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Stephen A. Smith has a lot of very strong opinions on a lot of things. Nothing, however, gets him going like the chance to talk for several uninterrupted minutes about the New York Knicks, his hometown NBA team which has done nothing but infuriate him over the last however many years.

But things look like they might be turning around in the Big Apple. Despite a recent slide, the Knicks are 42-33 on the year, good for fifth place in the Eastern Conference. Jalen Brunson has been terrific, Julius Randle made it back to the All-Star Game this year, and there is real excitement around the team beyond just this season. And perhaps most importantly, all of it comes after the Knicks tried and failed to acquire Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz in the offseason, which is the sort of thing that could have led to New York being a punchline all year with how he’s played in Cleveland.

Having said that, if the regular season ended today, the Knicks would play none other than Mitchell and the Cavaliers in the first round. This has Smith a little concerned, and on Friday’s episode of First Take, he went on quite the rant explaining how he’d be fine with New York losing to literally anyone else in the postseason.

“Listen, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again,” Smith said before immediately contradicting and then correcting himself. “And I’ma say it for the last time — dammit, I’m lying, it’s not gonna be the last time I’m gonna say this. Let me tell you something: The New York Knicks, and I don’t care what they’ve done this season, you can lose to Milwaukee, you can lose to Boston, you can lose to Philly. All of that’s understandable and acceptable.

“Christine, Kendrick Perkins knows this: The New York Knicks cannot lose to Donovan Mitchell,” Smith continued. “Donovan Mitchell is who? He was supposed to be in a New York Knicks uniform. His bags were packed, he was looking forward, he was excited, he wasn’t thinking about no damn Cleveland, he wanted to be home in New York. And Leon Rose played possum.”

For the sake of Stephen A. Smith, I hope that the Knicks and the Cavaliers do not play in the postseason this year.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

After solidifying himself as one of Latin music’s top rappers, Myke Towers is proving there’s no limits to his flow with his genre-bending album La Vida Es Una. While delivering more reggaeton and Latin trap bangers, the Puerto Rican artist also dabbles in Afrobeats, R&B, and house music influences. Towers shows that he’s an all-around Latin pop star on his LP, which features J Balvin, Daddy Yankee, Arcángel, and Ozuna.

Towers made his debut in 2020 with his first album, Easy Money Baby. The LP boasted his breakthrough hit “Si De Da” with Farruko. After scoring multiple reggaeton hits, he returned to his Latin trap roots with his 2021 album Lyke Mike. As an established force in both genres, Towers is now pushing his flow to new places while embracing a global sound that his fans around the world can enjoy.

“Lyke Myke was something more for me,” Towers says. “With this album, I’m thinking more about my fans, what they want, and the kind of music they want to hear live. I made this album being more conscious of what people are looking for from me.”

The album’s title translates to “You Only Live Once” in English and Towers embodies that feel-good energy throughout the 23 tracks. Over Zoom, he caught up with Uproxx about what he wants his fans to take from La Vida Es Una, his big collaborations, and what’s coming next.

Why did you decide to name your album La Vida Es Una?

I gave it that name because lot of things have happened like with the pandemic. It makes you think, “There’s not a lot of time to follow your dreams, so have to give it your all.” They say you that you have take advantage of your time here and enjoy it. I’m always conscious of things like that. That you only live once.

In addition to reggaeton and trap, you explore genres like Afrobeats, R&B, reggae, and house music album. Why did you decide to branch out into those genres?

I wanted to take risks on a musical level and do things that I’m not used to. I’m at a level where I have a lot of fans so I have that responsibility to please them. I can’t limit myself. Thanks to them I’m at where I’m at now. I’m doing the music that I like to do with a mix of what my fans are asking for. With this album, we’re separating the Myke Towers with the “y” from the [Mike] with the “i.”

You collaborated with J Balvin for the song “Celos.” What was that experience like working with him?

