Music

Andrew Lloyd Webber Says There’s One Thing He Enjoyed About The ‘Cats’ Movie, Which He Really, Really Hates

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Few films are as loathed as Cats, the star-studded, bewilderingly misjudged movie take on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s deathless feline musical. But you know who hates it more than just about anyone? Andrew Lloyd Webber. The trauma of seeing one of his most successful shows turned into one of cinema’s biggest farts was so traumatic he even bought himself a therapy dog. But it wasn’t all bad for him. After all, he got to write a song with one of today’s biggest musicians.

As per Variety, the musical theater god recently confessed at an event that he quite liked working “Beautiful Ghosts,” a new song for the movie he composed with Taylor Swift, who played the mischievous Macavity.

“It was one of the few enjoyable experiences [on the film],” Lloyd Webber admitted. “It was probably the enjoyable experience.”

Lloyd Webber called Swift, one of many of the film’s stars who somehow escaped unscathed, a “real pro,” and praised her for digging into the source: T.S. Eliot’s poetry collection Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.

“One of the things I was quite intrigued by, she got to the essence of what T.S. Eliot was about,” Lloyd Webber recalled. “It wasn’t just a lyric thrown together at all. I did enjoy working with her very, very, very much.”

So, good for him, because otherwise, it sounds like Lloyd Webber didn’t have a good time watching one of his shows massacred. He previously trashed the film to Variety. “Cats was off-the-scale all wrong,” he said back then. “There wasn’t really any understanding of why the music ticked at all. I saw it and I just thought, ‘Oh, God, no.’ It was the first time in my 70-odd years on this planet that I went out and bought a dog. So the one good thing to come out of it is my little Havanese puppy.”

In the meantime, Lloyd Webber can console himself with having been a wildly successful musical impresario for the last several decades, with one of them — The Phantom of the Opera — still playing on Broadway after 33 years. Speaking of bad movie musicals…

(Via Variety)

Vince Staples Breaks Down His ‘Pokemon 25’ Song ‘Got ‘Em’ With Help From Snorlax

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Vince Staples might be best-known for his sardonic social media personality and scathing, nihilistic gangsta raps, but he’s also quite the pitchman — remember his hilarious Sprite commercials? The Long Beach native puts all three skills to use on Pokemon 25: The Album, a companion compilation of tracks celebrating the generations-spanning multimedia franchise’s 25th anniversary. Vince contributes “Got ‘Em” to the album, which also features such names as J Balvin, Lil Yachty, Post Malone, and Tierra Whack and drops October 15.

Above, in a rare glimpse of earnestness from Vince, he breaks down the “evolution” — hehe — of “Got ‘Em” along with some “help” from Snorlax. Of course, if you know anything about Pokemon — which, as Vince points out in the video, you probably do — Snorlax’s assistance amounts to basically napping in the corner while Vince recounts his experiences playing the video game and watching the cartoon growing up. As he puts it, “It’s important to tap into your inner child or just not be jaded. There’s always room for excitement or fun or optimism if you can keep hold of the things that were important to you in childhood, it’ll put you into a good place.”

If that feels like a big swing from the rapper’s usual stance on such things, it might be time to go back and review his old work — despite the running thread of fatalistic acceptance of his dark surroundings, there have always been glimpses of optimism as seen through his mischievous sense of humor. That humor pops up in his Pokemon explainer, too; the latter portion of the clip consists of Vince comparing his “nap ability” to Snorlax’s and determining that despite being an expert in catching 40 winks whenever possible, the rotund road napper has a lot more experience in sawing logs at a moment’s notice.

The Album poster
You can watch Vince Staples talk up Pokemon 25 above and pre-order the album here.

Drake Joined The Raptors Broadcast During A Preseason Game Against The Rockets

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The Toronto Raptors are back in the 6 after spending last season plying their trade in Florida. In response to restrictions put in place by Canada’s government during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Raptors were unable to play their home games in Scotiabank Arena last season, meaning it’s been a minute since the team’s most famous fan got to watch them in-person.

While we’re still on the long march towards the regular season, Drake made his triumphant return to watching the Raptors on Monday night during a preseason tilt against the Houston Rockets. At one point, because this is the preseason we are talking about here, Drake joined the team’s broadcasters while sitting courtside and having something to drink to talk about getting back into the arena.

The whole thing is a delight — it very much seems like Drake just showed up and they had a conversation like a bunch of old friends catching up with one another, Fred VanVleet throws his arms up when he realizes Drake is on the broadcast, just excellent television from top to bottom. This should absolutely happen more often, whether it’s Drake and the Raptors or any other superfan just showing up and radiating good vibes during a broadcast.

As for the game, Toronto beast Houston, 107-92.

Summer Walker Teases The Tracklist For ‘Still Over It’ And Her Next Single With JT, ‘Ex For A Reason’

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Summer Walker

Summer Walker’s album rollout for Still Over It, the follow-up to her 2019 debut, Over It, continues as the Atlanta singer announces her next single, “Ex For A Reason,” featuring JT of City Girls. In addition, she shared a partial tracklist revealing the first two songs and the final one, connecting each of the 20 songs to a specific date from August of 2019 to this past October 7.

