You know, it’s almost a shame that Cardi Tries, the show in which rapper Cardi B takes on a variety of alternative occupations for a day, is only available on Facebook Watch and Messenger. It’s an absolute delight, quite possibly the funniest show in production these days, and more people need to see it. It’s the perfect vehicle for Cardi’s outsized yet humble personality, and she’s quite a hoot as she attempts tasks such as cooking at a restaurant, officiating a wedding, and giving her husband Offset a tattoo.

The show’s latest episode brings in a special guest, as well: Cardi’s “WAP” collaborator Megan Thee Stallion, who’s become a charming all-around entertainer in her own right. The dynamic duo teams up to face their next challenge: Learning to play football with the help of the Los Angeles Chargers. Watching Cardi B tackle a blocking dummy twice her size in what look like youth size pads that are still too large is probably more entertaining than anything we’ll see come this preseason, while of course, Megan shows off her iron knees with a signature touchdown dance that won’t likely be replicated on the field anytime soon.

You can see the full episode below.

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

School should feel like a safe space. But after the tragic news of yet another mass shooting, many children are scared to death. As a parent or a teacher, it can be an arduous task helping young minds to unpack such unthinkable monstrosities. Especially when, in all honesty, the adults are also terrified.

Katelyn Campbell, a clinical psychologist in South Carolina, worked with elementary school children in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting. She recently shared a simple idea that helped then, in hopes that it might help now.

The psychologist tweeted, “We had our kids draw pictures of scenery that made them feel calm—we then hung them up around the school—to make the ‘other kids who were scared’ have something calm to look at.”

“Kids, like adults, want to feel helpful when they feel helpless,” she continued, saying that drawing gave them something useful to do.

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It also took some pressure off to focus on making “other kids” feel better. Campbell noted that even if they are scared, it’s “easier to talk about the ‘other kids.’”

Rather than use the word “safe,” which can “be a loaded concept for kids who never feel safe,” Campbell used “calm,” and “peaceful,” which really resonated with the students.

But really, it gave the kids something to “do” that felt useful. Kids, like adults, want to feel helpful when they feel helpless. And they loved the idea that they could help “other kids” feel better (they were the scared ones, but it’s easier to talk about the “other kids”)

— Dr. K8 PsyD (@psych_k8) May 25, 2022

Pretty soon, the school was filled with “rainbows, beaches, pretty flowers, playgrounds, and happy scenery,” which stayed up for weeks.

“I’m pretty sure it helped the adults too,” she quipped.

Art therapy can be a valuable tool for any age, but it can be particularly beneficial for children who (hopefully) have not had the complex, hard-to-articulate emotions that come as a result of trauma. As psychologist Cathy Malchiodi explains in her book “The Art Therapy Sourcebook,” “the language of visual art—colors, shapes, lines, and images—speak to us in ways that words cannot.”

Incorporating a sense of helping others and focusing on “calm” images was another brilliant layer Campbell added onto her exercise, and she soon received a flood of support for her suggestion. Overall, people were relieved and inspired.

“Beautiful use of a simple mindfulness practice to foster peace, calm, and altruism-all important in times of crisis. Thanks for sharing,” one person wrote.

“Honestly the idea made me feel like a breath of fresh air. Such a sweet and positive thing, so simple but effective,” wrote another.

The massacre at Robb Elementary in Ulvade, Texas, is the second-deadliest elementary school shooting in the United States, following Sandy Hook in 2012. There’s no way around these statistics. It’s nauseating and horrific. I feel for the parents and teachers trying to fight for change, protect their children and keep up morale all at the same time. Happy doodles might seem trivial during such a dark period for humanity, but as Campbell can attest, they do make a difference.

For fans of Bay Area rap legend E-40, it was only a matter of time before the beast with the mouthpiece turned “Goon with a Spoon” into a brand. It’s a phrase E-40 has spit in songs before like “I Get Down,” and “Back in Business,” the latter of which featured this incredible bar “A goon with the spoon, wrist game sick. Paid the neighborhood chef to teach a n*gga how to whip, a fixture how to mix, counterclockwise twisting’ it, drop it off, deliver it.”

