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We’re Picking Winners For Week 12 Of The 2023 NFL Season

sam howell
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Hello, Thanksgiving! As always, Thanksgiving is not only a time for food and family, but also a time for NFL action. Three games are on the slate on Thursday and, for the first time ever, the NFL is also taking over Black Friday with a game in a national window. Of course, you are not legally required to bet on every single game (I know, I know), but we strive to bring value wherever it can be found. That often takes us to some ugly places, but Week 11 was profitable and, well, it would’ve been more profitable if not for the work of Cade Otton.

I digress but, before diving into the five picks for Week 12, let’s take a glance at the overall landscape.

  • Week 11: 3-2
  • 2023 Season: 29-23-3

Come get these winners.

Washington Commanders (+12.5) over Dallas Cowboys — Widely Available

Well, this is the only play we’re listing on Thanksgiving, and it may not be fun. However, the look-ahead number was 9.5 and it has ballooned all the way to 12.5 after Week 11’s results. I do understand why it happened, but that kind of move is unwarranted in my view. Washington is happy to sneak into the backdoor with a meaningless late score if needed, and this is just too many points.

TEASER: Cincinnati Bengals (+7.5) over Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns (+7.5) over Denver Broncos — FanDuel

I’m mortified by the inclusion of Jake Browning in a teaser, but bear with me. The Steelers haven’t won a game by more than seven points all season, and while Pittsburgh did (finally) move on from Matt Canada, that doesn’t fix everything in less than a week. It’s a division game with a total in the mid-3o’s for good measure. From there, Cleveland is facing a Denver team that is walking through the rain drops with insane turnover luck as of late. The Browns have the best unit in this game with their defense and, again, this is a line moving through key numbers with an extremely low total.

Indianapolis Colts (-2.5) over Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Widely Available

The Colts are coming off a bye, and the Bucs got banged around by the 49ers last week. Tampa Bay has also played six straight weeks, and the underlying metrics solidly favor Indy in this matchup. As noted above, we almost got home with the Bucs last week, but it’s time to fade in a tough spot for Tampa.

Buffalo Bills (+3.5) over Philadelphia Eagles — DraftKings

I’ve already seen this referred to as a “fishy” line in multiple places this week. After all, the Eagles are 9-1 and the Bills are 6-5, so how does this line make sense in Philadelphia? Well, the oddsmakers are seeing the same thing that I’m seeing in that Buffalo remains undervalued. Make no mistake, Philadelphia is quite good, but they’ve been quite fortunate in two or three of their victories. If you can nab the hook, take it.

TEASER: Los Angeles Rams (+7.5) over Arizona Cardinals AND Kansas City Chiefs (-2.5) over Las Vegas Raiders — FanDuel

We’ve had the Rams a few times of late, and I remain higher than the market on Los Angeles. Now, they are facing an Arizona team that I’m having trouble buying. Kansas City is the only favorite I like as a teaser leg this week, and despite a short week, the Chiefs should take care of business in the desert.

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Trader Joe’s And Costco Face Off In The Ultimate Pumpkin Pie Battle

Trader Joe vs. Costco Pumpkin Pie Battle
Shutterstock/UPROXX

Pumpkin pie is one of those Thanksgiving dinner dishes that can get pretty divisive. The whole pumpkin spice craze of the last 20 years (yes folks, it’s been that long) hasn’t helped either. Pumpkin pie — at its core — is a celebration of a roasted gourd spiced up by fall/winter spices with a creamy and soft texture. Then there’s a pie crust with a nice crunch, savoriness, and butteriness to it, adding more flavor and texture.

Sounds good, right? It is… when it’s done right.

Sadly, it’s a very easy pie to screw up — especially when corners are cut for efficiency and cost. Case in point, prepared grocery store pies have massive swings in quality. Even in our blind taste test and ranking of grocery store pies, the winning pumpkin pie didn’t seem to be that great. Uproxx’s Dane Rivera had this to say about the current champ, “My only real knock against this pie is the crust. It’s a bit too soft and doesn’t serve as a big enough contrast to the silkiness of the filling.”

The gist is that when you’re not baking from scratch at home, you’re going to have to be okay with some shortcomings. Nothing Dane ranked seemed to leave him blissed out.

