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For the past year and some change, FLO – the British girl group comprised of singers Stella Quaresma, Jorja Douglas, and Renée Downer – have captured the hearts, attention, and most importantly, the support of people all over the world. One of the most impressive aspects of FLO is that they check off the boxes of music lovers with different tastes from different generations.

Their music sounds like it was made from the 1990s-2000s era of shimmering and theatrical R&B production, enough so that millennials will smile and maybe gain a bit of hope for the kids of today. Their soaring vocals and pristine harmonies will make the R&B traditionalists send a hallelujah or two into the sky in relief that their beloved vocals are still important in the genre. Gen-Z can beam in delight at the sight of girls from their generation who shares similar qualities: the resistance to tradition, being fearlessly outspoken, and having confidence in all the best ways.

FLO has it all, and with that, there’s no denying that they’re ready to take over the world.

The girls’ recent steps have come through the releases of “Fly Girl” with Missy Elliott and “Losing You,” records that both fit the mold of FLO’s DNA despite being polar opposites sonically. “I think they’re quite contrasting and I think that’s kind of what we’re about,” Stella says about these songs over a Zoom call with Uproxx. “We’re very multifaceted.” Similar to their The Lead cut “Another Guy,” “Losing You” leans into the characteristics of an R&B ballad to bid a final goodbye to a past lover who mistreated them in more ways than one and share the relief that came with their exit.

On the other hand, “Fly Girl,” similar to “Summertime,” is steered by the feisty fun that lives in the heart of a lively part. FLO is fierce, confident, and dismissive to anyone and anything that falls short of their reasonably high expectations because, I mean, c’mon, it’s FLO we’re talking about! “I think that they were good contrasting songs to put out one after the other,” Stella says. “That’s also what our album gonna be about, just us and our journey and being honest about everything.”

FLO’s journey began with the release of their debut EP The Lead in the summer of 2022. A viral clip of one of their music videos on Twitter help make them the beloved darlings to fans that they are now, but the music on that project sufficed as the most ideal launching pad toward their current success. “It was quite a journey getting to that list of songs,” Stella says. “We’re proud of it [The Lead] and proud of the songs and proud of the list. We worked really hard to get everything on there to be how we wanted it.”

That work paid off thanks to excellent entries to The Lead like “Not My Job” and “Immature” which once again find insufficient men as the subject their heavenly harmonies dive into. These songs, as well as others like “Cardboard Box,” stand out as the most quality entries, or “bops” as the girls call them, in their discography. Think they can’t top these? FLO has something to tell you about that. “We like the kind of pressure that, [because] we keep putting out bops, we need to top them because we want to grow as artists,” Jorja says. “We just want to keep pushing ourselves because we want to release the best music possible. We don’t feel pressure from anyone else, we just feel a healthy pressure [from ourselves].”

As the saying goes: pressure creates diamonds. Though the girls still have plenty to achieve in their careers, they have successfully created a career that their younger selves would be proud to see. “It’s really important to us that we stay true and honest to ourselves and each other and to the people that we’re working with who have the power over our music,” Jorja says. “The way we carry ourselves through and navigate these situations is something that our younger selves would be really proud of.”

These situations include their first US tour which came to an end at the end of April with a closing show at Los Angeles’ Fonda Theater. Over the course of two weeks, FLO made stops in major cities like Atlanta, New York City, and Chicago to not establish an audience across the pond, but meet and connect with fans who’d been supporting them for months at a minimum.

“I don’t even think that we’ve had time to process how people are receiving like our shows because it’s [been] so fast-paced,” Jorja admits. “As much as we love meeting people, we kind of hate meeting people in that rushed setting where it’s like, this is this person, ‘hi!,’ next person, next person. I don’t feel like we’re actually like connecting with this person and like getting to know them and actually processing the things that they’re saying.”

Despite that, the girls are still taking in and appreciating these moments as best as they can for the circumstance at hand. “We’re very happy that like overall everyone is really enjoying the show,” Jorja added. “We can’t wait for it to be over so we can actually process how amazing the experience has been.”

Now that tour is over, FLO will get back to work on their upcoming debut album. Though details on it are slim, the project is undoubtedly a highly-anticipated follow-up to The Lead and FLO’s ambitions for the alum are just as high as the excitement from fans for it. “I think definitely around the album, a personal goal is for us to create a video that, through and through, we’re really proud of and there’s no doubt about it that this is just the best video that we’ve created,” Jorja says.

