Lana Del Rey is going country. September will bring her new album, titled “Lasso”; in the meantime, her new “country-trap” ballad with Atlanta rapper Quavo is steadily climbing the charts.“Tough” pairs acoustic guitar and Del Rey’s breathy crooning with Quavo’s tight verses and thick trap beats. The lyrics are also a mash-up, expressing a resilience in the midst of everyday adversity through imagery from both the rural and urban underclass: “The blue-collar, red-dirt attitude” meets “808s beating in the trunk in Atlanta.”Above all, Del Rey exhibits the playful humor and patriotic attitude at the core of conservatism’s resurgence. If this kind of thing has 'crossover appeal,' then all the better. It’s no surprise that fans have responded to the tune. The boundaries between country, pop, and hip-hop are more permeable than ever; Del Rey has played with elements of all three ever since her 2012 major-label debut, “Born to Die.”The fact that that album – released midway through the Obama era – is currently surging in the charts is a testament to Del Rey’s staying power, her ability to hold onto pop stardom during a particularly volatile time for the music business. Unlike her fellow survivors, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, Del Rey has always remained aloof from the liberal cause du jour. Which, along with her throwback femininity, is enough to make her seem vaguely conservative. Contrast her with Swift, who alienated her early fans by trading her everywoman appeal for celebrity activism. And yet musically, it is Swift who is more palatable to many conservatives, for whom hip-hop culture evokes DEI entitlement, sexual licentiousness, urban lawlessness, and probably twerking. For every fan on the right who applauds Del Rey’s self-consciously all-American aesthetic, there’s another who regards her penchant for genre-mixing as suspicious. Right-wing infighting? There’s nothing new under the sun.Even the rural America Del Rey embraces — typically the last bastion of conservative identity in our pop culture — can’t escape scolding from the right. Witness the controversy surrounding 23-year-old Tennessean Hailey Welch, whose crude but innocuous comment made her a viral sensation.Why? It's not as if there's a shortage of pretty young woman making vulgar jokes about sex online. Welch struck a chord because she (and her delightful twang) are recognizably from a real place.At the time she was “discovered,” Welch was living — happily — in a place with a population about the size of Oberlin's 2024 graduating class. With her grandmother. She worked in a bedspring factory and had never driven on the interstate or been in an airplane. Conservatives would normally applaud these markers of wholesome, small-town life — if they weren't too busy clutching their pearls at the temerity Welch had to monetize her fame and further degrade the culture.Unlike the pundits, the people who made Welch go viral understand that it’s all in good fun. It’s doubtful that any of the passersby in the original video would’ve been scandalized by Welch’s off-color talk, either.“Rich Men North of Richmond” singer-songwriter Oliver Anthony’s viral fame followed a similar trajectory. At first, conservatives loved his accent and the “Hillbilly Elegy” populism of his lyrics. Before long, however, he began failing the usual right-wing purity tests, mentioning “diversity” without a sneer and lamenting that his song was being “weaponized” by conservative-activist types.Anthony may no longer be the partisan sensation he was last summer, but people still seem to enjoy his music, if the robust ticket sales for his current tour are any indication.What the right might ponder is how to reach the kind of "barstool conservatives" who naturally identify with the likes of Welch and Anthony. These are people who are instinctively drawn to anti-wokeness without necessarily caring to engage in culture-war debates about "traditional values." “Tough” may be something of a departure for Del Rey, but it conveys a theme that runs through all of her work: the freedom of embracing regional roots. Del Rey herself was born in Manhattan. And it is there she returned — after a childhood in upstate New York and a stint at boarding school in Connecticut — to launch her career. And yet in her music, she’s always gravitated to more remote American eras and locales.Above all, Del Rey exhibits the playful humor and patriotic attitude at the core of conservatism’s resurgence. If this kind of thing has “crossover appeal,” then all the better. Worrying about whether any newcomers are “our people” betrays deep insecurity. To search for signs of liberal creep in “Yellowstone” or Zach Bryan is to forget that their very prominence is a victory in itself. That alone should embolden conservatives. If the right really wants to claim a central place in the culture, it could start by emulating the graceful, confident cool of Ms. Del Rey and having a little fun.

