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ASAP Rocky’s AWGE creative agency/label is shrouded in mystique by design. The “About” page of its website only has two “rules” listed: “#1 Never reveal what AWGE Means” and “#2 When in doubt always refer to rule #1.” Most of their rare product drops in the past have included trucker hats collaborations with brands like Rolling Loud and Mercedes-Benz (the latter, is currently going on eBay for $500.) Now, as ASAP Rocky prepares to welcome his baby with Rihanna into the world, he has also announced a new collaboration series with Mercedes-Benz and this one features much more than just a trucker hat.

Just before noon today, ASAP Rocky posted a short video teaser to his Instagram page along with photos of the drop. The photos were quickly purged, but the internet has done its thing and image captures are everywhere. There’s an orange hoodie with a Mercedes-Benz logo on the back and an AWGE logo across the black hood, a muted salmon bomber jacket, sleek pants, and what looks like a belt buckle shaped like the Mercedes-Benz logo.

ASAP Rocky has been building with Mercedes-Benz for quite some time. In 2017, he was featured in the German car company’s “Grow up. Get a job” commercial campaign:

Meanwhile, he’s was just announced as a headliner for Canada’s Osheaga Festival and will appear at the UK’s Wireless Festival. He’ll also be in LA at the end of April to headline the Smoker’s Club Festival.

As Ukraine continues to fight off Russia’s military invasion, we see more and more heartbreaking images of suffering and destruction from the war. Apartment buildings where people went about their lives less than three weeks ago devastated by bombs, rubble and missiles in streets and playgrounds where families walked and children played, hoards of people fleeing with what they could carry, leaving everything they’ve known behind.

The loss and waste and inhumanity of it all are unfathomable, as is the case in every war.

And yet, just like in every war, we see glimpses of beauty and connection, of the very things that make us human and provide hope that we as a species are not doomed by the worst of us. We see love, we see laughter, we see compassion—and we see music.

One of the most remarkable things about humans is how we make art, no matter what. You’d think when our basic survival is immediately threatened, we wouldn’t bother with creating beauty or expressing ourselves artistically, but we do. Every time. Art is not an add-on to life; it’s inextricably wrapped up in life itself.

Art is also a way for us to express solidarity, especially when we feel helpless to stop inhumanity from happening. It’s a way for us to say, “I see you. I am with you. I acknowledge your suffering even if I can’t make it stop. Let’s let this beauty remind us of what humans are capable of on the other side of violence and conquest.”

That’s what makes this viral video of violinists around the world playing with a Ukrainian violinist so beautiful.

In the video, Ukrainian violinist Illia Bondarenko plays a gorgeous and haunting Ukrainian folk song on his violin from a bomb shelter in Kyiv. At first, it’s just him playing solo, but soon he is joined by nine other young Ukrainian violinists who are also sheltering. Then more violinists join from different countries, then more and more, all playing along in harmony.

In all, 94 violinists from 29 countries—whose flags are depicted in the corners of their screens—contribute to what British violinist and organizer Kerenza Peacock called “an international violin choir of support.” They include world-class violinists from the London Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, the Hollywood studios and renowned violinists who play various styles of violin from Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Belgium, Georgia, Poland, South Korea, South Africa, Moldova, Denmark, India, Germany, the U.S. and more.

Watch and listen:

According to Classic FM, Bondarenko had to record his part between bombings so he could hear himself play. That detail alone is just heartwrenching. But musicians play wherever they are, whatever is happening.

Bondarenko had shared a video on Instagram on February 25, the day after Russia invaded, explaining what was happening and how the international music world had already been lending its support. He wrote:

“Today, when my whole country is fighting for its freedom, for its territory, for the right to BE…, I cannot keep silent, but I cannot make a video and record for you right now on the Internet because I spent almost all night with my grandmother in the basement of the house, helping the elderly neighbors, helping in any way I could. My parents are in another city now. But we musicians are always there for our people in sorrow and joy! That’s how my soul, my country, my Kyiv sounds today. Thank you to everyone who writes to me and supports me! From Germany, America, France, Italy, Argentina, Switzerland, Poland, Japan, Turkey, Austria and other countries. I am convinced once again that music is the most understandable language in the world for all people! Glory to Ukraine!”

Violinist Kerenza Peacock, who organized the collaboration—and pulled it together in 48 hours—shared what made this collaboration so moving: “Never before have violinists gathered together from so many countries. Or collaborated across so many different styles of violin playing. Violinists are a fellowship who all have rosin and broken E strings in common, but sadly some are currently having to think about how to arm themselves, and hiding in bomb shelters instead of playing Beethoven or bluegrass. Some more Ukrainians wanted to take part, but now have guns in their hands instead of violins.”

Here’s to those who insist on the beauty and humanity of creative expression even in the face of inhumane atrocities, reminding us of who we are and what we are capable of when we focus our energies on creation instead of destruction.

Time can sometimes feel like a flat circle. It may not seem that long ago that there was a splashy, big screen version of The Time Traveler’s Wife, based on Audrey Niffenegger’s best seller. It starred Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana. It grossed just over a $100 million worldwide, a large chunk of that from the U.S. It may seem too soon for a splashy HBO version… except that the film came out in well over a decade ago. Talk about feeling unstuck in time!

