Category: Trending

My colleague Derrick Rossignol is right; writing about beef and hate for the past six months has been exhausting. We here at Uproxx would much rather focus on the positives — especially when it comes to hip-hop, which has been about as innovative and productive as it has ever beeen in 2024.

Whatever coast you claim, whichever generation you consider yourself part of, no matter why you listen to hip-hop in the first place — to party, to think, to hype yourself up, or to escape into a gangster fantasy where you’re the toughest person in your town — there has been an embarrassment of riches with respect to the sheer volume of hip-hop releases this year, and its quality.

So, yes, the bloodsport was enjoyable while it lasted (for some of us), but when the dust has settled, you still need something to listen to. Whether you’re catching up, revisiting favorites you forgot about in the chaos, or just setting up your summer listening playlist, we’ve got you covered. Here are the best hip-hop albums of 2024 so far, presented in alphabetical order and including the entries from the best albums of 2024 so far list.

21 Savage — American Dream

21 Savage’s first solo album in over three years arrived at the top of the year to end a brief run of collaborative albums that included Savage Mode II with Metro Boomin and Her Loss with Drake. American Dream, his third solo album, presents all the sides of 21 Savage that we’ve come to love over the years. His menacing demeanor lives on tracks like “Redrum” and “Dangerous” and his charm is captured on “Prove It” and “Should’ve Wore A Bonnet” while honesty prevails with “Just Like Me” and “Dark Days.” 21 Savage’s long-awaited solo return checks all the expected boxes and elevates the rapper to a higher status, making an American Dream turn global and reach his birthplace of London where he performed for the first time at the end of 2023. — Wongo Okon

Anycia — Princess Pop That

Following a 2023 year that put her on the map, Atlanta rapper Anycia stepped in 2024 with a point to prove. In a matter of four months, it was seen and received thanks to her debut album Princess Pop That. She excels in a lane occupied by few where a cool and calm demeanor delivers the intended messages with a crispness that sends a chill down the spine. Anycia means every word she says as records like “Type Beat,” “Bad Weather,” and “Splash Brothers” prove. That’s Pop That side of Anycia, the Princess that is Anycia uses the Cash Cobain-assisted “That’s Hard” and the splashy “Squigi” to get her point across. What Princess Pop That gives you is duality and evidence that Anycia has plenty to show in the coming years of her career. — W.O

Benny The Butcher — Everybody Can’t Go

Benny The Butcher’s Def Jam debut didn’t usher a change in style or approach for the Buffalo rapper. If anything, his new home allowed him to more comfortably do what we’ve seen him excel at for much of the last decade. On Everybody Can’t Go, Benny puts up a fine display of rapping alongside Lil Wayne on the haunting “Big Dog” all to deliver a riveting and championing tale of a double life on “One Foot In” with Stove God Cooks. “Pillow Talk & Slander” with Jadakiss and Babyface Ray unites different generations of rap for a moment of introspection and celebration. Everybody Can’t Go opens a new era for Benny and promises many more bright moments to accompany the ones he put forth years prior. — W.O.

Bossman Dlow — Mr Beat The Road

Few rappers in 2024 have been as fun to listen to as Florida rapper Bossman Dlow rapper is. His Mr Beat The Road project is a 17-track compilation of exaggerated money spreads, pretentious claims about his ability to make money, entertaining adlibs, and catchy bars and punchlines. For Bossman Dlow, it all started with the success of “Get In With Me,” a convincing how-to on bossing up, increasing your cash flow, and living like a star. The standout single doesn’t even scratch the surface of Mr Beat The Road though. “Boss Talk” puts his title as head honcho on full display while “Mr Pot Scraper” paints him as a hustler like no other. “Come Here” with Sexyy Red is flirtatious fun and “Lil Bastard” with Rob49 sounds the alarm on Bossman Dlow’s inescapable arrival. Mr Beat The Road is a welcome party worth attending and remembering. — W.O.

Buddy — Don’t Forget To Breathe

In an era of so many rappers employing therapy and its associated lingo as a stylistic shortcut to being truly vulnerable, honest, and confessional on records, Buddy’s Don’t Forget To Breathe is, fittingly, a breath of fresh air. The Compton rapper not only takes the time to get to know himself after his decade or so in the game — letting listeners in on the process — but displays his expansive taste with a lush musical palette incorporating groovy R&B instrumentation over head-nodding hip-hop rhythms. “Buddy A Fool” is a self-aware self send-up, “Got Me Started” is a confident slick talk session, and “You 2 Thank” bridges the gap between post-G-funk and diasporic excellence. — Aaron Williams

Chief Keef — Almighty So 2

There’s no denying Chief Keef’s impact on modern-day hip-hop. All of what exists today, for better or for worse, would be different or absent without Chief Keef. At 28 years old, he’s a rap veteran when many at that age are just a few years into their careers, and many who checked into the game at 17 years old, like Keef did, fizzled out shortly after they could legally drink. So Keef’s continued relevance for more than a decade is impressive, as is his fifth album, Almighty So 2. Originally announced back in 2019, the album’s arrival five years later is a great gift to fans. What makes it better are splashy features from Tierra Whack, Sexyy Red, Quavo, and others, as well as sharp bass-rattling production supplied by Keef himself. — W.O.

Flo Milli — Fine Ho, Stay

If Ho, Why Is You Here? was Flo Milli’s fun-loving introduction to the rap biz, and You Still Here, Ho? was her concentrated effort to prove she could consistently make hits, Fine Ho, Stay is a self-possessed declaration of her own permanence as a fixture in the limelight. It’s also a rock-solid display of her rhyme prowess; while she does her fair share of pop-friendly crooning on “Can’t Stay Mad,” songs like “Clap Sum” and “Neva” can easily be argued as the result of her time spent on the road with some of rap’s most practiced contemporary spitters like Benny The Butcher and Gunna. — A.W.

Fredo Bang — Yes, I’m Sad

It’s been three years since Baton Rouge rapper Fredo Bang emerged with his breakout hit “Top,” which was later boosted by a remix from Lil Durk. He stands tall on his own through honesty and vulnerability, as depicted on his Yes, I’m Sad project. The takeaway from it is that all that glitters ain’t gold, a message Fredo puts forth successfully through songs like “Come Thru” and the project’s sincere title. Still, the gold is very much present in Fredo’s world on “Ring Ring” with Kevin Gates and “Sideways” with NLE Choppa. Fredo’s Yes, I’m Sad acknowledges the hardships in his life, but also pushes himself to do something about and improve the circumstances, a mindset that brings more value to the project. — W.O.

Future and Metro Boomin — We Don’t Trust You and We Still Don’t Trust You

In 2017, Future did something no other artist had ever done before: He released Future (a trap-heavy, bass-knocking rap album) and Hndrxx (a softer, more confessional, and R&B-inspired effort) in consecutive weeks, becoming the first artist to release a pair of Billboard 200 chart-topping albums in the same week. Fast-forward seven years, and Future and Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You and We Still Don’t Trust You are modeled the same way, respectively. Future’s ability to channel both sides of his artistry and deliver the very best of them multiple times in his career is a feat accomplished by few and dreamed of by many. But for now, we can remember these albums as two of music’s best releases in 2024 and one being the catalyst for hip-hop’s biggest war in decades. — W.O.

