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It’s quite the parallel universe that today in America, citizens everywhere are lamenting the Supreme Court’s controversial decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, thus denying legal abortions to American women in many states, while in the UK, the biggest music festival celebration of the year, Glastonbury, is currently happening. It’s been quite the juxtaposition on the Twitter timeline to see Americans tweeting their grave displeasure with the Supreme Court and America as a whole, while Europeans are over the moon at performances from acts like Wolf Alice, Idles, and Phoebe Bridgers.

But Bridgers has connected these timezones in triumphant fashion. During her Glastonbury performance, she paused to speak to the audience and glow in the moment, but also be totally open about how torn she feels right now. “In all honesty, it’s like super surreal and fun. But I’m having the sh*ttiest day,” she began, before asking, “Are there any Americans here?” When a small, but audible section of the enormous crowd cheers, Bridgers then asks, “Who wants to say F*ck the Supreme court on three?” The roar grows louder and she immediately revs her engine: “One, two, three…F*CK THE SUPREME COURT!!!”

Americans, Europeans, and other internationals at the music festival all joined Bridgers in this bittersweet moment of catharsis. Bridgers then put a final bow on it before jumping into her next song: “F*ck that sh*t. F*ck America. Like…f*ck you. All these irrelevant old motherf*ckers trying to tell us what to do with our f*cking bodies. Ugh. F*ck it.”

Evan Rachel Wood might be in the midst of promoting the new season of Westworld, but that doesn’t mean she can’t show off her pretty impressive vocal skills. While stopping by The Tonight Show on Thursday, Wood not only opened up about her upcoming role as Madonna in Roku’s Weird Al Yankovic biopic, but she gave the audience a taste of how well she can channel the iconic girl by belting out a performance of “Material Girl” at Fallon’s request.

According to Wood, she’s become prone to using her Madonna voice to “disarm” interviewers. As for taking on the iconic role, she felt much better playing the singer in the Weird Al movie than the full-fledged Madonna biopic that stars Julia Garner in the coveted role, which she deemed “too much pressure.” Regarding her casting, Wood added, “Honestly, like I thought I was gonna take a break the rest of the year, and then I got an email and the first thing I read is ‘You’ve been offered the role of Madonna,’ and I just burst out laughing like…. you just spit your drink out when you read that. Like, you’re not expecting that as a Tuesday.”

As for when you can see Wood play Madonna in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Roku has yet to provide a release date for the biopic that stars a surprisingly ripped Daniel Radcliffe in the title role. However, the film is scheduled to premiere some time this year, which is already halfway over, so the wait shouldn’t be too long.

(Via The AV Club)

If you haven’t been hipped to Domi & JD Beck yet, a good primer is the keyboardist and drummer’s four minute tribute to Madvillainy. The two classically-trained prodigies are well-versed in the finer points of jazz, as much as they are dexterous hip-hop instrumentalists, and it made them one of our artists to watch last month. Signed to Anderson .Paak’s Apeshit Records, the pair have just announced their debut album, and it’s set to feature appearances from Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Herbie Hancock, Thundercat, Mac DeMarco, and of course, Paak.

At 21 and 18, respectively, Domi and Beck are already at the top of their game — they even co-wrote Silk Sonic’s hit “Skate.” But it’s what they do with their own work that showcases why they’re true game-changers ushering in the next era of jazz music. Take their latest single “Whatup,” a spaced-out number that starts with Domi’s unassuming keys, that quickly give way to Beck’s frenzied snare-dominant drums, before they keyboard shoots straight to another dimension.

There’s a lot to like about this duo, who represent a glimpse into the future of jazz. And it’s their well-rounded approach that isn’t confined by any boundaries — neither stylistic nor academic — that’s going to keep them rising deeper into mainstream consciousness.

Listen to “Whatup” above and check out the album art and tracklist for Not Tight below.

1. “Louna’s Intro”
2. “Whatup”
3. “Sile”
4. “Bowling” (feat. Thundercat)
5. “Not Tight”
6. “Two Shrimps”(feat. Mac DeMarco)
7. “U DOn’t Have To Rob Me”
8. “Moon” (feat. Herbie Hancock)
9. “Duke”
10. “Take A Chance” (feat. Anderson .Paak)
11. “Space Mountain”
12. “Pilot” (feat. Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Anderson .Paak)
13. “Whoa” (feat. Kurt Rosenwinkel)
14. “Sniff”
15. “Thank U”

Not Tight is out on 07/29 via Apeshit/Blue Note Records. Pre-order it here.

A new report by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN laid out how things are currently going as Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets talk through a potential contract extension. Irving has a player option for the 2022-23 season, but reports in recent days indicate that he might not return to Brooklyn this year, with teams like the Los Angeles Lakers interested in bringing him on board.

