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Somehow or another, a whole summer has gone by with barely a peep from LA warm weather icon Dom Kennedy. However, it looks like he might be setting his sights on windbreaker season, announcing the impending release of the third installment of his fan-favorite album series, From The Westside With Love, on October 15. To solidify his return to the projects that made him such a staple of Golden State house parties and ocean drives, he has dropped the first single, “Rollin Papers.”

In typical Dom Kennedy fashion, “Rollin Papers” features a mellow beat that invites top-down, seat-back, afternoon cruising paired with his laid-back, descriptive rhymes, complete with all the forcefully-enunciated “r” sounds you could ever hope for.

The past five years or so have seen a string of consistent releases from Dom, including his Half-A-Mil pairings with Hit-Boy, but enthusiasm for new Dom Kennedy music hit new highs this summer, partially as a result of a 2020 that saw him tapped by both New York rap legend Nas on “City On Lock” and rising Los Angeles R&B star Blxst for “Got It All.” With his years of consistency finally receiving some recognition, it looks like his persistence — and fans’ patience — will pay off with the return to the Westside Love revolution we’ve all been waiting for.

Listen to “Rollin Papers” above.

The Office wasn’t the same after Steve Carell left during season seven. There are some good episodes in the final two seasons and I will forever defend Robert California (he is the f*cking lizard king after all), but when Michael boarded his flight to Colorado, so much of what made the show great was lost. This may not have been the case if James Gandolfini had stepped in as regional manager.

“I was at the meeting with James Gandolfini where we tried to convince him to join the show,” writer and actor B.J. Novak recalled during Thursday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. “And he was a big comedy fan — his favorite movie was The Rocker starring Rainn Wilson, so he was shy and intrigued.” Novak called The Sopranos the “biggest influence” on The Office because… I’m sorry, I need to pause here. James Gandolfini’s favorite movie was The Rocker, the little-seen 2008 comedy starring Dwight as a failed musician named Robert “Fish” Fishman who appears on the poster in his underwear? This will take some time to process.

OK, that’s better.

“In fact, the way Michael Scott will say something very serious but mispronounce a word, I feel, is a direct descendent of the Tony Soprano sense of humor,” Novak said. “So I thought he would have been an incredible replacement — I really, really wanted to work with him.”

Novak thinks Gandolfini would have been an “incredible replacement” for Carell, but unfortunately, the deal didn’t happen. As Steve Schirripa explained on Talking Sopranos, NBC offered Gandolfini “$4 million to play him for the season — and HBO paid him $3 million not to do it.” Gandolfini was reportedly going to star in HBO’s The Night Of, but he passed away in 2013; the miniseries would eventually air in 2016.

You can watch the Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen clip above.

(Via People)

If you think you’ve been hearing a lot about Netflix’s Squid Game recently, just be thankful you’re not the man whose phone number was given away in the show’s first episode. Following the success of the gruesome Korean series, fans of the show have been calling a phone number prominently featured in its first episode. However, it turns out the line these folks are calling was not one made up for Squid Game, but actually belongs to a Korean man living in Gyeonggi Province, according to The South China Morning Post (via IGN), and he’s now getting around 4,000 calls a day.

For those interested (but gracious enough to leave the poor man alone), the phone number in question appears in the first episode of Squid Game numerous times, as it graces multiple business cards handed out to the show’s cast of characters inviting them to compete in a series of gory games in hopes of winning a massive cash prize. The phone number is also featured in the show’s trailer, which has already racked up nearly 13 million views since its release a month ago.

According to the report, viewers are apparently calling the number to state their interest in being “in the game,” perhaps assuming the line would lead to a pre-existing hotline created as a publicity stunt for the series. However, they are instead being met by the presumably very full inbox of the unsuspecting man whose life has now been turned upside down by the show’s success. A local Korean newspaper, Hankook Ilbo, has stated Netflix is currently “in negotiations with the phone number owner to resolve the issue,” however the bizarre issue has attracted the attention of other parties interested in obtaining the number.

South Korea’s National Revolutionary Party’s honorary chief, Huh Kyung-young, has reportedly made an offer of 100 million won — or $85,000 USD — to purchase the phone number. According to the presidential hopeful, he has heard “that the owner of the phone number showed on a business card in Squid Game is suffering serious damage from prank calls” and would like to resolve the issue through buying “the number for 100 million won.”

However, despite all these big numbers being thrown around and having Netflix on the phone, the owner of the number is reportedly hesitant to give it away. According to the reports, he has been using it for over a decade and it is linked with his business. However, seeing as Squid Game will likely become Netflix biggest show ever, we wouldn’t be surprised if he takes one of these offers here soon.