This version, which hits HBO this May, stars Game of Thrones alum Rose Leslie as a Claire, whose husband (Theo James, of Divergent and the forthcoming Sundance hit Dual) just happens to be a time traveler. (In real life, Leslie seems very happily married to her old coworker, Kit Harington.) No, he doesn’t have a time machine. For complicated reasons, he can’t control when he suddenly jumps forward or backwards in time. And yet he’s in love, with a very patient — but very anguished — woman who struggles with the fact that sometimes her spouse abruptly disappears, sometimes without turning off a running sink.

The movie version, released in 2009, banged this out in 107 minutes. This is a six-part miniseries, complete with video diaries Leslie’s character records in which she vents about her inadvertently errant husband. There’s a number of arresting ideas in the new teaser trailer, among them a bit where James’ time-hopper winds up meeting his wife when she’s a young child. It looks less soapy than the movie and more about living with a less-than-preferable situation, which surely we can all relate to nowadays.

The new The Time Traveler’s Wife debuts on HBO at an as-yet-unspecified time in May. You can watch the teaser above.

(Via Gizmodo)

There’s plenty to worry about in today’s world. You know this already, so surely, we don’t need to discuss all of the things to fear these days. However, there is a bright spot of hope out there, which is that the Senate unanimously came together to do something. No one disagreed, not a one, as every lawmaker in the room voted to end biannual time changes associated with switching back and forth from Daylight Savings Time.

Here’s the video evidence that proves as much. Marco Rubio (who co-introduced the bill, the Sunshine Protection Act) can be seen speaking, and Kyrsten Sinema can be witnessed appearing more excited than she’s ever been (in public, at least).

Of course, Sinema’s state (Arizona) doesn’t change time at all, and she’s probably weirded out by the whole concept anyway. Yet not a villain appeared to destroy this dream, not even Cancun Dreamer Ted Cruz, but hey, this is a pretty big deal for all of us who are somehow still exhausted by losing an hour of sleep over the weekend. It matters! Daylight Savings Time could somehow become a permanent thing.

Now, though, the bill goes to the House before reaching Biden’s desk. Will there be opposition from Lauren Boebert (who maybe wants an extra hour of nightfall to clean her guns) or even Madison Cawthorn (who likes to be contrary all the time, and maybe thinks Daylight Savings Time is too “woke”)? Please no. We could always use a little more sunshine in our lives.

After vanishing from Fox News for comparing Dr. Anthony Fauci to Nazi doctor Josef Melenge, “award-winning journalist” Lara Logan resurfaced on the Real America’s Voice network on Tuesday and trotted out a brand new conspiracy theory accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of having ties to the occult. In yet another unhinged rant, Logan accused Zelensky of being a “puppet” as well as pushing pro-Putin talking points that Ukraine has a Nazi problem.

At the heart of Logan’s argument is that Zelensky made a parody video mocking a Satanic group, and therefore he was somehow “selected” to take over the country. It was all very Q-Anon-ish. Via Media Matters:

I don’t like being lied to. And we’re being lied to on an epic scale. When we’re told your only choices, you have to be a hundred percent with Zelensky, who’s a puppet who you can find on the internet in black stilletos and leather pants, you know, shirtless, doing a spoof Dancing With The Stars kind of entertainment video that’s a mock of a Ukrainian group that does this kind of satanic, occult type of music video.

And I mean, Zelensky was selected, like so many of our leaders. And honestly, with big tech and with election fraud these days, we don’t know how many leaders all around the world have been selected for us and weren’t actually voted in.

Keep in mind, Logan has not been invited back onto Fox News after pushing her Fauci conspiracy theories, and she was also dropped by her agent. Her latest Zelensky rant probably isn’t going to improve things.

(Via Media Matters)

As the rap world continues to reel after the tragic shooting of Memphis rapper Young Dolph this past November, an autopsy report was just released and indicated that Dolph was shot 22 times.

According to the autopsy report obtained by Fox 13 Memphis report, Young Dolph was shot in the “forehead, temple, face, right back, center back, left-back, right arm, left arm, left chest, left abdomen, right chin, right neck, right wrist, and right shoulder.” The report from the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center indicated that the deadly wounds were, “to the head, neck, and torso.”

These details just add to the grim and senseless incident that took Young Dolph’s life in his hometown. On November 17, the rapper walked into a favorite local haunt, Makeda’s Cookies. Shortly after making his purchase, a Mercedes with alleged shooters Justin Johnson and Cornelius “Straight Dropp” Smith pulled up and unloaded on the rapper using a Draco AK-47 assault-style machine pistol.

Both Smith and Johnson are in custody, while a warrant for Shundale Barnett is out for his involvement in the murder. Two other men, Devin Burns and Joshua Taylor are considered persons of interest in the case.

Meanwhile, Young Dolph’s label, Paper Route Empire, release the Long Live Dolph tribute album in January, featuring appearances from Key Glock, Big Moochie Grape, Kenny Muney, Snupe Bandz, and others. A memorial in front of the Makeda’s was taken down last week when the business shuttered and the building went back up for lease.

