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The U.S. is an outlier among developed nations in our handling of the coronavirus pandemic. While other countries have gone through rough outbreaks, none have the sustained growth in cases that the U.S. is seeing. Rather than try to control the outbreak so we can somewhat resume normal life, Americans seem to have decided to continue with normal life during a pandemic that’s already killed close to 150,000 Americans and given at least a million more long-term health problems. From conspiracy theories to partisan bickering to “the gov’t can’t tell me what to do” individualism, the U.S. is a hot mess on the pandemic front, and the coronavirus is thriving off of our disunity.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Other countries have proven that it is possible to get a hold of this thing and keep it from running rampant. As former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Senior Adviser to the Bipartisan Policy Center Andy Slavitt explains, we could nip the pandemic in the bud in a matter of weeks if we can just agree to do it.

Slavitt wrote on Twitter:

“COVID Update July 26: We can virtually eliminate the virus any time we decide to. We can be back to a reasonably normal existence: schools, travel, job growth, safer nursing homes & other settings. And we could do it in a matter of weeks. If we want to.”

He pointed out that New Zealand managed to completely eliminate the virus with its decisive, unified approach. And for those who would say that’s easier to do on an island, he also pointed to Germany, which had an outbreak for a bit, but got it under control.

He also pointed to Italy, France, and Spain, who had it bad around the same time we did, but managed to get their outbreaks under control, as most developed nations—and even many less developed nations—have.

“But don’t tell me the U.S. can’t take action if we want to,” he wrote. “And we can’t face the families of 150,000 people who didn’t have to die & tell them this had to happen. And I think it’s why our national political leaders won’t go near these families & the grieving process.”

Then he offered the good news: “We are always 4-6 weeks from being able to do what countries around the world have done.”

But we have to go all in, or as he says, “throw the kitchen sink at COVID-19 in the U.S.” None of this half-ass shut down, let people do whatever they feel like business. Slavitt defines the kitchen sink as:

1. Start with universal mask wearing. We didn’t do this in Mar-April and let’s chalk it up to faulty instructions. But we know better now.

2. Keep the bars & restaurants & churches & transit closed. All hot spots.

3. Prohibit interstate travel.

4. Prohibit travel into the country (no one will let us into their country so that shouldn’t be hard).

5. Have hotels set up to allow people with symptoms to isolate from their families at no cost.

6. Instead of 50% lockdown (which is what we did in March in April), let’s say it’s a 90% lockdown.

Naturally, that would mean things would be tight and tough for a few weeks. We’d need the government to help bridge the financial gap. But we could do it.

As Slavitt pointed out, “Our grandparents who lived through a decade long depression, a 6 year world war, or whatever hardship they faced in their country would tell us we would make it.”

Slavitt explained how we could even form “friend & family bubbles” like the NBA has successfully done.

At first, cases and deaths would continue to rise and people would continue to die, because there’s always a lag.

And because of that, the “COVID truthers would have a field day, tweeting every day the same routine” about how the lockdown wasn’t working and the government is fascist and the numbers are skewed. “But if someone took Trump’s phone, it would help,” he added.

Then, after a few weeks, the R value—the rate at which the infection reproduces—of the virus would drop drastically. “If you have 60,000 cases in your community, in 50 days, it would drop to 58. 6000 becomes 6. 600 becomes 1.”

This is the exponential math that is a hallmark of epidemiology. The idea isn’t to get to zero, but to get cases down low enough to be able to implement the testing, contact tracing, and isolating that keeps spread low even during a reopening—but which can only be done when numbers are low enough. The U.S. in general has not had numbers low enough to do that since the beginning of the pandemic because we were too slow and too all over the place to take the necessary steps toward that goal.

With fewer cases, we wouldn’t need to do as much testing, which would allow our testing capacity to build to a level where we could actually test everyone we need to.

