Joe Budden Says Eminem/Slaughterhouse Deal 'Not Done'

'[It's] too premature for me to speak on,' Jersey MC says of whether supergroup will sign with Shady, on 'RapFix Live.'
By Mawuse Ziegbe, with reporting by Sway Calloway

Joe Budden
Photo: Rich Sancho/ MTV News

For fans of the supergroup Slaughterhouse, Joe Budden has one thing he can confirm about the crew's buzzed-about deal with Eminem: It's too early to confirm anything.

Whispers that the hip-hop A-Team of Budden, Crooked I, Royce Da 5'9" and Joell Ortiz will ink a contract with the Shady Records boss have followed the foursome for a while, but while closing a deal with the Detroit hip-hop head looks promising, nothing has been nailed down just yet.

"The deal is not done. If everything goes according to plan, [then] hopefully. [It's] too premature for me to speak on," Budden said during his "RapFix Live" interview on Thursday (December 16). Even though Budden doesn't have any new answers for Slaughterhouse acolytes eager for an official stamp of approval from Em, the Mood Muzik MC noted that he's been fielding the same fan inquiries for a minute.

"I've been answering that same question for a ... year and change. Maybe ever since the Drake "Forever" video ... when Slaughterhouse was standing with Eminem, I've been answering Eminem questions," he said. "Eminem is a whole 'nother entity, the guy's nominated for 10 Grammys."

Em may be a chart-ruling trophy magnet but Budden said the first time he chopped it up with the Recovery lyricist, it was his wit that made an impression on the New Jersey-bred spitter.

"[He said] something real sarcastic. Something sarcastic as far as rapping goes. I think it was about a verse that I was doing. It's OK. But he's funny like that," Budden recalled, before explaining Shady's disarmingly down-to-earth charm. "It's almost like you're not even talking to him, like he's not who he is. I'm a huge fan, so I'll be sitting there like, 'Holy snap, it's Em,' then [you're] cracking jokes the next minute. [He's] just a real cool guy."

Budden also told MTV News last month that despite his outsize fame, Em remains a dedicated guardian of hip-hop culture.

"Em, to be as successful as he is, and I'll just tell this to anybody with two ears, or one ear, for that matter, is just one of the most supportive hip-hop people that I've met," he said. "He's really, really just into hip-hop and rap and lyrics. He's just really into all of the things that group was built around."

What are you looking forward to from Slaughterhouse and Joe Budden? Let us know in the comments!

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Matt Damon Gets Tongue-Tied By 'True Grit,' Bieber Fever

The Oscar-winning actor gamely shows off his character's interesting manner of speech for MTV News.
By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Matt Damon
Photo: MTV News

Matt Damon. Actor, writer, Oscar winner. Generally perceived in and around Hollywood to be a really nice guy. As such, when MTV News caught up with Damon as he promoted "True Grit," we hoped he would respond positively to our request for him to conduct the interview either talking in the voice of his "Grit" character, Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, or using his dead-on Matthew McConaughey impression.

"I would do [LaBoeuf's accent] if anyone had a ponytail [holder]," he said, and then asked the behind-the-scenes ladies in the room if he could borrow one. Amazingly enough, someone did have one at the time and quickly handed it to Damon, who tied it around his tongue.

Not to spoil the film, but in "True Grit," Damon's character suffers a particular misfortune along the way that leads to him losing part of his tongue, adding a lisp to his Texas twang.

"Ask me anything you like," he said with a distinct lisp, after affixing the band to his tongue.

Then it was our turn to try to maintain a straight face long enough to ask Damon why he wanted to be in this particular film.

"Well, I'd been looking to work with [directors] Joel and Ethan [Cohen] for a long time," he said, trying not to laugh himself. Film-related questions aside for a moment, we had to ask him, does that hurt?

"Yeah," Damon admitted, at which point we told him he should take off the band. "No, no, I'm going to do the whole interview like this," he insisted.

We then brought up "Grit" star Hailee Steinfeld, who's been getting rave reviews and plenty of awards consideration for her breakthrough performance, and asked what it felt like to be out-witted by a young girl.

"I have four girls in my house, I get out-witted by them every day," Damon quipped — still talking with the band.

Has his home been affected by Bieber fever yet?

"No," Damon said. "We've mercifully avoided Bieber fever."

There's still time: His daughters are ages 11, 4, 2 and 3 months.