A fire has broken out in the enchanted Snow White forest, though luckily no humans or enchanted animals were harmed. The fire happened at Pinewood Studios in the U.K., where the set was being constructed. Variety reports that a prop tree caught fire, which led to the blaze on set, though filming had not yet begun on the film.

Sources told The Sun that the studio was in the midst of creating a forest when the blaze started. “A set made up of a lot of wood, and trees etc was currently being built in the Richard Attenborough stage,” the unnamed source confirmed. “Rumor is a piece of set has caught alight and spread across the rest of the set. Some crew in the studio were shaken but evacuated without injury.”

Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time a set at Pinewood studios caught fire, with the most recent being during the filming of Casino Royale in 2006. Disney inked a deal with the studio back in 2020 to film more of their movies at the studios.

Snow White will star West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler as the titular Disney princess, alongside Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot as the evil queen who is looking to relive her youth. While Zegler wasn’t reportedly on set, she was in London over the weekend at the BAFTAs, where she met her idol, Lady Gaga.

With the Ms. Marvel trailer out in the wild, Marvel fans are dissecting every frame looking for clues to the upcoming Disney+ series, and the answer to the big question: Who is/are the show’s villain/villains? Granted, the trailer mostly worked as an introduction to Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) as her superhero fantasies become a reality when she’s imbued with cosmic powers very similar to that of her idol, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson). However, eagle-eyed fans have noticed a brief scene that could be a glimpse at Ms. Marvel’s potential adversaries.

Towards the end of the trailer, four figures shrouded in smoke seemingly approach a startled Kamala, who is still getting used to her powers. You can see the shadowy foursome below:

While the trailer offers little clue as to who these mysterious figures might be, there have been rumors that the series’ villains will be ClanDestine, a family of magicians who are the offspring of a powerful Djinn/genie. ClanDestine’s inclusion would track from what we’ve seen from the Ms. Marvel trailer, but also Marvel’s Phase 4 in general. In the trailer, Kamala gets her wish granted by having powers just like her hero, Captain Marvel, and at one point, she’s seen using magical stepping stones just like Doctor Strange.

Speaking of the good doctor, magic has been very prominent in Marvel’s Phase 4 offerings. It’s featured heavily in WandaVision, Shang-Chi, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and of course, the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. A magical family doing battle with Kamala would fit right in, but again, we have to stress this is all just speculation until Disney+ officially reveals Ms. Marvel’s adversary.

Ms. Marvel starts streaming June 8 on Disney+.

Nowadays, just because your role in a franchise ended over a decade ago, it does not mean that your story won’t be resurrected. See Obi-Wan, Boba Fett, even Anakin himself. So, naturally, many Star Wars fans are asking about more characters (who may or may not be dead) including Mace Windu, played by Samuel L. Jackson.

While on the podcast Happy Sad Confused, Jackson confirmed that he didn’t think Mace Windu really died when he was thrown out that window by Sidious. He probably just lost an arm! It happens! Jackson jokes that Windu is out and about with one arm in the galaxy, saying “He’s alive somewhere.” The actor added “There’s a huge history of people with one hand returning in ‘Star Wars,’” referring to the multiple Skywalker boys who have lost their appendages.

Jackson added that he asked Mandalorian and Boba Fett director, Bryce Dallas Howard, to get him in one of the many Star Wars spinoff series. “I asked — the only person I’ve ever said that to, about coming back, was Bryce Dallas Howard, ’cause I just did a movie with her,’ Jackson says, probably talking about their upcoming thriller Argylle. “She directs episodes of ‘The Mandalorian. I said, ‘So you think you might be able to hook a brother up? I mean, you like me, right?’ She’s like, ‘I love you, you’re amazing!’ ‘So put me back in! Put me in coach, I’m ready! I’ll learn to lightsaber left-handed. Come on.”

Jackson reprised his role through a voice-over in 2019’s The Rise Of Skywalker, but you probably don’t remember, because not many people saw it more than once, and it wasn’t very good. It’s time to give Windu his redemption arc! Assuming he really is alive.

Coldplay is exactly six months removed from the release of their 2021 album Music Of The Spheres and they’re not done with it yet, as they dropped a video for “People Of The Pride” today. The clip features a mixture of anime-inspired animations and black-and-white live footage from a Coldplay concert. As for the song itself, as about as aggressive of a guitar-driven rock tune as the band has ever released.

The band’s Guy Berryman previously told Apple Music of the song, “We started the song probably over ten years ago and couldn’t really finish it. Again, this was one which Max [Martin] really helped shape sonically. The way we had it before, it sounded a little bit old-fashioned, almost like glam rock. What Max managed to do was take the energy and layer in a way which preserved that feel but also made it sound very modern at the same time.”

When it comes to new videos, Coldplay fans better enjoy them while they last, as Chris Martin reckons the band will be done with making music in about 2025.

Watch the “People Of The Pride” video above.

Music Of The Spheres is out now via Parlophone. Get it here.

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