We could also catch up on PPE production, and keep the mental health crises that go along with an uncontrolled pandemic limited to a couple of months instead of the ongoing nightmare we’re in right now.

As Larry Brilliant, the epidemiologist who helped find the cure for smallpox, points out, we are smarter than this virus. “If it was just our science and the goodwill of American people, absent bad governance, we would have defeated it already. I don’t mean we would have eradicated it, but we would have been much further along into kicking it into the dustbin of history.”

Slavitt pointed out that even in countries that are now seeing an uptick in cases after having gotten numbers very low, the recent daily peaks are in the hundreds, not the tens of thousands that we’re seeing in the U.S.

Think about what that would mean for us. For our medical workers. For the scientists trying to get a vaccine safely on the market. We’ve already started to get used to social distancing norms during the pandemic, but if we could get the virus under control, those measures would be a lot more effective.

Yes, it would mean 6 to 8 weeks of disruption. But in the big scheme of things, that’s not that long. And we’re already suffering through months of disruption anyway because we took a haphazard, disunified approach, which is harming us economically, emotionally, and epidemiologically.

And since we don’t know yet if a vaccine will be the be all end all for this pandemic, we have to figure out how to manage without one for now.

Of course, as Slavitt points out, “The major objection to all this? People who think this infringes on their ‘rights.'”

But we all give up some “rights” simply by living in a civilized society. There are rule and laws we all have to follow. We can’t just do whatever we want—not when what we want to do puts others in harm’s way. And during a pandemic, public health measures are designed to protect people, in the same way that food handling regulations and road safety laws do.

What about herd immunity? We don’t know enough about how immunity with this virus works yet. Also, any attempt at reaching herd immunity means a mass number of casualties—not only hundreds of thousands of deaths, but millions upon millions of chronically ill people. Not ideal, especially when we actually can get this thing under control with a serious short-term strategy.

We all saw the Florida and Texas and Arizona outbreaks coming as governors tossed aside public health advice and citizens flaunted their “freedom” to gather in crowds, not wear a mask, and not do what needed to be done.

The thing is, it will all have to be done anyway, eventually. “We will do this. Theres is no other way,” Slavitt wrote. “The question is when. The question is who will convince us. The question is the leadership it takes.”

Really, it boils down to what it has always boiled down to—listening to the majority of epidemiologists who have prepared their whole careers for this moment and taking decisive, unified action that lines up with the science. The more we keep pretending that the virus isn’t real, or isn’t that bad, or is some kind of hoax or conspiracy that the entire world is somehow in on, the longer we’re going to suffer.

Let’s hit the reset button here—shut down for 6 weeks, pay everyone to stay home, and get our numbers down to a manageable level so we can keep them there. Let’s be proactive instead of reactive. Let’s stop being the world’s poster child for what not to do in a pandemic. We may not be able to lead the world in a crisis at this point, but we could at least attempt not to embarrass ourselves any further.

During a confessional Instagram Live sessions, Megan Thee Stallion revealed the full extent of her recent injuries. She said during the stream that she had to have surgery to remove bullets after being shot in both feet a week ago after a party in the Hollywood Hills, leading to the dramatic arrest of fellow rapper Tory Lanez. Lanez allegedly shot Megan after an argument in or near his SUV. When police found and stopped the vehicle, both rappers were inside and Tory was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon in a motor vehicle.

However, as further details were revealed, first by Megan’s friend who was in the car with the two rappers, then by Megan herself, the investigation changed to one looking into whether Tory had committed assault. According to sources close to the situation, Tory told police that the shooting was accidental, while Megan has mostly remained mum about the details of the possible assault. Megan did previously address the situation in a less-direct way, criticizing those fans on Twitter who decided to make jokes about the situation, including video model Draya Michele, who made light of the shooting in a recent interview.

