The boundless Kanye West pushed even further last night when he bypassed traditional television and online channels and instead premiered his on the sides of 66 buildings all across the world.

The video presentation was as revolutionary as the jarring lyrics that Yeezy spits on the song, which throws racism and consumerism into a blender and pours out a tall glass of hard-to-swallow self-reflection. 'Ye's politically charged poetry may come off contradictory to new fans who only recently caught on to the Givenchy-wearing, $250 Air Yeezy-selling rapper, but for those keeping score, "New Slaves" is rooted in West's 2004 The College Dropout days just as much as his post-Watch the Throne trip.

From the first line, 'Ye draws parallels to his debut. "My mama was raised in the era when/ Clean water was only served to the fairer skin," he rhymes to start.

Even before she tragically passed away in 2007, Kanye's mother, Donda West, inspired a great deal of his character and his music. Hearing his mother's stories of a segregated America clearly shaped the MC's views. It's an inspiration that drives "New Slaves" just as it did 2004's "Never Let Me Down," where Kanye tells us of his grandfather and mother who protested during the Civil Rights era. "At the tender age of six she was arrested for the sit-ins/ And with that in my blood I was born to be different," Yeezy raps, before warning us: "Racism still alive, they just be concealing it."

The connections are plentiful. In "New Slaves" Kanye tackles being broke and not ...

GULF SHORES, ALABAMA — Dillon Francis is pulling double duty at Hangout 2013, performing and working as a guest correspondent for MTV ... though for a minute on Thursday, it seemed like neither of those things would happen.

Shoot, Francis barely made it to Alabama.

"I woke up at 6:25 a.m., stayed in bed a second like 'Oh my God, I've got to go to the airport ...' but I was doing fine, going to the airport, and when I get there, I realized I didn't check in on my phone," he laughed. "So I go to check in and the lady at the counter is like 'No, you can't check in on the flight.' So I call my management, we're freaking out, because there's no planes to Alabama, ever."

Somehow, Francis managed to snag the last seat on a flight headed down south, but when he finally landed, he was still more than an hour away from the fest itself (Hangout is many things, close to an airport is not one of them) ... and his set time was quickly approaching.

"I was counting Piggly Wigglys to calm myself down while we were driving here," he said. "I finally got to my set six minutes late; I ran up on stage, set up my computer and just did it."

And his set went off without a hitch. Francis even said it was one of his all-time favorite gigs; and not just because he was basically winging it.

"I tweeted that I might not make it to the festival, and I started getting messages ...

NEW YORK — Electric Daisy Carnival made up for every loss the Mets experienced last season within just a few hours of the festival's opening. It all kicked off Friday afternoon at New York City's Citi Field, disguising the usual baseball grounds as an electronic musical heaven filled with carnival rides, theatrical performances and a myriad of DJ/producers.

A roster of top-notch bass, electro, progressive-house and dub-step DJs played to a crowd of about 40,000. Five stages were set up next to each other, each with a different vibe and an appropriate lineup of DJs to match. A ferris wheel and electronic swings outlined the stages, while eccentric women in fairy costumes, bedazzled tutus and colorful wigs walked around, adding to the mystical atmosphere.

Danny Avila, Cedric Gervais, Nervo and Arty were a few of the artists who helped start the high-energy day. Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano passionately played their rhythmic beats and tribal sounds late into the afternoon, followed by Zeds Dead, who dropped their aggressive dub-step hip-hop signature sound until the sun set.

Dutch DJ Nicky Romero immediately started dance frenzy at the Circuit Grounds stage with his classically infused single "Symphonica." He later played "Like Home," remixed Kid Cudi's "Pursuit of Happiness" and dropped everyone's favorite Avicii collabo, "I Could Be the One." Confetti and pyro burst out from all ends of the stage and teenaged girls continuously screamed out, "I love you, Nicky!"

But probably the most anticipated set of the evening was Steve Angello's, who, now solo from Swedish House Mafia, recently told MTV News ...

GULF SHORES, Alabama — Crowd surfing on inflatable whales, getting photobombed by "The Vinny Show" star Vinny Guadagnino and holding up Twenty One Pilots as they bashed away at drums while hoisted up by fans. Those were just a few of the highlights of the first day of Hangout Festival.

With action taking place on five stages, two of which are located right on the crystal sand beaches for a spectacular view you won't find at any other summer gathering, the only question was which direction to head.

