Category: Viral

Michael Cohen can relate to Rudy Giuliani.

They both worked as shady lawyers for Donald Trump and they both had their homes raided by the feds. But just because they have a lot in common (although only one have served prison time… so far) doesn’t mean Cohen has sympathy for Giuliani.

“Here we go folks!!!” Cohen tweeted after the FBI seized cellphones and computers as part of the criminal investigation into the former-New York City’s major alleged Ukraine dealings. Trump’s former fixer also appeared on CNN on Thursday afternoon, where he shared his legal expertise. When asked what he thought about the raid, Cohen replied, “Rudy, I told you so. Donald Trump doesn’t care about anyone or anything, that he will be the next one to be thrown under the bus.” The former-president called the investigation “very unfair” and referred to Giuliani as “a patriot who loves this country.”

Later in the interview, Cohen said, “We have no idea how expansive this investigation is ultimately going to reveal itself, because Rudy’s an idiot. And that’s the problem. Rudy drinks too much. Rudy behaves in such an erratic manner that who knows what’s on those telephones or what’s on his computers?” He also believes that Rudy would turn on Trump without a second thought. “Do I think Rudy would give up Donald in a heartbeat? Absolutely. He certainly doesn’t want to follow my path down into a 36 month sentence for something as innocuous as a hush money payment to a porn star.”

You can watch the CNN clip below.

Blxst and Russ lament the game-killing effects of “Fck Boys” in their steamy new video for the single from Blxst’s Just For Clarity EP. The melodic rap brethren trade verses about the difficulty of finding love and loyalty as a result of lames who ruin it for everybody as they entertain their female companion in luxurious surroundings. And, in classic Blxst video form, the West Coaster ends up at a photoshoot, swaggering in a casual look as a model drapes herself over his shoulders.

Just For Clarity, which dropped in March, opened up the circle of Blxst collaborators, which had previously only included fellow Angelenos like Dom Kennedy, Tyga, Ty Dolla Sign, and Bino Rideaux. While the South Los Angeles collaboration trend continued with Drakeo The Ruler, the two-song release finally paired Blxst with someone from outside California; the New Jersey-born, Atlanta-based Russ, whose independent hustle and usual choice of introspective content pair with Blxst’s like wine and cheese.

Russ showed off more of his heartbreak anthems earlier this year with videos for “Misunderstood,” “Hard For Me,” and “Bankrupt,” so his collab with Blxst sees both firmly within their respective comfort zones, coolly insisting that their peers need to step their game up.

Watch the video for “Fck Boys” above.

As a leading figure in the Republican party, Senator Ted Cruz was bound to take issue with President Joe Biden’s first address to Congress on Wednesday night.

The traditional speech lays out the administration’s plans for the next four years, signaling to both sides of the aisle what compromises might need to be made and what arguments might soon be had. Biden’s speech promised bold action by the government to address crises on multiple fronts, as well as big spending plans. All of which a conservative like Cruz would naturally be against. But it wasn’t what Biden said that bothered the Texas senator — it’s how he said it.

Cruz gave an interview to Fox News following the speech, complaining that speech was “boring, but radical” before harping on about Biden’s “calm” and “dulcet tones.” Cruz basically implied Biden’s address wasn’t memorable enough before calling attention to the “nearly empty” chamber — a protocol no doubt in place because of Covid-19 restrictions — before making a truly bizarre pivot to also whine about how Biden never tweets anything “notable” these days.

We guess that’s why Cruz felt he could literally doze off in the middle of Biden’s address? The Senator was caught on camera appearing to fight a bout of sleepiness as Biden addressed key issues of immigration and gun violence.

And he’s not the only Republican who’s big mad that Biden prefers to treat social media with a bit more restraint than his predecessor showed. While Cruz labeled Biden’s tweets as not “notable” enough, Republican Senator John Cornyn called them “unimaginably conventional.” In fact, according to tweets from Cornyn earlier this month, the president’s totally rational tweeting practices invite the question of who’s really in charge.

