Year: 2022

(Spoilers for Netflix’s Bad Vegan will be found below.)

Bad Vegan subject Sarma Melngailis recently set the record straight about Netflix making an exception regarding payment for her appearance (and she insists that she used this money to pay back her jilted employees), but she’s not thrilled about one key way that the streaming service is marketing the limited series. This has to do with one of the several hard-to-believe happenings (or rather, non-happenings) that purportedly lured Sarma into the cult-mentality clutches of Anthony Strangis (who operated under the “Shane Fox” pseudonym). That’s before they became casino-bound fugitives and eventually got busted because of a pizza order.

The pizza stuff was odd (because that’s a really bad vegan who orders cheese), but the strangest thing that Sarma admits to believing is that Shane was a black-ops guy and a superpowered being that could make her pit bull, Leon, immortal. The former celebrity restauranteur (who massively fell from grace, and that includes a Rikers Island sentence) admitted that she fully bought into this claim, and Netflix has apparently set up an Instagram profile (with the PerpetualPup handle) that spreads this caption: “Do you want your dog to live forever? You’re not the only one. Click the link in bio to learn more.”

Here’s a commercial to go along with the theme.

Sarma’s not thrilled (she’s “sick”) over how she believes that Netflix is “mocking” her:

“I’m sick. On behalf of dogs and the humans who love them. And on behalf of anyone psychologically abused. Please see my Twitter to hear the audio on this clip, for which the word disturbing is far too mild. The audio is… making a joke out of me. This is how @netflix markets #badvegan? By mocking me, and worse… by luring people to click via… pet immortality? How is this ok?? @netflix you made this. I wish I could ask all those who signed off on this to explain it to me so I understand. Was there a room full people laughing while the audio was scripted? And everyone was just cool with this?”

One can understand why Sarma’s not exactly excited about the dog immortality stuff being dragged. That’s gotta sting, and it’s wild that she ever believed it could happen in the first place, but that’s one of the only reasons that Bad Vegan might be the most unbelievable of all the current scammer series out there. (It’s currently streaming in full.)

While Halsey’s music has long had an alternative influence (even at its most pop), she really leaned into that aspect of her sound with her last album, last year’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, which she made with Nine Inch Nails duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Now, though, it appears she’s looking to get back to having a more pop-forward sound with her next album.

Over the weekend, she wrote on her Instagram Story, “Due to personal reasons I will be making a pop album.” She added in another post, “I have an incredible song that I could put out as a single for radio next but I feel like that’s insane to do bc I haven’t even toured iichliwp yet idk.” She continued in another post, “I actually have like a few. Idk what to dooooo.”

Halsey is set to tour behind If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power soon, though, as she announced a tour in January. That trek runs from May to July and features support from Beabadoobee and PinkPantheress.

Earlier this month, Halsey suggested she was gearing up for a pop era. In a March 3 tweet, she shared a tweet about a time she replaced herself on the Pop Songs airplay chart and wrote, “this was a very special time. might f*ck around and do it again with H5.” A few minutes later, she responded to a fan who asked how she wants her next album to sound, saying, “the sound usually finds me. i usually like to do a departure from whatever the last album was. i was burnt out from radio on Manic and that’s kinda how IICHLIWP came to be. we’ll see where my defiance takes me lol.” She noted then she hadn’t yet started work on the album, saying, “I’m gonna get through the tour first and then I’ll get to work!”

In 2020, famous pop star The Weeknd appeared in an episode of American Dad and voiced some characters on Robot Chicken. It was confirmed a couple of weeks ago that he would be on the March 20 episode of The Simpsons, “Bart The Cool Kid.” The episode synopsis reads, “When Bart befriends a famous kid influencer who owns an ultra-cool skate wear brand, Homer leads a rebellion of loser dads against them.”

That episode premiered last night. His character is Orion Hughes, who owns the Supreme-parody skate wear brand named Slipreme. He also voiced the character’s father, Darius. Check out a funny clip below, and find more on the official Simpsons Twitter.

