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Discovering the truth about love and the realities of the world is such a depressing thing to wake up to as a teen. Teenage Fever is rising R&B singer Kaash Paige’s dreamy interpretation.

Her heavenly, airy vocals are somehow also filled with the pangs of teenage angst. Her lyrics are a guide through her journey in trying to figure out who she is, though it seems like she always had an idea since high school.

Growing up in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, the Def Jam signee, born D’kyla Woolen, always knew that school wasn’t for her. And after trying, she knew that working a regular job wasn’t for her, either. “I want to chill, make some dope music and just be able to live my life,” the singer told Uproxx over the phone of her decision to commit to making music.

So far, that decision has been working quite nicely for her. Last year, she had Kylie Jenner lip-syncing to her Billboard hit “Love Songs” and impressed with her EP, Parked Car Convos. Opening up to Uproxx on the creation of Teenage Fever and the agony of teen growing pains, Kaash told us that ultimately, she just wants those tuned into her vibes to feel something.

Teenage Fever. What does that mean and why did you title this project that?

I thought of Teenage Fever because I’m 19 years old. It’s really my last year of being a teen. I just wanted to put every emotion that I went through in the lyrics and the songs. In the production, I feel like the songs and the energy just makes you feel either super excited or moody.

To me, this sounds lovey, but also kind of emo. How would you describe it?

I would describe my sound as euphoric. My music makes you feel a certain type of way. I love when you can listen to a song and you can feel high or feel sad or feel happy. That’s capturing music. It just captures a moment in your life where you have emotion. I want my music to make you feel a certain type of way.

How much are you a part of the process of picking out your beats and then putting together the tracklist?

In the end, I’m all hands on. My bro, he’s in college, I just went to his dorm room. We recorded all those songs in a dorm room and just pretty much just vibed out. Take which one would sound good to transition into one another and just produced them all together. The majority all my homies did my beats for me, and I was there every single time just on the keys.

It takes some people a while to know what they want to do, but it sounds like you knew early on in high school.

In middle school I wanted to be like everybody else, because everybody else was cool. I didn’t know that being yourself was the best.

When I got to high school and I started really getting to know myself, I’m like, damn, what do I want to do? I wanted to go to college for track and I wanted to be in the Olympics, but I was like I can’t keep doing sports. Practice is tiring as hell. I just don’t want to do that. I want to chill, make some dope music, and just be able to live my life. I was sending my shit to record labels knowing they’re not going to respond back.

It was God’s timing. This man reached out to me on Instagram. He was like, “I want to work with you. I want to fly you out to New York.” I’m like, damn, n****’s lying already. That’s crazy.

I had got a call when I was in the garage with some of my bros. They’re like, “I think you’re amazing. I want to fly you out to New York.” I’m like, “Bro, what? Why are you playing on my phone?”

So I called my mama. I remember three days before that, I went out to eat and my mom kept texting me saying, “You need to get a job.” I had jobs, but I really couldn’t stand them. I was just quitting jobs. I don’t want a job and I don’t want to go to school. I just felt like my life was going to change. Then it was literally those days after I got that call.

What does your mom think now?

She cool now. My mom, she wasn’t strict, but it was like I couldn’t do music. The only way I was doing music was when her and my real dad were together and he used to record me in the little studio that we had in the house. Whenever they got a divorce, I kind of had to sneak my way to studios. I would tell her I’m going out to eat in Dallas with my friends. Lowkey, I’m really at the studio recording some shit for SoundCloud.

What jobs did you work that you quit?

The first job I ever had was Cheddar’s.

I love Cheddar’s!

Cheddar’s is fire. I was getting free food every day. Then I worked at Journey’s. I worked at Zumiez. Then I worked at Pei Wei. Then I worked at Salata. Then I worked at Chicken Express. I worked at Chicken Express for a damn day though.

I can’t work at food spots. The day I quit Salata, somebody was like, “Yo, can you clean?” It was something like cleaning the trash cans. I said hell no. I was like y’all are tripping. I had to quit. I was like, “Bro, I can’t do that.” I do that at the crib, you feel me? That’s nasty to me. I was just like I just don’t want a job.

