The ‘Super Bass’ rapper puts in a plea for ‘hungry, struggling, up-and-coming newbies’ like herself. By Jocelyn Vena Nicki Minaj Photo: Jemal Countess/ Getty Images The 2011 Video Music Awards are right around the corner (August 28, to be exact) and Nicki Minaj wants her Barbs and Kens to turn it out and make sure they’re casting their votes for her. Nicki is up for three prizes at the show, including Best Hip-Hop video and Best Female Video for her “Super Bass” clip, as well as Best Collaboration for her cinematic “Moment 4 Life” video, which features her pal, Drake . “Barbs, vote for me,” she said in an interview with MTV News. “Everybody else, please vote for me. Help me. Help me! I’m from Southside Jamaica, Queens, and I need your help. Vote.” The competition is stiff, with Minaj having to face off against some of her pals and peers. For Best Hip-Hop, “Super Bass” is up against Lil Wayne (“6’7”), Kanye West featuring Rihanna and Kid Cudi (“All of the Lights”), Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes (“Look at Me Now”) and Lupe Fiasco (“The Show Goes On”). The competition is equally tight for Best Female Video: Adele (“Rolling in the Deep”), Katy Perry (“Firework”), Beyonc
‘I plan on pulling a Lady Gaga and showing up in an egg,’ frontman Matt Shultz laughs to MTV News. By James Montgomery Cage the Elephant Photo: Sony Music Entertainment Cage the Elephant frontman Matt Shultz is still getting the hang of this whole awards-show thing, but he’s a pretty fast learner. Case in point: Here’s the story of how he found out his band had been nominated for Best Rock Video at the 2011 Video Music Awards . Or, more specifically, the two stories. “Last night, I was on the Internet, and I happened to stumble across it on someone else’s profile, and I was like, ‘Whoa, cool.’ I mean, it’s not an amazing story, so maybe I should come up with something different,” he laughed. “What really happened was: Someone kidnapped my mother, and in order to save her life, we have to win the Best Rock Video award. So I called a bunch of people and threatened their lives and, so far so good; I can’t wait to see my mom again. The plan is coming together pretty nicely.” And it’s a shame that Shultz considers his band the underdog in the Best Rock category, because if they won, he’d definitely give the best acceptance speech. But in all honesty, he doesn’t care if “Shake Me Down” triumphs over the Foo Fighters’ “Walk,” the Black Keys’ “Howlin’ for You,” Mumford & Sons’ “The Cave” and Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks,” mostly because he can’t believe Cage are even in the running. “It was a total surprise. I had no clue we were even up for it,” he said. “It’s an honor to be nominated, and honestly, I’m not thinking about it in terms of our chances or whatever. I just think it’s cool that we’ve been nominated, and that’s good enough for me.” But don’t let his humility fool you. Shultz is already planning to take full advantage of the VMA stage — and the red carpet — by getting in touch with his inner Gaga. “I plan on pulling a Lady Gaga and showing up in an egg,” he laughed. “But it’s going to be a Cadbury egg and I’m going to wear a little banner around my shoulders that says ‘Goo-Goo For Gaga.’ It’s going to be fantastic.” 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 Videos The 2011 VMA Nominations Live
Odd Future MC’s ‘Yonkers’ video up for Video of the Year and Best New Artist. By Rob Markman Tyler, the Creator Photo: MTV News Who says Tyler, the Creator is a foul-mouthed malcontent? Well, the foul-mouth part is true, but when the Odd Future standout learned that his video for “Yonkers” received two MTV Video Music Awards nominations, he couldn’t have been happier, as seen in his Wednesday night tweets. “Video Of The F—ing Year. What The F—,” he wrote before tweeting that he was about to “Pass The F— Out.” Tyler’s self-directed “Yonkers” clip was uploaded to Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All’s YouTube page back in February. Now five months and 15 million views later, the black-and-white vid earned the Goblin rapper VMA nominations in the Best New Artist and Video of the Year categories. Simple-yet-effective, “Yonkers” starts off with the rapper seated on a stool, performing the song’s lyrics while playing with a large cockroach, which he later vomits. A visibly disturbed Tyler continues to rap the track’s second verse, stripping off his shirt then putting his neck in a noose. In the video’s shocking ending, the MC stands up on the chair and kicks the stool from under his feet as his legs dangle in a simulated suicide. “Damn, I’m Looking At The Video Treatment I wrote In This Blackberry Back In Jan. F—!” Tyler wrote beside a link to the clip. In all, the rapper/ producer/ video director fired off more than 40 reactionary tweets , even threatening to go on a killing spree if he lost Video of the Year to Bruno Mars. Still, through the profanity-laced celebration, Tyler is just overjoyed: “So F—ing Happy F—!!!” he tweeted . “I Cried Legit. F— it.” 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 Tyler, The Creator
Jared Leto tells MTV News the band will fly overnight from Ireland just to make it to the big show. By James Montgomery At last year’s Video Music Awards , 30 Seconds to Mars wreaked havoc on the white carpet , very nearly blinded drummer Shannon Leto with a “glitter bomb” and took home the award for Best Rock Video — all within the span of roughly three hours. Needless to say, it was a night they’ll remember for a long time. Now that their epic, ultra-NSFW “Hurricane” video has been nominated for a trio of awards — Best Cinematography, Best Direction and Best Editing — at the 2011 VMAs, how do they plan to top last year’s madness? Well, for starters, they’re going to show up. “I’m not sure if the technical awards are even on the show, but we definitely plan on being there. We’re in Ireland the night before, so it will be a last-minute sort of thing,” frontman Jared Leto told MTV News. “I’m not sure what’ll happen after that. But there’s no way we’d miss the show. It’s incredibly humbling and exciting to be acknowledged, especially for a very controversial clip like ‘Hurricane,’ that was banned from a lot of networks to start with. It’s great to have it come full-circle and be recognized in this way.” And that controversy — the “Hurricane” clip had to be drastically cleaned up to even be considered at most networks — is just part of the video’s mystique. Because more than any of the projects Leto pours his heart into, this one was a true labor of love. “It was a very DIY project. It wasn’t like, ‘OK, here’s your two days to shoot, you got your crew and everything’s professional.’ It was very much a guerrilla-style effort, very much a sculpture of sight and sound that we built, and it was great to go through that process that way,” Leto explained. “We shot three days in New York, and then I kept shooting and shooting and shooting. I shot many cities around the states and outside the states. We were editing on the bus. I had a great team of people that helped me on this and many other things. [Videos are] as important to us as the songs themselves. I spend as much time on these little mini-movies as I do on the songs themselves. “I wish there was an award for doing the most with the least. We would’ve won that one, for sure,” he laughed. “We ended up with almost a 14-minute piece, and then another seven to 10 other clips that explored other characters and themes in addition to the video itself.” So, yes, 30 Seconds to Mars will be there on August 28, when the VMAs air live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. And while they might not bring any glitter this time around, they’ll definitely be hoping to repeat the other part of last year’s show: winning. “Being nominated is great, winning is even better, but at the end of the day, it’s the work that’s really the most important, and the people who are enjoying it,” Leto said. “The acknowledgement of the project is really great.” 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 Photos 2011 Video Music Award Nominees Related Artists 30 Seconds To Mars
Singer Justin Bieber arrives at the premiere of Paramount Pictures' “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” held at Nokia Theater L.A. Live on February 8, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images) more pics
Jaden and Willow Smith, who both toured with Justin Bieber on his My Worlds Tour, attended the premiere of the pop sensations’ movie “ Never Say Never ” on February 8th. The premiere was held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles California. Also joining Jaden and Willow at the event were their parents, Jada and Will Smith. Aww, what a cute family! Which family member’s outfit do you like best? “Never Say Never” will arrive in theaters on February 11th.
Miley Cyrus attended Justin Bieber’s “Never Say Never” movie premiere on February 8th. The premiere was held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, California. A number of stars showed up to support Justin and his new movie, and their responses to the film have been highly positive. The movie opens nationwide on February 11th. We’re not totally feeling Miley’s premiere outfit, but maybe you disagree? What do you think of Miley’s outfit?
Miley Cyrus attended Justin Bieber’s “Never Say Never” movie premiere on February 8th. The premiere was held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, California. A number of stars showed up to support Justin and his new movie, and their responses to the film have been highly positive. The movie opens nationwide on February 11th. We’re not totally feeling Miley’s premiere outfit, but maybe you disagree? What do you think of Miley’s outfit?
Get the scoop in the Newsroom as your favorite artists arrive at the Nokia Theatre for the big show. Whitney Port and guest arrive at the 2010 American Music Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on November 21, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Michael Buckner/ AMA2010/ Getty Images
Singer denies hitting man suing him for medical fees stemming from 2007 incident. By Jocelyn Vena Kid Rock Photo: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images for VH1 Kid Rock appeared in a DeKalb County courthouse in Decatur, Georgia, on Thursday to testify in a lawsuit stemming from a 2007 fight at a Waffle House restaurant , the Associated Press reports. Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, testified that he didn’t hit Harlen Akins and that a fight hadn’t even occurred until Akins provoked the singer. Akins, however, testifies that he has no idea what set off Rock and his entourage. Rock testified that while certain parties of his entourage may have hit Akins, he himself never touched him. “I gave it to him verbally, I said, ‘Shut your mouth, man,'” he said in court. Rock, who was sentenced to a year of probation following the incident, further explained that Akins, an event promoter and caterer, angered the party after he insulted Davina Barnes, a woman with Rock’s entourage, and later asked about Rock’s ex-wife, Pamela Anderson. Rock explained that he and his party were acting in self-defense. “I still don’t even know what did I say to him to start this jumping on me,” Akins said, adding that he was speaking to Barnes, whom he knows, regarding phone calls and text messages he had been receiving from her. He denied insulting her or asking about Anderson and said he isn’t sure what happened to cause the fight. While the specifics of the incident may be questioned by both parties, both men admit to being intoxicated at the time of the incident. Rock said he had consumed more than a six-pack of beer at the time of the argument and that he was at the Waffle House celebrating the fact that his latest album had hit #1 on the charts. Atkins said he had had a few shots of cognac and had smoked marijuana. Rock was one of several defendants in the case (two others, including Barnes, have been dismissed). The jury deliberates Friday (September 17). “I feel like I’m a big number in the lawsuit lottery,” Rock said of the lawsuit. Akins is seeking $6000 for medical fees and unspecified damages. Related Artists Kid Rock
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