The “Blinding Lights” singer heightened the hype of his appearance by quote-tweeting Matt Selman, the executive producer of The Simpsons: “Thank you Matt !! Let’s make Orion Hughes and Bart’s friendship a re-occurring thing.” It looks like more cartoons are in the musician’s future.

In a 2020 Variety interview, The Weeknd said, “American Dad was everything I wanted. It’s going to be hard to beat this in the TV cartoon world, but an obvious bucket list would be to work on The Simpsons. That would be a dream — and if they’re reading this, I actually have a pretty cool idea if they’re down.”

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

With his sophomore album Candypaint, all the world wanted from Lucky Daye was to see him whisk us off our feet with another captivating project. His 2019 debut album Painted was praised from top to bottom by those who enjoyed his serenading vocals on efforts like “Love You Too Much” and “Floods,” as well as folks who caught a groove and danced the night away with “Extra” and “Karma.” Painted was much more than a fan-favorite that was safeguarded by R&B lovers, as is what often happens with stellar projects in the genre. It earned the New Orleans native attention from critics as it landed multiple Grammy nominations at the 2020 award show – including one for Best R&B Album. Painted essentially cemented Daye as next up in the genre that so many are quick to call “dead.”

As Daye prepared to release Candypaint, it became clear that a change in direction was in order. Its cover art portrayed the singer from the chest up dripping in some honey-like substance, an image inspired by The Ohio Players’ 1975 album Honey. It’s a stark contrast from the artistic portrait of Lucky Daye that appears on the cover of Painted. With this visual change comes one for the sonics of Candypaint. Where Painted saw Lucky pop champagne in celebration with his lover, Candypaint slyly dangles handcuffs in front of them with dripping infatuation. Painted dwells on innocent daytime fun and pure love while Candypaint finds life in the sultry atmosphere of nighttime romance.

While the aforementioned albums may fall on opposite sides of the spectrum, they’re both undeniable evidence of Lucky Daye’s sprawling versatility. Candydrip does a great job of flaunting his talents and how he can pretty much do everything and do it well. Whether it’s the funk-inspired “Feels Like” or the traditional R&B beauty of “Guess” or even the alternative R&B-leaning “Intermission,” Lucky’s musical pockets are infinite, and for him, it’s just a matter of picking one to get into. Additionally, while this versatility might cause others to do too much on a given project, Lucky keeps things cohesive and tightly wrapped.

On Candydrip, Lucky Daye yearns for intimacy. The possibility of its arrival through a new lover presents a thrill for him while its continued return from his current partner keeps him on a high. “F*ckin’ Sound” sees Lucky put up blinders to the world as he begs his companion to satisfy his overbearing craving for their body and the passionate interaction that comes with it. “God Body,” which concludes with a slick-talking verse from Smino, uses the ultimate compliment to simplify Lucky’s attempt to get his hand into the cookie jar. While Lucky’s contribution to the song is strong, it’s Smino’s verse that best highlights their ultimate goal. “Roll up on you in the morning like I do my weed,” he raps. “I know what I want and you more like a need.”

For every uphill trek to glory, there’s a downward spiral that marks a return to square one. An excellent example comes with the project’s lead single, “Over.” Here, the flare and undeterred spirit of Lucky Daye vanishes and is replaced by frustration and annoyance. The record recounts an on-again-off-again love that finds Daye consistently surrendering to a woman who can’t make up her mind between being with him or moving on. He impresses, dazzles, and sweet-talks the ladies when he’s in command of everything, but issues tend to arrive for him when he’s forced to wait on others. Finally, when that decision is made, and his attempt at love comes to an end, as it does on “Used To Be,” Daye – just like anyone else – is left to sulk in sadness as his partner’s departure stings a bit too much for him. “A dying rose in the winter / I’m holdin’ on every way I can,” he beckons. “Tell me, is this only just me / By my lonely.”

