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Ludacris Reaches New ‘Heights’ With Ludaversal

‘This album Ludaversal, it’s all about progression,’ Ludacris tells MTV News By Rob Markman, with reporting by Christina Garibaldi Ludacris Photo: Hard to imagine that Ludacris can get any bigger, but with more than a dozen years in the rap game, Luda is looking to take things to another level on his next album. “This album Ludaversal, it’s all about progression. We’re taking it to heights that you never, ever seen before,” the Atlanta MC told MTV News earlier this month at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee. It’s been two years since Luda dropped Battle of the Sexes, and the rapper/actor aims to catch his fans up on all of his goings-on. “I’ve had seven albums, so right now it’s about trying to go places that I haven’t been. I’ve traveled over the world for the past year and I brought a lot of experiences back with me and put ’em in the music,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of personal experiences, so you’re going to get to know the real me and things that have been going on over the past three or four years.” When it comes to MCing, you’d be hard-pressed to find a rapper more skilled than Luda. Still, as an artist, he has been able to grow and venture into the world of pop thanks to key collaborations with Justin Bieber , Enrique Iglesias and David Guetta . With Ludaversal, Cris said he will continue to grow and branch out musically while still keeping things deeply rooted in hip-hop. The album’s first single, “Jingalin,” is an LL Cool J-inspired dance record, but Luda will keep things interesting with records with Usher and David Guetta as well. While Ludaversal doesn’t have an official release date, Cris said he hopes to drop it on his birthday, September 11. What is your favorite Ludacris album? Let us know in the comments.

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Ludacris Reaches New ‘Heights’ With Ludaversal

Screenwriter Nora Ephron Dead At 71

Oscar-nominated writer of ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ and ‘When Harry Met Sally … ‘ died of pneumonia. By Josh Wigler Nora Ephron Photo: Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and director Nora Ephron died Tuesday (June 26) from pneumonia. She was 71. News of Ephron’s passing first hit the Internet late Tuesday when journalist Liz Smith, a friend of Ephron’s, published a column remembering the late director. “She never gave the answer I expected to anything. She was grave in her humor, which made it deadly, unexpected, truly funny and dauntingly intelligent,” wrote Smith. “She seemed never to want or expect anything, while always demanding the best from the rest of us. She was — always — right and somehow left the smartest, most ambitious and silliest of us in the dust at her feet.” Ephron lived a storied life both on set and behind the scenes. Born in New York City in 1941 and raised in Beverly Hills, California, Ephron worked as a journalist for numerous years before trying her hand writing and directing for film. Her writing appeared in such outlets as Esquire and New York, and she was even married to Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame from 1976 until 1980. She later wed screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi in 1987; they remained married until the time of her death. In 1983, Ephron’s first major Hollywood movie, “Silkwood,” arrived in theaters. Starring marquee names including Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell and Cher, Ephron’s “Silkwood” was based on the true story of Karen Silkwood, who was killed in a suspicious accident during her investigation into the unethical practices of the nuclear power plant that employed her. The film was nominated for five Oscars, including one for Ephron’s screenplay. Over the course of her career, Ephron cemented her place in Hollywood as one of the industry’s finest romantic comedy writers. She wrote the iconic “When Harry Met Sally … ” and directed numerous films, including the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan-starring “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail.” Her final film as writer and director was “Julie & Julia.” “I won’t say, ‘Rest in peace, Nora,’ ” Smith wrote in her eulogy of Ephron. “I will just ask, ‘What the hell will we do without you?’ ” Share your condolences for Ephron’s family and friends in the comments. Related Photos Nora Ephron: A Rom-Com Legacy

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Screenwriter Nora Ephron Dead At 71

