March 5, 2025

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Pusha T Explains Pushing Back Long-Awaited <i>My Name Is My Name</i>

Pusha T fans eagerly awaiting his July 16 release, My Name Is My Name, will have to wait a little longer since the Clipse MC just announced he's pushing the drop date back a month.

With the proliferation of rap albums dropping this summer — Kanye West's Yeezus, Jay-Z's Magna Carta ... Holy Grail, Wale's The Gifted — Pusha decided to put a pin in his upcoming solo effort, which he firmly believes is the best album of 2013.

"I think the streets are going to have a classic hip-hop album," Pusha said in a recent interview with Charlotte, North Carolina's Power 98. "My Name Is My Name is definitely the hardest album that's going to come out this year for sure."

Pusha also revealed that the album (set to drop on Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music) features an all-star lineup when it comes to production. In addition to overall producer Hudson Mohawke, Yeezy, Pharrell, The-Dream and Swizz Beatz lend their talents, with Kendrick Lamar, Rick Ross, Future, Wale and Young Jeezy guesting. The album will not include contributions from his brother No Malice though Pusha said fans could expect a Clipse reunion in the future.

There was also a little intra-label rivalry going on when it came to making the record. MNIMN single which hit the 'Net in June, was originally a track that the song's producer, Kanye, had claimed for himself.

"This record, man, I'm going to be honest. I had to fight and steal this record from 'Ye," Push said. "I heard the record and I loved ...

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Will Nicki Minaj Call It Quits After ‘Three More Albums’?

Nicki Minaj continues to show off her new, toned down look on the cover of Marie Claire's August issue, with short blonde hair and minimal makeup. The magazine asked fans to submit questions for Nicki, and while they fielded more than 20, 000 of them, the YMCMB rapper answered a select few, revealing some serious aspirations to be an actor.

In April, it was confirmed that Nicki Minaj would make her film debut in the upcoming comedy "The Other Woman" starring Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann, and when asked about her future on the big screen, she admitted that couldn't make any predictions but wouldn't mark anything as off-limits.

"I at least want to do three more albums," Nicki said, when asked if she would ever consider being a full-time actress. "If I can do that, I'll feel complete...One day, when I start getting a couple gray hairs, maybe it will all be only acting. I just never know...I've kind of become the poster child for doing the things that no one expects."

In the meantime, Nicki added that she's working on enjoying every moment of her successful music career, after having a "weird epiphany" during a 2012 tour in Australia. "For the first time, I allowed myself to feel proud of where music had gotten me, and I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude," she explained. "You feel the need to pay it forward, which starts with analyzing yourself with a true desire to grow."

"I was praying every day, 'You know what, Lord? I want to be a ...

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Black Keys-Backed Orioles Bash The Competition In Ohio Little League

The West Akron Baseball League's Orioles went undefeated this season, blasting the competition in the "I League" — namely, other 6, 7 and 8 year olds — much to the delight of their sponsors: local boys made good the Black Keys.

Of course, winning the league was probably a secondary concerN to the Keys (especially since there are no playoffs in the I League, and parents still pitch to each batter) ... after all, both Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney grew up playing in the WABL as kids, and agreed to sponsor a team after receiving a phone call from a family friend, Steve Milkovich, who just so happens to be the Orioles' coach.

"My little brother was good friends with Pat Carney from kindergarten going forward; I can remember the Carneys coming over my house and playing baseball, always wearing [Cleveland] Indians hats," Milkovich told MTV News. "And, I'm on the board of the WABL, so I'm always looking for sponsors, so I asked my brother to get ahold of Pat. But he's currently a major in the U.S. Army, and he's stationed in the Philippines, So I asked for Pat's number, I called him myself, and he was like 'Heck yeah, we'll sponsor a team! I played in WABL, Dan played in WABL, let's do it!'"

Milkovich said the Keys sent a sponsorship check for $300 overnight, and within days, their name was printed on the back of the Orioles' jersey (okay, it's more of a T-shirt, but whatever). The team proudly wore the unis the entire season ...

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Nick Cannon Calls Mariah Carey’s Shoulder Injury ‘Serious’

Mariah Carey's injury on the set of the video for the remix of her hit collabo with Miguel, "#Beautiful," is even more serious than previously reported.

Carey was rushed to a New York City hospital on Sunday night after dislocating her shoulder
 during the shoot. Husband Nick Cannon, who was directing the clip featuring Young Jeezy at Avenue and Artichoke Pizza in Chelsea told "The Today Show" that his wifey sustained multiple injuries in the mishap.

"It was serious," said always-busy Cannon, who is relaunching his hit improv show on Tuesday (July 9) at 11pm on MTV2.

