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Paige Bueckers was a fixture during last month’s WNBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix. She popped out at activations at WNBA Live, Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe’s A Touch More podcast recording, courtside at the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game, you name it. The UConn star guard and presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft was met by palpable cheers everywhere she went, but that was not the point. Bueckers had been on what fans affectionately deemed her Paige World Tour, supporting her friends and former teammates at WNBA arenas nationwide.

Days before WNBA All-Star Weekend, Bueckers also presented at the 2024 ESPY Awards, where she had accepted Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports in 2021. Bueckers used her now-viral speech to challenge the media to pay the same respect — give the same visibility — to her Black peers.

After battling back from a tibial plateau fracture in 2021 and an ACL tear that cost her the entire 2022-23 season, Bueckers’ task at hand is to spend her fifth and final year at UConn leading the program its first national championship since 2016, but her purpose has always been to use her platform to impact others.

And Bueckers has never been more popular. Her platform is expanding, almost as prolifically as her performance on the floor. On August 1, Bueckers’ well-established NIL profile took a historic turn. Shams Charania reported that Bueckers would sign an NIL deal with Unrivaled, a forthcoming three-on-three league co-founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, making Bueckers “the first NCAA athlete to receive ownership equity in a league.”

While Bueckers’ world tour didn’t make it to Paris for the ongoing 2024 Olympics, she teamed with Meta, utilizing Meta AI to get as close as she could. Below, the reigning Big East Player Of The Year spoke with DIME about Meta, her bond with Suni Lee, and using “my white privilege to call out my white privilege.”

You’ve gone viral for supporting your friends and former teammates in person during this offseason — the Paige World Tour. How has using Meta AI allowed you to experience the 2024 Paris Olympics as if you were physically there?

It’s helped me a lot. You saw the video with my little brother, Drew, learning more about archery and badminton and all the sports that I didn’t necessarily have a prior knowledge about. So, it’s helped me learn the rules, the history of it. There are fun little games that me and my little brother can play as we’re learning. Plus, just keeping up with all the athletes and all the sports. For me, traveling a lot, being in different time zones, trying to get my schedule right of what’s all going on that day. But yeah, it makes it feel like you’re a super-fan in the sport just based on how quick you can learn it and how quick you can learn to play it. Obviously, not at the same talent level as the athletes competing in Paris, but just as a super fan, it’s really fun to explore and tap into my creative side.

Which athlete or Olympic moment has fired you up the most?

I would say probably Suni Lee. She’s from Minnesota. I’m from Minnesota, so just being Minnesota made, being friends, and seeing all the adversity that she’s come back from. Her resilience. The fact that doctors told her she might not ever do gymnastics again [due to a kidney disease diagnosis in 2022], and here she is, winning medals at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. It’s been inspiring to watch, and I’m just super proud of her.

It’s the prequel to when you come back from your past injuries to win a national championship at UConn next season, right?

That would be amazing. I love that.

Have you already incorporated Meta AI into your daily training routine?

I think it’s really cool to think about all the ways that it can help you. For me, I think it’s really cool for nutrition, like a nutrition plan, saying, “I have certain ingredients; what meal can I make with it?” Or, “Can you make me a healthy meal with protein, with this and that?” Even just getting in routines. Maybe I need to stretch my hamstrings a certain day or stretch my full body a certain day, [I can] ask it, how can I do that? If you don’t have a trainer, you can just go to Meta. It’s very accessible. A lot of kids these days have Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, so you just go straight there and ask it, “Can you make me a basketball workout for today?” Maybe I want to focus on ball-handling. Maybe I want to focus on shooting. Maybe I want to focus on passing. You can get so creative with it and use it in almost every activity you do in every single day. It’s exciting to see how much it can do for people and how accessible it is.

You’ve been asked a billion times about your 2021 ESPYs speech, and that’s valid. It took incredible awareness to use your moment to redirect the spotlight toward your Black peers and predecessors. But that came naturally to you because Black influence has always been your reality. Does it surprise you to receive so much praise for being an ally and sharing visibility — something that, in your eyes, should so obviously just be the standard?

