Jessie J will serve as VMA House Artist on Sunday night. By Gil Kaufman Ne-Yo and Pitbull Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images He heated up Jennifer Lopez ‘s “On the Floor” and scored his own summertime smash with “Give Me Everything.” So it just makes sense that Pitbull would be bringing the fire to Sunday’s 2011 Video Music Awards . The Latin hip-hop sensation will join an already-stellar roster of performers on the show that includes Lady Gaga, Adele, Bruno Mars, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown and Young the Giant. The VMAs will air live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday at 9 p.m. (live ET/tape delayed PT). Find out how to win a trip to the VMAs courtesy of Foursquare and MTV! Pit will perform his chart-topping hit “Give Me Everything” with R&B star Ne-Yo and upcoming singer Nayer, bringing a club vibe to the Nokia on a night when another club-friendly singer, British pop phenom Jessie J, will serve as the night’s house artist. The “Price Tag” singer — who will tour with Katy Perry this fall — will follow in the footsteps of such luminaries as deadmau5 , Wale , Mark Ronson and the late DJ AM , who have taken the house-band honors in the past. A number of other top names have also been added to the growing list of presenters at the show, including Nicki Minaj, Taylor Lautner, Drake, Joe Jonas, Jared Leto, Kevin Hart and comedian JB Smoove of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” They join previously announced presenters Selena Gomez — who will also anchor our black-carpet VMA Pre-Show — Seth Rogen, Kim Kardashian, Rick Ross and Odd Future. Viewers can vote for general VMA categories, including Best New Artist, by visiting VMA.MTV.com online or m.mtv.com on their mobile phone. In addition, Best New Artist text voting is open to all wireless carrier subscribers by texting BNA to 66333. Voting continues through the show, live on Sunday. To watch video of last year’s biggest moments, get the full list of last year’s show winners and check out fashion, celebrity and music commentary from the show’s red carpet, go to VMA.MTV.com . The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live Sunday, August 28, from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT, following the Selena Gomez-hosted pre-show at 8. See the list of nominees, revisit last year’s highlights and vote for Best New Artist by visiting VMA.MTV.com . Related Photos 2011 MTV Video Music Awards Performers Related Artists Pitbull Ne-Yo
The Man with the Golden Voice is now the man with a legal beef. Ted Williams, the homeless individual who skyrocketed to fame because of his deep voice (click play, below) has filed a lawsuit against three men he claims ripped him off. Ted Williams Homeless Person, Amazing Voice Referring to Zev Suissa, Randy Thomas and Joe Cipriano as the defendants, the suit states this threesome took advantage of Ted’s status an alcoholic. He signed a deal with them that Williams now says was “one-sided, onerous, burdensome, non-negotiated and blatantly unfair.” It gave them a wad of his cash. Williams, who re-entered rehab in May and hasn’t been heard from since, wants a judge to void the contract.
A year ago, Demi Lovato was spiraling toward rehab, just a couple months away from the incident that would finally make her realize: enough is enough . Fast forward 12 months, though, and Lovato has turned her life around. She’s completed treatment, she’s owned up to Bipolar Disorder and she’s talked honestly many of her personal demons. Professionally? Demi has a new album, titled ” Unbroken ,” hitting stores in exactly one month! We wish her continued luck and, on August 20, 2011, we wish her a happy 19th birthday! Send in your best wishes now and check out the artist at last weekend’s Do Something Awards: Demi Lovato – Skyscraper (Live)
Cobra Starship will perform during pre-show, airing 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 28. By Gil Kaufman Selena Gomez Photo: Toby Canham/ Getty Images With Lady Gaga slated to open the show and performances on tap from Lil Wayne and Adele , among others, the 2011 Video Music Awards are already mega. But things will heat up even before those stars take the stage thanks to Selena Gomez , who has been tapped to kick off the night’s festivities as the celebrity host on the pre-show black carpet. The platinum recording artist and Emmy Award-winning actress will anchor the pre-show on Sunday, August 28, starting at 8 p.m. (live Eastern Time/ tape-delayed Pacific Time), reporting on breaking news and interviewing her peers alongside MTV’s team of correspondents, including Sway Calloway, Jim Cantiello and James Montgomery. “I am very excited to be a part of the 2011 VMAs! After all of my years watching the VMAs, the pre-show has always been one of my favorite parts. It is a true honor to be hosting from the black carpet this year,” Gomez said in a statement. Gomez will get some help from Cobra Starship, who will perform their dance hit “You Make Me Feel,” featuring