That line, it turns out, is actually pretty literal. E-40 is no stranger to the kitchen, he taught himself to cook from an early age while his mom balanced three jobs and even landed a position at a high-end restaurant where he picked up some culinary skills. So when last year we heard that E-40, fully in the elder mogul phase of his career, would be launching a food brand called Goon With The Spoon, we knew it was going to be a good fit.

The brand launched with sausages and burritos under its name, but now E-40, like Chance the Rapper and Selena Gomez, is taking on the world of ice cream offering six flavors that were apparently four years in the making and are produced sustainability using solar power and dairy from non-growth hormone-treated cows.

Good practices aside, how does this stuff taste? Is this just another celebrity-branded cash grab or does E-40 truly know his shit? We’re about to find out in our review and ranking of all six Goon With The Spoon flavors.

Vanilla Bean

Good news, all of the Goon With The Spoon flavors are solid. Each flavor is creamy, flavorful, and can hold its own against any of the top-shelf brands you’ll find at the grocery store. This includes this Vanilla Bean flavor but we have to rank it last because in the Goon With The Spoon lineup, this is the obvious weakest link.

It’s just not very imaginative, while E-40 didn’t exactly go the Baskin Robbins route here and give us any weird stunt flavors, all of the flavors bring something at the very least interesting to the table. But not vanilla bean, this is just standard vanilla ice cream.

It’s rich, creamy, and a bit floral, with speckles of vanilla throughout the white cream base.

The Bottom Line:

It’s good but totally inessential. Not many actual beans to be seen, either.

Strawberry

Bits of strawberry are strewn throughout in this fresh berry-forward flavor. It’s not candy sweet like some strawberry ice creams, instead, this focuses on creamier flavors, giving it a strawberry milkshake vibe that is just begging to be blended.

Every bite features small granules of actual strawberry, in addition to chunks of more substantial berries, providing some nice texture to each spoonful.

The Bottom Line:

Refreshing, textural, a solid 5/5 strawberry ice cream.

Salted Caramel

I love this flavor! The base this flavor is built upon here is vanilla, but unlike the vanilla bean flavor, this has interesting caramelized butterscotch notes, with hints of brown sugar, and ribbons of sweet caramel throughout. It’s one of my favorites in the whole line, so why is it chilling in the middle of the list and not in the top three? Because it feels like it’s not delivering on its promise.

The flavor here is “Salted Caramel,” and I’m just not even getting the slightest hint of salt here. I thought maybe the extra salt was in the caramel itself so I spooned out a ribbon and I’m not getting a single trace of salt. As much as I like this flavor, if what you’re after is that salty-sweet flavor profile, this doesn’t have that.

The Bottom Line:

Delicious, but perhaps “Caramel” or even “Butterscotch” is a more apt name than “Salted Caramel.”

Mint Chocolate Chip

There are pretty much two ways to do mint chocolate chip ice cream. You can infuse a minty and creamy ice cream base with shavings of dark chocolate, allowing for a balanced ratio of fresh mint flavor and chocolate with every spoonful, or you can throw large chunks of chocolate throughout the base, allowing each bite to have a different ratio of mint and dark chocolate flavors.

Goon With The Spoon took the latter approach, and while I like consistency, I actually appreciate the lack of chocolate here — it allows this very refreshing mint base to shine. I found myself savoring each spoonful of this flavor, allowing the ice cream to melt in my mouth until I was left with hard shards of rich dark chocolate that perfectly matched the experience of eating an Andes Mint.

The Bottom Line:

An Andes Mint in ice cream form. Refreshing mint dominates each spoonful followed by a rich dark chocolate finish.

Bourbon Vanilla

When I complained that Goon With The Spoon’s Vanilla Bean flavor was unimaginative, it was because I expected a twist on the classic flavor more in line with this delicious Bourbon Vanilla. This flavor has whispers of oaky bourbon and notes of vanilla that when combined taste like a very rich and luxurious banana ice cream. That might sound like a shock but there is a noticeable sweet banana quality to this with top notes of honey.

