GoneTrending

The Roots will be bringing their annual Roots Picnic festival back to Philadelphia on June 1 and 2 for the perfect start to the summer. Lil Wayne, The Roots, and Jill Scott will be headlining this year, along with Sexyy Red, Victoria Monét, Tyla, Gunna, Nas, Babyface, Robert Glasper featuring Yebba, and more.

Considering the festival is only two days, they are offering a number of ticket options to fans. Here’s what to know about what to budget for the event.

How Much Are Tickets For Roots Picnic 2024?

The standard 2-day General Admission pass is $200 — and every single ticket option is an all-in price, which means no hidden fees. The GA+ ticket is $250, providing access to a lounge with air-conditioned restrooms.

If you’re looking for something a bit more exclusive, the silver VIP pass is $899. Finally, the highest pass is the gold VIP ticket at $1,299, which includes daily drink tickets and food vouchers.

Tickets for Roots Picnic 2024 go on sale to the general public this Friday, February 23 at 10 a.m. ET. Also, if you’ve attended the festival before, this appears to give you access to an alumni presale, which will take place tomorrow, February 20 at the same time.

More information can be found on the Roots Picnic website.

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

Today is President’s Day, and you know what that means: time to reflect on your favorite American commander-in-chiefs. Are you a James K. Polk stan? Maybe you’re all about Franklin Pierce or Rutherford B. Hayes. Perhaps you think the nation’s finest leader was William Henry Harrsion, who only served 30 days, 12 hours, and 30 minutes. But what do the experts say? On Sunday Fox News published a report that ranked the country’s presidents, and they did their damndest to obscure the fact that the network’s favorite one ranked dead last.

Per HuffPost, the Fox News social media team tried to spin the report, entitled the “Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey” and featuring the input of scholars and “social science experts in presidential politics.” Alas, they could only manage to make it seem less grim for them than it was.

“New presidential rankings place Obama in top 10, Reagan and Trump below Biden,” read the post on Twitter/X. Sounds bad! But it gets even worse.

For one thing, Joe Biden ranked 14th, sandwiched between John Addams and Woodrow Wilson. Where was Ronald Reagan? Two below Biden, at 16. And Trump? All the way down at 45, which is to say at the very bottom, down there with James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Peirce, and William Henry Harrison.

That Fox News tried to soften the blow, to say nothing of reporting on the poll at all, struck many as amusing.

Anyway, congrats to the Republican Party, who are almost certainly going to make the worst president in history their nominee, for a third time. The craziest part? There’s a good chance he could be re-elected.

(Via HuffPost)

Philadelphia’s Roots Picnic will return this June 1 and 2 for an incredibly-stacked festival. This year’s headliners include Lil Wayne and the festival’s namesake band, The Roots. Other acts include Sexyy Red, Victoria Monét, Jill Scott, Gunna, Tyla, Nas, Babyface, Robert Glasper featuring Yebba, Smino, and many many more. View the full lineup here.

There will also be several podcast appearances on the Experience Stage, for those who are looking to catch something at the festival outside of music.

Here’s what to know if you’re looking to attend this summer.

How To Buy Tickets For Roots Picnic 2024

The Roots Picnic 2024 alumni presale will open tomorrow, February 20 at 10 a.m. ET, providing the first chance to get access to tickets this year. From there, a general sale will open to the public on Friday, February 23 at the same time.

Right now, the 2-day General Admission pass is $200, with no hidden fees. The GA+ tier is $250, and includes access to the GA+ Lounge with air-conditioned bathrooms and a private cash bar.

Additionally, there are two options for VIP tickets. The silver tier VIP ticket is $899, providing access to a special lounge, on-site concierge, pit access at the stages, and more. The gold tier VIP ticket is $1,299. This includes shaded elevated viewing at the main stage, four drink tickets per day, two meal vouchers per day, a commemorative gift, and more.

More information can be found on the Roots Picnic website.

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

Hugh Grant famously did not enjoy playing an Oompa Loompa in Wonka, being grumpy as hell during interviews. But the world loves watching him be tortured. In Notting Hill he was at his stammeriest during the press junket sequence, struggling to pass himself off as a reporter for Horse & Hound. And on Sunday, he grumpily plowed through a bit where he channeled his dreaded Wonka character while presenting at the BAFTAs.

