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Tory Lanez hasn’t exactly been the most beloved person in hip-hop since he allegedly shot Megan Thee Stallion. He drew even more ire yesterday when he promised to break his silence at midnight ET. It turns out his version of breaking his silence was a new project, Daystar, on which he addresses the Meg situation.

On opening track “Money Over Fallouts,” he accused Meg of framing him, and on the same song, he also called out some of his detractors. Specifically, he addressed Kehlani and Kaash Paige, who have publicly spoken out about him. He rapped, “I got nothin’ but love to spread, but n****s hate me / Hurt my heart to see them Twitter fingers come from Kehlani’s and Kaash Paige’s.”

In July, Paige responded to an Akademiks tweet about the Lanez situation, writing, “I’ve worked with Tory an he for sure doesn’t respect women but okay lol , can’t say I was there an know what happened but I know for a fact the hidden agendas.”

Meanwhile, Kehlani removed a Lanez verse from her deluxe album and explained why she did so, saying, “As someone with a large platform, as someone that people look up to, as a woman that makes other women feel safe and empowered, people were asking me, ‘Are you gonna keep somebody on it who doesn’t necessarily make us feel safe or empowered as a woman?’ And not only that but, you know, this situation was involving someone that I [am] extremely close to, so I just felt like on some loyal sh*t, and on some do the right thing, you have to be responsible. Absolutely I’m changing up the record.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lana Del Rey’s 2020 has been laced with hills and valleys to say the least. Switching lanes and taking a stab at poetry, Del Rey debuted her first poetry book Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass at the end of July by releasing its audio version, while promising to release its physical version at the end of the September. This arrived after she faced criticism for a post she shared about her chart-topping peers. Heading back to her music lane for a new release as she continues work on her upcoming album, Chemtrails Over The Country Club, Lana Del Rey supplies a remix to Matt Maeson’s “Hallucinogenics.”

The song begins with a quick flash by Del Rey and her gentle croon before Maeson’s low-octave voice appears alongside Del Rey’s during the song’s first verse. Taking a turn for the chorus, the duo’s vocals roar as they send proclamations of “tripping on hallucinogenics” into the skies. Pushed by the breezy strings of a guitar on the track’s production, the duo close out the track and bring it to a smooth and comforting end.

The track arrives after Lana Del Rey gave an update on her upcoming Chemtrails Over The Country Club, one she delivered from the set of the music video for the album’s title track. She also revealed that one of the album’s singles is titled “Let Me Love You Like A Woman.”

Listen to Lana Del Rey’s “Hallucinogenics” remix above.

Matt Maeson is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group

Tory Lanez left the internet in an absolute shock with the events that unfolded after his August shooting incident, one that left Megan Thee Stallion with bullet wounds in each foot. While the Houston rapper opted to keep things quiet following the incident, Megan was forced to open up about the situation after she claimed that Tory and his team reported false information, such as initial reports saying her foot injury resulted Megan from stepping on broken glass. While talk of the shooting had died down in recent weeks, Tory announced a bold return in the form of a tweet that read, “To my fans … I’m sorry for my silence …. but respectfully .. I got time today …… 9 PM PST.”

Keeping that promise, the rapper returned with much worse than what fans expected. Rather hop on Instagram live to explain himself, Tory opted drop a full project, entitled Daystar, and on the project’s intro track, Tory Lanez claims that Megan is framing him in the shooting incident on the project’s into track “Money Over Fallouts.”

Girl, you had the nerve to write that statement on a affidavit
Knowing I ain’t do it but I’m coming at my truest
Trying to keep this sh*t 200 with you, shorty, I can’t prove it
But those people in your ear, they the true ones that I fear
They really got you thinking Tory Lanez would do you in for real
Don’t forget you was my b*tch, I held it down and kept it real
I would never paint no fake picture of you just for some mills
And I thought you was solid too, but look at how you doing me
Look at how you doing me, people trying to ruin me

In addition to denying the accusations, Tory also takes a shot at Kehlani and Kaash Paige in the song rapping, “Hurt my heart to see them Twitter fingers come from Kehlani’s and Kash’ page.” He later furthers his agenda on “Sorry But I Had To…” where he raps, “If you got shot from behind, how can you identify me?”

