Category: Viral

I’ve seen Toy Story 3 at least a dozen times, and cried during the incinerator scene every time (it’s not the saddest Pixar moment, but it’s up there). But one thing I’ve never stopped to consider is: if Woody, Buzz, etc. hadn’t been saved by the Claw-loving aliens, what would happen if they were engulfed by fire? Would Hamm’s consciousness be transferred to another piggy bank? Are toys immortal? Or would they, y’know, die?

Here’s your childhood-ruining moment of the week.

Over the weekend, Twitter user “mustard clown” tweeted, “My girlfriend and i are having a big fight bc i think the toys from Toy Story are immortal and she thinks they can die.” The replies to this philosophical question ranged from the scientific (“they aren’t biologically living, they’re just sentient. technically they aren’t even actually alive, just animated”) to the morbid (“ok so mr potato head can be completely dismembered and still be alive. but if you chopped off woody’s head… and put it far far away from his body where no one could put it back on… he must be dead. right?”), but the tweet caught the attention of Toy Story 3 and Coco director Lee Unkrich, who wrote, “They live as long as they exist. But if they were to be utterly destroyed? Say, in an incinerator? Game over.”

That 101 Dalmatians Happy Meal toy you put into the microwave because you wanted to see “what would happen”? You murdered it.

(Via Twitter)

LEGO recently unveiled plans to roll out a set of bricks for use by the visually impaired. Using each LEGO brick’s 3-by-2 grid of raised dots, the educational toy includes bricks imprinted with every letter, number, and mathematical symbol in the braille alphabet.

Why LEGOs? Well, the American Printing House for the Blind recently found that only 8.4 percent of visually impaired children read Braille, as opposed to 50 percent in 1960. With the advent of audio books and voice-to-text technology, reading and writing are becoming lost arts for the visually impaired, often for lack of resources or time — modern braille education methods include expensive “Braille writers” or a slate and stylus, both of which create text that is difficult for students to edit or erase. LEGO bricks are not only swappable, but children are already familiar with their mechanics!

There is a high demand for this kind of educational tool. The Danish Association of the Blind and the Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind in Brazil have both called upon LEGO to make something like this in the past decade — even making their own product, Braille Bricks, which will continue to be compatible with LEGO.

How LEGO® Braille Bricks help kids learn!

www.youtube.com

The Royal National Institute of Blind People in the United Kingdom is helping to develop the bricks. David Clarke, the director of the institute, is quoted as saying, “Thanks to this innovation, children with vision impairment will be able to learn Braille and interact with their friends and classmates in a fun way, using play to encourage creativity while learning to read and write.” This is a truly wonderful partnership — pretty much a full redemption from when LEGO partnered up with Shell gas stations in 2014.

Smithsonian Magazine reports, “Currently, Lego has developed sets covering Danish, English, Norwegian and Portuguese, but will also have French, German and Spanish versions ready to go by the 2020 launch date.”

“With thousands of audiobooks and computer programs now available, fewer kids are learning to read Braille,” Philippe Chazal, Treasurer of the European Blind Union, recently said in a report by the National Federation for the Blind.

“This is particularly critical when we know that Braille users often are more independent, have a higher level of education and better employment opportunities. We strongly believe Lego Braille Bricks can help boost the level of interest in learning Braille, so we’re thrilled that the Lego Foundation is making it possible to further this concept and bring it to children around the world.”

In a year where Major League Baseball has been delayed, the 2020 Olympics have been postponed, and the NBA season has been moved to something called a “bubble,” a new sport has emerged as the ultimate athletic challenge in our COVID-19 world, at least for one British woman.

“Peak bagging” is an activity where hikers, mountaineers, and sometimes runners attempt to reach the summit of every mountaintop in a published list of peaks, and Sabrina Verjee, a British ultra runner, has just become the first woman to complete the 318 mile route through the 214 English peaks known as the “Wainwrights.” Oh, and she did it with a bum knee.

The 39-year-old veterinary surgeon ascended over 35,000 meters on her run, completing the trek in just 6 days, 17 hours and 51 minutes, just eleven hours short of the record, which was broken last year. She completed the race on July 12th, after beginning it on the 6th, and plans to do it again in the near future. When she finished there were two previous Wainwright record holders, Joss Naylor and Steve Birkinshaw, waiting to congratulate her at the finish line.

