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Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour (and subsequent record-breaking Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie) feels like a fever dream. Did we hallucinate multiple North American cities being renamed in Swift’s honor? All of those friendship bracelets, especially the undelivered friendship bracelet that led to Taylor Swift, The Football Fan? Nope, it happened — to the tune of a reported $1 billion — and it’s not over yet!

When Does Taylor Swift Go Back On Tour For The Eras Tour?

Swift wrapped her first US leg last August, and then hit Brazil for a few dates in November. Somehow, her The Eras Tour schedule figures to be more grueling in 2024. It all begins on Wednesday, February 7, at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. Swift will perform there for four nights (February 7 to 10) before jetting to Melbourne, Australia, where opener Sabrina Carpenter will join her for dates across Melbourne, Sydney, Australia, and Singapore from February 16 to March 9.

Paramore will replace Carpenter as Swift’s opener for the European and UK leg. The first show is scheduled for May 9 at París La Défense Arena in Paris, France. That leg will extend all the way until August 20, wrapping at Wembley Stadium in London.

And then, Swift will return to the US for an abbreviated second North American leg. Gracie Abrams will rejoin as a The Eras Tour opener for those dates from October 18 to December 8. See all of Swift’s remaining The Eras Tour dates here.

Tom Thibodeau’s ideal team doesn’t just defend. It locks teams’ offense in a straightjacket and throws away the key.

That’s why the OG Anunoby trade made perfect sense for the New York Knicks. Especially after Mitchell Robinson’s career-year ended early due to ankle surgery (although the door isn’t shut on a return for the playoffs), they needed a defensive terror on the wing who could guard anybody and make their lives miserable.

They also needed someone the city could get behind. The rugged, no nonsense defender who could take on the best players in the game and shut them down. This team has evoked so many memories of the 90s Knicks that New York fell in love with and Anunoby epitomizes that all-toughness, no BS mentality.

Well, they got what they wanted. In the 10 games prior to Anunoby’s debut, the Knicks went 4-6 with a 122.1 defensive rating, 23rd in the NBA. Since the deal, they’re 9-2 with the league’s second ranked defense, and Anunoby is a league-best +190 in those 11 games. The change has been so dramatic and so sudden that Anunoby’s teammates are still trying to understand just how good he is at that end.

“I don’t know, the dude’s just a freak of nature,” Jalen Brunson told reporters after the trade. “I’m watching the same thing you guys are watching. Just like, “Oh, wow! Mmm. OK.’”

“Mmm, ok” is the perfect way to describe this deal. They cut bait early on the promising backcourt spark plug Immanuel Quickley before he hits free agency this summer. They finally gave up on turning RJ Barrett into an All-Star after his promising start to this season tanked in December. But they wanted to bring in a player that feels complete, someone who the Knicks and the city knows is ready to push this franchise to the next level.

The team has tried bringing in players in the past that could score and do all sorts of exciting things, but they didn’t fit or they didn’t have the temperament to thrive under the bright lights at MSG. Anunoby is the kind of guy that doesn’t care about celebrity row. Unless it’s an opposing star trying to drop 40 on him, he doesn’t have the time of day to care.

The Knicks will have to lock up Anunoby when he hits free agency this summer, but it won’t be hard to pay the man his money if he’s locking up stars on the court every night. Then offensively, his shooting and cutting fits well around Brunson and Julius Randle. Ever since he came on board, they’ve been winning and the Knicks look like they’re taking the next step.

The Knicks needed someone who could fit with their best players (and maybe as importantly, their coach) and they’ve got their guy, plus plenty of draft picks left to make another move. Anunoby won’t get them over the top alone, but it looks like he’s a great starting point for the next step.

The way we see it, there’s no wrong time to drink a refreshing, crisp lager. Spring, summer, fall, even winter(!), we enjoy a easy-drinking, refreshing pilsner or pale lager all year long. And while there are a ton of great American made lagers, we prefer to sip on a no-frills, thirst-quenching Mexican lager whenever possible.

