Category: News

Ed Sheeran teased a new album for quite some time before announcing it at the beginning of this month. –, or Subtract, will follow his 2021 LP =. Now, he’s teasing the lead single “Eyes Closed” through TikTok.

In a clip posted to Twitter, Sheeran directs his fans to check out the song on TikTok and encourages them to “make silly videos with it.”

A snippet of the track is available as a TikTok sound here, and he also posted video of guitar- and piano-driven rendition of it. “So I’m dancing with my eyes closed / ‘Cause everywhere I look I still see you / Time is moving so slow / And I don’t know what else that I can do,” he sings. The full song arrives March 24.

A press release explained that the album “revisits Ed’s singer/songwriter roots,” and it helped that he teamed up with The National’s Aaron Dessner for collaboration. “I spent some time sketching these ideas and shared a folder with Ed,” Dessner explained about the experience. “A few months later in the winter of 2021, he started writing to them and sending sometimes multiple song ideas a day, inspired by a very difficult period he was going through in his life.”

– is out 5/5 via Atlantic. Find more information here.

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Donald Trump, the author of used book store mainstays like Trump: The Art of the Deal and Think BIG and Kick Ass in Business and Life (sample Amazon review: “Don’t waste your money”), is publishing a new literary classic.

Letters to Trump is described as a “colorful photo book captures the incredible, and oftentimes private correspondence, between President Donald J. Trump and some of the biggest names in history throughout the past 40 years.” There are no letters from Tucker Carlson (those are text messages only), but it will include messages from fellow former presidents, including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton, as well as Princess Diana, Hillary Clinton, Kim Jong-un, Mario Cuomo, Jay Leno, Liza Minnelli, and Regis Philbin.

Letters to Trump will also feature correspondence from Oprah Winfrey, who wrote to Trump in 2000 to tell him that he made her “a little weepy” and that “it’s one thing to try and live a life of integrity — still another to have people like yourself notice.” What did he say to inspire such an emotional reaction?

Former President Trump, in a new book, plans to reveal 150 private letters sent to him — including one from Oprah Winfrey in 2000 in which she says: “Too bad we’re not running for office. What a team!”

Oh, how things have changed.

Anyway, look forward to seeing Letters to Trump on your right-wing uncle’s bookshelf (it’ll be next to the Bible) next month.

(Via Axios)

Grimes has long been an independent thinker, and lately, she appears to have spent more time pondering big-picture ideas than she has making music (the latter of which is a “side quest” at this point in her life). While explaining that recently, she said she doesn’t want “the attention an album brings,” which lines up with another thought she just shared, about how she’s trying to make herself “less accessible.”

In a tweet shared yesterday (March 8), Grimes wrote, “A / acc (Aligned acceleration)? (Other Ideas ?) How can I convince ye to pursue *all* pillars of acceleration x simultaneously buff alignment research 1000x? (Requesting mentats) (literally),” with “mentats” perhaps referring to the item from the Fallout video games that increases mental capabilities.

In response, one fan wrote, “Your’e talking above your target audience. Try being normal, it’s not such a bad concept.” To that, Grimes replied, “I don’t have a target audience. A large audience is counter productive and I purposefully seek to make myself infinitely less accessible. I always add the art for ppl who won’t care abt the tweet tho becuz it’s wrong to totally waste ppls time.”

Another user responded, “grimes hope u dont mind a suggestion if u wanna get ur fans onboarded onto the AI hype train give them the context they need to make sense of the AI stuff.” Grimes replied, “Not sure if I shud delete this still? Unclear if big audience helpful vs harmful? happy to make ideas bigger but it can be traumatic for ppl to be exposed to music stan culture with no warning haha.”

As for what Grimes means by “alignment,” she wrote in another tweet, “I define alignment as ‘better understanding what’s happening inside the computer mind or better understanding how to optimize it to at least not shorten the life span of bio consciousness too early’ – I think it’s worth discussing ways to make that potentially happen faster or improve synchronization w ai development.”

The Wikipedia page for “Will Smith–Chris Rock slapping incident” has sections for “public apologies,” “alopecia awareness,” and “toxic masculinity and chivalry.” It’s been a wild ride, and it’s still going nearly a year later. In his Netflix comedy special, Rock called the King Richard Oscar winner “Suge Smith,” referring to Suge Knight, and claimed that he “took that hit like [Manny] Pacquiao.” The comedian also said that although he’s enjoyed many of Smith’s movies, “now I watch Emancipation just to see him get whooped.”

