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Remember when conservatives had a perfectly normal reaction to a video of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) harmlessly dancing to “Lisztomania” by Phoenix while she was in college? Surely they will be equally chill about the footage of AOC responding to a crowd of protestors holding “F*CK AOC” signs by shimmying.

Mediaite reports that during “a Wednesday night event in her district, which includes parts of Queens and The Bronx, protesters could be heard chanting ‘AOC has got to go!’ People also held signs that read ‘WAKE UP New York,’ ‘AGENDA 2030: U.N. IS DIRTY, SAVE HUMANITY’ and ‘FUCK JOE BIDEN.’ Ocasio-Cortez could be seen sitting on a stage and moving her shoulders and arms, followed by taking a drink of water.” She also pointed at one of the protestors — this guy? — and said, “Very classy, sir. Thank you.”

You can watch the footage below.

Naturally, Lauren Boebert has weighed in.

Ocasio-Cortez hasn’t tweeted about the dancing video, but she did respond to a recent tweet by Mike Pence. “I’ve got news for President Biden. Come January 22nd, we will have Pro-Life majorities in the House and Senate and we’ll be taking the cause of the right to Life to every state house in America!” the former-vice president, who refuses to speak out against Donald Trump in 2024 even though his MAGA-loving supporters tried to hang him, tweeted. AOC replied, “And I’ve got news for you: Absolutely no one wants to hear what your plan is for their uterus.”

(Via Mediaite)

In case British politics weren’t confusing enough, people on Twitter are having a field day over a head of lettuce following the news that Liz Truss will resign as Britain’s prime minister after a scant six weeks in office. (And, yes, there’s already talk of Boris Johnson coming back.) Truss made the announcement on Thursday following a disastrous economic plan that severely impacted the British pound.

Truss was already on shaky ground following her controversial appointment just two days after Queen Elizabeth II’s death, which prompted a British tabloid, the Daily Star, to come up with a cheeky, produce-based contest to see how long Truss would last in office. Via PEOPLE:

Writing about how quickly she lost hold of the government ​The Economist estimated that Truss had just “seven days in control” — which equated to, as the magazine put it, “roughly the shelf-life of a lettuce.”

British tabloid Daily Star seized on the comparison, quickly setting up a live feed of a head of lettuce next to Truss’ photo and asking: “Will Liz Truss outlast this lettuce?”

To the surprise of everyone, the lettuce won. Truss will head out, and Twitter has been having an absolute field day with the fact that she lost to head of iceberg lettuce. Even Anthony Scaramucci got in the act. Although, in fairness, Truss lasted much longer than his infamous 10 day run as the White House Director of Communications during Trump’s first year in office.

You can just some of the Liz Truss lettuce jokes below:

(Via PEOPLE & Daily Star)

Freddie Gibbs couldn’t help but continue to troll DJ Akademiks during a recent freestyle.

The Indiana rapper stopped by Power 106 to chat with L.A. Leakers about his latest album, Soul Sold Separately. During the broadcast, the “Built for This” rapper delivered a killer freestyle over Jay-Z’s “This Can’t Be Life” beat. The classic track debuted in 2000 and featured Beanie Sigel and Scarface with production by Kanye.

At the top of his freestyle, Gibbs yelled, “I’m the prize!” regarding the viral video in which DJ Akademiks was seen breaking up a fight between his girlfriend and another unknown woman. In the footage, the media personality is seen shouting at his partner before screaming, “I’m the prize!”

Gibbs then took it a step further by calling Akademiks “abusive” and urging him to “stop taking purses from girls.”

“You abusive, stop taking them purses and all that sh*t from them girls,” Gibbs says. “It’s L.A. Leakers. Come to the west coast, man, we’ll buy a purse. If you want a purse, I got you. ”

In other news, earlier this month, the rapper released a video for the Jacob Blake-produced track “Dark Hearted.” In the animated video, Gibbs transports fans into his world, complete with rabbits, grenades, and UFOs.

Check out the freestyle above.

Whenever NBA teams bring rappers out to perform at halftime, they’re nearly always taking a gamble. Sure, a lot of times, you end up with relatively harmless entertainment that confuses some of the parents in the audience (or lately, a lot of the kids, considering some of the rappers getting booked are well into their 40s and were last big names in the mid-2000s), but there are other moments that go viral for all the wrong reasons.