Following his bold announcement, fans took to Twitter to share their reactions to Tory’s announcement and it was far from positive. The tweet seemed to suggest that Tory would supply an explanation that would make sense of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in both of her feet, and based off the album, it’s clear Tory’s stance is that he was not the responsible in this situation, something that most fans will find hard to believe.

Listen to the album, if you so desire, above.

Some artists are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Without dropping an album — well, not yet at least — in 2020, Travis Scott has put up a strong year so far. Some of it is in thanks to tracks with the likes of Future (“Solitaires“), Nav (“Turks“), Kanye West (“Wash Us In The Blood“), and more. However, his best moments have come outside of the traditional music world with his Forntite and McDonald’s collabs serving as his highlights of the year. Returning with more music for loyal fans, the Houston rapper calls on Young Thug and MIA for his new single, “Franchise.”

For fans who are in the loop on all things Travis, they song may recognize it as “White Tee,” a track Travis and Chase B premiered on a recent episode of .Wav Radio. Supplied with a music video, the visual begins with some recognizable scenes from Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance documentary before shifting its focus to Travis who is found doing some pushups, playing golf, and showing off some Cacti products. Next, Young Thug joins the Houston rapper for a game of poker and a bunch of other wacky things including residing on the top of floating car before MIA appears in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a herd of sheep to complete her verse.

The song has been teased alongside a short film of the same title, which Travis Scott revealed will released together with Christopher Nolan’s Tenet film on September 25. The short film will serve as a music video of sorts for Travis’ new song which finds him and Young Thug reconnecting once again. In addition to collaborations like “Pick Up The Phone,” “Maria, I’m Drunk,” and “The London,” Travis’ and Thug’s new song arrives after the two connected at the top of the year to through a wild party — pre-quarantine of course — in their “Out West” video from Cactus Jack’s Jackboys compilation project.

In other news, Travis recently dropped the third release of merchandise as a part of his collab with McDonald’s. The release included cups, rugs, and tote bags. It was released after the popularity of the Travis Scott Meal forced the fast-food chain to make the meal available exclusively through the the McDonald’s app.

Hit play on “Franchise” in the video above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Swae Lee is hard at work on his upcoming album, one that the Rae Sremmurd member has been promoting for much of the year. The upcoming release is currently preceded by a pair of singles, “Reality Check” and “Someone Said,” but now Swae Lee has returned with a third single. Letting his auto-tuned vocals lead the way once again, he returns with “Dance Like No One’s Watching.” Looking for a carefree partner while pushing the memory of an old flame out of his mind, Swae seeks a night where he and his partner worry about nothing else but the room they reside in.

The song comes after he dropped “Reality Check” back in May. In conjunction with the new single, the Rae Sremmurd rapper launched an Only Fans which he used to promote the single. Prior to that, Swae shared his “Someone Said” single, one that showed off his darker side and came attached with a video inspired by informercials. Aside from other loose releases from this year that include “Back To Back Maybach” and a remix of Arizona Zervas’ breakout hit “Roxanne,” Swae Lee has lent his voice to a pair of tracks this year which includes Internet Money’s “Thrusting” with Future and Kane Brown’s “Be Like That” with Khalid.

Listen “Dance Like No One’s Watching” in the video above.

Reason has been preparing to drop his second album under Top Dawg Entertainment since the stop of the year. The Del Amo rapper first kicked things off with “Show Stop” before he returned with “Trapped In” alongside Boogie and fellow Del Amo native Ab-Soul. The releases would continue to pour in from Reason with songs like “Might Not Make It” and “Pop Sh*t,” before he fell quiet for a few months. Ready to get things going again, Reason is back with a notable West Coast rapper for his second single of the week.

Calling on Vince Staples for their first ever collaboration, the two California-bred artists bring some West Coast flavor on “Sauce.” The track is dark and eerie and finds Reason and Vince flaunting the “sauce” they hold within, one that is also undeniable to others. “New whip sh*t crawl like insects,” Reason brags on the new song while Vince speaks on his cash flow. “We be stackin’ fetti,” he says. “I don’t ever wanna be a broke boy no more.”

While Reason has been fairly busy this year, Vince Staples on the the other hand has resorted to staying low, something the “Norf Norf” rapper is known for in his career. The rapper’s lone release in 2020 comes on Amine’s Limbo album where he appears on “Pressure In My Palms.” Other than that, Vince has spent most of the year trolling fans, voice his interest in being a Snowfall extra, and telling hip-hop fans where the best rappers are from.

