Category: Worldwide

Welcome to SNX DLX, your weekly roundup of the best sneakers to hit the internet. The summer season has arrived a few weeks early in the world of sneakers as vibrant colorways rule the week. Highlights of the week include a snow cone-inspired Air Max 1, a citrusy Adidas Gazelle, and some interesting contrasting color combinations via the Air Jordan 5 Indigo Haze.

It’s a nice change-up after last week’s incredibly slow and depressing showing, but things aren’t fully back yet, this week’s lineup is still looking a little lighter than we’d like so here is hoping that the drops start heating up with the weather. After you dive into this week’s picks, be sure to hit up our monthly Style Watch series to help complete your look with the best festival-friendly fashion drops out right now.

Let’s dive in!

Nike Air Max 1 x Puerto Rican Day Orange Frost and Citron Pulse

Price: $140

Bright, loud, and colorful, we’re loving this celebratory Puerto Rican Day Orange Frost and Citron Pulse Air Max 1. Featuring graphics that nod to Puerto Rican held carts, this five-color sneaker is inspired by the vibrant color of snow cones with a mixed suede, canvas, and leather builds, a jeweled swoosh, embroidered ‘Puerto Rico’ branding on the heel, and gold lace emblems.

It’s easily the most summer-centric sneaker released all year.

The Air Max 1 x Puerto Rican Day Orange Frost and Citron Pulse is out now. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Nike Air Force 1 West Coast

Price: $150

Nike has dropped a handful of sneakers that celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop this year and now the brand is showing the west coast some love with this Air Force 1. Featuring a denim upper with a diffused blue and white colorway — reminiscent of a certain LA baseball team — the West Coast sports a gum-colored outsole, a plush collar, and Nike Coast lace emblems.

The Air Force 1 West Coast is out now. Pick up a pair at the Nike SNKRS app.

Women’s Air Jordan 5 Low Indigo Haze

Price: $180

Summer is nearly here and bright colorways are about to take over so infuse some icy cool into your wardrobe with this women’s exclusive Indigo Haze Jordan 5. Featuring a leather build with a mix of soft purple and washed-out yellow tones, this Indigo Haze exudes chill vibes and rides atop an icy lavender outsole.

As an extra detail, the sneaker features reflective elements throughout the design allowing for a glowing step in the later hours that’ll ensure that you’re rocking the coolest kicks at the summer get-together.

The Women’s Air Jordan 5 Indigo Haze is set to drop on June 8th at 7:00 Am PST. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Bodega x New Balance ML610TB1

Price: $160

This week New Balance isn’t dropping anything directly that is noteworthy, but the brand is teaming up with retailer Bodega for a special take on the 610 hiking sneaker. Featuring composite tech, a C-CAP midsole, 3M accents throughout for high visibility, and lace-to-toe eyelets in a mixed charcoal and blueberry colorway with a heavy tread sole and a bungee-style lace-lock for a secure fit.

Without a doubt, these are our favorite hiking sneakers to drop all year.

The Bodega x New Balance ML610TB1 is set to drop on June 9th at 9:00 AM PST. Pick up a pair at the Bodega online store, or physical locations in Boston and Los Angeles.

Air Jordan 2 “H” Wings

Price: $210

Nike is paying tribute to Jordan Brand’s once senior vice president, Howard H. White, with a special iteration of the Jordan 2. Dubbed the “H Wings,” this take on the AJ2 sports hand-sketched wing graphics on the quarter panel, a translucent heel counter, gold foil “H” branding, and a white leather build with forest green accents.

The AJ2 is White’s favorite Jordan silhouette so it’s fitting that such an important name in the brand is getting one of the best iterations of the sneaker to drop all year.

The Air Jordan 2 H Wings is set to drop on June 10th at 7:00 Am PST. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Air Jordan 1 Black and Smoke Grey

Price: $180

Grey suede panels over a white leather base with black accents, what more can you want? This is a dope but ultra-simple take on the Jordan 1 that rides atop a slightly aged midsole with crimson red embroidered branding at the tongue. Hardcore Jordan heads will recognize this colorway as ‘Washed Black,’ one of the most coveted colorways of the AJ-1.

