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Last month, Ariana Grande broke the internet by making her grand return to music with the lead single, “Yes, And?” — which will appear on her upcoming Eternal Sunshine album. The pop star has yet to release any other tracks from the project.

However, that isn’t stopping her from putting another spin on “Yes, And?” or adding an icon to boost a remix with a new verse. Here’s what to know about exactly who might be on it.

Is Mariah Carey On Ariana Grande’s “Yes, And?” Remix?

Fans started suspecting that Mariah Carey will be appearing on Grande’s “Yes, And?” remix, after the two both changed their Instagram profile pictures to match each other. The two pop icons then confirmed the collaboration by posting what appears to be the remix’s cover art: a snapshot of them posing together.

The “Yes, And?” remix featuring Carey is set to drop this Friday, February 16, so the fans wanting to hear this truly great crossover won’t have to wait too long.

“there truly are no words that suffice,” Grande captioned on Instagram. “thank you from the bottom of my heart for this dream come true and for sprinkling your brilliance and magic on my little song @mariahcarey. it means more to me than i could ever possibly articulate and i cannot wait for everyone to hear this ! i love you eternally !!!!!!!”

Check out Grande’s announcement above.

The Vince Staples Show is the latest in a continuum of rap-centric comedies going back to the Fresh Prince Of Bel Air. While fans have already made comparisons to two of hip-hop’s most recent dark comedies, Atlanta and Dave, based on TVSS‘ loopy trailer, a preview of all five episodes establishes it as its own, unique thing.

Vince Staples himself also did as much during a recent press junket to talk about the five-episode effort and how The Vince Staples Show both builds on the foundation laid by its predecessors and strives to subvert the expectations they may have built in viewers’ minds. Longtime Uproxx readers may remember that one of Vince’s first forays into the comedic format for the screen was our Snapchat show F*#! That. Those fans will be happy to know that all of his sharp sensibilities remain intact in The Vince Staples Show. Meanwhile, despite ony having a few minutes with the Long Beach-bred superstar, he was able to go in-depth with Uproxx about the inspirations behind the show, what he hopes viewers take away from the experience, and why his hometown will always be a co-star in his work.

So when I’m watching the show, of course I’m from Long Beach/Compton, so I’m pointing at the screen like Leo DiCaprio the whole time. What does it mean to you to be able to put Long Beach on a screen like this, and what do you hope people take away from The Vince Staples Show about Vince Staples and Long Beach?

I think it’s very important to show the city in a unique light. I feel like a lot of the times people just think it’s just grimy and desolate all the time.

And growing up, I felt like it was a beautiful place and I just wanted to paint the suburban aspects of the city. Even though it does have its pitfalls and its issues, the scenery is very unique. And I feel like the takeaway for me is just… It’s all up to interpretation.

A lot of things in the show that we sprinkled throughout, I just hope people pay close attention to things that are going on and pick up on some of the Easter eggs and some of the B-stories.

[The show is] painting a new perspective of how people see things and just trying to show them what it actually looks like versus what it might seem like from their vantage point.

Originally, The Vince Staples Show was a YouTube thing, and then you got the opportunity to take it to Netflix. Why did you want to do it as a miniseries as opposed to a more traditional format?

That’s just the opportunity that we got, so we just try to make the best out of the opportunity. Hopefully, it performs well and we are able to keep it going. That’s kind of how we got situated over here with Netflix, and I think it came out good. I feel like no matter how it ends up, we gave a round story and gave it some closure, some context. So I think we’ll be good either way.

There are comparisons to Atlanta on Twitter after the trailer dropped. What are some of the advantages and drawbacks of having something that helps people contextualize what you are doing with your show?

I feel like when you alleviate ego, it is really no drawback. I think that’s an extremely successful show. It changed a lot. It’s had a lot of impact on film and television, just culture in general. So for people to even compare to something that is that coveted and I’m just grateful for it. So it’s a really, really great starting point.

Now I have a plot question, regarding the character “White Boy” from Episode 5. To quote Thugnificent, what did you do to make him that mad?

It’s really just more so commentary on the cycle of growth and what it’s like to grow up in this environment. So if you kind of think about that, then it opens up a lot of questions. You never really know the reason, and I think that was important to frame it in that way. I think that’s why it was important to showcase that Vince did not remember, or know who this person was and nobody else did. And there’s a lot of that in the show if you kind of get into the weeds of it. It was a commentary on how we all are the same, and still don’t like each other.

