Hugh Jackman’s friendly feud with Ryan Reynolds goes back so long, the Logan star can barely remember how it started.

There have been a lot of shots fired over the years, after all, including Reynolds “sharing” Jackman’s phone number (“Call someone who’s isolated and might need connection… Hugh Jackman’s # is 1-555--HUGH”) and Jackman suggesting that people should pee on Reynolds’ Hollywood Walk of Fame star. When asked about the origin of the “online flame war,” as the Daily Beast put it, Jackman had to think hard.

“How did it start? It’s gone back so long now… God, this is a classic sign where your feud has gone too long, where you don’t even know why or how it started,” he said. “I met him back on [X-Men Origins: Wolverine], and I used to ream him because I was very close friends with Scarlett [Johansson], and Scarlett had just married Ryan, so when he came on set I was like, ‘Hey, you better be on your best behavior here, pal, because I’m watching,’ and we started ribbing each other that way, and then it all escalated with the Deadpool thing and him calling me out, and trying to manipulate me through social media to do what he wanted.” In case you somehow forgot, this is the “Deadpool thing.”

It’s still pretty funny.

Elsewhere in the interview, Jackman revealed that he was offered a role in director Tom Hopper’s box office dud Cats, which he wisely turned down (“I’m in the theater, man, and I don’t want to be in the business of bashing people…”), and he just learned what the term “swole” means. Reynolds is going to give him so much sh*t over that.

Here’s the trailer for Jackman’s new film, Bad Education.

(Via the Daily Beast)

Plenty of television shows have tried their best to lean into absurdity over the years. An issue that inherently pops up all the time, though, is that it’s really, really hard to be good at that, and you can always tell when a television show is trying, but failing, at making that its brand. One such show that managed to master making the absurd its calling card in a way that worked was Arrested Development.

The show’s first three seasons are damn near unassailable. Sure, there are plenty of things that did not age particularly well by nature of being a source comedy in the mid-aughts — the entirety of the storyline involving Charlize Theron and the various jokes about Tobias’ sexuality during Season 3 stick out — but despite the ratings slide that saw it meet its premature demise, Arrested Development‘s first three seasons managed to stay fresh and funny thanks to its writing and a powerhouse of an ensemble cast. To celebrate it, we decided to rank the show’s 10-best episodes.

Two quick things before we dive in:

1. These are the ten episodes based on my most recent rewatch of the show. If I were to rewatch through some other time, there is a good chance that ten other episodes would make up this list. The show has that many outstanding episodes, so if your favorite(s) is/are left off, know there is a very good chance that I, too, love them, and this is merely a list of the episodes that I enjoyed the most right now.
2. You’ll notice that Season 4 and Season 5 don’t have any episodes on this list. One thing I wanted to determine going in was whether or not I actually thought they were merely fine or if the constant haymakers thrown by the first three seasons made the most recent two feel like feeble jabs. My answer: I still have zero idea. Someday I’ll go back and watch them both without enjoying the rest of the series beforehand, but regardless, they don’t quite reach the highs of the initial run of episodes.

Anyway, thank you for indulging me. Now, a list about a television show that tells the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son that had no choice but to keep them all together.

10. S3E9: “S.O.B.s”

The story: The Bluths need to raise money for a lawyer and decide to hold a celebrity-heavy party. Lindsay takes up cooking, which horrifies George Michael, who goes to a new school. Gob gets a job by accident. Tobias and Maeby bond. We met the entire Richter family.

Why it’s on the list: The best episode of season 3 hits on all the notes that make a good episode in the series: every main character has something to do, a few different storylines come together at the end of the episode. It is also completely ludicrous and the zillion nods to “hey this show is not going to be a thing once this season ends” hold up well, even years later.

9. S1E19: “Best Man for Gob”

The story: Gob holds a bachelor party … kind of. Michael tries to take George Michael fishing. The Funkes restart their family band, which does not go particularly well, in part because Gob’s wife — one of its biggest fans — falls for Tobias.

