The Barbz were getting ready to skip school just to make sure they heard Nicki Minaj’s new single “Pills N Potions” right when it was released, but hopefully everyone took her advice and stayed in class instead. The Pink Print single dropped early on Wednesday morning (May 20), giving her throng of loyal fans enough time to listen, tweet and cry their hearts out, before the day really got started.

On Tuesday we wished for wished for a few things from Nicki’s first Pink Print release, and she came through with a few of them — most notably, with a hook that’ll remain stuck on repeat. The YMCMB rapper actually flexes her vocal chords here, hitting a couple of high notes on the haunting refrain before she gets into her verses.

Nadeska Alexis

A native of Grenada, a product of Brooklyn, a student of hip-hop. Hi, I'm @neweryork.

In 24 hours, or less, Nicki Minaj will drop the first single from her anticipated third album, The Pink Print, and to be honest, we don’t really know what to expect. While her last album leaned far into the dance/pop genres, her recent work has been anything but that. The Queens rapper lit a few fires with her 2014 freestyles (and the Young Money cut “Lookin’ Ass N—a,”) and now we wait to see if she’ll show up with a real fusion of hip-hop and pop, or go in the very opposite direction of her last LP. Fans are already threatening to skip school just to hear the new track when it drops, but of course Nicki isn’t having any of that. Here are a few things we’re expecting from Ms. Minaj’s upcoming single “Pills N Potions.”

“Monster”-Level Bars
Nicki has been en fuego on her last few releases, and we’re hoping that nothing changes. She’s laid down some hard-hitting verses on tracks like “Yasss Bish,” and “Chi-Raq,” and since “Pills & Potions” is her first official single from The Pink Print — it has to go even harder. The YMCMB rapper dropped one of the most memorable verses — ever — on Kanye’s “Monster,” and we’re hoping for a repeat on her own single this time around.

An Incredible Cameo — Or, None At All
At this point, Nicki has been featured on tracks with everyone from Nas to Kanye West and ...

It was a chill Sunday evening on the beach, before OutKast hit the main stage at the 2014 Hangout Festival, and showed the crowd what the ATLiens were all about.

Performers like Jack Johnson delivered laid back sets earlier in the day, but Big Boi and Andre 3000 didn’t waste any time turning energy levels all the way up, as they jumped right into the bass-fueled cut “B.o.B.,” just two songs in their performance.

Where to go from here? Into all of their greatest hits, that’s where. OutKast was in golden form for the last show of the weekend.

Three Stacks, with his penchant for off-the-wall outfits, kept it weird and wonderful in a white wig and black jumper emblazoned with the text, “Big girls are beautiful to me.” And then there was the reversible “For Sale/Sold Out” sign hanging from his waist — a glimpse into his thoughts, perhaps?

Big Boi balanced Andre’s quirky getup with a fresh white button down shirt and matching shorts, splattered with floral prints.

Classics like “Rosa Parks” and “Ms. Jackson” were peppered into the first round of songs — making the crowd go absolutely insane — and Sleepy Brown’s cameo for “SpottieOttieDopaliscious” was a trip of its own. Because only Sleepy could make a pair of silk pajamas look so good onstage.

Before the boys launched into “Da Art of Storytellin’ (Part 1)” they thanked fans for rockin’ with them for 20 years, recalling their teenage years in the rap game.

When the Atlanta rappers temporarily split ...

There’s no reason to stop dreaming, right? Outkast will close out the 2014 Hangout Festival on Sunday night (May 18), and believe it or not, you will be able to watch it live starting at 10 p.m. ET at hangout.mtv.com.

In addition to hearing two hours of career-spanning classics from “Player’s Ball” to “Hey Ya,” here are a few things the people (and by “the people” I mostly mean me and Danny Brown) would love to see. In spite of the very slim chances that most of these things will actually come to fruition, we’ll just keep on wishing anyway and sit back and enjoy two hours of classic Outkast.

Songs From The Vault
There’s plenty of Outkast material that fans have never gotten a chance to hear live, but Danny Brown had some extra special requests when we caught up with him after his Hangout set.

“I would wanna hear something they don’t play live often like ‘Spottieottiedopaliscious’ and ‘Mamacita,’ something like that. Bring out Witchdoctor [and do] some real Dungeon Family stuff,” he said. “Or, my favorite, it’s not even an Outkast song, it’s [technically] a Goodie Mob/Dungeon Family song: ‘Black Ice,’ — I’d love to see them do ‘Black Ice.’ ”

A BRAND NEW SONG!
Sorry — excuse the caps. But yeah, with a slew of festival dates to cover this year, is it too difficult to find some time during those days off to record new material? We’re not asking for a full album, even a one-off ...

YouTube star iJustine descended on the 2014 Hangout Festival this weekend, bringing her camera along for the ride. She was pumped to see fellow Pittsburgh native Wiz Khalifa hit the stage, but the bass was so loud that her camera couldn’t even handle it. Other things that got her excited? Ingrid Michaelson, Red Bull and the GIF machine. Check it out above.

Hangout Music Fest 2014: Highlights
	Get The Latest On This Year's Fest Line-up
	Watch How Hangout Performers Prep For The Beach
	See Who's Playing The Festival
	2013 Hangout Fest Highlights

Nadeska Alexis

A native of Grenada, a product of Brooklyn, a student of hip-hop. Hi, I'm @neweryork.

Wiz Khalifa is getting ready to go full throttle. The Pittsburgh rapper is prepping a new mixtape called 28 Grams that he’ll drop shortly, and that will be followed by his much anticipated third major label album Blacc Hollywood.

