Category: News

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A little over two years ago, Boston’s Cousin Stizz was Trying To Find My Next Thrill. The title of his 2019 sophomore album presented a man searching for the next excitement in his rap career. He’d won the hearts of those in his hometown through his first two mixtapes, 2015’s Suffolk County and 2016’s Monda, and well as his 2017 major-label debut One Night Only. He’d collaborated with some big names in music like Offset, Smino, Freddie Gibbs, Yung Miami from City Girls, and more. So a search for his next thrill through two albums and two mixtapes made sense.

In 2022, though, Stizz returns with his third album, Just For You. The 13-track project is a mostly solo effort, with just one guest feature from Curren$y. While the Boston native’s search for his next thrill is ongoing, he continues this journey with a project crafted for those who adore him the most. Stylistically, it’s quite reminiscent of Suffolk County and Monda. Backed by strong production from Kal Banx, Charlie Heat, Latrell James, Luke Crowder, and more, Cousin Stizz runs the show from start to finish with equal amounts of precision and finesse.

Fresh off the release of his new album, we caught up with Cousin Stizz to talk about the project, how it’s been searching for his next thrill, the Boston hip-hop scene, and more.

Pandemic things aside, what have you spent the last two, going on three, years doing that brings us Just For You.

Learning bro, literally. Just been learning the game, where I want to be, and where I see myself in the game. Learning life things, you know, things for myself to just help me grow and put us here.

I really liked the idea and concept behind Trying To Find My Next Thrill. Where do you feel like you are on that journey and what place does ‘Just For You’ have on this journey?

Ironically, I feel like Just For You is filling that void. I feel like right after I made Trying To Find My Next Thrill, the world shut down. I went on my own about the business, so that and all the things that happened in the midst of that, it kind of just ironically became that.

Speaking about Just For You specifically, what was/were your biggest intention(s) with this project?

Man, I just wanted to really put something out. My biggest intention was just to get some music out and really just kind of see how people feel about it. My biggest intention was just to get my point across and see how people felt about it because it’s been a while.

You released two projects under RCA, and now you’re back on the independent route, what went into this decision especially ahead of this project?

I think it was just where I saw myself in my journey and where I want to be. I feel like I kind of have to build my foundation just to make sure everything is done the way I want it to be done.

The scarcity of features on this album reminds me of Suffolk Country and Monda. Why did you choose to completely lock in with yourself this one?

I like making music, you know? And I make a sh*t ton of music that doesn’t get out there for people to hear, but I like making music. It’s not even a thing that I do intentionally. I just make music and everybody ain’t there when I’m making music. I make music a lot of time at my crib around like one or two in the morning. I’m rapping from like, 10 pm to 6 am in my crib. So it’s like who am I really around during those times, but myself?

So it’s not really like an intentional thing because I like the people I like and I like working with the people I’ve worked with, we’ve made great music. I make music for myself and I tried to keep my fans in mind when I’m making the music as well because, without them, there’s no me, but I really make music for me.

What are some things you wanted or tried to do differently on Just For You compared to your previous releases?

I kind of try to always do that. I know what I’m good at. I know what I do well. I always leave pieces of that in records because that’s what you should do. I know what people want to hear from me, for the most part, but at the same time, in order to keep it exciting for me, I always gotta just try things and let that part of me go.

Being able to put out five albums and still get the attention you get is a blessing. What keeps the love alive for crafting projects each time around?

Man, that is a blessing and I’m super grateful for it. I think that’s half of it, just knowing that it’s been since 2019 and I’m still getting some type of love and that’s crazy to me. I’m just super appreciative of that, and that alone helps me love this sh*t a lot. It shows me people care, and when people tell me that they care — those real person-to-person interactions where a motherf*cker come up to you and they tell you “This record helped me” or “This record did this for me or that for me” — that keeps the love in the game for me every single trip. Plus, I just like making music, it’s something I was doing for free, it’s something I would do for free. They say if you don’t love your job, you should quit and it’s like I just like making music.

Looking back at your days of doing cyphers at 12For12 and dropping Suffolk Country to where you are now, you’ve accomplished plenty in your career. What are some personal goals you what to check off for yourself and your legacy?