‘Hunger Games’ Star Jennifer Lawrence: Real-Life Hero

Actress rushes to help a young woman lying in her lawn Monday. By Audrey Cook Jennifer Lawrence Assisting A Fainting Woman Outside Her L.A. Apartment Complex Photo: Jennifer Lawrence doesn’t just rush to action on the big screen. The “Hunger Games” starlet was walking her dog outside her L.A. apartment complex Monday when she stumbled upon a young woman lying on her back on the lawn. According to X17 , Lawrence raced over to help the young woman while someone nearby called the paramedics. A photographer on the scene told the photo agency, “Jennifer ran outside her apartment when she heard a girl scream and immediately called 911. When the EMT arrived, she stayed to make sure everything was OK. She was really scared for the girl.” The Santa Monica Police Department told TMZ , “The young lady who collapsed was a juvenile and was part of a group that was together,” adding that “alcohol may have played a role in the incident.” Lawrence, sporting a casual look in gray sweatpants and a black tank top, got on the ground to assist the woman and stayed by her side until paramedics arrived. It’s unclear why the woman was in front of Lawrence’s property, but paramedics treated the unidentified woman on the scene, and she was then cleared to leave. Lawrence isn’t the only celebrity who has played superhero recently: Patrick Dempsey came to the rescue a little less than two months ago, saving a teenager who crashed his car outside the “Grey’s Anatomy” star’s house. Lawrence is gearing up to reprise her role as Katniss Everdeen in the “Hunger Games” sequel “Catching Fire,” slated to hit theaters in November 2013. Would you rush outside to help an injured stranger if you found them on your property? Share your thoughts!

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‘Hunger Games’ Star Jennifer Lawrence: Real-Life Hero

‘Hunger Games’ Star Jennifer Lawrence: Real-Life Hero

Actress rushes to help a young woman lying in her lawn Monday. By Audrey Cook Jennifer Lawrence Assisting A Fainting Woman Outside Her L.A. Apartment Complex Photo: Jennifer Lawrence doesn’t just rush to action on the big screen. The “Hunger Games” starlet was walking her dog outside her L.A. apartment complex Monday when she stumbled upon a young woman lying on her back on the lawn. According to X17 , Lawrence raced over to help the young woman while someone nearby called the paramedics. A photographer on the scene told the photo agency, “Jennifer ran outside her apartment when she heard a girl scream and immediately called 911. When the EMT arrived, she stayed to make sure everything was OK. She was really scared for the girl.” The Santa Monica Police Department told TMZ , “The young lady who collapsed was a juvenile and was part of a group that was together,” adding that “alcohol may have played a role in the incident.” Lawrence, sporting a casual look in gray sweatpants and a black tank top, got on the ground to assist the woman and stayed by her side until paramedics arrived. It’s unclear why the woman was in front of Lawrence’s property, but paramedics treated the unidentified woman on the scene, and she was then cleared to leave. Lawrence isn’t the only celebrity who has played superhero recently: Patrick Dempsey came to the rescue a little less than two months ago, saving a teenager who crashed his car outside the “Grey’s Anatomy” star’s house. Lawrence is gearing up to reprise her role as Katniss Everdeen in the “Hunger Games” sequel “Catching Fire,” slated to hit theaters in November 2013. Would you rush outside to help an injured stranger if you found them on your property? Share your thoughts!

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‘Hunger Games’ Star Jennifer Lawrence: Real-Life Hero

