For Mac Miller, buying music is not just a purchase, it's "an event" — one that, in the age of the Internet, kids these days are missing out on.

"The moment that these kids aren't getting... is when you put that cd into the cd player," the Pittsburgh MC told "RapFix Live" last week. "That half-second, one-second wait until the music starts is everything."

And it seems that with his sophomore effort, Watching Movies With the Sound Off, he's made something that's well worth the wait.

While its release on Tuesday (June 18) coincided with such hip-hop heavyweights as Kanye West's Yeezus and J. Cole's Born Sinner, Mac's LP offers something unique .On his #1 Billboard debut, Blue Slide Park, the Pittsburgh spitter paid homage to his boyhood haunts, a quaint playground that the rap star has outgrown. Even in 2011, when Mac released BSP, he knew he could never go back, so Watching Movies is all about progression.

On the opening "The Star Room," Mac begins his journey of cloudy introspection. The young rapper has plenty of unresolved issues surrounding fame and his personal relationship. "Would he recognize his son when he hears my voice/ I put this music against my life, I think I fear the choice," he raps about his father a few bars after he takes on the burden of making sure his "mom and dad are still somewhat in love."

Much of WMWTSO is subdued, and while the album does have its fun moments ("S.D.S. " and the bonus tracks "Goosebumpz" and "O.K."), Miller spends the ...

Much to his consternation, Kanye West has never won the Grammy for Album of the Year ... which is why we can't even begin to imagine how he feels about the Best Recording Package award. After all, he's never even been nominated for that one.

True, Watch The Throne did pick up a nod a few Grammys ago, but it was 'Ye's creative partner Virgil Abloh who scored the honor (according to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the award is given out to art directors) ... and, really, it's not like it matters, since WTT lost Best Recording Package to the Arcade Fire's Scenes from the Suburbs deluxe edition, anyway.

So, to date, the award has eluded him, a trend that seems certain to continue with his brand-new Yeezus album ... especially since its packaging consists of little more than a clear CD jewel box, a strategically placed piece of tape, and a single sticker affixed to the back cover. But, that may not actually be the case, because according to Academy guidelines, as long as it's submitted for Grammy consideration, Yeezus is more than eligible for Best Recording Package, provided "the package is the standard commercial version that is nationally distributed for sale."

Basically, that means that as long as all the copies of Yeezus in stores are the same — and, as far as we can tell, they are — then the album could finally bring West his first Recording Package Grammy. And it would truly be his: according to a spokesperson (whom we ...

Jay-Z is intent on writing some #newrules
 with the unconventional release plan for his upcoming album, Magna Carta Holy Grail. But some rules are not meant to be broken, or rather, just can't be.

Case in point: Nielsen SoundScan's regulation governing what kind of album sales count. As we all learned in a three-minute commercial during Sunday night's game 5 NBA finals , Jay has partnered with Samsung in a promotion for the album that will have the company giving away one million copies of Magna Carta to users of its Galaxy line of products three days before its July 4 release.

And while that appears to guarantee Jigga instant platinum status before the album even hits shelves, Nielsen thinks otherwise. "Nielsen doesn't count bulk sales," a SoundScan spokesperson told MTV News. That longstanding edict means that if anyone, even, say, Beyoncé, buys a million copies of Magna Carta and gives them away as Independence Day party favors they can't be counted as sales according to Billboard magazine's long-standing policy on bulk purchases.

The source said this differs from major retailers like Wal Mart or Target who buy large quantities of popular albums with the intent of selling them to consumers for a set price.

Jay seems to know that his envelope-pushing deal with the South Korean electronics giant is setting a new standard, but he's not letting the possibility that instant platinum may not be a thing stand in his way. "If 1 million records gets SOLD and Billboard doesn't report it, did it happen? Ha. #newrules #magnacartaholygrail Platinum!!!," ...

Generally when you think of electronic music, the last things that come to mind are acoustic guitars and grand pianos. But on Monday, Tuesday (June 19) and Wednesday, British trance trio Above & Beyond are ditching their CDJs and lighting rigs to showcase their musical talent at the first of three rare, sold-out acoustic performances at London's Porchester Hall, which will be recorded for album release.

