September 27, 2024

Review Category : TMZ Music News

Rihanna Gets ‘Smooth’ With Nicky Romero For New Dance Track

Although she is pop's bad girl, Rihanna is no stranger to the world of electronic music. From her mega-hit to working with David Guetta and Nicky Romero on Unapologetic, RiRi has been experimenting with powerhouse EDM producers.

MTV News caught up with Nicky Romero at the Tomorrrowland festival in Belgium, where he informed us that his professional relationship with Rihanna is far from over. "We actually produced the record called 'Right Now' on her album Unapologetic. So I made that one together with David Guetta and now we're working on a follow-up."

The production on the track will be "out of the box," he told us, adding quickly with a smile, "In a smooth way."

Nicky Romero has been busy at work with many other projects as well, mainly finishing up his "Legacy" record with Krewella, who, according to Romero, "saved his life" on the project with their top-of-the-line vocals. The young DJ also has an album on the way featuring the likes of Fedde Le Grande and the aforementioned David Guetta.

As for Rihanna, she is currently finishing up her two-month Diamonds world tour alongside her DJ opening act GTA. The group, consisting of Matt Van Toth and Julio Mejia, generally stick to clubs and after-hour spots when performing, but found Rihanna's audiences to be "f---ing amazing."

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Ariana Grande Is Introducing The ‘Real’ Ariana On <i>Yours Truly</i>

Ariana Grande has already revealed her pink-hued cover art, and now she's giving fans even more clues as to what they will hear off her September 3 debut album, Yours Truly.

While it looks like it will span a range of emotions — from upbeat, flirty jams like and to her sweeping Nathan Sykes-featuring ballad, — but Grande said its musical feet will be planted firmly in the '90s.

"Well, first of all, I'm very excited for them to hear the entire album because half of it is that throwback '90s R&B feel, but then [the other half] is something that is very unique and very special that I've sort of written," she explained to MTV News. "And it feels original and very cool. So half of it is a throwback and like very familiar feeling, feel-good, and then half of it is something that I've created that's sort of special and unique and refreshing and wonderful and I love it."

Speaking of the '90s, Grande explained why she is so fascinated with the decade that launched superstars like Mariah Carey, whom she is frequently compared to.

"Well, growing up, I loved listening to like the divas of that era," she explained. "I loved listening to, well, Destiny's Child was my favorite thing about my childhood, like my favorite thing... and Brandy and all these fabulous women that I loved listening to as a child. I guess I just miss that sort of real, fun R&B feel-good music."

When her album drops in September, she hopes that it ...

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‘Avatar’: James Cameron Announces Third Sequel And Release Dates

After years of wondering when we'd see a sequel to "James Cameron's 2009 megahit that went on to become the biggest movie of all time, we finally got an answer for when moviegoers will return to the exotic planet of Pandora.

Actually, we got three answers.

That's because Cameron's plan to make two sequels to "Avatar" is now a plan to film three movies simultaneously. The director and 20th Century Fox announced plans today to bring on three teams of writers to collaborate with Cameron separately on "Avatar 2," "Avatar 3," and "Avatar 4," due in theaters December 2016, December 2017, and the third at some point the following year. The current plan is to get the scripts in good enough shape to film all three at the same time.

We heard yesterday that Josh Friedman, a writer for TV spin-off of Cameron's "The Terminator," "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," was being hired to help the director finish the script for "Avatar 2," but now the plan involves two additional movies and two more writing teams, Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver ("Rise of the Planet of the Apes") and Shane Salerno ("Savages").

"Building upon the world we created with 'Avatar' has been a rare and incredibly rewarding experience," Cameron said in a released statement. "In writing the new films, I've come to realize that 'Avatar's' world, story and characters have become even richer than I anticipated, and it became apparent that two films would not be enough to capture everything I wanted to put on screen. And to help me continue to ...

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Flo Rida Responds To Diplo After ‘Booty’ Beef

Earlier this week, Diplo took umbrage with Flo Rida — we believe he called him "a f--- ass f---boi" — over the kaleidoscopic display of keisters in Flo's new "Can't Believe It" video. Seems Dip felt said video too similar to his own "Butter's Theme" clip, and boy, did he let his displeasure be known.

"I'm goin' to toilet paper the trees in front of Flo Rida's mansion. If you want u can ride or die with me. Also bring eggs," Diplo wrote on Twitter. "I'll totally fight Flo Rida in a street fight and totally get my ass whooped. But I'll fight anyway cuz I'll fight for what I believe in."

Of course, in a subsequent tweet, Dip admitted that his beef with the brawny MC was "kinda lame," though that didn't stop him from changing his Twitter handle to "Diplo-Rida."

