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Lil Baby’s third album WHAM is a return to the mindset he knows the best. His mantra of being “the hardest out” is just as much of a message to himself as it is to the rest of the world. WHAM – an acronym for Who Hard As Me – continues his run of “hard” projects that dates back to his 2017 mixtape Harder Than Hard.

There, Baby debuted his breakout hit “My Dawg,” which took him from an upstart Atlanta rapper to one of hip-hop’s promising artists of the future. By the end of the following year, Baby extended the “hard” project series with Too Hard, home to his crown jewel record “Freestyle,” 2 The Hard Way with Marlo, his debut album Harder Than Ever which featured assists from Drake, Gunna, Young Thug, and Lil Uzi Vert, and the collaborative Drip Harder mixtape with Gunna.

At the turn of the decade, Baby departed from the “hard” series to deliver what would be the highest and lowest moments of his career. My Turn shot Baby into rap’s highest level in 2020, becoming the best-selling album of that year while logging five weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart. Records like “We Paid,” “Heating Up,” “Live Off My Closet,” and “Low Down” convinced fans that Baby deserved to be on a pedestal above most rappers.

As the saying goes, though, “what goes up must come down,” and Baby suffered a tumble from the mountaintop after the release of his third album It’s Only Me in 2022. Although the album was commercially successful, it didn’t resonate as much with Baby’s fans, sparking speculation of a possible fall-off. With It’s Only Me failing to match the big-league performance of My Turn, Baby’s back was pushed against the wall. Desperate times call for desperate measures – or familiar and reliable ones, at least — which brings us to WHAM.

WHAM is steered by an artist with a point to prove and the self-awareness to know that he needs him to step his game up. Baby acknowledges this on the album’s closer “Streets Colder,” rapping “Had to get outside my comfort zone, I’m on it, now I’m focused / I was startin’ to feel stagnant, I had to switch the motion.” WHAM isn’t a new level for Baby, but it is the result of finding your balance just enough to put you in a position to elevate following a misstep.

Baby’s choice of topics are mostly the same — money, women, lavish luxuries, defeating the competition, instilling fear in enemies, etc. — but the determination to convince us his words are true is elevated. “Due 4A Win” is by far the most locked-in version of Baby we hear on the album. Stuttering hi-hats keep you on your toes, while a thunderous bass foreshadows what’s to come if Baby’s warnings and threats are not obliged.

“From the streets and them n****s been rappin’ on beats they whole life, don’t compare me to those n****s,” he quips on the song’s chorus. That line is the ethos of WHAM and one that follows the question entwined into the album title. “Listen Up” carries the same ideologies as waning synths and sweet violin strums as Baby takes the floor and demands the attention of those before him for a hustler’s PSA. “This time, I’ma show ’em, get in a whole different bag,” he preaches. “Everybody can talk it, but they ain’t standin’ how I stand up.”

The big moments on WHAM speak to Baby’s claim of being “the hardest out.” His alleged prowess as the street’s ideal hustler made him the ideal platform for Young Thug to deliver his first guest verse since his release from prison. “Dum, Dumb, And Dumber” is just one rapper short from being a thrilling posse cut, but Baby, Thug, and Future each offer good swings at the hook-less track, with Thug’s show-stealing verse serving as a reminder of what was missing in hip-hop over the last two years and change.

“Free Promo” is a charged-up and grand display of bravado that Baby uses to showcase the benefits of simply being seen next to him. “Drugs Talkin” emulates a similar energy as Baby documents intoxicating feelings of love amplified by the consumption of liquor and drugs. Being the hardest out is more than being a great rapper to Baby, it’s also about building, flaunting, and maintaining the lifestyle that comes with it. You’ve got to look the part, too.

Still, there are moments on WHAM that Baby makes it harder for himself to fully emerge out of the ditch he fell into with It’s Only Me. “Redbone”, his collaboration with GloRilla, hip-hop’s hottest rapper in 2024, fails to be as magical as advertised. Both artists have co-starred on better collaborations, making this one a stale entry on the album and their discography as a whole. “Stuff” with Travis Scott works fine enough on WHAM, but feels better suited on a Travis Scott album than one of Baby’s. “Outfit” should be more memorable, but Baby and 21 Savage’s second-ever collaboration (shocking right?) fails to move the needle much.

