Category: Viral

On Sunday morning, the New York Times published a bombshell story about internal turmoil at ESPN over the past year after Rachel Nichols insinuated in a leaked conversation from the Orlando bubble that Maria Taylor was being given NBA Finals responsibilities over her because ESPN was so concerned about diversity.

It was a stunning story and one that led to many discussions about race, allyship, and issues within ESPN’s power structure, many of which were needed and important. It also led to people tweeting angrily at Nichols and in support of Taylor, but as so often happens in these instances, folks weren’t always keeping a close eye on the handle they were tweeting at.

There are two Rachel Nichols’ with large, verified Twitter accounts. ESPN’s Nichols has the @Rachel_Nichols handle, while actress Rachel Nichols has @RachelNichols1. You can probably guess where this is going, but on Monday, the latter Nichols awoke to check her Twitter after the weekend and found her mentions in absolute shambles, as she tried her best to explain that people had the wrong Rachel Nichols.

It is a highly unfortunate circumstance for the actress to find herself in, and surely scrolling through countless mentions of people calling you racist is probably a startling thing as you try to figure out why that’s happening. It’s surely not the first time this mixup has happened, but usually it’s probably getting yelled at about some basketball thing and easy to figure out that they’re mad at the wrong person. This time was far worse, though, and it’s a product of how Twitter has handles pop up to autofill as you type them, with people just clicking on a verified Rachel Nichols and assuming that’s the ESPN one. As always, double check the handle and bio before you send that tweet, because you might send someone into a spiral of confusion otherwise.

[h/t Awful Announcing]

Keeping up with the best 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 Taylor Swift re-connect with key Evermore/Folklore collaborators and G Herbo continue his ascent with his fourth album. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters.

Big Red Machine — “Renegade” Feat. Taylor Swift

There were signs last week that Taylor Swift was set to be featured on a new Big Red Machine song, and Swifties picked up on those hints quickly. Sure enough, it was quickly revealed that Swift will feature on a pair of songs from the Aaron Dessner- and Justin Vernon-led group, and one of them, “Renegade,” was shared in full. Given that Dessner and Swift (and Jack Antonoff) co-wrote Folklore and Evermore, it’s not surprising that the new song doesn’t sound too far removed from that material, albeit with a slightly more alternative slant.

Big Red Machine — “Latter Days” Feat. Anaïs Mitchell

“Renegade” was actually one of a trio of new Big Red Machine songs fans got to hear last week. There was also the Aaron Dessner solo cut “The Ghost Of Cincinnati” as well as “Latter Days,” the latter of which features Anaïs Mitchell (best known for her Tony- and Grammy-winning musical Hadestown). Mitchell took charge on the soft but powerful tune and her vocals paired gorgeously with Vernon backing her.

G Herbo — “You Can’t” Feat. Kid Laroi and Gunna

After gradually increasing his profile over the past half-decade, G Herbo made his return last week with his fourth album, 25, which includes highlights like The Kid Laroi and Gunna collab “You Can’t.” He explained the motivation behind the album when announcing it, saying, “I ain’t never seen myself going this far in life. […] Now that I’m 25, I feel like I’m at the top of my game. All the bad sh*t I’ve been through, that’s why I am the way I am. I always just kept my head high, staying 10 toes down […] I know it’s light at the end of the tunnel.”

Toosii — “Heart Cold”

Last month, Toosii earned one of the biggest honors that can be bestowed on a young rapper: He was named to this year’s edition of the famed XXL Freshmen list. The artist celebrated by agreeing to box one of his fellow inductees and, more recently, dropping a new song, “Heart Cold.” On the personal track, he addresses some past traumas, which have left his heart, yes, cold.

IDK and Young Thug — “Pradadabang”

At the end of this week, the world will have IDK’s anticipated sophomore album, USee4Yourself. Ahead of that, though, he offered a preview of it last week by linking up with Young Thug on “Pradadabang.” It’s a bouncy tune on which the two rappers lament their issues with women who are only in it for the money, a situation that presents more problems than benefits.

