GoneTrending

Back in 2010, a fuss erupted when the MPAA initially penalized Blue Valentine for containing a scene in which Ryan Gosling’s character gives oral sex to his then-girlfriend, portrayed by Michelle Williams. This was a bizarre move because the scene didn’t even show nudity, and the effect was that it looked like censors wouldn’t allow women to orgasm onscreen. That’s also the vibe that — in a very giggly way — arose when Harley Quinn co-creator Justin Halpern related how, with the upcoming third season of the ultra-violent, raunchy animated HBO Max (previously DC Universe) series, Batman is not allowed to go down on Catwoman.

To recap, Halpern was reflecting upon how there’s more “leeway” with villain characters, and (as he told Variety) of the envisioned oral sex scene, “DC was like, ‘You can’t do that. You absolutely cannot do that.’ They’re like, ‘Heroes don’t do that.’” Halpern says that this wasn’t a case of heroes needing to be “just selfish lovers,” but rather, “It’s hard to sell a toy if Batman is also going down on someone.’”

Say what? Harley Quinn isn’t a kid’s show, not by any stretch of the imagination, and it’s pretty hilarious to fret over Batman being unmarketable for pleasing a woman, of all things to worry about on that show when it comes to crushing heroic reputations. Well, Twitter is enjoying this ruckus very much, and yes, the DJ Khaled jokes are flowing, among other things, like “Why would Batman’s whole bottom face be open if he didn’t do oral, ridiculous.” We don’t deserve these reactions, they’re so good.

Mark your calendars for this upcoming event, because noted chaos king Rob Pattinson might not be able to resist during The Batman press tour:

Also, another word from Justin Halpern: “So uhhhh watch Harley Quinn on HBO Max?” Listen to the man, you won’t be disappointed.

Today, cloud rap standout Trippie Redd announced his 25-city Tripp At Knight Tour, produced by Live Nation and presented by Rolling Loud. Kicking off August 25 at The Armory in Minneapolis, the tour will see the Canton, Ohio rapper joined by fellow 10K Project artist Iann Dior and SoFayGo, a rising TikTok favorite out of Atlanta who is associated with Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack label. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 18 at trippieredd.com.

The tour announcement comes on the heels of one of Trippie’s most successful years yet. In 2020, he released Pegasus, his third studio album, which debuted at No.2 on the Billboard 200 chart. This year, he followed up with the deluxe version, Neon Shark vs. Pegasus, which was produced by Travis Barker, and released the single “Miss The Rage” with Playboi Carti, giving both artists their highest-charting single to date (No. 11 on the Hot 100).

See below for the dates of the Tripp At Knight tour.

8/25 Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory
8/27 Cincinnati, OH @ ICON Amphitheatre Park
8/28 St. Louis, MO @ Saint Louis Music Park
8/29 Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP
8/31 Indianapolis, IN @ TCU Amphitheatre at White River State Park
9/1 Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
9/3 Detroit, MI @ Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill *
9/5 Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center *
9/6 Baltimore, MD @ MECU Pavilion
9/8 Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater
9/10 Brooklyn, NY @ Coney Island Amphitheater
9/12 Philadelphia, PA @ Skyline Stage at Mann
9/14 Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre
9/15 Raleigh, NC @ The Red Hat Amphitheater
9/17 Atlanta, GA @ Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood
9/18 Jacksonville, FL @ Daily’s Place
9/19 Miami, FL @ FPL Solar Amphitheatre
9/22 Houston, TX @ Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land
9/23 Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
9/26 Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Federal Theatre
9/28 Denver, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
10/1 Portland, OR @ Theatre of the Clouds at Moda Center
10/3 Seattle, WA @ WaMu Theatre
10/5 Concord, CA @ Concord Pavilion
10/6 Los Angeles, CA @ Performance Venue at Hollywood Park

After teasing a release date for his comeback single in a somewhat awkward interview a couple of weeks ago, Vince Staples officially announced the new song, titled “Law Of Averages,” on Twitter and Instagram. The art he shared appears to reveal some of the song’s lyrics and shouts out several streets from his hometown, Long Beach.