"Not only did she dislocate her shoulder, she actually cracked a rib and she ... chipped her shoulder bone during the video shoot. She was in this nice beautiful gown, heels on and everything and was kind of on this platform and reached and kind of slipped and fell on her whole side."

But, ever the trouper, Cannon said that despite his desire to join her at the hospital, she insisted that he go back on set and finish the shoot. "After they put the shoulder back in place, bandaged her up, she came back to the video early in the morning and finished out everything. She was like, 'this better be a good video after all this pain I went through!'"

Cannon said the doctor ordered Carey to rest for the remainder of the week because she has a big show coming up on Saturday with the New York Philharmonic to benefit the victims of super storm Sandy.

Fans can chat live ...

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Wiz Khalifa And Amber Rose Fans Eager For Wedding: ‘Black And Yellow Flowers?’

Wiz Khalifa and Amber Rose set off a maelstrom of congratulations on Twitter and Instagram Monday when they took to their social media channels to let their fans know that they finally tied the knot, with a formal wedding slated for fall.

Rose hit the Twitterverse first with her announcement, tweeting, simply: "Yay me & my Baby are officially married!!!" followed by "Cam just sang 'Cupid' to me & made me cry for the 30th time today.... Its the best day ever with my Family, Husband & baby boy."

She also took to Instagram, where she shared a photo — captioned "Happily Ever After" — of her and Khalifa sealing their nuptials with a kiss at the courthouse, where the simple ceremony went down. That photo prompted a shower of nearly 1,000 emoticon-laden congratulatory notes from fans and followers, who mostly waxed poetic about how well the two go together.

"Ahhh. Congrats to u guys. Ur sooo cute together," said @musicfanatic196, while @tiff_the_realest_rn opined, "Congrats my love. I am super duper happy for the both of you!! Love is so amazing when you have the right person and clearly he is the best man for you!! I pray for you guys happiness, success and more babies." (The couple welcomed their first child, Sebastian Taylor Thomaz, in February.)

The couple's official knot-tying also spawned some fan art, courtesy of Twitter user ‏@YaboiJeremy27.

Khalifa, for his part, heralded his wedding with a single tweet, "Me and Amber got married today. Weddings this fall. Thought I'd ...

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Jay-Z’s <i>Magna Carta Holy Grail</i> On Track For Second-Highest Debut Of Year?

Imagine if Billboard magazine had counted those one million Samsung downloads. Even without the artificial lift from the free milli offered by Samsung, Jay-Z could still land the year's second-highest chart debut if initial sales projections for Magna Carta Holy Grail
 hold.

According to Billboard, Jay's latest is expected to sell in the 350,000-400,000 range for the week ending July 14. (Those projections are based on pre-orders through digital retailers.) If the numbers hold, Jay is assured a #1 debut, which would give him a record 13th #1 bow, extending his streak as the solo artist with the most #1s in history. He still trails the Beatles, who have the all-time record of 19.

Did you catch Jay's Twitter spree on Monday, check out the action here!

If Jay lands in that zone, he will surpass the year's second and third-best debuts so far, Daft Punk's Random Access Memories (339,000) and pal Kanye West's Yeezus (327,000). He's a far cry from 2013's undisputed first week sales champ, though, as Justin Timberlake's gaudy 968,000 for The 20/20 Experience still reigns supreme.

Jay seems poised to continue his streak, but the MCHG numbers are also a bit lower than his two most recent efforts, 2009's The Blueprint 3, which opened with 476,000 and his Kanye collabo Watch the Throne, which sold 436,000 in its first frame.

And while Jay did manage to get the RIAA to play by his #newrules
 and change their stance on what qualifies for gold and platinum sales status, Billboard has steadfastly refused to count the Samsung ...

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Schoolboy Q Recruits Raekwon To Bring Chef’s Touch To <i>Oxymoron</i>

Schoolboy Q is busy cooking up his major-label debut, but before Oxymoron is ready, Q hopes to add the flavor from Wu-Tang Clan's head chef.

"I'm trying to get Raekwon on this record," the Los Angeles up-and-comer told MTV News while on the set for his upcoming music video on July 2.

While on the Red Carpet for the 2013 Bet Awards, Q hinted that he was looking to work with one of the members of the hip-hop collective on his upcoming album in an interview with Vibe.com, but never specified which one until now. "Me and Raekwon, we've been talking and we've been trying to get a record, and I think I finally found the record for him," he said, even though the song isn't complete yet. "I'ma say thank you ahead of time to the Chef."