Why it’s on the list: I, personally, am a sucker for any and all scenes that involve Dr. Funke’s 100 Percent Natural Good-Time Family-Band Solution, and this is where it debuts. Also, there is a fake bachelor party that involves Buster drinking fake blood (it’s juice) and a narcoleptic stripper in a cake who was supposed to get fake murdered in an attempt to prevent someone from testifying against George. Why this show was canceled is beyond me. (Ok I know the answer, but still.)

8. S1E7 “In God We Trust”

The story: Barry Zuckerkorn temporarily gets George out of prison, while Michael tries getting a new attorney. Tobias, it is revealed, is a never-nude. Some members of the Bluth family pass around the role of Adam in “The Creation of Adam,” alongside George, who plays God, right up until he tries (and fails) to run away. Buster and Lucille 2 go on a date.

Why it’s on the list: Our first look at Barry Zuckerkorn gives us a glimpse at perhaps the best non-Bluth character in the entire series. This episode also highlights how each member of the Bluth family will always try to do something that benefits themselves, only for it to backfire terribly — everyone who wants to be Adam next to George has their own reason for wanting the role, while the idea of getting George to see Lucille on a date explodes in Michael and Lindsay’s faces when they realize she’s spending time with Wayne Jarvis, not Barry. Oh and also this is the first never-nude episode, which, come on.

7. S2E10 “Ready, Aim, Marry Me!”

The story: The Bluths all believe Lucille 2 and Stan Sitwell are trying to take over the company, so George recommends Uncle Jack comes (and his assistant, Dragon) and helps. Lindsay goes on a romantic getaway with Uncle Jack, thinking it was a date with Dragon. Michael and Tobias go on a date at the same time. Buster and Gob fight over Lucille 2.

Why it’s on the list: Martin Short’s cameo is so delightfully unhinged that this episode had to make it on the list somewhere. Plus, this episode does a great job highlighting two sides of Michael: the Bluth who is just as shallow and willing to compromise to get his way as everyone else in his family, and the person who is able to see the err of his ways, even if it happens a little too late. And we get Gob and Lindsay’s chicken dances, so what’s not to like?

6. S1E4 “Key Decisions”

The story: Gob goes to prison for an illusion — he gets stabbed — which prevents him from attending an awards show with Marta. While there, a few people fall in love: Michael, with Marta, and Lucille 2, with Buster (sans glasses). Those aren’t the only lovebirds, as Lindsay meets environmental activist Johnny Bark, who falls for her. It is not reciprocated.

Why it’s on the list: While much of the conflict up to this point in S1 is over silly things, this episode sets up the perpetual feud that engulfs the two eldest Bluth brothers. My only regret is that there aren’t more episodes with Gob going to prison as part of an elaborate illusion, but I can’t be too mad, because everything about that is hilarious. And besides, it gave us the first “I’ve made a huge mistake” of the series.

5. S2E4 “Good Grief”

The story: George dies, so the family holds a wake. Only Buster has no idea what is happening, up until he learns about it while Gob tries doing an illusion he desperately needs. George Michael, fresh off of a breakup with Ann, discovers that George is not dead, but just hiding from the cops. He gets moved to the attic, and eventually, Michael finds out. Maeby tries to get Lindsay to cheat on Tobias so she can get emancipated.

Why it’s on the list: A Bluth family wake is exactly as bonkers as it should be. This has the honor, I assume, of being the only episode of television in American history with multiple references to Charlie Brown and the arrest of Saddam Hussein.

4. S1E22 “Let ‘Em Eat Cake”

The story: Lindsay starts a bead business, Gob starts a bee business. Kitty pops back up, and Michael has to deal with that. George Michael meets Ann Veal, which Maeby does not like. The “light treason” George committed rears its ugly head. An old book Tobias wrote becomes famous again, which leads to more money and some tensions between himself and Lindsay. George goes to the hospital during a lie detector test.

Why it’s on the list: The final episode of season one sets up season two brilliantly while simultaneously highlighting two things: Michael’s loyalty to his family, and also that Michael is in a constant struggle with what is best for himself and his son, and what is best for everyone else. It is also the first time we meet the extremely literal doctor, perhaps the series’ strangest (and best) tertiary character.