Thus far he’s dropped the single “We Dem Boyz,” without revealing a full tracklist for the project — but there’s a pretty good chance that his son Sebastian “The Bash” Taylor Thomaz, will end up on the record.

“I always put my baby Amber on there, and Sebastian — he’s been coming to the studio more and more lately so it’s hard to keep him out of the booth,” Wiz told MTV News after his Hangout Festival set this weekend.

No details on exactly how Bash will be featured (baby’s first words?), but Wiz confirmed that the project is ready to drop as soon as he pulls the trigger.

“It’s all the way done, it’s finished, there’s nothing else to be done,” he confirmed. “I have a release date but we’ve got the tour coming up, so it’s just about putting everything into place before we let people know, but just know that it’s gonna come and it’s gonna be big.”

The Taylor Gang rapper recently struck up a friendship with legendary singer, Charlie Wilson, but unfortunately he won’t end up on the LP.

“I haven’t gotten a chance to work with him yet, but I text him all the time just to see how he’s doing and ...

Apparently Waka Flocka Flame is seriously in need of adventures, and somehow Girl Talk became the guy who wants to show him the world.

Just days after taking the stage at Hangout Festival, the DJ posted a photo of himself and Flocka, fresh off a skydiving expedition, and it’s hard to say which one of them looked more thrilled.

Okay, fine — Waka definitely looked the most excited.

The Atlanta rapper shared a photo of himself in the sky, with the caption, “Just sky dived,” while Girl Talk’s photo simply shows them basking in the aftermath.

The best part though? This was just their first adventure for the day. According to Girl Talk’s caption, their next stop was a driving range.

The two artists have been spending a decent amount of time together, since Waka contributed to Girl Talk and Freeway’s collaborative EP Broken Ankles. He appeared on the track “Tolerated,” which had a pretty ridiculous video to accompany it.

Their leisure time sessions have also included Waka schooling Girl Talk on the NBA.

Nadeska Alexis

A native of Grenada, a product of Brooklyn, a student of hip-hop. Hi, I'm @neweryork.

Wiz Khalifa is getting ready to roll out his Blacc Hollywood album later this year (he has a release date that he’s not ready to share), but in the meantime… he’s going to drop a new mixtape. After his set at Hangout Fest on Friday night (May 16), Wiz revealed to MTV News that 28 Grams is coming sooner than we might expect.

On Thursday, Wiz tweeted that he had some big news coming soon; we coaxed him into revealing that it was his mixtape announcement.

“It’s gonna drop fast. You should go home,” Wiz joked, adding that it was more than an appetizer for Blacc Hollywood. “It’s more than a teaser, it’s gonna get the Khalifa train rolling.”

The Taylor Gang rapper recently dropped his video for “We Dem Boyz,” which included cameos from Big K.R.I.T., Rich Homie Quan and B.O.B. And when he hits the road for his Under the Influence of Music tour in July, he’ll have some more friends along for the ride. Jeezy and Tyga will be co-headlining, along with additional guests.

Nadeska Alexis

A native of Grenada, a product of Brooklyn, a student of hip-hop. Hi, I'm @neweryork.

The 2014 Hangout Festival is currently underway in Gulf Shores, Alabama, which means there’s a pretty good chance that music fans can bump into some of their favorite artists this weekend. But, what happens when you actually do bump into your favorite rapper? Danny Brown advises you to play it cool. No words, or photo requests necessary — in other words, don’t be a fan boy.

The Detroit rapper hit the stage on Thursday night for his set, but he’s also a big fan of headlining act OutKast, who will close the show on Sunday. He revealed the songs he’d be most excited to hear live (“Spottieottiedopaliscious” and “Mamacita”) but when asked how he would react if he bumped into them backstage, Danny admitted that he wouldn’t say a word. Literally.

“I think I freak people out when I get a ‘lil too fan boy, so when I see artists that I really really like, I just freeze up and don’t say nothing,” he revealed. “In this day and age, I think it’s the real way to go, because nowadays, you have so many people that’s probably not even a fan, they probably just want that picture for Instagram.”

“Back in the day, if you saw somebody you really liked, you couldn’t do nothing but get their name written on some paper. They wouldn’t take a picture with you because you didn’t have a camera on you.”

So, is he recommending that you keep it ...

Are you a hip-hop head with plans to invade this year’s Hangout Music Festival? If, so we’ve got you covered, with a list of every show you need to catch. Any if you’re not a hip-hop head, read on anyway — because a live show might change your life this weekend, when the festival invades Gulf Shores, Alabama, from May 16-18. Performers will include Chance the Rapper, Childish Gambino, and of course, headliners Outkast.

THURSDAY, May 15

Danny Brown: 8-9 p.m.
The Detroit rapper dropped his Old album last fall, which means that he’s still got plenty of new music to play. His live shows can get pretty wild, and apparently the girls go crazy for him, so make sure to keep girlfriends in your line of vision.

FRIDAY, May 16

Wiz Khalifa: 5–6:15 p.m.
Wiz has been teasing the release of his latest album Blacc Hollywood, with new singles like “We Dem Boyz,” so don’t be surprised if you have the chance to hear some new material live.

Childish Gambino: 6:15–7:30 p.m.
This guy named his most recent album Because The Internet, and then he landed a pornstar to play the lead role in one of his music videos. Basically, we’re saying that you should probably expect the unexpected.

Gary Clark Jr: 6:15–7:30 p.m.
Okay, so maybe Gary Clark Jr. isn’t technically ‘hip-hop,’ but if you have any appreciation for R&B, jazz or and soulful blues, you really can’t go wrong here.

SATURDAY, May 17

Chance the Rapper: 7:15-8:45 p.m.
Hopefully ...