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The Walking Dead will return briefly this Sunday to air the 16th episode of the 10th season. The episode was supposed to air as the season finale in April, but the pandemic changed everything, and now it’s the 16th of 22 episodes this season, although the next six will not return until the Spring. Meanwhile beyond the 10th season, there’s only one more season left, an extended 24-episode 11th season that will air in 2021 and 2022. After that, Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride — who play Daryl and Carol on The Walking Dead, respectively — will ride off into their on spin-off series.

“Ride off” is an apt way to describe it, too, according to Angela Kang, the current showrunner of The Walking Dead and the showrunner of the spin-off series. “They’re going to be off on a different journey,” Kang told Entertainment Weekly. “And that show’s going to feel hopefully a little tonally fresh. They’re just in a different stage of their lives and it’s more of a road show, which I think will be really fun.”

In fact, the idea of a spin-off actually preceded the announcement that The Walking Dead would end after the 11th season. “There’s been talk for a long time about a Darryl/Carol spin-off,” Kang told EW. “And so that was something that we were working on well in advance of the news about the ending of the series.”

That actually makes sense in the context of an exchange Daryl and Carol had earlier this season about getting on Daryl’s motorcycle and leaving everything behind. It appears that it’s exactly what they will do when The Walking Dead ends.

This news in some ways upends the suggestion that the Carol-and-Daryl spin-off will be more of a leaner, less expensive continuation of The Walking Dead, especially as the road-trip element may make it less likely that Carol and Daryl will interact with existing cast members. Tonally, the series will be different, as well, Kang said. Importantly, it also allows the TWD universe to keep Reedus and McBride while also giving them something a little different and more creative to do with their characters. “I know Norman and Melissa have been excited about the prospect of doing something different and new, so that’s in the future.”

“Those are two characters and two actors that I love writing for and working with, Norman and Melissa. So stuff to look forward to,” Kang added.

In the meantime, Kang says that she is going to be focused on making the last 30 episodes of The Walking Dead as good as they can be. On that subject, it sounds like Kang also plans to hew closely to Robert Kirkman’s source material.

The first of those final episodes airs on Sunday night on AMC before the premiere of the next spin-off, The World Beyond.

Source: EW

The recent hiring of Steve Nash as the next head coach of the Brooklyn Nets generated a lot of attention, but in his first media appearance since the decision, Nets guard Kyrie Irving made it clear he sees the entire structure of the organization as collaborative, with no specific head coach running the team from one day to the next.

“I don’t really see us having a ‘head’ coach,” Irving said on Durant’s new podcast, The ETCs. “KD could be a head coach, I could be a head coach (some days).”

The most interesting part is that Durant concurred, adding lead assistant Jacque Vaughn to the mix as someone whose input was part of the collaborative process. Longtime New York sports reporter Frank Isola indicated he didn’t buy that this was the two stars’ actual stance and that it was some sort of elaborate troll job.

Surely it could be, as it wouldn’t be surprising if Irving and Durant saw the debate over Nash’s hiring and decided to play listeners a little bit. But it’s also not far off from something Irving would say in seriousness, which makes it hard to decipher. And besides, Durant and Irving are a pair of guys who know what it takes to win a ring, so they will inherently have a ton of say in whatever Brooklyn ends up doing.

Responding to social media posts seems like something that Jerry Seinfeld would never bother with in a thousand years, and yet, the stand-up comedian did just that when he wrote a scathing rebuttal to a LinkedIn post declaring that New York City is “dead” because of the pandemic. While promoting his new book on 60 Minutes, Seinfeld opened up about the reasoning behind his passionate defense of the Big Apple for the New York Times, and it came down to a simple realization: Somebody had to do it:

“When you were a kid, remember kicking over the anthill? That’s what just happened to us. They just kicked over the whole anthill,” he tells Wertheim. “And what do the ants do? ‘All right. Hand me the next crumb. Let’s get back to work.’” Seinfeld says he has nothing against the author of the essay on LinkedIn, “He’s fine. I didn’t like that nobody was rebutting it. Then I realized, ‘Oh, I guess that’s my job.’ Somebody, a real New Yorker, has to answer this.”