GloRilla — Ehhthang Ehhthang

Girls just wanna have fun. For all the hand-wringing about the lack of substance in hip-hop these days (from people who happily did their Stanky Leg and bumped “Tipsy” back in the day), rap music has always been about turning up at parties. Rappers like GloRilla remember this — or, at least, keep the spirit of the function alive in their music — making catchy hits that won’t elicit boos for the DJ who plays them. Ehhthang Ehhthang might be light on deep topics and cultural criticism, but while it runs on club anthems like “Yeah Glo!” and “Wanna Be,” it does have some deceptively heartfelt moments, as well. Even its title is a clever callback to so-called substantive rap, adding a country twist to the title of Lauryn Hill’s 1999 smash hit. — A.W.

Gunna — One Of Wun

The current era of Gunna’s career is one nobody could have predicted five years ago. Once-guaranteed collaborations with Young Thug, Future, Lil Baby, and others are now a thing of yesterday. Today, as Gunna’s fifth album One Of Wun displays, the Atlanta rapper makes the most of his inner circle as the variety and availability of past resources have run dry. One Of Wun is as flashy, slick, and smooth as we’ve known Gunna to be. It’s confirmation that he can present that persona when he pleases. “On One Tonight” is one of Gunna’s best outputs in years while “Hakuna Matata” glides with ease and hits corners with impressive finesse. “Today I Did Good” is a surprisingly bright track that showcases the change in Gunna’s life. One Of Wun escapes the dark of yesterday and runs toward the light at the end of the tunnel, which remains bright for Gunna. — W.O.

J. Cole — Might Delete Later

Nearly a decade after his fellow hip-hop heavyweights, aka Drake and Kendrick Lamar, did it, J. Cole delivered a surprise album of his own with Might Delete Later. Cole surprised fans with the project on the weekend of his annual Dreamville Festival and weeks after Kendrick challenged both Cole and Drake for rap’s crown on his “Like That” verse. The strong output from Cole failed to truly shine thanks his lukewarm Kendrick Lamar diss in “7 Minute Drill,” its eventual removal from streaming services, and Cole’s apology for even responding in the first place. Nonetheless, Might Delete Later is still a strong body of work. “Crocodile Tearz” is an impressive display of Cole on the offensive, and “HYB” with Bas and Central Cee presents Cole in a fun and laid-back state worth bringing out more often than he does. Long story short, Might Delete Later is worth keeping in rotation for a while. — W.O.

Kenny Mason — 9

In the four years since Kenny Mason dropped his debut album, Angelic Hoodrat, he’s seen a fairly prodigious jump in his public profile, landing feature placement on tracks from the likes of J. Cole and JID, touring the nation with Danny Brown and Jpegmafia, and garnering widespread acclaim for his unique blend of grunge, shoegaze, and punk rap. On 9, he expands on that genre gumbo, incorporating features from such wide-ranging sources as trap upstart Babydrill and chillwave pioneer Toro Y Moi. More mellow than alt-rap screamers like Trippie Redd and XXXtentacion, but more introspective than Atlanta peers like Gunna and Young Nudy, Kenny’s in a class of his own, bridging gaps between what works and what’s possible. — A.W.

Kyle — Smyle Again

The recent resurgence of jungle and drum & bass is making me feel young again, and a large part of the reason for that renaissance is Southern California native Kyle. Last year, his album It’s Not So Bad evoked the sounds of the Y2K British rave scene with a palette of 2-step and garage, and Smyle Again (named after his breakout 2015 mixtape Smyle) continued to mine that fertile era from a more hardcore angle. Like its predecessor, it borrows the skittering forceful riddims of 2000s UK EDM and pairs them with the sunny, beach-bred cheeriness Kyle is known for. The result is one of the year’s more innovative projects. — A.W.

LaRussell & Hit-Boy — Rent Due

How exactly does one settle on just one LaRussell project when he’s so prone to releasing multiple in a year’s span? It certainly helps when he brings one of the West Coast’s premiere beatmakers, Hit-Boy, along for the ride. Although Rent Due is only seven songs and 18 minutes long, both collaborators bring their A-games, going in like… well… the rent’s due. What truly impresses is the versatility of the album, from the airy uplift of “Lead Me To The Water” to the boisterous street stomp on “Another One.” The two California natives have unsurprisingly great chemistry and if HB wants to drop another four projects with LaRussell, I don’t think anyone will complain. — A.W.

MIKE — Pinball

MIKE’s drowsy lyrical ruminations have always defied easy categorization, even as they’ve illustrated his broad range of cultural and stylistic influences. In the past, this has often resulted in dense, borderline opaque listens that can get mired in murky soul samples and abstract rhymes. Pinball is a different story, though. Like the arcade games it’s named after, Tony Seltzer’s beats on Pinball instead gives MIKE a lively, bouncy background for his cerebral lyrics, bringing more energy out of him and making it sound like he’s actually having a lot of fun. It’s a needed reminder that thoughtful hip-hop needn’t be boring or super serious to get its point across. — A.W.

Rapsody — Please Don’t Cry

In my interview with Rapsody about her new album, Please Don’t Cry, I called it her best and THEE best hip-hop album of the year so far. I may end up revising that opinion by December, but the bar is going to be really hard to clear. Combining lessons she’s learned from therapy, endless reiteration of ideas, and some of her production teams’ finest work to date, Rapsody has crafted a masterclass in vulnerability, honesty, and lyrical dexterity. “Stand Tall,” “Diary Of A Mad B*tch,” “A Ballad For Homegirls,” and “Forget Me Not” are the sorts of honest, “real” rap writing that fans have been begging for for years. — A.W.

Schoolboy Q — Blue Lips

At this point, few of us, if any, should be complaining about the long wait between Top Dawg Entertainment projects. The last few years have brought projects such as Ab-Soul’s Herbert, Isaiah Rashad’s The House Is Burning, and of course, SZA’s SOS after five-year gaps — an approach that seems to be the recipe for producing some of those artists’ most heartfelt, innovative works to date. Schoolboy Q turns out to be no exception. His latest also arrives five years after its predecessor, Crash Talk, bringing with it the very soul of Los Angeles’ experimental jazz history. An eccentric compilation that never stays in one vibe too long, Blue Lips presents a portrait of a matured, sophisticated gangster. — A.W.

Skilla Baby — The Coldest

Detroit rapper Skilla Baby, fresh off a 12-month run that boosted his stock thanks to songs like “Mama” and “Bae,” showed what he’s really made of on The Coldest. Often mislabeled as a rapper with song’s solely for the ladies, Skilla Baby embraces the title with the flirty and infatuated “Whole Package” with Flo Milli as well as “Wifey” alongside NoCap. However, Skilla Baby is more than just a ladies’ man. He’s a certified hustler on the grim “Mike Jack” and he’s successful one who can brag about his wins on “Richie.” Skilla Baby has the type of duality that one should admire and The Coldest puts it all on full display. — W.O.

