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Hip-hop is moving as fast as ever. Luckily, we’re doing the work to put the best new rap music in one place for you. This week, there were new videos from Doja Cat and Nicki Minaj, Brandy and Chance The Rapper, Lil Baby and 42 Dugg, as well as D Smoke and SiR. There were also new tracks from Migos (with LeBron), Future, Young Thug, Moneybag Yo, TM88, and Southside, RMR, Future and Lil Baby, Jpegmafia and Denzel Curry, Lil Durk, Lil Baby, and Polo G, and an UPROXX session with Yella Beezy. Here’s the rest of the best new rap music this week:

Lil Tjay — State Of Emergency

After a controversial week of beef with A Boogie and High Bridge The Label, Lil Tjay took to social media to say he wanted his news cycle to be just about the music from now on. Today he might get his wish after releasing his State Of Emergency EP, one of the best new rap music collections of the week. The seven-track project showcases Tjay tapping into melodic genre-bending and Brooklyn drill, even collaborating with the late Pop Smoke and Fivio Foreign on the moody “Zoo York.”

Real Recognized Rio — “Pressure” Feat. 21 Savage

Real Recognized Rio is an artist on 21 Savage’s Slaughter Gang crew. This week he linked up with the boss on “Pressure,” a melodic ode to the grind, where 21 wonders, “How you let your problems build up, turn around and call on me? / Taking advantage cause I’m goodhearted and you can call on me?”

A.CHAL — “Hollywood Love” Feat. Gunna

A.CHAL and Gunna get seductive on “Hollywood Love,” taking turns harmonizing over murky, melancholy guitar play.

Onefour — “Say It Again” Feat. ASAP Ferg

Drill music is worldwide at this point, with seemingly every country exploring their rendition of the in-demand subgenre. Leave it up to the ever-ambitious ASAP Ferg to bridge the gap between the Big Apple and the land down under on “Say It Again,” a moody collaboration with Australian artist Onefour.

Chief Keef — “2nd Day Out”

In 2014, Chief Keef released his version of “First Day Out,” a slurry tracing of Gucci Mane’s iconic chronicle of his post-jail itinerary. Chief Keef went back to the winning well on “2nd Day Out,” which was produced by frequent Guwop-collaborator Zaytoven.

Nav — Good Intentions

Toronto genre-bender Nav is back with his latest offering, the 18-track Good Intentions. He stays true to his artistic ethos on his third studio album, delving into sing-songy melodies over 808-driven production alongside artists like Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert, Young Thug, and the late Pop Smoke.

Lil Durk — Just Cause Y’all Waited 2

Lil Durk paid homage to his fans with the title of his latest album. The long-awaited project features Durk delivering his leading rendition of trap blues and autotuned crooning alongside LIl Baby and Polo G, G-Herbo, and Gunna.

Moneybagg Yo — “Spin On Em” Feat. Fredo Bang

Moneybagg Yo and Fredo Bang abide by the cold, unforgiving street law on “Spin On Em,“ rhyming ”‘Cause f*ck me, then it’s f*ck you — you know it’s up” on the menacing track. Moneybagg’s Time Services Deluxe will be out next Friday.

Lil Gotit — “Drip Day N Night” Feat. Gunna & Lil Keed

Lil Gotit released a trippy visual companion to his “Drip Day N Night” single with Gunna and Lil Keed. On the single from Gotit’s Hood Baby 2 track, he trades crooning verses with fellow Atliens Gunna and Lil Keed.

Styles P — “Mind Power”

Styles P captures a glimpse of our perilous time on “Mind Power,” the first single from his upcoming Ghost Your Enthusiasm track. He dishes his controversial takes on coronavirus and impending vaccinations while rhyming “I don’t give a f*ck about the CDC / Taking black seed oil playing BDP” on the golden-era channeling track.

Lloyd Banks — “Cold Summer” (Freestyle)

The same week his onetime G-Unit boss 50 Cent’s latest book criticized his work ethic, Banks decided to air his own grievances on a confessional “Cold Summer” freestyle. He addresses the armchair analyses of his career and utters nearly every artist’s existential quandary: “Wonder when this sh*t really over, will I be celebrated?” and laments, “Just when it couldn’t get worst rest in peace, Fred The Godson / life is hard son.”

