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About ten days ago, rapper Biz Markie passed away at 57 years old. Although he hadn’t released a new album since 2003’s Weekend Warrior, Markie remained a beloved pop culture figure over the past few decades. After his passing, as tends to happen with deceased musicians, fans started revisiting his music, which led to some new Billboard chart appearances for Markie.

The rapper made his debut on the Comedy Albums chart this week with his 1994 compilation album Biz’s Baddest Beats, which is No. 2 on the chart dated July 31, behind Bo Burnham’s Inside (The Songs). Additionally, his iconic single “Just A Friend” (which appears on Biz’s Baddest Beats but was originally included on the 1989 album The Biz Never Sleeps) has re-entered this week’s Digital Song Sales chart at No. 18. That’s thanks to 5,000 song downloads, which is an increase of 2,991 percent from the previous week.

Markie representative Jenni Izumi previously confirmed his passing, saying, “It is with profound sadness that we announce, this evening, with his wife Tara by his side, hip hop pioneer Biz Markie peacefully passed away. We are grateful for the many calls and prayers of support that we have received during this difficult time. Biz created a legacy of artistry that will forever be celebrated by his industry peers and his beloved fans whose lives he was able to touch through music, spanning over 35 years. He leaves behind a wife, many family members and close friends who will miss his vibrant personality, constant jokes and frequent banter. We respectfully request privacy for his family as they mourn their loved one.”

Watch Markie’s video for “Just A Friend” below.

Los Angeles performer Sasami ,who recently covered System Of A Down’s “Toxicity,” has shared a new cover: Daniel Johnston’s song “Sorry Entertainer.” While the original was super-bare — mostly just strummed out on an out-of-tune acoustic guitar — this version is exponentially heavier, full of muddy guitars and a very metal solo. There’s also a deeply chaotic new music video, which was directed by comedian and actress Patti Harrison (Together Together, Shrill, I Think You Should Leave) and Alan Resnick.

Here’s what Sasami had to say about her choice to cover “Sorry Entertainer.”

“I made my last album when I was in a very emotionally vulnerable and tender place, but after a couple years of touring those same subtle, more sensitive songs, the live show became louder and more volatile. A bit before the pandemic took hold I was really getting back into metal and nu metal, so a couple months into quarantine I made an acoustic version of the System of a Down song ‘Toxicity.’ My sadness ripened into anger throughout 2020, and deeper into it I started experimenting with a heavier palette and decided to perform the inverse exercise of metallicizing an acoustic song. ‘Sorry Entertainer’ is my take on mixing the desperation of being a hopeless and powerless artist and the extremely powerful sounds of a metal band. Like giving a toddler a flamethrower… or a fullstack.”

Check out Sasami’s rendition of “Sorry Entertainer” above.

Sasami is out now via Domino. Get it here.

It’s natural that sister act Chloe X Halle draws comparisons to Beyonce since they’re signed to the pop queen’s management company Parkwood Entertainment. However, today, they’re drawing a different sort of comparison after younger sister Halle Bailey fiercely defended her older sister Chloe from a Twitter troll’s criticism, reminding fans of Beyonce’s own younger sister Solange’s staunch support of Beyonce.

Paying a backhanded compliment to the elder Bailey sister, the Twitter comment read, “I feel like Chloe Bailey is cute but y’all be overhyping shawty.” When Halle caught wind of the offending tweet, she responded sweetly, “Girl, let’s not start. Be blessed!! God loves you too!!!” And although the words — and the accompanying collection of angelic and shushing emojis — came across as “nice,” the Little Mermais star thinly veiled the implied threat behind them: Don’t start none, won’t be none. The offending tweet was apparently deleted and the original poster locked their account.

The banter instantly set fans buzzing, shooting “Halle” onto Twitter’s trending topics, and prompting fans to recall the bond between the Knowles sisters and Solange’s method of defending her sister. Of course, in that instance, rather than exchanging words with the offending party, Solange resolved to speak with her hands, resulting in the infamous elevator confrontation with Jay-Z and a half-dozen bars on the next three projects from Beyonce and Jay-Z.

Check out more responses from fans below.

https://twitter.com/joshuachenault1/status/1420071907165102080?s=20

Team USA women’s basketball’s first Olympic group stage game felt eerily similar to their subpar exhibition games. The Americans beat Nigeria, 81-72, but the margin was way too close for comfort. Turnovers and a lack of chemistry were noticeable for the full 40 minutes save for an explosive 23-0 second-quarter stretch, and the game never felt completely theirs. That’s despite Nigeria missing three stars it’d hoped to have in Nneka Ogwumike, Chiney Ogwumike, and Elizabeth Williams.

