Category: Worldwide

The Milwaukee Bucks came into the 2024-25 season hopeful that having both Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo fully healthy and coming off a full training camp together would vault them back into being a threat in the Eastern Conference. Instead, the Bucks are 2-6 with their only wins over the tanking Jazz and the Sixers on opening night — who were without Joel Embiid and Paul George and have also looked awful to start the season.

It’s been rough on both sides of the ball for the Bucks, as they are in the bottom half of the league in both offensive and defensive rating through the first few weeks of the season, and while things should improve if and when Khris Middleton can get back healthy for an extended period of time, it’s also pretty clear this roster has some flaws in need of fixing. The problem for the Bucks is, as a second apron team, making a trade is extremely difficult, as they’ve found out the hard way recently.

On Friday’s episode of NBA Today, Brian Windhorst said the Bucks have “called pretty much the whole league” trying to find a trade that could improve their roster, but have run into the same issues with just about everyone.

“The Bucks are doing something that we don’t see very often, which is scouring the trade market in the first week of November,” Windhorst said. “As I was talking to teams this week, they were like, ‘The Bucks just called. The Bucks just called.’ I think the Bucks right now are just kind of searching and trying to cover their bases. And by the way, Giannis is not on the table, Dame is not on the table, they’re looking to try and (find) help for some of their wing play — Khris Middleton’s absence has been extended.

“I talked to one team who said, ‘Yeah, we talked to the Bucks. We came up with two or three different scenarios and realized we’re not allowed to make any of those trades.’ The Bucks are hemmed in as a second-apron team with the new rules. They can’t aggregate players together, they can’t put like two or three players together in a trade. They can’t do a trade where they bring in more money. They have traded away the next six first round picks, either the picks or the swaps, they have traded away the next six second round picks. They are $75 million in the luxury tax. I don’t think help is on the way through the trade market. But they are making calls, which is interesting because from what I can tell, they called pretty much the whole league.”

The two players the Bucks were reported to be shopping over the summer (and even last trade deadline) were Bobby Portis and Pat Connaughton, but as Windhorst notes, being unable to aggregate those salaries together means they have to find a player to trade for that matches salary exactly or makes just a little less than either of those two. Given Portis makes just over $12.5 million and Connaughton makes just under $9.5 million, that’s a tough thing to do if the goal is to add a strong contributor for a contender. As such, Windy doesn’t expect them to find a miraculous deal out there, and it sounds like, despite the front office’s best efforts in working the phones, it’s going to come down to this roster to turn things around in Milwaukee.

Cordae and Joey Badass are two names you might have thought would be more closely associated over the past several years. After all, both are members of students of ’90s-style boom-bap rap, setting them apart from many of their peers. However, they hadn’t previously collaborated until today. Their tag-team track, “Syrup Sandwiches,” is exactly what you’d expect of them: lyrically focused, packed to the gills with double entendre, and evocative of a bygone era in rap when beats pulled heavier focus from jazz and funk than drum machine 808s, thanks to production from Smoko Ono and Thelonius Martin. Its video, directed by Wax Bondo, is a similarly low-key affair, following the two rappers as they perform their verses at a deli in Joey’s native Brooklyn.

“Syrup Sandwiches” is the latest single from Cordae’s upcoming third album, Crossroads, following “Saturday Mornings” featuring Lil Wayne, “Mad As F*ck,” and potentially, his Anderson .Paak collaboration, “Summer Drop.” There are also some indications that Cordae’s previous Anderson .Paak collab, “Two Tens,” could also appear on the project, which is due on November 15 through Atlantic Records.

You can watch Cordae’s video for “Syrup Sandwiches” featuring Joey Badass above.

Crossroads is due on 11/15 via Atlantic. You can find more info here.

More than half of the 2024 NFL regular season is over. That reality is painful for those enjoy consuming every aspect of professional football and, in this space, things haven’t gone particularly well. In fact, it was largely a disaster for the first seven weeks but, after back-to-back winning performances, optimism is beginning to creep in.

