Today, in “Yes please, I would like that, right now” news: Aminé and Kaytranada are doing an album together. It’s apparently called, fittingly, Kaytraminé, and this writer is rightly having a bit of a meltdown knowing that it’s “coming soon” and not “already out.” So far, all the information we have is this trailer video, which sees Kaytra manipulating a midi controller with each trigger pad set for a different syllable in each artist’s name. He presses them in order to create their individual names before combining them into the portmanteau. Then, a little clip of music plays and I want it right now, please and thank you.
It’s the first new project Aminé has announced since the Portland rapper released TwoPointFive back in November 2021. That album was a placeholder mixtape between the release of Limbo and Aminé’s eventual third studio album. Whether this project with Kaytranada will be a side project or that third album remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, Kaytranada has been much more visible lately despite his relatively quiet position behind the boards. He’s been producing for a number of rising stars in the industry, including Ravyn Lenae, Joyce Wrice, and PinkPantheress. Additionally, IDK teased a second installment of his Simple joint project with Kaytra in November. There’s plenty to look forward to from the prolific producer, so stay tuned.
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) fell hard. For some in the financial realm, there was a great cloud of paranoia sweeping over the land, a fear that this could domino effect the global economy into a recession much like 2008. For others, just chilling, trying out a new Smoky Negroni Cocktail and brainstorming where to find the best grilled chicken sandwich, the reaction might be: “What the hell is The Silicon Valley Bank?”
As the name suggests, it’s a popular bank in Silicon Valley, and it’s known for sponsoring startups and tech innovation. And, well, a few weeks ago it got pulverized. Billions lost, and news outlets claim social media had a large role to play in it. It was even labeled as the first ever “Twitter-fueled run on a bank,” a fascinating technological phenomenon.
This was the bombshell news of March, so let’s explain what happened in simple English.
WHAT IS SVB?
Silicon Valley isn’t just known as the place for world-changing tech innovation, it’s also a hub for all kinds of startups. That’s why it’s the “Capital” of Venture capital (privately investing in startups). SVB is a startup/tech-friendly bank, and thus, many of the entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley take their businesses to SVB.
In fact, PBS reported, “SVB claimed to have approximately half of all U.S. venture-backed tech and life science companies, and more than 2,500 venture capital funds as its customers.” 2020 became a golden age for startups, the result being that these businesses gave SBV a lot of money. But why was it a golden age?
THE COVID OPPORTUNITY:
TLDR; Covid really F-d up everything, and torched the economy. It turns out, a strategy to heal a barren economy is to make borrowing money easy (Lowering Interest Rates). Because, if you can borrow money for cheap, the idea is that people are much more likely to go get a big loan, build/plant something and help the fields flourish with money again. Outlined by CNBC, that’s what the government did, lower interest rates, basically to zero.
What happened next? According to Forbes, LOTS of companies took the opportunity to take part in a ” Startup Frenzy,” and, as we mentioned, SVB was a hub for this. What does one do when they get a lot of money? Naturally, they might try to make more money.
LOOSE BANKING:
When one puts money in the bank, it’s not just sitting in a vault. Banks are deploying that money in hopes it multiplies. To the criticism of many politicians like Elizabeth Warren, some banks, like SVB, are not policed that heavily and can more freely deploy cash to make a profit. One strategy to make a profit is buying Treasuries (IOUs from the government). These IOUs are appealing because the government guarantees to pay you back in full IF you wait (sometimes a few months, sometimes a few years, and sometimes a decade, there are different types.) While you wait, the government pays out some returns (a low-interest rate means small returns, a high-interest rate means bigger returns).
Outlined by this CNN article, once SVB got their hands on a boatload of money from entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, they started gambling billions on these IOUs. Then something went wrong.
THE “OH SH*T” MOMENT:
Remember that strategy about making the fields flourish with money? It turns out, that barren field can get overgrown with weeds — AKA too much money AKA inflation. A method to “burn the field” is for the government to increase the interest rate. That’s what happened in 2022 and it was abrupt. Two things happened:
It became much harder for these tech companies to get easy access to cash and stay afloat. As their stock prices started dropping, these companies were forced to withdraw funds from their bank accounts at SVB to keep daily operations going.
