A sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie would be inevitable even if the animated film hadn’t made $1.3 billion at the box office and plenty more coins in VOD sales. There’s too much source material left to cover, like why is Lakitu making a documentary about Mario? And are Toad and Toadette… y’know? One thing that won’t be in the sequel (which hasn’t been officially announced yet but something is coming “soon”), however, is a pants-less Donkey Kong.
“It’s a fun character, it’s a fun world,” the actor said about playing the barrel-throwing primate in a bonus feature on The Super Mario Bros. Movie home release. “I would be thrilled to see Donkey Kong go on more adventures… Maybe give him some pants this time.” And a longer tie (but not this long) to go along with his newfound sense of shame.
Rogen also said that he was “given the freedom to make the character my own,” according to Cinema Blend. “They generally told me that Donkey Kong was angry and yelling a lot, and so most the direction they gave me was to be angrier and to yell more.” That’s the same advice Steven Spielberg gave him on the set of The Fabelmans.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is available on Blu-ray and DVD now.
With all that in mind, we’ve shifted from our typical listmaking to try something new in 2023. We asked the core Uproxx writers to each pick their favorite song of the year so far, and what we found is something that somewhat resembles the greater music landscape. Country, hip-hop, indie, pop, and afrobeats all make appearances, while Ice Spice is just as omnipresent here as she is in the real world. There’s even a couple chart-toppers in this mix.
Check out the best songs of 2023 so far, as chosen by the Uproxx staff, below.
100 Gecs – “Hollywood Baby”
The music landscape is as diverse and interesting now as it has ever been. Given that anybody with a laptop can create and release a decent-sounding album these days, it’s hard to be shocked. And yet, 100 Gecs surprise with pretty much every song they put out. On paper, what their hyper-pop distillation of ’90s alt-rock shouldn’t work, but songs like “Hollywood Baby” just do. Given, the unbelievably catchy pop-punk-ish track sounds relatively conventional for them, but it goes to show there’s more to 100 Gecs beyond making seemingly disparate sounds work together: They’re exemplary songwriters, too. – Derrick Rossignol
Arlo Parks – “Weightless”
Arlo Parks may be a musician, but she’s a poet first and foremost. The 22-year-old UK artist has been known to expertly wield her pen to write touching songs about mental health, mortality, and identity that bring listeners to tears. “Weightless,” which appears on her sophomore album My Soft Machine is no different. While much of the subject matter on her latest LP focuses more on budding relationships than waning mental health (we love to see it!), “Weightless” still manages to be just as moving. Her unique, honeyed vocals add a soaring dimension to the reverb-drenched instrumentals, and Parks even cuts in with a spoken-word verse about the all-too-familiar anxiety that takes over when near a crush. – Carolyn Droke
Ice Spice – “Gangsta Boo” Feat. Lil Tjay
With co-signs from Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice being crowned the People’s Princess is indisputable. Although the Bronx rapper found crossover success thanks to her guest verse on “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2,” Spice’s innovation in the drill scene shouldn’t be dismissed. As her first solo track to land on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, “Gangsta Boo” featuring Lil Tjay is the pop drill pocket Spice thrives in. Containing a sample of Diddy’s 2002 cult-classic song “I Need a Girl (Part 2),” an infectious chorus, and a fiery guest verse — it’s a sleeper hit. After the video shoot was canceled due to Tjay’s arrest, Spice moved on from promoting the song. However, it will live on far beyond her EP’s shelf life. –Flisadam Pointer
Lana Del Rey – “Let The Light In” Feat. Father John Misty
While Lana Del Rey’s newest album has plenty of fan-favorite standouts to choose from, it’s her collaboration with longtime buddy Father John Misty on “Let The Light In” that stands out. The harmonies highlight just how well she works with folksier artists — similar to 2017’s “Tomorrow Never Came” with Sean Ono Lennon. In this breezy song’s unique dynamic, Lana and FJM go back and forth before she decides, “Screw it, maybe you should and record some other songs.” This, coupled with the fact countless TikTok edits are set to the “love to love to love you / hate to hate to hate you” part, results in another modern classic from one of this generation’s most acclaimed songwriters. – Lexi Lane
Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”
Miley Cyrus’ The career-best No. 1 single finds Cyrus rewriting Julia Roberts’ iconic Notting Hill line. Why stand in front of a boy, asking him to love her, when she can “love me better than you can”? Cyrus has been this individualistically empowered for a decade. It just took everyone else this long to meet her there. – Megan Armstrong
Militarie Gun – “Do It Faster”
Some songs just have it. “Do It Faster” by Militarie Gun is one of them. It has the adrenaline, the post-hardcore invigoration, the catchy hook to scream wherever you are in the mosh pit: “I don’t care what you do / Just do it faster,” Ian Shelton shouts. It has their signature barks to be emitted in unison; it has a less-than-two-minute run time that leaves no room for messing around. It’s an all-in ripper for anarchy, a call to immediate fervor. – Danielle Chelosky
Nicki Minaj – “Red Ruby Da Sleeze”
The truth is, Nicki Minaj isn’t slowing down anytime soon. When she teased a minute-long snippet of “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” in February with the Lumidee “Never Leave You (Uh Oh)” sample, it was highly anticipated. “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” checks off all the boxes that make a rap song great in this era of music: top-tier production (shout out to Go Grizzly, Cheeze Beatz & Tate Kobang), a nostalgic Y2K sample, a catchy melodic hook, masterful lyricism, and memorable Instagram-ready bars like, “Shout out to hoes that’s watchin’ me like Movados.” Nicki is playing the role of rapper, singer, and featured artist on this standout, resulting in a bold boost of confidence to the soul of all who listen. No, slowing down isn’t in the plans. “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” is merely a cute reminder that “bad gyal don’t die.” – Cherise Johnson
PinkPantheress & Ice Spice – “Boy’s A Liar, Pt. 2”
Breakout stars PinkPantheress and Ice Spice kicked off the year proving they were the ones to watch in 2023. With PinkPantheress’ painfully relatable account of a dishonest ex, and Ice’s punchy bars reminding us why she stays on his mind, the song has proven inescapable. Whether you’ve heard the song in the club or discovered it on one of many viral TikToks, you can’t help but shake your “duh-duh-duh” when “Boy’s A Liar, Pt. 2” comes on. – Alex Gonzalez
Tyler The Creator – “Dogtooth”
Over the course of Tyler The Creator’s 10-year career in hip-hop, we’ve heard him angry, boastful, depressed, dismissive, gleefully defiant, introspective, and occasionally even impressed, but on “Dogtooth,” we finally hear him truly, ridiculously in love. Amid boasts about his luxury rides and snide jabs at phony would-be hangers-on, Tyler, at last, drops the facade of uncaring stoicism to simp out for his lady love for a minute, boasting “My girl look like Zazie Beetz and Kelis.” – Aaron Williams
Victony – “Soweto (Remix)” Feat. Don Toliver & Rema
With afrobeats’ increased presence in the mainstream light, fans of the genre have often been critical of the crossover collaborations, often in the form of remixes, that have been used to boost songs. It’s happened with records like “Essence” and “Calm Down,” but not with Victony’s hit record “Soweto.” That song, off his 2022 Outlaw EP, grew to prominence after it went viral on TikTok, and its remix with Don Toliver and Rema kept it close to its roots while simultaneously introducing it to a new audience. Rema’s verse on the remix has been memorized from start to finish by fans for what is now one of this year’s most well-received features and Don Toliver fits like a glove on the song’s new take to make it a textbook example of how crossover remixes should be done. – Wongo Okon
Wednesday – “Chosen To Deserve”
Part rock anthem and part teenaged dirtbag confessional, this is Karly Hartzman looking back on every bad decision she made in adolescence and concluding that she still deserves the world. But the words aren’t pushed to the forefront — it’s the crunching power chords borrowed from Southern rock gods Drive-By Truckers and that lifesaving pedal steel lick wafting throughout like a breeze on a sticky summer afternoon that immediately commands your attention. And, then on the 20th listen, Hartzman’s memoir finally lands a devastating blow. – Steven Hyden
