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On Sunday, the world was shocked to learn that designer and DJ Virgil Abloh passed away at the age of 41. His death came after a private battle with cardiac angiosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer. A post that was shared on Abloh’s Instagram page said this: “He chose to endure his battle privately since his diagnosis in 2019, undergoing numerous challenging treatments, all while helming several significant institutions that span fashion, art, and culture.” His death inspired many to share their condolences on social media, the latest being Kid Cudi who wrote a lengthy message honoring Abloh on Instagram.

“It’s taken me a few days to make this post,” Cudi wrote with a carousel of images featuring him and Abloh. “Tryna find the right words. Virgil was the kindest most warmest soul I’ve ever met. He was a true visionary, genius, disrupter, epic DJ and artist, but he was also just truly a beautiful human.” He continued:

I’ve never known anyone quite like him. And I know i never will. Once in a lifetime. Virgil, I thank u for being a true friend and always makin me feel special when u sent a text, made time for me to hang or sent some shoes w my name on them. I love you endlessly. Til we meet again my friend. I hope u see what you’ve done. You changed the world forever. You did that. I love you Virgil. Goodbye my friend. Your brother, Rager.

Cudi was also one of many artists who appeared at Abloh’s final Louis Vuitton fashion show on Tuesday night. He also performed “Moon,” he and Ye’s collaboration with Don Toliver from Donda.

On Wednesday, MLB and MLBPA representatives met briefly with an impending work stoppage looming, and unsurprisingly a miraculous last-minute agreement was not reached.

As such, late Wednesday night, MLB owners voted unanimously to institute a lockout, as reported by Jon Heyman, which will begin on Thursday, the first work stoppage in baseball since the strike of 1994-95.

At the center of the issues right now for CBA negotiations are the rather upsetting number of teams that simply won’t spend and choose not to compete. While some teams are willing to spend, as evidenced by the massive contracts handed out by the Mets and Rangers, specifically, this offseason, others have almost embarrassingly low payrolls — Max Scherzer, for example, would make more than two entire teams if the season started immediately.

Owners, of course, want to keep things as they are and will want something in return from the players if they are to make any concessions with regard to revenue split or instituting some kind of salary floor. By starting the lockout now, with many free agents still unsigned and no one getting paid, the hope from ownership is to create a weaker players union by causing some to simply want the lockout to end rather than fighting for the best possible collective bargaining agreement. There are still a few months before a stoppage would bleed into the start of spring training, but few anticipate this being resolved quickly.

For some reason, Drake was sitting courtside from Wednesday night’s Oklahoma City Thunder-Houston Rockets showdown in Oklahoma City.

The logical reason for Drake to be at this game is probably to support Thunder guard and Toronto native Shai-Gilgeous Alexander (and Lu Dort, who is also a Canadian on OKC’s squad). But why this specific game to do so? At some point, Gilgeous-Alexander will be back in Toronto playing with the Thunder. And this isn’t even a good opponent to see the Thunder play against. No offense to the Rockets, but they are among the worst teams in the league (although now riding a 4-game winning streak) and don’t even have their top pick (Jalen Green) available right now due to injury.

Frankly, getting to the bottom of why Drake is at Thunder-Rockets on a Wednesday night in December is worthy of some kind of investigation. He was in Toronto as recently as two days ago, but perhaps he’s just really into Josh Giddey’s passes (or maybe his TikTok) or loves Alperen Şengün’s flair as a center in addition to wanting to support his countrymen. It’s so random that it deserves a random explanation, one that many on Twitter were searching for.

Drake also made friends with an older couple he was sitting next to in his courtside seat, posting to his Instagram story that they are his ‘new parents.’

It turned out to be a pretty good game, with Houston winning 114-110 thanks to a big fourth quarter comeback, so maybe Drake is smarter than us all, a savvy shopper for what had to have been some relatively cheap courtside seats to take in a pretty entertaining game.

