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At long last, Lil Uzi Vert‘s long-awaited album, Pink Tape, is almost here. The album is set to arrive this year, after months and months of delays. Over the course of the past few months, Uzi’s single, “Just Wanna Rock,” has gone viral, and proven to be a hit, as it has placed at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. As of now, “Just Wanna Rock” is the only song that has been revealed from the album, but we’ve put together a nifty guide on what you need to know before the album arrives.

Release date

Pink Tape is out 6/30 via Atlantic Records. Find more information here.

Tracklist

The tracklist for Pink Tape is yet to be revealed. However, it appears the album will have 26 songs, with “Just Wanna Rock” placing at track 15.

Features

Collaborators on Pink Tape have not yet been revealed.

Artwork

The official album artwork for Pink Tape can be viewed below.

Singles

So far, the only single to be released from Pink Tape is “Just Wanna Rock.” The song came out last October and has gone viral through several TikTok dance videos.

Trailer

You can see the Pink Tape trailer below.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Released in September 2021, Squid Game proved to be a massive breakout success for Netflix as the streaming series brought in record numbers across the globe. The show was so huge that even Leonardo DiCaprio was a fan. However, while Squid Game‘s viewership dominated headlines, little was mentioned of how much the series boosted Netflix’s bottom line. According to a new report, it was a lot.

In a new article on Netflix’s attempt to soften the blow of the ongoing writers’ strike by turning to South Korea for content, The Los Angeles Times reports that the streaming giant made out like a bandit when it acquired Squid Game from creator Hwang Dong-hyuk:

“Squid Game” turned out to be a bargain beyond compare. Made for about $2.4 million an episode, about a fourth the cost of “Stranger Things,” the nine-part series went on to win six Emmys, set a Netflix record of 1.65 billion viewing hours in its first 28 days of release and — according to internal Netflix documents — increase the value of the company by an estimated $900 million.

However, despite Squid Game being a massive boon for Netflix, Hwang did not get rich from the show’s success. As part of his initial contract, Hwang “forfeited all intellectual property rights and received no residuals.”

The LA Times also reported that crew members on Korean productions like Squid Game routinely feel exploited by the streamer, which prompted the following response from Netflix.

“We pay fair, highly competitive rates with our K-Content creators and set clear standards for our Korean production partners, who produce all our shows and movies,” Netflix said in a statement. “These standards meet or exceed Korean law.”

(Via Los Angeles Times)

Community faced a heavy cast turnover over its six (mostly) brilliant seasons. Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Ken Jeong, and Jim Rash were there the entire time, but Donald Glover left midway through season five; Yvette Nicole Brown was only a recurring cast member in the final season; and Chevy Chase, well, that’s a whole thing that we don’t need to get into.

Why? Because he’s not in the Community movie, unlike Donald Glover.

McHale confirmed the good news on Kelly Ripa’s Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast, according to EW. “Donald’s coming back and that’s really important,” he said. “The fact that Donald’s gonna do it, that was the big piece. But I think everyone’s coming back. I mean, so far we’re pretty good. And I think that will happen. If not then, you know, Donald will be there.” As for Chevy:

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” McHale said when Ripa asked if Chase would be part of the movie. “There wasn’t any issues at all when we were making the show,” he added with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

Add another notch:

McHale also added that the Community movie is expected to begin filming next summer, assuming they can get the trampoline budget under control.

You can listen to the podcast below.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Pizza-brandishing savior Pete Davidson hasn’t made too many relationship-based headlines lately, but he did still recently grace us with the story of how he got stoned and bought a Staten Island ferry with former SNL co-star Colin Jost. The better part of that story is that Jost was “stone cold sober” while those papers were signed, which surely isn’t as embarrassing for Jost as Michael Che’s April Fool’s Day joke this year.

Still, the ferry boat apparently functions primarily as a $280,000 money pit now, but Davidson did chat with Seth Meyers on his new podcast that’s filling the house of this long writer’s strike. Via The Daily Beast, Davidson revealed that he and Jost came up with a (joke) name for their ferry, and their big dream is at least five years away:

“We jokingly named [the ferry] Titanic 2 on the LLC when we had to buy it. It’s all going to stay the same — the same outside, we’re gonna keep what we can and just repurpose, make sure it’s nice, but it’ll be the Staten Island Ferry … There’ll be a restaurant, there’ll be a concert venue, there’ll be a movie theater… and then there’s hotels in it, so we’ll have a couple of those, and then in the winter, [we’ll] tug [the ferry] to Miami.”