Check out everything we've got on "True Grit."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Extreme Musicians Tell Child Where Babies Come From

You can spit raw pig organs out into the crowd, play blast beats at deafening volume or wear enough corpse paint to clog your pores until next Halloween, but the real test of whether a musician has balls of steel can b tested most effectively by an eight year old kid asking them where babies [...]

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Britney Spears Inspired 'Country Strong' Lead, Director Says

'I was seeing what was happening in the media to Britney Spears,' filmmaker Shana Feste says of crafting upcoming flick.
By Mawuse Ziegbe

Britney Spears
Photo: Fame Pictures

Gwyneth Paltrow may have honed her country-music skills for her role in the upcoming flick "Country Strong," but her troubled character was actually inspired by a pop sensation.

In the film, Paltrow plays embattled crooner Kelly Canter, who fights to resurrect her struggling career as a music superstar. Writer/director Shana Feste recently told the Los Angeles Times that Paltrow's onscreen drama was inspired by the very public meltdown of pop megastar Britney Spears.

"That's where this movie came from. I mean, I was seeing what was happening in the media to Britney Spears," Feste said.

The filmmaker also added that wrapping up the script coincided with the outsize media frenzy surrounding another superstar. "I finished the script when Michael Jackson passed away," she revealed.

Feste also lamented the dark side of celebrity-making, which entails ripping apart a once-beloved public figure at the first misstep. "I think it's tragic how we treat people who give us so much, and we love to see them knocked down to build them back up again, to knock them down again," she said. "It's a weird fascination."

Paltrow has said that work on the project was challenging, due to both the physical and creative demands of the role.

"It was brutal," she told MTV News in September. "It was a brutal shoot. I mean, I wasn't naked, naked, but I was semi-naked, in various stages of undress. [My character] has a drug and alcohol problem, so she's struggling a lot. It was a lot of fun for me, as an artist."

Check out everything we've got on "Country Strong."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Is East Coast Blizzard To Blame For Scrooge-Like Christmas Box Office?

Snow isn't the only thing that kept 'Little Fockers' and other films from raking in the bucks.
By Tom DiChiara

Ben Stiller in "Little Fockers"
Photo: Universal Studios/DW Studios

Holiday weekends often equate to big bucks at the box office. And while Christmas weekend doesn't always pack the punch of a Labor Day, Memorial Day or Fourth of July, it has been known to generate its fair share of cash. There are an abundance of revenue-friendly family flicks, Christmas Day movie marathons have become a popular tradition and mall-goers often take a break from hitting up post-holiday sales to catch a film.

But what happens to those Christmas-weekend box-office numbers when almost the entire East Coast, from North Carolina through Maine, is pummeled by a blizzard on December 26? Safe money would bet that B.O. revenues drop as precipitously as 2 feet of snow. And though those numbers probably chilled Hollywood execs to the bone, they weren't just due to the blizzard.

The lackluster $30.8 million take of "Little Fockers" topped the charts for a weekend that was down a whopping 48 percent from last year's Christmas-weekend receipts of $270 million (an all-time record for any weekend, by the way). But a quick look at the numbers suggests that while snowy weather certainly didn't help matters, it was not to blame for the Scrooge-like turnout at the box office.

For starters, Christmas Eve, a notoriously slow movie-going day, fell on a Friday this year, eating into a big slice of the weekend box office. "Fockers" was the day's top-grossing flick with a paltry $4.95 million. By comparison, the movie earned about $7.2 million on both Wednesday (when it opened) and Thursday, and took in $14.6 million and $11.3 million on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. More to the point, "Fockers" saw its box-office haul drop just 23 percent from Christmas Day (Saturday) to Sunday, when the snow hit. That number is in line with normal Saturday to Sunday decreases. Meanwhile, "True Grit" saw its earnings fall a mere 6.5 percent from Saturday to Sunday, while "Tron Legacy" and "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" dropped only around 1 percent, and "Yogi Bear" and "Tangled" saw their revenues increase over the same two-day period.

Numbers aside, one can't ignore the possibility that the movies in theaters this Christmas simply weren't as appealing to moviegoers as those in previous years. Last year's record-setting weekend was spearheaded by the one-two-three punch of "Avatar," which raked in $75.6 million in its second week of release, "Sherlock Holmes" ($62.4 million) and "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" ($48.9 mil).

