GoneTrending

At a time when the entertainment world has been brought to a virtual standstill, rapper Cardi B is riding high. This week, her raunchy new single, “WAP” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Cardi allegedly spent over $100,000 on the song’s video for COVID-19 testing alone.

Cardi may have captured the world’s attention by rapping about her “Wet A** Pu**y,” but that’s not the only topic on her mind. The rapper talked with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on the eve of his party’s convention.

At the beginning of the interview, Biden admitted that he and Cardi have something in common. “You know the nickname [his daughter] gave me when she was growing up? She called me Joey B. So we may be related,” Biden joked.

Cardi shared her thoughts on COVID-19 and they’re pretty much how we’re all feeling these days.

CB: I have a whole list of things that I want our next president to do for us. But first, I just want Trump out. His mouth gets us in trouble so much. I don’t want to be lied to—we’re dealing with a pandemic right now, and I just want answers. I want to know when this will be over. I want to go back to my job. But I don’t want someone to lie to me and tell me that it’s okay not to wear a mask, that everything is going to be okay. I want a president to tell me what the steps are for us to get better, to tell me, “This is why it is taking so long, this is why other countries are doing better than ours.” Tell me the truth, the hard-core truth.

Cardi B and Joey B also shared their thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement.

CB: And you know, I feel like Black people, we’re not asking for sympathy, we’re not asking for charity—we are just asking for equality. We are asking for fairness, and we are asking for justice. That is all. I feel like everything people are asking for is getting interpreted in a very different way. No, it’s simple: We just want justice. We want to feel like Americans.

JB: Well, I’ll tell you what. I have a friend in Mississippi, Bennie Thompson, a very well-known congressman, an African American. He called me two weeks ago. He said, “Joe, I just came from a protest. There were as many white kids marching as Black kids. This is Mississippi, Joe. Things are changing.” The reason I’m so optimistic is because of your generation. You’re the smartest, the best educated, the least prejudiced, and the most engaged generation in history. And you’re going to change things. I really mean it!

Joey B. also too the opportunity to discuss about his plan for free college, a big issue for people Cardi’s age.

JB: Also, by the way, if I get elected president, anybody with a family [that makes] less than 125 grand, you’re going to get free education. And everybody gets free community college.

CB: Do you think that’s going to be able to happen?

JB: Absolutely, positively.

Cardi released a viral video two years ago where she vented about amount she pays in taxes. So, it’s no surprise that she brought up the issue with the former vice president.

CB: But what a lot of people are concerned about is, if the government gives us [these things], are they going to raise our taxes? Because clearly nobody wants to pay so much in taxes. Sometimes, when my taxes come in, I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I’m depressed, oh Lord, let me see my Birkin collection.” That is a little joke. [But] when you see the taxes coming off your check, you don’t understand, because you feel like you’re putting in so many hours. People want to know, can you provide college education, this [health care] plan, without a big chunk of taxes coming out of our checks?

JB: Yes, we can. And the way we can pay for all of this is doing practical things, like making sure that everybody has to pay their fair share. [For example] no corporation should pay less than 15 percent tax.

The interview ended with Joey B. pledging his honesty to his new friend Cardi, “I’ve never broken my word.”

Maya Rudolph might be fielding some interesting employment opportunities thanks to Joe Biden picking Kamala Harris as his running mate on the Democratic ticket, but one of her other notable roles is providing news these days as well. Rudolph is excellent as the female hormone monstress Connie on the adult animation show Big Mouth streaming on Netflix. As the show has evolved, her role has grown and changed, and now we know where one of her most infamous lines from the show came from.

Big Mouth is an adult animated show on Netflix known for a variety of things, first of which might be that you can say “bubble bath” in a variety of ways thanks to Rudolph. One of the first things we learn about Connie, in fact, is that she smells so good because she doesn’t use deodorant and she only takes bubble baths.

But it was the way she said that bathing method that so instantly stuck, and it seems the writers have intentionally inserted the phrase “bubble bath” into the script as many times as possible so she had to keep saying it. The line has become something of a running joke online, as it’s basically impossible to say it like Rudolph no matter how hard we try. And even she struggles to get it down on the fly.