Q says he would've loved to collaborate with deceased Wu-member Ol' Dirty Bastard, but the Brooklyn MC passed away in 2004, seven years before Schoolboy dropped his debut independent album, Setbacks. "I couldn't get ODB, may he rest in peace, he's long gone and that's who I really wanted," he said.

This year Wu-Tang Clan are celebrating their 20-year anniversary as a group performing at Coachella, Hot 97's Summer Jam and Bonnaroo and hope to drop their sixth group effort before December is through.

The Black Hippy lyricist confirms that he has been working with J. Cole, Pharrell Williams, Nez & Rio and Digi+Phonics for production on Oxymoron, but at the time of our interview seemed to be the ...

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Kanye West’s Bold ‘Black Skinhead’ Video: Real Or Not?

Late Monday, Kanye West's "Black Skinhead" video premiered ... or at least, we think it did.

After all, the clip in question — which features a CGI-version of West flailing and wailing, morphing into a silvery demon and even going full-frontal — is very much in keeping with the aesthetics and the angst the rapper has used when performing the song on and in concert. It begins with the same nightmarish visuals (snarling Dobermans, black KKK hoods, etc.) and burns with the same fury of his fiery "SNL" take. So, on one hand, it certainly seems like the real deal.

On the other hand, the "Skinhead" video never actually appeared on West's official site (as of this writing, he's still pimping his collaboration with French clothing line A.P.C.), and the normally verbose 'Ye has remained silent about it on Twitter. The link that was making the rounds on Monday took fans to a Universal Music Group "development" page that has since been password protected, and MTV News could not reach West's rep for comment about the clip.

So, was the "Black Skinhead" clip a fan-made hoax — a la the fake trailer for West's Cruel Winter album — an accidental leak of an unfinished final project, or an early preview of the official video? There's been no confirmation from Kanye's camp, but that hasn't stopped the Internet from believing it to be authentic, and analyzing every digital inch (and yes, we're mainly talking about West's CGI-ed weiner).

There have been plenty of ...

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MC Daleste’s Father Points To ‘Jealousy’ In Son’s Onstage Murder

Brazilian funk singer MC Daleste (born Daniel Pellegrine) was laid to rest in Sao Paulo on Monday, two days after his shocking shooting death
 during a concert in the city of Campinas.

The 20-year-old rising star was honored by a throng of fans who came to the Vila Formosa cemetery, some of whom sang his songs during the ceremony. According to a report by the G1 news service, Pellegrine's father, Roland, told reporters that his son was done in by the resentment of rivals.

"It was envy. Jealousy kills," Roland Pellegrine said. "[He] was a very good boy, a charismatic boy, docile. He had no enemies ... My son was the king of funk."

Daleste was performing a free show at a public housing project in the San Martin neighborhood outside of Sao Paulo during the incident, which was caught on tape in a disturbing video (warning graphic images) shot by a fan that has now been screened nearly six million times. In the clip, Daleste can be seen performing and then dropping to the stage suddenly and clutching his stomach.

At his funeral, a fellow funk singer, Leonardo de Freitas (aka MC Leo da Baixada), said Pellegrine was eager to help other rising musicians and lamented that the image of Daleste's dead body on stage would be the lasting one of his friend.

"We see him onstage trying to cheer everyone and it happens there," Freitas said (in a page translated from the original Portuguese). "Some people have no heart." Freitas agreed that Daleste was done in by envy, ...

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Ariana Grande’s <i>Daydreamin'</i> Made Scooter Braun ‘Say ‘Damn”

Ariana Grande showed us she has an ear for throwback pop tunes as demonstrated on her Mariah Carey-inspired debut single. And apparently, there's more where that came from.

"Her album is a throwback to the great R&B of the 90s," Grande's manager, Scooter Braun, told MTV News of her debut album, Daydreamin', dropping in August. "And she has some incredible ballads on there. We're talking about putting out one album in August and following it with a second album in February or March. She's recording so much music that we feel like we can keep the momentum going. I'm so incredibly excited about the album and the music. This girl would live in the studio if she had the opportunity."

When Braun and the "Sam & Cat" star first started talking about it, the 20-year-old knew she wanted to pay homage to the '90s, a decade that spawned R&B superstars like Carey and Mary J. Blige, whom he cites as her influences for the release.

"I grew up on that stuff. ... It was a fun album to be a part of. It was a fun album to get the demos in my email [for] and listen to and say, 'Damn'," he said. "You don't expect it from her and that's what I like about her. Music today isn't defined by what color you are or where you're from or what genre you're supposed to be in. The genres are all crossed and the races are all crossed, and at the end of the day, [music is] supposed to ...

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