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Chicago’s “Letters To Santa: The 24-Hour Music and Comedy Marathon” happened again this year across 24 hours on December 19th and 20th. Truth be told, at press time, Spencer and Sammy Tweedy were playing an experimental set in the event’s final hours. In short, it’s a benefit that raises money for families in need at Christmastime, where they get surprised on Christmas Day with “armloads of gifts” (and $10,000.) Along with the younger Tweedys, this year’s performers included Jeff Tweedy, Dave Grohl, Ty Segall, Chris Kattan, Bonnie “Prince” Billie, Steve Albini, and others.

For his livestreamed set, Dave Grohl pulled out a deep cut that hadn’t been played in a dozen years. Along with Foo Fighters classics like “Times Like These” and “Everlong,” Grohl’s five-song acoustic set also included the Nirvana rarity, “Marigold.” A B-side to the “Heartshaped Box” single and part of the In Utero deluxe release, it was a song that Grohl actually wrote in 1992 when he was with Nirvana and the band played sparsely with Kurt Cobain doing backing vocals to Grohl’s lead. Grohl wrote the song and eventually played it on tour with the Foo Fighters in 2006, and it appears on Skin And Bones, the Foo Fighters’ live album. It’s a very deep cut, a classic to die-hard fans (I had it on a bootleg CD when I was a kid), and one of the songs that were referred to on the Foo Fighters Instagram video as one that, “He wouldn’t normally play.”

Watch Dave Grohl playing “Marigold” below.

It doesn’t take a foreign policy expert to realize that things are not looking great for Vladimir Putin. He’s finally admitted to his Ukraine war brewing up an “extremely complicated” set of circumstances, and word on the street is that he’s plotting to flee Russia if/when he loses his war, and there are reports of him feeling increasingly “vulnerable” as Ukraine continues to reclaim territory. Now, Russian State TV talking heads are apparently seeing the darkness at the end of the tunnel, and they’re lashing out on TV towards anyone who dares to mention peace negotiations.

As The Daily Beast reports, on-air freakouts reveal “a very real fear that propagandists — along with military and government officials — would be forced to answer for their war crimes, including public incitement of these actions on state television.” Working for Russian State TV media is not an ideal path these days for sure. One TV editor recently (and bravely) interrupted a broadcast to protest the war, and she faced consequences. For those who remain propagandists, an even bigger price may be coming.

Via The Daily Beast, that’s led to Putin’s remaining allied talking heads declaring the need for their own type of tribunals (for those who want peace):

In recent days, multiple state TV programs have warned that Russia’s defeat in this war would lead to war crimes tribunals at the Hague or elsewhere, arguing that the only way of escaping that fate is ensuring Russia’s victory, by any means necessary. During Friday’s broadcast of NTV’s program Our Own Truth, host Roman Babayan led panelists into discussions about the need for Russia’s own war crimes tribunals, which should be set in motion in anticipation of an impending victory over Ukraine.

February will see the one-year anniversary of Putin’s Ukraine invasion with no real indication that Russia can actually win, despite Putin’s massive draft. And on a more frivolous note, the Kremlin still has not addressed the report of Putin pooping and falling down the stairs. I guess they’re busy fielding other important accusations.

(Via The Daily Beast)

In recent days, “nepo baby” has been a major buzzword (or “buzz term,” more accurately) online. Essentially, it refers to celebrities with famous relatives and implies the opportunities for success that they have received are primarily thanks to the fame of their families. (The “nepo” is short for “nepotism.”) Vulture recently ran a thorough, in-depth feature that cataloged most of the nepo babies in American pop culture, but what about music specifically? There’s a pretty sizable list in that industry, too.

(For the purposes of this list, “nepo baby” is not a judgement term and simply refers to musicians whose parent or parents worked in the entertainment industry or were otherwise noteworthy/affluent.)

Indeed, there are some famous nepo babies in the music world. A few that immediately come to mind are Miley Cyrus (daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus), Jaden and Willow Smith (children of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith), Norah Jones (daughter of Ravi Shankar), Robin Thicke (son of Alan Thicke), and Nancy Sinatra (daughter of Frank Sinatra). There are plenty beyond that, though, including some you may not have realized had at least one famous relative. Let’s take a look:

Coi Leray

Father: Benzino (rapper, producer, co-founder of The Source)

Leray has been one of the promising rappers of the past few years, plain and simple. In 2021, XXL put her on their esteemed “Freshman” list and she dropped her defining single “No More Parties,” which was her first song to place on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and be certified platinum by the RIAA. She also made some noise this year with Trendsetter, her debut album that included features from Nicki Minaj, HER, Lil Durk, and others. She also appeared on a 2022 cover story for Uproxx. NBD.

