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Donald Trump clearly woke up with conspiracy theories on the brain. The former president dropped a four minute long video on Truth Social where he more or less accuses Joe Biden, the FBI, and “tech tyrants” of wielding their dark, deep state powers against him. But don’t take Trump’s word for it. According to the former president, Elon Musk has been exposing the whole nefarious plot with his “Twitter Files.” It’s all right there. Don’t you see?!

“The now-famous Twitter Files have proven beyond all doubt that the corrupt officials at the FBI have been coordinating censorship and surveillance propaganda campaign against the American people and, frankly, against me,” Trump ranted, via Mediaite, before getting into, sigh, COVID lockdown conspiracies. “They suppressed doctors and health experts who dared to question approved health narratives. They censored voices who criticized school closures, lockdowns, and mandates, and they even banned people for stating proven scientific facts and anything bad about China, they didn’t want out.”

Of course, this most concerning part of Trump’s video came when he tasked the now Republican-controlled Congress with holding hearings to investigate the “deep state” that’s wronged him so.

“The new Congress should immediately hold hearings to investigate the role of the FBI and other federal agencies in censoring lawful speech,” Trump declared. “Congressional leaders should promptly issue subpoenas in furtherance of this goal. The revelations also highlight why my proposal to end the revolving door between the deep state and there is a deep state indeed. I wasn’t a believer, but everybody’s a believer right now.”

Great. Cool. This is just how things are now, apparently. Everything is fine.

(Via Mediaite)

With streaming officially crossing the trillion-play threshold last year, 2023 is setting up to be massive for music. That’s not only true for the big-name acts, but the rising stars as well. Brooklyn-based singer, DJ, and producer Yaeji, for instance, is looking to capitalize on this industry momentum.

The multi-genre talent took to Twitter to announce to fans that her highly-anticipated debut album is slated to drop this year. The project, titled, With A Hammer, is expected to be released sometime in April, which will break the two-year hiatus since her last full-length release, the 2020 mixtape What We Drew.

Although the singer hasn’t shared any more details than that regarding the album, based on What We Drew, as well as her past collaborations with Dua Lipa and Charli XCX, we can assume it will be filled with danceable bops.

Depending on when the album is released, attendees of this year’s Coachella festival may get a sample of the project before it is uploaded to streaming services, as Yaeji is set to perform on both Saturday, April 15 and 22. Coincidentally, he sets are on the same days as fellow South Korean musical group Blackpink, who will make history as the first K-pop act to headline the festival.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

If nothing else proves that the US justice system desperately needs to be reworked, it’s this not-so-fun fact: In the same week that Watts rapper 03 Greedo came home from a nearly five-year prison bid for nonviolent offenses, the trial against his closest stylistic analog, Atlanta rapper Young Thug, began in Fulton County. Thug faces a litany of charges but all of them stem from just one evidentiary example: Thug’s own lyrics, in which he shouts out his label/crew, YSL, which now stands accused of being a street gang by Georgia state authorities. They argue that Thugger’s shout-outs constitute evidence of his membership in that gang — and even his leadership thereof.

Now, I’m not going to argue that either man is innocent. We just don’t know enough to say whether or not they’ve done the things they were accused of. A jury was convinced by apparently compelling evidence that Greedo did; a jury will have to be convinced the same for Thug. But Greedo was given five years for possession of a firearm in a state that otherwise promotes its open-carry laws as an advantage over other states’ more restrictive gun laws. And there is no way that any artist should be brought up on charges of racketeering just for rapping about their life and their business. The Johnny Cash comparison has been belabored to the point of beating a dead horse, but let’s face it; he was never indicted for shooting a man in Reno just to watch him die because everyone seems to get that this event was merely a lyrical device.

This week, Greedo released his first post-prison mixtape, the aptly-titled Free 03, produced by Mike Free. Although the timeline of its recording remains unclear, it appears to have been recorded at least in part during the flurry of activity that saw the Watts style-switcher collaborate extensively with a variety of producers to ensure he’d have enough material to bear out his sentence (almost, but not quite; he pretty much ran out of pre-recorded projects midway through the pandemic with his last album Load It Up Vol. 01 with Ron-Ron dropping in 2020). At least some of it sounds like it was recorded over a prison phone, much like Greedo’s frequent collaborator Drakeo The Ruler did with his own post-incarceration mixtape Thank You For Using GTL.

In fact, Drakeo makes an appearance on Free 03, on the song “No Free Features.” It’s a truly heartwrenching moment as you realize this could well be the last time we hear the Watts-bred duo on a record together, as Drakeo was murdered in late 2021, just months after concluding his own years-long nightmare encounter with the criminal justice system. That Drakeo spent two of the final three years of his life fighting similar charges to those currently faced by Young Thug hammers home this harrowing connection. Drakeo was never even convicted of a crime and was, in fact, acquitted of the original charges against him only to have new charges filed and his bail denied.

