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Steven and Ian open this week’s episode by discussing recent controversies over Snoop Dogg and Nelly performing at Trump inauguration events. Does anyone actually have the energy to care about this? They also do a quick Sportscast on Ian’s team the Eagles being in the NFC Championship game, and check in on new albums by FKA Twigs and Benjamin Booker that are also on Ian’s fantasy team. Then they dig into the music of 2015 — the highs, the lows, the stuff they remember, the stuff they remember forgetting, and more.

In Recommendation Corner, Ian talks about the new album from Mogwai while Steven recommends the latest from British guitarist James Blackshaw.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 223 here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

Project Pat is a Memphis rap legend. He has been a fixture of the city’s hip-hop scene for 25 years and recently saw a resurgence outside the city thanks to high-profile co-signs from younger artists like Drake (who featured him on “Knife Talk” with 21 Savage), Isaiah Rashad, and Denzel Curry. And recently, he received the worst news anyone can: His son Patrick Houston Jr. was shot and killed in the Imogene Heights neighborhood earlier this month, according to FOX13.

The shooting reportedly occurred around 1:00 pm on January 10, with Memphis police saying that Houston died at the scene. No further information has been released as of press time.

Project Pat is the older brother of Three-6-Mafia founding member Juicy J, and has an extensive list of underground hits, with nine studio albums to his name. Pat’s 2000 hit “Chickenhead” is his highest-charting solo single to date, and has been sampled extensively in hip-hop, notably by Schoolboy Q on his Blue Lips song “Thank God 4 Me” and Cardi B on her Invasion Of Privacy standout, “Bickenhead.” In recent years, he has been a motivational speaker, focusing his efforts on his nonprofit organization, the Go Foundation, which organizes prison ministry.

Memphis Police have urged that anyone with information about the shooting call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-2274.

Pop star Tate McRae has displayed an affinity for flirting with racy material in her videos, and in her latest, “Sports Car,” she evokes a 1970s peep show theater — albeit with a high-fashion, less sleazy twist. In the video a shadowy figure (heavily implied to be McRae herself) enters the show booth and drops a coin in the slot, activating the show, which consists of the star dancing seductively in a variety of avant-garde ensembles.

The song, which McRae wrote alongside Julia Michaels, Ryan Tedder, and Grant Boutin, finds the singer purring like the titular vehicle to a potential paramour, inviting him to take a test drive on a different kind of curves. The throbbing, bass-heavy beat is reminiscent of The Pussycat Dolls’ 2005 hit “Buttons,” or Britney Spears’ “Slave 4 U”-era hits, while the title continues the theme of the motorsport-themed video for its predecessor, “2 Hands.”

“Sports Car,” “2 Hands,” and “It’s OK, I’m OK” will all appear on McRae’s third studio album, So Close To What, which is due on February 21 via RCA. She announced the album last November alongside its supporting Miss Possessive Tour, which starts on March 18 in Mexico City and will run through September 26 in Los Angeles.

Watch Tate McRae’s “Sports Car” video up top.

So Close To What is out 2/21via RCA Records. Find more information here.

Travis Scott is back on top of the world. After his 2023 album, Utopia, proved he could still top charts, and its accompanying tour showed (in dramatic fashion) that enthusiasm for him hadn’t been dampened by his time away from the spotlight, he’s “f*cking amped” about his next album.

Today, he released a new single, “4×4,” after teasing it ahead of its debut at the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. True to the venue of its debut, the Tay Keith-produced beat is awash in marching band brass, over which Travis boasts about his latest acquisition — and the upgrades he’s added. “Four-by-four, I tint my windows up,” he barks on the chorus. Clearly, he doesn’t want anyone to see his next moves until he’s ready.

Those moves include performances at Coachella — which he’s allegedly headlining — and Reading & Leeds Festival, as well as some potential work with the WWE. On the first-ever Monday Night Raw streamed on Netflix, Travis appeared to walk superstar wrestler Jey Uso to the ring from the crowd, upping the energy on Uso’s customary entrance, which draws just about as much energy as one of Scott’s performances on any given night by itself

You can listen to Travis Scott’s “4×4” up top.