3. S1E1 “Pilot”

The story: Michael prepares to take over The Bluth Company, only for the job to go to Lucille, and then Buster. George gets arrested and learns he has the worst f*cking attorneys. Tobias also gets arrested for unknowingly participating in a protest, which leads to a professional revelation.

Why it’s on the list: How often have you seen television series start off on the wrong foot, only to pick up steam throughout the first season and eventually find its footing? That is not the case for AD, which sets up the entire series beautifully. From the very start, the pilot episode sets the stage for major things that exist through the series involving its main characters — Lucille’s total lack of decency, Gob being an arrogant, self-conscious, and absolutely abysmal magician, George Michael and Maeby’s strange relationship, etc. It is a tl;dr on each member of the Bluth family, something brutally difficult to accomplish in a pilot. Unlike Lucille’s feelings for Gob, we do, indeed, care for this episode.

2. S1E10 “Pier Pressure”

The story: Michael and Lindsay disagree on the best way to raise their children. We learn about George’s old lessons involving a one-armed man named J. Walter Weatherman. Maeby is punished and sentenced to an afternoon with Lucille. Buster tries to score some weed to help with Lucille 2’s vertigo, asking George Michael for help. This leads to an elaborate fake score involving Gob and the Hot Cops.

Why it’s on the list: If you’re showing someone one episode of Arrested Development and want to highlight everything that makes it so good — the acting, the writing, the twists and turns that its best episodes take, the general absurdity that comes from the phrase “a fake pot bust involving the Hot Cops” — you are picking this one. Maeby learning that Lucille is viciously cruel is hilarious, but the plotline involving George Michael attempting to score some pot as a favor is aces. The insecurities that a handful of characters feel when others are involved pop up — George Michael’s biggest fear on earth is disappointing Michael, who wants to be the head of the Bluth family but cannot because he can never quite be his father, while Buster is horrified of Gob and Gob is horrified of Michael. The family dynamics on display are perfect, while the Hot Cops show up a few more times in the series and are hilarious every single time.

1. S1E2 “Top Banana”

The story: George Michael becomes Mr. manager at the banana stand. That is, until it burns down. On that note, Tobias interviews for a commercial about a fire … sale. Michael looks for flight records but cannot find them due to his parents.

Why it’s on the list: The entire episode is hilarious from start to finish, but this one tops the list for the sheer number of hilarious individual moments that helped make the show so famous. Gob trying to throw a letter into the ocean, Tobias screaming about a fire sale, “DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT,” and of course, “there’s always money in the banana stand.” It is an otherworldly cultural artifact, and that’s before we get into the things about the show that serve as recurring punchlines/themes within the series, like continuous miscommunications that make situations exponentially worse, Michael poorly throwing his weight around in an attempt to earn respect and do things The Right Way, George Michael’s perpetual fear of disappointing Michael, Lindsay and Tobias hitting various obscure bumps in the road in their marriage, and Gob desperately wanting Michael’s respect but also being a tremendous piece of garbage. It’s also the first time someone says “no touching,” the first time we get a glimpse of Tobias’ jorts and Gob’s Segway, and Patrice O’Neal is in it briefly as an arsonist.

Future has been on a tear lately, putting his fan-favorite mixtapes on DSPs one-by-one. He started, naturally, with Monster, the first of three mixtapes he released in 2015 solidifying him as an unstoppable production machine. The next two projects in that unofficial trilogy, Beast Mode and 56 Nights, soon followed. Now, he’s surprise-released yet another one of his iconic tapes to streaming services: The 2016 DJ Esco and Metro Boomin-produced tape, Purple Reign.

Purple Reign is Future’s sixteenth mixtape overall and the first non-commercial mixtape since the 2015 mixtape trilogy of Monster, Beast Mode, and 56 Nights. It contained the standout tracks “Wicked” and “Perkys Calling” as well as an eclectic roster of trap producers that included Metro Boomin, Nard & B, Southside, and Zaytoven. Purple Reign was released between Future’s joint project with Drake, What A Time To Be Alive, and his fourth studio album, Evol (on which “Wicked” also appears).

