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Throughout her initial rise to stardom, Cardi B was one of music’s most outspoken voices, from developing a friendship with Bernie Sanders to calling out injustices on social media, but lately, she hasn’t addressed current events or politics quite as much. When a fan asked why she stopped talking about politics as much, Cardi’s heartbreaking response made perfect sense.

“I was tired of getting bullied by the republicans and also getting bashed by the same people I was standing up for,” she replied, referring to the outsized backlash she received for many of her political statements. By aligning herself with Bernie Sanders, she became a favored target for conservative commentators, who also took to criticizing her music and performances, even as they ignored plenty of other rappers whose music was even raunchier than hers. However, also receiving criticism on her opinions from the other side of the aisle seemingly took its toll, as well.

As if to prove the point, one commenter posited their own cruel reasoning behind the two-sided backlash: “cus you sound like you’re slow when you talk and it was ruining everything.” Cardi had the perfect response, though, pointing out that “It was the only way YOU would of understand me.” Cardi’s down-to-earth explanations, which always came from her, may have been unpolished, but by no means is she out of her depth; Cardi’s AP History teacher pointed out that the rapper was an A-student, despite her freewheeling approach to grammar on Twitter.

Over the past year, Peppa Pig — the titular animated character from the long-running children’s TV show — has been involved in a surprising amount of music porks beefs. Back in December, Cardi B expressed frustration with how Peppa was influencing Kulture to want to jump in puddles, since that’s a pastime in which Peppa often indulges. Just last month, the Peppa Pig Twitter account went at Kanye West to brag about getting a higher album review score from Pitchfork than West did with Donda.

Recently, it was Adele’s turn for a barnyard brawl. Fortunately, the situation has been amicably resolved.

During a recent livestream, Adele was asked if she’d collaborate with Peppa, and she answered emphatically, “No!” Peppa responded on Twitter with a GIF of her hanging up a phone (which comes from this hilarious scene, by the way).

Fast-forward to his morning, when Adele was doing an interview with Capital FM. During the chat, the hosts brought up the Peppa situation and then played a message from Peppa herself, much to Adele’s surprise. Peppa said, “Hello, Adele! That made me really, really sad when you said you wouldn’t collaborate with me. Why not? Don’t you like me?”

Adele’s first response was to question the authenticity of the voice (Peppa has been voiced by multiple actors over the show’s run). She said, “Is that the real nowadays Peppa? First of all, babes: Peppa, that ain’t the one of you I know. That’s not the same voice as the one I grew up with my son. But Peppa, I’ve already said today: I regret it. I spent three years watching you. I really regret it, and any time you want to go jumping in muddy puddles and sing in muddy puddles, I’m with you, babes. I felt terrible the second I said it.”

Adele referred to an interview with Hits Radio from earlier in the morning. During that conversation, Peppa was also mentioned, and Adele said of the situation, “I felt terrible because I watched Peppa Pig every day for three years when my kid was younger. […] Peppa, I’ll always do a duet with you, babes. Love ya!”

If Peppa does end up getting an Adele collab, she’d be in rare company, as Adele doesn’t have many guests on her upcoming album, 30.

This story was originally shared on Capital One.

Inside the walls of her kitchen at her childhood home in Guatemala, Evelyn Klohr, the founder of a Washington, D.C.-area bakery called Kakeshionista, was taught a lesson that remains central to her business operations today.

“Baking cakes gave me the confidence to believe in my own brand and now I put my heart into giving my customers something they’ll enjoy eating,” Klohr said.

While driven to launch her own baking business, pursuing a dream in the culinary arts was economically challenging for Klohr. In the United States, culinary schools can open doors to future careers, but the cost of entry can be upwards of $36,000 a year.

Through a friend, Klohr learned about La Cocina VA, a nonprofit dedicated to providing job training and entrepreneurship development services at a training facility in the Washington, D.C-area.

La Cocina VA’s, which translates to “the kitchen” in Spanish, offers its Bilingual Culinary Training program to prepare low-and moderate-income individuals from diverse backgrounds to launch careers in the food industry.

That program gave Klohr the ability to fully immerse herself in the baking industry within a professional kitchen facility and receive training in an array of subjects including culinary skills, food safety, career development and English language classes.

