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Is Piers Morgan still rabidly obsessed with Meghan Markle? You bet. After Markle and Prince Harry made the cover of Time‘s Most 100 Influential People issue, Morgan couldn’t resist taking a shot at the couple through an overuse of emoji.

While revealing the cover on Wednesday morning, TIME tweeted a quote from Chef Jose Andres who praised the Sussexes for their compassion:

“In a world where everyone has an opinion about people they don’t know, the duke and duchess have compassion for the people they don’t know. They don’t just opine. They run toward the struggle.”

Morgan retweeted the quote with not one, but eight “rolling on the floor laughing” emoji, which sparked a wave of replies dunking on the former Good Morning Britain host for still being mad about the time Markle ghosted him.

Following their groundbreaking interview with Oprah Winfrey where they detailed the racism they experienced from the royal family, Morgan became one of the couple’s fiercest critic, which ultimately resulted in him exiting his job at Good Morning Britain after he stormed off set when a colleague pushed back on his criticism.

Since then, Morgan has been routinely called out for his “obsession” with Markle who reportedly never called him back after one date. The TV personality has been writing salty columns about the Duchess for the Daily Mail, and this latest jab at her Time magazine cover is just more evidence that he’s not done frothing at the mouth over their Oprah interview. Although, he did find time to engage in a war of words with Nicki Minaj over her cousin’s friend’s allegedly inflated testicles.

(Via Piers Morgan on Twitter)

Soon after releasing their critically acclaimed new album, Screen Violence, which leans into a slasher motif, Chvrches are back with a chilling cover of Gerard McMann’s “Cry Little Sister,” which helps soundtrack Netflix’s new horror-fantasy film Nightbooks. McMann’s original, of course, famously soundtracked the 1987 film The Lost Boys.

“We were so excited to work on this project as we are big fans of everyone involved,” the band shared of making their cover. “Cinema — horror in particular — has always been a big part of Chvrches behind the scenes. We have talked about covering ‘Cry Little Sister’ for years and this seemed like the perfect moment to do it.”

The band also recently opened up to Uproxx about how the horror genre factors into their latest album. “Screen Violence was actually a proposed band name that we didn’t end up using,” Lauren Mayberry said about the album’s title. “So, we were thinking in summer 2019 of what we wanted to do and then that list of names resurface and that phrase just really jumped out of the page. ‘Cause we all love that, filmmaking and making a David Cronenberg-y take on it and the questions that he was posing. And even sonically, a lot of the instruments that we use and the composers and writers that we admire were working on those films. And then after writing a few songs, I think for me, it was partly talking about violence through screens and by screens. But also thinking about… It was not a concept record as far as it’s not about those things.”

Check out Chvrches’ cover of “Cry Little Sister” above.

Within about 10 seconds of USC’s decision to fire head football coach Clay Helton, Urban Meyer’s name seemed to shoot to the top of the list of potential candidates among college football fans who recall past rumors that linked him to the job. Meyer was given the chance to respond to those rumblings on Wednesday afternoon, and as he told the assembled media in Jacksonville, he has zero intention of leaving Florida for California.

“There’s no chance,” Meyer said about leaving for the Trojans. “I’m here, committed to trying and build the organization.”

The job opened up following the Jaguars’ 37-21 shellacking at the hands of the Houston Texans in Meyer’s debut as an NFL head coach. One of the most successful head coaches in the history of college football, Meyer opted to take on a new challenge this past offseason, but almost right away, reports have indicated some bumps in the road about his ability to lead an NFL franchise.

It would make plenty of sense why USC would want Meyer, who went 187-32 during his time as the college football coach with three national championships. And if he were to ever want to return to the college game, USC would give Meyer the sort of football-crazed university and talent base in recruiting that would let him thrive. But for now, it doesn’t seem like he has any interest in making that happen.

A few weeks out from releasing their much-anticipated album I Don’t Live Here Anymore, The War On Drugs have shared an exciting new video for the title track. Featuring back-up vocals from Lucius singers Holly Laessig and Jess Wolf, who also star in the video, “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” is a glittering, full-bodied track that drives forward with echoing drums and gorgeous synth-lines.

The video, meanwhile, is directed by Emmett Malloy and finds the band in travel mode. After some shots of leader Adam Granduciel riding a train and strumming for an audience of chickens, it escalates to The War On Drugs playing on a scenic rooftop with Lucius by their side. Check it out above.