Per Variety, Grant was at the British awards show to hand out the trophy for Best Director. He gave the crowd what they didn’t know they wanted: Oompa Loompa rhymes, delivered with the joy of someone being waterboarded:

“Oompa Loompa doompety dee
Now the best director category
Oompa Loompa doompety dong
Most of these films were frankly too long
Oompa Loompa doompety dah
But for some reason the nominees are…”

The crowd, of course, ate it up, as who doesn’t delight in the pain of Hugh Grant? The award went to Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer, which runs three hours.

During the Wonka press tour, Grant did not hold back about the misery of playing a short statured CGI creation, as reported by Deadline:

“I made a big fuss about it,” Grant said. “I couldn’t have hated the whole thing more.” Asked if the ends justified the means, he replied: “Not really.”

Grant later joked that it was nothing personal against Wonka and director Paul King. “I slightly hate [making films] but I have lots of children and need money,” he said.

And sometimes he has to present at awards shows, too.

(Via Variety)

Rihanna fans who have been waiting for her new album might finally be in luck. During a recent viral video, ASAP Rocky gave an update about the status of her ninth album. “She’s working on it,” he responded — and the fans who had just taken a photo with him cheered.

She last released Anti in 2016, making it nearly a decade since dropping a full record. Many had suspected she would release something last year when she headlined the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, but Rihanna decided to build anticipation a little longer. She’s also been very busy with her Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty companies.

Last December, she opened up about a possible game plan during an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “We’re always gonna go back on tour,” Rihanna said. “I wanna go back on tour when there’s new music, right? We already know what that’s gonna be.”

“I feel like it’s only fair that my fans get what they’ve been waiting on, which is new music, and after that, let’s just blow everything up,” she added.

According to the Daily Mail, Rihanna had also reportedly signed a deal with Live Nation that is worth $40 million — which would presumably mean she would also put out new music.

Hopefully, this year will mark her grand return.

Roots Picnic is coming back: The 2024 edition was just announced today (February 19), and it’s set to go down on June 1 and 2 at The Mann In Fairmount Park in Philadelphia.

Leading the way for the lineup are Lil Wayne and The Roots in a celebration of New Orleans alongside PJ Morton and Trombone Shorty, along with Jill Scott, André 3000, Nas, Gunna, Victoria Monét, Sexyy Red, Babyface, Tyla, and others.

As for tickets, there’s a Roots Picnic alumni presale that goes live on February 20 at 10 a.m. ET. The general on-sale starts February 23 at 10 a.m. ET. More information can be found on the Roots Picnic website.

Find the full Roots Picnic lineup for 2024 below.

Roots Picnic 2024 Full Lineup

Lil Wayne & The Roots Celebrate New Orleans (featuring special guests PJ Morton and Trombone Shorty)
Jill Scott
André 3000
Nas
Gunna
Victoria Monét
Sexyy Red
Babyface
Robert Glasper & Yebba
J.Period Live Mixtape featuring Black Thought, Method Man, and Redman
Adam Blackstone’s Legacy Experience featuring Fantasia and Muni Long
Smino
Cam’ron
Wale
Tyla
Marsha Ambrosius
Baller Alert Presents Backyard Band featuring Scarface & Amerie
October London
Leon Thomas
Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Funk Flex
Q
Leon Thomas
Blk Odyssy
OT7 Quanny
Kenya Vaun
N3wyrkla
Julian King
Rec Philly Presents Chioke
DJ Diamond Kuts
DJ Aktive
DJ Doc B
DJ RL
R&B Only (Experience Stage)
U+ME+RNB (Experience Stage)
They Have the Range (Experience Stage)
Million Dollaz Worth of Game (Experience Stage)
Tonight’s Conversation (Experience Stage)
Juan Epstein Podcast (Experience Stage)
World Series of Spades (Experience Stage)

Roots Picnic 2024 Lineup Poster

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

Jacque Vaughn’s tenure as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets has come to an end, as the organization chose to make a coaching change for the second half of the season.

