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Brooklyn rapper Rowdy Rebel rose to fame alongside Bobby Shmurda in 2014 but a gang conviction cut their careers short. When their group, GS9, was accused of murder, attempted murder, assault, and drug dealing, both rappers and a number of their associates were convicted and sentenced to long stints in prison. However, while Bobby had his parole denied due to brawling and holding contraband while inside, Rowdy Rebel apparently kept his nose clean, as he has been released today after making parole according to Complex.

Rowdy, now 29 years old, was recently featured on Pop Smoke’s song “Make It Rain” from the late Brooklyn drill rapper’s posthumous album Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, introducing him to a younger generation of fans who missed out on GS9’s summer of dominance. That means he might just have a chance at a career reboot if he can capitalize on the momentum from that guest appearance with an impressive follow-up. His last big singles before that were “Computers,” from GS9’s Shmoney Shmurda (Shmixtape) and the remix of Bobby’s breakout single “Hot N****” alongside New York veterans Busta Rhymes, Fabolous, and Jadakiss, although he made sporadic appearances on tracks from Lil Durk and Don Q via prison phone.

It’s no secret that Chance The Rapper’s debut album The Big Day landed with more of a thud than a bang, despite actually being pretty good (I will die on this hill). Fans expecting the looser, more straightforward feel of projects like 10 Day, Acid Rap, and Coloring Book were disappointed by the seemingly jumbled collection of music on the album, with their glossy production and lofty ambitions (I will allow that it was too long and could have been sequenced better). It’s led to more overt criticism of his recent output, prompting him to complain that it felt like fans wanted him to be miserable due to their jokes about him getting back on drugs.

However, he also has a truly compelling argument to those fans, which he shared during an interview with Ebro In The Morning to talk about his recently reissued Christmas album. When the host asked him about all the hate — “throwing rocks at the throne,” as he put it — Chance explained that he has a different metric for success. “I’m just really, really good at rapping,” he declared. “So, regardless of what happens, I’ma always have that to fall back on — and if that doesn’t work, I can perform my old raps. If that don’t work, I can direct someone else’s raps. There’s nobody that can rap like me. That’s a cool thing to have.”

That’s actually a pretty smart way to look at things — at the very least, it keeps him from overly focusing on fans’ jokes about his content. Even if he raps about being a family man, which is probably something many of his young fans can’t relate to, he does so really well, so as long as he is meeting his own standards, he technically can’t fail in the opinion of the only person whose opinion matters — his own.

However, the fallout from The Big Day has affected him in other ways. His former manager Pat Corcoran recently filed a lawsuit for $3 million in back pay, citing breach of contract and claiming that Chance let his family talk him into making bad business moves that exacerbated the negative feedback from the album. Chance’s lawyers shot down the accusation, but without Pat The Manager’s help, he may find it’s harder to repeat his prior successes. Maybe collaborating with Dionne Warwick will give him some insight to extending his longevity.

Watch Chance’s full interview with Ebro above.

The Milwaukee Bucks offseason has been a wild ride, trading Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, and three future first-round picks to the Pelicans for Jrue Holiday and then thinking for two days they had completed a sign-and-trade for Bogdan Bogdanovic, only to see him sign an offer sheet with the Hawks instead after some miscommunication. In the wake of that miss, they’ve brought back Pat Connaughton and signed D.J. Augustin, Bryn Forbes, Bobby Portis, and Torrey Craig to fill out their rotation.

It’s a solid rebound from the Bogdanovic embarrassment, but as long as their rollercoaster ride ends with Giannis Antetokounmpo signing on the dotted line for his supermax extension this offseason, it was all worth it. On Tuesday, word broke that he had indeed done just that, staying with the organization that drafted him 15th overall in the 2013 NBA Draft and has seen him emerge as the reigning DPOY and two-time MVP.

Antetokounmpo confirmed the news on his Twitter account.

The deal included an opt-out after the fourth year, which was always going to be the case to provide him with maximum flexibility to maximize his earning potential.

Antetokounmpo joins a fairly short list of players to qualify for and sign a supermax extension, with Stephen Curry, James Harden, Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook, and John Wall being the other five who have done so. It’s a huge win for a Bucks organization that has tried to build a contender around Giannis and showed their willingness to spend now at the risk of future assets with the Holiday trade. Now, the question facing Milwaukee is if the roster they’ve assembled can get out of the East, where they’ll once again be the favorites ahead of the likes of Miami, Philadelphia, and Boston.