Earlier in July, the Philly dream-rock outfit announced the follow-up to 2017’s A Deeper Understanding. I Don’t Live Here Anymore was recorded in seven different studios, including New York’s Electric Lady and Los Angeles’ Sound City, and, according to the band’s website, is an “uncommon rock album about one of our most common but daunting processes — resilience in the face of despair.”

I Don’t Live Here Anymore is out 10/29 via Atlantic Records. Pre-order it here.

The War On Drugs is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Catie Turner spends a lot of time in bathrooms, an experience that she wanted to honor and permanently capture for her new performance series launching today, Songs From The Bathroom Floor. Every Wednesday for the next six weeks, Indie Mixtape is excited to share another cut from the performance series, which finds Turner occupying several different bathrooms for intimate, stripped-down versions of cuts from her catalogue.

From the dreaded reverberating tile of a middle school locker room to what appears to be a separately enclosed outhouse within a home, Songs From The Bathroom Floor is a colorful and impressive collection of songs proves that restrooms have quite a bit to offer a performer, more than being a place to simply do your business — or as Turner explains in one clip, a private enclave to cry.

Check out Turner’s performance of “Play God” above, and subscribe to UPROXX Indie Mixtape on YouTube right here to be the first in line for upcoming Songs From The Bathroom Floor sessions every Wednesday. In the meantime, check out our full Indie Mixtape Presents performance series, featuring Grouplove, Run River North, and more, right here.

Catie Turner is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Plenty of people in the worlds of esports and broadcasting wear different hats. It’s not that the jobs they’re involved in don’t keep them busy, but there’s something about the environment of that industry that attracts those who want to get involved in more than just esports. Maybe that’s why it’s a place where Erin Ashley Simon — a journalist turned part-owner of XSET, broadcaster, Twitch streamer, and online personality — thrives. Never one to slow down, Simon has done work for Call of Duty League, ESPN, and recently was a personality at the Crown Crossover.

“I was on episode three and I was with Chase B and it was really fun in the sense that whenever there’s gaming and events and initiatives, we don’t always get the opportunity to just game and chill and have a good time,” Simon told Uproxx about the Crown Crossover. “And have really, really unique and conversations [and] pretty much touching all the spectrums and especially for me, being a broadcaster, I don’t always get an opportunity to have something be so relaxing and fun.”

The Crown Crossover – Music, Gaming and Culture Series was a six-episode collection of streams on the official Crown Royal Facebook page, featuring musical artists like Quinn XCII, Joey Bada$$, and Chase B playing NBA 2K. Each artist connected with and competed against top gamers, including Simon, iPodKingCarter, Aerial Powers, and Mike LaBelle. It was something we’re starting to see more and more of as time goes on. Not only is the old stereotype of video games being a niche hobby for children going away, but it’s being replaced with massive cultural crossovers. For some this might be a surprise, but Simon thought it was an inevitability.

“I’ve always kind of knew that this was going to happen.” Simon said. “Because if you take a look for example, right, let’s just take a look at NBA 2K. The fact that they even had Allen Iverson on the cover, I believe, more than once — I think maybe two or three times — and he was someone who was very much changing the culture of basketball, everything from its style to its aesthetic and everything, the way that he played. The fact that they took it upon themselves to put him on the cover, that was a culture intersection and moment. … It was already coming and swirling together. Some of the biggest and best soundtracks came from video games. Producers, whether it’s Just Blaze or whether it’s Yuzo Koshiro, who’s a notable Japanese music composer. You can see the influence that was mixing between the techno scene that came from Detroit and then hip hop, and then electronic beats that were made from composers over there. This was already mixing and happening. I just think that we, as pop culture, entertainment, and gaming, we stopped trying to confine things into a box and just allowed for these intersectional moments to happen.”

We’re seeing more of these crossovers that Simon is talking about happen everywhere. Just look at Fortnite. They’ve hosted virtual concerts for Travis Scott and Ariana Grande. The developer of Fortnite, Epic Games, is partnering with Radiohead to host a PlayStation and Epic Games Store exclusive exhibition of Kid A Mnesia. They’re not just playing games and involving themselves within them just because it sounds fun. They’re doing it because games are where the culture is.

However, as video games continue to grow and change so does that culture. This is a culture that not long ago was associated with people living in their parent’s basement. That was always an unfair assessment of people who play games, but it’s an example of how quickly the culture around games has changed. Now, more than ever, people are rushing to be a part of them. They want to be a part of the culture. So how can games adapt alongside the influx of people joining the culture? Simon has a few ideas how.

