The Rundown is a weekly column that highlights some of the biggest, weirdest, and most notable events of the week in entertainment. The number of items could vary, as could the subject matter. It will not always make a ton of sense. Some items might not even be about entertainment, to be honest, or from this week. The important thing is that it’s Friday, and we are here to have some fun.

ITEM NUMBER ONE — I must have Giamatti

My knowledge of the stock market could fit inside a Dixie cup. Multiple people have explained short-selling to me multiple times and I still do not fully understand why or how it exists. I am not the person you should look to for answers about the GameStop/Reddit/Robinhood stonks situation, unless you are looking for someone to say something like “Hmm, this seems kind of hilarious.” If you want more helpful analysis, look here. I do not understand it and I do not particularly want to.

What do I understand, on the other hand, is formulaic Hollywood productions based loosely on real-life events. This is kind of my specialty, honestly, thanks to many years of watching movies on basic cable on rainy Saturdays. So while I cannot help you sort through your stock portfolio in the wake of various chaos-adjacent events that involve many arrows pointing in many different directions, I can help you dreamcast a movie based on all of it. It’s very useful. I have not wasted my life at all. Let’s do it.

Two notes before we begin:

• Again, this is a lightly-fictionalized version, only because it is much more fun that way
• I am operating without a budget because it is also much more fun that way

Here we go:

The evil hedge fund CEO — Walton Goggins, obviously

The embattled-but-sweet CEO of a GameStop-type company whose name is something like Gamer Heaven — Michael Keaton, although an argument can be made that we should shoot for someone younger like a Nicholas Braun in full “Cousin Greg from Succession”-mode

The Reddit-type daytraders who moderate the forum where it all starts, which is called like HotStockTipz — Manny Jacinto and Jake Johnson, because I love them

The intrepid young finance reporter who won’t stop pursuing the story even as it goes all the way to the top — Zendaya, with her hair pulled back and a pencil stuck in there

The intrepid young finance reporter’s editor/mentor who is skeptical at first but later encourages her to keep chasing the story even as pressure from corporate forces puts his own job and/or life in danger — John David Washington, just being as principled and righteous as all hell

Some as-yet-undetermined character played by an unshaven Jonah Hill — Jonah Hill

The idealist lawyer who runs a small firm that is cluttered with papers and boxes but is secretly brilliant and leads the class action — Paul Giamatti, in his full flustered and rumpled glory, with a dress shirt on and a tie that is so loose it looks like a necklace and, for some reason, suspenders

The young associate at the lawyer’s firm who is a mousy research genius and also at one point at the beginning of the third act shows up to a fancy event in a strapless gown and no eyeglasses and suddenly everyone is like “I had no idea she was attractive!” even though she’s been played by Anna Kendrick the entire movie — Anna Kendrick, although Aubrey Plaza can work here, too

The Elon Musk-type billionaire who tweets too much — James Wolk, who already played an Elon Musk-type in Billions and was killed off when he blew himself up in his own spaceship, which I point out here because it is still very funny to me

The cable news anchor who reports on all of this in little snippets the audience only sees over the shoulders of other characters who have it on in the background — Jay Jackson, in part because he plays an anchor or reporter in everything and in part so I can shout “That’s Perd Hapley from Parks and Recreation!” every time he shows up, every time I watch, to the great annoyance of everyone I know

The sleazy senator who is in the pocket of Wall Street — Eric Roberts, because no one does sleazy authority figures better, with the possible exception of Joaquim de Almeida

The aide to the sleazy senator who realizes he’s on the wrong side of history after a rousing speech by the young lawyer who he also develops a thing for — Zac Efron, mostly so I can remind you how much I loved his eco-travel show

The good senator — Salma Hayek, just giving passionate speeches during Senate hearings and saying stuff like “The people deserve answers!”

The President of the United States of America — Angela Bassett, because more movies should feature Angela Bassett as the president and if I’m the one putting together the cast of this sucker then I’m going to get the ball rolling

I look forward to watching this movie 700 times on TNT in the next decade, preferably in a mini-marathon with The Accountant.

ITEM NUMBER TWO — Rest in peace, Larry

Larry King passed away. That stinks. Larry King was an institution on television. He was on television as long as I’ve had a television. He was extremely on television, too, in a way very few people have been or will be. Think about it this way: Larry King was on television so long that it’s hard to remember a time before there were jokes about Larry King being on television a long time. Losing him and Alex Trebek and Regis Philbin in the span of a year feels like the universe turning a page in a very harsh and unwelcome way. Also, his real name was Larry Ziegler and he just up and decided one day to go by Larry King. Larry King was such a cultural institution that we did not stop and find it hilarious that there was a person who changed his name to “Larry King.” That is not nothing. Not even close.