Despite not dropping an album this year and leaving fans waiting for his next release, The Weeknd took home a big award for his work in 2021. The singer was given Apple Music’s Global Artist Of The Year at the platform’s third annual ceremony. “I’m so grateful for this huge honour and want to thank Apple for all its support, not only for my work but also for great music by newer artists, where it matters so much for creators to be found and supported,” he said according to Complex.

The win comes after The Weeknd was recognized as an artist who had one of YouTube’s most trending videos thanks to his one for “Save Your Tears.” The runner-up for that honor is Pooh Shiesty and Lil Durk’s “Back In Blood.” The Weeknd was also honored for his 2021 Super Bowl Halftime Show, which appeared in YouTube’s Top Five list of overall trending videos.

Elsewhere, The Weeknd had his 2019 single “Blinding Lights” named as the “No. 1 song of all time” by Billboard. Prior to that, the song became the longest-charting song of all time after it logged its 88th week on the Hot 100 in mid-August.

You can see an image of The Weeknd with his award in the post above.

After gaining some attention from a series of standalone singles over the last few years, Korean-American producer-songwriter James Ivy has finally welcomed us into his unique musical world with the Good Grief EP. Built upon a driving sense of groove, the EP combines elements of anthemic rock, electronica, and early-2000’s pop sounds that almost feel like they’re from a lost era. The EP is what Ivy calls “a project that I’ve been wanting to make for a long time,” and the attention to details is palpable throughout its five tracks.

To celebrate the new EP, Ivy sat down to talk Linkin Park, Korean food in New Jersey, and more in the latest Indie Mixtape 20 Q&A.

What are four words you would use to describe your music?

Fun, Funny, Full, and Fucked.

It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?

I’d like it to just leave a mark on people in any capacity! Just to know that the music that moved me while making it, also moved other people who listened to it is enough for me.

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?

Had the most insane time performing in Brooklyn about a week ago. I think I just got super amped to play cause I knew a bunch of my friends were coming hahaha. But we play our first night in Austin tomorrow so we’ll see how that measures up. I feel like it’s gonna be a crazy one.

Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?

It truthfully changes all the time and the question can really be interpreted in so many different ways. I feel like my parents inspired me and gave me a lot of opportunities growing up to pursue what I wanted in life, in this case, music. Right now I think my biggest musical inspiration is Thom Yorke. But the people who have most inspired my work have honestly all been my friends, peers and contemporaries. There’s really nothing like getting inspired by people your age doing cool shit.

Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

So Moon Nan Jib in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Favorite Korean food ever.

What album do you know every word to?

Meteora by Linkin Park. I can’t really remember song lyrics like I used to when I was a kid. Think I know Mike Shinoda’s whole verse on “Nobody’s Listening” Lol.

What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?

No bias, Nurture Tour Live. Porter’s set is seriously crafted with so much love and care and it really really shows. I think closely behind is seeing Show Me the Body live in New York.

What is the best outfit for performing and why?

Jeans and a Tee-shirt. Makes it really simple every night if you have a bunch of shirts you like and jeans that fit well. Dressing up to perform is hard hahaha I’ve given up a bit and have kept it pretty simple on this tour.

Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?

Action Bronson. Super inspiring person for real. Larger than life personality too.

What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?

We don’t play a ton of music on the bus because we drive a lot at night and we are all sleeping for the most part. But I put on my headphones every night and fall asleep to ambient music a lot of the time. Brian Eno’s Music For Airports and Alvedon’s song “WEArgue.”

What’s the last thing you Googled?

“Demon Slayer Movie Stream”

What album makes for the perfect gift?

The Blue Nile – Hats. Great sad holiday gift record.

Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?

Honestly, haven’t crashed in any weird places yet! Green room couches in states I’ve never been is about as wild as it’s gotten so far.

What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?

I was in Austin and I had just turned 18. A few of my friends out there had started getting tattoos and we all joked about me getting a tattoo on my trip. I actually said I was going to do it at one point and they didn’t let me take it back. I had no idea what to get so I found this picture of the character Bloo from the cartoon Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends and decided on getting it on my upper thigh so it wouldn’t be visible if I was wearing pants, only in shorts. We drove to this place off the side of the highway called “Atomic Tattoo” I think and it was so shit hahaha. The person who gave it to me used the thickest lines ever and had the heaviest hand. My most painful tattoo by far.

