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Say what you want about the former President; he’s got great taste. Barack Obama has shared his 2023 summer playlist and he’s been listening to some of fans’ favorite new artists this year in addition to a collection of classics. “Like I do every year, here are some songs I’ve been listening to this summer — a mix of old and new,” he wrote on Twitter. “Look forward to hearing what I’ve missed.”

It doesn’t seem like he’s missed much. While he’s been listening to a bunch of stuff you’d expected to hear from a “cool uncle” like Aretha Franklin’s “Dr. Feelgood (Love Is A Serious Business)” and Toots And The Maytals’ “Funky Kingston,” there are plenty of more recent standouts. Some examples include J Hus and Drake’s “Who Told You,” Janelle Monáe’s “Only Have Eyes 42,” and Rosalía and Rauw Alejandro’s “Vampiros.” Even Luke Combs’ cover of “Fast Car” is here, which… we’ll give Uncle Barry a pass for the nostalgia.

During a recent interview with Hassan Minhaj, Obama denied having help or taking shortcuts in building his legendary end-of-year lists. “People, they believe the books and the movies,” he said. “But the playlists, they somehow think — and this is mostly coming from young people like you — Somehow, y’all think you invented rock and roll. You invented hip-hop. And so the fact that my lists are pretty incredible, people seem to think, ‘Well, he must’ve had some 20-year-old intern who was figuring out this latest cut.’ No, man. It’s on my iPad right now!”

I mean, playing music from an iPad is pretty funny, but we certainly do appreciate the insights into his taste.

You can check out Obama’s Summer Playlist above.

James Harden is, for now, still a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. He would like for that not to be the case by the time the 2023-24 season starts, as he has requested to be traded and, more specifically, requested to be traded to the L.A. Clippers.

It is a situation not unlike what Portland finds itself in with Damian Lillard’s trade request to Miami, but the difference is, there’s not even really a hope of finding another suitor for Harden. A team could talk themselves into Dame begrudgingly playing for them given he has four years remaining on his deal, but with Harden on an expiring deal after picking up his player option, there’s no long-term potential upside to trading for him if he does not want to be there. As such, the Sixers can only hope to apply pressure to the Clippers to put a better offer on the table by threatening to drag this out into the season.

The problem with that is, Harden won’t just disappear like Ben Simmons did, as he will report to camp and apply pressure in the manner he’s perfected. Harden is as good as there is at making things so uncomfortable that a team acquiesces to his trade demand, as he’s pulled it off twice in the last few years — first with Houston and then with Brooklyn. After Daryl Morey, who was once tight with Harden but now is decidedly not, made it publicly known that he wouldn’t trade Harden if the right offer came long, Harden appears to have responded in kind.

Harden posted an Instagram story on Thursday that simply read: Been comfortable for so long. It’s time to get uncomfortable.

Either Harden recently watched Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One and was inspired by seeing Tom Cruise jump a motorcycle off a cliff and wants to get into pushing his own limits with daring stunts, or, more likely, he is issuing a mild threat about what’s to come for the Sixers if they don’t figure out this trade with the Clippers.

According to Variety, AMC Theaters has dumped its plan to charge people different rates for heartbreak that feels good depending on where they’re seated to witness said heartbreak.

The plan, called “Sightline at AMC,” was originally announced in February. The general idea was that center seats would cost more while patrons might get a discount for sitting in the front row or on the sides. The concept was criticized at announcement, most vocally by Elijah Wood, for essentially divvying up the movie theater Shakespeare style with the Haves in certain sections and the Have Nots in others.

Now that they’ve tested the plan out, the company is scrapping it because it didn’t do enough to put butts into differently-priced seats. Turns out they weren’t really swayed by the “Movie Theaters are sacred spaces” argument and leaned more heavily on the fact that a couple bucks in either direction didn’t sway people.

“To ensure AMC’s ticket prices remain competitive, the Sightline at AMC pilot program will come to an end at participating locations in the coming weeks, and the initiative will not roll out nationwide,” the company said in a press release.

Thus, movie theater prices will continue to only be delineated based on whether you’re seeing it in standard format, on IMAX, or with a rumble pack attached to you for when Tom Cruise goes zoooooom.

John Stamos visited Hot Ones (before the SAG strike) to proclaim that the central character on Full House was “love” before getting angry drunk on hot sauce.