The group revealed the inspiration behind the project to MTV News, saying that playing acoustic just came naturally.

"Ever since we've started we've been a band. That's what we are," said Paavo Siljamäki. "We all play instruments. A lot of our songs are written in more acoustic form than they actually end up in so this whole acoustic project has been something that has been at the back of our minds for a very, very long time."

Above & Beyond recently wrapped up their Las Vegas residency called Group Therapy, a night-after-night dance-music party. So Siljamäki said the acoustic project is "totally the right thing for us to do" following the demanding Sin City shows. And though these type of sets are otherwise unheard of for A&B, member Tony McGuiness, who is credited with the original idea, pointed out that he is no stranger to live performance, having played for years with English indie band Sad Lovers & Giants.

"I actually play in another band and that's been going forever," McGuiness said. "We do maybe four or five shows a year and one of the great pleasures I get from life is when I'm onstage making ...

Creating a solid superhero sequel is hard to do, especially when the first movie had an unrelentingly unique point of view. "Kick-Ass" surprised audiences in 2010 with its harsh language and even harsher violence, earning every bit of its hard-R rating. But the film also surprised hardcore comic book fans by accurately bringing creators Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s darkly comedic tale of a powerless teenage hero to life. Every bit of the blood and bruises onscreen came from the comic.

This summer's "Kick-Ass 2" promises to do the same with its even more extreme source material. MTV News paid a visit to the "Kick-Ass 2" set, capturing the filming of the climactic showdown between Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and The Mother F---er (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), alongside their respective supergroups: Justice Forever and The Toxic Mega C---s.

The behind-the-scenes peek includes a few sneak peeks at the film's new characters, as well as a hint of what Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl have been up to.

Colonel Stars & Stripes
Jim Carrey joins the cast in a mash-up role from the comics. His character, Colonel Stars & Stripes, was originally two violent do-gooders: Colonel Stars and Lieutenant Stripes. Both characters worked for a huge crime family before becoming born-again Christians and vigilantes. Because of his faith, Colonel Stars carries empty guns and seldom swears in the comics.

Mother Russia
It takes a bodybuilder like Olga Kurkulina to bring a character as intimidating as Mother Russia to life. Judging by this picture of her carrying Hit-Girl over her head, she's doing ...

Katy Perry has topped the charts and set new records with her hit songs but posing for the cover of Vogue is a first.

For the July issue of the fashion bible — on newsstands now — Perry dons chic, floral couture, but inside the 28-year-old opens up about her prominent pop career as well as her equally high-profile relationships. The article not only serves as something a love letter to her hometown of Santa Barbara, California, with Perry taking the magazine's writer to some of her favorite spots. The star talked candidly and revealed she hasn't heard from her ex-husband Russell Brand since he texted her in December 2011 to tell her he was filing for divorce after 14 months of marriage.

Last summer, Perry was spotted with singer John Mayer, and the two began what would be an on-again, off-again relationship that ended this past spring. (Mayer confirmed the break-up during an April appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show.")

But Perry told Vogue she was "was madly in love with [Mayer]. I still am madly in love with him. All I can say about that relationship is that he's got a beautiful mind," she added. "Beautiful mind, tortured soul; I do have to figure out why I am attracted to these broken birds."

Right now, Perry is focused on her next album, the follow-up to 2010's massive release, Teenage Dream, which spawned chart-toppers like "Teenage Dream," "Firework" and "California Gurls." It was re-released in 2012 as The Complete Confection, with several new tracks including ...

Earlier this year, M.I.A. said that her label, Interscope, refused to release her Matangi album because it was and had instructed the strident singer to "darken it up a bit."

Well, it appears she listened, because on Monday night (June17), she unveiled the first single from the record, "Bring the Noize," and, well, it most certainly is dark, a knotty mix of chopped vocals, booming beats, pounding percussion and ominous synths that just builds and builds, until it eventually topples over onto itself. It's a claustrophobic track, to be certain, and a defiant one, too: at one point, M.I.A. declares "truth is like a rotten tooth, you got to spit it out," and later, she vents "it's not me and you, it's the f--ing banks."