The Nike Air Jordan 1 Black and Smoke Grey is set to drop on June 10th at 7:00 AM PST. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app or aftermarket sites like GOAT and Flight Club.

Adidas Gazelle 85

Price: $130

If you’ve been keeping an eye on modern sneaker trends you may have noticed that the Adidas Gazelle is back! The mid-80s silhouette is as simple as can be but it looks timeless and right now young sneakerheads love rocking it. If you want to join in with that crowd you might as well have one of the doper colorways on the market, and this week’s Gazelle 85 in Preloved Red will get you there.

Featuring a refined 85-era silhouette, this Gazelle captures the vibe the silhouette is known for but puts a slight twist on it that makes it unique, like higher foxing tape, a modified 3-Stripes, and a reworked toe overlay with a soft suede build that is leather lined.

The Adidas Gazelle 85 is out now. Pick up a pair via Adidas.

The new Foo Fighters album But Here We Are dropped last week after it was teased with singles like “Rescued,” “Show Me How,” and “The Teacher.” They took to Twitter today (June 8) to share gratitude to those involved in the making of the record.

“A most heartfelt & profound ‘thank you,’” they tweeted, “To Greg Kurstin, Julian Burg, Darrell Thorp, Spike Stent, John Lousteau, Oliver Roman, & Alastair Christie for helping the band walk back into the studio again, lock the door behind us, and make the most important album of our lives.”

They continued, “We certainly couldn’t have done it without you. Our love and gratitude goes beyond words. The memories and songs will last forever.”

On the day of the album release, Dave Grohl recently shared a vulnerable, handwritten note. It read, “Hey. It’s been a while….. Now that we’ve returned from our first run of shows, I felt compelled to reach out and thank you all for being there for us. Every night, when I see you singing, it makes me sing harder. When I see you screaming, it makes me scream louder. When I see your tears, it brings me to tears. And when I see your joy, it brings me joy. But, I see you… and it feels so good to see you, churning up these emotions together. Because we’ve always done this together. Time and time again. See you soon.”

After years of trying to get a solo movie off the ground, Warner Bros. is finally delivering The Flash starring Ezra Miller as the Scarlet Speedster. Miller first appeared as the character in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice before having a more prominent role in Justice League. The Flash also had a brief cameo in Suicide Squad as well as the season finale of Peacemaker, but now, Miller gets to cut loose in a standalone film that will take the classic DC Comics character on a multiversal adventure alongside Michael Keaton’s Batman.

Here’s everything we know about The Flash:

Release Date

The Flash will zoom into theaters on June 16, which is just around the corner. Advance screenings have already happened, so the odds of the film getting tripped up between now and its release are very slim.

Cast

Miller returns as Barry Allen, a police lab technician who becomes empowered with the Speed Force following a freak accident. He now has the ability to move at such incredible speeds that he’s no longer confined by the known laws of physics or… time. In a surprise casting coup, Keaton also returns as his iconic version of Batman, who was last seen in 1992’s Batman Returns. Sasha Calle is also along for the ride as the new big screen version of Supergirl, and Michael Shannon’s General Zod makes a villainous appearance thanks to the film’s reality-breaking story.

Plot

Here’s the official synopsis:

Worlds collide in “The Flash” when Barry uses his superpowers to travel back in time in order to change the events of the past. But when his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned, threatening annihilation, and there are no Super Heroes to turn to. That is, unless Barry can coax a very different Batman out of retirement and rescue an imprisoned Kryptonian… albeit not the one he’s looking for. Ultimately, to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry’s only hope is to race for his life. But will making the ultimate sacrifice be enough to reset the universe?

If you want to know even more about The Flash, you can check out Mike Ryan’s review of the film.

