Check out a photo of Bieber and Shawn Stockton recording together. By Jocelyn Vena Shawn Stockton and Justin Bieber in the studio Photo: LiveWire Entertainment As if the Twitter back-and-forth weren’t enough to get fans excited for their Christmas-themed collaboration, MTV News now has photo evidence of Justin Bieber and Boyz II Men singer Shawn Stockton in the studio together. In the photo, both guys are seen looking casual in baseball caps and T-shirts. They shared a high-five in the studio, which was even decorated with Christmas lights. The guys had a bit of a Twittermance post-session that had the veteran Boyz reminding the teen phenom to never forget the wisdom they shared with him. And whatever that advice was, it certainly made an impression on Bieber. “I’m not gonna forget. THANK U!!” he tweeted . Bieber has a busy fall ahead of him. As he readies the release of his Christmas album, he’s also getting ready to hit the road in South America and Mexico. “Back in the studio putting the finishing touches on this Christmas album and getting the tour stuff together,” he tweeted. The tour will kick off later this month in Mexico and will make its way around South America, including stops in Brazil and Argentina. He’ll wrap up the stint at the end of October. He’s pretty much off the road until December and January, when he has two stops planned in Illinois. “Seeing all the love for the S AMERICAN fans … tour is less than a month away. Who got tickets in BRAZIL? in Argentina? in Mexico? in Chile?” he tweeted. Related Artists Justin Bieber Boyz II Men
Gary, Indiana’s own Gangsta Gibbs will swing through on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET on MTV.com. By Rob Markman Freddie Gibbs Photo: Roger Kisby/ Getty Images The real is back! On Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET, “RapFix Live” returns with Freddie Gibbs , who will hit the couch to discuss everything from coming up in Gary, Indiana, to signing with Young Jeezy’s CTE label to his upcoming project Cold Day in Hell. While rap has diversified its cast of characters to include MCs from all walks of life, Gibbs has remained unapologetically gangster . Originally signed by Interscope in 2005, Gangsta Gibbs struggled to get the label to see his vision and was eventually released from his deal in October 2007. But in 2009, Freddie proved that there was room for his brand of music. With his The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs and midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik, Gibbs made fans take notice. His grind paid off, and in 2010, Freddie earned himself a spot on XXL magazine’s 2010 Freshmen cover. He went on to drop the independent release Str8 Killa No Filla on Decon Records. In April, the Midwest MC made his biggest move yet when he inked with Young Jeezy’s CTE (Corporate Thugz Entertainment). Since the signing, the pair have released quite a few songs, including their hustle ode “Run DMC,” “Do It for You” and “Rough,” a song off of the Snowman’s latest mixtape, The Real Is Back 2. “RapFix Live” will also bring you backstage at the Rock the Bells tour stop in New York City this past weekend. On Saturday, Nas, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Slaughterhouse and Mobb Deep all performed, and “RFL” has all the exclusives for you as well as our regular Get in the Game and Weekend Rotation segments. Catch Freddie Gibbs on “RapFix Live” Wednesday, September 7, at 4 p.m. ET on MTV.com! Related Artists Freddie Gibbs
‘We got a lot of music ready to go,’ Prodigy tells MTV News of upcoming self-titled LP. By Rob Markman Mobb Deep Photo: MTV News Mobb Deep are free agents no longer. On Friday, the Queens, New York, rap duo announced their new deal with Sony’s RED Distribution. Under the terms, RED will distribute Havoc and Prodigy’s Infamous Records, where they’ll drop their self-titled album (their ninth), with Infamous Records functioning much like an independent. “The way we structured it is as a distribution deal basically, so we run our own label, Infamous, and we gotta do the daily ins and outs of everything. We gotta handle all the record company business and they get it in the stores for us, basically,” Prodigy told MTV News backstage at Rock the Bells in New York City on Saturday. “It’s been a long time coming,” Havoc added. “We’ve been in the game for a minute and the object of the game is to control your own business.” While allowing the veteran street-hop group to be their own bosses, the deal with Sony also puts Mobb Deep closer to their legacy. After the duo dropped their debut album on 4th and B’way in 1993, the Mobb signed with Loud Records, the Steve Rifkind-helmed label eventually absorbed by Sony. “Sony RED is a good company; they basically own our catalog anyway because when Loud sold the company, they sold it to Sony,” Prodigy clarified. “So they own all of our albums, basically. When we sat down with them, they basically were like, ‘We’d love to do this, we got your catalog anyway.’ ” For their upcoming LP Mobb Deep, the group aims to continue to build on that catalog, which already features such highly regarded albums as Murda Muzik and The Infamous, M-O-B-B’s sophomore album. The pair performed their second LP in full during Rock the Bells. Although the deal was just announced, P revealed that he and Hav have been working on the album since he was released from jail in March for gun possession. “Right now, it’s just a monumental thing for us, you know, it’s been a long time coming. We’re excited about it. We got a lot of music ready to go, we’ve been working on this Mobb album since I got home,” P said. “Everything is just up to par, the production — from Hav’s production to our lyrics to all the ideas from videos to everything — we’re just really ready to go and get things started.” As of now, there is no official release date for the Mobb Deep album. Related Artists Mobb Deep
A number of military veterans are demanding an apology from Soulja Boy after the rapper ignited a wave of controversy with his song, “Let’s Be Real.” After plugging his Twitter page (really), Soulja drops this bomb: “F**k the FBI and the army troops … fighting for what? Be your own man … I’ll be flying through the clouds with green like I’m Peter Pan.” Mmmyeah. Soulja Boy – Let’s Be Real Fred A. Flores, a retired U.S. Marine and commissioner for the L.A. County Veteran’s Advisory Commission, spoke out against this “offensive statement.” Flores, who has two children currently serving in the military, calls Soulja Boy “Ungrateful” … adding, “He should apologize to ALL armed forces.” “[The rap] is very irresponsible, especially for an entertainer for the youth of our country, and especially with the 10th anniversary of 9/11 coming up.” Seriously, Soulja. Just because you spell your name wrong doesn’t give you license to start bashing actual soldiers who protect your ass daily.
Stephen Moyer and director Matthew Parkhill recall the eerie occurrences on the film’s Puerto Rico set. By Josh Wigler Stephen Moyer in “The Caller” Photo: Samuel Goldwyn Films There are probably are stranger, scarier things in the universe than a mystery woman from the past who can cross the space-time continuum to obsessively call your home telephone for hours and days and weeks on end. But the idea is plenty creepy as the premise of “The Caller,” director Matthew Parkhill’s indie thriller starring “Twilight” villainess Rachelle Lefevre and “True Blood” vamp Stephen Moyer. In “The Caller,” Puerto Rico resident Mary Kee (Lefevre) moves into a new home following a nasty separation from her abusive husband (“Eureka’s” Ed Quinn), only to find an even more harrowing nemesis in Rose (Lorna Raver), an unhinged and disgruntled woman living in the late 1970s. Rose somehow has the ability to call Mary’s new phone number some 30 years into the future, a seemingly impossible sci-fi feat that leaves our protagonist skeptical, frustrated and frightened in turns. When Mary’s patience for Rose’s hysteria wears thin, she learns the hard lesson that scorning a deranged woman who lives in the past can be hazardous for your health. Though it boasts a sinister plot, it was actually the behind-the-scenes mysteries that raised the hair on the backs of the “Caller” cast and crew’s necks throughout the film’s 23-day shoot. “Sometimes a shoot will take on its own energy,” Moyer, who plays Mary’s love interest and resident time-travel expert John Guidi, told MTV News. “Every day, something was happening. Things were breaking, film missing, scratches on necks … it just became this regular occurrence. Even after I left the shoot, me and Matthew and Rachelle would speak regularly, and there would be bits and pieces happening on a regular basis: phone calls coming in from people, literally prank phone calls. It was an odd, odd thing.” Parkhill said that screenwriter Sergio Casci was convinced there was a “curse of ‘The Caller.’ ” But the director doesn’t much believe in curses himself, though even he admitted to “weird” and “unsettling” occurrences. “We dressed Mary’s living room with these old National Geographic magazines, and one of them fell open to this page where there were three corpses hanging in this old room, that were identical to the three corpses hanging in our pantry,” said Parkhill, referring to a trio of bodies that play a pivotal role in the horror film. “Then when we were shooting in a supermarket, we moved one of the supermarket shelves and there was an old bottle of perfume that had cracked which was labeled ‘Rose,’ which is [the name of the film’s villain].” In the end, none of these eerie events was powerful enough to derail production on “The Caller,” which opens in limited release on Friday (August 26). But that doesn’t mean that the alleged curse of “The Caller” doesn’t still rear its head from time to time. The press junket held in San Juan earlier this week just so happened to coincide with the presence of Hurricane Irene in Puerto Rico, a threat that is now storming its way up the East Coast. As a result of the storm, certain parts of Puerto Rico — including the hotel that housed the “Caller” cast and crew for the week — were left almost entirely without power for multiple days. “It feels particularly fitting that we’re in the middle of a hurricane,” Moyer told MTV with a grin. “There’s no power. Last night, after we all left the bar, we had to go back to [our rooms] with flashlights. It’s literally pitch black in the hotel. You’ve just watched a horror film, which is pretty scary, and you’re going into your room with a flashlight and you can’t see anything. I think all of us went through some moments last night thinking, ‘This is it. My time is up! Somebody’s going to jump out of the cupboard!’ ” Check out everything we’ve got on “The Caller.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
