Category: Trending

Britney Spears is just days removed from releasing her latest single, the Elton John collaboration “Hold Me Closer.” She has had a good handful of collabs throughout her career, one of the most famous being the 2003 Madonna meet-up “Me Against The Music.” Now, Madonna has declared that she is eager to work with Spears again.

Yesterday, Madonna shared a YouTube video titled “Finally Enough Talk: 50 Questions With Madonna.” The clip is a take on Vogue‘s “73 Questions” series, and at one point, the off-camera interviewer asks Madonna, “Can we ever expect another collaboration with Britney?” Madonna responded, “I am gagging to work with Britney again.”

(“Gagging to,” by the way, is apparently an actual expression. Basically, Madonna really wants to collaborate.)

Elsewhere in the clip, Madonna mentioned sex a lot, as that was her answer to questions about her greatest guilty pleasure, zodiac sign, “current favorite obsession”, life mantra, and secret to success. She was also asked about “a decision [she] made that looking back maybe wasn’t the best idea” and her answer there was, “Getting married… both times.”

As for Spears, “Hold Me Closer” is performing well commercially. It’s currently in contention for a No. 1 debut on the UK chart and rumors indicate it could debut in the top 20 in the US.

Check out the video above.

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

Revolt Summit will return to Atlanta this September for its latest iteration. With a mission to drive forward and explore the future of hip-hop, Black artistry and culture, the theme for this year’s Revolt Summit is “The Future Is Now”

On the musical line-up at this year’s Revolt Summit are Coi Leray, Gucci Mane, Big Freedia, Iddris Sandu, activist Tamika D. Mallory, Pretty Vee, Fly Guy DC, and 19 Keys. In addition to musical performances, this year’s iteration of the Revolt Summit will feature keynote speeches by artists and entrepreneurs like DJ Drama, Tezlyn Figaro, Tariq Nasheed, Claima founder Bimma Williams, LaRussell, and more.

“The Revolt Summit is coming back bigger and better than ever with the goal of inspiring the next generation of cultural leaders to understand that the time is now to achieve your dreams, change your life, and more importantly change the world,” said Revolt chairman Diddy in a statement. “The future is happening in real-time, so we all have a responsibility to share the access, information and opportunities that will move the culture forward and the Revolt Summit is where it all starts.”

Tickets for this year’s Revolt Summit are available for purchase here.

Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Like the Eagles of Manwë (That’s right. We’re getting nerdy right out of the gate.), the first reviews for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power are swooping in, and the consensus is clear: Every dollar that Amazon spent can be seen on the screen. In fact, one critic went so far to say that the visual effects make House of the Dragon look like a child’s video game. More importantly, The Rings of Power goes deep into Middle-earth lore as it weaves J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendary world-building with epic cinematic wonder that fans of the Peter Jackson films have come to expect. In short (not a Hobbit pun), the series looks fantastic, and it’s attention to characters and detail are here to reward fans of both the books and the blockbuster movies alike.

Here’s what critics are saying about the first two episodes of The Rings of Power:

James Whitbrook, io9:

Here’s the long and short of it, or Ent and Hobbit of it if you’re already packing your bags to be whisked off to Middle-earth again: The Rings of Power is The Lord of the Rings through and through. It looks incredible, it bursts with hope, and, above all, it’s very long and takes a bit of time getting going. This is said with all the love and affection the world has had for Peter Jackson’s original Lord of the Rings films—and their slightly-less beloved successors in the Hobbit trilogy—themselves known, especially in their extended editions, for likewise being epic endeavors to sit down and watch.

Joelle Monique, The Wrap:

It’s rare to feel that one is stepping into another world; the seams of our reality are frequently present. Get lost in the beauty of this series. While it may feel heavy, there is an attempt to bring in comedy and heart with the dwarves, and the writers and directors (J.A. Bayona directs the first two installments) have tapped beautifully into fantasy-romance and horror to bring layers of texture to the script. Overall, “Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power” makes for an engaging and awe-inspiring watch.

Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter:

Through two episodes made available for critics, The Rings of Power works far better than the three-year publicity build-up led me to fear. The first episode is dedicated primarily to world-building, exposition and proving that storytelling on this scale can be executed for television and generally succeeds, even if some of that exposition lags. Then in the second episode, the story starts to actually move along and there are characters and scenes that I found utterly charming in the way a show like this requires for long-term survival, even if some of the effects and epic scale diminish a tiny bit.

Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian:

It is so rich and gorgeous that it is easy to spend the first episode simply gawping at the landscapes, as it swoops and swooshes between the lands of elves and dwarves, humans and harfoots. This is TV that is made for big screens, although surely destined to be watched on smaller ones. It is so cinematic and grand that it makes House of the Dragon look as if it has been cobbled together on Minecraft.

Dave Nemetz, TVLine:

Rings of Power is not just good, it’s great: a gorgeously immersive and grandly ambitious spectacle packed with stunning imagery and compelling plot threads. Most importantly, it captures the same sense of awe we felt while watching the Lord of the Rings movies — one we don’t often get to experience on the small screen.

Therese Lacson, Collider:

This is only an offering of the sheer scope of Amazon’s series, which feels absolutely immense. From the tempestuous Sundering Seas to the glorious halls of the dwarven kings, each location is richly created. It’s clear how much of the budget went into making these places look as magical as imagined. On top of that, composer Bear McCreary’s soundtrack plays off the familiar tunes of Howard Shore’s iconic soundtrack and instantly tugs at the heartstrings of anyone who would find themselves affected by the music of Middle-earth.

Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge:

Regardless of whether it’s streaming or airing on traditional networks, it’s rare that a series lives up to its studio’s dreams of it simultaneously feeling like a bingeable TV show and like a big, expensive cinematic event. Between a slate of strong performances, an eye for impactful minutiae, and a solid sense of its own ability to grow beyond the canon that it’s not technically a part of, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power definitely seems like it could be just that.

Caroline Framke, Variety:

For now, however, it’s safe to say that Amazon throwing the weight of its coffers at this property has resulted in a perfectly winning adaptation that unfolds swashbuckling adventures with clear reverence and affection for the considerable mythos behind it. As the series forges ahead, combining storylines and leaving literal translation from page to screen behind, it will be telling to see just how ably “The Rings of Power” can stay rooted in its venerable source material while, inevitably, bending it into something new.

The first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premiere September 21 on Amazon Prime Video with new episodes arriving each Thursday.

Since the FBI seized hundreds of classified documents from Mar-a-Lago earlier this month, the biggest question on everyone’s mind — besides what sort of intel was actually in them — is what exactly Donald Trump planned to do with them. Defenders have come up with all sorts of reasons why the former president might hold on to top-secret documents that put the world in danger by being moved from the security of the White House, including for research to write his memoirs. If that were true, then what the hell would Trump need with “intelligence” on Emmanuel Macron’s sex life?

As Rolling Stone reports, item 1a on the list of documents and information seized from Mar-a-Lago is “info re: President of France.” While that’s as detailed as the official FBI list gets, Trump’s longtime obsession with all things Macron is hardly a secret to those closest to him. As Adam Rawnsley and Asawin Suebsaeng write for Rolling Stone:

Trump has bragged to some of his closest associates — both during and after his time in the White House — that he knew illicit details about the love life of French President Emmanuel Macron, two people with knowledge of the matter tell Rolling Stone. And the former president even claimed that he learned about some of this dirt through “intelligence” he had seen or been briefed on, these sources say.

