Month: January 2021

Like many teams in this pandemic-challenged NBA season, the Utah Jazz began the 2020-21 campaign on a relatively uninspiring note. The Jazz were never in an unstable position, even after posting a 4-4 record, but after massive contractual investments in both Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, relative stability isn’t quite enough for Utah. With that said, the last five games have flashed some of the considerable upside Quin Snyder’s team possesses.

The Jazz have won five in a row, outscoring opponents by a blistering 16.6 points per 100 possession during the streak. Most winning streaks are accompanied by off-the-charts numbers, but Utah is scoring at a rate of more than 1.16 points per possession in the last five. Furthermore, the Jazz began their run with an impressive road win over the Milwaukee Bucks and knocked off the Denver Nuggets on the road on Sunday.

As the dust settles from that explosion, Utah holds a +5.1 net rating, good for a top-five mark in the NBA, and the Jazz boast top-10 marks in both offensive and defensive rating. Offensively, the Jazz are making gains on the glass, pulling down almost 30 percent of their own misses, and they have been fantastic with Mike Conley and/or Jordan Clarkson on the court to provide support to the team’s stars.

On the other end, Utah’s defense has been unquestionably elite, especially in non-garbage time situations. Per Cleaning The Glass, the Jazz are allowing 1.06 points per possession when removing garbage time, and that overall mark is bolstered by league-leading marks in effective field goal percentage allowed (49.8 percent) and free throw rate allowed (14.0 percent). Gobert’s presence almost singlehandedly ensures that the Jazz are potent defensively, with Utah allowing 100.8 points per 100 possessions, but it is also a team-wide effort and Snyder has the club firing on all cylinders.

Scarily, Utah is 9-4 overall, even after a slow start from Mitchell. Granted, he is breaking out with 25.3 points per game and 42.6 percent from three-point range in the last eight games, but Utah has been quite good even without outlier production from their leaders. It must be noted that the Jazz have avoided injury or protocol-related absences for the most part, though Joe Ingles is currently sidelined. Utah does have a leg up over some of their direct competition with the cohesion that results from bringing the band back for another run, but the Jazz are flatly playing at an elite level in the recent past.

Where do the Jazz stack up against the rest of the NBA in mid-January? Let’s take a glance at this week’s DIME power rankings.
1. Los Angeles Lakers (11-4, Last week — 1st)

The Lakers blew a 19-point advantage at home against the Warriors. For most teams, that might be enough to drop from the top spot but, if we’re being honest, Los Angeles is still the top team since they have the best record and the best net rating (+10.0) in the NBA. If second half implosions become a regular occurrence, perhaps we’ll re-evaluate, but that doesn’t seem likely.

2. L.A. Clippers (10-4, Last week — 4th)

The Clippers have won four in a row. The Clippers have won their last two games by 71 total points. L.A. is scorching on offense and, at least when the team’s best players on the floor, the defense won’t be a concern. They are in good shape.

3. Utah Jazz (9-4, Last week — 7th)

Utah isn’t as good as the Clippers and Lakers but, with how they’ve been playing, this feels just right.

4. Brooklyn Nets (9-6, Last week — 11th)

The James Harden era is underway and it began on a positive note. Brooklyn is in the midst of a four-game winning streak, even if it began before Harden arrived, and the Nets knocked off the Bucks on national TV on Monday evening. Kyrie Irving isn’t back yet, but everyone is talking about the Nets, and with good reason.

5. Milwaukee Bucks (9-5, Last week — 2nd)

Mike Budenholzer’s team has better peripherals than the Nets, including the No. 1 mark in offensive rating (117.7) and the No. 2 net rating, trailing only the Lakers. The Bucks did just lose a nail-biter to the Nets, though, so Brooklyn wins something of a tiebreaker this week. Fear not, Milwaukee fans, your team is good.

6. Philadelphia 76ers (9-5, Last week — 5th)

Given how short-handed the 76ers have been for a relatively long period, being 9-5 is a success. They also have a (very) interesting matchup on the horizon against a conference opponent on Wednesday and that opponent is the Boston Celtics.

7. Boston Celtics (8-4, Last week — 3rd)

Speaking of the Celtics, Boston is punished in the rankings for a rather stunning 30-point loss to the Knicks over the weekend. It feels like that was an outlier, both because of this season and the fact that it was a midday tip-off, but whew, that was ugly.

