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There’s something in the water. So far today (January 26), Megan Thee Stallion, Ice Spice, and Eminem have all decided to choose lyrical violence via their latest songs. But rappers aren’t the only musicians with grievances to air: Country music star Morgan Wallen has a few choose words for his former business partner for ignoring his professional wishes.

In a statement shared online, the “Last Night” singer to a moment to call out his past investor for releasing a 10th anniversary of Wallen’s EP Stand Alone. Commemorative projects are shared all the time, so what’s the issue in this scenario? Well according to Wallen, he explicitly expressed his wishes for it not to be shared.

The statement reads:

“Back in 2014, I went to Florida to try my hand at making original music & songwriting for the first time. This led to a recording deal with a local investor & an artist management deal that I deeply regret. Unfortunately, I signed both deals without any legal representation.

We made 13 songs. Some were ok, most were terrible as I was just learning how to write in general & figuring it all out. I was not the only collaborator, so many of these songs were not my idea nor to my standards. We deemed 5 worthy-enough to make the Stand Alone EP which includes a fan-favorite, ‘Spin You Around.’

Tonight, those colleagues I parted ways with almost 10 years ago plan to release a ’10th Anniversary’ edition of Stand Alone against my wishes & include 8 unreleased songs, distributing it with the assistance of my former managers. For months I’ve been exploring every avenue possible to acquire the rights to this old music & keep the quality of my catalog consistent with songs I choose to release & believe in.

It’s gross, greedy & an example of how the dark side of the music business can suck the soul out of artists.”

Although it doesn’t appear that Wallen can do anything legally to stop its release, he decided to re-record his past song “Spin You Around” as well as donate $100,000 from his namesake foundation to the Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals For The Arts (VLPA) program. The VLPA provides legal assistance to young musicians to them avoid making the early-career mistakes Wallen did.

Listen to Wallen’s “Spin You Around” below.

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

Tierra Whack is back. While seemingly half of the women in rap are busy chucking insults at one another lately, the former Philly battle MC is floating over all of it as she preps for the release of her debut album, World Wide Whack. After sharing the “Chanel Pit” video back in November, Whack follows up today with the video for “Shower Song.”

Although it’s a crowded release day, fans of innovative, left-of-center hip-hop should allow themselves to overlook “Shower Song.” The video, directed by Alex Da Corte, is a typical avant-garde Whack affair, with cartoony, pop art-influenced imagery blending stop motion animation, high fashion, and colorful sets that perfectly complement Whack’s playful delivery and the funky, uptempo beat. As far as the content goes, no, there are no acid-tongued jabs at any of her peers; in fact, it’s pretty mundane subject matter for a modern rap song.

Whack’s only boast here is that she sounds great singing in the shower while getting ready to start her day. The only brand she flexes is Dove soap. It’s kind of refreshing and it’s a cheeky, sly reminder that hip-hop is what we make it. It doesn’t have to be about street shootouts, drug sales, and traumatic relationships. It can be fun and bright and kind of silly and just about the regular stuff we all do every day. There’s room for more. Bravo to Tierra Whack for opening up the sonic palette and once again pushing boundaries — even if they aren’t the boundaries anyone expected to be pushed.

You can check out the music video above and the slightly longer lyric video below. World Wide Whack is due on March 15 via Interscope.

When Comedy Central dropped the bombshell news that Jon Stewart is making a triumphant (part-time) return to The Daily Show, clearly, the thought on everyone’s mind was, “Gee, what does Meghan McCain think about all of this?” Well, fret no more.

On the latest episode of her podcast, the former co-host for The View weighed in on Stewart’s return. Turns out, she’s not looking forward to it because McCain thinks he’s become too “woke” and probably won’t be the cool guy who used to laugh it up with her dad, the late Republican Senator John McCain. Perhaps she’s mentioned him before.

Via The Daily Beast:

“I’m the first person to say that when I was a teenager in my formative years, I loved The Daily Show,” McCain began on this week’s episode of her podcast, Meghan McCain Has Entered the Chat. “I thought it was so funny. I loved Jon Stewart.”