Would it have been better if the Cleveland Browns or Green Bay Packers could’ve taken care of business last week? Certainly. But here we are after a 3-2 showing.

Before handing out this week’s selections, let’s take stock as we dig out of the hole.

• Week 9: 3-2
• 2024 Season: 17-27-1

Come get these winners.

Indianapolis Colts (+4) over Buffalo Bills – DraftKings

I am actually quite high on the Bills dating back to the summer, but I can’t get them to -4 here. Buffalo is riding high with a four-game winning streak, which helps to explain the number, and Indianapolis has flopped with two straight losses. Still, Joe Flacco and company shouldn’t be getting a full four at home, and we have to take the candy.

TEASER: Pittsburgh Steelers (+8.5) over Washington Commanders and Kansas City Chiefs (-1.5) over Denver Broncos – FanDuel

This is just a principle play. We’re taking advantage of a Wong teaser here, sending Pittsburgh through a pair of key numbers and doing the same with Kansas City. The Steelers have been a wagon as an underdog under Mike Tomlin. The Chiefs will eventually lose (I think) but it won’t be here.

Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints OVER 46 points – DraftKings

As noted a week ago, this credit goes to UPROXX editor Robby Kalland, but NFC South overs are unbeaten this season. Perhaps that will come to an end here, but Atlanta’s offense can put up points in bunches and its defense is capable of letting the Saints hang around. Let’s go touchdowns.

Tennessee Titans (+7.5) over Los Angeles Chargers

I have to admit that I hate this. I know my editors will hate this. But Los Angeles is laying more than a touchdown with a total in the 30’s? It isn’t as if the Chargers have a real home-field advantage either. I’m holding my nose as I type this, but I simply must.

New York Jets (-1.5) over Arizona Cardinals – FanDuel

New York has been a sharp side all week, and that makes sense. I couldn’t quite give out the Jets in an awesome spot last week, but I think this is a sell-high spot on Arizona after their blowout win over Chicago. Take me there, Aaron Rodgers.

Late last month, Chicago drill rap pioneer Lil Durk was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder after five other men were allegedly connected to the death of Durk’s rap rival Quando Rondo’s cousin. Today, a new slate of charges was filed against the Windy City rapper, according to Los Angeles’ Fox affiliate.

Durk’s charges now include one count of “use of interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death,” and another of “using, carrying, and discharging firearms… in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death.” Durk is accused by federal authorities of ordering the murder of Quando Rondo (real name Tyquian Bowman) in retaliation for the Atlanta rapper’s supposed involvement in the death of Durk’s friend and protégé King Von in 2020 — an attempt that ultimately failed but resulted in the death of his cousin after an alleged ambush at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. The attackers allegedly fired at least 18 rounds at the target vehicle, killing Durk’s cousin instead. Despite Durk allegedly telling the assailants to take steps to avoid implicating him, one of them used Durk’s credit card to book the hotel room where they stayed ahead of the attack.

Durk was arrested at Miami International Airport and was reportedly booked for multiple international flights. He was jailed in Broward County and will be transferred to Los Angeles for his arraignment, where he will enter a plea.

Netflix cannot help but revitalize series that were put out to pasture but are now spinning off, rebooting, and resurrecting. That final descriptor allows us to quickly mention Dexter spawning Resurrection and Origins spin offs and move onto developments about Suits: LA. That spin off will soon bring more soapy legal shenanigans to NBC prime time.

This will follow five years after Suits folded and four years after the short-lived Pearson series, but the Summer of Suits did storm 2023 beyond TV execs’ wildest dreams. As the spin off’s title indicates, the franchise will pick up roots and move from New York to sunny California. Franchise creator Aaron Korsh is still onboard, so let’s explore what we can expect next.

