Category: Worldwide

In their wildly eclectic music, Blackstarkids manage to weave all the relevant sounds of the last twenty years into one cohesive thought. Hot on the heels of their critically-acclaimed album, Whatever, Man from 2020, the final release in their “black coming of age trilogy,” following up Surf in 2020 and Let’s Play Sports in 2019, the group are now readying yet another new project. Puppies Forever will be released on the UK tastemaker record, Dirty Hit, and serves as the group’s official debut album. The first single introducing their new record, “Juno,” was an upbeat introduction, whereas today’s second single, “Fight Club,” is a little more chaotic.

In the video for the clip, the group spread out in a convenience store, rapping and dancing their way through the visit and marking their territory with plenty of their signature early 2000s pop culture references and spitfire rap verses. Luckily, the song and accompanying video seem to have very little to do with the film of the same name, or any of the rules that the iconic film’s signature anti-hero Tyler Durden purports to live his life by. Puppies Forever will be out later this year, and starting November 1, the band will be on tour as support for label mate Beabadoobee. Check out the new song and video above.

Jason Momoa vs. Dave Bautista + John Cena vs. Vacation Friends + more of The Witcher franchise = a great streaming weekend.

The streaming game takes a detour this week with an action-heavy line up that arrives in time to distract the hell out of us amid multiple global crises. This week, Apple TV+ and Hulu tie for first place to give you the most bang for your buck, and both services are really bringing the content crush. On the former, the second season of See sets up Momoa and Bautista in a brotherly rivalry for the ages, and there’s a newish thriller series, a Sundance movie, and more Ted Lasso. And on the latter, John Cena is behaving badly with the service also offering fresh episodes of worthy new TV shows. However, that’s not all that you have to look forward to in your home theater.

Netflix has a handful of great new offerings, including a prequel in The Witcher franchise. Don’t count out HBO Max, AMC+, Amazon Prime, Paramount+ this week, either. Here’s the best of the new streaming selections for this weekend.

Hulu

Vacation Friends (Hulu film) — If you can’t get enough of John Cena’s entry into mainstream movies, then this will be a raw, raunchy treat for you. The WWE star portrays a party guy who shows up uninvited at a wedding of former “vacation friends,” who happen to be a mild-mannered couple portrayed by Lil Rel Howery and Yvonne Orji. Enjoy the chaos, and let’s all be thankful that romantic-esque, Frat Pack-esque comedies still exist for us to enjoy for a much needed break from reality. This film’s directed by Silicon Valley‘s Clay Tarver, who also co-writes here.

Archer (FXX series on Hulu) — Season 12 begins with an identity crisis after the gang halts a nuclear catastrophe, and the only reward is a stay at a rat-infested hotel. Then a team-building exercise doesn’t go as planned for The Agency.

American Horror Story: Double Feature (FX series on Hulu) — A struggling writer moves to an isolated town to buckle down for winter. Sound familiar? Well, this story takes place in a beach town, not the Overlook Hotel, and there are “residents” in the town that won’t lie low.

Reservation Dogs: (FX on Hulu series) — Taika Waititi’s FX on Hulu followup to What We Do in the Shadows brings us a comedy series that’s co-written by Native American filmmaker Sterlin Harjo. Yes, the lead quartet in this show rocks suits that look strikingly similar to the characters of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, yet they’re four Indigenous teens who want to commit crime and simply can’t pull it off. The show was shot in and near Okmulgee, Oklahoma, and these teens hope to make it all the way to California. The cast and crew come from indigenous communities, from where Harjo and Waititi are aiming their storytelling styles as well.

Nine Perfect Strangers: Nicole Kidman’s one of several A-listers who’ve made themselves at home on the so-called “small screen” in recent years, and after a few Emmys and a Golden Globe for Big Little Lies and a Globe nomination for The Undoing, she’s not done yet. She portrays a wellness guru that might remind you of certain celebrities who shill bizarre products and claim that they’ll change your life with a dash of snake oil. Yes, the Paddington villain is here to shake up your little world again.

Apple TV+

See: Season 2 (Apple TV+ series) — Apple TV+’s See helped launch the tech giant’s streaming service less than two years ago, and the show was so wild and wooly that it worked. Jason Momoa’s back in fur coats and in warrior mode as Baba Voss. This season, he’s antagonized by Dave Bautista, which should add enough drama to keep the (somewhat silly) story alive, in a world where no one can see, but everyone is beautiful to look at from an audience standpoint. One of those sighted miracle-twins needs rescuing, so that propels much of the action early this season, but mostly, it’s all about clashing egos and warring beards. A good time, in other words.

