Category: Viral

David Byrne was very moved by Rosalía‘s Motomami Tour stop in New York City that he created a playlist featuring his favorite Latin songs. In the playlist that was released today (October 3) by the alternative rocker, there’s music by Rosalía, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin.

In a blog post on his website, Byrne revealed that his playlist this month was dedicated to Latin music. He felt inspired to create the playlist after watching Rosalía’s concert at Radio City Music Hall last month. Byrne had nothing but praise for the Spanish pop star’s performance.

“[Rosalía’s] show had very innovative staging consisting of 8 dancers and a video cameraperson on stage,” Byrne wrote. “They mostly perform on a giant seamless which acts as a stage for the video screens. Making the video become part of the show. She seemed to be wearing no makeup- other than a little lipstick. Possibly because with all the sweating it might have become a mess? Her presence was very sincere and heartfelt – unusual for a pop show like this.”

Byrne’s Latin Pop Explosion playlist captures many of Latin music’s top moments over the years. Rosalía is included on the playlist three times with “Despechá,” “La Fama” featuring The Weeknd, and “El Pañuelo,” her collaboration with Romeo Santos. Another current hit-maker Byrne included Bad Bunny with “Tití Me Preguntó” and “Ojitos Lindos” featuring Bomba Estéreo. Colombian singer Manuel Turizo was also included for his global 10 hit “La Bachata.” J Balvin’s “Mi Gente” made the cut as well.

Byrne’s playlist covers the breakthrough of reggaeton in the 2000s with Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina.” He also included another Puerto Rican pioneer of the genre, Don Omar, and his hits “Salió El Sol” and “Danza Kuduro” featuring Lucenzo. The Queen Of Salsa music Celia Cruz was included as well with her enduring classic “La Negra Tiene Tumbao.” Among the rising acts Byrne included were Dominican dembow star El Alfa and his song “La Mamá de la Mamá” and Jessie Reyez‘s “Adiós Amor.”

Byrne is no stranger to the Latin music scene. He was one of the last people to collaborate with the Queen of Tejano music, Selena, before her murder in March 1995. They recorded the Latin fusion track “God’s Child (Baila Conmigo),” which was included on her posthumous album Dreaming Of You. Byrne is currently promoting his live show Theater Of The Mind.

Check out the full playlist on his website here.

The Minnesota Timberwolves enter the 2022-23 season with higher expectations than they’ve had in decades after a trip to the playoffs last season and the big offseason trade to acquire Rudy Gobert from the Utah Jazz.

Adding Gobert to their talented core of Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, and D’Angelo Russell figured to push them further up the list of Western Conference contenders, but as training camp arrived, Towns was notably absent. The All-Star center missed the first week of camp with a non-COVID illness that left him hospitalized. On Monday, Towns returned to the Wolves facility and offered minimal details on what he was dealing with, but noted that he just got cleared to walk again on Saturday after being bed-ridden and lost nearly 20 pounds.

It’s a scary situation for someone who has dealt with an awful lot off of the basketball court in recent years, as he lost his mother to COVID-19 in 2020 and later dealt with his own difficult battle with the virus that included some “scary nights” in his own words.

The good news is that Towns seems to be on the mend and he hopes to be fully ready for the start of the season in two weeks, but the Timberwolves will certainly be monitoring him closely to ensure that he’s as close to full health and full strength before he gets back on the court for the hopeful contenders.

“Bye everybody!” is what Dr. Oz should be saying to his supporters and critics alike after John Fetterman’s latest campaign video.

“Before there was Dr. Oz, there was Dr. Nick,” the big-boy lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, who’s running for the state’s open Senate seat against the TV quack/creep, tweeted on Monday. “They say the Simpsons always predict the future – and once again, they nailed it.” 98 percent of “Simpsons did it!” predictions are bogus or coincidental (when you’ve been on 34 seasons, you’re bound to accidentally invent a conspiracy theory or two), but Fetterman is on to something here.