What happened at Chicken Express? Is there something we should know?

Chicken Express is fire. It’s just the simple fact like everybody there was too pushy. They took it too serious. The food was good, trust me. I was going home like, “What y’all want to eat?” But nah, not my type of vibe. Zumiez, the way they pay is based off of commission. It was weird. The first Zumiez I worked at, I worked there for probably two days. I got fired because the girl thought I was flirting with her girlfriend, which is another manager at another Zumiez, because she hired me.

I remember when you did that interview on The Breakfast Club and people in Dallas were in your head about you saying you didn’t really know any of them because you don’t really listen to any Dallas artists.

Yeah, it’s like y’all can’t be mad because I don’t. Dallas has some crazy creatives. Everybody out there is talented, but it’s like when you’re so focused on yourself and your grind instead of trying to be a crab in a bucket and worry about somebody else and them failing, you don’t have time to worry about that. I was just too focused on trying to get where I needed to be. I feel like that’s what everybody’s heads should be like.

Man, focus on yourself. You’re worrying about somebody else’s grind, you not going to get nowhere. You’re not going to ever leave.

Also I noticed that your fans call you by your real name instead of Kaash. How does that make you feel?

I’ll be lost. They really be saying my whole government name. When somebody is a fan and they support you, they’re going to do their research and know everything about you, because they love you. I’ll be thinking it’s one of my cousins or something, but I’ll be like, oh shit. Thank you so much. I love you too.

Has it happened to you in person?

I be so damn high I just don’t be remembering like that. I just do not remember anybody calling me D’Kyla in person at all. I do remember getting chased by some kids at a gas station.

That’s cute.

They chased me to my car. It was dumb cute. They were singing “Love Songs.”

Let’s talk about “Love Songs,” because that’s the first time I ever heard a song of yours. Kylie posted herself singing it on her Instagram story, too. Where were you when you saw that and what was your reaction?

I was in LA about to do my Genius interview. I was on the call with my A&R, my project manager. Everybody kept sending it to me like, “Bro, Kylie’s blasting ‘Love Songs.’ Bro. You’re up.” I’m looking at all the stories. I just keep seeing “Love Songs.” I told her I appreciate her, but it’s like she’s not going to respond back to me. Just to even bring awareness to that song, it was just love.

How does it feel to have a billboard in your hometown of Dallas?

It lowkey feel live. I’m going to go back. When I go back it’s going to be so much love in this city. It’s going to be overwhelming as hell. That’s a major accomplishment. I’m 19 years old, that doesn’t really come too often. I’m just really appreciative and just like, is it going to keep going? To be honest with you. I want way more. That’s one, but I want billboards around the whole city.

Then the Times Square one.

Yeah. That was crazy as hell. There was people on Times Square that knew me. Just to see my first album be on a big ass billboard. That shit was hard, just being there in the flesh.

It looked pretty live.

We were so lit. Right after that, literally I went number one. Me and my team were going bananas in New York. That trip was literally for two days.

You went down there just to see the billboard?

Yeah, because I was having a party in LA the next day. I had a party for the release. It was a crazy party. It lasted from 8:00 to 4:00 in the morning. Everybody was blasted. Buddy was gone. Guap was gone. Everybody was too out of it.

It sounds like you had a good time! What’s your favorite song on the album?

My favorite song on the album has to be “Soul Ties.”

What is it about that song?

I know how it feels to be super attached. Attachment sucks. Especially if you know that person not good for you. When I made that song, I’m really into bass lines. That’s what I got from Drake. Drake is a major influence. So just feeling like you’re melting when you hear that bass line. Sitting in a car hotboxing, you’re going to feel that. You’re going to feel literally the vibrations going through your body. Whenever you listen to it, you can feel the soul ties. I just really love that song.

Right now there’s a lot of people putting out deluxe albums. Are you going to be coming out with a deluxe?

I don’t know. I feel like I might, but I’ll be so onto the next. I got hella bullets in this clip. I know I’m going to keep going and putting out more fire. I for sure want to milk Teenage Fever and just get people more aware to that album. I got crazy singles that I want to drop too, so who knows.