Pink Pantheress blew up on TikTok first, but don’t write her off as a one-and-done viral sensation. Instead, this London DIY performer got a deal with Parlophone and is gearing up to expand her sound even farther past the eclectic foundation she’s already built. The bedroom producer is inspired by sounds as divergent as Lily Allen, ’90s and ’00s pop and punk acts, and K-pop, but she blends everything together to make it her own in the end. With her new single “Just For Me” blowing up and the subdued, white backdropped video clocking in at just under a million and a half views in three weeks, it’s safe to say she’s on the verge of mainstream fame.

Today, she’s announced her debut mixtape is going to be on the way soon, introducing the collection with a spooky Halloween-style cover. To Hell With It is slated for release on October 15 via Elektra Records/Parlophone Records, and will include previously-released songs like her latest “Just For Me,” along with “Pain,” “Passion,” and “Break It Off.” Of her new project, Pink Pantheress said she’s collecting the songs while still working to develop her sound. “I’m super excited to share this project with you all as my first body of work,” she said in a press release. “I’ve been collecting songs that I’ve made this year and while I’m still developing my sound, I’m hoping these songs immerse you into your ideal fantasy world as you listen.”

Check out the creepy cover art below, and if you haven’t heard it yet, check out “Just For Me” above.

Earlier this week, Lindsay Lohan made her official plunge into the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs for short) by auctioning off a piece of artwork that transforms the Mean Girls actress into a furry. Her “fursona,” as the community calls it. Lohan tweeted the image on Wednesday, which kicked off a 72-hour auction that would grant the winner the digital rights to the cartoon rendering of Canine Lohan, or whatever they’re calling it.

By Thursday, Lohan was trending on Twitter, and not in a good way. The actress was getting roasted for attempting to shamelessly cash in on the NFT craze, and more specifically, her “art” did not go over well with the furry community. Via Rolling Stone:

“Flat D, perhaps even a D-,” says Colin Spacetwinks, a writer in the furry community. “It reminds me in a way of frequently insecure straight artists rendering furries: [diminish] and reduce furry traits so as to not ‘commit’ to what you’re doing. Ears covered, why? Feels like it’s avoiding animal traits on purpose.” Furry and aspiring game developer Tommo the Cabbit made a similar point, telling Rolling Stone, “It’s weird how there’s no ears shown since furry characters have ears shown on the top of the head.”

As, uh, animal lovers (to put it mildly), furries also took issue with Lohan endorsing NFTs, which have a negative impact on the environment thanks to the exponential levels of power consumption needed to create cryptocurrency. Turns out, there’s not a whole lot of room for animals to thrive when you’re raising the earth’s temperature to make imaginary computer money.

You can see some more reactions below:

(Via Rolling Stone)

At this year’s BET Hip-Hop Awards airing October 5 at 9 pm ET, LL Cool J will be presenting Tyler The Creator with a new award named after LL’s most impactful hit. The Rock The Bells Cultural Influence Award will recognize the growth and widespread effect Tyler has had over the past decade of rap music, representing a way for the older generation of hip-hop pioneers to recognize their successors — and maybe inform viewers on a little bit more hip-hop history.

Meanwhile, the awards themselves were actually filmed this week on Thursday, September 30, giving LL a chance to address the occasion via a statement from BET. “I am proud to honor Tyler, The Creator, with the first-ever Rock The Bells cultural influence award, which celebrates an artist who continues to break down the conventional boundaries of hip hop culture,” he said.

In addition, Tyler is nominated for four awards including, Hip Hop Album of the Year for his album Call Me If You Get Lost, Artist of the Year, Best Live Performer, and Producer of the Year. The honor follows Tyler’s mind-(and everything else)blowing performance of album single “Lumberjack” at the BET Awards earlier this year. Tyler said of the experience, “I was so hype to perform at the BET Awards. I don’t think people understand, dude. Having Durk and Lil Baby and Styles P just tell me how good the performance was meant a lot. I just never felt like my style of music would ever have been, not even appreciated, but allowed on there. And because of that, I would mock it. It was like a defense mechanism because I felt like I wasn’t accepted by that audience. But when they asked me this year, man, I was enthralled. I was so happy.”

Watch the BET Hip-Hop Awards on 10/5 on BET.

The world’s in a shambles. That’s an undeniable truth these days, and also consider this: It’s been over two years since we learned that Robert Pattinson was the seemingly unlikely choice to play the lead in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, and it’s been over one year since the first (intense) teaser trailer arrived. Someday (March 4, 2022), the movie will land in theaters for real, and that day is obviously not today (October 1, 2021), which happens to be the intended release day.

Naturally, there was bound to be some emotional realizations once people realized that this was to be a joyous day, when Robert Pattinson — master of reinvention and murderer of microwave ovens — could deliver his take on a young Bruce Wayne. We’ve been robbed of so much life over the past few years, so obviously, delayed movie dates don’t rank anywhere near a real tragedy, but still, people are upset. And they’re venting.