A lot of that responsibility to taking the Bucks to a Finals rests on the shoulders of Antetokounmpo, who isn’t without fault for Milwaukee’s shortcomings the past two seasons in the playoffs, but it’s admirable that he wants to take that on and be the one to get the Bucks organization to that level.

To call 2020 a “difficult year” would be an understatement. It’s been the kind of year that our grandkids will ask us about decades from now, and there’s still a half-month to go! But instead of focusing on the bad things that have happened in 2020, I’m choosing to pay attention to the good stuff, like the movie moments that brought me joy. Because there are a lot of them, even in a year when many movies were delayed until 2021 or beyond. It could be a song, a line, or a future-Batman failing to have even a stoner’s understanding of cooking pasta. These are my most joyful movie moments of 2020. (I would have done one for TV shows, but that list begins and ends with “Jackie Daytona.”)

The police station scene in Birds of Prey

It’s going to be a tough trivia question in five years time: what was the highest-grossing superhero movie of 2020? The answer: Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), or as it was (unofficially?) retitled, Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. It’s an unexpected designation because the film was considered a box office disappointment when it was released. But because there were basically no other superhero movies in 2020, as Marvel pushed Black Widow and Eternals to 2021 and DC’s Wonder Woman 1984 is being released on HBO Max, it finished number one. Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey deserves a better reputation than “won by default,” though. It’s a fun, feminist movie with a Looney Tunes-esque manic energy and fantastic performances from Margot Robbie, Ewan McGregor, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead; it’s also gleefully violent, as opposed to morbidly TwIsTeD, as seen in the police station scene. We need more glitter-filled bean bag guns, not actual guns. Birds of Prey is colorful when most superhero movies are painted the same drab grey.

The oily cakes in First Cow

Just as it’s impossible to watch Goodfellas and not want Italian food, it’s equally unthinkable to finish A24’s First Cow without pausing to find the recipe for oily cakes. The fried donut-looking cakes are made and sold with tenderness by Cookie (John Magaro) and King Lu (Orion Lee) in 1820s Oregon with stolen milk provided by Eve, the Paddington of cows. They taste “like something my mama made” is how one consumer describes them, the greatest compliment of all. (They’re a rare treat in the movie, but lucky for us, writer-director Kelly Reichardt and her co-writer, Jonathan Raymond, shared the recipe here; also lucky for us, we don’t live in the 1820s.) Every scene with Cookie’s oily cakes brings me joy; no wonder First Cow is my favorite movie of the year.

“Jaja Ding Dong” in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Now we come to the music portion of the post, beginning with the song that was stuck in every Netflix’s subscriber head in July. “Jaja Ding Dong” is as perfectly (and intentionally) stupid as “Please Mr. Kennedy” from Inside Llewyn Davis, and just as catchy. As our own Brian Grubb pointed out, “It burrows in there with its little teeth and claws and hooks itself to particularly sturdy parts of your brain. It’s not so much an earworm as it is an eartick, holding on for dear life as you try to pluck it out of there.” My love for “Jaja Ding Dong” is growing wide and long. In a post-COVID world, every bar band (the members can be humans or elves) should be legally required to play it. The crowd would go nuts.

And every time they play something other than “Jaja Ding Dong,” this will be me:

Same, my man. Same.

“Everybody Wants to Rule the World” in Tesla

I won’t lie: I haven’t seen Tesla. But here’s what I know about the sort-of biopic. Tesla stars Ethan Hawke as Nikola Tesla, and at one point, Hawke-as-Tesla sings “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears. That’s all that matters. I’ve watched this scene on YouTube at least seven times. My favorite thing about the video, other than the star of the Before trilogy karaoke-crooning the best Tears for Fears song (I stand by), is the description: “Best scene from a rather dull movie.” Again, I haven’t seen Tesla, but even if it was a masterpiece, this would still be the best scene in the movie.

“Silly Games” in Lovers Rock

The AV Club called it the best movie scene of 2020. It’s tough to disagree. Set at a house party in 1980s West London, Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock is musical euphoria, a joyous 70-minute tribute to the power of communal dancing and singing. That’s never more apparent than in the scene where Janet Kay’s 1979 hit “Silly Games” plays in its eternity — there are sharp-attired men and beautifully-dressed women, there’s swaying, there’s sweat, there’s consensual butt-grabbing. It’s sex on the dance floor. It’s pure joy.

