Category: Worldwide

Since she was released from the predatory conservatorship that’s been dominating her life for the last several years, Britney Spears has been a prolific Instagram user. She likes to use the social media platform to vent, to demand justice for what she’s been through, and get naked whenever she wants.

Now, the pop star has decided to use her account to talk about one of her favorite shows — Euphoria. She’s certainly not alone in loving this show, but her take on the series is definitely different from some other people. In her post, Britney said the show’s “crazy plots” help her forget her own anxiety, and shared this tidbit for mental health awareness week.

Here’s her full take on the show:

“For MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK a little while ago I watched this insane amazing show @euphoria … Good God it’s too good !!!! I’m a little behind anyways !!!! Watching this and being entertained by these crazy plots I suddenly felt all my anxiety go away … the show was like meditation !!!! It put a HUGE grin on my face … and if you want to be zen … there’s sound therapy … stillness … yoga … monk retreats … but last but definitely not least, train your thoughts to think things that make you SMILE … YES you know THOSE !!!! YOU GOT IT ???? KEEP SMILING !!!!!

While Euphoria doesn’t usually end up on a list with those other things, it’s always great to have an off-the-wall suggestion for dealing with mental health, and frequently those suggestions are the ones that work the best.

Check out Britney’s post below.

Cardi B has been doing well in court as of late. Earlier this year, she scored a win in her libel lawsuit against blogger Tasha K who used her platform to spread bizarre and false claims about the rapper. As a result of the win, Cardi was awarded nearly $4 million in damages. Now, Cardi has avoided the possibility of paying anything in a defamation lawsuit that was brought against her back in 2020. In it, three Suffolk County beachgoers sued Cardi and her sister Hennessy Carolina after they got into a confrontation with the pair.

The trio sued Cardi and Hennessy for assault and battery, in addition to defamation, as they claimed that Cardi posted a video online of her calling them “racist.” They also accused Cardi and Hennessy of editing the video “to remove portions thereof, and thereby hold plaintiffs in a false light, so as to tend to expose and in fact expose each plaintiff to public contempt, ridicule and disgrace and harm.” According to Rolling Stone, a judge dismissed the lawsuit and called it “baseless.”

“[Plaintiffs] have failed to allege any special harm or defamation per se,” Judge William Condon wrote in his decision. “They cannot specifically identify who the defamatory statements were made to. Further, neither Cardi B nor Michelle Diaz made any defamatory statements or publish(ed) any video to the Internet concerning the incident.” He added, “The words uttered to plaintiffs do not arise to defamatory language as they were merely general insults.”

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Maren Morris has been pretty busy the last few years. The country-pop star broke out in 2016 with her major label debut, Hero which included breakout singles like “My Church” and “80s Mercedes.” When EDM producer Zedd tapped Morris for a feature on his hit “The Middle,” it catapulted her to mainstream pop fame in a way that’s pretty rare for an emerging country singer. She followed up her debut and that smash hit with her sophomore album Girl in 2019, an album that leaned heavily into other genres like R&B and soon after that, she got an even bigger look when Taylor Swift tapped her to collaborate on a Fearless (Taylor’s Version) track.

Since then, Maren took a break to focus on becoming a new mom, but at the top of 2022 she announced her third album, Humble Quest, and described it as a journey through some of her own most humbling moments. One of the early singles off the album, “Circles Around This Town” details some of her own struggles on her way up to the top. The album officially came out yesterday, and to celebrate the release Maren performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Check out her performance up top.

After two years, Dua Lipa is more than ready to own the stadium tour she’s been waiting to embark on. Just days before her 2020 album, Future Nostalgia, was slated to be released, the Covid-19 pandemic impacted not only the album’s release (she moved it up a week early), but the massive set of live shows that was set to catapult her to global stardom. No matter. As the shutdown stretched through 2020, and most of 2021 as well, Dua and her camp did what all great artists did during that time: She pivoted. First, giving fans even more to dance about by releasing the Club Future Nostalgia remix versions of her original songs, often with superstar collaborators in tow, and then followed that up with the Moonlight edition, which also featured a few new songs.

