The group just announced that they’ve booked a spot on the iconic series MTV Unplugged. The show first aired in the late 1980’s and is a way for legendary acts like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Lauryn Hill, and Paul McCartney to showcase their music in a more intimate, stripped-down setting. For their own performance, BTS will bring fans some acoustic versions of their hit songs off of their latest album Be live from their Seoul, South Korea hometown.
BTS’ Be was released last November and peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. It’s songs like “Life Goes On” and “Dynamite” garnered a particularly amount of success. “Dynamite,” in particular, topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks and the groups’ outfits from the song’s video are currently being sold at an auction for $40,000.
MTV Unplugged Presents: BTS airs 2/23 at 9 pm EST on MTV. Watch it here.
Tierra Whack is officially on a tear. On Wednesday last week, she demolished Ludacris’ Kanye West-produced “Stand Up” beat in a seemingly random freestyle on her Instagram. Then, on Saturday, she piqued fans’ interest with yet another freestyle, this time obliterating Onyx’s 1995 classic “Last Dayz.” Something was clearly afoot. Then, yesterday, she took a hard left turn into a much more modern-sounding lane, hijacking burgeoning Staten Island drill upstart CJ’s hit single “Whoopty” and joyriding like a Monaco champion to show off her ability to snap over pretty much any beat in existence.
Fans are now convinced Whack is planning a drop sometime in the near future because these lyrical exercises very strongly resemble a project rollout (Kota The Friend did something similar for the first Lyrics To Go tape). However, considering Whack’s unconventional tendency to go so hard against the grain, it might be best to just enjoy these potential one-off freestyles as just that.
The anticipation is understandable though. When Whack released her debut EP, Whack World, in 2018, the world was forced to stand at attention. Clocking in at 15 tracks and 15 minutes and accompanied by a visual album that combined Salvador Dali and Missy Elliott, Whack World presented something so different from the norm that Tierra became an instant superstar, popping up on the 2019 XXL Freshman Class. Since then, she’s released more wacky videos for tracks like “Unemployed” and “Dora,” but what fans really want is to see how she follows up her unique debut. One thing these freestyles do show is if she opts for a more straightforward, rap-focused approach, we still won’t be disappointed.
The Sacramento Kings enjoyed a positive start to the 2020-21 season, winning three of their first four games. The Kings toppled playoff-caliber teams in all three victories but, especially in the case of two wins over the Denver Nuggets, the national focus seemed to be more on the hiccup of the opponent rather than the success of the Kings. From there, Sacramento went into something of a tailspin, losing 9 of the next 11 games.
During that 11-game swoon, the Kings were the worst team in the NBA statistically, with opponents out-scoring Sacramento by a whopping 13.2 points per 100 possessions. Much of that came on the defensive end, with Sacramento yielding an unsightly 123.7 points per 100 possessions to their opponents. To that end, it isn’t too much of a surprise that, as of Feb. 9, the Kings still carry the NBA’s worst defensive rating, allowing nearly 1.17 points per possession through 23 contests. However, Sacramento’s recent play is turning heads and, despite the modest full season numbers, there is a lot to like in Sacramento.
The Kings are 7-1 in their last eight games, including an active four-game winning streak with victories over the Pelicans, Celtics, Nuggets and Clippers. During that run, the team’s defense has improved (110.8 points allowed per 100) and, while that isn’t fantastic, the Kings are scoring efficiently and doing just enough to win. In fact, Sacramento currently leads the NBA with 11 victories in what NBA.com defines as “clutch” situations and, with the game on the line, the Kings have been able to pull victories out of the fire.
In fact, Sacramento’s last five victories arrived by single digits, with only two double-digit wins all season. In the grand scheme, that isn’t a “good” thing in that there is usually some noise associated with a poor net rating and a record that is now above the .500 mark at 12-11 overall. Still, the Kings have banked those 12 victories, and their recent play leads them into the playoff discussion, at least with regard to a potential berth in the play-in tournament.
