by Brenna Ehrlich 1 min ago

While the rest of the world is whiling away the hours by slowly slipping into insanity as “Let It Go” plays on loop in their heads, 17-year-old wunderkind, Lorde, is forgoing “Frozen” to read the tale it was based on. “The Snow Queen,” by Hans Christian Andersen.

The singer tweeted an illustration of a princess from the classic fairy tale on Tuesday, along with a caption describing the woman.

The story — which “Frozen” is pretty loosely based on — tells the tale of a magical hobgoblin mirror that only shows the bad in people.

One day, the mirror breaks, and shards of glass fall into people’s hearts and eyes, freezing their humanity. In particular, this fate befalls a boy named Kay, and his best friend Gerda embarks on a journey to save him from the dastardly Snow Queen. There’s also a talking crow in there because, why not?

I don’t know about you, but I’m totally down to check out some fairy tales now. You know, just curl up by some fire somewhere where it’s snowing, shove some Turkish delight into my gullet and marvel at the horror stories we used to recount to children with unmitigated glee.

You down to start a book club, Ella? I hear those Brothers Grimm dudes are dark.

by Gil Kaufman 10 mins ago

We weren’t sweating whether Ed Sheeran would top the Billboard charts this week with his second album, X. The only question was how big he would go.

Do The Math
Frankly, it wasn’t even close. Ed debuted with 209,000, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan, easily blowing by the #5 debut of +, which moved a comparatively modest 42,000 units in its first week in June 2012. The high landing also gave Sheeran his first #1 debut in the U.S.

It was already a good day for Ed before the official Billboard numbers came out with the news that he set new Spotify streaming records last week. In fact, Sheeran logged the fourth-biggest debut of 2014, coming in behind Coldplay, Erich Church and Brantley Gilbert.

Meanwhile, Sam Smith was down 60 percent from his debut, but the British singer held strong at #2 with In the Lonely Hour, moving another 67,000 units.

G-Eazy Does It
Oakland rapper and mtvU Fandom Awards performer G-Eazy proved that These Things Happen with a hot #3 debut (46,000). That was just enough to push last week’s #1, Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence, to #4 (44,000, down 76 percent).

Get used to the spotlight, G.

WireImage/Bennett Raglin

The Rest Of The Top 10
The week’s other top 10 debuts came from rockers Mastodon, who landed at #6 with Once More Round the Sun (34,000) and jam godheads Phish, whose Fuego boogie danced in just behind with sales of ...

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by Nadeska Alexis 10 mins ago

Dropping freestyles over another rappers’ beat is pretty routine, but only Diddy would remix someone else’s track (without them on it) and take the extra step of dropping a video (with a real budget) for his version of the song.

He premiered his remix of Wiz Khalifa’s “We Dem Boyz” in mid-June, with verses from Meek Mill and French Montana, and on Wednesday (July 1) he dropped the accompanying visuals.

There’s not much we can tell you that you don’t already expect: lots of bikini clad women, luxury cars and numerous bottles being popped. Check out the video below.

Diddy is currently prepping his Money Making Mitch album for release. He and Meek recently took a trip to the Swiss Alps for his “I Want the Love” video.

by Kevin P. Sullivan 18 mins ago

Every box office success inevitably leads to new projects in the same vein following in its wake and hoping to cash in, so naturally, it was only a matter of time before we saw more kind-of-tragic YA romances chasing “The Fault in Our Stars.”

That’s what seems to be going on with “The Anatomy of a Misfit,” a soon-to-be-published YA novel by Andrea Portes that has been gaining some serious buzz. (How could it not with a summary that describes it as “Mean Girls” meets “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”?) But now that Paramount has bought up the rights to the book, I think we’re officially seeing the start of the “TFiOS” effect.

“The Anatomy of a Misfit” is the story of Anika Dragomir, the third most popular girl in school. Anika has a carefully constructed façade of coolness, when inside she’s actually a weird person like everyone else. When she meets the also weird and definitely not cool Logan McDonugh, she’s forced to choose between her two selves.

The book doesn’t hit shelves until September 2, but this definitely sounds like a title to keep an eye out for.

by Jordana Ossad 47 mins ago

Statistics have shown that most teen fathers don’t say “I do” to the mother of their children and so far, that certainly rings true on this season of “16 and Pregnant.”

Out of the dozen duos, only DJ and Summer, and Tony and Karley, have wed. But despite not having walked down the aisle, several teen dads have stayed in a relationship with their baby mama. Here’s a look at the fathers who stuck around:

Derek
The young dad said on last night’s reunion special that he plans to pursue a career in psychical therapy to make a better — and more financially stable — future for his family. To that end, he and girlfriend Jordan have moved from Texas back to Maryland so he can go to college.

DJ
He tied the knot with Summer when she was 16, and it’s been a rocky road since. One reason: DJ slept with another girl. And while the couple has reconciled — they even shared a kiss on the reunion — Summer admits she isn’t over the betrayal.

Dustin
While he and girlfriend Autumn say that their relationship has improved, the longtime couple have frequently broken up and gotten back together. That may be because Dustin has cheated several times — even when Autumn was pregnant with Baby Drake. The young mom says she hasn’t forgiven her beau but is trying to look past his infidelities for the sake of their ...

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by MTV News Staff 10 mins ago

By Emilee Lindner and John Walker

For all of you Arianators counting down the minutes until “Total Ariana Live” — when Ariana Grande goes live from the iconic “TRL” studios in Times Square tonight at 7 p.m. ET on MTV — we salute you.

While we wait, why not get educational! Let’s pay homage to everything (and we mean everything) we love about the “Problem” singer, from her obsession with Audrey Hepburn to her “Break Free” collaboration with Zedd. Here are the ABCs of Ariana Grande!

