Rubi Rose is the people’s champ, racking up views in the millions for her racy videos over the past year. After breaking out with “Big Mouth” and doubling down with “Hit Yo Dance” and “Pretty MF,” she truly hit her groove over the summer, dropping the video for “He In His Feelings,” a ferociously feel-good power anthem for go-getters and heartbreakers. After appearing in Cardi B’s massive video for “WAP,” Rubi followed up today with a raunchy video of her own for her latest single, “Pogo” featuring Milwaukee hit maker K Camp.
With a bouncy, piano-driven beat produced by Musa, “Pogo” finds the Kentucky-born rapper once again brags about her desirability, sneering, “Rubi bouncin’ like a pogo, n**** / I’m not your ho, though, n**** / When you see me, I be solo, n*** / All that cuffing is a no-no, n****.” In the video, Rubi and her girl gang descend on a house in a seemingly quiet neighborhood, kicking in the door, taking over, and throwing a raucous house party complete with lowriders parked on the lawn (a theme shared with Flo Milli’s “Send The Addy/May I” video which also dropped today).
With her stock rising and fans clamoring for a full project from the velvet-voiced newcomer, it’s only a matter of time until Rubi makes good on her high-profile co-signs as a rap radio/playlist permanent fixture.
Lykke Li has kept relatively quiet since her 2018 album So Sad So Sexy and her August 2019 Yola Dia festival. She resurfaced yesterday, though, to offer a new spin on a classic: Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” Li took the energetic disco track and turned it into a more haunting piano affair, just vocals and piano drenched in spooky reverb.
Li shared a message alongside the song’s release, writing on Instagram:
“i wasn’t going to put this one out but then so many of you asked for it after seeing it… this is something i made for another thing in the heatwave, quarantine, alone at the piano at night with the crickets singing. believe it or not i actually don’t know anything about technology so this was the first time i ever opened garage-band, it’s even the first i ever fully accompany myself on the piano, i can’t really play piano, i usually just write on it but if there’s something this quarantine has done is to bring me back to where i started. singing, playing, for joy, for therapy, for survival. my songs, other songs i love. i know so many people are suffering right now and there’s been so much loss. loss of life, loss of family, loss of love, loss of work, loss of hope, loss of dreams, loss of air! i feel you all and i feel for you all. and i really hope we can all survive this together. love, lykke.”
The NBA teams that did not go to the Bubble are gearing up for their team minicamps across the country, where they will be tested every day in order to finally get back on the court for full team practices. In San Francisco, the Warriors do not expect Draymond Green and Steph Curry to participate in the minicamp, according to Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Steve Kerr told Letourneau that Green and his fiancee, Hazel Renee, are expecting the birth of a child, while Curry will also miss the camp to tend to a family matter.
“If they both aren’t able to make it, I don’t think it’s the end of the world,” Kerr told Letourneau. “These guys have played a lot of basketball for us. They know the system, and they’ll be fine regardless.”
That means the Warriors’ minicamp roster will likely be pretty similar to the G League-heavy group they rolled out during the 2019-20 regular season.
However, Warriors fans can look forward to the return of Klay Thompson, who tore his ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals and has not played since. Thompson will get the chance to get up and down the floor in legitimate practices as he rehabs from the injury.
In honor of National Black Voter Day, “Good As Hell” star Lizzo will have a livestream conversation with Vice Presidential hopeful Kamala Harris this Friday (today) at 6:30 ET / 3:30 PT on Instagram Live. Black Voter Day, an initiative rolled out by BET and the National Urban League, aims to get Black Americans registered to vote ahead of this November’s election.
Partnering with former first lady Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote organization and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight Action, BET and the National Urban League want to provide resources to get voters registered and push voters to research candidates and policies and how they’ll affect them. The action is a partial response to a drop in Black voter turnout in 2016, when 20 percent fewer Black Americans reported to the polls due to a lack of enthusiasm for either candidate.
However, political action groups see this as an unacceptable turn due to the last four years, which have seen poor administrative response to a series of crises, as well as a rise in voter suppression efforts nationwide as certain leaders look to entrench themselves in positions of power rather than serve the public. Part of the effort to reverse low voter turnout is recruiting visible stars like Lizzo to try to desmystify politcal processes like voting and separation of powers to help those who’d be most affected find their voices for change.
