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Grammy-winning producer Robert Glasper returns with a new single to announce the release date for his upcoming album, Black Radio III, which drops February 25 via Concord Loma Vista. The timing couldn’t be better, as 2022 marks the 10th anniversary of the original Black Radio album, which earned Glasper his first-ever Grammy for Best R&B Album. After sharing “Better Than I Imagined” featuring HER last year, Glasper follows up today with the video for “Black Superhero.”

Opening with a quote from culture critic Ta-Nehisi Coates and featuring verses from Killer Mike, BJ The Chicago Kid, and Big KRIT, “Black Superheroes” contemplates the everyday heroism of normal people creating a life in a nation where that’s not always the easiest thing to do. Despite the unwelcoming conditions of life in America for many Black Americans, whether they are barbers, politicians, teachers, or even just children, thriving is close enough to a superpower.

The video’s director, Charlie Buhler, offered this explanation in a press release: “‘Black Superhero’ is a visual love letter to the Black community. It’s an ode to our strength, vibrancy, and joy. We have struggled, and yet we are still here, and not only are we here, but we are so much more than the adversity heaped upon us. I am grateful to Robert and the team at Loma Vista for trusting me with such a powerful and important song, and everyone who came together to help bring the concept to life. It was a true labor of love.”

Watch Robert Glasper’s “Black Superhero” video above.

Black Radio III is due 2/25 via Concord Loma Vista. You can pre-order it here.

The New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks have kicked off the NBA’s trade season in a big way. According to a report by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Hawks have finally found a suitor for third-year forward Cam Reddish, as the team will send him to the Big Apple in a trade that will net them a protected first-round draft pick.

Solomon Hill and a pick are also headed to New York, while Atlanta will also receive Kevin Knox.

The news was confirmed by Sarah Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.

As Wojnarowski pointed out, this trade sends Reddish to a team that will give the former Duke standout the opportunity to have an increased role as he looks for a contract extension this summer. Beyond reuniting with former Blue Devil R.J. Barrett, Reddish should give the Knicks some more punch on the perimeter, which they have lacked for stretches this season — Reddish has averaged 11.9 points in 23.4 minutes per game this season while connecting on 37.9 percent of his attempts from three, but has only started seven of the 34 games in which he’s appeared.

The news of the move comes less than 10 days after lead Hawks executive Travis Schlenk indicated some moves were on the horizon in the midst of the team’s disappointing campaign. Currently, the team is 17-23 on the year, which puts them in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and three games back of the final spot in the play-in tournament. The Knicks, meanwhile, are in 11th, but sit in a tie with Boston for the 10-seed.

As Ben Affleck continues to promote his role in the George Clooney-directed The Tender Bar, the actor has been getting candid about the pitfalls of fame, and now, he wants something in return. Namely, a discount on Aflac insurance. While sitting down for a Wired “Autocomplete Interview,” the outgoing Batman shared his frustration over the insurance company’s name being way too similar to his own and being repeatedly “shrieked” by Gilbert Gottfried.

“Now imagine that insurance company has a bottomless budget to buy television commercials,” Affleck said. “And now imagine that their creative choice is to hire a duck to shriek your last name in as loud and obnoxious a way as humanly possible for the duration of a television commercial.”

According to Affleck, the squawking duck commercials truly became the bane of his existence during a long flight to New York. Via The Wrap:

“And then imagine what it’s like when you’re on an airplane, and the hammered lady behind you recognizes you, and thinks she’s gonna do her best Gilbert Gottfried for six hours, all the way to New York,” Affleck continued, referencing the comedian with a distinctively abrasive voice. “Thank you, Aflac! I don’t own it! But I deserve it. I would like a discount.”

As for how the subject came up, one of the top Google searches for Affleck is whether or not he owns the insurance company, which he responded to with a sigh before launching into his tale of drunken wine ladies yelling his name at thirty thousand feet, and not in a good way.

(Via Wired, The Wrap)

Unless you’re Marlon Brando, a big part of being an actor is memorizing your lines. This is especially true for live entertainment, like Saturday Night Live, where you can tell when someone is using cue cards or not. On Wednesday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, former-SNL cast member David Spade discussed how frequent-host Tom Hanks can still remember every word of his sketches, even one that didn’t make it to air.