The backyard scene in Palm Springs

Palm Springs was the only film to appear on every submitted list for our top-10 movies of 2020 post. The Hulu comedy, starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti, clearly brought a lot of people joy in 2020, even with the long stretches of suicide and depression and Samberg getting (politely!) murdered by J.K. Simmons with a crossbow in a trash can. But a few minutes before the garbage-murder, Simmons delivered a line that had me dying. In a good way. It might be the hardest I laughed at anything in a movie this year.

J.K. Simmons’ loving admiration for his kid watering dog poop? Now that’s beautiful.

The long take in The Vast of Night

Maybe “joyful” isn’t the first word that comes to mind to describe the long take in The Vast of Night, a science-fiction mystery movie set in 1950s New Mexico about two teenagers, disc jockey Everett and switchboard operator Fay, who hear a mysterious frequency on the radio. “Technical marvel” is more accurate. But as the camera moved from Fay’s switchboard through the small-town streets to the high school gymnasium where a basketball game is being held to the radio station, all in one uninterrupted four-minute shot (it’s actually four long takes stitched together to look like one), I felt slack-jawed joy. It’s “pure awesome-ness.” Expect big things from director Andrew Patterson.

“He’s not my boyfriend” in The Old Guard

“What is he? Your boyfriend?”

“You’re a child. An infant. Your mocking is thus infantile. He’s not my boyfriend. This man is more to me than you can dream. He’s the moon when I’m lost in darkness and warmth when I shiver in cold. And his kiss still thrills me, even after a millennia. His heart overflows with the kindness of which this world is not worthy of. I love this man beyond measure and reason. He’s not my boyfriend. He’s all, and he’s more.”

The movie romance of 2020.

The forest running scene in Wolfwalkers

Wolfwalkers only came out on Apple TV+ last Friday, but I would recommend watching it immediately. The gorgeous animated film from Tomm Moore, who also directed The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea (both of which were nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars), is about a young girl living in mid-1600s Ireland who befriends a “wolfwalker,” a human who transforms into a wolf when she’s sleeping. I hesitate to say too much about the plot — there are no “twists,” per se, but I don’t want to spoil any of its many charms — but there’s one scene that plays like a mashup of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” and “Hakuna Matata” from The Lion King that’s extraordinary to behold.

More like Robert Pasta-inson

OK, this technically isn’t from a movie and I could have given the slot to Radha rapping for the first time in The 40-Year-Old Version, or any of Anya Taylor-Joy’s reactions in Emma, or Jim Carrey dancing in Sonic the Hedgehog, or NoHo Hank as an insecure robot named Dennis Caleb McCoy in Bill & Ted Face the Music. All good, but few things in 2020 brought made me happier than Robert Pattinson’s pasta shenanigans. If you’ll recall (and please do recall), Pattinson told GQ that during quarantine, he went “on YouTube to see how to microwave pasta… Put it in a bowl and microwave it. That is how to microwave pasta. And also it really, really isn’t a thing. It’s really actually quite revolting. But I mean, who would have thought that it actually makes it taste disgusting?”

It gets worse (better).

I watch as he pours dry penne into a cereal bowl, covers it with water, and places it in the microwave for eight minutes. He says using penne is already new territory for him. Usually he uses… well… “Do you know the pasta that’s, like, a little, it’s like a blob, a sort of squiggly blob?”

“Gnocchi?”

“No, no, no, no, it looks like—what would you even call it? It looks like a sort of messy… like, the hair bun on a girl.”

“I have literally no idea what you’re talking about,” I say.

“There was one type of pasta that worked. It definitely wasn’t penne.”

The pasta recipe involves cheese, cornflakes, a horrendous amount of sugar, and putting tinfoil in the microwave. As GQ‘s Zack Baron wrote, “Proudly, [Pattinson] is walking back toward the counter that his phone is on when, behind him, a lightning bolt erupts from the oven/microwave, and Pattinson ducks like someone outside has opened fire. He’s giggling and crouching as the oven throws off stray flickers of light and sound.”

Robert Pattinson is a maniac, and we love him for it. Thank you for all the joy.

Is Torchy’s Tacos the new Chipotle?