Lizzo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Joel Kinnaman is one of the few original Suicide Squad cast members who made the jump to James Gunn‘s quasi-reboot/quasi-sequel The Suicide Squad, and now, the Swedish actor is opening up about what it was like working on the new iteration of the classic DC Comics team.
While promoting The Secrets We Keep, Kinnaman revealed that Gunn’s approach is noticeably different than David Ayer’s attempt to weave the Squad into the burgeoning DC Extended Universe. The new movie felt more like an R-rated comedy, which Kinnaman had never done before. Fortunately, he had a blasting learning the ropes from Gunn while reprising the role of Rick Flag. Via The Hollywood Reporter:
“That movie is going to be insane. The script is so funny. Every page of that script was funny, and every page made me laugh,” Kinnaman shares. “James just has this command of that genre, but also over every aspect of comedy and even the marketing. He just understands the world so well, and since he wrote it, he really reinvents not just the concepts, but also the characters. For me, it was like I did my first comedy, but it’s like heavily R-rated. It was a real learning experience for me too because I’d never done a comedy in that way before. So I asked James to work with me and teach me this sh*t. And yeah, we had so much fun doing it. That movie is going to be a f*cking monster.”
Kinnaman also took a passing shot at the troubles surrounding the first film as Warner Bros. tried to launch its own cinematic universe to compete with Marvel. “There was more energy put into making the movie the second time around,” he said. “The first time around, there was a lot of energy put into everything around us. (Laughs.)”
Things didn’t quite go as planned for the Milwaukee Bucks this postseason. After securing the No. 1 seed in the league during the regular season and seeding games, the Bucks were the heavy favorites to come out of the East and compete for an NBA championship this fall.
But the Bucks suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of a Heat team that is looking more and more like a championship caliber squad with each decisive win. Naturally, that outcome raised all sorts of questions about the future of the franchise and their star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who can become a free agent next summer and will receive a supermax offer from the Bucks sometime in the coming weeks/months.
Giannis, for his part, however, put any fears to rest about whether he might start orchestrating his exit from Milwaukee, telling reporters not long after their ouster that he had no plans to demand trade. Instead, he met with team owner Marc Lasry to discuss how to move forward and improve their roster.
Giannis took those comments a step further on Friday, saying that he’s committed to remaining with the Bucks long term, as long as everyone is on the same page about how best to compete for titles moving forward.
“As long as everybody’s fighting for the same thing … which is to be a champion, I don’t see why not to be in Milwaukee for the next 15 years.”
Of course, we’ve seen superstars make these sorts of comments in the past, only for it to come back to haunt them later. However, there’s no reason to doubt Giannis’ sincerity in the moment.
Giannis won his second straight MVP award on Friday, putting him in elite company as one of a handful of players to win both MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. A busy offseason lies ahead for both him and the organization, and it’s clear the Bucks will be one of the more active teams on the market when the time comes.
Schools often have to walk a fine line when it comes to parental complaints. Diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and preferences for what kids see and hear will always mean that schools can’t please everyone all the time, so educators have to discern what’s best for the whole, broad spectrum of kids in their care.
Sometimes, what’s best is hard to discern. Sometimes it’s absolutely not.
Such was the case this week when a parent at a St. Louis elementary school complained in a Facebook group about a book that was read to her 7-year-old. The parent wrote:
“Anyone else check out the read a loud book on Canvas for 2nd grade today? Ron’s Big Mission was the book that was read out loud to my 7 year old. I caught this after she watched it bc I was working with my 3rd grader. I have called my daughters school. Parents, we have to preview what we are letting the kids see on there.”
The book in question, “Ron’s Big Mission,” highlights a true story from the childhood of Challenger astronaut Ron McNair, who had experienced discrimination as a child in South Carolina because he was Black. In 1959, when he was nine years old, McNair wanted to check out books at the library, but the librarian told him the library didn’t loan books to “coloreds.” McNair refused to leave the library until he was allowed to check out books. Rather than give him a library card, the librarian called the police, who ultimately convinced her to just let him check out books.
