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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)

The NBA All-Star Game is only a few weeks away. In three weeks, the league will make its way to San Francisco for a weekend of festivities that will cap off at the Chase Center on Sunday, Feb. 16. And on Thursday, the Inside the NBA crew let everyone know the most important part of the game: The five players from each conference who earned a starting nod.

Here’s who will represent both conferences as starters in the 2025 edition of the All-Star Game:

Eastern Conference

Backcourt: Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell
Frontcourt: Karl-Anthony Towns, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum

Western Conference

Backcourt: Steph Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Frontcourt: Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic

As a reminder, the NBA is doing things a little differently for its All-Star Game this year. Instead of breaking things up into two teams, the league will divvy up the All-Stars between three teams, while a fourth team will be comprised of the winners of the Rising Stars Game. The winner will be determined via a mini-tournament, with a pair of semifinals and a final, with each game going to 40 points.

To break up the rosters, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith will hold a draft among the players selected to the All-Star teams, while Candace Parker will helm the team that wins the Rising Stars Game. While we know the 10 players who will be designated as starters, the remaining All-Stars will be announced next week.

Just months after wrapping up Brat Summer — and a few weeks away from kicking off her tour for the ubiquitous album that spawned the meme season — Charli XCX is one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. Soon, she’ll be one of its most prolific movie stars, as well. In addition to four previously announced film roles, the undercover film buff is also producing and starring her own feature, The Moment, which will be distributed by every film buff’s favorite studio, A24.

According to Variety, Charli’s producing under her own imprint, Studio365, while Scottish photographer and filmmaker Aidan Zamiri will direct. Zamiri also co-wrote the screenplay alongside veteran writer Bertie Brandes (whose bylines include Vice, i-D, and Mother). Finally, A. G. Cook, who produced a sizable slice of Brat (and Charli’s prior albums), will compose the score. There are no details on the plot, other than its inspiration by an original idea of Charli’s.

The singer’s upcoming film slate is likely to keep her pretty busy for the rest of the year, and includes 100 Nights Of Hero, I Want Your Sex, and The Gallerist, all in post-production. She recently showed her comedic chops with a slew of SNL sketches.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Kid Cudi’s Los Angeles home had been broken into by a man who took the opportunity to shower and have a meal at the rapper’s expense. Although the home invader was arrested by Los Angeles Sheriffs and charged with felony burglary and theft of utilities, the bizarre details of the incident prompted some fans to make light of Cudi’s misfortune — and he’s not pleased.

On his Instagram Story, Cudi responded to the amused reactions to the break-in, writing:

I see the internets running w things and making jokes this sh*t is not funny.

The person that broke into my house was a crazed fan that has been stalking me for years without me knowing. He’s been to shows, events I’ve done in the states and overseas. He drove across the country and broke into my house hoping to talk w me about collabing and ideas he had. There is nothing funny about this. My privacy was violated, and now I have to protect myself. I don’t feel safe now. He rummaged through personal things, my fiance’s stuff, took a shower and ate, all while thinking he was gonna have a conversation w me. This was an unhinged 34-year-old man.

While he reminded fans of his current hiatus from social media, “I’m not online to see the comments,” he also warned, “word got back to me people are making light of this and it’s not okay,” asserting, “If I’m standoffish when u see me in public now, this is why.”

Despite Cudi’s recent run of bad luck, which included a broken foot and a canceled tour, he recently said he was excited to share his new music, which could be happening soon.

This year’s Oscar nominations dropped on Thursday and include Original Song nominees that were overshadowed by an unheard of Original Score snub of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for the Challengers. (Yet as a consolation prize to viewers, their joint wizardry will soon be heard in The Gorge, coming to Apple TV+ on Feb. 14.)

The Oscars ceremony itself won’t air until March 2, and there’s plenty of time to drink in the ten Best Picture nominations if you want to be fully prepared. Still, ten movies is a significant time investment, so maybe you’re itching to see why Best Supporting Actress nominee Ariana Grande weighed in the way that she did, but can you stream these movies yet? We rounded up the answers below:

Anora: The Mikey Madison-starring Neon movie isn’t on a streaming service yet but can be rented on VOD and Amazon Prime.

The Brutalist: Adrien Brody’s latest acclaimed film (honestly, he cannot stop) isn’t available as an at-home option right now, but as an A24 movie, it will eventually stream on Max.

A Complete Unknown: Ditto for Timothée Chalamet’s turn in this Bob Dylan biopic. The Searchlight Pictures movie will land on Disney+ and Hulu sometime in the near-ish future.

Conclave: This Focus Features movie is already streaming on Peacock.

Dune: Part Two: Denis Villeneuve’s Arrakis-based sequel with more Timothée Chalamet (and Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, and Rebecca Ferguson) is currently streaming on Max.

Emilia Pérez: This Netflix musical extravaganza, starring Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, and Selena Gomez, is available at the source.

I’m Still Here: This Brazilian Sony Pictures Releasing movie received a limited theatrical release on January 17, so it’s not on VOD or streaming yet.

Nickel Boys: This Amazon MGM movie received a limited theatrical release on December 20 and hasn’t hit Prime Video/Amazon for streaming at present.

The Substance: This Mubi movie is streaming over on Mubi, but don’t eat anything before watching Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley as One.

Wicked: No streaming dice yet here, but Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s Oz witches can be viewed on VOD and for rent on Prime Video/Amazon.

Jimmy Butler is still a member of the Miami Heat. This is despite the fact that he clearly wants a trade, the Heat seem like they want to get rid of him, and he has at least one team desperate to bring him on board in the Phoenix Suns, which would presumably give Butler a lucrative contract extension once the summer rolls around if they pulled off the very difficult deal to get him on board.

The tough thing for Phoenix is their paths to acquiring Butler are pretty narrow, and as this has dragged on, there’s been reporting that indicates Butler would be open to going anywhere if it meant getting out of Miami. As it turns out, though, there is an exception to this, according to Marc Spears.

“I was told today from someone close to the situation that his wishlist is just out of Miami,” Spears said on NBA Today. “With the exception to Memphis. Doesn’t wanna go to Memphis … but he does wanna finish his career wherever he goes.”

Now, it is interesting that Memphis gets this distinction, although it’s fair to assume that Butler wouldn’t want to go to a team in the middle of a complete rebuild like Washington or Utah. Still, Butler would presumably be a pretty good fit on the Grizzlies, which have been looking for a wing to slide in alongside Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr. forever, so it’s interesting that this is the one place that he specifically does not want to go. But then again, it’s Jimmy Butler, so perhaps this is all a Jedi mind trick to get Pat Riley to send him to Memphis.