Clairo

Father: Geoff Cottrill (Chief Marketing Officer at Top Golf, previously of P&G, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks)

Through accusations of being an “industry plant,” Clairo has proven that she really does have the musical goods and that she deserves all the acclaim she’s received. Her two albums, 2019’s Immunityand 2021’s Sling, both earned spots on numerous year-end lists, while the former got her on the Hot 100 chart for the first time and the latter was her first top-20 album in the US.

Gracie Abrams

Father: J.J. Abrams (filmmaker)

In recent years, Abrams has become your favorite artist’s favorite artist. She’s joining Taylor Swift on tour in 2023 and she’s previously supported Olivia Rodrigo and The National. This is thanks in part to the strength of her 2021 project This Is What It Feels Like, which features some Aaron Dessner production and was well-received.

Maya Hawke

Parents: Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke (actors)

Hawke is best known for her breakout role in Stranger Things, but before the show, she was already working on a music career for herself. That’s been going well, too: Her two albums, 2020’s Blush and 2022’s Moss earned some critical praise, which, along with her acting chops, helped establish Hawke as a skilled multi-hyphenate.

King Combs

Father: Diddy/Sean Combs (rapper, businessman)

Combs has been grinding away at a music career for a few years now and it has really paid off. One of his freestyles previously caught 50 Cent’s attention and just this November, his single “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” topped Mediabase’s Urban Radio chart, actually passing his father Diddy’s Bryson Tiller collaboration “Gotta Move On” to claim the title.

King Princess

Relatives: father Oliver H. Straus Jr. (recording engineer) and great-grandfather Isidor Straus (US congressman and co-owner of Macy’s)

Nepo baby or not, King Princess has been one of the more notable breakout music stars of the past few years. Her debut single, 2018’s “1950,” has been certified platinum and she’s generally become a critical favorite. She’s even managed to transcend music by appearing as a guest judge on Is It Cake? earlier this year.

Samia

Parents: Kathy Najimy and Dan Finnerty (actors + Dan Band leader)

Samia built a strong foundation for herself with her 2020 debut album The Baby: It was one of the year’s best-received projects and it set the table for her upcoming second LP, Honey. Coincidentally, by the way, Samia’s video for The Baby lead single “Is There Something In The Movies” actually featured Maya Hawke.

Frankie Cosmos

Parents: Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates (actors)

Cosmos (whose real name is Greta Kline) is an established veteran stemming from the 2010s indie scene, having cemented herself as a mainstay figure through many Bandcamp releases and later a string of proper studio albums. Last year, she continued her string of beloved albums with Inner World Peace.

Buzzy Lee

Parents: Steven Spielberg (director/writer/producer) and Kate Capshaw (actress)

For years now, Lee has been plugging away and really making a name for herself in the music scene with various releases over the past decade. She’s earned herself some big opportunities, too, like working with Nicolas Jaar as Just Friends, collaborating on multiple occasions with Jpegmafia, and opening for Haim on their 2022 tour.

Elijah Hewson

Father: Bono (U2 singer)

While they haven’t broken out in the US quite yet, Inhaler, the band led by Hewson, is a phenomenon overseas: Their debut album, 2021’s It Won’t Always Be Like This, topped the charts in the UK and Ireland. It’s also easy to hear the genealogy in Hewson’s voice and sounding like a young Bono certainly hasn’t hurt, especially with the band’s rock sound that also bears some stylistic similarities to ’80s U2.

Stephen A. Smith is wired like a professional wrestler, a showman above all else who performs in front of millions — and millions — of folks on television. This makes it pretty unsurprising that Smith, on Tuesday’s edition of First Take, revealed that he is both going to WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles next year and really, really wants to have a role as a heel manager in the entire thing.

“I’m looking forward to going to WrestleMania in a few months, no doubt about that,” Smith said to the show’s guest, Ric Flair.

“Stephen A., I just got the word passed along,” Flair said. “Because WrestleMania’s in California, they know you love California, I think they’re entertaining the idea of having you manage one of these guys that can’t talk too well.”

Smith seems extremely open to the idea, but it comes with two extremely important conditions: he is allowed to work as a heel and he doesn’t get hit.

