Drake loved Jaden Smith's excited reaction to his 2013 MTV Music Video Awards performance so much that when he took the stage for his his iHeartRadio Music Festival performance Saturday night, he wore a long-sleeved black shirt with a graphic of the young actor's meme-generating "I worship Drake" praying pose.

Introduced by reality TV star Khloe Kardashian and her younger sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Drizzy took the stage at MGM in all black, Q-Tipped with white sneakers and launched into "Crew Love" from his second studio album, Take Care.

"I came here for the party," Drake said before jumping into Nothing Was The Same's "All Me" and his guest verse from the Migo's remixed summer anthem, "Versace." As the self-proclaimed "light-skinned Keith Sweat" enunciated his lyrics with his trademark demonstrative hand gestures, laser lights flashed intermittently against the dimly lit backdrop while pyrotechnics and smoke plumed from both sides of the stage.

Working up a thirst, the Toronto MC took a quick sip of water to get his second wind before offering up the bass-heavy tracks "HYFR" and "The Motto," engaging the increasingly hyped up crowd throughout.

The OVO frontman then segued seamlessly from bangers to ballad with an impassioned rendition of his chart-topping NWTS single,

To close out his set, Drake kicked it into another gear with a spirited performance of his new LP's bombastic lead single, "Started From the Bottom." Unable to hold back his enthusiasm, Drake treated the stage like the Soul Train line, doing the snow dance and other little shimmies from ...

When Miley Cyrus took the iHeartRadio Music Festival stage Saturday night for a performance of her rebellious hit single, it was decidedly toned down from her much-talked-about VMA performance. And even though she didn't stick out her tongue or get down and dirty with a foam finger this time out, she did a dwarf's rear end as she twerked with abandon in high-cut jean shorts.

Sin City's newest resident performer, Britney Spears, was the one to introduce pop music's newest princess, telling to the sold-out crowd at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Arena night, "My girl's about to get to work, bitch."

Dressed in a revealing, fur-sleeved white dress with breast pasties poking through, the Bangerz singer sang the Mike Will Made It-produced "do what we want" party anthem as people dressed in mushroom, rainbow and flower costumes danced whimsically about. The always-provocative chanteuse stalked the stage, singing into her banana microphone, while the smilers in the audience sang along on cue.

Slowing things down, Cyrus then took a seat for her cover of Melanie Safka's "What Have They Done To My Song Ma." The acoustic guitar ballad featured lyrics about the stresses of superstardom: "Look what they've done to my soul/ Yeah, they tied it in a plastic bag/ And they shook me upside down, Ma."

"I had my first #1 on Billboard with this song," Cyrus said, thanking the crowd for their support before diving into her first-ever live performance of

As images of collapsing buildings played on the video screen behind her, Cyrus ...

Katy Perry added knee pads to her Catholic schoolgirl plaid-and-converse-sneaker ensemble for Friday's iHeartRadio Music Festival, but she probably didn't need them: The "Roar" singer delivered a knockout performance.

Opening her set with "I Kissed a Girl," Perry told fans at Las Vegas' MGM Grand (and those live-streaming from their screens) that radio "is the way that people are introduced to music — and it's free!"

Keeping with the grunge vibe, she next dove into her newest track, bringing Juicy J onstage for their duet, "Dark Horse."

With a stage covered in metallic blocks and white triangle graphics, the backdrop seemed to reflect the visuals for the cover of her October 22 album, Prism.

And the upcoming release was clearly on her mind as Perry addressed the crowd, telling them, "I have a record coming out in October, but that doesn't mean I ain't going to play the songs you want to hear."

Chart-toppers like "California Gurls," "Teenage Dream" and "Firework" followed, as she shot confetti into the audience.

The singer ended the 20-minute set with using the same boxing ring set-up as her 2013 MTV VMA performance, jump ropes and all.

Earlier in the night — after Diddy opened the show as ringmaster — Robin Thicke performed "Blurred Lines," Elton John played classics "Tiny Dancer" and "Benny and the Jets," and J. Cole was joined onstage by TLC for their first live performance of "Crooked Smile."

Adam Lambert, Queen, and .fun closed out the first night's lineup. Saturday (September 21), the fest concludes with performances by Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, ...

It's official: about Tupac Shakur's enthralling and turbulent life as one of hip-hop's most gifted polymaths, is a go.

The Morgan Creek Productions and Emmett Furla Films production, which will be executive produced by Shakur's mother, Afeni, starts filming in Atlanta next year. The only thing missing is an actor to portray the slain Thug Life MC on the big screen.

