As such, Monday’s media day was business as usual for Durant, who fielded questions on his summer, the team around him, and his commitment level to the Nets after a failed trade request. KD pushed back on the idea he had anything to prove to Nets fans, saying “that’s on you” if you have any doubts to his commitment to the franchise he tried to leave this summer.
“I’m committed to moving forward with this team. I just keep being me every day.”
While I fully believe Durant will do what he always does on the court despite what transpired in July and August — and that’s a credit to his professionalism and competitiveness as a player — it’s a bit funny for him to say “that’s on you” when he was the catalyst for this entire saga.
It’s absolutely fair to wonder what KD’s commitment is to the franchise long-term and whether another effort to get out of Brooklyn could come next offseason, but if there’s any player who can separate a desire to leave eventually from what he’s doing on the court, it’s Durant. From that perspective, he’s right, and I’d expect nothing less than his normal, dominant self on the floor this season. What happens after this season ends, though, is anyone’s guess.
In an interview with Apple Music 1 host Ebro Darden (as Pitchfork notes), Dre explained how nerve-wracking his performance was:
“It made me extremely nervous. I don’t know if I’ve ever been that nervous before. Not only that, I don’t know if I’ve ever looked more forward to a Monday morning. So it’s the preparation and making sure you have the right people around you. All of these people came through for me, and everybody was extremely enthusiastic about the show. We had a good time, although it’s a lot of things and a lot of people you have to depend on. You’re talking about at least 3000 people that you have to depend on to get this show right for 13 minutes. So it is an extreme amount of pressure, but it’s fun at the same time. When it’s done, it’s like goosebumps, bro. I got goosebumps, especially from the reaction that we got from the show, and especially being able to do the show with all of my friends.”
Of Rihanna, he said, “I just like her and what she does, and her get down, and how she approaches her artistry and the whole nine. It’s fantastic. She has the opportunity to really blow us away. I know we set the bar extremely high.”
Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.
This week saw a new Cardi B collab and Lil Nas X returning to the video game realm. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
It’s been well over four years since Cardi B released her debut (and so far, only) album, 2018’s Invasion Of Privacy. Despite the LP gap, Cardi has managed to stay culturally relevant in a number of ways. That includes collaborations like her latest, the Glorilla meet-up “Tomorrow 2,” on which the two touch on usual fare: bragging and shooing haters away.
Lil Nas X — “Star Walkin’”
Lil Nas X has popped up in video game-related endeavors on multiple occasions in recent years, including last week via his League Of Legends partnership. “Star Walkin’,” which soundtracks the game’s upcoming world championships in Mexico City, is an uplifting anthem that sounds perfect for its purpose.
Kid Cudi and Ty Dolla Sign — “Willing To Trust”
Cudi’s multi-tiered project Entergalactic (the album and accompanying TV special of the same name) is on the way in just a few days. Ahead of that, Cudi dropped a new song from it last week, “Willing To Trust,” a poignant number featuring Cudi’s Entergalactic (the show) co-star Ty Dolla Sign.
Freddie Gibbs — “Dark Hearted”
Shortly after a shot-filled freestyle on Hot 97, Gibbs did a 180 with the vulnerable single “Dark Hearted.” This one is a James Blake production and the somber aura he created is the perfect backdrop for Gibbs to drop a rapid verse about his struggles.
Baby Tate — “Ain’t No Love” Feat. 2 Chainz
Baby Tate (a former Uproxx cover star) has her Mani/Pedi mixtape on the way, which makes her latest tease of it, last week’s “Ain’t No Love,” all the more fitting. In the song’s video, she and her crew take care of themselves at the nail salon before hitting the streets.
YG — “Maniac”
YG wasn’t pleased when his label dropped the I Got Issues tracklist recently, but the world’s gonna know it when the album drops this Friday. He teased it last week with “Maniac” and Uproxx’s Aaron Williams notes of the song, “The Compton rapper subtly details the stressors that have been making his life ‘krazy’ since even before he got famous (see what I did there?), and brashly reveals the effect getting rich and famous has had on them.”
Alex G — “Immunity”
Thanks to songs like “Immunity,” God Save The Animals, the latest album from Alex G, is something special. In fact, Uproxx’s Ian Cohen just ranked it as Alex’s best album ever and noted, “Folky Alex G, abstract Alex G, slowcore Alex G, rawk Alex G, it’s all here, but God Save The Animals manages to circle back to his origins placing the vocals higher than they’d ever been since Race or Rules.”
Jamie xx — “Kill Dem”
While it’s been years since Jamie xx’s last solo album, 2015’s In Colour, he has dropped a small smattering of singles in the years since. That includes last week’s “Kill Dem.” Uproxx’s Adrian Spinelli notes the tune “is a direct homage to the energy, the hype, and the music he heard booming through the Notting Hill Carnival soundsystems in his youth and flowed through the speakers when he performed at Notting Hill for the first time this past summer.”
Giveon — “Time”
The upcoming movie Amsterdam has an all-star cast and it’s doing pretty well in the music department, too. Last week, Giveon shared “Time,” his contribution to the film’s soundtrack that actually features songwriting from Drake on the cinematic ballad.