This would be my go-to flavor if I were making a banana split, chocolate sauce, crushed nuts, and some whipped cream would give this flavor an even more luxurious gourmet quality.

The Bottom Line:

Rich, creamy, comforting, a slightly tropical with banana and honey notes over a sweet vanilla and bourbon base.

Cookie Dough

In general, I’m not the biggest fan of Cookie Dough ice cream. I love chocolate chip ice cream, and I love cookie dough, but something about the union of the two just fails to deliver to my expectations. That is, until I had Goon With The Spoon.

Generally, Cookie Dough ice cream is made with a vanilla base peppered with chocolate chips and the occasional ball of delicious cookie dough. But in most cases, each of those ingredients is bottom of the barrel. It’s never Vanilla Bean or French Vanilla, it’s never the same chocolate chips found in actual chocolate chip ice cream, so you pretty much eat it as a socially acceptable delivery device for cookie dough. That’s not the case for this Goon With The Spoon Flavor.

It mixes up the formula by providing tiny bites of chocolate cookie dough throughout a creamy base, giving you what you want — cookie dough in every bite — over a vanilla cream base. The use of chocolate cookie dough over the usual chocolate chip dough infuses richer chocolate notes into this flavor and manages to deliver the best of both cookie dough ice cream and cookies and cream, making this a sort of hybrid flavor that is so good we’re surprised it isn’t more common.

The Bottom Line:

A cookie dough ice cream that actually delivers on the cookie dough.

Shop Goon With The Spoon products here.

I don’t know, guys. I’m all for late season twists, but this latest episode of Top Chef Houston felt like a nasty curve with a 3-2 count. In the bottom of the 9th. With the bases loaded. And drug dealers have kidnapped YOUR WIFE! Sorry, halfway through that I realized I was bad at baseball metaphors.

On a serious note, it’s taken me a while to start writing this week’s rankings, simply because I was just that bummed out. I’ve had favorite contestants go home before (shout outs to Chris Scott, Isaac Toups, Fati) but never in such a way that felt quite this unfair. Arbitrary, like an uncaring universe. Could it have even been helped? Are we all just doomed to a life of sadness? This episode made me want to smoke French cigarettes and stare at the sea.

Fine, I’ll stop wallowing and finish this. So, as teased in the previous episode, this episode took the chefs to that world famous UNESCO city of gastronomy, Tucson, Arizona, where the beer flows like wine.

First stop on their sojourn in glorious Tucson (Oh Tuscon, my Tuscon!) was the El Charro cafe, the oldest, continuously operating Mexican restaurant in the United States. As if that wasn’t cool enough, it’s also the place that invented the chimichanga. They invented it? The chimichanga?! Incredible!

Which, according to legend, happened when someone accidentally dropped an entire burrito in the deep fryer. Mmm, “accidentally,” sure. C’mon, man, this is America, we don’t need “accidents” to invent deep-fried shit, it’s just what we do.

It was there that the four remaining chefs learned all about carne seca, a Mexican-style beef jerky that the El Charro dries by basically hanging it from a giant clothesline above the restaurant like a pair of sneakers. I dunno, man, I think if I wanted to get a look at some dry roast beef I’d have my editor’s mom pull down her underpants (okay last mom joke this week, I swear).

PADMA OUTFIT WATCH

Carne seca, more like carne sexy, am I right? Yes, “pockets and belts” was definitely the dominant theme with Padma’s designer this season. I’m beginning to think this dude (or lady) just made 30 different motorcycle jackets out of different materials. “HERE’S A MOTORCYCLE JACKET MADE FROM SATIN! HERE’S A MACRAME MOTORCYCLE JACKET! THIS MOTORCYCLE JACKET I MADE OUT OF OLD TOENAIL CLIPPINGS!!”

Hey, man, are you okay?

Anyway, the quickfire challenge (this season’s last) challenged the chefs to incorporate El Charro’s world famous carne seca into a dish highlighting the carne seca. Maybe it should’ve been a bad omen when Damarr reacted to the carne seca like a dog when you rub peanut butter on its gums. He chewed that for a very long time. He did not seem to be having a good time.

