Music

Mozzy And Kalan.FrFr Lure Beach Bunnies With Ice Cream In Their ‘Whole 100’ Video

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After Mozzy made a whole album with YG earlier this year, the Sacramento native once again taps in with a Compton star in the video for “Whole 100” from his new album, Untreated Trauma. The video sees Mozzy and Kalan.FrFr operating an ice cream truck, which helps put them in contact with baddies at the beach, as well as the usual assortment of block-bound misfits. With an upbeat and lighthearted tone, it’s something of a departure for the usually serious-minded Mozzy but Kalan.FrFr helps make this one a party-ready good-times anthem.

Thanks to Mozzy and YG’s collaborative effort, Kommunity Service, and Untreated Trauma, Mozzy’s profile is higher than ever. Not only has he become something of a fixture of West Coast turn-up joints like “Perfect Timing,” “Vibe With You,” “Gangsta,” and “Dangerous,” but now his name rings enough bells to get put on songs with hitmakers like Eminem and Polo G — Skylar Grey’s “Last One Standing” features all three. Untreated Trauma is Mozzy’s highest-charting album yet, peaking at No. 19 on the Billboard 200.

Meanwhile, Kalan is having something of a breakout year himself after dropping his debut album TwoFr 2 in March. That led to him starting to land more placements, while his UPROXX Sessions performance of album cut “Never Lose You” has generated impressive buzz for the West Coast rising star.

Watch Mozzy’s “Whole 100” video featuring Kalan.FrFr above.

Foo Fighters, Doja Cat, And The Strokes Lead Lollapalooza’s Brazil And Argentina 2022 Festival Lineups

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Lollapalooza has had a strong presence in Brazil and Argentina for years now with the festivals it hosts down there, and they’re doing it big in South America in 2021. The lineups were announced today, and they’re excellent: Foo Fighters, Doja Cat, Miley Cyrus, The Strokes, ASAP Rocky, and others are hearing to to Lollapalooza Brasil, which goes down in São Paulo from March 25 to 27, 2022. They’ll also be playing at Lollapalooza Argentina, taking place in Buenos Aires from March 18 to 20.

Joining the headliners, the nearly identical lineups will also feature Machine Gun Kelly, Martin Garrix, Jack Harlow, Phoebe Bridgers, Idles, Kaytranada, Alan Walker, Kehlani, Marina, and of course, Jane’s Addiction (fronted by festival co-founder Perry Farrell). It’s a welcome sight to see native artists playing at each country’s rendition. Brazil’s fest will include acts like rapper Rashid, drum and bass legend DJ Marky, and queer pop sensation Pablo Vittar. While the Argentina edition features rhumba pop singer Natalie Perez, singer-songwriter Lito Nebbia, and rock band Él Mató a un Policía Motorizado.

Lollapalooza Argentina takes place on March 18 to 20 at Hippodromo de San Isidro in Buenos Aires. Get full lineup info and tickets here.

Lollapalooza Brasil takes place March 25 to 27 at Autódromo de Interlagos in São Paulo. Get full lineup info and tickets here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Travis Thompson Racks Up Some ‘Dead Prezis’ In A High-Speed ‘UPROXX Sessions’ Performance

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Straight from the Pacific Northwest, Travis Thompson drops in to rack up some “Dead Prezis” on the latest UPROXX Sessions. The Burien, Washington native’s latest is a high-speed, pedal-to-the-metal get-money anthem and in his live performance, he displays both an impressive degree of technical skill (check out that breath control) and a well-practiced nonchalance that makes it look all too easy.

When we last heard from Travis Thompson, he’d just released his 2019 album, Reckless Endangerment, but like many of our favorites, was forced to take 2020 off by the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic and resultant shutdowns. However, he returned with a vengeance this past summer, dropping a follow-up project titled Blvd Boy featuring appearances from G-Eazy (who appears on the album version of “Dead Prezis”), Kota The Friend, Kyle (on “Parked Cars”), and Westside Boogie (on “Bad Luck”).

From a suburb of Seattle to the UPROXX Sessions stage, Travis Thompson is gaining momentum by the minute. Now’s the time to get a ticket to the train, because there are few other rappers who are gaining steam as quickly.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

JID Joins Imagine Dragons On An Epic Quest In The ‘Enemy’ Video From Riot Games’ Netflix Series, ‘Arcane’

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Imagine Dragons and JID are two names most music fans would never have “imagined” together, but thanks to Riot Games and the upcoming, League Of Legends-inspired animated Netflix series, Arcane, you won’t have to use your imagination — just click play on the video above. Made up of clips from the series itself, which follows the origins of several of the game’s characters, the video previews some of the exciting scenes fans can look forward to when the show hits Netflix on November 6. The video also features an animated JID rapping his lightspeed verse.