Of course, even with all the new music and different versions coming out, lots of listeners were happy to just keep returning to the hits, part of what made “Levitating” a historically popular song — it just hit the mark for the longest-charting song by a woman on the Hot 100. That’s quite a feat for a pop star who has only been around for less than a decade. All this to say, by the time fans got to their seats for one of two nights that Dua Lipa and her stacked openers would be performing at The Forum in Los Angeles this week, the anticipation was palpable. And, perhaps one of the few great side effects of the delay was, Dua had never been more polished and ready.

Kicking off the setlist with an ensemble number for the second Future Nostalgia single “Physical,” she made it clear that disco, neon, roller skaters, and lots of glitter were all going to be on hand for the next 90 minutes, making this tour into the stadium spectacle fans had been craving. Flanked for most songs by a series of extremely talented backup dancers, Dua hit every move of the choreography with the kind of practiced precision that only someone who is proving dectrators wrong can muster. Though she’s been derided in the past for not backing up her danceable hits with moves of her own, it’s clear that Dua 2.0 is a dancing machine. While this means she sometimes looks a little stiff while going through the motions, the bevy of dancers around her, and those incredibly strong, pitch-perfect vocals make this set one of the most enjoyable pop tours of 2022 so far.

Immediately getting into her debut hit single, “New Rules” as the second song in the setlist, Dua mostly stuck to Future Nostalgia favorites like “Love Again,” “Cool,” “Pretty Please” and “Break My Heart,” before closing out the first half of the show with “Be The One,” one of the earliest singles from her self-titled debut. Turning that shimmering, hopeful tune into a sing-along with the crowd, and letting her backup vocalists take over the refrain, Dua disappeared for the first of what would end up being many costume changes. Her lacy, lime green jumpsuit with long-sleeved gloves has since become a staple in social media clips and videos, but later looks like a silver bodysuit, or her final black sequined jumpsuit with suggestive cutouts and a catwoman feel were just as stunning. Because, after a few years of sweats and at-home looks, this kind of high-fashion glamor is part of what fans want to see during a massive pop show.

Her second full set was all Future Nostalgia songs, including the Moonlight edition standout, “We’re Good,” along with “Good In Bed,” “Fever,” and “Boys Will Be Boys.” Then, she incorporated some of her best collaborations into the show, the slightly clubbier “One Kiss,” her song with Calvin Harris, and the Silk City (Mark Ronson and Diplo) track “Electricity,” before heading into the final stretch with “Hallucinate” and “Cold Heart,” the Elton John cover/remix that’s been heating up on the charts itself, and is currently sitting at No. 13. Considering her new collab with Megan Thee Stallion, “Sweetest Pie” debuted at No. 15, and “Levitating” is still hanging out at No. 19, Dua’s current chart domination is definitely part of what makes this tour feel so exciting and relevant.

Speaking of “Levitating,” of course it had to be the show’s formal closer, as Dua took to the skies in a floating cage, still dancing and belting out lyrics while she moved through the air and gave attention to different sections of the nosebleeds. Coming back one last time after that to encore with “Future Nostalgia,” which seemed like it would’ve worked better earlier in the show, the last song of the night was “Don’t Start Now,” a supercharged, extended take on the lead single that kicked off this entire album cycle. And even though this single, in particular, came out all the way back in October of 2019, it sounded just as fresh as it did three years ago. Or maybe that’s just the future nostalgia at work. This show lived up to the hype in every way, and sets Dua up perfectly for whatever she wants to tackle next.

Setlist:
1. “Physical”
2. “New Rules”
3. “Love Again”
4. “Cool”
5. “Pretty Please”
6. “Break My Heart”
7. “Be The One”
8. “We’re Good”
9. “Good In Bed”
10. “Fever”
11. “Boys Will Be Boys”
12. “One Kiss” (Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa)
13. “Electricity” (Silk City & Dua Lipa)
14. “Hallucinate”
15. “Cold Heart” (PNAU Remix, Elton John & Dua Lipa)
16. “Levitating”
17. “Future Nostalgia”
18. “Don’t Start Now”

It’s been over a month since Russia invaded Ukraine, and it has not been going well for the aggressor nation. Ukrainians, including their own president, have put up one heckuva fight. Russian soldiers, stuck with poor equipment, flailing leadership, and surprisingly robust Ukrainian defense, have suffered high death counts and plunging morale. Things are so bad that one colonel may have been killed by his own men.

