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Wet announced at the beginning of August that they’d be releasing a third album, Letter Blue, as the original trio who created the band in the first place. With the introductory single “Larabar,” and before that, “On Your Side” and last year’s “Come To You,” it’s clear that the band is better than ever at nailing the dreamy, synth-pop sound that always defined them.

Rejoined by founding guitarist Marty Sulkow for this album, Letter Blue sounds like a true return-to-form for the Brooklyn band, and today’s “Clementine” video is further proof of their continued confidence. Though the song itself is dreamy and almost melancholy, the internet-sourced video clips that accompany it range from bizarre to hilarius to mundane, offering a stark contrast to the feel of the music. The video was directed by Andrew Theodore Balasia, and is interspersed with shots of the band’s Kelly Zutrau.

Zutrau offered her thoughts on Balasia’s directive style: “If you were to draw what you think your life is supposed to look like, it’s a sloping line upwards,” she said in a press release. “But my experience has been more like a loopdeeloop moving in cycles. There’s no straight trajectory, and that can be disturbing and surreal. As you get older, you get further away from any expected reality.”

Check out this video’s portrayal of that reality above.

Letter Blue is out 10/22 via AWAL. Pre-order it here.

For months now, there has been buzz about a Chromatica remix album from Lady Gaga, and now, she has finally confirmed that Dawn Of Chromatica is in fact set for release this week, on September 3. She also shared the tracklist, confirming the involvement of artists like Arca, Dorian Electra, Charli XCX, A.G. Cook, and Mura Masa. Curiously missing from the proceedings, though, is Grimes, who said in July that she was going to appear on the album.

Grimes has spoken out about that, placing some blame on the project’s executive producer, BloodPop. The producer, though, has his own version of what went down.

Grimes explained on Twitter, “@bloodpop and I have sibling rivalry issues and our immaturity lead to the song not being completed – also he’s mad at me for taping a picture of myself above his bed and when he removed the picture the tape ripped off the paint. He shud have left it.” BloodPop then responded, “Not completed as in not started – she was too busy making Tik toks about the silence of mimes??? Very weird IMO – also it actually left serious dry wall damage as she used duck tape.”

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

It’s been five years since Tom Holland and Zendaya’s first Spider-Man movie together — and five years of dating rumors.

They met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming, and like Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone before them, there was instant chemistry. But there was no proof of a possible romantic relationship until this year, when they were spotted kissing in a car. However, they still haven’t made it official. “They’re both not one to make their relationship public,” a source told Us. “They’re private when it comes to dating, so any photos that have come out would’ve just been them going about their business and not knowing photographers were around.” Another source added, “Zendaya and Tom started off as really great friends and stayed that way for a long while before things turned romantic.”

Today, September 1, is Zendaya’s 25th birthday, and to celebrate the occasion, Holland called the Emmy-winning Euphoria star “my MJ” on Instagram. “My MJ, have the happiest of birthdays. Gimme a call when your up xxx,” he wrote. That’s some canny wording — he’s being romantic with the “my MJ” and “xxx,” which sure sounds like they’re a couple, but the “gimme a call when your up” implies they didn’t spend the night together. We may never know if Holland and Zendaya are dating (they totally are).

Prior to a month ago, DaBaby had his eyes set on new music he planned to deliver to his fans. The rapper promised a new album was on the way, but all of that became an afterthought when he unleashed a homophobic rant targeted at individuals with HIV/AIDS during July’s Rolling Loud festival in Miami. Since then, DaBaby has found himself in a string of controversial moments and it continues with the release of his latest track.

On Tuesday, the North Carolina rapper delivers a remix of Wizkid and Tems’ summer hit, “Essence.” His take of the track completely alters the song’s original nature as Wizkid and Tems’ relaxed vocals are replaced by DaBaby’s quick-fire raps. He also uses the track to address the recent criticism he’s faced since his Rolling Loud rant. “I just feel like, you know, when situations like this present themselves, man,” he says on the track. “And people try to, you know, assassinate your character, man / And assassinate who you are, man / And everything you put that hard work in for, man.” He adds, “Sometimes you gotta demonstrate, you know, that’s how I came here / And I don’t mind demonstratin’ / I don’t mind exercisin’, you dig what I’m sayin’?”

The remix arrives after it was reported that DaBaby met with nine HIV/AIDS organizations after his Rolling Loud. As for the remix itself, most fans were not too happy with it and they took to Twitter to share their displeasures.

You can listen to his “Essence” remix in the video above and read the responses from fans below.

