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With the return of Coachella — a festival with no use for masks or mandatory vaccinations — the advent of festival season is officially back in swing. Though the event ran into a little bit of trouble with Kanye West dropping out last minute, they quickly subbed in The Weeknd, and kicked off last night with an epic Harry Styles performance that included several new singles and a Shania Twain cover or two. But even with Harry taking up all the oxygen on the lineup last night, other artists were quietly on the move, too.

For instance, Justin Bieber came out and joined Daniel Caesar for a rendition of “Peaches” right before Harry took the stage, and several hours before, on a stage far, far away, cult favorite Carly Rae Jepsen was letting fans know what the “Western Wind” billboard teasers have been all about. Performing the song live for the first time during her set, Jepsen also shared a snippet of the track on Twitter, which you can hear above. Along with the track came what looks very much like an album cover, and if it is, then Western Wind is the name of her upcoming new album, too. In the meantime, look out for the official single release coming soon.

For the second time since the conclusion of the 2004 postseason, the Minnesota Timberwolves have won a playoff game. Minnesota, the 7-seed in the Western Conference, traveled to Memphis to take on the 2-seed Grizzlies on Saturday afternoon, and despite a productive game from Ja Morant, the Timberwolves were able to steal homecourt advantage away with a 130-117 win.

The charge was led by Anthony Edwards, who was nothing short of magnificent in his playoff debut. After having a monster play-in game against the Los Angeles Clippers to secure a postseason berth for the Timberwolves earlier in the week, Edwards went out and had the fourth-highest scoring debut in NBA playoff history. The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft went for 36 points on 12-for-23 shooting and connected on four of his 11 attempts from deep. Only two players in Timberwolves history — Sam Cassell and Troy Hudson, with the former hitting the 40-point mark twice — have scored more points in a playoff game.

There was nothing that the Grizzlies could do, as Edwards — as confident as ever — was in total control of his game. His ability to scorer was nothing short of effortless, as he kept getting to his spots and knocking down shots.

He even flashed some comfort as a distributor, racking up six assists on the day.

Edwards was not the only Timberwolves player to show out. Karl-Anthony Towns responded to a bad game against the Clippers be going for 29 points and 13 rebounds, including a poster dunk on potential Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr.

Morant’s 32 points and eight assists led the way for Memphis, will Dillon Brooks providing another 24 and the frontcourt combination of Jackson and Brandon Clarke combining for 25 points, 16 rebounds, and seven blocks.

Game 2 between the Grizzlies and Timberwolves will tip off on Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBA TV.

Earlier this week, NLE Choppa shared a video on his social media where he claimed that he made a BBL supplement. The Me Vs. Me rapper claimed the “herbal concoction” is made up of akpi, fennel, fenugreek, basil, and “other sacred ingredients that I cannot get all into for the people that be stealing.” Here’s the issue so far: a BBL, which stands for Brazilian butt-lift, is a surgical procedure that transfers fat from one part of the body and injects it into the buttocks for a voluminous look. The odds of a supplement being able to do this are none to zero, and with that being said, fans wasted no time roasting the Memphis rapper.

However, that wasn’t all. Four days after releasing the supplement, NLE Choppa returned to Twitter with a claim that it was “such a success.” As a result, he added that he is currently “looking for things to reverse autism, Dwarfism, Down syndrome, and many other disorders.” As expected, NLE Choppa’s latest message earned him more roasts, but that didn’t distract him from his goal of providing BBLs with an all-natural, non-FDA-approved supplement.

“They gone tear a man down when you try to help but let em die it’s long live this RIP that, he was woke this, tryna heal his people that,” NLE Choppa tweeted in response to the criticism he received. “Naw b*tch he gone now should’ve embraced him instead of disgraced him. Sad ass putrid ass generation. He gone keep doing him tho. HE/HIM, I AM.”

You can check out some of the roasts fans had for NLE Choppa below.

NLE Choppa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

For the second game in a row, a protest occurred while the Minnesota Timberwolves were playing basketball. During Saturday afternoon’s Game 1 between the Timberwolves and the Memphis Grizzlies, someone threw what appeared to be a number of flyers onto the floor at FedExForum, interrupting play so the flyers could be all cleared off.

