Category: Worldwide

Charli XCX hasn’t performed during the Super Bowl halftime show (yet), but she’ll make her “big game” debut this Sunday.

The “360” singer appears in an Uber Eats commercial alongside Matthew McConaughey and Martha Stewart, which is actually my dream blunt rotation. Snoop Dogg agrees.

The premise of the ad: McConaughey plays different figures throughout the history of the NFL, all of whom are part of a conspiracy to “make us hungry.” This year, the football powers-that-be are done being subtle: it’s Super Bowl LIX (pronounced “licks”) with a halftime show presented by Apple Music. Cue Charli XCX taking a chomp out of an apple.

You can watch the commercial (which also features Greta Gerwig, Hot Ones host Sean Evans, and Kevin Bacon) above.

“My vibe is just wanting to have a good time,” Charli XCX told W ahead of the Grammys. “Let’s be real, I wasn’t even on the Grammys’ radar last year, so it’s not something I ever expected. The thing is, wherever I am becomes fun anyway, so I’m sure I’ll figure it out.” She added, “I’m just a good time. Maybe one day we’ll go partying, and you’ll see exactly what I mean.” You can party with Charli — and 16,000 other people — when the Brat Arena Tour resumes in April.

After making history at the Grammys, Kendrick Lamar is getting ready to further pad his resume with his upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show performance. Usher, who did last year’s show, has now passed the torch by sharing some advice for Lamar.

On The Jennifer Hudson Show, Usher said:

“I haven’t had the chance to catch up with him and tell him, one, how excited I am. I’ve talked to everybody around him. […] I’ve talked to all the producers, his creative team.

The one thing that I would say is savor the moment, because you get obsessed in trying to build the best performance, but you don’t realize that it’s really about enjoying it, right? It might not be perfect, everything may not go exactly the way it’s supposed to, but if you are in your mind and stuck trying to make something perfect, you’re not going to look up and smell the flowers and realize, ‘Wait a minute, I’m here, and I get a chance to have this moment, and I’m not going to get it again, I’m not going to get this moment back.’

So, my encouragement to him is to really be present. I hope that he uses the moment well. There’s a lot that could be said, there’s a lot to be said for where hip-hop has come from. There’s a lot to be said for that young man and how he’s completely been an incredible benchmark for what it is to be an artist. […] I’m just hoping that he really maximizes that moment.”

Check out the clip above.

Big Thief has released a new EP for a good cause.

Proceeds from Passional Relations, which features previously unreleased recordings from the Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You sessions and a UFOF– and Two Hands-era demo, goes towards Plus1LA Fires Fund.

The fund “directly supports organizations working on the ground to address critical needs like housing, education, animal welfare, and more,” according to a press release. “The rest will go to local musicians, artists and community members who need extra support during this time.”

“Our hearts are broken for everyone affected by the fires in California,” the band wrote in a statement. “We’ve put together some of our favorite unreleased songs into an EP called Passional Relations, only available on our webstore, and all proceeds will go toward providing relief for those impacted by the fires in Los Angeles. Our hope is that these contributions will not only help address the crucial and immediate needs of affected communities but also help sustain the work, identity, and culture of the artists within them.”

You can buy a digital download here, and check out the tracklist below.

Big Thief’s Passional Relations EP Tracklist

1. “Imagination”
2. “Light As Light”
3. “Waiting On Blue”
4. “Zombie Girl”
5. “Shadow Too”

Passional Relations is out now. Find more information here.

Kendrick Lamar just had a huge night at the 2025 Grammys, where “Not Like Us” was nominated for five awards — Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Music Video — and won all of them.

Interestingly, though, when Lamar later announced the album GNX, the Drake diss was not included on the tracklist. Many have wondered why that is, and Top Dawn Entertainment’s Punch, a longtime Lamar associate, has offered some insight.

A fan on X (formerly Twitter) asked Punch why Lamar didn’t put the song on the album and he responded:

“Integrity. That record was for the battle. The album was a separate thing. Could have put it on there to boost overall sales but choose to leave it for what it was. Integrity.”

