Category: Worldwide

The Sacramento Kings have been nothing but a punchline for years. That is the nature of the longest active playoff drought in major North American sports, as the Kings have not made the postseason since 2006 and have not posted even a .500 season in more than a decade and a half. Expectations were raised, albeit mildly, in advance of the 2022-23 season but it would have taken quite the optimist to imagine what has happened.

Sacramento is enjoying an 82-game love affair around a very fun team and “lighting the beam” along the way. On Monday, the Kings had a chance to clinch a playoff spot with a win over Minnesota at home but, in the end, Sacramento fell narrowly short, pushing away the inevitable clincher to a later date.

“Guys wanted to clinch a playoff spot at home and wanted to share it with our fans,” De’Aaron Fox told reporters after the game. “But at the end of the day, regardless of where we do it, I think people are going to be appreciative and people are going to love it.”

Yes, it would have been fantastic if Kings fans were able to celebrate that one at home but, given the team’s 45-30 record and five-game (!) lead on the Phoenix Suns for the No. 3 seed in the West, Sacramento actually has loftier goals. It might seem crazy to some but, in a wide-open Western Conference, it really does feel like a run is possible.

For one, all reports indicate the crowd in Sacramento has been electric all season, and that would also rise to a different level in a playoff atmosphere. The Kings have a rock-solid 23-16 mark with a +4.3 net rating in home games this season and, barring something insane, Sacramento will have home-court advantage in the first round. From there, Sacramento’s offense is utterly relentless. The Kings continue to lead the entire NBA in offensive rating, scoring 118.9 points per 100 possessions, and the combination of Fox’s late-game brilliance, Domantas Sabonis playing at an All-NBA level as the fulcrum, and dynamic balance leads Sacramento to a nightly baffling of opposing defenses.

There has been speculation for weeks, and maybe months, about other West contenders potentially angling toward Sacramento in search of an easier matchup in the first round. After all, there is a long history of young, first-time playoff teams being “happy to be there” and, to be blunt, the Kings are not very good defensively. However, it would be unwise to overlook this Kings team entirely, and when Sacramento does clinch a playoff berth after 17 years out of the mix, the celebration will be well-earned for a franchise and a fan base finally emerging from the wilderness.

Where do the Kings rank in this week’s DIME power rankings? Let’s take a look.

1. Milwaukee Bucks (54-21, Last week — 1st)

The sky isn’t exactly falling in Milwaukee. The Bucks are leading the East. The Bucks just had a 3-1 week, and the only loss came on the road against a top-tier opponent. The margin (23 points) against Denver wasn’t great, but it’s still one basketball game and the Bucks will have another high-profile opportunity on Thursday against Boston.

2. Denver Nuggets (51-24, Last week — 6th)

It was a very strong week for Denver after a series of middling performances. The Nuggets are on a four-game winning streak, headlined by a dominant home win over Milwaukee and a “hold serve” moment against Philadelphia without Joel Embiid. With Memphis winning at a high level lately, Denver had to avoid a real race for the No. 1 seed and they’ve done that lately.

3. Memphis Grizzlies (48-27, Last week — 5th)

The schedule was undeniably friendly, but Memphis now has the longest active winning streak in the league. Seven straight victories bring the Grizzlies within three games of the Nuggets but, perhaps more importantly, Memphis now appears to have a stranglehold on the No. 2 seed in the West.

4. Boston Celtics (52-24, Last week — 4th)

All eyes are on Thursday’s matchup against Milwaukee, but the Celtics took a weird loss to the Wizards on Tuesday. That put even more pressure on the game Thursday, with the Celtics needing to win to functionally stay alive in pursuit of the top seed.

5. Cleveland Cavaliers (48-29, Last week — 3rd)

The team is still flying under the radar for some, but Cleveland is a very strong position. They did lose in Atlanta on Tuesday, but that loss came without Jarrett Allen, Isaac Okoro, and others, with the Cavaliers still boasting a decent chance to close the gap on Philadelphia for the No. 3 spot in the East.