In a similar fashion, Young Thug was locked up for the better part of a year before his trial began this week, during which time the state shrewdly used a home raid to connect enough evidence to at least make something stick. Those charges, mainly amounting to firearm possession, are eerily reminiscent of those that got Greedo sentenced to over four years in prison. And while the content of Free 03 necessarily does not address the charges against him or his time inside, it ends on a chilling rumination, “If I Die” — which is especially spooky when you consider that Drakeo did so less than a year after his own release.

While the quality of Free 03 belies its likely rushed production process — for what it’s worth, the latter half is better, finding Greedo employing the slippery vocals that had set him apart from so much of the LA underground before his sentencing — it also highlights just what these aggressive sentences really cost. The one commodity you can’t get back is time; whatever financial setbacks are caused by derailing artists’ careers with extensive prison time and trumped-up charges, the true loss is time: Time that they could be helping their communities, as Thug did when he paid bail for dozens of Fulton County inmates for the holidays two years ago, time that they could be giving opportunities to their friends and admirers to escape the constraints of street life (YSL Records, gang or not, employed dozens of rappers, singers, and producers who might otherwise be out there causing real harm), and time they could be inspiring the next generation of aspiring artists to skip the street life entirely.

The fact is, even violent offenders — which the state has yet to prove most of the artists it’s targeted really are — deserve chances to at least try to make amends. They are more of a net positive to society generating income, engaging in philanthropy, and offering imperfect role models to fans than they are languishing in cells at a cost to the state. Meanwhile, there are thousands of inmates currently incarcerated for nonviolent offenses who aren’t artists of whom the same could be said. We latch onto the artists because their fame makes them obvious examples, but really, their plight is just a microcosm of the one faced by thousands of ordinary citizens every day. 03 free, but the time has come to free us all from the trap our prison industrial complex has boxed us into.

Free 03 is out now on Alamo. Get it here.

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

There was a massive jump in credit card fraud in America in 2021 due to the pandemic. According to CNET, fraud involving credit cards jumped 69% from 2020 to 2021, affecting 13 million Americans and costing $9 billion.

In a world where online transactions are part of everyday life, it’s hard to completely protect your information. But, by staying vigilant and monitoring your accounts you can report fraud before it gets out of hand.

A TikTok user by the name of Lauren (@absolutelylauren) from San Diego, California, got a notification that there was a $135 charge on her card at Olaplex’s online store that she hadn’t made. Olaplex sells products that repair excessively damaged hair. Before reporting the charge to her credit card company she asked her family members if they used her card by mistake.

“I don’t wanna shut my card down if it’s just my mom ordering some shampoo,” Lauren said in the video. “Definitely not my two younger brothers, they’ve got good hair but they don’t color it.”

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After realizing the charge was fraudulent, most people would have called their credit card company and had their card canceled. But Lauren was curious and wanted to know who stole her information and used it to buy hair care products. So she concocted a plan to get their information. She called Olaplex’s customer service line asking for the name and address of the purchaser to see if it was made by a family member.

“Hey, can you help me with something?” Lauren asked Tanya, the Olaplex customer service agent. “If I can give you the time and date, purchase amount and card number and whatever could you let me know who placed an order?”

Tanya had no problem helping Lauren with her request.

@absolutelylauren

olaplex customer service is top tier 😤 #creditcardscam

“At this point, I’m willingly giving Tanya enough info to steal my card as well — she could have very well taken advantage of me in that moment but she didn’t,” Lauren said. “She comes back — tell me why she gave me the little scammer their full government name and address.”

Tanya revealed that a guy named Jason in a modest suburb in Texas used her card to buy a gift for his wife. “They also did it on Black Friday so at least they got a deal I guess, it was the gift set,” Lauren continued.

Lauren then called her credit card company and shared the information she had on the fraudster. The card company is currently investigating the situation.

One commenter thought that Olaplex wasn’t supposed to share that information with Lauren. “For some reason, I don’t think olaplex was supposed to give that info,” Arae270 said.

“I definitely gave them the option, but I explained that it was an unauthorized purchase, and if the name did not match anyone that I knew that I would just tell them to cancel the order and refund me, I told the girl that they would probably save everyone, a headache!” Lauren replied.

People should use utmost caution before deciding to track down a credit card thief. But kudos to Lauren for being clever enough to track down the person who stole her card information to help the authorities with their investigation. She didn’t put herself in harm’s way and if someone follows up on the tip, maybe they can prevent the same thing from happening to someone else.

Imagine being an amateur journalist, and your very first celebrity interview is one of Hollywood’s biggest names, promoting one of Hollywood’s biggest movies.

Nerve-wracking? Yeah, I think so.