What’s something that you always wanted to talk about in one of these interviews that you never got a chance to? If you were to write the question for you, what would you want to ask?

I would honestly draw a blank, bro. I’m not really, the question kind of guy, but I appreciate just people’s interests and people’s perspective. That’s why you make these things: to have a commentary, a back-and-forth, [because] someone else’s perspective might not necessarily be mine.

So, every time somebody asks a question, it opens up the way that I view the project or the way that I view the things that I create as well. But if it was up to me, man, I could never do that.

Did you ever get around to listening to Nas?

Yeah man, I know Nas. Nas cool, man. You mean “I Gave You Power” specifically? Or just Nas in general?

Everybody was on your head about not listening to those albums.

Hey look, man, that was before my time. But we did go back and listened to a couple of them.

That’s good. Hey man, thank you so much. We miss you around the Uproxx office too!

I love and appreciate you as well.

The Vince Staples Show streams on Netflix 2/15.

Mad Max: Fury Road quickly earned its place as a modern masterpiece. This year, iconic director George Miller will attempt to add to that film’s mythology with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Starring Anya Taylor-Joy in the title role, the highly-anticipated film will tell the tale of the badass warrior as she becomes a force to be reckoned with in a post-apocalyptic world.

Here’s everything we know about Furiosa:

Plot

Set 45 years after the collapse, Furiosa is a prequel to the 2015 smash hit Mad Max: Fury Road. That film saw Charlize Theron tackle the breakout role of the one-armed Imperiator Furiosa. Holding her own alongside Tom Hardy’s Max Rockatansky, the two ripped through Immortan Joe’s War Rig in the action spectacle.

Furiosa will take us back to the character’s origin as Anya Taylor-Joy takes over the role in this wild prequel that aims to be another rip-roaring installment in the epic Mad Max series.

Here’s the official synopsis:

As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.

Cast

Joining Taylor-Joy in the film is a barely recognizable Chris Hemsworth as Warlord Dementus. In full Bradley Cooper-style, the actor is sporting a prosthetic nose for the George Miller film, and he’s chewing scenery like nothing we’ve seen from the actor before.

Here’s what Hemsworth said about working on the ambitious prequel via Comic Book:

“What was refreshing working with George is that every frame was thought out. Every single frame was necessary; it was servicing the whole. It was part of a grander plan and a message, and so there was no waste. Everything you see is essential, and means something, and supports the characters’ journey, the narrative, the overall arc of the film, and it was exhausting in the best way. All of us showed up and were willing to commit and throw ourselves on the line to service this journey and this film and this franchise that has existed for forty-something years now.”

Tom Burke, Nathan Jones, Angus Sampson, and Quaden Bayles round out the rest of the Furiosa cast.

Release Date

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will slam into theaters on May 24, just in time for the Memorial Day weekend.

Trailer

Here’s the official trailer for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga:

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga revs into theaters on May 24.

Drake and J. Cole‘s It’s All A Blur Tour — Big As The What? tour has had quite a buzzy start. In the first few days, Drake prompted some laughs online for wearing a skeleton costume. The tour has also coincided with a shocking video leak.

But in a more heartwarming story, the “First Person Shooter” hitmaker made a special promise to a fan in the audience at his St. Louis concert last night (February 13). While on stage, Drake noticed a fan carrying a sign, asking Drake for assistance with medical costs.

“You got a sign out that says, ‘Please help me with my surgery.’ I don’t know what kind of surgery you need, sir. I really don’t, but I’ma let you know: From me to you, St. Louis love, we gonna take care of whatever the surgery is.”

Drake continued, noting that he does have one special condition for the fan — he must show out once again the next time Drake performs in St. Louis.

The It’s All A Blur Tour — Big As The What? tour is set to continue through the end of March, and will wrap on the 27th at The Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.

You can see the clip above.

Without question, Jamaica’s greatest export is reggae music, as embodied by the genre icon Bob Marley. Even if you’ve never had the fortune to visit the Caribbean country, Marley’s influence can be felt around the globe. Regardless of the genre, the late musician’s groundbreaking discography is the undercurrent for some of the world’s biggest acts, including Burna Boy, Bruno Mars, Janelle Monáe, Nas, Stevie Wonder, and The Police.

In Paramount Pictures’ biopic Bob Marley: One Love, starring Kingsley Ben-Adir (as Bob Marley) and Lashana Lynch (as Rita Marley), audiences are reminded of Marley’s musical greatness. However, the overlooked takeaway from the film is the cultural significance of reggae music. Born out of multiple diasporic sounds (mainly ska, rocksteady, and calypso), its mento (folk) core is what curated the art form into a calling card specific to the people of Jamaica.