“I grew up, I became an adult, I had kids, and I watched his Apple show,” McCain continued, referring to The Problem With Jon Stewart. “I was horrified at the sort of creature he has morphed into.”

“I found him to be the most woke,” McCain continued. “I didn’t recognize the Jon that I grew up loving. I hope I see the original OG Jon Stewart. I’m not going to hold my breath.”

Jon Stewart returns to The Daily Show on February 12.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Amazon’s big-budget action series Citadel premiered last year, and even with its buzzy cast and flashy action sequences, it failed to really land with viewers. Some critics praised the series, while others claimed it was “basic” with “clunky dialogue.” The series failed to make any lasting impact on Nielsen’s weekly streaming rankings, and reportedly cost nearly $300 million to produce, which made it the second most expensive series from Amazon, only behind that other show. But you know what? Despite this, they are moving forward with a second season, and that’s the American way.

Amazon Studios’ head of drama series Odetta Watkins claims that the show and its fan base (or lack thereof) just “needs time to grow.” She added, “As the franchise grows, I feel like the numbers will grow all over, including domestically.” There are already two international spinoffs in the works, with two others on deck, so despite all odds, it’s happening.

Season two is expected to be even more action-packed than its debut season, and they called in reinforcements in the form of Joe Russo to direct the entire season. Here is everything else we know so far about Citadel season two:

Plot

Amazon has not yet released any promising updates on season two, but season one set the groundwork for the series. The first season followed a crew of international spies who were forced to come out of hiding to take down a powerful crime syndicate called Manticore. Here is the official season one synopsis:

Eight years ago, Citadel fell. The independent global spy agency – tasked to uphold the safety and security of all people – was destroyed by operatives of Manticore, a powerful syndicate manipulating the world from the shadows.

With Citadel’s fall, elite agents Mason Kane and Nadia Sinh had their memories wiped as they narrowly escaped with their lives. They’ve remained hidden ever since, building new lives under new identities, unaware of their pasts. Until one night, when Mason is tracked down by his former Citadel colleague, Bernard Orlick, who desperately needs his help to prevent Manticore from establishing a new world order. Mason seeks out his former partner, Nadia, and the two spies embark on a mission that takes them around the world in an effort to stop Manticore, all while contending with a relationship built on secrets, lies, and a dangerous-yet-undying love

By the end of season one, a number of secrets are revealed, and Mason even gains some memories back and learned he’s not as innocent as he thought. As for season two, last year, the Russo Brothers told Collider that they were waiting to see “how the audience responds” before writing the second season. “It’s a continuing narrative, you’re building out a universe – you want to see what it is that the audience is responding to and what it is exciting them about the narrative,” they explained. Considering the audience response was lukewarm at best, who knows where they will go from here.

Cast

The main cast from season one is expected to return, including Richard Madden as Mason Kane, Priyanka Chopra Jonas as Nadia Sinh, Stanley Tucci as Bernard Orlick, Lesley Manville as Dahlia Archer, and Ashleigh Cummings as Celeste Graham.

Release Date

Production on season two is expected to begin this year, but considering all of the delays related to 2023’s strikes, it could be some time until season two. However, the spinoff series Citadel: Diana is still slated for a 2023 release.

Trailer

There is no trailer at this time, but feel free to watch the trailer from season one to see what you could potentially be in for:

Despite there not being a consensus top prospect in this year’s NBA Draft like there was a year ago when Victor Wembanyama dominated headlines from France, the race to the bottom in the NBA is far more aggressive this season. There are four teams on pace to finish below 20 wins on the season right now, as the Pistons, Wizards, Spurs, and Hornets all find themselves with 10 wins or fewer as we’ve crossed the midway point of the season.

