GoneTrending

Perhaps you have already watched Twisters (maybe even in 4DX) and feel the need for speed soaking in another massive blockbuster-type film to keep that adrenaline flowing. Hypothetically as well, your friends might soon be heading out to see whether the Merc With The Mouth delivers on his promise to reinvigorate the MCU, and you don’t want to feel left out, so you are mulling over a certain inquiry:

Do You Have To Watch Deadpool & Deadpool 2 Before Deadpool & Wolverine?

Hm. The better question here, actually is, “Why wouldn’t you want to watch the first two movies first?”

After all, the Deadpool movies are not comic-book movies that will feel like homework assignments. Instead, they are expressions of sheer joy. So many moments must be experienced rather than read in an online summary. The pathetic highway fight that hit just right. Colossus before he made people thirsty. The X-Force reveals. Zazie Beetz as Domino. The mid-credits scenes of Deadpool 2. Hell, even the origin scenes of how Wade Wilson transformed into Deadpool are worth soaking in to see how he became the fourth-wall-busting wise ass that he is today. And it’s even worth observing the only way that the sequel dropped the ball, which Ryan Reynolds has admitted was not fantastic, so credit goes to him for owning up to that slight.

To answer your first question: No, you do not have to watch the first two Deadpool movies, but you would be very happy if you did so (and if you start now, there’s plenty of time before a midnight or weekend showing). In the alternative, you will surely want to watch them after Deadpool & Wolverine, and that would be a suboptimal experience.

The best nicknames in sports have always started naturally, with someone else — a coach, another player, fans, or an announcer — bestowing it on a player, but for it to really take off the player has to embrace it for themselves.

On this year’s USA men’s basketball squad for the Olympics, there are some great examples of that, from King James to Chef Curry to The Brow. However, there is one nickname that’s better than all of those, but never really took off because it never got the embrace from the player. Early on in his career, Kevin Durant earned the moniker “the Slim Reaper”, which is an objectively sick nickname, but for whatever reason he pushed it away. However, the 35-year-old former MVP has had a change of heart and is now ready to welcome being called the Slim Reaper, explaining in a social video asking Team USA players for the best nickname on the team that he didn’t think he’d earned it early in his career.

Maybe he didn’t think he could be the Slim Reaper until he won championships, but it’s a bit of a shame that didn’t stick sooner with Durant. It’s probably too late in his career for it to latch on completely, but it’s good to know he’s seen the light. As for the rest of the video, I do like how everyone shoots down their teammates when they try to stump for themselves, whether it’s The Brow, The Process, or Book (which Tyrese Haliburton questions if that even counts). The most answers were for Slim Reaper, King James, and Chef Curry, but the funniest one was Bamonte, bestowed on Adebayo by JaVale McGee back in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics in a hilarious video.

For the past two years, Bronx native Ice Spice has been one of the hottest stars in hip-hop. She’s been nominated for four Grammy Awards, won a VMA, and in 2023, became the first rapper with four songs to peak in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 thanks to songs with major stars Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift. That she was able to accomplish all this without putting out a full-length album is impressive, but as the release of her debut album, Y2K, nears, some fans have begun to hold the success of her singles against her. They wonder, “Is Ice Spice an ‘album artist’?”

A year ago, such a question might have seemed unfair to ask. After all, just a few months removed from the peak of her PinkPantheress collaboration “Boy’s A Liar, Pt. 2,” Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj’s Barbie soundtrack contribution “Barbie World” was ubiquitous, permeating pop culture as readily as the film that contained it. Ice had the cross-genre co-sign of pop regent Taylor Swift with “Karma,” and her improved stage presence at festivals like Rolling Loud California, Broccoli City, Power 105.1 Powerhouse, Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, and Coachella solidified her breakout star status.