Stella’s response was a bit different saying, “It would be really cool to get some cool features on the album with people we’re inspired by” while Reneé notes, “I’m most excited about having a final piece and being able to reflect on the process of getting there. That’s gonna feel really special and be a very key point in our careers and I want to make sure that we’re able to feel the most amazing feelings about it, even though it’s a crazy process and things might go wrong, the outcome, I want us to feel really proud of it.”

FLO has plenty to be proud of and it’s evident with their upcoming album which is one of the more anticipated debuts in recent time. Through this process, the girls have learned lessons and received advice that will be extremely handy in their expansive toolkit. One of them is simple but equally important to their growth: always do your best. “You never know what people are gonna latch on to,” Jorja says. “So you want to make sure that everything you’re doing is something that you’re like 100% proud of.”

Another example comes with the reminder that this is just the beginning of a career that FLO hopes will turn them into household names like Beyoncé and Whitney Houston. “We’re not in full bloom yet,” Jorja says. “We really want people to just stick around and watch us develop and turn into the incredible artists that we know we are deep down inside.” Taking over the world is in FLO’s destiny, and with the cards they have in their deck, Stella, Jorja, and Renée have just what they need to make that a reality.

Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott stopped by The View on Monday where things quickly turn contentious as the South Carolina senator grew combative with co-host Sunny Hostin over the issue of systemic racism. As a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, Scott doesn’t believe in the “leftist lies” that successful African-Americans are the exception not the rule, and he pushed back against Hostin for suggesting as much.

“That is a dangerous, offensive, disgusting message to send to our young people,” Scott said to Hostin, who did not back down from the verbal sparring match.

Via Mediaite:

“So the fact of the matter is we’ve had an African-American president, African-American vice president. We’ve had two African-Americans to be secretaries of state. In my home city, The police chief is an African-American who’s now running for mayor. The head of the highway patrol for South Carolina is an African-American,” Scott replied.

“Still exceptions,” Hostin interjected.

“In 1975, there was about 15% unemployment in the African-American community. For the first time in the history, the country’s under 5% percent,” Scott continued.

“Forty percent homelessness,” Hostin interrupted as she and Scott began speaking over each other.

As the two reached a surprisingly agreeable end to their argument, Scott found himself in another pickle. While discussing Ron DeSantis and his feud with Disney, Navarro asked Scott if he thinks the entertainment giant is part of the “radical left” and things went south again. Only this time, the audience got in on the act.

After Scott agreed that DeSantis “started off on the right foot” with his “Don’t Say Gay” bill, the audience started booing the Republican senator, which prompted Whoopi Goldberg to chastise the room.

“No, no, no, no. Not here. I’m sorry, sir. Do not boo,” Whoopi lectured the audience while apologizing to Scott. “This is The View, we accept — we don’t have to believe everything people say, but you cannot boo people here. Please, you cannot do it.”

(Via Mediaite)

When Emma Stone showed up at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, many people were a little confused why the Oscar-nominated actress would be going so hard for opening night, to which I say: where have YOU been? These ladies have been going on FroYo dates since the Obama administration.

Stone and Swift have been friends for a long time, which was recently confirmed to Vanity Fair while at the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic this past weekend. While that sounds like a fancy French event, don’t be fooled: this was in New Jersey. Stone told the mag, “I was lucky cause we’ve been friends for a really long time. I’ve known her since we were 17 and 18, so she hooked me up, which was very nice ’cause I know those tickets are impossible to get.” The Ticketmaster saga is a whole different blog.

After being presented with the coveted tickets, Stone had a great time. “The concert was pretty amazing,” she gushed “She’s a wonderful friend. She blows my mind. I mean, the amount of sheer stamina to do three and a half hours and perform 44 songs and to maintain the extreme energy of the audience—I’ve never seen anything like it.” Her love was immortalized on the internet when videos of her singing along to “You Belong With Me” went viral. That video does, in fact, belong to me, but you can watch it here. Laura Dern was also a witness.

Even though Stone was at the show, she said she could never get up there and perform, though, as evident by the video mentioned above, she for sure has the energy for it. “I can’t sing, like, for a massive stadium. Let’s not even go down that road. She has insane talent—I could never do what she does.” And yet…she did kind of do it in her own way.