No, we aren’t talking about Mexican-style lagers. Although we’ve put back our fair share of 21st Amendment El Sully and Ska Mexican Logger over the years. We’re talking about the likes of classics like Tecate, Corona, Modelo, Pacifico, and Dos Equis. Crushable, no-frills Mexican lagers.

Keep scrolling to see where your favorite Mexican lager landed on our list.

8.) Sol

ABV: 4.5%

Average Price: $9 for a six-pack

The Beer:

4.5% ABV and only 138 calories, this beer is named for the sun because you probably spend a lot of time drinking it during the summer months. Who is to say you can enjoy this crisp, lightly sweet, thirst-quenching lager the rest of the year as well, right?

Tasting Notes:

The nose is all citrus peels, sweet corn, cereal grains, and honey starts everything on a unique note. The palate is surprisingly sweet and has a ton of corn, cereal grains, orange peel, honey, and sweet malt flavor. It’s not overly exciting, but crisp and refreshing.

Bottom Line:

This is a well-made Mexican lager. It has a unique sweetness that sets it apart from some of its counterparts.

7.) Dos Equis Lager Especial

ABV: 4.2%

Average Price: $9 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Meaning “Two X’s” in Spanish, Dos Equis is one of those brands that you’re likely to find at almost any beer store you walk into. Its Lager Especial is a 4.2% ABV pilsner-style lager known for its crisp, lightly hoppy flavor.

Tasting Notes:

Sweet corn, cereal grains, floral hops, and lightly fruity aromas are prevalent on this beer’s nose. Drinking it brings forth notes of corny sweetness, honey, floral hops, citrus peels, and light fruity flavors. The finish is sweet, fruity, crisp, and lingering.

Bottom Line:

This is the definition of a no-frills Mexican lager. It’s a simple, easy-to-drink lager and that’s all there is to it.

6.) Corona Extra

ABV: 4.6%

Average Price: $9 for a six-pack

The Beer:

There are no Mexican lagers (or any Mexican beer for that matter) more well-known than Corona Extra. Made with simple ingredients like water, barley malt, non-malted cereals, and hops, this well-balanced lager is known for its simple, crushable flavor.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is defined by the cereal grain, corn, yeasty bread, honey, and floral aromas Corona fans love. There’s more corn on the very sweet palate along with freshly baked bread, lemon peels, and more lightly floral hops. There’s not much to it, but it does the job.

Bottom Line:

Drink it on its own, as cold as possible, and it’s a crisp, lightly sweet, refreshing beer. Add a lime wedge and it’s something else entirely — transporting you to the tropics no matter the weather outside.

5.) Carta Blanca

ABV: 4.5%

Average Price: $9 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Carta Blanca might not have the name recognition of some of the more well-known beer brands, but this Mexican pale lager is no less memorable. This 4.5% ABV surprisingly complex, highly refreshing lager has been brewed since 1890.

Tasting Notes:

A nose of cereal grains, wet grass, bready malts, caramel, honey, citrus peels, and floral hops greet you before your first sip. The palate is loaded with sweet corn, hay, wet grass, honey, light fruit, citrus, and floral hops. The finish is crisp and bittersweet.

Bottom Line:

If you’ve never tried Carta Blanca, the time is right to add this sweet, grainy, lightly floral crusher to your refrigerator rotation.

4.) Tecate Cerveza Original

ABV: 4.5%

Average Price: $9 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Tecate was first launched in 1944 as a post-shift beverage for tired miners in Baja California, Mexico. It’s known for its malt backbone and crisp, refreshing, balanced flavor profile. If it’s good enough for hard-working miners, it’s good enough for us.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is filled with aromas of sweet corn, cereal grains, biscuit-like malts, honey, citrus peels, and bright floral hops. There’s more of the same on the palate as this balanced brew has a ton of caramel, bready malts up front, followed by grassy, floral hops and citrus zest.

