So not only did 17-year-old Brett Nichols win his high school talent contest for his spot-on Michael Jackson dance moves, become a viral sensation and get an official nod from MJ’s estate — he also, apparently, brought peace to his school.

When MTV News asked Nichols — before school — if the viral video has made a difference when it comes to his high school career, he said: “Oh, totally. There are guys who maybe a week ago would never even talk to me [talking to me now]. There’s generally a lot of positivity.”

“The whole school doesn’t seem to be in as much small chaos as it used to be,” he added. “It’s not a crazy school, but every school has its rough moments and there haven’t been those lately.”

Take that, Dalai Lama.

Sure, this newfound peace might have something to do with the fact that the school year ends come Friday, but I’m guessing Nichols’ fancy moves and the fame they have brought to California’s Pitman High have made a major impact on the school’s denizens.

The video, which hit the Web last week and has since racked up more than 14-million views, is about 13 years in the making.

Nichols was first introduced to Michael Jackson’s moves in 2001 after seeing the “Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special” at age five. A few years later, he started practicing Jackson’s dance steps — sometimes for three hours at a time. He’s entirely self-taught.

“I thought it was the coolest thing I had ...

If you’re the kind of person who likes to jam out to tunes while in transit, imagining that the music issuing from your headphones is your own personal soundtrack, then BOOTS has a new video for you.

The mysterious/elusive/pick-your-word producer, responsible for about 80% of Beyoncé’s surprise, self-titled album as well as his own excellent mixtape, WinterSpringSummerFall, dropped the video (unsurprisingly) sans fanfare this week.

A gentle meander filled with trains, flickering views of Paris and shadowy figures in a movie theater watching what appears to be art installation “The Clock” (although I could be mistaken), “EST” is a strange kind of exploration of time and how we move through it.

Check it out below:

Brenna Ehrlich

Brenna Ehrlich is a reporter for MTV News as well as the senior writer/editor for the O Music Awards. In the past, she served as associate editor at Mashable, penned a netiquette column for CNN and co-authored the blog and book "Stuff Hipsters Hate." She likes trying not to die in moshpits and listening to songs on repeat. Follow her on Twitter @BrennaEhrlich for news on cats and punk bands.

We have yet to get our hands on the legendary Andrew W.K.‘s upcoming book, “The Party Bible,” but the esteemed author gave us a taste of the literary action while at Hangout Fest 2014.

Before busting out the party-est and sweatiest of sets down in Gulf Shores, Alabama, Mr. W.K. bestowed upon us the first two commandments of partying — as well the recipe for his sacrament of choice. We’re not sure whether said commandments and recipe will end up in the book, but they’re worth jotting down either way.

Check it out below — before Andrew W.K. hits up the world’s most prestigious debating society, The Oxford Union, in June to deliver yet another inspirational speech about partying titled “Andrew W.K. and The Philosophy of Partying.”

Brenna Ehrlich

Brenna Ehrlich is a reporter for MTV News as well as the senior writer/editor for the O Music Awards. In the past, she served as associate editor at Mashable, penned a netiquette column for CNN and co-authored the blog and book "Stuff Hipsters Hate." She likes trying not to die in moshpits and listening to songs on repeat. Follow her on Twitter @BrennaEhrlich for news on cats and punk bands.

BANKS knows what’s up. Her new single, “Drowning,” darkly captures what a toxic relationship can do to a person — read: leave your heart cold and gasping for air.

“Take it from the girl you claim to love/ You’re gonna get some bad karma,” BANKS croons over a shuttering, dramatic beat, opining,
“From the girl who made you soup and tied your shoes when you were hurting/ You were not deserving, you were not deserving.”

Make this the anthem for the impending anti-cuffing season.

BANKS’ debut album GODDESS is September 9.

Brenna Ehrlich

Brenna Ehrlich is a reporter for MTV News as well as the senior writer/editor for the O Music Awards. In the past, she served as associate editor at Mashable, penned a netiquette column for CNN and co-authored the blog and book "Stuff Hipsters Hate." She likes trying not to die in moshpits and listening to songs on repeat. Follow her on Twitter @BrennaEhrlich for news on cats and punk bands.

It looks like Twitter could be taking another crack at breaking into the music world, if reports that the micro-blogging service is in talks to acquire SoundCloud are to be believed.

Music tech journalist Peter Kafka reports that Twitter is currently in talks to purchase the music-sharing service, which has become the de facto place for musicians to post new tunes and remixes since its 2007 inception.

Soundcloud has a reported 250 million listeners, while Twitter has 255 million monthly active users.

This isn’t Twitter’s first foray into music. The social media service launched Twitter Music — which was shuttered in March 2014 — last year. That service allowed users to see what tunes were trending on Twitter, as well as get musical suggestions based on their tastes.

If this deal were to go through, it would be a big buy for Twitter, as SoundCloud is currently valued at $700 million.

The sale wouldn’t be as pricey a deal as Apple’s alleged $3.2 billion plan to buy Beats Electronics, but it could be relatively impactful, adding a deeper social layer to SoundCloud and making Twitter more dynamic.

SoundCloud has made efforts to make its homepage more social in the past, with its “The Next Soundcloud” redesign (complete with profile pages), but the site never really seemed to become a destination for casual music fans; the name of the game has always been sharing.

