Houston hottie Megan Thee Stallion gets a timely assist from her hometown’s favorite heroine Beyonce on the remix of her viral hit, “Savage.” After rumors of the collaboration circulated on social media for the past several days, the collaboration was confirmed by nothing short of the real thing, featuring a revamped beat and a guest verse from the Queen Bey, who both sings and raps, digging deep into her “Feeling Myself” bag for one of her most stunning bars yet. Proceeds of the track will reportedly go to Bread of Life Houston‘s COVID-19 relief efforts.
“Savage” is the standout single from Megan’s recently released EP, Suga, which Meg dropped in early March amid her controversial battle with her label. The legal battle was precipitated by her move to Roc Nation management — founded by Beyonce’s husband Jay-Z — and a back-and-forth that saw Megan and her label accusing each other of withholding funds owed to the other party. Meanwhile, “Savage” became a viral hit after TikTok users began to perform choreographed dances to the song, creating a craze that fed its overwhelming success.
Meanwhile, Beyonce has flexed her rap muscles more and more lately after her verse from DJ Khaled’s “Top Off” and collaboration with Jay-Z for their album Everything Is Love. Her contribution to “Savage” is one of the few she’s bestowed on a female rapper — the first being the aforementioned “Feeling Myself” with Nicki Minaj, who incidentally also worked with Megan on “Hot Girl Summer.”
Listen to Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” remix with Beyonce above.
On Monday, Lizzo celebrated her 32nd birthday and all the success she’s had in the last year. While the singer received a huge amount of support and love for her birthday from friends and fans alike, one birthday wish mattered more than the rest. The singer took to social media to share her unabridged joy after seeing that Beyonce had wished her a happy birthday.
On her official website, Beyonce publically wished Lizzo a happy birthday. The heartfelt post included an adorable picture of Lizzo as a chubby-cheeked baby sporting oversized yellow glasses and a bright pink bow. Upon seeing the post, Lizzo lost it. Filming a selfie video of her reaction, Lizzo shed tears of joy. “Beyonce wished me a happy birthday on her website,” she said while wiping away tears. “She knows it’s my birthday. Thank you, Beyonce. Oh my god, thank you, Beyonce. She knows I exist. I don’t know what to do with myself.”
Along with sharing a candid video of her reaction, Lizzo thanked the pop star on her Instagram. “I don’t know how to ACT,” Lizzo wrote in the caption. “She is my inspiration to be a singer after seeing destiny’s child perform in the 5th grade… I LOVE YOU BEY!”
Lizzo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Earlier this year, Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats put their heads together and emerged with a clever project, Unlocked. It was first released as a short film/long-form music video, in which a collaborative album between the two leaks online, so the two have to virtually traverse the internet to recover it. The next day, they released the songs from the film as a new album of the same title. Now, Curry and Beats are dipping back into the Unlocked well, as they are gearing up to release the project in comic book form.
The plot of the comic comes courtesy of Psycho Films, and the 48-page book will be illustrated by Sam Hochman, Joey Prosser, Forrest Whaley, Justin Johnson, Chaz Bottoms, Malik Bolton, Rachel Headlam, Borboev Shakhnazer, and Asekov Tilek. Additionally, the book will include a vinyl flexi-disc insert of the single “DIET_.”
Additionally, an instrumental version of the album will be available to stream beginning on May 1, and it will be the first instrumental album from Beats. In a recent episode of his YouTube series The Cave, Beats said, “Unlocked is so much more than a few songs, it’s a feeling we all have For the first time I’m releasing my instrumentals because I truly believe these beats can live on their own. Put them on while you read the comic and stay tuned for part 2!”
There are few animals that look and sound as rough and tough as a rhinoceros. However, its surprising to see that baby rhinoceroses make high-pitched cooing sounds that have a human-like quality.
The cute noises being made by Kombe and Nyoni are common when they are ready to be fed. They seem to be making these sounds to guilt their caretakers into giving them food. It’s like when a dog whimpers or a child pouts when they want a cookie.