“I’m so happy to have completed my round and more than a little relieved. My right knee hasn’t been happy for a couple of days, so the final sections were very tough, especially as the fatigue really started to kick in,” Verjee said in an interview.

Sabrina Verjee isn’t new to pushing the limits of human endurance, just last year she took fifth place in the Montane Spine Race, a 270-mile ultramarathon through the blistering winter cold across the Pennine Way, an English national trail that runs through Scotland. She was also the first woman to complete the race. Before that, she came in second in the 2017 Berghaus Dragon’s Back Race, a Welsh mountain race that boasts ascents adding up to twice the height of Mount Everest. Despite her resume of being, perhaps, the greatest walker alive, Verjee claimed in a Facebook post that she doesn’t “claim any record for this achievement,” on account of her relying on her support due to a knee injury. She does, however, look forward to completing the challenge again in the future. More than 200 people have responded to the post, praising Verjee for her endurance and humility, and congratulating her for completing the challenge.

Despite being one of the most prominent athletes in her field, Verjee is also a veterinary surgeon based in Ambleside. She had been waiting for the go-ahead from Prime Minister Boris Johnson for British citizens in the pandemic to be allowed to participate in “unlimited exercise.” As soon as she got it, she completed the hike, despite having minimal support due to her insistence on taking COVID-19 precautions.

Verjee exhibits perseverance in an unprecedented time of anxiety, uncertainty, and immobility for the world as it faces the current pandemic. By continuing to train throughout quarantine, adjusting her support system to lower risk for potential COVID-19 transferrances and continuing to push through a knee injury that threatened to spoil the whole hike, Verjee proves that global pandemics aren’t an excuse for people to stop doing amazing things, as long as they’re gone safely, that is.

When the COVID-19 pandemic led to sports leagues shutting down en masse back in March, the XFL was among those that ended their season for good. Unlike established leagues, the fledgling spring football league didn’t have the infrastructure nor the full enough backing of owner Vince McMahon to be willing to eat all of the losses from ending its first season — even with how successful they were.

And so, the league filed for bankruptcy and went to auction, where there were initially some rumblings McMahon himself might try to re-buy the league. However, in part due to the backlash from that potential plan going public, the WWE chairman insisted he would not be part of the auction process.

We had not heard anything about the XFL auction process since May, but on Monday word broke that while McMahon wouldn’t be involved, the XFL was staying in the WWE family. Former WWE superstar, Miami Hurricanes football player, and currently one of the world’s most popular actors, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, announced Monday that he and his partners at Red Bird Capital had purchased the league.

Per Sportico, The Rock and company purchased the league for $15 million and got the deal done mere hours before the league went to auction as the only qualifying bid. Johnson will be an equal stakeholder with Gerry Cardinale as well as ex-wife and business partner Dany Garcia, per Sportico, and as long as it clears through bankruptcy court this week, everything should be finalized by the end of the month.

Getting The Rock on board to be the face of ownership will be huge for the XFL in terms of giving them some star power involved for a restarted second season, whenever that may be. Johnson has immense reach and popularity, particularly with the preferred demographic for a football league, and given the relative success of the XFL’s first season back in two decades prior to the pandemic, there’s plenty to work with once they decide on where and how to relaunch the league.

July was another strong month for rap albums. Unfortunately, there were two posthumous albums last month, from Pop Smoke and Juice WRLD. Both releases showed that they were stars in the making. On a brighter note, there were several impressive offerings from upcoming artists like Flo Milli, Che Noir, and SahBabii, who offered his first project in three years. Here are is the best rap albums of July, in no order:

Pop Smoke — Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon

50 Cent did a commendable job curating Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, a project that demonstrates Pop was on the road to superstardom. Songs like the “Many Men”-revitalizing “Got It On Me” and Fabolous-harkening “Something Special” show not just Pop’s New York rap fandom, but that he was primed to be next in line for the 2020s. “The Woo,” a breezy track featuring 50 and Roddy Ricch, similarly shows that he was primed to aim for the top of the charts with a charismatic mic presence that’s impossible to ignore. The potential that Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon shows it heartbreaking.