What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?

I don’t want to sound like a snob but I never listen to radio anymore. It’s really aux cord, bluetooth, or bust at this point. If it’s an oldies channel and they’re playing the Cars or the Cure or something I’ll stick around though.

What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

My friend Instupendo modded my 3DS once and put an insane amount of games on the console itself so it just had every game I’d ever want to play on it ever. Also added a bunch of cute backgrounds and homepage themes for me. Gotta be the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever gotten.

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

I would tell him to stop chasing what other artists have already done!!! Feel like I wasted so much of my life trying to replicate my inspiration’s work, rather than finding something in me that was more of my own. Would also give him some better music to listen to, and maybe some advice on how to dress.

What’s the last show you went to?

I went to see Wavedash and Anamanaguchi play live in Pittsburgh. Such a great show I love all those guys dearly.

What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?

I always watch About Time if it’s ever on. Most goated Rom Com ever hands down no debate.

What would you cook if Obama were coming to your house for dinner?

Instant ramen.

Good Grief is out now on FADER. Listen here.

‘Tis the season that Home Alone and its first sequel are airing pretty much round the clock. (That goes less so for the three other follow-ups, including the one with a young Scarlett Johansson.) So naturally the franchise would fuel yet another in an unusual new trend: Airbnb one-offs involving movies and TV shows. It happened to Sex and the City. It even happened to House of Gucci. And now it’s happening to the series about a kid with a forgetful family who effs up some burglars but good.

As per Deadline, the rental giant is offering the palatial suburban mini-mansion featured in the first two Home Alones is up for grabs for a single night. The booking won’t open up till Dec. 7 and, unlike the Sex and the City rental, there’s no set price. Moreover, the lucky winner(s) will have to pony up for travel to scenic Winnetka, Illinois, located a hop, skip, and a jump from Chicago (ditto the airport that felled the McCallister clan twice).

In an Airbnb statement attributed to Buzz, the casually sadistic older brother played by Devin Ratray (who brags about running his own security firm), invites “one crew of mischief makers to let their inner eight-year-olds run free in my childhood home on Dec. 12” while the cats are away.

Amenities include “plenty of Chicago’s finest pizza and a candlelit dinner of microwavable Kraft Macaroni & Cheese,” plus a chance to watch the Disney+ revival film Home Sweet Home Alone. The winners will also get their mitts on such props as the deadly paint bucket and the bronze statue repeatedly mowed down by the pizza guy.

The special deal will raise funds for Chicago’s La Rabida Children’s Hospital.

Apparently the current owners are cool with having strangers bop about their movie-famous abode, even though they paid a whopping $1.585 million back in 2012 to keep it for themselves.

(Via Deadline)

Keeping track of all the new albums coming out in a given month is a big job, but we’re up for it: Below is a comprehensive list of the major releases you can look forward to in December. If you’re not trying to potentially miss out on anything, it might be a good idea to keep reading.

