NEWS
2022 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door First Look: Feeling Six-y
When the competition involves Porsche, Audi, and BMW, it is vital to fine-tune the mechanicals, upgrade tech features, and maintain a fresh appearance. Enter the 2022 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door, a luxury fastback that drives like an untamed sports car. While Mercedes is mum on details related to the V-8-powered 2022 GT63 and GT63 S 4-Door models, the brand is eager to share details about its six-cylinder 2022 GT43 and GT53 4-Doors, both of which maintain much the same styling as before. That said, the latter adds a new styling package option that gives the six-cylinder model a bit of flair from its V-8 stablemates. See all 40 photos The Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe went on sale in 2019 and rather quickly became a finalist at our 2020 Car of the Year competition. During our rigorous testin...
How the Ford F-150 Lightning Electric Truck Is so Darn Cheap
Weeks after the electric Lightning was unveiled to the public, people are still talking about it, thanks to its relatively affordable pricing and solid performance. In fact, the Lightning is set to take the title as the quickest F-150 model thanks to its estimated 4.4-second 0-60-mph time. Credit the truck’s two electric motors, which provide 563 hp and 775 lb-ft of torque. The Lightning’s well as its extended-range battery pack, meanwhile, offers an estimated driving range of 300 miles on a single charge. How, then, did Ford manage to make the Lightning so affordable? The F-150 Lightning’s Been a Long Time Coming We were surprised to learn that Ford has long wanted to do an electric truck but needed a higher density battery than those it had available. “We cou...
Big Mouth Spinoff Human Resources Casts Randall Park, Aidy Bryant, and Keke Palmer
Netflix has announced Randall Park, Aidy Bryant, and Keke Palmer are joining the voice cast of the first Big Mouth spinoff, Human Resources. Big Mouth leads Nick Kroll and Maya Rudolph will also feature in the offshoot of the Primetime Emmy-winning animated coming-of-age series. Park (Fresh Off the Boat), Bryant (Saturday Night Live), and Palmer (Hustlers) will appear on Human Resources as series regulars alongside a few other Big Mouth cast members: longtime Shame Wizard voice David Thewlis and Brandon Kyle Goodman. Human Resources will take place in the more adult world of Big Mouth hormone monsters Maurice (Kroll) and Connie (Rudolph), as opposed to the middle school setting of the original show. It will be inhabited by Shame Wizards, Depression Kitties, and “a host of ot...
Moog Accused of Enabling Misogyny, Verbal Abuse, Assault in Civil Rights Lawsuit
Moog, the famous synthesizer company based in Asheville, North Carolina, has been accused of workplace discrimination, verbal abuse, physical assault, and misogyny in a new federal civil rights lawsuit. According to The Asheville Blade, former sales assistant Hannah Green is suing the company for over $1 million to “make sure Moog Music never does this to anyone else ever again.” Green was hired as a sales assistant in 2018 and a “personal assistant to the head of sales.” By the end of the year, she was a full-time staff member that managed 20 accounts on her own, but her job title was never updated to reflect the additional tasks she was assigned beyond her job description. Linda Lafferty, the then-head of Moog’s sales department, allegedly promised Green an official title change “soon.” ...
Roger Waters Said “No Fucking Way” to “Huge Amount of Money” from Facebook
According to Roger Waters, Facebook and Instagram offered him a “huge amount of money” for the right to use the Pink Floyd song “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)”. He responded, “Fuck you! No fucking way!” The rock legend made the claims at a forum on behalf of beleaguered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. In a video shared by Mexico’s La Jornada dated June 10th, Waters holds up a piece of paper to the assembly. “This is something that I actually put in my folder when I came out here today,” he said. “You have no idea what it is — nobody does — because it arrived on the internet to me this morning. It’s a request for the rights to use my song, ‘Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2),’ in the making of a film to promote Instagram.” “So it’s a missive from Mark Zuckerberg t...
At 51, Queen Latifah to Get Lifetime Achievement Award at 2021 BET Awards
While 37 may be awfully young to get a lifetime achievement award, it’s a good thing BET recognized Houston while she was still here to receive her flowers, to use a currently popular expression. Houston died unexpectedly in 2012 at age 48. Prince was also on the young side when he received a lifetime achievement award from BET. He was 52 when he received the honor in 2010. He too died unexpectedly in 2016 at age 57. Neither Houston nor Prince has yet received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy (though those awards are sometimes presented posthumously, so either may still receive it). Prince lived to see his induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (in 2004). Houston did not live to see her Rock Hall induction (in 2020). The oldest solo artist to receive a lifetime ...
