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Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw collaborations lead the week, with pairings of Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift as well as Saweetie and HER. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters.

Ed Sheeran — “The Joker And The Queen” Feat. Taylor Swift

Sheeran and Swift have been pals for a good while now, and the friends got to reunite on a new track last week, with Swift (as was rumored for months in advance) featured on a new version of Sheeran’s “The Joker And The Queen.” The video was nostalgic for many reasons, which led to both pop stars to reminisce about the ride they’ve been on as best buds.

Saweetie and HER — “Closer”

Fans are still waiting for Saweetie’s delayed Pretty Bitch Music album, and while the release date for the project remains TBD, she did link up with HER on “Closer” last week. Uproxx’s Aaron Williams calls the tune “a flirtatious, dance-ready piece of disco-pop” on which “the two performers — who share Bay Area roots and mixed Black-Filipino heritage — revel in the warm, fuzzy vibes of a new relationship.”

Fivio Foreign — “City Of Gods” Feat. Kanye West and Alicia Keys

Kanye West finds himself in the news just about every other hour these days, but towards the end of last week, one such instance was actually music-related. No, it didn’t have to do with Donda 2: He and Alicia Keys joined Fivio Foreign on “City Of Gods,” which is carried by drill production and Alicia Keys’ interpolating of The Chainsmokers’ “New York City” for the hook, but perhaps defined by Ye dropping references to everything from Pete Davidson to the Chicago Bills.

Pusha T — “Diet Coke”

It was actually a big week for new Kanye music, as he and 88 Keys produced the latest from Pusha T, “Diet Coke.” Ye even found his way into the song’s video, maintaining a background role like he does on the song itself as Pusha T drops bars that aren’t about a reduced-sugar soda.

Nicki Minaj and Lil Baby — “Bussin”

Minaj and Baby is a combo so nice they did it twice. Earlier this month, the pair linked up on “Do We Have A Problem?,” and they followed that up quickly with “Bussin.” On the new single, Minaj goes in and flexes the wealth she’s been able to accumulate over the years.

Caroline Polachek — “Billions”

If you’ve spent any time on TikTok lately, you’ve likely heard Polachek’s 2019 single “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings,” which has gone viral years after its release. Well, new Polachek fans who heard the newfound hit and wanted more were in luck this week, as Polachek dropped “Billions,” which Uproxx’s Caitlin White calls “a flickering, glitchy distillation of Polachek’s most experimental instincts.”

Big Thief — “Red Moon”

Big Thief’s massive new album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You is out now, and among the 20 tracks, virtually all of them are highlights, but “Red Moon” stands out. Uproxx’s Steven Hyden called the new album a “masterpiece” and noted of “Red Moon” specifically, “The sweeping country rock of ‘Red Moon’ (featuring excellent fiddle playing by Mat Davidson, among the small handful of non-band members appearing on the album) carries with it the dust of the Arizona desert.”

Jack White — “The Fear Of The Dawn”

Jack White has an album two albums coming out in the coming months: Fear Of The Dawn is scheduled for April 8, then Entering Heaven Alive is set to drop on July 22. He previewed it last week the the former album’s title track, a brief but energetic rocker for White dropped a now-on-brand very blue video.

Orville Peck — “C’mon Baby, Cry”

Peck, perhaps country music’s favorite mysterious masked cowboy, has a new album, Bronco, coming out on April 8. When he announced that last week, he also shared “C’mon Baby, Cry,” another fine example of Peck’s throwback country balladry.

Raveena — “Mystery”

Raveena is one of pop’s most intriguing up-and-comers, which she proved again last week with “Mystery,” a delightfully catchy highlight from the just-released album Asha’s Awakening. Uproxx’s Caitlin White recently noted of Raveena, “Even in a world that is striving to offer better representation and center women of color, it’s still rare to see an Indian woman in the pop mainstream, so Raveena’s proud centering of her intersectional identity is part of what makes her music so special and important.”