Obviously, it's going to take a special kind of thespian to play 'Pac. The ultimate contradiction, the MC was convincingly poetic, militant, compassionate and vitriolic all at once, but most of all, he was a lyrical visionary who spit venomous street pathos with calculated metaphors that have stood the test of time. Now how do you find someone who can embody all of that?

The casting will be a tall order indeed, but here's a look at a few actors who deserve a chance at the role of a lifetime.

Michael B. Jordan put himself in the conversation for the Best Actor Academy Award for his compelling portrayal of Oscar Grant in 2013's "Fruitvale Station." He's not a dead ringer for the "All Eyez On Me" rapper, but if anyone could pull off 'Pac's intensity, he could.

Anthony Mackie is probably chomping at the bit for a do-over of his placid depiction of 'Pac in the 2009 film about Biggie Smalls' life, , but it's unlikely that the "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" actor will get a chance to do a lil remix.

Haitian actor Jamie Hector shook audiences to the core with his chilling interpretation of Marlo "Black" Stanfield, ...

Pusha T represents Virginia to the fullest, but recently, while breaking down the lyrical content of his highly anticipated debut album, My Name Is My Name for MTV News, the G.O.O.D. Music rapper shared a little something about himself that might come as a surprise to fans.

"Me and my brother both were born in the Bronx," King Push told MTV News. "We lived on Gun Hill in Tilden Towers. A lot of people don't know that. I shy away from saying that because I don't want people to misconstrue that. I was raised in Virginia, and I don't want nobody thinking that I'm trying to claim something that I was only living in for two years or whatever, but this is truly where I was born."

Now it all makes sense. The MC's penchant for weaving complex metaphors and intricate rhymes about the streets is more than just a conscious decision on the acclaimed lyricist's part. Pusha's flow is proof of his innate ability to pay homage to the original wordsmiths on Sedgwick Avenue who shaped the "hip-hop haven" that he and his brothers grew up in hundreds of miles away in Virginia Beach.

"I didn't learn the art form of rapping in those different stages — I only knew to be as ill as you can be lyrically," he said. "It's all about creating that nostalgia. When it came to My Name Is My Name I said to myself, 'Man, I wanna make something that I love and I wanna listen to myself. I wanna go to ...

Attention, ladies! Drake is "single [and] ready to mingle." The Nothing Was the Same rapper confirmed his current relationship status when he stopped by "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on Friday (September 20).

Before he shared that he's "open," DeGeneres ran through a list of some A-list starlets and singers he's been romantically linked with since rising up the ranks of hip-hop. The discussion was met with some awkward laughing from the rapper, who eventually warmed up to the quiz and candidly opened up about his personal life.

DeGeneres kicked it off with a photo of Rihanna, whom Drake has been linked with on and off since 2009. "Yeah, great girl. We had our moment and I always support and have love for her," he said. As he stumbled through his answer a bit, DeGeneres asked him if he wanted to answer it again. He quipped, "I'm not into do-overs."

Then, Drake talked about going on a date with supermodel Tyra Banks. "Jeez. I went on a date with her one time, just one date. We went to Disneyland in disguise, actually, which was fun. I don't know if it was a date, it was a get-together. We're close as well."

In addition to the model/actress, the Toronto MC, 26, also dished about a date with "Two Broke Girls" star Kat Dennings, who had opened up about it to Chelsea Handler earlier this year.

"I just always had a huge crush on Kat Dennings, and she was kind enough one night to oblige me and we went out for dinner. ...

What's your earliest musical memory? At what point in time did you become aware that this thing we call music exists? Scottish synthpop band Chvrches told MTV News theirs — complete with terrifying "Wizard of Oz" flashbacks — before taking the stage Friday night (September 20) for MTV's Artist to Watch Live in New York City.

"My earliest musical memory was going to see an amateur production of 'The Wizard of Oz' at Whitburn Academy and having to be taken out at the interval because I was in tears because the music moved me so profoundly," said the band's Iain Cook, recalling when he first had a brush with tunes.

Bandmates Martin Doherty and Lauren Mayberry's first interactions, however, were less dramatic -- and both involved family car rides. "Mine is actually listening to Tango in the Night by Fleetwood Mac in the back of my parents' car," Doherty said. "Particularly the song 'Big Love.' Those vocal samples, they sounded weird. Just go listen to it. If you're at an impressionable age it's pretty interesting."

"I think I was going to go for a car memory as well," Mayberry added. "Just being in the back of the car with my parents listening to a lot of Steely Dan, Whitney Houston — stuff like that. So it's not quite as cool as Fleetwood Mac, but I don't really believe in cool, anyway."

Despite Mayberry's contention that she's not a believer in "cool," Chvrches are unmistakably so — at least where buzz is concerned. The band first captured the attention of the music world with ...