Plot

Suits LA will revolve around areas of law that seem to be in particular demand for the new location: entertainment law, criminal law, and the intersection therein. This firm, Black Lane Law, has been founded by former New Yorker Ted Black (Stephen Amell ^^^, kicking off his Heelz after that Starz wrestling drama) and Stewart Lane (Josh McDermitt). Amell will juggle much more onscreen dialogue than he’s used to handling, but former The Walking Dead star McDermitt should be a really trip portraying (as revealed by Deadline) a character who is “energetic, powerful, focused and self-absorbed.”

How wild will this role be in The Walking Dead fans’ minds? McDermitt’s best known role to date remains Eugene, the mulleted “nerd” character who went from not being able to kill a single walker to crafting in-demand bullets while safely ensconcing himself on the Dark Side with Negan).

We must revisit that look:

Now, McDermitt’s “new” look (which is more in line with how he looks IRL, but obviously do expect to see him in, you know, suits) has been revealed by Suits: LA costars. You can catch a glimpse of his “LA” look at the Instagram accounts of Lex Scott Davis and Stephen Amell, and hopefully, NBC will issue an in-costume photo soon. It’s a new professional era for him.

Now, here’s the Suits: LA synopsis:

Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor from New York, has reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. His firm is at a crisis point, and in order to survive he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career. Ted is surrounded by a stellar group of characters who test their loyalties to both Ted and each other while they can’t help but mix their personal and professional lives. All of this is going on while events from years ago slowly unravel that led Ted to leave behind everything and everyone he loved.

Additionally, the spin off’s filming began in Vancouver but shifted down to Los Angeles over the summer when nifty tax incentives went into effect. Also, it doesn’t hurt to be in a place where actors can cameo as themselves in the city where they reside. One of those cameo actors, John Amos, filmed the pilot as himself while seeking Black Lane Law’s counsel, and this turned out to be Amos’ final onscreen role (via Deadline):

In the pilot, Amos played himself as a client at Ted’s (Stephen Amell) law firm who also has a longstanding friendship with Ted. While Amos’ guest appearance was not conceived as part of an ongoing arc, we hear there was a potential for him to recur. He will now be seen in the pilot only, which will air when the series debuts later this season.

Cast

Will any Suits stars of yesteryear make the trip to LA? Considering Ted Black’s bicoastal status, there should be a window open for him to be familiar with Gabriel Macht’s Harvey Specter. Neither of them have been confirmed, but Wendell Pierce has declared that his Robert Zane character had better be invited “to make a cameo on the show ’cause we went on strike because of not getting anything from that resurgence.” So there.

Otherwise, Stephen Amell and Josh McDermitt will surely hold fans at rapt attention as Ted Black and Stuart Lane, respectively. As noted above, the pilot will include the final performance from John Amos, and the cast will be rounded out by Rachelle Goulding, Victoria Justice, Lex Scott Davis, Kevin Weistman, Troy Wingush, Bryan Greenberg, and Alice Lee.

Release Date

Suits: LA was originally slotted into NBCUniversal’s 2024-2025 plans, but clearly, it’s now gonna be 2025. With the show picking up production and moving from Vancouver to Los Angeles, this could potentially push the release to Fall 2025, but the good news is that those substantial tax incentives from California will make a longer-lasting series more possible.

Trailer

NBC hasn’t graced us with a trailer yet, so let’s take a moment to enjoy the in-role range that Josh McDermitt can pull off with The Walking Dead‘s Eugene going from “coward to courageous.”

Jason Kelce clearly has some pretty major aspirations for this year’s version of his annual Christmas album. Earlier this month, fans of Kelce’s holiday project with his former Philadelphia Eagles teammates Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata heard the first track off of their upcoming album A Philly Special Christmas Party, which featured Kelce teaming up with his brother, Travis Kelce, and Boyz II Men on the track “It’s Christmas Time (In Cleveland Heights).”

