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A recent NFT (non-fungible token) boom has a lot of people scratching their heads over why someone would pay over a million dollars for a digital art file that can be easily replicated by right-clicking “Save as.” But NFT enthusiasts are willing to pay ridiculous amounts for the artwork because they have a certificate of digital ownership that cannot be replicated.

Much like a piece of physical artwork such as painting, you can create a replica of an NFT but there are a limited number of originals. This has ushered in a new era where digital assets can now possess the type of scarcity usually attributed to physical objects.

This new form of manufactured scarcity seems to many as another way for powerful people to claim ownership over things that are shared by the general public.

“Sure, you can enjoy this drawing of an ape,” the NFT owner proudly states. “But I own the ape! It says so on the blockchain.”

In a recent interview with The Verge about how the digital world is slowly encroaching upon real life, “Matrix Resurrections” stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss were asked by Alex Heath about the notion of digital scarcity. The question made Reeves lose composure and he let out a large cackle, exclaiming “They’re easily reproduced.”

Keanu Reeves laughing at the concept of NFTu2019s makes me like him that much more.pic.twitter.com/qHWd2EKSTn

— SPENCE, TODD (@SPENCE, TODD)
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Reeve’s outburst inspired Heath to push back, claiming “But it’s not the same.”

“The Matrix” star’s outburst was cathartic to many people who think that NFTs are nothing but an elitist scam. The clip quickly went viral on social media, earning a lot of hilarious and thoughtful responses.

This is how NFTs work pic.twitter.com/WWymNTsBj5

— Greedo – Master of Scum, Harbinger of Filth (@KingGidruh) December 11, 2021

I own this ticket. Not the artist. There’s only 10 of them in existence. You can’t “right click-save” this physical ticket.

With NFTs, you don’t own ANYTHING but a picture. You can’t even make a physical copy without it infringing on the artist’s copyright.

What good is that? pic.twitter.com/1DBHO8einR

— SGC Finest (@SGCFinests) December 11, 2021

NFTs are proof that capitalists will try to restrict the supply of anything to try to make it profitable

— Milly🎲 (@Hoodie_Milly) December 11, 2021

Mah dude was like “but but here’s why copy/paste or right-click/save-as is uh…wait a minute”.

— Please get the vaxx (っ◕‿◕)っ (@TheyCallMeTarz) December 11, 2021

The guy gives these vibes pic.twitter.com/aHAMvWYZJL

— Suns Bob (@Robydraco) December 11, 2021

“BuT iT’s NoT tHe SaMe” It is, actually. When i right click and save an nft, I have experienced the nft in the same way that the “owner” has and i didn’t pay a dime.

— FrysauceMccrust (@FMccrust) December 13, 2021

pic.twitter.com/siKETTpHv7

— Kenny ツ 🥅🏒 🎛🎧 (@kdriley05) December 11, 2021

Why people trying so hard to make virtual worlds as greedy as the real world?

— The Truth (@udemeeebong) December 11, 2021

The purpose of art is to be experienced, not owned. A bunch of bros mistaking art for investment doesn’t change that

— Stomponato (@Stomponato) December 11, 2021

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Succession’s Season 3 finale, which you should really probably watch if you haven’t already.

Succession has always been top shelf when it comes to genuinely shocking, unpredictable hairpin turns. But on Sunday’s season finale, it may have topped itself. The episode found the three younger Roy children (which is to say, not Connor, who was busy guilt-tripping his girlfriend into marriage) thinking they’d found a way to thwart paterfamilias Logan (Brian Cox) from selling the company. They were wrong. Logan won, because he always wins. And he had some help: Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and Cousin Greg (Nicholas Bruan).

It was a surprise to the cast, too, of course. But some of them knew that the Tomelette and Gregs would betray the Roy kids (including Tom’s wife, Sarah Snook’s Shiv) before everyone else. In a kind of Season 3 exit interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cox revealed that, in true Logan fashion, he was several steps ahead of everyone else:

“Well, I kind of knew that was going to happen. I was the one person who knew about that all the way through — I had been informed. Normally, I don’t want to know about the scripts. But I was informed that was the trajectory we were going to go down. It was a little different from what they suggested, but it actually did come true.”