He did a lot in that time on television. He interviewed presidents and world leaders and movie stars and asked them whatever questions he wanted to, because he was Larry King. He was also deeply weird in a way not enough people are anymore. He had Kermit and Miss Piggy on his show and asked them about their hypothetical offspring. He did a hedgehog impression while interviewing Ben Schwartz — who voiced Sonic the Hedgehog in the live-action Sonic movie, a character and movie Larry King knew nothing about and did not bother to begin learning about until they were recording the interview — and it remains one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. (It’s in the video up there. Watch it.) He tweeted, a lot, or rather had someone tweet things for him. It was a modern extension of a column he wrote at USA Today for years and it was… hmm. I think the easiest way to explain Larry King’s tweets is to show you a few. The only thing you need to know is that context for them is unnecessary because context for them never existed.

Just perfect. Larry King, in the ninth decade of his life, became an iconic poster. That’s not nothing either.

People loved him, too. After his death, The Hollywood Reporter ran a kind of as-told-to piece from a longtime waitress at his favorite Los Angeles diner. Look at this collection of words.

On weekends, he would come in a little later but he always ate the same thing. I would have two bowls waiting on the table, filled with plain blueberries. He took coffee with heaps of ice — a lotta, lotta ice and always more ice than coffee — and 20 packets of Splenda with nonfat milk. He would even put Splenda on the blueberries. A long time ago, he used to throw the empty packets on the floor and we would get mad and say, “Larry! You can’t do that.”

Then he would eat matzo brei burned. Or lox and onions burned. Finally, one day I had to ask, “Larry, what is wrong with you? Why do you eat all of this food burned?” He said, “Gloria, I don’t like the taste of eggs so I only want to taste it burned.” He hated eggs.

Again, just fantastically weird in a charming way. He was Larry King all the time and he loved it. He was still going viral as recently as a few weeks ago. It feels weird to know that he won’t be doing that anymore, or sitting behind home plate during Dodgers playoff games, eating ice cream in the front row, just over the batter’s shoulder, always there, a part of the action even when he’s not directly involved in the action like he always was. It doesn’t feel right.

Rest in peace, King.

ITEM NUMBER THREE — This is so stupid… but I love it

The trailer for Godzilla vs. Kong came out last weekend and I straight-up lost my mind about it. I pitched a post on it to my editor via text on a Sunday afternoon (sorry, Brett), and I had 1700 words up about it Monday morning. This may seem silly and unnecessary to you in a profoundly stupid way. This is fair. I have no great defense for any of it beyond pointing you to the GIF above, in which King Kong punches Godzilla square in his scaly jaw. This is so funny to me for reasons I cannot and will not articulate. It is so, so funny. BLAMMO. I would watch this movie if it were just two hours of these fictional beasts clobbering each other with haymakers. This is, for better and worse, what I am about.

Anyway, a few days later, just when I was ready to move on, this happened.

There’s a serious issue here related to this being a fictional fight and a large group of people presumably knowing the outcome and how all of this creates the possibility of stonk-like manipulation for profit. I assume this is all baked into “odds” by the people involved, but I will not be entertaining any of it. I didn’t even look it up before I posted that tweet in here and I’m not going to look it up ever. Why would I? It’s beautiful and funny and harmless to picture an actual gambling market developing around a fictional fight between Godzilla and King Kong, and I refuse to go and investigate the joy out of it.

No one tell me. I’ll be so mad.

ITEM NUMBER FOUR — Meanwhile, on 9-1-1 Lonestar…

This is a young woman named Lily. She popped up on this week’s episode of 9-1-1 Lonestar, standing on the griddle of her vegan Tex-Mex food truck, which was:

• Named Guac and Roll
• Overrun with scorpions

A reasonable argument can be made that I should have led with the scorpion thing. And I would certainly listen to that argument if the scorpions were the biggest threat she was facing, which they were not, because lava.

I’ll explain via additional bullet points:

• 9-1-1 Lonestar featured a volcanic eruption this week
• There are, to my knowledge, no volcanoes in Texas, where the show is set
• None of this is important

What is important, though, is how Lily escaped. It involved a panicked 911 call and an operator who opened the Wikipedia on scorpions (not joking) and then said this sentence…

Lily chased off hundreds of scorpions by squirting cilantro lime vinaigrette at them (scorpions dislike acid, according to Wikipedia), and then was pulled from her food truck by EMTs as the lava from the Texas volcano swallowed Guac and Roll whole.

Really just a wonderful television program.