Though "Little Fockers" had a built-in audience, its 2004 predecessor "Meet the Fockers," which led the B.O. the last time Christmas fell on a Friday, wasn't as well-received as the franchise's first entry, 2000's "Meet the Parents." Combine that with the fact that "Little Fockers" didn't exactly wow critics (it scored only an 11 percent rating on review aggregator RottenTomatoes.com), and it's not hard to see why the threequel failed to snag blockbuster numbers. And, while the Coen brothers' Western "True Grit" rode a wave of critical praise to a second-place finish and an impressive $24.9 million gross (the biggest opening for a Western ever), that wasn't enough to make up for a shallow field of holiday-weekend contenders.

In other words, Mother Nature is off the hook for this one.

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Christina Aguilera - Tell Me (Feat. Christina Aguilera)

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Michael Jackson Fans Celebrate Michael's Release With DJ Cassidy

'It was always my dream to DJ for Michael Jackson,' Cassidy says at album-release party Monday night.
By Steven Roberts

Michael Jackson's <i>Michael</i>
Photo: Epic Records

NEW YORK — Many a Michael Jackson fan lined up outside of the Roseland Ballroom on Monday night to celebrate the release of the King of Pop's posthumous Michael album. Dozens of dancers and fans filled the ballroom's floor, decked out in costumes inspired by MJ's iconic looks from throughout his esteem career. One of those fans also happened to be the evening's master of ceremonies, DJ Cassidy.

"I'm here to make the fans dance," he told MTV News. "I think that's why Michael essentially made the music. He wanted to make people dance. He wanted to make people feel the emotion he felt, and I'm here to do just that. I'm here to help the fans in the celebration of the king."

Dressed in a leather suit with a pink shirt and socks, a red bowtie and shell-top Adidas, Cassidy said that he's been a fan of Jackson for as long as he can remember. The late singer has been his inspiration in anything artistic in his life, from music to fashion.

"So much of my fashion comes from Michael," Cassidy explained. "So much of how I play music comes from how he formed his songs, how he created his sound that really inspired the way that I DJ. And really, it inspired me to want to be a DJ, to want to make people dance.

"So, when I became a DJ at the age of 10, it was always my dream to DJ for Michael Jackson," he added. "Tonight's just a small way for me to really celebrate his music."

The party's guests also included producers Teddy Riley, Eddie Cascio and Neff U, who each had a hand in producing Michael's tracks. But before he began to spin for the night, Cassidy was thinking back to the classics, particularly his favorite party song, 1979's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough."

"You can be anywhere in the world, any city, any small town, any type of crowd, black, white, old, young, poor, rich, at any type of venue," he said. "They could be wanting to hear house music, hip-hop music, anything in between, but 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough' will turn that party out."

What's your favorite Michael Jackson song? Share it in the comments.

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Usher's 'OMG' Is MTV News' #1 Song Of 2010!

Club smash, featuring will.i.am, tops our list of the Top 25 Songs of the year.
By James Montgomery

Usher
Photo: Getty Images

MTV News' Top 25 Songs of 2010 has reached an end. We've already counted down the rest, and now it's time to get to the best: Usher's "OMG," the song that perfectly sums up the past 12 months of popular music — and makes you wanna move until you can't move no more.

If 2010 proved anything, it's that a DJ really can save your life ... or at least get you to #1 on the Hot 100. After years of staring at each other from across the room, hip-hop, pop and R&B all decided to finally get in bed with dance music, and the results weren't always pretty, but they were certainly successful. To date, only 17 songs have made it to the top spot of Billboard's singles chart in 2010, and nearly two-thirds of them — from Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" to Far East Movement's "Like a G6" — were, in some way, dance songs.

In that regard, no song better sums up 2010 pop music quite like Usher's "OMG," the dance song to end all dance songs. Sure, it may not have matched the swagger of Kanye West's "Power," the snarl of Rick Ross' "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)" or the inbox-clogging spread of Cee Lo's "F--- You," but it didn't have to. None of those songs went to #1, after all. "OMG" did. Twice.

Even among songs that managed to snag that top spot — Eminem and Rihanna's "Love the Way You Lie," Katy Perry's "California Gurls," B.o.B and Bruno Mars' "Nothin' on You" — "OMG" stood out from the pack, mostly because of its pedigree. It's not a stretch to say that any of those tracks could've (and probably would've) been #1 in any other year; "OMG" could only have done it in 2010, because it was crafted to do nothing else. No other song this year was as of the moment, as singular and shiny and downright undeniable. There's a reason it was named on more ballots than any other song on our countdown and justly takes the title of MTV News' #1 Song of 2010.