And on an episode of Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend, Rudolph explained where the voice and that line came from. The conversation starts at about the 44 minute mark. O’Brien rightfully praises Rudolph’s voice acting performance on the show — and the former Simpsons writer would certainly know a thing or two about animation. As Rudolph explained, she was originally hired to play Nick’s mom but the role was thrown to her as “kind of a one-off” thing. O’Brien then got right to it: he’s obsessed with the way she says “bubble bath” as Connie.

“Sometimes I’ll see something in print that reminds me that I’m not insane. But I got obsessed with the way your character said this certain word,” O’Brien said. “And then I saw online that people were talking about it.”

He tried, and failed, to recreate it himself, which made her say it and cause everyone on the episode to start laughing. She then recalled how the line evolved into what it is today.

“I remember sort of doing it and I remember sort of being egged on to… can you find more? Can you actually find more?” she said. “And we were trying to make — I think maybe initially because she’s meant to be a hormone monsters we were trying to make her voice a roller coaster. Just like a roller coaster of emotions. So it was sort of that low, high, low dipping stuff.”

O’Brien continued to fail at pronouncing “bubble bath” anywhere close to Rudolph, so she had some advice.

“It should slowly bubble out of the back of your throat,” she said, noting that O’Brien’s was sort of “revving up” like a car.

It’s a very funny moment on the podcast and Rudolph ends it with a great My Pillow joke. O’Brien strongly suggests that Rudolph should get an Emmy for the role, if not on those two words alone. If her inevitable time on SNL this fall doesn’t do the trick, this is a hell of a fallback plan.

Gather round if you love to cry! The Toronto Raptors pulled out all the stops in advance of tip-off to their Game 1 series against the Brooklyn Nets, because if the NBA won’t give you the 1st Round Playoff broadcast schedule deserving of a Champion, you are inclined, nay, obligated, to turn your matinee game into a dramatic a spectacle as possible.

To start, Canadian singer Jessie Reyez strapped in at the edge of the viewing platform of the CN Tower, to sing the national anthem 1,814 feet over the city of Toronto. Just a real, honest to god, why the heck not moment and now part of our national heritage, much like these moments:

Not to take away from the physics of the spectacle and talent of Reyez, but watching every player on Toronto’s roster mouth, “Wow” as they kneeled to watch was reason enough to bring the format back for every playoff game going forward.

Then, as if expectations were not TOWERING enough, Toronto took a cue from the Phoenix Suns and had the families of the Raptors starting lineup announce them.

Marc Gasol’s two extremely cute kids kicked it off. His daughter flatly introducing him as, “My daddy Marc Gasol” while his son, perhaps remembering some practice takes leading up to this, echoed in the epitome of a baby voice (he is a baby), “Mahwk Gahsowl.”

Next up was one of Pascal Siakam’s brothers, James, turning the acoustics of an empty apartment into near arena-esque volumes. Then came OG Anunoby’s brother in what we now understand to be the familial Anunoby deadpan.

To bring the energy back up, Fred VanVleet’s family burst on the screen. His daughter, Sanaa, seeing no real need to wait for the preamble of starting position or number, just kind of wailing and clapping as his longtime partner Shontai got to the details. Fred Jr., the baby that pretty much brought Toronto everything, clapped in stoic support.

Then, man, if you weren’t choking up, Kyle Lowry’s kids were here to destroy you. Karter and Kameron took their places on either side of the screen with a basketball hoop between them and nailed the entire pre-game routine.

“From Villanova!” Five-year-old Kameron shouts.

“Six-time All-Star!” Karter Lowry dares you to disagree.

Kameron is back and cannot contain himself, “From North Philly to your city!”

“Number 7!” Karter confirms.

The two look at each other quickly, gearing up for what everyone watching knows by heart like a hymn is coming, “Kyle La-la-la-la-Lowry!”

The cameras, finally, cut to the court and Lowry is smiling so big it could call ships lost at sea safely home. Everyone else is, too.

