TV

Issa Rae Includes Thundercat, Raphael Saadiq, SiR, And Others In Her Favorite NPR Tiny Desk Concerts

by
Issa Rae
Getty Image

Surely, we’ve all gone down the NPR Tiny Desk Concert rabbit hole. There’s something about seeing favorite artists (and new discoveries) in a highly intimate setting that feels special, even if we’re not there and just watching from our screens at home. The series has become a ubiquitous part of pop culture and lately, NPR has been asking celebrities to list out their favorite performances. Today, Insecure star, writer, and creator Issa Rae checked in to share her picks.

She led off her list with Raphael Saadiq, who is not only the composer for the musical score of Insecure, he’s also certifiably one of the best live acts in hip-hop and R&B. “When he linked up with Lucky Daye for “You Should Be Here” was just phenomenal,” Rae said as one of her highlight moments of the performance. She also counts Thundercat as one of her favorite Tiny Desks and in goofy Issa Dee fashion (her character in Insecure) she explains that “The lyrics [to his song FriendZone’] are lowkey kind of dumb. But to hear it sound so melodic was just like a treat for me.”

She goes on to talk about Sampha and how his music was featured in Insecure season 2, and that she “was introduced to Sampha by Solange when she was doing the music for season one, so he has a special place in my heart.” She tips the cap to SiR (“because, you know, Inglewood”), and rounds out her six with Baby Rose and Nick Hakim, who’ve both had songs featured on Insecure.

Read Issa Rae’s full comments on her favorite Tiny Desk Concerts here.

Megan Thee Stallion Signs A First-Look Production Deal With Netflix

by
megan thee stallion
Getty Image

Megan Thee Stallion has signed an exclusive first-look production deal with streaming platform Netflix, according to Variety. The Houston rapper previously told Vogue that she was writing a horror movie (her favorite is Evil Dead) and later told Marie Claire that she wanted to bring Get Out director Jordan Peele in as a collaborator. Her new deal with Netflix just might help make that dream a reality as she creates and executive produces new content for the streamer, including possible a television series and other projects.

Netflix’s head of comedy, Tracey Pakosta, said, “Megan is a multi-talented creative force who has consistently made her mark on culture. She’s always growing and evolving as an artist, and we’re thrilled that she’s making a home at Netflix for this next chapter in her journey.” Megan herself seemed pretty amped about the announcement as well, saying, “I’ve always had a passion for telling creative and entertaining stories, so I’m thrilled about this partnership with Netflix. Venturing into production is the next step in my journey as an entrepreneur and I can’t wait to bring all my ideas to life and for my Hotties to watch.”

Considering Megan’s love for all things anime and nerdy, let’s hope she gets to do some animation as well, so we can potentially see this iconic moment brought to life for real. If I can’t have a Saweetie TV show — there’s still time, Netflix! — at least give me that much.

Snoop Dogg Got Ben Affleck’s Name Wrong While Announcing Golden Globe Nominees But Otherwise Nailed It

by

Earlier this morning, the nominees for the 79th Annual Golden Globe Awards were announced in Los Angeles and to great surprise, Hollywood Foreign Press President Helen Hoehner gave way to an illustrious Southern Californian to read off the first half of nominations, saying, “And now to help me announce the 79th Annual Golden Globe nominees, please welcome a special guest… Snoop Dogg.”

Out came the lanky six-foot-four-inch rapper with a red “Murder” beanie on his head, an asymmetrical paisley button down shirt, modest-sized gold medallion, and of course, Locs sunglasses. First off, big shouts to Snoop Dogg for getting up in time to appear in front of a screen by 6 a.m. That’s a father of four right there, people.

But for all the jabs Snoop Dogg has received for mispronouncing a couple names (“Ben Uhffleck… Ben Affleck. My fault… sorry about that, Ben.”), he actually totally nails all or most of some pretty difficult names. He pronounced Dune director Denis Villeneuve’s name with very stout French pronunciation of a hard “e” at the end. He then showed his versatility in the love language by pronouncing The French Dispatch composer Alexandre Desplat’s name with a soft “t.”