‘He’s pulling out all his tricks on this one,’ chorographers Rich and Tone say of Breezy’s Sunday-night performance. By Rob Markman Chris Brown at the 2007 VMAs Photo: Getty Images Chris Brown stole the show in Las Vegas with his table-hopping performance at the 2007 VMAs, and he’s been a tough act to follow ever since. But now he faces an even bigger challenge: topping himself. As they prepare Breezy’s moves for the 2011 VMAs , veteran chorographers Rich and Tone are confident he’ll pull it off on Sunday night. “You’re definitely gonna see Chris Brown; in a 1000 percent mode,” said Rich of CB’s plans. “Of course everybody knows he can sing, he has great music, and aside from that, you’re going to see that he’s an amazing dancer.” It’s still anyone’s guess which of song (or songs) the pragmatic dance machine will perform, but his latest album F.A.M.E. has produced a number of hits, including “Deuces,” the Michael Jackson-inspired “She Ain’t You” and his Best Collaboration-nominated single “Look at Me Now” with Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes. Any one of those aforementioned tracks is an option, or he could do a medley that includes multiple chart-toppers. Rich and Tone, who choreographed this year’s routine as well Chris’ 2007 stage show, remained tight-lipped about what Breezy’s stage will look like, but the veteran dancers are impressed with what they’ve seen in rehearsals so far. “We’ve been working with Chris for many years; I’ve never seen him this way on this performance ever,” Tone teased. “He’s pulling out all his tricks on this one. He’s definitely gonna show you something fresh and new; something he has never done before.” But can Chris Brown top ’07’s display where he sang his single “Wall to Wall” while hoping table-to-table, incorporating the audience into his now classic routine? “It’s hard top yourself, but that’s the goal that we’re trying to hit,” Tone said. “So, yes, it’s a yes to that question, we are trying to top the 2007 performance.” 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 Videos 2011 VMAs: Behind The Scenes Related Photos 2011 Video Music Award Nominees Related Artists Chris Brown
Fun factoid, children of the ’90s: Did you know that film franchises like X-Men , Fantastic Four , and the Spider-Man movies sprang from the same creative force as some of your favorite childhood toys? Movieline caught up with Marvel Studios founder (and producer of the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man , Ghost Rider 2 , and The Avengers ) in San Diego where the veteran film exec revisited his past as a toy inventor extraordinaire.
Jonathan Goldstein is the more experienced half of the Horrible Bosses writing partnership. His partner (and this week’s Verge designee ) John Francis Daley is a Freaks and Geeks alum with a new career in penning comedies, but Goldstein has a varied history in TV writing on The PJs , The New Adventures of Old Christine , and $#*! My Dad Says . He met Daley when he worked as a writer on The Geena Davis Show , a show on which Daley costarred. We talked to the veteran about his box office success with Horrible Bosses , making a transition to a film career, and getting anxious when actors want to improvise.
Perez Hilton tells MTV News a Summer Diva is ‘defined by one thing: she is known by just one name.’ By Jocelyn Vena Britney Spears Photo: Getty Images Every summer, there’s one lady who rules the beach, one pop diva who manages to rise above the rest thanks to a catchy tune and unstoppable promo campaign. Since the summer basically starts on the Fourth of July and goes right through Labor Day weekend, it’s time to start looking at the most likely contenders for the Summer Diva crown. With everyone from Lady Gaga and Beyonc
Plus: Latest castoff confirms he’s dating ‘Twilight’ actress Nikki Reed. By Gil Kaufman Paul McDonald Photo: FOX Before he was sent packing Thursday night, something seemed a bit off with Paul McDonald. The fire and spark the veteran Nashville singer showed in earlier rounds seemed to have left. While talking to reporters Friday (April 15) about his ouster, McDonald, 26, explained that there was a very good reason that — despite five years of road work with his band the Grand Magnolias and the release of an album just months before his “Idol” journey began — he only made it to eighth place.