With the way the Raptors rolled into the first half of the game, Lowry and VanVleet combining for 30 points by the half, there was no doubt seeing their families at home cheering them on was gasoline on the fire already well underway to burning this whole thing up. Karter and Kameron, please do the whole thing next game.

Kanye West made a very public pivot to Christianity ahead of his anticipated album Jesus Is King last year. Ever since, the rapper has broke ground on his own weekly gospel service, joined televangelist pastor Joel Osteen in a series of live events, quit swearing, and even made his album collaborators abstain from pre-marital sex. Now, West wants to use his influence to create a more Christian-friendly version of the popular social media platform TikTok.

Sharing his thoughts to Twitter, West said he has a new idea for a Christian-approved version of the popular app. Saying the idea came to him as a “vision” after being “disturbed” by some of the content he saw on the platform, West said he wants to replace TikTok with “Jesus Tok.” According to West, the new app will be “Christian monitored” and “safe for young children.” While he didn’t offer up any specifics, the rapper said he prays he can collaborate with TikTok in order to make his vision a reality.

Of course, fans immediately flooded Twitter with their own ideas of what “Jesus Tok” would look like.

West’s plans arrive after President Trump announced he was thinking about banning the platform altogether. “As far as TikTok is concerned we’re banning them from the United States,” Trump told journalists in early August.

Read West lay out his “Jesus Tok” plans above.

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will have quite the road to travel in these playoffs if they are to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy in October, beginning with a first round series against the red-hot Portland Trail Blazers.

With the Lakers relative struggles in the seeding round and Portland’s excellent play, there are some that are eyeing an upset in the first round for a team that, even LeBron notes, is “not your typical 8-seed.” The Blazers offense has been superb in Orlando, led by Damian Lillard with plenty of help from C.J. McCollum and the return of Jusuf Nurkic as a force in the frontcourt. Defensively, it’s been a challenge for Portland, but if the Lakers don’t start making shots they could find themselves in quite the battle.

On Monday, LeBron offered up his scouting report on the Blazers, starting with their “two-headed” monster in the backcourt and noting that the Lakers can’t go into the series looking to outscore an elite offensive team.

“Well they have a two-headed monster in Dame and C.J. It starts and ends with those guys,” LeBron said. “They control the tempo; they control the pace. They do all of the ball-handling and they’re the rock of that franchise because they’ve been there. They’ve been there and seen it all. They have playoff experience. They have chemistry between the two of ’em, and we have to have 10 eyes on them at a time. You got the two eyes guarding the ball and the other eight throughout every possession, because they’re that dangerous. So it starts with them, and then they have a Hall of Famer in Carmelo Anthony who can erupt at any point of a game, so you have to always key in on him and have that respect factor because you know what he’s capable of doing. And I believe Nurkic and Zach coming back from injury has helped them out a lot as well. They move extremely well, offensively they’re one of the best scoring teams in the Bubble — sorry, not one of them they ARE the best scoring team in the seeding games — so you have to get stops and you have to get multiple stops. You can’t try to outscore them because they can score with the best, but they’re not your typical 8-seed. I don’t think they would’ve been the 8-seed if they were healthy all year, and that’s my mindset. I’m not going in as a 1-seed against an 8-seed, this is the Lakers versus Portland, so I’ve already thrown that out of the window. So I won’t be going in with my guard down.”

James is doing the smart thing here in propping up the opponent and ensuring they know — and his team knows — that they have his full respect in this series. It sends the message to the rest of the Lakers that they too need to be fully expecting a battle, so they aren’t in any way surprised by a Blazers team that will blitz them offensively.

Still, for all of Portland’s offensive firepower the question for them lies on the defensive end where they’ve been woeful at times, needing Lillard and McCollum to bail them out with spectacular offensive performances. Against a Lakers team with scorers the caliber of James and Anthony Davis, that poses a serious potential problem, and whichever team can find their defensive stride first likely takes an advantage — and one would expect that to come from a Laker team that prior to the hiatus was tracking as one of the league’s best defenses.

