Month: January 2023

The new year has gotten off to a sad start: As per The Daily Beast, Jeremy Renner, Oscar-nominated actor and the MCU’s resident Hawkeye, has been injured in a snow plow accident. Details are still thin on the ground, but Renner is reportedly in “critical but stable condition.”

Renner was at one of his homes in Washoe County, Nevada, which was one of many places in America to experience massive snowfall. While digging his home out of the snow, the plow reportedly ran over one of his legs. TMZ reports that one of his neighbors, a doctor, put a tourniquet around his leg so as to stop the massive bleeding. Renner was the only person injured in the accident. He was flown to a hospital and is reportedly with his family and receiving “excellent care.”

Renner has often posted about his rugged lifestyle in the Lake Tahoe area. Only five weeks before his accident, he posted a video on Instagram of him doing donuts in a jeep in the snow. In December of 2021, he shared a video of him driving a snow blower with the caption, “I have so much respect for Mother Earth, and Mother Nature … I expect to lose the fight but I’ll always give it my best shot.”

(Via The Daily Beast)

SZA is starting 2023 on top: SOS, her highly anticipated and highly successful sophomore album, dropped on December 9, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated December 24, and she hasn’t relinquished the position.

According to Billboard, SOS has logged its third consecutive week at No. 1 on the chart dated January 7, with 128,000 equivalent album US units earned during the week ending on December 29. The publication additionally relayed, “SOS is the first R&B album by a woman to spend three weeks at No. 1 since Beyoncé’s self-titled effort also spent its first three weeks atop the list in 2013. (R&B albums are defined as those that have hit Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart.)”

Last week, SZA teased a video for “Kill Bill” to reward her fans for making the track her first career No. 1 on Billboard‘s Streaming Songs chart and second career Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart No. 1.

Elsewhere on this week’s Billboard 200 chart, Taylor Swift’s Midnights remains at No. 2 for a fourth-straight week. The album had previously spent five weeks at No. 1, including a record-breaking debut. Michael Bublé’s Christmas comes in at No. 3, with Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains (No. 4) and Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song (No. 5) rounding out the top 5.

Rosalía and Rauw Alejandro celebrated New Year’s Day in a karaoke bar in Japan. The Latin music power couple shared videos from their epic karaoke session where they sang classic songs by Lady Gaga, Cher, and Daddy Yankee.

Rosalía and Alejandro arrived in Tokyo, Japan last month to spend Christmas there. They stayed there to ring in the new year as well. On New Year’s Eve, they hung out with another Latin music power couple in Japan, Mexican crooner Christian Nodal and his girlfriend Cazzu. Addison Rae was also spotted with the group.

On New Year’s Day, Rosalía and Alejandro went to a karaoke bar with Nodal and Cazzu. In their Instagram Stories, Rosalía and Alejandro shared videos of their cute karaoke duets. Sharing one microphone together, the couple sang along to Lady Gaga’s hit “Alejandro” from her 2009 EP The Fame Monster. Alejandro playfully changed the lyric “Alejandro” to “Fernando” while singing with Rosalía.

Rosalía and Alejandro later sang Cher’s 1998 hit “Believe” to each other. They danced around to the electro-pop classic while belting their hearts out. Rosalía also joined Alejandro for a duet of Daddy Yankee’s 2004 smash “Gasolina” that opened the flood gates for reggaeton music. Alejandro tackled Daddy Yankee’s part while Rosalía sang along to the woman’s part of the song that was originally sung by Glory.

This past week, Augusta National Golf Club sent out invitations to the 2023 Masters Tournament, and because it’s Augusta National, they send actual, physical invitations through the mail to each of the golfers qualified to play in the first major of the year.

There are few things in golf regular folks dream more of than the chance to play Augusta National, as the exclusivity of the club makes it a bucket list item that very few ever actually get to cross off. On Monday, PGA Tour pro Scott Stallings revealed that he’d been nervously checking his mailbox every day last week for his invite that he knew was supposed to come, only for it to never arrive. The reason for that is the invite got sent to a different Scott Stallings, who just happens to live nearby to the golfing Stallings and has a wife that even shares the same name (Jennifer).

That Scott Stallings sent a DM to the pro golfer showing him the invite and asking where he can forward it, laughing at the mixup by saying “I’m 100 sure this is NOT for me. I play but wow! No where near your level.”

The “it’s a very nice package” is the best part, and hopefully Augusta National will at least hook up the other Scott Stallings with some tournament passes for the weekend so he can watch the correct Scott Stallings play. While it’s nice that he is forwarding this along, it would’ve been hysterical if he showed up on April 6 with a stand bag and his invitation, ready to tee it up with the best golfers in the world and demanding to be allowed in the tournament because he had been invited.