Now, Macfadyen, in an interview with GQ, said that he also knew about what Tom would do “quite early on,” saying he had a “rough idea of how it might end up but I was fully prepared for it to change.” But it’s not clear what the timeline was here — if showrunner Jesse Armstrong told Cox first, then Macfadyen, then everyone else later.

Cox was also asked about another stand-out bit in the season finale: Is Logan really going to have a kid, and in his 70s? The actor who plays him, though, was a bit vague:

“I think there may be an element of that that’s true if we take it historically — if we look at examples of that, guys in late life having children. I think that there is probably an element of truth in it. But it’s not a road I want to go down because it’s still ambiguous. I think it’s pretty ambiguous, but there’s room for a certain truth in it and there’s also room for the fact that it’s just him trying to be healthy.”

It was quite the finale, and everyone will have to be very patient to find out what happens next. In the meantime, you can always check out other shows by Armstrong, including the comedies Peep Show, which he co-created; The Thick of It, on which he was a writer; and the latter’s movie spinoff In the Loop, which if anything manages to feature even better swearing and insults than the already very blue Succession.

(Via THR)

It’s often said that good things come in threes — and for Cardi B, it’s absolutely true this week as The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) officially certified “I Like It” featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin her third single to reach diamond (10 million units sold) this year. She became the first female rapper with a diamond-certified single in March for her 2017 mega-hit “Bodak Yellow,” while in November, she reached the milestone again with “Girls Like You,” her 2018 collaboration with Maroon 5. “OMMMMMMGGGGGGG,” she wrote on Twitter, tagging her collaborators and pairing her reaction with a string of screaming emojis.

Over on Instagram, she gave a longer reaction, explaining her feelings about making history. “Wow I’m sooo happy,” she wrote. “My album came out in 2018 and it’s still breaking records. I have a solo [diamond] record, a feature [diamond] record, and now ANOTHER [diamond] record from a collab with 2 people that I look up to and love so much, @jbalvin & @badbunny! I remember like it was yesterday when this song went #1 and now it’s Diamond. I honestly just can’t believe this is happening! I’m so proud to have two songs off my debut album go Diamond. I hope I can achieve the same or even better on my next one.”

She also shared a fun fact about the single. “This song started my great relationship with Balenciaga and is the record that gets me the most coin since it’s requested for commercials and brands all the time,” she said. That’s just fantastic. Check out the song above.

Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert has been lashing out on Twitter after seeing herself parodied on Saturday Night Live by cast member Chloe Fineman. Naturally, the sketch involved Boebert’s obsession with guns, which is her defining character trait that spilled over into her family Christmas card this year because when it comes to comedy, conservatives are freaking terrible at it. Just the worst. Case in point, Boebert’s response to SNL, which included an awkward/forced jab at Alec Baldwin as well as a weak attempt to roast CNN, like it was all a game of Base Panderin’ Bingo.

“Just saw the poorly-acted SNL skit from last night,” Boebert tweeted. “Seeing the poor trigger discipline from the no-name actress who played me makes me think Alec Baldwin did the gun safety training over there. BTW, when are they moving SNL over to CNN to die out of irrelevance?”

Clearly, the SNL sketch got to Boebert, and folks on social media wasted no time pointing out that Fineman’s performance rattled the rootin’ tootin’ congresswoman.

Joining the fray was classic SNL alumni Jon Lovitz, who eviscerated Boebert for her tasteless Alec Baldwin joke and for not putting respect on Chloe Fineman’s name.

“Her name is Chloe Fineman. She’s a comedic genius & actress. You were lucky to have her parody you,” Lovitz tweeted. “Too bad you are unable to laugh at yourself… sad. And you joking about the tragic death on the movie “Rust” is sick. No one was killed on the @nbcsnl sketch.”

(Via Lauren Boebert on Twitter)

After a couple of years of relative quiet from Cordae, things are now happening fast for the young DMV area rapper. Last week, he announced the release date for his upcoming sophomore album, From A Bird’s Eye View, after dropping the video for its Lil Wayne-featuring single “Sinister.” Today, though, he announced the next step in the rollout for the project: its accompanying tour, which kicks off February 3 in Dallas, TX and runs through March 19 in Sacramento, CA. See the tour dates below.