Maroon 5 ‘Born Again’ With Pop-Heavy Overexposed

‘It’s sort of like, ‘Screw you … deal with it. Come with us on this journey or bye,’ ‘ Adam Levine says of the album’s pop leanings. By James Montgomery Maroon 5’s James Valentine and Adam Levine Photo: The first thing you’ll probably notice about Maroon 5’s Overexposed album is the lengthy list of collaborators attached to it: a Murderer’s Row of pop hitmakers like Ryan Tedder, Shellback and Benny Blanco, with Max Martin helming it all as executive producer. The second thing you’ll probably notice is that it’s called Overexposed. Because, reinvigorated by the worldwide success of their hit “Moves Like Jagger” — which marked the first time the band had written with outside sources (in this case Blanco and Shellback) — M5 make no bones about the fact that, this time out, they’re aiming to become the most popular, inescapable and, yes, overexposed band on the planet. “The title is kind of pre-emptively saying, ‘Hey, we’re overexposed. Deal with it,’ ” frontman Adam Levine told MTV News during the premiere of M5’s new “One More Night” video . “Bands like to do this thing where they’re like, ‘Oh, man, we just didn’t know. Oh my God, it’s so crazy, we just wrote this song,’ and that’s true, but we like that. We want to have that experience, we want to have hits, we want to have songs that, internationally, people are going to know. “It’s exciting when you go to a country you’ve never been to, when you go to Jakarta, and they’re singing the lyrics to ‘Payphone,’ it’s so cool, ” he continued. “And that’s something that we not only love, but we pursue, unabashedly. Our sense of purpose was very dialed in. … We knew what we wanted, we knew in our minds how to achieve it on an album … and I think we found it.” And, in a lot of ways, it’s fitting that Overexposed (in stores now) comes exactly 10 years after the release of Maroon 5’s debut disc, Songs About Jane. Because ever since that album, they’ve been hearing complaints from fans who want them to return to their roots. The difference now is that they no longer listen to those complaints. Backed by the biggest names in the pop business, Maroon 5 are going for greatness these days, and like it or not, they’re not going to change course anytime soon. ” Songs About Jane was alienating a certain amount of our fanbase back then, and if we’re not alienating a small percentage of our fanbase every time we make a record, we’re doing something wrong,” Levine said. “And usually, I find that people who complain about wanting that original sound would be the same people where, if you had a record that sounded like the first one, they would say, ‘Why don’t you guys branch out and change a little bit?’ So it’s sort of like, ‘Screw you … deal with it. Come with us on this journey or bye!’ “When you’ve been in a band for a decade, even longer, you start thinking, ‘OK, well maybe now we should explore this or change things up,’ because you don’t want to have it sound formulaic or too much like what you’ve always done,” he continued. “So we’re totally cool with kind of being born again. … At the heart of it, it still sounds like us, but we embrace this side of our band, and now that we’ve fully captured it on this record, we’re going to see what happens, and I think it’s going to be really positive.” Stick with MTV News for more from our exclusive interview with Maroon 5! Related Videos MTV First: Maroon 5 Related Photos MTV First: Maroon 5 Related Artists Maroon 5

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Maroon 5 ‘Born Again’ With Pop-Heavy Overexposed

Rick Ross And Maybach Crew To Hit ‘RapFix Live’ Wednesday

Wale, Meek Mill, French Montana, Omarion and Stalley will join Rozay in sit-down with Sway Calloway. By Rob Markman Maybach Music Group Photo: Looks like MTV News is going to need a few extra parking passes because Rick Ross will be bringing his entire Maybach Music Group up to “RapFix Live” on Wednesday. Rozay, Wale, Meek Mill, French Montana, Omarion and Stalley will all be in the building to sit and chop it up with host Sway Calloway on a very luxurious episode of “RapFix Live.” On Tuesday (June 26) the MMG crew released their Self Made Vol. 2 label compilation. The LP, led by the T-Pain-assisted single “Bag of Money,” features appearances from Nas, T.I., Wiz Khalifa, Kendrick Lamar and Bun B. The compilation sets up a very busy summer for Rozay and his boys. On July 31 Ross will drop his long-awaited God Forgives, I Don’t LP, and Meek Mill is prepping his debut, Dreams and Nightmares, for an August 28 release. French Montana’s Excuse My French is also scheduled to drop later this year. Back in May Ross held a press conference in New York City to announce his label’s release dates and the signing of R&B star and former B2K frontman Omarion. “I think it was a great day for hip-hop. It was a great energy for hip-hop,” Ross told MTV News of the MMG press conference. “When you reflect on hip-hop on a boss level, for the last 10 years, the business of hip-hop has been kinda shaky, it’s been in a decline. … I think this was a new energy that the hip-hop game needed, a momentum change.” The MMG crew members, though mostly known for music, occasionally make a few headlines outside of the studio as well. Most recently Meek Mill’s name came up in reports surrounding the fight between Drake and Chris Brown’s entourages at a New York club on June 14. See what Meek has to say about it all on Wednesday. Catch Rick Ross and his Maybach Music Group on “RapFix Live” on Wednesday, June 27, at 4 p.m. ET on MTV.com! Related Artists Rick Ross Maybach Music Group

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Rick Ross And Maybach Crew To Hit ‘RapFix Live’ Wednesday