But before that could happen, the protestor took tied themself to the stanchion that holds up the backboard and the rim. Security in the arena managed to get them untied before they were ushered into the back.

A close-up view showed that the protestor used a chain — which they somehow were able to get into the arena — to secure themself to the stanchion before they were carried out.

At one point during the Timberwolves’ play-in win over the Los Angeles Clippers in Minnesota, a protestor made their way onto the court and glued their hand to the floor. They were, likewise, taken into the back by security. Per several media reports, the protestor in Memphis was part of the same organization as the person who glued themself to the floor. As they revealed during the Clippers game, the organization seeks to raise awareness for a factory egg farm owned by Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor that has allegedly conducted an inhumane mass killing of chickens suffering from a form of avian flu.

After three years away, Coachella returned to Indio, CA this weekend. And while some might have expected young fans to rage across the polo fields with all the angst of two previous cancelations in the rearview mirror, the sense on site was a lot more tepid, as if everyone wanted to get their feet wet before fully diving in. It’s far too early to say if the past few years have changed Coachella’s identity or changed how young people approach these massive cultural events, but the initial sense is that things have slowed down a little, and the traditional revelry has given way to something more appreciative and understated.

All that said, the fashion-forward appeal of Coachella remains. There were costumes and skin, lots of transparent lace and vibrant colors. With years of opportunities to show off festival fashion squandered by a pandemic, fans dressed their best and made 2022’s edition count. Below we have some photos of our favorites, who returned to one of the world’s best festivals with a commitment to show off exactly why Coachella is what it is. As they prepared for a day that included Harry Styles, Arcade Fire, Lil Baby, and more, everyone looked predictably great with the giant art structures and palm trees as a backdrop.

With the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival returning for the first time in three years, it looks like the organizers’ have adjusted their hip-hop strategy. While in past years, the festival has gambled a bit more on rising stars in the genre like Aminé and Dej Loaf, this year, the focus shifted to providing more established stars like City Girls, Cordae, and Lil Baby.

This isn’t a bad thing at all, though. While day one of the 2022 Coachella Festival only sported a handful of rap acts, by honing in on more proven quantities, the festival offered an excellent cross-section of samples of where the genre currently is, with one or two glimpses at where it could be going.

Whereas rap acts are usually spread pretty evenly around the festival grounds, this year, it appears there was a more streamlined concept. The majority of the rap acts who appeared did so on the Sahara stage; the only two exceptions were Princess Nokia and Lil Baby. Nokia was upgraded from the tiny Sonora tent to the main stage, albeit for an early afternoon set, while Lil Baby played a primetime set on the main stage that felt too early in hindsight.

Lil Baby’s impressive set appeared to incorporate some of the lessons he’d learned during his recent Back Outside arena tour. The set design was more ambitious, depicting a busy trap house motel, and Baby’s performance was much more fluid and animated, suggesting that he’s grown in confidence and settled into himself as a showman. Though it was light on guests, Gunna did appear to perform “Drip Too Hard” and “Pushin P,” to a predictable massive crowd pop.

However, when compared to the much more low-key Daniel Caesar set that followed, it felt like Baby perhaps should have been the penultimate performer ahead of Harry Styles. The drop in energy coincided with a drop in temperatures as the desert wind picked up; I think going with the higher energy set into the headliner could have improved the reception of both.

Meanwhile, on the Sahara stage, a strong lineup started with City Girls, running through Cordae, South African DJ Black Coffee, Baby Keem, and Big Sean. The only thing that seemed out of order was not starting with Cordae. His live band-backed set was as strong as any I’ve seen, but by the time he hit the stage, the exuberant crowd from City Girls had thinned considerably.

Understandably, curating a massive festival like this takes work. But it does seem that a more experienced hand could have benefitted the sequencing for the hip-hop acts to keep the energy building. Fans who enjoyed upbeat renditions of tracks like “Twerkulator” and “Said Sum” (with surprise guest Moneybagg Yo) didn’t stick around to watch Cordae perform Lost Boy staples like “Thanksgiving” and From A Bird’s Eye View cut “C Carter” — maybe they should have because Cordae’s versatility is always impressive and perhaps City Girls fans would enjoy high-energy fare like “Scottie Pippen” and “Kung-Fu.”