Truth Be Told: Season 2 (Apple TV+ series) — Octavia Spencer and Kate Hudson star in this show about a true-crime podcaster who achieves notoriety, although everything comes back to bite her in the butt after someone that she helped to convict was, well, wrongfully convicted. In this season, Spencer’s podcaster (Poppy) launches a new case that’s deeply personal, given that it involves Hudson’s media mogul (Micah), and soon enough, their friendship may be on the line, along with their reputations.

CODA (Apple TV+ movie) — This Sundance-awarded film (of four awards, including the Directing Award, the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize) from Vendome Pictures touches down on your streaming devices. The story follows a teenager named Ruby, who happens to be the only member of a deaf family who’s able to hear. She’s not only involved with all of the usual teenage concerns but also interpreting duties for her parents and the family business. When she joins her school’s choir, things get rough after she blossoms and finds herself with a difficult choice: keep meeting all of those family obligations, or strike out on her own venture.

Ted Lasso: Season 2 (Apple TV+ series) — First thing’s first: Everyone who’s caught a glimpse of this Bill Lawrence co-created and developed series loves it. That’s a notable feat, considering that star Jason Sudeikis first portrayed the title character way back in 2013 for NBC Sports’ promos for Premier League coverage. Fast forward to the fresh hell that was 2020, and the show surfaced as one of the year’s lone bright spots. Ted Lasso is somehow both relentlessly and charmingly cheery, although there’s always the spectre of Led Tasso to consider.

Netflix

The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (Netflix film) — To tide us over until The Witcher‘s second season arrives with more grumpy Geralt of Rivia, please set your calendars accordingly for this prequel anime film. The picture will go back in time to explore the early monster-hunting years of Geralt’s mentor, Vesemir, who appears to be enjoying himself a lot more than his successor. Theo James voices the character, who will be live-action portrayed by Kim Bodnia further down the line. And although the iconic Witcher baths only recently become canon, they’ve always been there, at least retroactively.

UNTOLD: Caitlyn Jenner (Netflix film) — Crystal Moselle (Betty, The Wolfpack) directs this docu-film-series’ third installment to cover the 1970s Olympic run of Caitlyn Jenner. The decathlon is no joke in terms of the athletic feat required for the job, but for Jenner, the more difficult challenge was coming into her own identity. Superstardom is one thing, but what came afterward is what allows Jenner to reflect about past and present.

Post Mortem: No One Dies in Skarnes (Netflix series) — A small Norwegian town takes center stage due to its stagnant death rate, which is causing a family-driven funeral home to suffer. One of those family members, Live Hallangen, dies and wakes up on a forensic table, and she’s dying of hunger. This leads her to quite a conundrum: will she help the family business survive by helping herself survive, and by sacrificing the lives of the town’s residents? Dark stuff.

Open Your Eyes: (Netflix series) — An amnesia patient begins to recover after her family’s killed in an accident, and she bonds with those who have similarly traumatic experiences. Soon enough, things get mysterious with visions and odd dreams, and she wonders exactly where she’s receiving the treatment and whether all is really as it seems. These leads to an attempted escape, and plenty of suspense while mysteries continue to unfold.

Clickbait (Netflix series) — Adrian Grenier plays a loving family man who mysteriously disappears, only to surface in a viral internet video that accuses him of being a domestic abuser who will be killed after a certain number of views. No one’s sure whether this is a confession or a threat, and yikes. This promises to be (according to the synopsis) a “high stakes thriller that explores the ways in which our most dangerous and uncontrolled impulses are fueled in the age of social media,” but it sounds awfully stressful.

He’s All That: (Netflix film) — Cobra Kai‘s Tanner Buchanan stars in this gender-swapped version of 1999’s She’s All That. He portrays an antisocial outsider, and of course, a social media influencer (played by Addison Rae) takes it upon herself to transform him into a prom king. And yeah, of course she starts to fall for the guy… is there any other way that this film would go? That’s part of the franchise’s charm.

Titletown High: (Netflix series) — This unscripted series follows a highly successful high-school football program in Georgia that’s known as “TitleTown.” The Wildcats team is chasing their old glory days while grappling with rivalries, romance, and other drama. The show promises unprecedented access on the field and behind the scenes in order to provide a compelling look at American football culture.

