Category: Worldwide

Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant were always going to be connected as members of the 1996 draft class, but they emerged as the two faces of the NBA, East and West, for their era.

The dueled in the 2001 NBA Finals, with Kobe coming out on top, and battled for scoring titles and MVP honors over the years. They were two icons of basketball culture, players who defined what it was to be cool on and off the court. You wanted their swagger, their confidence, and, most importantly, their handles and silky jump shots. The admiration and respect for each other extended to the two of them, one a Philly native and the other a Philly icon. Iverson was there when Bryant’s jerseys were retired, celebrating right along with Kobe despite that being the man that kept him from his best chance at a championship.

As the league celebrated Bryant’s birthday on Sunday and Mamba Day on Monday with tributes and remembrances of the legend, Iverson issued his own in a letter to Kobe in The Players’ Tribune. He remembered their battles and why he loved and respected Kobe so much, recalling the time he went to L.A. as a rookie and found out exactly how seriously Kobe took this basketball business.

Remember when I came out to L.A. for the first time our rookie year? You picked me up at the hotel and we went out for some food, and you asked me what I was getting up to later.

I said I was going to the club. I mean, we in L.A.! I’m going to the club, Kobe. Come on, man.

And what did you say?

“I’m going back to the gym.”

You’re probably the only dude in the history of the game where the mystique wasn’t exaggerated. The Mamba was no myth, man. It didn’t even do you justice. One, two, three in the morning, we knew where you were.

It’s the perfect encapsulation of Bryant and his insatiable appetite for basketball, as well as a pretty fantastic representation of the differences between the two icons. Iverson ended his letter to Kobe with a poignant statement that likely resonates for millions of Kobe fans still trying to navigate the mere idea of his loss.

“Those memories aren’t going anywhere. And yeah, we’re gonna cry. We’re still gonna cry sometimes when we remember that you’re really gone. But we gonna smile like a motherf***er when we think of the memories.”

Iconic rap group Public Enemy is the focus of a new art show opening soon celebrating the 30th anniversary of Fear Of A Black Planet, the band’s classic 1990 album which contained table-shaking singles “911 Is a Joke,” “Welcome to the Terrordome,” and “Fight the Power.” The show, The Terrordome, will run from September 5 to October 3 at Black Book Gallery in Englewood, Colorado. It’ll feature works from Anthony Lister, Faith47, Okuda, Shepard Fairey, and Public Enemy frontman Chuck D himself, all inspired by the music and moments from Fear Of A Black Planet and its legendary 1990 release.

The show was conceived by Chuck D and Lorrie Boula, who also curated it, and promises to practice COVID-19 safety precautions for those in attendance. Chuck D cited his past as a visual artist as his reason for creating the show, writing in a press statement: “Bringing visual artists and music together has always been important to me because it’s who I am. I was an illustrator and graphic designer long before I ever grabbed a microphone. We’ve been working hard at bringing together an amazing array of artists for the show, and look forward to people coming through to see their work.”

Check out samples of the artwork that will be on display below and find more information about show here.

The Los Angeles Lakers will be looking to take a 3-1 lead in their first round series on Monday night when they take on the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 4. They’ll also be looking to honor the legendary Kobe Bryant in the process as they bring back their “Black Mamba” uniforms from 2017, featuring a snakeskin print, as they don the uniforms for Mamba Day on 8/24 — also being a day after Kobe’s birthday.

On Monday morning, at 8:24 a.m. PT, the Lakers unveiled what the uniforms will look like when they take the floor. The most notable change from the 2017 edition is the addition of a patch for Gigi Bryant, Kobe’s daughter who was also killed in the tragic January helicopter crash.

Throughout the second half of the season the Lakers have paid tribute to Bryant in various ways, and bringing back the Black Mamba uniforms are a great touch to do so in the playoffs given the rare opportunity to play on 8/24. Emotions will surely be high for the Lakers on Monday night, as they were on Sunday for those in the NBA and WNBA playing on Bryant’s birthday, with many players paying tribute to Kobe either with special pregame warmups or custom sneakers remembering the legend.

