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After going more than three years without a solo single, SZA was back in action at the end of 2020 with a pair of singles: “Hit Different” and “Good Days.” The latter became the singer’s most successful single after it cracked the top 25 of the singles chart last week, coming in at No. 23. Now it’s the first song of her career to earn a top 10 spot on the Billboard chart.

Once SZA got word of the news, she took to Twitter to rejoice. “Listen to me .. I’m so fucking speechless I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR TAKING US TO THE TOP FUCKING TEN I DONT UNDERSTAND HOW WE GOT HERE BUT GOD IS ACTUALLY WYLING,” she wrote. “Wow THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU!! BEYOND THE INNANNETS.” She also added that the music video for the track is “COMING SOON AFFFF.”

Speaking of, SZA recently asked fans to submit clips for the video and she said there were so many submissions that the Gmail account she created ran out of space. Despite the overwhelming amount of clips, she told her followers that the music video would not be strictly fan-submitted footage, saying, “it’s PART of the video .. jus part.”

For the last four years, the majority of Republican lawmakers have stuck by Donald Trump’s side, through thick and thin, no matter how many norms he shredded, even when as he spread voter fraud lies. That changed dramatically on January 6. Since the failed MAGA coup, key GOP leaders — among them Mitch McConnell — have finally thrown him under the bus, as though they, too, had had enough. (But at least he still has the MyPillow guy.) But it looks like Trump has an ace up his sleeve: According to the Wall Street Journal, the outgoing president has been talking about starting his own political party.

Sources tell the publication that in his final full week in office, Trump was telling several aides about the new party, which he was thinking of calling the “Patriot Party.” (It’s worth nothing that many of those who stormed the Capitol loudly referred to themselves as “patriots.”)

As per WSJ, it’s “unclear how serious Mr. Trump is” about this new venture, adding that doing so “would require a significant investment of time and resources.” The piece also point out that third parties, such as the Green Party, usually fail to draw significant support in elections, often siphoning off voters from the two major parties.

In other words, it could be disastrous for Republicans if Trump could wrangle the resources to steal his die-hard base from the party. Of course, he’s also about to deal with potential financial and legal troubles, and that’s on top of the looming impeachment vote in the Senate that could bar him from running for president in 2024. Then again, there’s always Don Jr.

In any case, when the news broke, people on Twitter — where Trump is permanently banned — had jokes.

Although some doubted the name would stick.

And some pointed out that it might not have been Trump’s idea.

(Via WSJ)

In just a little over two weeks, Foo Fighters will share their tenth album Medicine At Midnight, which will be their first full-length release since 2017’s Concrete And Gold. The upcoming album was first announced at the beginning of November and since then, the group has built up anticipation by sharing songs and interesting tidbits about it. Recently frontman Dave Grohl delivered some new information about the album’s second single, “No Son Of Mine.”

During an interview with the U.S. edition of OK! magazine, Grohl revealed that the song is a tribute to the late Lemmy Kilmister, aka simply Lemmy, the Motörhead singer, who passed away in 2015. “[It started out with] this country swing to it, but then we decided for something a bit more aggressive, and it turned into these chunky riffs,” he said. “I wish Lemmy were alive to hear it, because he would see how much an influence he’s been to me.”

In another interview with Classic Rock magazine, Grohl reflected on a morning he spent drinking with Lemmy. “I was shocked at how f*cking disgusting it was,” he said. “These aisles of magazines and VHS tapes, stacked three to four feet high, Lemmy sitting on the couch, in his black bikini underwear with a spiderweb on them, after just dyeing his hair black, doing a phone interview, with a video game on pause on the television.”

(via Classic Rock)

Medicine At Midnight is 2/5 via Roswell/RSA. Pre-order it here.

WandaVision debuted its first two episodes on Disney+ last weekend, plunging viewers into what appears to be some mystery wing of the MCU (or whatever it’s called since the franchise now bleeds into television). It’s already inspired lots of questions. Is it all some hallucination dreamt up by Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch? Has Paul Bettany’s Vision somehow come back to life, albeit in a Pleasantville-esque old sitcom world? Right now anything’s game. But perhaps we almost weren’t thrown straight into the deep end: Originally WandaVision was supposed to get a tease in the end credits of Avengers: Endgame.

