Sports

Tinashe And Halle Bailey Perform At The NFL Season Opener

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Tinashe Lollapalooza 2022
Josh Brasted

Football season is kicking off with a bang. At tonight’s NFL season opener, where the Buffalo Bills are taking on the Los Angeles Rams, Halle Bailey and Tinashe graced the stage to open with powerful musical performances.

Up first was Bailey, who performed a breathtaking rendition of “Lift Every Voice And Sing.”

Shortly after, Tinashe followed, singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Both Tinashe and Bailey have been making moves in music for about 10 years, though with their new endeavors, they both feel like they’re just getting started.

“Now that I’m independent and I’ve been in the game for a decade, I’m really big on saying yes to a lot, and not overthinking things,” Tinashe said in a recent interview with W. “I’m just trying to get back to that original mindset of, we make art for fun. This is a privilege to be able to make any type of art. In my 30s, I want to have fun being a creative and a mogul. But I’m far from done with my music era. I feel like that’s still on the come up.”

Next year, Bailey is set to star in a live-action version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, as well as a remake of The Color Purple. She is also in the studio working on music with her sister, Chloe. In an interview with Essence, Bailey revealed that while she’s looking forward to her upcoming feature films, music will always take priority in her heart.

Check out Halle Bailey and Tinashe’s performances above.

Eminem Could Play ‘Any Position’ For The Detroit Lions, He Jokes On The ‘Hard Knocks’ Finale

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Eminem Detroit Lions Hard Knocks
NFL

The 2022 season of Hard Knocks with the Detroit Lions concluded last night. The five episode series showed head coach Dan Campbell’s team trying to find an identity and establish a winning culture after a disastrous 3-13-1 previous season. Campbell’s message to the team throughout the season was about having “Grit,” something that means a lot to the workhorse city of Detroit. And it’s hard to think of someone who embodies that grit, passion, and ability to rise up to the top, quite as much as arguably Detroit’s most famous export, Eminem.

So on the season finale, Eminem visited the Lions’ training camp facility and looked to be having a lot of fun in the process. He joked about throwing a football on the street as far as he can, but realizing that it only goes 10 yards. He told quarterback Jared Goff that he was much taller than he expected him to be.

He also volunteered his services to the team, saying, “Any position, I’m good. Actually, any position, I’m great.” He passed the ice baths and a running back Jamaal Williams told him all he needed was a 90-second dip to soothe achy muscles. To that, Em replied, “F*ck that. That’s 90 seconds too long!” He even treated the team to a lunch of his “Mom’s Spaghetti.”

Eminem had clearly been watching this season of Hard Knocks as he referenced rookie phenom Aidan Hutchinson’s rendition of “Billie Jean” in front of the entire team. But what really stood out was that Em was humble, present, and gracious enough to take photos and shake hands and chat with everyone he met. The mutual respect was most evident when he met the Lions head coach and Campbell (who is a massive human and dwarfed the rapper) gave him a hug and said, “Nobody represents this city more than you do. It’s a pleasure to have you out here.”

Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, And Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Performance Wins Three Emmys

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Getty Image / Kevin C. Cox

Last night, the Television Academy announced that this year’s Super Bowl halftime performance, which took place this past February and featured Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, And Kendrick Lamar, had won three Creative Arts Emmy awards.

On social media, the Academy revealed that the performance won the awards for Outstanding Variety Special (Live), Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special, and Outstanding Music Direction.

This year’s Super Bowl was an iconic moment for hip-hop, largely for West Coast hip-hop. In a July interview with Apple Music 1, Blige sat down to reflect on the monumental performance.

“I don’t even have the words to explain how full and how huge of an accomplishment that was,” Blige said. “I just felt so strong. And I felt like, first of all, grateful to have been asked, but I definitely felt like I earned that moment,” Blige remarked. “So when it was my turn, I just showed the world who I was. If you’d never seen me or you never met me or you never went to any of my shows, you know exactly who I am after the Super Bowl. I just couldn’t wait to hit the Mary bopping. I just couldn’t wait to just be myself and do what I do in front of that audience. That was the world, that was a big deal. I was so grateful.”

