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Responding to the news that Kim Kardashian and others like Meek Mill have taken up the cause of freeing incarcerated New Orleans rapper C-Murder, Master P welcomed the renewed support their celebrity has brought to the case, but he also wants them to know, “this is not gonna be easy.” Master P expressed his gratitude via TMZ, recording a video talking about the case and the new interest Kardashian’s involvement has brought to it.

“My whole thing is on getting my brother home,” he says. “So, whatever anybody do that’s gonna support that I appreciate it. But like I said, Louisiana is not like the rest of these places.” He goes on to remind viewers that he’s already spent millions trying to fight the court on his brother’s behalf. “It’s just a blessing that people understand my brother is innocent — he should have been free… I hope it’s all for the right reasons… This place has a lot of corruption… This is not gonna be easy.”

C-Murder was sentenced to life in prison for murder in 2009, losing his final appeal in 2013. However, in 2018, two key witnesses recanted their statements, claiming they’d been pressured into testifying against him, prompting C-Murder and Master P to push for a new case.

Watch Master P express his appreciation for the newfound attention on C-Murder’s case above.

Former Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio became a master of the self-own on Twitter following his return to senatorland. Some of his recent hits have included calling gun control an “infection,” paying tribute to late civil rights icon John Lewis by posting a photo of Elijah Cummings, and cracking an Antifa joke while mulling over how to have football this year. He kept his streak going on Monday night with a sarcastic tweet in response to actress Eva Longoria speaking at the Democratic convention.

“Brilliant move!” Rubio wrote about Longoria (who holds a masters degree in Chicano studies and advocates for representation in STEM fields). “No one is more in touch with the challenges & obstacles faced by everyday Americans than actors & celebrities.”

How soon they forget… Rubio appears to have overlooked the fact that the GOP often brings its own arsenal of celebrities who speak at conventions. Although the list for this year’s event hasn’t been confirmed, it’s not out of the realm of possibility to expect Scott Baio and Antonio Sabato Jr. to step up to the (virtual) podium again as they did in 2016, which is the reason why a false tweet about those two, along with Ted Nugent, being confirmed for 2020 feels so believable. And let’s not forget about this moment in 2012, where Clint Eastwood used his RNC stage time to shout at an empty chair, immediately prior to Rubio’s appointed time onstage.

As one might expect, Roasted Rubio is on the menu again with lots of tweets about Eastwood, along with mentions of Baio and a certain reality-star-turned-president.

The DNC continues tonight with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the agenda. Rubio should, uh, enjoy the proceedings once again.

On her new album Hype Nostalgia, Rituals Of Mine — also known as Terra Lopez — locks in her unique brand of electronic R&B to deliver an album that is about reconciling with the past and learning from it to come out the other end of every struggle a little bit stronger. We’ve already heard two singles from Hype Nostalgia, and today we are happy to have exclusive access to “Exceptions,” the album’s third preview that utilizes a TC Helicon vocal effects pedal to turn her voice into another instrument on the multi-layered track.

In celebration of the new single, Lopez sat down to talk visiting Snoop Dogg’s mansion, Jeff Buckley, and Meg Ryan in the latest Indie Mixtape 20 Q&A.

What are four words you would use to describe your music?

Manic, cathartic, industrial-strength r&b.

It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?

Resilient.

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?

There’s nothing like playing a show in the Bay Area!

Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?

My father is the reason I started creating music in the first place. I couldn’t really ever find an effective way to communicate with him so I would write songs to try to and express myself. I’ve been doing that my whole life and I guess still am, after all this time.

Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

London, 2019. Best Mediterranean food I’ve ever had. I still think about that damn dinner haha. Falafel plate with hummus, cucumber salad, GLUTEN-FREE wraps! BOMB.

What album do you know every word to?

Fiona Apple — When The Pawn.

What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?

Bjork ‘Biophilia.’ She played a tiny space in Richmond, CA and we were front row. I couldn’t stop crying.

What is the best outfit for performing and why?

