The 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, set to go down this Sunday, August 24 at The Forum in Inglewood, are about to remind us just about everything we love about Eminem.

And not only because he scored the second most nominations of the year, with an impressive total of seven. Or because it marks the fifteenth anniversary since his first VMA win, when he took home the 1999 VMA for Best New Artist and owned the stage with performances of “My Name Is” and “Guilty Conscience.” Or that he’s got 12 total VMAs to the name Marshall Mathers.

What’s especially incredible about Em’s nods this year is that they’re for three different videos — the most ever for him, since he usually has one or two that dominate — and that those three videos show his broad range as an artist.

And while “The Monster,” “Rap God” and “Berzerk” are distinct in many ways — sonically, visually and stylistically — they share one common thread, and it’s a trait that has made Marshall one of the most revered MCs of all time, and one that he particularly stressed on November’s The Marshall Mathers LP 2: astounding lyricism.

As much as we love tracks like “Not Afraid,” “Love the Way You Lie” and “We Made You” — the last three videos he scored nominations for, dating back to 2009 — there’s something about this year’s crop that just feels special.

“BERZERK”

First, there was “Berzerk,” released in late ...

Oh my jeez, stop it. Somebody call the Museum of the Moving Image because this? This right here? This is everything good and should be immortalized. This is “Breaking Bad” meets “Veep” meets reality television parody-levels of good. In fact, we’d call it small screen art.

Because that’s exactly what it is, packaged as an Emmy Award promo featuring Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Julia Louis-Dreyfus …and a very special, very adorable surprise guest at the end (bitch).

This video could go up in a museum, for giving us beauty such as this. The best things in life truly are free, folks. Or at least are free to us, the viewers on the Internet for whom this advertisement to watch the 2014 Emmy Awards was made.

Because I mean just look at these moments of flawless perfection:

It feels good just to look at it, doesn’t it?

Alicia Lutes

Too much exuberance for one person. Follow her on Twitter @alicialutes.

Early Friday morning, J. Cole released “Be Free,” an aching, emotional song dedicated to Michael Brown. But he was so moved by the killing of the 18-year-old, that he then headed to Ferguson, Missouri, to be a part of the ongoing protests firsthand.

He talked briefly with Complex (though he stressed at the beginning, “I ain’t come down here to do no interviews”), and spoke passionately a bit about what he was feeling and seeing.

“We came down here to feel it, ’cause this is history, and we wanna be a part of this just like everybody else,” he said, adding that he felt like, “it coulda been you, it coulda been me, it coulda been our best friends.”

Related: Here Are The 27 Most Dramatic Pictures From Ferguson This Weekend

At first, when he heard the news about the incident, he admits that he wasn’t particularly taken aback. “It’s so regular, we just like, ‘Damn, that’s f–ked up. Again?’” But then he read up on what happened, and his feelings shifted. “It forced me to stop running from it.”

“At one point in time, me and [my friend] were sitting in the crib talking about this all the time. ‘This is f–ked up!’ And we was young. And we was 20. And we was passionate,” he continued. “It’s like, life goes on, and n—as start worrying about Instagram and reality TV, and ‘What’s popping,’ and ‘I got kids,’ and life happens. And a lot of ...

It’s been over a year since Travis Scott released his last mixtape, Owl Pharaoh, but he brought the wait for new music to an end this week with Days Before Rodeo.

The mixtape offers 12 tracks of the 22-year-old rapper’s specific flair. But he also brought plenty of friends along, with production from producers like Metro Boomin, DJ Dahi and Lex Luger, and features from Big Sean, Rich Homie Quan, Young Thug and Migos.

Stream the whole project above, and check out the video for his single “Don’t Play” below.

Adam Fleischer

We’ve been a fan of Taylor Swift dancing like no one was watching for a while now, but on Monday, the 24-year-old musician finally brought her moves to the spotlight — in the form of her video for new single “Shake It Off.”

Via her Yahoo!-hosted live stream, Swift revealed not only the title of her upcoming record — 1989, due out October 27 — she also premiered the first single and its accompanying video. The clip is directed by Mark Romanek and features Taylor grooving with a myriad of dancers, all the while singing about shaking off the haters.

In introducing the vid, Tay joked (we think), “All I think about are metaphors and cats,” before explaining that she and Romanek chose this creative direction because “you can tell who someone is by the way they dance.”

That you can, Taylor. For example, we can tell you’re a free spirit, swaddled in rainbows, just itching to feel the sun break across your beaming face. And, dear Tay, we want to dance just like you, which is why we’ve deconstructed your moves below so that any and all hoofers can bust out your soul-soothing moves.

1.) Get into the right headspace

In order to truly let go like Taylor, one must get into the appropriate frame of mind. Here, we imagine Tay dreaming of sundresses, galloping unicorns and falling, giggling, into a sea of kittens that have forgotten that they have claws.

2.) Commit to those hand gestures

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One perk of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is getting to watch our favorite stars be reduced to shrieking, shaking, wet dogs of human beings as they help to raise awareness and money to fight Lou Gehrig’s Disease. So when we saw Britney and Miley‘s Ice Bucket videos, “one of these things is not like the others” danced through our heads.

The two pop stars took the challenge this week: Spears accepting after being nominated by her sister Jamie Lynn, and Miley taking up the mantle passed to her by her dad, Billy Ray.

Brit’s video is a thing of beauty. After nominating Adam Sandler, her boyfriend David Lucado and business manager Robin Greenhill, the “Perfume” singer shrieks — before the water even hits her head — shuffling off-screen after the downpour as what sounds like an expletive bursts from her lips. We could watch this little vid all day.

Miley, however, dumped a bucket of rice over her head — along with brother Braison. Yes, “rice.” With an “r.” The whole thing looked kind of like an enjoyable spa treatment of sorts. Still, the caption of the photo highlighted the importance of the cause: “#makeshithappen #donate #itaintaboutthepourinitsaboutthepayinandawareness http://www.alsa.org/”

Which pop star’s video do you prefer? Brit’s ice — or Miley’s rice?

Brenna Ehrlich

Brenna Ehrlich is a reporter for MTV News as well as the senior writer/editor for the O Music Awards. In the past, she served as associate editor at ...

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