I mean, everybody grows up in a different background. So, I grew up with a Black stepmom for a large majority of my life. I grew up with a Black female coach, who was a mentor to me for a large portion of my life. I had a lot of very influential Black women. A lot of my teammates are Black, so I had a lot of influential people of color surrounding me and making a huge impact in my life. I see the effects of white privilege — the imbalance of attention, respect, and just visibility. And so, it was very important for me to call it out. To use my white privilege to call out my white privilege, essentially.

I feel like everybody has a different way of going about things. I feel like I want to use my platform to promote change and try to help this world become a better place as much as I can. So, I don’t know. I get people who come up to me and say, “We love the way you go about your business. We love how you stand up for what you believe in.” It just makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing. People acknowledge that, but it’s just natural. It’s kind of who I am, and I want to continue to be that way and not let anything change me. So it definitely it makes you feel appreciated, for sure.

You recently told Highsnobiety, “I know I’m not going to change the world by myself, but I will do my part.” What do you want your part to be?

Definitely giving back. I feel like I’ve been blessed with so much, and so I want to give with what I’ve been given and help this world to become a better place as much as I can in terms of giving back to communities, inspiring the next generation, and using my white privilege to call it out. I know equality is something that is forever going to be fought for, but trying to acknowledge it.

I have a huge faith, so I glorify God in everything that I do. I tell people that, with God, everything is possible. He changes lives, and He’s done so much for me in terms of being able to battle through a lot of tough times. Relying and leaning on His strength has done wonders for me. So, I would say just continuing to be genuine, have a caring heart, give with what I’ve been given, and share my faith.

I guess the whole nature of this is putting you on the spot, and I hate to put you on the spot about this, but you mention white privilege. Can you think back to a time, whether in basketball or otherwise, where you first felt, Oh, it’s different for me?

I would say my first year of college. I took the media by storm. It was just crazy the amount of attention I had gotten right away. I hadn’t done anything yet. It was my first year at UConn. I was just establishing, getting my feet on the ground, and the amount of attention that I would get — like, say I had a great night, but somebody else had a great night. I got all the attention that night. Like I spoke about in my ESPYs [speech], women’s basketball is such a Black female dominated sport. You see so many great Black female athletes just dominating the game at the peak of performance. And so, I just wanted the same amount of attention that I got to be spread around a little bit more. I think that was the first really eye-opening experience.

But, I mean, little stuff happened in high school where I was like, Oh. You notice it. And I grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. My senior year of high school was the murder of George Floyd. So, that really impacted me in a way to where I saw police brutality and just how our community came together after that. I went to protests and marches and just, again, [it’s about] wanting equality. The Black Lives Matter movement was huge at that time, so being a supporter and ally of that was something that I noticed as well.

You’re so beloved — for good reason. Does the attention empower you to continue to be your authentic self, or does it become overwhelming and add pressure to live up to what everyone wants from you?

Nah. Like you said, I’m just trying to stay true to myself [and] not let anything change me. Continue to speak on what I believe in. Just use my platform for good. It makes you feel good when people come up to you — [to] acknowledge what you’re doing and tell you to keep going and motivate you to keep standing up for what you believe in and not being afraid to speak out and just continue to be authentically yourself. So, it’s definitely empowering.

Your NIL deal with Unrivaled was announced last week, making you the first NCAA athlete to receive ownership equity in a league. So, everybody can see this is a big deal. But why is it significant to you?

Just to continue to build for my future. I think that’s what NIL is all about: Building your brand, building your wealth, and building your future and what you want your portfolio to look like. But to be a part of something so much bigger than myself — women’s basketball, women’s sports in general, is on the rise, and you can see it. It’s happening, and the momentum is immense right now.

The Unrivaled league is just amazing. It’s in the offseason for the WNBA players. It’s another way for them to make money doing the sport that they love and get attention, play. It’s like, just to be a part of something that has legends and future Hall of Famers. Phee and Stewie started it, and obviously, there’s the UConn alumni little connection there — but to be a part of something that’s continuing to grow the game of women’s sports and doing so much for these women and doing so much for me, I’m blessed and honored to be a part of it at such a young age. It’s very humbling, too. It’s inspiring me to keep working, to continue to keep doing great things.