While there’s no confirmation that the material seized from the president’s golf club/home is the same intel he has boasted about seeing in the past, or whether the material has anything to do with Macron’s personal life at all, the mere existence of it — and that it has been in Trump’s nubby little hands — has French officials, including Macron, worried. According to Rolling Stone:

[T]he mere revelation of its existence triggered a trans-Atlantic freakout, according to two other sources familiar with the situation. And Trump’s prior talk about Macron’s allegedly “naughty” ways that “[not] very many people know” only intensified those concerns. Both French and U.S. officials worked to figure out precisely what Trump had on Macron and France’s government, and if any of it was sensitive in nature, the sources said. The officials in both nations wanted to know if this discovery signified some kind of national-security breach — or if it amounted to a frivolous, but stolen, keepsake.

According to Trump’s staffers, including former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, the former president was known to love gossip — both receiving it and sharing it with whoever was listening. So it would make sense if the documents he had were salacious in nature.

Still, a French embassy spokesperson told Rolling Stone that they had not asked for any details on the documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago. Unlike Trump when he was in office, some presidents have real work to do.

(Via Rolling Stone)

With his new album Demons Protected By Angels coming September 9, Nav has revealed the album’s features, which include Babyface Ray, Bryson Tiller, Don Toliver, and more. On Tuesday, he shared a trailer for the album on his social media that opens with stunning aerial shots of his hometown, Toronto, then incorporates some eye-popping visual effects featuring the titular angels, demons, and a solar eclipse. It then lists the features, which also include Future, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Lil Uzi Vert, RealestK, and Travis Scott.

So far, Nav has released two singles from the album. “Never Sleep” features Lil Baby and Travis Scott, while Nav flies solo on “Wrong Decisions.” Demons Protected By Angels is billed as Nav’s fourth studio album, and is preceded by 2020’s Good Intentions, which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Since then, he’s released a deluxe reissue of the album titled Brown Boy 2 and a mixtape completely produced by Wheezy called Emergency Tsunami. He also featured on Internet Money’s hit single “Lemonade” alongside Don Toliver and Gunna and contributed features to songs from Belly, Rowdy Rebel, and Vory.

Demons Protected By Angels is due on 9/9 via XO/Republic Records. Stay tuned as the new album’s rollout continues.

The short answer for why Michael Scott doesn’t get along with Toby Flenderson on The Office is that he hates “so much about the things” that he chooses to be. But there’s a longer, more detailed explanation, too.

On the latest installment of the Office Ladies podcast (via Decider), hosts Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey discussed the season seven episode “Counseling,” in which Michael is assigned six hours of counseling with a professional after yelling at Toby and threatening to smash his face, among other workplace misconducts. Fischer brought up an interview with Paul Lieberstein, who plays Toby and also wrote for the show, in which “he said that Michael’s hatred of Toby goes back to a deleted scene from [season one’s] ‘The Alliance.’ This is where they found this, like, true hatred of Toby.”

Fischer: “In the scene, Toby is coming in to sign Meredith’s birthday card. And Paul said, ‘I just go in, write something quickly and leave — that’s the scene.’ But when they were shooting the scene, I guess it took Paul a long time to physically write down what he was going to write down.”

Kinsey: “I have a memory of this — that he was writing in the card and it took a bit.”

Fischer: “Paul said, ‘I could just feel him watching me and I could feel this hatred burning.’ And he said that Steve [Carell] told him afterwards that it was in that moment that he decided as Michael to hate Toby so much. That was when they ran with it, that Paul went to the writers and said, ‘Michael hates Toby.’ Because, you know, if Jim took a long time to write a message, he would have all the patience in the world.”

Michael shouldn’t, because Jim is objectively way worse than Toby. And if you disagree, you’re the “biggest liar of… history.” You can listen to the Office Ladies podcast below.

(Via Decider)

Taylor Swift’s last concert — not an SNL visit or TV special or acoustic performance of “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” or Jingle Ball appearance, but a show that the public could buy tickets to — was on November 21, 2018. A lot has happened since then: Joe Biden replaced Donald Trump as president, Tyrese and Ludacris went to space, that whole pandemic thing. Also, Swift released three new albums, Lover, folklore, and evermore; five, if you could include the Taylor’s Versions of Fearless and Red; six, if you add Midnights, which comes out in October. By the time she hits the road again, she’ll be touring behind a half-dozen albums, maybe more if 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and/or Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) finally make it from daily Twitter trending topics to Spotify.

