Today, Amazon revealed the dates for their annual Prime Day, which this year will take place on June 21 and 22. The day features significant Black Friday-like sales on items from across the website, but the Amazon Music wing of the site is getting in on the fun, too: Starting on June 17, a “Prime Day Show” will be streaming on Prime Video, and the three-part special will feature performances from Billie Eilish, Kid Cudi, and HER.

Amazon describes Eilish’s performance, “Billie brings a timeless, Parisian neighborhood to life with a series of cinematic performances. Set in the city known as the birthplace of cinema, it was directed by Billie Eilish and Sam Wrench, and features new music from Billie’s upcoming album, Happier Than Ever. This breathtaking musical tribute was inspired by Billie’s long-time admiration of a long gone era.”

Of Cudi’s show, they note, “As he embarks on his biggest mission to date, Kid Cudi departs Earth to establish a new community on the moon in this intercosmic performance. Featuring music from his album Man On The Moon III, Cudi collaborates with the International Space Orchestra, the world’s first orchestra composed of space scientists from NASA Ames Research Center, the SETI Institute, and the International Space University as his backing band, in a musical collision defying sight, sound, and space.”

They also say of HER’s performance, “Once known as the hub of Los Angeles Black culture in the 1930’s and ’40s, the iconic Dunbar Hotel hosted some of the most prominent figures of its time, including musicians Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Billie Holiday, and many more. In a modern day musical tribute to this legendary and important piece of history and culture, HER imagines what The Dunbar Hotel would be like if it existed in 2021 featuring new music from her album, Back Of My Mind.”

All performances will run for about 25 minutes.

Ryan Redington, VP of Music Industry at Amazon Music, says of the shows, “Working with Billie Eilish, HER, and Kid Cudi to bring their music to life through these imaginative experiences has been incredible. Watching these globally renowned artists create three shows from the depths of their imagination has been unlike anything we’ve ever done before. We’re thrilled to bring fans along with us to celebrate these three remarkable artists and Prime Day.”

Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios, added, “These iconic artists have not only broken new ground in music but are inspired storytellers, culture creators, and visionaries. We’re thrilled to partner with Billie, HER, and Cudi to bring these authentic and deeply personal specials to fans around the world as we celebrate Prime Day.”

In September, the hardcover version of my book This Isn’t Happening: Radiohead’s ‘Kid A’ and the Beginning of the 21st Century was released. It came out three days before the 20th anniversary of Radiohead’s classic fourth album, which my book analyzes in extreme (perhaps too much?) detail. On June 8, the paperback edition of the book comes out, which is three days after the 20th anniversary of Kid A’s sister LP, Amnesiac. The paperback of This Isn’t Happening truly is the Amnesiac to the hardcover’s Kid A, in the sense that it arrives about eight months later and is softer than its predecessor.

To all of the people who have read the book, thank you. To all of the people who haven’t, a warning: There’s a part of one chapter that, based on the feedback I’ve received, you will either totally love or absolutely hate. This section is easily the most commented-upon aspect of This Isn’t Happening, and like the LP it covers, it’s apparently pretty polarizing! This was not my intention, but I think I understand why it was received that way.

First, some context: Radiohead started working on the followup to their hit 1997 album, OK Computer, in early 1999. Over the course of about a year and a half, they accumulated enough material for two albums. After briefly considering lumping all of the songs together into a double LP, they opted to put out Kid A in the fall of 2000, and Amnesiac the following summer.

When Kid A was released, some critics were disappointed that the more conventional “Radiohead-sounding” songs performed on the band’s summer European tour — including “Knives Out” and “Pyramid Song” (then dubbed “Egyptian Song”) — didn’t make it on the record. Kid A was deliberately sequenced as a monochromatic mood piece with a heavy emphasis on suffocating emotional paralysis. The more dynamic material was reserved for Amnesiac, which also became a clearinghouse for Radiohead’s weirdest songs from the sessions. The result was a willfully inconsistent (though often thrilling) listen.

In my book, I write about the circumstances that compelled Radiohead to make Kid A and Amnesiac, and how those albums affected their career in the years afterward. I also engage in at least one thought experiment: What if Radiohead had decided to make a single 14-track album culled from all of the material they recorded at the turn of the century? What if, instead of Kid A and Amnesiac, they instead made Kid Amnesiac? What would such an album sound like? What songs would make the cut in such a scenario?

Now, some people read this and thought it was a fun hypothetical. Other people read it and were annoyed (or even angry!) over my sacrilege. Let me be clear: I don’t think Kid A and Amnesiac SHOULD have been a single album. I love both records exactly as they are. They’re both classics! But I am intrigued by this hypothetical Kid Amnesiac.

In honor of Amnesiac‘s 20th anniversary, I am sharing my made-up early aughts Radiohead album. If you are a Radiohead fan, I am sure your version would probably be different. Though hopefully not that different, as I think I nailed this pretty much perfectly.

Let’s walk through Kid Amnesiac one track at a time.

SIDE A

“Everything In Its Right Place”

This is my favorite Radiohead song. And it’s one of my favorite album-opening tracks ever. Kid A didn’t take shape in the band’s minds until Jonny Greenwood took a middling piano ballad composed by Thom Yorke and played it on a Prophet 5 synthesizer. The sound of that riff played on the Prophet 5 immediately creates the paranoid, spine-tingling vibe that defines the band at this time. I can’t imagine any version of the album without this song in the lead-off position.

Unfortunately, that means I have to leave off the first track from Amnesiac, “Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box,” which is very good and evokes a similar feeling but in a slightly less compelling way. In this timeline, “Packt Like Sardines” must exist as a beloved B-side. Does that seem wrong? Buckle up, we’re just getting started.

“The National Anthem”

The hardest rocking song from this period. (If I was going to be super nerdy here, I would be tempted to put on the live version from Saturday Night Live performed two weeks after Kid A dropped.) It’s also one of two quasi-jazzy tunes, along with “Life In A Glasshouse,” which didn’t make my cut. In my book I actually made a disparaging comment about “Life In A Glasshouse” that my copy editor strenuously objected to. Typically, copy editors are only supposed to care about my awful grammar, not my awful opinions. But apparently this take was exceptionally beyond the pale.