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

If you had told NBA fans in 2014 that Andrew Wiggins would be headed to the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, no one would’ve batted an eye. The former No. 1 overall pick out of Kansas was expected to reach these heights in his career, but after seeing his career stagnate in Minnesota, seen as a scorer but little more, his first All-Star appearance as a member of the Warriors comes as a rather stunning turn of events in his eighth season in the NBA.

Wiggins was dealt to the Warriors alongside a first round pick (which became Jonathan Kuminga) for D’Angelo Russell at the 2020 trade deadline as Golden State was desperately trying to figure out their future and had recognized that Russell wasn’t a longterm fit alongside Stephen Curry. Most anticipated Wiggins would eventually be moved again, as his max contract would help the Warriors package picks to go get a disgruntled star once Klay Thompson was back in the fold. Instead, Wiggins has become a key cog in the Warriors starting lineup alongside Curry and Thompson, as Golden State has managed to tap into his potential on both ends of the floor and both the team and Wiggins are thriving because of it.

Wiggins’ stat line isn’t gaudy, as he’s averaging 18.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.0 steals per game this season, but it’s his leap in efficiency and impact on the defensive end that’s been most impressive and earned him the All-Star nod from the fans. He’s posting the best shooting splits of his career at 48.3 percent from the field and 41.6 percent from three (on 5.5 attempts per game), the latter of which is truly unbelievable considering his best three-point shooting season in Minnesota came in 2016-17 when he hit 35.6 percent of his threes on 3.5 attempts per game. His leap in efficiency from deep is a combination of considerable work he’s put in to make his three-point stroke more consistent, as well as the types of shots he’s getting on the Warriors compared to Minnesota.

By being off the ball far more in Golden State, Wiggins is able to space the floor as a corner shooter more than he ever did with the Wolves. On average, just 15.4 percent of Wiggins’ threes came from the corner while in Minnesota, as the vast majority of his shots came from above the break where, around the league, shooting percentages are lower. With the Warriors this season, 28.3 percent of Wiggins’ three-point attempts are coming from the corners where he’s shooting a lights out 48.1 percent (up from an average of 40.5 percent from the corners in Minnesota). He’s also getting more catch-and-shoot looks, with 89 percent of his threes being assisted, up from 80.6 percent during his time with the Wolves, as he’s embraced his role in an admirable way playing alongside Curry (and now Thompson as well).

What’s maybe most impressive is the buy-in from Wiggins on the defensive end. He has always had the physical profile of someone who should be an above-average wing defender, with great length as someone who moves very well, but in Minnesota the flashes of brilliance on that end rarely aligned with consistency in effort and attention to detail. That’s changed in Golden State, where Draymond Green and company demand those things, and Wiggins has become a key piece of the Warriors’ league-leading defense thanks to his switchability and physicality on the wing.

Wiggins’ All-Star appearance is, in a number of ways, a matter of a player capitalizing on circumstance. There are certainly some things that were working in Wiggins advantage to make this a perfect storm to get him into the All-Star lineup. It’s been a year in which some of the mainstays on the Western Conference All-Star roster in the frontcourt missed significant time, and Wiggins has been a consistent producer on one of the NBA’s best teams. He got plenty of assistance from a Warriors fanbase that has a rabid following — plus some assistance from a surprising source: K-Pop Twitter — elevating him to third in the West fan voting. Those undeniably played a major role in getting him to Cleveland, but he also deserves ample credit for adapting his game to a new situation and recognizing the opportunity that had presented itself for him to change the narrative about himself as a player.

For a player thought to be stubborn during his time in Minnesota, he’s been incredibly adaptable in Golden State on both ends of the floor, embracing his new team and the ideals that have guided them to championships in the past. The result is the best season of his career, a walking example of the importance of fit and circumstance to a player’s success.

Last night’s Super Bowl halftime show drew its fair share of both praise and controversy, as West Coast hip-hop legend Dr. Dre took to the field with a cadre of superstar associates including 50 Cent, Anderson .Paak, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and Snoop Dogg. While some conservative pundits offered the probably disingenuous criticism of the show as depicting “sexual anarchy,” another lightning rod during the performance was Eminem taking a knee in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick and all the other players who protested police brutality during the 2016 season.