8. Memphis Grizzlies (7-6, Last week — 24th)

As noted above, the Jazz have won five in a row and that is the longest active winning streak in the NBA. Memphis is matching Utah, though, and the Grizzlies should be credited for weathering an injury storm early in the season. They likely aren’t a top-eight team in practical terms, but it’s been an encouraging run for Memphis.

9. Phoenix Suns (7-5, Last week — 8th)

The Suns had an entire homestand wiped out by postponements before returning to action in Memphis on MLK Day. That was a close loss to the Grizzlies but, in truth, there isn’t much to take away on the court from the last week-plus for Chris Paul, Devin Booker and company.

10. Portland Trail Blazers (8-6, Last week — 6th)

Wins and losses always matter, but the big news for Portland this week is the injury to CJ McCollum. McCollum was playing the best basketball of his career before suffering a hairline fracture in his foot against the Hawks on Saturday night and, in the first game without, Portland was walloped by San Antonio at home. It will be interesting to see how the Blazers hold up without both McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic, with all kinds of pressure on Damian Lillard to carry the ship.

11. Golden State Warriors (7-6, Last week — 13th)

Monday night’s win over the Lakers was a lot of fun for the Warriors. It is still tough to decipher just how good Golden State is, especially when evaluating their advanced numbers, but they are capable of explosions behind Stephen Curry. That much is clear.

12. Indiana Pacers (8-5, Last week — 12th)

Indiana picked up a pair of very good road wins over Golden State and Portland this week. Then, they got throttled by a 33-point margin against the Clippers. That feels like a break-even week, but with the absences mounting with Caris LeVert and the news of Myles Turner having a small fracture in his hand, there is some concern in Indiana.

13. San Antonio Spurs (8-6, Last week — 20th)

The Spurs are better than expected. Sometimes, it’s just good to say things simply. San Antonio is outscoring its opponents for the season, and they’ve largely done with LaMarcus Aldridge struggling. They have depth. They are well-coached. They have pretty good talent. It’s a solid recipe, even if one without immense overall upside.

14. Denver Nuggets (6-7, Last week — 9th)

There isn’t anything jarring about losing to the Nets and Jazz this week, but Denver just has to start winning games at some point. It’s early, but the Nuggets are under .500 and still rocking the 25th-best defense in the NBA. On the flip side, Denver does have a +2.9 net rating and Nikola Jokic has been lights-out.

15. Toronto Raptors (5-8, Last week — 23rd)

Toronto finally woke up this week, winning all three games. It wasn’t a full-blown gauntlet from a schedule standpoint, but the Raptors scored 1.14 points per possession and looked the part of a good team again. They’ll put that to the test against Miami on Wednesday.

16. Atlanta Hawks (6-7, Last week — 17th)

Atlanta is just trying to hang around at this point. Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kris Dunn are out, with Cam Reddish missing the last two games as well. There wasn’t a lot to be impressed by with the Hawks this week, but they got a win they needed on Monday over the shorthanded Wolves.

17. Dallas Mavericks (6-7, Last week — 10th)

Kristaps Porzingis is back and the Mavericks are… worse? Okay, that probably isn’t true, but Dallas is on a three-game losing streak. Perhaps the craziest part of their season is the fact that the Mavericks are in the bottom-10 offensively. This isn’t the exact same group that led the league in offense last season, but most of the pieces are the same and the results have been puzzling.

18. Miami Heat (5-7, Last week — 16th)

The Heat were close to falling even further this week, but they held on and beat the Pistons in a rematch on Monday. Still, Miami has been shaky to this point, and there is probably a discussion to be had about how good they really are right now. There is some benefit of the doubt after last season, but it won’t last forever.

19. New Orleans Pelicans (5-7, Last week — 21st)

New Orleans badly needed to stop the bleeding after five straight losses, and they did it on the road in Sacramento on Monday. The team’s defense has predictably improved under Stan Van Gundy but, through 12 games, New Orleans is a below-average offensive squad. That isn’t going to work as a formula with their roster.