Tierra Whack — World Wide Whack

World Wide Whack is perhaps one of the most anticipated hip-hop debuts of the last five years, and it doesn’t disappoint. Tierra Whack had the world in the palm of her hand after her EP Whack World introduced the public to the colorful inner universe of the Philadelphia creative, but then reality stepped in. Tierra’s experiences since then inspired World Wide Whack, which despite its whimsical stylings contains some of her most heartrending music yet. “Two Night” and “27 Club” deliver a one-two punch of empathetic pleas for a more measured reception for the sort of creative personalities that have suddenly become a quite endangered species. — A.W.

Vince Staples — Dark Times

Hometown bias aside, I have long believed that Long Beach rapper Vince Staples has been one of rap’s most quietly insightful, innovative voices since 2014, when I first heard him on Common’s Nobody Smiling single “Kingdom.” Since then, his confidence in his artistic vision has only grown, while his already prodigious talents sharpened in his efforts to bring that vision to grungy, cinematic life. Dark Times is the culmination of that growth, presenting a version of Vince that pairs his photographic observations of life at the bottom of the American pyramid with a collection of instrumentals destined to shatter the last (stupid) arguments against him — you can’t say he picks bad beats now. — A.W.

When EA Sports announced they were reviving their college football video game franchise, now simply named EA Sports College Football, fans rejoiced. However, after the initial wave of excitement, fans began wondering if EA would recognize what made the old NCAA Football franchise one of the most beloved sports games of all-time.

With the advent of Ultimate Team and other online play modes built around microtransactions, there was a fear that Dynasty mode would go the way of other franchise modes and get put on the backburner. That, of course, would’ve been a tremendous misstep, because Dynasty mode has always been the gold standard of coach/GM modes in video games. The old NCAA franchise was so fun because you could build a small program into a powerhouse and then turn around and go do it again somewhere else.

Thankfully, EA Sports didn’t turn their backs on what made their college football offering a fan favorite. As principal game designer Ben Haumiller, who worked on the NCAA Football franchise from 05-14, explained in a presentation in Orlando, “Dynasty is what we’re about.” That seemed to be more than just talk, as our first look at Dynasty mode revealed an awful lot of detail and depth about everyone’s favorite game mode.

As we sat through the presentation, I did have some questions, namely how they decided what would and wouldn’t make it into the initial relaunch of the franchise. Luckily, I got a chance to sit down with Haumiller for an additional peek behind the curtain of how the game came together, what their focus was for the initial launch of ’25, balancing giving the game depth and making the game a challenge while still being approachable, and much more.

When you find out the game’s coming back, how do you create the list of must haves versus want to haves in the future? Because obviously, you’ve had 10 years of ideas kicking around.

Oh yeah.

And like, how do you decide what has to be in this first iteration?

Great question. Man, so I think really what you look at is time is the ultimate arbiter. You only have so much time before a game has a release date. And we did get the luxury of some additional time, and that gave us the chance to really go deep and create everything that you’re seeing today. So I think you look at every facet of the game as well. Like, the biggest things for us have always been gameplay, sights, and sounds. That’s what sets college apart from everything else. So when you think about college gameplay what does that mean? Well, you know, everything from the wider splits or the option game and the flexbone and bringing those things back in, or the Go-Go offense or the walking mesh at Wake, things like that, that aren’t in Madden, because those aren’t run in the professional world. So we’ve got to make sure we have those in.

I think about NCAA 14, we were just starting to do RPOs back then, but we didn’t have RPOs. So you had to kind of fake it where you had two different plays that were essentially RPO and you could set them up as audibles and call it at the line that way. But now we have a full RPO system and all those sorts of things, which Madden developed and we were able to inherit from them and tweak in our own way. So, the gameplay side of things is all those pieces that make it different. The presentation side of the house — artists love that this game is back because they get to make dogs and trees and all these other things that are the funny, kind of goofy side of the sport. I think that’s one thing that I love about college football is it doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s a lot of just fun goofiness that we get to play with in this game. So yeah, that’s on the presentation side.

In my role on the Dynasty side and the mode side of things, you have your core, you know, roster management and conference standings, and things like that. But the sports are so different in the recruiting aspect and recruiting is kind of like free agency, sure, so there’s some things we can work with together with Madden on and how those are going to work. But they’re so different and drastically different in terms of how those sort of things work — and the transfer portal and the College Football Playoff coming. And since we started, it’s gone from a 4-team Playoff to a 12-team Playoff, and we get to debut that before it ever happens in the real world.

So I think there were so many things that we had — this is must do, this is must do, this is must do, this is must do. And you know, you have your development partners, who are like, ‘Cool, that’s like seven years worth of things. You don’t have seven years. So what are you going to drill down.’ So that’s another piece too, is we had to rethink how we made the game. We couldn’t do it the old way, because the old way wouldn’t get us 134 stadiums for the first year. The old way wouldn’t be able to create all these likenesses of players for having players for the first time ever, such a monumental thing. And so we don’t have the ability to go and scan all those players to get them in. So finding another way of doing all those sort of things. And those are the pieces that we were able to do what we were able to do, because of the work that this team put in to finding ways to make it happen. It’s a labor of love.

You know this, but the first thing people want is Dynasty mode. Like that is the core of the base who played the game.

Yep.

And obviously you have a younger generation, there’s a gap to bridge there that’s played Ultimate Team and all that, but the people that are core is Dynasty Mode. So when we start ideating on what that looks like — particularly the recruiting because I think like you said, that was the thing that stands out to Dynasty compared to any other franchise/GM mode. As you’re building recruiting, what were the conversations that were had about how to do it and make it immersive, but not necessarily make it so in the weeds that it is not approachable?

I think I’ve got a unique perspective on that from my lifetime of the previous game, right? I worked on the game for a decade. And so when I started, we were still in the PS2 land, so we had that style of recruiting. Around NCAA 08, we decided we wanted to change something and to go in a different route. We have felt that had gotten a little stale. We went to a much deeper version, the old football, remember that? The angry football and all that good stuff, and pitch grades, all that sort of stuff came in. We got very deep at that point, and people told us, you know what, like, a little much. A little much. And so we had to dial back. Then we got all the way to 14 where we did that points=based recruiting, and I think we went too far in dialing back, where people are like, ‘Okay, cool, it’s fast, but I don’t feel association, I don’t feel connection with these guys like I want to.’

And so, I think when we were looking at this year and revisiting everything we were looking at, okay, so much has changed between how you handle high school recruiting, between the transfer portal, all of those sorts of elements. But the mechanics themselves have to be fun and have to engage you because you want to do this. This is taking time away from from playing the game. I know that. Like, that’s one of the things you always try to think about in the Dynasty mode or any of these franchise modes. People want to play the game. They love the the front end version of it, the spreadsheets and all that sort of stuff, but it’s all servicing for the actual gameplay. So how can we keep you engaged, but do it quickly so that you can get back in and you’re not spending four hours between games just going in and micromanaging every aspect of recruiting. So you’ll see stuff that you might recognize from the PS2 days. You’ll see stuff that you might recognize from those other later versions, but also too, brand new elements that we brought in to really try and round out what that recruiting experience is like.