Staples hasn’t realized a new project since 2018’s FM!, and while he teased The Vince Staples Show in 2019, only two episodes were released with their accompanying singles. The first hilarious misadventure depicted the lengths to which he was forced to go to get a haircut, while in the second, he received life, love, and investment advice from his hero Ray J.

Since then, Vince has popped up occasionally with tracks like “Yo Love” from the Queen & Slim soundtrack, “Hell Bound,” and on features from the likes of Reason, Aminé, Pusha T, and Lil Yachty, but for the most part, the Long Beach native has stayed low key, dropping in on Twitter from time to time to share his witty insights.

But with Killer Mike calling him “beyond gifted” after hearing his upcoming album — one of two Vince plans to release this year — fans are more ready than ever to hear what Vince has been working on in his time away. Fortunately, they won’t have long to wait. “Law Of Averages” is due this Friday, 6/18.

It’s been about two months since Taylor Swift released Fearless (Taylor’s Version), which came out on April 9. The album has earned some chart accolades, but how well is it performing compared to the original Fearless album?

Rolling Stone took at look at the streaming data over the course of the two months since the release of Fearless (Taylor’s Version). While the new album naturally out-streamed the original in weeks immediately after its release, as the dust has settled on Taylor’s Version, the streaming numbers between the same songs on their respective albums aren’t that different from each other. The original versions of “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me” are now out-streaming their remakes, while album cuts like “Forever & Always” and “Hey Stephen” are besting their ancestors. As the publication put it, this is “a good indication that die-hard Swifties are still streaming Taylor’s Version, while casual listeners may be more likely to cue up the original.”

While Taylor’s Version may not have buried the original album, it seems to at least be having a negative impact on its streams. As Rolling Stone notes, streams of the original Fearless have increased by 10 percent over the past year, which is below the 15-percent increase in streams industry-wide. That’s also less than the increase other Swift albums have experienced, like the 27-percent jump Swift’s self-titled debut as experienced and the 47-percent increase of Speak Now.

Check out more Fearless data here.

The Tomorrow War is the rare summer blockbuster that’s not a sequel or based on an existing property. It’s an original idea from the director of The Lego Batman Movie with a talented cast, including Chris Pratt, J.K. Simmons, Yvonne Strahovski, Betty Gilpin, Sam Richardson, Doughboys co-host Mike Mitchell, and Mary Lynn Rajskub. There’s a lot to like there! The Tomorrow War is being released straight to Amazon Prime Video, and while it would be nice to see a high-concept science-fiction action movie on the biggest screen possible, I’m take watching Splett and the Spoonman kill aliens any way I can.

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

In The Tomorrow War, the world is stunned when a group of time travelers arrive from the year 2051 to deliver an urgent message: Thirty years in the future mankind is losing a global war against a deadly alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians from the present to be transported to the future and join the fight. Among those recruited is high school teacher and family man Dan Forester (Chris Pratt). Determined to save the world for his young daughter, Dan teams up with a brilliant scientist (Yvonne Strahovski) and his estranged father (J.K. Simmons) in a desperate quest to rewrite the fate of the planet.

The Tomorrow War hits Amazon Prime Video on July 2.

This week in the best new pop music saw the return of several major pop stars. Lorde shared her first new single in four years, Doja Cat ushered in her Planet Her era, and Ava Max dropped her first track of 2021.

Each week, Uproxx rounds up the best new pop music. Listen up.

Lorde — “Solar Power”

Four years following the release of her previous album, Lorde made a comeback with “Solar Power.” The semi-acoustic track is Lorde’s ode to the carefree sunny summer days, filled with sand, warm rays, and your best friends. It kicks off with a playfully strummed guitar before building up to a euphoric crescendo at the bridge, which features background vocals from Clairo and Phoebe Bridgers.

Doja Cat — “Need To Know”

Following up on her silky SZA collaboration “Kiss Me More,” Doja Cat gives her fans a look at the universe she built around her Planet Her album. With her new single “Need To Know,” Doja Cat fires off sultry lyrics which detail her fantasies about a crush over a skittering beat.

