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There is a bevy of artists on Uproxx’s most anticipated album releases set for 2024 list. However, Jay-Z isn’t on the list. The reasoning is that the “I Want You Forever” rapper hasn’t expressed any inkling that he’s looked in on a new solo studio project. From his 2023 public playlist to The Book Of Clarence soundtrack, these days, it seems like his focus has been on curating works for other projects.

Well, according to AWGE-affiliate Hidji, Jay-Z is ready to drop something new very soon. In a series of uploads to his Instagram Stories, the director suggested that Jay-Z has begun to film visuals to support the rumored project. However, Roc Nation swiftly jumped in to shut down the reports.

“That’s news to us,” wrote the company on its official X (formerly Twitter) page.

With the rumor quickly quashed, Roc Nation’s follow-up post drew attention to the management signee Megan Thee Stallion’s latest single, “Hiss.”

“‘Hiss’ by Megan Thee Stallion is the #1 music video on iTunes,” wrote the page. “Download the song now.”

So, what is the public to take from this flub? Either Jay-Z’s creative NDA isn’t as potent as it used to be. Or the visual in question isn’t for an album but a one-off music project. But with fans still waiting for Beyoncé’s Renaissance visuals, Hidji might’ve just forced another member of the Carter family to scrap their music videos.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

After marching down the field for a touchdown on their second drive of the game, the Baltimore Ravens offense had almost nothing working in the middle half of Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Lamar Jackson struggled to find a rhythm against Kansas City’s pressure, and the running game was almost non-existent. However, after some early issues of their own Baltimore’s defense bowed up and kept the Ravens in the game, holding the Chiefs to three points on six drives after their first two TD marches. That allowed Jackson and company time to try and find a spark, and it seemed they did just that on a deep pass play to Zay Flowers late in the third quarter.

Flowers got flagged for taunting L’Jarius Sneed, but Baltimore was still able to work the ball back deep into the red zone. From there, it was Flowers who was again on the receiving end of a pass over the middle from Jackson and it looked like he was set to get his second touchdown of the game, except as he dove for the goal line, Sneed dove in and punched the ball out, with the Chiefs recovering for a touchback.

Replay showed the ball got punched out clearly before Flowers crossed the goal line, and it was a reminder of the margins that swing these big games.

With a TD, the Ravens would’ve been a field goal away from tying the game (or a TD away from taking their first lead). Instead, they had to watch Mahomes and company go back to work, moving the ball across midfield before stalling out and taking some precious time off the clock before pinning the Ravens on their own 1, still needing two scores.

Oppenheimer is that rarest of movies: a modern movie that’s a) not part of a franchise, b) rated R, c) about adult (that is, serious) subject matter, and d) both critically acclaimed and a big-time money-gobbler. Oh and there’s this: it features a sex scene. No one does sex scenes in mainstream movies anymore. They’re so rare that there was the film’s few moments of horseplay inspired a smallish amount of controversy. Perhaps it even angered the gods.

“In the middle of our sex scene, the camera broke,” Florence Pugh told the crowd at a recent Universal panel, as per The Hollywood Reporter. “No one knows this, but it did. Our camera broke when we were both naked, and it was not ideal timing.”

Oppenheimer’s sex scenes involve Cillian Muprhy’s titular physicist and Florence Pugh’s Jean Tatlock, one of his former paramours with whom he has an assignation during his marriage to Emily Blunt’s Kitty. It sounds like the moment of coitus interruptus occurred during an earlier hook-up, before Oppenheimer gets hitched.

“Cillian and I are in this room together. It’s a closed set, so we’re both holding our bodies like this,” Pugh said, then wrapped her arms around herself.

But Pugh decided to make the most out of the situation. She decided “this is my moment to learn,” then turned to the camera surgeon and asked, “So tell me, what’s wrong with this camera?” She remembers asking things like “What’s going on with the shutter here, buddy?”