When the news first broke that Bruno Mars was collaborating with Sexyy Red — his third such out-of-left-field collaboration in the past few months — fans didn’t know what to expect. What they got, though, should be unsurprising: A raunchy, upbeat party rap anthem titled “Fat, Juicy & Wet.” The video finds Sexyy and Bruno flirting and flexing with champagne, soap bubbles, and surprise cameos from Bruno’s other recent collaborators, Lady Gaga and Rosé of Blackpink.

Lyrically, the song takes Sexyy Red right back to the material that first put her on the map: Randy boasts about the quality of her lady parts, interspersed with blush-inducing promises for the romantic rendezvous. Bruno, who is no shrinking violet himself, matches her energy on the chorus, praising that “I don’t even gang bang / p**** so good, make me throw up a set.”

Prior to teaming up with Sexyy Red, Bruno seemingly stepped out of his comfort zone on “Die With A Smile” with Lady Gaga, a country song, and “APT.,” the rock-and-roll departure from K-pop idol Rosé. However, those moves have been fairly effective; “Die With A Smile” topped the Hot 100 to start 2025, while “APT.” has been at the top of the Global chart practically since its release. Will Bruno’s bid for a “strip club anthem” do the same?

Watch Sexyy Red’s “Fat, Juicy & Wet” video featuring Bruno Mars above.

The thing that makes Nikola Jokic so much fun is that everything he does on the basketball court looks so easy. Of course, it is incredibly hard to be as good at basketball as he is, but Jokic is one of the best players in history at making enormously difficult things look simple — a difficult shot, a pass that no one else in the world can see, you know exactly what I mean if you’ve ever watched Jokic play for two seconds.

On Thursday night during the Denver Nuggets‘ game against the Sacramento Kings, we got the latest example of this when Jokic made a shot from the foul line as the clock hit zero. The catch: It was the opposite foul line from the hoop he was trying to shoot into, as he just chucked a basketball perfectly into the hoop from 3/4 court.

I would say that this is shocking, but if there is one NBA player I would bet could do this, it is Jokic. Easily the best part is that his teammates just kinda show him some love like this is nothing they haven’t seen before, while Jokic simply wants to make it back to the bench. It’s all extremely good, and knowing Jokic, he’s going to find a way to one-up this sometime in the next few games.

In just a few hours, Central Cee will release his debut album, Can’t Rush Greatness. But first, he’s got one more music video to unload. The video for “Limitless” is simple and straightforward, highlighting the efforts Cee takes to maintain his health, from running with his team to cryotherapy. Of course, he knows health is wealth; the lyrics for the song focus on his survivor’s remorse and the adjustments he’s made for fame.

“I’m used to fallin’ asleep to the sound of sirens / So I don’t know if I like this change, it’s too quiet,” he admits. “You’ll always think that the grass is greener till you step foot over there and try it / You can have financial freedom, but the P don’t stop people dyin’ / Invest in guns for the ends, won’t help them, war won’t stop, the beef’s still fryin’.”

Despite his self awareness, Cench has still seen his station in life rapidly improve. His 2022 mixtape 23 put him on the map in a big way, and since then, he’s signed to Columbia Records, collaborated with Drake, Dave, Lil Baby, and 21 Savage, and featured on XXL‘s Freshman cover. You may not be able to rush greatness, but it’s coming for Central Cee quickly, and judging from his new song, he’s ready for it.

Watch Central Cee’s “Limitless” video up top.

Can’t Rush Greatness is out 1/24 via Columbia Records. You can find more info here.

For the past decade or so, Future has been considered something of the unofficial rap avatar for substance abuse, but in the mournful Mixtape Pluto song “Lost My Dog,” the Atlanta rap vet unflinchingly displays the dark side of his debauched content. In the new video, directed by French fashion designer Henri Alexander, Future cuts haunted looks at the camera while surrounded by candles. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Future video without at least a little T&A, which is provided by grainy, ancient-looking archival footage and an intro shot of a woman posing on the scoop of a bulldozer.