Such was the situation for Martha, a “kinderreporterin,” aka child reporter from German TV network ZDF, who was tasked with interviewing Kate Winslet as part of an international press junket for “Avatar: The Way of Water.”

Thankfully, the celebrity she sat down with is first and foremost a lovely human being.

As soon as Martha shyly admitted this was her very first interview, Winslet immediately threw away any notion of formal interview etiquette and chose instead to comfort the young journalist.

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“This is your first time doing it?” Winslet asked. Then, leaning in toward Martha, she said confidently, “OK, well guess what? When we do this interview, it’s going to be the most amazing interview ever.”

Never breaking eye contact, she continued, “And do you know why? Because we’ve decided that it’s going to be. So, we’ve decided right now, me and you, that this is going to be a really fantastic interview.”

Kate Winslet boosting the confidence of a young journalist is the adorable content you need to see today 🥺💖 pic.twitter.com/sWYhZ0YRkt

— Metro (@MetroUK) January 9, 2023

Going into full-on mom mode, she concluded, “And you can ask me anything that you want, and you don’t have to be scared. Everything is going to be amazing. OK? You’ve got this. OK, let’s do it!”

And so they did. The interview (which can be viewed in German here) went swimmingly as Winslet shared how she got started as an actress, what it’s like to do a fake vomit scene and her love of cooking. At the end, the pair took a selfie together. Mission accomplished.

The wholesome clip quickly circulated online, making folks feel all warm and fuzzy inside to see Winslet completely lift the young girl up.

One fellow journalist who shared the video to Twitter wrote, “Junkets can be really nerve wracking. Words of encouragement and kindness like this can go such a long way,” calling the interview “the most precious thing I’ve ever seen.”

Not all celebrities use their status to empower others. But it’s something Winslet excels at, especially when it comes to advocating for other women. Being able to shine a spotlight on others has long been hailed as a sign of good leadership, and it’s clear that the actress willingly assumes that responsibility with pride.

Plus, it’s a refreshing shift away from the usual antagonistic fanfare that often gets highlighted between celebrities and journalists. Take a six-second scroll online and you’ll find plenty of videos showing actors, musicians and other icons “shutting down” reporters and “ripping them to shreds.” But instead of that, we get to be part of an authentic conversation between two people, and witness women of different generations forming a real connection. Maybe it’s not as scintillating, but it’s definitely more inspiring.

As one person so deftly put it, “There were already plenty of reasons to love Kate Winslet. Now there’s one more.”

Parenting is a long, tough gig no matter how you slice it. And if we don’t approach the process with a healthy amount of humor, it’s even harder. Being able to laugh about the pitfalls and woes of parenting is one of the keys to not losing your everlovin’ mind as you strive to raise good humans.

Enter Bridgett Mack, mom, author, motivational speaker, pastor’s wife … and friendly neighborhood “Molice” officer.

Practically every parent wishes they had someone on speed dial who could help us when we are at our wits’ end or when our offspring are doing something we don’t know how to handle. Someone with some kind of authority, who had the power and skill to convince our children to cease their tomfoolery. Someone these kids might listen to when they’ve tuned mom and dad out.

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An officer of the peace in the parenting sense, if you will.

That’s why Mack’s mom police—or Molice, as she calls it—skits have gained a following on TikTok. Decked out in a Molice vest stocked with a two-way radio, a stationery pad, a dozen or so pairs of backup glasses, a spatula, a face roller, a fan and more, Mack plays the role to perfection.

Watch her pull over a speeding teen:

@bmackwrites

The Molice (mom police) pulls over speeding teen.

“The Molice knows everything.” Yes. Yes. This is the kind of help we need.

How about calling in help for the teen who won’t clean their room?

@bmackwrites

Episode 2: Teen won’t clean room #molice #bmackwrites

Her giggle at the end gets me every time.

The Molice does investigations as well, and hoo boy, is she thorough.

@bmackwrites

The Elders are still traumatized from Keisha’s last boyfriend. They have asked me to her current boyfriend before deciding on whether or not, he can attend the family Christmas party.

(There’s a Part 2 and Part 3 as well.)

If only parents really could call in the Molice when we want to get to the bottom of something or need a little help straightening out our kiddos. Can we make this a real thing, please, Mama Mack?

During this week’s episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, the American Idol alum treated fans with yet another one of her addictive covers. This time, she opted to tackle the pop-punk legends Blink-182 with a performance of their big hit, “All The Small Things.”

In addition to embodying the part with a flannel outfit, some emo-moody lighting, and a killer backing band, Clarkson carried the song in her captivating fashion — with incredibly strong vocals that enunciate the lyrics. And hey, she even kept in the “na-na-na” part of the original Blink track, just adding to the fun energy of it all.

Viewers can clearly tell she’s having a blast as she dances around the stage, clapping during the brief instrumental break. However, it’s towards the ending when Clarkson really hits her stride by emphasizing the emotion of the pop-punk song.

