Drake Performs At 2013 MTV VMAs

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2013 VMA, Artists.MTV, Music, Drake

Drake starts his set by recreating his recently revealed album art while performing “Hold On, We’re Going Home” and then transitions into “Started From The Bottom”. Barring any further setbacks, Nothing Was The Same will be in stores September 24th.

Big Sean Discusses G.O.O.D.'s Legacy

G.O.O.D. Music rapper Big Sean spoke to MTV about the label he calls home and the aspirations he feels Kanye West and Co. can rise to with all of the talent on their roster. With West, Sean, Pusha T, Q-Tip, Common and others, Big Sean feels that G.O.O.D. could be comparable to hip hop's most famed labels of the past. "When we rocked Made in America as a G.O.O.D. Music team, it just reminded how I used to look at Bad Boy and how they had big productions and how I used to look at Death Row or Roc-A-Fella," explained Sean. "It's just really tight to be a part of something," added Big Sean. "It's really tight to be a part of a family, especially sharing a stage with the heroes you looked up to from Jay to 'Ye, Common, all that." The highly-anticipated G.O.O.D. Music compilation, Cruel Summer, will be released next week.

G.O.O.D. Music rapper Big Sean spoke to MTV about the label he calls home and the aspirations he feels Kanye West and Co. can rise to with all of the talent on their roster. With West, Sean, Pusha T, Q-Tip, Common and others, Big Sean feels that G.O.O.D. could be comparable to hip hop's most famed labels of the past.

"When we rocked Made in America as a G.O.O.D. Music team, it just reminded how I used to look at Bad Boy and how they had big productions and how I used to look at Death Row or Roc-A-Fella," explained Sean.

"It's just really tight to be a part of something," added Big Sean. "It's really tight to be a part of a family, especially sharing a stage with the heroes you looked up to from Jay to 'Ye, Common, all that."

The highly-anticipated G.O.O.D. Music compilation, Cruel Summer, will be released next week.

A$AP Rocky Album May Be Further Delayed

A$AP Rocky sounds unsure that he will meet the late-October release date for his upcoming debut studio album. The Harlem rapper seemed to warn fans that the Halloween date that was announced just days ago may not be a realistic goal for a deadline.

"I'm really shooting to have my album come out on Halloween, with the grace of God, but if not, around that time. It's gonna be later this fall...hopefully [it will be Halloween], if I can reach the deadline," he admitted to MTV.

Rocky has not explained why the previously announced date seems less likely now.

VMA 2012: This Is The Moment "Hottest New Couple: Kevin, Kanye & Kim"

Get More: Kim Kardashian, Kevin Hart, 2012 VMA, Music, Kanye West

50 Cent Resolves Label Issues

50 Cent's long-running issues with his label, Interscope Records, seem to have subsided at least for the moment. The rapper talked about his delayed forthcoming album and revealed that he no longer has any grievances with the company. He blamed their past differences on the pending end of their contract together.

"They're in full support of me now. We cleared up the audit issues," he said in an interview with MTV. "That's always an issue, when you get to the final album or the final requirement you end up going through the books with everything that you've done."

"Once those things are resolved, everyone is ready to get back to work, and that's where we're at," he added.

T.I. Talks About "Trouble Man"

T.I. shared his enthusiasm for his upcoming Trouble Man album, due to hit stores in September. The Atlanta hip hop star told MTV News that he's ready start promoting the project.

"You know, I'm really just getting warmed up, man," he told MTV News. "I got a lot of ammunition; I'm about to start shootin'. I'm just getting warmed up, just look forward to it."

Several singles have been released over the past few months, but it is unclear if "I'm Flexin'" or "Hear Ye, Hear Ye" will make the album.

Birdman Defends Drake

Cash Money labelhead Bryan "Birdman" Williams came to the defense of label star Drake in the wake of the brawl that erupted involving the rapper in New York City last week. Birdman says that too many people have the wrong impression of the Toronto-born rapper.