I have a lot of respect and admiration for Balvin. He’s a guy that’s super humble. For example, if you write to him in a DM on Instagram, he will respond to you right away. That’s something that you don’t expect from him at the level of fame that he’s at. I’m always like a little boy asking many questions with people like him because I like to learn. We had a great time when we shot the music video together. The other day we went to an Afrobeats concert together. Balvin is a leader. He has my respect.

You salute reggaeton pioneers Don Omar and Tego Calderón in “Don & Tego.” What inspired you to make that homage with Arcángel?

The song “Bandoleros” by Don Omar and Tego Calderón is an anthem to me. It’s always playing around the world. There hasn’t been a time since that song has come out that it hasn’t been played anywhere. And as artists, they’ve inspired me like Arcángel. The name that made the most sense for me was “Don & Tego. ” I feel like this song was something that was missing in the streets. A very street reggaeton song that that we liked back then that inspired us. We made that with this song and I know when people listen to it, they’re really going to like it.

Another reggaeton G.O.A.T that you collaborated with is Daddy Yankee. What was the experience like working with him in “Ulala (Ooh La-La)”?

The legend allowed me appear on his album [Legendaddy] and now he’s appearing on mine. For me, that was like earning the respect from the leader of the genre. For him to be on my album, that’s above and beyond. My respect from D.Y. was earned in levels. First, he gave me advice before he was collaborating with me. He saw my process [in the studio] and told me — he knows how to identify what’s strong and what’s not. That’s why I’m sure of myself.

I love the R&B sound the “Cama King.” This is my first time hearing about Chita. Why did you decide to feature her on this song?

[The song’s producer] Tainy is a visionary. When I told him I was missing a female voice on this song, he said, “I know who would be good for this. Calm down.” When I heard what Chita sent, I went crazy. I didn’t meet her in person but I told her thank you for collaborating me with. I hope this is a blessing for her as much as it is for me. She’s a female Argentine artist and the women are killing it right now.

“Aguardiente” is a song that stands out to me because it has a really Colombian vibe.

I made that song with Sky. He’s Colombian. He one’s of those producers that I click well with. Every time we get together, we come out with classics without forcing anything. [The alcoholic drink] Aguardiente is something that’s clearly from Colombia and I wanted to make a song with that. It goes hard.

What do you want people to get out of this album?

I want people to get the message that sometimes we worry about things that aren’t worth it. We have to remember that you only live once. With what I do, I want to motivate people as well. Even though it seems easy, it’s not easy. I go through things as well. It might not be the same [problem] as yours but we’re going to get to a point where we can relate. With this album, I want to unite people when we sing it live together. It’s something to enjoy. I want them to do with it what they want, to dedicate it to who they want to dedicate it to, and to go out and enjoy it. When I’m in your country to perform, we’re going to sing everything together.

What do you want to accomplish next?

Thanks to God we’re making moves that we’ve never done before. Little by little, I’m taking my name, my island, my music, and my movement to new heights. I want to make an impact with young people. That’s where I’m inspired. I want them to feel that Myke Towers is with them. I want them to feel like they’re a part of my movement.

La Vida Es Una is out now via Warner Music Latina. Listen to it here.

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

When you think back to your high school health class, you might remember learning a little bit about the food pyramid or exercise or something along those lines. You probably weren’t paying attention anyway. But nothing you learned all those years ago could ever be quite as impactful as the line “Don’t have sex, because you will get pregnant and die,” said by Coach Carr in Mean Girls. Is it factually accurate? No! But it’s funny, and that’s all that matters when it comes to the American educational system.

As we gear up for an on-screen adaptation of the Mean Girls musical, the casting for all of the quirky side characters is slowly coming together, and now Mr. Mad Man himself Jon Hamm is joining the complex world of Mean Women as the over-the-top and awfully misinformed Coach Carr.

Hamm will portray the gym teacher in Tina Fey’s upcoming adaptation of the hit musical, which will star Fey alongside Tim Meadows, Jenna Fischer, Busy Philipps, Angourie Rice, Auli’i Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, and Reneé Rapp. The movie will head to Paramount+ for its grand debut. It’s nice to see Hamm getting back in the saddle after selling his soul to Progressive Insurance. Maybe Flo will be released someday soon.