If you have time, we think you should take the hour to bake a pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving (oh, look — here’s a great recipe to do just that). But what if you don’t have time? Well, after Dane’s ranking, we got a whole lot of emails and comments about Costco’s colossal pumpkin pie. People wanted to know where it lands in the grand scheme of things. So I dutifully purchased Dane’s favorite grocery pumpkin pie from Trader Joe’s and pitted it in a side-by-side tasting with Costco’s truly huge pumpkin pie.

The results were striking — let’s dive right in.

Check Out These Other Recipe Articles From UPROXX:

Part 1 — The Battle: Costco Vs. Trader Joe’s

Pumpkin Pie Battle
Zach Johnston

2. Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie Battle
Zach Johnston

Price: $6.99 (27 oz.)

The Pie:

Trader Joe’s pumpkin pie has a brownish hue with a clear sense of spices in the filling (you can see the dark brown dots). The crust is fancy on the edges and very thick. I want to call this pie “small” but that’s only because it’s sitting next to a massive Costco one.

The pie also has a bold aroma of pumpkin spice. The moment you take it from the box, it hits you with a lot of pumpkin spices — kind of like a pumpkin spiced latte from Starbucks. I don’t think this is an accident.

Overall, you should be able to get six slices from this pie, which is a good size overall.

Tasting Notes:

Pie Filling: The filling really smells of pumpkin spice lattes. The texture is softer at first but then gets a little gummy on the third and fourth chew. The actual taste is pumpkin spice only. There’s no sense of pumpkin at all on the palate. By the end, the filling was like chewing pumpkin spice creamy gum.

Crust: Crust? What crust? I’m only half kidding. The crust was dense yet gummy and almost completely blank of flavor besides a whisper of salt. The crimped rim had a bit of a crunch to it but that’s me being very generous. The underlayer of crust was just gummy to the point of almost being annoying to chew.

Bottom Line:

Pumpkin Pie Battle
Zach Johnston

If this is the best “grocery store pumpkin pie” … the others must have been complete dumpster fires. Poor Dane, what have me made him submit himself to! There’s no taste of pumpkin whatsoever.

1. Costco Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie Battle
Zach Johnston

Price: $5.99 (58 oz.)

The Pie:

Fifty. Eight. Ounces. That means that you can easily get 12-16 servings from this pie. So right out of the gate, this pie wins major points for feeding a big crew or family.

Okay, let’s get into the pie. The color is a nice brownish orange — a burnt orange if you will. The crust isn’t overly fancy or crimped but it’s there.

The key is that when you pop the container open you get a nose full of roasted pumpkin that has been spiced. Like real, actual pumpkin.

Tasting Notes:

Pie Filling: The filling is moist and has a little give to it. It’s kind of halfway between a flan and crème brûlée in consistency thanks to a moment of airiness. The actual taste is roasted pumpkin forward with a nice layer of savory pumpkin that’s been spiced with nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon. There’s nothing as bold as clove or anise but there is a mild sharpness to the spice.

Plus, it feels real. I mean that in that it feels like real pumpkin and actual spices were used instead of a mix (or can).

Crust: The crust is thinner, which works here. There’s a nice butteriness to the crimped rim with a good pinch of salt countered by a moment of white sugar. The under crust is thin and kind of gets lost for the most part. It does provide a faint textural layer but not much. At the very least, it tastes like real pie crust with butter and salt and not just white flour.

Bottom Line:

Pumpkin Pie Battle
Zach Johnston

Overall, this tastes like real-deal pumpkin pie. And that’s why Costco’s Pumpkin Pie runs away with this battle. There’s almost no comparison between the two.

Part 2 — Final Thoughts on the Pumpkin Pies

Pumpkin Pie Battle
Zach Johnston

Okay, while I am dragging Trader Joe’s pie pretty hard, I do get it. It’s made for folks who want “pumpkin spice” pie. It’s a latte in a neutral pie crust. And I fully appreciate that it beat a whole mess of middling pies in the blind tasting. But there’s still little to no “pumpkin” in that equation. Then there’s the mouthfeel. The Trader Joe’s pie is gummy. The Costco pie is lush by comparison.

