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Just before the end of 2021, Nas and Hit-Boy — who have become quite the dynamic duo lately — surprised fans with their latest collaborative project, Magic. The album was a welcome inclusion to the rap partnership’s growing catalog of collaborative projects, which already included King’s Disease and King’s Disease II. One of the benefits for Nas of working with Hit-Boy was the inclusion of younger voices to Nas’ list of collaborations, which helped to reverse the narrative the rap vet was out-of-touch with contemporary hip-hop.

One of the voices included on Magic is that of ASAP Rocky, who appears on the Max B shout-out track “Wave Gods” along with a thrilling turntable performance from DJ Premier. Today, Nas and Rocky released the song’s video, a love letter to the gritty New York streets from which both men hail. Rather than showing off tourist destinations like Times Square, though, they display the New York they know, from housing projects to crowded subway cars, as both Nas and Rocky portray a variety of characters from the dice rolling residents of the high-rises to the homeless vagrants who populate bus stop benches.

Watch Nas and Hit-Boy’s “Wave Gods” video featuring ASAP Rocky and DJ Premier above.

Alex Jones may have to try a little bit harder the next time he attempts to put off testifying in the lawsuit filed against him by the Sandy Hook families. Jones was an infamous pusher of conspiracy theories that the 2012 shooting was a false flag operation pulled off by “crisis actors,” which has potentially landed him on the hook for millions as the families of the very real children who died during the tragic incident were allowed to sue him for defamation.

However, Jones is doing in everything in his power to duck going on the record. In his latest move, the conspiracy theory peddler claimed he was too sick to appear at an upcoming deposition and even cited an illness that required immediate emergency care. And his plan might’ve worked had he not gone and recorded his InfoWars show in the studio for hours. Real smooth. Via The Daily Beast:

A lawyer for Jones provided the court with a doctor’s note claiming Jones was recovering from home. But Jones was still able to record his four-hour show, apparently from his studio, on Monday afternoon—when he was supposedly under the doctor’s care. The lawyers noted that the only doctor he was near at the time, InfoWars guest and prominent ivermectin booster Dr. Ben Marble, didn’t appear to be treating Jones for anything.

To the surprise of no one, Jones’ gambit didn’t work. According to Patch, Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis denied the request to delay the deposition, which is scheduled for Wednesday.

(Via The Daily Beast)

(Spoilers for Netflix’s Bad Vegan will be found below.)

The Bad Vegan train left the station less than a week ago, and it’s already racked up an absurdly huge number of viewing hours for Netflix. As far as the glut of recent scammer shows go, it’s a clear winner in terms of generating conversation and making people wonder wtf-is-going-on, and how much of the story could possibly be true. For sure, it’s still hard to believe how celebrity restauranteur Sarma Melngailis, who counted Alec Baldwin and Owen Wilson among her clientele, could have fallen so far from grace. For her fugitive-fraud combo stunts, she even went to prison, as did her husband, Anthony Strangis, neither of whom will be drawing investors anytime soon (if ever).

Sarma’s story leaves people feeling conflicted, since (at least to some degree) she likely got sucked into a scam as well. There’s one co-star, though, who every Bad Vegan viewer can agree is awesome. That would be Leon, the rescue pit bull, who didn’t achieve doggy immortality as Strangis (freaking bizarrely) promised (and Sarma felt “sick” over how that was used as a surreal marketing tactic), but Leon is nonetheless doing fantastic.

Leon spent time with Sarma’s friends while she did her Rikers Island time. These days, he’s back with Mom and becoming an Instagram star, with his own account, but he’s also popping into view on Sarma’s page as a “judgy backseat driver.”

Over on his own Instagram page, he’s telling the world how “Mom says this is ‘bonkers’” to see him on a Netflix splash page promoting Bad Vegan. He wants to know, “Also why am I on the tv?”

Otherwise, he’s hanging out on the couch a lot, enjoying homemade recipes (not always vegan, Sarma has clarified), and celebrating his 12th birthday. Oh, and he’s got a pet octopus. Seems like quite the life that everyone would enjoy.

Good on ya, Leon. Get those belly rubs.

Bad Vegan is currently streaming on Netflix.

Following a flight last night, which ended in an emergency landing, Miley Cyrus has confirmed she and her team are safe. The “Midnight Sky” singer was set to play a set at the Asunciónico festival in Paraguay, but her plane was struck by lightning. Fortunately, the flight crew was able to make a successful emergency landing, leaving her and those on board unharmed.