Ahead of the performance, it was reported that the NFL had apparently shot down the idea when he pitched it during planning and rehearsals, as well as flagging Dr. Dre’s “still not loving police” lyric from “Still D.R.E.” as possibly “divisive” moments. However, that report didn’t stop either performer from going ahead as planned, although Kendrick Lamar did censor the “we hate po-po” lyric from “Alright.”

A report shortly after the performance in the New York Times suggests new information from a league spokesman who insinuated that all those possibly controversial moments were cleared in rehearsals. Brian McCarthy said league officials “watched it during rehearsals this week” and didn’t mention receiving any notes. He also said that players and coaches were cleared to demonstrate before the game, although it didn’t seem that any of them did.

Donald Trump‘s biggest fan is Donald Trump. The former-president has called himself a “very stable genius,” “the chosen one,” and “so great looking.” He’s also “like, really smart” with a “very good brain,” and that there’s “no problem” with the size of his Toad. But, surprisingly, he didn’t consider himself the “smartest guy” that he’s ever met. That honor belongs to… someone in his family, because of course it does.

In their book This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future, authors and New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns detailed a conversation between Trump and a golfing buddy of his about son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Jared, Trump told a friend at his Virginia golf course, was “the smartest guy I’ve ever seen in my life… Can’t throw a football ten yards, and Ivanka coulda married Tom Brady,” Trump said, according to the friend. “But he’s a great kid, he’s got my back.”

Trump reportedly tried to set up the retired seven-time Super Bowl winner (and MAGA hat owner) with his daughter Ivanka, but “that was a long time ago in my life,” Brady told Howard Stern in 2020. “No, there was never that, where we ever dated or anything like that.” Instead, Ivanka had to settle with Slenderman, I mean, the smartest man.

(Via Yahoo!)

The Righteous Gemstones Halo Report is a weekly recap feature that assigns between zero and five halos to people, things, events, and general topics from each episode. There is very little to this beyond an excuse to highlight cool stuff from a good show and make jokes. And do crappy drawings of halos in MS Paint. We’re having fun.

ZERO HALOS

The cycle ninjas

Just an outrageously poor showing by the cycle ninjas here. They rolled up on the hospital with all the subtlety of a Vegas magician, kicked in doors galore until they found the correct room, sprayed a mannequin with bullets, fired about 5000 other bullets that hit nothing and no one, and then got taken out by a failson, a sweet man in a beret, and an aspiring Hollywood stuntman who was armed only with a cattle prod.

Couple this with the first failed hit and the thing where Eli appears to be inching back toward life… really just a pathetic display of cycle ninja-ing.

Getting spanked in public in broad daylight in front of your family

We’ll get to both parties involved here in more depth shortly, but for now, let’s just go ahead and say this was not a proud moment for BJ, or any of us, really.

ONE HALO

Baby Billy

Hmm, where do we start:

• Bailed on Tiffany and his unborn son, repeating his past sins without even taking anyone to a pet store this time
• Went on the saddest outlet mall shopping spree you’ve ever seen using his child bride’s credit card
• Started selling a shady health elixir on infomercials
• Tried to make a getaway and ended up tipping his trailer over and leaving a trail of elixir and twisted metal all over the parking lot

A classic Baby Billy performance.

Eli Gemstone

On one hand, appears to be waking up after a hailstorm of bullets ripped through his car and torso. Which is good. But, on the other hand, while he was incapacitated, his idiot children moved him out of the hospital so they could engage in Home Alone-style guerilla warfare in a rented-out hospital wing with the dangerous men who tried to kill him in the first place.

In all the various universes out there, with all the possible outcomes of all the possible actions, I’ve got to believe the one we saw was the only one where any of this worked. Dozens of people should be dead.