You would never guess this is what a rhino sounds like..
Parents who have been home with their school-age children for weeks and will most likely remain that way until next school year may be wondering what school will even look like when it finally resumes. With the coronavirus pandemic sticking around for the foreseeable future, we clearly can’t go back to packed buses and classrooms, school assemblies, close contact sports, etc.
So what will school look like post-lockdown?
A teacher living and working in Hangzhou, China shared a description on Facebook that might offer some clues. Michelle Lomabardi Henry works at Wahaha International School and explained how life has changed for students, teachers, and administrators after a 14-week pandemic shutdown.
“Many of my teacher friends have been curious about life in school after COVID19,” wrote Henry. “So, I thought I would explain it in detail once.”
First, she described the phased approach to kids returning, with different grades coming back at different times.
“We were out of school a total of 14 weeks, 3 of which were planned Chinese New Year break. The first week, April 13th, all teachers were called back to learn the new protocols in place while continuing online learning. The 2nd week, grades 4-8 were called back, and today is the 3rd week with K-3 joining us. Having the kids come back in stages allowed us to practice protocols without full traffic in the building.”
Then she explained the temperature and mask protocols:
“Each morning before we get to school, we need to send in our temperature and verify we have no symptoms. When we get to school we go through a face recognition scan that records our temperature again. We take our temperature for the 3rd time by lunch. Masks on campus are optional now and there are special trash cans for masks on each floor.”
Finally, she described what life in the classroom is like:
“In the classrooms, desks are in rows 1 meter apart. Kids get up one at time to do anything. Specialist are doing lessons in the classroom, unless the class has 10 or less students then they can do it in their own room. Each student has their own supplies and they do not share. Four times a day, at scheduled times kids get their hands sanitized with a chemical free spray (Enozo). All afterschool activities, as well as any meetings, assemblies or other crowd gathering events are cancelled. Kids still have recess but are encouraged to keep their distance from one another….not happening. This is very difficult, especially in the younger grades, as you know. Dismissal is in stages and from two locations on campus.”
Henry also explained how the school is disinfected by cleaning staff several times a day, and how they use UV lights overnight to destroy any residual virus on surfaces. She says if they have even one case, she imagines they’ll have to shut down again.
One of the most striking photos Henry shared is one of children eating lunch at separate tables, spaced apart.
Seeing desks in a classroom spread apart is one thing, but seeing kids separated during lunch, when they would normally be able to socialize with friends, just tugs at the heartstrings.
At least one school, also in Hangzhou, have young kids wearing homemade social distancing hats as a reminder to keep their distance from one another. The same thing could undoubtedly be accomplished simply by kids lifting their arms and staying far enough way not to touch, but anyone who’s worked with kids knows what an impossible task that would be.
Primary school in Hangzhou lets children wear “1m hats” to enforce social distancing measures
The silly hats are a fun visual reminder for kids to leave space between one another—and also a strangely haunting reminder of the serious reality we’ve found ourselves in.
It’s hard to say what will be happening in August or September, when most schools in the U.S. are scheduled to start the next school year. When—or if, perhaps—schools do resume in the fall, these posts give us clues as to the kinds of protocols and provisions our kids may be experiencing.
To say that Kansas City Chiefs offensive guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif has a wide range of talents would be an understatement. Drafted by the Chiefs in 2014, he’s been a starting offensive lineman for most of his NFL career with one of the league’s most consistently competitive teams.
In May 2018, he graduated from McGill University Faculty of Medicine in Montreal, Canada with a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery. After receiving his degree, he formally asked the league to add the title “M.D.” to the back of his jersey, but the league refused.
On February 2, 2020, the Chiefs bested the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, giving Kansas City its second Vince Lombardi trophy.
As the COVID-19 virus began to hit Canada, the 29-year-old doctor knew he had to help. “I have friends who are working in emergency rooms,” he wrote in Sports Illustrated. “One does triage and tests patients for COVID-19. Those people are on the front line, and they’re giving everything to protect us.”