Pugh praised Christopher Nolan’s famously intense set, where chairs might not be discouraged but bathrooms breaks kind of are. She said that “every person on this set was so knowledgeable and was so ready to make this kind of movie that there was no dull moment. It was all amazing. It felt like we were lucky to be there every second of the day.”

Oppenheimer, recently nominated for a slew of Oscars, is back on some IMAX screens and is available for rental and to own.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Viral sensation PinkPantheress had a monstrous year in 2023. Following the success of her hit single, “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2” with Ice Spice, she was a fixture in pop culture. Not only did the track have a strong hold on the music charts, but it also made PinkPantheress the most sought-after product ambassador.

However, with PinkPantheress preparing to hit the road for the Capable Of Love Tour this spring, her focus is on the music. Yesterday (January 27), the musician teased that something new was coming on her official TikTok page. In a Y2K fashion-inspired get ready with me video, PinkPantheress shared a snippet of an unreleased track.

The video captioned: “New music anyone? LOL” had followers clamoring for the whole song.

PinkPantheress major label debut album, Heaven Knows, was only released back in November. Despite the body of work not receiving any nomination at the 2024 Grammy Awards, that hasn’t stopped Heaven Knows from earning critics’ praise.

It is unclear if the unreleased song will be shared on the deluxe version of Heaven Knows or a separate project entirely. Either way, the musician’s fans are ready to show their support.

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

A local reporter at Hometown Life shared a unique and heartfelt story on March 16 about a mother struggling to find shoes that fit her 14-year-old son. The story resonated with parents everywhere; now, her son is getting the help he desperately needs. It’s a wonderful example of people helping a family that thought they had nowhere to turn.

When Eric Kilburn Jr. was born, his mother, Rebecca’s OBGYN, told her that he had the “biggest feet I’ve ever seen in my life. Do not go out and buy baby shoes because they’re not gonna fit,’” Rebecca told Today.com. Fourteen years later, it’s almost impossible to find shoes that fit the 6’10” freshman—he needs a size 23.

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The teen’s height doesn’t stem from a gland issue; he comes from a family of tall people. Both his parents are over 6 feet tall.

Eric plays football for Goodrich High School in Goodrich, Michigan, but doesn’t wear cleats, which led to a sprained ankle. He also suffers from ingrown toenails that are so severe he’s had two nails on his biggest toes permanently removed.

Last year, the family was lucky enough to stumble upon five pairs of size 21 shoes at a Nike outlet store. It was discovered they were made especially for Tacko Fall, the NBA player with some of the most enormous feet in the game. To put things in perspective, Shaquille O’Neal wears a size 22.

However, Eric soon grew out of those as well. The family was left with one more option: have orthopedic shoes made for Eric at the cost of $1,500 with no guarantee he won’t quickly grow out of those as well.

After his mother’s heartfelt plea to Hometown Life, the family got much-needed help from multiple companies, including Under Armour and PUMA, who are sending representatives to Michigan to measure his feet for custom shoes.

CAT has reached out to make him a custom pair of boots. Eric hasn’t had any boots to wear for the past five Michigan winters.

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Kara Pattison started a GoFundMe campaign on behalf of the family to help them purchase custom shoes for “the rest of the time Eric has these feet.” It has raised nearly $20,000 for the family in just over a week.

“The success of this fundraiser is well beyond what was ever expected,” Pattison wrote on the site on March 18. “The Kilburns plan to open a bank account dedicated to Eric’s future footwear and some specialized sports equipment. He can use this to get a helmet that fits for football along with pads. They will also look into a football and track jersey for him.”

The sense of relief felt by Rebecca, Eric and the rest of the Kilburn family must be incredible. It has to be frustrating to be unable to provide your child with something as basic as footwear.

“It’s been overwhelming,” Rebecca told Hometown Life. “I have been this puddle of emotions, all of them good…It’s the coolest thing to be able to say we did it! He has shoes! I am not usually a crier, but I have been in a constant state of happy tears…We are so grateful.”

