GoneTrending

If you’re currently working a job you hate in a place you’d rather not live with dreams of starting your own business and retreating to the rustic life, we’ve got a solution for you that sounds almost too good to be true. CNN reports that the southern Italian region of Calabria is currently looking for an influx of new residents to help increase foot traffic in the region’s sparsely populated villages, and they’re so desperate for new blood that they’re willing to pay you to make the move and help to revitalize the area.

The towns in question are scattered across Calabria (that’s the toe of the boot!) and are willing to offer travelers a yearly income of $33,000 for up to three years. The only catch is that you’re under the age of 40, willing to start a small business in the area, and are capable of moving within 90 days of your application being approved.

The villages in question include Aieta, Albidona, Civita, San Donato di Ninea, Caccuri, Santa Severina, Bova, Samo and Precacore, and Sant’Agata del Bianco, all of which are located oceanside or in the mountains, and boast picturesque views worthy of hanging up on your wall, with a comfortable mediterranean climate that rivals Southern California.

“We want this to be an experiment of social inclusion. Draw people to live in the region, enjoy the settings, spruce up unused town locations such as conference halls and convents with high-speed internet,” Altomonte mayor Gianpietro Coppola told CNN. Coppola was one of the brain’s behind the active resident income project, which regional councilor Gianluca Gallo says will provide a monthly income to residents in the range of $950 to $1,186, with an additional pool of one-off funding to help you start a new commercial business — think: restaurant, bar, B&B, retail space, or rural farm.

The application process is set to launch online in the next few weeks, so while you mull that big life change over, we’re just going to go ahead and drop some photos of each town below to help whet your appetite. Currently, over 75% of Calabrian towns have fewer than 5,000 residents.

Aieta

Albidona

Civita

San Donato di Ninea

Caccuri

Santa Severina

Bova

Samo and Precacore

Sant’Agata del Bianco

Four-member K-pop supergroup Blackpink have taken the US by storm in the last several years. They performed at Coachella, became the first-ever Korean girl group to sell a million copies of their LP, and collaborated with celebrities like Selena Gomez. But along with their collective success, several members are breaking off to work on solo music.

Blackpink member Rosé made her solo debut several months ago with two very different singles, the pumped-up “On The Ground” and the tender ballad “Gone.” This week, Rosé flexed her impressive vocal range by paying homage to another artist who has recently started a solo project: Paramore’s Hayley Williams. The Blackpink member offered a stripped-down cover of Paramore’s Brand New Eyes love song “The Only Exception.”

Rosé debuted the song on a recent episode of Sea Of Hope, a South Korean variety show which invites celebrities to showcase their favorite music, recipes, and drinks at a seaside bar. Armed with an acoustic guitar, Rosé took the opportunity to show off her moving voice, delivering a faithful rendition of the song with the help of a rhythm guitar behind her.

Watch Rosé’s “The Only Exception” cover above.

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

Ben Simmons is officially on the trade market, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania, as the Sixers have started engaging in trade talks with teams about the three-time All-Star following Philadelphia’s latest early postseason exit.

It’s not a surprising turn of events given how everything ended this season, with Simmons’ refusal to even try and score in the fourth quarter being the leading talking point after Philly’s collapse against Atlanta in the conference semis. It’s also not a surprise that the Sixers are reportedly keeping their asking price high for the 25-year-old star who, despite some warts, still has an immensely unique and tantalizing skillset. As such, it’s only going to take one team to be enamored with that ability to make a deal happen and meet Philly’s ask of an “All-Star caliber” player in return.

Here, we’ll take a look at six such players who could fit the bill as centerpieces for a Simmons trade, with the obvious caveat that much of the league will be calling with at least some interest in Simmons and we are only hitting on six possibilities.

CJ McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers

The most obvious trade is rarely the one that actually gets made, but, I mean, come on. The Blazers are desperate for defensive help and already have a superstar guard who can handle the scoring load in Damian Lillard. The Sixers are desperate for an on-ball creator in the backcourt who can get his own shot and take the burden off of Joel Embiid (and Tobias Harris). So, why wouldn’t this deal get done? Well, maybe the Sixers think they can get a better player than McCollum, with Marc Stein floating that he might not even be the player in Portland’s backcourt that they want. Maybe the Blazers think it should be more of a 1-for-1 swap rather than them also sending picks to Philadelphia. There are negotiating stumbling blocks that can derail any possible deal, but if you’re talking about the trade that makes the most sense for both teams, this is the one.