When the interest rate went up, the IOUs that SVB had spent a fortune buying lost a ton of value. But that’s okay! As long as they waited it out, the money would be paid back, and all would be right and dandy. Except…
When these companies under fire pulled up to the bank and said, “Hey I kinda need my money right now, things are getting tough.” SVB was like, “Ah, the thing is, we kinda made a deal/bet with the gov, and if we back out now, we’re gonna lose a lot of money.”
Too bad, SVB had to sell their IOUs and take a big loss — a huge loss actually: billions of customer dollars. Then, the rest of the companies using SVB realized, “Oh, sh*t, I might lose my money. Time to bail.” And then, panic ensued.
THE CLIMAX: SPONSORED BY TWITTER
According to CNN, “multiple prominent venture capitalists took to Twitter and used their large platforms to raise alarms about the situation, sometimes typing in all caps. Some investors urged startups to rethink where they kept their cash.”
What happened then, was an old-fashioned run on the bank, only this time, the power of social media allowed the panic to spread like wildfire. Additionally, modern banking apps allowed people to react fast and withdraw money with the click of a button. The result: “42 Billion dollars of funds were withdrawn in a single day. House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry later described it as “the first Twitter-fueled bank run.”
While many customers panicked, on March 12th, CNN reported that regulators would insure that customers would regain access to their funds, and worked hard to put SVB up for sale. There was speculation about who would buy SVB (even Elon Musk threw his hat in the ring) but the government made it clear they wanted another bank, not an individual, to purchase it.
The BBC reported that on Sunday, March 27th, First Citizens purchased “$72bn of SVB’s assets at a discount of $16.5bn – a deal that will make the bank one of the 25 biggest in the US.” This put a close to the SVB saga. As they say, all’s well that ends well.
GOING FORWARD:
Beyond the financial hindsight of this whole fiasco, outlined in this Boston Globe article, a huge takeaway from all this is the power of social media. The ability to seamlessly spread information has completely changed the scope of things in the last few decades; it’s now easier to connect, educate, and access the lexicon of the human experience. But just as lowering and raising interest rates has its pros and cons, so too does powerful interconnectivity enabled by technology. In the grand scheme of things, lightning-quick mass media is still relatively new, and we just got a first taste of a seismic financial panic — fueled, in part, by an app. It’s a powerful new modern phenomenon and its impact will only continue to evolve.
How would you spend your final moments before arrested? Maybe eat your favorite meal, or talk to your loved ones, or pet a cute dog or cat. All good options. If you’re Donald Trump, and you’re turning yourself over to the authorities after a grand jury voted to indict you, you do none of these things.
Instead, you post on your failing social media platform.
“Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse. Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!” Trump wrote on Truth Social moments before the first president to be impeached twice became the first president to be arraigned on criminal charges.
Trump arrived at Manhattan Criminal Court at 1:24 p.m. on Tuesday where he was met with both supporters and counterprotesters who have clashed throughout the historic day… He is scheduled to appear in-person before Judge Juan Merchan for his arraignment at 2:15 p.m. on what is expected to be almost three dozen charges.
Maybe this was all a ploy to bring more attention to the Trump Media & Technology Group-owned Truth Social. It could use the help: Trump’s net worth plummeted from $3.2 billion last year to $2.5 billion today because “barely anyone uses Truth Social,” according to Forbes.
I’m sure the few users on there are being very chill at the moment.
Dua Lipa’s character in Greta Gerwig’s forthcoming Barbie movie was unveiled today as part of all the main actors getting character posters (the summer flick’s new teaser trailer dropped, too). In the first photo preview, Lipa is playing a mermaid Barbie, rocking an electric blue wig and presumably, a similarly-colored tail to keep in line with the outfit. (Basically, it’s a win for those whose favorite childhood Barbie figure was this one, AKA the club I am in.)
“It’s gonna be a splash,” the Barbie account commented on Lipa’s Instagram post. “Shimmer on,” they added on Twitter.
