Lil Nas X has done it all in the less than two years since his 2019 breakout moment. The singer has two Grammy awards to his name, the record for most consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart, and the most certified single in music history.
Despite the long list of achievements and milestones, prior to this weekend, one thing that Lil Nas hadn’t done yet was appear on Saturday Night Live. All of that changed last night when the singer stepped onto the Studio 8H stage to perform “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and “Sun Goes Down.”
i know i do a lot of planned shit but ripping my pants on live television is not one of them
The singer kicked off the night with a performance of the ever-so-controversial “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” Sticking with the fiery theme of the song’s music video, Lil Nas danced and sang in front of a backdrop of hell that even featured a stripper pole for him to dance on.
Unfortunately, as he danced on the pole, Lil Nas accidentally ripped his pants in what proved to be a funny SNL moment. Afterward, he spoke about the wardrobe malfunction on Twitter. “I know i do a lot of planned sh*t but ripping my pants on live television is not one of them,” he wrote.
Lil Nas X would push past this potentially embarrassing TV moment and return to the SNL stage to end the night with a performance on “Sun Goes Down.”
You can watch the performances in the videos above.
Issa Rae’s breakthrough show, Insecure, is coming to an end after its fifth and final season, but it’s clear she has more where that came from. Recently it was announced she’s helming the reboot of Project Greenlight, the IFC reality show from the aughts in which Matt Damon and Ben Affleck helped filmmakers make their dream projects (with lots of nightmares along the way, of course). Rae spoke about the revival during a recent profile with Vanity Fair, though she also shared a story about the late Nipsey Hussle.
According to the Insecure star, HBO initially thought Insecure should star not Rae but a woman of lighter skin color would be a better fit. When they suggested London, Rae took offense, but she later discovered that London, who was Hussle’s partner from 2013 until his death, heard about her complaint and even took offense.
But in 2019, at Diddy’s 50th birthday party in 2019, Hussle played mediator. “He was like, ‘You should just talk to her. Let me set it up,’” she said. “It actually sparked an amazing two-hour conversation. We had so much in common. She was like, ‘People don’t understand, I’m an awkward Black girl.’” She added, “In the same way that I was upset about the limited portrayal of Black women, she was like, ‘People do the same thing to me.’ I completely get that.”
Nipsey Hussle is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
It’d be inaccurate to label this stage of Chance The Rapper’s career as anything along the lines of idle or inactivity. The Chicago native is busy on the music side of things as he recently shared “The Heart And The Tongue,” as well as “Shelter,” a collaboration with Vic Mensa. He also premiered a new movie titled, Magnificent Coloring Book, to celebrate the fifth anniversary of his mixtape, Coloring Book, and he’s set to headline the Summerfest 2021 show with Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus.
While that’s an ample plate of tasks, the rapper is adding something else to the mix.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday night, Chance revealed that he’s working on a reboot for a particular classic movie.
“It’s a secret thing. I’m working on…I got this pitch for a Home Alone reboot,” he said. “As a lot of people know…I’m sure everybody here is a huge fan of Home Alone and John Hughes. Chicago guy, Macaulay Culkin, it’s a Chicago film. Since I was young, I always watched it and I was like, ‘What if there was a hood Home Alone?’ Or Hood Alone, if you will.”
He added, “Just a little more realistic story about what happens when people try to kick in the doors at the wrong house. Hilarity ensues. I can’t give you too many details, but yeah.”
You can watch him talk about the reboot in the video above.
Donald Glover resurfaced on Twitter early Tuesday morning where he fired off his thoughts on the current state of entertainment after seeing critics complain about reviewing “boring stuff.” While Glover certainly has an inside perspective on the inner workings of Hollywood thanks to his career that spans both network and cable TV, Star Wars, streaming, and more, his comments are less insightful as they are nebulous, particularly when it comes to his remarks on being “cancelled.” Via his Twitter:
“[S]aw people on here havin a discussion about how tired they were of reviewing boring stuff (tv & film)… we’re getting boring stuff and not even experimental mistakes(?) because people are afraid of getting cancelled… so they feel like they can only experiment w/ aesthetic. (also because some of em know theyre not that good)”
saw people on here havin a discussion about how tired they were of reviewing boring stuff (tv & film).
