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Upon posing on the daring album cover for Heaux Tales -– with a statuesque Jazmine Sullivan in her translucent biker shorts glory -– the Philly-bred singer-songwriter put longtime fans on notice that they were in for a new era. On Heaux Tales, Sullivan’s first effort in six years that comes in 5th in the 2021 Uproxx Music Critics Poll, she unlocks personal terrain through unflinching narratives of insecurities, sexual conquests, and materialism. Leading a fellowship of close friends who share spoken vignettes of their most esteemed and regrettable experiences as women, Heaux Tales finds Sullivan becoming a new vanguard of feminism in music, giving voice to Black women who are still in search of themselves.

On previous albums Fearless, Love Me Back, and Reality Show, Sullivan had all the makings of a rising soul icon, with ambitious songwriting, genre-bending production, and belty vocals. In comparison to Heaux Tales, her content was bereft of intimate portraits that she sought for Black women listeners, an intention that she aimed to reach during her post-Reality Show hiatus. Taking a breather from music to shake the aftereffects of leaving an abusive relationship, Sullivan returned with profound strength, seeking to interview her friends about their own trials in love and loss. With her sister circle willing to record their innermost thoughts and conversations as interludes on Heaux Tales, their words give an intrinsic, meditative texture to the EP.

In an Essence interview with Issa Rae, Sullivan spoke about the collaborative purpose behind Heaux Tales:

“For this project, it was important for me to share the stories of the women I love and hold dear to my heart. I feel like they are just as banging and dynamic as me. And I want to give space and opportunity to women, period. I feel like we get caught up in thinking there’s “only one” of us.”

Rapt with harrowing interludes that center one woman at a time — with gospel-tinged “Donna’s Tale” practically being a sermon on ‘tricking’ in relationships –- Heaux Tales is an R&B canon of solidarity. Mirroring spoken interludes in piercing, soul-baring song form, Sullivan honors the resilience of Black women, with respect for their most vulnerable musings. On album opener “Bodies,” she acts as a guilt-ridden conscience following a drunken night out and sobering morning where Sullivan doesn’t recognize who she’s woken up beside. While triggering, “Bodies” resonates with Black women who endure their own personal misogynoir about “pilin’ up bodies on bodies on bodies.”

Sullivan’s vocals act as a sinew for the expressive, conversational therapy of Heaux Tales, where listeners are invited to relate to honest monologues without shame. Raised by a playwright mother and poet grandmother, Sullivan closely followed her matriarch’s teachings, scripting emblematic ballads that trace each tale. Instead of Sullivan titling her friends’ ruminations as interludes, she lauds them as ‘tales,’ preserving their messages and putting them center stage.

In the introductory interlude, “Antoinette’s Tale,” Sullivan’s friend and podcaster Antoinette Henry tackles the patriarchy by revering women’s ownership over their sexuality. The interlude shifts into lead-single “Pick Up Your Feelings” a searing call to men to let go of control and broken relationship ties. Like the beatnik production on “Pick Up Your Feelings,” during the Heaux Tales performance round-up earlier this year, Sullivan was occasionally seen donning ’60s-esque mod attire and hairstyles, which can be interpreted as an homage to the legacy of Black women in R&B and soul.

Segueing into “Ari’s Tale,” narrated by Shea Butter Baby delight Ari Lennox, the singer recalls being mesmerized under the sexual dominance of a former partner, praising various deities and hypnotically repeating “this is just my truth.” Before joining Lennox on the salacious, sex-amped anthem “On It,” Sullivan grapples with sexual infatuation over haunting a Key Wane production on “Put It Down.” While controversial for its message of sponsoring undeserving men, “Put It Down” rings true with women who’ve been disoriented in the throes of lust.

Following “Donna’s Tale,” where Sullivan’s godmother Donna Anderson reveals lessons in ‘tricking,’ Heaux Tales lands into its sole collaboration with a male artist. Featuring Anderson .Paak, one-half of Silk Sonic, “Price Tags” is a raspy, harmonic ode to women getting their money up by taking advantage of naïve men.