In the end, the Costco pie wins on every front and that’s before you even get to how much more you’re getting for one dollar less in price. I think it might be time for y’all to pull that trigger and get a Costco membership if you want to buy the best storebought pumpkin pie. Or, y’know, just bake your own and make this conversation moot in an instant.

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All The Streetwear Brands From ComplexCon 2023 You Need On Your Radar

Streetwear
Complex/Getty

ComplexCon rolled through Long Beach California this weekend to wrap up 2023’s year in streetwear in a nice stylish bow. Maybe “bow” isn’t the right word… in a nice stylish workwear-inspired balaclava maybe? Let’s go with that! This year was an interesting one for streetwear, as now that we’re three years deep into the decade it feels like the 20s have an identity of their own rather than still being indebted to the fading trends of the previous decade.

The two-day extravaganza saw over 150 different streetwear brands cram into the Long Beach Convention Center for a pop-up market of bespoke booths and large art exhibits, giving guests access to exclusive drops of limited products and hot collaborations. We were on the ground both days of the festival scoping out all the brands and booths to help filter down the best brands in attendance so that you don’t have to. We filtered it down to a tight ten.

Here are the ComplexCon 2023 brands you need on your radar right now.

ADW

Why We Love The Brand:

ADW comes from the mind of Adriana Williams, a Howard University alum who taught herself how to sew and specializes in handmade clothing accessories. The Kensington Philadelphia-based brand is beloved for its attention to craft and detail and currently makes t-shirts, hats, jewelry, home goods, and bags.

We love the brand’s minimalist aesthetic and clean designs.

Shop ADW here.

B.B. Simon

Why We Love The Brand:

If you’re looking to bling out your belt buckle with an eye-catching statement piece, make it B.B. Simon. Every belt from the brand is handcrafted and made to order with Austrian Crystals.

The brand counts Doja Cat, Ice Spice, Sexyy Red, and Jim Jones as fans.

Shop B.B. Simon here.

Belacartes

Why We Love The Brand:

Belacartes’ vibe is gritty and industrial, with a sort of punk rock and nu-metal aesthetic. While the brand leans on the edgy side there is still a playful almost cute vibe to some of their pieces. For every studded belt and pair of jorts, there is a vibrant leopard-print Ugg-inspired boot or pink hoodie to help balance out the look.

Shop Belacartes here.

Chris Pyrate

Why We Love The Brand:

The brainchild of the designer and artist of the same name, Chris Pyrate makes beautiful pieces full of psychedelic and flowery imagery. Pyrate’s current collection is very small, right now it consists of streetwear staples like pants, shirts, hoodies, and a reversible bubble jacket, but each design feels like a genuine piece of art worth cherishing.

At ComplexCon he introduced his first sneaker, a Nike SB-style shoe that features his psychedelic floral designs.

Shop Chris Pyrate here.

Diva In The USA

Why We Love The Brand:

Diva in the USA is an Atlanta-based brand founded by rapper and producer Reese LAFLARE. The brand mostly deals in skatewear basics and staples but has a bright and playful aesthetic that is incredibly infectious and easy to love.

That’s probably why the brand has attracted the attention of Young Thug, Metro Boomin, A$AP Ferg, Hit-Boy, and Sexxy Red, all artists known for their playful sense of style.

Shop Diva in the USA here.

Garmette

Founded by Mexican-Peruvian designer Elliette Saavedra, Garmette specializes in handmade garments inspired by Saavedra’s upbringing in a Hispanic household. The brand’s big piece is the elegant and beautiful V-Maxi dress, but the brand came through ComplexCon with several moto-inspired pieces

The brand counts Becky G and Jorja Smith as fans.

Shop Garmette here.

Hello Angel Girl

Why We Love The Brand:

Hello Angel Girl is a California-based brand that takes inspiration from Japanese fashion subcultures like Gyaru, which itself is influenced by American fashion circa-2000 and filtered through a Japanese lens. It’s a fashion aesthetic that has been translated, and then translated again! The main aesthetic is bright, colorful, playful, and super cute.

If your vibe is Hello Kitty, pink, and ultra kawaii, Hello Angel Girl is your brand.