There’s so many people that want so many things, you hear all of this stuff, and there’s so many ways you can go, because the sport has expanded to this point where there’s so many different things. You mentioned that you’re not going to really dive into NIL in this iteration. How do you make the decisions on what necessarily to save for a later date to explore?

Those decisions don’t come easy. I can go back to the conversations we had when we were making NCAA 14, knowing that we were a year away from the College Football Playoff. And there were no details about how it would actually work. And we work best when we are replicating things that have been done. We made the decision at the time, and this is gonna be funny, we’re not ready to do College Football Playoff yet, because it’s not for this upcoming year because we were replicating the 2013 season. The old phrase: We’ll get back to the next year. And a decade comes and, you know… [laughs].

So when you think about something like NIL, it’s very tricky for us to think about how it’s changing all the time. You don’t have a set of rules that are the same across from state-to-state. Everybody is different of how things operate. And also too, when you are in Dynasty, you’re the program. You’re not supposed to be the ones doing these deals directly. So with everything that we had, we know how big that story is, but with everything that we had to do, we couldn’t justify spending the time to go down that rabbit hole of what NIL kind of currently is, knowing full well we’re gonna rip that out in a year and go with whatever the new version is and then a year from that, rip that out. So it’s about finding the right time to do a feature like that, to build that in. So that we are doing it in a smart way, doing it in a way that is authentic as we can be, also knowing that we cannot do things that are going to anger our partners, being the schools. We’re an E for Everyone game, so those salacious things are not going to happen. So it’s kind of finding the right time to do some of that.

So we recognize that that is a big piece of college football these days. Roster management is so different now between high school kids or roster retention of your current guys or going after the portal. Those are three unique elements that make up how you build a roster now. And so we’ve got those there in a core, and now it’s a matter of building up. And it’s going to be, with that specific piece, when is the time right to dive in and really make that its true piece that needs to be. I think we’re kind of waiting for the world to settle a little bit, so we know what we’re getting ourselves into, for sure.

From from what we walked through. I think one of the main questions I had about the day to day or week to week is, how much player management is involved in Dynasty? With regards to guys looking at entering the transfer portal, how you track kind of like, where you need to meet goals with certain guys and that sort of thing?

You see that during the year through the recruiting side of things in that My School screen that we were showing with all the different pitch grades. You know, this is an area that’s still ripe for a lot more. But right now, it’s about those deal breakers, and not every player has a deal breaker, but the ones that do will be their determining factor of it. From the high school side, are they even looking at you, but also too, once they’re on campus, they still have their deal breakers that if they want playing time and they’re not getting it, they’re gonna look to go to the portal. And so then you can try to convince them to stay if you want to, and if they don’t agree to that, then they jump into the portal. So, yeah, it’s just a matter of kind of looking at all those different pieces and just how do we go about recreating those elements?

So the player management from a week-to-week basis, you are looking on that screen to see players at risk for each of those grades. You’re seeing which players are there and you can, just as real coaches are doing, make that decision. Is it worth it? And also on the recruiting trail, is it worth going after this high school kid? Or do I save that spot for a portal player because I need to win right now? I don’t have time for this kid to develop. I need to win right now. I need to plug some holes. Or I lost a kid I wasn’t planning on losing. Well, now, I don’t have a starting quarterback. I’ve got a couple guys in the wings, but nobody’s ready. Can I get a one year rental guy to come in? Which you see is more and more becoming how people are handling that.

So what we wanted to do was create that sandbox world where there’s not one way to do anything. There’s not one way to recruit. Everybody has their own style of what they want to do. There’s not one way to win a national championship. Everyone has their own ways. You know, with a 12-team Playoff now, you don’t have to be one of the big dogs to get into the four. You can get in as a smaller school and make your way through that way. So there’s just so many different things that you can do that we’re trying to replicate in this game.

You talked about making it something that you really feel like you build, and that story element. It used to be you could kind of game the recruiting as a small school and you could make that pop in two years or whatever. How did y’all try to strike a balance in terms of like, you don’t wanna make it impossible, because that’s part of what people love to do, but also you want to make it more realistic. Like if I’m going to take Georgia State to a title, it’s gonna take some time. How did you kind of decide on what the timeframe is that you want that journey?

Great question too, because the other thing you’re competing against is people don’t want to spend, you know, 20 years to get to their dream school. They want to get there relatively quickly, but also they don’t want it to just be handed to them. So I think that’s something you think of both … I’ll use a Road to Glory example, real quick. You don’t become the starter immediately in Road to Glory. You’ve got to earn your playing time and work yourself up on the depth chart.

So on the Dynasty side, it’s the same sort of thing where like, those four- and five-star kids are not going to be interested in a smaller school from the start. You have to build your grades up in that My School piece to be more attractive to those kids and they have to like what you have to offer. So you might build up Georgia State to be a perennial powerhouse, number one team in the country every single year. But if a kid cares about proximity to home and he’s in California, ‘Sorry about that, you know, I’m staying close over here.’ So those are the things I think that make this game and this sport so much fun is, that association you build these players because they ultimately are choosing you. And so you can’t just manipulate draft logic and things like that just to win a Super Bowl and have the number one pick in the same year. You can be Alabama, you can be Georgia, and still not get the number one player in the country because he wants something that you don’t offer.

Charli XCX has already gifted the world “Von Dutch,” “360,” “Club Classics,” and “B2b,” and the UK pop star went ahead and tacked on Addison Rae and A.G. Cook to a “Von Dutch” remix, then Robyn and Yung Lean to a “360” remix. Still, there is so much of Brat yet to be revealed. Charli XCX’s new album is 15 songs, 41 minutes and 23 seconds long; get ready ready to see that lime green album cover chronically on screens everywhere this summer due to repetitive streaming.

When Will Charli XCX’s New Album Brat Be On Spotify?

Brat is due out on Friday, June 7, which means the album should hit Spotify, Apple Music, and all DSPs at 9 p.m. PT on Thursday, June 6, and midnight ET on Friday, June 7.

Charli XCX’s Brat Tracklist

1. “360”
2. “Club Classics”
3. “Sympathy Is A Knife”
4. “I Might Say Something Stupid”
5. “Talk Talk”
6. “Von Dutch”
7. “Everything Is Romantic”
8. “Rewind”
9. “So I”
10. “Girl, So Confusing”
11. “Apple”
12. “B2b”
13. “Mean Girls”
14. “I Think About It All The Time”
15. “365”

Charli XCX’s Brat Album Cover Artwork

Is Charli XCX Touring In Support Of Brat?

