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The Weeknd Was Honored With The Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award

The Weeknd can now add another award to his extensive collection of accolades. Today, The Slaight Family Foundation awarded the pop icon with their coveted Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award.

The Humanitarian Spirit Award is given to one Canadian artist, duo, or group each year, recognizing their social activism and philanthropy, as well as their support of humanitarian causes.

“That this is a Canadian award sits deep with me,” The Weeknd said in a statement. “Allan and The Slaight Family Foundation are known across the country for their generous philanthropy, and it means a lot to be acknowledged, and is an honor to be recognized along with the legendary Canadian artists who received this award before me.”

Over the course of the past few years, The Weeknd has donated to several causes, including $100,000 to Uganda-based maternity and children’s medical facility the Suubi Health Center, $50,000 to the St. Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Toronto, as well as donations to Black Lives Matter and the Equal Justice Initiative.

Back in September, he met a young fan with cancer backstage at one of his shows.

The Slaight Family Foundation’s CEO and President Gary Slaight explained how he chose The Weeknd as this year’s recipient.

“The global success of Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye makes every Canadian proud,” said Slaight. “What Abel has done with his success is something that we can be doubly proud of–and this is to improve the lives of people in need, in Canada and around the world. His altruism, in a word, is exemplary.”

On top of the award, The Slaight Family Foundation will make a $50,000 donation to a cause chosen by The Weeknd.

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Phoebe Bridgers Gives Fans Her Annual Charity Covers Because She Likes ‘F*cked Up Holiday Songs’

Phoebe Bridgers has made an annual tradition of releasing covers of songs for the holidays that benefit various charities. This year, Bridgers dropped a version of The Handsome Family’s “So Much Wine” and the proceeds went to Los Angeles’ LGBT Center.

In previous years, she collaborated with Jackson Browne for 2018’s take on McCarthy Trenching’s “Christmas Song.” The following year, she worked with Fiona Apple and The National’s Matt Berninger on Simon & Garfunkel’s “7 O’Clock News/Silent Night.”

Bridgers, who recently wrapped a two-night run in London playing Sally in a live performance of The Nightmare Before Christmas, spoke to NME about why she’ll continue to release the yearly covers. The reason has a bit of a surprising backstory.

“I like f*cked up holiday songs,” Bridgers told the publication. “I always have. I remember being so inspired when I went to Nashville and saw where Elvis had done his Christmas album and, because he’s a crazy person, he had to make it feel like Christmas in July.”

“It’s also a cool thing to do for charity every year, and it’s fun. I like tradition,” she added.

She has also dropped solo covers of Merle Haggard’s “If We Make It Through December” and Tom Waits’ “Day After Tomorrow” in the six years that she’s kept the tradition.

Listen to Phoebe Bridgers’ cover of “So Much Wine” above.

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Luka Doncic Threw Down A Dunk So Nasty Even He Couldn’t Believe It

Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks have had rollercoaster of a season, entering Friday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers with a 14-14 record.

The Mavs have a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde aspect to them, as they will look like world beaters when everything’s rolling, but when shots don’t fall and they are out of rhythm they can look as bad as any team in the league. The good news from a Dallas perspective is that the contender Mavs showed up against the Blazers, particularly in the third quarter as they turned a 9-point halftime lead into a 25-point lead going into the fourth quarter.

The play that will be the central highlight from what figures to be a blowout win for the Mavs is a rare Luka poster dunk, as the Mavs superstar pumpfaked a three, faked a pass, and then drove the lane before throwing down a monster dunk we don’t typically see from the MVP candidate.

The dunk is tremendous, but the best part is Doncic’s reaction as even he seems surprised by how hard he threw it down. Luka’s a certified #sneakyathlete in that he’s a husky white guy that spends most of his time beyond the arc and below the rim, but on occasion he’ll remind you that he is still an NBA athlete (and a gigantic human being) and throw one down. This time just happened to be in traffic and with a bit more force than even he’s accustomed to having.

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Ab-Soul And The TDE Crew Are On Top Of Their Game In His New ‘FOMF’ Video

On the heels of his new album, Herbert, Ab-Soul has shared the video for “FOMF,” which is short for “f*ck out my face.”