It’s way too soon to panic, and Team USA is still the favorite by far to win the gold medal. But let’s talk about what we learned from their first Olympic game.

1. A’ja Wilson is unstoppable in the post

This is an important one. While most of the first-time American Olympians played a smaller role against Nigeria, Wilson was the star. Her 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting were a game-high and her six offensive rebounds (13 total boards) helped bail out some ugly halfcourt possessions. The 24-year-old reigning WNBA MVP was ready for the moment which is a great sign for Team USA’s current run and future appearances.

It is noteworthy to point out Wilson found a ton of her success playing as a small-ball big. Dawn Staley starts Wilson next to Brittney Griner, but because they operate the same space, she’s prone to drawing a second help-defender. We’ll see if Team USA makes any adjustments going forward and staggering their bigs a bit more.

2. Diana Taurasi’s return was crucial

Taurasi missed all three exhibition games with a hip injury, and also missed 10 WNBA games to a fracture in her sternum. Getting back on the court in time for the Olympics was always the expectation but when and how she’d look were question marks. The good news is Taurasi started and looked sharp from the field. She wasn’t hesitant to shoot and scored 10 points on six shots (hitting two 3-pointers), and helped kickstart the offense for Team USA after a nervy start to the game.

Getting the leading scorer in WNBA history back into the lineup was a must for the Americans. Taurasi will never struggle to get a jumper off.

3. Nigeria’s full-court trap bothered USA way more than it should have

It was tough to watch how often Team USA struggled to get the ball past halfcourt. Credit Nigeria’s tenacity on made buckets and defensive rebounds, but the Americans really, really had problems running in transition. They turned the ball over 25 times!

Going forward, the team’s bigs may have to take a few dribbles before searching for a guard — or at least start throwing pass-fakes. Keeping the ball high can also aid referees in calling fouls, but the sloppiness has to go as competition ramps up. They’ve turned the ball over 63 times in their last three games.

4. This team has a lot of work to do

Few parts of this game felt great. Nigeria made a late fourth-quarter run to cut the deficit to single digits in the final three minutes. If that felt odd, it’s because it hasn’t happened in a while. The 2016 team had a cohesiveness that allowed the Americans to go 8-0 and win by an average of 38.5 points. No game was closer than 26 points. This was the first single digit win for Team USA since 2004 against Russia.

Hopefully, over the next week, America finds its rhythm. It’s only going to get harder from here.

5. This was win No. 50 in a row for USA

We’re tough on this team because we expect so much from them, but this was the Americans’ 50th straight win in Olympic play which is a wild achievement worth celebrating. We’ll see if they can keep the streak alive for seven more games and win a seventh straight gold.

Earlier in the month, Lollapalooza and Hulu announced that they had officially partnered to allow subscribers to watch the upcoming four-day festival from the comfort of their own homes at no additional cost. Now, according to Hulu’s website, we can confirm that the livestream schedule includes headliners Foo Fighters, Tyler the Creator, Post Malone, Journey, Modest Mouse, Young Thug, Band of Horses, Jimmy Eat World, Black Pumas, The Front Bottoms, White Reaper, and more.

Lollapalooza will kick off July 29 and running to August 1 in Chicago’s Grant Park. The livestream will begin at 11 am PT and come to an end at 8 pm PT each day. Upon announcing the festival’s return this spring, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, “In alignment with our public health guidance, the world class festival returns to the city later this summer. However, full COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test will be required to enjoy the festivities.” Lightfoot also announced that all festivalgoers will be required to be vaccinated or show proof of a negative COVID test in the last 24 hours in order to attend.

In a statement given to Billboard, sponsorship director of Lollapalooza festival promoter C3 Presents Courtney Trucksess expressed their excitement about the livestream partnership: “We are thrilled to be partnering for the first time with Hulu for this year’s livestream and are excited that the Lollapalooza fans who cannot be with us in Chicago have such a great platform to experience the show.” Check out the full schedule below (all times are in CT).