This article originally appeared on 03.23.23

When it comes to getting a job, we live in frustrating times. On one hand, unemployment is near historic lows, so one would think that it’s easier to get a job. However, according to a study on LinkedIn, there is now an average of 1 job open to every 2 applicants. Whereas a year ago there was a job for every person looking.

To make things even more frustrating, the time it takes to hire a new employee is the longest in history, 44 days. The big reason is that potential employees are now subject to a longer interview process where they may speak with multiple people before the final decision.

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So, if you’re looking for a job and feel frustrated, you are not alone.

A lot of people are finding opportunities through LinkedIn. Deep Sardar has a great blog on how to use the platform to find a new gig and he covers everything from taking a decent headshot to writing a killer “About” section.

But one thing Sardar doesn’t cover is how to deal with some of LinkedIn’s cringe-worthy aspects, from the constant bragging to the self-important diatribes disguised as “thought leadership” to the surprising amount of TMI you’ll see on the platform.

Good Work created a funny video where an “investigative reporter” talks to people about why LinkedIn is “so weird.” In the video, the reporter recounts some of the most uncomfortable LinkedIn posts you’ve ever seen and talks to experts about why every post sounds like “Tony Robbins notes app.”

If you’ve been on the job hunt and could use a good laugh, check this out.

Why is LinkedIn so weird?

The thing about Gen X being in our 40s and 50s now is that we were never supposed to get “old.” Like, we’re the cool, aloof grunge generation of young tech geniuses. Most of the giants that everyone uses every day—Google, Amazon, YouTube—came from Gen X. Our generation is both “Friends” and “The Office.” We are, like, relevant, dammit.

And also, our backs hurt, we need reading glasses, our kids are in college and how in the name of Jennifer Aniston‘s skincare regimen did we get here?

It’s weird to reach the stage when there’s no doubt that you aren’t young anymore. Not that Gen X is old—50 is the new 30, you know—but we’re definitely not young. And it seems like every day there’s something new that comes along to shove that fact right in our faces. When did hair start growing out of that spot? Why do I suddenly hate driving at night? Why is this restaurant so loud? Does that skin on my arm look…crepey?

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As they so often do, Penn and Kim Holderness from The Holderness Family have captured the Gen X existential crisis in a video that has us both nodding a long and laughing out loud. Salt-n-Pepa in the waiting room at the doctor’s office? Uh, no. That’s a line we are not ready to cross yet. Nirvana being played on the Classic Rock station? Nope, not prepared for that, either.

Watch:

Hoo boy, the denial is real, isn’t it? We grew up on “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, for goodness sake, and it’s starting to feel like we made a wrong choice a chapter or two back and suddenly landed our entire generation in a time warp. This isn’t real, is it? Thirty years ago was the 1970s. That’s just a Gen X fact. So what if we’ve lived long enough for our high school fashions to go out of style and then back into style and then back out of style again?

Seriously, though, we can either lament our age and stage in life or we can laugh about it, and people are grateful to the Holdernesses for assisting with the latter. Gen X fans are also thrilled to see their own experiences being validated, because at this point, we’ve all had that moment in the grocery store or the waiting room when one of our jams came on and we immediately went into a panic.

“They were playing The Cure in the grocery store and I almost started crying,” wrote one commenter. “I mean, how ‘alternative’ can you be if you’re being played in Krogers? You guys are great! Thanks for making us laugh.”

“I couldn’t believe it when I heard Bohemian Rhapsody being played in Walmart,” shared another. “That was edgy in my day.”

“I know!!! Bon Jovi at the grocery store!!! That was my clue in!!” added another.

“Long live Gen Xers! We have to be strong!! We can get through this together!! #NKOTBmeetsAARP” wrote on commenter.You can find more from the Holderness Family on their Facebook page, their podcast and their website, theholdernessfamily.com.

A seriously impressive piece of technology grabbed a lot of attention at this year’s CES trade show convention in Las Vegas, Genesis Systems’ WaterCube. It’s a home and office appliance that’s about the size of an A/C unit and can produce up to 100 gallons of water daily from thin air. That’s the amount of water used by a typical family of 4.

