The Neptunes hold the credits to some of the biggest hits of the 2000s. The production duo, which consisted of Virginia Beach natives Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, contributed beats to everyone from Britney Spears to Snoop Dogg, with significant impact on the careers of Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Kelis, Nelly, Robin Thicke, T.I., and more.
Unfortunately, it looks like the future of the odd couple’s production brand is in dispute as Hugo’s attorneys have filed legal documents claiming Williams attempted to register trademarks for the Neptunes name in violation of a previous agreement to split everything 50/50.
Hugo’s attorney Kenneth D. Freundlich wrote in the filing, “By ignoring and excluding [Hugo] from the any and all applications filed by applicant for the mark ‘The Neptunes,’ applicant has committed fraud in securing the trademarks and acted in bad faith.”
However, according to a statement to Billboard from Pharrell’s reps, Williams did try to get Chad onboard with no success. ““Pharrell is surprised by this,” it reads. “We have reached out on multiple occasions to share in the ownership and administration of the trademark and will continue to make that offer. The goal here was to make sure a third party doesn’t get a hold of the trademark and to guarantee Chad and Pharrell share in ownership and administration.”
Billboard explains in its report that Williams submitted three applications in 2022 to register The Neptunes: one for streaming, one for music videos and similar media, and one for live performances. Hugo’s attorneys argue that his name was not listed as a co-owner of the The Neptunes entity and that they reached out to Williams to get the issue corrected multiples times since. While Williams’ reps have apparently offered to include Hugo, it would be under what Chad’s lawyers call “onerous business terms.”
Michael Keaton received solid advice from Jack Nicholson while the two were in the midst of filming the first Batman movie. Unbeknownst to the actors, the film would go on to become a box office sensation and cement the Dark Knight as a box office staple for decades to come. One could even go so far as to argue that there wouldn’t be a Marvel Cinematic Universe if Tim Burton‘s weirdly gothic film hadn’t been a smash hit. It was that huge.
Like any actor who’s tackled a superhero role, Keaton was concerned with getting in shape. Fortunately, a wise and snarky Nicholson schooled Keaton on the virtues of working smarter not harder, which the Beetlejuice actor recently shared in a new video interview with GQ.
“One day Jack Nicholson walked by me and goes, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘I’m working out.’ And he said, ‘What are you doing that for?’ I didn’t have an answer for him, he just walked off,” he said. “I approached it totally wrong. It’s better to be really small and little and thin inside the thing. You can move, you can breathe inside. I don’t know what I was thinking, I just thought ‘I’m an actor, I’m gonna do all this stuff!’”
While Keaton threw himself into the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne, he did admit to having doubts about the movie. He also had no idea why the heck everyone even cared about his casting.
“When they said, ‘We’re thinking of doing Batman,’ I said, ‘Wait, you’re thinking of making a movie about Batman?” Keaton revealed. “The fact that Tim said ‘That guy, I want that guy’… the fact that people cared one way or another so much is still baffling. But that was a ballsy move on his part.”
You can watch the full GQ interview with Keaton below or just watch the Batman stuff, which starts right out of the gate:
It’s become common to hire on-set intimacy coordinators, and even though not everyone loves it, it seems to be going pretty well over the last few years (mostly). But even if there are people there to help map out an “intimate” scene, that doesn’t mean it’s not weird for everyone involved.
In the new HBO drama The Regime, Chancellor Elena Vernham (Kate Winslet) has a pretty complicated love life which plays out in episode five. Winslet’s character has been in cahoots with Herbert (Matthias Schoenaerts) who is NOT her husband, but they did have some pretty weird sex.
During the ordeal, Elena warns Herbet “No biting,” which inevitably sends some of the crew into hysterics. “We did have a couple of moments when things would happen that were so funny that people had to be sent out,” Winslet recently explained. “When we were shooting Episode 5, Elena and Zubak having sex, and she’s screaming at him, ‘No biting! No biting,’ two people had to be sent out for laughing,” she added.
Unfortunately for them, the two people sent away were the most important in that moment: a cinematographer and makeup artist. “Matthias had all these [fake] tattoos. He was getting sweatier and sweatier, and they just kept sort of rubbing off on parts of my body,” Winslet said of the moment. “I was like, ‘This is really like I’ve got the newspaper printed on me.’” The person who was supposed to fix it was probably off cackling in the bathroom.