“Pyramid Song”

After two defining Kid A mindfuckers, a sharp turn toward the majestic. “Pyramid Song” certainly wasn’t left off of Kid A for quality reasons. It was saved for later because “Pyramid Song” would’ve decisively altered the feeling of Kid A. You put this song on and all of that “technological anxiety at the dawn of a new age” stuff goes out the window. Listening to Kid A feels like being trapped in a dark room for 40 minutes; “Pyramid Song” meanwhile is a ray of light.

“How To Disappear Completely”

In the context of Kid A, “How To Disappear Completely” is the “normal-sounding acoustic ballad” track. But in the context of this imaginary record — which is a bit more dynamic and less centered on suffocating techno-horror — the oddness of the arrangement is teased out more. When it’s sequenced immediately after “Pyramid Song,” Kid Amnesiac suddenly seems much more closer to OK Computer than either Kid A or Amnesiac.

“Dollars & Cents”

An inspiration for Radiohead at this time was the German band Can, who would jam endlessly in the studio and then assemble the best bits into songs. “Dollars & Cents” came together in similar fashion, starting out as an 11-minute piece that Yorke described as “incredibly boring” that was cut in half and then tricked out with a Greenwood arranged string section. Another nerdy caveat: The live version from Radiohead’s July 4, 2000 concert in Berlin trumps the take on Amnesiac.

“Optimistic”

“In Limbo”

These tracks are attached at the hip on Kid A so perfectly that I can’t bear them to separate them on Kid Amnesiac. In a way, they’re an odd couple — “Optimistic” is perhaps the most straightforward guitar song to come out of this period, while the head-swimming “In Limbo” sounds like five musicians playing in five different tempos. Coming after “Dollars & Cents,” this feels like the appropriate conclusion to the “jammy” part of Kid Amnesiac.

SIDE B

“Cuttooth”

It’s my duty as a stereotypically obnoxious Radiohead fan to include at least one B-side on this imaginary album, and then put it at the top of Side B. I went with this one, my favorite B-side of the era, with all due respect paid to “Worrywort” and “Fog.” It supposedly came close to making Amnesiac, showing up on a promotional copy that was serviced early to French radio. Instead, it ended up on the “Knives Out” single, a dubious fate for one of the most epic-sounding Radiohead songs to come out of these sessions.

“Knives Out”

The most cited example of Radiohead losing their minds in 1999 and early 2000 is the fact that it supposedly took 313 hours to make “Knives Out,” a seemingly simple ballad that sounds like it was knocked out in 10 minutes. This speaks to the weird insecurity that has plagued Radiohead throughout their career, in which they spend months or even years in the studio trying to not sound like themselves before inevitably realizing that Radiohead sounding like Radiohead is actually pretty great. (This song also includes the album’s single bleakest lyric: “If you’d been a dog / They would have drowned you at birth.”)

“Morning Bell”

This has always been my dark horse favorite on Kid A. It’s not the greatest track or the most adventurous or the one that best exemplifies this era. It’s simply one of the songs that I most want to hear, every single time I put on Kid A, because I never tire of it. It’s the best fusing of Radiohead’s classic ’90s “mid-tempo ballad” sound with the “forward-thinking” sensibility of the 1999-2000 sessions. It’s like “Karma Police” after a Bitches Brew phase.

“I Might Be Wrong”

Yorke claims that he wrote and recorded this song after seeing a ghost in his house, “with this presence still there.” It sounds like the sort of story that became associated with David Bowie during his mid-’70s L.A. period, when he was having all kinds of dark hallucinations because he was snorting enough cocaine to kill all five members of the Eagles. This is not to suggest that Thom’s vision was drug-induced; the only thing he was sniffing was ambivalence about his own success.

“You And Whose Army?”

Most of the lyrics on Kid A and Amnesiac are deliberately vague and even nonsensical, as Yorke was tired of having to explain to nosy music journalists that OK Computer was in fact not a concept album. But this song comes closest to making an overt political statement. The echo effect on the vocal — which was intended to evoke the Ink Spots, a popular vocal group from the 1930s and ’40s who predated doo-wop — was created in part by something called The Palm Speaker. It makes “You And Whose Army?” sound like a pre-war blues record, as future generations will come to understand pre-war blues in the year 2900, when all humans are living on Mars.

“Idioteque”

Purists will protest about separating this song from “Morning Bell,” as that transition is nearly as perfect as “Optimistic” melting into “In Limbo.” But my instinct is to put “Idioteque” in the penultimate slot. It is part of the trio of most essential tracks from this period, along with the prominently situated “Everything In Its Right Place” and “The National Anthem.” The easiest way to explain how Radiohead changed from OK Computer to Kid A and Amnesiac is to play those songs. (I say this as a person who wrote about 63,000 words that attempt to explain how Radiohead changed from OK Computer to Kid A and Amnesiac.)

“Like Spinning Plates”

Just as Kid Amnesiac can only have one undeniable opener, it can only have one inarguable closer. It was either this or “Motion Picture Soundtrack,” and I’m going with the one that reminds me of experiencing a low-level tinnitus hum after hours of screamingly loud music. (But in a good way.)

This is another instance where I’m strongly tempted to include a live version, in this case the stunning reimagining from the I Might Be Wrong EP. But the studio cut from Amnesiac is ultimately preferable precisely because it’s not so damn pretty. “When I listen to it in my car, it makes the doors shake,” Yorke later said of this song. Any representation of Radiohead at this extremely creative and momentous juncture in their history should leave us all feeling shaken.

In 2015, Sam Esmail came out of seemingly nowhere to reinvent the modern tech-crime-drama-thriller (yes, that’s a thing) with Mr. Robot and has two Emmy nominations to prove it. Writer Andy Siara did very much the same thing last year with the sci-fi-infused Hulu comedy Palm Springs, which—while it flew slightly under the radar—ended up on several Best Of movie lists of 2020 (including our own). Now, as Variety reports, the two creative innovators are coming together for The Resort, a darkly comedic new series for Peacock that is sure to disrupt every genre it touches (in a good way, of course).