J Balvin and Skrillex — “In Da Ghetto”

Skrillex has been in a friendly mood in 2021, as he has dropped off collaborations with Four Tet, Swae Lee, and Dylan Brady of 100 Gecs. Now, his latest is with J Balvin on “In Da Ghetto.” Naturally, based on who’s behind the song, it combines reggaeton and electronic styles, and given that Balvin and Skrillex are among the best at what they do, it works here to great effect.

Logic — “Vaccine”

Logic didn’t exactly have time to move down to Florida for his short-lived rap retirement, as it only took him a handful of months to return to music. He came back with a new song last week, “Vaccine,” a hard-hitting two-minute track on which the rapper takes time to deliver rapid-fire flows and celebrate his return.

Lil Yachty — “Love Music”

Lil Yachty is often one to toot his own horn, but he takes a decidedly different tone on his latest. Instead of exuding confidence, “Love Music” is a more vulnerable number that sees Yachty reflecting on matters of the heart and his experiences with them

Rico Nasty — “Magic”

Rico Nasty has long been established as somebody who’s not going to fit in a box. She excels when it comes to rap, yes, but she’s especially capable in more pop-oriented realms as well. She shows off that side of her musicality on “Magic,” a club banger that’s full of catchy moments.

Snot — “Red”

Snot has shared a lot of visuals for tracks from his 2020 album Beautiful Havoc this year, but he returned with some fresh new music last week. The song is “Red,” and on it, he delivers a relaxed backing instrumental as he enjoys his success in a carefree way.

Janelle Monáe — “Stronger”

Not many artists can say they’ve collaborated with Barack and Michelle Obama, but now Janelle Monáe is sort of on that list: Her latest song, “Stronger,” comes from the Netflix series We The People, which is executive-produced by the former White House inhabitants. As Uproxx’s Rachel Brodsky notes, the song “rolls out with an up-stroked reggae rhythm, as the Dirty Computer singer waxes poetic about seeking solidarity in the face of adversity.”

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

Coldplay hail from the UK, but given the success they’ve had in the US over the decades, they celebrated the 4th Of July alongside their American friends. They did so yesterday by joining the Macy’s Fourth Of July Spectacular special to perform “Higher Power” in New York. In the pre-taped performance of the single (and of “Viva La Vida”), the band played as over 1,000 fireworks were set off on a barge in the East River behind the band.

The ticketed audience featured just 500 vaccinated fans, but as press materials note, in the hours before the taping, a crowd of about 8,000 people amassed to take in the performance. Press materials also say that off-camera, the band treated their audience to a set of favorites that included “Yellow,” “Clocks,” and “A Sky Full Of Stars.”

“One of those moments that we’ll always remember,” the band wrote of the performance on Instagram

Speaking of the band’s older material, the group recently expressed interest in re-working their album X&Y, with Guy Berryman writing in a Twitter Q&A, “I think we felt at times that it could benefit from a slight editing process, to the amount of songs and perhaps to the length of some of the songs.”

Watch Coldplay perform “Higher Power” above.

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

While 2021 has been relatively quiet for Charli XCX in terms of new music, she’s been hinting at some. In March, she declared, “Next album is gonna be POPTASTIC and I’m feeling v inspired.” In May, she was misidentified on a UK game show, which prompted her to comment, “ok guys… much needed mainstream album coming soon i promise.” Now, Charli has again dropped a breadcrumb about her upcoming material, getting more specific about when something may be released.

In a recent interview, Charli was asked if she’ll be releasing new music soon, and she responded, “I don’t know if the word is ‘soon,’ but I’m definitely in the studio working on things, and I would hope that I could be releasing some music this year. That’s my plan. Sort of not at the end of this year, but not, like, really soon. So, that’s the answer.”

So, it would seem that a fall release is possible for whatever it is Charli has been working on lately. There are some confirmed Charli endeavors for fans to look forward to, though, like her upcoming appearance on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars and at festivals like All Things Go.

