This morning, Eminem teased something when he revealed he was hopping on Sway In The Morning, as his tweet included the hashtag “#loveyourdj.” It turns out that Em appeared on his SiriusXM Shade45 to announce a contest, which will give out a lot of money to a lot of DJs.
People in the music industry have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic since most concerts and festivals have been canceled or postponed. So, Eminem and The Marshall Mathers Foundation are ready to help some of them out with the “Love Your DJ” contest, which is only open to DJs from his home state of Michigan. The first 500 DJs to submit their SoundCloud mixes will automatically receive a check for $313, which means a total of $156,500 will be dispersed.
Additionally, a panel of judges from Shady Records will select 15 grand prize winners, whose mixes will be given the chance to feature on Shade45, as a part of the “Love Your DJ Mixshow Takeover” beginning May 2. Mixes will be judged “on sound quality, originality, and texture of the entry, as it fits within the sound of Shade45 programming on SiriusXM.”
Also during the takeover, Eminem will host “Music To Be Quarantined By,” a show featuring hip-hop songs that Em thinks fans should listen to while at home. The show kicks off on May 2 at Noon ET on Shade45.
As Georgia Governor Brian Kemp orders his state re-opened, business owners in Atlanta are split in their reactions to the order. Some, like Killer Mike, agree with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms that it’s too soon to re-open. Mike said he refused to re-open his chain of barbershops, because he doesn’t want to risk the health of his employees and customers. However, others are willing to get back their employees back to work, so they can feed their families.
According to TMZ, 2 Chainz falls into the latter category. The rapper owns two restaurants in Atlanta, Escobar Restaurant and Tapas, and told TMZ he and his business partner Snoop Dillard, will begin dine-in service on Monday, April 27. The restaurants were service takeout only for the past month, but sales have been down 95% and the restaurants were forced to furlough 80% of their staff. According to Dillard, the plan is bring back 65% of restaurant staff, which comes to around 80 people.
Chainz and Dillard are imposing safety precautions such as temperature checks at clock-in, mandatory gloves for all employees, masks for the cooks, and single-use paper menus. They hope that they will be able to host sit-down service safely, with live DJs on the weekend and even hookahs, since most customers bring their own hoses. The restauranteurs already donated “hundreds” of meals to local medical workers and told TMZ they are planning on giving more to workers at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Piedmont Atlanta Hospital.
On their Diamond-certified debut album Licensed to Ill, the Beastie Boys referencedColumbo, the Smurfs, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Barney Miller star Abe Vigoda, The Honeymooners, The Mary Tyler Moore Show actor Ted Knight, Mister Ed, The Gong Show, and variety show mainstay Phyllis Diller. Michael “Mike D” Diamond, Adam “MCA” Yauch, and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz’s pop culture-dropping lyrics continued throughout the entirety of their discography, including a Sleestaks namedrop on Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, so it’s surprising that they didn’t appear in more TV shows.
Looking at their IMDb, the Boys have dozens of “Themselves” credits for when they performed on Late Show with David Letterman and SNL and American Bandstand, which is definitely worth watching. They were also on the British series The Big Breakfast in 1994, where, according to this helpful YouTube description, they were joined by “puppets, Zig and Zag, inside the bathroom. MCA is dressed like his Sir Stewart Wallace character from the ‘Sabotage’ music video and has a Southern accent for some reason. Mike D is his usual cool self. And King Ad-rock has no idea what the hell is going on. My guess is that he was fried.” Good guess. But their pre-Beastie Boys Story filmography is sparse, relegated mostly to brief cameos in 1985’s Krush Groove, also featuring the Fat Boys and Run-D.M.C., and 1988’s Rick Rubin-directed Tougher Than Leather. Which makes their appearance on Futurama all the more delightful.
Ice Cube has Friday. Queen Latifah has Chicago. Beastie Boys have Robot Hell.