Juice WRLD — Legends Never Die

Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die was, sadly, the second posthumous album from a potential superstar to drop in the same month. The 21-track effort demonstrates how Juice gained his cult fanbase. Tracks like “Wishing Well” and “Tell Me U Luv Me” (with Trippie Redd) demonstrate that his melodic, earnest crooning over sentimental production is a winning formula. And tracks like “Stay High,” “Can’t Die,” and “Fighting Demons” are confessionals that resonate with a different level of pathos in the wake of his death by overdose. The Chicago MC has a prolific reserve of music, so there may be more even more posthumous projects coming. But if not, Legends Never Die is a fitting, heartfelt sendoff.

Westside Gunn — Flygod Is An Awesome God 2

Westside Gunn hinted that 2020 would be his last year as a rapper. But with the release of Flygod Is An Awesome God 2, his second project in several months, one of two things is happening: he’s trying to leave out with a bang or, like most rappers who threaten retirement, he’s realized he’s just too damn good at his craft to let go. Either way, his devotees should be thankful for the 14-track effort, which is another dose of street luxury over magnetic beats. A couplet from the bluesy “Michael Irvin” epitomizes his appeal: “Everybody think they fly now but ain’t nobody flyer / you ever cooked a half a brick in an air fryer?” Surely, 99.99999(9) percent of the population hasn’t, which is why his fans come to him for a surreal twist on trap aesthetics.

Currensy & Harry Fraud — The OutRunners

Currensy and Harry Fraud are a top-tier rapper-producer duo. The two make nothing but magic together, and their OutRunners project is another rabbit out of the hat. The nine-track project shows Currensy locked in over a suite of hazy, soulful Harry Fraud production. On “Cutlass Cathedrals,” he muses on how a trip to Rick Ross’ Georgia mansion inspired him to go “back to the grind for the first time in years.” Three tracks later, he boasted about the resulting Jet Life expansion on “Mugelo Red” with Rick Ross, contending, “these ain’t lyrics my n****, I spit it ’cause I did it.” And he continues to “do” it, delivering sage, lavish lyrics over arresting production.

Che Noir & Apollo Brown — As God Intended

One could rave endlessly about Che Noir’s wise-beyond-her-years lyricism — or explaining her brilliance could be as simple as saying she held her own with Black Thought on “Hustle Don’t Give” from As God Intended. Che was the ideal foil for Detroit producer Apollo Brown’s latest suite of impeccable head nodders, using the soulful canvas to reflect on why “since an innocent teen, my environment’s Freddy Krueger” as she noted on “Worth Gold.” She rhymed, “Close your eyes when I speak / It’s like watching a flick when I spit” on “Blood Is Thicker,” which could have easily been the first two bars of the project. Che offers a sharp perspective on how the decline of industry in Buffalo engendered poor communities — and a hoard of violent consequences.

Blu & Exile — Miles: From an Interlude Called Life

Blu and Exile’s 2007 Below The Heavens is an underground classic and 2012’s Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them was a strong follow up. Eight years later, the renowned duo finally reunited for Miles: From An Interlude Called Life, a 20-track project released on the 13th anniversary of their debut album. The project shows that their chemistry is intact, as Blu drops his pensive scribes over jazzy production that veers from the pristine “Music Is My Everything” to the free jazz of “Miles Davis.” The album is culled from 40 tracks they recorded, and their homage to the jazz great radiates a range of vibes.

Oddisee — The Cure

On the Bandcamp page for Odd Cure, rapper-producer Oddisee notes, ”For the first time in my life, the world has had a truly shared experience.” He sought to “provide a soundtrack to our thoughts, worries, hopes and dreams” on his surprise Odd Cure, which was written while he self-quarantined in March. The project is a thoughtful reflection on this surreal moment in history, as he explores COVID conspiracies on “The Cure,” economic inequality on “Go To Mars,” and what romantic fracture looks like during quarantine on “Strange,” with slick wordplay like “out front your place, I hide emotions but can’t mask depression.” COVID has everyone stressing, but we all had our own existential qualms before the pandemic hit. Oddisee explores our chaotic emotional fusion for us throughout his latest self-produced project.

