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In case it wasn’t clear that the hype for the Stranger Things 4 finale is through the roof, Netflix completely crashed within minutes of Volume 2 hitting the platform. The mammoth sized episodes and their ginormous runtimes became available early Friday morning, and they apparently tore their own hole through Netflix, pulling the streaming giant into an Upside Down of errors and outages.

Via Variety:

According to global uptime-monitoring site Downdetector.com, user reports of problems with Netflix spiked around 3 a.m. ET — when “Stranger Things 4” Volume 2 went live. Complaints about errors with Netflix peaked at nearly 13,000 at the top of the hour, before the situation seemed to be resolved within a half hour.

Of course, this shouldn’t come as a total surprise as the fourth season has been shattering Netflix records along with catapulting Kate Bush‘s “Running Up That Hill” to the top of pop charts nearly 40 years afters its release. After a lukewarm reception to Stranger Things 3, the series took an epic swing this time around, and people have been showing up in droves to see the Hawkins crew face off against their most powerful foe yet, the psychic dark wizard Vecna.

Stranger Things 4 Volume 1 ended on one heck of a cliffhanger, but fortunately, fans only had to wait a month for the conclusion that the Duffer Brothers have touted as much “darker” than anything seen on the show before. There’s also talk of bleak outcomes for some of the characters, so if you haven’t started streaming yet, maybe stay off social media to avoid spoilers.

Stranger Things 4 Volume 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

(Via Variety)

The Cleveland Cavaliers enjoyed a large step forward as an organization in 2021-22, racking up 44 wins after most projected the team to fall well short of postseason contention. Much of that success can be tracked to impressive performances from Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and budding star big man Evan Mobley, but the Cavaliers also received meaningful contributions from veteran guard Ricky Rubio during the first half of the season.

Rubio then suffered a torn ACL, costing him the remainder of the season, but the Cavaliers and Rubio will reportedly continue a fruitful partnership with a new contract in free agency.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports brings word that Rubio will stick around Cleveland on a three-year deal worth $18.4 million.

In 34 games last season, Rubio averaged 13.1 points, 6.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game, providing a steadying influence for a young team. He suffered the aforementioned torn ACL in late December, meaning that Rubio will likely be out, or at least limited, for opening night of the 2022-23 campaign. Still, the decision to retain Rubio makes sense from Cleveland’s side as a veteran that can back up Garland while also playing with him in certain lineup constructions.

At this stage, the 31-year-old Rubio projects as a role player, but this is an appropriate contract for that level of piece. It remains to be seen what the Cavaliers might do with restricted free agent guard Collin Sexton, but Rubio should bring a quality option as soon as he returns from injury.

The soundtrack to Minions: The Rise Of Gru is out today, which has Phoebe Bridgers covering The Carpenters, HER covering Sly And The Family Stone, St. Vincent covering Lipps Inc., Kali Uchis covering Stan Getz And João Gilberto, and Tame Impala and Diana Ross contributing a new song.

Along with these gems, there’s also Thundercat taking on “Fly Like An Eagle,” originally by Steve Miller Band. The idiosyncratic musician does what one would expect — he makes the song weirder and woozier. It’s full of sparkling synths and warped bass, but his vocals are clean, guiding the track forward. It ends by slowly fading away into echoes.

Last month, he shared a collaboration with Gorillaz for “Cracker Island,” about which the Gorillaz virtual band member 2D said, “It’s nice to be back, I’m well into our new tune, it brings back weird and scary memories of stuff that hasn’t happened yet.” The narrative of the tune was explained as “the world’s biggest virtual band have relocated to Silverlake, California where it turns out that the answer to life’s question — the one truth to fix the world — is to invite fans to join ‘The Last Cult,’ with Murdoc as its self-appointed Great Leader.”

Listen to Thundercat’s cover of “Fly Like An Eagle” above.

Over the course of her career, Charli XCX has taken a lot of twists and turns. In the early 2010s, she had three top-10 singles in the US with “Boom Clap,” Icona Pop’s “I Love It,” and the No. 1 “Fancy” with Iggy Azalea. Then, she pursued more experimental sounds with the albums Charli and How I’m Feeling Now. This year saw her get back into a more straightforward pop lane with Crash, which was her first No. 1 album in the UK and first top-10 album in the US.