According to Variety, Siara will write and executive produce the series with Allison Miller, with whom he’s currently working on Angelyne, another Peacock series. Esmail will executive produce through his company, Esmail Corp, as part of his overall deal with studio UCP.

“Andy and Esmail Corp have a distinct point of view exploring off-kilter, genre-bending storytelling that is infused with humanity and compelling characters,” Lisa Katz, NBC Universal Television and Streaming’s president of scripted content said in a statement. “The Resort has everything viewers are looking for in their next escape drama—thrill, mystery, love, and a tropical backdrop.”

UCP president Beatrice Springborn is also excited about the potential of this pairing, saying that: “The Resort is a dream-come-true collaboration between Andy and Esmail Corp, two creative forces who from Palm Springs to Mr. Robot have continued to reinvent and subvert genre with heart. By combining an unsolved crime investigation with an exploration of marriage in a tropical location, they have designed a show for the Peacock audience that is fresh, fun and relatable.”

No word yet on when the series will premiere, but let the subversion begin!

(Via Variety)

In the official trailer for the trippy, sci-fi action thriller Reminiscence, Hugh Jackman plays a detective who literally enters the minds of his clients and harvests the past for secrets. But with the world ravaged by war and rising sea levels, nostalgia has become a powerful drug that even Jackman’s character can’t resist, and he’s drawn even deeper into the illusionary past world after taking on a case for a Mission: Impossible‘s Rebecca Ferguson. Thandiwe Newton is also on hand to keep Jackman from going over the edge.

If the trailer gives you strong Westworld vibes (with a dash of Inception), that’s because Reminiscence is written, produced, and directed by Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy, so there’s your answer. Here’s the official synopsis:

Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman), a private investigator of the mind, navigates the darkly alluring world of the past by helping his clients access lost memories. Living on the fringes of the sunken Miami coast, his life is forever changed when he takes on a new client, Mae (Rebecca Ferguson), and a simple matter of lost and found becomes a dangerous obsession. As Bannister fights to find the truth about Mae’s disappearance, he uncovers a violent conspiracy, and must ultimately answer the question: how far would you go to hold on to the ones you love?

Reminiscene hits theaters and HBO Max on August 20, 2021.

The newest Disneyland attraction, Avengers Campus, had its grand opening ceremony on Wednesday evening. It’s Disney’s first theme park land dedicated to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so all the heavy hitters were in attendance. We’re talking Disney Parks head Josh D’Amaro! Disney CEO Bob Chapek! Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige! And some guys named Paul Rudd, Jon Favreau, and Anthony Mackie, I dunno.

Outside of the upcoming rides, Ant-Man star Rudd was the main attraction at the opening ceremony, not necessarily because of anything he said, but because of what he wore: a pink suit. It’s a good look on anyone, but especially the ageless wonder:

Rudd, who attended the opening of the new land alongside fellow Marvel star Anthony Mackie, took the stage to share his excitement over the Avengers Campus. “Hi! Wow, this is great. It’s so great to see everybody, it’s phenomenal to be here in person,” he told the socially distanced crowd as well as the livestream viewers at home. “I loved being in Hong Kong in 2019 to open the Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle, but this is a whole new ball of wax.”

Rudd wasn’t part of the Friends reunion, but he showed up for the MCU. And for us.

Avengers Campus opens to the public on Friday, June 4, with a new ride, Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure, and the Pym Test Kitchen restaurant, which has a menu “packed with inventive-sized entrees, tiny treats, and shareable bites that provide the perfect power-up.” There’s a giant chicken breast on a tiny bun and a $100 sandwich for six to eight people. Paul Rudd, if you want to share a sandwich, let me know.

(Via E! Online)

Things are starting to look up for all of us. As we venture out of our homes and (hopefully) to shows for the first time in almost 18 months, we’re reminded of the ways that music served, perhaps more than ever before, as a lifeboat during this extended time of unease. Stuck at home like the rest of us, with very few creative distractions, many artists had time to really focus on their craft and deliver some of their best music to date.

Sure, albums are great – but an album is nothing without its songs. And 2021 has been nothing if not full of great songs. From Olivia Rodrigo’s mega-smash “Drivers License” to Taylor Swift’s continued pivot to indie-folk, these songs inspired hope, they felt our pain, or they helped us transport to a different place entirely. Presented below in alphabetical order, here are the best songs of 2021 so far. Please note that songs released in December 2020 are eligible to be included here, as they came out too late for our 2020 lists.

Beabadoobee – “Last Day On Earth”

UK songwriter Beabadoobee has been credited with reacquainting Gen Z with the flannel-loving aesthetics of ‘90s grunge music. Her debut album Fake It Flowers was inspired by feel-good rom coms but with her track “Last Night On Earth,” the singer issued a more nostalgic ode. The song was released as the lead single to the 1975-produced EP Our Extended Play and features pop-leaning hooks that imagine all the things the singer would have done differently if she had known her life was about to be put on pause for over a year due to the pandemic. – Carolyn Droke

Bebe Rexha – “Die For A Man” Feat. Lil Uzi Vert

Don’t overlook Bebe Rexha’s freaky, eclectic second album, Better Mistakes. Anchored by singles like “Die For A Man,” which is basically the exact inverse of most heartfelt feminine songs about breakups, this misandrist assertion of self-worth is a spooky trap-pop statement. Bebe basically says no matter how in love she is, the breakup will never kill her. When Lil Uzi Vert comes through for a smooth verse of Autotuned braggadocio, that’s just the cherry on top. It’s a refreshingly tough alternative to some of the more vulnerable themes that have been tearing up the charts lately. But Bebe has always been marching to the beat of her own drum, and that’s why we love her. – Caitlin White

BIA – “Whole Lotta Money”

Massachusetts-bred Bia has finally arrived after spending the last half-decade paying dues as a cast member of the Oxygen reality television show Sisterhood Of Hip Hop and a string of underground mixtapes and EPs. “Whole Lotta Money” is her first Billboard-charting solo track, buoyed by a viral trend blowing up — where else — on TikTok. With its flossy boast about putting on all her jewelry for a bodega run, the burgeoning hit has backed videos of lip-syncing users mugging the camera, twerking, and showing off their own swaggering displays of confidence. – Aaron Williams

BTS – “Butter”

Every time it doesn’t seem possible that BTS can top themselves again. And every time, they manage to. Following up the record-breaking heat of “Dynamite,” their new single “Butter” stays in the same incredibly upbeat, joy-inducing range, but comes in even smoother. “I’ve got the superstar glow” goes the pre-chorus, only to be followed up with an even better gem: “Let me show you ‘cuz talk is cheap.” It’s a dance anthem for a world ready to shake off its malaise, a declaration of love sans any fear or hesitation. It’s smooth like butter, like we all want to be. A BTS mood has officially become the aspirational peak, all summer long. – C.W.

