Big K.R.I.T’s second studio album is around the corner, with a November 11 drop date, and the Def Jam rapper is excited to show fans something new this time. He gave us a lil’ taste of what he’s working with the new mixtape See Me On Top Vol. 4, but there’s plenty more where that came from.

K.R.I.T. fans know that the Mississippi artist prides himself on both producing and rapping, so they’ll be happy to know that he expanded his range on Cadillactica.

“I only used three samples on the entire album, which is amazing for me, because people know me to sample a lot,” he told MTV News on the Bet Hip Hop Awards carpet. “For me, it was trying to make the kind of music that sounds like a sample, feels like a sample, had the same amount of grit and soul as a sample — [although] it wasn’t.”

Related: Big K.R.I.T. Drops New Single ‘Pay Attention’ Featuring Rico Love

And even though he’s moving forward right now, there’s still one passion project that he’s determined to complete: That “Praying Man” video — directed by Spike Lee.

“It’s not over!” K.R.I.T. said laughing. “That’s still something we’re trying to put together. The timing wasn’t right but that song hasn’t gone away, the idea hasn’t gone anyway and I think it’ll be even bigger, the fact that it’s not attached to an album when we do it.”

#SpikeLee4PrayingMan.

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Kendrick Lamar is back and he’s got a lotta love to share. The cover art for “i” (which shows opposing gang members in unity) had us wondering what, exactly, K. Dot would be rapping about on the first single from his good kid, m.A.A.d city follow up, and he’s definitely keeping it positive in the middle of mayhem.

“i” produced by Rahki, incorporates a sample of the Isley Brother’s 1973 hit “That Lady,” and in the between the catchy and positive hook “I love myself,” K. Dot spits about the madness in the world…that still can’t bring him down.

“They wanna say it’s a war outside/ And a bomb in the street/ And a gun in the hood/ And a mob of police/ And rock on a corner/ And a line full of fiends/ And a bottle full of lean/ And a model on the scene,” he spits. “These days of frustration keep ya’ll on tuck and rotation/ I duck these cold faces….Dreams and reality is peace/ Blow steam in the face of the beast/ The sky can fall down/ The wind can cry now/ The strong in me, I still smile.”

So what are you gonna do? “Lift up your head and keep moving? Or let the paranoia haunt you?”

Nadeska Alexis

A native of Grenada, a product of Brooklyn, a student of hip-hop.

@neweryork

I’ve covered many awards shows, but on Saturday night I was finally able to sit down and enjoy a show in person — since it was pre-taped, I didn’t have to work live — and the 2014 Bet Hip Hop Awards was a pretty good place to start. It felt more like a family affair, than a stiff black tie event. The show airs October 14, at 8 p.m. ET. on BET, but here’s a preview of what went down on Saturday, at the Civic Center in Atlanta.

Shurmda Stole The Show
Atlanta was very present on stage Saturday — with performances from T.I., Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan, Migos and Rae Sremmurd — but somehow it was Bobby Shmurda who really had the crowd going nuts. Shmurda was the only performer of the night who had everyone on their feet before he even started rapping. It was a mob scene when he launched into “Hot N—a,” with his GS9 creqw joining him, and Lil TeRio dancing his a$$ off in up front. The Brooklyn rapper was so excited, that he even flipped the mic and dropped it for a second. No big deal though, Snoop was on the other side of the stage distracting everyone else with his own Shmoney Dance.

The Moving Mike Brown Tribute

Even heartthrobs have to settle down at some point. Trey Songz recently dropped his Trigga album, and now he has a lady at his side to celebrate with. (And this lady also happened to be featured on the album).

Sources have confirmed to E! News that Trigga Trey is dating fellow singer Mila J. And if you aren’t familiar with Mila J’s music, you might also know her as Jhene Aiko’s sister. Mila appears on the Trigga track “Disrespectful.”

The pair apparently went heavy on the PDA while attending the Compound Foundation’s Fostering a Legacy benefit in New York last Friday. Although they arrived separately, sources told E! that they spent the entire night together.

If you want further proof, I’ll point you to Trey Songz’s recent Instagram photo of himself and Mila J, captioned “She so fine.”

Nadeska Alexis

A native of Grenada, a product of Brooklyn, a student of hip-hop.

@neweryork

We don’t want to get you too excited just yet. But yes, there are rumors floating around, which claim the dynamic duo is planning to drop a joint album.

Jay Z and Beyoncé literally just wrapped their On the Run Tour with a blowout show in Paris (Nicki Minaj knows it was ‘Flawless’) and here come the reports that they’ve been secretly working on a joint project. The next confirmed item on their schedule is the debut of their On the Run Tour special on HBO, September 20, but is it really possible that an album will also be arriving soon?

DJ Skee was the first to publicly put this out into the world, announcing on-air during his Dash radio show that he had “confirmed and talked with a couple sources,” who say the project would be released in late 2014 or early 2015.

Related: Is Beyonce Pregnant? This Glass Of Champagne Screams No

According to E!, Karli Henriquez, Vice President of Pop Programming at Dash Radio has gone on record to say that the power couple will definitely be putting out this “huge” album.

On Jay Z’s 2013 album Magna Carta Holy Grail, he and Beyoncé teamed up for “Part II (On the Run)” and on Beyoncé’s self-titled release later that year, they gave us the monster hit “Drunk in Love.” Obviously, we’ll take some more Hov and Bey if it comes our way.