Zach Bryan – “Dawns” Feat. Maggie Rogers
The meteoric rise of Zach Bryan during the pandemic era has been impressive to witness, especially as he operates far outside the normal country playbook. He generally eschews interviews, has licensed about 7000 songs to Yellowstone, and has hit both the top 10 on the Hot 100 and the top line of multi-genre festival lineups. But while his sound veers closer to the outlaw lane, this one-off collaboration with Maggie Rogers isn’t really a country song at all, showing the range and possibility for a young artist that doesn’t have expectations yet to defy. But while the male-female vocal tradeoffs and driving string section underscore the song’s emotional pull, it’s in Bryan’s words that he demonstrates his power, evoking his mother’s death, his relationship’s disillusion, religion, and the passing of time. Bryan is turning out great songs by the dozen these days, but “Dawns” is one of his best yet. – Philip Cosores
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Ever since Elon Musk took over at Twitter, things have been going… not awesome. Now, there’s another wrinkle: The social media platform is being sued for $250 million by a group of 17 music publishers, The New York Times reports.
The lawsuit was filed in Federal District Court in Nashville yesterday (June 14) and it alleges that Twitter is in violation of copyright law due to users posting music on the platform without permission.
David Israelite, the president of the trade group National Music Publishers’ Association, said in a statement, “Twitter stands alone as the largest social media platform that has completely refused to license the millions of songs on its service.”
Twitter was previously in negotiations with the music industry for licensing agreements, but negotiations broke down months ago.
The suit asks for statutory damages of up to $150,000 each for around 1,700 infringed works, which adds up to about $250 million.
A tweet cited in the suit is a popular post that uses two minutes of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” video. The lawsuit also makes note of “music publishers’ attempts to notify Twitter about infringement through the protocol outlined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act” (DMCA), but how Twitter regularly either delayed or failed to act on the notices.
The suit makes mention of specific Musk tweets from 2022 about copyright and the DMCA, in which he wrote, “Current copyright law in general goes absurdly far beyond protecting the original creator,” and, “Overzealous DMCA is a plague on humanity.”
Current copyright law in general goes absurdly far beyond protecting the original creator
Flau’jae Johnson recently opened up to Uproxx about winning LSU’s first NCAA Division I basketball championship this April and celebrating that win while her song, “Big 4,” filled the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
“The fact that I’m being recognized for my music as well as my basketball at the highest level, that was a breathtaking moment for me,” Johnson said. “Both of my lives crossed over how I wanted it to. It was an amazing feeling. It felt like a movie.”
Johnson joined The Baller Alert Show for its June 10 episode and was asked around the 28-minute mark why she wasn’t in the video alongside Reese.
“Angel, she loves doing videos,” Johnson said. “She’s a cute girl. You know what I’m saying? Like, that’s her thing. … So, Latto, she hit me about it, like, the day before.”
Johnson explained that she told Latto she was in Los Angeles but could still “make it happen,” leading to confusion when the video came out without her involvement.
“Her people never hit my people,” she continued. “But I had seen — she had asked Angel like a week before. You feel me? I was like, OK, maybe she really ain’t want me in the video, for real, but she had to ask me because we had kind of a relationship before, and she put Angel in it. But I was like, I didn’t really care ’cause Angel was in it, and that was a big moment for women’s basketball.”
Still, Johnson can’t help but wonder “why wouldn’t you put me in it? It just makes sense.”
Watch Johnson’s full The Baller Alert Show episode above.
