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On Friday night, two days after his supporters stormed the Capitol building, leading to five deaths, outgoing president Donald Trump was permanently banned from Twitter. The reason, the company said, was “due to the risk of further incitement of violence” — a reaction to him spreading baseless conspiracy theories about voter fraud that have whipped his base into a violent frenzy. The reaction among his base was predictable: They weren’t happy. Soon the hashtag #1984IsHere began trending, referring to George Orwell’s classic novel about an authoritarian dystopia. The reaction to that, however, was that many of the people tweeting that probably haven’t actually read the book.

One frequently made point was that Twitter is not the government. They are a company. And if the government itself has not taken away Trump’s freedom of speech, there is no first amendment violation. Therefore invoking a book — one written by a virulent anti-fascist — was a moot point. Some posted useful explainers to help his fans realize the difference between the government and a social media company.

Others pointed out that Trump still has a voice.

Many questioned that Trump supporters have actually read George Orwell’s 1984.

Or maybe they have.

Others were annoyed about the overuse of “Orwellian,” when Orwell wrote many other books not about a grim dystopian hellscape. (Keep the Aspidistra Flying, about a frustrated wannabe novelist, is pretty good, too.)

Some anti-Trumpers quoted Orwell back, with lines that they probably wouldn’t enjoy.

There was some general mocking, too.

Others pointed out that it’s that Trump — and some of his minions — is being “censored.” What they experiencing is what happens after wrongdoing.

Others simply reminded people about the actual 1984.

Taylor Swift’s had a great 2020. She dropped two albums, Folklore and Evermore, which both debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album charts and stayed there for multiple weeks. But that’s not all. According to Billboard, who collaborated with MRC Data for their 2020 US Year-End Report, Swift’s Folklore was the best-selling album of 2020. As a result, she became the first artist to have the top-selling album of the year on five different occasions.

Folklore — which was released in July — sold 1.276 million copies through December 31, 2020, making it the only album to sell more than a million copies last year. The other four occasions where Swift had the best-selling album of the year was in 2019 with Lover (1.09 million), 2017 with Reputation (1.9 million), 2014 with 1989 (3.66 million), and 2009 with Fearless (3.22 million).

Swift had a sizable lead over the second-best-selling album of 2020, BTS’ Map of the Soul: 7, which sold 674,000 copies last year. The Weeknd’s After Hours, Harry Styles’ Fine Line, and Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? were also among the year’s top-selling albums.

On top of album sales, Swift also had it good with individual songs. Just last month she became the first person to debut a song and an album on the respective Billboard charts in the same week on two separate occasions. The first came with Folklore and “Cardigan” while the second occurred with Evermore and “Willow.”

(via Billboard)

Republicans are going through a lot right now. On Wednesday, following two months of false claims about voter fraud, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, attempting a coup to overturn the 2020 election. It did not go well. Two days later, around the same time Twitter issued outgoing president Donald Trump a lifetime ban, Sean Hannity took to the air to tackle the real issues: No, Olive Garden had not revoked his “lifetime pasta pass,” as you may have heard.

It began as a Twitter joke. Friday afternoon someone made a fake announcement for the world’s largest Italian restaurant chain, in which they appeared to respond to a withering comment Anderson Cooper made on Wednesday that Trumpists, after trying to overthrow the government, casually went there to eat some of their questionable foodstuffs. One of the details had them claim they had “invalidated our Never Ending Pasta Pass.” What’s more, they also “revoked a Lifetime Pasta Pass from Sean Hannity.”

But there was one person who didn’t find it funny: Sean Hannity. The Fox News host carved out some time on his broadcast to address the issue, to set the record straight.

“I’ve said many times this week: I love Olive Garden,” Hannity stated. “They have unlimited salad, the most delicious garlic bread sticks, great pasta.” He then went on to address a “menacing report,” which is to say a photoshopped joke tweet about him losing his lifetime pass, which, mind you, does not exist anyway, so there. “I never signed up for a pasta pass. First of all, it’s fake news. And by the way, I still plan on ordering from my local Olive Garden, or wherever I happen to be traveling, soon.

“Unless they ban me, which would be very sad — a sad day in my life,” Hannity added.

It’s not like he had other, more important stuff to talk about, like how many of the people who’ve been filing false claims about the election that he’s aired on his show have suddenly been removed from Twitter.

In the meantime, please revisit John Oliver’s epic takedown of the Italian eatery and its suspicious dishes.

(Via The Wrap)

The Warriors in 2021 haven’t exactly looked like the dominant force they once were. With injuries to key players like Klay Thompson combined with the task of integrating new talent, it’s been a learning curve for this Golden State team as they try to find their footing, to say the least.

But anytime you have a talent like Steph Curry on your team, you pose a serious threat to any opponent. And as the Warriors of old have taught so many, no lead is ever safe when they have one of the most lethal scorers in NBA history on your side. That was on full display Friday night against the Clippers.

