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Bryce Young is the overwhelming favorite to be the first overall pick in Thursday’s NFL Draft, as the Carolina Panthers traded up last month to land the top pick and have their choice of quarterback to lead their franchise.

Young carries the strongest resume of any of the quarterbacks in the Class of 2023, having won the 2021 Heisman Trophy and backing it up with another terrific year that, while the counting stats weren’t as gaudy, was similarly impressive, particularly considering the offensive line in front of him wasn’t as dominant as we’ve grown to expect from Alabama. The biggest knock on Young is the one thing that is out of his control: Size. At 5’10, 204 pounds he doesn’t have the prototypical measurements of a franchise quarterback, with Kyler Murray as the only real comp for a past No. 1 overall pick at that size.

The thing is, everything else Young brings to the table as a quarterback is pretty spectacular. He’s incredibly accurate, has good arm strength, processes the game better and faster than his counterparts, and has an incredible knack for making plays under pressure in spite of his stature.

On Monday, we got to speak with Young on behalf of his partnership with Snickers Ice Cream about what he’s wanted teams to know about him, his growth as a quarterback and a leader, battles with Will Anderson and the Alabama defense in practice, and learning how to be better under pressure.

Three days to draft night. Where are the emotions and the excitement level as we finally reached the week of?

Yeah, definitely super excited. It’s surreal for it to kinda all be around the corner. I mean, throughout this process it’s felt so far away that for it to be kind of here now is super exciting.

What have been the things that when you talk to teams, what are the things you’ve wanted them to know about you both as a player and a person through this process?

I think I’ve just wanted them to hear about my philosophy and my approach to the position. You know, my mind, my process and how I view things, my preparation, all that, and just share some experiences I’ve had. Put forward and present what I’ve done in the past and how I’ve done things, whether it be what I’ve had success with, the reasons of why I wasn’t successful on specific plays, and things like that. Just be able to speak on how everything goes and how I process things and things like that. So, I’ve been grateful for all the teams that have heard me out and have wanted to hear about the stuff that is happening and how I’ve gotten to where I’m at.

That’s something that I wanted to talk about with you. You go from from your sophomore year to your junior year, and you’re coming off such a great season. What were the things you felt you were able to improve in your game from your first year as a starter to last year that you’re most proud of in your development?

Yeah, I think the biggest thing was just the command of the offense and stepping up to the next level as a leader. Your second year in, you’re feeling more comfortable, having had success my first year starting, you’re more comfortable as far as playing a different role leadership-wise and taking full command of the offense. I think being able to do that and help assimilate and bring in newer faces that, you know, it was some of their first times, whether it was in the program or just playing at that level and contributing at that level. So, I think bringing things together and stepping up in command of the offense and of the team, I think was what I was most proud of in stepping up in this last year.

And with how the season went, what did you learn as a leader in terms of navigating some tough spots and kind of keeping guys level and understanding that, you know, even after maybe you drop a game, there’s work to be done and there’s still goals to accomplish as the year goes on?

Yeah, for sure. I think it’s just being consistent in your message, whether it’s, like you said, make sure you’re consistent and you’re focusing after a couple straight wins. Or making sure after a loss, you’re still able to keep pushing, keep going towards to your goals. I think it’s making sure you’re consistent in your messaging, especially in game situations throughout the week, making sure that you’re really not wavering in whatever it is, whether there’s adversity or success. Being that same person and not wavering over who you are is something I definitely pride myself in and was able to do this past year. I think it’s a reason that helps bring the team together and stay on that goal.

And then for you going up against the defense that you face every day in practice with Alabama guys like Will Anderson and Brian Branch. What does that do the sharpen your skills as a quarterback?

It’s an invaluable experience knowing that Will Anderson’s on the other side of the ball, so you know, you gotta make sure you’re efficient in everything you’re doing from your movements to your decision making and thinking that quick. Knowing guys like BB, [Jordan] Battle, Marco [Hellams], Eli [Ricks], all those guys that are going to the next level, known as you have a backer like Henry [To’oto’o], and DJ [Turner], Byron [Young] up front and all those guys are coming out. When you go up against that every single day and that’s not even mentioning the guys that are returning this next year that played a lot last year. Those guys push you every single day. You have to be on your P’s and Q’s, you have to bring your A-game, and it culminates that environment of competition. So, having played against the best in practice and us pushing each other on every day, I feel like it definitely helped prepare me, especially at the college level, and I feel like it will hopefully help me at the next level as well.