Audrey Hepburn
Her idol.

Barbarella
Her “Break Free” video inspiration.

Coco
One of her dogs.

Sep 7, 2013 |

Dimple
Ariana’s can’t stop, won’t stop.

Edward
Her dad, Edward Butera, who tweets some insanely adorable throwback pics.

Frankie
Her big brother, who’s on “Big Brother.”

Grandpa
Her gramps, who she’s super close with.

Hip-hop
Sophomore album My Everything boasts collabs with Big Sean, Childish Gambino, Iggy Azalea, A$AP Ferg, and The Weeknd.

Iggy Azalea
Her “Problem” pal.

Jai Brooks
Her on-again, off-again Janoskians bae.

Kids’ Choice Awards
She’s got two.

Live
“Total Ariana Live” goes live today at 7 p.m. ET on MTV!

My Everything
Her new album, out August 25.

Republic/UMG

Nickelodeon
Where she had her first show, “Victorious.”

Oatmeal
She loves the stuff!

Ponytail
Need I say more?

Quotes
Especially the inspirational ones.

Red Hair
She dyes her hair to play ...

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by Alex Zalben 5 mins ago

Starting in October, DC Comics is going bad with a brand new ongoing series featuring one of the biggest bad-asses in comics, Deathstroke. The unstable assassin, who once took down the Justice League single-handedly, may be better known to the public at large as the main villain in the second, blockbuster season of “Arrow.”

But his all-new solo adventures may bring him an even bigger audience, thanks to writer/artist Tony S. Daniel and co-artist Sandu Florea, who will team up for the monthly series.

And to sweeten the pot, DC is also releasing a brand new bust of Slade Wilson (the civilian name of Deathstroke), designed by Dc Comics Co-Publisher Jim Lee.

To find out more, we chatted over e-mail with Daniel about his take on the character, how the comic will tie into “Arrow” and where the book is going next. Plus, scroll down for your first look at the Deathstroke bust as well as more info on when you can pick it up in stores:

MTV News: So Tony, what drew you to Deathstroke? What makes him a compelling character for you?

Tony S. Daniel: I’ve always been a big Deathstroke fan, dating back to my teenage years and he’s only gotten more bad-ass with time. He’s an incredible character, whether you’re playing him in a video game or watching him on TV or reading him in a comic book. People love Deathstroke now more than ever due to all the avenues he’s available in, myself included.

I ...

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by Gil Kaufman 12 mins ago

Madonna‘s been working on her next album for a few minutes now. That is when she’s not working security for Disclosure.

And while there’s not much information about it so far, on Wednesday morning (July 2) Madge gave us a tantalizing look at what might be coming next. With the message “Coming soon……..#promise #keep#sorceress#deep,” she posted the sheet music for what we’re going to assume is her modestly titled next single “Messiah.”

Now, we can’t read sheet music, so she helped us out a short time later with a video featuring a string ensemble playing a haunting movie score-like melody. “Magic makes the people come together yaaaaaaaasssssssssss. #messiah,” she wrote.

She ended her spree with a quote from author James Baldwin’s 1965 short story “Sonny’s Blues,” which touches on the importance of art as a means of personal expression. “We have Art in order not to die from the truth”nietzsche #jamesbaldwin #artforfreedom,” Madonna counseled.

Madonna recently revealed that she’s been working on the follow-up to 2012′s MDNA with Avicii and Billboard reported that she’s also collaborated with Diplo, songwriter Toby Gad, S1, Miley Cyrus collaborator MoZella, singer Natalia Kills and Cherrytree Records chairman Martin Kierszenbaum.

by Matthew Scott Donnelly 36 mins ago

Since the very first episode of “Catfish,” in which an 18-year-old student named Chelsea posed online as a sought-after model named Jamison to earn the affection of girls on the web, Nev Schulman and Max Joseph have unearthed dozens of virtual liars who have exaggerated their wealth, looks or social standing to get what they wanted. But if you flipped this particular concept on its head, what would you get?

Max and Nev’s dream episode, of course!

In the interview below, the sleuths explain that one type of story they’ve been dying to explore — but haven’t yet had the chance to — involves a high society figure who discounts his or her own status through a fake social media profile to earn genuine love. In other words: The “Coming to America” premise.

“There is one situation that we keep hoping for…which is that someone — a royal or an aristocrat or someone very high-born — is going online and…essentially slumming it,” Max explains in the video.

“…In the hopes of finding someone who loves them for them, not their fame or money or status,” Nev concludes.

So, in an ideal world, who might the Catfish be?

“If Malia Obama had a fake profile so she could meet boys…and we get the guy and he’s like ‘Yeah, I’ve been talking to this girl. Her name’s Jackie, she seems great, she lives in D.C.,’” he envisions. “And we go there and the address is, like, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!”

“That would ...

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by Kevin P. Sullivan 39 mins ago

My excitement for “Guardians of the Galaxy” is reaching dangerous levels, and now there’s a track list for the perfectly retro soundtrack.

Also, this is the cover art.

Come on. That’s too cool.

Anyway, when the track list hit, director James Gunn was careful to mention that the song titles could be considered spoilers. I imagine, given how unusual the soundtrack is for a superhero movie, that some of the musical cues will be funny and might lose their effect if you know they’re coming.

If you are okay ruining a few surprises, I’ve thrown together a Spotify playlist for the complete soundtrack. Physical copies of the soundtrack, complete with badass cover art, hit shelves on July 29, so if you like what you hear, you can pre-order the disc here.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” hits theaters on August 1.