November 15, 2024

Review Category : TMZ Music News

J. Cole, Waka Flocka And Chance The Rapper Ready For ‘RapFix Live’

J. Cole intentionally pushed up the release date of his sophomore LP Born Sinner to coincide — and boldly compete with — Kanye West's Yeezus, and one day after the album officially hits stores on June 18, the Roc Nation rapper will join us on "RapFix Live."

Cole is doing things his way this time around, and on Wednesday, he'll sit down with host Sway Calloway to explain how this road to release was different from the first time around.

He previewed the anticipated album for fans and media in New York City last week, asking them to plug into a pair of headphones and stream the album, after being unsatisfied with the listening sessions for Cole World: The Sideline Story. So what else is he switching up this time? Tune in at 4 p.m. ET on MTV Jams and MTV.com to find out.

Waka Flocka Flame will also be live in the studio this week to tease and later premiere his brand-new video for , which appears on his DuFlocka Rant: Halftime Show mixtape.

Though his name isn't as familiar as Waka or Cole's just yet, Chance the Rapper will pay what is likely to be the first of many visits to "RapFix Live." The breakout star from Chicago dropped his game-changing Acid Rap mixtape in April, and now's a pretty good time to get acquainted if you haven't already.

Rapper 360 will also make an appearance on the show to close things out with a freestyle. With so much star power, you really can't afford not to tune ...

Read More →

Kanye West’s <i>Yeezus</i>: No Prisoners, No Apologies

Is there anyone other than Kanye West capable of making an album like Yeezus?

The answer, of course, is yes (Death Grips come to mind), so perhaps the better question is this: Is there another artist capable of making so many care about an album like Yeezus, an endlessly confrontational, occasionally confounding thing that's full of odes to vices and vitriol but short on actual singles? Simply put: No.

Which is why, in one regard, the best thing about Yeezus may be that it exists in the first place. It is without question the least commercial album released by a major artist in recent memory. From its relentlessly aggressive production — a collection of yowls and yammers backed (and occasionally blown away) by lurching bass, stabbing synthesizers and nightmarish, otherworldly vocal samples — to its stridently defiant lyrics, which tackle everything from corporate racism to cunnilingus (guess which one requires Sweet-n-Sour sauce?) and are delivered in breathless, machine-gun missives. It's a willfully difficult work, from an artist who, by his own admission, is willfully difficult by default. In some ways, it seems like Kanye doesn't really want you to enjoy Yeezus; instead, he's decided to make you feel his pain, see the world through his eyes. Fans (and corporate masters) be damned — this one's for Yeezy.

So appreciate this album for the fact that Kanye made it on his terms. He's certainly earned the right to do so, and though he's always been more artiste than artist — particularly on the masterful My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy — he's never ...

Read More →

Drake Wants To Sit And Talk To Chris Brown ‘Man-To-Man’

Drake has been tangled in one of hip-hop's biggest feuds, but the Toronto rapper just wants to bury the hatchet before things get out of hand with Chris Brown.

"I wish we could sit down, just like you and me are right now, and talk it out man-to-man. But that's not going to happen," Drake told GQ magazine in an excerpt that was posted to popular hip-hop blog Nahright.com.

Drizzy graces the cover of the mag's July 2013 issue and on Monday (June 17), sections of the interview hit the Internet. But while the YMCMB star had some words about Brown, he reportedly didn't mention Breezy's ex-girl, Rihanna, by name.

"I'm not confrontational but if someone challenges, I'm not going to back down. If I think about it too much, I feel it wrapping around my foot, like I get a feeling it could end really badly ... like, it gets really dark," he says about his issues with Brown, which are believed to stem from a situation between both men and Rihanna, and led to a bottle throwing-brawl in a New York City nightclub last year.

The Young Money hitmaker doesn't dwell on beef, however. He goes on to discuss the direction of his upcoming album, Nothing Was the Same, explaining that although he has mastered both rapping and singing, he's very much focused on his first love.

"This is my f---ing moment to say, 'If I wanted to rap all the time — really rap — I would, but I also love to make music. I'll do this ...

Read More →

Jay-Z’s <i>Magna Carta Holy Grail</i>: What’s In A Title?

Jay-Z announced the title and release date of his 12th solo album — Magna Carta Holy Grail — during Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night because he was looking for maximum exposure. Judging from the album title and his tweets about the "new rules" being set around hip-hop album releases, Hov needed this message to be televised.

As part of his promotion deal, Samsung agreed to buy 1 million copies of the albums that some fans would eventually receive for free, and that alone is a milestone achievement. "If 1 Million records gets SOLD and billboard doesnt report it, did it happen? Ha," Jay tweeted on Monday morning, adding the hasghtags #newrules and #magnacartaholygrail.

But don't assume that he's only referring to his project in terms of these "new rules." His protégés J. Cole and Kanye West, plus Wale (who is signed to Roc Nation management) are included in this initiative to rewrite the rules. "Kanye West 'lead single' projected on buildings worldwide #newrules #magnacartaholygrail," he wrote, referring to 'Ye's anti-rollout plan for Yeezus, before shouting out J. Cole's innovative preview plan for Born Sinner. "J Cole app for listening session. Don't talk just listen..#newrules."

If the title of Hov's album seems very grand, even compared to Kanye West's Yeezus, a little history refresher helps to put things in perspective.

The Magna Carta was a document forced upon England's King John in 1215 as barons attempted to curb his wayward rule. Though the document eventually required revisions and alterations in order to be effective, its fundamental purpose was ...

Read More →

Miley Cyrus Goes For A Dip In ‘We Can’t Stop’ Video Teaser

Mark it on your calendars: Miley Cyrus' video drops in just two days. And from the looks of it, she's getting wild in her latest clip.

In an 8-second teaser she shared on Monday (June 17), Miley is alone in a pool before extras, clad in very little, jump in with her. The singer shot the video back in late May with producer Mike Will Made It. And judging by what he told MTV News, there's no telling what we'll see in the clip, as Miley was down for just about anything.

Miley Cyrus Works Hard, Parties Hard!

"Miley already had her idea on how she wanted her video to go. A lot of artists have a lot of boundaries to how they record videos; they only want to be doing certain things. But she's young. She's 20. She's fresh, so she's just having fun on set," he explained. "Whatever character she had to be in, and like I said she's an actor too, so whatever she had to be in in whatever shot, she played that character to the T."

Miley Cyrus Opens Up About 'We Can't Stop'!

Mike Will also revealed that the inspiration behind the song, which is the lead single off her 2013 album, was a real-life party she attended, which may explain the teaser's house-party vibe.

"When she heard this song, what made her connect to this song is it reminded her of a specific party, a specific party where she was at," he said. "She's saying real stuff. It's all real. So ...

Read More →