20-year-old New Zealand singer Benee is basking in her breakout success. Her song “Supalonely” went viral on TikTok, earned a Platinum certification, and even caught the attention of Elton John. Now, following a handful of EPs, Benee is ready to release her debut album.
The singer announced her first full-length album Friday. Titled Hey U X, the 13-track effort boasts guest verses from big-name artists like Grimes, Flo Milli, and Lily Allen. Speaking to Uproxx ahead of her debut album’s announcement, Benee described how her first LP will take a different direction from her previous EPs.
“I think with this album, I haven’t really held back on experimenting with genres and even lyrics,” Benee said. “Maybe I would have been more hesitant to do some of the things that I’ve done on this album in my previous bodies of work. [..] I feel like some people who like my other stuff are going to hate this because it’s pretty different, but I had a lot of fun making it.”
Check out Benee’s Hey U X album art and tracklist below.
Republic
1. “Happen To Me”
2. “Same Effect”
3. “Sheesh” feat. Grimes
4. “Supalonely” feat. Gus Dapperton
5. “Snail”
6. “Plain” feat. Lily Allen & Flo Milli
7. “Kool”
8. “Winter”
9. “A Little While”
10. “Night Garden” feat. Kenny Beats & Bakar
11. “All The Time” feat. Muroki
12. “If I Get To Meet You”
13. “C U”
Lily Allen is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Hey U X is out 11/13 via Republic. Pre-order it here.
One of the many joys of watching Jeopardy! is the chance that Alex Trebek will be forced to say something very unusual. It seems to be a running gag among those writing the show these days, as question-writers keep putting pop culture references and profanity into his clues.
Clare McNear, who is writing a book about Jeopardy! that’s highly-anticipated in the game show community, shared an edited video of Trebek essentially rapping the lyrics to “Savage.” The clip features Trebek reading the clue, but turns the reading into the actual rhythm of the song and continues the lyrics with other moments from the show.
The video is actually from a Twitter account called @car_ideas, which is a very good I Think You Should Leave reference. On that page, you’ll find several different Jeopardy! and Alex Trebek mashups, including this supercut of Trebek saying “good for you” to contestants.
It may seem unfair to misuse Trebek’s words like this, but the longtime Jeopardy! host truly does seem up for anything when it comes to clues on the show, so perhaps even he would appreciate the craftsmanship here.
First adopting the moniker with her 2016 debut Under The Influence, Dre Babinski returns to bulk up her Steady Holiday catalog. Babinski offered a Steady Holiday follow-up in 2018 and has remained relatively quiet ever since. But now, as Babinski gears up for her third full-length effort next year, the singer offers the serene single “Living Life.”
With cascading keys and anticipation-filling drums, “Living Life” gives snapshots of simple interactions over the course of one night. Babinski focuses in on certain details, like a woman’s wine-covered dress in a restaurant. “I pass a kid who holds a violin / I see myself in him / I recognize that happiness,” she sings.
In the accompanying visual, directed by Isaac Ravishankara, Babinski reflects on these moments as she rides on the back of a UPS truck through a quiet neighborhood. Occasionally smiling at people who pass, Babinski basks in the opportunity to take it all in.
In a statement about the track, Babinski said: “‘Living Life’ might be the most straightforward song I’ve written, and it’s about living with that same intention — doing things that come naturally, and not getting in your own way. The video is meant to capture that sentiment too. Be humble and direct, and appreciate moments as they happen.”
Thomas F. Wilson played one of the most recognizable villains in film history, Biff Tannen, in the “Back to the Future” series. So, understandably, he gets recognized wherever he goes for the iconic role.
The attention must be nice, but it has to get exhausting answering the same questions day in and day out about the films. So Wilson created a card that he carries with him to hand out to people that answers all the questions he gets asked on a daily basis.
The FAQ page provides the inside scoop on hoverboards, manure, and even the word “butthead.” It also addresses Wilson’s feelings about his co-stars from the film. Evidently, Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd are “nice.”
Here’s what the card says.
“I’m Tom Wilson. I was in all three ‘Back To The Future’ movies. Michael J. Fox is nice. I’m not in close contact with him. Christopher Lloyd is nice. He is a very shy man. Crispin Glover is unusual, but not as unusual as he sometimes presents himself. We got along nicely. Lea Thompson is nice. Eric Stoltz originally played Marty, but was fired due to performance issues.
The first movie was shot in 1984 and ’85. The sequels were shot ‘back to back,’ never before attempted by a movie studio. The hoverboards didn’t really fly, we were hanging by wires from a crane. The manure was made of peat moss, cork, dirt, and a food agent that made it sticky. The Delorean was an inferior automobile, and nearly impossible for a person of normal size like myself to enter and exit.