Emancipation — Smith’s Apple+ movie that was not the comeback he was hoping for — came up twice during the special, or at least it did if you watched it live. While discussing how Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith were upset with him for hosting the 2016 Oscars, Rock said, “Years ago, his wife said I should quit the Oscars. I shouldn’t host ’cause her man didn’t get nominated for Emancipation, the biggest piece of piece of shit ever!” But that’s not the movie he meant. “No, not Emancipation, I f*cked up the joke,” Rock explained. He meant to call CTE football drama Concussion the big piece of sh*t.

As noted by Decider, “It appears that the mistake has since been edited out of the comedy special.” Here’s the original footage.

Boy, I really hope someone got slapped for that blunder.

(Via Decider)

The 1997 Halle Berry-starring movie B.A.P.S. has a bit of a complicated legacy, in that it was critically panned upon release but has since become a memorable cult classic. Apparently, there has been talk of a remake, and in a recent interview with Slashfilm, director Robert Townsend said that “everybody from Megan Thee Stallion to Cardi B” has asked for his blessing to remake the film.

Cardi has put a stop to that rumor, though. In a tweet shared earlier today (March 9), Cardi quote-tweeted a post dismissing the rumor and added, “I don’t even know where that rumor even came about….Maybe because we looked soo cute in the Wap video ? …kiss kiss.”

In a 2021 interview, Berry reflected on the film’s main characters, Denise “Nisi” and Tamika “Mickey,” saying, “I knew it at the time that they would be beloved, you know? […] It was a real depiction of us in a really beautiful way and it takes one to be one, to know one, to understand it really, you know what I mean? […] I get so much more love for Boomerang and B.A.P.S. now than I ever did at the time.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

(WARNING: Spoilers for this week’s Bel-Air episode will be found below.)

Most of the main characters on Bel-Air faced big tests in this season’s second episode. Season two of the series continued last week with Will ruffling feathers with his basketball. He placed his personal goals above that of the team, and though they were winning, his connection with them withered away with each possession. Hilary and Jazz faced new issues in their young relationship, which they were able to work out, but that wasn’t so much the case with her and Ivy’s complicated business relationship. Carlton is called to step up to the plate for the right cause, but internal doubts and a struggle to choose a side make it harder for him to make the best decision for himself. For some, things got better and for others, things stayed the same, but for the rest, the worst had yet to come.

For the third episode in season two of Bel-Air, titled “Compromise,” Will and Carlton go through with their plans to hold a school protest for Mrs. Hughes at Bel-Air Academy. While Will wants to proceed full-stream ahead with the protest, Carlton is a bit hesitant due to warnings from a fellow teacher. Though, his desire to do something right, and also impress his new crush Yazmin, make for a tough decision that leads to a concerning breakdown at the end of the episode. Elsewhere, Hilary and Ivy continue to but heads as leaders of the influencer house and it leads to Hilary going against Ivy to make a decision that she sees is best for the house. Elsewhere, there are new developments in Phil and Geoffrey’s somewhat repaired friendship, while Will and Lisa’s love story might not be over.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways that we have after season two’s third episode, “ Compromised”:

Will And Lisa Have Unfinished Business

I know you saw it! The sparks are still flying between Will and Lisa. If things go as they did in the original series, we can expect the two to be together sooner than later, but for now, let’s just focus on the reboot. In episode three, Will and Lisa run into each other in the hallways of Bel-Air Academy as Lisa checks to make sure that it’s okay that she comes to the Bank mansion to help with the protest for Mrs. Hughes. It’s an awkward, yet sweet moment between the two that leads to Lisa checking in on Carlton and seeing what’s up with the new and more confident Will. Sure, it’s only been a couple of episodes since Will called for a break in their relationship, but if you thought the romance between them was gone, this scene showed that it’s still alive — even if it’s to a small degree.

The Hilary And Ivy Chronicles Will Get Worse Before They Get Better

We saw this coming from the beginning of the season. Hilary and Ivy have yet to be on the same page since teaming up to take over the influencer house. Ivy is focused on using the house to push her brand, while Hilary wants to outsource and use the talent in the influencer house to bring in big brands that will elevate her and the house. In “Compromised,” Hilary and Ivy’s business relationship worsens when Hilary struggles to get Ivy to hear her out about a deal with the Simply Spiked team. When Hilary finally gets a hold of Ivy, her proposal for the drink deal is turned down in favor of Ivy’s desire to focus solely on her “H2Ivy” drink. A frustrated Hilary decides to go ahead and make the deal despite Ivy’s decision. It won’t end well, but we’ll just have to wait and see how things pan out between the two. Surely though, it’ll only get worse before it gets better.