As was the case for hip-hop, reggae’s rise had everything to do with its alluring instrumentation as well as the profoundly political and social commentary heard throughout each record’s lyrics. Somewhere along the way, that rebel spirit has been lost (or at least on the mainstream front). So, how did the genre go from Bob Marley And The Wailers’ 1977 version of “One Love” to Drake’s “One Dance” in 2016? Similar to the music itself, the answer to this question is quite layered. The decentering of religious obligations, commodification of Jamaican culture, and leniency of gatekeepers have all contributed to the erasure of reggae music’s social & political commentary roots.

First, you must examine Marley, the man and musician, to dissect why he’s revered around the globe. The person behind those poetic pieces was a spiritually rich man far before his tangible wealth set in. In journalist Vivien Goldman’s 2006 The Book Of Exodus, she recounted one of her many conversations with Marley before his death, where he detailed his faith journey into Rastafarianism. Having a vision of Jah (God) in 1966 while living in America prompted him to return to Jamaica “with a clear vision” of his life’s purpose. Marley’s unwavering tether to his religious obligations led him to inherit the moral responsibilities of a messenger.

Reggae or, as he referred to it, “the king’s music” (quoted by Timothy White in his 1983 biography, Catch A Fire: The Life Of Bob Marley), each time Marley touched a microphone, his duties were to lead his people toward’s God favor pushing back against the wickedness in the world. With Dancehall being the dominant sound coming out of Jamaica presently, long gone are the days when reggae acts could break through for simply speaking truth to power. To borrow a line from the 1993 film Menace II Society, ‘Don’t nobody wanna hear that sh*t, Sharif.’ Well, unless you count Koffee (the youngest musician to win a Grammy in the reggae category). That’s not to say that rising stars Byron Messia, Jada Kingdom, or Dexta Daps don’t sprinkle spirituality into their music. It’s just not their primary focus. Nor does it pick up steam outside the country’s parishes in days past.

The commodification of Jamaican culture has played the most significant role in the erasure of reggae music’s social & political commentary roots. Globalization is a b*tch. As quickly as Marley’s music traveled, so did the industry’s urge to convert this newly found popularity into a steady income stream. From labels’ rush to extract reggae’s musicality (native instruments, production techniques, etc.) to companies’ mass production of “Rasta-inspired” tchotchkes, an influx of items hit the market to give those obsessed with the country’s superstars a piece of Jamaica on-demand.

We’re not talking just about the white tourist wearing tams with faux dreadlocks (zatavi) crocheted into them. Most certainly, it includes non-natives cosplaying cultural ambiguity. This ushers in the music industry question equivalent of whether Black folks can or can not be racist. So, can Black people appropriate other sectors of Black culture? When you boil it down to semantics, the answer is no. But are Black people (including bi-racial or multi-racial) often seen exploiting Caribbean cultures in stereotypical ways? The answer is, without a shadow of a doubt, yes. Is reggae music a monolith? No. But it’s okay to admit that we’re losing the plot.

Rihanna’s 2005 “If It’s Lovin’ That You Want” to 2009 “Rude Boy” pipeline isn’t precisely how reggae music was intended to evolve, but does that mean it should be stripped from the rolling credits? Drake’s “One Dance” is inspired by reggae music. This development is a game of telephone set to music where the subject matter drastically changes, and the instrumentation refuses to give in to eroding. What happens when the money means more than the message? I don’t know. Ask hip-hop.

Its gatekeepers were the last line of defense in reggae music to retain its social & political commentary roots. Unfortunately, their leniency inadvertently contributed to the genre’s now dull bite. When talking about music families, there’s no one above the Marleys in reggae. Starting with the paternal figures to the children and now grandchildren (hi, Skip), several generations of the Marley bloodline carry the torch both in the booth and label boardrooms. Other key players, including producers, songwriters, DJs, and more, continually fuel the genre’s progression on the ground in Jamaica.

Still, as far back as the 1990s, the barrier enforced based on socioeconomic upbringing nearly pushed Sean Paul out of music. In a 2022 documentary with Vice, Paul confessed that during the early days of his career, he desperately wanted to make “cultural records” that spoke to the economic and living conditions of Jamaica’s ghettos harkening to reggae’s foundation. However, producer Jeremy Harding (one of the most impactful music professionals in reggae) advised against it. “[Harding] was like, ‘You know nobody believes you. You know that, right? You’re not the person that will be able to ‘preach.’ So, why don’t you sing about who you are… sing about girls. Sing about parties.’”

