GoneTrending

Young Nudy’s new album Dr. Ev4l is out now on RCA Records and as he continues to roll out the release, his new video for “Soul Keeper” highlights what fans can expect from the project overall: airy beats and a non-stop flow from Nudy. It’s simple but effective, as Nudy raps in a penthouse overlooking the city and in the street with his crew backing him up.

Nudy’s other standouts from the project include “2Face” with G Herbo and 21 Savage on “Child’s Play.” The album is his second major-label realease after debut project Anyways dropped just ahead of the coronavirus pandemic’s shutdown of live touring in 2020.

Nudy’s back catalog recently made headlines when a video of partying students causing a floor to collapse while Nudy’s “EA” played in the background went viral. One of the students created a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for repairs, explaining that the owner of the Airbnb where the party was held was home during the party and approved of the students’ graduation celebration. “Call y’all spam Young Nudy ina comments,” the student requested. “He gotta kno what his music doin to people.”

Watch Young Nudy’s “Soul Keeper” video above.

Dr. Ev4l is out now on PDE and RCA Records. Stream it here.

Tegan And Sara aren’t shy about sharing stories of their teenage antics. The sister duo even documented them in their memoir High School, which is set to be adapted into a TV series. Along with forming their musical tastes, their teenage years were a time when the two experimented with psychedelics. Now, in a segment on Comedy Central, Tegan And Sara recount one particular night at an acid-fueled rave in the ’90s that didn’t quite go as expected.

Sitting down on Comedy Central’s series Tales From The Trip, Tegan And Sara told the story of lying to their parents to go to a rave. Describing the night, Sara recalled the feeling of joy and connection to those around her. But her feelings shifted once the lights turned on:

“I remember this intense feeling of joy and feeling so connected to these people. The connection and love and vibe that we felt from going to these spaces. They were full of alternative people, and people experimenting with gender, sexuality, and embracing all these different kinds of music within the same space, it was very liberating. There was this heightened sense that I was with exactly the people I was supposed to be with and we all took on the same shape and size. All those things I worried about when I was not stoned, they evaporated and we became this one big blob. […] I was having a blast right up until the moment they turned the lights on. Everybody looks amazing, and then they turn those fluorescent lights on and everyone looked like a zombie movie. The magical, warm space was just a sh*tty warehouse and there was just slush and dirt and water.”

After leaving the rave, the two were caught lying by their parents. As punishment, they were forced to finish a paper route on no sleep while it was freezing, an experience that would have been insufferable if they weren’t still tripping.

Watch Tegan And Sara tell the story of their rave experience above on Comedy Central’s Tales From The Trip.

Tegan And Sara is a Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Later this week, Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor are slated to release Remedy, the first full-length Azure Ray album in a decade. Despite the time away, Remedy picks up right where Fink and Taylor left off ten years ago, without missing a beat.

To celebrate the new album, Fink and Taylor sat down to talk The Beach Boys, sleeping outside a 24 Hour Fitness, and their first South By Southwest festival in the latest Indie Mixtape 20 Q&A.

What are four words you would use to describe your music?

contemplative, ethereal, cathartic, confessional.

It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?

As a salve for the soul.

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?

There’s something very romantic about performing in Vienna, but all shows where the crowd is polite and attentive get gold stars.

Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?

Probably a cross between Elliot Smith and Bill Callahan. Classic songwriting, poetic lyrics, dark as f*ck.

Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

Hmmm.. it’s either La Copine in the high desert, or Gus’s Fried Chicken in Memphis.

What album do you know every word to?

Sophtware Slump by Granddaddy.

What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?

Nina Simone at Chastain Park in Atlanta.

What is the best outfit for performing and why?

All black, all the time.

Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?

Cheapoldhouses, yourcheapdreamhome, circa houses — all house porn basically.

What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?

“Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya” by Dr. John. Whenever I hear that first line, “They call me.. Dr. John…” makes me feel like all is right with the world…

What’s the last thing you Googled?

How many fully vaccinated people have contracted covid-19

What album makes for the perfect gift?