Zach LaVine, Chicago Bulls

LaVine is due for a huge payday after next season and it’s possible the Bulls won’t be able to keep him around in free agency, so cashing in on his career-year and landing someone in Simmons who is on a longer-term deal could make sense for a still-building Chicago squad. It’s certainly not a perfect fit for a Bulls team that has shooting question marks already around LaVine, but getting someone with that level of talent who isn’t at risk of walking in a year could be enough to make them pull the trigger. As for Philly, LaVine would be a great get in terms of fit. He is a terrific shot-maker, which they desperately need, and his defense is a bit underrated at this point, especially if he’s put in a strong defensive system in Philly. Most any trade the Sixers make is going to come with that give and take of losing defense to gain offense, but they have to feel that’s necessary at this point. They would have to feel comfortable ponying up for a big contract for LaVine next summer to make this move, but it could push them closer to a title and that’s what Morey’s chief concern always is.

Kyle Lowry (sign-and-trade), Toronto Raptors

It wouldn’t be a Sixers potential trade post if we didn’t include Philly’s favorite son, Kyle Lowry, would it? A sign-and-trade with Toronto for Lowry would definitely be a “win-now” type move, and it might be incumbent on: 1) How much Lowry is looking for in a contract and, 2) If Toronto would be willing to chip a little more in with him to make this happen. It would make a ton of sense for the Sixers as they are certainly in win-now mode and could very much use a steady-handed veteran point guard like Lowry, who also would bring a commanding voice to the locker room. He doesn’t bring the upside of a LaVine or McCollum, but also would seem to be a floor-raiser, which might be as important for a team with Joel Embiid doing the ceiling pushing. Simmons isn’t exactly a snug fit in Toronto with Pascal Siakam providing a similar skillset, but the Raptors might just be in talent acquisition mode at the moment, and would try to figure the rest out later.

Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards

We have now reached the portion of the program where we are stretching a bit on one side or the other. The Sixers would jump at the opportunity to swap Simmons for Beal, of that I am very confident. The Wizards? Maybe not so much. You can certainly make an argument for it, as it gets them a younger star who opens their window a touch more, but Simmons and Russell Westbrook is an…interesting, at best, fit together in the immediate and Washington would have to be fairly convinced they need to take a year or two to rebuild in order to do this. That has never been their MO, and as such, this might be a tough sell. Still, from Philly’s perspective, Beal might be at the top of their wishlist of stars they may actively pursue in trade discussions, rather than just welcoming calls.

Malcolm Brogdon (and more), Indiana Pacers

This one goes the other way in that the Pacers would likely love to flip Brogdon for Simmons, but the Sixers are less keen on the upside of such a deal. There was a report earlier in the month that Philly turned down Brogdon and the 13th pick for Simmons, which isn’t surprising, and if the Pacers want to get in serious talks about Simmons, they’ll likely need to add more to the deal in terms of players who could help currently — TJ Warren, possibly. To me, this is the type of deal that happens right before the season if the Sixers just cannot find a better deal for Simmons and feel that the organization’s relationship with him is so broken they cannot bring him back at all.

Dejounte Murray (and more), San Antonio Spurs

If the Sixers are willing to venture outside the All-Star realm, there is something interesting to me about taking a run at Dejounte Murray. He would keep the floor of the Sixers defense (very) high, although not quite offering the positional versatility of Simmons, while being a more capable scorer on the other end, even if he doesn’t offer the upside of a McCollum/LaVine type. Part of the issue with a Spurs trade is they just don’t have anyone on the books to really spice this deal up and make it really interesting to Philly, as I can’t imagine them wanting to part with both Murray and Derrick White, and the only other player they can really offer is Jakob Poeltl to provide an upgrade for the Sixers at backup center. Murray, Poeltl, and a pick saves the Sixers some money in the immediate, but isn’t exactly a splashy deal that would get Philly fans excited, even if it might be a better deal in practice than some others.

