Year: 2022

The Weeknd is beginning to make a name for himself as one of the hardest working men in show business. Though he only recently headlined the Super Bowl halftime show, a huge look for any artist, and dropped his most successful album to date, After Hours, right at the beginning of the pandemic, he already had more new music for fans at the top of 2022. Dawn FM is a confrontation with the afterlife, and just might be the second entry into a new trilogy that began with After Hours.

Whether that’s the case or not, Dawn FM is truly the gift that keeps on giving, and Abel seems ready to continue rolling out content and videos supporting the record for the next little while. Today, he took to Twitter to let fans know that his “Out Of Time” video would be coming early next week. “Just a heads up: out of time music video drops next Tuesday,” he posted this afternoon.

Keep an eye out for more teasers, Abel’s been in a giving mood lately. Except when it comes to the Grammys of course — after some messiness around his performance at the award show and the Super Bowl created some kind of conflict, he’s now boycotting the show. Definitely their loss on that one.

More than two years after they released their stellar debut album Mirrorland, Earthgang finally returned to the scene with their sophomore release Ghetto Gods. It presents 17 songs with fellow Dreamville artists J. Cole, Ari Lennox, and JID as well as additional appearances from Future, Musiq Soulchild, Baby Tate, Nick Cannon, and more. Earthgang are gearing up to promote the project with a tour across North America and Euroupe, but until then, they’re back with more content that’s tied to the album thanks to a new video for “Strong Friends.”

The track is one of the more down-to-earth songs on Ghetto Gods as it finds Earthgang advocating for folks to check in on the people around them who they’ve labeled as the “strong friend.” In the video, Earthgang cruises around town with a couple of members from their crew, and during their journey, they invite a few more friends on the drive by allowing them to sit on the roof of their already-crowded vehicle.

The video arrives after Earthgang brought their talents to The Tonight Show to perform “Lie To Me.” They also dropped a music video for “American Horror Story” which doubled as the first episode of The Ghetto Gods Show.

You can watch the video for “Strong Friends” above.

Ghetto Gods is out now via Dreamville and Interscope. You can stream it here.

Baby Tate is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Maybe it’s the stage in Katy Perry’s career where she begins a pivot toward more entertainment focused work than music? After all, the pop star has been focusing on her new baby and relationship with Orlando Bloom, but still taking the stage several times a week in Vegas to keep performing her hits for the audiences who love seeing her musical-like act.

In a similar vein, AP News reported today that Perry has signed on to narrate a podcast about the life of actress and icon Elizabeth Taylor. Dubbed Elizabeth The First, the 10-episode show is produced by produced by Perry, House of Taylor — the repository that handles Elizabeth’s legacy and estate — and Imperative. It will focus on Taylor’s role as “the original influencer,” along with her advocacy for HIV/AIDS awareness, and support for the LGBTQ community. It is also set to include “rare stories from people who knew her best.”

Here’s what Katy had to show about the show: “Like most people, I was attracted to her glamour. I’m inspired by her bold activism, her constant boss moves in business, and through it all, an unapologetic way of loving — all things I try to live in my own life. It’s an honour to be able to share her story in this way.” As for House Of Taylor, they said her story is a “timely” one. “We believe wholeheartedly that this take on Elizabeth will resonate with audiences,” the estate said in a statement. “Her story is timely. And, we’re excited for people to hear about her in a different light and see her the way we do.”

The podcast is slated to debut this spring on all major platforms.

Dove Cameron recently released the best single of her career so far, and it looks like the multi-hyphenate artist is just getting started. Since “Boyfriend” dropped back in February, the song is already rising on the Billboard chart — currently sitting at the No. 42 spot after six weeks on the chart — and has stirred up a lot of excitement in fans due to the song’s queer themes and clever setup. “I could be a better boyfriend than him,” Dove sings, before delivering that amazing kicker: “Plus all my clothes will fit.”

Though Dove is well-known for her film roles in movies like The Descendants and The Powerpuff Girls TV series, she’s still finding her footing in the music industry. The success of “Boyfriend” is likely going to change all that, though, and now she’s been teasing a video to accompany the song, which will likely help catapult the song even further into the mainstream. Earlier today, Dove shared a snippet from the visual on her Twitter, and let fans know the full video will drop at 9 AM PST/12 PM EST tomorrow. From the look of the clip, it’s going to be as dark and sexy as the song is, so buckle up.

