Sure, serving as an executive producer on the new Michael Jackson album, XSCAPE, was an honor for Timbaland — but it also came with its baggage.

“This was very trying, not because it was just a Michael Jackson [album],” Timbaland said in an interview with MTV News on Tuesday (May 13). “It’s just me still dealing with some feelings of Aaliyah; because it’s still a death. I got Aaliyah, and I got Static [Major], and it makes you think like, ‘Who next?’ You start thinking crazy thoughts. And you just start to thank God for where you at in life.”

The feelings were so overwhelming, in fact, that there was even a time when Timbo had to remind himself that he was engaged in what is surely a dream for many producers: Working on an album of previously unreleased material from the King of Pop.

“I forgot about Michael for a moment,” the Virginia native admitted. “And then when I kept hearing his voice, it was like, I’m doing Michael Jackson. It got emotional. I had to tell my engineer to stop — we gotta go to something else. It took about a week process to really grasp what I’m doing. And once I grasped what I’m doing, I had to call my mom for prayer like, I need some help, I need some guidance on this, ’cause this is hard.”

Despite the difficulties, though, Tim did feel that his work on the record allowed him to sort through some personal ...

Gucci Mane has been behind bars since Septmeber, and he found out on Tuesday (May 13) that he won’t be getting out any time soon.

During a court appearance, the rapper pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting. Though the maximum that he can serve for that is 10 years, on two separate charges, in addition to a fine of as much as $250,000, prosecutors recommended that he remain behind bars for three years and three months.

Guwop’s latest legal troubles stem from a 2013 incident in which he was arrested for violating parole. He reportedly was in possession of marijuana, a handgun and 11 rounds of ammunition when he was detained by police.

Of course, this seems like it will be a major speedbump for Gucci’s music career. Still, if history is any indication, the rapper’s team will find a way to flood the Internet with previously unreleased material. As recently as last month, fans were given just that, in the form of his collaborative mixtape with Young Thug, Young Thugga Mane La Flare.

Gucci will be officially sentenced during a follow-up hearing in July.

Adam Fleischer

Usually pouring water on my head. Catch me @adamfleischer

With reporting by James Lacsina

With “Show Me,” Kid Ink and Chris Brown joined forces to create a platinum-selling single. They’ve got another potential smash on their hands, too, with “Main Chick” — but because of his recent legal troubles, Brown will likely not end up in the video.

“Right now, it’s looking like we got a nice video with me and Tyga, but we still gonna have some open room to situate with Chris and have some ideas if it just comes to that,” Ink told MTV News before KIIS FM’s Wango Tango in Los Angeles over the weekend.

“I talked to him just right before we started shooting the video, and his team has been incorporated with my team and reaching out, and keeping me in tune with what’s going on,” he said. “We were waiting for him for the video. Hopefully we can finalize it pretty soon and have it out. We don’t wanna waste too much time.”

Last week, Brown was sentenced to another four months behind bars, where he’s been for the last two, for skipping out on his anger management.

When the video does drop — sooner rather than later, and without Breezy, it seems — the Tha Alumni Music Group rapper expects it to be one of his crispest yet.

“Usually, I do a lot of performance videos, or strictly story videos,” he said. “This one is kind of more about just the visual, and catching the eye when it’s on mute. I think I got ...

Usually, when Drake drops a new song — or even a verse — it becomes a bit of an event online, with real-time reviews, debate, and lyrics littering your timeline. That didn’t really happen yesterday, though, when Drizzy lent an assist to OVO artist OB O’Brien for “2 On/Thotful.”

You can blame Jay Z and Solange for the stealing the light, but you can’t blame them if you don’t go back and check the track out today. So give it (another) listen, and check out the five Drake-iest lyrics from the song.

Line: “Comin’ at me never work no matter who try”
Why It’s Drakey: A subliminal at Jay Z, anyone?

Line: “Comin’ from the 6 side/ Where n—as goin’ shower posse just to get by”
Why It’s Drakey: The 6 side is a reference to Toronto, which Drizzy reps to the fullest.

Line: “Yeah, OVO sound that man that’s everyday/ It’s Young Money Records get the record straight”
Why It’s Drakey: He’s been known to shout out OVO and Young Money once or twice.

Line: “You’re so thotful you’re so thotful/ You’re so bad girl, you’re so awful”
Why It’s Drakey: Vintage Aubrey crooning.
Read More →

Ever have a tough day, or a frustrating moment, or a bad interaction? Don’t you wish, sometimes, that you could just press reset on those situations? You’d be able to rewind to the beginning, and play them out again with a new outcome.

That’s exactly what Vic Mensa is able to do in his new video, “Down On My Luck.” It’s a good thing, too, because the Chicago MC — like the song’s title suggests — has some tough times early on in the visual.

It’s a creative concept that’s well executed by Vic and the video’s director, Ben Dickinson.

Adam Fleischer

Usually pouring water on my head. Catch me @adamfleischer

Mac Miller kicked off Valentine’s Day with a truly loving tweet:

Mac’s love for Bill Murray is something he’s hinted at during his career. He called himself the “Young Bill Murray” on Statik Selektah’s 2013 single “21 & Over,” and name-dropped the comedian in his 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards cypher.

It makes some sense, then, that Murray seemed to serve as inspiration for Mac’s new mixtape, Faces, which dropped on Sunday and includes dialogue from two of Murray’s movies on two separate songs.

Those aren’t the vocal samples on the project. After some digging, we found four other notable ones used — taken both from movies and interviews with famous authors.