Ava Max — “Everytime I Cry”

It’s been less than a year since Ava Max released her anticipated debut album Heaven & Hell, and the singer is still giving fans some more music from the era. Sharing her electrifying “Everytime I Cry” track, the singer finds power in tears and vulnerability. “After every struggle you go through you become a little bit stronger,” Max says of the song. “And every tear you shed is not wasted, but becomes your river of hope.”

Clairo — “Blouse”

Following up on her breakout Rostam-produced debut album Immunity, Clairo finally issues an update about the status of new music. Introducing her sophomore album, the singer shared the tender acoustic ballad “Blouse,” a gleaming track that showcases the singers moving vocals. About the song, Clairo says she was heavily inspired by the domesticity that came with taking care of her dog, Joanie.

Bebe Rexha, Topic — “Chain My Heart”

Bebe Rexha is on the heels of releasing her vulnerable album Better Mistakes, but she’s not done sharing new music. This week, the renowned singer teamed up with producer Topic for “Chain My Heart,” a vibrant effort featuring biting synths and a thumping, quick-tempoed beat. On the track, Bebe Rexha sings of the euphoric feeling of finally surrendering to love and Topic provides perfectly-timed beat drops.

Bleachers — “How Dare You Want More”

It’s been a few weeks since Bleacher officially ushered in a new era of music with their joyous single “Stop Making This Hurt.” Now, they’re back with another jangling tune, “How Dare You Want More.” It features heavily layered production that combines bombastic brass instruments and sputtering guitar riffs, with Jack Antonoff’s vocal delivery reminiscent of early Talking Heads’ drowned-out sound.

Marina — “Venus Fly Trap”

This week, Marina officially released her highly anticipated album Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land. The album is an ode to womanhood and the pitfalls of climate change, but it also features the self-love anthem “Venus Fly Trap.” The empowering single speaks to the importance of putting yourself out there over dizzying instrumentals. “Why be a wallflower when you could be a venus fly trap?” Marina belts.

Tones And I — “Cloudy Day”

Tones And I returned to announce her debut album Welcome To The Madhouse with the triumphant track “Cloudy Day.” The song speaks to an optimistic outlook, preaching the importance of living life to the fullest. About the album as a whole, Tones And I says: “Some songs make me laugh and some make me cry but there is no running theme or vibe to the album – the songs are unique to how I was feeling the day I wrote them.”

HER — “We Made It”

On the heels of her Song Of The Year Grammy win, HER returns to share “We Made It” to announce the upcoming LP Back Of My Mind. The song sees her firing off some well-deserved flexes over a shimmering beat, detailing her accolades and luxurious lifestyle that remind her of her successes.

Jessie J — “I Want Love”

Following a brief hiatus, Jessie J is back with the euphoric tune “I Want Love.” A driving guitar riff kicks off the track before leading into a groovy big band chorus where Jessie J belts lyrics about fully committing to her partner. The song was purposefully dancefloor-ready and Jessie J says she hopes it inspires listeners to get up and dance. “I wanted to come back with a song that felt classic but modern,” she said. “Big vocals and get everyone on the dance floor. I cannot wait for the world to hear this song and to dance and sing along loud.”

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

While In The Heights was warmly received during its first opening weekend, the stage-to-screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical has sparked a controversy that its creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has tackled head on. At issue is a notable lack of Afro-Latino representation in In The Heights that caused a social media uproar following director John M. Chu’s interview with The Root where he admitted he needed to be educated more on the subject. In essence, the film predominantly featured light-skinned Latinos in lead roles while darker-skinned Afro-Latinos were mostly in the background if they were present at all.

For his part, Miranda agrees that the In The Heights adaptation failed to be fully inclusive, and he issued a lengthy apology on Monday where he let the Afro-Latino community know that he heard their concerns.

I can hear the hurt and frustration over colorism, of feeling still unseen in the feedback.
I hear that without sufficient dark-skinned Afro-Latino representation, the work feels extractive of the community we wanted so much to represent with pride and joy.
In trying to paint a mosaic of this community, we fell short.
I’m truly sorry.
I’m learning from the feedback, I thank you for raising it, and I’m listening.

While acknowledging that he’s trying to be both proud of In The Heights and aware of its shortcomings, Miranda promised to do better in his future projects.

