TV

Lil Nas X And Olivia Rodrigo Are Set To Close Out ‘SNL’s 46th Season This Month

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May 22 will mark the finale of Saturday Night Live‘s 46th season and in the final two weeks, the show’s musical guests will be two of 2021’s most successful, chart-topping young stars. May 15, “Driver’s License” singer Olivia Rodrigo will perform in an episode hosted by The Prom‘s Keegan-Michael Key, while the season finale will feature Ana Taylor-Joy of The Queen’s Gambit and “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” rabble-rouser Lil Nas X.

Incidentally, each of the young music stars’ No. 1 hits have been the subjects of sketches on previous episodes of SNL. In February, guest host Regé-Jean Page and cast regulars Alex Moffat, Beck Bennett, Bowen Yang, Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day, and Pete Davidson participated in a tongue-in-cheek analysis of “Driver’s License” from the ironic perspective of the all-male denizens of a pool hall unexpectedly relating to the song’s teenage emotions. Rodrigo called the sketch “the best birthday present ever” in a tweet expressing her approval.

Meanwhile, the conservative establishment-trolling video for “Montero” was lightly lampooned in an early-April sketch that saw Chris Redd stand in as Lil Nas to address the kerfuffle over the video and its tie-in “Satan shoes” from MSCHF. The sketch saw Redd-as-Nas perform a lap dance on “God” to balance out the bad vibes from his similar moves on the devil in the “Montero” video, minus the neck-snapping at the end. Nas’ reply was equally cheeky, as he joked “SNL going to hell.”

In addition, Nas responded to SNL’s announcement, revealing that he’d be performing a new song in addition to “Montero.”

The Team Behind ‘Framing Britney Spears’ Is Tackling The Janet Jackson Super Bowl Incident

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When the documentary series Framing Britney Spears bowed on HBO back in February, it caused an avalanche of support to come the singer’s way. Long a target of condescending press coverage — not to mention still legally under the control of her domineering father — Spears found the public finally rallying to her side, hoping to correct years of unfair coverage. Now the team behind the doc look to be trying to do for Janet Jackson what they did for Britney.

According to US Weekly, Left/Right TV, who produced the Spears doc, are at work on a movie about the infamous halftime show at Super Bowl XXXVIII, in 2004. That’s the one where a performance by Jackson and Justin Timberlake resulted in a “wardrobe malfunction,” in which the latter ripped off part of her costume, exposing one of her breasts for half a second. The incident led to a massive fallout. The FCC tried, and failed, to fine CBS for over half a billion dollars, while some accused the two of staging it, with Jackson receiving more vitriol than Timberlake.

Neither Jackson nor Timberlake are involved in the movie, though the former is working on a documentary about her own career to coincide with the forthcoming 40th anniversary of her debut album, Janet Jackson. Timberlake, meanwhile, has come under fire over the last couple years, as the public has begun viewing his treatment of both Jackson and Spears, who he once dated, with a more critical eye. Indeed, after Framing Britney Spears debuted, he issued a formal apology to both parties.

“I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “Because of my ignorance, I didn’t recognize it for all that it was while it was happening in my own life but I do not want to ever benefit from others being pulled down again.”

(Via US Weekly)

Eric Andre Once Met An Unmasked MF Doom And Tried To Get An Internship From Him As A Teenager

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Seeing as Eric Andre‘s job entails pranking celebrities, he’s met his fair share of famous people. Still, there are times that the comedian gets star-struck. One such instance was before he got famous. Andre was able to meet the late MF Doom, who he recalls as “very grounded and sincere,” and even mustered up the courage to ask for an internship.

Speaking in an interview with NME, Andre, who was a college kid at the time, recalled meeting MF Doom when he wasn’t wearing his signature mask and asking if he could intern at Stone’s Throw records: “I ran backstage and got to see him without his mask on, which was very cool. I was like, ‘Hey I’m finishing college, I want to intern at Stone’s Throw records. How can I do that?’ And he gave me somebody’s email that worked at Stone’s Throw. He was very patient with me, very grounded, and sincere. For me at 20-21 years old, to see a hero of mine telling me to just email the people at work, he seemed like salt of the earth.”

Andre also noted that MF Doom’s death had a huge impact on him:

“I was fortunate enough to get to meet him. I met him when I think I was 19-20 years old. He played at my friend Christina’s college spring break show in Manchester, New York. He was very nice, I’ve never heard a bad thing about the guy. I love his work, I love his collaboration with Madlib. He always had good taste in beats. A buddy of mine said he is what rap should be. Rap isn’t macho and aggressive. It shouldn’t be run by jocks. Rap is very mellow, it should be relaxing and simple. Wordplay is just like fun with the poetry and flow of rhyming and the musicality of that. MF Doom captured that spirit and had such a unique voice and such a unique point of view. I rarely cry when a celebrity dies. He was one of the few celebrities that brought tears to my eyes when I found out he passed away.”