My custom Ovate kimono and drop crotch pants or my Fried Rice army green pants. Also, some high top Air Jordan 1’s so you can stay light on stage.

Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?

Miranda July’s Instagram is perfect and hilarious. She’s so quirky and strange – I love her.

What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?

Oh god, tour. I miss it. I’d have to say we listen to a lot of Yussef Dayes and Neil Young haha.

What’s the last thing you Googled?

How to potty train your puppy (I just rescued a 4-month-old terrier).

What album makes for the perfect gift?

Jeff Buckley — Grace.

Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?

On a stranger’s floor that eventually led us to Snoop Dogg’s mansion the next morning.

What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?

First tattoo was terrible (NorCal stars that I’ve luckily gotten covered up) but my favorite tattoo… I have a lot of dead guys tattoed onto me. I tend to get tattoos when I’m in a manic or sad state so I have a lot of tattoos from artists/authors who inspire me: Elliott Smith, Fernando Pessoa, Jeff Buckley, Bjork, Sigur Ros even haha. I think my favorite tattoo is my “Future Forever” tattoo from Bjork’s song. I got it the first week I started taking antidepressants as a vow to myself to keep going.

What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?

Drake, Cardi B, Billie Eilish.

What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

When I was just starting to make music I really wanted a Mini Korg. I was so broke but would save any tips I got from my coffee shop job but it just wasn’t even close to what I needed. My best friend Machu knew that I had been saving up for months and rode their bike over 10 miles in the hot Sacramento summer heat to Guitar Center and surprised me with it one day. It is the reason I was able to create my first album. I’ve never gotten over that generosity.

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

Go to therapy.

What’s the last show you went to?

It was a show that my label, Bitchwave Records, was hosting back in February for an LA band called Cartalk.

What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?

I never watch TV but I’d say probably You’ve Got Mail haha. What can I say, I love ’90s Meg Ryan.

What would you cook if Kanye were coming to your house for dinner?

Mexican Takeout and some real talk about him getting some help.

Hype Nostalgia is out September 25 on Carpark Records. Pre-order it here.

Fernando Tatis Jr. is the current frontrunner for the National League MVP, as the Padres’ young shortstop is playing absurd baseball to start the shortened 2020 season.

On Monday night, Tatis belted his 10th and 11th home runs of the season late in the game — a three-run shot and a grand slam, respectively — racking up seven RBI in the process and continuing to show off his prodigious power to all fields and powering San Diego to 14-4 win in the series opener in Texas.

After that performance, the 21-year-old Tatis now leads MLB in home runs (11) and RBI (28), as he’s been nearly unstoppable at the plate from his leadoff spot. However, the conversation late Monday night and Tuesday morning was, somehow, not about how baseball’s newest young star is further injecting life into the game with his electric play, but about how he is, in fact, bad because he dare chose to swing at a 3-0 meatball with the bases loaded in a 10-3 ballgame.

Rangers manager Chris Woodward took exception to Tatis’ grand slam and made it known he wasn’t happy about it, complaining about old baseball people’s favorite topic: the unwritten rules.

Padres manager Jayce Tingler likewise was unhappy with Tatis missing a take sign on the pitch, explaining after the game he didn’t like running it up, while Tatis offered a semi-apology, while also seeming as confused by the entire controversy as many fans.

“Just so you know, a lot of our guys have green light 3-0,” Tingler said. “But in this game in particular, we had a little bit of a comfortable lead. We’re not trying to run up the score or anything like that.”

“I’ve been in this game since I was a kid,” he said. “I know a lot of unwritten rules. I was kind of lost on this. Those experiences, you have to learn. Probably next time, I’ll take a pitch.”

Baseball has long been in a battle between young and old, particularly with regards to unwritten rules, codes of conduct, and how one should act on the diamond. The newest crop of stars play with a certain flair that the establishment scoffs at, whether with bat flips or, apparently, swinging at pitches that you’re supposed to not swing at.