Speaking of Emma…Swift just announced that her latest re-release will have a song titled “When Emma Falls In Love.” Maybe Stone will rethink her stance and get up on stage to perform! She’s been a part of worse live situations, what could go wrong? Get Ryan Gosling up there too while you’re at it. He’s game for anything these days.

(Via Vanity Fair)

For the past month or so, it has appeared that Taylor Swift and The 1975’s Matty Healy were dating, with the first rumors surfacing in early May. Since then, there have been a handful of spottings and interactions that have seemingly indicated the two were involved in some capacity. That said, the pair never actually publicly confirmed their supposed relationship. Well, whatever was or wasn’t going on between them, it appears to be over now: Swift and Healy have broken up, TMZ reports.

The publication reported today (June 5), “According to a friend close to the situation … Taylor is in fact ‘single’ again, although it’s still unclear exactly why they’ve now split up.” They also note the pair “haven’t been seen in public together since May 25 when they were out on a dinner date.”

The closest either Swift or Healy came to addressing the rumored romance was a recent on-stage comment from Healy (which could have very well been about something else entirely). During The 1975’s performance at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend festival in Dundee, Scotland, Healy said, “Is it all a bit? Is it sincere? Will he ever address it? All of these questions and more will be ignored in the next hour. Ladies and gentlemen, this is The 1975.”

This break-up news comes after Healy went ahead and kissed a security guard at a concert this weekend.

The term “sociopath” is something that people don’t often understand. The public’s exposure to what a sociopath is generally comes from the media depictions, usually in some psychological thriller that portrays the villain as a manipulative, out-of-control killer. They slap the sociopath label on them either in the background information or through inference.

But what is a sociopath? For starters, it’s not actually called “sociopath,” though the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. The correct diagnosis is “antisocial personality disorder,” and the Mayo Clinic defines it as, “a mental health condition in which a person consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others.” While it’s true that people who have this specific type of personality disorder often engage in criminal behavior, that doesn’t mean they are going to be unpredictably violent.

Greg, a man who says he was diagnosed with sociopathy around the age of 21, sat down to answer people’s questions about the disorder.

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When describing what “sociopath” means to him, Greg said that it’s someone who has no regard for the safety of themselves or others, impulsive, reckless and “basically like a child.” In the sort of rapid-fire setup where people take turns sitting behind a curtain to ask their burning questions, the man appeared relaxed. Surprisingly, he revealed that he was relieved by his diagnosis.

“I had felt out of control and didn’t understand why I was doing what I was doing for a long time, so knowing that there was an actual reason behind why I was doing these things, it was really kind of freeing in a way.”

One person asked what people most often misunderstand about being a sociopath, and the answer is insightful and informative for people who may be curious.

“Personally, I think that the stereotype is that they’re incredibly violent and malicious just to be mean, just for its own sake. At least for me, that’s not how it presents,” he continued. “More often than not people with antisocial personality disorder, or sociopaths, they’re just irresponsible, impulsive people that can lead to being a little aggressive and irritable. But the myth that we’re violent and out-of-control monsters is just blown way out of proportion.”

He speaks about seeing all relationships as transactional and his lack of empathy and guilt, which he admits has caused relationship issues in the past. The entire interview is fascinating, and you can visibly see the participants’ body language relax as they start to have a better understanding of the person on the other side of the curtain. Hopefully, opening up conversations like this will decrease the stigma around certain mental illnesses.

Though content creator Oliver Mills is no stranger to serenading viewers on his TikTok channel with his charming, laid-back “car-aoke” videos, he recently hit listeners right in the feels as he began unabashedly shedding tears while singing the iconic 90’s rock song (slash ultimate sad anthem) “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls.

In the caption of the raw, vulnerable video, Mills wrote, “Crying in the car is healing,” and included hashtags like #mentalhealthawareness, #mentalhealthmatters, and #mensmentalhealth.

The song was written by John Rzeznik for the movie “City Of Angels” to convey the immortal protagonist’s willingness to give up eternal life for love. But despite the specific storyline, it touches on something universal—that aching feeling of yearning for love. Add to that Rzeznik’s passionate, wistful vocals, and oof, you’ve got the perfect song for the bittersweet beauty of love at all its stages. Really, it’s got something for everyone.

