Category: Viral

For weeks, we’ve been getting reports about Ben Simmons’ status and when he could be ready to make his first appearance of the 2021-22 season after sitting out through the trade deadline with the Sixers and then rehabbing a back injury once he arrived in Brooklyn.

Recently, the word was that the target for Simmons’ return would be Games 4 of the first round, but that was in a world in which the Nets were expecting to have won a game by that point of the series. Instead, they find themselves down 3-0 to a Boston team that is absolutely rolling, which has forced a change of plans for Simmons. The team officially announced Simmons would be out on Sunday afternoon after Steve Nash insisted it was “news to me” that the former All-Star would be debuting on Monday night.

There really shouldn’t be any surprise by this decision, as it’s one thing to have Simmons debut in a playoff game, but an entirely different animal to throw him out there for an elimination game. Considering how much of Simmons’ absence has been about his mental health, placing him in a situation where he could be scapegoated in an elimination game would have been setting him up to fail. While the Nets would surely love to have his presence, particularly on the defensive end, against the Celtics, it’s for the best long-term for Simmons and the Nets to protect him a bit in this circumstance — which is also why Nash hadn’t been willing to speak on a target date for his return.

On top of the mental side, back injuries can be tricky and according to Woj, Simmons is still feeling some soreness, which led to him remaining out for Monday.

Since last July, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot have been slowly but steadily amassing information. They’ve talked to untold Donald Trump cronies. Some have talked willingly. Some have blown off subpoenas, risking jail time. They’re still at it, but when their findings are made clear, one of their members recently said, based on what they’ve already dug up, they won’t be a letdown.

As per NBC News, Maryland representative Jamie Raskin — who earlier this month staved off some MTG heckling — told those at a D.C. event Thursday to get ready for fireworks. “The hearings will tell a story that will really blow the roof off the House,” Raskin said. “No president has ever come close to doing what happened here in terms of trying to organize an inside coup to overthrow an election and bypass the constitutional order.” He added, “And then also use a violent insurrection made up of domestic violent extremist groups, white nationalist and racist, fascist groups in order to support the coup.”

Raskin said the committee is preparing to start holding hearings in June By the end of the summer or early autumn — soon before midterms, incidentally — a report on their findings should be made public.

The committee has said to have amassed evidence that Trump and his inner circle coordinated with those who participated in the attack on the Capitol building. Their plan, Raskin said, was to get then-vice president Mike Pence to decline the electoral votes, moving the matter of naming the next president to the House.

“This was not a coup directed at the president,” Raskin told the crowd. “It was a coup directed by the president against the vice president and against the Congress.”

Among the most chilling evidence was the claim, reported last summer, that Pence, when directed by his Secret Service agents to get into a car amidst the attacks, declined, saying, “I’m not getting in that car.”

Raskin said, “He knew exactly what this inside coup they had planned for was going to do.”

(Via NBC News)

Tyler The Creator’s success with Call Me If You Get Lost has lasted nearly a year at this point. It was just a few weeks ago that the rapper’s sixth album gave him his second Grammy award after it won in the Best Rap Album category at this year’s show. It joined 2019’s Igor as his only Grammy-winning projects. After his most recent win, Tyler made sure to thank his fans and troll DJ Khaled (again). Now, Tyler has a new opportunity to do the former (and maybe the latter) thanks to Call Me If You Get Lost reclaiming the top spot on the Billboard albums chart.

In its return to No. 1, Call Me If You Get Lost sold 59,000 album units on the Billboard 200 chart dated April 30, 2022. That number is comprised of 51,000 pure album sales with 49,500 of that being vinyl LP sales. With that, Tyler sixth’s album earned itself the largest sales week for a hip-hop album on vinyl, or for a solo male album on vinyl, since Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991. The previous record for a male artist was held by Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon III: The Chosen which sold 41,500 vinyl copies in its first week back in December. The overall record since 1991 is held by Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) which dished out 114,000 vinyl LPs in its first week back in November.

Tyler’s return to No. 1 also comes after he livestreamed his Los Angeles Call Me If You Get Lost tour stop on Amazon music.

For the second straight game, the Milwaukee Bucks have outclassed the Bulls in Chicago to take full control of their first round series despite the absence of Khris Middleton. After a 30-point win in Game 3 on Friday night, the Bucks followed that up with a 119-95 win on Sunday afternoon at the United Center to take a 3-1 lead and give themselves a chance to close out the series on Wednesday night in Milwaukee.

Leading the way for the Bucks, as always, was Giannis Antetokounmpo, but Milwaukee got a big boost off the bench from Grayson Allen, who has stepped up to take on some of the perimeter scoring void created by Middleton’s absence, as well as another tremendous two-way game from Jrue Holiday.