Meanwhile, another user asked Punch if he’d be open to TDE signing more gay artists and he replied, “Open to see artist in general. Not just because the artist is a certain thing. Is the music good is the question.”

After the Grammys, Punch also reflected on SZA’s journey, writing, “It’s crazy.. when ctrl dropped SZA was nominated for 5 Grammys and we got shut out of every award. Now she’s a 5x Grammy Award winning artist. Full circle.”

Beyoncé made history at the Grammys when Cowboy Carter won the award for Best Country Album, making her the first Black artist to ever claim the honor. It certainly wasn’t a given, as in the category, she was up against Chris Stapleton’s Higher, Lainey Wilson’s Whirlwind, Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion, and Kacey Musgraves’ Deeper Well.

Speaking of Musgraves, a video of her reaction to Beyoncé’s win generated some attention online: She sports a relatively blank expression in the clip, which had some thinking that Musgraves was upset about the outcome.

Now, though, a representative for Musgraves has spoken out, telling E!, “It’s a sensationalistic false narrative meant to pit two talented female artists against each other. There was simply no scowl or expression made.”

In a 2024 interview, Musgraves spoke about Beyoncé and other artists making their way to country music, saying, “The more the f*cking merrier. I don’t really care. It doesn’t affect what I’m doing. It doesn’t affect me. I’ve always been just doing my own thing. It’s just fun to watch.”

Meanwhile, a Cowboy Carter collaborator seemed to indicate last year that Musgraves nearly ended up contributing to the project, although a Beyoncé/Musgraves collab has yet to come to light.

Sam Presti is one of the NBA’s best executives and clearly has an incredible eye for talent, both in the draft and via trade. Sam Presti also has an addiction to acquiring draft picks and I believe it is time for an intervention.

After entering a full-fledged rebuild by trading away Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Chris Paul (acquired for Westbrook), and others, the Thunder acquired picks at an alarming rate. Currently, the Thunder either own outright or have swap rights to nine first round picks from other teams and have 12 second round picks from other teams through 2030, while also controlling all of their own first and second round picks in that time period. It is, frankly, outrageous how many future picks they control and they’ve used a ton of them in recent to build out their current roster that is first in the West.

At this point you would think Presti and the Thunder would be done with their pursuit of picks, but he simply cannot help himself as evidenced by the official Sickos Trade of the 2025 Deadline that got done late Monday night between the Thunder and Hornets that will send Oklahoma City the Nuggets’ 2030 second round pick and Charlotte will get the Suns’ 2029 second round pick.

I just want to know how this trade, that features nothing else — no money, players, rights, anything — changing hands, just second round picks belonging to other teams four and five years into the future, even happens. What is that conversation even like? How did it start? What else was discussed? Did one of them have this idea and call to make it happen specifically, or did they just come up with this while discussing other things?

At this point I feel like Presti might just be trolling everyone and coming up with the most ridiculous draft pick swaps he can imagine. I will say, this being the trade the Thunder make after the league-shaking Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade and the three-team De’Aaron Fox-Zach LaVine blockbuster is objectively hilarious.

Although she broke her retirement from music vow, Noname proves she will always make good on her community outreach promises. Yesterday (February 2), the “Namesake” rapper revealed that her Noname’s Book Club and Radical Hood Library were in jeopardy due to a lack of funding.

Well, supporters heard Noname’s online plea and jumped to action. Today (February 3) in an emotional post on Instagram (viewable here), Noname revealed that was no longer the case after folks rushed to meet the Noname’s Book Club and Radical Hood Library’s fundraising goals.

Read Noname’s full statement below.

Never in my life will I ever again doubt the power of community. In less than 24 hours, we made it to our goals! February was slated to be the month we closed operations due to a lack of funds. Now, I’m sitting here crying tears of joy. I can’t thank y’all enough.

We asked for a Black History Month miracle and that’s exactly what we got. Sending everyone so much love.

However, stressed that even with their financial needs met they are still a ways off from expansion.

“After my post yesterday I got many requests from you all to add your incarcerated family/friends to our books-to-prison program,” she wrote. “Truth is we made just enough to stay open but not enough to reopen our waiting list.”