The following shows are up for Outstanding Drama Series at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards: The Boys, Bridgerton, The Crown, The Handmaid’s Tale, Lovecraft Country, The Mandalorian, Pose, and This Is Us. Congrats to all the nominees, but a special shout out to The Boys, which deserves to win over prospective frontrunners Bridgerton or The Mandalorian for the clip that was picked to play during the nominations stream.

Please enjoy:

Even if you think you wouldn’t like The Boys (you shouldn’t, it’s good!), you must admit to being intrigued by a show where McCoy from the Star Trek movies drives a speedboat through the carcass of a beached whale, spraying blood everywhere.

“I would just like to say that we got nominated for making a giant monster penis, crashing a boat in to a whale, and having superman jerk off a skyrise in NYC. We will have the only reel that has to be blurred out on TV. It’s amazing. Thanks to all the VFX partners on @TheBoysTV,” Stephan Fleet, VFX supervisor on The Boys, tweeted following the surprise nominations. Their hard work caught the attention of Twitter.

The 2021 Emmys air on September 19. The full list of nominees can be seen here.

When MF DOOM passed on Halloween in 2020, it was thought that he was just a few months shy of his 50th birthday until it turned out the whole world had his birthday wrong for decades. Today is his correct birthday, so in honor of the musical supervillain, both fans and friends alike are sharing their stories and hailing their shared hero.

Since the announcement of his passing, there has not only been a renewed interest in DOOM’s existing works but also a bunch of new releases that many of his collaborators had been sitting on or were otherwise prepared to release and delayed out of respect. His first posthumous appearance was on the joint album Super What? with his group Czarface, consisting of DOOM, Wu-Tang rapper Inspectah Deck, and Demigodz MC Esoteric, who tweeted a bit of behind-the-scenes info about also the album’s accompanying comic written by DOOM.

Meanwhile, a string of posthumous releases included appearances on The Avalanches’ “Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life,” on Your Old Droog’s previously recorded “Dropout Boogie,” and on IDK’s newly released album USee4Yourself on the song “Red” with fellow DOOM adherents Jay Electronica and Westside Gunn.

In addition, the game-changing underground rapper will be honored with a street in Long Beach, New York, sometime soon, with discussions on what to call it in the works (I kind of like “Daniel Dumile Drive” but “KMD-MF DOOM WAY” has been floated, as well). Check out the birthday wishes for the legendary MC below.

The third episode of the Loki series features Tom Hiddleston singing a song called “Very Full,” which was released as a single. Now, the track has helped Hiddleston reach a new level of musical success: On the latest Billboard charts, Hiddleston makes his debut appearance, as “Very Full” debuts at No. 10 on the World Digital Song Sales chart.

Fans have figured out that his non-English lyrics in the song are Norwegian, and they translate roughly (via Google Translate) to, “But the trees dance and the waterfalls stop / When she sings, she sings, ‘come home’ / But the trees dance and the waterfalls stop.”

The Billboard charts aren’t the only new frontier that Loki is set to explore, as it was announced in June that he will be making an appearance as a new playable character in Fortnite.

This isn’t the first time Hiddleston has shown off his vocal abilities. Most notably, he played country music legend Hank Williams in the 2015 biopic I Saw The Light and did all his own singing, including on the movie’s soundtrack album. Williams’ grandson, Hank Williams III, wasn’t a fan of Hiddleston’s singing, though, saying, “You got no soul or moan in your voice.”

Listen to “Very Full” below.

This year at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, things are still a little bit strange. Yes, we’re still in this bizarre time that 72nd Primetime Emmy winner John Oliver has been calling a “white void” before, during, and after wearing a fancy hoodie to accept his award for fifth consecutive Best Variety Talk Series. Yet last year’s ceremony, as hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, went pretty well, considering the awkwardness of a virtual-at-home-fire-starting-event, so fingers are crossed that they’ll do it again.

It’s already a completely different year where the ceremony will be mostly virtual with a limited in-person event, and predictability is likely out the door for the ceremony itself. As far as the nominees go, though, one can expect the HBO’s Kate Winslet-starring Mare at Eastwood to bring home multiple nods, with Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso and Netflix’s The Crown and The Queen’s Gambit to fare well, too. Cedric the Entertainer will host the actual ceremony, and the nomination announcements are arriving courtesy of Ron Cephas Jones and his daughter, Jasmine Cephas Jones.

Here’s the complete list of nominees, and The Emmys will air on Sunday, September 19.

