Category: News

It is unclear whether or not HBO will be able to air Hard Knocks this year, as it’s impossible to know what things will look like in the coming months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If it is able to happen, however, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that HBO will try to do something a little different.

Schefter brings word that both Los Angeles squads, the Chargers and the Rams, are in line to appear on Hard Knocks this year, marking the first time that two teams get featured on the show — the Rams have been on it in the past, while this would mark the first time that the Chargers have gotten onto Hard Knocks. Both are sharing a new stadium during the 2020 season, and as Schefter laid out, that proximity to one another is something that would theoretically make putting two teams on the show a little easier.

No one yet knows whether training camp will be a go this summer because of the virus, but NFL Films must prepare as if it will. Being stationed in Los Angeles will give NFL Films the ability to embed itself with two NFL teams, a concept the show has not tried in the past.

Again, it all comes down to the ability to hold a training camp this year, something that is not guaranteed. The possibility of two legitimately interesting teams sharing this stage, though, is a fun one, and it would be cool to get a glimpse into the Chargers in the first year post-Philip Rivers, or the Rams as they look to get past last season’s disappointing campaign and make it back to the Super Bowl.

Major League Baseball has not gotten the chance to kick off its 2020 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league, like every other non-eSports league in the United States, is on the sideline trying to wait all of this out, but unlike the NBA, NHL, and MLS, baseball may have a light at the end of the tunnel.

According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the league and its players association are in conversations about a plan to begin this year in an isolated environment. Passan laid out the details of the league, which would take place in and around Phoenix — including Chase Field, the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and a myriad of spring training stadiums — with no fans. Like the reported plan the NBA is kicking around that would keep its players away from everything, MLB players would live in hotels near stadiums and “live in relative isolation.”

In the most interesting twist, this would reportedly be possible because of something in desperate need across the United States right now: rapid and frequent testing.

The May return date for the plan depends on a number of concerns being allayed, and some officials believe a June Opening Day could be more realistic, sources said. Most important would be a significant increase in available coronavirus tests with a quick turnaround time, which sources familiar with the plan believe will happen by early May and allow MLB’s testing to not diminish access for the general public.

Skepticism reportedly comes due to the logistical monstrosity that this would require, and players may not be on board becausee of the amount of time this would require living in isolation and away from their families. However, there were calls between the league and the MLBPA on Monday, which came after federal health officials — including those from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health — had spoken to both sides and, per Passan, “have been supportive of a plan that would adhere to strict isolation.”

If this turns into something feasible and not a pie in the sky idea to get a sport back, baseball does seem pretty uniquely positioned to have a runway to return, if only because players can keep some amount of distance between themselves most of the time. Some other measures to help with this are reportedly being kicked around, like having teams use the stands instead of dugouts, scrapping mound visits, and robotic home plate umpires.

The biggest news in all of this is, of course, the belief that quick testing will become available May, which could help speed up a whole lot of things outside of the world of sports. But beyond that, getting baseball back and having players be safe would a wonderful step in the right direction, so hopefully, something can be worked out here.

Mozzy has the attention of the streets simply because he speaks the hood’s language. When Mozzy speaks, his words present themselves as bright, expressive stanzas, proving himself to be a great sermonizer in addition to a talented wordsmith.

Hailing from Sacramento’s toughest neighborhood Oak Park, where things have not always been so sweet for him, the now Grammy Award-nominated artist has always been one to look at the silver linings of conflicted situations. He’s so in love with the “beautiful struggle” that he used the title for two separate songs; in 2015, he titled a track from Bladadah “Beautiful Struggle” and the following year, he released a project of the same name with another song titled “Beautiful Struggle.”

Now, his new album Beyond Bulletproof is slated for release May 1 and its artwork is an ode to the forgotten souls of his community, including drug addicts, the homeless, and those lost because they have been socially defined by their past mistakes.

Mozzy is not afraid to embrace the ugly, and that is the energy his forthcoming album sits in. Even as the entire planet is on a worldwide lockdown and people are mandated to stay indoors as a way to avoid spreading and catching the debilitating coronavirus, Mozzy isn’t really tripping about this moment in time. “I’m in love with it,” he tells Uproxx over the phone.