Fey and Hamm have worked together numerous times over the years, most recently in the true crime thriller Maggie Moore(s) which is expected to get a release later this summer. But you probably remember them best from their incompatible on-screen romance in 30 Rock.

Now, we can prepare for Hamm to hand out condoms to a gym full of sweaty teenagers who can (and will) break out into a musical number at any given moment. If Fey knows what’s good for her, she’ll write a jaunty little tune for Coach Carr to sing before he inevitably gets fired for making out with a student. It was 2004, mind you.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

When it rains, it pours. Last week, 50 Cent, Courtney Kemp, and the Starz Network were named in a $1 billion lawsuit. In the suit, brought forward by Corey “Ghost” Holland, the parties were accused of using Holland’s life story as the basis for their breakout multiversal series Power.

But based on an exclusive report from AllHipHop, that was only the beginning. According to the outlet, Holland is following up his initial suit with additional ligation, this time a $300 million suit against Lionsgate Entertainment, the parent company of the Starz Network for intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence in hiring and retention, and a slew of other charges.

Holland is accusing Lionsgate Entertainment of encouraging 50 Cent’s ongoing intimidation of him to drop his $1 billion suit. In the filing, Holland states that affiliates of the company were aware of the mogul’s intimidation tactics but did not intervene.

A line from the document states, “The defendants [Lionsgate Entertainment] knew about Mr. Jackson’s propensity to cause harm and violence to innocent and or vulnerable people, before they hired him and then retained him, then rewarding him with a 150 million dollar contract. Mr. Jackson is very open about his violent behavior, the defendant even acknowledged this behavior and chose to ignore it, due to the financial gains they had made with Mr. Jackson from 2016-2022, and still do partner with Jackson on numerous television deals.”

Representatives for Holland note 50 Cent was “found guilty of intentional infliction of emotional distress, just months before renewing his employment” and alleges that 50 is seen “on video prior to receiving a massive contract with the defendants explaining how he will hire a hitman to kill people from the hood, who file any lawsuits on him.”

Neither 50 Cent nor Lionsgate Entertainment have issued a public statement regarding the matter.

Today, just a day after announcing the end of her partnership with Adidas for Ivy Park over creative differences, Beyoncé got to announce some good news in the form of a new collection with Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing. Rousteing, who was inspired by Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance, said of the collection, “I was sketching and sketching as I listened, and sometimes you can’t control the emotion of your sketch… it wasn’t something I was supposed to be doing but I was just inspired by the music to do it.”

Over on Instagram, Beyoncé offered her thoughts on the collection, thanking Rousteing and Balmain and calling the experience “freeing.” “Thank you @olivier_rousteing and @balmain for bringing RENAISSANCE to life in couture,” she wrote. “Designing alongside you was freeing—thank you for allowing me to celebrate the human form, to take artistic risks, to push boundaries and to freely express myself. To the @voguefrance team, thank you for trusting in our vision and sharing it with the world.”

The collaboration marked the singer’s second major collaboration with the French design house. The first, in 2018, produced the pieces that she wore during her historic headlining set at Coachella. Rousteing was responsible for that collection as well, which consisted of HBCU-inspired pieces like hoodies and t-shirts as well as the elegant, diamond-draped gown she wore on stage.

Each of the new looks is inspired by a different track from Renaissance, which you can check out on Vogue‘s website.

WARNING: this post contains spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4

We’ve covered the scene that inspired Keanu Reeves to make John Wick: Chapter 4 and the rare post-credits scene that’s worth sticking around for, but there’s something that happens between those two moments that’s worth discussing, as well. After John Wick is killed in his duel against the Marquis in Paris (or more actually, his duel against Caine… and then John blows the Marquis’ brains out before succumbing to his wounds), the movie cuts back to New York, where he’s buried alongside his wife, Helen.

