Drake often pays homage to his native Toronto, and the city shows him love back. That relationship is particularly affectionate during this NBA season, as Drizzy has closely aligned himself with the Toronto Raptors. From introducing players before a game earlier this year, to helping forward Terrance Ross during the Slam Dunk contest, to sitting courtside with his lint roller during the current playoff run, the rapper has been putting on for the squad.

Earlier this week, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra paid those respects right back. In a video titled “Go Raptors,” seven of the orchestra members, all donning red Raptors gear, create syphonic renditions of Drizzy’s “All Me” and “Trophies.”

This is barely over one minute, and it needs to be at least 10.

Adam Fleischer

A day after Usher helped debut “Love Never Felt So Good,” a never-before-heard Michael Jackson track off the upcoming album XSCAPE, we’re finding out more information about what else is in store for the May 13 project.

“Michael Jackson was the perfect artist who spoke to all of us,” L.A. Reid said in a video released on Jackson’s official VEVO channel. “He tapped us on the shoulder and said, ‘Would you just do me one small favor, and remind people that I’m the greatest?’ ”

Reid, who is the Chairman and CEO of Epic Records, which will be releasing the album, put together a team to try to do just that.

“The project started with a conversation that I had with [Co-Executor of the Michael Jackson Estate] John Branca,” Reid explained. He just asked a simple question. “How about you let me hear everything that’s been recorded, everything on tape, whether it’s an entire song, or a fragment of a song?”

The music industry vet then assembled a squad of revered talents to help put the album together.

“I felt like I had to dig into a place deeper than just music,” explained Timbaland, who is serving as an executive producer on the project.

Rodney Jerkins felt similarly out of the gate. “It wasn’t that I didn’t trust L.A., it’s just that I worked with Michael before, and I know what his expectations were,” the producer/songwriter admitted. “Once L.A. played me the music, I was all the way in. I was like, Oh, yeah. This ...

Future and Detail seem to have put any past issues behind them.

On Thursday, “Moscato,” the latest collaboration from the rapper and producer, hit the Net. It comes just a week after Future told MTV News that the two had a minor falling out over Beyonce’s “Drunk in Love,” which was produced by Detail. Future contributed some of the melody, but wasn’t given credit.

“It didn’t affect our relationship right now, [but] it was on my mind a lot at the time,” Future said, though he said he no longer harbors any hard feelings. “I moved on from it, because I understand the bigger picture. We make too much great music together.”

They got back to doing just that with “Moscato,” which is produced by Detail and Key Wane and features vocals from both Detail and Future.

“Red wine in the creases of your nipples,” Future croons early on, setting the tone for the sexually-explicit cut. The beat remains woozy and subtle throughout, serving up a slow tempo for the artists to wax raunchy.

This wasn’t Future and Detail’s first collaboration and, despite tension that “Drunk in Love” caused, it probably won’t be their last.

Adam Fleischer

It’s a celebration, y’all.

For the newest visual off of his recently-released project Last Winter, Bas is joined by J. Cole for “My N—a Just Made Bail.”

The video, directed by Ramble West, opens with Bas embracing his friend, fresh out of the courthouse in NYC. From there, it’s time to rejoice. The Fiends head west and end up at a house party overlooking Los Angeles ‒ not a bad thing to do even if you didn’t just make bail. Cole, who earlier this year signed Bas to his Dreamville Records imprint, distributed by Interscope, shows up soon after.

“Free your mind, and everything will follow,” in the words of Cole.

Adam Fleischer

Between his music and dance moves, Usher has always channeled Michael Jackson. On Thursday night (May 1), Ush got to honor the King of Pop in a particularly special way: by helping to debut his new song.

During the first ever iHeartRadio Music Awards, Usher took the stage to perform a dance number to “Love Never Felt So Good,” a brand-new MJ song. The song, produced by John McClain and Paul Anka, was recorded back in 1983. It will be featured on XSCAPE, Jackson’s upcoming album.

The track was introduced by L.A. Reid, a veteran music executive who currently serves as the chairman and CEO of Epic Records. The label will be releasing the album, in conjunction with the Estate of Michael Jackson, on May 13.

In 2010, Epic released Michael, which was also a collection of previously unheard material from the musical icon.

Back in 2009, Usher paid tribute to Jackson in an interview with MTV News following the legend’s passing.

“I think Michael Jackson is by far one of the most impactful artists in music … when MTV did not play African-American videos, he took a stand and said, ‘This is a must,’ and you look what it became after that,” he said. “You can’t say that you are an artist in this century and [not be] influenced by Michael Jackson. I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to share the stage with him, to know him personally, and I am always going to remember him.”

“Love Never Felt ...

Seth Rogen and James Franco recently put together a hilarious bromance-infused Kimye-inspired string of parodies ‒ from a remake of the “Bound 2″ video to reshooting the Vogue cover. The performances caught they eye of both Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, and Rogen and Franco were almost part of their big day.

“[Kanye] said he was thinking it might be funny if he performed it at the wedding and we came out on a motorcycle,” Rogen said on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on Thursday (May 1).

The more they thought about the execution of the idea, though, the less it seemed like a good one.

“And we were like, ‘And then what do we do?’ And then we were all like, ‘I don’t know!’ And then we were like, ‘That’s probably not going to be very funny.’ He’s like, then I’m just rapping with you and James Franco on a motorcycle for five minutes. And, thank God, I think it was kind of realized that it might not be the best idea.”