20. Chicago Bulls (6-8, Last week — 28th)

Chicago just beat Dallas by double-digits and followed it up by beating Houston. The Bulls are also up to 22nd in net rating after an unequivocally dreadful start. It wouldn’t be wise to completely ignore the start of the season but, since then, Chicago’s been fine.

21. Cleveland Cavaliers (6-7, Last week — 22nd)

If you told me that the Cavs would have the worst offensive rating in the NBA by a wide margin after 13 games, there is no way I’d predict a 6-7 record. None. Zero. But, hey, it happened.

22. New York Knicks (7-8, Last week — 27th)

New York annihilated Boston and that is the biggest reason for their five-spot jump this week. The Knicks continue to be very Knicks-y, but in an improved way under Tom Thibodeau. They aren’t a pushover, if nothing else.

23. Charlotte Hornets (6-8, Last week — 14th)

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Hornets losing the last three games when considering opponent. Charlotte lost to Toronto (twice) on the road, and Dallas at home. On to next week.

24. Houston Rockets (4-8, Last week — 19th)

The Rockets are 2-6 in the last eight and, in the middle, their franchise changed considerably with the Harden trade. It is far too early to judge the new iteration, but the team’s season-long results aren’t very good.

25. Oklahoma City Thunder (6-6, Last week — 15th)

Reality returned for the Thunder this week in the form of a 1-2 record and some ugly peripheral numbers. Broadly speaking, OKC being 6-6 is still a big win in terms of results, but they are 28th in net rating. That might be more indicative.

26. Washington Wizards (3-8, Last week — 26th)

It’s impossible to rank Washington. The Wizards have the third-worst record in the league, but they are 17th (!) in net rating. From there, they haven’t played a game in more than a week. As such, they’re holding steady for now.

27. Orlando Magic (6-8, Last week — 18th)

Roster availability issues have caught up to the Magic. Orlando has the longest losing streak in the league at six and, over that time frame, the Magic have been outscored by a whopping 20.5 points per 100 possessions. Nikola Vucevic can’t do everything, and the supporting cast is banged-up and/or struggling.

28. Sacramento Kings (5-9, Last week — 25th)

I truly believe the Kings are better than this, but the defense has been flatly atrocious. Sacramento’s defensive rating is 120.5 through 14 games and, while that is unsustainable for basically any team, it certainly explains the 5-9 record and the 0-3 week.

29. Detroit Pistons (3-10, Last week — 29th)

It wasn’t the worst week for the Pistons. Detroit went on the road and beat Miami, then followed it up by keeping it close against the Heat again on Monday. Alas, this is still the first ten-loss team in the league and they are a bottom-tier team on both ends.

30. Minnesota Timberwolves (3-9, Last week — 30th)

Due to a postponement, the Wolved played only two games this week. Minnesota lost both by double-digits and the unfortunate absence of Karl-Anthony Towns means the roster is even shakier than it was a week ago. The Wolves have the worst peripherals in the league and, as of Tuesday, they are also tied for the league low with three wins.

It’s less than a month into the new year and 2021 is already shaping up to be a big year for R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan. The singer graced late-night television performances and NPR’s acclaimed Tiny Desk series in celebration of her recently released LP Heaux Tales. Now, Sullivan has been tapped to deliver the National Anthem alongside country singer Eric Church at the Super Bowl LV, one of the most-watched events of the year.

As confirmed by Church on his social media, he and Sullivan will deliver the song just ahead of kickoff. They will also be joined by Grammy Award-winning musician HER, who will give her rendition of “America The Beautiful.”

The performance will commence the Super Bowl LV festivities and build anticipation for The Weeknd’s halftime show performance, which has gotten attention in light of his Grammys snub. After The Weeknd called the Grammys “corrupt,” a report surfaced that the Recording Academy had pulled his Grammy consideration after choosing to perform at the Super Bowl rather than their award ceremony. Apparently, The Weeknd had been planning a collaborative performance on the Grammys stage before being shut out of nominations. “Collaboratively planning a performance for weeks to not being invited?” he wrote on Twitter. “In my opinion zero nominations = you’re not invited!”

The Super Bowl LV takes place 2/7 at 6:30 p.m. EST in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie is being sued for over $260,000 in damages by the owners of a mansion he leased in 2017, according to NorthJersey.com. The owners, a New Jersey couple, filed suit through their insurance company after they say A Boogie entered a 12-month lease agreement but abandoned the property, leaving it in much worse shape than he got it.