As per AP, a number of high-ranking Russian military leaders have been killed since the invasion began in late February. One of them, an unidentified colonel, is claimed to have been “deliberately run over and killed by his own men, as a result of the scale of losses taken by his brigade.” If true, it’s a case of what’s called “fragging,” in which soldiers “accidentally” kill either fellow cadets or military leaders.

The killing has not been confirmed by Russia, and indeed it’s hard to sift through the oft-contradictory reporting from Russia and western officials. For instance, western officials claim seven Russian generals have died since the invasion began. But Russia has only confirmed one death. Russian state TV has done its best to create a bubble for its populace, despite creative and brave attempts to tell the people the truth. They’ve even used the likes of Tucker Carlson to help spread misinformation. Alas, the invasion has not been going well, which should upset Vladimir Putin and certain people on the American rightwing.

(Via AP)

Since he released his 2017 album DAMN., there’s no one that Kendrick Lamar has worked with more than Baby Keem. The two artists, who are also cousins, worked together on “Family Ties,” “Range Brothers,” and “Vent” from Keem’s 2021 album The Melodic Blue. Keem also joined PgLang, the creative agency that Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free launched in 2020. Keeping all that in mind, there’s a pretty good chance that we’ll receive more collaborations between Kendrick and Baby Keem. What they’ll be remains to be seen, but during a recent interview, Keem was asked about the possibility of a joint album between them.

“That’s a good question. It’s like it’s 50-50,” Keem said during an interview with Grammy.com. “It could happen and it couldn’t, I don’t know. It just really depends on a lot of factors that I don’t have control over. So, it’s just what the world wants. The world wants it, then it can have it.”

Even if Kendrick Lamar and Baby Keem get to work on a joint album, it won’t arrive until Kendrick at least releases his upcoming fifth album. The untitled project is set to be his last project with Top Dawg Entertainment, a label he’s been signed to since 2004. Few details have been shared about the project, but it seems like it will arrive just in time for the summer as Kendrick is set to headline Glastonbury, Miami’s Rolling Loud Festival, and Italy’s Ippodromo SNAI San Siro in the next few months.

You can read Keem’s full interview with Grammy.com here.

Taylor Hawkins’ unexpected death has earned a number of reactions from his peers all over the music world. The Foo Fighters drummer’s death came prior to the band’s scheduled performance in Bogota, Colombia on Friday night which was the latest in the string of live shows on their South American tour. While a cause of death for Hawkins has not been revealed yet, Metropolitan Police in Bogota says his death could be drug-related. However, they cautioned that an official cause has not been established as the investigation is still ongoing.

Nandi Bushell, the 11-year-old drummer who formed a relationship with Foo Fighters following a virtual drum battle with Dave Grohl in the summer of 2020, shared a touching message following Hawkins’ death. “Our love, thoughts and support are with all who knew Taylor,” she wrote in a statement on Twitter. “Thank you for looking after me, thank you for being so kind and loving, thank you for being the most awesome drummer ever, thank you for bringing so much joy to the world, thank you for being you! With love, Nandi x.”

A year after Bushell and Grohl’s drum battle, she joined the band on stage during a show in Inglewood, California where they performed “Everlong” together.

You can view Nandi’s tweet in the post above.

News broke last night that Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins, had unexpectedly died at the age 50. Tributes from the music world came pouring in for the drummer, who was an industry legend and clearly beloved among his peers and fans. Hawkins passed while the Foo Fighters were in Bogota, Colombia, preparing for a show as part of their tour in South America, and the band was also slated for a headlining appearance at Lollapalooza Brazil on Sunday night.