HBO Max

The Other Two: Season 1 (HBO Max series) — Lorne Michaels of SNL fame executive produces this series that’s created, written, and also executive produced by Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider (formerly co-head writers of SNL). The cast includes Drew Tarver, Heléne Yorke, Case Walker, Ken Marino, and Molly Shannon, and the plot follows a showbiz family, in which a 14-year-old pop star decides that it’s time to officially retire. Meanwhile, the family’s 53-year-old matriarch (Shannon) is enjoying ubiquity of her own, so “The Other Two” will do everything they can to shine as well.

Reminiscence: (Warner Bros. film on HBO Max) — Another movie meant for theaters has landed in your living room. This action thriller stars Hugh Jackman as a private investigator whose ground central happens to be people’s minds. He helps people unearth lost memories while living on the fringe of Miami society. One client becomes a dangerous obsession, and this certainly ain’t Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, although it sounds like the most unlikely reversal ever.

Sweet Life: Los Angeles: Season 1 (HBO Max series) — The WarnerMedia streaming service is keeping up with its summer of unscripted content that also includes The Hype and FBoy Island. In particular, this show follows a group of young, Black, and ambitious mid-20 somethings while they pursue dreams. Of course, those dreams not only happen to be professional but also involve loyalty and love. The quarter-life mark is a milestone unlike any other, and in South Los Angeles, this group of long-time friends comes together for a three-episode drop, which will be followed by more episodes running through September 2.

Disney+

What If…? (Disney+ series) — We’re in the multiverse, baby. The MCU’s officially launching headfirst into that realm after Loki‘s season finale, and this show’s Twitter account clarified official participation as well. And that sounds about right. I’ve been looking forward to these alternate-reality scenarios since catching D23 footage a few years ago, and Disney+ will show us a wealth of scenarios that stand separate from the existing canon (thus far). Last week, Agent Carter took the serum and became Captain Carter, and then T’Challa materialized as Star Lord. This week, expect Black Widow, Nick Fury, and Loki’s stories to revolve around a murder mystery, and for whatever reason, Tony Stark eats a donut.

AMC+

The Walking Dead: Season 11A (AMC series) — This zombie-apocalypse universe’s flagship series returns for one final rodeo with two spinoffs still in motion, so it’s time to wrap this puppy up before the various shows’ timelines begin to intersect. Negan’s no longer the show’s villain, Alpha’s been vanquished, and Carol’s about to split from the group. When one really thinks about all the careers that this show has bolstered (Steven Yeun, Dania Guerra, Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, and so on), it’s impressive that Norman Reedus has stuck it out for the long haul, so Daryl and Carol must end this show by literally riding off into the sunset by motorcycle. We’ll accept nothing else.

Paramount+

Evil: Season 2 (Paramount+ series) — A skeptical psychologist and a Catholic priest in training team up in a bit of an X-Files dynamic that’s exclusively focused upon unsolved mysteries within the church, including a serial killer who may be possessed by Satan. Expect an examination of true evil as scientific and religious perspectives face off.

Amazon Prime

Annette (Amazon Prime film) — Adam Driver’s singing into a vagina for some odd reason in this movie that includes the most outlandish of setups for reasons that don’t make complete sense. Yet Driver’s stand-up comedian is accompanied by Marion Cotillard’s opera singer, and the pair falls in love before giving birth to the title character, who is gifted beyond belief with an exceptional destiny. Expect an examination of passion and fame and everything in between.

Modern Love: Season 2 (Amazon Prime series) — Who doesn’t want to watch Jon Snow Kit Harington romance Lucy Boynton? It’s the return of the popular anthology series that found inspiration in the famed New York Times column. Relationships and connections shall happen, as well as betrayals and revelations, and the cast is chock full of talent you already know and love, including Tobias Menzies, Minnie Driver, Garrett Hedlund. All rules of love shall be henceforth broken in locales including Dublin and the whole of New York, including that Big Apple. Did I mention? Jon Snow getting randy again is not to be missed.

Following up the release of her first all-Spanish language EP, Revelacion, Selena Gomez has continued to work in the Latin pop vein. For a new track called “999” she’s working with the songwriter Camilo, and shared how she connected with him immediately when they began collaborating. “Camilo is a fantastic songwriter and singer who proudly wears his heart on his sleeve which is something we connected on immediately,” she said in a press release. “I couldn’t have been more excited to collaborate with him.”