“The effects it has on family members and just bringing everybody closer together and just pausing,” he continues. “It’s like I could just pause all the materialistic things. None of that sh*t really matter right now. It holds no substance and that’s the type of person I am, so I’m ecstatic about it.”

His journey is similar to that of Nipsey Hussle or Tupac Shakur in that both had goals of helping out their community through the knowledge held in their music. As he rhymes on “I Ain’t Perfect” from Beyond Bulletproof: “I’m returning to the slums to get my people right.”

Plus, Mozzy loves being amongst the people. Perhaps it’s why, as his fame and music have grown, he’s not rapping about materialistic things but about the mentality needed to elevate, as heard on the motivating “Overcame.” The Oak Park native is living proof that it’s possible and he was gingerly inspired by his late grandmother, Brenda Patterson-Usher, who raised him while she was a member of the Black Panther Party.

During our conversation, Mozzy opened up about the intentions behind Beyond Bulletproof, his choice to see a therapist following the passing of his grandmother, and why he loves burgeoning Chicago rap star Polo G.

You got your new album Beyond Bulletproof coming out May 1 and I saw that you have a new series of you speaking to a therapist. I know you just lost your grandmother, which has always been a big part of your music. When did you first realize it was time to see a therapist and that it was okay to do so?

I used to joke about it. I feel like my music has really, truly been a therapist throughout my whole life, as therapy for me. But it’s after losing Grams, after losing my grandmother, I really don’t have nobody that I could communicate with on that type of level. I’m very discreet about certain things with certain people and there’s not too many people that’s on her level. I don’t feel that comfort with that many people. Talking to a therapist and knowing that everything you say is confidential and the fact that she doesn’t know me, I don’t know her; so it’s a lack of judgment there. I just wanted to try it out. I felt like it’d benefit me in the space I’m in right now.

How did you go about finding the right therapist?

I left it up to my manager, but I told him I wanted an African-American lady. I wanted somebody who could understand me and understand the background and upbringing, and somebody who could really sympathize being a young African-American male who lives in America today.

And she has you doing those breathing exercises. Do you find yourself doing that now, pausing and breathing?

Not really. Finally, when I do Wiz’s Kush Up Challenge! I ain’t going to lie, I almost cracked up. I almost started laughing but I was trying to be very respectful. I didn’t want her to think I thought she was a bullshitter. So I held it in. I did good.

Well, how do you relax in those moments where you find yourself really just going off?

I’m really relaxed. I get in a mood, not necessarily with people unless I’m just really comfortable with someone and we have that vibe. But really I get in my real relaxed state of mind, just real calm. I calm everything down when I get on the freeway, when I’m in a car, when I’m by myself, when I’m entitled to cry, when I’m just entitled to freestyle. I’m entitled to do whatever I feel. I’m entitled to say what I feel. When I can yell, when I can let my grandmother know “I miss you.”

This shit hurt, this shit crazy. Sometimes this shit don’t even feel like it’s worth it because it ain’t everything I did it for. I was doing it so she could… I wanted to put a smile on her face. I wanted her to feel all the work and effort she put in. That’s like me putting in so much work, so much effort, and then I don’t really get to enjoy the fruits of my labor. It just feels unfair but I’m able to just release all that. I’m able to talk to the universe and just put that out there when I’m on a freeway.

You’ve mentioned before about how she was a great person in the community and always helping out. I see you’ve been doing that. Plus, your music has grown, it’s matured a lot and I hear you rapping about a different subject matter. Do you feel a responsibility to carry on that same legacy as her?

For sure. For sure. I seen Queen And Slim and he said, “As long as my family know my legacy, I’m Gucci and Gabbana.” That’s kind of like her. She wasn’t really worried about the world and outside of the world and me publicizing. She had plenty of times they do interviews to talk about me, even during the time she was very healthy. Just the discreteness within her, it wouldn’t let her do it. I respect that she didn’t have a funeral service. She kept it real close-knit, even though she’s a big dog and a pillar within the community.

She told us she didn’t want others to see us at our weakest hour. That’s why she dictated and directed it to be like that because she didn’t want the world to see us at our weakest hour and I respect it. That’s just the type of person she was. So, sure, carry her legacy within a family. But it’s just within me, period. It’s the way I live. Just the way I raise my daughters, my sincerity. Just taking everything … just doing things with passion, everything. Every little thing that I remember her just reiterating all the time. It come to light nowadays and I try to apply within my daily living.