The short answer is yes. Charli XCX will tour this album in several ways, having announced dates billed as Brat 2024 and Brat 2024 Arena Tour, plus her co-headlining North American Sweat tour with Troye Sivan this fall. See all of Charli’s upcoming tour dates here.

Perhaps you have already spent five nights at Freddy’s and thought, “that’s not too bad, what’s another five nights?” And you are not alone! Five Nights At Freddy’s, the wildly popular video game franchise, was adapted to the big screen last year, and those five nights were not enough, apparently, as a sequel is currently in the works.

The Five Nights At Freddy’s game was first released in 2014 and followed a security guard working at an abandoned theme pizza restaurant (similar to our friend Chuck E. Cheese’s place) where the animatronics become possessed by the spirits of dead children.

A film adaptation from Blumhouse, also titled Five Nights At Freddy’s, was released last fall starring Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard and a bunch of creepy animatronics from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Thanks to its box office success, Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 is on track to shoot this summer, with Hutcherson and Lillard both back to star.

As of right now, the highly anticipated sequel is slated for a December 5th, 2025 release date, assuming everything goes smoothly and none of the animatronics attempt to murder the crew.

Earlier this year, Hutcherson revealed that a sequel was already on the way. “I know they’re in the process right now of nailing down the story, and they want to get going as soon as possible,” he told Variety. “Obviously, the fans are amazing and die hard. For me to be a part of it was so cool and phenomenal.” There is something just so cool and phenomenal about deadly robots wearing cuddly fur skin trying to kill you!

The NBA Finals will tip-off on Thursday night in Boston, as the Celtics host the Mavs in Game 1 on ESPN. The series features seemingly endless storylines, like Kyrie Irving’s return to Boston, Kristaps Porzingis’ return to Dallas, the Mavs building a title contender in a year, and the Celtics looking to finally break through for a championship after more than five years on the doorstep (with their own revamp this past summer).

With all of that adding depth and color to the Finals, the stars still take center stage. For Boston, it’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown looking to fulfill the promise of their pairing and finally quiet the never-ending questions about whether the two star wings can win a title together. For Dallas, it’s Luka Doncic looking to fully assert himself as one of the league’s absolute elite stars, lifting the Mavs to their second championship at 25 years old.

Ahead of Game 1, ESPN released a terrific promo video that isolated Doncic and Tatum in two of their biggest moments from the conference finals, highlighting the road taken to get both teams to this point.

For Doncic, they went with his instant classic game-winner from Game 2 when he danced on Rudy Gobert and put a dagger in the Wolves heart over the DPOY. For Tatum, it was his late overtime three that helped put Game 1 on ice in a stunning fourth quarter and OT comeback against the Pacers that set them on course for a sweep.

As the Finals arrive, we’ll see if Tatum and Doncic get the chance to author more late-game heroics, and which star (or surprising hero) steps up to lead their team to a championship.

For the past few months, Tems has been dropping bread crumbs on the road to the release of her debut album, Born In The Wild. After announcing the album in April, she released the single “Love Me JeJe” before revealing the release date a month later. Next, she announced her tour for the album, shared the tracklist featuring Asake and J. Cole, and played a lovely NPR Tiny Desk Concert. So, when can you finally stream Born In The Wild on DSPs like Spotify?

Born In The Wild is due on June 7 via RCA / Since ’93, which means you can stream it beginning at 9 PM Pacific/midnight Eastern time. Check out more information about the album below.

Tracklist

1. “Born In The Wild”
2. “Special Baby (Interlude)”
3. “Burning”
4. “Wickedest”
5. “Love Me JeJe”
6. “Get It Right” Feat. Asake
7. “Ready”
8. “Gangsta”
9. “Unfortunate”
10. “Boy O Boy”
11. “Forever”
12. “Free Fall” Feat. J. Cole
13. “Voices In My Head (Interlude)”
14. “Turn Me Up”
15. “Me & U”
16. “T-Unit”
17. “You In My Face”
18. “Hold On”

Tour Dates

Europe:

6/12 — London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
6/15 — Paris, France @ L’Olympia
7/4 — Oslo, Norway @ Sentrum Scene
7/8 — Berlin, Germany @ Tempodrom
7/10 — Cologne, Germany @ Carlswerk Victoria
7/12 — Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
7/16 — Montreux, Switzerland @ Montreux

North America

8/22 — Miami Beach, FL @ The Fillmore
8/24 — Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Cafe
8/26 — Dallas, TX @ Gilley’s South Side Ballroom
8/28 — Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
8/30 — Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
9/01 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
9/03 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia
9/05 — New York City, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
9/07 — Toronto, ON, Canada @ History
9/11 — Boston, MA @ Agganis Arena
9/13 — Montreal, QC, Canada @ L’Olympia
9/15 — Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
9/17 — Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom
9/22 — Vancouver, BC, Canada @ The Queen Elizabeth Theatre
9/25 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
9/27 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
9/29 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Theatre At Virgin Hotel
10/1 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre

Africa

10/19 & 25 — TBA

Asia

11/5 — TBA

Australia

11/09 — Melbourne @ Margaret Court Arena
11/12 — Brisbane @ Fortitude Music Hall
11/15 — Sydney @ The Hordern Pavilion

Don’t get too comfortable atop Netflix’s most popular TV shows list, Jenna Ortega: Stranger Things is returning soon. Well, maybe “soon” is overstating it. How about this? Stranger Things is returning for its fifth and final season… eventually. It’s been nearly two years since season 4 of the hot Netflix series from the Duffer Brothers concluded, and fans have been pleading for information about the ending ever since.

After reading about the worst ways for Stranger Things to wrap up, here’s everything we know about season 5, including plot details, returning cast members, and whether there’s a premiere date.

Plot

Stranger Things was officially renewed for a fifth and final season in February 2022. Since then, scant few details about the plot have been revealed. We know the premiere begins with the sound of “COLD WILD” and that the season consists of eight episodes, but there’s no official synopsis yet.

Back in 2022, however, the Duffer Brothers did share that season 5 is “pulling” a lot of ideas that weren’t used in a previous season. “A lot of our big ending stuff has pulled from stuff that we thought was going to be in season 2,” Ross said at WGFestival. That includes answering a lot of questions about the mysterious Upside Down — many of which involve the return of Vecna.

But the “epic” final season won’t be all lore, according to Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler). “This last season is sort of a crossroads, and so we’re getting back into a lot of the dynamics of season one, which is really fun,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “There’s some ‘leader Mike’ moments, and it’s a very grand season, obviously. Every season has gotten bigger and bigger and bigger, and this season is huge, but it’s also kind of isolated as well.”

This being the final season and all, some main characters will (probably?) die, but will it be enough to satiate Millie Bobby Brown and Gaten Matarazzo’s bloodlust? The Duffer Brothers are firm that “we’re not Game of Thrones,” but “we should kill more people,” Matarazzo pleaded earlier this year. “This show would be so much better if the stakes were much higher, like at any moment any of these kids can kick it. I feel like we’re all too safe.”

We’re also not safe from rumored time jumps. That’s nothing new for Stranger Things, but this leap forward might be more substantial than usual, due to the young cast looking older than the last time we saw them.

