Category: News

Things haven’t been going so well for Roddy Ricch over the last few months. After the Compton rapper followed his 2019 project Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial with last year’s Live Life Fast, some fans didn’t like the direction he was going in. Undeterred, Roddy let listeners know that he would be dropping Feed Tha Streets 3 in 2022, potentially helping alleviate worries from the fans who were underwhelmed by his 2021 album.

But when he shared a song snippet on social media today, things didn’t go so well with for the young hip-hop artist. His new track, which looks like it’s called “Out My Mind” wasn’t a hit with fans, who were quick to criticize the music. This didn’t sit well with Roddy, who was clearly excited about his new work, and disappointed when fans reacted so negatively. “Guess I’m a flop now,” Roddy wrote on an Instagram story. “Sh*t crazy,” before eventually deleting both his Twitter and Instagram accounts.

For fans who missed the snippet, here’s a screen grab of ROddy posting it and his currently deactivate Twitter account, as well as the snippet itself below.

Hopefully this is just a moment of frustration for the rapper and he makes his way back to a healthy place with social media sometime soon.

After missing the Los Angeles Lakers‘ last five games, LeBron James will return to the lineup for their nationally televised game on Saturday night. The Lakers will invite the New York Knicks to Crypto.com Arena in a matchup between two teams looking for a spark as we get into the second half of the season, and Los Angeles will get one in the form of their former NBA Finals MVP.

The team announced prior to tip that James will not just suit up, he’ll be in the team’s starting lineup.

James last took the floor on Jan. 25 against the Brooklyn Nets. Since then, he’s been on the sideline due to lingering issues with his knee — James underwent an MRI and it was determined that there was some swelling that needed to be tended to. He has missed the team’s last five games, and in that time, Los Angeles has gone 1-4.

Despite playing in 36 of the team’s 53 games this season due to injuries, James has been nothing short of magnificent for the Lakers. James is averaging 29.1 points per game — his best mark since 2009-10 — with 7.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks in 36.6 minutes a night.

The game between the Lakers and Knicks tips off at 8:30 a.m. EST on ABC.

Last spring, Long Beach’s Huey Briss dropped his sophomore album Grace Park Legend. The project delivered 12 songs and appearances from Seafood Sam, Rueben Vincent, and A. Lynn. It was a strong body of work that stood out among the hip-hop releases that year as it later appeared on Uproxx’s Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2021 list. Six months later, Briss returned with its deluxe version that supplied five additional songs to the album with appearances from G Perico, Buddy, Kent Jamz, Lord Apex, Josef Lamercier, and Nikobeats.

Now, four months after that deluxe reissue arrived, Huey Briss is back in action with a pair of new singles, “Losing My Faith” and “Thoughts N Actions,” as his first offering of 2022. Both tracks do a great job of showing his sharp lyricism while proving that he’s in tip-top shape for the new year. Along with the new tracks, Briss also offers a video for “Losing My Faith.” It arrives as a black and white visual that follows him as he journeys through a city and smokes a blunt while laying precision-cut raps.

In addition to releasing Grace Park Legend last year, Briss also deliver a gritty performance of the album’s title track for UPROXX Sessions.

You listen to both “Losing My Faith” and “Thoughts N Actions” in the videos above.

Awkwafina has long been criticized for her use of a stereotypical Black voice, something that’s been referred to as a “blaccent,” in movies like Crazy Rich Asians and Ocean’s 8. Last fall, the actor and rapper even struggled to answer a question about it. Years after those movies were released, Awkwafina hopped on Twitter to address the matter and apologize for using the “blaccent.”

“I stand by the fact that I will always listen and work tirelessly to understand the history and context of AAVE [African American Vernacular English], what is deemed appropriate or backwards toward the progress of ANY and EVERY marginalized group,” she wrote. “But I must emphasize: To mock, belittle, or to be unkind in any way possible at the expense of others is: Simply. Not. My. Nature. It never has, and it never was.”

She also revealed her plans to quit Twitter thanks to a recommendation from her therapist. “I am retiring from the ingrown toenail that is Twitter,” she said. “Not retiring from anything else, even if I wanted to, and I didn’t drunkenly hit someone with a shoehorn and now escaping as a fugitive.”

As for her apology, well, it didn’t get the best reception on Twitter. In fact, her post earned her even more criticism. “All these words and not one apology,” one person wrote. “Awkwafina could have just said: ‘You were right. I did use a blaccent to make a name for myself and that was wrong. I wholeheartedly apologize, and I’ll do better from now on.’”