What’s fascinating is that two of those teams — Detroit and Charlotte — weren’t actively trying to be this bad coming into the season, but have managed to bottom out, anyway. The Pistons are still looking for roster upgrades as the deadline looms, determined to try and crawl out of the NBA’s cellar after enduring the longest losing streak in league history. The Hornets have gone the other way and seem to just be embracing a rebuild after trading Terry Rozier in what looks to signal the start of a fire sale to build around LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller for the future. Washington tore it down this summer and seemed hopeful they wouldn’t be quite this bad with Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole, but this group has just not panned out. The Spurs, however, are closer to where everyone thought they’d be as they preached patience building around Victor Wembanyama.

The rosters for all four teams have real issues and not a lot of clear fixes. They’re probably going to be in this position for awhile as they try to rebuild and acquire talent, and they are just a rough watch on most nights. However, this week was a round-robin of sorts for the bottom 4, as the Spurs beat the Wizards (131-127), Pistons beat the Hornets (113-106), and Hornets beat the Spurs (124-120) in three competitive and exciting games, which we don’t often get involving these teams.

What I propose after watching this mini-tournament at the bottom of the league is the NBA just scrap the rest of the schedule for these teams and have them exclusively play each other for the rest of the season for the betterment of everyone involved. Why make them travel the country getting bludgeoned by the rest of the league? Instead, we could have them play each other and actually get their young players some reps in competitive games that come down to the fourth quarter. You could even give the team that wins the most in the Tank League the top pick in the NBA Draft to incentivize them to actually keep trying all the way through if you wanted to. The downside to this plan, of course, is that we’d lose out on some very funny moments, like when the Hornets completed an outrageous comeback to beat the Timberwolves despite Karl-Anthony Towns scoring 62.

I know none of this will happen, but this week was a reminder of how close all four of those teams are to each other as they swapped wins and losses and pushed each other in a way we rarely get to see when they face the rest of the league. There’s no real drama as to where these four teams land in this week in DIME’s Power Rankings, but let’s dive in to the full list for Week 13 of the season.

TIER I: The Contenders

1. Boston Celtics (35-10, Last week: 1)
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (31-13, Last week: 3)
3. Minnesota Timberwolves (32-13, Last week: 2)
4. Los Angeles Clippers (28-14, Last week: 4)
5. Milwaukee Bucks (31-13, Last week: 6)
6. Denver Nuggets (31-15, Last week: 5)
7. Philadelphia 76ers (29-14, Last week: 7)

There’s no change at the top this week, as the Celtics just keep rattling off wins and, even with the occasional hiccup here and there, they look like the league’s most complete team and have not lost back-to-back games once this year. The Thunder jump into the 2-spot fresh off of four straight wins, as they show no signs of slowing down and seem to just keep gaining confidence as a unit. The Timberwolves have not had their best week with losses to OKC and Charlotte, which was one of the worst losses of the year with KAT going for 62 in defeat and Chris Finch torching his team’s focus after. They have bounced back with two wins since and they still have the West’s best record, it just all looks a touch more difficult right now for the Wolves than it did previously.

The Clippers keep rolling along, with Kawhi Leonard playing some truly outrageous basketball right now (and, really, for the last year). Milwaukee moves up this week as they rattle off three straight wins despite firing their coach in his first year and hiring Doc Rivers. That’ll bring plenty of playoff questions but it certainly seems like it should be an upgrade for the time being. Denver slides one spot after getting demolished by the Knicks, but there aren’t any real concerns for the defending champs. Philly also has been cruising for the most part, with Joel Embiid putting up one of the greatest scoring seasons in NBA history, most recently putting 70 on Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.