Bottom Line:

Another beer that’s not overly exciting in the flavor department. But it doesn’t need to be. It’s balanced, flavorful, and perfect any time of year.

3.) Estrella Jalisco

ABV: 4.5%

Average Price: $9 for a six-pack

The Beer:

You might know Jalisco as the state where the town of Tequila is located. But Estrella Jalisco is a crisp, thirst-quenching pilsner that has over 100 years of history in Mexico. It’s another lesser-known Mexican lager that deserves your attention.

Tasting Notes:

Sweet malts, corn, grass, hay, orange peels, and floral hops are noticeable on the nose. The palate continues this trend. There’s a ton of cereal grain, sweet corn, caramel malts, citrus, honey, fresh-cut grass, and floral, earthy hops. It’s lighter than some of the other beers on this list and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Bottom Line:

Light, sweet, and balanced, Estrella Jalisco is one of the most crushable, crisp lagers on this list.

2.) Pacifico Clara

ABV: 4.5%

Average Price: $10 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Pacifico is a crushable, 4.5% ABV pilsner-style beer brewed with 2-row and 6-row barley as well as roasted malts and specially selected hops. The result is a sublimely crisp, surprisingly flavorful light, easy-drinking beer.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is all bready hops, cereal grains, light corn, lemon, and floral hops. Sipping it brings you flavors like sweet corn, cereal grains, freshly baked bread, citrus, and floral, herbal hops. The finish is a nice crisp mix of sweetness and gentle bitterness.

Bottom Line:

Pacifico is a great choice for fans of classic, European pilsner flavors. It has a nice mix of malt sweetness and hop bitterness.

1.) Modelo Especial

ABV: 4.4%

Average Price: $9 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Brewed the same way since 1925, Modelo Especial is well-known for its refreshing, no-frills flavor profile featuring a perfect balance between malt sweetness, light citrus, and floral hops. It’s brewed with simple ingredients like water, barley malt, unmalted grain, and hops.

Tasting Notes:

Complex aromas of sweet malts, cereal grains, orange peels, honey, and floral, herbal hops greet you before your first taste. Drinking it reveals notes of candied orange peels, hay, sweet corn, caramel malts, and a nice kick of herbal, earthy, floral, lightly bitter hops. All in all, a very well-rounded, crushable beer.

Bottom Line:

If you only try one beer on this list, make it Modelo Especial. It’s balanced, flavorful, and has a nice hops fragrance and flavor.

Sometimes SNL just knocks it out of the park, hitting on a subject that resonates so strongly that we can’t help but talk about it days — sometimes years — later. The most recent viral sketch happened last Saturday when SNL aired a fake commercial for Alaska Airlines addressing the airline’s recent troubles. And by recent troubles we’re talking about that time when the door plug flew off the plane mid-flight — sucking out shirts, phones, and a tray table while passengers sat in the plane unsure of whether or not they’d live to tell about it.

Normal airline stuff!

If you weren’t following that story, don’t worry, laughing about it isn’t bad because luckily no one was hurt. We can’t say the same for Alaska’s reputation. In a sketch that includes host Jacob Elordi, we’re treated to a message from Alaska Airlines employees that refers to the incident in that weird uncannily optimistic way that is typical of all airline ads. Only, you know, honest.

“On other airlines, you can watch movies, but on Alaska, you’re in the movie,” says Elordi, before cutting to a scene with screaming passengers amidst whipping winds.

We don’t want to give away too many of the jokes because the sketch is pretty short, so we’ll just link it above for your viewing pleasure. But we can’t go without making special note of this particularly funny line delivered by SNL GOAT Kenan Thompson:

“We’re the same airline where a pilot tried to turn off the engine mid-flight while on mushrooms, and now we’re proud to say, that’s our second-worst flight!”

We’re not sure if Alaska Airlines is ever going to live this one down. Especially not after that Spirit Air dart at the end.

