Filipino-American rapper Guapdad 4000 is helping us revitalize our Snack Review video series by adding a new twist. It’s been a few months since the last time we did one of these — shout out to the pandemic — but we’re officially back and rolling on one of your favorite food-meets-rap content series around. The Bay Area-based recording artist reviewed a bunch of his favorite Asian snacks, giving his honest thoughts on each one as we diversify our palettes.
Munching on mostly Filipino snacks, Guapdad 4000 started off with a few foods that he wasn’t necessarily vibing with, giving them mid-range scores. Once he got to the spicy prawn crackers and fruit daifuku though, he was instantly in heaven. Some of the snacks, like Boy Bawang, brought him back to simpler times. Others, like Irvins Spicy Salted Egg Chips were deemed lowkey “nasty” from the rapper… before the spice hit. Once he caught the heat, his opinion changed. “That’s gonna make me like them,” he complained.
Check out the Snack Review revival above and let us know if you’ll be picking up one of these snacks for your next munchies session. Personally, I’m curious about the ube pandesal, which Guapdad rated a 9/10.
One of the victims was Biles-Thomas’ own 23-year-old cousin. The other victims were 19-years-old and 21-years-old.
Tevin Biles-Thomas’ mugshot
When the verdict was announced, one of the victim’s mother’s lashed out in frustration, making a scene in the court. She jumped up and ran towards Biles-Thomas screaming out, “You have to be f***ing kidding me. I’m going to kill you.” The mother had to be restrained by officers but will not face charges.
Joseph Patituce, Biles-Thomas’ attorney told TMZ, “We get it, she’s angry. She was led to believe Mr. Biles was guilty when he wasn’t, and she reacted like a mother. We don’t fault her for that.”
Simone Biles has yet to comment on the recent ruling but spoke on the incident stating, “My heart aches for everyone involved, especially for the victims and their families” back in 2019.
The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.
In the lead-up to releasing his new album, Hall Of Fame, Polo G gave an interview with Complex in which he restricted the possibility of collaboration with elite rappers like J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar to one crucial condition: his own improvement as a straightforward, bars-first spitter. Now, having heard Hall Of Fame in its entirety, I can confidently say that he was being way too modest and he’s not as far away from that upper echelon as he seems to think. In fact, the best moments on the album come when he operates in that mode more than any other.
That isn’t to say that he should shrink his focus or his drive for more mainstream, playlist-friendly hits. If anything, he shows that he has the versatility to tackle a wide range of subjects and styles — or at least, he will, with a tad bit more practice. For now, songs like “For The Love Of New York” feel out of his reach and out of place with an album that sticks mostly to Polo’s established talents: Painting pictures of his tormented, Windy City upbringing and the dreams of excavating something of value from the scenes of carnage.
That’s the rather literal note on which the album opens. “Painting Pictures” might be on the nose as a song title, but it’s also fitting, as Polo fleshes out the characters that have populated his world as a former resident of Old Town Chicago, where the infamous Cabrini-Green high-rise projects used to tower. “Lil Wooski ain’t your average teen, he see the opps, gon’ bang it out,” he rhapsodizes somberly. “They killed Lamp, he took three with him, they all know what your name about.”
But it’s not all melancholy. Polo’s circumstances are in a state of transition, which is reflected in the project’s cover. As opposed to the dark, moody cover images for Die A Legend and GOAT, the cover for Hall Of Fame is brighter, echoing the sentiments expressed on songs like “Rapstar” and “Fame & Riches” featuring Roddy Ricch. Polo is literally and figuratively moving out of a dark place in his life, trying to maintain his optimism for the future as he acknowledges the trauma and turmoil in his past (see: “No Return” with Lil Durk). But in doing so, he’s faced with a dilemma — an enviable one, to be sure, but a dilemma nonetheless.