Individually, De’Aaron Fox is playing fantastic basketball, averaging 27.0 points and 7.8 assists per game during the 7-1 stretch. In that span, Fox ranks second in the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring (10.0 points on 53.7 percent shooting), and he is the catalyst for the Kings in “winning time.” Fox’s play is also backed up by a major accolade, as he was named the Western Conference Player of the Week on Monday. Elsewhere, Harrison Barnes has been fantastic, shooting 51.5 percent from the floor, 44.0 percent from three-point range and 92.1 percent from the free throw line in the last eight games, and it is now fashionable (and accurate) to suggest he is an underrated player in a league-wide context.
On top of Fox, Barnes, Richaun Holmes and other productive veterans, the Kings are also receiving high-end contributions from No. 12 pick Tyrese Haliburton. In fact, NBA observers are already yelling from the rooftops about Haliburton and the events that led him to fall all the way to No. 12, but the Kings are the beneficiary, with Haliburton producing a 62.4 percent true shooting mark with 114 assists (5.4 per game) to only 32 turnovers. The Iowa State product isn’t perfect at this stage, especially on the defensive end, but Haliburton is backing up the widespread assumption that his game would translate quickly, and his play often does not resemble that of a typical rookie guard.
The coming days will be interesting for the Kings with a five-game homestand beginning on Tuesday evening. If Sacramento can continue to defend at a passable level, they could hang around the playoff race for quite some time. If they regress on that end, the team’s performance could more closely resemble its net rating (bottom eight in the NBA), and it would be difficult to maintain a .500 record through that lens. Regardless, the Kings are entertaining to watch and, in the recent past, playing at a high level.
Where does Sacramento land in this week’s DIME power rankings? Let’s break it all down.
1. Los Angeles Lakers (19-6, Last week — 1st)
Getty Image
Monday night got a little bit dicey for the Lakers, needing overtime (again) to beat the Thunder. Anthony Davis missed that game, to be fair, and Los Angeles is riding a five-game winning streak. The champs don’t have the NBA’s best record or net rating, but they have an elite profile. I’m not dropping them from the top spot without a reason to do so.
2. Utah Jazz (19-5, Last week — 6th)
The Jazz are unbelievable right now. They’ve won 15 of the last 16 games. They are a top-four team on both ends of the floor. They are well-coached. They are talented. They will cool off at some point but they have a very good case to be No. 1 right now if not for the Lakers continuing to find ways to win.
3. Milwaukee Bucks (16-8, Last week — 4th)
Milwaukee is (still) very good. The Bucks just won five games in a row, including the last three on the road, and they walloped the Nuggets in Denver on Monday evening. After a slow start by their standards, the Bucks are rounding into form defensively (seventh in the NBA) and the offense is firing on all cylinders.
4. L.A. Clippers (17-8, Last week — 2nd)
The Clippers ended the week with two losses in a row, and both came at home. That’s not what you want, but Paul George didn’t appear in either game and the losses came by seven points combined. Everything’s alright.
5. Philadelphia 76ers (17-7, Last week — 3rd)
Not that anyone needs to hear this, but Joel Embiid is out of his mind. He leads the entire league in a few advanced stats, and Embiid is putting up 29.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game while maintaining efficiency. Oh, and he’s tremendous on the defensive end. Philly had a weird home loss to Portland this week, which explains the minor drop, but the Sixers are playing great and Embiid is the biggest reason.
6. Phoenix Suns (14-9, Last week — 10th)
Getty Image
Phoenix is looking more like the team that was a trendy sleeper in the West. The Suns are 6-1 in the last seven with wins over Golden State, Dallas (twice) and Boston. It hasn’t been the absolute toughest gauntlet from a schedule perspective, but they are top-eight in the league in net rating and top-five in defense while still figuring things out offensively — which is the area most anticipated them to excel.
7. Brooklyn Nets (14-11, Last week — 7th)
It was a weird week for Kevin Durant and the Nets, and no one should be “worried” about Brooklyn in a regular season sense. They did lose three of the last four games, though, and the Nets are 27th in defense.