And while all that is important, it's largely beside the point. "OMG" is the kind of song that truly defies deep inspection, because it's not exactly headphone music. Rather, it was made for the clubs, designed to envelop you on the dance floor and not let go until the final "oh-ohh-oh-ooh-oh." And in that regard, it succeeds in spades. It is a masterful melding of R&B, and Euro dance, all icy synths and handclaps, starbursts and stutters and sing-along chants. It ebbs and flows, stops and starts, pumps and preens. Simply put, you cannot listen to it without moving in some way. (MTV's Dee Caligiuri, who voted on our countdown, probably put it best one night when she declared: "There are so many dances you can do to it!") And if that's not the definition of a success, well, then I don't know what is.

A large portion of the credit for "OMG" has to go to will.i.am, who not only produced the track (I know!), but was smart enough to see this whole dance thing coming when he teamed up with producer David Guetta last year. Those songs — "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling" — were, of course, massive, but neither of them are as good as this. Given full control, Will goes off the deep end, cramming the song with every dance trick in the book — and probably some new ones he just invented on the spot. And Usher, whose career, truth be told, was sort of in need of a shot in the arm, is the beneficiary. He floats and gloats above the mix, suave and cocksure, knowing that he is exactly the right man at the right time. That time, of course, had to be 2010.

Because in a year when so many big-name acts embraced the DJ, he flat-out did it better than any of them. "OMG" represents the peak of the dance-pop era in which we live, a song as undeniable as it is of the moment. We can only speculate as to what next year will bring, but there's really no denying that, as 2010 comes to a close, Usher stands above all else, reinvigorated and ready for more. It's enough to make you say "Oh My God," really.

How does Usher's "OMG" rank among the year's best songs? Let us know in the comments!

MTV News' Top 25 Songs of 2010 have all been counted down. But the fun isn't over yet: We still want to see your picks in the comments below!

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Christina Aguilera Struts Through 'Express (Burlesque)' At AMAs

Xtina gives a glimpse inside her upcoming big-screen debut, at the American Music Awards.
By Gil Kaufman

Christina Aguilera performs at the American Music Awards on Sunday
Photo: Lester Cohen/ WireImage

Before she even took the stage at the American Music Awards on Sunday night (November 21), Christina Aguilera had already watched a series of over-the-top performances from show-opener Rihanna, an uncharacteristically sedate Miley Cyrus, the always outrageous Katy Perry and a piano-tinkling, snow-shower summoning Taylor Swift.

In other words, she saw the future, and it was a cornucopia of female stars who have taken cues from her career -- and she made sure to show them that she's still got a few tricks up her sleeve.

Preparing to make her big-screen debut alongside Cher in the upcoming "Burlesque," as promised, Aguilera gave a sneak peek at what we can expect in theaters. "It's going to be fantastic," she told MTV News. "And it will give you a fitting little look inside the movie."

Seated in a chair with her back to the audience and wearing a black spangly bodysuit, knee-high boots and a bowler, Aguilera snapped her fingers and leaned into the jazzy, skittery rhythms of the new tune "Express (Burlesque)." As the camera pulled out, it revealed a set made up to mimic the backstage at a burlesque club, with Aguilera surrounded by a squadron of equally scantily clad dancers.

She flashed back to the "Dirrty"-era Xtina, straddling and shimmying on the chair, then busting into the song's uptempo chorus and showing off the throaty pipes that made her a star. Shaking her hair along with her lingerie-clad dancers, the singer was clearly back in her element, mixing club beats with a throwback, "Free Your Mind"-style R&B vibe and strutting across the stage confidently with her patented growly sass intact.

Even after a career spent in the spotlight as a child star on the "Mickey Mouse Club" and a pop icon since her late teens, Aguilera said the difficulty of trying to reproduce the dancing in the film for the AMAs took a toll on her. "It will be another very new challenge for me," Aguilera admitted beforehand. "My legs have been incredibly sore as I stepped into the role of Ali for this." In the film, Aguilera plays a small-town girl with big dreams who stumbles on a burlesque club owned by the feisty Tess (Cher).

Aguilera added that, while relearning the dance routines was grueling, the choreography is amazing. "You're going to get quite the show," she promised. "Quite the spectacle."

While Aguilera is new to the world of acting, Cher told MTV News that the pop star can dish it out with the best of them. "The scenes that she and I had together, I really enjoyed, and I really believe that she's got definite chops," she said. "We worked well together. I enjoyed all of it, and she was toe-to-toe with me the whole time."