As with many young stars on the precipice of greatness — he’s certainly set the bar high enough, with his album titles telling us exactly how he wants to be seen when all is said and done — he’s got a decision to make about how best to get there. On the one hand, if he sticks with what got him here, he can appease longtime, day-one fans, and build on their goodwill with increasingly polished craftsmanship a la heroes like Cole, Kendrick, and Lil Wayne, who Polo goes bar-for-bar with on “Gang Gang.” Like Cole and Kendrick, though, this means struggle: Struggle with meeting fans’ admittedly hazy standards for greatness; struggle with mental health and anxiety as he dwells on such traumatic material and the pressure to live up to his and fans’ expectations; struggle to connect on a commercial level.
Both Cole and Kendrick were well into the second decades of their respective careers before achieving their first No.1s. Polo already has, so there’s going to be added pressure to continue to perform, and proportional ridicule should he be perceived to decline or stall out. Fans will demand growth but will reject it if it doesn’t come on their terms. Polo’s insistence that he needs to get better at the craft before attempting to work with these elders suggests that he understands this.
However, pursuing playlist exposure and radio hits has its own dangers. As with some of the sunnier songs in this set, such pop reaches can clash with his already established image as a survivor of Chicago’s trenches. He’s managed to balance commercial viability with that image so far thanks to his breakout hit “Pop Out” and songs like “Rapstar,” but should popular trends shift even a little, he may be out of luck. He already faces criticism of his beat choices, which find him more often than not rapping in a torn legato cadence over moody pianos, but stepping out of his comfort zone means risking the ire of day-ones. Remaining in it means competing with similar acts like Rod Wave, with whom he’s wisely collaborated twice (once on Wave’s SoulFly and once here on “Heart Of A Giant”) to provide a contrast test for their respective sounds, but the lane is still rapidly filling up, and we’ve seen how quickly tastes can change within hip-hop.
Hall Of Fame positions Polo to make either of these choices well enough while also highlighting the potential danger in choosing either. It also shows that they are not mutually exclusive. He shows mastery of the pen on the upbeat tracks and mostly good instincts on the pop reaches (the Nicki Minaj feature notwithstanding). Now, I think, the important thing for him to do is put some distance between his projects — three lengthy releases in back-to-back years leave him with little life experience to speak on and expand his range of topics, which is something he’ll want to do to achieve the sort of longevity that will lead to him fulfilling his dream of making it to the hallowed halls of rap’s greatest of all time.
Hall Of Fame is out now via Columbia Records. Get it here.
Remember Kanye West’s “Lift Yourself“? The first two minutes of the 2018 song are carried by a vintage soul sample, which is a pretty typically West move. Then, (in)famously, West starts rapping nonsense lyrics that play off the words “poop” and “scoop.” For example, here’s a passage: “Poopy-di scoop / Scoop-diddy-whoop / Whoop-di-scoop-di-poop / Poop-di-scoopty / Scoopty-whoop.”
Well, today brings good news for “Lift Yourself” fans: The spirit of the song is alive and well here in 2021. Yesterday, West’s daughter North celebrated her eighth birthday and she did so by having a poop-themed birthday party. Kim Kardashian shared some photos of the proceedings on Instagram, including a group shot of North and her friends all wearing brown full-body pajamas made to look like a poop emoji. She captioned the image with a nod to “Lift Yourself,” writing, “Poop Diddy Scoop kinda slumber party [poop emojis].”
@kimkardashian/Instagram
Kardashian also shared an Instagram post about North’s special day, writing, “My 1st born baby North is 8 years old today! North, one day you will see these messages all printed out for you in the books I am making for you and so hope you feel the love because you bring so much love and joy into all of our lives! You are the silliest, most stylish, most creative person who knows exactly what they want in life! I’ve never met anyone like you! I picked these BTS to post of North and I from this Steven Klein Jackie O shoot bc it just reminded me of the bond North and I share and he always captures the emotion so well!”