“I obviously would love to see more diverse and inclusive matters within the gaming world.” Simon said. “Not just when it comes to the representation of people but just like for example, we started to see artists having music videos in games or, you know, crazy activations and concerts. I like to see gaming being pushed more in terms of how it can be utilized and what it can do and then another thing I want to see too is I want to see gaming publishers help to redefine what gaming is. We’re starting to see that little bit with some of the gaming streaming series. That are coming out whether it’s on Netflix or other platforms. [New] movies are coming out and so, the one thing I’m really happy about now is, unlike the 90s when we had some really horrible video game adaptation, the entertainment space has more people who are gamers, who understand gaming, so they’re handling it more properly. And so I want that to be pushed even more and I think, you know, gaming is a social platform and they can be utilized in so many different shapes and forms, and we’ve seen that with various different games, but I feel like we’re just touching that. We’re just on the surface of it. We’re not within the depths of how far and how big and how far-reaching it can actually get.”

As games continue to grow they’re only going to continue going in the direction that Simon is talking about. Whenever something gets as big as video games have become it’s almost forced to change. That’s because we’re well past the point of a “gamer” is a specific kind of person. Everyone plays games whether it’s the latest AAA release, the newest Madden, or the apps on your phone right now. Video games are culture and they’re here to stay.

“We have other passions, you have other interests and I think that the more that we’re able to show those different intersectional conversations and passions the more that gaming is going to be progressing.” Simon said. “And then the more that we’re going to change the viewpoint of gaming. I think that people don’t realize, there are doctors and scientists who are gamers. There are teachers who are gamers. There are celebrities who are gamers, right? It’s not just one way. There’s men, women, non-binary, transgender, young, old. From the U.S. to Latin America, from overseas. There’s not one way of being a gamer and there’s not one look to being a gamer. And there’s not one way of enjoying gaming.”

Nicki Minaj’s vaccine tall tale continued to inspire content as late-night host Stephen Colbert joined in on the fun on his show last night. A few days ago, Nicki tweeted she is unvaccinated because her cousin told her his friend had an unusual adverse reaction to a vaccine that caused his testes to swell up. Despite that horror story being debunked by Dr. Anthony Fauci, who pointed out there’s ‘no mechanistic reason’ for a vaccine to affect one’s sexual organs, Nicki has remained more or less steadfast.

However, the unintentional hilarity of the tweet’s “Caribbean auntie WhatsApp broadcast energy” prompted plenty of equally hilarious meme-ing at Nicki’s expense. Colbert, looking to one-up Twitter’s plethora of pranksters, hijacking Nicki’s one-time biggest hit, “Super Bass,” turn to playfully jab at the likely mythical cousin’s friend’s dilemma with “Super Balls.” The show was cold-opened with the video, to the audience’s delight.

Remixing Nicki’s colorful video with closeups of all kinds of balls (basketballs, beach balls, disco balls, ping pong balls, etc.), the lyrics are revamped to reflect fictional misfortune, referencing King-Kong, the moons of Mars, and James And The Giant Peach. Colbert also roasted Nicki’s narrative in his opening monologue, cracking, “Nicki Minaj is known for her extensive research on what anacondas want… if and when you’ve got buns, hun.” Taking the iffy provenance of her story to task, he snarked, “To be fair to Dr. Minaj, everyone knows there’s no source more reliable than your extended family’s acquaintances in another country. Her report comes straight from the New England Journal of My Cousin’s Friend in Trinidad. Check out this week’s study: ‘I Heard His Girlfriend Got Pregnant From a Hot Tub.’”

Watch Stephen Colbert air out Nicki Minaj above.

Recently, I rewatched the 1994 Wolfgang Peterson film, In the Line of Fire. In this movie, Clint Eastwood plays a secret service agent named Frank Horrigan, who is haunted by his failure to save President Kennedy. A villain, who goes by the name of Booth (subtle) uses this information to taunt Frank about his failures, his age, and killing the current president.(This is a good movie.) A lot of time is spent on Frank’s age. The main theme of the movie seems to be that Frank is old and washed up and doesn’t have anything left. (You know, a lot of the same themes that were explored in Unforgiven, which came out two years before.) Anyway, I think about In the Line of Fire anytime Clint Eastwood has a new movie coming out – that movie from, now, 27 years ago, about the washed-up old guy who didn’t have anything left.