“Price Tags” is trailed by “Rashida’s Tale” where Sullivan’s friend Rashida Northington describes a moment of infidelity where she cheated on her former fiancée with a friend of the couple. Sullivan’s vocals softly cascade in the background of Northington’s account, arriving at “Lost Ones” where the singer reveals that “sometimes it’s too late to make amends.” On Heaux Tales, there’s no room for judgment, just women coming face-to-face with deep-rooted taboos. There’s power in acceptance.

In an interview with Pitchfork, Sullivan spoke about women taking accountability for their mistakes in order to give themselves grace:

“In order to move on and heal and enjoy the life that you’re still living, you have to forgive yourself. I was going through that process while making the project, and I want other women who I know are feeling the same way to know that it’s okay. Learn from your mistakes and move the eff on.”

Heaux Tales takes those mistakes and turns them into passages of healing. With Sullivan’s robust vocals being an anomaly in the current age of R&B. the album is an embodiment of #ProtectBlackWomen, venturing through unguarded stories that transform into empowering wisdom.

As Sullivan’s strongest effort yet, Heaux Tales instantly garnered widespread critical acclaim for its truth, the singer nabbing two 2021 Soul Train Awards for Album of the Year and Best R&B/Soul Female Artist. At the 2021 BET Awards, Sullivan won Album of the Year, and in the 63rd Grammy Awards in 2022, the vocalist will be up for Best R&B Album, Best R&B Performance, and Best R&B Song, the latter two nominations for “Pick Up Your Feelings.”

With minimalist soundscapes, Jazmine Sullivan’s evocative impact shines through. Leading a crusade of Black women through their plights, Heaux Tales is a stirring gaze into the unapologetic future of feminism.

Do as Madison Cawthorn says, not as he does. Just days after he urged a group of young conservatives to drop out of college and get married, the North Carolina congressman and staunch anti-vaxxer has announced that he and his wife are getting divorced after a whopping eight months of marriage.

As Raw Story reports, Cawthorn released a statement via his rep on Twitter announcing his impending divorce, explaining that:

“When my wife Cristina and I were engaged, I was not a member of Congress, I felt called to serve and we both agreed that I should run. Our victory was unprecedented, but overnight our lives changed. That change has been both hectic and difficult, it’s neither the pace nor the lifestyle we had planned for. From the outset, we committed to make things work, to fight for our marriage, and seek counsel for balancing the enormity of such a transition in life. Together, we realized that balance was not attainable, and that we had irreconcilable differences between us. While it was an enormously difficult decision, Cristina and I have mutually decided to divorce. We ask for privacy as we work through this privately.”

The fact that reading that statement took about as long as Cawthorn’s marriage lasted was not lost on people. Especially since, on TUESDAY of this week, he urged a group of young Republicans at the Turning Point USA’s America Fest to be like him and be home-schooled, then forget about college and get married instead!

“I am proudly a college dropout,” Cawthorn told the crowd. “Unless you are becoming a doctor or lawyer or engineer, I highly encourage you to drop out. It’s a scam!” He also encouraged people to marry young, though one might want to tread lightly when following Cawthorn’s relationship advice.

Oddly, diehard Trumpist Charlie Kirk was also pushing the idea of marrying young at the same event. And he, too, was married earlier this year… could Cawthorn be starting a new Republican trend?

In his short time in politics, Cawthorn has managed to be a magnet for controversy and criticism—and was labeled a “racist” by Corey Booker in late 2020, after the Cawthorn accused the senator of trying to “ruin white males.” Oh, and there’s also his whole weird fascination with Hitler and the Nazis.

So: Congratulations to the new ex-Mrs. Cawthorn.

(Via Raw Story)

At the moment, Spencer Elden, who is known for appearing on the iconic album cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind as a baby, is suing the band over claims of child pornography, as the image shows his genitalia. Elden has had his share of detractors since the lawsuit was first revealed, including Chris Cuomo, Bill Maher, and even Dave Grohl. Now, Nirvana has offered its first formal response to the lawsuit.

As Billboard reports, Nirvana claims the lawsuit was filed well after the statute of limitations; Federal child pornography law has a 10-year statute of limitations, starting when the alleged victim “reasonably discovers” either the violation itself or the harm from it. Nirvana’s statement says, “The Nevermind cover photograph was taken in 1991. It was world-famous by no later than 1992. Long before 2011, as Elden has pled, Elden knew about the photograph, and knew that he (and not someone else) was the baby in the photograph. He has been fully aware of the facts of both the supposed ‘violation’ and ‘injury’ for decades.”