Of course there were moments of hilarity, like the way he said Pose actress Michaela J. Rodirguez’s last name like it was one of the homies from the block (“Rordriguezz!”) or how he delivered the title of the musical Tick, Tick…Boom! like it was the punctuation to a song lyric.

So don’t listen to anyone who makes the condescending claim that Snoop Dogg was “butchering so many of the nominees’ names that it was hard to tell who actually got nominated.” Because he was absolutely himself and he did a fine job at the mundane task before him.

Watch Snoop Dogg announcing the 79th Annual Golden Globe Nominees above.

Billie Eilish Leads A Twerk-Filled Update To The Story Of Jesus’ Birth In A ‘SNL’ Sketch

by

Last night, for the second time in her career, Billie Eilish brought her talents to Saturday Night Live. The last time she appeared, back in 2019, she defied gravity with a performance of “Bad Guy.” This time around, the singer signed on as both musical guest and host. In one sketch, the singer and cast member Heidi Gardner joined forces to update the story of Jesus’ birth.

The sketch was entitled “Hip-Hop Nativity,” and it found the two recruiting a group of actors to play many of the characters from the biblical story. They taught them how to twerk, strut, and pole dance. The actors initially raises issues over the biblical update, but they eventually went along with it. The closing bit also jokingly revealed that Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda will direct a full-length film version of Billie and Gardner’s updated nativity story.

In addition to the “Hip-Hop Nativity” skit, Billie also performed “Happier Than Ever” and “Male Fantasy” on SNL. The former made for an epic performance while the latter was a bit darker and relaxed.

In non-Eilish SNL news, the episode also featured Kate McKinnon returning as Dr. Fauci while Weekend Update skewered Jussie Smollett and the torching of the Fox News Christmas tree.

You can watch Billie’s Hip-Hop Nativity sketch in the video above.

Watch Chris Stapleton And HER Perform ‘This Christmas’ At The National Christmas Tree Lighting

by

A time-honored tradition, The National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony took place in Washington D.C. last night with both Joe and Jill Biden present for the affair. There was a full-on slate of musical guests that included Chris Stapleton, HER, Juanes, Billy Porter, Keb’ Mo’, Patti LaBelle, Maren Morris, Kristin Chenoweth, the Howard University Gospel Choir, and LL Cool J as the evening’s presenter. Think of the ceremony as the Super Bowl of Christmas Tree lightings and it’s a totally decked out tree that spares no expense. Get a load of the description of this year’s design:

“This year’s design includes a background of warm white lights with a delicate sprinkling of sparkling red and warm white sphere ornaments placed in a cascading pattern from the top all the way down the newly planted White Fir tree, with a cluster of sparkling red and white spheres on the lower branches. A simple, yet elegant star topper finishes off the design. “

So with the gigantic tree flanking the stage, the stars came out and Stapleton and HER laid down a rendition of “This Christmas” that highlights what the 2022 Grammy nominees do best. Stapleton’s down home country vocals and slick guitar kicked off the number before being joined by HER’s gorgeous piano and elegant, forceful singing, becoming emboldened as the song rolled on. Backed by the U.S. Army Band Downrange, the confluence of the pair’s talents on the duet chorus made for a classy performance that feels natural and fits the moment perfectly.

Watch the video of the pair performance of “This Christmas” above.

HBO Released Kendall’s Birthday Party Playlist From ‘Succession’ And It’s ‘All Bangers All The Time’

by
kendall birthday
hbo

In last week’s episode of Succession, Kendall wanted the playlist for his 40th birthday party to be “all bangers all the time.” Did he succeed? You can judge for yourself, as HBO has released “Kendall’s Birthday Mix” on Spotify. There’s no Billy Joel, but there is the Chemical Brothers, LCD Soundsystem, Alison Wonderland, and KRS-One.

Assuming Succession takes place in 2021, Kendall would have been born in 1981, meaning his formative music-listening years would be in the mid- to late-1990s. There is absolutely no chance that he didn’t agonize the night before the party over whether to include “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” by Eiffel 65 on the playlist. He made the right call to leave it off — even if the episode ended with him feeling blue, da ba dee da ba di, after — spoilers, but you’ve probably seen the episode already — not being able to find his kids’ birthday present in the rabbit wrapping paper. Everything’s great.