Shop Hello Angel Girl here.

Homme + Femme

Why We Love The Brand:

Founded by Drew and Andrew Evans, Homme + Femme is an LA-based brand that specializes in elevated luxury streetwear. The brand oozes the ‘90s and early ’00s vibes filtered through an LA hip-hop lens.

The brand just recently dropped a moto-inspired collection that looks seriously dope, whether you’re into super elevated pieces like the premium leather “Classic Moto Jacket” or more casual styles like the “Moto Thermal Long Sleeve.”

Shop Homme + Femme here.

The Incorporated Clothing

Why We Love The Brand:

The Incorporated is a Seattle-born Los Angeles-based brand started by designer Mark McGinnis. The brand likes to combine vintage and high-fashion silhouettes with streetwear aesthetics, resulting in a loud but highly stylish look.

The brand’s main focus is menswear, but unisex pieces have shown up in music videos for various artists, hinting at what the brand might have in store as it continues to grow.

Shop The Incorporated Clothing here.

Knorts Knit Denim

Why We Love The Brand:

Knorts Knit Denim is a brand that does denim, but elevated. The premium pieces from Knorts are knitted not woven and made on looms in Los Angeles with indigo-dyed yarn. The main idea behind Knorts is to offer denim fashion that is as comfortable and laid-back as possible.

It’s denim filtered through a laid-back LA lens, and we’re here for it. So are Cardi B and Latto apparently!

Shop Knorts Knit Denim here.

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The Ice Spice Chia Pet, Perhaps The Most Perfect Merch Collab Ever, Exists Now And Here’s How To Get It

ice spice
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Ice Spice has been crushing it with the brand collaborations lately by seizing opportunities that are perfectly suited to her. First, there was the Ice Spice Munchkins Drink from Dunkin; Her stage name alone already sounds like it could be on the Dunkin menu, and the opportunity to include the chain’s Munchkins donut holes in the drink was too spot-on to ignore (Ice’s fans are known as Munchkins).

Now, she has another hit, and this time, she’s capitalizing on her distinct hairstyle: In partnership with Chicago lifestyle brand Living Product, Ice Spice has released her own Chia Pet. It’s currently available to buy via Amazon and chia.com, and will also be on icespicemusic.com starting this Friday, November 24.

Ice Spice Chia Pet
Chia

Chia’s product description reads:

“Calling all Munchkins! The Ice Spice Chia Pet® is here and ready to add some baddie energy to your home décor! The superstar rapper’s iconic style is on full display as a terra cotta home planter, complete with pink jacket and her signature diamond chain. Just spread the seeds, water, and watch her grow leafy green hair! The Ice Spice Chia Pet comes with one packet of Chia® seeds good for three plantings, a convenient plastic drip tray, and planting and care instructions for chart-topping growth within two weeks. The princess of rap is now the perfect gift for the hip hop or music fan in your life and can be washed and replanted indefinitely! “

The rapper said in a statement (as Complex notes), “Like my lyrics say, ‘I’m breakin’ records and I’m breakin’ news.’ I’m not sure who stole whose look, but I’m into it and am very excited about this fun partnership. Chia Pet is an iconic brand with a dope jingle — so we have that in common.”

JB Brode, the Owner/Founder of Living Product, also told Complex, “My manager Tara is such a beast. She connected us to help design merch for Ice Spice. Ideating around that led us to this lightbulb moment like, ‘Damn, an Ice Spice Chia Pet would be crazy.’ It started as just an idea for a graphic, but we knew that the idea deserved its own moment. We pitched it to Spice’s team, who graciously let us pursue the official collaboration with Chia, and many months and negotiations later, here we are. It’s been a very educational process for us and we are so happy to see it come to life. The commercial really brought it full circle for us. Our guys at Pio Mio Studios executed our vision perfectly and it tied everything together beautifully.”

There’s also a vintage-style, 30-second ad for the product, so check that out below.

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We Tried Michael Fassbender’s Weird Egg McMuffin Hack From Netflix’s ‘The Killer’

The Killer Hack
Netflix/Uproxx

“There are fifteen hundred McDonald’s in France, a good enough place to grab 10 grams of protein for a Euro.”