Friday, December 3

• 1K Phew & Lecrae — No Church In A While (Reach Records)
• Aisha Badru — The Way Back Home EP (Nettwerk Records)
• Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge — Remixes JID010 (Jazz is Dead)
• Andrew Gabbard — Homemade (Colemine Records)
• Arca — Kick iii (XL Recordings)
• Arca — Kick iiii (XL Recordings)
• Berner — Gotti (Bern One Entertainment)
• Carleigh Aikins — Junk Jewelry (SilverDoor)
• Cold Collective — Weathervane (Rise Records)
• Deep Throat Choir — In Order To Know You (Bella Union)
• Emilia Anastazja — Flower House EP (Young and Aspiring)
• Failure — Wild Type Droid (Failure Music)
• Fruit Juice — Mirke vs. The Dreamy LLC (Easy Street Records)
• Full Bush — Movie Night EP (Brutal Panda Records)
• G’emma — Types of Water EP (Sonar Kollektiv)
• Jason Boland — The Light Saw Me (Proud Souls Ent.)
• Jesse Cook — Libre (Outside Music/Redeye)
• Kathryn Williams & Carol Ann Duffy — Midnight Chorus (One Little Independent)
• Kenny G — New Standards (Concord Records)
• Khalid — Scenic Drive (Right Hand Music)
• LP — Churches (PIAS Recordings)
• Luttrell — Music For My Memories (Anjunadeep)
• MadeinTYO and UnoTheActivist — Yokohama (Private Club Records)
• Marissa Paternoster — Peace Meter (Don Giovanni Records)
• Mike Block — Planispheres (Bright Shiny Things)
• The Mother Hips — Glowing Lantern (Blue Rose)
• Nardo Wick — Who Is Nardo Wick? (RCA)
• New Found Glory — December’s Here (Hopeless Records)
• Nils Frahm — Old Friends New Friends (LEITER)
• NLE Choppa — Me Vs. Me EP (No Love Entertainment/Warner)
• No Rome — It’s All Smiles (Dirty Hit)
• Pepper Lewis — She Told Me To Sing My Heart Out EP (AWAL)
• Pick A Piper — Sea Steps EP (Tin Angel)
• Polo G — Hall of Fame 2.0 (Columbia Records)
• Quinn Christopherson — I Am Bubblegum EP (4AD)
• Rival Consoles — Overflow (Erased Tapes)
• Sky H1 — Azure (AD 93)
• So Hideous — None But a Pure Heart Can Sing (Silent Pendulum)
• Tom Morello — The Atlas Underground Flood (Mom + Pop Music)
• Treetop Flyers — Old Habits (Loose Music)
• Trini Lopez — The Rare Reprise Singles (Omnivore Recordings)
• Volbeat — Servant Of The Mind (Republic Records)
• Wajatta — Do You Even Care Anymore? (Brainfeeder)

Friday, December 10

• Aeon Station — Observatory (Sub Pop Records)
• Big Boi and Sleepy Brown — The Big Sleepover (HITCO)
• Buck Owens and Susan Raye — Together Again (Omnivore)
• Clear Mortifee — Fairies: Act II EP (AntiFragile)
• Fela Kuti — Vinyl Box Set #5 (Knitting Factory Records)
• Green Day — The BBC Sessions (Warner Records)
• Herman Dune — Santa Cruz Gold (Yaya Tova)
• Honey Guide — A Tidy Room Is A Tidy Mind EP (Bam Bam Records)
• Horse Show — Falsterbo EP (PNKSLM Recordings)
• Jeff Parker — Forfolks (International Anthem/Nonesuch)
• Jlin — Embryo EP (Planet Mu)
• Joan Avant — Dies Irae (Red Masque Records)
• Juice WRLD — Fighting Demons (Grade A Productions/Interscope Records)
• Kid Dad — Bloom EP (Long Branch Records)
• Majid Soula — Chant Amazigh (Habibi Funk Records)
• Mercury X — Imprisoned (Frontiers Music)
• Michot’s Melody Makers — Tiny Island EP (Nouveau Electric Records)
• Monsta X — The Dreaming (Starship Entertainment Co. Ltd./Intertwine Music)
• Moses Sumney — Live From Blackalachia (Tuntum)
• Mouth Congress — Waiting For Henry (Captured Tracks)
• Nalan — I’m Good. The Crying Tape (Mansions and Millions)
• Nicole Atkins — Memphis Ice (Single Lock Records)
• The O’My’s — No Swimming EP (ADA/Warner Music Group)
• Rick Ross — Richer Than I Ever Been (Maybach Music Group)
• San Fermin — In This House (Better Company)
• Spell Songs — Spell Songs II: Let The Light In (Thirty Tigers)
• Teen Daze — Interior (Cascine)
• Ziemba — Unsubtle Magic (Sister Polygon)

