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Megan Thee Stallion has been hard at work on her debut album — her follow-up to the 2019 project Fever — for well over a year. Unfortunately, a contract dispute with her label, 1500 Entertainment, pushed the album back. But it’ll be out eventually, and on Saturday Megan took to Twitter tried to get people pumped for its release.

“My album abt to go crazy,” Megan wrote. She previously spoke about the album in an August profile with GQ, promising it’s going to address the Black Lives Matter movement. “I feel like everything that’s going on right now, if it hasn’t moved you to speak out or try to make some type of difference, then something might be slightly wrong with you,” she said. “Even though I haven’t already come out with a song with that messaging, I definitely plan on it.”

Megan recently shared the track “Don’t Stop,” with Young Thug, which may or may not wind up on the album itself. She performed the song on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, where she also advocated for the protection of Black women and condemned Kentucky’s attorney general Daniel Cameron.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Movie theaters have been slowly, nervously reopening across the nation, despite the fact that coronavirus cases continue to spike. One place that has kept multiplexes shuttered is New York State, one of the first places in America to be hit hard by the pandemic. Even as cases have largely shrunk, and even as indoor dining has returned with limited capacity, Governor Andrew Cuomo has held steadfast in his belief that theaters are good places for high infection rates. But now, as per The Hollywood Reporter, he’s changed his mind — sort of.

THR reports that Cuomo is allowing theaters to reopen across the state, with two caveats: They have to be limited capacity, and theaters in New York City will remain closed. Neither is surprising. Most theaters that have reopened have done so with a laundry list of COVID-19 precautions, and Cuomo’s orders include 25 percent capacity, or about 50 people per showing. There’s more:

During Cuomo’s afternoon press conference, he noted theaters will only open outside of New York City in counties that are below 2 percent COVID-19 positivity on a 14-day average and have no “cluster zones.” Safety precautions also include the wearing of masks at all times except when seated and eating and drinking, and social distancing between parties. Assigned seating will be required in all theaters.

As for New York City — one of the biggest moviegoing markets in the nation, with not just multiplex chains but a vast array of art house and repertory theaters — it will keep on keepin’ on. The metropolis was once the global epicenter of the pandemic, and though cases have plateaued, they have been on the rise in certain neighborhoods, jeopardizing everyone else. Meanwhile, Broadway theaters won’t be opening till the spring, and even that’s tentative.

Cuomo’s about-face comes a couple weeks after the Global Cinema Federation sent a letter to Cuomo, begging him to help save an ailing industry.

“Without new movies to play in our cinemas, many members of the global exhibition community will be forced to close their doors again. Many of these companies will not survive,” stated the letter. “On August 19 you said, ‘movie theaters, I think, are next.’ More than a month later, there is still no clear path for movie theater reopenings in New York. This state of limbo, with no set reopening plans or dates, is what is scaring the studios away from releasing their films this year.”

Theaters that can reopen in New York State are set to do so on October 23. Among the big films still slated to hit theaters before the end of the year are Wonder Woman: 1984, scheduled for December 25.

(Via THR)

Earlier this week, Twitter went into an uproar after Katrina Pierson, a Tea Party activist and consultant for the Trump administration, thanked Ice Cube for aiding the president and his administration with its “Platinum Plan.” People were vocally disappointed that Ice Cube sided with Trump’s administration, and the legendary rapper tried to explain himself, to no avail. On Friday night he tried again, appearing on Chris Cuomo’s CNN show, Cuomo Prime Time, to claim that he wasn’t working with anyone in the administration in particular. Instead, he said he simply offered his resources to “whoever is willing to work with me.”

Cube claimed that a lot of the reporting on his role in the initiative was not quite right:

Your lead-ins are a little misleading. The Platinum Plan is not my plan. I came up with Contract With Black America [CWBA]. I didn’t run to work with any campaign. Both campaigns contacted me. Both campaigns wanted to talk to me about the Contract With Black America … I didn’t run to nobody, so that was real misleading to me. You said I ran over to the Trump team instead of the Biden team and that’s just not true. I’m willing to work with both teams. I’m just working with whoever is willing to work with me.

He also said his only interest was in helping people. “I’m going there for Black Americans, the ones who are the decedents of slaves, and that’s what I’m going to talk to anybody who’s in power,” he said. “If anybody has a problem with that, it seems like a personal problem.”

Cube added that he does not trust Democrats or Republicans, and, thus, is not siding with either party.

I’m not trusting any of them. I’m just going by action. That’s all I’m going by. I’m not going by words, rhetoric, media spin — I’m not going by any of that. I’m not on nobody’s team. I’m not on team blue. I’m not on team red. I’m an independent person and I believe that’s what Black people need to do is become independent and we need to get something for our vote … I’m working with whoever’s in power. Whoever wins, they’ll hear from me.