MTV News has reached out to a Jay ...

If you’re not familiar with Raury’s music just yet, then Kanye West and SBTRKT are way ahead of you. The Atlanta rapper/singer/songwriter is pretty fresh on the scene, dropping his debut project Indigo Child at the end of August (led by singles “God’s Whisper” and “Cigarette Song”), but he’s already caught the eyes and ears of some esteemed musicians.

Raury is featured on one of SBTRKT’s latest singles “Higher,” and he recently had a chance to play some music for Kanye, since ‘Ye was so geeked about his video for “God’s Whisper.”

Oh, and he’s only 18 years old. No big deal.

The Indigo Child revealed that he had a chance to chat up both artists before they got to work on any music.

“[SBTRKT and I] sat in the studio for 12 hours on end and we have a number of songs actually,” he told MTV News. “It’s an honor to be on his project and I actually have two songs on there.”

“The people that I collaborate with, I like to feel like we’re friends and I know them to certain degree, so when I was out in New York, SBTRKT and I sat down and we talked for awhile,” he added. “It was a really good experience getting to talk with somebody that has experience in the industry way more than I do — that was one of the first real conversations I had in-depth with another artist.”

In addition to working ...

Beyoncé invited Nicki Minaj to join her on stage in Paris last week to perform their “Flawless (remix)” live for the first time, and fans weren’t the only ones freaking out when the Young Money rapper stepped onto the stage.

It was the final stop on Jay Z and Beyonce’s On the Run Tour, and the gravity of that wasn’t lost on Nicki.

“It was very emotional for me to be there because it was a big show, the last big Beyonce and Jay Z [show] so I was very honored to be a part of it,” she said during an interview with Paris radio station SkyRock FM.

“To me, they represent drive and passion and they represent everything that I would like to be, in terms of being an artist and a businesswoman at the same time,” Nicki added.

The “Anaconda” rapper said she was so surprised by the crowd’s warm reaction when she walked out on stage, that now she’s really looking forward to performing in Paris when her tour starts up early next year.

“They were so loud and I really wasn’t expecting that. I couldn’t hear the music, I couldn’t hear myself when I first came out,” she said. “It made me feel great, it made me want to come back with my own tour, which we’re doing at the top of the year. I can’t wait to give fans a full show of my own.”

Paris, hope you’re ready for this.

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with reporting by Adam Fleischer

Backstage footage at the 2014 MTV VMAs seemed to confirm that Big Sean and Ariana Grande are a couple, but you won’t hear the Def Jam rapper put it that bluntly. When we caught up with him last week — the same day he dropped those four explosive tracks — he only spoke about their musical chemistry.

“I was the first rapper to perform at the White House, I performed there with Ariana so that was an honor,” Sean told MTV News, revealing that they have more collaborations on the way.

Related: Ariana Grande And Big Sean: A Timeline Of Their Relationship

“Me and her make a lot of music together and the chemistry between me and her when we work is great,” he added. “We got more in the works too. I feel like her voice is crazy, [just] that that big voice comes out of her is insane. I was probably one of the first people to tweet about her music; me and her been friends for years before anything else.”

Sean and Ariana have previously collaborated on “Best Mistake” and “Right There.”

But, really, what about the holding hands backstage thing? Was he upset that the cameras caught them? “I had no problem with it,” he replied, smiling.

Nadeska Alexis

A native of Grenada, a product of Brooklyn, a student of hip-hop.

@neweryork

If you’re lucky enough to be dating Nicki Minaj, you don’t wanna screw things up — and that’s the lesson August Alsina learns in his video for “No Love (remix).”

The New Orleans singer dropped the remix from his Testimony album with a verse from Nicki in July, and in the video they play a real couple. Though he’s clearly in love with Nicki, he’s still making some mistakes, but quickly realizes that it’s time to right those wrongs.

In addition to hearing Nicki declare that she’s the “creme de la creme” on this track, we also hear her singing as well. “August, you know I’m here to save you/ Me and them girls, we ain’t the same, boo,” she croons. “You know I hate it when you leave me.”

Watch the video above.

Nadeska Alexis

A native of Grenada, a product of Brooklyn, a student of hip-hop.

@neweryork

Don’t think about it too much, just dance — that’s what Jennifer Hudson would like you to do when you hear her latest single, “He Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’,” featuring Iggy Azalea. The upbeat, disco-inspired single features production from Pharrell and a verse from the Australia rapper.

“Bonnie and Clyde never strange to us/ ‘Cause what’s life if you never live dangerous?,” Iggy spits on the track.

The song debuted via BuzzFeed News, and J. Hud explained that she and P wanted to capture some extravagance from the ’60s and ’70s, plus Iggy’s verse gave it that extra lil’ something.

(Check out the snippet above and listen to the full track at BuzzFeed)

“I hope it’s a song people can listen to and let the music do what it’s meant: let go of the sh– that holds you back and just take a minute to dance and feel good,” Hudson explained. “It’s the sort of track you can’t listen to without moving and the fact that we were able to have Iggy join in on it was just what it needed.”

The song will be featured on her album JHUD, which is due out on September 23.

Nadeska Alexis

A native of Grenada, a product of Brooklyn, a student of hip-hop.

@neweryork