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Photo courtesy of Capital One

The organization also offers participants the opportunity to enroll in its Culinary Small Business Incubator, a 9-week training course that teaches participants to create and scale their own food-based startups.

During that program, LA Cocina VA provides participants with support for developing the internal operations of their businesses and provides a shared kitchen for community members to rent space at affordable rates.

Patricia Funegra, who founded La Cocina VA in 2014, said that helping people like Klohr is exactly why she wanted to create the incubator.

“I have firsthand experience of the difficulties of being an immigrant and person of color in America,” said Funegra. “At the same time, I also know the enormous opportunities that exist here to improve people’s lives.”

With the help of funding from Capital One, the center has been able to support 160 participants since opening with roughly 85% of graduates being hired for jobs in the food industry upon completion.

La Cocina VA also received support from Capital One’s Community Finance team as it provided financing for the construction of Gilliam Place, an affordable housing unit in which La Cocina VA moved its operations into in 2020.

After moving into Gilliam Place, Funegra launched the Zero Barriers Training and Entrepreneurship Center, a hub for startup founders that includes a kitchen incubator and a community cafe to provide workforce development opportunities for residents.

That support comes as part of the Capital One Impact Initiative, a multi-million dollar commitment to support growth in underserved communities and advance socioeconomic mobility by closing gaps in equity and opportunity.

La Cocina VA students also worked alongside Capital One Cafe ambassadors to learn skills in management and personal finance.

Photo courtesy of Capital One

“The COVID-19 pandemic forced entrepreneurs, especially people of color and immigrants, to shift their entire business models just to survive,” said Emilia Lopez, the Senior Vice President of US Card Customer Resiliency, who serves on La Cocina VA’s Board of Directors. “As a La Cocina VA board member, I am proud of the commitment and support Capital One provides La Cocina VA and thankful for their effort this past year to help entrepreneurs quickly adapt their businesses to support alternative dining options.”

La Cocina VA is also in constant communication with employers, partners, hotels and restaurants to make them aware of their pipeline of graduates.

“La Cocina VA taught me not just the physical work that goes into baking and cooking but also how to have a good understanding to mentally and financially launch my business,” said Klohr. “They’re helping me make those connections and I know they’ll always have my back.”

As the NBA season approaches and the preseason comes to an end, we’ll be taking a look at the player on each team that holds the key to unlocking their full potential.

For the Denver Nuggets, the goal is to breakthrough in the loaded Western Conference after one conference finals and two conference semifinal trips in the last three seasons. They have the reigning MVP in Nikola Jokic and, at some point, hope to have Jamal Murray back at full strength later in the season. Murray’s health coming back from an ACL tear and when he can return is a considerable question mark, but assuming he is back for the playoffs and back to his usual self, then so much of the Nuggets hopes of rising above the rest of the West’s elite falls on the shoulders of Michael Porter Jr.

Last season saw MPJ breakout to the tune of 19 points and 7.3 rebounds per game on 54.2/44.5/79.1 shooting splits, as he put his considerable scoring talent on display from all areas of the floor. The next step for Porter Jr. to take is being able to more consistently impact games in a positive way, whether he’s scoring a lot or not. Part of that is being more steady as a scorer. He can be a bit streaky, and when Murray returns and takes away a few more touches per game, it will be even more important for him to be able to stay engaged and be able to be a consistent contributor in big games, not just serving as a microwave who can heat up and go on a personal 10-0 run. Porter Jr. is certainly capable of making that leap, but it’s the step in his development at the NBA level that will determine if this year he can be that third star to elevate Denver above the rest of the West’s elite.

On top of continuing to harness his considerable offensive talent, there is still work to do defensively to avoid the lapses that have at times driven coach Michael Malone mad. MPJ can get caught ball-watching and isn’t always as crisp with his rotations as he needs to be, and the attention to detail as a team defender — because the flashes are there as an on-ball defender given his length — is the type of thing that separates real contenders. He’s not alone in that regard in Denver, but given his stature as a hopeful superstar, taking that step into being even a neutral team defender, much less anything of a positive, would be a significant gain for the Nuggets.