“Well, to me, I think n***as got Drake twisted,” Birdman told MTV. “A lot of n***as be playin', pitty-pattin' with Drake. I don't like that sh*t, period.”

“Drake is one of us, so if you fuckin’ with Drake, you fuckin’ with us, period,” he added.

Nonetheless, Birdman said that he doesn't believe that Drake did anything harmful. “To me, Drizzy ain't did nothin' wrong, he ain't done nothin' wrong to nobody. He just doin' great music," he said. “He's not a reckless guy out there just wildin' out; he's a humble kid makin' great music.”

The Dream Uninterested In Feuds

The-Dream could care less about beefing. MTV asked the singer/songwriter about Pusha T's "Exodus 23:1" track and whether or not another diss record should be released aimed at superstar Lil Wayne.

His response was that artists have to move past hip hop beefs.

"The only way that we can respond is make great records, and nobody is gonna beat me at that," The-Dream said. "If you're talking to somebody, you speak to them or you just walk up to them and slap them. I think beef is so '96. It's like, what's the point? I don't think anybody is actually that good enough to direct anything at anyone. You can't take that much time, there's too much money in the words that either one of us have -- me or Pusha -- to direct directly at anyone."

2 Chainz Impressed With Justin Bieber

2 Chainz has been sharing his 'swag' a lot lately. Not only did he hook up ESPN's Skip Bayless with a diamond-encrusted chain. Now, the Atlanta rapper is speaking about his lil homie Justin Bieber and how he was impressed when he first met the teen pop sensation.

"I call him 'Lil Swaggy,'" 2 Chainz told MTV News.

"I saw him and when I saw him, I didn't even know it was him, I didn't even recognize him. He had grown up a lot from me seeing him on TV," Chainz said.

Mixtape Daily: Meek Mill Returns With Dreamchasers 2

Get More: Meek Mill, Music News

By Rob Markman

Mixtape Daily Main Pick
Headliners: Meek Mill And DJ Drama
Representing: Philadelphia, PA
Mixtape: Dream Chasers 2

Real Spit: Hard to imagine that anyone is still sleeping on Meek Mill these days, but don't think for a second that all his rap popularity came overnight. Meek made his name battling on the streets of his native Philadelphia, proved his in-studio worth with an impressive string of mixtapes, then Rick Ross came knocking in 2011, Maybach Music deal in hand. Some would say Meek Mill is living his dream, but if you let the Philly flame-spitter tell it,he's still chasing it.

On Monday (May 7), Meek dropped Dream Chasers 2, the follow-up to last year's critically acclaimed mixtape. "My city lacks dream chasers," Meek Milly told Mixtape Daily. "It's motivational, inspiring, my story, but this time, I'm just more loose with it. I've been seeing more things, been around the world a little bit more."

Though the MMG young gun has grown as an MC, the music on DC2 is just as edgy as its predecessor. On the tape's intro, Meek sets an aggressive tone, spitting, "I got 30 racks in my pocket, I keep 30 shots in my clip/ I get 30 racks for my verses, y'all ain't gettin' paper like this."

On the aggressively paced "Flexing," Meek once again links with "I'ma Boss" producer Jahlil Beats, and on "Everyday," he rides with his MMG boss Rick Ross over a menacing sound bed. While hard-granite rap is his strong point, Milly is no one-trick pony; he does venture out of the streets from time to time. For "Ready or Not," producer All Star conjures a beat based off the popular 1996 Fugees song of the same name. The subdued instrumental allows the young MC the space to get introspective. "It's a dark cloud over me, money took control of me/ I'm barely getting time to see my son and that sh-- hurtin' me/ Baby mama trippin', I tell her to work with me/ I'm on probation, still strapped, 'cause n---as wanna murder me."

"Use to Be" shows even more vulnerability. Over what sounds like a muted heartbeat with soft piano keys laid atop, the promising rap product opens up even more about his demons. "When I was young, I started plannin' it out/ My daddy got killed, I was the man of the house/ By the age of 16, man them hammers was out/ So when n---as tried to hit me, I'm just handin' 'em out."