Future’s re-upped mixtapes are an admirable placeholder for fans thirsty for his new project Life Is Good, which he announced earlier this month after releasing videos for its singles “Tycoon” and “Life Is Good” featuring Drake. The song “Life Is Good” was also remixed with DaBaby and Lil Baby.

Purple Reign is now available for streaming via Epic Records. Stream it here.

The Social Experiment member Peter CottonTale has been a key Chance The Rapper collaborator for years now, and today, Chance has returned the favor. CottonTale is dropping a new album, Catch, tomorrow (April 17), but ahead of then, he has shared the Chance-featuring “Pray For Real” (on which Tobi Lou also guests). The track has a similarly breezy energy to The Social Experiment’s previous work and blends hip-hop and gospel influences.

Today, by the way, is Chance’s 26th birthday.

CottonTale recently shared the full Catch tracklist and wrote, “Without Those Who Are Listed or Are In Any of these Photos that I’ve been posting, I couldn’t Have Done any of it. Whether you offered Talent , Time, or just words , I appreciate the community and fellowship that’s been established. I’m glad it was as special to you as it is to me. Love you all.”

The new song follows “Forever Always,” which originally dropped in 2018, is also set to appear on the album, and also features Chance, as well as Daniel Caesar and Rex Orange County. Beyond the aforementioned, Catch also includes contributions from Jeremih, Jamila Woods, PJ Morton, Jon Batiste, Kirk Franklin, Yebba, and others.

Listen to “Pray For Real” above.

Catch is out 5/17 via Peter CottonTale. Pre-order it here.

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Spring has truly sprung at this juncture in NBA self-isolation! This week we saw a few bunnies hopping around, each and every NBA fan turning into a HORSE girl, wildlife returning and Marc Gasol coming out of hibernation.

The onset of a hopeful new season is a reason to celebrate, for sure, but also to maintain the things necessary in the current state of the world so we can turn as literal a corner as a seasonal one. Like being smart, safe, and showing compassion and care for your neighbours and yourself, best exemplified by staying home and by LeBron James continuing to drink wine alone.

Bam Adebayo

Nice try, Bam, but you’d have to think I had a lot less time on my hands than I do not to capture this post before you promptly took it down after Easter. Like a reverse “He has risen”, I have screencapped it.

Rating: Bonus points for former notable teammates coming to terms real time that they’ve got a swingman-Easter bunny on their roster.

Luka Doncic

Look at scruffy Luka Doncic, look at scruffy Doncic’s scruffy, immaculately clean dog, Gia, both of them wearing matching comfortable outfits, eyeing you with, what is that? Mischief? Warm curiosity? From 35,000 feet. Is Doncic an influencer now? Because I sure feel like I’m about to purchase a set of very expensive muted beige bedding or a crate of sparkling icewine made from fossilized grapes.

Rating: Have you ever seen two beings less concerned with Maxi Kleber in the comments telling one, maybe both, to trim their beard?

Myles Turner

This was a fitness focused week for Turner who had some friends hold his legs while we reverse lifted weights and then went on CJ McCollum’s podcast to talk about uh, doing yoga with wasps in the same enclosed space on purpose.

Rating: All for pushing yourself to a new state of awareness during this time but maybe don’t start with shirking gravity and tempting wasps, leave that to Myles Turner.

Marc Gasol

If there’s one thing you can trust in challenging times it’s Marc Gasol, coming in hot. Whether it’s to render a force like Joel Embiid useless in a playoff series, undertake a humanitarian mission during his offseason, or dress up as Freddie Mercury during a global pandemic clutching a kitchen whisk with tin foil on it as a microphone, Marc Gasol chooses his moments.

Rating: And they’re always, always perfect.

LeBron James

Here’s James, still looking for a friend to drink wine with, but admitting, frankly, that he’s out of his mind when it comes to this vino.

Rating: My goodness.

