Stephen A. Smith apparently has an idea that he wants to see come to fruition over at the Worldwide Leader. According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, Smith wants to team up with former ESPN analyst Magic Johnson and, potentially, longtime network personality Michael Wilbon on broadcasts that lead into some of its biggest NBA games, including the Finals.
Smith wants to team up with Johnson, possibly on “NBA Countdown,” the pregame show that leads into the NBA Finals and other marquee games, according to sources.
Smith’s ideal setup would be to have a Big 3 that also includes “Pardon the Interruption” co-host Michael Wilbon, who often works alongside Smith on “SportsCenter.”
The network’s basketball programming has been in a state of flux in recent months. While NBA Countdown has never received the publicity that its TNT counterpart, Inside the NBA, receives as a pregame show, the group of Maria Taylor, Jalen Rose, Jay Williams, and Adrian Wojnarowski settled into a groove dating back to last year. But following Taylor’s departure to NBC at the end of the NBA Finals, there’s no word on how ESPN plans to move forward.
Marchand did note that while there has been some hesitancy in the past to have the ubiquitous Smith in this spot because “the league feels his style is too opinionated and not the right tone to lead into its main event,” he tends to get what he wants now that he is ESPN’s most prominent personality. The question that still exists, though, is how this sort of thing would work — Marchand mentioned that possibilities exist like Johnson appearing as one of the folks who replaces Max Kellerman on First Take and the trio coming together for Smith’s already-established midweek SportsCenter in the lead-up to NBA games on Wednesdays.
Currently on his All-American Road Show tour, Kentucky favorite Chris Stapleton stopped by Late Night With Seth Meyers last night to perform a bluesy rendition of his Guy Clark cover, “Worry B Gone,” which appears on last year’s Starting Over.
Rocking a giant turquoise-studded hat, Stapleton performed surrounded his band, which includes his wife and backing vocalist Morgane Stapleton. Together, they rolled out a spirited reimagining of Clark’s 2006 track, which longs for a medicinal escape from “a world of trouble I need to forget.”
Chatting with Vulture about his decision to cover the late Clark, who died in 2016, Stapleton said last year, “With musicians, it’s saddening for those of us who loved all their music because you wonder what else was there. Like, ‘Man, we’re not going to get anymore music.’ The cool thing with musicians is that a lot of their wisdom and humor and life is recorded. I don’t have that with my dad, or my aunts and my uncles, or my grandparents. I don’t have recordings of them pondering the world. But we get that with musicians. So in the coolest way, while it’s tragic that we lose some of these folks, musicians get to live on.”
Check out Stapleton’s appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers above.
Starting Over is out now via Mercury Nashville. Get it here.
Sometimes taking care of our beautiful home planet looks like big, broad policies tackling issues like plastic pollution and habitat destruction. And sometimes it looks like taking the time to help one tiny creature in an environmental bind.
In a YouTube video that’s been viewed a whopping 18 million times, we see an example of the latter in action as a group of divers attempt to convince an octopus to abandon the plastic cup it’s using for protection and trade it for a sturdy shell. Pall Sigurdsson has shared dozens of underwater videos on YouTube, but watching this particular video from a dive off the coast of Lembeh, Indonesia almost feels like watching a Pixar short film.
“We spent a whole dive and most of our air saving this octopus from what was bound to be a cruel fate,” Sigurdsson wrote in the description of the video.
“The coconut octopus, also known as veined octopus, is born with the instinct to protect itself by creating a mobile home out of coconut or clam shells. This particular individual however has been trapped by their instincts and have made a home out of a plastic cup they found underwater.”
Sigurdsson explained that a predator like an eel or a flouder would probably end up swallowing the cup with the octopus in it, likely killing both of them.
“We tried for a long time to give it shells hoping that it would trade the shell,” he wrote. “Coconut octopus are famous for being very picky about which shells they keep so we had to try with many different shells before it found one to be acceptable.”
If you think an octopus in a cup making a decision about shells doesn’t sound riveting, just watch:
The tentacles reaching out to test the weight of each shell, the divers searching for more options to offer it, the suspense of wondering whether the octopus really would abandon its pathetic plastic pollution protection…it’s just too much.