“He really lights up, he remembers everything he did on there,” Spade said about Hanks. The Tommy Boy star then told a story about the first time he met the two-time Oscar winner, who pitched a sketch about subway surfing. “First of all, I have a legal pad,” he said. “We don’t have computers back then…. I knew how to write a couple of jokes. We wrote it all night, then we did it, and it bombed.” Spade continued:

“I remember being on the subway, surfing, and he was next to me. Our eyes connected. We were like, ‘It’s over, dude.’ We were two minutes into it and we had five more. I’m like, ‘Oh it’s bombing!’ We just did it wrong… He was the host, and he cut it.”

Later on, Spade and Hanks reminisced about the dud sketch, and “he remembered the song. He sang the whole song. He remembered the song. I couldn’t believe it.” Tom Hanks: pretty good actor! Who knew. You can watch the interview with Spade above.

Spoon is getting ready to drop a new album, Lucifer On The Sofa, which they teased a few days ago with “Wild.” The album comes out in about a month, and shortly after that, the band will embark on some North American tour dates, which they announced today.

They have a show at the Observatory in Santa Ana a few days before the album release, and then the tour really kicks off with some East Coast dates in early April before heading west between then and early June.

Check out Spoon’s upcoming tour dates below.

02/08 — Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory
04/06 — Boston, MA @ House of Blues #
04/08 — New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall #
04/09 — Richmond, VA @ The National #
04/11 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club #
04/15 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore #
04/16 — New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom #
04/18 — Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit #
04/19 — Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre #
04/22 — St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre #
04/23 — Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave #
04/25 — Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note #
04/28 — Wilmington, NC @ Greenfield Lake Amphitheater #
04/29 — Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Festival
05/24 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom *
05/25 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex *
05/27 — Napa, CA @ BottleRock
05/28 — Sacramento, CA @ Ace Of Spades *
05/29 — San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore *
05/31 — Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up *
06/02 — Los Angeles, CA @ Palladium *
06/03 — Tucson, AZ @ The Rialto Theatre *
06/04 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren *

# with Margaret Glaspy
* with Geese

Lucifer On The Sofa is out 2/11 via Matador Records. Pre-order it here.

Nearly two months after the death of Memphis rapper Young Dolph, the late rapper’s fiancee Mia Jaye granted her first interview with ABC News Live Prime to talk about the effects his death has had on her and their family. Dolph and Mia have two children together, and Dolph often said that he wanted to retire from rap to spend more time with them. Mia explained how important the kids were to him in the interview.

“It’s been extremely difficult, just having to pick up the pieces and to find the strength for my children,” she said. That is the one thing: Adolph and myself felt we had a duty to them. To protect them, to raise them, to just do so much for them, and together. Now that he’s no longer here, it’s just very tough for me to be strong for them and also be strong for myself because Adolph was my soulmate when I say they stole my future, it has taken a long time to iron out the kinks.”

Dolph was shot to death outside a Memphis bakery while buying cookies. Police have made two arrests and indicted three suspects so far. A street in Memphis was renamed for the late rapper, nodding to his importance to his hometown, while collaborators like Gucci Mane and his own Paper Route Empire label have also paid musical tribute.

You can watch Mia Jaye’s interview above.

Since 2010, only six videos have been recognized as YouTube’s most-viewed video. Of the six, five were music videos from pop stars: “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga, “Baby” by Justin Bieber, “Gangnam Style” by PSY, “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa, and “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi, which held the title for 1,186 days. But in November 2020, the maddeningly catchy “Baby Shark Dance” surpassed “Despacito” to become YouTube’s most-viewed video — easily the most important thing to happen in November 2020.

“Baby Shark” has also became the first video to hit 10 billion views. Via a press release:

The Pinkfong Company, creator of Baby Shark, announced that its iconic “Baby Shark Dance” music video has officially become the world’s first video ever to hit 10 billion views on YouTube, making it the most viewed video in YouTube history, as of January 13th, 2022. The video was released in June 2016. Since surpassing “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee in November 2020, “Baby Shark Dance” has reigned as the most-viewed video on YouTube for 15 consecutive months.