Says Michael Fassbender’s titular killer six minutes into David Fincher’s The Killer, on Netflix. The Killer is a good film, Fincher does a great job reinventing his style and Fassbender is, as always, great. And yet… I couldn’t get the image of Fassbender dressed as a German tourist scarfing down a weird Ham McMuffin hack out of my mind for the entire duration of the film.

It’s little details and quirks that make fictional characters seem alive and real. But this fast food menu hack — which consisted of two slices of ham with fried egg sandwiched between them — filled me with questions to the point of distraction.

Why did he ditch the bun? Why would he order a Ham McMuffin over the sausage? Did he order the second piece of ham on the side or did he order two McMuffins, and combine them, in which case, where the f*ck is the second egg? What is he doing with all the bread? Do assassins not have time for cheese?! I don’t think it was Fincher’s intention for me to focus on a McDonald’s sandwich hack for the entirety of his film but also… how could I not?

With this week feeling a tad slow, I rolled up to McDonald’s, ordered two Ham McMuffins without cheese (even the person taking my order thought I was weird), as well as two sausage McMuffins with cheese so I could put my own spin on the hack. Here is what I discovered.

The Killer Ham McMuffin Hack

The Killer Hack
Dane Rivera

Thoughts & Tasting Notes:

At first, I thought this sandwich might’ve consisted of two eggs but after seeing the way it looked stacked, there is no way Fassbender is eating two eggs in the movie; with two eggs this thing looks massive. So I went the one-egg route. As soon as I took a bite out of this reassembled sandwich I realized the genius behind Fincher’s choice — this is some psycho-killer shit.

You have to be a bit deranged to eat this sandwich. It is disturbing on so many levels. The texture is awful, without the bun a hot spotlight is put onto the weird mouthfeel of the ham. It’s incredibly rubbery, and the combination of sweet, thick ham and dry fried egg is legitimately one of the worst single bites of food I’ve ever experienced in covering fast food.

Handling the sandwich is also really off-putting. The ham is fleshy, and instantly holding this sandwich makes you feel like you’re doing something wrong. Something that should be illegal. Maybe not as bad as murder but also…kinda close.

After two bites I was done, I couldn’t handle this sandwich anymore. Let’s move on to what I hoped would be a better version, the same build but with sausage and cheese.

A Much-Less Disturbing Version Of The Same Sandwich, With Sausage And Cheese

The Killer Hack
Dane Rivera

Thoughts & Tasting Notes:

For this alteration on the hack, I essentially built the same sandwich but with sausage patties and cheese instead of ham. As I built this sandwich I became convinced that The Killer did get cheese after all, it’s just impossible to remove the cheese once it’s been melded onto the English muffin top. I tried to carefully peel the sausage patty from the top bun but I was only able to get some of the cheese removed.

Biting into the sandwich I tasted black pepper, a meaty slightly sweet sausage flavor, a hint of salt from what was left of the American cheese, and a neutral dry egg flavor. I’d like to say that this keto-friendly hack was a huge improvement over the ham version but it’s not. Note really, at least. It’s only slightly better but still a sad comparison to eating the sandwich as it’s intended with the bun.

Turns out most of what makes a McMuffin good is the muffin. Who knew?

The Bottom Line:

This hack and any alteration of it that involves removing the bun is only for the disturbed. Even if you’re living that keto lifestyle, there has to be a better option than this! Now replacing the bun with a hashbrown in its place… that might be a hack worth trying.

Find your nearest McDonald’s here.

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A story about ‘lemon pie’ is taking the internet by storm and leaving readers in tears

There appears to be a growing trend on TikTok: heartbreaking slice-of-life stories, told as a slideshow. These usually mimic a text conversation between two people caught in a vulnerable moment, showcasing something quite moving and profound in the mundane.

Take for instance the “orange peel story” which went viral only a couple of weeks ago. It follows two college students post break-up, one of whom still has feelings for the other. A tender exchange encourages them to believe that they will find love again.

Now, there’s a new story making the rounds, and it’s every bit as touching.


This one is called the “lemon pie” story (it’s unclear if all text-based TikTok stories should have a fruit theme), and it was written by @sappoop, who reminds us in their bio to not get too depressed by their stories, since they’re fiction.