In the Futurama season one finale “Hell Is Other Robots,” after Bender (voiced by John DiMaggio) becomes addicted to electricity after “jacking on” after a Beastie Boys show at Madison Cube Garden, he joins the Temple of Robotology, where he vows to stop sinning. But when his co-workers, including Fry (Billy West) and Leela (Katey Sagal), become annoyed by his new holier-than-thou attitude, they attempt to bring him back to the dark side using alcohol and Hookerbots. It doesn’t take much work for Bender to return to his immoral ways, but when he denounces Robotology, he’s visited by the Robot Devil (Dan Castellaneta), who sends him to Robot Hell. “We know all your sins, Bender, and for each one we’ve prepared an agonizing and ironic punishment,” the Devil tells Mr. Rodriguez, while music begins to play. “Aw crap, singing,” Bender whines.
Yes, but also: the Beastie Boys.
“Hey, Bender, gonna make some noise / With your hard drive scratched by the Beastie Boys / That’s whatcha, whatcha, whatcha get on level five,” they rap before Bender and the Robot Devil plunge further into Hell. “Robot Hell” is notable for two reasons:
1) It’s the first musical number in the show’s history (“Whalers on the Moon,” although catchy as heck, does not count), later leading to the holiday-themed “Back to Work” and “I Want My Hands Back” from series highlight “The Devil’s Hands Are Idle Playthings.”
2) It contains one of the few lines of original dialogue in “Hell is Other Robots” from Mike D, who earlier in the episode had his head passed around at a concert like a beach ball (“Don’t forget to pick up a T-shirt!”), and Ad-Rock, who also provided the voice for Yauch (MCA was unavailable). But even getting just two of the Beasties was challenging.
“I’m a huge Beastie Boys fan, so this is a big thrill for me to have them on the show,” executive producer David X. Cohen said on the DVD commentary for the episode. “[But] there are only two actual boys in the episode, since we were never able to record Adam Yauch. I went to New York City with Ken Keeler, a writer on the show, and we waited three days by our cell phones, we were in theaters, restaurants, killing time. We’d had to stick on the very edge of the building, so we would have cell phone reception, ’cause they could call us at any moment, telling us they were willing to record, but they never were. So we went to New York for three days and flew back to L.A., not having done it.”
Eventually, they were about to record Mike D and Ad-Rock, who Cohen called “very nice once we got them in the studio.” They did have one demand, though: they “didn’t wanna” perform “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!),” according to “Hell is Other Robots” writer Eric Kaplan. Instead, what you get is “Intergalactic” and “Super Disco Breakin’,” both from Hello Nasty, which came out a year before the episode aired, and “Sabotage.”
It’s never explicitly stated why the Beastie Boys are in Hell, but that’s not my biggest question about the group’s cameo. This is: why Futurama? Futurama is great and all, don’t get me wrong, but it’s weird that the Beastie Boys were never on The Simpsons, right? A Simpsons guest spot is a right of passage for any musician, unless your name is Bob Dylan, Prince, or Bruce Springsteen, but through 680 episodes, the closest the Beastie Boys have come to Springfield is “Fight For Your Right” playing in one episode and “Girls” in another. (Technically, they could still show the Rappin’ Rabbis how it’s done, but it wouldn’t be the same without MCA, who died in 2012.) They apparently agreed to the appearance because they were “all big fans of Matt Groening, particularly Adam Yauch,” according to their publicist, which makes things even weirder. I’m sure there’s a simple explanation for this — or maybe the Beastie Boys just like space stuff.
Either way, they seemed to enjoy the experience: on “Too Many Rappers,” a single from their final album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, the Beastie Boys stated that they’ll be in the rap game “until the year 3000 and beyond,” an apparent nod to Futurama. And all those decades later, they’ll still be busting mad rhymes with an 80% success rate.
Rap music is moving as fast as ever. Luckily, we’re doing the work to put the best music in one place for you. This week, there were new videos from Wale, Lil Baby, Missy Elliott, ASAP Ferg, and Jpegmafia. There was also new music from Isaiah Rashad, Ab-Soul, and an UPROXX session from Eddy Baker. Here’s the best of the rest:
Well, at least 2020 is someone’s year. Fivio Foreign continued his ascendance with “Demons & Goblins,” a menacing drill track that Meek sounds intriguingly at home at with his lithe flow.