Lana Del Ray Channels Jackie O In New ‘National Anthem’ Still

Photos from Anthony Mandler-directed clip also tease Lana looking like Marilyn Monroe, but leave A$AP Rocky as JFK a mystery. By Jocelyn Vena Lana Del Ray Photo: Lana Del Ray is doing her best Jackie O in a new still from her “National Anthem” video . She’s got the former First Lady’s look down to the very last detail, including that pillbox hat. In one still from the clip, posted on her Facebook , Lana sits in the back of a convertible, in her little suit, her veiled hat and her hair down. She looks back, possibly in the moments after President Kennedy, who will be portrayed by A$AP Rocky in the video, gets shot on that famous November day in 1963. Her eyes are covered with some of the lyrics from the track, “Red white blue in the skies,” and more lyrics, “Summer’s in the air/ And baby heaven’s in your eyes,” are scrolled across the bottom of the photo. In another still from the Anthony Mandler-directed video, Lana stands in a long white gown at some sort of presidential affair. She looks a bit more Marilyn Monroe in this shot, channeling the actress’ look when she famously sang “Happy Birthday” to President Kennedy. This time, the lyric “Tell me I’m your National Anthem” is written on the photo. In an interview with BBC Radio 1, Lana revealed why she wanted play Jacqueline Kennedy and recreate that historical time in her 10-minute video. “Every so often, I top what I’ve done, and this video is definitely the most beautiful thing I’ve ever done,” she said. “I wrote a treatment for me and A$AP Rocky, because I just thought he’d be really perfect to star in it. … I love it.” As for her better half in the video, the MC shared some details in a separate interview, noting that it might take a few years for people to really digest what they’ve committed to celluloid. “We did a video together … some swag sh–,” he said. “I play JFK, she plays Jackie O. Some cool, trippy sh–, some really 2015 sh–. People gonna get it in like three years, and that’s the whole purpose of it.” With no word on when the video will drop, fans will have to wait a little longer to see A$AP do his best Kennedy. “National Anthem” is the latest single off Del Ray’s 2012 album, Born to Die . Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: Lana Del Rey Related Artists Lana Del Ray

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Lana Del Ray Channels Jackie O In New ‘National Anthem’ Still

Minka Kelly Is Maroon 5’s Latest Video Vixen

‘Minka was kind enough to make an appearance,’ Adam Levine says during the ‘MTV First’ premiere of ‘One More Night.’ By Kara Warner, with reporting by James Montgomery Adam Levine and Minka Kelly in Maroon 5’s “One More Night’ music video Photo: Have you seen Maroon 5’s newest video for “One More Night” yet? MTV News was lucky to have frontman Adam Levine and lead guitarist James Valentine stop by to premiere the clip on MTV during “MTV First: Maroon 5” on Monday, during which we learned that, from the band’s point of view, love is battlefield. Or a boxing match, rather. The concept for “One More Night” was dreamed up by Levine and directed by “Friday Night Lights” and “Battleship” director Peter Berg. It revolves around a boxer dealing with the pressures of providing for and being there for his young wife and baby. The young wife in this case is played by the lovely Minka Kelly, who worked with Berg on “Friday Night Lights.” Although Levine and Kelly look every bit a happy couple at the beginning of the video, their romance is not of the fairy-tale variety. “Minka was kind enough to make an appearance. That was pretty sweet,” Levine said of the actress’ involvement. “She plays my wife who leaves me.” Spoiler alert, Adam! Luckily for everyone involved, the story behind getting Kelly to sign onto the project was a much happier tale than that of the two characters Levine and Kelly play in the video. It was as easy as picking up the phone and making a call. “She’s great,” Levine said of Kelly. “The [story behind her involvement] was Pete reaching out to her and saying, ‘Hey, do you want to do this?’ and her saying ‘Yes,’ and us saying, ‘Thank you!’ ” Levine explained, before giving her a full-on shout-out. “Thank you, Minka Kelly, for doing our video!” In addition to her work in the cult hit “Friday Night Lights,” Kelly has continued to appear on TV and in film with roles on “Parenthood” and the rebooted “Charlie’s Angels,” as well as on the big screen in “The Roommate” and a bit part in “(500) Days of Summer.” Next up for Kelly is the rumored role of a young Jackie Kennedy in the upcoming ensemble “The Butler” alongside Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Lenny Kravitz. Stick with MTV News for more from our exclusive interview with Maroon 5! Related Videos MTV First: Maroon 5

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Minka Kelly Is Maroon 5’s Latest Video Vixen