8. San Antonio Spurs (14-10, Last week — 16th)
Only eight teams in the NBA have at least 14 wins and the Spurs are one of them. Granted, San Antonio has been out-scored for the season (which is a red flag), but Gregg Popovich’s team is 6-2 in the last eight games. This is probably too high, but somebody has to rise as other teams fall.
9. Boston Celtics (12-10, Last week — 11th)
Did you know Boston is just 4-7 in the last 11 games? Injuries are a big part of that, but the Celtics just aren’t lighting the world on fire on either end of the floor. To play devil’s advocate, Boston is still above-average on both ends, and the duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown really helps raise their floor when those two are healthy. They’d like to be better than they’ve been to this point, though, even considering Brown’s recent absence.
10. Sacramento Kings (12-11, Last week — 20th)
Sacramento probably isn’t going to keep winning this incredible share of close games but, hey, wins are wins and they’re incredibly fun.
11. Denver Nuggets (12-11, Last week — 5th)
Getty Image
One step forward, two steps back. The Nuggets just went 0-3 this week with a defense rating of 122.2 points per 100 possessions. Jamal Murray hasn’t looked like himself as he deals with a lingering knee injury, and Denver lost a game when Nikola Jokic had 50 points and 12 assists. Woof.
12. Charlotte Hornets (12-13, Last week — 18th)
This is a little bit high for Charlotte, but they are really fun. Part of that is LaMelo Ball, who should’ve been the No. 1 pick in the draft. Part of that is Gordon Hayward, who is playing at a career-best level. Part of that is the energy with a young, vibrant team. Part of that is a terrific coaching job by James Borrego. Put all together, and they are 5-2 in the last seven and having a ton of fun doing it.
13. Atlanta Hawks (11-12, Last week — 13th)
The Hawks haven’t been hit by widespread absences due to health and safety protocols, but Atlanta is battered by injuries. Kris Dunn hasn’t played yet, Bogdan Bogdanovic has been out for a long while and, just as Danilo Gallinari and Onyeka Okongwu are being integrated, breakout forward De’Andre Hunter is now on the shelf for several weeks. It’s a testament to Trae Young, John Collins, Clint Capela and others that the Hawks are hanging around .500, but they (still) don’t have the team they paid a lot of money to assemble.
14. Toronto Raptors (11-13, Last week — 14th)
Toronto is playing better basketball. They’ve won four of the last five, and the only loss was on the second night of a road back-to-back in Atlanta over the weekend. The defense still isn’t what it is “supposed” to be, but Toronto’s offense is clicking at the moment.
15. Golden State Warriors (12-12, Last week — 15th)
Golden State went 1-3 this week, but the three losses came by 11 combined points — and featured one hilarious Draymond Green moment. It is tough to figure out what Kelly Oubre Jr. and some of the Warriors’ other role players will provide on a nightly basis, but Stephen Curry is brilliant.
16. Portland Trail Blazers (12-10, Last week — 17th)
Getty Image
Somehow, Damian Lillard has the Blazers at 12-10. That’s really all there is to say. This is not an available roster that should be above .500 right now. 17. Indiana Pacers (12-12, Last week — 12th)
Is it time for a bit of panic for the Pacers? They are 1-5 in the last six, including three home losses, and the absences of TJ Warren and Caris LeVert definitely hurt. It’s fair to think Indiana was just regressing back to their .500-ish profile, but time will tell on that.
18. New Orleans Pelicans (10-12, Last week — 23rd)
What a week for New Orleans. They were fading from the consciousness before rattling off three wins, and the victories came against solid competition in Phoenix, Indiana and Memphis. Defense is still a problem, but the Pelicans are playing like the equivalent of a 39-or-40 win team over an 82-game season. That isn’t too brutal.