After that, it was off to the Sonoran Desert (the most biodiverse desert on Earth!) to bone up on the local fruits, spices, and herbs and stuff. The chefs’ challenge would be to make two dishes; one salty, one sweet; highlighting the local cactus and local pepper — the chiltepine, the only chili pepper native to North America.

Have we ever had such a late-season challenge that was such a gift to one contestant in particular? I know I should probably be the one to answer that question, seeing as how I’ve been writing weekly recaps of this show for like seven years now, but honestly I mostly summon all my strength for a few terrible mom jokes every week and then pass out in a sweaty heap with no memory of the past two hours. Trust the process.

RESULTS

• Quickfire Challenge Top: Evelyn, Sarah*. *Winner.
• Quickfire Challenge Bottom: Buddha, Damarr.

• Elimination Challenge Winner: Evelyn.
• Eliminated: Damarr.

POWER RANKINGS

4. (-1) ((Eliminated)) Damarr Brown

AKA: Catchphrase. James Beard. Screech. Dusty. Drew Barrymahi. Chew-bacca.

Elimination Challenge Dish(es): Pork shoulder glazed in prickly pear barbecue sauce with chiltepin pikliz.

Quotable Critiques: “The pork is beautifully cooked, but there’s not a lot of chiltepine flavor.” “Damarr’s cake makes me want to go back and back and back.”

Yes, I’ve been in the tank for Damarr basically since the beginning. What can I say, he’s one of the most genuine reality show contestants I’ve ever seen. He brought sincere emotions to super corny spon-con challenges, I don’t even understand it.

Damarr maybe tried to soften the blow of his future elimination by grilling an avocado in the quickfire. C’mon, man! Just say no to cooked avocado! I think Padma was as aghast as I was — she did spend most of her teen years in California, after all. For her part, guest judge Carlotta Flores, owner of the El Charro, didn’t seem to mind and chalked Damarr’s bottom-half finish up to a lack of texture.

But it couldn’t soften the blow enough. Damarr got eliminated during a challenge in which he had to cook ingredients he’d never used before, two episodes after Last Chance Kitchen ended, for a dish that received at worst mildly positive reviews. The heartbreak! The disrespect! Tom Colicchio how could you! Un. Fucking. Believable. This world is a toilet filled with rotten turds and we’re all circling the bowl.

3. (+1) Sarah Welch

AKA: Ms. Marvel. Lula Roe. Aunt Frances. Kooky Librarian.

Elimination Challenge Dish(es): Lamb chop with chiltepine vinaigrette.

Quotable Critiques: “I think Sarah absolutely nailed this dish.” “Sarah’s dish, it’s a sticky sweet bold goodness.” “Sarah’s dessert was a little too soupy for me.”

Yes, Aunt Frances won the quickfire using ingredients she was just as unfamiliar with as Damarr. Yes, Tom said that her lamb was a worthy of being served at a three-Michelin star restaurant, and as an unabashed lamb piggy I absolutely would’ve ordered that on a menu. Yes, I’m just as biased against Sarah’s chilly, WASPy, faux-chipper Midwesternness as I am for Damarr’s low-key earnestness.

Where was I going with this? I don’t even know anymore. No matter what my brain is telling me about Sarah peaking at the perfect time and tearing through a million chefs in a row in Last Chance Kitchen, my heart is still sandbagging her. Dammit, Sarah! Couldn’t you have screwed up just a little this episode? Not even Sarah battling an uncooperative ice cream machine (classic food show cliché) and spilling half her ice cream base down her shirt could keep Damarr in the competition this week.

My tinfoil hat conspiracy theory is that Buddha was playing 10-dimensional chess when he helped Sarah use the liquid nitrogen for her ice cream, elevating a competitor he thinks he can defeat (Sarah) one he perceives as his greatest challenge (Damarr). Not really, but it’s fun to make stuff up.

2. (even) Evelyn Garcia

AKA: Cuddles.

Elimination Challenge Dish(es): Nopal relleno with shrimp purée.

