For the most part, ceremonial first pitches are wholly uninteresting in the world of Major League Baseball. Honorees run the gamut from celebrities to local heroes to relatively anonymous people but, every once in a while, true magic occurs. One of those instances happened on Monday in Boston when Steve Aoki strolled to the mound to deliver the opening offering before a matchup between the Red Sox and the Houston Astros.
This is an immediate hall of fame entry in the worst first pitches of all-time, simply because of where the ball landed. Aoki never seemed particularly comfortable with where his setup began, for some reason starting on the upslope on the back of the mound, but, as soon as he begin his move to the plate, there was an elaborate wind-up which probably was not the best idea.
From there, the angle set Aoki up for a disaster, and the ball’s trajectory got out of control with haste. In the videos above, you can get a glimpse of the horror and/or amazement from the patrons in attendance at Fenway Park, but onlookers probably just cannot get enough of this video. The debate will rage as to whether this was truly the worst of all-time since, well, Aoki at least made it to the plate, but it was a sight to behold.
Of the many subplots of the Suns disastrous Game 7 performance against the Mavs on Sunday night, the one that has the most bearing on Phoenix’s future is that of Deandre Ayton’s standing with the team.
Ayton played just 17 minutes and when Monty Williams was asked why Ayton got benched after the game, he sternly replied “it’s internal” and moved on to other topics. On Monday, Williams and Ayton had still not sat down to discuss whatever happened 1-on-1, although Monty had spoken with the team and seemed ready to move on, but given Ayton’s status as a restricted free agent this summer set to command a max contract, that entire situation complicates the Suns’ summer plans.
There were rumblings on Twitter from some fans in the Footprint Center near the Suns bench of an argument in the second half between Ayton and Williams in a tunnel, but no visual confirmation from TV cameras or anything that was noticed by those covering the game live. As such, that hasn’t become the massive topic it would if there were such video evidence and mostly it’s been a lot of shrugging and speculating on Ayton’s future.
However, Skip Bayless had a man on the ground in Phoenix sitting across from the Suns bench, none other than Lil Wayne (who got roasted for his “Luka a ho” tweet from earlier in the series), and was willing to report that Williams and Ayton had a spat that led to them being separated after Williams, allegedly, told Ayton he “quit on us.”
“From what our man Lil Wayne told me, he was sitting across [from the Suns bench], Monty got so upset with Ayton that he said, ‘You freaking quit on us'”
Skip Bayless with some insight on what happened between Monty Williams & Deandre Aytonpic.twitter.com/SbtNojdheH
Now, this is a wild game of telephone going from Lil Wayne seated across the court and either hearing this or lip-reading it (Bayless wasn’t sure which) and then relaying it to his close personal friend Skip Bayless who brought this information to a national TV audience. At some point, especially if Ayton departs Phoenix this summer, we will likely get some stronger sourced reporting on what exactly happened that got Ayton benched, but this would certainly explain why Monty was clearly upset about it after the game and not willing to discuss the matter.
If it ends up being the case, then everyone better credit pre-eminent NBA newsbreaker Lil Wayne for having the scoop first.
49-year-old Stephen Walter, one of the men who sold Mac Miller the pills that caused the rapper’s fatal overdose in 2019, has been sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison after he pled guilty last year to the distribution of fentanyl. Water, who had continued to sell counterfeit oxycodone pills cut with Fentanyl even after Miller’s death, had previously made a plea deal for 17 years, but US District Judge Otis D. Wright, II rejected the deal, saying it was too lenient for the offense, according to Rolling Stone.
“The court has elected not to accept that plea agreement,” he said. “So, sir, if you want, at this point, you can withdraw your guilty plea and go to trial. I may as well lay it out. When you continue to engage in this activity even after your activities killed someone, I’m having a tough time not staying within the guidelines.”
Walter, however, decided not to argue after conferring with his lawyer. Although Walter contended with the characterization given, claiming he had no knowledge that Miller had died from drugs he supplied, he accepted the sentence. However, he did advise the court that he believed that another man charged in the case, Cameron Pettit, to whom he initially sold the pills, wanted them for personal use and Walter did not know Pettit wound up giving them to Miller.