“Enemy” isn’t the first time Riot Games collaborated with musicians. In 2019, they partnered with a group of real-life stars to conceive True Damage, a virtual band in the game itself consisting of Becky G, Keke Palmer, Soyeon of (G)I-dle, Duckwrth, and Thutmose. While it’s a slightly different concept from what “Enemy” is doing — essentially, it’s a soundtrack song, which is definitely something we’ve seen before — the new track broadens Riot’s relationship with popular music and opens some exciting doors for the future.

Meanwhile, Arcane looks like an exciting show itself, deepening the League Of Legends story while leaving plenty of room for new or casual fans to get invested in its sci-fi/fantasy tale. You can watch the trailer below.

RZA Admits Selling Martin Shkreli Wu-Tang Clan’s Exclusive Album Put It ‘In The Wrong Hands’

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Wu-Tang Clan had high hopes when they created only one copy of their exclusive album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, which was meant to be auctioned off and barred from commercial sale for 88 years. But things didn’t quite go according to plan when currently imprisoned “Pharma bro” Martin Shkreli bought the LP before going to jail for several counts of fraud. RZA now admits that selling Shkreli the album was a mistake, but his original vision for Once Upon A Time In Shaolin could still come true after all.

RZA recently sat down for an interview on Hot 97’s Ebro In The Morning radio show, where he discussed selling the album to Shkreli and said it definitely “was in the wrong hands.”

The rapper explained he met with Shkreli before selling him the album, but that was before his true character was revealed. “The thing that’s powerful about it now is, now that it’s out of our hands, no disrespect to Martin Shkreli, because I don’t never knock somebody who bought something,” he said. “But it was in the wrong hands in reality. He made the deal before it was revealed of his character, his personality, and all the insidious things he would go on to do. That wasn’t the guy that I met. He definitely unfolded into that guy. He had control of this one-of-a-kind piece of art, and I could see it was in the wrong hands. But still, it was a sale and I can’t complain about who we sell it to. Everybody’s got a right to buy something that’s for sale.”

The government has now sold Once Upon A Time In Shaolin to NFT organization PleasrDAO in order pay off the $7.4 million forfeiture judgment against Shkreli at the time of his conviction. RZA believes that the album is now in the “right hands” after meeting with the person behind PleasrDAO, saying his original vision for the album could still become a reality:

“But now, I think it’s in the right hands. I’m hoping that it is in the right hands. I spoke to the gentleman who’s leading the way and he just seems to have more of a Wu vibe about him. Wu is a vibe and I strive to say it’s a vibe of positivity, even with the aggression. […] There were some original ideas that we wanted to do with this album. A lot of beautiful ideas that wasn’t disclosed to the public, and I won’t disclose them now, but those ideas were not able to happen with Mr. Shkreli. Now that PleasrDAO has it, there’s an opportunity for a lot of these beautiful ideas of what this art can be and how it can expand itself in the world.”

Watch RZA’s full interview with Ebro In The Morning above.

ASAP Ferg Enters The Matrix In His Surreal ‘Green Juice’ Video Featuring Pharrell

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In ASAP Ferg‘s glitchy, trippy video for “Green Juice,” the Harlem rapper gets digitized into a familiar, green-tinged virtual reality. While it’s not technically the Matrix of the sci-fi action series that will be — ahem — resurrected soon, it’s a close enough simulation (no pun intended — that time) that it’s clear the imagery Ferg’s concept is working to evoke. While he stomps his way through a signature brag-filled verse, The Neptunes’ buzzing, booming production, and Pharrell‘s oddly inspirational chorus make “Green Juice” into a futuristic, chest-thumping anthem.

Ferg’s set to perform the new single for the first time this weekend at Rolling Loud New York, where he’ll also be offering his favorite green juice from Pressed Juicery via UberEats. It’s also a buy one, get one free situation, with each purchase adding the customer into a sweepstakes for exclusive signed merch. Technically, this means he and fellow New York rap staple Styles P will be competing for customers, what with Styles’ Juices For Life pop-up also coming to Rolling Loud this weekend. Will we see the first-ever rap beef prompted by competition for juice territory? Probably not, but it’s still a pretty amusing thought.

Watch ASAP Ferg’s “Green Juice” video featuring Pharrell and The Neptunes above.

Big Sean And Hit-Boy Announce Their Collaborative ‘What You Expect’ EP

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So far, the creative partnership between Big Sean and Hit-Boy has been massively fruitful. Beginning with their work on GOOD Music’s 2012 posse cut “Clique,” the duo has put out almost a decade’s worth of hits and fan-favorite bangers, right up to last year’s Detroit 2 and its fiery singles “Deep Reverence,” “Lithuania,” and “Lucky Me.” They kept that momentum this year with “What A Life,” which turned out to be the first single from a collaborative EP the two announced today, What You Expect.