Emma Stone has been open about her desire to get on Jeopardy! but not for any silly little Celebrity Tournament, for the real deal game. After all, the celebrity games are too thirsty and the celebrities have too much enthusiasm, whereas the regular Jeopardy games feature cutthroat normies who are just trying to prove their childhood bullies wrong. And Emma Stone could be a great addition to that.

Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings stopped by Live With Kelly and Mark where he gave Stone a little shout-out for still applying after all these years. “I really admire the celebrities for putting themselves out there, because I think people think it’s going to be like the SNL sketch, and it’s gonna be remedial-level Jeopardy! No, this is legit Jeopardy! that we make these stars play, and they are really good sports,” he said, before being asked if Stone would appear on the show.

Jennings was impressed that Stone was holding out for the big leagues. “She doesn’t want to be on Celebrity, she wants to be on real, original recipe Jeopardy! And that’s a hard show. We would take her in a heartbeat,” Jennings added. But the whole point is that she doesn’t want to be taken, she wants to earn it, Ken. Pay attention!

Stone recently revealed that she applies to the competition every year, but she has yet to get in. Probably because she’s busy bing critically acclaimed or something. “I apply every June,” Stone told Variety. “I don’t want to go on Celebrity Jeopardy. I want to earn my stripes. You can only take the test once a year with your email address, and I’ve never gotten on the show. I watch it every single night and I mark down how many answers I get right. I swear, I could go on Jeopardy.”

Even though Stone has to go through the same application process as everyone else, Jennings thinks she “might have a leg up” over any ordinary applicant, because “she’s probably pretty good on camera,” he joked. Now let’s see Jennings try to earn an Oscar, huh???

(Via Decider)

The RICO trial against Young Thug and YSL resumed today, but there may be some changes going forward if the prosecution gets its way. According to Law&Crime Network producer Cathy Russon, the prosecution filed a motion asking Judge Ural Glanville to block video of witness testimonies for the rest of the trial. While audio would be allowed, witnesses’ full names would also be blocked from publication until after the testimonies. The matter of video will be settled during a hearing on Friday, February 2 at 3pm ET.

This appears to be a belated effort by the District Attorney’s office to protect its witnesses from possible retaliation or tampering efforts, something the prosecutors claimed they were worried about from very early on in the case. Witness tampering concerns were among the arguments against granting Thug and his co-defendants bond for the near-year they were incarcerated. Arguably, the strategy was at least partially effective in pulling plea deals out of many of the co-defendants, including from Gunna and Thug’s brother Unfoonk. Despite all of those deals being so-called “Alford pleas” in which they only pled guilty to being in a gang, they’ve face recriminations from fans and fellow rappers for the past year.

As long as the cameras ARE still rolling, you can still watch the YSL trial online as it continues.

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

Taylor Sheridan doesn’t seem too worried about that rumored Yellowstone scuttlebutt that’s constantly popping up in headlines. That is to say, the Paramount+ TV king hasn’t vocalized concern about finishing the second half of Season 5 (which will supposedly film in late 2024), and perhaps that’s because he has approximately 327 other TV shows currently in the works.

Among many other selections, there’s Land Man along with more Tulsa King, The Mayor Of Kingstown, and 1923 on the way. As if that wasn’t enough, Sheridan is preparing a return to the big screen, too. The Hell Or High Water and Sicario writer has stepped up as both writer and director of the upcoming Empire Of The Summer Moon. This project didn’t exactly come out of the blue for him, so let’s discuss what has been revealed thus far.

Plot

Sheridan actually shot the breeze about this book during his recent visit with Joe Rogan, and as Deadline recently reported, this has been a Sheridan passion project for quite some time. Long ago, the project seemed destined to be a Warner Bros. flick, but that appears to no longer be the case. Will Paramount somehow be involved? Stay tuned for more there, but Sheridan is producing under his Bosque Ranch Productions umbrella.