Kevin Parker has regularly performed during the pandemic, a time when more late-night TV and similarly natured performances take place in non-traditional venues (usually at home). Now he has participated in NPR’s series of at-home Tiny Desk concerts, and he decided to mix things up by introducing what he described as “Tame Impala Soundsystem”

Parker was by himself for most of these performances, but this time, he was joined by Tame Impala touring band members Jay Watson and Dom Simper. Together, the three put on a more electronic-based performance, as the three all manned synths and other electronic thingamajigs for “Breathe Deeper,” “Is It True,” and “Patience.”

Parker explained his vision of it to NPR, saying, “I’ll get Jay and Dom and we’ll do this kind of electronic jam with heaps of equipment around us and we’ll recreate the songs with samplers and sequencers. I’ve wanted to do something like this for a while and thought Tiny Desk would be the opportunity to do it.”

Parker has tried out a bunch of different performance styles in recent months. In May, he was joined by clones of himself on The Late Show, and he simplified things with a recent acoustic performance.

Watch Tame Impala’s Tiny Desk performance above.

The Brooklyn Nets season came to an end on Sunday when they were dispatched by the Toronto Raptors in a 150-122 drubbing, the culmination of a widely expected first round sweep. As a result, the Nets coaching search can now begin in earnest and the team has a very interesting decision to make.

Jacque Vaughn guided the team on interim status through the end of the regular season and the restart in the Bubble, with an especially impressive showing from the team in Orlando as they went 5-3 in the seeding round, almost took the Blazers out of the playoffs, and battled in Game 2 with the Raptors before ultimately being overwhelmed by the talent disparity. Vaughn was always going to be a candidate, but the expectation was the Nets would flame out of the seeding round with a shorthanded roster and all but remove him from consideration. Now, however, he has a pretty strong point of reference for what he can do. The main problem is, it’s showed he can get a lot out of a scrappy group, not coach a pair of superstars who wield significant power in the hiring process.

As such, other top candidates for the job include Tyronn Lue, who coached Kyrie Irving in Cleveland during their championship season, but on Monday Shams Charania of The Athletic reported an even bigger fish has the eyes of Irving and Kevin Durant — and thus, the Nets as well. Per Shams, Gregg Popovich is the “dream candidate” of Brooklyn and they will at least try to gain permission to talk with the Hall of Fame coach.

The first priority of the Nets’ coaching search has become clear: They plan to seriously explore the possibilities with Popovich, sources tell The Athletic.

…

He is a favorite of Nets star Kevin Durant, league sources say, even dating as far back as the Oklahoma City Thunder’s coaching search process in 2015 (which ultimately concluded with the hire of Billy Donovan). There is known to be tremendous mutual respect between Popovich and KD. Durant’s presence and voice is powerful within the Nets’ franchise, and Popovich represents a bonding candidate between the two-time Finals MVP and Brooklyn’s front office. ESPN reported on Sunday evening that Durant and Irving have shown an interest in Popovich.

If your first thought was, “there’s no way Pop is leaving the Spurs for the Nets,” then you’re in the majority. It seems, for sure, to be an incredible long shot for the Nets to not only get a meeting with Pop but to convince him to leave and match whatever the Spurs require in compensation in return. Charania even called it a “pipe dream” in the piece, but it seems to be one Brooklyn’s willing to pursue. A lot of that pursuit seems to be simply proving to your two superstars that you’ll try anything for them, including making a potential Godfather offer to the league’s most legendary coach.

What this also indicates is maybe not the best of things for whoever the Nets do hire. If Durant is making a strong internal push for Pop, one has to wonder what coach he’d be happy enough with that isn’t Pop. Any coach who comes into the Nets was always going to have immense pressure to make them a contender immediately, but add in the pressure of “not Gregg Popovich” as a checkmark in the cons section for your biggest star and you better make quite the early impression to gain some stability in your new role.

If you were hoping to visit a museum-like exhibition of Game of Thrones props, you’re out of luck. The cast has already ransacked every item from the HBO series. Emilia Clarke has a Targaryen flag (even if she wanted one of Daenerys’ wigs), Maisie Williams owns Arya’s jacket, and Kit Harington “borrowed” a Jon Snow statue (lol) from the Winterfell crypt. But Sophie Turner has them beat: she’s got a throne.