Lipa’s role, including a character plot, is still relatively under wraps, as she doesn’t have a, say, separate human name — compared to Ryan Gosling’s Ken or Margot Robbie playing the title character. (Technically, Lipa is a Barbie too, as different actors are playing various iterations of the doll, but Robbie is the classic figurine most picture.)
There are also some rumors that Lipa has recorded some new music for Barbie‘s movie soundtrack, including, possibly, the theme song. As she’s been teasing working on her third studio album as a follow-up to 2020’s Future Nostalgia, there very well could be some serious crossover potential — and making 2023 an even bigger year for Lipa.
Dua Lipa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Davido is celebrating the release of his fourth studio album, Timeless. Last night, he stopped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to perform some fan favorites from the album.
During the performance, Davido sang a medley of “Feel” and “Unavailable.” The Afrofusion superstar was joined by drummers, who gave the music a rolling kick, as well as background vocals by a group of singers, as well as additional support by a four-piece vocal group called The Compozers.
Timeless marks Davido’s first album in three years. In an interview with CNN, he shared that the album had been finished around last summer, but he had taken time away from the spotlight following the death of his son.
Though he remained quiet on social media for about six months, he noticed the support from fans who often sent him messages affirming him during that period of difficulty.
“I haven’t put out an album in almost three years,” he said, “And I feel like the world needs that Davido energy. I want them to feel a breath of fresh air when they listen to the album…I just want them to feel like that love and energy is back.”
Watch the performance above.
Timeless is out now via RCA. Find more information here.
Cowboys sure do love their drama, even fictional ones. Earlier this year, it was reported by Deadline that Yellowstone patriarch Kevin Costner was thinking about hanging up his cowboy hat after four-and-a-half seasons of the family ranch drama. Season five of the show began airing last fall, and part two was expected to drop this summer, though that might not be the case after all.
It appears that the second half of season five hasn’t even begun production, possibly due to Costner’s minimal shooting schedule. Between the delay in shooting, rumors of Costner’s exit, and talk of Matthew McConaughey joining the franchise, there are a lot of questions and not too many answers coming from Taylor Sheridan & Co, who already has a lot on his plate with his various other shows.
No update for part 2 of #Yellowstone season 5. The cast has not yet started filming or been given a start date. #PaleyFest
While speaking a PaleyFest over the weekend, Paramount president of development Keith Cox didn’t address the alleged drama specifically, but he feels ‘confident’ that Costner will remain the center of the Yellowstone universe. “What I can say is our star, the face of our show and the executive producer, are very confident he’s going to continue with our show,” Cox said. Costner still has yet to address the rumors, though he did secure a Golden Globe for his portrayal of John Dutton earlier this year. Maybe all he wanted was to get a tiny statue before retiring from the ranch for good in order to pursue his budding music career. One can only dream.
Even if Costner steps down, Josh Lucas, who plays young Dutton, thinks that the show could still continue without Costner, and that they “always planned” on Kevin’s character dying. He added, “That’s just… the evolution of what the ranch is. That’s why when you see the cemetery and you see the names of Elsa and you see the names of Jacob and you see these names, I think it’s of course going to evolve and change,” he explained, adding “And I think that’s what hopefully people will really like as it goes.”
Still, in order to like it, fans have to be able to actually watch it. Fans are already pretty upset at how the show handled the lackluster PaleyFest panel after so many of the stars bailed, and there is no current timeline for when we will get the second half of season five. Let’s hope McConaughey steps in with his signature smile soon to make everyone happy again.
Once upon a time, J. Cole was still trying to fit in with the upper echelons of the rap biz. The emblem of this time in his life is the Sideline Story song “Mr. Nice Watch,” featuring his then-mentor Jay-Z. That song sounds like an oddity compared to the rest of his catalog today, especially after he ascended to that top tier of rap stardom by abandoning the trappings of it on 2014 Forest Hills Drive.