In the end, Lil Baby gets back on track with WHAM. As fun as it may be to joke about his downfall and inability to return to My Turn heights, WHAM is an early sign that a turnaround may be in order. The fun and more relaxed “Catch The Sun”-esque moments on WHAM – “I Promise,” “So Sorry,” and “My Shawty” – and the determined rap flows of “By Myself,” “99,” “Say Twin,” and “F U 2x” prove that counting Baby out isn’t in our best interest. WHAM gets back to the basics in a way that’s satisfying and entertaining — and most importantly, as hard as we’ve come to expect.

WHAM is out now via Quality Control Music/Motown Records. Find out more information here.

Remember that clip from a random documentary, in which Star Wars creator George Lucas just so happens to be seen walking in the background? Radiohead leader Thom Yorke just had his own version of that.

A few days ago, TikTok influencer @claricecazauran shared a video of herself, dancing on a sidewalk to Chic’s “Le Freak” as passersby pass by behind her. At the very end of the 15 second clip, she steps out of the frame, revealing Yorke and wife Dajana Roncione walking by.

While the influencer herself didn’t seem to notice Yorke’s cameo in her video (she didn’t mention it in the video caption or anywhere else), commenters did, as a number of the responses to the post are people in shock that the Radiohead musician just so happened to be in the post.

Some have wondered if the video was staged, given that the timing of @claricecazauran leaving the frame to reveal Yorke seems too perfect to be unintentional. As one Reddit user put it, though, “Like no way Thom was in on this. So what, did she see Thom walking down the street and she ran to a street corner and timed her dance perfectly to reveal Thom at the last second in the middle of a bustling crowd (where he easily could have been obscured even as he did walk by)?”

Michael Shannon has toured the country playing R.E.M.‘s debut album Murmur in full, but if you ever catch him at a karaoke, he won’t be singing “Radio Free Europe.” The two-time Oscar nominee recently spoke to Dune: Part Two star Austin Butler for Interview Magazine about his love of jazz, hosting Saturday Night Live (he’s cruelly never been asked), and karaoke.

“Well, if I really want to make people uncomfortable and anxious, which is by and large what I like to do at karaoke anyway, I’ll sing ‘Russians’ by Sting,” Shannon said. “I’m always amazed when they actually have ‘Russians’ as an option on the karaoke machine. It’s a very difficult song to sing because it’s very hard to sing like Sting. But the most fun song to sing for me is ‘Wild Wild Life’ by Talking Heads. That’s a burner, man.”

Talking Heads is a popular pick at karaoke, but Sting, as opposed to The Police, not so much. “Russians” is from his first solo album, 1985’s delightfully titled The Dream Of The Blue Turtles, and it begins, “In Europe and America / There’s a growing feeling of hysteria.” Yup, it’s about the Cold War. Here’s the chorus: “We share the same biology / Regardless of ideology / What might save us, me and you / Is if the Russians love their children, too.”

“Bohemian Rhapsody,” it ain’t.

Butler didn’t reveal his karaoke pick, but let’s assume it’s something by Elvis.

Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw Bad Bunny and Ethel Cain lead this release window with unconventional release strategies. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters.

Bad Bunny — “Baile Inolvidable”

Bad Bunny works on his own schedule: While most new releases come out on Friday, Bunny dropped Debí Tirar Más Fotos on Sunday, January 5. He followed that up with a video for “Baile Inolvidable,” which he called his favorite song on the album.

Ethel Cain — “Vacillator”

Like Bad Bunny, Cain did her own thing, too, dropping her new project, Perverts on January 8, a Wednesday. Uproxx’s Steven Hyden calls the album “the most extreme anti-fame album in years.”