Quavo is the head honcho in his own right, but don’t forget that the “Mink” rapper is most definitely a rock star. So, his new collaboration with Lenny Kravitz, isn’t just serendipitous.

Today (August 9), after teasing their ultimate link up for over a week, the official video for the duo’s track “Fly” has landed. On the Andrew Watt and Cirkut co-produced track, the pair boast about their highly favored lives.

“I’m feelin’ the wave / I wanna fly / Let’s get geeked, let’s get drunk, let’s get high / Don’t go on a plane / I’m sittin’ the jet way / You already know which way we goin’ that way / Told her I wanna get you paid / Oh, you like that? Okay, bounce right back, go rage,” raps Quavo.

But, in the official video, Quavo and Lenny Kravitz take things to a heightened rock star level. With head banging, quick cuts to Kravitz’s guitar work, and a wardrobe comprised solely of black leather, what more could you ask for?

Let’s be real, sample fatigue is real. However, Quavo’s incorporation of Lenny Kravitz’s smash 1998 song “Fly Away” defies fans’ complaints. Last year, Quavo released his sophomore solo studio album, Rocket Power. But could “Fly” signal that another project rollout is on the way?

Watch Quavo and Lenny Kravitz’s official music video for “Fly” above.

Seven years ago, if someone were to tell you that then-Everyday Struggle host Joe Budden would be collaborating with the self-declared “King of the Teens,” Lil Yachty, you would probably think they were trolling. But today, it seems that it may not be quite as far-fetched as when the two rappers were semi-regularly antagonizing each other over their different generational outlooks on hip-hop.

Since then, Yachty followed Budden into podcasting, adopting some of his grumpy old man opinions in the process, and today, Budden joined Yachty on his podcast, A Safe Space, where they joked about rapping on a song together. The whole thing started with Yachty asking Joe, “Do you think right now, if you and me go in [the studio], you could pen a better verse than me?”

In typical combative fashion, Budden shot back, “Who’s picking the beat?” “Obviously, not you!” Yachty razzed. This sparks a spirited debate about the two rappers’ respective taste in beats, with Budden clowning Yachty’s “Metroid beats” and Yachty offering up a folder of beats from one of underground hip-hop’s favorite producers, The Alchemist. Yachty’s co-host Mitch says the result would sound like “a hoop mixtape,” which… Yes. That’s the point, you infant.

Joe says he’d “do it for fun, because I’m retired,” and now, I am wildly curious. Who cares who has the best verse — do it for hip-hop.

You can watch the new interview above, and just for kicks, you can watch the duo’s original, antagonistic interview below.

Industry is the latest HBO drama that brings something as complex as the cutthroat world of investment banking and somehow makes it entertaining instead of confusing. With season three, the stakes are even higher with the introduction of Kit Harington as Henry Muck, the chaotic CEO of a green-energy startup who has his own agenda and some spiffy Brat-esque attire. That, combined with the star power of Ken Leung, Myha’la, Marisa Abela, and Harry Lawtey has set up the series for an explosive third season.

When Does Industry Season 3, Episode 1 Come Out?

The highly-anticipated third season will premiere on Sunday, August 11th at 9 pm. The season consists of eight episodes which will air weekly on HBO through September 29th. Here is the official synopsis for season three:

As Pierpoint looks to the future and takes a big bet on ethical investing, Yasmin (Marisa Abela), Robert (Harry Lawtey), and Eric (Ken Leung) find themselves front and center in the splashy IPO of Lumi, a green tech energy company led by Sir Henry Muck (Kit Harington), in a story that runs all the way to the very top of finance, media, and government. Since leaving Pierpoint, Harper (Myha’la) is eager to get back into the addictive thrill of finance and finds an unlikely partner in FutureDawn portfolio manager Petra Koenig (Sarah Goldberg).

