Since releasing his fifth studio album Colores, J Balvin has aimed to debut a video alongside each one of the color-coded tracks. So far, Balvin has shared visuals to his tracks “Verde,” “Rojo,” “Amarillo,” “Blanco,” and “Gris.” Now, the singer expands on his whimsical world with a vibrant video for “Rosa.”

Directed by Colin Tilley, who directed Balvin’s previous Colores videos, the visual opens in the singer’s paradise. Bathed in hot pink, Balvin surveys his rose-tinted Garden Of Eden. But the viewer quickly discovers that his utopia isn’t devoid of violence. Rather, it’s a martial arts training ground. The singer must battle his martial arts master to prove his worth as a fighter.

The visual arrives on the heels of Colores. With the rhythmic record, Balvin returns to he reggaeton roots. Pivoting from his former catalog, Balvin opted to limit the number of features on the record and instead shines as a solo songwriter. In a recent interview with Apple Music, Balvin detailed how he managed to choose ten songs for the album from a list of 40 he had written: “What we’d do was we’d play the song and close our eyes, and each one of us would name the color that the song made us feel,” J Balvin said. “The color that prevailed, that was the song’s name.”

Watch the “Rosa” video above.

Colores is out now via Universal. Get it here.

Sharon Content loved working on Wall Street. A genius when it came to numbers, she thought she’d spend her entire career working in finance. But at some point, she says, she realized that the career she’d worked so hard for wasn’t her calling. Content wanted to make a meaningful impact in her community — to give back; to help make life better for the people around her.

Content’s decision led her to the non-profit sector. She became the director of programs at a youth entrepreneurship program. Then she took on the role of Chief Operating Officer at Pathways For Youth at the Boys and Girls Club in the Bronx borough of New York City. It was there, while working with youth in an incarceration avoidance program that she realized that something was missing.

“Whenever I met a family that was impacted by incarceration, I didn’t have a referral,” Content says. There was no organization to which she could send her clients — no group which worked specifically with the unique needs of youth whose parents had been imprisoned. So 11 years ago, in the basement of her home, Content started laying the plans for Children of Promise, NYC.

“Children are the invisible victims of mass incarceration,” Content says. “They are a forgotten population. I wanted to establish an organization that was specifically designed to meet the needs, interests, and concerns of children of incarcerated parents.”

Today, CPNYC serves 300 families a year. The organization has a flagship location in Brooklyn and will soon open a center in the South Bronx which will double the number of families that Children of Promise can serve. CPNYC is currently the only program of its kind in the city — and it offers children of incarcerated parents an unprecedented level of support.

Aside from an after-school program that’s open until 6:30pm every day, youth enrolled in the program can also take part in a full-day summer program which offers a wide variety of programs — from sports to academic enrichment to art and music classes. The programs are absolutely free to those enrolled and every activity is created with best practices in youth development and the participants’ unique needs in mind. But CPNYC doesn’t just offer the youth a safe place to go after school and during the summer — the program’s unique in that it offers extensive mental health services as well. The organization is licensed as an outpatient mental health clinic with therapists and psychiatrists on staff.

“In addition to the stigma of having an imprisoned parent, there’s a stigma around mental health services. We provide services that de-stigmatize both of those challenges for young people,” Content says.

Children of Promise, NYC

“We infuse mental health in all aspects of our program. So it’s therapeutic art, it’s music therapy, it’s drama, it’s theater, it’s activities that allow our young people to feel and express what they’re feeling. Especially around the stigma, the shame and, for so many of our young people, the secret of having a parent in prison.”

Because mass incarceration disproportionately affects people of color, Content says it’s important that these services be offered in a way that destigmatizes mental health in culturally competent ways that reduce shame and stigma while strengthening bonds in the community.

The services CPNYC provides are important every day, but especially now, when so many children’s lives have been affected by the current pandemic. And as CPNYC has escalated their services to offer even more support during this difficult time, Upworthy is partnering with TBS and The Last O.G. to help the organization give even more back to the community. And you can help. All you have to do is tweet.

For every retweet of the message above, TBS will donate one dollar to CPNYC between now and May 5th, 2020. That’s money that will help CPNYC pay its staff, provide virtual therapy and mentoring to the youth it serves, and help families with necessities such as sanitizer, face masks, and food.

