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The music world is mourning the death of West Coast rapper Drakeo The Ruler after he was fatally stabbed on Saturday night. The incident occurred after a group of people attacked the rapper backstage at Los Angeles’ Once Upon A Time Festival. According to the Los Angeles Times, Drakeo was quickly transported to a local hospital where he was listed in critical condition. Unfortunately, hours later Rolling Stone and journalist Jeff Weiss, who has followed Drakeo closely over the past few years, both reported that the rapper passed away from his injuries.

“RIP Drakeo, the greatest West Coast artist of a generation,” Weiss wrote in a tweet. “A legend who invented a new rap language of slippery cadences, nervous rhythms, and psychedelic slang, who beat life twice only to suffer the most tragic fate conceivable. The Ruler, once, always, and forever.” He later added, “My love to his friends, family, and anyone who [understands] the struggle that he endured and loved his music. He was special, a legit genius and a kind, caring friend. There are no words to convey the grief.”

Several of Drakeo’s hip-hop peers shared their condolences about the rapper’s death. This includes Drake, who remembered him in a post to his Instagram Story as someone “who always picked my spirit up with your energy.”

You can read more posts about Drakeo The Ruler’s death below.

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

Last night’s SNL was very unusual. Mere hours before it went live, the show revealed that they had to send most of the cast and crew, plus musical guest Charli XCX, home due to a massive spike in COVID cases, all thanks to the Omicron variant. (Get boostered — or vaxxed — if you haven’t.) The show still went on, sort of. Host Paul Rudd was there, as were guests Tom Hanks and Tina Fey, plus cast members Keenan Thompson and Michael Che. But most of the episode was comprised of pre-taped sketches they’d filmed during the week, plus some random old sketches.

One of the pre-taped bits was called “An Evening with Pete.” (“Here’s a sketch we finished filming at 5am this morning,” Rudd told viewers in a brief intro.) It revolves around, yes, Pete Davidson, catching up with over three decades in the future, in the year 2054. As Rudd pointed out, the inspiration was Raging Bull, one of Martin Scorsese’s enduring greats, which chronicles the decline of Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro) from boxing champ to washed-up has-been working nightclubs.

And that’s what happens to Pete Davidson in the sketch. He’s got a sad white suit, a receding hairline, and an army of bitter jokes to tell audiences who just want to see him do Chad, his breakout SNL character. “You guys know the difference between Gilligan’s Island and Staten Island? One’s filled with a bunch of morons who are stuck there for the rest of their lives, and the other one’s an old TV show,” he cracks while sitting next to a malfunctioning android version of Colin Jost.

Eventually, Davidson reconnects with an old SNL staff writer (Rudd), who reminds him that he’s responsible for his best old jokes. In return Davidson gifts him with “one of my Oscars,” which happens to be Viola Davis’ Lifetime Achievement Award. And there’s Machine Gun Kelly’s urn, too.

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

Good news for pop heads this weekend — after Stereogum published their annual anticipated albums list, one of the artists included weighed in. Sky Ferreira was listed at No. 5 on their list, and she often makes Stereogum’s list of albums the staff most wants to come out, but this time she addressed her inclusion directly. Posting an Instagram story with her spot on the list highlighted, Ferreira wrote “Top 5 most anticipated albums of 2022 @Stereogum, (it happens every year, but it’s actually coming out this time).”

We’ve heard before that Sky’s label troubles have been almost insurmountable, but back in 2019 she released the new single “Downhill Lullaby” and appeared as a featured guest on Charli XCX’s self-titled album on the song “Cross You Out” the same year. Maybe the downtime in 2020 was enough of a break for Ferreira and her label to work out the technicalities, or maybe she got back in the studio and created some brand new songs.

Either way, when My Time, Night Time came out in 2013, it was widely-regarded by critics as a dark pop classic, and fans were eager to hear more from her. But now, almost nine years later, they might finally be getting that follow-up. With a new album from Charli XCX coming in the spring, maybe we’ll get another Sky feature there, along with some new solo music. Fingers crossed this is the year the follow up really does happen!

The NBA has been pressing onward despite a massive spike in COVID-19 cases around the league that has mirrored what is happening around the country as the new, highly transmissible Omicron variant takes its toll during the holiday season.

Only two games have been postponed thus far, as the Chicago Bulls hitting 10 players out on the COVID list plus injuries led to their two games this week being pushed back, but as other teams approach similar numbers of player out in protocols, they have simply had to add replacement players on hardship exemptions and press on. With the league’s biggest day of the season coming up next Saturday, with five highly anticipated Christmas Day games, an awful lot of the shine of those contests has been removed by potential COVID absences.

The latest marquee name to hit protocols is Hawks guard Trae Young on Sunday, who would need to test out with two consecutive negative tests by Friday if he’s going to be able to play against the Knicks in New York on Christmas, the place where he became one of the NBA’s great villains last postseason.

