like that, all of us getting together? To date, Guy Fieri’s fund has raised over $22 million for restaurants and their employees.

He’s stepped up, big time, I think more than anyone else for that industry.

Yes, he’s a man that loves what he does. It’s all about passion, I call him the big tentpole of cooking. He’s the Avengers of Restaurants.

When everything starts back up, you’ll be back to TV and film premieres. You’ve got a trademark pose that you do: the “jump.” Where did that come from?

Oh man, I’ve got a great story for that. Early on — I’ve been acting for 20 years — I used to be very intimidated by the red carpet. I remember going up there, I didn’t think people wanted to see me. I felt like I was in the way, and my wife was like, “You need to stop that. You deserve to be here,” and I thought, “I know, but this is weird.” So, what I decided to do was lean into it because it was [about] my own insecurities, and I was like, “Give them something to see.” Everybody just stands there and does a little pose, but I had to try something else. I decided to just count for the photographers and say, “I’m gonna jump!” I’d do a count of three, and they could take the picture they want, and every time, it would end up in the media. The photographers get paid for what gets published, and I had to learn the game. I’ve been doing that for 12 years now, and what’s really crazy is that [now] I know these guys, and they shout, “Do the jump!” So, I just do it again, and it’s kind-of my thing, and everyone knows to get out of the way. It’s my signature, and it’s just a way of feeling special and embracing it.

Let’s talk Celebrity Substitute, which you filmed in quarantine. How did this get started, and what’s your episode about?

It was wild. It was announced, and YouTube came to me and came to a bunch of different celebrities in their field that they love to do. They knew I was interested in art. I had an art scholarship before I had a football scholarship.

You originally wanted to be an animator, correct?

Exactly. I wanted to be an animator, I wanted to do special effects, I wanted to do anything with movies artistically, and I was the guy who wanted to draw movie posters and all that kind of stuff. I didn’t know I’d be in front of the camera. I had no idea that would happen, but with Celebrity Substitute, all I could think about was my own son, who’s stuck here, with me, at 14 years old. All I could think about was, man, I loved going to school when I was 14, and now these kids are all stuck at home. I wanted to do what I could do to help them learn, to make exciting, to make it fun. And there was a teacher by the name of Rachel at a school in Compton who taught art. I joined her class, and we talked scale, perspective, and proportion to her students, and it was so much fun to see their faces when I popped in. I was happy that they knew who I was. It makes you feel relevant when kids know who you are!

My daughter definitely knows who you are. She wants to know if you love yogurt as much as your Brooklyn Nine-Nine character does.

Oh, I loooooooove yogurt! That’s for real! [Laughs]

On the subject of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, there’s been some talk of whether the show will address the pandemic, since they are obviously in New York City with the show being about first responders. Do you have an opinion on whether realism should happen in that way?

By all means. I think it’d be a real mistake to not touch on the whole pandemic. Especially in the New York area? Oh my goodness. My daughter lives there, and it’s shut down right now, so if we didn’t, that would be whole definition of tone-deaf. But I think that we’ve always done a great job of handling very serious subjects with humor. We’ve dealt with racial profiling before on the show, we’ve dealt with gun violence, all kinds of issues but still in a very funny way. To me, the more serious things can be, actually, the funnier they are. I’ve always looked to find the real comedy inside of very intense subject matter. So I’m with that, and I think that our writers — we’ve been doing it, going on eight years now — are up to the challenge.

Back on the subject of education, do you remember your favorite teacher?

Yes, yes. My favorite teacher was my art teacher. His name was Mr. Dwight Eichelberg. He believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. I remember he was taking my art, photographing it, cataloging it, and filling out all the applications for scholarships, and it turned out that he got me a scholarship to Interlochen Arts Academy and Western Michigan University by submitting the work that I did in his class without me knowing. He was telling me that I should, and he did that on his own, and I’ll never forget it. It blew my mind, but that level of care and attention changed my life forever. We actually regrouped five years ago. I went to Flint, Michigan and visited with Mr. Eichelberg, and he was telling me how proud he was. I was in tears, I actually broke down. He didn’t have to do that, and he did it anyway. I think that’s what really makes the difference in a kid’s life: when an adult takes that really caring touch and takes that extra step.

You also have America’s Got Talent, which you host, coming back next week. I screened a scary clip where you’re holding a sledgehammer. Can you tell me what’s going on there, with some guy holding his mouth over a blade?

