GoneTrending

In a new feature on Jack Harlow for Billboard, the Louisvillian rapper explained why he consistently turned down pop crossover bids until working with Lil Nas X on “Industry Baby.” In addition to not wanting to be seen as a “novelty act,” he also said that he feels a “certain responsibility” to respect rap as a genre and hip-hop as a culture.

“There is a certain reality that I am white, and I think there will always be something attached to that,” he said. “No matter how embraced I am, there will never be a day that I’m Black. With that being said, there’s a certain responsibility that comes with being a white man in a Black genre, and there’s certain things that have me regarded differently. But there is something exciting about skipping over any barriers that might be there and creating unity.”

In addition, the features also reveals that Harlow was the one who approached Lil Nas X to work, according to Take A Daytrip’s Denzel Baptiste. “What impressed me the most about Jack’s verse was that before we did it, he reached out directly and let Nas know he wanted to work,” he said. “When we got the verse back, it was this super-long idea. It wouldn’t normally fit a pop-song structure, but there were so many amazing moments in it. We produced around it in a way that made it a huge focal point of the song.”

It was clearly a wise move for everyone involved. “Industry Baby” — one of Uproxx’s Best Songs of 2021 — reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 and achieved a level of pop-culture ubiquity that most artists can only dream of. For the “What’s Poppin” rapper and his collaborator, though, it was just one more step in their quest to be the biggest stars ever.

How will you spend your Sunday nights now that Succession is over? By counting down the days until The Righteous Gemstones is back for season two, of course. HBO’s religious comedy returns next month, and you can watch the full-length trailer above.

The Gemstones / Succession comparison is apt considering the trailer begins with oldest son Jesse (Danny McBride) worried that his dad Eli’s (John Goodman) faculties are “waning” and that the only logical solution is for him and his wife Amber to take over the business. “Y’all are not the only married people in the family,” Judy (Edi Patterson), the Shiv of the family, chimes in. “Me and BJ are also strongly betrothed.” When Jesse says they’re not a real family because they don’t have kids, Judy replies, “I don’t got time for kids ’cause I’m trying to keep this fresh physique fine.” Judy better watch out for BJ.

The trailer also introduces Eric Andre as a megachurch pastor, Eric Roberts as a figure in Eli’s past, and Jason Schwartzman as a reporter investigating the Gemstones; and season one scene-stealer brings back “Baby” Billy Freeman, played by the great Walton Goggins. Here’s his message for everyone who doesn’t watch Righteous Gemstones:

The Righteous Gemstones season two premieres on January 9.

QAnon cult members have been waiting since November 2 for JFK Jr. to show up on the Grassy Knoll in Dallas, where they believe that he’ll declare himself the VP candidate for a 2024 Trump ticket. If you thought that the onset of brisk winter temperatures in northern Texas would deter this crowd, well, you’d be wrong. Despite their initial disappointment at him not showing up on the initially believed date, they’ve been hanging around and singing “We Are The World” because they’re keeping the faith.

The Dallas Observer checked in with the crowd, who held a Tuesday rally this week, and the end product of this visit was a collection of utterances called, “Things Overheard at the QAnon Rally for the Return of JFK Jr.” As expected, the virtual smell of delusion feels palpable and includes, “COVID-19 (cough) was a (cough, cough) hoax created by the government (cough cough cough) to undermine Donald (cough, hacking of phlegm) Trump’s presidency (cough, wheeze)!” As if that wasn’t visceral enough, one attendee tied his entire belief (that JFK Jr. will appear) to Trump’s cameo appearance in Home Alone 2: Lost In New York. The guy also seems to believe that JFL Jr. got shot, rather than his father, but logic might be beside the point when it comes to this mess of words:

“It all makes sense. Where was JFK Jr. shot? Dealey PLAZA. Where will he reappear? Discovery PLAZA. Where did Kevin McAlister stay in Home Alone 2? The PLAZA Hotel. And who did he see when he first went there? DONALD TRUMP. There’s your proof.”

That’s wild stuff and yet, it’s easy to believe that these words would spring from a crowd where someone else declared, “I wouldn’t say that I do my research. It’s more of a gut feeling I have. You know, where all the crap is stored.” And it’s all even stranger considering revelations that Trump actually (according to director Chris Columbus) bullied his way into the sequel. As Columbus’ retelling went, he wanted to shoot inside The Plaza, and Trump took the money but also demanded to appear in the film. And in 2014, Trump’s cameo mysteriously disappeared from airings by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Somehow, none of the QAnon cultists have mentioned this yet or tied the removal to JFK Jr., but surely, it’s only a matter of time.

(Via Dallas Observer)

Megan Thee Stallion has signed an exclusive first-look production deal with streaming platform Netflix, according to Variety. The Houston rapper previously told Vogue that she was writing a horror movie (her favorite is Evil Dead) and later told Marie Claire that she wanted to bring Get Out director Jordan Peele in as a collaborator. Her new deal with Netflix just might help make that dream a reality as she creates and executive produces new content for the streamer, including possible a television series and other projects.