The statement also says that Elden “has spent three decades profiting from his celebrity as the self-anointed ‘Nirvana Baby,’” noting that he has “re-enacted the photograph in exchange for a fee” multiple times, that he has the name of the album tattooed on his chest, and that he has “used the connection to try to pick up women,” the latter point based on an interview in which Elden recounted a related story.

The band ultimately dismissed the seriousness of Elden’s claim, saying, “Elden’s claim that the photograph on the Nevermind album cover is ‘child pornography’ is, on its face, not serious. A brief examination of the photograph, or Elden’s own conduct (not to mention the photograph’s presence in the homes of millions of Americans who, on Elden’s theory, are guilty of felony possession of child pornography) makes that clear.”

With the cat now fully out of the bag that Vincent D’Onofrio returns as Kingpin in Marvel’s Hawkeye series for Disney+, the actor is opening up about reprising his fan-favorite role and continuing to get closer to the classic villains’ comic book roots. During the Hawkeye season finale, Kingpin is seen wearing a distinctive Hawaiian shirt, which has a connection to the source material as well as D’Onofrio’s time playing the character on the Daredevil series for Netflix.

Via Entertainment Weekly:

I believe that the Hawaiian shirt, white suit, and hat is from the “Family Business” comic [arc]. It’s actually my screensaver on my computer, and it has been since I started doing Daredevil years ago. So I think it came from that, [and] the aspect of the collaboration with the incredible costume people there. With Fisk, like a lot of the characters in the MCU, there’s a palette of looks that they’ve had over the years and we had a lot of to choose from. So yeah, I have input and it’s like a collaborative effort. It’s really fun being creative with the Marvel team.

Of course, the big question is whether Charlie Cox and D’Onofrio appearing in the MCU officially make the Netflix series canon. Neither Spider-Man: No Way Home nor Hawkeye address that billion-dollar question, but D’Onofrio does his best to provide his take on the situation.

“I know that we were picking up with the same guy,” D’Onofrio told EW. “It’s tough to connect all the dots, but they connected as many as they could and that he had lost a bit of his power because of the Blip. But the idea [was] to bring him into Hawkeye, to have him be that same character that he was in the earlier show, and play him like that.”

So, essentially, it’s still the same Kingpin, but there’s no word on whether the events of the Netflix shows happened in the MCU or not. We’re going to go ahead and file the answer to that one under “Kinda…?”

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

The Golden State Warriors look like they might be the NBA’s team to beat this season. After spending each of the last two years riddled by injuries and trying to reset things following Kevin Durant’s departure on the heels of five NBA finals appearances in a row, the Dubs are 25-6, the second-best record in the league.

Perhaps the most concerning thing for the rest of the league — beyond Steph Curry looking like an MVP frontrunner and the fact that Klay Thompson’s return from two consecutive season-ending injuries looms large — is that Golden State looks like it’s playing the kind of cohesive basketball on both ends of the floor that was the hallmark of their run atop the league. It’s been fun to watch … well, unless you’re Austin Rivers of the Denver Nuggets, then it stinks to high heaven.

Rivers hopped onto Instagram Live earlier this week and gave his thoughts on the Dubs. In classic Austin Rivers fashion, he gave a take that was both extremely honest and also very funny.

“Golden State definitely looks very solid right now, and I hate to see it,” Rivers said. “I don’t like it one bit. I’m tired of that f*cking team.”

This does seem to suggest that playing against the Golden State Warriors stinks, which, yeah it certainly seems that way.

The best version of A Christmas Carol is, of course, A Muppet Christmas Carol, starring Michael Caine as Scrooge and, for some unknown and perfect reason, Gonzo as Charles Dickens. We all know this. There’s no point in arguing the point or even trying to improve on it. We, as a society, will never do better from an adaptation standpoint. That’s fine. It’s okay to admit that.

We can get weirder, though. We can get so much weirder. There’s nothing stopping us from making the wildest and most chaotic version of this thing anyone has ever seen. We should, too. We should litter it with our favorite actors from film and television and let them run wild and maybe swear a little. Or a lot. Let’s make a hard-R version of A Christmas Carol. The people deserve it. For the holidays.