As for Camilo, who is collaborating with Gomez for the first time, the songwriter called it an honor and noted that the impetus for “999” was based specifically on Selena’s voice. “Working with Selena Gomez is a tremendous honor and a huge moment in my career,” he said of their new track. “From the beginning, ‘999’ was written based on the color of her voice, and it wouldn’t have existed if it wasn’t for the dream of this collaboration. I’m very excited and it means so much to me to have this beautiful song, with an artist whom I respect and have followed for so long.”

Check out the collaboration above along with the video, directed by Sophie Muller.

It’s been nearly three years since Meek Mill has delivered an album to fans, that being 2018’s Championships. The project was one that stood as one of the best hip-hop releases of the year as well as an outstanding release in the Philly rapper’s discography. The hope is that his fifth album continues where Championships left off and the road towards its release begins with Meek’s latest single, “Sharing Locations.” The song arrives with a pair of guest features from Lil Baby and Lil Durk, who are just a couple of months removed from their joint album, Voice Of The Heroes. Together, the trio go back and forth with confident raps that brag about their lavish lifestyles.

While Meek’s fifth album remains untitled, the rapper recently announced that he would share the release date for the project in a week. He revealed the news in an Instagram post that teased an upcoming track that featured 42 Dugg and production from Cardo.

“Sharing Locations” is the latest in a string of releases from Meek this year. After ending 2020 with the Quarantine Pack, Meek returned to 2021 with “Flamerz Flow,” “War Stories,” “Mandela Freestyle,” and a remix of Drake’s “Lemon Pepper Freestyle,” all of which successfully built up anticipation for Meek’s upcoming album.

You can listen to Meek’s “Sharing Locations” in the video above.

Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

After spending the last three years complaining about being “canceled” for his association with Donald Trump, Kanye West has apparently learned the wrong lessons from his ordeal; or maybe he just really enjoys flaunting his questionable associations for attention. During the third listening event for his upcoming album Donda, Kanye was joined by a surprise guest: Alt-metal icon and current social pariah Marilyn Manson, who is currently under investigation by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department for accusations of domestic abuse.

Kanye played the newest version of Donda from the steps of a replica of his childhood home, which was built on the field of the Soldier Field stadium in his hometown Chicago and styled as a church. While the borderline sacrilegious imagery is old hat for both artists, who’ve both enjoyed provoking the Christian establishment since their careers began nearly 25 years ago, fans didn’t enjoy seeing Kanye connect himself to someone accused of sexual assault during an event ostensibly meant to honor his late mother, Donda West. A number of fans on Twitter noted the discrepancy, which was exacerbated by his choice to play a new version of “Jail” that replaced Jay-Z’s verse with one from DaBaby — who himself has been under fire for making homophobic comments onstage during Rolling Loud.

If Kanye’s goal was to get people talking, well, mission accomplished. If it was to endear himself to the fans he’s alienated over the years with his antics, I don’t think he should hold his breath. Check out more responses below.

The Detroit rap scene is in the midst of a resurgence and names like Babyface Ray are a large reason for that. Earlier this year the rapper shared his Unf*ckwitable EP which presented seven tracks with features from Moneybagg Yo, Kash Doll, and EST Gee. A few months later he doubled the project’s length with a deluxe reissue that featured additional help from Jack Harlow and Murda Beatz. Despite giving his fans plenty of music to enjoy in 2021, Ray is far from done as his latest release finds him alongside Big Sean and Hit-Boy for “It Aint My Fault.”

The trio delivers the track with a new video that initially presents them as clean and neat businessmen who sit at a press conference of sorts to clear their name out of a string of allegations. Halfway into it, they switch out their suits for relaxed clothes and plenty of chains to flex some muscle for the remainder of the song. “It Aint My Fault” is also the first time Big Sean and Babyface Ray have collaborated marking a cross-generational connection in the city’s hip-hop scene.

Months after sharing his fifth album, Detroit 2, Big Sean is extending his streak of collaborative efforts. Most recently, he joined Yung Bleu on “Way More Close (Stuck In A Box)” and Sada Baby for “Little While.”

You can press play on the video for “It Aint My Fault” above.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of their incredibly influential and commercially successful record, The Black Album, Metallica have enlisted a whole host of indie cool kid musicians to do covers of the songs. Putting all these covers together for a full covers album, dubbed The Metallica Blacklist, the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, St. Vincent and Jason Isbell, and even Miley Cyrus have all gotten involved. Other artists like J. Balvin have also dropped covers, but a brand new offering from British pop star Rina Sawayama ups the ante today.