ITEM NUMBER FIVE — I would like to talk about the patio table grill from The Gentlemen

The Gentlemen is not my favorite Guy Ritchie film, which is surprising because The Gentlemen features Matthew McConaughey as a refined American weed magnate in London who goes to war with a Choice-Making Jeremy Strong. Hugh Grant shows up as a real slimy weasel. It’s got so much going for it. In theory, I should love it. And yet… eh.

But.

There was one part of it that fascinated me at the time and still fascinates me years later: the combination grill/table that Charlie Hunnam’s character has in his yard. Watch the video at the top of this section. It looks so cool. I want it. I need it. I must know more about it. And luckily, now I do, thanks to the website Film and Furniture. It turns out it was Guy Ritchie’s grill. Kind of.

“It’s his personal invention which he has gradually refined to the fabulous object you saw in the film” [production designer Gemma] Jackson says. “It’s very clever. You sit around it and keep warm as your legs are tucked under the table where there is the warmth from the burning embers. Guy throws furs etc over the chairs so that he can entertain outside all the year around.”

Is it weird that I’m mad about this? That I’m upset that Guy Ritchie is a successful film director and grill/table inventor? It’s weird. At the very least it’s petty. It’s not a great look to be jealous of someone else’s accomplishments and/or grill. I’m more upset about the grill, if I’m being honest here. I feel like that makes it more understandable.

It was chosen for this scene because it was felt to be sufficiently innovative for a bit of a dark horse like the character Ray: “It wasn’t originally in the script but as we all thought about it, the idea stuck and we put it in Ray’s garden” Jackson continues.

I like to picture the entire cast sitting around Guy Ritchie’s flaming patio table the day before production started and one of them — let’s all agree it was Jeremy Strong — saying “This table should be in the movie.” And then it just was. This makes me even angrier somehow. I’m not proud of any of this.

The good news: This will soon be available for chumps like you and me to purchase, courtesy of Guy Ritchie.

Soon to be launched by the Gritchie Kitchen Company, it was designed by Guy Ritchie in collaboration with Gritchie Kitchens’ technical Director Nigel True. It will be available in four sizes, from a large BBQ table to a smaller portable picnic size.

I must have the biggest one. I must have it as soon as possible and I must have all of you over in groups of 8-10 once we are allowed to hang out again. You have to bring the food, though. And the beer. And you have to promise not to be too weird about it. A little weird is okay. But don’t ruin this for everyone, okay?

READER MAIL

If you have questions about television, movies, food, local news, weather, or whatever you want, shoot them to me on Twitter or at brian.grubb@uproxx.com (put “RUNDOWN” in the subject line). I am the first writer to ever answer reader mail in a column. Do not look up this last part.

From Lee:

I was thinking about Wynn Duffy and then I said “Twin Duffy” out loud and now in quiet moments I find myself creating a post-Justified life for him based around the premise that he has an identical twin whose couch he is crashing on. His brother’s name is Wayne and he is absolutely guileless, Wayne’s wife doesn’t trust Wynn because he’s shady, and Wayne’s daughter thinks he’s the bee’s knees because he’s a dirtbag uncle and also his pointers paid off big time when she tried out for the high school tennis team. Who would you like to find out has an identical twin, and would they be a good twin (twins power used mainly for hijinks) or an evil twin (parenthetical here for symmetry)?

Well, guess what: I love it. That’s not a surprise, I suppose. I’m not a complicated person. This is an email that references one of my favorite television characters ever and includes the phrase “Twin Duffy” and mentions evil identical siblings. I was always going to love it. Thank you, Lee.

As far as your question goes, I think I would like to see what the evil twin of Jason Mendoza from The Good Place is like, both because it would be fun and because I’ve been thinking about him since I mentioned Manny Jacinto 2800 words ago. He would have a mustache, of course, like all evil twins, but everything beyond that is a conundrum. Would he love Tom Brady and the Patriots, seeing as they are the opposite of Blake Bortles and the Jaguars? Would he be way into, like, fine dining or salads? Would he hate dancing and chaos and heaving fiery bottles at things that displease him? It’s dawning on me as I type this that maybe Jason Mendoza was already the evil twin. He doesn’t look too great on paper.

No. No, I take that back. Jason Mendoza was a sweet man. And he didn’t have a mustache. Let’s just give him a twin who looks and behaves exactly the same and let’s let them start a two-man breakdancing team. This seems reasonable to me.

AND NOW, THE NEWS

To Southern California!

“Jackass” reality TV and film star Brandon “Bam” Margera briefly stopped into a San Marcos gas station’s convenience store Wednesday morning to get gas and charge his phone before having his Bentley stolen, the star said.

