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As the trees begin to shed their leaves and the weather cools down, one thing is holding steady: music festivals. Sure, spring and summer both have claims to being the center of music festival season, but fall is not without its merits. From ACL to Portola to III Points to Camp Flog Gnaw, some of the best festivals in the world take place towards the end of the year. And, the more temperate weather makes the appeal that much greater.

With a run of music festivals comes the need to prepare for those festivals. Once again, we’re back with a guide of items we think will help make your next music festival experience better, either from a functionality standpoint, an enjoyment standpoint, or simply a survival standpoint. Either way, pack up and we’ll see you at the show.

ohsnap!’s Snap 4 Luxe

From finding set times to recording performances, chances are you spend a good amount of your festival experience holding your phone. The Snap 4 Luxe is the super-thin grip that you didn’t know you needed. With a variety of new colors (red, lavender, hot orange, hot pink, and sky blue), this multifaceted device can also be used to prop a phone up for viewing ease, and won’t make your phone lay down awkwardly when on its back. It’s also magnetic, so you can stick your phone on a variety of surfaces, and it is MagSafe® compatible with wireless charge-through. Honestly, this feels like a great way to avoid losing your phone at a festival, and just a great phone accessory for everyday life.

Price: $39.99

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STIIIZY Edibles

Despite only being in a handful of states, STIIIZY is the best-selling cannabis brand in the US. That speaks both to the quality of the product and the brand’s overall footprint in the space. And while legalization is gaining traction in more and more states, there still might not be a better place to sample a little THC than a music festival. This recently released line of STIIIZY edibles is ideal for the festival grounds, especially because you can enjoy them before heading in and let the effects hit you once you are in front of a stage. With Indica, Sativa, and Hybrid options, there is truly something for every cannabis user, and their 2:1 THC to CBN Edibles are formulated to ease anxiety and tension, which is perfect for big crowds. Weed and music go together like milk and cookies, but just be sure to obey local guidelines and festival protocols.

Price: Varies

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Hyperice Normatec and Hypervolt 2 Pro

As I wrote about earlier this year, wellness at music festivals is becoming a major focus, with more brands finding ways into the space. This also means that you can be packing ahead, knowing that your body will be pushed to its limits and in need of a little TLC. We recommend the products from Hyperice, specifically the Normatec leg system. It’s basically a portable massage therapy system designed for athletes that uses air compression to help you recover, but it’s beneficial for anyone wanting to take care of their body. They also make nifty massage guns like the Hypervolt 2 Pro, which provides spot treatment for any sore muscles. These aren’t the smallest items to include in your packing, but they’re worth making space for.

Price: Varies

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KIND Snacks

KIND bars have had a music festival presence for years. Sometimes, they’ll have an installation giving them away. Sometimes, it is just through advertisements. But there’s a reason that the association works so well: they provide portable bits of energy and sustenance while tasting great. Whether for the car ride on the way to the fest or back at camp for post-event snack, packing light bites like those offered by KIND are truly essential. New recent offerings include KIND Zero (with no added sugar) and a Seeds, Fruit, And Nuts line.

Price: Varies

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ORCA Wanderer 24

While you probably can’t bring your own food and beverages into a music festival, you’ll def need to plan ahead whether you are staying at a hotel or hitting the campgrounds. The ORCA Wanderer 24 is a great companion, with the size and space to hold wine bottles and up to a 24-pack of beer (or soda?). With five colors to choose from, we particularly like the Starboard, which can stand out from the crowd. Also, the leak-proof zipperless design and waterproof lining are ideal for travel, ensuring that your ice doesn’t leak all over your car, tent, or hotel room.

Price: $250

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Static V Lite Eco Sleeping Pad

Unless you have your own hotel room or a bed secured, many people will be roughing it a bit for festival accommodations. We recommend this inflatable sleeping pad for whatever situation you might find yourself in. Again, this is very compact so as not to take up too much of your packing footprint, but will make a world of difference in overall comfort. We particularly like the built-in siderails, which allow the sleeper to remain secure on the pad all night (or day, depending on WHEN you sleep).

.Price: $89.99

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Vibes High-Fidelity Earplugs

Seeing a live performance is perhaps the best way to hear music, but it’s also one of the loudest and potentially most harmful ways. Hearing protection is important, and Vibes’ hi-fidelity earplugs lower sound without sacrificing quality, making them a must-use for the next show you attend.

