For all the attention that has been lavished on Top Dawg Entertainment products Doechii, Schoolboy Q, and SZA this year (not to mention former TDE signee Kendrick Lamar), there’s one member of the South LA crew who feels that his work hasn’t gotten the love it deserves. Ab-Soul’s new mixtape, Soul Burger, dropped in November, just ahead of the unofficial annual entertainment industry shutdown for the holidays, but he’s still given it impressive support, with videos for “All That” and “California Dream” promoting the project before and after its release.
But he wants more, as he wrote on Twitter, sharing his disappointment with rap fans for not talking it up more — especially since it includes some historical moments for longtime participants, such as the collaboration between Lupe Fiasco and TDE after Lupe’s less-than-favorable commentary about Kendrick Lamar.
“THIS MAY BE DISTASTEFUL FOR ME TO SAY ON MY OWN, GIVEN THE INSATIABLE STATE OF SOCIAL MEDIA,” he wrote. “BUT, F*CC IT. “SOUL BURGER” IS A PHENOMENAL BODY OF WORK. I PUT IT ALL ON THE TABLE. STOP PRETENDING TO OVERLOOK ME. ITS UNBECOMING OF THE CULTURE.”
Soul was one of the many TDE artists and special guests who took the stage during the label’s annual holiday concert in Watts this year, where he reminded attendees that there’s more to TDE than the big hitmakers. Ab-Soul may not have the accolades, but he certainly has the artistry, and it’s high time (heh) he gets some credit for his work.
Dianne Warren has been nominated in the Best Original Song category at the Academy Awards a record 15 times — and never won. The songwriter will try for a 16th nomination at the 2025 Oscars, as her song for Tyler Perry’s The Six Triple Eight, “The Journey,” made it to the shortlist. All she has to do is beat Pharrell Williams… and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross… and Elton John and Brandi Carlile… and Maren Morris… and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The nominees will be announced on Friday, January 17. The Oscars air on ABC on Sunday, March 2, 2025.
Below, you can find the shortlist for Best Original Song at the 2025 Oscars, along with each track’s songwriters (the award goes to the lyricists, not the performers).
The Shortlist For Best Original Song At The 2025 Oscars
“Forbidden Road” by Robbie Williams, Freddy Wexler, and Sacha Skarbek from Better Man
“Winter Coat” by Nicholas Britell, Steve McQueen, and Taura Stinson from Blitz
“Compress/Repress” by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Luca Guadagnino from Challengers
“Never Too Late” by Elton John and Brandi Carlile from Elton John: Never Too Late
“El Mal” by Clément Ducol, Camille, and Jacques Audiard from Emilia Pérez
“Mi Camino” by Clément Ducol and Camille from Emilia Pérez
“Sick In The Head” by Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, DJ Próvaí, Adrian Louis Richard Mcleod, and Toddla T from Kneecap
“Beyond” by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear from Moana 2
“Tell Me It’s You” by Lin-Manuel Miranda from Mufasa: The Lion King
“Piece By Piece” by Pharrell Williams from Piece By Piece
“Like A Bird” by Abraham Alexander, Brandon Marcel, and Adrian Quesada from Sing Sing
“The Journey” by Diane Warren from The Six Triple Eight
“Out Of Oklahoma” by Lainey Wilson, Luke Dick, and Shane McAnally from Twisters
“Kiss The Sky” by Delacey, Jordan Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Maren Morris, Michael Pollack and Ali Tamposi from The Wild Robot
“Harper And Will Go West” by Sean Douglas, Kristen Wiig, and Josh Greenbaum from Will & Harper
Basketball players have been appearing in music videos for a pretty long time now. Earlier this year, we looked at some notable examples of this, which included some older examples (Shaq appearing in the video for “Make ‘Em Say Uhh!”) and some newer ones (DeMar DeRozan’s highly-publicized cameo in the video for “Not Like Us”).
Fortunately for us, that was only the tip of the iceberg, as there are plenty of other examples of times when musicians reached out to NBA players and asked them to pop up in the video for one of their songs. And today, we wanted to dive into a few more of these, starting with one of the more surprising cameos we can remember…
Kawhi Leonard: “Way 2 Sexy” by Drake featuring Future and Young Thug
Kawhi Leonard has managed to turn being a boring and laid-back guy into his brand. For how brilliant he is at his best on the basketball court, Leonard is known for being soft-spoken and keeping himself out of the spotlight. All of this is to say that when Kawhi showed up in “Way 2 Sexy” dressed in all white and joined Drake, Future, and Young Thug in essentially lampooning boy band music videos, well, I can safely say I did not see that coming.
Magic Johnson: “Remember The Time” by Michael Jackson
The legendary video for “Remember The Time” is all built around Jackson performing for Egyptian royalty, played in here by Eddie Murphy and Iman. But off to the side, Johnson is the herald who presents performers to Murphy and Iman. Shockingly, it seemed like Magic had a terrific time with the project, and earlier this year, he called getting to be in the video “one of the greatest thrills in my life.”