Quotable Critiques: “This wasn’t just a great dish, it made me feel creatively inspired.”

Look, I like Evelyn. How could you not? But to state the obvious, a challenge involving ingredients that Evelyn was the only chef familiar with felt like a massive gift to Evelyn. To her credit, she rose to the occasion and won, against some stiff competition, and that nopal relleno did look both delicious and inspired. It may have been a familiar ingredient, but she still found a way to take it out of her comfort zone. I go back and forth about ranking Evelyn at number one. I guess the only reason I’m not is that I can’t imagine things going so easily for her twice in a row.

1. (even) Buddha Lo

AKA: Mr. International. Big Pun. Asian Ben Mendelsohn. The Salad Nazi. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Terminator. Moneyball. Big Data.

Elimination Challenge Dish(es): Mission Garden Tom Yum

Quotable Critiques: “My mouth is still warm and throbbing and glowing a little bit.”

Buddha unlocked his “Vacation Mode Buddha” skin this week:

Nothing says “just here for the vibes” like visible nipples. I like to think Buddha just cut the corks off one of these hats:

Jokes aside, it’s a tough, some might say controversial, nay, BRAVE decision ranking Buddha at number one. But for all his goofy Australianness, Buddha just seems like a Top Chef assassin designed for this exact purpose.

Buddha said he’d been “studying up” on indigenous and Mexican cuisine for this challenge (he always trusts the data) but he also noted that this study didn’t include actually working with any of the ingredients. In the quickfire, Buddha decided to make a “tostader,” and not just a regular tostader like anyone could, but an upside-down tostader. In Australia, the tostaders circle counter-clockwise.

That actually sounded like a pretty good idea (is Taco Bell’s Mexican Pizza just a form of upside-down tostada? Discuss.) but its conceptual genius was undermined by its execution. For all his genius, Buddha apparently couldn’t figure out how to fry a tortilla at the proper temperature and ended up having to double fry, ending up with a greasy tostada shell. “NAAAURRR! This tostader belongs in the dunny, mate.”

For the elimination challenge, Buddha said he was going to make a tom yum inspired by his dead dad and I thought he was done for. Aside from his marry me pasta, Buddha, unlike virtually every other Top Chef contestant, is usually at his worst when he does heartfelt family recipes with a story. This time it did feel like he was learning, because although he did choose a heartfelt family dish, he prepared his soup Buddha-style, with meticulously carved decorative ingredients and insanely labor-intensive dumplings inside. He didn’t win but he fared okay.

This competition is shaping up as a pick-em between perennial favorite Buddha, whose food almost always looks catalog ready, and regional advantage-haver Evelyn and even streaking Sarah. I guess I’m seeding Buddha at number one, partly out of inertia and partly because he just seems like he knows how to play this game the best.

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Read the rest of our Top Chef Power Rankings here. Vince Mancini is on Twitter.

The Golden State Warriors just handled business in the Western Conference Finals and sent the Dallas Mavericks packing with a 4-1 series win. Now the Warriors are heading back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2019 and will be a likely favorite against either the Boston Celtics or The Miami Heat — especially if the hip-hop gods work their magic with the Dubs again, because, are you ready for this? In the “Woah… that’s crazy!” department, every Kendrick Lamar album drop since 2015 has also been accompanied by a Golden State Warriors NBA Championship.

That’s right: When Kendrick dropped To Pimp A Butterfly in 2015, the Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers for the team’s first title since 1975. Then when DAMN. dropped in 2017, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and company beat the Cavs again in the Finals. Finally, when Kendrick was at the helm of the excellent Black Panther Soundtrack in 2018, the Warriors cemented their dynasty with a third title, against the Cavs again, leaving LeBron James in the dust. Maybe if Kendrick hadn’t started taking a very long break from putting out albums, the Warriors wouldn’t have dropped the 2019 Finals to the Toronto Raptors?

(The exception to this rule is Untitled Unmastered, which was released in 2016, when the Warriors lost to the Cavs in seven games. However, Untitled Unmastered isn’t usually considered a proper studio album, since it’s made up of demos from the To Pimp A Butterfly era. So, objection overruled.)

