Warning: If you are not familiar with the miles-long rabbit hole that is Taylor Swift, Swifties, and friendship bracelets, then proceed with caution. Then again, even if you are a novice on Swiftian friendship bracelet folklore, you’ve surely at least heard of Travis Kelce’s friendship bracelet that jumpstarted a relationship some might call “The Last Great American Dynasty.” And you probably saw Swift wearing a friendship bracelet at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday (October 22).
Eagle-eyed Swifties noticed one of the bracelets on Swift’s wrist during the Kansas City Chiefs’ 31-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers featured two heart beads on either side of “87.” Yup, Kelce wears No. 87 for the Chiefs. This accessory puts the red scarf to shame.
Now, the backstory (Condensed Version): In July, Kelce attended one of Swift’s two The Eras Tour shows at Arrowhead in Kansas City, Missouri. A few weeks later, Kelce shared on the July 26 episode of his New Heights podcast with his brother, All-Pro Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, that he’d attempted to slip Swift a friendship bracelet.
“I was disappointed that she doesn’t talk before or after the shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings,” the two-time Super Bowl champion said. “So, I was a little butthurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her. If you’re up on Taylor Swift concerts, there are friendship bracelets, and I received a bunch of them being there, but I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it.”
Jimmy Kimmel Live! returns this week with a slate of guests including Terry Bradshaw, Eric Andre, Ronny Chieng, Meg Ryan, David Duchovny, Tiffany Haddish, and more. The musical guests include Brothers Osborne, Joe Walsh, Olivia Rodrigo, and Tate McRae. You can check out more on the musical guests for the week of October You can check out more on the musical guests for the week of October 23-27 below.
Brothers Osborne — Monday, October 23
A country music duo from Deale, Maryland, John and T.J. Osborne are country music stars with a list of hits that includes “Stay A Little Longer,” “It Ain’t My Fault,” “Shoot Me Straight,” and “All Night.” T.J. is also the first openly gay artist on a major country music label. They’re promoting their fourth studio album, Brothers Osborne, which was released on September 15 and features Miranda Lambert. It peaked at No. 28 on the US Top Country Albums chart.
Olivia Rodrigo — Tuesday, October 24
Look here: I should not have to explain who Olivia Rodrigo is. Surely, you’ve heard her massive breakout hit “Driver’s License,” or seen her Disney+ documentary Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U, or seen her on the Disney channel production High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. And if you somehow missed all that, she’s been everywhere promoting her new album Guts for the past three months, including her No. 1 single “Vampire” and its pop-punk follow-up “Bad Idea Right?”
Joe Walsh — Wednesday, October 25
The former Eagles guitarist isn’t currently promoting any new projects, but you can take your pick of any of his twenty prior albums as a solo artist or member of an influential band. The man’s an institution.
Tate McRae — Thursday, October 26
Canadian singer-songwriter is still very much at the outset of what could be a long and storied career. She broke out in 2019 when a two-year-old song went viral on TikTok (as so often happens these days), earning a spot on Forbes‘ 2021 30 Under 30 list as the youngest musician. Her debut studio album, I Used To Think I Could Fly, was released on May 27, 2022. She just wrapped up her Are We Flying Tour and released her first new single “Greedy” last month.
Ivanka Trump has largely stayed out of the public eye while her father has been indicted into oblivion. She was, reportedly, seen sneaking into Mar-a-Lago and has been the subject of heavy speculation on whether or not she would testify against her father in his fiasco of a New York case. All of that is up in the air, but it’s worth noting that Ivanka generally didn’t look too happy during her “Trump” tenure.
She did, however, look like she was having a ball over the weekend at Kim Kardashian’s birthday party. You’ll have to scroll through to photo five, below, and you might not even recognize Ivanka at first glance (I did a slight double take) because she’s genuinely smiling.
This certainly isn’t the first time these two have been photographed together. Years ago, they attended a criminal justice reform presentation together, but nowadays, Ivanka appears to be back in “civilian” celebrity mode and attending events like a Kardashian bash in Los Angeles. Also, Kim wrote, “So blessed to have hit the jackpot of friends! I couldn’t have ever dreamed I would be so lucky to call these girls my friends.” And check out her dessert in Photo #6. That seems like a real Is It Cake? candidate, but at least she was enjoying herself, too.