What the heck is that setlist going to look like?

It’s basically unprecedented for an artist of her scale to go that many albums between tours. Most stadium-level artists either retire but continue to release music, or go two, maybe three albums between world tours. Swift’s scenario is like Madonna releasing Like a Virgin, True Blue, Like a Prayer, and Erotica without hitting the road, or Beyoncé calling it quits after I Am… Sasha Fierce; The Beatles famously stopped touring in 1966, but they never resumed touring, so the comparison is mute. Through circumstances out of her control — namely, uh, the pandemic — Swift will have a lot of catching up to do.

With that mind, let’s look at the “average” setlist from her last tour, for Reputation.

1. “… Ready For It?”
2. “I Did Something Bad”
3. “Gorgeous”
4. “Style” / “Love Story” / “You Belong With Me”
5. “Look What You Made Me Do”
6. “End Game”
7. “King of My Heart”
8. “Delicate”
9. “Shake It Off”
10. “Dancing With Our Hands Tied”
11. [SPECIAL SONG]
12. “Blank Space”
13. “Dress”
14. “Bad Blood” / “Should’ve Said No”
15. “Don’t Blame Me”
16. “Long Live” / “New Year’s Day”
17. “Getaway Car”
18. “Call It What You Want”
19. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” / “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”

Not including track 11, which changed every show, that’s 12 songs from Reputation, two complete songs from 1989, and medleys featuring one or two songs from Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, and Red, even though the people (me) demanded a complete performance of “Should’ve Said No.” It obviously makes sense that tracks from Reputation would dominate the setlist, considering it was the Reputation Stadium Tour, but Swift won’t be awarded the same luxury with the next tour (assuming she doesn’t revive Lover Fest). So, again, what the heck is Miss Taylor Alison Swift going to do?

There are four options, as far as I see it:

1. Two shows in every city. One night is Lover through Midnights, songs she’s rarely, if ever, played before in a live setting; the next night is Taylor Swift through Reputation, including “vault” tracks. This option is unfortunately unlikely because double the shows in one city means fewer cities overall, or else she would be out on the road for years.

2. The setlist is post-Reputation songs only, i.e. songs that were released after her last tour. This has its advantages (it would ease the traffic jam of options, and fans would know in advance that they won’t hear “The Story of Us”) and disadvantages (no “The Story of Us”). But the Taylor’s Versions of Fearless and Red, and whatever else comes out before (hopefully) next year, are cheat codes of sorts. Songs that appeared on the original album would be off limits, but “Mr. Perfectly Fine,” “Message In a Bottle,” “I Bet You Think About Me,” the 10-minute version of “All Too Well” (the highlight of every set), etc. are fair game because they’re technically “new.” I think this is the most likely option.

3. She chooses one fan to pick the setlist in every city. “What would you pick, Josh?” Thank you for asking! This is my dream 20-song setlist:

1. “State of Grace”
2. “Cruel Summer”
3. “Mr. Perfectly Fine”
4. “Cornelia Street”
5. “I’m Only Me When I’m with You”
6. “Blank Space”
7. “Delicate”
8. “All Too Well (10-Minute Version)”
9. “Style”
10. “Love Story”
11. “You Belong with Me”
12. “Death By a Thousand Cuts”
13. “Mirrorball”
14. “Exile”
15. “Happiness”
16. “Champagne Problems”
17. “The Story of Us”
18. “New Romantics”
19. “Message In a Bottle”
20. “Shake It Off”

Now, before getting mad at me because I grouped together the folklore and evermore tracks as an acoustic suite and left out “Sparks Fly”… and “Enchanted”… and “Holy Ground”… and “This Is Me Trying”… and “The Last Great American Dynasty,” you should know: 1) I’m mad at myself, and 2) it’s really hard trimming 200-plus songs down to 20. No setlist is going to have every song you want to hear, unless…

4. Every show is five hours long.

I hope it’s #4.

