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Today (July 3), Lana Del Rey linked up with Quavo to drop “Tough,” a new collaborative single. Del Rey — who is best known for ethereal, Americana-inspired music that typically has little to do with rap — doesn’t exactly live and breathe hip-hop. At least, that’s what you might believe if you haven’t been paying attention.

Yes, she usually collaborates with artists like Taylor Swift and Father John Misty, but the truth is that hip-hop has been an undercurrent of Del Rey’s career since pretty much the very start. To drive that point home, let’s go through a few highlights that illustrate Del Rey’s long-running connection to hip-hop.

2012 — “National Anthem”

The world met Del Rey on her debut major-label album, 2012’s Born To Die. The project spawned a number of singles, the most relevant one here being “National Anthem”: In the video, she plays Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy, while she recruited ASAP Rocky to portray John F. Kennedy.

2015 — “Art Deco”

It was rumored that this song was about Azealia Banks, but Del Rey herself shut that narrative down, saying in an interview, “Definitely not. I have no idea where people got that from. I just don’t know what the correlation is. That song is actually about a group of teenagers who go out every night.”

That didn’t stop the two from getting into a Twitter spat in 2018, though, during which Del Rey showed her teeth: She invited Banks to “pull up” and declared, “I won’t not f*ck you the f*ck up.”

2017 — ASAP Rocky

Del Rey reunited with her “National Anthem” co-star on a couple of occasions in 2017: Rocky featured on “Summer Bummer” (as did Playboi Carti) and “Groupie Love” from the Lust For Life album.

2021 — Chemtrails Over The Country Club

When Del Rey revealed the album’s cover in 2021, she received some push-back over the apparent lack of racial variety among the people featured in the art. In response, she wrote in part on social media, “My best friends are rappers, my boyfriends have been rappers…. My dearest friends have been from all over the place, so before you make comments again about a WOC/POC issue, I’m not the one storming the capital, I’m literally changing the world by putting my life and thoughts and love out there on the table 24 seven. Respect it.”

(Per Harper’s Bazaar, Del Rey’s dating history includes G-Eazy; He’s the only rapper listed, but perhaps Del Rey has had some other relationships go under the radar.)

2021 — Migos

Del Rey manifested her Quavo collab in 2021 when she named Migos as the artist she’d most like to work with, saying, “I love them. Everything they do. There was kind of like a new revolution of sound 11 years ago in the singer-songwriter community, which I loved seeing. And then with Migos, I think they kicked off a new super fun, super autobiographical, completely different style of rap. I love them.”

2024 — Sexyy Red

Lana got in a good hang with Sexyy Red at this year’s Hangout Festival: The two made some waves online with their joint twerk session.

2024 — Quavo

Del Rey and Quavo were at the center of some dating rumors a few months ago, but Quavo explained, “We having hits,” ultimately teeing up their new song and bringing this timeline to an end.

Eminem might well be one of the most successful rappers from Detroit, but according to one of the Motor City’s rising stars, he’s not a hometown favorite. Skilla Baby, who has been experiencing a breakout over the past year thanks to collabs with Rob49, Sada Baby, and Tee Grizzley, told Keke Palmer on her podcast (the aptly titled Baby, This Is Keke Palmer) that Detroit actually doesn’t have any favorites after being asked about the “Houdini” rapper.

“Numbers wise, Eminem is the best Detroit rapper, but the gag is nobody would say that in Detroit,” he said. “Everybody had a turn being Detroit’s favorite rapper. Sada Baby had a turn, Tee Grizzley had a turn, Babyface Ray had a turn, Veeze is one of Detroit’s best rappers, Baby Smoove. Everybody had their turn being the best in the city. What we lack is consistency. Nobody has consistently been Detroit’s favorite rapper.”

Lest he be accused of haterism, Skilla Baby explainedI’m a fan of Eminem but do we consider him our best rapper? I don’t think Detroit does… No shade to anybody names I left off. Detroit is full of great rappers and I can’t forget Kash Doll, Big Sean, and Dej [Loaf], of course.”

You can watch the full interview above.

(WARNING: Spoilers for The Chi season 6 will be found below.)

Things were a bit different for The Chi viewers in the shows sixth season, which officially wrapped up last week. The season was expanded from its usual ten episodes, to sixteen which were split into to halves with part one launching on August 6, 2023 and part two kicking off on May 12, 2024. It was big change for one of Showtime’s most successful shows, and it seems to have paid off as there’s good news for the future of The Chi.

Will There Be A The Chi Season 7?

Yes! There will indeed be a seventh season of The Chi. According to Deadline, the show was renewed for another season back in May, just a few days before the second half of season six got underway. Production for the new season has already begun, and together with the announcement of the new season, Nina L. Diaz, President of Content and Chief Creative Officer, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, shared a statement on the upcoming season.