Mary J. Blige is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

No, That Wasn’t Beyoncé Cheering On Serena Williams At The US Open — It Was Laverne Cox

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The US Open is always a big deal for tennis fans as the final Grand Slam tournament of the year, but this year, it’s extra special, as it is superstar Serena Williams’ final tournament before she retires at the age of 40. On Monday, she played her first match of the tournament against Danka Kovinić with a surfeit of celebrity supporters such as Anthony Anderson, Mike Tyson, Queen Latifah, and Spike Lee in attendance. One who was not, though, is Beyoncé… but that didn’t stop some commentators on television and Twitter from believing she was.

As it turned out, the reason for the confusion was actress Laverne Cox, who multiple broadcasts confused for the Renaissance singer. To be fair, Cox was — who actually previously worked with Beyoncé — wearing a mask and has been known to wear similarly-colored tresses to Queen Bey. That didn’t stop those who could tell the difference from correcting those who couldn’t in the most hilarious ways.

Although Beyoncé wasn’t in attendance in person, she was in spirit, as the US Open broadcast of the match opened with a tribute video to Serena featuring Beyoncé’s song “I Was Here.” Beyoncé also recently narrated a Gatorade ad detailing Williams’ accomplishments on and off the court. The singer previously contributed the song “Be Alive” to the biopic about Williams’ father, King Richard, performing the song from the Compton tennis courts where Williams got her start to open the 2022 Oscars.

Cox, meanwhile, enjoyed the attention, posting a compilation of the mistaken identity tweets on Instagram with the caption “not me getting mistaken for @Beyonce at the #USOpen tonight then trending on Twitter as the internet cackles over the mistaken identity. These tweets are funny as hell. Enjoy!!!”

Serena Williams plays her second match tomorrow (August 31) at 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT against Anett Kontaveit.

Gatorade Got Beyonce To Narrate A Special Serena Williams Ad For Her Final U.S. Open

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Serena Williams will begin her final Grand Slam tennis tournament on Monday night when she takes on Danka Kovinic in the first round of the U.S. Open at 7:00 p.m. ET on center court at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Williams announced she will retire from tennis after the tournament earlier this summer, citing her desires off the court steadily pulling her away, from motherhood to business.

For arguably the greatest tennis player of all time, it will be quite the send-off at the tournament she has dominated since bursting onto the scene more than 20 years ago. Williams has six U.S. Open titles to her name and will be looking to add a seventh in storybook fashion — while also competing one more time with sister Venus in the doubles competition. But however her career ends, it will be a celebration of one of the great athletes of this generation, with plenty of tributes that figure to pour out in the next week-plus.

Among the first comes from her longtime sponsor Gatorade, which introduced a special S logo replacing their normal G for some U.S. Open gear, and tabbed Beyonce to narrate a video about her friend, celebrating the unapologetic manner in which Williams carried herself — her true self — for the world to see and millions of girls to look up to.

“When the world writes her down in history, we’ll begin where she started,” Beyonce’s narration reads. “At love. It’s a love that we’ll remember through the generations, a love that started a movement, a movement to always love exactly who you are and who you can be. To be so in love with your identity, that your very essence cannot be contained.”

LeBron James Had The Time Of His Life At A Kendrick Lamar Show In Vancouver

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It has been an eventful summer for LeBron James as he gets ready for his 20th season in the NBA. After some vacation time, James has been busy on the pro-am circuit, popping up at the Drew League and The CrawsOver in L.A. and Seattle, while also showing up at various gyms to work with trainers throughout the summer.

He’s also had plenty to deal with regarding his team and their future, as he signed a two-year extension earlier this month and has been pushing behind the scenes for the Lakers front office to make more moves to turn the roster into a real contender. While the Lakers continue trying to appease those desires, most recently trading for Patrick Beverley and there still being the expectation Russell Westbrook is moved, James made a trip up to Vancouver with his wife, Savannah, for a little R&R.