Still, the actor, whose new movie, “Neighbors,” hits theaters on May 9, would love to be at the event.

“If he wanted me there, I would have been naked, with a shirt off, however he wanted me, on a motorccyle, doing whatever he needed,” he joked. “Because I’m a fan. That’s just as a fan.”

Last week, Franco discussed the invite during an appearance on The View. “Kim loved the video and we didn’t hear back from Kanye so we kind of felt ...

Few rival Jamie Foxx in the success he’s had in the worlds of music and acting, and he feels like Drake could take that baton and run with it.

“What people don’t understand is, he’s an actor,” Foxx told MTV News while promoting “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” in which he stars as Electro. “So, when he did ‘Saturday Night Live,’ I was like, Oh, yeah, you really showing ‘em.”

Of course, Drake already has some on camera experience, having starred on “Degrassi,” a Canadian show, before his rap career took off. Foxx thinks there’s more to come ‒ and possibly together.

“I got movie ideas for him,” he said. “I think he can go a long way. He’s gonna be a surprise for the next two decades. That’s my prediction.”

If the results of the movie ideas mirror those of the musical collaborations Foxx and Drake have had, fans could be in for something special. Drizzy was on the remix to Foxx’s “Digital Girl” back in 2009, and was then featured on “Fall for Your Type,” which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, the following year.

“Drake is my little brother, man,” he said. “When he first came out, I took him to ‘[The Tonight Show With] Conan O’Brien’ and I said, ‘Listen, you may not know who this is, but in a couple of years, the whole world will know his name.’ “

Adam Fleischer

2 Chainz isn’t very happy with Funkmaster Flex at the moment.

“I don’t give a f–k what Funkmaster Flex gotta say about this n—a from Atlanta,” Tit said during a concert on Wednesday night.

The animosity stems from comments Flex made in April during an appearance on ESPN’s “Highly Questionable.” When the veteran DJ was asked which rapper gave the worst freestyle on his radio show, he was hesitant to name names at first, but ended up calling out Chainz.

“The freestyle that wasn’t very good on my show, um, it had to be 2 Chainz,” he told hosts Bomani Jones and Dan LeBatard. “Honestly, I think I caught him off guard. I think he didn’t expect me to ask him to do it. I’ve heard him on shows freestyling before, so I knew he could handle it, but I think that day he couldn’t handle it.”

Coincidentally (or, more likely, not), the Def Jam rapper’s response came at the birthday show for DJ Prostyle ‒ who works at Power 105.1, an NYC rival of Flex’s Hot 97.

“I ain’t use no motherf–kin’ help,” he boasted while on stage at the Best Buy Theater. “I ain’t come to no n—a for no favors. I got up here on my own. F–k you and what you think about me, n—a.”

2 Chainz’s new EP, Freebase, drops this Monday.

Adam Fleischer

Pharrell‘s single “Happy” has become a worldwide hit, but it almost wasn’t the Virginia native whose vocals ended up on the song.

“I actually did [give it to someone else]: Cee Lo,” Pharrell told Howard Stern earlier this week. “He did it, he did do it, but the ‒ how do I say this diplomatically? The powers that be at the time did not see it fit for him, and there was a much bigger agenda for him; he had bigger fish to fry, he had an album to put out.”

Not only did the Atlanta native record the song, but he did an incredible job, according to Pharrell. “He sounded amazing on it,” he said. “He burns my version.”

Though this potential collaboration didn’t hold up, two have something else in store. “I love working with him,” Pharrell said. “In fact, we have a song together on his next album. He is a tremendous, tremendously talented guy.”

He also been taken back by how successful the track has become. The ubiquitous song has gone multi-platinum and hit #1 in dozens of countries. “‘Happy’ has become a movement,” he said. “But when you think about that word, ‘movement,’ what that means, aside from [an] assembly of people going in a certain direction, there’s actually really kinetic movement. People responded to the song by voting for it and requesting it and sharing it and downloading and uploading.”

Adam Fleischer

Chance the Rapper is viewed as one of rap’s best young talents ‒ and that’s thanks in large part to his 2013 mixtape Acid Rap. Wednesday (April 30) marked the one-year anniversary of the release, and the Chicago rapper celebrated by releasing a new track.

That song, released on his official Soundcloud page, doesn’t feel particularly celebratory, though. “I Am Very Very Lonely” finds Chano sing-rapping over a stripped down, somber beat produced by the Social Experiment. As is often the case, his voice comes off as both the most powerful and important instrument on the track.

“It’s just me and la cucaracha, tonight/ Cold pizza with the hot Sriracha, tonight/ Apple TV, Comcast, don’t know what to watch-a, tonight/ Shoulda had you when I had you, now I wish I gotcha, tonight,” the 21-year-old croons to open the song.

From there, Chance continues to set the scene of a night alone that anyone ‒ not just a famous rapper ‒ can relate to: cooking by yourself, trying to stay busy, hoping that that special someone calls or texts.

The song is the first that he’s released since cancelling shows due to an illness last week. After missing his Coachella set, Chance had to shut down his touring through the week due to a combination of the flu and tonsillitis.

There’s no word on when Chance plans to drop his new project, so this will have to hold fans over for the time being.

Adam Fleischer

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