Lena Waithe is a generational storyteller, whose authentic and unflinching narratives in The Chi resonate deeply, offering a powerful lens into both the complexities of life in Chicago as well as the Black experience in America. On the heels of a record-breaking season and ahead of this week’s return, we’re excited to provide fans with the promise of more – ensuring that they can continue to enjoy the raw, emotional stories and unforgettable characters that have made this seminal series a resounding success for Showtime.

‘The Chi’ season 6 is now streaming on on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME. Seasons 1-5 can also be streamed on the platform as well.

For all the drama surrounding leaks and cameos, Ryan Reynolds has seemingly kept a lot of the important parts of Deadpool & Wolverine under wraps. Yes, we know that Deadpool and Wolverine are frenemies and have to face off against some even bigger enemies (and Fox), but there are still a lot of mysteries surrounding the movie. Like, will Taylor Swift actually appear? No, for the 10th time, she won’t.

But one of the movie’s biggest mystery is the inclusion of Cassandra Nova, a villain who is technically not Charlies Xavier’s twin, but they did share a womb, and she turned out to be the evil one. It happens.

Emma Corrin stars as Nova in the upcoming installment, and the inspiration behind the character was a bit unconventional. “Ryan and Shawn [Levy] pitched this idea, which I was totally on board with: ‘We want this villain to not be a villain in the sense that you expect them to be. We want you to be so endeared by her, so charmed by her, and just when you think that maybe she’s totally seen into your soul and you are going to be best friends for life, you’re dead,’” The Crown star told Entertainment Weekly about their character. For some reason, that made Corrin think of Gene Wilder’s portrayal of Willy Wonka, who did in fact look like he was going to kill all of those children.

“They wanted her to be unpredictable,” Corrin said, who then channeled a different chilling character: Christoph Waltz’s Hans Landa from Inglourious Basterds. “He’s so disarmingly polite and nice and unaffected, and it’s really creepy,” they said. “It’s all the more sinister because he doesn’t need to do anything.”

In Deadpool & Wolverine, the two enemies meet up to fight some other bad guys from Wolverine’s past, which in hand changes the history of the MCU. It needed changing, anyway.

Deadpool & Wolverine hits theaters on July 26.

The Bear had a killer soundtrack in season 3 (including another Taylor Swift needle drop), but you know what artist it could have used more of? Kate Bush. I mean, sure, the English art-pop icon is already associated with Stranger Things, but there’s no such thing as too much Kate Bush. Besides, it would have made Ayo Edebiri very happy.

The cast of The Bear — Jeremy Allen White (Carmy), Ayo Edebiri (Syd), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Richie), Abby Elliot (Natalie), Lionel Boyce (Marcus), Liza Colon-Zayas (Tina), Matty Matheson (Fak #1), and Ricky Staffieri (Fak #2) — sat down with Vanity Fair for a video to see how well they know each other.

One question Ayo posed to her co-stars was: what’s my go-to karaoke song? After Moss-Bachrach jokingly suggested it was either the overture of Oscar-winning masterpiece Drive My Car or the theme from Dune: Part Two, both of which would bring the house down, Staffieri guessed “Believe” by Cher. Nope. It also wasn’t anything by Celine Dion, though Edebiri has been known to belt out “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now.” The actual answer: “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush or “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt.

Those are two quality karaoke songs, because neither is over five minutes. It should be illegal to perform a song over five minutes in karaoke, and yes, that includes “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

You can watch the video above.

On Tuesday, one of the all-time greats in Charlotte Hornets history officially called it a career, as Kemba Walker announced his retirement from basketball after a 13-year professional career that saw him make four NBA All-Star teams and a third-team All-NBA nod in 2019.

Walker played last year overseas with AS Monaco, winning a French League title, and spent the final four years of his NBA career in Boston, New York, and Dallas, but will be most remembered for his work in a Hornets uniform. While he won’t be playing basketball anymore, Walker will return to his adopted home of Charlotte for his next chapter, as he is joining the Hornets again, this time as a player enhancement coach as part of Charles Lee’s new coaching staff.

It will be cool to see Walker back with the Hornets, as he spent the first eight years of his career in Charlotte and cemented his place as one of the NBA’s best point guards while there. He is the franchise’s all-time leader in points, field goals, 3-pointers, free throws, and minutes played.

Injuries derailed his career after a stellar first season with the Celtics, but he’ll now shift into coaching where he’ll look to help pass down the knowledge he gained over his career to the next generation of hoopers.

Last year, Louisiana rapper B.G. was released from federal prison after serving a 10-year stint for illegal gun possession. However, a new report today suggests that he won’t be returning to business as usual right away. According to The Guardian and other sources, it turns out the onetime Hot Boy must now submit his songs for approval before release as a condition of his parole.

US district court judge Susie Morgan issued the ruling as a sort of compromise with prosecutors, who wanted the rapper barred from putting out any music “promoting and glorifying future gun violence/murder.” Instead, Morgan ruled that he must turn his lyrics over to the government prior to putting out or promoting any songs he planned to use them in, and may be asked to change them should they fall short of “the goals of rehabilitation.”