6. Philadelphia 76ers (49-26, Last week — 2nd)

Philadelphia’s losing skid brings a dip to the No. 4 spot in the East in play. It isn’t great for a contender to lose three straight at any point, but the Sixers did lose to the Warriors, Suns, and Nuggets on the road. It could be worse, especially when remembering that Embiid and Harden have been banged up.

7. Phoenix Suns (40-35, Last week — 11th)

Kevin Durant has been out for a while but aims to return on Wednesday against Minnesota. Phoenix did a credible job staying afloat without him but, simply put, the Suns have sky-high expectations and Durant has to be 100 percent to meet them. All eyes are on the Suns once he’s back.

8. Sacramento Kings (45-30, Last week — 8th)

The Kings have five of their last seven on the road, though the first two of those games come against a (potentially) tanking Portland team. Sacramento’s eyes can drift to the playoffs now which, again, is a wild reality after almost two decades.

9. Minnesota Timberwolves (39-37, Last week — 14th)

Here come the Wolves. Four straight wins put Minnesota right into the middle of the chase for the top six, including three road wins against quality teams and a narrow home win over the Hawks in a game without Anthony Edwards. It’s not as if this mini-run makes up for a disappointing start to 2022-23, but the team might be finding it at the right time.

10. New York Knicks (43-33, Last week — 7th)

New York has flattened a bit in recent days, posting a 4-6 record in the last ten games. The Knicks did take care of business in a blowout win over Houston on Monday, but New York is back to being closer to the No. 6 spot than they are to the top four in the East, even if it’s been a strong campaign.

11. Golden State Warriors (40-37, Last week — 12th)

Golden State finally won a couple of road games, and the Warriors avenged a close loss to Minnesota with a win over New Orleans. It feels as if the Warriors are dangerous, and everyone knows it, with an interesting test coming on Sunday in Denver.

12. L.A. Clippers (40-36, Last week — 13th)

The Clippers are making it work without Paul George, at least for now. LA has the inside track at a top-six seed at this moment, even if the margins are very slim. This is a big week, though, as the Clippers play the Grizzlies twice in a row on the road before visiting the rebounding Pelicans.

13. Toronto Raptors (38-38, Last week — 19th)

Toronto did what it needed to do this week, winning three straight games at home. Now, though, the Raptors have five straight on the road, and three of those games come against Boston and Philadelphia. That will be a big test.

14. Miami Heat (40-36, Last week — 9th)

The Heat took a stunningly bad loss on Saturday, losing by 29 points at home to the Nets. Then, Jimmy Butler missed Tuesday’s game and another loss happened. Any visions of a run at the top five basically died this week, but Miami does still have more trust compiled than the rest of the play-in competitors in the East.

15. Atlanta Hawks (38-38, Last week — 18th)

Atlanta’s trajectory over the last two months is relatively unbelievable. The Hawks haven’t won or lost more than two games in a row for more than two months, and Atlanta still has the longest streak in NBA history of consecutive games within just one game of .500. That continued with a win over a shorthanded Cleveland roster on Tuesday, and the Hawks are just right there in the middle.

16. Brooklyn Nets (40-35, Last week — 16th)

The good? Brooklyn closes with six of the last seven games at home and the only road game is in Detroit. The bad? The Nets have lost six of the last seven and are in firm danger of needing to emerge from the play-in rather than entering the playoffs in the top six.

17. Los Angeles Lakers (37-38, Last week — 15th)

LeBron is back and that is the big thing for the Lakers. Yes, Los Angeles lost in his return, but truthfully, the Lakers can only go as far as LeBron and Anthony Davis will take them, even with an undeniably improved supporting cast. That will all be tested this week, however, with the Lakers beginning a five-game road trip with a rematch against the Bulls.

18. Oklahoma City Thunder (37-39, Last week — 10th)

OKC takes a dive this week after three losses in four games. The real impetus for the drop is a home loss to Charlotte (yikes), but keeping perspective is key. It’s been a great year for the Thunder regardless.

