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New Jersey has been tremendously impacted by the coronavirus pandemic: New York is the only state with more confirmed COVID-19 cases. In light of that, the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund was formed, and one of their first public efforts came to fruition last night: The “Jersey 4 Jersey” livestream benefit event was hosted last night, and it featured performances from some famous New Jersey natives.

Bruce Springsteen, perhaps the most famous Jersey hometown hero of the past half-century, was joined by his wife and E Street Band member Patti Scialfa for a performance of “Land Of Hope And Dreams,” as well as a cover of Tom Waits’ “Jersey Girl.”

Fountains Of Wayne also staged a reunion, with Sharon Van Etten taking the place of the recently deceased Adam Schlesinger for a performance of “Hackensack.”

The star-studded lineup also featured SZA, Halsey, and Charlie Puth.

Jon Bon Jovi recently spoke with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about organizing the show and explained how he came to be involved, saying, “The governor is a local, he lives right near me here in Jersey. His wife had come to me and said, ‘We have to do something specific for New Jersey because it’s the second-hardest hit state in the nation, and a lot of small businesses and working people are wondering where that next paycheck’s coming from, because they’ve either been furloughed or laid off, and they’re not sure when they’ll get back to work.’ […] I was tasked with curating this show. The obvious and easiest first phone call was to the king of New Jersey, and he said yes. […] Bruce signed on quick.”

Check out highlights from the livestream above.

Jpegmafia is likely best-known for his assertive scream-rap style, so his latest new single may come as a shock to longtime fans. “Bodyguard!” which Jpeg released today along with a low-budget, self-shot video, finds the eccentric Baltimore rapper switching lanes to deliver his take on an R&B slow jam. Peggy croons through an voice-changing filter, delivering typical syrup-y R&B lines like ““Why you wanna hurt me, babe?” and “I know you want the world.”

The video itself riffs on the fish-eye lens, bare-chested-with-a-jacket-on style of videos that was popular in the genre at the turn of the millennium — maybe Peggy had tickets to Lover And Friends Fest before the coronavirus hit. The song is halfway between an earnest attempt at making a bedroom bop and a parody of one, which fits right in line with Jpeg’s usual, self-deprecating sense of humor — which he last showed off with his previous self-released videos for “Bald!” and “Covered In Money!”

“Bodyguard!” isn’t the first time the quirky rapper gave autotune crooning a go. In March, he delivered an a cappella cover of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe.” He also showed off that self-deprecating sense of humor when his appearance on People’s Party With Talib Kweli included an unfortunate moment that he gamely played off later in the interview.

Watch Jpegmafia’s “Bodyguard!” video above.

To pass the time, and because it’s more fun than arguing with someone’s aunt about politics on Facebook, #FivePerfectMovies has been a frequent hashtag on Twitter.

The concept is simple: name five movies you think are perfect. Or at least it should be, as everyone has a different definition of “perfect.” Some believe #FivePerfectMovies should be your five favorite films, while others, like Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, describe a “perfect” film as “something that sings from start to finish with no obvious mistakes, whether they be aesthetic or structural. There are no logical lapses.” He used Back to the Future as an example: “Back to the Future SEEMINGLY could be imperfect (why don’t Mom and Dad remember Marty?), but I would still argue it’s a perfect film because there are reasons why this could conceivably be the case (time protects itself from unraveling, etc). Or maybe I’m in denial. Who knows.”

Chris Pratt thinks he knows:

The question of why Marty’s parents don’t remember him has been debated among viewers for decades, so the Hollywood Reporter asked Bob Gale, who co-wrote the script with Robert Zemeckis, to settle the dispute for good. It turns out, Pratt is right.

“Bear in mind that George and Lorraine only knew Marty/Calvin for six days when they were 17, and they did not even see him every one of those six days. So, many years later, they still might remember that interesting kid who got them together on their first date,” Gale explained, adding, “I would ask anyone to think back on their own high school days and ask themselves how well they remember a kid who might have been at their school for even a semester.” That’s one positive for being in quarantine: if you can’t leave the house, you can’t meet your future child, who you later forget.

Gotta look on the bright side, y’know?

(Via Hollywood Reporter)

Mike Dean is a true Houston legend. His creative energy has been deeply-rooted within the Dirty South culture since the early ’90s, as evidenced by his work with the Geto Boys and Scarface. While he is mostly known for his work with multi-platinum superstars Kanye West and Travis Scott, being from H-Town, he’s also worked with one the biggest entertainers on the planet, Beyonce.

During an Instagram live interview with Uproxx, Mr. Dean went off on the keys to Queen Bey’s “Love Drought,” one of the songs he produced on her surprise, Peabody Award-winning album Lemonade.

“I made that beat all by myself,” he revealed. “That beat didn’t change from the minute I created the beat. I just gave it to Beyonce… Ingrid [Burley] wrote it.”

Beyonce and Dean’s relationship goes far beyond Lemonade, though. Mike first met Bey back when she was just a teenager.

“I think the first time I met her she was like 14 and her dad brought her in when I was working with the Geto Boys,” he revealed. “She was too young to sing on some of the stuff back then. You know, for the subject matter we had it didn’t really work out. I met her again for the ‘Gangsta (Put Me Down)’ music video, another Geto Boys song that we did. I mean she’s great. She’s great to work with.”

As the world tries to adjust while on lockdown because of COVID-19, Mike got high and put together a compilation of the music he created while doing Instagram live sessions in his studio, aptly titled 4:20.