Dreams are good to have, but the decommissioned ferry is apparently plagued with both asbestos and roach colonies. Seems like a long shot to shove a couple of hotels on top of the thing, but stranger things have happened. Maybe just make a movie about it instead, though.

(Via The Daily Beast)

I don’t know. Maybe this happens to you, too…

You ever watch a movie a million times, maybe on streaming or maybe just on cable some stormy weekend morning, and you know everything that happens, even down to the exact dialogue in places, but there’s one scene in particular that burrows its way into your brain and makes a little home there? Like, even if you’re not thinking about it actively, it’s still just kind of humming there in the background, maybe while you’re driving or grocery shopping or watching another movie entirely.

For me, it’s a scene from Bad Boys, a movie that came out almost 30 years ago. You guys know Bad Boys. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence play Miami cops who try to take down drug dealers and protect a witness played by Tea Leoni? Will Smith and Martin Lawrence do a little character swap halfway through where Lawrence has to pretend to be Smith’s character to keep up a ruse? Smith’s character is named Mike Lowrey and everyone in the movie pronounces it “Mike Lahhhhhrey.” It’s great. It’ll probably be on TNT this Saturday. Check it out again if it’s been a while.

But that’s not the point. It’s kind of the point. But not really the point. The point is that there’s a scene about halfway through the movie where they meet with their captain, played by Joe Pantoliano, where this whole ruse is laid out, and I can’t stop thinking about it. Ever. Here, look…

A few things jump out right away here. Joey Pants is:

• Shooting baskets in the middle of the day
• In an unlit and apparently sweltering gym in Miami
• Smoking a cigar
• Throwing up some of the worst shots anyone has ever seen

It fascinates me. I have so many questions about it. All the time. And I’ll get to those. But first, look at Joey Pants work.

This is just really good work here. Some Grade A police-captaining. He does this stuff the whole movie, too. Just yelling and waving around a cigar and getting frustrated by his loose cannon hotshot detectives. The only little twist is that, instead of doing the thing where he shouts “YOU’RE OFF THE CASE” and demands their badges and guns, he makes them stay on the case. With their badges and guns. This is a groundbreaking development in cinema.

He also does this, which I’m not going to provide context for at all for two reasons:

• I don’t think it needs any
• I just really wanted to make this next screencap

I stand by it.

Same bullet points apply to this next one, too.

Hey, did you guys know Bad Boys was originally supposed to star Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey? Well, now you do! Good luck forgetting that fact!

Anyway, remember the thing I mentioned in the introduction about Joey Pants firing up the worst shots you’ve ever seen in your entire life all throughout this scene?

Well, look at excellence in cinema…

A few notes here:

• I get mad every time I watch this scene that we never get any backstory as to what possessed him to go into an empty sweatbox old gymnasium, change into workout clothes, light up a big stogie, and start launching free throws
• Like, does he do this a lot?
• Is this how he unwinds over lunch?
• Do the other cops talk about it and laugh?

I would, no joke, watch an entire spinoff television series about this character that focuses only on this. I’m very normal.

Hey, here’s another useful screencap.

I have said this exact line — or some slight modification of it — out loud maybe 5000 times in my life. I use it as shorthand with my friends whenever I screw something up. Like, let’s say I knock over a soda or drop something or fumble over my words in front of someone. “I was, like, getting them all in before you showed up.” It’s fun. It makes no sense to anyone who doesn’t understand the context, but for the people that do, it’s just a tremendous piece of business. And now that you understand the context, I recommend you try slipping it in, too.

Most people will look at you like you’ve lost your mind, but the people who get it… buddy, you just made a friend for life.

Oh hey, let’s also just explain the plot of the entire movie in two screencaps while we’re at it…

… and toss up another disastrous kind of push-hook shot that never had a chance of doing anything productive.

Reasonable arguments can be made that this is my favorite character in any movie ever made.

We close out this scene with a “Does it look like I care?” and a “Whatever it takes” after Smith and Lawrence give him a little pushback, which is also just a perfect bit of movie captaining, and another fun reversal from the chief who gets mad at the cops who play by their own rules but get results, which is all great. Just a classic Michael Bay scene here, all bluster and bravado and sweaty dudes working together to save the world and/or Miami. And it ends with Will Smith draining a jump shot to drive home how much cooler he is than his cranky boss. Which is fine. You are welcome to discuss that amongst yourselves.

I would like to close out by focusing on this, though…

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY BASKETBALLS?

IS HE SHOOTING ONE AND THEN JUST LEAVING IT ON THE GROUND AND GETTING A NEW ONE?

ARE THESE DISPOSABLE BASKETBALLS?