I want to be the best in my eyes. When I feel like I’ve accomplished that — and I got a long way to go — but when I feel like I accomplish that, then I’ll be okay. I don’t even know what that means because we always feel like we can get better, especially with music or with any art, you feel like something can be better with something. But whenever I feel like I’ve got to this point and I can look back and say I’ve done something, I’ve helped a lot of people, and I’ve taken care of everybody that I needed to be taken care of, then I feel like I could be like, right.

When we look at the Boston scene, acts that you came up with (Latrell James, Avenue, Kadeem, etc.) are still working. Then there are acts like Van Buren Records, Sean Wire, BIA, Najee Janey, and more who are getting their shine now. How does what you see going on in the scene feel to you? Is it reminiscent of what you experienced in the city during your own come-up?

Shoutout to everybody that you named. I think it’s super f*cking dope. I think around the time that we were doing what were doing, it was really me and all my friends. I remember booking venues that we were going to and sh*t like that, I remember being there for all of that. Now, it’s a bunch of different cliques and crews doing their thing and that sh*t is fire. I think that’s super important. You need a bunch of different energies in order to make a scene and I think that’s what’s starting to happen. I think that’s what is happening. Shoutout to all those kids, keep doing y’all things, keep going, keep being consistent, and don’t stop. Literally, just don’t stop.

In these few years, as you’ve worked on the latest chapter of your career, what was the best advice that you received?

There’s been a couple of different gems, but really one of the best [pieces of] advice that anyone’s ever given me is that this sh*t does not stop. Once you get to what feels like your goal, it just kind of restarts. You put a new goal on yourself, just so just know that when you’re in this, there’s no break. So if you’re willing to understand that and you’re willing to make those types of sacrifices, then this is for you. If you’re not willing to be that then, maybe you should try something else.

Just For You is out now via Stizz Music Inc. You can stream it here.

This probably isn’t breaking news for you, dear reader, but no two people are exactly the same, even if they share similar backgrounds. That’s why it’s doubly important to tell different kinds of stories, ensuring that people aren’t being treated like a monolith. And that’s very very true when it comes to telling Black stories. You have to use the whole board, and the move toward opening up new genres through which to tell these stories is absolutely leading to a lot of fantastic and thought-provoking results.

As our Obsessed hosts, Britt Ellis and Taylour Chanel, point out, it can be refreshing to see Black people adventuring in space, fighting in the Old West, or even being terrified in a horror film. They even cite The Foundation, The Harder They Fall, and Jordan Peele’s films.

After this reflection on Black genre storytelling, the pair welcome actress Jasmin Savoy Brown, who plays Taissa in Showtime’s breakout genre hit Yellowjackets. The on-the-rise actress talks about what it means to portray a queer, Black woman in media. Brown speaks on the safety of working on shows with a large female presence and the importance of her characters being allowed to do things like wrapping their hair before bed.

Check out the video above for more.

For years, you have been squinting, licking your fingers, or doing whatever you can do get a really tiny end of a thread into an even tinier hole, and thinking, [infomercial host voice] “THERE’S GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY!” Well, kids, there is, and you’re about to feel both relieved and dumb.

Twitter user John Bick shared a video from a crafting site that went viral for being extremely helpful.

People couldn’t believe it. Instead of threading the needle through the hole, shake it down and go from there.

Good grief. After 50 years of going cross-eyed 😢

— Dàibhidh🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Saor Alba (@Bell32796) April 3, 2018

What type of sorcery is this? https://t.co/uI2jQJAv5l

— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) April 4, 2018

This is what social media should be about. People sharing helpful ideas about what they actually know.

— Atlassheepdog (@atlassheepdog) April 4, 2018

Even GEORGE COSTANZA himself is amazed by this innovation.

Dammit, I need hours of my life back now. #mulligan https://t.co/z2qZTsgfIm

— jason alexander (@IJasonAlexander) April 4, 2018

(Spoilers from Netflix’s Ozark will be found below.)

The first half of the fourth (and final) Ozark season recently dropped on Netflix. These seven episodes, of course, satisfied the masses (multiple seasons continue to land in Netflix’s Top 10 charts each week), but it already feels like it’s been a long time since January 21. When will the final seven episodes (technically referred to as Season 4, Part II), including the finale, arrive?