Through it all, Charli believes she’s seen as a “sort of fringe-pop artist” and thinks the reason why could have to do with how often she switches lanes. In a new V Magazine interview, Charli says:

“I think I’m very obsessed and inspired with the idea of contrast and throwing someone off the scent. I think it’s a blessing and a curse. It’s like as soon as people think they have me all figured out, I kind of like to flip the script on them. Maybe it’s why I’m still seen as a sort of fringe-pop artist in a way — never someone right in the middle of the club. I’ve always been an outsider––at school, in music, sort of at parties. I’m in the mix, but I’m not the epicenter because I’m constantly moving too fast and evolving possibly in ways of contradicting myself. But it’s what makes me challenging as an artist and also to myself. I need to change to be inspired. And so I imagine whatever’s next will be contrasting to what’s going on now.”

Read the full feature here.

Charli XCX is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Gary Payton II’s taken a long and winding road to get to where he is in the NBA. Payton spent much of his career going back and forth between NBA teams and G League affiliates, but in the last 15 months, he’s managed to catch on with the Golden State Warriors as a tenacious defensive guard off of the team’s bench.

He took a cup of coffee with the team at the end of the 2020-21 campaign, made it work, and eventually became an important piece to the puzzle as Golden State won its fourth championship in the last eight years. Now an unrestricted free agent, reports indicated that the Warriors wanting to bring him back, but the possibility existed that he’d end up costing a bit too much.

That ended up being the case, as Payton is heading elsewhere in the Western Conference. Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported that the Portland Trail Blazers offered Payton a 3-year deal worth $28 million, while Shams Charania of The Athletic brought word that Payton decided to take that offer and join Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons in the team’s backcourt.

ESPN reports that the Warriors offered him the taxpayer mid-level exception. Payton averaged 7.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game on 61.6/35.8/60.3 shooting splits with the Warriors last season.

Over the past couple months, the soundtrack to Minions: The Rise Of Gru has been a big deal, and rightly so since it has a bunch of today’s favorite musicians taking on tunes from the ’70s (with some originals thrown in for good measure). The soundtrack album is out today and ahead of it, we had already heard HER cover Sly And The Family Stone, St. Vincent cover Lipps Inc., Kali Uchis cover Stan Getz And João Gilberto, and Tame Impala and Diana Ross contribute a new song.

Now that the full album is here, we have access to a whole batch of more new goodies, one of which is Phoebe Bridgers taking on “Goodbye To Love” by The Carpenters. The rendition starts plainly with Bridgers singing over piano before horns and more instrumental accompaniment work their way into the mix.

Beyond the new Bridgers tune, the soundtrack also sees Thundercat take on Steve Miller Band’s “Fly Like An Eagle,” Caroline Polachek and GEM doing Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang,” Brittany Howard and Verdine White playing Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Shining Star,” and more.

Listen to Bridgers’ cover of “Goodbye To Love” above.

Minions: The Rise Of Gru (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is out now via Decca Records. Get it here.

Rudy Giuliani has moved on to a different Big Lie: that $50 sandals are a bargain.

A day after the former-New York City mayor may have incriminated himself by admitting to begging Donald Trump for a pardon over his role in the failed MAGA coup on January 6th, Giuliani took to Twitter to promote his collaboration with Mike Lindell’s MyPillow. “Great products at reasonable prices. Use code Rudy for additional savings,” he tweeted late Thursday night, along with a middle school-level graphic of patriotic sandals. The regular price is $79.98, but with promo code “RUDY,” you can have the Crocs knockoffs for only $49.98. I guess the bags of MyCoffee aren’t flying off the digital shelves.

The sandals have three layers — Layer 1 – MyPillow Shock-Absorbing Gel Pad; Layer 2 – MyPillow Impact Gel; and Layer 3 – MyPillow Proprietary Foam — so your friends will be jealous when you show up to a Staten Island grocery store wearing these bad boys.

They’re already the talk of Twitter. “4th of July themed for no reason. Text is nearly illegible. “NEW SANDALS!” $49.98. Not .99 – .98. Regular price $79.98. These things must cost less than a dollar to make. Maybe $0.98. Two black ones. Red gradient background. Promo code. No link. 10/10. The perfect ad,” @M.G. Siegler tweeted, while @Noahpinion added, “Among the sadder tweets I’ve ever seen.”

The sandals will look great with the cigars and gold coins.

Zion Williamson’s first three seasons in the NBA have been fascinating, if nothing else. The former No. 1 overall pick has been nothing short of sensational when he’s been on the court, attacking the rim at an unheard of rate and proving that his athleticism and skill absolutely translates to the NBA game at an elite level.