Phil And Geoffrey Don’t Trust Each Other

Geoffrey is back in the Banks mansion, and while things appear normal, that is far from the case. In this season’s fourth episode, Geoffrey is in Phil’s office looking for something in the desk’s drawers. He even goes as far as to try and access a password-protected file on Phil’s computer. His search is cut short when Phil enters the room, but things get even odder after Geoffrey exits. When Geoffrey is gone, Phil nervously checks his desk and his laptop. Look, it doesn’t take the smartest person in the room to realize Phil has something that he’s hiding from Geoffrey, and Geoffrey is determined to find it. The overarching note is that despite the duo patching things up from their season one fallout, Phil and Geoffrey don’t fully trust each other.

Will Doesn’t Understand Carlton As Much As He Should

Before this episode in the Bel-Air series, Will didn’t seem to be privy to the anxiety issues that Carlton is dealing with. However, in “Compromised,” Phils pulls Will aside and asks him to keep an eye on Carlton. It comes after Phil and Vivian decided to lower Carlton’s anxiety medication dosage. Even with this, Will seems to brush aside the severity of this conversation by saying everything that Carlton does is weird. Though Phil and Will come to an understanding, Will seems to prioritize his own wishes over paying attention to signs of any issues with Carlton. Will pushes Carlton to lead the protest for Mrs. Hughes despite his discomfort. There are pressures from both sides on Carlton. The BSU wants him to deliver the speech, while some teachers and administration want him to reel in the protest. Instead of relieving these pressures, Will added to them by making Carlton go through with the plan without attending to his concerns and hesitance. The only hope is that Will realizes the reason behind Carlton’s towering stress at the end of the episode. Furthermore, the hope is that Will will be more attentive to Carlton in the future so they can be the strong and unified duo they both want to be.

New episodes of ‘Bel-Air’ are available Peacock on Thursdays at 5:01 am EST/ 2:01 am PST.

For years, Bad Bunny was in a relationship with singer and jewelry designer Gabriela Berlingeri, but it looks like things have changed. Bad Bunny appears to have a new flame — and fans on the internet are not okay. First, a blind item appeared on Deuxmoi in February claiming Bad Bunny was seen canoodling with famed socialite and model Kendall Jenner. TMZ then snapped them leaving trendy restaurant Wally’s in Beverly Hills a few days later.

But now, it looks like we’ve received our first confirmation of the relationship courtesy of some photos of the two apparently kissing in a parking garage that has begun circulating online via celebrity fan accounts like PopBase. And, well… there are a LOT of responses that suggest that the news isn’t going over well.

Obviously, emotions are running high. Bad Bunny, an international musical superstar, has been on one hell of a run for the past couple of years. He’s made history as the first Latin artist to receive a nomination for Album Of The Year at the Grammys, he’s broken streaming records, he’s collaborated with all sorts of high-profile musicians like Gorillaz, and he’s even become a pop culture icon courtesy of appearances at WWE events.

Meanwhile, the Jenner-Kardashian family is … let’s say notorious for their romantic entanglements, which are myriad and complicated. Some of the fans’ comments have made reference to the so-called “Kardashian Curse” which has afflicted both athletes and recording artists whose performances seemed to suffer during their associations with the family.

That may or may not be the case, but that won’t stop fans from making their jokes. Check out some more below.

In May, it’ll be a year since the tragic passing of Lil Keed at the age of 24 after organ failure, leading to an outpouring of grief in the hip-hop world. The YSL rapper’s first posthumous song came out last month, “Long Way To Go,” and a whole album is on the way as well, called Keed Talk To ‘Em 2.

Keed Talk To ‘Em 2 is packed with features from artists like Big Sean, Trippie Redd, Young Thug, and more. Arriving in the middle of March, it’s a highly anticipated release that will intensify his powerful legacy.

Learn more about the album below.

Tracklist

1. “Go See”
2. “Bags To The Sky” featuring Jetsonmade
3. “Muso Kuso” featuring NAV
4. “SRT” featuring Lil Gotit
5. “Hottest” featuring Big Sean
6. “Feelings Changed”
7. “Get Money” featuring Trippie Redd
8. “Think About It”
9. “Long Way To Go”
10. “Can’t Fall Victim” featuring KayCyy
11. “All I Wanna Know” featuring Young Thug
12. “Lost My Trust” featuring Cordae
13. “Hitman”
14. “Betty Boop” featuring Karlae
15. “Off Land” featuring Lil Jairmy
16. “Big Bag” featuring Young Thug and Dolly White
17. “Kick Back” featuring Lil Gotit and StickBaby
18. “Self Employed”
19. “Love Me Again”
20. “Thank You Lord” featuring Fridayy

Release Date

Keed Talk To ‘Em 2 is out 3/17 via Young Stoner Life/300 Records. Find more information here.

Artwork

The artwork is a gorgeous piece of art that depicts Lil Keed as a rose. Check it out below.

Singles

“Long Way To Go” is the lead and only single at the moment. It came with a video and a statement from his mother, Tonnie Woods-Reed. Read it below and watch the video for the song underneath.