Wiz Khalifa — “Still Wiz”
This week is the week of 4/19-4/25. Take a wild guess on what day Wiz decided to drop a commemorative single. On “Still Wiz,” the Taylor Gang boss drops some bars over a modern remake of Dr. Dre’s classic, rhyming, “gas in my joint, what you smokin’ don’t flatter me.”
Earl Sweatshirt — “Whole World” Feat. Maxo
Earl Sweatshirt dropped off “Whole World,” another jazzy, introspective track where he bemoans the “whole world round me crumblin’ in my vision” with an assist from Maxo.
Lil Pump — “Illuminati” Feat. Anuel AA
Lil Pump linked up with Anuel AA on “Illuminati,” his first official single since July of last year. The track follows up in the spirit of “Gucci Gang,” repeating tongue-in-cheek iterations of “Illuminati” during a dark, funeral-themed video. The LA Archdiocese might have something to say about this video too.
Masego — “Veg Out”
This week, Masego dropped the latest entrant in the quarantine anthem contest with “Veg Out,” a piano-driven trap burner where the talented artist harmonizes about the virtues of realizing, “we can wait a while don’t wanna burn out.”
Quelle Chris & Chris Keys — Innocent Country 2
Quelle Chris, Chris Keys, and a host of lyrically gifted guests give us food for thought throughout Innocent Country 2, a long-awaited followup to their 2015 cult classic. The duo picks up their impressive chemistry like it’s been five months instead of five years on a project that runs the gamut of jazzy, experimental, and soulful boom bap.
Kembe X — Keitel Sword Feat. Icecoldbishop
To complete a TDE trifecta, Kembe X unleashed his “Keitel Sword” and chopped off the heads of a million nameless MCs on his latest single. The single showcases him unleashing a furious, rapidfire rhyme filled with reflective gems over a twangy beat.
Rod Wave — “The Last Sad Song”
Rod Wave dropped “The Last Sad Song,” a self-aware track where he culls through his emotional turmoil. The video was filmed so recently that he’s wearing a mask, which fits in with his friend’s sage advice to “stay away from f*ck n****s and the corona.”
Kahri 1K — “Fort Night”
Kahri 1K paid homage to the Menace To Society classic in the video for “Fort Night.” The entrancing single’s mini-movie shows Kahri and his crew getting involved in a heist that takes a fantastic turn.
Ransom — Director’s Cut (Scene Two)
Ransom and producer Nicholas Craven’s Director’s Cut EP was one of the best projects of March. The Jersey-Montreal connection is looking for a double up with the followup project, featuring six more tracks of Ransom delivering graphic lyricism over Craven’s soulful, arresting production.
Rockie Fresh — “VS Ideas”
On Rockie Fresh’s confessional “VS Ideas,” he pleads “everything I do I put my soul in it,” over a dreamy Mathaius Young production.
MyNameIsJabee – “Checmate” Feat. Atmosphere & Lil B
Jabee lets us know “you can’t shake hands with a clenched first” on the ever-jazzy “Checmate,” which was produced by Statik Selektah and features an affirming verse from the Based God himself.
Slayter – “Mob Shit” feat. Fenix Flexin & Capolow
It’s bicoastal connection on “Mob Shit,” which is every bit as menacing as the title suggests. Each MC takes turns talking greasy over spaced-out production.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Face masks have become an essential part of everyday life during the coronavirus pandemic, so much so that there are shortages of them worldwide. Companies who didn’t used to make face masks have shifted their focus and started manufacturing them to help out with the pandemic. Now, Universal Music Group and Bravado (a division of UMG) are teaming up with some of the world’s most popular artists to sell new masks for a good cause.