“Despacito” has 7.7 billion views, meaning “Baby Shark Dance” is now 2.3 billion views ahead of second place. For comparison’s sake, the gap between “Baby Shark Dance” and “Despacito” is basically the same as the total number of views for Bieber’s “Baby,” which was YouTube’s most-viewed video for over 800 days.

That goddamn shark is inescapable, as every parent knows all too well.

Let’s get this obligatory line out of the way first: love is dead.

From there, we can reflect upon the surprising news that See and Aquaman star Jason Momoa and A Different World and Mustang-lover Lisa Bonet called it quits. They’ve been together for about sixteen years, married for five years, and share two children; and yep the marriage has run its course.

Momoa announced the parting of their ways on Instagram, where he explained that “We have all felt the squeeze and changes of these transformational times.” He added, “We share this not because we think it’s newsworthy ~ But so that~ as we go about our lives we may do so with dignity and honesty.” Further, he declared that “We free each other.”

All of this is happening amid pandemic conditions, although that doesn’t appear to have slowed down the career front for Momoa. Rather, he’s moved from losing his mind in “gnarly” quarantine before going “blonde” for Aquaman 2. It happens!

Whatever the cause of the split, people are shocked to hear the news. Reactions are mixed, but the news has made some people emotional… and yes, it’s also a “huge blow for hot people.”

Some people are looking on the bright side and seeing this as a tiny shred of “hope” amid the ongoing 2022 mess.

Then there are important questions to discuss, like who gets custody of “hotness” and Lisa’s other ex, Lenny Kravitz.

RIP to both Jason and Lisa’s DMs, and good luck to them both.

And think of poor Pete Davidson! The dude has a new dilemma in life.

Angel Olsen has been compared to ’60s folk favorite Karen Dalton on numerous occasions, and today brings news that should please fans of both artists: Olsen has covered “Something On Your Mind,” from Dalton’s 1971 album In My Own Time.

The recording is part of Light In The Attic’s Cover Series and is being released on a 7-inch vinyl that also includes Dalton’s original recording on the B side. After that, on March 25, the label will share a 50th anniversary edition of In My Own Time.

Olsen says of the song, “‘Something On Your Mind,’ for me, is about letting yourself face something that keeps setting you back.”

Of course, this comes shortly after the 2021 documentary Karen Dalton: In My Own Time, in which Olsen read some of Dalton’s journal entries. In an interview, co-directors Richard Peete and Robert Yapkowitz spoke about Olsen’s involvement with the film, with Peete saying, “It was just a perfect way for her to contribute, and she nailed it. She got the nuance and the certain little comedic beats and the sad parts. She did a really incredible job.” Yapkowitz added, “It’s nice to have someone else like Angel read it just to contribute in some way besides sitting down and giving an interview and saying, ‘I love Karen Dalton’s music,’ you know? There’s only so many times you can hear that before it loses its meaning, so to have people like Angel and Julia Holter, who did the score, contribute in those ways is not only showing their support for Karen and her legacy, but it’s also truly helping tell the story.”

Listen to Olson’s cover of “Something On Your Mind” above.

After watching the trailers for HBO Max’s Peacemaker, which picks up the story of John Cena’s character following the aftermath of The Suicide Squad, the show appears to be a mad-cap action comedy complete with a majestic eagle sidekick who join Cena’s Christopher Smith on his quest to achieve peace by any means (a.k.a. shooting everything in sight). One comparison you probably would not make is the more exploratory prestige drama like AMC’s hit Breaking Bad and its prequel series Better Call Saul, but there’s exactly where Peacemaker writer and director James Gunn went in a new interview.

While talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Gunn cited Vince Gilligan’s meth drama as a major influence on his “douchebag” superhero series:

“It’s the ability to take its time in telling the story,” Gunn tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Both Saul and Chris are kind of sad-sack characters who are really good at one thing and then really bad at a lot of other things. So I think it’s really just taking that incredibly smart dialogue, that relaxed nature of grounded life and then mixing that with the other things that I wanted to do with the show. But I love Better Call Saul. I think it’s one of the best shows on TV, if not the best.”

Of course, this raises significant questions like is Eagly the show’s Jesse Pinkman or Mike Ehrmentraut? Or perhaps even its Kim Wexler? Fortunately, there won’t be long to wait to find out because the first three episodes of Peacemaker are now streaming on HBO Max.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)