My colleague talked to Will last week, and he said that you’d get them hot because they couldn’t hit you and you’d tell him it wasn’t a sack every time they got close to you. How much fun did you have kind of poking the bear over there on that side?

Yeah, well, every time that they get within three yards of you in the black jersey, they just yell “Sack!” And it’s like, it’s good for their confidence or whatever, you never want to go over there and get their confidence too low before a game, but in reality, most of them were not sacks. Like, most of them I would have moved different, I would have taken a different step to like move out of the way. We always had that back and forth. They’re always gonna act like they sacked me 15 times a day. And I’m like, guys, I’ve never just gotten sacked eight straight plays like you claim, no. We always go through that back and forth, and you know, with the black jersey on there’s never a winner. So we’re always going to be arguing that stuff, but it’s definitely fun.

I do want to ask how this partnership with with Snickers came about and how fans can try to get themselves the Bryce Cream Bars?

Yeah, I’m super excited to be going to this draft alongside Snickers Ice Cream. We’re partnering together to offer NFL fans a way to chill out with the limited edition Snickers Bryce cream bar, which is something that’s a huge honor I’m super excited about, super grateful for. I just want to say a huge thank you to the people at Snickers Ice Cream for all the hard work that came into it to make this happen. And yeah, fans can take advantage at Snickers.com/BryceCreamBar to enter for a chance to to win some of these exclusive frozen treats, so I’m super excited and super happy about it.

And lastly, you talked about going up against Will and those guys and from year one to year two, that also was something that seemed like you took a step forward on was was cutting back on sacks that you took. What did you learn about how to play under pressure and kind of when to live to fight another day? And what’s the process of doing that as a young quarterback?

Yeah, so, you have to take that rep by rep as far as assessing what’s really best for the team, and you have to take into account in that, what’s the situation? Are you up a couple possessions? In the fourth quarters, not taking the risk. Are you down so you have to be a little bit more aggressive? What’s the down and distance? Where’s the momentum of the game? All that stuff you have to process within a split second and you have to keep in the back of your mind and keep an account of. So, I think it’s about reps and then you listen to coaches about their different philosophies. Like, these are the times that we can’t … or knowing where you are in the field of times where you can’t take a sack. Maybe you can elude them but you might get sacked and might get out of field goal range. Maybe it’s fourth down where you only have a minute left and you have to take the risk of maybe getting sacked. You know, stuff like that. So, I mean, I think that it’s how much you can recall the things that are going on at the time and then make that split second decision. I’ve been blessed with the coaches that I’ve had that have instilled that in me throughout the years.

In January, Jpegmafia promised his fans three new albums this year. He delivered the first alongside Danny Brown with the eccentric record Scaring The Hoes, which arrived last month. Now, they’ve announced that they’ll be bringing those new songs to the road on an exciting summer tour.

Kicking off in Nashville in July, the run will go through the end of summer, finishing off in Dallas at the end of August. Their live collaboration was previewed with a performance at Smoker’s Club Fest in San Bernardino, California in May of last year. Even before that, Jpegmafia was featured on Brown’s 2019 album Uknowhatimsayin.

Check out the full tour dates below and find ticket information here.

07/25 — Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works
07/26 — Louisville, KY @ Paristown Hall
07/28 — Indianapolis, IN @ Old National
07/29 — Cleveland, OH @ Agora Ballroom
07/30 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre
08/01 — Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
08/03 — Portland, ME @ State Theatre
08/06 — New Haven, CT @ College St. Music Hall
08/08 — Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall
08/09 — New York, NY @ Pier 17
08/12 — Boston, MA @ Roadrunner
08/13 — Baltimore, MD @ Ram Head Live!
08/16 — Richmond, VA @ The National
08/17 — Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
08/19 — Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution Live
08/20 — Orlando, FL @ The Vanguard
08/22 — New Orleans @ Joy Theatre
08/24 — Houston, TX @Warehouse Live
08/25 — Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek
08/26 — Dallas, TX @ Factory Deep Ellum

The only thing actors hate more than working with animals is working with babies. John Stamos, for instance, nearly changed the course of direct-to-video history when he briefly had Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen fired from Full House because they wouldn’t stop crying.

