Music

‘SNL’ Embraces Chaos And Books Willem Dafoe And Katy Perry For The Same Episode

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Willem Dafoe Spider-Man
Sony

Over its four-and-a-half decades, Saturday Night Live has had plenty of Mad Libs-y host-musical guest(s) pairings. Al Gore and Phish. Tony Danza and Laurie Anderson. Old school entertainer Milton Berle and free jazz legend Ornette Coleman. Business magazine founder Steve Forbes and anti-capitalist rockers Rage Against the Machine. Some even become memes. There’s even an entire Twitter account dedicated to hosts improbably introducing musicians. So here’s another.

As per Deadline, for the episode of Jan. 29, the live sketch show has recruited beloved character actor Willem Dafoe and — why not! — pop goddess Katy Perry. For Perry, who is in the midst of her first Las Vegas residency, it’s her fourth time on the show. For Dafoe, it’s his first. Dafoe isn’t exactly a comedic actor, preferring serious art cinema and cutting up the occasional blockbuster, but he can be very funny. Witness The Lighthouse, in which he out-there enough to inspire an SNL sketch, well before they finally invited him on.

Besides, who doesn’t look Willem Dafoe? He can currently be seen in two big movies: dusting off his old Green Goblin duds in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which is making all the money, and Guillermo del Toro’s star-studded remake of Nightmare Alley, which is not. He had a busy 2021, appearing in yet another Wes Anderson movie (The French Dispatch), yet another Paul Schrader (The Card Counter), and yet another with perhaps his most frequent collaborator, eccentric weirdo Abel Ferrara (Siberia).

Before this hot mess begins, feel free to visit the aforementioned SNL host/musical guest(s) Twitter account, where you see such inventive sights as this.

(Via Deadline)

Robert Glasper’s ‘Tonight Show’ Performance Included Guests Rapsody And DJ Jazzy Jeff

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After announcing the release date for his upcoming album, Black Radio III, and sharing its latest single, “Black Superhero,” Robert Glasper brought the new music to a national television audience with a star-studded appearance on The Tonight Show. Playing a medley of “In Tune” and “Black Superhero” (minus Big KRIT and Killer Mike, two of the three featured guests on the latter), Glasper invited guests Amir Sulaiman, BJ the Chicago Kid, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Rapsody to perform with him.

After Sulaiman opens the set with a passionate spoken-word piece, BJ joins in to sing his verse and the chorus from “Black Superhero,” and Rapsody shows up to add her own verse to the song in place of the missing KRIT and Mike, all while DJ Jazzy Jeff adds his signature scratches and Glasper tickles the ivories. “All my superheroes Black,” Rapsody rhymes as she and BJ bop to the bluesy piano riff and old-school beatbox vibes. It’s a cool rendition of the new track, and should Black Radio III continue the trend that most of Glasper’s music has stuck to, it’ll be a shoo-in for another Progressive R&B Album nomination at the next Grammys.

Watch Robert Glasper’s Tonight Show performance of “In Tune/Black Superhero” above.

Rico Nasty Explains Why It’s ‘So Disrespectful’ When Fans Ask Her To Twerk On Stage

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Rico Nasty
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Rico Nasty loves performing on stage to her fans. The rapper has made a name for herself with her wildly energetic and captivating stage presence. But there are times that being on stage in front of thousands can be frustrating, particularly when people in the crowd ask her to twerk.

The Nightmare Vacation rapper recently sat down for an interview with XXL where she called out how “disrespectful” it is to be in the middle of a set and see people in the crowd holding up their phones and asking her to twerk. “This is probably the worst thing that you could put up while a female rapper is performing, even if she is gonna twerk, even if that is what she does, even if you’re at a club and someone’s hosting and she’s just an IG baddie,” Rico said. “This is so disrespectful. […] It’s not what I do. You go on my Instagram right now, do I have any videos on [twerking]? There’s people that do, and they look great doing it, but I don’t do this so you’re at the wrong stage, bro.”

The rapper went on to clarify that she sees twerking as a double standard for a woman artist:

“And for all my young girls, who, I mean, you do what you want to do and it’s lit and it’s fun. I’m just trying to make art and perform my songs and go. I’m not trying to be something that I’m not. You shouldn’t try to make somebody something that they’re not. Because once I do succumb to the standards of beauty and what you guys want me to be and I get ‘the look,’ then you’ll say that’s all that I am. I’ve seen you do it to all of these talented, beautiful people. They do the image you want, that you thought would go, and then they’re nothing more than that.”

Watch Rico’s full video with XXL below.

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

‘The Story Of Hip-Hop With Chuck D’ Docuseries Is Coming To PBS

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Chuck D is a key figure in the history of hip-hop. There’s no denying that. In Jeff Chang’s seminal 2005 book, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, — arguably the definitive document on the history of hip-hop culture — The Public Enemy MC is featured prominently as a source and Public Enemy are justifiably a major part of the book’s comprehensive tracking of hip-hop’s sociopolitical shift in the late-80’s and early 90’s. So it’s fitting that Chuck D is now bringing The Story Of Hip-Hop With Chuck D, a four-part docuseries for TV that will document the history of hip-hop and air on PBS.