TWO HALOS

Aunt Tiffany

She’s a sweet woman who can’t read and is about to have a baby whose genetic makeup is at least 50 percent crooked carnival barker, which is bad. But she did have that nice little bonding moment with Judy and Amber. That’s not nothing.

The main takeaway here is that I desperately need to see her and BJ do more detective work together and maybe even open a detective agency. Like, picture Knives Out but with the two of them in place of Daniel Craig. It’s a fun visual.

Baby Billy’s shopping spree

After a great deal of thought and reflection, I have decided that the funniest purchase on this list was Sbarro. Man had a stolen credit card and could’ve gone anywhere. He chose Sbarro. I mean, honestly. That’s a beautiful little touch by this show, one of those things that tells us more about the character than a whole episode of backstory could. Crocs were a close second, followed by lunch at Cracker Barrel.

Puking, generally

I have a weak stomach and cycled between laughter and almost puking myself during this scene, which was not ideal. I hate puking. I hope I never do it again. It’s gross.

But this was also deeply funny, especially from a show that would kick off a full-on action sequence about 30 minutes later. I respect it a lot, this commitment to just doing the stupidest thing possible sometimes, just for goofs. I am very proud of them.

THREE HALOS

Kelvin

Back to the bullet points:

• Ejected from his house by muscle men
• Still has no use of his thumbs
• Showed up to church lunch in a cloak
• May have prayed his dying father back to life

Lot going on with Kelvin

Keef

I think maybe my favorite line of the entire night — in an episode that was littered with good lines — was Keef apologizing for his behavior because it was his “first time in a safe house situation.”

What a lovely man. I want only the best for him at all times. Stop poking him in the eye with your penises, muscle men!

Judy

Judy making the full-on turn from “I’m sick of babysitting Aunt Tiffany” to “Only I can comfort her” the instant Amber showed a single dollop of compassion… yeah, that’s classic Judy Gemstone right there. One of the best to ever do it. And the worst. It’s complicated. Edi Patterson rules.

FOUR HALOS

Amber

Two great Amber moments this week, coming on the heels of her mowing down a cycle ninja:

• Described Jesse as “not dumb, but dense” which was both accurate and a nice little window into that always-churning brain of her
• Put some real rich extra gravy on the word “congregation” while speaking to the church about Eli and the new hashtag she made

She might be the most capable person on the show. Not exactly a high bar to clear, but, like, still.

Jesse

Somehow, against truly staggering odds, his plan worked almost flawlessly, save a ninja star in a head or two. That’s… kind of incredible. They really defeated all the cycle ninjas after he flipped out and sent the mercenaries home. Again, it was a borderline Home Alone situation at the end there, with Jesse in the role of Kevin McAllister. And he got to shoehorn in the information about Martin’s family he learned but should have already known. Lots of little victories here.

I am kind of excited to see him explain all this to Eli, though. Strikes me as one of those things that sounds a lot worse when you lay it all out. I can see Eli’s face now. You can, too, if you close your eyes for a second.

Stove soup

Makes the whole house smell good. Love some stove soup.

FIVE HALOS

BJ

Yes, he got spanked by Baby Billy and got called Dr. Dipwad by Jesse and ended the night with a throwing star embedded in his skull, but the important thing was that he was there. BJ was there for the showdown. And he was jazzed about it. I love him very much.

Did I want to see him maybe acquire an automatic weapon and a dirtbike and screech around the hospital hunting goons like Rambo? Look, yes, of course I did. But it’s important to set realistic goals here. That was never going to happen. This was the best we could have hoped for.

Martin

Martin rules. I cheered when he yelled at everyone during church lunch. And then there was his little beret. There is so much more to him than we’ve seen to date. I have no doubt he knows how to dispose of a body. Martin fascinates me.

Gideon

A few episodes ago, the show tossed in a seemingly pointless scene where Amber was lighting up a shooting range, only to pay it off later with her mowing down one of the cycle ninjas. This week, a few episodes after a seemingly pointless scene where Gideon showed up at home on a dirtbike he was doing airborne tricks on, he used his mastery of the dirtbike to take out the remaining cycle ninjas like he was freaking John Wick or something. This show has many layers. That’s my point here.