The video begins with Dr. Nick boasting to Marge that with his diet, “you can eat all you want, any time you want.” And you’ll lose weight, Marge wonders. “You might. It’s a free country,” the Hollywood Upstairs Medical College graduate replies. The clip is followed by Dr. Oz telling people that he’s got the “number one miracle in a bottle to burn your fat” and that you can “lose fat without diet or exercise” with whatever snake oil he’s selling.

The most damning comparison uses a clip from the classic episode “22 Short Films About Springfield,” where Dr. Nick is informed that a malpractice committee has “received a few complaints” about him. Dr. Oz never performed major operations with a knife and fork from a seafood restaurant (probably?), but he was sued for advice he gave to viewers who struggle falling asleep. Dr. Oz’s campaign will really fall apart if Fetterman can track down Mr. McGreg, who has a leg for an arm and an arm for a leg.

Talk about getting kicked when you’re down. Of all of the people that the New York Mets are getting bagged on by right now for losing a grip on the NL East division race to the Atlanta Braves this past weekend, nobody could’ve predicted that Sir Elton John would be one of them. But the pop music legend did exactly that on Sunday night, treating his audience to some sports trash talk during his concert.

John is in the midst of his final tour, known as the Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour. On Sunday night at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, just before he played the set closing “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” in the encore portion of his performance, he had to talk a little baseball (of course?). John, who moved to Atlanta in the early ’90s during the Braves’ heyday, is a noted supporter of the ball club and following their Sunday Night Baseball win over the Mets, which secured a series sweep and put the Braves up two games up in the division with four to go, got a little frisky.

“Something that makes me very happy tonight: The Braves swept the Mets,” he said from behind his piano. He held his fist up victoriously and then said, “Yeah baby!”

Whew… that’s a rough one for Mets fans. And look, even thought the Mets are about to lose a division race they’ve led for 90 percent of the season, they’re still a lock for the postseason as a wild card team. And hey, it could’ve been worse: At least John didn’t try to lead the crowd into the atrocious tomahawk chop.

For a series titled House of the Dragon, it was only inevitable that there would be at least a dozen of dragons flying around, right? It’s actually 17, but you get the idea! Of the 17 in the house, only a handful have been introduced, each with their own unique personality. Each scaley creature has a unique bond with only one rider, which is why it’s important to keep track of them.

Even though they don’t speak (though they do understand words!), the CGI pets still play a vital role in the series, so here is a rundown of which dragons are which rider belongs to which House of the Dragon character. While there are still a handful of dragons that have yet to be introduced, the current roster has some pretty stiff competition!

Syrax is Rhaenrya Targaryen’s dragon, which is introduced early on in the series. Syrax bonded with Rhaenrya from an early age and is named after an old Valyrian Goddess.

Also appearing early on in the series was Caraxes, the dragon companion to Matt Smith’s Daemon. Caraxes has earned the nickname Blood Wyrn due to his maroon color, and also because he looks downright terrifying.

Seasmoke is the grey dragon with blood-red wings that rode with Laenor, Rhaenyra’s husband. Seasmoke is introduced in episode three when Laenor came to help his father, Corlys, defeat the Crabfeeder.

Then there is Meleys, an older dragon who rides with Rhaenys Targaryen. Meleys is a crimson dragon who first debuted in episode five.

Vermax bonded early on with Prince Jacaerys, Rhaenyra’s young son. He is an emerald green dragon who, according to Fire & Blood, hates the cold. For a fire-breathing dragon, that’s fair.

Then there is Vhagar, a massive dragon who was bonded with Daemon’s wife, Laena. Once Laena became pregnant with a child she could not deliver, she sacrificed herself to Vhagar, who was then claimed by Aemond Targaryen.

Finally, we have Dreamfyre, who Aemond tried (and failed) to have as his dragon sidekick. Still, fans are keeping an eye on the small but mightily blue dragon, as she might provide link between Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon that many have been theorizing about.

House of the Dragon airs Sundays on HBO.

(Via Nerdist)

GloRilla is everywhere lately, and that now includes inside the top 10 of Billboard‘s coveted Hot 100 singles chart. The publication revealed Monday (October 3) that the surging star’s “Tomorrow 2” remix with Cardi B debuted at No. 9 on the chart dated October 8. “Tomorrow 2” dropped September 23.