Netflix’s head of comedy, Tracey Pakosta, said, “Megan is a multi-talented creative force who has consistently made her mark on culture. She’s always growing and evolving as an artist, and we’re thrilled that she’s making a home at Netflix for this next chapter in her journey.” Megan herself seemed pretty amped about the announcement as well, saying, “I’ve always had a passion for telling creative and entertaining stories, so I’m thrilled about this partnership with Netflix. Venturing into production is the next step in my journey as an entrepreneur and I can’t wait to bring all my ideas to life and for my Hotties to watch.”

Considering Megan’s love for all things anime and nerdy, let’s hope she gets to do some animation as well, so we can potentially see this iconic moment brought to life for real. If I can’t have a Saweetie TV show — there’s still time, Netflix! — at least give me that much.

This article was first published on 12.09.19.

What’s better than a heartwarming story of holiday cheer? How about a heartwarming story that turns out to be a hilarious moment of holiday embarrassment?

When Mary Katherine Backstrom of Fort Myers, Florida, decided to do a good deed for a stranger in a gas station convenience store, she had no idea that her most embarrassing moment would result in a viral story viewed by millions.

It all started when the writer and mother of two was killing time at the Wawa, a local gas station and convenience store, before picking up her kids from school. She had just been reading a story on Facebook about how everyone is so generous over the holidays and how the spirit of giving lifts everyone’s mood, so she decided to pass along some of that spirit to someone else. The woman behind her in line was just buying a ginger ale, so Backstrom offered to pay for it. It was a simple but lovely act of kindness, the woman was moved, and holiday magic was made.

Backstrom left the store to go back to her car, still full of the Christmas spirit, and found a man cleaning her windshield. Blown away by the magic of the holidays and the reverberating kindness of strangers, Backstrom walked up to the man, gave him a huge hug, and told him how much she loved humanity and the magic of Christmas.

Only one problem—it wasn’t her car, it was his. Oh. My. Word. The awkwardness of it all.

You have to hear her tell it, complete with infectious laughter, and don’t be surprised if you feel compelled to watch it over and over again. When Christmas cheer meets abject embarrassment, holiday hilarity is born.

The Facebook Live video has been viewed more than 23 million times in just a few days, and has already been shared nearly 100,000 times. Clearly people are loving it.

Backstrom told Upworthy, “I think the reason it is resonating is that the holidays can be a very hard time for adults, and we forget about the levity of holiday magic, and crave it in these times.” She admits she was highly caffeinated and a little sleep deprived—as most mothers of young children are—when she hugged and gushed all over an unsuspecting stranger, but she hopes to continue to live her life “with reckless joy.”

“This one moment has returned so much laughter and encouragement to my life that I have to think there is something to this,” she says. “Humans miss warm interactions, even if they are a little…erm…bizarre.”

Here’s to the bizarre, awkward, recklessly joyful human moments that bring us all together.

On Wednesday night, Red Bull’s SoundClash returned in Chicago with Detroit rapper Danny Brown and DMV punk Rico Nasty, and the results were apparently quite entertaining, with both artists bringing surprises and nostalgic shenanigans to the stage during one of the event’s curveball rounds. The cover round found them challenged to cover other artists’ songs, with both going to a pair of the defining hits of their respective generations.

While Rico played Chief Keef’s seminal, floor-destroying hit “Faneto” — a Gen-Z fave that helped make Chief Keef one of his cohort’s anchor artists (I defy you to find a rapper under 25 who doesn’t have a least a little of Keef in their music) and an appropriate selection for the equally rage-ridden Rico — Danny Brown flipped the script with the millennial nu-metal headbanger “Freak On A Leash” by genre-mashing thrash band Korn. The scatting part at the end of the song is performed by someone who looks a lot like the band’s frontman Jonathan Davis, which turns the energy in the venue up to a whole new level.

The moment was a perfect example of Brown’s wide-ranging tastes and talents, which he previously showcased when he performed his first-ever standup comedy set opening for Hannibal Buress in September. Perhaps we’ll hear him do a little more singing on his upcoming album, 40, as well. Meanwhile, it was also great seeing Rico performing once again for appreciative crowds after she dealt with a negative response on the Playboi Carti tour.

Final Fantasy XIV is the most popular MMO out there right now. It’s hard to not see why that’s the case thanks to the sheer amount of content that’s in the game — much of it can be added for free — and a storyline that fans of the game rave about. Fans have talked up the plot of the game and how each expansion seems to be better than the last. The most recent one, Endwalker, is receiving praise in the community and it’s helping draw in both old and new players. In fact, so many people are trying to play the game right now that, despite the expansion being released almost a month ago, the servers are still struggling to keep up.

Typically, when a game launches a huge expansion, the servers take a hit those first few weeks before eventually settling down as players stop trying to all play at once. The problem is that isn’t happening right now with Final Fantasy XIV. People are still showing up, which led to the developers of the game making a surprising decision. To keep servers in a more stable place, players that are currently in the free trial can only play the game during late night and early morning hours. Also, any new players trying to register or purchase the game will temporarily not be able to do so. Basically, the game is at capacity and nobody new can get in for a little.