Duvernay-Tardif wasn’t sure if he could to join the fight against the virus because he didn’t have a license to practice.
“A few days ago, health ministry officials started a campaign to recruit health care professionals, especially students in medicine and nursing,” Duvernay-Tardif writes. “It’s now possible for me to go back and help. I had already wanted to, but when it’s real, it hits you, the gravity involved.”
On April 24, after going through a crash course to learn how to protect himself and others from COVID-19, he put on his scrubs and got to work at a long-term care facility near his home outside of Montreal.
“It’s wild to think that just 10 weeks earlier I played in the biggest game in sports,” he wrote.
“Playing in the Super Bowl vs. heading back to the medical system during a pandemic is totally different. Back in February, I knew that 100 million-plus people were going to be watching, and I wanted to win,” Duvernay-Tardif wrote.
“When you’re going in to help it’s more about your duty as a doctor and a citizen,” he added. “It’s not the time to be the hero and be impulsive. You’ve gotta do it the right way. You’ve gotta really take this seriously when it comes to washing your hands, not touching anything.”
He’s also putting his expertise to use to help the NFL’s Players Association Task Force decide the best way to bring the sport back in the fall. But, as someone whose seen the dangers of COVID-19 first-hand, his properties are in the right place.
“It’s too soon to say when sports might come back. Or what that might look like. What I can say is if we’re not playing in September, knowing all the implications of what sport means for a nation and the money behind this huge industry, there are going to be bigger issues than not playing football,” he wrote.
Who knows when the NFL will be back, but when Duvernay-Tardif puts his Chiefs jersey i=on his back it should definitely have “M.D.” printed on the back.
With the COVID-19 quarantine still in full-effect in many parts of the country, some recordings artists have figured out how to use it to their advantage with weekly releases like Guapdad 4000’s Rona Raps or regular livestreams like Tory Lanez’s Quarantine Radio. Singer/songwriter PJ has adopted the former formula for her cover series, The Quarantine Tapes.
Each week PJ, who was previously best-known for her 2016 LP Rare and her more recent “Diary Entries” like “Smoke,” “Run For Your Money,” and “Honest,” covers a song from one of her fellow artists, including Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now,” Justin Bieber’s “Yummy,” and Roddy Ricch’s “High Fashion.” For her latest rendition, she puts a trap&B spin on Doja Cat’s standout single, “Say So,” which you can check out below.
PJ explained the origin of the song to Uproxx, calling it one of the biggest songs of the year. “I met Doja Cat last year Grammy Weekend, and she was a sweetheart,” she said. “But I f*ck with the song so much, I wanted to add it to The Quarantine Tapes, and Jay The Great really helped me put in a different space. He added this R&B trap vibe and I added a little ‘old school R&B.”
In addition, PJ announced that for her latest edition of her other ongoing campaign, Doing My Part W. PJ, she’ll be taking over Uproxx’s Instagram for live discussion with fans on Friday, May 1 at 4pm PST/7pm EST, during which she’ll break down her writing process and some of her credits so far.
Listen to PJ’s “Say So” cover above and tune into Uproxx’s Instagram on Friday for episode two of Doing My Part W. PJ.
PJ is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The Raw Women’s Champion is headed to prestige TV. On this morning’s episode of WWE’s The Bump, Becky Lynch revealed that she will guest star on the season five premiere of Billions, and it’s because the showrunner is a big fan of wrestling and of The Man specifically.
Brian Koppelman, the co-creator and showrunner of Billions, called into The Bump and how the Billions-Becky connection came about. He was a fan of wrestling as a kid during the Bruno Sammartino era and that The Man revived his fandom:
Becky Lynch brought me all the way back in over the past few years. The arrival of somebody who has that much power, charisma, force, integrity in what they do in the ring, and the fact that it was a woman who seemed to combine the most important aspects of so many of the greatest wrestlers ever – when I see Becky, I don’t think of women wrestlers necessarily, I think of Dusty Rhodes being a working man, I think of all these different people who found a way to synthesize their character with who they really were.