Friday, December 17

• Beverly Glenn-Copeland — Keyboard Fantasies Reimagined (Transgressive)
• Chuck Berry — Live From Blueberry Hill (Dualtone Records)
• John Dwyer, Ryan Sawyer, Greg Coates, Wilder Zoby, and Andres Renteri — Gong Splat (Forced Exposure)
• Johnny Marr — Fever Dreams Pt 2 EP (BMG)
• Nick Cave and Warren Ellis — Les Panthère Des Neiges — Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Invada Records/Lakeshore Records)
• Small Jackets — Just Like This! (Go Down Records)
• Various Artists — Sing 2 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Republic)

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

Wolves center Karl-Anthony Towns finished Wednesday’s Wolves-Wizards game with a 34-point, 10-rebound performance in Minnesota’s 115-107 road loss. He was once again fantastic amid a strong season for him, but he did have to leave the game early after slipping off the rim on a dunk in the fourth quarter.

Towns, it appears, had too much momentum going forward as he completed the dunk, causing him to fall hard onto his tailbone as he finished the dunk. The play put him in obvious pain, causing him to leave the game to be examined on the bench while lying down. Before the game ended, Towns went to the locker room, presumably for further examination.

At this time, it’s not clear how severe the injury is. It’s a scary fall to see considering he fell straight back after finishing the dunk. The hope would be that it’s nothing serious and that he won’t have to miss any time, or, at the worst, he would only miss a handful of games. With a showdown with the East leading Nets in Brooklyn on Friday, Minnesota will be hoping their star is only sore and able to give it a go against one of the best teams in the NBA.

If Towns is out for any period of time, it could be a blow to Minnesota as they jockey for position in the Western Conference. Currently, they are 11-11 and in the thick of the playoff picture. It’s early, but in a competitive conference, every game matters.

UPDATE: Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, X-rays returned negative on Towns, which is obviously a good sign.

For a few years now, Tom Brady has used social media to recap the football games he’s won with both the New England Patriots and, now, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. These recaps usually feature a motivational message from the football player followed by some highlights, usually with a song from a popular artist playing in the background. For this past Sunday’s win against the Indianapolis Colts, Brady recapped the game with a video that featured Freddie Gibbs and Big Sean’s “4 Thangs” in the background. Gibbs caught wind of this development and took to social media to celebrate.

Gibbs reposted Brady’s video on Instagram and wrote, “Tom Brady bout to turn me to a Bucs fan [laughing emoji].” He also reposted the video on Twitter, writing, “My dog TB12!!!”

Gibbs, who hails from Gary, Indiana, has spoken about his distaste for the Indianapolis Colts for well over a decade, as tweets from 2010 prove. “I fux wit DA BEARS and anybody that’s that’s playin the f*ckin colts,” he wrote in one tweet while another simply read, “F*ck the colts.” Gibbs also once wrote, “All y’all n****z from Gary that know y’all grew up as BEAR fans please stop d*ck ridin’ the colts cuz they in the super bowl.” This is in reference to the Colts’ Super Bowl matchup against the New Orleans Saints, in 2010 which they lost by a score of 31-17.

Freddie Gibbs is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Years ago, the NBA and NCAA instituted penalties for players who leave the bench area during a fight to try and prevent things from becoming all out brawls between teams. Still, sometimes guys can’t help but break free of the bench area to check things out, either to be peacemakers or to be instigators.

On Wednesday night, longtime hated rivals [checks notes] Nebraska and NC State met in Raleigh and in a tie game in the fourth quarter, things got heated and bit of a fracas broke out near the NC State bench. A number of technical fouls were handed out, with Kobe Webster of Nebraska and Cam Hayes of NC State being the two chief participants, but the scuffle became a viral sensation thanks to the presence of Trey McGowans, who scooted across the court from the Huskers bench to check out what was going on — his little brother, Bryce, was down there — and his leisurely roll across the court was a hysterical visual.

McGowans doesn’t get involved, but couldn’t help but want to check things out. As the announcers note, it’ll be interesting to see if there’s further penalties on folks for leaving the bench — with McGowans obviously sticking out as the only person on the floor riding a knee scooter. In any case, he’s provided us with basketball’s NED moment, and we can all be thankful for that.