‘Avengers’ Sunk ‘Battleship,’ Director Peter Berg Says

‘What I need everyone to do is go see ‘Battleship’ now that they’ve seen ‘Avengers’ five times,’ Berg tells MTV News of sequel chances. By Josh Wigler, with reporting by Kelly Marino Taylor Kitsch in “Battleship” Photo: If there’s one thing you can count on Earth’s mightiest heroes to accomplish, it’s kicking alien ass. Iron Man, Captain America and the rest of the gang didn’t just destroy the extraterrestrial threat in their movie, either — they also sunk the aliens of “Battleship” without even knowing it. “Battleship” director Peter Berg spoke with MTV News recently about his thoughts on the box-office earnings of his latest big-budget blockbuster. The Hasbro adaptation has earned $235 million overseas, but only $63 million at the domestic box office — an outcome Berg pins on the outstanding success of “Marvel’s The Avengers.” “The movie kicked butt internationally, but we kind of ran into a wall when ‘Avengers’ refused to go away,” he told MTV News. ” ‘The Avengers’ outperformed everything. It was impossible for ‘Battleship’ to get any oxygen.” Asked if he would do anything differently with the “Battleship” release knowing what he knows now, Berg had one idea in mind. “I would have loved to have come out three weeks before ‘The Avengers’ domestically, like we did internationally,” he said. “We did OK, but in hindsight — which my grandmother used to say is worth about a bucket of spit — we would have [released the movie] ahead of ‘The Avengers,’ not realizing it would have become, I think, the second biggest film in history behind ‘Avatar.’ ” “Avengers” is actually the third-highest-grossing film of all time behind “Titanic,” but who’s counting? Berg is. When asked if he’d be interested in filming a “Battleship” sequel, he had a numbers-oriented answer in mind. “What I need everyone to do is go see ‘Battleship’ now that they’ve seen ‘Avengers’ five times. If they do that, we can definitely make a sequel,” he said. ” ‘Battleship’ is a film that I would definitely like to do a sequel to. I loved making that film. I had a great time with it.” Do you want to see a “Battleship” sequel? Tell us in the comments below! Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: ‘Battleship’ MTV First: Battleship Related Photos ‘Battleship’

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‘Avengers’ Sunk ‘Battleship,’ Director Peter Berg Says

SpaceGhostPurrp And A$AP Rocky Rift: Beyond Repair?

It was all good just a week ago, but now SpaceGhostPurrp and A$AP Rocky are at odds. By Rob Markman SpaceGhostPurrp Photo: It was all good just a week ago, but now SpaceGhostPurrp and his Raider Klan have fallen out with A$AP Rocky and the A$AP Mob. Purrp — who was responsible for producing Rocky’s “Keep It G” and “Pretty Flacko” and rhymed alongside Rock on “Purple Swag: Chapter 2” — sat with MTV News in May and broke down his relationship with the A$AP Mob, but last week, he revealed in a YouTube video that their union is no longer. “We Raider Klan, man. We got our own sh– going on. And that’s how the f— it is. We ain’t A$AP,” SpaceGhost said in the video, which has since been taken down. “I showed love to them n—as last year and some sh– went down and we don’t f— with each other no more.” It was a different story from the one Purrp told MTV News when he sat down with us in May. “Me and the Mob, we reached out to each other through the Internet. We showed love to each other. We had a good time,” he said of his A$AP relationship, which has since soured. “I came up to New York and met up with him, we got to know each other real well, and then we just became a little family. “I’m affiliated with A$AP. If I see him, we still do our handshake, we still got love, we’re real close homeys,” he added. Still, Purrp — who released his debut album, Mysterious Phonk: The Chronicles of SpaceGhostPurrp, last week — has always made a clear distinction between the A$AP Mob and his Raider Klan crew, which originated in his hometown of Miami. The beef is said to have started after Rocky’s groupmate, A$AP Twelvyy, got into an altercation with Matt Stoops from Purrp’s Raider Klan. Music site Mostly Junk Food has posted screen shots of deleted SpaceGhost tweets in which he accuses Twelvyy of attacking Stoops. While the beef does sound serious, Purrp told MTV News of a misunderstanding that he and Wiz Khalifa had prior to working together on Wiz’s Taylor Allderdice mixtape. Maybe after a conversation, he and Rocky can reach a similar accord. Do you believe SpaceGhostPurrp and A$AP Rocky can work out their differences? Let us know in the comments. Related Artists Spaceghostpurrp A$AP Rocky

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SpaceGhostPurrp And A$AP Rocky Rift: Beyond Repair?