Levitation 2023 is going down in Austin, Texas this weekend, from October 26 to 29. There’s a strong lineup this year, so for attendees looking to plan their weekend (or those who just like looking at festival lineups, I suppose), let’s look over the highlights from the festival set times (you can find the full set times on the Levitation website). All times at p.m. and in CT unless otherwise noted.
Panda Bear + Sonic Boom — 7 @ Far Out
High On Fire — 7:40 @ Stubb’s Unknown Mortal Orchestra — 8:50 @ Far Out
Bully — 10:15 @ Parish
Eshu Tune (Hannibal Buress) — 11 @ Concourse
Blonde Redhead — 11:10 @ Mohawk
Alan Palomo of Neon Indian — 11:30 @ Empire Garage Flying Lotus — 12:30 a.m. @ Concourse
Saturday, October 28
The Dandy Warhols — 5 @ Far Out Militarie Gun — 8 @ Stubb’s
The Brian Jonestown Massacre — 8:40 @ Far Out
Amyl & The Sniffers — 9:20 @ Stubb’s
Baths — 10:30 @ Parish
Durand Jones — 11:30 @ Mohawk
Palehound — 11:30 @ Parish
Mercury Rev’s Clear Light Ensemble — 12 a.m. @ Elysium
Speedy Ortiz — 12:50 a.m. @ Parish
Sunday, October 29
DJ Shadow — 6:50 @ Far Out BadBadNotGood — 8:50 @ Far Out
Beach Fossils — 9:10 @ Stubb’s
Death From Above 1979 — 9:10 @ Mohawk
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs — 9 @ Hotel Vegas
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The Phoenix Suns have almost a completely different roster than they had a year ago when they were ousted in the second round by the eventual champion Denver Nuggets in six games. In that series, Phoenix’s lack of depth was exposed as they needed Herculean efforts from Devin Booker to pick up their two wins by an average of six points, and lost the other four games by an average of 17 points.
This summer, they went out and doubled down on building a star-studded lineup, swapping Chris Paul for Bradley Beal and shipping out Deandre Ayton for Jusuf Nurkic. Overall, just five players remain from last year’s playoff roster, as they completely overhauled the roster and added a new head coach in Frank Vogel. The expectations are sky high in Phoenix, but it’s rare for a team with that much turnover and that many players that are new to each other to reach their max potential in the first year. If they are to challenge for a championship this season, they’ll need health (like everyone else), to establish quick continuity, and answer a couple lingering questions about this roster.
Biggest Question: Will They End Up Needing To Add A Point Guard?
The Suns are going to start the season putting the basketball in Devin Booker’s hands and having him run the offense, with the understanding there will be plenty of touches for Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant as initiators as well. As they completely overhauled their roster this summer, they focused their efforts on adding wing and frontcourt depth, trying to give Frank Vogel a variety of lineup combinations that can lean more defensive or offensive depending on the situation. However, they never really bolstered their point guard depth beyond the initial addition of Jordan Goodwin in the Beal trade, as both Chris Paul and Cameron Payne are gone from the roster a year ago. It’s clear their plan is to spread out offensive responsibilities across the roster, with Booker as the nominal point guard but running offense through Beal, Durant, and even Jusuf Nurkic as well to take some of the creative burden off of Booker’s shoulders.
What is going to be important in the first few months of the season leading into the trade deadline is for Frank Vogel, James Jones, and the rest of the Suns decision makers to be extremely honest in their evaluation of this team, because it’s very likely they’ll look just fine doing this in the regular season. However, in those bigger games and bigger moments, they’ll be keeping a very close watch on how the ball moves and how things flow offensively, because those will be indicators of whether this can work come playoff time or if they might want to take a look on the trade market for a veteran point guard just to add a steady hand to the roster.
One of the hardest things to do for a team that’s just been constructed is to make decisions that benefit the playoff roster based on regular season results, but Phoenix will certainly need to do its best self-scouting to determine if this group can reach its offensive peak as is or if they need another distributor to maximize their talent.
X-Factor: Jusuf Nurkic
When the Suns jumped into the Damian Lillard deal to send Deandre Ayton to Portland for Jusuf Nurkic, there were some reports that Phoenix felt the move was addition by subtraction, as it was clear the relationship with Ayton in that organization was frayed beyond repair. That may very well be the case, but Ayton’s top-level of play has been higher than Nurkic’s in recent years and the two bring very different skillsets to the table. That means there’s ample pressure on Nurk to find another gear alongside a new star trio, particularly on the defensive end.
