Category: Viral

100 Gecs are a true boundary-pushing force in modern music, and that fact is now being recognized by at least one academic institution: The Clive Davis Institute Of Recorded Music (at New York University’s Tisch School Of The Arts) has made the duo their 2020-2021 Artists-In-Residence.

What this means is that Laura Les and Dylan Brady, according to the university, “will host several virtual events and workshops with students in the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters, including private and public conversations and small group sessions with Brady and Les, as well as members of their team.”

The first of those events will be a 90-minute online Q&A with student Cam Franklin and Pitchfork staff writer Noah Yoo, which will be free to access. The university notes, “The virtual event will explore the duo’s production philosophy and pioneering musical style, their musical releases to date, their innovative use of technology in boldly reimagining live and virtual performance and creating the 100 gecs expanded multiverse, and how issues of identity and activism are evolving in a tumultuous election year.”

JD Samson, a member of Le Tigre and an assistant arts professor at the Clive Davis Institute, says of the group, “The effortlessly authentic duo of 100 gecs exemplifies what we hope all of our students are able to embody as they journey through the Clive Davis Institute and beyond. Constantly shifting their modalities of production and performance, Laura [Les] and Dylan [Brady] are communicating with gestures of experimentation and fluidity that are viscerally shifting the boundaries and possibilities of popular music.”

RSVP to the Q&A and learn more about the residency here.

Lil Yachty says he’s dropping a new mixtape before December 31 and to whet fans’ appetites, today he shared the video for his “Not Regular” collaboration with the suddenly red-hot Detroit rapper Sada Baby. The combination is fitting considering the title of the upcoming project, Michigan Boy Boat. It’s a title that suggests that Yachty’s got more collaborations with artists from the area coming soon.

In the meantime, “Not Regular” finds Sada and Yachty posted up with a posse of stone-faced individuals, reminiscent of the video that first introduced many of us to Sada Baby, “Bloxk Party.” The two rappers go back and forth over a bone-rattling beat with chatterbox flows and no hook. “We at your door like extra, extra, read all about it,” raps Yachty, while Sada continues to riff on clever sports metaphors with “I got racks on racks on racks so I see Roger Federer.”

While the two rappers are on different parts of their respective career trajectories, both have been buzzing loudly of late thanks to some high-profile collaborations and a string of well-received singles. Sada is beginning to break out thanks to his prolific mixtape releases throughout the year, as well as a Nicki Minaj feature on the remix to his “Whole Lotta Choppas.” Meanwhile, Yachty is on the upswing once again, bouncing back from his disappointing 2019 with “Pardon Me” featuring Future and “Oprah’s Bank Account” with DaBaby and Drake.

Watch Lil Yachty’s “Not Regular” video featuring Sada Baby above.

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

Scott Baio made a lot of headlines for his ride-or-die Trump supporter status in 2016, when he was popping up outta nowhere to talk about Trump’s taxes and raging against Nordstrom. He spoke that year at the RNC, which is one reason why Marco Rubio got roasted for complaining about famous Democratic supporters not too long ago. Fast forward to 2020, and Baio is now taking offense with the idea of former Happy Days co-star, Ron Howard, crossing nostalgia with politics. Baio’s reason for the grievance: Howard is arranging a Happy Days reunion that’s geared toward building support for Joe Biden in the swing state of Wisconsin.

As Howard notes, he will participate in the reunion, and the confirmed cast members on board include Henry Winkler, Anson Williams, Marion Ross, and Don Most. Obviously, Scott Baio won’t be popping in to reprise his Chachi role (even though he has “Chachi” in his Twitter bio, which is fair, since he even did the Joanie Loves Chachi thing through the early 1980s) because he doesn’t politically swing that way. In fact, Baio’s disgusted by the thought that Howard is planning “to use a classic show like Happy Days about Americana to promote an anti-American socialist. #Shameful.”

Since Howard’s reunion appears to be lacking any Chachi at all, another actor who became known for having good 1980s hair stepped up to the plate. Yep, John Stamos (who rose to fame for his Full House run) volunteered to be Chachi.

Not too long after Stamos’ tweet, Baio tweeted a laughing emoji while passing judgment: “This is what Hollywood has come to. #shameful #LiberalsAreDesperate.”

