Category: Worldwide

Considering the fact that their debut album, Mirrorland, arrived a little over a year ago, it may be a bit far-fetched to expect EarthGang’s would deliver their upcoming sophomore project at any point in the near future. Despite this, the Atlanta duo has teased some music over the past few months and now they have finally given their fans a new release in the form of their collaboration with Wale.

The track, entitled “Options,” has grown to be an unreleased fan favorite after they teased the song back in the spring. It’s an uptempo number that finds the trio flaunting the many options they have in their lives. Whether it be in respect to women or their careers, EarthGang and Wale make it clear that they’ll always somewhere to go or something to do.

Earthgang’s last 2020 single, “Powered Up,” can be found on the soundtrack for Madden NFL 21. Other than that, most of the duo’s recent work can be found on the recently released Spillage Village album, Spilligion, where EarthGang appeared on a number of tracks including “End Of Daze,” “Baptize,” “Hapi,” and “Jupiter.” They also joined the rest of the Spillage Village collective for a soulful Tiny Desk performance for the NPR series.

As for Wale, the DMV star released The Imperfect Storm EP earlier this year and released his most recent single, “Flawed” with Gunna, last month.

You can listen to “Options” in the video above.

Wale and Gunna are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Donald Trump is floating a lot of things in the dying days of his presidency, including wild and baseless conspiracy theories about massive voting fraud that didn’t simply happen. Lately, he’s reportedly even wondered if he just… stayed in the White House past his term ending, which would at least be a bit more interesting than his endless tweets about nothing of substance.

There are all kinds of rumblings about what Trump will do next once he leaves the White House for good, and apparently one of those things is to revive The Apprentice on NBC with Mark Burnett. According to the Daily Beast, Trump has openly pitched some close confidants in the White House about bringing the show back.

Among his inner orbit of family, political aides, and advisers, it is yet another sign that, despite the president’s public insistence that he won the 2020 election, he recognizes that he has lost and that his ongoing legal crusade to cancel Joe Biden’s victory will come up short.

In the past two weeks, the people familiar with the matter note, Trump has casually slipped into conversation lines such as, “How would you like to see The Apprentice come back?” and “Remember The Apprentice?”

It’s very funny to imagine Trump asking people around him if they “remember” the show that largely sparked the persona and popularity that led to him reaching the White House in the first place, like a former high school quarterback donning the letterman jacket to recall the good old days down at the local dive. But Trump floating these things in private usually leads to him test ballooning it on the endless campaign trail he’s also teased out running after the election, as he reportedly wants to rally his way to the 2024 campaign right away.

Working on The Apprentice in 2021 and beyond would obviously put him on a different path, but there’s some speculation that Burnett, who created the show, is also interested in teaming back up with Trump to make it happen.

Also unclear is to what extent Trump and Burnett have made contact this month. But Burnett has been talking up the prospect and has told associates he sees a revived Apprentice as a potential huge money spinner, according to a person familiar with his thinking.

“Mark’s an opportunist. Trump was his meal ticket before and he’s keen to bring the show back to life especially in the face of the disaster MGM has become,” the person said referring to Burnett’s rocky tenure as chairman of the MGM television group where he has overseen a string of flops including Netflix’s Messiah, The Contender on CBS, and ABC’s Funderdome.

The Daily Beast did point out that an anonymous spokesperson for Burnett said the prospect of a new Apprentice was “NOT TRUE zero discussions about TV,” there does seem to be some considerable smoke here. Whether NBC would actually want to put Trump back on the air after four controversial years in the White House isn’t certain, but Trump is clearly looking for his next gig and might think going back to his old TV personality ways is the best path forward.

[via The Daily Beast]

With just a few weeks left in the year, Eminem has arrived with a surprise batch of new songs for his fan base to enjoy as the biggest holiday of the year approaches. The Detroit rapper joined the deluxe album trend to release a “B-side” edition of his eleventh album, Music To Be Murdered By, which he released at the top of the year. For the past week, Eminem’s fans speculated that the extended version of the album would arrive on December 18, but the rumor was not confirmed by the rapper or his label. His associate Kxng Crooked responded to the rumors but didn’t exactly give a straightforward answer for them.