What types of things are you going to be doing in place of live performances and shows as we’re in the pandemic?

I have an opportunity to livestream perform in Atlanta in September. I think another one in Atlanta with Morehouse College. I’m just letting stuff come to me and just really just thinking digitally how we can go crazy. I’m trying to sell my own cartoon show on Adult Swim, so I’m really just trying to do a lot of different stuff that doesn’t really involve music as well. Being in the house, digital is all we have. So let’s just go crazy digitally with music videos and video games.

How’s the Adult Swim cartoon show going?

I’m literally with my team right now. We just making the characters. It’s going to start going crazy. My whole plan is just to set it up and bring it to my team’s attention and be like, yo, let’s try to do something with this, get it on Netflix or whatever. I’m super creative and I just know that show will be dumb funny.

What is it going to be about?

I want to call it something like Dinner With The South Five, kind of like how South Park is, but it would be based literally being in the South and it would be regular show mixed in with Adventure Time, so there would be aliens. It would just be super diverse and it’ll be about my life as an artist and just all my experiences, the crazy parties, just anything. First time smoking, first time doing anything.

Discovering the truth about love and the realities of the world is such a depressing thing to wake up to as a teen. Teenage Fever is rising R&B singer Kaash Paige’s dreamy interpretation.

Her heavenly, airy vocals are somehow also filled with the pangs of teenage angst. Her lyrics are a guide through her journey in trying to figure out who she is, though it seems like she always had an idea since high school.

Growing up in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, the Def Jam signee, born D’kyla Woolen, always knew that school wasn’t for her. And after trying, she knew that working a regular job wasn’t for her, either. “I want to chill, make some dope music and just be able to live my life,” the singer told Uproxx over the phone of her decision to commit to making music.

So far, that decision has been working quite nicely for her. Last year, she had Kylie Jenner lip-syncing to her Billboard hit “Love Songs” and impressed with her EP, Parked Car Convos. Opening up to Uproxx on the creation of Teenage Fever and the agony of teen growing pains, Kaash told us that ultimately, she just wants those tuned into her vibes to feel something.

Teenage Fever. What does that mean and why did you title this project that?

I thought of Teenage Fever because I’m 19 years old. It’s really my last year of being a teen. I just wanted to put every emotion that I went through in the lyrics and the songs. In the production, I feel like the songs and the energy just makes you feel either super excited or moody.

To me, this sounds lovey, but also kind of emo. How would you describe it?

I would describe my sound as euphoric. My music makes you feel a certain type of way. I love when you can listen to a song and you can feel high or feel sad or feel happy. That’s capturing music. It just captures a moment in your life where you have emotion. I want my music to make you feel a certain type of way.

How much are you a part of the process of picking out your beats and then putting together the tracklist?

In the end, I’m all hands on. My bro, he’s in college, I just went to his dorm room. We recorded all those songs in a dorm room and just pretty much just vibed out. Take which one would sound good to transition into one another and just produced them all together. The majority all my homies did my beats for me, and I was there every single time just on the keys.

It takes some people a while to know what they want to do, but it sounds like you knew early on in high school.

In middle school I wanted to be like everybody else, because everybody else was cool. I didn’t know that being yourself was the best.

When I got to high school and I started really getting to know myself, I’m like, damn, what do I want to do? I wanted to go to college for track and I wanted to be in the Olympics, but I was like I can’t keep doing sports. Practice is tiring as hell. I just don’t want to do that. I want to chill, make some dope music, and just be able to live my life. I was sending my shit to record labels knowing they’re not going to respond back.

It was God’s timing. This man reached out to me on Instagram. He was like, “I want to work with you. I want to fly you out to New York.” I’m like, damn, n****’s lying already. That’s crazy.

I had got a call when I was in the garage with some of my bros. They’re like, “I think you’re amazing. I want to fly you out to New York.” I’m like, “Bro, what? Why are you playing on my phone?”

So I called my mama. I remember three days before that, I went out to eat and my mom kept texting me saying, “You need to get a job.” I had jobs, but I really couldn’t stand them. I was just quitting jobs. I don’t want a job and I don’t want to go to school. I just felt like my life was going to change. Then it was literally those days after I got that call.