Burial – “Dark Gethsemane”

Despite Burial’s last album, Untrue, arriving in 2007, the reclusive UK producer has actually remained pretty active, as they’ve released a bunch of EPs over the past decade. On one of the most recent, they teamed up for with Blackdown this year for the Shock Power Of Love EP, a split project to which both artists contributed a pair of tracks. The beefiest one of the lot is Burial’s 10-minute “Dark Gethsemane,” which starts as a kinetic dancefloor banger before shifting into more experimental territory halfway through. – Derrick Rossignol

Cardi B – “Up”

Cardi’s first new single since “WAP”-ageddon not only kept her streak of smash hits alive, but it also drew more than its share of controversy, just like her prior table shakers. Once again, she was accused of copyright infringement over its Crime Mob-homaging hook, and this time, she even took flak over the track’s TikTok popularity as critics sniped at the dance craze that popped up seemingly overnight. None of that prevented the song from becoming Cardi’s fifth No. 1 Hot 100 hit or from becoming one of the most talked-about performances of the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in March. – A.W.

Cassandra Jenkins – “Michelangelo”

Cassandra Jenkins wrote her sophomore album An Overview On Phenomenal Nature during a time of grief. She was reeling from the death of David Berman, who she was set to tour with just days later. Much of the serene album is Jenkins telling the story of others, like a museum security guard or a bookkeeper. But her breezy album opener “Michelangelo” instead directs her attention inward, creating a space to murmur meditative reflections about the process of healing over folksy instrumentals. – C.D.

Coi Leray – “No More Parties”

“No More Parties” has ruffled its fair share of feathers, but if you’re one of those detractors who think it’s Coi Leray’s only noteworthy work to date, you haven’t been paying attention. If anything, it’s a coronation, the culmination of the Jersey-bred rapper’s past three years of hustle, which included appearances on the Spider-Verse soundtrack, a pair of impressive mixtapes, and cultivating a massive social media following with her counterintuitively catchy twerking videos — a legitimate marketing technique in a post-Megan Thee Stallion connected rap universe. It follows, then, that the song’s warm reception — including multiple remixes and freestyles from peers and predecessors and a late-night debut on The Tonight Show — is a confirmation that it’s all coming together. – A.W.

Darkside – “The Limit”

Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington haven’t done much with Darkside a near-decade after releasing their sole album, 2013’s Psychic. That is, until recently, as they announced they will bless this summer with a new full-length album, Spiral. They’ve offered some early tastes of the record, and “The Limit” stands out. The hypnotic and rhythmic track shows the two artists haven’t become musical strangers during their extended time apart, as only two partners who are completely locked in could make something this compelling. – D.R.

Doja Cat & SZA – “Kiss Me More”

This long-awaited collaboration between SZA and Doja Cat did not disappoint. “Kiss Me More” scales back from the raunchier aspects of modern music and delves into an old-fashioned kind of intimacy that’s punctuated by both women alternating between rapping and singing. While we wait for both of these superstars to drop their albums, “Kiss Me More” is another reminder that these two are as versatile as artists come. Both of them refuse to be put in a box when it comes to pop, R&B, and hip-hop, and that ambiguity has only made their work in all three genres better. Let the insistent, funky beat sink into your skin, and get ready for a very physical summer. – C.W.

Drake – “What’s Next”

Drake knows what kind of global rap superstar powerhouse he is and he reminds everyone of this with a message on his rambunctious Scary Hours 2 hit song “What’s Next.” Produced by Supah Mario, The Boy takes us on a ride to share what he’s been up to since Certified Lover Boy’s release date got pushed back. “Well, summer, all I did was rest, okay? / And New Year’s, all I did was stretch, okay? / And Valentine’s Day, I had sex, okay? / We’ll see what’s ’bout to happen next,” he reveals. And it’s fine, Aubrey can take as much time as he needs to get CLB right, but boy are we thankful we have “What’s Next” to hold us over until then. It’s not like he’s missing out on being on top of the “Hot one hundo, numero uno,” he puts it. Afterall, “What’s Next” did land at No. 1 on the Hot 100 charts upon its release, dethroning bubbling pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo’s “Driver’s License,” with the rest of the Scary Hour 2 tracks falling right behind at No. 2 and No. 3 (and it didn’t even come with a bundle). “What’s Next” is the lyrical embodiment of Drizzy’s cultural dominance. No matter when or where he chooses to release new music, it always gets a little scary when a Drake release is near. – Cherise Johnson

Dua Lipa – “If It Ain’t Me”

Robbed of what would’ve been a gigantic, glittery tour around her epic sophomore album, Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa did what all great pop stars do when faced with a challenge — pivot. Instead of a tour, she poured her creativity into the Future Nostalgia remixes, and followed that up in early 2021 with the Moonlight Edition. “If It Ain’t Me” is one of the new songs off that version, a song about being happily in love and wondering what it would be like to lose that feeling. It’s more glitchy, disco-pop from the new queen of the dancefloor, dancing her heart out even as the fear creeps in. – C.W.