Azure Ray – Remedy (haha) OR Beach Boys – Pet Sounds

Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?

A house boat? The parking lot of a 24 hour fitness? I mean… there were just so many weird places but I shoved most of them out of my memory 😉

What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?

Our first band, Little Red Rocket, played at one of the first South by Southwest festivals. We all got tattoos of a little red rocket on our forearms. We had such a bond with our band members and those days were so light and free and fun. I love that I still have the tattoo to represent those times. Don’t ask Orenda what happened to hers. LOL. I’m still mad at her 😉

What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?

Anything from the ’80s.

What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Hmmm…that’s a toughy. I’m blown away all the time by the kind hearts and generosity of all of my friends and family.

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

I would hand myself a hair straightener and steal my hair cutting scissors. AND remind myself to not hold back and always give everything all you got.

What’s the last show you went to?

The last show I went to was our own show. Azure Ray played a daytime Sunday showcase with our friends and label mates, “Radnor and Lee.” The whole world shut down a couple of weeks later.

What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?

Wait…things just come on the tv still? I had no idea;)

What would you cook if Obama were coming to your house for dinner?

There’s only one thing I feel confident enough to cook for Obama. My grandmama’s Basta. It’s shell pasta with a very thick (almost stew like) sauce that’s flavored with slow cooked beef and Italian sausage. I hope he’s not vegetarian!

Remedy is out June 11. Pre-order it here.

Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, and D-Nice made a major impact on the music landscape in 2020, and now their efforts are being recognized: The three will be receiving the ASCAP Voice Of The Culture Award during the 2021 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards, for their inventive and uniting virtual music events — namely Verzuz and Club Quarantine — during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

The award celebrates the most-performed R&B/hip-hop, rap, and gospel songs from the previous year. The virtual celebration will be held on June 22 through June 24 via social media. Registration for the virtual chats and other events is available at the ASCAP Experience website.

Timbaland and Swizz Beatz’s Verzuz was the virtual singing competition series that gained instant claim on Instagram Live by pitting musical legends from all genres against each other, including Gladys Knight vs. Patti LaBelle, Erykah Badu vs. Jill Scott, Earth, Wind & Fire vs. the Isley Brothers, Snoop Dogg vs. DMX, and more. The two Grammy-winning producers and label founders created must-see spectacles that brought millions of isolated people together over music.

Similarly, the legendary DJ Derrick “D-Nice” Jones, turned his Instagram Live broadcasts into a virtual dance party with Club Quarantine. D-Nice’s DJ sets were praised as a much-needed respite by millions during the 2020 lockdowns. Even A-listers like Will Smith, Oprah, Michelle Obama, and Diddy tuned in for D-Nice’s heavy rotation of funk, disco, hip-hop, and R&B. D-Nice teamed up with Issa Rae’s Raedio to co-curate the official playlist of the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris inauguration. His full-length studio album is set to arrive later this year.

During a panel discussion on Chris Harrison leaving The Bachelor after being embroiled in a racist controversy that’s plagued the reality show for the better part of the year, The View‘s Meghan McCain unloaded on the dating series for its palpable lack of diversity. After blasting Harrison for how he dismissed Extra host Rachel Lindsay’s concerns about contestant Rachael Kirkconnell attending an antebellum-themed party in college, McCain basically said the whole show is trash.

“I don’t love The Bachelor,” McCain said. “I apologize to our parent company ABC. I mean no disrespect to the work that’s done on this network, but it’s an extremely problematic show.”

According to McCain, The Bachelor has fallen woefully short when it comes to diversity, and not just racially, but in body types as well. The View co-host voiced her criticisms at the 3:55 mark below:

And in true Meghan McCain-style, she made about it she was always open-minded when it came to dating. Via Mediaite:

“There’s no different bodies — different people. Dating is about experiencing the world. I dated every kind of race, every kind of person, cause I never knew who was going to be the one,” she continued. “I think that’s more reflective of 2021, so I think the show has a lot of make-overs to do in a lot of different ways that goes way beyond the host.”

