Category: News

On stage at the 2015 MTV VMAs, Kanye West made a big announcement — he planned on running for the 2020 presidential election. It seems that Kanye hasn’t forgotten his promise, as he aptly announced on the Fourth Of July that he wants to include himself as a presidential candidate in November’s election. If he continues to follow through with his plan, it looks like the rapper has to seek out some last-minute paperwork to become an official candidate, which he has yet to do.

According to a report from Pitchfork, Kanye hasn’t officially filed as a presidential candidate with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), a necessary step in running for office. The report states that the FEC confirmed Kanye had not officially filed for candidacy, though there is allegedly a 2015 filing for a Green Party candidate named “Kanye Deez Nutz West” who hadn’t raised a single dollar for their campaign.

If Kanye plans on running as an Independent candidate, someone who isn’t affiliated with a political party, he needs to submit the paperwork soon in order to appear on ballots. The filing deadline has already passed in states Indiana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and Texas. However, it is possible for citizens to vote for the rapper as a write-in on their ballots in November.

It’s almost time to get “peachy keen,” Neil Gaiman fans. The The Sandman Audible reading (of the DC Comics/Vertigo series that began in the late 1980s and spanned decades) is here to haunt your dreams, and maybe make them better, and boy, do comic-book fans need this right now. That’s the case even though this isn’t the long-gestating TV series that will eventually arrive on Netflix (in live-action form) and was due to shoot before the pandemic. That in-process effort followed long after New Line Cinema wanted to give it a go with Joseph Gordon Levitt headlining, but the important thing is this: the Audible version of Gaiman’s creation is nigh with a magnificent cast. And you can listen to great Scotsman James McAvoy as the cast headliner above.

Fans will recognize that McAvoy’s voicing Morpheus, the God of Dreams. He’s soothing yet spooky in the process, though this is the very essence of a tease. We can also look forward to Kat Dennings (as the adorable goth herself, Death, although I feel that we need a visual of her in costume) and Michael Sheen (as Lucifer!), along with Riz Ahmed, Samantha Morton, Andy Serkis, Taron Egerton, and loads more talent.

The Sandman will arrive on Audible come July 15 while we all await Netflix and Warner Bros.’ TV drama to come together as the most expensive DC Entertainment show ever. Strangely, that’s happening on Netflix and not with HBO Max, but as long as we get a hefty supply of The Sandman, that’s what matters. After all, a wise man (Neil Gaiman) once wrote, “The only thing that kept me going was stories. Stories are hope.”

Before Cardi B’s 2016 debut mixtape Gansta B*tch Music Vol I, the rapper had appeared on the reality TV show Love & Hip Hop: New York. But Cardi was making a name for herself well before then. Cardi had already amassed over a million followers on Twitter prior to her reality TV debut, and many of her now-defunct Vine videos had gone viral. Since the rapper is keen on making herself go viral, it’s curious that it took Cardi so long before joining the newest social media platform, TikTok.

Cardi B finally made her inaugural appearance on the app this weekend. On Sunday, the singer posted her first video on the platform and it was a NSFW tribute to her husband Offset. “B*tch I done did my first TikTok,” she wrote alongside the video.

For the TikTok, Cardi took part in a popular challenge where a user busts out their sexiest moves over a superimposed image of their man. Cardi followed suit and using the 2012 track “Marry Me” by Rasheeda, the rapper flashed her wedding ring and danced up on candid photos of Offset.

Watch Cardi B’s first TikTok above.

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

Now is not the best time to release a new album, especially for a band trying to capitalize on the momentum started by a successful debut effort. Such is the story of Chicago-based group Retirement Party, though. Their latest, Runaway Dog, is a reflective and excellent second album that came out in mid-May, when the coronavirus pandemic, as it continues to do today, put a damper on a lot of life’s aspects that had previously been taken for granted.

Still, the band is feeling optimistic. Group leader Avery Springer just graduated college with a degree in Music Business, which should prove useful as her band navigates the uncertain times that lie ahead. Also, as aforementioned, they have a stellar sophomore record under their belts, which is going to really pop when Retirement Party gets the chance to perform it live.