Your song “I Ain’t Perfect” with Blxst shows it’s okay to not be perfect and no one on earth is, but you can always become a better person. What are some ways that you think that you’ve worked on becoming a better person?

Spending more time with my children, that always helps. It fulfills me. Looking out for people. Instead of looking out for a couple of people this month, we going to look out for 20 people. Even if it’s small, even if it’s minute. Just looking out for people. I’m taking it to the next level of looking out. Just going further with it. Reading; that always assists me. It helps mold me. Dedicating myself to my family. Understanding what a priority is. Understanding how to prioritize and just understanding that we are limited to time on this earth and so whatever it is that I want to accomplish, whether it’s with family, financially, socially, I got a bite down. I got to live within a moment. I got to do it right now, right now. Practicing living in the moment always help me.

I also want to talk about Polo G since he’s featured on the album too. I see him kind of taking those same steps that you, Nipsey Hussle, and G Herbo have. What’s your relationship with him?

Oh, that’s my boy. Polo G. That’s my dog. Pull up to the video shoots. You can invite me to a shoot or even invite me to an interview or whatever the case, and it could be in one of his slimiest, treacherous neighborhood and I’m a blow down on you. I’m going to pull up, I’m going to follow through with that commitment regardless of the potential dangers. I fuck with him heavy since 30. You understand me? It’s a lack of real n****s in this rap shit. A lot of n****s get big-headed when they reach a certain social status and I just got unlimited respect for the ones who still well-grounded in this shit, man, because it’s a little bit all the same.

I know this project’s about second chances, not really being perfect, and really introspective. What is a second chance you were given that you are most grateful for?

Life. Freedom. I feel like I was at a dark space in my life in 2014. One of the darkest. I had my daughter, I was fighting for custody, I was broke, I was living with granny and I’ve just had a lot of conflict. I was funking with the neighborhood, I was funking with the opposition. I just had a lot going on. I really didn’t care about life, I didn’t care about death. It’s crazy that I… because I could feel it, I could taste it, I could smell it right now. I recall just vividly being in that, under those circumstances.

I went to jail. I went to jail for something minute. I could’ve went to jail for something crazy, but I went to jail for something minute. I got full understanding that God function with me. It got to be God. It got to be a higher power and I got to be in his favor because it was just ugly. It was ugly for me and he set me down, temporarily, just momentarily type shit. He let me get my mind right. He gave me enough time. It wasn’t too little, it wasn’t too much. I came home and I got to work. It’s just blessings upon blessing. I’m grateful. Thankful.

Love it. What is the ultimate thing you want people to get out of Beyond Bulletproof and what do we have to look forward to in the future?

The definition of bulletproof love. I just want to stay up there. I feel like I’m the face of Beyond Bulletproof. I feel like I’m the face of bulletproof love. I just wanted to take it a step further and let them know it’s Beyond Bulletproof. I really believe this shit on and off cameras. I want the forgotten. I want the one’s that’s overlooked. I want them to feel like it’s their time to shine. That n**** talking about me, he’s talking about my life. This album — it’s for me. I want them to feel possessive of the album. I want them to feel like that motherfucker was painted direct specifically for them. I just want them to be able to utilize it as a therapy tool. Cry to it, laugh to it, smile to it, get mad to it. It’s a roller coaster of emotion. I want them to really experience it, you understand? In a 3D manner.

This is random, but I’m pretty sure you’re familiar with self-help books like Think & Grow Rich?

Oh yeah, for sure.

It sounds like, with your music and Nipsey Hussle and music like that… it sounds like your music is that for the hood?

That was the best way you could paint it. I know a lot of people get mad at me cause I ain’t been on that raw-raw hype lately. I ain’t been on that 1 Up Top Ahk. I ain’t really been on that hype. I’ve been on a more progressive hype. I’m on a more productive hype and more uplifting. I think it just got a lot more substance.