“[Dave Coulier] and I were changing the baby,” he recalled on the Good Guys podcast about a scene from the pilot episode. “We’re carrying the baby downstairs, I think I was holding on to their armpits and Dave was holding her little feet. We take her into the kitchen and hosed her down, we put a fan on her, wrapped her up in paper towels. She was screaming.” Whichever twin that was wouldn’t stop “screaming,” so the other Olsen was brought in, but “both of them, they wanted to be anywhere else but there, and so did I. They were 11 months old, and God bless them. And they kept switching.”

Stamos screamed “this is not going to work, guys” 10 times, and that someone needs to “get rid” of the Olsens (it was less threatening than it sounds… hopefully). So a new pair of twins, “two red-headed kids,” were cast as the new Michelle Tanner, but not for long. “I’m sure their parents loved them and thought they were attractive,” Stamos joked, adding, “It had nothing to do with [them being] red-headed, but they weren’t attractive.”

A few days later, the Olsens were back.

Somewhere out there are two would-be child stars who weren’t “attractive” enough to play a baby on Full House according to an honorary member of the Beach Boys. I would not talk ill about twins if I were Stamos. You never know what they’re planning.

You can listen to the Good Guys podcast above.

(Via EW)

Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week we got new music from Mac DeMarco, Florence And The Machine, Foo Fighters, Arlo Parks, and more.

While we’re at it, sign up for our newsletter to get the best new indie music delivered directly to your inbox, every Monday.

Mac DeMarco — One Wayne G

No, I did not listen to all nine and a half hours of this 199-track Mac DeMarco album. Nor do you have to! But that’s part of the charm of One Wayne G — it’s a buffet with a lot to choose from. A select few songs feature his vocals, like “Cowboy Sh*t” and “Goodnight Baby,” so those are definitely highlights.

Beabadoobee, Clairo — “Glue Song”

Clairo’s vocals were a great addition to Phoenix’s remix of “After Midnight,” so it’s great to hear her on the new version of Beabadoobee’s “Glue Song” as well. The track is a sprawling love song that doesn’t bother to hide its affection and devotion, and the pair’s vocals work seamlessly together.

Foo Fighters — “Rescued”

But Here We Are is the first new album by Foo Fighters since the tragic death of their beloved drummer Taylor Hawkins. The lead single “Rescued” is the first taste of it, and it’s everything fans could hope for. It has the victorious, invigorating feeling of their 1997 hit “Everlong” and already feels as timeless.

Florence And The Machine — “Mermaids”

Florence Welch is a Goddess to her fans, and her new song “Mermaids” is physical proof of why. The track has a divine texture, opening with her holy vocals against an eerie backing choir, and the opening lines are immediately startling in their genius: “I thought that I was hungry for love / Maybe I was just hungry for blood.”

Julie Byrne — “Summer Glass”

“Being reshaped by grief also has me more aware of what death does not take from me,” Julie Byrne said about her new song “Summer Glass” in a statement. The ballad buzzes as Byrne paints vivid images: “We draw the lines of protection / When our palms meet at every edge / You lit my joint with the end of your cigarette.”

Gnawing — “Clean Up Your Act”

Gnawing are not too happy with themselves on their new garage-punk anthem “Clean Up Your Act.” With jaded drawls and playful riffs, the Richmond, Virginia band may not have their sh*t together, but at least they’re honest: “I wish I fixed it early on / But I only seem to double down.”

Bully — “Hard To Love”

“Growing up never fitting into society’s constructed gender stereotypes and expectations, I often felt as though different equals bad or wrong,” Alicia Bognanno, more often known as Bully, said about her new song “Hard To Love.” It’s the perfect outsider anthem, exploding with edgy guitars and her angst shouts: “Hard to love / Hard to love.”

Arlo Parks — “Blades”

My Soft Machine, the new album by Arlo Parks, is one of the most highly anticipated indie records arriving this spring. The singles have all been beautiful and compelling, and “Blades” is no exception; her vocals are mesmeric against a warped, playful sonic backdrop, making the song feel like its own world.

Hannah Jadagu — “Admit It”

Sub Pop’s Hannah Jadagu is grappling with a rocky relationship on the brutally honest “Admit It,” a tame ballad that’s more tired than it is angry. “All of my friends ask where you’ve been / Should I think of a lie when I try to tell them?” she sings — something that’s hard to even recognize, let alone admit.