2/3 — Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
2/4 — Houston, TX @ House of Blues
2/5 — Austin, TX @ Emo’s
2/7 — New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
2/8 — Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade @ Heaven Stage
2/10 — Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom
2/11 — Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
2/12 — Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz
2/15 — Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts (TLA)
2/17 — Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
2/20 — New York, NY @ Webster Hall
2/21 — Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore
2/23 — Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
2/25 — Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
2/26 — Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
2/28 — Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
3/1 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
3/3 — Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
3/4 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
3/6 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
3/7 — Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
3/9 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo
3/10 — San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
3/13 — Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
3/14 — Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
3/16 — Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
3/18 — Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theatre
3/19 — Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades

Sueco is a rising star in music. It’s hard to describe a sound that can be associated with him right now, because a big part of his appeal is his willingness to try different sounding music. After releasing hits like “fast,” “paralyzed,” and “Sober/Hungover,” he’s quickly making himself into an even bigger name.

It turns out that music isn’t his only passion — Sueco is also a big gamer. His passion for video games goes all the way back to his first-ever console, the Sega Dreamcast. These days, he’s gaming on a PC, and it’s this passion that made him a perfect choice for the launch of The Greenroom, an innovative music, gaming, and sports crossover event series presented in partnership with gaming giants VaynerSports, eFuse, and Aim Lab. This event will feature Sueco against other major stars like Bankrol Hayden, Juju Smith-Schuster, and Bugha, as they all play Halo Infinite for a prize of $10,000 in cash and a custom championship ring.

We got a chance to talk to Sueco about how he thinks he’ll fare in the upcoming event, what games he’s been into playing lately, and more.

What made you want to involve yourself with the launch of the Green Room series?

Well, I’ve always been a gamer, especially when I was a kid. I’m starting to really get back into it a lot. With this first tournament, the Halo tournament, Halo 3, when I was growing up, was a big part of who I was. I spent so much damn time playing Halo when I was a little kid. When I saw they were rebooting the franchise and whatnot, I was just stoked that I was able to be a part of anything related to it because it’s just a really nostalgic feeling for me. Then it’s funny, when I downloaded the game, I was crossing my fingers, hoping that it didn’t suck. But it’s sick and it seems like a lot of people love it. I don’t know. It’s cool. I’m just glad to be a part of it.

Have you had much of a chance to play it? Or was it just a little bit of time to mess around with it?

Not even that much time. Maybe about three or four hours so far. Just enough to get all the basics down. But then I just got on Aim Lab, so now I’m training. Now I’m going to play like a pro. So everybody, get ready for the tournament because I’m coming in strong.

You said you played a lot of games growing up?

Yeah. I was always playing a lot of the weirder games, to be honest. I played World at War and Modern Warfare and Zombies and shit with the homies. But I was more into games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and KOTOR 2, and sh*t like Civilization and Portal. More strategy and puzzle-based games. Also, one of my favorite games was this platformer named Psychonauts. They just dropped the sequel. It was sick because, again, it was one of those things where I was just hoping, please don’t be bad, please don’t be bad. And it was f*cking sick. After 12 years, they finally dropped the sequel.

What were your thoughts (on Psychonauts 2)?

Storyline-wise, I was a little confused. I’m going to be honest. But I enjoyed it. There are not really that many platformers anymore. Obviously, there’s some, but I feel like platforms used to be a way bigger thing. It’s nice to find a good platformer. You feel what I’m saying?

Yeah. When we were growing up it was like, we got Mario, we got our Sonics. We got all that stuff and those were the main games everyone played. But now Psychonauts is the niche game as opposed to when it was the main type of game.

Yeah, exactly. I haven’t played the new Ratchet and Clank, but everyone says that’s sick. Have you played it?

I haven’t, but I want to. I’ve been hearing the same thing, that it’s sick. Especially because I heard it’s one of those games where you can just go into a different world almost instantly. It’s like, oh this is the type of thing you can only do on a NextGen console kind of thing.

Facts. I need to get myself a f*cking PS5 and play that sh*t.

I was going to ask if you had one yet. It’s been impossible to get one.

I don’t even have a console. I just have a PC set up.