At the cemetery, Winston rests his hand on John’s tombstone and says “farewell, my son” in Russian. Is Winston John’s actual father, or a father-like figure? The latter is more likely. For one thing, Winston has a tattoo of the Ruska Roma syndicate on his wrist; he and John are part of the same crime family. Winston also has paternal affection for John — or Jonathan, as he, and only he, calls him. So, is Winston John’s biological father? Unlikely.

“Fourth John Wick, you think, ‘Same old,’ but it’s not,” Ian McShane, who plays Winston, told Screenrant about Chapter 4. “It’s expanded, the relationships have got deeper, they’ve gotten better; you understand more about the world. It’s matured, but I think that’s due to the writer and Chad staying with it. Chad directing all the movies. It wouldn’t be the same. That’s key to it, absolutely.”

For more on John Wick: Chapter 4, check out our interview with director Chad Stahelski.

Teyana Taylor had a good time last night (March 23) during her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to support her new movie A Thousand And One. She discussed her funny interaction with Justin Bieber during a celebrity basketball game, and she also dished on her experience teaching Beyoncé the “Chicken Noodle Soup” dance when she was only 15 years old.

“She originally wanted to learn the ‘Chicken Noodle Soup,’” she told Kimmel, and then clarified, “This is a popular Harlem dance. I’m from Harlem. I’m battling everybody, and she wanted to learn. So they called me and I was like 15 years old, so I hopped off the bed onto my skateboard and went down there.”

She was surprised at the time, saying she “didn’t even know I would have that opportunity.” Beyoncé even advocated for her to spice up Jay-Z’s music videos as well.

“She was like a proud aunt. She was like, ‘I told you she’s a superstar,’” she said.

When Kimmel asked if Jay-Z thought she was a superstar as well, she answered, “He did. But first he tried to give me a hard time, because we’re both a Sagittarius. So he was testing me.”

Watch the full interview above.

Beyoncé has the fashion girlies buzzing, and they are ready to swarm all over her latest business endeavor. After news broke that the “Cuff It” singer and sports clothing manufacturer Adidas would be splitting ways due to “creative differences,” fans were curious as to what that meant. Now, with the announcement of her latest fashion collaboration, any residual confusion has been cleared up.

In a new interview with Vogue, Balmain’s creative director Olivier Rousteing revealed that the “Flawless” singer and the fashion house had been secretly working on a line dedicated to her Grammy Award-winning album, Renaissance.

Each garment in the 17-look couture collection, titled Renaissance Couture, was designed to emote lyrics and concepts from the vocalist’s album. When asked how he was able to get the entertainer onboard with the idea, Rousteing, replied, “I contacted Marni [Senofonte, Beyoncé’s stylist] and B. And I said, ‘honestly, I want to create a couture collection with you.’ And they were like: ‘Wow, that’s a big surprise.’”

Just like with the record-breaking album, Rousteing points out that this collaboration will also go down in the record books.

“This appears to be the first time that a Black woman has overseen the couture offering from a historic Parisian house,” the designer said. “And those designs were created in partnership with the first Black man to ever oversee all the collections at an historic Parisian house.”

By no means is this the first time that Beyoncé and Balmain have worked together. In fact, the high-end fashion brand played an intricate part in the beloved garments during the singer’s epic Coachella performance, which went on to be immortalized in her documentary film Homecoming.

At this point, I can only imagine the madness that will be the Casa Bonita grand reopening in Lakewood, Colorado.

In May 2023, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone will unveil their retooled “eatertainment” venue after nearly two years of nightmare renovations and preparations and, finally, actual “good food” (due to the hiring of Chef Dana “Loca” Rodriguez) that will be more than edible, in addition to those infamous sopapillas.

The pair has been hiring hundreds of employees (including cliff divers, wait staff, bartenders, and so on), and we’ve already heard about the Casa Bonita enthusiast who began gauging interest in how many people might want to camp outside the restaurant to wait for the doors to open, and let’s just say that word has spread. To recap, Jesse Vogel wrote the following on Facebook:

“This is far better than sleeping outside of bestbuy for a TV. This is sleeping outside for a once in a lifetime historic event! Gather outside Casa Bonita to get in line for the opening night we’ve all been waiting for. It’s only 3 months away; and a couple hundred feet from west Colfax… What could go wrong? lol.”