All of this is nonsense of course, but when you’re used to the unhinged rantings of a man chugging diet soda at 2 a.m., “normal” becomes dull, we guess. Unfortunately for Cruz, being the internet’s favorite punching bag means his bad manners during last night’s speech and his Fox News remarks afterward drew plenty of ire on social media. Here are some of the best takedowns:

It’s probably good for Biden to remember that he can’t please everyone, but if he’s going to try, Ted Cruz should be at the bottom of his priority list.

Invincible took off running on Amazon Prime while building excitement through weekly episode drops. That strategy’s paying off for Disney+’s Marvel Cinematic Universe shows, and the same goes for fans of Robert Kirkman’s Image Comics Universe title as adapted for the small screen. Naturally, there’s everything that one might expect here by combining superheroes and villains with the gore-filled tendencies of The Walking Dead creator, but there’s also a family drama and a twist on a Peter Parker and Billy Batson-style coming-of-age story. Well, the audience must have spoken loudly enough because Amazon decided to announce a few more seasons coming your way.

This news arrives the day prior to the show’s Season One finale, which will follow up on Nolan Greyson/Omni-Man’s sky-bound fight that has led his son, Mark/Invincible, to realize that Dad is less than a good guy. Everyone else seems to know this already, but get ready for superpowered father-son confrontation. Through an Amazon press release, Kirkman expresses gratitude for how his latest baby is being received and welcomed back for more:

“I’m extremely thankful to Amazon for the support and dedication they’ve put behind Invincible,” said Kirkman. “The comic book is truly a love letter to a genre that Cory (Walker) and I grew up reading and loving, and it’s been a gratifying journey to watch our characters come to life again through the animated series. We’re beyond excited to continue this story for at least two more seasons.”

Kirkman must have known in his gut (or explicitly) that this news was coming, since he recently teased more TWD stars as additions to the cast. There’s plenty more source material where that came from, too, to keep the already expansive cast (including Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh, Walton Goggins, Zachary Quinto, and Seth Rogen) coming back for more, and given that The Walking Dead is now expanding past its own comic-book roots, well, that’s an encouraging sign for the future of Invincible, too. Clearly, that last part is sheer speculation, so perhaps we should all slow down and tune into tomorrow’s Season One finale. It’s a doozy.

According to the CDC, suicide is the second leading cause of death among Gen Zers, and yet only 16 percent of all children receive mental health assistance in school. With her new campaign Mental Health 101, Selena Gomez is hoping to change that statistic. The singer has launched the initiative to raise awareness for the importance of mental health education in schools and communities.

Mental Health 101 is a campaign Gomez launched in partnership with her Rare Beauty brand. Along with aiming to increase mental health education in schools, Mental Health 101 is working to secure funding to pay for education services.

Announcing the campaign in a heartfelt letter, Gomez got candid about her own struggles with mental health in the past:

“Today, I’m grateful that we get to launch Mental Health 101. This campaign is so close to my heart because of my own struggles with mental health. I know first hand how scary and lonely it can feel to face anxiety and depression by yourself at a young age. If I had learned about my mental health earlier on–been taught about how my condition in school the way I was taught about other subjects–my journey could have looked very different.

The world needs to know that mental health matters. It’s just as important as your physical health, and I wish we could all acknowledge that, not just in words but through our actions.

For anyone who is hurting right now, I hope you know that you are not alone. I’m a believer in seeking help. Getting support and educating myself on mental health has changed my life, and it can change yours, too.

I hope that Mental Health 101 will be the stepping stones for others that I wish I had… to get connected to the resources that they need, and to empower young people in ways that may not have been possible before.”

Find more information about Gomez’s Mental Health 101 initiative here.

The Aaron Rodgers era in Green Bay might be in its final days. According to a report by Adam Schefter of ESPN, Rodgers is not happy with how things have gone with the Packers recently, and as a result, he’s made clear to some members of the organization that he wants to seek greener pastures for the first time in his NFL career.

The news comes shortly after reports hit the internet that the San Francisco 49ers made an informal ask about Rodgers’ availability in the lead-up to the 2021 NFL Draft, which Green Bay quickly rebuffed. Schefter wrote that while he is interested in going elsewhere, the Packers have zero interest in moving on from the Hall of Fame signal caller, to the point that a number of members of their organization have made the trip to meet with Rodgers and discuss his future.