An absolute delight, Stamos brought up one of Hot One‘s previous interviews where Sean Evans compared Howard Stern‘s infamous Fartman scene in Private Parts to how celebrities initially thought of coming on his show to eat spicy food and answer niche questions. When Evans couldn’t remember who shared the scene with Stern in the movie, Stamos gleefully shouted, “It was me! Good research, you asshole!” causing Evans to nearly fall out of his seat laughing.

A few minutes later, Stamos asked if he could become the co-host of the show before actually falling out of his seat.

It was a solid pratfall, but the thousand-yard-stare Stamos had glued to his face by the end of the gauntlet was legit. It was one of the best episodes of the interview series, marked by Stamos’ unique charm and a fantastic chemistry between the two as they ate wings and chatted about comedy legends, working with James Earl Jones on stage, and close encounters of the fandom kind. Stamos also explained how he got the Private Parts gig, replacing Luke Perry and spending the shooting day drinking beer with Slash.

Last week, Atlanta rapper Future seemingly revived his feud with Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson on Quavo’s new song “Turn Yo Clic Up.” In his verse, Future says, “I got it out the field, f*ck Russell,” which some fans took to be a clear shot at Wilson, with whom Future has been feuding since 2015, when Wilson began dating R&B singer Ciara after she broke up with Future in 2014.

However, Wilson has always taken the high road, choosing not to respond to Future’s provocations — at least, not directly. He continued in this strategy with his latest social media post, which fans have determined is the best kind of subtle clapback. Posting a photo of himself and his stepson, Future (yes, he’s named after his dad), Wilson captioned the post: “Best part of the day #DadLife.” Given the criticism that the adult Future has taken online for taking a supposedly aloof parenting style to his seven children, Fans were delighted to see the laid-back football player gain the upper hand in their exchange.

There are a lot of good responses, but this one pretty much sums it up: “Future said I’m really in the field f*ck Russell.. then Russ took a pic in the field with his kid .. this uncharted territory of disrespect.”

Yup. You can check out more responses below.

John Boyega has not been shy when it comes to voicing his opinion on his Star Wars experience after starring as Finn in all three Sequel Trilogy films. While Boyega has since made peace with Finn’s journey and has hinted over the years that he’d return to the franchise, the actor couldn’t resist being his candid self during a recent episode of Hot Ones.

When asked to rank the films in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy from best to worst, Boyega gave what will surely be a controversial response thanks to his last place choice.

“‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ is most definitely the best,” Boyega said via Variety. “Second, for me, comes [‘The Rise of Skywalker’]. The worst – in the most respectful sense – is [‘The Last Jedi’]. But they’re all lovely.”

While Boyega gave a diplomatic answer, the actor did give a little bit of side-eye after mentioning The Last Jedi, a film he’s criticized before, and one that has proved to be highly divisive with Star Wars fans.

“I didn’t necessarily agree with a lot of the choices in that and that’s something that spoke to Mark [Hamill] a lot about and we had conversations about it. And it was hard for all of us, because we were separated,” Boyega told HypeBeast back in 2019 before comparing The Last Jedi to the classic films. “There was much more of a trio feel where it was essentially about Luke’s journey, but Han and Leia there was a strong dynamic.”

Boyega placing The Rise of Skywalker ahead of The Last Jedi is also an interesting choice given Lucasfilm hasn’t been able to get a Star Wars movie off the ground since the final installment for the Sequel Trilogy managed to disappoint both lovers and haters of The Last Jedi. Heck, Boyega might be the only person who likes it.

(Via Variety)

Austin Reaves enjoyed a breakout season in 2022-23, becoming the Lakers third-best player during their run to the conference finals, earning a new 4-year, $54 million deal in free agency to stay in L.A. in the process.

Reaves had always dreamed of being a member of the Lakers because of Kobe Bryant, and his anti-LeBron tweets from when he was a young Kobe fan have been forgiven by his legendary teammate. Reaves even orchestrated a Draft night move to avoid being picked by the Pistons, preferring to sign with the Lakers as an undrafted free agent. In his breakout year, Reaves has become a fan-favorite for many Lakers fans, including one in particular who has family ties to the organization.