Candydrip covers Lucky Daye’s insistence on satisfying his nagging sweet tooth towards romance. More times than not, he’s a slick-suit-wearing man who knows just what to say to earn his way as he does on “Guess,” “Feels Like,” and “F*ckin’ Sound.” There are moments when he does a little too much, like the candy-themed “Candy Drip (Interlude)” where he rattles off a raunchy poem that uses candy brands for lustful puns. However, Candypaint concludes with Lucky returning to his original form with heartfelt numbers like “Fever,” “Cherry Forest,” and “Ego.” Lucky Daye has this generation’s R&B crown as he’s made a great case to possess it with each release. All we can do now is watch him shine and thrive in the spotlight as he’s continuously done in his career.

Candypaint is out now via RCA/Keep Cool. You can stream it here.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Though Charli XCX is always going to do it her way, Crash is about as close to a mainstream pop record as she’s ever gotten. With five records and a deeply influential mixtape, Pop 2, under her belt before this release, Charli is no longer a fledgling pop talent with a chip on her shoulder; Crash cements her as the pop veteran who can do it all. Given it’s her last album for Atlantic Records, the major label that has released all five of her studio albums, it makes sense for Charli to play the mainstream star after years of flirting with the boundary between having a “main pop-girl moment” and relentlessly avoiding the surreal machinations those moments demand.

Across the album’s twelve tracks, in just under 34 minutes, Charli distills sounds and tones from practically every corner and era of pop, filtering it all through her own glitchy, no-holds-barred lens. Playing by the rules is almost her way of giving a coy Elle Woods “what, like it’s hard?” brush off to the artists who can’t color outside the lines the way she often does. “Oh, I love selling out,” Charli told NPR days before the album release. “Selling out creates pop culture. To get Warhol-y about it, that’s what that is — it’s mass-market selling out. I think it’s pop-tastic and fun and disposable. We’re in this disposable culture now more than ever so I’m kind of here for it.” The funny thing is, even when Charli goes full tilt — big hair, slutty, video-vixen outfits, virgin and whore dichotomies galore — she can’t shake the counter-culture twist that has always defined her.

Early single “Good Ones” was a rollercoaster of ’80s synths and self-destruction, but Charli followed that up with the inventive “New Shapes,” featuring Christine & The Queens and Caroline Polachek, two pop innovators who would, nevertheless, remain on the periphery without an XCX single dragging them into the spotlight. “Beg For You,” a collaboration with rising UK pop star Rina Sawayama, is an album standout but leans way more into the hyperpop sound that defined previous projects like Pop 2 and how i’m feeling now. Then again, it also samples September’s “Cry For You,” an early aughts Swedish pop hit that’s a Europop club song to the hilt. After Charli’s last big swing, her self-titled 2019 record, failed to connect like it seemed poised to, her instinct seemed to be returning to weirder impulses right away. But maybe how i’m feeling now wiped the slate clean because there’s very little of that frenetic, linear songwriting on this follow-up.

The critical acclaim that both of her previous throw-it-all-at-the-wall releases, Pop 2 and how i’m feeling now, received seemed to imply that Charli works best in a time crunch. Yet, Crash easily surpasses both of those tapes, and it’s much more structured than anything she’s done in the last five years, outside of Charli. If anything, Crash feels like a mashup of the chaotic Charli who loops Autotune vocal whorls and the woman who penned songs like “I Love It,” and “Same Old Love” and gave them away. By immediately moving from the most inventive album in her discography to the most straightforward, Charli is toying with the rules of pop itself, forcing listeners to contrast and compare the choices an artist who wants both freedom and fame is forced to make.

These difficult choices are mirrored in these songs’ reflections on relationships, too. On the album’s core middle tracks, “Baby” and “Lightning,” Charli alternates between active and passive roles in a loving relationship, but most of the album’s material skews sad, echoing the lead single’s narrative of a relationship’s demise. “Constant Repeat” and “Every Rule” outline love on the verge of destruction, with our heroine’s confident assertions that a potential partner missed out on her love on the former, and a slower meditation on guilty happiness in the midst of infidelity on the latter. These songs are brash and vulnerable at turns, never quite backing down from the bombast that defines Crash, but not quite letting the record assume a simple, mainstream storyline; Charli is always more complicated than that, perhaps even when she doesn’t want to be.