Charli XCX is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

July 4 is a day of celebration in America, but it’s also a dangerous one that can lead to tragedy. Manmade fires spike each Independence Day, as do fireworks injuries and the sports world learned Monday of a terrible tragedy involving fireworks and Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks.

Reports surfaced on Monday morning that Kivlenieks had died as the result of a fireworks accident, with initial reports indicating that he suffered head trauma attempting to get out of the way of errant fireworks. The news about the 24-year-old rookie, who played just two games for Columbus this season, rocked the hockey world ahead of what may be the decisive game in the Stanley Cup Final.

Reports after an autopsy, however, made the news more heartbreaking. According to the Associated Press, Kivlenieks died of chest trauma in the accident.

A medical examiner in Michigan says an autopsy has determined that Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks died of chest trauma from an errant fireworks mortar blast, and not a fall as authorities previously reported.

Police in Novi, Michigan, said the mortar-style firework tilted slightly and started to fire toward people nearby Sunday night. The 24-year-old Kivleniek was in a hot tub and tried to get clear with several other people, police Lt. Jason Meier said.

It’s a tragic accident for sure, and a reminder of how moments of celebration can go wrong without proper care. The hockey world, both in Columbus and in his native Latvia, struggled on Monday to come to grips with losing someone so young, so suddenly.

[via AP]

Black Widow will finally hit theaters later this week, but don’t expect actor Stephen Dorff to be in line for a ticket anytime soon. The True Detective actor blasted Marvel films and called out Scarlett Johnasson out of the blue during an interview to promote his own work, calling the MCU film “a bad video game.”

In an interview with The Independent to promote his new film, Embattled, Dorff claimed to be “embarrassed” for Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson and other actors who choose to star in the coming book blockbusters. In the piece Dorff, who once played the antagonist in Blade, said he’s too busy to star in Marvel films because he’s on the hunt for a project with the next great Hollywood legend instead.

“I still hunt out the good s**t because I don’t want to be in Black Widow,” he says. “It looks like garbage to me. It looks like a bad video game. I’m embarrassed for those people. I’m embarrassed for Scarlett! I’m sure she got paid five, seven million bucks, but I’m embarrassed for her. I don’t want to be in those movies. I really don’t. I’ll find that kid director that’s gonna be the next Kubrick and I’ll act for him instead.”

It’s unlikely Johansson cares much about this kind of criticism, the aforementioned millions of dollars and appreciation from millions of fans probably softens the blow significantly. But we do wish Dorff luck in finding the next Stanley Kubrick.

[via The Independent]

Ever since video games were first created there has always been a type of game that most people dread: edutainment games. Designed for learning instead of accomplishing traditional video game tasks like slaying monsters or saving princesses have generally been a tough sell for players who just want to, you know, do the fun stuff. But video games really can be a great learning tool, and now we have one designed to teach you a new language while you slay enemies.

Enter Lingo Legend. An indie game that wants to teach the player how to learn a new language and actually seems to understand what it is that makes a video game fun. The trailer for the game showcases a playstyle where players do damage by correctly translating sentences into other languages. Players can also craft weapons and build a deck to flesh out their own unique attack methods. More importantly, the entire game is supposed to help someone learn a new language. Think Duolingo, but more gaming focused.

This is a concept that is really cool and if it works may help inspire more fleshed out and interesting educational style games. And for anyone that thinks a video game can’t be anything more than a video game, they should look at Ring Fit Adventure. That’s a game that is not only a good for exercising, but is a fun video game on top of that. Lingo Legend isn’t a 1-for-1 copy of it by any means, with the deck builder aspect being the biggest difference, but the idea of an RPG that can make a mundane task interesting is a good one.

Anyone interested in giving Lingo Legend a try can sign up to play the Beta on their website. It will be released to iOS and Android.

Grimes is a bit over a year removed from her most recent album, 2020’s Miss Anthropocene. She’s already working on its follow-up, though, and she offered specific details about the album’s concept.