Of course, though "Noize" is certainly nocturnal — not to mention aptly named — turns out, it still might not be dark enough for the folks at Interscope (or whichever subsidiary of the Universal Music Group she's currently signed to). Because as M.I.A. told BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe on Monday, she still has no idea when Matangi will see the light of day ... which is why she took the song to radio herself.

"This is my last stab at it," she told Lowe. "I keep finishing the record, handing it in, finishing the record, handing it in. I've given up at this point ... If I didn't get ['Bring the Noize'] out now, I would have definitely exploded."

And based on her Vine account, it appears M.I.A. ...

Seven years after securing the rights to Max Brooks' best-selling novel "World War Z," Brad Pitt will finally face the zombie apocalypse when the film hits theaters Friday (June 21).

Pitt plays a retired United Nations employee who leaves his wife and two kids behind to travel the globe in the hopes of stanching the pandemic, which threatens to end the world as we know it. And as a real-life father of six, the instinct to protect what he loves is nothing new for Pitt. In fact, as the actor told MTV News at the film's New York premiere on Monday, it's a feeling that never truly goes away.

"Always, I mean, always. It's a papa bear — it's just instinctual," Pitt said. "It kicks in. It's kind of amazing how that happens, but comforting."

Of course, Pitt does tear himself away from his family long enough to work on films like "World War Z," which has been a passion project for the 49-year-old, who also serves as a producer. (To wit, the film's gone through a handful of re-writes and re-shoots on its seven-year journey to the big screen.) But seeing the finished product finally realized was all worth it for Pitt.

"It's just big and fun, and this is the most intense thing you're going to see all year," he promised. "It's the most intense thing I've done. We're really thrilled by it."

"World War Z," co-starring Mireille Enos and James Badge Dale, opens Friday.

Mariah Carey's "new era" now has a name. Carey's July 23 album release has been dubbed The Art of Letting Go.

That album title was confirmed by the former "American Idol" judge's longtime producer Jermaine Dupri on Twitter late Monday night. The Art of Letting Go is MC's 11th studio album and her first since 2009's Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. In addition to teaming up with Dupri, she's also worked with Bryan-Michael Cox (who produced 2012's "Triumphant (Get 'Em)"), Hit-Boy and The-Dream on the studio release.

Carey kicked off her Letting Go era in May with the Miguel-assisted lead single, which currently sits at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

When MTV News spoke to Miguel last month, he revealed why the twosome decided to include the social media-friendly hashtag in the song's title. "The hashtag in the title of this song is particularly fitting because the word that comes before 'beautiful' when I sing the chorus is an expletive that I can't say on air," he said, referring to the F-word he sings on song's hook. "But the hashtag is particularly fitting for that expletive, if you just kind of pay a little bit of attention."

Weeks after she released the song, Carey announced she would be leaving "American Idol" after one season to put the focus back on her music. In addition to the Miguel collaboration, Carey has also teased potential appearances from "Idol" contestants Candice Glover, Kree Harrison and Angie Miller, as well as her daughter, Monroe, on the release.

"It's ...

Lil Wayne caught a bit of heat on Monday when a video of him stepping on an American flag made the rounds on the Internet. But the clip, which outraged some, didn't tell the whole story.

"It was never my intention to desecrate the flag of the United States of America. I was shooting a video for a song off my album, entitled 'God Bless Amerika,' " Weezy said in a statement posted to his Facebook page on Tuesday (June 18).

In the clip, Wayne raps while standing in front of the American flag before it drops to the floor to reveal a number of residents from his native Hollygrove, New Orleans, neighborhood standing behind him. With the flag on the ground, Weezy continues his performance for the camera, in some instances walking over and on the stars and stripes — but that's not what fans were ever intended to see when the finished music video hit television and online. The wide shot caught in the clip allowed Internet viewers to see Wayne's feet, but the final cut would leave that angle out of the scene entirely.

"The clip that surfaced on the Internet was a camera trick clip that revealed behind the American Flag was the ['hoods] of America. In the final edit of the video you will see the flag fall to reveal what's behind it but will never see it on the ground," he explained.

The somber track, featured on I Am Not a Human Being II, finds Wayne reflecting on the troubles in his life, including his ...