The talent is there for the Nuggets, it’s about how it all fits together and whether they have enough balance on both ends of the floor to overtake teams like the Lakers and Suns, but if Porter Jr. continues his ascension into the superstar level, there is a real chance for them to cause anyone problems.

Dom Kennedy is back, bringing former Drake co-writer Quentin Miller along in the new video for “Don’t Walk Away.” The West Coast summertime stalwart returned with a smooth new album of low-key luxury lifestyle lyrics, From The Westside With Love Three. As usual, Hit-Boy provides production, sampling the 2000 DJ Quik and Sugafree single “Don’t Walk Away” for a mellow, breezy jam over which Dom and Quentin brag about their accomplishments and possessions.

The video finds the two rappers throwing a laid-back get-together after-hours at Honey’s Kettle Chicken in LA (which I will never forgive for moving out of my beloved Compton). As some lady friends hang out, dance, and eat in the front of the shop, the fellas convene for a private card game at a secondary location. Dom also shows off his Porsche collection outside a garage, soaking up the LA sunshine.

Kennedy has experienced something of a resurgence in recent years, regaining momentum from his Yellow Tape era thanks to his partnership with Hit-Boy. From The Westside Three is his third album in as many years, and on each, he’s sounded revitalized, rapping with fervor and grace we haven’t heard from him in nearly a decade. Wherever this new burst of inspiration came from, let’s all hope it remains consistent because the blog-era favorite deserves this success.

Watch Dom Kennedy’s breezy “Don’t Walk Away” video with Quentin Miller above.

From The Westside With Love Three is out now via The OPM Company. Get it here.

As evidenced by his current work in The Card Counter, Scenes from a Marriage, and the soon-to-be-released Dune, Oscar Isaac is easily one of the busiest actors in Hollywood right now. And, yet, even after coming off his role as Poe Dameron in the latest Star Wars trilogy, Isaac had no idea what he was getting into when he signed on to Marvel’s Moon Knight series for Disney+.

While sitting down with Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast, the actor opened up about joining the Marvel machine (officially, X-Men: Apocalypse doesn’t count) and how he found a willing collaborator in Marvel Studio head Kevin Feige. Isaac also found a production schedule like nothing he’d ever seen before. Via Variety:

“Speaking with Kevin [Feige], I told him I’m going to come in with these big ideas, and if you don’t like them, that’s fair,” he says. “And immediately, we saw it all. I found so much room to do things that I’ve never done before and had been curious about and wanting to do. I could not wait to get to set, and it was the biggest workload I’ve ever had in my career and most challenging; by the sheer amount of stuff we had to do in eight months, and even yet, I couldn’t wait to get to set and work.”

Insane workload aside, Isaac is loving what Marvel is doing with Moon Knight, and so is his fellow actor Ethan Hawke who joined the series after Isaac personally asked him to come aboard when the two ran into each other at a local coffee shop. Despite his previous criticisms of superhero films, Hawke was caught off-guard by how great it was to work with Marvel.

“They’re extremely active, friendly,” Hawke told The Wrap. “They do good world-building and create space for actors. If you want to play, they want you to play.”

(Via Variety)

When your job security means not getting kicked off a platform somewhat notorious for dishing out bans, it’s always nice to have a back-up plan. Luckily for Addison Rae, the TikTok star-turned-actress had just signed a multi-picture deal with Netflix when she received word her TikTok account had been “permanently banned due to multiple violations” of the service’s Community Guidelines. Last night, Rae announced the ban to her fans by sharing a screenshot of the message on Twitter, along with the cheeky caption ,”Well time to get a job,” poking fun at all of those who have mocked the 20-year old’s online career.

While the ban has since been reversed and Rae is back to creating content for her over 85 million TikTok followers, the news came as a bit of a shock to the TikTok community. Since joining TikTok back in July 2019, Rae has become one of the platform’s most popular content creators through posting cute and catchy dance videos, ultimately helping to popularize the app.

Since then, Rae has gone on to both act and write music, starring in the Netflix film He’s All That (a reboot of the 1999 teen comedy She’s All That), as well as releasing her first single, “Obsessed,” which was just nominated for an award at 2021 MTV Movie and TV Awards. While it’s clear the star wouldn’t be hurting without her TikTok (she currently sits at 4.8 million followers on Twitter and 40.1 million on Twitter), we’re sure both Rae and TikTok are glad to see her staying on the platform.