There’s no telling if Baio is shading Stamos here or simply casting judgment upon the whole political Left. Sure, there’s probably a little bit of him who isn’t thrilled to see anyone else be Chachi, right? Whatever the case, Baio swiftly retweeted a user who cracked a Lori Loughlin joke: “Shouldnt uncle Jessie be trying to bail out Becky?”

Then Baio essentially tweeted the same joke at Stamos: “Shouldn’t you be taking care of Aunt Becky?”

The dude sure loves his emoji. And his popcorn.

Even though Baio’s been tweeting directly at Stamos, the You actor hasn’t responded to O.G. Chachi, but he’s got a groundswell of support brewing.

2020, it only grows more surreal.

Earlier this year, Drake became the artist to have the most songs to ever rank on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; He has well over 200 at this point. The rapper has been such a constant presence on the chart that having a song place on it probably doesn’t elevate his heart rate these days. He was probably beyond excited years ago when he had a song place on the chart for the first time, though. That’s the position Clairo is in now: On the Hot 100 chart dated October 24, “Sofia,” which she released as a single back in July of 2019, just made the cut and debuted in the No. 98 spot.

Having a song rank on the Hot 100 is a thrill most musicians don’t ever get to experience, especially ones as young as 22-year-old Clairo. Naturally, then, she was excited to learn about her accomplishment.

Yesterday, a Clairo fan account on Twitter reported the song would likely place on the chart, to which Clairo replied, “????????.” Sure enough, the @billboardcharts Twitter account reported that “Sofia” made its No. 98 debut, and Clairo responded, “holy f*ck,” later adding, “wow !!!!!,” and, “thank you so much.”

She also got a congratulatory message from collaborator Rostam, who wrote, “this is wild and pretty cool — proud of us, @clairo.” She replied with a bunch of watery-eyed emojis.

This chart placement comes after “Sofia” has received increased attention on the radio lately, which Clairo acknowledged by tweeting over the weekend, “can’t believe ‘sofia’ has been playing on the radio. thank you to everyone who’s been playing/listening wooooow ahahawhdh.”

Give “Sofia” a spin below, and revisit our review of Immunity here.

If you have never heard Tiffany Trump speak before, you have something in common with her dad. But let me tell you, it’s a wild ride.

Over the weekend, the president’s daughter — no, not that one, the other one — hosted a “Trump Pride” event in Tampa Bay, Florida, that was meant to praise a president who “stands in solidarity with LGBT citizens by supporting and enacting policies and initiatives that protect the wellbeing and prosperity of all gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans.” Nadine Smith, the executive director of Florida’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization Equality Florida Action, Inc., disagrees with that assessment. “Donald Trump is the worst President the LGBTQ community has ever seen,” she said. “This event is a pathetic attempt to hide his appalling record and it’s fooling no one. We are tired of Trump’s lies and our community understands a second term would be devastating.” Tiffany didn’t much to convince anyone otherwise:

In the clip, Trump dances onto the stage to the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling.” Then, shortly into the speech, she stumbles on the LGBTQIA acronym. Prior to politics, he supported gays, lesbians, the LGBQIIA+ community,” she said. Trump then [talked] about social media and “fabricated lies.” She continued: “It saddens me. I have friends of mine who reach out and they say how could you support your father, we know your best friends are gay… My father has always supported all of you. He’s not doing it, he’s never done it for politics. And he’s not doing it for politics. And unfortunately, I think there’s a lot of people out there and other politicians that do.”

The transcript doesn’t do it justice, though. You have to hear it.

Outside of the obvious lies in her disorganized speech, it’s uncanny how much she sounds like Miley Cyrus. Or maybe a “drunk malfunctioning robot” impersonating Miley Cyrus. Definitely one of the two.

It’s a fun idea, but SNL already has a solid Tiffany impersonator in Chloe Fineman.

(Via Newsweek)

Doja Cat has had a busy 2020, especially lately. A couple weeks ago, she linked up with Bebe Rexha for the collaborative single “Baby I’m Jealous.” More recently, she joined Ozuna (as did Sia) on another new song, “Del Mar.” Yesterday, the stars aligned on late-night TV and Doja gave performances on multiple shows.