19. Dallas Mavericks (11-14, Last week — 28th)
It was a strange, yet encouraging week for Dallas. The Mavericks won in Atlanta in a bounce-back effort, then got absolutely annihilated by the Warriors. From there, Dallas won the next two games, including a memorable victory over Golden State on national TV, and the biggest point of optimism was the offense rounding into form. That’s necessary for the Mavericks to even approach their preseason expectations.
20. Miami Heat (9-14, Last week — 22nd)
Miami has been frustratingly bad this season, in part due to health and safety protocol absences, though back-to-back wins help the team’s overall profile as this week begins. In the near future, the Heat begin a six-game road trip that will likely reveal quite a bit about where the team’s actual baseline is, provided they have a full-ish roster when they hit the road.
21. Houston Rockets (11-12, Last week — 9th)
Getty Image
We were glowingly positive about the Rockets last week, and they earned it. Since then, however, Houston is 1-3 and they scored less than a point per possession this week. Injuries played a part, but it wasn’t pretty. Put simply, this is a good team when John Wall plays and a not very good one when he doesn’t, which isn’t a huge surprise when you look at the rest of their point guard rotation.
22. Memphis Grizzlies (9-10, Last week — 8th)
After winning five in a row across a long period of time due to a COVID-related hiatus, the Grizzlies just completed an 0-4 week. They gave up almost 1.25 points per possession defensively and, even against some quality opponents, it was a reminder that Memphis was probably playing over their heads previously.
23. New York Knicks (11-14, Last week — 24th)
New York is hanging around but, on Super Bowl Sunday, they pulled off a trade for Derrick Rose. On cue, the consternation began on how things will work in the Knicks’ backcourt with regard to Immanuel Quickley. The Knicks really do have a lot of guards, but um, they are still 11-14, so that’s something.
24. Oklahoma City Thunder (10-13, Last week — 26th)
There are nights when the Thunder look like the worst team in the league. On those nights, the roster issues really come to the surface, and it is easy to see this is a team in rebuild mode. Then, there are nights like Monday, when they nearly beat the Lakers, and OKC looks very competitive. It’s quite odd, but 10-13 is better than they should be. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is really good, and that helps a lot.
25. Washington Wizards (6-15, Last week — 25th)
Washington probably would have dropped, even from No. 25, if not for a win over the Bulls. It’s not going well but, hey, speaking of the Bulls…
26. Chicago Bulls (9-14, Last week — 21st)
Getty Image
Chicago is in the doldrums with a 2-6 record in the last eight games. Furthermore, the Bulls are without both Wendell Carter Jr. and Lauri Markkanen, leaving the cupboard virtually empty and forcing Billy Donovan into some rotations that are not filled with rotation-caliber players.
27. Cleveland Cavaliers (10-15, Last week — 19th)
The early-season optimism is fading for the Cavs after a 2-8 mark in the last ten games and four losses in a row. Larry Nance being on the shelf with injury badly hurts Cleveland’s defense, and the Cavs allowed a defensive rating of 124.8 during the four-game skid.
28. Orlando Magic (9-15, Last week — 27th)
With all due respect to Steve Clifford, who is good at his job, the Magic are pretty rough. Orlando is 3-13 in the last 16 games, and they’ve been out-scored by a mind-numbing 13.2 points per 100 possessions during that stretch. The Magic got a win over Chicago this week, only to lose the rematch by 26 points at home. Nikola Vucevic deserves credit for playing well, but he doesn’t have a ton of help as the Magic have been absolutely ravaged by injuries.
29. Detroit Pistons (5-18, Last week — 29th)
Detroit has the worst record in the league and the NBA’s longest losing streak. That’s not a combination any team wants. To their credit, the Pistons gave the Lakers a real run in their last game, and Detroit’s net rating (-4.9) is only pretty bad, not abysmal.
30. Minnesota Timberwolves (6-18, Last week — 30th)
The Wolves did pick up a road win this week, toppling the Thunder in Oklahoma City. Minnesota lost to OKC the very next night, though, and the win came in a game that did not feature Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. One could argue the Wolves have been a little bit better lately, but they haven’t done anything to climb out of the basement.
Spoilers for Netflix’s Malcolm & Marie will be found below.
