“Fast and Furious 7″ is coming at us even, well, faster than we thought.

Universal announced Wednesday (July 2) that the latest installment in the racing franchise will hit theaters on April 3, 2015, a week earlier than it was originally slated to premiere.

The film, directed by James Wan, was slated for a summer 2014 release until the tragic death of star Paul Walker last November. In April, the studio announced that Walker’s brothers, Caleb and Cody, would be filling his shoes.

“Our family experienced an unthinkable shock in November. We had to take time to grieve Paul, the brother we love and lost, and to figure out if we should move on with our film. We came together and all felt the only choice was to continue. We believe our fans want that, and we believe Paul would want that too,” Universal announced in April. “Caleb and Cody are helping us complete some remaining action for their brother and fill in small gaps left in production. Having them on set has made us all feel that Paul is with us too.”

The film also stars returning cast members Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Elsa Pataky and Lucas Black, along with first-timers Jason Statham, Djimon Hounsou, Tony Jaa, Ronda Rousey and Kurt Russell.

Emily Blake

You thought you knew Ariana Grande‘s “Problem,” but you had no idea. Until she took the stage at “Total Ariana Live” and stripped the smash dance hit down to a jazzy, breathy, and beautiful version that was as close to vocal nirvana as anyone will ever get.

Arianators are used to the slick, Iggy Azalea-backed, electro-pop version of the No. 1 hit. But in her “Total Ariana Live” version of “Problem,” the 21-year-old, who’ll be performing live at the 2014 VMAs, breathed new life into the song that’s already been taking over the summer, turning the high-energy sax-backed smash into an intimate, touching ballad.

While the original is a carefree kiss-off, this revamp tapped into the pain of a breakup, serving as a reminder that not only can she sing, but she can always surprise.

Caitlin White

MTV Weekend Editor. Acts like Madonna but listens to Merle.

In case you were wondering if it’s possible for Ariana Grande to be impossibly adorable at all times, yes. Yes, it is. Take for instance her ability to drop multiple F-bombs while upping the cute barometer… While channeling A$AP Rocky and Barbra Streisand… AT THE SAME DAMN TIME.

During “Total Ariana Live,” host Sway challenged the “Break Free” singer to a round of “Hip-Hop Mix-up,” which is like a hip-hop roulette game that involved Ariana randomly spinning two wheels, landing on a hip-hop song, and a musical style to sing in. Her job? Mix it up.

Leave it to Ari to game the system (again, in all her adorableness). She manipulated spun the wheels and the first wheel landed on “Broadway” for singing style (“Oh, it landed on Broadway,” she said with mock surprise). For her second spin, she got A$AP Rocky‘s “F—in’ Problems.” “There, I spun it. It landed where I wanted,” she coyly said.

Then Ari proceeded to NAIL the flow (in a rendition that might make Babs proud), in all its F-bomb glory. Quick, someone write a Broadway play around her rendition! Because we’d definitely f—ing watch.

For the second part of the game, Sway told Ariana Grande she could invite someone else to play, so she asked her friend Tyler to step up to the wheel. Again, there was some “careful coordination” of the game piece. Tyler (and Ari) chose randomly landed on Eminem‘s “Love ...

The full force of the Arianator army descended on Times Square today for Ariana’s Grande‘s “TRL” resurrection, aka “Total Ariana Live.” And even fans who didn’t make it into the MTV studio were waiting outside in the rain. Why? Because Ariana had promised to debut her new Zedd-assisted single “Break Free” on the show tonight, and when she did, she lit up the stage, the studio, and the Internet like a Christmas tree. (A dancing Christmas tree. Picture it. Isn’t that the happiest visual ever?)

After playing a hip-hop mix-up game and performing a stripped-down version of her hit single, “Problem,” Ariana finally unleashed “Break Free” into the world. The uplifting, anthemic dance track instantly lifted the audience off their feet, and plenty of fans took to the dance floor to show off their moves.

But even more fans took to Twitter to let the world know how much they loved the new song. (Many of which used the preferred method of expressing enthusiasm on the Internet: ALL CAPS!)

In case you missed it, check out a snippet of “Break Free” below.

Get More: Ariana Grande,
Ariana Grande videos

Can’t wait to see her sing the new track live? Don’t worry, she’ll be performing it live for the first time ever at this year’s VMAs on August 24th, live at the Forum in Los Angeles.

Listen to preview of “Break Free” at ArianaGrande.mtv.com!