Twitter users share more SoundCloud links than any other ...

Hangout Fest 2014 is almost over, guys (tears!), and what with all the sun and fun and whatnot you may be waning.

Well, Andrew W.K. is here with a message to get you pumped for the rest of the night. Hey ya, guys — the night ain’t over yet.

Watch the below Vine until you believe it way down in the darkest corners of your heart-soul:

Brenna Ehrlich

Brenna Ehrlich is a reporter for MTV News as well as the senior writer/editor for the O Music Awards. In the past, she served as associate editor at Mashable, penned a netiquette column for CNN and co-authored the blog and book "Stuff Hipsters Hate." She likes trying not to die in moshpits and listening to songs on repeat. Follow her on Twitter @BrennaEhrlich for news on cats and punk bands.

What’s a music festival without dancing? Nothing, that’s what.

What’s a music festival without copious amounts of air-guitaring, air-drumming, and air-slappin’ da bass? Less than nothing. A hollow shell.

Luckily, Hangout Fest is replete with dudes who can air-shred, air-slap, and phantom drum with the best of them.

Bask in the glory of Hangout Fest’s air champs and invisible guitar heroes below:

Hangout Music Fest 2014: Highlights
	Get The Latest On This Year's Fest Line-up
	Watch How Hangout Performers Prep For The Beach
	See Who's Playing The Festival
	2013 Hangout Fest Highlights

Credit: GIFs, Gavin Alaoen

Brenna Ehrlich

Brenna Ehrlich is a reporter for MTV News as well as the senior writer/editor for the O Music Awards. In the past, she served as associate editor at Mashable, penned a netiquette column for CNN and co-authored the blog and book "Stuff Hipsters Hate." She likes trying not to die in moshpits and listening to songs on repeat. Follow her on Twitter @BrennaEhrlich for news on cats and punk bands.

Not only did The 1975 get super unbeachy at Hangout Fest — and bust out a stand-out performance — they also chatted with MTV News about their fans — as well as the possibility of new music.

Watching the gaggle of Brits take the stage at Hangout was certainly an overwhelming experience — what with Matt Healy going all Matt Berninger on a full bottle of red wine (all the wine is all for him), dive into the crowd to take snaps with his adoring fans, and just generally be shirtless and tattoo’d and … what was I saying again? Oh, yeah. The 1975: swoon-worthy.

And that’s not just a figure of speech, guys: According to Healy, “There’s a lot more crying and fainting that happens at our gigs [now].” Someone break out the smelling salts.

Check out the clip below to hear more about The 1975′s fan frenzy and, be still our hearts, the buzz on new tunes:

Brenna Ehrlich

Brenna Ehrlich is a reporter for MTV News as well as the senior writer/editor for the O Music Awards. In the past, she served as associate editor at Mashable, penned a netiquette column for CNN and co-authored the blog and book "Stuff Hipsters Hate." She likes trying not to die in moshpits and listening to songs on repeat. Follow her on Twitter @BrennaEhrlich for news on cats and punk bands.

We had a high hopes for the Flaming Lips‘ set at Hangout Fest 2014 — what with Wayne Coyne’s Instagrams of that bloody muscle suit and that giant red Solo cup.

Well, Coyne and Co. did not disappoint; they served up a totally tripped-out kid’s cartoon of a performance, complete with singing trees, dancing mushrooms and a sea of bouncing, inflatable rubber duckies. Oh, and the Solo cup also made an appearance — filled with balloons, of course.

Yup, this merry band of freaks totally gave Diarrhea Planet and their crowd-surfing donuts a run for their proverbial money.

Busting into their set with a duo of their biggest hits — “She Don’t Use Jelly” and “Do You Realize” — the band segued into a more subdued set, eerily soundtracking the transition from night into day. And then it got weird again — with flashing lights and tons of ragged-rad noise. They even threw in crowd-pleasing covers of The Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and David Bowie’s “Heroes” for good measure.

Take a look at the collection of GIFs below and vibe out, man:

Brenna Ehrlich

Brenna Ehrlich is a reporter for MTV News as well as the senior writer/editor for the O Music Awards. In the past, she served as associate editor at Mashable, penned a netiquette column for CNN and co-authored ...

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Here’s a conundrum: When you hit up a fest where tons of clothing is seriously optional (it’s hot out here, y’all), where do you put your keys, wallet, cellphone, etc? Time to flashback to the ’80s, folks.

I have one (slightly silly) word for you: fannypack. Yup, those once-ubitqious ’80s accessories are back — at least here in Gulf Shores, Alabama, at the 2014 Hangout Fest.

MTV hit up the festival grounds looking for the best of the best when it comes to bum bags. Check ‘em out (in GIFs!) below:

Brenna Ehrlich

Brenna Ehrlich is a reporter for MTV News as well as the senior writer/editor for the O Music Awards. In the past, she served as associate editor at Mashable, penned a netiquette column for CNN and co-authored the blog and book "Stuff Hipsters Hate." She likes trying not to die in moshpits and listening to songs on repeat. Follow her on Twitter @BrennaEhrlich for news on cats and punk bands.