Josh Hart

This week in isolation Josh Hart succumbed to the greatest risk of online shopping and grocery shopping simultaneously when he followed the algorithm for other things he might be interested in based on the one thing he was looking to buy, and did it while he was hungry. If 14 bags of chips fall on you in quarantine does anyone hear you eat them all?

Rating: If you post about it on Instagram, yes.

Tobias Harris

Harris went into Hardaway Jr. territory this week when he had a brush with some wild turkeys that strolled into his yard. First, he attempted to gas up a male turkey who seemed shy about putting the moves on a female turkey. “Come on man,” Harris said, urging the turkey on, “don’t be like that.” Soon a second suitor arrived, and Harris lamented the first turkey’s chance. The scene suddenly became a lot less serene when another of the grotesquely large birds rushed the glass and Harris yelped and jumped backwards. He then excused himself from the romantic pursuits of turkeys.

Rating: Based on those 20 seconds alone though, Harris seems like a good friend to call during a breakup.

Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler would actually make a wonderful Easter Bunny. No one would find their eggs because they would be up where you had to be in shape enough to jump five to eight feet laterally to get them and children would be shamed into thinking they hadn’t worked hard enough and that placing their belief in any force other than themselves was a fool’s errand, a waste of time.

Rating: Plus he looks cute in ears.

Serge Ibaka

Ibaka’s How Talented Are You? Started this week and one thing is for sure — Ibaka is a terrible judge! After allowing a magician through to the next round and getting chastised by guest judge, DeMar DeRozan, for being easily entertained, Ibaka then had DeRozan deliver the verdict to the next two talent hopefuls. But that was after he spent five minutes ragging on DeRozan for not being ready, when really Ibaka didn’t know how to connect him. The silver lining was Tiffany Haddish coming on and DeRozan telling a young woman who Ibaka already said he didn’t think was very talented (it wasn’t his turn to judge) that she would make it through to the next round.

Rating: This thing is a roller coaster that a newly moustached Ibaka chugs beer during the nerve wracking drops of.

P.J. Tucker

Tucker finished a workout and promptly wrung his towel out with so much sweat that it could fill a kiddie pool. Still, if you told me I could sit in that kiddie pool, I would.

Rating: Don’t let Goop get her hands on this.

Spencer Dinwiddie

You and Spencer Dinwiddie have been telling yourself the same thing all isolation while hoisting a glass up to toast yourself. The difference is there probably isn’t a pool in front of you, just Netflix plaintively asking if you’re still watching.

Rating: But think how antioxidized we’ll all be once this is over.

DeAndre Jordan

Unclear if these tags are Jordan’s or the soon to be middle school aged young person he is “with”.

Rating: I do worry about the young Banksy in question here, ready to throw up these tags and impress their new friends with all the fresh hope in the world.

JaVale McGee

McGee ran alongside his daughter as she went for her first solo joyride with Cookie Monster and Elmo strapped in. There was a very Too Fast and Too Furious moment when she slammed the brakes and Cookie went slouching over at the waist, but McGee righted him and the group continued to burn rubber.

Rating: I thought FF9 was delayed?

Dion Waiters

The guy is at it again, this time in an Iverson jersey. Waiters went careening around his house once more, doing tons of backwards shimmies, zipping around columns and now — dancing! Truly a matter of time until the Lakers utilize roller skating as a new high intensity training regime and suck all of the joy out of it.

Rating: There is no way, not really, that Waiters comes out of this and doesn’t go careening into the best season of his career.

D’Angelo Russell

Here’s Russell on a boat again, cruising around in the waves and swinging his legs, probably holding a bullhorn and advising people to stay off the beach as was advised here some weeks ago.

Rating: Contemplating solitude on the ocean? Emerging poet alert.

Dwyane Wade

Wade started Isolation Watch as a budding painter, taking up the brush whenever he could, straight up lying down in the middle of the floor to create whenever the mood struck him. Here we see him, some five weeks in, following the very normal trajectory for an artist who has received some early recognition.

Rating: Next will be a surprise appearance at Art Basel, where Wade will have walked into just looking for somewhere to validate his parking in Miami Beach.