The “B-Side” edition of Music to Be Murdered By comes with 12 new songs and features from Skylar Grey, DJ Premier, Ty Dolla Sign, Dr. Dr, MAJ, Wite Gold, and Sly Paper, and more. The surprise drop marks the third time in two years that Eminem has shared a project without announcing it prior to its release. He first did it in 2018 with his Kamikaze album and returned to the tactic once again in January 2020 with Music to Be Murdered By. The 12 additions join the original 20 songs that saw appearances from Young M.A, Royce Da 5’9,” Ed Sheeran, Juice WRLD, Skylar Grey, Black Thought, Don Toliver, Anderson .Paak, and more.

Music to Be Murdered By (Deluxe) is out now via Shady/Interscope. Get it here.

Ty Dolla Sign is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Sportsbooks are often used as an indicator of objectivity, a place where those that set the odds and numbers have no loyalty to anything but the money. In sports, this can be true, as books want as close to an even split of money on each game — because by way of the rake, they will pull in a modest winning on 50-50 betting.

What many fail to realize, however, is that the betting markets are also swayed by the money that comes in. Lines move constantly, as books adjust to the amount of money and bets coming in on one side, and if it begins to get too heavy, they rapidly shift to try and coax money out of the other to, once again, get things closer to even. Offshore sportsbooks are not beholden to regulations of state commissions and as such are allowed to offer odds on things that those in Las Vegas, New Jersey, and the various other states that have legalized sports betting cannot, including, for example the U.S. presidential election.

On election night, the odds skewed heavily towards Donald Trump, but not because the books were being swayed by the early ballot counts. Instead, it was the result of a flood of money on Trump from his supporters that they were chasing, as Alex Kirshner explored for Slate, speaking with Dave Mason of BetOnline and Pat Morrow of Bovada, two of the most prominent offshore oddsmakers.

Trump famously tweeted about the betting markets projecting him at 97 percent at one point on Tuesday night — which was false as the highest his implied odds reached was 89 percent — but the overall sentiment wasn’t completely wrong, it just failed to account for why the markets shifted. It wasn’t a belief from the books that Trump was going to win, but the belief from his supporters that led them to continue shoveling money into the books — where the percentage of Trump supporters that frequent said books is much higher than that of the general population

“The Trump guys were just out in full force,” Mason says. “According to the true odds, they probably could’ve got a better price, but us and probably every other book kept it lower than it should, just because we were all so exposed on it.”

“Trump supporters are loud,” Morrow says. “They love Trump in a way that most candidates are not beloved, but they also represent the demographic of a lot of sports bettors. These are people that are 18 to 45, generally white male.”

They were shifting the odds toward Trump to try and slow the money coming in on him because had Trump won, they would’ve lost a record amount of money. Instead, they won and won big, leading to many crying foul and Trump supporters taking it on the chin, sometimes in drastic figures.

So how much money was out there for the election? According to Mason, it was more than double the handle of the last two Super Bowls combined.

“Everybody knows that the Super Bowl is the biggest bet event of the year by far, and this doubled the last two combined,” Mason says. “It was absolutely insane. Not only the amount of people betting it, but the big bets that were coming in. Five figures and even six-figure bets coming in on both sides. We’d never seen anything like it.”

That’s a preposterous amount of money, and the books desperately needed Biden. Even though they don’t have brick and mortar buildings like those out in the desert, the proverbial offshore buildings are still tall and shiny for a reason. And Trump supporters just made them taller and shinier than ever before.