“The Last O.G. really speaks to the mission of the organization. This is a show that talks about someone who was incarcerated and then comes home. So this particular partnership is a dual benefit in that it really is one that speaks to our mission,” Content says.

“Partnering with an impact-driven Brooklyn-based organization has been an important component to each season of The Last O.G., a series that’s centered around second chances,” said Brett Weitz, General Manager, TNT, TBS and truTV. “There is a natural connection to Children of Promise, NYC and we are proud to partner with an organization that provides such an invaluable service.”

“If there’s anything the pandemic has highlighted,” Content adds, “it’s the need for community-based organizations like CPNYC. And how important it is that we all stand up to support such programs in our own communities.”

View Entire Post ›

Earlier in the week, Netflix shared some wild celebrity photos from Have A Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics, and now, the streaming service is back with a trippy new trailer that is just as jam-packed with stars sharing their experiences with hallucinogenics and similar mind-altering drugs.

While the documentary is loaded with comedic moments, which is going to happen with this cast, Have A Good Trip also explores the very real and potentially life-changing research that’s probing the use of psychedelics to cure such ailments as PTSD, depression, and even addiction. As Sting says in the beginning of the trailer, “I don’t think psychedelics are the answers to the world’s problems, but they could be a start.”

Parks and Recreation fans will also be happy to see Adam Scott show up as the documentary’s host. He pops up in a series of spots that spoof after-school specials from the 80s and 90s. On top of that, even Ron Swanson himself, Nick Offerman, shows up to play a mad scientist-type character who just wants to educate you on the mysteries of psilocybin instead of Swanson’s usual obsessions (meat, solitude).

Here’s the official synopsis from Netflix:

Mixing comedy with a thorough investigation of psychedelics, HAVE A GOOD TRIP explores the pros, cons, science, history, future, pop cultural impact, and cosmic possibilities of hallucinogens. The film tackles the big questions: Can psychedelics have a powerful role in treating depression, addiction, and helping us confront our own mortality? Are we all made of the same stuff? Is love really all we need? Can trees talk? Cast members include Adam Scott, Nick Offerman, Sarah Silverman, Ad-Rock, Rosie Perez, A$AP Rocky, Paul Scheer, Nick Kroll, and Rob Corddry to name a few.

Have A Good Trip will be available for streaming on Netflix starting May 11.

(Via Netflix)

Last time in the Best and Worst of NXT UK: It was almost a month ago when NXT UK aired their last pre-pandemic lockdown taped episode, featuring a 20-minute Battle Royal. They still haven’t done any more tapings, and won’t for a while yet, but this week they put together an episode featuring Dark Matches that never aired on TV before, so that’s definitely worth a recap. If you’d like to read previous installments of the Best and Worst of NXT UK, click right here. Follow With Spandex on Twitter and Facebook. You can also follow me on Twitter if you want.

And now, the Best and Worst of NXT UK Hidden Gems, from April 30, 2020.

Best: Lament For A Virtuosa

Talk about a blast from the past! This match features:

1. An excited live crowd, at a music festival no less!
2. NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm, long before Kay Lee Ray appeared to emotionally destroy her and take the title.
3. Deonna Purrazzo.

This is a great match, with plenty of time for back-and-forth and in-ring drama. Toni Storm shines in it as well, but watching from today’s perspective it’s hard not to see it as a perfect encapsulation of Deonna Purrazzo’s time with NXT. She comes to the ring like a star, and holds her own against the top woman on the brand she’s visiting, never once giving Toni anything but her very best. But for all her effort and all her talent, there’s never a moment when you think she might win. Deonna is there to help create shine, but all of that shine is going on Toni.

None of that is Toni’s fault of course. She just seems happy to be having a great match with an opponent as good as Deonna, and that’s part of what makes this so enjoyable to watch. Toni’s been a bit adrift herself lately, but hopefully by the time wrestling returns to normal she can find a place within WWE where she can continue to shine. And hopefully Deonna finds some other place, where she can have some shine of her own.