The premiere episode of the season will be titled, “Il Mattino ha L’Oro Bocca.” Here is the synopsis: “Pierpoint is preparing to extend its first offer. Robert faces some challenges in working with Lumi’s CEO.” Check out the tense season three trailer featuring Kit Harington’s impressive beard below. It’s not Jon Snow, but it’s something.

Alysha Newman became a viral sensation at the 2024 Olympics after she celebrated winning Canada’s first medal in women’s pole vault by pretending to be hurt then twerking.

“I’m always injured and I’m always getting back on the horse, so I said I’m gonna go and scare my coaches because I want them to lighten up,” she told CBC Sports. “So I said I’m gonna fake an injury and dance after. It just happened very fluid. I didn’t think I’m gonna twerk, but just from grabbing that to getting to the knee with a twerk it all just worked out in one.”

It’s been a long journey for Newman to that spontaneous moment of joy. “I had brain problems. I had a brain health issue. There’s mental health, and there’s brain health,” she told the Olympics website about the concussion she suffered three months before she no-heighted at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo. “I wasn’t happy. I didn’t like the sport at that time, and it was a struggle for me. I needed to step away, be happy off the track, so then I learned to love track again and then fix my mental health.”

Like many Olympians, Newman is on OnlyFans to help pay the bills so she can focus on her athletic career. “I earn money with what I post… It makes me confident and I feel good about it,” she explained to German publication BILD.

But don’t sign up for Newman’s account, which has over 75,000 likes, expecting to see nudity. “I post a lot of my training sessions, talk about nutrition and lots of tips and tricks,” she said. “Many people have a certain cliché when they think of OnlyFans. I can’t change many people’s minds. But this website has connected me with many fans, more than any other pole vaulter before. What others think about it doesn’t bother me. I am who I am and I do it well.”

You can watch her Olympics celebration here.

After months of delays and setbacks, Polo G was at last able to release his fourth studio album, HOOD POET. An acronym for “He Overcame Obstacles During Pain or Emotional Trauma,” the title turned out to be prophetic, as Polo had to deal with multiple arrests and a raid on his Los Angeles home while trying to promote the album. Still, he persevered, and the album is out now via Columbia Records.

Its release is accompanied by the video for “Darkside,” a standout, confessional inclusion, in which Polo vents about some of the aforementioned traumas and tribulations of his life. “I might never cough again from all that mud that I was sippin’,” he recalls. “Missin’ school every day, but on that block, perfect attendance / Bein’ broke the root of evil, it’ll turn you to a menace / It’s so hard to beat the odds when we was taught to be statistics / In this life, you only see the graveyard or go to prison.” The video sees him performing in a desert wasteland, flanked by a pair of armed guards. He’s been lifting too.

The Chicago rapper released four singles prior to the album: “Barely Holdin’ On,” “Sorrys & Ferraris,” “Angels In The Sky,” and “We Uh Shoot” with Lil Durk.

You can watch the video for “Darkside” above.

HOOD POET is out now via Columbia. You can find more info here.

Paramount Plus isn’t simply the place where Tom Cruise movies go to be streamed endlessly after theatrical runs, where 8,000 Taylor Sheridan shows make dads happy, and where Showtime’s undead Dexter franchise will be watched into oblivion. It’s also the place where SEAL Team has been streaming the back part of its run, and the terminally popular military drama is about to begin its final season.

When Do SEAL Team Season 7, Episodes 1 And 2 Come Out?

The first episodes of this final season will arrive on Paramount Plus on Sunday, August 11.

If the series aligns with other recent streaming-only releases on the platform, that means that 12:00am PST and 3:00am EST will be go time.

Star David Boreanaz’s (Buffy, Angel, Bones) bod sounds like it’s more than ready for a vacation, too. As he recently told PEOPLE, the show’s heavy physical load has taken a toll. “I take good care of myself, but it gets to a point where your body’s not moving like it used to,” he declared. “I think I’ve had four MRIs in the past four months, for my knees, hips, shoulders. It’s been quite a journey.”

From the final season synopsis:

At a moment’s notice, Bravo Team is ripped from their families and deployed across the globe to help the United States compete against foreign superpowers. As the military landscape shifts, personal lives, teammates and priorities change too, setting the stage for an emotional ending. Don’t miss Bravo Team’s dramatic farewell.