The video’s release highlights Future’s dedication to promoting his projects, even months after their respective releases. Although Mixtape Pluto is already five months in the rearview, he’s so far released videos for “Teflon Don,” “Allure,” and “Lost My Dog,” as well as a visualizer for his Travis Scott collaboration, “South Of France.”

That doesn’t mean he isn’t working on … ahem … future releases, as well, though. In addition to appearing on fellow Atlanta rapper Lil Baby’s new album, he’s allegedly working with Lil Baby and Young Thug on a full project, which could be the long-awaited sequel to his and Thug’s mixtape Super Slimey. It looks like there really is no rest for the wicked.

Watch Future’s “Lost My Dog” video up top

Mixtape Pluto is out now via Freebandz / Epic. You can listen to it here.

Música urbana continues to boom. Bad Bunny’s new album Debí Tirar Más Fotos just reached the top of the Billboard albums chart, and today, another Latin American superstar, J Balvin, started the rollout for his own new album with a tender music video for its first single, “Rio.”

A deeply personal song, “Rio” is prime Balvin, with a self-aware message of personal growth and a tuneful expression of his conviction that charity starts a home. “Pa qué buscar en la calle / Lo que abunda en mi casa?” he sings, which translates to “Why hit the streets to look for / What is plentiful in my house?”

The accompanying video is made up of clips from Balvin’s daily adventures with his partner, Argentine model, actress, and television host Valentina Ferrer, and their son. The couple first met on the set of Balvin’s 2017 music video “Sigo Extranjero,” in which Ferrer played his wife in a prime piece of subtle foreshadowing.

The couple seems like they have a goofy good time together, whether doing superstar things like vacationing in exotic locations and rehearsing for shows or just hanging around at home, shooting at each other with Nerf guns. While the press release for the song doesn’t reveal any details of Balvin’s next release, the song offers an intriguing follow-up to his 2024 album, Rayo — the tour for which kicks off in two months.

Watch J Balvin’s “Rio” video above.

On October 5, 2004, De La Soul released their seventh studio album, The Grind Date — their first independently released album, and the only one you could stream online until very recently. In honor of its 20th anniversary, the pioneering New York rap duo has announced a special edition reissue on CD and vinyl along with two new tracks. The first, “Bigger,” features R&B singer Choklate and can be streamed above. Four instrumentals will be included, as well as the Sean Paul-featuring bonus track “Shoomp,” which was previously only available on European and Japanese editions of the album.

In a statement, group member Posdnous wrote, “With the 20th anniversary of Grind Date, we just feel blessed in knowing that we put together this album that, right now, with its re-release feels fresh, it doesn’t feel outdated, the lyrics feel relevant. It really feels good to know that with the re-release of this album, it takes myself and Mase back to knowing that this album was the first album done outside of our Tommy Boy relationship, and it stands the test of time alongside that catalog, so yeah, it’s a blessing.”

Listen to “Bigger” above and pre-order the 20th-anniversary edition of The Grind Date here.

The Grind Date 20th Anniversary Tracklist:

01. “The Future”
02. “Verbal Clap”
03. “Much More” Feat. Yummy
04. “Shopping Bags (She Got From You)”
05. “The Grind Date”
06. “Church”
07. “Doo Good In Church” (Skit)
08. “It’s Like That” Feat. Carl Thomas
09. “He Comes” Feat. Ghostface Killah
10. “Days Of Our Lives” Feat. Common
11. “Come On Down” Feat. Flavor Flav
12. “No” Feat. Butta Verses
13. “Rock Co. Kane Flow” Feat. MF DOOM
14. “Shoomp” Feat. Sean Paul

Bonus Tracks
01. “Bigger” Feat. Choklate
02. “Respect”
03. “Verbal Clap” (Instrumental)
04. “Shopping Bags (She Got from You)” (Instrumental)
05. “The Grind Date” (Instrumental)
06. “Days Of Our Lives” Feat. Common (Instrumental)