Lady Gaga Recalls Beyonce's Inspiration In MTV's 'Inside The Outside'

After being dropped by Island Def Jam, Gaga saw a Destiny's Child video and decided, 'I want that.'
By James Montgomery


Lady Gaga
Photo: MTV News

Sometime around 2006, Lady Gaga wasn't Lady Gaga. Sure, she was using the name back then, but she was still little more than a Lower East Side oddity, not the iconic, globe-spanning superstar she has since become. And so, she was understandably elated to score a meeting — and a subsequent deal — with Island Def Jam impresario L.A. Reid.

But after a few months, for reasons never really explained, her phone calls stopped being returned and she was summarily dropped from the label. In hindsight, it was just a minor bump on her road to stardom, but at the time, Gaga was crushed. It's a pain she's never quite forgotten, as she explained in the just-premiered "Lady Gaga: Inside the Outside" documentary.

"I remember when I got dropped from my first record label, I just said, 'Mommy, let's go see Grandma,' " Gaga recalled. "And I cried on my grandmother's couch. She looked at me, and she goes, 'I'm going to let you cry for the rest of the day, and then you have to stop crying, and you have to go kick some ass.' "

Devastated, but determined, Gaga set forth to do just that. And in addition to her grandmother's words, she drew inspiration from a rather unlikely source — one that would also prove oddly prescient in the years to come.

"You know, I've never told Beyoncé this, but I remember laying on my grandmother's couch crying, and a Destiny's Child video came on," she said. "I remember watching Beyoncé thinking, 'Oh, she's a star. I want that. I want to be on MTV.' And now I'm in music videos with Beyoncé."

It's because of those early rejections that Gaga has learned to savor her success. After all, she's certainly proved her naysayers wrong.

"The commercial success that I've had has been mind-blowing," she said. "I'm the girl that everyone said 'No' and shook their head and said 'I don't get it.' "

Well, it seems that millions of people around the world "get it" now.

What was the most interesting thing you learned from watching "Inside the Outside"? Let us know in the comments!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1664720/lady-gaga-beyonce-inside-the-outside.jhtml

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Ke$ha Is Channeling 'Sexiness' Of '70s Rock For New Album

Glitter-heavy pop star tells MTV News she's going for 'balls-out, irreverent rock and roll.'
By James Montgomery, with reporting by Matt Elias


Ke$ha
Photo: MTV News

Ke$ha's already got the face paint down pat, and, during recent live sets, she's even taken to guzzling blood out of a human heart, so it should come as no surprise that, on her upcoming album, the pop star is taking things back to the most theatrical era of rock: the prop-heavy, arena-spanning heyday of the 1970s.

Ke$h revealed her plans over the weekend in Los Angeles, on the red carpet of KIIS FM's annual Wango Tango concert, where she told MTV News that the follow-up to her breakout Animal album (and, we suppose, Cannibal too) would be heavy on hard riffs and light on pretty much everything else.

"The next album ... I've been working on writing on the road, but as far as a sound, I just know it's gonna be balls-out, irreverent rock and roll," she said. "I've been pretty much in this '70s rock and roll kick and I just want to capture some of the true essence of what rock and roll is, and that's just irreverence and sexiness and fun and not giving a f---, so we'll definitely put a bit of rock and roll in it."

So, does that mean that fans can expect the likes of Alice Cooper or Peter Frampton to show up on her new album? Perhaps. Because while Ke$ha's new album is still a ways off, she's already begun calling in favors, hoping to line up a killer collabo for the new disc.

"I'm trying, trust me," she laughed. "I really would love to connect with one of my idols, I mean, that's my dream. I'm working on it."

What do you think of Ke$ha going rock for her next album? Tell us in the comments!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1663946/kesha-new-album.jhtml

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Lil Wayne Producer Was 'Shocked' MC Chose 'How To Love'

Detail talks to MTV News about brand-new Tha Carter IV ballad that finds the Young Money captain crooning.
By Rob Markman


Detail
Photo: MTV News

Be it rap, rock or pop, Lil Wayne is on a mission to stretch the boundaries of his music. Just ask Detail, the producer behind Weezy's new Tha Carter IV single "How to Love."

"Wayne is a rock star and he's up for any challenge in the world as long as it feels right," he told MTV News. "He don't ever really discriminate on talent and people; if it feels right, he's up for the challenge."

There was certainly no shying away from breaking new ground on "How to Love." The track features an acoustic guitar lick and a subdued drum pattern. Over it, Wayne sings about topics far sweeter than what his fans may be accustomed to hearing from him. Detail, who went to visit Wayne in Miami after the Young Money CEO was released from his eight-month prison bid, says that the song was recorded in MIA during a session last November.