Price: $28.95

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For the past month, Fousheé has been preparing to release her second studio album, Pointy Heights. Named after a stretch of land in Jamaica owned by her grandfather — who was nicknamed “Pointy” for his small stature — the album is dedicated to the New Jersey singer’s roots. After releasing the lead single “Still Around” in July, the former Uproxx cover star followed up with “War,” “100 bux,” and today, “Feel Like Home.” The new song is a dreamy mash-up of alt-rock and doo-wop and pays homage to “the people that truly make a place feel like home.”

Pointy Heights is inspired by a trip back to Jamaica, after which she scrapped all the songs she’d already worked on, starting from scratch with roots reggae, ska, and rocksteady as the baseline for the revamped project, which will feature production from her frequent collaborator Steve Lacy and Karreim Riggins. On her Instagram page, Fousheé explained, “pointy heights is a mile & a half long area located right outside of old harbor jamaica founded by my grandfather pointy. they called him pointy bc he was pint sized 🙂 this album is dedicated to him, the fam & the community.”

Listen to “Feel Like Home” above.

Pointy Heights is due on 9/13 via RCA Records. You can find more info here.

The pick for Super Bowl LIX’s halftime headliner has proven controversial, drawing criticism for the NFL, Roc Nation, and Jay-Z in particular. This is familiar territory for the rapper-turned-mogul, whose partnership with the NFL has been criticized from the very beginning. But he has at least one supporter in his corner — former rap rival and fellow Golden Era pioneer Fat Joe, who defended Jay during a livestream on his Instagram account. During the wide-ranging monologue, Joe posited that while Jay-Z’s deal with the NFL might not be perfect, that there wouldn’t even be an opportunity for rappers like Kendrick Lamar or Lil Wayne to headline the Super Bowl halftime show.

While acknowledging the contingent of hip-hop heads who wanted Lil Wayne to headline in New Orleans, he argued that “it ain’t just one man’s decision” and “if he wasn’t doing shows, it’d be no hip-hop.” As an example, he pointed to the 2022 show, which was headlined by rap legends Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg and featured 50 Cent, Eminem, and Kendrick Lamar, and joked that if not for Jay, the halftime show would feature performances of the viral country folk song, “Cotton-Eyed Joe.” While that might be an exaggeration on his part, the last arguable rap act to perform the halftime show was Black Eyed Peas in 2011, at the height of “I Gotta Feeling” and “Boom Boom Pow Pow.”

So, while it wasn’t Jay’s decision to book Kendrick (or snub Lil Wayne), Joe believes his influence has at least opened the door for non-traditional performers, as hip-hop continues to take it pretty far.

The news of R&B legend Frankie Beverly’s passing at age 77 today was a little like hearing a favorite uncle died for much of the Black community. His songs entertained and brought families together for generations — especially after Beyoncé covered his signature hit, “Before I Let Go,” in 2018 for her Homecoming Coachella concert film. Beverly himself said the rendition helped to revitalize interest in his career, and today, Beyoncé paid homage to the lost legend with a heartfelt message posted by her Parkwood Entertainment.

Thank you, Frankie Beverly, for bringing us all together with your music. You’ve written some of the most inspiring and uplifting songs for the world to enjoy. With your lyrics, you have humanized our experiences, through joy and pain. Thank you for teaching us about the importance of community, family, and togetherness. We will never forget you. May you rest in power.

Fortunately, Frankie was able to receive some of his flowers while he was still around to smell them. In March, he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the NAACP Image Awards. And, of course, he got to see the cross-generational relevance of his biggest hit thanks to Beyoncé, saying, “She’s done so much, this is one of the high points of my life… I just thought it was a great little song, but I never thought it’d be all this… it’s one of those things this band will be able to carry on forever.”

(FOURTH SEASON SPOILERS BELOW)

The Boys‘ recent season finale left plenty of questions to consider before the fifth and final season, such as how the show is currently (and in the future) dealing with A-Train’s disappearance. Other questions involve what powers Ashley will have after potentially Hulking out due to taking Compound V in desperation, and then there’s the possibilities opened by Erin Moriarty‘s Annie January regaining her Starlight powers and zooming into the stratosphere while Hughie was hauled off by Homelander’s minions.