What does your mom think now?

She cool now. My mom, she wasn’t strict, but it was like I couldn’t do music. The only way I was doing music was when her and my real dad were together and he used to record me in the little studio that we had in the house. Whenever they got a divorce, I kind of had to sneak my way to studios. I would tell her I’m going out to eat in Dallas with my friends. Lowkey, I’m really at the studio recording some shit for SoundCloud.

What jobs did you work that you quit?

The first job I ever had was Cheddar’s.

I love Cheddar’s!

Cheddar’s is fire. I was getting free food every day. Then I worked at Journey’s. I worked at Zumiez. Then I worked at Pei Wei. Then I worked at Salata. Then I worked at Chicken Express. I worked at Chicken Express for a damn day though.

I can’t work at food spots. The day I quit Salata, somebody was like, “Yo, can you clean?” It was something like cleaning the trash cans. I said hell no. I was like y’all are tripping. I had to quit. I was like, “Bro, I can’t do that.” I do that at the crib, you feel me? That’s nasty to me. I was just like I just don’t want a job.

What happened at Chicken Express? Is there something we should know?

Chicken Express is fire. It’s just the simple fact like everybody there was too pushy. They took it too serious. The food was good, trust me. I was going home like, “What y’all want to eat?” But nah, not my type of vibe. Zumiez, the way they pay is based off of commission. It was weird. The first Zumiez I worked at, I worked there for probably two days. I got fired because the girl thought I was flirting with her girlfriend, which is another manager at another Zumiez, because she hired me.

I remember when you did that interview on The Breakfast Club and people in Dallas were in your head about you saying you didn’t really know any of them because you don’t really listen to any Dallas artists.

Yeah, it’s like y’all can’t be mad because I don’t. Dallas has some crazy creatives. Everybody out there is talented, but it’s like when you’re so focused on yourself and your grind instead of trying to be a crab in a bucket and worry about somebody else and them failing, you don’t have time to worry about that. I was just too focused on trying to get where I needed to be. I feel like that’s what everybody’s heads should be like.

Man, focus on yourself. You’re worrying about somebody else’s grind, you not going to get nowhere. You’re not going to ever leave.

Also I noticed that your fans call you by your real name instead of Kaash. How does that make you feel?

I’ll be lost. They really be saying my whole government name. When somebody is a fan and they support you, they’re going to do their research and know everything about you, because they love you. I’ll be thinking it’s one of my cousins or something, but I’ll be like, oh shit. Thank you so much. I love you too.

Has it happened to you in person?

I be so damn high I just don’t be remembering like that. I just do not remember anybody calling me D’Kyla in person at all. I do remember getting chased by some kids at a gas station.

That’s cute.

They chased me to my car. It was dumb cute. They were singing “Love Songs.”

Let’s talk about “Love Songs,” because that’s the first time I ever heard a song of yours. Kylie posted herself singing it on her Instagram story, too. Where were you when you saw that and what was your reaction?

I was in LA about to do my Genius interview. I was on the call with my A&R, my project manager. Everybody kept sending it to me like, “Bro, Kylie’s blasting ‘Love Songs.’ Bro. You’re up.” I’m looking at all the stories. I just keep seeing “Love Songs.” I told her I appreciate her, but it’s like she’s not going to respond back to me. Just to even bring awareness to that song, it was just love.

How does it feel to have a billboard in your hometown of Dallas?

It lowkey feel live. I’m going to go back. When I go back it’s going to be so much love in this city. It’s going to be overwhelming as hell. That’s a major accomplishment. I’m 19 years old, that doesn’t really come too often. I’m just really appreciative and just like, is it going to keep going? To be honest with you. I want way more. That’s one, but I want billboards around the whole city.

Then the Times Square one.

Yeah. That was crazy as hell. There was people on Times Square that knew me. Just to see my first album be on a big ass billboard. That shit was hard, just being there in the flesh.

It looked pretty live.

We were so lit. Right after that, literally I went number one. Me and my team were going bananas in New York. That trip was literally for two days.

You went down there just to see the billboard?