Secret Ending:

According to reports, Warner Bros. is keeping the ending to The Flash tightly under wraps. The studio has reportedly gone so far as to blur out the movie’s secret ending during advance screenings to prevent spoilers from leaking out. As for what Warner Bros. is hiding in The Flash‘s final moments is anybody’s guess, but this is an unprecedented move. Not even Marvel has gone this far to protect the ending to a film.

Trailer

Here’s the latest trailer for The Flash, and if you weren’t aware that Keaton’s Batman is in the film, you will be now:

The Flash races into theaters on June 6.

The Denver Nuggets picked up a 109-94 win in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night thanks in large part to the brilliance of Nikola Jokic. While he’s been great throughout the series, Jokic was out of his mind in Game 3, as he became the first player in NBA history to go for 30+ points, 20+ rebounds, and 10+ assists in a Finals game.

It was quite the bounceback game for the Nuggets, which lost in Game 2 and made it so the Miami Heat would win the title if they could simply win their home games. In a new piece by Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, we learned that Jokic actually spoke up after the game, which DeAndre Jordan said was a “surprise” and “unexpected.” Haynes also got some time with Jokic to ask what he told the team, but apparently, the two-time NBA MVP forgot the whole thing happened.

“Honestly, I don’t remember that I was talking. So if I was saying something, I don’t remember what I was saying,” Jokic said, per Haynes. “Maybe it was just my emotions at the time. I don’t remember, to be honest. Maybe they’re just all crazy. But I think I’m normal. When I say something, it’s not that I’m trying to be vocal. There’s a purpose. When I see something, I’m going to say it. I’m never going to talk just to talk.”

Fortunately for Jokic, Jordan was able to let Haynes know that he essentially told the team they couldn’t relax and had to lock in more. Jokic very much took his own advice to heart in Game 3.

After years of trying to get a solo movie off the ground, Warner Bros. is finally delivering The Flash starring Ezra Miller as the Scarlet Speedster. Miller first appeared as the character in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice before having a more prominent role in Justice League. The Flash also had a brief cameo in Suicide Squad as well as the season finale of Peacemaker, but now, Miller gets to cut loose in a standalone film that will take the classic DC Comics character on a multiversal adventure alongside Michael Keaton’s Batman.

Here’s everything we know about The Flash:

Release Date

The Flash will zoom into theaters on June 16, which is just around the corner. Advance screenings have already happened, so the odds of the film getting tripped up between now and its release are very slim.

Cast

Miller returns as Barry Allen, a police lab technician who becomes empowered with the Speed Force following a freak accident. He now has the ability to move at such incredible speeds that he’s no longer confined by the known laws of physics or… time. In a surprise casting coup, Keaton also returns as his iconic version of Batman, who was last seen in 1992’s Batman Returns. Sasha Calle is also along for the ride as the new big screen version of Supergirl, and Michael Shannon’s General Zod makes a villainous appearance thanks to the film’s reality-breaking story.

Plot

Here’s the official synopsis:

Worlds collide in “The Flash” when Barry uses his superpowers to travel back in time in order to change the events of the past. But when his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned, threatening annihilation, and there are no Super Heroes to turn to. That is, unless Barry can coax a very different Batman out of retirement and rescue an imprisoned Kryptonian… albeit not the one he’s looking for. Ultimately, to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry’s only hope is to race for his life. But will making the ultimate sacrifice be enough to reset the universe?

If you want to know even more about The Flash, you can check out Mike Ryan’s review of the film.

Secret Ending:

According to reports, Warner Bros. is keeping the ending to The Flash tightly under wraps. The studio has reportedly gone so far as to blur out the movie’s secret ending during advance screenings to prevent spoilers from leaking out. As for what Warner Bros. is hiding in The Flash‘s final moments is anybody’s guess, but this is an unprecedented move. Not even Marvel has gone this far to protect the ending to a film.

Trailer

Here’s the latest trailer for The Flash, and if you weren’t aware that Keaton’s Batman is in the film, you will be now:

The Flash races into theaters on June 6.