Ultimately, neither Rae nor TikTok have confirmed why the rising star was (temporarily) permanently banned, though fans on Twitter were quick to speculate as to what could have happened. The most likely culprit seems to be the video below, in which Rae show’s off her side profile in a somewhat fitted dress while popping her hip. Seeing as TikTok is quick to remove any material deemed remotely “sexual” in nature, it seems a likely theory.

TikTok has come under fire multiple times for their quick-to-ban policy regarding women showing their bodies in any capacity, especially when it comes to women of color and women who are plus size. Here’s hoping Rae’s reversal means the platform might start looking into other cases with more discernment.

It’s been well over a year since Animal Crossing: New Horizons became the most important game of 2020. With everyone quarantining inside amid the COVID-19 pandemic and looking for something to do, we were all blessed to have a new Animal Crossing hit the Nintendo Switch. Of course, with a sense of normalcy returning to everyday life thanks to the vaccines that have offered up protection against the virus, many people have left their towns behind.

A big part of what made people stop playing Animal Crossing, though, was the lack of stuff to do after playing it as much as we all did. The game started to feel very scarce in content, especially compared to previous games in the series. However, after Friday’s Animal Crossing-focused Nintendo Direct, we now know that it won’t be that way for much longer. A whole host of free content is being added to the game on Nov. 5, and on top of that, some paid DLC is on the way as well to give players even more to do.

Now that we have a date for when new content is coming to the game, many of us are going to go back to our towns so we can get it back into shape before the big update. With so much coming that it might feel overwhelming, here are the parts of the update and DLC that we’re the most excited about.

A shopping district

After introducing a shopping district in City Folk and New Leaf, the lack of a place to go get all the items we need in New Horizons was honestly a bummer. Sure, it was nice when we found out that Leif or Kicks was in town, but the lack of consistency was always really frustrating.

With the new update, everyone is going to be available at one central location on Harv’s Island. Having a singular location that you can go and get our shopping done will be wonderful, because it will allow them to be a little more impulsive. There’s nothing more frustrating than deciding you want to do some landscaping only to find out that Leif isn’t in town, or you’re making changes to our home and need new carpets from Saharah. Now, that’s no longer a problem.

Brewster and The Roost

Maybe some people aren’t going to care that now they can go to a coffee shop and hang out, but personally, that has always been one of the best parts of the series. It’s always fun to go down, grab a cup, and hang out with Brewster at his coffee shop The Roost. They even had other Animals on the island come in to grab some coffee in later games, which sometimes led to unique interactions. It adds something that’s always been very important to the series: charm. The charm of The Roost adds so much to the island even if you don’t spend every day there.

More villager interactions

The best part of Animal Crossing is interacting with the villagers. Getting to hear the quirky things they say, witnessing how they talk to each other, and listening to them gossip is an essential part of the experience. Unfortunately, the villagers in New Horizons felt extremely flat at times, with most of them getting tired of talking to you after only a few discussions. Conversations felt repetitive and it started to feel like the villagers were more there to be seen than interacted with. Thankfully, this update is adding more interactions with those villagers, such as the ability to take photos with them and the option to invite villagers over to your home. This little bit of interactivity has been sorely missing in New Horizons and it’s nice to see it coming back in the update.

Happy Home Paradise

While the first half of the Direct was about the free update, the latter half was about new paid DLC coming called Happy Home Paradise. This DLC is cool because it’s essentially a sequel to Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. The player will be able to go design a dream vacation home for villagers that are not only on their own island, but across the entire series. They can even use Amiibo cards/figures to design the homes for specific characters of our choosing. Then, after playing long enough, they can redesign the homes of their own villagers on their own islands. While the DLC is $25, it seems like a lot of content for what is essentially its own game by itself. That’s a steal.

New islands to explore

For anyone that’s gotten tired of the randomized islands that they can fly to, there is now a new set of randomized islands that Kapp’n can take them to. These islands are unique because they can be in different seasons, times of day, and seem more unique than the typical ones they visit. This is great, because some people put down New Horizons for a bit and missed out on the chance to experience alternative seasons. With these new islands, players can experience the different times of the year in New Horizons without having to mess with the clock.