Empire Of The Summer Moon will be based upon S.C. Gwynne’s book, Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History. This nonfiction work traces the life of pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker as well as that of her mixed-blood child, Quanah, who rose as the final and most celebrated Comanche chief. The book also spans four decades of history to detail clashes between white settlers in America and the Comanche tribe.

Comanches were extraordinarily successful fighters with children among their ranks during battle. The tribe managed to drive back the French from moving past Louisiana and did the same for colonial Spain by way of Mexico. Deadline has revealed more details about the action to come:

Part of the story involves Quanah’s mother, Cynthia Ann Parker, who was 9 when she was kidnapped by the Comanches and was a model for the young kidnapped girl in The Searchers. In the real story, Parker was married with a child when the rescue attempt was made, and she didn’t want to leave because she had no memory of life before she was taken.

Quanah and the Comanches drove back the Spanish and French, but the settlers coming from the Eastern states were more formidable. They created the Texas Rangers and fortified them with the six gun, for which the Comanches had no answer.

Cast

Sheridan has stayed mum on casting updates, although we should hear more updates on that note soon.

Release Date

Bosque Ranch Productions has not yet revealed a release date for the movie.

Trailer

We’re as eager to see a trailer as you are, so we will be awaiting further news. For now, here’s a clip from Sheridan’s recent visit with Joe Rogan. They discuss the Empire Of The Summer Moon book after the 4:00 mark.

Just six years into her professional career, A’ja Wilson has already become one of the most decorated stars the WNBA has ever seen. With a ROY award, two MVPs, two DPOYs, two championships, and a Finals MVP, Wilson has established herself as the dominant force in the WNBA today.

Coming off of back-to-back championships, the Las Vegas Aces face the challenge of trying to become the first WNBA squad to three-peat since the Houston Comets won the first four WNBA titles from 1997-2000. While Las Vegas still boasts a loaded roster, headlined by Wilson, and are the favorites for good reason, there’s plenty of teams looking to dethrone them and three-peating has, historically, been a difficult challenge in any sport. To do it, you have to have a talented roster willing to put team success above individual accolades, and the Aces so far have been able to do keep a mantra of “we before me.”

Wilson spoke with DIME this week ahead of a busy February for her, as she gets ready for her book release and will be part of NBA All-Star Weekend, joining Jayson Tatum for a Ridgeline Unlocks fan contest prior to the Ruffles Celebrity Game in Indianapolis. We talked about how she stays hungry for more as her on-court ramp up period begins for the upcoming season, the conversations the Aces have to keep their main focus on winning titles, loving when her teammates get the shine they deserve for the hard work and sacrifices they make to allow Vegas to win championships, and more.

How’s the offseason going so far for you and just how are you doing now that we’re getting a few months out from from camp starting?

This is the time where I really start to dial into my craft and doing a lot of different things and ramping up, so it’s been fun getting back into the swing of things. My offseason has been great. I’ve been just kind of laying low, keeping to myself. Obviously my book is coming out next month, so we’re getting all ready for that. And I’m super excited about that. That’s probably my main thing that I’m excited about right now. But it’s been tons of fun and I can’t believe that training camp’s right around the corner.

What has it been like for you writing a book and getting to tell your story and do everything that that goes into that, because it is quite the process?

It’s been a lot of fun. It was a lot of meetings obviously throughout my season, just making sure that everything was going to be good, but I think now that I’m done with it, I’m very pleased about how much work we put in. And I definitely found a new way of just viewing things since doing that, particularly my audiobook. So it’s been a lot of fun. I have a village that has been so supportive of me, and just been super excited just to get things going. So February is going to be a big month.

You mentioned getting started on ramping up and something I always find interesting is somebody that’s at your position at the top of your sport, what do you focus on at this point in your individual work? Is it more about refining what you’re already doing? Are there things you still look to add to your game? And kind of how do you approach that balance as you get ready for another season?