This was made all too clear as more and more people commented on Mill’s video sharing how the song had a similar effect on them.

“Glad we all cry to this song,” one person shared.

“This is such a good cry song. I approve,” another added. And still another shared that the song got them through their “darkest moments.” Hopefully we all have a song like that.

Watch:

@olivermillsn Crying in the car is healing #mentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters #therapy #mentalhealthawareness #mensmentalhealth #healing ♬ original sound – Oliver Mills

At the very least, folks could agree that there was something especially soothing about crying in the car.

“Crying in the car alone at night hits different,” the top comment read.

One person even revealed that “I cry in my car everyday after work to just decompress.” Relatable.

And of course, people applauded Mills for being so open with his feelings.

“I love that the lyric was ‘I don’t want the world to see me’ yet you’re being so vulnerable here. Thanks for sharing.”

There’s really nothing like full-on ugly crying in your car as you sing your heart out to a tune that perfectly encapsulates what you’re feeling. Tear-evoking music has a magical way of helping us viscerally connect with hard-to-process emotions. In particular, the emotions of sadness and awe, as discovered in a 2018 study from the University of North Carolina.

And the power of music is only magnified when we find ourselves driving alone, safe inside a mobile exoskeleton while out in the open—both protected and vulnerable at the same time. It’s honestly the perfect recipe for cathartic emotional release.

We all need to let our guard down every once in a while. Thank goodness healing is sometimes only a long commute and a good song away.

Evan Blair’s first go as an executive producer was on Nessa Barrett’s September 2021 debut EP, Pretty Poison. The fearlessly honest seven-track project housed the gold-certified, dark-pop revenge anthem, “I Hope Ur Miserable Until Ur Dead,” which debuted at No. 88 on the Billboard Hot 100 — Barrett’s first-career entry on the chart.

As Barrett’s genre-defiant profile rose, Disruptor Records’ Head Of A&R and West Coast Jennifer Fierman was focused on Blair, whom she’d known since 2018.

“I was in the unique position where I happen to be A&R for Dove Cameron and also Evan’s publisher,” Fierman tells Uproxx via email. “Knowing them both so well, I could see them aligning in musical taste and knew Evan’s ability to be a strong creative partner would help her find this new direction.”

The first song Blair and Cameron wrote together was “Boyfriend.” The perfectly paradoxical record — bombastically jazzy yet dripping in sultry romance — released in February 2022, climbing to platinum-certified status and peaking at No. 2 on Billboard‘s Pop Airplay chart and No. 16 on the Hot 100.

So, the question is right there for Blair: What makes a song a hit?

“I think the most important answer is that I have no idea,” the Canadian-born musician, producer, and songwriter tells Uproxx by phone. “Every time that I try hard to make a ‘hit,’ it’s not one. Every day, you’re trying to make a good song, but oftentimes, when a song feels like a hit, it’s because it feels like a hit that already happened. There was no blueprint for a song like ‘Boyfriend’ to be a massive hit. That’s kind of why it was so cool. It was our own.”

Blair is fluent in his song-making process, independent of the result. He developed his method during Pretty Poison. In his view, the majority of the music industry at the major-label level follows a uniform formula: Stick an artist in a room full of other top-tier musicians, try any and everything, and hope a resonant song surfaces.

“That’s the antithesis of the model I use,” Blair says. “It really starts with building a personal relationship with the artist. Let’s get into the trenches together. … I’m really willing to put in the time with someone and fail over and over and over again until we get it right. I think creating an environment where we’re allowed to fail, there’s a camaraderie that comes with that that brings out the best in almost every artist, specifically young female artists [who have to face] environments every day of new people who may or may not take you seriously, and you have to fight for your ideas.”

Blair’s methodology hinges upon asking every artist to make him two playlists, one that “makes sense” and one that “doesn’t make sense.” The “makes sense” playlist is meant for the artist to identify songs they wish they’d written; the “doesn’t make sense” playlist gives them permission to call out songs they like that might not align with their perceived artistic identity.

After Fierman connected Blair with Cameron, he asked for her two playlists. Blair remembers being struck by her “doesn’t make sense” playlist because it was “brimming with personality,” pulling from Cameron’s formative theater background. Cabaret. Jazz. “Nautilus” by Anna Meredith. James Bond soundtracks. The moodboard wasn’t restricted to sonic inspirations, either, as the aesthetic tone was set by movies like The Joker. Blair and Cameron even shared an affinity for “absurd, totally over-the-top dubstep,” he says with a laugh.