Ultimately, Paul’s success doing so helped kick off Dancehall’s international resurgence in 2000 (so thanks for that). Still, now the public is left to fantasize about what artist Paul could’ve been if given the space to craft the art he originally intended. In the same video piece, Harding shed further insight into the divide in Jamaica on who can be the vocal authority in reggae.

“As I started to work with Sean, we realized that we shared a similar background — the way that we describe it, we were Uptown kids,” he said. “So, the friends and family that we had around us were looking at us strangely. Like, ‘Why do you want to get involved with Dancehall? Dancehall is nasty, dutty, ghetto music?’ And at the same time, you’re struggling against the other side of the community, saying, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t be here because you don’t have a place in this music’ and ‘You’re not from the ghetto; therefore, you are not authentic.’”

“Everyone was challenging [me], [saying] ‘You can’t express for us,’” added Paul.

Yet, that same protective energy disappeared when given the breakout moment to promote Bob Marley: One Love during the 2024 Grammys; Ziggy Marley laughed along as host Trevor Noah poked fun at the Jamaican accent and many of their easygoing personalities instead of focusing on the richness of the culture.

What good are gatekeepers if they aren’t keeping the culture when it matters the most? You tell me. Are Afrobeats and amapiano tastemakers taking heed?

Where do we go from here? Nowhere. As with hip-hop, the damage is already done. A complete gutting would have to take place to undo what has been done, which economic players likely won’t let happen. In short, Bob Marley: One Love is a painstaking reminder of what was and how the decentering of religious obligations, commodification of Jamaican culture, and leniency of gatekeepers have all contributed to the erasure of reggae music’s social & political commentary roots.

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

Christopher Nolan has nothing but praise for Robert Downey Jr.‘s meteoric rises as Iron Man. For a moment, the two were on opposite sides of the fence as Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy proved to be a formidable (and possibly only opponent) to the burgeoning Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now, the star and director are close collaborators after working together on the critically acclaimed Oppenheimer.

While talking to The New York Times, Nolan once again let down his cinephile guard and gushed about Downey’s prominent and wildly lucrative tenure as Tony Stark. The iconic director also took things even further by bucking the normal trend of esteemed filmmakers crapping all over the MCU. Instead, Nolan credited the franchise for keeping theaters open:

I think Jon Favreau casting Robert as Tony Stark is one of the most significant and consequential casting decisions in Hollywood history. It wound up defining our industry. Coming out of Covid, you say, “Thank God for Marvel movies.” And it’s one of those where, in retrospect, everybody thinks it was obvious. But he took an enormous risk casting you in that role.

In another candid moment, Nolan also addressed Downey’s recent revelation that the actor met with the director for a role in Batman Begins. Downey was hoping to land the role of Scarecrow, which went to his Oppenheimer co-star Cillian Murphy. Nolan confessed that he had no intention of casting Downey, but was extremely eager to meet the actor even before he became Tony Stark.

“I was a huge admirer of yours and therefore selfishly just wanted to take the meeting,” Nolan said. “But I was also a little afraid of you, you know. I had heard all kinds of stories about how you were crazy. It was only a few years after the last of those stories that had come out about you.”

(Via The New York Times)

Eminem will be co-producing a new documentary called Stans through his Shady Films company, which will focus on the rise in intense fandoms when it comes to music. The title creatively pulls inspiration from the rapper’s song, “Stan,” which popularized the term for an obsessed fan — or stalker plus fan.

It will be directed by Steven Leckart and be released later this year, according to Variety.

Stans has specifically been described as a “revealing, edgy, and disarmingly personal journey into the world of superfandom, told through the lens of one of the world’s most iconic and enduring artists, Eminem, and the fans that worship him.”

“Stans will be the opportunity for us to turn the camera around and ask the audience about being fans — and in some cases, fanatics,” Eminem’s manager, Stuart Rosenberg, and Stuart Parr shared in a joint statement. “This is a study of the relationship between fanbase and artist through the lens of one of Eminem’s most fascinating songs and one of the world’s most important entertainers.”

“Paul Rosenberg and I have known each other since my days on MTV’s TRL, a show that was driven by the power of fandom, bringing artists and their fans together,” Tony DiSanto, the CEO of Diga Studios, added. “So when he told me about the idea for this film, it felt like we had come full circle. Stans will explore the complex relationship between fame and super fandom, told through the lens of one of the world’s most Iconic artists, Eminem, his music, and, especially, his most extreme fans.”