However, getting on and staying on the court has been the issue for Williamson, as he’s only played 85 games in those three seasons, including missing the entirety of the 2021-22 season with a foot fracture. Despite that injury, the Pelicans managed to make the postseason, thanks in part to a deadline deal to acquire CJ McCollum, fighting their way in via the play-in and pushing the top-seeded Suns to six games. The addition of McCollum, the continued excellence of Brandon Ingram, and the influx of young talent led by Herbert Jones have optimism sky-high in New Orleans, but looming over everything has been the status of Williamson with the organization long-term.

The star has always said publicly he wants to be in New Orleans, but rumblings behind the scenes have suggested otherwise — or at least that some around him feel otherwise. However, the recent success of the Pelicans and his excitement to be healthy and back on the court have seemingly breathed new life into the star-team relationship, and when the clock struck midnight on July 1 and Williamson became extension eligible, he agreed to the max extension that was waiting for him.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Williamson will indeed receive a 5-year deal with the team that will be “worth up to $231 million.” The deal apparently includes “protections” that will benefit both sides.

Williamson’s production when available more than warrants this deal, as he’s averaged 25.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.2 assists on terrific efficiency (60.4 percent from the field) in his 85 appearances, but there’s certainly a bit of a gamble given his injury history. If he can find that level again next year and play a full season, the Pelicans will be a real threat for a top-6 seed in the West and will not be a team the top contenders hope to run into come playoff time.

July is sizzling, and that refers to both the outside temperature and what’s going on inside your living room. Your streaming devices are likely already on overdrive while catching upon the best June offerings (and some of those, like The Boys and Only Murders In The Building, aren’t done with their seasons yet), but there’s more quality TV on the way. That includes multiple psychological thrillers, some true crime offerings, and a lot of love for lovers of comic books. On that note, you’ll see both the return of Harley Quinn and the introduction of Paper Girls, but there’s also a juggernaut on the way.

The month begins with the season finale of Stranger Things, and coincidentally, Paper Girls will finish the month with some of those strange vibes. Apple TV+, Peacock, and AMC+ have new prestige productions on the way (Surface, Moonhaven, and The Resort, to get started), and Paramount+ has the latest gift from the South Park guys on tap to skewer the streaming wars themselves. In other words, there’s a lot of heat for you to appreciate while staying cool. Here are the must-see shows coming your way in July.

Stranger Things: Season 4, Part 2 (Netflix series 7/1)

Well, it’s time for all-out war and overwhelming darkness in Hawkins, Indiana. The Upside Down’s still throwing out more questions than answers, and it’s time for the team to conquer this season’s big villain, Vecna. Maybe we’ll get more Kate Bush amid these immensely long episode runtimes. They’re practically movies! But the whole gang is back to take on the psychic monster, so expect more Millie Bobby Brown (if she comes back from the desert), Sadie Sink, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, and the rest. Is this show ever gonna get down to business and pull a Game of Thrones with character deaths? That’s what Millie wants, and you gotta admit that this outcome wouldn’t be boring. And let it happen with some real bangers.

Moonhaven: Season 1 (AMC+ series 7/7)

Good news for mankind: this show takes place 100 years from now when the Moon hosts a utopian colony. The bad news, though, is that there are shadowy forces at work and a conspiracy and a murder and all that jazz. So an intrepid pilot teams up with a detective, and we’ve got a sci-fi procedural vibe going on, which will hopefully be able to vanquish the evil at work. Emma McDonald, Dominic Monaghan, and Joe Manganiello star, but try not to think too hard about that Magic Mike XXL convenience store scene while you’re enjoying this gorgeous-looking show about the very fate of civilization.

Boo, Bitch: Season 4, Part 2 (Netflix limited series 7/8)

To All The Boys star Lana Condor is a gem, and here, she’s a gem that realizes that she’s a ghost who (naturally) decides that this is the best time to live her best life. This looks charming as heck and like a fuzzy summery confection. Yes, this one’s geared toward a younger crowd, but one can always appreciate the idea of not appreciating what one has until it’s gone, but in TV land, one can always go get that thing, and we can live vicariously in the process.

Black Bird: Season 1 (Apple TV+ series 7/8)

The recently departed Ray Liotta returns to our screens to bid the world farewell in his role as Big Jim Keene. He’s the father of Taron Egerton’s Jimmy in this psychological thriller/true-crime adaptation series based upon the real life Jimmy’s In With The Devil: A Fallen Hero, A Serial Killer, and A Dangerous Bargain for Redemption memoir. Dennis Lehane produces, and the cast also includes Paul Walter Hauser (who’s rarely anything but trouble) and Greg Kinnear. I hope you’re in the mood for a suspenseful ride because you’ll get it here.

