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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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+.
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)
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.
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.
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.
Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows 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.
Are you in the mood for an intense survival epic and psychological horror story with plenty of coming-of-age touches? How about all of that with Juliette Lewis and Christina Ricci starring as the adult versions of two female athletes who were irretrievably shaken by their experiences after a plane crash in the wilderness? Sure, that sounds like a stressful description, but it’s also a hell of a watch. Not to mention another reason not to hop onto an airplane these days. Watch it on Showtime.
Esmé Creed-Miles is back as the pint-sized, badass title character, who’s still attempting to defeat the mysterious powers that be while Dermot Mulroney’s operative is as sinister as ever. The third season promises more fight scenes and thrills, all while more characters get backstories, and Mireille Enos’ character forms one half of a lady power duo to cross generations. Watch it on Amazon Prime.
In this stop-motion animated series, the perpetually jolly Seth Rogen voices what seems like Santa while Sarah Silverman plays the dedicated elf who’s seeking to become the first lady Santa. Let’s hope she kicks some butt and rises above all the dude candidates, and you’ll also hear the voices of Craig Robinson, Nicholas Braun, Maria Bamford, and more along the way.Watch it on HBO Max.
The wait is over. The Gang is back to offer a playbook on how not to act, Forrest Gumping 2020, feigning wokeness, venturing back to the ’90s, and then going all the way to Ireland. From that description alone, it might sound like the show’s most epic season, and it may well be… which is fitting for its record-breaking 15th season. But no matter the ambition, these are still the same hilariously wicked monsters who inspire wonder over how they don’t get stabbed at the conclusion of every episode. Enjoy! Watch it on Hulu.
Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte are back, along with the Big Apple. No Samantha will be found, given that Kim Cattrall declined to return, but there will be returning dudes, including Chris Noth’s Mr. Big. Yet there’s going to be a bittersweet aspect to this revival, given that Willie Garson (Stanford Blatch) recently passed away. All of those swirling moods will possibly disappear in a whirl of overwrought flower hats or something, but the show professes to be more inclusive this time around. Watch it on HBO Max.
The Great? More like The Great Show. Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult are back as Catherine the Great and Emperor Peter III, respectively, in season two of the wickedly funny Hulu series. If you like scheming and backstabbing, this is the show for you. Watch it on Hulu.
The MCU is in holiday mood for this series, which begins to pass the bow from Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton (who desperately wants a real retirement) to Kate Bishop, played by Hailee Steinfeld, who hits the arrow-flinging mark while learning the ropes. The two battle through some sort of Christmas hellscape that feels awfully surreal, including a Captain America-themed musical and the entry of Vera Farmiga into the MCU. Also, Florence Pugh’s Yelena is on the way for Hawkeye, so watch out, man. Watch it on Disney Plus.
Despite a few big gains (having a summer was a nice switch!), we’re rapidly being disabused of the notion that 2021 was somehow made to be a largely better year than 2020. 2022? Who knows!? But before we roll the dice, spin the wheel, and hope for the best, an All-Star team of female comics are here to roast the year that was in the second installment of Yearly Departed. Hosted by Yvonne Orji with appearances by Chelsea Peretti, Hacks standout Meg Stalter, Dulcé Sloan, Aparna Nancherla, and the gawd Jane Fonda, this special promises to do the only thing we can with a year like 2021: say hurtful things about it and laugh at its expense. Watch it on Amazon Prime.
It seems strange to say that a post-apocalyptic drama about a flu-like pandemic that destroys much of humanity qualifies as a “comfort watch,” but it’s nearly impossible to exaggerate just how beautiful and poignant and deeply human Station Eleven is. Based on a novel by Emily St. John Mandel and starring an exceptional cast (Mackenzie Davis and Himesh Patel being the most recognizable), the show sports serious Leftover vibes, following a traveling theater troupe 20 years after the world has ended. It’s bold and imaginative with dreamy cinematography that’s grounded by some truly inspired performances, and it might just be the best doomsday watch we’ve seen on TV in a long time. Watch it on HBO Max.