At this point, approximately 12,800 people are “interested” in this event, and fortunately, the Colorado Gazette reports that Vogel did already grease the goodwill wheels of neighboring businesses, although I’m not quite sure that anyone is prepared for opening week. Casa Bonita might actually have to start taking reservations, which is something that was likely unheard of back in the day. Eatertainment + really great food = an unmissable combo.

(Via Jesse Vogel on Facebook)

Has Melanie Lynskey never seen the 1998 comedy classic, The Parent Trap, starring Lindsay Lohan?

It’s a question that rattles around in my brain long after we exchange polite farewells over the phone. She’s in New York, making the late-night and daytime talk show rounds to promote the second season of her Showtime hit, Yellowjackets. (Yes, it’s better, funnier, and more f*cked up than ever.)

Her nanny – who’s become quasi-famous in her own right after Lynskey thanked her in a recent award show acceptance speech – is about to take her daughter for a walk around Central Park. Normally, they’d perform their very secret, very elaborate handshake before she leaves.

“It’s so complicated, it requires both hands and elbows and all sorts of stuff. So it’s not really something you can do on a phone call,” she explains after making assurances to the little girl that they’ll complete the ritual when she gets back. Naturally, my imagining of a multi-step covert handshake hinges on the example set forth in the Lohan remake. I say as much.

“Oh, I don’t think I ever saw that,” Lynskey replies. A jarring admission. (Hasn’t everyone seen the romantic comedy that introduced a generation of tweens to the concept of pairing peanut butter with Oreos?) But also a testament to how effortlessly cool Lynskey is. She’s the kind of mom who conjures secret handshakes from thin air, without a pop culture aid.

In season two of her genre-bending mystery thriller, she’s also the kind of mom who commits murder and goes to great lengths to cover it up. While one of the show’s dual timelines follows the teenage survivors of a plane crash, now braving the harsh winter by way of cannibalism and mysticism, their adult counterparts are confronting some lingering effects of that trauma in the present. This season, Lynskey’s Shauna is less apologetic when it comes to her homicidal instincts and more unhinged than ever.

Uproxx chatted with the star about tapping into her character’s comedic side, consulting her psychic on season two, and becoming a Gay icon on Twitter.

The cast got together to watch the season two premiere recently. What was the reaction from everyone?

Yeah, they had a screening on stage. So one day at lunchtime all the kids were working, and we all just came in to watch it with them and the whole crew. It was really fun. They did one screening like that last year as well and it was such a good morale booster because it can be hard. It can be physically demanding, and it can be emotionally demanding. So I think it was nice for everybody, crew included, to see, ‘Oh, this is what we’re working on. Okay.’ You get to a point where you just start to feel so crazy.

And no one lost their appetite afterward? They just went back to eating lunch?

All the kids did, which was really funny. They were all there, all dirty and looking terrible. It was episode 10 of season two, so it’s pretty rough.

There was so much hype around season one. How did the cast handle the pressure of coming back for season two?

Everyone’s nervous about how the season’s going to be received, and people who haven’t worked all that much are suddenly thrust into this position where everybody’s watching the show and you feel like, ‘How am I doing? Was that okay? Was I doing too much? Was I doing too little?’ So there were a few conversations we had, just trying to tell everyone that they’re amazing because they so genuinely are.

Did the older cast have any advice for them?

Their instincts are so good. It’s why they were cast. The only advice I’ve ever given them is just to keep trusting that. Trust your instincts. The writers are so amazing, but they’re keeping track of 16 lead characters. They cannot possibly track your emotional timeline in the same way that you can. So if there’s something where you’re like, ‘Hang on, two scenes ago I was doing this and now I’m doing this,’ trust that. Say something to the director, say something to the writers because they’re really, really open to it.’