It seems this wasn’t the only time the crew was sent away, as Winslet said it would “happen a lot.” Listen, if you saw this in person, you’d probably lose it, too:
After spending a decade in Bellator, Michael “Venom” Page’s jump to the UFC came with plenty of question marks. His win wasn’t spectacular, but his debut at UFC 299 against Kevin Holland served its purpose in moving him up the rankings.
For others, a win in their UFC debut may mean a great deal. For MVP, it was the first step in his journey toward UFC glory.
“This is something that I’ve envisioned. I saw how it would go. Not getting the knockout is the only thing that I think didn’t go the way I wanted it to go. But everything else was according to plan,” MVP tells Uproxx Sports. “So I think it just means more for everybody else, ’cause there’s always been that question mark on my standard and can I hang in the UFC at the top level? So yeah, I’m just living my normal MVP life.”
Despite the fight going a full three rounds to decision, MVP is ready to get back out there as quickly as possibly. He doesn’t have a target opponent, but says he wants to keep moving up the rankings. Ideally, that starts with an appearance on the England show coming up in July. And if everything goes to plan, he’d also like to be on the September card in Vegas.
“The goal is a couple of big wins and then go for that shiny gold belt at the top,” MVP continues. “A step up is a step up. So whoever’s ranked higher than me, I go for those people, those names, tick them off and then do the same thing again until the UFC are like, no, it’s time for this guy to get up.”
While MVP’s performance may not have wowed in terms of getting a finish, his entrance stole headlines when he took a page out of WWE legend The Undertaker’s book. He hasn’t been as much into WWE in its current state, but admits he was a big fan of the Attitude Era, with many of the legends of the pro wrestling world inspiring him to this day.
“As much as I was known, I’m a bit unknown with regards to the question mark of, can he do this at the UFC level? Kevin Holland stepped up to approach somebody that is that unknown. So I wanted to come in with that kind of scary approach,” MVP says. “And that’s why I wanted to pick Undertaker. It worked out. I think people enjoyed it. They would definitely have enjoyed it even more so if I was able to execute the full walkout.”
The full walkout he pitched included the lights going dark, his brother functioning as a body double of MVP in the Octagon, the lights going dark, and him appearing in the tunnel. Usually as he gets closer to fight night, he’ll get inspiration, often working with his family about what he can do next. While much of his pitched entrance was shot down, he was still able to achieve his goal of wowing the audience and putting on an entertaining evening.
“Obviously (the UFC is) not used to doing things like that, a little bit of a pushback. But I think now that they’ve seen me, seen what it’s done, they may allow me to be a little bit more expressive,” MVP says.
“They understand that I’ve got a really creative mind and I really envision the whole picture versus just the fight. I think when the UFC wanted to acquire me, they would have known that it would have come with me wanting to do those type of things and me wanting to be a bit grateful in those moments as well. So I think eventually they’ll give me a little bit more freedom.”
Victor Wembanyama had a monster night on Friday to lead the Spurs to a rather stunning overtime win over the New York Knicks, with the rookie star scoring 40 points, pulling down 20 rebounds, and dishing out seven assists.
It was Wembanyama’s first 40/20 game, and at the end he showed how much the win meant to him when he intercepted the Knicks final pass downcourt, hugged the ball (much like Tim Duncan), and then launched the ball into the crowd in celebration. That last part drew the attention of the league, as the NBA frowns on throwing things into the crowd, and Wembanyama got slapped with the first fine of his career, sending the league office a $25,000 donation on Sunday.
After the Spurs faced the Warriors on Sunday and came close to upsetting another playoff hopeful — with Wemby scoring 32 points to go along with nine rebounds, five assists, four steals, and three blocks — he was asked about whether he was surprised by the fine. The young Frenchman noted that he knew it was a possibility, but he was hopeful the league would see that his intent was to “make some guy’s day” by throwing the ball into the crowd and let it be.
Wemby on being fined $25,000:
“I know players have gotten fined for throwing the ball in the stands before, but they did it with bad intent. I was just doing it to make someone’s day.” pic.twitter.com/LjilePLBmS
Unfortunately, the league doesn’t particularly care about intent in this instance, but I do like the thought from Wemby. There are certainly levels to throwing things into the crowd, and this was a celebratory one where he was just trying to give someone a great souvenir rather than angrily chucking the ball into the stands.
Barbieis universally beloved, except in the eyes of The Academy and Shakira. On Monday morning, April 1, Shakira was revealed as the latest Allure cover star. In the accompanying profile, writer Patricia Alfonso Tortolani asked Shakira if she’d watched Barbie. The Colombian icon confirmed she watched the movie, then indulged a “long pause” before giving her full review.