On that trip, the James popped in to Kendrick Lamar’s stop on the Big Steppers Tour and other fans took some videos of LeBron and Savannah having the time of their lives dancing and singing along.

Kendrick appreciated the love from the James family and gave the couple a shoutout during the performance, ensuring the entire crowd knew the King was in the building.

During a break, the crowd broke into full on MVP chants for LeBron.

LeBron’s love of music is well known and he had such a good time at the show that he had to tweet some special appreciation to the city of Vancouver for all the love in his first visit to British Columbia and to Kendrick for putting on a great show.

Stormzy Went On Sky Sports To Share His Thoughts On Cristiano Ronaldo: ‘Let The GOAT Be The GOAT’

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Manchester United is coming off a triumphant Premier League win against Liverpool on Monday Night Football this week. The Red Devils (who are not being bought by Elon Musk) claimed goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, while holding strong following a late goal from Liverpool’s Mo Saleh to win 2-1, and noted Man U supporter, Stormzy, was in attendance. The star British rapper was hanging out on the pitch following the match when the Sky Sports postgame team grabbed his attention, spontaneously put a mic in his hands, and had Stormzy join the broadcast to talk about the win and his thoughts on Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Sorry, I’m a bit flustered right now,” he admitted with a laugh. “We was walking past, we were starstruck and somebody gave me a mic and now I’m here. Like, ‘Mom I made it!’” With his three nephews by his side, the crew asked him how he was feeling about the team’s performance. “That was amazing. That’s the best we’ve been this season….the best we’ve been for a long time,” he said before the subject turned to Cristiano Ronaldo and the hosts asked Stormzy what he thought about him. Considering Stormzy is one of the best in his craft as well, he gave an excellent answer that felt like it was meant to silence critics and pundits: “When you’re that great, you can’t speak on him. You just gotta let the man be great. That’s the GOAT. You gotta let the GOATs be the GOATs, man. You know what I mean?”

Stormzy’s disposition was all class. He was beyond hyped to be on the television broadcast with his nephews, adding, “This is sick though. Mans on telly with the boys! You made my whole year with this.”

Watch Stormzy’s full appearance on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football above.

Pharrell Avoids Embarrassment With A Perfectly Fine First Pitch At A New York Yankees Game

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Pharrell First Pitch New York Yankees MLB Baseball 2022
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50 Cent, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Mariah Carey are all hugely successful musicians, but baseball fans may know them best as purveyors of some of the worst ceremonial first pitches in the history of the sport. It’s not all bad when it comes to musical artists doing athletic stuff, though, as Kevin Morby just had a fantastic first pitch at a Kansas City Royals game in July. At Yankee Stadium yesterday (August 22), it was Pharrell’s turn to take the mound before the Yankees played the Mets, offering a perfectly fine throw that was closer in quality to Morby than it was to Carey.

Alongside 13-year-old son Rocket Ayer Williams, Pharrell stood just in front of the mound and offered a throw that was a bit of a lob, but his form looked comfortable and the pitch landed in the strike zone, with the catcher only having to get out of his crouch slightly to catch the ball as it sailed over the plate. Considering how poorly moments like this have gone in the past, Pharrell did a good job and kept his name off an all-time-worst list.

As Pharrell took the field, he wore items from his new Billionaire Boys Club x Yankees special edition apparel line the launched yesterday, which was the reason for Pharrell’s presence on the field. The clothing and other goodies are available for purchase in various ways, including at Yankee Stadium and on the Billionaire Boys Club website.

The ‘Madden 23’ Launch Trailer Is A Star-Filled Showcase Of FieldSENSE

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Madden 23 is officially released on Friday and it is expected to be a major moment in the franchise. Not only is this game an homage to the late, great John Madden, but it’s introducing a key new gameplay feature that is supposed to make Madden more fun to play than ever before. FieldSENSE is the big new addition in this year’s Madden, and it’s meant to give gamers more control than ever before.