So does this year’s release of Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers signify that another Warriors title is on the horizon? We’ll find out just how powerful this Kendrick/Warriors synergy is within the next two weeks. And somehow, even with the Raptors not making it anywhere close to the Finals this season, Drake still finds himself as a big winner here no matter what.

Angel Olsen delivered a double dosage of positivity today, releasing her take on Bob Dylan’s “One Too Many Mornings” and dedicated all proceeds made from the song to the gun-control nonprofit Everytown For Gun Safety.

Olsen heavily emotes throughout her spin on the record, adding a fresh new sound while respecting its legacy. The cover will appear on the soundtrack Apple TV+’s original series Shining Girls starring Elisabeth Moss, who also serves as an executive producer for the show. The track and soundtrack are both produced by Claudia Sarne.

This cover comes ahead of Angel Olsen’s forthcoming sixth studio album Big Time, led by the singles “All The Good Times,” the title track “Big Time,” and “Through The Fires.” Olsen’s new album will also be accompanied by a 28-minute film of the same name. Olsen is no stranger to covers, as Big Time will follow her 2021 covers EP Aisles. Heck, she covered Harry Styles’ “Boyfriends” before it was even released. The singer is currently preparing for a tour this summer alongside Sharon Van Etten and Julien Baker.

Check out Olsen’s cover of Dylan’s “One Too Many Mornings” above.

Bob Dylan is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Despite attempts to portray himself as a free-thinking independent, Joe Rogan has routinely sided with conservatives on a wide variety of issues from anti-vaccination views to decrying “wokeness.” So it really shouldn’t come as a total surprise that Rogan is fully against any sort of gun control in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting. You can practically set your watch to it, which is oddly, very close to the metaphor Rogan reaches for in decrying the government restricting gun ownership.

“What about people that are just gun enthusiasts?” Rogan wondered aloud while discussing the push for stricter gun laws. “There’s people that love handguns the way some people love watches. There’s people that are enthusiasts of, you know, gun engineering.”

Right, why should people who are in awe of how a hammer and pin make a bullet go “pew pew” have to suffer just because lots of people die when it happens? It’s a slippery slope, argues one of America’s most popular podcasters with an audience of millions. Via Mediaite:

“There’s so many guns, there’s more guns than there are people. I don’t think it’s a gun situation,” Rogan added. “I don’t think it’s wise to take the guns away from the people and leave all the power to the government.”

“The situation is should you be able to own a gun to defend yourself if you’re a law-abiding citizen and you know that the police are horribly understaffed and you know, that crime and violence are real things?” Rogan asked. “What should we do? Should we red flag, any kid who writes an awful poem or draw something f*cked up on his notebook?”

Rogan and his guest then proceeded to opine that red flag laws are “pushing surveillance” with the podcast host ultimately deciding that everyone needs to stop assuming these problems have a “limited amount of variables.” Like, again, robbing gun enthusiasts of their purely engineering-based fun. Clearly, that would be the real crime here. (It’s not.)

(Via Mediaite)

If you’ve watched Breaking Bad, you know what happens to Gus Fring. If you haven’t watched Breaking Bad and you’re reading a post about Better Call Saul, what are you doing, you fool? Watch Breaking Bad. It’s a holiday weekend. You have the time.

Among the countless parallels between the two series, one of the biggest is Gus Fring’s adversaries: Walter White on Breaking Bad and Lalo Salamanca on Saul.

Breaking Bad writer and Saul co-creator Peter Gould was asked by Variety whether Lalo is a “more worthy opponent” to Gus than Walt, or do we just see more of what’s cooking (no pun intended) for the Chicken Man on Saul. “Well, I think Walter White’s great advantage is that Gustavo Fring underestimates him. And I don’t think Gus can truly see what he’s dealing with in Walter White. The other side of it is that Gus always wants the best, and Walter White is the best. So he’s in kind of a pickle there,” he replied.

