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Beyonce May Perform At This Year’s Oscars From The Compton Tennis Courts Named After The Williams Sisters

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Beyonce 2021 Grammys
Getty Image / Robert Gauthier

Ahead of Sunday’s telecast of the 94th Academy Awards, Variety is reporting that Beyonce is planning to perform at this year’s Oscars via satellite. Beyonce, who is nominated for Best Original Song for “Be Alive” from King Richard is reportedly planning to perform the song live from tennis courts in Compton, California.

Compton is where Venus and Serena Williams honed their tennis skills, encouraged by their father, Richard, played by Will Smith in King Richard. In 2016, The Lueders Park courts were officially rebranded as the Venus and Serena Williams Court of Champions.

According to Variety, “One possible scenario would have Will Smith…appear onsite with Beyonce and then presumably head north to Hollywood in time to take his seat for the announcement of the best actor category.”

In an interview with Vanity Fair, songwriter Dixson revealed Bey had reached out to him to collaborate on a song for King Richard. Dixson, who had been trying for a while to send demos and song ideas to Beyonce’s team, said of their collaboration, “I wanted to just give her the bones of the song first because what I don’t think people talk about a lot is Beyonce’s ability to craft a song. A lot of it happens in her vocals and her delivery, but she’s also a great songwriter and an amazing producer.”

The Oscars will air Sunday, March 27 on ABC.

Snoop Dogg Will Be A Playable Character In Three ‘Call Of Duty’ Games

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Activision

Snoop Dogg’s love of gaming is well-documented; last year, he hosted a Super Bowl XBox tournament alongside Saweetie, this year, he joined the gamer crew FaZe Clan, and he’s a well-known streamer on Twitch, bringing his unique personality and wisecracks to the masses. He’s even been in a few games, perhaps most notably in Def Jam: Fight For NY as that game’s surprising final boss. Now, gamers can play with Snoop Dogg in another popular game, although this time in a different genre.

Today, Activision announced that Snoop will join its immensely popular shooter series, Call Of Duty, as a playable character in three of the franchise’s current offerings: Call Of Duty: Mobile, Call Of Duty: Vanguard, and Call Of Duty: Warzone. To acquire the character in the console versions, players can look for him on April 19 at 10 am PT. The character includes “a full Operator progression track,” along with alternate outfits. The mobile version will be available via Lucky Draw on April 1. Naturally, Snoop will be voicing himself, as he did in Call Of Duty: Ghosts

“The D O Double G is back in Call of Duty and this time I’m in the freakin’ game!” Snoop said in the press release. “Excited to be working with the COD team to bring some fly features for you all to enjoy. It’s dope….. y’all can play as me and get these sick items that have Snoop written all over them. Check it out.”

See photos of Snoop in action courtesy of Activision below.



A Petition To Have Kanye West Pulled From Coachella Has Almost 30,000 Signatures

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Kanye West has been making headlines, and not for good reasons. His feud with Kim Kardashian’s new boyfriend Pete Davidson has led to only more drama, with celebrities like Jake Paul, Jimmy Kimmel, and Trevor Noah intervening either to try to help or just to make jokes. West, at one point, was suspended on Instagram for 24 hours because of the situation, and then eventually his performance at the Grammys was pulled. Now, his performance at California festival Coachella next month might have the same fate.

The rapper is a headliner for the third day, but a recent petition was made on Change.org titled “Remove Kanye From Coachella.” Its description reads: “We have watched Kanye harass, manipulate, and hurt Kim, Pete, and others for over a year now. No one seems to want to stand up to him, and the ones that do, he puts under fire as well. Most recently, he has been threatening actual bodily harm on others. This is ridiculous that he is allowed to freely do this. Coachella (along with other brand names that are still working with him) should be ashamed of themselves and should not be giving him any more of a platform. Please sign & share!” It currently has almost 30,000 signatures. The festival takes place next month, from April 15 to 24.

Megan Thee Stallion’s Label Countersues, Saying ‘Something For Thee Hotties’ Was Not An Album

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The tension between Megan Thee Stallion and Carl Crawford’s 1501 Certified Entertainment flared up last month when the rapper sued the label over the classification of her latest project, Something For Thee Hotties. While Megan contends that she was told the release would count as an album off of her four-album contract with 1501, it appears 1501 instead classified it as a mixtape — as the label also did with Fever and Suga. Now, the label has issued a countersuit, according to Billboard, arguing that the project only constituted 29 minutes of new material.

The label’s attorney, Steven M. Zager, wrote, “MTS knows that each ‘album’ must include at least twelve new master recordings of her studio performances of previously-unreleased musical compositions. She also knows that 1501 gets to approve the musical compositions to be included on each album. And MTS knows that none of that happened here.” The countersuit blames Roc Nation, Megan’s management company, for “trying to persuade its management clients to leave their record labels.”

Megan was unhappy about the claims, expressing her frustration on Twitter. “First the man over my label said I don’t make him any money,” she wrote. “Now he counter suing trying to keep me on his label because he wants to make more money lol if I ain’t making you no money why not just drop me?”