Andre isn’t the only one who has honored MF Doom following his tragic passing in 2020. Musicians like Open Mike Eagle, Madlib, Playboi Carti, and many more have paid tribute to the iconic MC.

Flying Lotus Releases ‘Black Gold’ With Thundercat From His Upcoming Netflix Show, ‘Yasuke’

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Tim Saccenti

Netflix’s new samurai anime Yasuke premieres at the end of the month but today, the show’s executive producer Flying Lotus released two new songs from its soundtrack, including “Black Gold” featuring fellow anime fan Thundercat. FlyLo also shared “Between Memories” featuring Niki Randa today. You can listen to both via the Spotify embeds below.

YasukeThe Boondocks and another Netflix anime, Cannon Busters. Speaking with Apple Music about the new show, Flying Lotus credited the creation process with helping him get through the pandemic:

Honestly, it kept me sane. It was the best thing I could ask for because I had to be home. If I had touring and stuff, it would have been a little bit funky to really engage with the project like I was able to. I got to just really focus on it and just be a samurai for a while. It was really nice to just have that to run to, this universe, especially when all that Trumpy stuff was going on and things were getting all crazy. I was so glad just to shut that off and get to business. I knew when they were starting to deliver visuals and stuff that it was about to get intense. I was like, “Ah,” and I still had to try to figure out what I wanted it all to sound like. So it was a lot of meditating on the vibe, and I found a lot of parallels between the Yasuke story and being part of this thing. Trying to make music in the Japanese anime system, it’s a different experience than scoring something here in America. It’s just their way of doing things is so different to ours. It took a minute to grow and it took them to be willing to accept us, to work with our schedule, and take on our story as well. So it was a lot of love from both sides really on that.

Listen to “Black Gold” and “Between Memories” above.

Morrissey Is Accusing ‘The Simpsons’ Of ‘Taunting A Lawsuit’ (With A Parody) That He Can’t Afford To Pursue

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FOX

After Morrissey’s manager called out The Simpsons for its parody of the former The Smiths frontman, which featured Benedict Cumberbatch voicing the character “Quilloughby,” the singer himself released his own statement on Monday that accuses the cartoon series of “obviously taunting a lawsuit.” In a long-winded, and very Morrissey-esque message in the “Hello Hell” section of his website, the singer rails against everything from the accusations of racism that have plagued him to the lack of “Hate Laws” that he believes should be protecting him from the “scandal sheets.”

Via Morrissey Central:

Since my very first interview several decades ago I have lived with horrible accusations to such a degree that it is generally understood that ‘this is how we write about Morrissey’. In other words, I’m quite used to it. I’ve had enough horror thrown at me that would kill off a herd of bison. Accusations usually come from someone with a crazed desire for importance; they don’t operate at a very high level. Writing for The Simpsons, for example, evidently requires only complete ignorance. But all of these things are too easy for me to say. In a world obsessed with Hate Laws, there are none that protect me.

Despite dramatically accusing The Simpsons of opening themselves up to a lawsuit for daring to parody him like it does to countless other celebrities, Morrissey made it clear that he won’t be going down that road because it would require “more funding than I could possibly muster.” He believes this is why The Simpsons targeted him. “I think this is generally understood and is the reason why I am so carelessly and noisily attacked.”

(Via Morrissey Central)

The Second Season Of Lil Dicky’s ‘Dave’ Premieres This Summer And Features Lil Nas X, Doja Cat, And More

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Earlier this month, Lil Dicky declared, “That’s a wrap on season 2,” presumably talking about his breakout hit FXX series Dave. It didn’t take long, by the way, for FXX to renew Dave for a second season, considering it was the network’s most-watched comedy ever. Anyway, that seems to be what he was referring to, as the premiere date of the show’s second season has now been set for June 16.

Benny Blanco, who appeared in multiple episodes in the show’s first season, is set to return in Season 2. Also making appearances will be Lil Nas X, Doja Cat, CL, Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber, Kyle Kuzma, J Balvin, Rae Sremmurd (Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lil Yachty, and Kevin Hart, among others.

Press materials also tease some topics to be covered in the new episodes: “Dave knows he’s destined for rap superstardom — but at what cost? With the pressure mounting as he records his debut album, he has to decide if he’ll sacrifice friendships, love, and his own sense of self in order to make his dream come true. Simultaneously exasperating and inspiring to his friends, Dave vows to leave no stone unturned on his quest to become the next superstar.”

Revisit our interview with the show’s GaTa here.

Kid Cudi Showed Love To ‘That Weird Little Flute’ In Rap Songs In An ‘SNL’ Sketch

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It was just a few years ago that Future’s “Mask Off,” and the infectious flute that was present on the song, took the music world by storm. The track is just one of many rap records to feature a heavy presence of the woodwind instrument. It’s a quality that caught the eye of Kid Cudi and a few Saturday Night Live cast members as they delivered a sketch in honor of “that weird little flute.”