You can hear “Sauce” in the video above.

Polo G has grown to be one of hip-hop’s strongest newcomers. After stepping into the light with his 2019 debut project, Die A Legend, the Chicago native soaked in the limelight and shined brighter than ever with his second project, The Goat. The young rapper beautifully depicted his trauma and impressed with his ability to create cohesive bodies of work. After a slew of videos follow his sophomore project, which include “21,” “Martin & Gina, ” and “3 Headed Goat,” Polo G shares his first solo release since The Goat with “Epidemic.”

The new single is driven by a fluttering piano and a hard-knocking bass that finds Polo G presenting a different kind of epidemic, one that recalls some of the things he witnessed in his youth and come up. Presenting it as a widespread issue, Polo G raps, “Might catch him at the red light, tryna load his blick / Everyday a gamble with your life, all we know is risk.” He adds, “From the windy city where you’re down to see the coldest sh*t.”

The song arrives after Polo G made his late-night TV debut by performing “Martin & Gina” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He was also included in this year’s XXL 2020 Freshman Class list alongside popular newcomers like Baby Keem, Jack Harlow, Chika, and more.

Press play on “Epidemic” in the video above.

The Los Angeles Lakers took a commanding 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals on Thursday evening. LeBron James led the way with 26 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, with Anthony Davis adding an efficient 34 points in what became a 114-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

Though the Lakers are in a favorable position, there is much to discuss with what has been an intriguing series. To that end, here are three takeaways from Game 4.

1. The first quarter was pivotal for the Lakers

Game 4 featured notable runs on both sides, with the Nuggets refusing to fade even as the Lakers throughout the night. Los Angeles did plenty in the latter stages of the contest to secure the victory but, in truth, it was the first quarter that might have sealed Denver’s fate.

Out of the gate, Anthony Davis had it going, scoring the first 10 points of the night for Los Angeles without missing a shot.

Davis made his first seven shots overall, including six in the first quarter alone, and he did a lot of damage with 14 points in the period. Elsewhere, the Lakers made massive gains in the possession battle, particularly on the offensive glass. Defensive rebounding was a problem for Denver throughout the night, but it was pointed in the first quarter, with the Lakers grabbing five offensive rebounds and generating a whopping 12 second-chance points.

Dwight Howard was huge for Los Angeles in that regard, grabbing four offensive rebounds on his own, and the veteran center scored eight points and snatched eight overall rebounds in the opening quarter. The choice to insert Howard into the starting lineup worked through that lens, and the Lakers issued only one turnover (to three for the Nuggets) in the quarter.

All told, the Lakers were able to take six more shots (and two more free throws) than the Nuggets in the first quarter, and that was enormous. In fact, Denver shot the ball beautifully, converting 65 percent of their attempts in the quarter, but it simply wasn’t enough because of the way the Lakers dominated in other areas.

2. Jamal Murray continues to be out of his mind

While it ultimately came in a losing effort, Murray was masterful. Though the Lakers owned the first quarter and led by as many as 10 points, Murray started hot in his own right, scoring 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

Los Angeles maintained their lead throughout the second quarter, but the Nuggets made another push late in the half, headlined by one of the more amazing finishes you’ll ever see.

The shotmaking exhibition continued for Murray, with another circus display after halftime that wasn’t fully digestible without a view from multiple angles.

Murray entered the night averaging 26.6 points and 6.5 assists per game in the playoffs, up notably from his pre-bubble averages. That comes with a ludicrous 47.7 percent clip from three-point range, which is unsustainable for any human. Murray finally cooled from beyond the arc on this night, going 0-of-3 from three-point distance, but he still managed to score an uber-efficient 32 points on 20 field goal attempts, going 12-of-17 on two-point attempts and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line.

While the shotmaking was certainly the headliner for Murray, both in this game and throughout Denver’s playoff run, his passing has also seen an uptick. That showed up with eight impressive assists in this spot and, even on a night when the Lakers increased their series lead, Murray further cemented his new standing as a star-level performer on the league’s biggest stage.

3. The Nuggets aren’t dead yet

After back-to-back comebacks from 3-1 deficits, the jokes write themselves with regard to the Nuggets. Many on the internet have already insisted that Denver has Los Angeles “right where they want them” after a Game 4 loss and, while that specifically isn’t accurate, the Nuggets do have reason for optimism.