On the song, Ab-Soul is affirmed in himself as he makes a grand return to the rap game after a six-year break between albums.

“I’m in a league of my own / Y’all need to leave it alone / I’ma just eat everything / I’ma just leave you the bones / Call it an even exchange / There ain’t no need to explain,” he raps on his opening verse.

In the song’s music video, Ab-Soul is seen taking over a baseball field with his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates Jay Rock, Isaiah Rashad, Zacari, Reason, and Ray Vaughn. Fans cheer the rap crew on from the seats in the baseball stadium.

Ab-Soul, along with Rashad and TDE labelmate Kendrick Lamar have all been outspoken about seeing a therapist. In a recent interview with Vulture, Ab-Soul shared how his therapist has helped him over the past few years.

“I felt like she understands,” he said. “It wasn’t the commercialized version of how therapy goes. ‘So how does that make you feel?’ She’s still my therapist to this day. That goes back to how our people are turned off with the mental-health conversation, going to therapy. It means you’re crazy, all of the stigma that we’ve been taught. But I feel it becoming more of the norm for people who don’t want to go to therapy, who want to go try to be their best self. I feel it. It’s happening.”

Check out the video for “FOMF” above.

Herbert is out now via Top Dawg Entertainment. Stream it here.

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Billie Eilish Is Bringing An Extended Cut Of Her ‘Live At The O2’ Film To Theaters For One Night Only

Billie Eilish is bringing her London show from June to theaters with a special music film. Directed by Sam Wrench, Billie Eilish Live At The O2 (Extended Cut) will play for one-night-only on January 23 and features six never-aired performances from her recent Happier Than Ever world tour in 4K Dolby Atmos.

“We’re professionally filming this entire show,” Eilish told the crowd at the time. “It’s the only time we’ve done that. There’s like a billion cameras in here.”

“I’ve always wanted to make a music film that truly captures the energy of my live show,” she also shared in a new press statement via Variety. “These past 16 months have been so special to me, to be able to be back out on the road, performing live and sharing rooms with so many amazing people all over the world. This film is a visual live experience and keepsake for us all, celebrating everything that I love about this tour, and most of all, everyone who came out to see me. This is my thank you.”

Tickets for the film go on sale via Trafagar Releasing on December 21 at 9 a.m. ET. More information is available here.

Watch Billie Eilish’s new trailer for Live At The O2 above.

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Al Horford Got Ejected For Hitting Moe Wagner Right In The Beans

The Boston Celtics got some good news this week as Robert Williams made his season debut on Friday night against the Magic, and that proved to be very important because in the third quarter starting center Al Horford was ejected for a Flagrant 2 when he reared back and swung and elbow into Moe Wagner’s “groin area” as it was officially called by the referee after review.

As Brian Scalabrine notes, Horford didn’t like how Wagner was positioning himself with his knee behind Horford’s knee, but that won’t serve as a good enough excuse to tee off on someone’s nuts. Horford looking shocked he was getting ejected was the best part, because he’s been in the league too long not to think that’s getting a Flagrant 2 after a review. “Unnecessary and excessive contact to the groin area” is a new one for me, but it is an accurate description of what happened, and while Wagner got a foul for his initial contact with Horford, it was the veteran that earned an early exit for his frustrated strike.

That could prove costly in a tight game with Orlando, particularly as the Celtics don’t want to play Williams too many minutes in his first game back, but at least they have some better depth at center than they have for the first 29 games of the season.

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Mariah Carey Offered Front-Row Tickets For Her Christmas Concert To A Fan With A Sprained Foot

Though Mariah Carey may not legally be able to call herself the Queen of Christmas, the “All I Want For Christmas Is You” hitmaker is till in the spirit of giving this holiday season. Ahead of her show tonight (December 16) at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Carey treated a fan with a very special gift.

Earlier in the week, a fan of hers took to Twitter, explaining their dedication to seeing the icon, despite dealing with an injury.

“Having a sprained foot is not going to stop me from seeing @MariahCarey on friday! i will crawl in MSG,” they said.

Carey caught wind of the tweet, and decided to treat the fan to the ultimate Christmas gift.

“I wouldn’t want you to crawl!!,” said Carey. “Maybe instead you can sit in the front row for tomorrow’s show???”