Cast

Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) is busy being a “wifey” to Bon Jovi’s son in Universal Studios, but she’ll be back for season 5, as confirmed by a cast photo. Also returning: David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Brett Gelman (Murray Bauman), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), and Amybeth McNulty (Vickie).

Newcomers include The Terminator legend Linda Hamilton, who considered retiring from acting before landing a role on the show. Even if season 5 stinks, it’ll have been worth it to keep Hamilton around.

Release Date

Alas, Netflix hasn’t revealed the release date for season 5. But it will be in 2025.

Trailer

There’s no season 5 trailer, but there is Dustin (“Dusty Bun”) and Suzie singing the song from The NeverEnding Story. We’ll take what we can get.

Tems announced her debut album Born In The Wild back in April, giving fans just about two months to build excitement for it. So, when can you stream Born In The Wild on DSPs like Apple Music?

Born In The Wild is due on June 7 via RCA / Since ’93, which means that it’ll be available to stream beginning at midnight Eastern / 9 PM Pacific.

Last week, Tems revealed the tracklist for the album, which includes guest features from fellow Afrobeats star Asake and rapper J. Cole. You can check out more information on Born In The Wild below.

Tracklist

1. “Born In The Wild”
2. “Special Baby (Interlude)”
3. “Burning”
4. “Wickedest”
5. “Love Me JeJe”
6. “Get It Right” Feat. Asake
7. “Ready”
8. “Gangsta”
9. “Unfortunate”
10. “Boy O Boy”
11. “Forever”
12. “Free Fall” Feat. J. Cole
13. “Voices In My Head (Interlude)”
14. “Turn Me Up”
15. “Me & U”
16. “T-Unit”
17. “You In My Face”
18. “Hold On”

Singles

So far, Tems has released two singles, “Me & U” and “Love Me JeJe.”

Tour Dates

Europe:

6/12 — London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
6/15 — Paris, France @ L’Olympia
7/4 — Oslo, Norway @ Sentrum Scene
7/8 — Berlin, Germany @ Tempodrom
7/10 — Cologne, Germany @ Carlswerk Victoria
7/12 — Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
7/16 — Montreux, Switzerland @ Montreux

North America

8/22 — Miami Beach, FL @ The Fillmore
8/24 — Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Cafe
8/26 — Dallas, TX @ Gilley’s South Side Ballroom
8/28 — Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
8/30 — Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
9/01 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
9/03 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia
9/05 — New York City, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
9/07 — Toronto, ON, Canada @ History
9/11 — Boston, MA @ Agganis Arena
9/13 — Montreal, QC, Canada @ L’Olympia
9/15 — Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
9/17 — Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom
9/22 — Vancouver, BC, Canada @ The Queen Elizabeth Theatre
9/25 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
9/27 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
9/29 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Theatre At Virgin Hotel
10/1 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre

Africa

10/19 & 25 — TBA

Asia

11/5 — TBA

Australia

11/09 — Melbourne @ Margaret Court Arena
11/12 — Brisbane @ Fortitude Music Hall
11/15 — Sydney @ The Hordern Pavilion

The Boston Celtics will host the Dallas Mavericks for Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals on Thursday night, June 6, and as with every NBA Finals, there is no shortage of storylines. Luka Dončić, 25, and Jayson Tatum, 26, will fight for their first NBA title and face-of-the-league rights. Boston has been knocking on the door for five years, while Dallas revamped in one year. Hall Of Famer Jason Kidd could coach the Mavs to their first championship since 2011, which he won as a player in Dallas. Kristaps Porzingis faces his old team, looking to prove his value to a championship squad.

But Kyrie Irving is the most fascinating character in this Finals.

It feels like ages ago that Irving, 32, was LeBron James’ wide-eyed running mate in Cleveland. He sunk that declarative Game 7 three to seal the Cavaliers’ first and only championship in June 2016, and then the following eight years sunk him. Some of it was out of his control, like his grandfather’s death in October 2018. He later explained that grief “sucked away” his joy for basketball and directly influenced his immature behavior in Boston for two tumultuous seasons, beginning with Tatum’s rookie year and ending one year before these Tatum- and Jaylen Brown-centric Celtics made their first of four trips to the Eastern Conference Finals in five years. But most of the muck was self-inflicted, especially his three years as a Brooklyn Net, interrupted by injury and clouded by COVID controversies or conspiracy theories, before requesting a trade to Dallas in February 2023. Irving grew up loving Kidd and the Nets in New Jersey. But Kidd and Mavs general manager Nico Harrison, a former Nike executive whose relationship with Irving dates back 15 years, were in Dallas, so Dallas felt like home.

“I’m at a place in my life where I don’t even consider those past moments,” the three-time All-NBA point guard and eight-time All-Star told Scott Van Pelt after the Mavs ousted Minnesota in the Western Conference Finals. “I was able to unpack them in a healthy way and move forward as person. I had a rough time there when I was in Boston, just dealing with death in my family and dealing with a lot of off-court stuff that I wasn’t ready to handle. Now that I’m in a great place to be able to vocalize how I’m feeling, I’m ready to go back into Boston and have fun with my teammates.”

Dime considered Irving’s past in order to comprehensively evaluate his present by speaking with eight media members with unique perspective and various opinions on the NBA’s most mercurial star.

What interests you the most about this version of Kyrie Irving — or the new narratives around him?

Jemele Hill (The Atlantic): This version of Kyrie has always been there — dynamite offensive talent, thoughtful, and someone steadily growing into the person he wants to be. And yes, he’s certainly made some mistakes on previous teams, but his desire to be great was never in question. I also think he’s in the unique position of understanding how rare and special these opportunities are when it comes to competing for a championship. When he was in Brooklyn with Kevin Durant and James Harden, people had a hard time imagining that team wouldn’t eventually win a championship. That didn’t happen, and so I think it probably inspired him to be more of a leader with this team because he’s had the experience of knowing expectations aren’t promises. He’s playing basketball expertly as always, but what people are picking up on is a different sense of joy.

Michelle Beadle (Run It Back, Beadle And Decker): This version of Kyrie is what a little time, a little growth can do. We all have been through it, [at different] levels, of course. His previous “issues,” while self-inflicted, seemed to follow him from place to place. And it’s not to say that he’s stopped having off-court interests or beliefs, but he’s clearly incorporating them into his life differently. Being in a place that accepts you, and you accept it, can have a calming effect.