Freddie Gibbs is well-known for being one of hip-hop’s top trolls, but it appears that his mischievous ways may have caught up to him recently. Fans on Twitter are convinced that Gibbs’ back-and-forth with Benny The Butcher escalated into a physical altercation ahead of Gibbs’ show Sunday night in Benny’s native Buffalo, New York. The evidence backing these claims is a series of photos posted to Twitter that seemingly depict Gibbs performing with swelling around his eyes — the type you might expect from someone who’d recently been in a fight (or stung by a bee, I suppose).
There have certainly been a number of tweets that purported to have seen the incident in question. One commenter claimed, “I just saw Freddie Gibbs get beat up and his chain took while I was eating in buffalo Ny.”
The feud appears to have begun — at least publicly — with Benny citing that the duo’s working relationship “came and went” during an interview with Spotify. Gibbs issued an ornery response on social media, saying, “Just keep my name out y’all mouth when y’all talking to people or doing interviews,” in a video on his oft-suspended Instagram. They have been trading barbs ever since. Incidentally, one of those barbs was Freddie inviting an unnamed critic to a “head-up fade.” If he really did have a run-in with Benny’s crew, it looks like that invite was officially turned down.
Freddie Gibbs raps dont hit the same when you know niggas really be running up on him in real life
freddie gibbs got shot at in new york, pressed in detroit, beat up by jim jones goons and now beat up by benny the butcher’s goons. madlib shoulda worked with roc marciano instead
Before this, though, they seemed to enjoy an amicable working relationship, with Benny appearing on Gibbs’ 2020 album Alfredo (on the song “Frank Lucas“) and Freddie returning the favor on Benny’s own 2020 project Burden Of Proof.
The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.
Back in 2019, the fourth episode of the second season of the Black-ish spinoff Grown-ish featured the debut of Leikeli47’s video for “Tic Boom.” The lead-up to the video throughout the episode found the show’s cast preparing a watch party for a mystery artist’s video premiere, with the cast debating what makes a musical genius. The episode was an obvious reference to then-recent album premieres from the likes of Frank Ocean and Kanye West, who both got name-checked, along with Chief Keef, Drake, and Young Thug.
Then, one character makes an observation that seems obvious in hindsight but highlights an ongoing problem in pop culture – especially when it comes to hip-hop. Why are all the so-called “geniuses” men? Even now, in an era with more female rappers charting than ever before – from Cardi B and Doja Cat to Latto and Saweetie – somehow, female artists still seem to receive less attention and respect than their male counterparts. I was reminded of this over the past weekend, as my social feeds buzzed over Kendrick Lamar’s new album.
Less pronounced was the buzz for Leikeli47’s new album, Shape Up. The culmination of a beauty shop-themed trilogy including 2017’s Wash & Set and 2018’s Acrylic, on the surface, Shape Up also bears all the hallmarks of a work of rap genius. As part of a trilogy, the 14-track project comes with rich mythology of its own built by the masked rapper’s prior works. Leikeli has always defied convention, eschewing both contemporary and traditional hip-hop sounds to craft her own unique, dancefloor-ready take on the genre. She’s as informed by the drag ballroom scene as she is the trap house, with beats featuring influences from house, techno, and dancehall.
She’s also a superb rapper with one hell of a hook; taking a page from the book of the late, great MF DOOM, she has yet to make a public appearance without one of her signature face masks. She makes them herself out of bandanas and balaclavas, occasionally bedazzling or otherwise embellishing them. We don’t even know her real name; she’s like a modern-day hip-hop superhero, using her anonymity to put the focus squarely on the boundary-pushing, eclectic style she’s pioneering.
It’s hard to hear booming, confident jams like “Chitty Bang” and “LL Cool J” without wondering how they aren’t as ubiquitous as those of her female peers – let alone the breezy No. 1s accumulated by men like Drake, Future, and Jack Harlow. They’re every bit as catchy and transportive, every bit as relevant to the times, every bit as quotable and cocksure, with lines like “It’s all checks and balances, baby, the world is mine,” feeling just as much like potential Instagram captions as any of the catchphrases the above-mentioned names have offered recently.