Yeah, because I was having a party in LA the next day. I had a party for the release. It was a crazy party. It lasted from 8:00 to 4:00 in the morning. Everybody was blasted. Buddy was gone. Guap was gone. Everybody was too out of it.

It sounds like you had a good time! What’s your favorite song on the album?

My favorite song on the album has to be “Soul Ties.”

What is it about that song?

I know how it feels to be super attached. Attachment sucks. Especially if you know that person not good for you. When I made that song, I’m really into bass lines. That’s what I got from Drake. Drake is a major influence. So just feeling like you’re melting when you hear that bass line. Sitting in a car hotboxing, you’re going to feel that. You’re going to feel literally the vibrations going through your body. Whenever you listen to it, you can feel the soul ties. I just really love that song.

Right now there’s a lot of people putting out deluxe albums. Are you going to be coming out with a deluxe?

I don’t know. I feel like I might, but I’ll be so onto the next. I got hella bullets in this clip. I know I’m going to keep going and putting out more fire. I for sure want to milk Teenage Fever and just get people more aware to that album. I got crazy singles that I want to drop too, so who knows.

What types of things are you going to be doing in place of live performances and shows as we’re in the pandemic?

I have an opportunity to livestream perform in Atlanta in September. I think another one in Atlanta with Morehouse College. I’m just letting stuff come to me and just really just thinking digitally how we can go crazy. I’m trying to sell my own cartoon show on Adult Swim, so I’m really just trying to do a lot of different stuff that doesn’t really involve music as well. Being in the house, digital is all we have. So let’s just go crazy digitally with music videos and video games.

How’s the Adult Swim cartoon show going?

I’m literally with my team right now. We just making the characters. It’s going to start going crazy. My whole plan is just to set it up and bring it to my team’s attention and be like, yo, let’s try to do something with this, get it on Netflix or whatever. I’m super creative and I just know that show will be dumb funny.

What is it going to be about?

I want to call it something like Dinner With The South Five, kind of like how South Park is, but it would be based literally being in the South and it would be regular show mixed in with Adventure Time, so there would be aliens. It would just be super diverse and it’ll be about my life as an artist and just all my experiences, the crazy parties, just anything. First time smoking, first time doing anything.

Alicia Keys opened up the 2020 NFL season performing at the league’s Kickoff event Thursday night with a new song, “Love Looks Better.” An anthemic song in the vein of “Girl On Fire” and her new song “Perfect Way To Die,” “Love Looks Better” employs a booming beat co-produced by Ryan Tedder and uplifting lyrics to implore rekindling passion in a stalled relationship. “It’s time to really be present for each other,” she says of the song’s message. “It feels like something we can all understand now.”

The singer, who recently appeared on the popular Verzuz livestream series with John Legend, premiered her new single alongside the announcement of a $1 billion commitment from the NFL toward supporting Black businesses and communitites.

As she explained in the statement announcing the 1$ billion endowment: “As an artist, I’m always thinking about how can I use my platform to further racial equity. This fund is one of the answers and our goal is to empower Black America through investing in Black businesses, Black investors, institutions, entrepreneurs, schools and banks in a way to create sustainable solutions.”

Her platform included an appearance on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts in an intimate home concert where she debuted another new song, “Gramercy Park.” All these new songs are expected to appear on her upcoming album, ALICIA.

Listen to Alicia Keys’ new song “Love Looks Better” above.

As if 2020 wasn’t already enough of the mess, West Coast fires are looking positively hellish and apocalyptic with the landscapes to match. In particular, the Bay Area Fires are presenting a lot like the Denis Villeneuve-directed Blade Runner 2049, so a creative someone (YouTube user TerryTheThunder) went ahead and set the film’s soundtrack against drone footage over from over San Francisco and the surrounding area. You can see the results above, but the original footage hails from DoctorSbaitso on YouTube, and the soundtrack credit (of course) goes to Hans Zimmer as well as Benjamin Wallfisch and Vangelis.

The hue resulting from the area’s record-breaking fires will likely last for days, even though residents may not even notice a smoky odor. As ABC7 News meteorologist Mike Nicco has explained, there’s some protection coming from not only the wind (which is, of course, also spreading the fires) but the surrounding waters: “The marine layer is a stable area of air that does not rise, and so we’re continually pumping in cleaner air from over the ocean.”