This will be it for Bravo Team, and hopefully, Boreanaz can go enjoy some yoga now.

J Balvin promised the public major musical collaborations (because there is already enough beef in the Latin music space) on his latest album, Rayo, and he delivered. With the body of work officially available on streaming platforms, it was only right for the “Dientes” musician to drop one visual for the project.

Yesterday (August 8), J Balvin and Feid’s joint track reunion, “Doblexxó,” finally got the love it deserved. The official video for “Doblexxó,” directed by Death Of Gian, made the wait well worth it.

In the visual, J Balvin and Feid prove that they are each the life of the party wherever they do. Both exhibit main character energy throughout the video, but even the focal point needs a supporting case now and then. As the roughly translated chorus of the track shows, J Balvin and Feid’s preferred co-star is a gorgeous woman.

“Baby, you don’t need to get emotional tonight / Throw away the watch that jerk gave you, why should you check the time? / Double up on drinks for your friends, see if they leave you alone / If that jerk calls you, baby, you better ignore him / And let him f*ck off,” sings the duo.

Watch the “Doblexxó” video above.

Rayo is out now via Sueños Globales/UMG Recordings. Find more information here.

In the press materials for Flight b741 — the 26th (!) studio album from Australia’s reigning jam band masters King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — head Gizzard Stu Mackenzie suggests that the band’s recent records have been “sort of intellectual.” The idea with Flight b741, he says, was “to make something fun.”

Speaking as someone who has fought off a proverbial side ache from trying to keep up with this tireless band’s output in the past decade-plus, I would humbly argue that “fun” has never been an issue for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Let’s peruse a recent smattering of their aggressively genre-hopping work. There was The Silver Cord, which we will classify as “the one that sounds like Kraftwerk.” There was PetroDragonic Apocalypse, also known as “the one that resembles Slayer if they were more like Frank Zappa.” (Probably more succinct to just say “Tool-esque.”) There was Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, And Lava, the one that simultaneously nodded to fusion jazz and Greek mythology, as all bands inevitably do when they pass the 20-album mark in their discographies.

The key to appreciating King Gizzard, as well as all jam bands, is understanding that the journey is more important than the destination. This kind of music is concerned primarily with process — the dreaming up of an idea, the self-imposed demands of a musical challenge, the pursuit of spontaneity, the fetishization of moments that are impossible to prefabricate. When you approach a band like King Gizzard, you are implicitly striking a deal that accepts an imperfect final product in exchange for the sort of impromptu adventure that conventional rock bands can’t deliver. It’s not where you end up by morning, it’s the fun and exhilarating times you had along the way. That’s the King Gizzard experience.

What sets King Gizzard apart from their peers on the Red Rocks/Gorge circuit is that they take this approach in the studio as well as the stage. For them, making a record is like a playing gig that happens to take place in a room without audience, and with a new musical costume that will swiftly be discarded once they re-enter the studio months or even weeks later. That was certainly the approach for Flight b741, which was recorded “really loud” over two weeks on cheap amps and with a newly purchased Nuggets-style organ.

As for their present persona, King Gizzard reverted to the mean of their core influences — crunchy, riff-y classic rock with a twangy country edge. Early ’70s Dead, mid-’70s Stones, The James Gang, pre-yacht rock Steely Dan — all leave discernible fingerprints on these songs. The guitars chug. The cowbell cowbells. Until now I have physically restrained myself from typing the word “choogle” but I am finally relenting after 450 words. On Flight b741, King Gizzard choogles like few modern bands dare to choogle.

Is this a fun record? Of course it’s a fun record. Like I said, “fun” has never been a problem for this band. So, what is the issue? “Memorable.” In typical King Gizzard fashion, Flight b471 is uneven in the “memorable songs” department.

When it comes to live performance, I am a fan of taking the “journey over destination” approach. Most of my favorite live acts have adopted that philosophy, and the ones that haven’t seem a little dull in comparison. But in the studio, the shortcomings of this philosophy are more apparent. With King Gizzard, no matter the style of music with which they are experimenting, my experience with their albums tends to be the same. It goes like this: I enjoy them when they’re on, and I forget them when they’re not.

