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Since popping up on the scene in 2019 with his rowdy party singles “Yeh” and “Crunk Ain’t Dead,” Memphis-bred Quality Control Music rapper Duke Deuce has long held a reputation for his energetic performances and raucous, unabashed livewire personality. So it’s only natural that for his first single of 2022, Duke teamed up with another rapper with a similar penchant for cutting loose, Maryland punk-rap rebel Rico Nasty, on “Falling Off.”

Over a fitting metal guitar riff that evokes the wild energy of the glam-rock ’80s, the two rappers boast of their inexhaustible energy, scream-rapping, “It ain’t no fallin’ off.” The song’s video, which takes place during a club performance with grimy lighting, opens with a warning for viewers and finds Duke and Rico embracing a pseudo-horror-themed aesthetic, with Duke rocking a Freddy Krueger sweater and a bubble jacket-clad Rico going cutesy-goth, with makeup taken straight out of a Kiss video and utilizing her raspy-voiced “Smack A Bitch” flow to set off her aggressive rhymes.

“Falling Off” is reportedly set to appear on Duke Deuce’s upcoming album, Crunkstar. Stay tuned.

Watch Duke Deuce’s “Falling Off” video featuring Rico Nasty above.

Rico Nasty is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Infernax is a retro homage to classic NES games Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest. We’ve had an opportunity to play it before its release on Monday and can wholeheartedly say that this game nails what it is going for perfectly. Not only that, but it’s added plenty of unique elements to help it stand on its own and feel like a very modern game despite its classic look.

Of course, it’s one thing to just look retro. A good homage needs to create that feeling classic NES games created. Infernax does a really great job of this with a fair challenge, but it also has one more really important detail for a retro game, especially one that has so clearly taken inspiration from the Castlevania series: the Konami code. The most famous cheat code in all of gaming, many games have taken inspiration from the code and used it for their own purposes. Infernax was no different, but the way the devs have implemented it is really cool.

After inputting the famous cheat code at the title screen, the player is taken to the beginning of the game and they’ll see it has become a full on Contra clone with music changes and everything. Contra is, of course, the game that made the Konami code so popular in the first place.

Once the code has gone through, the player is given 30 lives and a machine gun to beat the entire game. As far as Easter Eggs go, this is easily one of the best we’ve seen. Not only is it yet another great homage, but it gives Infernax a lot of replay value.

The 94th Academy Awards have a date (March 27), a venue (the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles), and the nominations are out. Hm, yes, everything seems to be in order…

[extremely Catherine O’Hara yelling “KEVIN” in Home Alone voice]

A HOST.

After three ceremonies without one, the Oscars will have a host for the first time since Jimmy Kimmel in 2018, when The Shape of Water won Best Picture. Actually, the Oscars won’t just have a host — it will have multiple hosts. “This year’s Oscars will be a three-act show with each one-hour act emceed by a different host, according to two sources with knowledge of the telecast planning,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The multi-host strategy helps address the biggest deterrents for potential emcees — the time commitment of preparing for the lengthy show and the often unflattering glare of the spotlight that the high-pressure gig can shine on entertainers. The plan also gives the Academy an opportunity to hire hosts who can attract different demographics to the flagging ABC telecast.

The most obvious hire might be the best: let Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez host the dang thing. They have chemistry, so the transitions between hosts would be smooth, and they’re two Oscar veterans and she’s in with The Cool Youths.

An alternate idea:

With a special musical performance from Baby Billy. Highest ratings in years.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter)

It’s safe to say that HBO Max’s Peacemaker is a hit. The Suicide Squad spinoff show has become one of HBO’s favorites, with the lovable antihero played by the just as lovable John Cena.

First there is the obvious lead, the Peacemaker (real name Christopher Smith), played by Cena. A continuation of his Suicide Squad character, the Peacemaker picks up where the movie leads off, as the anti-hero joins a black ops squad, titled Project Butterfly, to eradicate extra-terrestrial beings on Earth. Director James Gunn originally described Cena’s character as “a piece of sh*t,” but the show explores his complex relationship with himself and how other view him. Using his pro-wrestling moves, and even some dance moves, the character instantly draws you in.