The amount of water it can produce depends on the humidity levels, but Genesis Systems says it can even create water in dry environments.

Much like solar panels provide energy independence, this does the same for water.

“Our first mission is to sustainably solve global water scarcity,” said David Stuckenberg, who founded Genesis with his wife, Shannon, told Techxplore. “Once you have this plugged into your house…you can turn yourself off (from) the city water.”

“One of the challenges that we’re facing, in terms of making humanity sustainable, is the stuff we need for life,” he said, according to Techxplore. “Next to air, water is the most important thing.”

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The WC-100 WaterCube stands more than 3 feet tall, weighs close to 600 pounds and will cost around $20,000 to pre-order. So, even though you may not have a water bill anymore, you will have a pretty expensive monthly payment plan on a WaterCube for a few years.

But once it’s paid off, your water is free as long as you own the appliance.

Genesis Systems believes that the WaterCube creates “an infinite water source” that is “democratizing the water supply.”

Donald Trump’s third presidential campaign may be going inexplicably gangbusters. His brain? Not doing quite as hot. For months the former president has been making one surreal gaffe after another, be it forgetting who currently has his old job, mixing up the names of people he hates or saying weird things about magnets. Trump has tried to explain his screw-ups, albeit not very convincingly. Not even Fox News can come up with a good answer for stuff like forgetting there’s already been a World War II.

Per Raw Story, Mollie Hemingway, a contributor to the conservative news network was asked by host Howard Kurtz to explain Trump’s repeated brain farts. She tried to spin one: him sleepily slurring his way through the word “institute.” That one, at least, was “clearly a typo on the teleprompter or a misread of the teleprompter.”

But was it? Hemingway didn’t even try with some of Trump’s other farty pronouncements, like pronouncing “solving” as “salving” or not being able to say the word “smallest.” Instead she moved onto some of Joe Biden’s gaffes, saying, “I don’t even know what to say because it’s so hard for me to understand him.”

But Leslie Marshall, a lefty Fox News regular, wasn’t having it.

“Unlike Mollie, I’m not gonna make excuses for, you know, Joe Biden and say that one slur is, you know, a typo and the other is not, you know, sorry, no,” she said. “Everybody makes mistakes, Howie, like you said, you know, I certainly do it.”

So far many Republican voters have been fine with Trump’s mental hiccups, even with him straight-up vowing to be a dictator. But some on the left, like SNL’s Colin Jost, have started to worry about both Trump and Biden and whether having the two frontrunners duke it out again isn’t actually “elder abuse.”

You can watch the segment in the video below.

(Via Raw Story)

The Baltimore Ravens found themselves in serious danger in the second quarter of the AFC Championship Game when Lamar Jackson got stripsacked deep in his own end while already trailing 14-7 to the Kansas City Chiefs.

However, for the first time all game the Ravens defense was able to get a stop, stuffing an Isiah Pacheco rush attempt on 4th and inches, breathing a bit of life into their hopes of getting back into the game. On the ensuing drive, the Ravens weren’t able to do much against the pressure of Kansas City’s defense, but Jackson produced one of the most incredible individual efforts of this postseason to get them a first down — which allowed them to flip the field a bit.

On a second down play, Jackson tried to hit Justice Hill out on the sideline but had the ball batted straight up in the air at the line of scrimmage. While this normally ends in a disaster for the offense, Jackson somehow broke on the ball and caught his own pass in traffic, then bolted up field for a 14-yard gain and a first down.

This alternate angle shows exactly how close it was to another disastrous turnover for Baltimore, and how incredible a play it was from Jackson to get himself to the ball and snag it on the run to get a first down.

Baltimore’s lone touchdown of the game came on another broken play orchestrated by Lamar’s elusiveness, as he eluded a sack and then hit Zay Flowers downfield, and it seems like more heroics from Jackson are going to be necessary if the Ravens are going to claw their way back into the game and win.