Funny how one small interaction in one tiny portion of the vast ocean can say so much about us, for better and for worse. Human pollution is an enormous problem and saving one little octopus won’t save the world, but it sure gives us hope and motivation to keep trying.
Do you ever fantasize about quitting your job, moving out of your place, and living life on the road? Seems impossible, right? How do you make money? How do you stay safe? How do you survive without all of the creature comforts you’re accustomed to?
Abigail Martin, a 20-year-old photographer and social media influencer, has taken that giant leap into the unknown by buying a conversion van and taking it on the road. On her TikTok page, she shows people what nomadic life is like and how anyone can join her.
It all started when she was in high school and started watching #VanLife videos online. By the time she graduated, she had no interest in going to college or joining the rat race.
So she worked four jobs until she saved up $18,000 to purchase a 2017 Ford Transit with 54,000 miles on it. It cost an extra $10,000 to install a bed, a kitchen, and to set up the electrical.
“In the morning, I would work at a coffee shop from 6 a.m. to noon, then I would walk across the street to a boutique from noon to 6 p.m,” she told The New York Times. “Then I’d go waitress at a restaurant from 6 p.m. until closing. On off-days, I was running my own photography business.”
Abigail purchased her van during the height of lockdowns and used her TikTok page to engage with people when we were all forced to be apart. Now, her page has over 730,000 followers and her videos have 18.3 million likes.
If you’ve ever dreamed of dropping out and living life on the road, here are a few videos we’ve selected from Abigail’s page to get you started.
Olivia Rodrigo is only 18 years old but she’s already at the top of the music world, with a No. 1 album and two chart-topping singles to her name. She surely has plenty of success ahead of her, and as she gets older, she doesn’t think age should hold her back.
In a conversation with Saturday Night Live‘s Bowen Yang for V Magazine, Rodrigo spoke about the idea that female pop stars over 30 years old can’t be successful, saying that she “resents” it:
“There’s this pressure for young women in pop music. And it’s like this thing where you’re only successful if you’re under 30. I’ve always resented that because I think I’m just going to get better with age. You know what I mean? I’m just going to become a better songwriter and know what I want to say more…I think that’s actually a really fun, exciting part of being in the space that I’m really encouraged to sort of have different eras and reinvent yourself. And I think that’s so much fun, and I am so inspired by so many different genres of music. I love country music so much, and I love rock music so much. And obviously pop music is my favorite.”
She also added, “Another thing that I think is really special is that, in 2021, I feel like artists aren’t really boxed into a genre anymore. I look at someone like Billie Eilish, who I’m so obsessed with, and her music is like pop, but it’s kind of rock, too.”
I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around Barry Jenkins — that’s Oscar-winning Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk filmmaker Barry Jenkins — directing a The Lion King movie for Disney. I’m having an equal amount of difficulty thinking about Mufasa not being voiced by James Earl Jones. But here we are: Jenkins is making a prequel to 2019’s The Lion King (I would rather pretend that movie doesn’t exist, so let’s say it’s to 1994’s The Lion King), and Mufasa will be voiced by Aaron Pierre.
Deadline reports that the actor, who worked with Jenkins on Amazon Prime Video’s fantastic The Underground Railroad limited series, will play the deep-voiced lion in the prequel, which “further explore the mythology of the iconic characters, including Mufasa’s origin story.” Additionally, Kelvin Harrison Jr. “is playing Taka,” a.k.a. Scar.
The untitled prequel (which Disney describes as live-action) will continue with the photorealistic animation technology that director Jon Favreau used in the blockbuster 2019 update… Jeff Nathanson, who scripted the last installment, is back in the fold.
Mufasa was voiced by Gary Anthony Williams in The Lion Guard series, but otherwise, it’s all James Earl Jones in the movies — including The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, which takes place after the original. That seems difficult considering… y’know. I have not seen the sequel in 20 years, so please don’t yell at me, but I’m guessing it involves Rafiki getting up to some monkey business. (You can yell at me for that.)
Rihanna’s annual Savage X Fenty shows have become an event to look forward to in recent years. There have been two editions so far, and now Rihanna has shared some details about this year’s show. Rihanna posted a trailer for the event, Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3, on social media today, which goes down on September 24 and will again be broadcast on Amazon Prime Video. The clip doesn’t offer more info beyond that, but it does offer stylized footage of Rihanna sporting some revealing looks.