Best: Riddle Me This, Bullman

I still find Ligero awfully boring for a guy who wears a mask with giant horns on it (and in this match, a harness with shoulder horns too), but he’s extremely athletic and knows his way around the ring, so he works fine against somebody like Matt Riddle, who has charisma enough for the both of them. In fact, watching this made me think about how many other guys in NXT UK I’d like to see Riddle in the ring with. Maybe once international travel is a thing again and he and Pete Dunne are reunited, they could go spend some time in Pete’s homeland. Just long enough for Matt to wrap his muscular limbs around Noam Dar, and maybe a Coffey or two.

Anyway, Riddle’s victory is assured from moment one, but he’s one of those guys that’s always fun to watch even when he’s just beating somebody up. Which is not to say Ligero didn’t get any offense in — he got more than expected, but he was no match for the King of Bros. I’m excited about the prospect of one day watching Matt Riddle wrestle in front of a live crowd again.

Worst By Default: Disassembling A Witch

Honestly I enjoyed this match too, but I’m trying to have at least one “Worst” in here, and this is the obvious choice. This was Shayna Baszler visiting NXT UK when she was NXT Women’s Champion. As great as Shayna is, I think we all got a little bit tired of watching the ultra-dominant women’s champion tapping out (or just rendering unconscious) anyone who got in her way. This is one of those matches, against Isla Dawn, who’s not in line to take any titles off of anybody anytime soon.

I like Isla Dawn, as I’ve said many times before. She’s got a fantastic look, a fun energy, and tons of charisma, but she’s not exactly what you’d call a great worker. Her drop kick is… not a thing of beauty, for example, and when she manages to get an opponent down on the mat, it’s always an open question whether or not she’ll know what to do with them. Her lack of technical proficiency becomes especially glaring when she’s in the ring with somebody like Shayna, who’s as technical as she is ruthless. So this never quite feels like a wrestling match so much as Isla trying to get a couple of things done before she inevitably passes out in the Kirifuda Clutch. Still, there are worse things to spend your time watching (just not on this show).

Best: Un Dragon Andalou

This match is preceded by a Zoom interview with Ilja Dragunov where he talks about being the Number One Contender to WALTER’s NXT UK Championship, which among other things gives me hope that WWE still has plans for this show and its currently frozen storylines. Also, it feels kind of weird to see Ilja in his house. Not that you see much of it, but it’s just strange that the Soviet Supersoldier Dragon Man lives in a house at all. I guess he must have escaped from that secret laboratory where they grew him from the DNA of Victor Drago, Finn Bálor, and Vlad the Impaler.

In the only match on the show between two regular members of the UK roster, Dragunov fights A-Kid, and damn what a match. This is easily my favorite A-Kid match I’ve seen, and at least one of the best Dragunov matches too. I’ll admit A-Kid hadn’t made much of an impression on me before, but this is one of those “Okay, I get it now” matches. Other than the fact that it’s face-vs-face, I can’t imagine why they didn’t put this on TV in the first place.

A-Kid looks so great in this match that at one point I was thinking, “Surely they wouldn’t make a thing out of Ilja being the Number One Contender and then immediately show him losing to a midcard newcomer,” because it really seemed like that was about to happen. Towards the end if was almost comical watching each guy knock the other one down and then scurry up to the top turnbuckle to hit his move as quickly as possible, but it didn’t take away from the match. If anything, that level of almost cartoonish escalation just added to the fun.

This whole episode is worth checking out, but if you were only going to watch one match, this should absolutely be the one.

That’s all for this edition! I’ll be back to recap whenever there’s new stuff to cover!

There are many wonderful things about The Last Dance, ESPN’s 10-part retrospective on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ 1998 season. Chief among them is the opportunity to relive some of the watershed moments of that dynasty and how they became one of the most dominant teams of all-time.

For instance, over at ESPN on Friday, Zach Lowe broke down one of the Bulls’ last major hurdles as they were en route to their sixth and final championship in 1998. Before Chicago had to face the Utah Jazz for a second straight year in the Finals, they first had to get through a feisty Indiana Pacers team, and according some players involved, it was one of their biggest tests during their time together.

The Bulls had only been forced into a Game 7 once before, a challenge they’d met and overcome against the Knicks previously, but this time, the Reggie-Miller-led Pacers had every confidence that they could topple the reigning champs. And if you ask Steve Kerr, he and the Bulls were no longer feeling invincible toward the end of their run together.

“That was the scariest game we ever faced,” Kerr said.