She explained, “My lawyers asked him for an expense report(money 1501 supposedly has spent on ME)… why this grown ass man put his jewelry and chains on there… lord free me from this joke ass label… Carl I don’t wanna be signed to yo pill popping ass! You talking abt I ain’t paid for a show and you sound slow. Im the artist I don’t pay you directly maybe fight with THE MAN YOU SIGNED TO AND YOU MIGHT SEE SOME MONEY YOU FUCKING POWDER HEAD! You hiding behind JPRINCE. Carl you got a wholeeee contact with 300 and talking shit to me like I got yo fucking money! You are ATTACKING ME ..why? Bc you want to be FAMOUS NOT RICH. Ask KEVIN LILES WHERE YO MONEY AT STUPID.”

Megan also insinuated that she’d been in contact with 1501 artist Erica Banks, who some fans tried to pit against her, calling the “Buss It” rapper a “replacement” for Meg. Instead, Thee Stallion suggested that even Banks is fed up with 1501, writing, “I choose not to say nothing back abt court and address shit online but im getting tired of being painted the BAD GUY 2/47 the last girl on 1501 mad at this man too !”

Ed Sheeran Teases Two New Collaborations With J Balvin

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Ed Sheeran 2022 BRIT Awards
Getty Image / Dave J. Hogan

Ahead of his upcoming Mathematics Tour, Ed Sheeran took to Instagram and Twitter yesterday to tease new music. In a series of posts, he recounted meeting Colombian singer/rapper J Balvin at a gym last year around Christmas.

“It was just me and him very early in the morning. I recognised his voice when he was on the phone so I just went up and said hi,” said the “Shivers” singer.

Included in the posts was a video with clips of the two in a recording studio, along with them on the set of what appears to be a music video.

Sheeran followed up the video clip, revealing he and Balvin later went for lunch and afternoon tea. The two would later take to the studio to write and record two songs — “Sigue” and “Forever My Love.”

“He wanted to bring me into his world, and I wanted to bring him into mine,” Sheeran continued “Was a proper challenge learning Spanish for this and I had so much fun doing it.”

Neither Sheeran nor Balvin have revealed an exact release date for their collaborations, however, Sheeran teases they will be out “soon” and he “absolutely” loves them.

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

Lizzo Plays A Sample Of A New Disco-Inspired Song Called ‘About Damn Time’ On ‘The Late Late Show’

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A few days ago, Lizzo declared her new album is finished, writing on Instagram, “Oh yeah b*tch… I just mastered my album and turns out its 100% DONE ! YOU THINK U KNOW BUT U HAVE NO IDEA. BABY HOW YOU HEALING? HEALING GOOD AS HELL.” Last night, she guested on The Late Late Show With James Corden and offered a taste of a new song called “About Damn Time” by sharing a sample of it on the show.

During the interview, Corden pulled out a vinyl record with a simple sleeve that said, “TOP SECRET Lizzo New Music 2022.” He then popped the record on a portable turntable and played about 30 seconds of the track as Lizzo, fellow Late Late Show guest Gabrielle Union, and the studio audience danced and clapped along to the beat. Indeed, it’s a song to dance to and the soulful, funky, disco-inspired tune sounds like a hit.

Lizzo also noted the song is set to be released on April 14. That’s just two days before her upcoming appearance on Saturday Night Live, so it seems likely she’ll end up performing the track on the show.

Elsewhere in the show, Lizzo popped up after Corden declared ’80s music is the best for dancing to. They then had a “riff-off,” with Corden singing ’80s tune while Lizzo sang Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar,” BTS’ “Butter,” and her own “Juice.”

Watch clips from Lizzo’s Late Late Show appearance above and below.

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

Lizzo Will Be Double-Dipping As The Host And Musical Guest On ‘SNL’ Next Month

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You don’t have to stretch your imagination very far to think about what Lizzo might be like acting in a Saturday Night Live sketch. The multi-talented “Truth Hurts” singer is not just a multi-Platinum, Grammy Award-winning artist, but she’s a viral TikTok star who has shown time and time again that she’s both hilarious and not afraid to speak her mind. So, SNL is ready to put all of Lizzo’s talents on display when she does double-duty as both the host and musical guest of NBC’s hit show on April 16th.

The entire April slate of hosts and musical performers was announced today. In addition to the “Lizzo-palooza” on April 16th, Gunna and Camila Cabello were also confirmed as musical guests in April. Gunna, whose DS4Ever topped the Billboard 200 chart earlier this year, will appear on the April 2nd episode, hosted by comedian Jerrod Carmichael. Meanwhile, Camila Cabello, who just announced that her new album Familia will be out on April 8th, will be the musical guest for an episode hosted by Jake Gyllenhaall on April 9th. It’s a perfectly timed appearance for Cabello with her album coming out the day before the episode, and it’s also a boost that it will mark Gylenhaal’s first time hosting the show in 15 years.

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

Snot The Band Is Upset With Limp Bizkit For Bringing $not The Rapper On Tour

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Uproxx has been covering the rise of South Florida rapper $not for some time and really enjoying watching the 24-year-old spread his wings and come into his own. Recently, he received a big career bump from veteran nu-metal band Limp Bizkit, who invited him to join them on their upcoming Still Sucks Tour. However, the move apparently disappointed and upset one of the rap-rock band’s contemporary groups — also called Snot.