Charlotte Wilder (Oddball, The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz, The Wilder Things): I’ve already been yelled at for how I’ve talked about Kyrie on the internet. He’s a lightning rod, no matter what. I saw a tweet the other day saying, “Everybody’s acting as though Kyrie is recovering from cancer. He was just an a**hole for five years.” And so, I don’t want to pretend that Kyrie didn’t give himself this negative image in the first place. He made a bunch of missteps, on and off the court. Mostly off the court, but there were also some questionable ways in which he was a teammate. I’ve been so surprised that I am sympathetic towards him. Maybe it’s that I’m getting older, but I really enjoy seeing people make positive changes in their behavior. Kyrie has bought into the system in Dallas and changed his public demeanor. I don’t know what’s going on in his head because I don’t have a direct line to Kyrie, but publicly, what we’ve seen has been pretty cool because I think it is very rare that somebody appears to change and sustains it. The way he’s been in postgame interviews, where he’s smiling and admitting that he’s emotional, or how he’s visibly supporting his teammates and playing his ass off for them — maybe I’m just tired. And when someone improves, it’s fine to allow them to. I don’t mean forget what he did, but I also think we need to separate the dangerous conspiracy theories from scuffing the Celtics logo and saging [TD] Garden. Honestly, as a Celtics fan and having grown up outside of Boston, I’m very aware of the racism that has come out of Boston and been directed at Black players. So, I’m bracing myself for his return to the Garden because you can’t separate the fact that Kyrie is a Black man. I get that fans don’t like him because of his time there; I just really hope the reception to him isn’t uglier than simply that.

Tim Cato (The Athletic): One thing that stood out to me was the disconnect between how much players love Kyrie Irving, and how many media members dislike him. I know he has been a much more difficult antagonist at times. But there were also times where I sensed slightly too much “players dumb, media smart” from how those narratives were built. Irving has shared ideas I absolutely disagree with. But sometimes I hear media members say, “Well, NBA players just don’t care about political stuff like we do.” That’s true for some but definitely not all. There’s a lot more that they do see from Irving: him leading the players prior to the NBA bubble to potentially sit out unless the league offered more than hollow support for Black Lives Matter; his support of the WNBA; his frequent charitable donations. Especially with Black Lives Matter, he was the rare player speaking beyond the approved corporate talking points that I would argue ultimately neutered some of the potential impact that movement could have had. Players respect him as a player for his skills, but there’s also respect given to him because he’s extremely funny, because he’s a gregarious guy who draws people in when he’s talking, because there is much more than the paragraph summary of his controversies that most media articles include. That doesn’t negate those controversies, and they’re going to be so overwhelming that some people — including people I know and respect — don’t care about the rest. But there’s a lot more nuance to Irving, the person, than he’s always given. And there are reasons for that! It’s just been my impression covering him this closely that he is a hard player to summarize quickly. Who knows, maybe it’s even a lesson that the players we do summarize quickly or fit into certain boxes also may be more than that, too.

Claire De Lune (The Guardian):. It’s always really nice to see someone who is so incredibly talented at what they’re doing be able to have that talent be the focus. That’s been the issue with him the last few years. It’s not like he was ever not the player that he is right now, but the off-court stuff was usurping the talent. As a fan of basketball, it’s so nice to be able to not have him be providing reasons to be distracted from that. He was not a victim. He created the distractions himself. Maybe this is the cynic in me, but I just feel like talented people get so many chances. What athletes run into is they don’t really hear the word no, and they don’t really get consequences, while they’re still at the top of their powers. As soon as they start losing what makes them valuable to teams, then I feel like the punitiveness starts ratcheting up. The cynical truth of it is that, obviously, Kyrie’s talent bought him the opportunity for a second chance. But it’s not like he continues to exhibit the same behavior, and we’re just now okay with it because it’s less of an impedance on his basketball acumen. He has shown true signs of growth and seems to be in a way better place mentally — at least from what he’s showing us. Ultimately, the desired outcome of having someone like Kyrie Irving learn from his mistakes is that people aren’t spreading anti-Semitic videos on the internet, or they’re not telling people dangerous falsehoods about modern medicine or whatever. The desired outcome is not for Kyrie to go sit in a corner and feel bad about himself. Who does that help? To me, the best case scenario is exactly what happened. He had to do some self-reflection. He seems to have genuinely grown from it, and he is in a healthier, happier place because of it, and everybody around him is benefiting from the best version of him.

Natalie Esquire (NBC Sports): I feel like it’s being depicted as he’s made some substantial change, so now, the media can talk nicely about him, and I don’t know that he’s really changed. I want to state clearly that I never thought that he needed to change. I didn’t, as a general matter, have an issue with Kyrie. There are some things that he said that I don’t agree with, but I always felt there was a media witch-hunt with him. Now that seems to not be in place, and I find that interesting because I don’t know what he’s done. What has he done to change besides go to the Mavericks and play well? What has he done that, all the sudden, people feel that he’s this different person so they can talk about him in a more favorable light?

Anthony Puccio (NetsDaily.com): What sticks out to me the most with Kyrie’s run in Dallas is how happy he looks. He looks happy playing the game of basketball again. He isn’t having outrages with the media after games. He isn’t cussing out fans courtside, among the other off-court issues that he’s had throughout this career. That isn’t happening in Dallas. He’s focusing on basketball, being a leader, and winning. To see him smiling and being who he is — wearing his signature shoes that represent his culture — you can see almost like a new life has been revitalized inside of Kyrie.

Having covered Kyrie Irving’s Nets tenure, is his redemptive arc in Dallas surprising?

Anthony Puccio: One thing that was never in question was his talent. When he steps on that floor, he’s one of the best players if not the best player on that floor. In Brooklyn, the problem was when he would be off the floor. It feels irresponsible if we didn’t discuss the culmination of things that were happening during his tenure in Brooklyn. The societal issues that were going on. COVID-19, Kyrie’s personal beliefs and religion, and things that, to him, were bigger and more important than basketball. In this context, it clashed. To me, it’s irresponsible to blame Kyrie and throw him under the bus when there were other people involved. When COVID happened, Brooklyn and the Knicks were the only teams requiring home-team players to get vaccinated. I’m not saying I agree with Kyrie’s choice, but he’s a grown man who has the right to make that decision. You can argue that he didn’t sacrifice for his team, but that’s his decision, and it clashed with his personal beliefs and religion. I don’t think Kyrie was perfect. I don’t think Joe Tsai was perfect. I don’t think Sean Marks was perfect. It felt like a snowball effect: Things would get good, and then they would hit a standstill. They picked back up, and then Kyrie [sprained his ankle] in the playoffs against the Bucks when the Nets had their biggest opportunity to win a championship. The following year felt like the final chance, and Kyrie puts out a tweet about a book with anti-Semitic rhetoric in it, and that’s completely unacceptable, and that’s where I will point the finger at him. I’m not surprised in the slightest bit that he’s playing well in Dallas [because] he lost a major extension with the Nets, which forced him to ask for a trade, and it also costed him his deal with Nike, which was generational money. He didn’t have much value in the league, despite everybody knowing how good he was. I felt like if he didn’t pick his act up in Dallas, get on that court, and focus on basketball, then he was going to be out of the league by 31. This redemptive arc is a fruit to his labor on the court. It’s a lot different when you have a coach like Jason Kidd, whom he grew up idolizing in New Jersey.

How were you expecting Kyrie’s Dallas tenure to unfold when you first heard he had been traded?

