Jennifer Hudson is feeling good, and why shouldn't she be?

The "American Idol" alum-turned-Oscar winning actress is starting off 2014 with a bang. Earlier this month, Hudson was honored with a humanitarian award at the 2014 People's Choice Awards and on Thursday (January 23) the music video for her latest single officially hit YouTube. She'll perform "I Can't Describe (The Way I Feel)" featuring T.I., for a music industry who's-who at Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy bash on Saturday.

Sitting down with Davis for an interview with MTV News, Hudson described her forthcoming third studio set as a "feel-good" record.

"I think it's more of a feeling, more than a genre, and I've had the pleasure of working with Pharrell and Timbaland, and I love their process," she said. "They allow you to express yourself musically as an artist, as a writer, in every way. It's been a lot of fun."

Of the lead single, Hudson says, "you listen to it and it'll make you happy!"

Davis is aiming for a spring release of Hudson's next album, telling MTV News that he is continually impressed with her ability to grow as an artist.

"She's a really well deservedly respected motion picture star but her passion is music," said Davis. "To see her really understand what made Aretha Franklin timeless, to hear her talk about the influence of Whitney Houston on her life and music is one thing, but then to watch her with Pharrell, to watch her take a Timbaland song, work it out and make it her own in a different way than you've ...

Following last year's headline-making turn in "Spring Breakers," followed by roles in "Machete Kills" and "The Frozen Ground," Vanessa Hudgens continues to shatter her squeaky clean image with her latest indie drama,

With short, dark locks and a few pounds added to her petite frame, Hudgens is far from glam in her role as a troubled teen who discovers she is pregnant. Rosario Dawson stars as Hudgens' crack-addicted mother — also unrecognizable in her role — while Brendan Frasier plays the white-collar dad Hudgens never knew.

"Looking at myself in the mirror and not being able to recognize myself was a very special and exciting and thrilling thing to be able to experience," the "High School Musical" alum told MTV News. "It really reminded me that I couldn't go too far with my physicality or my dialect, just because I already was not me."

Based on a true story, "Gimme Shelter" follows a young teen named Apple as she finds a home in the real-life pregnancy shelter run by Kathy DiFiore. To prep for the role, Hudgens actually moved into the shelter to live side-by-side with its inhabitants. But even before landing the role, she had already proven herself to be one of the girls.

"She turned in a great audition and I was convinced, but I really needed the trust from the girls," writer-director Ron Krauss told MTV News. He sent over footage of several auditions for DiFiore and the young mothers to watch before casting the role, but it was Hudgens who blew them away.

"They said, 'That girl! ...

Who has two thumbs and likes taking selfies with said thumbs? This guy! And by "this guy," I mean Macklemore. Yup, the Grammy-nominated musician is a fan of taking celebrity self-snaps, and I'm guessing Sunday's awards show will provide ample opportunity for Mack to pad out his collection.

The last I checked in with Macklemore's epic Instagram feed, the "Thrift Shop" singer was taking snaps at the 2013 VMAs with the likes of Diddy — since then he's added even more famous faces to his digital crew, including Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan and his mom.

Still, I think he's missing a few mugs. Luckily, the 56th Grammy Awards should give Mack plenty of opportunities to strike his signature selfie pose — I call it the "Macklemore Point 'N' Lean."

Check out the snaps I expect him to collect below:

Ringo, Mack & Paul

Daft Punk & Mack

Mack, Jay & Bey

Mack & Lorde

Mack & Taylor

Mack & Jennifer Lawrence

Mack, Kendrick & His Grammy — Or Kendrick, Mack & His Grammy?

Stick with us for up-to-the-minute info on the Grammys from our Grammys Red Carpet live stream, full fashion coverage, performance highlights and the complete Grammy winners list.

Schoolboy Q says he won't be attending the 2014 Grammy Awards, but if all goes well, the Black Hippy MC could be in the house next year — that's if his major-label debut Oxymoron gets a nomination.

Granted, Oxymoron doesn't even drop until February 25 and there's an entire year of hip-hop to unravel. It's too early for 2015 Grammy talk, but just in case the stars align, Q already has his outfit planned out.

"If I go to the Grammys, I'ma come in there cold, I'ma go with some Dickies on," he said shouting out the workwear brand that West Coast rappers like Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and the Game have helped to popularize.

While Dickies makes a variety of different clothes for blue collar construction workers, auto-mechanics and industrial maintenance workers, it's their khaki-colored pants and matching button down shirts which are most popular among rappers. While style experts may scoff at the idea, Q admits that he just not a fan of the flash and pizazz of the red carpet.

"I'm never into the red carpets because I was never nominated for stuff. If you see me on a red carpet it's just because I was coming through to hang out with Dot — Kendrick or somebody," he said.

There is a chance that things can change over the next year and Q can find himself with a Grammy nomination just like his TDE label mate Kendrick Lamar this year. Schoolboy's upcoming Oxymoron made MTV News' most anticipated hip-hop albums list and if it fulfills its promise, Grammy noms ...

Mack Wilds has a lot to be excited for Grammy Sunday (January 26). Not only is the actor-turned-R&B-singer nominated for an award in the Best Urban Contemporary category for New York: A Love Story,but he'll also be taking his biggest influence as a date: his dad.

"When I was living in Los Angeles, every year the Grammys came around he'd ask me, 'Why don't you asks you publicist and see if we can get tickets?' and me being the full-fledged artist that I am, in my head I was like, 'I don't want to go unless I'm being invited,'" Wilds told MTV News. "So he called me once he found out [I was nominated] and I'm thinking he's going to call me, excited or whatever, and I'm like, 'What's up, pop?' and he said, 'So, year after year you constantly said, 'No, I don't want to go to the Grammys, no I don't want to go to the Grammys until I'm invited, and I kept asking you and I kept asking you and, well, you kind of have to go now. And I have my suit ready, so this is going to be a good time.'"

While Wilds' ensemble isn't a huge priority for the nominee — "It's definitely going to suit-esque" — he's giving some serious thought to his potential acceptance speech. "I don't want to go up there and do backflips à la Cuba Gooding Jr. but I definitely have to figure out something up there to say so I don't look like a babbling idiot."

And even though ...

From Disney starlet to spring breaker, we thought we'd seen every side of Vanessa Hudgens. Well, we thought wrong. It's time to get ready for something new, as Hudgens' new flick, "Gimme Shelter," hits theaters Friday (January 24).

Hudgens headlines alongside Rosario Dawson and Brendan Fraser in the movie, in which she plays a pregnant teen, Apple, who finds herself in even more trouble after being kicked out of her house. She hacked off her hair for the indie role, but did Hudgens pull it off? Here's what leading critics had to say about her performance.

Saving Grace
"Hudgens has been trying to move past her Teen Vogue image for a while now, appearing in sexy, over-the-top pictures like 'Sucker Punch' and 'Machete Kills.' Last year's deliberately sleazy, sneering 'Spring Breakers' was the final declaration of independence. 'Gimme Shelter' doesn't go as far as the last film (it was actually shot two years ago). But it already shows signs of the actress Hudgens was interested in becoming, and her skill at walking that razor-sharp line between tender/tough, innocent/guilty." — Stephen Whitty, Star-Ledger

Nice Try, But No
"The internal change [Apple] has undergone is not credibly conveyed, and the film is more of a pageant than a convincing drama. It's so determined to deliver its moral that it loses its grip on the reality of its characters." — A.O. Scott, New York Times

That's Commitment
"Physically, Hudgens nails her work as Apple, and not just in terms of basic appearance, but in the way she carries herself, the entirety of her mannerisms, ...