The Peacemaker is joined by Emilia Harcourt, played by Jennifer Holland, a sarcastic A.R.G.U.S agent assigned to work with The Peacemaker, much to her dismay. Leota Adebayo, played by Danielle Brooks, is another member of Project Butterfly, who takes a while to loosen up to The Peacemaker’s antics.

Then there is The Vigilante, aka Adrien Chase, played by Freddie Stroma. The Vigilante looks up the Cena’s character as an older brother figure, and also has a pretty merciless killer side, but has been shown to be just a silly dude. Chukwudi Iwuji plays Clemson Murn, the leader of Project Butterfly. Oh, he’s also secretly a butterfly, just to tie things together. Also in the cast is Steve Agee as John Economics, and Robert Patrick as The Peacemaker’s racist dad, The White Dragon.

The cast of misfits come together to investigate all types of evil in the show, which is hypothetically going to be renewed for a second season.

Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift have been two of the music industry’s best besties over the past decade. In fact, it’s been just about exactly a decade, as the two first met and worked together in 2012. Today, Swift hopped on a new version of Sheeran’s “The Joker And The Queen,” and the song and video have both pop stars reflecting on their ten-year friendship.

Sheeran shared the video and wrote about Swift, as well as about how the stars of the new video also portrayed Swift and Sheeran in Swift’s “Everything Has Changed” visual back in the day. He wrote, “Me and Taylor first met and wrote + recorded our first song together in 2012, ten years ago now, I’m so so honoured to have her on this song. Not only is she the best singer/songwriter in the world but she’s also a very close friend, I’m very lucky to have her in my life. For the music video we got the kids from our song Everything Has Changed, all grown up and off to college now ! Hope you love the song, and the video, and have a great week x.”

Swift also shared the video on her Instagram Story and wrote, “This video makes me think of our friendship all these years. also can’t believe Jack & Ava from the Everything Has Changed video came back and did this!! Nostalgic heaven !”

In case you haven’t seen the “The Joker And The Queen” video yet, check that out here.

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Do you ever think of how different gaming looks now than how it did when a lot of us were kids? The graphics have obviously changed and so have the plastic boxes we play these games on, but the way that we buy games and the kinds of games we all have access to has probably changed the most. Gaming, a hobby that’s typically had some huge barriers to overcome, is now more open for exploration than ever and is only trending further in that direction. It’s a hell of a thing to see unfold.

On the latest episode of Uproxx Recon, our hosts Noah Grossman and Noelle Miller explore every corner of that evolution.

That means we’re talking about the absolutely overwhelming amount of games that are available any given day and how broad those kinds of games can be on PC and elsewhere. We’re also digging into the growing free-to-play market, subscription models we can sign up for that allow us to sample more games than we’ve ever had before, and how connected gaming communities are these days compared to how isolated they used to feel thanks to innovations in tech and even spaces like Twitch. Finally, we’ll take some time to shout out how accessibility has blossomed as a movement in gaming that’s only picking up steam. There’s a lot of ground to cover, so go ahead and press play!

Though Tate McRae has already been blowing up over the last few years, her latest single “She’s All I Wanna Be” has some serious momentum. Though it might still have some of the sad energy that Tate songs tend toward, check “Feel Like Sh*t” and the ubiqutious “You Broke Me First” for a refresher — like her Khalid collab, “Working,” the song takes a more complicated issue and turns it into something of a banger.

In the song, Tate is focused on some potential competition, who she thinks might steal her man’s attention, and the video plays out this narrative beautifully. In the clip, Tate and her rival, along with a colorful ensemble of other dancers, face off on the stage, dancing their way through choreography that mimics the song’s chaotic energy. In the description of the Youtube video, Tate let her fans know exactly what inspired the concept for the video. “I hope u guys enjoy this music vid that we put together,” she wrote. “I was super inspired by the incredible dance film Chorus Line. So happy this is finally out!!!!!!!!” Which is just another great reminder that no matter how big a pop star Tate becomes, she’s always going to be a dancer first. Check the video out above.

When it comes to Batman villains, Penguin and Riddler haven’t appeared on the big screen since the ’90s films Batman Returns and Batman Forever respectively. That all changes with The Batman, which will feature dramatically different takes on the characters than Danny DeVito’s gothic performance and Jim Carrey going full rubber-faced camp.