Still, that doesn’t mean he can’t appreciate a nice timepiece when presented with the opportunity to wear one. That opportunity came during Dreamville Festival 2023 when Cole performed his headlining set wearing what looks very much like a Rolex on his wrist. In fact, some eagle-eyed fans on Twitter noted a connection between the watch and Cole’s co-headliner Drake. In the 2019 single “Middle Child,” Cole mentions that his fellow blog-era alum gifted him exactly that brand: “Just put the Rollie right back on my wrist,” he raps. “This watch came from Drizzy, he gave me a gift.”
J. Cole doesn’t normally wear a watch on stage. So if you noticed him rocking a Rolex at Dreamville Fest this weekend for his co-headlining set with Drake, this might be why (from 2019’s “Middle Child”). pic.twitter.com/VsdI7XhaW3
As noted by those fans — and by Cole’s own business partner Ibrahim Hamad, aka Ib, the co-founder of Dreamville — J. Cole rarely wears a watch, so it was an especially significant moment. All of these facts — Cole co-headlining with Drake, who supposedly bought him a Rolex — would suggest that the watch Cole wore during his set was likely the same one Drake gave him as a gift. The two rappers have often shared their appreciation for each other, including during the conclusion of their headlining set, so this would be just one more way the showed love.
Vladimir Putin may or may not be aware of the planned punishment announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky if Russia loses this war because it sounds like he doesn’t want to know anything. He has been more visible lately after Zelensky’s proof of life call, but apparently, the Russian president has bunker fever in a bad way and has done everything possible to shield himself from threats, perceived or legitimate. Gotta keep ahold of those pickles after all, and given that Putin is the subject of an international arrest warrant, the walls might truly be closing in around him.
This is the case despite planned propaganda-laden visits to parts of Russia-occupied Ukraine. According to an ex-Russian intelligence officer and Federal Guard Service captain, Gleb Karakulov, things are very dire in Putin’s mind. Via Business Insider, Karakulov spoke with the Dossier Center for Investigative Journalism and expressed his observation that Putin is “pathologically afraid for his life.” Further, the Russian president reportedly hides away in his various palaces and doesn’t trust the Internet and won’t use a cell phone:
“In all my years of service, I haven’t seen him once with a mobile phone,” Karakulov said, per the Dossier Center.
“He doesn’t use the internet or a mobile phone,” Karakulov added. “He only receives information from his closest circle, which means that he lives in an information vacuum.” Putin generally gathers information from secret service intelligence reports, as well as Russian TV news channels, according to Karakulov. “The President insists on having Russian television in every venue he stays in,” he said.
In other words, Putin is content to shelter himself from reality and only watch Russian State-approved news broadcasts. This sounds like the ideal way for him to live, honestly, at least until Russia runs out of available troops after losing an untold number of soldiers and cycling through massive drafts. Russians elites are angry, and life in the nation is no walk in the park these days. It’s no wonder that Putin doesn’t want to look.
There’s a long-running debate among parents over the proper way to discipline a child. Some favor the “spare the rod, spoil the child” philosophy. In contrast, others believe being warm and empathetic is the best approach to discipline. So who’s right?
A new study from Cambridge University conducted on 7,507 children in Ireland from 9 months to 9 years old looked at which style is better for a child’s mental health.
For the study, researchers compared three parenting styles: “hostile,” in which parents are overbearing, protective, and use physical discipline; “consistent” parenting, where expectations, rules, and discipline are predictable; and “warm” parenting, which emphasizes affection and being empathetic to a child’s needs.
The researchers also looked at two mental health symptom classifications, high-risk and low-risk.
The researchers found that children whose parents used hostile parenting techniques when the child was 3 years old were 1.5 times more likely to have high-risk mental health symptoms and 1.6 times more likely to display low-risk mental health symptoms by the age of 9.
“Our findings suggest that hostile parenting should be avoided as much as possible in early childhood if we want to prevent children from developing increased mental health symptoms,” said lead author Dr. Ioannis Katsantonis, a doctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge, said according to Good Morning America. “We found that children in the high-risk class had parents with greater stress and greater likelihood of ongoing physical and mental health problems. These parents might need additional support and resources to address their own needs and enhance their parenting skills.”