Paul Millsap

Paul Millsap: basketball player, fledgling magician, and fed up with snow.

Rating: The people’s magician.

Jordan Bell

Bell was doing a new workout where he pulled himself across the floor (???) and his dog, unfortunately, donked it up. But if the point of this exercise (????) is to use your own body weight as resistance, wouldn’t the addition of an ashamed dog’s body weight increase that resistance, making it a better workout?

Rating: Please call me for a free fitness consultation.

Enes Kanter

Kanter continues to expand his culinary horizons, this time by squeezing about an entire thing of chocolate syrup into a blender on low. I can’t specify exact ingredients except for chocolate syrup and half a giant tub of ice cream based on the tub there to the side with half its contents now missing and the sparkly gif he used as flourish.

Rating: Please call Kanter for a free fitness consultation.

Zach LaVine

Aside from torching Paul Pierce in HORSE this week and consuming a bunny made out of pancakes, LaVine’s other timeless milestone was getting engaged! Congratulations, Zach! You’ve already got matching tracksuits and that’s half the whole point of marriage.

Rating: But does Paul Pierce get invited to the wedding?

Kyle Kuzma

Kuz caught an “Easter bunny” (I’m crying),

then did an in-home fashion shoot for his good friends at Gentleman’s Quarterly,

then took a bubble bath he got paid for.

Rating: I would say this was all in all a normal week for Kuzma in isolation but I think it was a normal week for Kuzma in general.

Mike Conley

Checking in on Mike Conley for a wholesome break in isolation coverage and ah, yes, getting live reports that he’s running back and forth with one of his small children across a regulation size indoor home basketball court in the hopes of tuckering the tiny little Spiderman out.

Rating: Did it work? Only time will tell so good thing we’ve got a lot of it.

Bismack Biyombo

Here’s Biyombo delivering exactly what’s been promised.

Rating: If you aren’t familiar with the marketing budgets of massive publishing houses, a picture like this, painstakingly staged for eight hours, would constitute about 20k of a single ad campaign.

Terry Rozier

Rozier got a new French Bulldog puppy, and the two seem very happy to be getting acquainted.

Rating: Not so scary Terry.

Tim Hardaway Jr.

Hardaway Jr. was out on his back deck, ostensibly waiting for the pair of manatees he’s befriended.

Rating: “You – spongy, grey skin, used to come around Me – waiting with garden hose” — Hardaway Jr.’s Missed Connection

Otto Porter Jr.

Players in isolation encountering wildlife took a turn when some deer entered into Porter Jr.’s backyard and he was very much not here for it! Does he hate deer? Did he just plant a garden he was worried they were going to nibble at? Was he just surprised to see them? Had he not seen that meme yet about nature taking over?

Rating: Does he think the Bucks are messing with him?

CJ McCollum

CJ McCollum’s puppy, Fiona, only looks little around CJ McCollum, otherwise you’d see she’s actually the size of a calf already but that is not a sign of how long isolation’s been going on, she’s just a large breed!

Rating: Gonna be pretty cute when McCollum’s got a baby buffalo following him around.

Kevin Love

Love’s Isolation movie nights continue, this time with a reminder that Pierce Brosnan only really ever played one kind of role.

Rating: Dwyane Wade better watch out in case Love gets any ideas about fine art theft.

Brandon Ingram

Here’s Ingram with a classic case of Nobody Talk To Me Until I’ve Had My Coffee.

Rating: He’s taking not having had his coffee yet pretty well.

Bogdan Bogdanovic

It’s difficult to tell what “New look” Bogdanovic is referring to at first, given you might just go to wipe your phone screen off to get rid of that thin smudge but wait, that smudge is the New look he is referring to. A brand new, tiny moustache like the sprout of a seed trembling as it busts through spring dirt. We will see how this develops.

Rating: The emoji is generous, it’s true.

Terrence Ross

Puzzles continue to be a hit as does not feeling too bad for Terrence Ross, isolating in paradise.

Rating: You can see the piece of the elephants ear right there in front of him too, can’t you?