It’s safe to say that a lot of people watched Netflix’s Malcolm & Marie, starring Zendaya and John David Washington, over the weekend. We may never know exactly how many people, since Netflix kind-of reveals their own numbers at will, but it’s been sitting at the top of the Most Popular list for days. A lot of critics aren’t wild about the movie because it bashes critics, but I didn’t mind that aspect too much. Sure, I turned down the volume during Malcolm’s longest tirade about how misunderstood he feels by one writer, and he takes himself way too seriously, but in a way, this is also a movie that roasts self-important artists. And the biggest roaster of Malcolm turned out to be Marie. Granted, he dealt a lot of harsh verbal blows to her as well, and the movie felt like one enormously overwrought argument (because that’s what it was) that was exhausting. Yet it also felt slightly therapeutic to watch the knife twist, so to speak.
Yes, that knife scene was great, but more to the point: who among us hasn’t had a circular, hours-long argument with a significant other that goes nowhere, but obviously, someone won the thing? The film doesn’t make the winner explicit, but while speaking with Zendaya for Interview Magazine, director and writer Sam Levinson (who’s also the Euphoria creator) answered the question:
“Who wins? I think Marie wins. Who’s right? I think Marie’s right. I think that’s evident in the final scene and that 20-minute monologue. It essentially grounds the entire movie in her perspective. But I think at the same time, the film is this Socratic dialogue between these two characters — about relationships, about filmmaking, about art, about partnership, about acknowledgement. And my hope is that people leave with whatever interpretation makes sense to their life. Whatever they see in the relationship that they want to take away from it, they will. Is the relationship healthy or toxic? I have no idea. I go back and forth on it.”
Damn straight, she won. Marie would have won even harder if she’d left in the middle of the night, but Malcolm thought (for at least a few minutes) that she left, so that might be good enough. And maybe he’ll give her a writing credit on that film of his after lifting her life story and forgetting to thank her at the premiere. It’s the least he could do!
Mary Wilson, founding member of The Supremes and its longest-serving original member, has died at 76 in her Las Vegas home, according to Billboard. Formed in 1959 as the Primettes, The Supremes were one of music’s most iconic and influential R&B/pop groups of all time. Wilson remained with the group longer than any of the other founding members; Florence Ballard left in 1967 and Diana Ross departed in 1971. The group finally disbanded with Wilson’s departure in 1977.
Over the course of their near-twenty-year career, The Supremes became the most successful vocal group in American history, with 12 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. They were also the most successful Motown act, beyond the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and more. The group was called “the pride of Detroit” and the Tony Award-winning musical Dreamgirls is loosely based on their story. Among their numerous hits were radio staples like “Baby Love,” “Come See About Me,” “Stop! In The Name Of Love,” and “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.”
Wilson, who contributed lead vocals on post-Ross singles such as “Automatically Sunshine” and “Touch,” was integral to the group’s early success and was considered the main attraction after the departures of her co-founders and their replacements, Cindy Birdsong and Jean Terrell. Wilson’s 1986 memoir Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme became a national best-seller, prompting a follow-up and reviving her musical career. She appeared regularly on late-night television and in Las Vegas.
She reportedly passed away in her sleep, and as of yet, the causes are unknown.
Her contributions will not only be remembered, they’ll be indelible in the work of Supremes-inspired artists throughout the music industry — too many to name.
Not only has Dave Grohl been a member of two iconic bands, Nirvana and Foo Fighters, but he did so playing different instruments: While he was Nirvana’s drummer, he mostly sings and plays guitar for Foo Fighters. He discussed that during his stop by The Tonight Show yesterday and spoke about why he decided to not try to sing and play drums at the same time after Nirvana.
Jimmy Fallon asked Grohl if he ever considered playing drums and singing, like Don Henley did as part of the Eagles. He responded, “First of all, only Don Henley could do Don Henley. The hardest part is the mic stand, I gotta be honest. You either got the one that comes up and around like this [gestures over his head], you got the McDonald’s [headset] mic… it’s practically impossible. There aren’t too many people that can really pull that off.”