Watch Megan Thee Stallion discuss her surgery above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Run The Jewels unveiled their highly-anticipated record RTJ4 in early June, but the duo had another project up their sleeves. Run The Jewels just announced they have developed their own exclusive strain of cannabis and it’s hitting shelves soon, alongside an array of other products.

The duo’s Ooh La La strain is a sativa-focused cannabis that got its title from the group’s recent RTJ4 song of the same name. Along with flower, Run The Jewels’ new line of bud boasts pre-rolls, vapes, extracts, and blunts, and is available soon throughout California dispensaries. According to the group, the strain invokes the “aroma of spice cake and frosting plus flavors of sweet fruit cake with an herbal tea chaser.”

In a statement, Run The Jewels said the new strain was created with music and advocacy in mind: “We couldn’t be more excited to announce our cannabis partnership with the legendary COOKIES and sister-company LEMONNADE on our first branded strain, Ooh La La. This collab with our homie Berner — the Bay Area rapper and entrepreneur who built COOKIES into one of the largest cannabis brands in the world — is based on a shared love of music, cannabis and advocacy.”

Along with announcing the new cannabis endeavor, Run The Jewels sahred a collage video accompanying their RTJ4 number “Ju$t” with Pharrell. For the visual, animator Winston Hacking created a mind-bending mashup of this years’ memorable moments. “I worked closely with Run The Jewels to create a satirical time-capsule of 2020 thus far, capturing the sentiment of their song using collage animation,” Hacking said. “Drawing on the influence of Public Enemy’s classic ‘Shut ‘Em Down’ video, we combined cut up images from contemporary and historical events into a psychedelic protest vignette, a visual f*ck you to systemic racism.”

Watch Run The Jewels’ “Ju$t” video above. Find more information about Run The Jewels’ Ooh La La strain here and read our review of RTJ4 here.

Earlier this year, Drake became the artist with the most songs to ever appear on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. Now, he has extended his lead (he’s at 224 songs now) and broken another record in the process: His two new collaborations with DJ Khaled, “Popstar” and “Greece,” debut on the August 1 chart at Nos. 3 and 8, respectively. That gives Drake 40 top-10 songs all-time, which is the most ever.

The two songs break Drake’s tie with Madonna, who remains at 38 top-10 songs. Following those two on the all-time rankings are The Beatles (34), Rihanna (31), Michael Jackson (30), Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder (28 each), Janet Jackson, Elton John (27 each), Lil Wayne, Elvis Presley, and Taylor Swift (25 each). It seems like Swift could push her way up those rankings on next week’s chart, as her new album, Folklore, is performing astronomically well since its release a few days ago.

Aside from the aforementioned accolades, Drake also holds the following Hot 100 records: most total top 40 hits (now up to 113), most top 10 debuts (25), most consecutive weeks spent on the chart, and most simultaneous entries in the chart’s top 10/top 20/top 40/on the chart.

Elsewhere on the chart, DaBaby and Roddy Ricch’s “Rockstar” spends an impressive seventh week in the No. 1 spot.

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

UK rapper Octavian is gearing up for the release of his debut record, which is expected to arrive in the coming months and was produced by grime legend Skepta. The rapper already has two mixtapes and a handful of singles in his catalog, which has allowed the rapper to gain a following and attract the attention of big-name artists. For his debut album’s lead single, Octavian called upon Future to lend a verse on the record and be a part of the video released in tandem with the track.

“Rari (Chapter 1)” opens as a soft ballad before a hard-hitting beat provides space for Future to unleash his bars. “These b*tches, they be falling in love with the jewelry, falling in love with the spirit,” Future raps.

Sharing the single’s video to social media, Octavian wrote: “Firstly I’d like to thank god for the countless blessings and be able to work with my idols on this album. Secondly I would like to thanks all my fans that supported me and been so patient about my debut album.”

Ahead of the track’s release, Octavian linked up with Gorillaz for the hazy earworm “Friday 13th.” The single arrived as part of the UK group’s recent Song Machine series and accompanied a psychedelic video self-filmed in quarantine.