Song: “Grand Finale”
Sampled Line: “The hallucinations have stopped, finally, thank God, but uh, my adrenaline reserves are burning out and I’m staring straight into the face of a total psychotic freakout.”
What It’s From: “Where The Buffalo Roam” (1980)

Song: “It Just Doesn’t Matter”
Sampled Line: “They’ve got the best equipment that money can buy. Hell, every team they’re sending over here has their own personal masseuse, not masseur, masseuse. But it doesn’t matter.”
What It’s From: “Meatballs” (1979)

Song: “Here We Go”
Sampled Line: “Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth , even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong; this is your oath.”
What It’s From: “Kingdom of Heaven” (2005)

Song: “Polo Jeans”
Sampled Line: Kid #1: “Damn you, rabbit! You smell like f–kin’ piss!”
Kid #2: “You can ...

The elevator scuffle between Jay Z and Solange has dominated Twitter, Instagram and water cooler talk since the footage surfaced early on Monday (May 12).

Your friend probably texted you about it, your co-worker might have offered their take, And you may have seen the many memes floating around social media.

It’s not just Avergae Joes cracking jokes about what they saw on the footage, though. A handful of celebrities got in on it, too, making light of what went down.

50 Cent narrated the footage, in classic 50 fashion:

Snoop, meanwhile, reposted a number of the memes that were floating around:

And actor Orlando Jones, who some were saying looks like Solange, attempted to clarify that he wasn’t, in fact, involved in the incident.

Adam Fleischer

Young Thug may be one of the hottest new rappers around, but no one can seem to sort through his exact label situation. And while that remains a bit unclear, there’s one thing we do now know for sure: Birdman is not offically his manager.

In an interview with Complex for their recent cover story on Thug, Birdman debunked the rumor that he manages the Atlanta rapper. He did confirm that they’re close and that he plans to officially bring him to YMCMB “in time.”

“I always dealt with things differently than the labels,” Birdman said. “I’m part of the life and I’m a part of hip-hop culture. The major labels, they don’t come out here on these streets. They’re sitting in a building and they don’t really know what the f–k is going on. I don’t ever want to be like none of them.”

In March, Buzzfeed attempted to get to the bottom of Thug’s label situation. They talked to a number of sources, and ultimately it came out that, no matter how you sliced it, it seemed like a sticky situation with a number of players. He had paperwork with Gucci Mane’s 1017 Bricksquad, as well as with an Atlantic Records imprint, and had voiced plans to sign with both Future’s Freebandz and YMCMB.

None of that apparent messiness, nor the fact that he’s not Thug’s official manager, appears to soften Birdman’s support of the up-and-comer.

“Really, he’s like my little brother,” he said. “I just want to make sure ...

Drake isn’t one of those artists who gives out new mixtapes, songs or verses all that often. Usually, if you want new Drizzy, you’d better hope that he’s gearing up for an album release. Over the last month or so, though, the Young Money rapper has been on a bit of a streak.

Since the beginning of April, he’s had a couple solo joints (“Draft Day,” “Days in the East”) and some high profile features, too (“Never Satisfied,” with Future and “Believe Me,” with Lil Wayne).

On Monday (May 12), he returned once again, this time hopping on OB O’Brien’s “2 On/Thotful.”

After OB kicks a short verse to start things off, Drizzy comes onto the DJ Mustard-produced track (the beat was originally used by Tinashe and Schoolboy Q) and grabs the reigns for the song’s remainder.

Take a listen below.

Adam Fleischer

The NBA Playoffs are in full swing, with the second round underway and eight teams remaining chasing the championship. How do the most elite basketball players get ready for their games? Of course, there’s off-season workouts, practices during the year, and strength and conditioning. But getting your mind right before tip is just as important.

The NBA got up with eight of the players whose teams are still in the playoffs to find out their pre-game playlists. Check out their selections below.

Damian Lillard, Portland Trailblazers
1. Juvenile “400 Degreez”
2. Train “Hey Soul Sister”
3. Rich Homie Quan “Memories”
4. J. Cole “Dead Presidents”
5. Drake “Closer To My Dreams”

John Wall, Washington Wizards
1. Young Thug ft. Nicki Minaj “Danny Glover (Remix)”
2. Lil Durk “Live That Life”
3. Lil Dirk “Bang Bros”
4. Meek Mill “Make Me”
5. Rich Homie Quan “What Would You Do (WWYD)”

Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards
1. Rich Homie Quan “Man of the Year”
2. Yo Gotti ft. Rich Homie QUan “I Know”
3. Drake “The Language”
4. Young Thug ft. Nicki Minaj “Danny Glover (Remix)”
5. Rick Ross ft. Young Jeezy “War Ready”

DeAndre Jordan, Los Angeles Clippers
1. A$AP Ferg “Work Remix”
2. Drake ft. Soulja Boy “We Made It”
3. Tupac “Hit ‘Em Up”
4. Wiz Khalifa “We Dem Boyz”
5. Glen Davis “Big Baby Gonna Turn It Up”

Matt Barnes, Los Angeles Clippers
1. Tupac “California Love”
2. Tupac “I Get Around”
3. Tupac “Me & My Girlfriend”
4. Tupac “Picture Me Rollin’”
5. Tupac “Hit ‘Em Up”

Jamal Crawford, Los Angeles Clippers
1. Wale ft. Meek Millz “Heavens Afternoon”
2. Schoolboy Q “Man of the Year”
3. Kendrick Lamar ft. Jay Z “Bitch Don’t ...