He continued by giving his reason for switching over to guitar as his primary focus for Foo Fighters, saying, “So I thought, one of the reasons why I wanted to do this is because I had never done it before, stand with a guitar. At first, I felt like I was in a Chuck E Cheese band, I was just like, ‘Oh God, how do I move, what do I do? How’s my hair?’ Over time, you just get used to it.”
Elsewhere during the chat, he told the story about getting rejected by David Bowie, a tale he has shared before.
Part of the reason Grohl was on the program last night was because Foo Fighters were on the show to perform “Waiting On A War,” so check that performance out below and watch the Grohl interview clips above.
This week in the best new pop music saw some flirty tracks and tenacious tunes. Demi Lovato teamed up with Sam Fischer for a vulnerable song, Finneas shared a fan-favorite to streaming services, and Victoria Monét debuted a sweltering single.
Demi Lovato — “What Other People Say” Feat. Sam Fischer
After weeks of teasing, Demi Lovato and Sam Fischer have finally revealed their soaring collaborations “What Other People Say.” The song is Demi’s way of shirking her past and looking towards the future by leaning on her fluttering vocals to deliver lyrics about her previous drug use and social anxiety.
Finneas — “American Cliché”
Finneas shared the grandiose single “American Cliché” this week, which started as a fan-favorite at live shows. But the singer finally decided to record the song and debut it as a single after being “bullied” by fans asking for its release. “I just wanted you to know, your cyber bullying absolutely worked and is absolutely the only reason I went back to it and produced it,” he said about the track.
Victoria Monét — “F.*.C.K”
It’s been less than a year since Victoria Monét shared her well-received LP Jaguar. Now, Monét returns with a sultry single about friends-with-benefits. “‘F.*.C.K. is a nod to the millennial and gen Z mindset,” she said in a statement. “We do not have to be confined to traditional commitment ideals, and instead, embody the freedom to be intimate when and with whom we mutually, please! I wanted to give that non-binding friendship intimacy an official name…the way we see it, if you’re never in a relationship, you technically can never break up.”
HER — “Fight For You”
HER put on a spectacular performance of “America The Beautiful” at the Super Bowl this weekend, but that’s not the only piece of music she shared. HER debuted the powerful track “Fight For You,” which appears on the upcoming LaKeith Stanfield-starring film Judas And The Black Messiah. “The song was so fun to make, especially making something from that time the late ’60s, early ’70s is one of my favorite eras of music,” she said about the track.
VanJess — “Caught Up” Feat. Phony Ppl
R&B sister duo VanJess released their shimmering EP Homegrown this week, and on it arrived the irresistibly groovy track “Caught Up.” Harmonizing their ethereal voices over a disco-infused beat, VanJess sing of looking for comfort in a romantic partner.
Raveena — “Tweety”
26-year-old pop-soul star Raveena first made a name for herself with her self-released 2019 debut album, Lucid. The album drew critical acclaim and even landed her the opportunity to perform on NPR’s coveted Tiny Desk series. Now launching into a new era, Raveena shares the sparkling tune “Tweety.”
Jeremy Zucker, Chelsea Cutler — “Emily”
After attracting a wide audience from their 2019 joint EP Brent, Jeremy Zucker and Chelsea Cutler have once again teamed up to share a collection of songs in the form of Brent II. The follow-up EP debuted this week and with it came the quiet love ballad “Emily,” which sees the two songwriters harmonize gentle melodies over a softly strumming guitar.
Lucky Daye — “On Read” Feat. Tiana Major9
The last we heard from Grammy-nominated singer Lucky Daye, he had released his 2020 LP Painted. Now, Daye is bringing his soulful music into the new year. Teaming up with Tiana Major9, Daye shares the laid-back track “On Read,” which boasts twang-infused guitar chords over a rolling beat and closes out with Daye delivering a few lines of spoken-word poetry.