The new blemishes to the property are numerous, from “damage to the landscape” to “bathroom toilets clogged and overrun by sewerage material which penetrated through the floors and damaging ceilings below.” Also included in the list of damages: “carpets cut out and mismatched pieces replaced,” “entry doors to be left open with evidence of extensive water damage,” and even a pair of vehicles abandoned on the property.

The lawsuit calls the damage “a direct and proximate result of the negligent, reckless and/or carelessness of the defendants the Property sustained extensive damage to the high end interior finishes and was left in a condition that left it unable to be leased until extensive repairs were conducted.” The owners, Dr. Lawrence Guarino and his wife, Carol Guarino, are seeking $263,592 in compensation. Maybe there’s an ulterior motive for the rapper joining OnlyFans — paying back his landlords.

A Boogie’s year is off to a rough start, but his 2020 ended on a sour note as well; in December, he was arrested for guns and drugs after a shooting on his birthday.

In 2020, Fleet Foxes dropped Shore, which was their first new album in a few years. The record is only a few months old, so there’s still plenty of promoting to do, which the group did today with a new video for “I’m Not My Season.”

The visual isn’t for the studio version of the song, but instead for the performance of the song that Pecknold gave at St. Ann & The Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn, as part of the “A Very Lonely Solstice Livestream” in December. The gorgeous visual was directed by Pecknold’s brother Sean Pecknold, and it shows Pecknold playing the song in the lovely space.

Pecknold previously told Apple Music of the song, “A friend of mine had been telling me about her experience helping a family member with addiction. As she was describing that, I was imagining this sailing lesson I had taken where we were learning how to rescue someone who had fallen overboard and you have to circle the boat around the right way and throw the ropes from the right place. Time is just something that’s happening around us, but there’s some kind of core idea that you’re not what’s happening to you. Like wind on a flag.”

Watch the “I’m Not My Season” video above.

The Indiana Pacers have been a tremendous story to start the season, as they are off to an 8-5 start, just a half-game back of first in the East, thanks to some sensational two-way play.

On offense, it’s All-Star Domantas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon who lead the charge, averaging 21.7 and 22.2 points per game respectively, both shooting it with great efficiency to lead the Pacers. Victor Oladipo was their third 20 point per game scorer, but he was dealt to the Rockets in the four-team James Harden deal to net Indiana Caris LeVert, who is currently out indefinitely due to a mass discovered on his kidney in a team physical.

On defense, Myles Turner is a frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year, leading the NBA in blocks per game at 4.2 and the Pacers are vastly superior on the defensive end when he is on the court (DRtg of 103.8 on and 109.3 off). Unfortunately, Turner missed Sunday’s game against the Clippers with a hand injury and further testing revealed on Tuesday that he had suffered what The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports as a “slight” fracture that will cause him to miss an indefinite amount of time, with a re-evaluation to come soon.

The Pacers, now down Turner, LeVert, T.J. Warren, and Jeremy Lamb (the latter two still yet to make their season debuts) will have an uphill battle for the week to come in maintaining their sensational play from the start of the season on both ends. Indiana faces Dallas, Orlando, and then a double-header with the Raptors in the next week, all at home, and all four will be winnable but far less so than when they were at full strength. Hopefully Turner’s injury will heal quickly and he won’t miss too much more time beyond this initial week, but that remains to be determined based on how it’s healing and responds to time off.

After making a name for herself with her 2019 debut album Miss Universe, Nilüfer Yanya offered fans new music in the form of her three-track EP Feeling Lucky? last December. While Yanya still can’t tour in celebration of her new music, the singer has been reflecting on her former life on the road. After compiling seemingly countless clips from her band’s Miss Universe tour, Yanya shares her “Day 7.5093” video.

The visual, shot and edited by Molly Daniel, features behind-the-scenes touring and live footage of Yanya and her band. Her montage shows backstage celebrations, days off at the beach, and some very cute dogs.