Numerous replies to Glover indicate people’s belief that he’s talking about “cancelled” in the “cancel culture” sense. As in no one is making “experimental mistakes” because they’re afraid of upsetting current sensibilities. However, it’s possible that Glover is talking about a fear of being literally cancelled, which has been a major problem in the streaming world, like it’s always been for network TV, so his remarks are cryptic and open to interpretation. Glover wouldn’t be the first creative to complain about the confines of “cancel culture,” so until he offers a clarification, no one can definitively say that he’s merely offering a musing on the constant struggle between art and commerce.
Glover is currently in the middle of an eight-figure deal with Amazon and working on a remake of Mr. + Mrs. Smith with Phoebe Waller-Bridge for the streaming service. So, he might simply be reflecting upon how creative teams fear being cancelled in the traditional sense (i.e. their show doesn’t make it the first or second season) because an audience demands more of the same, or as Glover states, the project is “not that good.”
We’ve already seen a glimpse of what Guy Ritchie’s Wrath Of Man will look like when it steals its way into theaters on May 7. But before that, we’ve got a new Red Band trailer to really see what Jason Statham is up to in a cash truck security guard heist film. Which apparently starts with Statham’s character getting shot and watching his own son die before his eyes of his own gunshot wounds.
The bloody trailer sets the scene for revenge for Statham, who wants to track down who killed his son and ends up doing a lot of shooting along the way as an armored truck driver. The most notable part of the trailer, though, is when he kills a man listed as “Robber #6” in the movie’s IMDB page. Despite the generic name for the role, it’s rapper Post Malone, who gets an expletive-filled line in before H, at least presumably, kills him for being unhelpful in his investigation.
“If he’s not a cop, then what is he?” asks one voice late in the trailer.
“He’s a dark f*cking spirit,” another voice answers.
Here’s the official synopsis:
A mysterious and wild-eyed new cash truck security guard (Jason Statham) surprises his coworkers during a heist in which he unexpectedly unleashes precision skills. The crew is left wondering who he is and where he came from. Soon, the marksman’s ultimate motive becomes clear as he takes dramatic and irrevocable steps to settle a score.
The movie is an Americanized version of another film, “Le Convoyeur,” which was directed by Nicolas Boukhrief. We’ll have to see if Statham can find the people responsible when the movie opens next month.
Lorde is back! Well, she’s back reviewing onion rings, at least, and we’re here for it. In her first onion ring review of 2021, the world’s most famous onion ring aficionado reviewed the Pickled Onion Rings at Auckland’s Hotel Ponsonby, which serves elevated English pub fare.
We’re talking PICKLED onion rings which is a first for this reviewer. I totally vibe the concept — used to eat pickled onions out of the jar as a youngster — however I think if you’re gonna go there, go there, and let acidity rather than sweetness dominate. Absolutely sensational batter, perhaps the best I’ve tried. 4/5 overall ringsperience.
This is a solid review and will surely lead to a ring boom at Hotel Ponsonby. It was also glowing enough to motivate us to break out the ol’ wok and try these rings for ourselves (since we’re probably not going to be in Auckland anytime soon).
To master this recipe, I looked into New Zealand pickled onion culture (yes, that’s a thing). There’s actually a fair number of recipes for pickled onions throughout New Zealand’s food media outlets. The thing is, I don’t really have a week to let something pickle in a dark cupboard. So I took my cues from New Zealander’s recipes and adapted them to make it doable in about an hour with a sous vide.
I’ve used my sous vide to make a lot of pickles (root veg, eggs, fish, etc.) in the past and it really only takes about an hour to have a fully-brined pickle. For this recipe, that sped-up process will do nicely.
Lastly, I really focused on the batter. I knew it had to be something “sensational” for Lorde to give it full marks. So I made sure I was devising something that’d have a beautifully crunchy exterior while still providing a softer interior, leading to the briny and savory pickled onion inside. That’s enough preamble, let’s get into the recipe!
A quick note on the brine. This is where I’m drawing acidity from. There’s a low amount of salt and sugar that’ll give you that “briny” edge of a pickle. Then the addition of apple cider vinegar will bring that mild pH acidic vibe to the whole thing.
Otherwise, you do you on the pickle brine spices. If you want it spicier, add more chilis. Mix and match with seeds and barks. Overall, this is a mild pickle brine with a classic edge that leans towards the New Zealand-centric pickle recipes I found online.