This is probably an unfair comparison but I’ll make it anyway: In terms of genre diversity, King Gizzard’s historical analogue is Ween, another group adored by jam fans even if that feeling hasn’t always been mutual. In the ’90s, Ween changed their sound just as often as King Gizzard, and in the case of their 1994 masterpiece Chocolate & Cheese, they did it over the course of a single album. But Gene and Dean Ween are infinitely better songwriters than Mackenzie and his fellow Gizzards. They didn’t just emulate certain instrumental tones associated with specific genres or musical eras. They started with great songs, and then those fit those songs to whatever style they wanted.

Now, I know this is unfair because Ween happens to be one of the greatest bands of all time. (And they are the greatest indie-adjacent jam act.) Nevertheless: I wish King Gizzard put more care into songwriting, even if Ween’s method — write five songs for every one you put on a record — is antithetical to what they do. Premeditation isn’t in the Giz’s DNA. And I can respect that, though songwriting will continue to be their most glaring weakness.

Back to fun: Flight b471 is definitely that and then some. No matter their ambivalent stance toward the greater jam world — they have embraced Trey Anastasio’s fandom and snarkily dismissed their potential rival Goose — King Gizzard is at their best when they come closest to approximating a jam band musically. That was true of the funky Ice, Death as well as the electro-pop excursion Butterfly 3000, and it’s obviously the case on Flight b471, in which they rip through bluesy jams in a manner that bear more than a passing resemblance to Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Black Crowes, and even southern rock O.G.s Widespread Panic.

The title track typifies this “sleazeball country rock” vibe, applying some well-worn stoned fuzz to the greasy grooves. “Sad Pilot” similarly struts with blotto swagger, while “Daily Blues” reimagines ZZ Top’s Eliminator as a lysergic Meat Puppets jam. And then there’s my favorite track, “La Risque,” whiuch successfully melds Countdown To Ecstasy with a loosey-goosey Dick’s Picks sensibility.

The word I would use to describe all of these songs is “spacious.” King Gizzard albums typically have a frenetic edge, going back to their early days as a hyperkinetic garage-rock outfit. There’s always this feeling that they have so much music on their minds that they have to burn through every song as fast as possible in order to get to the next brainstorm. It’s the quality that makes this band exciting and exhausting in equal doses.

But on Flight b471, you can hear them breathe — and chill — a little. (The exception is the self-explanatory “Hog Calling Contest,” which sounds exactly like the title.) This is a positive development. When you have 26 albums under your belt, you can afford to settle in for a minute. Just grab a comfortable seat, cradle a koozie-wrapped beer can, and ease your mind, man. With a little more consideration, you might even make your own masterpiece one day.

The few between Drake and Kendrick Lamar got a lot of reactions from a lot of music fans. For André 3000, his reaction was sadness.

In a new Crack interview, André said of the beef:

“I got a little sad, at a certain point. In early rap battles, you had kids in the park rapping against each other. But it’s not just people rapping now. You got people with 100 employees. You have livelihoods, empires, companies, deals — all of it can be jeopardized. If you don’t have anything to lose, sure, go for it. But if I already made it, I’m not sure it’s even worth it anymore.”

André also said he’s written a few diss tracks of his own but never plans to release any. He said, “You have feelings… if n****s say some slick sh*t, lines will come to your head immediately.”

Elsewhere, he discussed the relationship between music and artificial intelligence, saying, “I think some of the AI art is interesting. But, as humans, sometimes we just want to know what’s real. We want the humanness of things. […] Before cameras came into play, a king would hire the best artists to paint a portrait of you and your family. The best artists were the ones who could make it look as real as possible. But then cameras came along. So you had all these artists saying, ‘What are we going to do now?’ I think we’re at a similar place now. But what happened was — we got Van Gogh, and we got Impressionists. Doing sh*t the camera couldn’t do. You gotta find your place to be. That’s the humanness.”

Check out the full interview here.