My core fanbase don’t really fuck with it like that, but it’s growth and development and I understand the process. I ain’t going to be great living in 2008. I can’t be great if I’m still living in 2008. I got to progress with the time and that’s what I’m doing. My music has always been my truth. Truthfully, right now this is how I feel. I don’t know if it’s because I got a bag or cause I live on a 50th floor or cause I could take any car I want to drive this week. I don’t know if that’s the case, but I’m just in a more uplifting spirit and that’s what you’re going to get out of this album.

Beyond Bulletproof is due 5/1 on Empire. Pre-order it here.

Selena Gomez debuted her highly-anticipated comeback record Rare early this year. Since the record’s release, Gomez has been sitting on a few new tracks to share alongside the deluxe version of her record. But, amid the ongoing pandemic, Gomez has decided to attach a charitable component to her deluxe album. Gomez is donating to a COVID-19 relief fund and offering a portion of all her merch to benefit the charity.

Gomez explained her charitable actions in a social media post:

“Many of you know how excited I’ve been to release a song called ‘Boyfriend.’ It’s a lighthearted song about falling down and getting back up time and time again in love, but also know that you don’t need anyone other than yourself to be happy. We wrote it long before our current crisis, but in the context of today, I want to be clear that a boyfriend is nowhere near the top of my life of priorities. Just like the rest f the world, I’m praying for safety unity and recovery during this pandemic. Because of that, I’m personally donating to the Plus1 COVID-19 Relief Fund as well as donating $1 of every order in my official store to the fund starting now.”

The Rare (Deluxe) features three new songs from the pop singer. Along with the remainder of the 13-track record, Rare (Deluxe) includes the bonus tracks “Boyfriend,” “She,” and “Souvenir.”

Rare (Deluxe) is out 4/9 via Interscope. Pre-order it here.

A dominant big man can paper over a number of cracks a college basketball team might have, especially when the NCAA Tournament rolls around and squads need someone who can lead them to victory by sheer force of will. If the 2020 edition of March Madness hadn’t been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re willing to bet that two bigs, in particular, would have made quite the impact for their teams.

When Maryland was at its best this year, second-year big man Jalen Smith was usually at the center of everything. Smith can do it all on the basketball court and is a legitimately unguardable frontcourt player on his best days. If the Terps were going to be at their best in the tourney, it was going to be because Smith did an admirable impression of Danny Manning, the former Kansas star who led the Jayhawks to a national title and went down as one of the best players in the sport’s history. Even if Smith never becomes the No. 1 pick like Manning, Maryland just needed him to have a Manning-like impact for six games to win the NCAA Tournament, something he very well could have ended up doing.

USC had its ups and downs this year, but through everything, there was no denying that Onyeka Okongwu could just do things on the court to make the Trojans better. Like former UConn big man Emeka Okafor, Okongwu was a tenacious rebounder and defender whose ability to obliterate opposing big men in the paint brought his team to another level. The Trojans were a bubble squad this year — ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had them as the last team to get a first-round bye in his most recent Bracketology update — and if Okongwu could have played like Okafor, they had the potential to be a pleasant surprise come the second weekend.

It’s unclear what the future holds for Smith, who has not yet declared for the 2020 NBA Draft, while Okongwu is expected to be a lottery pick. Missing out on them doing their things during the tournament was unfortunate, but in a bit of good news, both of these big men should be household names in the world of basketball for a while.

Last night, on a quieter than usual Raw After WrestleMania, Nia Jax made her return to WWE after an entire year, competing in the ring for the first time since WrestleMania 35 last April. She had to take that time off for double knee surgery, but we’ve known for a month or so that she was expected back soon. Nia celebrated her return by making short work of Deonna Purazzo, and the wrestling internet immediately recognized the move she finished her off with:

Yes, that’s the RamPaige (although Nia may be giving it a new name now, I don’t think we know that yet). It used to be Paige’s finisher, although of course Paige can’t compete in the ring anymore, due to her unfortunate neck injuries. Everyone who’s paid attention to Total Divas, or just social media, knows that Paige and Nia are close friends, so people were quick to make the connection, which Nia immediately acknowledged.

But how did Paige feel about Nia adopting a finisher she can’t use herself anymore? Considering their closeness, it shouldn’t be any surprise that she’s fine with it. In fact, it sounds like Paige encouraged her to use it:

Time will tell what Nia Jax will get up to now that she’s back in WWE (a run at Becky Lynch and her title seems likely), but it’s cool that she’s brought a little bit of Paige back into the ring with her.