As of right now, an official release date for Eminem’s Stans documentary has yet to be announced.

If you could change one thing about Stranger Things, what would it be? The objectively correct answer is: give us the final season now, Netflix, or else… But threats aside, members of the show’s active subreddit had a wide variety of different responses when that question was recently posed by a fan.

“The reason S1 was so great was because it was three different genres tied into one storyline. You had the kids on an E.T. coming of age adventure, the teenagers in a typical horror movie (with romance elements) and the adults in a thriller mystery investigating government corruption. I think each season needs to stick to that kind of genre entwining. Season 2 kind of picks up on that a little but completely loses it by the third,” kodaandorion wrote.

Deathgaze2015 believes “Eleven should not be the Maguffin for every seasons big bad. Let the other cast do the final thing,” while RainbowPenguin1000 “would have removed the Russians from the entire show.” Here’s more:

Will’s haircut
Hopper’s diet

Less added characters over the seasons. I know the Duffers liked to add them because it can change up the dynamics, but the cast got so large that the balance of ST1 and ST2 was lost.

Cut down the cast by a third. It’s too big in the sense that characters are either doing nothing (Robin in season 4) or given stupid side stories because they feel like they should be doing something (Jonathon being a stoner).

I’m not even saying kill off the characters but maybe make it like the real world. Kids move away. Even kids that stay fall out of touch and people that used to be best friends now just kind of say hey as they pass each other in the hall. Not every person who has a spot in an episode or two in the show needs to join the main cast.

People will hate this, but I would have preferred it if Max had stayed dead at the end of S4, it would have been a much more emotional ending and a learning curve for the characters especially the kids that no-one is safe. It would have also heightened tension heading into S5.

Keeping everyone in the main cast together. It’s okay if they breakaway from each other every now and then for 1-3 episodes max, but having the group fragmented into three sub-groups for an entire season is tiring. I love everyone being together. At worst, the groups should be divided into kids, adults, and teens each in their own like it was in season 1.

So basically: no Russians; keep the core group together; and for the love of god, give Will a better haircut. Good advice!

Stranger Things will return for its fifth and final season in 2025.

(Via Reddit)

It’s been almost two years since Keanu Reeves confirmed that a Constantine sequel is in the works, but the man sure has been busy since then, so it would be pretty understandable if he had forgotten. Just last year alone, Reeves released an album, starred in John Wick 4, and was even crowned the Puppy King, an incredibly rare honor. But he has promised fans he is not giving up on Constantine because that would be a sin.

The film, based on DC’s Hellblazer comics, followed John Constantine, an occult expert who can travel between Earth and Hell. Even though Reeves has been moonlighting as an angel on Aziz Ansari’s latest flick, the Constantine sequel has not yet started production. Still, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura is hopeful that the sequel will move forward.

“I hope it does, because it’s a great character,” di Bonaventura recently told ComicBook.com. “Great in comic books, and it was great making that first movie. It’s such an alternative kind of character,” he said. He then compared the character to Madame Web, if you can believe it, adding, “It’s what really attracted me to Madame Web, was the singularity of the character, that idea that she is going to become blind and that she is going to become this other thing was really attractive.” Even though the producer was “attracted” to the concept of Madame Web, many weren’t.

On the other hand, the people have been begging for a Constantine reboot, so it’s more likely to happen. Even if we have to get through a few more Madame Webs to get there.

(Via ComicBook)

The world is still abuzz over the Queen Bey. This past Sunday (February 11), Beyoncé broke the internet after dropping two new country singles, “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em.” Showcasing her versatility, Bey continues to show us that she can nail any genre.

In fact, she did so last year when she dropped her rap single, “My House,” which premiered in tandem with her Renaissance concert film. As a result of her fire bars, one might think this would put her on some sort of greatest rappers of all time list. At least, such was the case for a contestant on Jeopardy.

In a category for “50 Greatest Rappers of All Time,” contestants were given a prompt, which read “She invited us to ‘come into my house’ and also deal with ‘the wrath of my madness’; We bow down before this queen.”

One contestant answered, “Who is Beyoncé?” presumably thinking the prompt was referring to “My House.” Unfortunately, this was not the correct answer.

Another contestant answered “Who is Queen Latifah,” which was in fact, the correct answer. The prompt was alluding to Latifah’s songs, “Come Into My House” and “Wrath Of My Madness” from her 1989 album, All Hail The Queen.

You can see the clip above.