Shakira is leaving any toxicity in her life behind in 2022. On New Year’s Day, the Colombian superstar shared an optimistic message about love after healing from “betrayal.” The heartfelt post could be about her breakup with soccer star Gerard Piqué last year.

In June of last year, Shakira and Piqué announced their separation. Piqué reportedly cheated on Shakira, which led to their decision to part ways after over 11 years together.

“We regret to confirm that we are separating. For the well-being of our children, who are our highest priority, we request respect for (our) privacy. Thank you for your understanding,” Shakira and Piqué said in a joint statement.

In a New Year’s Day post, Shakira seemingly touched on healing from her breakup with Piqué. “Even if our are still open in this new year, time has surgeon’s hands,” she wrote in Spanish and English. “Even if someone has betrayed us, we must continue to trust others.”

Shakira’s message is universal for anyone who is caught up in a toxic relationship. “When faced with contempt, continue to know your worth,” she continued. “Because there are more good people than indecent ones. More people with empathy than indifference.”

Shakira ended her note with a hopeful message about love, adding, “The ones who leave are fewer than the many who stay by our side. Our tears are not in vain, they water the soil our future will spring from and make us more human, so that even while suffering heartache we can continue to love.”

Last year, Shakira released the global hits “Te Felicito” with Rauw Alejandro and “Monotonía” featuring Ozuna. Both songs dealt with a breakup and seemingly hinted to her split from Piqué. She is hard at work on her next album.

Eminem has been revisiting his past lately. I’m personally still not over the nostalgic reunion of Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, and 50 Cent for last year’s Emmy-winning Super Bowl halftime performance.

In recent months, Eminem candidly reflected on his past drug addiction with XXL and his 2007 overdose with Paul Rosenberg. His Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction speech included mention of his nearly fatal 2007 overdose — joking for his daughter, Hailie, to “plug your ears because drugs were f*cking delicious.” He also took the time during that speech to thank, one-by-one, over 100 of his formative rap influences.

And though Eminem paid subtle homage to 8 Mile with a limited-edition comic book cover in November, his 2002 cult classic film is staying firmly in the past.

“Sometimes it’s just best to leave it at one,” Mekhi Phifer said when asked by TMZ why there hasn’t been an 8 Mile sequel. “Sometimes it’s just best to leave it alone. Once you make a classic, no reason to fool around with it.”

Phifer added there has not been any conversation about a potential sequel. Will it ever happen? “Probably not,” he said. And does Phifer think that’s a mistake? “No. Like I said, leave the classics alone, and it’ll be all good. Let’s just live with the 8 Mile.”

Phifer was pressed on whether it could be “more interesting” to see what would happen after the events that transpired in the original, but he held firm: “Yeah, but you know, the story that we told is the story. It could be interesting, but I wouldn’t be in it, and I’m sure Eminem wouldn’t be in it, either.”

8 Mile was loosely based on Eminem’s Detroit upbringing. Em played Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith, a blue-collar worker with rap aspirations, and Phifer played Jimmy’s close friend, Future. Kim Basinger and the late Brittany Murphy also starred. “Lose Yourself” won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song.

Latto has been riding “Big Energy,” her 777 single that peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, since its late-2021 release.

As Uproxx’s December 2021 cover star, Latto explained how she discovered she had unknowingly sampled Tom Tom Club’s “Genius Of Love” and, by extension, Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy.” She said, “I was like, ‘You know what? I ain’t even going to put that pressure on myself. I’m going to put my own taste on it, take it or leave it, whatever.’”

Nobody was thinking about Carey or Tom Tom Club when Latto took the stage in a velvet bodysuit and brought “Big Energy” to Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party in Miami, airing live on NBC and streaming on Peacock, on Saturday night, December 31.

It marked Latto’s last performance of 2022. She was busy through the back half of the year while serving as the opener on Lizzo’s Special Tour, a role she will continue to hold for the 2023 Special 2our leg.

Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party was co-hosted by Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton. They delivered a flawless medley of “Wrecking Ball” and “I Will Always Love You,” while other musical guests included David Byrne, Fletcher, Paris Hilton, Rae Sremmurd, Sia, and more. The two-hour special also revealed that Cyrus will drop her new single, “Flowers” on January 13, which happens to be Liam Hemsworth’s birthday.

Watch Latto’s “Big Energy” performance above.

Logic makes a lot of announcements. In 2022 alone, he left Def Jam for BMG — but not before dropping Vinyl Days, his 30-track seventh album, which was supported by a tour. Luckily, he reconsidered his 2020 retirement announcement. Anyway, it’s only fitting that Logic’s new year began with two baby-related announcements.

Logic and Brittney Noelle, his wife, are launching a children’s clothing line, Sweet Cream. They can count on at least one new customer, as the couple also shared they are expecting their second child in 2023. Maybe this is why he was in such a good mood through the holidays.