The two teams traded blows early, with Milwaukee leading by just three going to the second quarter, but the Bucks opened things up in the second as Allen got hot from three and Antetokounmpo took over on both ends of the floor.

Milwaukee held a 15-point edge at the half and would extend that to 22 early in the third quarter as they came out hot, once again striking from long distance.

The Bulls would go on a run to cut that deficit down to as few as eight, indicating they might have a run in them to make things competitive, headlined by back-to-back threes from Ayo Dosunmu.

The Bucks had a swift answer as they reinserted Giannis into the game and he took over, creating for himself and others, with Allen being the leading beneficiary, allowing Milwaukee to push their lead back out to 16 going into the fourth quarter.

The most notable thing to happen in the fourth quarter was a brief kerfuffle between Zach LaVine and Bobby Portis that resulted in double technicals, as the Bucks continued to roll, pushing their lead out to 24 in the closing seconds.

As the final seconds wound down, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine made an early exit to the locker room, as frustrations were evident on the Chicago sideline with another dismal performance at home after seemingly holding the momentum in the series coming out of Game 2. Those two combined for 47 points in the game, with Patrick Williams adding 20, but the two stars were a combined 16-of-38 from the field and 2-of-11 from three as the Bucks perimeter defense, spearheaded by Holiday, has made life extremely difficult on those two ever since DeRozan went off in Game 2.

On the Bucks side, Giannis finished with 32 points, 17 rebounds, and seven assists, as he continues to play spectacular ball in this series. Allen, for the second straight game, topped 20 points with a new playoff career-high 27 points on 10-of-12 shooting (6-of-7 from three), as he has given the Bucks a huge lift as a floor spacer around Giannis, which is much needed with Middleton out. Holiday ended his afternoon with 26 points and seven assists, along with the aforementioned strong defense on DeRozan.

Milwaukee will head home for Wednesday’s Game 5 looking to close out the series and send the Bulls into the offseason.

A little over a year ago, Brockhampton’s Kevin Abstract announced that the group’s final two albums would be released in 2021. Only one of those projects was released, that being Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine, and the rest of 2021 came and went without their final effort. Abstract explained the decision to end the group, saying, “Everybody just getting a lil older and got a lot to say outside of group projects.” During their set at the first weekend of Coachella last week, Brockhampton confirmed that their final album would arrive at some point this year and they even shared a trailer for it.

In addition to saying their final album would drop this year, Brockhampton also noted that their final performance together would be at Coachella’s second weekend which took place last night. According to Desert Sun, Brockhampton took to the Coachella stage wearing matching Adidas Originals varsity jackets with the band’s logo and a quote on the back that read, “all good things must come to an end.” Throughout the set, the band made sure to note several times that the performance would be their last one as a group with Abstract saying point-blankly at one point, “It’s the last show.”

Brockhampton’s set came to an end with a performance of “Boogie,” but not before a final message from Abstract. “This is the last song we’ll ever do as a band,” he said. “That’s kinda crazy.” After their set, Brockhampton shared a post on Instagram that thanked fans for their support. “The show is over,” they wrote. “Thanks for being a part of the ride. love all of you.”

You can view clips from their last set together in the videos above.

Joel Embiid didn’t quite look like himself on Saturday afternoon as the Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Toronto Raptors in Game 4 of their first round series. It prevented Philly from picking up a sweep, but more importantly, questions were raised about whether Embiid can play at an MVP level with a compromised right hand — the big man had 21 points on 7-for-16 shooting with eight rebounds and five turnovers.

The Sixers said that Embiid was dealing with an injured ligament in his right thumb, but the plan was for him to play on Saturday then get an MRI upon returning to Philadelphia. On Sunday, Sixers coach Doc Rivers announced that the MRI was completed and Embiid is, indeed, dealing with a ligament tear.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the injury is so severe that Embiid needs to undergo surgery, but he is able to put it off until the offseason.

It is unclear exactly when or how Embiid suffered the injury, but after playing the first half of Game 3 without anything on his hand, he emerged from halftime with a brace on his thumb, which he also had one during Game 4. Embiid has caused headaches for Toronto during the series, averaging 26 points and 11.8 rebounds in 39.5 minutes per game as the Sixers have opened up a 3-1 series lead.

In the spring of 2021, Post Malone’s manager teased that the singer could drop two projects that same year. The releases would’ve been his first full-length efforts since 2019’s Hollywood’s Bleeding, but 2021 came and went without any projects from Posty. Thankfully for his fans, he did release two singles before the year came to a close, those being “One Right Now” with The Weeknd and “Motley Crew.” Earlier this month, Post’s manager announced that his fourth album Twelve Carat Toothache would arrive at some point next month. With May less than a week ago, Post took to Instagram Live to share some new details about the project.