Japan’s Kenshi Yonezu Talks New Single ‘Pale Blue,’ Looks Back on ‘Fortnite’ Virtual Concert & More
Yonezu shared the process of writing the songs on his latest single and more in this latest interview with music journalist Tomonori Shiba for Billboard Japan. Yoshiyuki Okuyama Kenshi Yonezu What was going through your mind when you began writing “Pale Blue”? I’d been interested in writing a love song again since before I was working on my album STRAY SHEEP. I wanted to create one that has strength as a pop song. To elaborate… I think music, as compared to other forms of art, has a tendency to foster a kind of narcissism in a broad sense. Music is inherently like that, so the strongest type of pop song is a love song in my view. As someone who creates pop music, I wanted to see what would happen if I went back and tried writing one in a straightforward way. So this was something that I’d ...
Lin-Manuel Miranda Addresses ‘In the Heights’ Colorism Criticism: ‘We Fell Short’
Read Miranda’s full message below. I started writing In the Heights because I didn’t feel seen. And over the past 20 years all I wanted was for us – ALL of us – to feel seen. I’m seeing the discussion around Afro-Latino representation in our film this weekend and it is clear that many in our dark-skinned Afro-Latino community don’t feel sufficiently represented within it, particularly among the leading roles. I can hear the hurt and frustration over colorism, of feeling still unseen in the feedback. I hear that without sufficient dark-skinned Afro-Latino representation, the work feels extractive of the community we wanted so much to represent with pride and joy. In trying to paint a mosaic of this community, we fell short. I’m truly sorry. I’m learning from the feedback, I thank you for ra...
Tyler, the Creator Gets Busy in ‘Side Street’ Teaser
Tyler, the Creator has kept a somewhat low profile since taking home a Grammy for Igor back in early 2020 (AKA the before times). But it seems like, if what he just shared is a sign of things to come, Tyler has something releasing soon. The Odd Future boss just shared a short, 43-second teaser on his social platforms. On the aptly titled “Side Street,” Tyler is making out with a girl in front of a pink car while holding a dog’s leash… on a side street. Once Tyler hops in said car and goes his own way, fellow Odd Future member Taco pops up and talks with the girl who Tyler was making out with and the words “Call Me If You Get Lost” appear on the screen. Watch it below. [embedded content] Based on his top-level appearances at Lollapalooza next month and Outside Lands in October, you’d assume...
Kurt Cobain Self-Portrait Caricature Sold for $281,250 at Music Icons Auction
A caricature drawing of Kurt Cobain, done by the icon himself, brought in $281,250 at Julien’s Auctions Music Icons sale. The sale price was 28 times the original estimate. The drawing, done in black felt pen on TNT Music Centre in Singapore stationery, depicts Cobain playing the guitar and is signed “Kurdt Kobain Rock Star.” Handwritten on the right, the singer/songwriter penned, “I don’t know how to play and I don’t give a hoot!” The auction pulled in nearly $5 million over the three-day sale, thanks to including instruments, memorabilia, wardrobe and personal property owned and used by Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Elton John, Cher, Lady Gaga, Tom Petty, Tupac Shakur, and others. CREDIT: Courtesy of Julien’s Auctions Other Nirvana items f...
Rancid and Dropkick Murphys Join Forces for Boston to Berkeley II Tour
Celtic punkers Dropkick Murphys and California quartet Rancid will hit the road together for the first time since 2017 for the co-headlining Boston To Berkeley II Tour with special guests The Bronx on most dates. “Looking forward to hitting the road with the Dropkick Murphys again for the second edition of our Boston To Berkeley Tour,” Rancid’s Tim Armstrong said in a statement. “Our good buddies The Bronx will be joining us on tour as well. See ya in the pit!” Dropkick Murphys’ Ken Casey said, “Can’t wait to get back out there and kick the touring door open again. This is a great lineup and we are gonna take the country by storm.” The U.S. trek — which was originally scheduled for May 2020 — runs from Aug. 10 through Oct. 16 and will also feature festival appearances by Dropki...
Sheryl Crow Says She Was Sexually Harassed By Michael Jackson’s Late Manager, Frank DiLeo
In a world where women are starting to feel freer about sharing their #MeToo stories, Sheryl Crow says that she was sexually harassed by Michael Jackson’s manager, Frank DiLeo and he vowed to sabotage her career if she didn’t comply with his requests. She told The Independent that the incidents occurred on the 1987 Bad world tour, when she was a backup singer, calling it “a crash course in the music industry.” At the tour’s end in 1989, Crow returned to Los Angeles, where a high-powered attorney she’d hired told her she should have put up with DiLeo’s advances given what he could offer her. “You move to L.A. thinking you’ve done all your homework,” says Crow. “… ‘Okay, this is how the music industry works: a corporation buys so many records. It puts you in the top 10. We take your publishi...
