Sometimes rap lyrics are just that. Everyone's ears perked when Jay-Z claimed to get "White House clearance" for his and Beyoncé's Cuba trip on last week's and now the president himself is beating down the notion that Hov has some political privilege.

"This is not something the White House was involved with. We've got better things to do," President Barack Obama said during his sit-down with host Savannah Guthrie.

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Questions began to swirl after Hov and Bey trooped down to Cuba at the beginning of April and spent their five-year wedding anniversary on the communist island, where travel is limited for U.S. citizen due to long-held sanctions. After a few politicians called for an investigation surrounding the trip, Hov dropped "Open Letter" on April 11 and thumbed his nose at his political opposition. "Boy from the hood got White House clearance," he rapped.

Jigga, of course, foresaw the questions that his "Open Letter" would raise and he went on to take even more poetic license. "Obama said, 'Chill, you gonna get me impeached'/ You don't need this sh--anyway; chill with me on the beach," he raps in jest.

Obama administration spokesperson Jay Carney shot down the notion the same day and told reporters that the White House had nothing to do with granting the power couple clearance, noting that the Department of Treasury is tasked with handling such issues.

When asked, Obama laughed. "I wasn't familiar that they were taking the trip," he said. ...

By their own admission, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis never dreamed they'd have a hit the size of which (as you're probably aware) has logged six weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 to date, and has sold more than four million copies.

So, when it came time to shoot the video for their follow-up single, — which, it should be noted, is already a Top 10 staple on the Hot 100 — well, they definitely decided to take advantage of their newfound clout.

"We shot it on six different continents," Macklemore told MTV News backstage at the MTV Movie Awards. "It's crazy. There's a camel. There's dogsledding. There are white people, black people, a frat party. We just went for it."

"This was over a 16-day music video shoot, which I've never heard of before," Lewis added. "It was a huge project; it was cut all over the place. We started cutting at South By Southwest, in a little hotel room, and we've been finishing it ever since, or trying to finish it. It's just been a massive project."

And after all that, the dynamic duo finally did finish the clip, and it will premiere Wednesday (April 17). And though their profile — and video budgets — may have grown, Macklemore & Lewis are remaining true to their roots, and decided to give their fans a sneak peak at the "Can't Hold Us" video at a Tuesday-night Pizza Party in Seattle.

"We decided to do something different a couple years ago, which was have pizza parties for the ...

If you thought the contestants had it difficult winning the approval of their judge on "The Voice," imagine having to choose which overly persuasive superstar's team to be part of right after being eliminated. It was one of the few highlights during night two of the show's battle rounds on Tuesday night (April 16).

Team Adam kicked off the evening duels with country-strong competitors Michael Austin and Warren Stone, who were assigned Jason Aldean's "My Kinda Party" and took in a bulk of critiques Levine offered during rehearsals. But once they hit the boxing ring, it was smooth sailing. Shelton caught note of their performance ease, telling host Carson Daly later on that "both of them work" in their country styling. Asked whom he'd choose if this was his call, the hitmaker picked Austin over Stone. However, this was Levine's decision and that meant that 43-year-old Austin needed to head on home.

"You both come from totally different places within the realm of country," the Maroon 5 frontman said, before choosing 31-year-old Stone to advance.

As viewers noticed on Monday's episode, Usher takes a more hands-on approach when dealing with his contestants, even if that means spewing a little tough love. Jeff Lewis and Josiah Hawley both have charm and good looks, but their judge wanted nothing but professionalism and conviction from their rehearsals. When they finally hit the stage to offer a take on The Police's "Roxanne," it didn't necessarily move Shakira or Adam. "I wasn't impressed. Maybe another choice of song would have helped you more," Shaki quipped. Usher chose ...

The Wanted will be one man down for a little while.

The group announced on Wednesday (April 17) that Nathan Sykes will take an "unforeseen hiatus" from the band in order to undergo throat surgery in Los Angeles on Thursday.

"Our lil Nath has to go in for an op on his throat on his birthday to make him better so join us in wishing him well," they wrote on their Facebook page. "We love ya! #GetWellNath." They followed with a tweet to concerned fans assuring them that Sykes will get all their good vibes. "We will be passing on all your words of support and love, it means the world to him and you definitely help us all through this."

The full statement from the group's spokesperson confirmed that the band's other four members will stick to their promotional schedule while Sykes recovers. "We can confirm that The Wanted's Nathan Sykes will under go specialist throat surgery on Thursday 18th April in Los Angeles and as such will be taking unforeseen hiatus form The Wanted," read the statement. "

The priority for Nathan, his label and management is that he is given time to recover and receive the best treatment possible.

 The remaining four members of The Wanted will continue fulfilling the bands promotional commitments across the world."



Sykes was more succinct on his Twitter feed, writing, "Gutted ..." He followed with a more anxiety-ridden tweet, "Can't sleep. So much on my mind." According to British reports, Sykes will not be able to speak for a month ...

Future has proven himself to be extremely versatile. Not only has the Atlanta hitmaker crafted underground favorites; he has also had his hand in some pretty big pop hits as well.

In fact, he often creates his melodic hooks in succession. It's an amazing sight — just ask his friend and collaborator Trae Tha Truth.

"It's a funny story with this record. I was in Atlanta, and I just stopped up at the studio to mess with Future for a while, and it was the same night he did that record with

The Rihanna record Trae referenced is, of course, from the pop star's latest LP, Unapologetic. On the track, Future begs Rih Rih for "love and affection," but on Trae's "Screwed Up," he professes his love for fallen Houston legend DJ Screw.

"I did that 'L-O-V-E' when I did his record, he was still there. I just did them over, freestyling, f--- around and came up," Future recalled of the night. "I had the Rihanna record right after that, and I went in ASAP."

The Astronaut Kid did three records that night in Atlanta, two with Trae and then the one for the Roc Nation princess. Even though each song has a different feel, Future said it's nothing for him to switch gears from street to pop. "Everything that you go through, it makes you who you is, so, sh--, just got a lot to talk about," he said. "You're going through everything, every day you're going through new challenges, new experiences, so you get a chance to ...

There's no telling when or where inspiration may strike. Lucky for Fabolous, he is open to it all.

For his latest video Loso took a little bit of the Notorious B.I.G., and then, in an unlikely twist, added a bit of J.Lo to tell his rags-to-riches love story.

"Well the story to me for the record, for the video actually was trying to bring back that feeling when little girls or the little guys were watching the videos and be in awe of them," Fab told MTV News on Friday when he and Pusha T stopped by to promote their upcoming The Life is So Exciting Tour. "A lot of videos now have turned to being more guys bragging or trying to look as cool as they can in the video and not really telling that story."

Fab, who is getting set to drop his sixth solo LP Loso's Way 2 in June, used to admire one of B.I.G.'s most noted visuals and hopes that "Ready" can create a similar feeling for his own fans who daydream about living the rapper's life. "I used to watch Biggie's 'One More Chance' over and over and be like, 'Man I know that was probably the craziest house party ever,' " he said, saluting the all-star clip that featured cameos from Mary J. Blige, Da Brat, Diddy and fallen singer Aaliyah.

In the storyline for "Ready," the Brooklyn rapper heads out to the Dominican Republic, where his family has roots, and falls for a local housekeeper at his hotel. After a whirlwind romance, ...