This comes from IGN, who teased out a detail in recent IMDb chat with Olsen and Bettany. Vision, of course, was one of the actual victims — as opposed to the ultimately reversible victims — in Avengers: Infinity War, felled by Thanos personally. That meant he was excluded from Endgame. But he was supposed to make a cameo, of sorts.

“At one point there was going to be a tag, where [Scarlet Witch] opened a sort of body bag drawer and there was the Vision,” Bettany explained. “[Marvel Studios boss] Kevin [Feige] kind of talked to me and said, ‘I’ve got to pull the shots.’ And I was like, ‘Ugh!’ Because I really wanted that profit participation!”

So far, WandaVision has held mostly rigid to its sitcom pastiche, though that was already starting to erode by the end of the second episode, which further teased that the two may be trapped in some kind of simulation. Still, it’s good to have Vision back, even if, in another timeline, we could have had ever so slightly more.

(Via IGN)

The Sacramento Kings are a young, interesting team taking part in an immensely challenging NBA season. As such, downturns will happen, and the Kings are just 2-8 in the last ten games, largely due to a shaky defense. Still, it would be even more difficult to navigate in ups and downs of this grueling campaign without a bit of humor and, on Tuesday, Hassan Whiteside shared a window into some comedy from within the Kings’ roster.

Whiteside posted a video to Snapcat, complete with narration, and the comedic focus was on teammate Jabari Parker’s car as players loaded up with luggage.

Whiteside began by referring to Parker’s car as a “Dr. Seuss, Monopoly-ass car” and, upon finding out that it belonged to Parker, yelled out asking if Parker got the automobile from “Cat In The Hat.” From there, Whiteside called the call “future” and said Parker was a “trendsetter,” all while chuckling along.

Obviously, this isn’t the most important thing in the world, but it was undeniably hilarious. Both gentlemen have done well for themselves in terms of earning lucrative salaries in the NBA and, well, Parker’s car wasn’t the most typical choice, even for a man with millions of dollars. Whiteside decided to have some fun and share it with others. We can all relate to that, even if not to the purchase itself.

It’s the final hours of Donald Trump’s presidency, and according to many reports he’ll spend it dishing out a number of pardons. Names like Kodak Black and Lil Wayne came up as people whose sentences may be commuted. Though the list has yet to be made public, a new report from AllHipHop claims that Death Row Records co-founder Michael “Harry-O” Harris was among those granted an early release by The White House.

Harris’ prison sentence was scheduled to end in 2028. Activist Weldon Angelos, who was pardoned last month, confirmed the news to AllHipHop. “This is definitely an injustice they corrected today,” he said. “Out of all this drama going on with the White House, something good has coming out of this … Harry-O had another 10 years and he may not have made it.” He added, “There’s Covid … its rampant, there’s 40,000 people infected in the federal prison system and 190 deaths and its rising every day.”

Harris’ alleged commuted sentence comes after Snoop Dogg reportedly asked The White House for the pardon. According to The Daily Beast, criminal-justice reform advocate Alice Johnson, who was pardoned by Trump in 2018, revealed that the rapper reached out to her and Angelos after the latter’s commutation.

(via AllHipHop)

Kodak Black is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Atlanta Dream are about to have something in common with United States Senate: Kelly Loeffler will no longer be affiliated with either. According to report from Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Atlanta’s WNBA team, which is owned by a group that includes the now-former member of the Senate from the state of Georgia, is on the verge of being sold.

Details are sparse about, well, all of this sale. In a statement to the AJC, a WNBA spokesperson said, “As it relates to the Atlanta Dream, we understand a sale of the franchise is close to being finalized. Once the sale negotiation is concluded, additional information will be provided.”

Loeffler’s group Dream Too LLC purchased the franchise in 2011, and in recent months, her ownership of the franchise came under intense scrutiny. During her tenure as an appointed member of the Senate, Loeffler, a Republican, bashed the players and the league for its support of the Black Lives Matter movement over the summer. The comments backfired considerably: Players, both from the Dream and across the league, responded by openly supporting a challenger for her Senate seat, Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, in Georgia’s sizable primary. While he was polling at just nine percent at the time, he rode this wave of attention to a first-place finish in the state’s run-off election and eventually beat Loeffler in January’s race for her seat by nearly 90,000 votes.