In the 2010s, Rick Ross seemed to be building one of the next rap empires with his Maybach Music Group imprint. The Teflon Don rapper had recruited names like Wale, Meek Mill, Omarion, Gunplay, and more to join him on the team. While their early days were bright, the MMG has been much quieter of late, with Ross, Meek, and Wale carrying most of the responsibilities for the label. Now, for the first time in years, Ross has signed a new artist: Boston rapper Smoke Bulga.

The two rappers have some history together, having previously collaborated back in 2010 on a track titled “We Made It.” More than a decade later and Bulga is the newest name to join MMG. To celebrate, he and Ross unleashed a video for their collaboration “Water Whip’n.” The track samples Black Rob’s “Like Woah,” and it captures a true celebratory moment between the rappers as they begin a journey as labelmates.

“It really feels like Draft Day because I’m teaming up with one of the best to ever do it in Rozay with one of the premier labels in hip-hop history,” Bulga said to Billboard about signing to Ross’ label. “MMG has long represented excellence and I look forward to representing the new generation of MMG starting with this new ‘Water Whip’n’ release.”

Ross, on the other hand, expressed his desire to help Bulga grow in the industry. “Smoke Bulga has potential to be a star,” he said. “I’ve seen him put in the work from afar and all he needed is the right opportunity, so I’m excited to welcome the homie to the MMG family.”

You can watch the video for “Water Whip’n” above.

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

It’s been a decade since Bas’ released his first mixtape Quarter Water Raised Vol. 1., which he created music with help from J. Cole, who served as a mentor of sorts before they joined forces on the Dreamville imprint. That year was also when Cole released his debut album, Cole World: The Sideline Story, after signing to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label. During a recent conversation with HipHopDX, Bas recalled the first time he met Jay-Z, which occurred during a studio session with Cole.

“I’ve been in some rooms with Cole, where he was working with some people,” he said. “Then I did Revenge Of The Dreamers [III], where we had half the industry in the studio. You know what I mean? But the first time Hov pulled up to a Cole session, I was pretty star-struck. I can’t lie. I grew up on Hov.”

He added, “That was probably like 2011, 2010. It was the very early, early Cole days. I just said, ‘What’s up?’ He’s real cool. Hov’s mad down to Earth. Super down to Earth. But at that point, I didn’t know that about him. I just know him from what I seen.”

He concluded, “Since then, I just know that’s how he is. He’s just a chill dude.”

Bas also spoke about hitting the road for live concerts in the near future after spending more than a year at home due to the pandemic. “I’m super excited to get back on the road,” he said. “I miss it a lot. You got to find the pros and cons to it. Obviously, shows were taken from us and just human interaction in general. The adventure of life was also kind of taken away. Things got real settled, but there’s pros to that, too.”

You can read Bas’ full interview with HipHopDX here.

Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Suicide Squad, which HBO Max subscribers can still watch until September 5.

The Suicide Squad — which is to say the recent, Will Smith-less sorta-sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad — kicked off with a bang: It whacked a good chunk of the cast before the opening credits even started. Even Pete Davidson! By the end, writer/director James Gunn backtracked a bit. In the end credits we learned that both Weasel and John Cena’s fascistic Peacemaker weren’t quite dead. (The latter, after all, has his own show to tend to.) But now Gunn’s revealed they aren’t the only two.

Gunn took to Twitter Monday to point out one detail many may have missed. “Important to note if you look at the life signals in the Comms hub TDK isn’t dead,” Gunn wrote, referring to the character played by Nathan Fillion: a superhero whose power is…detachable arms. He’s arguably the most WTF of the Squad this round, based on one of the most WTF characters in DC history. (The acronym, which Fillion’s character is loath to explain, stands for The Detachable Kid, though he’s also sometimes known as Arm Fall Off Boy.)

Indeed, if you look closely at the digital read-out on Amanda Walker’s computer, showing the life stats of each Squad member, TDK is one of the only ones that’s still green. His arms got pelted with machine gun fire, but the guy’s fate remained unresolved.

One person who did catch this bit was Fillion himself, when he went to go see the movie.

So have we seen the last of one of DC’s most curious characters? Possibly not.

(Via EW)

Britney Spears’ conservatorship battle is still in progress, as the singer looks to not only remove her father Jamie Spears from his conservator role but also end the court-approved arrangement altogether. Britney recently hired a new lawyer, Matthew Rosengart, and while that case is ongoing, there’s been a new development. According to TMZ, Jamie is allegedly trying to extort his daughter ahead of his potential removal. Legal documents that were obtained by the publication say the singer’s father is asking for around $2 million.