Yeah, I think the biggest thing is just never becoming satisfied. Like no matter how many rings or banners I may have put up, at the end of the day, I can still learn. I could still grow and just being a sponge to everything. And I surprise myself every day when I go to the gym that I’m still doing things and having fun while doing it. So yeah being in this position that I am…I’m just never satisfied. I want to be great. I want more. I’m greedy when it comes to that. So when it comes to just how can I bring more to my game? What’s the work that I could put in? It’s a no brainer. So yeah, I’m excited just to continue to grow.

There aren’t many people who have experienced what you have in terms of your journey, but one of the few would be your teammate, Candace Parker. What’s it been like being able to spend time with her on and off the court and just be able to bounce things off of somebody who is in the rare position of having been through a lot of the things that you have?

Yeah, it’s been incredible. If you would have told 13 year old A’ja that she would be teammates with Candace Parker, she would probably flip out and say there’s no way. So it was definitely just a lot of fun just getting to pick her brain. I feel like Candace has seen so much within our league with so much of the game that like she’s seen the highs, the lows, the good, the bad, the ugly. So just to have that in our locker room and just the veteran that she is, the legend, the GOAT, the Hall of Famer that she is — just the way she approaches the game is something that I admire a lot. And to see that every single day whether she was injured or healthy. She was very present in just making sure that I was good, and it was pretty cool just watching the game over again and seeing how excited and hyped she was on the bench for us. Because it took all of us, it really did. And so yeah, it’s been a lot of fun learning from her.

What are the conversations that have to happen on the team like yours where you have so much talent and there are sacrifices that everybody has to make? And how special is it to have a group that’s willing to do that and keep team success at front of mind?

I think it’s something that we’ve learned that it has to be we before me. And that’s something that we approached right at the front gate. Like when we have people that get traded or are just here on the team, like new to the team, that’s the first thing that we help them understand that this is we’ve sacrificed a lot to be where we are. People on the outside looking in see the end result and that’s obviously what they focus on. But they lose sight of how we got to that point. How many arguments and back and forths and disagreements we went through and sacrifices we went through to get to that point. So the biggest thing is understanding that you’re not there for yourself, you’re there for the whole team and the greater good of the team, and that’s been a lot of fun just pulling that out of people within our locker room but never losing ourselves.

When you see somebody like Jackie Young have such a big Finals and you see somebody that maybe doesn’t get the recognition all the time have breakout moments like that, how much does that mean to you? When you see somebody who could be the best player on another team who might be your third, fourth option get that kind of shine, how exciting is that for you to see that moment for them?

It’s super exciting because like like you said, I see the countless hours that Jackie put in. I see everybody that’s working hard in the gym. And so when the rest of the world sees it, it comes by no surprise to me because I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I know. They can do that.’ But that’s the beautiful thing about it is showing people that there are different paths and journeys that you go through, but you can still make it to the top and you can still achieve your goals and be you. So anytime Jackie gets acknowledged or any of my teammates get acknowledged I’m like nothing but smiles, because I’m like I see the countless hours that they put in so it’s great to be recognized. It warms my heart for sure.

I got to ask, are you ready for that Indy cold in a month, here [for NBA All-Star]?

Man, you know I just bought a new pair of Ugg boots. Gotta make sure I’m at least gonna be cute and cold. But no, I’m super excited to kind of dial into NBA All-Star and obviously Ruffles allows me to do that. It crosses over and blends the leagues together and I love to be a part of something that is not my All-Star so I don’t have to worry about playing, I can just be me and Ruffles allows me to be me. So I’m super excited for this one.

Yeah, I know you’ll be you’ll be with Ruffles for the Celeb Game. What do you have going on there and how are y’all going to be able to get some fans interacted with the Celeb Game this year?