Foxing – “Go Down Together”

Foxing just officially announced their follow-up to 2018’s art-emo masterpiece Nearer, My God, though they have begun teasing music from their forthcoming fourth LP for a few months. “Go Down Together” finds the St. Louis outfit leaning more into their pop sensibilities than the emo-tinged roots they built a career upon. It’s an interesting pivot for the band, but also makes for what Derrick Rossignol called for Uproxx “the band’s most accessible work so far.” – Zac Gelfand

Griff – “Black Hole”

Griff is going to be one of the next big things in pop, so keep an eye on her for the back half of 2021. Right now she’s blowing up off the strength of “Black Hole,” a bouncy, funk-flecked song about missing someone so much it annihilates your heart. The London-based songwriter channels heartbreak into sleek synth-pop just like Julia Michaels — and has the voice to back it up, too. Olivia isn’t the only one writing epic breakup songs in 2021, this is a pop subgenre that just keeps on giving, and Griff is on the cusp of being another breakout star. – C.W.

IDK and Offset – “Shoot My Shot”

The hope is that DMV rapper IDK is just a few months away from sharing his sophomore album, U See 4 Yourself, the sequel to his debut effort, Is He Real?. While it remains to be seen what his second album will sound like, IDK might have delivered a preview of it with “Shoot Your Shot” featuring Offset. The charismatic banger is laced with the duo’s impenetrable confidence as they compare themselves to basketball players like Steph Curry while shooting some shots of their own. – Wongo Okon

Isaiah Rashad – “Lay Wit Ya” Feat. Duke Deauce

The nearly five years without music from Isaiah Rashad finally came to an end with the TDE rapper’s single, “Lay Wit Ya” with Duke Deuce. The effort found a balance between mainstream assimilation and a continued display of Rashad’s artistry that we love. The added contribution from Deuce also provided a jolt of raucous energy to the track. With The House Is Burning on the way, “Lay Wit Ya” promises more great music that’s set to come from Rashad. – W.O.

Japanese Breakfast – “Be Sweet”

Japanese Breakfast’s first two albums were Michelle Zauner’s synth-infused reflections on the feeling of grief. But with her new project Jubilee, Zauner takes inspiration from unbridled joy. “Be Sweet” mirrors the same kind of euphoria. Zauner belts optimistic lyrics about the prospects of love underscored by a groovy bass guitar and buoyant keys, and the catchy tune is exactly the bop we wanted from Japanese Breakfast’s new album cycle. – C.D.

Jazmine Sullivan – “Pick Up Your Feelings”

After years of undeniably great songs and albums, Jazmine Sullivan kicked off 2021 with yet another excellent project thanks to Heaux Tales. Her most popular track at the moment, “Pick Up Your Feelings,” can be found on that record as the song once again puts her roaring vocals on display as she asks her ex-lover to pack up their affection and physical belongings, which may or may not be in the box to the left, before exiting her life. – W.O.

Koreless – “Joy Squad”

For about a decade now, Koreless (Welsh producer Lewis Roberts) has been building up clout with both fans and his peers; He got a track of his own on Perfume Genius’ remix album from last year. Now, he’s finally putting out a debut album, and alongside that announcement from May came “Joy Squad.” The track might send anybody who grew up on AM radio running for the hilliest of hills, but it’s a complex and lush three minutes of music, filled with sounds that could be described as unsettling, catchy, harsh, and other seemingly disparate adjectives that play nice together under the tutelage of Koreless. – D.R.

Lana Del Rey – “White Dress”

Even if a latent annoyance over Lana’s willfully obtuse commentary about herself, certain other women, and their place in the music industry might be lingering, “White Dress” is self-reflective enough to show another side of Del Rey. As she looks back on her early days as a nobody, male-dominated music industry looming over her idyllic time as a waitress, the song’s nostalgia and mystical glow take over any logic. “White Dress” is pure feeling, and nobody captures that like Lana. – C.W.

Lil Baby – “Real As It Gets” Feat. EST Gee

Lil Baby and EST Gee revel in their rap star lifestyles on their menacing ATL Jacob-produced song “Real As It Gets.” Two street dudes who happen to rap, on a song together, just makes sense and it was an inevitable collab that was waiting to happen. Lil Baby’s signature hyper-flow is tempered by Gee’s suave mode of lyrical delivery, giving us a reason to want to hear this duo more often. In the song, Baby takes the opportunity to explain how it all started for him: “To the streets, I’m the voice, I’m an advocate / Ask the plug, this the most he done ever sent,” before Gee shares his own story of he came into the rap game. “All this sh*t started off in the kitchen / Showed me once and I was payin’ attention / Ask the trenches, they gon’ say I’m the realest,” the rising Louisville rapper spits. Between Baby and Gee’s hood star power and the track’s ominous production, “Real As It Gets” is everything the song implies. – C.J.

Lil Nas X – “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”

“Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” has transcended its two minutes and 17 seconds of audio and become a cultural moment. The song and its controversial, hell-set video pissed some people off, aroused others, and elevated Lil Nas X beyond a one-hit-wonder status. That said, none of this could have happened if “Montero” wasn’t a great song, and it genuinely is. It proves that “Old Town Road” wasn’t a one-time fluke and that Lil Nas X is a master of catchy hooks, packaging them for the masses, and dealing with the attention that generates. – D.R.

Mac Ayres – “Nothing Else”

An R&B act you should absolutely get familiar with is Mac Ayres. The New York native shared his latest project, Magic 8Ball, back in January. While it’s an effort that went under the radar, the EP’s eight songs, in combination, made for one of 2021’s best R&B projects and “Nothing Else” is one of its brightest moments. Backed by hypnotizing keys and stuttering drums, Ayres promises to work out the problems with his lover rather than run from them like he used to. – W.O.

Olivia Rodrigo – “Drivers License”

Arguably the most influential song of the first half of 2021, “Drivers License” struck a nerve with a bunch of cooped up kids who were feeling the pain of losing a whole year — and potentially losing relationships in the wake. But “Drivers License” is about so much more than a breakup, it spans the whole gamut of grief, from the everyday minutia to the broken dreams of future plans, to the specific kind of loneliness that only hits when you’re driving past a place that used to feel like home. To be able to get all that into a song at the tender age of 17, well, that’s a phenomenal feat by a songwriter just beginning her journey. – C.W.