"I'm just giving everybody my view of how I'm living and relating to other people's stories and bringing the part of the game that I need to bring to the game," Meek said of his intentions when recording the tape.

On Dream Chasers 2, Meek Mill surely serves his underground base but proves that he has a knack for making big records as well. It's a safe bet that "Amen" featuring Drake and Jeremih will become a radio mainstay at least until August 28, when he drops his debut album, Dreams and Nightmares. Still, there is no one record that can define Meek's latest work, and even if he's accomplished some of his goals, we're quite confident he'd just dream up a few more.

Joints to Check For
» "Intro." "I put the little [Mike] Tyson talking in front of it just to build up the energy, letting you know I'm gonna come strong."

» "Racked Up Shawty" (featuring Fabolous). "Me and Fab was just in the studio, buildin'. We was just chillin', he was out in L.A., I was out in L.A., we chillin' and I started vibin', came up with a hook, Fab came in, he put his verse together and that was that."


Source

Justin Bieber Jokes About Kanye/Kim

Justin Bieber is tired of Kanye West picking up hot girls. At least, that's what the teen pop star told MTV when the subject of Kim Kardashian was brought up. The Beebs famously quipped a while back that he had a thing for the sexy reality TV star, and now that she and his buddy Yeezy have linked up, Justin is a little salty.

Bieber cracked that Kanye was "just taking my women."

And Kimmy coulda been a little kinder, too.

"She didn't even call me! It was crazy," Bieber joked to Sway Calloway.

Iggy Azalea Recalls Joining Grand Hustle

Iggy Azalea discussed her joining Grand Hustle how the process was somewhat difficult after she landed a deal with Interscope Records just a few months prior. The Australian rapper says that she had to restructure the Interscope deal.

"I didn't know I was gonna sign to Grand Hustle," Azalea told MTV News. "There's no way I thought that would happen. Not because I didn't like them, just because my deal was all sewn up, and I restructured the whole thing."

"[Jimmy] likes Tip, and they're good friends, so it worked out," she explained. "But it made everybody so confused, because everyone was like, 'I thought she was signed to Interscope; Grand Hustle is with Atlantic.'"

Nicki Minaj Isn't Afraid of Pop

Nicki Minaj continues to beat back criticism that she's 'gone too pop.' The Young Money starlet is actually embracing the tag--and in an interview with MTV, Minaj says critics need to back off a bit. She's going to keep doing what she does.

"I guess I am pop culture just because what I'm doing seems to be popular. When people want to do what you're doing, it's kinda popular," she reasoned. "I don't ask girls to wear pink hair; they just do it. It's not about black or white; I think it's just a statement. It doesn't matter which color you are; it's just a statement of being fearless."

2 Chainz Discusses Young Jeezy

Rapper 2 Chainz offered his perspective on MTV's Hottest MCs list and their omission of his fellow Atlanta native Young Jeezy. 2 Chainz told DJ Self that fans may be in the process of adjusting to Jeezy after his long hiatus and change in style.

“When Jeezy first came out, there was so much swag in his music. Now, he’s rapping. But at first, it was like his lifestyle,” he said. “The dude came from a kitchen. He’s really a d-boy. A lot of people really didn’t understand it, you couldn’t even understand the slang unless you had something to do with the trap. Unless you’re from Atlanta. We thought he was the illest n***a around for being able to explain the story on them beats like that. But everyone else took a minute.” A

“So now that he’s rapping and this is his third album, it took so long, I think people are not just taking the time to digest that joint, because it’s a well put-together project and I was surprised about it because he put out a lot of mixtapes that had good music on it as well,” he added

Swizz Megaupload Position Unclear

Superproducer Swizz Beatz was reported as being CEO of now-defunct file-sharing site Megaupload, but the hitmaker's title has now been disputed by those close to the company. The site was shut down just one day after the news of Swizz's affiliation was made public, and several of the site's staff were served with citations and indictments for piracy. It is now being reported that, despite the fact that Swizz was listed as the company's CEO on the site's 'About Us' page, sources say the title was never official.