LeBron James: “Forever” by Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Eminem
Of course LeBron was going to be in this video in some capacity, as it was made for the 2008 documentary More than a Game, which followed around his high school team at St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron. He hops onto PokerStars before the track starts, and while we don’t see him in the video again, we get plenty of clips and photos from before he made it to the NBA. However, a few months after the song came out, we did get a famous clip of LeBron rapping along to Eminem’s verse in the waning moments of a Cavs-Lakers game.
Stephen Curry: “Lil Fish, Big Pond” by Tobe Nwigwe
Curry joined Nwigwe in the video for his 2023 release, which was part of the soundtrack for the Apple TV+ release, Stephen Curry: Underrated. In the video, the pair are fishing on a boat, and Curry lip syncs along to the first verse before viewers see that Nwigwe is also on the boat. A little later, the pair sit alongside one another in a stadium.
Metta Sandiford-Artest: “Nas Is Like” by Nas
If you blink, you’ll miss when the two Queens legends link up in the music video for the first track off of “I Am…” It shows Nas throughout Queensbridge, which both he and the former Ron Artest called home as they were growing up. While this is an extremely short cameo, Sandiford-Artest arrives, shows Nas some love, and then looks into the camera at the 1:24 mark.
Grant Hill: “Rockstar” by Nickelback
I’ll be honest with you: I am unsure why Grant Hill appeared in the music video for “Rockstar,” and funny enough, if you take his word for it, Grant Hill wasn’t 100 percent sure why, either. Anyway, the video famously has a ton of celebrities in it, and at one point, Hill shows up and is in the middle of signing a basketball in a gym while he lip syncs the line “sign a couple autographs so I can eat…” before the camera cuts to someone else. He then shows up later and lip syncs “with the movie stars.”
“All I Want For Christmas Is You” has become Mariah Carey’s unofficial signature song as a result of its popularity around the holidays (and her willingness to play into the jokey fervor surrounding her “Queen Of Christmas” persona). And now, it’s a record-making — and potentially record-breaking — hit, as it has tied another artist’s signature song for most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Streaming Songs chart. With 20 weeks at No. 1, it has equalled Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” a record set in 2019, just six years after the chart’s inception in 2013.
According to Billboard, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” has hit No. 1 during December of every year since 2019 — when the Mariah meme first took off — except for 2023, when Brenda Lee came back for the “Queen Of Christmas” crown with “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” and led for nearly the entire month.
Meanwhile, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” also holds No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, which incorporates sales, streaming, and radio. It’s become the best-selling holiday song in the US, the longest-running holiday chart-topper, and the first song in the chart’s history to reach the top spot in at least three separate chart runs. Earlier this month, it was certified 16× Platinum by the RIAA — after becoming the first holiday song with a Diamond plaque for 10 million units sold in 2021. Long live the Queen.
Here’s something everyone can agree on: junk fees stink. And now, thanks to the Federal Trade Commission, they’re illegal. The FTC announced on Tuesday that hidden surprise charges for “live-event ticketing and short-term lodging industries,” which includes concerts and hotels, are prohibited.
According to a press release, The Junk Fees Rule ensures that “pricing information is presented in a timely, transparent, and truthful way to consumers of live-event tickets and short-term lodging, two industries whose pricing practices the Commission has studied in particular.” The proposal was passed 4 to 1, the only holdout being Andrew Ferguson, a Republican who Donald Trump plans to nominate as FTC lead once he takes office in 2025.
“People deserve to know up-front what they’re being asked to pay—without worrying that they’ll later be saddled with mysterious fees that they haven’t budgeted for and can’t avoid,” FTC chair Lina M. Khan said. “The FTC’s rule will put an end to junk fees around live event tickets, hotels, and vacation rentals, saving Americans billions of dollars and millions of hours in wasted time. I urge enforcers to continue cracking down on these unlawful fees and encourage state and federal policymakers to build on this success with legislation that bans unfair and deceptive junk fees across the economy.”
Lil Wayne was devastated when Kendrick Lamar, and therefore not himself, was chosen to perform the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show. It seemed like maybe there was a bit of beef between the two, and now Wayne has addressed it.
Speaking about his general feelings on the situation on The Skip Bayless Show, Wayne said:
“For whatever reason, I believe that it’s over my head, meaning I don’t know why, period. Personally, the person I am, I straight look at it like, ‘You ain’t there, you ain’t there, you gotta get there.’ […] It is what it is. […] I want to get to the point where I’m undeniable. I want them to walk in there and have ten other choices and whoever’s in charge says, ‘No, you have to go with him.’”
Wayne then talked about his interpretation of Lamar’s lyrics about him on GNX‘s “Wacced Out Murals” (“I used to bump Tha Carter III, I held my Rollie chain proud / Irony, I think my hard work let Lil Wayne down”). Wayne also revealed he’s spoken to Lamar about the situation, saying, “He saw how much it meant to me, I think that’s all he means. Obviously, he can’t control that, you know? So he didn’t let me down. It ain’t like he can control it or nothing. And also, I’ve spoken to him and I wished him all the best and told him he better kill it.”