This sentence is quite a journey, and yes, the main reason I say that is because Bam Margera got his Bentley stolen from a gas station he was at, but also, like… who charges their phone at the gas station? Does Bam Margera not have a car charger? Is this something people do? Would you ever walk into a gas station and be like “I’m just filling up on pump six but while I’m here can I quick grab a charge, too?” I don’t think it would even dawn on me to do this unless it was an emergency. Especially if I looked like Bam Margera, who, I mean this in the nicest way possible, does not look like a dude you would see pull up in a Bentley and say “This is a straight shooter if I ever saw one. I’ll let him use my outlets.”

I don’t know. I guess the bigger issue is the stolen luxury car. Let’s find out more about that.

Margera told NBC 7 he had an early morning appointment with a shaman in Escondido in San Diego’s North County. He lives in Southern California and decided to drive down early the night before and spend the night rather than make the drive early the next morning for the appointment.

This is starting to make more sense now. They probably should have mentioned the shaman in the first sentence, really. There are not many stories that can surprise me if they start with a visit to a shaman. Kind of sets a tone, you know? Anything could happen on that journey.

Margera said one of the men in the group made a request to drive the Bentley. Margera didn’t think much of it, so he agreed. He got in the passenger seat with one of the men driving and the other members of the group in the back seat, and allowed them to take a “quick spin around the block,” he said.

Margera then asked to go back to the gas station so he could get his phone.

He said he exited the vehicle, entered the convenience store, looked back outside and the car was gone.

Let’s unpack this, briefly. Bam saw some dudes at a gas station and they wanted some pictures of his Bentley. I’m with it so far. It’s the next step, though. The one where he lets a total stranger drive his $250k car and he goes along for the ride — during a pandemic — without his cell phone because he was charging it at the gas station. This is… this is something. It’s somehow more reckless than anything he did in any of the Jackass movies. If he did this in a Jackass movie — after, say, trying to ramp a volcano in a go-kart — I’d be like, “Okay, now this is all getting out of hand.”

The deputy followed and tried to stop the Bentley, then the driver briefly stopped to allow two men to get out before the driver sped off “at a high rate of speed into a nearby residential neighborhood,” Lopez said.

“Deputies temporarily lost sight of the car but found that it had crashed into a house and the car was not occupied,” said Lopez. “There was damage to the home but no injuries to the residents.”

It sounds crazy, I know, but given the way this all started and the way it developed from there, “and then the guy crashed Bam Margera’s Bentley into a house” feels like the most logical way for this story to end.

Berkeley rapper/singer Rexx Life Raj seems like a really nice guy, so why anyone would want to put a bounty on his head is beyond me, but that’s exactly what he insists is happening in his new, Illmind-produced single, “Bounty.” Musically, the new song is right in Rexx’s wheelhouse, with a tight, spacious beat for him to express his innermost thoughts with a combination of lilting crooning and rapier-like rap cadences.

Raj recently posted a photo to his Instagram teasing the new track, with his cowboy-inspired look forming the basis for the song’s cover art and suggesting that there might be a Western-style video for “Bounty” on the way as well. It wouldn’t be the first time the Bay Area indie stalwart went all-in on a video concept.

In the video for Raj’s most recent single, “Bad Bad Bad” from his California Poppy 2 EP, he cheekily adopted some extreme-looking pandemic safety measures for a day of picnics, sightseeing, and sports. Meanwhile, the video for his 2020 single “Tesla In A Pandemic” was more-or-less self-explanatory, as he showed off his new purchase and exhorted the benefits of remaining independent and keeping creative control.

“Bounty” appears to be a standalone single for now, but knowing Raj, it’s likely only a matter of time before he announces a new full-length to follow-up 2019’s Father Figure 3. Stay tuned.

Listen to Rexx Life Raj’s “Bounty” above.

(Spoilers from Marvel Studios and Disney+’s WandaVision will be found below.)

It’s only been a few hours since WandaVision Episode 4 “We Interrupt This Program” started streaming Disney+ and the generally spoiler-averse Marvel Studios has dropped a very revealing sneak peak at the show’s direction. Not only does the new preview give away huge plot elements from the just-released Episode 4, but it seems to showcase some pretty significant events that will unfold in the weeks ahead.

After opening on Monica Rambeau reuniting with her SWORD colleagues and preparing to offer her insider perspective on what’s happening in the Westside bubble, namely that Wanda is the villainous force altering the town’s reality, the sneak peak starts flashing through clips of scenes to come with a heavy emphasis on a showdown between Wanda and Vision coming down the line. As glitches start to appear in the town, Vision becomes even more keenly aware of the strange events that keep unfolding, which builds towards a confrontation with Wanda over “What’s outside Westview?” In a surprisingly revealing moment, the clip actually shows Vision forcing his way through the energy field around the town, and then collapsing to his knees. Either because of his shock from escaping an alternate reality, or because he just entered a world where’s he supposed to be dead, and may have just reverted back to that state.