What did you think of Christina's performance at the AMAs? Share your reviews in the comments!

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Justin Bieber's 'Karate Kid' Song Is Eligible For An Oscar

'Never Say Never' joins tunes by Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Aguilera in the running for Original Song category.
By James Montgomery

Justin Bieber
Photo: Robyn Beck/ AFP/ Getty Images

Earlier this year, Justin Bieber set tweenage hearts aflutter when he teamed with Jaden Smith to record "Never Say Never," the theme to Smith's "Karate Kid" reboot. And now, he's hoping to do the same for Oscar voters.

Earlier this week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — the governing body of the Academy Awards — released its list of the 41 songs eligible for the Original Song category at the 83rd annual awards, and Bieber made the cut.

"Never Say Never" is in the running against the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow's "Coming Home" and "Me and Tennessee" (both from her upcoming "Country Strong" film) and a trio of songs from Christina Aguilera's "Burlesque." Though Bieber made the eligibility list, the tune's nomination is no surefire bet: Movie clips featuring each song will be screened for voting members of the Academy's Music Branch on January 6, and it will be up to them to select the field of nominees.

Nominations will be announced on January 25 at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

According to the Academy, in order for a work to be deemed eligible for the Original Song category, it must "consist of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the film," and "a clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition of both lyric and melody must be used in the body of the film, or as the first music cue in the end credits." Bieber and Smith's song is played over the end credits of "The Karate Kid."

The 83rd Academy Awards will be broadcast live from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, February 27.

Check out everything we've got on "The Karate Kid."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Akon Weighs In On New Michael Jackson Tracks

Their collaboration, 'Hold My Hand,' was 'preapproved,' Akon tells MTV News about Michael track.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Kelly Marino

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Photo: MTV News

There has been much debate over the release of new music by Michael Jackson, set for release on his album Michael, due out December 14. Some fans and some of Jackson's collaborators, such as will.i.am, have spoken out about the release of the tracks, many of which were finished after Jackson's death. It's an argument that Akon, who worked with Jackson on the song "Hold My Hand," understands.

"Michael Jackson's new album and the new releases, of course, there's been comments about whether or not [it] should actually be released or whether it would reflect his true authenticity, but naturally because of the fact he's not here to see it through, it definitely wouldn't reflect what he had in mind for it because there's other minds working for him," Akon told MTV News about the tracks. "But I think at the end of the day, we have two choices: We can put out the little that we do have to hold onto, or we can just never ever put it out again. ... The material that he did have that was finished, he would have loved to put it out.

"[The songs] were created by him, now whether or not they were finished by him is a different story," he added. "And that's just a collective effort of all of us. It's a double-edged sword."

Akon points out that one of those finished tracks is "Hold My Hand," making the argument that his contribution to the album is Jackson-approved.

"If he was here today, I think he would definitely approve of 'Hold My Hand,' because it was already preapproved," he said. "But the rest of the songs, I'm not quite sure how far those songs went 'cause Michael's a perfectionist. He wouldn't let anything go unfinished. Me knowing him from my standpoint of viewing him, I'm not quite sure, because he won't stop; he will go and go until there's not one doubt left in his mind that this record is perfect.

"So, I hope he would [have approved of the album], then again, you never know. He's the only one that can answer that question."

Do you think the tracks should be released? Sound off in the comments below.

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'Tangled' Locks In Weekend Box-Office Victory

Disney animated film knocks 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' out of the top spot.
By Josh Wigler

Flynn (voiced by Zachary Levi) and Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore) in "Tangled"
Photo: Disney

Although Harry Potter was able to beat Rapunzel last weekend, the boy who lived was unable to fend off the long-haired princess for a second week in a row.

Disney's "Tangled" was the big winner at the box office this past weekend, securing a solid $21.5 million total from showings on Friday through Sunday. But victory for "Tangled" came at the expense of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1," which lost to the animated Disney film by a $4.8 million margin. It was the first time that "Deathly Hallows" has slipped from first place since it opened in theaters three weeks ago.

"The Warrior's Way" was the weekend's only new wide release, but the ninja-versus-cowboys action flick landed without so much as a thud, bringing in only $3.1 million for a ninth-place finish. With a reported production budget of $42 million, "The Warrior's Way" has quite a long way to go before it comes close to recouping its costs, let alone making a profit.

