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Wednesday guitarist and songwriter MJ Lenderman has shared a new song “Rudolph” to celebrate signing to Anti- as a solo artist. Drawing inspiration from the popular reindeer character for the chorus, the track follows Lenderman’s 2022 album, Boat Songs.

It also comes complete with a music video to match the fuzzy indie song, as it takes viewers through a range of locations during a storm and a small town at night.

“‘Rudolph’ was the first song I wrote after the release of Boat Songs,” he shared in a statement. “I had been sitting on the guitar part for a long time and slowly worked out the song whenever I could in between tours in 2022. I finished the lyrics with my friend one late night after a Wednesday gig in Atlanta.”

Fans can expect to catch Lenderman along the way of his US summer tour, which kicks off tomorrow in Nashville. He is also stopping in Chicago for the Pitchfork Music Festival.

Check out MJ Lenderman’s “Rudolph” above. Continue scrolling for a complete list of tour dates.

07/19 — Nashville, TN @ The Basement East
07/20 — Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop Bar
07/21 — Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
07/22 — Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
07/23 — Nelsonville, OH @ Nelsonville Music Festival
08/04 — Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon
08/08 — Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy + Harriet’s
08/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
08/25 – Port Townsend, WA @ Thing Fest
09/23-09/24 — Accord, NY @ Woodsist Festival

Nerlens Noel has had quite the career journey in the NBA, as the former No. 6 overall pick of the Sixers in 2013 has played for six different NBA teams, struggling to stay on the floor but being a productive defender when he has been available.

That ability to be a rim deterrent has kept him in the league, peaking with his two years in Oklahoma City where he was able to stay healthy and be a very productive player for the Thunder, followed by a solid first year in New York. The last two years, though, he’s only been able to appear in 42 games with three different teams, spending the 2021-22 season with the Knicks before being traded to Detroit last offseason and then finishing the year in Brooklyn. However, this summer provided an opportunity for Noel to find another chance at a rotation spot in free agency, as his defensive abilities figured to be desirable in a very thin center market, and ultimately he found a new home in Sacramento on a 1-year deal, per Adrian Wojnarowski.

After trading Richaun Holmes to clear space, the Kings needed to add a third center and Noel will bring them that behind Domantas Sabonis and Alex Len. It’s a flier from the Kings on a talented defender, something they very much need, at a position they already go two deep at and won’t be desperate for Noel to log big minutes.

A writer/director known for making important movies has called Oppenheimer the “best, most important film of this century.” Paul Shrader, the maker of several of your favorite films, praised Christopher Nolan‘s latest in the highest possible terms. Although, it’s a little early in the century to call it.

Then again, who knows if movies will even exist in 67 years.

“If you see one film in cinemas this year it should be Oppenheimer,” Schrader said in a Facebook post. “I’m not a Nolan groupie but this one blows the door off the hinges.”

It’s a massive feather in Nolan and company’s cap, but it’s also little surprise that the writer/director who almost solely creates films about men struggling through existential crisis with a side order of violence enjoyed Oppenheimer.

Tons of critics and filmmakers have raved about the film and its performances (particularly Cillian Murphy in the main role), and it’s a good thing, because this is the only kind of publicity they can really rack up with the WGA and SAG strikes keeping famous faces from promoting their work.

Still, Shrader’s gonna have egg on his face when he finally sees Barbie and has to retract this statement.

(via Variety)

Cillian Murphy was on the mother of all diets to play the father of the atomic bomb in Oppenheimer.

“He had such a monumental undertaking,” actress Emily Blunt, who plays his on-screen wife in the Christopher Nolan movie, told Extra. “And he could only eat, like, an almond every day. He was so emaciated.”

Blunt might have been exaggerating with his one almond-a-day diet, although it is funny to imagine Cillian Murphy slicing a single bean into three parts, Mickey Mouse-style, for three meals. And by funny, I mean horrifying. Did he learn nothing from his Batman Begins co-star Christian Bale?

Murphy previously discussed how he prepared for Oppenheimer. “I love acting with my body, and Oppenheimer had a very distinct physicality and silhouette, which I wanted to get right,” he told the New York Times. “I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring; he was very slim, almost emaciated, existed on martinis and cigarettes.” Murphy added, “He had these really bright eyes and I wanted to give him this wide-eyed look, so we worked on his silhouette and expressions a lot before starting.”

Oppenheimer comes out this week on the same day as Barbie, as you might have heard. I hope Murphy celebrates by, like, eating a taco.