“Listen man, Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan, Paul Heyman and these guys, I would love to be one of these bad guy manager,” Smith replied. “I don’t know if you know that about me, Molly. I want to be the bad guy. I don’t want to be one of the goodie two-shoes guy. I wanna be the troublemaking, bad manager. I think I could pull it off, Ric Flair!”

Smith explains he’d need it in his contract that “no one can touch me” because “I’m too fragile,” which would take away from the dream of fans seeing Stephen A. getting hit with someone’s finisher. That said, Smith doing some mic work on the stage at WrestleMania could be great and given Smith was among the ones who broke the news Mania was headed to L.A., it feels like this could very well be already in the works.

No list of the most memorable on TV in 2022 is complete without the foot scene from House of the Dragon. You know the one.

There’s nothing wrong with being into feet, but did Larys Strong (played by Matthew Needham) have to be such a “disgusting” little guy about it? “She knows what Larys can do, how powerful he is, and how he won’t stop shy of killing his entire family in order to progress in this court,” Alicent Hightower actress Olivia Cooke said, adding, “It’s disgusting, it’s demeaning, it’s assault. But she’s not really left with any choices. She’s surrounded herself with psychopaths and murderers. There’s no one else to turn to.”

In an interview with People, Needham was asked about the “foot fetish” scene, which he thinks has been misunderstood. “I don’t think it’s a foot fetish like we understand it. I don’t think he’s sexually aroused by feet. It’s more that he’s making her show her feet,” he said. “You know, this man who’s had this club foot disability all his life is making this incredibly powerful person show him her feet. It’s such a power move.” He continued:

“It’s a way of reasserting control, putting someone in a box. It’s a display of dominance, really making someone feel as ashamed of that part of her body as he does of his. It’s associating her feet with something traumatic, which is what he does.”

Needham (more like Needfeet) knew the internet would “lose its mind” over the scene, but “that is the thing about this job: the oddest, most twisted things become normalized really quickly. Monday, I’m cutting out someone’s tongue and then on Tuesday, it’s the feet scene.” We’ll find out what happens on Wednesday in 2024.

(Via People)

Donnell Russell, who briefly managed disgraced R&B star, R. Kelly, was sentenced to a year in prison for his threat against a screening of Surviving R. Kelly in 2018. According to the Associated Press, Russell was sentenced Monday (December 19) after pleading guilty in July to stalking and harassing the singer’s victims shortly after being convicted of phoning in the shooting threat against a New York theater screening the Lifetime docuseries. Russell claimed someone at the event had a gun, leading to the theater being evacuated.

However, the docuseries was still widely aired, leading to a surge of interest in bringing R. Kelly to justice. The end result was two convictions — one in New York for trafficking and racketeering, the other in Chicago for child porn and other charges — that will see Kelly serve 30 years in prison.

Russell, meanwhile, will serve his latest sentence concurrently with the one for harassment, 20 months in prison. Another associate of Kelly’s, Michael Williams, was sentenced to eight years in prison last year for arson and witness intimidation after setting one victim’s family car on fire. Kelly plans on appealing his own sentence with the help of Bill Cosby’s former lawyer. Meanwhile, Lifetime recently debuted the trailer for the upcoming third part of Surviving R. Kelly, which will cover the aftermath of both trials.

This past August, indie folk singer-songwriter Cass McCombs released his wonderful tenth album, Heartmind. The melancholy and witty album features appearances from Danielle Haim, Wynonna Judd, and Charlie Burnham, with production from Ariel Rechtshaid, Buddy Ross, and Shahzad Ismaily. Songs like “Unproud Warrior” and “We Belong To Heaven,” quickly slot among McCombs’ best and highlight an understated, but nonetheless excellent 2022 indie release.

Now McCombs is taking the album on tour in 2023 and announced extended tour dates that will take him to both sides of the U.S. Along with already announced East Coast dates that begin in January, a full West Coast swing will now begin in February and extends McCombs’ tour into March.

Check out Cass McCombs’ complete 2023 tour dates below and get tickets here.