Back in April of last year, Wale teased an upcoming track. At the very end of the year, EarthGang and Wale finally unleashed the collab “Options,” which is set to appear on their forthcoming project Ghetto Gods. They followed up the hit with a remix featuring newly-crowned XXL Freshman Coi Leray in late May.
EarthGang has released an official visual for the collaboration alongside Coi and Wale. In the video, the four rappers turn up together in a house party thrown by the Dreamville artists. Speaking about their forthcoming release Ghetto Gods, the duo explained on Twitter, “Ghetto Gods Is about finding the God in you. It doesn’t matter if your from the Ghetto or not. We all have the light in us. Elevate and let it shine.”
“[It] is some of our best work so far and we’re going to give it to you the right way,” they added. While they originally wanted to drop the same day Dreamville head honcho J. Cole unleashed his project The Off-Season, they ultimately chose not to. The move, which was inspired by Cole dropping the same day as Kanye back in 2013, would likely have overshadowed the upcoming project.
Watch EarthGang’s video for “Options Remix” featuring Coi Leray and Wale above and let us know your thoughts down below.
In the past few months since Bobby Shrmuda’s release from prison, we’ve heard no new music from him. You can’t really blame him since he’s making up for some of the prime years that he lost while behind bars. Though he has previewed snippets of new music, fans are still eager to hear whether the Brooklyn rapper still got it.
Brad Barket/Getty Images
It seems that the rapper has been getting his business in order before proceeding with releasing new music. The rapper took to Instagram this week where he shared a video of himself leaving the Roc Nation office which could hint that a management deal under Hov’s company is in the works. “If it’s up then it’s up, n***a,” he said in a video he shared to his IG Story. “Gang.”
This doesn’t seem entirely shocking since Jay has been expanding the Roc Nation roster in recent years. Plus, Bobby Shmurda is scheduled to perform at Jay-Z’s Made In America festival this summer, a sign that new music is coming soon.
Bobby’s been slowly previewing new music and has been spotted in the studio with several major name artists, like Meek Mill, who is managed by Roc Nation. Quavo recently revealed that he has a song alongside Bobby Shmurda and Rowdy Rebel, though he didn’t reveal whether it would be released soon.
Brad Barket/Getty Images
“He trying to get it together. We waitin’ on him,” Quavo said of a Shmigo collab. “We got one, actually. I got one right now with us, Bobby and Rowdy. He just sent it to my phone. I gotta check it out,” he added during Migos appearance on Angie Martinez’s radio show.
Peep Bobby’s video below. Are you excited about his return? Sound off in the comments.
Yung Bleu is taking the high road after getting snubbed for a spot on the 2021 XXL Freshman List. Every year, the rap publication releases a list of some of the most exciting young stars coming up in hip-hop, and today, they gave the honors to Coi Leray, Pooh Shiesty, Flo Milli, Blxst, Rubi Rose, 42 Dugg, Morray, and others. One artist that many people were expecting to see on the list was Yung Bleu but, unfortunately, XXL skipped out on including him this year.
Despite his platinum and gold certifications, Yung Bleu continues to fly under the radar for some music fans. He has a Drake co-sign and plenty of other artists on his side, but the independent star didn’t earn enough support to get him onto the XXL list, being snubbed. Instead of going off on the outlet (like he did after he was snubbed at the BET Awards), the Alabama native congratulated his peers, showing maturity in his response.
Prince Williams/Getty Images
“Congrats to all the artist that made this list,” he wrote on the post.
Yung Bleu isn’t the only artist that people think deserved a spot on the XXL Freshman list. Others, including The Kid LAROI, EST Gee, Sheff G, and $NOT were also left off the tally.
What do you think about the 2021 XXL Freshman List? Did they get it right this year or are they missing anyone?
On Tuesday (June 15), we reported that protests had erupted in front of an LGBTQ+ bar in D.C. after a woman named Keisha Young was dragged out of the establishment by security. The woman, identified as Keisha Young, said she was confused for another person in the bar, which led to security dragging her down a set of stairs by her hair.