In January 2022, Winnie the Pooh and the wonderful story of a cute little bear and his pals entered the public domain. The bear and his iconic bright red shirt has historically been most heavily associated with The Walt Disney Company, but the original story is now open to all different creators and director who can make any type of Pooh-related drama they wish (except Tigger. He still belongs to Mickey Mouse).

But, instead of a fun CGI reboot, or a quirky stop motion feature, Pooh is getting the horror movie treatment. And today we have the first trailer, complete with blood and, you guessed it, honey.

Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey follows Pooh and Piglet as they go on a rampage after being abandoned by their beloved owner, Christopher Robin, who is now a full-grown adult who is about to get married. They begin to stalk a group of friends who are staying just outside the hundred-acre wood for a getaway that turns deadly.

Earlier this year, director Ryhs Waterfield said that it’s not the Pooh and Piglet you’ve come to know and love: the duo has become vicious versions of themselves after Christopher left them, “Because they’ve had to fend for themselves so much, they’ve essentially become feral,” Waterfield explained. “So they’ve gone back to their animal roots. They’re no longer tame: they’re like a vicious bear and pig who want to go around and try and find prey.” Who would win in a fight? Pooh or The Predator?

The moral of this story? Never get married and abandon your imaginary animal friends.

Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey does not have a release date at this time…unfortunately.

The White Lotus is officially an anthology series with a fairly quick turnaround after the show premiered in July 2021. The brilliant satire landed as a sleeper series, and the show generated so much conversation that HBO couldn’t resist re-upping for a second tour. Sadly, we won’t be seeing Murray Bartlett return (as Armond) to drop a deuce in Italy. That wouldn’t be possible anyway, since this isn’t a prequel series, and his character obviously didn’t make it through Season 1.

Who will appear in Season 2 (which will premiere in October)? The show takes place in Italy with the sole returning cast member being Jennifer Coolidge. She’ll return as boozy socialite Tanya McQuoid, and from there, a whole new assortment of angsty wealth-mongers will manage to be pretty miserable in idyllic surroundings. This season, we’ll see Aubrey Plaza, Theo James, F. Murray, Abraham, Michael Imperioli, and Haley Lu Richardson. They’ll likely be judging everyone, so we can feel free to judge them, too.

There’s no real word on plot yet or if there will be another mystery body bag, but one can hope that we’ll at least receive an intriguing mystery. Sydney Sweeney won’t be around to send withering glances toward clueless vacationers, and I’m sad that we won’t be able to see Alexandra Daddario’s new bride come to her senses and dump her insufferable husband, played by Jake Lacey. Well, there’s always Season 3 for that.

The White Lotus will air on HBO (and stream on HBO Max) in October.

Every month, Uproxx cultural critic Steven Hyden makes an unranked list of his favorite music-related items released during this period — songs, albums, books, films, you name it.

1. Arctic Monkeys, “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball”

One of the best and most popular British rock bands of the past decade announced their first album in four years, The Car, this month. Judging by the tracklist, the Monkeys appear to be continuing their GBV-like descent (or is it ascent?) into screamingly obscure song titles. (I am excited to hear “Jet Skis On The Moat” myself.) As for the music, the one sample we have so far is this heartbroken lounge ballad that hews close sonically to the debauched torch-song vibe of 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (minus the sci-fi element). I was a big fan of that strange, singular and polarizing record — and still am, having revisited recently — but I hope The Car also includes some nods to the riff-heavy, sexy and leather-jacketed rock of their 2013 landmark LP A.M.