Zach Johnston
Ring batter:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup corn starch
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 bottle or can of pilsner (more as needed)
2 egg yolks
Large pinch of salt
White pepper
Other:
Two yellow onions
Neutral oil
Aioli
Salt
Another quick note: As you can see in the image below, I’ve removed the inner skins between the layers of the onion. This is crucial for a bite-able onion ring. If you’ve ever had an onion ring that immediately slid out of the batter, it was because of that slippery film that’s between every layer. It takes a little extra time but is as easy as simply pulling the skin off after you’ve made your rings.
Zach Johnston
What You’ll Need:
Large Zip-lock bag
Sous vide circulator
Large pot
Small pot
Large bowl
Whisk
Wok or deep fryer
Slotted spoon
Metal grate and baking sheet
Paper towels
Tongs
Method:
For the pickled onions:
Set the sous vide circulator to 185F/85C in a large pot of water.
Add the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar to a small pot and bring to a boil to dissolve the salt and sugar. Remove from heat and let cool for ten minutes.
Peel and slice onions, making sure to remove the film between each layer of the onion as you push out the rings (it should slide right off).
Add the spices and onions to the Zip-lock bag. Pour the warm brine into the bag.
Immerse the bag into the bath and use the pressure of the water to remove any excess air and seal the bag. Use a clip to hold the bag to the side of the large pot.
Cook the onion rings for 30 minutes.
Prepare an ice bath. When the 30 minutes are up, place the Zip-lock bag into the ice bath to stop the cooking and cool the pickled onion rings.
Zach Johnston
For the onion rings:
Combine flour, corn starch, baking powder, salt, and white pepper in a large bowl.
Add the egg yolks and beer while whisking until you get a thin batter (sort of halfway between a crepe and pancake batter).
Lay the onion rings on a paper towel and pat dry.
Heat about one-half gallon of neutral oil in a wok or heavy-bottomed pot (I used sunflower) to 375F/190C.
Using tongs, dip the rings into the batter and then gently lay them into the hot oil, creating a single layer of onion rings.
After about one minute, flip the rings with the tongs to brown them evenly on both sides.
After another minute, remove the onion rings to a rack over a baking sheet. Immediately hit with a pinch of salt.
Repeat until all the rings are fried.
Serve with aioli dip.
Bottom Line:
Zach Johnston
I love fried pickle chips, so I knew I was going to love these. And, wow, thank you, Lorde, for turning me onto pickled onion rings. These are, hands down, some of the best onion rings I’ve ever tasted. And they were without a doubt the #1 best rings I’ve ever made. The onion was soft and hot with a deep pickle brine that had a touch of heat and acidity. The sweetness was there but tied more to the onion than sugar. Really though, the sweetness took a back seat to the overall brininess of the onion.
The batter was freaking sensational. The addition of corn starch allowed the batter to be super crunchy on the outside while still feeling supple on the inside. Moreover, as these rings cooled down (onion rings always get cold too fast), the batter stayed super crunchy.
Zach Johnston
Using aioli as a dipping sauce is a win as well (I used some good stuff from Spain). The lemon/garlic/mayo feel was the perfect counterpoint to the pickle brine and crunchy batter of the ring. This was comfort food in its purest form.
Finally, there was the side-by-side look of these rings compared to Lorde’s. You can judge for yourself below. I haven’t tasted my competition, but I do know that this is the only way I’ll be making onion rings from here on out. Lorde, if you’re ever near Uproxx’s offices — we got you.
When the documentary series Framing Britney Spears bowed on HBO back in February, it caused an avalanche of support to come the singer’s way. Long a target of condescending press coverage — not to mention still legally under the control of her domineering father — Spears found the public finally rallying to her side, hoping to correct years of unfair coverage. Now the team behind the doc look to be trying to do for Janet Jackson what they did for Britney.
According to US Weekly, Left/Right TV, who produced the Spears doc, are at work on a movie about the infamous halftime show at Super Bowl XXXVIII, in 2004. That’s the one where a performance by Jackson and Justin Timberlake resulted in a “wardrobe malfunction,” in which the latter ripped off part of her costume, exposing one of her breasts for half a second. The incident led to a massive fallout. The FCC tried, and failed, to fine CBS for over half a billion dollars, while some accused the two of staging it, with Jackson receiving more vitriol than Timberlake.
