At the beginning of the year, a detail about new music from the ever-elusive Kendrick Lamar was revealed: the rapper was apparently finished with his next album. Not only was the rapper’s album reportedly complete, but it is also rumored to be a pivot from his former catalog and laden with influences from rock music. Alas, nearly five months have passed and no new information about Kendrick’s music has been divulged. But a recent comment by Top Dawg Entertainment’s CEO could mean that fans will be hearing Kendrick’s music sooner rather than later.

TDE’s CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith let loose details about Kendrick Lamar’s return in a recent Instagram live session, according to Rap-Up. While catching up with his followers, Tiffith told his viewers to “stay patient” because Kendrick “will return soon.”

Kendrick’s return will mark his first new music since his work on the Black Panther soundtrack, which ended up putting the rapper into hot water. Both Kendrick and The Weeknd were slapped with a copyright lawsuit form the now-disbanded group Yeasayer. In their court documents, Yeasayer alleges that Kendrick and The Weeknd’s “Pray For Me” lifted a “distinctive choral performance” from one of their 2007 tracks. The Weeknd officially responded to the copyright suit, denying Yaesayer’s allegations. But the lawsuit arrives as the second time Kendrick was hit with copyright infringement allegations for his Black Panther music.

As the official launch of HBO Max draws closer, the new streaming service continues its supply of trailers with a look at Legendary, its fierce voguing competition show that will be available at launch. The series will feature eight teams as they perform for celebrity judges like Megan Thee Stallion and The Good Place‘s Jameela Jamil. And if the trailer is any indication, these performers are putting it all on the line for intense, soul-baring performances that speak to their unique talents and personalities.

Here’s the official synopsis via HBO:

Pulling directly from the underground ballroom community, voguing teams (aka “houses”) must compete in unbelievable balls and showcase sickening fashion in order to achieve “legendary” status. The cast includes MC Dashaun Wesley and DJ MikeQ as well as celebrity judges Law Roach, Jameela Jamil, Leiomy Maldonado, and Megan Thee Stallion.

In the short run-up to its premiere, Legendary has already been a lightning rod for controversy. The production faced criticism from the ballroom scene (over Jameela Jamil’s reported role as MC) for not choosing an active veteran that represented its “primarily black and Latinx LGBTQ” community, according to Variety. HBO Max issued a clarifying statement to the effect of Jamil acting as a judge, not the MC, and the actress also came out as bisexual for the first time ever. The controversy soon faded as HBO set the record straight that ballroom veteran (and the “King of Vogue”) Dashaun Wesley is actually the MC.

Legendary premieres May 27 on HBO Max.

With all sports (and sports-entertainment) leagues currently hurting for new content to keep audiences engaged, networks are pulling out the big guns: Multi-part documentaries of some of their most iconic athletes. And what The Last Dance is to the NBA, Undertaker: The Last Ride is is to the WWE Universe. This five-part docuseries, whose first episode aired yesterday and will continue to air exclusively on the WWE Network every Sunday for the next four weeks, follows the journey of the Undertaker from the days before his WrestleMania 33 match in 2017 until, presumably, present day.

We at With Spandex will be watching along with the rest of you every Sunday and distilling each episode down in our new recap, Ride Or Die. Here’s what we learned from episode two of The Last Ride.

Previously on The Last Ride: We learned that the Undertaker remembers nothing about WrestleMania 30, was a shell of himself mentally going into WrestleMania 31 and came into WrestleMania 33 completely out of shape. (He also said nothing about WrestleMania 32 whatsoever, which is maybe for the best.)

The Undertaker Hated His Retirement Match

Episode two of The Last Ride has its flaws (like Undertaker’s extremely questionable wardrobe choices — yeesh), but it’s nothing if not honest, especially when the episode begins with Taker dogging on what was ostensibly supposed to be his retirement match. Eight months after getting beaten by Roman Reigns, Taker sits on his couch, watching blown spot after blown spot, admitting he dropped the ball:

“I feel bad for Roman. That bothers me. It’s like I didn’t even know where I was supposed to be. I haven’t spoken to him about it… I did the best that I could do for him, the problem was my physical conditioning. my body was at the limit of what I could take.”

Vince McMahon goes onto echo Taker’s sentiments, saying, “He wasn’t there and he knew in his heart he wasn’t there.”

So, of course, this means Taker wants a second crack at a goodbye match, commenting, “I feel like I need some redemption for that performance, so here we are.”