Drake has taken over TikTok with “Toosie Slide,” thanks largely in part due to the dance that was created for the track. It turns out this originally wasn’t Drake’s intention at all, though, because the song was actually written about Michael Jackson’s famous moonwalk dance move. Drake sings on the song, “It go right foot up, left foot, slide / Left foot up, right foot, slide.”

On Instagram Live last night, Drake explained the song’s origins (and revealed he has a new album on the way), saying, “Shout out to Toosie, because when I first made that song, I was only talking about the moonwalk. […] But Toosie made the dance to that sh*t, so it’s popping now. I didn’t know it was gonna be a dance song like that, but it is what it is. We’re just having fun getting warmed up. Album’s on the way.”

That makes a ton of sense looking at the song’s lyrics, which feature multiple references to Jackson. Drake sings, “I could dance like Michael Jackson / I could give you thug passion,” and at the start of the song, he offers was seems to be another Jackson nod: “Black leather glove, no sequins.”

Lil Baby actually almost appeared on the song, but as he noted recently, “@champagnepapi Sent Me This Song A Month Ago My Dumb Ass Ain’t Send The Verse Bacc.”

Better Call Saul is a show with range. Some characters like Jimmy/Saul lie constantly, others like Mike tell the truth to a fault. With that in mind, our coverage this season will be structured as a collection of true and false statements about each episode. Welcome to Better Call Saul Truth And Lies.

TRUTH — Nothing good happens in the desert

When did you realize things were going to go bad for Jimmy?

Actually, wait. I should be more specific about this. A reasonable argument could be made that things have been going bad in one way or another, in the singular as well as cumulative fashion, from the day we met him. Probably before, too. His whole life has been murky shortcuts and questionable decisions lined up one after the other. No, we need to really laser in here. We need to focus. Let’s try it again: When did you realize things were going to go bad for Jimmy in his quest to pick up Lalo’s $7 million in bail?

Was it when the Jeep pulled out behind him? That was really the last moment where you could have thought it might be okay, in the seconds before the ambush. But you’re smart. You probably caught on before that.

Maybe it was when he wasted the water to clean off his shoes. That was pretty brutal foreshadowing. I saw him do that and I was like, “Welp, he’s definitely running out of water now.” I didn’t leap all the way to “and he’ll have to gulp his own urine,” but that’s why Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould make this show and I just make jokes about all of it.

Was it even earlier than that, maybe when he kept insisting to Kim that everything would be okay? Or when he almost walked out on the whole thing before doubling back to do it for a $100k fee that Lalo agreed to very quickly? Those were pretty solid tipoffs. It was all in front of us for so much of the episode.

But I’ll tell you when I realized it, and I say this not to toot my own horn as much as to make an important point: I knew as soon as Lalo said the drop would happen in the desert. Nothing good happens in the desert. Ever. Especially on Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad, but also in general. If someone says to you “Hey, let’s meet way out in the desert,” you should say no, because one or both of you is going to die or face a harrowing near-death experience. Same goes for the woods. Nothing good ever happens in the woods, either. Or the ocean. “Hey, let’s you and me get on a boat and head out to sea for the day.” Nope. No, sir. I’ve seen movies and television shows. I know how this ends. You are going to shoot me and fling me overboard, on purpose or by accident. Absolutely not. Zero chance. Same applies to cornfields and any building with gargoyles on it. Not gonna catch me sleeping.

The point here is that you should stay inside. In your house. Even when there’s not a pandemic. Just to be safe.

LIE — It is a good thing that Kim met Lalo

It says a lot about this show that two of its main characters spent the entire episode dodging bandits and trying to walk 30 miles through the desert and it ended on a cliffhanger where they’re still out there sweating and sunburned and dehydrated but I came out of the episode infinitely more worried about the fate of Kim Wexler, a person who has access to air conditioning and bottled water. Part of that is the future knowledge we have from Breaking Bad. Neither Jimmy nor Mike are going to die in that desert. They both have a lot to do still. So much. They’ll be fine. Fine-ish. Alive, at least.