Stuck — “Time Out”

Chicago band Stuck’s new song “Time Out” is “about the compulsion to post, share, like, and subscribe,” explained Greg Obis in a press release. The frantic riffs and quick pace encapsulate the feeling of scrolling and the amphetamine-like sensation of being online at all, as do Obis’s vocals as he yells: “Time out! Time out! Time out!”

The National’s Aaron Dessner made some recent appearances during Taylor Swift’s three shows in Florida on The Eras Tour. For two out of the three nights, Dessner joined her on stage for performances of “The Great War” and “Mad Woman.”

While Swift was introducing him as a special guest for the second night in Tampa, Dessner described how lovely it was to watch “the greatest performer on earth do the greatest show of all time.”

Now, in a new interview with NME, Dessner is going even further on praising Swift — both as a performer and a frequent collaborator.

“It’s just kind of… the greatest show I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Like it’s just insane. The scale of the tour. And the music, the visual design, the choreography, and her musicianship, it’s on a level that I’ve never seen anything like. To me, it’s something to aspire to: to be that ambitious with her music.”

“I think sometimes people ask me questions about working with pop stars like it’s not an honor, but it’s a total honor,” Dessner added. “I learned way more from her than she’s learned with us.”

Swift is set to appear on The National’s upcoming album, First Two Pages Of Frankenstein, when “The Alcott” drops along with it later this week.

Country fans were not happy on Saturday (April 22) when Morgan Wallen was minutes away from his set in Oxford, Mississippi when it was announced he wouldn’t be performing. They’d sat through openers Bailey Zimmerman, Ernest, and Hardy, but then a message flashed across the screen on stage that no more music was coming.

“After last night’s show I started losing my voice so I spent the day resting up, talking to my doctor and working through my vocal exercises trying to get better,” the Lil Durk collaborator revealed on his Instagram Story. “I really thought I’d be able to take the stage and it kills me to deliver this so close to showtime, but my voice is shot and I am unable to sing. All tickets will be refunded at point of purchase. I am so sorry, I promise you guys I tried everything I could.”

This explanation hasn’t served as consolation for audience members. According to TMZ, fan Brandi Burcham has filed a lawsuit against Wallen, accusing him of breach of contract and negligence. In it, she mentions that Wallen didn’t perform, and reimbursements haven’t been provided yet. She also shared that those ticket refunds do not account for “out of pocket expenses,” such as transportation and lodging.

Burcham is looking to make it a class action lawsuit so other fans can join her as well.

I’ll be honest, the only reason I saw Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is because I was interviewing Judy Blume for the documentary about her life and career and this book played such a large role in that film. I didn’t have any specific questions about this book in particular, but I at least wanted to know the gist. And, not having all the time in the world, I thought it would be easier to just see a screening of the new movie than it would be to read the book. So, yes, basically what George Costanza did with Breakfast at Tiffany’s. (Though, to be fair, I’m not trying to convince anyone that I did read the book.)

So, you may be surprised to learn I’m probably not the target audience for Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. I don’t really want to make any assumptions here, but I feel somewhat confident this is true. However, I still immensely enjoyed this movie. And it just feels like the kind of movie that is going to be a lot of people’s favorite.

Abby Ryder Fortson (who you probably know as Cassie Lang from the first two Ant-Man movies before the time jump ahead five years) plays Margaret Simon, an only child living with her parents (Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie) in New York City. Margaret is informed by her parents they are moving to New Jersey, to the chagrin of Margaret and her grandmother, Sylvia (Kathy Bates very much going for it here). Margaret doesn’t want to leave her friends, but her parents tell her the great news that with moving she will make new friends (this is true) and she will keep all her old friends (this, from experience, is a lie).*

*Granted, maybe today the way technology works it is easier to stay friends with people after moving and starting a new school. So maybe kids today do stay in touch with their friends from before the move. I am open to this being possible. But we moved three times, so I went to four different school systems, all within the state of Missouri, and I kept a grand total of zero friends after each move. Sure, you try at first, but it always ends. And since Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret takes place in the early 1970s, my original point still stands.

Margaret quickly makes friends but falls into a crowd where the new ringleader isn’t the most thoughtful of others and has a tendency to make up stories. Soon, the subject of periods comes up and each member of Margaret’s new clique vies to be first, officially becoming, in their way of looking at it, a full-on adult. Margaret is also dealing with her spiritual side, as her dad’s mother very much wants her to live her life Jewish, but her mom’s parents want her to be Christian, while her parents have told her to figure it out on her own. Or don’t. Or don’t even be religious at all, it’s up to her.