Summer initially revealed the new album’s release date last Tuesday, sharing the “Still Over It” trailer which featured a throwback to her Over It photoshoot and a phone conversation she had with the then-incarcerated JT. The two promised to connect and it appears that the upcoming single will reveal further details of that conversation, judging from the date on the tracklist, while also marking the duo’s first collaboration on a record since JT’s release early last year.

Although Summer shared the titles of two more songs — “Bitter,” the album’s opener, and “Ciara’s Prayer,” the final track on the album — she has yet to release any other music from the project. Yet, anticipation for its release is sky-high among R&B fans, who have been awaiting a follow-up to Over It for over two years, perhaps driven by the social media drama she’s shared over that span and the certainty that she’d channel her real-life tea into her music.

We’ll certainly have a chance to find out on October 15, when the first single drops, and November 5, when the album does.

Lil Baby, 21 Savage, And Others Are Performing On The Virtual 2021 Adult Swim Festival

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The Adult Swim Festival went virtual in 2020, and the event is returning in the same way this year: It was announced today that the fest is set to go down on YouTube and HBO Max on November 12 and 13, and a bulk of a lineup was also revealed.

It’s a multi-faceted event, but on the music side of things are previously unseen performances from Lil Baby, 21 Savage, Flying Lotus, Angel Olsen, Alessia Cara, Karol G, Kelly Lee Owens, The Armed, and Sheer Mag, with more artists set to be announced ahead of the show.

Meanwhile, there will also be livestreams and panels from Adult Swim favorites like Rick And Morty, Squidbillies, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Beyond that, episodes of shows like Rick And Morty, The Eric Andre Show, Robot Chicken, Joe Pera Talks With You, Metalocalpyse, and others will be broadcast, accompanied by live chats featuring surprise guests.

Adult Swim has long had its own specific presence carved out in the music world: For years now, the network has teamed up with (mostly alternative) artists to share new music, and they’re staying strong on that front. Just last month, for example, Soccer Mommy and Kero Kero Bonito shared a collaboration, “Rom Com 2021,” as part of the Adult Swim Singles series.

Blac Chyna Is An Unexpected Pro-Vaccine Hero After Screaming At Fellow Travelers At The Airport

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If you gave up hope that any rappers or social media personalities would take a responsible view of COVID vaccines after Nicki Minaj’s “swollen balls” fiasco, Blac Chyna is here to restore some of your faith in humanity. The “My Word” rapper became an unexpected pro-vaccine hero on Twitter after a fan’s video of her yelling at fellow travelers in the Miami International Airport to “just get the shot” went viral.

In the video, Chyna can be seen standing with her crew, yelling at someone offscreen to “go get the f*cking vaccine and stop being stupid, ho.” Unfortunately, the viral moment was couched inside a concerning, disjointed speech that had some wondering whether Blac Chyna was okay, but when one of the biggest entertainers in the world is telling people to do their own research and retweeting the conspiracy buffs on Fox News, I guess you accept any imperfect messenger you can get to counteract the destructive forces of vaccine skeptics (we’re at three-quarters of a million people dead, come on, people).

Fans quickly latched onto the video, launching Blac Chyna onto Twitter’s trending topics list with their reactions. While most approved of her outburst, a few worried that it might have been sparked by substance abuse and hoped that she would seek treatment. You can see more reactions below.

Tyga Was Arrested On Felony Domestic Violence Charges And His Bail Is Set At $50K

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Tyga has been arrested in Hollywood and charged with felony domestic violence. The arrest took place after the rapper’s now ex-girlfriend, fashion designer and influencer Camaryn Swanson, posted a video to her Instagram page showing her alleged injuries, which included a massive black eye.

According to TMZ’s original report of the incident, officers said Swanson arrived at Tyga’s house around 3 a.m. on Monday morning. Police were called and Swanson told them Tyga put his hands on her. Officers said they were able to see visible marks.

On Instagram, Swanson claimed to have been “emotionally, mentally, and physically abused” by the rapper. She shared some screenshots of a text conversation with him to her Stories, refuting TMZ’s report that she showed up to his house “screaming.” Instead, Swanson alleges that the fighting happened when she asked Tyga to call her a car to take her home. “I didn’t show up ‘screaming’ or uninvited,” she wrote. “when I tried to leave he physically assaulted me and refused to let me leave for hours.”

Tyga’s arrest Tuesday was confirmed with the LA Police Department by Vulture, who reported that his case will be forwarded to the LA District Attorney’s Office, which will then determine which charges to will be brought against the rapper and whether or not prosecutors will ask for a different bail price. At the time of his arrest, Tyga’s bail was set at $50,000.