The Packers are aware of his feelings, concerned about them and have had team president Mark Murphy, general manager Brian Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur each fly out on separate trips to meet with Rodgers at various points this offseason, sources told ESPN.

“As we’ve stated since the season ended, we are committed to Aaron in 2021 and beyond,” Gutekunst told ESPN. “Aaron has been a vital part of our success and we look forward to competing for another championship with him leading our team.”

The Packers have been planning for the post-Rodgers era recently, as the team traded up to select Jordan Love in the 2020 NFL Draft to take over for him some day. If Rodgers, the reigning NFL MVP, has his way, that era may come sooner than later.

Burna Boy‘s first new song of 2021 is “Kilometre,” a meditation on the progress he’s made in his career (as in, “I don’ come, I don’ come, kilometres”). As usual, he employs upbeat production, this time from Chopstix, and a melodic flow that switches between English and Nigerian pidgin to boast about his accomplishments. He denies that any of this happened by accident — although happenstance did somewhat play into his US breakout — insisting, “People think I be Johnny just come / Like I just got rich, like my money just come.”

Debuting the new song on Apple Music 1 radio, Burna told Zane Lowe, “It’s really me talking about how far I’ve come, I’ve come a long way. At the same time, just having fun with it. When the song drops, start running around, wherever you go. Just start running around It doesn’t need an explanation.” Burna also promised a follow-up to his 2020 album Twice As Tall sometime this year: “I’m definitely planning to drop my next album this year,” he revealed. “Especially at the same time I dropped the last one. I’m trying to do that as long as I can.”

Listen to Burna Boy’s new track, “Kilometre,” above.

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

President Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday did a great job at connecting with viewers according to polls taken last night. CBS News-YouGov found that 85% of viewers approved of the speech and only 15% did not.

Nearly 80% of viewers said the speech made them feel more optimistic about the country and 83% said the COVID-19 pandemic was improving.

Poll respondents described the speech using the following terms most frequently: “Presidential, “Caring,” “Inspiring” and “Bold.”

The address began with a sharp focus on the administration’s attempts to eradicate the COVID-19 virus. At the beginning of the speech, Biden took a victory lap for doubling his initial pledge to administer 100 million COVID-19 vaccination doses over his first 100 days.

Another major focus was The American Jobs Plan which puts a major emphasis on improving the country’s aging infrastructure. The president claims his ambitious plan will create “jobs to upgrade our transportation infrastructure. Jobs modernizing roads, bridges, and highways. Jobs building ports and airports, rail corridors, and transit lines. It’s clean water.”

He also pitched proposals to expand universal primary education, improve health care access, create tax breaks for families, and increase access to higher education.

A big reason why the speech was so well received is that the audience was heavily Democratic. Fifty-four percent of respondents to the CBS-You Gov poll identified as Democrats, while only 18% as Republicans.

It was expected that many Republicans would avoid watching the speech, but it had a positive effect on those who made an attempt to listen to the new president. Republicans who believe Biden’s policies will move the country in the right direction improved from 13% to 27% after the speech. Among independents that number grew from 61% to 73%.

Biden’s speech also looks strong given recent history. Comparing Biden’s numbers to recent presidents, his first address to a joint session of Congress was better received than those by Donald Trump (57%), Barack Obama (68%), and George W. Bush (66%).

The Jacksonville Jaguars are a few hours away from taking their quarterback of the future when, barring something totally unforeseen, they select Clemson star Trevor Lawrence with the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. As for who he’ll be throwing to, it turns out that a quarterback from Urban Meyer’s past might be coming back into the fold.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Tim Tebow worked out for the team recently at tight end. It’s unclear if the soon-to-be 34-year-old former signal caller will hop on board full-time, but as Rapoport said, the two sides have discussed Tebow potentially coming on board.

Tebow was one of the most decorated college quarterbacks of all time under Meyer at the University of Florida and was the No. 25 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He was with the team for two years before getting traded to the New York Jets, where he suited up for a year. From there, Tebow was a practice squad player in New England and Philadelphia before his football playing career ended in 2015. In the meantime, Tebow’s done TV work with ESPN and had a brief baseball career, playing in the New York Mets’ minor league system before retiring earlier this year.