A bigger part is the thing I’ve mentioned almost every week in these posts, how not knowing Kim’s future gave us a glimmer of hope on a show where everyone else is careening toward doom. And it looked good for her as recently as two episodes ago, when she was yelling at Jimmy for sandbagging her at the Mesa Verde meeting and it seemed to all logical parties that the big break-up was imminent, the one that separates her and Jimmy and keeps her safe and sends him diving head-first into the darker parts of his soul. The one I had naively assumed was coming because, come on, they’re not going to kill off Kim, right? Right???!!!

But then she up and proposed marriage and demanded Jimmy tell her everything — everything — even if it meant being a courier for $7 million of drug cash, figuring that their marital status would keep her safe because she could never be forced to testify against him. What she didn’t see coming, though, was Lalo, who cares not for spousal privilege and testimony as much as he cares about applying force to sensitive areas and acquiring the kind of information that allows him to do that. She’s in trouble now. Real trouble. Lalo knows she’s Jimmy’s — Saul’s, I know, this is still weird — wife, which means he now has leverage over his attorney.

I physically cringed when Mike said she’s in the game now, but she is, to a small degree, the same way Nacho’s dad is in the game. She’s the tiniest kind of player in the game, but so are pawns, and pawns are the first pieces to go. I do not like this. I do not like this at all. Kim has dipped her toe into the Breaking Bad universe now and that doesn’t turn out great for anyone, historically. A big part of me hopes Kim and Nacho fall in love and move to Bora Bora. I’m handling this great, thanks for asking.

TRUTH — If you have to get stuck in the desert with someone for a long time, Mike Ehrmantraut is a great partner

How excited were you when you realized it was Mike out there with his sniper rifle and old man bucket hat saving Jimmy’s jimmies in the ambush? I was very excited. I was sure it was going to be the Cousins. Which would have been fine. I do kind of love those silent goons. But it was better that it was Mike, for me if not for Mike, who went from torn up about being Fring’s button-man to mowing down bandits at ranges long and close in a desert massacre. Mike is way in now, if he wasn’t way in before. His speech to Jimmy near the end solidified it, the whole thing about knowing why he’s doing it and the people he cares about. This is the Breaking Bad version of Mike we’re seeing. He’s still Mike — he’s always Mike — but he’s even more emotionally checked out than before, which is really saying something because… [gestures toward everything Mike has said and done to this point].

It was good it was Mike at the ambush, too, because Mike is very much a dude you want to be stranded within that situation. Mike knows things, things that will keep you alive in nature. How to rig up a tarp to get water from nothing, how to fix cars, how to avoid breaking your leg in a hole, etc. You need that, especially if you’re a guy like Jimmy whose idea of roughing it is a motel that doesn’t have free HBO. He wouldn’t have lasted six hours out there. He would have chugged his water and started a fire and passed out from dehydration and been hunted down by the last bandit and buried in a shallow grave. Mike is almost like Bear Grylls if a Bear Grylls communicated only through grunts and eye rolls. He is Jimmy’s only hope right now.

It is worth noting here that Gus sent Mike to protect Jimmy and Lalo’s bail money, which means:

• Gus knew the whole plan even though Lalo said he wasn’t involving Nacho
• If Nacho didn’t tell Gus, how did Gus know?
• How is Jimmy going to explain how he got home, because he can’t exactly say Mike helped him
• (UPDATE: A reader pointed out that Mike could have been tracking Jimmy with the device in the gas cap he put in a while ago and removed when they started fleeing the scene. This is a good point. Please pretend I thought of it.)

And so on. Lots to consider here, provided they make it out of the desert before the end of the season.

LIE — If you have to get stuck in the desert with someone for a long time, Mike Ehrmantraut is a great partner

He’s also very gruff and silent and demanding. You’re not going to have sparkling conversations about the issues of the day. You’re not going to invent fun little games to pass the time. You’re going to walk, all the time, in the blistering heat. He’s going to make you carry the heavy bags of money. The kindest gesture he’ll offer you is a foil blanket to keep warm at night, which is nice unless your older brother wore them compulsively because of a deteriorating mental conditioner that left deep wounds in you that have not yet healed over. Mike will not make you feel better about any of this but he sure might keep you alive. That’s the deal.