Cube also said he believe in bringing more money into the community, which he thinks will help improve the lives of Black Americans in the long run. “Once we get some capital, we’ll be treated better,” he explained. “This is a capitalistic society and if you ain’t got no money — you see how people are treated on the street. Bottom line is, dollars bring dignity… we need to close this wealth gap[…] Black people have no capital. We own half of a point when it comes to all the wealth in America — 13.5 percent of people living off half of a point. We can’t survive in America for another 100 years living like this.”

After Cube’s appearance, fellow CNN host Don Lemon joined Cuomo, saying that Cube should be careful about who he works with After hearing Lemon’s comments, Cube took to Twitter and said Lemon’s comments were “some punks ass sh*t.”

“Thank you Chris @CuomoPrimeTime you’re a man of your word,” Ice Cube said in his tweet. “@donlemon that was some punks a*s sh*t you just did. If you have any balls. I need to be on your show Monday night at 10pm. I’ll be ready.”

You can watch Ice Cube’s sit down with Chris Cuomo in the video above.

The college football world received a gigantic piece of news earlier this week when Alabama coach Nick Saban tested positive for COVID-19. Saban was asymptomatic, but the test meant he would be unable to coach the second-ranked Crimson Tide on the sideline on Saturday evening, when the team played host to No. 3 Georgia.

However, because Saban did not show any symptoms, the door was open for him to coach the team in some capacity if subsequent negative tests went his way. And on Saturday afternoon, we learned that that is, indeed, the case, as the team announced that Saban repeatedly tested negative, making him eligible to coach the game and raising the belief that his test showing he had the virus was a false positive.

The statement laid out the protocols for testing that Saban received, which included getting checked every day at 7 a.m. per SEC protocols, along with additional, separate testing checked by a second lab to confirm the findings.

Obviously the good news here is that Saban is healthy, because as a soon-to-be 69-year-old man, the risk he carries with this virus is a little higher. As such, he has the all clear to coach his team this evening, with the festivities kicking off in Tuscaloosa at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.

Leslie Jones left SNL late last summer, not returning for the 45th season, which would have been her sixth. She had a rough entryway into the long-running live sketch show; she said Chris Rock had to twist her arm to audition for honcho Lorne Michaels. And her abrupt departure from the show wasn’t great either. She’s landed on her feet just fine, hosting and executive producing the new reboot of the nutty game show Supermarket Sweep. But while promoting the show, she briefly discussed her previous big-time gig. And she’s not too nostalgic.

“I don’t miss it. At all,” Jones told Entertainment Tonight. “That job was hard, man. That job was like two jobs and very restrictive, too. I wasn’t very free there.”

Jones’ SNL tenure found her regularly appearing as herself on Weekend Update, unloading about her dating life, reproductive rights, and spanking Drake. The exposure she got from the show catapulted her into the mainstream, which wasn’t always for the best: She was singled out for extra online abuse due to her involvement in the all-female Ghostbusters reboot, which temporarily drove her from Twitter. But Supermarket Sweep sounds like it’s going well, even if they’re doing a game show in the middle of an out-of-control pandemic.

“It’s just, you know, a comedian’s dream come true,” Jones said of her game show duties. “When you see the carts and you see the game play and you go, ‘Oh, OK and I’m hosting it. Oh, this is fun!’”

(Via ET)

Kanye West has been very busy this year, from his presidential campaign to his fight against the music industry for better contracts. That hasn’t left him with much time for his music. The only recordings he’s released in the last year have been Sunday Service Choir album, Jesus Is Born, which dropped late last December, and the Travis Scott collaboration “Wash Us In The Blood.” But now he’s back with what is only his second single of 2020, “Nah Nah Nah.”

He first previewed the track on Wednesday in a post to Twitter, which found the song playing in the background of a UFC knockout video. He released it a mere two days later. On the track, Kanye addresses a number of matters, including his run for president (“Next time you text, can it wait? / You are talkin’ to a presidential candidate”), his fight for his recording masters (“If I put myself in harm’s way to get my own masters / They’ll put theyself in harm’s way to stay the master”), and his distaste with the media’s coverage of him (“All the news ain’t honest / They wanna ignore me, rewrite the story”).

The single arrives as he’s been on the campaign trail. The rapper recently shared a photo of his name as a write-in vote on a president ballot. Soon after, he shared his first campaign ad, which found him stressing the importance of faith.

You can listen to “Nah Nah Nah” above.

President and ratings loser Donald J. Trump’s rallies are dense fogs of bluster, self-pity, embellishments, and outright lies. There are also a lot of jokes. And yet Trump has often said he never jokes. So when he told a sea of supporters in Macon, Georgia that, should he lose to Joe Biden in the forthcoming presidential election, he may leave the country, it didn’t seem like he was exactly kidding.

“You know what? Running against the worst candidate in the history of American politics puts pressure on me,” Trump told his fans. “Could you imagine if I lose? My whole life — what am I going to do? I’m going to say, I lost to the worst candidate in the history of politics! I’m not going to feel so good. Maybe I’ll have to leave the country, I don’t know.”