Logic revealed the birth of his and Noelle’s son in July 2020.

“Privacy with family is something that is very important to me,” Logic captioned an Instagram post at the time. “However my fans have been my family since this all started so I wanted to share with you a glimpse into the life I am now diving into head first. I would like you to meet LB as we call him, Little Bobby. And my beautiful wife Brittney who is an incredible mother. These two make me the happiest man in the world and it’s a happiness nothing else has ever been able to fulfill.”

He continued, “I know the news of retirement may be bittersweet when understanding the motives behind it. But worry not dear listener. I will still be here for you. This will now if anything only allow me to focus more on not only my family. But YOU! My family reading this. Without the stress of this industry we can communicate more. Interact more, and I’m so excited for that. I love you and thank you so so much for being here with me all these years. Now let’s all kick back, love life and enjoy each day having fun… No Pressure. RattPack for infinity!”

Since then, Logic has done anything but retreat. On top of this June’s Vinyl Days, he has also released his first-ever beat tape, Peanuts, and his 2021 project Bobby Tarantino III. Logic’s debut novel, Supermarket, became a bestseller in 2019; he followed that up with a memoir, This Bright Future, in September 2021.

January is officially upon us, people. You might be freezing your butt off, but a bright side exists in this scenario: the reigning streaming services know that you need something to watch while stuck inside, and they’ve delivered accordingly. The newest show starring Natasha Lyonne has arrived (with Rian Johnson behind the scenes, what a concept), and Bryan Cranston simply refuses to stop playing characters who break bad, yet the TV landscape is better for it.

In other words, if you’ve already finished binging December shows (and there’s a good chance that you got sucked into Emily In Paris and 1923 like the best of us), then you have plenty of options coming your way. At least, that’s the case if you like shows with detectives, therapists, witches, vikings, non-threatening basements, and Jason Momoa. Here are the must-see shows for January 2023.

Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches (AMC/AMC+ series streaming 1/8)

Anne Rice fans must be enjoying the undead resurrection of her novels on TV, and that includes the mesmerizing Interview With The Vampire reboot series. Now, audiences will see the darkness continue with Alexandra Daddario and her wide-eyed presence starring as the head of a witchy dynasty. She plays Rowan Fielding, a neurosurgeon who ends up finding out that she’s the so-called Thirteenth Witch. Hey, it happens. The series co-stars Jack Huston, Harry Hamlin, and Annabeth Gish and looks atmospheric as hell, so let’s hope that it delivers heft atop those visuals.

Vikings: Valhalla: Season 2 (Netflix series streaming 1/12)

After the O.G. series dominated for six full seasons, this spinoff gave the franchise new life in the streaming realm. This part of the story still takes place around a century ahead of its predecessor with a different generation of history-famous Vikings, including Leif Ericsson, Freydis Eriksdotter, and Nordic prince Harald Sigurdsson. They’ve all embarked upon different parts of the world to pursue power and new realms while igniting rivalries and simply attempting to survive with honor.

The Climb (HBO Max series streaming 1/12)

A smart man named Brian Grubb once declared that Jason Momoa should be in everything. I’m on board with this concept, and the See star and upcoming Fast and Furious villain has been pounding movies like crazy but still had time to get hands-on for an HBO Max series. The Climb features Momoa bounding off the side of mountains and shouting, “Yeah!” If you wanted to know more (sure, let’s go there), this series pairs him with buddy and the rock-climbing legend himself, Chris Sharma, to ascend as far as possible into the sky. They also guide a group of amateur climbers throughout a competition that’s fraught with danger and dauntlessness. There’s are prizes involved, of course, but also, they got to go adventuring with Momoa.

Mayor of Kingstown: Season 2 (HBO Max series streaming 1/15)

Taylor Sheridan is pretty much ruling the Paramount Network/Paramount+ content game right now with the Yellowstone universe and Tulsa King, and he also co-created (along with Hugh Dillon) this crime drama starring Jeremy Renner. The story follows Dillon’s own observations from his formative years near Ontario’s Kingston Penitentiary, and Renner plays the figurative Mayor who spins wheels and deals between law enforcement and inmates. In other words, there’s not much in the way of fair justice in this game, and audiences clearly love to see Renner in crime drama mode.

Your Honor: Season 2 (Showtime series premiering 1/15)

I’ve said it already, but no one does Panic Faces quite like Bryan Cranston does. His judge is still breaking bad in Season 2 because he apparently hasn’t suffered enough already. The show’s an intense, stressful one filled with plenty of local sights and sounds (along with mob stuff) after being shot on location in New Orleans, but Cranston seems to relish doing genuinely hard work because he’s (and I’m riffing here) bound and determined not to go back to Malcolm In The Middle wholesomeness. As a special bonus, this season also stars Rosie Perez fresh off her trip with The Flight Attendant.