2. Cass McCombs, Heartmind

Earlier this month a reader asked if this perennially underrated singer-songwriter has passed my Five Albums Test upon the release of his latest LP (and 10th overall), Heartmind. Actually, he passed it well before now. It just depends on how far back you go with him. For me, he’s been one of the most reliable artists in the indie sphere going back at least a decade, to the sparkling 2011 double shot of Wit’s End and Humor Risk. Though hardcore fans will likely make a case for his aughts-era work, particularly albums like 2007’s Dropping The Writ and 2009’s Catacombs. For me, Heartmind doesn’t quite meet the standard of recent masterworks like 2016’s Mangy Love and 2019’s Tip Of The Sphere, in which McCombs unleashed his inner Jerry Garcia and snaked dreamy guitar solos throughout his enigmatic songs. Heartmind is less guitar-centric, favoring a jazzy vibe that is less immediate. But over time, it really gets under your skin.

3. The National and Bartees Strange, “Mistaken For Strangers” (Live in Dillion, Colo. 8/10/22)

This month I traveled to Utah to meet up with Bartees Strange on a short tour through the western U.S. and Canada with The National. It was a fun and wonderfully strange experience. If you ever get the chance to visit Salt Lake City, do it. To quote myself: “When you’re downtown, you can’t take in the mountain vistas that ring the city without also seeing a monument to the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints lurking in your peripheral vision. But I don’t want to reduce Salt Lake City to a series of Mormon cliches. There are other distinctive attributes. The High School Musical films were made here. There is a surprisingly vibrant Mexican restaurant scene. You can’t order a cheeseburger without someone putting some pastrami on it. Famously, if you get pizza delivered to your hotel room, you might get sick and subsequently be willed to iconic feats of sports excellence. There is no other city quite like it.”

A highlight of this tour was Bartees joining The National for “Mistaken For Strangers.” The video above was taken the day after the show I saw.

4. 2nd Grade, “Strung Out On You”

This Philadelphia band will release one of my favorite albums of 2022, Easy Listening, in September. I’ll have more to say about that next month, but for now, let’s celebrate this deeply pleasurable slice of power-pop goodness released in advance of the record. Led by singer-songwriter and Beach Boys fanatic Peter Gill — who also plays in another very good band, Friendship, which dropped a very good record, Love Is Stranger, in July — 2nd Grade play very short and very catchy songs that draw on a well-curated set of indie-leaning pop-rock sources: Big Star, Guided By Voices, The Raspberries, Teenage Fanclub, Sloan. On “Strung Out On You,” Gill utilizes all of the best tricks for this kind of music — jangly guitars, handclaps, gooey vocals, and irresistible rhythmic bounce.

5. Kiwi Jr., Chopper

This prolific Canadian band — Chopper is their third album in three years — is typically compared to Pavement, because the singer sounds a little like Stephen Malkmus while affecting a slightly aloof and witty lyrical posture. (Which means that they’re also described as a northern Parquet Courts.). Being compared to great bands is a double-edged sword, of course, and given Kiwi Jr.’s rapidly growing body of work it seems unfair at this point. Produced by Wolf Parade’s Dan Boeckner, Chopper is their best and slickest record yet, tightening up their patented slacker rock with shiny New Wave accents. At its best, Kiwi Jr. sound like The Cars for the agitated TikTok generation. (Yes, I just compared them to another great band but I swear it’s appropriate.)

6. Eli Winter, Eli Winter

Every August needs at least one Americana-tinged instrumental guitar record, in which blissed-out finger-picking designed to soundtrack sunsets occasionally slip into storms of noise and feedback. This month, Eli Winter was that record for me. So many instrumental guitar albums feel more like collections of jams rather than a set of actual songs. But Winter knows how to balance exploratory solos with a sense of purpose and structure, and he builds this six-track self-titled album in such a way that the cumulative effect amounts to something greater than the attendant parts. It helps that he has precisely the supporting cast you would want on an album like this, including Ryley Walker, David Grubbs, and Yasmin Williams.