"They put that up prematurely," our source said told MTV. Ira Rothken also denied that Swizz had became CEO. "[Beatz] was negotiating to become the CEO, but it was never official." Rothken told blog Venturebeat. Conflicting reports also claim that Swizz was CEO of the company for several months before its shutdown.

Fabolous Discusses Musical Growth

Rapper Fabolous explained to MTV News that his upcoming sixth studio album, Loso’s Way 2, that he's focused on evolving artistically and musically. He described his maturity as an artist.

"With the album, I'm looking to evolve as well. Musically, everything I do, I want to keep growing," Fabolous shared. "I think people have seen my growth album to album. FromGhetto Fabolous to Street Dreams to Real Talk to From Nothin' to Somethin' to Loso's Way, and now they will continue to see that with Loso's Way 2."

Fab says that parenthood affected a lot of his new music.

"It's all a process for me; I'm in a different place," said Fabolous. "My last album I was having my first son and now my son is almost four years old, so these are processes and you get to talk about those things. I will share them on the next album…Children change a lot of stuff in your life. They change the way you look at things and do things. And I think the music will reflect that, too."

Diddy, MTV AND Bad Boy Sued?

A man claims that he was hit in the stomach during a 2008 taping of a "Making the Band" has filed a lawsuit.

Against everyone.

Kevin Faraday says he was in the audience at the Hammerstein Ballroom when a man ran onstage between sets and somehow managed to hit him in the stomach with it.

So, of course, Faraday has filed suit. According to TMZ, he's suing Sean "Diddy" Combs, MTV, Danity Kane, Day26, Donnie Klang, Cheri Dennis, "Making the Band," Bad Boy Touring, Bad Boy Entertainment, Bad Boy FIlms, Live Nation Touring, Live Nation Family Entertainment, Manhattan Center Studio, Manhattan Center New Yorker Group, The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, Strike Force Protective Services--all for unspecified damages.

Um. Good luck?

Beyonce Was Nervous About Pregnancy

Superstar Beyonce was nervous about hiding her 'baby bump.' She finally exposed her pregnancy to the world at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, but Mrs. Jay-Z says that she was fretting the entire time leading up to the big announcement.

She said her four shows at the Roseland Ballroom in New York back in August were especially trying.

"The whole time I definitely was thinking, 'Everyone knows, everyone can see,'" said the singer. "When you're pregnant, it's a little bit harder to breathe, so it was hard doing all the choreography and singing at the same time."

Amy Winehouse's Archives Near-Empty?

Producer Salaam Remi has clarified the status of any anticipated posthumous Amy Winehouse recordings. The producer says that, while there is definitely unreleased music in the vaults, the late soul singer was not extremely prolific. So there won't be a flood of new material.

"She didn't record like 2Pac, so that's not the case," Remi told MTV News of Winehouse. "There are definitely things that people hadn't heard that have been recorded, but they're in different modes in different forms. But she wasn't a recorder like that. ... She'd just do one take of a song, she'd write it and then she'd go sing it. Back to Black was a short album in comparison; it was like 37 minutes -- [She was like,] 'This is what I'm writing, this is what you get, underline, bye.' ... It's not that type of [2Pac] recording process, but there are definitely a lot of things that people haven't heard before or weren't aware of."

Irv Gotti Regrets Siding With Nas

Irv Gotti has admitted that he may have taken the wrong side during the infamous Jay-Z/Nas feud of the early 2000s. The former Murder Inc. CEO had a close relationship with Jay-Z, but made a move to bring Nas over to his label during the heated beef.

Irv says he has no regrets, but believes things should've played out differently.

“I shouldn’t have did that with Nas. It was a mistake. Because above and beyond the music, Hov is my man. In front of MTV, I would shed blood for Hov. If I see Hov, I will get right in the mix of things,” Gotti said. “I should have never done that. But he knew it. He’s one of the smartest dudes, and he knew it. He said, that ambition. I said, yeah. If it means me going in them history books, I don’t care. I’m weird like that. That’s how bad I want it.”