When Blair and Cameron actually got in the studio together on October 18, 2021, they had everything they needed for “Boyfriend” to materialize — subconsciously, at least.

“It felt like a demo,” Blair says of that day. “I’m neurotic about production, so I [thought the] mix was terrible. I had no idea that it was gonna be the song and the cultural event that it became.”

On January 30, 2022, Cameron nonchalantly posted a TikTok featuring a snippet of the “Boyfriend” demo. The following morning, she texted Blair, “Look at this.”

“It was just insane,” Blair continues. “From that point on, it was a rocket ship. What constantly fascinates me about making music is that, after it becomes accepted by the public, you hear it differently. I listen back to ‘Boyfriend’ now and I’m like, Oh yeah, we nailed that. The only thing that changed from [October 18, 2021] is the mix. It’s wild to me how your perception of songs can change based on the world’s view of it.”

“Boyfriend” served as an undeniable arrival for Cameron, while Blair privately experienced it as a once-inconceivable arrival of his own.

Blair’s music journey began as an EDM DJ and producer under the pseudonym Charlie Darker. In 2013, he thought he’d hit the jackpot, setting out on a North American bus tour with the DJs Wolfgang Gartner and Tommy Trash. The momentum felt even more tangible in 2014, thanks to Disruptor CEO Adam Alpert, who signed him to a publishing deal at Selector Songs.

“All my songs were getting played by the biggest DJs in the world, and the success level wasn’t out of this world, but you know, in that scene, for me at that time, it really felt like everything was going right,” Blair says. “My personal issues with alcohol and with drugs put a ceiling on my success and, ultimately, was likely the reason that it didn’t work in the way that I thought it would.”

Alpert adds via email, “He was doing really dark bass-heavy electronic music, but he sent me some of his other songs that he wrote and produced all by himself and I thought to myself, Wow, I don’t think he realizes how versatile he is and that he’s capable of making pop music, alternative music, rock music — not just dance music.”

Blair didn’t yet have the luxury of considering his artistic versatilities. He entered rehab and got sober in 2018. While healing, he understood what Alpert already knew: He loved making music, not being the face of the music. For a time in 2018, he questioned whether music was a viable career at all.

“It wasn’t gonna work out as a [public-facing] artist, and that was a huge thing for me to have to deal with. If I had not been able to let go of myself being the artist, I think that that would’ve been one of the biggest mistakes of my life,” Blair says.

In the early months of his sobriety, Blair called Alpert and Fierman to tell them he wanted to go all-in on serving other artists as a producer and songwriter. They began booking him studio sessions, sometimes up to five days per week.

“I had to really earn my stripes as a behind-the-scenes guy. It’s a different skill set. The rewards aren’t the same. It’s not that they’re not as good; they’re different. You have to define your pleasure in a different way,” Blair says, describing the two-year process.

Blair was ready to empathetically meet Barrett in early 2021. He related to the necessary yet painful inflection point of shedding a past identity, which applied to Barrett and Cameron. Barrett wanted to leave behind her teenage TikTok persona; Cameron, a veteran actor (Descendants, Disney’s Liv And Maddie, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., Schmigadoon!) didn’t want to play a character in her music.

Blair bonded with their inner conflicts — from Barrett’s past with eating disorders (“Dying On The Inside“) or suicidal ideation (“Scare Myself”) to Cameron owning her sexuality with “Boyfriend” — because his no longer intimidated him.

“Having to go to the depths of the human experience and then climb our way back out is something that people recognize in each other,” he says. “There’s a camaraderie that you can develop with other people who have experienced trauma in their life, and I don’t think it has to be something unhealthy. There’s just a recognized humility and common ground. What sobriety gave to me in terms of clarity and stability as a person is ultimately what allows me to do what I do and be a positive presence in artists’ lives, especially artists who are living these exceptional and oftentimes extraordinarily difficult lives.”

Alpert adds, “It hasn’t been an easy road and it never is. Evan has had his share of ups-and-downs, but the more inspiring thing about him is his perseverance and passion. He has the ability to make an artist feel comfortable and safe in the room and brings the best out of them like no other producer I’ve worked with.”