As revealed by Big Sean, the EP will include five new songs, a number he increased from just one new song after a month of chatting up how much he’s enjoying himself just rapping lately. “I had fun doing that LA Leakers freestyle n droppin the What A Life song/video,” he wrote on Twitter today. “it feel good to be active, n just doin whatever the f*ck I wanna do.” Last week, Sean drew attention for delivering a nearly nine-minute freestyle over four different beats, tackling Kanye West’s “Hurricane,” Drake and Jay-Z’s “Love All,” Jay-Z and Memphis Bleek’s “Dear Summer,” and Nardo Wick’s “Who Want Smoke??”

Meanwhile, Hit-Boy is riding high after his pair of successful King’s Disease releases with Nas, which prompted the Queens legend to call the California producer his Quincy Jones.

What You Expect is due 10/29 via Def Jam.

Rolling Loud Announces Its New York Festival Set Times As Phone Wallpapers

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As someone who goes to a lot of festivals for a living (more or less), one of the more annoying aspects is getting stuck without service as the venue fills up and trying to access set times on a website I can’t connect to. Fortunately, for Rolling Loud attendees in New York this weekend, the festival has figured out a way to keep set times accessible at a moment’s notice, releasing them as nifty phone wallpapers. Now, all you have to do is turn on your phone’s screen to check when and where your favorite artists are performing.

The festival kicks off today with headliners 50 Cent, JID, and Lil Durk on the Deleon Stage, Punx Stage, and Audiomack Stage, respectively. Meanwhile, the absolutely stacked day-one lineups include stars like Lil Uzi Vert, Gucci Mane, Gunna, Jack Harlow, Moneybagg Yo, and Polo G, with hometown heroes Bobby Shmurda, Joey Badass, Dave East, Young M.A., Smoove’L, CJ, DreamDoll, Stove God Cooks, and Nyck Caution sprinkled in throughout the day (does Fetty Wap count? He’s from New Jersey, not New York, but they’re basically neighbors, right?).

There’s also a site map and an app to help you build your schedule for the day. Check them out in the thread below.

Travis Scott Announces An Astroworld Week And The Unveiling Of The Cactus Jack Design Center

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Over the past few years, Travis Scott has cultivated a reputation for giving back to his hometown via the Cactus Jack Foundation, and next month, he’ll extend his philanthropy even further as his Astroworld Festival now includes an Astroworld Week. In the days leading up to the festival, which lands on November 5-6, Travis is taking over Houston with events looking to benefit local youth including a celebrity golf tournament and softball game; the unveiling of his Cactus Jack Design Center, several public basketball courts, and a youth community garden; and a slew of sneaker release events in conjunction with Nike’s SNKRS program.

In addition, Travis revealed the premiere date for the A24-produced film, Red Rocket: November 6, during the Astroworld Festival. The Astroworld Festival lineup, which was revealed earlier this week, also includes 21 Savage; Baby Keem; Bad Bunny; BIA; Chief Keef; Don Toliver; Earth, Wind & Fire; Houston All-Stars; Lil Baby; Master P; Roddy Ricch; Sheck Wes; Sofaygo; SZA; Teezo Touchdown; Toro Y Moi; Travis Scott; Tame Impala; Young Thug; and Yves Tumor.

You can find more information about the Cactus Jack Foundation here and more about Astroweek here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Roddy Ricch, Swae Lee, And More Join The Cast Of The Upcoming Movie, ‘Sneaks’

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A new animated film about sneaker culture has added some all-star level voice talent, according to Deadline. Sneaks is being produced by Laurence Fishburne, who also has a voice role, and has a star-studded cast featuring the voices of NBA player Chris Paul, Grammy winners Ella Mai and Roddy Ricch, and five-time Grammy nominee Swae Lee. In addition, LA hitmaker Mustard is signed on as the music producer.

The film revolves around a lost pair of sneakers trying to find their “sole mate” in New York City. Mai plays an oxford, Macy Gray plays a stiletto, and Swae Lee plays a “gifted young athlete” as they try to help out and stop a pair of villains, the forger played by Roddy Ricch and an evil collector played by Fishburne. Meanwhile, Chris Paul will voice himself, hosting a sneaker convention. To ensure the authenticity of the sneaker culture seen throughout the film, the legendary Bobbito Garcia serves as an advisor.

Fishburne offered this quote: “Our film will illuminate and pay homage to the forever growing and popular sneaker culture that continues to inspire and be inspired by musicians, athletes, and artists alike, and I’m thrilled by the cast and crew who have decided to join us on the journey.” Mustard said, I really see the music in this film as a crucial part of the storytelling. As the first family animated feature film to be steeped in sneaker culture, I am honored to draw from my expertise as a producer and artist, and my love of sneakers, to create moments that really connect. The added bonus is that this is a film that I’ll be able to enjoy with my family and kids.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.