Music

All The Best New Music From This Week That You Need To Hear

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Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz

Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw a Taylor Swift/Haim reunion and Ariana Grande expanding her latest beloved album. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

Haim — “Gasoline” Feat. Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift and Haim have a healthy professional relationship, which they extended last week with a Swift-featuring version of “Gasoline.” The collaboration was enough for Swift to proclaim herself the fourth Haim sister, so she has apparently snatched the title from Bernie Sanders.

Ariana Grande — Positions (Deluxe)

Deluxe editions of albums took on a new level of prominence in 2020 and Grande is keeping that going in 2021 with an expanded release of her own. Grande’s new deluxe version of Positions adds five new tracks, including her star-studded remix of “34+35” that features Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion.

Wild Pink — A Billion Little Lights

The band’s John Ross recently spoke with Uproxx about his new album, saying of the just-released effort, “I wanted to have something very lush and just bigger than anything that I’d done before. And I got to play with amazing players, that was my favorite part.”

The Hold Steady — Open Door Policy

The veteran indie rockers recently sat down with Uproxx to review all of their albums, and Craig Finn told us of his band’s latest, “I’m super excited about it, but I’ve struggled to tell people what’s different about it. I think there’s been a continuation of figuring out this six-piece line-up and where everything goes and I think that that’s a huge part of the story. It’s allowed us to be more expansive musically than maybe we have in the past. There’s maybe a little bit more of headphone moments. There’s this weird scraping of guitars, some weird little noises that brought something we haven’t done before.”

Another Michael — New Music And Big Pop

Another Michael’s Nick Sebastiano recently told Uproxx of the band’s free-wheeling new album, “I look back upon it as one work that’s like a big pizza: One song was like the cheese, another song was like the bread. And then we only saw it as that for a while.”

Kaytranada — “Caution”

Kaytranada and TikTok linked up to celebrate Black History Month with the groovy new single “Caution.” Elsewhere this month, TikTok is also set to drop a cover of 1971 gospel song “Like A Ship” by Leon Bridges, as well as a live concert featuring Saweetie, Snoop Dogg, and Tyga.

Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats — “So.Incredible (Robert Glasper Version)” Feat. Smino

Curry and Beats highlighted 2020 with their collaborative project Unlocked, and now they’re getting ready to expand upon that effort for 2021. This year will bring a reworked version of the album titled Unlocked 1.5, which they previewed with a new version of “So.Incredible” with Smino and Robert Glasper.

CJ — Loyalty Over Royalty

Staten Island rapper CJ got a major taste of music industry success recently when his single “Whoopty” managed to crack the top ten of the Hot 100 chart. Now he’s dropped his debut project and he builds on his momentum by going at it totally feature-free save for a guest spot from French Montana.

Conan Gray — “Overdrive”

After a breakout 2020, Conan Gray has re-emerged in 2021 with “Overdrive.” Uproxx’s Caitlin White described the track well, calling it “classic, blockbuster pop with huge guitar riffs, soaring vocals, and the kind of chorus that makes you want to roll the windows down and scream it out into the night.”

Coi Leray — “No More Parties” Feat. Lil Durk

Lil Durk’s latest guest spot is on Coi Leray’s “No More Parties,” which mirrors the similarly titled Kanye West track. This is just the latest collaboration for Durk, as he and Kehlani had a song together earlier this month and he may be working on a full album with Lil Baby.

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

Bobby Shmurda Will Reportedly Be Released From Prison Tomorrow

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Over the past couple months, it has seemed like Bobby Shmurda’s release from prison is imminent. He was originally scheduled to get out this December, but the prison staff’s Time Allowance Committee decided to potentially bump up his release date to February 23. Rowdy Rebel ramped up more excitement on that front last week by declaring that Shmurda would be free in a matter of days. Sure enough, it now appears that Shmurda will in fact be released from prison tomorrow.

This morning, journalist Jayson Rodriguez shared New York City records that indicate the rapper’s conditional release date is set for tomorrow, February 23. Last night, Shmurda also got fans buzzing by sharing a 5-minute clip from the film King Of New York, in which Christopher Walken’s character is released from prison and then celebrates his freedom. Shmurda captioned his post, “How the fuc y’all forget about me.”

Shmurda has been in prison since 2014. In December of that year, he and multiple others were arrested on gun and drug trafficking charges. Naturally, his musical output his been limited since then, although not non-existent: In 2018, he featured on Tekashi 69’s “Stoopid,” recording his verse over the phone.

It appears music is where the rapper’s focus will be once his is free: His mother, Leslie Pollard, told TMZ that once Shmurda is out, he wants to enjoy an “intimate dinner” with his family. After that, he apparently intends to spend most of his time working on music.