19. Chicago Bulls (36-39, Last week — 20th)

With improved play in the second half, the Bulls are now heavily favored to be in the play-in. Chicago is 10-6 in the last 16 games and has a chance to build on that with three of the next four at home. Circle the game against Atlanta on Apr. 4 as a potential swing game in the standings chase.

20. New Orleans Pelicans (38-38, Last week — 22nd)

New Orleans is coming alive again, winning five of the last six games. The Pelicans had a hiccup on Tuesday with a loss to Golden State, but Brandon Ingram’s strong play in recent days has the Pelicans back in the mix after a lengthy swoon.

21. Dallas Mavericks (37-39, Last week — 21st)

In a fortunate turn of events for Dallas, these rankings don’t come out on Mondays. The Mavericks did beat the Pacers on Monday to stop a four-game losing streak, but Dallas was in the depths before that. Losing four in a row is bad no matter what, but the Mavericks lost twice to the Hornets and even let the Warriors beat them in Dallas.

22. Washington Wizards (34-42, Last week — 25th)

Washington stunned Boston by a lopsided margin on Tuesday. That revived faint hope for the Wizards when it comes to the play-in race, and Kristaps Porzingis shined with 32 points and 13 rebounds in that victory over the Celtics.

23. Orlando Magic (32-44, Last week — 24th)

Orlando is in a good spot. The Magic are in a strong place when it comes to ping-pong balls, but Orlando has also played well enough for weeks and months to be pretty encouraged about the future. It also helps to have Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner on board.

24. Utah Jazz (35-40, Last week — 17th)

It was a really nice season for Utah that is basically over at this stage. The Jazz are on a four-game losing streak to fall largely out of the play-in chase, and Utah is playing out the string. That isn’t the worst thing organizationally, but the team’s final record might be skewed a bit as a result.

25. Charlotte Hornets (26-51, Last week — 26th)

It wasn’t the best thing for ping-pong balls, but Charlotte just won three straight. Two of the wins, referenced above, came against a suddenly flailing Mavs team, but the Hornets came off those wins and beat the Thunder as well.

26. Indiana Pacers (33-43, Last week — 23rd)

Indiana isn’t tanking at the level of some of the teams below them here, but the recent results are pretty gross. The last three losses have been pretty ugly, and not even a 25-point quarter (!) from Jordan Nwora in Atlanta could save the Pacers over the weekend.

27. Portland Trail Blazers (32-43, Last week — 27th)

The season is effectively over in Portland. The Blazers are 1-9 in the last ten games and, if you glance at a box score of a recent Portland game, the available roster will jump off the page in a bad way. It does make sense for the Blazers to go ahead and shut it down, but yikes.

28. Houston Rockets (18-58, Last week — 28th)

It’s only been a couple of weeks since Houston won three games in a row. Reality smashed the Rockets this week, though, in that Houston gave up 151 points to Memphis and lost all three of its games by lopsided margins. Only the team at No. 30 in this space has a losing streak as long as the Rockets.

29. San Antonio Spurs (19-56, Last week — 29th)

San Antonio’s losing streak is only at four games, which is better than Houston or Detroit. However, the Spurs were utterly destroyed in the last eight days, posting an impossibly ugly -31.4 net rating with horrific offensive and defensive numbers.

30. Detroit Pistons (16-59, Last week — 30th)

Jaden Ivey is getting the opportunity to cook without much pressure. That’s a positive thing for the future in Detroit. That was an attempt at positivity for a team that has one (yes, one) victory in the last six-plus weeks.

Jenny Lewis announced a brand new album, Joy’All, for this summer. The album will be her first since 2019’s On The Line. In celebration, Lewis also shared the second glimpse of it with the record’s opener, “Psychos.”

“I started writing some of these songs on the road, pre-pandemic, and then put them aside as the world shut down, and then from my home in Nashville in early 2021, I joined a week-long virtual songwriting workshop with a handful of amazing artists, hosted by Beck,” Lewis shared. “The challenge was to write one song every day for seven days, with guidelines from Beck. The guidelines would be prompts like ‘write a song with 1-4-5 chord progression,’ ‘write a song with only cliches,’ or ‘write in free form style.’ The first song I submitted to the group was ‘Puppy And A Truck.’”