It can’t be separated that many of these new young stars are Black or Hispanic, wearing chains and having dreads flowing out from under their helmets, threatening to rocket to superstardom and positions of influence in a very white game. Not everyone in baseball wants Tatis Jr. to bend to the unwritten rules, as evidenced by Trevor Bauer’s pushback to the comments he was seeing after the game, along with Tim Anderson of the White Sox — who has also stirred up controversy with his bat flips after mammoth home runs — who doesn’t want to see Tatis change and doesn’t like his manager not having his back.

Still, that both managers in the game talked about giving the young star a talking to of some sort indicates that baseball’s internal culture war is far from being settled, and, despite Tingler’s insistence he doesn’t want Tatis not to be a free spirit, pushing for him to stop playing just because they have a lead is doing exactly that.

Tomberlin graced 2018 with a lovely debut folk record, At Weddings, and now she is ready to follow that effort up. Before she drops another full-length album, though, Tomberlin will release a new EP, Projections, which is set for release on October 16 via Saddle Creek (and which is co-produced by (Sandy) Alex G). She previewed the release today with a new song, the jaunty “Wasted,” which is more instrumentally fleshed out than the material on At Weddings.

The single also got a Busy Philipps-directed video, and Tomberlin said of the visual and song:

“‘Wasted’ was the most fun song to record. I brought the song with the guitar part and knew I wanted drums, but wasn’t sure what kind of beat I wanted. Alex played this drum beat for me and was all ‘kinda left field but maybe this would be cool.’ It took the song to a whole new level. Sad song or summer banger? You tell me. The video was made with the help of Busy Philipps (who directed) and Marc Silverstein (who shot it), who are more like family then friends at this point. I was quarantined with them and their girls in South Carolina and we came up with the idea and shot it in about 4 days on an iPhone.”

Watch the “Wasted” video above, and find the Projections art and tracklist below.

1. “Hours”
2. “Wasted”
3. “Floor”
4. “Sin”
5. “Natural Light”

Projections is out 10/16 via Saddle Creek. Pre-order it here.

Cardi B’s “WAP” isn’t just a hit — it’s one of the biggest hits of all time, landing at No.1 on the Hot 100 and breaking all kinds of streaming records in the process. That’s in spite — or perhaps in part because — of backlash against the song from conservative commentators who derided the song’s subject matter and straightforward, uvula-related sex raps.

Of course, those concerns didn’t stop the promoters of a Trump 2020 boat party from co-opting the song in a promotional video. The video, which appears on the Instagram page @trumpsplans, plays the song over scenes from the party as a group of 20-somethings mug at the camera.

Naturally, Cardi caught wind of the video and expressed her disapproval. “Wasn’t Republican conservatives throwing a little fit bout this song?” she asked rhetorically. “Anyways this makes my ass itchy. I’m callin the FBI on this festivity. They are not quarantining.”

Considering the outsized response to “WAP,” both good and bad, it’s no surprise that it would be used by the partygoers, who all seem to be in the demographic of people the song’s been marketed to. But as Cardi points out, there’s some irony in using the song to promote a Trump party after Cardi herself has been outspoken about the former reality star’s political failings — and the way his supporters have constantly attacked her online since she first blew up with “Bodak Yellow.” Cardi, meanwhile, continues to do her part politically, interviewing Joe Biden recently and urging Alexandria Osasio-Cortez to run for President in 2024.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

If it ain’t broke, you aren’t supposed to try to fix it. As an axiom for living and creating, they don’t get much more versatile; it’s a statement that applies to pretty much everything. But just because something works, that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved. On his latest release, the roiling Rich Slave, veteran Memphis rapper Young Dolph aims for that narrow middle ground and for the most part sticks the landing, adding a few new dimensions to his working formula. The result is an intriguing listen that rounds out his boasts with subtle strains of Black history and timely rebellion.

It’s been two years since Dolph’s last proper full-length album, the chest-puffing Role Model. There are plenty of parallels between the two projects: The smirking, skew-eyed album titles; the confident formatting (14 tracks a piece, with judicious use of high-profile features keeping the focus firmly on Dolph); and the albums’ respective subject matter are near mirrors of each other, reflecting an artist with a strong sense of identity (he’s the self-declared King Of Memphis, after all).