Seriously, what issue could this parent possibly take with such an inspiring story of a kid standing up to injustice and fighting for the right to educate himself? This was a child who single-handedly changed a library’s racial segregation policy and grew up to be an astronaut—a genuine, real-life hero. What is there to take issue with? The parent didn’t specify, so we’re left to conjecture, but if there’s any other possible reason than racism, I can’t think of one.
Rockwood Education Equity and Diversity Director Brittany Hogan told KMOX News Radio that after hearing of the complaint, other parents responded immediately in the book’s defense.
“They were saying this is amazing that they were buying copies of the book,” Hogan said. “One of our parents came out and said she was going to purchase a copy for every second-grader at the elementary school that her children attends.”
Hogan called McNair a hero and said, “He deserves to be celebrated. His story deserves to be told to our children. It’s important that we continue to move in a space that embeds diverse curriculum.”
And the school responded in the best possible way—by announcing the book was going to be read aloud to the whole student body via Zoom. That’s how you shut down a bigot. Boom.
Here’s Pond Elementary Principal Carlos Diaz-Granados reading “Ron’s Big Mission” to students via Zoom and sharing why he thinks it’s an important book for kids:
Pond Elementary Principal Leads Schoolwide Read Aloud of “Ron’s Big Mission”
Bacardi has been going through some of the most interesting changes in the spirits industry over the past few years. For decades, Bacardi Superior (a white rum) was pretty much the only expression people associated with the brand. It was a universal party mixer for tropical cocktails and the ubiquitous rum and Coke. Then, a few years ago, Bacardi decided to change that image and embrace the more refined world of dark, well-aged rums.
Look, I was skeptical at first too. I’d had far too much Bacardi 151 and, ahem, Baracdi Limon in college, and it kind of killed me on the Puerto Rican brand. Then a bar owner friend brought over a bottle of Bacardi Reserva Ocho for a dinner a few years ago and I was back into Bacardi after oh so many years away.
Since Bacardi just re-released their Spiced Rum expression, I had a chance to taste their aged line with Top Chef runner-up from season eleven, chef Nina Compton. Chef Compton offered some solid rum insight (she’s from Saint Lucia) alongside some great rum and food pairing advice. It’s definitely worth checking out our whole Expression Session.
If you don’t have 40 minutes to spare, here’s a quick review with my tasting notes of four bottles of Bacardi.
This newly re-released expression is a blend of rums aged in American oak that have been spiked with Caribbean spices. This is a straightforward spicy aged rum that’s crafted by Bacardi’s master blenders to be mixed.
Tasting Notes:
Vanilla is very present up top alongside that very distinct “Bacardi” aroma. There’s a clear touch of cinnamon and nutmeg with a very distant hint of oak. The creamy vanilla sweetness reminds me of a cream soda… in a good way.
Bottom Line:
This is sweet enough that you won’t need any extra bar syrup when making a rum old fashioned. I could also see this working wonders in egg nog.
This rum is crafted as an entry-point for Bacardi’s aged line-up. The juice spends four years aging in oak under the Caribbean sun before blending and cutting down to proof.
Tasting Notes:
You know this is Bacardi immediately and then the nose veers into a little vanilla and oak, not unlike a bourbon. Those notes of toasted oak meet fresh honey sweetness and a flourish of fruitiness. The sip ends fairly quickly but leaves you pleasantly surprised.
Bottom Line:
This is a solid base for a cocktail. It’s also nice with a spicier Mexican cola, like Jarritos.
This is the rum that the Bacardi family made for itself for seven generations before finally releasing it to the market. This is a dialed-in aged rum that spends a minimum of eight years aging in oak.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a nice nose of bourbon vanilla, Christmas spices, and stone fruit next to butterscotch. The butterscotch feels more like toffee as the sip meanders — with spice, vanilla, plenty of oakiness, and a slight mustiness. There’s still a sense that you’re drinking Bacardi, but the aging of the rum is what really shines as the sip slowly fades.
Bottom Line:
This is a great cocktail base at this price point (an eight-year bourbon of this quality would easily be twice the price). I also dig it on the rocks.
This juice is aged for a minimum of ten years in white oak. Then the master blenders hand-select the best barrels for blending, creating this fine example of well-aged rum.
Tasting Notes:
If I was nosing this blind, I’d have a hard time telling that it’s “Bacardi.” There’s still a sense of molasses-y rum with oaky notes but tropical fruits — especially banana — shine brightly. A bit of pear peeks in with a nice hint of vanilla, oak, tobacco, and mustiness. The end lingers, warms, and then fades.