While playing shows back in 2021 with Harry Styles, Lewis had previewed-then-dropped none other than “Puppy And A Truck,” which has also made its way onto the album.

She will be hitting the road again this year, with dates playing with The Postal Service, her own headlining shows, and opening for Beck and Phoenix. A full list of dates and touring information can be found here.

Listen to “Psychos” above and find the Joy-All tracklist below.

1. “Psychos”
2. “Joy’All”
3. “Puppy And A Truck”
4. “Apples And Oranges”
5. “Essence Of Life”
6. “Giddy Up”
7. “Cherry Baby”
8. “Love Feel”
9. “Balcony”
10. “Chain Of Tears”

Joy’All is out 6/9 via Blue Note/Capitol Records. Find more information here.

Danny Brown opened up about why his much-anticipated album, Quaranta, is taking so long to release and a personal issue he has been facing.

On a recent episode of his podcast The Danny Brown Show, he shared that he had turned in the album to his label Warp Records two years ago, but claimed that the label didn’t see the album as a priority. He also instructed listeners to tweet #FreeDanny and #FreeQuaranta at his manager, Dart Parker.

Yesterday (March 28), Brown took to Twitter to instruct his fans to relent, and to reveal that he is seeking treatment over his alcohol use.

“Aye chill out with all the #FreeDanny sh*t,” he wrote. “I was drunk and talking sh*t and that’s why my dumb ass is checking into treatment tomorrow got nothing but love for dart and warp so chill out the album is mastered.”

A fan then brought up the podcast and Brown’s directive to send messages to his manager. Brown replied, saying, “That’s why alcohol is something I need to be done with cause it makes me hurt the people that care the most.”

According to Vibe, during his recent Dr. Martens-sponsored SXSW set, Brown revealed his plans to seek treatment. He revealed he planned to use the fees he earned for his performances to pay for treatment.

“Honestly, my dumb ass supposed to been gone, but I’m broke so I gotta do shows to take my ass in, so shout out to Dr. Martens,” he said.

The news arrives just days after Brown released Scaring The Hoes, a joint album with Jpegmafia.

Avatar: The Way Of Water, or the biggest movie of 2022 (depending on who you ask) has been out for nearly 100 days, meaning it’s about time to let the rest of the world stream the three-hour aquatic adventure movie from the comfort of their own home. This way, they can go to the bathroom without missing any of the very important swimming sequences. Or you can just fast-forward through them! The world is your oyster.

James Cameron’s Avatar sequel became available to purchase on various digital platforms like Prime Video, Apple TV, and Vudu this week. This includes nearly three more hours of bonus content and behind-the-scenes features. But if you want to stream Way Of Water on your favorite service, you might have to wait a little longer.

The long-awaited sequel won’t arrive on Disney+ for quite some time, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The movie is also unavailable for renting at the moment, meaning if you want to watch it, you have to commit to the purchase. It’s unclear as to when Disney+ will snag the film, though the company recently announced a new Avatar “experience” opening at Disneyland in the near future, so they have to acknowledge it at some point soon, in theory.

For now, you’ll have to settle for buying the digital version or making a weekly trip to the movie theater. James Cameron will appreciate either.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Rap music isn’t all dance-centered or drill tracks as some may believe, and Fayetteville, North Carolina rapper Morray is leading the way with soul-infused songs. With singles like “Momma’s Love,” “Still Here,” and “Never Fail,” to name a few, the musician is slowly becoming a go-to emcee for gut-wrenching storytelling thanks in part to the vulnerability he injects into each release.

Stopping by the UPROXX Studios for a new Bar Stories episode, Morray gave our very own Cherise Johnson a breakdown behind his standout 2022 SephGotTheWaves- and Andyr-produced track, “Letter To Myself,” off his forthcoming album Long Story Short.