Protection from smoke or not, it’s sure looking like nuclear winter or Mars over much of the West Coast. CNN meteorologist Judson Jones puts that easily observable mechanism into words: “When the smoke and ash get even thicker close to the wildfires, it can cut the sunlight out completely, making it look like the dead of night.” He added, “The smoke and ash are acting like nature’s version of an Instagram filter.”

Although the hue may disappear soon, the smoke lingering over the Bay Area could linger for months, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

(Via ABC7, CNN & San Francisco Chronicle)

Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous was released twenty years ago this week. It was a box office disappointment, recouping only about $40 million of its $60 million budget. But box office receipts don’t always reflect quality, and Almost Famous would go on to win an Oscar for Crowe’s original screenplay, and swiftly become a cult favorite on DVD and beyond. Two decades later, Almost Famous remains firmly entrenched in pop culture, particularly among classic rock heads.

On the new episode of Indiecast, Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen reflect on the film, using their background as real-life music critics to examine the validity of the central plot (there is literally no way that a publicist would let you spend several weeks on the road with a band for a profile), the depiction of Lester Bangs, and whether Stillwater is actually even a good band at all. Check out Hyden’s full essay about the film here.

In this week’s Recommendation Corner, Steven is spreading the good word about William Tyler’s new album New Vanitas, while Ian is pointing toward I’ll Figure This Out, the latest from Milwaukee’s Barely Civil.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 7 below and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts here. Stay up to date and follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

Hugo Weaving is one of those actors who’s been in more quality movies than you probably realize. He played Elrond in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, of course, but the British-Australian actor was also in V for Vendetta, cult classic The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Mortal Engines (whatever, it’s good), and he also worked with George Miller in Babe and the Happy Feet movies. Not bad! But Weaving’s defining role is Agent Smith in The Matrix trilogy, and although he won’t be back for The Matrix 4, he spoke about the franchise being co-opted by the far-right.

“I am befuddled by it. It just goes to show how people don’t read below surfaces. They don’t read between the lines. They will take something that they think is cool and they will repurpose it to fit themselves when the original intention or meaning of that thing was quite the opposite,” he told the Daily Beast. Weaving thinks the Red Pill types have a “very, very shallow reading of the intention of [The Matrix]. That’s a problem with popular culture: these films are profoundly thought through, but it’s too easy to look cool, have a cool haircut, and have a gun, and you think that’s all you need to do in life.”

He continued:

“They aren’t thinking about other people and are only thinking about themselves. Trump is the classic, most unbelievable example. ‘Narcissist’ is a stupid thing to say, it’s so obvious. He doesn’t give a flying fuck about anyone else but himself. It’s just unbelievable that he’s the president.”

Put another way:

Well said.

(Via the Daily Beast)

Kacey Musgraves and The Flaming Lips have a lot in common: They’re both beloved, they both wear colorful outfits on stage, and they both appear on the new Flaming Lips album, American Head, which is out today.

Musgraves actually pop up multiple times on the new record. Back in May, Flaming Lips shared “Flowers Of Neptune 6,” a classic Flaming Lips psychedelic-folk tune on which Musgraves provides uncredited (but not unrecognizable) backing vocals. Now, today marks the album’s release and therefore that of “God And The Policeman,” on which Musgraves also features (with a proper credit this time).

The duet sees Wayne Coyne and Musgraves telling two sides of a story of crime, with Coyne singing, “If God and the policeman are / Watching over me / They both know what I have done.” Musgraves then mirrors Coyne, “If God and the policeman are / Watching over you / They both know you’re on the run.” The band also shared a video for the track, a portrayal of the lyrics that takes place in and around a sunny dandelion field.

Watch the “God And The Policeman” video above, and revisit “Flowers Of Neptune 6” below.

American Head is out now via Warner Records. Get it here.