Speaking about the song, Yanya says she’s hardly able to write on the road, but she opted to reminisce on tour life with the visual:

“I don’t have a habit of writing much when touring but with ‘Day 7.5093’ I can remember starting to write the first couple lines in a hotel bathroom so it made sense to use some of the footage from that year. It’s hard to know what you’ve got until it’s gone which is why I’m trying to enjoy this moment too, but traveling and playing shows is something I’ll never take for granted again! I’ll be back touring new music as soon as it’s possible, and next time we’ll film more.”

Watch Yanya’s “Day 7.5093” video above.

Feeling Lucky? is out now via ATO Records. Get it here.

POV: Open up TikTok (or any social media app) and see a friend or some famous celeb looking idly into the camera with their work-from-home outfit on while Nelly’s “Hot In Herre” plays in the background. Then the beat drops. Surprise! It’s actually Erica Banks’ “Buss It.” Your eyes drop low with the beat. Now you’re looking at an instant glow-up and sultry, low twerk.

A TikTok creator named Erika Davila was the first to pull this feat off, except her plea was to have people go crazy with the glow-up part and people absolutely did.

Enter 2021 and everybody and their mama is participating in the “Buss It” Challenge on TikTok, bringing their carefully created videos over to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. And while the phenomenon takes the world by storm, perhaps no one is loving it more than Banks herself. The DeSoto native thinks the phenomenon is “exciting” and rightfully so, especially as we go into the year with 2020 turbulence.

“Seeing all types of women showcase their confidence in the ‘Buss It’ Challenge is a beautiful thing to witness,” the 21-year-old told Uproxx over the phone.

So far, there have been over 2 million videos made to “Buss It” on TikTok, including clips made by Rico Nasty, Dream Doll, Reginae Carter, LaLa Milan, Iggy Azalea, and fellow Texas rapper Just Brittany.

Signed to Carl Crawford’s 1501 Certified Entertainment label (home to Grammy-nominated rap star Megan Thee Stallion), Banks recently inked a deal with Warner Records where she joins a roster of megastars. Before that she was already being recognized as one to watch by her peers and even got an early co-sign from Nicki Minaj in 2020.

The Texas rap girls are really running it right now and in front of the pack, at the tippy-top of 2021, is Dallas’ own Erica Banks. Speaking to Uproxx, Banks shares how she first discovered “Buss It” was becoming a viral trend on TikTok, names some of her favorites, tells us if labelmate Megan Thee Stallion will be on the remix, and gives us the lowdown on what’s up next.

So obviously your song, “Buss It,” it’s been out since last year, but it’s been blowing up on TikTok. What were your initial thoughts when you first realized people were making these videos to your song?

It was exciting. I actually woke up to it, literally, because I didn’t know that was happening. Once I found out that it was going viral on TikTok, it was just crazy. It was kind of unbelievable because it just came out of nowhere. As an artist, seeing your song blow up overnight, it was just a little overwhelming, but it was very exciting at the same time.

How does it feel to see all these young ladies getting it together to show out on TikTok to “Buss It”?

Seeing all types of women showcase their confidence in the “Buss It” Challenge is a beautiful thing to witness.

Tell me how you found out. Did somebody tell you?

I want to say Elora, my publicist, reached out to me with a screenshot of it and my producer, SGT J, who produced the record, had also sent me a screenshot of how many videos have been made. This was last week. At this time, it was at like 5,000 videos a week ago. Today, we’re at a million videos, which is very crazy. I literally found out through a screenshot.

Were you able to find out who kicked off the “Buss It” Challenge?

Yes, we were able to find the creator. I actually posted her on my Instagram yesterday, shouting her out and thanking her for starting the challenge. She started it, everybody hopped on, and now it’s one of the hottest challenges going right now.

In the song you sample Nelly’s “Hot in Herre.” Have you talked to Nelly at all? Has he thanked you?

I have not talked to Nelly. It would be dope if I got to talk to him but I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to him. However, he did hit me with a follow on Instagram the other day. He also reposted his girlfriend dancing to the song, doing the “Buss It” challenge. So, he has let me know that he does see me.

A few days ago, on your Instagram story, you pointed out a performance where people were kind of just standing there while you were performing “Buss It.” Now, suddenly everybody’s singing your song and everybody wants to talk to you.