Earlier in the month, SZA celebrated the second anniversary of her record-breaking sophomore album, SOS. Although fans of the “Saturn” singer continue to enjoy the project, they are clamoring for its deluxe edition Lana.
Last week, SZA teased the album yet again but this time with a rather interesting promotional visual. Today (December 16), SZA officially confirmed Lana’s release date with the help of her latest bestie, Ben Stiller.
“‘Drive’ starring Ben Stiller. Directed by Bradley J. Calder. Deluxe Friday,” wrote SZA on Instagram.
Although fans are apprehensive, according to SZA Lana will is schedule to hit streaming platforms this Friday, December 20. In the teaser clip (viewable here), Ben Stiller lip syncs to SZA’s seemingly forthcoming Lana single “Drive.”
“I been up ’til up midnight / Drivin’ to nowhere / Bumpin’ a slow song / Can’t get my head clear / I been up ’til sunrise / Headed to nowhere / Hopin’ that someone’s missin’ me somewhere,” mouths Stiller.
SZA has a knack for exciting crossover cameos. In the official video for “Kill Bill,” SZA tapped Kill Bill actor Vivica A. Fox for fun appearance. For SZA’s CTRL-era she secured Drew Barrymore as a special guest in the visual for the tracked inspired by the actor.
But for now, everything is all about Lana, which is sure to include a few more celebrity pop-ups.
But when Wilson was not serving as the hype man during Scott’s performance of “Fe!n,” he enjoyed other musicians’ set from the crowd. One of those performances included Sexyy Red. While hip-hop know the “Pound Town” rapper as a provocateur, Wilson was completely unaware. During Sexyy Red’s Rolling Loud Miami 2024 set, Owen Wilson was spotted looking on in utter shock. Well, the now-viral clip captured by a festivalgoer (viewable here), made its way back to Sexyy Red’s desk.
Yesterday (December 15), Sexyy Red took a moment to address leaving Wilson speechless. On X (formerly Twitter), Sexyy reposted the video with the caption: “Dats my baby Owen .”
That flirty response was enough to jump start Sexyy’s followers inner matchmaking skills. Others are now eagerly awaiting Wilson’s forthcoming film inspired by the festival. If Sexyy Red twerking was enough to knock him off of his feet, he has a lot of work to do to prepare for his upcoming role.
On Uproxx cover star Chlöe’s sophomore album Trouble In Paradise, she boasted about being temporarily single. According to rumors, the “Boy Bye” singer has lived up to the cocky declaration and could officially be off of the market.
Based on Chlöe’s recent visit to Nigeria, fans believe her new boo is none other than the African Giant himself, Burna Boy. Continue below for more information.
Are Burna Boy And Chlöe Dating?
In footage uploaded online, Chlöe and Burna Boy were spotted out enjoying the best of what Nigeria’s nightlife had to offer. However, upon further inspection of the video (viewable here), the pair teeter the thin line of PDA (public display of affection). At one point, the musicians held hands as they made their way into Club DNA Lagos. While in the venue, Chlöe even locked arms with Burna Boy in their private section.
Although neither have addressed the online speculation, given the massive bouquet arrangement Chlöe lugged at the airport upon her arrival and as she departed the Lagos hot spot supporters believe something is brewing. However, it is hard to ignore the explosive track-for-track diss battle fellow musicians Stefflon Don and Jada Kingdom were in enthralled in at the top of the year over Burna Boy.
Chlöe’s love mittens aren’t clean. Fans attempted to link her to entanglements with Quavo and Tyga.
Could Chlöe and Burna Boy’s rendezvous be a teaser for a collaboration to come? Yes, just think back to the time leading up to her track with Gunna. Or is this the blossoming of 2025’s music “it couple?” This is also a possibility. For now, it is best to air on the side of caution. Burna Boy and Chlöe aren’t officially dating until an undeniable confirmation is released.
It has been a little over two years since Lil Baby’s last album, It’s Only Me. In the meantime, fans could only speculate when he’d drop a follow-up. But now, we know: the wait is almost over. The Atlanta rapper revealed the release date for his long-awaited fourth studio album, WHAM (Who Hard As Me) on social media with an electrifying teaser after promising to step away from posting ’til the album was done. Due on January 3, 2025, the album is expected to include features from fellow Atlantans 21 Savage, Future, and Young Thug (who is free), along with fellow Southerners GloRilla, Rod Wave, and Travis Scott.
Although Lil Baby had a relatively quiet year as he worked on his album, he still managed to be productive, putting out the singles “Band4Band” with Central Cee, “Roll Da Dice” with 4Batz, “5AM,” and “Touchdown.” Despite avoiding the spotlight, though, he did see himself get into some legal hot water. In August, he was arrested by Las Vegas police, who charged him with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. Fortunately for him and his fans, the case was dropped in October, with Clark County prosecutors declining to press charges.
WHAM (Who Hard As Me) is out on 1/3/2025 via Quality Control / Motown.