One of the best examples of her wonderful strangeness is “Yuck,” a song that decries a partner’s loving affirmations and constant check-ins, all while noting that if they ever went missing, she’d be just as put off. These weirder songs on Crash take a few more listens to get to the bottom of, like the album closer, “Twice,” a song about assuming the worst will happen, but trying not to think about it. In these middle spaces, stuck squarely between happiness and skeletal existentialism, is where XCX seems to be the most at home, and that’s the polarity that Crash embodies. An artist who knows she has everything and is just as sure that something important is missing.

Crash is out now on Atlantic. Stream it here.

Last month, Foo Fighters dropped a song called “March Of The Insane.” This wasn’t a typical Foo Fighters song, though, as it was a death metal tune credited to Dream Widow, a fictional band from Foo Fighters’ new movie Studio 666. It turns out there’s more where that song came from, as Dave Grohl plans to release a full Dream Widow EP: Variety reports the EP will be released digitally this Friday, March 25. A physical release is set to follow later this year.

He previously told Rolling Stone of the project, “[Dream Widow’s singer] went insane, murdered his entire band over creative differences and then kills himself in the house. It will be the lost album. It’ll be the album they were making before he f*cking killed the entire band.” He said at the time he intended to have the Dream Widow project out in time for the movie’s February 25 release.

Grohl also noted his upbringing as “a f*cking Eighties thrash-metal kid” inspired the Dream Widow songs and said, “I have my favorites. You’ll hear a lot of those influences in ‘Lacrimus dei Ebrius’ [a 13-minute metal epic performed in the film] because for that song, I put maybe four or five of these sections together in this big, long thing. Some of it sounds like [doom-metal pioneers] Trouble; some of it sounds like Corrosion Of Conformity; some of it has a Kyuss vibe.”

Grohl previously told Howard Stern of Dream Widow’s role in the movie, “I wind up finding this creepy basement, and I go into the basement, I find this tape by a band [Dream Widow] from 25 years ago that recorded there, and there’s this song that, if recorded and completed, the f*cking demon in the house is unleashed, and then, whatever, all hell breaks loose.”

(WARNING: Spoilers lie ahead for Deep Water, in the event you have not seen it yet.)

In Deep Water, the latest erotic thriller from the genre’s mastermind Adrian Lyne, Ben Affleck plays a sinister husband, earnest daddy, and snail obsessive with a dark secret. While it is not by any stretch of the imagination Affleck’s best performance – it feels kind of like he is sleepwalking through every scene – it is indicative of Affleck’s strength. Even with little effort, Affleck assimilates well into darker characters and as such, the next phase of his career (the Bennifer 2.0 phase, perhaps) should be starring in erotic thrillers, a la Michel Douglas in the late 80s and 90s.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, Ben Affleck was a dreamboat. The inside of my bedroom door was covered in cutouts of Affleck from Entertainment Weekly and People (alongside his Pearl Harbor co-star Josh Hartnett, obviously). Affleck became a movie star after winning an Oscar for writing Good Will Hunting alongside Matt Damon. But into the early aughts, Affleck’s personal and professional life crashed and burned. Affleck went from reliable romantic lead to guaranteed Razzie nominee. In the late 2000s and early 2010s Affleck would get back into awards conversations from behind the camera with his 2009 directorial debut Gone Baby Gone (2007) followed by The Town (2010), and Argo (2012).

