It doesn’t really matter whether you believe in ghosts or not. When they show up, you just kind of have to deal with it.

Just ask Lorde. Because apparently the singer has been haunted by some spectral spirits during sessions for the follow-up to her smash 2013 debut, Pure Heroine. On Monday morning (June 30), the teen queen said she’s been visited by a ghost in the machine that is trying to block her from laying down new tracks.

This would, of course, make Lorde just the latest celebrity to bust out her ghost story, but the take away here is that she’s back in the studio and we’re, hopefully, going to hear some new music soon.

Last month she told the BBC that the music she’s working on now is very different from her debut. “I think I’ve learnt so much as a songwriter, there’s going to be so much of an improvement because of that,” she said. “I’m working on stuff quite tentatively, it’s definitely still at the beginning and yeah, it’s totally different. I wrote the last album about that world which was the suburb where I grew up and populated by my friends and people who were really familiar to me. Now I’m in a different place every day and I’m with new people every day and it’s a different vibe.”

Gil Kaufman

I come from a family of four kids, but the coolest thing we’ve ever done together is surprise my parents with an epic Christmas present. That’s not the case for the Sierota family though — the four siblings just cracked the Top 40 with their yearning track “Cool Kids” and they’re not stopping there. Following in the footsteps of the all-sister trio Haim, the siblings of Echosmith are poised to break out in a big way this year.

Ranging in age from 15 to 21, the band is made up of Jamie, 21 on guitar and vocals; Noah, 18, on bass and backup vocals; and the youngest brother, Graham, 15, plays the drums. Sydney, just 17, is the lone sister and does lead vocals for the group. Maybe it’s because they’re mostly still teenagers that the Sierota siblings are able to make nearly perfect pop music. These are songs that feel lightweight and summery, the ideal indie pop jams for when you’re cruising around without a care in the world, or getting ready to go out with your friends.

Since their dad is a songwriter and producer, it makes sense that Sydney, Jamie, Noah and Graham would be drawn to make their own music. Even when they’re addressing topics like in-crowds and popularity on “Cool Kids,” it has enough songwriting finesse to relate to an audience of all ages, which is probably why the song has been gaining traction with radio airplay and recently broke ...

Music’s biggest stars gathered at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday for the 2014 BET Awards. There were some breathtaking performances and some pretty important awards given out. Pharrell Williams took home a pair, while Young Money brought home three statues as a collective.

Check all the winners below.

Best Female R&B/Pop Artist: Beyonce

Best Male R&B/Pop Artsist: Pharrell Williams

Best Group: Young Money

Best Collaboration: “Drunk in Love” – Beyonce feat. Jay Z

Best Male Hip Hop Artist: Drake

Best Female Hip Hop Artist: Nicki Minaj

Video Of The Year: “Happy” – Pharrell Williams

Video Director Of The Year: Hype Williams

Best New Artist: August Alsina

Best Gospel Artist: Tamela Mann

Best Actress: Lupita Nyong’o

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor

YoungStars Award: Keke Palmer

Best Movie: “12 Years a Slave”

Subway Sportswoman Of The Year: Serena Williams

Subway Sportsman Of The Year: Kevin Durant

Centric Award: Jhene Aiko

Best International Act: Africa Davido (Nigeria)

Best International Act: IK Krept & Konan

Coca-Cola Viewer’s Choice Award: August Alsina

Rob Markman

Mentally been many places, but I'm Brooklyn's own. Hip-hop gives me life! @RobMarkman

By Maurice Bobb

Robin Thicke’s apology tour to win back his estranged wife, Paula Patton, continued with his performance at the 2014 BET Awards on Sunday (June 29) night.

“Good evening, my name is Robin Thicke. I’d like to dedicate this song to my wife. I miss you and I’m sorry,” he said before offering up the contemplative ballad, “Forever Love.”

The “Blurred Lines” singer sat at a black grand piano under soft black lighting, he belted out the song’s lyrics with restrained hope that the words would somehow mend his broken relationship.

“You’re my forever love, forever mine, forever yours, forever love,” he sang.

As smoke plumed beneath him, multichromatic graphics swirled in the background under the word Paula.

Paula is scheduled for release on July 1.

MTV News Staff

Nicki Minaj’s acceptance speech for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist at the 2014 BET Awards on Sunday night (June 29) was one to remember. She made our collective jaws drop, when she revealed that she thought she was going to pass away.

“The other day, literally, I didn’t tell anybody this, I really thought I was about to die,” she said. “Like, I was saying my prayers to die. And I didn’t even wanna call the ambulance because I thought, ‘Well, if I call an ambulance, it’s gonna be on TMZ.’”

The Queens-raised star, who had performed earlier in the night, then flashed her glowing smile, as the packed Los Angeles theater laughed, cutting what had been a tense and hopefully an over-dramtaic moment.

“And it made me realize: I don’t care anymore what anybody gotta say,” she said. “I’mma do me! I’mma do me!”

Nicki came out on top in a category with Iggy Azalea, Eve, Charli Baltimore and Angela Haze, the Young Money rapper was escorted to the stage by Lil Wayne to accept the evening’s final award. When she got there, she gave a nearly four-minute speech that mixed graciousness, confidence, and some jaw-dropping moments — which, of course, is why we love Nicki.

For starters, the “Pills N Potions” rapper stressed that her lyrics — all of them — are all her own, written by her. Was that a slight to Iggy Azalea? If so, Nicki wouldn’t tell.