Polo G – “Rapstar”

Ever since Polo G popped up on the scene, the Chicago rapper has been nothing short of himself and his No. 1 hit song “Rapstar” is a great representation of that. “Rapstar” is actually Polo’s first solo Hot 100 No. 1 and he didn’t even have to switch up his sound to make it happen. Always introspective, Polo spits, “Every day a battle, I’m exhausted and I’m weary / Make sure I smile in public, when alone, my eyes teary / I fought through it all, but that shit hurt me severely,” while also showing gratitude towards all the luxurious things that his lifestyle brings. The track also features Einer Bankz on the ukelele and was in great anticipation among his legion of fans after they teased the song back in 2020. Polo stayed consistent, stayed true and landed a huge hit that will no doubt see his star rise even higher once his third studio album Hall Of Fame is unleashed on June 11. – C.J.

Pooh Sheisty – “Back In Blood” Feat. Lil Durk

Whew. There have been few straight-up trap records that have been as well-received and explosive as “Back In Blood.” A propulsive, gritty, straight-from-the-gut banger, Pooh Shiesty’s breakout hit received a huge boost from the efforts of Lil Durk, who was in the middle of an incendiary comeback of his own thanks to Drake and “Laugh Now Cry Later,” among other works. The sheer among of goodwill the song’s engendered led to the duo making an appearance on The Late Show and Pooh Shiesty becoming one of the most exciting new voices in street rap today. – A.W.

Saweetie – “Best Friend” Feat. Doja Cat

At this point, hating on Saweetie is like fighting the tide. It was one thing when her formula almost solely included hijacking 2000s hits. But “Best Friend” is all original, a succinct, saccharine summation of everything the Bay Area artist represents with her Icy image. Doja Cat’s verse — misinterpreted though it may have been — is the icing on the Icy cake, lending one of pop-rap’s most enervating presences to a song high on energy and nearly impossible to nitpick. – A.W.

Sharon Van Etten & Angel Olsen – “Like I Used To”

It’s hard to believe that indie legends Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen haven’t collaborated on music until now. The duo’s first-ever joint release, “Like I Used To,” channels the best of both veteran songwriters into what Derrick Rossignol called for Uproxx a “bold Americana” track. – Z.G.

Silk Sonic – “Leave The Door Open”

Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars first formed Silk Sonic one drunken night after touring Europe together in 2017. They kept the project under wraps since, but their debut single “Leave The Door Open” was worth the wait. Leaning on each musician’s strengths, .Paak delivers playful percussion (he even recorded the drums in one take), while Mars croons soulful harmonies about wooing a significant other. The song has already topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart a couple times, so it’s safe to say the project’s forthcoming debut album will be just as enticing. – C.D.

Syd – “Missing Out”

As far as R&B goes, Syd always delivers and she casually does it once again with “Missing Out.” It’s an expectation at this point. “Missing Out” is Syd’s first release since 2017’s Fin, which was incredible. Her futuristic handling of R&B has become signature and her soft voice flows perfectly throughout the song’s heavenly production, making it more than a listening experience by turning it into a poetic feeling experience. “Hope you finding what you need or what you seek ’cause now I’m free / And maybe in another life, you’d be mine,” she sings. “But you’re missing out.” More of this superb music-making is expected from Syd in 2021. – C.J.

Taylor Swift – “Mr. Perfectly Fine”

Leave it to Taylor to tack on one of her greatest cutting room floor songs onto the already near-perfect Fearless tracklist. “Mr. Perfectly Fine” mirrors some of Taylor’s other best songs about being jilted by a careless boy, the “casually cruel” line she later reuses to even greater effect in “All Too Well,” the golden-crush key final chorus, the ability to make a song about the worst feelings still seem dreamy and slightly upbeat. The best part about “Mr. Perfectly Fine,” though, is how space has shaped her own relationship to it — there’s no more pain or pettiness in delivery. That’s perfect. – C.W.

The Weather Station – “Tried To Tell You”

The Weather Station have been making music for over a decade. The band, fronted by Toronto songwriter Tamara Lindeman, had been a mostly acoustic project but their 2021 LP Ignorance took their sound in a new direction. Its standout single, “Tried To Tell You,” showcases the sonic shift, trading in wistful acoustic guitar for skittering snares and dance-ready rhythms. The song’s theme juxtaposes its optimistic instrumentation by detailing the importance of reaching out to a friend in need. – C.D.

Vic Mensa – “Shelter” Feat. Wyclef Jean, Chance The Rapper

Vic Mensa is back. Technically, that happened last year, with the confessional V Tape EP he released that saw him return to his pre-punk rock makeover lyrical form. Still, though, there was always a lingering doubt, the sense that it might all be temporary. Then, he reunited with his school friend and brother-in-arms Chance The Rapper for one of the most heartfelt tracks either have released in literally years (Chance’s wife-doting notwithstanding). “Shelter” feels like a reset for both its principal artists, a moment they recaptured the public’s interest and buying enough credit for us to eagerly look forward to their next move. – A.W.

Young Dolph and Key Glock – Penguins

Young Dolph and Key Glock have done an excellent job of leading Memphis’ recent hip-hop resurgence over the last few years. The protege and mentor combination delivered strong collaborations in the past, with one of their best being their recent joint album, Dum & Dummer 2. Throughout its 20 tracks, the duo show their chemistry has only improved over the years and “Penguins” is a prime example of this. The icy track captures the Memphis duo once again celebrating their well-earned success with diamonds and other jewels colder than the most brisk wind. – W.O.

Young Thug and Gunna – “Ski”

At this point, Gunna and Young Thug’s chemistry is nearly unmatched by any other pairing in rap. Recapturing the magic of their So Much Fun collaboration “Surf” on the YSL Records compilation Slime Language 2, they prove that it shouldn’t take much to make an unimpeachable rap banger. Bass, loop, snares, and the two rappers’ complementary verses all combine into a slickly versatile musical gumbo — one that also inspired a viral TikTok dance, boosting its popularity and proving that there is still plenty of fun to be had. – A.W.

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

Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.

Get more streaming recommendations with our weekly What To Watch newsletter.