Tsu Surf — “5’7”

Newark, New Jersey’s Tsu Surf may be known by many as one of the URL battle rap league’s brightest stars, but he’s a talented recording artist as well. He showed off his considerable storytelling ability on the affirming “5’7,” where he weaves various tales of feminine resilience during a video celebrating women of all shapes, sizes, and journeys.

Joell Ortiz & KXNG CROOKED — “H.A.R.D.” Feat. MRK SX

One half of Slaughterhouse, Joell Ortiz and Kxng Crooked, are reuniting for an EP entitled H.A.R.D., no doubt a statement on the type of rhymes they’ll be delivering on the project. They offered a taste of what to expect on the title track, which was crafted by a dream team of production: illMind, Erick Sermon, Apollo Brown, Heatmakerz, and J.U.S.T.I.C.E League.

Scienze — “125th.”

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: music marks time. Brooklyn rhymer Scienze paid homage to an unforgettable period of his life through the lens of a classic record on “125th.” He reminisces “stylin’ on the street, freestyling droppin’ gold” on Harlem’s 125th street while intermittently reciting elements of Harlem MC Black Rob’s “Whoa” classic.

Berwyn — “Glory”

London-based MC Berwyn started his musical journey when, two weeks before he was set to return to his native Trinidad, the then-experiencing-homelessness artist got a computer. That path paved the way for “Glory,” the reflective debut single from his upcoming, yet-to-be-named first project.

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

Michael Jordan is, uh, how do I put this, not the nicest guy on earth. This is not a dig against Jordan — his legendary competitive streak turned him into the greatest basketball player of all-time and legitimately the most famous human on the planet during his time in the NBA. But as we’ve seen during The Last Dance, Jordan was outrageously good at taking even the smallest perceived slight and turning that into a way to motivate himself into a random 50-point outing against the Atlanta Hawks or something.

This prickly disposition has popped up a few times during the doc. Magic Johnson got him mad during a Dream Team practice, so Mike turned into a hoops assassin and destroyed a team that featured some of the best players in basketball history. He is still, very obviously, furious that Scottie Pippen got a migraine once 30 years ago. Isiah Thomas. There is nothing else that is necessary to explain “Isiah Thomas.” Hell, Charles Barkley correctly pointed out that he wasn’t doing a great job with the Charlotte Bobcats and Jordan just stopped talking to the dude.

All of this got me wondering: Which NBA player would Michael Jordan hate the most in the event he played right now? So like any doofus, I tweeted it.

A lot of people had a lot to say about this. We, as a staff, more or less decided that it should be turned into content, based entirely about these guys as basketball players and not as humans. Things were broken down into tiers — “Definitely Dislike,” “Maybe Dislike,” “Begrudgingly Respect,” and “Actually Like” — and everything needs to be explained. Here are our findings:

Definitely Dislike

All gamers: There is no chance on earth that Michael Jordan would like any NBA player who games. Could you imagine if the New Orleans Pelicans lost a game, and instead of going to a court somewhere and shooting 500,000 times, Josh Hart (who played 26 minutes and had a respectable 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting with five rebounds and a few steals) decided to play Call of Duty: Warzone for an hour? He’d lose his mind. Michael Jordan, despite being famous for golfing all the time and playing cards on planes, is assuredly anti-gaming.

Andrew Wiggins: Wiggins seems like a very nice guy and a basketball player who Jordan wouldn’t dislike personally. However, his nickname is “Maple Jordan,” and there is absolutely zero chance that Mike wouldn’t go out of his way to hit a billion midrange jumpers and put the clamps on Wiggins to prove that there is only one “Jordan,” regardless of a player’s home country.

Trae Young: A wonderful basketball player who plays in a way that seems to be antithetical to how Jordan believes it should be played. Threes from a million miles away that somehow go in? No sir, there is a space 15-18 feet away from the rim that demands your attention.

Anyone who it seems like Jerry Krause would have liked: This includes most Bulls players, anyone from Croatia who he has not met before a la Toni Kukoc at the 1992 Summer Olympics, and as my pal John Wilmes pointed out, Doug McDermott.

Isaiah Thomas: No Michael, you’ve got the wrong Is(a)iah Thomas!

Patrick Beverley: He is the same kind of relentless pain in the ass John Starks was. Michael Jordan did not like John Starks. He would respect Pat’s tenacity and fearlessness, but otherwise, lord no.