Two highly anticipated movies marked their limited-release debuts this weekend, including director Darren Aronofsky and actress Natalie Portman's critically acclaimed "Black Swan." The Fox Searchlight picture, which has generated some serious Oscar buzz for Portman's performance, earned $1.4 million across 18 theaters, taking home the weekend's highest per-screen average at $77,444 per location.

"I Love You Phillip Morris" finally arrived in theaters after numerous delays, earning $113,000 across a mere six theaters. The Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor-starring romantic comedy expands to more locations next weekend.

The Box-Office Top Five

#1 "Tangled" ($21.5 million)
#2 "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1" ($16.7 million)
#3 "Burlesque" ($6.1 million)
#4 "Unstoppable" ($6.1 million)
#5 "Love and Other Drugs" ($5.7 million)

Upcoming Releases

"The Chronicles of Narnia" franchise continues next weekend as moviegoers embark on "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie go for a thrilling European getaway in "The Tourist," while Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale's "The Fighter" gets a shot at the title with a limited release in four theaters.

Check out everything we've got on "Tangled" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1." For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Jeremih And 50 Cent 'Keep It Real Sexy' In 'Down On Me' Video

'We got a lot of sexy ladies, kept it classy,' the 'Birthday Sex' singer tells MTV News on video set.
By Jayson Rodriguez, with reporting by Matt Elias

50 Cent and Jeremih on the set of their video for "Down On Me"
Photo: MTV News

When Jeremih returned with his sophomore effort All About You, the "Birthday Sex" singer wanted the set to feel familiar to fans and echo the notes he struck on his debut. Now, for his latest single "Down on Me," Jeremih wants the video to match the song's sultry feel.

"The song itself is definitely for the clubs. We wanted to keep it real sexy for the ladies," he told MTV News. "As an artist, there's nothing like hearing your record in the club. The visual, we wanted to make sure when you see the video in the club, it portrays that message. So we got a lot of sexy ladies, kept it classy. ... It's going down."

50 Cent lends his vocals to the track, and the G-Unit boss reiterated Jeremih's claims.

"It's a pleasure to hear great music after you finished in the studio," he explained. "Then you use your imagination and wonder how people are gonna embrace it.

"Me, I got a different approach," the rapper continued. "I'll be like, 'Ah, man, when n---as hear this, they gonna be sick. I'm back, baby!' "

"Down on Me" is Jeremih's second single from All About You, following the slow-burning "I Like." The new song received a boost from 50 spoofing the track during an appearance on Chelsea Hander's late-night show; the rapper appeared with YouTube star Keenan Cahill and lampooned the song in a bit that became a viral hit.

What do you think about Jeremih's new song? Let us know in the comments!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1652634/20101118/50_cent.jhtml

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Britney Spears Tweets About 'Glee' Tribute Episode

'I loved it!' writes the pop star, who also thanked fans and shared her thoughts on the show's covers.
By James Dinh

Britney Spears and Heather Morris on the set of "Glee"
Photo: FOX

Britney Spears fans are a force to be reckoned with. Earlier this year, they campaigned for an episode of "Glee" to be dedicated solely to their favorite pop princess. And after much anticipation, on Tuesday night the students of McKinley High shimmied, crooned and danced their way in tribute to the entertainer. The singer took to Twitter to thank her fans for their efforts and shared her thoughts on the program, titled "Britney/Brittany," and its covers of her songs.

"I loved it! Thank you guys SO much for making this happen!" Britney tweeted. In particular, the star seemed to enjoy the renditions of her classic tunes, saying, "I love this version of Stronger. Artie did a great job," and "The GLEE version of Toxic is amazing!"

While some of the McKinley High students — including Cheerio cheerleader Brittany S. Pearce (played by Heather Morris) — went into anesthesia--induced dream sequences to channel their inner Britney, Spears herself emerged throughout the episode's hallucinogenic fantasies. Appearing as Madonna's character at the end of "Me Against the Music," a high-school teacher in "... Baby One More Time" and a fellow cheerleader, the singer remained a source of inspiration for the Gleekers.

Spears gave kudos to co-star Morris, saying, "Awww Heather Morris is sooo cute! Brittany S Pearce. Ha! She was so fun to work with and was really sweet in person."

The singer not only applauded Morris' friendliness, but also her rendition of "I'm a Slave 4 U." She wrote of the sultry production, "Slave: Oh ... My ... God ...! Those little boys are SO cute! I know how hard it is to dance with that snake! Nice job." The pop star also was surprised at how well the show re-created the music video set of her 2003 Madonna duet, "Me Against the Music," pointing out that it "looks just like the original," and adding, "Santana does a great Madonna impression."