Regardless, people are having real feelings after reading it.

It all begins with the straightforward line, “hey, we need to break up.” Presumably from the girlfriend in the relationship.

lemon pie story

The boyfriend must have not seen it coming, because he asks if he did something to make the girlfriend upset.

“no, you’re perfect,” she replies. “it’s me.”

Blindsided, the boyfriend writes, “please tell me what’s going on,” using the pet name “lemon.”

orange peel story

He is only met with more cryptic answers as she writes: “My heart is in no condition to love right now.”

The girlfriend then asks if the boyfriend remembers the night they first met. She recalls that night, when she had been caught stealing lemons out of the boy’s lemon tree by his mother. The boy convinced his mother to let it all go, sparing the girl from getting into trouble. That was the night he gave her the nickname “lemon.”

To thank the boy, the girl had made him a lemon pie—which they both reminisced about being terrible.

lemon pie story

But that nostalgic feeling is cut short when the girlfriend requests that the boyfriend not contact her again. She then blocks his number.

Only one day later, the boyfriend uses a burner phone to reach out. This doesn’t exactly go well, since his ex informs him that she will be blocking this number as well. But before she does, she makes an unusual, somewhat foreboding request:

orange peel story

“will you promise to regularly contact my number, even with both of your phones blocked?” she asks. “update me about your life? even if the texts don’t go through, at least i’ll have some hope in heart that you didn’t forget about me? ask me how my day was and pretend I’m responding back. will you promise to take my heart and claim it as your own?”

The boy continues trying to contact her throughout the years, all to no avail. Until one day, he does get a response from. Not from his beloved “Lemon,” but her mom, informing him that her daughter had passed away due to heart failure.

The boy’s life goes on, but he keeps his promise. He texts “Lemon” from time to time, telling her when he meets someone else, when he gets married…and finally, when he gets diagnosed with heart cancer.

“Maybe our hearts are linked after all,” he writes.

lemon pie story

The story ends with the boy telling the girl that he picked some lemons from his mom’s house, and plans to make her a lemon pie, just as “horrible” as he remembered it.

Click here to read the full story.

Over 6.2 million people have read this story, with several calling it even more tragic than the popular orange peel story.

@finney_frog @🌷 <<<<< literally crying rn #lemonpie #sad #sadstories #hehim #gay #Igbt #lgbtq #achillean #trans #transgender #t4t #transmasc #nonbinary #ftm #queer #mlm #foryou #fyp #fypシ #dontflop ♬ interlinked – jacob¡

“i’m on the toilet at school sobbing rn,” wrote @zombehcorpse in the comments.

“Who makes these…I’m sobbing at 6:20 in the morning,” one person wrote.

“Yoinks this one’s got a little kick to it,” added another.

These types of stories might leave us emotionally wrecked, but we can all admit that shedding a tear over a fictional scenario feels really good once in a while. And it can be pretty good for us too. So keep these devastating TikToks coming!

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Why Does Daryl Hall Have A Restraining Order On John Oates?

hall and oates
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Fans have been shocked as news broke that Hall & Oates have actually split like seeds, making plans to never see each other again. Daryl Hall filed a lawsuit against John Oates in Nashville Chancery Court, as Philadelphia Magazine noted that a business trust dispute was the cause of the filing. It has also been reported that a temporary restraining order was issued for Hall against Oates on November 17.

While details of the case or the restraining order’s reasoning are still pretty unknown, they might be for a while. According to Axios reporter Nate Rau, “At least for now, all of the filings in the litigation are under seal.”

Although the duo hadn’t been releasing music together for a while, they had seemed pretty cordial in recent years.

“We get along just fine,” Hall previously shared in a 2014 interview with The Guardian about their relationship. “We weren’t — and aren’t — very much alike: we have different interests. But the differences aren’t important, what’s important is what we share — and that’s music.”

“Daryl and I are more like brothers than actual friends,” Oates added. “We’re very different as people, but we have this incredibly strong musical bond. He is creatively unsatisfied and that drives him forward. He’s very smart, and, in my opinion, has one of the greatest popular voices of all time.”

Here’s hoping the two give some more insight into the lawsuit.

