Latest news with #Murph
Los Angeles Times
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Jessie Murph is posting through the outrage
For about two months when she was a kid, Jessie Murph wanted to go to Harvard. 'I watched 'Legally Blonde,' and I was like, 'This is lit,'' the 20-year-old singer and songwriter says of the Reese Witherspoon law-school comedy that came out three years before she was born. But wait: Growing up in small-town Alabama, Murph was a talented and dedicated cheerleader. Does Harvard even have cheerleaders? 'They probably do,' she says, tilting her head as she considers the question. 'I don't know if it's like the main thing, though. It's true you don't really hear about it. They have all the expensive sports: lacrosse, polo, horse riding.' She laughs. 'Horse riding would be lit too.' Whatever the case, Murph soon cast aside her Ivy League aspirations — not to mention her devotion to cheer, though that's come back more recently — and refocused on her first love of music. Now, instead of preparing for sophomore year, she's just released her second major-label album, 'Sex Hysteria,' which includes the top 20 pop hit 'Blue Strips' and which — true to the LP's title — has set off a minor internet controversy with the racy music video for her song '1965.' An Amy Winehouse-ish retro-soul number with a ringing malt-shop piano lick, '1965' is about longing for romance the way they did it in the old days: 'We'd go to diners and movies and such,' Murph sings in her scratchy Southern drawl, 'We'd just hold hands and I'd love every touch.' Elsewhere in the song, the nostalgia darkens as Murph acknowledges that 'I might get a little slap-slap' from her man and that 'I would be 20, and it'd be acceptable for you to be 40.' ('That is f— up, I know,' she adds of the age gap.) The song's NSFW video goes even further, with traces of pornography and suggestions of domestic violence that have invited criticism that Murph is advocating (or at least aestheticizing) a kind of tradwife oppression at a precarious moment for women's rights. Murph addressed the blowback in a video on TikTok, where she has 11 million followers, writing, 'This entire song is satire r yall stupid' — proof, perhaps, that her point didn't quite land as she'd hoped. Yet this week, 'Sex Hysteria' debuted on Billboard's album chart at No. 8, not long after Lana Del Rey — a key influence on Murph with a long history of online outrage — posted a video of herself pole dancing to 'Blue Strips,' whose title refers to the security marking on a $100 bill that might be tossed at an exotic dancer. All the attention has combined to put Murph in the conversation for a best new artist nod at February's Grammy Awards. 'Writing this album, I was in the studio every day for like six months straight,' she says on a recent afternoon near Venice Beach. 'Didn't go out, didn't do anything — was just grinding.' We're talking at the end of a long day of promo for 'Sex Hysteria'; she's wearing jeans and a Hysteric Glamour T-shirt, her inky-black hair hanging loose around her face. 'But it's so cool because you go in there with nothing and you make something out of thin air,' she says. 'Then you get to listen to it, and it's therapeutic for what you're feeling.' Though it opens with a track in which she attributes her becoming a songwriter to 'my father and the f— up s— he did,' 'Sex Hysteria' is a more playful record than last year's 'That Ain't No Man That's the Devil,' which Murph says exorcised 'a lot of anger and hurt that I needed to get out, even just for myself, before I could move on to the next phase.' (A representative lyric from 'Dirty': 'I woke up this morning kind of mad / Flipped the switch, I had the urge to beat your ass.') Here, in contrast, she's singing about her interest in 'whips and chains' in the sock-hoppy 'Touch Me Like a Gangster' and bragging about the Malibu mansion she just bought in 'Blue Strips' — a mansion, she clarifies, she does not actually own. 'Not yet,' she adds. 'That line was just the first thing that came out of my mouth when I was writing the song. It feels so glittery, the thought of living in Malibu. It's always been something I've wanted to do.' What shaped her ideas about the storied coastal enclave as a child in the Deep South? 'I'm a really big fan of 'Property Brothers' — I'm sure I saw it on there.' Murph moved to L.A. about a year and a half ago from Nashville, where she established a foothold in the music industry with collaborations like 'Wild Ones,' a duet with Jelly Roll that has more than 300 million streams on Spotify, and 'High Road,' a No. 1 country-radio hit by her and Koe Wetzel that led to a nomination for new female artist of the year at May's ACM Awards. 'Sex Hysteria' dials down the explicit country trappings in favor of thumping bass lines and woozy trap beats; her guests on the album are Gucci Mane and Lil Baby. Yet the album demonstrates a certain stylistic blurriness that's comes to define country music no less than any other genre in the streaming era. 'Whether it's country or pop or whatever, I think Jessie Murph is just Jessie Murph,' says Bailey Zimmerman, the Nashville up-and-comer who teamed with Murph last year for the rootsy 'Someone in This Room' and whose own music shares a casually hybridized quality with Murph's. 'It may not sound country, but what she's talking about usually is.' Like many in her generation, Murph found her voice posting covers of popular songs online. The oldest video on her YouTube is titled '11 year old sings titanium' and, sure enough, shows a young Murph squinting into the camera as she performs Sia and David Guetta's 2011 stadium-rave jam. At 16, having built a following on Instagram and TikTok while in high school in Athens, Ala., she signed to Columbia Records and started releasing singles; by 2023 she'd dropped a mixtape called 'Drowning' and recorded songs with Diplo and Maren Morris. For 'Sex Hysteria,' she drew inspiration from Patsy Cline, Wanda Jackson and both Presleys — Elvis and Priscilla. Murph says her mother told her that when Jessie was 3, she came into the kitchen and announced that she'd been Elvis in a past life. Has Jessie been to Graceland? 