But they all have such a voice and they’re also sure of their beliefs, and I just want to encourage them to never let go of that. And on the show also, every character is so important, every single character. So I never want anyone to feel like their role in the show is not as important as somebody else’s because it all makes it what it is.

What’s Shauna grappling with this season?

I think she’s grappling with panic. She’s like, ‘Am I going to be discovered?’ And she’s also kind of grappling with this thing that is really confronting to her where she’s realizing the danger she puts herself in. Like having an affair, she felt right. She felt really alive, and she felt really good. And it’s a tough thing to realize. This is where I’m happiest when I’m doing something illicit and wrong. And so she’s trying to figure out, I think, what does that mean for her life? And she’s pushing the boundaries a little bit.

She has a few unhinged moments early in the season. Is that fun for you to play?

It takes a long time sometimes to film the scene, so it’s going to be hard to stay in a ‘teetering on the brink’ moment for hours and hours for a whole night or whatever … but yeah, it’s super fun.

There are also quite a few comedic moments, particularly between Shauna and Jeff (Warren Kole) this season. How do you strike that balance between simmering rage and unsettling humor?

One thing the writers are especially good at is seeing the things that really work in the show and then making the most of it. In the first season, they came to really enjoy the chemistry that Warren and I have, the kind of comedic chemistry. So they started to write funny stuff for us to do together, which is always a joy. It’s a weird kind of humor that really, really works. They have a really good grasp on the toeing of this kind of [line] that you shouldn’t be laughing but you are.

Shauna doesn’t really seem to fit into this life she’s built, especially this season.

If she had had all the choices of life presented to her and anything was an option, she probably wouldn’t be doing anything that she has done. I don’t think she’d be a mother. I don’t think she’d still be in New Jersey. But I do think there was a feeling when she came back from the trauma that she endured where she just was like, ‘This is what I have to do.’ It was partly survivor’s guilt, and I think partly not wanting to have to reintroduce herself. That’s so complicated to try to go out into the world and be like, ‘Here’s who I am.’ It’s such a stressful thing for her to imagine, so she just kind of stayed in place and thought it would be easier. But that’s just not really who she is.

I’m sure you know this, but the Queer community has really rallied around you on social media. Do you consider yourself a gay icon?

Well, that’s very sweet. I mean, I don’t know. I think they feel some kind of acceptance [from me]. It’s like… I don’t want to use the word ‘mother’ because I understand that ‘mother’ is used all the time in a way that I actually don’t really understand. But I think it is a version of that where it feels like this kind of loving presence. Genuinely, so much of my life, so many people in my life are Queer and gay, trans. It’s just a very, very big part of my community, my actual closest community. So I don’t know. But I do love it. I think in general, gay people have very discerning tastes [which is] a massive generalization but…

Also, kind of spot-on.

I’m honored to be accepted.

Your psychic told you season one of Yellowjackets was going to be a hit. Have you consulted her on season two yet?

I mean, I talk to her all the time. I talk to her a lot. It’s so funny because she doesn’t really understand the business, so she didn’t really know what she was talking about. She was trying to tell me there was a thing that was going to be huge, and she was like, ‘You’ve already filmed part of it. What does that mean? You’ve already filmed part of it?’ And I was like, ‘I did a pilot. Is that what you were talking about?’ She was like, ‘What’s a pilot?’ And I was like, ‘Well, it’s the first episode of a show where they see if they want to pick it up.’ She was like, ‘Yes. Okay. Yeah, that’s [it].’ But nobody had said a word to me about the pilot. I didn’t even know if it was good or not. We just made it, and then there was absolute silence. So months and months after that to hear from someone, ‘Oh, no, that’s going to be a huge hit,’ she sounded absolutely insane to me.

But nope, she’s always right. And yeah, she feels great about season two.

Is she taking new clients?

Yeah! Awaken With Fatima. You can book it online. She’s booked up. It’s my fault, I think. She’s booked up like a month in advance now. But she’s amazing.