Dwight Howard: I think MJ would respect the Orlando version of Dwight — indomitable rim protector, fierce rebounder, leader of a team that did not back down from anyone and succeeded because of it — and he would have some respect for this version of Dwight, who has been excellent in his current role on the Lakers. All the stuff that happened in between those two things, most notably the way things went with Kobe Bryant during his first go-around in L.A., would turn Jordan off to Dwight forever.

Draymond Green: I mean this as a compliment to Draymond, who by nature of being from Michigan and playing with a serious edge gives off incredible Bad Boys Pistons energy. Also:

Everyone on the Detroit Pistons: Self-explanatory.

Maybe Dislike

Kyrie Irving: Went back and forth on this one a lot. On one hand, they are the most diametrically opposite personalities on earth. On the other, Kyrie left a team that won a championship because he wanted to challenge himself to win on his own, which is a power move I feel like Jordan would respect immensely, even if it didn’t work out. Add in that Kyrie viewed Kobe Bryant as a big brother, and Kobe viewed Mike as a big brother, and I can’t imagine that MJ’s dislike would be as strong as it seems on the surface.

Kevin Durant: There is a 10,000,000 percent chance that no one was more disappointed over KD leaving the Thunder to go to the team that beat the Thunder in the playoffs than Jordan. Having said that, I believe MJ respects KD’s game and his assassin’s mentality immensely, and Durant literally suffered a potentially career-altering injury in the pursuit of a championship, which is the sort of dedication to winning I feel like Jordan would be beyond impressed by. Plus if anyone knows about the stress that comes from the spell of success that KD and the Warriors went through, it’s Jordan.

Kawhi Leonard: During the 2019 NBA playoffs, there were folks saying Leonard was doing a Jordan impression, which is the kind of thing he would get furious over. And as we saw in The Last Dance, Jordan thinks load management is a slight against humanity, even when necessary, as is the case with Leonard. Like Durant, he respects the game, but those two things certainly irk him.

Steph Curry: A winner, which helps his cause a ton, but he did not throw himself in front of the Warriors getting Durant and has a Reggie Miller-esque level of bravado when he’s cooking that it’d drive Jordan insane. Curry also is a big golfer, which could lead to Jordan striking up a friendship with him, although he’s a better golfer than Mike and, as such, this would only further infuriate Jordan.

Ben Simmons: Jordan would turn into every single Weird Celtics Twitter person over Simmons passing up open jumpers, even if he’d do a bunch of stuff on defense reminiscent of Scottie Pippen.

Joel Embiid: Jordan would come away wildly impressed with Embiid every time they play, because Embiid would do a bunch of Hakeem Olajuwon stuff and meet Jordan at the rim and legitimately challenge him. Then, Embiid would have an off night and Jordan would wonder why he has the energy to POST on Twitter, but not POST up opponents. He would then, in their next meeting, dunk on Embiid then run down the court with his arms out like an airplane. Embiid would then do a bunch of Hakeem stuff, and the cycle would begin anew.

Begrudgingly Respect

LeBron James: Yes, there would be animosity from Jordan over the belief that James is a better player, but ultimately I believe Jordan would view James as the Larry Bird to his Magic Johnson and respect how LeBron pushes him to be a better player. Also, LeBron hates load management and is playing 35 minutes a night as a 35 year old in a hyper-focused pursuit of a championship.

Chris Paul: Obviously he would see that CP3 is a shorter floor general who is hyper-demanding of his teammates and competes like hell on both ends of the floor and go “oh wow just like Isiah Thomas, I gotta crush him.” But Jordan would end up respecting his cerebral-ness and the fact that Paul is, like him, from North Carolina, even if he did go to Wake and not UNC. Also: CP is Jordan Brand.

James Harden: The most controversial of all of these, because there is no way that Jordan likes watching Math Ball under any circumstance. I, however, believe Jordan would be a big fan of how Harden plays insane amounts of minutes, shoulders a monster workload, and never gets load managed, even when he is clearly exhausted and banged up. If this is not begrudging respect, I do not know what is.

Actually Like

Jimmy Butler: Jimmy plays 10 billion minutes a night and is an all-time scoundrel. He has left three separate franchises because he believed they did not want to win as badly as he does. He is willing to challenge literally anyone, whether they’re an opponent or on his team. He plays with an edge at all times and is absolutely fearless. They both like to wear fun hats and smoke cigars in Florida. If they do not already love one another, I would be blown away.