01/13/2023 — Amherst, MA @ The Drake
01/14/2023 — Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre
01/15/2023 — Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
01/17/2023 — Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi
01/18/2023 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
01/20/2023 — Toronto, ON @ Great Hall
01/21/2023 — Pittsburgh, PA @ The Andy Warhol Museum
01/22/2023 — Charleston, WV @ Mountain Stage
01/24/2023 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
01/25/2023 — Ardmore, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall
01/26/2023 — New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
02/18/2023 — San Luis Obispo, CA @ SLO Brew
02/19/2023 — Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s
02/21/2023 — Felton, CA @ Felton Music Hall
02/23/2023 — San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
02/25/2023 — Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
02/26/2023 — Seattle, WA @ Neumos
02/28/2023 — Sonoma, CA @ Sebastiani Theatre
03/01/2023 — Ojai, CA @ Deer Lodge
03/02/2023 — Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s
03/03/2023 — Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
03/04/2023 — San Diego, CA @ TBA

Henry Cavill is done with portraying Geralt of Rivia after The Witcher Season 3 rolls out. That should happen in mid-2023, and in the meantime, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is promoting The Witcher: Blood Origin prequel series, which she is executive producing. And naturally, Lauren is fielding questions on exactly why Henry Cavill left. Speculation abounds, considering that he seemingly departed (and he’ll be replaced by Liam Hemsworth) for more Superman adventures, but that won’t happen now, given that James Gunn decided to run with a younger Clark Kent story.

Cavill did make it clear that “[m]y turn to wear the cape has passed,” meaning that his DCU/DCEU door has been shut, and The Witcher fans instantly lit up with fleeting hope, but Cavill is moving onto other geeky pastures. He will appear in and help craft Amazon’s adaptation of the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop RPG universe. So he’ll still be able to nerd out in the way that he loves most, but there’s the lingering mystery of why Cavill was done with The Witcher in the first place. Did he feel that all of the grunts and f*cks weren’t true to the spirit of the source material?

We may never know the answer to that question, but Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is now (somewhat surprisingly) suggesting that there’s more to the departure story. She won’t reveal everything, but here’s what happened when NME let a question fly:

“We’re going to try and talk about that next year,” comes the firm reply, not from Hissrich, but a strategically placed publicist sitting in on the call. They seem to have expected the question.

“That’s exactly what I was going to say!” chips in Hissrich. “I do have a lot to say and I think that there’s a lot of, you know… we’ll obviously never get into exactly why Henry left, all of the reasons, but I can say it’s been a mutually respectful relationship… So please, please, please come back in six months when we can talk.”

Cue the intrigue. This tidbit should only spark more speculation, and hopefully, we will hear more details. In the meantime, we can still look forward to Cavill’s Geralt in Season 3, and while he’s not in Blood Origin, the franchise found a way to include Joey Batey’s Jaskier as a link to the present. Hopefully, he’ll have another banger for us, too.

(Via NME)

Sometimes, you think you’re having a bad day and then something happens and it turns out, your bad luck was just getting started. That’s what apparently happened to Babyface Ray, according to TMZ. The Michigan rapper’s brand-new BMW reportedly broke down, blocking the road and prompting police to investigate. After they ran the rapper’s license, however, instead of providing assistance, they arrested him. Apparently, he had several outstanding warrants for various misdemeanors, including missing a child custody court appearance, improper possession of a weapon, and ironically, driving with a suspended license. He was booked into Oakland County Jail.

As for the busted Beemer, Ray gave his girlfriend permission to have it towed. Fortunately, it’s still under warranty; apparently, he’d just driven it off the lot.

It’s not all bad news, though. Ray is fresh off the release of his new album Mob — his second release of the year — and his debut television performance on The Tonight Show. The album contained the single “Spend It” and capitalized on a year in which Ray was selected as one of XXL magazine’s Freshman Class of 2022. He opened the year with the release of his album Face, and racked up an impressive collection of featured credits on projects from Future, Maxo Kream, and Nav. By this time next year, it’s possible he’ll be looking back on this arrest as just another bump in the road to superstardom.

Ogi is the newcomer you must keep your eyes peeled for. The Nigerian R&B singer from Madison, Wisconsin made a name for herself posting covers of songs on Instagram while a senior at Northwestern University. In 2021, one particular cover, PJ Morton’s “Alright,” caught the attention of Morton who reposted the song and consequently, legendary producer No. I.D. signed Ogi to his label ARTium.

But Ogi is more than covers — her sound is unique, featuring neo-soul stylings and Naija-influenced wordplay. Today, after relocating to Los Angeles she graces the bathroom set to perform her breakout single “I Got It” from her debut EP, Monologues. The jazzy record with choir-infused vocals is vulnerable yet filled with conviction. The singer confidently reminds her listeners not to let anyone “swallow [her] shine,” or more importantly “cross the line.”

Watch Ogi perform “I Got It” for UPROXX Sessions above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.