While he says he has nothing against the author, Stand Up NYC comedy club co-owner James Altucher, Seinfeld notably didn’t take the opportunity to walk back calling him a “putz.” In fact, he doubled down. “That’s who that guy is for the rest of his life. ‘Oh, look who’s here. The putz from LinkedIn,’” Seinfeld told 60 Minutes.

Published back in August, Seinfeld took Altucher to task for feeling the city and moving to Florida after giving up on New York City. “Imagine being in a real war with this guy by your side,” Seinfeld wrote. “Wipe your tears, wipe your butt and pull it together.” However, the piece drew mixed reactions. While some praised Seinfeld for defending his hometown, others found it tone deaf that a millionaire who owns a three-story garage in the Upper West Side just for his car collection is telling people to “bounce back” while the pandemic is causing large-scale unemployment and economic hardships.

(Via CBS News)

Jhené Aiko debuted her highly-anticipated record Chilombo back in early March. While the singer can’t tour behind the effort, she made sure to take a maximalist approach to her NPR Tiny Desk Concert by bringing with her a full band, as well as her crystal singing bowls, to offer some meditative moments.

Aiko’s Tiny Desk concert was anything but conventional. Kicking off her performance, Aiko set the mood by showcasing the healing nature of her crystal singing bowls, a technique to which she is not foreign. Last year, the singer brought her bowls when she hosted an immersive meditation session that she hoped to spread “world-wide,” which was complete with color therapy, mantras, and meditations.

Not only did the singer share her sound therapy techniques in her performance, but she appeased fans with some older hits. Most musicians choose to have their Tiny Desk segment be an opportunity to showcase their recent releases. Instead, Aiko pulled from three different projects for her eight-song setlist. While the singer did offer a glimpse of Chilombo with “Lotus (Intro),” “Born Tired,” and “Summer 2020,” the singer also performed hits from her 2014 LP Souled Out, electing to play “W.A.Y.S.,” “Eternal Sunshine,” and “To Love & Die.” Aiko even reached further back into her catalog to perform the simmering numbers “Stranger” and “Do Better Blues” from her 2011 debut mixtape Sailing Souls.

Watch Jhené Aiko’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert above.

Chilombo is out now via Def Jam. Get it here.

Against Me! leader Laura Jane Grace dropped her debut solo album, Bought To Rot, in 2018, and now, out of nowhere, its follow-up as arrived. Grace release a new solo record, Stay Alive, today, without any advance warning.

Grace told Rolling Stone of the album, “I just wanted to make a record and I wanted to make a record that was the antithesis of a Zoom call. I wanted to record all analog. I didn’t want to make any edits. I wanted to make something that matters from this period of time because all that sh*t like livestreams … I don’t mean to bash them, but they don’t create anything lasting, you know? […] It’s just about the act of staying alive. I know I’m alive if I’m playing songs. If I’m recording the songs. If I’m making a record. I don’t want the music industry to die. I don’t want to see bands disappearing. And the only way I know how to fight against that is to play music. Is to record music. Is to keep trying.”

She also noted that although some of the songs sound like they were written in response to the pandemic, a lot of them were first written years ago.

Stream Stay Alive below.

Stay Alive is out now via Polyvinyl. Get it here.

President Trump has never made a secret of how much he loves fast food, especially McDonald’s. During the early days of his administration, he relegated Chris Christie to being his manservant and burger fetcher, and last year, he served a spread of all kinds of greasy offerings, including McDonalds, and now that the heat is on his hairdressing deductions (which were included in the report about his tax avoidance), people are kinda wondering what, exactly, that $70,000 has done.

On the morning after the first Trump-Biden debate, Trump was strangely happy to deflect attention to his hair. While retweeting former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, the president asserted, “No wonder I didn’t lose my hair!!”

Whether he’s serious or not, the president is using his Twitter platform for another weird tangent, this time to point towards an ABC News affiliate that reported upon a Japanese study, which concluded that mice regrew hair after being exposed to a chemical found in McDonald’s french fries. You know, the important issues, and that’s just more evidence of 2020 going off the rails after Trump and Biden’s crosstalk at the debate inspired Jake Tapper to declare, “That was a hot mess… a dumpster fire inside a train wreck… the American people lost. That was horrific.”