Since Pretty Poison and “Boyfriend,” Blair also executive produced Barrett’s October 2022 debut LP, Young Forever, and he co-wrote and produced Cameron’s 2022 singles “Bad Idea,” “Breakfast,” and “Girl Like Me.”

But “Boyfriend” will always hold an incomparable piece of Blair’s heart as a team win.

“I owe so much to my publishers at Disruptor, Jen and Adam, they stuck with me the entire time. [This is] what they’d always wanted for me but never pushed me. Dove is signed to Disruptor/Columbia, so it’s this really special thing for me to get to have my first real huge hit with my people, my day-ones,” he says. “Dove and I — we’re such good friends — were just constantly calling each other, texting each other, being like, ‘Can you believe this?’”

“Based on the numbers alone, it was very clear prior to and on release that the song was a hit and went on to have incredible success both in the US and internationally,” Fierman says. “What really made it special was the response from the LGBTQ community and knowing that they had made something that reflected listeners identities and experiences.”

It cannot be overstated how moved Blair is to have a hand in “a queer anthem,” noting, “To have that level of cultural impact from something that we created in my studio on a random Monday is unbelievable to me.” His grandmother loves “Boyfriend.” The Temple University Diamond Marching Band performed to it. The 2023 ASCAP Pop Music Awards honored him for his songwriting contributions. He’s in a bit of disbelief at his luck, as he calls it.

Alpert, however, isn’t surprised: “I always knew early on that Evan was capable of these size records, and I am looking forward to many more. Some of the yet-to-be-released stuff I’ve heard, and I’m like, ‘Holy sh*t, these are big songs,’ so I think, even though we signed his publishing to Selector Songs in 2014, this is really just the tip of the iceberg for what he’s going to accomplish.”

In Blair’s experience, Gen-Z values lyrics in an unprecedented way. They paid attention and appreciated the bravery in Cameron singing, “I could be such a gentleman / Plus, all my clothes would fit.” Blair constantly keeps lyricism at the forefront of his production style, reminding himself that “people just want to feel something.” He’s still in the trenches with Barrett and Cameron, prioritizing the freedom found in vulnerability over big-hit potential because experiencing the commercial success of “Boyfriend” affirmed his lasting source of fulfillment.

“You always dream about having the mega-hit, and there’s something about doing it that demystifies it — that question that we all ask of, ‘Do I have it in me? Will I ever have that?’ Having gotten that off the bucket list, it takes a pressure off your back because you know you can do it. You did it,” he says.

“It wasn’t like we were doing what someone else wanted us to do. It’s not like we had a hundred different writers and producers involved. It was so organic that it really empowered me and made me really believe in the process that I have because it works. I think that is really important for artists to be working with someone who isn’t second-guessing themselves and can say, ‘Hey, look, we got this.’”

Nessa Barrett is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

After the Heat won Game 2 on Sunday night, there was plenty for morning shows to discuss about how the NBA Finals had shifted with Miami swiping homecourt advantage. How were the Heat been able to create so many open looks? Was the “turn Jokic into a scorer” plan something that could work long-term? What can Denver do to get Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. going again?

However, First Take‘s effort to discuss everything that happened in Game 2 got derailed by Kendrick Perkins’ heavy breathing into his mic. J.J. Redick had to stop his entire train of thought as Perk huffed and puffed into his live mic, asking “Perk is that you moaning in my ear over and over?…Are you OK?”

Live television! The funniest part is them boxing in Stephen A. onto the screen so he can chime in, “Yeah, I know, you sound like you got sleep apnea, Perk!”

Perk is a big man (who very well may have sleep apnea) and sometimes that means you’ve gotta take some deep breaths, but I don’t blame Redick for being unable to concentrate with that in his ear. ESPN might need to work on a cough button for Perk on First Take or just mute his mic from the booth, because Redick and Stephen A. couldn’t get their thoughts together with Perk’s breathing as a soundtrack.

Listening to “Empire State of Mind” while driving past the Empire State Building was something XG always wanted to do. Now that dream has become reality.

“‘Wow. This is New York!’” XG’s main English speaker, Maya, shares the group’s first impression upon arriving to “the concrete jungle where dreams are made of.” “This is what we were all dreaming about!”