But in those intervening years, Dolph also released Dum And Dummer with his Paper Route Empire protege Key Glock, who’s ironically a full decade younger than Young Dolph. Whereas Dolph is staid and confident, Glock brings the chaotic energy of youth and a fresh perspective to the proceedings. It’s said that both the student and the teacher benefit from the relationship; judging from Rich Slave’s revitalized, mesmeric vibe, it seems that saying was correct in this case. The title track and “Death Row” bear this out, as Dolph’s measured flow is accentuated with just a little more force and speed than usual.

Dolph’s also older, with a different set of priorities than in 2018. Just months before the release of Rich Slave, he talked about retiring from the rap game to spend more time with his kids, leaving the day-to-day business of recording and touring non-stop to his Paper Route employees Bino Brown, Glock, Jay Fizzle, and the best-named rapper in the game right now, Big Moochie Grape. That impulse — while short-lived — translates to his delivery on Rich Slave. While Dolph always sounds slightly bored with the trappings of wealth he’s accumulated over the past decade or so, here he actually counts the costs of making it in America.

Don’t get it twisted; he doesn’t suddenly turn into Killer Mike or Nas on the new project. He does, however, seem keen to reexamine his relationship to his wealth. Whereas before, it was all about grinding his way out of poverty, now he contrasts his relative comfort with the subtle stressors that pursue him. “Police pulled me over for nothin’, just because she racist,” he laments on “The Land.” “Two minutes later, it’s five police cars, they got me face down on the pavement / Just ’cause I’m a black man in America / That’s what give them permission to treat us terrible.”

That being said, the vast majority of the project’s runtime is dedicated to Dolph’s favorite things: Running up checks, having a lot of sex, and continuing to terrorize longtime rival Yo Gotti. On “I See $s,” he crows, “I f*cked this rapper baby mama by mistake / Ever since then that big head motherf*cker been hatin’ / How it feel to be a f*ck n****? Congratulations.” Some things never change. Meanwhile, Dolph again keeps the features on the project to a minimum, restricting guest appearances to Key Glock on “No Sense,” G Herbo on album closer “1 Scale,” and Megan Thee Stallion on fan-favorite hype single “RNB.”

Rich Slave may not quite be the mission statement it positions itself as from its opening skit, “Black Friday,” but what the skit does do is remind the listener that there’s always more to the experience of being Black in America than meets the eyes. In a conversation with an old head, Dolph chuckles at his debaucherous tales until he learns a tidbit of local history he didn’t know before — one that likely painted multiple aspects of his upbringing in Memphis without even knowing it. The history of cities like Memphis — truly, of the entire country — are rich, but incomplete and always looming over us no matter how many diamond chains we buy. Considering through that lens, the prospect of a Rich Slave is chilling — and a little bit triumphant.

Rich Slave is out now via Paper Route Empire. Get it here.

Former SNL cast member Maya Rudolph is on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast this week, where she took a moment to explain why she says “bubble bath” the way she does (so perfectly) on Netflix’s Big Mouth. In addition, Rudolph and Conan end up talking Prince for a good 15 minutes, prompted by Rudolph’s work in her Prince cover band, PrinceSS.

Over the course of the conversation, Conan — who described Prince as “the most perfect looking human being I have ever seen” — ended up telling a story that Maya Rudolph suggested was “maybe the best story ever about Prince’s mystique.” She is not wrong, either.

The story began at a charity concert that Conan was hosting, where Stevie Wonder was closing the show. “There was a rumor that maybe Prince might show up and play with Stevie Wonder,” Conan said. “So I am backstage and Stevie Wonder is on stage, and he is playing, and I’m suddenly aware — the way you are aware, like a sixth sense — of a presence.”

“I turned to my left,” Conan continued, “and Prince is there, backstage, and he is air-drumming along to the music. And it is the best air drumming I have ever seen. It is better than what the real drummer was doing with Stevie Wonder. It’s fantastic.”