“My sons absolutely hated it,” Shakira said. “They felt that it was emasculating. And I agree, to a certain extent. I’m raising two boys. I want ’em to feel powerful too [while] respecting women. I like pop culture when it attempts to empower women without robbing men of their possibility to be men, to also protect and provide. I believe in giving women all the tools and the trust that we can do it all without losing our essence, without losing our femininity. I think that men have a purpose in society, and women have another purpose as well. We complement each other, and that complement should not be lost.”
“I was in the mud,” Shakira told Allure. “I had to reconstruct myself, to reunite all the pieces that had fallen apart.”
She added, “Making this music has shown me that my pain can be transformed into creativity. The songs are full of anecdotes and some very intense emotions I have experienced in these two years. But creating this album has been a transformation in which I have been reborn as a woman. I have rebuilt myself in the ways I believe are appropriate. No one tells me how to cry or when to cry, no one tells me how to raise my children, no one tells me how I become a better version of myself. I decide that.”
Eminem fans have impatiently awaited news of a new album from the Detroit rap icon for nearly four years. He last released new music in 2020 with his eleventh studio album Music To Be Murdered By and its extended edition, Side B. While that project totaled 33 songs, it still wasn’t enough to satisfy fans’ cravings for another complete collection. While Em has offered appetizers here and there — “Doomsday 2” and “Lace It” spring to mind — he hasn’t acknowledged the hunger for a full-length project until now.
Of course, your mileage with this “new album” may vary depending on your tolerance for revisiting catalog… uhhh… classics. And for April Fools’ jokes.
Oh yeah, sorry, Eminem fans but the “new album” the Rap God is pushing is actually the oldest one in his discography: his independently released 1996 debut studio album, Infinite, which was his introduction to the Detroit rap scene at large. However, the album didn’t receive much pickup outside the Motor City due in part to comparisons of the young Eminem to influences like AZ, Big L, and Nas. While it received mixed reviews at the time — and in retrospect — it offers a rare glimpse at an earnest, developing Eminem, without some of the quirks that would later become his signatures.
Fans have hoped that the album would make it to streaming, but it looks like Eminem’s joke remains a joke — at least, for now. Some are taking it well; others… not so much. Check out Em’s tongue-in-cheek trailer for Infinite‘s “release” below.
Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.
This week saw Beyoncé drop 2024’s most-anticipated album so far and Camila Cabello experiment with her sound. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
At last: Cowboy Carter is here. Among the highlights of Beyoncé’s new album is her cover of “Jolene,” which is more of a reinterpretation of Dolly Parton’s original than a cover, as it makes some significant, tone-changing lyrical shifts.
Camila Cabello — “I Luv It” Feat. Playboi Carti
Are Camila Cabello and Charli XCX beefing? It doesn’t look like it, but the song at the core of that narrative just dropped: Cabello’s Playboi Carti-featuring “I Luv It.” The glitchy single sees Cabello embracing a more experimental pop direction that incites interest for what’s to come next.
St. Vincent — “Flea”
St. Vincent announced some tour dates last week in support of her upcoming album All Born Screaming. She also came through with new music from the project, handing Dave Grohl the drum sticks on the dynamic rocker “Flea.”
Doechii and JT — “Alter Ego”
Doechii and City Girls’ JT are helping put Florida on the hip-hop map in 2024, and now they’ve joined forces on a new collab, “Alter Ego.” The tune, built on a sample of “Show Me Love” by Robin S., is a dancefloor rager that’ll get you moving with an aggressive edge.
J-Hope with Gaeko and Yoonmirae — “Neuron”
This past week was a big one for BTS fans, as J-Hope dropped his Hope On The Street documentary and the accompanying Hope On The Street Vol. 1 mini album. The brief project sees him link up with a number of collaborators, like Benny Blanco and Nile Rodgers On “Lock/ Unlock,” his BTS bandmate Jung Kook on “I Wonder,” and Gaeko and Yoonmirae on “Neuron.”
Rico Nasty and Boys Noize — “H.O.T.”
Rico has consistently been one of the most creative and adventurous rappers in the game, and to that point, her new project, a collab with Boys Noize called HARDC0RE DR3AMZ, sees her exploring dance music. In a recent Uproxx interview, Rico spoke about her love for rave culture and its influence on her work, saying, “I travel a lot and do a lot of shows overseas and they still love to dance out there, so I just wanted to do something that I never did before and really dive into what that could sound like.”