The We’ve Got You Covered fundraising initiative now offers masks with branding from a number of major artists, including Billie Eilish, The Weekend, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Blackpink, The Rolling Stones, Tupac, Queen, Imagine Dragons, Slipknot, and others. The masks, which are available for purchase now, cost $15 each, and all of the net proceeds will be donated to MusiCares. Mask from more artists are set to be added in the near future.
Bravado CEO Mat Vlasic said of the project, “I’m humbled and grateful to work with artists and partners who are passionate and driven to deliver a program that supports those that need it most during this unprecedented time. [This initiative] will continue to grow and evolve thanks to the hard work from everyone here at Bravado and UMG, along with our artists across the globe.”
Yesterday, WWE held their quarterly investor call to discuss the state of the company with their shareholders, the first time WWE CEO Vince McMahon has publicly spoken about these matters since the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has largely derailed their live business. In the corporate documents released alongside the call, not only is it revealed that Q1 revenues increased by 60 percent compared to Q1 2019 ($291 million compared to $182.4 million this time last year), but that McMahon himself says COVID has not hurt the company’s bottom line:
“Our first quarter financial performance was strong and largely unimpacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. Now we are in the midst of unprecedented times, which require us to be especially nimble, creative and efficient in order to ensure the long-term value of WWE. We are taking precautions to protect the health and safety of our performers and staff as we produce content in new ways, engage fans with a much-needed diversion and operate effectively in this evolving environment.”
The biggest reason behind that number jumping up more than $100 million since last year is due to the recent TV contracts with USA and FOX, as well as WWE’s continued live-events partnership with Saudi Arabia.
Remember that in the wake of being declared an “essential business” by the state of Florida, WWE then laid off or furloughed a countless number of contracted wrestlers as well as corporate employees as an empty-gesture cost-cutting measure to appease stockholders in time for this Q1 financials call. Those roster cuts are reportedly saving WWE between $700,000 and $4 million a month, or anywhere between 0.24 and 1.37 percent of WWE’s Q1 total net revenues.
It’s also worth noting that this year’s WrestleMania, typically a big revenue generator for WWE, took place April 4-5, a week after WWE’s first quarter closed, so we won’t officially know how the loss of WrestleMania week income affected WWE’s bottom line for another three months. And given that COVID-19 might still be impacting America next year, WWE has already begun the process of looking at alternate locations for next year’s WrestleMania. Expect these numbers to look a little bit different one year from now — Vince might need to be splashed with cold water again.
Quite a few Quentin Tarantino anecdotes are floating around this week, including the time that he got drunk with Pierce Brosnan and pitched a James Bond movie. There’s also a wild assembling of quotes, many of which are bubbling up from an Empire online Q&A where QT went to town. If you’ve ever wondered how Tarantino feels about the abundance of Marvel films (he’s more of a fan than Marty Scorsese), how many films he watches per week (less than you’d imagine, at this point), and more, head on over to the source for a wealth of Tarantino oddities.
Right now, though, it’s worth touching upon the newly unveiled fate of one of the more bonkers Pulp Fiction characters. That’d be the Gimp, portrayed by Stephen Hibbert in leather. An Empire reader wanted to know what came of the unfortunate chap, and… it’s not good? Well, at least he’s no longer in captivity, as QT was more than willing to dish:
“It doesn’t quite play this way in the movie, but in my mind when I wrote it, the Gimp’s dead. Butch knocked him out and then when he passed out he hung himself. In terms of backstory, he was like a hitchhiker or somebody that they picked up seven years ago, and they trained him so he’s the perfect victim.”
Whatever happened to Fabienne, though? I hope she’s well and owns a watch-repair shop somewhere. No one asked about her, which is a travesty, but back on the Gimp subject, Tarantino had a kicker to add. Apparently, Jon Lovitz knew Hibbert from The Groundlings, and he was completely weirded out to watch the film’s credit crawl and see his friend’s name on the screen. “WHAT? I know the Gimp?!” QT recounted. For that story and more, including the current location of the Big Jerry dildo that Tarantino used to prank sleeping actors (including Brad Pitt) on his set, visit the Empire piece.