Twenty One Pilots helped kick off the steamy day with a high-energy show that included singer Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun standing on wood planks
 on top of the audience's hands and bashing away at drums to end their triumphant set on the Letting Go Stage. Just next door at the Boom Boom Tent, EDM superstar Afrojack got the party moving and Passion Pit became one with the surf thanks to the warm embrace of hits including "The Reeling."

We also set loose fellow superstar DJ Dillon Francis on the crowd, sending him out with a GoPro camera to spend some quality time with his fans. He thought he spotted a Pikachu (but he was wrong) and got way into some boot-scooting fiddle playing. Meanwhile, model and special correspondent Chrissy Teigen mingled with the masses and scaled the giant inflatable waterslide set up between the main stages on the beach and had a wet and wild ride.

The Six Best Moments From Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' Hangout Set!

But ...

NEW YORK -- For Kanye West, presentation is everything and on Friday night (May 17), rap's reigning mad scientist conjured up a revolutionary way to premiere his "New Slaves" music video.

Instead of YouTube or MTV, Yeezy projected his latest clip on the sides of buildings in 66 different countries, giving fans little forewarning before the first premiere. He posted the viewing times and locations on his KanyeWest.com site and about 100 fans answered the call and gathered on the corner of 14th Street and 10th Avenue in New York City's Meatpacking District as many as 30 minutes before the scheduled 11:45 p.m. showing. The truck that drove around the city projecting the vid was an hour late, but the delay didn't seem to matter much to the dedicated flock who gasped as the stark black and white image of their rap hero shot up on a matte black wall.

"My mama was raised in the era when/ Clean water was only served to the fairer skin/ Threw on clothes, you would've thought I had help/ But they wasn't satisfied unless I picked the cotton myself," 'Ye spit, setting the tone.

From the video's first few moments it was clear that this was something different, even for a rapper who has made a career off of wearing pink polos and singing an entire album in auto-tune. At the same time there was something familiar as Kanye challenged materialistic habits and racial stereotypes like he did on his 2005 single "All Falls Down."

"What you want a Bentley, fur coat, a diamond ...

GULF SHORES, ALABAMA — All the Kings of Leon ever wanted was to be loved at home. In 2005, soon after release of their second album, Aha Shake Heartbreak, they lamented that all folks in the U.S. seemed to care about was their mustaches ... and though KOL finally broke through in the states with 2008's Only By The Night, they've seemingly never lost that desire for acceptance. And that was abundantly clear during their Friday-night headlining slot at the Hangout Fest, which was as heavy on the hits as it was the sentiment. Down in Alabama, before tens of thousands of screaming, sunburnt fans, they truly felt the love. "I feel like we're surrounded by our own people here," frontman Caleb Followill told the crowd, "So I'm just gonna be myself tonight."

So for nearly 100 minutes, the Kings basked in it all. They opened with "Radioactive," from 2010's Come Around Sundown, tore through fuzzy versions of tracks like "Taper Jean Girl," "My Party" and "The Bucket," slowed it down for the couples in the crowd on "On Call," "Cornerstone" and "Renegades," and worked the new song — "It Don't Matter" — in midway through. Shoot, at one point, Caleb even smiled.

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GULF SHORES, Alabama — When Afrojack took the stage Friday (May 17) at Hangout Music Fest 2013, he had the festival's complete attention replete with lights, smoke and ... Instagram.

Fresh off a flight, the EDM superstar alerted the audience via the photo-sharing site that he had arrived in Gulf Shores with only one hour of sleep. But the Dutch DJ assured his throngs of cheering fans that they were, in his words, the "best hangover he'd ever had."

These were words not to be taken lightly in the Deep South's heat and humidity. The Grammy-winning DJ would unleash an explosive set on the Boom Boom Tent's sweaty captives, further cementing his place as a modern-day dance-music icon.

The set was just one in a slew of festival performances for the 25-year-old producer, who is also set to perform at the Electric Daisy Carnival this weekend in New York, among others, throughout the summer.

Find Out When Your Favorite Band Plays Hangout 2013!

Meanwhile, Afrojack recently announced that he and fellow DJ Steve Aoki — who also plays the Hangout Fest this weekend — will reunite on a track called "AFROKI," a follow-up to their wildly successful 2011 club banger "No Beef."

Passion Pit, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Kings of Leon closed out day one of Hangout, now in its fourth year. Weekend performances are on tap from Kendrick Lamar, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Stevie Wonder.

All weekend, check out interviews, behind-the-scenes access and on-demand performances from all your favorite artists on our Hangout Fest 2013 ...