Over the weekend, Turner shared a photo of Sansa Stark’s throne from the Game of Thrones series finale on Instagram. “Welcome home,” she wrote. Look, I realize she and husband Joe Jonas just had a baby and all — congratulations, etc. — but that throne is the most important addition to the Turner/Jonas household this year:

Turner reunited with the actual throne Sansa Stark sat in at the very end of the show’s finale after being crowned Queen of the North… The photo sees the wooden throne featuring the House Stark crest and dire wolves, which Turner placed right below her stairs. (Turner also has a dire wolf tattoo on the back of her arm.) The photo was also shared by Jonas, who is a die-hard GoT fan.

Is it wrong to go to a friend’s house under the guise of wanting to “meet the baby” when, actually, you just want to sit on a TV prop throne? Asking for a friend (Kevin Jonas).

(Via Yahoo!)

When Beyonce released her visual album, Black Is King, to Disney+ a month ago, one of the segments that immediately stood out to fans on Twitter and Instagram was the uplifting video for the song “Brown Skin Girl.” Centering on a Black debutante pageant — a tradition in majority Black areas of the South United States such as Louisiana, where Beyonce has roots — the video was praised for showing Black women celebrating their beauty on their own terms.

Now, that video is available to watch for all, as Beyonce breaks out the clip as a standalone video and shares it to YouTube. All her fans can now enjoy the video, without having to subscribe to Disney+ or fast forward to the video in the longer film. Beyonce previously shared a more personal video for “Brown Skin Girl” on its original release as part of her Lion King: The Gift album released to help promote the live-action remake of the Disney classic. She re-released the album as a deluxe version in conjunction with the Black Is King debut. The song quickly became a fan favorite, even finding its way onto Michelle Obama’s recently released Spotify playlist highlighting her own faves.

Watch Beyonce’s new “Brown Skin Girl” video above.

Black Is King is available for streaming now on Disney+. Watch it here.

The Killers’ new album Imploding The Mirage has only been out for a few days, but already, Brandon Flowers is discussing plans for a new album. In fact, he has revealed that he and the group aim to have a new full-length release out in less than a year from now.

Speaking with NME, Flowers said:

“You know when people just say that? Every time someone makes a record they say that they have 50 songs and they’re going to release another record. We really are. We’re going to release another one in about 10 months. We’ve already gone back into the studio with [producer Jonathon Rado] and [producer Shawn Everett]. We did a week in Northern California. I had a lot of time on my hands. Before, I’d normally be gearing up to tour, all of that time has gone back into writing more songs. It’s been pretty fruitful.”

Flowers went on to explain more about how not touring right away has been a creative advantage for him, saying, “I’m not writing a quarantine album or anything like that. You kind of just start hitting your stride when you’re finishing a record. You’re writing lyrics, you’re mixing everything, you’re in it — then you go on tour. It’s interesting to not be going on tour and having any of that stuff taking up my brain. I just went right back to the piano. I was already exercising my songwriting muscles so a lot of it came very quickly. Something powerful happened when I shut off the part of my brain that runs towards the grind and just started running towards the creative part of my brain.”

Read more from the interview here.

There is a lot to process in the first trailer for The Batman: Robert Pattinson looking like I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning-era Conor Oberst; the Nirvana song; the Fast and Furious-style Batmobile; Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman debut; Colin Farrell as the Penguin… or maybe it’s Richard Kind? That would be inspired casting! But don’t overlook this scene.

This shot, one of the few in the trailer that you can see without turning the screen brightness all the way up, shows Jim Gordon (played by Jeffrey Wright) discovering a card left behind by the Riddler (Paul Dano) for Batman at a crime scene. “What does a liar do when he’s dead?” the inside reads, followed by a series of symbols.