Throughout the campaign cycle, calls came from various corners of the basketball world for Loeffler to no longer be affiliated with the franchise, although WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert made clear that Loeffler would not be forced to sell. Baron Davis expressed interest in purchasing the team, and following her loss to Warnock, LeBron James tweeted his desire to form a group to purchase the Dream, although it is unclear if either has anything to do with the group in negotiations.

One of the most legendary beefs in hip-hop history occurred two decades ago, between Nas and Jay-Z. Starting at the beginning of the century, the two Brooklyn acts bumped heads for quite some time. In 2001 they traded a pair of undeniably iconic diss records: “Ether” and “Takeover.” Nas recently made an appearance on Rick Rubin’s Broken Record podcast where he revisited that battle and discussed its impact on hip-hop.

“The art of emceeing was right there on full display,” Nas said. “It was like, if you’re in the rap game, this could happen — a battle. It was like, ‘This rap thing is real; a battle could really happen,’ so I was honored to have that part of my life happen because that’s how I saw some of the greats do it coming up. I saw some of the greats do it.” After Rubin suggested that Nas and Jay-Z’s beef “elevated everybody” around them, the Illmatic rapper how battles within hip-hop have been present since the genre’s early days.

“Again, it’s about the art of MCing and when you’re trying to make the best stuff you can make and you bump heads with another MC, and then you guys have a war or whatever, that’s what this art form was since the beginning — since Double Trouble and Busy Bee and Kool Moe Dee,” he said. “But that’s what I like about Hip Hop compared to other genres is that, they go at it in Hip Hop, like really at it. Not to say that other rockers didn’t go at it, other reggae artists didn’t go at it, other crooner didn’t go at it, but Hip Hop will always be around because of how competitive it is.”

You can watch the clip from the Broken Record podcast above.

After holding their own in the vicious world of chicken tenders, causing straight-up pandemonium in the fried chicken sando market, and killing it with the side options (Cajun fries? Red beans and rice? Come on!) it appears that Popeyes is making a play in the dessert game. McDonald’s has soft serves and sundaes, Wendy’s has the Frosty, In-N-Out has their line of milkshakes, Jack in the Box has … mini-churros or something, and now, amid much fanfare, Popeyes is bringing the beignet to the fast-food world.

The move actually makes a fair bit of sense for the brand. While the company is currently headquartered in Miami, Popeyes first launched in New Orleans — the beignet capital of America. But as the first menu follow-up to the ultra-hyped fried chicken sandwich, this dessert has its work cut out. Does the chain have yet another hit on their hands or will this treat go down as a sad attempt to catch lightning in a bottle for a second time?

More importantly, how do these fast food beignets compare to the real deal?

A Little Context:

A beignet, if you’ve never had one, is very similar to a donut, in that it’s fried dough. But texture-wise, it’s airier, flakier, and also — almost inexplicably — chewier. Generally, beignets are covered in mountains of powdered sugar and make a great accompaniment to coffee, whether you’re sipping on a cafe au lait or like it straight black. Occasionally, they have a filling like raspberry, chocolate (as in Popeyes’ case), or even something more savory.

Check out the famed Cafe du Monde beignets below:

Like many a fried-dessert lover, the Cafe du Monde renditions of this treat are special to me. The vivid memory of trying to dust the powdered sugar from their beignets off my clothes minutes before boarding an airplane from New Orleans to Los Angeles is my last pre-COVID travel memory. And the gate at Louis Armstrong International wasn’t the first time I indulged in the airy treat on that trip, not by a long shot. So you’d better believe that after a year spent going absolutely nowhere, I’m going to remember the taste-bud awakening ecstasy that is a freshly and authentically prepared beignet.

So What’s The Verdict?

As you can tell from the photo above, the Popeyes beignets have a serious presentation problem. Not only are they considerably smaller than your average beignet, but the amount of powdered sugar really leaves something to be desired. Part of the problem is that Popeyes serves their beignets in a loose bag, resulting in an under-dusted appearance.