Neither Jackson nor Timberlake are involved in the movie, though the former is working on a documentary about her own career to coincide with the forthcoming 40th anniversary of her debut album, Janet Jackson. Timberlake, meanwhile, has come under fire over the last couple years, as the public has begun viewing his treatment of both Jackson and Spears, who he once dated, with a more critical eye. Indeed, after Framing Britney Spears debuted, he issued a formal apology to both parties.
“I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “Because of my ignorance, I didn’t recognize it for all that it was while it was happening in my own life but I do not want to ever benefit from others being pulled down again.”
“Last summer, Yellow Springs [Ohio] was what Hollywood is supposed to be,” says Talib Kweli about the much mythologized “Chappelle Summer Camp” of 2020, which has now given birth to Dave Chappelle’s first podcast. “What we realized is that Hollywood and all that stuff is fake. The real dopeness is where the people are. If someone like Chappelle says, ‘Well, I’m in Yellow Springs.’ Then that’s where the people are going to be.”
The show, co-hosted by Kweli and Yasiin Bey and called The Midnight Miracle, will air on the subscription podcast network Luminary, will reveal the inner workings of Chappelle’s covid rapid tested events (along with the even more legendary after-parties), held in Ohio through the summer and deep into the fall. The first episodes are set to drop “in the coming weeks” and will feature wide-ranging conversations as well as sketches, archival clips, and impersonations from Chappelle, along with a roster of his incredibly famous friends.
“The constant isn’t fame,” Kweli says, “it’s contributions to the culture. Chappelle, one of his many talents, is curating great rooms, so what people will hear on the podcast is essentially what they would hear if they were in the room with us. It’s very organic, very free-flowing, it’s non-linear… we just happen to associate ourselves with greatness.”
“The Midnight Miracle” was recorded in a retrofitted mechanic’s garage turned clubhouse, and the trio has already banked over 100 hours of content recorded with a jaw-dropping list of guests from Common and Tiffany Haddish to Questlove and Chris Rock (plus a soundtrack that includes Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, and D’Angelo).
As for where the seed of the show first blossomed, Kweli credits his longtime Black Star partner in rhyme, Yasiin Bey. The trio’s friendship has endured since the Chappelle’s Show days.
“We speak often and the last few years we’ve spoken more, as we’ve gotten older,” Kweli tells us. “It was actually Yasiin’s idea to do this type of podcast, when he and Dave first heard people talking about my show, The People’s Party. [People’s Party is produced by Uproxx] Yasiin said to Dave, ‘you should be doing a podcast, too’ and Dave said ‘well the only way I’m doing it is if I do it with ya’ll,’ It was just that simple.”
“Making a podcast isn’t the obvious next move for me, but it’s the right one,” Chappelle said in a press release announcing the show. “The Midnight Miracle gives you a look into how me and my friends process the world around us, and I think it will change the way listeners think of what a podcast can be.”
Look for The Midnight Miracle to drop on Luminary in the weeks to come.
After Morrissey’s manager called out The Simpsons for its parody of the former The Smiths frontman, which featured Benedict Cumberbatch voicing the character “Quilloughby,” the singer himself released his own statement on Monday that accuses the cartoon series of “obviously taunting a lawsuit.” In a long-winded, and very Morrissey-esque message in the “Hello Hell” section of his website, the singer rails against everything from the accusations of racism that have plagued him to the lack of “Hate Laws” that he believes should be protecting him from the “scandal sheets.”
Since my very first interview several decades ago I have lived with horrible accusations to such a degree that it is generally understood that ‘this is how we write about Morrissey’. In other words, I’m quite used to it. I’ve had enough horror thrown at me that would kill off a herd of bison. Accusations usually come from someone with a crazed desire for importance; they don’t operate at a very high level. Writing for The Simpsons, for example, evidently requires only complete ignorance. But all of these things are too easy for me to say. In a world obsessed with Hate Laws, there are none that protect me.
Despite dramatically accusing The Simpsons of opening themselves up to a lawsuit for daring to parody him like it does to countless other celebrities, Morrissey made it clear that he won’t be going down that road because it would require “more funding than I could possibly muster.” He believes this is why The Simpsons targeted him. “I think this is generally understood and is the reason why I am so carelessly and noisily attacked.”
(@LilNasX) May 23, 2021