Michelle McCool, the secret MVP of the series thus far who went on the record saying she was hoping Mania 33 was really the end, wearily echoes her husband’s sentiment: “Here we are.”

The Undertaker Had Hip Surgery Following WrestleMania 33

Just a few weeks after getting pinned in Orlando, Mark Calaway has his right hip replaced, after having already had his left hip replaced a number of years ago. His time in the hospital provides the first real laugh-out-loud moment of The Last Ride, when a nurse asks him if he’s ever had any surgeries and Calaway chuckles and deadpans, “Yeah, I’ve had a few,” before listing off his myriad procedures (among them, blown out eyesockets, torn rotator cuff, biceps repair, knee scoping and broken fingers).

The next laugh-out-loud moment comes immediately thereafter, when Calaway is wheeled into the OR where the doctors are literally playing his theme song. Not exactly the kind of thing you’d want to hear on an operating table! But the surgery goes as planned, and Calaway is back on his feet by the next morning — though apparently he caught some guff from McMahon, who told him he walked out the same day of his 2013 hip surgery. (Once a genetic jackhammer, always a genetic jackhammer, I suppose.)

McCool once again steals the show here, as Calaway says, “I’ve changed, I’ve changed” in regards to wanting to return to the ring, to which she immediately fires back, “Since yesterday?” She knows what’s coming, whether or not he realizes it.

The Undertaker And Vince McMahon Have An Incredibly Tight Bond

As much as Calaway loves his wife (and her ability to throw a football), there’s no question the deepest love in his life is the love he has for Vince McMahon, a feeling which appears to be evenly reciprocated — even though Calaway says he can’t ever predict how his converstions with Vince will go. “I gave up on strategizing meetings with Vince a long time ago,” he remarks as he heads to a meeting at WWE’s corporate headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, on a Saturday in August, 2017. (Who conducts business on a Saturday? Vince.)

We learn that Taker’s love for Vince is so deep that he named his son Gunner Vincent, and McCool says of the pair, “They would literally take a bullet for each other,” a sentiment reiterated by Taker himself later. When McMahon is asked what Taker means to him, he responds, “Mark Calaway is the most loyal performer I have ever dealt with,” before breaking down into tears when pressed as to what he means to him personally.

It makes sense, though: The Undertaker never left. Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Randy Savage and countless others switched sides in the Monday Night War (and beyond, with TNA, AEW and elsewhere). Even talent in good standing like Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart eventually retired from in-ring competition. Hell, even Vince’s own son Shane left WWE in the mid-2000s — but Taker always stayed. How many people can you say you’ve been loyal to for 30 years?

The Undertaker Called His Shot For WrestleMania 34 Two Years In Advance

In a neat little bit of foreshadowing, we catch up with Taker backstage at the 2018 Royal Rumble (in which Michelle McCool was competing), and he hypes up AJ Styles, sayin he wishes he could’ve worked with before retiring. Barely two years later, we get this dream pairing in a Boneyard Match at WrestleMania 34. Ask and ye shall receive, Taker!

WrestleMania 34 Was Ultimately Unfulfilling For The Undertaker

The final chunk of this installment of The Last Ride deals with Calaway getting himself ready to make a comeback/final(?) match against John Cena at WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans, inside the same arena where his streak (and his confidence) was shattered four years prior. We get some pretty impressive training montages, with Taker running the ropes and taking clotheslines and arm drags like he was 19 years old, with the help of recently released WWE Superstar Primo, of all people (mirroring fellow released talent Dash Wilder who was enlisted to get Edge back in ring shape for WrestleMania 36).

Now nearly a year removed from his match with Reigns, Calaway continues to be honest about himself and his performance:

“I was slow, I was old, I was overweight… I shouldn’t have been in the ring last year. Simple as that. It won’t happen again, you can bet that.”

As Mania 34 approaches, a slimmed-down, in-shape Taker speaks again of his legacy, mirroring remarks from the buildup to Mania 33, even going so far as to say, “There’s a good chance tomorrow’s the last time I make that walk and an important part of my life stops.” (Suuuure it does, Mark.)

His return match against John Cena is 1/10th as long as his main event with Reigns from the year prior, going a meager 2:45 — but in that time, Taker, to his credit, looked great. But despite the positive reception from the audience and those backstage, you can tell Taker isn’t happy, remarking that he prepared for a much longer match.