Watch Octavian And Future’s “Rari (Chapter 1)” video above.

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

Keeping up with the best new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw a surprise release from Taylor Swift (featuring a surprise collaborator) and a pair of J. Cole singles. Yeah, it was a great week for the best new music. Check out the highlights below.

Taylor Swift — Folklore

Taylor Swift usually executes album rollouts in a traditional way, but not this time. She announced the existence of Folklore, and less than 24 hours later, it was out. That wasn’t the only way in which Folklore departed from Swift’s usual fare: It featured heavy involvement from The National’s Aaron Dessner, a first-time Swift collaborator. The results are inarguable, as the album has already sold over a million copies and will more than likely be another No. 1 debut for Swift.

Logic — No Pressure

There really is no pressure for Logic here because this is his final album. He said so himself when he announced it, but this won’t be the last fans will see of Logic, as he’s moving on to twitchier pastures (he’ll be streaming on Twitch). As for why Logic decided to drop the mic once and for all, he’s “over it, man.”

Gunna — Wunna (Deluxe)

Releasing a deluxe edition of an album quickly after the original version has become a new musical standard in 2020, and Gunna is the latest to hop on the bandwagon. The expanded edition adds about 20 minutes of music to Wunna, including collaborations with Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert, and Future.

J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny, and Tainy — ‘Un Dia’

In a time when hope can be hard to find, J Balvin has offered a dose of it with “Un Dia.” Joined by an all-star cast of collaborators — Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny, and producer Tainy — he squeezes light out of the darkness, and Dua expresses romantic optimism: “One day you’ll love me again / One day you’ll love me for sure.”

Gorillaz — “Pac-Man” Feat. Schoolboy Q

Gorillaz’s Song Machine project rolls on, and the latest collaborator to be brought into the fold is Schoolboy Q. He joined the virtual group on “Pac-Man,” which truly is about the titular video game, as 2-D sings, “I’m a mad Pac-Man / Living in leveled world / Everywhere I go / I don’t know where I am.”

Jaden Smith — “Cabin Fever”

Jaden Smith has been confidently out of his father’s shadow as an artist for some time now, and he has proven so again with “Cabin Fever.” The track is a bit of a stylistic departure for the often experimental artist, as “Cabin Fever” is about as close to straight-up pop as Smith has gotten.

J. Cole — “The Climb Back” and “Lion King On Ice”

After a beef with Noname that didn’t go so well, Cole is focusing on his upcoming album. He previewed the forthcoming effort with a pair of new songs last week, “The Climb Back” and “Lion King On Ice.” Whenever Cole’s next effort drops, it will look to extend the rapper’s famous “platinum with no features” streak.

Headie One and Drake — “Only You Freestyle”

Headie One is a rising star who has become a face of UK drill in recent years, so much so that he caught the attention of Drake. The Canadian rapper gave Headie a co-sign by hopping on “Only You Freestyle,” which features threatening verses from the rappers and a classically hip-hop video featuring fancy cars and posses on standby.

Guapdad 4000 — “Orgasm Full Of Pain” Feat. Deante Hitchcock

Guapdad has been restless lately, and he continues his productive streak by recruiting Deante Hitchcock for the colorfully titled “Orgasm Full Of Pain.” Although the pair both appeared on Revenge Of The Dreamers III, this is their first collaboration, and the hard-hitting result is welcomed.

Flo Milli — “Weak”

The 20-year-old breakout star recently released her debut EP, Ho, Why Is You Here?, and she celebrated the release by dropping a video for a favorite from the collection, “Weak.” The song is anything but what its title suggests, and instead sees Milli going after men who aren’t so strong.