This was possible because due to the pandemic, a lot of late-night performances are pre-taped these days. So, she was able to join Rexha to perform “Baby I’m Jealous” on The Tonight Show, putting on a neon-colored show in an equally vibrant jungle-themed set. She and Ozuna also brought “Del Mar” to Jimmy Kimmel Live!. That performance was on the opposite end of the nature spectrum, as the visuals were icy blue and they sang while snow fell around them.

These performances come not long after Doja’s previous TV appearances, when she delivered renditions of “Juicy” and “Say So” at the Billboard Music Awards.

Meanwhile, she recently revealed that her upcoming third album is complete, but she’s waiting for the right time to put it out. She recently explained to Fat Joe, “Every time I go on Twitter or go on Instagram, I see everyone saying, ‘Put it out.’ You have to plan things accordingly and there’s a lot going on. So, to just drop everything tomorrow — yeah, I’d love for you to hear it, but you can’t just be doing stuff like that. It’s not the same that it used to be.”

Watch Doja’s performances above.

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

As of this writing, The Mandalorian is set to return in less than two weeks, and it has a lot to live up to. Not counting the Hamilton movie and the inadvertently PVOD remake of Mulan, the Star Wars show is the crown jewel of the streaming service, at least in terms of original programming. And based on the trailers and ads for its second season, it looks like it will do what it needs to, which is deliver more of the same but next level.

Running a minute long, the new sneak peek — which aired at halftime during the Arizona Cardinals-Dallas Cowboys game — expands on what we’ve seen before. Our mysterious bounty hunter hero (Pedro Pascal) is still saddled with the Child that everyone just calls “Baby Yoda,” hoping to return it “to its kind.” But this time he can’t go it all alone. Along with reuniting with the characters played by Carl Weathers and Gina Carano, he announces that, this season, he needs to find “other Mandalorians.”

The new ad swaps out constant action, as seen in the last one, for more world-building, with our hero going to a fight, to some underground cavern and other places. There’s also a glimpse of some old school scout troopers once again learning not to give chase to the good guys.

The Mandalorian returns to Disney+ on Oct. 30.

(Via Deadline)

Ever since Britney Spears posted a video casually explaining that she burned down her home gym, people have been flocking to her Instagram page for more outlandish content. After the singer gained praise for a clip of her wearing a mask at the beach, the singer decided to follow up with some very self-explanatory beach day tips.

Appearing on camera her swimsuit, Spears said: “So this is the exact same bathing suit I wore like three days ago to go to the beach, but I said, ‘Hey, why not give it another shot?’ But while I’m at it, I just want to let you guys know the five most important things that you need to bring when you go to the beach: towel, oil, sunscreen, a dog, and a hat.” Just before storming off the screen, Spears announced, “I’m going to go to my jacuzzi now.”

In other Spears news, the singer is continuing her legal battle to remove her father as her sole conservator. Her father recently filed court documents saying he was against making her health history public to protect her image. Shortly thereafter, her former estate manager says her conservatorship is in her best interest.

“Britney is in a conservatorship for good reason, but a lot of the Free Britney people have no experience with the law,” the former estate manager said said, adding: “The most important question is whether the conservatorship is in her best interests. That’s what you always have to ask yourself and I absolutely still believe that the conservatorship is in her best interests. This movement on social media has definitely complicated matters. There are people lurking in the shadows pushing an agenda. I can’t say who but it is hurting Britney, she’s the only one who gets hurt by all this. I have my own theories and things are going to come out during discovery and the trial [to determine who gets appointed].”

Watch Spears’ beach day PSA above.

Eight months into the coronavirus pandemic, many of us are feeling the weight of it growing heavier and heavier. We miss normal life. We miss our friends. We miss travel. We miss not having to mentally measure six feet everywhere we go.

Maybe that’s what was on Edmund O’Leary’s mind when he tweeted on Friday. Or maybe he had some personal issues or challenges he was dealing with. After all, it’s not like people didn’t struggle pre-COVID. Now, we just have the added stress of a pandemic on top of our normal mental and emotional upheavals.