“My point is, what I want the world to know about Nicki ...

We’re going to need a little more clarity on Young Thug’s label situation. Although the ATL rapper is clearly affiliated with the Cash Money/Young Money family, there was also talk of him being signed to Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles’ 300 label – but now Thugga is defining his situation his way.

“We signed forever,” he told MTV News of his Young Money affiliation on Sunday (June 29) when he walked the red carpet at the 2014 BET Awards. “It’s not no 300, it’s not no 100, 250 — whatever you call it, it’s a lifetime warranty, you dig? It’s in and out. Blood in, blood out.”

And since he’s Young Money all day, you can expect to hear him on upcoming music with both Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne.

“I’m gonna do something for my project and [Nicki’s] project because we’re family and it wouldn’t be right if I just did hers, and it won’t be right if she just did mine,” he told MTV News on the BET Awards red carpet Sunday evening (June 29).

And what about a Weezy collaboration? “Yes, of course. I recorded a million tracks with Wayne already,” he said. (A million — how do you even divide that up into albums?)

The 21-year-old wouldn’t give a drop date for his anticipated #HiTunes album, only revealing that Birdman would be executive producing the project.

“We’re not in a rush to put out no album,” Birdman explained. “We wanna do what we wanna do and really flex what he’s doing. An album ain’t what’s important ...

Nicki Minaj flexed her versatility of Sunday night (June 29).

The Young Money Queen opened her 2014 BET Awards performance on a “Bound 2″-esque bike, spitting a fiery verse from her thumping “Chiraq.”

Just as we were sinking our teeth into her aggressive content, Nicki switched things up — disappearing for a brief moment, before reemerging to perform “Pills N Potions,” the recently-released single from the upcoming The Pink Print.

Surrounded by a trippy set, seemingly inspired by Alice in Wonderland, Nicki appeared from out of an enormous mushroom to perform the personal catchy cut.

There was also a weird, incredible, furry bunny.

What does it all mean?

That we’re ready for the album, mostly.

Adam Fleischer

I'm serious about these snacks. Catch me @adamfleischer

Earlier this month, there were very mixed reactions to news that Disney Star Zendaya would play Aaliyah in an upcoming biopic, but none of that matters now, since the 17-year-old has officially dropped out of the project.

Zendaya told MTV News that the film was being pieced together too quickly, and she no longer wanted to be a part of it.

“I just felt the project wasn’t 100 percent there. I feel [that] production wise everything just felt a little rushed,” she told MTV News on the BET Awards red carpet on Sunday evening (June 29).

“And I think because she’s someone I admire and I love so much, it can’t be done halfway, or not to the standards I think it should be done at, so I just decided not to do it,” Zendaya said, adding that she would still be up to the task of playing Aaliyah further down the road.

“By all means, when the right project comes along and it’s done the right way I’ll be the first person ready to play Aaliyah, but this wasn’t the right one for me. I’ve been into Aaliyah since I was little, so there wasn’t too much getting into character. I always pretend I’m her anyway.”

“106 & Park” host Keshia Chante was also in consideration in the role, but so far there have been no details on which actress will replace Zendaya for the part.

Jun 30, 2014 | No Comments on Zendaya Says Aaliyah Biopic Was ‘A Little Rushed,’ So She Dropped Out

In its first scene, “The Leftovers” demonstrates the power of its premise in the simplest of terms. We drop in on a mother in the middle of a day that anyone can relate to. She’s doing laundry and making phone calls as her infant son looks on from his carrier. Everything is completely normal until the baby disappears without explanation. One moment, he’s crying. The next, he’s not there. It’s undeniably potent stuff.

The October 14th departure of two percent of the world’s population is what “The Leftovers” is about, but not in the way that most other shows would tackle it, or how “Lost” fans expect co-creator Damon Lindelof to engage it.

The show is not about the disappearance, but a reaction to it. The mystery is not where these people went, but what’s happening to the people still walking around, doing laundry and making phone calls.

Something that “The Leftovers” does particularly well in its first hour is offer glimpses, woven into the fabric of a smaller story, of how the world at large has changed since the disappearance. Moments like a high school class not participating in the Pledge of Allegiance and then fervently kneeling on the ground for class prayer are thoughtfully done and hint at some of the event’s lingering effects three years on, which is essentially the show’s primary objective and biggest challenge.

“The Leftovers” examines how the world has changed by zooming in on five characters in the same New Jersey town, but Justin ...

By Maurice Bobb

Usher brought out his “Ursher” alter ego while dancing back into everyone’s hearts at the 2014 BET Awards Sunday (June 29) night.

Dressed in all black with a Russian Ushanka hat, the Atlanta singer took the blacked-out stage at the Nokia Theater L.A. Live and served up an acapella medley of his catalog of hits, starting off with “Nice & Slow” from 1998’s My Way.

Dancing like a whirling dervish, the Confessions crooner ordered everyone in the house to “put yo hands up” after a quick stop on “Yeah!”

Usher then took off his hat before diving into a slowed down version of “You Remind Me” and “U Don’t Have To Call.” After “Caught Up,” he got into a spinning cage to bang on the drums for a few seconds.

Down to his black jeans and tee and dangling Cuban link gold chain, Usher closed his set with a flurry of impressive dance moves while performing his current hit, “Good Kisser.”

MTV News Staff