Of course, the fan was elated to receive such good news.

“GUYS IM SHAKING LOL,” said the fan.

Needless to say, we’ll be staying tuned for updates from the fan.

Tonight marks the last night of Carey’s “Merry Christmas to All” concert series at Madison Square Garden. The concert will air in a special presentation on Tuesday, December 20, at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.

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SZA’s ‘SOS’ Behind-The-Scenes Video Reveals It Almost Featured Frank Ocean, Billie Eilish, And Many More

While SZA’s new sophomore album, SOS, features collabs from Phoebe Bridgers, Travis Scott, Don Toliver, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard, she recently revealed that she had way more in mind.

“Sometimes people turn in their verses and sometimes they don’t,” she said during an interview on Hot 97 via NME. “And a lot of people just like did not turn in their verses, but I’m grateful for who did.”

In a new youTube video titled “SOS Where The Hell Have You Been ?”, fans spotted a whiteboard in the behind-the-scenes footage of the album’s creation. And on it are the names of some major artists that could have been on the album.

Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, Doja Cat, Drake, Finneas, Frank Ocean, Halsey, Harry Styles, Kacey Musgraves, Kendrick Lamar, Olivia Rodrigo, Rosalía, Tyler, The Creator, and more are the big musicians that have been made out so far. And what a wild album that would’ve been… Or could be, in the future.

The whiteboard also has a section labeled Benchmarks where it lists RNB and Grunge (specifically, The Cardigans). You can also make out the words “murder them” which might be a reference to songs like “Kill Bill.” It also has the phrase “guard down.”

Watch SZA’s behind-the-scenes of SOS video above.

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Kid Cudi’s Breakout Song ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ Earned Diamond Status, Rapper Reflected On The Journey

Lil Wayne isn’t the only rapper to cross a significant milestone this week. Former G.O.O.D. Music artist Kid Cudi’s breakout single, “Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmares),” is now R.I.A.A. certified diamond. The track, off from his album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day, quickly solidified his footing in the rap game back in 2009.

As Kid Cudi prepares for retirement from music due to toxic online users, he can add one more musical notch to his belt before he begins working on his rumored memoir. To commemorate the moment, the rapper took to Twitter to write, “‘Pursuit of Happiness’ is certified diamond. Thank you to everyone who connected with this song and played it over and over all these years. I love you all!”

With the accomplishment still lingering in his mind, Kid Cudi jumped online today to add, “I was in rehab when the frequency video came out. I shot it, then went on a 2-week cocaine run,” later edited the tweet to include, “The video sneaking into the bathroom to do bumps. Then, I woke up one day and said, “Ima die if things don’t change. So, I made sure things changed.”

He ended the thread with, “Sometimes, you gotta fight for your life because it’s the greatest gift we all have.”

Read our review of his latest album, Entergalactic, here.

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Cecily Strong Gives Lizzo And Austin Butler A Booming Christmas Gift In A New ‘SNL’ Promo

This week’s Saturday Night Live has a promising set of guests. Hosting the night’s show is Elvis actor Austin Butler, who has garnered much buzz this year for playing Elvis Presley in his biopic. Lizzo, who released her critically-acclaimed sophomore album Special this year, is also having a great year. In fact, this is actually her second time performing on SNL this year. This past April, Lizzo served as both the musical guest and the host on an episode of SNL.

In a new promo for this week’s SNL, Lizzo and Butler appear alongside SNL actress Cecily Strong. Austin introduces himself and Lizzo, the latter of who proceeds to ask Strong, “Did you see the presents we left in your room, Cecily?”

Strong, taken by surprise, replies “You guys got me a present?,” to which Butler answers, “Yeah, you didn’t get anything for us?”

Strong then answers, “Yes, I did,” then proceeds to pull a boom microphone from offscreen. The two are elated upon receiving their new gadget.

“Santa came early, thank you Cecily!,” Lizzo exclaims.

“It’s just what we wanted,” says Butler.

Austin Butler and Lizzo’s episode of Saturday Night Live airs this Saturday, December 17, at 11:30 p.m. EST on NBC, and streams live on Peacock.

Check out the promo above.

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