This followed some episodes in which Annie felt her identity metaphorically slipping away while losing said powers, but after she had to take her identity back from the Shifter, the ex-member of The Seven found her way back to herself. As a result, Annie could be much more powerful than her former Supe self, so presumably, she will be back with a vengeance to rescue her vigilante friends and will hopefully squish some Bad Supes in the process.

Showrunner Eric Kripke has also told fans that “lots of death” will surface onscreen because there’s no need to give these characters plot armor with the series winding down. So, who should Annie kill? Or perhaps the better question is who she might kill first. Gotta be Deep, right? Chace Crawford’s character has had it coming from her since he sexually assaulted the fledgling Supe in the series’ first episodes, so a full circle moment like her casually ripping away a few of his most treasured body parts (I mean gills, but what were you thinking?) and feeding them to a shark seems fitting.

Sure, everybody who can kill someone will want to kill Homelander, but let Starlight have Deep. Erin Moriarty agreed when Comic Book asked who Annie should take out first: “You know, which one, come on.” Moriarty then did, in fact, express the desire to kill Homelander, but she believes that the “bare minimum” is Deep:

“[S]he’s got to at least get The Deep, let me kill the fish guy at least, bare minimum for God’s sake… But it needs to be under circumstances where she’s provoked at first because that’s her. She can’t just go and kill someone. They need to attack her and it’s self defense because she’s Annie, but she’s got to get someone and I feel like people weren’t rooting for that as much until this past season. But that concept of a cathartic karma. I think we really need it. So all of the above, all of them.”

Moriarty also floated the possibility of a Starlight-Ashley joint effort, and I do think that watching Ashley kill Homelander would be much more satisfying than watching Butcher do it, since that rivalry has arguably been beaten into the ground. Whereas Homelander has caused Ashley to rip her hair out due to stress, and then he taunted her for it, so viewers would love to see him be taken down by somebody who he belittled for ages and who had no power to fight back. Until now.

Hey, maybe she’ll have super-powered hair (or even Medusa-type hair) that throttles Homelander. Eric Kripke, make it happen.

The NFL and Roc Nation selecting Kendrick Lamar to headline the Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show next February ruffled some feathers in hip-hop, but apparently, the Compton rapper’s chief rival, Drake, isn’t sweating it. In fact, according to one source, Drake’s claim to be “big as the Super Bowl” turned out to be true in more ways than one.

On the latest episode of the New Rory & Mal podcast, Mal made the audacious — and largely unsupported — claim that not only has Drake had the opportunity to headline the halftime show multiple times, but that he’s also turned it down every time. “Drake has been offered the Super Bowl show for some years now and has turned it down,” he said. “Probably four years, he’s been offered to perform at the Super Bowl, said no for whatever reason.”

Now, whether this is true or just damage control on the part of one of Aubrey’s most loyal angels remains to be corroborated by any other authority. However, it wouldn’t be a surprise to learn that Drake’s been offered the show — although, the timing of this reveal is made more suspicious by Drake’s recent lashing by the future headliner.

Meanwhile, due to the Super Bowl taking place in New Orleans, some folks believe that the headlining gig should have gone to Drake’s former mentor Lil Wayne — despite the show only being headlined by a local act four times in its near-60-year history. You can check out the full episode of New Rory & Mal below.

LL Cool J just dropped his latest album, The FORCE, last week, and the headlining song has been his Eminem collaboration “Murdergram Deux” (which was also co-produced by Q-Tip, to further add to the hip-hop credibility). Now Em and LL have gone ahead and given the song a new video.

The clip notably serves as a tribute to some of the hip-hop that preceded present day: As Complexnotes, the visual features re-creations of LL’s cover for his 1987 album Bigger And Deffer, the art for Big Daddy Kane’s 1988 project Long Live The Kane, and Death Row Records’ 1996 cover of Vibe.

The song sees Em engaged in some of his classic wordplay. For LL’s first new album in over a decade, Eminem busted out lines like, “What? A supa-dupa switch / I can’t understand a single word you’re saying / I think you have syrup brain, ’bout to finish you like polyurethane / All that molly probably sure to drain your spinal fluid from your vertebrae / This the Murdergram and I brought my murder game / My sh*t fire, that is why you log on it like Duraflame.”