Most every UNC, Michigan, Oklahoma, Florida, and Houston guy: If only because he’d enjoy reminding them they wore jerseys with his logo on them while they were in college. He would, of course, share a special kinship with his fellow Tar Heels.

Russell Westbrook: Russell Westbrook, a Jordan Brand athlete (bonus points!), is super intense and attacks the rim like crazy. It is a very Michael Jordan approach, and he would respect it.

Meek Mill isn’t happy about Tekashi 69’s planned livestream on Instagram later today. Meek, who repeatedly criticized the young New York rapper through 2019, making a show of unfollowing him on social media and calling him “vicious” for “starting all that drama and start telling,” once again vented his frustration with the controversial performer in the wake of Tekashi’s recent actions.

After being released from federal custody early to avoid a possible COVID-19 breakout behind bars and subsequently being granted permission to resume “work related” recording activities — including shooting videos in his backyard for two hours a day — Tekashi announced his return to the rap game with a billboard in Times Square and a livestream on Instagram later today to debut his new music. However, Meek Mill wants none of that; he only wants to see Tekashi do one thing with his Instagram Live appearance.

“I hope that rat going live to apologize to the people he told on or the victim,” he wrote. “Y’all forgot that fast a “rat” killed nipsey he wasn’t suppose to be on the streets! That’s the only thing ima day because he’s dead… left his baby mom and child like a coward as targets!”

However, Meek’s comments drew some criticism of their own as fans wondered how Meek made a connection between two unrelated events that took place nearly 3,000 miles apart.

As for Tekashi himself, he doesn’t seem too miffed by Meek’s reaction. In a comment on an Instagram post about Meek’s tweet on The Shade Room, 69 joked, “Imagine having a newborn baby come into the world and be pressed about a Mexican with rainbow hair.” One thing is for certain: Tekashi’s comeback is drawing just as much attention as his initial breakout and downfall. It looks like he might be here to stay.

Watch Tekashi’s livestream today at 3pm EST.

Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Academy made a mistake by not nominating Lupita Nyong’o for an Oscar for her performance(s) in Us. Hopefully they don’t make the same “ignore horror movies” error again this year, and look over Elisabeth Moss in The Invisible Man. I’d call it a career-defining performance, but she has about six of those, and will add another when Shirley comes out next month.

Directed by Josephine Decker (Madeline’s Madeline), Neon’s Shirley follows horror writer Shirley Jackson (Moss) and her literary critic husband Stanley Edgar Hyman (A Serious Man‘s Michael Stuhlbarg) and the young couple, Fred (Logan Lerman) and Rose (Odessa Young), they allow to live in their house, free of charge, as long as Rose looks after Jackson. The ensuing events then become the basis for her next book.

Shirley was a hit at Sundance, and you can watch the trailer above. Here’s more:

Renowned horror writer Shirley Jackson is on the precipice of writing her masterpiece when the arrival of newlyweds upends her meticulous routine and heightens tensions in her already tempestuous relationship with her philandering husband. The middle-aged couple, prone to ruthless barbs and copious afternoon cocktails, begins to toy mercilessly with the naïve young couple at their door.

Shirley comes out on June 5.

Comedian Rory Scovel is poised for a breakout, taking the creative reigns and lead role in Robbie, a freshly launched, bingeable series available through Comedy Central’s website and YouTube channel. In the show, Scovel, who you may know from his past comedy specials and his always attention-getting late-night sets, plays a youth basketball coach in the South who is locked in dysfunctional relationships with his coaching icon father, the basketball prodigy son he just found out about, and the idea of adulthood and success.

For our Uproxx 20 series, Scovel repped the south’s best breakfast sandwich (don’t @ me), offered advice to his younger self that we could all stand to take heed of, and let it be known that the best kind of meal to make for Nic Cage is a slow burning one.
1. You walk into a bar. What do you order from the bartender?

Negroni.

2. Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?

Ifyouhigh

3. What’s currently waiting for you on your DVR or in your streaming queue?

The Last Dance.

4. It’s your last meal — what are you going out with?

Cajun Filet Chicken Biscuit from Bojangles.

5. What websites do you visit on a regular basis?

Tubepornstars.