Despite being a shortened cover, under two minutes presumably for television purposes, Clarkson kills it. It’s why her covers — including previous picks by Adele, Bruno Mars, and Britney Spears — have become a beloved phenomenon, even if you don’t watch her talk show.

“You introduce the audience to these artists that now they get to listen to on Spotify or wherever they listen to their music,” Clarkson told KCCI last June. “It’s really a cool moment for me musically.”

Watch Clarkson’s cover of “All The Small Things” above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Sam Smith dabbles in dancehall music in their new single “Gimme” which was released today (January 11). The British superstar teamed up with Jamaican artist Koffee, and Jessie Reyez for the sexy track.

“Gimme” is the third single from Smith’s upcoming album Gloria. With the help of Koffee, Smith gets into a dancehall groove. Rising R&B singer Reyez sings the infectious chorus where she repeatedly sings, “Gimme what I want.” Smith soulfully croons about a hot-and-heavy romance with sexual double-entendres in the mix. Koffee turns up the heat with her fiery guest verse while bringing some Jamaican authenticity to Smith’s bedroom banger.

“I’m a sexual person,” Smith said in a statement about the song, which they described as “filthy!” They added, “I Iike sex. It’s something I’m teaching myself to not be ashamed of. Me and Jessie were basically drunk, drinking whisky in Jamaica, two in the morning, running around absolutely wasted, like two girlfriends having a laugh.”

The music video for “Gimme” will be released soon. Smith scored a global hit last year with “Unholy” featuring German pop star Kim Petras. In October, the song climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Smith’s Gloria album will be released on January 27. Reyez will serve as an opening act on the North American leg of Gloria The Tour, which kicks off in July.

It seems natural to wonder if people who inspired various TV shows would want to watch said TV shows to see what was or wasn’t true, and how it was portrayed. Most of the time, it seems like anyone who has a series based on them and their family would not want to tune in. Would you really want to watch a show inspired by you if it painted you in a not-so-good light? Probably not, unless your actor portrayal is really good. But the royals are a different story!

We all know how much familial drama and generational secrets those Royals must have, so it makes sense that there is a very popular Netflix series that dramatizes the family and their stories over the last 70 years. But it would also make sense if the highly-criticized family wouldn’t want to see how their world is perceived, as many members of the Royal Family are. Lucky for Prince Harry, he left that lifestyle, so he is free to binge like the rest of us.

While promoting his overly indulgent biography, Prince Harry revealed that he is a fan of the show. “Yes, I have watched some of The Crown,” he told Stephen Colbert in a new interview. Colbert then asked if he has seen all of the show, which spans several decades. “The older stuff and the more recent stuff,” he added. Season five of the series debuted in November.

Colbert then pressed the former royal to see if he would fact-check the show’s historical events. “Yes, I do actually,” he joked while pretending to take notes. “Which, by the way, is another reason why it’s so important that history has it right.” This is exactly the reason why Prince Harry has written his own tell-all book, so that nobody else would be able to report that he had frost-bite on his penis while attending his brother’s wedding. Isn’t family amazing?

Prince Harry’s season of The Crown will likely air sometime in the next 50 years, so that is something to look forward to because we know it will be very accurate! Check out the clip below:

(Via Page Six)

The past few years have seen a slew of top rappers newly touting the joys of parenthood; Big Sean, Cardi B, Drake, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, and Pusha T have all crossed the threshold, bringing “dad rap” that much closer to being a legit genre. The latest rapper to potentially join those ranks is Cordae, whose girlfriend, tennis superstar Naomi Osaka, just announced her pregnancy on social media. Osaka, who is one of her sport’s highest-paid athletes, posted a photo of an ultrasound, as well as a typed statement. It reads:

The past few years have been interesting to say the least, but I find that its the most challenging times in life that may be the most fun. These few months away from the sport has really given me a new love and appreciation for the game I’ve dedicated my life to. I realize that life is so short and I don’t take any moments for granted, everyday is a new blessing and adventure. I know that I have so much to look forward to in the future, one thing I’m looking forward to is for my kid to watch one of my matches and tell someone, “that’s my mom”, haha. 2023 will be a year that’ll be full of lessons for me and I hope I’ll see you guys in the start of the next one cause I’ll be at Aus 2024. Love you all infinitely.

Sidenote : I don’t think there’s a perfectly correct path to take in life but I always felt that if you move forward with good intentions you’ll find your way eventually.

Cordae, whose album From A Bird’s Eye View was counted among Uproxx’s Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2022, has yet to make a statement, but as he told Uproxx in his cover story last October, he doesn’t even have most social media apps installed on his phone, so maybe we just have to wait until he finds a good wi-fi connection. In any case, congrats to the couple!