There are many tiny plot points hidden in the movies, but I don’t know what they are. Among many improvisations of the set, I coined the term ‘butthead,’ as well as ‘Make like a tree, and get out of here.’ The third movie was my favorite, since I got to learn western skills like riding, roping, quick draw, and shooting a six-shooter, a great adventure for a guy from Philadelphia.
I hold my co-workers in the best light, but have no idea what any of them are doing right now. Steven Spielberg was the executive producer of the movie, but Robert Zemeckis directed it. Nobody had any idea that the movies would become a cultural touchstone, but the themes of friendship and adventure moved the audience so powerfully that I felt the need to create this postcard as a time-saver. It was the first movie I ever acted in, if you don’t count being killed in the Kung-Fu movie ‘Ninja Turf.’
Love is more important than material possessions. I made less money than you think. I don’t talk about the movies much because I’m busy with standup comedy and music performances. Those performances aren’t near the magnitude of the movies, but I find them enjoyable and satisfying, so that’s the area of my concentration.
I’ve performed on ‘The Tonight Show’ with both Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, but not at the same time. I’m pleased and proud of my acting credits, listed at imdb.com. I’m a painter as well. You can contact me at www.tomwilsonusa.com. Thank you and God bless you.”
Wilson also wrote a hilarious song that deals with the same questions.
It’s fully fall. That means it’s time to learn how to make a new cocktail that captures the essence of the weather shifting and the leaves turning all shades of red and gold. This year, we’re going with the Negroni variation the Old Pal as our official cocktail of the season.
The Old Pal is one of those drinks that you may have never heard of, even if you’re a bespoke cocktail fan. It only pops up on cocktail bar menus at spots where they really get into Campari or Italian bitters. At its base level, the Old Pal is a more accessible version of the hefty boulevardier. Whereas the boulevardier is a bourbon or rye whiskey version of the classic Negroni (which is gin-based), the Old Pal keeps the whiskey but adds subtler dry vermouth in place of a sweet one.
This replacement of dry vermouth completely changes the texture and palate of the cocktail. It’s lighter while still holding onto the brighter elements of a boulevardier.
So why are we picking this as our official fall cocktail? Does it heal the sort of existential angst that we all seem to be drowning in? Not quite. We picked it because, for one, we’re still on an Italian bitters kick from summer. There’s just something about Campari that hits a big note on the palate during the pandemic. Plus, the Old Pal is a cocktail that makes you feel like you’re finally getting the art of cocktail mixing. It’s not overly complex — it’s just a matter of mixing three-equal parts together — but it’s a really big cocktail in the flavor department and sure to be a crowd-pleaser this time of year.
The key to the Negroni variation is the dry vermouth. I’m using Noilly Prat. It’s French and arguably one of the best dry vermouths out there. Plus you can actually find it at pretty much every liquor store. It’s also a little earthier than the other vermouths with a grassy underbelly next to the finer points of fortified white wines. The spices and herbal notes are drawn back behind an almost savory veneer that really helps this vermouth shine.
I’m also forgoing the usual rye whiskey that this recipe was developed with. I find a subtler low-rye bourbon more mixable with the other elements. It’ll add the spice while not overpowering the other ingredients. Also, a really good low-rye bourbon, like Wild Turkey, is almost always a better value for price than any rye whiskey.
You’ll need:
A mixing jug
A bar spoon
A cocktail strainer
Peeler or paring knife
Ice
Coupe glass or Nick and Nora glass
Method:
Zach Johnston
The first step is to chill your coupe. Add a few cubes of ice. By the time you make the drink, the glass will be fully chilled. You can alternatively store your glass in the freezer overnight. But this really takes up a lot of space, especially if you don’t have a big deep-freeze.
Zach Johnston
Grab a mixing jug — or old jar or pint glass — and add each of the liquids. Top the jug with deeply frozen ice cubes. I generally go with a three-quarter fill with ice.
Zach Johnston
Stir the drink until the outside of the mixing jug is ice-cold to touch.
Zach Johnston
Give the ice in your coupe a swirl and then discard, making sure to dump out excess water.
Strain the cocktail into the coupe. The final touch is to spritz the oils from the lemon rind onto the cocktail and then rub the peel around the bowl and stem of the glass.
Zach Johnston
Serve immediately.
The Bottom Line:
Zach Johnston
As you can see from the image above, the lemon oils swirling over the cocktail are the x-factor that make this drink shine. It’s wonderfully chilled. There’s a nice botanical note that’s supported by the more vinous and savory Noilly Prat. The low-rye bourbon adds a familiar twinge with a note of rye spice on the end. Had I used the rye instead of low-rye bourbon, that would be more pronounced. But, I’d argue, unnecessary.