DeAndre Bembry

Bembry risked it all for cookies. No, he was safe in supporting a small business. There were X’s on the floor marking where to stand and when Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry went to this place at 2am after losing Game 5 and came back to win the Championship, how can you blame him?

Rating: Could’ve used a vicarious post-cookie report to live through.

PAUL PIERCE’S PLACE

Paul’s had a busy week! First, he got ready to face Zach LaVine in the NBA’s new HORSE tournament by cheersing to himself in his home grotto:

Then he got smoked by Zach LaVine in the NBA’s new HORSE tournament:

Full cred to Paul though, he came dressed for golf on a chilly day, and didn’t seem to remember or care to remember how to play basketball. At one point, Pierce was just standing on a small child’s scooter. Case in point about the golf outfit though, because a couple days later that’s what he was up to, still in his backyard:

Finally, he took a solo bike ride down a sunny street with a mask that seems too small for his face:

Megan Thee Stallion’s lawsuit against 1501 Certified Entertainment and Carl Crawford will move forward after Megan scored a victory in court Monday (April 13), reports Billboard. A judge has reportedly denied a request filed by Crawford on March 11 to order Megan’s case to go to arbitration. According to Crawford, Meg’s contract includes language that would send any dispute to an arbitrator, rather than a more expensive legal proceeding in court.

However Harris County Judge Robert Schaeffer took Megan’s side and denied Crawford’s motion to compel arbitration, which means both parties will have to present cases in court, letting Schaeffer have the final say. Megan and 1501 have been publicly warring over the rapper’s contract since March, when Megan claimed that the label wanted to block her from releasing new music. While Meg was later able to do so thanks to a court order overruling 1501, resulting in the nine-track project Suga, the dispute only escalated from there, involving feared Houston street rap figure J. Prince and a war of words between Megan, Prince, and Crawford.

The dispute boils down to the amount of royalties each party believes they are owed, as well as ownership of the recordings Megan has created while under contract with 1501. With Meg’s latest victory, she and 1501 are both one step closer to seeing the dispute resolved — one way or another.

Read Billboard’s initial report here.

Most companies are struggling right now, for sadly obvious reasons, but not Netflix. Netflix is thriving, as millions of people are stuck at home all day with nothing else to do than watch Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse for the third time this month. (That is not a judgement, it’s a recommendation.) Variety reports that the streaming service’s stock is currently an all-time high, and for the first time ever, Netflix is “worth more” than Disney.

“Netflix’s stock, extending its three-day rally, closed up 3.2 percent [on Wednesday], to $426.75 per share. That gives Netflix a current market capitalization of $187.3 billion, putting it just over Disney’s $186.6 billion, after the media conglomerate’s stock finished down 2.5 percent amid a broader market decline Wednesday,” according to Variety. Netflix’s previous high was $418.97/share, which it hit in July 2018, the same month The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants premiered. I assume that’s not a coincidence:

Netflix is scheduled to report first quarter 2020 earnings next Tuesday, April 21, after market close. It previously forecast total paid net adds of 7.0 million worldwide. Many analysts expect Netflix to gain more than that. Pivotal Research Group now expects Netflix to net 8.45 million new subscribers for Q1. (Via)

In two weeks, eight million new Netflix subscribers are going to be asking all their friends, “Have you heard about this Tiger King?” Yes, we’ve heard about Tiger King.

(Via Variety)

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

You’d be forgiven if upon hearing “Dragonball Durag,” the lead single from Thundercat’s new album It Is What It Is, you assumed that his latest full-length would follow in the vein of his last one, Drunk. That is to say: If you figured he’d be up to his usual, haphazard, up-way-too-late-in-the-morning-getting-way-too-high shenanigans, you’ll likely receive some pleasant surprises from this project, which is a more mature work that spends a lot more time ruminating on love, heartbreak, and the inevitability of death.

Of course, maturity is relative; after all, there is still a song about flexing a haircare accessory adorned with a colorful pattern inspired by a Japanese children’s cartoon. There are even some songs inspired by the theme songs of anime like Dragon Ball, with the hard-driving “I Love Louis Cole” borrowing one of those high-energy Saturday morning guitar riffs and an adventure-teasing drum beat — courtesy of the titular drummer/producer, naturally. Clearly, Thundercat’s droll sense of irony remains intact on his latest.

