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For the last fifteen years, the Polaris Music Prize has awarded the best album of the year by a Canadian artist. Previous winners have included Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs, Caribou’s Andorra, Kaytranada’s 99.9%, and perhaps the most controversial decision, when Feist’s Metals beat out Drake’s Take Care in 2012.

As of late, the Polaris Prize panel of Canadian journalists and music industry professionals that vote on the award have done an excellent job of selecting the music that best encompasses Canadian identity and representation. Recent winners in Lido Pimienta, Jeremy Dutcher, and Backxwash illustrate that. Now the 2022 field has been narrowed down to a shortlist of 12 nominees that include Charlotte Day Wilson’s incredible Alpha, Destroyer’s enduring Labyrinthitis, Pierre Kwenders’ shape-shiftin José Louis And The Paradox Of Love, and more.

The winner will be crowned and awarded a $50,000 cash prize (about $38,000 in US dollars) at the Polaris Music Prize Gala in Toronto on September 19th. Check out the entire Polaris Music Prize 2022 shortlisted albums below.

Charlotte Day Wilson — Alpha
Destroyer — Labyrinthitis
Hubert Lenoir — Pictura de Ipse : Musique Directe
Kelly McMichael — Waves
Lisa LeBlanc — Chiac Disco
Ombiigizi — Sewn Back Together
Ouri — Frame Of A Fauna
Pierre Kwenders — José Louis And The Paradox Of Love
Ombiigizi — Sewn Back Together
Ouri — Frame Of A Fauna
Shad — Tao
Snotty Nose Rez Kids — Life After

Shaquille O’Neal is one of the greatest humans in history at finding things to do. His basketball career has been over for years, but despite that, Shaq has found ways to stay in the spotlight, whether it’s been through his time as one of the pundits on the Inside the NBA desk or by endorsing seemingly everything under the sun.

There’s also his music career, which has come quite a long way from his days in the rap game. Shaq tours the world as a DJ nowadays, performing under the name DJ Diesel. Currently, he’s in the midst of a big tour that features a ton of stops in Las Vegas and a week in Europe.

Shaq’s last two shows have been in Croatia, where he was joined on stage by Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic. It seemed like the two had a very good time up there together, which, if you can’t have a good time while hanging out with Shaq or Luka at a show in Croatia, when can you, ya know?

We have to assume that, at some point when the two were hanging out with one another, Doncic fulfilled the promise he made to Shaq during this past NBA season and taught him how to say some bad words in Slovenian.

Adam Scott, who has been quietly delivering the best performances of his career lately, is now set to join Sony’s Marvel universe alongside fellow Marvel newbies Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney.

Scott recently snagged an Emmy nomination for his role in Apple TV’s Severance and is gearing up to release the highly-anticipated Party Down revival. He will join Madame Web, the upcoming Sony installment into the Marvel universe.

The Parks And Rec alum took to Twitter to share the announcement, along with some cute little spider-web emojis, just to show that he’s very, very excited.

Madame Web was announced back in 2019, and the ever-growing cast list also features Emma Roberts, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced, and Tahar Rahim.

While there is little known about the film, Madame Web herself is known to be an elderly woman with psychic powers, much like Professor X in the X-Men universe. So far, it’s unclear who will be the titular character, or if Johnson will play some sort of incarnation of the superhero, or her origin story.

As per the original description of the story: “Traditionally depicted as a blind, paralyzed old woman, she is surrounded by a web-like machine necessary to keep her alive, meaning that she stays away from direct conflict, favoring the option to send others to do the physical stuff on her behalf.” It looks like Adam Scott might end up doing the physical stuff on her behalf. That sounds fun! We all know how good Scott is when it comes to battling evil.

(Via Deadline)

The art of rap is beautiful in itself, but it’s a special treat when rappers can infuse uncommonly used pop culture references in their bars. Maxo Kream does just that in his video for “Football Heads” featuring Benny The Butcher. Maxo executes a drug transaction outside of a store, raps in the middle of a football field, and nods his head while sitting in the stands surrounded by men wearing football helmets. He references Helga from the popular Nickelodeon show Hey Arnold! as well as WWE superstar John Cena.

Benny, on the other hand, shrinks to a miniature version of himself while rapping atop a table garnished with beer cans and drug paraphernalia. The mid-tempo production allows both to flex their lyrical prowess and remind us that they serve the best product on the block. “Football Heads” marks the first collaboration between the Houston and Buffalo rappers.

For Maxo, this follows “Jigga Dame” which was released earlier this year in addition to his features on “Loot,” “Overseas,” and “Throw’d As It Gets.” Benny shared “Benny’s Got A Gun” and appeared on “X-Rated,” in addition to his March 2022 project Tana Talk 4 highlighted by “Johnny P’s Caddy” featuring J. Cole.