No really, we’re asking. Those among us who have visited the Austin-based chain swear by the Torchy’s “Democrat” and “Republican” tacos (the former being an avocado-heavy barbacoa taco; the latter being a modified sausage-dog) and rave about the jerk chicken with mango sour cream. Their positive sentiments seem to be widely shared, too. The rapidly expanding company is popular enough to spark internet chatter comparing it to the current (if perhaps undeserving) king of Mexican-style fast-casual food and just scored a cool $400 million from a private equity investment group, General Atlantic.

While Chipotle doesn’t rank highly on our list of favorite places to grab a taco or burrito, we’re always happy to welcome new Mexican-inspired restaurants to the ever-growing fast food universe.

According to the Austin American Statesmen, the $400 million cash infusion will kick off an aggressive national expansion that will see Torchy’s open up 100 restaurants over the next four years. That means more than doubling the number of current outlets by 2025. The plan is to add 10 new states to the mix as well.

Torchy’s Tacos first began 14 years back as a food truck operated by chef Mike Rypka on South First Street in Austin. It originally gained popularity thanks to free samples delivered on a Vespa scooter across Austin by Rypka himself. Since then, the business has boomed and Torchy’s currently operates 83 locations across seven states including Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas.

In a year that has been tough for food brands across the board, Torchy’s has managed to not only stay afloat but have a pretty good year overall, opening up 12 stores in 2020 alone. Fast Food Twitter was thrilled at the news, from both Austin-based Torchy’s Fans and Torchy heads living in Torchy-less states with vivid memories of the menu.

Check out some of the excitement below.

Lana Del Rey‘s anticipated album Chemtrails Over The Country Club may be delayed, but she’s been keeping fans at bay with a handful of covers. Lana also shared a preview of the upcoming album back in October with the delicate anthem “Let Me Love You Like A Woman,” which she brought to The Tonight Show for a soulful performance.

Joined by a full band in a dusty nightclub, Lana shared a stripped-down rendition of the track. With subdued backup vocals and slippery guitar chords, Lana belted out the tender ballad. “Let me love you like a woman / Let me hold you like a baby,” she sang.

Ahead of the performance, Lana offered a few key details about Chemtrails Over The Country Club‘s release. The singer recently revealed that the vinyl pressing of the album has been delayed due to the pandemic, but it’s finished and it’s folksy. “Chemtrails is done,” she said. “I love it, it’s folk-y, it’s beautiful, it’s super different from Norman. I just thought that was the best option. I was stressed out when I heard the production was going to take 16 to 17 weeks but it is what it is. But in the meantime, I have some Patsy Cline songs I’ve been wanting to cover for a really long time, a couple of really cool Americana songs with Nikki Lane that I’ve just kind of had in my back pocket.”

Watch Lana Del Rey’s “Let Me Love You Like A Woman” performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon above.

Since Busta Rhymes‘ E.L.E. 2 single “Outta My Mind” samples New Jack Swing trio Bell Biv Devoe’s iconic hit “Poison” on its beat and chorus, it’s only right he bring the three living legends along for the video. The clip takes place in what looks like a warehouse, where Busta and his Conglomerate cronies throw a raucous mid-quarantine party — checking the temperatures of its female attendees despite the women’s obvious annoyance.

Once inside, though, the ladies are treated to a typically animated Busta Rhymes performance as the Dungeon Dragon brings the heat back via the fire he spits over the clattering beat — and his massive fur coat. How he maintains so much energy wearing that thing without losing a gallon of sweat is beyond me, but it’s impressive that he’s kept up that ability after nearly thirty years as one of hip-hop’s most quick-tongued lyricists. As for Bell, Biv, and Devoe, the three singers keep it dapper in matching suits and tasteful chains, differentiating themselves with their headwear.

Busta has had a busy month promoting his new album, which includes collabs with Anderson .Paak and Kendrick Lamar. He also made an appearance on Russ’s Chomp EP.

Watch Busta’s “Outta My Mind” video above.

Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God (The Deluxe Edition) is out now via Empire. Get it here.

Netflix’s Cobra Kai Season 3 trailer confirmed a jam-packed set of events that will include Ralph Macchio’s Daniel-san returning to Okinawa, Japan, where he will encounter an old rival, Chozen (Yuji Okumoto), who was last seen in The Karate Kid Part II. In addition, co-showrunner Jon Hurwitz told Total Film/Games Radar that this season will honor Mr. Miyagi’s spirit, and that Daniel’s voyage will function as a soul-seeking pilgrimage. In this new clip, Daniel seems to sort-of find what he’s looking for while reuniting with a former love, Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita).