There was the time 21 Savage came out for his hometown Hawks and put on a … let’s just say “less than energetic” performance. Then there was Ja Rule’s performance at the Bucks’ ’90s night, where a few logistical issues and the residual Fyre Fest funk made his appearance more comical than nostalgic. Last night, another new name was entered in the Hall of Shame: Fivio Foreign, who popped out for his hometown team — kinda — the Brooklyn Nets.

Unfortunately, perhaps due to sound issues or maybe because of he self-censored the explicit content of his songs (always a bad choice to pick songs you’re not used to performing clean), Fivio’s performance got ripped to shreds on Twitter.

For what it’s worth (I’ve always said this), basketball games aren’t usually the best environment for musical performances of any kind, but especially rap. There’s always a certain amount of latency between the wireless mics that get used on the floor and the PA system, which causes all kinds of problems given the relatively precise timing required of rap songs. Usually, this isn’t as noticeable in the arena, but folks at home are seeing multiple layers of latency stack up, so it sounds way worse than it is. Still, Fivio dropping lyrics doesn’t look great from the outside, even if you account for technical problems.

It probably didn’t help that the nNts were in the middle of a 130-108 spanking at the hands (wings?) of the New Orleans Pelicans, who actually look… good(?) this year (tentatively). Anyway, it’s all just growing pains and I’m sure the next time around, Fivie will be more prepared.

Lil Nas X has unlocked a new achievement after releasing many No. 1 hits, having “Old Town Road” surpass a billion YouTube views, and becoming League Of Legends President: “WILL FERRELL CAME TO MY F*CKIN CONCERT,” he tweeted, including a photograph of them together. “nobody can tell me sh*t.”

The tweet of course instantly went viral and people are going crazy for this unexpected collision of worlds. However, it became even funnier when someone pointed out: “where is Will’s hand?” The “Industry Baby” performer quote-tweeted it, writing, “he couldn’t resist getting a good hand full of this big fat ass. and i couldn’t say no tbh.” He then added a meme to the thread with the caption: “omg if he see this he gone delete old town road from his spotify.”

The rapper also recently caused a stir on social media when making an interesting request for his fans. He wrote, “stop doing poppers at my concert! u do not need ur asshole relaxed to see me perform industry baby!” Then, when headlines came out, he clarified: “aht aht- i said stop doing poppers. cuz ya asshole don’t need to be open while i sing my depression album cuts. if yall wanna do weed, molly, shrooms, paint, gasoline ect. knock yourselves tf out.”

Today, Netflix had impeccable (although unintentional) timing with the release of their The Crown trailer. That promotional tidbit arrives on the same day that news broke of conservative British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigning a mere 44 days after she began the gig. Yes, the Daily Star‘s lettuce head lasted longer. Of course, this isn’t a direct reflection of King Charles III’s time on the job, but it surely doesn’t help that he recently began his own tenure and hasn’t exactly been setting bystander enthusiasm on fire while pushily gesturing for someone to clean off his desk and such.

The few interactions between Charles and Liz Truss haven’t been so dynamic, either. A week or so ago, People took notice of a choice ITV video in which Charles muttered, “Dear oh dear.” He was reacting in some way to seeing Liz again, and of course, assumptions swirled that he was displeased at her presence. In actuality, he was probably reflecting upon how their first meeting (sadly) involved the death of Queen Elizabeth II, but still, his reception could be seen as icy.

In any event, it’s not an overstatement to say that Great Britain is swirling in real-life economic and political chaos. Meanwhile, Charles has been all obsessed and angry about how the new The Crown season shows him allegedly growing very upset about having to wait for the throne (three decades before he actually took the throne). And of course, we’ve already seen the show’s portrayal of how he threw fits over attention paid to Princess Diana, but now, we’ll see him kissing Camilla and firecrackers and all that.

So it’s safe to say that Charles is not having a great week, not only with his reign kicking off during a period of turmoil but with coverage of a streaming show dragging him into oblivion. And it’s a prime time for jokes about Charles being a big stuck boat and possibly exclaiming, “I can’t believe I waited my whole life for this sh*t.” Also, the “Dear, oh dear” may have been slightly before its time. Yet will Charles follow in the footsteps of his King Charles predecessors and dissolve Parliament?

Whatever the case, Liz Truss broke a PM resignation record, and Charles looks to be on track to hold audiences with more Prime Ministers than Elizabeth did.