Mac Miller — “5 Dollar Pony Rides”

We’re days away from the release of Mac Miller’s second posthumous album, Balloonerism. In what may end up being the final pre-album preview, Miller’s estate shared the chilled-out “5 Dollar Pony Rides.”

Lil Baby and Future — “99”

After dropping his new album WHAM, Baby went ahead and dropped a deluxe edition that includes the Future collab “99.” It looks like this track is just a previous of what’s to come, as the two are plotting a collaborative project.

Japanese Breakfast — “Orlando In Love”

Michelle Zauner previously teased that her next Japanese Breakfast album would be more somber than previous efforts, and that seems to be true based on the title, Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women). She announced the project last week and shared the string-laden “Orlando In Love.”

Julia Michaels and Maren Morris — “Scissors”

Morris has been distancing herself from the country side of her music career lately, and the latest example is teaming up with pop songwriter extraordinaire Julia Michaels on “Scissors.” Michaels describes the tune as “a funny way of saying that I’m unbothered.”

Pup — “Paranoid”

The Unraveling Of PupTheBand came in 2022, and while the punk favorites have been relatively quiet since then, they returned with “Paranoid,” an adrenaline-fueled new track last week, as well as news of a new band Substack.

Darkside — “S.N.C”

After announcing their first North American tour in over a decade, Darkside went ahead and announced a new album, too (and shared “S.N.C”). Things are going to be a little different this time around, as Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington announced the addition of drummer Tlacael Esparza to the now-trio.

Blondshell — “T&A”

Once upon a time, the Rolling Stones released a song called “Little T&A,” and now Blondshell has revived it as inspiration for her own shoegaze-y “T&A.” The song comes from her newly announced album, If You Asked For A Picture.

clipping. — “Change The Channel”

Multi-hyphenate Daveed Diggs keeps himself busy with all sorts of things, and right now, that thing is his group clipping., which announced a new album last week. They also shared “Change The Channel,” a hard-hitting rap song with a rapid-fire techno instrumental.

Brittany Howard might be best known for the bluesy rock of her band Alabama Shakes — a reunion of which she hasn’t counted out — but on her last project, What Now, she stretched her creative muscles to include the dancefloor shimmy of “Prove It To You” and the psych-soul of “Red Flags.”

Still, her latest project might be an even further cry for fans of the Alabama native. Her new band is called Kumite — y’know, like in Bloodsport (or that one episode of The Boondocks — and, as it turns out, they’re a hardcore band, as fans at their debut show in Nashville learned this past weekend. Stereogum reported on the show, which took place at Basement Inn with Snõõper, Inner Peace, and Second Spirit, supporting Nashville Launch Pad, the Second Harvest Food Bank, and Southern Movement Committee. You can check out a few videos of the new band here, here, and here.

Ahead of the show, Howard posted a message of inspiration and solidarity about the ongoing wildfire crisis in Los Angeles County, writing, “It is heartbreaking to watch these communities be destroyed.” She also explained why the benefit show on Sunday was so important to her. “Sunday night is about bringing people together who support a message of peace, love and inclusion. To be honest, it is less about a concert or making a statement musically and more about uniting people in a safe place during these crazy times we are living in.”

Julia Hart has been on the proverbial shelf for the last nine months, absent from AEW television after suffering a torn labrum in her right shoulder. The actual recovery from that injury wasn’t quite as bad as assumed, spending just three months away from the ring. The last six months of that absence involved Hart working back to 100 percent, hitting the gym each day, and training in the ring as much as she could.

While she was out of the ring, Hart was certainly eager to get back. But her perspective, especially for someone so early into their career, is refreshing. With a stacked women’s roster, she chooses to focus on herself, how she can get better, and outdoing herself each day to ensure she’s improving. When it came to dealing with her first major injury, there wasn’t too much anxiety about losing her spot either.

“I think because I’m so young, I know I still have so much time, so I wasn’t too worried about (being out of sight, out of mind),” Hart tells Uproxx Sports. “Obviously I missed it, and I was craving being out there, because I just want to wrestle but physically couldn’t. Not being in the picture, it’s okay, because then it gives other people opportunities to be on TV and show what they’re made of. I think it’s okay to always take a step back and look at what you’ve done and appreciate it and relax and rest and then when i’m ready to come back, i’m ready to come back.”