The clip also includes a very brief, but clearly deliberate moment that shows Kathryn Hahn’s Agnes seemingly manipulating Wanda. During one of the show’s reality-breaking moments where the artifice of the sitcom world starts to crack, Agnes can be seen telling Wanda, “Shouldn’t we just take it from the top?” We’ve already seen hints before that Agnes knows more than she’s letting on, and the show has revealed that unlike the other residents of Westview, she doesn’t have a real world identity. But this new clip is the first to suggest that Agnes is behind the events in Westview.

Adding to the mystery of Agnes’ involvement, the sneak peak also includes the phrase, “Life could be perfect when it’s made just for you,” which can be read as Wanda is creating a new reality where Vision is still alive, or that someone else created it for her.

(Via Marvel)

If we’re thinking about what the WNBA will look like in the future, look no further than Gabby Williams. As a point forward on the wing for the Chicago Sky, Williams has helped usher Chicago into a new era of championship contention. And as a long outspoken advocate for social justice across the board, she is a bright voice in a league that is increasingly looked to as a leader in social engagement in sport.

A new partnership with Ford as one of the faces of the auto company’s #ShowSomeMuscle campaign only furthers Williams’ place at the intersection of all of this. Williams is the face of Ford’s plan to reimagine the “muscle car” with the Mustang Mach-E, a new all-electric concept pushing the boundaries of what brawn and power are in our society.

Williams is also leading Ford’s social media challenge to encourage women to share their personal stories of perseverance and resiliency online, which she started on Thursday and nominated her former Sky teammate Cheyenne Parker among others.

During a break from her Hungarian team, Sopron Basket, Williams spoke with Dime about the Ford partnership, her work in the Chicago community, and what’s next for the Sky following an extension for head coach James Wade, and the reported signing of the legendary Candace Parker.

As an athlete you have a lot of opportunities come up, so what stood out about this Ford partnership and why did you choose to be part of it?

I felt really honored that they thought of me, but for me, I’m just really excited that it’s giving an opportunity for women everywhere to share their strengths, because I think that we can empower one another, and I do think there are so many stories out there that can inspire others. I couldn’t say no to an opportunity like that and it’s just so exciting to be part of this.

It seems like there are a lot of companies that are trying to be genuine about the way that they open themselves up to women and to female customers or female partners. What does that mean to you, do you think it’s trending in the right direction, and how do you hope this fits into that?

I do. It is going in the right direction. Ford being Ford, such a huge company — and especially as the campaign talks about with muscle cars — always seem to be very masculine and for men, but the campaign is promoting that no, this can be feminine, too, and this can be for women as well.

It’s huge, because as an athlete, that’s what I am. I’m a (female) athlete in a man’s world, in the industry of sports, so I can relate to that a lot, and I think many people have some kind of experience with that as well.

I know you’re involved with Chicago’s “Sky Takes Action” campaign, and there were a lot of WNBA teams that tried to put things together last season that would continue past 2020. What inspired you about the campaign and how will “Sky Takes Action” continue into 2021?

We knew when we started this that it was going to be not just 2020. We wanted to do something big this year especially because we all just had so many emotions and things we were passionate about, but we were setting the foundation for what we hope can happen with the Sky, where every year can be something new and we can add onto what we’re doing.

We’ve all become close to the initiatives that are dear to our hearts, and this summer was about learning how we can make change, so now we feel better-equipped to tackle these things in the future and in the years to come.

It’s a wide variety of groups you partnered with. Was there any interaction or conversation in choosing those that sticks out to you a few months later?

I just felt really inspired by the feedback I was getting from these organizations. Like, of course we wanted to help and make them as happy as possible, but (the response we got) just felt really good from the leaders. They were just so excited to be part of it, and every time I get to reach out to one of the heads or whoever I’m working with, they’re always just so excited, and it keeps me going.

We see a lot of these partnerships with teams where a lot of it is organized by some corporate person within the team, but it sticks out to me that you and your teammates were on the ground communicating directly with the leaders, so I wonder what the response was like from them to see that you guys really did care on a detailed level about what was going on?

That was the really cool thing about it, is we knew exactly what we felt passionate about, like the school system. Diamond DeShields and (Bears linebacker) Sam Acho are really connected with By The Hand. It was our baby and we wanted to protect it, and I think that’s why we did it on such a hands-on level. We didn’t want to put it in the hands of other people, because we knew what we cared about, we knew who we wanted to help and what we stood for. And so it was an opportunity for us to speak out about the issues we were most passionate about and we wanted it to be our voice, not anyone else’s.