AND SO ON

The thing I like here is that there’s no situation where this is not very funny. Because, like, in the world of the movie, please imagine walking in on your boss smoking a cigar and launching awful jump shots like this on a 1000-degree day in South Florida just surrounded by basketballs. And even in the real world, I’m having a great time picturing Michael Bay holding a megaphone up to his face and shouting “I NEED MORE BASKETBALLS. ALL OVER THE FLOOR. JEFF, FIND ME BASKETBALLS.” Poor Jeff.

Anyway, if you’re ever sitting around wondering what I’m up to, please know that there’s about a 60 to 70 percent chance I am thinking about this. It’s fine.

There are plenty of things that political-nepo-baby-turned-anti-vaxxer-presidential-candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. doesn’t know. How to correctly do a push-up. The average cost of a gallon of milk (probably). How Prozac works. When to just shut up.

But none of that really matters to Republicans who seem happy to use his conspiracy-fueled campaign to hurt Joe Biden’s bid for a second term in office. In fact, RFK, Jr.’s strategy of tanking his party’s White House hopes by regurgitating baseless vaccine misinformation and faux outrage over COVID-19 mandates is so popular amongst the GOP that even Donald Trump is a fan.

In a New York Times report charting RFK, Jr.’s presidential bid, plenty of right-wing supporters championed the man who hails from a political dynasty that should represent everything they hate about the D.C. swamp. RFK, Jr. is a one-percenter, a coastal elite whose fathers, aunts, and uncles helped shape Democratic ideals Republicans seem to abhor like Civil Rights. But as soon as he word vomits fascist buzzwords like “censorship,” “mainstream media” and “government conspiracy,” RFK, Jr. transforms into a political puppet for the MAGA cult. And Trump sounds like he’s more than happy to use his tiny hands to pull the guy’s strings.

During an appearance on The Howie Carr Show Monday, Trump gave RFK, Jr. some encouragement.

“Just hang in,” he said. “He’s been very nice to me, I’ve actually had a very nice relationship with him over the years. He’s a very smart guy and a good guy.”

Trump went on to basically campaign for RFK, Jr., who he considered for a role in his White House as a vaccine czar before the pandemic hit. “He’s a common sense guy and so am I,” Trump said. “So, whether you’re conservative or liberal, common sense is common sense. A lot of what I run on is common sense. He’s doing really well, I saw a poll, he’s at 22. That’s pretty good! That’s pretty good, doing very well.”

And in case you were doubting that this might be an effective strategy…

Roger Stone, a longtime GOP operative whom Trump pardoned after being convicted in 2019 of obstructing a congressional investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, remarked on a podcast in April of this year that “incumbent presidents who run for re-election but who are challenged in the primaries by a significant challenger, even though they survive, in almost every case, they are defeated.” Stone cited what happened to Jimmy Carter when Ted Kennedy challenged him for the 1980 nomination.

(Via The NYT)

Derek and Sam’s son has been kidnapped, so they’re panicked. The cops are helping, and they might have a lead, but it might show that Derek and Sam might have very good reason to be targeted.

Steven Soderbergh has continued his Mosaic partnership with writer Ed Solomon to create the six-episode series Full Circle for Max, and the trailer makes it look like a vice getting tighter as more of the story comes to light. The two pillars of the story are CCH Pounders’ “Auntie,” an important figure in the NYC Guyanese diaspora, and Claire Danes’ Sam, the mother of the kidnapped boy who comes to find her life isn’t quite what she thought it was. Naturally, Soderbergh bobs and weaves disparate-seeming stories into one.

Here’s the official synopsis:

“An investigation into a botched kidnapping uncovers long-held secrets connecting multiple characters and cultures in present day New York City.”

Just about as vague as every other Soderbergh logline, hiding all the delicious nooks and crannies to be discovered by actually watching the show. Once again, Soderbergh has assembled an outstanding cast to deliver those twists and turns. Full Circle stars Zazie Beetz, Claire Danes, Jim Gaffigan, Jharrel Jerome, Timothy Olyphant, CCH Pounder, Phaldut Sharma, Adia, Sheyi Cole, Gerald Jones, Suzanne Savoy, Ethan Stoddard, Lucian Zanes, and Dennis Quaid.

Having recently played at the Tribeca Festival, Full Circle reveals all its secrets starting July 13th on Max, followed by two episodes every week until the finale on July 27th.

Piers Morgan loves to throw around the word “repulsive” when describing others (mostly his obsession, Meghan Markle), but that’s how he acted during a recent interview with OnlyFans model Elle Brooke.