In her time away, Hart was able to be intentional in breaking down her matches and understanding areas of opportunity to grow.

“I think after a match happens, and if I watch it, there’s a million things I nitpick about myself. I just went back and rewatched a lot of my matches, and I was like, ‘oh, I can give myself some grace,’ I’m still learning, and I’m doing okay. Just trying to give myself more grace and just appreciate it more,” Hart says. “I always wish I was faster, just more athletic on some things. But that just comes with doing it more. So just trying to get in the ring as much as I can.”

While Hart was on the shelf, she was able to reflect on the last four years of her career and recognize how far she’s come, from cheerleader who was happy to be there to Princess of the Black Throne.

“I think (joining House of Black) helped me translate being more aggressive and more serious. And taking myself more seriously has definitely elevated me a lot more,” Hart says.

She complements Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews for taking her under their wing, and looks back on her run to the TBS Championship with nothing but gratitude.

“It was super surreal. I’m so thankful that I had the championship because it was just trusting that I’m doing something right and that I’m going down the right path. So just to keep doing what I’m doing and trying to elevate myself more and more each time,” Hart says.

Hart says over the last year she developed a bit of imposter syndrome and has worked to retain the confidence she’d built by watching her matches back.

“Just trying to remember who I was and how confident I was and just make sure to keep that confidence up and not show any type of hesitation or nervousness because fake it till you make it. And I’ve definitely been doing that my whole career,” Hart continues. “Just keep pushing and try not to overthink.”

As she prepared for her return, Hart’s vignettes were the talk of the internet, with a powerful story that she developed alongside friend, Dani Venen.

“She took all of my ideas, made them 10 times better, and made them come to life,” Hart says. “That was super fulfilling of what I was imagining she was able to get on video. And we were able to do what was going on in my mind. And then for AEW to allow for it to be on TV and for them to show that story was really special to me as well.”

Hart says she would love to do more creative projects like this, whether it be short films, YouTube videos, or more. Whether that means Hart brings cinematic matches to the AEW ring or not remains to be seen.

“If Tony (Khan) would want that, if he would be down for something like that, I would,” Hart says. “I’ll do whatever he asks and I will do my best to make it the best of my best.”

After picking up a win over Jaime Hayter at AEW’s Fight for the Fallen, Hart is thrilled to be back in the ring. Whether she’s in next week’s Casino Gauntlet match remains to be seen, but her focus is on taking her return to the ring one step at a time and an eventual showdown with Serena Deeb.

“I don’t have any set matches or dates that I want to do because I don’t want to hold any of that expectation. Wrestling happens,” Hart says. “Every match I have, I just hope I do something a little bit better than the last one is what I really want to focus on.”

The historic Los Angeles wildfires tragically continue to burn, but as efforts to tame the blazes continue, some are putting their money where their mouths are when it comes to picking up the pieces. That includes Beyoncé, whose BeyGood foundation just announced a $2.5 million donation to support relief efforts.

In a post shared on Instagram last night (January 12), BeyGood wrote, “Los Angeles we stand with you. BeyGOOD is taking action by announcing the LA Fire Relief Fund with a donation of 2.5 million dollars. The fund is earmarked to aid families in the Altadena/Pasadena area who lost their homes, and to churches and community centers to address the immediate needs of those affected by the wildfires.”

Notably, this comes after Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, lost her Malibu home in the fires. In a post shared on January 9, she wrote:

“It was my favorite place, my sanctuary , my sacred Happy Place . Now it is gone !! God Bless all the brave men and women in our fire department who risked their lives in dangerous conditions . We Thankyou for your dedication and bravery and for saving so many lives . This could have been so much worse with out the dedication of the disaster workers and first responders. I’m so sad for the people who lost the five family members. My deepest Prayers are with you !!!!!! To the people who lost their homes and belongings , I can only imagine how it feels to lose properties and everything you worked so hard and sacrificed so much to own ! My heart and deep prayers go out to all of you [heart emoji] I cannot imagine the pain and suffering and fear that you are enduring.. I am praying diligently for our beautiful City of Los Angeles !! We are resilient though and we will recover! ‘This too shall pass'[heart emoji] Note : if in LA Please get some air purifiers for your home there is a good one on Amazon for 99 dollars . God be with us !”