NLE Choppa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Last year, Pete Davidson and Colin Jost bought a boat. It wasn’t just any boat: They bought a defunct Staten Island ferry. The former SNL colleagues — along with comedy club owner Paul Italia — reportedly bid $280,000 for the ferry, with plans to turn it into space for live entertainment. It sounds like the kind of lavish, creatively out-there purchase people make when they’re out of their heads. Sure enough, Davidson recently admitted he was “very stoned” when he agreed to do it. Jost does not have the same excuse.
“Is it worse that I was actually stone-cold sober when we bought the ferry?” Jost revealed in an Instagram post, as per Entertainment Weekly.
Jost then teased all the exciting things he, Davidson, and Italia have planned for their new ferry. “We’re excited to prove the non-believers wrong,” he wrote. “You’re going to be BEGGING to get on this ferry in two years. Mark my words.”
It’s possible the Davidson-Jost-Italia ferry will turn into a destination vessel, but that still night take some doing. The boat, former crew members revealed last year, was, at least then, still awash in rats and asbestos. Maybe they’ve cleared all that up in the meantime, but Davidson makes it sound like they probably haven’t.
“I have no idea what’s going on with that thing,” Davidson said when revealing how baked he was when he bought it. According to him, they were, as of last week, still “figuring it out.”
So what will come first: Will Pete Davidson, Colin Jost, and Paul Italia clean up their ferry and create NYC’s hippest aquatic vessel? Or will Davidson make amends with PETA?
James took a huge step toward functioning at full force last Saturday, June 12, when he started his six-date Back Outside Tour at The Shelter in his hometown Detroit, Michigan.
According to a show review by Eli Day of the Detroit Metro Times, James was in good spirits, saying, at separate points during his set, “Feels good to be back, man, I swear to God” and “I’m almost back, baby.”
Really grateful I got to watch @BoldyJames get back on stage after enduring so much. It’s been a small dream of mine to write about him and his enormous gifts as a storyteller for a while. Gratitude to @metrotimes for the chance to cover his comeback show:https://t.co/7FmUD8e22l
“Throughout the show, Boldy takes time to thank those who never left his side and kept the hope of his full recovery alive when doing so himself perhaps felt like flying too close to the sun,” Day wrote.
James announced the Back Outside Tour on May 6. His next stop is June 22 at The Roxy in Los Angeles. The remaining four dates are June 29 at Racket NYC in New York, New York, July 18 at Antone’s Nightclub in Austin, Texas, July 19 at Warehouse Live in Houston, Texas, and July 21 at Ridglea Room in Fort Worth, Texas.
After this run, James will join The Alchemist for The Six Million Dollar Man Tour in Europe. See those dates below.
Gunna is slowly revealing his side of the YSL RICO trial story, even though some people, like Lil Durk, don’t want to hear it.
On Wednesday, June 14, which happens to be his 30th birthday, Gunna teased “A Gift And A Curse” as his next release, including a pre-save link. Complexand HotNewHipHopreported that it will arrive this Friday, June 16, but that was not officially announced by Gunna, 300 Entertainment, or YSL. It’s also unclear whether “A Gift And A Curse” is a single or a full-blown project.
Gunna was released from jail in mid-December after he “entered a negotiated plea, known as an Alford plea,” as relayed by WSB-TV at the time. The outlet additionally reported that Gunna had pled guilty to one charge of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act. This decision sparked overwhelming backlash, with innumerable people condemning Gunna as “snitching” on the remaining YSL defendants, including Young Thug.
In the latter, Gunna explicitly fired back at the snitching accusations. It begins with an audio compilation of reactions to his plea deal and subsequent release. “Kept it real with n****s, never lied and always stay honest / Love my bro so much, I’d never change on ’em,” he raps in the song co-produced by Turbo, Omar Grand, and Cam Griffin.