Batman has some world’s greatest detective competition, because someone thinks they have decoded the message. “So hyped for Matt Reeve’s Batman Movie, I decided to solve The Riddler’s code,” Andrew Lane wrote on Twitter. He explained his process:

“I first analyzed the different symbols and found the ones that were reoccurring throughout the code. From here, I had two thought processes. I had a feeling that The Riddler may use the word “Batman” so I solved the first part as Batman. This didn’t work because the symbols that I substituted with letters in the first phrase didn’t line up with the same symbols in the second one. So I went to my next thought process, which was replacing the matching symbols in the first phrase with “E” since it is the most used letter in the English language. Then the matching consecutive letters in the second phrase I replaced with a double “L”, because it is the most commonly used consecutive letters in the English language. Then I used the riddle on the right side of the card and the substituted letters to figure out the rest.”

What’s the answer to the riddle? “He lies still,” which, as Lane tweeted, “is a double entendre, because he is literally lying still due to death and also continues to lie after death.” Hm, I prefer, “Riddle me this, riddle me that, who’s afraid of the big, black bat” but this one’s good, too. The Batman is scheduled to come out on October 1, 2021.

Keeping up with the best new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw Jay-Z and Pharrell show their support of Black-owned businesses and The Killers make a winning return. Yeah, it was a great week for the best new music. Check out the highlights below.

Pharrell and Jay-Z — “Entrepreneur”

Jay-Z drew some ire for his lyrics on the Pharrell collaboration ‘Entrepreneur” before the track even came out, as he took shots at “Black Twitter.” The full song, though, sees Jay offer words of encouragement for prospective entrepreneurs, with insightful lyrics like, “If you can’t buy the building, at least stock the shelf.”

Nas — King’s Disease

Nas did a good job of drumming up attention for his new project by including a Doja Cat diss on King’s Disease, his first album since 2018’s Nasir. As for non-Nas artists who are actually on the album, he recruited Anderson .Paak, Big Sean, Lil Durk, and others for guest spots.

The Killers — Imploding The Mirage

The pandemic forced this album to arrive later than it was originally meant to, but at last, it’s here. Uproxx’s Steven Hyden wrote of the release, “Imploding The Mirage is just plain fun, at a time when ‘fun’ feels like the opposite of pain and more like a balm.”

BTS — “Dynamite”

BTS have been known to obliterate a record or two in their day, and of course, their first English-language song, “Dynamite,” did just that. The visual racked up a seemingly impossible amount of views in its first hour, a further testament that the strongest military force on Earth may just be the BTS Army.

Mulatto — Queen Of Da Souf

Mulatto told Uproxx of her burgeoning career, which was just punctuated by Queen Of Da Souf, “From the jump, I was like, ‘I know I’m here to say.’ Nobody can convince me otherwise. I know what God put me on this earth to do, and I know my purpose. I don’t believe in that blackballing or burning bridges. You keep it real and you work hard and you pray hard, it’s going to happen to you, and I’m living proof of that.”

Vic Mensa — V Tape

Vic Mensa has spent time in recent years delving into more rocking territory with his side project 93Punx, but now he’s back to hip-hop. V Tape is his first all-rap project since 2018’s Hooligans EP, and it is surely a flashback for fans who remember Mensa as a 2014 XXL Freshman.

Internet Money — “Thrusting” Feat. Future and Swae Lee

Swae Lee and Future last linked up on “Buckets,” from the 2018 Rae Sremmurd album SR3MM, but now they’ve gotten back together. This time, they have assisted Internet Money on “Thrusting,” a dancehall-inspired track featuring R&B-flavored contributions from Future.

Baha Banks — “Shake That Ass” Feat. Chance The Rapper

Chance The Rapper is happily married, but he still spits lines like, “Throw that left cheek on the beat, let me beat / Let me find out you a freak,” on “Shake That Ass.” Chance is guesting here on Baha Banks’ track, and the feature is a great look for the newcomer rapper.

Phoenix — “Identical”

The French group hasn’t been the most active in recent years, but they made a welcomed return last week. “Identical” is the band’s first new song in two years, and it arrived with news that a new album was on the way, which the band described as “all over the place.”

Duckwrth — Supergood

After making a name for himself online over the past handful of years, Duckwrth has arrived with his major-label debut album. As Uproxx’s Aaron Williams notes of the project, it “combines soulful grooves to upbeat dance production and savvy, sexy rhymes that set him apart from just about everyone else in the game today.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.