And so… that’s what’s happening here. Yes, it is. I’m going to cast a weird and profane version of A Christmas Carol. Let’s all just go ahead and assume it’s written and directed by Shane Black, too. Let’s have it all. Tis the season, after all.

NARRATOR – Matt Berry

Matt Berry should narrate most things, so this is a solid place to start. And the vast majority of this cast I’ve put together isn’t British at all and I don’t particularly want them to try a British accent, so it’s nice to have at least a little authenticity. But mostly, I just like the idea of Matt Berry doing this because Matt Berry is the best.

It could be fun, too, because it would set a nice tone. Matt Berry is at his best when he’s being a little naughty, working a little blue. That’s the vibe I’m shooting for here. Fade in, quick opening credits over a drone shot of the London streets, then blammo, Matt Berry chatting up a waitress and then turning to the camera to introduce the festivities. He can pop up throughout. As often as he likes. It’s his show, really.

SCROOGE – Brian Cox

This one is a no-brainer: Brian Cox, Logan Roy from Succession, giving it the full stare and growl, with various humbugs and f-words littered about as a series of spirits drag him through various moments in time against his will until he understands and accepts the meaning of Christmas. He’s basically already playing Scrooge now. It wouldn’t even require much character work on his part. We can have his lines knocked out by lunch, I suspect.

It would be wild if this is where Succession is heading, by the way. Like if Logan gets visited by ghosts and suddenly becomes the most charitable sweetheart on the face of the planet. I suppose we can’t rule it out.

THE MARLEYS – Stephen Root and Jennifer Coolidge as husband and wife

Three things are true here.

The first is that Stephen Root rules, every time, in everything, and I have no doubt he would do so once again as a wisecracking version of Jacob Marley who shows up at night to freak out Scrooge and tell him more ghosts are a-comin’. Most movies and television shows should have Stephen Root in them.

The second thing is that there are no rules here. We can play with the form all we want. The Muppets replaced Jacob Marley with “the Marleys” as an excuse to have Statler and Waldorf say bad jokes to Michael Caine. We should all take note of this and learn from it, both in this specific situation and in general. Anything is possible.

The third thing, as we all know, is that Jennifer Coolidge also rules.

Stephen Root and Jennifer Coolidge as married ghosts who show up on Christmas Eve to give Brian Cox an ominous warning and maybe do a few silly bits. I would watch two hours of just, like, that. You would, too. Don’t lie. But it gets better, because…

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT – Jack Black

The Ghost of Christmas Present is the first spirit that visits Scrooge and is usually depicted as a big gregarious dude who likes to party and drink and eat. There has never been a role more perfectly suited for Jack Black. He can give it the full Jack Black, too, with singing and riffs and filthy cussing because, as we have established, things are getting wild here. I don’t even need to type anything else. I can just end this paragraph… now.

I’m actually kind of mad this one hasn’t happened already.

BOB CRATCHIT – Charlie Day

Bob Cratchit is always some vanilla cookie who has no real personality beyond “likes Christmas” and “works for Scrooge” and “loves his family,” which, like, fine. But what this hypothetical film presupposes is… what if he were kind of a maniac? It’s a fair question. I want to see Charlie Day screeching around old-timey London with a scarf and top hat and enough manic energy pulsing off of his body to power the entire city.

Let your mind run wild with this one. It’s a good time.

MRS. CRATCHIT – Vanessa Bayer

You know who’s great? Vanessa Bayer. Every damn time, too. It’s the misdirection, really, I think, the thing where she has this sweet and innocent face and then you look in her eyes and there’s this devious twinkle in there that gives away the wildfire burning behind them. Look at that video up there. Look at any of the characters she plays on SNL. Mrs. Cratchit is kind of a nothing role in the grand scheme of this sucker and I feel bad sticking Vanessa Bayer with it but I feel like she could bring a little anarchy to the proceedings in the best way possible.

Let’s pencil this one in.

TINY TIM – Kyle Mooney

A few notes:

• Tiny Tim is a young child with a slew of unspecified medical problems that range from a thin little cough to mobility issues
• Kyle Mooney is a fully-grown adult who at many times has at least a partially former beard
• I… still think this works.

Sleep on it. I think you’ll agree. See above re: no rules.