As the students walked Spears through memory lane, Lea Michele's cover of "... Baby One More Time" also had the singer reminiscing. "Watching Baby brings back so many memories! Feels like yesterday," she explained.

John Stamos also made a guest appearance in the episode, as the dentist who sends the Gleeks into Britney world. Spears made it clear that the 47-year-old actor looks as good as he did during his heyday. "John Stamos is still hot! He looks the same as he did on Full House," she tweeted.

As with many "Glee" fans, Britney found a pleasantly odd interest in Jane Lynch, who plays the aggressive cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, describing the actress as "hilarious and scary all rolled into one."

Spears wasn't the only one who enjoyed filming the tribute episode — the "Glee" castmembers recently dished on working with the star. Morris told Australian magazine TV Week that the singer was her childhood inspiration. "She was my idol from, like, age 12 to 16," she said. "I sang to her [songs] in my living room and danced to her — I learned all her moves. And I had my talent shows and I lip-synched to her. I just kept flashing back to growing up and being obsessed with her."

Naya Rivera, who plays Santana, also spoke highly of the pop icon. "I love Britney Spears. I mean, who doesn't? We all grew up with her," she proclaimed in a promo video for the show. "The first music purchase I ever made was '... Baby One More Time' on cassette. [It was like], 'Britney Spears is going to be in my mitts, what do I do?' [And I was like], 'Hi Britney!' And then she was like, 'Hey!' She was awesome and beautiful. She was, like, magical."

What did you think of the Britney-themed episode? Sound off in the comments!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1648937/20100929/spears_britney.jhtml

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50 Cent 'Taking It Back To The Old 50,' Surf Club Producers Say

Plus: Freeway reunites with Jake One for Diamond in the Rough, in Mixtape Daily.
By Jayson Rodriguez, with additional reporting by Matt Elias

Surf Club's Chase N. Cashe and Hit-Boy
Photo: MTV News

Behind the Beats: Surf Club's Hit-Boy and Chase N. Cashe

They're the production team behind Lil Wayne and Eminem's "Drop the World," and they have more range than Stephen Curry. Hit-Boy laced R&B diva Mary J. Blige with her stirring hit "Stronger," and Chase N. Cashe delivered the loopy "Pass the Dutch" to the Young Money crew.

"We're producers, and we lead a brand called the Surf Club. We're artists, we got writers and producers, so, you know, catch us everywhere," Chase told Mixtape Daily.

Next Wave of Flav

On 50 Cent: "I went to play him some music and vibe and hear where he was going with it," Hit-Boy said. "He's taking it back to the old 50. And he had some new records that were some different-sounding stuff too. I'm excited to see how people react to it, and hopefully we end up with some stuff on the album. I gave him some stuff he really loved. It's really a blend of the old 50 mixing with the new stuff that he's doing. It's crazy."

On Kent M$NEY and Chili Chill: "Kent M$NEY just dropped a mixtape, Becoming. Chili Chill is dropping a mixtape called Cold World," Chase said of their SC artists. "We got me and this guy producing for ... you name it, so continuous music coming from us, man."

The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From the Underground

Freeway is back in the lab working on the follow-up to his and Jake One's The Stimulus Package. The Philadelphia MC is locked in with Jack One again, but for the project, a mixtape titled Diamond in the Rough, he's reaching out to an array of beatsmiths.

So far, Jake One, Just Blaze, Don Cannon and B!nk have made the cut, according to the former Roc-A-Fella rapper.

"When you find a producer and you lock in with them, and when I first worked with Just Blaze, the chemistry was there," Free told us about putting together his projects. "Once you get that, every beat you get is crazy. It's easy. So that makes for good work.

"The majority of [the mixtape] is Jake," he added. "But I got some joints from Just, a couple from B!nk. He just brings that energy. I got some joints from Don Cannon. I'm just working and trying to put some things together."

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1652162/20101112/50_cent.jhtml

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Photos | Justin Bieber Brings His My World Tour To NYC

Justin Bieber Brings His My World Tour To NYC

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Usher - Trading Places

Trading Places

• Artist: Usher
• Label: Zomba/LaFace Records
• Director: Chris Robinson
• Album: Here I Stand

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Joe Budden Credits Eminem With Slaughterhouse's Detroit Love

New Jersey MC says Em 'is just one of the most supportive hip-hop people that I've met.'
By Mawuse Ziegbe, with reporting by Rahman Dukes

Joe Budden
Photo: MTV News

At the Detroit stops of Jay-Z and Eminem's Home and Home Tour, there was undeniable crowd support for another hip-hop crew: rap supergroup Slaughterhouse. The team's New Jersey representative Joe Budden credits a lot of the Midwest love not only to group member and Detroit native Royce Da 5'9", but also to the support the collective has received from Motor City megastar Eminem.