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

Although Dreamville duo Earthgang is primarily known as inventive rappers in the vein of fellow Atlantans Outkast and Goodie Mob, on many of their tracks they’ve shown some impressive singing chops as well. Today, group member Olu really showed off his eyebrow-raising range with a tender cover of Marvin Gaye’s classic hit “What’s Going On,” dedicated to Olu’s late father Milton Ahdwele Fann. Olu explained why he chose the song and released the cover in a guest editorial on DJBooth.

Olu says that “What’s Going On” was one of his father’s favorite songs, but that singing was cathartic for him as he struggles with the dark thoughts brought on by a seemingly endless coronavirus lockdown and rising racist sentiment both online and IRL. “This cover is my gift to my father and anyone separated from loved ones, or feeling low or apathetic about the current state of our world,” he writes. “Y’all keep your heads high and your spirits higher. We will get through this and love more and more on the other side.”

“We all had plans for 2020. We all had goals to better our lives,” he continues. “And here we sit, fighting a global disease, struggling to eat, struggling to keep a roof over our head, struggling to educate our children and keep them safe, struggling to save the world from climate change while fighting racism, sexism, classicism, and individualism… It’s a lot to deal with. It’s a lot to process. So singing becomes this cathartic activity when you can’t cry because you aren’t exactly sure what you are feeling.”

What Olu is feeling, he says, is a sense of hope inspired by the words of Mr. Gaye. “It’s a reminder that somewhere, some of us, most of us do care. We see with our hearts and think with them, too. That even if we’re trapped in the rat race, we know this isn’t the answer. We know there is more love in us.”Watch Olu’s sweet cover of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” above.

Over the weekend, The Chainsmokers headlined an installment of the “Safe & Sound” concert series, a drive-in fundraiser show that went down in the Hamptons. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the event, though, was a performance that draws immediate parallels to that moment from Succession: One of the openers was Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, performing as DJ D-Sol.

Bloomberg described the scene:

“Solomon was on stage for an hour, just him and a turntable on an elevated platform, mask around neck, surrounded by animations of cherries and his deejay name, D-Sol, in flashing bubble letters. He put his hand up in the air, playing electronic dance beat takes on popular songs — not unlike the Chainsmokers, with more Fleetwood Mac than Coldplay. Giant plumes of smoke went up in front of the stage as the sky turned pink and orange.”

The publication also reports that among the “couple of thousand people” in attendance were the Winklevoss twins (Cameron and Tyler), and that parking spots to watch the show cost “as much as $25,000, with the top tier including an air-conditioned RV and private bathroom.”

Solomon’s performance wasn’t actually as anomalous of an event as it may seem. Solomon has been active as DJ D-Sol since 2018, and he has performed all around the world, in New York, Miami, the Bahamas, and other places. DJ D-Sol has over 30,000 followers on Instagram, and on Spotify, he boasts upwards of 625,000 monthly listeners. His most popular release on the platform, a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop,” has been played nearly 8 million times.

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

Great travel photography is transportive. It’s able to surpass its 2-D limitations and convey the feel of a certain place — the taste of street food, the sounds of a city square, or the power of crashing waves. It goes beyond the visual level to act on all of the senses.

That’s where Australia-based photographer Eugene Tan (aka ::Uge) excels. His sweeping shots of the tranquil turquoise waters of Bondi Beach have more in common with the mid-19th century Hudson River School art movement than with your run-of-the-mill IG photos. He possesses a distinct ability to breathe life into static images, even when the point of view is high above the action, a distinct trademark of the photographer.

These days, we all need a little digital transportation — if only to escape the absolute boredom that being quarantined during summer brings. So we reached out to ::Uge to take us on a visual tour of some of his favorite spots in Australia’s New South Wales. These are landscape he knows well. The photographer, who founded Bondi Beach’s Aquabumps Gallery, has been documenting and exploring the twists and turns of Australia’s wild crags and endless beaches since he was nine years old.

Take a break from your existential dread for a minute and let’s dive into this visual tour of New South Wales — with captions from ::Uge himself.