It’s exciting. You know, I feel like everybody has their time and I feel like at this time, it wasn’t my time yet, but was coming. Every time I do a show, the crowd is bigger and bigger, or I see more and more people that know the words. At this point, I could probably go do a show pretty much anywhere, and they would probably know the whole hook. I just feel like it’s a matter of being patient, but at that time I was still a hungry artist. I’m still a hungry artist. I just think it just takes time to get where you’re trying to go.

I know as the song has been gaining traction, some people, mostly men, continue to criticize women in rap and complain about all they do is rap about sex. What are your thoughts on that?

I personally feel like that’s something that people are going to always do. I do in myself because if you just want to be technical and real, sex sells. I will speak for myself only and say that I do have songs that don’t speak about sex. I actually have a couple of records like that. “Tony Story” is one of them. I actually have the visual out for that. So, I’m very versatile. Sex isn’t always my go-to, but at the same time you want to please the fans and you want to please the people. It’s definitely something that should be talked about in music if you just want to keep people interested. But I mean, that’s the world we live in, so.

Yeah, I feel like everybody’s been rapping about sex since the dawn of time. Now, I want to talk about your team, 1501 Certified. You’re signed with Carl Crawford. I know Megan Thee Stallion’s on the label, and there’s a bunch of other people on the label. What is it like working with your team, and Carl specifically?

Working with them has always been like working with family. Since day one they’ve always been helpful. They’ve always been a great team to me. Even before I signed, they were very cool. They were very family-oriented. I love that about them and nothing’s changed. Still today, we’re still the same family. We still work together, and everything is good.

Congrats on signing to Warner Records! What was the deciding factor on going with them?

My 1501 team and I were both in agreement with working with a global powerhouse and I’m happy it’s with Warner Records.

I feel like there’s a lot of Texas rap girls out here right now doing it big. There’s you, Big Jade, Queendom Come, Ken The Man, Megan Thee Stallion, and so many more. How does it feel to be part of this emerging Texas movement?

I love the Texas movement. I love Ken The Man. I love Lebra Jolie too. She actually did a “Buss It” challenge the other day. She’s from Houston. I love to see women, from my state, pretty much doing the same thing that I’m doing. You know, we all have the same goals. We all have the same dream. To see them doing their thing, too — it’s kind of exciting. Just to know that I’m not the only one out here doing my thing is pretty cool, too. I just love to be able to witness other women in my era doing what we’re doing, or doing what I’m doing, rather.

Since you and Megan Thee Stallion are on the same label, is there a chance that she might hop on “Buss It” or something with you in the future?

It’s all in God’s hands.

For sure. Now, you’re from Dallas. So, that’s really big for the city because we got Yella Beezy big popping, too. I know he was in your “Buss It” Challenge that you recently posted so I already know there has to be music recorded or on the way with y’all.

Oh yeah, we actually have a record dropping this month. We shot the video the other day. That’s actually what we were doing. Fans are asking for it. They’re excited, and I’m just as excited.

I saw you had the caption on the picture of you and him like, “Dallas, we got you.” What does it mean to have Dallas?

We’re just going to keep Dallas on the map. Keep the music going. Just continue to keep Dallas relevant.

Also, you got that coveted Nicki Minaj follow! What did it feel like, in that moment, when you got that notification from Queen Nicki?

Oh, when I actually saw it on Twitter, I didn’t think it was real. I had to go to her Twitter just to make sure that it was really her. But it was. That was very exciting too because I never thought that, at least this soon, that I would get a follow up from somebody like Nicki. She’s my favorite female rapper ever. So, it was very exciting and unbelievable. It was just a very surreal moment for me.

Yes. Nicki is amazing, always will be. Out of all of the challenges that you’ve seen so far, which ones have been your favorites or perhaps the most wildest?

I would say Monica’s would be one favorite. It was very funny. It’s not what I expected. Also, Tracee Ellis Ross. Those two would probably be my top right now.

I know we’re in a pandemic and I know some places are you can still perform there, in certain parts of the states and stuff like that. Besides that, how do you plan on taking advantage of this momentum that you have right now, even though we’re still in a pandemic?

Just continuing to be Erica Banks and staying active. I mean, all I can do is be an artist. It’s really all I have. That’s really all I can do, is just continue to be me and continue to do my thing.