'No, but my mom went there when she was pregnant with me,' she says, widening her kohl-rimmed eyes. She titled the album in reference to the dismissive way women were described as 'hysterical' in the 1950s and '60s — 'women who were depressed or anxious or just feeling normal emotions,' she says. Does she think women are more free to express themselves half a century later? 'I definitely feel free if I'm feeling some type of way — obviously I'm saying it in songs and not holding anything back. But I think everyone's experience is very different. I'm sitting in a different spot than somebody three doors down is, you know? And different countries and different political settings — I'm sure it's something that's a problem in places.' To a degree, the backlash to Murph's '1965' has overlapped with the criticism Sabrina Carpenter drew when she revealed the cover of her upcoming 'Man's Best Friend' album, which depicts Carpenter kneeling before a man who's pulling her hair. 'The weirdest part about it is that it's a lot of women who are hating,' Murph says. 'But I think some people are weirded out by my age. A lot of people met me when I was 16 or 17 and a much different person — which, thank God I'm a different person.' She sighs. 'I don't know. When people find you at a certain age, it's like you need to be frozen in time. Let me live.' This week, Murph launched a world tour behind 'Sex Hysteria' that she previewed with a buzzy performance at April's Coachella festival in which she brought some of her old cheerleading moves into the choreography she's emphasizing for the first time. (She'll circle back to Southern California for a Sept. 27 stop at the Shrine Expo Hall.) 'Certain things come naturally to me and certain things don't,' she says. 'The dance stuff is one of the things I'm grilling myself on.' Another of her goals this year: spending less time on social media. 'That s— is terrible for your mental health,' she says even as she admits that YouTube and TikTok have been crucial to her ascent. 'I'm on World War III TikTok right now, where they're talking about World War III. And I just keep scrolling, because now I'm nervous about World War III. 'I think it's scary how young kids are getting phones,' she adds. 'That YouTube video you brought up — I could have posted something crazy at that age, right? Even being 16 and having TikTok — I look back at some of the things I posted, and I'm like, Why would you post that, bro?'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Brewers manager Pat Murphy fields questions
You asked, Murph answered! In this installment of 'I'd Like To Speak To The Manager,' Brewers skipper Pat Murphy answers questions from fans. He spoke with FOX6 anchor Ted Perry why his kids are so well behaved at post game news conferences, which players make him laugh in the dug out, why he still thinks Craig Counsell is 'family,' and the difficulties in life that he's overcome and how they make him a better manager. He also reveals what he's snacking on when you see him during the games. Great questions from FOX6 viewers. Now, watch the answers from the National League Manager of the Year.
New York Post
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Jessie Murph sparks outrage over controversial music video depicting domestic violence, pornography
Jessie Murph has fans in an uproar. The 20-year-old singer, who has been compared to Amy Winehouse, sparked a social media firestorm over the music video to her risqué new song '1965.' The video, which came out July 18, has been accused of glorifying pornography and domestic violence due to its graphic nature. 11 Jessie Murph in her '1965' music video. Jessie Murph/YouTube 11 Jessie Murph puts a gun in a man's mouth in the '1965' music video. Jessie Murph/YouTube 11 Jessie Murph lounging on a bed in her '1965' music video. Jessie Murph/YouTube Fans are particularly upset over a shocking sex scene that takes place in the middle of the video. In addition, a woman who appears to be Murph is depicted tied up while face down on a couch in the video. 11 Jessie Murph's '1965' music video has sparked intense backlash with fans. Jessie Murph/YouTube 11 Jessie Murph has been accused of glorifying violence and porn. Jessie Murph/YouTube Fans flooded the comments section of the song's YouTube upload — which has over 7 million views — to express their displeasure. 'The way my jaw dropped the floor, there's still time to unrelease this,' one fan wrote. 'The fact it's been 5days or whatever since the video had been uploaded and youtube still hasn't blurred that out is crazy work,' a different comment read. 11 Jessie Murph released '1965' on July 18. Jessie Murph/YouTube A third person said, 'I didnt think it would be this bad. I am forever traumatized this is diabolical.' 'Since when is pornography allowed on youtube?' someone else asked. More fans slammed Murph for including a child in the video right before the sex scene. 'So so messed up,' a fan said. 11 Jessie Murph with a young child in her '1965' music video. Jessie Murph/YouTube 'Not only is this song ahh, putting a child before such a explicit scene is crazy,' a different fan noted. '1965,' which is from Murph's newly released second studio album 'Sex Hysteria,' is filled with raunchy lyrics. 'We'd go to church on a Sunday, wake up on Monday/You'd go to work and I'd stay home and sing and do fun things/I might get a little slap-slap, but you wouldn't hit me on Snapchat,' Murph sings. 