It marks GloRilla’s first single to chart within the Hot 100’s top 10. The achievement comes as GloRilla is still trying to process all the success that’s come her way in 2022. On Saturday (October 1), she tweeted that she’s “been smiling for 6 months straight” two days after she used the platform to share some adversity she had to push through to get here.

Then, GloRilla really couldn’t believe that she already has a track with Cardi. “I have a f*cking damn feature with cardi mf b !!!” she tweeted Saturday. “I just woke up & realized dat.”

“Girl I’m just a girl like you …you finna go so far,” Cardi quote-tweeted back. “You really a breath of fresh air in the game ….we all can’t wait to see what’s next with you and your friends !!!”

GloRilla burst onto the scene with “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” alongside Hitkidd at the beginning of this summer. That led to Yo Gotti signing her to his label, CMG Records. She dropped “Tomorrow” in July as part of CMG’s compilation project, Gangsta Art.

“F.N.F.” hit No. 1 on Billboard‘s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Chart in August — her first No. 1 of any kind. Last week’s Hot 100 featured “F.N.F.” at No. 43, spending 17 total weeks on the chart.

More importantly, GloRilla is making an impact outside of the charts. In September, she returned to her former high school and donated $25,000 to its fine arts program. Her Memphis roots were also watered by the Grizzlies tapping her to narrate their hype video for the 2022-23 NBA season.

Early last month, Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” had shot up the Billboard Hot 100 chart into the No. 2 spot behind Harry Styles’ “As It Was.” Styles’ single has been breaking records, most recently becoming the longest running solo No. 1 song in history. It’s officially among the five biggest overall hits in the chart’s history, so for any song to de-throne it, would take some serious firepower.

Steve Lacy was unfazed, posting a screenshot of the chart from a month ago and commenting on how he really wanted that No. 1 spot. “Ok ermmmm ima need this #1!!!!!! as it was? nah AS IT NEED TO BE,” he said on his Instagram Story.

Well now he’s done it. On the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated October 8, “Bad Habit” is the new No. 1 song, sitting firmly above Harry Styles’ “As It Was.” Lacy debuted at No. 100 12 weeks ago and has been making his slow ascent to the top over the past three months.

Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” collaboration debuted at No. 3 while GloRilla and Cardi B also debuted in the Top 10 with their song “Tomorrow 2” coming in at No. 9. Post Malone and Doja Cat’s “I Like You (Happier Song”) and Nicky Youre and Dazy’s “Sunroof” each dropped a spot to No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.

But this week is all about Steve Lacy and the stone cold hit that is “Bad Habit.” The timing is perfect, as he just embarked on his Give You The World Tour this past weekend. Something tells us he might have just earned himself a few more sold-out performances.

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

Yesterday at midnight, Taylor Swift revealed another track off of her upcoming album Midnights. Using a bingo turner, Swift decides which track number gets a title reveal — this most recent round being track three called “Anti-Hero.” However, unlike previous uploads, Swift also posted a separate video, where she shared more about the song’s meaning and relation to her personal life.

“Track 3, ‘Anti-Hero,’ is one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written,” Swift said. “I really don’t think I’ve delved this far into my insecurities in this detail before. You know, I struggle a lot with the idea that my life has become unmanageably sized, and that I, you know… not to sound too dark, but, like, I struggle with the idea of not feeling like a person. But, don’t feel bad for me. You don’t need to.”

“This song is a real guided tour throughout all the things that I tend to hate about myself,” she continued. “We all hate things about ourselves, and it’s all of those aspects of the things we dislike and like about ourselves that we have to come to terms with if we’re going to be this person. So, yeah, I like ‘Anti-Hero’ a lot because I think it’s really honest.”

Many wondered why this song received a separate explainer from Swift. After all, she’s shared six total titles from Midnights so far. There are a few theories, with the most probable one being that “Anti-Hero” is one of the album’s singles. There is also speculation based on the way Swift holds the phone in her videos that the ones turned upside-down are collaborations with other artists. (The phone was turned upside-down for both “Anti-Hero” and “Vigilante Sh*t.”)

In addition to Swift’s track reveal, four limited-edition signed copies of Midnights were uploaded to her store last night — but have since all sold out.