On offense, I think the Nurkic fit could be better than Ayton, just based on what Nurkic is willing to do that Ayton wasn’t satiated in doing. Ayton wanted more touches, as happens with a former No. 1 overall pick on a big contrct, while Nurkic will be a more willing tertiary contributor. He’s a big body that sets solid screens, and while he’s certainly not the vertical roll threat Ayton was, he’s a good short roll man, with solid touch and much better passing acumen than Ayton. That passing ability figures to be where he impacts the game the most, as they can trust him to keep the ball moving, find cutters out of the high post, and run some different dribble handoff actions to apply stress to the defense with their stars all working off the ball.
Defense is where most of the concern lies with this Suns team with Nurkic swapped in for Ayton. Of their top four, Durant is the only plus defender and with Ayton gone, they are seriously lacking in terms of rim protection. Ayton’s defensive issue wasn’t skill based but engagement based, as he had a tendency to lower his effort level when he wasn’t having the offensive impact he wanted. That said, he was a rim deterrent simply by being a giant with athleticism in the paint and he was a strong post defender thanks to his size and length. Nurkic is not close to the same level as an athlete or rim protector, and it’s going to be fascinating to see how Frank Vogel crafts a defense with Nurk at the five. Vogel has long leaned on very good shot-blocking bigs as the anchor for his defenses, dating back to Roy Hibbert, but won’t have that in Phoenix this year. Finding a way to get a net-neutral defense out of this group with Nurkic at the five will be the task for Vogel, but doing so will require some creativity in lineups and a different structure than he’s usually put together on that end.
Swift’s fourth re-recorded album will come out at 9 p.m. PT on Thursday (October 26), or midnight ET on Friday (October 27). 1989 (Taylor’s Version) will mark her seventh overall album release since 2020, following in the footsteps of Folklore, Evermore, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Red (Taylor’s Version), Midnights, and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). In true Swiftian fashion, each of those six albums debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Go ahead and pencil in 1989 (Taylor’s Version) becoming Swift’s 13th-career No. 1 album.
On August 9, Swift confirmed the October 27 release date for 1989 (Taylor’s Version) during the final 2023 US show of The Eras Tour at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Simultaneously, Swift’s social accounts posted the announcement, including that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is Swift’s “most FAVORITE re-record I’ve ever done because the 5 From The Vault tracks are so insane.”
Swift will have the opportunity to celebrate 1989 (Taylor’s Version) when her The Eras Tour resumes on November 9 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, beginning an international leg that will stretch through next summer before Swift stages a second North American leg next fall.
1989 (Taylor’s Version) is out 10/27 via Republic Records. Find more information here.
Melania Trump has rarely been seen on the campaign trail with her husband Donald as he runs (or at least lumbers) for president again in 2024. It’s a surprise she wants to be spotted with him ever again after he reportedly asked her to parade around Mar-a-Lago in a bikini.
In leaked audio recordings obtained by 60 Minutes Australia and the New York Times, billionaire donor Anthony Pratt (Trump’s ghoulish doppelgänger from down under who may have been on the receiving end of top-secret details about U.S. nuclear submarines) can be heard describing a dinner party he attended at the conservative safe space in Palm Beach, Florida. According to Pratt, Trump boasted, “I asked Melania to walk around the pool in a bikini so all the other guys could get a look at what they were missing.”
In the recordings, Pratt said the Slovenian model bit back by telling her husband, “I’ll do that when you walk around with me in your bikini.” This comes after a similarly sleazy Trump story that emerged in excerpts of Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-Utah) forthcoming biography by journalist McKay Coppins. In the book, Coppins says Romney remembered the politician making a crude comment about his wife to his son, Josh Romney, telling him, “When I drop her, the phone is gonna ring off the hook. Every guy in New York wants to go out with her.”
Trump responded to the report on Truth Social by calling it (you guessed it) “Fake News.” He also dubbed Pratt “a red-haired weirdo from Australia,” adding, “I never spoke to him about Submarines.”
A busy, buzzy week in hip-hop kicked off with Mr. October’s Very Own himself, Drake, sharing the spotlight with his six-year-old son Adonis, who shows some proclivity for the family business in his own “My Man” freestyle:
Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz finally dropped the first video from their long-awaited second collaborative album, Welcome 2 Collegrove, officially kicking off its rollout with “Presha“:
And Nicki Minaj made sure her name would always be associated with Drake’s new album after being left off For All The Dogs with “For All The Barbz“:
Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending October 20, 2023.