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST – Patti Harrison

This spirit is typically portrayed as a young-ish girl with flowing robes and semi-translucent body and a kind of creepy/calm vibe. Which is great. Shoutout to Charles Dickens. But we are going to cast Patti Harrison. You know Patti Harrison. She’s in a bunch of sketches from I Think You Should Leave and she steals every one of them. She’s usually yelling. It’s great.

So… that’s the deal here. Patti Harrison dragging Brian Cox through his past, yelling at him a little, just getting all kinds of weird about it. This is probably the one I’m most excited about. I feel great about it. Merry Christmas.

Hey, while we’re in the past…

YOUNG SCROOGE – Cillian Murphy

Just burning holes through people with that icy glare, smoking cigarettes, the whole thing. He doesn’t even need to change out of his wardrobe from Peaky Blinders. He can just strut over between takes there and film a scene or two and then strut right back. It’s almost too easy, really.

FEZZIWIG – Sam Richardson

The trick here is that Fezziwig is Young Scrooge’s mentor and Cillian Murphy is not nearly young enough to be mentored by a character played by Sam Richardson. But problems like this create opportunities, and this one leads us to a solution I am, quite frankly, thrilled about: Sam Richardson in old man makeup.

Take a second right now and get this mental image: Sam Richardson, with all his goofy and fun energy, bouncing around his office building and mingling with the staff, slapping backs and handing out holiday bonuses, oozing charm out of every visible orifice, and then… Cillian Murphy. Just staring at him. Smoking a cigarette. And then stubbing it out. And saying “humbug.”

This is a great idea.

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS FUTURE – Danny McBride

I know, I know. The Ghost of Christmas Future is usually silent, or at least mostly silent. He has a robe and a creepy, bony appearance and just generally looks like death incarnate as he takes Scrooge through a future where he’s unloved and forgotten and buried in a grave that no one comes to visit.

But, as a counterpoint: What if he was Danny McBride? What if, when he pointed at Scrooge’s grave with his index finger, instead of doing so with an ominous quiet doom implied, he just shouted, like, “LOOK AT THAT, DUMBASS. YOU’RE DEAD. BET YOU WISH YOU’D BEEN BETTER, HUH?”

I think it would work. I think it would all work. Or fail miserably. Either way, definitely worth watching.

A group of QAnon cultists in Texas took a break from drinking disinfectants to attend a conspiracy theorist-friendly event… What sounds like the beginning of a terrible joke actually could be, well, a terrible joke. As Daily Beast reports, the ReAwaken American Tour—a gathering of far-right thinkers—made a pit stop in Dallas, Texas, where they welcomed Eric Trump, Mike Lindell, Michael Flynn, and a swarm of QAnon followers who think that COVID is a lie and vaccines are a Deep State form of mind control. Needless to say, a good time was had by all… until several attendees began to fall ill with what seems to be the same mysterious illness.

The dozens of felled individuals had apparently all gathered together in the green room at the event, which would lead most of us to the obvious conclusion that they had all contracted COVID. But not these folks, many of whom don’t believe that COVID is really a thing at all. Their assumption? They were the victims of an anthrax attack… via fog machines.

As The Daily Beast wrote:

Joe Oltmann, a far-right hanger-on who hosts the Conservative Daily podcast and attended the gathering, alleged on Sunday that he was the victim of an anthrax attack. “South Florida peeps. I have a [sic] urgent need! I have been sick with what could be an anthrax attack it turns out. More later on this,” he wrote on Telegram, a messaging app beloved by the extreme right. The ambiguous message was viewed by more than 130,000 people.

The anthrax rumor gained further steam as Oltmann floated on Telegram that fellow 2020 election conspiracy theorist Jovan Pulitzer—who had come in close contact with Oltmann during the ReAwaken America event—may have also come down with anthrax poisoning.

“Jovan Pulitzer is in a bad place right now. Please pray for him. Bring the spirit of healing upon him. In Jesus name, Amen,” Oltmann posted on Monday. “Might be Anthrax.”

Spoiler alert: It was not anthrax.

Daily Beast reached out to Lindell about the event, and whether he might have been affected by this possible anthrax attack, to which the PillowMan said: “Haha. What happened?” Lindell then clarified that he had spoken with Oltmann, who said that people had tested for COVID and it wasn’t that. Lindell also assured the outlet that he was healthy as… a person?