In the new film starring Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight, Colin Farrell takes on the role of Penguin while Paul Dano steps into the more prominent role of Riddler, who will push Batman to the limit over the film’s three hour runtime. As for which version of the villains the two actors will be playing, these will be entirely new takes with varying degrees of influences from the comics and even a little dash from the Batman: Arkham video games.

Colin Farrell’s Penguin Is A Little Bit Fredo Corleone

In an interview with MovieMaker magazine, Farrell revealed that his Penguin (a.k.a. Oswald Cobblepot) will have a brokenness to him that will be reminiscent of John Cazale’s Fredo Corleone in The Godfather films.

“Matt [Reeves] was just talking about somebody who had very real and very lofty ambitions, but never really had the opportunity or the chance to explore them, and was maybe looked upon as someone who was handicapped, whether it was psychologically, intellectually — Fredo was frowned upon as less than the other brothers, and maybe Oz as well, in his life, was looked upon as somebody who wasn’t capable,” Farrell said. “And so that’s one of the things that fuels Oz.”

Paul Dano’s Riddler Has Shades of ‘Mindhunter’ And The Zodiac Killer

Dano’s Riddler is probably the most dramatically different from the comics. While Farrell’s Penguin still maintains the character’s gangster roots, Reeves told Total Film that Dano’s Riddler will go in a wild new direction inspired by Mindhunter and the Zodiac Killer, but his actions aren’t entirely about the killing.

“He’s not just a serial killer. He definitely has a political agenda,” Reeves said. “There’s a terrorist aspect to him. He’s indicting the city for what it is. And one of the things he’s doing with each of these crimes is, he’s attacking the so-called legitimate pillars of the city. The whole point of it was to put [Batman] on the path of trying to solve a mystery that was not only going to reveal the history of the city, and why it’s so corrupt, but that also is going to turn at a point, and become actually quite personal.”

The Batman swings into theaters on March 4.

During the press conference for Dr. Dre’s upcoming Super Bowl halftime show featuring Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and Snoop Dogg, the West Coast rap impresario refused to offer any insights into potential surprises during the performance, but he did offer assurances regarding what fans won’t see: anyone’s junk. After Snoop brought up the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” from the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show with Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake, Dre jumped on the opportunity to razz his notoriously mischievous costars.

“I had to talk Snoop and Eminem out of pulling their penises out,” he joked. “Especially Eminem.” You can check out the full press conference above.

Of course, the wild days when you could expect Snoop or Eminem to troll America this way are far behind both. In one of Snoop’s recent interviews regarding the upcoming performance, he waffled about performing one of his most iconic songs while admitting to being “nervous about watching it to see what the reaction is.” Eminem likewise admitted that the preparations were “f*cking nerve-wracking,” telling Sway Calloway that “there’s nothing more final than live TV… if you f*ck up, your f*ck up is there forever.”

Both men also have outside endeavors to think about: While Em’s serving up Mom’s Spaghetti (here’s Uproxx’s review for any Angelenos looking to try it out), Snoop will be hosting the Puppy Bowl with his buddy Martha Stewart.

[You can access the full episode EARLY by subscribing on Patreon]

Is AJ a virgin? Does Tony lay pipe? Who did 9/11? Who assassinated JFK? These are just some of the hard-hitting questions Matt and Vince try to answer on this week’s edition of Pod Yourself A Gun with the help of guest Brendan James, co-host, producer, and music composer of the Blowback podcast, Brendan joins the pod to discuss The Sopranos season 6A episode twelve, “Kaisha.” (Bonus: Hear our interview with Robert Iler, the actor who played AJ, here).

There is a definitive answer to the question about AJ’s virginity in the episode, as we see him bribe some noisy neighborhood teens with a mountain bike (“it’s a Gary Fisher”) to get them to go somewhere else long enough to give his new 30-year-old single mom friend from work the peace and quiet she needs to climb up on Anthony Jr Jr. Inspired by the scene, I’ve been driving around with a lightly-used mountain bike in the back of my Ford Explorer, and so far it has not lead to sex. But I’m hopeful.

The question posed on the pod is, was this AJ’s first time? He’s definitely hanging around girls his age throughout the show, but as Matt points out, he’s got the energy of a guy who has resigned himself to a life of sweaty handjobs.

Describe, in digusting detail, what you imagine AJ’s sex life was like in five-star review on Apple Podcasts

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-Description by Brent Flyberg.