A South Carolina pastor emulated a core teaching of Christianity when he forgave a teenager accused of setting fire to his church's vans. Earlier this month, South Carolina police arrested 18-year-old Brandon Thomas Greene for allegedly torching two Ford Transit church vans in the parking lot at Philadelphia Baptist Church in Pauline, South Carolina. 'I told him that the church loved him because Christ loved us, and then, long story short, I got to share the gospel with him.' He was taken into custody on July 5 and charged with two counts of arson. To be sure, losing the church vans was an inconvenience for Philadelphia Baptist Church. Congregants were planning to use the vans to transport a youth team to a missions event in Kentucky. The departure date was the day after the vans were torched. However, instead of responding with anger, Philadelphia Baptist Church pastor Kiah Graves visited Greene in jail and extended him forgiveness. "'Brandon, we forgive you because we've been forgiven of our sins, but we want to know if you understand that,'" Graves recounted to WYFF-TV of the message he delivered to Greene in jail. But that's not all. Not only did Graves extend forgiveness, but he also shared the gospel with Greene. "It was an amazing moment. We hugged each other. I told him that the church loved him because Christ loved us, and then, long story short, I got to share the gospel with him," Graves told WYFF. "He gave his life to Christ in there, repented of his sins, and wants to be baptized," he explained. "But none of that would have happened, I don't think, if everybody wasn't on the same page of, 'Yes, let's catch him, let's make sure we get that squared away, but also don't leave him by himself.'" Forgiveness is core to Jesus' teachings. Not only did Jesus emphasize the importance of forgiveness in his Sermon on the Mount, but he repeatedly told parables about the requirement of forgiveness. Famously, Jesus even told his disciple Peter that forgiveness should be never-ending.As this situation demonstrates, forgiven people forgive — and receiving the grace of forgiveness contains a transforming power."Forgiveness and a hope of redemption for other people, offering second chances, is a way that Spartanburg could be known as one of the best places on Earth to live," Graves told WYFF. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Socialist Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York excoriated Democrats for leaking anonymous comments to derail the Biden campaign while not admitting they want to jettison Vice President Kamala Harris as well. Ocasio-Cortez made the comments in a video she posted to her social media account on Thursday. "I'm gonna say what a lot of these folks aren't saying. I'm just gonna say it," said Ocasio-Cortez. "If you think that there is consensus among the people who want Joe Biden to leave, that they will support Kamala, Vice President Harris, you would be mistaken. And I'm gonna say that because if they're gonna come out and say all their little things on background, off the record, but they're not gonna be fully honest, I'm gonna be honest for them," she continued. "I'm in these rooms. I see what they say in conversations," Ocasio-Cortez added. "A lot of them are not just interested in removing the president. They are interested in removing the full ticket." She floated a conspiracy theory that Republicans were plotting to steal the election through the Supreme Court.She went to call out those Democrats who didn't admit in public that they wanted to get rid of Harris on the ticket as well. "That's bulls***! If you have an opinion, say it with your chest, and say it in public!" she added. She admitted in the hour-long video posted to Instagram that Biden's performance at the debate against Trump was terrible, but she floated a conspiracy theory that Republicans were plotting to steal the election through the Supreme Court. "I want to put all my cards out on the table because I don't know what's going to happen," she added earlier in the video. Ocasio-Cortez had previously defended Biden and said the issue of his candidacy was settled because he had come out and decided that he was staying in the race. "I have spoken with him extensively, he made clear then, and he has made clear since, that he's in this race. The matter is closed," she said at the time. “Joe Biden is our nominee. He is not leaving this race. He is in this race and I support him," she added. Despite her defense, the pressure against Biden had only increased after former President Donald Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally. The complete video was posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Las Vegas Raiders star wide receiver Davante Adams said he'd happily play with Tom Brady even if he were 58 years old.It was widely speculated that NFL legend Tom Brady would play his last season with the Raiders to coincide with their move from Oakland to Las Vegas, which included a brand-new mega stadium. However, Brady retired as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Although, much of the rumors seemed to culminate in Brady becoming a minority owner of the Raiders instead.The team is currently struggling to find a solid quarterback, prompting podcast host and former NFL player Shannon Sharpe to ask Adams if he would play with Brady should he unretire.'I don't know if they're going to let me.'In fact, Sharpe barely got the words out before Adams started to answer."Tom Brady ... would you want — how old's Brady?" Sharpe began."Hell, yes," Adams interrupted. "Damn, you didn't even let me finish the question!" Sharpe came back."I know exactly [what you were going to say]. I knew when you said 'Tom Brady' I knew what you said," Adams continued. The 31-year-old wide receiver said he knew exactly what Sharpe was about to ask, adding that he has to "talk about how old [Brady] is.""I don't care, I don't care!" he said on the "Club Shay Shay" podcast."Would you take Tom at 47 or 48?" Sharpe continued.Adams clarified that even a 58-year-old Brady would still be one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL."He's getting older, but I mean he's still got to be able to throw it better than half these dudes in the league."The last time Brady seriously talked about a possible return to the NFL was in April 2024, when he said on the "DeepCut with VicBlends" podcast that he "wasn't opposed" to a Michael Jordan-style comeback."Let's say one day there's a situation, right? Maybe it's a [San Francisco] 49ers, maybe, you know, heading to the playoffs. Offense is great ..." the host described."Patriots, could be Raiders, could be ... never know," Brady interrupted."God forbid somebody goes down," the host continued. "Would you pick up that phone?""I'm not opposed to it," Brady said at the time. "I don't know if they're going to let me if I become an owner of an NFL team. I don't know, I'm always going to be in good shape, always be able to throw the ball, so to come in for a little bit like MJ coming back? I don't know if they'd let me, but I wouldn't be opposed to it," Brady concluded.Adams went on to tell Sharpe that his team's offense was one that was "fit for a Tom Brady" due to it being an "offense that you have to have extremely high-level execution to be able to make it work."Adams was also asked if he felt pressure to live up to the idea that Raiders players are troublemakers on and off the field.In a hilarious response, Adams said that while he wants to people to "fear" him when they're playing against him, "You don't want them to fear that you're about to shoot them or rob them!""Nothing like that! We can't be getting too out of control with it," he laughed.Brady has consistently stayed in headlines since his retirement, particularly with his massively successful Netflix roast. However, after garnering over 14 million views in the first week of airing, Brady later revealed that the impact the roast jokes had on his children was too much for him to consider participating in such an event ever again.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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