This really is a fantastic cocktail to have in your repertoire. It’s light, easy, and a crowd-pleaser that dials back the edgier notes of the Campari bitters with the softness of dry vermouth and warmth of good bourbon. It’s crisp. And the lemon oils really tie it into a satisfying sipper.
You can easily drink a few of these as the leaves and rain fall and the weather gets crisper. The Old Pal will warm you up, expand your palate, and put a smile on your face. God knows we all deserve that right now.
You simply can’t trust everything you read online, and in an election year in which even the president seems to struggle with wild conspiracy theories the concept of media literacy is more important than ever. The latest example of this is the wild rumor that circulated late this week that Saved By The Bell actor Dustin Diamond was murdered in a prison riot.
That’s not true, mind you, and several outlets had to issue fact checks on Thursday and Friday over the rumor that started on social media that Diamond, who had legal trouble in 2015 and violated parole the next year, had died in prison. The posts that circulated on social media were unsubstantiated, but drew huge numbers online to the point that sites like Snopes actually wrote about the report, dispelling it as [heavy sigh] fake news. As the site pointed out, a “satirical” site had initially posted a fake story about his death in early October, but it took a few days for it to get hooks into people on social media and spread as a rumor. Here’s the report that Snopes cited:
Dustin “Screech” Diamond (43), was finishing up a 15 year sentence for a stabbing that happened after someone criticized his comedic skills and heckled him at a comedy club, when he was tragically struck down in prison resulting in his death.
With 2 months left to serve, Diamond was looking forward to getting home in time for the holidays, when on Saturday October 3, 2020 a riot broke out in the wing he resided. Dustin heard a commotion and leaned out his cell to seem what was going on. A rush of prisoners were coming his way. “Suddenly Diamond was on the ground bleeding profusely and non responsive to medical attention”, says warden Mark MacDouglas.
Reuters reported more details about the site that started the unsubstantiated rumor, pointing out that no other reference to the actor who played Screech Powers’ death could be found anywhere else legitimate.
In its ‘About Us’ section ringsssss.com/about-us/ , Ringsssss describes itself as a “fabricated satirical newspaper and comedy website” that uses fictional names in its stories “except in cases when public figures are being satirized.”
The death of a public figure like this would have gathered significant attention and would have been reported by news organizations. Aside from the satirical article, Reuters found no other report.
Some did this fact-checking a better than others, it should be pointed out.
It is worth noting that the last time Diamond made major news it was for violating his probation, which apparently landed him back in jail. But as Reuters noted, he reportedly served two additional days before his release. It’s not clear where Diamond is, but the report that he was killed in prison was definitely incorrect.
Not only did hyperpop artist Dorian Electra release two records in just over a year, including Fridays’ anticipated My Agenda, but they have also recently hopped on projects from musicians like Charli XCX and 100 Gecs. Ushering in their new record, Electra shares the My Agenda title track, which boasts features from Village People and Pussy Riot.
Over hypnotic and warped production, Electra’s “My Agenda” sets the tone for their boundary-pushing sound. The single is peppered with Village People’s recognizable lyrical delivery, along side Pussy Riot’s Russian musings.
In an interview with Document Journal about their album, Electra said album title, My Agenda, was originally a reference to the “gay agenda,” which is “the idea that gays are organizing to tear down the traditional family and all that is so funny to me.”
The title track itself was written by Electra from the perspective of a conspiracy theorist who is watching their country being taken over by a gay dictator. “Basically this gay dictatorship, and a person that is plotting to take over, and they are representing the gay agenda. It’s partly a funny falsehood. We do need to band together, and we do need to take to the streets.”
Electra’s “My Agenda” collaborators Village People and Pussy Riot also played into the song’s concept. Both collaborators have visibility in very heteronormative spaces. Village People, as Electra put it, “have infiltrated straight mainstream society with some of the gayest music in history. You’ve got people at football games, bar mitzvahs, hetero-ass weddings doing this ‘YMCA.’” On the other hand, Pussy Riot hail from Russia, a place where you face jail time for being openly queer — and they have.
You can listen to “My Agenda” above. My Agenda is out now via Dorian Electra. Get it here.
Charli XCX is a Warner Music Artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Grammy-nominated singer Tayla Parx is known for her work on popular songs from artists such as Ariana Grande and Janelle Monáe. But gearing up for the release of her sophomore LP Coping Mechanisms, Parx is focused on her solo work. Following the shimmering lead single “Dance Alone,” Parx returns with the alluring track “Residue.”