View some of the fan reactions to Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” song reveal below.

Midnights is out 10/21 via Republic. Pre-order it here.

As the resident enthusiast of the Sons of Anarchy franchise (miss you, Dustin), I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to talk to Charlie Hunnam on Zoom about his new Apple TV+ series, Shantaram. What I received was double the trouble and in the best way.

Hunnam and his co-star, Shubham Saraf, possess a chemistry, both onscreen and as friends, that one could bottle and sell. They are a real trip together, bantering and bouncing off each other without missing a beat. They’re so much fun while diving into topics both heady and frivolous. And they’re magnetic while discussing the mammoth project based upon Gregory David Roberts’ same-named book, which follows an Australian bank robber who busts out of prison and lands in the slums of Bombay, where life takes turns both troubling and dazzling. When Charlie’s character, Lin, steps off a bus and meets Shubham’s Prabhu, life will never be the same for either man.

That this series even exists stands as an accomplishment in and of itself, given that Roberts’ book (which Charlie devoured) surfaced in the early aughts, and multiple parties attempted to make a movie out of the 900+ page tome. At a few points, Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp both wanted to star in a Warner Bros. version, which didn’t happen for numerous reasons. We also know what humanity has endured for the past few years, and that situation coincided with Shantaram filming. Those conditions, and the story itself, injected massive chaos to the project, which is something that Charlie and Shubham now reflect upon with a fresh perspective about why this project works now. And it’s an intense, sometimes stressful, but life-affirming ride.

Hunnam, of course, is still inextricably linked to seven seasons of Sons of Anarchy (which the Apple TV+ gods couldn’t help but channel in promotional materials). That’s the case even though Hunnam dove into a wide-ranging movie career and emerged with The Lost City of Z, Crimson Peak, and Papillion under his belt. He’s certainly a world away from Charming in this sprawling odyssey. Hunnam also finds an ideal partner in Shubham, who’s been chipping away in the U.K. at a variety of projects, ranging from TV procedural work to Shakespearean adaptations. In a wonderful twist of fate, they’re now together in Shantaram and to speak with us.

Charlie Hunnam: Hey, how are ya, Kimberly?

Hi Charlie. And I can’t see you, Shubham?

Shubham Saraf: Oh, I’m here somewhere.

There you are. As you can see, I had to make it weird for you guys by wearing a Sons of Anarchy t-shirt.

Charlie: Oh yeah! I appreciate the effort, thank you.

I couldn’t help going there because Apple’s first promo image for Shantaram showed you on a bike, and you’re on a bike (for about a second) in the trailer. You’ve talked about that a little bit, but how do you think the SOA audience will receive this show?

Charlie: [Smiles] I don’t even know who the Sons of Anarchy audience is. I get the sense that it’s actually more diverse than one might think initially from looking at the show. I occasionally go to Comic-Con events to see people, and the fanbase still seems very rabid for that show, but it is incredibly diverse. There’s a lot of young people coming to the show who didn’t see it the first time around, which is great. I hope that the audience shows up. I hope that they don’t show up with too much of an expectation that this is some sort of sequel to Sons of Anarchy. Because although one of the lead characters in both shows looks very similar, I think the comparisons really end for me. And listen, I understand. I’ve been sort-of poking fun at Apple a little bit. Apple’s the biggest, most powerful corporation in the world, so they can handle little old me poking fun at them a little. But I don’t know if that was the smartest idea to release that image because it did create a little bit of an expectation that I’m not quite sure we’re going to be able to deliver on, but I’m not the boss.

Both are dramatic and stressful shows, but it looks like you guys had fun, too.

Charlie: We did.

From the moment your character, Lin, hopped off that bus, and Shubham’s character, Prabhu, walked up to him, there was instant chemistry between you two. Had you guys familiarized beforehand, or did you go in cold?