“To my fans and everyone worried after hearing about my flight to Asunción,” said Cyrus in an Instagram post. “Our plane was caught in a major unexpected storm and struck by lighting. My crew, band, friends and family who were all traveling with me are safe after an emergency landing.”

Unfortunately, Cyrus and her team were unable to fly into Paraguay.

Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, has experienced a series of floods and thunderstorms throughout the week, so severe that Asunciónico canceled its first day of festivities. Doja Cat, Foo Fighters, and Machine Gun Kelly were all scheduled for the first day.

Today, Asunciónico announced both days of the festival would ultimately be canceled, citing continuous severe weather conditions.

Cyrus is slated to perform at Lollapalooza Brasil this Saturday in San Paulo, Brazil.

2022 is proving to be The Year of Good TV Shows That Have Been Away for Too Long Finally Coming Back. Atlanta returns after a four-year break this week; Barry season three premieres in April; and May sees the return of Stranger Things, the most recent season of which debuted in July 2019. “I think they’ll be happy when they see it. It’s very, very long, which is why it’s taking us a very long time,” co-creator Ross Duffer explained about the gap between seasons on the Present Company With Krista Smith podcast.

Duffer also teased a darker tone for season four:

“When we pitched it to Netflix all those years ago, we pitched it as the kids are… The Goonies in E.T.. That’s their storyline. And the adults are in Jaws and Close Encounters and then the teens are in Nightmare on Elm Street or Halloween. But, this year, we don’t have the kids. We can’t do The Goonies anymore. And so, suddenly, we’re leaning much harder into that horror movie territory that we love. It was fun to make that change.”

One thing that hasn’t changed over the years, based on the new photos Netflix released for season four: Will and his unfortunate haircuts. Check out the images below.

The first half of Stranger Things season four premieres on May 27, followed by the second half on July 1.

Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa’s new single “Sweetest Pie” is a hit, and now Meg has offered a fresh live performance of it at last night’s 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards. She kept things exciting by taking a moment to pie one of her dancers in the face during the rendition, which followed Meg performing “Megan’s Piano.”

As for the awards themselves, Megan was nominated for a handful — Hip-Hop Artist Of The Year, Best Fan Army, and TikTok Bop Of The Year — but didn’t come away with any of them. She did, however, accept the Trailblazer Award and said during her acceptance speech, “I want to say with my platform, I will keep on continuing to be a voice for the voiceless, I will keep on fighting for all the injustices that me, my Black women, my Black men are facing, and I will keep showing up and showing out even in the face of adversity.”

Others in hip-hop were represented elsewhere, as winners included Lil Nas X (Male Artist Of The Year), Pop Smoke’s “What You Know Bout Love” (Hip-Hop Song Of The Year), and Drake (Hip-Hop Artist Of The Year).

Rock also showed up via Machine Gun Kelly (Alternative Artist Of The Year) and Foo Fighters (Rock Artist Of The Year). Pop had a lot of victors, too, like Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” (Song Of The Year), Olivia Rodrigo (Female Artist Of The Year, Best New Pop Artist, and TikTok Bop Of The Year for “Good 4 U”), Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” (Best Lyrics), Adele’s 30 (Best Comeback Album), and Finneas (Producer Of The Year).

Watch a clip from Megan’s performance above and find a full list of last night’s iHeartRadio Music Awards winners here.

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

Shortly after The Lost Daughter star Jessie Buckley was nominated for her first (and hopefully not last) Oscar, A24 released the teaser trailer for Men. That’s also all that was released: there was no plot description for the Alex Garland-directed film, only 90 creepy seconds of Buckley wandering through the rainy woods and staring into a creepy tunnel. Never stare into a creepy tunnel. That’s the first rule of horror movies. But now, A24 has released a full-length trailer, along with some background on the plot.

Following the death of her husband (played by I May Destroy You standout Paapa Essiedu) by suicide, Harper (Buckley) takes a solo trip to the “beautiful English countryside, hoping to have found a place to heal,” it reads. “But someone or something from the surrounding woods appears to be stalking her. What begins as simmering dread becomes a fully-formed nightmare, inhabited by her darkest memories and fears.”

In the trailer, Harper frequently reaches out for help and guidance, but she’s blamed for her husband’s death by a (male) religious authority figure (“You must wonder why you drove him to it”) and a (male) police officer doesn’t believe that she’s being followed in the dark. There’s also stabbings, an unwanted game of hide and seek, and body horror.

Can you blame her for wanting to take a bath (and scream)?

Men, which also stars Rory Kinnear, opens on May 20.

Olivia Rodrigo may be a globally recognized music star, but she’s still a pretty young person: The “Drivers License” singer just turned 19 years old in February. So, she’s still getting used to being a grown-up and she says the transition to that new phase of her life hasn’t been without its challenges.