Check out “Football Heads” above.

Last month, FKA Twigs launched a new era by releasing “Killer” after debuting it at her NPR Tiny Desk. Twigs is bringing that sprawling song to life in a stunning performance on A COLORS Show, who’ve had artists like Guapdad 4000 and Joey Badass on to perform. Clad in a velvet onesie, Twigs’s live rendition is vulnerable and powerful, and her vocals sound identical to the recording. She’s a one-of-a-kind artist.

Upon the release of “Killer,” she said about the track in a statement, “‘It’s dangerous to be a woman in love’ — when at its worst the effects of heart break can define one’s trajectory much more than the beauty of the love itself, in my song ‘Killer’ I explore this concept. The navigation, the hunt and the kill. The death of promises, dreams and the future that was once promised. But like the wildest plucked roses, I find myself more beautiful delicately wilted, in shadow, forced solace, darkened at the edges and achingly thirsting to be tended to again.’” This immense feeling shines through in her performance; the passion is obvious.

Watch her breathtaking performance of “Killer” above.

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

There was a time not so long ago when film and television were separate industries. Movies were viewed as a higher form of art, with stars of the big screen rarely, if ever, popping up on the small screen, with television stars sticking to it or pushing their entire careers to pivot to the artfully superior cinema. Decades ago, once an actor went from television to film – like Tom Hanks, Woody Harrellson, George Clooney, or Bruce Willis – they never went back to the perceived lower-level form of visual art. A more recent example of the pivot is Parks and Recreation’s Chris Pratt, and it’s turned out so well for him!

Television got so good during its Golden Age of the late 90s and 2000s that movie stars, filmmakers, and screenwriters caught up to it. Suddenly, television became good enough for them with the arrival of shows like The Sopranos and Mad Men. As a result, movie stars started working in television throughout the 2010s. Matthew McConaughey, fresh off winning an Oscar, co-led the first season of True Detective with Woody Harrellson. In 2017, Big Little Lies, a show that almost exclusively starred movie stars with Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Laura Dern swept (in some categories, deservedly) awards season and became so successful that Oscar-winner Meryl Streep joined its second season. Since, it feels like Witherspoon and Kidman, in particular, do nothing but television, leaving a gap in film and ensuring that no one else slightly less famous gets attention for their work.

Now, although the definition of movie stars has changed significantly to the point they barely even exist anymore, there are more movie stars on television than there are in the movies. The saturation of movie stars on television has made it close to impossible for television actors who are not on Succession or The White Lotus to secure nominations for their work (this is not a jab at anyone from Succession, every single one of them deserves to be nominated and Alan Ruck is owed an extremely public apology from the Television Academy). The 2022 Emmy nominees – specifically in the best actress category – prove this is a problem in that it has bothered me so much that I accidentally start screaming when I’m talking about it to people who do not care. Hopefully writing this all out will help me heal.

If a movie star, or, more accurately, an actor who is known for starring in movies appears on a television series, they are almost guaranteed an Emmy nomination no matter how good or bad the performance or the show was. Michael Keaton, who was nominated and is likely to win for his performance on Dopesick, which was not bad, but not groundbreaking, either. Dopesick was fine, but it would likely not have been nominated this year (especially in the best actor in a limited series category) if the lead was not Michael Keaton.

Wannabe television star Witherspoon received an alarming Emmy nomination for best actress in a drama series for her role on season two of The Morning Show over not only many actresses who delivered better performances this past year, but over her superior co-star and Friends alum Jennifer Aniston, who became a movie star in her own right but not in the same way as Witherspoon. The starlets increase the competition amongst actors doing the actual best work, such as Better Call Saul’s Rhea Seehorn. Despite playing the co-lead on the AMC drama for six seasons, Seehorn received her first nomination this year in the supporting actress drama category because, in the lead category, she never would have been nominated over all that star power she has always been better than but is up against.

While it’s cute and nice and refreshing that people who do movies have gained respect for television over the years, it has possibly gone too far. It would be better for everyone (me) if movie stars did what they expected of television stars for decades: stay in your lane and let the television actors do the television acting, except of course, for the entire, perfect cast of The Staircase and the world’s most talented man Jon Bernthal, who can do whatever the hell he wants.

In June, Jimmy Kimmel started his annual summer vacation, so over the past few weeks, a slate of guests hosts have been filling in on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Last night, YouTube star Mark Rober, who has guested on the show numerous times over the years, took over the reigns and served as host. Given his background in engineering and science, he managed to incorporate those interests throughout the show, including with the episode’s musical performance from Demi Lovato.