There’s no word yet on who will be making appearances at the show, but based on past events, it should be a star-studded affair. Either performing or making an appearance at last year’s show, for example, were Travis Scott, Roddy Ricch, Rosalia, Miguel, Bad Bunny, Ella Mai, Mustard, Lizzo, Bella Hadid, Big Sean, Cara Delevingne, Christian Combs, Demi Moore, Irina Shayk, Laura Harrier, Normani, Paloma Elsesser, Paris Hilton, Rico Nasty, and Willow Smith, among others.
Even beyond this, times are good for Rihanna, as it was revealed earlier this month that she is now a billionaire.
Check out the teaser above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen don’t seem to particularly like one another. We all got a reminder of this earlier this year while Pippen was on a media tour for his memoir Unguarded, as Barkley was on the list of folks who received a less-than-flattering call-out by the Basketball Hall of Fame inductee.
Barkley, in Pippen’s eyes, is a fake tough guy, saying, “He only got arrested for throwing some little white guys out of a window. I ain’t never seen him fight a Black man unless there were referees around.” While Barkley originally responded by saying Pippen is just trying to sell books — “I was disappointed he’s taking shots at Michael, Phil Jackson, and myself,” Barkley went on to say. “But I understand he’s got a book coming out. And I just think it’s silly and stupid, to be honest with you.” — his latest comments on Pippen were a bit more direct.
The TNT analyst appeared on ESPN 1000’s “Waddle and Silvy” and made clear that he doesn’t exactly think Pippen is one to talk about toughness. Via TMZ:
“I don’t walk around saying I’m Billy Badass, but I can promise you one thing — I’m tougher than Scottie Pippen,” Barkley told ESPN 1000’s “Waddle and Silvy”
“Let me put that to rest right now.”
Barkley went on to say that he doesn’t anticipate a celebrity boxing match ever happening or anything like that, so there’s only one logical end point here: Scottie Pippen and Charles Barkley playing 1-on-1.
In the years since the release of Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2018 album DAMN., hip-hop fans have been on tenterhooks, awaiting its follow-up. The intervening years have been light on new releases from the elusive Comptonite, leaving his supporters completely in the dark as to his next project’s creative direction or release date. However, this week, we did learn one new thing: Whatever the next album is called or whatever it’s about, it’ll be his last album released by Top Dawg Entertainment, marking the end of an era.
With Kendrick’s announcement, fans couldn’t help speculating whether there had been a falling out between K. Dot and the gang over at TDE — one Isaiah Rashad tweet was misinterpreted as a shot at the departing vanguard, while Top Dawg himself pre-empted much of the conjecture with a respectful salute to his longtime business partner. In all likelihood, it’s much more realistic that Kendrick simply signed a deal with the label for a set number of projects and will fulfill that obligation soon. But what I find more interesting — and you should too — is looking back on how that partnership shook up the rap game for a decade, and how each partner might move forward in the future.
The roots of that partnership go back even further than Kendrick signing to TDE. He detailed the “only in California”-style connection between his father and Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith on the song “Duckworth” from DAMN. Kenny’s father, Ducky, worked at a chicken spot that Top decided to rob; Ducky’s habit of sliding Top extra chicken on the low prompted Top to spare him, leading to a funny full-circle moment when Kendrick “introduced” the two after being signed to Top’s label some 20 years later. When Kendrick signed to Top Dawg in the mid-2000s, though, neither of the two probably had any idea the profound effect they’d eventually have on the music industry.
Coming of age in the so-called “blog era,” one of Kendrick and Top’s first major accomplishments was leveraging the success of K. Dot’s mixtapes into independent sales of his retail projects Overly Dedicated and Section.80. While Kendrick’s peers like Big Sean, Drake, J. Cole, and Wale were signing to major labels — and detailing their struggles with securing release dates, clearing samples, negotiating reasonable marketing budgets, and getting their records under shipped — Kendrick went directly to his fan base via then-new digital retailers like iTunes, ensuring creative control and max profits for his independent label. By the time Kendrick was dubbed “New King of the West Coast” by Dr. Dre, The Game, and Snoop Dogg, he had more leverage than nearly any other indie artist that came before him.