Seriously, though… where did that $70,000 go?

The Los Angeles Clippers are in the market for a new head coach for the first time since 2013. The team parted ways with longtime coach Doc Rivers following a disappointing postseason exit in which the team blew a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals. It was not the first time a Rivers-led Clippers squad failed to make the conference finals after having a leg up on the opposition, and with the expectations that existed in L.A. this year, the organization decided to go in a different direction.

Rivers seems like he could land on his feet pretty quickly, as he’s suddenly a leading candidate for the Philadelphia 76ers’ vacancy, while the Clippers’ search is taking shape. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Tyronn Lue, who has been linked to the job, is quickly emerging as one of the top candidates to take over.

The Sixers also interviewed Clippers assistant Ty Lue this week, sources said, but Lue is emerging as a strong candidate to replace Rivers with the Clippers. The Clippers are planning to interview other candidates, starting soon, sources said.

Lue, who has a career 128-83 record, famously has only served as a head coach one other time before. He took over at the helm of the Cleveland Cavaliers midway through the 2015-16 season and led them to a championship, then helped them get to two consecutive NBA Finals after that. He was fired following a slow start to the team’s first year after LeBron James left to join the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite coming close to taking the Lakers’ head coaching job prior to this season, the two sides could not come to terms, and instead, Lue joined Rivers’ staff as an assistant.

If the first “sh*t storm” of a presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is remembered for anything (although I pray that it’s forgotten and never spoken of again), it will be for the president refusing to condemn white supremacists. Even Fox News, which generally sides with Trump on, well, everything, has been criticizing #45. Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade said on Wednesday that he “ruined the biggest layup in the history of debates by not condemning white supremacists,” while John Roberts is “tired” of the president’s refusal to say anything bad about the far-right group Proud Boys.

During a heated press conference on Thursday, Roberts asked White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany for a “declarative statement” explicitly condemning white supremacy on Trump’s behalf. She didn’t. Instead, she accused the reporter (and presumably, every non-Breitbart outlet) of “contriving a storyline and a narrative.” If you look closely in the clip below, you can pinpoint the exact moment Roberts snapped.

“For all of you on Twitter who are hammering me for asking that question: I don’t care,” snapped Roberts. “Because it is a question that needs to be asked, and clearly, the president’s Republican colleagues a mile away from here are looking for an answer for it, too. So stop deflecting, stop blaming the media. I’m tired of it.”

Don’t give Fox News too much credit, however. Following Roberts’ report, pundit Bill Bennett defended Trump (“I’m sorry [Roberts is] angry, but he’s just wrong”), while host Melissa Francis said, “I feel like we have had this specific conversation so many times. And it’s so easy to predict what the response in the media is going to be. They have decided he is a racist. So just go with that. Why are we still treading this territory?”

The election is in 32 days.

(Via Axios and Deadline)

Nicki Minaj can now officially add ‘mother’ to her multi-hyphenate resume — without counting all the bitches who are her sons. TMZ reports the “Move Ya Hips” and “Trollz” rapper gave birth to her first child with husband Kenneth Petty in Los Angeles on Wednesday (September 30). Nicki has not announced the child’s sex or name yet.

The colorful rapper first announced her pregnancy in July after months of secrecy, posting a surprise baby bump photo to her Instagram. And while the bump photo did come out of the blue, Nicki had been planning on starting a family for some time before that, announcing that she was “retiring” from rap in pursuit of that goal. Although her fans lamented the announcement with some dramatic reactions, it turns out that her retirement was short-lived, as she returned with the new track “Yikes” just weeks later — after announcing her marriage to Kenneth Petty due to an expiring license.