You can listen to the playlist below:

And here’s the tracklist:

1. “White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It)” by Grandmaster Flash and Grandmaster Melle Mel
2. “Man of the Year” by ScHoolboy Q
3. “Fotomat” by St. Maximus
4. “Go” by Geek Boy
5. “Here Comes the Warm Dreads” by Lee “Scratch” Perry and Brian Eno
6. “The Club” by Keith Goodey and Julian Napolitano
7. “NY Lipps (Kawazaki Dub)” by Soulwax
8. “Big Conspiracy” by J Hus and iceè tgm
9. “MC’s Act Like They Don’t Know” by KRS-One
10. “Radio Babylon” by Meat Beat Manifesto
11. “Troublemaker” by St. Maximus
12. “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down” by LCD Soundsystem
13. “Don’t Glaze Me” by Dizzee Rascal
14. “Hey Boy Hey Girl” by the Chemical Brothers
15. “Lost Dimension” by Magic Castles
16. “Anything” by Alison Wonderland and Valentino Khan

bangers
hbo

Seth Rogen Still Has No Idea How He Ended Up Sitting Front Row At Adele’s Televised Concert Special

by

Seth Rogen digs weed. Let me take that back. Seth Rogen absolutely loves weed. He recently lit up with Conan O’Brien on the last episode of the host’s TBS late-night show. Rogen’s got his own weed company and is rolling in success, along with rolling in joints. For those reasons, it’s not at all hard to believe that Seth was high while recently appearing in the front row of Adele’s CBS TV concert special, “Adele One Night Only.”

There were a few surprises during the course of that special, apparently. Adele helped one gentleman pull off a surprise proposal that night, and as it turns out, Rogen was very surprised to be front row at an Adele show while the thing was being taped for TV. Here’s how he boisterously explained (to Jimmy Fallon) how this happened. Let’s just say that weed wasn’t the reason, but it still came up in conversation:

“I was in the front row of the Adele concert. And that is as surprising to me as anyone because I had no idea I was attending the taping of an Adele television special at all. I got an invitation, ‘Do you want to go to a small Adele concert?’ is what I remember absorbing. And I go to my wife Lauren, ‘You want to go to this small Adele concert?’ ‘Great, sounds fun’ … So, if I’m being honest, I hate to burst everyone’s bubble, I smoke weed, Jimmy.”

Rogen continued while adding that he “smoked a ton of weed” that night, and then, when he and his wife (Lauren) arrived at she show, “we see camera cranes.” That was when he realized that this was probably going to be on a TV show, but he reasoned, “Maybe it’s not that big a television special.” That’s when he saw Oprah at the show, and then Rogen thought maybe he could “just sit in the back.” However, that’s not what the powers in be had in mind for him, despite not being “equipped mentally to deal with doing this right now, really.” The situation progressed to where “I sit down, there’s like a camera literally just pointed at my face.”

Sounds surreal. And as one might expect, Rogen rolled with it. He stars as Santa Claus in Santa Inc. (which is currently streaming on HBO Max), and you can watch him at the aforementioned Adele concert in the below video from Entertainment Tonight.

Trevor Noah Is Hosting The Grammy Awards In 2022, Too

by
trevor-noah-getty-full.jpg
Getty Image

Earlier this year, Trevor Noah took the reigns as host of the Grammy Awards, and the Recording Academy was so pleased with the job he did that they’re bringing him back to host the 2022 ceremony, too.

Making the announcement, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. says (as Deadline notes), “Trevor was amazing as our host for the 63rd Grammy Awards with praise from the music community, music fans and critics. We’re so excited to welcome Trevor back to the Grammys stage and feel fortunate to once again have him hosting what we believe will be an unforgettable evening.”

George Cheeks — President and CEO of CBS and Chief Content Officer, News & Sports of Paramount+ — also noted, “Trevor brought his trademark talent and versatility to last March’s Grammys, and we can’t wait for him to host the event on CBS and Paramount+ again this year.”

Noah shared the news with a video of a baby in a pool rhythmically and adorably moving its shoulders, followed by Noah doing the same. The video’s TikTok robot voice narration says, “When you get to tell the world you’re hosting the Grammys again this year.”