"We get a lot of support out there in the D," Budden told MTV News. "I attribute a lot of it to just Royce and Em."

Budden said that, despite Eminem's superstar status, he still has love for the purest elements of the hip-hop art form. The Mood Muzik spitter said Slaughterhouse stand for those same rap essentials, which endears the foursome to the hip-hop luminary.

"Em, to be as successful as he is, and I'll just tell this to anybody with two ears, or one ear for that matter, is just one of the most supportive hip-hop people that I've met," he said. "He's really, really just into hip-hop and rap and lyrics. He's just really into all of the things that group was built around."

Although Eminem and the Slaughterhouse crew see eye-to-eye creatively, bringing Budden, Royce, Crooked I and Joell Ortiz into the Shady fold has been an ongoing saga. Earlier this year, Ortiz spoke with MTV News about finalizing a deal with Em.

"We in the ninth inning of it, we just keep changing pitchers," the Brooklyn MC said in May. "I don't know, man — it's a lot of hold-ups. I thought on my end I was straight, but I wasn't. We're going back and forth with the people I'm working with. Joe [Budden] had some issues or whatever. The interest is still there. Everybody is excited about it; it's just a lot of people involved in this. Four artists, four separate managers, label situations — a lot of black and white that gotta get settled for it to happen, but verbally, we're on Shady! Eminem is excited, the whole group is excited. The world is excited. I can't even do a show without somebody asking that. Without them being, 'You ripped it, what's up with Em?' Everybody is waiting on this, so it's going to happen. It's going to happen."

What do you think about Joe Budden's thoughts about Eminem? Let us know in the comments!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1652618/20101118/budden_joe.jhtml

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ET Slideshow

From a coy Kate Moss to Katy Perry's giant lollipop, click through to see ET's Sunday slideshow!

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Jay Sean Calls Alicia Keys' Digital Life Sacrifice Effort 'Perfect'

'Sometimes you need to be really shook up and poked and prodded to do something,' he tells MTV News of World AIDS Day campaign.
By Kara Warner

Jay Sean's coffin image symbolizing his digital death
Photo: Markus Klinko/ Indrani/ GK Reid

Alicia Keys' crafty Digital Life Sacrifice campaign — for which a slew of celebs will be offing their cyber-selves in an effort to promote World AIDS Day and raise money for Keys' Keep a Child Alive charity — is certainly the buzziest and most star-studded effort for this particular cause we've witnessed.

Celeb "victim" Jay Sean told MTV News that he jumped onboard partially due to Keys' involvement, but mostly because the campaign is dedicated to saving the lives of children in Africa and India, who wouldn't have a voice otherwise.

"I think we all sometimes turn a blind eye to things that might be depressing, too heavy," Sean said. "But sometimes you need to be really shook up and poked and prodded to do something, because the way I believe is that every human needs another human being to get some life. ... We need each other, and I feel like we should all help each other."

Not to mention the fact that Keys' concept of "killing" your cyber-self is brilliant.

"It's genius, because [social media] is the new thing, the new age, and fans, they want complete access," Sean said. "They want 100 percent of you 100 percent of the time. They want to know what you are doing now! They don't want to wait and read it on a website; they want to know now!" he laughed, adding that while the "death" part is tongue-in-cheek, getting fans to bring their favorite celebs "back to life" is the perfect call to action. "I'm not coming back until you donate some money!" he said. "Sometimes you need a prod, and this is the perfect way of doing it."

As part of the Buy Life promotion, the celebrities will urge fans to donate to the charity in order to buy back their online presence. Fans can text the first name of the celebrity they are mourning to 90999, and $10 will instantly be donated to the cause. Participants include Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Ryan Seacrest, Justin Timberlake, Diddy, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Khloé Kardashian, Swizz Beatz, Serena Williams, "The Buried Life" crew, Elijah Wood, Janelle Monáe, Kimberly Cole, David LaChapelle, Daphne Guinness and Bronson Pelletier.

Will you help bring your favorite celeb back to life? Let us know in the comments!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1653291/20101130/sean_jay.jhtml

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