DaBaby Explains The Controversial Jojo Siwa Reference On His ‘Beatbox’ Freestyle

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Over the weekend, DaBaby and Jojo Siwa trended on Twitter as music fans were baffled by the rapper’s reference to the teen pop star in his freestyle over SpotEmGottem’s viral hit “Beat Box.” The lyric in question revived the once-popular hashtag punchline style — always a dangerous proposition, considering even Ludacris still hasn’t recovered from that same lyrical faux pas — to diss an imagined rival. However, the wording seemingly left his meaning ambiguous enough that some fans believed he was dissing the colorful young singer, prompting a flurry of dismayed memes and comparisons between the two entertainers.

Eventually, DaBaby himself entered the discussion to clear the air, calling the whole incident a misunderstanding by fans. “I love Twitter bruh,” he joked in a tweet responding to the frenzy. He further elaborated in a tweet directed to Siwa herself, “My 3-year-old princess is your number 1 fan. I bought her every product you have out. She think she you. Don’t let em trick you into thinking id ever have a problem with you. My word play just went over their heads. All love on my end shawty, Keep shining!”

He also leveraged “Siwa” into a homonym for another joke. “I don’t ‘Siwa’ they so mad,” DaBaby cracked. Now, that’s wordplay, even if it is cheesy. It probably won’t stop Twitter from coming after him again — after all, it’s become something of a pastime on the app, with users criticizing him for working with Tory Lanez (pre-Megan Thee Stallion shooting), performing during the pandemic, and even showing off his lunch (from Chick-Fil-A, after it was revealed that the chain’s owners had donated to some questionable organizations). It’s fortunate he seems to know how to take it all in stride.

A Shooting At A Roddy Ricch And 42 Dugg Video Shoot Left Three People Injured

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The good news is it looks like Roddy Ricch and 42 Dugg have a new video on the way. The bad news is that during the production of that visual, things got dangerous and a shooting left three people injured.

According to WSB-TV Atlanta, on Sunday afternoon at a scrap yard in southwest Atlanta, Ricch and Dugg were filming a video when gunshots rang out. Two people, Antoine Blake, 25, and Vernon Moulder, 29, were shot but were able to take themselves to Grady Memorial Hospital. Atlanta police confirmed both Blake and Moulder are in stable condition. A third person, Peter Cook, 39, was hurt not by a gunshot, but by debris. Ricch and Dugg were reportedly unhurt, with Dugg himself later confirming on an Instagram Story, “Appreciate the concerns though I did not get SHOT!!!!!”

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Teresa Lakes, a medic who was on set for COVID screening purposes, said, “Everyone started running, trying to get out or take cover; lot of places to take cover in there. Anyone that was injured, I laid hands on ’em to make sure they were OK. Just glad it wasn’t a lot worse than it could have been… could have been worse.”

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

Tyler The Creator Soundtracked A New Coca-Cola Ad And Said ‘Commercials Need Sounds Like This’

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Tyler The Creator’s has been quiet since he took home a Grammy award for Best Rap Album last year. It’s not clear when he’ll release new music, though the rapper did land a pretty sweet gig with Coca-Cola recently. The beverage company shared an ad on Sunday that featured music by Tyler himself, in which a number of people are shown cracking open a bottle of Coca-Cola to drink. The first sip from the bottle causes them to dance uncontrollably and flaunt their moves in various locations, including a corner store and a soccer game.

Tyler took to Twitter to share the news. “Drums are f*cking hard the low end is shaking,” he wrote. He added, “Thats me playing the flute at the beginning,” revealing that his talents span multiple instruments. In addition to the production, Tyler’s vocals can also be heard in the ad. While the commercial is certainly a great moment for Tyler, he wasn’t all for it at first.

“Mannnn thanks coca cola for reallll big love for the opportunity,” he wrote. “I was like ehh idk but then i f*cking ran with it. commercials need sounds like this, thanksssss.”

You can watch the Coca-Cola ad above.

Bad Bunny Played A Talking Plant In An ‘SNL’ Music Video For A ‘Loco’ Quarantine Song

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Bad Bunny is an undeniable star at this point in his career, and it’s resulted in some pretty cool opportunities for the singer that don’t always pertain to his chart-topping Latin records. The latest example of this came when he landed a role in a recent Saturday Night Live episode as a talking plant.

In the sketch that also featured Ego Nwodim, Pete Davidson, and Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page, the group creates a song titled “Loco.” Basically, it’s about the odd feeling that nearly a year worth of social distancing in a pandemic has left them with.

Led by Nwodim, she took viewers on a journey through the odd post-quarantine interactions that take place with people, one of them being Regé-Jean. Davidson lays a verse that follows her sentiments and when the mic returns to Nwodim, she’s interrupted by her talking plant, played by Bad Bunny, who labels her as a “loco” for holding a conversation with him in the first place.

The sketch joined two performances Bad Bunny delivered on SNL, both being songs from his late-2020 album, El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo. The first was “La Noche De Anoche” with Rosalía, who performed beside the singer for the intimate set, and the second was a solo rendition of “Te Deseo Lo Mejor” which Bad Bunny performed with his WWE championship belt beside him.