“Mission accomplished from what we set out to do. I had a lot more in the tank tonight. At the end of the day that’s what I wanted. Hopefully people are gonna wonder tonight, ‘Wow, what’s he gonna do next?’”

If you guessed, “Cash a check from a bloodthirsty Saudi Arabian prince,” congratulations, you win.

Next week on The Last Ride: We take a look at the disastrous Crown Jewel match between the Brothers of Destruction and D-Generation X. Hold onto your butts.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought all kinds of humans out of the woodwork, from silly dinosaur dads to kooky conspiracy theorists. A new viral video reveals how differently some people are handling our strange new reality—from a disgruntled customer who refuses to follow a supermarket’s mask-wearing policy to a delightfully unfazed employee dancing while he disinfects the grocery carts.

Shelley Lewis shared a video she filmed after she was told that all customers and employees had to wear a masks to enter a Gelson’s grocery store in Dana Point, California. Lewis—who is listed as a speaker at the 2019 Flat Earth International conference (ahem)—clearly saw herself as the hero of the story, a victim being discriminated against due to her undisclosed medical condition that precludes her from wearing a mask. But the real hero is the upbeat, unassuming grocery store employee who “absolutely and humbly” retrieved a manager for Lewis then continued dancing away while cleaning carts outside the store.

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It’s a joy to behold, truly. The store clerk, who normally works as a bartender, is so happy to have a job. He’s happy to be of service. He happily goes about his work while wearing a mask—which none of us love, but understand is important for protecting others—and doesn’t let this woman’s antics get under his skin.

The store manager also stayed cool, calm and collected as Lewis went through her litany of complaints. When he explained the store’s mask policy, she told him she has a medical condition and couldn’t wear a mask. (If true, maybe you should do your grocery shopping online instead). When the manager offered to shop for her, she told him that she had “private things” to buy. (Ummm… you know everyone can see what you put in your grocery cart when you shop, right?). She was also incredulous about the idea of handing him her “private credit card” to take into the store to process. (Have you really never handed over your credit card through a drive-thru window, Shelley?!)

While much has been made of Lewis’s attempt at victimization—the best part of this story is how the Gelson’s employee with the shades and the unflappable sunny attitude handled this whole situation. She even asked him why he was so happy, as if everyone should be throwing a fit outside the store over having to wear a mask. He never said anything disparaging. In fact, he maintained an impressive level of respect and positivity throughout the video.

If he had read her Flat Earth International bio, he would have seen that she claims to have lupus, which is an autoimmune disease, which increases her risk of complications from COVID-19. If he had known that, he may have kindly pointed out that everyone there was wearing a mask to protect people like her.

This is what an everyday hero looks like right now—a guy enjoying his day job, doing what needs to be done to protect the public he’s serving and entertaining himself and others in the face of abject ignorance. He is the hero we all need.

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These pictures are ~wheel~ and they don’t lie.

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Nothing will stop the famous people from getting their pictures taken.

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“Is black supposed to be her nude.”

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We want to know if the coronavirus stimulus check, and a letter about it from the president, changed how you think about Trump and the government.

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After this past weekend’s epic Verzuz showdown between 2000s-era rap radio fixtures Ludacris and Nelly, fans have once again resumed speculation on which matchups are coming down the pike. Today, NY hip-hop stalwart NORE gave them another possible matchup to chew on, claiming on Instagram that none other than Eminem called him to issue a challenge to an unexpected competitor: DMX, who previously said that he wants to battle Jay-Z head-to-head on the popular live stream hits battle.

Posting a photo of himself and DMX playing with giant-sized Jenga blocks, NORE captioned the photo, “This moment is so Legend! 3 minutes before this @therealswizzz CALLS X and says Eminem is down for that smoke.” Swizz Beats is, of course, the curator for Verzuz, which he started with co-founder Timbaland as a way to beat back quarantine boredom. DMX seems amenable to the challenge, as noted by NORE, “X SAY HE CAN GET BUT I STILL WANT JAY.”

NORE admits that the entire deal was supposed to be hush-hush, but that his excitement got the better of him. A biased New Yorker to the end, he offers his pick for the winner of the hypothetical battle: “I’m riding wit the DOG!!!”

We’ll see if NORE’s excitement blew it for the rest of us or if the added buzz only propels this battle into the annals of Instagram history — while the total number of viewers has shot up for each battle, there’s no doubt that adding Eminem to the mix is guaranteed to the show to a whole new level.

See NORE’s post claiming that Eminem wants to battle DMX above.