Oliver Tree — “Out Of Ordinary”
Pop boundary-pusher Oliver Tree made a splash with his head-turning bowl cut and debut LP Ugly Is Beautiful. Now returning with his first track of the new year, Tree shares the bubbly song “Out Of Ordinary” as a somber reflection on the woes of suburban life and the tolls it takes on someone who pushes back against the idea of a cookie-cutter perfection.
Dasha — “Shiny Things”
Cutting-edge singer Dasha flaunts her ’00s sensibilities with her buoyant new single “Shiny Things.” “This song is all about confidence in the person you’re with and within yourself,” Dasha said in a statement about the track. “The ‘shiny things’ are everything that other people have that you don’t. Instead of letting that lead to insecurities you gotta focus on all the shiny things that you have that others don’t.”
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
“No, no, they will not be appearing in this film,” he says firmly. “Unless they have hidden the most massive piece of information from me, which I think is too big of a secret for them to keep from me. But as of yet, no. It’ll be a continuation of the Spider-Man movies that we’ve been making.”
Holland is referring to the multi-verse rumor that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, his Peter Parker predecessors (say that five times fast), will be in the follow-up to Spider-Man: Far From Home. Is he lying? Is he telling the truth? Is he overcompensating for all the times that he blabbed? Did he leave himself some wiggle room with that “unless they have hidden…” disclaimer? No clue! But there’s one thing we do know for sure: Khan definitely won’t be in Star Trek Into Darkness.
Given what we’ve witnessed in the last few years, It’s no secret that TikTok dance crazes have major pull in making musical hits. Doja Cat’s “Say So” gained significant ground as the background music of a popular routine before hitting the top slot on Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2020. The popular app also has an uncanny ability to bring songs back from mild obscurity thanks to highly-emulated dance videos, like Mariah Carey’s “Obsessed” and Fergie’s “London Bridge.”
TikTok’s choreography is clearly hip-hop inspired, which isn’t surprising given the high-energy nature of the songs used. But although dance is essentially one of the core elements of the genre, it’s more often than not lambasted as “corny,” lyrically evident by Terror Squad’s 2004 hit “Lean Back.” (“My n****s don’t dance, they just pull up their pants,” Fat Joe quips in the chorus.) Despite the naysayers, dance floor-ready songs have always been essential for success. The popularity of these dance crazes, specifically through social media’s lens, signals a generation-led shift in the market.
While the internet is not the end-all and be-all tool for cultural domination (especially given the popularity of fad dances like the Running Man or the PeeWee Herman since before the web’s inception), it’s surely the most effective way to create virality. TikTok’s dance-centered popularity has altered the course of the music industry, but it is in no way a new phenomenon. During the internet’s first dance craze boom in the mid-2000s, then-unknown hip-hop artists similarly used social media to set the internet ablaze, recognizing that by utilizing these growing sites and the contagiousness of rhythm, they would be able to get their work off the ground. Whether calculated or not, these dances created major cultural moments.
In 2006, the internet, dance, and Atlanta-bred hip-hop subgenre snap worked together to supply fans with easy-to-follow dance moves over a catchy, minimalist beat. Although snap music was called “laughable,” “goofy,” and “cheap-sounding” by The New York Times in 2006, its dance-heavy popularity during the mid-aughts was applauded for helping to reboot the digital singles market. (Nielsen Soundscan reports that in the U.S. alone, 582 million digital singles were sold in 2006, a 65 percent upswing from the previous year).
With MySpace’s supremacy, music-sharing sites like Soundclick, and the rising popularity of YouTube, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t know the dances to snap-heavy tracks like Dem Franchize Boyz’s “Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It” or Yung Joc’s “It’s Goin’ Down.” As a result of this growing trend, artists like Harlem’s Webstar and Young B and Atlanta’s Soulja Boy got in on the fun, creating their own wildly-popular dances, the “Chicken Noodle Soup” and “Crank That (Soulja Boy).” Not only were these iconic moves central to the height of the Digital Age of dance crazes, but the virality of these songs also helped the artists grow. Dem Franchize Boyz and Yung Joc garnered top 10 hits, “Crank that” went No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, and “Chicken Noodle Soup” was re-made in 2020 by BTS’ J-Hope and singer Becky G, proving its cultural and racial transcendence.