The Hills couple Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt were among the many who had their home burn down in the Los Angeles fires. To ease the financial burden of rebuilding their life, Pratt asked his social media followers to stream Superficial, Montag’s debut (and only) album that reportedly sold a mere 1,000 copies during its first week of release in 2010.

It’s doing much better now: According to The Hollywood Reporter, “over the weekend, the album hit No. 1 in both the albums and songs (for the titular ‘Superficial’) categories on iTunes, beating out much more recent releases from Bad Bunny, Bruno Mars, Teddy Swims, and Morgan Wallen.”

“Thank you so much to everyone, No. 1 on iTunes charts, oh my gosh,” Montag said in a video posted to her social media. “Thank you for the overwhelming love and support of my music and really rallying behind us in this devastating time and making it such a blessing. Thank you for helping support us, helping build us back up, helping to encourage us, give us that hope and faith and excitement in such a dark, dark time.”

In a TikTok video, Pratt added, “The only thing that’s really keeping me going and feeling so much hope and positivity and like something good is going to come out of the worst thing that ever happened in the history of my life on earth, is everyone here on this app.”

At the moment, the 2025 Grammy Awards are set to take place on February 2. However, the venue is the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and given that the city is currently dealing with the historically destructive and disruptive LA wildfires, some questions have been raised about the status of this year’s award show.

As The Hollywood Reporter reports, “multiple sources” indicate there are currently discussions to either postpone the show, and the various other events surrounding it, or go on with it but shift the format to be more of a fundraiser. It is apparently “highly likely” the show will be postponed, according to “one senior television executive.”

The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, which both play their home games at Crypto.com Arena, have already postponed some games. The Lakers’ given reasoning was “to focus on what matters most today.”

If the 2025 Grammys get postponed, it would be the third time this decade the show has had to make a shift. The 2021 Grammys were postponed due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, then the 2022 Grammys were also delayed due to a surge on COVID cases. The events were pushed back to March and April of the same years, respectively.

After four lopsided games to start NFL Wild Card Weekend, we finally got a thriller on Sunday night when the Buccaneers hosted the Commanders in Tampa. The two teams got off to fairly slow starts, as Washington led 10-3 late in the first half before Baker Mayfield found Mike Evans for a game-tying TD, setting up a dramatic second half.

The two teams would go back and forth, with both sides holding the lead in the fourth quarter, and there was plenty of drama in the final 15 minutes with turnovers, failed fourth downs, successful fourth downs, and big-time kicks from both sides. After Washington got stopped for the second time in the game on fourth down in field goal range, the Bucs gave it right back on a fumbled handoff, which led to Jayden Daniels finally finding Terry McLaurin for the go-ahead score on another fourth down.

The Bucs would go on a long drive but had a disastrous early snap on 3rd and inches that led to a loss of yards and forced them to settle for a game-tying field goal. They made that to make it a 20-20 game, but as he’s done all season, Daniels orchestrated a beautiful drive — including a sensational third down run that let them run the clock all the way down — to set up the game-winning field goal. Zane Gonzalez, the Commanders’ sixth kicker of the season, made it a bit more interesting than it needed to be, banking it in off the right upright, but unlike a miss earlier in the day by the Broncos off the right upright, this doink bounced through for the win.

Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth delivered a tremendous call, with both getting extremely excited to see something they’ve never seen — a playoff game-winning doink. It’s a gutting way to go out for the Bucs and their fans, but a fitting way for the Cardiac Commanders to continue their season of incredible late-game heroics. Now they will head up to Detroit to take on the top-seeded Lions in the Divisional round, where they’ll need even more magic to take down the NFC’s best team this season.