Sabi, live during the VMA Pre-Show, which will also include an exclusive new teaser of “Jersey Shore.” “We are so excited to be a part of the 2011 VMAs! I grew up watching them every year and it was an honor to be nominated two years ago and it is an even bigger honor to be able to play the pre-show this year,” said Cobra Starship guitarist Ryland Blackinton. “I will never forget when Pat Smear left the Foo Fighters live during the pre-show, and I’m planning on having him replace me this year.” While Gomez is meeting and greeting the celebs on the black carpet, MTV News correspondents will bring you interviews with some of today’s hottest stars. We’ll set up shop in the lobby of a downtown Los Angeles hotel that is being transformed into a musical time portal featuring a paparazzi photo arena as the centerpiece to all the pre-show madness. Who will follow Selena at the VMAs? Check out the big reveal! In between, Cantiello will keep an eye on MTV News’ Twitter Tracker, which will provide updates on the global VMA conversation on Twitter and show the volume of Twitter traffic about VMA nominees, presenters, performers and attendees. He’ll also tweet photos from the paparazzi theater and ask fans to use them to make fan art and send them back so he can display them during the broadcast while he tweets about all the black-carpet action @MTV. MTV News will also bring viewers a first look at the new Nicki Minaj video “Fly,” featuring Rihanna. The lead-in to the pre-show will be an all-new episode of “Jersey Shore” at 7 p.m. ET/PT, with the cast popping in to the live pre-show to predict who the night’s big winners will be. As previously announced, Adele and Wayne will take the stage in addition to Bruno Mars , Chris Brown and Young the Giant . Confirmed presenters include Jonah Hill, Rick Ross, Seth Rogen, Gomez, Kim Kardashian and Odd Future. MTV will announce additional performers and presenters in the coming days. Viewers can vote for all general VMA categories by visiting VMA.MTV.com online or m.mtv.com on their mobile phones through August 16. In addition, Best New Artist text voting is open to all wireless subscribers by texting BNA to 66333. Voting for this category continues through the show, which airs live Sunday, August 28. Verizon subscribers can vote on all categories via SMS by texting VMA to 66333 (standard message rates apply). The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live Sunday, August 28, from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT, following the Selena Gomez-hosted pre-show at 8. See the list of nominees, revisit last year’s highlights and vote for your favorites in the general categories by visiting VMA.MTV.com . Related Photos 2011 MTV Video Music Awards Performers Related Artists Selena Gomez Cobra Starship
Bay Area rapper was joined onstage by V-Nasty. By Paul Cantor Kreayshawn (file) Photo: Johnny Nunez/ WireImage NEW YORK — On Wednesday, while premiering their video for “Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie” on MTV.com, the Red Hot Chili Peppers said they decided to scrap the version of the video that was originally directed by Bay Area rapper Kreayshawn — she of “Gucci Gucci” fame — and go with something that they felt was more “them.” If the news caused any damage to the budding female MC’s ego, it didn’t show last night. She was warmly embraced by a Big Apple crowd at the Highline Ballroom, her first official performance in New York City. Diminutive and wiry, Kreayshawn burst onto the stage at 10:45, after the audience was treated to opening sets by rappers Moe Green, Roach Gigz, Phony Ppl and finally, Smoke DZA. Despite the openers, the energy in the venue initially remained icy. It resembled something of a showcase, with people anxious to see if the controversial rapper — who’s up for a Best New Artist award at the 2011 VMAs — could hold her own in front of a feisty and oft-critical New York audience. Speculation also abounded about whether or not her White Girl Mob counterpart V-Nasty would let loose with a barrage of N-words, as she’s recently come under fire for doing. Kreayshawn didn’t seem swayed, though. Clad in a white Bathing Ape T-shirt, mom jeans and a colorful snapback cap, she squealed — often inaudibly, but not without a distinguishable melisma — over the backing vocal tracks of lesser-known cuts from her Kittys x Choppas mixtape (“Wavey”), and newer, unreleased material (“Left Eye”). Playful, petite and most of all, entertaining, she gingerly marauded from one end of the stage to the other. The energy was turned up a notch, however, when V-Nasty took the stage. Donning a retro Charlotte Hornets cap, a plain white T-shirt and jeans, she tore into cuts from her Don’t Bite Just Taste mixtape, and then played Thelma to Kreayshawn’s Louise for the rest of the show. The show’s climax, however, came when Kreay explored her most popular tunes. The opening synth blurps of “Bumpin Bumpin” got the entire crowd’s hands in the air, and then her DJ, Two Stacks, dropped the beat for “Gucci Gucci.” The audience sang back each line to Kreayshawn, while a random person walked onstage and took a courageous stage dive. “Why there only guys up here?” Kreayshawn questioned, as the beat was halted. “I need a bad bitch up here.” Her request went unmet, but that didn’t stop the crowd from singing the song a capella until its end. She parted the stage amidst a dance party, singing the lyrics to Alexander O’Neal’s 1985 hit “Saturday Love.” It was a fitting, celebratory close to a night on which New York finally gave one of hip-hop’s most controversial new artists its nod of approval. Related Artists Kreayshawn