Albums/EPs/Mixtapes
City Girls — RAW
City Raw
One of the most anticipated releases of the week arrived with less fanfare than you’d have thought for a group whose last album dropped three years ago. City Girls fans have been clamoring for a reunion ever since, and though it’s still early days, from a cursory spin of Real Ass Whores (their words, not mine!), they still got it. A lot’s changed in the world since City On Lock, but you can never have too many bad bitch anthems.
G Perico — LA Summers 3
G Perico
G Perico is on one. He’s been recording and releasing new music at a breakneck pace, with LA Summers constituting his third full-length mixtape/album of the year. You’d think a guy would hit cruise control at some point, but he still sounds like every boastful bar matters more than the one before it.
Gucci Mane — Breath Of Fresh Air
Gucci Mane
Until recently, Gucci Mane never really took a break from dropping new albums, oftentimes releasing up to three new projects in a single calendar year. And while his 2022 was far from idle, producing three 1017 compilations, his artists did most of the heavy lifting on those, allowing him to return after almost two years refreshed and ready. Guwop takes a couple of steps outside his comfort zone on the double release and while not all of it works, “There I Go” with J. Cole genuinely shines.
Meechy Darko — Doses
Meechy Darko
I’ll admit it; this one came out of nowhere for me. It was hardly on my radar at all, but I will always gratefully accept more eerie, psychedelics-laced solo material from the gravel-voiced Flatbush Zombie. The content is very much in the same druggy vein as much of the group’s output, but this time, the beats are moodier, murkier, and more muted, allowing Meechy’s midnight musings to take center stage. I’m pretty sure there’s an Alice Deejay sample in there somewhere but it’s almost unrecognizable through a layer of distortion that turns into something half maudlin, half spine-tingling.
Rexx Life Raj — California Poppy 3
Rexx Life Raj
The Bay Area proselytizer returns with more low-key motivational vibes after spending much of his last album mourning his mom. Raj sounds happier, the production is more upbeat, but the messaging remains as positive and inspirational as ever. Here, he recruits rising stars LaRussell and Thuy on two of the more emotionally resonant tracks, while teaming up with the recently traded Dame D.O.L.L.A. for some NorCal chest beating.
Singles/Videos
Jay Rock — “Blowfly” Feat. Ab-Soul
My favorite member of Black Hippy continues the rollout of his first album since 2018’s Redemption with “Blowfly,” an aggressively nostalgic single that sees Rock recounting his experiences on the rough streets of Watts, from wars with enemies to peaceful times with paramours.
Lady London — “Do Something” Feat. Jeremih
You know, it’s nice that Hitmaka went ahead and found himself a lyrical queen to work with after his poorly worded entreaty last year. Lady London certainly gets an upbeat radio bid out of it, which can only help the rollout for her recently announced debut album, Signs Of Universal Love.
Nemzzz — “Money And Vibes”
A rising rapper from Gorton, Manchester, I fully expect Nemzzz to be one of those names we hear as soon as the subject of UK rap is brought up, in the same vein as Dave, J Hus, or Stormzy. His versatile style runs the gamut from grime to afrobeats; “Money And Vibes” finds a smooth middle ground, and wouldn’t have been out of place on any of Drake’s last few albums. Don’t be surprised if the 17-year-old Briton gets that co-sign soon, as well.
Rick Ross & Meek Mill — “Lyrical Eazy”
After locking in a release date on their upcoming joint album Too Good To Be True, the MMG stalwarts shared their latest video promoting the project. “Lyrical Eazy” samples Stanley Clarke’s “Got To Find My Own Place” — the same song sampled by Jay-Z for “Lyrical Exercise,” hence the title.
Wale — “Max Julien”
Interestingly, Wale, who also ran with Ross and Meek for some time but appears to have distanced himself from them in the years since, times the release of his own return with theirs — albeit on a new label, Def Jam. “Max Julien” is named after the actor best known for portraying Goldie in the Blaxploitation classic The Mack, and Wale certainly seems to be feeling like a mack over the mellow, soulful track, referencing some of Goldie’s most iconic lines in the process. Stick yourself.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Paddington is a very good movie. Paddington 2 is better than Citizen Kane. How good will Paddington 3 be? We’ll found out in just over a year. “How many days are there until November 8th 2024? I’m already looking forward to watching our latest adventures on the big screen,” the official Paddington account on X delightfully revealed, along with the actual title of the movie, Paddington in Peru. Paddington 3 works just fine, too. Paddington won’t mind.