Ironically, Nicki’s experienced almost as many career highs since “retiring” as she did in the decade prior. Calming her Barbz’s attack on Doja Cat for calling them Twitter gangsters, she joined her meme-loving, anime-inspired successor on her “Say So” remix, garnering the first No. 1 of Nicki’s career. Her next collaboration — with Tekashi 69 for “Trollz” — also peaked at No. 1 despite its controversial reception from fans. While her next collab with ASAP Ferg turned out to fall well short of that benchmark, prompting an amusing overreaction from the Barbz, Nicki has joined her onetime rival Cardi B in proving that motherhood is no bar to career success. Congrats to Nicki and Kenneth!

Hip-hop rose to the occasion during this first month of fall. The theme of the month seemed to be the release of anticipated projects. The September hype started with Big Sean’s long-awaited Detroit 2 album. Action Bronson made a long-anticipated return with Only For Dolphins, while Public Enemy dropped their urgent What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down. Conway dropped his long-hyped From A King To A God project, and Kamaiyah released a project with fellow Town native Capolow. While rap vets showed out, there were also releases from up and coming acts including Armani Caesar’s The Liz debut and Lil Tecca’s Virgo World. There was a lot of good work this month, but here are the 10 best projects.

Armani Caesar — The Liz

Griselda’s self-proclaimed “first lady” Armani Caesar dropped off her long-anticipated The Liz album this month. The Buffalo crew has been on fire all 2020, and her introduction is the latest dose of razor-sharp rhymes over soulful, sinister production. She matches their menace with a feminine touch, with witticisms like “my n**** got a lit b*tch / Give him a brick and a big kiss” on “Drilla A Rama” with Benny The Butcher.

Griselda’s “Spurs 3” shows up on the project, but Caesar is capable of holding her own, telling a seductive tale of underworld romance on “Palm Angels,” rhyming, “He say he heard I was on some gold dig sh*t / I told him, ‘nah, I’m just the type of b*tch that look right rich.’” She’s set to look however she wants with more offerings like The Liz.

Big Sean — Detroit 2

After a long wait, Big Sean finally dropped his long-awaited solo project in September. He put extra pressure on himself by naming it Detroit 2, harkening to his beloved 2012 mixtape. The lengthy project is a cathartic glimpse of his growth over the past several years. He explores unfulfillment on “Everything That’s Missing” realizing, “If he doin’ what he love in his free time, then his dream already happened.” On “Deep Reverence” he rhymes alongside a posthumous Nipsey Hussle verse, culling through their collective struggles but accepting, “I’m the don ’cause the streets said it”

Beyond the internal excavation is the hazy, world-roaming “LIthuiana” with Travis Scott, and “Body Language,” where he gets sultry with Jhene Aiko and Ty Dolla Sign. He also takes it to the “Friday Night Cipher” on a marathon track featuring Eminem, Royce Da 5’9”, Tee Grizzley, and other Detroit standouts. The project shows Sean mostly locked in and offering his honest, oft-polarizing brand of lyricism over a suite of warm. layered production.

Conway — From A King To A God

Conway framed his From A King To A God project as an exhibit of his evolution — and he delivered. The 14-track project shows Conway talking as filthy as ever on tracks like “Juvenile Hell,” “Lemon” with Method Man, and “Seen Everything But Jesus” with Freddie Gibbs. But he shows different sides of the spectrum on tracks like the grieving “Forever Droppin Tears” and “Front Lines,” where he delves into police brutality and pleads, “We ain’t takin’ no more, we ain’t just pressin’ record / Can’t watch you kill my brother, you gon’ have to kill us all.”

But no matter how far you go, there you are. One of the track’s most standout moments is “Spurs 3” with Griselda brethren Westside Gunn and Benny The Butcher, where Con thumps his chest about the movement’s power, rhyming, “Lotta albums are suddenly startin’ to feel a lil’ more Griselda-esque.” He ain’t lying, and you almost can’t blame the biters. Griselda has a winning mixture, and Conway added some more potency to the batch on From A King To A God.