As noted above, this game essentially swung on the first quarter and, beyond that, the Nuggets were simply unable to secure defensive rebounds. Denver was outscored by 19 points in the second-chance department, and the Lakers generated 35 free throws with aggressive play and a few choice whistles. The broader story, though, is that Denver has been right there for three consecutive games, while only picking up one victory.

Mike Malone has his team bought in at a high level, with guys playing above their heads on both ends. Murray and Jokic are starring offensively while playing the best defense of their respective careers — although Jokic had one of his worst games of the playoffs in Game 4 — and the duo of Jerami Grant and Monte Morris has also stepped up when it counts.

It doesn’t need to be said that the Lakers are now substantial favorites to advance, and there is no way around that. The Nuggets have shown repeatedly that they have no intention of simply fading away, however, and Denver has the star power and recent high-level experience to steal a win in Game 5 and make things interesting again.

As if you didn’t have your fill of unexpected headlines in 2020, we now have the Doobie Brothers and Bill Murray in a legal battle to get us over the top. Bill Murray’s golf clothing company is officially in a legal fight with a lawyer representing the Doobie Brothers over the use of a song, Listen To The Music, in an ad for the company’s clothing.

According to The New York Times, Peter T. Paterno, an attorney for the band, is seeking payment for use of the song while advertising a polo shirt for William Murray Golf. And he even brought up Donald Trump’s infamous unauthorized use of songs in the letter he reportedly sent Murray.

On behalf of the Doobie Brothers, Mr. Paterno accused Mr. Murray of using the song “Listen to the Music,” an upbeat call for world peace that peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard chart in 1972, in an ad for a $50 polo called Zero Hucks Given.

The lawyer also said William Murray had used songs owned by other clients without permission. “It seems like the only person who uses our clients’ music without permission more than you do is Donald Trump,” Mr. Paterno wrote.

The lawyer, a music industry veteran who has taken on Joe Walsh and others on behalf of clients for using music without approval, wrote a fairly pithy filing that also called the shirts “ugly” and cited that as reason the band started the complaint in the first place.

“We’d almost be OK with it if the shirts weren’t so damn ugly,” the lawyer, Peter T. Paterno, wrote in a letter sent to Mr. Murray on Wednesday.

The letter contains a number of jokes and references to Murray’s career, which you can read in full below.

It’s unclear what will happen next with the lawsuit, but it certainly got some attention on Thursday.

Aaron Sorkin’s new Netflix movie, The Trial of the Chicago 7, doesn’t hit the streaming service until next month, but the reviews are in and there’s plenty of hype around the film. The director and playwright certainly keeps an eye on politics, which is why he’s already scripting out the real-life election night that may unfold in November.

Sorkin, who is certainly used to writing what fictional presidents do on The West Wing, revealed he has an ideal script in mind for what happens on election night in November. Though there’s plenty of uncertainty about what will happen with the election result itself, with vote by mail campaigns happening in many states and various issues with the USPS. There’s also Donald Trump’s recent comments about whether he will accept an election result and cede power if he loses to Joe Biden. But Sorkin has an idea, even if it may be as unrealistic as some thing that happened on his TV show about America’s political system.

As Variety shared in an interview with Sorkin, from the Conversations section of the Basque festival’s industry program, Sorkin talked about Chicago 7 and his take on the current political landscape, Sorkin already knows how he’d deal with Trump losing the election if he were writing it.

Sorkin, whose films often deal with the ethics of power, ended the conversation by revealing how he would write election night, 2020. “Trump does what we all assume he will do, which is not concede defeat, claiming the election’s rigged and the Democrats cheated. For the first time, his Republican enablers march up to the White House and say Donald it’s time to go. I would write the ending where everyone does the right thing. I don’t think Trump will do the right thing, except by accident.”

In a year like this, it’s tough to assume that anyone will do the right thing. But Sorkin’s political writings have not always been about what politics are actually like as much as they are an idealistic look at what they should be. If Trump truly isn’t willing to accept an election result that doesn’t go in his favor, things could get a lot more complicated than the script Sorkin has in mind. But sometimes it’s nice to just play pretend for a bit.

[via Variety]