Also, did you see his face at the end? That look of satisfaction he had, not long after telling his parents he felt his purpose was somewhere else? I hope this means he becomes the head of security for the entire Gemstone operation. I hope he gets a whole fleet of dudes on dirtbikes, too. I want to see him kick Torsten off the property. By force. Or by dirtbike race. Either way.

I want to see other things, too. Like who is behind the cycle ninjas. (My money is still on the Lissons.) But definitely this, too. And preferably less vomit. Those two things, mostly. It’s not an unreasonable list.

Lizzo has never been shy about showing off her body. She often posts body-positive photos on Instagram and even posed nude on her debut album cover. However, she’s also always been held back by the limits of Insta’s service agreement, restricting herself to “tasteful” nudes that don’t show too much. It looks like she may have found the perfect outlet for her exhibitionism thanks to her “Rumors” collaborator, Cardi B, who now has a partnership and position with long-running men’s interest magazine, Playboy.

At Drake’s Super Bowl party in LA this weekend, a TMZ photographer asked Lizzo whether she’d pose for Playboy as she signed autographs and took pictures with fans, prompting her to respond, “I LOVE Playboy! Yeah, I’ll do it! Tell Cardi to call me!” She also answered some questions about her growing collection of body piercings. “I have so many piercings right now, I never thought I’d be this girl!” she replied good-naturedly. However, she warned the cameraman, “You can’t see my coochie, I can’t show you. I can’t show TMZ my pussy!”

If anyone could make Lizzo’s dream come true, it’d be Cardi B, who now holds a creative director position at Playboy‘s new online hub, Centerfold. The two stars have a budding friendship, as well, with Cardi defending Lizzo from online critics and Lizzo turning heads at Cardi’s birthday party last year.

Watch Lizzo’s on-the-fly interview with TMZ above.

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

In a series of now-deleted Instagram posts, Kanye West ranted about several topics ranging from Kid Cudi to his divorce from Kim Kardashian, who is now dating Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson. In true Kanye form, the rapper has been extremely vocal about his dislike of Davidson dating Kardashian to the point where he’s threatened to beat the SNL star amongst other unsavory accusations.

Davidson was a repeat topic in Kanye’s latest rant where the rapper shared screenshots of texts from Davidson, who attempted to extend an olive branch to diffuse the situation. To the surprise of no one, that didn’t work, and instead, Kanye offered to double the salary of SNL star Michael Che if he quits the show, and more importantly, Davidson.

“I’LL DOUBLE WHATEVER THEY PAYING YOU JUST SO YOU DONT HAVE TO LOOK AT THAT PAWN EVER AGAIN BIG LOVE,” West reportedly wrote in the caption (via Mediaite) of the now-deleted post.

Despite Kanye pulling the public rant, Che caught wind of the offer and has responded with a counter on Instagram:

“Sorry Ye, but I would never betray my friends — for anything less than TRIPLE salary. That’s right, $90K a year! Full medical, full dental, 4 weeks vacay, corner office. Plus, a pair of Red Octobers. Size 12. And you gotta make some beats for my band “The Slap Butts.” What else what else. And you gotta tell me what you’re gonna wear to work the night before so we can look like twins! You do that for me, I’ll Rambo that whole building!”

You can see Che’s full post below:

(Via Michael Che on Instagram)

There’s a lot of uncertainty about Ana de Armas’ Marilyn Monroe biopic, Blonde. When will it be on Netflix, will it premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, what will it be rated, etc. But there’s no mystery surrounding another movie with the Knives Out star: Deep Water is finally coming out soon, and Hulu has the teaser trailer to prove it.