About a month ago, Aaron Dessner teased that there was new material on the way from Big Red Machine, his side project with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. In an Instagram post addressed to a friend, he wrote that he was “literally finishing new @bigredmachineadjv as we speak.” Now he has pulled back the curtain some on the group’s upcoming output: Dessner hosted a livestream yesterday, during which he performed some new songs.
He played six new tracks in total, with four of them credited to Big Red Machine: “Brycie,” “The Gaîté,” “Hoping Then,” and “Latter Days.” One some of them, he performed along to recorded portions of the song.
“Brycie” is named after his twin brother and fellow The National member Bryce, and Dessner said the song is “a love song to my twin, and it’s sort of about… for all these years, Bryce has kind of picked me up whenever I fall or I’ve struggled with depression or some things like a lot of us have.” On “Hoping Then,” Vernon’s vocals could be heard, and Dessner said the song was one of the last ones he and Vernon worked on before self-quarantining.
Dessner said last two songs he performed, “Stella” and “Jenny Kissed Me,” aren’t necessarily for Big Red Machine. He also noted that there are 20 new Big Red Machine songs that have been recorded so far, and that Sharon Van Etten and Anaïs Mitchell contribute to the new material.
Netflix is here to remind us that this lockdown isn’t that bad. Okay fine, it’s hell. But, hell with really good streaming options.
This week, we get Chris Hemsworth in an action flick full of the kind of mind-blowing stunts that might make even his Marvel movies look tame. And comedians Ben Schwartz and Thomas Middleditch reinvent the comedy special with a series of improv shows that prove some guys are just unfairly funny. Here’s everything coming to (and leaving) Netflix this week of April 24.
Extraction (Netflix film streaming 4/24)
Chris Hemsworth gets back in the action with this Russo brothers-produced crime flick about a black market mercenary who accepts a deadly mission that throws him into the chaotic underworld of weapons dealers and drug traffickers. Hemsworth’s antihero type doesn’t mind doing bad sh*t for good money, but when he sells his skills to an imprisoned international crime lord who tasks him with rescuing his kidnapped son, the job quickly spirals into a life-threatening race against the clock.
Middleditch & Schwartz (Netflix special streaming 4/21)
Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz give us the perfect comedy special to lift our spirits during this hellish quarantine. The show is comprised of three improv shows that begin with a Q&A from the live audience and end with the two gifted comedians riffing on everything from aliens to ghost weddings and more. Read this fantastic chat the duo gave to UPROXX if you need more of this weird goodness.
Here’s a full list of what’s been added in the last week:
Avail. 4/18 The Green Hornet
Avail. 4/20 Cooked with Cannabis
The Midnight Gospel
The Vatican Tapes
Avail. 4/21 Bleach: The Assault
Bleach: The Bount
Middleditch & Schwartz
Avail. 4/22 Absurd Planet
Circus of Books
El silencio del pantano
The Plagues of Breslau
The Willoughbys
Win the Wilderness
Avail. 4/23 The House of Flowers : Season 3
Avail. 4/24 After Life: Season 2 Extraction
Hello Ninja: Season 2 Yours Sincerely, Kanan Gill
And here’s what’s leaving next week, so it’s your last chance:
Leaving 4/29 National Treasure
Leaving 4/30 A Cinderella Story A Little Princess
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Blade Runner: The Final Cut The Craft
Crash
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The Dirty Dozen
Dirty Harry
Driving Miss Daisy
Friday the 13th
Good Burger
GoodFellas
The Hangover
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
Police Academy
Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment
Police Academy 3: Back in Training
Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol
Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach
Police Academy 6: City Under Siege
Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow
Rosemary’s Baby
Rounders
Scream 2
Scream 3
The Shawshank Redemption
Space Jam
Spy Kids
Step Brothers
Strictly Ballroom
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
True Grit
Leaving 5/1 John Carter
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