6. What’s the most frequently played song on your mobile device?

Right now it’s “Fear Inoculum” by TOOL.

7. If you could go back and give your 18-year-old self one piece of advice what would it be?

Don’t be afraid.

8. What’s the last thing you Googled?

How many recipients can be on a Gmail email.

9. Dogs or cats?

Dogs.

10. Best concert of your life was…?

Roger Waters, The Wall at The Staples Center.

11. What book are you most likely to give as a gift?

11.22.63 by Stephen King.

12. What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Trusted me.

13. South Park or Family Guy?

South Park.

14. You have an entire day to do whatever you want. What would you do?

Golf, cigars, tacos, weed, coffee, negronis.

15. What movie can you not resist watching if it’s on?

Back to The Future.

16. The sports team or teams you’re most passionate about?

None.

17. Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

Grace, Chicago – Homegrown, Atlanta – Venus Pie, Spartanburg.

18. The last movie you saw in a theater?

Frozen 2, I think.

19. Who was your first celebrity crush?

Nicole Eggert or Tiffani Amber Thiessen.

20. What would you cook if Nic Cage were coming to your house for dinner?

9-hour Bolognese.

PREVIOUSLY: Eve Lindley

At this point, Christine And The Queens is used to performing songs from home. The French singer was one of the first to begin hosting nightly livestreams on Instagram when the coronavirus quarantine began in mid-March. Now, Christine is getting creative with her living room performances. The singer decided to change up her scenery as she belted a rendition of a track from her recently-released EP on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

Perched on the sill of her large apartment window, Christine soulfully sang “People, I’ve Been Sad.” The lead single from her EP La Vita Nuova, the track’s instrumentals played over Christine’s live vocals and she delivered each lyric, which has taken on new meanings in quarantine. “It’s just that me, myself and I / Been missing out for way too long / Been taking calls I should have missing out / Forsaking things for way too long,” Christine lilted.

Ahead of her performance on The Late Show, Christine has been performing covers from her living room. The singer gave a synth-heavy rendition of The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights.” Christine also shared an apt cover of Travis Scott’s “Highest In The Room” on 4/20. Pivoting from popular music, the singer recently performed Niel Young’s classic hit “Heart Of Gold.”

Watch Christine And The Queens perform “People, I’ve Been Sad” on The Late Show above.

La Vita Nuova is out now via Because Music. Get it here.

Previously on Total Bellas: Nikki made an unhinged vision board for Artem, and Brie and Bryan struggled with not having the same vision for their marriage.

Was There Anything About Wrestling On This Week’s Episode Of Total Bellas?

Nope, wrestling was not even mentioned. The closest this episode got to a wrestling connection was the Bella Twins hosting a Temptation Island premiere party. Remember how WWE also advertised Temptation Island for a while and we got the Naomi/Mandy Rose/Jey Uso angle out of it? Anyway, that really isn’t close to a wrestling connection at all. Daniel Bryan will be back next week though!

Deep Drunkers

This episode, “Salsa Caliente,” proves that the power of Temptation Island extends beyond the island of temptation (?), with an episode-dominating storyline that’s partly about Nikki getting drunk at work, partly about Artem revealing his jealous side, and all about the Nikki-and-Artem honeymoon period coming to an end.

Nikki has seemed like the way more invested half of her relationship in episodes past, but this week’s drama kicked off with Artem taking some romantic initiative and saying they should have a date night. The reason they haven’t had one in a while is that Nikki’s been busy with work, so obviously they plan to go dancing right after Nikki and Brie host the premiere party for Temptation Island. (This whole storyline might just be oddly-timed product placement for

Temptation Island.)

We don’t actually see what happened at the party because the cameras weren’t there, but we here, slightly Rashomon style, from Brie and Artem about how Nikki got completely smashed (accidentally, Nikki says later) and started getting friendly with some guy. Artem shows up to the party to pick up his girlfriend and finds her super drunk and palling around with some random guy and saying they should hang out with him. He decides to deal with this situation by just leaving Nikki at the party venue, and that’s what triggers the real fight.

You can tell ahead of time that no one’s going to come out of this fight looking good. Nikki is too drunk to see how annoying she’s acting. What she sees as jealousy by Artem unleashes a nasty mean streak and everything she says clearly hurts Artem’s feelings. The most uncomfortable thing about the situation might be that Artem keeps trying to talk to Nikki as if they’re both sober when it looks like she might not even remember this in the morning. Eventually he tells the camera crew to stop filming, but it seems like if they creating content for TV and he had half a brain, he would have bowed out of the fight earlier.