While it seems like their heads are in the clouds at the moment, the seven-member ensemble still has their feet firmly on the ground. They’ve come a long way figuratively and physically to where they are in their careers. But the fact they’ve done it in a year and some since their debut? Especially coming from a new and small company, and debuting during a time K-pop and J-pop markets are continuously expanding at a fast pace? Undoubtedly impressive.

“This may be a little too much information, but yesterday Jurin asked for permission to scream during rehearsals,” Harvey, XG’s youngest member, recalls giggling. Looking over to her leader, Jurin simultaneously mouths and reenacts the supposed loud “AH!”, with her hands to her head, to express how she felt getting ready for their first ever US performance. The five other members sitting around them instantly laugh remembering what happened 24 hours ago.

“Because we were so tense!” leader Jurin explains in Japanese. “We were so nervous the whole time so we had to release stress and I just shouted and I felt better.”

Tensions are running positively high, as smiles and loud laughs flowed out of pretty packed press trailer at Forest Hills Stadium. But you can’t tell how nervous Jurin, Chisa, Hinata, Juria, Cocona, Maya, and Harvey are behind the all the hair, glam, and bedazzled black and white suits that shine brighter than the clear skies and sun that day. (You can’t even know that Chisa and Juria overslept and woke up 5 minutes before call time, either. “It was jetlag!” Chisa says.)

Just last weekend, the group performed in their home country for KCON Japan for the first time ever, now they’re three hours away before taking the main stage at 88rising’s Head in the Clouds New York. (”It was our first time performing in our homeland Japan,” one of XG’s lead vocalists Hinata expresses. “We were honored and it was such a big stage, we were nervous but at the same time, it was a lot of an adrenaline-rushing moment. We really enjoyed ourselves.”) Day 2 is sold out, and a majority of the anticipation and hype among attendees are for XG.

“No, it’s crazy because I didn’t know a lot of people are giving us so much love and support and it’s– we’re always so happy and grateful you know?” Maya pauses to find the right words to say. “We can’t describe this in words right now. It’s crazy — just crazy.”

“The fact that we’re performing here as a group,” XG’s charismatic young rapper Cocona begins to explain, “it was such a surprise, it made us so happy, when the decision was made that we were performing here. Everyone has been rooting for us, so we wanted to surprise and do our best.”

All of the praise and record-breaking success the group has received has led to this moment. The crowd that filled the brims of Forest Hills stadium sang along to their 40-minute set, answering Chisa’s question in “Shooting Star.” (“Babe, if I give it my all, will it pay off? / Workin’ overtime, no days off.”) About 12,000 people reportedly gathered, and according to one of the group’s main producers Chancellor, the septet were so overwhelmed with the love, they cried after getting off the stage. “We came here expecting to go to a festival,” he says to me after their set. “But we weren’t expecting this!”

Hailing from Japan, promoting in South Korea, all while performing in English is probably the literal cliff note version of describing XG. But there’s obviously more where that came from. (You can check out the group’s ongoing docu-series on their official YouTube channel for a glimpse of it all.) The seven members, who trained together for five years, from 2017 to 2021, traveled back and forth from Japan and South Korea all while learning more about their second home’s culture, language, and entertainment industry. Then in January 2022, Avex Japan’s affiliate entertainment company XGALX and the company’s executive producer Simon Jakops, best known as JAKOPS, announced the debut of the seven-member girl group.

Finally debuting in March of 2022, XG hit the ground running with their single “Tippy Toes” and quickly became a standout act amongst the large roster of groups promoting in South Korea. Their women-empowering, Pussycat Doll-like follow up “Mascara” only supported the group’s endeavor to be different and refreshing in a game where the Korean language or Konglish dominated. While the group proudly flexes their god-tier synchronization and performances, along with their trilingual skills, what XG has proven is that they can absolutely prove that music is one language. (However, it is worth noting that the group doesn’t identify themselves as K-pop or J-pop. Rather, X-Pop.)

“So the name is Xtraordinary Girls that’s what it stands for,” leader Jurin begins to explain, especially for those who’d wish to dive into them. “So, we’re a group of girls who want to think outside the box all the time. XPOP is what they call us and that’s what really represents — how we mix R&B and hip-hop. This is original to us, we are unique in that we combine different genres. So, all this time we want to be ‘Xtraordinary’ because our possibilities are infinite. There’s no end to our possibilities. That’s what we want to tell the audience about ourselves.”