Vaughn was always in a difficult position, as he took over the Nets coaching job last year and saw his two top stars push their way out in trade demands, as Kevin Durant ended up in Phoenix and Kyrie Irving went to Dallas. That said, there was clearly a desire in Brooklyn to remain competitive, and as the All-Star break arrived, the Nets were in 11th in the East at 21-33, showing very little in the way of positive signs of late as they have gone 8-23 in their last 31 games.

Roster construction and injury issues have undoubtedly played their role, but the coach is always the first to go in these situations and Vaughn is now out of a head coaching job once again. Vaughn coached the Magic for three years from 2012 to 2015, where he was let go around the time of the All-Star break then as well, and then did well as the interim coach in Brooklyn in the 2020 bubble but was not the choice for full-time coach after.

The Nets now will be part of this summer’s coaching carousel, but whoever comes in will need the front office to build a better roster around Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and Nic Claxton (and they’ll need to continue to assess if those two can be The Guys).

Last Week Tonight made its 2024 debut Sunday night, and the episode ended with host John Oliver trying to fix one of the biggest problems in America: Clarence Thomas remaining in the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice, arguably the most conservative on the bench, came under particular fire last year over his damning relationships with far right figures, including his own MAGA wife. Still, he’s refused to recuse himself from certain cases. But Oliver offered him a sweet deal to leave for good.

“Clarence Thomas is arguably the most consequential justice on the court right now, and he’s never really seemed to like the job. He’s said it’s not worth doing ‘for the grief.’ So what if he could keep the luxury perks that he clearly enjoys without having to endure all of that grief?” Oliver told the crowd. “We have a special offer for you tonight. We are prepared to offer you $1 million a year for the rest of your life if you simply agree to leave the Supreme Court immediately and never come back.”

Oliver then showed off a contract he had already had drawn up. “This is not a joke,” he said. “This is real. A million dollars a year until you or I die.”

Is any of this legal? Apparently, although Oliver acknowledged “it really feels like it shouldn’t be.” He added, “But as they keep pointing out, there are no rules in place to stop me from doing this. And let me be clear: HBO is not putting up the money for this. I am personally on the hook.”

Oliver noted, “I could be doing stand-up tours for your retirement for years.”

That’s not all Oliver was offering Thomas. Knowing about his yen for pricey Winnebagos he can’t afford on his Supreme Court salary, he was willing to throw in a major upgrade: a $2.4 million motorcoach with a king size bed, one-and-a-half baths, a fireplace, four TVs, a “residential-length fridge,” plus a washer and dryer.

“And if you’re thinking, what will my friends say if I take this offer? Will they judge me as they sit in the boardrooms and megayachts and Hitler shrines? Will they still treat me to luxury vacations and sing songs about me off of their phones?” said Oliver. “Well, that’s the beauty of friendships, Clarence. If they’re real friends, they’ll love you no matter what your job is.”

Oliver told Thomas he has 30 days to take the deal.

So will Thomas accept? Or will he continue to rule on cases in which he’s ethically entangled? Only time will tell.

Pop culture’s hottest power couple of the moment, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, both came up big at this weekend’s People’s Choice Awards.

The ceremony went down yesterday (February 18) and Swift ended up coming away with four awards: Female Artist Of The Year, Pop Artist Of The Year, Concert Tour Of The Year for The Eras Tour, and Social Celebrity Of The Year. Kelce, meanwhile, won his sole nomination for Athlete Of The Year.

Elsewhere, other highlights included Jung Kook picking up Male Artist Of The Year; Bad Bunny and Shakira winning Male and Female Latin Artist Of The Year, respectively; Nicki Minaj getting Hip-Hop Artist Of The Year; Beyoncé being named R&B Artist Of The Year; and Ice Spice being crowned New Artist Of The Year.

As far as music people outside of the music categories, Selena Gomez’s Only Murders In The Building won Comedy Show Of The Year, Gomez won Female TV Star Of The Year for the show, The Voice won Competition Show Of The Year, Billie Eilish won TV Performance Of The Year for her role in Swarm, and The Kelly Clarkson Show won Daytime Talk Show Of The Year.

Check out the nominees of the music awards (with winners in bold) below and find the full list of winners in all categories here.