It would be very weird if this ended up happening.

Moneybagg Yo’s newest album, A Gangsta’s Pain is the Memphis rapper’s third project in 15 months. After beginning 2020 with Time Served, he teamed up with fellow Memphian Blac Youngsta for their Code Red project which arrived later that summer. The quick releases play a decent role in what makes up Moneybagg Yo the artist. The new project is his tenth since the start of 2017. This consistency coupled with a steady improvement from project to project has brought the rapper a new cast of supporters as his artistry becomes more and more refined.

The frequency of Moneybagg’s releases could cause one to pose the question: is being too active a bad thing? Well, the answer to that is both yes and no. Yes, because one could imagine his growth and improvement making a bigger impression if full-length releases were a bit more spaced out. No, because the Memphis rapper has taken an incremental step upward with each project as they arrive. Prior efforts like Federal 3X and Heartless see an artist slowly figuring it out while later admitting to mistakes thanks to hindsight. Recent efforts like Time Served capture Moneybagg in a new tier while A Gangsta’s Pain sees him finding comfort in this zone while setting his eyes on the next level.

Ironically this new zone the Memphis native has stepped into finds him moving out of his comfort zone a bit. Displaying A Gangsta’s Pain means unearthing the emotions that one most likely ignored and gave a cold shoulder to when asked about. On multiple occasions, Moneybagg tones down the clang of his chains to let the sound of his heartbeat echo. From the intimacy behind “One Of Them Nights” with Jhene Aiko to the uncaged sensitivity on “Love It Here,” Moneybagg’s heart slowly thaws with the warmth of a ride-or-die companion. Backed the return of Future’s Hndrxx alter-ego, “Hard For The Next” notes that while love and its longevity may not be guaranteed, making the best of the present moment is a bar Moneybagg will reach for.

The pains and struggles of yesterday’s inflictions are also laid on wax throughout A Gangsta’s Pain. He questions life and the many let-downs he experienced through it all on “If Pain Was A Person.” His hurt is merely an emotion that rattles the brain and weighs on the heart, but personifying this emotion creates a one-sided discussion that allows Moneybagg to vent and get what he needs off his chest. Strong moments like these come on the heels of weaker ones and as the nostalgic keys of Ashanti’s “Foolish” play underneath a mellow bass, Moneybagg’s “Wockesha” admits to repeatedly succumbing to the toxic drink that always counters his attempt to push it away with a defeating punch like the one Kamaru Usman delivered in front of the world not too long ago.

In between the rain of emotion that flows on A Gangsta’s Pain, the thunder and flash of Moneybagg’s rap prowess arrive to balance out the album. It’s how the Memphis native best knows how to present himself and why many of his fans fell in love with his music. He accomplishes this through assertive raps laced with overt confidence about the man and rapper he’s grown into over the years. Moneybagg isn’t someone who’s done his people wrong, he tells us that on “Projects” with lines like, “If you ever gave your word, then you must stand on that,” adding, “Just jumped off a private, took ten black trucks to the projects.” The self-solidifying talk continues on “Certified Neptunes,” an effort supported by a cold hook from Pharrell that brings listeners back to his days as a Clipse sidekick. “If your loyalty don’t match mine, it ain’t sh*t wit’ you,” Moneybagg proclaims, detailing a simple quality that is foundational in his world, and one that serves as the root of his gangsta’s pain when broken.

When you take a look into the past, it’s hard to deny the progress Moneybagg has made in his career, especially the last five years he’s spent inching closer and closer to the mainstream spotlight. A Gangsta’s Pain is the Memphis native’s most diverse project to date thanks to a deeper and more concise dive into the personal side of his life as well as tapping into production his fans had yet to hear him with him, like The Neptunes for example. A slight critique of the project would be its length as a 22-track — 21 songs and an interlude — effort will often be a bit of drag to listen to no matter the artist. However, when it comes time to detail A Gangsta’s Pain, one may take advantage of all the time they have to get the story across well, something Moneybagg Yo very much accomplished.

A Gangsta’s Pain is out now via CMG/N-Less/Interscope. Get it here.