“And so he saw me, and he said, ‘Hey.’ And I said, ‘Hey! Hey! How are you?’ And he said, ‘Good.’ And he’s still air-drumming, not missing a beat.”

“And then I said, ‘So, there’s a rumor that you’re going to go out and play with Stevie Wonder.”

“No, no. I’m not going to do that,” Prince told Conan. “I’m just here to watch.”

“Oh, so you’re not going to play?”

“No. I’m not going to play.”

“OK,” Conan said. And just then, Stevie Wonder starts to play “Superstition,” and Conan turns to Prince and said, “Yeah, people said you were going to go out and play.” And Prince looked at Conan again and said, “No man. I’m really not going out.”

“And as he said, ‘I’m not going out,’ his technician put that perfect paisley guitar around his neck and it was all mic’d up, and he looked at me and said, ‘Gotta go.’” And that’s when Prince walked out on stage and started playing “Superstition” along with Stevie Wonder.”

“And I’m like, ‘That f**er!’” Conan yelled.

“But this was him saying, in his own way, ‘I can’t ruin the surprise.’ And I thought, ‘That’s just perfect. Perfect. That’s who he was.’”

It’s exactly who Prince was.

Source: Conan Needs a Friend

Like father, like son.

Days after Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who played Jaime Lannister on HBO’s Game of Thrones, considered donating to a petition to remake the polarizing final season, his on-screen dad also weighed in. Charles Dance told Pop Culture that he continued watching Thrones after his character, patriarch Tywin, was “killed off in the lavatory, because I thought, it’s a fantastic television show, you know? I was very lucky to be part of it… There were storylines [where] I wanted to know what was going to happen to these people!” He wasn’t aware of the fan petition to “remake Game of Thrones Season 8 with competent writers (1.9 million signatures!), but now he is, and agrees with the sentiment:

“I know that the finale satisfied a lot of people. It also disappointed a lot of people, and I’m afraid I am in the latter camp… If there was a petition, I would sign it.”

Now, before you say “shots fired at showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss,” Dance added, “I think David and Dan raised the bar when it came to television screenplay writing. They are phenomenal. And for the whole thing to end up as a committee, I just thought, ‘Hmm, no.’ I would say I was somewhat underwhelmed.” I’m not sure what Dance is getting at there — Benioff and Weiss were credited as the sole writers for four of the six episodes in season eight, and the other two writers, Dave Hill and Bryan Cogman, had been working on the show for years — but “underwhelmed” is an apt word to use. Game of Thrones season eight wasn’t objectively terrible, especially compared to other final seasons of prestige shows, but it was disappointing. That being said, please don’t support the season eight remake. I beg of you. That’s what the prequel is for.

(Via Pop Culture)

Travis Scott and Kid Cudi united as The Scotts earlier this year for a self-titled single, and the endeavor was a success: “The Scotts” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (the first chart-topper for Cudi). It turns out the two made more than one song together, as Scott says in a new GQ profile that he and Cudi have a collaborative album on the way.

The feature notes that Scott is “hesitant to offer details” about potential upcoming work with Cudi, but he did confirm that the two are working on a joint album. It seems they’ve made strong progress, too: When asked “what he and Cudi have in store for the project,” Scott said, “Man, a lot. Some fireness!”

The piece also describes Scott playing one of the new songs: “He hits play on one of the tracks. It doesn’t have a title yet, but it’s the craziest thing he’s played for me so far. ‘I know where I’m going / I know when it’s time,’ Cudi hauntingly croons over a smooth beat. Scott is doing a two-step in front of the soundboard before the beat morphs from a bouncy summer groove to a menacing riot that sends him thrashing about.”

Elsewhere, the story addresses a piece of music he wrote for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film Tenet, and the director described Scott’s contributions to the movie as essential, saying, “His voice became the final piece of a yearlong puzzle. His insights into the musical and narrative mechanism [composer] Ludwig Göransson and I were building were immediate, insightful, and profound.”

Read the full feature here.