It seemed improbable that a one-note SNL sketch sending up an ’80s action TV show could be stretched into a film, but dammit they did it, creating a cult favorite action-comedy that has now spurred a Peacock TV series. Circle of life! Unfortunately, Val Kilmer couldn’t return but the specter of the film’s explosive and urine-soaked conclusion hangs over MacGruber’s life, setting him off on a trail of redemption that is a lot more fully developed than you might imagine. Sure this thing is friggin hilarious in all the ways you’d expect, but it’s also a damn good TV show with a platinum level cast with Billy Zane and Laurence Fishburne joining Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe, and Will Forte as they reprise their roles. Watch it on Peacock.
God help us all, this show will once again be binged into oblivion. Lily Collins returns as the stereotypically clueless and culturally offensive American who’s taking Par-ee by storm, one Instagram post at a time. The twist here is that Emily actually attempts to learn French this season, but the hot chef is still around with his gross, unwashed skillet. So much drama, courtesy of primetime TV king Darren Star. Watch it on Netflix.
It’s time to go on another swashbuckling rampage through destiny as Henry Cavill’s wig returns for more monster hunting on The Continent. The show’s got a lot to live up to, given that it defied expectations during its debut, and it’s still a banger. That is to say, the Humble Bard is cranking out his angst in song, Geralt has less time to be grumpy, and Ciri is in training mode. The monsters are better, the emotions run higher, and we’ve got two new kids on the block: Killing Eve‘s Kim Bodnia (as Geralt’s mentor, Vesemir) and Game Of Thrones‘ Kristofer Hivju (in highly unflattering prosthetics, and we’ll leave it at that). Watch it on Netflix.
Rapper-producer duo Nas and Hit-Boy have been on an incredible run for the past two years, releasing two iterations of the solid King’s Disease collaborative album, receiving a Best Rap Album Grammy for the first, and a nomination for the second. Yet, somehow, they still aren’t done yet, looking to finish off the year with another new album, completing a hat trick to close out 2021. The new album, which Nas and Hit just announced on their respective social media channels, is called Magic and has just nine tracks and two features, ASAP Rocky(!) and DJ Premier(!!).
It’s an impressive accomplishment, to be sure, but it’s also a testament to the working chemistry these two have exhibited since being introduced by Big Sean. We should all give way more credit to Sean in general, but especially for being one of hip-hop’s best A&Rs, matching up the Queens icon with a producer that finally brings the best out of him, overcoming the one great weakness of his 25-year catalog.
In addition to cranking out two redemptive albums alongside Hit-Boy, Nas also made significant investments in the music industry infrastructure this year, backing the Audius streaming service alongside Pusha T to increase revenue for artists. In September, he was honored with a key to Queens and his own day in his home borough.
To recap: contestant Charlene Rubush made it to the bonus round, where the category was “What Are You Doing?” After incorrectly guessing “CHOOSING THE RIGHT CARD,” Charlene had enough time for another answer, and her buzzer-beater response was accurate: “CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORD.” But because she paused seven seconds between “CHOOSING THE RIGHT” and “WORD,” she didn’t win the grand prize of an Audi. As host Pat Sajak explained, “This one’s tough because you said all the right words, including the word ‘word’ but as you know, it’s got to be more or less continuous. We’ll allow for a little pause but not four or five seconds. I’m sorry, you did a good job in getting it but we can’t give you the prize and it was the Audi.” An Audi Q3, to be precise.
The ruling drew the ire of many Wheel viewers, including Jeopardy! champ Alex Jacob, who tweeted, “Come on @WheelofFortune, the woman literally chose the right word. Give her the car.” Audi was paying attention.
