November 22, 2024

About the author  ⁄ MTV News

Jay-Z’s ‘Open Letter’ Gets Musical Response From Common, Wyclef Jean

Jay-Z's rap influence continues to shine. After Hov picked up his figurative pen for the fiery a number of other spitters have followed suit.

On Monday, after Pitbull added his two cents over the Timbaland and Swizz Beatz-produced thump, Wyclef Jean and Common joined the party. On the J. Period-assisted, Common-helmed the G.O.O.D. Music MC reflects on his own trip to Cuba to visit Black Panther icon Assata Shakur, who escaped prison and sought political asylum in the communist country. "I went to Cuba to see her/ We should free her, like we should Mumia," he raps, referencing inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has been fighting to be free following the 1981 murder of a police officer in Philadelphia.

Jay's original track, which he dropped on Thursday, directly addressed the political criticism he faced after he and Beyoncé took a trip to Cuba at the beginning of the month to mark their five-year wedding anniversary. When Pitbull took his turn, the Cuban American used his bars to educate listeners of the Caribbean island's political history and complex relations with the United States.

On Tuesday (April 16), Wyclef hopped on the track, adding familiar guitar riffs from Carlos Santana's 1999 Grammy Award-winning single "Maria Maria." 'Clef tells tales of riding Air Force One with former president Bill Clinton and strategizing Haitian relief efforts with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. "Once I decided that I was gonna run for president/ My whole life changed in a split second," he rapped of his 2010 presidential campaign in Haiti.

Who ...

Read More →

Outside Lands Lineup Unveiled

At this point, with the first weekend of Coachella in the books, and the bills for Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza currently being printed on the backs of T-shirts, you'd think there couldn't possibly be another festival lineup to reveal ... but you'd be wrong.

On Tuesday (April 16), organizers behind the Outside Lands festival unveiled the list of bands that will perform at this year's event, a bill topped by Paul McCartney, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix and Vampire Weekend, all of whom are really racking up the frequent flier miles on the summer fest circuit.

Kaskade, Pretty Lights, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, D'Angelo, and the National are just some of the acts on the undercard for this year's Outside Lands, which will take place on August 9-11 in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Tickets — which include three-day passes and VIP packages — will go on sale Thursday, April 18 at 12 p.m. PT through the festival's official site.

While you're there, you can check out the full lineup for Outside Lands 2013, a list of more than 60 artists that features everyone from Willie Nelson and Hall & Oates to A-Trak, Yeasayer and Zedd. Last year, the Foo Fighters and Skrillex topped the bill, along with Metallica and Stevie Wonder, while Muse, Arcade Fire and Phish headlined OL 2011.

According to organizers, more artists, restaurants and wineries (both of which are Outside Land staples) will be announced in the coming weeks.

What do you think of this year's Outside Lands lineup? Let us know in ...

Read More →

Drake Shows Beyonce Love, But Rejects New Friends On New Singles

Drake had a lot to say last week when he blasted the media and Chris Brown for fueling the drama between he and Breezy, but on Monday night, the OVO just let his music do the talking.

Shortly before 8 p.m. ET, Drizzy and DJ Khaled premiered featuring Rick Ross and Lil Wayne. While the Boi-1da and Noah "40" Shebib-produced song stands as the official remix to Drake's "Started From the Bottom" single, it will actually appear on Khaled's upcoming Suffering From Success LP.

The track's title is derived from Drake's "Started" where he declares: "No new n----as, n---a we don't feel that/ F--- a fake friend, where ya real friends at?"

With Khaled's latest, the Toronto hit maker picks up right where he left off. "Man this sh-- so ill that we had to restart it," he spits before shouting his day one OVO friends and his Cash Money leader Birdman.

With fans still buzzing over the new tune well into the a.m. hours, Drake hit them again with the 40-produced, James Fauntleroy-assisted on Tuesday morning (April 16). The track, which finds Drake and Fauntleroy singing an interpolation of the 1999 Destiny's Child hit "Say My Name," is markedly different from "No New Friends." Drizzy's usual angst gets toned down as he directs his attention toward the women in his life. "Look, I know girls love Beyoncé, girls love to f--- with your conscious/ Girls hate when n---as go different and shorty you ain't no different," he croons.

Drizzy goes on about his high-profile love life ...