The 1975 – “All I Need To Hear”
Matty Healy has said he and his band took a more comedic approach on their upcoming album, Being Funny In A Foreign Language, but last week’s “All I Need To Hear” seems to stray from that. Instead, it’s a warm, downtempo, soulful ballad that sees Healy flexing his vocal chops in a more vulnerably emotional context.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
On the surface, Charlize Theron appears to have no trouble locking down projects. She delivered the sleeper action hit The Old Guard (and has a sequel on the way), there’s the upcoming The School for Good and Evil (also for Netflix), her recurring role in the Fast and Furious films, and she surprised Marvel fans by landing the coveted role of Clea in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. But according to Theron, finding work is nowhere near as easy as it used to be. However, she’ll be the first to say that’s a good thing.
In a new cover feature for Harper’s Bazaar, Theron gets real about her level of fame and how being an “A-list star” is no longer enough in the new Hollywood landscape. That change has forced her to work smarter, not harder.
“I feel like I’m at a place where it is what it is,” Theron said. “Working more isn’t, I think, going to change my level of fame. It just has always been a mediocre ride. I’ve never been one of those people that’s at a Kim Kardashian level. But I feel like it’s just always been this thing.”
As Theron explains, her star power isn’t enough to greenlight projects anymore, and she actually prefers it that way. Via Harper’s Bazaar:
“I will say, back in the day, it used to be like, you want to have some of this fame so you can go make the shit that you really want to make,” she says. “But now it’s like, I pitch shit all day long and people are like, ‘No, thanks.’ I’m like, ‘I guess that’s not cash in the bank anymore.’ And that’s nice. It’s nice that you’re making things on the merit of how good they are versus this idea of, like, ‘Oh, you’re this thing, and we want to be in business with that thing.’ ”
Theron is also here for the recent changes in how actresses are being treated, particularly by male directors and producer. She’s on a mission to “create environments that feel like the things that I wish I had 30 years ago when I started.”
The School for Good and Evil starts streaming October 21 on Netflix.
Alex Turner gave the ultimate wedding gift to Mini Mansions bassist Zach Dawes and his new wife, Molly. According to video posted by an Arctic Monkeys fan account early Monday morning (September 26), the 36-year-old singer performed Dion’s “Only You Know” with Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint and Michael Shuman of Mini Mansions and Queens Of The Stone Age.
Alex singing at Zach & Molly’s wedding w/ Evan Weiss, Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint), Michael Shuman pic.twitter.com/P1lUm0WYnI
Dawes and Turner have been bandmates in The Last Shadow Puppets, a supergroup also consisting of Miles Kane and James Ford. Dawes provided bass for their 2016 sophomore album, Everything You’ve Come To Expect. The Last Shadow Puppets haven’t released a project since then. Turner has been too busy with the Arctic Monkeys. On August 24, the English rockers announced their seventh studio album, The Car, will arrive October 21. The lead single, “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball,” dropped on August 29 alongside an official video.
Days later, they announced they would play a phone-free show at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, on September 22. And just last week, the band unveiled dates for their 2023 UK & Ireland Tour. The 13-date slate begins at Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol on May 29 and will close at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow on June 25. The tour includes two-night stays at Sheffield’s Hillsborough Park (June 9 and 10) and London’s Emirates Stadium (June 16 and 17).
See all of Arctic Monkeys’ upcoming live dates here.
Jimmy Butler made waves this offseason when he showed up on an offseason workout video sporting long hair extensions, with the star even posting a video to Instagram of him getting his new hair put in.
Butler’s hair sparked plenty of jokes and conversation on the internet, and he showed up to media day sporting a different dreads look that, once again, drew plenty of attention. When asked about his new look, Butler sheepishly insisted he didn’t get extensions and didn’t know what the reporter asking was talking about, before offering up a simple — and very Jimmy Butler — reason for why he’s been messing around with various looks this offseason: he wanted to make the internet mad.
“I’m just messing with stuff to make the internet mad. That was my goal this summer and it worked.”
As he notes, he succeeded in that mission, and while he wouldn’t commit to the future of his hair while on the podium, he eventually told Taylor Rooks that he won’t be sporting the long hair once the season starts, going back to his more traditional look.
Just spoke to Jimmy Butler. He said we will NOT be seeing the locs in the regular season. Had a good run
That’s probably smart, because any sort of slump would’ve immediately been attributed to Jimmy’s hair messing with him, but given Butler’s love of trolling, I wouldn’t count it out completely that we see him roll up to a game one year having completely changed his hair again.
Father time comes for us all — even rappers who once defined a rebellious youth culture for a generation of hip-hop fans. ASAP Rocky, who was one of the pioneers who brought the mosh pit to rap shows in the early 2010s, is now 33 years old and far less spry than he was in his early career. He’s also a father now, which means being a bit more responsible than the 20-something kids who come to his festival sets to recklessly smash into each other in a show of youthful exuberance.