And some people decided to deal with disappointment by making sh*t up for fun. Enter a flurry of tweets, which saw their authors pretend to have seen the movie and dole out “reactions.” Hey, it sounds like what Batman wouldn’t do on Harley Quinn (even though he totally would) is in the mix for these claimed scenarios, which include everything from “Batman does in fact go down” to “Red Hood shot Bane in the f*cking nuts.”

Meanwhile, someone woke up and decided to choose real chaos.

After the release of his new album, Justice, earlier this year, Justin Bieber has been back on his A-game. Arguably, the resurgence started directly after the release of his Changes album at the top of 2020. After a period of quiet during the early pandemic, Bieber began to slowly release new singles like “Lonely” with Benny Blanco and “Holy” with Chance The Rapper that reflected a more vulnerable, intimate look at where the singer’s head was at.

These new songs along with other singles like “Anyone” and “Hold On” would eventually be part of Justice, but at the time momentum was building and fans were thrilled to discover that Bieber was going to be hosting a massive livestream concert for New Year’s Eve 2020. Hey, livestreams aren’t normally the most exciting thing in the world, but after a year of lockdown and isolation, it felt like a prescient good omen for the coming year. Justin Bieber: Our World is a new documentary from filmmaker Michael D. Ratner that follows Bieber and his team for the month building up to the show, along with self-shot moments from Bieber and Hailey that capture the couple navigating their new relationship during the isolation.

Check out the trailer above, the film drops on Amazon Prime Video on October 8.

The Philadelphia 76ers and Ben Simmons reached a major inflection point in his holdout designed to force the team to trade him. Simmons is owed 25 percent of his salary, which is a little over $8 million, on Oct. 1, and there were questions about whether or not the Sixers would cut him a check or keep that from heading into his bank account.

According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, Philly — which already gave Simmons’ the 25 percent of his contract he was owed earlier this year — has decided to go with option B. It is unclear whether or not this would spark a gigantic fight in which the NBA and the Players’ Association would step in, but Fischer added that a growing belief is that Simmons will end up reporting to the team but sit on the sideline, citing injuries.

In turn, there have been growing whispers this week among NBA sources with knowledge of the situation that Simmons could respond by actually reporting to Philadelphia in the coming days, but maintaining that he is injured and unable to compete. Simmons has had noted knee and back injuries in the previous two seasons.
…

The Sixers’ first preseason game is in Toronto on Monday, and there’s a belief held in league circles that Simmons may even rejoin the Sixers prior to that contest. How that would be received by teammates and staffers remains to be seen.

The news was confirmed by Shams Charania of The Athletic.

It had been reported that Simmons was willing to sit out this season and forfeit his salary in an effort to get a trade from the Sixers, and that his plan is to never suit up for the team again. The question now is whether or not losing out on a major payday leads to Simmons having a change of heart.

As television productions continue to spring back after facing brutal delays from the pandemic — The Righteous Gemstones was literally on its second day of shooting for Season 2 when it was forced to shut down — HBO has dropped a heavenly bounty of information about the upcoming new season for Danny McBride‘s latest masterpiece. While the network has yet to nail down a definitive release date, The Righteous Gemstones Season 2 will start airing its nine new episodes this winter. Not very specific, but have faith the show is coming soon.

Here’s the official synopsis for the new season, which is as mysterious as the Lord’s ways:

THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES tells the story of a world-famous televangelist family with a long tradition of deviance, greed and charitable work. Season two finds our blessed Gemstone family threatened by outsiders from both the past and present who wish to destroy their empire.

HBO also released the first round of photos from Season 2, which includes a look at some of the new characters joining the holy roller cast.

Firing right out of the gate is the Gemstones family still living that jet-set life: Kelvin (Adam Devine), Eli (John Goodman), Judy (Edi Patterson), Jesse (Danny McBride), and his now estranged wife Amber (Cassidy Freeman).

Here’s a look at the Gemstones family at work at their megachurch that’s ruled with an iron fist by Eli despite the numerous messes caused by his wayward children. When they’re not embezzling money, they’re snorting cocaine with strippers, which doesn’t bode well for the holy exterior.

On the left, we have the welcomed return of “former” Satanist Keefe (Tony Cavalero) who’s been taken under Kelvin Gemstone’s wing. Or is it the other way around?

In a new addition to the cast, Eric Andre and Jessica Lowe star as megachurch pastor and wife Lyle and Lindy Lissons.

Jason Schwartzman is also a new addition as a journalist named Thaniel.

Despite being estranged at the end of Season 1 (Amber literally shot Jesse in the ass with a gun), McBride and Freeman’s characters appear to be working together in the new season, but to what end?

Easily the highlight of Season 1, Judy and B.J. (Tim Baltz)’s weird as hell relationship is apparently still going strong.

And, finally, you can’t have a new season of The Righteous Gemstones without Walton Goggins as “Baby Billy” Freeman, who survived a lightning strike in the Season 1 finale and immediately found a way to turn it into a money-making scheme.

The Righteous Gemstones Season 2 is set to premiere this winter on HBO.