In the days since that Twitter outburst, the story has only picked up steam ... so, when Flo Rida stopped by MTV's on Wednesday, we had to ask him whether or not he fears for the safety of his his Florida mansion, and the similarities between the "Can't Believe It" and "Butter's Theme" videos.

And while he didn't say much, but Flo let it be known that he didn't rip off anybody ... in fact, he says "Can't Believe It" is merely an homage to ass-masters of the past.

"[The] only thing stands out in that is the fact that I thank God I can afford a mansion," he laughed. "I haven't even seen the ['Butter's Theme'] video, but ...

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Flo Rida Responds To Diplo After ‘Booty’ Beef

Earlier this week, Diplo took umbrage with Flo Rida — we believe he called him "a f--- ass f---boi" — over the kaleidoscopic display of keisters in Flo's new "Can't Believe It" video. Seems Dip felt said video too similar to his own "Butter's Theme" clip, and boy, did he let his displeasure be known.

"I'm goin' to toilet paper the trees in front of Flo Rida's mansion. If you want u can ride or die with me. Also bring eggs," Diplo wrote on Twitter. "I'll totally fight Flo Rida in a street fight and totally get my ass whooped. But I'll fight anyway cuz I'll fight for what I believe in."

Of course, in a subsequent tweet, Dip admitted that his beef with the brawny MC was "kinda lame," though that didn't stop him from changing his Twitter handle to "Diplo-Rida."

In the days since that Twitter outburst, the story has only picked up steam ... so, when Flo Rida stopped by MTV's on Wednesday, we had to ask him whether or not he fears for the safety of his his Florida mansion, and the similarities between the "Can't Believe It" and "Butter's Theme" videos.

And while he didn't say much, but Flo let it be known that he didn't rip off anybody ... in fact, he says "Can't Believe It" is merely an homage to ass-masters of the past.

"[The] only thing stands out in that is the fact that I thank God I can afford a mansion," he laughed. "I haven't even seen the ['Butter's Theme'] video, but ...

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Drake Links Up With 2 Chainz, Big Sean, But It’s ‘All Me’

Just in case doesn't make the album cut, Drake is reiterating his dominance with 2 Chainz and Big Sean on the latest official single from Nothing Was The Same.

Following a snippet of comedian Aziz Ansari in character as Randy, Drake launches into the hook, ("Came up, that's all me/stay true, that's all me/no help, that's all me") and lets 2 Chainz get in a verse before going on to confidently crown himself as the "light-skinned Keith Sweat."

Aubrey then proceeds to explain why he's pretty much untouchable at this point. Hooking up with his old babysitter just for sport, dropping a new album that will already be received like a classic ("my latest sh-- is like a greatest hits"), and generally pointing or that it's not your turn, because he isn't done yet.

"Should I listen to everybody or myself? Cause myself just told myself 'you the motherf----'man, you don't need no help," he raps.

2 Chainz and Big Sean both add their own not-so-humble brags to the track, with Sean namedropping his girlfriend Naya Rivera, spitting, "My new girl is 'Glee' and sh--, probably make more money than me and sh--."

The new single arrives just a few days before Drake is set to kick off his annual OVO Fest in Toronto. The first day of the festival was canceled earlier this week, when headliner Frank Ocean was forced to pull out due to damaged vocal chords.

The show will still go on though, on Monday August 5 with Drake and James Blake as the remaining headliners. Drake's ...

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Is Lady Gaga’s <i>ARTPOP</i> App Just More <i>Magna Carta</i>? <i>Billboard</i> Weighs In

Last month, Lady Gaga made it very clear that ARTPOP would be so much more than an album — we believe the phrase she used was — a multi-screen experience powered by an official app that "combines music, art, fashion and technology with a new interactive worldwide community."

Said app would, presumably, also include a link to purchase the ARTPOP album — or specific tracks — and here is where the conspiracy begins.

It seems several Gaga detractors have started speculating that the app is nothing more than an elaborate way for Mother Monster to goose sales of her album, suggesting that, each time a fan downloads a single track through the app, Billboard would count it as an album sold ... thus guaranteeing ARTPOP "the biggest debut in history." They also floated the notion that sales figures wouldn't be able to be tracked by SoundScan, but rather would be reported by Gaga's own camp, in yet another attempt to inflate her first-week numbers.

To be fair, Gaga has engaged in some rather, uh, creative first-week sales promotions in the past, though the ARTPOP idea seemed a bit far-fetched ... though that didn't stop Perez Hilton from re-tweeting a blog post that suggested the Mother Monster was planning to "fraudulently boost album sales" with her new app.

So on Wednesday (July 31), Billboard editorial director Bill Werde waded into the fray, taking to Twitter to set the record straight on how the ARTPOP app will affect sales.

"As we understand, Gaga fans will get [the] ARTPOP app for free ...

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