Are you a PC gamer then?

Yeah. I play everything on PC. I’m not even going to tell you that I have the most kickass PC because it’s a prebuilt. But it gets the job done.

You did a song with Wiz Khalifa for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie a while back. What was that like working with him and everyone else there?

Working with all those people was sick. Wiz, all of them, really, they’re all legends. That was sick for me to be able to be on a song with them. But also, my first game ever was Sonic Adventure 2 on the Dreamcast. That was when I was maybe four or five years old. So the fact that I was a part of the official franchise was nuts to me. It was super cool. It was funny, I remember they didn’t have the red carpet, they had the blue carpet because it was Sonic, right? IGN came up to me and asked me for an interview, and I just lost my mind. I was like, oh my God, IGN is interviewing me. And they were like, whoa, that’s the first reaction we’ve got like that.

I was going to say, for you, was it more exciting … when you started gaining fame and popularity, was it more exciting to be talking to IGN as opposed to Hollywood Reporter or those types?

Oh, yeah! To me, like I said, because that was just something I grew up reading and being a part of. So it was just like, oh my God, is this really happening? It was sick. That was a good time.

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

The music video hosting network Vevo has announced the results of their most viewed videos of 2021 (Vevo notably hosts a great majority of the popular videos we watch on YouTube, so you’ll often see the “Vevo” logo on a screen in the bottom left corner.) The year’s big winner — both globally and in the U.S. — was The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears” clip set in a macabre masquerade ball and directed by Cliqua. After performing at the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show in February, The Weeknd saw a surge in video interactions and the video clocked 615 million views in 2021 globally, with 102.9 million of them coming from the US.

Globally speaking, the top three videos of the year were rounded out by Karol G and Mariah Angeliq’s “El Makinon” with 556 million worldwide views, and the Black Eyed Peas featuring Shakira’s collaboration, “Girl Like Me,” with 519 million spins. In the US, Lil Baby’s “On Me” came in second with 94 million domestic views and Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name) was third with 91.3 million views.

Lil Baby was the most viewed artist in the US with 770 million total views (The Weekend was second with 559 million,) while Karol G took home the Global crown with a whopping 3.11 billion views, narrowly edging The Weekend’s 3.10 billion global views.

Watch The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears” video above and check out the graphics below for a look at the Top 10 most-viewed videos of the year both globally and in the US.

Some of the artists mentioned here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Dr. Dre has a new album coming with Floetry singer Marsha Ambrosius, according to photos both posted to social media. The two previously collaborated extensively on Dr. Dre’s 2015 album Compton and on “Stronger” from Ambrosius’ 2014 project Friends & Lovers. The release, apparently titled Casablanco, will mark something of a comeback for both; Ambrosius last released a full-length project in 2018 with Nyla, while Dre hasn’t released a headlining album since Compton. Dre has done some production work on his longtime collaborator Eminem’s last album, Music To Be Murdered By, and on the new Grand Theft Auto game, which Snoop Dogg thinks is “great f*cking music.”

Perhaps Dre is taking Snoop’s advice about turning his pain and anger into magic after completing divorce proceedings with his ex-wife Nicole — something he celebrated with balloons and more. Dre’s also returning to music after his early 2021 aneurysm scare, which caught him off-guard. “I’ve always been a person that has always taken care of my health,” he said after his recovery. “But there’s something that happens for some reason with Black men and high blood pressure, and I never saw that coming.”

His return to music after very nearly losing his life also includes the announcement that he will play the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show alongside Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and Snoop Dogg. Stay tuned for more about Casablanco.

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (HBO, 10:00pm) — Take a deep dive into the beloved children’s program that’s been going strong for over 50 years. This documentary focuses upon the first two decades of moving and shaking of this visionary “gang,” who’s not afraid to engage children in the most entertaining of ways while also tackling ongoing radical changes in society.

Gordon Ramsay’s Road Trip (FOX, 8:00pm) — It’s rowdy road trip time, this time while heading to Europe (including Italy, France, and Scotland) for this chef and his friends.