To showcase this new feature, Madden 23 launched with a trailer featuring a star-studded cast of faces to represent the new game. The trailer featured Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson and Cowboys linebacker Michah Parsons, but it also had some celebrity faces like Cordae and Hit-Boy talking up the game’s new features alongside Twitch star Nickmercs and Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football reporter Taylor Rooks.

We’re currently in the process of playing as much of the game ourselves to give a full review of the Madden 23 experience, and while our full thoughts will be withheld until then, we can say that the FieldSENSE feature is meeting the hype early on. It’s the most control Madden has ever given the player and it’s a big step in the right direction for the franchise.

The ‘Madden NFL 23’ Soundtrack Will Feature New Songs From Killer Mike, Cordae, And Others

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The latest installment of EA Sports’ mega-popular football video game franchise, Madden NFL 23, is just a couple days away from its August 19 release. The game has also turned into a music event in recent years, as the soundtrack has become a venue for premiering new music. Indeed, that’s the case again this year, as EA has announced this year’s soundtrack features a good handful of songs making their debut in the game.

The 39-song tracklist features 14 previously unreleased songs, including “Run It Up” by Bas, “Extra Credit” by Big K.R.I.T., “The Best (TUA Remix)” by Erica Banks, and “Get Some Money’ by Killer Mike. A couple of the new songs — Money Man, Babyface Ray, and Key Glock’s “No Limit” featuring Bleu, and Cordae and Hit-Boy’s “Checkmate” — will only be made available after the game’s launch.

On top of the soundtrack, Hit-Boy also created “33 exclusive beats for the game’s cinematics.” Beyond the new material, the Madden 23 soundtrack will also include familiar favorites from Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Tyler The Creator, and plenty of others.

Check out the full list of songs on the Madden 23 soundtrack below.

Aha Gazelle — “Tear It Down”
Bas — “Run It Up” *
Benny The Butcher — “Remember Me”
Big K.R.I.T. — “Extra Credit” *
Blackway, Aeph, Koko — “Impossible”
Boslen — “Levels”
Cam Wallace — “Energy!”
Charmaine — “Logic (Lucky Charm Freestyle)”
Coast Contra — “505”
Cordae — “Sinister” Feat. Lil Wayne
Cypress Hill — “Hit Em’”
Doechii — “Crazy”
Dreamville with Bas — “Lifestyle” Feat. A$AP Ferg
Earthgang — “Ghetto “Gods
Erica Banks — “The Best (TUA Remix)” *
Gizzle — “One Shot” Feat. BRE-Z *
IMRSQD — “Run It Up”
Joey Badass — “The Rev3nge”
Kendrick Lamar — “N95”
Killer Mike — “Get Some Money” *
King Green — “Cold” *
Kwesi Arthur — “Winning” Feat. Vic Mensa
Lord Afrixana — “Touchdown” *
Malachiii — “Hold Me”
Malachiii — “How To Be A Star” *
Marqus Clae — “Are You Ready” *
Nas — “Meet Joe Black”
Nigo — “Come On, Let’s Go” Feat. Tyler The Creator
OnCue — “Any Given Sunday”
Pap Chanel — “No Biggie” *
Pusha T — “Scrape It Off” Feat. Lil Uzi Vert and Don Toliver
Risqkae — “The Intro” Feat. Rti$ *
Robert Glasper — “Black Superhero” Feat. Killer Mike, BJ The Chicago Kid, and Big K.R.I.T.
Simon Said. and Jazzfeezy — “You Gotta Choose” Feat. Steve Samson *
Snoop Dogg — “Conflicted” Feat. Nas
Symba — “Go Get It” *
Symba — “Put Me In The Game” *
Trev Rich and Wallis Lane — “Whole Team” *
Ty Dolla Sign — “Champions” Feat. Wiz Khalifa
Money Man, Babyface Ray, and Key Glock — “No Limit” Feat. Bleu *^
Cordae and Hit-Boy — “Checkmate” *^

* exclusives and debuts
^ additional tracks with the start of the NFL season

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