Turning his attention to the stanza, “Food spoiled, don’t got no more EBT / What the f*ck am I to eat? / Eat last, raisin’ babies ain’t cheap / Thеy clothes fly ’cause my clothes stayеd cheap / An eighth last a whole week,” the rapper opened up about what inspired the line.

Plainly put, the songwriter admits that although he’s rocked big stages alongside friend and mentor J. Cole, when he initially wrote the track, “Those bars was [my] reality.” He added, “There were times when I didn’t have food to eat.”

The stanza mentions EBT (or Electronic Benefits Transfer), a monthly subsidy program managed at the state level to ensure residents that are in need of financial assistance for groceries and other items at designated stores like supermarkets. Explaining the first line, Morray said, “You [only] get a certain amount of EBT — [and] once you run out, you run out. Sometimes when you’re working so much [that] the leftovers you had for three days — because you were working so hard — spoil.”

Outside of Morray’s Bar Stories episode, be sure to watch his UPROXX Sessions performance of the song here. Or check out his appearance on React Like You Know as he gives his thoughts on Panic! At The Disco’s video for their classic song, “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” here.

Check out Morray’s full bar breakdown of “Letter To Myself” above.

Host Pat Sajak breathed a sigh of relief in a Wheel of Fortune episode that aired last year when a contestant resisted the temptation to give a “dirty” answer on the family-friendly game show. He wasn’t so lucky this time.

It’s WWE Week on Wheel of Fortune, in which wrestlers are teamed with contestants ahead of WrestleMania 39. During a recent episode, Drew McIntyre was paired up with Tracina, who attempted to solve a puzzle in the “Fun and Games” category. Here’s what the board looked like:

The correct answer is “playing with dolls,” which does not sound like fun and/or games to me. Have you seen Annabelle? Come on. You’re asking for it. But that’s not what Tracina went with, anyway. She guessed “playing with balls,” which caused wrestler Xavier Woods to crack up.

Following Jones’ incorrect answer, the camera panned to Creed and his playing partner, Mike Bozzuffi, who snickered as they struggled to contain their laughter… “You’re trouble,” smiling Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak quietly told Creed, prompting the WrestleMania veteran to playfully protest: “What did I do?”

Woods continued to play innocent after the episode aired. “How was I supposed to react?!?!?” he tweeted, and jokingly claimed that he “definitely displaced a rib holding it in.” You can watch the rib-displacing moment below.

(Via Newsweek)

Only a few months have passed since Marvel Studios/Disney+ star Jeremy Renner suffered a horrific snowplow accident on January 2. Since that time, Renner has posted videos of his rehabbing progress while we’ve heard bits and pieces about an array of broken bones and his crushed lung. As well, reports indicated that the accident was “much worse” than anyone truly knew, and now, Renner has surfaced for his first interview, for which he sat down with Diane Sawyer and ABC News.

Renner was also on tap to promote his new Disney+ show, Rennervations, a four-part series that reimagines how vehicles can be custom-built to serve individual communities. It’s all about giving back, and these days, the world can’t have enough of that. First, though, Renner is getting real about his too-close brush with death. This is grim stuff, given that Renner’s nephew is seen remembering, “I see him in a pool of blood coming from his head.” From there, his nephew’s previously unrevealed 911 call plays in the background. Renner is heard moaning through the pain, and he told Sawyer, “I was awake through every moment.” As well, Sawyer listed Renner’s extensive injuries:

“Eight ribs broken in fourteen places, right knee, right ankle broken, left leg tibia broken, left ankle broken, right clavicle broken, right shoulder broken, face, eye socket, jaw, mandible broken. Lung collapsed, pierced from the rib bone, your liver, which sounds terrifying.”

Renner admitted that he was stunned when he learned about the extent of his ongoing ordeal. “Am I just going to be a spine and a brain, like a science experiment?” Yet as one can see from his on-camera appearance, he is making a truly miraculous recovery. There’s lots of work to do ahead, of course, but Renner is incredibly grateful to be where he’s at now. “I chose to survive. That’s not gonna kill me, no way,” he declared, which is an immense turn from early January, when he couldn’t speak due to all the medical apparatus, and he told his family in sign language, “I’m sorry.”