When we spoke with them over the phone in late May, shortly after the release of Runaway Dog, Springer and bandmates James Ringness and Eddie Rodriguez insisted they couldn’t wait to get back on stage. They also spoke about following up a successful debut album, being creative during the quarantine, and maintaining the passion for a craft while devoting yourself to it full-blast.

Your first album earned you guys some buzz as one of that year’s best new bands. Seeing that that album did well, what effect did that have on your mindset making this new album?

Springer: We’ve kind of always had the “never stop running” mindset. It was always, “Well, let’s work harder and harder and make music so that we can go on the road a lot.” That was always kind of the goal, to have a band that can tour and does that successfully.

Ringness: It felt like there was a little more… maybe a little more pressure, I guess. But I think we took it in a good way and took it as an opportunity to just prove ourselves again as a band, rather than worry. I don’t think we worried too much about, “Oh, is everybody going to like our new records?” The first one, it was a thought, but not a big worry for us.

Rodriquez: We just want to write good songs, work together, and make the best songs that he could. That was really what we were worried about: making sure that we were happy with what we were working on.

Again comparing the first album and the new one: The new one was written during what seemed like a pretty tough time in your life, Avery. What kind of space where you in while writing this new album?

Springer: I definitely felt like there was a lot of a loss of control and the feeling of that in the first album. The second one, I feel like it’s coming from a more controlled place emotionally, but it’s a lot of harder reflecting, a little lack of panic, and a little bit more reflection. I come across a little bit more put together.

I was reading this track-by-track look of the album that you did, and one thing I noticed that you mentioned about a lot of the songs is what it’s like to play them live. I would think now that you guys must be itching to get on stage, huh?

Springer: The three of us just love to be on the road and on the stage playing. That’s a happy place, I think for all of us. It definitely hurts to not be on the road and not be able to play these songs, and show them to everyone in their truest form.

Ringness: We were lucky that we went on tour right before this and the record was done. So, we were able to play a lot of the songs from that record, but we were definitely saving a few of them.

Springer: I did the math, and before this, I think we had played nine of the ten songs on the record. But it hurts not being able to play them when people know them.

Speaking to more pandemic stuff, I’ve seen multiple artists talk about this pressure or this obligation they feel to be creative during this time. Is that a feeling you guys have had at all?

Springer: Absolutely. Now, all you have to keep peoples’ attention is whatever your online presence is or whatever you can sell them or offer to them during this weird unprecedented time. We have to be extra creative because we just put out a record and instead of relying on touring, like we were prepared to do to really promote this and prove this record, we have to find other ways and be creative with how we can connect with our fans over this record, because the live experience has been unfortunately taken away from that.

I’m getting sick of doing livestreams, where I’m practicing on my guitar in my room for an hour beforehand. Then I click “go live” and do the same exact thing over again. That’s not cutting it anymore. We’re definitely trying to figure out how we can make a personal connection between us and our fans.

Avery, you just graduated from college recently. The album talks about losing your love for your art, or feeling not as positive about pursuing a career in it. But now that you’re done with school and that the art is your main focus, has that changed your relationship with music?

Springer: Being done with school, I definitely feel at least a little bit better about that balance between the creative side of the industry and the business side, but it continues to exist in my life. I’m currently pursuing endeavors within the business side of the music industry outside of the band right now. But, I feel a little bit better now because I had struggled with it before. I got my struggling out of the way when I was in school. It was like, “Some things are contradicting and it’s a little hard to stay true to yourself but also do what’s best for selling records.”

The way that the industry is set up is an absolutely baffling thing to me still. In the way that it kind of screws over artists, or favors other people over artists, or corporations over artists. But you can exist while staying very true to yourself and the art that you make. You can continue to be a force in the industry. They’re not mutually exclusive. I found that out. It’s helped us. I’ve settled into that.

Since you are a band with a lot of songs about chasing your passions and the feelings that come with that, I was wondering if you had any wisdom or advice for anybody who might be in a similar place, who is feeling a bit unsure about the thing that they’ve always wanted.

Springer: Well, funny timing, but I’d say work your day job and work your other jobs as much as you can while making music coexist. You always have to work really hard, but be conscious of where you’re at. Be smart about the decisions you’re making, learn how to save money. Being an artist is so insanely expensive, so just be as smart as you can with your money and with your time. You’re going to have to put a lot of work in, but being smart about it is the number one. You’ll know when it’s the time to quit your job. I quit my job. And then a global pandemic happened. So, I wasn’t very lucky in that sense, but work hard, keep your nose down, and don’t get a big ego.