Cudi, along with Pete Davidson and Chris Redd, joined forces for a song that finds them flaunting their own flutes and expressing their love for it. Later on in the skit, Timothée Chalamet joins in on the fun musical sketch.

In addition to the sketch, Cudi was the musical guest for the SNL episode. He performed “Sad People” and “Tequila Shots” and the former caught the attention of most viewers as Cudi stepped on stage rocking an Off-White floral dress, noticeably similar to the one Kurt Cobain famously wore. Following the performance, Cudi shared his intention with the dress in a pair of tweets. “Virgil designed the dress for me. I told him I wanted to show love to Kurt w a floral print sundress and this man made a masterpiece,” he said. “Thank You @virgilabloh ur a f*ckin genius!! Love you man we did it!!!” In a second tweet, he added, “Im doin a collection w Off White and the dress will be included!!”

You can watch the flute sketch in the video above.

‘SNL’ Paid Their Respects To DMX Through Jokes And A Tribute To Close The Show

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Early Friday morning, DMX’s family put out a statement confirming what the entertainment world would hope to be false. The legendary rapper sadly passed away at 50 following a reported drug overdose and heart attack. Tributes from all over, including the music and sports world, came pouring in and as the days go on, many are still finding their own ways to honor him with the latest being Saturday Night Live.

The first mention of DMX came during the late-night show’s cold open segment. The sketch was led by Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, Kate McKinnon, and Alex Moffat who altogether played four Minnesota anchors that were initially discussing the murder of George Floyd but switch the topic after a disagreement.

“We lost royalty yesterday,” McKinnon said, in reference to Prince Phillip’s death on Friday. “Yes, the rapper DMX died,” Nwodim replied which was met by an applause from he audience. McKinnon tried to correct Nwodim saying, “I was talking about the prince,” but her attempt failed as Nwodim retorted, “Girl, Prince been dead!”

DMX’s came on a pair of occasions later in the show. The first came with a photo SNL put onscreen of the rapper and his stage name following a commercial break, the image from when he himself performed on the show back in 2000 where he performed “What’s My Name” from his 1999 album, … And Then There Was X.. Lastly, after host Carey Mulligan delivered her thank yous to the audience and viewers, Chris Redd held up a handwritten sign that read “R.I.P. DMX” in black lettering.

You can watch the cold open segment as well as view a screenshot of show’s closing moments above.

Kid Cudi Honors Kurt Cobain And Chris Farley In ‘SNL’ Performances Of ‘Sad People’ And ‘Tequila Shots’

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Just a few months removed from the release of his seventh solo album, Man On The Moon III: The Chosen, Kid Cudi brought his talents to the stage of Saturday Night Live. The rapper rocked out in a pair of performances of songs from that album, but it was his wardrobe for the night that got the attention of viewers the most.

Kicking off the night with “Tequila Shots,” Cudi stepped out to the mic wearing a T-shirt that featured actor, comedian, and former SNL cast member Chris Farley, who tragically passed away in 1997 from a overdose at just the age of 33 following a lengthy struggle with drug addiction. Later on in the night, Cudi returned, this time donning an Off-White white floral dress, one that was very similar to the one Kurt Cobain famously once wore. The Nirvana frontman also struggled with drug addiction before his tragic suicide in 1994. Cudi has expressed his love and appreciation for Cobain on a number of occasions. In a past interview with GQ, he said, “I try to use [Cobain] as my muse whenever I can.”

Cudi’s decision to honor Farley and Cobain could have been influenced by DMX’s recent passing. The Yonkers rapper died on Friday after a reported drug overdose that caused a heart attack and left him hospitalized for nearly a week.

You can watch the performances in the videos above.

Lil Nas X Reacts To The ‘SNL’ Skit Featuring Him Giving God A Lap Dance

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St. Vincent was the musical guest on this past weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live, but the show began with nods to Britney Spears and Lil Nas X.

The SNL cold open skit was a talk show hosted by Spears (wonderfully portrayed by Chloe Fineman). Her first guest on the program was Lil Nas X (played by Chris Redd), who spoke about his “Satan shoes” and his “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” video. He explained the backlash to the video, “People are afraid of me because I’m different, but really, I’m just your typical gay, black, country-rap sneaker entrepreneur.” Then, at Spears’ suggestion, she brought out God and Nas gave him a lap dance to “even things out.”

Not long after the skit, Nas took to Twitter to share his thoughts. He tweeted a screenshot from the sketch and offered a tongue-in-cheek caption: “snl going to hell.”

Now that Nas has been parodied on SNL, he just has South Park left. He tried to will an episode of the long-running cartoon about his Satan saga into existence last week when he tweeted, “this gone be a good ass south park episode lmao.”

Watch the Saturday Night Live skit below.