11 Jessie Murph attends Spotify's 2025 Songs of Summer Celebration in Los Angeles on July 23. Getty Images for Spotify 'I think I'd give up a few rights/If you would just love me like it's 1965,' she also sings. An insider told the Daily Mail that Murph's song and music video sparked outrage in the country music scene, with some comparing her to Kanye West. 'If she continues this and goes completely off the rails like Kanye, then people should have more conversations about the person she is rather than the artist she is,' the insider told the outlet. 11 Jessie Murph performing during The ACM Country Kickoff at Tostitos Championship Plaza in Frisco, Texas. Getty Images The Post has reached out to Murph's reps for comment. In a recent interview with Teen Vogue, Murph spoke about the intense reactions her music evokes from fans. 'I'm glad that I make people have some sort of reaction. I'd rather them be like, 'I hate you,' or 'I love you,' rather than, 'I feel indifferently,' I guess,' the Alabama native stated. 11 Jessie Murph seen in New York City on July 21. GC Images 'But still, I just find it f—ing weird… I don't have any hate in my heart… That's been something that I've been trying to figure out how to navigate and not react and get mad because it totally makes me be like, 'F–k you, b-tch,'' she added. Days after releasing her new album, Murph's performance to '1965' on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' was similarly bashed by fans online. 'how dare anybody be comparing this to Amy… you should all be ashamed smh,' one fan wrote. 11 Jessie Murph performs during Spotify's 2025 Songs of Summer Celebration. Getty Images for Spotify 'everything about this feels like an SNL skit. how is this real,' another fan said. Murph was discovered by uploading vlogs and covers on TikTok and YouTube. She had her breakthrough with her 2021 single 'Always Been You,' three years before releasing her debut studio album, 'That Ain't No Man That's the Devil.'
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Why Pat Murphy is the perfect kind of manager for the Brewers
Yahoo Sports senior MLB analysts Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman discuss Milwaukee's recent success and question whether or not they can keep it up during the second half of the season. Hear the full conversation on the 'Baseball Bar-B-Cast' podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript Murph is the central character of this squad in a very unique way. What Murph is saying is, we are a ragtag group of misfit parts. We are the rejects. We do stink physically, like, we are not up to snuff compared to the mighty Dodgers, but we're gonna beat them anyway. And I think that that is a very easy thing as a fan to latch on to, and I am excited for the fans of Milwaukee who get to hop on this thrill ride. Now, how good is this team in the long run? Can they up the Cubs in the division? Can they make a run in the playoffs for the first time since 2018? Last year, when we were having sort of similar conversations about how the Brewers are doing this, they had Willy Adonis, who was a shortstop with 30 homers. They had Jackson Currio, who was one of the best players in baseball in the second half. They had William Preras, who was a top three catcher in the sport, if not top two catcher in the sport last year. They had Christian Jalich with a 150 OPS plus, right? So that was even though the rest of it was still kind of like hodgepodge, that was enough star power to where you could understand why that was a division winner. Now, I know a lot of those players are still here, but they're not performing like that. And so on one hand, you could say, well, that's the upside because if these guys heat up, now we are talking about clearly one of the best teams in baseball. But the fact that they have amassed already almost one of the best teams in baseball, or one of the best records in baseball with this assortment of statistics, it's astounding, and that is why they deserve all the credit. Close
Express Tribune
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Jessie Murph claps back at ‘1965' backlash, 'Are y'all stupid?'
Jessie Murph is defending her latest single 1965 after fans slammed the lyrics for glorifying an era associated with racism, sexism, and conservative gender roles. The 19-year-old singer responded to the criticism with a TikTok video in which she bluntly stated, 'The entire song is satire. Are y'all stupid?' The video, meant as a defense, only fueled further backlash across platforms. The controversy began shortly after the song dropped, with lyrics that seemed to fantasize about returning to 1965, a year widely associated with systemic inequality. Many listeners didn't find the tone satirical, accusing Murph of romanticizing oppression. Visuals from the music video featuring retro imagery only added fuel to the fire. Some fans believed the entire presentation felt more like nostalgia than critique. Trying to clarify her intent, Murph also commented under the TikTok video, 'for legal reasons this is satire i promise.' But instead of easing the storm, this line led to even more confusion. 'If you have to say it's satire after people are upset, maybe it wasn't clear,' one fan wrote. Another user replied, 'Satire isn't a get-out-of-jail-free card.' The backlash has spilled onto all platforms, with TikTok and X users calling out the inconsistency between the lyrics and Murph's explanation. Some have accused her of scrambling for excuses now that the song isn't being received well. As one top comment reads, 'If the outrage hadn't started, would she have called it satire at all?' Despite the uproar, 1965 remains on streaming platforms, and Murph has not issued a formal apology. Her team has not released any statements either. For now, fans remain divided, but skeptical.