After all this, plus some crazy text messages that didn’t make TV, the scene where Nikki and Artem talk about what happened might be the most they’ve ever seemed like a real couple. Artem explains that he was upset because he showed up to hang out with Nikki and she was already in her own drunk person world; Nikki reveals that a partner displaying jealous behavior really sets her off because of some past relationships. They come to the conclusion that they can’t take back what happened, but they can move on.

I don’t come away from this episode completely convinced that these people have a viable future or are really in love or right for each other, but I could be convinced that they want to stick together. As we take a big step forward on The Road To Both Bella Twins Being Pregnant At The Same Time at the end of this episode, it seems like Brie and Kathy both have basically the same position.

Muy Perra

The other, way more boring storyline this week was Brie trying to get JJ to get on board with the twins’ mission to get in touch with their Mexican heritage. Nikki and Brie wanting to reconnect with their dad and their Latin side has been the focal point of previous episodes this season, but here, it feels like Total Bellas is exploring the least compelling part of that story (JJ) in order to fill time. Brie tries to pressure JJ into this very personal thing, but it turns out JJ is comfortable with his current relationship with his roots and just finds this irritating. At least we get a some cute Birdie content out of this, and the Bellas attempting to sass each other in freshman-tier Spanish.

Oh, Baby!

The Nikki-Artem storyline drama resolves weirdly early in the episode, and the reason for that is revealed when Nikki makes a big reveal to Kathy. Nikki has been having cravings, and is two weeks late on her period and seems both sure she’s pregnant and in total denial about it so she doesn’t have to deal with it. Kathy’s “Oh my god, you kids stress the f*ck out of me,” is very much earned here. Kathy later brings Nikki a pregnancy test, spills the beans to Brie, and we’re about to find out what happens when Nikki pees on a stick when Artem enters the room, and the episode is over. It’s a cliffhanger, and I’m not sure if a positive test in this situation counts as falling off the cliff or returning to solid ground.

Bella Line Of The Week

It’s kind of hilarious how much Brie and Kathy immediately do not trust Nikki’s future parenting skills, and Brie delivers the harshest line about it: “I’m not going to adopt your child like I did your dog.” It’s really not unfathomable that the central question of Total Bellas season 6 could end up being “Can Nikki Bella take care of a human baby?”

With no actual sports to speak of, we have to use every opportunity we can get to reminisce about the good old days when we could still go outside and whatnot. For instance, Thursday marked the 18th anniversary of Allen Iverson’s infamous practice rant, which prompted SportsCenter to do a whole Top 10 on the best sports rants in history.

Iverson’s volatile press conference takes the cake, and though it’s become something of a punchline over the years, it’s easy to forget the proper context for that moment, as it came on the heels of both a close friend’s murder and an ongoing fight with Larry Brown about Iverson’s future with the franchise.

Still, Iverson has shown he has a sense of humor about the whole thing over the years, at various points poking fun at himself and the whole situation. But he took that to a new height on Thursday when he used the opportunity to remind us all about why it’s important to keep a safe distance from one another as we all quarantine during the COVID-19 crisis.

We talkin about practicing social distancing!!! #StayHome #StaySafe pic.twitter.com/wJZjQU5I7V

— Allen Iverson (@alleniverson) May 8, 2020

The wording here might be a little fuzzy, given the context of the quote. Read one way, you could interpret it as mocking the idea of social distancing in the way he was mocking the notion of practice being a worthwhile topic of discussion. But the hashtags #StayHome and #StaySafe indicate otherwise.

So, you heard it here. Listen to Allen Iverson, stay safe out there, and if you go outside, make sure you keep at least six feet away from others.

Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber just dropped their collaborative “Stuck With U” video, in which they work with far more people than just themselves. The video is a compilation of clips from fans and celebrities enjoying their lives at home. In just the first few seconds, we get appearances from Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Michael Bublé, Modern Family‘s Eric Stonestreet, and more. Carole Baskin, of Tiger King fame, tried to get involved in the project, but Grande refused to allow that.