Currensy & Harry Fraud — Director’s Cut

One of hip-hop’s most reliable duos dropped more heat with Director’s Cut, their second project in three months. The two are back at the familiar, engrossing well of Currensy’s easygoing-yet-locked-in mic presence over a hoard of Harry Fraud samples. Currensy shines on solo tracks like “News On Mute” and “White Ashes,” but he also leaves room for a slew of collaborators such as Snoop Dogg on “180 Days,” Styles P on “KITT” and Larry June on the aptly-titled Vintage Haze. But regardless of the stellar features, the main attraction is Currensy and Fraud — who deliver again.

Elzhi — Seven Times Down, Eight Times Up

One of the rap game’s most talented, underrated lyricists is back with Seven Times Down, Eight Times Up, an affirmatory (if inaccurate) album title that’s met with reflective, aspirational lyricism. He could have garnered respect just by dishing off rhymes for the sake of rhymes, but the Detroit MC dug deep, offering gems for listeners to take away from his traverse through life. On the melancholy “Smoke & Mirrors,” he reminds, “You can’t fix a shortcut in the long run.” The album is held together by Elzhi, who narrates and gives the project even more bonding than the head-snapping drums and overarching themes of achievement, trials, and triumph.

GQ & 9th Wonder — A Midsummer’s Nightmare

Jamla Records artist GQ has said that the title of his A Midsummer’s Nightmare refers to “the time we’re in as a country and world,” as well as “the thoughts and moments of myself at this moment in my life.” He scribed his perspective of this perilous moment in impressive fashion. But if that’s not enough, the entire project is produced by 9th Wonder. GQ rhymes about a would-be relationship on the smoky, brooding “Ms. Out,” then speaks for so many by rhyming, “everything on time, I been tryna’ rush it” on smooth standout “Big Lutha.” He rhymes with a steadiness and easygoing dexterity that’s right at home on 9th’s production, making for an incredible listen.

Kamaiyah & Capolow — Oakland Nights

Oakland may be reeling not only from quarantine but the fall out of wildfires, but there’s always space to enjoy life. That’s where Kamaiyah comes in. She linked up with Town native Capolow for Oakland Nights, a 10-pack of slappers live from the West Coast. She and Capolow are locked in throughout the project, from the arrestingly smooth intro “Finer Things” to “Gang Gang,” where they rep their crew but let us know, “I keep it lit / f*ck all that beefin’ sh*t.” Oakland Nights is a fun, enjoyable listen where two Oakland artists collided for a thumping, funky, feel-good project.

Mozzy — Occupational Hazard

The ever-prolific Mozzy dropped off another project this month with Occupational Hazard. The sarcastic title cues to the treachery of getting street money, and Mozzy chronicles the pitfalls in a way that few others can. He imbues listeners with a weathered, pragmatic view of the streets with cold summations like, “It ain’t a time the suckers died and we ain’t celebrated,” on the fatalistic “Death Is Callin.” On “Heartbroken” with Quando Rondo, the two spill their pain over somber pianos. But the menace is rife on songs like “Hazardous,” where “it’s shots fired, body fell, fell asleep in the puddle.”

Radamiz — Synonyms Of Strength

Nearly a year after his Nothing Changes If Nothing Changes album, Brooklyn MC Radamiz dropped off the cleverly-titled Synonyms Of Strength EP. He goes onto affirm that title with a seven-track project loaded with gems over warm production. On the title track, he rhymes “there ain’t enough pride to outweigh my dependence on God.” His “Goya” collaboration with fellow Brooklynite KOTA The Friend showcases the two trading thoughtful, passionate verses, with Radamiz surmising, “If I’m not the best rapper, I’m the best at not givin up.” Each verse is laced with nuggets to take away that can only be missed by marveling at the dizzying flows that Radamiz pulls off throughout the project.

Spillage Village — Spilligion

After a couple of years doing solo work, the abundantly-talented Spillage Village collective linked back up on the long-awaited Spilligion album. The title is a testament to both how devoted they are to top-tier lyricism as well as the heavy spiritual themes throughout the project. They offered solace for this tumultuous moment through tracks like the pro-Africa “Mecca,” the lush, Mereba-showcasing “PsalmSing,” and the apocalyptic “End Of Daze,” where ponder what their final exploits would be. The project captures the paranoia and desperation of the times, but Spilligion also showcases some God-tier rhyming.

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