Disney+’s Rennervations premieres on April 12. Watch the trailer below.

(Via Variety)

Here’s something I’m starting to notice, albeit maybe anecdotally. Everyone I know who has seen Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the great majority, all seem to like this movie a lot and had a great time. And these are not all the kind of people who have Lord of the Ring marathon watch parties every year. Honestly, most of them are people who would never think of doing such a thing. (Though at least one person I know who loves this movie does have a Lord of the Rings marathon watch party every year.)

Also, maybe anecdotally, people I know who I know would like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves don’t seem to have a lot of interest. Because, you know, fantasy movies just aren’t for them. Fair enough. But this is why I’m here to tell you that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is less a fantasy movie and more of a straight up comedy. It’s directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the directors who brought you Game Night. You know, that movie you love with the lines, “How can that be profitable for Frito Lay?,” and, “Oh no he died.”

In a way, I get it. I was once like them. And I really can’t figure out if the title Dungeons & Dragons is a positive or a negative. I mean, look, everyone has heard of it, so that’s good. But a lot of people still don’t know exactly what it even is, now almost 50 years after its creation. It’s not a game that can really be defined as “accessible.” It’s not like busting out the Sorry board game and, passively, a couple of people can waste some time while it’s raining. (I realize this is a very unrealistic scenario in 2023, but in the 1980s this was fairly accurate.) You need a group of people who are really into the idea of playing.

My real only experience with the game was seeing it advertised in comic books, but I thought it was a video game. The ads certainly made it look cool. A friend of mine from school liked playing and invited me over. Still thinking this was a video game, I just assumed, after, we’d pop in Pitfall or Yars’ Revenge. Anyway, no, it was a group of people with the most confusing-looking game sitting out in front of them and scenes were being acted out in great detail. Now here’s where I think there’s a disconnect. This is where it’s easy to go, “these guys are dorks,” and then leave. That’s the easy excuse out. But, being honest, that’s not how I felt. I felt intimidated by how complex this game looked, all the things I’d need to remember, and then having to act it all out. I didn’t play. I did leave, but not because I thought these kids were dorks, but because I felt intimidated and not smart enough to play. I went back to my house and played Zaxxon.

I do wonder if people who are aware of Dungeons & Dragons but have never played (like me) just assume this movie will be too complicated and too mixed up in the lore of whatever that game is? I can’t help but think there’s at least some of that working here. But, again, I’m here to tell you that is not the case. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a full-on comedy. Though I want to be clear it’s not a parody. It is fully set in its world, it’s just an adventure comedy set in that world, with a focus on the comedy.

I actually think the ’80s Saturday morning Dungeons & Dragons cartoon did a pretty good job of trying to make the game a little more mainstream. At least now there were some actual characters to identify with the title. The plot was basically a group of kids are on an amusement park ride and they get sucked into the world of Dungeons & Dragons and now all have weapons and must fight dragons and things like that, but they just want to go home. It was a good premise for a Saturday morning cartoon. And, in fact, these characters have a cameo in the new film, which is fitting because the film is much more like the spirit of the cartoon – lighthearted and fun – then it is the game.

There is a plot to Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and it’s a good plot, low on the convolutedness that plagues so many movies today. But the plot is there to set situations in which our heroes find themselves in funny adventures and situations. In a nutshell, Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez play thieves Edgin and Holga, who are betrayed by their former partner, Forge (played by Hugh Grant, having a great time), who is now also raising Edwin’s daughter since Edgin and Holga were sent to prison. They are now out and Edgin wants his daughter back. Forge, who now works with a sorcerer named Sophina (Daisy Head, who is so sinister in this movie), refuses to give Edwin his daughter back. So Edwin and Holga form a team in an effort to both get Edgin’s daughter back, but also, since they are thieves, why not take all Forge’s treasure while they are at it.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a great movie. One of my favorites of 2023. There’s literally a scene of Chris Pine playing a lute, singing a song in a funny voice, while doing a little dance. But I get why you might not think it’s for you. Do you like laughing? Well, then, I promise it’s for you.

‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ opens in theaters on March 31st. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Music titans Questlove, Black Thought, Live Nation, and Universal Music Group have been named in an explosive fraud lawsuit. According to Rolling Stone, Questlove (real name Ahmir Thompson) and Black Thought (real name Tariq Trotter), co-founders of hip-hop group The Roots, the group’s manager Shawn Gee, and band employee Munir Nuriddin are being accused of working together to “scheme to defraud” the estate of the band’s late bassist Leonard Hubbard’s widow and estate out of money owed to them.

After forming Grand Negaz, Inc. to manage the band’s business dealings in 1993, a financial agreement was made to clearly state ownership percentages to ensure everyone knew their respective compensation splits. Thompson and Trotter took 37 percent of stakeholders’ interest, while member rapper Malik Smart (who died in 2020) and Hubbard retained 17 percent each. However, in addition to that, the lawsuit claims Hubbard was to be granted 25 percent of the group’s recording and publishing earnings, as well as a 33 percent stake in the band’s touring performance company.

The lawsuit presented by Hubbard’s widow and estate is seeking “restitution for property, money, and benefits” that were not provided to him as outlined in the paperwork. While the matter is being litigated, they are requesting that the courts “freeze” The Roots’ trademark “until a value can be determined for the brand.”

Hubbard departed from the group in 2007 to seek medical care after being diagnosed with blood cancer, and later died in 2021. The suit alleges that beginning in 2014 up to the current day, Thompson, Trotter, and others, “through a pattern of racketeered behavior, fraudulently converted, divested and absconded with monies lawfully belonging to the Plaintiff Decedent.”

The lawsuit also accuses the musicians of forming a new business, Legendelphia, in 2013, to allegedly transfer funds from their business Grand Negaz, all without the approval of Hubbard. As for where Live Nationa and Universal Music Publishing Group is named, the suit accuses Gee of “deactivating Hubbard’s personal royalty account.” It also accuses that Gee, Thompson, and Trotter of “sending a letter be written from Legendelphia to Universal Music Publishing Group to divert Hubbard’s royalties to Legendelphia” instead of Grand Negaz, Inc.

No public statement has been released by The Roots, Thompson, or Trotter. All parties declined Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.

When Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker formed Boygenius, they introduced a new concept: the meta supergroup.

Back when supergroups first emerged in the late 1960s, they were synonymous with young men whose egos were fueled as much by hubris and cocaine as they were by genuine artistic inspiration. That era came and went before the members of Boygenius were even born, but Bridgers, Dacus, and Baker are nevertheless committed students of rock history and well-versed in the conventions of the form. Hence the band name, a witty potshot at the “dude auteur” archetype at the heart of supergroup culture. And then there’s the cover of their 2018 self-titled EP, which slyly mimicked Crosby, Stills & Nash’s iconic 1969 debut. (Bridgers took it one step further by entering a social-media feud with the actual David Crosby, which was extra meta considering that she feels like the Crosby of Boygenius.)

At the start of the promotional cycle for their first full-length album, The Record — one can assume the bravado of that title is also self-aware — Boygenius emulated another lauded “dude auteur” band of yesteryear, Nirvana, on the cover of Rolling Stone. But it was the article inside the magazine that really showed how Bridgers, Dacus, and Baker have redefined the supergroup idea. You know how the supergroups of the classic-rock era inevitably fell apart because the people in those bands could not stand one another? Well, that’s not true of Boygenius. They are the most well-adjusted and emotionally stable supergroup in rock history. They are supportive, democratic, non-competitive, and non-hierarchal. They even attend group therapy sessions together, purely as preventative care to avoid potential future conflicts. “We’re obsessed with each other,” Bridgers gushed. “I like myself better around them.”