Before the video came out, Bieber previewed a clip of Baskin (and her husband Howard Baskin) dancing to the song, and Grande quickly clarified that the video did not make the final “Stuck With U” visual, tweeting, “for the record, i did not allow or approve this clip to be in the actual video. but. nonetheless. it exists and that’s ….. unique. anyway, 7.5 hours !” A fan responded with delight to Grande’s tweet, and she answered, “i am very glad someone is laughing [crying emoji] the f*cking heart attacks i had over this.”

Meanwhile, shortly before the video dropped, Bieber tweeted, “Excited to be singing with you @ArianaGrande.” Grande responded, “me too ! it has been a long time comin and i’m so glad we waited so patiently for this. it feels so special. love u, my friend.”

Check out the “Stuck With U” video here.

2019 was a hell of a year for Kim Petras. Releasing her first full-length project, Clarity, via the rather unconventional strategy of sharing a new track every week, Kim went from opening for rising pop stars like Troye Sivan at the Greek Theater at the end of 2018, to headlining a set at the Shrine Auditorium herself just a year later. And despite the sh*t show that 2020 has turned out to be, with fear and anxiety mounting due to concerns about the pandemic, the 27-year-old pop star is more determined than ever to keep putting out music that’s a distraction and a relief from the worst parts of the outside world.

Releasing her latest, sunshine-y single “Malibu” yesterday to kick off her next era, Petras is clearly entering a phase that will contain some of her most upbeat and brightest work yet. “I just hope it makes people forget about everything that’s going on right now and just takes them into this little pop bubble,” she said of the track, when we spoke over the phone earlier this week. “I hope everybody’s staying safe and sane, I just wish everybody all the best and I’m sending so much love.”

“Malibu” is definitely a love letter of a song, featuring big, bombastic synths and a golden era pop sound that evokes what Kim calls the “superstar-feeling pop” sound. It’s imperial in tone, and breathless in feeling, and a complete 180 from the dark, trap-inflected pop she was leaning toward on Clarity. As the lead track off what will be her formal debut album, “Malibu” sets the bar high, and is the perfect escapist fantasy to lose track of reality inside. While observing the to safer-at-home ordinances in LA as much as possible these past few weeks, I absolutely had to take my car for a quick spin around the block just to hear this in full cruise mode — it’s a perfect soundtrack for that, and a reminder that a more light-hearted future exists out there, somewhere.

Calling me from her own personal quarantine, Kim took the time to break down the timeline of the writing this song — it was actually one of the first tracks she wrote — and what to expect from her upcoming new era, along with how she’s built her career as an independent artist running her own label. Read a condensed and edited version of our conversation below.

What was your headspace when you were writing “Malibu”? Because tonally and sonically it feels a lot different from the Clarity era.

I wrote the initial demo three years ago actually, before I ever put anything out. And ever since then I’ve just been trying to get this song right. With my lyricist, my best friend Aaron who I’m also quarantined with, back in the days we would just write a million songs. So, it just never really came up again. But then friends of mine would be like “Where’s ‘Malibu?’ I love that song!” And people would start hearing about it and I’d get all kinds of questions about it.

So we were like, all right, we’re going to try and get this right and write a new version and write a new riff, and we did and it just started felt really perfect, and felt like exactly what I wanted to do next. Because I don’t feel heartbroken anymore, I feel like I got that out of my system with Clarity. I just wanted to make a song that makes me feel good and makes me want to dance. And make me feel like an ’80s superstar. This is the kind of song that reminds me of Prince and MJ and it reminds me of early Madonna stuff, and Cyndi Lauper and that’s my favorite kind of music.

We got the song down and it sounded like the perfect first single for my next, real first album. We always called Clarity a project and not an album, so now it’s time for a debut album. Especially putting it out now, because I really feel like it’s going to make people feel like they’ve just been to the beach, and make people forget about the bad things that are happening for like three and a half minutes. I couldn’t ask for better timing for this to come out.

I love how it’s such a feeling of escapism. That’s what I always turn to pop music for. What is your own relationship to Malibu itself?

I actually wrote it when I had never really been to anything else but the beach in Malibu. And my imagination of it was so great, but then I was like, ‘Wait, it’s just a bunch of rich people living by the ocean.’ I wanted to write a song about my imagination of it and how I wanted it to feel — I think I just haven’t been to Malibu with the right people. But this song is an ode to my imagination, like how Malibu looks on TV, to somebody who’s from Germany and how it seems in the movies and stuff like that. So it’s really romantic because I’m comparing love to my dream version of Malibu, that’s what the song is all about to me. But I would love for people to make it about anything they want to make it about.