And Leikeli can sing, too. I mean, legitimately sing, not that weird, atonal humming thing a lot of rappers have been doing in recent years. On “Done Right” and “Hold My Hand,” she switches to full-on R&B, offering tender reflections on romance and relationships minus the toxicity that’s marked the genre lately. Meanwhile, “BITM” and “Jay Walk” practically beg the listener to catwalk, strut, and vogue like it was the ball culture heyday of the late 1980s. And lest anyone doubt her rap skills, her storytelling takes the fore on “Free To Love,” while her wordplay shines on “Instant Classic.”
If this album — this consistency and cohesion in eclecticism, this total commitment to the presentation, is not the work of a genius, then the list of who all deserves such a title needs to get several dozen names shorter. If anything, the muted buzz of excitement leading up to this project’s release just proves that in hip-hop, eclecticism can be a disadvantage as much as a strength. Pushing the genre’s boundaries can earn an artist a lot of love from critics and fans, but it can just as easily take them too far beyond the margins for rap centrists who want the genre to remain the same as much as they want it to grow.
It also proves that hip-hop still has a long way to go in terms of truly including women in the conversation. Just recently, both Lil Wayne and Ja Rule admonished their peers and successors to acknowledge the contributions of women in hip-hop, with Wayne singling out Missy Elliott for her own innovative catalog. Incidentally, one of the names Leikeli47 is most often compared to is Missy (both are from Virginia, which may explain their sympathetic resonance with one another). Sometimes, it feels very much like we’ve failed the latter, who only recently began to receive flowers in the form of lifetime achievement awards and belated shout-outs from the rappers she’s inspired. The same can’t happen for Leikeli47. They say genius is never appreciated in its time, but today, we certainly have the opportunity to acknowledge her as the genius she’s already proven herself to be.
The first thing that pops into mind watching the video for “Breathe” from IDK‘s newly released, Kaytranad-produced album Simple is E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Just as the title character’s telekinetic abilities make for the breathtaking visual of a band of bicycles soaring across the sky in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 classic, IDK sends a fleet of cyclists skyward in his own music video.
Shot in Paris, the video makes a point of showing the sense of freedom one can find even in the midst of doing something as mundane as delivering food. The cyclists in the video also find liberation in their sense of camaraderie with one another as they team up to cruise through one of the city’s tunnels, one of them presumably blasting the laid-back track via speakers attached to their saddle.
The song itself is a marked departure from some of IDK’s older, more aggressive material — and even the cooler grooves offered by his EDM pioneer collaborator. Rather than rapping, IDK sings the airy vocals, offering the reassuring advice to just breathe through it all. While other songs from the album, like “Taco” and “Dog Food,” blended his harder-edged sensibilities with the groovier production of Kaytranada, this song sees IDK truly branching out and showing his full range.
Watch IDK and Kaytranada’s “Breathe” video above.
Simple is out now on Clue with Warner Records. Get it here.
IDK is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Mase’s set at Lovers & Friends Festival this past Saturday (May 14) should have been a special moment for both him and the Las Vegas attendees. Sadly, the sound system had other plans as he had technical difficulties throughout his performance, culminating in the sound being completely cut off for around ten minutes after he tried to perform the 1997 classic record “Mo Money Mo Problems” also featuring The Notorious B.I.G and Diddy. Mase seems to believe it was no accident, blaming the latter for coordinating the blunder.
The New York rapper told the crowd “I see what’s going on. I’m used to being hated on. I’m used to what’s going on. Somebody, somewhere paid a few dollars to stop my show. But that can’t stop somebody like me. I don’t get ran away too easy. I just wasn’t ready for that, so I’m gonna take my time.” He continued with “Thank you Puff, you know he paid for that right? I got you n****. I heard you loud and clear.”