Let’s talk about the 2021 season. There was a recent Clubhouse event in which I believe Sue Bird mentioned that the Justice in Policing Act might be a focus for the players this season. What form do you expect the league’s organizing to take when you come together in May for the season?

I expect it to be a bit similar to this past season. We may be a bit more organized because hopefully we have more time. But I expect something similar where teams have their own initiatives that they work on within their communities, but I know we’ll do some things at a league-wide level as well.

Is that something that’s still being crafted among you guys?

Yeah, we have no idea what the season is even going to look like, so it’s hard to plan. We don’t know if it’s a Bubble, we don’t know if we’re traveling. You can only organize so much when you don’t even have the season organized yet. It’s a bit difficult.

On that note, (head coach and GM) James Wade just got an extension from the Sky. You guys have had a lot of success under him and he seems to have connected with you guys, so what stands out to you most after these past couple seasons with Coach Wade and what was your reaction to the extension?

I was really happy for him just personally. I think that’s a great opportunity for him and he earned it. And I also know what the organization means to James, and I think he really does take pride in us, he really does care for us as people and as players, and he wants to see the organization as a whole do better. I see that he genuinely wants to make a difference in Chicago, so it’s great.

It’s not official yet, so I understand if you don’t want to say anything, but reporting indicates that Candace Parker is headed to your team, which is home for her. It sounds like you guys were part of getting her to commit. What can you say about that situation?

I can’t say too much, but overall it’s an amazing addition. I’m excited to see what kind of team we’ll have for the summer, and I’m just looking forward to it and I know she’s going to bring so much that we don’t have and so much that we need. It will be huge for us.

I wanted to ask you to close what your goal for the season is, but it’s probably the same as it has been, which is to win a championship, right?

Yeah, of course. Especially with James, he makes sure to instill that mentality, that we’re not playing for anything less and this has to be the motivation, because James doesn’t want to see us settle. James genuinely has that confidence in us and wants to see us have that in ourselves, so we’re going to go into every season contending for a championship.

Bars are a lot quieter now than they were this time last year. Thanks to the pandemic, Friday night drinks at a favorite local spot are out of the question, as is getting to enjoy a band playing at that boozy venue. Last night on The Tonight Show, Fontaines DC brought a bit of that back to our lives with a remote performance of “A Hero’s Death,” which they filmed from a pub in London.

Announcing the performance last week, the band wrote on Instagram, “Good man Fallon for having us back on. We filmed a live performance in one of our favourite pubs in London — The Auld Shilleladh.”

2020 was a wild year for Fontaines DC. While their latest album, A Hero’s Death, earned them plenty of acclaim stateside, it was an ever bigger release over in the UK. At one point, it was in a fiercely competitive chart battle with Taylor Swift, which it ended up losing, giving the album a UK chart peak at No. 2. It was also revealed today that A Hero’s Death was the third best-selling album in independent UK record shops in 2020, behind Idles’ Ultra Mono and Yungblud’s Weird!.

Watch Fontaines DC perform “A Hero’s Death” on Fallon above.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is a QAnon conspiracy theorist, a “total whack-job” who, to choose a random example of something abhorrent she’s done, harasses survivors of school shootings. She’s also a congresswoman, so… that’s great. “If you don’t know who this person is, I wish I didn’t, too,” host Jimmy Kimmel said about the U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 14th congressional district during Thursday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! “She is the lady who, among other things, called for Nancy Pelosi’s execution; called for Joe Biden’s impeachment on his first day in office; and she believes our former governor here in California, Jerry Brown, used space lasers to set the wildfires here. She saw the Austin Powers movie and thought it was a documentary.”

Kimmel also brought up the resurfaced video of Taylor Greene stalking David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting that left 17 people dead, and calling him a “coward.” He wondered “how it would go over with the Fox News and Ted Cruz crew if Nancy Pelosi called for Marjorie Taylor Greene to be executed and called a teenage kid ‘Hitler’? You think they’d have anything to say? Well, it was the other way around, and guess what? Most of them have nothing to say. Instead, they assigned her to the education committee. Hoping, I guess, she would get one? I don’t know.”

You can watch the clip above.

Despite changing his name, Westside Boogie is still the same rapper we all know and love. During the lead-up to his debut album, Everything’s For Sale, Boog was known to drop a freestyle video or two to keep the fans tuned-in to his moves, and today, we’re happy to report that he returns to the habit with his cocky “Joe Exotic Freestyle” video.