If you go by polls, it sure does look like a Biden win is in the cards. Trump’s currently trailing his opponent, the former Vice President, by double digits in many states, and the race is tight in battleground states he handily won in 2016. That being said, it seemed like he was going to lose to Hillary Clinton around this time four years back, so don’t get too comfortable.

But let’s say the polls are right this time, and Trump is going out in a landslide unseen since Richard Nixon crushed Hubert Humphrey in 1968. When people learned that Trump was threatening to leave the U.S., some people were cool with that.

Others had a better idea.

Even if he said it as an off-the-cuff joke, again, he doesn’t joke, especially given the legal and financial troubles that await him once he’s no longer the most powerful man in the world.

In fact, technically he’s what you call a flight risk.

And oh, the places he can go!

Should he flee, he won’t be the first leader to do so. Someone brought up Ukraine’s Viktor Yanukovych, who had to flee to Russia.

Some questioned his game plan.

But others wondered if he’s actually being smart.

But for now, let’s stay optimistic and wish him well.

Major Lazer, the electro-dance crew made of up Diplo, Walshy Fire, and Ape Drums, have been hard at work in anticipation of their fourth studio album. The trio announced their upcoming record Music Is The Weapon after sharing the dancefloor-ready Nicki Minaj feature “Oh My Gawd.” Offering another taste of the impending project, Major Lazer tap 20-year-old singer Paloma Mami for the rhythmic track “QueLoQue.”

Honing into their reggaeton-inspired sound, Major Lazer mixes a fiery beat while Paloma Mami details an irresistible night on the dancefloor. In a statement about the collaboration, Paloma Mami expressed what made them love the track: “‘QueLoQue’ has been in the works for a while now and I’m so happy to finally be able to share it with you all! It has a fire energy to it with some elements of old school reggaeton and mixing it with that electronic touch from Major Lazer.”

While Major Lazer can’t celebrate their album release with an extensive tour, they have found a way to deliver live music in a socially-distant manner. The trio will stop by several arenas across the country to perform a handful of drive-in concerts where fans can enjoy their music from a distance.

Listen to Major Lazer’s “QueLoQue” above.

Music Is The Weapon is out 10/23 via Mad Decent. Pre-order it here.

After announcing her upcoming album was going to sound “super rock and roll,” Miley Cyrus ushered in a new era with her shimmering track “Midnight Sky.” Since its August release, Cyrus has reimagined the track for each of her live performances. Now taking a more acoustic route, Cyrus gave a stripped-down rendition of her single as well a country-infused cover of Britney Spears’ “Gimme More” for her MTV Unplugged session.

Transforming her backyard into a stage, Cyrus gave a show-stopping MTV Unplugged performance. Not only did the singer add her own style onto “Gimme More” during the set, but Cyrus also decided to reimagine Pearl Jam’s 2009 “Just Breathe” and Nico’s 1967 track “These Days.”

It makes sense that Cyrus elected to cover Spears for the Unplugged session as the singer recently named Spears as an inspiration for her upcoming album. “In my sets, I cover Britney Spears to Metallica, so my record will be reflective of who I am. Which is just kind of all different pieces of inspiration and influence,” she said, adding: “I think the first single comes with a lot of pressure because it does kind of show everyone where you’re going.”

Watch Cyrus sing “Midnight Sky” and cover Britney Spears’ “Gimme More” on MTV Unplugged above.

In the modern NBA, it’s increasingly rare that a player will spend his entire career with the same team. We are in the era of player empowerment, and the salary cap structure and the way contracts are set up under the CBA gives star players a lot more leverage in determining their futures.

Still, some teams never quite get over losing their franchise star, even a decade later. The Denver Nuggets, for instance, proved that they’re still nurturing a some hard feelings towards Carmelo Anthony for skipping town for the Knicks back in 2010 despite their recent success and bright future ahead

On Friday, the team’s Twitter account posted a graphic asking fans to vote on their favorite Nuggets player of all-time. You may have noticed that Melo is conspicuously absent from that image.

Plenty of other noticed as well and quickly took them to task for what seems like such a petty oversight, as Melo has a strong case for the best player in franchise history by almost any measure, although Nikola Jokic will likely have something to say about that when all is said and done.

And Melo’s current squad wasn’t about to take that slight lying down either. The Blazers Twitter account quickly fired back with a tweet of their own asking fans to vote for their favorite Blazer of all-time, which jokingly featured Melo alongside franchise greats like Bill Walton, Brandon Roy, Clyde Drexler, and Damian Lillard.

In fairness to the Nuggets, they were careful to use the word “favorite” instead of “greatest” or “best.” It’s a much more subjective term that allows for emotion to factor into the equation, but even that doesn’t account for snub against a superstar who spent seven seasons and a large chunk of his prime playing years there. Regardless, it’s given fans something to talk about on the first Friday of the offseason.