Flo Milli — Ho, Why Is You Here ?

Flo Milli has been steadily buzzing over the past year off the strength of “Beef FloMix” and other songs that demonstrate a brimming bravado that’s delivered with a precocious, almost childlike vocal presence. Her debut Ho, Why Is You Here ? mixtape introduces us to the full scope of the Flo Milli experience through songs like “In The Party,” “Not Friendly,” and “Send The Addy.” She’s the center of her universe, and hating women, designer bags, and “weak n****s” (castigated on the SWV-sampling “Weak”) are mere dependents orbiting her ego. The effervescent, empowered project bodes well for Flo’s chances to be a winning personality for years to come.

Sahbabii — Barnacle

Atlanta’s Sahbabii seemed poised for stardom in the mid-2010s with his “Pull Up Wit Ah Stick” hit — then he disappeared. Last year it seemed like he had retired at just 22, but he’s back, animal theme intact on Barnacles. SahBabii is right back in his pocket on the 16-track project, floating over smooth, hypnotic production that feels like you’re in a submarine on cruise control. He sounds self-assured throughout the project, knowing exactly how to commandeer album standouts like “Poppin Sh*t,” “Pregnant,” and “Double Dick.” He reminded the rap world what they’ve been missing on Barnacles, which is one of the smoothest projects you’ll listen to all year.

Flee Lord — The People’s Champ

Queens rapper Flee Lord isn’t letting a thing hold him back. He’s released a project every month since February (after dropping five last year). His latest EP is a link up with legendary producer Pete Rock, who scored his latest collection of pyrex parables. From the jump, he lets you know what it is, rhyming that he’s “livin in the danger zone” and “smellin like cocaine cologne.” He explores much of the same themes throughout the project, rhyming over dusty drums and breakbeats like “24 Hollows” and “Mini Mac On A Fridge.” But he also tackles police brutality on “Givin’ Ya My View,” where he condemns the police system and commentates on Black people’s lack of self-defense, chastising “instead of buying guns you go and buy a grey Mercedes.”

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

On the 25th anniversary of his seminal solo debut, Raekwon made an announcement sure to excite longtime Wu-Tang Clan fans: He’s planning to release a sequel to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…. However, it won’t just be a run-of-the-mill add-on to cash in on the name of his most highly regarded project. As Rae told Rap Radar and Tidal’s Elliott Wilson, he’ll be using the latest installment to “close that trilogy,” ensuring that Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. III will be a special event.

Initially, Raekwon used the Tidal interview to discuss the making of the first Cuban Linx — affectionately known as “The Purple Tape” among fans — sharing behind-the-scenes stories from the recording sessions and reflecting on its legacy 25 years later. However, at the end of the discussion, Rae said, “Listen, I’m gonna make an announcement. You ready?”

“It’s time we closed that trilogy out,” he announced. “You know what it is. It’s time to close that trilogy.” Of course, there was only one project he could be referring to, after releasing the latest installment in the Cuban Linx series back 2009. The use of the term “trilogy” is apt; the initial Cuban Linx was envisioned as a film parallel, with Rae as the star, Ghostface Killah as “guest star,” and the RZA as the “director.” The album wound up popularizing mafioso rap and introducing Wu-Tang associate member Cappadonna.

While Rae didn’t reveal when he’d be closing out the trilogy, hopefully fans won’t have to wait for a full fourteen years between installments again. He previously discussed the possibility of a Cuban Linx… Pt. III with Uproxx in 2017. Watch Rae’s conversation with Elliott Wilson and announcement above.

EGOT achiever John Legend shared his stirring seventh studio record in June. Legend’s album Bigger Love emanates his feel-good energy, and he brought the same vibes to his at-home NPR Tiny Desk set.

Backed by a full band, three back-up singers, and a light-up plaque that reads, “Speak your truth even if your voice sinks,” Legend gave an uplifting four-track set. The singer opened with a rendition of his album opener “Ooh La,” which he describes as “a little doo-wop meets trap.” Next, Legend showcased his knockout vocals with “Wild” which, according to him, is “a good song for babies to dance to — you might want to get married to it, too, if you’re so inclined.”