How many days are there until November 8th 2024? I’m already looking forward to watching our latest adventures on the big screen. #PaddingtonInPeru
Normally I would be upset that we have to wait an extra two months to see more Paddington adventures but November 8th is three days after Election Day in America, when everything will be very normal and chill. So… yeah. Good call.
Paddington in Peru stars Ben Whishaw as the voice of my friend Paddington, as well as Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer (replacing Sally Hawkins), Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas and Rachel Zegler. It’s directed by Dougal Wilson, who took over after Paddington and Paddington 2 filmmaker Paul King got the Wonka gig. The script is from Mark Burton, Jon Foster, and James Lamont, with a story-by credit for Burton, King, and Simon Farnaby. Prepare to be delighted.
Keeping up with 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 a week defined by high-profile collaborations, from Charli XCX and Sam Smith to The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
Charli and Smith are two of the most exciting artists in pop music right now, so of course the pair’s new collaboration, “In The City,” is worth checking out. It’s a radio- and club-ready anthem that’s all about partying on a fun night out, and both Charli and Smith sound fantastic on the lively tune.
The Kid Laroi, Jung Kook, and Central Cee — “Too Much”
“Too Much” is a real international affair: Australian pop-rap favorite The Kid Laroi, BTS star Jung Kook, and British rapper Central Cee come together on the new single, which avoids becoming a too-many-cooks-ism with all three slotting nicely into the smooth and punchy pop number.
Sampha — “Dancing Circles”
It’s been a minute since we’ve heard from Sampha: His debut album, Process, was released back in 2017. Now, though, he’s finally come through with a sophomore LP, Lahai. It’s gorgeous, too, with songs like “Dancing Circles” that highlight his idiosyncratic voice and engaging songwriting.
2 Chainz and Lil Wayne — “Presha”
Wayne and Chainz had a hit on their hands in 2016 with ColleGrove, so now they’re returning later this year with another team-up album, Welcome 2 ColleGrove. They unveiled “Presha” last week, which features the two rappers doing their thing over a beat that features a satisfying contrast between deep bass and high-pitch whistling.
City Girls — “Flashy” Feat. Kim Petras
It’s too bad summer has come and gone, because “Flashy” would have been perfect for warm weather. The City Girls and Kim Petras collab is more than welcome here in fall, though, and it sees the pop star and hip-hop duo do some deserved flexing.
Caroline Polachek — “Dang”
Polachek came through with the acclaimed Desire, I Want To Turn Into You earlier this year, but she’s not letting that be the end of her 2023. She released “Dang” last week, which she had the pleasure of premiering live on The Late Show with a fun TED Talk-themed performance.
The Rolling Stones — “Bite My Head Off” Feat. Paul McCartney
Uproxx’s Steven Hyden wrote of Hackney Diamonds, the new Rolling Stones album, “They sound muscular but not lumbering, catchy but not overly pandering to contemporary trends, and (most importantly) ‘admirably dignified’ without appearing ‘terrifyingly old.’ They don’t approach their ’60s and ’70s prime, but by now only committed haters and delusional sycophants would hold Hackney Diamonds to that standard.”
Griff — “Into The Walls”
Griff unveiled Vert1go Vol. 1 last week, an EP that marks her first release since her acclaimed 2021 debut album One Foot In Front Of The Other. Among the highlights is “Into The Walls,” which starts off sounding like an emotional piano ballad before the percussion comes in and kicks the track into a different, upbeat gear.
Dove Cameron — “Lethal Woman”
Cameron’s only 27, but she’s been in the spotlight for about a decade now, whether that’s been via acting or music. On the latter front, she finally has a debut album (Alchemical: Vol. 1) on the way, and she teased it last week with the bold and aggressive “Lethal Woman.”
Lola Brooke — “Pit Stop” Feat. French Montana
Uproxx’s Aaron Williams writes of Brooke and Montana’s new collaboration, “The track finds Lola Brooke goading a male addressee to spend big money at the strip club to prove he’s got it. Meanwhile, French’s verse contains the memorable missive, “Feelin’ like Jerry Jones, man, I hate you n****s.” Topical!”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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