“I don’t have anything, I’m healthy as a person,” Lindell said.

(Via Daily Beast)

Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm-and-blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B songs that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

With just a little over a week left until the start of 2022 arrives, many artists are stepping forward with their final releases of the year. Yung Bleu continues his impressive 2021 with his new EP, No, I’m Not Ok. 6lack also returned with his first release in a year and a half with his double single, “Rent Free” and “By Any Means.” Elsewhere, rising New York singer Capella Grey drops off his second single of the year with “Talk Nice.”

Yung Bleu — No, I’m Not Ok

Yung Bleu’s 2021 is by far the best year of his career. The Alabama native has already impressed with his debut Moon Boy, which helped him win Best New Artist at the 2021 Soul Train Awards. Now, he’s back in action with his No, I’m Not Ok EP. It presents five songs and a feature from Monica for what amounts to another enjoyable listening experience from Yung Bleu.

6lack — “Rent Free” & “By Any Means”

The R&B world has certainly missed 6lack. The Atlanta singer’s last release came back in 2020 with his EP, 6pc Hot, but now it looks like he’s gearing up for a big 2022. 6lack returns with a pair of new singles, “Rent Free” and “By Any Means,” that both do a great job of showing his versatility. The former finds him singing through the pain of a woman he failed to keep by his side while the latter sees his rapping about his rise to fame and recent successes.

Capella Grey — “Talk Nice”

One of this year’s newest and most promising acts is New York’s own Capella Grey. He’s the epitome of a slow-burning act as those who caught on to him in 2021 watched his “Gyalis” grow from an underground record to a Gold-certified track. Next year is looking very bright for Grey, who gets the balling rolling for it with his latest single, “Talk Nice.” It’s a braggadocious record that speaks confidently of himself, his team, his rise to fame, and his ways with the ladies.

Aaliyah — “Position” Feat. The Weeknd

A few months after Blackground Records uploaded Aaliyah’s second and third albums, One In A Million and Aaliyah respectively, to streaming services thanks to a distribution deal with EMPIRE, the label returned last week to announce her fourth album and first posthumous body of work. Titled Unstoppable, the first single from the project is here. “Poison” with The Weeknd arrives with songwriting credits from Static Major and production from DannyBoyStyles and Nick Lamb.

Melii — Winter In New York

It’d been a year since Melii dropped some music for her fans, her “You Ain’t Worth It” collaboration with 6lack. Aware that her supporters missed her presence, the singer concludes 2021 with a pair of singles: “Hey Stranger” and “Would You Let Me Go?” They’re both wrapped under her Winter In New York project which sees her quickly discuss her qualms with love and hope for a romance she truly deserves.

Bryson Tiller & Pentatonix — “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Long)”

Bryson Tiller gets into the Christmas spirit for his latest effort, joining acapella group Pentatonix for their own version of “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Long).” It arrives a few weeks after he recruited Kiana Lede, Justin Bieber, Tayla Parx, and more for his A Lonely Christmas project.

11:11 — Wish List

Toronto R&B singer 11:11 concludes 2021 with his second project of the year through Wish List, an appropriate title for the holiday season. Altogether, Wish List checks in at three songs with one appearance from Eric Bellinger and two from fellow Canadian singer Anders. It’s a satisfying follow-up to The Night Before The Morning After, a project he released earlier this year.

Jah Vinci — Passion

A year after releasing his I Am The World Singer, reggae singer Jah Vinci closes 2021 with another body of work. Passion arrives with seven songs and a lone feature from Nordia Moothersille. It also features heavy production from NotNice, who along with Vinci, got their start in Vybz Kartel’s Gaza empire.

Olawumi — Moody

Live from New Jersey, singer Olawumi has spent the last few years working on her debut album. Moody presents ten songs through a completely solo effort that follows Olawumi’s experiences with Black love and her journey towards self-discovery. “I am looking to invoke the true magic of self-awareness and love with this album,” she says about the project. “I want women (and men alike) to learn that it is OKAY to feel, mourn, cry and love.”

Javonte — Where Have You Been (Remastered)

Back in 2014, after landing features with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, IDK, and more, Javonte shared his debut project Where Have You Been and it stood as a strong display of neo-soul with a lone feature from SiR. Seven years later, he offers a remastered version of the album with three additional songs and guest features from Ill Camille and the incomparable Alex Isley.