Since being released from prison, Meek Mill has been a vocal advocate for prison reform. Along with Meek, another celebrity who has supported justice reform is Kim Kardashian, who recently sought a law degree. After beginning her studies, Kim has become an outspoken advocate for many she believes are unjustly imprisoned, and her latest campaign for freedom centers around C-Murder. After publicizing her push to free C-Murder, Meek hopped on social media to offer his support.

C-Murder, born Corey Miller, was convicted of murder in 2002 and sentenced to life in prison. But according to Kim, new evidence suggests the rapper was wrongfully convicted. Since his sentencing, laws have changed and a unanimous jury decision is now necessary in order for a defendant to be sentenced to life in prison. Furthermore, Kim reports new evidence has come to light since the rapper’s conviction which suggests some jurors may have been pressured to find Miller guilty.

Along with publicizing information about Miller’s case, Kim started the hashtag #FreeCoreyMiller and Meek quickly co-signed. Showing support for Kim’s movement, Meek shared a photo of Miller alongside his family. “#freecorymiller off the rip,” the rapper wrote.

Check out Meek’s post above.

Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Earlier today, Netflix tweeted the following: “alone loshme reeebtpms wnettyrhitd.” No, you didn’t just have a stroke. If you re-arrange that string of nonsense, it reads, “Enola Holmes September TwentyThird,” as in: Enola Holmes, a new film starring Millie Bobby Brown as Sherlock Holmes’ sister Enola, premieres on Netflix on September 23.

Based on Nancy Springer’s book series The Enola Holmes Mysteries (which is involved in a copyright infringement lawsuit from the estate of Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle), Enola Holmes follows Sherlock and Mycroft’s “sharp as a tack” sister who is as gifted at being a “super sleuth” as her famous brothers. Here’s more from Netflix:

On the morning of her 16th birthday, Enola Holmes wakes to find that her mother has disappeared, leaving behind an odd assortment of gifts but no apparent clue as to where she’s gone or why. After a free-spirited childhood, Enola suddenly finds herself under the care of her brothers Sherlock and Mycroft, both set on sending her away to a finishing school for ‘proper’ young ladies. Refusing to follow their wishes, Enola escapes to search for her mother in London. But when her journey finds her entangled in a mystery surrounding a young runaway Lord, Enola becomes a super-sleuth in her own right, outwitting her famous brother as she unravels a conspiracy that threatens to set back the course of history.

Watch the teaser trailer for Enola Holmes (which also stars Henry Cavill and Sam Claflin as Sherlock and Mycroft) below.

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

The Democratic National Convention 2020 (ABC, CBS, NBC, 10:00 p.m.) — The 2020 Democratic National Convention kicks off tonight and because the pandemic continues to rage on, most of the speeches endorsing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be given virtually. You can still tune in live (or stream if that’s your thing) and you’ll probably want to because some big names are speaking this year. Michelle Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders headline tonight’s rally with a handful of influential politicians following the rest of the week.

I May Destroy You (HBO, 9:00 p.m.) — Arabella’s obsession with an up-and-coming author leads to progress in her own writing, despite a difficult setback on her road to recovery. Kwame’s relationship progresses and forces him to make amends with an ex-boyfriend. And Terry gets lucky, in her personal and professional life, while helping Arabella stake out the bar where her assault took place.

Lovecraft Country (HBO Max) — This new sci-fi epic landed on HBO over the weekend and it’s poised to be the network’s next big thing. There are other reasons to watch, obviously, and they’ve got a lot to do with Jurnee Smollet, the H.P. Lovecraft themes, and a kick-ass storyline that blends sci-fi-inspired horror tropes with the harsh realities of racism, slavery, and segregation.

The first game of the 2020 NBA Playoffs saw the West’s 3-seed Denver take on the 6-seed Utah in a battle of shorthanded squads with dreams of a deep playoff run.

Denver took control early in the game, with some hot shooting from Michael Porter Jr., overall dominance from Nikola Jokic on the offensive end, both scoring and facilitating, and after a quiet first quarter, Jamal Murray erupted with a 12-point run all on his own in the second to push the Nuggets in front by seven at the break.

In the third quarter, it was Utah that had the answers, stiffening up on defense as Rudy Gobert reminded everyone why he was a two-time DPOY, and the offense came alive after some stagnant stretches in the first half.