“I’m just curious about you being someone who embarks on a law career, who’s obviously very bright, went to university, packed it in just for money, to be effectively an online stripper. I mean, that’s what you do, right?” Morgan asked Brooke. “I could be a good lawyer, yes,” she replied, “but also am I good at doing other things on video and camera? Yes.” Later, in response to Morgan wondering if she’s going to be “proud” when her hypothetical children ask why she’s not a lawyer, Brooke answered, “They can cry in a Ferrari.”

In an essay for The Independent, Brooke discussed her viral interview with Morgan. “When I was asked to be interviewed by Piers Morgan for TalkTV, I originally thought it was going to be a political debate. I was sh*tting myself, because I knew that he was way smarter at politics than me. I knew that I couldn’t argue with Piers, but I knew to be sarky and funny and witty was the only way that I was going to leave unscathed – which is exactly what I did. It couldn’t have gone any better,” she wrote.

Brooke continued:

The sex work industry is one where women make the majority of money, and I believe that men are jealous. For example, if a man has had sex with a large number of people, and a woman has exactly the same body count, it’s the girl who gets slut-shamed. Men can get away with a lot of things women can’t, and unfortunately, that’s just how society works.

Since the interview aired, a lot of women have reached out to Brooke (who claims to make more than $30,000 a month), “and that means so much to me. I stood up against him, I held my own, and he couldn’t make me look stupid. In fact, I made him look stupid.” And for that, I’m a fan of hers.

You can watch a clip from the interview above.

(Via The Independent)

Paul McCartney recently appeared on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, where he spoke about the length expected for massive acts now at shows — and blames Bruce Springsteen for setting this standard.

“You were on package bills,” McCartney said. “These days, pretty much there’s a main act and there might be a warm-up act. But then, it was a lot of people on the bill because nobody did long [sets]. Now people will do three, four hours. I blame Bruce Springsteen. I’ve told him so. I said, ‘It’s your fault, man!’”

Springsteen’s concerts typically run for anywhere from three to four hours. Other acts, including Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour, are following his lead. For contrast, McCartney pointed out that not only can you not do an hour anymore, but The Beatles used to get paid for thirty-minute sets.

“I tried to work out, why was it so short?” he adds, giving some backstory. “Well, because there were a lot of people on the bill. I think, if you were a comedian, the promoter would say, ‘How long can you do? Four minutes?’ The guy would say yes, so they would do four, and so we thought, ‘Well, half an hour — that’s epic.’ That was it. A big Beatles show, we were on and off like that. It didn’t seem strange.”

Check out Paul McCartney’s full episode here.

Randomness begets randomness. McDonald’s should’ve known this when they decided, without warning or provocation, to make June Grimace’s birthday month and have us all join in on the celebration of its 52nd birthday with the new Grimace milkshake. Even though I like the Grimace shake, I recognize that nobody asked for it. And now McDonald’s has to deal with a trend that they never asked for — I’m talking about the Grimace Shake TikTok trend.

Where do I even begin to explain this? It’s… weird. TikTok trends are generally weird, but this one takes the shake (har har) in terms of weirdness. I don’t think TikTok has ever been this bizarre, and this is a platform that had people eating mysterious pink sauce made by a random influencer with little to no culinary experience!

The typical format is this: a person wholesomely wishes Grimace a happy birthday before taking a sip of the new shake followed by a hard cut to a scene in which a shaky camera follows a trail of purple goo to the drinker who now is splattered in purple goo. Bonus points for doing this set to ominous music.

So why is this happening, is it some sort of comment on the quality of the Grimace shake?

Not really. if you watch enough of the #Grimaceshake videos — which have collectively been viewed over 622 million times — you’ll quickly catch on that this trend is exploding in popularity right now because it’s f*cking hilarious, and it’s genuinely fascinating to see the different creative spins people put on the trend.

As far as we can tell, the first Grimace Shake video was posted by TikTok user @thefrazmaz on June 14th, who took influence from a similar video format that started around Burger King’s Spider-Verse burger. @thefrazmaz explains in a follow-up TikTok

“It’s an unnatural color, it’s unique and I saw a guy do it with the burger where he took a bite and the next scene was him in the hospital. So I was like, “okay, let’s do something similar.” Fair enough! In the last 24-hours the trend has completely snowballed as TikTok users try to one-up each other, with videos getting more and more bizarre in the process.

Here are some of our favorites, but we warned, if you have an aversion to milkshake-splattered bodies, this is going to be disturbing.

Can you believe people wanted to ban this app? If you see people around your city acting foolish with a bunch of Grimace shakes, now you know why.