The Mother Monster talks about which of the country’s big problems she’d like to solve. By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Sway Calloway Lady Gaga Photo: Scott Gries/ Picture Group Lady Gaga has never been shy to stump for political causes. She’s stumped for marriage equality and spoke out against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Her Born This Way track “Americano” even touches on immigration issues, but just because she’s currently pop music’s most vocal advocate doesn’t mean she’d want anything to do with actually holding public office. During the live “MTV First: Lady Gaga” on Thursday night, the singer said that she has no aspirations to ever do something like become president, even if she was given a free pass for the day to be the leader of the free world. Watch as Gaga lets her fans announce that she’s opening the VMAs this year. “Well, first of all, I wouldn’t want to be president for the day,” she told MTV News. “And I say that because I really, for myself, it’s important that my message, although it has political implications, I like to keep myself separate. “Because politics can constrain things,” she continued. “So our message can be completely free of any politics and we can just surge forward.” Lady Gaga gave us the real story behind her “Yo
The Mother Monster talks about which of the country’s big problems she’d like to solve. By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Sway Calloway Lady Gaga Photo: Scott Gries/ Picture Group Lady Gaga has never been shy to stump for political causes. She’s stumped for marriage equality and spoke out against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Her Born This Way track “Americano” even touches on immigration issues, but just because she’s currently pop music’s most vocal advocate doesn’t mean she’d want anything to do with actually holding public office. During the live “MTV First: Lady Gaga” on Thursday night, the singer said that she has no aspirations to ever do something like become president, even if she was given a free pass for the day to be the leader of the free world. Watch as Gaga lets her fans announce that she’s opening the VMAs this year. “Well, first of all, I wouldn’t want to be president for the day,” she told MTV News. “And I say that because I really, for myself, it’s important that my message, although it has political implications, I like to keep myself separate. “Because politics can constrain things,” she continued. “So our message can be completely free of any politics and we can just surge forward.” Lady Gaga gave us the real story behind her “Yo
‘There’s no Rick Ross offensive things going on in there, even though it sounds like it,’ she tells MTV News of recent radio freestyle. By Steven Roberts Kreayshawn Photo: MTV News Kreayshawn has received her fair share of hate over her relatively brief career. The Best New Artist nominee at the 2011 VMAs exploded onto the scene with “Gucci Gucci,” but critics have been quick to write her off as a flash in the pan. Find out how to win a trip to the VMAs courtesy of Foursquare and MTV! Her freestyle on Philly’s “Cosmic Kev Come Up Show” earlier this month didn’t do her any favors either. During the less-than-stellar display, Kreayshawn took a shot at Rick Ross and his much-scrutinized past as a corrections officer. “You tryin’ to play me like a boss? You faker than Rick Ross,” she rapped on-air. When MTV News caught up with Kreay earlier this week, she said she wasn’t intending to dis the Maybach Music Group boss — even though she admits it came across that way. “I feel like with anything, you’re painting a picture. I’ve never, ever intentionally dissed anybody my whole career, and I don’t do that personally with friends either,” the Bay Area rapper said. “I’m not like a person to go against anyone or anything. So hey, no offense to you Rick Ross. There’s no Rick Ross offensive things going on in there, even though it sounds like it.” Kreayshawn explains why Diddy is her “dad.” Kreayshawn said she doesn’t know Ross and was just trying to make words rhyme. Hopefully things turn up for Kreay on Sunday, August 28, at the 2011 VMAs. She is up Best New Artist alongside other hip-hop rising stars, including Big Sean, Wiz Khalifa and Tyler, the Creator, as well as rock group Foster the People. The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live on Sunday, August 28, from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT. See the list of nominees, revisit last year’s highlights and vote for your favorites in the general categories by visiting VMA.MTV.com . Related Artists Rick Ross (Hip-Hop) Kreayshawn