TIER II: Good Vibes Teams

8. New York Knicks (28-17, Last week: 10)
9. Cleveland Cavaliers (26-16, Last week: 8)
10. Phoenix Suns (26-18, Last week: 14)
11. New Orleans Pelicans (26-18, Last week: 9)
12. Sacramento Kings (25-18, Last week: 15)
13. Indiana Pacers (25-20, Last week: 13)

The next tier features six teams that are all feeling pretty good about their standing right. The Knicks have been unbelievable with OG Anunoby on the floor since trading for him and they keep climbing the East standings, narrowing the gap to Philly to just two games. The Cavs have likewise been in a groove, as they took advantage of a soft spot in their schedule to pile up wins even with the continued absences of Evan Mobley and Darius Garland, and have gotten back to playing great defense and letting it fly from three (Sam Merrill is on an unreal heater of late). The Suns have won 7 straight and are looking an awful lot like the contender we thought they’d be, and while they seem to be on the hunt for some more depth, their Big 3 plus Grayson Allen (speaking of shooting heaters) have been tremendous of late. The Kings and Pacers both snapped losing streaks recently, but even after skids they both are feeling pretty good about things, with Sacramento a candidate to make a deadline move and Indiana just patiently waiting to finally get Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam on the floor together. The Pacers, in particular, are fascinating because for all their defensive shortcomings, they’ve been great against the top teams in the East this season.

TIER III: Change Is Coming

14. Miami Heat (24-21, Last week: 11)
15. Dallas Mavericks (24-20, Last week: 12)
16. Utah Jazz (23-23, Last week: 16)
17. Orlando Magic (23-21, Last week: 17)
18. Los Angeles Lakers (23-23, Last week: 18)

The Heat are in the midst of a 5-game losing streak, and while adding Terry Rozier should be helpful, they look like a team that’s in need of more help. They just don’t seem to have the juice on offense to hang with the top teams and the defense isn’t as good as it once was to make up for it. Dallas, meanwhile, has lost three straight and has the opposite issue where they need to be an offensive buzzsaw to overcome a below average defense and can’t seem to find that level consistently. Utah continues to hang around at .500, but have cooled off since their recent hot streak. Orlando just isn’t getting enough offensively from their backcourt and they’re a candidate to seek out a boost there. The Lakers likewise keep hovering around .500 and are connected to every big name in trade rumors, and it seems like a matter of when not if they shake things up.

TIER IV: Bad Vibes Teams

19. Houston Rockets (20-23, Last week: 19)
20. Chicago Bulls (21-25, Last week: 20)
21. Golden State Warriors (19-23, Last week: 21)
22. Atlanta Hawks (18-26, Last week: 22)
23. Memphis Grizzlies (17-27, Last week: 24)
24. Brooklyn Nets (17-27, Last week: 25)
25. Toronto Raptors (16-28, Last week: 23)

Bad vibes might be harsh for the Rockets, Bulls, and Grizzlies. Memphis has an excuse of everyone being hurt (and their young guys play hard every night), Houston is just kind of run of the mill mediocre rather than heavily underperforming like the others, and Chicago’s been perfectly fine after a dreadful start. The rest of the teams, however, are just not where they wanted or expected to be. Toronto has at least embraced a rebuild, but it’s ugly right now watching them play. The Warriors already complicated season now includes the emotional weight of the sudden passing of assistant coach Dejan Milojevic and the difficulty of navigating the grieving process in the middle of a season. The Hawks just need to blow it up, while the Nets are just not well constructed and have nights where they completely no-show, which is a bad combo.

TIER V: The Blazers

26. Portland Trail Blazers (13-31, Last week: 26)

Portland is fairly competitive in their current form and they’re a threat to win most nights, which is a step in the right direction for a young team figuring things out in a post-Dame world. To me, that stride forward is deserving of not being lumped in with the teams below that basically only get wins when they play each other or have a team forget to play basketball while trying to get a star to 100 points.

TIER VI: Let Them Fight

27. Charlotte Hornets (10-32, Last week: 28)
28. San Antonio Spurs (8-36, Last week: 27)
29. Detroit Pistons (5-39, Last week: 29)
30. Washington Wizards (7-37, Last week: 30)

I really think it would be to the benefit of everyone if we just quarantined this group into their own mini-league. We have a Wizards team that might be at rock bottom after firing Wes Unseld Jr. (while still employing him in an advisory role), a Hornets team that’s begun a fire sale, a Pistons team that is attached to every star on the trade market despite holding the NBA’s worst record, and a Spurs team where Victor Wembanyama is fun but when they play a good team they tend to get absolutely lit up, highlighted by giving up 70 to Joel Embiid.