[Laughs] You know, I love doing America’s Got Talent. My wife tells me not to say this, but I would host the show for free. It’s so amazing, to give a lot of normal, everyday average people who give the show their amazing talent, and it’s incredible. And it gives them the light they deserve, and you’re literally making dreams come true. So I would be a part of that. And that day when that guy asked me to hold a sledgehammer and basically hammer the block on the back of him when he was literally millimeters of cutting his face in half? I was just like, “You sure you know how to do this?” And the producers are ready to pay all my bills if something goes wrong? Oh my god, that was almost a mini-heart attack, it was unreal.

It looked very stressful. The clip that I saw cuts off at a dramatic moment, but can we assume that he survived?

I can give you the spoiler. He’s okay!

Speaking of sledgehammers, are you aware that John Henry (an action-thriller that alludes to the folklore) is currently a Netflix phenomenon right now?

I am very aware, and what’s crazy about that is — to be blunt — the movie was an experiment. It literally was a little bitty, mini-movie. We just decided to do something. I’m never shy of doing something, just going for it and giving your all to something. It was really fun to do, and I thought it might just go to the back of the bin somewhere, whatever, it’ll be there. It hit #1 on Netflix. I never saw that coming. I would have predicted the shutdown/quarantine easier than I would have predicted that John Henry would be #1. Also, The Willoughbys –the animated movie I did — was #1 on Netflix, too. I call myself the most thankful man in Hollywood, period. I don’t take it for granted. I don’t take people’s eyeballs or attention for granted. Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been doing better than ever during this pandemic. People have been binging, and it’s been amazing, the comments and social stuff, and when this whole thing is over (and it’s temporary), I’m ready to do more things and keep trying.

There’s something like 500-600 new shows every year, so it’s a challenge to become the thing that people are binging.

It’s incredible. Again, it’s so hard. And I’ve always got people telling me to watch this show and that show, and it’s too much! To have people call what you’re doing “must-see,” and the fans have been rabid — again, I’m humbled because I’m an old football player. I never thought I’d be doing the things I’m doing right now. But the funny thing is that I hosted my high school talent show, and it was a total premonition of what I’d be doing for the rest of my life.

There’s a lot of crazy stuff in John Henry, but there’s a scene that stands out. You’re in the drug store, and you’re buying feminine products for a houseguest. That wasn’t your first rodeo, right?

Yes. Look, I have four daughters and a wife. What happened was that I had to do that when my first daughter turned into a teenager, almost 20 years ago, but now? Shoot, I put it right up there with the eggs and milk, and I’m like, “Yep, feminine products, got ’em!” Whatever I gotta do, I’m doing it, and look, if I need Depends, I’m not shaming that either. Those are for me!

Well, there’s such a variety of feminine products in those aisles. Guys usually stand there, looking confused.

You get to a point in life where you don’t care. You’re like, “I’m human, yes! Guess what? I do need those.”

You mentioned your wife. You recently wrote a Mother’s Day tribute about how she had breast cancer surgery as the pandemic took root. How’s she doing?

The level of gratitude I’ve got: she did not back down. She’s actually got a warrior’s mentality because she got the diagnosis one month before everything shut down. But we didn’t know it would be this way. Back then, the whole COVID-19 was just kind-of rumors. No one really knew what was going to happen. She got a mastectomy, and then she elected to have a double mastectomy, just to make sure she was okay. And it turned out that her second breast did have cancer that had not shown up previously, so she just made all the right calls. And the thing was, she was the strong one, for me. She was like, “Let’s go, let’s get this done,” so it’s kind of romantic, but I almost say it’s like the world shut down so that I could take care of her. I was her nurse, doing the laundry, cooking, cleaning. Two months later, she’s cancer-free, doing her thing. I’m thankful for modern medicine — the doctors, the nurses, everyone is so good. It’s a miracle, modern medicine doing things that we never thought we could do, 20 years ago.

Taking time out for one’s family is something a lot of folks are rediscovering right now, if there’s a silver lining to all of this.

Oh yeah, I’m never home. I’m always on the way out or the way back. And the fact that it’s quarantine, and you are just here… we’ve been closer than ever, it’s almost like a marriage retreat. But also to nurse her back to health, this is what love is all about.

‘Celebrity Substitute,’ a YouTube Original, launches Terry Crews’ episode on May 21.