Here’s a fun exercise: Spend some time today really thinking about what person you’d like to be stranded with in a desert like this. Real or fictional is fine. I think Matthew McConaughey would be a fun one, although I don’t know if you’d just die in the middle of one of his monologues. It’s a tough mix to find: outdoorsy enough to survive the elements, personable enough to make it bearable. There’s a very limited number of people who check both of those boxes. You really need to think about it. There’s a pretty obvious answer right in front of you. Want me to tell you? Okay, I’ll tell you.

The answer is JUST DON’T GO INTO THE DESERT IN THE FIRST PLACE. Jesus Christ. It’s like you didn’t even read the opening section. Come on.

LIE — The Cousins talk too much

Love these guys. Not a single word spoken in the entire episode. Just perfectly synchronized menacing movement in matching shiny suits and matching shinier shirts. Add them to the ever-growing list of characters I would watch an entire episode or limited series about. What are they up to when they’re not on cartel business? Do they share an apartment? I have this image in my head of two twin beds in one bedroom, of them both waking up at the exact same time and flinging the covers off with the exact same motion to reveal they’re wearing the same pajamas. They go to the bathroom to brush their teeth in their adjoining sinks and then hop in their showers, both in the same bathroom, separated by three feet of tile and a bathmat. I can see this in my head right now, crystal clear. I see them eating cereal and the motion of their spoons is perfectly coordinated. It’s all right there.

I bet one day one of them got mixed up getting dressed and put on the wrong color shiny shirt and it threw them into a minutes-long existential crisis.

TRUTH — If you are chugging your own pee out of a water jug, some part of your day has gone very wrong

But that’s none of my business.

Justin Bieber debuted his comeback record Changes back in February. Since the record’s release, Bieber has kept fans entertained by releasing a heaping handful of videos as part of his Changes: The Movement series. With the visual series, Bieber invites talented choreographers to conceptualize the songs on his album through dance. His latest, a visual accompanying the track “At Least For Now,” is a serene battle with nature.

Directed by Nick DeMoura, the video is a visual depiction of the literary trope man vs. nature. Featuring dancer/choreographer Sean Lew, the visual takes place atop a scenic and snowy mountaintop. In an Instagram post, Lew shared his experience being a part of the video:

“i’m still in awe of how i’m a part of this series that are filled with some of the greatest movers and minds in the entire world. when i was called to do this song, i spent months trying to figure out a concept and story. me and nick literally went back and forth for weeks and it all came down to stripping it all down and going for something simplistic and meaningful. i personally spent hours and hours writing 14 different versions of a written narrative that would best fit this song. hearing this song, it all came down to his words and that was my guide to what i wanted to represent in this video. the feeling of almost getting what we desire for so long, the key to unlock our limitations. However, you realize that sometimes we have to hold back and just accept our restrictions because it’s what’s for the best at the moment. the whole world is dealing with one of the craziest challenges we’ve ever encountered, but i truly believe that we will get through this and we just have to accept the restraints that are being given upon us.”

Watch Bieber’s “At Least For Now” choreography video above.

Changes it out now via Def Jam. Get it here.

Drake’s rollout for his new single “Toosie Slide” may have been slightly derailed by having to quarantine himself like the rest of us, but that hasn’t stopped him from being productive with the time indoors. During an Instagram Live stream he dubbed “Night Owl Sound” on his engineer OVO Mark’s page, Drake and Mark previewed a handful of the new songs the self-declared 6 God has been working on.

The songs featured a few guests as well; on one, New York drill newcomer Fivio Foreign gets to share some of Drake’s spotlight, while another, “Pain 1993,” featured Atlanta genre-bender Playboi Carti. Drake also played a portion of a previously leaked song, “Not Around,” confirming that a “proper version” will find its way onto his upcoming album.

From the clips he played, not only will his upcoming album be “more concise,” as he put it earlier this year, but it will also seemingly focus more on rapping and as well as highlighting his new musical direction, as suggested by the presence of Fivio Foreign and Drake’s earlier drill record, “War.” During the stream, Drake also discussed the origins of his “Toosie Slide” dance lyrics — rather than trying to cook up his own dance, he was actually describing Michael Jackson’s signature Moonwalk move, but Toosie turned it into something totally different.

Watch Drake’s livestream preview above.