Whatever it was, Edmund decided to reach out to Twitter and share what he was feeling.

“I am not ok,” he wrote. “Feeling rock bottom. Please take a few seconds to say hello if you see this tweet. Thank you.”

O’Leary didn’t have a huge Twitter following, but somehow his tweet started getting around quickly. Response after response started flowing in from all over the world, even from some famous folks. Thousands of people seemed to resonate with Edmund’s sweet and honest call for help and rallied to send him support and good cheer.

Some people sent pet photos and videos, because what’s a quicker cheerer-upper than an adorable companion?

Some also sent photos and videos of animals out in nature to remind Edmund of the beauty and wonder of the wild.

Some offered the gift of music.

Others shared poetry, either written…

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…or spoken.

Some people offered motivational videos they keep on hand for when they need a lift of their own.

And others shared silly humor to make Edmund laugh.

Some, upon seeing in his Twitter bio that Edmund was interested in aviation, shared images and videos of airplanes or from airplanes. Dublin Airport even sent him “hugs from back home,” since Edmund is originally from Ireland.

From artwork to photos of babies and rainbows to words of solidarity and understanding, the responses to Edmund’s tweet were diversely and profoundly uplifting.

Edmund responded to some, but there was no way for him to thank everyone who sent him good wishes. It was so moving to see the flood of support for this random man who put his need for connection out there on social media, with no idea it would result in such a tsunami of love.

And while it was so lovely to see people show up for Edmund in such a big way, the impact spread far beyond just him. Other people who have been struggling shared that people’s reactions to Edmund helped them as well.

It was like a huge humanity fest, with words of encouragement and inspiration flowing out in all directions to everyone who caught part of the thread.

Though we can’t fully connect with people in the ways we’re used to during the pandemic, people are finding ways to reach out and be there for one another—even perfect strangers who live across continents and oceans from one another.

BBC Breakfast talked with Edmund about his viral tweet and the overwhelming response.

“The whole experience has been absolutely surreal and provides me with a lot of hope,” he said. “I’ve gone from feeling like a nobody to feeling like a somebody. To have that happen overnight is just surreal, something that most ordinary people have never experienced or will never experience.”

He added: “Eighteen and a half million people and counting have seen my tweet. Nothing can prepare you for that!”

Just by being vulnerable and putting his feelings out there, Edmund created a beautiful wave of support for himself and others. This collective, global act of pure human kindness is exactly the antidote we need to this crappy dumpster fire of a year. Thank you, Edmund for making it happen.

So 2020 has been kind of a rough year. A lot of very, very serious stuff has gone down, and it’s affected a lot of us. There’s no end in sight for some of the more calamitous developments, and there’s no assurance that whoever wins the presidential election in a couple weeks will be competent enough to make it better. If often feels as though we’re living in a horror movie, written by relentless and creative sadist. So with that in mind, here’s another piece of cartoonishly awful news: Jeff Bridges has been diagnosed with lymphoma.

The beloved and Oscar-winning actor revealed the news over Twitter, although he buffered the shock with his typical goofy sense of humor, channeling The Big Lebowski to make it all go down better than it should.

“As the Dude would say.. New S**T has come to light,” he joked, before getting into the thick of it. “I have been diagnosed with Lymphoma. Although it is a serious disease, I feel fortunate that I have a great team of doctors and the prognosis is good. I’m starting treatment and will keep you posted on my recovery.”

He continued: I’m profoundly grateful for the love and support from my family and friends. Thank you for your prayers and well wishes.” He then made sure to pass on another positive note: “And, while I have you, please remember to go vote. Because we are all in this together.”

The Mayo Clinic defines lymphoma as “a cancer of the lymphatic system, which is part of the body’s germ-fighting network,” adding that the lymphatic system includes “the lymph nodes (lymph glands), spleen, thymus gland and bone marrow.” The disease, it says, “can affect all those areas as well as other organs throughout the body.” Treatments include “chemotherapy, immunotherapy medications, radiation therapy, a bone marrow transplant or some combination of these.” It’s not yet clear which kind of lymphoma Bridges has.

Still, let’s remain upbeat. As he says, this prognosis is good, he has a good medical support team, and his wit is in-tact. Hang in there, Dude.