Today marks the release of Coldplay’s ninth album (and perhaps one of their final ones), Music Of The Spheres. To celebrate, the band has announced a livestream concert, which will be viewable on a number of Amazon platforms: the Amazon Music app, the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, and on Prime Video.

The performance goes down on October 22 at 10 p.m. ET at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena (which celebrates its grand re-opening with the performance). After the initial broadcast, an opportunity to re-watch it will be available at 1 p.m. ET the next day. Following that, a feature-length version of the concert will be available on Prime Video starting in early November. Additionally, a four-track Amazon-exclusive EP of songs from the performance will be available on Amazon Music.

The band said of the performance, “It’s great that fans all around the world can tune in to Amazon Music and watch our first show after the release of Music Of The Spheres. It’s going to be a special night.”

Coldplay did something similar for the release of their previous album, 2019’s Everyday Life, when they performed the album in Jordan for a livestream concert.

For those more interested in seeing the band in person, that will be possible next year, as the band is going on tour in 2022.

Music Of The Spheres is out now via Parlophone. Get it here.

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

Do you remember what happened in the Succession season two finale? I don’t, outside of some vague recollections of a depressed Kendall listening to LCD Soundsystem (been there, buddy), Tom and Shiv’s beachside chat, and the final shot of Logan reacting to his Number One Boy’s betrayal. My hazy memory has nothing to do with the quality of the episode, though — it’s one of the best episodes of one of the best shows on TV. It’s because the episode aired two years ago this week. That’s a long time ago.

Let’s go through all the things that have happened since the finale.

[Remembers the last two years]

I take it back. That was a terrible idea. Let’s instead look forward to Sunday when Succession finally returns to HBO. If you haven’t watched the season two finale recently, you really should. There’s still time before the premiere. In fact, this should be a requirement from now on: watch last season’s finale before the new season’s premiere.

There are a lot of TV shows. Too many, some would argue. For that reason, and because we’re bombarded with information and bad tweets every second of our lives, it’s perfectly understandable to forget what happened on a show. Even if it’s one of your favorites. Take Better Call Saul, for instance. I love Better Call Saul, maybe even more than Breaking Bad. But the season five finale was in April 2020, and the final season isn’t expected to premiere until late 2022 (the delay is due to a world-altering pandemic and the star of the show having a heart attack on set, but that’s no excuse for making us wait for more black-and-white adventures of Cinnabon Gene). That makes the Succession break seem manageable. In the days before Saul is back, I plan on re-watching the season five finale, to remind myself of everything that I’ve forgotten.

Otherwise, this will be me watching the premiere:

I will do the same thing for The Witcher (last episode: December 2019), The Boys (October 2020), Russian Doll (February 2019), and Stranger Things (July 2019). I can barely remember where I parked my car — how am I expected to remember if Steve and Robin still work at the ice cream place in the mall? If I don’t rewatch, I will spend the first 15 minutes of the premiere wondering what the heck is going on. This isn’t fun for anyone, especially the person you’re watching it with. “Who is that?” is the last thing anyone wants to hear while watching a show or movie (dads love asking this after passing out on the recliner). Equally annoying is pausing an episode to Google “succession recap help,” although if you’re looking for one, we’ve got you covered.

This proposed rule does not apply to every show. I did not rewatch the What We Do in the Shadows season two finale before season three, or Ted Lasso or Tuca and Bertie (although I should have, because the more Tuca and Bertie in my life, the better). Comedies are mostly exempt, although there are exceptions to the rule: Barry is more serialized than your average comedy, and it’s been off the air since May 2019 (!). You might need a refresher. I plan on rewatching the Barry season two finale… and maybe the rest of season two… and season one too. What I’m saying is, Barry is a good show.

Another good show: Succession. Throw yourself a watch party catered by California Pizza Kitchen. Listen to the theme song during your Saturday long run. Check Etsy to see if anyone is selling “f*ck off” masks yet. Do what you gotta do to get hyped. But remember: rewatch the season two finale. You’ll enjoy the (excellent) season three premiere that much more. If it is to be said, so it be, so it is.