Flyana Boss was everywhere in 2023 — both figuratively and not-quite literally — as the two champions for “weird Black girls” took their breakout single “You Wish” to all kinds of unusual places for running videos and jogged themselves right into some lucrative brand sponsorships. They’re looking to carry that momentum into the new year, releasing their latest single, “Candyman,” after a similar long run-up on social media (okay, I’ll chill with the running jokes now).

Where “You Wish” was a dismissive putdown to wannabes and featured full-bodied but carefree boasts about the girls’ recent come-up (or manifestations of the come-up in the making, as they told me in an interview last year), “Candyman” is a more coy love letter to their crushes. Using confectionary-coded wordplay to declare one’s affections is a well-worn trope, but one Folayan and Bobbi wield well. The production is bright and bass-heavy, with the girls showing off their vocal chops as well as their witty wordplay. “I call him my Grub Hubby, he gon’ feed me,” Folayan jokes.

The duo’s appreciation for music history shows both in the track and on its cheeky cover art, which references the cover photo from Minnie Riperton’s 1974 album Perfect Angel. Meanwhile, they’re kicking off a headlining tour in February

Heidi Klum and 2024 Super Bowl in-game DJ Tiësto just teamed up for a new cover of Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses At Night,” and for the promo, sunglasses are about all Klum is wearing at night.

The official visualizer itself (above) is relatively tame, showing Klum striking poses in moody environments. Where Klum let loose, though, was in a couple of teaser clips leading up to the song, in which she wears bikini bottoms, a fur coat, and sunglasses (of course) as she poses topless on a beach.

The recording will serve as the theme song for the upcoming season of Germany’s Next Topmodel, which Klum is currently filming in Los Angeles, as Rolling Stone notes.

Klum and Tiësto spoke about the track with the publication, with Klum saying, “Tijs is like my EDM god. I’ve been a stalker for many, many years from afar, and we’ve known each other for a little bit now. One day, I just said, ‘I have a really good idea of a track.’ He said, “I loved the idea right away. It’s a really perfect model song as well. It fits Heidi so well. The club scene, the glamorous life that you’ve been living. I was inspired right away.”

Klum also noted that Hart was on board with her cover, calling him “the sweetest.”

Listen to Klum and Tiësto’s “Sunglasses At Night” above.

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

Keanu Reeves is set to be honored with a new award that’s going to hit everyone right in the heart. As part of this year’s Saturn Awards, Reeves will be the first-time recipient of the Lance Reddick Legacy Award. Both Reeves and Reddick starred in the John Wick films together. Unfortunately, Reddick passed away shortly before the release of John Wick: Chapter 4, prompting an outpouring of love from not just his co-stars, but the entire acting community.

According to a press release from The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, Reeves couldn’t be a more perfect fit for the Legacy Award that honors both men:

This award symbolizes and celebrates not only a performer’s talent, but their character; someone who’s a true goodwill ambassador in the industry. From Science Fiction (“The Matrix Trilogy”), Fantasy (“Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”/”Constantine”) & Horror (Francis Ford Coppola’s “Dracula”/”The Devil’s Advocate”), Keanu has done it all — not to mention ”Speed” and ”Point Break.” Keanu is not just a Hollywood icon but also a shining example of humility and gratitude. Throughout his incredible career, he has never forgotten the support of his fans and the filmmakers who’ve supported him all these years. We’re thrilled to celebrate Lance’s memory with a dear friend and a genre icon.

In a move that will have dads everywhere reaching for their tissues, Bosch star Titus Welliver, who worked with Reddick on the hit Amazon series, will be on hand to present the Legacy Award to Reeves.

The 51st Annual Saturn Awards will stream February 4 at 4 PM PST on ElectricNow.