Vets of Boogie’s output should already know the drill: The Compton rapper posts up in a single location, lets the camera run, raps his butt off, and the lyrics scroll down the right side of the screen. It’s a simple, straightforward, and incredibly effective tactic and Boogie has mastered its use to keep his buzz going between projects without having to blow the budget on music videos.

As usual, he tackles familiar subjects like disloyal women, phony gangsters, and the stressful thoughts that keep him penning therapeutic, revelatory verses. He also shouts out Campanella Park in Compton, keeping his hometown near and dear.

Prior to releasing “Joe Exotic,” Boogie teased his forthcoming new music with a hilarious, tongue-in-cheek sketch involving a hostage situation, then shared his new single “Outside” with Joey Badass. He also guest-featured on Reason’s extended mix of the MF DOOM-sampling “Extinct,” which coincidentally dropped the day we all found out about the masked rapper’s death.

Watch Westside Boogie’s “Joe Exotic Freestyle” video above.

As the music biz ramps back up to feed the ravenous demand of housebound fans still deprived of live entertainment, this week’s offerings in hip-hop lean indie, and international. In terms of albums, British rap/grime makes a double showing, while two of hip-hop’s most prominent underground producers deliver projects full of soulful samples and nostalgic loops.

Meanwhile, on the singles side of things, there are plenty of newcomers and quirky, left-of-center expressionists dropping, along with some fast-rising regional talents. The highlights here are Bay Area upstart Caleborate, who’s been working the indie circuit for some time, and T.I. protege Tokyo Jetz, who finally looks set to take advantage of hip-hop’s “girl power” wave in earnest.
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Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending January 29, 2021

Albums/EPs/Mixtapes

Chip — Snakes And Ladders

British rapper Chip has been around long enough that his relative youth might be surprising, but that’s what happens when you get your start as a teenager. He’s been feuding with Stormzy for the last several months, but with this release, he returns the focus back to where it rightfully belongs: On his impressive, long-lasting legacy, and continued good standing in the grime world due to his impressive pen game.

Fendi P -– The Art Of Finessin 2

A long-tenured rapper who has put out a dozen projects on Curren$y’s Jet Life Recordings imprint, the artist formerly known as Corner Boy P has been one of hip-hop’s most consistent sound providers since the early 2010s. On his latest, he sticks to the script, delivering laid back lifestyle raps over smooth, simple beats alongside fellow Jet Lifer Fiend and longtime associate Wiz Khalifa.

Fredo — Money Can’t Buy Happiness

Since getting his start relatively recently, Fredo has made a name for himself as one of the UK’s most exciting young rappers alongside Dave and Young Adz. On his emotive sophomore project, he pays homage to the Fugees’ Delfonics cover “Ready Or Not” with Summer Walker and delves into the drill movement with Adz and the late Pop Smoke.

Haiti Babii -– Trap Art

Repping the Bay Area by way of Stockton, CA, Haiti Babii gained notoriety with his ad-lib-ridden freestyle on LA’s 92.3 The Real, but he’s since proven there’s way more to him than a bunch of sound effects. His latest is a street-rooted, with wobbly, post-hyphy bangers backing a slippery, malleable flow and bold, self-confident lyrics celebrating the street life.

Lil Durk — The Voice (Deluxe)

Following up the success of his latest release, the Windy City vet doubles down on the inevitable re-issue, adding 11 new tracks featuring a big name in Lil Baby and a bubbling star, Pooh Shiesty.

Madlib — Sound Ancestors

Elusive Los Angeles beatmaker Madlib shares 16 tracks of audio callbacks that stretch across decades, genres, and outcomes, from cosmic funk to boom-bap bangers.

The Alchemist — Carry The Fire (EP)

Not to be outdone, ‘Lib’s fellow Angeleno Alan the Chemist carves out his own space with eight spacey, retro-accented loops to groove to.

Thutmose — Best Of Both Worlds: Side B (EP)

A four-song blend of Afro-fusion and hip-hop, Brooklyn-based Thutmose’s latest is his first since 2018’s Man On Fire and his star-making turn on the Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse soundtrack.

Singles/Videos

Babyface Ray — “If You Know You Know” Feat. Moneybagg Yo

Detroit newcomer is hilariously out-of-pocket and disrespectful on this sparse, throwback ode to… well, ratchet sh*t. There’s something about his zoned-out flow that makes him surprisingly engaging, even when his punchlines are grimy enough to make an elder blush.

Caleborate — “What U Want”

Berkeley rapper Caleborate has been a personal favorite since his appearance last year on COLORS, and if this emotive love letter doesn’t make you a fan as well, you’ve got to at least appreciate the deftly-plotted video that accompanies it.