Def Jam VP of A&R Bu Thiam breaks down the tracks on Watch the Throne with MTV News By Rob Markman Kanye West and Jay-Z Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage Since Kanye West first announced Watch the Throne on Twitter in August 2010, the tag-team LP with Jay-Z had been shrouded in mystery. In the months leading up to the album’s August 8, 2011 release, details remained sketchy. There was no loaded press run, super radio push, music video or album leaks leading up to the drop. In fact, “H.A.M” and “Otis” were the only songs released to the general public; beyond that there was nothing. A few were in the know, like Def Jam VP of A&R Bu Thiam who, was there throughout the recording process and helped Hov and Yeezy achieve their sonic goal. “As an A&R it’s a process of trying to bring out the artist’s creative ideas and their visions,” Thiam told MTV News of his general job function in an exclusive interview. However, when dealing with such accomplished artists like Kanye and Jay, who both have classic works under their belts, Thiam’s role wasn’t that of a traditional A&R rep. “When it comes to big artists like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Rihanna, a label can’t just assign you to a project like that,” he said. “You can’t just be like, ‘Yo Kanye we’re gonna have such and such be your A&R.’ He’s gonna be like, ‘Who the f— is that? Hell no.’ So they have to really rock with you off [general principle] and that’s how the whole process goes.” And rock they did. From start to finish, Bu Thiam was there, lending his professional opinions, helping to build tracks and carry them from concept to a fully mixed and mastered product. There aren’t too many people who can break down Watch the Throne Breakdown track-by-track, but then again there aren’t many people in the game like Bu Thiam. Watch the Throne Breakdown “No Church in the Wild” featuring Frank Ocean (Produced by 88 Keys, Kanye West and Mike Dean) “Collectively [working with Frank Ocean] was both of their ideas. It was like, ‘Yo this guy is incredible.’ They were a fan of him prior and it was like, ‘Yo we should fly him to New York to come out here.’ [Frank] went in and he just went to work. That kid is incredible, man. That particular record was one take. It just was like, [sings] ‘What’s a king to a God.’ We were actually in the room like, ‘Yo he f—ing nailed it.’ ” “Lift Off” featuring Beyoncé (Produced by Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker and Mike Dean) ” ‘Lift Off’ was definitely one of the earlier records [recorded for the album]. [Putting the sound effects on the record] is a process because initially a record might just be a beat, a chorus and a hook and as [Kanye] hears things he adds and takes things out.” ” N—as in Paris ” (Produced by Hit-Boy, Kanye West and Mike Dean) “Them guys, everything they rap about is what they actually go through. So when you hear that album it’s real. When Jay says, ‘I ball so hard motherf—ers wanna fine me,’ they gave him a fine because he took a picture with the college players at the NCAA tournament. So he got a fine for that in real life. So when you hear it you think he’s braggin’, but no, it’s really true.” ” Otis ” featuring Otis Redding (Produced by Kanye West) “[Kanye] was late for his flight, we were in the studio working all day and he was late for his flight. As we were leaving he was like, ‘Yo hold on for a second.’ So he drops his bags and goes to the MPC [beat machine] and his assistant is rushing him and he’s just f—-ing with [the beat]. What’s so crazy is the whole time he’s doing that Jay is writing his verses in his head. But Jay is watching the [NBA] playoffs, I think it was the championship; Miami and Dallas. So Jay is watching the playoffs. I’m not even thinking Jay is paying attention to what ‘Ye is doing and by the time he is finished it’s like ‘I invented swag …’ And I’m like, ‘What the f— just happened?’ ” “Gotta Have It” (Produced by The Neptunes and Kanye West) “It’s like a beat battle. ‘Ye might play something and then Pharrell might play something. They go back and forth man and then they come to a point where they come with one beat.” “New Day” (Produced by Kanye West, RZA and Mike Dean) “The energy from that was just a situation when ‘Ye and Jay were talking about — because both of the guys don’t have kids yet. So, it was just a conversation that they were talking about just having kids and how they’re gonna raise their kids because of the success that they’re having now.” “That’s My Bitch” (Produced by Kanye West, Q-Tip and Jeff Bhasker) “The way Jay writes records you have to really go back and listen to ’em. The way he said ‘bitch’ and ‘dog’ and then ‘get ya own’ like how he used the Big Pun [flow]. So you have to really go back and listen to it three or four times to be able to say anything about a Jay-Z record. Really he’s bigging up his wife through the whole verse, but if you’re small minded, you won’t catch that.” “Welcome to the Jungle” featuring Swizz Beatz (Produced by Swizz Beatz) “We were at the Mercer [Hotel in New York] and Pharrell came by, Swizz came by, Rihanna came by it was like a room full of superstars. Swizz came through with [shoe designer] Christian Louboutin — the guy! It was really that guy.” ” Who Gon Stop Me ” (Produced by Sak Pase of the Jugganauts and Kanye West) “Verse Simmonds actually did the chorus for ‘Who Gon Stop Me.’ Initially if you hear the second half of that [finished] beat.” The [entire] song was [originally just] the second half. The dub step factor came later on in the process. I gotta give [Kanye] all credit for that, when he came back from Paris he was like, ‘Yo I added this piece to the beat.’ ” “Murder to Excellence” (Produced by Swizz Beatz and S1) “As much as people may think that Jay talks about money and cars, he’s really not that guy. Of course he has it, but his whole mission is to build. He wants to have others join him, he’s trying to build black excellence, like the black youth as the next [generation of] executives.” “Made in America” featuring Frank Ocean (Produced by Sak Pase of the Jugganauts) “That’s what Frank is about if you listen to his music you can tell that he’s a very smart guy. We were in the studio, Jay wasn’t there, ‘Ye wasn’t there, it was just me and Noah — one of the engineers. [Frank Ocean] was just thinking of different concepts, he was there for like eight hours, then probably like six in the morning he was like ‘Sweet baby Jesus.’ ” “Why I Love You” featuring Mr Hudson (Produced by Mike Dean and Kanye West) “There is only so much you can do for a person. Like Jay said [in the song], ‘I tried to teach n—as to be kings and all they wanted to be was soldiers.’ Like that’s a real line, that’s how he felt. [Kanye and Jay] do get a lot of criticism in their careers and how they move and I think they just wanted to express it.” Related Videos Welcome To Jay-Z And Kanye West’s ‘Watch The Throne’ Week Related Photos Jay-Z And Kanye West ‘Watch The Throne’ Listening Related Artists Kanye West Jay-Z
Steve Angello tells MTV News that the famed Swedish trio just want to take a creative approach to dropping new material. By Akshay Bhansali Steve Angello Photo: Getty Images After impressive remixes of Swedish House Mafia ‘s last single, “Save the World,” by dance music acts like AN21 and Max Vangeli, Alesso, and Zedd, whose fiery mix MTV News premiered exclusively last month, the house music production trio of Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell and Steve Angello have so far teased only two new originals this summer. And really, only one of these new gems has been well-documented, starting with Axwell spinning the dark track at Club Papaya in Croatia in July. Sure, the in-demand collective has been busy touring, but save for Sebastian Ingrosso and Alesso debuting their new single “Calling” on Friday (August 12) on the BBC’s “Essential Mix” with Pete Tong, it would seem the three Swedes have devoted their summer to performing rather than hitting the studio. When MTV News caught up with Steve Angello recently, though, he told us nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Angello revealed, SHM have more than 15 songs ready to go, but the group is toying with how to release their new material. “This is the thing … we have a lot of records,” Angello confessed. “We have singles; we have all the material to make an album. But it’s like, do we want to stick with the traditional album ways or do we want to do something different? And I think, as Swedish House Mafia works, I think we do something different.” As for the aforementioned “dark” single Axwell played earlier at a live show, Angello couldn’t confirm whether it would be the trio’s next release. “It’s one of them. … It’s another record,” Angello said. “It’s pretty f—ed up, but it’s good energy!” In addition to working on their own material, fans of the three Swedes will be tickled to hear that they’ve also been producing records for two major pop stars. But, of course, they aren’t ready to reveal just who yet. “A lot of people came through this year,” Angello said. “After the success of, ‘One,’ and ‘Miami 2 Ibiza,’ we got hundreds of requests to work with people. We chose very few to work with. We’ve done some work with a very, very big artist. We’re producing [some of] another artist’s album. It’s been an amazing trip for us. I can’t tell anybody’s name yet.” While we couldn’t get names, MTV News did get another major piece of SHM scoop: Angello is also well into work on a solo album being put out through Interscope via his Size Records label. “I do have an album,” Angello revealed. “The last bit is the hard part because you have to decide what you want to do and choose what direction you want to take. I’ve finished 70 percent. I got a couple singles. I just haven’t picked ‘the one.’ ” Related Artists Swedish House Mafia Steve Angello