Thursday, July 29

1:10 p.m. – Aly & AJ
1:30 p.m. – Ant Clemons
1:55 p.m. – MAX
3:20 p.m. – Dombresky
4:00 p.m. – Dayglow
5:10 p.m. – Black Pumas
6:20 p.m. – Jimmy Eat World
8:30 p.m. – Steve Aoki

Friday, July 30

1:30 p.m. – Tai Verdes
2:05 p.m. – Tobi Lou
4:05 p.m. – Emotional Oranges
4:40 p.m. – Riot Ten
6:15 p.m. – White Reaper
7:25 p.m. – Jauz
8:00 p.m. – Jack Harlow
9:05 – Tyler The Creator

Saturday, July 31

1:10 p.m. – Cannons
1:50 p.m. – Hinds
4:00 p.m. – Vintage Culture
5:00 p.m. – Young The Giant
8:00 p.m. – Oliver Heldens
8:30 p.m. – Journey
9:20 p.m. – Post Malone

Sunday, August 1

1:10 p.m. – Sir Chloe
1:30 p.m. – Flipp Dinero
3:30 p.m. – Dr. Fresch
4:05 p.m. – Young Thug
5:10 p.m. – The Front Bottoms
6:10 p.m. – Modest Mouse
7:15 p.m. – Band Of Horses
8:20 p.m. – Foo Fighters

Get more info about the upcoming Hulu livestream here.

In June, Rick Ross boasted that he flies commercial and cuts his own grass to save money, but he must have been spending a lot of those savings on Uber and Lyft rides because today, he revealed that he’s only just now getting around to applying for a driver’s license. In a video posted to his social media, he self-deprecatingly told his followers that he owns “100 cars and don’t have a driver’s license.” He also joked about being an organ donor, saying, “Don’t let me die just to take my good heart.”

Meanwhile, the home where Ross mows his own lawn is reportedly set to be featured on the upcoming reboot of MTV’s Cribs alongside other celebrities’ homes like Big Sean’s, Martha Stewart’s, Nick Young’s, and Tinashe’s after being used as the set for the palace in Coming 2 America. In May, it was also highlighted during a police chase when a suspect supposedly crashed his truck in front of the property, leading to an extensive search of the grounds for a gun police say he had.

Ross himself has been working on new music as well, contributing guest verses to projects from the likes of Joyner Lucas and Conway The Machine, as well as teasing a joint project with Drake.

Regardless of how you feel about Coldplay these days, you can’t really argue that their debut single, “Yellow,” is a classic, as is the music video featuring Chris Martin taking a soulful walk on a cloudy beach. Now, Ian Sweet (aka indie-pop luminary Jilian Medford) has dropped both a dreamy cover of “Yellow” and shot a total remake of the video, where Medford takes what appears to be the same exact beach walk, in a rain slicker and everything.

“I’ve seen Coldplay live six times,” Medford said of her decision to cover “Yellow.” “Parachutes was the first CD I ever rented from the library and it changed my life. I owe a lot of who I am, and the way I write and perform music to Coldplay. I wanted to cover ‘Yellow’ because it is my go-to karaoke song, love song, breakup song, feel good song… it’s everything.”

Medford’s latest album, Show Me How You Disappear, dropped earlier in the year, back in March. “This is the first record that I leave that space for myself,” she said in a statement at the time. “I feel a freedom on this one that I haven’t felt with the others. People always say ‘I put all of me into this’, but I actually didn’t this time — I left space.”

Watch Medford’s “Yellow” cover above.

Show Me How You Disappear is out now via Polyvinyl. Get it here.

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

Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week we got a (kind of) new album from punk legends Descendents, the return of Darkside, and new tracks from Porches and Illuminati Hotties. Check out the rest of the best new indie music below.

While we’re at it, sign up for our newsletter to get the best new indie music delivered directly to your inbox, every Monday.

Descendents – 9th & Walnut

The new album from legendary punk outfit Descendents isn’t actually new. In fact, it’s actually older than any Descendents release ever, with songs written during the band’s first-ever practices in the late 1970’s. It took more than 40 years for the songs to get the attention they deserve, and 9th & Walnut finally presents fans with what the band considers to be their lost album. “It sounds cheesy,” drummer Stevenson admitted to me in a recent interview. “I’m always suspicious when movies have a prequel. I feel like they made it up. I feel like it wasn’t really supposed to be that way. I hope people don’t think that about us, like Star Wars one through three.” But as with most things Descendents, 9th & Walnut brings with it a sense of unabashed earnestness that enables this exercise in preservation to fit in perfectly with the rest of the band’s lengthy catalogue. All told, the album delivers a feat that most other bands would struggle to accomplish, let alone a band that’s been playing together nearly 40 years.

Darkside – Spiral

Almost a decade after they first came together, Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington are back for more music under the Darkside moniker. Spiral certainly delivers on the anticipation, making for a welcome new entry in the Darkside catalogue, but one that doesn’t stray too far from what fans came to know and love from 2013’s Psychic.