Watch the “Murdergram Deux” video above.

The FORCE is out now via Def Jam. Find more information here.

(WARNING: Spoilers for Power Book II: Ghost will be found below.)

Things are getting out of control in the second half of Power Book II: Ghost season four. In last week’s episode, Diana was beat up by a dirty cop who was upset that Diana enlisted Tariq to complete a job rather than doing it herself. Later on in the episode, Detective Kamaal Tate, Rashad Tate’s brother was shot and killed by Detcetive Carter after Tate learned that Carter is running a dirty operation with his team. This is all while Tariq and Brayden figured out a way to get back in the drug game and work with Noma after taking care of a problem for her.

So, what happens next? Find out out this week’s episode and here’s everything you need to know about it:

When Does Power Book II: Ghost Season 4, Episode 7 Come Out?

The seventh episode of Power Book II: Ghost season four, titled “I Can’t Fix This,” will arrive on September 13. The episode will be available on Friday, 9/13 on the STARZ app starting at midnight EST/PST. The episode will later air on the STARZ TV channel that same day at 8 pm ET/PT. A synopsis for “I Can’t Fix This” can be found below:

When tragedy strikes, Tariq and the Tejadas are set on a mission to avenge what they’ve lost. Dru must take out a threat to Carter’s organization in order to protect his family.

You can also watch a teaser for Power Book II: Ghost season four, episode seven below:

‘Power Book II: Ghost’ season four, part in now streaming on the STARZ app Season four, part two debuts on September 6.

At this point in the year, many artists are announcing new tour dates for 2025. Destroy Lonely, though, still has some fun planned for the rest of 2024: Today, he announced a 14-date North American tour, dubbed the Forever Tour.

The run starts on November 30 in Detroit and wraps up in Washington, DC a few days before Christmas. Pre-sale tickets are available starting today at noon ET, while the general on-sale begins September 13 at 10 a.m. local time. Find more information about that here.

Destroy Lonely is fresh off the release of his latest album, Love Lasts Forever, which dropped on August 30.

Check out Destroy Lonely’s upcoming tour dates below.

Destroy Lonely’s 2024 Tour Dates: Forever Tour

09/29 @ Halifax, NS @ Magnetic World Music Festival
11/24 @ Sattahip, Thailand @ Rolling Loud Thailand
11/30 @ Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
12/01 @ Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
12/03 @ Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom
12/04 @ Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union
12/06 @ San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
12/07 @ Los Angeles, CA @ The Shrine Expo Hall
12/09 @ San Diego, CA @ SOMA – Mainstage
12/12 @ Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom
12/13 @ Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
12/15 @ Miami Gardens, FL @ Rolling Loud Miami
12/17 @ Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
12/19 @ Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte
12/21 @ Washington, DC @ The Anthem

Love Lasts Forever is out now via Opium/Interscope Records. Find more information here.

Shannon Sharpe found himself trending on social media on Wednesday, but it had nothing to do with anything the Hall of Famer said on First Take or his Club Shay Shay podcast. Unfortunately for Sharpe, he was a trending topic because of an Instagram Live on his account where fans that clicked on his Live were suddenly presented with what certainly sounded like two people having sex.

There was nothing to be seen, as the phone was pointed towards the ceiling, but it was a very NSFW mid-morning IG Live that no one was expecting, leading to plenty of clips being passed around Twitter and elsewhere. Later in the afternoon, Sharpe released a statement on Instagram claiming he was hacked and that his team was “working vigorously” to find out what happened.

Because Sharpe is never seen on camera, the hacked excuse certainly is plausible, although it’s fair to wonder why someone would hack an Instagram to do this on a Live, but people have done stranger things. Not appearing on camera certainly helps Sharpe’s case, especially when it comes to handling this with his ESPN and Disney bosses, because we have seen how a Hall of Fame player can get ousted from ESPN for a wild IG Live — just ask Paul Pierce.

Easily the funniest part of the whole thing was WWE superstar Ron Killings (aka R Truth) in the comments of Sharpe’s IG Live. Truth asked, “are they F**KIN??? Excuse my French,” then said “Yoo UNC that’s not PG” and finally pleaded “Hang up the phone Big Unc.” Eventually, the phone did get hung up and Sharpe is going to stick with the getting hacked story.