While I’m sure there’s at least some overlap between Cordae’s fans and those of City Girls, that part of the Venn diagram is thin enough that booking them back-to-back wound up appearing awkward – at least, until Cordae’s more hardcore fans and curious heads finally filled the Sahara tent back up.

What did work well was concentrating the hip-hop acts to one or two stages and spreading them out sufficiently enough to allow someone interested mostly in seeing hip-hop to take in most of the sets. I missed Baby Keem, but only because I was so curious to see how Daniel Caesar would handle the big stage with some mellow tunes (the answer is “not well,” but not because his performance wasn’t good. It was just stuck after an electrifying performance from Lil Baby). Ideally, this could be the strategy in the future, too.

Obviously, spreading the acts more evenly between the main stage and Sahara could encourage more movement for hip-hop heads to check out other genres, while omnivores wouldn’t have to zigzag all over the polo grounds. Instead, the hip-hop acts could simply be a home base to return to at either end of the field. As long as someone in booking has a grasp of where acts are in their careers and how their respective sounds compare and complement each other, this new, streamlined strategy could make finding hip-hop at the biggest festival easier and more enjoyable than ever.

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

Arkansas rapper Bankroll Freddie got his moment in 2021 thanks to the release of his Big Bank project. It marked his second full-length effort, following 2020’s From Trap To Rap, since he signed to Quality Control at the end of 2019. Big Bank, which also marked his first project under Motown Records, gave Bankroll Freddie a good look thanks to contributions from EST Gee, Megan Thee Stallion, Pnb Rock, Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz, and more. Unfortunately for Freddie, his progress upward is now on hold after he was reportedly arrested in his home state on Thursday night.

According to TMZ, Freddie was pulled over for speeding earlier this week, but the traffic stop ended with his arrest and a number of charges. Arkansas State Police pulled the rapper over on interstate 55, and during the stop, cops allegedly found guns and narcotics in a pickup truck. As a result, Freddie was charged with resisting arrest, drug and firearm possession, and speeding. TMZ reports that Freddie is being held on $2,870 bond, and for reasons unbeknownst to the publication, he’s also in FBI custody.

Freddie’s arrest comes after he released his song and music video for “Pickin’ Sides” with Detroit rapper Icewear Vezzo.

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

Multiverses are big right now, from Rick and Morty to the MCU. So let’s imagine the following alternate dimension, in which Josh Brolin doesn’t play a comic book baddie. Instead he plays one of its biggest heroes. On a recent podcast, the actor reminisced about how long before he nabbed the role of an arguably hot Thanos (not to mention Cable in Deadpool 2), he was courted to play Batman.

Almost a decade ago, DC was on the hunt for a new Caped Crusader, who would play the character in their own still larval Cinematic Universe. The gig, of course, went to Ben Affleck, who played him in three films, with an appearance in The Flash en route. But Brolin was in the running.

“It would have been the older, the more raspy, for lack of a better word,” Brolin told the hosts of MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast about his version of Bruce Wayne. Of course, Affleck’s Batman was a little older than he usually is: middle-aged, with spots of gray in his hair, not only brooding but weary. So it seems like Brolin, who’s about five years older than Affleck, would have played an even older Wayne. He thought that was an “interesting” take, though director Zack Snyder, then overseeing Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, wound up making him slightly younger.

“Honestly, that would have been a fun deal,” Brolin said. “And maybe I’ll do it when I’m 80.”

It all worked out in the end, sort of. The next year Brolin made his first appearance as Thanos in The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and went on to be the super-villain of the Avengers diptych Infinity War and Endgame. As for Affleck’s Batman run, well, that wound up a bit more chaotic than hoped for, though even that had a happy ending when Snyder released his own cut of the troubled Justice League. Then again, The Flash, which brings Affleck back to the role one last time, recently ran into its own troubles.