White Silica: Hyams beach in the NSW South Coast, 2.5 hours from Sydney. Famous for its crystal blue waters and fine white sandy beaches. Has to be seen to be believed.

Azzurro: The infamous Bondi Icebergs – taken on a summer day from a helicopter. My signature style of photography being capturing beach life from above in a helicopter and below the ocean.

Colors of Bondi – shot on the 1st of Jan, a famous day for beachgoers kicking off their year doing what the majority of Aussies love – hitting the beach for a swim, surf, or a laze on the sand. Shot from the bird!

The infamous Bondi Lifeguards on a beautiful October morning just after sunrise where the light is warm and golden. This time of year in Bondi is magic.

Moonscape: Mungo National Park, located in south-western New South Wales, is noted for the archaeological remains discovered in the park. The remains of Mungo Man, the oldest human remains discovered in Australia, and Mungo Lady, the oldest known human to have been ritually cremated, were both discovered within the park.

Narooma on NSW’s far south coast. Shot from the bird – where you get to see just how blue the water is and how white the sand is against it.

Pass Lines: The famous Byron Bay pass this summer 2020. Home to longboarders and loved for its gentle long rides.

Byron Sets: We’re spending more and more time at Australia’s most Easterly point of Australia, Byron Bay. It’s where my wife spent much of her youth and our kids love this spot ‘the pass’, famous for its consistent gentle waves that wrap the point and go forever. At sunset here is magic and you will often surf with dolphins in the waves.

Lone Swimmer – my first ever helicopter ride, given to me by my wife for Christmas. I captured this at the north end of Bondi of a woman swimming off the rocks and it’s one of our most popular images of all time!

Bronte Bathe: Peak summers day in Sydney – shot mid-afternoon. This shot reminds of a Slim Aarons moment. Australia is famous for our ocean pools, as they wrap the coast from North to East and are a popular spot from swimmers and families.

Aussie Bush in the NSW mid-north coast – a famous Aussie outlook for many living in the country with the rich light of sunset against the gum trees. Nothing like being in nature.

Coogee Pastels – early swim in Summer on Coogee Beach.

Kombi – shot on one of my morning sunrise wanders, in winter when the beaches are quiet and the car park at Bondi had one lone Kombi sitting there – very rare for Bondi.

Bogey Hole: The swimming hole at Bronte Beach, Sydney, captured from the helicopter – ‘I love shooting this angle for the colors of the water and the swimmers who all look like miniature people enjoying what we all love about warm sunny days of summer. This is a special spot for swimmers and families.

Sea Cliff Bridge: Clifton NSW, just south of Sydney. Shot from the heli, I loved the line of the bridge over the wild ocean below.

Spirituality: Mackenzies Bay at Tamarama, Sydney. On my daily sunrise shoot, I was stopped in my tracks by a pod of dolphins who put on a show for the passers-by and surfers. Buses pulled over – people gasped, it was magic.

Logic has billed his latest album as his last and now, he’s giving fans a glimpse into the reason he’s kissing the rap game goodbye. In his new “DadBod” video, home movies provide the bulk of the footage as he reflects on the joy of fatherhood, playing with his son and showing off the new domestic lifestyle he’s settled into with his wife Brittney and their new baby.

Things are looking up for Logic as he kicks off the next chapter of his life outside the public eye. Ahead of the release of his final album, No Pressure, he revealed that he had joined an exclusive deal with streaming platform Twitch for “seven figures.” Under the terms of the contract, he will stream for a set number of hours a day, giving him plenty of time to be a stay-at-home dad.

His swan song is also garnering a favorable reception on social media as fans and peers say farewell to Logic after his near-decade in the spotlight. One of those fans is NBA superstar LeBron James, who noted on Instagram that he “left in great fashion” with No Pressure.

Watch Logic’s ‘Dad Bod’ video above.

No Pressure is out now via Def Jam Recordings and Visionary Music Group. Get it here.