But somewhere in the course of the past six months, once she’d finally actually begun the rollout for her debut, the goodwill that had carried her breakout single “Munch (Feelin’ You)” and follow-ups like “In Ha Mood” and “Deli” seemingly dried up. “Pretty Girl,” with Afropop breakout Rema, failed to chart, as did “Gimmie A Light” and “Phat Butt,” the songs following Ice Spice’s Latto diss “Think U the Shit (Fart).” None of Ice’s solo singles have charted as highly as “Boy’s A Liar,” “Karma,” or “Barbie World.” While it’s to be expected that a newer artist wouldn’t chart as strongly without the big names attached, the drop-off would seem to indicate a reduced interest in the one thing we know Ice Spice does well.

Likewise, reception to each new piece of the rollout has been lukewarm, if not outright icy. After she shared the cover art for Y2K, which featured photography from none other than the great David LaChapelle, it seemed most fans could only focus on the placement of the album’s title — which appears in hot pink graffiti on a metal, Oscar The Grouch-style garbage can. That’s not an indictment in itself — fans similarly roasted Megan Thee Stallion’s Megan cover, prompting her to update it with multiple different options — but the din of disapproval over Ice’s moves has gotten steadily “louder” online since she named her lead single after flatulence.

Obviously, there’s a difference between dropping a handful of hits and crafting a full-length project with a unifying theme or sound. But Ice Spice’s generation may not even put the same importance on that as prior music fans. Just a week ago, her collaborator and cohort PinkPantheress, who it must be noted was also born around the same time as Ice Spice (one year and a few months after the literal Y2K baby), admitted something somewhat surprising. “I don’t listen to albums!” she said. “That’s why when it came to my own album, I was like, ‘Do people care about tracklisting?’ I couldn’t believe it. Some people would were like, ‘Oh, it’s a great album, but the tracklisting doesn’t make sense.’ I’m like, just listen to the songs.”

As shocking as that revelation might have been for older fans who grew up on classics like Illmatic, The College Dropout, and Good Kid, MAAD City (or even more recently and relatedly, Invasion Of Privacy), it makes perfect sense for young adults who have almost never known a world without streaming services and playlists. iTunes was launched four months before PinkPantheress was born — Ice Spice was still in diapers. Audiences have been purchasing and consuming individual tracks longer than either of them have known how to talk. While both of their music may be informed by nostalgia for millennial pop and dance music, neither probably has much direct experience with the way we engaged with that music, of ripping the plastic from a newly purchased CD and popping out the liner notes to read the personnel and songwriting credits.

If their — and their audiences’ — engagement with music primarily came in the form of individual songs from playlists or live performances, why wouldn’t they create music from this mindset, rather than thinking in terms of complete works that require a full 40-minute-or-more playthrough? Besides, it’s not like we all went out and bought albums just because the singles were poppin’ on TRL and 106 & Park, either (I have a personal theory that or nostalgia for certain albums actually comes from the hits that made it to radio more so than the sequencing and cohesion of those full projects). So, rather than asking “is Ice Spice an album artist?” maybe the question should be “does Ice Spice need to be an album artist?”

In a world where Cardi B has maintained her relevance through singles and feature verses nearly six years removed from her vaunted debut, the biggest hit of the year is a battle rap completely unassociated with any longer compilation of music (other than the string of diss tracks that effectively sent Drake into hiding for the past month), and albums’ sales/streaming totals are mostly driven by standout tracks anyway, maybe it doesn’t matter if Ice Spice can make a full album — whatever that means in 2024, anyway. It wasn’t high-concept lyrical virtuosity that made audiences fall in love with the Bronx rapper. It was an attitude, a feeling — a vibe, if you will — that carried her to the heights of stardom and brought thousands of fans to all those stages. If she can deliver that, it shouldn’t matter if it takes 14 tracks or a 2-minute single, Ice Spice will remain a star.

Ice Spice’s debut studio album, Y2K!, will be released in a few hours, and she just told Capital XTRA Breakfast that she has a “crazy” and “risky” plan for the rest of this year. Before any of that happens, though, Ice Spice addressed crazy speculation around whether she’s dating UK rapper Central Cee.

According to the newly published Rolling Stone September 2024 cover story starring Ice Spice, she told the publication that she is single.

“We’ve been friends since ‘Munch’ came out, honestly,” the Bronx-bred star said of Central Cee. “We’re just twins.”