Trailing by as many as 20 early in the second half, Curry led the Warriors to a furious comeback, putting the exclamation point on the 115-105 win with this nasty move on Paul George for his ninth three-pointer of the game, marking his season-high from downtown.

SIR. pic.twitter.com/UMi4jNCL4Q

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 9, 2021

Point God in Action.

(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/e6Ex6PIU59

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) January 9, 2021

Curry finished with 38 points on the night, to go along with 11 assists. But it wasn’t just Curry. Brad Wanamaker knocked down a pair of huge threes with Curry on the bench to regain the lead for the Warriors.

by @phillybul_22

@NBCSAuthentic pic.twitter.com/MbVDM37uti

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 9, 2021

The Warriors were able to overcome a big night from the Clippers two stars, as Paul George and Kawhi Leonard scored 25 and 24 points apiece.

Olivia Rodrigo may have earned a name for herself by scoring the lead role in the hit Disney+ show High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, but she’s now dipping her toes into a musical career of her own. After months of teasing her debut single, Rodrigo shares a lovelorn video alongside her track “Drivers License.”

The graceful visual offers a vignette of Rodrigo’s post-heartbreak healing. She earns her drivers license but instead of going to her old fling’s house, like she used to dream of, she finds herself instead aimlessly circling side streets. All the while, Rodrigo replays scenes of her fleeting relationship. At first she’s only confronted by the happy memories, but eventually, all the toxic traits of her ex-partner come flooding back to her.

Speaking about her inspiration behind the track, the 17-years-old describes the disorienting emotions of her recent heartbreak. “When I came up with ‘Drivers License,’ I was going through a heartbreak that was so confusing to me, so multifaceted,” Rodrigo said. “Putting all those feelings into a song made everything seem so much simpler and clearer—and at the end of the day, I think that’s really the whole purpose of songwriting. There’s nothing like sitting at the piano in my bedroom and writing a really sad song. It’s truly my favorite thing in the world.”

Watch to Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” video above.

After NLE Choppa released his debut album Shotta Flow last year, the 18-year-old had a swift rise to fame. Though he recently caught heat for backing some bizarre vaccine conspiracy theories, the rapper continues to focus on his musical momentum. Following his recently released LP From Dark To Light, Choppa taps Big Sean for their intergalactic “Moonlight” video.

The cinematic visual opens with Choppa taking over a haunted mansion. The rapper delivers his lines in the house’s dusty rooms and dodges the mysteriously moving furniture. Choppa then transports himself from the eerie house to the moon, where Big Sean is patiently awaiting his verse.

Big Sean’s appearance on “Moonlight” marks one of only two guest verses on From Dark To Light. Along with leaving room to showcase his distinctive flow, the album also marks a tectonic shift in the rapper’s lyricism. Just ahead of it’s release, Choppa announced that he was decisively done rapping about violence in his music. Instead, he hopes to “spread positivity” and “wake people up.”

Watch NLE Choppa’s “Moonlight” video above.

From Dark To Light is out now via Warner Records. Get it here.

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

Wednesday was an emotional day around the country. Not only were we forced to sit back and watch the horror of armed insurrectionists storming their way into the nation’s Capitol building, news also emerged that the officers involved in the Jacob Blake shooting were avoiding criminal charges.

The NBA world has, of course, has been closely involved in the Blake case, as it was one of the many police shootings of unarmed Black citizens that prompted them to sit out games in Orlando and demand that the league and its owners step up and join them in taking meaningful action to support social change.

Given the gravity of Wednesday’s news that the Kenosha District attorney would not file charges against Rusten Sheskey, the officer who shot Blake in the back multiple times, there was some question of whether the Bucks might choose to sit out their game in protest, just as they did in the Bubble this summer.

Instead, they opted to play, only after taking a moment to kneel after tip-off to show their solidarity with Blake, his family, and his many supporters around the country. Now, it appears to chose to play partly at the behest of Blake’s father, who reportedly reached to Giannis Antetokounmpo to encourage him and the Bucks to take the court.

Via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Those conversations picked up momentum through the day and especially once at the arena Wednesday. All topics were on the table, from demonstrating during the anthem to not playing the game. Antetokounmpo said the team got a message from Jacob Blake’s father that the family wanted them to play and to use their platform, which the league’s Most Valuable Player said helped push them to think of a different method of demonstration.

Several other teams joined together in kneeling at tip-off and issuing statements condemning the violence at the Capitol and the inaction in the Blake case. The treatment of the pro-Trump rioters in Washington only underscored the double-standard applied to Blake and other Black people around the country when dealing with authorities. In keeping with Blake’s father’s wishes, coaches and players around the league have continued to use their platform in recent days to call out the hypocrisy and demand equal justice.