Kelce collaborated with another legendary artist for the latest track off of the upcoming release, as he recorded a duet with Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks. The track, a cover of Ron Sexsmith’s “Maybe This Christmas,” got teased on the project’s Instagram account over the last week and on the latest edition of the Kelce brothers’ podcast, and was officially unveiled on Friday.

“There are no words to describe how incredible it is to have Stevie Nicks on this record,” executive producer Conner Barwin said in a statement given to Rolling Stone. “There is so much emotion in this song, and it was thrilling to be with them in the studio and watch her and Jason connect, be creative together, and witness this beautiful song become a reality.”

A Philly Special Christmas Party will come out on Nov. 22, 2024, but if you’d like to listen to the new track, you can do that right here.

Taylor Sheridan has several other shows going, including a few Yellowstone spin offs in various stages of production. 1923 will return next year to conclude Jacob and Cara Dutton’s story, and The Madison‘s debut will be part of the Yellowstone universe, although Sheridan has kept quiet on whether it’s an official sequel in the sense of Yellowstone being over. After all, reports persist of a potential sixth season starring Kelly Reilly (as Beth Dutton) and Cole Hauser (as Rip Wheeler), and the newest Yellowstone trailer isn’t subtle about masking the actual plot with a Kevin Costner flashbacks.

How will John Dutton’s absence be explained? Who knows, maybe he will end up in those third-season revenge-graves intended for the biker gang (encounters that were not at all aimed towards Sheridan’s lingering beef with Sons Of Anarchy). And now I’m being ridiculous and getting ahead of the point. After all, iewers cannot find out what happened to John Dutton without a premiere date and time.

When Does Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 Premiere?

Sunday, November 10 at 8:00pm EST. That will be when Yellowstone hits both Paramount Network (and Hulu Live) with CBS airing a rebroadcast at 10:00pm EST and CMT following at 11:30pm EST.

Hulu will also carry episodes for next-day streaming with certain plans.

The back half of this season will include six episodes that were produced under the utmost secrecy. Director Christina Voros recently told Hollywood Reporter that scripts were redacted, and actors weren’t even aware of full scenes during some episodes to lessen the chances of unintentional leaks. Voros added, “We have some people in the crew who worked in the Marvel universe, and they thought what we were doing was crazy.”

Those tactics have paid off. Nobody outside the production knows jack about how Yellowstone will end or if it will end at all. Viewers will soon begin to find out on November 10.

Taylor Swift! Beyoncé! Charli XCX! Many of the biggest names in music — including relative newcomer Chappell Roan and previous winner Billie Eilish — are up for Album Of The Year at the 2025 Grammys. We’re still months away from the ceremony on February 2, 2025 (and over two years from a move to Disney+), so instead of making individual predictions, I’m going to make a brief case for why every Album Of The Year nominee could and/or should win.

Let’s kick things off with arguably the most surprising nomination…

André 3000 – New Blue Sun

If Album Of The Year was given to the most daring album, André 3000 would have this thing locked down. Not every Outkast fan loved his solo debut being a jazz album with more flutes than rapping and track titles like “Ghandi, Dalai Lama, Your Lord & Savior J.C. / Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, And John Wayne Gacy,” but you can’t accuse Andre of not following his muse.

Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter

Beyoncé is the most-nominated artist in Grammys history (99!). She also has the most wins (32) — but not the biggest award. Despite her stature as one of the most influential titans of pop and R&B (and now country) in the 21st century, Beyoncé has yet to win Album Of The Year. This could — and if the critical reception to Cowboy Carter is any indication, should — be the time.

Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard And Soft

Billie Eilish is the first artist ever to have her first three albums nominated for Album Of The Year. And she’s still only 22 years old! Hit Me Hard And Soft features Eilish’s biggest hit (“Birds Of A Feather”) since her breakthrough single “Bad Guy,” and the album as a whole is quietly confident with some of her strongest vocals. It gets better with every listen.

