Category: Worldwide

When Future released his new album, Mixtape Pluto, fans were disappointed to learn that Travis Scott was not on “South Of France,” as was rumored ahead of the album’s release. Snippets of the album were floating around on social media before the project dropped, and though fans of the two rappers’ prior collaborations like “3500,” “Solitaires,” “Cinderella,” and “High Fashion” held out hope, Travis was not one of the voices that appeared on Mixtape Pluto — at least, not until now.

“South Of France (Remix)” is out now, and it should live up to all those fans’ expectations. The two rappers trade bars in a back-and-forth sequence during Travis’ verse, which features glitchy effects and references to Cannes Film Festival — which takes place, of course, in the titular region along the Mediterranean Sea. “South of France, a movie out in Cannes,” he hums. “Thinkin’ ’bout nights in the Mo’, I need some more again.”

While Future is coming off an epic 2024 run that saw him release three full-length projects (and accidentally kickstart the culture-spanning beef that dominated headlines for the first half of the year), Travis Scott was honored at the BET Awards, and announced he’s “back in album mode” after Utopia topped charts last year. Meanwhile, with Travis’ appearance officially getting a release, perhaps that means the scrapped Gunna verse will also see its day in the sun — especially since it seems Young Thug is still cool with his musical charge.

You can listen to Future and Travis Scott’s “South Of France (Remix)” above.

Lil Uzi Vert announced that they are preparing to release Eternal Atake 2, the follow-up to their fan-favorite 2020 album Eternal Atake, a week ago, and tonight, they’ve released the album alongside the official single, “Chill Bae.” In the video, Uzi awakes in a white bed, surrounded by purple-skinned women. Discovering that he’s a prisoner on an alien planet, he’s forced to participate in experiments and perform for the entertainment of a stadium full of these purple women. Eventually, he manages to escape in a flying saucer, but eventually returns to his adoring fans.

The new album features a return to the rapid-fire rapping from the first Eternal Atake album, (and its deluxe version, Luv Vs. The World 2), and a pivot away from the more experimental material on Uzi’s most recent project Pink Tape. Before dropping the album, Uzi shared a teaser clip, “Uzi The Earthling! (TV Show Theme),” a 30-second track modeled after a retro TV theme song and presaging the sci-fi aesthetics for the album’s theming — a continuation of the Alien abduction theme from the first album.

You can watch the video for Lil Uzi Vert’s “Chill Bae” above.

Eternal Atake 2 is out now via Generation Now and Atlantic Records. You can find more info here.

Hallow-who? While most of the country is trick-or-treating in their costumes tonight, Ava Max has already taken down the pumpkins and ghosts for tinsel and holly. The rising pop singer gets an early jump on the holiday season with a festive new single, “1 Wish.” Trading in the hardcore synths and danceable beats of her usual work, Max goes all-in on holiday spirit, with jingle bells, doo-wop keys, and sweeping strings as she sings about all the happiness Christmas should bring. You can almost smell the chestnuts roasting on the open fire.

“1 Wish” follows 2024 singles like “My Oh My” and “Spot A Fake,” which both leaned more heavily on synthpop production techniques.

In late 2023, Max promised, “New music is being made and some is already done [shushing emoji] new chapter awaits… Cookin in the studio [chef emoji] won’t be MIA for long.” While it remains to be seen if that meant that Max had a new album in the works — indeed, a Christmas album — along with “1 Wish,’ the promise is certain to keep fans on their toes — and on the lookout for a project that goes well with mistletoe and eggnog.

You can listen to Ava Max’s festive new single “1 Wish” above.

Earlier this month, Ethel Cain announced her new album, Perverts, the follow-up to Preacher’s Daughter, coming January 8, 2025. Tonight, she releases the lead single, “Punish,” along with its music video. The indie singer wrote the song as she wondered “how deep shame can run, and how unforgivable an act could be that I may still justify it in some bent way to make carrying it more bearable. Would I tell myself it’s not my fault and I couldn’t help myself? Would anyone truly believe that? Would I?”