“Players are currently experiencing extremely long wait times due to the dense concentration of play hours which far exceed our server capacity, especially during the peak times, and so we have decided to temporarily suspend the sale and delivery of FINAL FANTASY XIV Starter Edition and Complete Edition,” Naoki Yoshida, the game’s producer and director, said in a statement. “Additionally, although those with an active subscription are prioritized to log in, Free Trial players are unable to log in outside of late night and early morning hours, and so we will also temporarily suspend new registrations for the Free Trial.”

This is shocking, because games never deny new players, especially ones that are actively trying to spend money on the game. But when nobody can get into the game, we understand why a decision like this has to be made. We figure the temporary pause on new registrations and sales will not last too long, but when that will be wasn’t listed in the blog post.

This just goes to show how popular Final Fantasy XIV is right now. We recently talked about how it was one of the best free to play games of 2021, because of the absurd amount of content that you can get without paying anything, but obviously that option isn’t going to be viable to anyone for a brief period of time.

This is obvious, but Bruce Springsteen has built himself quite the body of work. He’s released 20 albums, nine of which topped the charts in the US. The New Jersey icon is also behind favorites like “Born To Run,” “Dancing In The Dark,” “Hungry Heart,” and so many others. He’s even had Broadway success in recent years with Springsteen On Broadway. Now, in terms of owning his storied catalog, he’s moving on, and he was given a substantial amount of money to do so.

Billboard reports that “in what may be the biggest deal in music for an individual body of work,” Springsteen sold his masters to Sony Music and his music publishing to Sony Music Publishing in a combined deal for about $500 million. Yes, that’s half a billion dollars.

While Springsteen has been actively making music since the ’70s, there’s still a lot of value to his catalog today. Billboard notes that Springsteen’s music has “generated 2.25 million album consumption units” in the US since the start of 2018, and that over the past three years, his master recording catalog has averaged around $12 million in sales, according to estimates. Furthermore, his publishing catalog earns an estimated $7.5 million annually.

This deal sees Springsteen keeping things in the family, as he has recorded for Sony’s Columbia Records for his entire career.

Although Doja Cat has had a huge breakout in the last two years, her success has come with increased scrutiny — especially when it comes to the stratospheric single that launched her to her current level of fame, “Say So.” The disco-pop hit became Doja’s first No. 1, but some fans have criticized the rapper-singer for collaborating with formerly disgraced producer Dr. Luke on the song. In 2014, Luke was accused of sexual assault and abuse by his protege Kesha, and some fans viewed “Say So” helping to relaunch his popularity as a betrayal of another woman on Doja’s part — despite Doja signing with Luke’s Kemosabe label before the accusations were made public.

In a new profile in Rolling Stone, a reluctant Doja Cat addressed the criticism, saying, “I haven’t worked with him in a very long time. A lot of those songs were . . . There’s shit that he’s credited for, where I’m like, ‘Hmm, I don’t know, I don’t know if you did anything on that.’ ” Although she declines to elaborate on which songs she means, she does offer insight into their future working relationship.

“The point is he’s gotten some credit for sh*t,” she says. “And, you know, it’s whatever. I don’t think I need to work with him again. I don’t think I need to work with him in the future. I know that. I think it was definitely nice of me to work with him.”

In a follow-up statement to Rolling Stone, Doja clarified that, “When asked about Luke I may have said something that someone could interpret as me saying that he had taken credit on things he didn’t deserve to. I just want to be clear that I have no firsthand knowledge of that being the case and I don’t want to participate in the rumor mill. The credits on my music are accurate, and I don’t want to imply anything else.” She attributes the earlier quote to defensiveness about men getting credit for women’s work. “As a young woman I think it is always important to fight for the credit that we are all due, and that was the point I was trying to make there,” she says.

Elsewhere in the rather comprehensive profile, she clears up why she looked bored performing her signature hit toward the end of its run, confirms her viral breakout hit “Mooo!” was an “obvious joke,” and addresses Nas’ throwaway criticism of her on “Ultra Black.”

In a move that, frankly, more people should have seen coming, Melania Trump‘s first post-White House venture is selling NFTs. The former First Lady announced the endeavor on Thursday morning, which she touted as a combination of “my passion for art and commitment to helping our Nation’s children fulfill their own unique American Dream.” As part of her questionable Be Best campaign, an undisclosed portion of the proceeds from the sale of Melania’s first NFT “will assist children aging out of the foster care system,” according to an official statement:

“I am proud to announce my new NFT endeavor, which embodies my passion for the arts, and will support my ongoing commitment to children through my Be Best initiative. Through this new technology-based platform, we will provide children computer science skills, including programming and software development, to thrive after they age out of the foster community.”

The first NFT is already available for sale, and you’ll never who’s guess the subject of this work of art: Melania Trump. The NFT is a painting of her “cobalt blue eyes” (as they’re referred to in a press release) along with an audio recording of her voice because of course.

Social media is already having a field day with Melania’s new “charitable” endeavor that coincidentally also happens to be a vanity project. Also, how any of this is supposed to stop bullying, Be Best’s original mission statement, is anybody’s guess.

(Via Melania Trump on Twitter)