The 2022 Grammys are set to go down on January 31, so look forward to more Noah then and find the full list of nominees here.

Saweetie, Thundercat, Mereba, And More Will Appear On The Soundtrack For The Fifth Season Of ‘Insecure’

by
saweetie
Getty Image

Issa Rae’s trademark television show Insecure has grown to be one the country’s most-watched shows through its four and a half seasons. In recent years, Insecure took home the award for Outstanding Comedy Series at 2021’s NAACP Image Awards. The show also earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series last year. In addition to its storyline and its characters, the soundtrack for Insecure is also another aspect viewers love about the show. Now in its fifth and final season, Issa Rae unveils the tracklist for this season’s soundtrack and it looks like a good one.

The soundtrack for the fifth season of Insecure features familiar names like Saweetie, They., Jesse Boykins III, Ambre, Duckwrth, Thundercat, Mereba, and Teamarr. Elsewhere, ESTA, Mack Keane, Akeem Ali, 27Delly, Jorge Amadeus, B.K. Habermehl, Nnena, Josh Levi, Mikhala Jené, Amindi, 27Delly, Kiah Victoria, and Ace Henderson can also be found on the soundtrack. The full project arrives this Friday, December 3.

“Music has always been an essential part of every project I do and working with emerging talent is a personal passion,” Rae said about the upcoming tracklist to Variety. “Raedio allows me to continue that work within the music industry and audio entertainment space. The Atlantic Records team are innovators in terms of shifting and shaping culture. I’m excited to join forces with them to discover new artists.”

You can view the full tracklist for Insecure: Music From The HBO Original Series, Season 5 below.

1. Saweetie — “Get It Girl”
2. They. — “Snoring”
3. Jesse Boykins III, Duckwrth, Ambré, ESTA, and Mack Keane — “Seein Ya”
4. Akeem Ali, 27Delly, and Jorge Amadeus — “50 Lem Hunnits”
5. B.K. Habermehl — “Time Off”
6. Nnena — “Fun”
7. Josh Levi — “What’s the Use”
8. Thundercat — “Satellite” Feat. Louis Cole & Genevieve Artadi
9. Mikhala Jené — “Mad Bitches” – Feat. Ro James
10. Mereba — “Glock Peaceful”
11. TeaMarrr — “Pipe Dreams”
12. Amindi, 27Delly, Kiah Victoria, and Ace Henderson — “Fantasy”

Insecure: Music From The HBO Original Series, Season 5 is out 12/3 via Raedio/Atlantic.

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

‘Succession’ Fans Are Disappointed This Week’s Episode Never Delivered On ‘Tiny Wu-Tang’

by
wu-tang clan
Getty Image

Succession remains appointment television on Sunday nights and, as usual, digital water cooler Twitter is abuzz with talk of the latest episode a day later. However, today’s chatter is slightly different than the usual disdainful amusement at the antics of the toxic Roy family in their endless power struggle. Today, there is an air of disappointment that Sunday’s episode did not deliver on the potential entertainment value of Kendall Roy’s 40th birthday party.

Sure, we got pesky little brother Roman antagonizing his older brother, Shiv’s dance floor meltdown, Connor’s coat (and polling-related injury), and cousin Greg‘s victorious date proposal (though Comfry may have just accepted out of spite for Ken’s nonstop buffoonery), but the one thing we didn’t get was the one thing the show’s writers had to have known we’d want from the moment they wrote the words: Tiny Wu-Tang.

succession: tiny wu tang
HBO

Just look at Rava’s face. The skepticism mixed with wonderment and just a dash of curiosity. Truly, she is all of us.

And then Kendall (probably wisely) pulled the plug on his schlocky performance idea (crucified, singing Billy Joel’s “Honesty.” Whew, lord, that man isn’t just out of touch — he’s never been in it). And so we all missed out on what could very well have been the most side-splittingly harebrained of his birthday plans. Fans aren’t happy about it, either.

Ah, well. It’s probably better we didn’t get this anyway. Could you imagine those poor kids having to tour behind some dumb joke from an HBO show? That’s one future reality show we definitely don’t need to be subjected t– aw, dangit. Now, I want that too.