Runaway Dog is out now via Counter Intuitive Records. Get it here.

Black Widow was one of the many (many, many, many) blockbusters affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; the Cate Shortland-directed superhero movie’s release date was pushed back from May to November 2020, meaning we have to wait that much longer to discover the true identity of Taskmaster. And for Florence Pugh to officially join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Black Widow is being billed as a showcase for Scarlett Johansson, which is technically true, but according to Shortland, it’s really Pugh’s movie, as we predicted months ago.

“[Kevin Feige] realized that the audience would expect an origin story so, of course, we went in the opposite direction,” she told Empire. “And we didn’t know how great Florence Pugh would be. We knew she would be great, but we didn’t know how great. Scarlett is so gracious, like, ‘Oh, I’m handing her the baton.’ So it’s going to propel another female storyline.” Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Evans have already departed the MCU — now it’s supposedly ScarJo’s turn, and like Anthony Mackie’s Falcon becoming the new Captain America, Natasha Romanoff has an exciting replacement in Yelena Belova.

Shortland also discussed why Black Widow has a “fitting ending” for Johansson:

“In Endgame, the fans were upset that Natasha did not have a funeral. Whereas Scarlett, when I spoke to her about it, said Natasha wouldn’t have wanted a funeral. She’s too private, and anyway, people don’t really know who she is. So what we did in this film was allow the ending to be the grief the individuals felt, rather than a big public outpouring. I think that’s a fitting ending for her.”

Black Widow (hopefully) comes out on November 6.

While Colin Kaepernick awaits a hopeful return to the NFL this year, as the tone of the league has shifted in recent weeks, he has made waves in the world of entertainment with a pair of major announcements.

The first was a partnership with Netflix on a six-episode mini-series called “Colin in Black and White,” written by Ava Duvernay, that will look at Kaepernick’s high school experience as a Black kid adopted by a white family and living in a predominantly white community. On Monday, we learned that will only be the beginning of Kaepernick’s work in the visual media space, as Disney and ESPN announced an overall first-look deal with Kaepernick that will extend to all areas of Disney’s media empire.

The Walt Disney Company today announced an overall first-look deal with Colin Kaepernick’s production arm Ra Vision Media. The partnership will focus on telling scripted and unscripted stories that explore race, social injustice and the quest for equity, and will provide a new platform to showcase the work of Black and Brown directors and producers. The first-look deal will extend across all Walt Disney Platforms including Walt Disney Television, ESPN, Hulu, Pixar, and The Undefeated. Kaepernick will work closely with The Undefeated, which is expanding its portfolio across Disney, to develop stories from the perspective of Black and Brown communities.

The first part of the deal will be a docuseries on Kaepernick’s journey over the last five years since he began protesting police brutality and racism, and his subsequent ouster from the NFL, through never-before-seen footage and interviews to tell his story from his perspective. The project will be produced on the ESPN side by Libby Geist, Kevin Merida, and Connor Schnell, with Kaepernick also bringing former ESPNer Jemele Hill on as a major part of the project.

“I am excited to announce this historic partnership with Disney across all of its platforms to elevate Black and Brown directors, creators, storytellers, and producers, and to inspire the youth with compelling and authentic perspectives,” Kaepernick said. “I look forward to sharing the docuseries on my life story, in addition to many other culturally impactful projects we are developing.”

Kaepernick’s deal with Disney will go well beyond telling his story and will look to elevate Black and Brown creators across various platforms to tell more stories from perspectives not often given prominent platforms.

Lizzo had planned to celebrate the holiday weekend in style. She and a group of her best friends met up at a rental home to relax, have fun, and enjoy each other’s company. But their plans were thrown off course when they were abruptly kicked out of the home by a discriminatory host.

Lizzo detailed the event in a cheeky Instagram post Sunday. The singer said that she and her friends were evicted from their rental home after the host saw her Instagram, mocked her dancing, and threatened to call the police.