D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?! (Netflix limited series series 7/13)

Does the world really need another D.B. Cooper take? Well, we’re getting one, even after countless pop culture references (including Loki and Justified) and an HBO documentary. Netflix gives this story a whirl, too, so sign on to watch more about the 1970s skyjacker who disappeared with all that cash and a never-surfaced identity. This limited series takes on quite the task of wrapping itself around all of the rumors and theories and sightings, all in an effort to make some sense out of it all.

South Park: The Streaming Wars: Part 2 (Paramount+ movie 7/13)

Alright, so this is technically a movie that’s part of the canon for the long-running show from Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Yet one cannot resist these subsequent installments while we all wait for Casa Bonita to finally make that comeback. As the title indicates, there’s still ongoing streaming wars (this show is so good at trolling real life), and Cartman’s stuck in the ultimate battle of wills, and he might not be the most hated character of this show? Get ready for Randy to go “full nuclear Karen,” if that tells you anything at all.

Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin: Season 1 (HBO Max series 7/28)

Get ready for a fresh group of liars from a new generation in the same universe. This group hails the blue-collar town called Millwood, where a great tragedy took place decades ago, and now, a new tormenter has surfaced to remind these liars of what their parents did, back in the day. Will there actually be explicit connections to the O.G. series? The secret’s still out on that detail, but Millwood is not Rosewood, so that that as you will. The principal group include a ballerina, and a track star, a virtual-reality obsessive, and (you guessed it) a horror movie buff.

The Resort: Season 1 (Peacock series 7/28)

Vacation stories are where it’s at (while actual travel is hellishly backed up right now) with recent successes like White Lotus and Nine Perfect Strangers, and here, there’s a story about a unsolved mystery in Yucatan that collides with an anniversary trip. This is also a multi-generational tale and stars one hell of a cast, including Cristin Milioti, William Jackson Harper, Nick Offerman, and Skyler Gisondo. Even better: Palm Springs writer Andy Siara came onboard as showrunner.

Harley Quinn: Season 3 (HBO Max series 7/28)

King Shark, King Shark, King Shark! Oh right, he’s back (the voice of Ron Funches, that is), and so is Kaley Cuoco’s title character with her lady love, Poison Ivy (Lake Bell). They’re on new adventures of DC villainy, but Ivy sure would like for Gotham to be a paradise akin to Gotham. The show also performed some enormous fan service already with the central couple, so surely, no one will mind the “Harlivy” moniker while all of the outrageous profanity and baseball-bound violence does down, too.

Paper Girls: Season 1 (Amazon Prime series 7/29)

There’s more comic book content coming your way. This live-action adaptation (of the works of Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang) follows four paper-delivery girls (yes, this takes place in the past — 1988 to be precise) who end up (while only doing their jobs) stumbling into a war of time travelers. They end up springing into the future and meeting their future selves, and they want nothing more but to get back to their real homes, but first, they need to conquer their differences as well as their own selves. It’s a personal journey with the highest of stakes, and Ali Wong stars as one of the grown-up papers girls, so prepare yourself to witness supremacy.

Surface: Season 1 (Apple TV+ series 7/29)

Because one can never have enough psychological thrillers in one month, this show follows Sophie (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) after debilitating memory loss caused by a traumatic blow to the head. She tries, with the “help” (and that’s the term used by Apple TV+) of her husband and pals, to recover her self and what she’s been through, but of course, who knows if the truth matches up to reality. It’s a sexy thriller, too, which also stars Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Stephan James, and Ari Graynor, and the show digs deep into existential musings about whether self-discovery can really uncover one’s self if there’s any suggestive programming going on as well.

For the past few years, DJ Drama’s work has come through supporting another artist. Most recently, he served as a host on Tyler The Creator’s sixth album Call Me If You Get Lost which was modeled after Drama’s Gangsta Grillz mixtape series. The project went on to win Best Rap Album at the 2022 Grammy Awards, giving Drama his first Grammy. Elsewhere, Drama helped bring the careers of Jack Harlow and Lil Uzi Vert to new heights as both artists are signed to Drama’s Generation Now label which was co-founded with Don Cannon.

Prior to the aforementioned instances, there was a point when DJ Drama was releasing his own albums as the last one, Quality Street Music 2, arrived back in 2016. It appears that Drama might have a new body of work on the way as he returns with “Forever” alongside Fabolous, Benny The Butcher, Jim Jones, and Capella Grey. The records speak about establishing longevity in their careers, and this gets accomplished through verses from Fabolous, Benny, and Jim while Capella took care of the song’s hook.

The record also stands as Drama’s first single as a lead artist since 2019’s “Nasty” with Moneybagg Yo and Pnb Rock.

You can listen to “Forever” in the video above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.