I say “sort-of” because there’s something happening in a roundabout way here. Daniel reminisces about how Miyagi always had the answers he sought, and now, he struggles to guide his own students in the same way. “I wish he could be here to guide me,” Daniel mused. And Kumiko answers, “I think I can make that happen.”

Sooo… a séance? Noooo. I’m being silly here, but obviously, the late Pat Morita has not been of this world for over a decade. Flashbacks will happen, but I’m wondering if Miyagi left something behind (a journal, an artifact, a freaking hologram, who knows?) for Daniel-san to help guide him on his way. Hurwitz also previously revealed, “We’re constantly looking for ways to honour Pat Morita’s legacy and make it feel like he’s a part of the series, because he’s such an important part of the Karate Kid universe.” In other words, this is quite a cryptic clip, I’m looking forward to seeing the followup.

Ahead of Cobra Kai‘s first two seasons arriving on Netflix, Ralph Macchio made a promise to us: “The best is yet to come in this series! And I believe in that.” Well, those first two seasons are a tough self-act to follow, but Cobra Kai creators Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossenberg have already made it clear that they take the franchise’s legacy seriously, so viewers must trust that every aspect involved still sits in the right hands. From the Season 3 synopsis:

Season 3 finds everyone reeling in the aftermath of the violent high school brawl between their dojos, which has left Miguel in a precarious condition. While Daniel searches for answers in his past and Johnny seeks redemption, Kreese further manipulates his vulnerable students with his own vision of dominance. The soul of the Valley is at stake, and the fate of every student and sensei hangs in the balance.

Cobra Kai will return for Season 3 on Netflix in January.

Offset‘s 29th birthday was Monday so of course, Cardi B made sure her husband spent the day in style. After celebrating with a night out in Atlanta, Cardi presented Offset with an impressive birthday gift.

The rapper instructed Offset close his eyes while she walked him outside to reveal his surprise gift. When he opened his eyes, Offset was shocked to see a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ sitting in the driveway. According to Offset, the car costs upwards of $700,000 — and there’s only 63 of them in the world.

On top of the expensive gift, Cardi also shared a heartwarming birthday post. “Happy birthday Hubs,” she wrote. “I wish you many more. I wish you more positivity, wisdom, health, and for God to continue to keep you with a good heart. Thank you so much for helping me these past months getting my business in line (somebody gotta be the mean 1.”

Cardi’s impressive Lamborghini gift tops the present she got for Offset’s birthday last year, which solved the age-old question of what to gift someone who has everything. Rather than presenting him with a material item, Cardi instead filled up a refrigerator with stacks of cash totaling $500,000.

Watch a video of Cardi gifting Offset the Lamborghini above.

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

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has finally acknowledged President-elect Joe Biden’s win, congratulating both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on their historic ticket. This concession came after the Electoral College certified the results of the 2020 Presidential Election despite weeks of failed lawsuits and unsupported claims of voter fraud from the Trump administration.

As a career-Congressman and a leader on Capitol Hill, McConnell’s public confirmation of the election results really should’ve come much sooner, but good luck trying to tell that to Trump’s fanbase.

Despite McConnell eschewing tradition by allowing Trump’s legal team to cast doubt on our democratic process with wild conspiracies and often throwing his support behind the president’s controversial policies, the MAGA crowd are viewing the speech McConnell delivered as traitorous. In fact, plenty of Trump’s followers are starting to craft their own theories as to why McConnell and other GOP members might “turn” on them, giving us all an invaluable look into the strange idolization Trump’s base has for their commander-in-chief.

In fact, “Cocaine Mitch” is now trending on Twitter, mostly because angry Trump voters are using the moniker to dredge up old controversies and accuse McConnell of somehow helping to rig this election against the current president. In case you forgot, in 2014, a magazine article alleging that drugs were found aboard a commercial cargo ship owned by the family of McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, who serves as President Donald Trump’s transportation secretary, is the reason for the nickname. MAGA supporters have also made references to Chao’s heritage as reasons why McConnell might be “siding” with Biden in all this.

In case you were still confused as to what irony looks like, it’s this.