Each session features him jamming out on his guitar and doing his thing on the synths. He called it the most creative thing he’s ever done high and from just one listen, it certainly is a one-of-a-kind experience. If you were ever curious about the inner-workings of a musical mastermind, 4:20 is the perfect beat instrumental to massage your mind as you blow a few joints in the air.

Fans can expect an additional instrumental EP and another EP to follow with major collabs.

Check Mike Dean’s 4:20 EP below.

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Liam Payne revealed recently that One Direction’s members have been talking a lot more lately as their tenth anniversary approaches. He neither confirmed nor denied a reunion, but if one happens, a big question is whether or not Zayn Malik, who left the group in 2015 and has stayed largely out of the public eye since then, would want to participate. Payne spoke about that in a recent interview, saying that fans shouldn’t assume Zayn would be on board.

Payne explained that Zayn much prefers making music to promoting it out in the world, saying, “Some people are made for this thing, but Zayn enjoys the side of the music where he just gets to make music. I don’t think he enjoys what comes with it. I think he has to be very careful where he treads. He likes to make songs and his songs do very well, but at the same time, he doesn’t really like to go out and perform the songs. He doesn’t really like going out and doing the press stuff that surrounds it in the crazy little world that we live in.”

He also revealed that Zayn’s mother actually made him audition for The X-Factor, the show that spawned One Direction. He believes this foreshadowed Zayn’s discontent with and eventual departure from the group:

“We always kind of knew that there were moments when One Direction was really Zayn and then there were moments when it really wasn’t. You have to imagine when you go into these talent shows you often are a teenager. The only thing you are in the show for is to impress someone around you. You actually don’t really know what you want from life.

I started at 14 and when I was that age I hadn’t got a bloody clue what I wanted to do. My parents found it exciting and they thought I was good so I thought I would try it out — but you don’t know what you want. I remember Zayn telling us the story that it was his mum [who] got him to go to the audition the day he didn’t want to go, and that was literally what we saw all the way through One Direction.”

Read the full interview here.

During this year’s Golden Globes (yes, the Golden Globes where Succession won Best Drama happened this year, not 13 years ago, as it feels), host Ricky Gervais did his Ricky Gervais thing, roasting Leonardo DiCaprio for his dating history and spreading the conspiracy theory that Jeffrey Epstein didn’t kill himself. “I know he’s your friend,” he told the crowd of billionaires and millionaires, “but I don’t care.” He ended his monologue with a message: if you win an award, “don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.”

It’s not that Gervais has anything “against anyone being a celebrity or being famous,” as he told the New York Times, he just thinks “that people are just a bit tired of being lectured to.” In that same interview to promote season two of his Netflix series After Life, the comedian was asked whether the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has soured people’s taste for celebrity culture, especially after that tone-deaf “Imagine” video:

“Now celebrities think: ‘The general public needs to see my face. They can’t get to the cinema — I need to do something.’ And it’s when you look into their eyes, you know that, even if they’re doing something good, they’re sort of thinking, ‘I could weep at what a good person I am.’ Oh dear.”

Gervais later explained “the mistake” people make when they hear his jokes. “They think that every joke is a window to the comedian’s soul — because I wrote it and performed it under my own name, that that’s really me,” he said. “And that’s just not true. I’ll flip a joke halfway through and change my stance to make the joke better. I’ll pretend to be right wing, left wing, whatever wing, no wing… I’ve got to be a court jester, but a court jester’s got to make sure that he doesn’t get executed as well.” It sounds like Ricky is pitching his next Netflix series, where he plays a court jester. It will run for eight seasons.

(Via New York Times)

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It was revealed recently that a heaping handful of big-time artists would be teaming up to cover Foo Fighters’ classic 2003 single “Times Like These” for the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge. The recording is out now, and it turns out Foo Fighters members Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins decided to take part as well.

The performance, which is more on the acoustic side than the original recording, is credited to the “Live Lounge Allstars,” and it also features appearances from a number of artists recording their contributions from their homes. Aside from Grohl and Hawkins, the list includes 5 Seconds Of Summer, Anne-Marie, AJ Tracey, Bastille, Biffy Clyro, Celeste, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Dermot Kennedy, Dua Lipa, Ellie Goulding, Grace Carter, Hailee Steinfeld, Jess Glynne, Mabel, Paloma Faith, Rag N Bone Man, Rita Ora, Royal Blood, Sam Fender, Sean Paul, Sigrid, Yungblud, and Zara Larsson.

The rendition comes as part of The Big Night In, a fundraising special from BBC and Comic Relief that is set to air today. UK proceeds from the song will be split between BBC Children In Need and Comic Relief, while international net profits will go towards the World Health Organization’s COVID-19-Solidarity Response Fund.

The recording was produced by Fraser T. Smith, who is known for his work with artists like Adele and Stormzy. He said of producing the track:

“It’s humbling to have been asked to produce this amazing single, taking the Foo Fighters’ classic, ‘Times Like These,’ with the Radio 1 Live Lounge team and the incredible collective of artists who have come together to record whilst in isolation. Our vision was to create a stay at home version using phones, pots, pans, and acoustic guitars that would honor the brilliance and honesty of the artists and song, rather than the trickery of an expensive recording studio. We tried to make this single in a totally different way artistically, relevant to today. The lyrics particularly resonate with us all at this challenging time, and I sincerely hope that money raised can help the plight of the unified battle against COVID-19 around the world.”

Listen to the “Times Like These” cover above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.