During the livestream, Post played a snippet of “Happy,” his upcoming collaboration with Doja Cat, and also took a moment to praise her talents. “She is so incredible,” he said before pressing play on the track. “I am so blessed and so honored to be able to have worked with her.” Post also previewed his collaborations with Roddy Ricch and Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes, titled “Cooped Up” and “Love/Hate Letter To Alcohol” respectively. Before the livestream came to an end, Posty confirmed that Twelve Carat Toothache will feature 14 songs and guest appearances from The Weeknd, Doja Cat, Roddy Ricch, Robin Pecknold, and The Kid Laroi.

You can listen to the snippets of “Happy,” “Cooped Up,” and “Love/Hate Letter To Alcohol’ in the videos above.

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

While the Brooklyn Nets have not yet been eliminated from the 2022 playoffs, the team is 48 minutes away from getting swept. Following Saturday night’s home loss to the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn finds itself in an 0-3 hole, and it’s very hard to imagine a scenario where they can correct all the things that have gone wrong so far and get to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Kyrie Irving struggled in Game 3, scoring 16 points on 6-for-17 shooting from the field with nine assists. After the game, Irving spoke to the media and mentioned that he believes the Celtics have simply had more time to come together as a team than the Nets.

Irving, of course, missed much of the season due to his decision to not get vaccinated against COVID-19, which led to him coming under a whole lot of criticism for saying there was nothing the Nets could do. One person who tore into Irving was Stephen A. Smith, who could not believe “the gall of that man” before bringing up his contract situation should he decline his player option for next season.

“Kyrie Irving is box office, this brother deserves $50 million a year,” Smith said. “I would never give him a long-term contract again. He cannot be trusted. You pay him one year at a time. I don’t care how much money he gets, but you give it to him one year at a time. You know why? Cause you gotta make sure he’s going to show up to work. This man has played more than 11 seasons in this NBA, he has played over 60 games four times, and there’s 82 games in a season. He is one of the absolute professionals at missing work, I’m not giving him a long-term deal. You’ve got to be crazy.”

Irving, who just turned 30, can pick up a $36.5 million player option this summer. He appeared in 29 regular season games this season and, to Smith’s point, has not appeared in more than 60 since 2018-19.

Just a couple of days ago, Pusha T released his long-awaited fourth album It’s Almost Dry. It’s a 12-track effort filled with his trademark cocaine bars backed by appearances from Kanye West, Jay-Z, Pharrell, Kid Cudi, Lil Uzi Vert, Nigo, Labrinth, and Malice. The project was also heavily produced by Kanye West and Pharrell with additional help from Labrinth, 88-Keys, BoogzDaBeast, and more. So far, It’s Almost Dry has been met with favorable reviews from listeners as it appears that Pusha has elevated his game since his 2018 album Daytona.

The arrival of It’s Almost Dry has also made some question the whereabouts of Pusha’s Madlib-produced album which he’s teased on a few occasions. During the inaugural episode of Amp’s It’s Almost Dry Radio with Idea Generation’s Noah Callahan-Bever and his longtime manager Steven Victor, Pusha gave an honest answer about that project.

“I was definitely going to work with Madlib,” he said according to Complex. “I got some beats and they were actually chops from him. I just think he’s really dope at finding ill sounds and ill chops, and things of that nature.” He added, “But at the same time, it was feeling like a beat tape situation. I felt like to step it up I had to be produced — to step it up from Daytona.”

Pusha continued, “When you think about Daytona, it’s just beats and hard raps. I wasn’t produced. The structure of Kanye West you know, taking these things out or whatever the case may be. Honestly, it was just that. It’s Almost Dry is an exercise, definitely on the Pharrell side, in being produced.”

Maybe Pusha and Madlib can get on the same page at some point in the future, especially since Pusha said it was a “bucket list thing” for him to craft an album with Madlib.

It’s Almost Dry is out now via GOOD Music and Def Jam. You can stream it here.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

For the first weekend of Coachella last week, Billie Eilish took the stage to perform fan-favorite records from her chart-topping albums, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and Happier Than Ever, and more. During her first weekend as a headliner at Coachella last week, Billie brought out Khalid and Damon Albarn. Here, Billie and Khalid performed their duet “Lovely,” while she and Albarn joined forces for her own song, “Getting Older,” as well as Gorillaz’s “Feel Good Inc.” For the second weekend of Coachella, Billie decided to bring out Hayley Williams to the Coachella stage.

Billie introduced Hayley to the crowd and the Paramore singer was very excited to take the stage, saying, “This is my first Coachella. Woah! Thanks for sharing this with me – this is sick!” During their time together on stage, which also featured an appearance from Finneas, Billie and Hayley performed an acoustic version of Paramore’s “Misery Business,” which the band retired from their live performances back in 2018. Afterward, the duo went on to perform Billie’s “Happier Than Ever.”

You can watch clips from Billie and Hayley’s performance together above.

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