Affleck’s performance as Nick Dunne in 2014’s Gone Girl – a modern erotic thriller – marked a bit of a renaissance for him. Yes, Argo won Best Picture (Gone Baby Gone and The Town received nominations), but as a performer, he was still stagnant. In Gone Girl, Affleck’s character Nick Dunne becomes the center of media attention and the primary suspect in the disappearance and apparent murder of his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike). The intentionally cast role required a bit of the real Ben Affleck. He drew on his experience as a public figure, exemplifying his apathy but simultaneous interest in celebrity. Affleck’s portrayal of Nick Dunne’s mystifying, unaffected quality feels personal to Affleck. Although we know Nick Dunne did not kill Amy, it feels like he could have. Throughout the ominous performance is a magnetic sexual appeal: Nick is kind of basic and kind of an asshole but for some reason, he’s irresistible, which Affleck embodies with ease.

In Deep Water, Affleck plays Vic Van Allen, a similar – though more frightening – bummed husband and snail enthusiast (this guy seriously loves snails) with lots of stubble who does a lot of heavy breathing and watching through windows. At the beginning of the film, Vic and his wife, Melinda attend a party. Melinda openly hooks up with a young man in front of Vic and all of their friends. It’s clear that the couple has an understanding. Or, at least, they have an understanding that Vic pretends to tolerate. At the party, Vic tells the young man that he killed Melinda’s last suitor. The rumor spreads around town, with most people assuming it was a bad joke. Affleck successfully plays the role both ways, as he did with Gone Girl. For a time, it makes perfect sense that Vic was joking, even after seeing a scene in which Vic kills one of Melinda’s suitors. Affleck, as disaffected as he and his character are in Deep Water, is still magnetic and just as irresistible as the guy I scotch-taped to my bedroom door in 2002.

Even when it’s not his best (such as in Deep Water), Affleck is most effective when balancing his dark, alluring, and charming sides at the same — which makes the erotic thriller genre a perfect outlet for his next career stage, quite like Michael Douglas’ inspiring erotic thriller run in the 80s and 90s.

The leading men in erotic thrillers such as Gone Girl’s Nick Dunne and Deep Water’s Vic Van Allen and the protagonists Douglas played in erotic thrillers like Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct are simple with an attraction to danger. They’re attractive and charming, but ultimately unremarkable, which allows the Femme Fatales like Rosamund Pike’s Amy Dunne, Ana de Armas’s Melinda Van Allen, Glenn Close’s Alex Forrest, and Sharon Stone’s Catherine Tramell to chew the scenery. Affleck assimilates into this character type naturally. He fluctuates between sympathetic and menacing in seconds with something as simple as a glimmer in his eye. He can be both transparent and opaque; simple but with innate, sexy darkness stirring underneath.

In case you forgot that Atlanta is one of the best shows on TV, here’s a reminder: Atlanta is one of the best shows on TV. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s creator and star Donald Glover in a now-deleted tweet from November 2020: ‘atlanta’ s3+s4 are going to be some of the best television ever made. sopranos only ones who can touch us.”

At the Atlanta season three (“our maximum season,” according to director Hiro Murai) premiere in Austin, Texas, over the weekend, Glover was asked whether he still stands by his “best show since The Sopranos” claim (sorry, Community). “I talk my sh*t on the internet,” he told Variety. “I said Sopranos and sh*t. I’m not backing down from that sh*t. I’m holding my nuts out on that sh*t. I just want [audiences] to know this sh*t is good. It’s high quality sh*t. I hope you can have cursing [in your story].”

I’m happy that Atlanta is back soon, but also suddenly sad that we’ll never see James Gandolfini in an episode. Imagine the looks he and Bryan Tyree Henry would give each other.

Atlanta returns this Thursday, March 24, after a four-year break with two episodes that prove “Atlanta is still very much comfortable in subverting your expectations,” as we wrote in our glowing review.

Despite Trevor Noah warning people that the Kanye West and Kim Kardashian situation has the potential to devolve into violence, Noah has come out against the recent move by the Grammys to pull West’s performance.