And, yes, Clint Eastwood is back as an actor and director in Cry Macho, a movie with a razor-thin plot, where nothing much at all happens, but I still find myself enjoying it. There’s something irresistibly pleasant about the whole thing – which is just an excuse for Clint to star in a movie that could loosely be described as an “action” role. (Clint does get to throw a punch.)

Set in 1979 briefly, before moving to 1980, Eastwood plays Mike Milo, an ex-rodeo star whose former boss, Howard (Dwight Yoakam), asks Mike to go to Mexico and “rescue” his son, Rafael (Eduardo Minett), from his mother. Nothing about Howard’s story is believable. And I get the impression Eastwood, as director, doesn’t much care. Eastwood even stumbles over a couple of lines and it’s pretty obvious Eastwood just wants to look at the camera and say, “Look, punk, I know I stumbled over the line, but you get the point. There’s no need to do this shot again and waste everyone’s time. Besides, this is a bad scene anyway and we all know it. But I have to put it in here to get to the heart of the movie. Now sit back and enjoy the picture.”

Mike finds Rafael pretty quickly. Rafael spends his free time cockfighting with his buddy, a rooster named Macho. Rafael doesn’t like his mother much (played by Fernanda Urrejola, who seems very wealthy from, most likely, questionable business practices) and doesn’t seem to like his father much either, but decides going to live with his father back in the United States is the more desirable of the two lousy situations. Unfortunately, Rafael’s mother tells Mike that if he takes Rafael some bad things will happen to Mike, so he’s now hesitant about the whole situation, but eventually takes a liking to Rafael and the two set out on a road trip.

And that’s the heart of the movie, just Mike and Rafael getting to know each other, traveling together, and getting in adventures that include getting their truck stolen, stealing a car of their own, and hanging out on a horse ranch trying to tame wild horses in exchange for some money and food. A lot of these scenes include a lot of extended scenes of dialog. A lot of Clint Eastwood talking about mortality and regret, which becomes surprisingly touching at times. And, sure, Cry Macho allows Eastwood to woo a lady on screen again, and throw that aforementioned punch.

(Speaking of punching, since this is set in 1980, I wonder if Mike Milo saw Any Which Way You Can, which came out that same year, the sequel to Every Which Way But Loose. You know, the movie in which Clint Eastwood plays Philo Beddo, a truck driver with a pet orangutan named Clyde who is also a bare-knuckles brawler. I bet Mike Milo would like these movies.)

The trailer for Cry Macho focuses on the more action-y parts of the movie, which are less than you probably think there will be. A lot of this movie is just Mike and Raphael hanging out with the family that owns the horse ranch. And, to be fair, I don’t really think I needed to see a movie about a 91-year-old guy getting into numerous bar fights and coming away unscathed, or whatever. Even the one fight Mike gets into, he’s helped by the rooster, Macho. (This rooster comes in handy a few times along the way.) But, no, instead it’s a road trip movie. Where these two get into antics more suitable for a Dumb & Dumber movie than Dirty Harry. And what the movie doesn’t have in plot (again, Eastwood might have well just put up a bunch of “yadda yadda yaddas” about anything that drives the plot here), it makes up in heart. This isn’t Eastwood making something like The Mule, which was infamously raunchy. This is Eastwood being reflective, and surprisingly sweet. I honestly hope Clint Eastwood keeps making movies forever.
You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Baby Keem is weird, but that’s not a bad thing at all. Many of today’s rappers are, and this often triggering adjective for some is not meant to be disrespectful to the 20-year-old Vegas rapper or any of his contemporaries. Keem is part of a generation of hip-hop that prides itself on going against the grain. “Rules” were broken, torn up, and disregarded, and rightfully so. Abiding by them for too long hinders the chance for evolution and change as a whole to occur. Kid Cudi, who Keem has cited as an inspiration on multiple occasions, Young Thug, Travis Scott, Playboi Carti, and many more, are clear-cut examples. With that being said, while the openness to all that is “weird” is clear nowadays, there are also limits to how funky, unique, and unorthodox things can get.

That’s something that Baby Keem’s major-label debut album The Melodic Blue understands. Comprised of 16 songs with help from stars like Kendrick Lamar, Don Toliver, and Travis Scott, the Vegas rapper dulls the loud colors and sonics just enough to deliver his version of a mellow atmosphere without sounding monotone or robotic. It’s a sharp contrast compared to his 2019 breakout project, Die For My B*tch — an erratic and chaotic release inspired by a failed relationship. That body of work promotes screaming and mosh-pitting your anger out as opposed to healthier and less-fun habits like meditation or therapy.