“On May 13, 2022, I lost my son Raqhid Render—who many of you knew as the artist Lil Keed. While this journey through the different phases of grief has been indescribably hard, a way that I have found to cope is through his music. Right before his passing, Keed was hard at work at what would’ve been his highly anticipated next album, Keed Talk to ’Em 2. As much as he was a great father, son, and friend — he was also an artist who (thanks to many of you) lived and continues to live through his music. With that being said, the time has come to share some of our last pieces of Keed with you all starting with the release of his first single, ‘Long Way to Go.’ This song holds a special place in my heart and as you guys will see it will reflect on many aspects of Keed’s journey here on Earth. I hope you all appreciate it as we take the first step in cementing Keed’s legacy. Long Live Keed!”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Dominion lawsuit against Fox News has been ramping up, with one damning revelation after another. Not that viewers would know; they’ve barely mentioned it on-air, instead carrying on as usual. But as Tucker Carlson goes on air to once again downplay the Jan. 6 riot, behind the scenes staff is freaking the hell out. They’re mad at upper management. And they’re pissed at Tucker.

A new report by The Daily Beast speaks to numerous employees and insiders — all anonymously, of course. The mood there is grim. “We’re not happy,” one reporter told them bluntly. A producer added, “It’s just a really bad time to be working here.” But while they have plenty of ire for highers-up, who’ve given them “no guidance” on how to handle one apocalyptic news story after another.

Then there’s Tucker. “He acts like the king of Fox,” a producer said. “Entitlement. Extremely unprofessional.”

One correspondent went even further. “Honestly, Tucker is a joke, and I don’t know many in the news division that likes or respects him,” they said. “He makes our jobs harder and way more dangerous.”

Indeed, not long before Tucker’s show Tuesday night, Bret Baier aired a report brutally criticizing his widely condemned coverage of newly available Jan. 6 footage, which the host predictably edited into segments that made the violent insurrectionists look like nice tourists. Tucker’s reports have been slammed by Democrats and Republicans alike, but it’s clear his own colleagues don’t like that they’re making they’re already untrustworthy network look somehow even less reputable.

(Via The Daily Beast)

When you’re a kid, kind words from a caring adult can make such a lasting impression.

Schools can have so much at stake with their testing results, they often inadvertently transfer that pressure onto the students.

That’s exactly what happened to Indiana third-grader Rylan as he was gearing up for something most kids dread: standardized testing week.

His teacher, who has asked to remain anonymous, gave each of her students a letter and a cookie before the big test. The letter is touching, but it’s the video of Rylan’s reaction to it that really gets me (you’ll see that at the end).

Whether you think the amount of testing being done in public schools is great or if you wish it were reduced dramatically, one thing we can all probably agree on is that it’s important to not send kids the wrong message — that their entire worth is wrapped up in whatever score they get.

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The need for kids to hear this stuff is real. School pressures are waaaayyy different from when most of us were kids.

I’ll never forget when I drove my daughter home after results came in from a three-day marathon of fifth-grade testing. Usually she was bubbly and happy on days like these because she often got the highest score in her class and was proud of herself — she worked hard and did her best to beat her own scores and loved feeling like it was paying off.

This time she was salty. Her friend had bested her, and though she congratulated her sincerely and effusively, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment that her “winning” streak had been broken.

My daughter exercising her love of learning: on her way to Battle of the Books (L) and learning photography basics (R).

A lightbulb went off in my head. Her self-worth is all wrapped up in this, I realized. This is all she’s ever known as a measure of who she is and where she ranks.

I pulled the car over and we had an instant talk because it was that important. My speech went something like this:

“You know that if you never achieved another thing in your entire life, you would still be loved and valued in our family just for who you are, right? It’d be disappointing if you stopped trying to reach your potential, but even if you did, we’d still love you.
Who you are isn’t proven by your track record of achievements — it’s the moments when you’re sad but are kind to others anyway, when you have a good reason to be a jerk but you choose not to be, and it’s when no one is looking and you don’t have to be a good person but you are anyway.
You will achieve amazing things in your life, and I will always be happy for you when you do, but not because it’s proving anything about who you are. I already know who you are.”

I saw a lightbulb go off for her then too. I hope it was a pivotal moment in how she will orient herself when going after lofty goals throughout her life.

Here’s Rylan and his mom talking about what it meant to get his teacher’s letter.

Hearing and seeing Rylan’s face and his mother’s gratitude as they share the letter is all the proof we need — a little kindness can go a long way.

If you’re not completely sure a kid in your life totally knows how to separate their test scores from their self-worth, this is a great thing to share with them right now.

This article originally appeared on 03.08.16