You can watch the sketch above.

DaBaby Name-Dropped Jojo Siwa In A Recent Freestyle And People Have No Idea Why

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DaBaby recently hopped on SpotEmGottem’s viral “Beat Box” with a braggadocios freestyle and an equally boastful video that found him showing off his own dance that accompanies the song’s TikTok trend. It was the mention of a young YouTube star on the song, however, that’s left listeners baffled as to why they were mentioned in the first place.

On the song, DaBaby raps, “Turn me up n**** / You gonna see why you a b*tch, Jojo Siwa.” The line confused many as the young influencer did not seem to do anything to warrant getting name-dropped in the song.

As a result, listeners took to Twitter to share their reactions to the song. One user joked that DaBaby may not fare well in a fight with Siwa because she stands two inches taller than him at 5’9.” Another called for a backstory on the diss because, just like the rest of us, they have no idea why DaBaby name-dropped the 17-year-old viral star.

The “Beat Box” freestyle is just one of a few contributions has made to the music world in 2021. The track joins his “Throat Baby” remix with BRS Kash and City Girls, his “Cry Baby” video with Megan Thee Stallion, and his “Masterpiece” single.

Scroll down for more reactions to the Jojo Siwa name-drop below.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Rowdy Rebel Proclaims He And Bobby Shmurda Will Appear At This Year’s Summer Jam Festival

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It looks like Rowdy Rebel and Bobby Shmurda have big plans for 2021. Of the bigger things on their docket is appearing at this year’s upcoming Summer Jam Festival. Whether it be a virtual performance or an in-person event, that banks on the status of the pandemic, but the upcoming performance should be one of the duo’s first together since the start of their prison sentence on conspiracy to commit murder and weapons charges, back in 2014. Rowdy was freed in December and it’s been reported that Bobby will get out on February 23.

“I normally wouldn’t speak on my brother’s behalf, but I know my brother ain’t gonna miss Summer Jam,” Rowdy proclaimed during an interview on Hot 97. “Some things are just mandatory, and Summer Jam is mandatory.” The announcement comes after Rowdy said Bobby’s release would happen in less than a week. “SIX DAYS LEFT […] Then all the joy gone wash away the pain, I promise you brother,” he wrote in an Instagram post from February 17, which falls in line with Bobby’s rumored February 23 release.

Rowdy kicked off his comeback with “Jesse Owens” while Bobby is sure to have plenty of new songs when he gets released.

You can watch the Hot 97 interview above.

Playboi Carti Was Approached And Threatened By A Man Who Claimed He Put His Hands On His Sister

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Prior to December, much of the anger and frustration that was directed at Playboi Carti had to do with his extremely-delayed album, Whole Lotta Red. Finally, on Christmas Day, the rapper released the project to the delight of his fans and the lukewarm reception of critics. While the displeasures with the rapper have calmed down over the last couple of months, the rapper was recently approached and threatened by a man in a video that was shared on social media.

It’s unknown where or when the incident occurred but in the video, the man and someone else, who recorded the confrontation, approached Carti and angrily spoke to the rapper. The man then claims that he can beat Carti up if they got into a fight. For much of the video, the rapper can be seen with his hand behind his back, a stance that made the two individuals that approach him believe he was holding a gun.

Despite their thoughts, a weapon did not appear in the video. Eventually, the man claims that Carti put his hands on his sister. The rapper immediately denied the accusation and soon the camera moves away from the rapper, making it hard to tell what happened next.

After the incident, Carti took to Twitter and said, “i KnOck br0 oUT . hE WAS bEInG TOo cRAZY !”

You can watch the incident in the video above.

Bad Bunny Dazzled With Performances Of ‘La Noche De Anoche’ And ‘Te Deseo Lo Mejor’ On ‘SNL’

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As if there weren’t plenty of highlights on his resume already, Bad Bunny adds another one to the list with a dazzling performance on Saturday Night Live. Bringing his talents, to the late-night set, he kicked off the night by performing “La Noche De Anoche” with Rosalia. Thanks to the warm red, pink, and purple lighting that appeared around the stage, the rendition of the El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo song proved to be a passionate one and even ended with an intimate moment between the singers.

Next, Bad Bunny returned to the stage by himself to perform “Te Deseo Lo Mejor,” another song from his El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo album. This performance was a bit more upbeat than the previous and one of the best parts about it was it featured Bad Bunny singing the track with his WWE 24/7 championship belt draped over his leg.

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The SNL appearance comes after Bad Bunny shared a passionate video for “La Noche De Anoche” with Rosalía on Valentine’s Day. The two appeared as an inseparable couple for the visual for the El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo highlight. As for what’s next? Bad Bunny may have a Grammy award in his future thanks to Best Latin Pop Album and Best Pop/Duo Group Performance nominations for YHLQMDLG and “Un Día.”

You can watch both SNL performances above.