This list is being updated…

Outstanding Limited Series
WandaVision
Mare of Easttown
I May Destroy You
The Underground Railroad
The Queen’s Gambit

Outstanding Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie
Paul Bettany, WandaVision
Hugh Grant, The Undoing
Ewan McGregor, Halston
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Leslie Odom Jr., Hamilton

Outstanding Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie
Michaela Coel,
Cynthia Erivo,
Elizabeth Olsen, <emWandaVision
Anya Taylor-Joy,
Kate Winslet,

Drama Series
The Boys
Bridgerton
The Crown
The Handmaid’s Tale
Lovecraft Country
The Mandalorian
Pose
This Is Us

Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Jonathan Majors, Lovecraft Country
Josh O’Connor, The Crown
Regé-Jean Page, Bridgerton
Billy Porter, Pose
Matthew Rhys, Perry Mason

Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
Uzo Aduba, In Treatment
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Emma Corrin, The Crown
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Mj Rodriguez, Pose
Jurnee Smollett, Lovecraft Country

Outstanding Comedy Series
Black-ish
Cobra Kai
Emily in Paris
Hacks
The Flight Attendant
The Kominsky Method
Pen15
Ted Lasso

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
William H. Macy, Shameless
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Kenan Thompson, Kenan

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
Jean Smart, Hacks
Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish
Aidy Bryant, Shrill
Allison Janney, Mom

Variety Talk Series
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Conan
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Reality-Competition Series
The Amazing Race
Nailed It!
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series

Outstanding Competition Program

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Series Or Movie

Outstanding Limited Series

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series

Nominees for the remaining categories can be found here.

After Loki Episode 5, “Journey into Mystery,” dropped last week, it wasn’t hard to pinpoint the two breakout characters who absolutely blew fans’ minds: Richard E. Grant’s Classic Loki and the hand-biting lizard trickster, Alligator Loki. While the other Variants who appeared in The Void were great and all, Classic Loki and his reptilian colleague easily stole the show, and Grant is wisely striking while the iron is hot.

During a new interview on how the veteran actor found himself donning the comic book accurate Loki tights and delivering a show-stopping scene, Grant didn’t waste an opportunity to announce that he’s game for a spinoff series starring Classic and Alligator Loki. Heck, he practically demanded it.

Via Collider:

Is there anything else on your bucket list? Are there other franchises, and/or other fantasy costumes you want to wear?

GRANT: Classic old Loki with muscles and Alligator-dot-com, the subseries of the sub-sub-sub series. That’s what I want.

Given the audience reaction to Alligator Loki, I think that there would be a fan base for that.

GRANT: Yeah and classic Loki is the only one that can talk to him and understand him. It’s a given. It’s a scriptwriter’s dream. Get it done.

Of course, Grant’s instincts are spot-on. While Marvel fans clamored for more classic comic book costumes thanks to Grant’s performance, Alligator Loki’s popularity also instantly sky-rocketed following Episode 5’s debut with some calling him the Baby Yoda of the MCU. Slapping the two Variants together is a no-brainer at this point.

(Via Collider)

On Monday, a group of Texas democrats left the state in an attempt to prevent Republicans from passing restrictive new voting laws. “Fifty-one of the 67 State House Democrats flew on the planes, leaders of the delegation said, and several others arrived separately in Washington,” according to the New York Times. That’s enough “to prevent Texas Republicans from attaining a quorum, which is required to conduct state business.” GOP politicians are predictably in a tizzy about the effective maneuver.

Texas governor Greg Abbott, who nixed a bipartisan bill that would have made it illegal to chain up dogs without leaving them drinkable water, proclaimed that the Democrats who “fled” the state “will be arrested” when they return and “brought back to the Capitol and we will be conducting business.” And you know Ted Cruz had to add his two cents!