Read More →

Selena Gomez To Channel Britney Spears On Stars Dance World Tour

Need some more Selena Gomez in your life? Well, fresh off a red-hot performance at Sunday night's MTV Movie Awards, she's announced she's going on a red-hot world tour starting this August.

The singer will launch the Stars Dance World Tour on August 14 in Vancouver. She'll then trek across the globe before bringing the show to the States on October 10 in Fairfax, Virginia, wrapping up on November 27 in St. Louis. Full details can be found on the singer's website. She will release her new album this summer.

On Monday, the singer opened up about the tour to Ryan Seacrest sharing that she plans on going big and sending everyone home happy. "It's going to be a bigger show. I'm excited. I've been dancing a lot and I just want to entertain people and I'm super stoked," she said, adding that, much like with her MTV Movie Awards performance, she'll be taking a page from the one and only Britney Spears.

"I kind of missed shows when it used to just be about the dancing and the performing as opposed to how big and elaborate the stage is, so I kind of want to get back to that," she said. "My favorites were Britney and Janet Jackson so I kind of want it to be a bit more dancing and make it about entertainment and about the show and the songs as opposed to how big the stage and effects are."

And Spears is giving the love right back. "Wow @SelenaGomez... 'Come & ...

Read More →

‘The Voice’ Recap: Shakira Steals Two Contestants As Battle Rounds Begin

After weeks of chair-swiveling, members of Team Usher, Shakira, Adam and Blake kicked off battle rounds on Monday night's episode of

In battle rounds, two contestants from each team compete in a sing-off, and their judge has to give one of them the boot. If axed from the competition, the other judges will have the option to save two disqualified contestants with a steal. Guest mentors include Pharrell Williams (Team Usher), Joel Madden (Team Shakira), Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum (Team Adam) and Sheryl Crow (Team Blake).

Team Adam's Amber Carrington and Sasha Allen were first, choosing Pink's emotionally torn "Try" as their battle track. When push came to shove, Levine went with 19-year-old Carrington's tender styles over Allen's power pipes. But Usher and Shakira quickly took to their red buttons to snag the 30-year-old classically trained pianist. Flattered by her save, Allen pondered on the decision before sticking with her gut and joining Team Shakira.

In a smooth transition into her evening duel, Shaki's teammates Garrett Gardner and J'Sun were up next. Sitting aside Good Charlotte's Joel Madden and his purple hair, the blonde bombshell offered advice as the duo rehearsed Heavy's "How You Like Me Now?" While 26-year-old J'Sun added a rock edge to his soulful suited voice, Shakira wanted season two's Gardner to add a little more dynamics to his offering. Surprisingly enough, Shakira chose Gardner to advance to the next round, sending Brooklyn native J'Sun back home.

Blake Shelton's team was next in line, so a Carrie Underwood song selection didn't seem too surprising -- especially when ...

Read More →

‘Hemlock Grove’ Exclusive Red-Band Trailer: Watch Now!

Forget about Forks, and say bye-bye to Bon Temps. There's a new fictional town filled with sex and supernatural intrigue heading to TV this week, and it goes by the name of "Hemlock Grove."

On Friday (April 19), Netflix premieres the entire first season of "Hemlock Grove," the online streaming service's latest venture into the world of original programming. Based on a novel by Brian McGreevy and produced by "Hostel" mastermind Eli Roth, "Hemlock Grove" is a murder mystery set in a Pennsylvania steel town that holds more secrets and horrors than its rusty exterior would have you believe. As evidence of this, MTV News has an exclusive red-band trailer for "Hemlock Grove," but we warn you now — the following trailer is not safe for work, thanks to a healthy amount of mangled corpses and strategically placed F-bombs, and a liberal sprinkling of sexy-times.

Bill Skarsgård, brother of Alexander and son of Stellan, headlines the cast of "Hemlock Grove" as Roman Godfrey. The heir of the Godfrey estate takes it upon himself to investigate the murder of a young girl near his family's old steel mill. Rumors abound that the girl was killed by a wolf — and more rumors still suggest that gypsy teen Peter Rumancek (played by Landon Liboiron) is himself a werewolf. Whatever secrets he hides, Peter is at least game to join forces with Roman to find out who really killed the poor girl.

The new red-band trailer highlights Peter and Roman's shared journey, but also shows plenty of the other players crucial to "Hemlock Grove."

Perhaps most important ...

Read More →