Meanwhile on Saul, Gus “understands what he’s dealing with much better with Lalo. But on the other hand, when Fring is dealing with Walt, we’re in the future, and Gus is a slightly different guy. He’s conquered a lot of enemies at that point.”

Gould is, to a degree, bipartisan when it comes to choosing Walt vs. Lalo, but it sounds like he’s leaning towards Walt being the more formidable opponent, which… yeah. But would Walt ever hang out in the sewer to get revenge? Nope, only the crawl space.

(Via Variety)

The best new hip-hop this week includes albums, videos, and songs from Russ, Rico Nasty, Sean Paul, Kamaiyah, Wale, and more.

It’s another light week in terms of major releases, but there are a lot of gems that may have passed you by if that weren’t the case. Thus, this is a welcome reprieve from the exhaustion from the middle of April to the middle of May. Let’s enjoy it while we can.

Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending May 27, 2022.

Albums/EPs/Mixtapes

Sean Paul — Scorcha

Who could ever turn down new music from a legend? Sean Paul returns with his eighth studio album, Scorcha. Though he’s nearly 50, the Kingston artist is very tapped into the times with a bop like “Only Fanz” featuring Ty Dolla Sign. Paul even got Gwen Stefani back outside for “Light My Fire” also starring the fast-rising Shenseea. Perfect Memorial Day Weekend energy.

Kamaiyah — Divine Timing

Kamaiyah is back with a 7-song offering titled Divine Timing featuring Sada Baby, Cash Kidd, and Da Boii, previously featured in the column for the single “F.W.I” on this project. If you know anything about Kamaiyah, then it shouldn’t surprise you she is rapping with a purpose here, fitting in time for both fun and vulnerability.

Jayson Cash– Read The Room

New Atlantic signee Jayson Cash wants us to Read The Room. After all that he’s endured, the title is apt and each song aligns with it in some way. “Priority” featuring Blxst handles awareness within a romantic relationship, and “With The Homies” is all about not bothering him when he is with his crew. Cash raps with clarity and the Carson, California DNA oozes through the production and diction.

Maino & Jim Jones– The Lobby Boyz

Jim Jones has truly emerged as an admirable rapper over the years, and his consistency in releases is astounding. The best part is he isn’t afraid to spar either, linking up with Maino for The Lobby Boyz. “Praying” is an immediate standout, with Maino and Jones trading lines on the hook and a short but solid Benny The Butcher verse. Fivio Foreign, Fabolous, Styles P, and Dave East also appear on the project, but the most enjoyable linkup comes in “King Of The City’ featuring fast-rising star Capella Grey on the chorus. It’s big New York energy, meaning confidence galore, spanning across multiple eras.

Rick Hyde — Stima

Rick Hyde dropped off eight new records with his project Stima featuring Benny The Butcher, Rome Streetz, Loveboat Luciano, and Jonezy. Whether you’ve got a decent-timed car ride or an upcoming gym session, these brutal bars are bound to motivate you to do something.

Le$ — L E Dolla

Le$ handles his latest project L E Dolla by his lonesome. These ten new tracks follow his last album E30 from December 2021.

Singles/Videos

Wale — “The Trip (Downtown)”

This is a new release depending on who you ask. Wale’s classic project More About Nothing was officially added to streaming services at the end of April, but as we know, sample clearance issues often ruin the songs we loved a while back and are excited to hear again. Thankfully, Wale and his team did what needed to be done as “Downtown” by SWV was cleared, and “The Trip (Downtown)” can be properly enjoyed. It also serves as yet another reminder that when it comes to samples, flips, and interpolations, Wale is among the elite.

Fredo Bang — “Hard For U”

Fredo Bang rolls out the proverbial red carpet for his lady in “Hard 4 U,” scooping her up from the airport to hop in a private jet. Though it’s admirable he’s rapping sweet nothings to his lady, a few lines are laughable or even cringy. “I might buy a ring and lock you down like a white cop” and “That pussy like mashed potatoes” are just two examples of this, but it’s the chorus that takes the cake. “My d*** only get hard for you.” Hey, you have to admire Fredo’s willingness to be unfiltered with his love right? Right?