Perhaps a video of Jackson Wang reacting to the group’s viral GALZ XYPHER video earlier this year — then calling the septet “the future” — foreshadowed the abundant success the group was about to receive in 2023. Releasing their single-album SHOOTING STAR in January, with a lead single of the same name and their supporting track “LEFT RIGHT,” the tides were turning in their favor. XG managed to enter the Mediabase Top 40 Radio Airplay Chart with “LEFT RIGHT”’s Y2K R&B sound and visual, making them the first Japanese female act to chart and receive airplay in the US for 10 weeks straight as of early May.

“We want to be ourselves and enjoy the moment,” one of XG’s vocalists Juria responds to charting. “We want to be XG the whole time. Our music has to be XG and the fact that we’re being ourselves and the Western audience is accepting us is an honor and we’re so happy.”

The song’s virality only followed when Jackson’s Coachella set surprised the crowd with a remix of the track with R&B songstress Ciara. Weeks later, official remixes of both singles were released with Rico Nasty getting tapped to hop on “Shooting Star.”

“When I heard her [Rico Nasty] voice I just screamed,” Harvey, who sang her songs during her training period, said. “That was amazing.” “We screamed!” Maya, follows up right after, talking about the “LEFT RIGHT” remix. “Those two legendary artists. We also practiced a lot of Ciara songs when we were training. ‘Level Up’ was definitely our song too!”

But amidst the influx of support from ALPHAZ, their fans, artist co-signs, and radio play, is there any type of pressure felt?

“For us, sometimes,” Chisa honestly expresses. “We feel pressure and we get nervous sometimes but most of the time what we do is we enjoy the moment. We talk to each other about how we can have fun and that’s how we stay motivated. For the future, our goal is to meet and entertain ALPHAZ all around the world. HITC has been a good opportunity for us to start meeting all the ALPHAZ in the world.”

But whatever the pressure or nerves felt, XG has taken it to their advantage to show off the pinnacle of what makes them — them: teamwork.

“In our space meetings (team meetings), we always talk to each other about how our week was; to keep ourselves updated,” Maya explains. “And if there are any problems, we have to solve them together and work things out. We want to show them our teamwork, how we communicate on a daily basis, how we build and create our synergy for our performances.”

“This may sound serious but before we hit the stage, we’re actually not serious, we just celebrate,” Jurin says right after as she gestures huddling with the group. “We kinda just balance the seriousness and the joyfulness. Sometimes we fight and bicker, but we have to [go through it and] be serious to strengthen our bond that is only getting stronger and stronger. And that’s good since it is all to achieve our goals.”

With an album currently being worked on, all eyes are on XG waiting to make their next move. (“We have a lot of songs and you will love them, and I think we can show new XG,” Chisa hints on the new music coming. “I feel like it shows more of XG’s true colors, so I hope you guys are excited,” Maya swoops in right after.) Whatever it may be, just like the story behind their name and their songs, the sky’s the limit for pop music’s shooting stars. Or rather, whatever is beyond the galaxies far, far away.

Aside from their similar names and Uproxx cover features, British singer RAYE and New Jersey rapper Coi Leray have one other thing in common. Neither has any time for noncommital men. In their vindictive song “Flip A Switch,” they not only dismiss a would-be lover after he messes up one too many times, they outright threaten his life, with the title forming a double entendre meaning not just a change in attitude, but also referring to the selector switch on some semiautomatic weapons.

They take things one step further in their newly released video for “Flip A Switch,” which opens with RAYE lying on the floor bleeding out from a gunshot wound to the heart (not subtle, this one). However, the scene plays out in reverse before the song kicks in, implying that we’re going to “flip a switch” on this all-too-familiar narrative. The rest of the video plays out as a bus ride with Coi and RAYE’s girl gang with some neat choreography. Coi’s driving and doing so in a way that makes me think the streets of London are not safe. At the end of the video, they reach their destination, where RAYE turns the tables on her attacker, finishing him off with a shot to the back.

RAYE’s profile is rising rapidly in the states thanks to her new album My 21st Century Blues and impressive performances on shows like Kimmel Live and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Meanwhile, Coi Leray continues to cruise like a high-altitude missile; her video for “Bops” drops later this week and her album Coi is due later this month.