Produced by BBC Studios, the series is set to trace the history of hip-hop over the course of the past 40 years and will feature appearances from hip-hop legends like Run DMC, Queen Latifah, and LL Cool J. Chuck D, who developed the series with his manager Lorrie Boula shared a statement on the project:

“The hip-hop community has, from the start, been doing what the rest of media is only now catching up to,” said Chuck D. “Long before any conglomerate realized it was time to wake up, hip-hop had been speaking out and telling truths. Working with PBS and BBC is an opportunity to deliver these messages through new ways and help explain hip-hop’s place in history and hopefully inspire us all to take it further.”

The Story Of Hip-Hop With Chuck D is entering production and no word on yet on when it will be released.

Freddie Gibbs Co-Opts Gunna’s ‘Pushin P’ Slang To Troll His Newfound Rap Rival

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The friction between Gunna and Freddie Gibbs continued through the weekend, as Gibbs undercut Gunna’s self-serious shot at him on the Atlanta rapper’s new album with a series of posts on his unofficial Instagram. You may remember that Gibbs’ original account was banned from the platform due to his constant flouting of the Terms of Service, but that didn’t stop him from starting a new, lower-key account. Over the weekend, Gibbs used the new account to troll Gunna for both his substandard diss record and for trying to kick off a new slang term with “Pushin P.”

Adopting Gunna’s newfound habit of replacing the letter “P” in his social media with a bright blue emoji of the letter, Gibbs poked fun at Gunna’s shape and again accused him of snitching, captioning posts “That ain’t P” and “Pushin Paperwork.” In another post, he flips through a menu while misquoting Gunna’s shot at him, humming, “I can’t f*ck with Freddie Gibbs / N****s eating ribs.” He also roasted one of Gunna’s Instagram fit pics, writing, “It’s giving hotel carpet.” Meanwhile, Gunna, who recently explained the origin of their feud and accused Freddie of reaching out to collaborate with him, seems to be more focused on celebrating the fact that his new album DS4EVER debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, edging out The Weeknd’s Dawn FM.

Freddie also recently showed off his comedic chops in a more official capacity, appearing in an SNL sketch that was cut for time.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Inescapable ‘Encanto’ Smash ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ Just Passed ‘Let It Go’ On Disney’s All-Time Hit List

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Bruno Encanto
Disney

Last week, the hit Encanto song, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” scored Lin-Manuel Miranda his first-ever top-ten song when the banger managed to hit number five on the Billboard charts. It was a notable accomplishment considering Disney hasn’t been able to crack the top five since “Let It Go” from Frozen in 2014. If you’ve had the song stuck in your head since Encanto started streaming on Disney+, then you probably won’t be surprised that “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is showing no signs of slowing down.

According to the latest Billboard charts, the Encanto hit is now at number four, which is something Let It Go was never able to achieve despite becoming the first top-five Disney hit since 1995’s “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas. After breaking a 19-year streak, Let It Go was taken out in a little over seven years. Via The Wrap:

In the latest data from Billboard, the Lin-Manuel Miranda hit became the highest-charting song from a Disney animated movie since 1995. With the No. 4 spot, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” ties with “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from “The Lion King” — peaking at No. 4 in 1994 — and “Colors of the Wind” from “Pocahontas,” which peaked in the same spot in 1995.

In an interesting note, Encanto director Jared Bush recently revealed to The New York Times that the character of Bruno was originally named “Oscar” until Miranda stepped in and suggested “Bruno” after the production team realized there were way too many Oscar Madrigals in Columbia, which could’ve caused some thorny legal issues. Plus, “We Don’t Talk About Oscar,” doesn’t really have that same earworm hook that just burrows right into your skull and never leaves. Ever. Seriously, get this song out of our heads, for the love of God!

(Via The Wrap)

The 2022 Grammys Are Now Set For April In Las Vegas

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It was revealed earlier this month that the 2022 Grammy Awards had been postponed due to concerns about the Omicron variant of COVID-19. A new date wasn’t revealed at the time, but now it has been set: The event is now set to take place on April 3, as Variety reported and The Recording Academy later confirmed. Furthermore, the ceremony has been moved to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas from its original venue, Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena. The new venue (which has 17,000 seats) is one the Academy knows well, as the 2021 Latin Grammys were just hosted there in November.

Details about other official Grammy Week events — like the Premiere Ceremony, the MusiCares Person Of The Year benefit concert (in honor of Joni Mitchell this year), and the Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala (honoring Sony Music’s Rob Stringer) — will be announced soon. The CMT Awards were originally scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand on that date, but the event will be moved to a later date in April.

This marks the second year in a row that the Grammys were forced to postpone, as the 2021 event was also pushed back due to coronavirus concerns.

Find the full list of this year’s Grammy nominees here.

This post is being updated.