Koppelman and Lynch became friends after the TV writer wore one of her shirts at a Billions event, which Lynch saw on Twitter. Ahead of the fifth season of the show, Koppelman and his writing partner David Levien came up with something for Lynch to do on the which. They don’t give any hints (will the world finally get that Paul Giamatti-Becky Lynch interaction it needs?), but say her part is “a lot of fun.”
Billions will start its fifth season, with a guest appearance from Becky Lynch, on Showtime on May 3.
Anne Hathaway has mentioned before that when she first auditioned for The Dark Knight Rises, she assumed she was playing a very different Batman character than her now fan-favorite portrayal of Selina Kyle, a.k.a. Catwoman. However, Hathaway has never confirmed the identity of the mistaken character, until now.
In a new interview with BBC Radio 1, Hathaway reveals that after scoring an audition with director Christopher Nolan, she waltzed into the room under the very confident impression that she was gunning for the role of Harley Quinn. She even came dressed for that part. As we all know, that obviously wasn’t the case, and Nolan was looking for an actress to play Catwoman. Unfortunately, Hathaway didn’t know that until a good hour into the audition when she was forced to quickly switch gears. Via CBR:
“I came in and I had this lovely Vivienne Westwood kind of beautiful-but-mad tailoring top with stripes going everywhere. And I wore these flat Joker-ey looking shoes. And I was trying to give Chris [Nolan] these crazy little smiles,” Hathaway explained. “About an hour into the meeting he said ‘Well, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this, but it’s Catwoman.’ And I was shifting into a different gear. ‘Now ok, we’re slinky. We’re slinky. And I hate my shirt. I love my shirt, but I hate it right now. We’re slinky.’”
As for why Hathaway thought she was auditioning to play Harley Quinn, she doesn’t say. To put this delicately, Heath Ledger’s Joker clearly wasn’t going to be back for the sequel. Then again, there were internet rumors at the time that the film would focus on Harley Quinn continuing the Joker’s plan in the final film, so maybe Hathaway and/or her agent latched onto that. The incredible thing is that she essentially auditioned for the wrong character, and yet still managed to stick the landing and walk away with the coveted Catwoman role. That takes skill.
You can watch Hathaway talk about filming The Dark Knight Rises right at the beginning or jump to the 2:00 mark for the Harley Quinn audition mix-up:
In our age of technology, it can be hard to discern what is real and what is a “deepfake.” Deepfakes are photos, videos, or audio files that have been manipulated by AI technology so seamlessly that they seem convincingly authentic. While deepfakes are usually used for explicit reasons or to put Nicholas Cage’s face on nearly everything, Jay-Z is now dealing his own deepfakes. The rapper’s Roc Nation is reportedly flexing copyright law to remove a deepfake audio clip of Jay-Z singing Billy Joel and reciting Shakespeare from YouTube.
AI-powered videos have appeared on YouTube which uses a computer-generated text-to-speech model programmed to learn Jay-Z’s speech pattern. The technology resulted in a convincing clip of Jay-Z reciting Shakespeare’s “To Be Or Not To Be” monologue from Hamlet and another of him singing along to Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire.” But Jay-Z’s Roc Nation is doing what they can to remove the clips through filing a copyright strike.
The strike was first spotted by The Verge, which reported that Roc Nation was using copyright law to attempt to get the videos removed from YouTube. Roc Nation’s endeavor to get a deepfake removed from YouTube by using copyright law is the first of it’s kind, as the lyrics to Joel’s song are protected under the law. According to The Verge’s report, Roc Nation also claimed that the “content unlawfully uses an AI to impersonate” Jay-Z’s voice.
Following Roc Nation’s claim, the videos were temporarily taken down by YouTube which, according to the report, would be the first time the video streaming service has removed AI-generated voice impersonations. However, the videos have since been temporarily re-instated because Roc Nation’s takedown requests were found to be “incomplete.”
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