Rodrigo was on The Late Late Show last night and on the show, James Corden noted Rodrigo recently moved into her first apartment on her own and asked how adulthood is going so far. She responded:

“Oh my gosh, I haven’t acclimated that well. Gotta be honest: Last night, I had just peanut M&M’s for dinner because I can’t cook. I Postmates every meal. My best friend is living with me now, so that’s been amazing. But yeah, it’s definitely a little bit of an adjustment.”

Corden later asked about Rodrigo’s experiences in London and if she’s been to a pub there, given the country’s legal drinking age is 18. Rodrigo answered, “I went for the BRITs like a month ago and I actually did get to go to a pub and it was so crazy. And they asked for my ID as I was going in and I was like, ‘Oh my god, I can show them my real ID, this is amazing.’ My friend who was with me was rifling through all of her fake IDs to try to find her real one to show the bouncer, but she was truly legal there. But it was very much fun, I love London.”

Corden then followed up by asking how it felt to try alcohol for the first time. Rodrigo, tongue firmly in cheek, responded, “Yeah, first time, it was amazing, yeah.”

Check out clips from the interview above and below.

The Supreme Court hearing for Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s first-ever nominee to the bench, has been a wild one. Ted Cruz asked her if babies are racist. Lindsey Graham threw a fit and stormed out. But perhaps the weirdest thing to happen was Tennessee senator Marsha Blackburn asking her to give her the definition of “woman” for reasons that didn’t make much sense even after her scheme became clear.

Blackburn — who once went to war with Taylor Swift, and lost — pelted Jackson with a number of big issues, including a lengthy, sketchy detour about abortion in which she grilled her about a paper she was involved with in undergrad. Eventually Blackburn moved the discussion towards another GOP bugaboo: the trans community.

It began with Blackburn questioning her about an obscure quote from the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg about “physical differences” between men and women, with which Blackburn was not familiar. So Blackburn tried another tack.

“Can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman’?” Blackburn asked Jackson. Jackson looked suitably baffled, responding only, “I can’t,” adding, “Not in this context. I’m not a biologist.”

Soon it became clear what Blackburn was up to: She, like many in today’s Republican party, are aggressively opposed to transgender rights. Soon Blackburn was asking Jackson about trans women playing sports, to which Jackson could only point out that none of her questions pertain to the legal issues they’re supposed to be discussing.

If you were playing a drinking game in which you downed a shot every time Blackburn used the word “respectfully” in response to a Republican senator’s bizarre questions, congratulations! You’re having your stomach pumped in the ER. If you weren’t, then you had to marvel at how Jackson managed to keep her composure over two days of Republican prodding thus far.

Or as one person on Twitter put it, “After spending an entire day getting harangued by Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and Tom Cotton, the fact that she didn’t respond to this with ‘Oh FFS, are you kidding me?’ demonstrates all the judicial temperament you could ever hope for.”

(Via Politico)

J Prince is at it again. Months after he somehow orchestrated a reconciliation between Kanye West and Drake, who held their Larry Hoover benefit concert shortly after they patched things up, the Rap-A-Lot Records CEO is back with another idea. J Prince wants a number of hip-hop artists to come together to hold a hip-hop show the same night as the Grammys which would be on April 3. He shared a lengthy audio message on Instagram that explained the inspiration behind his idea.

“I’ve been watching the Grammys control and dictate our culture to their benefit up close and personal for the past 30 years that I’ve been in the music business,” he wrote. “And all the artists, managers, and executives would do is complain but never have the nuts to come together to do anything about it.” He later added, “This is a slave master, punish a n**** mentality and act to remind us that no matter how much money we have, we’re still n****s in their eyes. So they cancel Kanye and discriminated against Drake, The Weeknd, Nicki Minaj, and many others over the years. This will only be broken by us uniting our powers to bring about change moving forward.”

He then revealed his proposal to have Drake, The Weeknd, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, and more come together to lead the hip-hop show. J Prince went as far as to say the show should take place in Las Vegas where the Grammys are set to take place.

“I recommend that the artists I mentioned above—and more—come together in Las Vegas and perform at the same time as the Grammys on a special network and streaming platform to prove that ratings will change where the Grammys are concerned when the No. 1 selling genre in music — hip-hop — come together,” he said. “Because there’s power in numbers.” He concluded by saying, “The powers that be will be mad at me about this one. But f*ck ’em! I love the culture. The seed has been planted; let’s water it.”

You can listen to J Prince’s full audio message about the proposed hip-hop show and what inspired it above.