As part of the piece, Lowe talked to many of the players involved, and their memory for the specifics of each part of the game more than 20 years after the fact is by itself astonishing and well worth the read. It’s also worth it for just another glimpse into Jordan’s leadership and confidence, which never wavered, despite head coach Phil Jackson’s insistence that the team embrace the idea that losing this game was a possibility.

Jordan’s now infamous response to that has been well-documented:

At practice the day before Game 7, Phil Jackson counseled his players to find strength in vulnerability. “He said the important thing is to not fear losing,” said Steve Kerr, a backup guard. “Embrace the idea you could lose. Face that. But before he could get started, Michael just said, ‘F— that, Phil. We’re not losing.’ We put our hands in the middle, said ‘1-2-3, Bulls!’ and went home.”

Spoiler alert, but the Bulls would go onto win that game and, later, their sixth title. But as the Pacers raced out to a 20-7 lead to open, it’s a good reminder of just how tenuous the situation really was, and Lowe’s retrospective gives you an excellent sense of the chaos that ensued throughout the game, not to mention how many different things would have to go the Bulls’ way in order for them to win. The Bulls’ dominance seems inevitable in hindsight, but looking back, it was anything but.

(ESPN)

The Office creator Greg Daniels keeps getting asked about whether a reunion is coming for the NBC classic, and while a “yes” remains elusive the showrunner is still not saying no. In the same week that Parks and Recreation reunited for an emotional charity special, Daniels gave a pair of interviews where he discussed what could be possible with an Office reboot, which is both possible and also likely to underwhelm the show’s most fervent fans.

Daniels has a busy May with two shows coming out in Amazon’s Upload and Netflix’s Space Force. The latter has Daniels reuniting with Michael Scott — okay, Steve Carell, but the association between the two meant it was inevitable folks were to ask about The Office and a potential reunion show, much like Parks put together on Thursday night. Speaking with Collider’s Christina Radish, Daniels said he’s “given a lot of thought” to a reunion, mostly because it’s all he’s asked about. And he also said he’s not ruling it out.

“Oh, I’ve given a lot of thought to it because that’s what everybody’s been asking me, for a year or two. The first idea for doing this came after the Will and Grace reboot. At that time, it wouldn’t have been possible to get all of the actors together, in the same way that Will and Grace got the entire cast together. And I don’t really feel like there’s a need to do a reboot, from the standpoint of, there wasn’t a lot left hanging in the stories. I think people love the characters and they just want more of the characters.”

He goes on to say of a potential reunion that he simply “can’t rule it out,” which sounds like good news for fans on their third of fourth rewatch of the show. But in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the other side of The Office reunion conundrum inevitably comes up. Yes, there’s plenty of interest from both fans and many of the actors who made the show what it is. But what’s actually possible in reality is more like what Parks and Rec came up with, not another season of the much-beloved show.

“I think people were assuming that an Office reboot would [involve] … getting the entire cast back together and just continuing where we left off. We’re probably not going to get every single character back, they’re all doing all these cool things. […] I don’t think people’s expectations of getting back in the saddle and doing more episodes of the same show was going to be realistic.”

It’s more a request for tempered expectations than an outright denial of Office fans’ dreams of more sweet, sweet Dunder Mifflin content. But the fact of the matter remains that interest is high, and these things can sometimes happen if the money and idea are good enough to make it worthwhile. It’s clear, though, that it’s more likely what fans get is a small dose of The Office rather than something new to binge. That’s probably for the best.

[via Collider, THR]

In an unexpected twist of fate, Tesla CEO and multi-billionaire Elon Musk and art-pop musician Grimes started dating in 2018. Earlier this year, the singer revealed she was pregnant with their first child. While Grimes hasn’t had the easiest pregnancy, she even sought advice from working moms on Instagram, it looks like she won’t be with child much longer. Elon Musk confirmed that Grimes is giving birth very soon.

In a series of tweets, Musk confirmed the two are still together and said the baby is expected to arrive as soon as early next week. “Baby due on Monday,” Musk wrote.

The due date confirmation came just after Musk also revealed that he wants to sell all of his material possessions. “I am selling almost all physical possessions,” he claimed in a tweet. “Will own no house.” However, he has one exception to his rule. Musk said he owns the house that formerly belonged to the late Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory actor Gene Wilder. And he is not ready to part ways with it. “It cannot be torn down or lose any its soul,” he wrote.