Plenty of artists offer their own take and their own sound when covering a classic band’s song, but not Rina. Instead, she offered a true to form take on the song that hews close to the energy and pure rock sound of Metallica’s own version. Of course, her lyrical delivery is still going to be pretty far off from the tone Lars Ulrich delivers, but it’s actually refreshing to hear an artist render a song so close to the original. Especially when it’s a song as classic as this one. Rina just keeps proving her versatility with every new project. Listen above.

The Metallica Blacklist is out 9/10 via Blackened Recordings. Pre-order it here.

Pedro Martinez is one of the greatest pitchers in Major League Baseball history, strolling into Cooperstown as a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2015 with 3,154 career strikeouts, a 2.93 career ERA, and three Cy Young awards. Martinez was absolutely dominant on the mound over his years in Montreal and then, particularly, as the ace of the Boston Red Sox, including the 2004 World Series winning squad.

Martinez had a powerful fastball, but his ability to mix in a lethal changeup to keep hitters off balance was the reason for his success. However, until Thursday, we didn’t know just how much he toyed with batters and opposing teams with that ability to change speeds.

On the MLB Network’s broadcast on Thursday night, Martinez showed CC Sabathia, Chris Young, and Stephen Nelson how whenever a runner was on second base, he would show them a fastball grip in his glove, knowing they’d be trying to signal to the batter, and then as he was beginning his motion, he’d switch to the changeup, and, in his words, “you dead meat.”

Sabathia seemed to know this trick from others, but Young in particular had his mind blown, noting he was always looking at pitchers when he was on second and never saw anyone pull this off. It takes a special ability to make that grip change so late and be able to throw it how you want and where you want, but then again, Martinez is one of the most talented pitchers in baseball history so it shouldn’t come as a shocker that he was one of the few who could pull this off.

It is also a reminder that, for every perceived advantage, the greats will find a counter, as Martinez took advantage of having a runner on second trying to relay signals to home by flipping the script to even further dupe unsuspecting hitters into lunging out in front of a changeup.

Megan Thee Stallion has earned herself a long list of achievements in her career. She’s a Grammy-winning artist who’s also seen her debut album, Good News, go platinum. The Houston native also has a pair of chart-topping songs to her name. By all means, Megan is a superstar whose name is recognizable all over the world, but with her latest release, she’s looking to take that even further. The rapper joins K-pop BTS group to deliver a remix of their No. 1 single, “Butter.” On it, she slides through for a smooth verse that is sure to elevate the song.

The remix could give Megan her third No. 1 single if her addition is enough to pull the song back up to the top of the charts. Prior to the remix, “Butter” spent seven consecutive weeks at No. 1. After “Permission To Dance,” another song the band released this year, interrupted the streak “Butter” put up on the charts, the latter returned to No. 1 where it would stay for two more weeks, making BTS the artist to both spend the most overall and consecutive weeks at No. 1 in this year.

The road to the arrival of Megan’s “Butter” remix was not as smooth as the Houston rapper probably hoped it would’ve been. The rapper was forced to petition for the song’s release earlier this week in court after her label 150 Certified Entertainment attempted to block her from dropping it. The filing specifically requested an “emergency relief from the Court before this Friday, August 27, 2021, to allow her new music to be released this week as previously scheduled.” Hours after the petition was filed, a judge ruled that Megan was cleared to share the remix.

You can listen to the remix in the video above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Kanye West’s third Donda listening at Chicago’s Soldier Field is underway, and one of the biggest changes he’s made to the project so far was evident right off the bat — and many fans aren’t happy about it. One of the standout tracks at Kanye’s first listening came toward the end, revealing that he had, at last, reconciled with Jay-Z, who contributed a verse addressing Ye’s oddball political antics over the past few years. However, this time, he opened with the same song, with one major change: Jay-Z’s verse had been replaced with one by DaBaby.

The reason for the change is currently unknown and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. The fan reaction, though, was obvious and immediate. Putting aside the quality of the song for just a moment, the timing — coming as DaBaby has been subject to widespread backlash over his homophobic comments during Rolling Loud — is questionable and likely intentional on Kanye’s part. After all, Kanye did spend the better part of the last four years trolling people with a Make America Great Again ball cap, even as the man who coined the catchphrase was doing everything in his power to do the opposite.

Fans criticized the switch, calling it a downgrade. Meanwhile, the listening has continued with further attention-baiting decisions, such as inviting Marilyn Manson — who is currently under investigation for domestic abuse — to hang out with him on the steps of the reconstructed replica of his childhood home as he plays an album named for his mother. Meanwhile, that album’s release date has once again changed, now showing September 5. See more responses to the change below.