“You’re a winner in our eyes, Charlene. Now, let’s get you a prize. Time to #GiveHerTheQ3,” the car company tweeted. “There’s no community like the Audi community. With your help, we tracked down Charlene! More to come as we help #GiveHerTheQ3.” Merry Christmas to Charlene, and Charlene only.
Since its introduction at the start of the year, the COVID vaccine has been the subject of intense partisan debate, with Republicans being the most predominant source of misinformation about the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness in curbing the coronavirus pandemic. Which is why it’s particularly notable that Donald Trump is slowly emerging as a staunch defender of the vaccines that, technically, were sped into production under his administration.
During a new interview with The Daily Wire‘s Candace Owens, Trump not only swatted down the conservative conspiracy theory that people are dying because of the vaccine, but he did it after Owens teed him up with a chance to attack Joe Biden for having more people die of COVID under his administration. Via The Hill:
“Oh no, the vaccines work, but some people aren’t the ones. The ones who get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones that don’t take the vaccine. But it’s still their choice. And if you take the vaccine, you’re protected,” Trump told Owens.
“Look, the results of the vaccine are very good, and if you do get it, it’s a very minor form,” Trump continued. “People aren’t dying when they take the vaccine.”
As for what the heck is going on, Trump seems to be finally leaning into the fact that he can take a huge amount of credit for the vaccine development if he starts admitting that they are safe and effective. It’s also notable that Trump recently revealed that he was very happy to see the Biden administration credit him for Operation Warp Speed. If that was an attempt to get Trump to be more vocal about the jab, it’s freaking working. He’s already out here confirming that he got a booster shot, so stroke that orange maniac’s ego until he’s personally handing out the shots himself. We can do this.
Olivia Rodrigo is only 18 years old, but even at her young age, she has already been writing songs for a long time. In fact, Rodrigo says her first original tunes arrived when she was just five.
In a recent Music Week feature, Rodrigo said of her musical origins, “I’ve been writing songs since I was five years old. Just gibberish, stuff about getting lost in the grocery store. My mom has a lot of them on VHS tapes.”
She added, “And I think the first proper song I ever wrote — the first one I finessed and that was a complete song — I was probably about 12 or 13. It was called ‘Naive Girl’ and I put it on my Instagram. It’s probably still out there somewhere, in the depths of the internet.”
While it might be tough to track down those VHS tapes featuring the grocery store song, you don’t actually have to dig too deep to find “Naive Girl.” While the original post is no longer on Rodrigo’s Instagram account, is has been saved and re-uploaded by third parties. Genius notes the track was originally shared on October 12, 2018 along with the caption, “hi I wrote dis! writing songs is a huge passion of mine and I thought it was about time to share it with y’all! the whole song is on IGTV if ur interested! I’m terribly nervous so please be tender haha.”
Drake has long been fond of honoring his friends and heroes with tattoos; in 2017, he adorned himself with portraits of Lil Wayne and Sade, he celebrated passing The Beatles’ Billboard milestones with an Abbey Road-themed addition in 2019, and who could ever forget that infamous Aaliyah body art he got done to signify his boyhood crush on the late singer? While fans questioned some of these considering his dubious connections to their subjects, his latest is one of his most personal, honoring the late designer Virgil Abloh.
Designed by Joaquin Ganga, who specializes in “microrealism,” the new forearm tattoo recreates a photo of Virgil at Paris Fashion Week in 2018, throwing a kite down the runway like a paper plane.
Drake’s tattoo is just the latest in a string of tributes to the designer, who passed away after a two-year battle with cancer in November this year. Before his passing, he was considered a pioneer in the world of fashion, holding the role of artistic director for Louis Vuitton since 2018 (he was the first Black person to do so). His own label, Off-White, was a favorite of hip-hop’s elite and saw him collaborating on controversial but popular designs with Nike. He was also an accomplished DJ and designed the cover for Pop Smoke’s posthumous debut album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, although that assignment prompted much controversy as well.
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