I’m glad Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret keeps its early ’70s setting. There’s a simplicity to this story that would seems so much more complicated once modern technology and social media are added in. (Plus, watching Benny Safdie wear early 1970s fashion is fun.) I was hit by how well this movie captures the dynamics of starting a new school and kind of the luck of the draw who your friends wind up being at first. Kelly Fremon Craig (who also directed The Edge of Seventeen) has made a wonderful film here, one that many people have been wanted to make for the last 50 years. And I feel fairly confident this will be a seminal film to a good portion of kids who see it and for those that this book means so much to already.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Let’s start with what we know: Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, two attractive actors, are starring in a movie called Anyone But You. There are many photos of the Top Gun and Euphoria stars looking, let’s say, cozy together while filming the R-rated romantic comedy. Sweeney hung out with his family, and Powell held her while she did whatever’s happening here.

Here’s what else we know: Sweeney is engaged to restaurateur Jonathan Davino and Powell has a girlfriend, model Gigi Paris, who had initially “commented a string of celebratory emojis on Sweeney’s post announcing the casting news for the rom-com in January,” according to the Daily Beast, but “now [her] comment appears to have been deleted.” Page Six has more:

Popular gossip account DeuxMoi has speculated that Paris’ relationship with Powell has been on the rocks in the months since filming with Sweeney began. Paris traveled to the Sydney film set to be with Powell in late March but returned to the US less than two weeks later.

Of course, nothing has been confirmed or denied. There were rumors about Powell and Zoey Deutch while they were making Set It Up, so maybe he just has good chemistry with his co-stars? (Both female, as seen here, and male, as seen in Everybody Wants Some!!) It’s not on the level of Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, but nothing is. They were hot enough to melt ice(man).

If this is a PR stunt for Anyone But You, it’s working.

(Via the Daily Beast and Page Six)

Harry Belafonte is dead at 96 years old, The New York Times reports. He died today (April 25) at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan due to congestive heart failure, longtime spokesman Ken Sunshine told the publication.

Belafonte was born on March 1, 1927 in Harlem, but spent a significant portion of his childhood growing up in Jamaica. He is perhaps best known for his recording of “Banana Boat (Day-O),” a traditional Jamaican folk song. The track appeared on Belafonte’s iconic 1956 album Calypso, which is recognized as the first album by a single artist to sell 1 million copies. Belafonte is widely credited with popularizing calypso music internationally. Belafonte also had the idea for the iconic 1985 charity single “We Are The World.”

His musical success led to a trailblazing career in movies: The New York Times called him “the first Black actor to achieve major success in Hollywood as a leading man.” He was also a civil rights leader and friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In a 2021 interview, Belafonte spoke about the current generation of educators teaching about Black history, saying, “As a singer and an activist, I found this to be true: You can cage the singer, but you cannot cage the song. This is a very potent philosophy. The impact of art is irreversible, and I think it’s the same when young people learn their true history. You can ban the lesson plan — and across the country, we see that they are doing just that — but you can’t stop the impact of that knowledge from taking root in the minds of young people. Those who are teaching Black history in ways that reach our young people and the masses are doing critically important work.”

Ron DeSantis hasn’t officially announced he’s running for president yet, but he did make an eyebrow-raising visit to Japan this week and not just because the state of Florida was recently hit with disastrous flooding. (Although, that didn’t look great.) As part of his “world tour,” the governor has been talking to the press, which hasn’t been going well as he attempts to convince Republicans that he’s a better candidate than Trump.

Case in point, DeSantis conducted an interview with Sean Hannity via satellite where the governor looks absolutely miserable thanks to his face being pointed directly at the sun.

This kind of amateur mistake doesn’t speak well for DeSantis’ campaign, who let the governor go on camera looking like Squints McGoo and social media had a field day with DeSantis’ looking absolutely miserable.

“The reason I know DeSantis is going to lose the primary is because no one on his team thought to check the sun position before agreeing to this setup and no one at Fox cared enough to say something before they went live,” Amanda Smith tweeted.

“The only explanation for every decision this campaign has made is that it’s being run by a secret Democratic operative who hates DeSantis more than anyone else on Earth,” wrote Geoff LaTulippe.

You can see more reactions to Ol’ Pudding Cup DeSantis clearly having the time of his life below:

(Via Aaron Rupar on Twitter)