Champagne Papi is at it again: On March 5, Drake’s Instagram story made the rounds, this time for the news that he’d be remixing viral crooner 4batz’s “act ii: date @ 8.” The song sounds like the sort of late-night-vibe, hip-hop-adjacent, alternative R&B popularized by acts like 6lack, Brent Faiyaz, …
Read More »Biden Backs Bill That Could Ban TikTok: 'If They Pass It, I'll Sign It'
Congress was flooded with phone calls this week from angry teens opposing a bill that could potentially ban TikTok. President Joe Biden isn’t worried about the controversy. On Friday, he told reporters he plans to sign the legislation if it passes. The statement comes as Biden’s likely 2024 opponent Donald …
Read More »Enraged Teens Flood Congress With 'Nonstop' Calls to Kill Anti-TikTok Bill
Congress is learning a tough lesson this Thursday: Don’t fuck with teens and their scrolling. Teenagers are often (mistakenly) considered to be a generally politically apathetic demographic. Many of them can’t vote, so lawmakers tend to overlook younger Americans’ role in shaping culture and political movements. But as lawmakers consider …
Read More »She Took to the Internet to Mourn Her Baby's Death. People Blamed Her Instead
For the first three days after Veruca Salt brought her baby son Cash home from the hospital, she couldn’t sleep. She just couldn’t stop staring at him. “[At first] I was so scared to just be alone with him. I have this baby, and I didn’t have to do a …
Read More »'I'm an Internet Bitch': How TikTok Created a New Kind of Comedy Career
W hen Morgan Jay was cast on a prime-time TV show, he thought he’d finally gotten his big break. A musical comic since 2007, Jay was sure his 2019 multi-episode appearance on NBC’s Bring the Funny would take his career from long nights and low pay to ticket sales and …
Read More »Trolls Targeted This Librarian. Now He's Quitting To Rediscover His Library Joy
Mychal Threets has always been proud to be a library kid. The Fairfield, California native was homeschooled by his mother and spent so much time in the Solano County Library that he genuinely can’t remember the first time he walked through its doors. But he does say that most of …
Read More »Djo Has a Hot 100 Hit. For Joe Keery, It's a 'Rebirth'
When Joe Keery first moved to Chicago to attend DePaul University’s Theatre School, he had no idea what direction his life would take. After graduating in 2014, the Massachusetts native stuck around for three more years, working at a restaurant, getting small acting gigs, playing in his former band Post …
Read More »More UMG Music is Getting Removed From TikTok
TikTok and Universal Music Group’s war escalated this week as songs written by Universal Music Publishing Group’s songwriters have started getting removed from the short-form video platform. The move comes nearly a month after UMG‘s recorded catalog came down from TikTok after the record company announced that it failed to …
Read More »'Who TF Did I Marry' Is the 50-Part Gossip Session Taking Over TikTok
“Hi and welcome. We all know why you’re here.” With those nine words, TikTok user @ReesaMTeesa turned her storytime about meeting, dating, and divorcing a man she called a “pathological liar” into TikTok’s newest hit reality series. It’s called “Who TF Did I Marry,” and even though it essentially involves …
Read More »His Song Was Going Massively Viral. Hours Later, Universal Music and TikTok Went to War
On Tuesday, Cody Fry’s record label, UMG-owned Decca Records, had promising news for the soulful pop singer: His single “Things You Said” had blown up on Douyin, (TikTok‘s separate mainland Chinese counterpart). Fry was excited, readying a plan to capitalize on an unexpected viral moment. The excitement ended within hours, …
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