(Via Extra and the New York Times)

A staff writer for The Bear who “lived below the poverty line” while making the show did not appreciate Disney CEO Bob Iger‘s recent remarks on the now-dual actors’ and writers’ strikes.

“There’s a level of expectation that they have, that is just not realistic,” Iger told CNBC (via Variety) shortly after SAG-AFTRA authorized a strike. “And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive.”

Alex O’Keefe wasn’t having it. The Bear writer appeared on CNN where he ripped apart not just Iger’s words, but the opulent backdrop for his remarks.

“It’s very funny that this multimillionaire CEO says that we’re not being realistic,” O’Keefe said. “You pan out, there’s a beautiful Sun Valley background there. And if you pan out even more, you’d see a fleet of private jets. It’s funny who gets to imagine in this world who gets to be unrealistic because we’re living in the wildest imaginations of a few billionaires who have designed our economy exclusively for themselves.”

The striking writer then went on to detail the economic situation he and other writers are often forced to navigate even while working for hit shows.

Via CNN:

I wrote for a very big show called The Bear. I made very little money. I saw no profits in it. I lived below the poverty line working on this show that has made millions of dollars for FX and Disney at large. This is not how the world has to be. There is enough wealth in this industry alone for us all to have success. And for a hundred years in this industry that’s how it worked. It was a common expectation. This would be a good, union middle class career. Not for the big actors, but for everyone who makes the machine run.

“And now we’re not even allowed to be in the middle class,” O’Keefe explained to CNN. “We’re told to be grateful to be there. No, we’re mad as hell and we’re not gonna take it anymore.”

O’Keefe also detailed the “huge injustice” of his pay for The Bear to the New York Post where he once again blasted Iger for complaining about the strikes being “disruptive.”

“Strikes are supposed to be disruptions,” O’Keefe said. “Capitalists love disruptions when it makes them money. Netflix and Disney+ were disruptions to the market.”

(Via CNN, New York Post)

Ahead of her upcoming album Hit Parade, Róisín Murphy has shared a new single called “You Knew.” On the hypnotic dance track, Murphy she reclaims her power after a broken heart, reminding the man in question that he knew exactly what he was getting into when he met her.

“What you expect me to toe the line for? / You knew exactly what you were buying / Don’t come the innocent boy / Admit that you’ve got your motives / You knew exactly what motivates me,” sings Murphy on the song’s chorus.

The song encapsulates the forms of love Murphy has experienced throughout her life, and how she refuses to compromise for the sake of someone else’s happiness

“‘You Knew’ is the story of my life,” said Murphy in a statement. “I’m an open book, I put myself on the line and I make my motivations obvious. Many times, I have bravely loved and not been loved in return, and I’m proud of that. That phrase, ‘You Knew,’ just sums it all up, in fact you could put it on my headstone, except I’ve already decided it’ll say… you had your chance!”

Listen to “You Knew” above.

Hit Parade is out 9/8 via Ninja Tune. Find more information here.

It really is only us. Lil Baby’s It’s Only Us Tour was already beset by setbacks, including several canceled dates, and is now plagued by the loss of its biggest headlining act. According to TMZ, Australian singer The Kid Laroi has dropped out of the tour, leaving Lil Baby with a slate of openers whose profiles might not be enough to fill the venues he wanted to book.

While GloRilla, Gloss Up, Hunxho, and Rylo Rodriguez — all rising stars in their own rights — all remain billed for now, this could hurt a tour that’s already reportedly been troubled by low sales. For reference, Lil Baby’s tour now no longer includes an Atlanta date — meaning he won’t even be performing in his own hometown. Other cities removed from the schedule include Denver, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Louisville, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, and San Diego. Baby still shared an updated flyer on Instagram, which suggests he’s planning to proceed in either case.

The tour cancellations have been a hot topic of discussion on Twitter, with industry professionals chiming in to detail the complex logistics that often go into booking and routing a nationwide tour. Meanwhile, fans aren’t optimistic about the future of the tour, asserting that between the price of tickets and the disappointing lineup, it’s no wonder Lil Baby isn’t able to fill the arenas he aimed for. And some have other theories, mainly involving karma:

You can still check out the remaining dates here.

At a recent concert, country star Miranda Lambert addressed her audience, saying, “I’m gonna stop right here for a second, I’m sorry. These girls are worried about their selfie and not listening to the song, it’s pissing me off a little bit. Sorry, I don’t like it at all. We’re here to hear some country music tonight. I’m singing some country damn music.”