1. Sweet Tooth (Netflix)

This one will charm you and make you feel an unfamiliar sensation — hope? — despite dark and mature themes. Team Downey brings us this awe-inspiring story based upon a D.C. comic-book by creator Jeff Lemire, who whipped up a post-apocalyptic fairytale about a great sickness that ends with a miracle. That would be the appearance of “hybrids,” babies who are born half-human and half-animal. The comic has been described as “Mad Max Meets Bambi,” and Will Forte gets into serious mode, which is worth the price of admission all by itself. Watch it on Netflix starting June 4.

2. Hacks (HBO Max)

The concept is easily understood and well worn: a fading icon enlists the help of a jaded up and comer to pump life into their career. But the divine is in the details and in the way both Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder play off each other, trading barbs and working through the vast ocean of each other’s neurosis to, perhaps, broaden their individual perspectives. Set against the backdrop of Las Vegas with commentary on the old school vs. new school comedy holy war, Hacks packs a lot into a half-hour comedy with enough dramatic flourishes to make some noise. From Broad City alums Paul Downs, Lucia Aniello, and Jen Statsky, this one is worthy of your attention, appealing to fans of that show and sneakily great contemporaries like The Other Two. Watch it on HBO Max.

3. Mythic Quest (Apple TV+)

Well, guess what: Mythic Quest is back. The Apple series from Always Sunny creator Rob Mcelhenney dropped a new special on April 16 (a bookend to its previous pandemic-themed masterpiece) and now it’s back for a full second season. Mythic Quest is so good. It’s warm and funny and mean and touching all at once, and so much more than it is if you think it is “a show about video games.” The cast is stacked and the inter-office intrigue only builds from the already excellent first season. Get in there. Do it. Watch it on Apple TV+.

4. Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. (Hulu)

Patton Oswalt finally gives us the Marvel supervillain we needed: one who’s very good at killing and being evil but can’t get it together at home. Hey, it happens, even to the most evil among us, but this show’s genuinely funny and heartfelt and complex and filled with sharp writing, instead of simply using the “adult animated label” to plug in a bunch of gore and R-rated jokes. Don’t get us wrong, though: those jokes are present, but M.O.D.O.K.‘s got layers and doesn’t underestimate its audience. Respect the giant head.
Watch it on Hulu.

5. We Are Lady Parts (Peacock)

This is what we have here: A geeky biochemistry Ph.D. student becomes the lead guitarist of an all-girl Muslim punk band and learns a bunch of lessons about life and following your dreams through the various adventures and struggles the band encounters in trying to book a gig. If you like coming-of-age stories and fish-out-of-water stories and cool diverse twists on both of them, this could be a show worth checking out. Watch it on Peacock.

6. Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten (PBS)

HBO and Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen brought the Tulsa Race Massacre into mainstream consciousness, and PBS is here with the best documentary to mark the centennial. This Greenwood-district event — the total decimation of what Booker T. Washington dubbed as “Black Wall Street” and one of the most horrific instances of racially-motivated violence in U.S. history, killing up to 300 Black residents — was excised from the books. This documentary charts a search for mass graves and ongoing efforts for renewal, justice, and reparations. Watch it on PBS.

7. Friends: The Reunion (HBO Max)

The cast of Friends is back. Kind of. The long-teased and much-delayed reunion is here. It’s not exactly a big season-long binge or a new buzzy murder show but it sure might scratch your nostalgia itch if you feel one brewing this weekend. Watch it on HBO Max.

8. Master of None (Netflix)

Four years have passed since Aziz Ansari’s brainchild last did its thing, and that’s not even (officially, at least) due to the pandemic. Ansari retreated from the public eye following those allegations, and it’s clear that, as director, he’s taking his time to listen to his characters with Dev moving into the background. This season focuses on the marriage of Lena Waithe’s Denise, and it’s a slower moving story, but it’s worth savoring, and it’s not too sappy, even for a love story. Watch it on Netflix.

9. The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime)

Awe-inspiring cinematography aside, one of the biggest attractions to this project is Oscar winner Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk, Moonlight) in the director’s seat while adapting Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The story chronicles a desperate bid for freedom by slave Cora Randall (newcomer Thuso Mbedu), and the ensemble cast includes William Jackson Harper, Joel Edgerton, Lily Rabe, and Damon “Dewey Crowe” Herriman. You can’t go wrong by investing your time here. Watch it on Amazon.

10. Girls5Eva (Peacock)

The thing about Girls5Eva is that there’s almost too must talent involved to ignore. The series, about a girl group from the 1990s that gets a second chance at stardom, is produced by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock. It stars Busy Philipps and Sara Bareilles and Renee Elise Goldsberry and Paula Pell. If these are names that mean something to you (and if you’ve been a fan of comedy over the last 10-15 years, they probably do), then you’re already in. Good. Sometimes things are that easy. Watch it on Peacock.

Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish movies available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.

1. The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It (HBO Max)

Terrific news for all of you, provided all of you want to hang out inside on a weekend in June and watch spooky stuff on one of the various screens at your disposal: The Conjuring is back and it’s coming straight to HBO Max. In this go-round, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga investigate the case of a confused and blood-soaked young man who says the devil possessed him and made him commit murder. You’d think the devil would have bigger fish to fry than forcing random guys to commit single murders but, hey, we’re not the paranormal investigators here. Watch it June 4 on HBO Max.

2. Bo Burnham: Inside (Netflix)

Epic in its emotional depth and scale (for a comedy special filmed within the space of one room during lockdown), this year-long voyeuristic musical voyage into Bo Burnham’s fraying mind seems at once deeply personal and stunningly relatable. It’s also a hilarious reclamation of satire that takes particular aim at tech and how it has impacted how we interact and live. Stunning and unlike anything you’ve seen before. Did we mention that it’s as funny as it is powerful? Watch it on Netflix.

3. Cruella (Disney+)

Yes, Cruella de Vil is finally getting her origin story. Even if you don’t agree that she needed one, no one can argue that Emma Stone is the actress who could deliver a damn good time in this role. Granted, the film starts out slow (the runtime’s over two hours) with a protracted childhood era that doesn’t illustrate much about why she villained out and murdered puppies. Yet it does speed up, with lots of mayhem and a cackling Emma hanging off a truck in a billowing dress. Fashion can be evil! Also, the soundtrack feels like a character in its own right. Watch it on Disney+ Premium.