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Did Rod Wave Steal Jay-Z’s ‘Song Cry’ Lyrics?

rod wave 2022
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Fans are noticing that one of Rod Wave‘s signature songs sounds similar to an old Jay-Z song. Earlier this week, music fans took to Twitter to express their disdain toward Wave, as he supposedly borrowed a few bars from Hov. That said, some are arguing that this is simply a case of interpolation — something that’s been a component of hip-hop since its birth 50 years ago.

Did Rod Wave steal Jay-Z’s ‘Song Cry’ lyrics?

On Wave’s song, “2019”, which was originally released in 2021, he raps “We was so happy poor but when we got rich / That’s when signals get crossed and we got flipped / Read her mind, I don’t know what made me leave that sh*t / Made me speed that quick, let me see that’s it.” This particular verse is bar-for-bar with Jay’s 2002 song “Song Cry.”

This particular set of lyrics has left fans divided, with some noting that Jay-Z had interpreted Biggie lyrics early on in his career.

“When Jay-Z did it y’all said he was just ‘paying homage,’” said one Twitter user. “This just shows us that Rod Wave is a master student of the game.”

Some also pointed out that Wave has previously interpolated bars by Boosie Badazz and Drake, but maintains an air of originality throughout his craft.

Wave has since denied stealing lyrics from other artists.

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Cardi B Saw A Super Janky Ad That Used AI To Impersonate Her (Pretty Poorly) And She’s Thinking Lawsuit

cardi b 2023
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AI tools are relatively new when it comes to being widely accessible on a consumer level. Despite that, a lot of them are already pretty dang good. In terms of impersonation via audio or video, AI tools are producing some convincing results, and here we have a case where they’re not being used for good at the expense of Cardi B.

An online ad for an entity called USA Wellness Wave (about which there appears to be virtually no information online) features an AI-generated voiceover that bears more than a passing resemblance to Cardi, although some of the vocal rhythms and other nuances give away that it’s not the real deal. The video uses unrelated videos of Cardi speaking to give the impression that it’s actually her talking, and the voiceover promotes a supposed “stimulus-style program” that promises free and easy money to applicants.

The clip was shared on Twitter recently and Cardi caught wind of it today. It would seem she’s not a fan, as she re-posted it and wrote, “AI is crazy smh….another lawsuit that fell right on my lap…I love easy money.”

Meanwhile, Cardi recently cleared up rumors that suggested she was quitting music.

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

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Yes, That Was Jon Hamm’s Real Nude Butt In The Two-Part ‘Fargo’ Season 5 Premiere

Jon Hamm Nude Hot Tub Fargo
FX

In a matter of clearly grave national importance, there’s been a lot of focus on Jon Hamm sporting nipple rings for his Trump-loving sheriff in Fargo Season 5. The actor reportedly went so far as to work with a “nippleologist,” which is apparently a real thing and a sign of Hamm’s dedication to his craft.

However, Fargo fans were greeted with more than just painstakingly accurate nipple rings during the two part Season 5 premiere. During a pivotal scene where the FBI is questioning Hamm’s Sheriff Roy Tillman about his discretionary application of the law, the character emerges from a hot tub giving everyone a full-on view of Hamm’s backside.

Jon Hamm Nude Butt Fargo
FX

We are happy to report that what you saw in the premiere was the real deal. Fargo creator Noah Hawley confirmed to Vanity Fair that those cheeks are 100% Hamm:

That’s all Jon. Don’t forget the nipple rings! Tillman is deeply invested in religious traditions but also wears nipple rings. It’s Tiger King America, which manages to mix conservative and what would be called liberal values in a way that is fascinating. It was really great to explore that with Jon’s character, because he’s not your father’s Christian lawman. It’s a more unexpected, more unfamiliar guy who is basically saying, I am the law. That’s what we saw with our previous president—whatever he was, that’s what the law was. And there’s a sort of unsettling carnality to Jon’s character, you know, where he wants the moral high ground but he’s also got a sex trunk. So where does the line get drawn, and who gets to draw it? That really is the thing.

The two-part Fargo Season 5 premiere in all it’s Hamm-butt glory is available for streaming on Hulu.

(Via Vanity Fair)