Over urgent guitar, Parx sings of trying everything she can to shake off memories of an ex. “No matter what I do / You’re stuck to me like glue / You leave your residue,” she sings. In a statement about the single, Parx says it further illuminates her Coping Mechanisms message.
“It’s about one of those moments when you try to get somebody off your brain or heart,” Parx said. “You’re confessing, ‘I’m trying to get rid of you,’ which is another one of my unhealthy coping mechanisms. In certain cases, you’re being avoidant and acting like it was never there versus finding solutions to the problem head-on.”
About her musical inspirations, Parx says she hopes to convey the importance of being kind to oneself: “I’m ever-changing. I’m unwilling to let my creative side die—ever. I’m a businesswoman, I’m a brand, and I’m a human. I’m working on being a better one all the time too. I’m going to allow myself to continue to evolve. My message is, ‘It’s okay to not be okay sometimes.’ It’s also okay to be better than okay other times. Be nice to yourself. Go through those growing pains, because they enable you to become who you’re meant to be.”
Listen to Parx’s “Residue” above.
Coping Mechanisms is out 11/20 via Tayla Made/Atlantic. Pre-order it here.
Tayla Parx is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Because you have the Internet in some form of fashion, there’s about a 10 million percent chance you are aware of the fact that the world of sports is more eager than ever to get fans out to the polls this fall. If you name a sport, there’s a good chance you’ve seen athletes from that world encouraging people to register, become informed, and participate in the democratic process this year — the NFL has an ad campaign, NBA players championed this cause during their Bubble, WNBA players openly endorsing a primary opponent of one of the league’s outspoken owners who doubles as a United State Senator, etc.
This sentiment has applied to the world of soccer, too. Long a sport that has has players and clubs identify with various political movements, players in Major League Soccer and the National Women’s Soccer League have spoken up in recent years about a myriad of subjects, whether it’s been members of the United States Women’s National Team vocally opposing the president, Black players in MLS forming a coalition earlier this designed to create systemic change on and off the pitch, or numerous other examples.
And of course, because we’re less than a month away from the 2020 general election, voting has been front of mind for a number of individuals. One such person is Jordan Harvey, the veteran left back who plies his trade for Los Angeles Football Club. An L.A. native, Harvey joined the team in 2017 after spending seven seasons up north as a member of the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Leaving the country where he grew up was important for shaping how Harvey feels about politics today. While he’s voted in every presidential election from the time he turned 18 — he would have been in Canada for the 2012 and 2016 elections — his perspective on the importance of participating changed by spending time elsewhere.
“I feel like coming back from the States, you also get, like, a new sense of responsibility in terms of gaining knowledge on different topics like politics, or like voting, or like police reform, like we talked about, social injustice, that maybe in the past when I was younger, I didn’t feel that responsibility,” Harvey told Uproxx Sports over the phone. “But now, being older and coming back from the States, it’s definitely there.”
This has all come to a head as Harvey has become vocal about getting people to the polls, both in the team’s dressing room or in the community as a whole. While LAFC is trying to make this a reality by turning Banc of California Stadium into a vote center and by joining in on the Rally the Vote campaign, Harvey is turning to something with which he’s awfully comfortable: conversations.
It is not hard to see how a conversation about something like politics, a third that many try to touch, can be easy with someone as affable as the MLS veteran. Harvey believes in “an ongoing conversation” with people about the importance of voting — and a number of other issues — in a way that is sincere and empathetic.
LAFC
“I feel like it’s just an ongoing conversation, whether it be about voting, whether it be about social injustice in this country, it all is tied together, so I feel like that conversation is constantly being had,” Harvey says. “And it’s not about convincing, it’s about more so expressing your ideas, and then listening. I think that’s a really important trait that people are lacking right now, is just listening to one another and having empathy for where someone’s been and what they’ve been through. And then, on the back side of that, learn from it and try to help in any way.”
Internally, LAFC has made it a point to encourage these conversations among members of their team — Harvey praised the team’s ownership group and its manager, former USMNT gaffer Bob Bradley, for standing with players through thick and thin, like when the team opted to follow in the footsteps of the Milwaukee Bucks and not play a game in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake. LAFC, Harvey says, has a diverse fanbase in the midst of a diverse community, and views fostering a sense of inclusions as one of the club’s pillars.
The result of this has been practicing what the team preaches. As the veteran of a squad that has a number of players from diverse backgrounds, Harvey has taken pride in talking, listening, and getting to the heart of what people think. Understanding issues and perspectives gives him a window to inform, and as he tells it, his goal is not to convince someone to believe one thing or another — “maybe through your experiences,” he says, “they will understand and having a better understanding of an issue as a whole.”