The music awards ceremony has barred West from performing due to his “concerning online behavior,” which recently involved hurling racial slurs at Noah in response to his Daily Show segment. Those slurs resulted in West being banned from Instagram for 24 hours and have now culminated in the decision from the Grammys, which Noah opposes.

“I said counsel Kanye not cancel Kanye,” Noah tweeted late Sunday night.

It’s yet another classy move by The Daily Show host who responded to Kanye calling him a racial slur by saying how much the rappers’ work has inspired him, which is why he hates to see him in his current state.

“You’re an indelible part of my life Ye,” Noah wrote in the comments of the now-deleted Instagram post. “Which is why it breaks my heart to see you like this. I don’t care if you support Trump and I don’t care if you roast Pete. I do however care when I see you on a path that’s dangerously close to peril and pain.”

Of course, Noah did light up Kanye a little by saying, “Clearly some people graduate but we still stupid, but for the most part, Noah’s main concern has been pushing for Kanye to get the help he likely needs.

(Via Trevor Noah on Instagram)

Country icon Willie Nelson has announced this year’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour, a 19-show run featuring rotating openers including Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit, Brothers Osborne, Steve Earle & The Dukes, ZZ Top, The Avett Brothers, Larkin Poe, and more.

“The Outlaw Music Festival Tour has always been about family and friends coming together for a great day of music and fun, and with the amazing group of artists joining us, this year promises to be our most special Outlaw Tour to date,” Nelson said in a statement.

Check out the dates, with the line-up for each show, below.

06/24 – St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Willie Nelson & Family
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit
Charley Crockett
Brittney Spencer

06/25 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena
Willie Nelson & Family
Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Charley Crockett
Brittney Spencer

06/26 – Indianapolis, IN @ Ruoff Music Center
Willie Nelson & Family
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit
Charley Crockett
Brittney Spencer

07/01 – Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP
Willie Nelson & Family
Brothers Osborne
Steve Earle & The Dukes
Allison Russell

07/02 – Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion
Willie Nelson & Family
Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit
Brothers Osborne
Charley Crockett
Steve Earle & The Dukes
Allison Russell

07/29 – Cleveland, OH @ Blossom Music Center
Willie Nelson & Family
ZZ Top
Gov’t Mule
Larkin Poe

07/30 – Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
Willie Nelson & Family
ZZ Top
Gov’t Mule
Larkin Poe

07/31 – Pittsburgh, PA @ The Pavilion at Star Lake
Willie Nelson & Family
ZZ Top
Gov’t Mule
Larkin Poe

08/12 – Gilford, NH @ Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
Willie Nelson & Family
ZZ Top
Zach Bryan
Charley Crockett
The War and Treaty

08/13 – Bethel, NY @ Bethel Woods Center
Willie Nelson & Family
ZZ Top
Zach Bryan
Charley Crockett
The War and Treaty

08/14 – Darien, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheater
Willie Nelson & Family
ZZ Top
Zach Bryan
Charley Crockett
The War and Treaty

09/09 – Atlanta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Willie Nelson & Family
Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit
Billy Strings
Charley Crockett
Larkin Poe

09/10 – Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
Willie Nelson & Family
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Billy Strings
Charley Crockett
Larkin Poe

09/11 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Veteran’s United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
Willie Nelson & Family
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Billy Strings
Larkin Poe
Brittney Spencer

09/13 @ Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
Willie Nelson & Family
Billy Strings
Larkin Poe
Brittney Spencer

09/16 – Boston, MA @ Xfinity Center
Willie Nelson & Family
The Avett Brothers
Billy Strings
Larkin Poe
Brittney Spencer

09/17 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
Willie Nelson & Family
The Avett Brothers
Zach Bryan
Larkin Poe
Brittney Spencer

09/18 – Saratoga Springs, NY @ SPAC
Willie Nelson & Family
The Avett Brothers
Billy Strings
Larkin Poe
Brittney Spencer

09/23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Waterfront Music Pavilion
Willie Nelson & Family
Chris Stapleton
Zach Bryan
Larkin Poe
Brittney Spencer