(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

It’s a rare news cycle when new music from Taylor Swift isn’t dominating the conversation, but given the outrageous, disturbing events at the Capitol this week, deluxe tracks off Evermore took a backseat. That’s the good thing about music, though, it’s always there for comfort or distraction once the more pressing events have calmed down. So it is no surprise that fans have now begun to analyze the lyrics of “Right Where You Left Me” and “It’s Time To Go,” the new Evermore songs released this week. Those who already had access to the deluxe version of the album have heard these before, but for those are just streaming the music, they hit services at midnight EST on January 7.

“Right Where You Left Me” may end up being the best song on Evermore, but it’s the second bonus track, “It’s Time To Go” That has Taylor conspiracists up in arms, particularly two different stretches of lyrics, which they attribute to two villains in Taylor’s life. The first section is thought to address her former BFF, Karlie Kloss, who has been notably absent from Taylor’s life in recent years. Taylor also did not attend Kloss’ wedding to Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, husband to Ivanka Trump, son-in-law to President Trump.

Anyway, the lyric goes “When the words of a sister come back in whispers / That prove she was not / In fact, what she seemed / Not a twin from your dreams / She’s a crook who was caught,” fans have assigned this to Karlie, who is managed by? None other than Scooter Braun. Fans thinks Karlie may have leaked information about Taylor to Scooter as he was in the process of buying her masters — and Perez Hilton reported as much — and that’s part of what led to the split between the two, who infamously look so much alike that people have referred to them as “twins.”

Next, the other person who was involved in that fateful masters sale gets a turn. Scott Borchetta, Taylor’s longtime mentor and the Big Machine boss, reportedly refused to sell her work back to her, but did make a deal with her arch-nemesis, Scooter. Lyrics pertaining to this: “15 years, 15 million tears, begging till my knees bled / Now he sits on his throne in his palace of bones, praying to his greed / He’s got my past frozen behind glass, but I’ve got me.”

And now, she’s got not one, not two, but three albums of her own safe from the clutches of Big Machine. Nice.

J Dilla‘s seminal album Welcome 2 Detroit officially dropped in February of 2001, meaning it’s nearing it’s 20th anniversary. To celebrate, J Dilla’s label is reissuing the LP with some exclusive add-ons.

Not only will Welcome 2 Detroit—The 20th Anniversary Edition feature all of Dilla’s original songs, but it also boasts some reworked tracks. It is slated to feature a remix of “Think Twice” by Japanese DJ/producer Muro and a cover of “Rico Suave Bossa Nova” by Azymuth. Alternate versions of Dilla songs and work-in-progress recordings from his studio sessions will also appear on the reissue.

To accompany the LP, UK writer and filmmaker John Vanderpuije penned a book which offers an oral history of the Welcome 2 Detroit creative process. For the story’s timeline, Vanderpuije interviewed Dilla’s mother, Maureen “Ma Dukes” Yancey, and all of the album’s pivotal contributors.

Yancey praised BBE for their work on the reissue in a statement. “I’m real happy that Welcome 2 Detroit was done by BBE,” she said. “Because I don’t think another label would have helped him embrace his full creativity and given him the control to make it a piece of who he was! Because of BBE he was able to pour more of himself into it, into every bit of music on this album. His spirit lives in Welcome 2 Detroit. It’s him! Alive and thriving in every song!”

At the time of the album’s release, Dilla gave a shout-out to BBE’s founder Peter Adarkwah for letting him have full creative control of the project:

“Peter let me do whatever I wanted to do. So, I wanted to put people on there who are gonna spit y’know, lyrically and represent Detroit. Because I wouldn’t have been able to pull this album off if it came out under a major. Cos they’re not gonna let you just do a song or you can’t just do an instrumental. You gotta have this feature and you’re Jay Dee, why ain’t you got Erykah Badu? Why ain’t you got so and so on your album? I’d have had to go through all of that, instead of just putting out…y’know, Beej on this joint!”

Welcome 2 Detroit—The 20th Anniversary Edition is out 2/21 via BBE Music. Pre-order it here.

Because the internet has a funny little way of processing the horrifying by isolating brief moments of humor and using them to process an event, a video of Wednesday’s legitimately scary attempt to take over the United States Capitol by a number of MAGA protestors is now the butt of jokes. Specifically, it is the butt of one joke involving legendary wrestling announcer Jim Ross.

In the video, a supporter of president Donald Trump is shown attempting to scale a wall, but it is obvious that they need some help. As someone reaches their arm down to try and get them up, the person’s grip falters and they go tumbling to the ground below. In classic internet fashion, this video got made fun of endlessly because, well, the person in it looks ridiculous.

One person decided to take it one step further and bust out a joke that has been on Twitter for years. The video had the audio stripped away and was replaced by the audio of Ross calling Mankind getting thrown off of Hell In A Cell by The Undertaker in 1998.

The primary thing here is kudos to whomever did this for getting the audio all synched up perfectly, because they nailed the moment where that person hit the ground, which looked slightly more cumbersome than when it happened to Mick Foley. There is no word on whether or not this person also got broken in half, as god as my witness.