This is a dessert that needs a small, shallow box. Let that sugar show!

The other major strike against the Popeyes beignet is the chocolate, which — as many people will be distressed to discover — comes from Hershey’s. I’m pretty lukewarm on Hershey’s myself, but serious chocolate aficionados have an absolute revulsion to it. Regardless, from what I’ve seen New Orleans beignets typically feature darker chocolate than Hershey’s standard milk chocolate, which Popeyes uses.

All this to say that if you roll up to a Popeyes drive-thru thinking you’re going to experience something akin to a legit New Orleans beignet, I’m sorry to inform you that you’re going to be disappointed. But appearance aside, we wouldn’t go as far as calling them a “deflated disappointment” like the Washington Post. If the idea of fried dough that’s been dusted — okay, sprinkled — with powdered sugar and filled with molten Hershey’s sounds delicious to you, you’re still going to be satisfied.

Texture-wise, the beignets I was handed were perfectly crispy on the outside with a delicious flaky exterior. The inside was soft, chewy, and hot, with each bite exploding with molten Hershey’s (at the very least, let’s agree that Hershey’s is better melted than in bar form). In fact, because these are chocolate-filled, their small size is actually a benefit — simply toss a whole one into your mouth, rather than dealing with biting them in half and getting messy.

The Bottom Line:

Sure, the Popeyes beignet won’t transport you to NOLA. But it’s fried dough caked in sugar that you can get at a drive-thru. In the absence of sitting at an open air cafe in New Orleans, these get the job done.

To be honest — and speaking as someone who is obviously a fan of fried dough — I honestly can’t think of a fast-food dessert that I enjoy more than these little bastardized versions of the classic. I’d readily eat them again, but the chances are I wouldn’t be able to find them. Though they’re theoretically available nationwide in orders of three, six, and 12, it took me over a month to finally snag an order.

In the last few months, especially as Trump seemed to utter little but voter fraud lies, CNN’s tireless fact-checker Daniel Dale became something of a celebrity himself. He appeared on air after rallies to plow through a mere Greatest Hits of the president’s distortions and outright fibs. He wrote epic and exhaustive (and exhausting) pieces, dismantling his speeches, untruth by untruth. He also sometimes went after others in Trump’s circle. But Dale has been on the job the entire last four years, and on the last night of Trump’s presidency, he was given a huge online send-off for his heroic work.

Dale — who previously announced he’d have time to fact-check other people, including incoming president Joe Biden, who tend to bend the truth quite a lot less than the Donald — penned an essay for his home news network about the last four years of his life on the job. In fact, it was longer than four years; he started doing it in September of 2016:

I had to email the Boy Scouts to find out if the President had invented a nonexistent phone call from the head of the organization. (He had.)

I had to email a Babe Ruth museum to find out if the President had made a bunch of false claims about the baseball legend while awarding him a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom. (He had.)

I had to email some of Michigan’s most prominent organizations to find out if the President had actually received a state “Man of the Year” award he kept claiming he once got. (Nope.)

I fact checked every public word Donald Trump said or tweeted for just under four years. The job was unrelenting. The job was unrelentingly weird.

And on it went, Dale revealing that the gig “took over much of my own life.”

He walked readers through a day in his life:

I would roll over in bed, turn off my alarm, and open Twitter to see what lies the President of the United States might have told while I was sleeping. And then, because Trump lied about a staggering variety of topics, I would try to rapidly educate myself on stuff I had known nothing about — trade with China, or Obama-era veterans’ health care legislation, or hurricane forecasting.

The lying sometimes continued until I had gone to sleep. Every time I felt like I had caught up, Trump would lie about something new — while still keeping many of the old lies in regular rotation. When I started tweeting fact checks of Trump’s rally claims moments after he made them, admirers viewed this as a kind of magic trick. In truth, it was pretty easy. The President kept saying the same false stuff over and over.

Sounds exhausting! After Dale tweeted the article out on Twitter, a lot of people imagined how happy he must be to be done with an epic job well done.

Others thanked Canada, where Dale is from.

Some joked about where he could go next.

And many simply thanked him for his service.

You can enjoy one of his fact-checking marathons below. In the meantime, nice work, Mr. Dale.

(Via CNN)