Kobe Bryant’s nephew is apparently a huge Reaves fan, and when his birthday rolled around in the playoffs, his mother, Shaya Bryant, reached out to Matt Barnes to see if he had a way to get in touch with Austin. On the latest All The Smoke podcast, Barnes thanked Reaves for being willing to send a video birthday message despite it being during the postseason, and showed the video of Kobe’s nephew breaking down in tears seeing his favorite player sent him a personal note.

It’s a very cool moment and shows that Reaves obviously understands what it can mean to a young fan to take a little time out to send a video message like that. Clearly it meant a ton to Kobe’s nephew, and Barnes wanted to relay the message from Shaya that it was immensely appreciated.

Fans have been impatiently waiting for the follow-up to ASAP Rocky’s 2018 album, Testing. For the past five years, Rocky’s been more occupied with a variety of ups and downs, from his incarceration in Sweden to becoming a father thanks to Rihanna (with whom he might be married, judging from some of his recent comments and his new song “Riot (Rowdy Pipe’n)“).

That doesn’t mean he hasn’t been working on it; late last year, he noted that the upcoming album, Don’t Be Dumb, has heavy input from Metro Boomin — and that it’s been “finished” since December. Of course, once an album is done, there’s still lots of work to do, from plotting out music video releases and brand partnerships to routing tours, but with multiple singles, including “Riot” and “Same Problems” out, you can’t blame fans for believing the album should be on its way any day now.

Rocky certainly fueled those rumors in a new interview with Complex, blaming delays on leakers and revealing a laundry list of producers that includes Hitkidd, Madlib, Mike Dean, Swedish House Mafia, The Alchemist, and Tyler The Creator, in addition to Rocky himself. As far as when the album is due, Rocky said, “These dummies got to stop leaking sh*t. Every time, we have to go back to the drawing board. But right now, I think it’s in a place where we tightened it up and we really can’t make or break anything right now… it’s time to start rolling out the project.”

Just days after announcing the impending release of their fifth joint project, Magic 2, Nas and Hit-Boy have also shared the album’s tracklist and features, which include both 21 Savage and 50 Cent. This is notable because both of those rappers have engaged to some degree in controversy with Nas over the years — 50 Cent decades ago, during the juggernaut G-Unit heyday, and 21 Savage more recently.

In 50’s case, the two fellow Queens natives had toured together early on in 50’s career, and Nas was one of the dozens of rappers 50 mentioned in his breakout hit, “How To Rob.” And while Nas initially shrugged off the shots as just clever execution of the concept, the two rappers feuded in earnest in the mid-2000s after Nas made disparaging comments onstage during during a concert in New York. 50 nearly escalated the feud with a scathing diss track, but was stopped by Dr. Dre.

Meanwhile, 21 Savage drew criticism from fans late last year when he happened to suggest that Nas isn’t so relevant anymore during a chat on Clubhouse. However, that may have just been rollout, because he backtracked within 24 hours and two weeks later, the two rappers had released a collaboration, “One Mic, One Gun” — the song that appears on Magic 2.

Magic 2 drops July 21 via Mass Appeal. Get more info here.

Finesse2Tymes might well be on the cusp of a huge breakout after being featured on the 2023 XXL Freshman Class cover thanks to the success of his viral hit “Back End,” but that didn’t stop him from getting into some legal trouble in Houston this weekend. Local news reported that the Houston Police Department has issued a warrant for the Memphis rapper’s arrest for allegedly stealing a rental car earlier this year.

Finesse2Tymes, whose legal name is Ricky Hampton, was charged with felony theft between $30,000 and $150,000 after a supposed associate told Enterprise employees the rapper was using it — well over a month after it was supposed to have been returned. The car, an Infiniti QX80 SUV, was rented by Ronald Bell on February 28 with a return date of March 10. However, after a 10-day demand letter sent on April 10 received no response, Enterprise employees called Bell, who told them Finesse2Tymes had the car, connecting him on a three-way call.

Hampton said he and the car were in Atlanta and that he’d bring it back three days later, on April 23. On April 24, the car was reported stolen. Traffic cameras showed the car being driven around Houston that day and police recovered the vehicle on April 25 at a recording studio being driven by a woman who said Finesse had hired her a few days before and giving her the car to run his errands. Hopefully, Finesse can resolve the issue before August, when he’s scheduled to join fellow Memphis rapper Moneybagg Yo on his Larger Than Life Tour.