Alongside a video of her twerking in a bathing suit on a sunny rooftop, Lizzo wrote: “This is for the man that kicked me out of my 7-day rental 3 days early yesterday. This is for mocking the way that I dance and for using Instagram footage of me and my 6 black homegirls to say that we could ‘hurt him’ and threaten to call the police. I know you’re watching my page so I just want you to know you can’t stop this Black girls’ shine.”

Even after the incident, Lizzo remained unbothered and said her friends quickly found a new rental house which was “better anyways.”

Read Lizzo’s full story above.

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

Aminé has been hard at work on his second album ever since he finished promoting his debut, Good For You in 2017. While he dropped OnePointFive in 2018 to hold fans over for the meantime, he admits he never considered it an album, telling Apple Music’s Zane Lowe he released the tape as a placeholder that “gave me more time to work on this, to perfect this.”

Well, we now officially know what “this” is: Limbo, the Portland rapper’s official second album and follow-up to Good For You. Aminé went on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 Radio show today to make the announcement, as well as debut the album’s upbeat new single: “Compensating” featuring Young Thug. The two rappers flex over a percussive jam, which finds them addressing a potential paramour, reassuring her she doesn’t need to compensate for her feelings.

Of his new collaboration partner, Aminé says, “I was in Toronto working with T-Minus on this song and I put the hook together and then Minus told me he had a session with Thug and he thought that we would mesh well together on this song. And he was the one who kind of quarterbacked the whole thing. The only time I’ve ever met Thug before that was I was in Europe and he walked up to me at some festival, I think where it was way out west or some, and he walked up to me and called me a young legend and I never forgot that moment. I never forgot that moment.”

Listen to “Compensating” above.

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

On June 26, Kanye West announced a huge ten-year partnership with Gap, the clothing retailer for which he has long expressed his admiration. Kanye and his Yeezy company are set to launch a Yeezy Gap line next year, but making that announcement wasn’t all Kanye did that day. TMZ reports that he also filed a trademark application on June 26, for the phrase “West Day Ever,” which Kanye hashtagged in his announcement and other tweets from that day.

The trademark application covers over a hundred different types of clothing, including everything from t-shirts to capes to ascots, so expect some West Day Ever merch to emerge at some point.

Josh Gerben, founder of trademark law firm Gerben Law Firm, also reported the news last week. Gerben noted that two applications were actually filed by Yeezy, with the other being for a logo that looks like a Y with a dot above it. The image could perhaps also represent a person with outstretched arms. Gerben notes, “Both applications were filed on a 1(b) basis, meaning that Kanye’s company has a bona fide intent to use the trademarks in association with the goods and services it listed.”

This news of course comes after declared his intention to run for president in 2020, although he might not be as up to date on his paperwork for that endeavor.

Netflix’s The Kissing Booth managed to be both objectively bad and insanely popular, and that combination made it one of the most watched (and re-watched) titles of 2018. So of course a sequel was bound to happen, and the film’s viewers will see The Kissing Booth 2 land later this month. If you’re wondering what the fuss is all about, this trailer can be absorbed without watching the original, and essentially, Joey King’s character got the guy (played by Jacob Elordi) last time around, and now, viewers will wonder how long it will take before all the clichés about cheating come true.

It doesn’t seem to be taking too long! This followup, which is also based upon Beth Reekles’ The Kissing Booth books, sees Jacob’s Noah flying off to college, where he’s (naturally) surrounded by beautiful women. Meanwhile, Joey King’s Elle is still stuck in high school, where a new handsome guy shows up. Also, her best friend’s mad at her, and parents (probably) just don’t understand, and you know how it all goes. If the sequel goes the way of the first film, all formulas and tropes shall stay intact, but fans will nonetheless watch it happen.

From the synopsis:

Elle Evans (Joey King) just had the most romantic summer of her life with her reformed bad-boy boyfriend Noah Flynn (Jacob Elordi). But now Noah is off to Harvard, and Elle heads back to high school for her senior year. She’ll have to juggle a long-distance relationship, getting into her dream college with her best friend Lee (Joel Courtney), and the complications brought on by a close friendship with a handsome, charismatic new classmate named Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez). When Noah grows close to a seemingly-perfect college girl (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), Elle will have to decide how much she trusts him and to whom her heart truly belongs.

The Kissing Booth 2 arrives on July 24.