Mase has been very public with his disdain for Diddy over the years, citing discrepancies with the amount of money he’s been paid for publishing and going as far as to say the Bad Boy founder has been capitalizing on the death of Biggie for selfish monetary gain. Diddy hasn’t commented on the matter yet as he was busy with the 2022 Billboard Music Awards.
Moneybagg Yo and Kodak Black maintain a consistent presence in music, and their latest reminder of such comes in the new “Rocky Road” song and video. The visual, directed by Young Chang, shows the two rappers standing atop beaten up homes spitting about all they’ve seen in their lives. There are cutscenes of fights, gambling, and a child’s hair being done to fully capture what often occurs in the neighborhoods they frequent. Despite their success, they cannot forget their come up and what they still experience to this day.
“Rocky Road” comes on the heels of Kodak Black’s February release of Back For Everything. Moneybagg Yo is still riding the wave of his 2021 album A Gangsta’s Pain, which debuted No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with successful singles “Wockesha” and “Hard For The Next” featuring Future.
This isn’t the first collaboration between Moneybagg Yo and Kodak Black, as they both appeared on Yung Bleu’s “Angels Never Cry” as well as “Lower Level” from Moneybagg’s 2018 album Reset. Kodak recently appeared on Kendrick Lamar’s album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers with both a feature and some sparse interludes, a major look for the young artist whose career has been nothing short of controversial.
Check out the “Rocky Road” video above.
Kodak Black is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
About a month ago, Jack Harlow had a career highlight when “First Class” became his second No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the weeks since, it appeared it would be one-week-and-done for “First Class,” as Harry Styles’ “As It Was” knocked it off the top. After an additional week at No. 1 for Styles, Future, Drake, and Tems were No. 1 last week with “Wait For U.” Now, though, after weeks away from the top, “First Class” is back, as it’s once again No. 1 on the new Hot 100 chart dated May 21.
— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) May 16, 2022
It was a major week for Bad Bunny, too, who has four songs in this week’s top 10 thanks to his new album, Un Verano Sin Ti, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. “Moscow Mule,” “Tití Me Preguntó,” and “Después De La Playa” occupy spots 4, 5, and 6, respectively, while Bad Bunny and Chencho Corleone’s “Me Porta Bonito” is No. 10.
Meanwhile, Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” rose from No. 19 to No. 9 this week, making it her fourth top-10 single after “Truth Hurts” (a former No. 1), “Good As Hell,” and the Cardi B collaboration “Rumors.”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Kehlani just recently released their new album Blue Water Road, the follow-up to the 2020 LP It Was Good Until It Wasn’t. Though the album conveys a chapter of serenity and happiness for Kehlani, the promotion cycle was quite the opposite with uncomfortable interviews leading to their decision to no longer do interviews anymore.
The “Nights Like This” singer, though, has just announced that they will be heading out on the road this summer to promote the album, starting in Raleigh, North Carolina at the end of July and closing in Honolulu, Hawaii in October. Check out the full dates below, which all feature Rico Nasty and Destin Conrad as openers.
07/30 – Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater
08/01 – Miami, FL @ FPL Solar Amphitheater
08/03 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
08/05 – Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre
08/07 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
08/09 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
08/12 – Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion
08/13 – Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
08/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Skyline Stage @ The Mann Center
08/16 – Pittsburgh, PA @ UPMC Events Center
08/17 – Cincinnati, OH @ The Andrew J Brady Music Center
08/19 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory
08/22 – Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre
08/24 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage!
08/26 – Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
08/28 – Indianapolis, IN @ TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park
08/30 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
09/01 – Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater
09/03 – Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom
09/06 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
09/09 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Chelsea @ The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
09/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ YouTube Theater
09/14 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Federal Theatre
09/15 – San Diego, CA @ Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
09/17 – Portland, OR @ Theater of the Clouds @ Moda Center
09/18 – Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater
09/21 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum!
09/30 – Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
10/21 – Honolulu, HI @ Waikiki Shell
pic.twitter.com/Bjy3C6d3mu
Skip Bayless with some insight on what happened between Monty Williams & Deandre Ayton
/Kendrick Lamar’s Publicist (@big_business_) 