The Denver Nuggets picked up a 109-94 win in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night thanks in large part to the brilliance of Nikola Jokic. While he’s been great throughout the series, Jokic was out of his mind in Game 3, as he became the first player in NBA history to go for 30+ points, 20+ rebounds, and 10+ assists in a Finals game.

It was quite the bounceback game for the Nuggets, which lost in Game 2 and made it so the Miami Heat would win the title if they could simply win their home games. In a new piece by Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, we learned that Jokic actually spoke up after the game, which DeAndre Jordan said was a “surprise” and “unexpected.” Haynes also got some time with Jokic to ask what he told the team, but apparently, the two-time NBA MVP forgot the whole thing happened.

“Honestly, I don’t remember that I was talking. So if I was saying something, I don’t remember what I was saying,” Jokic said, per Haynes. “Maybe it was just my emotions at the time. I don’t remember, to be honest. Maybe they’re just all crazy. But I think I’m normal. When I say something, it’s not that I’m trying to be vocal. There’s a purpose. When I see something, I’m going to say it. I’m never going to talk just to talk.”

Fortunately for Jokic, Jordan was able to let Haynes know that he essentially told the team they couldn’t relax and had to lock in more. Jokic very much took his own advice to heart in Game 3.

Janelle Monáe has become synonymous with pleasure since dropping their “Lipstick Lover” video, starring multiple butts, and plunging head-first into her The Age Of Pleasure album rollout, which will conclude with its highly anticipated release at midnight (June 9).

But the multi-talented artist is here to help those for whom pleasure doesn’t come as naturally.

Monáe held a private listening party for The Age Of Pleasure in New York City on Wednesday night, June 7, and one of the many visuals to emerge was a “Pleasure Guide.”

The handout includes several helpful tips:

“Safety first. Fun next 🙂
Focus on the present
Leave the past behind
Leave the future in the future
Discover something new about yourself
Focus on the feeling
Focus on the beauty around you
(And if you see no beauty make some!)
Dance like somebody’s watching (cause they are!)
Smile at a stranger
Dance harder than your neighbor
Float baby float
Celebrate you! You made it here.
Come dry leave wet
Unleash the ‘free azz mothaf*cka’ in you!
Hurry Up and Live!”

Monáe’s “Pleasure Guide” is extremely tame compared to what else they’ve released ahead of the album, including uncensored cover art and breast-centric CD and vinyl editions.

Uproxx’s Aaron Williams contextualized the necessity of Monáe’s NSFW Age Of Pleasure era coinciding with a time in this country when Black and queer people are under attack, writing, “She’s still presenting herself as the martyr and messiah, fighting back by being louder, bolder, and brighter than the hatred and those who’d rather see her silent and diminished. That’s not new either. It’s the story of America, of being Black, of being queer, of being non-binary, and always fighting to be seen, to be heard, and to not just survive in a hostile world but thrive.”

The 14-track project will feature Amaarae, CKay, Doechii, Egypt 80, Grace Jones, Nia Long, Seun Kuti, and Sister Nancy. Monáe will support the album with The Age Of Pleasure Tour across North America, beginning on August 30 in Seattle, Washington. See all of their dates here.

Check out more scenes from The Age Of Pleasure playback below.

The Age Of Pleasure is out 6/9 via Wondaland Arts Society/Atlantic Records. Find more information here.

Janelle Monáe is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

For calendar purists, best albums lists have become an irritant. Year-end lists go up by early December, weeks before the actual end of the year. And mid-year lists get posted in early June, which again is weeks before the year’s actual mid-point. I recognize this. If you are a calendar purist, I apologize. But to quote Hyman Roth in The Godfather Part II, this is the business we have chosen. And I must conform to the conditions of our various list seasons.

Besides, do we really want to wait another few weeks to talk about our favorite music of the year so far? Surveying the first half of 2023, I came up with 15 albums that I really like. Here they are, listed in alphabetical order. Hopefully you will find something you haven’t already heard and maybe even discover a new favorite along the way.