Tim Cato: I had no idea! There was something surreal about Kyrie, a glamour player and a near-household name for his highlights and his role as Uncle Drew, coming to this franchise that was decidedly not known for glamour. This is a franchise that has had superstars and success, but not like this. Nor would they have ever acquired a player like Irving prior to the new front office led by Nico Harrison, which was also jarring to continue adapting after years spent becoming familiar with how Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson operated. I, of course, knew Irving’s backstory. I heard fellow media members, especially East Coast ones, say something like, “Good luck with Kyrie,” with a smirk over and over again. After a month, when I said he’d been not only fine but downright pleasant to cover thus far, I was told he sometimes started like that on other teams, too.

How has what you’ve observed while covering him day in and day out as a Mav squared with those expectations?

Tim Cato: I’ve never once seen that antagonistic version of Irving in Dallas. Actually, there was one post-game press conference after an unremarkable regular season win where he came out and answered his first three questions with atypically short answers. Then he said something to the effect of, “Y’all like my media answers?” But it was amusing, not upsetting. He had been giving thorough, thoughtful answers to questions all season, even when it often turns these things into 15-minute affairs for him. For whatever reason, he didn’t have the time or interest to do it that night. There was possibly one more question asked, but we basically gave him the nod to head out after that. It didn’t bother me, and I think that was a shared feeling in the room.

Why do you think pairing with Luka in Dallas unlocked leadership traits in Kyrie or allowed him to function as a teammate in a different way than what we’ve seen previously?

Jemele Hill: Luka didn’t have the same kind of baggage the other players did. With LeBron, you’re under a constant microscope because you’re playing with the best player of this generation. That microscope doesn’t always feel comfortable. With Durant and Harden, people expected an instant championship. Harden was dogged by these questions about his commitment to basketball, and Durant, there were questions about whether he was capable of being a real team leader. With the Celtics, it’s Kyrie trying to fit in with two dynamic young talents that are seen as the foundational pieces for their future success. Kyrie just never seemed to be comfortable there. The dynamics weren’t as complicated with Luka, and it helped being with a team where there was more pessimism about what they could actually accomplish. Dallas, in some ways, flourished under the assumption of low expectations. They were able to grow into themselves without much outside interference — or at least that’s how it felt. It just felt like Kyrie had more personal and professional space for growth in Dallas.

Michelle Beadle: I think the most glaring thing about this pairing with Luka is that most of us talking heads thought it was doomed to fail. That the particular style of play these two guys bring couldn’t possibly coexist. Oops. Couldn’t have been more wrong. The combination of a few more years under his belt and the acceptance to play alongside Luka has been everything to this team. When Luka trusts a guy like Kyrie and vice versa, you can see a massive change. And this is just as much about Luka trusting someone as anything. We’re seeing the best formula.

Charlotte Wilder: Part of me wonders if it’s an age thing. Kyrie had to get to a place where he could be a leader and was okay supporting another superstar because, in the past, I don’t think he was. Luka is so talented in a generational way, and he’s 25. Durant and Harden were talented in generational ways, and they’re closer to Kyrie’s age. He can play the role of mentor in a way that makes him feel useful, even if he’s not first fiddle. Dallas has a system that works. They went out and got [Daniel] Gafford and PJ Washington at the trade deadline, which is the biggest vote of confidence you can give your existing team, and then it pans out? That’s pretty cool. You’d be pretty dumb not to get on board with that, and I think Kyrie is at a point now where he can probably see the bigger picture better. Expectations are very clear in Dallas about who’s doing what, and I have long believed that for any organization to be successful, people need to know what is expected of them. Also, you know, Kyrie is a contrarian, so maybe the fact that everybody said it wouldn’t work has made him really want it to work. Maybe he’s just like, ‘I’m gonna be such a great leader and having fun, and we’re gonna win the Finals just because you guys said this wouldn’t work.’ But if Kyrie weren’t playing the best basketball he’s played in years, I don’t think anybody would care about his narrative arc.

Claire De Lune: Well, something I haven’t seen pointed out a lot is that the Luka dynamic is similar to what he had in Cleveland with LeBron in the sense of it is a little bit more of a heliocentric offense around Luka like it was around LeBron, and both are really skilled facilitators. It’s maybe not as huge of a departure as people think from what he was used to. I think the difference is that LeBron clearly enjoys being a leadership role, so I don’t think anyone on a team with LeBron is ever going to need to step into a leadership role unless they want to. When he was in Boston, I don’t think he was ready to be a leader. I think that’s what he thought he wanted, stepping out of LeBron’s shadow and having his own team, but I don’t think he was mature enough. In Brooklyn, there was so much chaos and disharmony that it was too toxic of a situation on every level for there to ever be a healthy leadership structure. When he got to Dallas, he did kind of defer to Luka a bit, and maybe that was part of the problem. Kyrie filled the void that was missing there, but I think it took him a bit to identify the void and rehab his own public image before he could really step into that role.

What did you always know about Kyrie, knowing him personally, that the public has seen and come to understand about him during this season?

Eddie Gonzalez (Boardroom): His joy for basketball. Not necessarily the NBA. Not necessarily NBA coverage. Or all of the things that come with that. But his affinity for basketball itself, on the court, and the artistry that that is to him. We’re seeing it again, and it’s being acknowledged. He was painted as this disgruntled curmudgeon for years now, but finally free of (sometimes self-imposed) drama and unwanted attention, he’s been able to showcase that joy for what he does on the court again. I’m happy we’re back to marveling at Kyrie, the savant.

Some songs hype you up no matter where you are. For baseball player (slash entertainer extraordinaire) Jackson Olsen, that song seems to be Taylor Swift’s “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart.”

A video posted to Youtube shows the Savannah Bananas Infielder bustin’ a move to one of the pop star’s latest hits from her “Tortured Poets Society” album as he walked up to the home plate. Guess Swift is an icon in every sport—not just football.

---

Watch below Olsen not only gets the crowd involved, but the unsuspecting umpire as well.

Down in the comments, people were praising Olsen for his unapologetic Swiftie-ness, and just his infectious energy all around.

“Taylor Swift needs to see this.”

“Omg this is my favorite thing ever. Protect this man at all costs”

“I absolutely love this I don’t get into baseball or sports in general and have nooooo idea who this guy is – but I’m so here for his energy.”

“He’s a whole vibe and I love it.”

“He’s definitely a Swiftie!!”

Of course, anyone who follows the Savannah Bananas knows that fun dances are just par for the course. Here’s a small sampling of what the team does on a regular basis:

It’s this commitment to fun that compelled Olsen to join the team in the first place.

In a reel posted to the Savannah Bananas’ Facebook page, Olsen explained how seeing videos from the team’s TikTok account convinced him that it was “the most fun team in the world” and he had to get involved. Even his application (which also consisted of TikTok videos) involved dancing. And since becoming part of the team, he’s been dancing ever since. When he’s not swinging a bat, that is.

Case in point: only two months ago, Olson delighted fans with a rendition of the iconic “I’m just Ken” performance from the Oscars…just before hitting a single.

Just goes to show that no matter what you’re doing in life, it will always be that much better with a little dancing.