On the other hand, the study found that consistent parenting could help protect children from developing low-risk mental health symptoms by the age of 9.
“Consistent parenting may help because it provides children with a sense of predictability and security, which can act as a buffer against worsening mental health,” said Katsantonis.
The study also found that children raised with warm parenting techniques were neither more nor less likely to develop mental health symptoms by age 9. It appears parental empathy was basically a non-factor in predicting whether a child would have mental health struggles. These findings somewhat contradict previous studies that found empathetic parenting styles may protect children from developing certain emotional and mental health symptoms.
The researchers also stress that parenting isn’t the sole contributing factor to a child’s mental health. Children in low-income households or those who are raised by single parents are more likely to have mental health issues. Female children are also more likely than males to develop mental health symptoms by the age of 9. Genetics also plays a big role in whether a child will develop mental health symptoms.
The big takeaway from the study is the importance of consistency when raising children. It appears that when children can predict an adult’s behavior and understand what is expected of them, it is better for their mental health.
Sanford Health offers some helpful tips for parents who want to practice more consistency in their expectations, responses and routines so their children can benefit from that parenting style.
Chris Pine plays the lead role in the film “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” but until recently, he had never played D&D himself. Now that he’s experienced the magic of the nearly 50-year-old roleplay game, he believes it should be played in schools.
Pine told Slash Film that his nephew has been playing D&D with a group of friends for six years, and he’s the one who introduced the game to his famous uncle and a few other family members, including Pine’s parents, who are 82 and 76.
“Within 15 minutes, we were having the time of our lives and we didn’t have to know anything,” he said. It was “immediately accessible,” he said, especially in a family of actors, since the roleplaying game is essentially improv acting.
“It’s, ‘Here’s what’s happening. This is what you have. This is your obstacle. Now go,'” he said.
But it’s the soft skills that the game encourages that left Pine feeling like the game should be played in schools.
“It immediately teaches cooperation,” Pine shared with Slash. “It exercises the imagination. It’s joyous, it’s improvisational. And within a matter of minutes, everybody’s on the same page. You’re not arguing about whether or not you’re cool or not. You’re arguing about whether or not you should have gone over the boulder to kill the dragon.”
“I think it’s about the coolest thing I’ve encountered in a long time,” he added.
Pine isn’t the only one who sees a social and educational benefit to playing Dungeons & Dragons. Teacher Kade Wells, who saw the test scores of her ninth-grade Dungeons & Dragons club members rise, believes that playing D&D can make kids smarter. There is more than just anecdotal evidence to back that assertion up.
“Dungeons & Dragons, and other narrative role-playing games of its kind, provide many opportunities for learning,” David Simkins, a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology and an expert on games and learning, told KQED. “Participation in narrative role play can open up interests in topics such as mathematics, science, history, culture, ethics, critical reading, and media production. When D&D and its cousins are played in an inviting, encouraging, compassionate, and intellectually engaged environment, play opens the door to truly amazing possibilities for learning.”
Socially, D&D has come a long way since the early 1980s, when talking about your Dungeon Master or whipping out your 12-sided die would automatically brand you a geek or a freak. (For the record, those “freaks and geeks” are likely the reason we’re all here on this website on whatever device we’re on—yay for creative innovators who battled imaginary dragons in their friend’s basement for fun.)
The game has grown in popularity over the years and it saw a huge surge during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now here we are with a feature film starring a handsome Hollywood heartthrob who publicly sings the praises of D&D. Who would have guessed D&D would become truly, genuinely…cool?
Perhaps the group of successful, professional 40-something-year-old friends I personally know, who have played D&D every Thursday night for years and years, would have guessed it. Some of them have known each other since high school, and they never get tired of the game. The open-endedness of D&D is part of its appeal—the possibilities for how the game can go are endless and dependent almost entirely on the imaginations of the players. No wonder it has stood the test of time and finally earned the respect it always should have had from the mainstream.
Watch the trailer for the D&D-themed film starring Chris Pine:
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