Shubham: Oh, I hadn’t met Charlie! I hadn’t seen Sons of Anarchy. I still haven’t seen Sons of Anarchy! I hadn’t watched one minute of Charlie Hunnam’s work. I had no idea… [Laughs]… who he was until day one of shooting when we were shooting a kind-of key scene about our relationship, and there was a lot riding on it. Everyone was thinking, “Is this going to work?” It’s one of the main relationships of the heart of the show, and I entered. I had no idea what the hell I was going to do. And then I looked across, and there was another man who had no idea what the hell he was going to do. And I went, “Ahhh, we’re together in this. We both don’t know what to do.” And in that was just love, joy. Yeah, I had the time of my life with Charlie, and I think that’s what translated into the characters. And that’s kind-of the spirit with which we led the entire show. Or at least, I hope it translates because I had the time of my life with that man.

Speaking of life, there’s a quote that comes up near the season’s end. Lin says something to the effect of Shakespeare’s works answering all questions in life. Charlie, I’m bringing up SOA again because that was based upon Hamlet. How accurate do you find the notion that Shakespeare can explain everything?

Charlie: I think the quote is “All of the questions and most of the answers in life can be found in Shakespeare,” right? I don’t know… I like that notion. I have not read Shakespeare as much as I would like at this point. I’ve read, you know, the big titles and seen adaptations, so I’m not unfamiliar with Shakespeare, and obviously, he or they were master writers. So I would subscribe to that.

I like how you say, “They,” but I’m listening.

Charlie: I have friends that are true students of Shakespeare and incredibly well versed in Shakespeare and able to quote at will, and there’s seldom a situation that we’re in that they won’t find an appropriate quote to hammer me over the head with, so my experience with those people does lend me to believe that there’s some truth in that statement.

Shubham: Or that they’re just pretentious wankers.

Charlie: Right. I wouldn’t call you that, Shubham.

Shubham: Oh, you’ve revealed me! No, I absolutely love Shakespeare. I find, as an actor, that he gets my blood pumping when sometimes, it lies as still as a lake. Even when I don’t realize it, he sort-of brings me to life. And I think the questions and answers that Shakespeare deals with are the ones of limitless humanity. And I think when you’re looking at life on that kind of scale and humanity on that scale… that’s kind-of why I’m an actor. That’s why we do what we do, so yeah, I definitely subscribe to that.

This book is about 20 years old and had quite an adventure being adapted. It was almost a Johnny Depp movie. I feel like everything happens for a reason, so why do you think this show is finally surfacing in 2022?

Charlie: I think it’s exclusively by virtue of the fact that the landscape of media has changed so radically since the book came out. Hollywood and the filmmaking entities were so film-centric twenty-two years ago, whereas now, we’re in this new golden age of television. And this is truly sort of an odyssey story, you know, Greg very densely packs a lot of story into 980 pages. And so it almost was a fool’s errand — and I’m not calling Johnny Depp a fool — it was big challenge to try and distill 980 pages into two hours. I felt when I read the book, coming at it from the perspective of longform storytelling in television, it just seems like a no-brainer that you would try to tackle this beast in fifty hours as opposed to two.

Like you said, there’s a lot here. There’s something funny (to me) that happens throughout, when Lin says that he’s about to leave Bombay. He keeps saying it, and then mayhem breaks out, and it doesn’t happen. It’s so serious, but also humorous, to wonder how that worked while shooting?

Charlie: It was chaos. Chaos ruled the day, in both, the story we were telling and certainly in the process in which we were telling it. It was just mad. We were shooting in India and then we couldn’t shoot in India, and now, we’re in Thailand. We have directors that are set, and then we lose them for some reason. We were block-shooting all twelve episodes, so on any given day, Shubham and I were shooting scenes from Episode 1, scenes from Episode 7, and then a scene from Episode 3, a scene from Episode 12. You know, the last scene, and then let’s go back and do another scene from Episode 1. With three different directors often speaking two different languages, for me, speaking sometimes four different dialects a day. It was insanity.

I’m feeling dizzy just hearing about this.

Charlie: Honestly, I was really nervous. The obstacles that we had to navigate on a daily basis were certainly threatening to inhibit the ultimate quality that we were able to deliver. And I think it was sort-of, by hook or by crook, we managed to deliver something that we’re all very proud of. But I can say that if we are blessed with the opportunity to go and tell another chapter of this, we’ve learned lessons, and we’re gonna capitalize on that, and I think we’re gonna be able to do better next time.