After delighting HBO viewers with his awkward presence for almost two decades, Larry David‘s time on Curb Your Enthusiasm is finally coming to an end. The comedian ended months of speculation by officially confirming that Season 12 will be the last season of the sitcom starring a supposedly exaggerated version of himself.

“As Curb comes to an end, I will now have the opportunity to finally shed this ‘Larry David’ persona and become the person God intended me to be – the thoughtful, kind, caring, considerate human being I was until I got derailed by portraying this malignant character,” David said in a statement to Deadline. “And so ‘Larry David,’ I bid you farewell. Your misanthropy will not be missed. And for those of you who would like to get in touch with me, you can reach me at Doctors Without Borders.”

As for what to expect from the 12th and final season, we got all the details below:

Plot

Like any good comedy series, the final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm isn’t going to break the mold of the formula that’s made it’s a modern classic. So, basically, expect lots of Larry David bungling into awkward social situations and doing things like saying he’d look “pretty, pretty, pretty cute” with breasts, which is just one of the hilarious moments spotted in the Season 12 trailer. He also gets into some antics at a funeral and continues to reaffirm why he’s just the worst to be around.

Here’s the official synopsis for the final season:

Starring Larry David as an over-the-top version of himself, Curb Your Enthusiasm offers a tongue-in-cheek depiction of the writer/producer/comedian’s fictionalized life. The comedy series continues to prove how seemingly trivial details of one’s day-to-day life can precipitate a catastrophic chain of events.

While that’s a general description of what to expect, Larry sums everything more succinctly in this pitch-perfect line from the Season 12 trailer. “I really did the best under the circumstances of a person who hates people and yet had to be amongst them.”

Cast

Obviously, Larry David will return as curmudgeonly version of himself, which again, he swears he’s not like in real life. David will be joined by series regulars J.B. Smoove, Cheryl Hines, Susie Essman, Richard Lewis and Ted Danson. Despite his alleged troubles on the set of The Goldbergs, Jeff Garlin will also be back for the final season.

Based on the trailer, Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12 will feature cameo appearances from Tracy Ullman, Daniel Levy, Sharlto Copley, and Vince Vaughn.

Release Date

Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12 will premiere February 4 at 10 PM ET on HBO with new episodes dropping every Sunday until the series finale on April 17. Season 12 episodes will also be available for streaming on Max at the same time that they air.

Trailer

You can watch the official Season 12 trailer below:

Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12 premieres February 4 on HBO.

Eminem really wishes it was 2004. That’s the only reason I can think of why he’s still bothering with Benzino over 20 years later. Maybe he sees their old feud as a legendary, multi-generational saga like the Hatfields and McCoys, but it’s more like the plot of Grumpy Old Men. And it’s getting closer all the time (Em is now 51, while Benzino is 58), all while aging like the fish Max leaves in John’s car at the end. Spoilers for a 30-year-old movie, I guess.

Alas, here we are in 2024, with Eminem again dedicating several bars to his distaste for his age-old nemesis — arguably too many, although that’d be true of even one — on his new song “Doomsday Pt. 2” from Lyrical Lemonade’s new album All Is Yellow. “Now I got a riddle, one condition, you mustn’t laugh / What is the opposite of Benzino? A giraffe / Go at his neck,’ how the f*ck is that? How can I go at somethin’ he doesn’t have? / Arms so short he can’t even touch his hands / When they’re up above his head doin’ jumpin’ jacks.”

He goes on in this vein for another twelve bars (TWELVE!!), setting up an overly elaborate gay joke (booooo!) and a mildly witty reference to a 2023 Coi Leray interview where she was asked about collaborating with Eminem despite her dad.

Yes, Benzino lied about Michael Jackson praising him for dissing Eminem (sure, Ray) as recently as last April, but the only person still paying attention to that guy besides Coi is Eminem. Maybe just ignore him, Marshall, it’s not like either of you is getting anything out of this anymore. Today, we are all Coi Leray:

In any event, you can check out the full song below and stream Everything Is Yellow here. For more current rap beefs, check out our tag.