“What you’re seeing the Democrats do here is a political stunt,” the senator said on Fox News on Tuesday. “It’s ironic because they were getting on their private jet to fly to Washington DC, they almost surely had to show identification to get on that jet.” He continued to say that Democrats are throwing a “fit” for protesting legislation that would “make it more difficult to vote — especially for people of color,” but no one could hear him. Everyone was laughing too hard at Cruz, of all people, criticizing anyone for leaving Texas.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

I stumbled upon a tweet recently that read, “No Swedish-Iranian white woman should be this good at R&B but here we are.” Comedic commentary aside, the music Snoh Aalegra creates is oftentimes mind-blowingly good. She thrives in a pocket of her own that’s equidistant from the trapsoul artists of the world and the traditional R&B vocalists that lay on the other side of the spectrum. Both her 2017 debut Feels and subsequent sophomore effort, Ugh, Those Feels Again shine brightly on her portfolio and provide proof towards her impressive artistry. However, the aforementioned tweet begs the question that needs answering: What makes Snoh Aalegra so good?

The answer to that question can be approached from many different angles. However, using her newly-released third album, Temporary Highs In The Violet Skies, as a starting point seems fitting enough. The effort arrives less than two years after Ugh, Those Feels Again, a short return time compared to her R&B contemporaries. In this brief period, Aalegra was able to create a shift in her outlook towards love. It went from deeply longing for a forever partner as she unveils on her first two albums to make the very most of these perfect moments on Temporary Highs In The Violet Skies, regardless of its brevity.

One thing to note about Snoh Aalegra is her ability to string the most impactful words together without the fiery dose of infatuation, sadness, or anything in between that conveys the expected emotions on a given song. Actions speak louder than words, but for the singer, her most heartfelt moments appear with grace, and the painful ones arrive with elegance while her words, quite literally, do all the talking. Staying cool, calm, and collected seems to be her forte, one she portrays so well.

To introduce the album, Aalegra begins with “Indecisive,” a steady-paced effort driven by her nonchalance as chants repeat through the song — “I don’t really care” — but it’s a mere scratch compared to the other things she says on the track. Other lines like “Let me make it clear / Everything is not about you” and “You should have thought about that while you was with me,” cut much deeper. These nonchalantly wrapped declarations come from a hurt place, but the singer stays in control to deliver her message exactly how she wants to. Similar sentiments are expressed to close the album on “Save Yourself.” On it, she bids goodbye to a relationship that proved to be nothing but a failure and dismisses them with one final reminder: “But just know I’m good without you.”

This control and taming of emotions that Aalegra exhibits may not be a natural quality, but rather, a choice to alter her perspective on situations and expense her energy or what’s worth it in her eyes. Perhaps the best example of this comes from the best song on Temporary Highs In The Violet Skies: “Tangerine Dream.” The song is a dreamy tale of two lovers who depart on their separate paths but not before one last run-in on a flight. The potential reignition of their relationship only exists in the clouds their plane flies through, providing a double entendre for a temporary high. In Aalegra’s eyes, it’s better to spend her time at cruising altitude immersed in the warm thoughts that she and her co-passenger once shared. It’s a far better option than fixating on the separate path she’ll walk on once she retrieves her bags from baggage claim.

Her love for these brief moments in paradise turns her into a frequent flyer of sorts as she admittedly revisits these temporary highs to reside in the violet skies she loves so much. Aalegra blatantly ignores the poor qualities of an insufficient lover on “Lost You” simply because they bring her a healthy dose of euphoria. “I won’t hold the past against you,” she sings. “When you hold me, I forget to / I can never draw the line with you.” She clings to cloud nine and avoids addressing the issues that pain her on “We Don’t Have To Talk About It” while “Dying 4 Your Love,” the lead single from the album, seeks the answers she wants rather than the ones that stand so obviously before her.

Temporary Highs In The Violet Skies is a testament to enjoying the moment and keeping the mind off what might happen next, whether it be an inevitable end or an uncertain future that lies ahead. It’s an approach that Aalegra makes clear on “In My Eyes,” an outlier record of sorts on the project thanks to upbeat production from The Neptunes. “Some things don’t work and that’s the way love goes,” she sings on the record. Love guarantees nothing, and Aalegra is very much aware of this, which is why she indulges in these temporary highs as often as she does, an attribute that points to what makes her great. The singer uses the briefest emotions of love, pain, and everything in between to create pieces of art that portray the most-telling worlds, just like she did on “Tangerine Dream.” Keeping your head in the clouds is a bad thing, as some might say, but the way Snoh Aalegra tells it, these Temporary Highs In The Violet Skies are everything and more.

Temporary Highs In The Violet Skies is out now via Atrium Recordings/Roc Nation Records. Get it here.