Young joins a rather outrageous list of names currently in protocols who could miss Christmas Day action. On the Knicks, RJ Barrett and Obi Toppin are both in protocols, while Celtics-Bucks may go on without Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis, and Al Horford — not to mention Khris Middleton currently sitting with a knee injury.

The primetime matchup between the Nets and Lakers will likely be without Kevin Durant in COVID protocols (and Kyrie Irving, as he is in protocols a day after entering the testing pool). The biggest group of Nets currently in protocols, including James Harden, went in on Dec. 14, which could bring them back, provided they are healthy enough to do so. On the other side, Anthony Davis is out with a knee injury and a number of the Lakers reserves are in protocols, including Malik Monk, Austin Reaves, and Avery Bradley (Talen Horton-Tucker, likewise, went in on Dec. 14 and could return).

Warriors-Suns and Mavericks-Jazz are, for now, the two games on the Christmas schedule without any major COVID absences (although Luka Doncic is currently out with an ankle injury), and the league will be hoping dearly that remains the case. It has been a rather disastrous month for COVID cases in the NBA and around the country, and unfortunately it feels much closer to the beginning of the surge rather than the end.

The show still went on, sort of. Last night’s SNL was supposed to be a happy occasion: It was both the last show of 2021 and Paul Rudd’s fifth time as host. Then the pandemic shifted into another wave, thanks to the Omicron variant. Most of the cast and crew were sent home. So was musical guest Charli XCX. All that remained were Rudd, two cast members, guests Tom Hanks and Tina Fey, and a skeleton crew. Only two live sketches remained: a cold open, in which Rudd received his “Five Timers Club” robe, and a stripped down, Colin Jost-less Weekend Update.

Fey returned to her old gig co-hosting the joke news segment, this time sitting beside Che. “We thought we’d read these dumb jokes anyway and so if we can make these guys laugh,” Che cracked, pointing to host Paul Rudd, guest Tom Hanks, and Keenan Thompson, the only other present SNL cast member — the only ones sitting in the audience.

There were jokes about one of the late Norm Macdonald’s favorite Weekend Update punching bags. “O.J. Simpson has been released from parole two months early because of good behavior,” Che told the sparse crowd. “Said O.J., ‘I can’t believe I got out of parole early, but I did it. I did it.’ “

There were jokes about Elon Musk being named Time’s Person of the Year. “You can read more about it on your phone,” Fey said, “while your Tesla is self-driving you into a lake.”

There were jokes about multiple Fox News hosts frantically texting former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, begging him to stop the Capitol siege of Jan. 6. “You know you’ve gone too far when Fox News is like, ‘Somebody better calm these white people down,’” said Che.

There were jokes about Bruce Springsteen selling the rights to his music catalog for $500 million. “So hopefully,” Che said, “he finally has the money to move out of New Jersey.”

And there were dumb jokes about the very smart people at NASA sending a spacecraft to touch the sun (without being destroyed, too). “NASA was finally able to complete the impossible mission,” Fey cracked, “by going at night.”

You can watch more where those came from — including Fey’s very good Andrew Cuomo impersonation — in the video above.

Drakeo The Ruler, born Darrell Caldwell, is dead at 28 after he was fatally stabbed at Los Angeles’ Once Upon A Time Festival on Saturday night. The stabbing was initially reported by the Los Angeles Times, who said Drakeo was attacked by a group of people backstage at the showcase. He was quickly transported to a local hospital and initially listed in critical condition, but hours later, he succumbed to his injuries.

Drakeo’s death is an unfortunate ending to a promising career that was often halted and disrupted by numerous roadblocks. He earned his breakout moment after DJ Mustard remixed his track “Mr. Get Dough” in April 2015. Months later he released his debut mixtape, I Am Mr. Mosely, under Mustard’s 10 Summers record label. He released numerous mixtapes over the next few years, but run-ins with the law, which often proved to be controversial, disrupted his upward trajectory.

In March 2018, Drakeo was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to commit murder in relation to a December 2016 shooting in Carson, California. He faced life in prison, but a year later, he was acquitted of the murder and attempted murder charges. Despite this, the district attorney decided to re-file charges of criminal gang conspiracy and shooting from a motor vehicle in August 2019, which both resulted in a hung jury during its first trial. In November 2020, he was released from jail after the district attorney suddenly offered him a plea deal for time served after he spent three years behind bars.

Despite his time behind bars, Drakeo released a pair of projects, Free Drakeo and Thank You For Using GTL, with the latter receiving high praise from critics. After his release in November 2020, he went on to release four mixtapes (We Know The Truth, Because Y’all Asked, Ain’t That The Truth, and So Cold I Do Em 2) as well as his debut album The Truth Hurts.

A funny thing happened on the way to last night’s SNL: There was a massive, terrifying spike in COVID cases in New York City and State, thanks to the new Omicron variant. Live events, including Broadway shows, have already been postponed or cancelled. It even wreaked havoc on what was supposed to be a joyous occasion: the last SNL of 2021 that was also Paul Rudd’s fifth time as host. (Well, at least people are still going out to see Spider-Man in droves.)