When pressed about his decision to give up all he owns, Musk said he is “devoting” himself “to Mars and Earth” and doesn’t want to be “weighed down” by possessions.

Musk also said that Grimes was “mad” at his decision to get rid of everything. So, time will tell if he follows through on his minimalist quest once he becomes a father.

French Montana and Tory Lanez are a pair of cocky underdogs who’ve made waves during the coronavirus quarantine, so it’s only natural they would team up to bring fans’ focus back to where it should be — on the music. French — who stirred up controversy with his insistence that he has more hits than Kendrick Lamar — enlisted Tory for the summery single, “Cold.” In contrast to its title, the upbeat song is based on a warm, crispy beat, with lyrics that praise the two rappers’ favorite things: Women and jewelry.

It’s a nice, palate-cleansing party song that serves as a double reminder that while both French and Tory are good at getting attention with their online antics, they’re equally good at making fun, lighthearted rap songs. Both may have needed it, thanks to the results of some of their social media shenanigans. French found himself embroiled in beef with former favored collaborator Young Thug after responding poorly to Thug’s incredulous reaction to his Kendrick Lamar comments, while Tory was temporarily tossed from Instagram after this Quarantine Radio stream got a little too raunchy. Tory also took some heat for breaking social distance protocols for a visit with Megan Thee Stallion, who incidentally was one of Montana’s well-wishers when he found himself hospitalized last year. French was also sued for sexual battery alongside an employee who was accused of drugging a woman.

Listen to French Montana’s “Cold” featuring Tory Lanez above.

The calendar has flipped to May, and that means the clock is ticking for the NBA. Commissioner Adam Silver said weeks ago that May 1 would be the soonest he would begin to formulate a plan for what the summer might look like for his league, and a new report from Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps of ESPN outlines the various issues at hand as the league starts to venture out of the woods.

The NBA has loosely estimated that 1,500 people would be included in its “bubble” should some form of the regular-season schedule be completed. The ESPN report states that number could be cut in half, however, if the league moved directly to the playoffs. One concession that would include that has already been made, according to ESPN, is allowing families of players to live wherever games are played, inside the bubble.

This would kill two birds with one stone: Appease players wary of being quarantined away from their loved ones for months or weeks at a time, and put some semblance of a crowd into gyms that will be without fans for the foreseeable future. Still, there is plenty of skepticism about how all of it would work.

Via ESPN:

“There are so many layers that would have to come into play for [a bubble] to even happen,” Chris Paul, president of the National Basketball Players Association, said last week. “We would have to know exactly what that would look like. There’s a lot of hypotheticals out there.”

Such a bubble would also include a smaller, 28-person group of essential personnel, down from the 70 or 75 that might typically travel with NBA teams during the playoffs. In addition, according to ESPN, seven statisticians and PA announcers as well as two “ball boys” and 36-38 referees would be needed to ensure games run smoothly. Television producers told ESPN they would need 20-25 staff onsite in addition to others in trucks outside the building, who may or may not be included in the NBA bubble.

Should the NBA be stationed in massive hotels at a resort somewhere like Walt Disney World or the Las Vegas Strip, hundreds of hotel workers would also be needed, likely separated from their families and quarantined at the resort along with everyone else involved.

The enormity of the operation is not without cost, even as it offers much-needed business for many stakeholders. The main reason the NBA cannot yet move forward is that they expect to use at least 15,000 coronavirus tests over the duration of the contracted season — which could be as many as 88 days with a full regular season or 55 or fewer for just the playoffs — and the United States is not yet in position to open the floodgates on testing. Los Angeles became the first city in America to offer free diagnostic tests to every member of the community, a signal of how much progress must still be made for the NBA to consume such a quantity of tests.

Other smaller issues still must be sorted out, ESPN reports, including how to protect older basketball operations staff, broadcasters and referees who are more at-risk of major illness than the young athletes taking the court, and how to manage transportation without expanding the bubble even further.

Considering the entire operation must begin with ramping up practices, gathering the league together in one place, and quarantining for two weeks before games are even a consideration, the time to act is nearing. Should the NBA have a goal of playing in July, this process must start soon.

(ESPN)