1999 Write The Future and Rich Brian — “Pump It Up” Feat. TiaCorine
Mysterious 88rising-affiliated group 1999 Write The Future is back with another banger, linking up with Rich Brian and TiaCorine on “Pump It Up.” Uproxx’s Aaron Williams notes the song “takes its name from the favored refrain of the jock jams of the ’90s and, appropriately, takes heavy inspiration from them, with synthetic laser blaps, echoing bass, and rapid tempo.”
DIIV — “Everyone Out”
When DIIV shared “Everyone Out” last week, they said the song “utilizes a softer and more textural sonic pallet.” That indeed is true, as the song, while bearing some shoegaze and slowcore influence, is far from heavy and instead creates an immersive but uncluttered aural environment over the course of five minutes.
Vampire Weekend — “Mary Boone”
Vampire Weekend is nearly back after years away; Their most recent album is 2019’s Father Of The Bride. Only God Was Above Us arrives in a matter of days, though, and they previewed it with another single last week, “Mary Boone.” The track sees the band continuing in its more experimental direction, but that doesn’t mean “Mary Boone” is without its catchy moments.
d4vd — “Feel It”
For the new season of Prime Video’s animated superhero series Invincible, d4vd dropped of “Feel It.” What we’re feeling here is “good,” as it’s a groovy and upbeat tune that sees the singer in a positive spot with their romantic life.
This year, Adult Swim‘s tradition of April Fool’s Day pranks that are actually funny (what a concept!) was themed around Smiling Friends.
Created by Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack, the weird and wonderful animated series follows the employees at Smiling Friends Inc., which aims to make people smile. The first episode of season two premiered, but the prank was Adult Swim airing three episodes from season one, all remade with puppets.
You can watch those below.
The season two premiere isn’t currently available online, so if you missed it, you’ll have to wait until May 12 at midnight on Adult Swim (or the next day on Max) to watch it. Here’s the trailer.
The idea for Smiling Friends came from a shared love of shows like South Park. “Zach and I both grew up loving South Park and other similar cartoons,” Cusack told Animation Magazine. “I used to love drawing as a young kid, and I’ve dabbled in filmmaking, but I got into animation in my early 20s and I made some shorts for YouTube. Yes. Zach and I actually met online, and we both realized we had common interests in making silly little cartoons. And we both loved the idea of making a purely comedic show like Smiling Friends.”
Hadel added, “Our goal was to have a show featuring a group of loveable characters, with a simple kind of concept, which we could take anywhere we wanted to.”
Coming off of his first MVP campaign, Joel Embiid picked up where he left off to start this season, dominating opponents and averaging 35.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. Unfortunately, the star big man was in and out of the lineup with a nagging knee soreness issue and at the end of January he suffered a torn meniscus when Jonathan Kuminga fell into his leg late in a loss to the Warriors.
After having surgery at the beginning of February, the hope was that he’d be back by the playoffs, but that would be dependent on his rehab going smoothly with no setbacks. That has happily been the case, as Embiid has steadily hit all of his checkpoints in rehab and gotten back into on-court work, and on Monday word broke that he is expected back in the Sixers lineup this week, with Tuesday’s showdown with the Oklahoma City Thunder as a real possibility for his return.
ESPN Sources: Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid is nearing a return and expected to play this week. The reigning MVP has been out since January 30 with a left meniscus injury. His status for Tuesday vs. OKC is expected later today. pic.twitter.com/Rn4mb6Qizv
76ers star Joel Embiid is nearing comeback as soon as Tuesday’s home game vs. OKC Thunder, sources tell @TheAthletic@Stadium. The reigning NBA MVP has positively completed multiple five-on-five scrimmage sessions in recent days. pic.twitter.com/IUGW23995l
This is obviously a big deal for the Sixers and for the Eastern Conference playoff race as a whole. Philly is currently in eighth in the East, 1.5 games back of Miami and 2 games back of Indiana for sixth. It would likely require a perfect 7-0 finish to the season to have a chance at passing both teams in the standings to get a guaranteed playoff berth, but if the Sixers have Embiid they’ll be the favorites in any Play-In matchup. Should that be where they end up, if Embiid is indeed at full strength (or close to it), the Sixers would be quite the draw for either the Celtics or Bucks in the first round.
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