Unfortunately, Rocky seems to have missed the memo, causing him to go viral over the weekend when he decided to stage dive during his headlining set at Rolling Loud New York. That part seems to have gone well enough, but getting out of the crowd turned out to be a lot more difficult than he apparently anticipated. His struggle to get back onto the stage was caught on camera and now, fans on Twitter are having a field day with that image.
“lmaooooo ASAP Rocky was fighting for his life in that mosh pit last night,” wrote one fan. “bro yelled ‘LET ME OUT.’”
lmaooooo ASAP Rocky was fighting for his life in that mosh pit last night, bro yelled “LET ME OUT”
Even Rocky’s peers got in on the act. Tyler The Creator, whose friendship with Rocky goes back to their early careers and who has had a longstanding tradition of trolling his “Potato Salad” collaborator, even used a screenshot of Rocky’s struggle face as his new profile picture on Instagram.
Instagram
Unfortunately for Rocky (and his fans), his set was cut short at just nine songs due to a New York noise curfew (closing festivals on Sunday night is one of the worst time slots according to Questlove) and he started nearly 50 minutes late. It isn’t the first time it’s happened, either; maybe it’s time for the new dad to work on his time management in addition to staying on the stage for the foreseeable future.
Check out more responses to ASAP Rocky’s mosh pit mishap below.
Dominic Fike has announced the dates for his new Out Of Order North American tour. Fike, who appeared as Elliot in season two of HBO’s Euphoria, released his last album What Could Possibly GoWrong, in 2020. While he will be touring a handful of winter shows with stops in Los Angeles’ Hollywood Palladium and New York’s Terminal 5, there is the possibility that fans could hear new music.
Since his last album, Fike also collaborated with none other than Paul McCartney in 2021. He performed a rendition of McCartney’s “The Kiss Of Venus” for his album McCartney III Imagined. He also appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he spoke about their collaboration and performed his own song “Babydoll.”
A complete list of Dominic Fike’s Out Of Order tour dates is available below, with more ticketing information found here.
11/06 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
11/08 — Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
11/09 — Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
11/11 — San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
11/12 — Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
11/16 — Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater
11/17 — Dallas, TX @ House of Blues Dallas
11/19 — Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
11/21 — St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live
11/23 — Orlando, FL @ House of Blues Orlando
11/25 — Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
11/26 — Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
11/28 — Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring
11/29 — Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall
12/02 — New York, NY @ Terminal 5
12/03 — Boston, MA @ House of Blues Boston
12/05 — Montreal, QC @ L’Olympia
12/06 — Toronto, ON @ HISTORY
12/09 — Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
12/10 — Chicago, IL @ Radius
12/11 — Minneapolis, MN @ Fillmore Minneapolis
12/13 — Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
12/14 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
12/16 — Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman learned a lot about Donald Trump over the course of three interviews in 2021. In a preview for her new book, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, published in the Atlantic, she writes that the former-president thinks COVID is “not good” and that he was offended by comparisons to ex-New Jersey governor Chris Christie (“I was compared to him? Why? I didn’t know I had that big of a weight problem”).
Trump also called Haberman his “psychiatrist,” which she writes was a “meaningless line, almost certainly intended to flatter.” She was not flattered, but Trump’s familiarity with his interviewer — and the fact that history has proven, time and time again, that he can say whatever he wants with no repercussions — led to a “jarring” confession.
At one point, Trump made a candid admission that was as jarring as it was ultimately unsurprising. “The question I get asked more than any other question: ‘If you had it to do again, would you have done it?’” Trump said of running for president. “The answer is, yeah, I think so. Because here’s the way I look at it. I have so many rich friends and nobody knows who they are.”
In a “later interview about what he’d liked about the job,” Haberman writes, “he replied, ‘Getting things done,’ and listed a few accomplishments,” but it’s telling that Trump’s immediate response to his favorite thing about being president is all the rich jerks he met along the way. Does he know he could have hung out with these rich ghouls at, like, Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N’ Roll Steakhouse instead of the White House, and saved everyone a lot of stress? Probably would have been more fun, too.
As Blackpink continues to kick down doors in their songs, they’re actually breaking records, and making history as well.
Closing their first week of promotions — including a “Shut Down” performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Blackpink’s sophomore album, Born Pink, lands atop of the Billboard 200 chart at No. 1. This achievement makes the pop quartet the first ever K-pop female act to do so, and the first all-female act to top the chart in over a decade – with Danity Kane’s second album, Welcome to the Dollhouse in 2008. Blackpink’s record-breaking album makes them the third South Korean act to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this year, following Stray Kids (Oddinary) and BTS (Proof).
According to a report from Billboardand Luminate, Born Pink has earned itself 102,000 equivalent album units in the US in the week ending September 22. The second album also debuts at the top of of the Top Album Sales chart with 75,000 album sold (physical and digital), making it the seventh-largest album sold in 2022.
In addition, the eight-track pop project from Blackpink also topped the Official Albums Chart on the United Kingdom’s Official Charts (the UK-equivalent of the US Billboard chart). Just like Billboard 200, Blackpink becomes the first K-pop female act to ever debut at No. 1 as well.
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