Bottom Line:
This is a solid sipper with a rock. It’s also inexpensive enough — come on, only $40 for a ten-year? — that I happily use it in cocktails.
A lot of words have been spilled about Kanye West, but these days Ye gets little credit for when he’s actually right. To be fair, that’s because Kanye West routinely says inflammatory, damaging, hurtful things, and we mean really inflammatory. But occasionally he has a take so spot-on that it shows flashes of brilliance and truth, like when he’s pointing out the often predatory and unbalanced relationship between record labels and artists, or when he’s storming the stage to proclaim that Beyonce deserved the VMA for Best Female Music Video over Taylor Swift (though to MTV’s credit, they recognized Bey’s brilliance and gave her the Video of the Year award).
In his latest Twitter rant, West had some harsh words for PUMA and threatened to start redesigning the sneakers and bring the brand back to Adidas tweeting.
“I am the head of Adidas…” [he’s not -ed] “I will bring adidas and puma back together and bring me and jay back together…” before calling all PUMA designs ’embarrassingly trash’ and saying he’d start personally designing them.
I am the head of adidas … I will bring adidas and puma back together and bring me and jay back together … all pumas designs are embarrassingly trash but I will personally design puma and adidas and make everything ok
To Ye’s credit, he’s absolutely right — with a few exceptions, PUMA has had a disappointing output for years now while other brands that were once ignored by the streetwear community, like Reebok and FILA, have found their footing in modern fits. If that bit about him and Jay-Z seems like random rambling, it’s actually not. Ye is drawing a parallel between himself and his “brother” Jay-Z, and Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, the two real-life brothers who started Adidas and PUMA respectively, only to become fierce rivals who had to be buried at opposite ends of their hometown.
We’ve long been advocates of Kanye West, fashion designer, and have made the case repeatedly that he should give up music (and politics) for good and stick to the world of sneakers, where he’s still doing his best work. Before you write this off as just another rant, remember that this dude is still actually running for president and while he’s not exactly the “head of Adidas” he does hold considerable sway for keeping the brand competitive with Nike via his Yeezy line.
PUMA isn’t without its fans though, which were quick to remind Kanye of some of his designer missteps on Twitter.
remember when Rihanna collaborated with puma in 2014, completely revamped the whole brand, and gave us 4 iconic collections throughout 2016-2018? me too pic.twitter.com/DwSk1wp3FX
By this time next year, we might be ranking some Yeezy Pumas — a much better outcome for sneakerheads and streetwear fans than Kanye as the US President would be.
Videos of late night hosts dunking on Donald Trump are built to go viral, but that doesn’t mean they don’t raise some very valid points along the way. The latest example of that is Seth Meyers taking Trump to task for minimizing the impact of coronavirus because he claimed most deaths happened in “blue” states.
Meyers started by mentioning that the words “sedition” and “heat ray” are in the news at the same time. As bleak a reminder that 2020 has certainly been a tough go of things as we’ve seen this year. But Meyers almost immediately focused on Trump, his administration’s stunted and belated response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has seen nearly 200,000 Americans die this year, and his recent claims that the death toll in America wouldn’t look so bad if you took “blue states” out of the equation.
“Blue states had tremendous death rates,” President Trump said earlier in the week. “If you take the blue states out, we’re at a level that I don’t think anybody in the world would be at.”
For Meyers, who lives in New York, this was enough to unload on the president in a clip that quickly went viral.
“Also, as someone who lives in one of those states and knows people affected by this virus,” Meyers said, “I would just like to say, go f*ck yourself you rotting, soulless business ham.”
Meyers called Trump’s “blue states” comments “one of the most grotesque things he’s ever said,” then called the president an open sociopath.
“I’m sure Trump’s not our first sociopath president, but he’s definitely the first one who’s open about it,” Meyers said.
There’s a lot of different topics covered in the nearly 15-minute segment, from protests to attorney general William Barr’s comments that coronavirus lockdowns are akin to slavery, but Meyers saved the majority of his ire for Trump, and his dismissal of lives lost in places that didn’t vote for him. You can watch the full segment to feel the full extent of Meyers’ rage above.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