The Denver Nuggets beat the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night, 125-118, which is far from a surprising or even noteworthy result, given Denver is trying to make the postseason while the Pacers are trying to get better lottery odds right now.

However, considering Denver led by 28 after the first quarter and then found themselves trailing in the second half, things were much more competitive than anticipated, and that resulted in a rather bizarre sequence that saw Austin Rivers get ejected from a close game in the fourth quarter. Rivers found himself in a pair of incidents with Lance Stephenson, first a kerfuffle in the corner that saw some pushing, shoving, and jawing before the two were separated.

After that, Rivers decided to send Stephenson a message about his overly aggressive ball pressure by faking throwing an elbow at Stephenson’s chin, which didn’t come close to making actual contact, but Stephenson jumped back and pointed to the officials, which somehow resulted in Tony Brothers ruling it a second T on Rivers and an ejection.

It’s as bizarre an ejection as you’ll see, particularly since they went to the monitor to look at it and you can clearly see there wasn’t contact, but it still sent Rivers to an early shower. The good news is the Nuggets didn’t need the point guard to pull out the victory, but Rivers will face a fine for this unless it’s rescinded, which many, including Kevin Durant, think should happen.

Rivers, likewise, couldn’t believe he got tossed for that and hopes the league looks at it.

One of our favorite rising pop stars, Faouzia, has a much more jaded anthem to contribute. Last night she dropped “RIP Love,” a Moroccan-inflected bop that brings some of Faouzia’s own Arabic cultural influences into the mix. “Said you’d die for love / But I never loved you / Sorry,” she sings, before launching into a

“My earliest experiences with music date back to family road trips when I was a kid,” Faouzia said in a press release. “My mom and dad would play these incredible Moroccan songs full of big percussive elements and Arabic trills. I was introduced to pop music soon after and instantly fell in love. I feel like the production, melodies, and powerful narrative in “RIP, Love” encompass so many parts of my musical heritage – it feels like me.”

The song, which follows up her previous singles like “Puppet,” “The Eye,” and “Born Without A Heart” was co-written and produced with Jakke Erixsen and Tor Eimon. “Writing this song felt like a turning point in my creativity,” the pop star continued. “Working with Fran and Jakke on this song was more than a dream come true I left the studio being so in love with the song and couldn’t wait to share it with the world.”

Along with her latest single, Faouzia has announced a new EP, Citizens, will be released in May. Keep an ear to the ground of more info on that release, and check out her searing new single up top.

Ever since getting slapped on live television by someone who soon thereafter won an Oscar, Chris Rock has stayed quiet. The comic has not addressed the incident, in which he told a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith at this year’s Academy Awards, prompting a violent outburst by her husband, Will Smith. But he did have some stand-up shows already lined up, meaning he was forced to address it — which he did as minimally as possible.

As per Variety, Rock made his first post-slap appearance at a show in Boston, and he started off by addressing the elephant in the room — and then quickly shooing it off-stage.

“How was your weekend?” Rock told the crowd after getting a huge standing ovation. He then admitted the hilarious set about a shocking thing that occurred only three days before will have to wait. “I don’t have a bunch of s*it about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I’m still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point I’ll talk about that shit. And it will be serious and funny.”

The audience proceeded to chant “F*ck Will Smith,” but Rock tried to move on. “I’m going to tell some jokes,” Rock told everyone. “It’s nice to just be out.”

On Sunday, Rock appeared late in the show to present the award to Best Documentary. That trophy eventually went to Summer of Soul. Before that, though, Rock made a joke about a Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. Her husband then stormed the stage, smacked Rock across the face, then shouted obscenities at him. Rock tried his best to handle the incident with aplomb, not fighting back and quickly getting things back to the award.

Rock’s poise amidst the unexpected attack has been widely applauded, and sales to his stand-up shows have skyrocketed ever since. (Smith’s actions, meanwhile, has been condemned by many.) Pretty soon, though, paying audiences will get to hear what will no doubt be a hilarious breakdown of what may wind up being the most shocking thing to happen in almost a century of Academy Awards.