Cain has become one of indie music’s most coveted voices in the past two years, with Preacher’s Daughter earning widespread acclaim from music critics and earning her a cult following of fans. In 2023, she promised its follow-up would contain “10- to 20-minute songs just drenched in reverb, so slow, and super repetitive,” inspired by her “affinity for slowcore and ambient music.”

In recent months, though, she’s expanded her sound and tested out homages to some of her musical influences. In September, she paid homage to American Football with a cover of their song “For Sure,” saying, “Their sonic storytelling has inspired me in more ways than I can count over the years, so being asked to contribute to this covers edition was truly an honor.”

You can watch the “Punish” video above.

Victor Wembanyama played in his 79th career NBA game on Thursday night in Utah, as the Spurs came back from an early 11-point deficit to blowout the Jazz, 106-88. Last year’s Rookie of the Year led the way on both ends of the floor for San Antonio as he often does, and he made a bit of NBA history along the way.

For the second time in his young career, the 20-year-old Frenchman posted a 5×5 performance, with 29 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, five steals, and five blocks, and in doing so, he became just the third player in NBA history to record multiple 5×5 games in his career, alongside Hakeem Olajuwon (6) and Andrei Kirilenko (3).

To be third all-time in anything in the NBA at 20 years old is insane, and he certainly has set a pace where he figures to obliterate Olajuwon’s record of 5×5 performances. Given that Olajuwon is one of the all-time great two-way players, that’s pretty terrific company for Wemby — and Kirilenko is one of those guys that was perhaps a bit ahead of his time as a do-it-all wing. What’s still terrifying is that Wembanyama is still figuring a lot of things out at the NBA level, particularly how to consistently reach his ceiling offensively given he’s already one of the league’s best defensively. Once he gets comfortable with where his spots are on the court and starts to trim the fat, so to speak, with his shot diet and pick up the efficiency on that end, there’s just not going to be anything you can really do with him.

For all the questions that surround the New York Jets right now, one thing that is pretty clear is that the team’s top receivers are capable of doing some incredible things. Davante Adams has been a monster throughout his NFL career, while Garrett Wilson is one of the brightest young stars at the position in the league. And on Thursday night when the Jets desperately needed one of their two standouts on the outside to make a player, he answered with a catch that drew immediate comparisons to Odell Beckham Jr.’s famous catch against the Dallas Cowboys in 2014.

On third-and-19 from deep in Houston Texans territory, Aaron Rodgers looked Wilson’s way and fired towards the back of the end zone. Wilson went up against Kamari Lassiter, created a little separation, and plucked the ball out of the air with one hand. Unfortunately for him, it looked like he only got one foot down, but then, replay stepped in.

When this was slowed down, it was determined that Wilson’s left shin landed inbounds before his knee landed out of bounds, which meant that he was considered in and scored a touchdown. The Jets really needed this, as it put them ahead of the Texans in a game they absolutely have to win if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive, but more importantly, everyone who saw it got to say that they witnessed one of the greatest one-handed snags in NFL history on a night when the Jets also did this.

Halloween isn’t usually known for being a fruitful release date for new music, but there are always one or two artists who forego the spooky festivities to drop their latest work. This year, count Gary, Indiana native Freddie Gibbs among their number, as he surprise-releases his new album You Only Die 1nce. It’s the first album from the Uproxx cover star since 2022’s Soul Sold Separately, and the time has served him well — as heard on the introspective first single, “On The Set.”

In the song, Gibbs mulls deaths in hip-hop, both recent and past, including Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G’s deaths in the ’90s, and the late Nipsey Hussle, Rich Homie Quan, and Young Dolph’s deaths in the past five years. He also makes reference to Diddy’s recent legal drama, while pondering whether the old rumors that Combs was involved in the death of Tupac Shakur are true. The video follows Gibbs as he works on a film set, going from playing a recently deceased corpse to changing in his trailer and reading lines for another sign next to a green screen.