Presumably, many people imagined that Lambert was perhaps overreacting to a fairly innocent, innocuous act by some fans trying to take a photo to help preserve memories of a fun evening seeing one of their favorite performers live on stage. However, more evidence has emerged, and now it sounds more like Lambert was in the right.

As TMZ reports, the group of people in question consisted of six women, one of whom shared their side of the story. That included photos, and it appears the half-dozen concertgoers were on their feet, turned away from Lambert, and seemingly blocking the view of other fans as they took photos of themselves (with the flash on, no less).

In the caption, the woman wrote, “These are the 2 pictures we were talking when Miranda Lambert stopped her concert and told us to sit down and not take selfies [face screaming emoji].”

TMZ also notes that other fans were pleased when Lambert paused the show to address the situation. Furthermore, TikTok videos from the event claim the women’s photoshoot started “several minutes” before Lambert called them out, so it appears Lambert actually exercised quite a bit of patience before addressing them.

The world has officially been Pinkydoll-pilled.

After going viral last week for her strangely bewitching TikTok Live streams, content creator Pinkydoll — real name Fedha Sinon — has ushered in a new social media trend that’s done what Kim Kardashian couldn’t: it’s broken the damn internet. Let us explain.

Sinon, known to her 463K followers on TikTok as Pinkydoll, specializes in NPC streams. In the gaming community, an NPC is a non-playable character, i.e. a character with a set of preprogrammed reactions that can’t be changed or controlled by the user. What this means to a gamer is fairly simple: anytime you interact with an NPC, you already know what they’re going to say and do. Their movements and phrases are repetitive, often meant to serve as background noise or move the game’s story forward in some way. But, what this means for those who what NPC streamers like Pinkydoll on TikTok is a bit more confusing.

Most of Pinkydoll’s live streams boast hundreds of thousands of viewers who send her “gifts,” digital tokens like roses, ice cream cones, cowboy hats, and other miscellaneous emojis. Pinkydoll reacts to these tokens with preprogrammed, repetitive responses, much like a real NPC would. For example, anytime she’s sent an ice cream cone, Pinkydoll mimics a slurping sound before saying, “mmmm, ice cream so good,” in a voice The NY Times describes as “sexy baby.” That catchphrase has become a meme in its own right, and Pinkydoll’s success — she’s making thousands of dollars per stream thanks to users sending her these cartoonish tokens — has spawned a legion of imitators. Most of her fellow NPC streamers now follow Pinkydoll’s patented formula — staring directly into the camera, speaking in soft tones, uttering phrases and sound effects specific to the emojis they’re sent, and even popping popcorn kernels with a hair straightener. It’s the kind of mind-numbing, kink-adjacent content you’d expect to see streaming in the background of a David Cronenberg dystopian drama and it’s left everyone questioning our viewing habits — and broken psyches.

“It’s very stimulating, because it’s fast and very repetitive, so people sit and watch it to see the next reaction or if I will break character or mess up somehow from too many gifts,” another NPC streamer named Cherry Crush told the NY Times.

What Pinkydoll and other NPC streamers do is basically brain-smoothing viral content at its finest but it’s netted them massive followings, celebrity fans — both Keke Palmer and Timbaland have given Pinkydoll shoutouts recently — and big paydays. So maybe the joke’s on us?

Wiz Khalifa headed back to his hometown to throw out the first pitch during a Pittsburgh Pirates game at PNC Park — as he was also gearing up for a performance stop on his High School Reunion Tour.

Oh, and he celebrated the honor by taking some shrooms before he stepped out at the ball game.

“Finna get stoned af and throw this first pitch at the pirates game,” Khalifa tweeted. “Shroomed out throwin a baseball is crazy.”

After he tossed the pitch, Khalifa uploaded some pics of weed and the shrooms. He also still managed to catch the rest of the game, as he shared another photo of his view from the stands, complete with some Cracker Jack and an apparent drink.

Throughout his career, Khalifa has praised his Pittsburgh roots. During a 2012 interview with MTV News (via HipHopDX), he pointed out that the city’s hip-hop scene had opened up “a whole new avenue” for kids being raised there.

“You really won’t get it if you’re not from there,” he said. “Just growing up in Pittsburgh and knowing different neighborhoods, having family there, and just loving it, it’s like no other place.”

“Pittsburgh, it’s just laid-back… Midwest almost on some country stuff,” he added.

Check out Wiz Khalifa’s tweets and his Pirates pitching skills above.