I love that. What else can you tell us about your next era and what “Malibu” is previewing as far as your next body of work?

I feel like it’s a new sound for me. I’m definitely going into that direction of, like, superstar-feeling pop. I’m really excited to make my debut album a concept album. I’ve been working on songs and I’m really excited about this next chapter. I already have the title, and I know what I want it to be, and I definitely don’t want it to be sad. Like this one is not going to be sad. But I think I’m going to be showing a lot of sides that people don’t know about me and also I think vocally, I’ve never been stronger. I’ve never been more capable of high notes and different personas and different tones. I just feel really free now. I’m going to make the music that I started out making music for, now. I think “Malibu” is the first taste of that. And a very exciting first taste to me because it’s the first single. So all my focus right now is going on to “Malibu” and that song, and I think it’s my best song yet, so I’m really excited about it.

Let’s talk a little bit about the impact that releasing Clarity had on your career last year. It was such a high-profile project for you, and it really put you on the map for people who maybe hadn’t heard you yet. How did releasing that project shift things for you?

I’m an independent artist, so for me, really the best way to do this, that I figured out — and I think I was one of the first to figure out — was putting out a monthly song. It’s really amazing what that can do for an independent artist. And I would encourage everybody to do the same thing. I think as a new artist, you can’t make a classic album with a full cycle or anything like that because you don’t have a fan base and you can’t get people excited about you if you don’t have that loyal fan base.

I’ve been so blessed that I did kind of find that right away when I dropped “I Don’t Want It At All.” But my hit is my entire discography, you know? It’s not like there’s one song that made me break through. It’s all the songs combined, it’s constantly putting out stuff and putting up 48 songs over the last few years nonstop. I felt like it was really cool, dropping a song a week with Clarity and it just snowballed so hard. It just helped me to get to this point, and now I’m finally at the point where I can say, ‘Okay, I’m going to put out my debut album and my first legit rollout.’

Not that I’m not going to be releasing songs in an unconventional way, because I love doing that, and I think that that’s honestly the future of music. And for the audience — I think it’s really great for the fans. But I just, I just feel like it’s all been a perfect storm to this point. You know, now I have a fan base, I need to really do the damn thing. For me everything was just building until this point. I just think these days, there’s no guarantees for anything and all you can do as an artist is constantly put out good music and I feel really proud of what I’ve done. But this still feels kind of different. It just feels like a moment for me with this song.

You already started touching on this, but I would love to talk about the fact that you’re a pop star who is also running an independent label with BunHead — which has become a little bit more common, but it’s still pretty groundbreaking. Can you talk a little bit about that aspect of your career and why that’s important to you?

I have always been really inspired by Robyn. I love Robin and she was one of the first people that I remember running their own label — she had Konichiwa Records. I think if I would’ve gone to a major label and I wouldn’t have had a smash hit immediately, I would have gotten shelved or dropped or been in some kind of weird contract. And I just, I knew that I wanted to wait as long as I could, if I ever signed so I would be in the position to sign a deal that was actually good for me and that doesn’t prevent me from dropping as much music as I’m dropping and gives me full creative control. That’s something that my career was made by, dropping songs and not having to worry about oh that’s the weekend Taylor Swift’s album comes out, so I can’t drop it. Or this big artist, or The Weeknd — whatever it was. I just didn’t have a big enough fan base that I would be a priority anywhere. I’ve been burned so many times with signing bad contracts in my life.

I’ve had bad managers since I was 14-years-old that signed my whole life off and left me not making money ever. So now, I’m really lucky because I have great management, and my friends who support me. And even though I can’t pay people big numbers to produce my songs or anything, that’s okay with the people I work with. I really feel like it’s not as important for me to get there, as much as how I get there. I want to get there on my own terms, with my own timing and I have my own definition of success. And I feel very successful. I’m really grateful for the support I’ve been getting from radio stations and people like Radio One and Apple Music and Spotify, so great, without them I would not have been able to do this so I guess it’s only been a few years that I have actually been able to do this. I’m just lucky that the time is right, and social media exists, and you can build your own fan base and do it any way you want it.