Yeah, so I don’t know if you’re familiar with the Celebrity Game, but they have the four-pointer line. But now it’s called the Ridgeline Unlocked. So now it brings a different feel to it. Because now you’re unlocking different things when people score. And I think it’s a win-win and it really gets fans that are in Indiana but also at home a chance to be interactive with the game that we love. But it’s going to be tons of fun, and Jason Tatum and I are doing something where we’re picking fans, they get to shoot their own four-pointer Ridgeline shot and we get to pick and if they win, they get a chance to come to Indiana and actually shoot on the court right before the Celebrity Game. So I’m super excited about that because I think that’s the crossover that we love is like when you actually can experience something. Like you do it, cool. Where does it go? And I think Ruffles does a great job of now being like no this is real. You’re here in the moment. Do that. So I’m excited to watch it.

Ben Gibbard’s bands The Postal Service and Death Cab For Cutie were the nostalgia kings of 2023 when they launched a tour celebrating the albums Give Up and Transatlanticism. They announced additional co-headlining dates for 2024, and now it turns out that will also include this year’s Just Like Heaven festival.

The Goldenvoice fest unveiled its 2024 lineup today (January 22), and it features Gibbard’s bands, along with Phoenix, The War On Drugs, Mike Snow, Passion Pit, Alvvays, Two Door Cinema Club, Phantogram, Metric, Tegan And Sara, Washed Out, Broken Social Scene, Sleigh Bells, Warpaint, CSS, Be Your Own Pet, The Go! Team, Them Jeans, Chris Cruse, and Gossip.

Festival tickets go on sale starting January 26 at 11 a.m. PT. Find more information on the festival website. The one-day fest goes down on May 18 at Brookside at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

Uproxx’s Carolyn Droke attended the 2023 edition of the fest and noted in her review, “For the majority of the crowd — people in their 30s and 40s — Just Like Heaven was an opportunity to re-live their youth. And thanks to the elder millennial demographic, Just Like Heaven was one of the more laid-back festivals I’ve attended. I even overheard a passerby note that it was the ‘least scary festival crowd’ they had ever been in. […] Though the Southern California sun was harsh for most of the day, plenty of trees and boba tea stands provided much-appreciated respite from the heat. It was an ideal environment to bask in the collective nostalgia of early to mid-aughts indie rock, reminisce on the genre’s heyday, and (hopefully) inspire a new generation of indie music lovers.”

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

Last November, Megan Thee Stallion dropped “Cobra,” her first single since reportedly settling her years-long legal battle against her now-former label 1501 Certified Entertainment. Uproxx tapped it as one of “The Best Songs Of 2023,” due to how directly the song confronts her recent traumas (both personal and professional).

Since, Hot Girl Meg has collaborated with Reneé Rapp on Mean Girls track “Not My Fault” and released a NSFW song from the Big Mouth soundtrack, but she just reminded everybody that she’s still firmly in “Act One” of her snake emoji-fueled era.

This morning, January 22, Megan Thee Stallion announced “Hiss.” The single is due out this Friday, January 26, and is available to pre-save here. The “Hiss” cover art (or, one of them) finds Meg appearing completely nonplussed about having a shudder-inducing white snake wrapped around her neck and head.

“Cobra” and “Hiss” are presumably leading up to a Megan Thee Stallion album soon — her first since Traumazine in August 2022 — which is on Uproxx’s list of “Most Anticipated Albums Of 2024.” Aaron Williams previewed what can be expected, as excerpted below.

“New Year, new Stallion. The Hot Girl Coach finds herself in a much better place to begin 2024; she’s put both her legal dispute with her label and the Tory Lanez shooting case in her rearview, and she’s newly independent, meaning she’s the one calling all the shots on her next album. She kicked off her new era with the confessional return to form, ‘Cobra,’ and predicted in September that her next album will contain ‘a lot of rawness, a lot of realness, a lot of sh*t talking,’ while a more recent live stream promised she wouldn’t hold back, answering anyone who has called her out over the past couple of years.”

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