Well, the Byrde family’s money laundering ways will eventually come to an end. No one knows who will make it out alive (especially after that major car wreck) or if it’s even possible for them to go back to their Chicago social circle. Let’s just say that getting in deep with drug lords does not bode well for anyone’s wellbeing. And we need to find out what happens when Ruth goes after Javi (because, despite Marty’s warnings, that’s almost certainly what she will do) to avenge Wyatt’s death.

As for the “when” of things, Netflix has kept quiet on a firm date, but they’re beginning to reveal their pattern for two-part season release formats. After Masters of the Universe: Revelation launched on July 23, 2021 with a second part on November 23, 2021, and Unsolved Mysteries debuted on July 1, 2021 with a second half on October 19, 2021, we can guess that Ozark will followup within four to six months.

So, hopefully this means that we’ll see what happens with explosive Ruth and the harrowing-looking car wreck by summer. And given Netflix’s usual release format, people should be able to start binging at 12:00am PST on release date. So… it could be finale time by 7:00am PST? The most dedicated viewers might be on it by early morning.

‘Ozark’ is currently streaming (through Season 4, Part 1) on Netflix.

Like a good handful of her music peers, Megan Thee Stallion is giving acting a shot: Variety reports today that she has been cast in F*cking Identical Twins, alongside Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, and Saturday Night Live‘s Bowen Yang.

The A24 film is an R-rated musical comedy from comedians Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp, who are adapting it from their two-man stage show, which they premiered at Manhattan’s Upright Citizens Brigade in 2014. They’re writing the script as well as playing the two lead roles.

This one has been in the works for a while, as 20th Century originally acquired the rights to adapt the stage musical in 2016. Larry Charles, director of Borat and a Seinfeld staff writer, is directing the movie, which is currently in production.

Variety notes of the movie, “F*cking Identical Twins takes inspiration from Hallie and Annie’s mischievous exploits in The Parent Trap and follows two business adversaries who realize they’re identical twin brothers. They decide to switch places in order to reunite their divorced parents and become a family again.”

Meg has a bit of acting experience, as she popped up in a 2020 episode of Good Girls.

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

Busy day in the world of television. Two powerhouse series, Atlanta and Stranger Things, have both confirmed that after airing new episodes this year, their next season will be their last. In fact, in Atlanta‘s case, the show is already wrapped. The show’s third and fourth season were shot back-to-back and will both air this year starting with the March premeire of Season 3, according to FX chairman John Landgraf.

“After a four year absence, we’re graced with the return of Atlanta. Donald Glover and his team have shot the final two seasons of the series,” Landgraf said in a statement to Deadline. “The fourth and final season is slated to debut in the same manner in the fall. The new season is everything you’d expect from Atlanta – which is to say expect the unexpected. Sit back and enjoy the trip.”

As for Stranger Things, the Netflix series’ fourth season will be split into two installments that will drop this summer. After that, the fifth season will be its last. Via The Hollywood Reporter:

“Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things,” creators Matt and Ross Duffer wrote in an open letter to fans. “At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four but — as you’ll see for yourselves — we are now hurtling toward our finale.”

However, while the main series is coming to an end, the Duffer Brothers all but confirmed talks of a Stranger Things expanded universe.

“There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things: new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes,” The Duffer Brothers wrote. “But first, we hope that you stay with us as we finish this tale of a powerful girl named Eleven and her brave friends.”

(Via Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter)

Go ahead and file Too Short’s Tiny Desk Concert as one of the most unexpected entries in NPR’s series, but the Oakland rapper totally owns it. Literally sitting on a makeshift desk made to look like an 808 drum machine and backed by a full band, he delivered a slew of classics new and old in a unique fashion.

The set opened with “The Ghetto” featuring backing R&B singer Maurice Smith humming the chorus. “Yo waddup? It’s ya boy Too Short in the house,” he said introducing the details of the set. “Yeah, we doin’ it like this: We’re gonna run through some Too Short classics. Basically, I’mma play you a Too Short song from the past five decades. The ’80s, the ’90s, the 2000s, the 2010s, and the 2020s. How many artist you know that got relevant records in five decades? That’s what I’m talkin’ about. Classic man, legendary, Too Short. Representin’ East Oakland, California. Biiiiitch, yea!”