Over the weekend, Grimes took to Instagram to share a photo of herself sporting pink hair, pointed ears, and fanged teeth. In the comments, a fan asked, “C, what are the VIBEZ on this album?” Grimes responded with surprising depth, describing a “space opera” about two A.I. beings that get involved in a “lesbian romance”:

“It’s a space opera about CLAIRE DE LUNE — an artificial courtesan who was implanted in a simulation that is a memory of the A.I. creation story on Earth from the brain of the engineer who invented A.I. because he wants to relive his life but see if his perfect dream girl could team him to love thereby he would preserve humanity this time rather than let them fade into obscurity–overcome by the machines. As she slowly realizes she is essentially a dancing puppet for the male gaze tho, their relationship grows complex. Simultaneously — ‘NO ONE’ (the most powerful super intelligence in the future where the simulation is being rendered from) realizes there’s a massive hyper-realistic sim running and sends in her troll A.I. puppets to wreak havoc. DARK MATTER — her lead A.I. demon–enters basically as the ‘black swan’ to Claire De Lune–but in the end they fall into a lesbian romance due to the fact that they are the only two fully A.I. beings in this universe. It goes on but that’s where the first part of the story stops.”

Also of note is the fact that Grimes’ Instagram profile links to clairedelune.io, a website that features a sign-up for a wait list that asks, “Are you a player of games?” The page is titled “COMING 4200AD,” so fans may have to wait a couple thousand years for the album to be released.

Find Grimes’ post below.

Chloe Bailey’s solo profile has gone up ever since she and her sister temporarily split last year with the start of production on Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. With Halle in Europe filming her starring role as the titular mermaid, Chloe has been building a buzz of her own with scintillating covers of songs like Silk Sonic’s “Leave The Door Open,” Cardi B’s “Be Careful,” Rihanna’s “Love On The Brain,” and Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good.” Her latest cover/remake is Drake’s emotional Take Care favorite “Marvin’s Room,” revamped with vulnerable new lyrics showing off Chloe’s own impressive pen.

As it turns out, the covers haven’t just been for the fun of it — although they have been pretty fun — as it appears Chloe has been ramping up to release her own solo music in the near future. The timing couldn’t be better; with Halle recording her own takes on the beloved soundtrack faves from The Little Mermaid to accompany the film’s release, they’ll likely both have plenty of “solo” material out in lieu of a follow-up to their most recent album as Chloe X Halle, Ungodly Hour. The release will also give the elder sister the chance to stretch her creative muscles and enjoy the more grown-up image she’s been cultivating with her solo material.

Check out Chloe’s “Mavin’s Room” cover above.

The Atlanta Hawks became one of the best stories of the season in the second half after they began to get healthy and started to hit their stride under interim head coach Nate McMillan. The former Blazers and Pacers coach had been the lead assistant on Lloyd Pierce’s staff, but when Pierce was let go as the team was underachieving and star Trae Young was growing disgruntled, McMillan took over.

This coincided with some key pieces, namely Bogdan Bogdanovic, getting back on the floor, and with a new voice and more of the full roster available the Hawks flourished, going 37-19 to close the season under McMillan’s guidance. They continued their magical run all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, before they were ultimately bounced in six games by the Milwaukee Bucks. It was expected by the end of the regular season that, barring something unforeseen, McMillan would be retained long-term and have the interim tag removed. By the time the Hawks found themselves in the conference finals, that became a mere formality.

On Monday, Hawks president Travis Schlenk officially announced on his exit interview media call that McMillan would be staying around with an agreement having been finalized earlier in the morning. Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, it’s a four-year deal for McMillan, which puts him in Atlanta for most of Trae Young’s next contract.

That connection with Young is the most important part of all of this. Young had a rocky relationship with Pierce, and has spoken in nothing but glowing terms about McMillan to this point. On a team where Young is the star, that matters as much if not more than rotations and X’s and O’s, and will be where McMillan must continue to excel and find ways to unlock more from Young who had a star-making first playoff run.