Shubham: I think that spirit of chaos in the process of making it lent, I hope, a kind of delicious quality that kind of trickled down to the pixels and the screen because I think, and Charlie said this, India is like one of the biggest characters of this story, and it’s a place that shouldn’t work. This story shouldn’t work, but somehow, it does. And that was mirrored exactly in how we went about making this happen. There were points where I remember that we thought that we had to stop shooting. We thought, alright, that’s it, and then we drank for twelve hours, and you carried me to bed…

Oh my god, don’t stop there.

Shubham: … I passed out and thought that was the end.

I feel like there’s a good story here.

Shubham: I’m just joking!

Charlie: I did. There’s video evidence. I carried you and put you to bed like I was your father. Laid you down and [laughs] stroked your hair. We were both drunk that night, it was an insane amount of alcohol. It was like a prodigious alcohol session where we drank for fourteen, fifteen hours, and yeah, then I tucked Shubham into bed and went home.

Shubham: And then we carried on filming. It shouldn’t have worked, but somehow it did. And that’s the show, man. That’s what I think it is.

Charlie: Yeah, it’s such a beautiful perspective on the show. I hadn’t sort-of correlated that, but I do think that the chaos probably actually did lend something really positive to the experience.

I would agree. It’s an expansive show, and I’m blown way about what it’s pulled off, especially after previous efforts couldn’t get there.

Charlie: Are you? Oh, thank you.

Very serious about that. Now, in terms of the mental and physical challenges of this show, did you prepare for one side more than the other?

Charlie: Yes, less so than I’m used to [with the physical], and I’m certainly much less excited [about that]. I was more interested in exploring themes and characters and the human condition through acting. I’ve never been particularly interested in the physical element of it, although I have a physical capability that has been recognized, and I supposed I’ve capitalized on. But there was some physical stuff to do. I was trying to keep my weight down, so I wasn’t eating very much through most of it, but mainly it was mental. Greg and Lin are such sophisticated, brilliant, complicated human beings. I spent more of my time trying to understand them than getting my body looking good.

Yeah, the themes in this show are huge. Alienation and loneliness, but I received the heads up that we’ve got one more question, so I’ll ask both of you this: if you could put Lin and Prabhu into another show or movie, where would you like them to go?

Shubham: Thelma and Louise. I want to see a movie with Thelma and Louise and Prabhu and Lin, escaping from something.

Charlie: And maybe Cheech and Chong. I feel like we could do a good remake of Cheech and Chong.

Shubham: Cheech and Chong!

Charlie: Either in our lives or actually to film it. We could have a good time with that.

‘Shantaram’ premieres on October 14, only on Apple TV.

Danny Masterson is set to face trial next week on three rape charges, but his attorney is already seeking to delay the proceedings until after the mayoral election in Los Angeles. Masterson is a lifelong member of the Church of Scientology, which has become a hot topic in the race between Rick Caruso and Karen Bass. Masterson’s lawyer, Philip Cohen, is particularly concerned with recent ads from Caruso that attack Bass for speaking glowingly of the controversial religion in the past.

According to Cohen, potential jurors are being “inundated” with the ads, which he describes as “inflammatory.” Cohen has petitioned the judge to delay the trial until some time after the election on November 8. Via Variety:

Last week, Rick Caruso began running an ad attacking Karen Bass for praising Scientology during a speech in 2010. The ad includes a quote referring to the church as a “ruthless global scam.” Bass responded by saying that she “absolutely condemn(s) their practices.”

“The public is being inundated with this,” said Masterson’s lawyer, Philip Cohen, at a court hearing on Monday. “It is a significant problem for Mr. Masterson.”

Cohen is also seeking to bar any references to Scientology in the courtroom. “If something needs to come up, it can be called ‘the church,’ ‘the organization,’ ‘a club,’” Cohen said.

Naturally, the prosecution is pushing back against the delay as well as the defense’s accusations of bias against the Church of Scientology, which can be weeded out during jury selection. The prosecution argued that “any potential prejudice could be addressed during questioning of potential jurors.”

(Via Variety)