Friendship, we can all agree, is good. Though there’s something about how the frictionless interpersonal dynamic of Boygenius is aggressively asserted in everything written about them that seems like a statement about 1) how this superstar collective is different than the rest and 2) how Boygenius is a corrective to the sorry history of media narratives that pit women against each other. It’s another layer of self-consciousness placed on an already acutely mindful operation. Given that the singer-songwriters in Boygenius made their bones writing authentically about dysfunctional relationships, the idealized sisterhood being sold here feels meme-ified for internet consumption. Their magazine quotes demand to be quote-tweeted, rather than merely liked. It’s not that supergroups normally don’t talk like this, no band ever talks like this.

As a fan of Bridgers, Dacus, and Baker individually, I feel like it’s worth taking a moment to ponder why the dude-auteurs inside of all those ill-fated mega ensembles ended up falling out with one another. Because it’s not just the drugs or the pettiness or the toxic male energy. In a band, you have to cede part of yourself for the better of the whole. You must negotiate, accommodate, and compromise. In the process, you will dilute your voice for the sake of the group identity.

And that’s the unresolvable problem of every supergroup, even the smart and thoughtful ones. The complaint about supergroups historically is that they never seem to be as good as the members are on their own. And that’s due almost entirely to the sacrifices that being in a band requires. You can’t be the you that you are on your solo records; you lose you in order to have us.

For all the care they have taken to avoid the pitfalls that felled their predecessors, this is the one issue that the members of Boygenius are unable to avert. The math works against them. On The Record, the sum does not equal the parts.

Each member of Boygenius has an instantly recognizable style. Bridgers is the Elliott Smith acolyte whose whispery delivery belies lyrics loaded with scathing and occasionally violent imagery. Dacus is the keen observer with an eye for wry literary detail. Baker is the emotional brutalist with a Christian impulse to self-flagellate.

The best parts of The Record spotlight those idiosyncrasies. On the hushed folk number “Cool With It,” they each take a verse that plainly signifies their singular voices — Baker is self-deprecating, Dacus tells a short story, and Bridgers quietly seethes. “The Satanist” follows a similar structure, and again Dacus’ sardonic verse wins out. (“Will you be a nihilist with me? / If nothing matters, man, that’s a relief / Solomon had a point when he wrote Ecclesiastes / If nothing can be known, then stupidity is holy.”)

The chunky alt-pop of “The Satanist” also highlights the most appealing musical gear on The Record, which extends from the rock-oriented arrangements on Dacus and Baker’s most recent solo efforts. The winning early single “Not Strong Enough” suggests that moving in a Sheryl Crow direction would also significantly leaven Bridgers’ mellow sonic tableau, while the delightfully sludgy “Anti-Curse” reveals that Baker might be well-advised to make a full-on grunge record.

Where The Record falters is when the proximity of these writers’ work inadvertently makes the songs sound one-note and samey. What Bridgers, Dacus, and Baker share is a generational fixation on mediated emotions — it’s not just about how you feel, but also how the other person might be feeling and what those feelings are supposed to mean and then resenting the implications of those projected interpretations. Their songs unfold like the sort of self-interrogations that insecure people instinctively fall into whenever they have an awkward social encounter that they subsequently spend the rest of the night running over endlessly in their minds in the mistaken hope that they can finally “solve” it.

That perspective is obviously relatable to people who experience the world via multiple screens. But on The Record — particularly on the album’s weaker second half — it can feel repetitive and oppressive. There are no less than three songs in which a moment of significant emotional catharsis occurs during a road trip. (If he were a woman in his 20s, Bruce Springsteen could be a member of Boygenius.) While delivering big emotions is the bread and butter of these writers, The Record occasionally veers from empathetic truth into corny manipulation. The worst offender is the would-be showstopper “We’re In Love,” a relentlessly maudlin ballad in which Dacus literally says “Damn, that makes me sad” while reflecting on still more heartache in a karaoke bar.

Moments like that made me wonder if Boygenius would benefit from a little more hubris and blow. Then again, the fame-powered grandiosity inherent to the supergroup experience works against the strengths of these artists. What sounds fresh and perceptive on their solo records can come across as overblown and cliched here. As it is, I’ll take the intimate insights of Punisher, Home Video, and Little Oblivions over the indulgences of The Record any day.