100 Gecs, 10,000 Gecs

The first three times I played this album, it made me suspicious of people under the age of 25. The fourth time I played it, a strange thought popped in my head: “This is growing on me.” By the fifth time, I started to suspect that 10,000 Gecs might be my favorite record of 2023 so far. Just as the Ramones surveyed the trash culture of their youth and paid homage to it over genius-idiot music, 100 Gecs take everything that is annoying about the internet and elevate it by leaning into every guilty pleasure of our very, very insipid modern culture. On this album, death metal riffs collide with autotune R&B and “Loudness War” era alt-rock in the space of a single chorus, and you could not sandblast the dumbfounded smile off of my semi-melted face as I marvel at the audacity of it all.

Bar Italia, Tracey Denim

The wave of post-punk bands that have poured out of the U.K. in the past several years have tended to lean on the most guttural, talk-y, and dissonant aspects of the music, like Mark E. Smith himself took a massive piss in their cereal bowls every morning. Fortunately, this London band takes an alternate route, favoring the sleek and sexy side of esoteric art rock. On Tracey Denim, I hear echoes of The Cure, early aughts Radiohead, and the underrated Baltimore indie outfit Lower Dens. A very cool record.

Bully, Lucky For You

On the previous Bully records, Alicia Bognanno made music that evoked the sludgiest alt-rock of the SST and Sub Pop bands of the 1980s. On Lucky For You, she’s moves into her “major label grunge” phase. The guitars are shinier, the rhythms are more sinewy, and the melodies are sharper and more inviting than ever. But while Bognanno has made her poppiest record yet, she hasn’t sacrificed any of her gnarly attitude. Instead, she’s achieved an ideal mix of sweet and sour.

Feeble Little Horse, Girl With Fish

Pittsburgh has been an active hive of indie rock activity lately, and one of the more promising bands to emerge from Steeltown is this hooky noise-pop outfit. Like the North Carolina band Wednesday, Feeble Little Horse draw on the dynamics of shoegaze — distorted guitars, deliberate drums, slightly stoned-sounding vocals — in the service of creating a new kind of heartland rock that blends surreal, tragicomic lyrics with bubble-grunge melodies. If you ever wondered what Daydream Nation would sound like if it were written by Rivers Cuomo, you’ll relish Girl With Fish.

Foo Fighters, But Here We Are

A comeback record in more ways than one. After the death of Taylor Hawkins, it was briefly uncertain whether Dave Grohl would continue the band that originated as a one-man side project in the wake of Kurt Cobain’s sudden passing. But not only have Foo Fighters carried on, they have re-emerged with their strongest album in nearly 25 years. While Grohl has attempted to shake up his sound on recent records with mixed results, But Here We Are evokes the classic alt-rock sound of late ’90s albums like The Colour And The Shape and There Is Nothing Left To Lose. Lyrically, this must be counted as the most emotionally candid release of Grohl’s career. Throughout the album, you feel him grieving in real time, in a way that feels relatable even for us non-rock stars.

Jason Isbell, Weathervanes

After 2020’s fraught Reunions, there’s an appreciably looser and jammier vibe this time around, with several songs on Weathervanes knowingly evoking the southern-rock style of Isbell’s old band, Drive-By Truckers. (He refers to three songs in this vein — which rank among the album’s strongest — as “The Old Assignment” suite.) Throughout the record, he writes perceptively about the struggles of adult relationships as well as canny character studies about school shootings, forgotten bar-band musicians, racist patriarchs, and runaways who find love on the road while hiding out at a KOA campground.

Kara Jackson, What Does The Earth Give Us People To Love?

This Chicago-based singer-songwriter has a legitimate literary pedigree — she was the National Youth Poet Laureate back in the late 2010s. That was before the release of her full-length debut, What Does The Earth Give Us People To Love?, a beguiling collection of jazz-folk fantasias that melds Leonard Cohen with Alice Coltrane. Throughout the record, the combination of the music’s languid pacing and the dreamy, poetic ruminating of the lyrics creates a disorienting effect, like the songs might drift off like a mist and dissipate in the ether. But Jackson’s husky, expressive voice ultimately grounds the album. A truly one-of-a-kind experience that feels like a world unto itself.