That’s exactly what he and the band did, playing a jazzy R&B version of “Gettin It,” with a saxophone bellowing and silky keys guiding the track. Then a string-section sample paints the canvas for an expansive rock and roll version of “Blow The Whistle” that culminates with a guitar solo. The instrumental hook of “Big Subwoofer,” by the Mount Westmore rap supergroup of Too Short, E-40, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube, brought things to a close as Short said, “The new thang is Mount Westmore….We been doing this sh*t since the ’80s and we ain’t gonna stop any time soon! Short dawg in the house! Biiiiitch!”

Too Short has indeed been a prolific force in West Coast rap since the 80s and this performance flashes unprecedented range. Give the man his flowers. He’s earned them.

Watch Too Short’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert above.

Lizzo is on the lookout for new dancers to join her tour and what better way to find them than a reality TV competition? That’s the premise of Watch Out For The Big Grrrls, coming to Amazon Prime Video on March 25. In the show, Lizzo recruits 10 women for a dance boot camp at the Big Grrrls House, as they compete for a spot on Lizzo’s tour team.

Throughout her career, Lizzo has been very vocal and earnest about her experiences maneuvering in the entertainment industry as a plus-sized woman, and she makes it clear in the trailer above that she wants to use her power as a superstar to extend more opportunities to women like herself. “Girls that look like me don’t get representation,” she says. “It’s time to pull up my sleeves and find them myself.”

Despite her struggles, Lizzo has been extremely body-positive through the years, and very successful whether you believe it’s because or despite her appearance. She’s unafraid to strip down to promote her music and even enthusiastically reached out to Cardi B for a potential Playboy pictorial. Meanwhile, her music has appeared in countless avenues, from television and film to the Grammys to Barack Obama’s list of favorite songs. It seems almost certain that her show will have the same impact.

Watch the trailer for Lizzo’s Amazon series, Watch Out For The Big Grrrls above.

It’s only guest host Lauren Wright‘s second day on The View, and already, the panel is basically comparing her to Meghan McCain. On Thursday morning’s episode, Wright, who’s a guest lecturer on Princeton and a conservative commentator, battled with the co-hosts over masks and claimed they didn’t work, which did not go over well with Joy Behar.

“Oh god, if I hear that again,” Behar audibly muttered as Wright went on her rant that, naturally, included barbs at Dr. Fauci and the CDC.

After Wright called mask messaging “inconsistent.” Whoopi Goldberg entered the fray, and while she didn’t use McCain’s name, it was pretty clear who she was talking about. Via Primetimer:

“We had somebody here who used to get very upset with people who said you should be wearing a different kind of mask, or you shouldn’t be wearing a mask. They didn’t know! So I can give them that.”

After Wright advocated for eliminating federal mandates — “We can be smart, capable adults about this,” she said — she did exactly what Whoopi just cautioned her not to do. “This whole thing started, by the way, with Dr. Fauci saying, ‘Masks don’t really work, we don’t really need them,” said Wright, as the entire table protested.

If Wright was hoping her arguments would earn her attention, it worked. Her anti-mask rant quickly started trending on Twitter where people absolutely loved Behar shutting her down and giving her side-eye the whole time. Whoops.

You can see some of the reactions below:

(Via The View on Twitter)

One of the surest ways to get sweet, sweet engagement on social media is to post a map of the United States with the most popular [insert literally anything here] for each state.

Whether it’s favorite candies, Thanksgiving sides, most searched celebrities, or most sold items, people love to yell about how the maps, which are almost always based on some questionable metrics, are wrong and laugh at the ridiculous preferences of certain states. On Thursday, the NBA world got their version of this when Lids released maps of its top selling jerseys, both by player and team. The player selections weren’t terribly surprising, with a lot of LeBron James across the country and stars dominating their own home markets, but there were a few bizarre choices.

Vince Carter’s popularity in West Virginia and Maine is odd, as is Steve Smith in Idaho, but the strangest one has to be Mike Bibby leading the way in jersey sales for the state of Alabama. The former Kings and Hawks guard has not played has not played since 2011, which means for some reason the people of Alabama are clamoring for a decade-old jersey of a solid starting guard, but one who was never an All-Star. Given this is just sales at Lids, there’s a very good chance this was a few people buying Bibby jerseys at an Alabama mall swinging this number, as I can’t imagine it’s a hotbed of NBA jersey sales overall. It’s funnier to imagine there is just a rabid Mike Bibby fan base in Tuscaloosa that just can’t get enough of Bibby merch, though.