But it’s also been weathered, both by age and by tragedy. In 2018, Thundercat’s close friend and collaborator Mac Miller passed away from an overdose. The resultant grief translates itself into a melancholy mood that permeates ‘Cat’s usual tongue-in-cheek lyrical musings. “Black Qualls,” a feature-laden jam session that employs Internet guitarist Steve Lacy, under-the-radar funk icon Steve Arrington, and the multitalented Childish Gambino, pays homage to Miller’s memory by echoing the life lessons he spoke to on his last two albums, Swimming and Circles. “I’m not living in fear,” Thundercat croons, “Just being honest.”

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Thundercat explained the impact Mac’s death had on him wanting to change his own lifestyle. “I mean, we were in trouble,” he said. “You don’t realize it all the time. It’s sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll. It’s real. You ride the line, you don’t know how close you are sometimes… I’ve been drinking forever. It’s such a part of me. I was always that guy who’s missing one of his shoes, covered in blood, [but] I couldn’t do the same things I’d done before.”

He also revealed that in the span of just months, not only was he shaken up by Mac’s death, but he was also bludgeoned by the devastation of being dumped, leading to songs like the morose “Unrequited Love.” It’s the sort of song he would have cracked about making around the time Drunk came out, but is now full-hearted and sincere. He addresses the “Existential Dread” of feeling like death is right around the corner and could strike at any time (particularly poignant in the wake of global current events) and gives a mournful salute to his departed friend on “Fair Chance.”

And while that may sound the makings of a depressing album about depression, Thundercat’s deft, spacey bass noodling and dreamy falsetto keep the mood as light as pink cotton candy. The guests range from the smoky emotion of Ty Dolla Sign to the original blog rap troll Lil B, letting ‘Cat continue to at least smirk in the face of the heavier content, if not outright laugh at it. There are traces of that same, silly, devil-may-care artist in songs like “Dragonball Durag,” and even in the lyrics of “Fair Chance”: “So hard to get over it / I’ve tried to get under it / Stuck in between.”

The looseness of the overall construction allows the album to cover a lot of ground in its trim 14 tracks — many of which are under two minutes in length — yet the breeziness it sounding more focused than Drunk was. It’s smooth, but not soft, it’s airy but it has substance. It’s serious but not too serious, reflecting the times in which it was made — we’re all facing plenty of darkness, trying to find the light, and forced to accept that sometimes, it just is what it is.

It Is What It Is is out now on Brainfeeder. Get it here.

Heartbreaking news from WWE this morning as Howard Finkel, unarguably the greatest ring announcer in the history of the company (and, slightly more arguably, the greatest ring announcer in the history of wrestling) has died. He was 69 years old.

Via WWE.com:

When considering the greatest ring announcers in the history of sports and sports-entertainment, you’d be hard-pressed to name one better than Howard Finkel. A native of Newark, NJ, “The Fink” — a label that had been attached affectionately to Howard over the years — made his ring announcing debut at Madison Square Garden in 1977 for WWE’s predecessor, WWWF.

By 1979, Finkel was the full-time ring announcer for WWWF, and when WWE was established in 1980, The Fink became the first — and eventually longest-serving — employee. Finkel’s distinctive voice was instantly recognizable, and for more than two decades Superstars such as The Ultimate Warrior, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and more would have a title victory marked by The Fink’s signature call, “and NNNEEEWWW World Champion!”

While no cause of death was announced, The Fink had been dealing with health issues that limited his public appearances for the past several years including a 2018 stroke. Even that couldn’t keep him away, however, as he visited Monday Night Raw in September of 2019. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.

The role of Howard Finkel’s voice in our memories of the World Wrestling Federation of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s can’t be understated. Our love and condolences go out to his family, friends, and fans. Below are a few videos of his work, in case you’d like to hear it again. Rest in peace, Fink.