You can view additional responses to her apology below.

Markieff Morris has only appeared in 10 games for the Miami Heat this season. Back on Nov. 8, Morris committed a hard foul on Nikola Jokic late in a game against the Denver Nuggets. Jokic wasn’t a fan of the foul, so as Morris started to walk away, the reigning league MVP ran up to him and shoved him from behind. A fracas broke out involving the two teams, and eventually, Jokic was handed a one-game suspension by the NBA.

The incident drew a ton of attention, both because the Inside the NBA crew defended Jokic and Jokic’s brothers made clear to Marcus Morris that they wouldn’t put up with him trying to get any measure of revenge. The whole thing is in the past now, but Morris has still not played basketball in quite some time. And apparently, it does not sound like we’re going to see him any time soon.

According to Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Morris wants to play and believes he is at a place where he can do that. The issue is the Heat just straight up will not clear him and have not said whether or not he’ll be able to play again this year.

Morris’ injury — sustained in that Nov. 8 game in Denver — was termed “whiplash” by the Heat. The Heat is now listing him as out because of a “return to competitive reconditioning.” But the team has declined to discuss his status, what he has been cleared to do physically or whether he will play again this season.
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The Heat’s specific medical concern with Morris isn’t clear, but the sources said it was significant enough to make the Heat uneasy about clearing him to play, at least to this point, and significant enough to leave the team concerned about liability issues.

As the Herald pointed out, Morris has dealt with a neck injury in the past. The veteran forward joined the Heat as a free agent this past offseason and looked like a snug fit on the roster, averaging 7.7 points per game off the bench while connecting on 36.4 percent of his threes.

The public dispute between Kanye West and Kim Kardashian is now on its second day. It began when Kanye shared an Instagram post claiming that Kim was letting their daughter North West use TikTok against his wishes. Now, the rapper is saying that Kim is refusing to let him fly their kids to Chicago so that they can watch his basketball team, Donda Academy, play.

“I WANT TO BRING MY KIDS TO MY HOME TOWN OF CHICAGO TO SEE MY BASKETBALL TEAM PLAY FOR 7 THOUSAND PEOPLE AND KIM IS STOPPING THAT,” Kanye wrote in the post. “HOW IS THIS JOINT CUSTODY?” He shared the message with what appeared to be a screenshot from his upcoming Netflix documentary Jeen-Yuhs.

Kanye’s post comes hours after he thanks far right pundit Candace Owens for being the “only noteworthy” person to defend him in his stance against North using TikTok. “THANK YOU CANDACE FOR BEING THE ONLY NOTEWORTHY PERSON TO SPEAK ON THIS ISSUE,” he said before later adding, “I WILL NO LONGER PUT MY HAND THROUGH A BLENDER TO HUG MY CHILDREN.”

Kim’s responses to Kanye’s claims have been limited. In her first and only statement so far, she said his constant attacks against her are more harmful than North’s TikTok use.

For a few years now, City Girls and Nicki Minaj have not seen eye to eye. Nicki spoke about friction with the female rap duo, which consists of JT and Yung Miami, during a recent interview on The Morning Hustle. “It’s let go,” she said about their issues. “But why would I work with someone who doesn’t like me?” A short time later, Nicki shared an update about the matter on Twitter. “Just had a great convo with @ThegirlJT & @YungMiami305. Let’s move on & make new memories y’all [unicorn emoji],” she wrote. Yung Miami recently spoke about the matter and shared what she learned through it all.

“Be careful of the things you say ‘cause it might catch up with you one day,” Yung Miami said during an interview with The Neighborhood Talk. “I would tell my younger self to just stop trolling, stop being childish, grow up and be mindful of the things you say because everybody is human.”

It seems like things will be smooth sailing for City Girls and Nicki Minaj from here on out. As for Yung Miami, she’s released a pair of songs outside of City Girls over the past few months. The first was “Scrub Tha Ground” with Quavo and the second was “Rap Freaks” which included a line that greatly amused Megan Thee Stallion.

You can listen to Yung Miami’s comments in the video above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

For years, Joe Rogan has had it good. He went from NewsRadio alum and former host of a show where people ate bugs to hosting the most popular podcast in the world. He’s said whatever he liked, sometimes about subjects he didn’t know that much about. He’s even recklessly spread COVID misinformation and sang the praises of a drug also used to deworm horses. But in the last couple weeks, his life has stopped being so carefree.