Directed by Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction, Flashdance, Unfaithful) and based on The Talented Mr. Ripley author Patricia Highsmith’s novel of the same name, Deep Water “takes us inside the marriage of picture-perfect Vic and Melinda Van Allen to discover the dangerous mind games they play and what happens to the people that get caught up in them,” according to the official plot synopsis. Vic and Melinda are played by Ben Affleck and de Armas, who started dating after meeting on set. Theirs was a relationship that got us all (mostly me) through the early days of the pandemic. Who could forget their daily strolls? Unfortunately, they burned too bright and broke up, leading to the indelible image of Affleck’s cardboard cutout of de Armas being left on the curb.

This is the trailer that should have played during the Super Bowl, not Jurassic World Dominion. Especially with Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in attendance.

Deep Water, which also stars Tracy Letts, Lil Rel Howery, Dash Mihok, Finn Wittrock, Kristen Connolly, Jacob Elordi, Rachel Blanchard, Michael Braun, Jade Fernandez, Grace Jenkins, Brendan C. Miller, Devyn Tyler, and Jeff Pope, premieres on Hulu on March 18.

Oh boy. Where to start? The lead up to the Super Bowl included reports that Eminem was told not to kneel during the Halftime show. Well, Marshall Mathers did, in fact, kneel as a gesture of solidarity toward Colin Kaepernick. Surely, you’ve seen the moment by now, but just in case you haven’t, it goes down here (shortly after the 11:00 mark), and this was obviously too much for conservatives to handle. The same goes for the entirety of the Halftime show that included Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Bilge, Snoop, and an upside down 50 Cent.

None of this would stand for conservatives, including activist Charlie Kirk, whose tweet genuinely looked like parody (but it wasn’t). “The NFL is now the league of sexual anarchy,” Kirk wrote. “This halftime show should not be allowed on television.”

AOC (who once called conservatives “creepy weirdos” for their apparent fixation on her looks) had a swift response: “Like I said, weirdos.”

And from there, “sexual anarchy” inspired a ton of comebacks.

Yep, the far-right also seemed steamed about Eminem’s presence in general.

And as lawyer Ron Filipkowski joked, “MAGA is upset that the NFL didn’t bring out more ‘wholesome’ entertainment like Kid Rock and Ted Nugent.”

Is it a joke, though, if MAGA people really want this to happen?

And from there, the Kid Rock-related comebacks poured in because, as one person pointed out, “The distance between Eminem and Kid Rock as white rappers from Michigan could not be greater.”

A whole lot of pearls will meet their maker over this one. Is it time for the next Super Bowl yet? Asking, uh, for a friend who enjoys chaos.

Ivan Reitman, the legendary director behind such comedy classics as Ghostbusters, Stripes, and National Lampoon’s Animal House has died at age 75. According to a statement from his family, Reitman passed away peacefully at his home in California on Saturday. Via PEOPLE:

“Our family is grieving the unexpected loss of a husband, father and grandfather who taught us to always seek the magic in life,” said his children, Jason Reitman, Catherine Reitman and Caroline Reitman, in a joint statement. “We take comfort that his work as a filmmaker brought laughter and happiness to countless others around the world. While we mourn privately, we hope those who knew him through his films will remember him always.”

News of Reitman’s death broke just as Super Bowl LVI was wrapping up, but that that didn’t stop an outpouring of love from Hollywood from pouring in.

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of Ivan’ Reitman,” wrote Ghostbusters star Ernie Hudson. “Truly a great man and filmmaker who I had honor and privilege of knowing and working with. Deepest condolences to Jason and the entire family. May he RIP”

“I’m in absolute shock,” wrote Ghostbusters: Answer the Call director Paul Feig. “I had the honor of working so closely with Ivan and it was always such a learning experience. He directed some of my favorite comedies of all time. All of us in comedy owe him so very much. Thank you for everything, Ivan. Truly.”

“Opening night of Ghostbusters at UA Plainview was like a rock concert,” wrote famed comedy director Judd Apatow. “The place exploded with joy. It was one of the most memorable moments of my childhood. Ivan Reitman influenced everything we all love about film comedy. A true legend.”

You can see reactions Reitman’s passing below:

(Via PEOPLE)