Although it might be hard for her to top the most recent SNL appearance from Timothee Chalamet — who doubled as Harry Styles for a quick sketch — Dua Lipa has been announced as the musical guest on the show this weekend. Appearing alongside Kristen Wiig, Dua is coming off the triumph of her second album, Future Nostalgia and its remixed follow-up, Club Future Nostalgia, which both helped catapult her to the level of top-tier pop star. Both Wiig and Lipa appeared masked up in a new promo for their episode, with Kate McKinnon and plenty of Santa jokes in tow:

The clear favorite for one of Dua’s two songs is “Levitating,” the lead single off Future Nostalgia and one of her biggest hits to date. It’s also the song she performed live for the AMA’s, so it’s definitely fresh on her mind. My pick for a second track off her new album would be “Good In Bed,” a winking, sexy song about the kind of relationship where nothing works but the physical aspect. No matter what she performs though, this is guaranteed to be one of those appearances that fans won’t want to miss. Tune in Saturday to see what she ends up going with — and in case you miss it, don’t worry, I’ll be blogging.

The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers are one of the best stories in college football this season. Head coach Jamey Chadwell and his team finished the regular season with a spotless 11-0 record, and that undefeated mark includes a memorable win over a previously unbeaten BYU team. As a reward for their play, Coastal Carolina was scheduled to square off against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in the Sun Belt Championship Game on Saturday afternoon but, with an announcement from the conference on Thursday, that is longer the case.

As part of the announcement, it was revealed that an “entire position group” would be ruled out for the game due to contact tracing from COVID-19 and, as such, the face-off is canceled.

“We are very disappointed that the championship game cannot be played, but we are so proud of all of the players and staff members and their hard work during this truly challenging season,” Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill said in a release. “We will honor both teams as 2020 Sun Belt Conference Co-Champions.”

While unfortunate, this result seems oddly fitting for what has been a troubled college football season, and the odds were that a significant game would be affected on championship weekend. Still, it is brutal for both Coastal Carolina and Louisiana to not be able to finish off the season in a showcase game and, hopefully, the two teams can take the field again in the setting of a bowl game in the near future.

Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, a fact that still remains true after the Electoral College voted Joe Biden as the next president on Monday. Even some Republicans are admitting Trump lost despite his desire that everyone live in the same fiction he desperately clings to even in the dying days of 2020. The last days of the Trump administration appear to be filled with denial in the White House and among those who still think he was somehow wronged by 80 million or so Americans who didn’t want him to be president anymore.

Biden, meanwhile, is trying to assemble a transition government while Trump’s personal lawyer is playing pitchman for cigars and gold coins while portraying the president-elect as part of a vast amoral crime family. It’s a lot, but everything is in 2020, isn’t it?

Including the latest scuttlebutt going around conservative circles that Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts is part of a vast conspiracy to deplatform Trump from the presidency. And that he also has ties to Jeffery Epstein. The buzz seemed to have started on Thursday when the Washington Post published a perspective piece about Roberts and his apparent attempts not to politicize the Supreme Court, which seem to have backfired now that he’s being lumped into a vast political conspiracy by those in his own party.

Here’s an example of one of the tweets that was very popular among the right on Twitter on Thursday night.

As is the case with every failed conspiracy theory attached to Trump losing the election, there’s really no proof here beyond the fact that the Republican-appointed justice didn’t help Trump by ruling in his favor in any of the hilariously bereft cases regarding the election. But for some people it certainly was amusing to see conservatives turn on one of their own members of the Supreme Court.

On occasion, NFL handicapping is a maddening experience. That was the case in Week 14, at least in this space and with one particular decision. Overall, we posted a 2-3 output, which is far from disastrous, but we rolled with the first half under in the Bengals game, only to lose that particular wager with a handful of seconds left in the first half. Predictably, the full game total stayed under with ease and, well, that is the difference between a winning week and a losing week.

Alas, we remain undeterred, and the Week 15 slate has some appetizing spots. Before diving into our five selections, let’s pause and check out the season-long effort.

• Week 14: 2-3
• 2020 Season: 33-35-2

Come get these winners.

Carolina Panthers (+8.5) over Green Bay Packers

The Packers are red-hot, winning three straight and five of six. In contrast, the Panthers have lost seven of eight, and things are seemingly going in the wrong direction. With that said, six of those seven defeats came by one possession, and Teddy Bridgewater is the king of all underdogs. Carolina’s quarterback is 33-13-1 all-time and a blistering 23-6 as an underdog. That isn’t the basis for the pick, but it certainly helps. Give me the Panthers to keep it close.

Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings UNDER 47 points

We always enjoy a good Under bet and, with Akiem Hicks back for the Bears, this feels snug. Minnesota loves to pound the rock with Dalvin Cook and, quite honestly, that usually works. The Bears have had mild success in slowing Cook, though, and Chicago’s offense might also be overvalued right now after facing two putrid defenses in Detroit and Houston. It may not be comfortable the entire way, but this feels like a rock fight. Give me a few points and perhaps a missed field goal (or two) from Dan Bailey.

New England Patriots (+2) over Miami Dolphins

There is a lot happening here. Bill Belichick owns rookie quarterbacks, and the Dolphins are starting one. Miami is running unbelievably hot in turnover luck. New England’s strength offensively is on the ground, while Miami’s defensive strength is against the pass. The Dolphins are also 10-3 against the spread. Did I mention that they are running unbelievably hot and we get to take Bill Belichick against a rookie quarterback?

Jacksonville Jaguars (+13) over Baltimore Ravens

Hold your nose. I’m tempted to give out the Jets at +17.5, too. Be thankful we settled here instead.

Arizona Cardinals (-6) over Philadelphia Eagles

If it feels like we’re on the Cardinals every week, it’s because we basically are. Some of that is about Arizona being undervalued (at least at times) but, this week, a lot of it is about Philadelphia. The Eagles aren’t very good and, with all due respect to Jalen Hurts, Philly is getting more respect from last week’s performance than they should. This number should be 7.5 or higher, and with more than half of the tickets on Philadelphia, Arizona is the rare sharp favorite. Lay the number.

Preseason is different for everyone in the NBA world, especially in 2020 with limited deployment and a shortened window to prepare for the regular season. That dichotomy was on full display in one particular moment on Thursday evening, and it came during the third quarter of an otherwise anonymous tilt between the Washington Wizards and the Detroit Pistons. With the Pistons playing quite well in the first half, Washington was trailing and, apparently, frustration set in for Thomas Bryant.

Pistons star Blake Griffin, who is attempting to re-establish himself after a long-term injury, got into a mini-tussle with Bryant, slinging him to the ground during the course of live action. From there, Bryant didn’t take kindly to the gesture.

As noted here, Griffin was assessed a Flagrant-1 foul for his actions, and that is some level of justice for Bryant. Still, it is undeniably amusing to see Griffin flatly laughing as Bryant was incensed, and while Bryant isn’t that young, it could also be the difference between an established long-term veteran and a player that is still rising in the league.

Nothing is that serious in the preseason but, to be charitable to Bryant, it is possible that he thought it was a dangerous action by Griffin and no one wants that. In the end, all was well, and the Wizards got the (very small) win of the flagrant foul.

Twitter is a tough place to exist in even the best of times, but according to a report the company is trying to make everyone using the social media site to remember that actual humans exist behind all those avatars. Well, mostly.

According to Mashable, Twitter is testing a feature that will show you some mutual interests in a window below what you may fire off at a random stranger with a bad take on the social media site.

The intent is to make you think twice about roasting a human with a bad opinion because you both like, you know, cats or something.

The company began testing a new feature, dubbed humanization prompts, on Thursday with the goal of improving conversational health on the platform. As part of the test, some Twitter users will be presented with the shared interests and mutual followers of the accounts they’re replying to.

In other words, humanization prompts aim to not-so-subtly point out what Twitter users have in common. But don’t be surprised if you personally don’t see the prompts. The test will only go into effect for approximately 10 percent of English-speaking Android users.

Fittingly, that Mashable tweet had some pretty funny responses in the replies about some of the weirdness that may come from knowing mutual interests among your sworn internet enemies.

Some think this kind of thing may just end up being weaponized, anyway.

The most common response to all this is that Twitter should simply get rid of abusive users of the platform and better protect users from Nazis and trolls, rather than encourage them to just play nice with others. But perhaps that’s more difficult than using some algorithms to discover that most people like dogs.

[via Mashable]