Wojnarowski’s report on NBA Today certainly makes it sound like things are not going particularly well if Brooklyn wants to keep Irving around, going as far to say that the situation is getting “acrimonious” and raising concerns about Kevin Durant’s future, too.

“The concern right now for, I think, the Nets organization is negotiations — listen, people try to gain leverage,” Wojnarowski said. “If you’re Kyrie Irving, you are trying to get the Nets to give you a longer-term deal with more guaranteed money than they want to give, the Nets are trying to go in the other direction — shorter deal, incentivized, because he just hasn’t been on the floor as much as they’d like the last couple years.

“This is getting acrimonious, and I think that’s the concern when you look at not just Kyrie Irving’s future in Brooklyn, but Kevin Durant’s future and whether they can hold this thing together right now,” Wojnarowski continued.

A report on Thursday from Shams Charania of The Athletic indicated that the expectation is Irving is not going to stick around in Brooklyn, but this certainly makes it sound like the two sides are trying to figure something out. The problem, however, is that it doesn’t look like either side is close to what the other one wants.

It’s wild to think that with all he’s accomplished, Dave is still in the first half of just his second decade of life. In the past year, he’s won BRIT Awards, toured the US, been announced as the headliner of both his home nation’s Wireless Festival and the first-ever Toronto Rolling Loud, and received the co-sign of Drake, who is still widely considered the number-one talent scout on the planet. All of that before turning 24, which he did on June 5 this year.

To celebrate, he’s issued an introspective freestyle titled “My 24th Birthday,” which is a spiritual successor/continuation of his 2017 track “My 19th Birthday.” Although he’s skipped a few years in the series, he can be forgiven; the past five years have been pretty busy, full of ups and downs for the rising star. But now he’s also got plenty to reflect on, from buying his mom a house and earning his second UK No. 1 with “Starlight,” to the newfound problems that come with fame and fortune for a kid from the endz of South London.

“But what’s livin’? Is it clubbin’ and bangin’ chicks or plannin’ trips?” he wonders on the track. “Or some sort of pleasure I haven’t managed to factor in? / I guess I’ll let you know when the stats are in.” Perhaps he’ll do so on his 29th birthday.

Listen to “My 24th Birthday” above.

Sometimes, there’s nothing quite as hypnotic and inspiring as hearing birds chirp away in the sky. When the world is at a standstill, the birds will still never stop singing. Nature’s musical phenomenon is something that we can all appreciate and obviously artists can find creativity in the music made by our avian friends.

Enter For The Birds: The Birdsong Project, a five-volume, 242-track benefit compilation of new tracks by some of the biggest names in music who all have one thing in common: Their love of birdsong. The first volume came out in May, and today, the second volume is out into the world.

Featured on the second volume are stars like Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, indie duo Girlpool, psych rockers The Flaming Lips, producer Dan Deacon, Beck, Elvis Costello, and more. The album also features an illustrious list of spoken-word contributors, including Jeff Goldblum, Florence Welch, Matthew McConaughey, Robert Pattinson, Natasha Lyonne, Bobby Canavale, Alice Waters, and many more.

All proceeds from The Birdsong Project benefit the National Audubon Society, which works to protect threatened bird populations.

Watch the video for Yo-Yo Ma’s “In The Gale” above.

For The Birds: The Birdsong Project Vol. 2 is out now via The Orchard. Listen to it here.

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

Less than a week before the NBA’s 2022 free agency period commences, Marc Stein reports that the New York Knicks’ pursuit of Jalen Brunson is “gaining major momentum.” The Knicks have long been linked to Brunson as a team that intends to target him aggressively this summer and Stein’s latest report makes clear those efforts are building steam.

“Sources say that New York’s ability during Thursday night’s NBA Draft to offload Kemba Walker’s $9.2 million salary for next season, coupled with a growing belief that it can shed further salary to expand its offer when the marketplace officially opens next Thursday, has established the Knicks as a very credible threat to bring Brunson to Gotham,” Stein wrote. “One source close to the process described that threat as ‘very, very, very real.’ ”

Stein reports that New York is expected to offer Brunson a four-year deal in the $100 million range, while the Dallas Mavericks believed a four-year deal worth roughly $85-88 million would presumably be enough to retain him when their season ended last month. Further, he notes that Brunson may want to become New York’s undisputed lead guard and call Madison Square Garden his home arena.

“Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose is not only Brunson’s former agent but essentially regarded as a Brunson family member after breaking into the player representation business with Brunson’s father, Rick, as his first client,” Stein wrote. “The Knicks also recently struck a deal to hire Rick Brunson as a new assistant for coach Tom Thibodeau’s staff. Father and son are extremely close, while Leon’s son, CAA’s Sam Rose, now operates as Brunson’s day-to-day agent.”