You can see his full statement below:

(Via Lin-Manuel Miranda on Twitter)

Piers Morgan apparently doesn’t realize that every time he complains about Meghan Markle, his evident obsession only grows. The former Good Morning Britain host got super upset last month and threw down a rager of an article about Meghan daring to write a Father’s Day-themed book that happens to be inspired by Prince Harry’s relationship with their son, Archie. This week, he’s sick and tired of Meghan and Prince Harry “yapping,” as he declared on Fox News (via the above Sky News clip).

“We’re hearing too much of your yapping,” Piers declared, because he believes the couple should not speak after giving up their royal titles. “Too much of your whining. It’s time to pipe down.” Prior to this, he revealed that he was still quite salty about being called out for not believing Meghan’s claims of racist remarks from the British Royal Family. On Fox News, he called the situation a “farcical” one. He can’t believe that “the cancel culture Twitter mob comes for you and says if you don’t believe Meghan Markle you are a racist, to which I say I’ve never said a racist thing about Meghan Markle or anybody else.”

Piers doesn’t seem to realize that by calling Meghan a liar about racism, he’s sweeping her claims under the rug. Yet this is even more of the same from him, since he made a big deal about “ghosting” him after a pub date several years ago. We can be sure about one thing, though. With the release of Meghan’s book, The Bench (which he has “laughed out loud” about, especially for her label of the book being “through an inclusive lens”), Piers won’t be done talking anytime soon.

And frankly, people are tired of hearing Piers’ “yapping.”

Offset, Quavo, and Takeoff share a tropical getaway in the new video for “Why Not” from Migos’ recently released album, Culture III. The album, which arrived this past Friday, dropped after a year-long delay caused by the pandemic and resulting industry shutdown. The group used that time to work on improving the album from its predecessor, which dropped in 2018, resulting in the Jay-Z approved, Temptations-sampling banger “Avalanche” and singles like “Straightenin” and “Modern Day.”

However, after all that hard work, the boys took a well-deserved vacation, turning the footage into the video for “Why Not.” Shot in a theme-fitting, home movie style, the video follows the North Atlanta trio as they roam the beach on a four-wheeler, throw a hotel party with their extended crew, and soak up the sun as they show off their stacks of cash and chunky, diamond-crusted chains.

In addition to the video rollout for their new album, Migos also stormed the media as Quavo appeared on Hot Ones (tapping out after eight wings) and First Take to address the new album, as well as the group’s long-standing, “funny” feud with former NBA star Kendrick Perkins.

Watch Migos’ “Why Not” video above.

Culture III is out now via Quality Control Music. Get it here.

Nevermind is one of the biggest albums of Nirvana’s discography, of the ’90s, and of all time. Dave Grohl says now that before it came out, though, he was in disbelief when friends told him the album would be popular.

In a new interview with Uncut (as NME notes), Grohl said:

“[Friends would say,] ‘Oh my God. You guys are going to be f*cking huge! We would go, ‘What? What are you talking about?’ Donita [Sparks] from L7 came by and said we were going to be f*cking huge. My old friend Barrett Jones — who I had grown up with in Virginia, who was a musician and a producer himself — heard ‘Lithium’ and said we were going to be f*cking huge. He thought ‘Lithium’ should be the first single. Everyone had these lofty opinions and I thought, ‘Well, it’s nice of you to say so, but there is no f*cking way that is ever going to happen.’”

He went on to explain why he felt that way, saying that it was because what Nirvana was doing was so against the grain of the then-popular musical styles:

“You also have to remember what was popular [in music] at the time. It was Wilson Phillips, it was Mariah Carey and f*cking Bon Jovi. It was not bands like us. So it seemed totally implausible that we would ever even get close to that kind of success. But, you know, it all sounded great: the drum sound at [recording studio] Sound City, Butch Vig’s production. The band was tight and [Kurt Cobain’s] songs were f*cking great. We would do one or two takes and maybe do an overdub here and there, Kurt would go in and do the vocal and it was crystal clear and so f*cking powerful, melodic and beautiful that you’re proud of [it] — and we were definitely proud of it.”

Meanwhile, the surviving members of the band have actually been recording new music, although it may never be heard by anybody but them.