(Via Variety)

Over the last year or so EST Gee and 42 Dugg have grown to be two of rap’s newest and most promising names. Gee’s Bigger Than Life Or Death and Dugg’s Free Dem Boyz projects, which both arrived last year, helped to give them a strong boost in their respective careers. They’ve also collaborated on several occasions on tracks like “5500 Degrees” and “Rose Gold,” and it’s most likely a result of them both being signed to Yo Gotti’s Collective Music Group imprint. That connection aled to last month’s announcement of a joint album between Gee and Dugg, which is set to arrive sooner or later.

The rappers initially said their project, titled Last Ones Left, would touch down on February 18, but that day came and went without the project. However, the duo didn’t leave their fans high and dry and an example of that comes with their latest song, “Everybody Shooters Too.” The new track arrives with a focused video that captures Gee and Dugg rapping beside their crew as they flex their diamonds, cars, and high-end clothing.

The new song and video arrive after Gee and Dugg dropped off “Free The Shiners” to kick off the campaign for Last Ones Left.

You can watch the video for “Everybody Shooters Too” above.

42 Dugg is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Bruce Arians, who coached the Tampa Buccaneers to a Super Bowl LV win just over a year ago, is stepping down as the team’s head coach. Todd Bowles, the ex-New York Jets head coach and current Tampa Bay defensive coordinator, is going to take over for Arians.

Arians’ decision, first reported by NBC’s Peter King, means he’s going to move into into what he told King was a “senior consultant for football” in the Buccaneers organization. He told King he was stepping away now because he wanted a clean line of succession with the job.

“I’d rather see Todd in position to be successful and not have to take some [crappy] job,” Arians said. “I’m probably retiring next year anyway, in February. So, I control the narrative right now. I don’t control it next February because [Tom] Brady gets hurt, we go 10-7, and it’s an open interview for the job … I got 31 [coaches and their] families that depend on me. My wife is big on not letting all those families down.”

The 69-year-old Arians also said that Brady’s decision to unretire did not have an impact on his decision.

“No,” Arians said, per King. “No. Tom was very in favor of what I’m doing. I mean, I had conflicts with every player I coached because I cussed them all out, including him. Great relationship off the field.”

Bowles, 58, becomes the sixth NFL head coach of color along with Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Washington’s Ron Rivera, New York’s Robert Saleh, Miami’s Mike McDaniel and and Houston’s Lovie Smith. He was 24-40 as the New York Jets’ head coach, but was considered among the top candidates for jobs this offseason around the NFL before returning to Tampa as defensive coordinator.

In the days since Will Smith slapped and cursed at Chris Rock at Sunday’s Oscar ceremony, many have expressed their distaste with what the former did to the latter. Among them was one of the night’s three hosts. Amy Schumer, who tried to milk jokes out of the incident shortly after it happened, said she’s “still triggered and traumatized” by it. Now another host not only agrees with her but shared a strange and endearing story about her run-in with Rock himself.

On Wednesday, Wanda Sykes appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. There, she discussed how she “felt so awful for my friend Chris.” (Sykes first gained recognition for her work as a writer on The Chris Rock Show in the ‘90s, even winning an Emmy.) She also told a story about running into him and finding him weirdly, if predictably self-deprecating about it:

“I hope he doesn’t mind me saying this, but I saw Chris at [Guy Oseary’s after party] and as soon as I walked up to him, the first thing he said is, ‘I’m so sorry.’ I was like, ‘Why are you apologizing?’ He was like, ‘It was supposed to be your night. You and Amy and Regina were doing such a great job. I’m so sorry this is now gonna be about this.’ ”

Sykes added, “Because that’s who Chris is.”

The performer also took time to slam Smith for his behavior. “It was sickening. It was absolutely— I physically felt ill, and I’m still a little traumatized by it,” Sykes said. “And for them to let [Will] stay in that room and enjoy the rest of the show and accept his award, I was like, ‘How gross is this?’ This sends the wrong message. If you assault somebody, you get escorted out the building and that’s it. But for them to let him continue, I thought it was gross.”

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who puts on the Oscars, announced Wednesday that they’ve begun a formal investigation into the incident. They also claimed that after his attack, they asked Smith to leave but he “refused.”

You can watch Sykes’ Ellen appearance in the video above.

(Via People)