Whether You Only Die 1nce is one of the four albums Freddie said he was working on at once remains to be seen. For now, you can check out the “On The Set” video above and You Only Die 1nce at midnight ET/9 PM PT. You can find more information here.

Paolo Banchero has been spectacular to start the 2024-25 NBA season. The former No. 1 overall pick has looked like the face of the franchise the Orlando Magic have sought for years, which included a 50-point outing in a win over the Indiana Pacers earlier this week.

Unfortunately for the Magic, they’ll have to navigate at least the next month without their star forward. In a bit of news announced by Shams Charania of ESPN that the team confirmed not long after, Banchero suffered a torn oblique late in the team’s 102-99 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday evening, which will sideline him indefinitely, and he will not be evaluated again for 4-6 weeks.

“After undergoing further testing today in Cleveland, Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero has been diagnosed with a torn right oblique, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced today,” the team said in a statement. “Banchero will be out indefinitely and his return to play will depend on how he responds to treatment. He will be re-evaluated in four-to-six weeks. Banchero suffered the injury during the fourth quarter of Orlando’s game at Chicago on Oct. 30.”

It’s hard to put into words just how big of a loss this is for Orlando, which had aspirations of building on last year’s fifth-place finish in the East. While it’ll be impossible to completely replace Banchero — who has averaged 29 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 5.6 assists in 36.4 minutes per game this year — much will presumably be asked of Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs to carry the team in his absence.

With the fast-paced rush of new music releases these days, it’s no wonder fans so often get impatient to hear from their faves, pushing them online to “drop the album.” However, as the saying goes, you can’t rush greatness — and rising UK rapper Central Cee clearly fully believes that old adage, slowly building his groundswell of support stateside over the past few years.

Now, he’s finally ready to drop his debut album, and as a testament to his commitment to the profits of patience, he’s dubbed the premiere project Can’t Rush Greatness. Set for release on January 24th via Columbia Records. The announcement was preceded by the release of the single “Moi” featuring Raye, the Lil Baby collaboration “Band4Band,” and “I Will.”

He also debuted his new single, “One By One,” on COLORS, the popular YouTube performance show that has been instrumental in the rises of superstars such as Billie Eilish, Jorja Smith, and Doja Cat. According to the press release, the song won’t appear on “One By One,” but acknowledges its ethos, even quoting the title in the lyrics: “Can’t rush greatness, you gotta take your time, maintain it slowly.”

Can’t Rush Greatness is due on 1/24 via Columbia Records. You can find more information here.

Korean star G-Dragon has returned with a new single, “Power,” after departing his deal with YG Entertainment. The song is an upbeat anthem in which he vows to “prove ’em all wrong” and “shush all the comments,” while touting his philanthropy and quoting rap pioneer Nas, telling listeners, “The world is yours.” The video is an elaborate “oner” — a single, unbroken shot — following G-Dragon as he roams a television station, invading a colorful array of sets from a construction site to a newsroom to a subway train to spread his message. “Power” is the K-pop rapper’s first solo single since 2017. Along with the new song came the announcement of G-Dragon’s new US label partnership, which pairs Galaxy Corporation with independent label Empire.

For those unfamiliar with G-Dragon, the rapper-singer got his start as a member of K-pop band BIGBANG before breaking off to go solo in 2009 with Heartbreaker. He followed up in 2013 with Coup d’Etat, which made him the first K-pop act with multiple placements on the Billboard 200 chart. His career was put on hold in 2018 as a result of his mandatory military service, from which he was discharged in 2019, and in 2022, he reunited with his band for their first song in four years, “Still Life.” Since then, he’s said he’s been working on a new album, and with his new deal in place through Empire, he should be releasing it sometime in the near future.

You can watch G-Dragon’s “Power” video above.