Chappell Roan – The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess

Chappell Roan had a meteoric 2024. Could her 2025 be historic? Only Christopher Cross and Billie Eilish have won the “Big Four” at the Grammys (Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist) in the same year. Roan is up for all four, and a sweep is very possible. She is your favorite artist’s favorite artist, after all.

Charli XCX – Brat

Charli XCX became what I like to call “Mom Famous” this year. As in, my mom now knows who Charli XCX is (the next time I’m in a glum mood, I’ll remember the time she called me to ask, “What is ‘brat’?” and I’ll cheer right up). But Brat is not only a word of the year phenomenon. It’s also a devil-may-care, club-classic album. “kamala IS brat” didn’t turn out so great, but how about “charli IS album of the year winner”?

Jacob Collier – Djesse Vol. 4

Jacob Collier isn’t a household name like the Taylor Swifts and Beyoncés of the world. But that’s what makes rooting for Djesse Vol. 4, a unique exercise in genre experimentation, to upset the frontrunners so fun. Who doesn’t love an underdog story?

Sabrina Carpenter – Short N’ Sweet

Everyone knows “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” but a lot of people don’t realize that Short N’ Sweet is Sabrina Carpenter’s sixth album. She’s been doing it for a while! But with songs like her first two top-5 hits, as well as “Taste” and the Short N’ Sweet Tour highlight “Juno,” Carpenter has elevated her game. Just imagine the outro to her acceptance speech!

Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department

Taylor Swift has won Album Of The Year four times, more than any other artist or band ever. She’s the frontrunner any time she’s nominated in the category. The Tortured Poets Department isn’t the album many Swifties were expecting, it’s better, and she (and Jack Antonoff) could be awarded once again for it.

The 2025 Grammys air on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on February 2, 2025.

Ekkstacy is well on his way to becoming an emo powerhouse. His songs “Problems,” “Never Left Chicago,” and “Alright” are great starting points.

Yesterday (November 8), Ekkstacy added another moody record which is primed to be his fight from mainstream indie conversations. On Ekkstacy’s new Andrew Wells-produced and co-written single “Seventeen,” they take a walk down the ever-foggy memory lane.

“I’m not who I used to be / And I hardly know this new me / I’m just tryna figure out / I’m just tryna figure out / I kinda miss being seventeen / That’s the only time I fell in love / I think my friends liked me more back then / And maybe now I don’t like them,” sings Ekkstacy.

As Ekkstacy battles with unfulfilled present, due to heartbreak, failed friendships, and more, he fantasies about the bliss of his teenage years.

Ekkstacy continues his depressing moment of reflection, singing: “You’re asking for apologies / You’ve always been honest / You’ve always been so good to me / I make you feel forgotten / I’m Not awake / I’m half asleep / That’s not the sun / I was dreaming / I wanna see you / She wants to leave.”

In the supporting visual for the track, Ekkstacy carries about that orb of regret. Watch the video above.

Today (November 8), we saw the first major step towards the 2025 Grammy Awards: The nominations were revealed (find the full list here). Given that the point of awards shows like these are superlatives, a natural question to emerge from the reveal of the nominees is:

Who Has The Most 2025 Grammy Nominations?

As Billboard notes, Beyoncé has 11 nominations this year, most than anybody else in 2025. In fact, that’s the most ever by a woman in one year, and it’s tied for second of all time, alongside Kendrick Lamar and Jon Batiste, and behind Michael Jackson and Babyface, who each had 12-nomination years.

Beyoncé’s nominations are in the categories of Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best Melodic Rap Performance, Best Country Solo Performance, Best Country Duo/Group Performance, Best Country Song, Best Country Album, and Best Americana Performance.

By the way: Over the course of her career, Beyoncé now has 99 total nominations, which is the most ever.

Meanwhile, there’s a four-way tie for second this year, as Lamar, Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, and Post Malone each have seven nods. (This means Lamar is the most-nominated rapper for 2025.) Behind them with six nominations apiece are Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and Taylor Swift.

Find the full list of 2025 Grammy nominations here.