Eazy-E’s Daughter Weighs In On Kanye West And The Game Sampling Her Father And On The Pete Davidson Line

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Last week, Kanye West dropped the proverbial “lyric heard the world” on his new single “Eazy” with The Game. In the midst of a diatribe about his divorce, therapy, and his ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s new boyfriend Pete Davidson, Ye fires the ultimate shot at the actor when he spits, “God saved me from that crash, just so I can beat Pete Davidson’s ass.” The song is propped up on a sample of Eazy-E’s “Eazy-Duz-It,” which might’ve raised some eyebrows with hip-hop purists. But now Eazy-E’s daughter Ebie Wright has weighed in on using the sample and on the lyrics.

In an impromptu interview, a TMZ cameraperson asked Wright about her thoughts on the song. Wright quickly voices her approval for the track, saying, “I think it’s a great song. I’m a huge Kanye fan, I love Game. It’s an incredible record and it was also produced by my buddy Hit-Boy so shout out to all my guys.”

That’s a nice co-sign from Eazy’s offspring, but it’s what she said about the Pete Davidson line that was really revealing.

“My father literally represents revolutionizing everything, he also represents gangster rap. What Kanye did and what he said on it, I mean, it don’t get no more gangster than that.”

She elaborates a bit further and on whether her father would’ve wanted to be a part of this song were he alive today. But clearly sees it as an homage to her father and added of Kanye that “Eazy taught him. And Eazy taught me.”

Watch the entire interview with Ebie Wright in the video above.

Key Glock Salutes His Fallen Mentor With ‘Proud’ From The Upcoming ‘Long Live Dolph’ Compilation

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Young Dolph’s label, Paper Route Empire, is releasing the tribute compilation Paper Route Empire Presents: Long Live Dolph this Friday, January 21. Of course, it’s only right that the latest single from the album would come courtesy of Dolph’s most frequent collaborator on the label, his Dum And Dummer partner in rhyme, Key Glock. Glock offers his own personal homage to his fallen mentor and friend with “Proud,” which the label shared today along with a poignant video highlighting Makeda’s bakery, which Dolph loved to frequent — and where he was ultimately taken from the world too soon.

“I could get in back in blood but still I can’t get back the time,” Glock rhymes as he performs in front of a tribute wall dedicated to Dolph. The gist of his song is simple; he’s hurt but he wants to make Dolph proud of him, so there’s only one thing to do: Get back on the grind.

In addition to Key Glock’s tribute, Long Live Dolph is set to feature appearances from the other members of Paper Route Empire, including Big Moochie Grape, Chitana, Jay Fizzle, Joddy, Kenny Muney, and Snupe Bandz, as well as an appearance from Young Dolph himself. You can pre-save the project here and watch Key Glock’s “Proud” video above.

Joe Budden Didn’t Need To Listen To Earl Sweatshirt’s New Album To Decide He Hates It

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When it comes to media coverage of new rap releases, one voice fans seek out — if only for entertainment value rather than insight — is Joe Budden. The ex-rapper has been ruthless about demeaning contemporary artists’ albums on his podcast in the past, calling Logic one of the worst rappers ever, trolling Jay Electronica on the release of his long-awaited debut, and goading Eminem into a war of words, amidst dealing with his own personal drama after being accused of sexual harassment and shady business practices by his former employees.

He continued that trend on the latest episode of his podcast as he addressed Earl Sweatshirt’s newly released album, Sick!, which contains the tracks “Tabula Rasa” and “Titanic.” While the project was received well by fans on social media, Budden expressed an opposite view, staunchly declaring that he refused to even give it a cursory listen. Despite this, he still had plenty to say on the subject as he raked Earl over the coals, although Earl’s name is mysteriously censored — even though Joe’s comments make it fairly obvious who he’s referring to.

“I’m just being honest this year,” he said. “Hell no, I ain’t hear that bullsh*t! And I’ll tell you what, I’m never gonna hear ’em! I am never gonna hear that. I don’t care. That sh*t could be [Michael Jackson’s] Thriller. When would I put that on?” He expounded on his reasoning by pointing out he’s never heard a request to play Earl from a specific demographic. “Let me tell you how shallow I am,” he explained. “If a baddie comes in and throws on [Earl] and there’s some slaps on there, and then maybe another baddie comes… but I’ll be honest, that ain’t happened.”

He also blamed his reticence to play Earl’s new music on the LA rapper’s deteriorated relationship with Tyler The Creator. “Is [Earl] on Tyler’s last album?” he asked. “Is [Earl] on Tyler’s album before that album? How about the one before that one? All right, yo. Forget it. But you expect me to listen to it. [His] man won’t call him to come to the f*cking studio. Yo, when your man stop inviting you to the studio, you’re not getting me to listen to what you’re doing. Sorry, that’s like a rule of thumb for me.”

Unfortunately for Joe, fans don’t agree with his insistence that he’s just being honest, attributing his attitude to leftover resentment after Earl roasted him with an unflattering impression during an episode of Loiter Squad in 2014.

You can check out Joe’s full comments above.