The Melodic Blue is Baby Keem’s attempt to balance his individuality with a reduced dose of his trademarked chaotic energy, something he tries to harness on the project. “Trademark USA” is a sucker punch to start the album that would also invite Gen-Zers all over the world to the mosh pit at the risk of their once-clean sneakers. Kendrick Lamar contributes to the raucousness of “Family Ties” and “Vent.” The former is by far the rowdiest track on the album thanks to Lamar’s proclamation of “smoking on your top five” rappers, while the latter invites aggression from all corners with the knowledge that Keem and Lamar can handle it all. The remaining majority of The Melodic Blue is occupied by records that show a more tender and reserved side of Keem.

An early example arrives on “Issues,” a spacious track that lays life’s most harrowing conflicts down like a deck of cards. Airy production uplifted by climatic drums adds to the whirlwind of unsolved issues in Keem’s life. It’s a song that the rapper says “means a lot to him” and with lyrics like, “I knew since we first got evicted out our roof / My new since rehab, I was six, tryna see you,” the weight of the track becomes clear. “Scars” is similar in the sense that Keem dips into the same pain-driven lyrics with conquering production. Even trap-leaning tracks like “First Order Of Business” and skeletal efforts like “Scapegoats” are superior for the things Keem says rather than for their sounds. It’s clear that Keem had a lot to get off his chest on The Melodic Blue, and in addition to crafting the appropriate lyrics to get that done, the rapper also placed himself in a sonic landscape that would accentuate the impact of his words. The best songs on the project, however, come when the rapper doesn’t sacrifice too much production to accomplish his goals for the album.

“Gorgeous” is a personal favorite from The Melodic Blue as it showcases the rapper’s unwavering love for his pattern with the help of heavy synths, ratting piano keys, and drawn out bass kicks. “Lost Souls” supplies the same airy production of “Issues” and “Scars,” but the addition of drums and a steady hi-hat bring it closer to a more familiar home for Keem. Even the banger that is “Durag Activity” with Travis Scott is laced with a verse from an extremely timid and near-mumbling Baby Keem. Along with additional examples like “Booman,” it becomes more and more obvious that residing as close to the middle on the spectrum of calm to chaotic was Keem’s goal for this project.

Personally, the toughest aspect of The Melodic Blue is letting go of prior expectations for the project to properly accept and digest the work Baby Keem offered to the world. Preference lies with the chaotic energy of Die For My B*tch, but truthfully speaking, that project is at the very most a strong collection of songs. The Melodic Blue aims to craft a cohesive album, and for what it’s worth, Keem succeeds at that. The rapper delivers just enough to accomplish that, but there are moments where a bit more could’ve been done to make this achievement undeniable. Whether it be extending “Scapegoats” into a full song or slashing the excessive and unnecessary second half of “Range Brothers,” The Melodic Blueundoubtedly has its rough edges. However, the album’s rawness elsewhere is also what makes it enjoyable, and in total, Baby Keem gets it done with his major-label debut album.

The Melodic Blue is out now via PgLang/Columbia. Get it here.

Cardi B has been keeping busy lately. Not only did she recently hop on Lizzo’s new single “Rumors,” but she just gave birth to her second child with Offset earlier this month. Because she’s presumably taking time off of working to take care of her newborn, the rapper has reportedly asked a judge to delay a trial for a copyright infringement over her early music.

Cardi B’s debut mixtape, Gangsta B*tch Music Vol. 1, features salacious cover art that includes a man with elaborate back tattoos. After the project’s release, Cardi was hit with a lawsuit by Kevin Brophy, who claims the back tattoos in the image are his, but he never posed for the photo or gave Cardi permission to use his likeness. In the lawsuit, Brophy claims the cover art “ruined his life,” and cost him at least $5 million in damages, per a report from TMZ. The lawsuit was filed four years ago was finally slated to go to trial next month, but TMZ reports Cardi is trying to delay it even further.

The rapper reportedly filed court documents insisting the birth of her second child prohibits her from traveling all the way from the east coast to southern California for the court date. Plus, the rapper is concerned about COVID travel risks and wants to avoid spending extended time in public spaces like airports, hotels, and the courthouse. Cardi has allegedly asked a judge to delay the trial for at least 75 days due to her reasons, so it looks like Brophy may have to wait a little longer to confront the rapper in court.

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