In McCain’s defense, racism is one of the very rare instances where she deviates from her fellow Republicans. Last week, she agreed that reparations need to be paid for the Tulsa Race Massacre, and in a notable departure from conservative circles, McCain supported teaching Critical Race Theory in schools.

Fear Street is the horror-friendly middleground between the kiddie scares of Goosebumps and the aggressively violent and sexual (not a complaint) of American Horror Story. The book series, written by R.L. Stine, is meant for teenagers, although adult Stranger Things fans will probably enjoy Netflix’s Fear Street Trilogy.

Director Leigh Janiak sees the three films, which will be released over the course of three weeks, as a throwback to old-school horror favorites and something new for the streaming age. “I love the slasher movie, but we’ve done that, right? We’ve done slasher movies in various ways, and I was interested in how we could reinvent the genre a little bit,” she told EW. “Part of that came from this opportunity to tell a different kind of story that had a bigger narrative, connected over all three, that you need to watch in a short amount of time to get the full experience. It’s not a traditional sequel model.”

Here’s the official plot summary:

In 1994, a group of teenagers discovers that the terrifying events that have haunted their town for generations ​may all be connected — and that they may be the next targets. Based on R.L. Stine’s best selling horror series, the trilogy follows the nightmare through Shadyside’s sinister history.

Fear Street Part One: 1994 comes out on July 2, followed by Fear Street Part Two: 1978 on July 9 and Fear Street Part Three: 1666 on July 16.

Today, rising dance music star Kelly Lee Owens announced a brief US tour this September in support of her 2020 album, Inner Song. The producer-musician will also bring her ethereal, clubby creations to Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival in September and Miami’s III Points festival in October. Tickets are available this Friday, June 11 at 1 p.m. ET on Owens’ website.

In addition to tickets, Owens will release her Inner Song Remix Series EP on Friday. The EP will feature remixes by dance musician-producers such as Loraine James, Coby Sey, and Roza Terenzi.

Owens has said that she worked on Inner Song after “the hardest three years of my life.” The electro-pop artist, who used to work as a nurse, was at an emotional tipping point when it came time to make her second album. “I wasn’t sure if I could make anything anymore,” she said. “And it took quite a lot of courage to get to a point where I could make something again.”

Check out where Owens’ tour is heading below and revisit our recent interview with her here.

09/08 — Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
09/10 — Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
09/11 — Philadelphia, PA @ Making Time
09/13 — Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
09/14 — Washington, DC @ Union Stage
09/16 — Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
09/17 — Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
09/18 — Seattle, WA @ Nuemos
09/19 — Portland, OR @ Holocene
09/22 — Oakland, CA @ Starline
09/25 — Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
10/22-23 — Miami, FL @ III Points Festival

Hitmaking producer Pi’erre Bourne reunites with Lil Uzi Vert on “Sossboy 2,” the final single from his upcoming mixtape, The Life of Pi’erre 5, which is due this Friday, June 11. The track was accompanied by an animated visualizer depicting the two artists as Dragon Ball-inspired cartoon avatars as they both rap over the hypnotic, synthesizer-heavy beat.

“Sossboy 2” is one of three tracks featuring guest artists on the 16-song project, including, of course, Playboi Carti and newcomer Sharc, who is signed to Pi’erre’s label SossHouse. Although Pi’erre is focusing on highlighting his solo talents, the three features all make sense; it was Carti and Pi’erre’s collaboration “Magnolia” that launched both to stardom in 2017, while Pi’erre produced a number of tracks for both Carti and Uzi on their most recent outings, Eternal Atake and Whole Lotta Red.

Pi’erre also produced the majority of Carti’s prior album Die Lit. Most recently, Pi’erre has promoted his SossHouse signees, producing three projects in 2020 for Chavo, Jelly, and Frazier Trill, as well as releasing a deluxe version of the last The Life Of Pi’erre tape, which included 15 new tracks.

Listen to “Sossboy 2” above.

The Life of Pi’erre 5 is due on 6/11 via Interscope Records. Pre-save it here.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Let’s talk about athleticism in basketball. Too often, we just think of athleticism as jumping really high and dunking a lot. That’s certainly part of it, but plenty of players have 40-inch verts at the combine and aren’t effective functional athletes in the NBA.