I kind of want to talk about Beatking, too, because he’s super supportive of women in rap! What’s your relationship with him been like?

Me and Beatking are really cool. We’ve been cool for a minute. I met him, really, through social media so we’ve been cool for a couple of years. So, we been on the record. That was a bonding moment for us. And we just been like that since then.

What can we expect from Erica Banks in 2021?

New music, big features, bigger production, bigger everything, really. I always tell people to just stay tapped in and you won’t really miss a beat. I can’t even really tell you too much because everything is being planned out right now. We just kind of do things by the ear but they always come out great. So, I would just say, “Stay tapped in.”

Erica Banks is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Up-and-coming rap phenomenon Erica Banks may have only signed her record deals with 1501 Certified Entertainment and 300 Entertainment recently, but the Dallas rapper has already made a huge splash on arrival with the viral “Buss It” challenge based on her single of the same name. The song, which samples Nelly’s 2002 hit “Hot In Herre,” has become a staple on TikTok thanks to women who are using it as an excuse to get dressed up after a year of not having anywhere to go thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

When asked about the use of his song as part of such a popular social media trend, the St. Louis superstar turned out to be pretty enthused. Appearing on the Zach Sang Show, Nelly addressed the popularity of the challenge and encouraged fans to continue propagating the quick-change, drop-down videos. “It’s dope,” he said. “Keep doing it.”

He elaborated that he does have a personal stake in its popularity thanks to the sample. “Obviously, I had to clear the record,” he pointed out. “I see the numbers adding up for me. It’s awesome!”

The “Buss It” challenge has only increased in popularity since it debuted on TikTok, with fellow stars like DaniLeigh, Gabrielle Union, Iggy Azalea, and more jumping on board to show off their takes. Meanwhile, burgeoning star Banks spoke with Uproxx’s Cherise Johnson about her viral hit, teasing what she’s got next and calling out men who say women only rap about sex.

Watch Nelly’s interview above.

Dua Lipa recently spoke about her time spent quarantining with boyfriend Anwar Hadid in 2020, concluding that it has been good for the relationship. Recently, fans thought Lipa used a social media post to suggest that they took things to a new level and have a baby on the way. Pregnancy rumors flew, but now Lipa is putting them to rest.

She guested on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night and explained how she accidentally sparked pregnancy rumors with some emojis she didn’t consider carefully enough:

“This is ridiculous. So obviously, you can see all the emojis above. I like finding little random emojis. I put a little baby bottle, a little angel, some sparkles, random. I really didn’t think this through. I posted it, and then I look at the comments, and then somebody says, ‘Is she pregnant?’ And I look at the picture, I look at the comment, I look at the picture, I look at the comment. I’m like, ‘Surely I don’t look pregnant.’ And then I see that people have been writing stories saying that I posted some cryptic message that I might be announcing my pregnancy, and I’m just like, ‘Oh my god, these emojis have come to bite me in the ass. […] So I just deleted the caption, but see, I wasn’t smart enough and I didn’t take it off my Twitter.”

Watch Lipa’s full chat with Kimmel above.

Dua Lipa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Tony nominee Laura Benanti has played Melania Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert since 2016. It’s a fantastic impression, and while the Christmas-hating First Lady won’t be missed once she leaves the White House, Benanti’s impression will be. The actress told the Daily Beast last month that she was working on “a great big goodbye to [Melania] that I’m really, really excited about… It’s going to be pretty, pretty spectacular.”

It was spectacular.

The Late Show staged a full-blown musical farewell for Melania, who’s excited to leave Washington, D.C. and move back to New York City (where everyones hates her and her husband). “It’s so good to be in NYC, the be-bestest city on earth. The Huge Apple. The city that never sleeps with a porn star and then lies to you about it,” she said. Being here makes me feel… which is something I don’t normally do.” Melania then burst into a parody of “Belle” from Beauty and the Beast, except instead of French villagers saying “bonjour,” it’s disgusting Times Square Elmo telling the First Lady that she sucks.

She later sings, “Starting to wonder if New York dislikes me? / What is this word ‘complicity?’ / That riot on the Mall, hurt Melania most of all / No one on Earth is bullied more than me!” This sendoff is better than any magazine cover. Watch the video above.