4. Plan B (Hulu)

Plan B is a raunchy teen sex comedy from director — and former Parks and Recreation actress — Natalie Morales, and it looks pretty fun. Kind of a cross between a 90s throwback like Can’t Hardly Wait and a modern version like Booksmart with a little A24 arthouse thrown in. It’s a lot of things, basically, which is not something we are complaining about. Flip it on and give it a go if you’re in the mood for what appears to be, on paper, “Superbad but if the main characters were looking for next-day contraception instead of the kind of wild night that might require it.” This is also by no means a complaint. Watch it on Hulu.

5. Army of the Dead (Netflix)

Zack Snyder’s latest project hits Netflix this weekend and it brings with it a slew of zombies and Dave Bautista carrying big guns and Tig Notaro looking cool as hell. It has other things, too, one presumes, but it probably won’t take more to sell you on it than that, so let’s leave it there. Okay, fine. One more thing. This is not just a zombie movie. It is a zombie heist movie. It is a zombie heist movie that features Dave Bautista carrying big guns and Tig Notaro looking cool as hell. In Vegas. This is some quality Saturday business right here. Watch it on Netflix.

6. The Mitchells Vs. The Machines (Netflix)

Well well well, do you want to see a star-studded and fun animated film from the production team behind Into the Spiderverse? We have pondered this question for days and have yet to uncover a valid reason why you wouldn’t. It’s got everything you could want: an oddball family trying to put down a robot uprising; voice work from Abbi Jacobson and Danny McBride and Maya Rudolph and a slew of other people you probably like; and an ending that might tug your heartstrings a little bit. Sounds like a decent Saturday afternoon to us. Watch it on Netflix.

7. Those Who Wish Me Dead (HBO Max)

The latest of HBO Max’s straight-to-streaming-but-only-for-a-few-weeks releases features Angelina Jolie in a wildfire doing battle with bad guys with machine guns. This is a promising premise for any movie, let alone one from an established writer-director like Taylor Sheridan — probably most notable for writing the script for Sicario, another good movie — that all plays out kind of like a throwback 90s action movie. Think like Twister or Cliffhanger, but with, again, Angelina Jolie in a wildfire doing battle with bad guys with machine guns. It’s not going to win any Oscars, but it sure as hell might entertain you for two hours. That’ll play. Watch it on HBO Max.

8. Nomadland (Hulu)

In his review of the film last year, our Mike Ryan wrote, “there’s a scene in Nomaldland so beautiful I gasped as it whisked my brain to some of Terrence Malick’s early work.” That pretty much sums it up well — Nomadland is one of the most beautiful and touching movies we’ve seen in a while. And now it’s a full-on Oscar winner. There has never been a better time to check it out, except for every other weekend before this one. Still! Watch it on Hulu

9. Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street (VOD)

This documentary lit up Sundance and is now finally available on VOD as of May 7. Is it cute nostalgia-bait? Maybe. Will you probably love watching a touching story about immensely talented creative-types making a thing that has shaped childhoods for decades now, include your own. Uh, yes. Of course. Track it down and be prepared to cry a little.

10. Bad Trip (Netflix)

Eric Andre, Lil Rel Howery, and Tiffany Haddish in a wild road trip prank comedy where they pull strangers into nutso stunts as they make their way to New York. You could do a whole lot worse on a Saturday night. Watch it on Netflix..

Earlier this week, Taylor Swift pulled off yet another impressive achievement: Evermore (the vinyl edition of which was just released on May 28) broke the record for biggest sales week for a vinyl album since that data was first tracked in 1991 (way after the heyday of vinyl, but still). Now Swift is celebrating by releasing a new version of “Willow.”

Swift wrote this morning on social media, “You guys went and did the nicest thing this week and broke the record for biggest vinyl sales week.. like ever? NOW WE DAHNCE. The willow (90’s trend remix) is a thank you from me, available today only on my site. Put her on repeat for a good time but if you don’t want to have a good time there’s always champagne problems & every other song on evermore so you can get deep in your deepest feelings. ”

The song is currently only available by buying new “digitally autographed” editions of Evermore from Swift’s website, but fans who purchased the song have shared it online. While the original version of “Willow” is more in the folk lane of the rest of Evermore and Folklore, the “90’s Trend Remix” takes the track in a more pop- and electronic-influenced direction.

Learn more about the new edition of Evermore featuring “Willow (90’s Trend Remix)” here.

President Trump’s been attempting to weasel his way back into the mainstream U.S. consciousness while staying rent-free in right-wing minds. He’d love to get back on Twitter, most of all, and that frustration is evident in the way that he deleted his sad blog after only one month. This week saw another delusional Trump claim, albeit a reported one, when New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman reported that Trump was wildly telling people that he was going to be back in the White House by August.

Naturally, there’s no way that this will happen, and the matter became not only a talking point but a laughing point, to which Lara Trump (wife of Eric) fielded a question from Brian Kilmeade on Thursday’s episode of Fox and Friends. She attempted to shut the story down like it was mere rumor and nothing that her father-in-law had anything to do with, in any shape or form.

“As far as I know, there are no plans for Donald Trump to be in the White House in August,” Lara declared. “Maybe there’s something I don’t know. But no, I think that that is a lot of folks getting a little worked up about something just because maybe there wasn’t enough pushback, you know, from the Republican side. So no, I have not heard any plans for Donald Trump to be installed in the White House in August.”

In other words, Lara’s trying to say that someone started a rumor, and it blew up because Team Trump didn’t shut it down fast enough. Yet of course, it’s very easy to believe that Trump — who incited the deadly January 6 insurrection in an effort to stay in power — would still be deluded enough to believe that the “stolen” election would suddenly go his way, seven months later. Interestingly enough, the Washington Post published a new report that says Donald spends his days obsessing over recounts, and his advisors try to tell him that it’s over, but the act is like “pissing into the wind.”