Get ready for “A Gift And A Curse,” in whatever form it arrives, by listening to “Bread & Butter” below.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Gangsta Boo (real name Lola Mitchell), a Memphis rap legend and former member of Three 6 Mafia, was found dead on New Year’s Day. Mitchell’s sudden passing at 43 years old was first reported by FOX13 Memphis but a cause of death was left ambiguous.
On Wednesday, June 14, FOX13 and NBC Actions News 5 relayed the result of Mitchell’s autopsy to be “an accidental overdose.”
“FOX13 dug through pages of that autopsy report to find out that Mitchell had fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol in her system at the time of her death,” FOX13’s report read.
NBC Action News 5 also confirmed Mitchell overdosed on a combination of “fentanyl, cocaine, and ethanol (alcohol).”
“Although her output slowed in the years since, any number of true hip-hop heads could see her influence and impact growing in the rising importance of Southern rappers like Latto and GloRilla, even before their collaboration,” he wrote, in part. “However, the moment of her greatest resurgence came in 2020, when she was featured on Run The Jewels’RTJ4 track ‘Walking In The Snow’ after her scene-stealing verse on the group’s 2016 track ‘Love Again?’ served as a reminder to rap fans just how influential she had always been.”
GloRilla attended Mitchell’s funeral in mid-January and spoke with reporters outside of Brown Missionary Church in Southaven, Mississippi about her intention to “keep representing her.”
“Gangsta Boo’s estate is making sure her upcoming posthumous album is airtight with slaps … with Latto, Skepta, La Chat, Crunchy Black and Run The Jewels all pitching in for the late Three 6 Mafia rapstress,” TMZ relayed at the time. “Sources close to the project’s creation also tell TMZ Hip Hop they’ve locked in beat contributions from Drumma Boy, Nick Hook and RTJ’s El-P … and are planning for an August 7 release date, which would have been GB’s 44th birthday.”
BET announced on April 26 that the BET Awards 2023 would “return live from Los Angeles” to “celebrate five decades of hip-hop through the live telecast on BET.” The press release noted, “BET Awards has been the No. 1 cable award show among all adults 18-49 for two consecutive years, 2022 and 2021, and is the No. 1 cable award show among Black adults 18-49 for the 21st consecutive year.”
Heard y’all was looking for us . The #BETAwards is BACK Sunday, June 25th!
However, the Los Angeles location from which the BET Awards 2023 will broadcast live was not specified. Maybe it will be LA’s Microsoft Theater, considering that was the location for last year’s BET Awards.
“After years of living my life for other people, trying to make myself smaller for the patriarchy, they run the industry, they are at the center of everything,” Lovato said then (as relayed by NME). “When I realized that, I thought, ‘What are the ways that the patriarchy has been holding me back?’ And for me, it was putting me in a box telling [me], ‘You are a female, this is what you’re supposed to like, this is what you’re supposed to do, don’t dream bigger and don’t speak louder.’”
Now, as the cover star for GQ Spain, Lovato is updating everyone on their position.
The accompanying story, when translated from Spanish to English, explains that Lovato “preferred that the feminine pronoun be used” for this interview.
“I constantly had to educate people and explain why I identified with those pronouns,” Lovato said, referring to they/them (as noted and translated by Consequence). “It was absolutely exhausting. And that is one of the reasons that have led me to also feel comfortable with the feminine pronoun.”
Lovato continued, “I just got tired. But for that very reason, I know that it is important to continue spreading the word.”
On Instagram, Lovato lists their pronouns as “they/them/she/her.” The pop-rocker posted about Pride Month on June 1.
“HAPPY PRIDE MONTH BB’S!!! I’m so happy to celebrate our LGBTQIA+ community, today and everyday!! As a nonbinary queer person, I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this community that is the epitome of resilience, excellence and joy,” Lovato captioned their Instagram carousel led by a rainbow mirror selfie. “And for any and everyone navigating their sexual orientation and gender journey, know that you are all extraordinary and exactly who you’re supposed to be. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
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