Landscapers (HBO, 9:00pm) — Olivia Colman and David Thewlis lead this inspired-by-real-life story about a couple who apparently murders one of their sets of parents. Director Will Sharpe (The Electrical Life of Louis Wain) isn’t doing a straight-up retelling here. Rather, this week will see an exploration of the couple’s past while the present-time murder investigation continues.

4400 (CW, 9:00pm) — Mildred gets too emotional while Rev is seeing the truth a little brighter now, and Logan is adjusting to the return of Shanice, which isn’t easy.

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Dakota Johnson. Bobby Cannavale, Kelly Clarkson

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Patti LuPone, Thandiwe Newton, Joy Crookes, Joe Russo

In case you missed this recent streaming pick:

Voir (Netflix docuseries) — This project serves as David Fincher’s love letter to cinema. Expect a swath of “visual essays” from Fincher in collaboration with his fellow cinephiles, who will dive deep into iconic movies to discover the true “purpose of filmmaking.” You’ll see some Jaws and Citizen Kane but also The Karate Kid, Mad Max: Fury Road, Kill Bill, Goodfellas, Lawrence of Arabia, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and more. It’s a master class in not only the art of filmmaking but the art of watching movies.

To love art to the degree that you have the desire to open and direct a gallery takes passion. It also takes an understanding of art born through observation and deep consideration. In addition to those things, some people also have a gift for sensing the intentions of an artist and for indicating what is truly remarkable and in need of an audience. Olivia Barrett is one such person, blending passion, consideration, and a flair for curation.

As the founder and director of Los Angeles’ Château Shatto, Barrett is a vital eye in the Los Angeles Art Scene, and a key connection between the artist, the worlds they create, and those who admire their work.

“The most effective artworks usually arise from an uneasy coexistence between reason and intuition,” Barrett tells Uproxx when we reached out to have a conversation about her inclusion as a part of The Next 9 by Porsche and how she defines great art. “Borrowing from Anne Carson, a sustained incongruence of the emotional and the cognitive… It’s the paradox of the artificial assuming a form that speaks to something that is both resounding and ineffable. Most art that I consider to be ‘great’ is in possession of this improbable balance of expressiveness and muteness, which produces an inexhaustible tension.”

When asked about her connection to Porsche, Olivia spoke of a friend and his appreciation for the history of the brand; expressed through his ownership of various vintage models. She also waxed nostalgic about time spent driving in the backseat of his 1989 Carrera 911 and how it spoke to a very specific definition of success that’s driven by a want to be in the front seat and at the wheel. “Luxury requires a differential, so being positioned in the backseat immediately produces an aspiration to be in the front,” she said.

Though no one’s ambition factors in a need to sift through spreadsheets, Barrett possesses a keen ability to balance and understand the inherent cool of the emotion-driven world of art with the practicality of running a successful business.

“This vocation demands keeping one leg in the space of the artists, the work, the ideas, the exhibitions, the discursive matter that grows from the program and the other leg in the space of the practicalities of running a business. So the goals of the gallery arise from the artists, of course, but also from the struggle and cooperation of these two positions.”

That may seem like a stressful dichotomy to serve, but Barrett pulls it off with a mix of practicality, and flexibility.

“I consider what galleries do to be programmatic, and there is a very specific dramaturgy to a gallery program in that each exhibition or artist being presented inflects upon what comes before and what comes after,” she says. It also takes a certain sort of sensitivity and that makes Barrett an artist in her own right.

“Sometimes I think of Cháteau Shatto’s program within the tradition of the novel: there is form, ideas, language, narrative, theatricality, reflexivity, and sociality. These are the markers of consistency but also the ever-present possibility to pivot at any moment.”

That artistic viewpoint and willingness to pivot and explore new ideas and expressions is doubtlessly a part of her success story, same as it is surely a benefit to the artists whose trust in her and the gallery reward the endeavor and the community it serves.

“Perhaps the passion I expressed towards art was legible to the artists who I sought the confidence of in the early years and who then placed enough trust in me to represent their work.”

With her uniquely keen visual sensibility, practicality, ability to interface with artists, and a gift for taking and translating the pulse of the moment, Olivia Barrett is a key player behind the scenes in curating the culture of our contemporary art world. It’s a career built to be described as iconic and inspirational, and she’s just getting started.

For more on The Next 9 series, check out our hub page.