As we see with both then and now, the 1-2 punch of the right song and dance combination results in societal and chart supremacy, and companies have always taken notice. In 2008, The Wall Street Journal reported that major labels like Warner Music Group and Sony BMG “[were] scouring the country to find the next big set of steps,” as “the dance surge is also changing the way labels market their product” — perhaps at a detriment to the natural essence of dance trends. Does the premeditated approach taken by artists and labels in making the next big hit diminish dance fads’ originally organic nature?
The difference between the virality of K-Camp’s 2019 song “Lottery (Renegade)” and Drake’s No. 1 hit “Toosie Slide” should be obvious — one garnered natural popularity due to a rapid-speed dance challenge, while the other was self-orchestrated to sell. The “Renegade” dance, made by Georgia teen Jalaiah Harmon, created something far larger than the song itself; it was done by regular people and major celebrities alike, and Harmon performed it at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game. While ingenious (though not groundbreaking), the “leak” of the “Toosie Slide” routine before its actual release manufactured something that can’t always be forced: cultural moments. While Drake’s song and dance succeeded commercially, most crazes truly work best when they become inescapable staples of popular culture without much effort, like Drake’s own previous dance-driven effort, “In My Feelings,” which was driven by the inescapable Shiggy Challenge in 2018.
This is not to say that artists shouldn’t try their hand at creating dance challenges for their songs, however, forcing virality has seemingly adverse effects on the song’s overall staying power. A manufactured approach worked a bit for Unk with “2 Step” in 2007 and Megan Thee Stallion with “Body” in 2020, but it’s apparent that those song and dance combos did not match the commercial or chart success of their previous hits, “Walk It Out” and “Savage,” likely because their popularity didn’t come naturally.
The music industry is a business that thrives on trends — we know that. However, when it comes to dance crazes, in particular, it may be the best bet for artists and labels to allow these trends to take over organically instead of through calculation. The difference between a passing fad and a true cultural moment is largely determined by fans themselves, whether through the moment’s show-stopping relevancy or the evocation of a feeling largely associated with a specific time in their lives. While the age of COVID-19 seems like the prime time to drop a potentially chart-topping, dance-heavy, internet-shaking tune, releasing something for sake of profiting off of it exploits the trend instead of enhancing what makes it work in the first place.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Seven years ago, when Nipsey Hussle declared his Crenshaw mixtape would cost $100, the overall reaction online was skepticism. However, he had one true believer: Jay-Z, who commended his ambition while buying 100 copies of the album. Eventually, the album sold out, proving Nipsey right, and since then, a bond was forged between the two rappers-turned-moguls. Unfortunately, that connection never turned into a musical collaboration — until now.
Jay-Z and Nipsey will finally appear on a track together for the first time on the upcoming soundtrack from Judas And The Black Messiah. Directed by Shaka King and starring Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield, Judas recounts the downfall of Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hampton as he’s betrayed by William O’Neal, an informant for the FBI.
In addition to the Jay-Z and Nipsey Hussle collaboration, “What It Feels Like,” the tracklist also includes contributions from ASAP Rocky, BJ THe Chicago Kid, Black Thought, Dom Kennedy, G Herbo, HER, Hit-Boy, JID, Lil Durk, Masego, Nas, Polo G, Pooh Shiesty, Rakim, Rapsody, Saba, Sir, Smino, and more. HER previously released “Fight For You” and performed the song on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last week. Check out the tracklist below.
Tracklist for “Judas and the Black Messiah” soundtrack unveiled
The lineup includes a JAY-Z and Nipsey Hussle collaboration titled “What It Feels Like”
The biographical drama details the betrayal of Fred Hampton, chairman of the Black Panther Party in the late 1960s pic.twitter.com/Tol3plKJtL