Lupe Fiasco’s ‘Kick, Push’ Prompts Belly, Lakeyah, And Other Young Rappers To Consider Skateboarding

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Back in 2006 when Chicago native Lupe Fiasco released the lead single “Kick, Push” from his debut album, Food And Liquor, there weren’t many high-profile Black skateboarders. In fact, Black kids who skated — especially in the hood — were subject to ridicule and outsider status for engaging in an activity that was long held as the domain of beach-blond surf rats in Venice Beach. But Lupe was part of a vanguard of Black artists who changed that, providing representation for those outsiders and throwing open the doors of possibility for generations after.

Many of Uproxx’s panel of React Like You Know artists are part of those younger generations. For instance, Almighty Suspect thinks it “helped a lot,” while Foushee calls the song “very important to build the foundation” for young, Black skaters. However, that doesn’t mean that it made skaters of the whole hood overnight. Our newest panel members, Belly and Lakeyah, both point out their very good reasons for refusing to try it out. Lakeyah says, “The closest I ever got was a hoverboard… I have no balance.” Meanwhile, Belly reminds us that “I’ve always been big-boned my whole life — I feel like that’s a bad combination.”

Things get deep when our panel is asked about choosing between love and their careers, inspired by Lupe’s second verse boy-meets-girl narrative. Newcomer Jazz Cartier points out that “you can have room for love, opposed to half-assing it.” Meanwhile, the fashions of the video captivate Travis Thompson and Godson; Travis says “Nike SBs were everything,” while Godson marvels at Lupe’s Bathing Ape hoodie.

Watch our panel of guest rappers react to Lupe Fiasco’s “Kick, Push” video above.

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

Machine Gun Kelly Leaves Nothing To The Imagination While Describing His First Kiss With Megan Fox

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Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly officially went public with their relationship in 2020 and have been making headlines for turning heads with their PDA ever since. While Fox has made it clear their relationship is intensely passionate, comparing it to a tsunami and a forest fire, the two also detailed some of the more tender moments in their love life in a recent interview — like their first kiss.

The couple sat down with British GQ for a joint cover interview about being “Hollywood’s hottest new power couple.” During the conversation, the two detailed the beginning of their relationship. After meeting on the set of Midnight In The Switchgrass, Fox and Kelly would text all the time. Eventually, their text conversations turned into three-hour phone calls. “Did you ever talk to a girl for three hours on the phone in your whole life?” Fox teased Kelly in the interview. “Were you like, ‘How the f*ck am I going to talk to her?’”

Kelly responded to Fox’s quip by recalling their first kiss. “It felt like five minutes, so it didn’t even feel like three hours,” he said. “Even our first kiss, she wouldn’t kiss me. We just put our lips right in front of each other and breathed each other’s breath and then she just left.”

Fox added that her reason for resisting the kiss came from her wanting to protect her heart, even though she knew she was already falling hard. “[I was] definitely open [to] love, but I did not anticipate walking right into my soulmate like that,” she said. “I was obviously over the way I had been living, and those paths lined up, those doors opened. It was [as if] all the obstacles that had kept us apart all those years [had been removed] and we were able to finally intersect.”

The couple also described their first date, which sounds like a scene from a teenage coming-of-age film. Kelly picked up Fox in a convertible Cadillac and they listened to Ella Fitzgerald as they drove to a canyon’s edge. A friend was waiting with a picnic in hand and a blanket with a “sea of roses.” The date ended with them going on a rooftop, listening to pop-punk, and making out.

Check out the full British GQ cover story here.

Meek Mill Makes An Apt Comparison Of Poverty Conditions To ‘Squid Game’ But Some Fans Disagree

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It seems like for the past few weeks, all anyone has been able to talk about is Squid Game, the Korean Netflix drama that has captivated viewers with its grotesque concept and sly social commentary. That includes rappers, as well; Meek Mill apparently enjoyed it and was able to connect with the show’s themes, making an astute observation on Twitter that unfortunately, didn’t go over well with some of his followers.

“Squid games”pay attention how fast people switch and kill each other to survive,” he noted. “Now think about the ‘hood’ poverty …it’s the exact same thing …if you just help them with work/money they won’t be that way ‘just a common sense message.’” Parsing his words a bit, it seems as though he’s pointing out what sociologists and activists have been saying for a long time. Impoverished areas need more resources because crime and violence are a result of that lack, not intrinsic nature.

Of course, not everyone was amenable to this observation, likely thanks in part to Meek’s hit-and-miss social strategy, including his own recent missed opportunity to “give back.” Some of the responses argued that it takes more than resources, while others thought that the theme of the show — which is spelled out pretty clearly throughout its nine episodes — points to a different conclusion. One commenter rejected the premise of the tweet entirely, telling Meek to “get in the studio” despite the fact that his latest album is less than a week old.

However, many agreed with Meek’s perspective on the message that Squid Game conveyed. The show revolves around a group of desperate people who sign up to play children’s games for a large jackpot. However, they quickly learn that the losers are shot and killed. Given the opportunity to opt-out and return to their respective dire circumstances, many of the players return, playing out the violent six-round game to completion, becoming more vicious as their numbers dwindle and the games themselves turn them against each other.

You can watch Squid Game on Netflix now.

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