According to Noname, there are still 300 incarcerated people on the waiting list. Find more information here about the Noname’s Book Club and Radical Hood Library.

Last year, the leading pop ladies were thrown into an unwarranted competition fueled by fans. But, users online claimed Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo’s tension was due to a romantic entanglement–and not music related. Yesterday (February 2), both singers put those rumors to bed during the 2025 Grammy Awards.

Although the ladies did not walk the carpet together, they found each other inside. In a now-viral clip (viewable here), Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo can be seen warmly embracing one another. For years, users online have speculated that the two had built-up tension around their supposed romantic entanglements with Joshua Bassett.

Back in 2021, fans claimed Rodrigo’s breakout smash “Drivers License,” was about Bassett’s intimate relationship with Carpenter. “And you’re probably with that blonde girl / Who always made me doubt / She’s so much older than me / She’s everything I’m insecure about,” sings Rodrigo.

But, Rodrigo denial of the rumor was ignored once Carpenter supporters claimed she issued a response of on own within the record, “Skin.”

“Maybe we could’ve been friends / If I met you in another life / Maybe then we could pretend / There’s no gravity in the words we write / Maybe you didn’t mean it / Maybe blonde was the only rhyme / The only rhyme,” sings Carpenter.

Carpetenter tried to kill the fan theory by shutting down that claim as well. Fast-forward to the 2025 Grammys, maybe their embrace will finally do the trick.

T.I., Tiny Harris, and the OMG Girlz are saying show me the money. Back in September 2024, the entertainers won their copyright infringement lawsuit against O.M.G. Doll’s toy company MGA. However, last month their courtroom victory faced another hurdle.

The presiding judge issued a tentative order that questioned the amount rewarded to the parties–specifically the punitive damages. Now, according to journalist Meghann Cuniff, that decision has been rescinded. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Cuniff released paperwork that confirmed T.I., Tiny Harris, and the OMG Girlz will be granted their jury awarded $53.6 million in punitive damages as well as their $17.9 million in actual damages.

“Upon consideration of the evidence, the Courts grants disgorgement of profits of $17,872,252 under common law misappropriation, and affirms the jury’s award of punitive damages of $53,616,759,” read the filing attributed to U.S. District Court Judge James V. Selna.

The judge previously argued that the punitive damages should not be rewarded “there isn’t enough evidence of bad faith” from the toymaker.

During the trial, lawyers for T.I. Tiny, and the OMG Girlz (comprised of Tiny’s daughter Zonnique Pullins, Bahja “Beauty” Rodriguez, and Breaunna “Babydoll” Womack) accused MGA of “cultural appropriation and outright theft” for lifting the once popular girl group’s likeness for their collectibles.

T.I. Tiny, nor the OMG Girlz have issued a statement regarding the judge’s recent decision.

Sadly for Benson Boone, he did not take home a trophy during the 2025 Grammy Awards. But the “Beautiful Things” singer’s performance during the Best New Artist segment, Boone made won over viewers at-home for another reason.

The Grammys are no stranger to controversial moments from featured entertainers. During yesterday’s (February 2) ceremony, Benson Boone’s set sparked an endless amount of online suitors thanks to his skin tight soft blue bedazzled bodysuit. With his bulge on full display, Boone quickly take a moment to relive himself from the fabric friction. Unfortunately, that did not sit well with some viewers. After the show, Boone took to his Instagram stories (viewable here, courtesy of People) to issue an apology.

“Sorry for adjusting my jumpsuit so aggressively on stage tonight,” he wrote. “That thing was aggressively restricting in certain areas.”

Boone’s high-flying flips matched with his superhero like stage wear has made him a running meme online. But Boone’s get-up wasn’t the only outfit from the 2025 Grammys to cause a tizzy online. Kanye West (Ye) and his wife, designer Bianca Censori set a censorship storm on the red carpet, when Censori showed up nearly nude.

Watch Benson Boone’s performance of “Beautiful Things” at the 2025 Grammy Awards here.