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

Christmas is here, and the NFL is tumbling toward the finish line of the 2021 regular season. Week 16 provides an interesting slate that features a typical Thursday night clash and two (scheduled) Christmas contests, and Week 15 was at least reasonably kind to us with a 3-2 performance. That positive showing came with no help from the Atlanta Falcons, with Arthur Smith’s team repeatedly stalling inside the 10-yard line, but alas, we press on.

Before we roll through the Week 16 card with five NFL selections, let’s see where the full 2021 season progress stands.

• Last Week: 3-2
• 2021 Season: 41-33-1

Come get these winners.

Tennessee Titans (+3) over San Francisco 49ers

I’ve been a little bit lower on the Titans than consensus, but I view this as a juicy spot for Tennessee. San Francisco is the better team right now, with red-hot results in recent weeks, but this is a short week with travel for the Niners. Beyond that, the Titans are now getting a full field goal at home, with the public pretty clearly overreacting to Tennessee’s downturn and San Francisco’s uptick. It’s a little bit gross, but the home team is the side at three points or more.

Cleveland Browns (+7.5) over Green Bay Packers

The Packers are terrifying. Green Bay has won 11 of the last 13 games and the last three in a row. They also have Aaron Rodgers. At +7.5, though, the Browns have some appeal. This is Cleveland’s season in one game, with an improving roster situation after a bevy of COVID-related absences a week ago. The number would’ve been less than a touchdown 10 days ago, and it’s inflated here.

Minnesota Vikings (+3) over Los Angeles Rams

This is a short rest spot for both teams, but Minnesota has the benefit of home-field advantage and a friendly number. The Rams are the better team, and no one is saying otherwise, but the Vikings are undervalued in the market and getting three points means we can win despite Minnesota’s penchant for brutal, last-second defeats.

Buffalo Bills (+2.5) over New England Patriots

We gave out the Bills in what became a weather-filled farce against the Patriots this season. That was not our finest hour, but the belief is that Buffalo remains the more talented team. That result wasn’t indicative of much, and Buffalo getting nearly a field goal here is a nice sweet spot. Will we live to regret this? Maybe.

Las Vegas Raiders (PK) over Denver Broncos

It’s not as if the Raiders are lighting the world on fire, even after a win over the Browns last week. That was a fairly ugly game and probably didn’t impress anyone. That’s helpful for us, as the Raiders are currently projected in a coin flip spot at home against a Broncos team with Drew Lock. Denver’s defense is the best unit in this game, but the Raiders have the better offense and Lock on the road is a fade.

Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish movies available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.

10. (tie) Home Sweet Home Alone (Disney Plus)

This is a surprisingly star-studded — Ellie Kemper! Rob Delaney! Kenan Thompson! — addition to the Home Alone franchise, written by SNL veterans Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell. The plot remains the same: A 10-year-old boy gets left behind when his parents head off to Tokyo and he has to defend his house from various bumbling criminals. The reviews so far are… not great, but it might be worth a go if you’re looking for a nostalgia blast to the face or something to watch with younger kids. Order yourself a large cheese pizza first. Watch it on Disney Plus.

10. (tie) Tick, Tick… Boom (Netflix)

Andrew Garfield is giving theater-kids everywhere a musical-thirst-trap performance in this Lin-Manuel Miranda-directed biopic that pays tribute to Jonathan Larson, the artistic genius who changed Broadway with his seminal musical Rent. This film examines Larson’s life before fans were belting out Season of Love though, with Garfield giving an award-worthy turn as a restless visionary who feels the suffocating deadline of turning 30 without having produced a great show. The supporting cast is terrific, Garfield is doing his best work, and Miranda infuses everything with a genuine sense of love and admiration that makes it hard not to root for this one. Watch it on Netflix.

10. (tie) Bruised (Netflix)

Halle Berry’s MMA movie made a deal with Netflix and now Halle Berry’s MMA movie is on Netflix. Yes, that sentence said “Halle Berry’s MMA movie twice but, to be fair, it’s a phrase it takes a little bit of time to wrap your head around. Berry makes her directorial debut and stars as a disgraced fighter named Jackie Justice (Jackie Justice!) who is back in the cage to deal with various personal demons. It’s Halle Berry’s MMA movie! The reviews are pretty good! Watch it on Netflix.