On the other hand, there are plenty of players who couldn’t jump over a phone book who dominate this league. Athleticism is a spectrum, and being all the way on one side or the other doesn’t necessarily determine what kind of player you will be. Strength, balance, and coordination are the only three physical attributes that all stars seem to have in common.

While talking about this through the lens of the 2021 NBA Draft, the clear-cut No. 1 dude is Cade Cunningham, both in general and in terms of blending that trio of attributes. As for the guy who does that best in this class outside of Cunningham, my money’s on Jaden Springer, the freshman guard from Tennessee who has one of the widest variances among scout opinions in this class. Some places have him in the 20s or even 30s while others have him in the top-5. This is a pretty wide distribution, even in a relatively deep and diverse class.

The argument for Springer starts with his almost unprecedented level of production for his age range.

I know threshold queries have their detractors, and oftentimes people (i.e. me) use them to prove a point, which is always a bad way to approach statistical analysis. But bear in mind when looking at this that Springer did this while being more than a year younger than most of his peers. He put up 17.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 2.3 stocks (steals + blocks) in the SEC while playing a physically dominant, powerful defensive style and shooting 46.7 percent from the field, 43.5 percent from three, and 81 percent on free throws less than three months after turning 18. Even when judged by this less restrictive threshold barrier, Springer’s youth still stands out.

Of this group, Simmons, Cunningham, Anderson, and Richmond were 19 years old for the entirety of their freshman seasons, Caruso and Smart turned 19 during the season, and only Harden and Melton joined Springer in being 18 for their entire freshman campaigns. Neither of those players were drafted immediately after season — Harden famously stayed two years, for some mysterious reason, while Melton was one of the players caught up in the FBI scandal and was suspended for his entire sophomore year, finally joining the 2018 Draft class and sliding all the way into the late-second round.

Melton is one of the players who most clearly parallels Springer statistically, though Melton is the significantly more explosive player vertically. Still, the role Springer is likely to play, at least for his first contract, is likely similar to the one Melton plays in Memphis: A secondary guard who brings above-average playmaking, rebounding, and physical strength to go along with terrific defense against both guard spots. Springer is taller and larger, and so likely has more room to grow. But even being a carbon copy of Melton, one of the NBA’s most effective bench players this year, would merit a Lottery pick in almost any conceivable Draft.

There is, of course, another somewhat floorbound, large-bodied guard Springer reminds some of: Kyle Lowry.

While I sincerely doubt Springer will ever be the level of shooter off the dribble that Lowry is (though Lowry only shot 22 percent from three and 65 percent from the line as a freshman), the stylistic similarities are there to be found if you look hard enough.

The difference between these two is that while Springer is taller, he’s likely less flexible and explosive in space. Importantly, Springer is strictly a two-footed leaper, which gives him less explosiveness in the paint. The basic idea: If it takes you longer to jump, you’re less likely to create space with said jump. There have been players who overcome this mild hinderance, but already being slightly heavy-footed has really restricted Springer’s ability to create for himself thus far. He shot 8-for-35 in combined screen and iso possessions at Tennessee, and while Rick Barnes’ offense is hardly the friendliest in the country, Springer is a selective scorer and shooter, only taking 46 threes on the year.

These are reasons to doubt Springer as a no-doubt, top-5, superstar type of pick. These are not reasons to leave him out of the top-20 entirely. His poise, touch, body control, and defensive skill make him, at worst, a super backup guard right out of the gate, one of the “safest” picks in the Draft (if such a thing actually exists). At the same time, his age and physical strength make him an upside swing.

NBA teams, particularly those picking outside the top-5 or 6, are infatuated with the idea of hitting huge on a potential superstar in the Draft, but the methodologies they use are often so restrictive and not based on measurable skills or statistical production, and usually are just based on how great a player looks in workouts. Like Tyrese Haliburton or Melton before him, that’s not Springer, but when the lights are on and games are real, he’s ready for the NBA right now. And in five years, he’ll still only be 23.