Jhariah – A Beginner’s Guide To Faking Your Own Death EP

It only takes a few minutes of A Bigger’s Guide To Faking Your Own Death, the new EP from Bronx-based singer-songwriter Jhariah, for you to realize that the project is going to be quite unlike anything you’ve heard before. Boasting theatrical production and massive arrangements featuring strings, horns, keys, and more, the EP is a masterclass in musical excess that finds each track building a world unto itself before quickly tearing it down and moving onto the next one.

Big Red Machine – “Phoenix” (ft. Fleet Foxes & Anaïs Mitchell)

With the new album How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? due next month, Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon have already started to showcase some of the exceptional special guests they gathered for the project. The latest sampling comes in the form of “Phoenix,” which features appearances from Fleet Foxes and Anaïs Mitchell. The soaring new track track is “what I always imagined Big Red Machine would sound like,” Dessner revealed in a statement.

Porches – “Okay”

Porches — aka New York singer-songwriter Aaron Maine — is nothing if not prolific. Barely a year after the release of his last album Ricky Music, Maine is back with a brand new effort, his fifth full-length studio album entitled All Day Gentle Hold !. The new LP is previewed by “Okay,” which is “an upbeat tune with an opening guitar line that frankly reminds me a whole lot of Akron/Family’s ‘Running, Returning,’” writes Rachel Brodsky for Uproxx.

Illuminati Hotties – “Uvvp” (ft. Buck Meek)

With a brand new Illuminati Hotties album due out this fall, Sarah Tudzin has been steadily releasing new music to build anticipation. “Uvvp” is the latest offering from Let Me Do One More, which Rachel Brodsky calls for Uproxx “a warm weather-appropriate, beachy single”, featuring an impressive guest spot from Big Thief guitarist (and gifted solo artist!) Buck Meek.

The Linda Lindas – “Oh!”

You might remember The Linda Lindas from their viral performance of “Racist, Sexist Boy” at the LA Public Library earlier this year. Now, the quartet is back with “Oh!,” a brand new track that’s what Rachel Brodsky calls for Uproxx “a no-holds-barred banger, all tight distorted guitars and chantable lyrics reminiscent of Bikini Kill.”

Avery Springer – “Bored Man With A Knife”

Retirement Party leader Avery Springer has been releasing a string of solo music over the last year, featuring mostly sparse arrangements to allow her impressive lyrical flow to take center stage. On “Bored Man With A Knife,” however, Springer teamed up with producer Ryan Hemsworth (Quarter-Life Crisis) to experiment with some electronics and vocal modulation. The resulting track starts the Chicago singer-songwriter on a completely new road, but one with quite a bit of runway and room for exciting growth.

Indigo De Souza – “Hold U”

After recently re-issuing her 2018 debut with Saddle Creek, Indigo De Souza is now preparing to release a brand new album in partnership with the storied indie label. “Hold U” is the second sampling of the forthcoming LP, Any Shape You Take, which Caitlin White calls for Uproxx “a song about holding space for loved ones to express themselves.”

Calicoco – “Heal Me”

Calicoco’s new song “Heal Me” is built upon a building cacophony of off-kilter riffs that immediately give the sense of discomfort, before Giana Caliolo shrieks “give me a labotomy!” The single is the first preview of Calicoco’s forthcoming sophomore album Underneath, which is due in September.

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

Earlier in July, it was announced that Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, and Paul Simon would headline a special “Homecoming Concert” this summer in Central Park. Now, the full lineup is upon us, and it is stacked. Going down on August 21, the concert will feature The Killers, Patti Smith, Carlos Santana, Elvis Costello, Jon Batiste, Andrea Bocelli, Journey, Wyclef Jean, Barry Manilow, The New York Philharmonic, and plenty more. Check out the poster and the full talent list below.

“This is going to be an historic, monumental moment for all New Yorkers and all Americans,” said NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. “I’ll put it plainly: You’re going to want to be here. This is truly once in a lifetime and we thank Clive Davis, Live Nation and Danny Meyer for all their efforts to help make this possible. This is a celebration of our city, of every working family who faced incredible challenges last year and overcame. This is a celebration for you.”

The Great Homecoming Concert Lineup:

Jon Batiste
Andrea Bocelli
Kane Brown
LL Cool J
Elvis Costello
Lucky Daye
Earth, Wind & Fire
Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds
Cynthia Erivo
Jimmy Fallon
Jennifer Hudson
Wyclef Jean
Journey
The Killers
Gayle King
Don Lemon
Barry Manilow
The New York Philharmonic
Polo G
Carlos Santana
Paul Simon
Patti Smith
Bruce Springsteen
Rob Thomas

The Homecoming concert goes down on 8/21 in Central Park and is free to attend. Tickets will be released to the public in “batches” starting August 2 at 10 a.m. ET. Get more information here.