TMZ adds that Jamie plans to use some of the money to pay his lawyers and former business manager Tri Star. Britney’s lawyer, on the other hand, is quite upset at Jamie’s alleged act and displayed his frustration in the court documents. “The status quo is no longer tolerable, and Britney Spears will not be extorted,” a statement from Rosengart reads. The singer’s team is requesting that Jamie step down from his conservator position instead of attempting to slowly pay his way out. She adds that the court should suspend him from the conservatorship starting on September 29 should he refuse to resign.

This new development comes after Jamie said he would only step down from the conservatorship role “when the time is right.” He added that the “transition needs to be orderly and include a resolution of matters pending before the Court.”

A month ago few knew the name Mike Richards. (Unless they were talking about Cosmo Kramer.) A lot has changed since. Now he’ll forever be known as the obscure executive producer who spent all of one day on the job as Alex Trebek’s replacement hosting Jeopardy!, only to resign amidst an avalanche of scandals, and then get fired from his executive producer job as well. Reports about his past behavior continue to pour in. And a new piece from The Hollywood Reporter has uncovered shenanigans that allegedly went down when he was at The Price is Right — claims that could have spelled a much-changed version of Jeopardy!, had he remained there longer.

THR spoke with more than a dozen former staffers at The Price is Right, where he was first a co-exec producer and then executive producer and showrunner from 2008 through 2020. Richards stepped in shortly after the retirement of longtime host Bob Barker, and the portrait that emerges is of a meddling micro-manager who really wanted to be host, and who dismantled the show by getting rid of the old guard.

Not all recollections are the same, and some of the former staffers interviewed have nice things to say about Richards. Others allege slimy behavior that gibes with the questionable things he’d say on his old, recently exhumed podcast. One claims he was dicey with the show’s many models, whom he would “parade” around the stage during rehearsals. He even, they say, “polled employees about their attire and gave preferential treatment to some.”

Others told THR that when Richards came in, he undersaw the “dissolution of the close-knit work family that that preceded his tenure on the show.” He “cleaned house” of the Barker-era staffers, including showrunner Roger Dobkowitz, who had been there for 36 years and had won five Emmys while creating 18 of the show’s iconic games. Dobkowitz coached Richards when he auditioned for host, believing that that’s the job he ultimately wanted. Instead Richards took his job.

Richards also get rid of announcer Rich Fields, who was there for seven years, underseeing the transition from Barker to current host Drew Carey. “I was shocked that after treating Mike Richards as kindly as I did during the Bob Barker replacement auditions, that he came in as executive producer just months later and showed complete disdain for me,” Fields told THR. “There was a dismantling. Anybody who worked with Barker was cleansed from the show.”

He also made the job a lot less fun:

During Richards’ tenure, many lost benefits and paid hiatuses as Fremantle took greater control of the series. The envious schedule in which five episodes were filmed over four days each week, with staffers getting Fridays off, were tabled as Richards mandated everyone to come in on Fridays even though it wasn’t a filming day. Paid hiatuses — a staple under Barker — were also taken away and lavish holiday parties with performers like Frank Sinatra Jr. and KC and the Sunshine Band went away.

“People were there for decades because it was a great job. You were getting paid 52 weeks a year and working 30 weeks a year with the taping schedule,” notes a decade-long former staffer who was among one of the multiple departments that were eliminated under Richards and Fremantle. Says another ex-employee who recalled a tenure that she says left her feeling traumatized and nearly prompted her to leave the industry altogether: “It was s*itty management.”

Staffers also noticed a pattern in the Richards era of Price is Right:

“The staff he replaced the older staff with were all under 27 and we called ourselves the Brat Pack,” says a source who was hired by Richards. “We loved our jobs and loved our mentors and when they became disillusioned, we became disillusioned. When people would leave, they’d replace them with people who were loyal to Mike. It became a vicious cycle.”

There’s much more in the THR report, including that he tried to get higher-end brands — ones the show’s middle class demographic could never afford. When companies like Ralph Lauren, Tiffany, and Christian Louboutin turned them down, Richards allegedly had the prizing staff find the goods at outlet stores, prompting a flurry of cease and desist letters.

Richards eventually moved over to Jeopardy!, where he was ultimately conquered by his own hubris. But considering how much he changed The Price is Right, even if it was mostly behind-the-scenes, imagine what he could have done to America’s favorite brainy game show had he stayed longer.

(Via THR)