Jul 3, 2014 | No Comments on Ariana Grande Debuts ‘Break Free’ On ‘Total Ariana Live,’ Basically Breaks The Internet

Read More →

Lecrae named his upcoming album Anomaly. He did so, presumably, because he feels that word describes who he is. And his first single from the project lyrically illustrates why.

“Let me guess, you counting money to the ceiling/ Difference ‘tween us like at least a couple million/ It’s foreign cars, pretty girls everywhere you go/ Yeah I heard it 30 times on the radio,” the Reach Records founder raps to open “Nuthin,” which he dropped on Tuesday (July 1).

In his second verse, Crae points out what he feels like other rappers aren’t talking about: “And every song talking ’bout they selling work on every corner/ Don’t talk about the laws, taking kids away from mommas/ Don’t talk about your homie in the trauma ’cause he shot up.”

The last line sounds like a personal reference to a story Lecrae told MTV News last year.

“When you see your cousin go inside a party, he comes outside, sits in the car and pow, pow, catches two to the head, you start thinking about life and death and the reality of that,” he said. “That really happened to my cousin.”

Anomaly is set to drop in August.

Adam Fleischer

I'm serious about these snacks. Catch me @adamfleischer

Experimental hip-hop group Death Grips have broken up, abruptly canceling several planned tour dates and urging their fans to “stay legend” in a note posted to their Facebook page.

“We are now at our best and so Death Grips is over. We have officially stopped. All currently scheduled live dates are canceled,” they wrote on a napkin on Wednesday (July 2). “Our upcoming double album The Powers That B will still be delivered worldwide later this year via Harvest/Third Worlds Records. Death Grips was and always has been a conceptual art exhibition anchored by sound and vision. Above and beyond a ‘band.’ To our truest fans, please stay legend.”

The news comes not even a month after the trio — composed of drummer Zach Hill, producer Andy Morin (aka Flatlander) and Stefan Burnett (aka MC Ride) — dropped a N—as On The Moon the first half of a surprise album featuring Bjork.

While they were innovative in blending the genres of hip-hop and punk, the group were not without drama. They split from Epic Records back in 2012 after they released their second album, No Love Deep Web, for free months early.

The group was slated to perform at the Pitchfork Music Festival before opening up for Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails later this year.

Emily Blake

Sure, the majority of 50 Cent’s often-hilarious Instagram videos seem to be poking fun at someone. But, as he proved on Tuesday, he can also use his platform for a cause he deems worthwhile.

Fif headed to a Best Buy in Pittsburgh to support Trigga, the new album from Trey Songz. In fact, he cleaned out the store of the singer’s latest release — even sending a sales associate to check if they had more available that weren’t on display on the shelves.

“@treysongz I BROUGHT THE STORE. NO CD’s left in best buy,in Pittsburgh tell the label i said reship LMAO,” he wrote.

He even made the salesman a bit of a star, and it was all in the name of supporting Trigga’s work.

“Take a picture of your self buying music you enjoy. SPR support real artist. #smsaudio #animalambition”

Trey, who appeared on the rapper’s “Smoke,” off of his recent Animal Ambition, caught wind of the move and showed his appreciation.

Adam Fleischer

I'm serious about these snacks. Catch me @adamfleischer

You prayed for it, you tweeted it, you basically manifested it. And now it’s happening: Ariana Grande will return to the VMAs with a live performance of her brand-new single, “Break Free.”

If you watched Ariana’s “Total Ariana Live” “TRL” 2.0 special like the good fan that you are, then you were amongst the first Arianators in the world to hear her new single, “Break Free,” when she debuted the song live on the show. It’s just a taste of what’s to come when she performs the single live for the first time ever at the 2014 VMAs, August 24 at The Forum in Los Angeles.

Ariana’s been teasing the Zedd collaboration on Twitter for almost two weeks, so a full dose of the synthy, upbeat summer anthem has been a long time coming for her fans.

And in case you missed this crucial piece of Ariana news because you were too busy memorizing “Break Free,” Ariana also announced that her sophomore album, My Everything, which was slated for release on August 25th, will actually be available for purchase immediately following the VMAs on August 24th -— a whole day early.

Although Ariana sang a pre-performance medley last year, this will be her first time gracing the VMA mainstage. But given her ability to flawlessly belt out Mariah-worthy whistle tones, it seems unlikely that the VMAs will be a problem for Ariana.

Caitlin White

MTV ...

Jul 2, 2014 | No Comments on Ariana Grande Will Perform ‘Break Free’ Live At The 2014 VMAs!

Read More →