Russ ft. Ktlyn — “Handsomer (Remix)”

Russ puts forth a huge effort to make music videos matter beyond the sales again with the full-length “Handsomer (Remix)” starring comedian Tiffany Haddish and rap legend Snoop Dogg. Haddish makes fun of the names of drinks being offered at the event before trying to pursue the party host Russ, who acknowledges having money makes him more desirable — and he’s okay with it. Featured artist Ktlyn admits that though she has her own money she would like to spend a man’s first in the opening verse. As if it can’t get any funnier than Haddish pretending she knows Russ’s music, the “Losin Control” artist gives her a fake number that belongs to none other than Uncle Snoop, who is not pleased by the random call.

DreamDoll ft. French Montana — “Ice Cream Dream”

Well, it would not be surprising if DreamDoll just became everyone’s favorite ice cream truck driver after her new video for “Ice Cream Dream” featuring French Montana. Where else can you get a snow cone and some free bars? French Montana joins the fun, referencing how he needs that “Jada p****” that will have him “slap a n****” and giving a nod to Zendaya and Euphoria. Only French. All of this happens over a sample of the classic “Ice Cream” by Raekwon featuring Cappadonna, Ghostface Killah, and Method Man.

Dreezy — “LA Leakers Freestyle”

Dreezy stops by LA Leakers once again to drop confident bars over Kanye West’s “Clique.” A dual-threat, she’s been embracing the rapper within lately, alongside the release of Hitgirl alongside Hit-Boy. She likens herself to the Golden State Warriors and tells the story of going toe-to-toe with Ye in the studio before joining Dreamville in 2019 during their Revenge Of The Dreamers III camp. In summation, Dreezy makes it look easy.

K Camp — “Woozie”

K Camp keeps it simple in the “Woozie” visual, turning up alongside his homies in the midst of strobe lights which can certainly make one feel like the title of this song. Camp is sure to highlight the women present as well, with multiple isolated scenes of them dancing and showing off their bodies. If the lights won’t knock you out, these women’s moves might.

Tony Shhnow– “Keep In Touch”

With a font similar to that of a BET 106 & Park video following a nostalgia-inducing graphic, it is clear Tony Shhnow is trying to trigger something with his new video for “Keep In Touch.” He raps in what appears to be a pool hall he has all to himself about his palms itching and a woman who only wants sex from him. The one-minute, 49-second video is short but gets his multiple points across.

Quelle Chris ft. Pink Siifu & Moruf — “The Sky Is Blue Because The Sunset Is Red”

Scenes driving past a cemetery and the piano-key laced beat found on “The Sky Is Blue Because The Sunset Is Red” make this Quelle Chris outing feel somber. Throw in verses from Pink Siifu and Moruf, now you’re lost in your thoughts for the rest of the day.

Wynne — “Holiday / U Sick”

The Portland Oregon rapper drops off a two-pack, spitting ferociously over the video game-like synths of “Holiday.” “U Sick” sounds Playboi Carti-esque as she brands a slightly more reserved flow, opting to ride the beat instead of attacking it head-on. Overall a strong showing for Wynne.

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

Today, Charli XCX was supposed to perform in Brussels, Belgium, at the city’s La Madeleine venue. Tomorrow, her plan was to play at TivoliVredenburg (Ronda Hall) in Utrecht, Netherlands. Unfortunately, though, neither of those shows will go on as planned, Charli revealed today. The reason is that Charli has “completely lost” her voice, which means “singing is literally impossible right now.”

In a message shared on social media, Charli wrote, “I am devastated to have to inform you that I have to cancel my shows in both Brussels and Utrecht today and tomorrow. I have completely lost my voice and despite trying many techniques to revive it, it is not returning. I am under doctors orders to go on both vocal and physical rest in the hope that my voice will come back as soon as possible. I wish that there was a way I could perform for you guys, but singing is literally impossible right now and the show is too physical to tackle whilst my glands are flared up and in pain. I am so so so sorry to let you down, I really am.”

Charli’s next scheduled show is on May 30, at Astra in Berlin, Germany.

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