The Jazz came in without two starters in Bojan Bogdanovic, who had surgery that ended his season during the hiatus, and Mike Conley Jr., who is in Ohio following the birth of his son, Elijah, on Sunday night. As such, the chief question facing this Jazz team was how would they create offense beyond Donovan Mitchell — and how much of a load could Mitchell carry on his shoulders. The answer to the latter question proved to be a lot, as Mitchell had 57 points on 19-of-32 shooting and six assists to lead a Utah offense that will turn to him for so much.

Joe Ingles also stepped up in a major way with 19 points and six assists, taking on the role of secondary creator for an offense that is in desperate need of one.

In the final quarter, it was Mitchell and Murray who dueled, with the Jazz guard torturing Nuggets defenders for 21 in the final quarter and Murray (and Jokic) coming alive in the final minutes to drag the Nuggets back into the game despite Mitchell’s best efforts.

After Murray and Mitchell traded buckets to leave the game tied at 113-113, it was Jokic that picked up a key offensive rebound and earned a pair of free throws, hitting both to put Denver ahead by two with just under 30 seconds to play. Mitchell answered that with a foul drawn of his own on a drive with 22.1 seconds to play, fouling out Torrey Craig and tying the game by making his 11th and 12th free throws of the afternoon (he did not miss a free throw in the game) to get to 51 points and set a Jazz record for points in a postseason game.

Jokic had a decent look at a game-winner at the buzzer, but pump-faked a free throw line shot to drive on Gobert who recovered to force a miss on a tough banking hook shot, sending it to overtime knotted at 115-115.

In overtime, the two teams struggled to find an offensive rhythm early, but the Nuggets were able to jump out to a 123-115 lead behind some quality defense forcing turnovers, a big three-pointer from Monte Morris in the corner to give them some cushion, and then a Murray leaning three that was all but the dagger to put them up eight. After a Jordan Clarkson runner gave Utah brief life, Jokic followed that up with a three to go up nine and all but turn the lights out on the Jazz.

Mitchell and Clarkson would try to claw back in it, but another Murray three put the icing on the cake as Denver eventually pulled away to a 135-125 win that must be demoralizing for the Jazz and Mitchell.

It was a spectacular opening game to the NBA Playoffs, and one the Jazz will feel like got away from them given their star’s spectacular 57-point performance. Murray, who had missed much of the seeding round with a hamstring issue, looked sensational with 36 points on 13-of-20 shooting, many of which came in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime. Jokic had 29 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists as he was his usual stellar self, and Jerami Grant gave them a big lift off the bench with 19 points after Michael Porter Jr. went quiet and was eventually sat in the closing stretch in favor of a better defender.

Utah now must bounce back and ask for another Herculean performance from Mitchell in Game 2, who will need more from his teammates to get the job done against this Denver team. Jordan Clarkson provided a nice boost with 18 points off the bench, but aside from him, the other three that came off the Utah bench only chipped in eight points while Royce O’Neale was almost non-existent on offense with three points in 32 minutes.

Joseph Clarke and Bri’Anna Harper made viral waves this spring when they shared an incredible at-home rendition of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” on Instagram. Clarke frequently shares his gorgeous voice on social media frequently, belting out gospel tunes and covering classics. Harper is only 12, but her vocals are seriously something else. She’s been referred to as a “singing prodigy” and when you hear her, you’ll see why.

Both singers have had moments in the spotlight on America’s Got Talent and The Ellen Show, and currently have something special in the works with Disney. But there’s something so endearing in these home video performances, with just the two of them singing together—and their blooper reel is impossible not to smile at.

First, check out their viral version of the Marvin Gaye favorite:

How much joy and talent is there in this video? Seriously impressive.

But the mistake videos Clarke shared more recently make their performance even sweeter. Goodness, if only we could all sound this fabulous when we mess up. (There are four blooper videos to scroll through here.)

You can follow these two individually on Instagram (Clarke here and Harper here) to see more of their amazing performances, both together and individually. Definitely two rising stars to watch as they continue to shine.