Spotify, which has exclusive rights to The Joe Rogan Experience, has long been under fire from scientists, who begged the streamer to do something, anything about its biggest star spreading dangerous nonsense. But it took Neil Young to turn the tides. After the legendary rock god demanded his music be taken down in protest, other followed suit. Rogan apologized twice, first for making a once-in-a-century public health crisis worse, then, on Saturday, for old episodes in which he repeatedly used the N-word.

Now, as per Variety, Spotify, which already pledged to put warnings on any podcast episodes discussing COVID, has done something: On Friday, they yanked 70 episodes of Rogan’s show, ranging from 2009 to 2018 — all from before the pandemic began. Spotify brass haven’t revealed the motives behind their decision, so it’s unclear if they are related to general misinformation or if they involved him dropping the aforementioned epithet.

Rogan, in addressing the N-word controversy, called it “the most regretful and shameful thing I’ve ever had to talk about publicly,” and explained that he had mistakenly assumed he didn’t need to censor the word when addressing it in non-racist ways. “It’s a very unusual word, but it’s not my word to use,” he said. “I never used it to be racist, because I’m not racist, but whenever you’re in a situation where you have to say ‘I’m not racist,’ you’ve f–ked up, and I clearly have f–cked up.”

Still, that leaves about 1700 episodes still lurking on Spotify’s coffers.

(Via Variety)

It happened very quickly, but it seems like James Harden could be traded by the Brooklyn Nets before next week’s NBA trade deadline. After initial indications said the team did not want to discuss a Harden move before Feb. 10, recent reporting indicates that the Nets are open to receiving calls from the Philadelphia 76ers and seeing if the two sides can work something out.

All of this begs the question: How did we get here so quickly? Yes, the Nets are struggling recently, as the team has lost seven games in a row while Kevin Durant is sidelined with an MCL sprain. But according to Alex Schiffer of The Athletic, Harden’s frustrations go beyond that losing streak.

“While Harden has thrown hints that he’s not crazy about Irving’s part-time status, a source with knowledge of Harden’s thinking said he’s frustrated in general with his Nets tenure,” Schiffer wrote. “He came to Brooklyn expecting to be part of a three-headed monster, yet has played a similar role to what was required of him in Houston: having to be the guy.”

Durant’s absence and Irving’s status as a part-time player — which Schiffer says “hasn’t been as much of a problem as one would expect because he’s played hard when available” — have made it so Harden has to shoulder a gigantic load in Brooklyn. His scoring numbers have gone down this year, as has his efficiency, but Harden has still produced for the Nets, as he’s averaging 22.5 points, 10.2 assists, and eight rebounds in 37 minutes per game while connecting on 41.4 percent of his attempts from the field and 33.2 percent of his attempts from three.

If rumors are true and Philly is a potential landing spot before the deadline, Harden would be able to defer a whole lot of responsibility to Joel Embiid and, if he’s not included in a trade, Tyrese Maxey. But if that does not happen, and he stays in Brooklyn, Harden can at least take some solace in knowing Durant’s return isn’t too far away.

Lizzo fans have been waiting patiently for a follow-up to her breakout 2019 album, Cuz I Love You, and that next project might finally be here. Following up a joint single with Cardi B in 2021, “Rumors,” she seemed poise to begin a new album cycle. But whether it was the hateful comments and backlash, or just more pandemic logistic delays, fans kept waiting for more new music or news of a longer release, and it never came.

That might be about to change though. In a brand new, sexy new teaser, Lizzo is glowing and basking in her completely naked body while a clip of a new single plays in the background. “If you love me, you love all of me — or none of me at all,” she sings. She also posted a lengthy caption with the clips. “If you love me… you love all of me. You don’t get to pick and choose. We should be unconditionally loving of one another, starting with being unconditionally loving to ourselves. Take a moment today and think about the conditions we hold so tightly to that keep us from the freedom of true love. Do you really wanna be so tightly wound? Free yourself in love. You deserve it.”

Check out that sizzling video below:

For Lizzo, using the internet to talk about music and food comes very naturally. You might even catch her posting a mystery man, her own Baby Yoda costume on Halloween, or her booty as a paintbrush. With a new single, and hopefully a new album, on the way very soon, odds are she’ll be in fine posting form, helping us all survive the boring weekdays of 2022. Check out her new video above and stay tuned for the single, which is most likely called “If You Love Me.”