The show still went on, sort of. Hours before last night’s episode went live, it was announced that, out of an abundance of caution, much of the cast and crew had been sent home and no audience would be present. Musical guest Charli XCX also had to cancel. And so instead of some lavish “cold open” making fun of Lauren Boebert or someone, we got a bittersweet bit where Rudd was welcomed into the fabled “Five Timers Club” — for those who’ve hosted five times or more — in front of a very sparse crowd.

He had a little help from his friends. Tom Hanks — the originator of the FTC — was there, as was longtime cast member/writer Tina Fey. “Tonight everyone at SNL planned to do our big Christmas show, and induct a new member into the Five Timers Club,” Hanks said. “But COVID came early this year.” Why was Hanks, a non-cast member, there? “I came here from California, and if you think I was going to fly 3,000 miles and not be on TV, you got another thing coming.”

Eventually Rudd came out to receive his “Five Timers Club” robe. “I’m extremely disappointed!” a chipper Rudd told Hanks and Fey and what was left of the crew. “There was a whole show planned,” he said, preparing viewers at home for the show’s Plan B: The rest of the episode would be whatever pre-taped sketches they filmed over the week plus some random old bits, like the classic “Dick in a Box.” Why not! What else were you expecting from a live show that had to deep six pretty much everything mere hours before going on air?

But at least Rudd got his “Five Timers” robe — even if, as Keenan Thompson pointed out, it’s really “4 ½.” You can see the grand occasion in the video above.

Charli XCX was supposed to perform songs from her forthcoming album, Crash on Saturday Night Live tonight, but Covid-19 put a damper on that.

The spread of the new Omicron variant in New York had impacted so many SNL cast members that the show opted to go on tonight with a much more limited staff and cast than normal — and no live studio audience. The changes meant that it wasn’t possible to execute Charli XCX’s appearance, so she clarified that her performance was canceled, but not by her:

In the meantime, she wants fans to stay excited about the “poptastic” and “sexual and demonic” new album she has on the way, so instead of a live performance it might be time to send out some rough drafts of new music?

Since she’s already shared both “Good Ones” — along with a pitch-shifted remix from Perfume Genius — and her fantastic collaboration with Caroline Polachek and Christine And The Queens (who were supposed to perform alongside her on SNL) “New Shapes,” it is likely that Charli has a few more finished tracks up her sleeve before the album comes out next year. But hey, demos are always a great addition too! Drop the music Charli, we’re all stuck at home and ready to listen.

Former UFC champion Tyron Woodley stepped back into the boxing ring on Saturday night with the hopes of avenging a loss he suffered earlier this year to internet personality Jake Paul. In their previous fight, which took place in August, Paul won via split decision in Woodley’s debut bout, and after the previously-scheduled fight between Paul and Tommy Fury fell through, Woodley stepped in on short notice and promised that this time would be different.

The good news: This time was, indeed, different. The bad news: It was because the judges were not a factor. Paul knocked Woodley out cold in round six with a right hand that sent him straight to the mat. The referee did not even need to count to 10 to declare that this one was over.

It wasn’t always a particularly exciting fight, but it did end with a bang, and as a result, the internet came together to get off a bunch of jokes at Woodley’s expense.

One tried and true reaction popped up: Woodley, face down on the ground, with Simba from The Lion King photoshopped into it.

There is no word on what is up next for Paul, but it’s probably safe to assume he’ll want to finally get his bout with Fury lined up soon.

Back in June, the lineup for a new hip-hop focused festival in Los Angeles dropped, and fans were thrilled it included so many local legends. Once Upon A Time In LA counted Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent as headliners, and appearances from a whole host of R&B and hip-hop talent, including legendary performers like Al Green, Warren G and DJ Quik, and embattled LA rapper Drakeo The Ruler, who was finally freed once more after a very convoluted court case.

But in a potentially horrific turn of events at Banc of California stadium tonight, reports began to surface on social media that someone was attacked during the festival. Claims that Drakeo The Ruler was stabbed in the neck began circulating due to an original post that came from power 106 DJ Letty. Letty has since deleted the tweet that included the information about Drakeo’s injury, but here’s a screenshot:

People reporter Tomás Mier was told that the festival would still go on, just without Snoop Dogg, who left the event right after the stabbing. Mier also confirmed that Drakeo The Ruler was the stabbing victim, citing Lt. Ellerson at USC DPS as the source, who stated the rapper has been transported to the hospital in critical condition. No one is in custody for the attack as of yet.

CBS LA previously reported that via their Twitter “one person was stabbed” during the festival and that according to LA City Fire Department, the victim had been transported to the hospital. They also reported that the city has officially shut down the festival, which the festival later confirmed on Twitter.

This is an emerging story and will be updated as more information becomes available.