If you haven’t had enough yet, just wait until The Crown returns on November 9.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Talky, British post-punk has been one of the definitive trends of the 2020s thus far. With bands like Squid, Black Country, New Road, and Porridge Radio at the helm of its latest wave, the clear frontrunner of this vanguard is Dry Cleaning. Featuring vocalist Florence Shaw’s post-modern, absurd lyrics about the quotidian experience and her band members’ Sonic Youth-esque arrangements, it’s easy to understand the appeal.

However, after they broke through with 2021’s New Long Leg, it was difficult to predict where they’d take their sound next. The answer: nowhere. Rather than changing up their style drastically, they are simply refining upon the pre-existing, already-great blueprint of what’s there on their second record, Stumpwork.

There’s a lot to enjoy about Dry Cleaning. For instance, the pre-released single “Gary Ashby” is about a family tortoise who’s gone missing. “Don’t Press Me” contains the line, “All I could afford was my gaming mouse / So don’t touch my gaming mouse, you rat.” On “Hot Penny Day:” “I’m not here to provide blank / They can fucking provide blank.”

Shaw delivers these lines in the most gripping deadpan imaginable, infusing her often amusing lyrics with wry disinterest. The band’s instrumentation, courtesy of guitarist Tom Dowse, bassist Lewis Maynard, and drummer Nick Buxton, serve as the perfect musical landscape for Shaw’s captivating word collages.

Shaw, Dowse, and Maynard took the time to discuss Stumpwork, how the praise surrounding New Long Leg motivated them to make another excellent record just one year later, working with producer John Parish, how Stumpwork forms its own musical identity, and more.

How does this new album differentiate itself from your debut and form its own identity?

Florence Shaw: We’re roaming around and trying out our as-yet unexplored interests. There are wider landscapes of sound on Stumpwork. It’s more romantic at times, maybe more emotional, more vulnerable. It’s also poppier in places.

Tom Dowse: When we finished recording New Long Leg, we were already starting to write again straight away. It’s almost like a continuation because we couldn’t tour. It just gave us loads of time with no real commitments other than some press, promo, and meetings every now and again, but generally, we have most of the week to ourselves. We were really given a lot of freedom. The label really didn’t tell us to do anything in particular, which was encouraging. And I think we were all committed to making another album quite quickly. John Parish, who recorded it, was up for it and he was available.

Lewis Maynard: The process of writing was similar at the start. So we did a lot of jamming and then listened back to those phone demos but then intentionally didn’t complete songs. We took them to the studio to complete them there. With New Long Leg, we played a lot of those songs live, and not too many of them changed in the final product. These new songs changed quite a bit and in ways that we didn’t expect, as well. Some we took in expecting to record them as they were, and then they changed a lot. And then we went in with others leaving loads of space for them to change. We gave ourselves a lot more time, as well. We gave ourselves double the amount of time as we did on the first record.

What were some of those unexpected changes that happened?

Dowse: Well, one of my favorite tracks is “Hot Penny Day.” For a long time, that song was literally just the middle section. We were trying to play it really slow and groovy at first. And then Lewis just started doing this wild bass part, and we wrote it from that. That was two weeks before we went to the studio. We played a bit of it to John [Parish] when we did a process of two rehearsals in Bristol, and John came and the engineer came. They listened to everything, and he’d say, “I like it, but you need to make it into something else.” Some of the songs we adjusted a bit more in the studio, so that was definitely one.

Maynard: “Conservative Hell” was something that we’ve never done, where we tried to make this free-form, jazzy section in the middle, And then it went back into the song. It just didn’t really sound like us, which is weird because there are quite wide margins of what we can sound like. But we really forced it to sound improvised, and it wasn’t. When we got to the studio, we were stuck with the structure of it. John forced Tom and me into a room, and we had to improvise and jam for a few minutes. That became half the song.

Dowse: When we were finished, John was like, “That’s the one.” And we were like, “Lunch!” Because that’s all we were thinking about. I was like, “I really wonder what’s for lunch. I hope it’s nice.” When we get back from lunch, John says, “Can you remember what you were playing?” And so we’re still fresh. Right after lunch, I went with [engineer] Joe [Jones], and he filmed me playing. I knew I’d forget because I wasn’t paying any attention. Sometimes, the best time to do things like that is when you’re not really paying attention. You just let it out.

Did you feel any pressure coming off of the excitement surrounding New Long Leg?