She explained, “[Security was] trying to get some other people out because somebody else brought a bottle in there. Somehow I got mixed up in an altercation because I look like somebody else and I got hit and dragged down the steps.” The bar has since issued a public statement on the incident, but Young is demanding a direct apology from the establishment, hiring a lawyer to help get the job done.
According to TMZ, Young does not plan on letting the establishment off the hook too easily. Her lawyer Brandon Burrell explains that his client feels singled out, namely because she is a Black woman. Young is requesting that the bar owners speak to her personally and offer a sincere apology, adding that the statements shared on their Facebook page don’t even acknowledge her name.
Burrell also hinted that a lawsuit was currently pending and they are simply awaiting the doctor’s prognosis about the potential injuries she sustained that night. Keisha’s legal team also wants the security guard to be hit with criminal charges and prosecuted as severely as possible under the law.
“She does want justice,” Burrell shared in a statement to a local news outlet. “So we’re going to at least do our part to file the report and see what the prosecutors make of that.”
She’s set up a GoFundMe page to help deal with her legal fees and mental health services. You can donate to it here.
It’s been a terrible day in the NBA after Kevin Durant’s historic night on Tuesday. After a celebratory evening for the Brooklyn Nets, it’s been an ugly Wednesday in the world of basketball, especially as it pertains to the health of certain key players.
It was announced that Chris Paul, one of the top-performing players in the playoffs and an important member of the Phoenix Suns, had been placed on health and wellness protocols due to the pandemic. It’s unclear how long he’ll be out but this is bad news for any fan of the Suns. Additionally, Kawhi Leonard’s knee injury was updated as he was deemed out “indefinitely” with a sprain. A few hours after that initial announcement, The Athletic’s Shams Charania came through with an update from the Los Angeles Clippers, and, unfortunately, it looks pretty bad.
Tom Pennington/Getty Images
“Clippers fear All-NBA star Kawhi Leonard has suffered an ACL injury, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. He is out indefinitely,” reported Charania. The news traveled across NBA social media circles as fans wished for the best possible result, awaiting more tests to come back. Kawhi is one of the best players in the league and he’s been a catalyst for the Clippers during their latest run. The team needs him to win.
We will keep you updated on any further updates regarding Kawhi Leonard’s health. We wish him a speedy recovery.
Singer John Legend assured the public that his wife, model and media personality Chrissy Teigen, is “doing great” after she publicly apologized on Monday for previous actions on social media via a long-form blog post on Medium.
During a quick run-in with TMZ on Tuesday in West Hollywood, Legend happily let the photographer know that his wife is holding up well after she resurfaced with an emotional apology following a scandal that brewed in May, when media personality Courtney Stodden claimed that Teigen told them to kill themselves in a private DM years ago. Teigen took some time away from social media and came back with an apology that emphasized regret in her past actions, affirming her commitment to being a better person.
Teigen added that she would be reaching out privately to the individuals she’s harmed and insulted throughout the years on social media in an effort to make things right and move forward. Despite her intentions, her return and apology weren’t immediately met with universal praise and forgiveness from some corners. Michael Costello, a fashion designer who has appeared on “Project Runway,” detailed in an Instagram post that Teigen’s past cyberbullying led him to the point of suicidal thoughts.
In the post, Costello alleged that Teigen’s harmful comments – which she mentioned in her Medium apology were all attempts to be funny and personable on social media – brought him deep emotional trauma that spurred suicidal thoughts and ideas. Teigen reacted to a supposed photoshopped comment of Costello using the “N” word on Instagram, claiming that he’ll have his career ruined and that he deserved it for using the derogatory slur. While Costello himself has been hit with claims of bullying and harassment by singer Leona Lewis, it’s clear that Teigen’s past comments have led to a reckoning on social media etiquette.