While Dallas does hold Brunson’s Bird Rights and is the lone team able to offer him a five-year deal that comfortably eclipses $100 million, Stein reports “it is not yet known how far beyond New York’s projected $100 million total Dallas is willing to go to try to keep Brunson.” Additionally, whether that fifth year and increased total salary could sway Brunson is undetermined.

Brunson enjoyed a career-best campaign in 2021-22, averaging 16.3 points, 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds on 58.3 percent true shooting during the regular season. He also starred in various playoff games and helped lead Dallas to its first Western Conference Finals appearance since 2011.

Eleven months ago, the Detroit Pistons accomplished the most arduous task of any rebuild: They got the dude. Not a dude, the dude, in the form of Cade Cunningham, one of the most tremendous prospects from the past half-decade.

Yet because Detroit was only in the second year of a new era and its 2020 lottery pick, Killian Hayes, continued to struggle, the surrounding context for Cunningham didn’t extend him much leeway. Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes, the other two finalists for Rookie of the Year alongside Cunningham, are imminent superstars and incredible players, but the disparity in contexts between those two and Cunningham last year was startling. That, of course, is not the fault of Mobley or Barnes by any stretch, though these types of details must be accounted for as we analyze young players and their development.

Ideally, the bedrock of Cunningham’s offensive game is a methodical, slashing nature amplified by a threatening jumper. At 6’6, 220 pounds with the guile to ram defenders into screens and a rocking chair cadence to burrow his way downhill, Cunningham can reliably generate paint touches. The aim is to lure defenders his way and invite his versatile, virtuoso playmaking to shine, finding shooters/secondary creators on the perimeter or play-finishers around the basket.

Last season, though, the Pistons, well, didn’t really roster any of those archetypes to capitalize on how often Cunningham compromises defenses. They ranked 29th in three-point percentage (32.9 percent) and were below average in three-point rate (17th). Among the nine players to log at least 800 minutes, only Cory Joseph (41.4 percent) shot better than 36 percent beyond the arc. The shooting was dire and vertical spacing didn’t offer a reprieve either.

Isaiah Stewart, who started 71 games at center for Detroit, is a 6’8, vertically limited big man with 65 dunks in 139 career contests. During the second half of the season, when Marvin Bagley III (acquired via trade) and Kelly Olynyk (returned from injury) were in the rotation, the Pistons’ offense ran much smoother. That uptick was directly tied to Bagley providing a lob presence and Olynyk spacing the floor on pick-and-pops.

Following Bagley’s move to Detroit (26 games, he played 18 of them), he averaged 15 points on 59 percent true shooting, while the Pistons ranked 24th in offensive rating (111.4), a notable bump from 28th and 105.6 prior to his arrival. That was by no means a coincidence. Legitimate release valves for Cunningham in Bagley and Olynyk brought the offense to passably poor levels rather than dastardly worrisome.

Entering Thursday’s 2022 NBA Draft, Detroit evidently recognized the constraints of its roster around the franchise cornerstone and immediately addressed those shortcomings. They are properly building around Cunningham and progressing toward a future where the ancillary personnel amplifies him and is suited for him to amplify it.

That is how you maximize lottery-bound seasons and do not squander someone like Cunningham, who is destined for years of superstardom. These downtrodden campaigns are not merely a bridge to wait on Cunningham’s full-fledged arrival. They are a conduit to accelerate his full-fledged arrival that elevates everyone around him.

With the No. 5 pick, the Pistons selected Jaden Ivey, a speed demon of a guard who projects to best toggle between a 1B and 2A creation role. Both horizontally and vertically, he’s a jetpack-powered athlete touting a manipulative handle, creativity as a driver, and uncanny contortion as a finisher (73rd percentile at the rim in the half-court, per Synergy). Grant him a pocket of space and he can spin that into a grave error. Cunningham’s orbit will help pry open those pockets of space.

Detroit did not sport a viable complementary ball-handler next to Cunningham last season. Ideally, Hayes assumed that responsibility, but his poor burst and shooting have proven to be too large of hurdles to overcome. Although Ivey’s jumper resides in the incubator, his explosion and ability to wiggle through congested quarters will let him maintain and expand the advantages crafted by Cunningham.

Separate from spot-up threes, there are absolutely ways to serve as a devastating off-ball outlet and Ivey will outline that concept alongside Cunningham in the coming years. Stunts, rotations, and attention diverted toward Cunningham and away from Ivey lay the groundwork for the 6’4 guard to teleport into points.

As a rookie, Cunningham was a rather adept advantage creator. Perfect would not be an apt label, but the far more pressing issue for the Pistons’ offense was a lack of options to multiply those advantages into points or dependable opportunities for points. Ivey doesn’t alleviate every flaw of the roster, but a secondary handler, at least in due time, checks off a glaring issue from the to-do list. Further, eschewing primary creation needs for Ivey and slotting him in a less daunting job ensures he will not be straddled by a sink-or-swim mantra, nor will all of the burden rest on Cunningham.