Speculation around Central Cee and Ice Spice sparked earlier this month. Before releasing “Did It First,” their collaborative single, Central Cee and Ice Spice were seen shopping together in London. People saw that and ran with it, as they do. These TikTok videos posted by Madeline Argy, Central Cee’s ex, didn’t help.

Ice Spice also brought out Central Cee as a surprise guest during her Wireless Festival 2024 set, where they performed “Did It First.”

To Ice’s credit, she has consistently described Central Cee as a friend. As a Complex cover star last fall, Ice Spice said she and Central Cee had “become good friends over the past year ever since he hopped on ‘Munch [Remix].’” Within the same profile, Central Cee said that Ice Spice “reminds me of me a bit,” which coincides with Ice Spice saying they’re twins in the new Rolling Stone profile.

Way back in 2022, Roc Nation and Time Studios announced they were partnering on a documentary about Megan Thee Stallion. Well, it appears things have progressed since then, as the doc is reportedly arriving soon.

A new Hollywood Reporter feature about Time Studios notes that according to the company, the Meg doc “has been sold to a major streamer for a fall debut.” No further specifics about the release plan were given.

A 2022 press release says of the multi-part, Nneka Onuorah-directed series:

“The documentary will provide viewers with an intimate perspective into Megan’s life and career. From delving into Megan’s upbringing in Texas to chronicling key milestones in her career, the project will shed light on the many facets of Houston native’s multilayered personality. […]

With a mix of rare archival footage and fresh verité video, the documentary will highlight Megan’s rise from viral freestyling phenom to iconic cultural powerhouse. Beyond amplifying the Houston native’s journey to success, the project will also touch on how Megan overcame various personal hurdles to thrive in her professional career.”

Time Studios Co-Head of Documentary Loren Hammonds also said at the time, “We are thrilled to be able to work with Roc Nation to share Megan’s story with the world. Millions of people are familiar with her as an entertainer, but this series will give her a chance to share her truth as never before. Her story is a powerful one, and the accomplishments that she continues to achieve are remarkable. We feel lucky to have this opportunity to capture her at a crucial moment in her life and career, as she continues to grow exponentially in both her artistry and global impact.”

What’s your favorite moment in SpongeBob SquarePants history? Is it “I remember when they first invented chocolate”? Or “Sweet Victory”? Or maybe it’s the time Mr. Krabs told SpongeBob to “go the f*ck home.”

In a cover story for Rolling Stone, rapper Ice Spice talked about how SpongeBob SquarePants — both the unstoppable Nickelodeon series and the endlessly optimistic character — has inspired her work ethic.

“I think I learned a lot from that show,” she said. “He never wanted a day off, even when Mr. Krabs would tell him, ‘Go the f*ck home.’ He’d be like, ‘No, I need to work.’”

So that’s what SpongeBob characters are saying under the dolphin noise.

Later, Ice Spice discussed the response to the cover artwork for her upcoming album, Y2K! (here’s something to make you feel old: the first SpongeBob SquarePants episode aired seven months before the turn of the millennium).

“Throughout my entire career, I don’t think I’ve ever had a moment of strictly praise. I think, through it all, there was always a lot of hate,” she said. “And I kind of appreciate that, because I find that when people are only love, they’re not as real. I don’t dwell on how people are perceiving me, whether it’s negative or positive, because that’s really what you sign up for when you put yourself out there on a public platform. It’s for people to make their opinions about you.”

Y2K! comes out on July 26.

Kacey Musgraves released Deeper Well this spring, and the album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. There’s more where that came from.

“We’re going deeper,” Musgraves posted on Thursday morning, July 25. “The expanded version of Deeper Well includes 7 new songs and is out August 2nd. Pre-order the album and hear ‘Irish Goodbye’ tonight at midnight.”

The extended album’s title appears to be Deeper Into The Well, according to the presumed cover art shared by Musgraves. “Irish Goodbye” can be expected to become available to stream at 9 p.m. PT on Thursday, July 25, and midnight ET on Friday, July 26.