Dark Time Sunshine — “The Rite Kids” Feat. Homeboy Sandman & R.A.P. Ferreira

Consisting of Seattle emcee Onry Ozzborn and Chicago producer Zavala, this single from the duo’s upcoming LP LORE sums up their avant-garde approach alongside two of underground rap’s most polished technicians.

Heno — “Blackstarrr”

Co-signed by Jpegmafia, this Maryland-bred MC’s MC shows off the heady precision of his flow as he leads up to his forthcoming album Death Ain’t THAT Bad.

Homeboy Sandman x Quelle Chris — “Hello Dancer”

Homeboy Sandman’s mastery of wordplay, breath control, and rhythm should be the subject of books. If you’ve recently discovered or rediscovered MF DOOM’s eccentric but dextrous style and are looking for more artists like him… well, here you go.

Jaah SLT — “2021 Banger”

There’s this vein of punk-rock inspired rap that’s just very infectious, including such names as Snot, Jasiah, and Rico Nasty. Throw Jaah SLT on the list and keep your eyes peeled for more yell-rap from this burgeoning, rough-around-the-edges talent.

LBS Kee’vin — “Hood Dreams” Feat. FCG Heem

I hit play on this one not knowing quite what to expect from this Florida native. I’ll tell you what; I wasn’t disappointed. With a sing-song flow, trap-friendly beat, and one heck of a catchy hook, LBS Kee’vin proves he’s one to watch and he won’t be staying local for very much longer.

Slimelife Shawty — “Homicide”

Plain and simple, a “black Air Force activity” banger. Slimelife Shawty can flat-out rap — if you know what to listen for. In contrast to the wordy delivery of some of this list’s entries, he just paints an impressionistic portrait of life on the streets of Atlanta.

Tokyo Jetz — “Know The Rules” Feat. T.I.

The witty-ass video is the draw, but this Jacksonville rapper brings a straight-up electric magnetism to her rapid-fire flow, hijacking Big Freedia and Tupac samples to drag no-good, trifling men through the mud and back. Grand Hustle bossman T.I. drops by to offer his seal of approval, but Tokyo doesn’t need it.

TruCarr — “Lose My Mind” Feat. Rich The Kid

TruCarr and his slurry flow have been drawing increased attention in the past few months as this underground favorite accumulates co-signs and establishes himself as one of the stickier songwriters coming up from Watts, California today.

With so many people finding so many ways to put out new music, it’s harder and harder to be original these days when it comes to release strategies. Hayley Williams managed to do something different last night, though: By cover of night, she stealthily hand-delivered a CD to a fan and gave them her consent to leak the song on it.

Williams chronicled the stunt in a video, in which she drove up to the home of superfan Carly Butler, dropped a CD containing the song “My Limb” into her mailbox (along with a candle), and honking as she drove off.

Butler later tweeted, “did hayley williams drive to your house and drop off a candle and a cd with her new song on it or are you having a normal night.” Since Butler had permission to leak the track, she did just that, and as of this post, the song is only available online as a YouTube video.

It’s possible the song is a taste of a new album, and if Williams were to drop a new effort this year, it would be a quick turnaround for her: Her latest album, Petals For Armor, was just released in May 2020.

Listen to “My Limb” above.

Hayley Williams is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Jpegmafia has announced the forthcoming release of EP2!, the follow-up to his 2020 EP, the fittingly-titled EP!. To accompany the announcement, the avant-garde Baltimore rapper has shared the video for one of the seven songs from the tracklist he posted, “Fix Urself!” As an artist who never sticks with one style, Jpeg once again uses the track to morph into a reasonable approximation of Drake’s concerned lover boy schtick over a downtempo beat with digitally manipulated vocals.

The accompanying video is another self-shot affair, featuring Peggy and his girlfriend on a road trip and a nighttime walk through a city. It’s low-fi and very similar to his videos for “Living Single” and “Last Dance!” although it’s a bit grainier and he’s less aggressive in the video thanks to the softspoken nature of the song itself.

Jpeg spent much of 2020 releasing the gritty, self-contained videos, culminating with the release of EP! in November. Fans who wondered why “Last Dance!” wasn’t included on its tracklist received their answer today as Peggy shared the tracklist for EP2! which includes both “Fix Urself!” and “Last Dance!” According to Stereogum, the tracklist is below.

01. “Intro!”
02. “Last Dance!”
03. “Fix Urself!”
04. “Keltec!”
05. “This Ones For Us!”
06. “Panic Room!”
07. “Feed Her!”

Watch Jpegmafia’s “Fix Urself!” video above.