Also on tour right now is Coldplay, and as Chris Martin noted on stage last night, his band counts the members of Foo Fighters as friends. During their performance in Monterrey, Mexico, Martin and Coldplay thought it would be fitting to send out a tribute to Hawkins and the Foo Fighters, with Martin calling Hawkins a “beautiful man.” Coldplay then preceded to perform their song “Everglow,” and you can watch a snippet of that below.

Last year, Hawkins joined together with Jane’s Addiction members Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney to form the supergroup NHC. Their collaborative album was slated for release sometime this year, and could now be some of the last music that Hawkins was able to record. To hear the full version of the song Coldplay performed in Hawkins’ honor, check out “Everglow” up top.

As conservative lawmakers were launching loud and bizarre attacks on Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, another scandal was brewing on the highest bench in the country. The Washington Post reported that Ginni Thomas, wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, had sent over two dozen text messages to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the Capitol attack of Jan. 6, begging him to overturn the 2020 election. Now it’s been revealed that one of the conspiracy theorists that inspired her beliefs is too kooky even for Alex Jones.

As per The Daily Beast, Thomas implored Meadows to look into the rantings of Steve Pieczenik, an obscure theorist who emerged in the 1980s. Pieczenik used to work as a consultant to the U.S. state department and even collaborated with novelist Tom Clancy on a series of novels. Eventually he started making bizarre claims allegedly stemming from his insider status. In the early ‘90s, he asserted that George H.W. Bush was “clinically depressed,” resulting in him being brought up on ethics charges.

As such, he was a natural fit for InfoWars. Jones had Pieczenik on his show many times. One of his favorite tricks was to claim a massacre — not just Sandy Hook, but even 9/11 and Pearl Harbor — was a false flag event or was entirely faked. He went too far even for Jones, though, when he did the same thing to the 2017 Las Vegas massacre. Jones appeared to temporarily block him, which he didn’t even do after he claimed to have once arrested Pope Francis.

Pieczenik and Jones eventually patched things up, especially once he started floating QAnon theories and other nonsense about the 2020 election. Thomas sent Meadows one of Pieczenik’s InfoWars appearances (which has since been removed from YouTube). In it, Pieczenik spins something about how Trump was involved in a “sophisticated sting operation” involving fake ballots with secret watermarks on them, which would make it easier for investigators to bust leading liberals.

“I hope this is true; never heard anything like this before, or even a hint of it,” Thomas wrote in her text to Meadows. “Possible???”

Thomas also subscribed to Pieczenik’s claim about how “white hats,” a QAnon term for pro-Trump forces embedded in the federal government, were about to be deployed to key states. And yet no widespread arrests of liberal fraudsters were made, the only voting fraud that’s been discovered involved pro-Trump people, and Trump himself is just some guy who lives in resorts ranting to strangers (and is still the GOP’s frontrunner in 2024).

Thomas has claimed that, though she and her husband share at least certain core beliefs, they still operate independently of each other. “Clarence doesn’t discuss his work with me, and I don’t involve him in my work,” she’s said. Still, some people find it hard to believe that Ginni Thomas never brought any of this up with her Supreme Court justice husband.

(Via The Daily Beast)

The music world is still grappling with the news of Taylor Hawkins’ death. The Foo Fighters drummer, who was only 50, was found dead in his hotel room prior to the band’s scheduled performance in Bogota, Colombia on Friday. While a cause of death has yet to be established, police may have a theory behind his death.

“According to those close to him, the death could be related to the consumption of drugs,” the Metropolitan Police of Bogota revealed in a statement, as per The New York Post. Despite this statement, the Metropolitan Police cautioned that the investigation is still ongoing and that the “cause of death has yet to be established.”

Hawkins’ death came just six days after what proved his last performance, which took place in Argentina last weekend for the country’s Lolapalooza festival. Prior to joining Foo Fighters, Hawkins was the touring drummer for Alanis Morissette. He joined the band in 1997 when their original drummer, William Goldsmith, quit. Last year, Hawkins created the supergroup NHC with Jane’s Addiction members Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney, where he was their lead vocalist and drummer. Their first and perhaps final album is due for a release at some point this year.