It’s also probably safe to presume that Musgraves will have seven more songs on her Deeper Well World Tour setlist when the trek begins its North American leg at Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pennsylvania on September 4. Musgraves’ opening acts are Father John Misty, Lord Huron, and Nickel Creek.

Musgraves will perform across the country for three months, including dates at Boston’s TD Garden, Inglewood, California’s Kia Forum, and Brooklyn, New York’s Barclays Center. The Deeper Well World Tour is scheduled to wrap with back-to-back shows at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee on December 6 and 7. See all of Musgraves’ upcoming dates here.

The streaming bundle to end all streaming bundles has arrived.

The Hulu, Disney+, and Max team-up is launching today with both ad-supported and ad-free options. The bundle costs $16.99/month with ads and $29.99/month without ads. If you were to subscribe to all three services individually, “they would cost about $26 per month for their ad tiers,” according to The Hollywood Reporter, while “the ad-free versions would cost about $37 combined.” The Hulu, Disney+, and Max bundle saves up to 38 percent compared with the price of the services purchased separately.

You can watch a promo for the bundle above.

“On the heels of the very successful launch of Hulu on Disney+, this new bundle with Max will offer subscribers even more choice and value,” said Joe Earley, president of direct to consumer for Disney Entertainment, when the bundle was announced in May. “This incredible new partnership puts subscribers first, giving them access to blockbuster films, originals, and three massive libraries featuring the very best brands and entertainment in streaming today.”

Upcoming titles on the participating streamers include The Penguin (Max), a new season of Only Murders in the Building (Hulu), and Agatha All Along and Pixar’s Win or Lose (Disney+). Plus, every episode of The Simpsons, which is the most popular reason to subscribe to Disney+ anyway.

After becoming a star on the back of songs like “In Ha Mood” and “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2,” Ice Spice is now just hours away from releasing Y2K!, her debut album. As for what’s next for Ice, it looks like she’s ready to take a risk.

During an interview on Capital XTRA Breakfast today (as NME notes), Ice said of her plans for the rest of 2024, “I kind of want to do something that is kind of crazy, but I don’t want to say what it is yet. I feel like people are going to have so many things to say, but if I do it, you guys will not miss it.”

She added that the plan is “probably as risky as” jumping out of a plane, continuing, “That’s all I can really say. But let’s see, let’s see, though. I don’t know, I might change my mind. I’m very indecisive.”

Ice also said of how she’s feeling in the lead-up to the new album, “I think naturally, I’ll have good nerves, if anything. I feel like it’s a good thing to be a little nervous, because it means you just care. I’m so eager to put out the album, I’m really excited. And my fans are really excited, so yeah… it’s like finally here. I’ve been working on it for like a year.”

Cardi B had herself some Popeyes recently, and she was not pleased.

In a video posted online and archived by TMZ, Cardi was putting in a late night in the studio when she got some wings from Popeyes, wings that were clearly not up to her standards.

Cardi said, “Popeyes, y’all really fumbled with this f*cking flavor, because this flavor is not it. This lemon-pepper flavor with honey or this sweet taste on it, it’s just not good. It tastes like a f*cking Sprite soda, I don’t f*cking like it. From 1 through 10, I’ll give it a 2. I like the other one. I like the Sweet Heat. I was trying to be a little different… I was trying to do lemon-pepper, I did not thought it was going to come with a sweet kick to it. I don’t f*cking like it.”

Popeyes took the criticism in stride, though, as a representative told TMZ, “If you can’t take the heat, then get out of the kitchen. And we are in the kitchen. A lot. We welcome all Wing rankings and reviews as we believe variety is the spice of life and that’s why we have six flavors for wing enthusiasts like Cardi to enjoy.”

That said, it wasn’t a total L for Popeyes: Cardi did praise another flavor, and in a follow-up video, she expressed delight at the restaurant being open at 4 a.m. Popeyes also told TMZ that they’re going to try to get in touch with Cardi’s camp “so she can taste all their flavors next time she’s in the studio.”

As for Cardi’s lemon-pepper disappointment, here’s somebody who might have a restaurant recommendation for her.