Shaw: Not at first. Not in the months after New Long Leg came out. We did a lot of writing for Stumpwork around that time. But then I was quite taken aback by the end-of-year lists it ended up on. I didn’t expect it. When many of those lists were published in December 2021, we were embedded at Rockfield Studios recording Stumpwork, and I did have to take a moment to control some nerves then. I was used to writing with a sense that the audience was quite niche, you see. And that was harder to imagine after that.

Dowse: We were confident from the first one because it went quite well. And we felt there was more to do. Then we were already writing the next one to address what we’d thought of the first one, things like shorter songs and poppier songs. When New Long Leg became popular, we were just about to record. It was more inspiring to go into the studio, knowing we’d done well, but we’d already written it by then.

What do you appreciate about working with John Parish?

Dowse: He’s going to get the best out of you, and he does it in different ways. For different people, he knows he can be a bit provocative. Or, sometimes, he’ll be a bit encouraging.

Maynard: He reads the room. We’ll be doing a take, and he’ll be like, “Oh, if we just have a cup of tea…” and he just knows everyone’s needs.

Dowse: But, likewise, when you’re doing a take, and you think it’s quite good, he might say, “I think we should do one more. I think the next one would be good.” He’s paying that much attention that he’s hearing every take and thinking, “I think there’s something there. The first half of that last one was better than the second half of this one,” and pastes them together, basically. So he just knows exactly what’s going on all the time.

Florence, what is your lyrical process usually like?

Shaw: I’m just trying to express myself. There is no formula, but, roughly speaking, I write lines or words or passages down when they come to me. When we get together as a band to rehearse, I’ll try some of that writing out over what Tom, Lewis, and Nick are playing. We’re all improvising together. If a line feels good, I’ll investigate and think something like, “What does this line mean to me?” Then when I have the answer I’ll look over all the writing I have with me, searching for other lines or passages of writing that also feel right, or correspond to the same emotional qualities as the first line, or reference the same subject literally or laterally. Even lines that link in some visual way.

If I can’t find anything, then I’ll make something up at the time, or try something that feels wrong (sometimes that can yield good results, too). Most of this construction work goes on during our rehearsals whilst Tom, Nick, and Lewis are playing. I’ll be sitting with all my papers out, scanning for the right bit of writing, and then when I find it, I try it out. It’s trial and error, and listening back to demo recordings later that we make on our phones is when I make decisions about what to keep in the song and what wasn’t quite right. I keep doing that until the song is finished.

What were some of your musical or non-musical influences for Stumpwork?

Shaw: I love the book Baby, I Don’t Care by the poet Chelsey Minnis, ceramics and drawings by the artist Erica Eyres, the band Audiobooks and particularly Evangeline Ling’s writing and performance. I listen to Jme if I feel uninspired. His writing is clever and funny. I was drawn to short-hand language or things written in a rush without care, like instant messages of all kinds (texts, WhatsApps, DMs). I tried at one point to write in haiku form, and at another time wrote captions for photographs, as at the time I was drawn to words that describe an image.

How does Stumpwork evolve Dry Cleaning and expand on what your band is?

Dowse: That’s basically it; we just expanded on what we are. A lot of the stuff on that record is stuff we wanted to do at the beginning of the band. I’m into ambient music, Nick is into house music, and Lewis is into funk. There are only so many hours in a day to touch on these subjects. So it’s just having more time to be able to do them.

Maynard: We realized after the first record that we’ve set a nice foundation for lots of different directions. There’s lots of little nods to certain genres, and we could start to expand on that and take it further. It just opens more doors and directions we can go. And Flo’s vocals anchor the band so nicely, it gives the instruments more scope to move, as well. We can go quite deep into a different genre and have a voice to anchor it nicely.

What do you want people to take away from listening to this record?

Dowse: That they can relate to it in their own way, really. Fill in the blanks yourself. I hope we’re not holding up the band as something that doesn’t leave any room for your imagination to interpret.

Maynard: I think we communicate honestly with the projects and how we make music, and I think that’s what people have always liked about the band. The reason behind it is that we came together as friends. It’s like a social project. There’s still that kind of honesty, and we create music to impress each other and entertain each other, and I think that comes across.

Shaw: We set out to write an optimistic record. There’s a lot of humor in what we do. That’s a big part of what Dry Cleaning is. I hope Stumpwork might encourage someone to make their own music or write about their own specific interests. That’s the kind of thing I enjoy.

Stumpwork is out 10/21 via 4AD. Pre-order it here.