B.G. was originally signed to Cash Money Records as a member of the group Hot Boys, which also boasted Lil Wayne and Juvenile among its members (Turk was the fourth member, but for some reason, a lot of people seem to forget Turk). B.G.’s biggest hit was the slang-spawning “Bling Bling” (featuring all the other members of Hot Boys, as well as Mannie Fresh and Cash Money founder Birdman, then going by Baby). However, he was arrested in 2009 after being pulled over by New Orleans police, who found three guns after searching his SUV. Two had been reported stolen.

In December 2011, B.G. pled guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, resulting in a 14-year sentence. He was released last September, but was arrested in March for parole violations after he performed at a concert in Las Vegas, Nevada with Boosie and released a mixtape with Gucci Mane, Choppers & Bricks. Prosecutors said this constituted associating with known felons, and censured his lyrics on the tape.

Rap fans have criticized the news on Twitter, saying it violates B.G.’s freedom of speech. The legal treatment of rap lyrics has come under scrutiny in the wake of high-profile trials like the racketeering case against Young Thug, which alleges the Atlanta rapper participated in gang activity purely based on lyrics mentioning alleged gang “YSL” — which is also the name of his record label. Such practices have prompted some lawmakers to introduce legislation specifically protecting rap music from prosecution.

Somebody should ask Joel McHale how many times he’s been asked about the Community movie. The dude wants to talk about steak (which he has done with UPROXX) but also, yes, we joined the club who could not resist asking about that long-awaited followup to the NBC comedy, too.

The good news is that it’s finally happening with Peacock picking up production duties, and the ensemble cast is onboard with the exception of Chevy Chase, which is surely just fine with Joel McHale, who will fit in his duties amid a flurry of his own projects. That includes being The Bear‘s unrepentant Mean Chef, David Fields, a.k.a. “Chef Winger” to Community fans.

How busy is McHale, exactly? Busy enough that he is fingering himself as the culprit who has prevented Community movie from rolling cameras this year so far. Yes, he is happy to take that burden off Donald Glover’s chronically-alleged shoulders, as McHale told GQ:

“If it’s anybody’s fault, it’s my schedule on this one. It’s not [Donald’s fault] at all. He was available. No, no, no, no … I will say, and please print this … It was not Donald’s schedule. We love Donald. You can fully blame my schedule.

So there. McHale also provided assurances that “I can’t wait to do it,” and Peacock has stepped up with funding, so the gang simply needs to find a time where scheduling works. Can we blame Animal Control, too? Sure, why not.

(Via GQ)

(WARNING: Spoilers for Power Book II: Ghost will be found below.)

There is good and bad news for Power Book II: Ghost fans this week. The good news is that there’s a new episode this week. Episode five arrives in just a couple of days to pick on where we left off in a dramatic episode four that saw Dru and Diana on the run after Monet, Cane, and Tariq learned about their plan to kill Monet. The bad news is that this will be the last new episode of Power Book II: Ghost until September as the series will go on a midseason break for its final season. With that being said, here’s what to expect for episode five:

When Will Power Book II: Ghost Season 4, Episode 5 Come Out?

The fifth episode of Power Book II: Ghost season four, titled “Ego Death,” will arrive on July 5. The episode will be available on Friday, 7/5 on the STARZ app starting at midnight EST/PST. The episode will later air on the STARZ TV channel at 8 pm ET/PT. A synopsis for “Ego Death” can be found below:

Tariq is sent on a journey of self-discovery that gives him clarity on what his path moving forward must be. Detective Carter and his Task Force move in on the Tejadas.

You can also watch a teaser for Power Book II: Ghost season four, episode five below:

New episodes of ‘Power Book II: Ghost’ season four are available on the STARZ app on Fridays at 12:00 am ET/PT and on the STARZ TV channel at 8:00 pm ET/PT.

Earlier this week, music fans across the internet were devastated to learn that Paramount Global was shutting down the MTV News website, “as part of broader website changes across Paramount.” That meant that an archive of music history, from the rise of blog rap to the breakouts of international superstar artists like Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and more was just gone in an instant, all because someone flipped a switch.

However, it’s not all bad news: Today, the Internet Archive announced it had created a directory of MTV News posts via the Wayback Machine. The index contains 460,575 articles previously published at MTV.com/news — here’s how you can access it.

This link leads to the Wayback Machine with the MTV News prompt already queued up and ready to go. These include posts about the fashion of the 2003 Grammy Awards, MTV’s announcement of the split between Taylors Swift and Lautner, and more.

In addition to MTV News, Paramount also shut down the sites for CMT, Comedy Central, TV Land and Paramount Network. This was an attempt to direct users to Paramount+ but… I don’t know how effective that’ll be, considering there’s no included promise that the desired content will be found there. At least they still have the best Super Bowl ad of 2024.