Lankum, False Lankum

Can I interest you in a traditional Irish folk record put through a post-rock filter? False Lankum basically is like if the Pogues sounded more like Sunn 0))). I don’t know how to explain it but there’s something metal about this record even though it’s not metal at all. Maybe it’s because of the album cover, which makes them look like a Profound Lore band. But the songs themselves emit a sort of centuries-old doom. This is especially true of their rendition of the traditional folk song “Go Dig My Grave,” which floats like an ancient, evil spirit that crawled out of an unmarked cemetery plot to stalk present-day sinners and punish them accordingly.

Liv.e, Girl In The Half Pearl

Broadly described as “avant R&B,” Liv.e’s music is actually next to impossible to categorize without creating a word salad of references. It’s Sade as produced by Trent Reznor! It’s Brian Eno remaking Joni Mitchell’s Blue! A song cycle about a failed romantic relationship, Girl In The Half Pearl is really good at evoking a mix of desire, despair, wonder, and anger musically as it is unpacking those feelings lyrically. Each time I put it on, I pick up something new.

Superviolet, Infinite Spring

Following the dissolution of the Ohio emo band The Sidekicks, lead singer Steve Ciolek has rebooted as a canny singer-songwriter with a mastery of power pop and heartland rock styles. His first album as Superviolet has echoes of Big Star, Summerteeth-era Wilco, Figure 8-era Elliott Smith, all eras of Sloan, and scores of other lesser-known practitioners of melancholic guitar music with whip-smart minds and sad-sack hearts. As sad as it was to see the Sidekicks depart — check out 2012’s Awkward Breeds if you haven’t already — it appears that Ciolek might be onto something even better as Superviolet.

The Tubs, Dead Meat

This British band plays strummy and zippy jangle rock that’s immediately reminiscent of bands like Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, though Owen “O” Williams’ vocals add another texture to the mix. Because he sounds a bit like Richard Thompson — or like Bob Mould doing his Richard Thompson impersonation on Workbook — Dead Meat has a pleasing British folk flavor. While the tunes deliver a jolt with their rapid BPMs, the melodies would shine just as brightly if played at half the pace.

Wednesday, Rat Saw God

This band sounds like it was produced in a lab by scientists who were determined to cater to a person with my tastes. Do you also love Southern Rock Opera, Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, and Siamese Dream so much that you wish you could listen to all three albums at the same time? Are you thrilled by the prospect of pedal steel guitar put through a distortion pedal? Are you intrigued by the premise of a band that’s so good it doesn’t need MJ Lenderman to contribute any songs? Shouldn’t more country tunes be eight and a half minutes long and conclude with a woman screaming about Mortal Kombat? This record answers every question in the affirmative, as would I.

Westerman, An Inbuilt Fault

The British soft-rock singer-songwriter Will Westerman has been putting out hooky, haunting singles since the late 2010s. But it took until 2020 for him to finally release his debut full-length album, Your Hero Is Not Dead. While I like that record, he really turned a corner with this month’s An Inbuilt Fault, which takes the central idea of his project — “What if Sting made a Bon Iver record?” — and makes it sound as smooth and strange as that description suggests. I would love for somebody to give this guy $2 million and access to the studio cats who made Gaucho so we can see what he really can do.

Yo La Tengo, This Stupid World

When you compare them to their contemporaries from the ’90s indie world, it’s hard to argue that anyone did it better than Yo La Tengo. And they just keep going! This Stupid World is their 17th record, and I think it’s my favorite since at least 2006’s I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass. Whereas their recent work leans more on the spacier side, This Stupid World brings back the “song-y” elements of classics like Painful and I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One. If you’re new to Yo La Tengo, this record might actually be a perfect introduction.