Male Artist Of The Year

Bad Bunny
Drake
Jack Harlow
Jung Kook
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Post Malone
The Weeknd

Female Artist Of The Year

Beyoncé
Doja Cat
Karol G
Lainey Wilson
Miley Cyrus
Nicki Minaj
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift

Male Country Artist Of The Year

Chris Stapleton
Cody Johnson
Hardy
Jelly Roll
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Zach Bryan

Female Country Artist Of The Year

Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Carrie Underwood
Gabby Barrett
Kelsea Ballerini
Lainey Wilson
Megan Moroney
Shania Twain

Male Latin Artist Of The Year

Bad Bunny
Bizarrap
Feid
Manuel Turizo
Maluma
Peso Pluma
Rauw Alejandro
Ozuna

Female Latin Artist Of The Year

Ángela Aguilar
Anitta
Becky G
Kali Uchis
Karol G
Rosalía
Shakira
Young Miko

Pop Artist Of The Year

Billie Eilish
Doja Cat
Dua Lipa
Jung Kook
Miley Cyrus
Olivia Rodrigo
Tate McRae
Taylor Swift

Hip-Hop Artist Of The Year

Cardi B
Drake
Future
Jack Harlow
Latto
Nicki Minaj
Post Malone
Travis Scott

R&B Artist Of The Year

Beyoncé
Brent Faiyaz
Janelle Monáe
SZA
Tems
The Weeknd
Usher
Victoria Monét

New Artist Of The Year

Coi Leray
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Jung Kook
Noah Kahan
Peso Pluma
PinkPantheress
Stephen Sanchez

Group/Duo Of The Year

Dan + Shay
Fuerza Regida
Grupo Frontera
Jonas Brothers
Old Dominion
Paramore
Stray Kids
TOMORROW X TOGETHER

Song Of The Year

Dua Lipa, “Dance The Night”
Luke Combs, “Fast Car”
Miley Cyrus, “Flowers”
Gunna, “F*kumean”
Tate McRae, “Greedy”
Morgan Wallen, “Last Night”
Doja Cat, “Paint The Town Red”
Olivia Rodrigo, “Vampire”

Album Of The Year

Miley Cyrus, Endless Summer Vacation
Drake, For All The Dogs
Luke Combs, Gettin’ Old
Olivia Rodrigo, Guts
Karol G, Mañana Será Bonito
Bad Bunny, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana
Morgan Wallen, One Thing AT A Time
Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday 2

Collaboration Song Of The Year

Lil Durk Feat. J. Cole, “All My Life”
Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice with Aqua, “Barbie World”
Eslabon Armado X Peso Pluma, “Ella Baila Sola”
Drake Feat. J. Cole, “First Person Shooter”
Zach Bryan feat. Kasey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything”
Jung Kook feat. Latto, “Seven”
Karol G and Shakira, “TQG”
Grupo Frontera X Bad Bunny, “Un x100to”

Concert Tour Of The Year

Ed Sheeran, +–=÷x Tour
Coldplay, Music of the Spheres World Tour
Harry Styles, Love on Tour
Luke Combs, World Tour
Morgan Wallen, One Night at a Time World Tour
PInk, Summer Carnival Tour
Beyoncé, Renaissance World Tour
Taylor Swift, The Eras Tour

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

Few things were higher up on Adam Silver’s list of priorities in the lead-up to this NBA season than bringing back some level of competitiveness to the All-Star Game. The league (and, specifically, Silver) explicitly wanted the game to be more competitive after a few years of guys never getting out of first gear, but instead, the 2024 version of the event made a mockery of that vision, with the Eastern Conference beating the Western Conference 211-186.

There were plenty of fun moments during the game, although basically all of them centered around how guys just were not taking it seriously. While speaking to the media after the game, Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis identified his favorite thing that happened on Sunday night in Indianapolis, and he picked, well, let’s say something a little unorthodox.

“I think the best [moment], we were talking about it, was the Bulls and the Pacers dunkers,” Davis said, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “With the trampoline? They were very, very impressive.”

I will now apologize for embedding a video of my own tweet, but in fairness to AD, the timeout segment involving these trampoline dunkers was spectacular, and you could see that players on the Western Conference’s bench were having a blast watching them.

Having said that, with how important it was to the NBA that the game was taken seriously, we cannot imagine that Davis saying the best part of the All-Star Game was an act that happened during a timeout will be especially popular with some folks in the league office.