This partnership should be symbiotic; Ivey can commandeer the offense at times and Cunningham holsters off-ball savvy. The dichotomy between Cunningham’s meticulous, think-then-act approach and Ivey’s roadrunner, act-then-think approach is a suitable contrast upon which to establish an offense.

Not even an hour after drafting Ivey, Detroit traded back into the lottery, this time with a fixation on center Jalen Duren. Stewart delivered commendable contributions in his first two seasons. But some sophomore stagnation and his scoring hangups make him a precarious fit next to Cunningham and as a general NBA starter. Duren, a top-10 recruit in the class of 2021, projects as the successor in the middle.

The 18-year-old from Memphis touts pogo-stick bounce, a 7’5 wingspan and the catch radius to turn Elastigirl green with envy. According to Synergy, he shot 70.9 percent at the rim last season in the half-court, landing him in the 93rd percentile, and jammed home 70 dunks in 29 games, per Barttorvik. Given Cunningham’s accolades as a lob and laydown facilitator, a potentially elite play-finishing 5 instead of last season’s carousel inside should augment him individually and the collective offense.

Duren’s short-roll playmaking and the rate at which he processes chances substantially progressed over the past couple years, too. Passing on the move are not traits brandished by Stewart or Bagley, so a vertical spacer who doubles as a distributor, albeit in a limited capacity, embeds another novel dimension into Detroit’s offense.

What’s more is his presence should also ease Cunningham’s own finishing complications (30th percentile at the rim in the half-court, per Synergy). Defenses were comfortable flooding his drives and attempts around the basket because whoever the outlet was didn’t provoke much concern from them. Such a shift in dynamic will require time to transpire, but the Pistons own the luxury of time for a little while. These sorts of moves are all about fashioning the ideal vision long-term with Cunningham piloting things. Undoubtedly, Thursday advanced those goals.

After these additions, Cunningham’s life is easier and the extent of his greatness now radiates wider. Once you uncover the dude, your aim should always be to operate through a lens of magnifying him and letting him magnify everyone else. Detroit and Cunningham may not yet be ready for greatness, but the likelihood of actualizing that intention grew a whole lot on Thursday.

As The Boys continues to roll out its third season to rave reviews, Israeli actor Tomer Capone, who plays Frenchie on the hit series, has opened up about what it’s like filming the wild show. More specifically, how The Boys completely ruined his ability to enjoy superhero movies thanks to the series’ brutal, unflinching, and at times, orgasmic look at what costumed heroes would really be like if they existed in the modern world.

During a lengthy interview on how he ended up on the raunchy streaming series, Capone revealed that he used to love a good comic book movie, but that’s completely out the window after diving into The Boys‘ source material. Via The Hollywood Reporter:

I think it ruined the whole superhero experience for me. I used to think that men in Spandex who have special powers are cool. But this show just wiped that away. When I see superheroes on screen, I don’t buy it anymore. In the last 10 years, everybody was into the whole superhero thing, trying to run away from reality. And then I read The Boys and I’m like, ‘They took the genre and f*cking flipped it.” They said, ‘Let’s see how superheroes act in front of the mirror when they’re finishing their day. What are they really about when they’re taking the Spandex off?’

While Capone clearly picked up what The Boys has been throwing down, the same can’t be said for some fans of the show who are only just now realizing that Antony Starr’s Homelander is the bad guy. Following the release of Season 3 Episode 5, disgruntled fans started raging on Reddit that the show was somehow doing Homelander dirty by highlighting his similarities to Trump. We’re talking about a character who’s a known rapist, let an entire plane full of people die, dated a literal Nazi, and forced a teenager to commit suicide. What part of that screams good guy?

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

A few years ago, I ran a marathon (don’t worry, this is going somewhere). It was a cold, rainy, windy day, and before the race started, I — and everyone else there — was having a miserable time waiting in line to use one of the portable restrooms. Then, out of nowhere, one of the toilets tipped over from the punishing wind. There was a concerned silence from the crowd over whether some poor bastard was in the toilet when it crashed to the ground. A brave soul went to check on the possibility of a Steve-O situation, and upon alerting everyone that the bathroom was vacant, the tension released and everyone started laughing. The pre-race jitters were gone.

I thought about this moment when I saw the following Variety headline: “Speedboat Crash During My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 Filming Leaves One Injured.” I wasn’t sure whether it was OK to think this was a ridiculous collection of words.

Then I read:

One of the boats capsized, and its passengers, including actors and crew members, were rescued at sea, Greece’s Coast Guard reported. The injured actor was transported to a hospital, but was not seriously injured. Reports indicated the actor was trapped under the boat and rescued by a diver.

No one was seriously hurt from a speedboat crash on the set of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, although it does beg the question: there was a My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2?

(Via Variety)