Standing next to Lovato, Rober said, “At this point, I’ve been the bit guy on Kimmel!, I’ve been on the couch to be interviewed, I’ve now been the host, but what Jimmy would never allow me to be is the musical guest, and there’s a good reason for that: It’s because I have no musical talent.”

He noted, though, that he constructed something to help him be a good musical guest, which was on the table in front of Lovato and him. It was a toy Thomas The Tank Engine train on a track, and as it moved around the loop, implements attached to it struck glasses of water and Tic Tac boxes on fork levers. All of this was arranged in such a way that when the train passed by and interacted with these things, it played a simplified version of Lovato’s 2015 single “Confident.” Once the train got going, Rober added additional percussion by banging on paint cans, the Kimmel! house band fleshed out the arrangement, and Lovato sang the song, with everything coming together for a neat and novel performance.

Lovato also sat down for an interview and talked about getting stitches the night before their Kimmel appearance, aliens, and more, so check out the performance above and the interview below.

Top Gun: Maverick will remain 2022’s highest-grossing movie until at least November, when Black Panther: Wakanda Forever comes out, or possibly December with the release of Avatar: The Way of Water. The Top Gun sequel has made a staggering $1.208.5 billion at the worldwide box office, including $602.5 million internationally and $606 million from North America. It’s a personal best for Tom Cruise — and according to Deadline, Paramount Pictures’ highest-grossing film ever globally.

What did Maverick beat for the top spot? Transformers: Age of Extinction, the… third Transformers movie? Or was it the fourth? If you ever see me in a bar and name every Transformers — with the complete title — in release date order, first round’s on me.

Maverick is also close to creeping into the All Time Domestic Box Office top 10 (when not adjusted for inflation). It’s currently at number 12, behind Star Wars Ep. VII: The Force Awakens ($936 million), Avengers: Endgame ($858 million), Spider-Man: No Way Home ($804 million), Avatar ($760 million), Black Panther ($700 million), Avengers: Infinity War ($678 million), Titanic ($659 million), Jurassic World ($652 million), The Avengers ($623 million), Star Wars Ep. VIII: The Last Jedi ($620 million), and Incredibles 2 ($608 million). It should pass The Avengers, The Last Jedi, and Incredibles 2 any day now.

Not bad for a sequel that Tom Cruise initially didn’t want to make.

(Via Deadline)

What a joy it is when an enjoyable show can also produce some great tunes. Hulu’s murder-mystery comedy Only Murders In The Building featured a huge music focus on this past week’s episode in the form of “Angel In Flip-Flops.” The song, now available to be streamed outside of the show, was written by Steve Martin and performed by Martin (credited as his Only Murders character Charles-Haden Savage) and Kirker Butler. Paul Shaffer, former leader of David Letterman Band, joined the fun on the production side. “Angel In Flip-Flops” features soft guitar strums, emphatic vocals, and admiration for a lovely lady walking in the sand.

Only Murders In The Building introduces the record by way of actress Selena Gomez, who recognizes the ’80s tune due to it being sampled numerous times by Post Malone, Missy Elliott, and Del The Funky Homosapien. A video for “Angels In Flip-Flops” is set to release next Monday (July 18) as well.

The nods to music continued in the episode as the character Lucy, played by Zoe Colletti, stated, “I prayed to the 100 Gecs tree for a real diagnosis, but my mom hates big pharma,” alluding to the experimental duo 100 Gecs. One can only imagine where they take things next.

Listen to “Angel In Flip-Flops” above.

“I hope by giving more, we can mitigate some of the suffering people are facing right now and help fulfill the foundation’s vision to give every person the chance to live a healthy and productive life,” his statement read.

French Gates added, “Philanthropy has a unique role to play in helping people around the world recover from the pandemic and rebuild the underlying systems that left so many so vulnerable to begin with.” The additional spending would help provide a more “fair and inclusive recovery.”

The donation will aid to innovate:

• Pandemic prevention, eradicating diseases and reducing childhood deaths with improved vaccines
• Food security and climate adaptation through incorporating a new generation of seeds and providing farmers with cell phones
• Gender equality by providing women better access to contraceptives and financial empowerment
• Educational outcomes by equipping students with computers
• Climate change mitigation by inventing new ways of making products that eliminate emissions at low costs

Gates is currently the world’s fourth wealthiest individual. But helping others is far more important to him than holding onto that coveted title. “I will move down and eventually off of the list of the world’s richest people,” Gates wrote. “I have an obligation to return my resources to society in ways that have the greatest impact for improving lives. I hope others in positions of great wealth and privilege will step up in this moment too.”

Whether the world could use less billionaires or not can be a heated debate, but the importance of generosity is a fairly universal virtue. Wealth can unite, rather than divide.