Yves Tumor, Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)

It’s not quite radical enough to qualify as “experimental” and not quite catchy enough to work as a full-on pop move. But sonically it’s one of the best-sounding indie albums of early 2023. With the assistance of Noah Goldstein, an engineer who worked on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and Alan Moulder, who’s one of the great architects of ’90s alt-rock, Praise A Lord invites you to get lost in its grooves. Possibly the best headphone record of 2023 so far.

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

Janelle Monáe has become synonymous with pleasure since dropping their “Lipstick Lover” video, starring multiple butts, and plunging head-first into her The Age Of Pleasure album rollout, which will conclude with its highly anticipated release at midnight (June 9).

But the multi-talented artist is here to help those for whom pleasure doesn’t come as naturally.

Monáe held a private listening party for The Age Of Pleasure in New York City on Wednesday night, June 7, and one of the many visuals to emerge was a “Pleasure Guide.”

The handout includes several helpful tips:

“Safety first. Fun next 🙂
Focus on the present
Leave the past behind
Leave the future in the future
Discover something new about yourself
Focus on the feeling
Focus on the beauty around you
(And if you see no beauty make some!)
Dance like somebody’s watching (cause they are!)
Smile at a stranger
Dance harder than your neighbor
Float baby float
Celebrate you! You made it here.
Come dry leave wet
Unleash the ‘free azz mothaf*cka’ in you!
Hurry Up and Live!”

Monáe’s “Pleasure Guide” is extremely tame compared to what else they’ve released ahead of the album, including uncensored cover art and breast-centric CD and vinyl editions.

Uproxx’s Aaron Williams contextualized the necessity of Monáe’s NSFW Age Of Pleasure era coinciding with a time in this country when Black and queer people are under attack, writing, “She’s still presenting herself as the martyr and messiah, fighting back by being louder, bolder, and brighter than the hatred and those who’d rather see her silent and diminished. That’s not new either. It’s the story of America, of being Black, of being queer, of being non-binary, and always fighting to be seen, to be heard, and to not just survive in a hostile world but thrive.”

The 14-track project will feature Amaarae, CKay, Doechii, Egypt 80, Grace Jones, Nia Long, Seun Kuti, and Sister Nancy. Monáe will support the album with The Age Of Pleasure Tour across North America, beginning on August 30 in Seattle, Washington. See all of their dates here.

Check out more scenes from The Age Of Pleasure playback below.

The Age Of Pleasure is out 6/9 via Wondaland Arts Society/Atlantic Records. Find more information here.

Janelle Monáe is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Prominent televangelist and Christian media mogul Pat Robertson has died at age 93. Despite losing the 1988 primary race to George W. Bush, the longtime host of The 700 Club was an influential figure in the Republican Party for decades where he stoked the fire of culture war issues that persist to this day. In later years, Robertson became more infamous for his controversial remarks following the 9/11 attacks and the devastating earthquakes in Haiti.

Via NBC News:

In the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Roberson and fellow televangelist Jerry Falwell were harshly condemned for appearing to put blame on abortion doctors, feminists, gay people and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Robertson came under fire in 2010 for falsely claiming that the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti that year was caused by enslaved Black people who made a “pact with the Devil” in the 18th century as they fought for liberation from French colonizers.

However, more recently, Robertson has espoused some surprising thoughts for a conservative thought leader. He notably instructed the Republican Party to “move on” from Donald Trump following the 2020 election and even went so far as to call the former president “erratic.” A few months later, Robertson took a bold stance by calling out the police officer who shot Daunte Wright. The 700 Club host didn’t buy the officer’s excuse that he accidentally mistook his gun for a taser.

Despite those deviations, Robertson fell back in line with the Republican orthodox and would later come out of retirement in February 2022 to claim that Vladimir Putin was “compelled by God” to invade the Ukraine.

Following the news of Robertson’s death, the televangelist began to trend on Twitter where his incendiary remarks on hot button issues were clearly not forgotten. You can see some of the reactions below:

(Via NBC News)