While his “debut” album Good Kid, MAAD City brought unprecedented attention back to the West Coast, spotlighting the shortcomings of the Grammy Awards for the first time during the social media era, and racking up rave reviews, its follow-up, To Pimp A Butterfly, turned the rap game on its ear. Thanks to the unprecedented support of Top Dawg Entertainment, Kendrick was able to overcome the so-called “sophomore jinx” that had plagued previous “chosen ones” in hip-hop like Jay-Z and Nas by blowing out the production process with contributions from LA’s burgeoning jazz revival scene. Those collaborations led to artists like Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, and Thundercat becoming household names in their own rights, which might not have been possible on a standard major-label deal.
Alongside TDE, Kendrick executive produced the soundtrack to Marvel’s Black Panther movie, and the negotiation leverage afforded to Kenny and Top by their independent successes allowed them to finagle unheard-of publishing deals that allowed them to maintain control over the rights to the music and ask for mind-boggling amounts on eyebrow-raising timelines. While normally, publishing deals can last longer than rap artists’ entire careers, Kendrick and TDE have been able to wrangle more short-term agreements that favor them while also satisfying partners who know that Kendrick’s catalog is one of the most sought-after in the game. And now that Kendrick is leaving TDE, presumably to release music under his own label, PgLang, he’ll likely be able to carry that leverage into any future negotiations to distribute and manage his music on terms many artists would envy.
Meanwhile, TDE is already positioning itself for its post-Kendrick phase of business, which could find them reverting back to the template that started it all. It’s inarguable that Kendrick was TDE’s most profitable and marketable signee, the tentpole that generated the revenue allowing artists like Isaiah Rashad, Jay Rock, and SZA to take their time on their own releases. With that said, even without him, TDE still has the aforementioned artists (along with Schoolboy Q and SiR), who generate plenty of profit on their own. In addition, the label has signed newcomers like Doechii, Reason, and most recently, Long Beach rapper Ray Vaughn to its stable, and immediately set about dropping music from them through digital channels. While they may not have the attention of a more established artist and are definitely fighting a more crowded marketplace, the lessons in digital distribution that TDE gleaned from its work with Kendrick will undoubtedly apply and serve them in good stead.
The future, for both Kendrick and TDE, looks bright. Top Dawg’s new artists will have the opportunity to develop and grow their careers based on the experience that the label has built up over the past decade, while Kendrick can take the same experience and apply it to the PgLang agency’s endeavors. Since the partners parted on good terms, there’s also no real reason they couldn’t continue to find ways to work together in the future, whether on new music or other business ventures. Ultimately, Kendrick leaving TDE can turn out to be a good thing for both; after all, every bird has to leave its nest eventually, striking out to build a home of its own. Wherever Kendrick ends up, he’s been set up for success and blazed a trail that TDE’s future artists can follow to their own.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Ever since breaking out three years ago with his “I’m Not Racist” video, Joyner Lucas has made a habit of putting social commentary into many of his videos, and fortunately, he’s gotten much better at it since then. Case in point: His new video for “Dreams Unfold” featuring Lil Tjay, which slyly satirizes the rise in screen time for America’s youth with the advent of mobile data and WiFi.
Although the video opens with a disclaimer that it isn’t appropriate for children, it goes on to imitate the format and look of several kids shows, including the classic Blue’s Clues, as Joyner plies his prepubescent viewers with raunchy imagery, a “drugs are our friends” message, and puppet strippers. He also gets his “Bad Santa” on, tearing up a mall Santa booth alongside a bad-tempered elf. The video ends with a title card imploring his peers to be better role models.
It’s a subject that Joyner has confronted in the past when he criticized Lil Nas X’s “Montero” video, prompting Lil Nas to clap back, reminding Joyner that his music isn’t really for kids in the first place. Clearly, Joyner thinks everyone could be doing a better job of making wholesome content but on the other hand, as Cardi B has repeatedly pointed out, that might be for the parents to decide. After all, someone is putting all these screens in front of kids’ faces.
Watch Joyner Lucas’ “Dreams Unfold” video featuring Lil Tjay above.
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