"We created it in a very organic way; he's a very organic person," said Detail, who also writes songs and performs. "Me and my production team created a couple of tunes that we could deliver to him. I was shocked on his response on that song. Once he responded to it, it wasn't nothing to it but to do it."

The Detroit producer actually used Lil Wayne and Birdman's 2006 single "Leather So Soft" as inspiration for "How to Love." "The crazy part about it was I know Wayne plays guitar. If y'all ever seen the I Am Music Tour, he be playing the guitar. So we created something that was like 'Leather So Soft,' where he could rock out with the guitar.

"We're visual with that type of stuff, so we just created a simple guitar riff that he can play on tour as well, over some 808s, a smooth ballad type of a beat," he explained. "It wasn't nothing special, it was just something that felt strong. That was the type of record that would rock in his iPod and rock in my iPod for days and days and days before the world got a chance to experience the pleasure of something with such organic-ness."

What do you think of Wayne crooning on "How to Love"? Tell us in the comments!

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1664713/lil-wayne-how-to-love.jhtml

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Britney Spears Appears On Harper's Bazaar Cover

'I'm like everybody else,' singer says in the magazine.
By Jocelyn Vena


Britney Spears on the cover of <i>Harper's Bazaar</i>
Photo: Harper's Bazaar

She appeared pregnant and nude on the cover back in 2006, but now Britney Spears just looks happy and healthy in a low-cut white dress on the cover of Harper's Bazaar. In the latest issue of the magazine, now being previewed online, the singer opens up about her life.

"I'm pretty normal, you know? Like I said, the type of day I love is just like everybody else's. I'm like everybody else," she says in the issue. When asked about her music videos, she recalls fondness for a clip from 2001. " 'Overprotected.' I just think it says a lot. It was directed so well, it was really colorful and the dancing was amazing," she says of the splashy clip.

Spears seems content with the way fans have been reacting to her Femme Fatale album, which dropped in March. "I've worked so hard on this album, so it's really refreshing," she said. "I feel like I'm drinking a tall glass of homemade sweet tea on a really hot, beautiful day."

Spears also talked about getting in shape for her highly anticipated summer tour. "I love to dance, so it's very exciting," she said. "The tour rehearsals have been going really well. I think it will be my best show yet."

In addition to the cover shot, another image from the magazine has hit the Web. It features Spears smiling in front of a wall painted with graffiti wearing a flowing, black star-print dress.

Not only has Spears been readying her summer tour, she has also been preparing to shoot her next music video, for the song "I Wanna Go." Spears will be working with Chris Marrs Piliero (Ke$ha, the Black Eyed Peas) on the clip, which is filming later this month in Los Angeles. The track is the third single off her album, following "Hold It Against Me" and "Till the World Ends."

While she's always moving forward to the next project, Spears did take the time to reflect on one very important onstage kiss with Madonna at the VMAs nearly eight years ago. "I actually saw her a couple of weeks ago at a party," Britney recalled. "I guess she's really taught me to stay true to myself. That seems like a simple thing to say, but she taught me through action, not just by saying it. There are so many people around you that have opinions, but you just have to listen to your instincts."

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1663914/britney-spears-harpers-bazaar.jhtml

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Jennifer Lawrence Talks Training To Play Katniss Everdeen In 'Hunger Games'

'I've done archery for about six weeks, rock climbing, tree climbing and combat and running and vaulting,' star tells MTV News.
By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Jennifer Lawrence
Photo: MTV News

For all the "The Hunger Games" fans out there — and we're talking about those who've been onboard since reading (and likely becoming obsessed with) author Suzanne Collins' spellbinding dystopian trilogy — the news surrounding Lionsgate's big-screen adaptation has been almost as intriguing as the books themselves.

MTV News has been hot on the trail of as many details we can muster, and we were lucky enough to chat recently with the young woman who will be Katniss Everdeen, Jennifer Lawrence, about landing the coveted role.

"I was a huge fan of the books before I even really knew about the movies," Lawrence said. "I met with [director] Gary Ross, and we had a very long, nice meeting before the audition," she explained. "And then by the time the audition came around, we were familiar with each other."

Lawrence also spoke about the intense amount of training she's undergone to prepare for Katniss' intense action sequences.

"It's lots of training, but the training is actually really fun," she revealed. "I've done archery for about six weeks, rock climbing, tree climbing and combat and running and vaulting," she said. "Also yoga and things like that to stay cat-like."

The 20-year-old has also addressed the group of folks who took to the Internet to express their less-than-pleased opinions about Lawrence's casting as Katniss.

"I wasn't aware that everybody was so upset until I after I got my hair dyed, and people were like, 'Oh my gosh, blond hair can turn brown. Wow. It's a miracle,' " she joked. "So now is the only time that I'm being told that people hated me at first."

Check out everything we've got on "The Hunger Games."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1664588/jennifer-lawrence-katniss-everdeen-hunger-games.jhtml

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