Still, getting people compelled to vote isn’t unique to soccer. Voting initiatives have been taken on by individuals across the world of sports — heck, far beyond the world of sports, too — and everyone’s reason for championing this is different. For Harvey, it’s simply a matter of looking around, seeing what’s happening, and spurring ourselves to be part of creating a future that is better than the present.
“For me, I think it’s important because our society and our country is in a really rough patch, and I don’t use this analysis, “a losing streak,” lightly, I just say it as a way of comparing it and putting it into sports terms,” Harvey says. “But right now, we need change, and we need to really look at ourselves and see what we can do differently. I don’t wanna say that you should vote one way or the other, but we need to get everyone involved, and I truly believe the more people are informed and involved, the better this country will be. And that, in a small scale, is what I believe I can help with in our locker room and then whatever LAFC is doing in the community, I’m there for them 100 percent.”
There is one inherent flaw in efforts to get people to vote for an election. Oftentimes, all of the focus is centered on one particular election, like when the presidency or a seat in the Senate is on the ballot. But true democracy can only occur when all of a nation’s citizens are both informed and engaged, heading to the polls for everything from the highest offices in the land to picking members of a school board. While there are some who believe that this November’s election could spur record turnout among Americans, what is to come of elections in 2021 or 2022? Politics do not stop, so the need for citizens to participate in politics does not stop.
Harvey, however, is optimistic. He believes that there is a chance, based on everything that has happened over the last four years, for Americans to become more active in our democracy than ever.
“I am a true believer of everything happens for a reason,” Harvey says. “And if we had to go through something like we have the last three years in order to create more awareness of issues that are going on in our country, then maybe this is what needed to happen to create change and to create interest in things like voting, or, man, a number of things that have gone on, especially this year, that will help in the future.”
There are two conflicting viewpoints when it comes to addressing culture from that past that contains offensive elements that would never be acceptable today.
Some believe that old films, TV shows, music or books with out-of-date, offensive elements should be hidden from public view. While others think they should be used as valuable tools that help us learn from the past.
Disney has used both strategies to deal with films from its past with offensive material. Earlier this year, the company’s CEO Bob Iger announced that its controversial 1946 film, “Song of The South” wouldn’t be released on Disney+ streaming service because it’s “just not appropriate in today’s world.”
via YouTube
“Song of the South” has been heavily criticized for its depiction of Black people working on a plantation at some nebulous point in the late 1800s. Critics say it presents “an idyllic, romanticized view of an American South that never was.”
Films with offensive content that haven’t been eliminated from Disney’s streaming service are tagged with a warning message at the beginning. “This program is presented as originally created,” the warning said. “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”
But now, Disney is going a step further by adding a longer warning to “Aristocats,” (1970) “Dumbo,” (1971) Peter Pan,” (1953) “Lady and the Tramp,” (1955) “Jungle Book” (1967) and “Swiss Family Robinson” (1960). the company has also created a website called Stories Matter, where some of the offensive material is discussed.
via Disney
“This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures,” the new label reads. “These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together. Disney is committed to creating stories with inspirational and aspirational themes that reflect the rich diversity of the human experience around the globe.”
The disclaimer ends with a link to Disney’s Stories Matter website.
The Stories Matter site explains Disney’s new push for greater inclusivity, openness to learning from the past, and goal of creating “a tomorrow that today can only dream of.”
The site also explains why certain films were tagged with an advisory.
“Aristocats” received the advisory for a feline character that is a “racist caricature of East Asian peoples with exaggerated stereotypical traits such as slanted eyes and buck teeth.”
“Dumbo” received the advisory for multiple offenses, including an homage to minstrel shows and a scene where “faceless Black workers toil away to offensive lyrics like ‘When we get our pay, we throw our money all away.'”
“Peter Pan” received its advisory for its depiction of “Native people in a stereotypical manner that reflects neither the diversity of Native peoples nor their authentic cultural traditions.”
“Swiss Family Robinson” has a disclaimer because of the film’s pirates that are portrayed as a “stereotypical foreign menace.”
“Jungle Book” also has the warning, but it’s not explained on the Stories Matter site. The film has been criticized for King Louie, an ape character that’s clearly a Black stereotype.
“Lady and the Tramp” isn’t included on the Stories Matter site either, but received the warning most likely because of its Siamese cat characters that are anti-Asian stereotypes.
The films that have been tagged with new advisory warnings are all aimed at families. Hopefully, they inspire a conversation between parents and children about racism that will ensure that we don’t make the same mistakes we’ve made in the past.
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via YouTube
via Disney