9. King Richard (HBO Max)

As odd as it is to have a movie about two of the greatest athletes of all time told centered on, not the women winning Grand Slams and Olympic gold medals, but their determined, driven father – King Richard works. It works because Will Smith exudes charisma and charm but he also brings a believable grit and weary defiance to the role of Richard Williams, the man who gave tennis not one, but two female legends. This is Serena and Venus’ story, told from the perspective of the man who believed in them when no one else did so, yeah, grab a box of tissues before you sit down to watch. Watch it on HBO Max.

8. Encounter (Amazon Prime)

Oscar-nominee Riz Ahmed likes to make the kind of movies you wouldn’t expect him to. In 2019, he played a rock n roll drummer slowly losing his hearing and having to upend his life because of it. This year, well … he’s surviving an alien invasion. Sort of. Encounter is one of those streaming movies that quietly sneak onto a platform – this time it’s Amazon Prime Video – and usually stay buried under all the other content the algorithm prioritizes. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen here though because Ahmed is a force on screen, playing a disturbed man and desperate father who believes he’s saving his two sons from an extra-terrestrial invasion that no one else knows is happening. It’s a mindf*ck, in the best way possible. Watch it on Amazon Prime.

7. The Hand of God (Netflix)

Academy Award winner Paulo Sorrentino (The Young Pope) returns to HBO with this story of tragedy and unexpected joys, along with how fates intertwine. It’s a story about young Fabietto Schisa and the arrival of a football legend on the scene. Ultimately though, Sorerentino’s telling this story from his own hometown (Naples), so expect a deeply personal (and of course, achingly beautiful) experience. Watch it on Netflix.

6. The Power of the Dog (Netflix)

Benedict Cumberbatch gives a villainous performance for the ages in The Power of the Dog, the first film in 12 years from director Jane Campion. The western is expected (and deserves) to be an Oscars frontrunner, so hop on the horse-drawn bandwagon now. Watch it on Netflix.

5. Swan Song (Apple TV+)

Set in the near future, Swan Song stars two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali as a husband and father who’s dying from a terminal illness. To spare his family from unimaginable grief, he secretly agrees to undergo an experimental treatment where his memories will be transported into an exact healthy duplicate. Swan Song examines how far we’re willing to go to protect the ones we love. It’s science-fiction at its most melancholy. Watch it on Apple TV+.

4. Being the Ricardos (Amazon Prime)

Aaron Sorkin is back with a movie about I Love Lucy and its stars, with Nicole Kidman playing Lucille Ball, and a whole bunch of other stuff. You know what to expect here, probably, if you’ve seen a Sorkin movie or television show in the past. The dialogue will be snappy, the villains and heroes will be clearly defined, all of it. The important thing here is that we all agree that Lucille Ball was pretty impressive. Watch it on Amazon Prime.

3. South Park: Post-COVID: The Return of COVID (Paramount Plus)

It’s the follow-up to the first COVID special and things are still weird. There are experiments and mental asylum escapes and marijuana farming and pretty much everything you’ve come to expect from South Park at this stage of the game. There are worse ways to spend a few hours this weekend. Watch it on Paramount Plus.

2. Don’t Look Up (Netflix)

Jennifer Lawrence is back in Don’t Look Up, Adam McKay’s apocalyptic satire about two low-level astronomers (J-Law and Leonardo DiCaprio) who try to warn everyone on Earth about an approaching comet — but no one seems to care. The ensemble cast also includes Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Ariana Grande, Timothée Chalamet, Cate Blanchett, and Tyler Perry. Maybe that’s why no one cares about the comet. They’re too busy looking at all those stars. Watch it on Netflix.

1. The Matrix Resurrections (HBO Max)

The gang is all back. Mostly. They’re mostly all back. Keanu is there as Neo, with the John Wick beard. Carrie Ann Moss is back as Trinity even though Trinity kind of… died. It’s a whole thing. And it’s fun. This all could have gone a lot worse, really, which isn’t exactly the highest praise but is still important. Let’s do it all again in another 20 years. Let’s make it a thing. Watch it on HBO Max.