Legend ended his set with a soaring performance of his title track, “Bigger Love.” Introducing the song, Legend said his music has taken on a whole new meaning in post-pandemic life:

“I wrote all the songs before the pandemic, before we saw folks marching in the streets, mourning (the) life of George Floyd, expressing their outrage. But some of these songs feel even more appropriate now, feel like we need them more now then we did even when I wrote them. This song ‘Bigger Love’ is about the power of love to get us through tough times, the idea that when you have love, it makes you more resilient, it makes you more hopeful And we all need a little dance break, too, right?”

Watch Legend’s at-home Tiny Desk concert above.

Bigger Love is out now via Columbia. Get it here.

Last night, Cardi B shared a six-second video of herself posing in lingerie and saying, “I got an announcement to make tomorrow.” She also captioned the post, “Announcement tomorrow.” Well, today is yesterday’s tomorrow, and on the other side of midnight, Cardi came through with some news.

In a now-deleted tweet, Cardi wrote, “I’m doing a partnership with only fans .Everytime some1 start a rumor I will be addressing it there …..what else should I post besides rumors and behind the scenes ? Maybe a video of me cleaning my home with my nails ?”

Either Cardi re-thought her decision, let the cat out of the bag too soon and tried to get it back in, or did something else, because that tweet has since been deleted. However, that apparently wasn’t actually the news she was teasing: A fan asked, “This the announcement,” to which Cardi responded simply, “No.”

Whether Cardi ends up with an OnlyFans account or not seems unclear at the moment, but what is less up in the air is the fact that there should be more news from Cardi coming at some point today.

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

In all of the odd feuds that dot the hip-hop landscape, one of the oddest might be the one between Joe Budden and Logic. Aside from the fact it seems not to stem from any sort of personal animosity between the two rappers, it’s been marked more by passive-aggressive swipes on podcasts and radio shows than diss records or public fisticuffs.

The latest twist in their saga finds Joe Budden responding to Logic’s assertion that Budden’s loud proselytizing of Logic’s supposed wackness led to Logic’s depression. In a recent interview with Hot97, Logic said that despite never having met Budden, the podcaster’s opinions had a negative impact on the video game streamer’s mental health. “This dude doesn’t like me for whatever reason,” he said. “He wants to say I’m not Black enough, I’m not good enough. He’s a person who’s led to part of my depression and some of my darkest spaces.” Logic punctuated his lament with a direct address to Budden: “Your words, they make people want to kill themselves, bro. And that’s a real thing.”

Rather than responding directly, Budden — who previously apologized for raining on Logic’s retirement parade, but not for dissing Logic’s rap skills — went to Twitter with more sarcasm. “Logic is reverse bullying me,” he tweeted. He also spared a few retweets for fans who jumped in to rip him, giving an “lmao” to one who said Budden’s music was enough to make listeners suicidal.

Check out Joe Budden’s tweet and Logic’s interview above.

In the past nine months alone, Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, Gina Prince-Bythewood, and Noah Baumbach have all made original movies for Netflix. That’s an impressive collection of filmmakers, two of whom were nominated for Oscars, but because the public’s thirst for content can never be satiated (we demand it, the way secretaries do teeth), Netflix is setting its sights on some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

Tendo Nagenda, the streaming service’s vice president of original films, was asked by the Hollywood Reporter about the “dream filmmaker” he wants to collaborate with. “I’ve love to get Jordan Peele to make a Netflix film. We love Chris Nolan, we love Quentin Tarantino,” he responded. “We have to concentrate our efforts on finding people of that talent level that we can work with as early as possible and then get them to make movies only for Netflix.” Theater purist Nolan might be the last director to make a Netflix movie – I’d settle for an animated TARS spin-off series — but you never know.

As for Nagenda’s “dream projects,” he responded, “We’re looking at big, broad-audience, PG-level adventure films as something that we want to get into. Something along the lines of the first Star Wars, or Harry Potter 1 and 2. A lot of family live action, fantasy, spectacle movies… A Jumanji-type of story.” You know what Jumanji had? Monkeys. And the name of Jordan Peele’s production company? Monkeypaw Productions. Netflix is planting the seeds… for something to do with monkeys, I guess?

Until then: The Kissing Booth 3!

(Via Hollywood Reporter)