(Via Deadline)

After four long years, Lorde released her third album Solar Power last summer. The project became her third consecutive top-five album after it debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. In addition to announcing the project last summer, Lorde also unveiled a lengthy tour in support of Solar Power. It kicked off back in February and has been smooth sailing for the most part up until now. Unfortunately for Lorde and fans alike, there’s a small hiccup in the tour as she was forced to postpone a pair of shows due to a bout with laryngitis.

“These past couple days I’ve been pushing through some horrendous laryngitis, and I regret to inform you that my voice hasn’t sufficiently recovered to be able to play the show for you,” she wrote in an email to fans. As a result, last night’s show at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut and tonight’s show at The Anthem in Washinton D.C. have been moved to August 25th and August 29th, respectively.

“I’m so, so sorry. I don’t take postponing a show lightly,” Lorde continued in the email. “I’ve tried everything, and unfortunately it’s physically impossible for me to sing much of the set. Please accept my sincere apologies. All well besides that, and absolutely frothing to party with you when I am able.”

Hopefully, Lorde can stick to the regularly scheduled programming once she fully recovers. Lorde’s Solar Power Tour is set to continue through March 2023 with additional stops in North America, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia.

The Atlanta Hawks earned a playoff bid on Friday night with a 107-101 road win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Thanks to a Trae Young second half masterclass, Atlanta locked up the 8-seed in the Eastern Conference. As a result, they’ll head down to Miami for a Sunday Game 1 tilt against the 1-seed Heat, which beat them in the season series, 3-1. Here are three questions that could end up defining what happens in this series.

How does Atlanta’s frontcourt hold up?

The Heat aren’t exactly a team that will throw wave after wave of size at an opponent. Regardless, Atlanta is heading into this series without its starting frontcourt — John Collins has not played since mid-March due to finger and foot sprains, while Clint Capela suffered a knee injury on Friday night during the team’s play-in win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Hawks do have the luxury of a pair of extremely capable back-up bigs: Onyeka Okongwu has turned into a very solid, albeit foul-prone, backup during his second year out of USC, while Gorgui Dieng is a veteran option with a reliable jumper. Having said that, those two have to deal with one of the league’s most unique players in Bam Adebayo, a tall task even at full strength. The ripple effect of having to rely more on guys down the bench impacts their non-centers, too — take a guy like Danilo Gallinari, a veteran who will also be targeted over and over on defense by Atlanta.

Should Capela and/or Collins come back, they should provide a gigantic boost on both ends of the floor to a Hawks team already facing an uphill battle. If they don’t, the challenge becomes even more daunting.

Does Atlanta’s offense have enough answers against Miami’s defense?

Now, I am not a professional basketball player, but as someone who watches basketball, I feel qualified enough to say that having to score on Miami seems miserable. A defensive foursome of Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler, PJ Tucker, and Adebayo is as ferocious as there is in the league, while anyone who takes the floor for the Heat ranges from “guy who will compete on defense” to “guy who will compete on defense and is also pretty good at it.”

It stands to reason that Atlanta’s gameplan on offense is to get Trae Young in pick-and-roll situations where he can hunt Duncan Robinson, or Tyler Herro, or whomever the weakest defender is on the floor at a given time for Miami. Again, that guy will be willing to battle Young, and Erik Spoelstra very well might just want his guys to blitz Young and try to force the ball out of his hands, with the bet being that it’s better to live with anyone else beating them. Guys like Bogdan Bogdanovic, Gallinari, Kevin Huerter, De’Andre Hunter will have to hit the shots that come from these situations, whether it’s because Young finds them or the ball gets swung around the perimeter while the Heat scramble.

Will Miami’s offense keep up its recent form?

Miami should be able to tear a not particularly good Atlanta defense apart. The Hawks are 26th in the league in defensive rating and boast the worst mark among teams in the playoffs in that metric. They’re not good at forcing turnovers, and their rebounding should suffer considerably if Capela and Collins cannot play. All of this bodes well for Miami, which should be able to win this series against a clearly inferior Hawks team. That’s especially the case if their recent hot play on offense can punish Atlanta — in the five April games leading up to the playoffs, Miami averaged 121.8 points per game while shooting nearly 52 percent from the field and 46 percent from three. If they can keep that up, this could be a sweep.