Change has been difficult for many Jeopardy! fans to endure in recent years, starting with the replacement of late host Alex Trebek. That decision turned to outright scandal and has since been resolved, but even some much smaller changes have been met with online outcry and fan discussion.

Which is perhaps why those in charge of Jeopardy! recently announced they’ve changed course on a potential change that would have actually given players more money if they achieved a particular feat during the game’s run of play. Sweeping a category has long been an applause moment on the show, with the host specifically calling out the achievement of a single player getting all five questions in one category right.

And as the show tweaks things in Season 39, it has previously floated the idea of awarding a bonus to contestants who could manage the feat like Ryan did above. But after some backlash to that decision, the show has decided against it. On the October 17 edition of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, host and Jeopardy! producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss noted that the show has decided to put that idea on ice.

“We’re not doing anything at this point,” Foss said. “There’s no [cash] bonus; nobody get upset.”

As many pointed out, while the cash bonus may be nice for players, it may actually significantly alter play strategies as well. If players are incentivized to stay in a single category and go for the cash bonus, it may actually not be in their best interests as far as actually winning the game. A player behind in the game, for example, may want to focus on higher-valued answers on the board to make up ground. Or, as has become more popular in recent years, actually hunt out Daily Doubles in spots they are more frequently appearing to wager big and take control of the game.

Interestingly, the show will apparently call out fewer ran categories moving forward now as well. Previously, if a player got all five right but not in sequential order, they would still get a mention and applause.

“We actually decided we’re not going to call out the running of a category. Not even top to bottom,” Foss explained, making clear that to get applause you have to do it with five correct answers on five straight questions. “Five for five, that’s when we’re gonna give applause and acknowledge running the category.”

In a way, this is a simplification of sorts, as it’s one more thing for the show’s host to remember, so Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings probably appreciate the move here. But it’s certainly interesting to see the long-running game show float changes and watching fans react. In this case, Jeopardy! decided it was best to keep things as they are.

[via TV Insider]

After sending the wrong person nearly 2k — $1,800 in total — Yung Joc was blocked and is now pleading with fans to help him.

The Atlanta rapper shared his embarrassing situation on Instagram Wednesday, posting a series of screenshots he sent the person begging them to return his funds.

“Hi can you please return the $1,800 that I mistakenly sent to your account via Zelle,” Yung Joc wrote via text message. “I don’t know you nor do you know me…Please do the right thing…God has a bigger blessing for you.”

After his pleas were ignored, the “It’s Goin’ Down” rapper continued to message the person, despite admitting he may be blocked anyway.

“I know you’ve blocked my number and that’s ok I just need the $1800 that was sent your account via Zelle,” Joc continues.

Following the lack of response, the rapper turned Love And Hip Hop reality star and radio host urged his fans to get involved in the issue. Joc called on his fans to try and reach out to the person.

“So I sent them a Zelle by mistake, and they won’t return my money…. can y’all please call/text them and ask them to return my lil change?” he wrote on Instagram.

While it seems some fans did try, some noted it might just be a lost cause.

“Ohh I know he ain’t went to IG for some help. Sir, at this point it’s God’s blessing to whomever you sent it to. Take this as a loss and a blessing,” one person commented.

Since the plea, the rapper has been relatively quiet on social media, and it doesn’t seem like he got his money back either.

As if the announcement of BTS Jin’s solo single wasn’t enough, there are bigger things yet to come.

Recently revealing the promotion schedule for “The Astronaut,” on Monday, there was one more thing missing on the teaser poster: A showcase. But, of course, in iconic BTS fashion, what’s a showcase without going the extra mile, or 11,850, for it? Well, that’s exactly what you would expect from Mr. Worldwide Handsome.

In what may seem the ultimate win for any successful diehard fan, Jin is set to make his debut performance of “The Astronaut” with Coldplay in a live broadcast of their show in Buenos Aires, Argentina on October 28.

In a set of promo images that features an exchange of text messages between Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin and Jin, Martin cordially invites the eldest member of BTS to their South American show to which the Korean superstar agrees. The back and forth between the two also confirms Coldplay’s involvement in the single.

“It takes more than 40 hours to get to Argentina from Korea, so I’ll start getting ready today, ” Jin replies to Martin, followed by a “See you in Buenos Aires.”

Jin’s “The Astronaut” is slowly but surely being rolled out leading up to its release on October 28. See the promo schedule below.