MILF Manor (TLC series premiering 1/15)

This isn’t exactly the classiest show, but don’t be a snob. Shades of a 30 Rock bit may be in the back of your head for this show where so-called “MILFs” are looking for… something with 20-something dudes. These guys may or may not be able to deliver the goods because we’re talking about ladies who own a fitness studio, for example, and have found plenty of success otherwise in life. There’s a “twist,” apparently, so hopefully, this show will run longer than FBoy Island.

Miracle Workers: Season 4 (TBS series streaming 1/16)

There’s no word yet on whether Daniel Radcliffe will be shaking his butt (while in drag) on this season of this wild and wooly anthology series, but one can hope. This season formally follows up on Oregon Trail with an End Times subtitle, so one can expect some killer robots and (even worse) the lure of suburbia. Radcliffe picks up as a wasteland warrior married to a warlord, played by Geraldine Viswanathan, and thank god Steve Buscemi is back and might know what’s up in Boomtown. Guest stars include Quinta Brunson, Garcelle Beauvais, Kyle Mooney, and Paul F. Tompkins.

That ’90s Show (Netflix series streaming 1/19)

Jackie and Kelso got married, meaning that real-life spouses Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher will be on hand as guests in this series that takes place (as the title suggests) in 1995. The show revolves around Kitty and Red somehow looking much like they did back in the ’70s, and the actual story involves Leia, whose parents happen to be Eric and Donna. Leia is looking for adventure and thinks that the Forman place is the place to be for achieving that goal, especially since a rebel named Gwen lives next door. That basement is a real party once more, even if we can’t figure out how Jackie and Kelso worked out after all these years.

Poker Face (Peacock series streaming 1/26)

Natasha Lyonne said goodbye to Nicky Nichols in Orange Is The New Black and moved right onto the twisted, Groundhog Day-esque existential dilemmas of Russian Doll, but her commanding, self-deprecating presence isn’t taking a breather yet. She and Rian Johnson decided to make a totally not-Columbo series, in which she’s not exactly a detective, but her Charlie character (another “scrappy protagonist,” thank god) does have a “gift” of sorts. Soon enough, she’s solving crimes while tooling around in a Plymouth Barracuda. Natasha reteams with Chloë Sevigny and Dascha Polanco, and expect appearances from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Barkin, Tim Meadows, Tim Blake Nelson, and Benjamin Bratt, too.

Shrinking (Apple TV+ series streaming 1/27)

This series feels like a surefire hit, given that Ted Lasso co-creator Bill Lawrence is writing alongside Brett Goldstein, who also produces. Jason Segel stars as a therapist who takes an unorthodox turn while undergoing his own grieving process. He basically decides, “F*ck those rules” and heads into transforming his own life, and those of his patients, inside out. Harrison Ford takes a breather from cowboying-it in his current 1923 role to move further into his TV phase. The streaming world is a wonderful place.

2023 has gotten off to a sad start for the music community: Over the weekend, former Three 6 Mafia member Gangsta Boo (real name Lola Chantrelle Mitchell) died at 43 years old. An official cause of death has yet to be revealed.

As the news spread, reactions started popping up online, including some heartbreaking ones from Boo’s fellow Three 6 Mafia members. Juicy J and DJ Paul offered simple posts with photos of Boo while Koopsta Knicca wrote, “Alot Of Funny Sh*t Happened All The Time Being Around Them.”

Others associated with Three 6 Mafia and/or Boo chimed in, too. Mr. Wyte shared a screenshot of the news and noted, “No words. We were just all together 2 weeks ago. [sad emoji].” Project Pat wrote, “The Hardest to ever do it R. I. P. @missyeahoe will be missed.” La Chat shared a photo of herself and Boo sharing a hug, captioned by a wall of crying emojis. El-P, who recruited Boo to feature on multiple Run The Jewels songs, tweeted, “love you Lola thank you for your friendship.”

Recently, Boo linked up with GloRilla and Latto on “FTCU” (which is a take on Three 6 Mafia’s “Tear Da Club Up”). GloRilla shared a screenshot of texts between her and Boo and wrote, “I normally don’t post screenshots but the fact that she reached out to me before anybody else had a clue who I was [single tear emoji] she always supported me & the girls way back before we blew up [100 emoji] A REAL LEGEND there will never be another Gangsta Boo [folded hands emoji].”

Latto also tweeted, “Nah this not true man [sad emojis],” followed by, “NOOOOO [broken heart emojis].”

Boo’s death come not long after she delivered an Uproxx Sessions performance of her 2020 single “I’m Fresh,” video of which was shared in early December.

Check out some other reactions to Boo’s death below.