According to Consequence, Mikey Doling, Snot’s guitarist, posted a video in which he took Limp Bizkit’s frontman Fred Durst to task over the booking. “I wanted to say to Fred Durst, if you see this video, how dare you, man?” he said. “You were friends with Snot. Snot loved you, man. You came onstage with us and performed. [Late Snot singer] Lynn [Strait] went on stage with you in Boston. … We were friends. We shared drinks, stage, music [and] all that, and all these years later you take an artist named $not on tour with you? What the f**k is that, man? Bullshit. … And to that fake $not kid — [Doling gives the camera the middle finger] right there, brother. There’s only one f**king Snot. Get some.”

For his part, $not seemed more bemused than anything else, posting a tweet reacting to the headline as posted by XXL. “This actually ridiculous,” he wrote. “Old man mad about my name.”

For what it’s worth, the band named Snot hasn’t released a new album in 20 years. The group actually disbanded in the wake of Strait’s death in 1998, and Strait Up, the album that they released in 2000, had all its vocals recorded by the lead vocalists of associated bands like Incubus, Korn, Soulfly (incidentally, the subject of another confusing hip-hop crossover thanks to Rod Wave), and even, yes, Limp Bizkit. $not, however, is fresh off the release of his second studio album, Ethereal, and has a remarkably compatible vibe to both the original Snot and Limp Bizkit, so it isn’t like his addition to the tour doesn’t make sense.

Denzel Curry And T-Pain Link Up For The Smoky, Jazz Bounce Of ‘Troubles’

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Last week, Denzel Curry announced that his new album, Melt My Eyez, See Your Future, would be coming out this Friday, March 25th. The tracklist also revealed a loaded list of guest features, including 454, 6lack, Bridget Perez, Jasiah, JID, Rico Nasty, Robert Glasper, Saul Williams, Slowthai, and T-Pain. Meanwhile, the album’s producers are Cardo, DJ Khalil, Dot Da Genius, Jpegmafia, Kal Banx, Karriem Riggins, Kenny Beats, and Thundercat. Loaded, right?

As we gear up for the full release later this week, Curry has shared the T-Pain collaboration track, “Troubles,” along with an accompanying video. The clip begins with Curry on crutches, standing on stage at a jazz cabaret. He spits bars over a sleek snare drum beat as surrealist footage gets spliced in. T-Pain joins him with his glorious auto-tuned vocals and the track reaches a smoky jazz bounce. They sync up on the hook, rapping, “Got some troubles that these drugs can’t fix, we might struggle because life’s a b*tch, and you happy when your ass get rich.”

The distinct aesthetic of “Troubles” speaks to what Curry has described in a statement about the overall message of Melt My Eyez, See Your Future:

“I like traditional hip hop, I like drum and bass, I like trap, I like poetry, so a lot of that is going to be interwoven in this album including jazz and a lot of genres that I came up on as a kid and just being in my parents’ house. This album is made up of everything that I couldn’t give you on TA13OO or Imperial because I was going through depression anger issues.”

Watch the video for “Troubles” above.

Melt My Eyez, See Your Future is out 3/25 via Loma Vista Recordings. Pre-order it here.

Pusha T’s New Arby’s Jingle Ruthlessly Disses McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish

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Pusha T is no stranger to to the fast food jingle scene. News surfaced in 2016 that he was behind McDonald’s ubiquitous “I’m Lovin’ It!” song which first appeared in 2003. Now, nearly two decades later, King Push — who recently dropped the track “Diet Coke” with Kanye West — has come over to the dark side, so to speak, and has just penned the new “Spicy Diss Fish Track” for Arby’s.

The track touts the superiority of Arby’s Spicy Fish sandwich to that of McDonald’s time-honored Filet-O-Fish as Pusha T ruthlessly dismantles the Mickey D’s sandwich, which first debuted in 1962. “I’m the reason the whole world love it, now I gotta crush it. Filet-O-Fish is sh*t and you should be disgusted,” he raps in the song’s opening bars. He spends much of the track ripping apart the square shaped McDonald’s sandwich and bodies Ronald McDonald in the process. “A little cube of fish from a clown is basic,” he adds, punctuating a verse.

The rapper took to twitter to announce his new…er…collab, saying, “Just dropped a diss track with @Arbys. Grab some popcorn and a Spicy Fish Sandwich. #ArbysSpicyFishDissTrack #ArbysPaidMeButIWouldSayThisAnyway”

On the track, which rides a battle rap beat not too far removed from something out of El-P’s early production library, Push somehow manages to get his sly cocaine rap references past the censors. As the track comes to a close and a ship sinks into the water in the video (symbolizing the demise of the now 60 year old McDonald’s sandwich), Push gets back to his roots and delivers the coke rap death punch, “If you know me and you know me well, our fish is gonna tip that scale!”

Listen to Pusha T’s “Spicy Fish Diss Track” and watch the video above.