The Flaming Lips is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

No one could forget Jon Stewart’s 9/11 monologue on the first day that The Daily Show returned following the terror attacks. Stewart has spent a great deal of his so-called “retirement” fighting for 9/11 survivors, particularly those who’ve suffered lifelong health repercussions. He emotionally ripped into members of Congress when they failed to show up for related hearings. And in the above 2019 photo, he stood by with advocates (for first responders) after the U.S. Senate voted to renew permanent authorization of September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.

The New York Daily News is now reporting that the Trump Administration has stealthily siphoned (for almost four years) money away from a fund championed by Stewart — the FDNY World Trade Center Health Program — to the tune of $4 million. For some unknown reason, the Treasury Department has been withholding these funds.

Program director Dr. Davie Prezant detailed the funds’ disappearance to the NYDN (in a situation that Long Island Republican Rep. Pete King is calling “disgraceful”) while explaining that the program hasn’t even received a letter to explain the defunding. Nineteen years after the attacks, the pandemic is making the New York City funding situation measurably worse for these first responders:

“Here we have sick World Trade Center-exposed firefighters and EMS workers, at a time when the city is having difficult financial circumstances due to COVID-19, and we’re not getting the money we need to be able to treat these heroes.”

For months, Rep. King has been attempting to get an answer from Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to no avail. Nor has the White House responded to the NYDN‘s attempts to secure a remark. King, however, hopes to pull Mike Pence aside during the Tunnel to Towers event on Friday: “Forget the politics. I don’t want to sound naive, but this is terrible, absolutely inexcusable… for even $1 to be being held back is indefensible.”

The annual 9/11 anniversary is a time when people invariably turn to Stewart’s 9/11 monologue while reflecting on how hard he’s fought for first responders in the aftermath. As Rising with Krystal and Saagar host Saagar Enjeti wrote on Twitter, “Jon Stewart’s first tearful monologue after 9/11 is something I re-watch every year.”

You can watch Stewart’s monologue on the Comedy Central website.

(Via New York Daily News)

Miley Cyrus has spent her fair share of time on TV in her life, and she took to the tube again last night for a guest appearance on The Tonight Show. She was all over the program, as she performed a pair of songs, “Midnight Sky” and a cover of Hall & Oates’ “Maneater.”

On top of that, she chatted with Jimmy Fallon, remotely while seated upon a colorful, geometric chair. Fallon noted that “Midnight Sky” borrows from Stevie Nicks’ “Edge Of Seventeen,” and Cyrus told a story about how that came to be, saying:

“I have the coolest letter ever from Stevie. I sent her the song and I said, ‘You know, I have an alternate melody if you don’t want me to pay tribute to you and your greatness and how much you’ve inspired me,’ and she said, ‘You can borrow from me any time.’ Now, you ask me about new artists and what my advice would be for them, and one thing that I’ve just learned from her, from Dolly, Joan, all in the same, is that they’re so open and welcoming to the younger artists coming up and they offer their mentorship. It’s just been really incredibly important in my career, having someone like her to look up to. Everyone looks up to Stevie Nicks, but having that direct relationship, it’s been kind of life-changing and just so important.”

Elsewhere during the conversation, she chatted about her work ethic, Dolly Parton, and more, so check out clips from the show above and below.

Regular Verzuz viewers have known for a few months that Ludacris had a new song with Chance The Rapper on the way. He previewed it during his May battle with Nelly, and now, it has arrived.

“Found You” features a laid-back instrumental, and on the track, Luda and Chance give odes to a special someone. Ludacris opens the song, “God’s creation / No filters, no imitation / Observations, consistent, you’re amazin’ / So fine, wishin’ that you were mine, but that I’m quite patient.”

Chance provides the track’s hook, singing, “So soft, so soft to the touch / Type love that cause fools to rush / Type love that comes in the clutch / Hey yeah, hey yeah / I learned it’s all by design / So delicate, so fine / I was lost but you brought me right back / I just fell in your lap, I had to follow the map / Then I found you.”

Chance hasn’t hopped on a Verzuz session yet, but he’s paying attention to the conversation surrounding the series. Recently fans debated whether Elmo or Barney would come out on top in a Verzuz battle, and Chance passionately defended his position, that Elmo would reign supreme. Chance might be a little biased, though, since he has guested on Sesame Street before.

Listen to “Found You” above.